| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US11258387B1 |
System and method for neutral point balancing for back-to-back voltage source converters
A method for controlling a three-level back-to-back voltage source power conversion assembly includes receiving an indication of a DC or AC unbalance occurring in voltage of a DC link. The power conversion assembly has a first power converter coupled to a second power converter via the DC link. In response to receiving the indication, the method includes activating a balancing algorithm that includes determining a deviation of a midpoint voltage of the DC link as a function of a total voltage of the DC link, calculating a voltage compensation needed for pulse-width modulation signals of the power conversion assembly based on the deviation, and coordinating common mode voltage injection from each of the power converters independently at a neutral point of the power conversion assembly based on the voltage compensation, thereby minimizing the at least one of the DC unbalance or the AC unbalance at any given operating condition. |
| US11258383B2 |
Active gate driver with feedback
An electric motor control system comprising an electronic switch configured to control a current flow in a motor winding based on a pre-distorted signal and a digital pre-distorter configured to generate the pre-distorted signal based on an input signal and a plurality of coefficients, wherein the plurality of coefficients are based on a feedback signal that represents the current flow in the motor winding. |
| US11258381B1 |
Driving circuit for single phase motor and driving method for the same
A motor driving circuit for a single phase motor and a motor driving method for the same are provided. The motor driving circuit includes a motor driver, a Hall sensor, a Hall commutation detection circuit, a period recording circuit, a motor current detection circuit, a cut-off angle adjustment circuit, an angle calculation circuit and a control circuit. The motor current detection circuit detects a motor current value at a commutation point after the single phase motor operates normally. The cut-off angle adjustment circuit generates a cut-off angle adjustment signal indicating a cut-off adjustment angle according to the motor current value when the single phase motor passes the commutation point. The control circuit processes the commutation signal and the cut-off signal generated by the angle calculation circuit to generate a control signal group to control the motor driver to generate an output signal group to drive the motor. |
| US11258378B2 |
Piezoelectric apparatus for motorization
A piezoelectric motorization system has a mechanically flexible body that has one or more surfaces for placing piezoelectric actuators. The system has groups of piezoelectric actuators each positioned on one of the surfaces of the mechanically flexible body that is connected to the electronic circuitry. The electronic circuitry controls the driving of the mechanical loads by the mechanically flexible body by injecting sets of control signals into different groups of actuators positioned on the mechanically flexible body. Each control signal operates groups of driving frequencies with an adjustable amplitude ratio and an adjustable phase difference among driving frequencies. And, under a set of boundary conditions exhibited by a set of structural dimensions of the mechanically flexible body, each control signal induces multi-mode resonance of the mechanically flexible body for driving the mechanical loads multi-dimensionally. |
| US11258375B2 |
Load-bearing variable stiffening device comprising an electrode structure
A variable stiffening device that include a first electrode structure and a second electrode structure. The first electrode structure includes an electrode extension that extends into a cavity defined between an electrode of the first electrode structure and an opposing electrode of the second electrode structure. The first and second electrode structures may be arranged in a load-bearing state by applying a voltage thereto to electrostatically attract the electrode to the opposing electrode to press the electrode extension within the cavity. Friction between the electrode extension and engaging surfaces defining the cavity prevent the electrode extension from slipping within the cavity, thereby maintaining a structural relationship among the components of the first and second electrode structures in response to an application of a load to the variable stiffening device. |
| US11258374B2 |
Power supply system for optimizing standby power using artificial intelligence
According to an aspect, a power supply system includes a power stage, a power supply controller configured to control operations of the power stage, a metering circuit configured to sense measured conditions of the power stage, and a system performance controller configured to be coupled to the power supply controller and the metering circuit. The system performance controller is configured to set or adjust a control parameter for the power stage based on standby power of the power stage. The system performance controller includes a standby power computation circuit configured to compute the standby power of the power stage based on the measured conditions, and a control manipulation module configured to modify the control parameter until the standby power achieves a threshold condition. |
| US11258372B2 |
Power efficient bridge rectifier implemented with switches
The present invention disclosed a bridge rectifier comprising a first switching circuit, a second switching circuit, a third switching circuit, a fourth switching circuit, a first driving circuit, a second driving circuit, a third driving circuit, and a fourth driving circuit. The first driving circuit is electrically connected to the first switching circuit, the second driving circuit is electrically connected to the second switching circuit, the third driving circuit is electrically connected to the third switching circuit, the fourth driving circuit is electrically connected to the fourth switching circuit. In the disclosure, the bridge rectifier should be implemented by the combination of switch circuits with driving circuits. Such that the power dissipation of bridge rectifier could be significantly reduced to improve the function of the overall circuit due to the low impedance of the switching circuit in a closed state. |
| US11258367B2 |
Power converter including self powered high voltage charging of a connected energy storage device
A power converter comprises a buck converter portion, an energy storage portion, and a controller. A first inductor is connected between the cathode of a first diode at an input node, and a capacitor at an output node. The input node is connected to an input voltage via a first switch. A second inductor in the energy storage portion is magnetically coupled to the first inductor and is connected to a second diode. The cathode of the second diode is connected to a first terminal of the energy storage element, and a second terminal of the energy storage element is connected to a second terminal of the second inductor. The first terminal of the energy storage element is connected to the input node via a second switch. When the input voltage is not less than a threshold, the second switch is opened. |
| US11258357B1 |
EMI reduction in PWM inverters using adaptive frequency modulated carriers
A controller is provided for generating carrier signals for a PWM generator controlling an inverter driving an electric actuator to reduce the EMI level of the inverter. The controller includes an interface configured to connect to the inverter, a memory configured to store a measured electromagnetic-interference (EMI) spectrum, a desired EMI spectrum and an EMI suppression rate program, and a processor. The processor is, in connection with the memory, configured to computing EMI suppression rates for a frequency range, wherein the EMI suppression determined adaptively by the measured EMI spectrum and the desired EMI spectrum, computing sweep duration of discrete frequency, wherein the sweep duration is determined by the EMI suppression rate of the discrete frequency, and a modulator configured to modulate the carrier signals based on the sweep durations of carrier frequencies and to transmit the modulated carrier signals to the PWM generator to generate PWM signals for the inverter. |
| US11258352B2 |
Systems and methods for fast response and low total harmonic distortion power factor correction
A system may include a power train comprising a rectifier and power factor correction stage configured to receive an alternating current (AC) input voltage waveform and convert the AC input voltage waveform into a regulated direct current (DC) voltage on a bulk capacitor configured to store electrical charge and a controller configured to control the rectifier and power factor correction stage to perform power factor correction between the AC input voltage waveform and an AC input current waveform related to the AC input voltage waveform. The controller may implement a voltage regulation loop configured to regulate the regulated DC voltage on the bulk capacitor to a desired constant average value based on a combination of a DC current signal associated with the power train and a voltage loop error signal based on the regulated DC voltage and a current loop regulating the shape of the AC input current waveform to a sinusoidal value in phase with the AC input voltage waveform. |
| US11258351B2 |
Power converter
A control unit determines a polarity of an actual voltage value of an AC power supply if it is either positive or negative based on a detection voltage thereof detected by the voltage detector. The control unit alternately actuates a set of a first switch and a fourth switch and another set of the second switch and a third switch each time when it is determined that the polarity of the actual voltage value of the AC power supply changes. A second reactor is disposed at at least one of first and second positions. The first position is located between a first AC side terminal and a connection point located between the first switch and the second switch. The second position is located between a second AC side terminal and a connection point located between the third switch and the fourth switch. |
| US11258350B2 |
Grounding arrangement for a voltage source converter
A grounding arrangement for a Voltage Source Converter (VSC) in a power transmission system is provided. The VSC comprises at least one converter branch (20) comprising at least one module (221-22N), each module comprising a plurality of serially connected sub-modules (241-248) that can be controllably switched to generate a controlled voltage across the module (221-22N) and each module including a first sub-module (241) at one end thereof and a last sub-module (248) at an opposite end thereof. Each sub-module (241-248) includes a first terminal (381), a second terminal (382), an energy storage element (30) and a switching arrangement (32, 34), wherein at least one of the first (381) or second terminals (382) is coupled to a terminal of the energy storage unit (30). A first terminal (381) of the first sub-module (241) of a module (221) at one end of the converter branch (20) is configured to be connected to earth potential on or after shutdown of the converter, and a second terminal (382) of the last sub-module (248) of the module (22N) at the opposite end of the converter branch (20) is configured to be connected to earth potential on or after shutdown of the converter. A grounding arrangement (40) comprising a plurality of switch units (42) is provided, each switch unit (42) associated with one of the plurality of sub-modules (241-248) of each module (221-22N) and configured to connect the first (381) and second (382) terminals of the associated sub-module (241-248) on remote activation of the grounding arrangement (40), following connection to earth potential of the first (241) and last sub-modules (248) of the converter branch (20). |
| US11258338B2 |
Slot wall insulation for a stator of an electric motor
An electric motor including a stator body with a stator laminated core and a stator slot, wherein the stator slot has a slot wall with a slot wall insulation for electrical insulation, as well as at least one electrical conductor which is received by the stator slot, the slot wall insulation having a tooth-shaped configuration. |
| US11258331B2 |
Motor
A motor includes a motor main body including a rotor and a stator, a controller, a housing, and a connector. The housing includes a lower housing that holds the motor main body, and an upper housing that holds the controller and the connector. The upper housing includes a connector holder that protrudes outward in the radial direction from an outer peripheral end of the lower housing. The connector holder includes a connector inserting portion into which the connector is inserted in the axial direction. The connector inserting portion includes a ridge portion, which protrudes outward in the radial direction from a straight line connecting both ends of an inner-peripheral-side wall surface in the circumferential direction, on the inner-peripheral-side wall surface facing, in the radial direction, a surface of the connector facing inward in the radial direction. |
| US11258330B2 |
Rotating electrical device
The rotating electrical device has a motor, a bearing holder, and a busbar unit. The busbar unit has a plurality of busbars, and an electrically insulating busbar holder enclosing the plurality of busbars. The plurality of busbars are electrically connected to the plurality of coils, respectively, and inserted, on the bearing holder side of the busbar holder, through each of the plurality of terminal through-holes in the bearing holder, and the busbar holder is configured to enclose the periphery of a part where the plurality of busbars are inserted through the terminal through-holes. |
| US11258323B2 |
Winding for an electrical machine
Winding for an electrical machine having an inductor with pole pitch τp, having a plurality of groups of turns intercepting a fraction of a magnetic field, each group comprising a first subgroup of turns and a second subgroup of turns of same phase at a distance equal to τp, the turns of the first subgroup being connected in such a way that a current may flow in same direction in all turns of said subgroup, the turns of the second subgroup being connected in such a way that a current may flow in same direction in all turns of said subgroup, a turn of the first subgroup being connected to a turn of the second subgroup in such a way that the direction of said current in the first group is opposite to the direction of the current in the second subgroup. The winding is a wave winding comprising vertical shortcut connections. |
| US11258318B2 |
Rotor with armature blocks formed by plastic encapsulation with anchoring elements
A rotor for use in an electric motor, and to a method for producing a rotor of this kind. The rotor includes a plurality of armature sections, a plurality of magnets, a rotor core and a plastic encapsulation. The rotor core is formed by the plastic encapsulation from plastic. The armature sections are formed as individual armature blocks which are anchored in the rotor core at least by an anchoring element on their inner side that faces a rotor center axis. |
| US11258317B2 |
Synchronous generator
The invention solves the issue of cooling of the power generator by change of its body. According to the invention the generator has a body in the form of open frame structure with polygonal base, made preferably of hollow profiles, connected removably with a clamp, where first stator segments are mounted on threaded pins, connected removably to the arms of the base and arms of the clamp, set on a circle larger than the diameter of a first rotor plate and further rotor plates. |
| US11258306B2 |
System and method for reactance steering network (RSN)
According to various embodiments, a dual-band multi-receiver (DBMR) wireless power transfer (WPT) system is disclosed. The WPT system includes a transmitter including a first dc-dc converter coupled to a first inverter, a second dc-dc converter coupled to a second inverter, a reactance steering network (RSN) coupled to the first and second inverters, a high frequency transmitting coil coupled to the RSN, and a low frequency transmitting coil coupled to the first and second dc-dc converters. The WPT system further includes one or more receivers, each receiver including a high frequency receiving coil, a low frequency receiving coil, and a rectifier coupled to the high frequency receiving coil and low frequency receiving coil. |
| US11258305B2 |
Wireless power transmitting apparatus and wireless power transmitting method
A wireless power transmitting apparatus includes an AC power supplying unit being configured to supply a AC power for a vehicle of being configured to move along a travel track, a power cable coupling the vehicle and the AC power supplying unit to each other, the power cable transferring the power from the AC power supplying unit to the vehicle and a capacitance controlling unit provided on the power cable, the capacitance controlling unit having a variable capacitance value according to a length of the power cable to maintain a value of the resonance frequency constant. Therefore, the value of the resonance frequency may be kept constant irrespective of the length of the power cable. |
| US11258302B1 |
Ambient electromagnetic power harvesting chip adaptation based on available power level
A method of communicating information from an ambient electromagnetic power harvesting (AEPH) chip. The method comprises receiving energy from a first ambient electromagnetic field by an AEPH chip, wherein the first ambient electromagnetic field provides a first level of power; based on energy received from the first ambient electromagnetic field, performing a first tier of processing by a processor of the AEPH chip; receiving energy from a second ambient electromagnetic field by the AEPH chip, wherein the second ambient electromagnetic field provides a second level of power that is greater than the first level of power; determining by the processor that the second level of power is above a predefined threshold; and based on the second ambient electromagnetic field being above the predefined threshold, performing a second tier of processing by the processor, wherein the second tier of processing comprises writing information by the processor into a non-transitory memory. |
| US11258300B2 |
Coordinated net-load management
A management device includes at least one processor communicatively coupled to at least one energy resource controller controlling at least one energy resource and to at least one deferrable load controller controlling power to at least one deferrable load. The is configured to receive an indication, determined based on a frequency value of an electrical network and a nominal frequency value, that a frequency anomaly event has occurred. Responsive to receiving the indication that the frequency anomaly event has occurred, the processor is also configured to determine, for at least one of the energy resource and the deferrable load, based on the frequency value, the nominal frequency value, and a power value of the electrical network, a respective power command, and cause at least one of the at least one energy resource and the at least one deferrable load to modify operation based on the respective power command. |
| US11258297B2 |
Inverter control strategy for a transient heavy load
A power converter system including a DC bus, a DC/DC converter coupled to the DC bus, an inverter coupled to the DC bus and configured to convert DC power from the DC bus into output AC power having an output current, an output coupled to the inverter and configured to provide the output AC power to a load, and at least one controller configured to identify an impending high-load transient state at the output, and in response to identifying the impending high-load transient state, reduce a peak value of the output current of the output AC power by operating the DC/DC converter to reduce a voltage level on the DC bus and increasing a duty cycle of the inverter. |
| US11258295B2 |
Maintenance bypass assembly for uninterruptable power supply
Where an Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) is used in a system to ensure highly reliable power supply to an electronic system, occasional maintenance or repair of the UPS or its storage batteries may be required. Effecting this servicing while ensuring that the utility power continues to be supplied to the load may involve a Maintenance Bypass Assembly (MBA) comprising a plurality of manually-operated circuit breakers. The possibility of an incorrect actuation of such circuit breakers is precluded by the coordination of a plurality of electromechanically actuated circuit breakers in communication with a controller that may store a table of permitted state transitions and sequences for safe operation. Such operation may be confirmed by one or more sensors monitored by the controller. |
| US11258294B2 |
Microgrid with power equalizer bus and method of operating same
Various embodiments include methods and systems for implementing managing a microgrid system. The system may include a plurality of power module clusters, a plurality of uninterruptable power modules, a plurality of bidirectional direct current (DC)/DC converters, and a DC power bus. Each one of the power module clusters of the plurality of power module clusters may be electrically connected in parallel to an uninterruptable power module of the plurality of uninterruptable power modules and a first end of a bidirectional DC/DC converter of the plurality bidirectional DC/DC converters, and a second end of each one of the bidirectional DC/DC converters of the plurality of bidirectional DC/DC converters may be electrically connected to the DC power bus. In some embodiments, the plurality of bidirectional DC/DC converters may be electrically connected to in parallel by the DC power bus or in series via a DC power bus ring. |
| US11258291B2 |
Power supply circuit for energy transfer between battery and smoothing capacitor, battery management system and battery pack
Provided is a power supply circuit for energy transfer between a battery and a smoothing capacitor, a battery management system and a battery pack. The power supply circuit includes a transformer including a first winding and a second winding, a first switching circuit including a first switch connected in series to the first winding, and connected in parallel to the battery together with the first winding, a second switching circuit including a second switch connected in series to the second winding, and connected in parallel to the smoothing capacitor together with the second winding, and a switch controller. To pre-charge the smoothing capacitor, the switch controller is configured to perform a first operation of turning on the first switch and turning off the second switch, and subsequently perform a second operation of turning off the first switch and turning on the second switch. |
| US11258289B2 |
Power supply circuit and adaptor
A power supply circuit, a power supply apparatus, and a control method are provided. The power supply circuit includes a primary unit, a modulating unit, a transformer, a secondary rectifier-filter unit, a voltage feedback unit, and a control unit. The control unit of the power supply circuit is configured to communicate with a device to-be-charged to adjust output power of the power supply circuit, to make at least one of output voltage and output current of the power supply circuit match a present charging stage of a battery of the device to-be-charged, and control the output voltage thereof within a first voltage range or a second voltage range. |
| US11258285B2 |
User aware charging algorithm that reduces battery fading
An user-interactive charging paradigm is presented that tailors the device charging to the user's real-time needs. The core of approach is a relaxation-aware charging algorithm that maximizes the charged capacity within the user's available time and slows down the battery's capacity fading. The approach also integrates relaxation-aware charging algorithm existing fast charging algorithms via a user-interactive interface, allowing users to choose a charging method based on their real-time needs. The relaxation-aware charging algorithm is shown to slow down the battery fading by over 36% on average, and up to 60% in extreme cases, when compared with existing fast charging solutions. Such fading slowdown translates to, for instance, an up to 2-hour extension of the LTE time for a Nexus 5X phone after 2-year usage, revealed by a trace-driven analysis based on 976 charging cases collected from 7 users over 3 months. |
| US11258282B2 |
System and method for providing interconnected and secure mobile device charging stations
A method is disclosed. The method includes providing a door that selectively opens to allow access to a cavity and selectively closes to block access to the cavity, using a lock to selectively lock and unlock the door when the door is closed, and electrically charging a user device in the cavity when the door is closed and locked. The method also includes unlocking the door based on a first input provided by a first user, the first user removing the user device, electrically charging the user device in the cavity when the door is closed and locked after the first user returns the user device, and unlocking the door based on a second input provided by a second user, the second user removing the user device. |
| US11258281B2 |
Intelligence AC to DC maximum power management method of a battery charger
An intelligence AC to DC maximum power charging management method of a battery includes providing a battery charger having a power conversion unit coupled to a charging control device, which contains a micro-controller, a voltage detection unit, a current detection unit, a temperature sensor, and a communication port, and providing a battery pack electrically connected to the battery charger enabling the charging controller to provide charging management for the battery pack, wherein the micro-controller can calculate charging power through received battery voltage, battery charger current, and temperature of the battery charger and tracking the maximum output charging power. |
| US11258278B2 |
Detection circuit and method
The present disclosure discloses a detection circuit and method. The detection circuit comprises: a controller, a battery pack, a main positive switch module, a main negative switch module and at least one detection loop. The controller collects voltages of a positive electrode and a negative electrode of the battery pack and a voltage between external sides of the main positive switch module and the main negative switch module when turning on the main positive or negative switch module and after turning on any detection loop, and obtains resistance values of insulation resistors of the external sides according to resistance values of insulation resistors of internal sides of the main positive and negative switch module, as well as the voltages of the positive electrode and the negative electrode and the voltage between the external sides of the main positive switch module and the main negative switch module, which are collected twice. |
| US11258273B2 |
Charger circuit and charging control method
A charger circuit which supplies a charging power to charge a battery circuit, includes: a conversion switch circuit, at least one capacitor and a conversion control circuit. The conversion switch circuit is coupled between a charging power and a ground level and includes conversion switches connected in series. The conversion switch circuit has battery voltage balancing nodes electrically connected to the battery circuit, such that each battery is electrically connected between two of the battery voltage balancing nodes. The conversion control circuit is coupled to the conversion switch circuit and provides operation signals to the conversion switch circuit, to respectively control the corresponding conversion switches, so that the capacitor is periodically connected in parallel to each battery of the battery circuit, thereby balancing the battery voltages of the batteries. |
| US11258263B1 |
Apparatus of power-generating solid oxide fuel cells tied to grid
An apparatus of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) is provided. The SOFCs generate power and are grid-tied. The apparatus comprises a power-generating side; and a grid-connecting side using an elementary household power management. The apparatus solves problems like low voltage, high current, voltage oscillation, voltage dips, long generator-starting time, etc. The apparatus is not only used as a stable power supply (base load), but also helps adjust the regional peak electricity demands. The features include the following: 1. A grid is tied, where output power does not pass through a direct-current boost converter and, thus, has no loss from it. 2. Injures, including voltage oscillation and sudden unloading after dumping, are reduced for avoiding further damages to cell sheets. 3. With the coordination of elementary power management and the integration of grid, the limitation of long-awaiting generator-starting time is crossed out and convenience of immediate power use is achieved. |
| US11258262B2 |
Method for the voltage-impressing feed of electrical power into an electrical supply grid by means of a wind power installation
Provided is a method for feeding electrical power into an electrical supply grid having a grid voltage by a wind power installation. The installation comprises a generator for generating a generator current, an active rectifier for rectifying the generator current into a rectified current, a direct voltage intermediate circuit having an intermediate circuit voltage for receiving the rectified current, a chopper circuit for diverting excess energy out of the direct voltage intermediate circuit, and an inverter for generating an infeed current for feeding into the electrical supply grid. The feed takes place in a voltage-impressing manner, so that the inverter counteracts a deviation of the grid voltage from a voltage setpoint value through an adjustment of the fed current. The active rectifier has a lower current limit to limit a fall of the rectified current to protect the generator during a change of the grid voltage amplitude or phase. |
| US11258261B2 |
Systems and methods to increase the reliability and the service life time of photovoltaic (PV) modules
A method may include: applying a first voltage on at least one first terminal of a first direct current (DC) bus electrically connected to a power source, obtaining at least one indication that discharge of a second voltage related to the first voltage should be performed, and discharging the second voltage by electrically connecting at least one second terminal of a second DC bus to a ground in response to the at least one indication. Another method may include: injecting a current at at least one terminal of a direct current (DC) bus that is electrically connected to a power source, simultaneous to injecting the current, measuring an insulation relative to ground, obtaining an electrical parameter related to the power source, and, in response to the electrical parameter, maintaining the current injected at the terminal of the DC bus without ceasing the measuring of the insulation relative to a ground. |
| US11258256B2 |
Wind power plant with improved rise time
A method for controlling a wind power plant connected to an electrical grid, the wind power plant comprising at least one wind turbine generator and a power plant controller, the power plant controller comprising a signal controller for controlling an electrical parameter with a gain, the method comprising, measuring at least one electrical parameter in the electrical grid , determining an internal signal value at least partially based on the at least one electrical parameter, comparing the internal signal value with a saturation value, and if the internal signal value exceed the saturation value, increasing the gain of the signal controller to a first gain value, in order to decrease a rise time for a slope for the electrical parameter in the electrical grid. |
| US11258254B2 |
Electrical distribution device comprising at least one power controller
An electrical distribution device includes at least one power controller that is connectable to at least one electrical body, at least one local controller used to interface at least one power controller with at least one external calculator, and at least one local power supply path for powering at least one power controller and each local controller. Each power controller and each local controller includes a local DC/DC-type converter for coupling to each local power supply path. The device also includes an energy reservoir coupled to each local power supply path and to the local converters of the power controllers and the local controller. |
| US11258248B2 |
Input overvoltage protection circuits for power supplies
A power supply includes a power converter, a protection circuit, and a control circuit. The protection circuit includes an input for receiving an input voltage, an output for providing an output voltage to the power converter, a first switching device coupled in a current path between the input and the output, and a second switching device coupled across the first switching device. The control circuit is configured to sense the input voltage and the output voltage, in response to the output voltage exceeding a first defined threshold, turn off the first switching device and turn on the second switching device to supply power to the power converter, and in response to the input voltage exceeding a second defined threshold, turn off the second switching device to disconnect the power source from the power converter. Other example power supplies and protection circuits are also disclosed. |
| US11258247B2 |
Fault clearing circuitry
A fault clearing circuitry provided for connecting to at least one electrical line transmitting power includes: an electrical energy storage; at least one controllable switch connectable between the electrical energy storage and at least one electric line; and a control circuit for monitoring the at least one electric line for a fault and to close the at least one controllable switch if a fault is detected. The electrical energy storage stores an amount of electrical energy dimensioned to be sufficient for releasing one or more circuit breakers or clearing one or more fuses in the at least one electrical line in order to clear the fault. The control circuit closes the at least one controllable switch if a fault is detected such that a discharging of the electrical energy stored in the electrical energy storage is incurred injecting a current pulse in the at least one electrical line. |
| US11258245B2 |
Intelligent leakage current detection and interruption device for power cord
An intelligent leakage current detection and interruption device for a power cord, including a switch module for controlling electrical connection of two power lines between input and output ends; a leakage current detection module, including two leakage current detection lines and a signal feedback line, one end of the parallelly coupled two leakage current detection lines being coupled via the signal feedback line to a point between the two power lines, for respectively detecting a leakage current on the two power lines; a detection monitoring module, coupled to the leakage current detection module, for detecting open circuit conditions in the two leakage current detection lines; and a drive module, coupled to the switch module, the leakage current detection module and the detection monitoring module, for driving the switch module to disconnect power to the output end in response to any detected leakage current or open circuit condition. |
| US11258244B2 |
Busbar support system having anti-rotation and anti compression features
A busbar support system having means for preventing rotation of a threaded shaft which connects busbars to the busbar support and means to prevent compressive forces resulting for the bolted connection from causing damage to the busbar support. |
| US11258242B2 |
Modular conduit cable management assembly
A modular conduit cable management assembly is used with tall vertical structures for holding and managing one or more cables, with the assembly having a plurality of conduit members and a plurality of removable closure members. Each conduit member has at least one retaining arm, a plurality of prongs, an anchor, and a core, with each conduit member defining a slot opening, a plurality of apertures, a holding cavity forming a conduit track, and a receiving chamber. Once assembled, one or more cables can be installed within the conduit track, with at least one of the closure members closing the conduit member slot opening. The cables and each conduit track may be accessed at a later time after removing the closure member. |
| US11258240B1 |
Cable guides for use with cable trays
A cable guide is dimensioned to fit as an insert inside a cable tray. It has a bottom, two sides and a top. The top is made of interleaving, resilient flanges that are spaced apart to define a serpentine path that is wide enough to enable the user to fit a cable into the interior of the cable guide and to remove the cable through the interleaved flanges without disturbing the positional integrity of other cables in the cable tray. The cable guide may be fastened to the cable tray using one or two bolts and may be fastened so that it is spaced apart from the wall of the cable tray. Two cable guides may be installed side-by-side and several can be installed at spaced intervals along a cable tray and throughout a system. |
| US11258237B2 |
Cable puller and method of use
A cable puller and a related method of use are provided. The cable puller includes a frame, a winch mounted to the frame, a frame mount and one or more redirection pulleys that guide a cable. The mount is mountable to an arm of a piece of equipment, e.g., excavator, backhoe, loader, etc., and configured to allow manipulation and tilting of the frame to align the redirection pulley at a level and orientation relative to an underground tubing that is to be decommissioned and/or replaced. A deflection plate can be joined with the frame forward of the pulley to protect the pulley if the cable draws a portion of the underground tubing toward it. A splitting wedge can be joined to the frame to fracture underground tubing drawn toward the plate or pulley. Related methods of use also are provided. |
| US11258235B2 |
High thread jamb nut with retaining clip
A spark plug is provided that includes an improved jamb nut configuration, which provides improved torque transfer and prevents inadvertent separation of the jamb nut from the remaining components of the spark plug, particularly during removal from the engine head. The spark plug is configured for axial insertion into the plug hole, and may have a non-axisymmetric ground shield that fits into the plug hole, wherein the plug hole is also provided with a complementary non-axisymmetric shape. The spark plug includes a central insulator, which has an inner end surrounding a central electrode and supporting the ground shield, which is mounted on the insulator to support a ground strap adjacent the electrode for forming a spark therebetween. The insulator and ground shield are axially slidable into the plug hole, and the jamb nut is rotatable to fix the spark plug in position in a predefined orientation. The insulator includes a retaining clip outwardly of the jamb nut that permits rotation of the jamb nut relative to the insulator but prevents axial separation of the jamb nut during removal of the spark plug from the engine head. An improved tool is also provided which better distributes torque transfer to the jamb nut and includes a catch to facilitate pulling of the spark plug from the engine head. |
| US11258234B2 |
Eye safe VCSEL illuminator package
A miniature illuminator is described which is suitable for assembly into mobile electronics devices such as cell phones and computer tablets. Features of the invention overcome the complexity of current miniature illuminators by using single molded structure which includes all the electrical feedthrough connections and has the features necessary for accurate mounting of optical components. The molded structure includes laser safety connections which provide an electrical interrupt signal when the illuminator is damaged in a way that could result in propagation of non-eye safe illuminator beams. In an alternate operation the illuminator provides a signal when a subject gets too close to the illuminator and would receive unsafe VCSEL illuminator beam. The laser safety feature is integrated into the molded Illuminator package so that separate electrically connected structures to achieve this function are eliminated. |
| US11258233B2 |
Quantum cascade laser
A quantum cascade laser has an active layer, a first and second cladding layer, and an optical guide layer. The active layer has a plurality of injection quantum well regions and a plurality of light-emitting quantum well regions. The each of the injection quantum well regions and the each of the light-emitting quantum well regions are alternatively stacked. The first and second cladding layers are provided to interpose the active layer from both sides, and have a refractive index lower than an effective refractive index of the each of the light-emitting quantum well regions. The optical guide layer is disposed to divide the active layer into two parts. The optical guide layer has a refractive index higher than the effective refractive index of the each of the light-emitting quantum well regions, and has a thickness greater than the thickness of all well layers of quantum well layers. |
| US11258225B2 |
Laser oscillator with enhanced dehumidification function
Provided is a laser oscillator including: one or more heat generating parts disposed in a housing; a piping system through which cooling water flows to the one or more heat generating parts; a water cooling type dehumidifier that dehumidifies air inside the housing using the cooling water; and an air cooling type dehumidifier that includes a Peltier element attached with a cooling fin and a radiating fin and includes a cooling water plate configured to cool the radiating fin with the cooling water, wherein the air cooling type dehumidifier starts to dehumidify the air inside the housing using the cooling fin while the cooling water is not flowing and dehumidifies the air inside the housing by cooling the radiating fin using the cooling water plate when the cooling water is flowing. |
| US11258219B2 |
Waterproof, dual-polarity decorative light string
Disclosed is a waterproof LED light string that provides outdoor lighting in a simple and reliable manner. Waterproof bulb assemblies are used with replaceable LED light sources. The bulb assemblies are easily suspended from a rope or wire, screwed to a support, or magnetically supported from a ferrous metal support. Duplicate circuitry in the LED light source allows the LED light source to be connected in either direction. |
| US11258207B2 |
Shielded plug connector module for a modular industrial plug connector
The invention relates to a system consisting of a first plug connector module (2) and a second plug connector module (3), each of which is to be used in a modular industrial plug connector. The first plug connector module (2) has a first shield transfer element (5), and the second plug connector module (3) has a second shield transfer element (6). A cable connected to the plug connector module (2, 3) can be secured on a connection side (A) of each shield transfer element (5, 6), and the shield transfer elements (5, 6) can be brought into electric contact with each other on the plug side. |
| US11258203B2 |
Connector device
Provided is a connector device which includes: a first connector; and a second connector. In the connector device, the first connector includes a first housing and a first terminal provided in the first housing, the second connector includes a second housing and a second terminal and an observation member provided in the second housing, the observation member includes a contact portion and an observation portion, the contact portion is configured to contact the first connector when at least part of the first connector is inserted into a predetermined portion of the second housing, and the observation portion is provided observable from an outside of the second connector at least either one of before or after connection between the first terminal and the second terminal, and is configured such that an observation state of the observation portion from the outside of the second connector changes in response to contact between the first connector and the contact portion. |
| US11258202B2 |
Secure outlet device and method
An article and method for securing electric and data connection plugs to an outlet are disclosed. The article includes an outlet cover with anchoring points and an encasing hood containing a plug with engagement mechanisms to engage with the anchoring points. In an alternate embodiment the article includes a flexible elastomeric device with open portions to secure a plug and cord and cross portions to secure to anchoring points on the outlet cover. The methods include releasably securing the articles to the outlet cover. |
| US11258197B2 |
Wearable display device
A wearable display device includes a first body, a first electrical connector and a connecting component. The first body has a display interface, and the first electrical connector is disposed on the first body. The connecting component is connected with the first body and adapted to fix different second bodies onto the first body. The first body and the second body transfer a signal through the first electrical connector. |
| US11258195B2 |
Storage device and information processing device
According to one embodiment, a storage device is disclosed. The storage device includes a substrate, a first connector provided on the substrate and including a notch, and a nonvolatile memory provided on the substrate. The storage device further includes a first conductive part provided on the first connector and being adjacent to the notch. |
| US11258194B2 |
Method for designing layout of card edge connector and server card
A method for designing a layout of a card edge connector and a server a card are provided. The method includes: determining, based on a type of a GND pin of a card edge connector and space between the card edge connector and GND vias, the number of GND vias connected to the GND pin to maximize the number of the GND vias connected to the GND pin; connecting each GND pin to all the GND vias that match with said GND pin to form one signal return path; and minimizing a length of the signal return path by setting all the GND vias that match with said GND pin in close proximity to said GND pin in the signal return path. |
| US11258193B2 |
Board connector and method for manufacturing housing of board connector
A board connector includes terminal fittings (60) including board connecting portions (62), and a housing (10) made of synthetic resin containing a fibrous filler (80), disposed on a circuit board (90) and including a wall (18) rising in a vertical direction intersecting a surface of the circuit board (90). The wall (18) has a terminal mounting region (21) in which the terminal fittings (60) are mounted. The wall (18) includes elongated recesses (31) with a longitudinal direction aligned with the vertical direction and arranged side by side in a width direction in a distant region (22) located on a side of the terminal mounting region (21) distant from the circuit board (90). |
| US11258192B2 |
Contact array for electrical connector
A receptacle connector assembly includes a receptacle cage mounted to a circuit board having walls defining a cavity including a module channel that receives a pluggable module. The receptacle connector assembly includes a communication connector received in the cavity and mounted to the circuit board. The communication connector has a housing holding a contact array including ground and signal contacts extending between mating and mounting ends of the housing. The ground contacts have ground mating ends and ground mounting ends including compliant pins press-fit into plated vias of the circuit board. The signal contacts have signal mating ends and signal mounting ends including deflectable spring beams deflected against the circuit board when the communication connector is mounted to the circuit board. |
| US11258190B2 |
Direct burial ground lug/ connector
The invention relates to a direct burial ground lug. The lug is preferably constructed of a phosphor bronze material. The block may have two through holes to install two conductors, rods, cables, and the like. Stainless steel threaded screws are used to hold the rod and ground conductor in a stable condition. The threaded screws insert into threaded holes positioned perpendicular to the through holes. The direct burial ground lug allows the ground rod and ground conductor to be connected for a continuous grounding system. |
| US11258189B2 |
Connector and connecting method
A connector includes a pushing member having a projection, a support member disposed to contact a lateral surface of the projection, and a contact made of a conductive material and having a support member facing portion facing the support member, a part of the flexible conductor being disposed between the support member and the support member facing portion of the contact, the lateral surface of the projection pressing the part of the flexible conductor against the support member facing portion of the contact via the support member, whereby the contact is electrically connected to the flexible conductor. |
| US11258185B2 |
Distortion redirection in a phased array
A system comprises a plurality of antenna elements arranged in a two-dimensional array, and a plurality of transmitter circuits communicatively coupled to the antenna elements, wherein the antenna elements and transmitter circuits are configured such that desired components of signals output by the plurality of transmitter circuits and radiated via the antenna elements coherently combine in a desired direction. Each of the transmitter circuits is operable to generate a corresponding second signal for transmission via a respective one of the antenna elements by shifting a phase of undesired components in the signal relative to a phase of desired components in the signal. |
| US11258184B2 |
Antenna system including a polymer composition having a low dissipation factor
A 5G antenna system is disclosed that comprises a substrate and at least one antenna element configured to transmit and receive 5G radio frequency signals. The at least one antenna element is coupled to the substrate. The substrate comprises a polymer composition that comprises a polymer matrix containing at least one polymer having a glass transition temperature of about 30° C. or more and at least one laser activatable additive wherein the polymer composition exhibits a dissipation factor of about 0.1 or less, as determined at a frequency of 2 GHz. |
