| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US08024810B2 |
Method and apparatus for protecting digital data by double re-encryption
A method and an apparatus ensuring protection of digital data are provided.In addition to re-encrypting the data using an unchangeable key, the data is double re-encrypted using a changeable key. The changeable key is used first and the unchangeable key is then used, or in another case, the unchangeable key is used first, and the changeable key is then used. In the aspect of embodiments, there is a case adopting a software, a case adopting a hardware, or a case adopting the software and the hardware in combination. The hardware using the unchangeable key developed for digital video is available. In adopting the software, encryption/decryption is performed in a region below the kernel which cannot be handled by the user to ensure the security for the program and for the key used. More concretely, encryption/decryption is performed with RTOS using a HAL and a device driver, i.e., a filter driver, a disk driver and a network driver, in an I/O manager. Either one of two filter drivers, with a file system driver between them, may be used. Further, both filter drivers may be used. |
| US08024809B2 |
System and method for deleting confidential information
A system includes a first wireless-enabled device that transparently stores confidential information and a second wireless-enabled device that stores the same confidential information. The confidential information is to be used to secure a wireless communication link between the first device and the second device. One or both of the first device and the second device is to delete the confidential information upon fulfillment of one or more conditions related to the communication link. |
| US08024793B2 |
Password generator, system and use thereof
A password generator for use with a detector and a verifier in an encapsulated system is provided, as is a system for generating and verifying passwords. The password generator comprises a support, a sensor for detecting a signal from the detector, a data transmitter for transmitting binary data as pulses, a processor that is initialized by the verifier and that controls the data to be sent, a controller for activating the processor and a connector to releasably connect the password generator with the verifier. The system employs a mouse as the detector. |
| US08024791B2 |
Providing hints while entering protected information
One or more hints can be presented during the entry of protected information. Traditionally, for security reasons, the protected information is displayed as ambiguous characters, hindering the ability to determine if there was an error inputting the information. A hash can be calculated from some or all of the protected information already input, and the resulting hash value can be used to select a hint. The hints can be selected from a relatively small number of easily distinguishable hints, including visual, auditory and sensory hints, or any combination thereof. The hints are not a globally unique identifier of the protected information and can, instead, be used to detect a deviation from the correct entry of the protected information. |
| US08024784B1 |
Method and system for providing remote secure access to a peer computer
A method and system for allowing a user to access a peer from a remote system are described. The method and system include authenticating the user for the peer using an authentication server and providing a token for the peer and the user based on the authenticating. The user is authenticated from the remote system. The method and system also include allowing the user to access the peer from the remote system through a proxy server and using the token, if the user is authenticated. |
| US08024773B2 |
Integrated guidance and validation policy based zoning mechanism
A mechanism is provided to automatically retrieve zoning best practices from a centralized repository and to ensure that automatically generated zones do not violate these best practices. A user selects a set of hosts and storage controllers. The user also selects a guidance policy for creating the zone, and also selects a set of validation policies that must be enforced on the zone. If the user selects a guidance policy and a validation policy combination that is incompatible, the mechanism allows the user to change either the selected guidance policy or the set of validation policies. If the user has selected consistent-zoning as a guidance policy, then the mechanism automatically selects a guidance policy that does not violate the known validation policies. |
| US08024755B2 |
Interactive program guide with preferred items list apparatus and method
While reviewing potential programs when using an interactive programming guide, a viewer can select to place information regarding specific programs in a list (in one embodiment, such entries are made on an automated basis). The viewer can then recall that list to make a final selection of a present program to view (or record). In some embodiments, this list can be automatically cleared in response to a predetermined trigger event. |
| US08024750B2 |
Lift device of a slot-in disk drive
The present invention provides a lift device of a slot-in disk drive, which includes two straight slots formed on a side of a sliding component, two sliding pins protruding from a side of base adjacent to the sliding component or protruding from a fixing plate of a casing, a cover covering with the sliding component, two guiding pins protruding from an inner surface of the cover corresponding to the two straight slots for inserting into the two straight slots respectively, an one-humped traverse slot with two ends of different heights formed on a lateral side of the cover adjacent to the sliding bolt whereinto the sliding bolt inserts, and two lifting slots separately formed on the other lateral side of the cover whereinto the two sliding pins insert. |
| US08024746B2 |
Common handler framework
A common handler framework can allow handlers for multiple different types of web services programming models to be used in a single handler chain. |
| US08024724B2 |
Firmware download
Disclosed are apparatus and methodology subject matters for upgrading firmware associated with one or more metrology devices and adjunct devices. Methods are disclosed for broadcast transmission of portions of a firmware image file from an originating device over a network connecting multiple devices to be upgraded. The entire image file may be transmitted as segments to be assembled by the end devices. Broadcast segments not properly received from the originating device may be retried directly from the originating device or from neighbors correctly receiving the segment. A viral propagation methodology is disclosed as an alternative to portions of the broadcast methodology. |
| US08024719B2 |
Bounded hash table sorting in a dynamic program profiling system
A system and method for efficient bounded hash table sorting during dynamic whole program profiling of software applications. A computing system comprises a dynamic binary instrumentation (DBI) tool coupled to a virtual machine configured to translate and execute binary code of a software application. The binary code is augmented with instrumentation and analysis code during translation and execution. A dynamic binary analysis (DBA) tool identifies hierarchical layers of cycles within the application that describe the dynamic behavior of the application. Corresponding characterization information is stored in a hash table. Periodic sorting of entries of the hash table occur for highly accessed entries in deep buckets within the hash table. Repositioning the entries within the hash table may reduce pointer chasing problems and identify program phase changes within the dynamic behavior of the application. |
| US08024709B2 |
Facilitating assessment of a test suite of a software product
Facilitating assessment of a test suite of a software product. In an embodiment, an inventory is maintained containing the features of the software product and one or more execution flows operative when a feature is provided by the software product. Information related to execution flows for which test scripts are present (in the test suite) is also indicated in the inventory. Various test metrics and views are provided to a user facilitating the user to assess the test suite of the software product. |
| US08024703B2 |
Building an open model driven architecture pattern based on exemplars
View templates for use in generating application content are created by analyzing and categorizing existing application examples to derive reusable abstractions of application artifacts. Example application artifacts or source modules are categorized by role and function. Based on the categorized artifacts, a generalized, abstract view for the role and function is defined. View templates are created for each abstract view and contain static content and dynamic content that varies for each instance of the template. The view templates are stored in a template library for use in a model driven application generator. |
| US08024693B2 |
Congestion optimization during synthesis
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that optimizes a circuit design during a logic design stage to reduce routing congestion during a placement and routing stage. During operation, this system identifies a first circuit structure in the circuit design which is expected to cause routing congestion during the placement and routing stage. Next, the system generates a second circuit structure which is functionally equivalent to the first circuit structure, and is not expected to cause routing congestion during the placement and routing stage. The system then replaces the first circuit structure in the circuit design with the second circuit structure, thereby mitigating routing congestion during the placement and routing stage. |
| US08024679B2 |
Structure for apparatus for reduced loading of signal transmission elements
A design structure for a signal-handing apparatus or communication apparatus is provided which includes a common signal node operable to conduct a first signal, a first circuit coupled to the common signal node to utilize the first signal and a signal-handling element coupled to the common signal node. A signal-handling apparatus may include an isolating circuit coupled to a first conductor, a second conductor to conduct an output of the isolating circuit, and a signal-handling circuit coupled to the second conductor. A signal-handling circuit can perform a signal-handling function in response to the output of the isolating circuit. The signal-handling circuit and the first circuit may be isolated from the second conductor and the signal-handling circuit such that a communication signal may be conducted with less capacitance and be subject to less return loss. |
| US08024676B2 |
Multi-pitch scatterometry targets
The invention can provide a method of processing a substrate using multi-pitch scatterometry targets (M-PSTs) for de-convolving lithographic process parameters during Single-Patterning (S-P), Double-Patterning (D-P) procedures, and Double-Exposure (D-E) procedures used to control transistor structures. The M-PSTs) can have critical dimension (CD) and sidewall angle (SWA) sensitivity to exposure focus variations, exposure dose variations, and post exposure bake (PEB) temperature variations. In addition, the variation can be de-convolved so that the individual measurement process variable contributor can be identified. |
| US08024674B2 |
Semiconductor circuit design method and semiconductor circuit manufacturing method
A computer converts dimensions of design patterns of components of the transistors configuring the semiconductor circuit or component parameters extracted from in-design physical characteristics of the transistors into simulation parameters inputted to the simulator, organize the plurality of transistors included in the semiconductor circuit into a plurality of groups, selects any selection groups from the plurality of groups, sets fixed parameter values as component parameters of the non-selected groups other than the selection groups in the plurality of groups, sets the combinations of the component parameters in the selection groups, acquires circuit characteristics with respect to each combination of the component parameters, selects a group as a next selection group different from the selected groups, and repeatedly executing the setting the fixed parameter values through the selects a group as a next selection group different. |
| US08024672B1 |
System and method for generating presentations
A system and method allows a user to specify a presentation by arranging content into a hierarchical arrangement. The presentation is generated in response to the content and the hierarchical arrangement. |
| US08024670B1 |
Workflow management using live thumbnails
A method for performing a task, which includes generating a user interface with multiple screens where each screen corresponds to a step in a workflow used for performing the task; generating multiple live thumbnails which include miniaturized sections of the screens; displaying a first screen of the multiple screens and the multiple live thumbnails to a user using the user interface; populating a field on the first screen with input data entered by the user; determining a validity of the input data; updating a first live thumbnail of the multiple live thumbnails corresponding to the first screen based on the input data and the validity; receiving a screen selection from the user; displaying a second screen of the multiple screens corresponding to the screen selection; and updating a second live thumbnail of the multiple live thumbnails corresponding to the second screen based on the screen selection. |
| US08024668B2 |
Receiving and reporting page-specific user feedback concerning one or more particular web pages of a website
A method for receiving page-specific user feedback concerning a particular web page of a website includes using a comment icon viewable on the page to solicit one or more page-specific open-ended comments concerning the page from a user. In one embodiment, the method includes using software associated with the comment icon to automatically communicate a request for a comment window to a remote computer system that is separate from a computer system hosting the website in response to the user selecting the comment icon, receive the comment window from the remote computer system, present the comment window to the user, and receive one or more or more page-specific open-ended comments concerning the page from the user provided using the comment window for reporting to a website owner. In another embodiment, the method includes using software associated with the icon and incorporated into a computer system of the user for purposes of research concerning one or more particular web pages to determine a page identifier of the page in response to the user accessing the page and receive the page-specific user feedback concerning the page from the user for reporting in association with the determined page identifier of the page to an entity sponsoring the research. |
| US08024667B2 |
In-document floating object re-ordering
Techniques are disclosed herein for re-ordering floating objects in an electronic document. An electronic document having floating objects is displayed in a first mode. Each floating object has an x-y location in the document and has a position on a z-order stack. In the first mode the floating objects are displayed in an x-y plane based on the z-order stack. Then, the electronic document is displayed in a second mode in which the electronic document is depicted as x-y plane slices. Each x-y plane slice corresponds to one position on the z-order stack. The x-y plane slices are displayed in particular order to depict the position of the floating objects on the z-order stack. A re-ordering of the x-y plane slices is displayed based on a request. Then, the electronic document is displayed in the first mode again based on the re-ordering of the x-y planes. |
| US08024665B2 |
Method and apparatus for modifying a scheduling database
A mobile electronic communications device and a method for modifying a scheduling database are provided. The scheduling database is modified via the mobile electronic communications device in communication with a proximate electronic device comprising a display device, the mobile electronic communications device is engaging an oral communications session with a second communications device. Time slot data associated with an available time slot is retrieved from the scheduling database, via the mobile electronic communications device. The time slot data is transmitted to the proximate electronic device causing it to display the time slot data at the display device. Input data representative of a command to update the scheduling database is received at the mobile electronic communications device. An entry of the scheduling database is updated, via the mobile electronic device, based on the time slot data associated with the available time slot displayed at the display device. |
| US08024663B2 |
Composition assisting apparatus and composition assisting system
[Object] To provide communication space for the user to have crossing over of discussions with respect to plural phrases while allowing the discussions to be conducted individually in parallel.[Means for Solution] A module for generating phrase object (FO) data which contain identification information of phrase data and position information of a FO on a chat canvas (CC), a module for generating chat data which contain message text data and display position information on CC, a module for transmitting the chat data to a server, and receiving the chat data distributed from the server, a module for transmitting the FO data to the server and receiving the FO data distributed from the server, and a module for displaying the FO or the message text on the CC based on the FO data or the chat data are provided. The display mode of the message text is determined based on the display mode of the FO located close to the display position of the message text. |
| US08024654B2 |
Providing device usage information through layout diagram
Layout data relating to layout of a user and a device is obtained. Log data relating to usage of the device, such as a job being performed or to be performed by the device, is obtained. A layout diagram illustrating the layout of the user and the device is generated based on the layout data. Line data to be additionally included in the layout diagram is generated based on the log data. |
| US08024648B2 |
Planar mapping of graphical elements
Planar rendering is described. In an implementation, a method includes approximating a shape that corresponds to an overlapping portion of at least one graphical element that is translucent with another graphical element. A color is computed for the approximated shape from respective colors of each of the graphical elements and the translucence of the at least one graphical element. The approximated shape having the computed color is formed into a communication for output to a printer. |
| US08024647B2 |
Method and system for checking rotate, shift and sign extension functions using a modulo function
A method of discovering a fault in a circuit is disclosed. The method comprises generating a first result of a selected function by performing the selected function on an operand, wherein the selected function employs a mask. Once the function is performed, an antimask of the mask is created, and the modulo of the antimask is calculated. A modulo function of the first result of the selected function is calculated to obtain a third result. A modulo of the operand is then calculated to obtain a fourth result, and a second function is then performed on the second result and the third result to obtain a fifth result. In response to comparing the fifth result to the fourth result, a signal is propagated to indicate a fault in the circuit. |
| US08024639B2 |
Software and methods to detect and correct data structure
Methods to detect and correct bit errors in data include the steps of specifying to a compiler a storage area with a variable wherein the variable includes a data value corresponding to its data size and an error checking code, calculating an error checking code value indicative of the corresponding data structure value, storing the variable with the error checking code value, retrieving the variable upon demand, detecting an error on the data value using the error checking code value, and correcting the error upon detection of an error on the data value. Further steps may include storing and retrieving the data structure directly onto the storage area without additional encoding and decoding circuitry, encoding and decoding the data structure without altering the data structure format during storing and retrieving from the storage area, or detecting and correcting double bit errors. Software for the methods is provided on or in a computer readable medium. |
