| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US09985188B2 |
Optoelectronic component
An optoelectronic component includes a housing including a base section and a cover section that delimit an interior of the housing, wherein an optoelectronic semiconductor chip is arranged on the base section, the cover section is formed by an optical element, and a reflective element including openings is arranged between the optoelectronic semiconductor chip and an outer side of the optical element. |
| US09985187B2 |
Method of manufacturing light emitting device
A method of manufacturing a light emitting device, includes: mounting an LED chip on a substrate; forming a translucent sealing layer for sealing the LED chip; forming a protective layer on the sealing layer; forming a groove, which penetrates the substrate and the sealing layer, using a blade from a side opposite to the side of the substrate mounted with the LED chip, the groove being formed to extend to a lower surface or an inside of the protective layer; filling the groove with a reflector material; and removing and separating a portion of the protective layer in which at least the groove is formed, wherein the blade has a shape tapered toward an edge. |
| US09985184B2 |
Optoelectronic device
An optoelectronic device comprises a substrate; a groove on the substrate; a plurality of semiconductor units on the substrate and separated by the groove, wherein each semiconductor unit comprises a first semiconductor layer, a second semiconductor layer, and an active region interposed between the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer; a connecting part crossing the groove for connecting two of the plurality of semiconductor units, wherein the connecting part comprises one end on the first semiconductor layer and another end on the second semiconductor layer; a first electrode comprising a plurality of first extensions jointly connected to the one end of the connecting part; and a second electrode comprising a plurality of second extensions jointly connected to the another end of the connecting part, wherein an amount of the plurality of first extensions is different from an amount of the plurality of second extensions. |
| US09985183B2 |
Solid state lighting devices with accessible electrodes and methods of manufacturing
Various embodiments of light emitting dies and solid state lighting (“SSL”) devices with light emitting dies, assemblies, and methods of manufacturing are described herein. In one embodiment, a light emitting die includes an SSL structure configured to emit light in response to an applied electrical voltage, a first electrode carried by the SSL structure, and a second electrode spaced apart from the first electrode of the SSL structure. The first and second electrode are configured to receive the applied electrical voltage. Both the first and second electrodes are accessible from the same side of the SSL structure via wirebonding. |
| US09985180B2 |
Light emitting diode chip
A light emitting diode chip including a substrate and a light emitting diode element layer is provided. The substrate has a growth surface and a plurality of microstructures on the growth surface. An area of the growth surface occupied by the microstructures is A1 and an area of the growth surface not occupied by the micro-structures is A2, such that A1 and A2 satisfy the relation of 0.1≤A2/(A1+A2)≤0.5. The light emitting diode element layer is disposed on the growth surface of the substrate. |
| US09985177B2 |
Ultraviolet light emitting devices and methods of fabrication
An ultraviolet light emitting semiconductor chip, its use in a LED, and methods of its fabrication are disclosed. The semiconductor chip can include a buffer layer of AlxGa1-xN, where 0 |
| US09985175B1 |
LED panel
An LED panel is disclosed. The LED panel includes LED chips and a mount substrate on which the LED chips are mounted by flip bonding. Each of the LED chips includes a sapphire substrate, a plurality of light emitting cells disposed below the sapphire substrate, and an etched portion formed between the plurality of light emitting cells. Each of the LED chips includes a plurality of color cells formed corresponding to the plurality of light emitting cells on the sapphire substrate to change or maintain the color of light from the corresponding light emitting cells and a plurality of light collecting portions formed corresponding to the plurality of light emitting cells and the plurality of color cells on the bottom surface of the substrate and adapted to collect light from the corresponding light emitting cells on the corresponding color cells. |
| US09985174B2 |
White light emitting structures with controllable emission color temperature
Disclosed herein are multi-layered optically active regions for semiconductor light-emitting devices (LEDs) that incorporate intermediate carrier blocking layers, the intermediate carrier blocking layers having design parameters for compositions and doping levels selected to provide efficient control over the carrier injection distribution across the active regions to achieve desired device injection characteristics. Examples of embodiments discussed herein include, among others: a multiple-quantum-well variable-color LED operating in visible optical range with full coverage of RGB gamut, a multiple-quantum-well variable-color LED operating in visible optical range with an extended color gamut beyond standard RGB gamut, a multiple-quantum-well light-white emitting LED with variable color temperature, and a multiple-quantum-well LED with uniformly populated active layers. |
| US09985170B2 |
Flip chip light emitting diode having transparent material with surface features
Flip chip LEDs include a transparent substrate or carrier having an active material attached thereto and having a number of electrodes disposed along a common surface of the active material. The substrate may include a number of surface features disposed along a first surface adjacent the active material for improving light extraction from the active material, and includes a number of surface features along a second surface opposite the first surface for minimizing internal reflection of light through the substrate, thereby improving light extraction from the transparent substrate. The surface features on both surfaces may be arranged having a random or ordered orientation relative to one another. A plurality of such flip chip LEDs may be physically packaged together in a manner providing electrical connection with the same for a lighting end-use application. |
| US09985168B1 |
Group III nitride based LED structures including multiple quantum wells with barrier-well unit interface layers
Group III nitride based light emitting diode (LED) structures include multiple quantum wells with barrier-well units that include III nitride interface layers. Each interface layer may have a thickness of no greater than about 30% of an adjacent well layers, and a comparatively low concentration of indium or aluminum. One or more interface layers may be present in a barrier-well unit. Multiple barrier-well units having different properties may be provided in a single active region. |
| US09985163B2 |
Single photon avalanche diode having pulse shaping filter
An electronic device disclosed herein includes a single photon avalanche diode (SPAD) configured to detect an incoming photon and to generate a first pulse signal in response thereto. Pulse shaping circuitry is configured to generate a second pulse signal from the first pulse signal by high pass filtering the first pulse signal. The pulse shaping circuitry includes a transistor drain-source coupled between a first node and a reference node, and a capacitor coupling the first node to an anode of the SPAD. |
| US09985160B2 |
Group-IV solar cell structure using group-IV or III-V heterostructures
Device structures, apparatuses, and methods are disclosed for photovoltaic cells that may be a single junction or multijunction solar cells, with at least a first layer comprising a group-IV semiconductor in which part of the cell comprises a second layer comprising a III-V semiconductor or group-IV semiconductor having a different composition than the group-IV semiconductor of the first layer, such that a heterostructure is formed between the first and second layers. |
| US09985151B2 |
Component and method for producing a component
A component with a semiconductor body, and first and second metal layer is disclosed. The first metal layer is arranged between the semiconductor body and the second metal layer, the semiconductor body has a first semiconductor layer on a side which is averted from the first metal layer, a second semiconductor layer on a side facing towards the first metal layer, and an active layer arranged between the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer, the component has a through-connection, which extends through the second semiconductor layer and the active layer for the electrical bonding of the first semiconductor layer. The second metal layer has a first subregion electrically connected to the through-connection by the first metal layer, and a second subregion spaced apart laterally from the first subregion by an intermediate space. In an overhead view, the first metal layer laterally completely covers the intermediate space. |
| US09985147B2 |
Light-reflecting grating structure for photovoltaic devices
A photovoltaic cell includes an absorbing layer configured to generate electron-hole pairs from incident photons of incoming light; and a first grating layer arranged at a first surface of the absorbing layer which is opposite to a second surface of the absorbing layer from which light is incident, wherein the first grating layer includes at least one grating extending along the first surface, wherein the at least one grating has grating structures which are dimensioned to provide a reflectivity for light incident through the absorbing layer back into the absorbing layer. |
| US09985138B2 |
Vertically aligned nanowire channels with source/drain interconnects for nanosheet transistors
A nano-sheet semiconductor structure and a method for fabricating the same. The nano-sheet structure includes a substrate and at least one alternating stack of semiconductor material layers and metal gate material layers. The nano-sheet semiconductor structure further comprises a source region and a drain region. A first plurality of epitaxially grown interconnects contacts the source region and the semiconductor layers in the alternating stack. A second plurality of epitaxially grown interconnects contacts the drain region and the semiconductor layers in the alternating stack. The method includes removing a portion of alternating semiconductor layers and metal gate material layers. A first plurality of interconnects is epitaxially grown between and in contact with the semiconductor layers and the source region. A second plurality of interconnects is epitaxially grown between and in contact with the semiconductor layers and the drain region. |
| US09985134B1 |
FinFETs and methods of forming FinFETs
An embodiment is a method including recessing a gate electrode over a semiconductor fin on a substrate to form a first recess from a top surface of a dielectric layer, forming a first mask in the first recess over the recessed gate electrode, recessing a first conductive contact over a source/drain region of the semiconductor fin to form a second recess from the top surface of the dielectric layer, and forming a second mask in the second recess over the recessed first conductive contact. |
| US09985132B2 |
Semiconductor device and fabricating method of a gate with an epitaxial layer
In some embodiments, a semiconductor device and a fabricating method thereof are provided. The method can comprise: providing a semiconductor substrate; forming a gate structure on the semiconductor substrate; forming an epitaxial substrate layer on the semiconductor substrate on both sides of the gate structure; forming a hard mask layer conformally covering the epitaxial substrate layer, the gate structure and the semiconductor substrate; etching the hard mask layer to form a hard mask sidewall layer on sidewall surfaces of the gate structure and on the epitaxial substrate layer; using the hard mask sidewall layer as a mask to etch the epitaxial substrate layer and the semiconductor substrate to form trenches on both sides of the gate structure; and forming a stress layer in the trenches. |
| US09985130B2 |
Salicide formation on replacement metal gate finFET devices
A fin field effect transistor (finFET) device and a method of fabricating a finFET are described. The method includes forming a replacement gate stack on a substrate between inside walls of sidewall spacers, epitaxially growing a raised source drain (RSD) on the substrate adjacent to outside walls of the sidewall spacers, and forming a silicide above the RSD and along the outside walls of the sidewall spacers. The method also includes depositing and polishing a contact metal above portions of the replacement gate stack and the RSD, the contact metal contacting the silicide along the outside walls of the sidewall spacers adjacent to the portions of the replacement gate stack. |
| US09985129B2 |
High-voltage metal-oxide-semiconductor transistor and fabrication method thereof
A high-voltage MOS transistor includes a semiconductor substrate, a gate oxide layer on the semiconductor substrate, a gate on the gate oxide layer, a spacer covering a sidewall of the gate, a source on one side of the gate, and a drain on the other side of the gate. The gate includes at least a first discrete segment and a second discrete segment. The first discrete segment is not in direct contact with the second discrete segment. The spacer fills into a gap between the first discrete segment and the second discrete segment. |
| US09985121B1 |
P-type diamond gate-GaN heterojunction FET structure
A FET device includes a substrate having top and bottom surfaces, a channel layer on the top surface of the substrate; the channel layer having top and bottom surfaces, at least two recesses extending into the channel layer from the top surface of the channel layer and forming a channel region between the at least two recesses, a gate electrode disposed in each of the at least two recesses, and a drain region and a source region formed in the channel layer on opposite sides of said channel region. |
| US09985120B2 |
Bipolar transistor
Disclosed herein is a bipolar transistor capable of improving a current amplification rate while improving voltage resistance. A bipolar transistor is provided with a p-type emitter region, a p-type collector region, an n-type base region located between the emitter region and the collector region, a p-type first embedded region located below the base region, and an n-type region having a lower n-type impurity concentration than the base region, being in contact with the emitter region, the collector region, the base region and the first embedded region, separating the emitter region from the base region and the first embedded region, and separating the collector region from the base region and the first embedded region. A part of the base region projects out toward a collector region side than the first embedded region does. |
| US09985119B2 |
Image sensor with reduced spectral and optical crosstalk and method for making the image sensor
An integrated image sensor may include adjacent pixels, with each pixel including an active semiconductor region including a photodiode, an antireflection layer disposed above the photodiode, a dielectric region disposed above the antireflection layer, an optical filter disposed above the dielectric region, and a diffraction grating disposed in the antireflection layer. The diffraction grating includes an array of pads. |
| US09985112B2 |
Sloped finFET with methods of forming same
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide an integrated circuit (IC) structure, which can include: a semiconductor fin; a gate dielectric positioned above a first region of the semiconductor fin; a spacer positioned above a second region of the semiconductor fin and adjacent to the gate dielectric; and a source/drain region contacting a third region of the semiconductor fin; wherein the first region of the semiconductor fin includes substantially vertical sidewalls, and the third region of the semiconductor fin includes sloped sidewalls. |
| US09985108B2 |
Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing semiconductor device including Al electrode formed on AlxGa(1-x)N layer
An electrode comes in ohmic contact with an AlGaN layer. A semiconductor device SD has a nitride semiconductor layer GN2, and an AlxGa(1-x)N layer AGN (hereinafter referred to as “AlGaN layer AGN), and Al electrodes DE, SE. in the AlGaN layer AGN, 0 |
| US09985104B2 |
Contact first replacement metal gate
A technique relates to forming a semiconductor device. Sacrificial gates are formed on a channel region of a substrate. Epitaxial layers are grown on source-drain areas between the sacrificial gates. A contact liner and contact material are deposited. The liner and the contact material are removed from above the sacrificial gates. Contact areas are blocked with one or more masking materials and etched. The masking material is removed. The contact material is partially recessed and a nitride liner deposited. An oxide layer is deposited and the sacrificial gate is removed. A metal gate is formed on the channel region and recessed. Insulator material and metal gate material are recessed and a cap is formed over the gate. |
| US09985101B2 |
Encapsulated nanostructures and method for fabricating
Various nanostructures, including silicon nanowires and encapsulated silicon nanoislands, and methods of making the nanostructures are provided. The methods can include providing a fin structure extending above a substrate, wherein the fin structure has at least one silicon layer and at least two silicon:germanium alloy (SiGe) layers that define sidewalls of the fin structure; and annealing the fin structure in oxygen to form a silicon nanowire assembly. The silicon nanowire assembly can include a silicon nanowire, a SiGe matrix surrounding the silicon nanowire; and a silicon oxide layer disposed on the SiGe matrix. The annealing can be, for example, at a temperature between 800° C. and 1000° C. for five minutes to sixty minutes. The silicon nanowire can have a long axis extending along the fin axis, with perpendicular first and second dimensions extending less than 50 nm along directions perpendicular to the fin axis. |
| US09985095B2 |
Lateral MOSFET with buried drain extension layer
An integrated circuit containing an extended drain MOS transistor which has a drift layer, an upper RESURF layer over and contacting an upper surface of the drift layer, and a buried drain extension below the drift layer which is electrically connected to the drift layer at the drain end and separated from the drift layer at the channel end. A lower RESURF layer may be formed between the drift layer and the buried drain extension at the channel end. Any of the upper RESURF layer, the drift layer, the lower RESURF layer and the buried drain extension may have a graded doping density from the drain end to the channel end. A process of forming an integrated circuit containing an extended drain MOS transistor which has the drift layer, the upper RESURF layer, and the buried drain extension. |
| US09985092B2 |
PowerMOS
A process of manufacturing a device is disclosed. The process includes forming an epitaxial layer of a first conductivity type on in a substrate, forming a first vertical section of a second conductivity type in the expitaxial layer, creating a first vertical trench through etching vertically next to the first vertical section, filling the first vertical trench with a first type oxide, forming a second vertical trench in the first vertical trench. The second vertical trench is bounded by the first type oxide in the first vertical trench. The process further includes forming a second type oxide on inner walls of the second vertical trench, filling the second vertical trench with polysilicon. In a second vertical section of the epitaxial layer vertically next to the first vertical trench, a body region is created by implanting ions of the first conductivity type and a source region is created by implanting ions in a top layer of the body region. |
| US09985088B2 |
Metal resistors having nitridized metal surface layers with different nitrogen content
A semiconductor structure containing at least two metal resistor structures having different amounts of nitrogen on the resistor surface is provided. The resulted resistances (and hence resisitivty) of the two metal resistors can be either the same or different. The semiconductor structure may include a first metal resistor structure located on a portion of a dielectric-containing substrate. The first metal resistor structure includes, from bottom to top, a first metal layer portion and a first nitridized metal surface layer having a first nitrogen content. The semiconductor structure further includes a second metal resistor structure located on a second portion of the dielectric-containing substrate and spaced apart from the first metal resistor structure. The second metal resistor structure includes, from bottom to top, a second metal layer portion and a second nitridized metal surface layer having a second nitrogen content that differs from the first nitrogen content. |
| US09985081B2 |
Organic light-emitting display and manufacturing method thereof
An organic light-emitting display that includes a substrate comprising a pixel area, a thin film transistor arranged within the pixel area, a wiring electrically connected to the a thin film transistor, an insulating layer covering the thin film transistor and the wiring, a pixel electrode arranged over the insulating layer, a pixel-defining layer having an opening that exposes the pixel electrode, an opposite electrode facing the pixel electrode and an organic emission layer interposed between the pixel electrode and the opposite electrode, the insulating layer having a first region that is overlapped by the pixel electrode and a second region that is not overlapped by the pixel electrode, the second region being thicker than the first region to reduce parasitic capacitance between the opposite electrode and the wiring. |
| US09985080B2 |
Organic light emitting display devices and methods of manufacturing the same
An OLED device and a method of manufacturing the same, the OLED device including a substrate having a pixel area and a transmission area; a pixel circuit on the pixel area; a first electrode on the pixel area and being electrically connected to the pixel circuit; a first organic layer extending continuously on the pixel area and the transmission area and covering the first electrode; an emitting layer selectively on a portion of the first organic layer on the pixel area; a second organic layer extending continuously on the pixel and transmission areas and covering the emitting layer; and a third organic layer selectively on the transmission area, the third organic layer including a non-emitting material that has a different transmittance from that of the emitting layer; and a second electrode extending continuously on the pixel area and the transmission area and covering the second and third organic layers. |
| US09985079B2 |
Display device with separation member including steps
A display device includes: a substrate; a plurality of light-emission elements arranged, on the substrate, in a first direction and a second direction intersecting each other, each of the light-emission elements having a first electrode layer, an organic layer including a luminous layer, and a second electrode layer which are laminated in that order; and a separation section disposed, on the substrate, between the light-emission elements adjacent to each other in the first direction, the separation section having two or more pairs of steps. The first electrode layers in the light-emission elements are separated from each other, and the organic layers as well as the second electrode layers in the light-emission elements adjacent to each other in the first direction are separated from each other by the steps included in the separation section. |
| US09985077B2 |
Serial module of organic solar cell and method for manufacturing the same
The present invention relates to a serial module of organic solar cells and the method for manufacturing the same. The structure comprises a transparent conductive layer composed by a plurality of conductive blocks, an active layer having notches on the periphery, and a metal layer composed by a plurality of metal blocks. The active layer according to the present invention is a complete layer except the notches on the periphery for exposing a portion of the transparent conductive layer. The metal blocks can contact the conductive blocks of adjacent organic solar cell via the exposure areas and thus connecting the organic solar cells in series. The present invention can improves the power generating efficiency of organic solar cells in a limited space, which is beneficial to the development of promotion of future organic solar cells. |
| US09985076B2 |
Diode/superionic conductor/polymer memory structure
A conjugated polymer layer with a built-in diode is formed by providing a first metal-chalcogenide layer over a bottom electrode. Subsequently, a second metal-chalcogenide layer is provided over and in contact with the first metal-chalcogenide layer. The first metal-chalcogenide layer has a first conductivity type and the second metal-chalcogenide layer has a second conductivity type. The plane of contact between the first and second metal-chalcogenide layers creates the p-n junction of the built-in diode. Then a polymer layer is selectively deposited on the second metal-chalcogenide layer. The second metal-chalcogenide layer provides ions to the polymer layer to change its resistivity. A top electrode is then provided over the polymer layer. An exemplary memory cell may have the following stacked structure: first electrode/n-type semiconductor/p-type semiconductor/conjugated polymer/second electrode. |
| US09985071B2 |
Active area selection for LIDAR receivers
Techniques provided herein are directed toward providing an optical sensor that reduces noise from sources of light other than the LIDAR transmitter by changing the active area of the sensor of a LIDAR receiver. The optical sensor may include a two dimensional array of single photon avalanche devices (SPADs) with row-select and column-select transistors, where rows and columns are selected based on a predicted spot size and angle of reflected laser light detected at the LIDAR receiver. Among other things, this can eliminate or reduce the need for moving parts within the LIDAR receiver. |
| US09985069B2 |
Semiconductor device
An object is to achieve low-power consumption by reducing the off-state current of a transistor in a photosensor. A semiconductor device including a photosensor having a photodiode, a first transistor, and a second transistor; and a read control circuit including a read control transistor, in which the photodiode has a function of supplying charge based on incident light to a gate of the first transistor; the first transistor has a function of storing charge supplied to its gate and converting the charge stored into an output signal; the second transistor has a function of controlling reading of the output signal; the read control transistor functions as a resistor converting the output signal into a voltage signal; and semiconductor layers of the first transistor, the second transistor, and the read control transistor are formed using an oxide semiconductor. |
| US09985064B2 |
Solid-state imaging device and method of manufacturing the same, and imaging apparatus
A solid-state imaging device includes: a semiconductor substrate provided with an effective pixel region including a light receiving section that photoelectrically converts incident light; an interconnection layer that is provided at a plane side opposite to the light receiving plane of the semiconductor substrate; a first groove portion that is provided between adjacent light receiving sections and is formed at a predetermined depth from the light receiving plane side of the semiconductor substrate; and an insulating material that is embedded in at least a part of the first groove portion. |
| US09985059B2 |
Image sensors having curved upper surfaces and image sensor modules including the same
Provided is an image sensor. The image sensor may include a circuit board, a supporting board provided under the circuit board, and an image sensor chip provided over the circuit board. The circuit board, the supporting board, and the image sensor chip respectively have concavely curved upper surfaces. The supporting board comprises a central area and a peripheral area. The central area is thinner than the peripheral area. |
| US09985057B2 |
Image sensor with solar cell function and electronic device thereof
A unit pixel element that acts as an image sensor or a solar cell according to the present invention comprises a photo detector that drives a photocurrent flow, induced by light incident onto the gate, along the channel between the source and the drain; a first switch that is wired and switched on or switched off between the source terminal of the photo detector and the first solar cell bus; and a second switch that is wired and switched on or switched off between the gate terminal of the photo detector and the second solar cell bus, and features a function of light energy harvesting and high-efficiency photoelectric conversion that generates and supplies effective electric power. |
| US09985055B2 |
Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing same
A semiconductor device (100) includes: a substrate (11); a first thin film transistor (10A) supported on the substrate (11), the first thin film transistor (10A) having a first active region (13c) which mainly contains a crystalline silicon; and a second thin film transistor (10B) being supported on the substrate (11), the second thin film transistor (10B) having a second active region (17c) which mainly contains an oxide semiconductor having a crystalline portion. |
| US09985045B2 |
Semiconductor structure
A semiconductor structure and a method of manufacturing the same are provided. The semiconductor structure includes a stack including first conductive layers and first dielectric layers, a second conductive layer formed on the stack, openings through the second conductive layer and the stack, and through structures formed in the openings, respectively. Each through structure includes a memory layer, a gate dielectric layer, a channel layer, a dielectric material and a pad. The channel layer is isolated from the stack by the memory layer, the channel layer is isolated from the second conductive layer by the gate dielectric layer, and the memory layer and the gate dielectric layer have different compositions. |
| US09985044B2 |
Semiconductor memory device and method for manufacturing the same
A semiconductor memory device according to an embodiment, includes a first stacked body, a second stacked body, an intermediate conductive layer, an intermediate insulating layer, a semiconductor pillar, a charge storage film, and an insulating film. The semiconductor pillar includes a first part, a second part, and a third part. The charge storage film includes a first charge storage portion and a second charge storage portion. The charge storage film includes at least one first element selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, hafnium, and aluminum. The insulating film provides in at least a portion between the intermediate conductive layer and the first part. The insulating film not includes the first element, or the insulating film has a concentration of the first element lower than a concentration of the first element of the charge storage film. |
| US09985041B2 |
Vertical memory devices
A vertical memory device may include a plurality of word lines spaced apart in a first direction, each extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction and having a first width in a third direction perpendicular to the first and second directions, a dummy word line over an uppermost word line, including an opening and having a portion thereof with the first width in the third direction, a first string selection line (SSL) and a second string selection line (SSL) over the dummy word line, the first and second SSLs being at substantially the same level along the first direction, each of the first and second SSLs having a second width less than the first width in the third direction, and a plurality of vertical channel structures, each through the word lines, the dummy word line, and one of the first and second SSLs. |
| US09985038B2 |
Semiconductor integrated circuit device
Prior known static random access memory (SRAM) cells are required that a diffusion layer be bent into a key-like shape in order to make electrical contact with a substrate with a P-type well region formed therein, which would result in a decrease in asymmetry leading to occurrence of a problem as to the difficulty in micro-patterning. To avoid this problem, the P-type well region in which an inverter making up an SRAM cell is formed is subdivided into two portions, which are disposed on the opposite sides of an N-type well region NW1 and are formed so that a diffusion layer forming a transistor has no curvature while causing the layout direction to run in a direction parallel to well boundary lines and bit lines. At intermediate locations of an array, regions for use in supplying power to the substrate are formed in parallel to word lines in such a manner that one regions is provided per group of thirty two memory cell rows or sixty four cell rows. |
| US09985035B1 |
Semiconductor memory structure
A semiconductor memory structure includes a substrate including a memory cell region and a cell edge region adjacent to the memory cell region. Active regions are formed in the substrate and in the memory cell region and the cell edge region. At least a dummy bit line is formed on the active regions in the cell edge region. The dummy bit line extends along a first direction and overlaps at least two active regions along a second direction. The dummy bit line further includes a first inner line portion and an outer line portion. The first inner line portion and the outer line portion extend along the first direction and a width of the first inner line portion is different from a width of the outer line portion. |
| US09985031B2 |
Integrated circuit and manufacturing method thereof
An integrated circuit includes a substrate, at least one n-type semiconductor device, and at least one p-type semiconductor device. The n-type semiconductor device is present on the substrate. The n-type semiconductor device includes a gate structure having a bottom surface and at least one sidewall. The bottom surface of the gate structure of the n-type semiconductor device and the sidewall of the gate structure of the n-type semiconductor device intersect to form an interior angle. The p-type semiconductor device is present on the substrate. The p-type semiconductor device includes a gate structure having a bottom surface and at least one sidewall. The bottom surface of the gate structure of the p-type semiconductor device and the sidewall of the gate structure of the p-type semiconductor device intersect to form an interior angle smaller than the interior angle of the gate structure of the n-type semiconductor device. |
| US09985028B2 |
Diluted drift layer with variable stripe widths for power transistors
A multi-finger lateral high voltage transistors (MFLHVT) includes a substrate doped a first dopant type, a well doped a second dopant type, and a buried drift layer (BDL) doped first type having a diluted BDL portion (DBDL) including dilution stripes. A semiconductor surface doped the second type is on the BDL. Dielectric isolation regions have gaps defining a first active area in a first gap region (first MOAT) and a second active area in a second gap region (second MOAT). A drain includes drain fingers in the second MOAT interdigitated with source fingers in the first MOAT each doped second type. The DBDL is within a fingertip drift region associated drain fingertips and/or source fingertips between the first and second MOAT. A gate stack is on the semiconductor surface between source and drain. The dilution stripes have stripe widths that increase monotonically with a drift length at their respective positions. |
| US09985027B2 |
Stable multiple threshold voltage devices on replacement metal gate CMOS devices
A technique for a multiple voltage threshold transistor structure is provided. A narrow channel and long channel are formed on a fin. An epitaxial layer is formed on the fin, and an interlayer dielectric layer is formed on the epitaxial layer. Spacers on the fin define the narrow channel and the long channel. A high-k dielectric material is deposited in the narrow and long channels. A metal layer is deposited on the high-k dielectric material in the narrow and long channels. A height of the high-k dielectric material in the narrow channel is recessed. The metal layer is removed from the narrow and long channels. A work function metal is deposited in the narrow and long channels. A gate conduction metal is deposited to fill the narrow channel and long channel. A capping layer is deposited on the top surface of the structure. |
| US09985020B2 |
Semiconductor structure and manufacturing method thereof
A manufacturing method of a semiconductor structure includes the following steps. An epitaxial region is formed in a semiconductor substrate. A dielectric layer is formed on the epitaxial region, and a contact hole is formed in the dielectric layer. The contact hole exposes a part of the epitaxial region, and an oxide-containing layer is formed on the epitaxial region exposed by the contact hole. A contact structure is formed in the contact hole and on the oxide-containing layer. The oxide-containing layer is located between the contact structure and the epitaxial region. A semiconductor structure includes the semiconductor substrate, at least one epitaxial region, the contact structure, the oxide-containing layer, and a silicide layer. The contact structure is disposed on the epitaxial region. The oxide-containing layer is disposed between the epitaxial region and the contact structure. The silicide layer is disposed between the oxide-containing layer and the contact structure. |
| US09985018B2 |
Embedded tungsten resistor
A high TCR tungsten resistor on a reverse biased Schottky diode. A high TCR tungsten resistor on an unsilicided polysilicon platform geometry. A high TCR tungsten resistor between two parallel polysilicon leads on remaining contact etch stop dielectric. A high TCR tungsten resistor embedded in a intermetal dielectric layer above a lower interconnect layer and below an upper interconnect layer. A method of forming a high TCR tungsten resistor on a reverse biased Schottky diode. A method of forming high TCR tungsten resistor on an unsilicided polysilicon platform geometry. A method of forming high TCR tungsten resistor between two parallel polysilicon leads on remaining contact etch stop dielectric. A method of forming high TCR tungsten resistor embedded in a inter metal dielectric layer above a lower interconnect layer and below an upper interconnect layer. |
| US09985015B2 |
Semiconductor device having improved core and input/output device reliability
A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate having a core device and an IO device. The core device includes a gate interface layer and a high-k dielectric layer on the gate interface layer. The IO device includes a gate interface layer and a high-k dielectric layer on the gate interface layer. The gate interface layer of the core device and the gate interface layer of the IO device each are doped with fluoride ions. |
| US09985014B2 |
Minimum track standard cell circuits for reduced area
Minimum track standard cell circuits for reduced area are provided. In one aspect, a minimum track standard cell circuit employs a first high aspect ratio voltage rail disposed over a first one-half track and configured to provide a first voltage (e.g., VDD) to the minimum track standard cell circuit. A second high aspect ratio voltage rail is disposed over a second one-half track substantially parallel to the first high aspect ratio voltage rail. The second high aspect ratio voltage rail is configured to provide a second voltage less than the first voltage (e.g., VSS) to the minimum track standard cell circuit. The minimum track standard cell circuit employs multiple tracks disposed between the first and second one-half tracks. The number of tracks can be limited based on particular factors. Minimizing tracks reduces area compared to conventional standard cell circuits. |
| US09985011B2 |
Method for producing an optoelectronic semiconductor chip
A method for producing an optoelectronic semiconductor chip is disclosed. A semiconductor body has a pixel area, which has at least two different subpixel areas. An electrically conductive layer is applied to the radiation outlet surface of at least one subpixel area. The electrically conductive layer is designed to at least partially salify with a protic reaction partner. A conversion layer is deposited onto the electrically conductive layer by means of a electrophoresis process. |
| US09985007B2 |
Package on-package devices with multiple levels and methods therefor
Package-on-package (“PoP”) devices with multiple levels and methods therefor are disclosed. In a PoP device, a first integrated circuit die is surface mount coupled to an upper surface of a package substrate. First and second conductive lines are coupled to the upper surface of the package substrate respectively at different heights in a fan-out region. A first molding layer is formed over the upper surface of the package substrate. A first and a second wafer-level packaged microelectronic component are located above an upper surface of the first molding layer respectively surface mount coupled to a first and a second set of upper portions of the first conductive lines. A third and a fourth wafer-level packaged microelectronic component are located above the first and the second wafer-level packaged microelectronic component respectively surface mount coupled to a first and a second set of upper portions of the second conductive lines. |
| US09985006B2 |
Semiconductor structure and manufacturing method thereof
The present disclosure provides a method of manufacturing a structure. The method comprises: providing a substrate; forming an interconnect layer over the substrate; forming a plurality of conductive pads over the interconnect layer; forming conductive pillars over the interconnect layer; disposing a first semiconductor die over the conductive pads, the semiconductor die being spaced apart from the conductive pillars; and bonding a second semiconductor die with the conductive pillars. |
| US09984996B2 |
Three-dimensional (3D) package structure with electronic components encapsulated by a connection structure over an inductor
The present invention discloses a three-dimensional package structure which can achieve a relatively high utilization of an internal space thereof, so that a size of electronic package structure can be reduced. The three-dimensional package structure comprises a first electronic component, a plurality of second electronic components and a plurality of conductive patterns. The first electronic component has a top surface and a bottom surface. The plurality of second electronic components are disposed over the top surface of the first electronic component. The plurality of conductive patterns are disposed over the plurality of second electronic components to electrically connect the plurality of second electronic components and the first electronic component. |
| US09984993B2 |
Bonding structure for semiconductor package and method of manufacturing the same
A method of manufacturing a bonding structure includes (a) providing a substrate, wherein the substrate includes a top surface and at least one bonding pad disposed adjacent to the top surface of the substrate, at least one bonding pad having a sloped surface with a first slope; (b) providing a semiconductor element, wherein the semiconductor element includes at least one pillar, and at least one pillar has a sidewall with a second slope, wherein the absolute value of the first slope is smaller than the absolute value of the second slope; and (c) bonding at least one pillar to a portion of the sloped surface of corresponding ones of the at least one bonding pad. |
| US09984992B2 |
Embedded wire bond wires for vertical integration with separate surface mount and wire bond mounting surfaces
In a vertically integrated microelectronic package, a first microelectronic device is coupled to an upper surface of a circuit platform in a wire bond-only surface area thereof. Wire bond wires are coupled to and extends away from an upper surface of the first microelectronic device. A second microelectronic device in a face-down orientation is coupled to upper ends of the wire bond wires in a surface mount-only area. The second microelectronic device is located above and at least partially overlaps the first microelectronic device. A protective layer is disposed over the circuit platform and the first microelectronic device. An upper surface of the protective layer has the surface mount-only area. The upper surface of the protective layer has the second microelectronic device disposed thereon in the face-down orientation in the surface mount-only area for coupling to the upper ends of the first wire bond wires. |
| US09984991B2 |
Circuit device, electronic apparatus and moving object
In order to reduce crosstalk between analog and digital signals, a circuit device includes a vibrator element, a semiconductor device, and a package. In the semiconductor device, an analog pad is provided along a first side facing in a first direction when the semiconductor device is seen in plan view. In addition, a digital pad is provided along aside facing in a second direction opposite to the first direction, that is, a second side facing the first side. In the package, an analog terminal which is connected to the analog pad is provided on a first side of the package facing in the first direction. In addition, a digital terminal which is connected to the digital pad is provided on a second side of the package facing in the second direction. |
| US09984988B2 |
Flip chip assembly with connected component
A flip chip assembly is disclosed that includes a die with die circuitry and a plurality of electrical contacts electrically connected to the die circuitry. A substrate includes electrical contacts that are juxtaposed with and electrically connected to corresponding die electrical contacts. A passive component is disposed between the die and the substrate, and includes a dielectric disposed between a first electrode and a second electrode. The first electrode is electrically connected to a first of the die electrical contacts and a corresponding substrate electrical contact, and the second electrode is electrically connected to a second of the die electrical contacts and a corresponding substrate electrical contact. |
| US09984987B2 |
Semiconductor structure and manufacturing method thereof
A semiconductor structure includes a substrate having a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface; a pad disposed over the first surface; a first passivation disposed over the first surface and partially covering the pad; a redistribution layer (RDL) disposed over the first passivation, and including a conductive line extending over the first passivation and a second passivation partially covering the conductive line. The conductive line includes a via portion coupled with the pad and extended within the first passivation towards the pad, and a land portion extended over the first passivation, wherein the land portion includes a plurality of first protrusions protruded away from the first passivation. |
| US09984985B1 |
Semiconductor package device with antenna array