| US11258183B2 |
Method and apparatus for moldable material for terrestrial, marine, aeronautical and space applications which includes an ability to reflect radio frequency energy and which may be moldable into a parabolic or radio frequency reflector to obviate the need for reflector construction techniques which produce layers to susceptible to layer separation and susceptible to fracture under extreme circumstances
The present invention is a unique process of manufacturing rigid members with precise “shape keeping” properties and with reflective properties pertaining to radio frequency energy, so that air, land, sea and space devices or vehicles may be constructed including parabolic reflectors formed without discrete permanent layering. Rather, such parabolic reflectors or similarly, vehicles, may be formed by homogeneous construction where discrete layering is absent, and where energy reflectivity or scattering characteristics are embedded within the homogeneous mixture of carbon nanotubes and associated graphite powders and epoxy, resins and hardeners. The mixture of carbon graphite nanofiber and carbon nanotubes generates higher electrode conductivity and magnetized attraction through molecular polarization. In effect, the rigid members may be tuned based on the application. The combination of these materials creates a unique matrix that is then set in a memory form at a specific temperature, and then applied to various materials through a series of multiple layers, resulting in unparalleled strength and durability. |
| US11258182B2 |
Meta-structure based reflectarrays for enhanced wireless applications
Examples disclosed herein relate to reflectarray antenna for enhanced wireless applications. The reflectarray antenna has a ground conductive plane, a dielectric substrate coupled to the ground conductive plane, and a patterned conductive plane coupled to the dielectric substrate and comprising an array of cells to generate an antenna gain. In some aspects, each cell in the array of cells includes a reflector element with a predetermined custom configuration and configured to receive a radio frequency (RF) signal and to generate an RF return beam at a predetermined direction. Other examples disclosed herein relate to a portable reflectarray and a method of fabricating a reflectarray antenna. |
| US11258178B2 |
Antenna and method of assembly of such antenna
An antenna comprising: a longitudinal support member for supporting components of the antenna and a method of assembling such an antenna is disclosed. The components supported by the longitudinal member comprise: at least one signal feed probe configured to capacitively supply a signal to a corresponding at least one radiating patch; the at least one radiating patch mounted to at least partially wraparound the longitudinal support member; and signal supply circuitry for supplying a signal to the at least one signal feed. The signal supply circuitry is mounted on an outer surface of the inner longitudinal support member; and the longitudinal support member is formed of a conductive material and forms a ground plane for the antenna. |
| US11258175B2 |
Smart wearable device
A wearable device comprises wireless communication means and a patch antenna that is coupled to said wireless communication means to receive and/or transmit electromagnetic radiation. Said patch antenna comprises a planar patch conductor and a planar ground conductor that are separated by a dielectric in between said patch conductor and said ground conductor while at least partially overlapping with one another. The device comprises a core inside a shell and comprises at least part of said communication means within said core. Said shell comprises a first shell part and a second shell part opposite said first shell part, wherein said first shell part and said second shell part are at least partially separated by said dielectric. Said first shell part comprises said patch conductor and said second shell part comprises said ground conductor. Said first shell part and said second shell part together form said patch antenna. The wearable device particularly is a piece of jewellery. |
| US11258167B1 |
Embedded antennas in aerostructures and electrically short conformal antennas
A mobile platform communication system includes one or more HF antennas disposed in the surface of the mobile platform. The HF antenna may comprise one or more mesh screens. Alternatively, or in addition, the HF antennas may comprise characteristic mode transducers to excite metallic features on the mobile platform skin. The mobile platform skin includes a lightning strike protection layer that is disposed within the mobile platform skin around in internal surface of the antenna such that the antenna does not distend the mobile platform skin and increase drag. |
| US11258166B2 |
Multi-band low profile radio antenna
Disclosed is a radio antenna comprising a substrate of dielectric material; a ground plane of electrically conductive material on a first face of the substrate; a resonator for converting an incident electrical signal into an electromagnetic wave and for resonating at at least two different resonant frequencies. The resonator comprises at least three elements, each in the form of strips of conductive material and arranged on a second face of the substrate opposite the first face. A second element is electrically connected to the ground plane by means of a via passing through the substrate at a first end of the corresponding strip, forms an extension of the first element, and is electrically connected directly to the first element at a second end of said strip which is opposite the first end. |
| US11258164B2 |
Antenna arrays
An apparatus and method is disclosed in relation to antenna arrays. The method may include transmitting a reference signal to one or more remote user terminals from each of a plurality of sub-arrays of an antenna array, each sub-array including a quantity of radiating elements of the antenna array capable of establishing a backhaul link with a remote communications node. The method may also include receiving measurement signals from the one or more remote user terminals, indicative of one or more characteristics of the received reference signals. The method may also include selecting, based on received measurement signals, a first subset of the sub-arrays for backhaul communications with the remote communications node and a second subset of the sub-arrays, including one or more of the remaining sub-arrays, for access communications with the one or more remote user terminals. |
| US11258162B1 |
Antenna package and method of formation thereof
A semiconductor system includes a semiconductor chip comprising a RF circuit, a buffer layer over the RF circuit and a plurality of bumps over the buffer layer, wherein the plurality of bumps comprising at least one functional bump electrically connected to the RF circuit, and at least one dummy bump which is maintained at a distance from the RF circuit and prevented from being electrically connected to the RF circuit by the buffer layer, a conductive layer disposed over the semiconductor chip and coupled to the plurality of bumps through a plurality of vias, a feedline structure disposed over the conductive layer, wherein the feedline structure is electrically coupled to the RF circuit, and a plurality of antennas disposed over the feedline structure, wherein at least one antenna of the plurality of antennas is coupled to the RF circuit through the feedline structure. |
| US11258150B2 |
Outwardly protruding triple-mode cavity resonance structure and filter with resonance structure
The disclosure discloses an outwardly protruding triple-mode cavity resonance structure and a filter with the resonance structure. The structure includes a cavity (1) and a cover plate, wherein the cavity (1) is internally provided with a dielectric resonance block (2) and a dielectric support frame (3); at least one end face of the cavity (1) and/or the dielectric response block (2) protrudes outwards; the dielectric resonance block (2) and the dielectric support frame (3) form a triple-mode dielectric resonance rod; one end or any end of the cube-like dielectric resonance block (2) is connected with the dielectric support frame (3); the dielectric support frame (3) is connected with an inner wall of the cavity (1); and the dielectric response block (2) forms triple-mode resonance in three directions along the X, Y and Z axes of the cavity. |
| US11258148B2 |
Waveguide device and method for separating and/or combining orthogonally polarized signals of radiofrequency waves
An orthomode junction for separating and/or combining orthogonally-polarized radiofrequency wave signals, comprises a body which has a main cavity forming a main waveguide, which has a blind end, and auxiliary cavities forming auxiliary waveguides, which communicate laterally with the main cavity in the vicinity of the blind end thereof, and a deflection insert situated at the blind end of the main cavity and facing the auxiliary cavities, the deflection insert having different shapes on the side of the auxiliary cavities respectively. |
| US11258145B2 |
Battery and process for producing a battery
A method for producing a battery includes depositing, via sputter deposition, a coating on at least a portion of a cup shaped first housing part of the battery. The coating includes aluminium, chromium, tin, and/or an alloy having two or more of the group consisting of aluminium, chromium, and tin. The method also includes establishing an electrical connection between a current conductor of the battery and the cup-shaped first housing part of the battery and assembling the cup-shaped first housing part of the battery and a second housing part of the battery to form a housing of the battery. The housing has an interior space that includes a composite body including a positive electrode, a negative electrode, a separator, and the current conductor. The cup-shaped first housing part has a circular or oval bottom and a ring-shaped side wall. |
| US11258142B2 |
Secondary battery and electronic device
A secondary battery with a novel structure that can be bent repeatedly is provided. In the secondary battery, an exterior body includes a front surface, a back surface, a first sealing portion, and a second sealing portion. The front surface includes a first long side, a second long side, a third side, and a fourth side. The third side and the fourth side face each other. The third side and the fourth side are substantially perpendicular to the first long side. The front surface includes a third sealing portion. The first sealing portion is along the third side. The second sealing portion is along the fourth side. The third sealing portion includes a region overlapping with the first sealing portion and a region overlapping with the second sealing portion. At least one of the first terminal and the second terminal overlaps with the first sealing portion. |
| US11258137B2 |
Aluminum-ion battery
A metal-ion battery is provided. The metal-ion battery includes a positive electrode, a negative electrode, a separating structure, and an electrolyte, wherein the positive electrode and the negative electrode are separated by the separating structure, and the electrolyte composition is disposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode. The separating structure includes a first separator, a second separator, and a dielectric layer, wherein the dielectric layer is disposed between the first separator and the second separator. The dielectric layer consists of a dielectric material, and the dielectric material has a dielectric constant from 10 to 200. |
| US11258135B2 |
Battery separator including functional binder and electrochemical device comprising the same
A functional binder and a separator including the functional binder, in which the separator includes a porous polyolefin substrate and an organic-inorganic hybrid porous coating layer formed on at least one surface of the substrate and configured to include a mixture of inorganic particles and a binder compound, thus increasing binder-inorganic material adhesion and substrate-binder adhesion while preventing internal shorting from occurring by performing self-healing of damage to the separator, enhancing the adhesion of the separator to a cathode and an anode, and withstanding the dissolution of a transition metal of a cathode material. The binder contains 10 wt % or more of a hydroxyl group per molecule thereof. |
| US11258134B2 |
Energy providing devices and applications thereof
Disclosed herein are compositions for use in an energy providing devices and methods of preparing such devices. Also included herein is energy providing devices that comprise a charged compound modified substrate or zwitterion-modified substrate or energy providing devices that comprise an electrolyte that comprises a perhalogenatedphenyl azide charged or zwitterionic compound. |
| US11258127B2 |
System comprising of a holder and stored energy sources which can be placed in the holder
The disclosure relates to a system comprising a holder and stored energy sources which can be placed in the holder, in particular rechargeable batteries, each having a casing which has side walls and in which are placed electrode plates oriented parallel to the side walls and nonwoven materials containing a bound electrolyte, the electrode plates being placed between adjacent nonwoven materials. The holder consists of at least two supports placed one above the other to hold stored energy sources in such a manner that the side walls of the casing which are oriented parallel to the electrode plates are oriented substantially horizontally. At least one pressure element is situated between the supports and rests on the side walls of the casing of the stored energy sources and transmits at least the weight force of the stored energy sources situated at the top of the holder to stored energy sources situated underneath the stored energy sources situated at the top. |
| US11258116B2 |
Battery module
A battery module includes a plurality of battery cells stacked on each other; a housing accommodating the plurality of battery cells and comprising a support member configured to support the plurality of battery cells and a cover member configured to cover the plurality of battery cells supported by the support member; and a heat sink configured to contact the support member. The support member may have a plurality of through-holes formed therein, and the plurality of through-holes may be filled with a thermal interface material. |
| US11258115B2 |
Cooling module for an electrical energy storage system for an electric drive vehicle
A cooling module for an electrical energy storage system for an electric drive vehicle. The cooling module has an exchanger plate that is hollow on the inside so as to have, on the inside, a circulation chamber that is designed to contain a cooling liquid. The exchanger plate has: an inlet opening that is obtained through a front wall of the exchanger plate and is designed to allow the cooling liquid to flow into the circulation chamber, and an outlet opening that is obtained through a rear wall of the exchanger plate and is designed to allow the cooling liquid to flow out of the circulation chamber. The cooling module has a plurality of interface elements, which are placed inside the circulation chamber, are shaped like a wave, and are arranged in rows. |
| US11258112B2 |
Vehicular battery charger, charging system, and method with interruption detection and signal transmission
A vehicle battery charger and a vehicle battery charging system are described and illustrated, and can include a controller enabling a user to enter a time of day at which the vehicle battery charger or system begins and/or ends charging of the vehicle battery. The vehicle battery charger can be separate from the vehicle, can be at least partially integrated into the vehicle, can include a transmitter and/or a receiver capable of communication with a controller that is remote from the vehicle and vehicle charger, and can be controlled by a user or another party (e.g., a power utility) to control battery charging based upon a time of day, cost of power, or other factors. |
| US11258104B2 |
Vehicle energy-storage systems
Systems and methods for storing energy for use by an electric vehicle are disclosed. Systems can include an electric vehicle battery pack including a rack configured to couple a plurality of independently removable battery strings to the vehicle, the battery strings configured to be selectively coupled in parallel to a vehicle power bus. The battery strings may include a housing, a plurality of electrochemical cells disposed within the housing, a circuit for electrically connecting the electrochemical cells, a positive high-voltage connector, a negative high-voltage connector, a switch within the housing, and a string control unit configured to control the switch. Each battery string can include a coolant inlet and a coolant outlet configured to couple with and sealingly uncouple from an external coolant supply conduit and an external coolant return conduit, and an auxiliary connector configured to couple with an external communications system and/or an external low-voltage power supply. |
| US11258097B2 |
Electrolyte and lithium-ion battery containing the same
The present application relates to the technical field of lithium-ion batteries and, specifically, relates to an electrolyte and a lithium-ion battery containing the electrolyte. The electrolyte of the present application includes a lithium salt, an organic solvent and additives, the additives include a fluorinated ether compound and an ester dimer compound, the ester dimer compound includes carbonate dimers, carboxylate dimers and sultone dimers. |
| US11258093B2 |
Electrode mixture, preparation method thereof, and secondary battery including the same
An electrode mixture of the present invention comprises: an electrode active material; a binder; and a conductive material. When a cross-section of the electrode mixture is imaged such that a pixel filled 100% with a conductive material among a plurality of divided pixels is considered to be a condensed pixel and a value obtained by counting condensed pixels is considered to be the degree of agglomeration, the degree of agglomeration of a conductive material in the electrode mixture in the depth direction of the electrode mixture has a standard deviation less than 3.0. The electrode mixture as described above includes a conductive material uniformly distributed therein and thus has low electrode resistance. Therefore, the electrode mixture can improve output and lifespan properties of a lithium secondary battery to which the electrode mixture has been applied. |
| US11258088B2 |
Metal supported solid oxide fuel cell unit and its method of manufacture
The present invention relates to an improved metal supported solid oxide fuel cell unit, fuel cell stacks, fuel cell stack assemblies, and methods of manufacture. |
| US11258087B2 |
Non-aqueous flow battery with lithium ion conductive film
The present disclosure provides a flow battery comprising a flexible lithium ion conductive film having durability against a highly reductive non-aqueous electrolyte liquid. The flow battery according to the present disclosure comprises a first non-aqueous electrolyte liquid, a first electrode, a second electrode, and a lithium ion conductive film. The first non-aqueous electrolyte liquid contains lithium ions and further biphenyl, phenanthrene, stilbene, triphenylene, anthracene, acenaphthene, acenaphthylene, fluorene, fluoranthene, o-terphenyl, m-terphenyl, or p-terphenyl. The lithium ion conductive film comprises a composite body. The composite body contains a lithium ion conductive polymer and polyvinylidene fluoride. The lithium ion conductive polymer includes an aromatic ring into which a lithium salt of an acidic group has been introduced. The lithium ion conductive polymer and the polyvinylidene fluoride have been mixed with each other homogeneously in the composite body. |
| US11258076B2 |
Electrode catalyst for fuel cell, method of producing the same, and fuel cell
The present invention relates to an electrode catalyst for a fuel cell that includes a carbon support (11) having pores (13) and catalyst particles containing platinum or a platinum alloy supported on the carbon support (11). The pores (13) of the carbon support (11) have a mode size of pores (13) in a range of 2.1 nm to 5.1 nm. A total pore volume of the pores (13) of the carbon support (11) is in a range of 21 cm3/g to 35 cm3/g. A distance between the catalyst particles and a surface of the carbon support (11) is in a range of 2.0 nm to 12 nm as a distance of a 50% cumulative frequency. |
| US11258074B2 |
Pt—Ni—Ir catalyst for fuel cell
Nanoporous oxygen reduction catalyst material comprising PtNiIr, the catalyst material preferably having the formula PtxNiyIrz, wherein x is in a range from 26.6 to 47.8, y is in a range from 48.7 to 70, and z is in a range from 1 to 11.4. The nanoporous oxygen reduction catalyst material is useful, for example, in fuel cell membrane electrode assemblies. |
| US11258069B2 |
Current collector, battery and methods for producing the same
A current collector in which, even in the case of using a copper substrate, an electroconductive layer comprising a thermoplastic resin and an electroconductive material and covering the copper substrate provides the same positive temperature coefficient resistance function as the case of using an aluminum substrate. The current collector may comprise: a copper substrate comprising a copper oxide layer that an average content of an oxygen element present within a thickness of 1.0 μm or less from a surface of the copper substrate, is 10.5 at % or more, and a positive temperature coefficient resistance layer comprising a thermoplastic resin and an electroconductive material and covering the copper oxide layer of the copper substrate. |
| US11258060B2 |
Negative electrode plate, secondary battery, battery module, battery pack, and apparatus
This application provides a negative electrode plate, a secondary battery, a battery module, a battery pack, and an apparatus. The negative electrode plate includes a negative current collector and a plurality of active substance layers formed on the negative current collector, where the plurality of active substance layers include at least a first active substance layer and a second active substance layer; the first active substance layer includes a first negative active substance, and the second active substance layer includes a second negative active substance; a ratio of thickness of the negative active substance of the first active substance layer to average particle size of the first negative active substance is 2.0 to 4.0; and a ratio of thickness of the second active substance layer to average particle size of the second negative active substance is 2.2 to 5.0. |
| US11258045B2 |
Methods of forming stretchable encapsulation for electronic displays
A method of encapsulating an organic light-emitting diode display includes depositing a plurality of first polymer projections onto a light-emitting side of a display layer having a plurality of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) such that the plurality of first polymer projections have spaces therebetween that expose an underlying surface, and conformally coating the first polymer projections and the spaces between the first polymer projections with a first dielectric layer such that the first dielectric layer has side walls along sides of the first polymer projections and defines wells in spaces between the side walls. |
| US11258043B2 |
Flexible display module and display device
A flexible display panel includes a flexible substrate; a display layer on the flexible substrate; a reinforcement layer on a side of the display layer distal to the flexible substrate; and a protective layer on a side of the reinforcement layer distal to the flexible substrate; wherein the reinforcement layer is a multi-layer laminate structure comprising at least one colorless polymide layer and the reinforcement layer is configured to enhance the reliability testing of the flexible display panel. |
| US11258042B2 |
Display apparatus having a barrier wall
A display apparatus is provided. In the display apparatus, because an inorganic encapsulation layer of a thin film encapsulation layer is not separated from another layer, a lifespan of the display apparatus may be increased. |
| US11258038B2 |
Flexible organic light-emitting diode (OLED) device of reduced stess at bending place and fabrication method thereof
The present disclosure provides a flexible organic light-emitting diode (OLED) device and a fabrication method thereof, wherein the flexible organic light emitting diode (OLED) device includes a substrate, an array unit layer, a light-emitting device layer, and an encapsulation layer that are sequentially disposed. The encapsulation layer includes a first inorganic layer, a first organic layer and a second inorganic layer that are sequentially disposed. The second inorganic layer has a continuous wavy curved-configuration, and an interface between the second inorganic layer and the first organic layer has a continuous wavy curved-shape. The present disclosure is directed to a flexible OLED device using a novel outer inorganic layer to increase the contact area between the outer inorganic layer and the inner organic layer, thereby effectively reducing risks of breakage of the outer inorganic layer. |
| US11258034B2 |
Display panel and producing method therefor, vehicle-mounted rearview mirror, and display device
A display panel and a producing method therefor, a vehicle-mounted rearview mirror, and a display device. The display panel comprises: a base substrate; a pixel defining layer, located at one side of the base substrate, the pixel defining layer comprising a plurality of openings distributed in an array; a cathode layer, located at the side of the pixel defining layer opposite to the base substrate; and an auxiliary cathode layer, located at the side of the cathode layer opposite to the pixel defining layer, the auxiliary cathode layer being directly in contact with and electrically connected to the cathode layer. The auxiliary cathode layer has a first thickness at positions corresponding to the plurality of the openings, and a second thickness at positions other than the openings; the first thickness is less than the second thickness. |
| US11258030B2 |
Electron transport material and formation method and quantum dot light emitting diode
An electron transport material includes zinc oxide (ZnO) doped with metal ions. The metal ions are two or three metal ions of different valences of a same metal element. A lowest valence state of the metal ions is positive divalent. |
| US11258028B2 |
Quantum dot device baseplate, manufacture method therefor and quantum dot device
The present disclosure provides a quantum dot device baseplate, a manufacture method therefor and a quantum dot device. The quantum dot device baseplate comprises: a substrate; a cathode disposed on the substrate; an electron transport layer disposed on a surface of the cathode away from the substrate; a linking layer disposed on a surface of the electron transport layer away from the substrate and bonded to the electron transport layer via a chemical bond; and a quantum dot layer disposed on a surface of the linking layer away from the substrate and bonded to the linking layer via a chemical bond. |
| US11258020B2 |
Crosslinking p-dopants for p-doping organic hole conductors
A method produces cross-linked hole-conducting electric layers by converting functionalized p-dopants. The functionalized p-dopants are organic metal complexes containing at least one central atom and organic ligands, wherein the central atom is selected from a metal of the groups 6-15 of the periodic table, and at least one of the organic ligands is selected from the following formulas I-V, in which E independently of one another is oxygen, sulfur, selenium, or N(E1)x, and each Rv has at least one functionalizing group selected from the group RF including —OH, —COOH, —NH2, —NHR′, halogen, C2-C40-alkenyl, -dienyl, -alkinyl, -alkenyloxy, -dienyloxy, -alkinyloxy, acrylic acid, oxetan, oxiran, silane, acrylic acid, anhydride, and cyclobutane or consists of the groups, and G=C(RF)uHvFw where u+v+w=3 and n=1-4. |
| US11258017B2 |
Semiconducting compositions comprising semiconducting polymers
A semiconducting composition comprising a semiconducting polymer and a semiconducting non-polymeric polycyclic compound, wherein the semiconducting polymer comprises units of A and/or B: wherein R1, R2, R5, R6, R7, R8, x, y, p, q, r, R3, R4, R9, R10 and R11 have any of the meanings defined in the description. |
| US11258015B2 |
Mask cassette alignment device and method of aligning mask cassette
A mask cassette alignment device includes: a first plate having a circular shape; and a first guide unit engaged with a side surface of the first plate and configured to rotate the first plate. |
| US11258011B2 |
Resistive random access memory structure and manufacturing method thereof
An RRAM structure and its manufacturing method are provided. The RRAM structure includes a bottom electrode layer, a resistance switching layer, and an implantation control layer sequentially formed on a substrate. The resistance switching layer includes a conductive filament confined region and an outer region surrounding the conductive filament confined region. The RRAM structure includes a protective layer and a top electrode layer. The protective layer conformally covers the bottom electrode layer, the resistance switching layer, and the implantation control layer and has a first opening. The top electrode layer is located on the implantation control layer, and a portion of the top electrode layer is filled into the first opening. The position of the top electrode layer corresponds to that of the conductive filament confined region, and the top surface of the top electrode layer is higher than that of the protective layer. |
| US11258008B2 |
Semiconductor device and manufacturing method for same
A nonvolatile memory device includes a semiconductor substrate, a memory array region including a plurality of word lines formed linearly along a plane having a height (h1), a plurality of linear bit lines formed linearly along a plane having a height (h2) in a direction intersecting the plurality of word lines, and a plurality of memory cells provided between an intersection portion of each of the plurality of word lines with the plurality of bit lines and each of the plurality of bit lines, and a peripheral circuit region including a plurality of linear electrodes formed linearly along a plane having a height (h1), a plurality of linear electrodes formed linearly along a plane having the height (h2) in a direction intersecting the plurality of linear electrodes, and an insulators provided at least between the plurality of linear electrodes and the plurality of linear electrodes. |
| US11258003B2 |
Piezoelectric actuator, liquid discharge head, and manufacturing method of piezoelectric actuator
A piezoelectric actuator includes: a plurality of discrete electrodes, which is disposed on one side of a piezoelectric element; a common electrode, which is disposed on the other side of the piezoelectric element; a plurality of discrete contacts, which are respectively connected to the plurality of discrete electrodes, and wherein the plurality of discrete electrodes include: a first discrete electrode; and a second discrete electrode, which is disposed at a position away from a corresponding discrete contact as compared with the first discrete electrode, wherein the common electrode includes: a first common electrode, which faces the first discrete electrode in the thickness direction; and a second common electrode, which is separated from the first common electrode in the surface direction and faces the second discrete electrode in the thickness direction, and wherein a connection wiring is provided to connect the first common electrode with the second common electrode. |
| US11257999B2 |
Light emitting element mounting base member, and light emitting device using the light emitting element mounting base member
A light emitting element mounting base member for mounting a light emitting element is provided that includes electrical conductor cores, light-reflecting insulating members, and light blocking resin. The insulating members each cover a lateral surface of each of the electrical conductor cores. The insulating members have a reflectivity of 70% or more to light emission wavelength of the light emitting element in a range of 440 nm to 630 nm. The light blocking resin joins at least two insulating members, and is capable of blocking light from the light emitting element by reflecting or absorbing the light. At least one upper surface of the electrical conductor cores, at least one lower surface of the electrical conductor cores are exposed from the insulating members and the light blocking resin respectively. |
| US11257997B2 |
Semiconductor structure
A semiconductor structure is provided. The semiconductor structure includes metallization structure, a plurality of conductive pads, and a dielectric layer. The plurality of conductive pads is over the metallization structure. The dielectric layer is on the metallization structure and covers the conductive pad. The dielectric layer includes a first dielectric film, a second dielectric film, and a third dielectric film. The first dielectric film is on the conductive pad. The second dielectric film is on the first dielectric film. The third dielectric film is on the second dielectric film. The a refractive index of the first dielectric film is smaller than a refractive index of the second dielectric film, and the refractive index of the second dielectric film is smaller than a refractive index of the third dielectric film. |
| US11257987B2 |
Structure with micro light-emitting device
A structure with micro light-emitting device includes a substrate, at least one micro light-emitting device, a holding structure, and at least one buffer structure. The micro light-emitting device is disposed on the substrate, and there is a vertical distance between the micro light-emitting device and the substrate. The holding structure is disposed on the substrate and directly contacts the micro light-emitting device. The buffer structure directly contacts the holding structure. Here, a Young's modulus of the buffer structure is smaller than a Young's modulus of the holding structure. |
| US11257986B2 |
Bonding of phosphor converter emitters
Embodiments include a device having a component with a component surface; a phosphor converter body with a phosphor converter body surface facing the component surface; a plurality of particles between and in contact with the component surface and the phosphor converter body surface; and an inorganic coating on and in contact with at least a portion of the particles, at least a portion of the component surface, and at least a portion of the phosphor converter body surface, and a method making such device. |
| US11257983B2 |
Light emitting diodes formed on nanodisk substrates and methods of making the same
A light emitting device, such as an LED, is formed by forming a plurality of semiconductor nanostructures having a doping of a first conductivity type through, and over, a growth mask layer overlying a doped compound semiconductor layer. Each of the plurality of semiconductor nanostructures includes a nanofrustum including a bottom surface, a top surface, tapered planar sidewalls, and a height that is less than a maximum lateral dimension of the top surface, and a pillar portion contacting the bottom surface of the nanofrustum and located within a respective one of the openings through the growth mask layer. A plurality of active regions on the nanofrustums. A second conductivity type semiconductor material layer is formed on each of the plurality of active regions. |
| US11257977B2 |
Diffusion based ex-situ group V (P, As, Sb, Bi) doping in polycrystalline CdTe thin film solar cells
Described herein is a diffusion-based ex-situ group V element doping method in the CdCl2 heat-treated polycrystalline CdTe film. The ex-situ doping using group V halides, such as PCl3, AsCl3, SbCl3, or BiCl3, demonstrated a promising PCE of ˜18% and long-term light soaking stability in CdSe/CdTe and CdS/CdTe devices with decent carrier concentration>1015 cm−3. This ex-situ solution or vapor process can provide a low-cost alternative pathway for effective doping of As, as well as P, Sb, and Bi, in CdTe solar cells with limited deviation from the current CdTe manufacturing process. |
| US11257974B2 |
Silicon heterojunction solar cells and methods of manufacture
The present invention relates to a solar cell comprising a heterojunction photoelectric device comprising, a front electrode layer, a back electrode layer comprising a metallic contact layer, a light-absorbing silicon layer arranged between said front electrode and said back electrode layers and a doped silicon-based layer arranged between said light-absorbing silicon layer and said back electrode layer, characterized in that said heterojunction photoelectric device further comprises a wide band gap material layer having an electronic band gap greater than 1.4 eV, said wide band gap material layer being applied on a surface of the light-absorbing silicon layer between said light-absorbing silicon layer and said doped silicon-based layer. The present heterojunction layer or stack of layers is compatible with thermal annealing and firing processes at T above 600° C. |
| US11257973B2 |
Method for passing photovoltaic current between a subcell formed from a group II-VI semiconductor material and a subcell formed from a group IV semiconductor material
A method for passing photovoltaic current between a subcell formed from a single crystal Group ll-VI semiconductor material and a subcell formed from a single crystal Group IV semiconductor material, includes the steps of forming a first subcell by an epitaxial growth process, the first subcell having a first upper surface; forming a tunnel heterojunction between the first subcell and the second subcell, and tunneling carriers formed by light incident on the first and second subcells through the tunnel heterojunction, thereby permitting a photoelectric series current to flow through the first and second subcells. |
| US11257972B2 |
Solar cell
A solar cell that capable of improving light utilization efficiency is disclosed. The solar cell comprises I-VII compound photovoltaic layer, silicon photovoltaic layer, first electrode and second electrode. The I-VII compound photovoltaic layer comprises first and second type I-VII compound layers. The first and second type I-VII compound layer have first and second type impurities, respectively. The second type I-VII compound layer is disposed under the first type I-VII compound layer. The silicon photovoltaic layer comprises first and second type silicon layers. The first and second type silicon layers have first and second type dopants, respectively. The first type and second type silicon layers are disposed under the second type I-VII compound layer and the first type silicon layer, respectively. The first and second electrodes are formed under the second type silicon layer and on a portion of the first type I-VII compound layer, respectively. |
| US11257970B2 |
Solar cell module
Disclosed is a solar cell panel module including a solar cell panel; a wiring enclosure electrically connected to the solar cell panel and mounted on or at a back surface of the solar cell panel; and an adhesive member disposed between the wiring enclosure and the solar cell panel to attach the wiring enclosure and the solar cell panel. An air gap opened to an outside and having a thickness corresponding to a thickness of the adhesive member is provided between the solar cell panel and the wiring enclosure by the adhesive member. |
| US11257969B2 |
Blocking diode board for rollable solar power module
A blocking diode board (“BDB”) for use with a rollable solar power module (“RSPM”) array is disclosed. The DBD includes a blocking diode, first flat electrical conductor, second flat electrical conductor, first tubular hook, and second tubular hook. |
| US11257968B2 |
Method of manufacturing solar cell and splittable solar cell for manufacturing solar cell from splittable solar cell that can be split
In a method of manufacturing a solar cell, a groove is formed on a first surface of an n-type semiconductor substrate. A p-side transparent conductive film layer is formed on the first surface of the n-type semiconductor substrate formed with the groove. A non-deposition area, where the p-side transparent conductive film layer is not formed, is formed in at least a part of a side surface of the groove formed on the first surface of the n-type semiconductor substrate. |
| US11257965B2 |
Forming front metal contact on solar cell with enhanced resistance to stress
System and method of providing a photovoltaic (PV) cell having a cushion layer to alleviate stress impact between a front metal contact and a thin film PV layer. A cushion layer is disposed between an extraction electrode and a photovoltaic (PV) surface. The cushion layer is made of a nonconductive material and has a plurality of vias filled with a conductive material to provide electrical continuity between the bus bar and the PV layer. The cushion layer may be made of a flexible material preferably with rigidity that matches the substrate. Thus, the cushion layer can effectively protect the PV layer from physical damage due to tactile contact with the front metal contact. |
| US11257964B2 |
Sensor package structure
A sensor package structure includes a substrate, a sensor chip disposed on and electrically coupled to the substrate, an opaque support (e.g., a ring-shaped solder mask) disposed on the sensor chip, and a light permeable layer disposed on the opaque support. The sensor chip includes a sensing region. The opaque support surrounds the sensing region, and inner lateral sides of the opaque support form a light-scattering loop wall. The light permeable layer, the light-scattering loop wall of the opaque support, and the sensor chip jointly define an enclosed space therein. When light passes through the light permeable layer and impinges onto the light-scattering loop wall at an incident angle, the light-scattering loop wall scatters the light into multiple rays at angles different from the incident angle. |
| US11257960B2 |
Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device having high on-state current and favorable reliability is provided. The semiconductor device includes a first insulator; a first oxide over the first insulator; a second oxide over the first oxide; a third oxide and a fourth oxide over the second oxide; a first conductor over the third oxide; a second conductor over the fourth oxide; a fifth oxide over the second oxide; a second insulator over the fifth oxide; and a third conductor positioned over the second insulator and overlapping with the second oxide. The fifth oxide is in contact with each of a side surface of the third oxide and a side surface of the fourth oxide. The conductivity of the third oxide is higher than the conductivity of the second oxide, and the conductivity of the fourth oxide is higher than the conductivity of the second oxide. |
| US11257958B2 |
Thin film transistor and manufacturing method thereof
The present invention provides a thin film transistor and a manufacturing method thereof. The thin film transistor includes a substrate, a gate electrode, a gate insulating layer, a semiconductor layer, a source electrode and a drain electrode, and a passivation layer. Both structures of the source electrode and the drain electrode are a three-layered metal structure, and the three-layered metal structure is a titanium tantalum/copper/titanium tantalum structure. Therefore, after the passivation layer is applied to the source electrode and the drain electrode, a bulging problem of the passivation layer can be effectively improved, and thus the thin film transistor has better plasticity and can be used for flexible displays. |
| US11257954B2 |
Thin film transistor and manufacturing method thereof, and display apparatus
Provided are a thin film transistor including: a base cushion layer having a recessed portion, base insulating layer, source-drain layer and active layer. The base insulating layer is located on a side of the base cushion layer where the recessed portion is located, and has a first and second partition walls that are spaced apart, and an orthographic projection region of a gap region between the first and second partition walls onto the base cushion layer is located at a region where the recessed portion is located; and both orthographic projection regions of the first and second partition walls onto the base cushion layer partially overlap with the recessed portion region; and both the source-drain layer and the active layer are located on the side of the base insulating layer away from the base cushion layer. |
| US11257953B2 |
Selective growth for high-aspect ratio metal fill
An improved conductive feature for a semiconductor device and a technique for forming the feature are provided. In an exemplary embodiment, the semiconductor device includes a substrate having a gate structure formed thereupon. The gate structure includes a gate dielectric layer disposed on the substrate, a growth control material disposed on a side surface of the gate structure, and a gate electrode fill material disposed on the growth control material. The gate electrode fill material is also disposed on a bottom surface of the gate structure that is free of the growth control material. In some such embodiments, the gate electrode fill material contacts a first surface and a second surface that are different in composition. |
| US11257948B2 |
Integrated schottky diode with guard ring
Described examples include an integrated circuit having a semiconductor substrate having an epitaxial layer located thereon, the epitaxial layer having a surface. The integrated circuit also has a buried layer formed in the semiconductor substrate, the epitaxial layer located between the buried layer and the surface. The integrated circuit also has a Schottky contact and an ohmic contact formed on the surface. The integrated circuit also has a Pdrift region in the epitaxial layer located between the ohmic contact and the Schottky contact. |
| US11257947B2 |
Metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor and method for manufacturing the same
A metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor and a method for manufacturing the same are provided. The metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor includes a substrate structure, doped regions, an oxide layer structure, semiconductor layer structures, a dielectric layer structure, and a metal structure. The substrate structure includes a base layer and an epitaxial layer. The epitaxial layer forms a plurality of trenches along a first direction. Any two adjacent trenches form a pitch therebetween, and the pitches formed between the trenches are increased along the first direction. The doped regions are formed at bottoms of the trenches. The oxide layer structure is formed on inner walls of the trenches and a surface of the epitaxial layer. The semiconductor layer structures are respectively formed in the trenches. The dielectric layer structure is formed on the oxide layer structure. The metal structure is formed on the dielectric layer structure. |
| US11257943B2 |
Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate having a drift region, and an edge terminal structure portion provided between the active region and an end portion of the semiconductor substrate on an upper surface of the semiconductor substrate. The edge terminal structure portion includes a plurality of guard rings of a second conductivity type which are in contact with the upper surface, and a high concentration region of the first conductivity type which has a higher doping concentration than the drift region and is provided, between adjacent two of the guard rings, from a position shallower than lower ends of the guard rings to a position deeper than the lower ends of the guard rings. Each of the guard rings has a region that is not covered by the high concentration region as viewed from a lower surface side. |
| US11257942B2 |
Resistive element and power amplifier circuit
A resistive element that includes: a substrate; a first nitride semiconductor layer; a second nitride semiconductor layer; a two-dimensional electron gas layer on the first nitride semiconductor layer side at an interface between the first nitride semiconductor layer and the second nitride semiconductor layer; a first electrode ohmically connected to the two-dimensional electron gas layer; a second electrode ohmically connected to the two-dimensional electron gas layer; and an insulating layer between the first electrode and the second electrode in plan view. The two-dimensional electron gas layer functions as an electric resistance element. A conductive layer is not provided above the insulating layer between the first electrode and the second electrode in the plan view. The resistive element has a resistance-value stabilization structure that functions to keep a resistance value of the electric resistance element constant. |
| US11257940B2 |
Group III HEMT and capacitor that share structural features
A High Mobility Electron Transistor (HEMT) and a capacitor co-formed on an integrated circuit (IC) share at least one structural feature, thereby tightly integrating the two components. In one embodiment, the shared feature may be a 2DEG channel of the HEMT, which also functions in lieu of a base metal layer of a conventional capacitor. In another embodiment, a dialectic layer of the capacitor may be formed in a passivation step of forming the HEMT. In another embodiment, a metal contact of the HEMT (e.g., source, gate, or drain contact) comprises a metal layer or contact of the capacitor. In these embodiments, one or more processing steps required to form a conventional capacitor are obviated by exploiting one or more processing steps already performed in fabrication of the HEMT. |
| US11257939B2 |
High electron mobility transistor
A high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) includes a buffer layer on a substrate, in which the buffer layer includes a first buffer layer and a second buffer layer. Preferably, the first buffer layer includes a first layer of the first buffer layer comprising AlyGa1-yN on the substrate and a second layer of the first buffer layer comprising AlxGa1-xN on the first layer of the first buffer layer. The second buffer layer includes a first layer of the second buffer layer comprising AlwGa1-wN on the first buffer layer and a second layer of the second buffer layer comprising AlzGa1-zN on the first layer of the second buffer layer, in which x>z>y>w. |
| US11257937B2 |
Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor body, a first electrode, a control electrode and a control interconnection electrically connected to the control electrode. The first electrode, the control electrode, and the control interconnection are provided on a front surface side of the semiconductor body. The control electrode is shaped as one body in a trench. The control electrode includes a first portion, a second portion, a first end portion and a second end portion that are arranged in a direction along the front surface of the semiconductor body. The first and second portions are positioned between the first and second end portions. The first portion is positioned between the first electrode and the semiconductor body, and the second portion is positioned between the control interconnection and the semiconductor body. The control interconnection crosses the second portion of the control electrode, and is electrically connected thereto. |
| US11257934B2 |
Fin field-effect transistors with enhanced strain and reduced parasitic capacitance
A method of forming a semiconductor structure includes forming a substrate, the substrate having a first portion with a first height and second recessed portions with a second height less than the first height. The method also includes forming embedded source/drain regions disposed over top surfaces of the second recessed portions of the substrate, and forming one or more fins from a portion of the substrate disposed between the embedded source/drain regions, the one or more fins providing channels for fin field-effect transistors (FinFETs). The method further includes forming a gate stack disposed over the one or more fins, and forming inner oxide spacers disposed between the gate stack and the source/drain regions. |
| US11257932B2 |
Fin field effect transistor device structure and method for forming the same
A method for forming a fin field effect transistor device structure includes forming a fin structure over a substrate. The method also includes forming an isolation structure surrounding the fin structure. The method also includes cleaning sidewalls of the fin structure. The method also includes depositing a silicon cap layer over the fin structure. The method also includes growing an oxide layer over the silicon cap layer. The silicon cap layer is thinned after growing an oxide layer over the silicon cap layer. The method also includes forming a gate structure over the oxide layer across the fin structure. The method also includes growing a source/drain epitaxial structure beside the gate structure. The method also includes forming a contact structure electrically connected to the gate structure. |
| US11257926B2 |
Self-aligned contact structures
Semiconductor devices and methods of forming the same are provided. In one embodiment, a semiconductor device includes a gate structure sandwiched between and in contact with a first spacer feature and a second spacer feature, a top surface of the first spacer feature and a top surface of the second spacer feature extending above a top surface of the gate structure, a gate self-aligned contact (SAC) dielectric feature over the first spacer feature and the second spacer feature, a contact etch stop layer (CESL) over the gate SAC dielectric feature, a dielectric layer over the CESL, a gate contact feature extending through the dielectric layer, the CESL, the gate SAC dielectric feature, and between the first spacer feature and the second spacer feature to be in contact with the gate structure, and a liner disposed between the first spacer feature and the gate contact feature. |
| US11257922B2 |
Self-aligned contact and method for forming the same
A method for forming a self-aligned contact includes providing a substrate with a plurality of gate structures formed on the substrate. The method also includes forming a spacer liner on the gate structures and the substrate. The method also includes forming a sacrificial layer between the gate structures and on the gate structures. The method also includes forming a plurality of dielectric plugs through the sacrificial layer above the gate structures. The method also includes removing the sacrificial layer to form a plurality of contact openings between the gate structures. The method also includes forming an etch resistant layer conformally covering the sidewall and the bottom of the contact openings. The method also includes forming a plurality of contact plugs in the contact openings. |
| US11257919B2 |
Schottky barrier diode with improved Schottky contact for high voltages
The Schottky barrier diode comprises a semiconductor body with a main surface, a doped region and a further doped region of the semiconductor body, which extend to the main surface, the doped region and the further doped region having opposite types of electric conductivity, a subregion and a further subregion of the further doped region, the subregions being contiguous with one another, the further subregion comprising a higher doping concentration than the subregion, a silicide layer on the main surface, the silicide layer forming an interface with the doped region, an electric contact on the doped region, and a further electric contact electrically connecting the further doped region with the silicide layer. |
| US11257917B2 |
Gate-all-around (GAA) transistors with additional bottom channel for reduced parasitic capacitance and methods of fabrication
Gate-all-around (GAA) transistors with an additional bottom channel for reduced parasitic capacitance and methods of fabricating the same include one or more channels positioned between a source region and a drain region. The one or more channels, which may be nanowire or nanoslab semiconductors, are surrounded by gate material. The GAA transistor further includes an additional semiconductor channel between a bottom section of a gate material and a silicon on insulator (SOI) substrate in a GAA transistor. This additional channel, sometimes referred to as a bottom channel, may be thinner than other channels in the GAA transistor and may have a thickness less than its length. |
| US11257913B2 |
Vertical field effect transistor with self-aligned contact structure and layout
Provided is a structure of a vertical field effect transistor (VFET) device which includes: a fin structure protruding from a substrate, and having an H-shape in a plan view; a gate including a fin sidewall portion formed on sidewalls of the fin structure, and a field gate portion extended from the fin sidewall portion and filling a space inside a lower half of the fin structure; a gate contact landing on the field gate portion at a position inside the lower half of the fin structure; a bottom epitaxial layer comprising a bottom source/drain (S/D) region, and formed below the fin structure; a power contact landing on the bottom epitaxial layer, and configured to receive a power signal; a top S/D region formed above the fin structure; and a top S/D contact landing on the top S/D region. |
| US11257912B2 |
Sonos stack with split nitride memory layer
A semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same are provided. In one embodiment, method includes forming a first oxide layer over a substrate, forming a silicon-rich, oxygen-rich, oxynitride layer on the first oxide layer, forming a silicon-rich, nitrogen-rich, and oxygen-lean nitride layer over the oxynitride layer, and forming a second oxide layer on the nitride layer. Generally, the nitride layer includes a majority of charge traps distributed in the oxynitride layer and the nitride layer. Optionally, the method further includes forming a middle oxide layer between the oxynitride layer and the nitride layer. Other embodiments are also described. |
| US11257910B2 |
Semiconductor device including transistor portion and diode portion
Provided is a semiconductor device, wherein: in a semiconductor substrate, a lifetime control region is provided from at least a part of a transistor portion to a diode portion; the transistor portion includes a main region, a boundary region located between the main region and the diode portion and overlapped with the lifetime control region, and a plurality of gate trench portions; the plurality of gate trench portions include a first gate trench portion provided in the main region and a second gate trench portion provided in the boundary region; and a gate resistance component of the first gate trench portion is different from a gate resistance component of the second gate trench portion. |
| US11257909B2 |
Stacked, high-blocking InGaAs semiconductor power diode
A stacked, high-blocking III-V semiconductor power diode having a first metallic terminal contact layer, formed at least in regions, and a highly doped semiconductor contact region of a first conductivity type and a first lattice constant. A drift layer of a second conductivity type and having a first lattice constant is furthermore provided. A semiconductor contact layer of a second conductivity, which includes an upper side and an underside, and a second metallic terminal contact layer are formed, and the second metallic terminal contact layer being integrally connected to the underside of the semiconductor contact layer, and the semiconductor contact layer having a second lattice constant at least on the underside, and the second lattice constant being the lattice constant of InP, and the drift layer and the highly doped semiconductor contact region each comprising an InGaAs compound or being made up of InGaAs. |
| US11257907B2 |
High voltage demos transistor with improved threshold voltage matching
A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate having a first conductivity type. First and second wells are located within the substrate, the first well being formed with a dopant of the first conductivity type, e.g. n-type, and the second well formed with a dopant of a second different conductivity type, e.g. p-type. A doped gap region is located between the first and second wells. The doped gap region is formed with a dopant of the second conductivity type, e.g. p-type, at a lower dopant concentration than the dopant concentration in the second well. |
| US11257904B2 |
Source-channel junction for III-V metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs)
Embodiments herein describe techniques, systems, and method for a semiconductor device. Embodiments herein may present a semiconductor device having a channel area including a channel III-V material, and a source area including a first portion and a second portion of the source area. The first portion of the source area includes a first III-V material, and the second portion of the source area includes a second III-V material. The channel III-V material, the first III-V material and the second III-V material may have a same lattice constant. Moreover, the first III-V material has a first bandgap, and the second III-V material has a second bandgap, the channel III-V material has a channel III-V material bandgap, where the channel material bandgap, the second bandgap, and the first bandgap form a monotonic sequence of bandgaps. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed. |
| US11257899B2 |
Film structure including hafnium oxide, electronic device including the same, and method of manufacturing the same
Provided are a film structure including hafnium oxide, an electronic device including the same, and a method of manufacturing the same. The film structure including hafnium oxide includes a hafnium oxide layer including hafnium oxide crystallized in a tetragonal phase, and first and second stressor layers apart from each other with the hafnium oxide layer therebetween and applying compressive stress to the hafnium oxide layer. |
| US11257884B2 |
Display apparatus that protects internal elements from external shock
A display apparatus includes a base substrate, a thin film transistor disposed on the base substrate and including an active pattern, a gate electrode, a source electrode, and a drain electrode, an inorganic insulating layer disposed between the active pattern and the gate electrode, a first organic insulating layer disposed on the thin film transistor, a second organic insulating layer disposed on the first organic insulating layer, and an insulating layer disposed between the first organic insulating layer and the second organic insulating layer and in direct contact with the first organic insulating layer and the second organic insulating layer. |
| US11257879B2 |
Display panels and display devices thereof
The present application relates to a display panel and a display device thereof. The display panel includes a base substrate and a number of display units disposed on the base substrate. The number of display units form a display region. A display region driving circuit is disposed on the display region of the base substrate and electrically connected to the number of display units so as to drive the number of display units. And a peripheral circuit is disposed on the base substrate at a periphery of the display region. The peripheral circuit includes a number of peripheral circuit units arranged side by side in a same direction. And the number of peripheral circuit units and the number of display units are respectively arranged correspondingly. |
| US11257870B2 |
Display panel having color conversion layer and display device thereof
A display panel and a display device are provided. The display panel includes an organic electroluminescence device and a color conversion layer disposed on the organic electroluminescence device. The color conversion layer includes a quantum dot material and an organic electroluminescence material. The organic electroluminescent material is added to the color conversion layer. By mixing the organic electroluminescent material and the quantum dot material, the organic electroluminescent material forms excitons under excitation of blue light, and then singlet state excitons are transferred to quantum dots by fluorescence resonance energy, thereby improving an efficiency of the color conversion layer. |
| US11257867B1 |
3D semiconductor device and structure with oxide bonds
A semiconductor device, the device including: a plurality of transistors, where at least one of the plurality of transistors includes a first single crystal channel, where at least one of the plurality of transistors includes a second single crystal channel, where the second single crystal channel is disposed above the first single crystal channel, where at least one of the plurality of transistors includes a third single crystal channel, where the third single crystal channel is disposed above the second single crystal channel, where at least one of the plurality of transistors includes a fourth single crystal channel, and where the fourth single crystal channel is disposed above the third single crystal channel; and at least one region of oxide to oxide bonds. |
| US11257862B2 |
MRAM having spin hall effect writing and method of making the same
A spin-transfer-torque magnetoresistive memory comprises apparatus and method of manufacturing a three terminal magnetoresistive memory element having highly conductive bottom electrodes overlaid on top of a SHE-metal layer in the regions outside of an MTJ stack. The memory cell comprises a bit line positioned adjacent to selected ones of the plurality of magnetoresistive memory elements to supply a reading current across the magnetoresistive element stack and two highly conductive bottom electrodes overlaid and electrically contacting on top of a SHE-metal layer in the outside of an MTJ region and to supply a bi-directional spin Hall effect recording current, and accordingly to switch the magnetization of the recording layer. Thus magnetization of a recording layer can be readily switched or reversed to the direction in accordance with a direction of a current along the SHE-metal layer by applying a low write current. |
| US11257860B2 |
Micro light-emitting diode display panel having control element for controlling multiple micro light-emitting diodes emitting the same color
A micro LED display panel includes a display area, a plurality of micro light-emitting elements and a plurality of micro control elements. The plurality of micro light-emitting elements is disposed in the display area and include a plurality of first color micro LEDs and a plurality of second color micro LEDs. A light wavelength of each of the first color micro LEDs is different from a light wavelength of each of the second color micro LEDs. The plurality of micro control elements is disposed in the display area, and include a plurality of first color micro circuit-chips and a plurality of second color micro circuit-chips. The plurality of first color micro circuit-chips control the plurality of first color micro LEDs, and the plurality of second color micro circuit-chips control the plurality of second color micro LEDs. |
| US11257856B2 |
Lens-free compound eye cameras based on angle-sensitive meta-surfaces
A lens-free ultrathin imaging sensor using a compound-eye vision modality can be formed by forming a metasurface on each pixel of an array of pixels in a solid state imaging sensor. The metasurface can be configured to form a diffraction grating that directs light incident on the metasurface at a predefined angle to excite surface plasmon polaritons into the solid state imaging sensor and light incident at any other angle is reflected or diffracted away from the metasurface. Each pixel of the imaging sensor can be configured using the metasurface to only receive light incident from a different portion of a field of view. A computational imaging system can be used to construct the image from the individual pixels. |
| US11257853B2 |
Semiconductor device
Provided is a semiconductor device exemplified by an inverter circuit and a shift register circuit, which is characterized by a reduced number of transistors. The semiconductor device includes a first transistor, a second transistor, and a capacitor. One of a source and a drain of the first transistor is electrically connected to a first wiring, and the other thereof is electrically connected to a second wiring. One of a source and a drain of the second transistor is electrically connected to the first wiring, a gate of the second transistor is electrically connected to a gate of the first transistor, and the other of the source and the drain of the second transistor is electrically connected to one electrode of the capacitor, while the other electrode of the capacitor is electrically connected to a third wiring. The first and second transistors have the same conductivity type. |
| US11257847B2 |
Display device including transistor and manufacturing method thereof
An object is to provide a display device which operates stably with use of a transistor having stable electric characteristics. In manufacture of a display device using transistors in which an oxide semiconductor layer is used for a channel formation region, a gate electrode is further provided over at least a transistor which is applied to a driver circuit. In manufacture of a transistor in which an oxide semiconductor layer is used for a channel formation region, the oxide semiconductor layer is subjected to heat treatment so as to be dehydrated or dehydrogenated; thus, impurities such as moisture existing in an interface between the oxide semiconductor layer and the gate insulating layer provided below and in contact with the oxide semiconductor layer and an interface between the oxide semiconductor layer and a protective insulating layer provided on and in contact with the oxide semiconductor layer can be reduced. |
| US11257842B2 |
Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device and method for manufacturing same
A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, includes: a stacked structural unit including a plurality of insulating films alternately stacked with a plurality of electrode films in a first direction; a selection gate electrode stacked on the stacked structural unit in the first direction; an insulating layer stacked on the selection gate electrode in the first direction; a first semiconductor pillar piercing the stacked structural unit, the selection gate electrode, and the insulating layer in the first direction, a first cross section of the first semiconductor pillar having an annular configuration, the first cross section being cut in a plane orthogonal to the first direction; a first core unit buried in an inner side of the first semiconductor pillar, the first core unit being recessed from an upper face of the insulating layer; and a first conducting layer of the first semiconductor pillar provided on the first core unit to contact the first core unit. |
| US11257840B2 |
Semiconductor device and method of fabricating the same
A semiconductor device including a substrate; a lower structure including a sealing layer on the substrate and a support layer on the sealing layer, the sealing layer and the support layer both including a semiconductor material; a mold structure on the lower structure and having an interlayer insulating film and a conductive film alternately stacked therein; a channel hole penetrating the mold structure; a channel structure extending along sidewalls of the channel hole; an isolation trench penetrating the mold structure and extending into the lower structure; and a poly liner extending along sidewalls of the isolation trench, the poly liner being connected to the lower structure and including the semiconductor material. |
| US11257833B2 |
Memory device and manufacturing method thereof
Provided is a memory device including a substrate, a plurality of stack structures, a spacer, a dielectric layer, and a plurality of contact plugs. The stack structures are disposed on the substrate. The spacer is embedded in the stack structures, so that a width of an upper portion of the stack structures is less than a width of a lower portion thereof. The dielectric layer conformally covers the stack structures and the spacer. The contact plugs are respectively disposed on the substrate between the stack structures. |
| US11257824B1 |
Memory device and method for forming thereof
A semiconductor device includes a plurality of first memory cells in a memory region and a first cut-off transistor in a dummy region, the dummy region being adjacent to the memory region. Each of the plurality of the first memory cells includes a static random access memory (SRAM) cell. The static random access memory cell includes a first pull-down transistor and a second pull-down transistor. The plurality of the first memory cells includes a first memory cell. A first source/drain region of the first pull-down transistor in the first memory cell is electrically coupled to a first source/drain region of the first cut-off transistor and a second source/drain region of the first cut-off transistor is electrically coupled to a power supply voltage. |
| US11257820B2 |
High-voltage switch with integrated well region
A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor layer having a first doped region, a second doped region, and a third doped region. Each of the regions has the same dopant type. The first doped region extends further into a thickness of the semiconductor layer than the second or third doped regions, and the third doped region provides a conductive pathway between the first doped region and the second doped region. The semiconductor device also includes a first transistor and a second transistor. The first doped region is beneath the first transistor and the second doped region is beneath the second transistor. By using a commonly doped well region that includes each of the first, second, and third doped regions, at least the first and second transistors can be integrated closer together which lowers the overall device footprint. The transistors may be FETs, or other transistor technology. |
| US11257819B2 |
Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device includes first and second nanowire structures, first and second annular hafnium oxide layers, first and second annular cap layers, and first and second metal gate electrodes. The first and second nanowire structures are suspended over a substrate and respectively have an n-channel region and a p-channel region. The first and second annular hafnium oxide layers encircle the n-channel region and the p-channel region, respectively. The first and second annular cap layers encircle the first and second annular hafnium oxide layers, respectively. The first and second annular cap layers are made of a same material that is lanthanum oxide, yttrium oxide, or strontium oxide. The first and second metal gate electrodes encircle the first and second annular cap layers, respectively. The first and second metal gate electrodes have a same metal composition. |
| US11257815B2 |
Work function design to increase density of nanosheet devices
In some embodiments, the present disclosure relates to an integrated chip including first, second, and third nanosheet field effect transistors (NSFETs) arranged over a substrate. The first NSFET has a first threshold voltage and includes first nanosheet channel structures embedded in a first gate electrode layer. The first nanosheet channel structures extend from a first source/drain region to a second source/drain region. The second NSFET has a second threshold voltage different than the first threshold voltage and includes second nanosheet channel structures embedded in a second gate electrode layer. The second nanosheet channel structures extend from a third source/drain region to a fourth source/drain region. The third NSFET has a third threshold voltage different than the second threshold voltage and includes third nanosheet channel structures embedded in a third gate electrode layer. The third nanosheet channel structures extend from a fifth source/drain region to a sixth source/drain region. |
| US11257810B2 |
Electrostatic discharge unit, array substrate and display panel
An electrostatic discharge unit, an array substrate and a display panel are provided. The electrostatic discharge unit includes: an active layer; a first gate electrode and a second gate electrode which are spaced apart from each other and are insulated from the active layer; and a first electrode and a second electrode which are spaced apart from each other and are respectively connected to the active layer. The first gate electrode is electrically connected to the first electrode, and the second gate electrode is electrically connected to the second electrode. |
| US11257808B2 |
High holding high voltage (HHHV) FET for ESD protection with modified source and method for producing the same
A method of forming a LDMOS with a self-aligned P+ implant and LVPW region at the source side and the resulting device are provided. Embodiments include forming a DNWELL in a p-sub; forming a PWHV in the DNWELL; forming an NW in the DNWELL; forming a LVPW in the PWHV; forming STI structures through the LVPW and through the DNWELL and NW, respectively; forming a gate over the PWHV; forming a first and a second P+ implant in the LVPW, an edge of the second P+ implant aligned with an edge of the gate; forming a first N+ implant in the LVPW between the first STI structure and the second P+ implant and a second N+ in the NW adjacent to the second STI structure; and forming contacts over the first and second P+ and N+ implants, respectively, and an electrical contact over the second N+ implant. |
| US11257802B2 |
Semiconductor device with bonding pads and method of manufacturing the same
A semiconductor device includes: a first semiconductor substrate and a logic circuit provided on the first semiconductor substrate; a memory cell provided above the logic circuit and a second semiconductor substrate provided above the memory cell; a bonding pad provided above the second semiconductor substrate and electrically connected to the logic circuit; and a wiring provided above the second semiconductor substrate. The wiring is electrically connected to the memory cell, and includes at least one of a data signal line, a control voltage line, and a power supply line. |
| US11257799B2 |
Optical sensor module and method for manufacturing the same
An optical sensor module includes: (1) a lid defining a first chamber and a second chamber isolated from the first chamber; (2) a light emitting component disposed within the first chamber; and (3) a light sensing component disposed within the second chamber; wherein the lid includes a capping substrate and a top of the first chamber and a top of the second chamber are demarcated by the capping substrate, wherein the capping substrate defines a first penetrating hole at the top of the first chamber and a first runner connecting a side wall of the first penetrating hole, and wherein a first lens or a first transmissive panel is formed or disposed in the first penetrating hole and has an extension formed or disposed in the first runner connecting the side wall of the first penetrating hole. |
| US11257790B2 |
High connectivity device stacking
The present disclosure generally relates to stacked miniaturized electronic devices and methods of forming the same. More specifically, embodiments described herein relate to semiconductor device spacers and methods of forming the same. The semiconductor device spacers described herein may be utilized to form stacked semiconductor package assemblies, stacked PCB assemblies, and the like. |
| US11257784B2 |
Semiconductor package
A semiconductor package includes a package substrate, a logic chip on an upper surface of the package substrate and electrically connected to the package substrate, a heat sink contacting an upper surface of the logic chip to dissipate a heat generating from the logic chip, and a memory chip disposed on an upper surface of the heat sink and electrically connected to the package substrate. |
| US11257782B2 |
Method of manufacturing semiconductor device and semiconductor device
A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising embedding electrodes in insulating layers exposed to the joint surfaces of a first substrate and a second substrate, subjecting the joint surfaces of the first substrate and the second substrate to chemical mechanical polishing, to form the electrodes into recesses recessed as compared to the insulating layers, laminating insulating films of a uniform thickness over the entire joint surfaces, forming an opening by etching in at least part of the insulating films covering the electrodes of the first substrate and the second substrate, causing the corresponding electrodes to face each other and joining the joint surfaces of the first substrate and the second substrate to each other, heating the first substrate and the second substrate joined to each other, causing the electrode material to expand and project through the openings, and joining the corresponding electrodes to each other. |
| US11257781B2 |
Method for calibrating wire clamp device
A method for calibrating a wire clamp device includes: preparing a wire clamp device provided with a pair of arm parts having tips for clamping a wire, the arms extending from the tips toward base ends, and a drive part provided with a piezoelectric element for drive, connected to the base ends of the pair of arm parts and opening/closing the tips of the pair of arm parts; a step of detecting, by electrical continuity between the tips, a timing at which the pair of arm parts enters a closed state when the piezoelectric element for drive is driven, and acquiring a reference voltage; and a step of calibrating, on the basis of the reference voltage, an application voltage to be applied to the piezoelectric element for drive. Thus, it is possible to perform accurate and stable wire bonding. |
| US11257780B2 |
Semiconductor package having multi-tier bonding wires and components directly mounted on the multi-tier bonding wires
A semiconductor package includes a carrier substrate having a top surface, a semiconductor die mounted on the top surface, a plurality of bonding wires connecting an active surface of the semiconductor die to the top surface of the carrier substrate, an insulating material encapsulating the plurality of bonding wires, a component mounted on the insulating material, and a molding compound covering the top surface of the carrier substrate and encapsulating the semiconductor die, the plurality of bonding wires, the component and the insulating material. |
| US11257778B2 |
Semi-conductor package structure
Disclosed is a semiconductor package structure comprising a body, a plurality of first-layer, second-layer, third-layer and fourth-layer electrical contacts, wherein the first-layer, the second-layer, the third-layer and the fourth-layer electrical contacts are arranged sequentially from outside to inside on a bottom surface of the body in a matrix manner. Adjacent first-layer electrical contacts have two different spacings therein, and adjacent third-layer electrical contacts have the two different spacings therein. |
| US11257774B2 |
Stack structures in electronic devices including passivation layers for distributing compressive force
Structures, methods and devices are disclosed, related to improved stack structures in electronic devices. In some embodiments, a stack structure includes a pad implemented on a substrate, the pad including a polymer layer having a side that forms an interface with another layer of the pad, the pad further including an upper metal layer over the interface, the upper metal layer having an upper surface. In some embodiments, the stack structure also includes a passivation layer implemented over the upper metal layer, the passivation layer including a pattern configured to provide a compressive force on the upper metal layer to thereby reduce the likelihood of delamination at the interface, the pattern defining a plurality of openings to expose the upper surface of the upper metal layer. |
| US11257767B2 |
Interconnect crack arrestor structure and methods
A system and method for preventing cracks is provided. An embodiment comprises placing crack stoppers into a connection between a semiconductor die and a substrate. The crack stoppers may be in the shape of hollow or solid cylinders and may be placed so as to prevent any cracks from propagating through the crack stoppers. |
| US11257762B2 |
High speed semiconductor chip stack
The present invention ultra-low loss high energy density dielectric layers having femtosecond (10−15 sec) polarization response times within a chip stack assembly to extend impedance-matched electrical lengths and mitigate ringing within the chip stack to bring the operational clock speed of the stacked system closer to the intrinsic clock speed(s) of the semiconductor die bonded within chip stack. |
| US11257760B2 |
Semiconductor device having metal wire bonded to plural metal blocks connected to respective circuit patterns
The semiconductor device includes a semiconductor element, a plurality of terminal electrodes, internal wiring, and a sealing material. The semiconductor element is mounted on a circuit pattern provided on an insulating substrate. The plurality of terminal electrodes are provided on a case in which the insulating substrate and the semiconductor element are contained. The internal wiring connects the semiconductor element and the plurality of terminal electrodes. The sealing material fills a space in the case. The internal wiring includes a plurality of circuit patterns, a plurality of metal blocks, and metal wire. The plurality of metal blocks are electrically connected to the respective circuit patterns. The metal wire connects the plurality of metal blocks and is bonded to the plurality of metal blocks at positions closer to an upper surface of the sealing material than surfaces of the plurality of circuit patterns. |
| US11257759B1 |
Isolation in a semiconductor device
According to an aspect, a semiconductor device for integrating multiple transistors includes a wafer substrate including a first region and a second region, where the first region defines at least a portion of at least one first transistor and the second region defines at least a portion of at least one second transistor. The semiconductor device includes an isolation area located between the first region and the second region, at least one conductive pad of the at least one first transistor contacting the first region of the wafer substrate, at least one conductive pad of the at least one second transistor contacting the second region of the wafer substrate, a backplate coupled to the wafer substrate, and an encapsulation material, where the encapsulation material has a portion contacting the backplate, and the encapsulation material includes a portion located within the isolation area. |
| US11257757B2 |
Semiconductor device having fuse array and method of making the same
A semiconductor device includes a component having a functionality. The semiconductor device further includes an interconnect structure electrically connected to the component. The interconnect structure is configured to electrically connect the component to a signal. The interconnect structure includes a first column of conductive elements and a second column of conductive elements. The interconnect structure further includes a first fuse on a first conductive level a first distance from the component, wherein the first fuse electrically connects the first column of conductive elements to the second column of conductive elements. The interconnect structure further includes a second fuse on a second conductive level a second distance from the component, wherein the second fuse electrically connects the first column of conductive elements to the second column of conductive elements, and the second distance is different from the first distance. |
| US11257754B2 |
Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device includes a substrate having a first region, a second region, a first buffer region, and a second buffer region. A plurality of conductive lines is disposed on the first region of the substrate. An inductor is disposed on the second region of the substrate, and a dummy pattern is disposed on the first buffer region of the substrate. The first buffer region is provided between the first region and the second region. The second buffer region is provided between the first buffer region and the second region. |
| US11257752B2 |
Semiconductor structure and method for fabricating the same
A semiconductor structure and a method of fabricating the same is disclosed. The semiconductor device includes a conductive structure that comprises: an upper conductive line arranged above and in electrical connection with a circuit component in a lower device layer through a via plug, wherein the upper conductive line extends laterally over the via plug; an interposing layer having a substantially uniform thickness arranged between the via plug and the upper conductive line, and extending laterally beyond a planar projection of the via plug, wherein the upper conductive line is in electrical connection with the via plug through the interposing layer; and an overlayer is disposed over the upper conductive line. |
| US11257751B2 |
Semiconductor device with step-like wiring layers and manufacturing method thereof
A device includes: a substrate; a first wiring layer above the substrate; a second wiring layer above the first wiring layer; a first insulating film on the first and second wiring layers; a second insulating film in the first insulating film, provided at a position overlapping with a part of the first wiring layer and a part of the second wiring layer in a first direction perpendicular to a surface of the substrate, and including a first portion higher than an upper surface of an end portion of the second wiring layer and a second portion lower than the upper surface of the end portion of the second wiring layer; and a plug via the second insulating film in the first insulating film, provided on the upper surface of the end portion of the second wiring layer, and electrically connected to the second wiring layer. |
| US11257750B2 |
E-fuse co-processed with MIM capacitor
Metal e-fuse structure formed during back-end-of-line during processing and integral with on-chip metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor (MIMcap). The metal e-fuse structures are extensions of MIMcap electrodes and are structured to isolate BEOL MIM capacitors for trimming and/or to isolate shorted or rendered highly leaky due to in process, or service induced defects. In one embodiment, the method incorporates the integral, co-processed metal e-fuse in series between the MIM capacitor and an active circuit. When a high current passes through the e-fuse element, the e-fuse element is rendered highly resistive or electrically open thereby disconnecting the MIM capacitor or electrode plate from the active circuitry. The e-fuse structure may comprise a thin neck portion(s) or zig-zag neck portion that extend from an MIMcap electrode away from the MIMcap between two inter-level interconnect via structures. |
| US11257749B2 |
Wiring substrate
A wiring substrate includes: a core layer having a first face, and a second face opposite to the first face; a through hole that penetrates the core layer; a first metal layer formed on an inner wall face of the through hole and formed on or above the first and second faces; a second metal layer that is formed on the first metal layer and fills the through hole, wherein the second metal layer has a first recess portion opposed to the through hole, and a second recess portion opposed to the first recess portion via the through hole; a third metal layer provided in the first recess portion; a fourth metal layer provided in the second recess portion; a fifth metal layer formed on the second metal layer and the third metal layer; and a sixth metal layer formed on the second metal layer and the fourth metal layer. |
| US11257748B2 |
Semiconductor package having polymeric interlayer disposed between conductive elements and dielectric layer
The present disclosure provides a substrate for an integrated circuit. The substrate includes a dielectric layer. The substrate further includes a plurality of conductive elements at least partially embedded within the dielectric layer and having a substantially smooth outer surface. The substrate further includes an interlayer disposed between the individual conductive elements and the dielectric layer. The interlayer has a first surface comprising a plurality of protrusions interlocked with the dielectric layer and a second surface adhered to the outer surface of the individual conductive elements. |
| US11257746B2 |
Power distribution within silicon interconnect fabric
A silicon interconnect fabric includes: (1) a substrate having a front side and a back side; (2) a front side patterned metal layer on the front side of the substrate; (3) a back side patterned metal layer on the back side of the substrate; (4) multiple conductive vias extending through the substrate and connecting the front side patterned metal layer and the back side patterned metal layer; and (5) multiple conductive posts connected to the back side patterned metal layer. |
| US11257745B2 |
Electroless metal-defined thin pad first level interconnects for lithographically defined vias
A package substrate, comprising a package comprising a substrate, the substrate comprising a dielectric layer, a via extending to a top surface of the dielectric layer; and a bond pad stack having a central axis and extending laterally from the via over the first layer. The bond pad stack is structurally integral with the via, wherein the bond pad stack comprises a first layer comprising a first metal disposed on the top of the via and extends laterally from the top of the via over the top surface of the dielectric layer adjacent to the via. The first layer is bonded to the top of the via and the dielectric layer, and a second layer is disposed over the first layer. A third layer is disposed over the second layer. The second layer comprises a second metal and the third layer comprises a third metal. The second layer and the third layer are electrically coupled to the via. |
| US11257744B2 |
Method of forming vias using silicon on insulator substrate
Apparatuses and methods using a silicon on insulator (SOI) substrate are described. An example apparatus includes: a substrate including a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface; a circuit formed in the first surface; a first electrode through the substrate from the first surface to the second surface; and a first insulative film around the first electrode. The first electrode includes: a first portion formed in the substrate; and a second portion continuous to the first portion and protruding from the second surface. The first insulative film is formed between the first portion of the first electrode in the substrate and extending to a side surface of the second portion of the first electrode. |
| US11257743B2 |
Guard ring design enabling in-line testing of silicon bridges for semiconductor packages
Guard ring designs enabling in-line testing of silicon bridges for semiconductor packages, and the resulting silicon bridges and semiconductor packages, are described. In an example, a semiconductor structure includes a substrate having an insulating layer disposed thereon. A metallization structure is disposed on the insulating layer. The metallization structure includes conductive routing disposed in a dielectric material stack. The semiconductor structure also includes a first metal guard ring disposed in the dielectric material stack and surrounding the conductive routing. The first metal guard ring includes a plurality of individual guard ring segments. The semiconductor structure also includes a second metal guard ring disposed in the dielectric material stack and surrounding the first metal guard ring. Electrical testing features are disposed in the dielectric material stack, between the first metal guard ring and the second metal guard ring. |
| US11257741B2 |
Semiconductor package
A semiconductor package may comprise: a first passivation layer forming an electrical connection with one or more first bumps; a substrate layer including a second passivation layer and a silicon layer; a back-end-of-line (BEOL) layer formed on the substrate layer; and a third passivation layer formed on the BEOL layer forming an electrical connection with one or more second bumps, wherein the substrate layer includes a first signal TSV (Through Silicon Via) which transmits a first signal between the BEOL layer and a first lower pad, a second signal TSV which transmits a second signal between the BEOL layer and a second lower pad, and a ground TSV which is disposed between the first signal TSV and the second signal TSV and formed so that one end thereof is connected to the BEOL layer and the other end thereof floats. |
| US11257740B2 |
Device carrier configured for interconnects, a package implementing a device carrier having interconnects, and processes of making the same
A device includes: a surface mount device carrier configured to be mounted to a metal submount of a transistor package, said surface mount device carrier includes an insulating substrate includes a top surface and a bottom surface and a first pad and a second pad arranged on a top surface of said surface mount device carrier; at least one surface mount device includes a first terminal and a second terminal, said first terminal of said surface mount device mounted to said first pad and said second terminal mounted to said second pad; and at least one of the first terminal and the second terminal being configured to be isolated from the metal submount by said insulating substrate, where at least one of the first pad and the second pad are configured as wire bond pads. |
| US11257739B2 |
Semiconductor package with integrated passive electrical component
A method includes forming a first magnetic material on a first surface of a conductive loop, forming a second magnetic material on a second surface of the conductive loop opposite the first surface to form an inductor, attaching a semiconductor die to a leadframe, and attaching the inductor to the leadframe with solder balls. The semiconductor die is between the inductor and the leadframe. The conductive loop: spans parallel to the leadframe; or is between the first magnetic material and the second magnetic material. |
| US11257737B2 |
Heat dissipation device
A heat dissipation device with forced coolant flow is provided which includes a base, coolant conduits, and a driving module. The conduit includes an inlet port, an extension segment, and an outlet port. The extension segment is connected to the base. The driving module includes a housing, a separating member, and two magnetic driving members. The separating member, being a thin magnetic plate, is positioned in the housing and defines a first chamber and a second chamber for coolant. The first chamber and the second chamber are connected to the inlet port and the outlet port and a flow of coolant can be initiated by alternating an electrical current feed to the two magnetic driving members on each side of the separating member. |
| US11257732B2 |
Semiconductor module and semiconductor device
A semiconductor module includes: a semiconductor element; a first lead frame including a first portion on which the semiconductor element is mounted; a sealing member sealing the semiconductor element and the first portion; and a heat dissipation member which is integrated with the sealing member and dissipates heat generated in the semiconductor element. The heat dissipation member is insulated from the semiconductor element and the first portion by the sealing member. Therefore, the semiconductor module that is applicable to vertical semiconductor elements and ensures electrical insulation between the semiconductor element and the heat dissipation member when implementing the semiconductor module onto a circuit board, can be provided. |
| US11257729B2 |
Semiconductor device and method of forming encapsulated wafer level chip scale package (eWLCSP)
A semiconductor device has a semiconductor die and an encapsulant around the semiconductor die. A fan-in interconnect structure is formed over the semiconductor die while leaving the encapsulant devoid of the interconnect structure. The fan-in interconnect structure includes an insulating layer and a conductive layer formed over the semiconductor die. The conductive layer remains within a footprint of the semiconductor die. A portion of encapsulant is removed from over the semiconductor die. A backside protection layer is formed over a non-active surface of the semiconductor die after depositing the encapsulant. The backside protection layer is formed by screen printing or lamination. The backside protection layer includes an opaque, transparent, or translucent material. The backside protection layer is marked for alignment using a laser. A reconstituted panel including the semiconductor die is singulated through the encapsulant to leave encapsulant disposed over a sidewall of the semiconductor die. |
| US11257722B2 |
Semiconductor device having oxide containing gallium indium and zinc
A semiconductor device with a high threshold voltage is provided. A first conductor positioned over a substrate, a first insulator positioned over the first conductor, a first oxide positioned in contact with the top surface of the first insulator, a second insulator positioned in contact with the top surface of the first oxide, a second oxide positioned over the second insulator, a third insulator positioned over the second oxide, and a second conductor positioned over the third insulator are included. A mixed layer is formed between the first insulator and the first oxide. The mixed layer contains at least one of atoms contained in the first insulator and at least one of atoms contained in the first oxide. The mixed layer has fixed negative charge. |