| US08024628B2 |
Apparatus and method for testing semiconductor memory device
A semiconductor memory device for performing a reliability test includes a write driving block for generating a predetermined test voltage in a test mode and delivering a data inputted from an external circuit into the local I/O line pair during a data access operation in a normal mode, a local I/O line pair coupled to the write driving block for receiving the predetermined test voltage in the test mode, and a cell array having a plurality of unit cells and a plurality of bit line pairs respectively having first and second bit lines and coupled to at least one unit cell for receiving the predetermined test voltage from each local I/O line pair to thereby check a result of the reliability test in the test mode. |
| US08024625B2 |
Network system for diagnosing operational abnormality of nodes
A network system for judging abnormality of a self node with high precision on the basis of information from other nodes connected to a network is provided. In each node, a frequency at which data frames to be transmitted/received among nodes cannot be received is counted every communication partner node by a reception time-out error count unit. After some node is reset and restored, a start-up signal is transmitted with an initial data frame by a start-up signal transmitting unit of the node concerned. In the other nodes receiving the start-up signal, a count result of the transmission destination node of the start-up signal by a reception time-out error count unit is returned by the monitoring result returning unit, and upon reception of the count result, the node which transmits the start-up signal makes a self-diagnosis by a self-diagnosing unit. |
| US08024620B2 |
Dynamic address-type selection control in a data processing system
A translated address and an untranslated address associated with a same processor operation are received. An address-type indicator is provided whose value is indicative of whether the translated or untranslated address is to be used for creating a debug message. The value of the address-type indicator is selectively modified in response to occurrence of one or more selected debug events. Based at least in part on the value of the address-type indicator, the translated or untranslated address is selected. The address-type indicator may be selectively overridden to select the translated or untranslated address as the selected address based on whether a process identifier is at least one of a set of process identifiers or whether at least one of the translated or untranslated address falls within one or more predetermined address ranges. A debug message is created using at least a portion of the selected address. |
| US08024617B2 |
Method and apparatus for cause analysis involving configuration changes
A technique determines which configuration change(s) caused an application invocation failure of a computer application without the need for a knowledge database. To determine which configuration change is the most likely cause, the cause analysis program (121) checks other computers (102) that have experienced the same configuration changes. The cause analysis program checks and counts the application invocation results before and after each configuration change is done. If the same configuration changes are found in the other computers, the program checks whether each configuration change caused or cured the same problem in that computer. The program counts the similar cases for all of the computers. Subsequently, the program calculates the ratio of those instances involving a change from success to failure and the ratio of those instances involving a change from failure to success out of all instances for each configuration change. |
| US08024613B2 |
Method and system for managing apparatus performance
The method comprises and executes constitutional information collection processing of collecting constitutional information of the apparatus, constitutional information of a logical unit which is a logical existence obtained by abstracting the apparatus, constitutional information of the application and constitutional information of the dependency relation of the performance established among the apparatus, the logical unit and the application; performance information collection processing of collecting each performance information of the apparatus, the logical unit and the application; and saturation indication detection processing of analyzing a correlation between a change value with time of the performance information of the apparatus and a change value with time of the performance information of the logical unit having the dependency relation of the performance with respect to the apparatus for a predetermined period, and detecting that the apparatus has the saturation indication, when a correlation coefficient obtained by the correlation analysis is a predetermined threshold value or more. |
| US08024609B2 |
Failure analysis based on time-varying failure rates
Failure analysis method and apparatus using failure rate data in coordination with the power on hours to more efficiently resolve computer system failures without occupying system memory or processor bandwidth. In response to a system failure, a baseboard management controller (BMC) notes the time of failure and the elapsed operating time of system components. In response to a failure of the computer system, the BMC accesses industry standard failure rate data correlating the elapsed operating time with the probability of failure for each component. By cross-referencing the time of failure with the failure rate data, the BMC automatically determines the probability of failure of each component at the time of failure of the computer system. The BMC generates a component replacement list identifying the component that currently has the highest probability of failure. |
| US08024600B2 |
Fail-over cluster with load-balancing capability
A solution for distributing the workload across the servers (105) in a fail-over cluster (for example, based on the MSCS) is proposed. A fail-over cluster is aimed at providing high availability; for this purpose, a resource service (205) automatically moves each resource (220) that exhibits some sort of failure to another server in the cluster. The proposed solution adds a monitor (240) that periodically measures a responsiveness of each resource. If the responsiveness of a resource is lower than a threshold value, the monitor inquiries a metrics provider (245) for determining the workload of all the servers in the cluster. The monitor then causes the resource service to move that resource to the server having the lowest workload in the cluster. |
| US08024598B2 |
Apparatus and method for clock generation with piecewise linear modulation
An apparatus and method for generating a clock using piecewise linear modulation are provided. The apparatus includes: a modulation profile generator for outputting an M-bit digital profile obtained by quantizing a piecewise linear modulation profile consisting of two or more linear signals; a delta-sigma modulator for receiving the M-bit digital profile and outputting a K-bit profile obtained by delta-sigma modulating the M-bit digital profile, K being a smaller number than M; a phase-frequency comparator for outputting up and down pulses having the same phase difference as that between a reference clock and a feedback clock; a charge pump for outputting a predetermined current for a time corresponding to the phase difference between the up and down pulses; a loop filter for outputting a control voltage corresponding to the predetermined current; a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) for outputting a multi-phase clock having a frequency corresponding to a level of the control voltage; and a fractional divider for receiving the multi-phase clock of the VCO, selecting a divider according to the K-bit profile, and outputting a divided clock as the feedback clock. Therefore, it is possible to minimize electromagnetic interference (EMI) using piecewise linear modulation, and to readily implement the apparatus and method on a chip due to the modulation profile consisting of two or more linear signals. In addition, the delicate fractional divider using a multi-phase clock of the VCO and a phase interpolator allows precise frequency interpolation. Furthermore, unnecessary power consumption can be reduced by preventing application of a clock to an unused block. |
| US08024593B2 |
Communication device
A communication device searches for a desired communication device and requests a service, without being conscious of the status of the power supply of other communication devices on a network, and achieves a reduction in power consumption. The communication device includes a main processing unit to process main service provided for other communication devices, a network processing unit to transmit and receive a request packet and a response packet among other communication devices, and an integrated power supply unit to stop supplying power to the main processing unit in a state of being able to supply it again and to supply the power to the network processing unit. The network processing unit is provided with an automatic responding unit to determine whether or not it can respond to the received request packet only by itself and, when the response is possible, to transmit the response packet to the communication device, and a power supply controlling unit, when the response is not possible, to control a main-power supply unit to supply the power to the main processing unit. |
| US08024591B2 |
Method of and apparatus for reducing power consumption within an integrated circuit
An integrated circuit comprising a plurality of processing cores, characterised by comprising electrically controllable switches for controlling the supply of power to one or more of the processing cores, a memory for saving state data from at least one of the processing cores and a controller adapted to control the supply of power to one or more of the processing cores such that processing cores can be de-powered. |
| US08024588B2 |
Electronic apparatus having signal processing circuit selectively entering power saving mode according to operation status of receiver logic and related method thereof
An electronic apparatus with power saving functionality is disclosed. The electronic apparatus has a first signal processing circuit and a second signal processing circuit. The first signal processing circuit includes a receiver logic for processing at least a satellite signal generated from a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) to obtain resultant data; and a power saving determination logic for monitoring an operation status of the receiver logic and generating a first control signal according to the operation status. The second signal processing circuit includes a processing logic for receiving the resultant data from the receiver logic for further signal processing; and a power saving trigger logic for controlling the processing logic to enter a power saving mode from a normal mode when receiving the first control signal from the power saving control logic. |
| US08024579B2 |
Authenticating suspect data using key tables
A system and method for authenticating suspect code includes steps of: receiving the suspect code for a first instance of a trusted platform module; loading the suspect code into a trusted platform module device operatively associated with a processor, wherein the suspect code is loaded outside of a shielded location within the trusted platform module device; retrieving a validation public key from a table and storing it in a register in the trusted platform module device, the validation public key indexed by the suspect code; and retrieving a hash algorithm from the table, the hash algorithm indexed by the suspect code. The hash algorithm is run to derive a first hash value; then, using the validation public key, the second hash value is decrypted to derive a second decrypted hash value. The two hash values are compared; and upon determining a match, the suspect code is loaded into the shielded location of the processor for execution by the processor. |
| US08024574B2 |
Unidirectional message masking and validation system and method
A system for secure communication is provided. A random value generator is configured to generate a random value. A message validation code generator is coupled to the random value generator and configured to generate a message validation code based on a predetermined key, a message, and the random value. A one-time pad generator is coupled to the random number generator and configured to generate a one-time pad based on the random value and the predetermined key. And a masked message generator is coupled to the one-time pad generator and configured to generate a masked message based on the one-time pad and the message. A protected message envelope generator is coupled to the random value generator, the message validation code generator, and the masked message generator, and is configured to generate a protected message envelope based on the random value, the message validation code, and the masked message. |
| US08024563B1 |
Programming interface for a kernel level SSL proxy
A system for processing encrypted SSL sessions includes a web application, a secure sockets layer socket, a TCP/IP stack network layer device. The secure sockets layer socket is coupled between the web application and the TCP/IP stack network layer device. The system also includes an Ethernet device. The TCP/IP stack network layer device is coupled to the Ethernet device. The system also includes a SSL kernel, a kernel SSL interface coupled between the kernel SSL module and the TCP/IP stack network layer device and a crypto subsystem coupled to the kernel SSL module. A method for processing encrypted SSL sessions is also described. |
| US08024558B2 |
Method and system for providing synchronous running encoding and encryption
Aspects of the invention provide a method and system for coding information in a communication channel. More particularly, aspects of the invention provide an method and system for synchronous running encryption and/or encoding and corresponding decryption and decoding in a communication channel or link. Aspects of the method may include encoding and/or encrypting a first data using a first or second encoding table and/or a first or second encryption table. The method may indicate which one of the first or second encoding tables or which one of the first or second encryption tables were utilized for encoding and/or encrypting the said first data. The encoded and/or encrypted first data may subsequently be transferred downstream and decoded by synchronous decoder/decryptor using a corresponding decoding and/or decryption table. The corresponding decoding and/or decryption table may be determined based on the indicated first and/or second encoding and/or encrypting tables |
| US08024545B2 |
Efficient prefetching and asynchronous writing for flash memory
Disclosed herein are a flash file system and an address translation method. The flash file system includes a file system, a Flash Translation Layer (FTL), and flash memory. The FTL receives Local Block Addresses (LBAs) from the file system, and translates the LBAs into Physical Block Address (PBAs. The flash memory receives the resulting PBAs. The FTL includes a memory block in which a multi-stage clustered hash table for mapping the LBAs to the PBAs is stored, and performs the address translation using the clustered hash table. |
| US08024539B2 |
Virtual processor based security for on-chip memory, and applications thereof
A processor-based method, system and apparatus to comprise a method, system and apparatus to access a memory location in an on-chip memory based on a virtual processing element identification associated with an instruction. The system comprises multiple virtual processing elements, an access list and a comparator coupled to the memory and the access list. In response to an instruction from a virtual processing element to access a memory location in the memory, the comparator compares a first virtual processing identification associated with the instruction to a second virtual processing identification stored in the access list and grants access to the virtual processing element that generated the instruction to read from or write to the memory location if the first virtual processing element identification is equal to the second virtual processing element identification. The data in the memory is allocated and de-allocated by software. |
| US08024529B2 |
Providing shared memory in a distributed computing system
A distributed computing system includes a plurality of processors and shared memory service entities executable on the processors. Each of the shared memory service entities is associated with a local shared memory buffer. A producer is associated with a particular shared memory service entity, and the producer provides data that is stored in the local shared memory buffer associated with the particular shared memory service entity. The shared memory service entities propagate content of the local shared memory buffers into a global shared memory, wherein propagation of content of the local shared memory buffers to the global shared memory is performed using a procedure that relaxes guarantees of consistency between the global shared memory and the local shared memory buffers. |
| US08024524B2 |
Method, system, and program for an adaptor to read and write to system memory
Provided are a method, system, and program for an adaptor to read and write to system memory. A plurality of blocks of data to write to storage are received at an adaptor. The blocks of data are added to a buffer in the adaptor. A determination is made of pages in a memory device and I/O requests are generated to write the blocks in the buffer to the determined pages, wherein two I/O requests are generated to write to one block split between two pages in the memory device. The adaptor executes the generated I/O requests to write the blocks in the buffer to the determined pages in the memory device. |
| US08024522B1 |
Memory ordering queue/versioning cache circuit
A processor includes a circuit for tracking memory operations with trace-based execution. Each trace includes a sequence of operations that includes zero or more of the memory operations. The memory operations being executed form a set of active memory operations that have a predefined program order among them. At least some of the active memory operations access the memory in an execution order that is different from the program order. During the operation of the circuit, none of the operations of a given trace has any effect on the execution unit's architectural state prior to committing that trace. Each trace becomes eligible for commitment after all operations in the trace complete executing. The circuit also includes a sub-circuit that holds memory operation ordering information corresponding to the active memory operations. The sub-circuit detects violations of ordering constraints. After each trace is committed, the sub-circuit invalidates all of the memory operation ordering information associated with the trace. |
| US08024514B2 |
Access control management
In one embodiment, a cartridge library, comprises a management component comprising a first processor module and a memory medium communicatively connected to the first processor module, an interface controller comprising a second processor module and a memory medium communicatively connected to the second processor module, wherein the interface controller comprises logic instructions stored on a computer readable medium which, when executed, cause the second processor module to, record, in a memory medium coupled to the cartridge library, at least one access control parameter, wherein the access control parameter identifies at least one of a user, a server, a command, or a time, receive, in an interface controller coupled to the cartridge library, a request for at least one resource of the cartridge library, and implement an access control routine in the interface controller to use the access control parameter to determine whether to limit a user's ability to perform at least one command on at least one resource of the cartridge library during at least one time period. |
| US08024505B2 |