The present disclosure provides for a semiconductor package device. The semiconductor package device includes a substrate, a first antenna, an electronic component, a package body and a second antenna. The substrate includes a first surface, a second surface opposite to the first surface and a first lateral surface extending between the first surface and the second surface. The first antenna is disposed on the first surface of the substrate. The electronic component is disposed on the second surface of the substrate. The package body is disposed on the second surface of the substrate and encapsulates the electronic component. The package body has a first lateral surface substantially coplanar with the first lateral surface of the substrate. The second antenna is disposed on the first lateral surface of the substrate and on the first lateral surface of the package body. |
| US09984982B2 |
Device and method for generating identification key
The present invention relates to a device and method for generating an identification key using a process variation in a via process, and specifically the device for generating an identification key may include a first node provided in a semiconductor chip, a second node which is formed in a different layer from the first node, a via which is electrically shorted to the first node, and which is formed between the first node and the second node, the overlap distance between the second node and the via, in a pattern layout of the semiconductor chip, being adjusted to a value that is less than a threshold according to a design rule that ensures that the first node and the second node are shorted by the via, and a reader which provides an identification key by identifying whether the first node and the second node are shorted due to the via. |
| US09984978B2 |
Body-bias voltage routing structures
In an embodiment, doped well structures distribute body biasing voltages to a plurality of body biasing wells of an integrated circuit. |
| US09984977B2 |
Semiconductor constructions
Some embodiments include a construction having conductive structures spaced from one another by intervening regions. Insulative structures are within the intervening regions. The insulative structures include dielectric spacers and air gaps between the dielectric spacers. Dielectric capping material is over the air gaps. The dielectric capping material is between the dielectric spacers and not over upper surfaces of the dielectric spacers. Some embodiments include a construction having a first conductive structure with an upper surface, and having a plurality of second conductive structures electrically coupled with the upper surface of the first conductive structure and spaced from one another by intervening regions. Air gap/spacer insulative structures are within the intervening regions. The air gap/spacer insulative structures have dielectric spacers along sidewalls of the second conductive structures and air gaps between the dielectric spacers. Dielectric capping material is over the air gaps. |
| US09984973B2 |
Method of manufacturing semiconductor device and semiconductor device
Pretreatment is carried out in a first chamber. Then, a mixed gas of titanium tetrachloride and hydrogen is supplied into a second chamber. At this time, conditions are set such that partial pressure of the titanium tetrachloride is higher than 3 Pa. The conditions are set such that the product of the partial pressure of the titanium tetrachloride and supply time is greater than 800 Pa·second. The titanium tetrachloride continues to be supplied into the second chamber to form a titanium film under prescribed temperature conditions in a plasma atmosphere. The temperature conditions are set such that temperature is higher than temperature at which titanium silicide is formed and lower than temperature at which a metal silicide film agglomerates. A titanium nitride film is formed in a third chamber. |
| US09984970B1 |
Advanced node standard logic cells that utilizes TS cut mask(s) and avoid DFM problems caused by closely spaced gate contacts and TSCUT jogs
An improved standard cell chip, library and/or process ensures that there is adequate spacing between TSCUT jogs and nearby gate contacts to avoid inadvertent shorts/leakages that can degrade manufacturing yield or performance. |
| US09984965B2 |
Inductor system and method
A system and method for providing and manufacturing an inductor is provided. In an embodiment similar masks are reutilized to form differently sized inductors. For example, a two turn inductor and a three turn inductor may share masks for interconnects and coils, while only masks necessary for connections between the interconnects and coils may need to be newly developed. |
| US09984964B2 |
Integrated circuit having slot via and method of forming the same
An integrated circuit includes a first conductive line on a first metal level of the integrated circuit. The integrated circuit further includes a second conductive line on a second metal level of the integrated circuit. The integrated circuit further includes a slot via electrically connecting the first conductive line with the second conductive line. The slot via overlaps with the first conductive line and the second conductive line. The slot via extends beyond a periphery of at least one of the first conductive line or the second conductive line. |
| US09984963B2 |
Cobalt-containing conductive layers for control gate electrodes in a memory structure
A memory stack structure including a memory film and a vertical semiconductor channel can be formed within each memory opening that extends through a stack including an alternating plurality of insulator layers and sacrificial material layers. After formation of backside recesses through removal of the sacrificial material layers selective to the insulator layers, a backside blocking dielectric layer is formed in the backside recesses and sidewalls of the memory stack structures. A metallic barrier material portion can be formed in each backside recess. A cobalt metal portion can be formed in each backside recess. Each backside recess can be filled with a portion of a backside blocking dielectric layer, a metallic barrier material portion, a cobalt metal portion, and a metallic material portion including a material other than cobalt. |
| US09984961B2 |
Chip-size, double side connection package and method for manufacturing the same
A low resistance metal is charged into holes formed in a semiconductor substrate to thereby form through electrodes. Post electrodes of a wiring-added post electrode component connected together by a support portion thereof are simultaneously fixed to and electrically connected to connection regions formed on an LSI chip. On the front face side, after resin sealing, the support portion is separated so as to expose front face wiring traces. On the back face side, the semiconductor substrate is grounded so as to expose tip ends of the through electrodes. The front face wiring traces exposed to the front face side and the tip ends of the through electrodes exposed to the back face side are used as wiring for external connection. |
| US09984959B2 |
Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof
An object of the present invention is to improve the performance of a semiconductor device that transmits signals using inductive coupling of inductors.A semiconductor device includes a first semiconductor chip having a first inductor formed on the first top surface side and a second semiconductor chip having a second inductor formed on the second top surface side. The first semiconductor chip and the second semiconductor chip are laminated on each other so that the first top surface and the second top surface face each other. Further, a plurality of first pads of the first semiconductor chip is provided along each of a first chip side and a second chip side among four sides of the first top surface. Further, each of the first pads of the first semiconductor chip is not overlapped with the second semiconductor chip in planar view. |
| US09984958B2 |
Leadframe and semiconductor device
A semiconductor device includes a leadframe, a semiconductor chip, and an encapsulation resin encapsulating the leadframe and the semiconductor chip. The leadframe includes a first surface and a second surface facing away from the first surface. The semiconductor chip is mounted on the first surface of the leadframe. A part of the second surface of the leadframe is depressed toward the first surface to form a step surface. The step surface includes an uneven surface part where depressions are formed, and is covered with the encapsulation resin. |
| US09984948B2 |
High voltage power electronics module for subsea applications under high hydrostatic pressure and temperature variations
A power electronics module includes: a baseplate, a power semiconductor chip arranged on the baseplate, and an encapsulation structure arranged on the baseplate and configured to encapsulate the power semiconductor chip, wherein the encapsulation structure is an epoxy having an elastic modulus in a range of 1 to 20 Giga Pascal, GPa, at room temperature and a coefficient of thermal expansion less than 20 ppm/K. |
| US09984947B2 |
Fingerprint sensor and manufacturing method thereof
A fingerprint sensor device and a method of making a fingerprint sensor device. As non-limiting examples, various aspects of this disclosure provide various fingerprint sensor devices, and methods of manufacturing thereof, that comprise an interconnection structure, for example a bond wire, at least a portion of which extends into a dielectric layer utilized to mount a plate, and/or that comprise an interconnection structure that extends upward from the semiconductor die at a location that is laterally offset from the plate. |
| US09984946B2 |
Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing the same
An object is to realize a hermetically sealed package which ensures long-term airtightness inside the package by sealing using a substrate, or a sealing structure for reducing destruction caused by pressure from the outside. A frame of a semiconductor material is provided over a first substrate, which is bonded to a second substrate having a semiconductor element so that the semiconductor element is located inside the frame between the first substrate and the second substrate. The frame may be formed using, as frame members, two L-shaped semiconductor members in combination or four or more stick semiconductor members in combination. |
| US09984941B2 |
Non-destructive, wafer scale method to evaluate defect density in heterogeneous epitaxial layers
A semiconductor material stack of, from bottom to top, a first semiconductor material having a first lattice constant and a second semiconductor material having a second lattice constant that may or may not differ from the first lattice constant and is selected from an III-V compound semiconductor and germanium is provided. The second semiconductor material of the semiconductor material stack is then scanned using an atomic force microscope (AFM) operating in a tapping mode to provide an AFM image of the second semiconductor material of the semiconductor material stack. The resultant AFM image is then analyzed and crystal defects at a topmost surface of the second semiconductor material of the semiconductor material stack can be measured. |
| US09984940B1 |
Selective and conformal passivation layer for 3D high-mobility channel devices
A scaled dielectric stack interlayer, compatible with subsequent high temperature processing with good electrical transport & reliability properties is provided. A method for forming a conformal aSi:H passivation layer on a semiconductor device is described. A patterned semiconductor wafer is placed in in a process chamber with a first layer formed thereon and a second layer formed thereon, the first layer and the second layer being two different materials Next, a SixH(2x+2) based deposition up to a temperature of 400 degrees Celsius is used on the first layer and the second layer thereby forming a conformal aSi:H passivating layer is formed at a higher rate of deposition on the first layer selectively and a lower rate of deposit on the second layer. |
| US09984939B2 |
Well implantation process for FinFET device
A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device includes providing a substrate, performing an N-type dopant implantation into a first region of the substrate to form an N-well, removing a portion of the substrate to form a first set of fins on the N-well and a second set of fins on a second region of the substrate adjacent the N-well, filling gap spaces between the fins to form an isolation region, and performing a P-type dopant implantation into the second region to form a P-well adjacent the N-well. The N-well and the P-well are formed separately at different times. The loss of the P-type dopant ions due to the diffusion of P-type dopant ions in the P-well into the isolation region can be eliminated, and the damage to the fins caused by N-type dopant ions can be avoided. |
| US09984935B2 |
Uniform dielectric recess depth during fin reveal
A method for providing a uniform recess depth between different fin gap sizes includes depositing a dielectric material between fins on a substrate. Etch lag is tuned for etching the dielectric material between narrow gaps faster than the dielectric material between wider gaps such that the dielectric material in the narrow gaps reaches a target depth. An etch block is formed in the narrow gaps. The wider gaps are etched to the target depth. The etch block is removed. |
| US09984932B1 |
Semiconductor fin loop for use with diffusion break
A finFET includes a source or a drain including: a first semiconductor fin extending parallel to a second semiconductor fin, and a semiconductor connector fin creating a first semiconductor fin loop by connecting an end of the first semiconductor fin to an end of the second semiconductor fin. A diffusion break isolates the source or the drain, and is positioned about the first semiconductor connector fin and the ends of the first semiconductor fin and the second semiconductor fin. The semiconductor connector fin provides an epitaxial growth surface adjacent the diffusion break. A related method and IC structure are also disclosed. |
| US09984928B2 |
Method for producing a number of chip assemblies and method for producing a semiconductor arrangement
Method for producing chip assemblies that include semiconductor chip arrangements, each semiconductor chip arrangement including a semiconductor chip having a semiconductor body with a top side and an underside, a top main electrode arranged on the top side, a bottom main electrode arranged on the underside, an electrically conductive top compensation lamina arranged on a side of the top main electrode facing away from the semiconductor body and cohesively and electrically conductively connected to the top main electrode, an electrically conductive bottom compensation lamina arranged on a side of the bottom main electrode facing away from the semiconductor body and cohesively and electrically conductively connected to the bottom main electrode, and a dielectric embedding compound enclosing the semiconductor chip laterally such that the side of the compensation laminae facing away from the semiconductor body are at least not completely covered by the embedding compound. |
| US09984927B2 |
Method and apparatus for separating semiconductor devices from a wafer
An embodiment method for separating semiconductor devices from a wafer comprises using a carrier which acts an adjustable adhesive force upon the semiconductor devices and removing the semiconductor devices from the carrier by applying a mechanical or acoustical impulse to the carrier. |
| US09984925B2 |
Semiconductor device and method for fabricating the same
A semiconductor device, including a first fin-type pattern; a first gate spacer on the first fin-type pattern, intersecting the first fin-type pattern, and including an upper portion and a lower portion; a second gate spacer on the first fin-type pattern, intersecting the first fin-type pattern, and being spaced apart from the first gate spacer; a first trench defined by the first gate spacer and the second gate spacer; a first gate electrode partially filling the first trench; a first capping pattern on the first gate electrode and filling the first trench; and an interlayer insulating layer covering an upper surface of the capping pattern, a width of the upper portion of the first gate spacer decreasing as a distance from an upper surface of the first fin-type pattern increases, and an outer sidewall of the upper portion of the first gate spacer contacting the interlayer insulating layer. |
| US09984918B2 |
Semiconductor structure and manufacturing method thereof
A semiconductor structure includes a semiconductive substrate including a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface, a shallow trench isolation (STI) including a first portion at least partially disposed within the semiconductive substrate and tapered from the first surface towards the second surface, and a second portion disposed inside the semiconductive substrate, coupled with the first portion and extended from the first portion towards the second surface, and a void enclosed by the STI, wherein the void is at least partially disposed within the second portion of the STI. |
| US09984916B2 |
Uniform dielectric recess depth during fin reveal
A method for providing a uniform recess depth between different fin gap sizes includes depositing a dielectric material between fins on a substrate. Etch lag is tuned for etching the dielectric material between narrow gaps faster than the dielectric material between wider gaps such that the dielectric material in the narrow gaps reaches a target depth. An etch block is formed in the narrow gaps. The wider gaps are etched to the target depth. The etch block is removed. |
| US09984911B2 |
Electrostatic chuck design for high temperature RF applications
An electrostatic chuck includes a puck having a support surface to support a substrate when disposed thereon and an opposing second surface, wherein one or more chucking electrodes are embedded in the puck, a body having a support surface coupled to the second surface of the puck to support the puck, a DC voltage sensing circuit disposed on support surface of the puck, and an inductor disposed in the body and proximate the support surface of the body, wherein the inductor is electrically coupled to DC voltage sensing circuit, and wherein the inductor is configured to filter high frequency current flow in order to accurately measure DC potential on the substrate. |
| US09984910B2 |
Plating apparatus and plating method
A plating apparatus allows a substrate holder to be serviced easily while ensuring easy access to the substrate holder and while a substrate is being processed in the plating apparatus. The plating apparatus includes a plating section for plating a substrate, a substrate holder for holding the substrate, a substrate holder transporter for holding and transporting the substrate holder, a stocker for storing the substrate holder, and a stocker setting section for storing the stocker therein. The stocker includes a moving mechanism for moving the stocker into and out of the stocker setting section. |
| US09984904B2 |
Substrate treatment system, substrate transfer method and computer storage medium
An interface station of a coating and developing treatment system has: a cleaning unit cleaning at least a rear surface of a wafer before the wafer is transferred into an exposure apparatus; an inspection unit inspecting the rear surface of the cleaned wafer whether the wafer is exposable, before it is transferred into the exposure apparatus; wafer transfer mechanisms including arms transferring the wafer between the units and a wafer transfer control part controlling operations of the wafer transfer mechanisms. When it is determined that a state of the wafer becomes an exposable state by re-cleaning in the cleaning unit as a result of the inspection, the wafer transfer control part controls the wafer transfer mechanisms to transfer the wafer again to the cleaning unit. |
| US09984896B2 |
High-purity fluorinated hydrocarbon, use as a plasma etching gas, and plasma etching method
The present invention is a fluorohydrocarbon represented by R—F wherein R represents an isobutyl group or a t-butyl group), the fluorohydrocarbon having a purity of 99.9% by volume or more and a total butenes content of 1,000 ppm by volume or less; a use of the fluorohydrocarbon as a plasma etching gas; and a plasma etching method comprising selectively subjecting an inorganic nitride film stacked on silicon or a silicon oxide film to plasma etching using the fluorohydrocarbon. |
| US09984895B1 |
Chemical mechanical polishing method for tungsten
A process for chemical mechanical polishing a substrate containing tungsten is disclosed to reduce corrosion rate and inhibit dishing of the tungsten and erosion of underlying dielectrics. The process includes providing a substrate; providing a polishing composition, containing, as initial components: water; an oxidizing agent; a dihydroxy bis-sulfide; a dicarboxylic acid, a source of iron ions; a colloidal silica abrasive; and, optionally a pH adjusting agent; providing a chemical mechanical polishing pad, having a polishing surface; creating dynamic contact at an interface between the polishing pad and the substrate; and dispensing the polishing composition onto the polishing surface at or near the interface between the polishing pad and the substrate; wherein some of the tungsten (W) is polished away from the substrate, corrosion rate is reduced, dishing of the tungsten (W) is inhibited as well as erosion of dielectrics underlying the tungsten (W). |
| US09984894B2 |
Forming SiC MOSFETs with high channel mobility by treating the oxide interface with cesium ions
Methods of forming a semiconductor structure include providing an insulation layer on a semiconductor layer and diffusing cesium ions into the insulation layer from a cesium ion source outside the insulation layer. A MOSFET including an insulation layer treated with cesium ions may exhibit increased inversion layer mobility. |
| US09984891B2 |
Method for forming organic film and method for manufacturing substrate for semiconductor apparatus
The present invention provides a method for forming an organic film, including: forming a coating film by spin coating of an organic film-forming composition onto a substrate having an uneven pattern, and thereafter subjecting the substrate to a vibration treatment, and after or simultaneously with the vibration treatment, insolubilizing the coating film to an organic solvent to form the organic film. This provides a method for forming an organic film that can fill an uneven pattern on a substrate to highly flatten a substrate at low cost in a production step of a semiconductor apparatus, etc. |
| US09984890B2 |
Isotropic silicon and silicon-germanium etching with tunable selectivity
Isotropic silicon and silicon-germanium etching with tunable selectivity is described. The method includes receiving a substrate having a layer of silicon and a layer of silicon-germanium with sidewall surfaces of silicon and silicon-germanium being uncovered, positioning the substrate in a processing chamber configured for etching substrates, and modifying uncovered surfaces of silicon and silicon-germanium by exposing the uncovered surfaces of silicon and silicon-germanium to radical species. The method further includes executing a gaseous chemical oxide removal process that includes flowing a mixture of a nitrogen-containing gas and a fluorine-containing gas at a first substrate temperature to form a fluorine byproduct followed by executing a sublimation process to remove the fluorine byproduct at a second substrate temperature that is higher than the first substrate temperature, and controlling the second substrate temperature to tune the sublimation rate and etch selectivity of a silicon oxide material relative to a silicon-germanium oxide material. |
| US09984889B2 |
Techniques for manipulating patterned features using ions
A method may include providing a surface feature on a substrate, the surface feature comprising a feature shape a feature location, and a dimension along a first direction within a substrate plane; depositing a layer comprising a layer material on the surface feature; and directing ions in an ion exposure at an angle of incidence toward the substrate, the angle of incidence forming a non-zero angle with respect to a perpendicular to the substrate plane, wherein the ion exposure comprises the ions and reactive neutral species, the ion exposure reactively etching the layer material, wherein the ions impact a first portion of the surface feature and do not impact a second portion of the surface feature, and wherein an altered surface feature is generated, the altered surface feature differing from the surface feature in at least one of: the dimension along the first direction, the feature shape, or the feature location. |
| US09984888B2 |
Method of fabricating a semiconductor wafer including a through substrate via (TSV) and a stepped support ring on a back side of the wafer
A semiconductor wafer having a plurality of through substrate vias (TSVs) is disclosed. The semiconductor wafer includes a stepped support ring on an outer edge of the semiconductor wafer, a usable back side region of the semiconductor wafer substantially enclosed by the stepped support ring, and the plurality of TSVs extending from a front side of the semiconductor wafer to the usable back side region of the semiconductor wafer. The stepped support ring includes a step between an outer ring and an inner ring of the stepped support ring. The semiconductor wafer further includes a back side metal on the usable back side region of the semiconductor wafer, a plurality of semiconductor devices on the front side of the semiconductor wafer, where at least one of the plurality of semiconductor devices is coupled to the back side metal through at least one of the plurality of TSVs. |
| US09984885B2 |
Non-volatile memory device and method for fabricating the same
A non-volatile memory device may include a first well of a first conductive type formed over a substrate, a second well of a second conductive type formed over the substrate to contact the first well, a trench formed over the substrate on a border formed by the contact of the first well and the second well, and a memory gate having a memory layer formed over a surface of the trench, and a gate electrode formed to fill the trench over the memory layer. |
| US09984884B2 |
Method of manufacturing semiconductor device with a multi-layered gate dielectric
A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes forming a first nitride semiconductor layer, forming thereover a second nitride semiconductor layer having a band gap wider than that of the first nitride semiconductor layer, and thereby forming a stacked body, etching the stacked body with a first film placed over the stacked body and including a first opening portion as a mask to form a trench penetrating through the second nitride semiconductor layer and reaching an inside of the first nitride semiconductor layer, causing an end portion of the first film to retreat from an end portion of the trench, forming a second film over the first film including the inside of the trench, and forming a gate electrode over the second film. |
| US09984882B2 |
Semiconductor structures and fabrication method thereof
A method for fabricating a semiconductor structure includes providing a substrate, forming an interface layer on the substrate, and then performing a first annealing process on the interface layer under a nitrogen-containing environment to form a nitrogen-containing layer from a top portion of the interface layer. The first annealing process also deactivates non-bonded silicon ions and oxygen ions in the interface layer. The method further includes forming a high-k dielectric layer on the nitrogen-containing layer, and performing a second annealing process on the high-k dielectric layer to allow nitrogen ions in the nitrogen-containing layer to diffuse into the high-k dielectric layer to reduce a density of active oxygen vacancies in the high-k dielectric layer. Finally, the method includes forming a gate electrode layer on the high-k dielectric layer. |
| US09984876B2 |
Lithographic technique for feature cut by line-end shrink
A technique for patterning a workpiece such as an integrated circuit workpiece is provided. In an exemplary embodiment, the method includes receiving a dataset specifying a plurality features to be formed on the workpiece. A first patterning of a hard mask of the workpiece is performed based on a first set of features of the plurality of features, and a first spacer material is deposited on a sidewall of the patterned hard mask. A second patterning is performed based on a second set of features, and a second spacer material is deposited on a sidewall of the first spacer material. A third patterning is performed based on a third set of features. A portion of the workpiece is selectively processed using a pattern defined by a remainder of at least one of the patterned hard mask layer, the first spacer material, or the second spacer material. |
| US09984873B2 |
Preparation of low defect density of III-V on Si for device fabrication
A method of forming a semiconducting material includes depositing a graded buffer on a substrate to form a graded layer of an indium (In) containing III-V material, the In containing III-V material being indium-gallium-arsenic (InGaAs) or indium-aluminum-arsenic (InAlAs) and comprising In in an increasing atomic gradient up to 35 atomic % (at. %) based on total atomic weight of InGa or InAl; and forming a layer of InGaAs on the graded layer, the layer of InGaAs comprising about 25 to about 100 at. % In based on total atomic weight of InGa. |
| US09984868B2 |
PEALD of films comprising silicon nitride
Provided are methods of for deposition of SiN films via PEALD processes. Certain methods pertain to exposing a substrate surface to a silicon precursor to provide a silicon precursor at the substrate surface; purging excess silicon precursor; exposing the substrate surface to an ionized reducing agent; and purging excess ionized reducing agent to provide a film comprising SiN, wherein the substrate has a temperature of 23° C. to about 550° C. |
| US09984867B2 |
Systems and methods for rinsing and drying substrates
In some embodiments, a system is provided that includes (1) a loading position; (2) a drying position; (3) a movable tank configured to (a) hold at least one substrate; (b) hold a cleaning chemistry so as to expose a substrate within the movable tank to the cleaning chemistry; and (c) translate between the loading position and the drying position; and (4) a drying station located at the drying position and configured to rinse and dry a substrate as the substrate is unloaded from the movable tank when the movable tank is at the drying position. Numerous other aspects are provided. |
| US09984863B2 |
Multi-reflecting time-of-flight mass spectrometer with axial pulsed converter
Apparatuses and methods for time-of-flight mass spectrometry providing effective pulsed conversion of continuous ion beams into pulsed ion packets is disclosed. Bunching of energetic continuous ion beams forms ion packets, which are filtered by a subsequent isochronous energy filter. The bunching method is particularly suitable for ion sources with relatively large spatial emittance, otherwise unable to fir the acceptance of orthogonal accelerators. The method is particularly suitable for multi-reflecting TOF MS, which accommodates small size ion packets and where the duty cycle advantage of orthogonal accelerators is minor. |
| US09984861B2 |
Ion entry/exit device
A method of introducing and ejecting ions from an ion entry/exit device is disclosed. The ion entry/exit device has at least two arrays of electrodes. The device is operated in a first mode wherein DC potentials are successively applied to successive electrodes of at least one of the electrode arrays in a first direction such that a potential barrier moves along the at least one array in the first direction and drives ions into and/or out of the device in the first direction. The device is also operated in a second mode, wherein DC potentials are successively applied to successive electrodes of at least one of the electrode arrays in a second, different direction such that a potential barrier moves along the array in the second direction and drives ions into and/or out of the device in the second direction. |
| US09984859B2 |
Impedance matching circuit for operation with a kilohertz RF generator and a megahertz RF generator to control plasma processes
An impedance matching circuit (IMC) is described. The impedance matching circuit includes a first circuit. The first circuit has an input coupled to a kilohertz (kHz) radio frequency (RF) generator. The IMC includes a second circuit. The second circuit has an input coupled to a low frequency megahertz (MHz) RF generator. The IMC includes a third circuit. The third circuit has an input coupled to a high frequency MHz RF generator. The IMC includes an output of the first, second, and third circuits coupled to an input of an RF transmission line. The first circuit and the second circuit provide isolation between a kHz RF signal sent through the first circuit and a low frequency MHz RF signal sent through the second circuit. |
| US09984855B2 |
Implementation of co-gases for germanium and boron ion implants
An ion implantation system for improving performance and extending lifetime of an ion source is disclosed. A fluorine-containing dopant gas source is introduced into the ion chamber along with one or more co-gases. The one or more co-gases can include hydrogen or krypton. The co-gases mitigate the effects caused by free fluorine ions in the ion source chamber which lead to ion source failure. |
| US09984853B2 |
Method for generating writing data
A method for generating writing data to be input to a writing apparatus, which writes a figure pattern on a target object by using a charged particle beam, includes generating the writing data, based on a data format that sequentially defines figure information on a figure pattern, and dose information which is defined before or after the figure information and indicates one of a dose and a dose modulation rate for modulating a dose, for a position of each of corner points of the figure pattern. |
| US09984849B2 |
Electron beam splitter
The invention relates to an electron beam splitter (1) comprising a multi-pole electrode arrangement with a high-frequency alternating current voltage (5), which extends along a specified path (6) from an inlet side (9) to an outlet side (10), wherein the electrode arrangement (5) generates on the inlet side (9) with a first number of electrodes (7) impacted by the voltage a first oscillating electric field (61), which forms on a transversal plane a single local confinement minimum (62) in a time-averaged manner, and wherein the electrode arrangement (5) generates at least on the outlet side (10) with a second number of voltage-impacted electrodes (7) a second oscillating electric field (65), which forms at least two local confinement minimums (66, 67) in a time averaged manner. |
| US09984848B2 |
Multi-beam lens device, charged particle beam device, and method of operating a multi-beam lens device
A multi-beam lens device is described, which includes: a first beam passage for a first charged particle beam formed along a first direction between a first beam inlet of the first beam passage and a first beam outlet of the first beam passage; a second beam passage for a second charged particle beam formed along a second direction between a second beam inlet of the second beam passage and a second beam outlet of the second beam passage, wherein the first direction and the second direction are inclined with respect to each other by an angle (α) of 5° or more such that the first beam passage approaches the second beam passage toward the first beam outlet; and a common excitation coil or a common electrode arrangement configured for focussing the first charged particle beam and the second charged particle beam. Further, a charged particle beam device as well as a method of operating a multi-beam lens device are described. |
| US09984841B1 |
Wire release mechanism
A wire release mechanism includes two components with adjacent longitudinal fingers and a wire that is wound about the fingers. The wire restrains one of the components in one position and includes a higher resistance fuse that causes the wire to be loosened about the fingers to allow that component to move to another position due to the flow of electrical current through the fuse. |
| US09984839B2 |
Illuminated keyboard
The present invention provides an illuminated keyboard, including a light guide backplate and a plurality of keys connected to the light guide backplate. The light guide backplate of the present application is made of a light guide material and configured to transmit and project light rays to the keys. A printed circuit layer is formed on the light guide backplate and includes a plurality of conductive switch contacts. Each key includes a key cap, a connection member, and a support member, and the support member has a conductive contact. When the key cap is pressed, the conductive contact of the support member moves downward to trigger a conductive switch contact of the printed circuit layer to generate a switch signal. In the present application, a light guide backplate provides functions, such as guiding light, a function of printed circuit layer, and connecting a key, so as to reduce thickness of the illuminated keyboard. |
| US09984838B2 |
Click pad
Examples disclosed herein relate to a click pad. Examples include a circuit board and a switch formed to extend from the circuit board. A stationary pad surrounds all surfaces of the switch extending from the circuit board, is coupled to the switch opposite to the circuit board, and is to be compressed by actuation of the circuit board when a pressure is put on the click pad. A bracket is coupled to the pad to compresses the pad between the circuit board and the bracket. |
| US09984830B2 |
Variable capacitor and method for manufacturing the same
A variable capacitor, including: two movable plates, two poles, and one rotary shaft. The two movable plates are conductor belts, and the conductor belts are sheathed in insulators. The two poles are conductors, and each is capable of rotating around an axis thereof. First ends of the two movable plates are connected via the insulators and fixed on the rotary shaft, and second ends of the two movable plates are connected to the two poles, respectively. A conductor member of the two movable plates directly contacts the two poles. The lengths of the two movable plates are identical, and are greater than the distance from one pole to the rotary shaft. |
| US09984829B2 |
Capacitor, capacitor mounting structure, and taped electronic component series
In a capacitor main body, a dimension along the thickness direction of a first region where a first inner electrode and a second inner electrode are provided is t1, a dimension along the thickness direction of a second region that is positioned on the side of a first main surface relative to the first region is t2, and a dimension along the thickness direction of a third region that is positioned on the side of a second main surface relative to the first region is t3. A condition of t2/t1>about 0.15 and a condition of t3/t1>about 0.15 are satisfied. |
| US09984828B2 |
Multilayered ceramic capacitor, mounting structure of circuit board having thereon multilayered ceramic capacitor, packing unit for multilayered ceramic capacitor
There is provided a multilayered ceramic capacitor, including: a ceramic body; an active layer including a plurality of first and second internal electrodes; an upper cover layer; a lower cover layer formed below the active layer, the lower cover layer being thicker than the upper cover layer; first and second external electrodes; at least one pair of first and second internal electrodes repeatedly formed inside the lower cover layer, wherein, when A is defined as ½ of an overall thickness of the ceramic body, B is defined as a thickness of the lower cover layer, C is defined as ½ of an overall thickness of the active layer, and D is defined as a thickness of the upper cover layer, a ratio of deviation between a center of the active layer and a center of the ceramic body, (B+C)/A, satisfies 1.063≤(B+C)/A≤1.745. |
| US09984824B2 |
Multilayer ceramic capacitor
A multilayer ceramic capacitor includes a laminated body and first and second external electrodes respectively on both end surfaces of the laminated body. When regions where first internal electrodes or second internal electrodes are not present are regarded as side margin portions in a cross section of the laminated body as viewed from the laminating direction, the side margin portions include multiple side margin layers, and the content of Si in the side margin layer closest to the internal electrode is lower than that in the side margin layer other than the side margin layer closest to the internal electrode. |
| US09984821B2 |
Multilayer ceramic capacitor
A multilayer ceramic capacitor includes an active region including a plurality of dielectric layers, and first and second internal electrodes alternately disposed with each of the dielectric layers interposed therebetween; and upper and lower cover regions including at least one ferromagnetic layer and disposed on and below the active region, respectively. |
| US09984819B2 |
Vertical inductor and method of manufacturing the same
A spiral inductor formed in a vertical plane relative to a planar surface of a substrate includes a plurality of through holes disposed in the vertical plane and spaced apart from each other, a metal interconnect structure on the top surface, and a redistribution layer on the bottom surface and having at least one bottom metal layer. The metal interconnect structure and the redistribution layer are connected to each other through the plurality of through holes to form the vertical spiral inductor. The thus formed vertical spiral inductor has a significantly reduced surface area comparing with lateral spiral inductors. |
| US09984811B2 |
Electronic component
An electronic component has a shaft, a flange formed at an end of the shaft and constituting a core together with the shaft, a coiled conductor wound around the shaft, and an electrode terminal formed on the flange and connected electrically to an end of the conductor; wherein the shaft and flange are made of metal magnetic grains containing Fe which are bonded to each other by bonding of oxide film formed on each metal magnetic grain, and the shaft is more densely filled with the metal magnetic material than is the flange. The electronic component can achieve size reduction and frequency increase by improving the magnetic permeability while also improving the plating property for the terminal electrode. |
| US09984807B2 |
Coil component and board having the same
A coil component includes: a first coil and a second coil; a first magnetic region embedding the first coil therein and a second magnetic region embedding the second coil therein; a magnetic body embedding the first and second magnetic regions therein; first and second external electrodes disposed on external surfaces of the magnetic body and connected to a first end portion and a second end portion of the first coil, respectively; and third and fourth external electrodes disposed on the external surfaces of the magnetic body and connected to a first end portion and a second end portion of the second coil, respectively. |
| US09984804B2 |
Coil component
A coil component includes a magnetic body including first and second coil patterns respectively disposed on first surfaces of two substrates spaced apart from each other and having cores and third and fourth coil patterns respectively disposed on second surfaces of the two substrates; and first to fourth external electrodes disposed on outer peripheral surfaces of the magnetic body and connected to the first to fourth coil patterns, respectively. A gap member is disposed between the two substrates while being located in at least one of upper and lower regions of the magnetic body in a thickness direction. |
| US09984801B2 |
Electrical steel sheet and manufacturing method thereof
An electrical steel sheet is provided which is capable of improving heat conductivity. The electrical steel sheet includes: a steel strip (1) for an electrical steel sheet; and an insulating film (2) formed at a surface of the steel strip (1) and containing metal phosphate and organic resin. At least a part of the metal phosphate includes at least one kind of crystal structure selected from a group consisting of a cubic system, a tetragonal system, a hexagonal system, and an orthorhombic system. The organic resin contains at least one kind selected from a group consisting of an acryl-based resin, an epoxy-based resin, and a polyester resin having a carboxyl group or a hydroxyl group at a surface of an emulsion particle for one part by mass to 50 parts by mass relative to 100 parts by mass of the metal phosphate. |
| US09984794B1 |
Refractory insulating sheet
A thin and lightweight refractory insulating sheet comprising a refractory bag and a layered type thermal insulator in the bag is disclosed. The layered type thermal insulator comprises a thermal energy consumption layer, a reflector and a graphite layer, and can efficiently attenuate thermal energy by conducting the thermal energy in all directions of the plane even when locally heated, and utilizing the thermal energy for vaporization of the water generated from the thermal energy consumption layer. |
| US09984792B2 |
Electric wire and cable
An electric wire includes a conductor having a cross-sectional area of not less than 290 mm2 and not more than 360 mm2, an insulation provided so as to cover the outer periphery of the conductor, and a wire sheath provided so as to cover the outer periphery of the insulation. The amount of deflection is not less than 120 mm when, at 23° C., one end of the electric wire is fixed to a fixture table so that another end horizontally protrudes 400 mm from the fixture table and a weight of 2 kg is attached to the other end, and cracks and breaks do not occur when wound with a bending diameter of three times the diameter at −40° C. |
| US09984785B2 |
Inkjet printing of conductive carbon nanotubes
Systems and methods for forming conductive materials. The conductive materials can be applied using a printer in single or multiple passes onto a substrate. The conductive materials are composed of electrical conductors such as carbon nanotubes (including functionalized carbon nanotubes and metal-coated carbon nanotubes), grapheme, a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (e.g. pentacene and bisperipentacene), metal nanoparticles, an inherently conductive polymer (ICP), and combinations thereof. Once the conductive materials are applied, the materials are dried and sintered to form adherent conductive materials on the substrate. The adherent conductive materials can be used in applications such as damage detection, particle removal, and smart coating systems. |
| US09984782B1 |
Scalable, electro-optically induced force system and method
A technique is disclosed for electro-optically inducing a force to fabricated samples and/or devices with laser light. The technique uses the interaction of the oscillating electric field of the laser beam in opposition with the electric field produced by an appropriate electric charge carrier to achieve a net repulsive (or attractive) force on the component holding the electric charge. In one embodiment, force is achieved when the field near the charge carrier is modulated at a subharmonic of the electric field oscillation frequency of the laser and the relative phases of the light field and electric charge carrier field are controlled to provide optimal repulsion/attraction. The effect is scalable by applying the technique to an array of charge carrier fields sequentially as well as using higher power lasers and higher carrier field voltages. |
| US09984781B2 |
Solid-state nuclear energy conversion system
A solid-state nuclear energy conversion system includes a crystalline insulator bombarded with radiation to create electron-hole pairs. A voltage source provides a potential bias across the crystalline insulator, causing electrons and holes to collect at opposing ends. A diode is incorporated in a circuit including the crystalline insulator, voltage source, and a load, inhibiting current flow from the voltage source to the load. Thus, a radiation-driven current flows to the load. |
| US09984778B2 |
Cooling system of nuclear reactor containment structure