| US11257714B2 |
Method of making a pillar structure having a non-metal sidewall protection structure and integrated circuit including the same
An integrated circuit device includes a semiconductor substrate; and a pad region over the semiconductor substrate. The integrated circuit device further includes an under-bump-metallurgy (UBM) layer over the pad region. The integrated circuit device further includes a conductive pillar on the UBM layer, wherein the conductive pillar has a sidewall surface and a top surface. The integrated circuit device further includes a protection structure over the sidewall surface of the conductive pillar, wherein sidewalls of the UBM layer are substantially free of the protection structure, and the protection structure is a non-metal material. |
| US11257711B1 |
Fabricating method of transistors without dishing occurred during CMP process
A fabricating method of transistors includes providing a substrate with numerous transistors thereon. Each of the transistors includes a gate structure. A gap is disposed between gate structures adjacent to each other. Later, a protective layer and a first dielectric layer are formed in sequence to cover the substrate and the transistors and to fill in the gap. Next, numerous buffering particles are formed to contact the first dielectric layer. The buffering particles do not contact each other. Subsequently, a second dielectric layer is formed to cover the buffering particles. After that, a first planarization process is performed to remove part of the first dielectric layer, part of the second dielectric layer and buffering particles by taking the protective layer as a stop layer, wherein a removing rate of the second dielectric layer is greater than a removing rate of the buffering particles during the first planarization process. |
| US11257710B2 |
Method of fabricating semiconductor device
A method comprises: disposing an ashing resistive layer over a multi-layered mask; sequentially disposing a first and second dummy layer on the ashing resistive layer; sequentially forming a first pattern structure and a second pattern structure there-over over the second dummy layer; recessing the second dummy layer, through the first and the second pattern structure, to partially expose the first dummy layer and to form a target pattern structure defining a target pattern; performing an anisotropic etching process, through the target pattern structure, to recess the exposed portions of the first dummy layer such that the target pattern is transferred to the recessed first dummy layer; performing an ashing process to remove the target pattern structure; and performing a pattern transferring process by recessing the ashing resistive layer and the multi-layered mask through the recessed first dummy layer to transfer the target pattern to the multi-layered mask. |
| US11257707B2 |
Substrate gripping mechanism, substrate transfer device, and substrate processing system
A substrate gripping mechanism, for gripping a substrate between a fixed clamp portion to be engaged with an edge portion of a substrate and a movable clamp portion configured to reciprocate with respect to the fixed clamp portion by a reciprocating driving unit, includes an interlocking member configured to move together with the movable clamp portion, and a first sensor and a second sensor, each having a detection region and configured to detect whether or not the interlocking member exists in the detection region. The interlocking member has a first to a fourth portion connected in a reciprocating direction of the movable clamp portion. The first to the fourth portion have shapes to make detection results thereof by the first sensor and the second sensor different from each other. |
| US11257699B2 |
Method of manufacturing semiconductor device and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium
Described herein is a technique capable of detecting a substrate state without contacting the substrate. According to one aspect of the technique, there is provided (a) loading a substrate retainer, where a plurality of substrates is placed, into a reaction tube; (b) processing the plurality of the substrates by supplying a gas into the reaction tube; (c) unloading the substrate retainer out of the reaction tube after the plurality of the substrates is processed; and (d) detecting the plurality of the substrates placed on the substrate retainer after the substrate retainer is rotated by a first angle with respect to a transferable position, wherein the plurality of the substrates is transferable to/from the substrate retainer in the transferable position. |
| US11257687B2 |
Method for repairing etching damage on nitride-based epitaxial layer of optoelectronic device and optoelectronic device attributable thereto
A method for repairing etching damage on a nitride-based epitaxial layer of an optoelectronic device and an optoelectronic device attributable thereto are provided. The method includes: providing a nitrogen-containing working liquid and a annealing apparatus having a reaction chamber; heating the reaction chamber to a predetermined temperature; atomizing the nitrogen-containing working liquid, and introducing the thus formed nitrogen-containing spray into the reaction chamber; and subjecting the optoelectronic device to an annealing treatment in the reaction chamber in the presence of the nitrogen-containing spray, so as to repair the etching damage on the nitride-based epitaxial layer. |
| US11257686B2 |
Laser annealing apparatus and sheet resistance calculation apparatus
A laser beam from a laser optical system is incident onto a semiconductor wafer. Thermal radiation light from the semiconductor wafer is incident onto an infrared detector. The infrared detector outputs a signal based on the intensity of the thermal radiation light. A processing device calculates a sheet resistance of the semiconductor wafer that is annealed by the laser beam on the basis of an output value of the infrared detector, and outputs a calculation value of the sheet resistance to an output device. |
| US11257685B2 |
Apparatus and process for electron beam mediated plasma etch and deposition processes
Disclosed embodiments apply electron beams to substrates for microelectronic workpieces to improve plasma etch and deposition processes. The electron beams are generated and directed to substrate surfaces using DC (direct current) biasing, RF (radio frequency) plasma sources, and/or other electron beam generation and control techniques. For certain embodiments, DC-biased RF plasma sources, such as DC superposition (DCS) or hybrid DC-RF sources, are used to provide controllable electron beams on surfaces opposite a DC-biased electrode. For certain further embodiments, the DC-biased electrode is pulsed. Further, electron beams can also be generated through electron beam extraction from external and/or non-ambipolar sources. The disclosed techniques can also be used with additional electron beam sources and/or additional etch or deposition processes. |
| US11257681B2 |
Using a same mask for direct print and self-aligned double patterning of nanosheets
A method of forming a semiconductor structure includes forming a nanosheet stack including alternating layers of a sacrificial material and a channel material over a substrate, the layers of channel material providing nanosheet channels for one or more nanosheet field-effect transistors. The method also includes forming a hard mask stack over the nanosheet stack, and forming a patterning layer over the hard mask stack. The method further includes patterning a lithographic mask over the patterning layer, the lithographic mask defining (i) one or more first regions for direct printing of one or more fins of a first width in the nanosheet stack and the substrate and (ii) one or more second regions for setting the spacing between two or more fins of a second width in the nanosheet stack and the substrate using self-aligned double patterning. The second width is less than the first width. |
| US11257677B2 |
Methods and devices for subtractive self-alignment
A method of forming an interconnect structure for semiconductor devices is described. The method comprises depositing an etch stop layer on a substrate by physical vapor deposition followed by in situ deposition of a metal layer on the etch stop layer. The in situ deposition comprises flowing a plasma processing gas into the chamber and exciting the plasma processing gas into a plasma to deposit the metal layer on the etch stop layer on the substrate. The substrate is continuously under vacuum and is not exposed to ambient air during the deposition processes. |
| US11257675B2 |
Tilted implant for poly resistors
A semiconductor device having a substrate, a dielectric layer, a polycrystalline silicon (“poly”) resistor, a drain, and a source is disclosed. After implantation, the poly resistor may have a lateral doping profile with two peaks, one near each edge of the poly resistor, and a trough near the middle of the poly resistor. Such a doping profile can allow the poly resistor to have a resistance that is insensitive to small variations in critical dimension of the poly resistor. The resistance of the poly resistor may be determined by the doping dose of the tilted implant used to form the poly resistor. The tilted implant may be used to form the drain and the source of a transistor substantially simultaneously as forming the poly resistor. |
| US11257674B2 |
Eliminating yield impact of stochastics in lithography
Methods and apparatuses for performing cycles of aspect ratio dependent deposition and aspect ratio independent etching on lithographically patterned substrates are described herein. Methods are suitable for reducing variation of feature depths and/or aspect ratios between features formed and partially formed by lithography, some partially formed features being partially formed due to stochastic effects. Methods and apparatuses are suitable for processing a substrate having a photoresist after extreme ultraviolet lithography. Some methods involve cycles of deposition by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition and directional etching by atomic layer etching. |
| US11257671B2 |
Method and system of control of epitaxial growth
A method of semiconductor fabrication includes positioning a substrate on a susceptor in a chamber and growing an epitaxial feature on the substrate. The growing includes providing UV radiation to a first region of a surface of the substrate and while providing the UV radiation, growing a first portion of the epitaxial feature on the first region of the surface while concurrently growing a second portion of the epitaxial feature on a second region of the surface of the substrate. The first portion of the epitaxial feature can be greater in thickness than the second portion of the epitaxial feature. |
| US11257669B2 |
Method of manufacturing semiconductor device, surface treatment method, substrate processing apparatus, and recording medium
There is provided a technique that includes: (a) forming a film on a substrate in a process container by performing a cycle a predetermined number of times, the cycle including: supplying a precursor gas from a first pipe made of metal and a first nozzle to the substrate in the process container; supplying an oxygen-containing gas from a second pipe made of metal and a second nozzle to the substrate in the process container; and supplying a nitrogen-and-hydrogen-containing gas from the second pipe and the second nozzle to the substrate in the process container; and (b) forming a continuous fluorine-containing layer on an inner surface of the second pipe by supplying a fluorine-containing gas into the second pipe such that the fluorine-containing gas chemically reacts with the inner surface of the second pipe. |
| US11257664B2 |
Automated system for remote inline concentration and homogenization of ultra-low concentrations in pure chemicals
Systems and methods are described to concentrate and homogenize a remote sample for analysis. A sample concentration and homogenization system embodiment includes, but is not limited to, at least a first valve, at least a first column fluidically coupled to the first valve, a flow meter fluidically coupled with the first column when the first valve is in a first flow path configuration to measure an amount of the liquid sample passed through the first column, and a homogenization valve including a sample homogenizing loop in which the concentrated sample is homogenized. |
| US11257663B2 |
Sputtering system and method
A sputtering system and a sputtering method are provided. The sputtering system includes a first electrode, a magnet and a second electrode. The first electrode is an elongated tube having a first end and a second end downstream of the first end. The first end is configured to receive a gas flow and the second end is placed next to a substrate. The magnet surrounds at least a portion of the elongated tube and is configured to generate a magnetic field in a space within the elongated tube. The second electrode is disposed within the elongated tube. A voltage is configured to be applied between the first and second electrodes to generate an electric field between the first and second electrodes. |
| US11257660B2 |
Apparatus and method for treating substrate
An apparatus for treating a substrate includes a process chamber having a treatment space therein, a support unit that supports the substrate in the treatment space, a gas supply unit that supplies a process gas into the treatment space, an RF power supply that supplies an RF signal to excite the process gas into plasma, and a matching circuit connected between the RF power supply and the process chamber. The matching circuit includes an impedance matching device that performs impedance matching and a harmonic removal device that removes harmonics caused by the RF power supply. The matching circuit operates in a first mode when the harmonics caused by the RF power supply are sensed and in a second mode when the harmonics caused by the RF power supply are not sensed. |
| US11257652B2 |
Insulator with conductive dissipative coating
Embodiments of the invention provide a conductive coating on an insulator of an x-ray tube and a method for applying the conductive coating. The method may use a first process, such as brazing, to join a support to the insulator and a second process, such as vapor deposition, to apply the conductive coating onto a substrate surface of the insulator. The second process may be carried out after the first process without any damage to x-ray tube insulator assembly. |
| US11257650B2 |
Three phase surge protection device
A three phase surge protection device is disclosed. In an embodiment a device include a stack comprising a first varistor, a second varistor and a third varistor, wherein the varistors are electrically connected to form a circuit and a first thermal disconnect configured to interrupt the circuit when a temperature of the first thermal disconnect exceeds a predefined temperature. |
| US11257639B2 |
Snap-action switch and method of assembling same
A snap-action switch including: a housing in which a plurality of fixed contacts and a plurality of movable contacts are disposed therein, a plunger configured for depressible movement via an aperture in the housing from a first position in which the plunger is relatively extended outwardly of the housing via the aperture, into, a second position in which the plunger is relatively retracted inwardly of the housing via the aperture; and a snap-action assembly operably-connected with the plunger, the snap-action assembly being responsive to depressible movement of the plunger so as to effect snap-action type movement of the plurality of movable contacts between normally opened and normally closed positions with respect to the fixed contacts; a sealing element configured for arrangement around the plunger to occlude ingress of particulates, dust and water from entering the housing via the aperture, the sealing element including a flanged portion; and a securement element configured for arrangement around the sealing element, wherein the securement element is shaped and dimensioned for interference fitting or snap-fitting with a rim of the aperture whereby the flanged portion of the sealing element is secured between the securement element and the rim of the aperture so as to restrict removal of the sealing element from the housing. |
| US11257637B2 |
Backlit key structure bottom plate with light blocking protrusions having differing heights
A key structure including a keycap, a bottom plate, a supporting element disposed on the bottom plate a backlight module, and a thin film circuit board is provided. The bottom plate includes a body and a plurality of protrusions, wherein the body has a plurality of openings, and the protrusions protrude from a first surface of the body and are disposed around the openings. At least two of the protrusions have different heights. The backlight module is disposed on a second surface of the body, wherein the first surface and the second surface are opposite surfaces. The thin film circuit board and the keycap are disposed on the first surface of the body, and the thin film circuit board is located between the keycap and the bottom plate, and the protrusions are located within an orthographic projection range of the keycap and do not contact the supporting element. |
| US11257630B2 |
Primary nanoparticle fabrication
According to a novel fabrication method, a new composition of matter includes a large percentage (e.g., 75% or higher percentage) of primary nanoparticles in the new composition of matter. The novel fabrication method reduces the size of nanoparticle clusters in material of the new composition of matter, allows fabrication of specific nanoparticle cluster sizes, and allows fabrication of primary nanoparticles. This new composition of matter can include a high permittivity and high resistivity dielectric compound. This new composition of matter, according to certain examples, has high permittivity, high resistivity, and low leakage current. In certain examples, the new composition of matter constitutes a dielectric energy storage device that is a battery with very high energy density, high operating voltage per cell, and an extended battery life cycle. |
| US11257629B2 |
Solid electrolytic capacitor for a tantalum embedded microchip
A solid electrolytic capacitor and method for making the capacitor are provided. The capacitor includes a porous anode body, an anode foil, a dielectric, a cathode, and anode and cathode terminations. The foil is disposed on a planar surface of the anode body, and both comprise a valve metal. Further, the dielectric overlies at least a portion of the anode body, and the dielectric is also formed within the anode body. The cathode overlies at least a portion of the dielectric that overlies the anode body and includes a solid electrolyte, where at least a portion of a lower surface of the foil is free of both the dielectric and the solid electrolyte. In addition, the anode termination is electrically connected to the portion of the lower surface of the foil that is free of both the dielectric and the solid electrolyte, and the cathode termination is electrically connected to the solid electrolyte. |
| US11257624B2 |
Multi-layer ceramic capacitor and method of producing the same
A multi-layer ceramic capacitor includes a first region, a second region, a multi-layer unit, and a side margin. In the first region, crystal grains including intragranular pores are dispersed. In the second region, crystal grains including intragranular pores are not dispersed. The multi-layer unit includes ceramic layers that are laminated in a first direction and include the second region, and internal electrodes disposed between the ceramic layers. The side margin covers the multi-layer unit from a second direction orthogonal to the first direction and includes a region, the region being adjacent to the multi-layer unit and including the first region. |
| US11257623B2 |
Multilayered electronic component and board having the same mounted thereon
A multilayer electronic component includes: a body including a dielectric layer and an internal electrode alternately disposed with the dielectric layer; and an external electrode including an electrode layer disposed on the body and an Sn plating layer disposed on the electrode layer. A thickness of the body is defined as Tb, a thickness of the Sn plating layer is defined as Ts, Tb is 0.22 mm or less, and Ts is 4.5 μm or more. |
| US11257622B2 |
Multilayer ceramic electronic component
A ceramic electronic component includes a ceramic main body in which dielectric layers and internal electrodes are laminated, the ceramic main body including a pair of principal surfaces, a pair of side surfaces, and a pair of end surfaces, the internal electrodes are exposed to the end surfaces, and an underlayer external electrode covers at least a portion of the end surface. When a section of the ceramic main body is viewed, the underlayer external electrode is discontinuously provided on the ceramic main body. The ceramic main body includes an exposed region partially exposed from the discontinuously provided underlayer external electrode, the exposed region is covered with a resin layer, and the underlayer external electrode is covered with a plating film. |
| US11257620B2 |
Dielectric film and electronic component
A dielectric film comprises a complex oxide represented by a general formula xAO-yBO-zC2O5 as a main component, wherein A is at least one selected from barium, calcium and strontium, B is at least one selected from magnesium and zinc, C is at least one selected from niobium and tantalum, x, y and z satisfy relations: x+y+z=1.000, 0.375≤x≤0.563, 0.250≤y≤0.500, and x/3≤z≤(x/3)+1/9, and in an X-ray diffraction chart of the dielectric film, a diffraction peak intensity of a (211) plane of the complex oxide or a diffraction peak intensity of a (222) plane of the complex oxide is larger than a diffraction peak intensity of a (110) plane of the complex oxide. |
| US11257618B2 |
Transformer and method for manufacturing transformer
A transformer includes: an upper E core; a lower E core; a first coil portion disposed so as to cover a magnetic leg of the upper E core and a magnetic leg of the lower E core; and a second coil portion disposed so as to cover the periphery of the first coil portion in a direction perpendicular to the central axis of winding of the first coil portion. The first coil portion includes a bobbin and an edgewise coil wound around the bobbin. The second coil portion includes a bobbin and an edgewise coil wound around the bobbin. |
| US11257614B2 |
Integrated vertical inductor
An integrated vertical inductor includes a bobbin having an elongated, hollow tube, an upper flange disposed at an upper end of the elongated, hollow tube, and a base structure integrated with a lower end of the elongated, hollow tube. The elongated, hollow tube comprises a central opening extending along its longitudinal direction. The base structure comprises a lateral opening communicating with the central opening. A first magnetic core piece is installed in the central opening of the elongated, hollow tube. A second magnetic core piece is juxtaposed with the first magnetic core piece. A plurality of electrodes is disposed on a bottom surface of the base structure. |
| US11257612B2 |
Assembly and method for sealing a bundle of wires
A method for sealing a bundle of wires includes providing an adhesive material having a viscosity of less than about 300 Pa·s at the installation temperature. The method further includes forming a structure from the adhesive and inserting a plurality of wires into the structure. A first amount of heat is applied to the structure in a first heating operation. The first amount of heat being higher than an ambient temperature and lower than a softening temperature of the structure. Subsequently, a second amount of heat is applied in a second heating operation to the adhesive structure to thereby fully melt the adhesive structure and cause the adhesive of the structure to fill voids between the plurality of wires to thereby seal the wires. Application of the first amount of heat during the first operation to the structure facilitates improved melt uniformity of the structure during the second heating operation. |
| US11257609B2 |
Wire harness including electrical wires disposed between sheet material and cover
A wire harness includes an electrical wire, a sheet material welded to an insulating covering of the electrical wire disposed on a main surface, and a cover fixed to the sheet material. The cover covers at least part of the electrical wire disposed on the sheet material along a longitudinal direction of the electrical wire from an opposite side of the electrical wire from the sheet material. |
| US11257608B2 |
Cable structure
A cable structure including at least one conductor, a cladding layer, a low dielectric constant (Dk) resin layer, and a shielding layer is provided. The cladding layer includes a low Dk adhesive layer and two insulation layers. The low Dk adhesive layer is coated around the at least one conductor. The two insulation layers respectively are adhered to two opposite surfaces of the low Dk adhesive layer. Each of the low Dk adhesive layers and the two insulation layers has a dielectric constant between 1.3 and 3. The low Dk resin layer is adhered to the cladding layer through a first adhesive layer. The shielding layer is adhered to the low Dk resin layer through a second adhesive layer. The at least one conductor is disposed in the low Dk adhesive layer and positioned between the two insulation layers. |
| US11257602B2 |
System and process for purification of astatine-211 from target materials
A new column-based purification system and approach are described for rapid separation and purification of the alpha-emitting therapeutic radioisotope 211At from dissolved cyclotron targets that provide highly reproducible product results with excellent 211At species distributions and high antibody labeling yields compared with prior art manual extraction results of the prior art that can be expected to enable enhanced production of purified 211At isotope products suitable for therapeutic medical applications such as treatment of cancer in human patients. |
| US11257599B2 |
Method for inspecting core shroud using remote operated vehicle (ROV)
The method includes installing a system for inspecting the core shroud on the core shroud, driving the system horizontally around the core shroud, and using a sensor of the system to inspect the core shroud, where the system includes a trolley, an arm, a tether, and a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) for inspecting the core shroud. The ROV includes a body configured to be operatively connected to the tether, and the sensor is configured to be operatively connected to the body, and configured to provide inspection information of the core shroud. The arm is configured to be operatively connected to the trolley. The ROV is configured to be operatively connected to the arm via the tether, and the tether is configured to provide vertical position information for the ROV relative to the outer surface of the core shroud. |
| US11257593B2 |
Interactive and analytical system that provides a dynamic tool for therapies to prevent and cure dementia-related diseases
A computer-implemented method, system, and apparatus for providing interactive and analytical components that provide a comprehensive and dynamic tool for therapies to prevent and cure dementia-related diseases. The invention includes one or more computers that receive and store personal information for people, including personal background information, pre-existing conditions, current medications, genomic data and diagnostic information. The computers also generate synergic data containing compounded probability data specifying an expected adjustment of individual biological mechanisms from particular combinations of therapies. For each person, the computers process personal information and identify a subset of biological mechanisms that are principally affected by dementia-related diseases or the substantial risk of dementia-related diseases. The computers also apply the personal information including the principally-affected biological mechanisms to the therapy data and generate for each person one or more messages communicating a therapy plan containing a combination of therapies and determines how to apply the therapies. |
| US11257590B2 |
Method and apparatus for medical devices under regulatory control
Systems, devices, methods, and program products are provided for operating a medical system that is operable within at least two different medical device regulatory classes. A device control module receives an indicator for performing at least one procedure with a medical device. Based on the indicator, it selects a binary image for booting the control module from among multiple images including a controlled-type and a non-controlled type, which operate in different regulatory classes. A controlled-type image, which may be FDA PMA or other regulatory classes, is verified to be unaltered, and is then used to operate as a regulated medical device. The indicator can be automatic or manual. The indicator may result from connection of a specific medical device or peripheral device, or may be user input. |
| US11257589B2 |
Real-time analysis of comprehensive cost of all instrumentation used in surgery utilizing data fluidity to track instruments through stocking and in-house processes
Various systems and methods for tracking surgical procedure costs are disclosed. A computer system, such as surgical hub, is configured to be communicably coupled to a plurality of surgical devices. The computer system can be programmed to identify the surgical devices that are being utilized during a surgical procedure via perioperative data received from the surgical devices and then calculate the total cost associated with the surgical devices used in the surgical procedure. The total cost can include an aggregation of the maintenance costs of each of the reusable surgical devices and the replacement costs of the nonreusable surgical devices consumed during the surgical procedure. |
| US11257588B2 |
Caregiver and staff information system
A mobile caregiver application is stored on mobile devices of caregivers for managing alert messages generated by a variety of equipment in a healthcare information system. The mobile caregiver application allows secure voice, text, and, optionally, video communication between caregivers using their mobile devices. |
| US11257585B2 |
Systems and methods for predicting image quality scores of images by medical imaging scanners
Systems and methods are disclosed for identifying image acquisition parameters. One method includes receiving a patient data set including one or more reconstructions, one or more preliminary scans or patient information, and one or more acquisition parameters; computing one or more patient characteristics based on one or both of one or more preliminary scans and the patient information; computing one or more image characteristics associated with the one or more reconstructions; grouping the patient data set with one or more other patient data sets using the one or more patient characteristics; and identifying one or more image acquisition parameters suitable for the patient data set using the one or more image characteristics, the grouping of the patient data set with one or more other patient data sets, or a combination thereof. |
| US11257584B2 |
Quantitative medical imaging reporting
Advanced reporting systems based on ontology development for quantitative imaging biomarkers, information modeling to integrate heterogeneous data types relevant to quantitative medical analysis, and a knowledge representation framework for their statistical validation. |
| US11257579B2 |
Systems and methods for managing autoimmune conditions, disorders and diseases
An artificial intelligence (AI) system and methods for management of an autoimmune or inflammatory condition, disorder or disease in a patient for the diagnosis, prognosis, or risk assessment of symptoms thereof. The AI system includes patient and provider applications and a payer application interface accessible via a communications network. The system contains a data-driven recommendation engine using machine learning and/or deep learning based on active monitoring of patients with an autoimmune or inflammatory-related condition, disorder, or disease. The system can alert clinicians to an impending symptom flare and provide a treatment solution that reduces symptom severity, reduces or eliminates the onset. |
| US11257578B2 |
Methods and systems for facilitating purchase of a health-related product
In particular, systems and methods for facilitating the purchase of health-related items such as durable medical equipment are provided. In one embodiment, a method comprises: responsive to a selection of a health-related product input by a user, automatically determining if the health-related product is a qualified healthcare expense; calculating an out-of-pocket cost to the user of the healthcare product based on a health insurance plan of the user; and generating a coupon for the health-related product that discounts a retail cost of the health-related product to the out-of-pocket cost responsive to a merchant accepting the coupon. In this way, a healthcare consumer may utilize their healthcare insurance benefits to purchase health-related products such as durable medical equipment from retail merchants. |
| US11257577B1 |
Method, apparatus, and computer program product for the generation and use of cardiology reporting diagrams
A method, apparatus, and computer program product are provided herein to facilitate clinical diagram generation and interaction. Methods may include: providing for display of a clinical diagram, where the clinical diagram includes a depiction of the vascular system, where vessels of the vascular system include a plurality of vessel segments, where each segment is formed from a pair of cardinal splines and end lines between adjacent ends of the cardinal splines; providing for generation of a clinical report associated with the clinical diagram; and populating the clinical report in response to user input received in the clinical diagram, where the user input is indicative of at least one clinical finding and a location corresponding to the user input based on a segment selected by the user input. |
| US11257576B2 |
Automated clinical documentation system and method
A method, computer program product, and computing system for tracking encounter participants is executed on a computing device and includes obtaining encounter information of a patient encounter, wherein the encounter information includes machine vision encounter information obtained via one or more machine vision systems. The machine vision encounter information is processed to identify one or more humanoid shapes. |
| US11257575B2 |
Model-assisted annotating system
A model-assisted annotating system is operable to receive a first set of annotation data for a first set of medical scans from a set of client devices. A computer vision model is trained by utilizing first set of medical scans and the first set of annotation data. A second set of annotation data for a second set of medical scans is generated by utilizing the computer vision model. The second set of medical scans and the second set of annotation data is transmitted to the set of client devices, and a set of additional annotation data is received in response. An updated computer vision model is generated by utilizing the set of additional annotation data. A third set of annotation data is generated for a third set of medical scans by utilizing the updated computer vision model for transmission to the set of client devices for display. |
| US11257568B2 |
Methods and systems for determining haplotypes and phasing of haplotypes
The present disclosure provides methods and systems for determining and/or characterizing one or more haplotypes and/or phasing of haplotypes in a nucleic acid sample. In particular, the disclosure provides methods for determining a haplotype and/or phasing of haplotypes in a nucleic acid sample by incorporating synthetic polymorphisms into fragments of a nucleic acid sample and utilizing the synthetic polymorphisms in determining one or more haplotypes and/or phasing of haplotypes. |
| US11257567B2 |
Modeling of systematic immunity in patients
In one implementation, a computer-implemented method includes accessing patient-derived blood data; identifying biomarker pair interactions based on signal processing of the patient-derived blood data; generating a data model that characterizes one or more aspects of human immune system interactions based on reverse engineering of the human immune system interactions using the identified biomarker pair interactions; evaluating suitability of the data model, wherein the evaluating includes: statistically testing the data model in characterizing correlations between biomarker pairs; decomposing the data model to determine (i) model order accuracy, (ii) whether biomarker nodes act in together or opposite each other, and (iii) normalized data with dynamic effects of homeostasis removed; and quantifying degrees to which the data model accurately correlates patient treatments to patient outcomes; and providing the data model for use in treatment-based decision making based on the evaluating. |
| US11257562B2 |
Built-in-self-test circuits and methods using pipeline registers
An integrated circuit includes a built-in-self-test circuit that generates output test signals and a circuit tested by the built-in-self-test circuit. The circuit tested by the built-in-self-test circuit generates test results in response to the output test signals during a test. Pipeline register circuits are coupled together to form a signal path for transmitting the output test signals from the built-in-self-test circuit to the circuit tested by the built-in-self-test circuit. A functional circuit block is located in a reserved die area of the integrated circuit. The signal path is routed around the reserved die area to the circuit tested by the built-in-self-test circuit. At least a subset of the pipeline register circuits are located adjacent to at least two sides of the reserved die area. |
| US11257561B2 |
Memory device and test method thereof
A semiconductor system includes: a first semiconductor device suitable for outputting a command; and a second semiconductor device suitable for activating a test enable signal based on the command, generating a counting signal representing a toggling number of a row active signal for an activation period of the test enable signal, increasing and outputting an address when the counting signal reaches a target activation number, and deactivating the test enable signal when the counting signal reaches the target activation number and the address has a maximum value. |
| US11257556B2 |
Data transfer circuit, electronic component, electronic apparatus, and vehicle
A data transfer circuit includes: a one-time PROM storing first to m-th register addresses and first to m-th register data; first to n-th registers holding first to n-th data corresponding to first to n-th parameters controlling an operation of a functional element; and a data transfer control circuit acquiring the i-th register address and the i-th register data from the one-time PROM, transferring the i-th register data to the k-th register designated by the i-th register address, k being an integer equal to or greater than 1 and equal to or smaller than n, and updating the k-th data with the i-th register data. |
| US11257555B2 |
Wear leveling in EEPROM emulator formed of flash memory cells
The present invention relates to systems and methods for implementing wear leveling in a flash memory device that emulates an EEPROM. The embodiments utilize an index array, which stores an index word for each logical address in the emulated EEPROM. Each bit in each index word is associated with a physical address for a physical word in the emulated EEPROM, and the index word keeps track of which physical word is the current word for a particular logical address. The use of the index word enables a wear leveling algorithm that allows for a programming command to a logical address to result in: (i) skipping the programming operation if the data stored in the current word does not contain a “1” that corresponds to a “0” in the data to be stored, (ii) reprogramming one or more bits of the current word in certain situations, or (iii) shifting to and programming the next physical word in certain situations. |
| US11257554B2 |
Semiconductor memory device and method with selection transistor programming and verification mechanism
A semiconductor memory device includes a memory cell array including first and second groups of memory strings respectively coupled to first and second groups of bit-lines, wherein the first and second groups of memory strings respectively include first and second groups of selection transistor cells; a peripheral circuit suitable for applying a program voltage, and performing program verification operation for the memory cell array; and a control logic suitable for controlling the peripheral circuit to perform a first program verification operation for the first group of selection transistor cells and a second program verification operation for the second group of selection transistor cells. |
| US11257548B2 |
Memory system
A memory system includes a connector through which power for the memory system is to be supplied from an external device, a controller, a nonvolatile memory device, a power source circuit connected to the controller and the nonvolatile memory device by power lines through which power is supplied to the controller and the nonvolatile memory device, and a power source control circuit that receives a supply of power from the external device through the connector and supplies the power to the power control circuit. The power source control circuit is configured to detect using a divided voltage of a voltage of the power supplied thereto, that the voltage of the power supplied thereto is higher than a predetermined voltage and interrupt the power supplied to the power control circuit if the voltage of the power supplied thereto is higher than the predetermined voltage. |
| US11257543B2 |
Memory management device, system and method
A memory management circuit stores information indicative of reliability-types of regions of a memory array. The memory management circuitry responds to a request to allocate memory in the memory array to a process by determining a request type associated with the request to allocate memory. Memory of the memory array is allocated to the process based on the request type associated with the request to allocate memory and the stored information indicative of reliability-types of regions of the memory array. The memory array may be a shared memory array. The memory array may be organized into rows and columns, and the regions of the memory array may be the rows of the memory array. |
| US11257540B2 |
Write data processing methods associated with computational memory cells
A write data processing method associated with computational memory cells formed as a memory/processing array provides the ability to shift data between adjacent bit lines in each section of the memory/processing array or the same relative bit lines in adjacent sections of the memory/processing array. |
| US11257539B2 |
Reduced transport energy in a memory system
A memory stack comprises at least two memory components. The memory components have a first data link interface and are to transmit signals on a data link coupled to the first data link interface at a first voltage level. A buffer component has a second data link interface coupled to the data link. The buffer component is to receive signals on the second data link interface at the first voltage level. A level shifting latch produces a second voltage level in response to receiving the signals at the second data link interface, where the second voltage level is higher than the first voltage level. |
| US11257538B2 |
Systems and methods for improved reliability of components in dynamic random access memory (DRAM)
A memory device is provided. The memory device comprises at least one word line driver comprising a first and a second switching device, wherein the word line driver is configured to activate a word line electrically coupled to one or more memory cells included in a memory bank. The memory device additionally comprises a memory bank controller operatively coupled to the at least one word line driver. The memory bank controller is configured to provide a word line power supply (PH) signal, a word line ON control (GR) signal, and a word line OFF control (PHF) signal to the at least one word line driver, and to adjust a timing of the PH, the GR, and the PHF signals to reduce or to eliminate a non-conducting stress (NCS) condition, a time dependent temperature instability (TDDB) condition, or a combination thereof, of the first switching device, of the second switching device, or of a combination thereof. |
| US11257537B2 |
Voltage generator circuitry of memory device for generating an internal power supply voltage and methods of operating the same
Provided are a voltage generator circuitry for generating an internal power supply voltage of a memory device and an operation method thereof. In the memory device, a voltage generator circuitry generates a first internal power supply voltage when the memory device is in an active mode, generates a second internal power supply voltage when the memory device is in a standby mode, and provides the first internal power supply voltage or the second internal power supply voltage to an internal power supply voltage line for using as an internal power supply voltage of the memory device. When the memory device is in the standby mode, the voltage generator circuitry blocks generation of the first internal power supply voltage by using a first voltage higher than an external power supply voltage. |
| US11257533B2 |
Magnetic memory and method for controlling the same
A magnetic memory includes a storage element including a first ferromagnetic layer, a first conductive layer which faces the first ferromagnetic layer in a first direction and extends in a second direction different from the first direction, and a first conductive part and a second conductive part which are connected to the first conductive layer at positions which sandwich the first ferromagnetic layer in the second direction when seen in the first direction; and a plurality of first switching elements which are electrically connected to the first conductive part of the storage element. |
| US11257532B2 |
Apparatuses and methods for controlling word line discharge
Apparatuses and methods for driving word driver lines in a gradual manner are disclosed herein. Word driver lines may be driven to intermediate potentials between high and low potentials. In some examples, the word driver lines may be driven in a step-wise manner. In some examples, the intermediate potential may be a bias voltage. The bias voltage may be provided by a bias voltage generator. One or more enable signals may be used to control the driving of the word driver line. In some examples, an address signal may be used to control the driving of the word driver line. Driving the word driver line in a gradual manner may cause a word line to discharge in a gradual manner in some examples. |
| US11257530B2 |
Memory controller and method of operating the same
A memory controller may control a memory device. The memory device may be coupled to the memory controller through a channel. The memory controller may include an idle time monitor and a clock signal generator. The idle time monitor may output an idle time interval of the memory device. The idle time interval may be between an end time of a previous operation of the memory device and a start time of a current operation. The clock signal generator may generate a clock signal based on the idle time interval and output the clock signal to the memory device through the channel to perform a current operation. |
| US11257528B2 |
Memory device with selective precharging
A memory device includes memory cells operably connected to column signal lines and to word signal lines. The column signal lines associated with one or more memory cells to be accessed (e.g., read) are precharged to a first voltage level. The column signal lines not associated with the one or more memory cells to be accessed are precharged to a second voltage level, where the second voltage level is less than the first voltage level. |
| US11257527B2 |
Memory module with battery and electronic system having the memory module
A memory module may include: a battery; a plurality of devices including a first memory, a second memory, and a controller; and a power management integrated circuit configured to adjust a level of a battery power, received from the battery, and configured to supply a power supply voltage to each of the plurality of devices. |
| US11257524B2 |
Server side crossfading for progressive download media
In exemplary embodiments of the present invention systems and methods are provided to implement and facilitate cross-fading, interstitials and other effects/processing of two or more media elements in a personalized media delivery service so that each client or user has a consistent high quality experience. The effects or crossfade processing can occur on the broadcast, publisher or server-side, but can still be personalized to a specific user, thus still allowing a personalized experience for each individual user, in a manner where the processing burden is minimized on the downstream side or client device. This approach enables a consistent user experience, independent of client device capabilities, both static and dynamic. The cross-fade can be implemented after decoding the relevant chunks of each component clip, processing, recoding and rechunking, or, in a preferred embodiment, the cross-fade or other effect can be implemented on the relevant chunks to the effect in the compressed domain, thus obviating any loss of quality by re-encoding. A large scale personalized content delivery service can be implemented by limiting the processing to essentially the first and last chunks of any file, since there is no need to processing the full clip. In exemplary embodiments of the present invention this type of processing can easily be accommodated in cloud computing technology, where the first and last files may be conveniently extracted and processed within the cloud to meet the required load. Processing may also be done locally, for example, by the broadcaster, with sufficient processing power to manage peak load. |
| US11257523B2 |
Video production method, computer device, and storage medium