System and method for optimistic creation of thread local objects in a virtual machine environment
A system for thread local garbage collection in a virtual machine environment, comprising: a virtual machine for executing a software application; a memory space for use by the virtual machine in storing software objects and pointers as part of the software application, divided into a global heap and several thread local heaps; a heap maintaining logic that keeps the global heap and the thread local heaps in a state suitable for efficient garbage collecting; and a garbage collector that can collect the thread local heaps in parallel with only the stop-the-world pauses for the global heap. |
| US08024504B2 |
Processor interrupt determination
Processor interrupt determination procedures are described. In an implementation, one or more computer-readable media comprise instructions that are executable by a computer to determine, based on a performance goal, which of a plurality of processors is to be targeted by a device that is to perform an input/output operation when an interrupt message is discovered that is from the device and that targets the determined processor. The interrupt message is communicated to the device to indicate availability of the determined processor for use by the device. When an interrupt message is discovered that is from the device and that targets an alternative processor near the determined processor when compared with other processors in the plurality of processors, the interrupt message that targets the alternative processor is communicated to the device to indicate availability of the alternative processor for use by the device. |
| US08024503B2 |
System and method for accessing internet via TV and a PC connecting set and a TV connecting set
A system and method of television internet and interactive entertainment, as well as a computer PC box and a television TV box for realizing the television internet and interactive entertainment are provided. Via the computer interface module in the computer PC box and the television interface module in the television TV box, the computer and the television are connected, and the television internet and the interactive entertainment are realized. |
| US08024487B2 |
Smart scan for wireless devices
A system and method for discovering and connecting to a preferred remote Bluetooth device by a local Bluetooth device. An inquiry scan cache and a page scan cache are maintained. The inquiry scan cache is updated by way of a periodic inquiry scan. The page scan cache is refreshed by way of an attempt to connect to the preferred remote Bluetooth device. Periodically, and more frequently than the periodic inquiry scan, a list of available remote Bluetooth devices is formed from entries in the inquiry scan cache concatenated with each entry in the page scan cache for which a page scan is successful. In one embodiment, the page scan cache holds a finite number of entries, and an expiration policy is applied to each added entry. In another embodiment, the inquiry scan cache is also updated when a remote Bluetooth device attempts to connect to the local Bluetooth device. |
| US08024484B2 |
Caching signatures
The performance of a network system having one or more requestor nodes, one or more provider nodes, and one or more intermediate nodes is improved by determining the digital signature of a received file, looking up the digital signature in an index of signatures, and forwarding a previously compressed version of the requested file when the digital signature is found in the index of signatures. |
| US08024481B2 |
System and method for reducing traffic and congestion on distributed interactive simulation networks
A system and method are provided for communicating Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) traffic over a network in an accelerated manner. In one embodiment, DIS traffic is accelerated through use of accelerated DIS packets having a reduced size. In this manner, network traffic is reduced. Accelerated DIS packets may be created and communicated through one or more DIS accelerators. A first DIS accelerator may accept a DIS packet and create an accelerated DIS packet therefrom by comparing the DIS packet to a cache and forming an accelerated DIS packet comprising the differences between the DIS packet and the cache. Data in the original DIS packet may be subsequently restored by a second DIS accelerator which combines the information in the accelerated DIS packet and the cache to restore the original DIS packet. Accelerated DIS packets may be communicated over an encoded communication channel in one or more embodiments. |
| US08024474B2 |
Multi-case enabled address resolution protocol
A Multicast-Enabled Address Resolution Protocol (ME-ARP) is disclosed. This ME-ARP allows the building of independent IP based Virtual Private LAN segments (VPLS) over a multicast enabled IP backbone using stateless tunnels and optimal VPLS traffic forwarding. Each VPLS has an associated IP subnet which is completely independent from other VPLS or the underlying IP backbone itself. Each Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) device needs only to be configured with a VPLS identifier and its serving IP subnet per VPLS designated interface. |
| US08024457B2 |
Label switched path OAM wrapper
Methods and devices for logically segmenting an LSP so that OAM DTUs may be used to determine the performance and/or the status of LSP segments. To segment a previously determined LSP, a dedicated subpath (a logical LSP) within that predetermined LSP is defined between two LSRs that are capable of processing OAM DTUs. The source node (source LSR) establishes a logical LSP between itself and the destination node (destination LSR) using an LDP. In doing this, the logical LSP traverses a specific path and transits through specific nodes in that path. The source node then transmits an OAM DTU or any other specialized DTU to the destination node using a label specifically associated with the logical LSP that was established. The characteristic of the specific path traversed by the logical LSP can thus be determined by when, how, and if the specialized DTU is received by the destination node. |
| US08024452B2 |
Dynamic syndicated content delivery system and method
A dynamic syndicated content delivery system and method, the system having: a push proxy, the push proxy having: a deferred retrieval message store, the deferred retrieval message store adapted to storing deferred content for future delivery; a push agent, the push agent adapted to push content; and a push scheduler, the push schedule adapted to communicate with the push agent to schedule the pushing of content and further adapted to monitor a wireless network for network conditions; a push client, the push client having: a client push agent, the client push agent adapted to communicate with the push agent of the push proxy; a content pull broker, the content pull broker adapted to communicate with the deferred retrieval message store of the push proxy; a deferred retrieval manager, the deferred retrieval manager adapted to communicate with the content pull broker and the client push agent to pull content, the deferred retrieval manager further adapted to monitor a network and instruct the content pull broker to pull the content if the network conditions are favorable for receiving the deferred content; and a network status monitor adapted to monitor the status of the network; and the wireless network. |
| US08024445B2 |
Socket management device and socket management method
In order to properly allocates a limited number of sockets to applications (202, 202, . . . ) in a computer system so as to improve the system network performance, an application management module (300) memorizes the total number of sockets which OS (100) can supply to the applications (202, 202, . . . ), and a target number of sockets for each application. When an application (202) wants to obtain a socket, the application management module (300) recalculates the target number of sockets which can be allocated to the application (202), using a predetermined scheduling algorithm (312), based on the number of sockets presently unallocated and the priority revel of the application (202), and notifies the recalculated target number to the application (202). The application (202) judges from the notified target number whether a socket can be obtained or not, and based on the judgment determines whether or not to actually obtain a socket from the OS (100). |
| US08024439B2 |
Server session management application program interface and schema
Application program interfaces (APIs), schemas and procedures manage multiple sessions within a server system has a create session request call for establishing a session between a client and a server within the server system. Each of plurality of sessions among the servers is persisted within a database operatively coupled to the servers. Each session is associated with a unique session identification which uniquely identifies the session among the plurality of sessions. A management request call for managing one of the sessions is performed according to the unique session identification. |
| US08024437B2 |
Autodiscovery for virtual networks
The present invention facilitates automatic discovery of VPN-related information, which relates to the existence or association of VPNs as supported by provider edge devices in a core network. In particular, the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is used to facilitate the automatic discovery, and the provider edge devices are capable of subsequently and automatically triggering Label Distribution Protocol (LDP) processes to facilitate signaling over LDP sessions within the core network. |
| US08024426B2 |
Non-disruptive data path upgrade using target mobility
Described are computer-based methods and apparatuses, including computer program products, for non-disruptive data path modification using target mobility. A management server is in communication with a switching fabric. The switching fabric is in communication with a host and a data storage element. The management server creates a takeover target based on a primary target, where the primary target is part of a virtual data path between the host and the data storage. The switching fabric, through the direction of the server, modifies metadata associated with the virtual data path to expose the takeover target so that the takeover target becomes part of the virtual data path. The management server unexposes the primary target so that the primary target is no longer part of the virtual data path. The delay between exposing the takeover target and unexposing the primary target is sufficiently small to prevent an error condition from occurring at the host. |
| US08024420B2 |
Content delivery apparatus and system
A mental and physical condition analyzer analyzes the mental and physical condition of a user based upon measurement data transmitted in association with a delivery request from a terminal and related to the mental and physical of the user of the terminal. A content selector selects content adapted to the mental and physical condition of the user. An output unit outputs the content selected by the content selector. |
| US08024418B1 |
Reserve release proxy
A method, system, apparatus, and signal-bearing media for finding a logical unit data structure associated with a command and a logical unit of a device, selecting a command table based on the logical unit data structure and a host that issued the command, indexing the command into the command table, and performing a routine indicated by the command table in response to the indexing. The command table may be a normal command table if no other host has reserved the logical unit or a reserved command table if another host has reserved the logical unit. |
| US08024417B2 |
Simple flow control protocol over RDMA
A method and system for directing data transfers between applications residing on different computers or devices using a simplified flow control protocol. The protocol eliminates the need for and use of flow control modes and supports all possible data transfer mechanisms. The protocol also allows source and sink applications to independently set their own local memory threshold over which data transfers are made using remote direct memory access (RDMA) or zero-copy transfers. Through adjusting its threshold value or size, a sink or receiving application or component adapts its behavior to the behavior of a sending or source application or component. |
| US08024416B2 |
System and method for bundling information
A system and method of pushing user-selected data items from a host system to a user's mobile data communication device upon detecting the occurrence of one or more user-defined event triggers is provided. The user may then move (or file) the data items to a particular folder within a folder hierarchy stored in the mobile data communication device, or may execute some other system operation on the data item. Software operating at the mobile device and the host system then synchronizes the folder hierarchy of the mobile device with a folder hierarchy of the host system, and any actions executed on the data items at the mobile device are then automatically replicated on the same data items stored at the host system, thus eliminating the need for the user to manually replicate actions at the host system that have been executed at the mobile data communication device. |
| US08024412B2 |
User interface reading email conversations
Emails modeled as conversations are displayed in a user interface that enables users to read and interact with the emails within a conversation intuitively. Conversation breaks, such as those in an in-reply-to relationship between messages, are presented utilizing extra spaces between displayed message parts, excerpts of parent messages displayed above the message following the break, and/or graphical elements like broken connectors. Relationships between a user selected message and its parent within the conversation defined relationship are illustrated using graphical elements or schemes that focus on the selected message to avoid confusion due to information overload. |
| US08024409B2 |
Method and system for automatically resending messages based on server status
A computer-implemented method, apparatus, and computer program product for resending a message based on server status. The message is sent to a recipient. The message is stored to be resent in response to receiving a notification that the message could not be delivered to the recipient. Status of an email server associated with the recipient of the message is requested. The message is resent in response to the status indicating that messages may be received by the recipient. |
| US08024405B2 |
Declarative model for concurrency-control across lightweight threads
Implementing synchronization among threads in a workflow. A memory area stores a plurality of work items in a scheduler queue. The work items are associated with an activity in the workflow, and each work item is associated with a thread. A processor is configured to assign a synchronization handle to each of the work items. The synchronization handle indicates a particular shared resource to be accessed by the work items. A token value is computed for each work item based on the assigned synchronization handle and the work items in a hierarchy in the activity. The work items are sorted in a synchronization queue based on the token value associated with each work item. The processor sequentially executes each of the sorted work items in the synchronization queue to serialize the access to the particular shared resource and effects a synchronous execution of the threads associated with the work items. |
| US08024396B2 |
Distributed behavior controlled execution of modeled applications
The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for distributed behavior controlled execution of modeled applications. Embodiments of the invention facilitate the interoperation of a central data store along with various peer-to-peer functionalities. Thus, distributed applications can be executed in an environment that utilizes advantages of both a central data store and peer-to-peer messaging. A read-only portion of a centralized data store can be used to provide some behavior control over various processing systems during execution of a distributed software application. Thus, embodiments of the invention can be used to form a policy-driven collective of nodes forming a distributed, decentralized run-time for model-based applications. Utilizing a cooperating collective of nodes that comply with centralized polices and execute applications over a peer-to-peer fabric permits a distributed application runtime to accommodate distribution and decentralization on a large scale. |
| US08024389B2 |
Inverse discrete cosine transform supporting multiple decoding processes
The present invention provides an apparatus and method for providing a programmable inverse discrete cosine transform, wherein the transform coefficients are loaded into a memory area of a core transform device and a variety of coding standards can thereby be handled by the same programmable core device. The core device is configured to process a certain sized data block, and the incoming source blocks are converted to conform to this size. After transformation, the proper sized result can be extracted from the transform device output. A switchable speed-up mode provides for 4-point transforms, rather than 8-point transforms. Alternatively, the invention also provides for dedicated transform hardware to be switchably used in conjunction with programmable transform hardware, depending upon the type of coding being used, and the speed of inverse transform desired. |
| US08024382B2 |
Dynamic manipulation of archive files
A method, apparatus, and article of manufacture provide the ability to edit in-place a ZIP™ archive file. A file and a first file block (FFB) in a first block location are opened and modified. If the first block location can accommodate the modified FFB, the modified FFB is saved, in-place, in the first block location without rewriting the entire archive. However, if the first block location cannot accommodate the modified FFB, a second file block is copied from a second block location to a third block location located at an end of a file data section of the archive. A portion of the second block location is marked as a free block and the modified FFB is saved without rewriting the entire ZIP™ archive. The archive is then saved by updating and saving both the central directory and end of central directory. |
| US08024381B2 |
Recording apparatus, file management method, program for file management method, and recording medium having program for file management method recorded thereon
A recording apparatus such as an optical disk and a file management method are disclosed by which wastefulness caused by free slots in an index file can be reduced. To each slot of a property entry of the index file, valid/invalid information representative of whether the slot is valid or invalid is set. Further, to the header of the property entry, a last valid slot number indicative of a last one of those slots which are set to valid with the valid/invalid information is set. |
| US08024380B2 |
Improving data access speed while processing transaction requests from web based applications
Storing static data in a secondary storage and varying data in a database server. The static data can be stored in the database server also. In an embodiment, all the read/write requests related to the static data are sent to the secondary storage. Any updates to the static data are then propagated from the secondary storage to the database server at periodic intervals. |
| US08024379B2 |
Locality with parallel hierarchical copying garbage collection
A garbage collection algorithm that achieves hierarchical copy order with parallel garbage collection threads. More specifically, the present invention provides a garbage collection method and system for copying objects from a from-space to a to-space. The method comprises the steps of (a) having multiple threads that simultaneously perform work for garbage collection (GC), (b) examining the placement of objects on blocks, and (c) changing the placement of objects on blocks based on step (b). Preferably, the method includes the additional step of calculating a placement of object(s) based on step (b), and using the result of the calculation for step (c). For example, the calculation may be used to increase the frequency of intra-block pointers and/or to increase the frequency of siblings on the same block. |
| US08024374B2 |
Computer object conversion using an intermediate object