A nuclear power plant includes a nuclear reactor containment structure housing a nuclear reactor, a pressure vessel containing condensed water therein and having a receiving space located lower than a bottom of the containment structure, a release pipe connecting the containment structure to the pressure vessel such that water vapor and fission products generated in the containment structure in the event of an accident is capable of flowing into the pressure vessel, and a recovery pipe connecting the pressure vessel to the containment structure such that the condensed water received in the pressure vessel is capable of flowing into the containment structure. When a level of the condensed water received in the pressure vessel is higher than a water level in the containment structure, the condensed water flows from the pressure vessel toward the containment structure by a water head difference. |
| US09984772B2 |
Image analytics question answering
A computer-implemented method for predicting answers to questions concerning medical image analytics reports includes splitting a medical image analytics report into a plurality of sentences and generating a plurality of sentence embedding vectors by applying a natural language processing framework to the plurality of sentences. A question related to subject matter included in the medical image analytics report is received and a question embedding vector is generated by applying the natural language processing framework to the question. A subset of the sentence embedding vectors most similar to the question embedding vector is identified by applying a similarity matching process to the sentence embedding vectors and the question embedding vector. A trained recurrent neural network (RNN) is used to determine a predicted answer to the question based on the subset of the sentence embedding vectors. |
| US09984770B2 |
Method for managing a fail bit line of a memory plane of a non volatile memory and corresponding memory device
A method can be used for managing the operation of a non-volatile memory equipped with a system for correction of a single error and for detection of a double error. In the case of the detection of a defective bit line of the memory plane, a redundant bit line is assigned and the values of the bits of the memory cells of the defective line are copied into the memory cells of the redundant line and are inverted in the case of the detection of double errors by the system, or corrected by the system in the presence of single errors. |
| US09984767B2 |
Semiconductor device having capability of generating chip identification information
A semiconductor device having a capability of generating chip identification information includes: an SRAM macro having a plurality of memory cells arranged in rows and columns; a test address storage unit configured to store a test address; a self-diagnostic circuit configured to output the test address based on a result of confirmation of operation of the memory cell selected by the test address; and an identification information generation circuit configured to generate chip identification information based on the test address which is output by the self-diagnostic circuit. |
| US09984762B1 |
Cascaded E-fuse switch circuits to control data backup in a storage device
Apparatus for managing power in a data storage device, such as a solid state drive (SSD). In some embodiments, an energy management circuit supplies electrical power to a non-volatile memory (NVM). The energy management circuit has cascaded first and second E-Fuse switch circuits each with an input terminal and an output terminal. The second E-Fuse switch circuit receives input power from the first E-Fuse switch circuit used as a rail voltage for the device. The second E-Fuse switch circuit is configured to monitor the rail voltage, deactivate the first E-Fuse switch circuit responsive to the rail voltage falling below a predetermined threshold, and supply backup power to the device from a backup power source. |
| US09984761B2 |
Semiconductor memory device
A semiconductor memory device includes first and second memory cells, each of which includes a charge storage layer, a first bit line that is connected to the first memory cell, and a second bit line that is connected to the second memory cell. A writing operation includes multiple loops of a programming operation and a verification operation, and first data is written in the first memory cell, and second data different from the first data is written in the second memory cell through the writing operation. In a first loop of the writing operation, a first voltage is applied to the first bit line and the second bit line is maintained in an electrically floating state during the programming operation, and a verification operation relating to the second data is not performed and a verification operation relating to the first data is performed. |
| US09984756B2 |
Fast programming memory device
In an embodiment of a memory device including a matrix of memory cells wherein the memory cells are arranged in a plurality of memory cells strings each one including at least two serially-connected memory cells, groups of at least two memory cells strings being connected to a respective bit line, and wherein said memory cells are adapted to be programmed into at least a first programming state and a second programming state, a method of storing data comprising exploiting a single memory cell for each of the memory cells string for writing the data, wherein said exploiting includes bringing the single memory cell to the second programming state, the remaining memory cells of the string being left in the first programming state. |
| US09984754B2 |
Memory device and method for operating the same
According to an embodiment, an operation method for a memory device which has a first memory element and a second memory element respectively provided on both sides of a semiconductor member includes applying a first potential on the second word line to write a second data to the second memory and applying a second potential on the first word line to write the first data to the first memory. The first potential increases by a first step voltage and the second potential increases by a second step voltage. |
| US09984753B2 |
3D flash memory device having different dummy word lines and data storage devices including same
A three-dimensional (3D) flash memory includes a first dummy word line disposed between a ground select line and a lowermost main word line, and a second dummy word line of different word line configuration disposed between a string select line and an upper most main word line. |
| US09984750B2 |
Non-volatile memory device and operating method thereof
A non-volatile memory (NVM) device includes a logic memory circuit, a NVM element, a writing circuit and a reading circuit. The input terminal of the writing circuit and the output terminal of the reading circuit are coupled to the output terminal of the logic memory circuit. The first output terminal of the writing circuit and the first input terminal of the reading circuit are coupled to the first terminal of the NVM element. The second output terminal of the writing circuit and the second input terminal of the reading circuit are coupled to the second terminal of the NVM element. During a writing period, the writing circuit writes the stored data of the logic memory circuit into the NVM element. During a reading period, the reading circuit restores the data of the NVM element to the output terminal of the logic memory circuit. |
| US09984749B2 |
Current driver, write driver, and semiconductor memory apparatus using the same
A current driver may include a current applying circuit and a current adjusting circuit. The current applying circuit may include a threshold switching element, and may provide unlimited amount of current while occupying small circuit area therefor. The current adjusting circuit may provide a bias voltage and control an amount of the current provided from the current applying circuit. |
| US09984739B2 |
Apparatuses and methods for controlling wordlines and sense amplifiers
Apparatuses and methods for controlling word lines and sense amplifiers in a semiconductor device are described. An example apparatus includes: a sub word line selection signal decoder which activates at least one of a plurality of sub word selection signals responsive to row address signals; a column segment selection signal decoder which activates at least one of a plurality of column segment signals responsive to a portion of column address signals and a portion of the row address signals; a column segment selection circuit which activates at least one of a plurality of column-subword selection signals responsive to the activated column segment signal and the activated sub word selection signal; and a sub word line driver which activates at least one of a plurality of sub word lines responsive to an activated main word line and the activated sub word selection signal. |
| US09984738B2 |
Apparatuses and methods for refreshing memory cells of a semiconductor device
Apparatuses and methods for refreshing memory cells of semiconductor device are described. An example apparatus includes: a memory cell array including a plurality of memory groups each having a plurality of memory cells, the memory groups being selected by mutually different addresses; a first control circuit periodically executing a refresh operation on the memory groups in response to a first refresh command; and a second control circuit setting a cycle of executing the refresh operation by the first control circuit. The second control circuit sets the cycle to a first cycle until executing the refresh operation to all the memory groups after receiving the first refresh command, and the second control circuit sets the cycle to a second cycle that is longer than the first cycle after executing the refresh operation to all the memory groups. |
| US09984736B2 |
Magnetic storage device and memory system
According to an embodiment, a magnetic storage device includes a first, second, and third magnetoresistive effect elements, and a controller. The second and third magnetoresistive effect elements are in proximity to the first magnetoresistive effect element. When the controller receives an command which is associated with an operation of writing a first data item to the first magnetoresistive effect element, the controller is configured to perform a first operation of writing the first data item to the first magnetoresistive effect element, and a second operation of writing a second data item different from the first data item to the second magnetoresistive effect element and the third magnetoresistive effect element. |
| US09984727B2 |
System for playing files associated with tagged interest items
The application provides an electronic tagging and playback system and methods of use for displaying files associated with tagged interest items. System embodiments may comprise an electronic tag storing a tag ID and disposed on at least one user interest item. A communications device may have a tag scanner in communication with a playback application activatable by the user for retrieving the tag ID when the tag scanner is in a proximity zone of the tag. A playback database may link to the playback application and may contain a playback file associated with the tag ID. The user may upload the playback file for a number of purposes, including memory enhancement, displaying a reminder, and/or assisting with language learning. The playback file may be any appropriate file displayed by the communication device when the playback application is activated and after the tag ID has been retrieved. Other embodiments are disclosed. |
| US09984725B2 |
Apparatus and method for editing
An editing method comprises: generating, from a material data which is generated according to a first time and which a first time range to be specified, a playback data that is to be played back according to a second time different from the first time, and locating a second time range, which includes the material data within the first time range, in the playback data. |
| US09984722B2 |
Disc storage cassettes
A disc cassette includes a curved portion configured to hold multiple discs. A platform portion abuts the curved portion. A movable bale is configured to maintain discs securely in the disc cassette. |
| US09984721B2 |
Magnetic tape appliance with selectably always-leading head assemblies
A tape appliance includes first and second tape guide components. The tape path includes a first path portion between a tape supply reel and the first guide component, a second path portion between a tape take-up reel and the second guide component, and a joining path portion between the first and second guide components. When tape travel is in the first longitudinal direction, a first tape head module engages the tape along one of the first or second tape path portions, and a second tape head module engages the tape along the joining path portion, such that the first tape head module is the leading module. When the tape travel is in the reverse direction, the first tape head module is positioned to engage the tape along the other of the first or second tape path portions, such that the first tape head module remains the leading module. |
| US09984717B2 |
Optical information recording device and optical information recording method
The optical information recording device includes a light source configured to emit a laser beam, an optical element configured to divide the laser beam into the reference beam and the signal beam, an angle control unit configured to control an angle of incidence of the reference beam on the optical information recording medium, and a phase control unit configured to control a phase of at least one of the signal beam and the reference beam in a recording period, wherein the angle control unit controls an angle interval so that a position of a 1st null of an adjacent page of the signal beam is fixed, and wherein the phase control unit controls the phase of the signal beam or the reference beam so that a phase difference between the adjacent pages is a predetermined value. |
| US09984709B1 |
Heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) media with thermal exchange control layer of lower curie temperature
An apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus includes a storage layer, a thermal exchange control layer disposed over the storage layer, and a write layer disposed over the thermal exchange control layer. A Curie temperature of the thermal exchange control layer is lower than a Curie temperature of the storage layer. The Curie temperature of the thermal exchange control layer is lower than a Curie temperature of the write layer. |
| US09984708B2 |
Method for manufacturing disk drive head suspension structures having improved gold-dielectric joint reliability
A disk drive head suspension or flexure and method of manufacture. Embodiments include a portion such as a terminal pad or flying lead comprising a base layer, a dielectric layer on the base layer, a conductor layer, a seed layer between the dielectric layer and the conductor layer, and a noncorrosive metal layer on the seed layer side of the conductor layer. The seed layer has a strip that extends beyond the edge of the dielectric layer. The noncorrosive metal layer extends over the strip of the seed layer and into contact with the edge of the dielectric layer. |
| US09984702B2 |
Extraction of reverberant sound using microphone arrays
A method includes estimating a spatial coherence between a first diffuse sound portion in a first microphone signal and a second diffuse sound portion in a second microphone signal. The first microphone signal is captured by a first microphone and the second microphone signal is captured by a second microphone which is spaced apart from the first microphone in a known manner. The method further includes defining a linear constraint for filter coefficients of a diffuse sound filter, the linear constraint being based on the spatial coherence. The method also includes calculating at least one of signal statistics and noise statistics over the first microphone signal and the second microphone signal. The method also includes determining the filter coefficients of the diffuse sound filter by solving an optimization problem concerning at least one of the signal statistics and noise statistics while considering the linear constraint for the filter coefficients. |
| US09984701B2 |
Noise detection and removal systems, and related methods
Systems and techniques for removing non-stationary and/or colored noise can include one or more of the three following innovative aspects: (1) detection of an unwanted target signal, or component thereof, within an observed signal; (2) removal of the target (component) from the observed signal; and (3) filling of a gap in the observed signal generated by removal of the unwanted target (component). Removal regions, frequency bands, and/or regions of the observed signal used to train the gap filler can be adapted in correspondence with local characteristics of the observed signal and/or the target signal (component). Related aspects also are described. For example, disclosed noise detection and/or removal methods can include converting an incoming acoustic signal to a corresponding machine-readable form. And, a corrected signal in machine-readable form can be converted to a human-perceivable form, and/or to a modulated signal form conveyed over a communication connection. |
| US09984697B2 |
Audio signal coding and decoding method and device
An audio signal encoding method is provided. The method includes: dividing a frequency band of an audio signal into a plurality of sub-bands, and quantifying a sub-band normalization factor of each sub-band; determining signal bandwidth of bit allocation according to the quantified sub-band normalization factor, or according to the quantified sub-band normalization factor and bit rate information; allocating bits for a sub-band within the determined signal bandwidth; and coding a spectrum coefficient of the audio signal according to the bits allocated for each sub-band. According to embodiments of the present invention, during coding and decoding, signal bandwidth of bit allocation is determined according to the quantified sub-band normalization factor and bit rate information. In this manner, the determined signal bandwidth is effectively coded and decoded by centralizing the bits, and audio quality is improved. |
| US09984693B2 |
Signaling channels for scalable coding of higher order ambisonic audio data
In general, techniques are described for signaling channels for scalable coding of higher order ambisonic audio data. A device comprising a memory and a processor may be configured to perform the techniques. The memory may be configured to store the bitstream. The processor may be configured to obtain, from the bitstream, an indication of a number of channels specified in one or more layers in the bitstream, and obtain the channels specified in the one or more layers in the bitstream based on the indication of the number of channels. |
| US09984691B2 |
System for a transducer system with wakeup detection
According to embodiments described herein, a circuit includes an interface circuit configured to be coupled to a transducer and a detection circuit. The interface circuit is configured to provide a digital output signal to a signal input terminal of a processing circuit. The detection circuit is configured to receive the digital output signal and provide a low power enable signal to a low power enable terminal of the processing circuit. In the various embodiments, the digital output signal is based on a transduced signal from the transducer and the low power enable signal is determined by comparing the digital output signal with a first threshold. |
| US09984689B1 |
Apparatus and method for correcting pronunciation by contextual recognition
Disclosed is an apparatus and method for correcting pronunciation by contextual recognition. The apparatus may include an interface configured to receive, from a speech recognition server, first text data obtained by converting speech data to a text, and a processor configured to extract a keyword from the received first text data, calculate a suitability of a word in the first text data in association with the extracted keyword, and update the first text data to second text data by replacing, with an alternative word, a word in the first text data having a suitability less than a preset reference value. |
| US09984688B2 |
Dynamically adjusting a voice recognition system
A system for dynamically adjusting a voice recognition system is provided herein. The system employs a methodology for determining a display associated with a disambiguation window, with the determination employing a detection system scoring to display disambiguation based on the vocal clarity of the speaker and other environmental factors that may affect detection. |
| US09984687B2 |
Image display device, method for driving the same, and computer readable recording medium
An image display device, a method for driving the same, and a computer readable recording medium are provided. The image display device includes a speech acquirer configured to acquire a speech query associated with a query created by a user, a display configured to display a query list composed of candidate queries having the same as or similar semantic as the acquired speech query, and an operation performer configured to perform an operation related to the query selected from the displayed query list. |
| US09984686B1 |
Mapping device capabilities to a predefined set
Techniques for defining a set of predefined device capabilities generally offered by available voice-controllable devices are described herein. Thereafter, as a particular user introduces new secondary devices into his environment and registers these devices, the techniques may identify the capabilities of the new device and map these capabilities to one or more of the predefined device capabilities of the set. |
| US09984672B2 |
Noise cancellation for aerial vehicle
A noise cancellation system for an unmanned aerial vehicle may have an audio capture module, a metadata module and a filter. The audio capture module may be configured to receive an audio signal captured from a microphone, e.g., on a camera. The metadata module may be configured to retrieve noise information associated with noise generating components operating on the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The filter may be configured to receive the audio signal and noise information from the audio capture module. The filter also may be configured to retrieve a baseline profile from a database based on the noise information. The baseline profile includes noise parameter to filter out audio frequencies from the audio signal corresponding to the noise generating component. The filter may generate a filtered audio signal for output. |
| US09984670B2 |
Method of influencing the exhaust noise of a motor vehicle and exhaust system for a motor vehicle
In a method of influencing the exhaust noise of a motor vehicle, a control unit generates noise package signals, the control unit transmits the noise package signals individually or so as to superimpose a basic signal to a loudspeaker associated with an exhaust branch of the motor vehicle, and the loudspeaker converts the individual noise package signals or the basic signal superimposed with the noise package signals into sound waves, with individual noise package signals being emitted by the loudspeaker as time-limited sound wave packages, so-called noise packages. Furthermore, an exhaust system is shown. |
| US09984667B2 |
Guitar stand mounting system
A guitar stand which is capable of being mounted onto the side handle of an amplifier, while also being capable of being mounted onto a multi-guitar adapter and an amplifier connector. The multi-guitar adapter and guitar stand can be attached onto the side handle of the amplifier. The multi guitar amplifier is capable of having a first and a second guitar stand mounted onto it while attached to an amplifier. The amplifier connector attaches onto the top of an amplifier and is capable of having a single guitar stand mounted onto it. |
| US09984664B2 |
Method and apparatus for compensating for variable refresh rate display range limitations
Briefly, methods and apparatus provide image content to, and display image content on, displays with a variable refresh rate that reduce frame delays and avoid display image flickering problems. In one example, the methods and apparatus are operative to vary a display's refresh rate by varying a current frame's vertical blanking period by re-providing the current frame for display prior to providing a new frame for display. In this fashion, the displaying of a new frame may be advanced by assuring that a new frame can be provided for display as soon as it has been rendered and available for display. In addition, by re-providing the current frame for display prior to providing a new frame for display, new frames may be provided for display at rates within a safe rate range such that display image flickering issues are avoided or reduced. |
| US09984663B2 |
Display device, screen display method, recording medium, and image processing apparatus
A display device includes: a display; a base screen image storage that stores a base screen image; a resolution judgment portion that judges whether or not the display resolution is equal to a reference resolution; an image creator that creates a first image by enlarging or reducing the base screen image to the display resolution while sacrificing image quality for speed and creates a second image by enlarging or reducing the same to the display resolution while sacrificing speed for image quality; a second image storage that stores the second image; a display processor that causes the display to display the first or second image upon screen switch; and a screen judgment portion that judges which screen a screen displayed on the display is, a screen deserving or not deserving for a second image to be stored, with reference to reference information. |
| US09984660B2 |
Display apparatus
Provided is a display apparatus having a transparent mode for outputting an internal object and a related image when the internal object is seen through a transparent display and an opaque mode for outputting an image having the same level as in an existing LCD display when an accurate image needs to be output on the display. A display apparatus according to an embodiment may include a main body, and a display unit coupled to the main body and configured to implement at least one of a transparent mode and an opaque mode, wherein the display unit includes a transparent display panel exposed at a front surface of the main body, a first light source disposed behind the transparent display panel, a transparency adjusting unit disposed behind the first light source, and a second light source disposed behind the transparency adjusting unit. |
| US09984658B2 |
Displays with improved color accessibility
An electronic device may include a display and control circuitry that operates the display. The control circuitry may be configured to daltonize input images to produce daltonized output images that allow a user with color vision deficiency to see a range of detail that the user would otherwise miss. The daltonization algorithm that the control circuitry applies to input images may be specific to the type of color vision deficiency that the user has. The daltonization strength that the control circuitry applies to the image or portions of the image may vary based on image content. For example, natural images may be daltonized with a lower daltonization strength than web browsing content, which ensures that memory colors such as blue sky and green grass do not appear unnatural to the user while still allowing important details such as hyperlinks and highlighted text to be distinguishable. |
| US09984653B1 |
Method and device for reducing video latency
Aspects of the disclosure provide a method for reducing video latency. The method includes decoding compressed video data into video frames and storing the video frames in a frame buffer for subsequent display by a display interface, logging decoding ending times of video frames and display times of video frames to generate a latency history over a first window of time, and adjusting a display rate of the display interface based on the latency history over the first window of time in order to change waiting times of video frames, the waiting time of a video frame being a difference between the decoding ending time of the video frame and the display time of the video frame. |
| US09984652B2 |
Topology and bandwidth management for IO and inbound AV
DisplayPort topology may be managed in the presence of sink devices that can stream audio/visual (AV) content to the source device, or can receive or transmit IO information from/to the source device. This IO information may include raw sensor data for a touch screen, for example. The framework could be used to support/map other published IO interface standards, over DisplayPort interface. A high bandwidth receive path can be configured in the topology independent of the transmit path to support inbound IO and AV functions. |
| US09984651B2 |
Method and apparatus for displaying composition screen image by composing screen images of operating systems (OSs)
A method of composing and displaying screen images includes transmitting a screen image of a guest operating system (OS) to a host OS, in response to the guest OS and the host OS exclusively or jointly accessing a graphics processing unit (GPU) in a pass-through or mediated pass-through environment via GPU virtualization; generating a composition screen image by transforming the screen image of the guest OS into a texture and composing the texture with a texture screen image of the host OS; and displaying the composition screen image. |
| US09984649B2 |
Array substrate, driving method thereof and display device
An array substrate, a driving method thereof and a display device are disclosed. In the array substrate, one second scanning signal line is disposed at a position corresponding to the 2N+1)th row of sub-pixels or the (2N+2)th row of sub-pixels, or one second scanning signal line is disposed at a position corresponding to the (N+1)th row of sub-pixels; each first switching element is disposed in a corresponding sub-pixel; each second switching element is disposed in a corresponding sub-pixel group; each first scanning signal line is configured to control a plurality of first switching elements in one row of sub-pixels; and each second scanning signal line is configured to control a plurality of second switching elements in one row of sub-pixel groups. The display device can have resolution reduced by half or three fourth in the case of full screen display, and lowers drive power consumption of the display panel without affecting display brightness. |
| US09984648B2 |
Delivering GPU resources to a migrating virtual machine
Described herein is providing GPU resources across machine boundaries for a virtual machine that migrates between servers. Data centers tend to have racks of servers that have limited access to GPUs. Accordingly, disclosed herein is providing GPU resources to computing devices that have limited access to GPUs across machine boundaries. |
| US09984646B2 |
Driving circuit for display panel
The present invention provides a driving circuit for display panel, which comprises a power supply circuit and a driving unit. The power supply circuit outputs a driving power supply voltage. The driving unit produces a driving signal according to a data signal and the driving power supply voltage for driving the display panel. In addition, the voltage level of the driving power supply voltage increases to a predetermined level. Thereby, during the process of charging the display panel by the data driving circuit, the driving power supply voltage output by the power supply circuit increases from a low level to a predetermined level for reducing the power consumption of the driving circuit. |
| US09984631B2 |
Organic light emitting display device
An organic light emitting display device includes: data lines and auxiliary data lines, scan lines and light emission control lines crossing the data lines and the auxiliary data lines, a display area including display pixels formed at crossing regions of the data lines, the scan lines, and the light emission control lines, a non-display area including auxiliary pixels formed at crossing regions of the auxiliary data lines, the scan lines, and the light emission control lines, and auxiliary lines connected to the auxiliary pixels. Each of the auxiliary pixels may include: an auxiliary pixel driver configured to supply a driving current to a corresponding one of the auxiliary lines, and an auxiliary transistor connected to the corresponding one of the auxiliary lines and to a first power voltage line, configured to transmit a first power voltage from the first power voltage line, in response to a control signal. |
| US09984630B2 |
Electro-optical device having a storage capacitor formed by a data line and a potential line
An electro-optical device is provided with a plurality of data lines, a plurality of potential lines supplied with a predetermined potential, a driving transistor controlling a current level according to the voltage between the gate and the source, a first storage capacitor which holds the voltage between the gate and a source of the driving transistor, and a light-emitting element. One data line among the plurality of data lines and one potential line among the plurality of potential lines are arranged to be adjacent to each other, and a second storage capacitor holding the potential of the one data line is formed by the one data line and the one potential line. |
| US09984629B2 |
Pixel circuit and display device that sets a data line to a reference voltage to remove a residual data voltage
A pixel circuit includes a pixel driving circuit and a display data inputting circuit configured to provide display data for the pixel driving circuit. The display data inputting circuit includes a gating inputting unit configured to, when a line scanning signal is valid, provide at different periods of time, red-color, green-color and blue-color display data for the pixel driving circuit through a data line connected with a resistor-capacitor unit in parallel. The display data inputting circuit further includes a data line setting unit configured to, after the gating inputting unit provides the red-color, the green-color or the blue-color display data for the pixel driving circuit through the data line, set a voltage of the data line to a reference voltage, so that residual display data in the data line is released by the resistor-capacitor unit; and a voltage value of the reference voltage is less than a predetermined value. |
| US09984627B2 |
Display panel and display unit
A display panel includes a plurality of pixels, and a plurality of signal lines and a plurality of power lines. The plurality of pixels are disposed in matrix. The plurality of signal lines and the plurality of power lines both extend in a column direction. The plurality of power lines include a plurality of first power lines assigned to respective odd-numbered pixel rows and a plurality of second power lines assigned to respective even-numbered pixel rows. The first power lines are electrically coupled to one another. The second power lines are electrically coupled to one another. |
| US09984626B2 |
Pixel circuit for organic light emitting diode, a display device having pixel circuit and driving method of pixel circuit
The embodiments of the invention disclose a pixel circuit, a display device and a driving method thereof. The pixel circuit comprises a light-emitting element; a driving TFT, its drain is input a power supply voltage signal; a first TFT, its drain is connected with a source of the driving TFT, its source is connected with the light-emitting element, its gate receives a first control signal; a second TFT, its source receives a data signal, its drain is connected with a gate of the driving TFT, its gate receives a scanning signal; a third TFT, its source receives a reference voltage signal, its gate receives the scanning signal; a fourth TFT, its source is connected with a drain of the third TFT, its drain is connected with the gate of the driving TFT and the drain of the second TFT, its gate receives a second control signal; and a capacitor. |
| US09984624B2 |
Semiconductor device, driver IC, and electronic device
A semiconductor device includes first to fourth terminals, a switch circuit, and an integrating circuit. The integrating circuit includes an amplifier circuit having a (−) terminal, a first (+) terminal, and a second (+) terminal. The integrating circuit is configured to integrate an input signal of the (−) terminal using an average voltage of a voltage of the first (+) terminal and a voltage of the second (+) terminal as a reference voltage. The switch circuit is configured to electrically connect the (−) terminal to the second terminal, the first (+) terminal to the first terminal, the second (+) terminal to the third terminal the (−) terminal to the third terminal, the first (+) terminal to the second terminal, and the second (+) terminal to the fourth terminal. The present semiconductor device is used as a semiconductor device sensing a current flowing through a pixel in a display panel. |
| US09984623B2 |
Pixel and organic light emitting display device having the same
An organic light emitting display device includes a display panel including and a plurality of pixels, a gate driver configured to a normal gate signal and an alternative gate signal to the pixels, a data driver configured to provide a data signal to the pixels, an emission control driver configured to an emission control signal to the pixels, and a controller configured to control the gate driver, the data driver, and the emission control driver. Each of the pixels is driven by the normal gate signal in a first driving mode and is driven by the alternative gate signal in a second driving mode. A threshold voltage of a first transistor is compensated in the first driving mode and the threshold voltage of the first transistor is not compensated in the second driving mode. |
| US09984621B2 |
Image display device having a drive transistor with a channel length longer than a channel length of individual switching transistors
An image display device includes: a pixel array part formed of first to fourth scanning lines arranged in rows, signal lines arranged in columns, pixel circuits in a matrix connected to the scanning lines and signal lines, and a plurality of power source lines which supplies first to third potentials necessary for the operations of pixel circuit; a signal part which supplies a video signal to the signal lines; and a scanner part which supplies a control signal to the first to fourth scanning lines, and in turn scans the pixel circuit for every row, wherein the pixel circuits include a sampling transistor, a drive transistor, first to third switching transistors, a pixel capacitance, and a light emitting device, and a channel length of the drive transistor is made longer than a channel length of the switching transistors to suppress fluctuations in threshold voltage. |
| US09984618B2 |
Active matrix light-emitting diode display screen provided with attenuation means
An active matrix light-emitting diode display screens, and in particular those with organic diodes is discussed. The display screen includes an active matrix of pixels, each pixel including a light-emitting diode, a control MOS transistor for applying a variable voltage or current to the anode of the diode, a selection transistor for applying a variable analog voltage representing a relative level of luminance of the pixel in the image, to the gate of the transistor, during a write phase of this pixel, a storage capacitor for maintaining this voltage on the gate of the transistor outside the write phase. A mean luminance attenuation circuit including a switch for periodically connecting one of the electrodes of the diode, preferably the cathode, to one or other of two fixed potentials, and a switch control circuit for switching with a variable duty cycle according to the desired attenuation. |
| US09984616B2 |
System and method for electrically repairing stuck-on pixel defects
A system and method for repairing an OLED display having an array of OLED pixels including at least one inoperative OLED pixel, wherein each OLED pixel is controlled by a pixel driver circuit having a fusible element. The system includes a first switch for reducing an energizing signal to the OLED pixel array, the energizing signal exceeding a threshold level below which the OLED pixels should not emit light. A second switch is provided for increasing a bias signal to the OLED pixel array, the bias signal exceeding a threshold level above which the fusible element of the inoperative OLED pixels are blown, such that inoperative OLED pixels no longer emit light. |
| US09984614B2 |
Organic light emitting display device and method of driving the same
An organic light emitting display device includes a timing controller, data driver, and a plurality of pixels. The timing controller outputs gamma voltages corresponding to image data. The data driver generates data signals based on the gamma voltages. The pixels emit light with brightness corresponding to the data signals. The timing controller includes an on-pixel ratio (OPR) operator to calculate an OPR based on the image data and a gamma voltage supplier to select one of a plurality of gamma tables based on the OPR and to output gamma voltages stored in the selected one of the gamma tables. |
| US09984613B2 |
Substrate and display apparatus
A substrate includes first and second image processing circuits performing image processing of an image displayed by a display apparatus, a clock signal generator generating a plurality of spread spectrum clocks, which area plurality of clock signals subjected to spread spectrum processing, and a transmitter transmitting a first spread spectrum clock, which is one of the plurality of spread spectrum clocks, to the first image processing circuit and a second spread spectrum clock, which is one of the plurality of spread spectrum clocks to the second image processing circuit. The clock signal generator includes a signal generator that generates a clock signal subjected to the spread spectrum processing and a signal divider that divides the clock signal into the plurality of spread spectrum clocks. The first and second image processing circuits synchronize with each other in accordance with the first and second spread spectrum clocks. |
| US09984611B2 |
Display apparatus and operating method thereof
A display apparatus and operating method thereof are disclosed. The display apparatus includes a display panel and a driving IC. A display area of the display panel is divided into sub-display areas. The driving IC is coupled to the display panel. The driving IC includes registers corresponding to the sub-display areas respectively. The driving IC receives a display data and obtains a plurality of color information corresponding to the sub-display areas respectively according to the display data, and then stores the plurality of color information in the registers respectively. When the frame display by the display panel has not to be refreshed, the driving IC stops receiving the display data and converts the plurality of color information stored in the registers into corresponding colors respectively and outputs them to the sub-display areas of the display panel to display. |
| US09984610B2 |
Image signal processing circuit for gamma adjustment and display device including the same
A signal processing circuit includes an input gamma adjuster configured to adjust gamma characteristics of an image signal and to output a gamma adjustment image signal, an image signal processor configured to generate a scaling signal corresponding to image characteristics of the gamma adjustment image signal and to convert the gamma adjustment image signal into an intermediate data signal in response to the scaling signal, and an output gamma adjuster configured to convert the intermediate data signal into a data signal on a basis of a first lookup table corresponding to a first gamma curve, a second lookup table corresponding to a second gamma curve, and the scaling signal. |
| US09984609B2 |
Display device
A display device is disclosed. In one aspect, the display device includes an image source configured to generate image data comprising red, green, and blue data and a color-weakness determiner configured to generate color vision deficiency data comprising color-weakness information. The device also includes a color-weakness compensator configured to generate compensation data based on the image data and the color vision deficiency data and a display portion comprising a plurality of pixels each configured to emit light based on the compensation data. Each of the pixels includes first and second sub-pixels configured to emit light having a light-emitting color based on an electric field applied to the first or second sub-pixel and a third sub-pixel configured to emit light having a predetermined light-emitting color. |
| US09984608B2 |
Inversion balancing compensation
System and method for improving displayed image quality of an electronic display that displays a first image frame by applying a first voltage to a display pixel and a second image frame directly before the first image frame by applying a second voltage to the display pixel. A display pipeline is communicatively coupled to the electronic display and receives first image data corresponding with the first image frame, where the image data includes a first grayscale value corresponding with the display pixel. Additionally the display pipeline determines an inversion balancing grayscale offset based at least in part on the first grayscale value when polarity of the first voltage and polarity of the second voltage are the same and determines magnitude of the first voltage by applying the inversion balancing grayscale offset to the first grayscale value to reduce likelihood of a perceivable luminance spike when displaying the first image frame. |
| US09984607B2 |
Systems and methods for aging compensation in AMOLED displays
Circuits for programming, monitoring, and driving pixels in a display are provided. Circuits generally include a driving transistor to drive current through a light emitting device according to programming information which is stored on a storage device, such as a capacitor. One or more switching transistors are generally included to select the circuits for programming, monitoring, and/or emission. Circuits advantageously incorporate emission transistors to selectively couple the gate and source terminals of a driving transistor to allow programming information to be applied to the driving transistor independently of a resistance of a switching transistor. |
| US09984595B2 |
Security sticker and method for banking cards
The security sticker and method for banking cards includes security stickers that provide protection of information displayed on cards, by allowing users to apply an adhesive backed, tamper evident, camouflaged sticker over any information the user wishes to protect. Different embodiments of the security stickers are provided for users having different kinds of banking cards. An adhesive sticker kit for banking cards includes at least two adhesive stickers to cover the front and back of the bank account numbers displayed on the cards, at least one sticker of different size covering the security code of the cards, another sticker advising to “Check Photo ID” of user, and at least one sticker displays account information protection advisory statements. The security sticker substrate has a top layer that will crack if someone attempts to remove the sticker from the card, thereby alerting the cardholder that someone has tampered with the banking card. |
| US09984592B2 |
Systems, devices, and methods for simulating fetal delivery
The present application relates to systems, methods, and devices for simulating the delivery of a fetus. |
| US09984591B2 |
Model for practicing cutting
A model for practicing surgical procedures which involve the cutting of skin and or tendons. A covering representing skin is stretched around a frame. A band can be added which represents tendons or ligaments. An elongated rod assists in maintaining the position of the covering and the band. Once the covering and band is cut, a new covering and new band can be placed on the frame. |