A video production method and apparatus, a storage medium, and a computer device are disclosed. The method includes: receiving a follow-shot instruction in a case that reference video content is played on a video play interface, the follow-shot instruction including a reference video identifier; displaying a first video display region and a second video display region on a terminal screen; playing the reference video content in the first video display region, and recording displayed real-time video content in the second video display region; and generating a target video based on the recorded real-time video content and the reference video content. The first video display region and the second video display region are displayed on the terminal screen, the reference video content is played in the first video display region, and the displayed real-time video content is recorded in the second video display region. |
| US11257522B2 |
Systems and methods for creating video edits
Feature information characterize features of video clips may be obtained. A given video clip may be selected as a segment of a video edit. Other video clips may be iteratively selected as other segments of the video edit based on the feature information of the video clips and recommended feature information of the segments. Recommended feature information of a particular segment may be obtained by processing feature information of a previously selected video clip through a trained recurrent neural network. Video edit information defining the video edit may be generated. The video edit may include the selected video clips as the segments of the video edit. |
| US11257518B2 |
Single reel magnetic tape cartridge with predefined servo band interval difference
Provided is a magnetic tape cartridge of a single reel type in which a magnetic tape is wound around a reel, in which the magnetic tape includes a non-magnetic support and a magnetic layer containing a ferromagnetic powder, and has a tape thickness of 5.3 μm or less, the magnetic layer includes a plurality of servo bands, and a difference (Ginner−Gouter) between a servo band interval Ginner in a range of 49 m to 51 m from a tape inner end and a servo band interval Gouter in a range of 49 m to 51 m from a tape outer end is −3.9 μm to −1.1 μm as a value measured on 100th day from a date of magnetic tape cartridge manufacture. |
| US11257516B2 |
Storage device, storage apparatus, magnetic head, and electronic apparatus
The present technology relates to a storage device that realizes both a high information retention property and a low power consumption. A storage device includes a fixed layer, a storage layer, an intermediate layer, and a heat generation layer. The fixed layer includes a first ferromagnetic layer that includes a fixed perpendicular magnetization. The storage layer includes a second ferromagnetic layer that includes a perpendicular magnetization invertible by a spin injection. The intermediate layer is formed of an insulator and is arranged between the storage layer and the fixed layer. The heat generation layer is formed of a resistance heating element and is arranged in at least one of the storage layer and the fixed layer. With this configuration, it becomes possible to provide a storage device that realizes both a high information retention property and a low power consumption. |
| US11257511B1 |
Voice equalization based on face position and system therefor
A method may include enabling a camera to capture an image of a user operating an information handling system. An orientation of the user's head relative to a microphone may be determined based on the image. The method may further include retrieving a lookup table identifying attenuation of particular frequencies of human speech as a function of head angle. The method concludes by adjusting a gain of a signal received from the microphone to compensate for the attenuation, the adjusting based on the lookup table and based on the user's head orientation. |
| US11257507B2 |
Speech coding using content latent embedding vectors and speaker latent embedding vectors
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for generating discrete latent representations of input audio data. Only the discrete latent representation needs to be transmitted from an encoder system to a decoder system in order for the decoder system to be able to effectively to decode, i.e., reconstruct, the input audio data. |
| US11257504B2 |
Intelligent assistant for home automation
This relates to systems and processes for using a virtual assistant to control electronic devices. In one example process, a user can speak an input in natural language form to a user device to control one or more electronic devices. The user device can transmit the user speech to a server to be converted into a textual representation. The server can identify the one or more electronic devices and appropriate commands to be performed by the one or more electronic devices based on the textual representation. The identified one or more devices and commands to be performed can be transmitted back to the user device, which can forward the commands to the appropriate one or more electronic devices for execution. In response to receiving the commands, the one or more electronic devices can perform the commands and transmit their current states to the user device. |
| US11257503B1 |
Speaker recognition using domain independent embedding
Receiving a raw speech signal from a human speaker; providing an acoustic representation of the raw speech signal if the raw speech signal is determined to be within one of a plurality of pre-defined acoustic domains; augmenting the raw speech signal with the acoustic representation to provide a plurality of augmented speech signals; determining a set of a plurality of Mel frequency cepstral coefficients for each of the plurality of augmented speech signals, wherein each set of the plurality of Mel frequency cepstral coefficients is transformed using domain-dependent transformations to obtain acoustic reference vector, such that there are a plurality of acoustic reference vectors, for each one of the plurality of augmented speech signals; stacking the plurality of acoustic reference vectors corresponding to each augmented speech signal to form a super acoustic reference vector; and processing the super acoustic reference vector through a neural network which has been previously trained on data from a plurality of human speakers to obtain domain-independent embeddings for speaker recognition. |
| US11257502B2 |
Providing access with a portable device and voice commands
A system for operating an automobile comprising a transponder having a user interface to receive commands from a user and operating as a virtual assistant, wherein the commands comprise commands for operation of a door of the automobile and a microprocessor in the automobile responsive to the transponder. The system for operating an automobile further comprising a detector subsystem configured to determine a potential strike of an object based on a determined distance to the object, wherein the microprocessor receives a communication from the transponder and wherein the automobile is configured to send a command to a door of the automobile in response to the communication. Further, the system in the automobile is configured to avoid the potential strike determined by the detector system by limiting the operation of the door and producing an alert to a user as to the potential strike. |
| US11257501B2 |
Identity verification system using voice recognition by an individual
A verification device is configurable for verifying the identity of a person. The verification device may be in communication with a user device and an entity device that may request an authorization decision from the verification device. The verification device may have a collection system configured to populate a voice profile database with a plurality of voice profiles in the form of audio recordings of people. The verification device may also have a testing system configured to select one of the voice profiles, provide the voice profile to an end-user device, and receive an answer from the end-user device, the answer being an attempt by the person to identify an individual associated with the voice profile. The verification device may further have an authentication system configured to determine whether the identity of the person is verified based on the answer from the end-user device. |
| US11257499B2 |
Promise management apparatus and method
Method for managing a promises management apparatus comprises automatically transcribing, using an automatic speech recognition engine, a call between a caller and an agent, based on real-time call stream of the call, wherein the caller calls the agent for resolution of a concern using the promises management apparatus. The method comprises automatically extracting, using a natural language processing engine, in real-time a promise made by the agent to the caller based on the transcript of the call, generating promises data by assigning an agent, a type, a timeline, an action, and a mode of execution to the promise, and storing the promises data in a datastore. |
| US11257498B2 |
Recorded media hotword trigger suppression
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for hotword trigger suppression are disclosed. In one aspect, a method includes the actions of receiving, by a microphone of a computing device, audio corresponding to playback of an item of media content, the audio including an utterance of a predefined hotword that is associated with performing an operation on the computing device. The actions further include processing the audio. The actions further include in response to processing the audio, suppressing performance of the operation on the computing device. |
| US11257496B2 |
Method and apparatus for facilitating persona-based agent interactions with online visitors
A method and apparatus for facilitating persona-based agent interactions with online visitors is disclosed. A plurality of persona related attributes is extracted from a textual transcript of each interaction between an agent of an enterprise and an online visitor. A feature vector data representation is generated based on the plurality of persona related attributes extracted from each interaction to configure a plurality of feature vector data representations. The plurality of feature vector data representations is classified based on a plurality of persona-based clusters, which enables classification of the plurality of online visitors into the plurality of persona-based clusters. A learning model is trained for each persona-based cluster using utterances of online visitors classified into a respective persona-based cluster. The learning model is trained to mimic a visitor persona representative of the respective persona-based cluster. The trained learning model is configured to facilitate the persona-based agent interactions with the online visitors. |
| US11257495B2 |
Configurable output data formats
Configurable core domains of a speech processing system are described. A core domain output data format for a given command is originally configured with default content portions. When a user indicates additional content should be output for the command, the speech processing system creates a new output data format for the core domain. The new output data format is user specific and includes both default content portions as well as user preferred content portions. |
| US11257489B2 |
Portable terminal, management server, work handover support system, work handover support method, and program
A portable terminal includes: a storage part which holds work information in which a plurality of items included in work are associated with respective work results; a speech recognition part which stores a work result(s) obtained by recognizing an utterance(s) of a worker in the storage part; and a communication part which transmits, when the speech recognition part recognizes a predetermined utterance(s) of a worker, a work result(s) held by the storage part to a management server or another (other) portable terminal(s). When the communication part receives a work result(s) from the management server or another (other) portable terminal(s), the communication part stores the received work result(s) in the storage part. |
| US11257488B2 |
Source localization method by using steering vector estimation based on on-line complex Gaussian mixture model
Provided is a source localization in an apparatus for performing a source localization, a target sound source enhancement or speech recognition. The source localization method using input signals input from a plurality of microphones, comprising steps of: (a) obtaining a log likelihood function or an auxiliary function under the assumption that a target source signal mixed with noises satisfies a CGMM model; (b) obtaining an equation for estimating parameter values of the log likelihood function or the auxiliary function so that a value of the log likelihood function or the auxiliary function is maximized recursively in each time frame; (c) estimating a covariance matrix recursively in each time frame; and (d) estimating a steering vector recursively by using the estimated covariance matrix, wherein the steering vector of the target sound source is estimated from the input signals. |
| US11257487B2 |
Dynamic and/or context-specific hot words to invoke automated assistant
Techniques are described herein for enabling the use of “dynamic” or “context-specific” hot words to invoke an automated assistant. In various implementations, an automated assistant may be executed in a default listening state at least in part on a user's computing device(s). While in the default listening state, audio data captured by microphone(s) may be monitored for default hot words. Detection of the default hot word(s) transitions of the automated assistant into a speech recognition state. Sensor signal(s) generated by hardware sensor(s) integral with the computing device(s) may be detected and analyzed to determine an attribute of the user. Based on the analysis, the automated assistant may transition into an enhanced listening state in which the audio data may be monitored for enhanced hot word(s). Detection of enhanced hot word(s) triggers the automated assistant to perform a responsive action without requiring detection of default hot word(s). |
| US11257485B2 |
Adaptive audio enhancement for multichannel speech recognition
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for neural network adaptive beamforming for multichannel speech recognition are disclosed. In one aspect, a method includes the actions of receiving a first channel of audio data corresponding to an utterance and a second channel of audio data corresponding to the utterance. The actions further include generating a first set of filter parameters for a first filter based on the first channel of audio data and the second channel of audio data and a second set of filter parameters for a second filter based on the first channel of audio data and the second channel of audio data. The actions further include generating a single combined channel of audio data. The actions further include inputting the audio data to a neural network. The actions further include providing a transcription for the utterance. |
| US11257484B2 |
Data-driven and rule-based speech recognition output enhancement
According to some embodiments, a multi-layer speech recognition transcript post processing system may include a data-driven, statistical layer associated with a trained automatic speech recognition model that selects an initial transcript. A rule-based layer may receive the initial transcript from the data-driven, statistical layer and execute at least one pre-determined rule to generate a first modified transcript. A machine learning approach layer may receive the first modified transcript from the rule-based layer and perform a neural model inference to create a second modified transcript. A human editor layer may receive the second modified transcript from the machine learning approach layer along with an adjustment from at least one human editor. The adjustment may create, in some embodiments, a final transcript that may be used to fine-tune the data-driven, statistical layer. |
| US11257483B2 |
On-device neural network adaptation with binary mask learning for language understanding systems
Spoken language understanding techniques include training a dynamic neural network mask relative to a static neural network using only post-deployment training data such that the mask zeroes out some of the weights of the static neural network and allows some other weights to pass through and applying a dynamic neural network corresponding to the masked static neural network to input queries to identify outputs for the queries. |
| US11257480B2 |
Unsupervised singing voice conversion with pitch adversarial network
A method, a computer readable medium, and a computer system are provided for singing voice conversion. Data corresponding to a singing voice is received. One or more features and pitch data are extracted from the received data using one or more adversarial neural networks. One or more audio samples are generated based on the extracted pitch data and the one or more features. |
| US11257478B2 |
Signal processing device, signal processing method, and program
The present technology relates to a signal processing device, a signal processing method, and a program that enable implementation of more effective distance feeling control. The signal processing device includes a reverb processing unit that generates a signal of a reverb component on the basis of object audio data of an audio object and a reverb parameter for the audio object. The present technology can be applied to a signal processing device. |
| US11257476B2 |
Signal processing apparatus and signal processing method
Provided is a signal processing apparatus of a plurality of signal processing apparatuses that includes a noise canceling processing unit capable of connecting one or more input portions and one or more output portions, and performs a noise canceling processing. Signal processing apparatuses of the plurality of signal processing apparatuses are connected to one another. |
| US11257475B2 |
Micro-perforated wood veneer acoustic panel
The present disclosure relates to an acoustic panel having a fiberglass layer and a panel disposed on the fiberglass layer, the panel having perforations formed therethrough, wherein the acoustic panel has a noise reduction coefficient of at least 0.7. |
| US11257471B2 |
Learning progression for intelligence based music generation and creation
An artificial intelligence (AI) method includes generating a first musical interaction behavioral model. The first musical interaction behavioral model causes an interactive electronic device to perform a first set of musical operations and a first set of motional operations. The AI method further includes receiving user inputs received in response to the performance of the first set of musical operations and the first set of motional operations and determining a user learning progression level based on the user inputs. In response to determining that the user learning progression level is above a threshold, the AI method includes generating a second musical interaction behavioral model. The second musical interaction behavioral model causes the interactive electronic device to perform a second set of musical operations and a second set of motional operations. The AI method further includes performing the second set of musical operations and the second set of motional operations. |
| US11257469B2 |
Endpin block apparatus for stringed instruments
Improved endpin block apparatus for stringed instruments are provided. The endpin block apparatus comprises an endpin support for securing and connecting an endpin to a stringed instrument. The endpin block apparatus may be fixedly attached to the instrument or may be able to rotate about an attachment location, allowing for adjustment of the angle of the instrument relative to the axis defined by the endpin and the musician. The endpin block apparatus provides one or more endpin insertion locations, allowing for one or more angles of the endpin relative to the axis of the instrument, which angle may be adjustable, and may allow for more of the instrument's weight to be borne by the endpin. The adjustable endpin angle and the adjustable endpin block apparatus rotation allow for a greater range of instrument location and angle, and more support of the instrument by the endpin, removing weight from the musician. |
| US11257467B2 |
Method for controlling depth of object in mirror display system
Disclosed is a mirror display system. The mirror display system includes a sensor module, a mirror display including an optical mirror and a display, and at least one control circuit electrically connected to the sensor module and the mirror display, wherein the at least one control circuit may determine a first angle value indicating a graze direction of a user reflected in the optical mirror through the sensor module, determine a distance value between a subject reflected in the optical mirror and the mirror display, determine a depth value of the subject on the mirror display based on the first angle value and the distance value, and display an object having a depth value corresponding to the depth value of the subject through the display. |
| US11257465B2 |
Brightness-unevenness compensation method and device, and display panel
A brightness-unevenness compensation method and device and a display panel are provided. The method includes: obtaining brightness-unevenness information of a display panel and a plurality of gray-scale compensation data for compensating brightness-unevenness of the display panel; storing the plurality of gray-scale compensation data in a manner of a compensation table with a plurality of compensation data groups having different compensation distances being associated with the same number of data bits and in both vertical and horizontal directions; reading the plurality of compensation data groups from the compensation table and compensating gray-scale data to-be-displayed to obtain compensated gray-scale data, after the display panel is powered on; and outputting the compensated gray-scale data for picture display. Through a dynamic variable block size mode, a block size of 8×8 pixels is used for a conventional brightness-unevenness, and a block size with a higher precision is selected for a smaller brightness-unevenness. |
| US11257463B2 |
Artificial eye system
There is described a system for controlling an artificial body comprising at least one of at least one articulated body part and a sound reproduction device, the system comprising: a display unit for displaying an image of an eye thereon, the screen comprising a plurality of light cells each adapted to emit light, at least a given one of the light cells being adapted to selectively emit light and detect light; and a controller for controlling the display unit, the controller for: operating at least one first light cell each as a light detector in order to detect light incident thereon, the least one first light cell being selected among the at least a given one of the light cells; determining a reaction as a function of the detected light; and outputting a command indicative of the determined reaction. |
| US11257462B2 |
Display device, a method of generating compensation data for a display device, and a method of operating a display device
In a method of generating compensation data for a display device, first color, second color, and third color compensation value sets may be obtained by capturing first color, second color, and third color images displayed by the display device, respectively, white, first color, second color, and third color loading luminances may be obtained by capturing white, first color, second color, and third color loading patterns displayed by the display device, respectively, first color, second color, and third color scale factors may be calculated by dividing a luminance decrease ratio of the white loading luminance by luminance decrease ratios of the first color, second color, and third color loading luminances, respectively, and the first color, second color, and third color compensation value sets and the first color, second color, and third color scale factors may be stored in the display device. |
| US11257460B1 |
Circuitous display systems and methods
Illustrative embodiments of the disclosure are generally directed to circuitous display systems methods which facilitate automated scheduling and uploading of advertising and/or other content to different display faces in a network or display circuit of billboard or other display faces and automatic circuitous, sequential or rotational presentation of the content among the display faces. An illustrative embodiment of the circuitous display systems may include at least a first display face and a second display face. At least one display control system may controllably interface with each of the first display face and the second display face. The at least one display control system may be configured to present content on the first display face and the second display face in an automatic circuitous, sequential or rotational pattern. |
| US11257454B2 |
Shift register and driving method thereof, and display apparatus
A shift register, a method for driving the shift register and a display apparatus are provided. The shift register includes a noise reduction control circuit and a pull-up node noise reduction circuit. The noise reduction control circuit is connected with a first clock signal terminal that receives a first clock signal, a gate drive signal output terminal that outputs a gate drive signal, a noise reduction control terminal, and a noise reduction control node. The pull-up node noise reduction circuit is connected with the noise reduction control circuit, the noise reduction control terminal, and a pull-up node. |
| US11257447B1 |
System and method for overdrive setting control on a liquid crystal display
A monitor includes a timing controller coupled to a liquid crystal display panel. A scaler unit receives a change event notification associated with a change to a new overdrive setting of the liquid crystal display panel, and determines a set of lookup table values associated with the change to the new overdrive setting of the liquid crystal display panel. The scaler unit determines a size of data to be transmitted based on the set of lookup table values, and divides the data to be transmitted into data portions based on factors that include the size of the data to be transmitted, speed of an inter-integrated circuit bus, or length of a vertical blank period. The scaler unit then transmits one of the data portions during the vertical blank period via the inter-integrated circuit bus. |
| US11257443B2 |
Method for processing image, and display device
A display device and an image processing method thereof are provided. An image processing method of a display device, according to the present disclosure, comprises the steps of: dividing a display unit of the display device into a plurality of regions; measuring brightness expression performance of the display device, including a value of a relation between the average brightness of the display unit and the brightness of one region among the plurality of regions; calculating an average brightness of an image inputted to the display device; mapping, to the measured brightness expression performance, the calculated average brightness of the inputted image; adjusting the brightness of a region, excluding an emphasized region, of the inputted image so as to generate an adjusted image; and outputting the adjusted image. |
| US11257440B2 |
Driving method including a partial screen display mode, driving circuit and display device
A driving method including: receiving a partial screen display mode instruction which defines, among the N sub-display regions of the display panel, a first-type sub-display region that is to perform display and a second-type sub-display region that does not perform display; outputting, by the gate driver and according to the partial screen display mode instruction, an operation control signal to a memory to turn off a circuit of the memory associated with a storage space corresponding to the second-type sub-display region; and receiving the display data for the first-type sub-display region, and storing the display data for the first-type sub-display region in a storage space of the memory corresponding to the first-type sub-display region. |
| US11257438B2 |
Display device and method of driving the same
A display device includes a display part including an organic light emitting diode (OLED) connected to a pixel circuit connected to a scan line and a sensing scan line, a signal generator configured to generate at least one display output enable (OE) signal during an image display period; and generate at least one sensing OE signal during a sensing period; and a scan driver including a display scan signal terminal connected to the scan line and a sensing scan signal terminal connected to the sensing scan line, wherein the scan driver is configured to: generate a scan signal for turning on the switching transistor in response to the display OE signal during the image display period; and generate a sensing scan signal for turning on the sensing transistor in response to the sensing OE signal during the sensing period. |
| US11257437B2 |
Light-emitting display device and pixel thereof
A pixel of a light-emitting display device includes a capacitor, a first transistor, a second transistor including a gate receiving a gate writing signal, a third transistor including a gate receiving a scan signal, a fourth transistor including a gate receiving a gate initialization signal, a fifth transistor including a gate receiving a first emission signal, a sixth transistor including a gate receiving a second emission signal, and a light-emitting diode. The scan signal and the gate writing signal may be provided at a first frequency, and the first emission signal, the second emission signal and the gate initialization signal may be provided at a second frequency higher than the first frequency. |
| US11257433B2 |
Display panel and driving method thereof
Provided are a display panel (10) and the driving method thereof. The display panel (10) may include a first substrate (110) and a second substrate (120) opposite the first substrate (110). The first substrate (110) may include a pixel unit (100), and the pixel unit (100) may include a light emitting element (101) and a first transistor (112) for driving the light emitting element (101) to emit light. The second substrate (120) may include a second transistor (122). The second transistor (122) may be configured to have a second drift value of a second threshold voltage which has a specific relationship with a first drift value of a first threshold voltage of the first transistor (112) under same ambient condition. |
| US11257431B2 |
Pixel of an organic light emitting diode display device, and organic light emitting diode display device
A display device includes a switch, an initialization line, a capacitor, a data line, a first transistor, a second transistor, a driving transistor, and a diode. The capacitor includes a first electrode and a second electrode. To the first electrode through at least the initialization line, the switch may output a first voltage in a first period of a horizontal time and may output a second voltage unequal to the first voltage in a second period of the horizontal time. The first transistor may connect the data line to the first electrode in response to a scan signal. The driving transistor may provide a driving current based on a voltage of the first electrode. The second transistor may connect the initialization line to the second electrode in response to an initialization signal. The diode may emit light based on the driving current. |
| US11257422B2 |
Display device having a plurality of initialization power sources
A display device includes a power supply to supply a first initialization power source to the pixels through a first initialization and to supply a second initialization power source to the pixels through a second power line. |
| US11257410B2 |
GOA circuit and display device
The present disclosure provides a GOA circuit and a display device. The GOA circuit includes a plurality of cascaded GOA circuit units. An n-th stage GOA unit configured to output an n-th stage horizontal scanning signal includes a pull-up control unit, a feedback unit, a first pull-up unit, a second pull-up unit, a third pull-up unit, a pull-down unit, a pull-down control unit, and a bootstrap capacitor. |
| US11257408B2 |
Drive device and drive method for display panel, and display device
The present disclosure relates to a drive device and a drive method of a display panel, and a display device. The drive device includes a driving unit configured to output a drive signal for driving a sub-pixel. The drive device includes a compensating unit coupled to the driving unit and a fanout line of a fanout region. The drive device is configured to compensate an impedance of the fanout line based on a reference impedance and the drive signal. The fanout region includes a plurality of fanout lines, and the reference impedance is a maximum impedance among the impedances of the plurality of fanout lines or an impedance greater than the maximum impedance. |
| US11257404B2 |
Motor vehicle control device and method for manufacturing a motor vehicle control device
There is described a motor vehicle control device (10) for an interior space of a motor vehicle, comprising a trim (12) and a printed circuit board (34), wherein the trim (12) comprises a control surface (14) on which at least one switching symbol (16) to be actuated is shown, which can be backlit by a light source, wherein the light source is associated to a light duct (22) which leads to the control surface (14), wherein the light emitted by the light source (44, 60) extends along the light duct (22) and backlights the at least one switching symbol (16) to be actuated. Furthermore, there is described a method for manufacturing a motor vehicle control device (10). |
| US11257397B2 |
Transesophageal echocardiography simulator
A simulator system can be used to train personnel regarding transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) performance techniques. TEE is an ultrasonic imaging modality that can be used to capture images of a subject's heart. An imaging probe is inserted into the esophagus of the subject and positioned/aimed toward the subject's heart to capture the images. The TEE training system described is a system for ultrasonic diagnosis training (e.g., targeting the heart) which can be operated using an actual echocardiography machine used in clinic setting, and allows the practice of both acquisition and manipulation of images by the user so as to provide multiple aspects of learning 3D TEE. |
| US11257395B2 |
Systems and methods to provide weld training
An example weld training system includes a computing device comprising a display device on a first side and a camera on a second side, the computing device configured to: capture images with the camera; process the captured images to identify a first simulation device as a simulation weld torch and a second simulation device as a simulation workpiece; and display images of a simulated welding operation on the display device of the computing device based on analyzing the captured images to detect indicia of weld performance, the images of the simulated welding operation reflecting the indicia of weld performance; and a mounting device configured to removably hold the computing device to orient the camera of the computing device toward a simulation area. |
| US11257393B2 |
Method and system for evaluating individual and group cyber threat awareness
A system has an evaluation server that includes at least one database storing a plurality of cybersecurity awareness evaluations, the database connected to the server, a plurality of clients connected to the server and configured to run at least one of the cybersecurity awareness evaluations for play by users on user devices, the users performing actions in the evaluation including offensive actions and defensive actions, and an evaluation dashboard including an interface configured to display scoring results of the cybersecurity awareness evaluations as determined by the server, the scoring results including a plurality of offensive component scores for at least one of the users, a plurality of defensive component scores for at least one of the users, at least one composite offensive score for at least one of the users and at least one composite defensive score for at least one of the users, the composite offensive score being determined based on a plurality of the component offensive scores and the composite defensive score being determined based on a plurality of the component defensive scores. |
| US11257392B2 |
Apparatus, engine, system and method of providing simulation of and training for the operation of heavy equipment
A heavy equipment cockpit training apparatus, device, system, and method is disclosed. The disclosed features include at least one substantially clear, substantially seamless pane to at least partially present an approximation of physical portions of the cockpit, at least one projector capable of backprojecting a simulation of the cockpit onto the at least one substantially seamless pane, at least one tactile aspect, discrete from the at least one seamless pane, interactively provided in association with the simulation, and at least one processor having communicatively associated therewith non-transitory computing code for at least partially providing the simulation and the interaction with the at least one tactile aspect. |
| US11257385B2 |
Drone structure for the transport of temperature-controlled material
A system for carrying a load at a controlled temperature includes a drone structure having a motor that handles the drone structure, an energy unit that delivers electric energy, and a control unit. The drone structure also includes a thermal container having an insulating casing with at least one layer of heat-insulating material, an inner temperature sensor that measures a value of temperature Tint internal to the insulating casing, an outer temperature sensor configured to measure a value of temperature Text external to the insulating casing, and a thermal unit arranged to adjust or keep constant the value of temperature Tint. The control unit is adapted to carry out an acquisition of a flight mission comprising a landing position of the drone structure, a time limit tmax to reach the landing position and a condition on the values of the temperature Tint to keep during the flight mission. |
| US11257384B2 |
Adaptive scheduling of flight trajectory commands for autonomous or remotely controlled air systems executing air traffic control flight clearances
A computer-implemented method, a computer system, and a non-transitory computer readable medium is disclosed for following air traffic control (ATC) flight trajectory profile instructions in the form of datalink commands to a flight management system (FMS) of a unmanned aircraft (UA) or a manned aircraft for ATC approved flight through controlled airspace along a mission of a vehicle of the UA or the manned aircraft. |
| US11257382B2 |
System and method for optimizing a cruise vertical profile subject to a time-of-arrival constraint
A system and a method for planning and flying a cost-optimal cruise vertical profile in combination with a required time-of-arrival (RTA) constraint. The method may be implemented as a single function in a flight management system (FMS). The FMS plans the aircraft trajectory with cruise vertical and speed profiles that are optimized to minimize flight cost (e.g., fuel burn) while meeting the time constraint. When appropriate under the circumstances, this integrated function is also able to degrade the cruise vertical profile in order to open the window of achievable RTAs and increase the RTA success rate. The method also monitors progress of the flight along the planned trajectory as actual flight conditions may differ from the forecasted flight conditions, and readapts the cruise speed profile when the estimated arrival time is deviating from the RTA constraint by more than a specified threshold. |
| US11257381B2 |
System and method to simultaneously display an airport status snapshot pane and a primary map pane to clearly indicate terminal airspace risk category
A system, a method, and a computer program embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the program configured to cause at least one processor to perform steps including gathering observations and forecasts of a plurality of aviation environmental and operational data of a terminal airspace, independently transforming the observations and forecasts into respective terminal airspace risk factors; integrating the terminal airspace risk factors into operational time periods; weighting the integrated terminal airspace risk factors into an overall airspace risk score for each operational time period; categorizing the overall airspace risk score into a terminal airspace risk category based upon at least one predetermined risk score threshold; and displaying the risk categories and selected underlying risk factors data on a map with a plurality of display panes. |
| US11257380B2 |
Method of displaying flight route of unmanned aerial vehicle that flies autonomously, terminal, and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing program
A flight route control method of an unmanned aerial vehicle includes: accepting, by an input, an input of a departure point and a waypoint that the unmanned aerial vehicle will pass; receiving a predetermined time, indicating an end of a time period in which the unmanned aerial vehicle is permitted to fly; generating a flight route passing through the departure point and the waypoint; determining whether or not an arrival time to the waypoint is later than the predetermined time; not accepting the waypoint for the generated flight route when the arrival time is later than the predetermined time; accepting the waypoint for the generated flight route when the arrival time is not later than the predetermined time; and transmitting a control command to the unmanned aerial vehicle, the control command controlling the unmanned aerial vehicle to fly according to the generated flight route. |
| US11257378B2 |
Marine propulsion control system and method
A method of controlling a propulsion system on a marine vessel includes receiving proximity measurements describing locations of one or more objects with respect to the marine vessel, receiving a command vector instructing magnitude and direction for propulsion of the marine vessel with respect to a point of navigation for the marine vessel, and then determining a funnel boundary based on the command vector. An object is identified based on the proximity measurements and determined to be within the funnel boundary, and then a propulsion adjustment command is calculated based on the command vector and an angle of the object with respect to the point of navigation. At least one propulsion device is then controlled based on the propulsion adjustment command in order to avoid the object. |
| US11257377B1 |
System for identifying high risk parking lots
Systems and methods are disclosed for identifying high risk parking lots. High risk parking lots may be, for example, parking lots that pose a higher than average risk of collisions and/or theft. Auto insurance claim data may be analyzed to identify hazardous areas. A virtual navigation of roads within the hazardous area may be identified. Public parking lots within the virtual navigation map may be defined, with each public parking lot determined as either in a hazardous area or not. A vehicle may be determined to be approaching or parking in a parking lot in a hazardous area, and a nearby public parking lot not associated with the hazardous area may be selected instead. A route from a current position to the nearby public parking lot may be generated, and the vehicle may be routed to the nearby public parking lot. As a result, collisions and thefts may be reduced. |
| US11257375B2 |
Method and system for detecting objects in a vehicle blind spot
A method for detecting objects in a vehicle blind spot comprises the following steps: generating a region of interest onto an image taken from one camera placed on one side of the vehicle; generating a top view of the region of interest; detecting an object in the region of interest; determining if the object in the region of interest is a target object; and triggering a signal if it is determined that there is a target object in the region of interest. |
| US11257370B2 |
Early warning and collision avoidance
Among other things, equipment is located at an intersection of a transportation network. The equipment includes an input to receive data from a sensor oriented to monitor ground transportation entities at or near the intersection. A wireless communication device sends to a device of one of the ground transportation entities, a warning about a dangerous situation at or near the intersection, there is a processor and a storage for instructions executable by the processor to perform actions including the following. A machine learning model is stored that can predict behavior of ground transportation entities at or near the intersection at a current time. The machine learning model is based on training data about previous motion and related behavior of ground transportation entities at or near the intersection. Current motion data received from the sensor about ground transportation entities at or near the intersection is applied to the machine learning model to predict imminent behaviors of the ground transportation entities. An imminent dangerous situation for one or more of the ground transportation entities at or near the intersection is inferred from the predicted imminent behaviors. The wireless communication device sends the warning about the dangerous situation to the device of one of the ground transportation entities. |
| US11257367B2 |
System and method for controlling traffic lights
Provided are system and method for controlling traffic lights. The system includes a traffic light device and a smart roadside device. The smart roadside device includes a roadside sensing module including: a camera assembly configured to collect information of an image for traffic lights of the traffic light device and a radar configured to acquire first surrounding environment information of a road junction monitored by the smart roadside device, and a roadside processing module configured to determine traffic flow information of a red light lane according to the first surrounding environment information and the information of the image for the traffic lights, determine a duration of a green light according to the traffic flow information, and control a duration displaying the green light in a next cycle of the traffic light device according to the duration of the green light. |
| US11257363B2 |
XR-based slot reservation system for connected vehicles traveling through intersections
The disclosure includes embodiments for using cross reality (XR) technologies to improve safety of a first endpoint that travels through an intersection. In some embodiments, a method for the first endpoint includes receiving first sensor data from one or more sensors of the first endpoint. The method includes determining that the first endpoint approaches an intersection based on the first sensor data. The method includes generating, based on the first sensor data, XR data that is operable to generate a graphical overlay for presenting a safe zone that the first endpoint stays within while approaching the intersection to improve safety of the first endpoint. The method includes providing the XR data to an XR viewing device to modify an operation of the XR viewing device so that the XR viewing device presents the safe zone on the graphical overlay. |
| US11257358B2 |
Remote control apparatus capable of remotely controlling multiple devices
The present invention relates to a remote control apparatus which can remotely control multiple devices. A remote control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises: a key input unit having multiple keys; a reception unit for receiving at least one device identification signal from at least one device or a transmission device corresponding to the device; a processor for detecting an identification signal for a device, which can be remotely controlled, from the at least one received device identification signal, and matching at least one of the multiple keys to a control command for the remote control of the device, on the basis of the detected identification signal; and a transmission unit for transmitting a signal corresponding to the control command when the key matched to the control command is selected. Accordingly, the present invention can remotely control multiple devices. |
| US11257354B2 |
Smoke detection layout validation
Provided are embodiments for a system for validating a smoke detection layout, where the system includes a memory and a processor. The processor is configured to receive one or more inputs, model transport and dispersion of smoke to a smoke detector of an environment based on the one or more inputs, wherein the model is based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) function, and select a subset of input parameters from the one or more inputs to test. The processor is also configured to test the smoke detection system layout using the selected subset of input parameters, determine an alarm time probability using uncertainty quantifications for the selected subset of input parameters, and provide the alarm time probability and confidence level for the selected subset parameters. Also provided are embodiments for a method to validate a smoke detection system layout. |
| US11257350B2 |
System and method for opportunity-based reminding or compliance with one or more health protocols
A system and method for opportunity-based hygiene monitoring and/or reminding is disclosed. Healthcare providers may have various opportunities to interact with a patient. As such, an opportunity-based focus in managing a healthcare environment may assist in assessing the various opportunities when interacting with the patient. For example, an opportunity-based analysis may be used for protocol compliance, such as compliance with hand hygiene protocols and/or PPE protocols. Further, infection analysis, patient care billing, staff locating, or workload analysis may be opportunity based in order to more efficiently manage the healthcare environment. |
| US11257344B1 |
Unattended child alert device for vehicles