A computer-readable medium, computer-implemented method, and system for manipulating an object is provided. In one embodiment, an object which include one or more object references is converted into an intermediate object for serialization. In another embodiment, an object is restored from an intermediate object that has been deserialized so that the object includes one or more object references. |
| US08024371B2 |
Managing inverse references between objects in object-oriented software
Managing inverse references across binary relationships. This functionality may be accomplished by using a base class with functionality for linking objects from both sides of a binary relationship. In particular, some embodiments implement a generalized inverse management capability. In some embodiments, by using a common base class for objects involved in one-to-one, one-to-many and many-to-many relationships, and by defining a field of one generic type when referring to at most one object, and by defining a field of another generic type when referring to many objects, automatic inverse management is obtained. Further, a specialization of the generic type of field used to refer to at most one object is used in cases of dependent relationships such that deletion of the reference without replacing it results in automatic disconnection of an object across all relationships. |
| US08024362B2 |
System and method for erasing and writing desktop management interface data under a linux system
A method for erasing and writing desktop management interface (DMI) data under a Linux system is provided. The method constructs a virtual 8086 mode in the Linux system for executes a PnP calling routine. The method then erase and/or write the DMI data from a management information format database (MIFD) of a basic input/output system (BIOS) in a computer using the PnP calling routine. |
| US08024353B2 |
Method and system for sequentially accessing compiled schema
A method for accessing data in a data structure includes determining a node type of a first entry in a node array that defines a hierarchical relationship of a plurality of nodes in a markup language schema and determining based on the node type of the first entry whether the first entry includes an explicit size value. The method further includes identifying, in response to determining that the first entry does not include an explicit size value, a predetermined size value associated with the node type of the first entry. Additionally, the method includes calculating an index for a second entry in the node array based on one of the explicit size value and the predetermined size value. |
| US08024349B1 |
String-based systems and methods for searching for real estate properties
A computer-implemented method for generating, responsive to user input from a user, a set of property results, said set of property results including data pertaining to one or more properties, the computer-implemented method comprising: (a) receiving the user input, the user input including one or more text strings; (b) checking the one or more text strings against one or more references to find one or more changeable text strings, the one or more references including a real estate dictionary; (c) forming one or more search criteria using one or more transformed terms, the one or more transformed terms pertaining to the one or more changeable text strings; and (d) searching in one or more databases using the one or more search criteria to produce the set of property results, the one or more databases include one or more property databases. |
| US08024302B2 |
Meta data management for media content objects
Meta data associated with multiple pieces of content (e.g., songs, movies, other audio/video clips, etc.) stored on multiple pieces of media (e.g., CDs, DVDs, etc.) is maintained in a meta data store. The meta data store also includes meta data associated with other pieces of content stored elsewhere, such as songs stored in files on a local hard drive that have been ripped from a CD or DVD. These other pieces of content are associated with the content on the pieces of media, such as being ripped versions of the same song tracks. This association is maintained in the meta data store, so that whenever a change is made to meta data for one piece of content (e.g., for a track on a CD), then the meta data for the associated piece(s) is also changed (e.g., the ripped version stored in a file on the hard drive). |
| US08024301B2 |
Automatic database diagnostic usage models
One or more usage models are provided for a database. Each usage model includes a set of rules that are used to analyze database performance. A usage model in one or more usage models is determined. Database information is determined based on the usage model. The database information is then analyzed based on rules associated with the usage model. One or more performance problems are determined based on the analysis. |
| US08024293B2 |
Method for spooling experimental data
Methods and system for efficient collection and storage of experimental data allow experimental data from high-throughput, feature-rich data collection systems, such as high-throughput cell data collection systems to be efficiently collected, stored, managed and displayed. The methods and system can be used, for example, for storing, managing, and displaying cell image data and cell feature data collected from microplates including multiple wells and a variety of bio-chips in which an experimental compound has been applied to a population of cells. The methods and system provide a flexible and scalable repository of experimental data including multiple databases at multiple locations including pass-through databases that can be easily managed and allows cell data to be analyzed, manipulated and archived. The methods and system may improve the identification, selection, validation and screening of new drug compounds that have been applied to populations of cells. |
| US08024291B2 |
Message generator
A message generator for use in a publish/subscribe system, the publish/subscribe system having a broker for receiving a plurality of messages from one or more publishers and a subscriber: the message generator comprising: a storage component for retaining the plurality of messages; and an aggregator for aggregating the plurality of messages into an aggregated message. |
| US08024289B2 |
System and method for efficiently providing content over a thin client network
A system, method and computer readable instructions for controlling streaming audio in real time in a thin client terminal server environment that can be used, for example, to provide support for a digital dictation system. A server runs client software, and at least one terminal runs a driver which communicates with the client software to create a virtual channel over which at least one digital dictation file is transmitted in packetized format between the terminal and the server, such that the client software controls operations performed at the terminal pertaining to the digital dictation file. |
| US08024286B2 |
Independent column detection in selectivity estimation
Techniques for independent column detection in selectivity estimations are provided. Values for database statistics are sampled and two independent tests are performed against the values for a first column and a second column. When each test determines that the first and second columns are independent, the first and second columns are said to be independent columns for selectivity estimation. |
| US08024274B2 |
Practical secrecy-preserving, verifiably correct and trustworthy auctions
A system and method for conducting verifiably correct auctions that preserves the secrecy of the bids while providing for verifiable correctness and trustworthiness of the auction is disclosed. Some of the elements of the method and apparatus are that the auction operator accepts all bids submitted and follows the published rules of the auction. In one embodiment, the bids are maintained secret from the auctioneer and all bidders until the auction closes and no bidder is able to change or repudiate her bid. In another embodiment, the auction operator computes the auction results and publishes proofs of the results' correctness. In yet another embodiment, any party can check these proofs of correctness via publicly verifiable computations on encrypted bids. |
| US08024272B2 |
Methods and systems for exchanging/transferring gift cards
Methods and systems for exchanging various forms of value, including coins, currency, credit, debit, and/or bank account funds, for prepaid cash cards, credit cards, phone cards, and the like. In one embodiment, a value exchange machine includes a coin input region, a coin sorting/counting apparatus, a card reader, and a communications facility configured to communicate with a remote computer network. In another embodiment, a value exchange system includes one or more of the value exchange machines connected to one or more remote computers via a communications link. A user wishing to purchase, for example, a prepaid cash card can visit one of the value exchange machines, select the desired transaction, and pay for the card with coins, currency, a credit card, a debit card, and/or bank account funds. After confirming payment, the value exchange machine dispenses the card to the user. |
| US08024271B2 |
Purchasing alert methods and apparatus
Systems and techniques for receiving transaction information at an authentication system. The transaction information may be processed using different rule sets, based on the financial instrument used for the transaction (for example, a particular credit card, debit card, bank account, brokerage account, and the like). One or more alerts may be generated and communicated to the user. The alerts may be formatted based on user device configuration information, such as a cell phone type, email type, and the like. |
| US08024269B1 |
Remote image capture with centralized processing and storage
A system for remote data acquisition and centralized processing and storage is disclosed called the DataTreasury™ System. The DataTreasury™ System provides comprehensive support for the processing of documents and electronic data associated with different applications including sale, business, banking and general consumer transactions. The system retrieves transaction data such as credit card receipts checks in either electronic or paper form at one or more remote locations, encrypts the data, transmits the encrypted data to a central location, transforms the data to a usable form, performs identification verification using signature data and biometric data, generates informative reports from the data and transmits the informative reports to the remote location(s). The DataTreasury™ System has many advantageous features which work together to provide high performance, security, reliability, fault tolerance and low cost. First, the network architecture facilitates secure communication between the remote location(s) and the central processing facility. A dynamic address assignment algorithm performs load balancing among the system's servers for faster performance and higher utilization. Finally, a partitioning scheme improves the error correction process. |
| US08024266B1 |
Method for secure, closed-loop money transfer via electronic mail
A method of providing for a money transfer over a network by providing a stamp having a face value and a lifespan both indicated on the stamp, the stamp being a string that is a concatenation of two or more fields including the face value and the lifespan, with at least one of the fields calculated according to a prescription involving a hashing or encryption of a concatenation of others of the fields or of some other field not part of the stamp; affixing the stamp to an e-mail; and allowing the recipient of the e-mail to obtain value for the stamp if the stamp is presented to a predetermined entity (such as a stamp issuer) for the stamp value within the lifespan indicated on the stamp. |
| US08024261B2 |
Method and system for loan closing
A method and system for electronically facilitating loan closing transactions that include sub-transactions involving third parties. The method and system provide functionality to quickly and easily order a sub-transaction and bill the respective party, or pay for the sub-transaction directly from various payment systems. An interactive closing document updates automatically as different services and sub-transactions are ordered. Designated parties to the transaction make and approve changes and updates to the interactive document as sub-transactions are completed and billed. The interactive document receives information from the earlier stages of the loan or mortgage transaction, and incorporates the information into the interactive closing document. Upon approval by all parties, at the closing of the transaction, the interactive closing document is generated as a hard copy for signature. |
| US08024260B1 |
Method for transmitting a code
The present invention relates to a method for transmitting a code to a user in which the user transmits his or her financial account identifier information to a code allocation unit 3, the code allocation unit 3 transfers an amount of money to the financial institution 5 specified by the user and/or transfers an amount of money from the financial institution 5 specified by the user, thereby submitting the account identifier information and the code to be transmitted as additional information with this transfer and/or this debit, and the financial institution 5 forwards a receipt for the transfer and/or debit together with the additional information to the user. |
| US08024259B1 |
Method and apparatus for agreement netting
A system, method, apparatus, computer program code and means for performing a netting analysis of an agreement is provided. Pursuant to some embodiments, the netting analysis is performed by receiving agreement information, the agreement information identifying a party and a counterparty. The agreement information is compared with a netting rule. A netting determination for the agreement is generated based at least in part on a result of the comparing. |
| US08024245B2 |
Using commercial share of wallet in private equity investments
Commercial size of spending wallet (“CSoSW”) is the total business spend of a business including cash but excluding bartered items. Commercial share of wallet (“CSoW”) is the portion of the spending wallet that is captured by a particular financial company. A modeling approach utilizes various data sources to provide outputs that describe a company's spend capacity. Private equity firms and other investors of small businesses can use the CSoW/CSoSW modeling approach to more accurately evaluate small and privately held companies, both during investment and for evaluating prospective investments. Over-the-counter securities trading systems can also use this modeling approach to provide more accurate information and/or rankings of listed companies to their customers. |
| US08024236B2 |
Method and apparatus for reducing supply orders in inventory management
A method and apparatus for managing replenishing of an inventory for serviceable equipment that requires fewer orders of replacement parts and resulting shipments from the provider of the parts to the inventory location by tracking parts in accordance with a predefined parameter to estimate current and future needs of the serviceable equipment. |
| US08024228B1 |
Concealed performance bid
System(s) and method(s) for offering one or more items, for sale or for purchase, for a specified period of time during which participants bid to purchase or sell the items. The system provides each participant an indication of how their bid compares to bids placed by others. The system does not disclose the bid details of other participants. By providing this bid range of information, each bidder has a sense of their general bid position (not knowing others specific bids), compared to all bidders and by this means, the overall price offered for the item may be driven up or, in the case of offer to buy bid, driven down. |
| US08024226B2 |
Product exchange system
An exchange system for facilitating the purchase of products is described. The system is coupled, in one embodiment, to a communications link. Potential product purchasers and sellers may access the exchange system via the network, and submit offers and/or pricing requests to such system. In response to the requests, the system processor retrieves the stored data from the respective databases, and causes such data to be transmitted to the local site for display. The exchange systems also executes certain functions in response to commands and data transmitted from buyer sites, seller sites and institution sites. |
| US08024220B2 |
System and method for networked loyalty program
The present invention provides a system for implementing a loyalty program on a network-wide level. The system associates UPC and SKU data on a network level to reward consumers and/or to analyze the data for a variety of business purposes, such as market segmentation analyses and/or analyses relating to consumer spending behaviors or patterns, for example. In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the network may comprise any number of participants, including consumers (such primary and supplementary members of an aggregate consumer account), retailers (and any of their employees), manufacturers, third-party providers, and the like. In accordance with one aspect, the system enables participation by supplementary members who are associated with a primary member and, in this manner, facilitates the tracking of supplementary member purchasing behavior, reward points earning behavior, and reward points redemption behavior. In accordance with another aspect, the system permits instant enrollment of consumers at a retailer point-of-sale using information that the retailer has previously gathered from the consumer. In accordance with another aspect, the system facilitates the compilation of a purchaser profile, which may be used for a variety of purposes, including various types of marketing analyses. |
| US08024219B2 |
Systems and methods for planning demand for a configurable product in a managed supply chain
Methods and systems are provided for planning demand for a configurable product in a managed supply chain. In one implement, a method is provided in which the configurable product has a product dependent characteristic and a product independent characteristic. A data storage system may store data with respect to a plurality of product independent characteristics and product dependent characteristics. A selection of a product to be represented and a particular characteristic to be represented are received. A planning parameter is also selected. Data is loaded from the data storage system into a buffer. A calculation is performed on the data with respect to the product dependent characteristics and the product independent characteristics. A hierarchy of the represented data is modeled in accordance with the planning parameter and used to administer the buffered data. |
| US08024216B2 |
Computer implemented method and system for computing and evaluating demand information
Computer implemented method and system for improving demand forecasting by estimating the hidden demand at an occurrence of a sellout using a single parameter probability distribution with a parameter assuming a forecasted mean demand value derived from a statistical seasonal causal time series forecasting model of count data on a new data set of sales values excluding truncated sales values at occurrences of sellouts. The present invention also provides for new more accurate performance evaluation techniques together with new performance metrics for evaluating an actual draw and for comparing a recommended draw to an actual draw. |
| US08024212B1 |
Implementation of hands on proactive strategy
HOPS™, which stands for “Hands On Proactive Strategy” is software and a business management method about making routine things happen routinely, and about having everyone be able to find the information they need, when they need it, to do the job they need to do. The solution to information sharing (and other closely related process) problems is an elegant set of software combined with behaviors that help the organization share information. |
| US08024204B1 |
Systems and methods of automating determination of low body mass risk
Systems, methods, and computer-readable media automate determination of a risk category for low body mass index associated with issuance of a life insurance policy. |
| US08024203B2 |
System for searching and solving for insurance products