| US09984590B2 |
Identifying a change in a home environment
A system and computer implemented method for detecting a change in a home environment for a visually impaired user is disclosed. The method may include monitoring the home environment using a set of sensors configured to collect environment data for a set of areas of the home environment. The method may also include detecting an environmental change in an area of the home environment. The method may also include providing, in response to a triggering event, a notification of the environmental change. |
| US09984588B1 |
Method for showing a visual change to a human body shape
This is a method of showing to a person a visual change to his or her current human body shape. Historical data is used to show how human body shapes change in response to change in weight and measurement of the bodies. A user takes a picture of his or her current body and then selects points on the picture where change is desired in response to desired weight change. The user then views a picture of how his or her desired change will look on his or her current body shape by altering the picture using the historical data. |
| US09984587B2 |
Virtual and live play hybrid golf attraction
The golf course has a hybrid configuration with a virtual golf simulator tee off for the fairway which transitions to a live play environment once the user approaches the green. The virtual golf simulator can have a booth like configuration with a lounge behind the simulator. The user hits a ball in the simulator and the simulator senses the position and motion of the shot to calculate a starting location on the live play environment. The user then enters the live play environment and finishes the course in live play. A variety of different simulators can be used with the live play environment. |
| US09984586B2 |
Method and device to improve the flying abilities of the airborne devices operator
A method and device used to improve flying education, and reduce pilot student hazard when passing from simulators to the real aircraft, by introducing an intermediary stage where a simulator and a model radio-controlled aircraft with similar features as original is used in a system with many participants, an instructor, flight monitors, command center, mission control, audience located remotely and taking part in the same action via internet telecommunication. The simulator is used to measure biometric parameters of the pilots, certify them, and also for gaming, having fail-safe procedures embedded. System contains a flight-monitoring network, using both goniometry and radar devices, placed on surface and airborne, using these devices as signal repeaters for extensions of communication. The system may be used in missions dangerous to human crews, and by the complexity of simulation it improves the flying, as well as to improve the piloting of RC aircrafts. |
| US09984585B2 |
Method and system for constructed response grading
A method and system for constructive response grading for spoken language is disclosed. The method and system are computer implemented and involve a crowdsourcing step to derive evaluation features. The method includes steps for posting a speech test through an automated speech assessment tool, receiving candidate responses from candidates for the speech test; delivering the candidate responses to crowdsource volunteers; receiving crowdsourced responses from crowdsource volunteers, where the crowdsourced responses comprise a transcription of the speech test; deriving features from the transcription; and deriving a individual scores based on the features, where the individual scores are representative of pronunciation score, fluency score, content organization score and grammar score of the spoken language for each candidate. |
| US09984584B2 |
Brain stimulation systems and methods
Systems and methods for brain stimulation. |
| US09984581B2 |
Method and a system for assisting piloting to avoid an obstacle with a rotorcraft
A piloting assistance method for avoiding an obstacle with a rotorcraft flying along a current speed vector (Vect0). An alert is generated by using a speed vector of the rotorcraft referred to as a “calculation” speed vector (Vect1) in order to determine whether the rotorcraft might impact an obstacle. During a correction stage and at each calculation iteration, the calculation speed vector (Vect1) is determined using a horizontal component and a vertical component, the vertical component being a function of a current vertical speed of the rotorcraft relative to the ground corrected with a corrective term, the corrective term being a function of a product of a current path speed of the rotorcraft multiplied by the derivative of the path speed. |
| US09984574B2 |
Method and system for anticipatory deployment of autonomously controlled vehicles
A method and system for management and anticipatory deployment of autonomously controlled vehicles are disclosed. According to one embodiment, a method may include calculating the geographic locations and periods of time where self-driving vehicles might experience the greatest probability of being requested to provide transportation services to passengers or cargo, and then communicating the resulting locations and times to self-driving vehicles, causing the vehicles to deploy themselves to those certain locations at those certain times, all prior to and in anticipation of specific requests being initiated by users or entities for such transport. |
| US09984572B1 |
Method and system for sharing parking space availability among autonomous vehicles
Systems of an electrical vehicle and the operations thereof are provided that identify parking spaces by on board sensors and negotiate with other currently parked vehicles for parking space access. |
| US09984566B1 |
Method and systems for traffic surveillance and law enforcement
The current invention pertains to a system and a method for detection and monitoring of traffic patterns and securely processing events of violations of Slow-Down-Move-Over (SDMO) traffic regulations on at least one designated traffic surface utilizing at least one mobile platform, equipped with at least one traffic monitoring and recording system for observation, monitoring, recording, storing and processing data pertinent to potential violations of a set of SDMO regulations, prepositioned in proximity of at least one traffic scene including the at least one traffic surface. |
| US09984564B2 |
Method and an arrangement for collecting and processing data related to road status
A method and arrangement for collecting and processing data related to road status of a network of roads, include: collecting a first set of data from a plurality of vehicles indicating surrounding conditions in the vicinity of each vehicle; collecting a second set of data indicating the position of each vehicle; collecting a third set of data from the stationary data collecting unit indicating the surrounding conditions in the vicinity of the data collecting unit; transferring the first, second and third sets of data to a central server unit being associated with a storage medium; interpreting in the server unit, the first set of data in combination with the second and third set of data such that improved and local information related to road status for a coverage area of the data collecting unit is provided; and providing the information related to the road status to the user. |
| US09984563B2 |
Method and device for controlling subordinate electronic device or supporting control of subordinate electronic device by learning IR signal
A method for controlling a subordinate electronic device by learning an IR signal is provided. An electronic control device acquires control signal induction information corresponding to an identifier of the specific IR signal upon acquiring a specific IR signal. Alternatively, the electronic control device may support an electronic control device of another space such that the electronic control device acquires the control signal induction information corresponding to the identifier of the specific IR signal. The electronic control device generates a specific IR signal by using the acquired control signal induction information, if a user of a predetermined space or another space intends to control a specific subordinate electronic device. The database acquires a plurality of IR signals in a first space to an n-th space, sorts IR signals not overlapping among the plurality of IR signals, and manages the control signal induction information corresponding to each IR signal not overlapping. |
| US09984556B1 |
Emergency location identification using wireless devices
Embodiments of the present disclosure include an efficient and accurate method for presenting victim locations to emergency responders. The method disclosed can be used to track individuals still remaining in a building in case of an emergency. The method comprises determining a location for an individual by receiving a device identifier (e.g., combination of numbers and/or characters uniquely identifying a receiving device associated with the individual) and location information, received from one or more beacons, from the receiving device. The method comprises determining a first location associated with the receiving device based on the location information and/or the device identifier. The method comprises determining different locations associated with the individual as the individual moves and determining whether the individual is still within the building. The method comprises, displaying location information and instructions to reach the individual in case of an emergency. |
| US09984555B2 |
Mobile security system and method
Embodiments relate to a mobile security device, system and method. The mobile security device includes a base and at least one sensor. The base has a housing defining a first end and a second end. The base includes a base power source and a base controller coupled to the base power source and configured for wireless communication. The at least one sensor is removably coupled to the first end of the base and communicates therewith. The at least one sensor is configured to provide at least one of motion sensing, CO2/smoke sensing, vibration sensing, light sensing, and temperature/humidity sensing. The at least one sensor includes a sensor housing; a sensor power source; and a sensor controller coupled to the sensor power source and configured for wireless communication. |
| US09984547B2 |
Server and method for managing objects
A managing method includes establishing a relationship between basic information of each object of a plurality of objects and each positioning tag of a plurality of positioning tags, wherein the basic information of each object comprising status information of the each object. Position information is obtained from each positioning tag and the status information of each object is obtained at every predetermined time. Once at least one object of the plurality of objects is determined not located in a predetermined area and the at least one object is in an approved state, the positioning tag corresponding to the at least one object is controlled to transmit an alarm. |
| US09984545B2 |
System and method of monitoring the video surveillance activities
A method and apparatus are provided, wherein the method includes the steps of an activity analysis processor monitoring activities of a security system protecting a secured area and a human operator of the security system and evaluating the activities, the activity analysis processor detecting an event and saving a summary of the event to a cloud server, a user interface of the cloud server detecting a request from a user for an activity report, the cloud server downloading the activity report to the user, the activity report including playback features controlling playback of the summary, the playback features including a provision to accept requests from the user for additional data, and the playback features downloading and displaying the additional data in response to the requests from the user for the additional data. |
| US09984544B2 |
Device layout optimization for surveillance devices
A candidate position selector determines locations for M candidate positions along pathways within an area defining potential routes for moving objects within the area. A coverage rate calculator calculates a coverage rate for a device layout of N media capture devices among the M candidate positions, including calculating the coverage rate as a ratio of the moving objects captured by the N media capture devices in the device layout to a total number of the moving objects in the area within a defined period of time. A layout selector iteratively tests different device layouts of the N media capture devices among the M candidate positions, based on corresponding coverage rates calculated by the coverage rate calculator for each tested device layout, until a termination condition is reached and a final device layout of the tested device layouts is selected. |
| US09984542B2 |
Generating alerts by matching audio signatures from trusted smart devices
Methods, systems, and computer program products for generating alerts by matching audio signatures from trusted smart devices are provided herein. A computer-implemented method includes converting one or more captured audio signals originating from a given area of a given environment to one or more audio signatures, wherein the one or more audio signatures correspond to one or more pre-defined user actions within the given environment; comparing the one or more audio signatures to one or more audio signatures associated with one or more user devices authorized to access the given area of the given environment; generating, based on said comparing, an alert upon a determination that the audio signatures do not exceed a threshold level of similarity with respect to the audio signatures associated with the one or more user devices authorized to access the given area; and outputting the alert to one or more of the user devices authorized to access the given area of the given environment. |
| US09984541B2 |
Modular exoskeletal force feedback controller
Portable force feedback controllers (PFFCs) are designed to be worn on a user's limb, track the movement of the user's limb, and provide force feedback capability. In some embodiments, the PFFCs may include interchangeable modules that can be quickly and easily connected and disconnected so that the PFFC may be easily modified for a particular application. In yet other embodiments, various PFFC modules are moveably coupled and have at least one degree of freedom so that the PFFC can accurately follow the natural movements of a user's limb. |
| US09984538B2 |
Sensor system for detecting a non-depositable item inserted into an automated teller machine
Apparatus and methods for a sensor system are provided. The system may be configured to detect a dispensing of cash from an automated teller machine (“ATM”). The system may be configured to orient one or more sensors to capture a first information stream that includes the dispensing of cash. The system may be configured to detect a retraction of cash by the ATM. The system may orient one or more sensors to capture a second information stream that includes the retraction. The system may be configured to determine an estimate of cash collected by an ATM customer. The estimate may be based on a comparison of the first information stream and the second information stream. |
| US09984537B2 |
Method of gaming, a game controller and a gaming system
A method of gaming comprising: selecting a plurality of symbols for display at a plurality of display positions, the selecting being performed by selecting from a set of symbols including one or more modifiable symbols, each modifiable symbol adapted to receive a modifier; determining whether a corresponding modifier is a available for each selected modifiable symbol; modifying each selected modifiable symbol in respect of which a positive determination is made by adding the modifier to the modifiable symbol; and determining whether to make an award based on the plurality of symbols as modified. |
| US09984533B2 |
Optimizing drawing prize awards
A promotional game is conducted over participants' cell phones. During a play period, a participant advances on a virtual game board using cell phone commands. During the player period drawing entries are generated proportional to play on electronic gaming devices, play of the promotional game, or retail purchases. Some players receive a multiplier for their drawing entries to enhance chances of winning the promotional game. In one embodiment, the multiplier is removed for a player after a cutoff threshold for prizes awarded to that player is reached. |
| US09984527B2 |
Solar lighting with pay-as-you go technology
Disclosed are systems, devices and methods for providing solar lighting and power to a customer by using pay-as-you-go (PAYG) technology. The PAYG technology allows a customer to make incremental payments for a solar energy system that includes a lighting unit. The payments can be made through a smartphone. A cable is used to connect an audio jack of the smartphone and a PV power jack of the lighting unit. Analog AC signals including data about activation, payment, usage and status are transmitted over the cable between the service provider and lighting unit, through a smartphone. The power jack of the lighting unit is also used to connect to a solar panel of a charging unit and a battery of the lighting unit. |
| US09984525B2 |
Automated vending inventory management apparatuses and method
Apparatuses and methods for managing inventory within a vending apparatus are disclosed. The vending apparatus includes a robot, which is configured to include a camera or a sensor. The vending apparatus contains one or more storage containers filled with items for sale, and the one or more storage containers may include indicia that are readable by the robot and provide information to outside parties. The robot is configured to monitor the items for sale within the vending apparatus, as well as the level of inventory within each storage container. The vending apparatus may transmit information relating to its included items for sale to an external server, where maintenance and refreshment operations can be implemented in an efficient, cost-effective manner. |
| US09984524B2 |
Systems and methods for remote access rights and verification
An access control system is provided that enables a network operations center to manage and control access to a plurality of remote sites and to verify servicing of the remote sites. Individuals in possession of electronic programmable keys can be provided opening codes to activate their keys while in the field, and to enable the keys to access one or more electronic locks located at the remote sites. Usage information associated with the utilization of the electronic programmable keys at the remote sites is stored on the electronic programmable keys. A lock attendance code is generated by the keys to verify attendance at the remote locations. The lock attendance codes are then transmitted to the network operations center where they are decoded to verify servicing of the remote sites. |
| US09984522B2 |
Vehicle identification or authentication
A vehicle includes an on board microprocessor that is programmed to receive and transmit multiple authentication factors or a key derived therefrom to a remote server to authenticate the vehicle or a vehicle occupant to a remote server. The multiple authentication factors comprise a plurality of an electronic address of a portable communication device of the occupant sensed by an on board sensor, a wireless remote signal description sensed by an on board sensor, a vehicle-related identifier, a vehicle parameter sensed by the on board processor, an environmental parameter sensed by the on board processor, and a passcode received by the microprocessor from the remote server. |
| US09984519B2 |
Method and system for optical user recognition
A method and system for optically detecting a user. A sequence of patterns of radiation reflected from an object in a room may be captured by a device. The patterns of radiation may be infrared radiation emitted from the device. A sequence of variations between the captured sequence of patterns of radiation and the emitted sequence of patterns of radiation may be determined and object characteristics of an object may be determined based upon the sequence of variations. The object characteristics may be a sequence of dimensions of the object and a sequence of locations of the object. The method may determine the first is a user based upon the determined object characteristics and a room profile. The room profile may include a plurality of object characteristics of one or more objects in the room. |
| US09984518B2 |
Access monitoring system for remote locations
A system for compliance monitoring of a user of a monitored location is provided. The system includes at least one checkpoint monitor installed in the monitored location and a system server at a monitoring center being configured to be in communication with each checkpoint monitor via a network. Each checkpoint monitor includes a checkpoint server and being configured to monitor access to the monitored area. Each checkpoint monitor is configured to perform an authentication process to authenticate both an assignment status and an activity status of a user and transmit the resulting data to the system server. |
| US09984511B1 |
Vehicle diagnostics
Computing systems for vehicle diagnostics are provided. In accordance with some aspects, a computing system may include a vehicle having a plurality of sensors for monitoring an operation of one or more vehicle systems. The system may also include a computing device configured to receive, from a vehicle (e.g., from the plurality of sensors monitoring the operation of one or more vehicle systems via a communication interface), at least one signal corresponding to a status of a vehicle component. The computing system may predict, based on the at least one signal, when an issue with the vehicle is likely to occur and may determine, based on the issue, a remedial action for addressing the issue and a timeframe for performing the remedial action. The computing system may store data identifying the issue, the remedial action, and the timeframe in a record associated with the vehicle. |
| US09984508B2 |
Light-based radar system for augmented reality
A system and method for measuring depth using an optical radar system are described. The system includes an optical radar, a camera, a display, and a processor. The optical radar emits a signal towards an object. The processor identifies an object depicted in an image captured with the camera. The processor generates the signal with a non-repeating pattern of amplitude and frequency, and computes a depth of the object based on a difference in phase angle between the signal emitted from the optical radar and a return signal received at the optical radar. The depth includes a distance between the optical radar and the object. The processor generates AR content based on the identified object and adjusts a characteristic of the AR content in the display based on the computed depth of the object. |
| US09984507B2 |
Eye tracking for mitigating vergence and accommodation conflicts
A headset (e.g., VR headset or AR headset) displays a three-dimensional (3D) virtual scene and includes a distance element to dynamically adjust a distance between an optics block and an electronic display included in the headset based on a location in the virtual scene where the user is looking. The headset tracks the user's eyes to approximate gaze lines and determines a plane of focus for a frame of the virtual scene as the intersection of the gaze lines. The distance element adjusts a distance between an optics block and an electronic display so that the optics block is focused at the plane of focus, which keeps the user's eyes in a zone of comfort as vergence and accommodation change. |
| US09984506B2 |
Stress reduction in geometric maps of passable world model in augmented or virtual reality systems
An augmented reality display system comprises a passable world model data comprises a set of map points corresponding to one or more objects of the real world. The augmented reality system also comprises a processor to communicate with one or more individual augmented reality display systems to pass a portion of the passable world model data to the one or more individual augmented reality display systems, wherein the piece of the passable world model data is passed based at least in part on respective locations corresponding to the one or more individual augmented reality display systems. |
| US09984505B2 |
Display of text information on a head-mounted display
A method for presenting text information on a head-mounted display is provided, comprising: rendering a view of a virtual environment to the head-mounted display; tracking an orientation of the head-mounted display; tracking a gaze of a user of the head-mounted display; processing the gaze of the user and the orientation of the head-mounted display, to identify a gaze target in the virtual environment towards which the gaze of the user is directed; receiving text information for rendering on the head-mounted display; presenting the text information in the virtual environment in a vicinity of the gaze target. |
| US09984504B2 |
System and method for improving video encoding using content information
A system and method are provided for improving video encoding using content information. A three-dimensional (3D) modeling system produces an encoded video stream. The system includes a content engine, a renderer, and a video encoder. The renderer receives 3D model information from the content engine relating and to produces corresponding two-dimensional (2D) images. The video encoder receives the 2D images and produce a corresponding encoded video stream. The video encoder receives content information from the content engine, transforms the content information into encoder control information, and controls the video encoder using the encoder control information. |
| US09984503B2 |
Systems and methods of updating graphical objects
Systems and methods of updating graphical objects are disclosed. The methods and systems receive polygonal data which describe discrete points on an object. A control mesh and a smoothed version of the control mesh are simultaneously displayed. When the control mesh is edited, the smoothed version is automatically updated by smoothing only a portion of the edited control mesh to generate a smoothed section, and replacing a portion of the smoothed version with at least a selected portion of the smoothed section. |
| US09984502B2 |
Creating three dimensional models with acceleration data
Obtaining physical model data for CAD model generation with a process that includes: receiving a first acceleration-based path data set including acceleration data for an accelerometer device as it was traced over a first path along the surface of a physical object, converting the first acceleration-based path data set to a first position-based data set including position data for the accelerometer as it was traced over the first path along the surface of the physical object, and generating a three dimensional object model data set based, at least in part on the position data of the first position-based data set. |
| US09984501B2 |
Adaptively merging intersecting meshes
One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a technique for merging intersecting meshes of primitives. The technique involves determining an intersection boundary that is defined by an intersection between a first mesh of primitives and a second mesh of primitives. The technique further involves determining that a first plurality of primitives included in the first mesh of primitives and a second plurality of primitives included in the second mesh of primitives are proximate to the intersection boundary. The technique further involves removing the first plurality of primitives to form a first mesh boundary associated with the first mesh and removing the second plurality of primitives to form a second mesh boundary associated with the second mesh. Finally, the technique involves connecting a first plurality of vertices associated with the first mesh boundary to a second plurality of vertices associated with the second mesh boundary to form a joined boundary. |
| US09984500B2 |
Method, system, and computer-readable data storage device for creating and displaying three-dimensional features on an electronic map display
Methods, systems, and computer-readable data storage devices for generating and/or displaying a map with three-dimensional (3D) features are disclosed. For example, a method may comprise (i) defining a plurality of major three-dimensional regions (“major 3DRs”) and associating each major 3DR with a respective geographical area defined for a map stored in a computer-readable map database, and (ii) displaying, via a display device, one or more of the major 3DRs upon the map. Each major 3DR comprises a top, a bottom, and multiple sides. Each top, bottom, and side of each major 3DR comprises at least one surface. At least one surface of each major 3DR being displayed is textured with an image captured via an imaging device. The image textured onto each surface comprises an image captured by the imaging device when capturing images in a direction of that surface. |
| US09984490B2 |
Optimizing for rendering with clear color
Embodiments provide for a graphics processing apparatus comprising render logic to detect rendering operations that will result in framebuffer having the same data as the initial clear color value and morphing such rendering operations to optimizations that are typically done for initial clearing of the framebuffer. |
| US09984488B2 |
Animating a virtual object in a virtual world
A computer implemented method for use in animating parts of a virtual object in a virtual world, the method comprising accessing joint data for each joint of a chain of joints associated with parts of a virtual object, joint data including length data defining a vector length for a vector from the joint to a next joint, the length data corresponding to a length of a part in the virtual world; accessing data for a target curve for use in defining possible target locations for the joints of the parts of the virtual object; and processing the joint data to set a location of a first joint at a first end of the chain to location of a first end of the target curve; define an end target location on the curve for an end joint at a second end of the chain; define intermediate locations on the curve for joints intermediate the ends of the chain based on the lengths of the vectors along the chain; and for a number of iterations, repeatedly identify a joint at a location having a largest location error relative to an intermediate location on the curve for the joint; rotate a vector for a preceding joint in the chain to minimize a distance between the end joint and the intermediate location on the curve; rotate a vector for the identified joint to minimize the distance between the end joint and the end target location on the curve; identify a joint at a location having the largest location error relative to an intermediate location on the curve for the joint; and determine a rotation to be applied to the vector for the first joint and the vector for the identified joint to fit the end joint to the end target location, and rotating the vector for the first joint and the vector for the identified joint to fit the end joint to the end target location. |
| US09984483B2 |
Mobile terminal testing device and mobile terminal testing method
Provided are a mobile terminal testing device for and a mobile terminal testing method of enabling a user to easily recognize a change in the testing result data in each domain in a case where testing result data indicating a result of testing a mobile terminal is displayed with two domains. A three-dimensional display screen 40 on which the testing result data indicating a result of testing the mobile terminal is displayed in a three-dimensional graph that uses the first domain and the second domain, a first display screen 41 on which the testing result data is displayed in a graph that uses the first domain, and a second display screen 42 on which the testing result data is displayed in a graph that uses the second domain are displayed on a display device. |
| US09984477B2 |
Method for determining a resultant image, computer program, machine-readable data carrier and imaging device
In an embodiment of the invention, a plurality of images of a region under examination are recorded at different times. Anatomical information and flow information are derived from the images. The anatomical information may relate to the course of vessels or the structure of perfused tissue. The temporal component of the flow information can advantageously be combined with the anatomical information in a resultant image. An intensity-dependent fenestration assigns a gray-scale value to pixels of the resultant image in accordance with the anatomical information. A time-dependent fenestration assigns a chromaticity to the pixels of the resultant image in accordance with the flow information and the gray-scale values and the chromaticities are assigned independently of one another. Intensity-dependent fenestration is combined with time-dependent fenestration so that chromaticities and gray-scale values are independent of one another and the anatomical information and the flow information are depicted undistorted in the resultant image. |
| US09984476B2 |
Methods and systems for automatic segmentation
Methods and systems are provided for reconstructing and automatically segmenting an image. In one embodiment, a method comprises acquiring projection data, the projection data comprising higher energy projection data and lower energy projection data, generating a first image from the projection data, generating a second image from the projection data, segmenting the second image to generate segments, and segmenting the first image based on the segments of the second image. In this way, an image which may otherwise prove challenging for an automatic segmentation process may be accurately segmented without sacrificing textural details of the image. |
| US09984475B2 |
Compression using index bits in MSAA
A palette compressed representation may be stored in the index bits, when that is possible. The savings are considerable in some embodiments. In uncompressed mode, the data uses 2304 (2048+256) bits, and in compressed mode, the data uses 1280 bits. However, with this technique, the data only uses the index bits, (e.g. 256 bits) with a 5:1 compression improvement over the already compressed representation, and with respect to the uncompressed representation it is a 9:1 compression ratio. |
| US09984471B2 |
Label and field identification without optical character recognition (OCR)
Systems of the present disclosure allow fields and labels to be identified in a digital image of a form without performing OCR. A digital image of a form can be partitioned into image segments using computer-vision image-segmentation techniques. Features for each image segment can be extracted using computer-vision feature-detection methods. The features extracted from an image segment can be included in an input instance for a machine-learning model. The machine-learning model can assign a classification to the input instance. The classification can associate the input instance with a field type or a label type. |
| US09984470B2 |
Vision system with tail detection
A system that includes a three-dimensional (3D) camera configured to capture a 3D image of a rearview of a dairy livestock in a stall, a memory, and a processor. The processor is configured to obtain the 3D image, identify one or more regions within the 3D image comprising depth values greater than a depth value threshold, and apply the thigh gap detection rule set to the one or more regions to identify a thigh gap region. The processor is further configured to demarcate an access region within the thigh gap region and demarcate a tail detection region. The processor is further configured to partition the 3D image within the tail detection region to generate a plurality of image depth planes, examine each of the plurality of image depth planes, and determine position information for the tail of the dairy livestock in response to identifying the tail of the dairy livestock. |
| US09984468B2 |
Information processing device and method for recognising an image
There is provided an information processing device including a captured image information acquisition portion which acquires captured image information corresponding to a captured image, a displayed image information acquisition portion which acquires displayed image information corresponding to a first image displayed on a display screen, and an object recognition portion which detects the position and the posture of the first image in the captured image using the displayed image information and the captured image information. |
| US09984467B2 |
Vehicle positioning or navigation utilizing associated feature pairs
According to the embodiments described herein, a method for vehicle positioning or navigation utilizing associated feature pairs may include creating a plurality of associated feature pairs by retrieving an initial set of camera data from the camera comprising two-dimensional UV space information, forming pairs from the UV space information, and associating each pair from the UV space information with pairs from each of the plurality of three-dimensional global feature points of the industrial facility map, calculating a best estimate poses from calculated vehicle poses of the associated feature pairs, using an accumulated odometry to update the best estimate pose to a current localized position and setting a seed position as the current localized position. The navigation of the materials handling vehicle is tracked and/or navigated along the inventory transit surface navigate in at least a partially automated manner utilizing the current localized position. |
| US09984465B1 |
Method and system for analyzing blood flow condition
The present application relates to a method and system for analyzing blood flow conditions. The method includes: obtaining images at multiple time phases; constructing multiple vascular models corresponding to the multiple time phases; correlating the multiple vascular models; setting boundary conditions of the multiple vascular models respectively based on the result of correlation; and determining condition of blood vessel of the vascular models. |
| US09984464B2 |
Systems and methods of choroidal neovascularization detection using optical coherence tomography angiography
Disclosed are systems and methods to automatically detect choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in the outer retina using OCT angiography. Further disclosed are methods of removing projection artifacts from the outer retina and for combining brightness, orientation, and position information in a context-aware saliency model to quantify CNV area in OCT angiograms. |
| US09984462B2 |
Disease characterization from fused pathology and radiology data
Methods and apparatus distinguish invasive adenocarcinoma (IA) from in situ adenocarcinoma (AIS). One example apparatus includes a set of circuits, and a data store that stores three dimensional (3D) radiological images of tissue demonstrating IA or AIS. The set of circuits includes a classification circuit that generates an invasiveness classification for a diagnostic 3D radiological image, a training circuit that trains the classification circuit to identify a texture feature associated with IA, an image acquisition circuit that acquires a diagnostic 3D radiological image of a region of tissue demonstrating cancerous pathology and that provides the diagnostic 3D radiological image to the classification circuit, and a prediction circuit that generates an invasiveness score based on the diagnostic 3D radiological image and the invasiveness classification. The training circuit trains the classification circuit using a set of 3D histological reconstructions combined with the set of 3D radiological images. |
| US09984461B2 |
Method, apparatus, and terminal for obtaining vital sign data of target object
Embodiments of the present invention provide a method for obtaining vital sign data of a target object, including: obtaining a 3D depth image of a target object; obtaining, according to depth values of pixels in the 3D depth image of the target object, framework parameters of the target object and a graphic contour of the target object, where the depth value, is obtained according to the distance information, indicates a distance between a point on the target object and the imaging device; retrieving a 3D model matching the framework parameters of the target object and the graphic contour of the target object from a 3D model library, and obtaining a parameter ratio of the 3D model; obtaining at least one real size of the target object; and obtaining vital sign data of the target object according to the parameter ratio of the 3D model and the at least one real size. |
| US09984458B2 |
Vessel segmentation method
Vascular structures are segmented by a locally adaptive method based on iterative region growing and morphological operations. |
| US09984456B2 |
Method and system for labeling hepatic vascular structure in interactive liver disease diagnosis
A method for labeling vessel branches forming first and second vessel systems. A 3D image is segmented to obtain vessel branches. First and second root points are then determined. Starting from the first root point, the vessel branches are traced to derive a tracing path and a break point is determined, that separates the tracing path into two portions. A region of interest in the 3D image is determined with respect to the break point, in which center lines are assigned to the first or second vessel system. A 3D cutting structure is generated based on distances measured from points on the center lines to the 3D cutting structure. Graph representations are constructed for the first and second vessel systems. The vessel branches are labeled with different labels based on the graph representations. |
| US09984454B2 |
System, method and computer program product for correcting a difference image generated from a comparison of target and reference dies
A system, method, and computer program product are provided for correcting a difference image generated from a comparison of target and reference dies. In use, an intra-die inspection of a target die image is performed to generate, for each pattern of interest, a first representative image. An intra-die inspection of a reference die image is performed to generate, for each of the patterns of interest, a second representative image. Further, the target die image and the reference die image are compared to generate at least one difference image, and the at least one difference image is corrected using each of the generated first representative images and each of the generated second representative images. Detection is then performed using the corrected difference image. |
| US09984450B2 |
Method and apparatus for enhancement of ultrasound images by selective differencing
A computer implemented method and apparatus for processing images comprises obtaining two or more images acquired by ultrasound. One or more operating parameters of the ultrasound probe (transducer) are varied so that the resulting images of a material or object under investigation differ with respect to intensity. Examples of parameters which may be varied include probe angle, frequencies, and even the time and/or resolution of the respective images. The method further comprises creating a new image by selectively subtracting one or more images from one or more others. In an embodiment, there are two images and one is partially subtracted from the other. If negative values are obtained as a result of the subtraction, such values are set to zero. |
| US09984449B2 |
Restoration filter generation device and method, image processing device and method, imaging device, and non-transitory computer-readable medium
A restoration filter generation device which generates a restoration filter for performing a restoration process on luminance system image data, the restoration process being based on a point-image distribution in an optical system, the luminance system image data being image data relevant to luminance and being generated based on image data for each color of multiple colors, the restoration filter generation device including an MTF acquisition device which acquires a modulation transfer function MTF for the optical system; and a restoration filter generation device which generates the restoration filter based on the modulation transfer function MTF, the restoration filter suppressing an MTF value of image data for each color of the multiple colors to 1.0 or less at least in a region of a particular spatial frequency or less, the image data for each color of the multiple colors corresponding to the luminance system image data after the restoration process. |
| US09984447B2 |
Gas visualization arrangements, devices, and methods
Gas visualization in an image depicting a scene, for an example embodiment comprises capturing a first IR image depicting the scene at a first time instance and a second IR image depicting the scene at a second time instance; performing image processing operations on image data derived from said first IR image and from said second IR image, to generate a collection of data representing the location of gas in one of the first or second IR images; and generating a third image by adjusting pixel values in an image depicting the scene, dependent on pixel values of said collection of data. According to various embodiments, there is further provided further processing of the collection of data, and/or gas detection, before generation of the third image with adjusted pixel values. |
| US09984444B2 |
Apparatus for correcting image distortion of lens
Disclosed herein is an apparatus for correcting image distortion of a lens, including an input unit for receiving image information, a segmentation unit for segmenting the image information into one or more image subdivision units, a setting unit for setting a center of the image information, a controller for shifting each of the one or more image subdivision units by a variation ratio with respect to the center of the image information, an interpolation unit for inserting one or more image subdivision units corresponding to the shifted image subdivision units into an interpolation space generated between the shifted image subdivision units, and an output unit for outputting corrected image information. According to an embodiment of the present invention, by shifting one or more image subdivision units by a variation ratio, operation logic for coordinate calculation and internal memory logic may be minimized, and implementation complexity may be lowered. |
| US09984443B2 |
Polarimetric multispectral camera
A camera for polarimetric, multispectral imaging is described. Such cameras are used in photonics, computational imaging and multispectral imaging in which both multispectral and polarimetric sensing modalities are used simultaneously for detection, recognition and identification. The camera enables multiple spectral images to be recorded simultaneously using polarizing beamsplitters and mirrors to divide the image according polarimetric and spectral bands. These multiple, polarized images are recorded on a single focal plane array (FPA) simultaneously. An image processor allows for the resolution of the subsequent image to be improved. |
| US09984442B2 |
Method and device for enhancing quality of an image
A method for enhancing quality of an image comprises deriving from an initial low-resolution image (LRI) an initial high-resolution image (IHRI) by upsampling (S2, S3), providing (S4), based on the initial low-resolution image (LRI), at least one downsampled filtered image (AIij, AIi′j′) with lower resolution, providing (S6), based on the initial low-resolution image (LRI), an unfiltered image (LRI, UIi′j′) having same resolution as the downsampled filtered image, selecting a patch (PI) from the initial high-resolution image (IHRI), finding (S8) filial patches (PA k) similar to the selected patch in the downsampled filtered image (AIij, AIi′j′), finding, in the unfiltered image (LRI, UIi′j′), parent patches (PPk) locally associated to the filial patches (PAk), and linearly combining (S14) the parent patches (PPk) to form an enhanced quality patch (EP). Finally, enhanced quality patches (EP) obtained by repeatedly carrying out above steps are combined (S15) to form an enhanced quality high-resolution image (EIp). |