The unattended child alert device for vehicle mounts on the door into the passenger compartment of the automobile such that the unattended child alert device for vehicle is positioned in the passenger compartment. The unattended child alert device for vehicle monitors detects when the door is opened and closed. The unattended child alert device for vehicle monitors makes an audible announcement when the door of the automobile is opened. The unattended child alert device for vehicle monitors makes an audible announcement when the door of the automobile is closed. The audible announcement is a spoken message that tells the operator of the automobile to remember their children. The unattended child alert device for vehicle further records short spoken messages that the operator of the automobile would like recorded. The unattended child alert device for vehicle comprises a housing and a control circuit. The housing contains the control circuit. |
| US11257340B2 |
Work zone intrusion alert system
One or more techniques and/or systems are disclosed for alerting workers in a work zone of a potential intrusion by a vehicle. The example system can comprise a detection unit operable to mount to a work zone boundary marker. The detection unit monitors the work zone for intrusion by moving objects using the Doppler Effect. The detection unit can transmit an alarm signal to one or more personnel alerters, such as worn by workers. The personnel alerters can receive the alarm signal and activate an alert, such as an audible, visual, or other sensory alert. In this way, an alert is provided to personnel working in an established work zone that a moving object, such as a vehicle, has penetrated the work zone perimeter. This type of alert may provide the personnel the vital seconds needed to move to safety. |
| US11257336B2 |
Virtual enhancement of security monitoring
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on storage devices, for monitoring, security, and surveillance of a property. In one aspect, a system includes a virtual reality headset, a plurality of cameras, a plurality of sensors that includes a first sensor, a control unit, wherein the control unit includes a network interface, a processor, a storage device that includes instructions to perform operations that comprise receiving data from the first sensor that is indicative of an alarm event, determining a location of the first sensor, identifying a set of one or more cameras from the plurality of cameras that are associated with the first sensor, selecting a particular camera from the identified set of one or more cameras; and transmitting one or more instructions to the particular camera that command the particular camera to stream a live video feed to a user interface of the virtual reality headset. |
| US11257327B1 |
Persistent symbol position arrays with array growth in both base game and feature game
Electronic gaming machines and systems are disclosed that provide for a symbol-based main game that features an array of symbol positions that may, if an array growth condition is met, increase in size. Determining whether the array growth condition is met may involve determining how many array growth symbols are shown in association with a game play. A further determination may be made as to whether a feature game trigger condition is met and, if so, a feature game may be presented that utilizes the same array of symbol positions that were present in the main game when the feature game was triggered. Additional array growth may occur in the feature game if the array growth condition is met again. |
| US11257326B2 |
Gaming system enabling multiple feature modes selectably triggerable with accumulatable eligibilities
A gaming system includes a game controller to determine from a base game if an outcome meets a first eligibility, in response to the outcome meeting the first eligibility, increment a first counter, determine if the first counter meets a feature eligibility, in response to the first counter meeting the feature eligibility, increment a feature counter, determine jackpot features having jackpots, the jackpot features being associated with eligibility thresholds, and some of the jackpot features have different eligibility thresholds, provide on a display device one or more of the jackpot features having respective eligibility thresholds satisfied by the feature counter, receive, via a player interface, a selection of a first jackpot feature of the one or more of the plurality of jackpot features, and display the first jackpot feature selected. |
| US11257325B2 |
Gaming system having expanded number of wheel spin outcome opportunities
Table-based gaming actions are disclosed where additional prizes or other gains can be awarded after spinning of a first reward determining wheel of chance by spinning of one or more further wheels of chance where the further spinnings are enabled by a previous spin outcome landing on an outcome selecting segment that awards a partial reward and also awards the spinning of the next successive wheel of chance. Each of the successive wheels of chance is different from the others such that a variety of reward possibilities is provided. For one embodiment, a bonus awarding segment of the first wheel has a highest probability of occurrence and a lowest initial payout value. |
| US11257324B2 |
Slot machine game with banking of player error
A method, system, and computer readable storage to implement an electronic wagering game. The wagering can spin reels of symbols to a random result. A bonus round can be triggered depending on the symbols that result from the spin. If the bonus round is triggered, the player has discretion to take particular actions in the bonus round, and any non-optimal play in the bonus round has an error associated with it which is computed and added to a bonus pool so subsequent players in the bonus round can potentially be awarded the bonus pool. |
| US11257322B2 |
Delayed bonus win determination
Embodiments of the present invention are directed to gaming devices having a delayed bonus win determination and methods of operating gaming systems and gaming devices to provide delayed bonus win determinations. Here, contributions to a linked jackpot may be separated from the chance to win the linked jackpot, where the chance to win the linked jackpot can be stored and used at a later time. |
| US11257320B2 |
Gaming systems and methods for use in creating random rewards
Servers and method for use in creating a random reward are disclosed. One exemplary method includes receiving a request for a random reward from an organizer, establishing a random reward in response to the request, transmitting a credential associated with the random reward to a player, and crediting gaming activity associated with the credential to the random reward. Access to the random reward is limited to players presenting the credential. |
| US11257319B2 |
Cardless login at table games
Technology for managing a player session at a gaming table is disclosed. A table management system receives identifying information of a player seated at the gaming table transmitted by a mobile device associated with the player. The identifying information includes a seating position of the player at the gaming table, the seating position determined by the mobile device through interaction with a locating device placed at the seating position at the gaming table. The table management system generates the player session for the player for playing a wagering game at the gaming table using the identifying information of the player transmitted by the mobile device. |
| US11257313B2 |
Systems and methods for using motion pattern of a user for authentication
Systems and methods for using accelerations derived from a motion pattern for multi-factor authentication, the method including receiving, filtering, and determining an identifying pattern from acceleration data representative of the user and using the identifying pattern for secured access authentication. |
| US11257312B2 |
Gate system control device and method for controlling gate system
A gate system control device is a gate system control device configured to control a gate system having an exit gate, and includes a first sensor, a second sensor, and a controller. The first sensor senses that a passport of a person who is in the gate system is placed on a placement region. The second sensor senses that the person is moving. The controller controls the gate system. When the first sensor senses that the passport is placed on the placement region and the second sensor senses that the person is moving to the exit gate, the controller causes the gate system to execute processing for notifying the person. |
| US11257311B1 |
Locking cooler assembly
A locking cooler assembly includes a cooler that can store perishable items. The cooler is comprised of a thermally insulating material to retain the perishable items at a preferred temperature. A divider is hingedly coupled to the cooler and the divider opens and closes the cooler. A lid is hingedly coupled to the divider and the lid and the divider define a storage space when the lid is closed for storing non-perishable items. A locking unit is coupled to the divider and the locking unit engages the lid when the locking unit is engaged to secure the objects stored in the storage space defined by the divider and the lid. A remote control is in remote communication with the locking unit to facilitate the user to remotely disengage the locking unit. |
| US11257310B2 |
Function module for an electronic access control
The disclosure relates to a function module for an electronic access control to a housing in electrical equipment. Electronic built-in modules are arranged in the housing. At least one of the built-in modules is connected to a data bus, wherein the built-in module is accessible via an interface and the data bus for the exchange of data. A switchable blocking module is provided according to the invention between the interface and the data bus, wherein the blocking module in a disable state restricts or interrupts the data traffic on the data bus at least for a data exchange between the interface and the built-in module, and in an enable state enables the data bus for an unrestricted exchange of data between the interface and the built-in module. |
| US11257309B2 |
Systems and methods to test an autonomous vehicle
The present disclosure provides systems and methods to test an autonomous vehicle. In particular, the systems and methods of the present disclosure can receive, from one or more test nodes of a preconfigured test track, log data indicating positions of elements of the test track over a period of time. Log data indicating parameters of an autonomous vehicle over the period of time can be received from the autonomous vehicle. The log data indicating the positions of the elements of the test track over the period of time can be compared with the log data indicating the parameters of the autonomous vehicle over the period of time to determine a performance metric of the autonomous vehicle on the test track over the period of time. |
| US11257308B2 |
Actionable event determination based on vehicle diagnostic data
The present disclosure is generally related to systems and methods for determining an actionable event associated with a vehicle. The systems and methods can determine the event based on vehicle diagnostic data, and can report the event to a user via an appropriate interface. The systems and methods can also determine a recommended action to address the event, and can facilitate completion of the action upon approval by the user. |
| US11257307B1 |
Adaptive vehicle diagnostic system and method
A method and system of diagnosing a vehicle with a vehicle diagnostic system that is configured to scan an electrical system of a vehicle for error codes using a minimally expensive with respect to monetary cost and test duration scanning program. The vehicle diagnostic system is operatively connected with the electrical system of a vehicle via a diagnostic port of the vehicle, with the vehicle diagnostic system determining whether the vehicle is equipped with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) to select an appropriate diagnostic scanning program based thereon. |
| US11257304B2 |
Cooperative sensor activity validation system
The disclosure includes embodiments for determining a working status of a set of sensors onboard in a connected vehicle through a validation of roadway segment activity data. In some embodiments, a method for the connected vehicle includes receiving, via a communication unit of the connected vehicle, a Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) message that includes off-board roadway segment activity data. The method includes generating onboard roadway segment activity data of the connected vehicle. The method includes determining a working status of a set of onboard sensors of the connected vehicle based on an evaluation between the onboard roadway segment activity data and the off-board roadway segment activity data. The method includes modifying an operation of a vehicle control system of the connected vehicle based on the working status of the set of onboard sensors. |
| US11257303B2 |
Vehicle-based electronic toll system with interface to vehicle display
A system carried by a vehicle for computing tolls that interfaces with vehicle data entry and display components. The system uses these components to display toll-related information and to accept user input for toll-related information. The system may also incorporate vehicle sensors including seat occupancy sensors, infra-red sensors and cameras to determine vehicle occupancy for tolling purposes. |
| US11257302B2 |
Parking meter system
A parking monitoring and managing method can include capturing image data of a vehicle entering a parking lot or space and transmitting the image data to a remote networked computer system. A time of entry for the vehicle is recorded. Identification of the vehicle is determined upon entry. Image data is also captured for the vehicle when it exits the parking lot or space, and the image data is transmitted to the remote networked computer system. A time of exit is also recorded. The vehicle's identification is again determined upon exit. A violation is determined when a time period expires without the vehicle exiting the lot prior the time period expiring. A parking violation notice is issued to the owner of the vehicle determined to have been in violation. The time period can be, for example, a grace period, a parking time period or a maximum parking time. |
| US11257299B2 |
Face model processing for facial expression method and apparatus, non-volatile computer-readable storage-medium, and electronic device
Embodiments of the present disclosure disclose a face model processing method performed at an electronic device. The method includes the following steps: obtaining a three-dimensional face model corresponding to a user picture, and selecting a sample oral cavity model in an oral cavity model library for the three-dimensional face model; registering the sample oral cavity model into the three-dimensional face model by using an oral cavity position parameter in the three-dimensional face model; performing form adjustment on an oral cavity form of the registered sample oral cavity model by using an expression parameter of the three-dimensional face model to generate a target oral cavity model; and generating, based on the three-dimensional face model and the target oral cavity model, a three-dimensional face expression model corresponding to the user picture. |
| US11257295B2 |
Projection casting in virtual environments
The present technology relates to artificial reality systems. Such systems provide projections a user can create to specify object interactions. For example, when a user wishes to interact with an object outside her immediate reach, she can use a projection to select, move, or otherwise interact with the distant object. The present technology also includes object selection techniques for identifying and disambiguating between objects, allowing a user to select objects both near and distant from the user. Yet further aspects of the present technology include techniques for interpreting various bimanual (two-handed) gestures for interacting with objects. The present technology further includes a model for differentiating between global and local modes for, e.g., providing different input modalities or interpretations of user gestures. |
| US11257292B2 |
Object holographic augmentation
Devices, systems, and methods for augmenting a real-world object using a mixed reality device, involving capturing image data for a real-world object included in a physical space observed by the mixed reality device; automatically classifying the real-world object as being associated with an object classification based on the image data; automatically identifying a software application based on the real-world object being associated with the object classification; associating the software application with the real-world object; and executing the software application on the mixed reality device in association with the real-world object. |
| US11257288B2 |
Feature height-based colored image generating apparatus and feature height-based colored image generating program
Provided are a first DSM generating unit, a ground DEM storing unit, a first DEM generating unit, a 2 m ground DEM storing unit, a first DHM generating unit, a first inclination image generating unit, a first inclination image storing unit, a first red relief image generating unit, a first gradient-tinted image generating unit, a first feature height-based colored image generating unit, a first building height comparison image generating unit, and the like. Accordingly, an image does not look dirty, and an image in which a shape of a feature is outlined clearly is obtained. |
| US11257287B2 |
System, device and method for creating three-dimensional models
A system for creating three-dimensional models includes a processing device operated by a user, having a control unit, a storage unit for storing photographic images, and a storage unit for storing 3D models. The system further includes a device for acquiring photographic images of a reference solid object. The processing device and the acquisition device are mutually connected and in communication. The processing device is configured to create a 3D model that corresponds to the reference solid object based on the photographic images of the reference solid object, which are acquired by the acquisition device and saved in the photographic image storage unit. |
| US11257283B2 |
Image reconstruction method, system, device and computer-readable storage medium
Image reconstruction methods, systems, devices, and computer-readable storage media are provided. The method includes: acquiring a multi-angle free-perspective image combination, parameter data of the image combination, and virtual viewpoint position information based on user interaction, where the image combination includes multiple groups of texture images and depth maps that are synchronized at multiple angles and have corresponding relationships; selecting a corresponding group of texture images and depth maps in the image combination at a user interaction moment based on a preset rule according to the virtual viewpoint position information and the parameter data of the image combination; and combining and rendering the selected corresponding group of texture images and depth maps in the image combination at the user interaction moment based on the virtual viewpoint position information and parameter data corresponding to the corresponding group of texture images and depth maps in the image combination at the user interaction moment. |
| US11257282B2 |
Methods and apparatus to detect collision of a virtual camera with objects in three-dimensional volumetric model
Methods and apparatus to detect collision of a virtual camera with objects in a three-dimensional volumetric model are disclosed herein. An example virtual camera system disclosed herein includes cameras to obtain images of a scene in an environment. The example virtual camera system also includes a virtual camera generator to create a 3D volumetric model of the scene based on the images, identify a 3D location of a virtual camera to be disposed in the 3D volumetric model, and detect whether a collision occurs between the virtual camera and one or more objects in the 3D volumetric model. |
| US11257281B2 |
Systems and methods for adaptive visual and temporal quality of time-dynamic (4D) volume rendering
Systems, methods, devices, and non-transitory media of various embodiments enable rendering of a time-dynamic (4D) volume dataset. Various embodiments may provide a method for responsive and high quality rendering of time-dynamic hierarchical level-of-detail voxel datasets. Various embodiments may provide a prioritization system that balances visual quality and temporal responsiveness even with slow network or filesystem speeds. Various embodiments may provide a compact and efficient storage format for time-dynamic and mixed-resolution voxel rendering on a graphics processing unit (GPU). |
| US11257278B2 |
Graphics surface addressing
Techniques are disclosed relating to memory allocation for graphics surfaces. In some embodiments, graphics processing circuitry is configured to access a graphics surface based on an address in a surface space assigned to the graphics surface. In some embodiments, first translation circuitry is configured to translate address information for the surface space to address information in the virtual space based on one or more of the translation entries. In some embodiments, the graphics processing circuitry is configured to provide an address for the access to the graphics surface based on translation by the first translation circuitry and second translation circuitry configured to translate the address in the virtual space to an address in a physical space of a memory configured to store the graphics surface. The disclosed techniques may allow sparse allocation of large graphics surfaces, in various embodiments. |
| US11257274B2 |
Order independent asynchronous compute and streaming for graphics
An embodiment of an electronic processing system may include an application processor, persistent storage media communicatively coupled to the application processor, and a graphics subsystem communicatively coupled to the application processor. The system may include one or more of a draw call re-orderer communicatively coupled to the application processor and the graphics subsystem to re-order two or more draw calls, a workload re-orderer communicatively coupled to the application processor and the graphics subsystem to re-order two or more work items in an order independent mode, a queue primitive included in at least one of the two or more draw calls to define a producer stage and a consumer stage, and an order-independent executor communicatively coupled to the application processor and the graphics subsystem to provide tile-based order independent execution of a compute stage. Other embodiments are disclosed and claimed. |
| US11257273B2 |
Data output rate with variable rate shading
Techniques for processing pixel data are provided. The techniques include, in a first mode in which blending is enabled, reading in render target color data from a memory system; blending the render target color data with one or more fragments received from a pixel shader stage to generate blended color data; outputting the blended color data to the memory system utilizing a first amount of bandwidth; in a second mode in which blending is disabled and variable rate shading is enabled, amplifying shaded coarse fragments received from the pixel shader stage to generate fine fragments; and outputting the fine fragments to the memory system utilizing a second amount of bandwidth that is higher than the first amount of bandwidth. |
| US11257269B2 |
Inverse kinematic solution blending in digital character animation
The present disclosure relates to systems, non-transitory computer-readable media, and methods for intelligently blending inverse kinematic (IK) solutions to more naturally depict joint positioning and/or movement of digital animated characters. In particular, in one or more embodiments, the character animation system can blend two IK solutions for an elbow joint based on a shoulder angle. For example, the character animation system can utilize a blending region to dynamically blend IK solutions as the shoulder angle moves through the blending region, thereby smoothly modifying bend direction and elbow position of the animated character arm. Based on the modified elbow position relative to a wrist position and a shoulder position, the animated character system can simulate more accurate, natural arm movements while reducing time and interactions needed to generate realistic animation sequences. |
| US11257267B2 |
Method for generating a handwriting vector
One variation of a method includes: accessing a handwriting sample comprising a set of user glyphs handwritten by a user; for each character in a set of characters, identifying a subset of user glyphs corresponding to the character in the handwriting sample, characterizing variability of a set of spatial features across the subset of user glyphs, and storing variability of the set of spatial features across the subset of user glyphs in a character container corresponding to the character; and compiling the set of character containers into a handwriting model for the user. The method further includes: accessing a text string comprising a combination of characters in the set of characters; for each instance of each character in the text string, inserting a set of variability parameters into the handwriting model to generate a synthetic glyph representing the character; and assembling the set of synthetic glyphs into a print file. |
| US11257266B2 |
Intelligent augmented reality (IAR) platform-based communication system via servers
Systems, remote servers, devices, and methods for an intelligent augmented reality (IAR) platform-based communications are disclosed. During a communication, real-time audio, video and/or sensor data are captured in real-time; and scene analysis and data analytics are also performed in real-time to extract information from raw data. The extracted information can be further analyzed to provide knowledge. Real-time AR data can be generated by integrating the raw data, AR input data, information input, and knowledge input, based on one or more criteria comprising a user preference, a system setting, an integration parameter, a characteristic of an object or a scene of the raw data, an interactive user control, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, information and knowledge can be obtained by incorporating Big Data in the analysis. |
| US11257263B1 |
Systems and methods for generating dynamic pipeline visualizations
In some embodiments, a method comprises obtaining a pipeline of operations, the pipeline of operations including a plurality of functions providing any of one or more modification operations or visualization operations for a plurality of datasets. A first dynamic visualization of the pipeline of operations at a first level of granularity is generated. A second dynamic visualization of the pipeline of operations at a second level of granularity is generated in response to user input. |
| US11257260B2 |
Methods and systems for scatter correction
Various methods and systems are provided for scatter correction in nuclear medicine imaging systems. In one embodiment, a method for NM imaging comprises acquiring, with a plurality of detectors, imaging data separated into a high energy window and a low energy window, removing photopeak photons from the imaging data in the low energy window to obtain a corrected scatter distribution, correcting the imaging data based on the corrected scatter distribution, and outputting a scatter-corrected image reconstructed from the corrected imaging data. In this way, fast and accurate scatter correction for CZT-based gamma cameras may be performed, and image quality as well as quantitative accuracy may be increased. |
| US11257259B2 |
Topogram prediction from surface data in medical imaging
For topogram predication from surface data, a sensor captures the outside surface of a patient. A generative adversarial network (GAN) generates the topogram representing an interior organ based on the outside surface of the patient. To further adapt to specific patients, internal landmarks are used in the topogram prediction. The topogram generated by one generator of the GAN may be altered based on landmarks generated by another generator. |
| US11257255B2 |
Domain matching methods for transportable imaging applications
A computerized domain matching image conversion method for transportable imaging applications first performs a target domain A to source domain B matching converter training by computing means using domain B training images and at least one domain A image to generate an A to B domain matching converter. The method then applies the A to B domain matching converter to a domain A application image to generate its domain B matched application image. The method further applies a domain B imaging application analytics to the domain B matched application image to generate an imaging application output for the domain A application image. |
| US11257252B2 |
Image coding apparatus, probability model generating apparatus and image compression system
Embodiments of this disclosure provide an image coding method and apparatus and an image compression system. The image coding apparatus includes a memory and a processor. The processor is configured to perform feature extraction on an input image to obtain feature maps of N channels; assign a weight to a feature map of each channel among the N channels; perform down-dimension processing on weighted feature maps processed in association with the N channels, to obtain feature maps of M channels and output the feature maps of M channels, M being smaller than N. Hence, by multiplying different feature maps by a weight to obtain corresponding importance and then performing down-dimension processing on the feature maps processed according to the weighting, time for decoding may be reduced. |
| US11257251B2 |
Methods and devices for guiding a patient
Methods and systems for guiding a patient for a medical examination using a medical apparatus. For example, a computer-implemented method for guiding a patient for a medical examination using a medical apparatus includes: receiving an examination protocol for the medical apparatus; determining a reference position based at least in part on the examination protocol; acquiring a patient position; determining a deviation metric based at least in part on comparing the patient position and the reference position; determining whether the deviation metric is greater than a pre-determined deviation threshold; and if the deviation metric is greater than a pre-determined deviation threshold: generating a positioning guidance based at least in part on the determined deviation metric, the positioning guidance including guidance for positioning the patient relative to the medical apparatus. |
| US11257249B2 |
Ensuring correct portable sensor placement
A first image including a first sensor placed on a target can be recorded at a first resolution. Using an accelerometer, an orientation of the first image can be determined concurrently with recording of the first image. The orientation of the first image can be associated with an orientation of the first sensor placed on the target within the first image. A user input indicating a boundary surrounding the first sensor in a portion of the first image can be received via a graphical user interface (GUI). The orientation of the first sensor within the first image can be compared with a predetermined reference orientation and a determination made whether the orientation of the first sensor within the first image matches the predetermined reference orientation. When the orientation of the first sensor within the first image matches the predetermined reference orientation, a confirmation can be output via the GUI. |
| US11257248B2 |
Information processing device, information processing method, recording medium, and image capturing apparatus for self-position-posture estimation
Provided is an information processing device that includes a movement estimation unit that estimates position and posture movement by using corresponding-point information obtained based on image capturing, and a corresponding-point information selection unit that selects the corresponding-point information to be used by the movement estimation unit from among a plurality of pieces of corresponding-point information. The plurality of pieces of corresponding-point information includes first corresponding-point information obtained based on image capturing by a first camera set including a first camera and a second camera, and second corresponding-point information obtained based on image capturing by a second camera set including a third camera and a fourth camera. The first camera set has a wider view angle than that of the second camera set. The first camera set and the second camera set have image capturing ranges that are at least partially identical to each other. |
| US11257242B2 |
Method and device for determining operation of an autonomous device
A method and device for determining operation of an autonomous device is disclosed. The method includes receiving pixel data and sound data associated with an environment at an instance of time, wherein the pixel data is received from least an image sensor associated with the autonomous device, and wherein the sound data is received from at least four sound sensors placed in a quadrilateral configuration on the autonomous device. Each quadrant of the pixel data is associated with each of the at least four sound sensors. The sound data received is mapped the to the matrix to identify one or more pixels in the matrix corresponding to the sound data based on a difference in amplitude between a first sound sensor of the at least four sound sensors recording maximum sound amplitude with a plurality of second sound sensors of the at least four sound sensors. |
| US11257241B2 |
System and method for component positioning by registering a 3D patient model to an intra-operative image
Disclosed herein are a system and method that may help place or position a component, such as an acetabular cup or a femoral component, during surgery. An example system may iteratively register a plurality of two-dimensional projections from a three-dimensional model of a portion of a patient, the three-dimensional model being generated from a data set of imaging information obtained at a neutral position. An example system may further score each two-dimensional projection against an intra-operative image by calculating a spatial difference between corresponding points. A two-dimensional projection having a minimum score reflecting the smallest distance between the corresponding points may be identified. Using the two-dimensional projection having the minimum score, an adjustment score reflecting a difference in the values representing the orientation of the three-dimensional model at the intra-operative projection position and values representing the orientation of the three-dimensional model at the neutral position may be calculated. |
| US11257234B2 |
Method for three-dimensional measurement and calculation of the geographic position and height of a target object based on street view images
The present invention relates to a method for three-dimensional measurement and calculation of the geographic position and height of a target object based on street view images. The method comprises: selecting a target object in a street view map at first and then selecting two appropriate viewpoints according to the target object and obtaining the longitudes and latitudes of the two viewpoints; obtaining three street view images at different viewing angles under the viewpoints respectively; calculating the horizontal angles and pitch angles of the target object under the viewpoints according to the three street view images; determining two spatial straight lines according to the longitudes and latitudes of the viewpoints and the viewing angles from the viewpoints to the bottom of the target object, which intersect forward, and calculating the intersection of the two straight lines, which is the geographic position of the target object. |
| US11257229B2 |
Method and system for processing an image
A method of processing an image is disclosed. The method comprises decomposing the image into a plurality of channels, each being characterized by a different depth-of-field, and accessing a computer readable medium storing an in-focus dictionary defined over a plurality of dictionary atoms, and an out-of-focus dictionary defined over a plurality of sets of dictionary atoms, each set corresponding to a different out-of-focus condition. The method also comprises computing one or more sparse representations of the decomposed image over the dictionaries. |
| US11257227B2 |
Brain image normalization apparatus, brain image normalization method, and brain image normalization program
A brain image normalization apparatus, having a processor configured to: detect at least four reference landmarks of a left eye, a right eye, a diencephalon, a fornix, a corpus callosum, a left hippocampus, and a right hippocampus from a brain image including a brain of a subject; perform registration between the detected reference landmarks and reference landmarks corresponding to the detected reference landmarks included in a standard brain image; and normalize the brain image based on a result of the registration. |
| US11257224B2 |
Object tracker, object tracking method, and computer program
There is provided an object tracking apparatus that realizes robust object detection and tracking even for movement fluctuation and observation noise, an object tracking method and a computer program. An object cracking apparatus 1 is an apparatus tracking an object in video, the object tracking apparatus 1 including: a deep learning discriminator 2 which is a discriminator by deep learning; and a particle filter function unit 3 tracking an object by applying a multi-channel feature value of video including feature values by the deep learning discriminator 2 to likelihood evaluation by a particle filter, according to a distance between position information about the multi-channel feature value and position information about each particle. |
| US11257222B2 |
Iterative approach for weakly-supervised action localization
Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a computer-implemented method for action localization. A non-limiting example of the computer-implemented method includes receiving, by a processor, a video and segmenting, by the processor, the video into a set of video segments. The computer-implemented method classifies, by the processor, each video segment into a class and calculates, by the processor, importance scores for each video segment of a class within the set of video segments. The computer-implemented method determines, by the processor, a winning video segment of the class within the set of video segments based on the importance scores for each video segment within the class, stores, by the processor, the winning video segment from the set of video segments, and removes the winning video segment from the set of video segments. |
| US11257221B2 |
Apparatus and method for detecting falling object
Disclosed is a fallen object detection apparatus and method for controlling a component to continuously provide a service, provided by a communication device, when the communication device has fallen inside a vehicle. A fallen object detection apparatus inside a vehicle includes: a monitor configured to monitor an inside of the vehicle in which a passenger and an object are present: an identifier configured to identify that the object is a communication device capable of being connected to the component inside the vehicle in response to determination that the object is determined to have fallen on the basis of a monitoring result; and a processor configured to connect the object with the component and control the component to continuously provide a service, provided by the object, when the object is identified to be the communication device. |
| US11257220B2 |
Asset tracking systems
The disclosed technology includes image-based systems and methods for object tracking within an asset area. Some exemplary methods include receiving an indication of a first object entering an asset area and receiving data indicative of a plurality of captured images. The methods also include performing, by at least one processor, object classification of the first object based on one or more of the plurality of captured images. The methods further include determining a first object location of the first object based at least in part on the object classification, and outputting an indication of the first object location. |
| US11257219B2 |
Registration of static pre-procedural planning data to dynamic intra-procedural segmentation data
Imaging systems and methods are provided, which involve acquiring static volume data using a first imaging technique; segmenting the static volume data to generate a static segmentation; annotating the static segmentation with at least one annotation; acquiring initial dynamic volume data using a second imaging technique different to the first imaging technique; segmenting the initial dynamic volume data to generate a plurality of dynamic segmentations; comparing the static segmentation to each one of the plurality of dynamic segmentations and determining, using the comparisons, a single dynamic segmentation that most closely corresponds to the static segmentation; storing the corresponding single dynamic segmentation in the memory as a reference segmentation; acquiring subsequent dynamic volume data; segmenting the subsequent dynamic volume data to generate at least one subsequent dynamic segmentation; determining a difference between the reference segmentation and the subsequent dynamic segmentation; updating the at least one annotation using the determined difference; and displaying the at least one updated annotation together with the subsequent dynamic volume data. |
| US11257215B2 |
Systems and methods for collecting and transmitting assay results
Systems and methods are provided for collecting, preparing, and/or analyzing a biological sample. A sample collection site may be utilized with one or more sample processing device. The sample processing device may be configured to accept a sample from a subject. The sample processing device may perform one or more sample preparation step and/or chemical reaction involving the sample. Data related to the sample may be sent from the device to a laboratory. The laboratory may be a certified laboratory that may generate a report that is transmitted to a health care professional. The health care professional may rely on the report for diagnosing, treating, and/or preventing a disease in the subject. |
| US11257214B2 |
Two-stage variational image segmentation of medical images using fracture mechanics
Systems and methods are described for segmenting a medical image using a two-stage variational method in which fracture mechanics are used in the second stage to remove fine-scale contact bridges that connect object contours generated in the first stage. The image segmentation can be used to segment objects, such as bone objects, from surrounding tissues in a medical image, such as an image obtained with a computed tomography (“CT”) or other x-ray imaging system. |
| US11257206B2 |
Method for correcting processing condition and substrate processing system
A method for correcting a processing condition includes imaging a substrate using an imaging device before start and after completion of a series of processings; specifying a processing apparatus estimated as having an abnormality, based on an imaging result and information on the processing apparatus; performing the unit processing in the processing apparatus on an inspection substrate under a predetermined processing condition, and imaging the inspection substrate by the imaging device before and after performing the unit processing; determining presence/absence of an actual abnormality in the processing apparatus specified in the specifying; and correcting, with respect to the processing apparatus determined as having the actual abnormality in the determining presence/absence of an actual abnormality, the processing condition of the unit processing in the processing apparatus based on the imaging result in the imaging the inspection substrate for determining an abnormality. |
| US11257204B2 |
Detailed damage determination with image segmentation
The present invention relates to the determination of damage to portions of a vehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to determining whether each part of a vehicle should be classified as damaged or undamaged and optionally the severity of the damage to each part of the damaged vehicle including segmenting the input images.Aspects and/or embodiments seek to provide a computer-implemented method for determining damage states of each part of a damaged vehicle, indicating whether each part of the vehicle is damaged or undamaged and optionally the severity of the damage to each part of the damaged vehicle, using images of the damage to the vehicle and trained models to assess the damage indicated in the images of the damaged vehicle, including performing segmentation of the images to create richer input data. |
| US11257199B2 |
Systems, methods, and media for detecting manipulations of point cloud data
In accordance with some aspects, systems, methods and media for detecting manipulations of point cloud data are provided. In some aspects, a method for presenting information indicative of whether a manipulation of point cloud data has occurred is provided, the method comprising: receiving point cloud data comprising a plurality of points, wherein each point of the plurality of points is associated with a position; determining, for each of the plurality of points, a value indicative of a density of points in a region surrounding the respective point; associating, for each of the plurality of points, the value indicative of density with the respective point; and causing a representation of at least a portion of the point cloud data to be presented based on the location information associated with each point of the plurality of points, and the value indicative of density associated with each of the plurality of points. |
| US11257198B1 |
Detection of encoded signals and icons
The present disclosure relates to signal decoding and icon (e.g., a logo, shape, icon, etc.) detection. In some implementations, a series of filters are applied to scanlines to determine whether an icon is present. Other aspects, combinations and implementations are described as well. |
| US11257196B2 |
Medical imaging apparatus, medical image processing device, and medical image processing program
Image processing using a machine learning model is enabled, thereby accurately reducing noise to improve image quality. A medical image is acquired; and it is evaluated whether noise in the medical image exceeds a predetermined reference value. A noise reducer reduces the noise of the medical image that has been determined to include noise that exceeds the reference value. The noise of the medical image is reduced using a machine learning model constructed by collecting a plurality of learning data sets that include an image with noise as input data and an image without noise as output data. The machine learning model includes a plurality of layers that perform convolution on an image that is input, one layer of which includes a filter layer in which a plurality of linear or nonlinear filters are incorporated, and convolution coefficients of the plurality of linear or nonlinear filters are predetermined. |
| US11257189B2 |
Electronic apparatus and image processing method thereof
An electronic apparatus is disclosed. The electronic apparatus includes a memory storing at least one instruction, and a processor, electrically connected to the memory, configured to, by executing the instruction, obtain, from an input image, a noise map corresponding to the input image; provide the input image to an input layer of a learning network model including a plurality of layers, the learning network model being an artificial intelligence (AI) model that is obtained by learning, through an AI algorithm, a relationship between a plurality of sample images, a respective noise map of each of the plurality of sample images, and an original image corresponding to the plurality of sample images; provide the noise map to at least one intermediate layer among the plurality of layers; and obtain an output image based on a result from providing the input image and the noise map to the learning network model. |
| US11257184B1 |
Image scaler
In the described examples, a compiled image scaler includes a set of machine executable instructions that generate a scaled image that is a scaled version of a source image with integer and bitwise operations. The compiled image scaler employs filtering to blend colors of adjacent pixels in the source image to generate the scaled image, and each filtering operation concurrently scales three color channels of a pixel in the source image. |
| US11257180B2 |
Thread serialization, distributed parallel programming, and runtime extensions of parallel computing platform
Systems, apparatuses, and methods may provide for technology to process graphical data, and to modify a runtime environment in a parallel computing platform for a graphic environment. |
| US11257177B2 |
Moving object action registration apparatus, moving object action registration system, and moving object action determination apparatus
According to one embodiment, a moving object action registration apparatus includes the following units. The acquisition unit acquires at least one reference image including a first reference image including a marker. The landmark detection unit detects, as a landmark, a feature point indicating a characteristic portion in an environment based on the at least one reference image. The marker detection unit detects the marker based on the first reference image. The calculation unit calculates a relative position between the landmark and the marker. The attribute identification unit identifies an attribute of the marker associated with an action. The registration unit registers the relative position and action information being based on the attribute in a database. |
| US11257174B2 |
Geographic information management systems and methods
An embodiment method for managing geographic information includes receiving, at a service portal, executed lease data for mineral rights leases on associated first land parcels, generating first map data according to the executed lease data, and sending the first map data through a network interface to a client application for display to a first user at a first remote terminal. The method further includes receiving, from the first remote terminal, data for a proposed division order boundary, determining one or more of the first land parcels having boundaries that at least partly overlap the proposed division order boundary, generating division order data related to portions of the one or more first land parcels, and sending the division order data to the first remote terminal for display to the user. |
| US11257171B2 |
Data processing system for managing activities linked to multimedia content