A system for evaluating and scoring software products in which illustration engines relating to insurance products are run based on a common set of inputs. The illustration engines output a set of output metrics which are common to all illustration engines. The output metrics of products selected for comparison or evaluation are mathematically combined with each other and with the corresponding metrics of from all other illustration engines to determine a score which can be used to compare quickly and accurately the selected product against all other products in the database. The score may be determined by a weighted average in which the weights assigned to output metrics are adjustable at the user's discretion. |
| US08024202B2 |
Ergonomics-based health facilitator for computer users
A method, system and computer program product for facilitating ergonomics-based health in a user of a computer workstation is presented. The method includes the steps of detecting an ergonomics problem for a user of a computer workstation, wherein the ergonomics problem is directly related to a current real-time body position of the user, and wherein the ergonomics problem would likely cause an injury to the user if left uncorrected. A user health protection algorithm is then executed to generate an ergonomic recommendation. The user health protection algorithm utilizes user work parameters as inputs. The ergonomic recommendation, which will correct the ergonomics problem, is then presented to the user. |
| US08024199B2 |
System and method for improving reliability of distributed electronic transactions
A system and method are disclosed that separate control functionality from the management functionality for conducting electronic transactions. The control functions are performed by a third party resulting in a low overhead since significant overhead is incurred in response to an anomalous event, thus facilitating high throughput electronic transactions when anomalous events are infrequent. Further, the third party does not need to have access to confidential information since it only controls by observing, validating and certifying the observed communications in a specified manner to prevent confidential information from leaving the context of the transaction. Management of the transactions based on consideration of substantive information is provided by the participants. A preferred system of the invention comprises a validation authority, a logical boundary at which validation authority undertakes control of communications, and validation rules specifying parameters for observation and the nature of comparisons. |
| US08024193B2 |
Methods and apparatus related to pruning for concatenative text-to-speech synthesis
The present invention provides, among other things, automatic identification of near-redundant units in a large TTS voice table, identifying which units are distinctive enough to keep and which units are sufficiently redundant to discard. According to an aspect of the invention, pruning is treated as a clustering problem in a suitable feature space. All instances of a given unit (e.g. word or characters expressed as Unicode strings) are mapped onto the feature space, and cluster units in that space using a suitable similarity measure. Since all units in a given cluster are, by construction, closely related from the point of view of the measure used, they are suitably redundant and can be replaced by a single instance. The disclosed method can detect near-redundancy in TTS units in a completely unsupervised manner, based on an original feature extraction and clustering strategy. Each unit can be processed in parallel, and the algorithm is totally scalable, with a pruning factor determinable by a user through the near-redundancy criterion. In an exemplary implementation, a matrix-style modal analysis via Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) is performed on the matrix of the observed instances for the given word unit, resulting in each row of the matrix associated with a feature vector, which can then be clustered using an appropriate closeness measure. Pruning results by mapping each instance to the centroid of its cluster. |
| US08024186B1 |
System and method for location based interaction with a device
Embodiments of these location-based systems and methods for device interaction may allow a content delivery system to provide certain content to a device, or restrict certain content from being delivered to the device, based on the location of the device. When a user requests certain content the location of the device may be determined and compared against an access control list defining a set or rules regarding that content to determine if the requested content may be accessed from that location. If the content may be accessed from this location the content may be delivered, otherwise an error message, or another option, may be delivered to the device. Similarly, the location of a device may be utilized to tailor the delivery of content to a device, such that content may be provided to a user based on the user's location, in certain cases with little or no stimulus from the user. |
| US08024182B2 |
Rate/diversity adaptation sending speech in first and second packets
Packets of real-time information are sent with a source rate greater than zero kilobits per second, and a time or path or combined time/path diversity rate initially being zero kilobits per second. This results in a quality of service QoS, optionally measured at the sender or the receiver. When the QoS is on an unacceptable side of a threshold of acceptability, the sender sends diversity packets at an increased rate. Increasing the diversity rate while either reducing or maintaining the overall transmission rate is new. CELP-based multiple-description data partitioning sends the base or important information plus a subset of fixed excitation in one packet and sends the base or important information plus the complementary subset of fixed excitation in another packet. Reconstruction produces acceptable quality when only one of the two packets is received and better quality when both packets are received. Reconstruction provides for single and multiple lost packets. |
| US08024173B1 |
Computer processes for detecting and correcting writing problems associated with nominalizations
Disclosed are systems and methods for analyzing and improving document readability. For example, a method of text analysis is disclosed that can deal with problems related nominalizations in text. Such a method can include the following steps: ascertaining automatically whether or not at least one sign is present in text, the sign relating to a possible writing problem, the sign comprising a characteristic of nominalizations; and proposing an edit to a user, the edit comprising changing a nominalization if the sign is determined to not be a false positive. Various other rules for improving text are also disclosed. |
| US08024169B2 |
Storage area network management modeling simulation
A method, system and computer program product are disclosed for simulating a storage area network including a set of correlated devices, each of the devices having a device agent. The method comprises the step of forming a set of simulation agents representing said device agents, including the steps of, (i) for each of the simulation agents, obtaining a set of agent profiles, and storing said agent profiles in a data store, and (ii) obtaining files describing class definitions for the simulation agents, and storing said files in the data store. With this information and data, a Visual Workbench is used to generate a display of said simulation agents. The preferred embodiment provides a framework and implementation that simulates the CIM agent of any SAN device. Each individual device CIM agent can be simulated in this framework based on the specification defined in an XML file and/or through snapshot mechanism. |
| US08024167B2 |
Simplified data signal support for diagramming environment languages
A computer-implemented method may include defining an input bus signal in a graphical block diagram model by associating the input bus signal with a first group of signals, at least two of the first group of signals having a different data type; defining an output bus signal in the graphical block diagram model by associating the second bus signal with a second group of signals, each of the second group of signals corresponding to one of the first group of signals; defining an input to a non-virtual operation block in the graphical block diagram model as the input bus signal; defining an output to the non-virtual operation block in the graphical block diagram as the output bus signal; and simulating an operation performed on the input bus signal by the non-virtual operation block, the operation being performed on each of the first group of signals and output to each of the second group of signals. |
| US08024154B1 |
Methods and devices for evaluating material in a pharmaceutical process
A device and a method in processing, such as pharmaceutical processing, is provided. At least one signal is transmitted in a processing structure which is adapted to receive materials. The propagated signal is received and a parameter value thereof is compared with a reference value. The presence of materials or any other geometrical change in the processing structure is evaluated based on the comparison. The signal may be in the form of an electromagnetic wave, e.g. a microwave. Also, a use of a processing vessel, or a pipe connected to such a vessel, is provided. |
| US08024153B2 |
Method for managing wireless devices using lifecycle analysis
An improved solution for managing wireless devices that uses lifecycle analysis is provided. In an embodiment of the invention, the method for managing wireless devices includes obtaining data regarding at least one new wireless device; automatically evaluating a feasibility of redeploying at least one of a plurality of pre-existing wireless devices, based on the data regarding the at least one new wireless device; and identifying a distribution for the at least one of the plurality of pre-existing wireless devices, based on the automatically evaluating. In another embodiment, the distribution may include cascading and/or retiring the pre-existing wireless device(s). |
| US08024138B2 |
Power supply circuitry, collection and reporting of power supply parameter information
In an example configuration, a power supply manager receives an output current value representing an amount of output current supplied by one or more power converter phases to a load. The power supply manager also receives a duty cycle value representing a duty cycle for controlling operation of the at least one power converter phase. The power supply manager produces an estimate of input current supplied to the power supply circuit based at least in part on multiplying the output current value by the duty cycle value. Contrary to conventional methods such as physically measuring an input current using complex measuring circuitry, embodiments herein include utilizing parameter information such as output current information and duty cycle information to deduce an amount of input current. |
| US08024137B2 |
Method for determining blade mistuning on integrally manufactured rotor wheels
For determining production-inherent mistuning of integrally manufactured rotor wheels (blisks) on the basis of the identification of blade natural frequencies, the individual blades are excited independently of each other and the vibratory response is measured for the calculation of the respective blade natural frequency and of mistuning. During measurement the blades not under investigation are additionally mistuned by temporarily applying an identical extra mass to each of them, such that coupling effects disturbing the measurement of the vibratory response of the excited blade are shifted away from the natural frequency-near range of the blades and hence eliminated. |
| US08024134B2 |
Gas sensor and output processing method thereof
A gas sensor which includes: a plurality of gas detectors, each detects a target gas; an error detector which detects the occurrence of an error on each of gas sensors; an output selector which selects one output from among outputs entered from each gas sensor, the output selected by the output selector is the output from the gas detector in which no error exists; and an output unit which generate a normal output based on the output selected by the output selector and outputs the normal output to an external electrical device through a single output system, the output unit generates an abnormal output based on the output from the gas detector, in which the error exists, when the gas detector, in which an error exists, is detected, and outputs alternately the normal output and the abnormal output. |
| US08024133B2 |
System for detecting and estimating concentrations of gas or liquid analytes
A sensor system for detecting and estimating concentrations of various gas or liquid analytes. In an embodiment, the resistances of a set of sensors are measured to provide a set of responses over time where the resistances are indicative of gas or liquid sorption, depending upon the sensors. A concentration vector for the analytes is estimated by satisfying a criterion of goodness using the set of responses. Other embodiments are described and claimed. |
| US08024132B2 |
Method for the efficiency-corrected real-time quantification of nucleic acids
The present invention concerns a method for the quantification of a target nucleic acid in a sample comprising the following steps: (i) determination of the amplification efficiency of the target nucleic acid under defined amplification conditions, (ii) amplification of the target nucleic acid contained in the sample under the same defined reaction conditions, (iii) measuring the amplification in real-time, (iv) quantification of the original amount of target nucleic acid in the sample by correction of the original amount derived from step (iii) with the aid of the determined amplification efficiency. The efficiency correction of PCR reactions according to the invention for the quantification of nucleic acids can be used for absolute quantification with the aid of an external or internal standard as well as for relative quantification compared to the expression of housekeeping genes. |
| US08024131B2 |
Pattern discovery techniques for determining maximal irredundant and redundant motifs
Basis motifs are determined from an input sequence through an iterative technique that begins by creating small solid motifs and continues to create larger motifs that include “don't care” characters and that can include flexible portions. The small solid motifs, including don't care characters and flexible portions, are concatenated to create larger motifs. During each iteration, motifs are trimmed to remove redundant motifs and other motifs that do not meet certain criteria. The process is continued until no new motifs are determined. At this point, the basis set of motifs has been determined. The basis motifs are used to construct redundant motifs. The redundant motifs are formed by determining a number of sets for selected basis motifs. From these sets, unique intersection sets are determined. The redundant motifs are determined from the unique intersection sets and the basis motifs. This process continues, by selecting additional basis motifs, until all basis motifs have been selected. |
| US08024116B2 |
Vehicle stray determination apparatus and destination guide apparatus
A vehicle stray determination apparatus in a vehicle includes a map database for designating a destination; an in-vehicle GPS unit for detecting a present position of the vehicle; a speed detector for detecting a speed of the vehicle; a parking signal input device for detecting an operation of a device such as a parking brake or hazard lamp switch used to stop or park the vehicle; and a control unit. When the present position of the vehicle is within a predetermined range from the destination, the control unit determines that the vehicle strays near the destination if (i) the speed of the vehicle is equal to or greater than a predetermined value or (ii) an operation of the parking brake or hazard lamp switch is not detected by the parking signal input device even if the speed is smaller than the predetermined value. |
| US08024109B2 |
Abnormality determination apparatus for intake amount control mechanism
An abnormality determination apparatus for an intake amount control mechanism according to the invention includes a control portion which sets an allowable range of an opening amount of a throttle valve which provided in an intake passageway of an internal combustion engine based at least on an index value of an engine operation state, including an operation amount of accelerator, and on a lift working angle of an intake valve, and which determines that an abnormality is present in a state of driving of the throttle valve if an actual opening amount of the throttle valve is outside the allowable range set. |
| US08024108B2 |
Method for monitoring the secondary air system in an exhaust-gas purification system
The individual cylinders of the internal combustion engine are divided into at least two cylinder banks wherein each is assigned a separate exhaust-gas channel. Secondary air is conveyed by a compressor. The flow of the secondary-air mass flow is set independently by an electrically controllable throughflow control. A value for the entire secondary-air mass flow is determined from the signal of a secondary-air mass sensor. The throughflow control is controlled into an open position, the value for the entire secondary-air mass flow is detected and subsequently the throughflow control is controlled into a closed position, the values for the secondary-air mass flows are detected before and after closure, and these values are compared with a plurality of different threshold values and, as a function of the result of the comparisons, a determination is made of the fault location with regard to the respective cylinder bank. |
| US08024104B2 |
Method for controlling a fuel injection system of an internal combustion engine
In a method for controlling a fuel injection system of an internal combustion engine with at least one combustion chamber, wherein the fuel injection system comprises a high pressure pump, whose flow rate is controllable, a control parameter of the high pressure pump is evaluated during the operation of the internal combustion engine. Said control parameter makes a detection of a bottleneck with the high pressure pump with respect to fuel quantity possible. |
| US08024095B2 |
Adaptive work cycle control system
A control system for an excavation machine is disclosed. The control system may have a work tool movable to perform an excavation work cycle, at least one sensor configured to monitor a speed of the work tool and generate a signal indicative of the monitored speed, and a controller in communication with the at least one sensor. The controller may be configured to record the monitored speed of the work tool during each excavation work cycle, and compare the signal currently being generated to a maximum speed recorded for a previous excavation work cycle. The controller may be further configured to partition a current excavation work cycle into a plurality of segments based on the comparison. |
| US08024094B2 |
Maintenance history information management system for construction machine
The present invention provides a maintenance history information management system for a construction machine that is capable of enhancing the reliability of temporal information about maintenance history data. A data recording device 30 is incorporated in a hydraulic excavator 1 or other construction machine to process operating time or date and time. A mobile terminal 34 includes a CPU 36 for displaying construction machine maintenance items on a monitor 38. A worker can input data for the maintenance items as the maintenance history data. The mobile terminal 34 inputs the operating time or date and time from the data recording device 30 via a communication cable and a communication connector and stores the input operating time or date and time in a storage device 35 in association with the maintenance history data. |
| US08024093B2 |
Method of and apparatus for adjusting a motorcycle headlight, and motorcycle incorporating same
A headlight optical axis adjustment apparatus for motorcycle includes an ECU for adjusting an optical axis of a headlight in accordance with a vehicle body attitude. The apparatus includes a center kickstand switch and a side kickstand switch for detecting respective positions of a center kickstand and a side kickstand of the motorcycle. When either of the kickstands is in a deployed position thereof, the ECU is operated to adjust the optical axis of a headlight to a previously set initial direction, regardless of detection outputs from a front vehicle height sensor and a rear vehicle height sensor. The front vehicle height sensor and the rear vehicle height sensor respectively detect the vehicle heights at the front part of the vehicle body and the rear part of the vehicle body. The vehicle heights are represented by compression and decompression amounts of suspensions. |