| US09984440B2 |
Iterative patch-based image upscaling
Image upscaling techniques are described. These techniques may include use of iterative and adjustment upscaling techniques to upscale an input image. A variety of functionality may be incorporated as part of these techniques, examples of which include content-adaptive patch finding techniques that may be employed to give preference to an in-place patch to minimize structure distortion. In another example, content metric techniques may be employed to assign weights for combining patches. In a further example, algorithm parameters may be adapted with respect to algorithm iterations, which may be performed to increase efficiency of computing device resource utilization and speed of performance. For instance, algorithm parameters may be adapted to enforce a minimum and/or maximum number to iterations, cease iterations for image sizes over a threshold amount, set sampling step sizes for patches, employ techniques based on color channels (which may include independence and joint processing techniques), and so on. |
| US09984438B1 |
Robust image registration for multi-spectral/multi-modality imagery
A method of registering images includes identifying a block size for a warp estimation on a block by block basis to improve registration of a first image to a master image, and performing the warp estimation on a block by block basis to produce warp data, wherein the warp data includes a warp vector for each block and its associated uncertainty. The method also includes performing a warp model fit on the warp data to produce reduced noise warp data, and applying the reduced noise warp data to the first image for improved registration of the first image to the master image. |
| US09984436B1 |
Method and system for real-time equirectangular projection
A system and machine-implemented method of real-time equirectangular projection are provided. A first macro-block in an equirectangular projection lookup table is retrieved. A second macro-block of pixels corresponding to the first macro-block determined by pixel mapping information of the first macro-block is retrieved. Destination coordinates of the pixels in the second macro-block by the pixel mapping information is determined. Pixel values of the pixels in the second macro-block to the corresponding destination coordinates are provided for output. |
| US09984429B2 |
Feature-based signal localization in digital capture systems
The present disclosures relates generally to image signal processing and encoding signal within imagery. One claim recites a method comprising: obtaining data representing captured imagery, the captured imagery depicting packaging including digital watermarking, the digital watermarking including an orientation signal that is detectable in a transform domain; generating a n-dimensional feature set of the data representing captured imagery, the n-dimensional feature set representing the captured imagery in a spatial domain, where n is an integer great than 13; using a trained classifier to predict the presence of the orientation signal in a transform domain from the feature set in the spatial domain. Of course, other claims and combinations are provided too. |
| US09984425B2 |
Following data records in an information feed
Disclosed are some examples of systems, apparatus, methods, and computer program products related to automatically causing a following relationship to be established in an enterprise social networking system between a user and one or more customer relationship management (CRM) records. In some implementations, a workflow is configurable at least in part by one or more selections defining one or more conditions. Responsive to determining that one or more properties associated with a first CRM record satisfies the one or more conditions, a user is caused to follow the first CRM record. The following enables or causes updates associated with the first CRM record to be shared in a feed of the enterprise social networking system, where the feed can be provided to the user's device. Information based on the following of the first CRM record by the user can be displayed at the device. |
| US09984423B2 |
Hybrid electronic lockbox
A method of managing an electric lockbox, such as to reduce processing times associated with remittance processing, may include receiving, by one or more computing devices at a financial institution, a batch file and/or one or more physical remittances at lockbox associated with a payee, the batch file and any physical remittances comprising information associated with a plurality of financial transactions between one or more payors and the payee. The one or more computing devices may then determine whether at least a portion of the information corresponds to a payee preference. A report may be communicated to the payee, the report including a record of the plurality of financial transactions as a set of documents corresponding to the payee preference. In some cases, the report may include at least a portion of the remittance information associated with the plurality of financial transactions deposited into an account associated with the payee. |
| US09984422B2 |
Computer system for generating keyboardless data entry interfaces on remote user devices
A computer system for interaction with user devices presenting a keyboardless data entry interface and third party data systems is configured to provide data for display on a user device of a selectable input graphical user interface, the graphical user interface including a series of user selectable inputs not requiring user keyboard-type information entry. The system is configured to obtain data from a user device and from third party computer systems. The system is further configured to determine an insurance quotation based on inputs via the graphical user interface not requiring user keyboard-type information entry and the data from one or more of the user device and third party computer systems. |
| US09984421B2 |
System for claim data segmentation
According to some embodiments, data is received indicative of a plurality of insurance claims. It may then be automatically determined that a first insurance claim is associated with a first type of insurance and that a second insurance claim is associated with a second type of insurance. The received data associated with the first insurance claim may be analyzed in accordance with first segmentation logic to determine a first segment classification appropriate for the first insurance claim. Similarly, the received data associated with the second insurance claim may be automatically analyzed in accordance with second segmentation logic to determine a second segment classification appropriate for the second insurance claim. Indications of the first and second segment classifications may then be transmitted (e.g., to a load balancing and assignment engine that automatically selects claim handlers for insurance claims). |
| US09984418B1 |
System and method for determining an insurance premium quote based on human telematic data and structure related telematic data
Systems and methods are disclosed herein for pricing an insurance premium based on analysis of various telematic data. The system includes a user with a wearable human telematic sensor providing telematic data about the wearer. Also, the system and method includes at least one building/environment telematic sensor configured to provide telematic data about the building and surrounding environment. The various telematic data is communicated and processed to provide an insurance quote to the user based upon analysis of the telematic data. |
| US09984416B2 |
Method for offering a protection policy for a mobile device
One embodiment includes a method for offering a protection policy for a mobile device, the method comprising the steps of providing an application, conducting a test of the mobile device, calculating the risk of protecting the mobile device, and offering an protection policy. The application is configured to operate on the mobile device and to test at least one function of the mobile device. The test is conducted by the application and verifies at least one function of the mobile device through the application. The risk of protecting the mobile device is based upon at least one result of the test. The protection policy for the mobile device is based upon the calculated risk, has a cost, and is offered for purchase to a user of the mobile device. |
| US09984408B1 |
Method, medium, and system for live video cooperative shopping
Disclosed are various embodiments for facilitating a cooperative shopping session. A mobile computing device establishes a session with a remote computing device. Product data is displayed by the mobile computing device in association with the session. The product data is shared with the remote computing device in association with the session. The mobile computing device receives an indication of a user interaction with the product data at the remote computing device. The mobile computing device displays the user interaction with the product data in conjunction with the product data and in association with the session. |
| US09984407B2 |
Context sensitive entry points
Various methods for opening an online media store are disclosed. In one aspect, a media player can determine contextual data (e.g., category information, performer information, genre associated with the media, etc.) associated with the media selected or displayed by a user of the media player. The media player can provide the contextual data to an online media store. The online media store can be opened to a context sensitive entry point based on the contextual data. In some implementations, the context sensitive entry point can display content associated with the category of the media previously displayed by the media player. |
| US09984403B2 |
Electronic shopping cart processing system and method
An electronic shopping cart of a user is presented in a first interface during checkout, such as one allowing scrolling through representations of items in a shopping list in a first direction. On selection of an item, a second interface is displayed of a “shelf” for the selected item, the shelf including related items such as might be located on a same shelf as the selected result in a retail location. The second interface may allow scrolling in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. Items in the second interface may be selected and either added to the electronic shopping cart or used to replace the selected item. |
| US09984400B2 |
Network apparatus and method for control of an electronic data exchange between provider terminal and user terminal based on factor information
An information processing apparatus, method, and program that control an electronic data exchange. The apparatus, method, and program involve receiving user information on an information provider or a provider terminal from the provider terminal used by the information provider. The user information received is stored in a memory. In the case of accepting an acquisition request for the user information from a user terminal used by an information user, the system controls whether to provide the user information corresponding to the acquisition request to the user terminal and transmits a reward to the information provider which is a transmission source of the provided user information based on factor information which affects a value of the user information stored. |
| US09984399B2 |
Securely and efficiently processing telephone orders
An apparatus includes a registration module that creates and stores a customer billing profile of a customer with billing information, contact information and/or shipping information of the customer. A phone connection module establishes a telephonic connection between the customer and an automated attendant of a merchant. An identifier module sends an identifier to the automated attendant after establishing the telephonic connection. The identifier links the customer to a customer billing profile. A sales identifier module identifies to the automated attendant a product and/or a service offered by the merchant as part of a sales order. A billing profile module provides the automated attendant electronic access to the customer billing profile. The automated attendant processes the sales order using the customer billing profile and billing information of the customer billing profile is unavailable to the automated attendant and to a computer system of the merchant prior to establishing the telephonic connection. |
| US09984394B2 |
Sensor data gathering
A sensor data gathering environment that associates a sensor with a smart tag attached to a product. The sensor receives product identification data from the smart tag. An application, web service or a computing device associated with the sensor collects customer behavior data, such as a length of time the sensor is associated with the smart tag, the proximity of the sensor to the smart tag, the location of the sensor while in a threshold distance from the smart tag, and the like. The application, web service or the computing device associated with the sensor transmits the product identification data and the customer behavior data to a remote computing system for analysis. Based on the analysis, a message or communication is initiated to provide the customer with personalized customer service. |
| US09984393B2 |
System and method for managing a telemarketing campaign
A system and a method for managing a solicitation campaign are disclosed. A solicitor provides a solicitation center with pages of personalized script, which are generated using a first script template. The solicitor receives solicitee responses, analyzes the solicitee responses, and determines whether to continue the solicitation campaign using the current script template or using a second script template for subsequent solicitations. |
| US09984385B2 |
Caddies and caddy systems with display capabilities
Caddies and caddy systems are provided. In this regard, a representative system includes a plurality of caddies located in the establishment, wherein each of the caddies incorporates: a housing, a display unit, a tray and at least one compartment for storing items for use by the patrons; the display unit being detachably mounted to the housing and having a touchscreen display for obtaining input from patrons in the establishment. |
| US09984384B2 |
Advertisement server, user terminal, and advertisement method
When a user accesses an advertisement site by a browser unit and requests transmission of the advertisement moving image, an advertisement server requests the user to connect an electronic money card to a reader/writer. The advertisement server can communicate with the electronic money card via the browser unit. Thus, the advertisement server reads an electronic money functional unit ID which is ID information of the electronic money card from the electronic money card to store it therein, and further transmits to the user terminal moving image data of the advertisement moving image stored in the advertisement moving image database. While the user terminal is reproducing the advertisement moving image, the advertisement server accesses the electronic money card through the browser unit for every given interval, and confirms that the electronic money card is connected to the reader/writer. |
| US09984376B2 |
Method and system for automatically identifying issues in one or more tickets of an organization
The present disclosure relates to method and system for automatically identifying one or more issues in one or more tickets of an organization. An issue identification system retrieves a sequence pattern from ticket data received from one or more data sources. The issue identification system generates one or more first sub-sequence patterns of the n-grams from the sequence pattern. Further, frequency of occurrence and Part-of-Speech (POS) weightage of each of the one or more first sub-sequence patterns of the n-grams are determined by the issue identification system. A first score is determined for each of the one or more first sub-sequence patterns of the n-grams based on both the frequency and the POS weightage. Upon determining the first score, the issue identification system identifies one or more issues in the one or more tickets automatically based on the first sub-sequence pattern of the n-grams associated with a highest first score. |
| US09984375B2 |
Client for securely and efficiently transferring sensitive information via a telephone
An apparatus includes a communications module that establishes a telephonic connection between a customer service representative of a company and a customer. An identification send module sends an identifier that alerts the customer service representative that the customer has a customer profile that includes information to identify the customer. An ID request receiver module receives a request to provide identifying information via the electronic device and displays the request to the customer. An ID input module receives the identifying information from the customer and masks the identifying information from the customer service representative. An ID comparison module compares the identifying information input by the customer with the information in the customer profile. An ID confirmation transmit module transmits an identification confirmation to the computer system of the company in response to the identifying information input by the customer matching the information to identify the customer in the customer profile. |
| US09984372B1 |
Method of prepaid card partial payment transaction authorization
A payment processing system allows partial captures and full deposits after receiving a partial authorization result on a requested card transaction. When the partial amount authorized is less than the full transaction amount, but above a certain value (which can be merchant specified), the system can accept the partial amount (a partial deposit or partial capture) as payment for the transaction. When the partial amount authorized is less than the full transaction amount, and below a certain value (which can be merchant specified), the system can make a full deposit of the transaction amount. The system can use one or more factors, including historical information, in determining whether to attempt a full deposit. |
| US09984367B2 |
Paying non-settlement transactions
Payment of non-settlement currencies includes developing a non-settlement currency exchange separate from a financial institution unwilling to assume risks in converting non-settlement currencies. The non-settlement currency exchange includes a predictive model to provide an estimated currency exchange rate. Schemes are provided where a merchant may share currency exchange profit and/or currency exchange losses with a financial institution. The exchange rate may be persisted in subsequent related financial transactions such as a refund, a chargeback, and/or a representment. |
| US09984361B2 |
Selectively providing cash-based e-commerce transactions
Systems and methods are provided for facilitating alternative payment submissions. According to a one aspect, a selection by a purchaser of one or more items is received, one or more characteristics associated with the purchaser are processed to determine a reliability of the purchaser, and an option to provide payment for the one or more items by way of a first payment method in lieu of a second payment method is selectively provided to the purchaser based on the determined reliability, the second payment method corresponding to a payment method requiring the purchaser to provide banking information and the first payment method corresponding to a payment method not requiring the purchaser to provide banking information. Other embodiments of the various aspects include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer program products. |
| US09984358B2 |
Managing team mailbox integrating email repository and content management store services
A communication application creates a team mailbox integrating messages from an email repository and documents from a content management store (CMS). The application enables an administrator to define and manage members of the team mailbox with varying privilege status for accessing the team mailbox. Content such as aggregated messages and associated documents are displayed through a unified view to standardize ease of access. The members are enabled to receive messages sent to the team mailbox by others. Policies inherited from email repository, CMS, and/or third party policy providers are enforced within the team mailbox. |
| US09984356B2 |
Access authentication and/or item process management using identification codes
Methods and systems using unique item identifiers and a wireless device to (a) authenticate authorization to take possession of an item and (b) specifying and/or tracking service processing of the item. |
| US09984355B2 |
Systems and methods for monitoring location of products on shelves at a retail sales facility
In some embodiments, apparatuses, systems, and methods of monitoring product placement on shelves at a retail sales facility include at least one torque measurement sensor proximate at least one mounting location of a shelf on a sales floor of the retail facility. The torque measurement sensor is configured to measure a torque exerted by at least one product located on the shelf relative to a fulcrum of the shelf, and to send a signal to an electronic inventory management device including a processor-based control unit. The control unit of the electronic inventory management device is configured to receive electronic data associated with the at least one product and to estimate a weight distribution of the at least one product on the shelf based on the received electronic data and the measured torque. |
| US09984353B2 |
Method for detecting incorrect storage of medication packages
The invention relates to a method for detecting incorrect storage of medicament packages in a pharmacy order-picking device. Such incorrect storage can occur in the event that manual removal of medicament packages becomes necessary due to a malfunction. The pharmacy order-picking device comprises a series of shelves comprising a plurality of shelf compartments and at least one movable operating device in front of the row of shelves, wherein the operating device has a gripping device as well as a sensor. In order to detect incorrect storage, shelf compartments with potential incorrect storage of medicament packages are detected; the operating device is moved to a prescribed shelf position if a shelf compartment is detected; with the sensor switched on, the operating device moves across a detected shelf compartment in a horizontal direction, detects the storage depths at various X positions using the sensor and creates a virtual image of the actual situation on the basis of the detected storage depths; the image of the actual situation is then compared with a target image of the shelf compartment. |
| US09984352B2 |
Kiosk network in a kiosk management system
A kiosk apparatus, method and system of providing and distributing a plurality of items to one or more consumers is provided. Each kiosk in a plurality of kiosks may be configured to communicate with a kiosk management system to provide inventory data, which is provided to consumers such that one or more requested items may be reserved in a transaction. The kiosk may be further configured to interact with the consumer to retrieve the reserved items, where the consumer may use a portable device to interact with the kiosk, or the consumer may be prompted by the kiosk to enter account information and/or a generated code associated with the transaction provided by the kiosk management system. Then, a payment process is initiated with the kiosk management system or other entity, and when the payment process is verified, release the requested items to the consumer. |
| US09984346B1 |
Geotribing
A system and method for evaluating, scoring, and encouraging group performance towards a common goal is disclosed. In an embodiment, individuals of a group have an incentive to encourage other group members to drive better and achieve an improved overall driving score for the group. A group driving score is determined based on the driving performances of members of the group. The group may establish a driving score goal and work toward achieving that goal using real-time group reinforcement communications. |
| US09984345B2 |
Rule adjustment by visualization of physical location data
According to some embodiments of the present invention there is provided a computerized method for visually modifying a rule. The method may comprise receiving a rule and two or more data records, the rule comprising two or more computation instructions and each one of the data records comprising one or more physical location value. The method may comprise displaying a simulation comprising visual objects, each of the visual objects showing a result of applying the rule to one of the data records, and displayed on a computerized display at a position corresponding to the physical location value of the data records. The method may comprise receiving a marking from a user of one or more of the visual objects on the computerized display. The method may comprise modifying the computation instructions to produce a modified rule, based on the markings, and sending the modified rule. |
| US09984343B2 |
System and method for providing automatic task assignment and notification
A system and method of managing and prioritizing tasks amongst resources and, more particularly, to a system and method for providing automatic task assignment and notification amongst globally dispersed human resources. The system includes a change of management application configured to store a list of tasks and a task notifier configured to retrieve a list of geographically-dispersed resources and notify selected ones of the geographically-dispersed resources of a priority of completion of one or more tasks retrieved from the change of management application. The system further includes a message application configured to be polled by the task notifier to determine which of the geographically dispersed resources is online or currently working. |
| US09984340B2 |
Methods and systems for deploying a single continuous improvement approach across an enterprise
A method for providing instruction relating to continuous improvement policies of an enterprise is described. The method includes displaying, on a user interface, selectable icons operable for accessing a plurality of interactive guides relating to the policies of the enterprise, receiving, via the user interface, a selection of one of the icons, accessing, based on the selection, at least one file from a database, the at least one file including enterprise policy data that is related to the received icon selection, the enterprise policy data relating to one or more continuous improvement programs adopted within the enterprise, and displaying, on the user interface, a representation of the policy data in the form of an interactive guide, the user interface configured to provide access to applicable enterprise policy information that is available to a user. |
| US09984334B2 |
Method for anomaly detection in time series data based on spectral partitioning
Anomalies in real time series are detected by first determining a similarity matrix of pairwise similarities between pairs of normal time series data. A spectral clustering procedure is applied to the similarity matrix to partition variables representing dimensions of the time series data into mutually exclusive groups. A model of normal behavior is estimated for each group. Then, for the real time series data, an anomaly score is determined, using the model for each group, and the anomaly score is compared to a predetermined threshold to signal the anomaly. |
| US09984331B2 |
Automated vehicular accident detection
A vehicle accident detection method and system is provided. The method includes receiving location coordinates associated with a location of an occurring vehicular accident. Data associated with possible causes of the vehicular accident is received from sensors. Traffic related rules associated with a geographical location are retrieved and analyzed with respect to the data. Parameters associated with at least one vehicle involved in the vehicular accident and a possible cause are determined via execution of programming logic and transmitted to additional systems. The possible cause for the vehicular accident is determined from all possible causes based on matching current and historical accident circumstances. Additionally, weighting factors may be available and adjusted over time for accurate accident detection. A possible cause comprising a greatest weighting factor may be used to identify a most likely cause. |
| US09984330B2 |
Predictive trending of digital entities
Surfacing relevant and predictively trending digital entities to a user in a content feed is provided. Aspects of a predictive trending system use one or more predictive models, such as neural networks or regression models, to generate predictive trending scores of digital entities (e.g., documents, people, electronic communications, meetings, locations, digital images, digital videos, digital audio, etc.) based on historical scores and context. By taking into account trends and context, the predictive trending system calculates future trending scores of digital entities, and determines which digital entities are both relevant to a given user and likely to be trending around the user and the people in the user's network in the future. The predictive trending system curates the digital entities determined to be relevant and predicted to be trending around the user, and presents the digital entities in a content feed. |
| US09984328B2 |
System, apparatus and method for recommending thesaurus in input method
A system, an apparatus and a method for recommending a thesaurus in an input method are provided. A thesaurus selecting unit is set on the network side to obtain a personal information of a user through the Internet; in a thesaurus set unit, one or more thesauruses are determined as matching the personal information of the user; and the determined thesauruses are sent to a terminal currently used by the user so that the thesaurus is available for being installed on the terminal currently used by the user. Further, before the thesauruses are sent to the terminal currently used by the user, under a condition that there are at least two determined thesauruses that match the personal information of the user, the determined thesauruses are sorted to obtain a list of thesauruses, where thesauruses in the list are sent to the terminal currently used by the user. |
| US09984326B1 |
Spiking neural network simulator for image and video processing
Described is system for simulating spiking neural networks for image and video processing. The system processes an image with a spiking neural network simulator having a plurality of inter-connected modules. Each module comprises a plurality of neuron elements. Processing the image further comprises performing a neuron state update for each module, that includes aggregating input spikes and updating neuron membrane potentials, and performing spike propagation for each module, which includes transferring spikes generated in a current time step. Finally, an analysis result is output. |
| US09984321B2 |
Chip card and control element
According to one embodiment, a chip card is described including a chip, an antenna, a coupling structure configured to transmit energy from the antenna to the chip and a control element configured to control, depending on a field strength of a magnetic field to which the chip card is exposed, at least one of the resonance frequency of the antenna, the quality factor of the antenna and an energy transmission efficiency of the coupling structure. |
| US09984320B2 |
Multi-smartcard
A multi-smartcard may include: a support; a touchscreen disposed on the support configured to receive an input operation from a user including a first input operation and a second input operation; and a processor configured to generate a first user interface (UI) of card information corresponding to the input operation applied to the touchscreen and instruct the touch screen to display the first UI, and to receive the first and second input operations, wherein the processor is configured to change the card category in response to receiving the first input operation and change the card type in response to receiving the second input operation. |
| US09984317B2 |
Information reproducing method, information inputting / outputting method, information reproducing device, portable information inputting/ outputting device and electronic toy using dot pattern
The present invention proposes a dot pattern on which code information and x and y coordinate information can be defined even if the dot pattern is extremely small, and proposes an information reproducing method and an information reproducing device based on the dot pattern. More specifically, a medium such as a printed material on which is formed a dot pattern portion by arranging in accordance with a given rule dots generated by a dot code generating algorithm in order to recognize various kinds of multimedia information is scanned as image data by scanning means. Then, the image data is converted into code data. Multimedia information corresponding to the code data is read out of storing means to be reproduced. |
| US09984314B2 |
Dynamic classifier selection based on class skew
A classification system classifies different aspects of content of an input image stream, such as faces, landmarks, events, and so forth. The classification system includes a general classifier and at least one specialized classifier template. The general classifier is trained to classify a large number of different aspects of content, and a specialized classifier can be trained based on a specialized classifier template during operation of the classification system to classify a particular subset of the multiple different aspects of content. The classification system determines when to use the general classifier and when to use a specialized classifier based on class skew, which refers to the temporal locality of a subset of aspects of content in the image stream. |
| US09984307B2 |
Coloring inspection apparatus and coloring inspection method
An object is to ensure clear and easy quantification of the textures such as metallic texture and shiny texture of pearl pigment and to rationalize comparison inspection between an inspection object and a reference object. A coloring inspection apparatus 1 includes a camera 2 that is configured to have three spectral sensitivities (S1(λ), S2(λ), S3(λ)) linearly and equivalently converted to a CIE XYZ color matching function, an arithmetic processing unit 3 that is configured to obtain and compute coloring data by conversion of an image which has three spectral sensitivities and is obtained by the camera 2 into tristimulus values X, Y and Z in a CIE XYZ color system, and lighting units 6 that are configured to illuminate an automobile 5 as an example of measuring object. The coloring inspection apparatus 1 computes a color distribution consistency index that represents a ratio of overlap of two xyz chromaticity histogram distributions of an inspection object Q and a reference object R, so as to inspect color. |
| US09984300B2 |
Image processing system, image processing method, and program
Provided are an image processing system, an image processing method, and a program capable of suitably performing the association of a person appearing in a picture in accordance with a highly reliable user input. This image processing system includes: an input unit for receiving an input of pictures captured by multiple video cameras; a person-to-be-tracked registration unit capable of registering one or more persons appearing in the pictures input from the input unit; a moving image display unit for displaying, on a display device, the pictures input by the input unit, and a UI generation unit capable of registering that the person appearing in the displayed pictures and the person registered by the person-to-be-tracked registration unit are the same person, or not the same person. |
| US09984296B2 |
Misaligned tire detection method and apparatus
An alignment tool is disclosed configured to provide accurate tire alignment analysis based on the comparison of video recordings capturing a direction of travel and data obtained from various vehicle on-board components. |
| US09984293B2 |
Video scene classification by activity
Video and corresponding metadata is accessed. Events of interest within the video are identified based on the corresponding metadata, and best scenes are identified based on the identified events of interest. A video summary can be generated including one or more of the identified best scenes. The video summary can be generated using a video summary template with slots corresponding to video clips selected from among sets of candidate video clips. Best scenes can also be identified by receiving an indication of an event of interest within video from a user during the capture of the video. Metadata patterns representing activities identified within video clips can be identified within other videos, which can subsequently be associated with the identified activities. |
| US09984291B2 |
Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and storage medium for measuring a position and an orientation of an object by using a model indicating a shape of the object
An information processing apparatus includes a distance information acquisition unit configured to acquire distance information with respect to a measurement target object to determine interference between the object and a container for storing the object when the object is to be gripped, a derivation unit configured to derive a position and an orientation of the measurement target object based on the distance information and a partial model representing a partial shape of the measurement target object, and an interference determination unit configured, based on the position and the orientation derived by the derivation unit and a whole model representing a whole shape of the measurement target object, to determine whether interference has occurred between the measurement target object and the container for storing the measurement target object. |
| US09984286B2 |
Method and apparatus for detecting persons, and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium
A method and an apparatus for detecting persons are disclosed. The method includes initially detecting the persons in a height-top-view; dividing the height-top-view into one or more regions, and estimating crowd density in each region; determining, based on the crowd density, visible regions of the initially detected persons in each of the regions; for each of the initially detected persons, extracting a first gradient feature and a second gradient feature of the person from the height-top-view, and a grayscale image or a color image corresponding to the height-top-view, respectively; for each of the initially detected persons, determining, based on the extracted first gradient feature and second gradient feature, using a previously constructed classifier corresponding to the determined visible region of the person, a confidence level of the initially detected person; and correcting, based on the confidence level, a detection result of the initially detected persons. |
| US09984283B2 |
Methods, systems, and computer readable media for automated detection of abnormalities in medical images
Methods, systems, and computer readable media for automated detection of abnormalities in medical images are disclosed. According to a method for automated abnormality detection, the method includes receiving a target image. The method also includes deformably registering to the target image or to a common template a subset of normative images from a plurality of normative images, wherein the subset of normative images is associated with a normal variation of an anatomical feature. The method further includes defining a dictionary using the subset of normative images. The method also includes decomposing, using sparse decomposition and the dictionary, the target image. The method further includes classifying one or more voxels of the target image as normal or abnormal based on results of the sparse decomposition. |
| US09984281B2 |
Image processing apparatus, stylus, and image processing method
An image processing apparatus includes: an imaging unit that images a video; a display unit that displays the imaged video on a screen; a face-position acquirer that acquires a position of a face included in the video on the screen; an operation receiver that receives a touch operation on the screen; and a make-up-image composer that composes a make-up image with a part of the face in the video. The make-up-image composer changes a composition state of the make-up image on condition that a swipe operation is performed in a direction oriented to the position of the face. The image processing apparatus further includes a stylus detector that detects a portion of a predetermined marker color as a stylus from the video when the portion of the predetermined marker color is included in the video. |
| US09984279B2 |
Apparatus, system, and method for image normalization using a gaussian residual of fit selection criteria
An apparatus and method for image normalization using a Gaussian residual of fit selection criteria. The method may include acquiring a two-dimensional image of a plurality of particles, where the plurality of particles comprises a plurality of calibration particles, and identifying a calibration particle by correlating a portion of the image corresponding to the calibration particle to a mathematical model (e.g. Gaussian fit). The measured intensity of the calibration particle may then be used to normalize the intensity of the image. |
| US09984275B2 |
Fingerprint sensor having electrostatic discharge protection
A fingerprint sensor having electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection includes a first ESD protection electrode and a second ESD protection electrode. The first ESD protection electrode is connected to an ESD protection circuit for providing an ESD path, where the first ESD protection electrode and a fingerprint sensor electrode array are formed in a same layer of the fingerprint sensor. The second ESD electrode is connected to the first ESD electrode via multiple conductive via. |
| US09984273B2 |
Sensing element and fingerprint sensor comprising the same
A fingerprint sensor includes a substrate, a sensing electrode over the substrate, a first electrode and a second electrode. The sensing electrode is configured to detect a capacitance in response to a touch event on the fingerprint sensor. The first electrode is disposed between the substrate and the sensing electrode, while the second electrode is disposed between the first electrode and the sensing electrode. The first electrode and the second electrode are configured to define a capacitance therebetween. The sensitivity of the fingerprint sensor is inversely proportional to the capacitance between the first electrode and the second electrode. |
| US09984271B1 |
Ultrasonic fingerprint sensor in display bezel
An electronic device that includes an enclosure having an external surface and a first array of ultrasonic transducers arranged along a first direction and a second array of ultrasonic transducers arranged along a second direction. The first array of ultrasonic transducers may be configured to produce a surface wave along the external surface. A set of scattered waves may be created by the touch on the external surface. The second array of ultrasonic transducers may be configured to receive a portion of the set of scattered waves and produce an output. The device may also include a processing unit that is configured to identify the touch using the output. The processing unit may be further configured to create a reconstruction of at least a portion of a fingerprint associated with the touch on the cover, and to identify the fingerprint using the reconstruction. |
| US09984268B2 |
Code for animal ID marking
An animal identification code is described comprising two numbers, one of which is encoded into a human-readable marking and the other of which is encoded into a machine-readable marking, where the two numbers and the two encodings are different. The combination of the two numbers, plus additional information not marked on a first animal, such as time of read, is looked up a first table to determine conditional validity and from there to a second table to determine a valid and unique animal ID associated with the animal, a primary key. The animal may be a rodent in a vivarium and the markings may be tattooed on the animal tail. The second marking may be a vine code with a spine where the spine is aligned with the animal tail. The first number may be unique within a first animal population such as an animal study. The combination of the first and second marking may be reused on a second animal wherein the lifetimes of the first and second animal do not overlap. The primary key is unique among all animals in a third population, dead or alive. |
| US09984262B2 |
Method of operating an RFID-enabled mobile telephone, mobile telephone, remote unit and application program product
A method is disclosed of operating a RFID-enabled mobile telephone for indicating information of at least one portable object (e.g. key, passport, glasses or medical box). The mobile telephone has an RFID communication unit and the method includes operating the RFID communication unit for receiving an RFID signal from an RFID tag that is attached to the at least one portable object; evaluating the received RFID signal for determining tag information; and presenting the tag information to the user of the mobile telephone for indicating current information of the at least one portable object. This way, up-to-date information of the portable objects is available precisely when needed. |
| US09984261B2 |
Warp and weft encoding of garment
In various example embodiments, a system and method for authenticating a garment are presented. The authentication system can include a code reader configured to receive an image of a garment. An asymmetrical pattern can be woven in a section of the garment. The code reader can decode weft and warp information from weave lines in the asymmetrical pattern and determine a validation code based on the weft and warp information. Additionally, an authentication system can access, from an authentication database, authentication codes associated with authentic garments. The authentication system can calculate a confidence score based on a comparison of the validation code with one of the authentication codes. Subsequently, a publication system can cause a presentation, on a display of a device, a verification that the garment is authentic when the confidence score is above a predetermined threshold. |
| US09984259B2 |
Media processing device, printing device and control method of a media processing device
When writing information to the IC tag of a medium, the control unit 54 of a printer 1 determines if a specific area in the storage space of the IC tag is in an initialized state, and writes to the IC tag if the IC tag is in the specific state. |
| US09984256B2 |
Storage device tampering detection
Apparatus and method for detecting unauthorized tampering with a data storage device having a housing and a memory. A first identifier value is stored on an external surface of the housing and a second identifier value is stored within the memory. The first and second identifier values are combined in a predetermined order to form a combined identifier value for which a digital signature is generated using a private key, and the digital signature is stored on the storage device. The digital signature, the first and second identifier values, and one or more dummy identification values are retrieved from the storage device and stored in a memory of a verification device, which combines the retrieved first and second identifier values in the predetermined order to generate a retrieved combined identifier value. The storage device is authenticated using the retrieved combined identifier value, the digital signature and a public key. |