An activity management system is configured to allow users to access multimedia content where the multimedia content is divided into segments. While a user is viewing or interacting with the multimedia content, the user can submit one or more activities (e.g., comments, questions, replies, or reactions) using an interface. The system is operable to electronically link the activity provided by the user with the particular segment of multimedia content in which the activity was captured by the system. The system is also configured to throttle the number of activities that are displayed to a user for any given segment based on (1) viewers linked to the user (e.g., groups, social media groups, etc.), (2) viewers that influence the user, (3) viewers selected by the user, (4) viewers that cause the user to be engaged with the multimedia content, and (5) a threshold number of activities set by the viewer or the system. |
| US11257163B1 |
Methods of pre-generating insurance claims
In system and methods for pre-generating insurance claims, accident data associated with a vehicle accident involving a driver may be collected. The accident data may be analyzed, and a likely severity of the vehicle accident may be determined based upon the analysis of the accident data. An estimated insurance claim may be generated based upon the determined likely severity of the vehicle accident, and transmitted, via wireless communication, from one or more remote servers to a mobile device associated with the driver to facilitate presenting all, or a portion of, the estimated insurance claim to the driver or the insured. A wireless communication from the driver or insured indicating approval, rejection or modification of the estimated insurance claim may be received. The estimated insurance claim may be handled in accordance with the approval, rejection or modification. |
| US11257162B1 |
Insurance based on driving data
One or more devices in a driving data analysis system may be configured to receive and execute a driving data analysis software application. One or more servers may provide a driving data analysis software application to various driving data analysis devices, such as mobile user devices and/or on-board vehicle systems. The driving data analysis devices may be configured to execute the driving data analysis software application, to receive/collect various driving data, analyze the driving data, and determine eligibility for one or more insurance offers based on the analysis of the driving data. For insurance offers based on driving data, insurance offer vouchers may be generated by the driving data analysis device and transmitted to an insurance provider server to redeem the insurance offer. |
| US11257160B2 |
Integration application utilizing a communications protocol
A computer system configured to facilitate communications over a plurality of communication platforms includes a chat monitor configured to monitor communications over a plurality of communication platforms; a parser coupled to the chat monitor and configured to detect whether a communication entered into a communication client corresponds to a communication protocol, the communication protocol including a protocol identifier and a plurality of primary protocol elements including a first user identifier and an instrument identifier; a protocol validator coupled to the parser and configured to validate communications corresponding to the communication protocol; and a database coupled to the protocol validator for storing validated communications. Each communication platform may be associated with a plurality of communication clients, and each communication platform may be configured to transmit communications between communication clients associated with the communication platform. |
| US11257158B2 |
Real-time indicator of global trade
A real-time indicator of global trade can be generated. The real-time indicator provides a comprehensive indicator of the current global economic state by tracking current values for the available capacity for freight shipments as well as the volume of actual shipments. The capacity and volume can be tracked over multiple different transportation modes including sea, air, and rail. The real-time indicator is generated in real-time based on these current values. The real-time indicator can therefore provide investors, analysts, researchers, bankers, and the like with a reliable indicator of the current global economic state that is not heavily influenced by the biasing sentiments of individuals. |
| US11257151B2 |
System and method of an automated agent to automatically implement loan activities
A system and method of an automated agent to automatically implement loan activities includes a data collection circuit structured to receive data related to at least one of a plurality of parties to a loan; a smart contract circuit structured to create a smart lending contract for the loan; and an automated agent circuit structured to automatically perform a loan-related action in response to the received data, wherein the loan-related action is a change in an interest rate for the loan, and wherein the smart contract circuit is further structured to update the smart lending contract with the changed interest rate. |
| US11257150B2 |
Applied essentia dunning
Dunning a debtor according to an essentia instance of the debtor. Debtor data of the debtor is received from a creditor. The debtor is mapped to an essentia to create an essentia instance for the debtor based on debtor characteristic variables identified by the debtor data and essentia characteristic variables identified by essentia data. Essentia specific dunning decisions corresponding to the essentia to apply when dunning the debtor are determined. The debtor is dunned according to the essentia specific dunning decisions. |
| US11257149B2 |
Method and apparatus to evaluate and provide funds in online environments
A method, apparatus, and computer readable storage to implement a lending or cash advance system that can be (but is not required to be) integrated with an online commerce site. Sellers on the online commerce site can click a button or tab in their web browser that is visiting the online commerce site and information known to the online commerce site is automatically shared with a potential cash provider. The information can include sales data related to the seller's business on the online commerce site that can be applied to a formula used by a cash provider to evaluate the risk associated with lending the seller cash. A financial account used by the seller can rapidly receive the cash loan (if approved) and payments received by the seller from buyers would go into this financial account which is then used to automatically pay the cash provider back at agreed upon terms. |
| US11257137B2 |
Customized skin care
A system for producing a customized skin care product in less than five minutes includes active ingredient premixes, premix dispensers respectively operable to dispense a predefined quantity of the active ingredient premixes by a single dispenser operation, skin care product bases, product base dispensers respectively operable to dispense a predefined quantity of the skin care product bases by a single dispenser operation, and instructions executable by a processor to receive data indicative of a customer's skin condition and generate a recipe for producing a customized skin care product containing specified percentages by weight of two or more active ingredients suited for the customer's skin condition. The recipe defines a number of operations of one or more of the premix dispensers and one of the product base dispensers. The system further includes a mixing machine operable to mix the contents of a closed container filled in accordance with the recipe. |
| US11257134B2 |
Supplier invoice reconciliation and payment using event driven platform
A system for automated supplier invoice reconciliation is disclosed. The system may receive an order confirmation associated with a purchase order (PO) from a supplier system. The system may receive the PO associated with the order confirmation from a buyer system. The system may receive a first invoice associated with the PO and the order confirmation from the supplier system. The system may reconcile between the PO, the first invoice, and the order confirmation to generate a second invoice. The system may pass the second invoice to the buyer system. |
| US11257132B1 |
Processing systems and methods having a machine learning engine for providing a surface dimension output
Systems and apparatuses for generating surface dimension outputs are provided. The system may collect an image from a mobile device. The system may analyze the image to determine whether they comprise one or more standardized reference objects. Based on analysis of the image and the one or more standardized reference objects, the system may determine a surface dimension output. The system may determine one or more settlement outputs and one or more repair outputs for the driver based on the surface dimension output. |
| US11257130B2 |
Method and system for review verification and trustworthiness scoring via blockchain
A method for immutability of review verifications includes: storing a blockchain; receiving a review submission from a reviewer about an entity comprising feedback; identifying a review identifier unique to the review submission; generating a new review block for the blockchain including the review submission including the review identifier; receiving verification submissions from other reviewers about the review submission indicating positive or negative verification of the review submission; generating verification blocks for the blockchain that include the verification submissions; adding a trustworthiness block to the blockchain for the review once enough positive verifications are received; and adding a trustworthiness block to the blockchain for the reviewer once they have enough trustworthy reviews. |
| US11257129B2 |
Service experience score system
Systems and methods for providing a service experience score at a merchant physical location include a system provider device that determines, through communication at least one of a plurality of beacon devices located at the merchant physical location and a user device, a start of a user service experience. The system provider device also determines, through the at least one of the plurality of beacon devices and the user device, an end of the user service experience. A service experience score that is based at least partly on the start of the user service experience and the end of the user service experience is generated. The service experience score is stored in a database in association with a merchant that is associated with the merchant physical location. Subsets of the service experience score may be associated with different locations of the merchant physical location. |
| US11257128B2 |
Shopping support system and shopping support method
A shopping support system includes processing circuitry having programmed instructions to determine if a commodity is collected for purchase by a purchaser at a sales floor of a store. The shopping support system determines if the commodity has been postponed for later collection based on an action of the purchaser on the commodity at the sales floor. Then, the shopping support system provides a notification in response to a determination that the commodity has been postponed for later collection and is not collected for purchase by the purchaser. |
| US11257126B2 |
System and method for providing a score for a used vehicle
One embodiment of the system and method described herein provides a score generator system that generates an automated vehicle specific valuation of a used car based on the physical and historical attributes of that vehicle. This score may indicate the likelihood that the vehicle will be on the road in a specific period of time. The score may give an absolute percentage of such likelihood or it may give a value relative to all other used vehicles in a database, all other used vehicles of the same make/model/year, or a certain subset of the vehicles in a database. In one embodiment, the score generator system includes a data link module for linking vehicle data and filter module for applying a multi-level filters that process the linked vehicle data. |
| US11257125B2 |
System and method for providing advertiser auctions based on segmentation informed by purchase data
A system and method in accordance with exemplary embodiments may include advertiser auctions based on segmentation informed by purchase data, including a financial institution, one or more advertisers, and a bidding server to facilitate advertiser bidding. Additionally, a system and method in accordance with exemplary embodiments may pool customer and/or transaction information in one or more databases. The system and method in accordance with exemplary embodiments may also utilize a bidding server to permit advertisers to bid on access to information or the ability to present an advertisement and/or offer to a customer. |
| US11257124B2 |
Method for determining provider parameters including a provider margin
Provided herein are system, methods and computer readable storage media in facilitating the determination of provider parameters, such as a provider margin, for a promotion of the provider's goods, services, and/or the like in an agreement between the provider, also known as a merchant, and a promotion and marketing service that is configured to illustrate or otherwise inform consumers of the availability of one or more instruments for a promotion. In providing such functionality, the system may be configured to, for example, receive provider characteristic data, determine historical provider information, receive provider promotion structure data, determine a provider profile, determine a positive return on investment threshold, and transmit a provider parameter. |
| US11257123B1 |
Pre-authorization techniques for transactions
The disclosure describes, in part, techniques for performing pre-authorization during a transaction between a merchant a customer. For instance, a payment service may receive, from a merchant device, payment information of a payment instrument that is used to satisfy a cost of a first item. The payment service may then send an authorization request to a card payment network to hold a first amount of funds based on previous purchase activity. The payment service may further send the merchant device information associated with the customer. Next, the payment service may receive an indication that the customer requests to purchase a second item. In response, the payment service may send a request to the card payment network to capture a second amount of funds that is based on the cost of the first item and a cost of the second item. In response, the payment service may receive approval from the card payment network. |
| US11257120B2 |
System and method for coordinated mobile media projection
A coordinated mobile media projection system is provided using multiple media projection systems (MPSs). Each MPS is attachable to a mobile platform (e.g., automotive vehicle or aircraft). Each MPS is selectively enabled to supply a portion of coordinated media, and includes a location subsystem to determine the geographic location of the MPS. The combination of the MPSs supplies a coordinated media integration or unified message, with a first portion of the coordinated media being linked to a second portion of the coordinated media. Each MPS may include a deployment subsystem to supply an enablement signal in response to either the mobile platform occupying an assigned position or the MPS being enabled. The geographic location determined by the locations subsystem may be a stationary location or a moving location route. The first and second portions of the coordinated media may be identical, sequentially projected, form a billboard, or display related topics. |
| US11257117B1 |
Mobile device sighting location analytics and profiling system
The present disclosure describes systems and methods for providing enhanced location analysis and consumer insights using mobile sightings data. An approximate geographic location is useful to mobile service providers and advertisers who wish to provide targeted content to consumers based on their location. The location analysis described herein provides more depth and detail about the detected geographic location of the consumer and also insights into business locations visited by the user of the device, consumer/market segments and patterns of behavior (for an individual consumer and/or for aggregated group of consumers), retail trends and patterns, and other profile information. For example, a location profile analytics system as described herein can determine a probability that an approximate geographic location actually corresponds to a specific geographic location, such as a business location. The analysis performed by the location profile analytics system may be further refined based on a number of additional input parameters. |
| US11257116B2 |
Method and apparatus for providing advertisement content and recording medium
A method of providing advertisement content is provided. The method includes selecting at least some parts from among a plurality of parts of an advertisement target which are generated by segmenting an image of the advertisement target based on time, determining association data associated with the advertisement target, based on one or more of characteristics of the selected parts and context information indicating a condition where the advertisement content is displayed, and combining the selected parts and the determined association data to create the advertisement content. |
| US11257111B2 |
Content output system, terminal device, content output method, and recording medium
There is provided a content output system, a terminal device, a content output method, and a recording medium which can increase accuracy in measurement of a degree of attention to content. A content output system including a communication unit which receives a signal from a surrounding user device, an output unit which outputs content, and a control unit which determines, on the basis of user state data indicating a state of a user corresponding to a user device, which is included in a broadcast signal from the user device, that the user corresponding to the user device is paying attention to content output by the output unit when a radio wave intensity of the received signal is equal to or higher than a predetermined value. |
| US11257109B2 |
Method and system for lead budget allocation and optimization on a multi-channel multi-media campaign management and payment platform
A method and apparatus for managing and integrating lead sources for a marketing/advertisement campaign on a platform that allocates and optimizes lead source budgets and provides a customer service and payment processing function. The present technology as disclosed and claimed herein provides a platform that is a customer retention and customer management system that is automated to provide lead estimations and optimizations to allocate and optimize lead source budgets where the system has a learning function that improves over time. |
| US11257104B2 |
Method and system for integration among content publication, advertisement services, and rewards collection
A computer-implemented method and system for integration among content publication, advertisement services and rewards collection is provided. The method and system comprises publishing a first content generated by a first user for public viewing, determining whether a predetermined condition of the published first content reaches a first predetermined threshold, providing a first user-controlled slot if the first predetermined threshold is reached, and allowing the first user to set a first price for the first user-controlled slot to sell for rewards collection. When the published content reaches a second predetermined threshold, a second user-controlled slot is then provided for the user to set a second price for rewards collection and so on. |
| US11257099B2 |
Content preview
Techniques enable creation of a preview license for digital content. In some instances, the preview license indicates that it allows a content-consuming device to consume less than all of the content. This preview license may create a list specifying multiple portions of the digital content that the content-consuming device may consume. These techniques may also present to a device user an offer to purchase rights to consume all of the digital content after consumption of the preview-licensed portion(s). In other instances, a content server may embed the preview license into a content package that contains the digital content, allowing the server to distribute the package to multiple devices. In still other instances, the preview license may be bound to a domain rather than to individual devices. This allows member devices to share the digital content and the preview license, such that each member device may enjoy the preview experience. |
| US11257093B2 |
Event processing method, apparatus and electronic device based on blockchain technology
One or more embodiments of the specification provide a method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for processing an event involving a plurality of users in a blockchain. The method may include: receiving descriptive information of a remittance event relaying a remittance from a remitter to a recipient through one or more relays; verifying the one or more encrypted fields in the descriptive information; submitting triggering information after the verification succeeds, wherein the submission of the triggering information triggers a smart contract in the blockchain to generate a mark for the remittance event; querying the smart contract in the blockchain; determining, based on the query, that the mark has been generated for each of the one or more relays; and updating a balance of a blockchain account based on a corresponding homomorphic commitment of the one or more homomorphic commitments. |
| US11257091B2 |
Computer-based systems having computing devices programmed to execute fraud detection routines based on feature sets associated with input from physical cards and methods of use thereof
Systems and methods for performing fraud detection at POA devices based on analysis of feature sets are disclosed. In one embodiment, an exemplary method may comprise: obtaining, by a POS device, upon initiation of a transaction involving a card or a card and mobile device associated with an individual initiating the transaction, one or more sensory inputs and an identifier; mapping, by the POS device, the one or more sensory inputs to a first cluster position of a plurality of clusters; determining whether the cluster position of the cluster mapped for the transaction corresponds to a second cluster position of the at least one expected cluster associated with the known owner of the card and/or mobile device; and initiating, by the POS device, at least one second factor authentication process to establish that the individual is the known owner of the card and/or mobile device being used in the transaction. |
| US11257090B2 |
Message processing platform for automated phish detection
Aspects of the disclosure relate to a message processing platform for enhanced phishing message detection. A computing platform may receive a first message from a first source entity, where the first message was flagged as potentially malicious through selection of a malicious message button in a mobile banking application, and where the first message includes content from the first source entity pretending to be a second source entity different than the first source entity. Using one or more machine learning algorithms, the computing platform may parse the first message to identify the second source entity. The computing platform may identify an enterprise security system associated with the second source entity, and may generate a second message that includes the first message as an attachment and indicates that the first message was flagged as potentially malicious. Subsequently, the computing platform may send, to the enterprise security system, the second message. |
| US11257087B2 |
Methods and systems for detecting suspicious or non-suspicious activities involving a mobile device use
Systems and methods are disclosed for detecting a suspicious and/or a non-suspicious activity during an electronic transaction performed by a user device. One method comprises identifying, by a monitoring and detection component, a starting check point in the electronic transaction. The monitoring and detection component may then receive contextual data from one or more sensors of the user device. Based on the contextual data and a machine learning model, the monitoring and detection component may determine whether an expected behavior occurred. Entry of user credentials may be enabled in response to determining that the expected behavior occurred, whereas the electronic transaction may be terminated in response to determining that the expected behavior did not occur. |
| US11257081B2 |
Integrating a blockchain ledger with an application external to the blockchain ledger
Integrating a blockchain ledger with an application external to the blockchain ledger is disclosed. A first method determines a state, to be written to a blockchain ledger, based on a contract transaction. A second method determines a state, to be written to the blockchain ledger, based on an adapter transaction. The first method includes an invocation of the second method. The second method verifies whether the adapter transaction includes a particular set of information associated with a particular application. If the adapter transaction includes the particular set of information, then both the contract transaction and the adapter transaction are committed to the blockchain ledger. If the adapter transaction does not include the particular set of information, then neither the contract transaction nor the adapter transaction are committed to the blockchain ledger. The state determined based on the adapter transaction is used to update the particular application. |
| US11257072B1 |
Detecting unauthorized devices
A payment reader and a POS terminal may communicate over a wireless connection. The methods and systems include monitoring one or more parameters corresponding to a payment reader and another device in proximity to POS terminal. The POS terminal, through a set of customized instructions, determines whether behavior of the second device substantially corresponds to the first device, in order to detect suspected hardware or software intrusion associated with the secure device. On successful detection of a suspected intrusion, the POS terminal generates an alert for a user of the first device if illegal intrusion is suspected by the processor. |
| US11257063B2 |
Telephone call purchase with payment using mobile payment device
A mobile payment system including a merchant, a mobile device having mobile payment capability, a server couplable to a payment network, and a merchant computing device couplable to the server. A purchase request is made of the merchant and a purchase identification is associated with the purchase. The purchase information is entered into the merchant computing device and the purchase identification is sent to the server with payment information. Mobile payment communication is established between the mobile device and the server using the purchase identification and a mobile payment for the purchase is made from the mobile device to a payment network through the server. |
| US11257061B2 |
Performing transactions when device has low battery
In response to detecting that a battery level of a first computing device is below a threshold level, a computer system determines that a second computing device is within a threshold distance of the first computing device. In response to the determining that the second computing device is within the threshold distance of the first computing device, the computer system creates a reference identifier (ID) and transmits information corresponding to the reference ID to the second computing device. In response to detecting a usage of the information corresponding to the reference ID by the second computing device, the computer system transmits a request for authentication information. In response to determining that authentication is successful, the computer system transmits a payment from an account associated with a user of the first computing device to an account associated with a recipient. |
| US11257060B2 |
Method for processing a purchase transaction using a plurality of transaction systems
A method of processing a purchase transaction includes generating a transaction file containing a product code, which is transmitted from a user computing device when an image of a product code identifier is captured by the user computing device, a first user ID of the customer, and an indicator of whether or not the customer has opted in to receive electronic receipts. The method further includes generating an electronic receipt based on the transaction file, storing a conversion table containing the first and second user IDs of the customer, converting the first user ID contained in the transaction file to the second user ID based on the conversion table, when the indicator indicates that the customer has opted in, and storing the electronic receipt in association with the second user ID. The electronic receipt is transmitted in response to a request for electronic receipts associated with the second user ID. |
| US11257051B2 |
System and method for intelligently interfacing with financial information
A system and method for interfacing with financial information. The system includes a touch screen display. The touch-screen display includes a plurality of logical regions. Each one of the plurality of logical regions includes content that is expandable based on a user selection. The system also includes logic to associate a plurality of a user's financial data of a predetermined type with each one of the logical regions. The system further includes logic to vary an amount of the associated financial data displayed on the display based on a first type of user selection of one of the logical regions. |
| US11257049B1 |
Item identification based on receipt image
An image of a receipt may be received by a service provider from a user device of a user. The receipt may be a record of a transaction between the user and a physical merchant. The service provider may extract text from the image and apply a predictive model trained on text data of historical receipts to the extracted text to identify keywords corresponding to items purchased in the transaction. The service provider may generate a shopping list for the user and/or may compare the keywords to descriptions of catalog items in an online catalog maintained by the service provider to identify catalog items that are the same or similar to the purchased items. The service provider may associate the catalog items with the user's account maintained by the service provider and generate a user interface to present on the user device that includes an indication of the catalog items. |
| US11257048B2 |
Securing transactions between mobile computing devices
Techniques for facilitating a secure transaction between a first mobile computing device associated with a driver and a second mobile computing device associated with a passenger are discussed herein. The techniques may include registering an association between a first application executing on the first mobile computing device and a second application executing on the second mobile computing device. The second application may display information indicating an amount of fare for a ride offered by the driver to the passenger. Upon receiving input from the passenger to authorize processing of a payment transaction, the second application may send a request to process the payment transaction using card information. In some examples, the payment transaction is authorized without providing the first application with access to card information. |
| US11257047B2 |
Method and system of processing waste fabrics to rejuvenated fibrous materials
The present invention discloses a method and corresponding system of processing waste fabrics to rejuvenated fibrous materials that will maintain their original quality in downstream production without a loss of downstream manufacturing efficiencies. The method involves (a) obtaining fabric data for each bale of incoming waste fabrics and storing the fabric data in a database; (b) obtaining target data relating to target product requirements; (c) processing the fabric data and the target data according to predetermined algorithms to generate a rejuvenation processing recipe which specifies bales information and rejuvenation processes information; (d) selecting corresponding bales of incoming waste fabrics for further rejuvenation processing; and (e) subjecting the selected bales to processes specified by the rejuvenation processing recipe. |
| US11257044B2 |
Automatic association and sharing of photos with calendar events
Technologies are described for automatic association and sharing of photos with calendar events. For example, photos or similar material associated with a calendar event may be determined and searched for through a variety of resources such as enterprise databases, personal data stores, cloud resources, or even the Internet based on an attribute of each photo and an attribute of the calendar event. Candidate photos resulting from the search may be presented to a user such as an organizer of a meeting or person setting an appointment for confirmation and selection. Upon receiving selection and confirmation of one or more photos from the candidate photos, the one or more photos may be made available to a group of users within a context of the calendar event. Various sharing options such as email, shared cloud storage, or calendar event itself may be used for sharing the photos. |
| US11257033B2 |
Inventory verification device
An inventory verification device (“IVD”) provides automatic inventory verification and detection of inventory discrepancies. The IVD automatically verifies the quantity of items in a container based on weight and/or height measurements obtained for the items in the container using two or more sensors of the IVD. The IVD may also automatically updated tracked inventory of an item based on detected changes to the weight and/or height of the items in the container as a result of a worker adding items to the container or removing items from the container without the working providing confirmation for each addition and/or removal. The IVD autoatmically verifies whether correct items are stored in a container by performing feature matching of various characteristics for items imaged in the container against expected characteristics for items that should be stored in the container. |
| US11257032B2 |
Smart audit or intervention in an order fulfillment process
A system for performing smart auditing of a picking sub-process of an order fulfilment process in a warehousing environment includes a set of cameras arranged to capture videos of the picking sub-process in real-time, and an Artificial Intelligence (AI) based processor communicatively coupled to the set of cameras. The AI based processor includes an input component for receiving and processing the captured videos to generate a processed video, and a processing component including an order process data analysis component for analysing the processed video to detect order process specific deviations, and a historical data analysis component for analysing the processed video based on historical behavioural data of corresponding order picker. The AI based processor further includes a triggering component for triggering a quality process correcting event for one or more pallets based on the analysis performed by the processing component. |
| US11257031B2 |
Goods information obtaining device, shelf, shelf managing system and method
The present disclosure relates to a goods information obtaining device, a shelf, a shelf managing system and a method. A goods information obtaining device for obtaining goods information within a shelf unit, includes: at least one reflector; and at least one image sensor for sensing a reflection image of goods within the shelf unit that are reflected one or more times by the at least one reflector. |
| US11257029B2 |
Pickup article cognitive fitment
Methods, computer program products, and systems are presented. The method computer program products, and systems can include, for instance: obtaining a request for in venue pickup of an article by a customer user, the request specifying an article identifier for the article; obtaining from a data repository article dimensional information of the article; evaluating loading of the article into a transport apparatus associated to the customer user based on the article dimensional information and transport apparatus dimensional information of the transport apparatus; and outputting a notification to the customer user based on the evaluating. |
| US11257027B2 |
Methods and systems for selecting an end to end freight service
This disclosure pertains to methods and systems for selecting an end to end freight service. In one embodiment, the methods and systems disclosed herein allow for rapid and efficient selection of freight services for moving mass. In one embodiment, the methods and systems disclosed herein comprise normalizing freight service options. |
| US11257013B2 |
Coordinated delivery of dining experiences
According to one aspect, a method for executing a multi-restaurant order, may be provided; the method comprising: receiving a multi-restaurant order comprising requesting a plurality of order items associated with a plurality of restaurants from a customer; calculating a time to begin preparing a first order item associated with a first restaurant; calculating a time to begin preparing a second order item associated with a second restaurant; comparing the times; scheduling, based on the comparing, a first time to begin preparation of the first order item and a second time to begin preparation of the second order item; transmitting the first and second time to begin preparation to the first and second restaurant, respectively; generating a plurality of proposed pickup times, based on the scheduling, of the first order item and the second order item; and transmitting the plurality of proposed pickup times to a driver management module. |
| US11257011B2 |
Booked-blocked classifier
Provided are a system and method for determining whether an apparent booking is a genuine booking or is a blocked period of unavailability that is not the result of a genuine booking. Bookings occur in all sorts of industries, such as travel, medical, entertainment, weddings, catering, and the like. In some examples, the method may include receiving content from a website that includes a listing for an object, identifying a period of unavailability of the object based on the content received from the website, predicting, via a machine learning model, whether the period of unavailability of the object is a blocked period that is not a result of a reservation of the object, the predicting being performed based on additional content visible on the website being input into the machine learning model, and storing an identifier of the period of unavailability and information about the prediction within a storage device. |
| US11257007B2 |
Method and apparatus for encrypting data, method and apparatus for training machine learning model, and electronic device
An N×M dimensional target matrix is generated based on N data samples and M dimensional data features respectively corresponding to the N data samples. Encryption calculation is performed on the N×M dimensional target matrix based on a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) algorithm to obtain an N×K dimensional encryption matrix K is less than M. The N×K dimensional encryption matrix is transmitted to a modeling server. The modeling server trains a machine learning model by using the N×K dimensional encryption matrix as a training sample. |
| US11257005B2 |
Training method and training system for machine learning system
A training method and a training system for a machine learning system are provided. The method includes allocating training data to a plurality of working machines; dividing training data allocated by each working machine into a plurality of data pieces; obtaining a local weight and a local loss function value calculated by each working machine based on each data piece; aggregating the local weight and the local loss function value calculated by each work machine based on each data piece to obtain a current weight and a current loss function value; performing model abnormality detection using the current weight and/or the current loss function value; inputting a weight and a loss function value of a previous aggregation to the machine learning system for training in response to a result of the model abnormality detection being a first type of abnormality; and modifying the current weight and/or the current loss function value to a current weight and/or a current loss function value within a first threshold in response to the result of the model abnormality detection being a second type of abnormality, and inputting thereof to the machine learning system for training. |
| US11257002B2 |
Dynamic accuracy-based deployment and monitoring of machine learning models in provider networks
Techniques for dynamic accuracy-based experimentation and deployment of machine learning (ML) models are described. Inference traffic flowing to ML models and the accuracy of the models is analyzed and used to ensure that better performing models are executed more often via model selection. A predictive component can evaluate which model is more likely to be accurate for certain input data elements. Ensemble techniques can combine inference results of multiple ML models to aim to achieve a better overall result than any individual model could on its own. |
| US11256999B2 |
Methods and systems of forecasting the drying of an agricultural crop
A system for forecasting the drying of an agricultural crop includes an electronic processor configured to receive weather data associated with an agricultural field and receive an agricultural field parameter from a field sensor associated with the agricultural field. The electronic processor is also configured to determine a drying score for each of a plurality of harvest times based on the weather data and the agricultural field parameter. The electronic processor is also configured to determine a recommended harvest time for harvesting the agricultural crop based on the drying score, wherein the recommended harvest time is included in the plurality of harvest times. The electronic processor is also configured to output a forecast for the agricultural crop for display to a user, wherein the forecast includes the drying score and the recommended harvest time for harvesting the agricultural crop. |
| US11256994B1 |
System and method for prediction of protein-ligand bioactivity and pose propriety
A system and method that predicts whether a given protein-ligand pair is active or inactive and outputs a pose score classifying the propriety of the pose. A 3D bioactivity platform comprising a 3D bioactivity module and data platform scrapes empirical lab-based data that a docking simulator uses to generate a dataset from which a 3D-CNN model is trained. The model then may receive new protein-ligand pairs and determine a classification for the bioactivity and pose propriety of that protein-ligand pair. Furthermore, gradients relating to the binding affinity in the 3D model of the molecule may be used to generate profiles from which new protein targets may be determined. |
| US11256991B2 |
Method of and server for converting a categorical feature value into a numeric representation thereof
There is disclosed a method of and a system for converting a categorical feature value into a numeric representation thereof, the categorical feature being associated with a training object used for training a Machine Learning Algorithm (MLA). The MLA is trained using several models, each model comprising a plurality of decision trees (an ensemble of decision trees). For each model, a respective set of training objects into an ordered list of training objects such that for each given training object there is at least one of: (i) a preceding training object that occurs before the given training object and (ii) a subsequent training object that occurs after the given training object. The method further comprises, for a given categorical feature, using a respective ordered set to generate numeric representation of values of the given categorical feature. |
| US11256990B2 |
Memory-efficient backpropagation through time
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for training a recurrent neural network on training sequences using backpropagation through time. In one aspect, a method includes receiving a training sequence including a respective input at each of a number of time steps; obtaining data defining an amount of memory allocated to storing forward propagation information for use during backpropagation; determining, from the number of time steps in the training sequence and from the amount of memory allocated to storing the forward propagation information, a training policy for processing the training sequence, wherein the training policy defines when to store forward propagation information during forward propagation of the training sequence; and training the recurrent neural network on the training sequence in accordance with the training policy. |
| US11256986B2 |
Systems and methods for training a neural keypoint detection network
Systems and methods for training a neural keypoint detection network are disclosed herein. One embodiment extracts a portion of an input image; applies a transformation to the portion of the input image to produce a transformed portion of the input image; processes the portion of the input image and the transformed portion of the input image using the neural keypoint detection network to identify one or more candidate keypoint pairs between the portion of the input image and the transformed portion of the input image; and processes the one or more candidate keypoint pairs using an inlier-outlier neural network, the inlier-outlier neural network producing an indirect supervisory signal to train the neural keypoint detection network to identify one or more candidate keypoint pairs between the portion of the input image and the transformed portion of the input image. |
| US11256985B2 |
System and method for generating training sets for neural networks
A system and method for generating training sets for training neural networks. The method includes determining a segmentation based on a column from a columnar database table; generating a group-by query based on the segmentation; generating a plurality of reduced queries based on the group-by query; executing the group-by query on a table of a database to obtain a result table, wherein the result table includes a plurality of results, wherein each result corresponds to a respective reduced query of the plurality of reduced queries; and generating a plurality of training query pairs by pairing each reduced query with its corresponding reduced result. |
| US11256979B2 |
Common factor mass multiplication circuitry
An integrated circuit that includes common factor mass multiplier (CFMM) circuitry is provided that multiplies a common factor operand by a large number of multiplier operands. The CFMM circuitry may be implemented as a instance specific version (where at least some portion of the hardware has to be redesigned if the multipliers change) or a non-instance specific version (where the CFMM circuitry can work with arbitrary multipliers without having to redesign the hardware). Either version can be formed on a programmable integrated circuit or an application-specific integrated circuit. The CFMM circuitry may include a multiplier circuit that effectively multiplies the common factor by predetermined fixed constants to generate partial products and may further include shifting and add/subtract circuits for processing and combining the partial products to generate corresponding final output products. CFMM circuitry configured in this way can be used to support convolution neural networks or any operation that requires a straight common factor multiply. |
| US11256972B2 |
Systems and methods for providing tags adapted to be incorporated with or in items
Systems and methods for integrating tags with items. The methods comprise: dynamically determining a length of each metal thread to be incorporated into or trace to be disposed on a item to optimize tag performance in view of dielectric and tuning properties of the item. In the metal thread scenarios, the methods also involve: creating a metal thread having the length that was dynamically determined; and sewing the metal thread into the item being produced to form an antenna for a first tag. In the trace scenarios, the methods also involve forming the trace on the item being produced to form an antenna for a first tag. Next, at least a communications enabled device is attached to the item so as to form an electrical coupling or connection between the communications enabled device and the at least one antenna. |
| US11256965B2 |
Apparatus and method for recognizing object using image
An apparatus for recognizing an object using an image includes a depth map generator that generates a depth map using a feature map of the image based on a dilated convolutional neural network (DCNN) and an object recognition device that recognizes the object using the depth map generated by the depth map generator and the image. |
| US11256963B2 |
Surgical instrument detection system and computer program
A surgical instrument detection system is provided that can determine the kinds of surgical instruments without special processing, such as application of an optically readable symbol, to the surgical instruments. A surgical instrument detection system 100 includes: an image input section 31 to input an image taken by a camera 1; an object extraction section 32 to clip an object image of a small steel article from the input image; a determination section 33 to input the object image to a learned classification model 331 and determine a kind of the small steel article based on features included in the object image; and an output image generation section 34 to generate an image representing the result of determination by the determination section and output such image to a monitor 2. |
| US11256961B2 |
Training a neural network to predict superpixels using segmentation-aware affinity loss
Segmentation is the identification of separate objects within an image. An example is identification of a pedestrian passing in front of a car, where the pedestrian is a first object and the car is a second object. Superpixel segmentation is the identification of regions of pixels within an object that have similar properties. An example is identification of pixel regions having a similar color, such as different articles of clothing worn by the pedestrian and different components of the car. A pixel affinity neural network (PAN) model is trained to generate pixel affinity maps for superpixel segmentation. The pixel affinity map defines the similarity of two points in space. In an embodiment, the pixel affinity map indicates a horizontal affinity and vertical affinity for each pixel in the image. The pixel affinity map is processed to identify the superpixels. |