| US08024091B2 |
Vehicle control device
An FB distribution rule 20 determines an actual vehicle actuator operation control input and a vehicle model operation control input such that a difference between a reference state amount determined by a vehicle model 16 and an actual state amount of an actual vehicle 1 (a state amount error) approximates to zero, and the control inputs are used to operate an actuator device 3 of the actual vehicle 1 and the vehicle model 16. In the FB distribution law 20, when an actual vehicle feedback required amount based on the state amount error exists in a dead zone, then an actual vehicle actuator operation control input is determined by using the required amount as a predetermined value. A vehicle model manipulated variable control input is determined such that a state amount error is brought close to zero, independently of whether an actual vehicle feedback required amount exists in a dead zone. This enhances linearity of a control system and also enhances the robustness against disturbance factors or changes therein while carrying out operation control of an actuator that suits a behavior of an actual vehicle as much as possible. |
| US08024083B2 |
Cellphone based vehicle diagnostic system
A vehicular diagnostic communications system, and components thereof, are provided for an apparatus and technique for communicating vehicular diagnostic information over a cellphone network. The system includes a code reader having a vehicle diagnostic port connector for receiving vehicle diagnostic information from the vehicle diagnostic port. The code reader also has a local connectivity network circuit for communicating vehicle diagnostic information between the vehicle diagnostic port connector and a local connectivity circuit. A cellphone is arranged in communication with the local connectivity network for communicating vehicle diagnostic information between the code reader and a cellular telephone network. |
| US08024079B2 |
Wing-body load alleviation for aircraft
A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program product for symmetric and anti-symmetric control of aircraft flight control surfaces to reduce wing-body loads. Commands are sent to symmetrically deploy outboard control surfaces to shift wing air-loads inboard based on airplane state and speed brake deployment. Surface rate retraction on a wing with peak loads is limited to reduce maximum loads due to wheel checkback accompanied by utilization of opposite wing control surfaces to retain roll characteristics. Airloads are shifted inboard on a swept wing to move the center of pressure forward, thereby reducing the tail load required to perform a positive gravity maneuver. In a negative gravity maneuver, speed brakes are retracted, thereby reducing the positive tail load and reducing the aft body design loads. High gain feedback commands are filtered from wing structural modes above one hertz by a set of linear and non-linear filters. |
| US08024069B2 |
System and method for path planning
A method for mapping a motion of a first object within a first motion path defined by a path planner based on a second motion path of a second object. The method includes creating the first motion path for the first object using the path planner, initializing a start position of the first object within the first motion path, determining a value for an initial condition for each segment of a plurality of segments in the first motion path created by the path planner, and calculating an elapsed time between a current sample call time to the path planner and a last sample call time to the path planner. If the calculated elapsed time is one of greater than and less than a sample period, a current location of the second object in the second motion path is determined utilizing the calculated elapsed time, an expired time within a first segment of the plurality if segments between a start time of the first segment and the current sample call time is calculated, and an output command is generated from the path planner. Execution of the generated output command alters the first motion path. |
| US08024068B2 |
Machine tool control system
The present disclosure includes a generalized kinematics library which may be used to control the motion of a machine tool system and to process data for other applications, such as simulation graphics. Methods are disclosed to interpolate the movement of various axes of a machine tool system through a machine singularity point. |
| US08024064B1 |
Placement of inventory in a materials handling facility
In various embodiments, approaches for the placement of inbound inventory in a materials handling facility are described. A product identifier is input from inbound inventory into a computer system, where the inbound inventory is to be stocked in a materials handling facility. At least one available inventory location is identified in the computer system that presents a lowest cost for storage of the inbound inventory in the materials handling facility. The inbound inventory is stocked in the at least one available inventory location contemporaneously with the determination of the at least one available inventory location in the computer system that presents the lowest cost for storage of the inbound inventory in the materials handling facility. |
| US08024055B1 |
Method and system for controlling amplifiers
Techniques for controlling one or more audio amplifiers in or associated with a device coupled on a local area network are disclosed. The device receives at least one selected source from other devices also coupled on the network According to one aspect of the techniques, an automatic shutdown control module is provided in the device to power down the audio amplifiers when there is no audio data flow coming to the device or power up the audio amplifiers when there is audio data flow coming to the device. In one embodiment, the procedure to power down or power up the amplifiers is in accordance with a hysteresis, wherein the hysteresis, being lagging of an effect behind its cause, protects the amplifiers and makes the powering-down or powering-up procedure unnoticeable to a user. |
| US08024052B1 |
Adaptive mapping of device output change to amounts of control effort
Systems and methods for controlling and monitoring equipment in control systems. Adaptive mapping of system output change to amounts of applied control effort. Methods are disclosed to define, initialize, and tune a particularly efficient, log-spaced mapping. Self-tuning update methods cause the control map to improve with use and provides excellent convergence to the actual nonlinear relationship between control input and device output. As the mapping converges to the actual relationship, system performance is optimized when used for purposes of control. Methods pertaining to the specific instance of adaptive impulse control are disclosed. As the mapping converges and tracks what may be a time-varying relationship due to equipment wear or changing operating conditions, drift from baseline conditions can be detected. |
| US08024051B2 |
Parallel power grid analysis
A method for a power grid configured to supply current to a plurality of elements of a circuit. The method includes representing the power grid as a graph including a plurality of nodes and a plurality of edges, wherein each node of a portion of the plurality of nodes corresponds to an element of the plurality of elements each modeled as a current source, determining a characteristic matrix A of the power grid, wherein transient behavior of the power grid is represented by a set of linear equations of A*v=i, wherein v is a nodal voltage vector representing nodal voltages of at least a portion of the plurality of nodes and i is a current source vector representing currents supplied to at least a portion of the plurality of elements, identifying first and second partitions of the power grid based on a predetermined criterion, identifying first and second current source subvectors of the current source vector according to the first and second partitions of the power grid, identifying a first shell of the first partition based on worst case nodal voltage sensitivity analysis with respect to the first current source subvector, identifying a second shell of the second partition based on worst case nodal voltage sensitivity analysis with respect to the second current source subvector, and generating an analysis result of transient behavior of the power grid by analyzing, concurrently and independently, the first and second shells of the first and second partitions of the power grid, respectively. |
| US08024046B2 |
Systems for fitting a cochlear implant to a patient
Systems for fitting an implantable cochlear stimulator to a patient include an interface unit configured to display a graphical representation of an implant fitting line as part of a graphical user interface. The implant fitting line has a slope and a horizontal position and represents a mapping relationship between a plurality of audio frequencies and a plurality of stimulation sites within a cochlea of the patient. The interface unit is further configured to facilitate adjustment of the slope and/or horizontal position of the fitting line. |
| US08024044B2 |
Method and apparatus for hypoglossal nerve stimulation
A method of treating sleep disordered breathing in a patient includes the steps of monitoring the patient for a pre-inspiratory drive signal indicative of the breathing cycle by sensing electroneurogram activity of a hypoglossal nerve of the patient; and electrically stimulating the hypoglossal nerve of the patient following each detection of the pre-inspiratory drive signal. An implantable apparatus for stimulating a hypoglossal nerve of a patient for the treatment of sleep disordered breathing includes an electrode positioned at least partially around the hypoglossal nerve with a monitoring contact and a stimulation contact and a controller operatively coupled to the monitoring contact and the stimulation contact. The monitoring contact monitors the electroneurogram activity of the hypoglossal nerve for a pre-inspiratory drive signal indicative of the onset of inspiration and sends a signal to the controller which in turn causes the stimulating electrode to electrically stimulate the hypoglossal nerve. |
| US08024042B2 |
Minimum ventricular pacing to break the repetitive AR-VS pattern
An implantable cardiac pacing device delivering minimum ventricular pacing and an associated method control intervals timed by the device during sensing and pacing. An atrial-only pacing mode is set in response to sensing intrinsic ventricular events in the ventricular chamber. A first post-ventricular atrial refractory period is set following each of a plurality of ventricular events sensed in the ventricular chamber, and atrial events each being sensed during first post-ventricular atrial refractory periods are detected. A second post-ventricular atrial refractory period is set in response to detecting the atrial events each being sensed during the first post-ventricular atrial refractory period. |
| US08024033B2 |
Iontophoretic electrode
An electrode for an iontophoretic drug delivery system includes a retainer having a malleable characteristic. The retainer and a conductor are connected to a platform. The conductor and a dose controller are electrically coupled to the iontophoretic drug delivery system. A drug delivery matrix is operably connected to the platform and proximate the conductor wherein the conductor, the drug delivery matrix, and the dose controller cooperate to deliver a drug to a user when the electrode is affixed to the user and operably connected to the iontophoretic drug delivery system. |
| US08024030B2 |
System and method for analyzing an electrocardiogram signal
A system for analyzing an ECG signal is provided. The system comprises an interface that receives an ECG waveform associated with heart beat cycle of a patient. The system includes signal processor that determines a first isoelectric portion lying between a T-wave of a first heart beat cycle and a P-wave of a successive heart beat cycle, and a second isoelectric portion lying between a P-wave and a QRS complex of the first heart beat cycle. The signal processor determines a stability measure for each of said first and second portions and adaptively selects the first or the second portion as a baseline for the first heart beat cycle based on the stability measures. The signal processor determines a point of reference on an ST segment associated with the first heart beat cycle and evaluates a deviation of the point of reference on the ST segment from the selected baseline. |
| US08024029B2 |
Techniques for user-activated data retention in an implantable medical device
Apparatus for storing data records associated with a medical monitoring event in a data structure. Upon indication by a patient of a possible manifestation of a neurological event, the implanted device obtains and stores data in the data record in a first data structure that is age-based. Before an oldest data record is lost, the oldest data record may be stored in a second data structure that is priority index-based. The priority index may be determined by a severity level and may be further determined by associated factors. The implanted device may organize, off-load, report, and/or display a plurality of data records based on an associated priority index. Additionally, the implanted device may select a subset or composite of physiologic channels from the available physiologic channels based on a selection criterion. |
| US08024026B2 |
Dynamic reference method and system for use with surgical procedures
A substrate configured for placement on an internal organ or tissue is provided. In certain embodiments, the substrate conforms to and moves with the internal organ or tissue. Three or more sensor elements are integrated on the substrate. In one implementation, the substrate and associated sensor elements provide dynamic referencing of the internal organ or tissue after registration of the sensor data with images and/or volumetric representations of the internal organ or tissue. |
| US08024016B2 |
Portable electronic device
A portable electronic device having a front cover, a rear cover, and wherein one of the front cover and the rear cover is metallic and has a pattern portion with a predetermined pattern. In addition, a portable electronic device having a front cover, a rear cover, and a metallic pattern layer provided on at least one of the covers, the metallic pattern layer having a predetermined pattern. |
| US08024014B2 |
Wireless terminal, wireless module and method of manufacturing such a terminal
A wireless terminal is described, which is formed from a module (20) comprising a substrate, RF components (32, 33), an antenna (25), notably of the PIFA type, and a linkage part (30) for linking the antenna to the substrate. The RF components are placed in the vicinity of the linkage part or even on the linkage part without degrading the operation of the antenna. By placing the RF components on this link, an area is made available for circuitry on the substrate. |
| US08023999B2 |
Base station architecture using decentralized duplexers
Disclosed is a base station comprising an antenna and a plurality of integrated transceiver modules. Each integrated transceiver module includes a radio and a decentral duplexer connected to the radio and the antenna for transmission of and reception of communication signals. The integrated transceiver module therefore modularizes the base station so that all of the components of a base station can be located on a single module (e.g., one printed circuit board (PCB)). The base station can be upgraded by inserting additional integrated transceiver modules into the base station. |
| US08023998B2 |
Wireless enabled memory module
A wireless-enabled memory module provides host devices access to a memory via a standard memory expansion interface and further incorporates embedded processing capability and a wireless network capability. The wireless-enabled memory module can be used in any host device providing a compatible memory card controller and interface. Host devices so equipped become wireless-memory enabled devices and can provide memory access to any other remote device enabled for compatible wireless communications. It is thereby possible for a remote device to access the memory content of the memory module, and cause transfers of either full-size or scaled versions of the content to the remote device through a first network, and optionally further transfer the content from the remote device through a second network to the Internet in the form of an e-mail message or MMS attachment. |
| US08023997B2 |
Network interface wireless router
There is provided an apparatus and methodology for providing selective wired and/or wireless transmission of communications signals to and/or within a subscriber premises. A network interface device includes a wireless router within the housing of the network interface device to selectively provide one or more of wireless and wired communications services to a subscriber. The network interface device may be mounted externally of a subscriber premises. The provision of a wireless router within a network interface device offers a service provider the ability to provide wireless service to a subscriber as well as to new subscribers in close proximity to a subscriber. |
| US08023987B2 |
Signaling method for decentralized allocation of online transmission power in a wireless network
The invention relates to distributed wireless ad hoc networks having interfering transmission channels, in which direct links between adjacent transmit nodes and receive nodes in a connection pair are established and optimized. The inventive signaling method alternately uses a primary network and an adjoint network, the respective transmit nodes and receive nodes constantly changing their roles in an agreed time pattern. The transmission signals in the adjoint network are predistorted in such a way that the influence of the proper mobile radio channel is canceled on each transmission channel. The occurring interference is implicitly transmitted as well by the receive nodes and can be directly determined and taken into account by the transmit nodes. |
| US08023970B2 |
Apparatus, and associated method, for paging an access terminal in a radio communication system
An apparatus, and an associated methodology for a communication system in which an access terminal is paged by a page sent on a paging channel. Hashes are generated by a hash generator at an access network to identify where in the paging message that page indications are to be positioned. And, hashes are generated at the access terminal to identify where in a received page that page indications are located. |
| US08023958B2 |
User plane-based location services (LCS) system, method and apparatus
A system, method and apparatus for providing location services whereby location determination and location disclosure are treated as separate and independent processes. Location determination may be performed (as necessary) via a first set of network entities to obtain location information for a mobile station. The location information may be cached for subsequent disclosure to any number of applications. Location disclosure may be performed (when requested) via a second set of network entities to provide the location information. Location determination may utilize a first security procedure for authentication and authorization and to obtain a first session key used for location determination. Location disclosure may utilize a second security procedure for authentication and authorization and to obtain a second session key used for location disclosure. For a roaming mobile station, location determination may be performed via a serving network and location disclosure may be performed via a home network. |
| US08023944B2 |
Apparatus and method for performing attach procedure in mobile communication system
A service network for handling abnormal interrupts, including tracking area updates, lower layer failures, and guard timer expiries, during an attach procedure with a user equipment is provided. The service network includes a radio access network and a control node. When the radio access network detecting an abnormal interrupt, the control node aborts the attach procedure by sending a detach request message, via the radio access network, to the user equipment. |