| US09984251B2 |
Profile management
A first entity may create a profile by providing content via an interface or a first interface. A second entity may manage one or more aspects of the profile via a second interface. The amount of control the second entity has over one or more portions of the profile may be related to or based on content of the profile or a relationship between the first entity and the second entity. For example, the second entity may screen content of the profile from public view. Additionally, profiles may be searched internally within an organization or externally, such as for outsourcing or to provide vendors or clients with more customized solutions. In this manner, profile management is provided. |
| US09984249B2 |
Digital payload sharing protection
A computing device includes a network interface, a storage controller, a sharing tool and a protection service. The network interface communicatively couples the computing device to one or more computing devices. The storage controller is configured to access a plurality of digital payloads. Each of the digital payloads is associated with a plurality of access tags including content tags and context tags. The sharing tool is configured to share, with a recipient computing device via the network interface, a selected digital payload. The protection service configured to automatically control sharing of the selected digital payload with the recipient computing device based on determining that a prospective recipient associated with the recipient computing device has a work designation or a personal designation that is inconsistent with one or both of a context indicated by the context tags and a content indicated by the content tags. |
| US09984244B2 |
Controller, information processing apparatus, and recording medium
A technique for facilitating debugging in a user program which operates by cooperation of a PLC and another system in a control system including a controller and another system. A CPU unit has a communication interface, executes a user program, calls DB connection service in accordance with an instruction included in the user program, and generates a statement to access a database device. In the DB connection service, operation is performed while switching a first mode and a second mode. In the first mode, a statement according to an access instruction is generated, the generated statement is transmitted to a database system, and a result of a response is sent to the user program. In the second mode, without transmitting the statement to the database device, a result of execution corresponding to the statement is sent to the user program. |
| US09984240B2 |
Visualization of access permission status
Queries regarding access permissions of users and rights to directories in a complex enterprise are executed in near real-time, using lookups to tables that form a condensed database maintained for each file server. User information is condensed by arranging users in user groups having common data access rights. Directory permissions storage is condensed by showing only distinctive permissions to a directory in a table entry, and referencing inherited permissions of parent directories. The tables indicate recursive and ancestral relationships among the user groups and directories. They are developed and updated in advance of any queries. A consolidated view of the query results is presented on a single display screen. Using the tables results can be obtained without exhaustive searches of large file system tables. |
| US09984235B2 |
Transmission of trustworthy data
A method and system for transmitting trustworthy data. Changes to content of a raw data file (F0) of raw data are determined wherein F0 is a version zero of the data file, wherein the changes produce n changed versions F1, . . . , Fn of the data file, and wherein n is a positive integer of at least 2A trust index TXn associated with the changed version Fn of the data file is calculated, based on a cumulative number of changes between successive versions F0, F1, . . . , Fn of the data file. In response to a request received from a computing device for the data file Fn, the data file Fn and the trust index TXn are transmitted to the computing device. |
| US09984232B2 |
Method of operating security function and electronic device supporting the same
A method and an electronic device are provided for operating a security function. The method includes receiving a request for activation of a security function, confirming whether a security indicator is set, and when the security indicator is set, applying the security indicator to a security function screen image, based on activation of the security function, and outputting the security function screen image to a display of the electronic device. |
| US09984231B2 |
Detecting program evasion of virtual machines or emulators
Various embodiments include methods implemented on a computing device for analyzing a program executing within a virtual environment on the computing device. The methods may include determining whether the program is attempting to detect whether it is being executed within the virtual environment, and analyzing the program within a protected mode of the computing device in response to determining that the program is attempting to detect whether it is being executed within the virtual environment. |
| US09984229B1 |
Method and apparatus providing a multiple source evidence application trust model
Disclosed are examples of authorizing an application access attempt. One example method may include connecting via a computing device to at least one remote computing device at a remote site and attempting to download an application from the remote site. The method may also include determining via a processor a trust level of the application based on trust metrics and comparing the trust level to a predetermined threshold. The method may also include determining whether to allow the application to be downloaded to the computing device based on results of the comparing operation. |
| US09984228B2 |
Password re-usage identification based on input method editor analysis
An approach is provided for password re-usage identification based on an Input Method Editor (IME) analysis. The approach analyzes a number of keystrokes received from a user at the IME that is running on the information handling system. A set of keystrokes received at the IME are identified as a possible new password that is being established by the user. A set of existing password data is searched with the search being based on the possible new password. The set of existing passwords are stored in a data store accessible from at least one of the processors of the information handling system. In response to the searching identifying that one of the existing passwords matches the possible new password, a notification, or warning, is displayed to the user. |
| US09984224B1 |
Efficient startup and logon
Methods and systems for receiving a detection of a physical presence of a user and, in response, initiating a start-up process on an enterprise device according to a profile associated with the user are described. Thereafter, the system receives authentication credentials at the enterprise device and the user is granted access to the enterprise device after the authentication credentials are verified. |
| US09984223B2 |
Encrypted mouse system
An encrypted mouse system includes an electronic device that may contain passwords for an authorized user and an authorization code of the authorized user. A mouse is provided and the mouse may be manipulated. The mouse is in electrical communication with the electronic device. A scanning unit is coupled to the mouse and the scanning unit may read a thumbprint when the mouse is manipulated. The scanning unit is in electrical communication with the mouse. Thus, the mouse communicates the thumbprint to the electronic device thereby facilitating the thumbprint to be compared to the authorization code stored in the electronic device. The electronic device communicates the passwords to an extrinsic program. Thus, the electronic device logs the authorized user into the extrinsic program when the thumbprint scanned by the scanning unit matches the authorization code. |
| US09984222B2 |
Individualized control system utilizing biometric characteristic
A control system including a detection device and a control host is provided. The detection device is configured to detect a biometric characteristic to accordingly identify a user ID, and output an ID signal according to the user ID. The control host is configured to receive the ID signal to accordingly perform an individualized control associated with the user ID. |
| US09984218B2 |
Motion-based identity authentication of an individual with a communications device
Systems, methods and computer storage mediums securely authenticate an identity of an individual based on a pattern that is traced by the individual. Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to prompting an individual with a pattern to trace when attempting to authenticate the identity of the individual during an identity authentication session. Motion-based behavior data that is generated by motions executed by the individual as the individual traces the pattern is captured via a motion-capturing sensor. The motion-based behavior data is unique to the individual and has a low likelihood of being duplicated by an unauthorized individual attempting to fraudulently pose as the individual. The captured motion-based behavior data is compared to previously captured motion-based behavior data from previous traces of the pattern completed by the individual. The identity of the individual is authenticated when the motion-based behavior data is within a threshold of the previously captured motion-based behavior data. |
| US09984215B2 |
Obtaining password data
A method of obtaining password data for entry to an application running on a device. The method may include running a password manager application on a device. The password manager application may identify one or more applications installed on the device. The password manager application may display the identified applications on a display of the device. The password manager application may receive a user selection of a displayed application. The password manager application may determine whether an entry exists for the selected application in a memory associated with the password manager application. If no entry exists, the password manager application may generate an entry comprising password data for the selected application. If an entry exists, the password manager application may retrieve password data relating to the selected application. |
| US09984207B2 |
Point of service transaction management for service facilities
The present invention enables the collection by credit/debit card payment of customer co-pay and self-pay charges via an integrated point-of-service transaction management system and method. The system and method of the present invention may assist health care facilities in the collection of co-pay and self-pay charges at the time service is rendered. The present invention can be implemented anywhere cash, checks, credit cards or debit cards are accepted for payment. |
| US09984205B2 |
Cloud-based clinical information systems and methods of use
An example method includes storing healthcare information related to a patient on the cloud-based clinical information system and determining if a first local information system of a first healthcare entity includes a first existing patient record associated with the patient. The example method also includes communicating a first command from the cloud-based clinical information system to an edge device located at a facility associated with the first healthcare entity and in communication with the first local information system. The edge device is to automatically attach a first portion of the healthcare information to the first existing patient record if the first local information system includes the first existing patient record or automatically generate a first new patient record to be populated by the first portion of the healthcare information if the first local information system does not include the first existing patient record based on the first command. |
| US09984203B2 |
Systems and methods for converting and delivering medical images to mobile devices and remote communications systems
A system for automated conversion and delivery of medical images. A data storage system is configured to store medical images, associated metadata, converted medical images, standardized format specifications for destination devices and services, and message templates. A server is coupled to the data storage system and a communication interface. The server is configured to receive a medical image file, comprising medical data and metadata, in a medical data format, determine an output destination type based on the metadata, correlate the output destination type with a standardized format specification, convert the medical data based on the correlated standardized format specification, and assemble and translate an output message that includes the converted medical data based on message templates that correlate with the output destination type. |
| US09984198B2 |
Reducing sequence read count error in assessment of complex genetic variations
Provided herein are methods, processes and apparatuses for non-invasive assessment of genetic variations. |
| US09984197B2 |
Device and method for localization of brain function related applications
A method of simulating the activity of the human nervous system includes providing a networked server for access by a user of a general purpose computer, with a database having predetermined data on human nervous system activity being in communication with the networked server. User information is input into the general purpose computer which is correlated with data in the networked database to determine what part of the human nervous system is impacted by the user information input. The general purpose computer displays a simulated image of a portion of the human nervous system and animates the impacted part of the human nervous system determined in the correlation. |
| US09984195B1 |
Hierarchical visualization-based analysis of integrated circuits
A system or technique provides for a hierarchical visual-based analysis of electrical integrated circuit system simulation results. A three-dimensional or 3D visualization may be used to identify and conduct an analysis of the integrated circuit. An analysis is done on a specific feature of the integrated circuit that is visible in the three-dimensional visualization. The specific feature may be one that is obscured by other layers of the integrated circuit visualization. |
| US09984193B1 |
System to combat design-time vulnerability
This application discloses a computing system implementing tools and mechanisms that can incorporate a security co-processor into a circuit design modeling an electronic device. The tools and mechanisms can configure the security co-processor to monitor at least a portion of the electronic device. The tools and mechanisms can generate at least one security action for the security co-processor to initiate when the security co-processor monitors the electronic device failing to conform to rules in a rules database. |
| US09984189B2 |
Data clocked retimer model
A method of analyzing a transient response of an electronic circuit is includes: forming a model of a retimer that includes a data clocked latch; providing a latch input signal at the input of the model; forming an output signal based on the latch input signal with the voltage controlled voltage source, wherein the voltage controlled voltage source provides a high output when the latch input signal passes through a low to high transition value and continues to provide the high output until the latch input signal passes through a high to low transition value. |
| US09984182B2 |
Model generation system for a machine
A model generation system for a machine having a database, a memory to store instructions, and a controller configured to execute the instructions to generate a plurality of interrelated data tables. The data tables may have a sensor table having a sensor row including sensor attributes, a calculation table having a calculation row including calculation attributes associated with a measurement from the sensor, and a fault indicator table including fault indicator attributes based on the measurement or the calculation. The controller may highlight the sensor row using a first color when the sensor table includes a tag identifier associated with the sensor, and highlight the sensor row using a second color when the sensor table does not include the tag identifier. The controller may display the highlighted sensor table on a display device and store the data tables in the database. |
| US09984178B2 |
Robot simulator, robot teaching apparatus and robot teaching method
A robot simulator includes a generating unit, a display unit, a display control unit, and a simulation instructing unit. The generating unit generates a virtual image that includes a virtual robot obtained by imaging an actual robot having at least one axis and an operation handle capable of operating three-dimensional coordinate axes having a predetermined control point of the virtual robot as the origin. The display control unit displays on the display unit the generated virtual image. The simulation instructing unit, when an operator's operation for the operation handle is received, acquires at least one of a displacement amount of the control point and a rotation amount of the three-dimensional coordinate axes attributable to the operator's operation, and instructs the generating unit to regenerate the virtual image in which a posture of the virtual robot is changed in accordance with the displacement amount or the rotation amount thus acquired. |
| US09984171B2 |
Systems and methods for detecting false code
Systems and methods for detecting false code in web pages linked to a web site are provided. One system includes a web server for administering the web site and a surveillance server for collecting generated or updated web pages from among the web pages linked to the web site, selecting tags of a given tag type included in the collected web pages, determining whether the selected tags comprise false code, and providing the determination result to an administrator terminal such that an administrator can check the determination result. One method includes collecting web pages that were generated or updated within a set time period from among the web pages linked to the web site, determining whether tags included in the collected web pages comprise false code, and providing the determination result to an administrator terminal such that an administrator can check the determination result. |
| US09984169B2 |
Search and notification in response to a request
In various example embodiments, a system and method for search and notification are provided. A request to search for an item is received by a system from a client device. The request includes search parameters that identify the searched item. Sensor data that indicates items that are located within a predefined distance from a sensor is received. A determination that the search parameters match with a corresponding item among the items indicated by the sensor data as being located within the predefined distance from the sensor is performed by the system. A location of the searched item is determined by the system based on the match. The location of the searched item is displayed by the system in a user interface of an application on the client device. |
| US09984167B1 |
Ranking communities based on content
Systems and methods for ranking communities based on content are described. A method includes receiving a search query from a first user of a social network. The method further includes analyzing content within groups of the social network to identify one or more of the groups that have content related to the search query. Each group may include one or more posts received from one or more members of the group. The groups may be identified responsive to a content match between the search query and content of a statistical amount of members of the respected group. The method may further include ranking the identified groups for presentation of the identified groups in a ranked order on a client device in response to the search query, the ranked order of each group being based on a corresponding statistical amount of members that have posted content matching the search query. |
| US09984159B1 |
Providing information about content distribution
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on non-transitory computer storage media. One of the methods is performed by a computer system and includes receiving data representing first keywords selected by a user to constitute a first group of keywords and data representing distinct second keywords selected by the user to constitute a second group of keywords; determining first characteristics of each of the first keywords and second characteristics of each of the second keywords; identifying a common characteristic, common to both the first characteristics and the second characteristics; identifying third keywords that have the common characteristic, wherein all of the third keywords are neither first keywords nor second keywords; obtaining one or more metrics associated with the first, second, and third keywords; and outputting data to enable rendering, on a computing device, a graphic presentation about the first keywords, the second keywords, the third keywords, and the metrics. |
| US09984157B2 |
Relationship detection within biometric match results candidates
Systems and methods for enhancing confidence in a biometric search result include submitting one or more biometric samples to a biometric search engine. In response to the one or more submitted biometric samples, a plurality of candidates identified as potentially associated with the one or more submitted biometric samples is received from the biometric search engine. Each identified candidate has associated biographic information. The biographic information associated with each identified candidate is submitted to a relationship detection engine. In response to the submitted biographic information, an identified relationship between at least one of the identified candidates and one or more other individuals is received from the relationship detection engine. |
| US09984156B2 |
System, method and apparatus for electronically searching for an item
The present invention provides a system, method and apparatus for electronically searching for an item by receiving a search request comprising a requested category and one or more requested attributes of the item and storing the search request in a search index based on the requested category and the requested attribute(s). The search index includes one or more categories and each category is defined by a taxonomy of attributes. The search index is then searched for any previously stored search requests that match the requested category and the requested attribute(s), a result of the search is determined and a search response that includes the result of the search is sent. |
| US09984155B2 |
Inline discussions in search results around real-time clusterings
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for receiving a search query, identifying a plurality of search results that are responsive to the search query, the plurality of search results including a plurality of items of digital content distributed using one or more social networking services, and determining that one or more terms provided in the search query is an active keyword and, in response: defining a first sub-set of items, the first sub-set of items including items of the plurality of items of digital content and being responsive to the active keyword, and providing items in the first sub-set of items for display as a discussion stream within search results. |
| US09984154B2 |
Systems and methods for analyzing time series data based on event transitions
A method for analyzing time series data to identify an event of interest is provided. The method includes receiving, at a computing device, time series data that includes the event of interest, identifying, using the computing device, a start time of the event of interest and an end time of the event of interest by modeling at least one transitional pattern in the time series data, and categorizing, using the computing device, the event of interest based on the at least one transitional pattern. |
| US09984152B2 |
Data integration tool
Computer-implemented systems and methods are disclosed for providing proactive validations of transformation scripts. In one implementation, a method is provided that includes associating, with at least one processor, the transformation script with ontology parameters. The method also includes initiating a debugging operation of the transformation script having at least one condition and importing, from a data source, at least one data item for transformation. The method further includes determining, as part of the debugging operation, whether the at least one condition that uses the at least one data item is valid based on the ontology parameters and notifying a user, on a display device, of a result associated with the determination. |
| US09984140B1 |
Lease based leader election system
A database service may store data on behalf of clients in multiple replicas on respective computing nodes in different availability zones. The service may employ a lease based protocol to select a master replica for a replica group that does not depend on an external service, but is managed by client processes executing on the database hosts themselves. To assume the role of a primary (writable) master for a database table, a master host may acquire a lease by updating a lease record for the table that is maintained in a consistent data store. If the master host fails to renew the lease within a pre-determined lease period, it may revert to read-only mode, and a secondary master host, having determining (based on the lease record) that the primary master no longer holds the lease, may assume the role of primary master by acquiring the lease and making itself writable. |
| US09984138B2 |
Visual representations of recurring revenue management system data and predictions
Visual representations of recurring revenue management system data and predictions are disclosed. A user interface is generated for an electronic display, the user interface including a graphical representation of one or more recurring revenue assets, the graphical representation representing each of the one or more recurring revenue assets according to one or more metrics that define each of the one or more recurring revenue assets. A predicted outcome for at least one of the one or more recurring revenue assets is predicted, the calculating being from a predictive model that is based on aggregate historical information collected from one or more data sources. A graphical representation of the predicted outcome is generated according to one or more parameters related to the one or more metrics, for concurrent display in the user interface with the graphical representation of one or more recurring revenue assets. |
| US09984136B1 |
System, method, and program product for lightweight data federation
Systems, methods, and program products for federating a plurality of data sources using semantic data models are disclosed. A configuration ontology may be generated for each data source to identify how to access the data source. Generated metadata ontologies may be generated based upon extracted metadata to specify the data present at each data source. Domain ontologies may be generated for one or more target data environments that comprise a respective lexicon for specifying queries of the plurality of data sources. Bridge ontologies may be generated comprising electronic mappings between each data source and each domain ontology. For each data source that cannot be queried in place, a re-hosted data ontology may be generated by extracting the data and converting it to a corresponding triple data structure based upon the respective bridge ontology and the respective extracted metadata. Queries may then be directed to the plurality of data sources. |
| US09984132B2 |
Combining search results to generate customized software application functions
Techniques include displaying, at a user device, a user-selectable link associated with a search result that specifies a state of a software application (app). The state is associated with one or more entities (e.g., business, franchise, product, or service names, and/or geographic locations). The link is configured to, upon being selected, cause the device to set the software app into the state. The techniques further include receiving, at the device, an input from a user. The input specifies a mathematical operation to be performed based on the entities. The techniques include, in response to receiving the input, performing the operation. The techniques also include, in response to performing the operation, displaying another user-selectable link configured to, upon being selected, cause the device to set the same or a different software app into another state that is associated with at least one of the entities. |
| US09984131B2 |
Comparison of anonymized data
In an approach for comparing items of anonymized data, a processor receives a plurality of items of data, each item comprising an anonymized ordered list of words, wherein each word is anonymized in one or more forms and is associated with a respective item of data. A processor compares a first set and a second set of the plurality of items of data by: comparing each of the one or more forms of each word in the first set with the corresponding form of each corresponding word in the second set, scoring each comparison of each word based on a degree of matching between each of the one or more forms of each word in the first set with the corresponding form of each corresponding word in the second set, and computing a total score for the comparison of the first item and the second item based on the scoring. |
| US09984129B2 |
Managing data searches using generation identifiers
Embodiments are directed towards managing within a cluster environment having a plurality of indexers for data storage using redundancy the data being managed using a generation identifier, such that a primary indexer is designated for a given generation of data. When a master device for the cluster fails, data may continue to be stored using redundancy, and data searches performed may still be performed. |
| US09984126B2 |
Identifying relevant feed items to display in a feed of an enterprise social networking system
Disclosed are techniques for identifying data items to display in a feed of an enterprise social networking system. A first subset of data items is identified as associated with an inner circle of data sources with which a user interacts at or exceeding a designated frequency, a second subset of data items is identified as associated with an interest graph associated with the user, and a third subset of data items is identified as associated with a group or an organization. A highlights feed can be displayed with different channels, where a first channel is defined by the first subset of data items, a second channel is defined by the second subset of data items, and a third channel is defined by the third subset of data items. |
| US09984119B2 |
System and method for real-time materialized view maintenance
There are provided a method, a computer program product, and a system for maintaining a materialized view defined on a relation of a relational database. The method includes the step of performing content-based filtering on the relation to identify an update to the relation as being irrelevant with respect to the materialized view. |
| US09984118B2 |
Data loading techniques for an in-memory database
A query analyzer may be used to identify a plurality of queries and associated query characteristics, the query characteristics including a corresponding dataset of data units for each query, wherein the data units are to be loaded from an offline memory into a memory of an in-memory database. Then, a sequencer may be used to select a selected dataset for loading into the memory of the in-memory database, based on dependencies between the plurality of queries as included within the query characteristics, and on relationships, if any, between the datasets. |
| US09984112B1 |
Dynamically adjustable transaction log
Managing a circular transaction log in a data storage system includes receiving requests specifying data to be written to a data object served by the data storage system, and adding log entries to the log containing data specified by the requests at or after a tail of the log and before a head of the log. In response to a trigger event, a size of the log is dynamically increased by inserting additional storage space into the log at or after the tail and before the head, to account for differences between the rate at which entries are added to the log and the rate at which entries are flushed from the log. The disclosed technique may further operate to find the slot position in which each log entry is stored, based on the identifier of the log entry, after inserting the additional storage space into the log. |
| US09984109B2 |
Evolution aware clustering of streaming graphs
A system to manage clustering vertices of a streaming graph includes a memory storing a computer program, a vertex structure storing vertices of the graph, and a cluster structure storing clusters of the graph, and a processor. Each cluster structure comprises a plurality of edge structures represent edges of the graph and each edge structure comprises two of the vertices. The processor is configured to execute the program to cluster the vertices using the structures and a maximum cluster size that is constant. |
| US09984105B2 |
Automatic discovery of code and data stores that populate a user interface element
Automatically discovering application components that populate a user interface element may be provided. A directed graph may be built from an application code implementing a backend layer of an application. A code element in the application code may be identified that matches an input element of a user interface of the application. A data store element of a data store implementing data layer of the application may be identified that matches the input element. For the input element, a map of trees may be built tracing through the directed graph based on the code element and the data store element that are identified. The map of trees may be grouped based on at least matching of annotations of the trees in the map, a similarity of begin and end points of the trees in the map and matching of the end points of the trees in the map. |
| US09984104B2 |
Indexing content and source code of a software application
In a method for generating a searchable index from an analysis of a software application, receiving a first software application. The one or more processors determine that a first source code of the first software application is inaccessible. The one or more processors stimulate the first software application. The one or more processors analyze textual data resulting from the stimulation of the first software application. The one or more processors classify one or more images resulting from the stimulation of the first software application. The one or more processors index the analyzed textual data and the classified one or more images resulting from the stimulation of the first software application. |
| US09984100B2 |
Modification of images and associated text
A computer-implemented method includes receiving an image. The image includes one or more objects and one or more text portions. The computer-implemented method further includes identifying the one or more objects. The computer-implemented method further includes, for each of the one or more objects identified, extracting an object tag. The computer-implemented method further includes, for each of the one or more text portions, extracting a text tag. The computer-implemented method further includes, for each text tag, determining whether the text tag describes any of the one or more objects based on the object tag extracted from each object to yield a determination. The computer-implemented method further includes, responsive to the determination: performing an image process to that of the one or more objects, and performing a text process to that of the one or more text portions. A corresponding computer program product and computer system are also disclosed. |
| US09984099B2 |
System and method using affordance feature repository
A design system using affordance features, the design system is provided. The system includes a storage unit that stores multiple affordances, that is messages that induce natural and efficient corresponding activities of human; a search unit that searches affordance features, that is, the structural entities that provide corresponding affordances, to search conditions set by a user; an output unit that outputs design information corresponding to the affordance features searched by the search unit and design information corresponding to an affordance feature selected by the user on a user interface; and an analogical reasoning unit that performs analogical reasoning on the basis of the design information corresponding to the selected affordance feature and derives a new affordance feature for a predetermined design target to be designed by the user. |
| US09984096B2 |
System and method for reducing communications overhead in a distributed transactions environment by modifying implementation of the transaction start function
A system and method for reducing communications overhead in a distributed transaction processing environment such as an XA environment. In accordance with an embodiment communication overhead is reduced in a transaction start method by deferring a transaction start communication. The deferred transaction start communication is determined from a subsequent transaction processing communication thereby reducing the number of networks calls required for each transaction and enhancing system performance. |
| US09984094B2 |
Computerized sharing of digital asset localization between organizations
A computerized system and method provides for sharing digital assets among multiple different organizations in a multi-organization system, and further providing that one or more of localized digital assets can be assembled using digital assets, templates and rules specified by different organizations. Further, the various organizations can contribute and share digital assets with organizations, while controlling the localization of the asset with brand or other information both as specified by the provider organization and as specified by the user organization. |
| US09984092B1 |
Identification of high deduplication data
A computer-implemented method includes dividing a data set into a plurality of regions and dividing the plurality of regions into a plurality of chunks of fixed size. The computer-implemented method further includes determining a sample size of the plurality of chunks to be sampled for each region, wherein the sample size is determined based, at least in part, on an acceptance of a likelihood of identifying at least one collision between two regions corresponding to logical entities of a first cluster of logical entities. The computer-implemented method further includes sampling the plurality of chunks for each region based on the determined sample size. The computer-implemented method further includes generating a hash value for each chunk sampled and storing each hash value in an index. The computer-implemented method further includes identifying one or more collisions between the plurality of regions. A corresponding computer system and computer program product are also disclosed. |
| US09984091B2 |
Reducing decompression latency in a compression storage system
In a compression processing storage system, using a pool of compression cores, the compression cores are assigned to process either compression operations, decompression operations, or decompression and compression operations, which are scheduled for processing. Only decompression operations are assigned to the plurality of compression cores having an idle status, where the idle status represents those of the plurality of compression cores that have yet to process any of the compression operations, decompression operations, and decompression and compression operations during a predetermined threshold period. |
| US09984088B1 |
User driven data pre-fetch
Techniques to provide access to file system information are disclosed. In various embodiments, an indication that a user input associated with creating a local copy of a file system object has been received is received at a file system client. The file system client determines that a user-driven pre-fetch option has been set with respect to the file system object. The file system client pre-fetches content data associated with the file system object, based at least in part on the determination that the pre-fetch option has been set with respect to the file system object. |
| US09984087B2 |
Performing actions on objects as a result of applying tags to the objects
Methods to tag objects in a cloud computing environment, by tagging an object with a first tag, of a plurality of tags, wherein each of the plurality of tags specifies a respective criterion for objects tagged by each tag, and upon determining that the object not satisfy the criterion of the first tag, performing an action associated with the first tag to modify the object to meet the criterion of the first tag. |
| US09984075B2 |
Media consumption context for personalized instant query suggest
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for generating suggested search queries. One method includes receiving, during a search session, a request for a suggested search query; in response to receiving the request for the suggested search query, identifying an entity that is associated with an item of media content; generating a suggested search query based on the identified entity; and providing data that causes the generated suggested search query to be presented in a user interface. |
| US09984073B2 |
Systems and methods for motivation-based course selection
An electronic method for course selection. The method includes identifying at least one user motivation associated with at least one user, identifying at least one course recommendation based on the at least one user motivation, and displaying the at least one course recommendation to the user on a display device. In some cases the method may include receiving an input from the user associated with the at least one course recommendation. The method may also include enrolling the user in a course based on the input received in association with the course recommendation. |
| US09984072B2 |
Method, apparatus, and system for providing translated content
An apparatus configured to provide translated content to a receiver includes a storage configured to store address book information including identification information identifying a user of the receiver; a user inputter configured to receive input including the identification information and content to be transmitted to the receiver; a controller configured to determine a language corresponding to the user of the receiver identified by the receiver identification information based on the address book information and the identification information; and a communicator configured to transmit a request to translate the content into the determined language. |
| US09984068B2 |
Systems and methods for multilingual document filtering
Systems, apparatus, computer-readable media, and methods to provide filtering and/or search based at least in part on semantic representations of words in a document subject to the filtering and/or search are disclosed. Furthermore key words for conducting the filtering and/or search, such as taboo words and/or search terms, may be semantically compared to the semantic representation of the words in the document. A common semantic vector space, such as a base language semantic vector space, may be used to compare the key word semantic vectors and the semantic vectors of the words of the document, regardless of the native language in which the document is written or the language in which the key words are provided. |
| US09984066B2 |
Method and system of extracting patent features for comparison and to determine similarities, novelty and obviousness
An automated system that extract relevant structural and functional features from a patent document and carries out operations on patent documents to determine degree of overlap. The degree of overlap can then be used by the system to determine novelty and obviousness of a patent document. |
| US09984065B2 |
Optimizing generation of a regular expression
A computer receives a query including a plain text word. The computer determines whether at least one performance optimization parameter is configured. The computer identifies syllables within the plain text word that have a high probability of spelling errors. The computer selects each character in the syllables identified. The computer identifies a group of characters from a confusion matrix that are commonly confused with the character selected. For each character selected, the computer generates a set of characters including characters from the confusion matrix. The computer determines probabilities of omitting the selected characters and associates tags with one or more sets of characters based on the determined probabilities. The computer generates a regular expression by concatenating the sets of characters. The computer searches for a spelling of the plain text word that omits at least one character in the regular expression that is associated with a tag. |
| US09984064B2 |
Reduction of memory usage in feature generation
An alignment of attributes is extracted from a pair of mentions in an annotated corpus. An annotated document is read from the annotated corpus. Three character string arrays (A, B, and C) are stored into a first TRIE. The character string arrays include character string representations of attributes of one or more first tokens, second tokens, and neighborhood tokens of mentions of the annotated document, respectively. The storing into the first TRIE obtains partial integer arrays (K, L, and M) that include identifiers corresponding to the attributes of the mentions. The partial integer arrays are stored into a second TRIE. The storing into the second TRIE obtains an identifier array (X) that includes three identifiers. The identifier array is stored into a third TRIE. The storing into the TRIE obtains one identifier of the alignment of attributes. |
| US09984060B2 |
Correlating distinct events using linguistic analysis
Linguistic analysis based correlation of distinct events is provided. In examples, trouble shooting tickets may be received over a time period. A linguistic analysis may be performed on one or more portions of the one or more comments using a linguistic model and a similarity score may be computed for one or more keywords within the one or more portions of the one or more comments based on criteria associated with each of the keywords. The similarity score for each of the keywords may be compared to a validation threshold and if the similarity score for a subset of the keywords within a trouble shooting ticket exceeds the validation threshold, the trouble shooting ticket may be validated as associated with the incident. If a number of trouble shooting tickets are validated as being associated with the incident exceeds a service outage threshold, an alert may be issued for the service outage. |
| US09984057B2 |
Creating notes related to communications