| US11256959B2 |
Method and system for training artificial neural network based image classifier using class-specific relevant features
The disclosure relates to method and system for training an artificial neural network (ANN) based image classifier using class-specific relevant features. The method includes receiving the ANN based image classifier, training image dataset, and various features of the training image dataset. The method further includes determining a relative relevance value of each of the features corresponding to each of the classes based on the ANN based image classifier, segregating co-occurring features from the features for each of the classes based on the training image dataset and the ANN based image classifier, identifying an imbalance in the class-specific relevant features for each of the classes based on the relative relevance value of each of the features corresponding to each of the classes, and updating the ANN based image classifier based on the imbalance in the class-specific relevant features and the co-occurring features for each of the classes. |
| US11256953B2 |
Image identification apparatus, image identification method, training apparatus, and neural network having sub-neural networks respectively inputted with mutually different data
There is provided with an image identification apparatus. An extraction unit extracts a feature value of an image from image data using a Neural Network (NN). A processing unit identifies the image based on the feature value extracted by the extraction unit. The NN comprises a plurality of calculation layers connected hierarchically. The NN includes a plurality of sub-neural networks for performing processing of calculation layers after a specific calculation layer. Mutually different data from an output of the specific calculation layer are respectively inputted to the plurality of sub-neural networks. |
| US11256952B2 |
Image privacy perception method based on deep learning
An image privacy perception method based on deep learning, including the following steps: S1, building a privacy classification data set with labeled categories, and training a privacy perception network with a transfer learning method; S2, recognizing a privacy image using a deep convolutional neural network oriented to privacy perception; and S3, extracting an attention profile according to deep convolutional features of the neural network, and locating an attention focusing region to complete the perception of an image privacy region. The method has the following beneficial effects: by completing end-to-end training and testing based on the deep neural network, the privacy image can be accurately distinguished with the privacy region located, facilitating the selective protection of the privacy information in the image. |
| US11256951B2 |
Systems and methods of person recognition in video streams
The various implementations described herein include systems and methods for recognizing persons in video streams. In one aspect, a method includes: obtaining images collected by video cameras in a smart home environment, each image including a detected person; for each image, obtaining first information that identifies an attribute of the detected person, the first information generated from analysis of the image; grouping the images into a first group of a plurality of groups based on the first information, each group of the plurality of groups representing a unique person; receiving a request to remove a first image from the first group; removing the first image from the first group; and disassociating the first information from the first group. |
| US11256949B2 |
Guided sparse feature matching via coarsely defined dense matches
An example method is described herein. The method includes executing dense feature matching on an image pair that is down sampled to obtain a first set of feature correspondences for each pixel of the down sampled image pair. The method also includes calculating a neighborhood correspondence based on the first set of feature correspondences for each pixel in a first image of the image pair. Further, the method includes executing sparse feature matching on stereoscopic patch pairs from the image pair based on the neighborhood correspondence for each pixel to obtain correspondence estimates for each stereoscopic patch pair. Finally, the method includes refining the correspondence estimates for each stereoscopic patch pair to obtain a semi-dense set of feature correspondences by applying a geometric constraint to the correspondence estimates and retaining correspondences that satisfy the geometric constraint. |
| US11256947B2 |
Pattern shape measuring method
According to one embodiment, an image data of a measurement object including a pattern is acquired. First data is acquired by extracting a contour of an element in composition of the pattern from the image data. Second data that specifies a design data of the measurement object and the pattern of the measurement object is acquired. The design data includes a pattern data. A measurement pattern is extracted by using the first data and the second data. An evaluation value for the measurement pattern with respect to the design data is calculated based on the difference between the measurement pattern and the design data. |
| US11256946B2 |
Method of processing and recognizing hand-written characters
The present disclosure relates to a method and system of processing original handwriting input, the system and method being capable of recognize a plurality of strokes provided on the input recognition interface, the method including: determining a stroke box around each stroke; determining overlap between the stroke boxes; correlating overlapping stroke boxes to one or more characters; providing a character box around each of the one or more characters; determining overlap between character boxes; correlating overlapping character boxes to one or more words; providing a word box around each of the one or more words; provide a word margin around each of the one or more word boxes; determining overlap between each word box to determine a line; wherein each of the characters, words, or lines can be individually selected and rearranged, the system automatically adjusting spacing or placement of surrounding elements to allow for the rearrangement. |
| US11256944B2 |
Image evaluation and dynamic cropping system
Systems for image evaluation and dynamic cropping are provided. In some examples, a system, may receive an instrument or image of an instrument. Identifying information may be extracted from the instrument or image of the instrument. Based on the extracted identifying information, a check/check image profile may be retrieved. In some examples, expected size and/or shape data may be extracted from the check/check image profile. The extracted expected size and/or shape data may be compared to size and/or shape data from the received instrument or image of the instrument to identify any anomalies (e.g., to determine whether the expected size and/or shape data matches the size and/or shape data of the received instrument or image of the instrument. If the expected size and/or shape data does not match size and/or shape data from the received instrument or image of the instrument, the instrument or image of the instrument may be programmatically modified and a modified image of the instrument may be generated. |
| US11256942B2 |
Object recognition system, object control device, object recognition device, object recognition method, object control method, and recording medium
The object recognition system comprises: a detection unit for detecting a moving target object as an object to be recognized; an imaging unit for capturing a moving image of the target object; a control unit for controlling the state of objects, the state of which can be changed in a capturing area of the imaging unit, on the basis of the output of the detection unit such that a change in light quantity or hue between captured images due to the change in the state of the objects falls within a predetermined range; an identification unit for, upon detecting the change in the state of the objects included in the moving images, identifying a captured image to be recognized; and a recognition unit for recognizing the target object included in the identified captured image. |
| US11256940B1 |
Method, apparatus and system for gradient updating of image processing model
The present disclosure is applied for artificial intelligence (AI) technology field and provided a method for gradient updating of an image processing model and a related apparatus thereof. The method includes: determining a convolution kernel and convoluted data corresponding to each convolution layer by invoking a direct memory access (DMA) controlling module, according to convolution parameters of each convolution layer in the image processing model, and storing the convolution kernel and the convoluted data into a first cache space and a second cache space, respectively, the convolution kernel including a convolution kernel for an original image feature gradient and a convolution kernel for an original weight gradient; and performing an inverted convolution calculation based on the convolution kernel in the first cache space and the convoluted data in the second cache space to update the original image feature gradient and the original weight gradient of each convolution layer. |
| US11256938B2 |
Method and apparatus with liveness testing
A method with liveness testing may include: acquiring an infrared (IR) image including an object, and a depth image including the object; generating a first preprocessed IR image by performing first edge enhancement preprocessing on the IR image; generating a preprocessed depth image by performing second edge enhancement preprocessing on the depth image; and determining whether the object is a genuine object based on the first preprocessed IR image and the preprocessed depth image. |
| US11256936B2 |
Vehicle occupant count monitoring system
A vehicle occupant count monitoring system includes: an imaging unit that captures a depth image including a distance to an occupant in a cabin of a vehicle; a facial recognizing unit that recognizes a face of the occupant from the depth image captured by the imaging unit; an upper half body recognizing unit that recognizes an upper half body of the occupant from the depth image captured by the imaging unit; and a counting unit that counts the number of occupants by combining a recognition result of the face using the facial recognizing unit and a recognition result of the upper half body using the upper half body recognizing unit. |
| US11256932B2 |
Falling object detection apparatus, in-vehicle system, vehicle, and computer readable medium
An acquisition unit of a falling object detection apparatus installed and used in a first vehicle acquires a depth image of a second vehicle, on which a load is mounted and which is traveling in front of the first vehicle, and of the area around the second vehicle. A determination unit of the falling object detection apparatus determines whether the load has not made a movement different from that of the second vehicle, using the depth image acquired by the acquisition unit. A detection unit of the falling object detection apparatus detects a fall of the load based on a result of determination by the determination unit. |
| US11256931B2 |
Rearview device simulation
A method for displaying and processing an image captured by an optical system used to simulate a rear-view system of a vehicle, includes capturing the image, calculating a region of interest (ROI) on the captured image, calculating a blur factor for blurring the ROI using one or more inputs, manipulating an image gradient pixel by pixel using the blur factor to reduce at least one of a brightness or a contrast of one or more pixels of the ROI, and displaying the processed image on a display. |
| US11256930B2 |
Road surface management system and road surface management method thereof
According to one embodiment, a road surface management system inputs image data of road surface and capturing information of each of the image data and registers them. The image data are collected by repeatedly capturing a same route at predetermined distance. The capturing information includes information of a location and time at time of capturing. The system selects old and new images at a same spot from the registered image data, performs an association process, extracts an original image which is an old image at an arbitrary spot and a target image which is a new image associated with the original image unit based on the result of the association process, and outputs the original image and the target image. |
| US11256929B2 |
Image-based road cone recognition method and apparatus, storage medium, and vehicle
An image-based road cone recognition method, apparatus, storage medium, and vehicle. Said method comprises: acquiring, during vehicle driving, an image of an object to be recognized; performing differential processing of the image, so as to acquire an image on which the differential processing has been performed, and performing, according to a preset threshold, ternary processing of the image on which the differential processing has been performed, so as to acquire a ternary image comprising forward boundary pixels and negative boundary pixels; acquiring, according to the forward boundary pixels and the negative boundary pixels, a forward straight line segment and a negative straight line segment which represent the trend of the boundaries of the object to be recognized; when position information of the forward and negative straight line segments matches boundary position information of a known road cone, determining that the object to be recognized is a road cone. |
| US11256928B2 |
Information providing apparatus and methods for a vehicle
An information providing apparatus, for a vehicle, includes a skill level determining unit, a driving load determining unit, and an information provision controller. The skill level determining unit is configured to determine a driving skill level of a driver of the vehicle when the vehicle is traveling. The driving load determining unit is configured to determine a driving load on the driver. The information provision controller is configured to control provision of information to the driver on the basis of the driving skill level and the driving load. |
| US11256923B2 |
Detecting sentinel frames in video delivery using a pattern analysis
Particular embodiments extract features for frames from a video. Then, a sequence of frames is identified based on a pattern analysis of frames based on the features. This pattern may be used to select sentinel features from the sequence of frames. For example, a pattern may include a first sentinel sequence followed by a transitional frame and then a second sentinel sequence. The transitional frame may be a black frame that is used to identify back-to-back sentinel sequences. Then, a sentinel frame that demarks a transition from a first content type to a second content type is identified. For example, the frames on either side of the black frame may be very similar and be identified as sentinel frames that mark a transition from program content to advertisement content. The above process may allow automated detection of sentinel frames that can run without user supervision. |
| US11256920B2 |
Method and apparatus for classifying video
A method and an apparatus for classifying a video are provided. The method may include: acquiring a to-be-classified video; extracting a set of multimodal features of the to-be-classified video; inputting the set of multimodal features into a post-fusion model corresponding to each modal respectively, to obtain multimodal category information of the to-be-classified video; and fusing the multimodal category information of the to-be-classified video, to obtain category information of the to-be-classified video. This embodiment improves the accuracy of video classification. |
| US11256919B2 |
Method and device for terminal-based object recognition, electronic device
The present disclosure relates to the technical field of terminals, and particularly relates to a method and device for terminal-based object recognition, and an electronic device. The method includes: receiving a function instruction for simulated magnifier input to a terminal by a user; activating a camera of the terminal according to the function instruction for simulated magnifier; determining an object to be recognized based on an object photographed by the camera; acquiring a physical distance between the object to be recognized and the camera, and acquiring a preset focal length corresponding to the physical distance; generating, according to the preset focal length, a first image corresponding to the object to be recognized, and displaying the first image; performing image processing and image recognition on the first image; and displaying information of the object to be recognized at the terminal according to a result of image processing and image recognition. |
| US11256915B2 |
Object tracking across multiple images
Implementations are described herein for utilizing various image processing techniques to facilitate tracking and/or counting of plant-parts-of-interest among crops. In various implementations, a sequence of digital images of a plant captured by a vision sensor while the vision sensor is moved relative to the plant may be obtained. A first digital image and a second digital image of the sequence may be analyzed to determine one or more constituent similarity scores between plant-parts-of-interest across the first and second digital images. The constituent similarity scores may be used, e.g., collectively as a composite similarity score, to determine whether a depiction of a plant-part-of-interest in the first digital images matches a depiction of a plant-part-of-interest in the second digital image. |
| US11256908B2 |
Systems and methods of detecting and responding to a visitor to a smart home environment
A method of detecting and responding to a visitor to a smart home environment via an electronic greeting system of the smart home environment, including determining that a visitor is approaching an entryway of the smart home environment; initiating a facial recognition operation while the visitor is approaching the entryway; initiating an observation window in response to the determination that a visitor is approaching the entryway; obtaining context information from one or more sensors of the smart home environment during the observation window; and at the end of the time window, initiating a response to the detected approach of the visitor based on the context information and/or an outcome of the facial recognition operation. |
| US11256905B2 |
Face detection method and apparatus, service processing method, terminal device, and storage medium
Embodiments of this application disclose a face detection method and apparatus, a service processing method, a terminal device, and a storage medium. The method can include obtaining a to-be-detected target facial image, and performing a hierarchical fitting training by using a face alignment algorithm and a sample data set to obtain a target face alignment model. Further, the method can include invoking the target face alignment model to perform a face alignment detection on the target facial image, to obtain a target key point set of the target facial image, and determining a feature area of the target facial image according to the target key point set. |
| US11256901B2 |
Image information processing method and apparatus, and computer storage medium
An image processing method performed at a computing device includes: identifying, using face recognition, one or more faces, each face corresponding to a respective person captured in a first image; for each identified face: extracting a set of profile parameters of a corresponding person in the first image; and selecting, from a plurality of image tiles, a first image tile that matches the face of the corresponding person in the first image in accordance with a predefined correspondence between the set of profile parameters of the corresponding person and a set of pre-stored description parameters of the first image tile; generating a second image by covering the faces of respective persons in the first image with their corresponding first image tiles; and sharing the first image and the second image in a predefined order via a group chat session. |
| US11256900B1 |
Facial recognition methods and apparatuses
Methods, systems, and apparatus for facial recognition. An example method includes storing encrypted facial features of a target user that are encrypted by using a first public key; receiving a recognition request from an end-user device of the target user, wherein the recognition request comprises an encrypted facial image and a second public key; performing homomorphic feature processing on the encrypted facial image; obtain obfuscated and encrypted output features; obtain obfuscated and encrypted facial features; transmitting the obfuscated and encrypted output features and the obfuscated and encrypted facial features to the end-user device; receiving from the end-user device a difference between the second intermediate value and the first intermediate value; and determining whether the to-be-recognized facial image corresponds to a facial image of the target user, comprising removing an impact of the first obfuscation and the second obfuscation on the difference. |
| US11256899B2 |
Method and apparatus for classifying a seed as inbred or hybrid
A apparatus for classifying a seed as inbred or hybrid comprises a terahertz signal source for emitting a terahertz signal towards the seed, a detector for detecting at least part of the terahertz signal having interacted with the seed, a scanner for moving the support relative to the terahertz signal to provide a scan of the seed, a data processing device for forming an image data from the detected terahertz signal as obtained for a plurality of positions during the scan of the seed, and a decision support system for providing a classification from the image data. In an embodiment, the terahertz signal source is arranged for emitting a continuous or pulse wave signal, and wherein the detector is arranged for detecting an amplitude and a phase of the terahertz signal having interacted with the seed. A signal representing an outcome of the classification may control a separator to separate seeds according to their classification. |
| US11256898B2 |
Culture information processing device
A culture information processing device includes: a feature value computing unit that computes growth feature values indicating features of growth characteristics of cells from data acquired in a particular first subculturing process selected from among a plurality of subculturing processes included in a culture period of the cells; a condition setting unit that sets culturing conditions of a second subculturing process one process after the first subculturing process; and an information computing unit that computes, on the basis of the growth feature values computed by the feature value computing unit and the culturing conditions set by the condition setting unit, characteristics-related information related to growth characteristics in the second subculturing process. |
| US11256897B2 |
Fingerprint identification device and manufacturing method thereof, and light guide component
A fingerprint identification device and a manufacturing method thereof, and a light guide component are provided, the fingerprint identification device includes: a display panel including a light-emitting surface and an opposite side opposite to each other, the light-emitting surface being configured to approach valley and ridge of a fingerprint to be identified; a light guide component disposed on the opposite side; and a light sensing component disposed on a side of the light guide component away from the display panel, the light guide component includes a light-shielding film layer made of a black light-shielding material, the light-shielding film layer is provided with a plurality of light-passing holes arranged in an array, and each of the light-passing holes has a light collecting angle of θ, which is less than or equal to the maximum light collecting angle α at which the valley and ridge of the fingerprint can be distinguished. |
| US11256889B2 |
Illumination assemblies for use in barcode readers and devices and methods associated therewith
At least some embodiments of the present invention are directed toward optical arrangements for use in providing illumination light emitted by a barcode reader. In some embodiments, the arrangement includes an illumination source, a lens positioned within the path of the illumination light emitted by the illumination source where the lens is operable to collimate the light and redirect its central axis, and a window positioned within the path of the redirected and collimated light where the window is operable to alter the illumination light such that the resulting illumination light beam has a height-to-width ratio of less than 8 to 25. |
| US11256879B2 |
Translation synthesizer for analysis, amplification and remediation of linguistic data across a translation supply chain
Systems and methods for translating a source segment are disclosed. In embodiments, a computer-implemented method for translating a source segment comprises receiving, by a computing device, the source segment in a first language to be translated into a second language; identifying, by the computing device, linguistic markers within the source segment and associated noise values to produce a tagged source segment, wherein the linguistic markers are associated with one or more linguistic patterns likely to introduce noise into a translation channel; transforming, by the computing device, the tagged source segment into an amplified source segment; and sending, by the computing device, the amplified source segment to a machine translation module, wherein the machine translation module is configured to process the amplified source segment to produce a return amplified match in the second language. |
| US11256876B2 |
Gap in care determination using a generic repository for healthcare
By extracting clinical data of any format from respective different sources, a data repository normalized to a generic format is created. A medical domain specific language may be used to interact with the data repository for identifying cohorts and gaps in care for the respective cohorts. Any rules for finding gaps in care are converted into the medical domain specific language for determining gaps. This standardization in both the data repository and rule application may allow for a true cost and time to value solution accessible to many different medical practices. |
| US11256875B1 |
Synchronous interfacing with unaffiliated networked systems to alter functionality of sets of electronic assets
Systems and methods for managing a set of electronic assets from a single location are disclosed. The method includes providing a portal with a network security access control. The method includes determining that login credentials input to the access control are associated with a set of electronic assets corresponding to a plurality of third-party computing systems with application programming interface (API) gateways configured to accept API calls directed to changes in functionality of the electronic assets. The method includes presenting, via the portal, a virtual icon to identify a coordinated action with respect to the set of electronic assets and, in response to a selection of the virtual icon, executing a set of API calls that include an asset-specific API call to each third-party computing system in the plurality of third-party computing systems to implement the coordinated action on all electronic assets in the set of electronic assets. |
| US11256872B2 |
Natural language polishing using vector spaces having relative similarity vectors
Aspects of the invention include receiving an original work written in a first style to be transformed into a derivate work written in a second style. The transforming includes accessing a similarity data structure organized to include a phrase-similarity vector space of phrase vectors representing degrees of similarity between phrases in a corpus of works written in the second style. An original sentence of the original work that includes one or more original phrases is obtained. The original phrases are located in the phrase-similarity vector space. For each of the original phrases, a similar phrase from the phrase-similarity vector space is selected based on the selected similar phrase having a phrase-similarity index corresponding to the original phrase that is greater than a predetermined phrase-similarity index threshold. The derivative work is created by replacing the original phrases in the original work with the selected similar phrases. The derivative work is output. |
| US11256862B2 |
Cognitive collation configuration for enhancing multilingual data governance and management
Embodiments of the present invention provide a computer-implemented method for cognitive collation configuration processing of multilingual data. The method includes parsing a multilingual input text into a plurality of collation items. The method includes detecting a language of each collation item of the plurality of collation items. The method includes storing each collation item, of the plurality of collation items, into a corresponding sub language buffer of a plurality of sub language buffers. The method includes performing a first sort operation on the plurality of sub language buffers, in which the first sort operation includes sorting the plurality of sub language buffers based on a set of collation settings, in which the set of collation settings includes a language selection list. The method includes merging the content of the sorted plurality of sub language buffers to form a sorted output comprising the plurality of collation items. |
| US11256859B2 |
Extending a classification database by user interactions
Web page items and other requests can be automatically categorized. An interaction with a web page item can be categorized based on previous categorizations of other web page items in which the same or similar data has been entered into a web page. A classification database containing categories of classified web page items is maintained. An interaction database containing interaction records of a user is maintained. The interaction records include a value corresponding to the user and a web page item. A web page item on a web page visited by a user and that is a user-fillable field that has been previously categorized in the classification database may be automatically populated with a value stored in an interaction database and that corresponds to the user and the user-fillable field. |
| US11256858B2 |
Third party assets merging for embedment into web pages
An asset merging system generates a merge file containing assets from multiple party systems. The asset merging system receives the assets and determines whether any of the assets has changed versus previously received versions of the assets. If any of the received assets has changed, the asset merging system generates a merge file containing at least the most recent version of the changed assets. The asset merging system then communicates the merge file to a content delivery network (CDN) for serving to users requesting for content that uses the assets in the merge file. |
| US11256857B2 |
Apparatus and non-transitory computer readable medium for proposal creation corresponding to a target person
A document creation apparatus includes a processor configured to: acquire information about a person; estimate a topic of interest to the person, based on the acquired information; acquire one or more articles related to the estimated topic; and create a document by using the acquired one or more articles. |
| US11256856B2 |
Method, device, and system, for identifying data elements in data structures
A computer implemented method for identifying one or more data elements in an input data stream formed from an input data structure using processing enabled by a processor-executable instruction can be stored on a non-transitory computerized storage medium. This stored method includes identifying a marker sequence set in the input document string, the marker sequence set including a marker sequence; assigning an eligibility value to each marker sequence, the eligibility value being a number calculated using an eligibility calculation, to obtain at least one eligible marker sequence; generating output data comprising data related to the at least one eligible marker sequence; and providing the output data, such as on a human-readable interface. |
| US11256845B2 |
Machine-learning driven prediction in integrated circuit design
Training data is collected for each training integrated circuit (IC) design of a set of training IC designs by: extracting a first set of IC design features in a first stage of an IC design flow, and extracting a first set of IC design labels in a second stage of the IC design flow, where the first stage of the IC design flow occurs earlier than the second stage of the IC design flow in the IC design flow. Next, a machine learning model is trained based on the training data. |
| US11256844B2 |
Cell row arrangement in regions of integrated circuit layout
A method of generating a layout design of an integrated circuit. The method includes forming a first region having at least two first-type cell rows extending in a first direction. Each one of the first-type cell rows has a first row height measured along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. The method also includes forming a second region having at least two second-type cell rows extending in the first direction. Each one of the second-type cell rows has a second row height measured along the second direction. The first region is adjacent to the second region, and the first row height of the first-type cell rows is different from the second row height of the second-type cell rows. |
| US11256843B2 |
Computer readable storage medium and method of forming electronic circuit diagram
There is provided a computer readable storage medium storing a program executable by a computer, and the program causes the computer to execute functions including: forming a first image in accordance with an electronic circuit diagram, in which a resistance value of a wiring portion is defined, to form the wiring portion by printing with a conductive ink; and correcting the first image in accordance with a second image, which is formed with a photothermal conversion material, when the first image is formed at least partially overlapping the second image, wherein the second image is an image for expanding a thermally expandable layer that thermally expands with heat and, when the image is irradiated with light, expanding the thermally expandable layer by converting the light into heat with the photothermal conversion material. |
| US11256842B2 |
Simulation method, simulation device and readable storage medium
A simulation method, simulation device and a readable storage medium are disclosed, in which a correction circuit is added to an equivalent circuit model for a three-terminal circuit employed in a SPICE simulation system. The correction circuit enables simulating behavior of the resistor module, enabling the SPICE simulation system to take in account the body effect. Therefore, simulation results obtained from the simulation model and simulation parameters for the resistor module can better reflect resistor behavior with body effect in an actual circuit, resulting in effectively improved simulation accuracy of the SPICE simulation system and allowing the system to provide more accurate circuit simulation results. Fitting tests can be performed to obtain first-order, second-order and resistor-width-dependent correction coefficients for a body voltage of the resistor module. Thus dependence of resistor behavior on the body voltage can be better predicted, allowing a good reflection of resistor behavior with body effect. |
| US11256841B1 |
Method and system to implement a composite, multi-domain model for electro-optical modeling and simulation
Provided is an improved method, system, and computer program product to implement simulation for photonic devices. A composite, multi-domain simulation model is disclosed, with connected domain-specific representations that allow the use of the most relevant simulator technology for a given domain. The model has external connection points either expressed as actual ports or virtual ones, embodied by simulator API calls in the model. |
| US11256839B1 |
IP block scan chain construction
A scan chain engine can determine a set number of EXTEST scan chains for the IP block and based on a predetermined maximum number of EXTEST wrapper cells per EXTEST scan chain. The scan chain engine iteratively executes partitioning on the IP block to generate a set of partitions. Each partition in the set of partitions has a number of EXTEST wrapper cells that does not exceed the maximum number of EXTEST wrapper cells per EXTEST scan chain. The scan chain engine selectively merges partitions of the set of partitions to form a set of populated partitions that each include an EXTEST wrapper cell. The number of partitions is equal to the set number of EXTEST scan chains for the IP block. The scan chain engine generates wire paths connecting EXTEST wrapper cells of each populated partition to construct the set number of EXTEST scan chains for the IP block. |
| US11256838B2 |
Establishing method for timing model
An establishing method for the timing model includes: identifying at least one first victim path which is a boundary path in a circuit block; determining whether to remove a first aggressor path corresponding to the first victim path according to a transmission delay on the first victim path; finding a plurality of high-fanout circuit devices with a fanout number greater than a preset value in the circuit block; determining whether to remove each of the high-fanout circuit devices according to a connection position of each of the high-fanout circuit devices; identifying a plurality of second victim paths corresponding to each of the high-fanout circuit devices, and determining whether to keep or remove a second aggressor path corresponding to each of the second victim paths according to a transmission delay of each of the second victim paths. |
| US11256837B1 |
Methods, systems, and computer program product for implementing an electronic design with high-capacity design closure
Disclosed are methods, systems, and articles of manufacture for implementing an electronic design with high-capacity design closure. A reduced netlist may be generated for an analysis view of an electronic design based at least in part upon logic of interest in the analysis view. A closure may be performed based at least in part upon a union netlist, wherein the union netlist is generated from the reduced netlist. The electronic design may then be implemented based at least in part upon a result of the closure task. |
| US11256832B2 |
Replica selection
Described herein is a computer-implemented method for designing a three-dimensional modeled physical part. The method comprises providing a boundary representation of the modeled physical part, selecting, upon user action, a subset of the boundary representation that represents a geometric feature, identifying all the subsets of the boundary representation that are similar to the selected subset of the boundary representation by applying a feature similarity function. |
| US11256831B2 |
System and method for secure electric power delivery
An information security system and method that provides electric power to an authorized user and denies electric power to an unauthorized user. An administrator requests access for a user, and a site controller generates a key/receptacle tuple for the use. The key/receptacle tuple is communicated to a site power source, which broadcasts the key/receptacle information to all secure receptacles in a facility, or other infrastructure. The key is also communicated to the user. The user plugs in a device into a secure receptacle and provides the key via a secure adapter between the device and the secure receptacle. If the key is valid, the users' device is supplied with electric power; otherwise, electric power is denied to the unauthorized user's device. The usage of the secure receptacles are logged and analyzed by the site controller and reports are communicated to the administrator. |
| US11256830B2 |
Apparatus for adding protection function for indirect access memory controller
Embodiments of the disclosure provide an apparatus for adding a protection function for an indirect access memory controller. The apparatus can include: a bus monitoring unit configured to monitor a bus address, perform permission authentication if a register controlling operation is detected, and configure a list entry if a permission list configuring operation is detected; an permission list unit configured to partition a memory space into several virtual memory protection areas and independently set an access permission attribute (i.e.: readable, writable, erasable, etc.) of each memory area; a window register information bus configured to provide window register information, i.e., transmit window register information in the memory controller to the protective apparatus, wherein the window register information includes a read window address, a write window address, and an erase window address, and multiple window addresses can correspond to the same bus window register; and an unauthorized operation processing unit configured to process a subsequent operation performed when a permission violating access occurs. The present disclosure can add a memory protection function by merely making simple modifications, thereby achieving an objective of memory protection. |
| US11256829B2 |
Data verification
One or more embodiments of the present specification relate to data verification methods, apparatuses, and electronic devices. An example method includes obtaining a smart contract from a main chain network, determining, based on the smart contract, a sub-chain network corresponding to the main chain network and including a first blockchain node and a second blockchain node, sending through the sub-chain network, a data verification request that includes data to be verified, receiving a verification result and verification progress information, storing the verification result in the sub-chain network, and storing the verification progress information in the main chain network. |
| US11256825B2 |
Systems and methods for securing data in electronic communications
Certain embodiments involve data security. For instance, Records having sensitive information can be transformed to generate transformed data using a hashing algorithm. An electronic communication comprising content can be received. Transformed content can be generated by transforming the content. The transformed content can be compared to the transformed data. The transformed content can be determined to match at least one of the transformed records. The electronic communication can be prevented from being transmitted to a network. |
| US11256824B2 |
Securing database backups with unique global identifier
A method and system for performing secure database backups with a globally unique identifier to prevent unauthorized access to or restoration of backup data are provided, wherein a first database management system (DBMS) generates an instance of a database and a corresponding globally unique identifier (GUID) to uniquely identify and secure the database instance. The first DBMS uses a hash function to generate a hash of the GUID, which is then stored in association with the database instance. Encrypted backup sets of the database instance are generated by the first DBMS, wherein the GUID is encrypted and stored in association with each backup set. The first DBMS encodes each encrypted backup set to require that a second or subsequent DBMS possess the identical GUID associated with the database instance before any attempt to access or restore the backup set is permitted. |
| US11256823B2 |
Methods and apparatus for efficiently implementing a distributed database within a network
An apparatus includes a processor and a memory operatively coupled to the processor and associated with an instance of a distributed database at a first compute device. The processor is configured to select an anonymous communication path. Each blinded public key from a sequence of blinded public keys associated with the anonymous communication path is associated with a pseudonym of a compute device from a set of compute devices that implement the anonymous communication path. The processor is configured to generate an encrypted message encrypted with a first blinded public key. The processor is configured to generate an encrypted data packet including the encrypted message and a compute device identifier associated with a second compute device. The encrypted data packet is encrypted with a second blinded public key. The processor is configured to send the encrypted data packet to a third compute device. |
| US11256822B2 |
Systems and methods of gesture triggered automatic erasure on a private network
The systems and methods of gesture triggered automatic erasure on a private network, comprising: establishing a secure and encrypted private network with one or more profile computing devices; embedding local information on a first profile within one or more secure objects; embedding transit information exchanged by the first profile on the private network within one or more secure objects at source and destination; receiving a signal from the first profile computing device; automatically deleting one or more of the secure objects with embedded local and transit information from all profile computing devices. |
| US11256811B2 |
Secure boot at shutdown
A secure boot system and method to reduce a total time to boot by performing secure boot validation at shutdown and storing an authentication code in a secure manner, in effect, pre-authenticating an application so that, at the next boot, authentication may be bypassed. |
| US11256809B2 |
Security for private data inputs to artificial intelligence models
Methods, systems, and devices for supporting security for private data inputs to artificial intelligence models are described. A device (e.g., an application server) may receive a request to run an artificial intelligence model. The device may run the artificial intelligence model on a public data set and an extended set of data that includes both the public data set and a private data set. The device may determine a first set of outcomes based on running the artificial intelligence model on the public data set and a second set of outcomes based on rerunning the model on the extended set of data. The device may then compare the two sets of outcomes to determine whether a private data value is identifiable based on the second set of outcomes. If a private data value is identifiable, the device may obfuscate the results prior to transmitting the results to the requestor. |
| US11256808B2 |
Detecting malware via scanning for dynamically generated function pointers in memory
Techniques for detecting malware via scanning for dynamically generated function pointers in memory are disclosed. In some embodiments, a system/process/computer program product for detecting malware via scanning for dynamically generated function pointers in memory includes monitoring changes in memory during execution of a malware sample in a computing environment; detecting a dynamically generated function pointer in memory based on an analysis of the monitored changes in memory during execution of the malware sample in the computing environment; and generating a signature based on detection of the dynamically generated function pointer in memory, wherein the malware sample was determined to be malicious. |
| US11256807B2 |
Mitigation of return-oriented programming exploits
A computing apparatus, including: a processor; a memory; and encoded logic to instruct the processor to: identify within the memory a payload that is suspected to be a return-oriented programming (ROP) chain; execute the suspected ROP chain in a speculative execution path within the processor; force a missed prediction of the speculative execution path; determine that the suspected ROP chain executed through; and take a security action responsive to the determining. |
| US11256805B2 |
Method and system for identification of secure binary images
A method at a computing device for identification of secure binary images, the method including: dissecting a binary image into routines and functions; disassembling byte code for the dissected routines and functions; retrieving local routine and function parameters; counting a number of conditional routines for each local routine and function parameter; and creating a confidence score for each dissected routine and function. |
| US11256800B2 |
Electronic apparatus and unlocking method thereof
An electronic apparatus and an unlocking method thereof are provided. The electronic apparatus receives an input password. When the input password matches a valid password, the electronic apparatus is unlocked. When the input password does not match the valid password, a protection system is activated. The protection system collects usage information and posts a warning message to a social networking site based on the usage information. |
| US11256798B2 |
Systems and methods for decryption as a service
Systems and methods for decryption of payloads are disclosed herein. In various embodiments, systems and methods herein are configured for decrypting thousands of transactions per second. Further, in particular embodiments, the systems and methods herein are scalable, such that many thousands of transactions can be processed per second upon replicating particular architectural components. |
| US11256797B2 |
Remote attestation for multi-core processor
The disclosed technology is generally directed to the authentication of software. In one example of the technology, a private attestation key is stored in hardware. In some examples, during a sequential boot process a hash is calculated, in an order in which the software stages are sequentially booted, of each software stage of a plurality of software stages. The hashes of each software stage of the plurality may be cryptographically appended to an accumulation register. The accumulation register may be used to attest to validity of the software stages. The plurality of software stages may include a first bootloader, a runtime for a first core of a multi-core processor, and a runtime for a first execution environment for a second core of the multi-core processor. |