| US08023942B2 |
Network-based system and method for global roaming
A system and method of mobile communication roaming where a subscriber's home network and a roaming network used by the subscriber do not have a roaming agreement. The roaming network sends a “Send Authentication/Parameters” request to the home network via an intelligent roaming system on or attached to the backbone. The home network sends an authentication response to the “Send Authentication/Parameters” request from the home network to the roaming network via the backbone and intelligent roaming system. The roaming network sends a “Update Location” request from the roaming network to the intelligent roaming system. The visitor locator register (VLR) address in the “Update Location” request is replaced with the VLR address of the intelligent roaming system to create a modified update request. The modified update request is sent from the intelligent roaming system to the home network. The home network sends an update response to the modified update request to the roaming network via the backbone and intelligent roaming system. |
| US08023936B2 |
Method and system for monitoring ad-hoc network nodes
A method and system for monitoring a mobile ad-hoc network node (e.g. a network enabled aircraft) is provided. The method includes, receiving a message notifying when the ad-hoc node is preparing to join the ad-hoc network; and determining based on a threshold value, when the ad-hoc node should be joining a monitoring system that tracks the status and availability of ad-hoc nodes. The method generates a status message if the ad-hoc node fails to join the monitoring system. The message is received by the monitoring system via and external source to the ad-hoc network. The system includes a data center that receives the message notifying when the node is preparing to join the ad-hoc network; and determines based on a threshold value, when the ad-hoc node should be joining the ad-hoc network and monitoring system. |
| US08023932B2 |
Managing subscribers on a cellular network
A method for managing the assignment of addresses in a cellular network is described. Messages are sent to connected, but inactive, subscribers causing them to disconnect and then to reconnect. This occurs without the user knowing of the disconnection. |
| US08023931B2 |
Call rerouting
A device and method for rerouting a communication from a first communication device to a second communication device includes a rerouting circuit. The rerouting circuit is operative to reroute a communication intended for the first communication device to the second communication device. Rerouting of the communication may be initiated by sending a rerouting request from the device not intended to receive the communication. |
| US08023921B2 |
Quadratic amplitude control circuit for cosite interference cancellation
A quadratic amplitude matching system and associated method with an associated tuning control system is provided for continuously and automatically tuning a quadratic amplitude matching filter (QAMF) to a band center of an interfering signal to provide improved rejection of an interfering signal coupled from a transmission antenna into a local receive antenna in the presence of local multi-path, thereby providing improved interference cancellation system performance. The matching control system is provided as an element of an interference cancellation system. |
| US08023918B2 |
Methods and systems for stereo noise mitigation
Methods and systems are disclosed that mitigate stereo noise in FM broadcast receivers by assessing L−R (left-minus-right) and L+R (left-plus-right) levels within tuned FM channels. These assessments are used to facilitate control of a blend from stereo output signals to mono output signals in order to reduce and mitigate stereo noise and distortion in the audio outputs. The side effects of the disclosed systems and methods are unobtrusive as compared to prior blend-to-mono techniques. |
| US08023917B2 |
FM tone rejection
An interference rejection unit for at least partially rejecting a narrowband interferer from an input signal, the unit comprising: an interferer detector for detecting the phase of an interferer in the input signal; a signal generator for generating a cancellation signal in dependence on the phase detected by the interferer detector; and a signal combiner for combining the input signal with the tone cancellation signal to generate an output signal in which the interferer is at least partially cancelled from the input signal. |
| US08023912B2 |
Circuits, systems and methods for frequency translation and signal distribution
Circuits systems and methods for frequency translation and signal distribution includes a downconverter circuit having first and second inputs coupled to receive respective first and second input signals, and an output for providing a downconverted output signal. The downconverter circuit includes a mixer circuit, a first switch, and a second switch. The mixer includes a first input coupled to a reference source, a second input, and an output coupled to the downconverter circuit output. The first switch includes a first port coupled to the downconverter circuit first input, and a second port switchably coupled to the mixer circuit second input. The second switch includes a first port coupled to the downconverter circuit second input, and a second port switchably coupled to the mixer circuit second input. |
| US08023910B2 |
Communication apparatus and method, and functional module
A communication apparatus includes: a casing into which liquid is injected; two metal plates disposed so as to come into contact with the liquid within the casing; and a transmission/reception unit configured to transmit/receive an electric signal with the two metal plates as antennas, and with the liquid as a medium; with the antennas transmitting/receiving the electric signal to/from a functional module mounted into the casing so as to come into contact with the liquid; and with the functional module being mounted such that the liquid can flow from one of the two metal plates to the other. |
| US08023909B2 |
Data conversion using a serial interface clock in a power amplifier module
In a mobile wireless telecommunication device, a bidirectional serial interface is used to transfer a digital representation of an analog value from a first chip associated with a power amplifier module to a second chip. In an exemplary embodiment, circuitry on the first chip receives this clock signal from the second chip during the address portion of a read operation and uses this clock signal to generate a conversion clock signal. An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) on the first chip operates in response to the conversion clock signal to convert an analog value to a digital output. Circuitry on the first chip then transfers the digital output of the ADC from the first chip to the second chip via the serial interface. |
| US08023902B2 |
Adaptive radio transceiver with an antenna matching circuit
An exemplary embodiment of the present invention described and shown in the specification and drawings is a transceiver with a receiver, a transmitter, a local oscillator (LO) generator, a controller, and a self-testing unit. All of these components can be packaged for integration into a single IC including components such as filters and inductors. The controller for adaptive programming and calibration of the receiver, transmitter and LO generator. The self-testing unit generates is used to determine the gain, frequency characteristics, selectivity, noise floor, and distortion behavior of the receiver, transmitter and LO generator. It is emphasized that this abstract is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract which will allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or the meaning of the claims. |
| US08023899B2 |
Approach for selecting communications channels in communication systems to avoid interference
An approach for selecting communications channels to be used by a communication system includes evaluating for the presence of one or more signals both a particular communications channel currently being used by the communication system and one or more other communications channels. For the particular communications channel currently being used by the communication system, signals that use a different communications protocol than the communication system are evaluated. For the one or more other communications channels, both signals that use the same communications protocol as the communication system and signals that use a different communications protocol than the communication system are evaluated. The approach may include the use of metrics and classification of device types to determine one or more communications channels to be used by the communication system. |
| US08023884B2 |
System and method for radio frequency audio recorder
A user is provided with the ability to request the re-transmission of a content selection that is determined to not be locally stored, while the same content is currently being broadcasted. A system and method for replaying content is provided, where a receiver (e.g., car radio) initially receives a command from a user to replay a content selection. A determination may be made as to whether the content selection is locally stored. If it is determined that the content selection is not locally stored, a request is re-communicated for the content selection to be communicated from a service provider. The requested content selection may be received and/or played. |
| US08023883B1 |
Method and apparatus for controlling handoffs in a mobile system
A method of operating a mobile device includes determining a location of the mobile device, determining a local market area for the mobile device in response to the location. The method further includes broadcasting a local market signal for a first network in a first market and a second local market signal for the first network in a first market. The mobile device selects one of the first local market signal and the second local market signal in response to the local market for the mobile device. |
| US08023882B2 |
Portable audience measurement architectures and methods for portable audience measurement
Portable audience measurement architectures and methods for portable audience measurement are disclosed. A disclosed system contains a plurality of portable measurement devices configured to collect audience measurement data from media devices, a plurality of data collection servers configured to collect audience measurement data from the plurality of portable measurement devices, and a central data processing server. A portable measurement device establishes a communication link with a data collection server in a peer-to-peer manner and transfers the collected audience measurement data to the data collection server. Because the portable measurement device is not dedicated to a particular local data collection server, the portable measurement device periodically or a periodically broadcasts a message attempting to find a data collection server with which to establish a communication link. |
| US08023879B2 |
Auto document feeder and image forming apparatus including the same
An image forming apparatus includes a roller shaft, a paper-transporting which is coupled to the roller shaft and transports a document, a driving part to supply a rotational driving force to the paper-transporting roller, a driving wheel which is coupled to the roller shaft and rotates along with the roller shaft, and a clutch unit which includes a clutch shaft having an axial line deviated from an axial line of the roller shaft, a transmission wheel connected with the clutch shaft and which transmits the driving force to the driving wheel, and a rotation connecting part to selectively transmit the rotational driving force to the transmission wheel. |
| US08023877B2 |
Image forming apparatus capable of forming glossy color image
An image forming apparatus capable of using a recording medium having a transparent portion includes an image forming unit, a fixing unit, and an applicator. The image forming unit forms an image on a face of the recording medium. The fixing unit fixes the image, formed by the image forming unit, on the face of the recording medium. The applicator applies a non-transparent liquid to at least the fixed image on the face of the recording medium. |
| US08023875B2 |
System and drive arrangement for using fuser temperature cycling to change rotational position of a fuser roller wiper
A system and drive arrangement for using fuser temperature cycling to change rotational position of a fuser roller wiper includes a frame, a hot roll, a fuser roller, and a drive arrangement. The frame of the fuser unit has side panels spaced apart from one another and positioned alongside a media path through the fuser unit. The hot roll on the fuser unit is rotatably mounted to the side panels of the frame and extends between the side panels across the media path. The fuser roller wiper is rotatably mounted between the side panels of the frame and performs a wiping action on the hot roll to remove foreign matter therefrom and supply of lubricant thereto. The drive arrangement is coupled to the fuser roller wiper and is operable in response to decrease in temperature of the fuser unit to rotate the fuser roller wiper. |
| US08023873B2 |
Image forming apparatus
A scanning start timing for an optical scanning unit is adjusted according to detection values of belt position detecting units arranged upstream and downstream from a primary transfer position in a movement direction of an endless type belt to thereby transfer an image onto a proper position without being affected by one-sided or meandering travel of an intermediate transfer belt or the endless type belt that serves as a transfer material conveying unit. |
| US08023869B2 |
Conductive roller which is mounted on an image-forming mechanism of an electrophotographic apparatus
The present invention provides a conductive roller whose outermost layer is made of a vulcanized rubber composition. The vulcanized rubber composition contains epichlorohydrin rubber and chloroprene rubber as a rubber component thereof and 0.2 to 5 parts by mass of each of a thiourea-based vulcanizing agent and a vulcanization retarder consisting of N-(cyclohexylthio)phthalimide for 100 parts by mass of the rubber component. |
| US08023853B2 |
Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes a plurality of functions including a function of executing an operation involving use of a consumable, a selecting unit that selects one function from the plurality of functions, a detector that detects a remaining level of the consumable and a controller. The controller is operable to switch displayed contents to information corresponding to the one function when the one function is selected, instruct execution of an operation corresponding to the changed displayed information, display a warning indication when the remaining level of the consumable is not more than a predetermined level, determine whether the selected one function is the function of executing the operation involving use of the consumable, and inhibit the switching the displayed contents when one function is selected and is determined to be the function of executing the operation involving use of the consumable while the warning indication is displayed. |
| US08023849B2 |
Image forming apparatus and image forming method
An image forming apparatus, including: an image carrier for carrying an image; a transfer roller including a holder member that holds a transfer material, a groove portion in which the holder member is disposed, and an elastic member disposed over the transfer roller except a portion where the groove portion is disposed, the elastic member of the transfer roller is pressed onto the image carrier to transfer an image from the image carrier onto the transfer material; and a gate roller for transporting the transfer material to the holder member, wherein a circumferential velocity v1 (mm/sec) of the elastic member of the transfer roller is lower than a moving speed v2 (mm/sec) of the transfer material transported by the gate roller. |
| US08023847B2 |
Image forming apparatus and image forming method
An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier that is electrically charged and exposed to light to form a latent image that is developed by liquid developer. A first squeezing roller that is held in contact with the image carrier carrying a developed image bears bias voltage Vs1. A second squeezing roller that is held in contact with the image carrier squeezed by the first squeezing roller bears bias voltage Vs2. The image is transferred to a transfer member that is held in contact with the image carrier squeezed by the second squeezing roller. The absolute values of the bias voltages Vs1 and Vs2 have a relationship of |Vs1|>|Vs2|. |
| US08023846B2 |
Segmented roller for flood coating system
An electrostatographic apparatus and method of forming a toner image on a receiver using a segmented roller in order to improve transfer of a pigmented toner image to a receiver. The pigmented toner image is applied using the segmented roller and is then transferred to a receiver sheet. |
| US08023840B2 |
Image forming apparatus for detecting the distribution of electrical resistance of a transferring member
An image forming apparatus includes a rotatable image bearing member and a toner image former for forming a toner image on the image bearing member, wherein the toner image former is capable of forming a toner image having a predetermined width measured in a direction of a rotational axis of the image bearing member at each of different positions, a transfer member, pressed against the image bearing member, for forming a transfer portion for transferring the toner image onto the transfer material from the image bearing member, a current detector for detecting a current flowing through the transfer member, a calculating portion for calculating a resistance difference in the transfer member with respect to the axial direction, on the basis of outputs of the current detector, for the toner images at the different positions when the toner images pass through the transfer portion, and an output portion for outputting an abnormality on the basis of an output of the calculating portion. |
| US08023837B2 |
Image forming apparatus capable of preventing a sheet jamming during detected abnormal situations
The invention provides an image forming apparatus an image forming portion for forming an image on a sheet, a stack portion for stacking a sheet, a discharge portion for discharging the sheet, on which an image is formed by the image forming portion, to the stack portion, a sheet detection portion for detecting a conveying condition of the sheet on which an image is formed, a fully stacked condition detection portion for detecting whether the sheets stacked in the stack portion are in a fully stacked condition, and a determining portion for determining an abnormal condition of the sheet in the stack portion, based, after the detection of a sheet passing by the sheet detection portion, on a result of detection by the fully stacked condition detection portion as to whether the sheets stacked in the stack portion are in a fully stacked condition. |
| US08023829B2 |
Demodulation of phase modulated fibre-optic sensor system signals
Demodulation apparatus for demodulating phase-modulated signals comprises a quadrature signal generator (QSG) for generating in-phase (I) and quadrature-phase (Q) signals in response to an unmodulated input signal. The QSG provides fast frequency tracking of the input signal and excludes any high-frequency content the input signal. |
| US08023824B2 |
Wavelength division multiplexed passive optical network
Data is transmitted between a central office and customer premises by a wavelength division multiplex passive optical network. Two laser beams with separate wavelengths are transmitted from the central office to an optical network unit in the customer premises. Both laser beams carry downstream data. One laser beam is intensity modulated by on/off keying. The other laser beam is phase modulated by differential phase shift keying, which maintains a constant optical intensity. The first laser beam is received by a first optical receiver, which demodulates the first downstream data. The second laser beam is split in two. One laser beam is sent to a second optical receiver, which demodulates the second downstream data. The other laser beam is sent to a reflective semiconductor amplifier, which modulates the beam with upstream data and transmits the beam back to a receiver in the central optical system. |