Creating notes related to communications may be provided. In some examples, an application, such as a communication management application, may display the communications. The communication management may detect an input to generate a note related to a communication and may provide a note interface to capture the note. The note may be captured on the note interface. The note may be saved as a related communication associated with the communication. The communication management application may display the related communication. |
| US09984056B2 |
Display of user comments to timed presentation
A method and system to dynamically display a presentation of a time duration are described. The system includes a processor to receive comments associated with the presentation, the comments arranged in a first ordering, to identify a time reference comment among the comments, the time reference comment including a time reference referencing a time instant within the time duration of the presentation, and to dynamically change an ordering of the comments from the first ordering to a second ordering at the time instant. The system also includes a display device to display the presentation with the comments, the comments arranged according to the ordering. |
| US09984053B2 |
Replicating the appearance of typographical attributes by adjusting letter spacing of glyphs in digital publications
Techniques are disclosed for replicating the appearance of typographical attributes and text adornments in digital publications. Content in a fixed layout format is converted into a standard digital publication format by applying a tag to each word of the content. Each tag includes a CSS letter spacing attribute that is calculated based on the effective width of each glyph forming the word in the fixed layout format, and the default width of the same glyph in the digital publication format. In this manner, the corresponding word is rendered in approximately the same space in both the fixed layout and digital publication formats. |
| US09984051B2 |
Hierarchical identifiers for HTML elements
Elements within HTML based applications may be logically related; however, HTML does not have built-in support for indicating these relationships, such as parent-child relationships. Instead, relationships among HTML elements are not utilized or are incorrectly inferred based on nesting of HTML elements within an HTML document. As a result, when creating a DOM for an HTML document, the hierarchy of elements in the DOM tree is based on coded locations of elements within the HTML document rather than logical relationships among elements. To allow for indication of logical relationships, a hierarchical identifier attribute may be used in conjunction with the HTML id attribute. For example, two elements may include a hierarchical identifier of “person” with base identifiers of “name” and “address”. |
| US09984050B2 |
Ground truth collection via browser for passage-question pairings
A method, system and a computer program product are provided for collecting ground truth data by activating a ground truth collection browser plugin with a designated toolbar button to receive answer data from a webpage which includes user-selected data passage and source data from the webpage for automatic loading into a ground truth submission window along with user input question data corresponding to the answer data so that the user input question data, source data, and answer data from the ground truth submission window may be stored as ground truth data. |
| US09984048B2 |
Selecting a navigation hierarchical structure diagram for website navigation
Implementing website navigation includes deriving a confidence level for at least one leaf node of a website navigation category diagram using historical user operation data; generating one or more navigation hierarchical structure diagrams based on the website navigation category diagram; determining a searching cost associated with each of the one or more navigation hierarchical structure diagrams; determining the navigation hierarchical structure diagram associated with the lowest searching cost; and implementing at least in part a website navigation mode using the navigation hierarchical structure diagram associated with the lowest searching cost. |
| US09984046B2 |
Font delivery system and font delivery method
Provided is a font delivery system suppressing an illegal of use the font without sacrificing the time required to display the characters. The font delivery system includes a web server delivering an HTML document, a first delivery font file and a second delivery font file; a document browsing device displaying the HTML document; and a communication line. A browsing control unit of the document browsing device is configured to execute a separation process of separating the first delivery font file into obfuscated information and first divided font data based on keyword information and separating the second delivery font file into salt information and second divided font data; and a combination process of combining the first divided font data and the second divided font data. |
| US09984045B2 |
Dynamic adjustment of rendering parameters to optimize reading speed
A rendering optimizer captures content engagement feedback associated with a first interval during which electronic content is presented with a first set of rendering parameter values. The rendering optimizer adjusts at least one rendering parameter value of the first set of rendering parameter values by a step amount in a first direction to create a second set of rendering parameter values and captures content engagement feedback associated with a second interval during which the electronic content is presented with the second set of rendering parameter values. The rendering optimizer further adjusts the rendering parameter values to determine they result in an improvement in reading immersion. |
| US09984043B2 |
Method and apparatus for estimating position distribution of radiation emission
A method and apparatus for estimating a position distribution of radiation emission The method and apparatus include obtaining a time difference between radiations detected by a pair of detectors, and creating a probability distribution function (PDF) indicating the probability of where the radiations actually were or may have been emitted. The PDF may be created based on the time difference and timing resolutions of the pair of detectors. |
| US09984040B2 |
Evolved transform for processing data
Methods and systems for processing data are disclosed. An example method can comprise receiving first data. The method can comprise applying a first transform to the first data. The first transform can be evolved from a second transform. The first transform can be based on first coefficients and the second transform can be based on second coefficients. The first transform can be evolved without constraining a count of the first coefficients to be equal to a count of the second coefficients. The method can comprise providing the transformed first data. |
| US09984034B2 |
Detachable computer with variable performance computing environment
Computing devices are often designed in view of a particular usage scenario, but may be unsuitable for usage in other computing scenarios. For example, a notebook computer with a large display, an integrated keyboard, and a high-performance processor suitable for many computing tasks may be heavy, large, and power-inefficient; and a tablet lacking a keyboard and incorporating a low-powered processor may improve portability but may present inadequate performance for many tasks. Presented herein is a configuration of a computing device featuring a display unit with a resource-conserving processor that may be used independently (e.g., as a tablet), but that may be connected to a base unit featuring a resource-intensive processor. The operating system of the device may accordingly transition between a resource-intensive computing environment and a resource-conserving computing environment based on the connection with the base unit, thereby satisfying the dual roles of workstation and portable tablet device. |
| US09984033B2 |
Systems and methods for biasing a bus
A bi-directional differential bus interface that includes a differential transmitter having a non-inverting terminal and an inverting terminal, a differential receiver having a non-inverting terminal and an inverting terminal, and a biasing circuit that is electrically coupled to the non-inverting terminal of the differential transmitter and the inverting terminal of the differential transmitter. The biasing circuit is configured to generate a voltage between the non-inverting terminal of the differential transmitter and the inverting terminal of the differential transmitter that is approximately 200 mV or more in response to assertion of a control signal received on a control input of the biasing circuit. |
| US09984026B2 |
Circuit, parallel computing device, computer system and computer readable storage medium
Provided is a parallel computing system that has scalability and is capable of performing data transfer between desired PEs. Also provided is a computer system that utilizes the parallel computing system described above, and enables radiosity processing on small-scale mobile terminal devices. An HXNet is implemented in a VLSI, and data transfer between VLSIs is possible using additional BMs. Scalability is realized that enables selection of any number of VLSIs, and radiosity processing is enabled on small-scale mobile terminal devices. |
| US09984024B2 |
USB control circuit with built-in bypass function
A USB hub device includes an upstream port and a downstream port. A USB control circuit of the USB control circuit includes an upstream interface; a downstream interface; a first switch circuit for coupling with the upstream port; a second switch circuit for coupling with the downstream port; a control signal transmission interface coupled with the first switch circuit and the second switch circuit; and a control unit, coupled with the control signal transmission interface, configured to operably control the first switch circuit and the second switch circuit through the control signal transmission interface, so that the first switch circuit selectively couples one of the upstream interface and the second switch circuit with the upstream port, while the second switch circuit selectively couples one of the downstream interface and the first switch circuit with the downstream port. |
| US09984019B2 |
System on chip (SoC), mobile electronic device including the same, and method of operating the SoC
A system on chip (SoC) is present that includes a plurality of master interfaces, a plurality of slave interfaces, and an interface circuit which is connected between the plurality of master interfaces and the plurality of slave interfaces and includes a plurality of components. When a first master interface among the plurality of master interfaces and a first slave interface among the plurality of slave interfaces are paired, a first group of the components which forms a first signal path between the first master interface and the first slave interface among the plurality of components is enabled according to a control of the first master interface. |
| US09984018B2 |
Adapter selection based on a queue time factor
A method, system, and computer program product are described for a machine selecting a selected adapter among two or more adapters that perform a same function. The method includes generating a request, at the machine, for the function, and calculating a time indicator associated with each of the two or more adapters based on a respective adapter queue time factor (QTF) associated with each of the two or more adapters, the adapter QTF associated with each of the two or more adapters being a computed value. The method also includes selecting the selected adapter and submitting one or more requests to the selected adapter of the two or more adapters to perform the function based on a comparison of the time indicator associated with each of the two or more adapters. |
| US09984016B2 |
Systems and methods for hardware arbitration of a communications bus
In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, an information handling system may include a communications bus, at least one target device communicatively coupled to the communications bus, and a plurality of master devices communicatively coupled to the communications bus and communicatively coupled to one another via a secondary arbitration connection. Each of the plurality of master devices may be configured to assert a respective secondary arbitration signal of the master device on the secondary arbitration connection to indicate ownership of the communications bus and deassert the respective secondary arbitration signal of the master device on the secondary arbitration connection to indicate non-ownership of the communications bus. |
| US09984015B2 |
Computing system control
In one example in accordance with the present disclosure, a computing system is provided. The computing system includes a first bus controller to control X bus lanes, a second bus controller to control Y bus lanes, a 2-to-1 X lane multiplexer, and a Y lane system component, where Y>X>0. X lanes from the first bus controller are coupled to the 2-to-1 X lane multiplexer. X lanes from the second bus controller are coupled to the 2-to-1 X lane multiplexer, and Y-X lanes from the second bus controller are coupled directly to the Y lane system component. In addition, X lanes from the 2-to-1 X lane multiplexer are coupled to the Y lane system component. |
| US09984014B2 |
Semiconductor device
The present invention provides a technique for further improving the processing efficiency in a semiconductor device that arbitrates data transfer between a plurality of bus masters and a plurality of bus slaves.A bus control circuit controls data transfer in an address bus and a data bus between a plurality of bus masters and a plurality of bus slaves. The bus control circuit obtains access information representing the bus slave that each of the bus masters accesses on the basis of address signals output from the bus masters. The bus control circuit obtains busy information representing whether or not each bus slave is in a busy state. In the case where the bus masters compete with each other when accessing a bus slave, the bus control circuit arbitrates access from each bus master to the bus slave that is not in a busy state in accordance with the priority set for each bus master on the basis of the access information and the busy information. |
| US09984012B2 |
Read writeable randomly accessible non-volatile memory modules
A read writeable random accessible non-volatile memory module includes a printed circuit board with an edge connector that can be plugged into a socket of a printed circuit board. The read writeable random accessible non-volatile memory modules further include a plurality of read writable non-volatile memory devices. |
| US09984011B2 |
Termination schemes for multi-rank memory bus architectures
A multi-rank memory bus architecture is provided in which an active DRAM is unterminated and an inactive DRAM terminates to increase the data eye width at the active DRAM. |
| US09984004B1 |
Dynamic cache balancing
Embodiments serve to balance overall performance of a finite-sized caching system having a first cache of a first cache size and a second cache of a second cache size. A tail portion and a head portion of each of the caches are defined wherein incoming data elements are initially stored in a respective head portion and wherein evicted data elements are evicted from a respective tail portion. Performance metrics are defined wherein a performance metric includes a predicted miss cost that would be incurred when replacing an evicted data elements. A quantitative function is defined to include cache performance metrics and a cache reallocation amount. The cache performance metrics are evaluated periodically to determine a then-current cache reallocation amount. The caches can be balanced by increasing the first cache size by the cache reallocation amount and decreasing the second cache size by the cache reallocation amount. |
| US09983997B2 |
Event based pre-fetch caching storage controller
A cache management system and method allowing data stored in non-sequential storage blocks on a storage system to be retrieved to a cache memory in advance of a call for the data based on a defined event in a host. The system and method detects a defined event from the host. The defined event issues an event read sequence of read requests for data from non-sequential storage blocks of a storage system. The event data read sequence of read requests is recorded to create a pre-fetch list. The read requests in the event read sequence are then issued for the pre-fetch list associated with the defined event to store the requested data in the cache memory. |
| US09983994B2 |
Arithmetic processing device and method for controlling arithmetic processing device
An arithmetic processing device includes a plurality of core units, each including a plurality of cores each having a arithmetic and logic unit, and a cache memory shared by the plurality of cores; a home agent connected to the cache memories provided respectively in the core units; and a memory access controller connected to the home agent and controls access to a main memory. The cache memories each includes a data memory having cache blocks, and a first tag which stores a first state indicating a MESI state, for each of the cache blocks, and the home agent includes a second tag which stores a second state including at least a shared modify state in which dirty data is shared by cache memories, for each of the cache blocks in the cache memories provided respectively in each of the core units. |
| US09983990B1 |
Configurable storage circuits with embedded processing and control circuitry
An integrated circuit may have configurable storage blocks. A configurable storage block may include a memory array, a processing circuit, and a configurable control circuit. The configurable storage block may receive an instruction which may be decoded in the control block to identify a command. The command may be associated with a pre-defined sequence of operations that the control block executes by directing the memory array to perform memory access operations and the processing circuit to execute data processing operations. These data processing operations may be executed on data retrieved during memory access operations, data received subsequent to receiving the instruction, or previously computed data. The processed data may be provided for further processing outside the configurable storage block or stored in the memory array. The configurable storage block may further have delay blocks to allow for delayed memory access to the memory array. |
| US09983978B1 |
Querying an indexed time-travel trace
Performing a query over a trace of program execution. A method includes receiving a query expression targeted at least a portion of a trace of program execution. A data structure that represents the query expression is built. The data structure has a plurality of data elements representing concepts and operations of the query. Based on the data structure, an order for evaluating the data elements is identified. The plurality of data elements is evaluated. Based on the evaluation, at least a portion of a result set is conveyed for consumption. |
| US09983977B2 |
Apparatus and method for testing computer program implementation against a design model
A method of testing a computer program implementation according to a predefined design model, the program implementation having at least one method under test, employs a computer to generate a post-method corresponding to the method under test. A computer is further used to automatically generate a set of test cases. Then, using the automatically generated set of test cases, the computer explores different execution paths of the computer program implementation, by applying those test cases to both the method under test and the generated post-method, to reveal behavior that is not consistent with the behavior specified by the design model. |
| US09983976B1 |
Falsification of software program with datastore(s)
The technology can advantageously improve the speed of software verification using an approximation of a datastore storing a multiplicity of indexed data. An example method may determine data point(s), suspected to violate a specification of a software program being verified, using approximation(s) of datastore(s) of the software program. Data ranges reflecting subset(s) of data from the approximation(s) that contain the data points may be determined and data entries stored in the datastore(s) may be searched for the data point(s) suspected to violate the specification. The data entries lie within the data range(s) and the method determines whether the data point(s) are in violation of the specification based on the searching. |
| US09983975B2 |
Fixing anti-patterns in javascript
Methods, storage systems and computer program products implement embodiments of the present invention that include receiving, by a computer, source code for an application, the source code including multiple instructions to be executed in a single thread. A first static analysis is performed on the application source code in order to identify a given instruction including an asynchronous handler, and a plurality of entry points to the application. Based on the static analysis, an order of execution of the multiple instructions is determined, and an intermediate representation is generated that includes the multiple instructions arranged in the determined order of execution. In some embodiments, a second static analysis can be performed on the intermediate representation that can identify an anti-pattern in the intermediate representation, and then correct the anti-pattern in the source code. |
| US09983971B1 |
Intelligent and adaptive benchmark testing framework
Techniques for efficient benchmarking. One method includes obtaining convergent results by performing a benchmarking test with a particular length to obtain a result (time), scaling the time exponentially, performing additional benchmarking tests, obtaining results for those tests, and determining whether the results scale linearly with length. Another method includes obtaining variance for non-convergent results by performing multiple sequences of benchmarking test. Within each new sequence performed, the benchmarking tests are spaced out further apart in time. If new maximum or minimum results are obtained, then further test sequences are performed and if no new maximum or minimum results are obtained after a threshold number of sequences, then the test ends. A device and computer-readable medium for performing benchmarking are also provided herein. |
| US09983970B2 |
Redundant cable routing management in storage systems
Utilities (e.g., methods, systems, apparatuses, etc.) for use in automatically identifying improper physical connections in storage networks and recommending particular actions (e.g., changes to existing physical connections) that seek to ensure symmetric and redundant connections from a data host through all associated storage enclosures and reduce the likelihood that single failures prevent access to storage system data. |
| US09983968B2 |
Systems and methods for performance monitoring
Techniques for obtaining computer system performance monitoring are described. One approach provides a performance monitoring system that is configured to obtain performance-related data from multiple monitored computing systems. The obtained data may be stored by the performance monitoring system in substantially real-time across multiple distinct data stores. The assignment of performance related data items (e.g., counter values) to storage locations may be determined in a various ways, including by random or pseudo-random assignment. Also, data may be stored in a tiered manner, where upper-level tiers aggregate data stored in lower-level tiers. |
| US09983963B2 |
System and method for exploiting hard disk drive capacity reserve and extending operating life thereof
A method of accessing data stored in a storage disk of a storage system includes the steps of receiving a read operation to a sector of the storage disk and in response to an error returned from the read operation, determining whether the sector is to be replaced. If the sector is determined to be replaced, the method further includes replacing the sector with a spare sector. The data previously stored at the replaced disk sector are reconstructed and written to the spare sector, and the LBA assigned to the replaced sector is reassigned to the PBA associated with the spare sector. |
| US09983959B2 |
Erasure coding of data within a group of storage units based on connection characteristics
The techniques and/or systems described herein implement erasure coding to generate various chunks for a data collection (e.g., data chunks and at least one encoding chunk). The chunks are then distributed and stored within an individual group (e.g., a pod) of storage units, where a pod of storage units is determined based on characteristics that affect an amount of time it takes to recover a data collection or to restore lost data. |
| US09983953B2 |
Multiple computer system processing write data outside of checkpointing
The disclosure describes a system including a first computer system including a first memory controller and a first inter-computer transfer interface to send information about write operations over an interconnect to a second computer system. A second computer system includes a second memory controller and a second inter-computer transfer interface to receive the information about the write operations over an interconnect, wherein the write operations are duplicated through the second memory controller. In other embodiments, a system includes a first computer system including a first memory controller and a first inter-computer transfer interface to send information about write operations of the first computer system during a lockstep operation. Still other embodiments are described. |
| US09983945B2 |
Methods and systems for managing the replication of snapshots on a storage array
A storage management application of a storage array is operable to create a new volume on the storage device array, and to automatically configure, responsive to user selection of an application protection profile, data protection services for application data to be stored on the volume, and/or, responsive to user selection of an application performance profile, application specific performance parameters. The application protection profile specifies scheduling and replication of snapshots for application data to be stored on the volume, and the application performance profile specifies performance parameters such as setting a block size, enabling or modifying a data caching algorithm, turning on or modifying data compression, etc. The scheduling, replication and/or application performance may be managed by a daemon associated with the storage management application which communicates with an agent associated with an application server on which the application executes. |
| US09983942B1 |
Creating consistent user snaps at destination during replication
A technique for providing access to a data object serving as a target of snapshot-shipping replication includes taking a system snap of the data object after completion of each of multiple snapshot-shipping updates. In response to receiving a request to take a user snap of the data object, a data storage system redirects the request to a previously generated system snap, so that the data storage system takes the user snap of the system snap rather than taking the user snap of the data object itself. |
| US09983940B1 |
Online account reset, rollback, and backup
Online account reset, rollback, and backup are described, including receiving from a user, by one or more computing devices, a request to alter an online account associated with the user; identifying, based on the request, at least a portion of data associated with the user and the online account, the at least the portion of data identified as being within a time window defined by the user; and in response to the request, modifying, using the one or more computing devices, the at least the portion of data within the time window. |
| US09983938B2 |
Locally restoring functionality at acceleration components
Aspects extend to methods, systems, and computer program products for locally restoring functionality at acceleration components. A role can be locally restored at an acceleration component when an error is self-detected at the acceleration component (e.g., by local monitoring logic). Locally restoring a role can include resetting internal state (application logic) of the acceleration component providing the role. Self-detection of errors and local restoration of a role is less resource intensive and more efficient than using external components (e.g., high-level services) to restore functionality at an acceleration component and/or to reset an entire graph. Monitoring logic at multiple acceleration components can locally reset roles in parallel to restore legitimate behavior of a graph. |
| US09983934B2 |
Accelerating system dump capturing
Embodiments include accelerating capture of a system dump at system failure in a computer system. A method includes capturing a system snapshot that includes data from real memory frames of the computer system and storing the system snapshot in a storage. The method also includes monitoring periodically a change between the data in the system snapshot and a current state of the real memory frames of the computer system and updating the system snapshot according to the changed real memory frames based on a rate of change of the real memory frames. Further, in response to encountering the system failure, the snapshot is updated based on a delta between the system snapshot and the current state of the real memory frames. The snapshot on the storage is used as the system dump. The present document further describes examples of other aspects such as systems, computer products. |
| US09983932B2 |
Pipeline processor and an equal model compensator method and apparatus to store the processing result
A pipeline processor which meets a latency restriction on an equal model is provided. The pipeline processor includes a pipeline processing unit to process an instruction at a plurality of stages and an equal model compensator to store the results of the processing of some or all of the instructions located in the pipeline processing unit and to write the results of the processing in a register file based on the latency of each instruction. |
| US09983924B2 |
Analytics platform for automated diagnosis, remediation, and proactive supportability
Automatic remediation is provided to a serviced system. Selected system information associated with the serviced system is received. A set of one or more symptoms is generated using the selected system information. A knowledge repository is searched using the set of symptoms to identify a root cause. A remediation package corresponding to the root cause is obtained and, if permitted, the remediation package is caused to be performed on the serviced system. |
| US09983918B2 |
Continuous capture of replayable database system workload
Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with continuous capture of replayable workload for a database are described. In one embodiment, a method includes capturing workload units being executed on a production database and storing the captured workload units in a circular workload buffer. The circular workload buffer is configured to write newest captured workload units over oldest workload units in the workload buffer when the workload buffer becomes full. The method includes, in response to detecting an event, exporting contents of the workload buffer to offline memory. The exporting includes at least one I/O operation. In one embodiment, an advisor feature guides set up of the continuous capture feature by providing historical workload data and making recommendations regarding an amount of memory that should be allocated to the workload buffer. |
| US09983914B2 |
Memory corruption protection by tracing memory
This application discloses a computing system configured to request that an operating system implemented by the computing system allocate a virtual address space, which is designated for use by an application implemented by the computing system, to a memory verification tool implemented by the computing system. The computing system is configured to utilize the virtual address space to form a memory pool having multiple protectable slots available for allocation to the application. The computing system is further configured to intercept a memory allocation request issued by the application to the operating system of the computing system, and allocate at least one of the protectable slots in the memory pool to the application in response to the intercepted memory allocation request. |
| US09983908B1 |
Adjusting allocation of selected resources for capped and uncapped virtual machines
A method, executed by a computer, for allocating resources to virtual machines includes monitoring resource usage for a selected resource for one or more capped virtual machines and one or more uncapped virtual machines, and responsive to detecting a first resource violation, the first resource violation corresponding to resource usage for a capped virtual machine and a second resource violation, the second resource violation corresponding to resource usage for an uncapped virtual machine, adjusting allocation of the selected resource for each of the one or more capped virtual machines previous to adjusting allocation of the selected resource for any of the uncapped virtual machines. A computer program product and computer system corresponding to the above method are also disclosed herein. |
| US09983907B2 |
Resource-aware backfill job scheduling
A method, computer program product, and computer system for backfilling jobs based on energy aware scheduling are provided. A first job is received at a scheduler, where the scheduler manages one or more running jobs based on a plurality of system resources. The plurality of system resources comprises at least one resource constraint. A resource consumption of the first job is estimated based on one or more resource requirements of the first job. A first resource requirement of the one or more resource requirements is determined to exceed the resource constraint. In response to determining that the first resource requirement of the first job exceeds at least one resource constraint, at least one of (i) the first resource requirement of the first job and (ii) the plurality of system resources is modified. The first job is scheduled. |
| US09983901B2 |
Dynamic shard allocation adjustment
The present disclosure relates to dynamically adjusting shard allocation during parallel processing operations. One example method includes determining a target completion time for a batch data processing job of an input data set performed by a plurality of tasks, each of the plurality of tasks processing a different input shard including a different portion of the input data set; identifying a first task having an estimated completion time greater than the target completion time of the batch data processing job; and splitting the first input shard into a first split input shard and a second split input shard different from the first split input shard, the first split input shard including a first portion of the first input shard, and the second split input shard including a second portion of the first input shard different from the first portion. |
| US09983900B2 |
Capacity risk management for virtual machines
An access data collector collects access assignment data characterizing active access assignment operations of a hypervisor in assigning host computing resources among virtual machines for use in execution of the virtual machines. Then, a capacity risk indicator calculator calculates a capacity risk indicator characterizing a capacity risk of the host computing resources with respect to meeting a prospective capacity demand of the virtual machines, based on the access assignment data. |
| US09983899B2 |
Network resource configuration for a virtual machine
A resource configuration method of a virtual machine and a communications device. When an actual requirement of the virtual machine for the network resource is dynamically changed, the communications device may dynamically configure a communication manner corresponding to the virtual machine such that a virtual machine with a relatively low requirement for the network resource may use the manner of sharing the physical network interface card, and a virtual machine with a relatively high requirement for the network resource may use the pass-through manner, which does not cause a situation in which network resources of some virtual machines are wasted and network resources of some virtual machines are insufficient. As a result, network resources of virtual machines are properly allocated. |
| US09983898B2 |
Generating a deployment pattern for reuse in a networked computing environment
An approach for generating a deployment pattern for reuse after the deployment of a set of virtual machines and related application artifacts in a networked computing environment (e.g., a cloud computing environment) is provided. In a typical embodiment, information associated with one or more previously provisioned application environments is derived and, after analyzing the information, a deployment pattern is created in the form of tangible artifacts which may be reuse for further deployments without the need to trace back the original procedures used to deploy the previously previsioned application environment. |
| US09983896B1 |
Lun with zero storage as a protocol endpoint
A method includes (a) receiving a setup command directing a computing device to create a protocol endpoint to allow a remote host device to access storage volumes of the computing device presented to the remote host through the protocol endpoint as virtual storage volumes, (b) in response to receiving the setup command, creating a logical storage device object representing the protocol endpoint, the logical storage device object having zero underlying storage capacity, (c) subsequent to creating the logical storage device object, receiving a command directed at the protocol endpoint, and (d) in response to receiving the command, processing the command by a driver stack on the computing device containing the logical storage device object representing the protocol endpoint, the driver stack being shorter than another driver stack on the computing device used to process storage commands directed at another logical storage device object having non-zero underlying storage. |
| US09983894B2 |
Method and system for providing secure system execution on hardware supporting secure application execution
An application such as a virtual machine are executed securely using a software-based, full-system emulator within a hardware-protected enclave, such as an SGX enclave. The emulator may thereby be secure even against a malicious underlying host operating system. In some cases, paging is used to allow even a large application may run within a small enclave using paging. Where the application itself uses enclaves, these guest enclaves may themselves be emulated within an emulator enclave such that the guest enclave(s) are nested as sibling enclaves by the emulator. |
| US09983891B1 |
Systems and methods for distributing configuration templates with application containers
The disclosed computer-implemented method for distributing configuration templates with application containers may include (i) identifying an application to be deployed in an application container, (ii) maintaining a configuration template comprising at least one configuration setting for the application container and code that transforms the configuration template into a configuration file during deployment of the application, (iii) packaging the configuration template, the code that transforms the configuration template, and the application in a deployment container image, (iv) deploying the deployment container image to a host computing system that comprises a container engine that creates an instance of the deployment container from the deployment container image, and (v) triggering, by the instance of the deployment container, the container engine to use the configuration file generated from the configuration template to configure the application container with the configuration setting. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed. |
| US09983890B2 |
Collaborative generation of configuration technical data for a product to be manufactured
A reference configuration is defined in a main software by a set of reference data vectors, each reference data vector referring to a technical aspect of said product. A reference data vector comprises at least one configuration parameter and/or at least one constraint to be verified by a value assigned to a configuration parameter of a reference data vector. User data vectors are instantiated on the basis of a subset of reference data vectors of the reference configuration and define a user configuration.A software synchronization module 111 running on one said user terminal in the context of an auxiliary software generates at least one value for a parameter associated to a configuration parameter in the main software. The value is assigned to associated configuration parameter of at least one user data vector instantiated in the main software. A compliance check is performed relatively to constraints defined in the main software for the associated configuration parameter. An indicator representative of a result of the compliance check is sent to the software synchronization module 111. A consistency check is performed by comparing values assigned to a same configuration parameter in at least one first modified data vector of the first user configuration and in a second modified data vector of the second user configuration. |
| US09983872B2 |
Conditional selection of data elements
An apparatus performs an operation on a register, and then conditionally selects either that register or a further register on which no operation has been performed. The apparatus includes a decoder that decodes a conditional select instruction that specifies a primary source register, a secondary source register, a destination register, a condition, and an operation to be performed on a data element from the secondary source register. A data processor is responsive to the decoded conditional select instruction and the condition (i) having a predetermined outcome to perform the operation on the data element from the secondary source register to form a resultant data element and to store the resultant data element in the destination register, and (ii) not having the predetermined outcome to form the resultant data element from the data element from the primary register and to store the resultant data element in the destination register. |
| US09983871B1 |
Application benchmarking
Some embodiments of the invention provide a novel method for generating benchmarking metrics for applications that execute on computing devices (e.g., mobile devices). In some embodiments, the method collects data from numerous devices regarding the execution of numerous applications on these devices. For each particular application in a set of applications, the method of some embodiments identifies a group of applications that are similar to the particular application based on a set of criteria. This identification is without human intervention in some embodiments. From the collected data, the method generates a first set of reporting metrics for the identified group of applications, and provides the generated first set of reporting metrics to the developer of the particular application. In some embodiments, the method also provides to the developer a similar set of reporting metrics that the method generates from the collected data for the particular application. In this manner, the developer can compare the performance of the particular application with other similar applications. |
| US09983869B2 |
Adaptive interface for cross-platform component generation
Exemplary embodiments provide adapted components that may be used by a computer program under different execution contexts. The adapted components may include platform independent source code which may be executed regardless of the execution context in which the component is deployed. Adaptation logic may wrap the execution context independent component in a wrapper. The wrapper may perform data marshaling between the execution context independent component and a computer program invoking the execution context independent component, or the host system on which the computer program is deployed. The execution context independent component may be adapted to a new execution context dynamically the first time that the execution context independent component is invoked in the execution context. Thereafter, the execution context independent component may be invoked statically without the need to re-adapt the component. |
| US09983863B2 |
Method to optimize provisioning time with dynamically generated virtual disk contents
Distribution of middleware binary includes: receiving a request to deploy a workload with middleware service(s); selecting a base operating system (OS) image to host the middleware service(s); determining locations of binary file(s) for the middleware service(s) in a repository on a storage system; cloning a virtual disk containing the base OS image on the storage system; and copying the binary file(s) from the locations in the repository into the cloned virtual disk on the storage system. The binary file(s) are copied onto the virtual disk directly on the storage system, without the need to traverse a network interface. The base OS image is augmented with the binary files just prior to the deployment of the virtual machine (VM). |
| US09983862B2 |
Systems and methods for download and installation of drivers for unmanaged information handling resources
In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, an information handling system may include a processor and an operating system embodied in a non-transitory computer-readable medium communicatively coupled to the processor. The operating system may be configured to, when read and executed by the processor: read a base uniform resource locator (URL) associated with a vendor of a device communicatively coupled to the processor; append information to the base URL to generate a full download URL for an operating system driver associated with the device; and download the operating system driver from a file location defined by the full download URL. |
| US09983861B2 |
Reusable deployment plans and dependencies thereof
Reusability of deployment plans and dependencies thereof. A method defines contracts as between multiple deployment plans, the contracts representing dependencies between them; defines wait task(s) in a first set of the deployment plans, a wait task being associated with a contract and completion of the wait task and progression of a deployment plan in which the wait task is defined being dependent on satisfaction of the contract; defines signal task(s) in a second set of the deployment plans, satisfaction of the contract being based on status of signal task(s); selects a collection of deployment plans for concurrent execution, at least one contract of the contracts representing at least one dependency between the collection; and manages the concurrent execution of the collection. Managing controls progression of the execution by enforcing the at least one contract, which enforces the at least one dependency between the collection in the execution of the collection. |
| US09983859B2 |
Method and system for developing and deploying data science transformations from a development computing environment into a production computing environment
A method and system facilitates the development of data science transformations in one programming language and the deployment of the data science transformations in another programming language, according to one embodiment. The method and system preserves relationships, functions, configurations, and characteristics between combinations of data transformations, according to one embodiment. The preservation of the relationships, functions, configurations, and characteristics is enabled by developing and providing a set of low-level (e.g., atomic) transformations that enable users to build their own models, libraries, and configurations into macro-transformations (e.g., conglomerate transformations), according to one embodiment. Deploying the data science transformations into production computing environments is useful for providing or supporting a number of types of software services, such as, predicting user behavior, customizing user experiences, supporting marketing initiatives, providing empirically-backed recommendations, predicting user preferences for software interactions, and/or otherwise exposing patterns that are identified from historical and transactional data, according to one embodiment. |
| US09983852B2 |
Graphical specification and constraint language for developing programs for hardware implementation and use
Techniques for specifying and implementing programs. A graphical program is created in a graphical specification and constraint language that allows specification of a model of computation and explicit declaration of constraints in response to user input. The graphical program includes a specified model of computation, a plurality of interconnected functional blocks that visually indicate functionality of the graphical program in accordance with the specified model of computation, and specifications or constraints for the graphical program or at least one of the functional blocks in the graphical program. The specified model of computation and specifications or constraints are useable to analyze the graphical program or generate a program or simulation. |
| US09983849B2 |
Voice command-driven database
A voice command-driven system and computer-implemented method are disclosed for selecting a data item in a list of text-based data items stored in a database using a simple affirmative voice command input without utilizing a connection to a network. The text-based data items in the list are converted to speech using an embedded text-to-speech engine and an audio output of a first converted data item is provided. A listening state is entered into for a predefined pause time to await receipt of the simple affirmative voice command input. If the simple affirmative voice command input is received during the predefined pause time, the first converted data item is selected for processing. If the simple affirmative voice command input is not received during the predefined pause time, an audio output of a next converted data item in the list is provided. |
| US09983844B2 |
Virtual content management
A method includes receiving a first virtual board selection from a first user, wherein a first virtual board allows for one or more users to create one or more virtual posts during a current collaboration event. The method displays the first virtual board and a first set of previously created virtual posts in the first virtual board, wherein the first set of previously created virtual posts is associated with a previous collaboration event. The method displays two or more templates for creating a new virtual post. The method receives content to populate the first template, wherein the populated first template represents a first virtual post of a second set of virtual posts for the current collaboration event. The method displays the first virtual post on the first virtual board based on a first position of an electronic device associated with the first user relative to the first virtual board. |
| US09983842B2 |
Adjusting method and electronic device
The disclosure provides an adjusting method and an electronic device. The method comprises: acquiring a first shape parameter of a first foldable screen; and transmitting the first shape parameter to a second electronic device coupled to the first electronic device, so as to allow the second electronic device to adjust a shape of a second foldable screen of the second electronic device based on the first shape parameter, or generating first synchronization information based on the first shape parameter and transmitting the first synchronization information to the second electronic device coupled to the first electronic device, so as to allow the second electronic device to adjust the shape of the second foldable screen based on the first synchronization information. |
| US09983840B2 |
Head-mounted display apparatus worn on user's head
A head-mounted display apparatus worn on the head of a user includes an attitude detector that detects the attitude of the head-mounted display apparatus, a manipulation detector that detects a predetermined manipulation performed on the head-mounted display apparatus, a display, and a processor that switches first display information to be displayed on the display to second display information according to a change in the attitude detected by the attitude detector. If the manipulation detector detects the predetermined manipulation, even if there is a change in the attitude detected by the attitude detector, the processor maintains the first display information being displayed on the display without switching the second display information. |
| US09983833B2 |
Solid state drive with holding file for atomic updates
A method of updating a file in a solid state drive (SSD) and an SSD configured to update a file in the SSD is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method includes performing one or more writes to a holding file in an auxiliary memory, the one or more writes corresponding to an update for a target file in the auxiliary memory. The method further includes applying the update to the target file in the auxiliary memory when each of the one or more writes has been successfully written to the holding file, and resetting the holding file when less than all of the one or more writes have been successfully written to the holding file. In one embodiment, a flash controller in communication with the auxiliary memory performs the update. |
| US09983830B2 |
Memory component having internal read modify-write operation
An memory component includes a memory bank and a command interface to receive a read-modify-write command, having an associated read address indicating a location in the memory bank and to either access read data from the location in the memory bank indicated by the read address after an adjustable delay period transpires from a time at which the read-modify-write command was received or to overlap multiple read-modify-write commands. The memory component further includes a data interface to receive write data associated with the read-modify-write command and an error correction circuit to merge the received write data with the read data to form a merged data and write the merged data to the location in the memory bank indicated by the read address. |
| US09983828B2 |
Health indicator of a storage device
A data storage device may perform a method that includes identifying a first life stage of multiple life stages of the data storage device. The method includes determining a first health scheme based on the first life stage and generating a first health indicator associated with a region of the memory based on the first health scheme. |
| US09983826B2 |
Data storage device deferred secure delete
A method of securely deleting data from a data storage device is described. The method includes the steps of receiving a secure delete command to securely delete a file. A data block of the file to securely delete is identified. A pointer to the data block is stored in a deletion buffer. It is then determined whether the secure delete command has a highest priority over other data storage device commands. In response to the secure delete command having the highest priority, the secure delete command to the data block is performed. |
| US09983825B2 |
Efficient data volume replication for block-based storage
A block-based storage system may implement efficient replication for restoring a data volume from a reduced durability state. A storage node that is not replicating write requests for a data volume may determine that replication for the data volume is to be enabled. A peer storage node may be identified that maintains a stale replica of the data volume. One or more replication operations may be performed to update stale data chunks in the stale replica of the data volume with current data chunks without updating data chunks in the stale replica of the data volume that are current. Stale replicas that are no longer needed may be deleted according timeouts or the amount of stale data in the replica. |
| US09983816B1 |
Managing disk drive power savings in data storage systems
A method is used in managing disk drive power saving in data storage systems. Multiple data storage systems storage elements capable of operating in a power saving mode are identified and grouped into a RAID group. One or more logical units are created from the RAID group. The one or more logical units are exposed to a server. The one or more logical units are associated to an application at the server. Power saving settings are determined. A power saving mode based on the power saving settings is enabled. |
| US09983815B1 |
Using a cascade flag to process a copy relationship having a backward cascade copy relationship
Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for using a cascade flag to process a copy relationship having a backward cascade copy relationship. Each of a plurality of copy relationships indicates to copy source data to target data and has a cascade flag. The cascade flag for a forward copy relationship of the copy relationships is set to a first value in response to determining that the source data for the forward copy relationship comprises target data for a backward copy relationship and that a background copy operation specified to copy source data to target data of the backward copy relationship has not completed. The cascade flag for the forward copy relationship is set to a second value in response to determining that the backward copy relationship does not have an uncompleted background copy operation. |
| US09983813B2 |
Maintenance of a fabric priority during synchronous copy operations
A primary storage controller receives a write command from a host, wherein Fiber Channel frames corresponding to the write command have a priority indicated by the host. The primary storage controller performs a synchronous copy operation to copy data written by the write command from the primary storage controller to a secondary storage controller, wherein Fiber Channel frames corresponding to the synchronous copy operations have an identical priority to the priority indicated by the host. |
| US09983807B1 |
Static service levels and application specific usage tags for storage policy based management of storage resources
Storage system characteristics are processed to generate a service level for a storage system that is one of a fixed number of service levels. Application specific usage tags describing application types the storage system is appropriate to support may also be generated. The service level and application specific usage tags are stored into a storage system capability profile and made available, together with any metadata needed to describe the application specific usage tags, to a system associated with a virtualization environment. A request to provision storage resources for a virtual machine is subsequently received, including a policy profile having a requested service level and one or more application specific usage tags describing the storage requirements of the virtual machine. If the policy profile matches the capability profile, storage resources are provisioned for the virtual machine from the storage system. |
| US09983806B2 |
Storage controlling apparatus, information processing apparatus, and computer-readable recording medium having stored therein storage controlling program
A storage controlling apparatus includes a processor. The processor estimates, when a new virtual machine is to be produced, an access frequency to a new virtual disk to be allocated to the new virtual machine based on an access frequency to an existing virtual disk allocated to an existing virtual machine produced from master information on which the new virtual machine is based, and temporarily reserves, when the estimated access frequency exceeds a first threshold value, a plurality of successive allocation unit regions in a physical disk for the new virtual disk. |
| US09983804B2 |
Skewing expected wearout times of memory devices
Aspects of the present invention include a system, method, and computer program product for skewing expected wearout times of memory devices in an array are provided according to some embodiments of the present invention. In general, the method includes determining or receiving an amount of spare space to provide in an array of memory devices, allocating the spare space non-uniformly to the memory devices in the array, and skewing expected wearout times of the memory devices by controlling writing of data to the array according to the allocation of the spare space. |
| US09983802B2 |
Allocating storage extents in a storage system
Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, system, and computer program product for allocating storage extents. Extent input/output information pertaining to an extent on a storage device is received, by a computer, where the extant input/output information includes an access rate of data stored on the extent. The computer determines one or more periods of time where the input/output information exceeds a preconfigured threshold. The computer generates one or more of a first policy and a second policy based on the determined one or more periods where the first policy includes allocating the extent to a high performance disk within a tier storage system when data is stored during the determined periods and the second policy includes reallocating the extent from a low performance disk within the tier storage system to a high performance storage device within the tier storage system during the one or more determined periods. |
| US09983799B2 |
Trim command processing method, memory control circuit unit and memory storage apparatus
A trim command processing method for a memory storage apparatus having a rewritable non-volatile memory module having a plurality of physical programming units is provided. The method includes receiving a command from a host system; starting a trim operation to perform an operation corresponding to a trim command according to a record related to the trim command in a trim table if an operation corresponding the command is performed on the rewritable non-volatile memory module with a first mode; and not starting aforesaid trim operation if the operation corresponding the command is performed on the rewritable non-volatile memory module with a second mode. |
| US09983797B2 |
Memory server with read writeable non-volatile memory
In one embodiment of the invention, a server is disclosed including a main printed circuit board; a plurality of processors mounted to the main printed circuit board; and a memory system accessible to the plurality of processors. The memory system includes a plurality of expansion sockets mounted to the printed circuit board, and a plurality of server memory cards removeably plugged into the plurality of expansion sockets. Each server memory card includes a master controller, a plurality of slave controllers, and a plurality of replaceable daughter-memory-cards with read-writeable non-volatile memory. |
| US09983794B2 |
Memory device and host device
According to one embodiment, a memory device includes a nonvolatile semiconductor memory having physical storage areas that includes a user area externally accessible and are divided into management units and a control unit. The control unit receives a control command having a first argument to designate a sequential write area and a read command or a write command, assigns a management unit represented by an address of the read command or the write command as the sequential write area, and changes memory access control by judging whether an address of a memory access command to access the user area indicates access in the sequential write area whose size is equivalent to the management unit. |
| US09983792B2 |
Dynamic cache sharing based on power state
The present invention discloses a method comprising: sending cache request; monitoring power state; comparing said power state; allocating cache resources; filling cache; updating said power state; repeating said sending, said monitoring, said comparing, said allocating, said filling, and said updating until workload is completed. |
| US09983791B2 |
System management controller and method of configuration file backup and recovery
A system management controller includes a processing module and a removable storage device interface. The removable storage device interface is connectable to a removable storage device. The removable storage device pre-stores a controller configuration file. In response to connection of the removable storage device interface to the removable storage device, the processing module accesses the controller configuration file from the removable storage device and configures the system management controller according to data in the controller configuration file. |
| US09983790B2 |
System management controller and method of configuration file backup and recovery
A system management controller includes a processing module and a removable storage device interface. The removable storage device interface is connectable to a removable storage device. The removable storage device pre-stores a controller configuration file. In response to connection of the removable storage device interface to the removable storage device, the processing module accesses the controller configuration file from the removable storage device and configures the system management controller according to data in the controller configuration file. |
| US09983780B2 |
Mobile terminal and controlling method thereof
A mobile terminal and controlling method thereof are disclosed, by which a writing input is facilitated using at least two pointers. The present invention includes a touchscreen configured to receive a touch input, and a controller, if the touch input with a main pointer is received while the touch input with at least one auxiliary pointer is maintained, configured to control a writing object drawn along a touch trace of the main pointer to be displayed on the touchscreen. |
| US09983779B2 |
Method of displaying menu based on depth information and space gesture of user
A method of displaying a menu based on at least one of a depth information and a space gesture is provided. The method including determining depth information corresponding to a distance from a screen of a user terminal to a hand of a user; identifying at least one layer among a plurality of layers based on the depth information; and applying a graphic effect to the identified layer so that a menu page corresponding to the at least one identified layer is displayed on the screen of the user terminal. |
| US09983772B2 |
Intelligent embedded experience gadget selection
A method for selecting an embedded experience gadget may include displaying an activity stream of a user on a social network, the activity stream comprising a plurality of events and detecting selection of an event from the plurality of events by the user. The method may also include determining a level of intersection between the selected event and each of a plurality of known gadgets and finding an optimal embedded experience gadget from the plurality of known gadgets based on the level of intersection between the selected event and each known gadget. The method may additionally include associating the optimal embedded experience gadget with the selected event and displaying the optimal embedded experience gadget in association with the selected event. |
| US09983770B2 |
Screen capture method, apparatus, and terminal device
A screen capture method, an apparatus, and a terminal device where a part of an image in a screen display region can be captured by means of gesture recognition. When it is detected that two fingers swipe parallel in a same direction on a screen, acquiring a screen capture region according to the same-direction parallel swiping; and acquiring, according to the screen capture region, an image displayed in the screen capture region. According to the screen capture method, a screen capture operation is performed by recognizing same-direction parallel swiping of two fingers on a screen, so that a user can capture an image displayed in a part of a region of the screen according to an individual requirement, and the screen capture method is applicable to various touch-operation terminal devices without the help of an external tool, thereby simplifying the operation and improving user experience. |
| US09983769B2 |
Transitioning browser tabs from one environment context to another
Transitioning browser tabs from one contextual environment to another contextual environment may be provided. A user interface having a set of tabs may be presented. A context may be defined for the set of tabs and stored. One or more of the tabs in the set may be changed and a new context defined for the changed tabs and stored. A plurality of such additional contexts may be defined and stored. The set of tabs may be adjusted based on a selected browser tab context. |
| US09983767B2 |
Apparatus and method for providing user interface based on hand-held position of the apparatus
An electronic apparatus and a method for providing a user interface are provided. The electronic apparatus includes a sensor module configured to detect sensor data, a touch screen configured to display a control menu related to content that is displayed, and a control module configured to determine a hand-held position of the electronic apparatus, based on the sensor data, to configure the control menu, based on the determined hand-held position, and to display the configured control menu, based on the determined hand-held position. |
| US09983765B2 |
Adaptive mapping of search results
Systems and method are provided for updating the presentation of a map based on search request information. The method may display, at a computing device, an interface that includes a search mode view of a map and a search box. Additionally, the method may receive input into the search box. The input may cause a display of a menu that includes a list of geographic locations according to the received input. Furthermore, the method may display visual indicators on the search mode view of the map according to the list of geographic locations. Moreover, the method may receive selection input corresponding to a selected geographic location from the list of geographic locations. Subsequently, the method may update the interface by replacing the search mode view with a confirmed mode view. The confirmed mode view may include a selection highlight indicator that corresponds to the selected geographic location. |
| US09983764B2 |
Method, electronic device, and non-transitory storage medium for adjusting icons
In a method for adjusting icons on a desktop, movable points of the icon are obtained and marked. A movable point can be selected and that point on the boundary of an icon can be moved inside or away from the icon. The move operation includes a move direction and a move distance. The shape and size of the icon is adjusted according to the move direction and the move distance, and as the size of an adjusted icon is increased, additional information from the represented application program, such as a list of unopened emails in an email program, can be obtained and displayed. |
| US09983763B2 |
Geometrical and ontological filtering using spatial boundary of 3D objects
Methods and apparatus are provided that improve graphical software applications, by filtering the data for display according to techniques for defining and manipulating visual indicia. Data may be filtered according to multiple filters that are combined in a number of ways to form the set of data for display. Data may be filtered ontologically and geometrically according to their relationships with other data. Visual indicia that represent filters may be drag-and-dropped between input areas to facilitate ease of use. Data selected according to a filter may be displayed at the same time as non-selected data by applying visually distinctive characteristics to the selected data. A virtual environment may be shown simultaneously on several different video displays at a single workstation. |
| US09983760B2 |
Apparatus, method and computer readable recording medium for arranging a plurality of items automatically in a canvas
An apparatus arranges a plurality of items automatically in a form of collage in a canvas while maintaining the original size ratio between the items. The apparatus includes: an arrangement position selecting unit determining a position of a cell which is divided to arrange a k-th item among the respective cells having k−1 items arranged therein in the canvas; a cell dividing unit dividing a cell region of the position determined by the arrangement position selecting unit; an item arranging unit arranging the k-th item at the position of the divided cell; and a first canvas size adjusting unit increasing an entire size of the canvas as needed in the case in which a space to be arranged is insufficient when the item arranging unit arranges the k-th item at the position of the divided cell. |
| US09983758B2 |
Liquid crystal display device with touch screen
A liquid crystal display device includes a first substrate, a second substrate, and a liquid crystal material sandwiched between the first and second substrate. The second substrate has a touch screen electrode directly on a front-side surface of the second substrate. The first substrate has a wiring line for supplying a position detection voltage. A conductive tape electrically connects between the touch screen electrode and a driver circuit. A polarization plate is disposed above the touch screen electrode. |
| US09983757B2 |
Inductive touch sensor using a flexible coil
An inductive touch sensor comprises an inductors disposed in or on a deformable substrate. When a force is applied to the deformable substrate the physical shape of the inductor will change and thereby change its inductance value. The change in the inductance value can be detected and used to indicate actuation of an associated touch key of the inductive touch sensor. A plurality of inductive touch sensors may be used to form a touch panel. |
| US09983750B2 |
In-cell mutual-capacitive touch panel
An in-cell mutual-capacitive touch panel is disclosed. The in-cell mutual-capacitive touch panel includes a plurality of pixels. A laminated structure of each pixel includes a substrate, a TFT layer, a liquid crystal layer, a color filter layer and a glass layer. The TFT layer is disposed on the substrate. A first conductive layer and a common electrode are disposed in the TFT layer. The first conductive layer is arranged in mesh type or only arranged along a first direction in an active area of the in-cell mutual-capacitive touch panel. The liquid crystal layer is disposed above the TFT layer. The color filter layer is disposed above the liquid crystal layer. The glass layer is disposed above the color filter layer. |
| US09983747B2 |
Two-layer interactive textiles
This document describes two-layer interactive textiles. In one or more implementations, the interactive textile includes a top textile layer and a bottom textile layer. Conductive threads are woven into the top textile layer and the bottom textile layer. When the top textile layer is combined with the bottom textile layer, the conductive threads from each layer form a capacitive touch sensor that is configured to detect touch-input. The bottom textile layer is not visible and couples the capacitive through sensor to electronic components, such as a controller, a wireless interface, an output device (e.g., an LED, a display, or speaker), and so forth. |
| US09983742B2 |
Electronic device having display and surrounding touch sensitive bezel for user interface and control
An electronic device has a display and has a touch sensitive bezel surrounding the display. Areas on the bezel are designated for controls used to operate the electronic device. Visual guides corresponding to the controls are displayed on the display adjacent the areas of the bezel designated for the controls. Touch data is generated by the bezel when a user touches an area of the bezel. The device determines which of the controls has been selected based on which designated area is associated with the touch data from the bezel. The device then initiates the determined control. The device can have a sensor for determining the orientation of the device. Based on the orientation, the device can alter the areas designated on the bezel for the controls and can alter the location of the visual guides for the display so that they match the altered areas on the bezel. |
| US09983741B2 |
Capacitive input device
Electrode portions located on both ends are set to detection electrode portions, ground electrode portions are set on the inside thereof, and a plurality of central electrode portions are set to driving detection portions. A coordinate position of a finger can be obtained based on an output difference between the detection electrode portions, and a vertical distance can be obtained based on an output sum. When the vertical distance of the finger is shorter than a first threshold, switching is performed so that an interval between the detection electrode portions is shortened, and when the finger approaches, a touch detection mode is set. |
| US09983735B2 |
Touch system and touch detection method
A touch system is disclosed herein. The touch system includes detecting units and a control unit. The detecting units are disposed around a detecting area, and form a plurality of scan lines therebetween. The control unit is configured to detect first crossing points according to a transmission status of each of the scan lines, to delete ghost points of the first crossing points according to a first scan line having a first slope value of the scan lines to generate second crossing points, and to divide the second crossing points into groups to output touch points. |
| US09983733B2 |
Touch display panel and touch display device
In general, embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods for a touch display panel and a touch display device including a touch display panel. The touch display panel includes: a substrate, and a common electrode layer located on the substrate. The common electrode layer includes multiple touch electrodes insulated from each other. Each of the touch electrodes is electrically connected to a driving circuit via at least one touch lead. A part of the touch electrodes are divided into multiple sub-electrodes by touch leads adjacent to the divided touch electrodes. The sub-electrodes of each of the touch electrodes are electrically connected to each other via at least one bridge, to reduce parasitic capacitances between the touch leads and the touch electrodes and alleviate an influence from the parasitic capacitances on touch performance. |
| US09983728B2 |
Rotating ring for device control
A ring device to be worn on a digit of a user is provided. The ring device includes an inner ring suitable to be worn on a digit of a user and a housing rotatably coupled to the inner ring. Along the housing a touch surface is located along with touch sensors configured to detect a touch input. Additionally, the ring includes rotary sensors configured to detect rotation of the housing. |
| US09983726B2 |
Electronic device and scratch prevention method
An electronic device with a processing device and a storage device also has a touch panel and a pressure sensing device. A press signal of a touch from the pressure sensing device is detected by the processing device when a simple touch signal on the touch panel is also detected. The processing device compares the press signal to the touch signal to determine whether the press signal includes a first pressure signal detected around a touch area of the touch signal. If the first pressure signal is detected, a warning signal according to the first pressure signal can be issued. |
| US09983725B2 |
Mutual capacitance sensing circuit with increased sensitivity
An electronic device includes mutual capacitance sensing circuitry for a capacitive touch pad. The touch pad has pairs of transmit and receive electrodes. The sensing circuitry intermittently charges and discharges the transmit electrode, and then measures corresponding voltage level changes at the receive electrode. A non-linear voltage-to-current converter is used to detect the voltage level changes, which allows for great sensitivity to mutual capacitance changes. |
| US09983724B2 |
Mobile terminal and controlling method for displaying information of a wearable device
A mobile terminal and controlling method thereof are disclosed, by which various convenient functions including application management in association with such a wearable external device as a watch type mobile terminal and the like can be provided. The present invention includes a wireless communication unit, a touchscreen, and a controller, when the touchscreen is turned off, if a 1st touch is inputted to the touchscreen and a 2nd touch is then inputted to the touchscreen by maintaining the 1st touch, turning on the touchscreen and controlling information of at least one wearable device currently connected through the wireless communication unit to be displayed on the touchscreen. |
| US09983723B2 |
Panel display driving circuit and touch time arranging method
A touch time arranging method, applied to a panel display driving circuit having touch timing control function in a touch display panel, includes: dividing the resolution of touch display panel along a first direction by K touch regions of touch display panel along the first direction to obtain a first quotient; obtaining a digital combination including a first value I and a second value J closest to the integer part of first quotient; if the ratio of the number of occurrences of the first value and second value in the digital combination is X:Y, dividing the resolution by (I*X+J*Y) to obtain a second quotient; when the touch display panel displays R lines in order under a display mode, the touch display panel is switched to a touch mode every I lines and J lines alternately according to the digital combination to arrange a touch time to perform touch sensing. |
| US09983722B2 |
Mobile terminal and control method thereof
The present invention relates to a mobile terminal having a plurality of display areas and a control method thereof. A mobile terminal according to the present invention includes a display unit provided with a first display area and a second display area, and a controller configured to process a touch applied to another display area in an inactive state as a control command for one display area in an active state, when the touch is applied to the another display area in the inactive state while the one of the first and second display areas is in the active state and the another display area is in the active state. Here, the active state is a state of allowing an output of visual information and touch sensing, and the inactive state is a state of restricting an output of visual information and allowing touch sensing. |
| US09983721B2 |
Optimizing pixel settling in an integrated display and capacitive sensing device
An example method of performing capacitive sensing and display updating in an integrated capacitive sensing device and display device includes driving a plurality of display electrodes with one or more display voltages from one or more supplies during a first time period, the one or more voltages configured to drive the display pixels. The method further includes initiating a long horizontal blanking interval during a second time period. The method further includes driving a plurality of sensor electrodes with one or more sensing voltages from the one or more supplies during the second time period to perform capacitive sensing. The method further includes activating first circuitry during one of the first time period or the second time period to draw current to equalize power drawn from the one or more supplies during the first and second time periods within a threshold. |
| US09983715B2 |
Force detection in touch devices using piezoelectric sensors
Systems and methods related to piezoelectric based force sensing in touch devices are presented. One embodiment, for example, may take the form of an apparatus including a touch device having a deformable device stack and a piezoelectric element positioned relative to the deformable device stack such that the piezoelectric element deforms with the deformable stack. Deformation of the piezoelectric element generates a signal having a magnitude discernable as representative of an amount of force applied to the touch device. |
| US09983713B2 |
Touch display and method for manufacturing the same
A touch display is disclosed including a display module, a polarizer disposed on the display module, and a plurality of touch electrodes at least partly coated on the polarizer, wherein the touch electrodes are formed by nano-silver. Since the touch electrodes formed by nano-silver is employed in the display, a multifunctional touch display is provided. A method for making the touch display is also disclosed. |
| US09983704B2 |
Touch panel
A touch panel includes a substrate, a masking layer, a touch circuit structure, a protective layer and a first shatterproof layer. The substrate has an upper surface and a first lateral surface disposed on the peripheral of the upper surface and extending outward from the upper surface. The masking layer is disposed on an edge of the upper surface. The touch circuit structure is disposed on the upper surface of the substrate. The protective layer covers at least the touch circuit structure and has a second lateral surface. The first shatterproof layer covers the second lateral surface and at least a part of the first lateral surface. |
| US09983703B2 |
Touch panel having a patterned overcoating layer for reducing moiré pattern that intersects with an electrode pattern at an angle, liquid crystal display device including touch panel and method of forming touch panel
A touch panel, a liquid crystal display device including the touch panel, and a method of forming the touch panel may be provided, wherein the touch panel includes an electrode layer having an electrode pattern for touch sensing; and an overcoating layer formed on an upper portion of the electrode layer and having a pattern forming a predetermined intersection angle with respect to the electrode pattern, and the liquid crystal display device includes the touch panel attached to an upper portion of the liquid crystal display device or formed within the liquid crystal display device. |
| US09983702B2 |
Touch panel and method for manufacturing touch panel
A touch panel capable of performing display and sensing along a curved surface or a touch panel that maintains high detection sensitivity even when it is curved along a curved surface is provided. A flexible display panel is placed along a curved portion included in a surface of a support. A first film layer is attached along a surface of the display panel by a bonding layer. Second to n-th film layers (n is an integer of 2 or more) are sequentially attached along a surface of the first film layer by bonding layers. A flexible touch sensor is attached along a surface of the n-th film layer by a bonding layer. |
| US09983697B1 |
System and method for facilitating virtual interactions with a three-dimensional virtual environment in response to sensor input into a control device having sensors
Various implementations provide for a three-dimensional trackpad in which sensors and a three-dimensional physical region may be used to interact with a three-dimensional virtual environment. The methods, systems, techniques, and components described herein may facilitate interactions with virtual objects in a three-dimensional virtual environment in response to sensor input into a control device having one or more sensors implemented thereon. The control device may be coupled to a display that may be configured to display the three-dimensional virtual environment. In various implementations, the sensor(s) capture physical movement of a user interaction element (a hand, a stylus, a physical object, etc.) within a specified three-dimensional physical region. The physical movement may be translated into a virtual interaction with the three-dimensional virtual environment. A virtual action in the three-dimensional virtual environment may be identified and displayed. |
| US09983691B2 |
Styleable custom button repeat
The described technology is directed towards a button repeat system that allows different repeat behaviors (e.g., interval times between repeats) to be customized for any view (user interface element) and for any button. A designer specifies an interval set comprising interval times to use in an associated view to repeat a button that is pressed and held. Using global information across views, a button that is pressed and held may continue to repeat as focus changes among views. The repeating may continue without needing to reset to the first interval time of the interval set of each view as focus changes, so that, for example, a rapidly repeating button does not appear to change its repetition rate as focus changes among views. |
| US09983690B2 |
Four row overloaded QWERTY-like keypad layout
Provided is an overloaded keypad layout which is efficient, ergonomic, unambiguous, intuitive to operate, and also familiar to the average user in its letter arrangement. More particularly, the overloaded keypad layout comprises four rows, and a space-key is positioned in the third row from bottom, and is QWERTY-like its letter arrangement. Further, the multitap input method or selector (select-the-next-letter key) input method may be employed to disambiguate the overloaded keypad layout. |
| US09983688B2 |
Protective cover
A protective cover may include a first cover part configured to be opened to expose a front surface of the electronic device and to be closed to conceal the front surface of the electronic device; a second cover part rotatably coupled to the first cover part and detachably arranged on a rear surface of the electronic device; and an input device detachably provided in the first cover part. |
| US09983685B2 |
Electronic apparatuses and methods for providing a man-machine interface (MMI)
An electronic apparatus includes at least two camera devices and a processing device. The processing device determines a first distance to a surface formed by the two camera devices and a second distance to the surface in response to detecting an object positioned at a first time by the two camera devices, and determines a third distance from the object positioned at a second time to the surface, wherein the second time is later than the first time, and the third distance is longer than the first distance and shorter than the second distance. Also, the processing device determines a depth in a virtual space corresponding to the object positioned at the second time according to the first distance, the second distance, and the third distance. |
| US09983669B2 |
System for transmitting signals between a body of a living being and a virtual reality space
A system for transmitting signals between a body of a living being and a virtual reality space includes a mount and a base configured to be affixed to respective first and second bony members of the body on a distal side and a proximal side, respectively, of a joint. An elongate, flexible strip is affixed at a first end to the mount and at a second end to the base. A sensor disposed on the base is configured to generate a displacement signal indicative of displacement of the strip in response to movement of the first bony member relative to the second bony member. The system further includes a display and a controller configured to receive the displacement signal and to control movement of a virtual representation of the body on the display responsive to the displacement signal and feedback of interaction in the virtual space to the living being. |
| US09983664B2 |
Mobile device for executing multiple applications and method for same
A mobile device for executing multiple applications is provided. The mobile device includes a touch screen for displaying a first window where a first application is executed, a second window where a second application different from the first application is executed, and a controller for displaying execution keys for executing the multiple applications, determining whether a simultaneous execution input for the first application and the second application is input or not, and if the simultaneous execution input is input then displaying the first application on the first window and the second application on the second window. |
| US09983662B2 |
Wake-up and physical button function adjusting method and electronic device using the same
An electronic device including a physical button, a processing unit and a sensing unit is provided. The processing unit is coupled to the physical button and the sensing unit is coupled to the processing unit. When the electronic device enters a hibernation mode or in a shutdown state, the sensing unit continuously detects a wake-up signal. When receiving the wake-up signal, the sensing unit wakes up the processing unit. The sensing unit further receives an instruction signal externally, generates an instruction information according to the instruction signal, and sends the instruction information to the processing unit. When receiving the instruction information, the processing unit adjusts a corresponding function of the physical button according to the instruction information. |
| US09983658B2 |
Mobile systems with seamless transition by activating second subsystem to continue operation of application executed by first subsystem as it enters sleep mode
A computer system includes two or more subsystems. In one example, a first subsystem is executing a multimedia application using data stored in a first storage device. A copy of the data is also stored in a second storage device associated with a second subsystem. The second subsystem may be a dedicated multimedia player controller. When the first subsystem is to enter a sleep state, the second subsystem may continue to process the multimedia data stored in the second storage device. The second subsystem may also use the same audio port that the first subsystem was using before it enters the sleep state. Appropriate transition point may be determined by the second subsystem to ease audio disruption. |
| US09983656B2 |
Fingerprint sensor with power saving operating modes, and corresponding devices, systems, and methods
A method in an electronic device having one or more processors operable a fingerprint sensor and one or more other sensors includes detecting, with a fingerprint sensor, false fingerprint data. After detecting the false fingerprint data, the method determines whether the electronic device is disposed within a pocket. Where the electronic device is disposed within the pocket, the method transitions the fingerprint sensor from an active mode to a low power or sleep mode. |
| US09983650B2 |
Multi-colored display illumination control for indicating device status and/or activity
A computing device that includes a programmatically controlled front light. The front light cast light onto a display surface and/or other region of the computing device, for purpose of providing illumination and/or lighting effect. |
| US09983646B2 |
Smart circuit breaker for device chargers
A circuit breaker device may wirelessly communicate with a user device, in order to supply power to the user device, via a charger, at times when charging the user device may be desirable. The circuit breaker device may also forgo supplying power to the user device, via the charger, at times when charging the user device may not be necessary. The user device may request charging at certain times, such as when a charge level of the battery is excessively low, and/or when an alarm clock, set by a user of the user device, is about to ring. |
| US09983644B2 |
Dynamically updating at least one power management operational parameter pertaining to a turbo mode of a processor for increased performance
In one embodiment, a processor includes at least one core, at least one thermal sensor, and a power controller including a first logic to dynamically update a time duration for which the at least one core is enabled to be in a turbo mode. Other embodiments are described and claimed. |