| US08023823B2 |
System and method for transmitting upstream traffic in an optical network
In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a system and method for transmitting upstream traffic in an optical network is provided. In a particular embodiment, the method includes transmitting upstream traffic at a first wavelength from a first downstream terminal to a distribution node and transmitting upstream traffic at a second wavelength from a second downstream terminal to the distribution node. The method also includes combining the upstream traffic in the first wavelength and the upstream traffic in the second wavelength at a coupler in the distribution node without multiplexing the upstream traffic in the first wavelength and the upstream traffic in the second wavelength. The method also includes forwarding the combined traffic from the distribution node to a single upstream terminal. |
| US08023822B2 |
Optical band splitter/combiner device comprising a three-arms interferometer
A three-arm-Mach-Zehnder interferometer for splitting/combining a first and a second wavelength band, wherein the optical device includes: a first and second optical splitting/combining element; a differential optical delay device comprising a first, a second and a third optical path; each of the first and second optical splitting/combining elements, is of the (25-50-25%)λx(0-0-100%)λy type, wherein λx is a wavelength with the first optical band and λy is a wavelength with the second optical band, and the first, second and third optical paths of the differential optical delay device are configured to introduce, at a wavelength λz within the first optical band, a phase delay Δφ of 2πm. |
| US08023816B2 |
Camera and control method thereof
A camera can display, record and play image data after converting a captured image into the digital data. The camera comprises a guidance display setting means for causing a hierarchical guidance display to be made in order to set at least a control of a shooting operation, an item selection means for selecting an item displayed in the set guidance display, a shooting control setting means for setting a control which corresponds to the selected item, and a display control means for displaying information about a setting when the setting of the control is made. |
| US08023811B2 |
Image capturing apparatus, control method thereof, image processing apparatus, image processing method, image capturing system, and program
An image capturing apparatus includes an image capturing element which photoelectrically converts an object image formed by an image capturing optical system, a camera shake correction lens which moves the object image relative to the image capturing element, a camera shake detection sensor which detects a camera shake, a driving unit which drives the camera shake correction lens on the basis of the output from the camera shake detection sensor and a predetermined offset amount that changes in every image capturing, and a control unit which acquires a plurality of object images. |
| US08023800B2 |
Media playback system
Described is a system and method for assigning, controlling and triggering playback of multiple media streams in a manner so that the media streams perform in sync, as defined by parameters specified by the user. The system allows users to generate and acquire new content for playback with an original program. Further, the system allows users to upload the new content to an internet accessible database for download and use by other users. |
| US08023798B2 |
Recording apparatus, mobile receiver apparatus and data management method
A recording apparatus receives, with respect to an identical program, high image quality digital broadcasting data and low image quality digital broadcasting data, records the high image quality program data and the low image quality program data in a recording medium. When a cellular phone device is connected to the recording apparatus, the recording apparatus transfers the recorded low image quality program data to the cellular phone device via a communication interface. The recording apparatus transmits, to the portable cellular phone device, management information of the end of playback and deletion of the first program data whose program is identical to that of the transferred second program data. |
| US08023792B2 |
System for the distribution of optical fibers
A system for the distribution of optical fibers is disclosed. The system has a first furcation area, which is associated with a first fiber optic cable, to tap off a subset of the optical fibers of the first fiber optic cable in the form of a tether cable. The first fiber optic cable may be a riser cable. The tether cable is supplied to a spool device to store any excess length of the tether cable while complying with the minimum permissible bending radius of the optical fibers. The system has a second furcation area, which is associated with the spool device, to separate the optical fibers of the tether cable. The separated optical fibers of the tether cable can each be supplied to an individual splice storage device in which, in each case, one spliced joint can be placed between a separated optical fiber of the tether cable and an optical fiber of a second fiber optic cable, which may be a drop cable. |
| US08023783B2 |
Optical device, and virtual image display device
A virtual image display device is provided which displays a two-dimensional image for viewing a virtual image in a magnified form by a virtual optical system. The virtual image display device includes an optical waveguide (13) to guide, by internal total reflection, parallel pencil groups meeting a condition of internal total reflection, a first reflection volume hologram grating (14) to diffract and reflect the parallel pencil groups incident upon the optical waveguide from outside and traveling in different directions as they are so as to meet the condition of internal total reflection inside the optical waveguide and a second reflection volume hologram grating (15) to project the parallel pencil groups guided by internal total reflection inside the optical waveguide as they are from the optical waveguide by diffraction and reflection thereof so as to depart from the condition of internal total reflection inside the optical waveguide. Some of the parallel pencil groups guided through the optical waveguide being totally reflected different numbers of times for a period from external incidence upon the optical waveguide until outgoing from the optical waveguide. |
| US08023777B2 |
Optical interconnect device and method for manufacturing the same
An optical interconnect device includes a first substrate, a second substrate, an optical waveguide, an electrical wiring and a switching device. The first substrate has an electrical wiring circuit, an electrical-optical converter for converting an electrical signal to an optical signal, and a light emitting device for emitting a light. The second substrate has an electrical wiring circuit, an optical-electrical converter for converting the optical signal to the electrical signal, and a light receiving device for receiving the light from the light emitted device. The optical waveguide optically connects the light emitting and light receiving devices. The electrical wiring electrically connects the electrical wiring circuits of the first and second substrates. The switching device determines a fast signal of data to be transmitted via the optical substrate and a slow signal of data to be transmitted via the electrical wiring. |
| US08023772B2 |
Rendering images under cylindrical projections
Systems, methods, and apparatus, including computer program products, are provided for forming composite images. In some implementations, a method is provided. The method includes receiving a set of component images for forming a composite image, defining a projection for the set of images transforming each component image into a projected component image, and rendering the projected component images to form the composite image. The rendering of each component image includes decomposing a rotation of the projection into separate rotations for each axis, rotating the component image along a first axis, separately identifying pixel values for each row and each column of the projected component image, and rotating the image along a third axis to form a rendered component image. |
| US08023770B2 |
Methods and systems for identifying the orientation of a digital image
Aspects of the present invention are related to systems and methods for determining the orientation of an electronic document image. |
| US08023766B1 |
Method and system of processing an image containing undesirable pixels
In a method of processing an image containing undesirable pixels, a coarse identification of a location of the undesirable pixels is received. The coarse identification includes identification of at least one undesirable pixel and at least one desirable pixel in the image. An area in the image to be analyzed for undesirable pixel values is automatically determined according to the coarse identification received. In addition, in the area determined to be analyzed, the pixels are automatically classified as one of undesirable and desirable and the classifications of the pixels are stored. |
| US08023754B2 |
Image encoding and decoding apparatus, program and method
An image decoding apparatus has a video data decoder for receiving and decoding encoded video data to acquire a plurality of reconstructed images; a subsidiary data decoder for receiving and decoding subsidiary data to acquire subsidiary motion information; and a resolution enhancer for generating motion vectors representing time-space correspondences between the plurality of reconstructed images, based on the subsidiary motion information acquired by the subsidiary data decoder, and for generating a high-resolution image with a spatial resolution higher than that of the plurality of reconstructed images, using the generated motion vectors and the plurality of reconstructed images acquired by the video data decoder. |
| US08023752B1 |
Decompression of 16 bit data using predictor values
Systems and methods compress and decompress 16 bit data. The 16 bit data may be signed or unsigned and represented in a fixed point or floating point format. A fixed block size of data is compressed into a fixed length format. Data compressed using a medium quality compression scheme may be efficiently decompressed in hardware. Data may be efficiently compressed and decompressed in hardware using a high quality compression scheme. The high quality compression scheme has a lower compression ratio compared with the medium quality compression scheme, but is near lossless in terms of quality. |
| US08023745B2 |
Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for fast neighborhood determinations in dynamic environments
Methods, systems, and computer-readable media for ascertaining neighborhood information in a dynamically changing environment, such as an electronic ink environment may include: (a) receiving data representing plural electronic ink strokes; (b) defining a first vertex associated with a first ink stroke; and (c) determining neighboring vertices to the first vertex, wherein the neighboring vertices are associated with ink stroke(s) other than the first ink stroke. Additional systems, methods, and computer-readable media may include: (a) receiving data representing plural electronic ink strokes; (b) defining plural vertices associated with the ink strokes; (c) receiving input indicating a selection of an ink component; and (d) determining at least one neighboring component by determining which ink component(s) located outside of the selection include one or more ink strokes having vertices that neighbor vertices included in the selection. |
| US08023743B2 |
Image processing apparatus and image processing method
When a user instructs photographing by operating an operating unit, an image captured by an image sensor is stored as a photographed image in a memory. When a mode for performing color fading correction is set, the CPU instructs an image processing device to extract, from the photographed image, areas in which there are photographic print images which are supposed to bring about color fading. The image processing device generates a binary image by detecting edges of the photographed image, erases edges contacting an outermost edge of the photographed image, and extracts the areas based on the binary image from which some of the edges are erased. |
| US08023728B2 |
Display apparatus and method
In a method of displaying an image from an image store to a display device, each pixel has a color represented by pixel values which define a position within color space. A plurality of regions are defined within the color space, and each pixel value used within the image is allocated to one of these regions within the color space. Then, one or more areas of the image are selected, and for each of the selected areas, one of the defined regions within the color space is selected. For each selected area of the image, pixels which have been allocated to the selected region within the color space are identified and added to the image store. Different areas of the image and regions of the color space are selected in succession until all pixels of the image have been added to the image store for display. |
| US08023727B2 |
Environment map generating apparatus, environment map generating method, and environment map generating program
An environment map generating apparatus is provided. The environment map generating apparatus includes: a storage unit, a cross-sectional image generating unit, a model processing unit, an obtaining unit and an environment map generating unit. The storage unit stores a model of an obstacle. The cross-sectional image generating unit generates a cross-sectional image of a model of an obstacle at a predetermined height from a reference plane in an environment. The model processing unit generates a cross-sectional image-appended model by superimposing the cross-sectional image onto the model of the obstacle. The obtaining unit obtains an obstacle map at the predetermined height from the reference plane in the environment. The environment map generating unit generates an environment map where the cross-sectional image-appended model is superimposed in a semitransparent state onto the corresponding obstacle in the obstacle map. |
| US08023726B2 |
Method and system for markerless motion capture using multiple cameras
Completely automated end-to-end method and system for markerless motion capture performs segmentation of articulating objects in Laplacian Eigenspace and is applicable to handling of the poses of some complexity. 3D voxel representation of acquired images are mapped to a higher dimensional space (k), where k depends on the number of articulated chains of the subject body, so as to extract the 1-D representations of the articulating chains. A bottom-up approach is suggested in order to build a parametric (spline-based) representation of a general articulated body in the high dimensional space followed by a top-down probabilistic approach that registers the segments to an average human body model. The parameters of the model are further optimized using the segmented and registered voxels. |
| US08023723B2 |
Mask pattern dimensional inspection apparatus and method
A sidewall shape correction function is determined in advance which represents the relationship of the difference between contour positions of two or more items of pattern contour position data of different thresholds obtained from an SEM image and optical pattern contour positions determined through an optical method. Two or more items of pattern contour position data of different thresholds are obtained from SEM image data on which a lithographic simulation is to be conducted. Pseudo-optical pattern contour position data are determined from the contour position difference and the sidewall shape correction function. A lithographic simulation is conducted using the pseudo-optical pattern contour position data. |
| US08023722B1 |
Radiography test system and method
A system and method for monitoring degradation of a device having a metal layer and a composite layer, such as a vehicle-mounted boom arm. The system can include a collar mounted on an outer surface of the device, a radiography device movably coupled to the collar, and a monitor. The radiography device can include a source of radiography signals positioned to direct radiography signals through at least a portion of the device and a detector to detect radiography signals that have passed through the device. The monitor can be connected to the detector to display an image of the device generated from the detected radiography signals. Anomalies in the device image can represent degradation in the device. |
| US08023718B1 |
Method and system for linking front and rear images in a document reader/imager
A method for linking front and rear images in a document processing system involves linking the front and rear images by a magnetic ink character code line. The document processing system includes an imaging device and a magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) reader. The method comprises capturing a first image and first MICR waveform for the front side of the document, and capturing a second image and second MICR waveform for the rear side of the document. A forward recognition algorithm is applied to the first waveform to produce a first code line. A reverse recognition algorithm is applied to the second waveform to produce a second code line. The reverse recognition algorithm considers the second waveform as resulting from the document being read from the rear side of the document when processing the second waveform. |
| US08023714B2 |
System and method for assessing image interpretability in anatomic pathology
A portion of imagery data is obtained from a digital slide and a protocol of image analysis/diagnostic tasks is performed on the portion of imagery data by a pathologist or an image analysis module. The result of each task (e.g., success or no success) is recorded and a score is determined for the portion of the imagery data. Multiple portions of imagery data from the digital slide are analyzed and scored and the various scores from the multiple portions of imagery data are calculated to determine an overall score for the digital slide. Regions of the digital slide can be scored separately. Multiple rounds of scoring (by different pathologists and/or different image analysis algorithms) may be employed to increase the accuracy of the score for a digital slide or region thereof. |
| US08023693B2 |
System and method for solving the “birthday problem” with watermarking
A system and method are provided for facilitating the playing of a watermarked video having the “birthday problem”. Consumers send the problem disc to an authorization center where the disc is analyzed to determine if it is a legitimate disc. The authorization center generates a digital certificate uniquely associated with the disc and with the video and embeds the digital certificate into the disc. The digital certificate will cause a video player to play the video without checking for the watermark. |
| US08023684B2 |
Speaker/bracket assembly
The present invention discloses a speaker/bracket assembly. The speaker/bracket assembly comprises a speaker and a bracket for supporting the speaker thereon. The speaker defines a slide groove at a back face thereof. The bracket comprises a latching mechanism configured to be loosened to adjust and tightened to set the speaker position. The latching mechanism comprises a brake, a pair of latch hooks disposed on the brake, and a drive mechanism interposed between the pair of latch hooks. A spring is secured on the drive mechanism. The pair of latch hooks is loosened to set the speaker position and snaps into the slide groove to lock the speaker into the set position when the spring is pushed in and drawn back out the brake by the drive mechanism. |
| US08023671B2 |
Piezoelectric buzzer driving circuit
A piezoelectric buzzer driving circuit (200) for driving a piezoelectric buzzer (211) with two terminals includes a reverser (216). The reverser includes an output terminal and an input terminal (24) configured for receiving a controlling signal to control an output of the reverser. The two terminals of the piezoelectric buzzer respectively connected to the input terminal and the output terminal such that a D-value of the voltage across the piezoelectric buzzer is twice as large as the voltage of the controlling signal. |
| US08023668B2 |
System for predicting the behavior of a transducer
A system for compensating and driving a loudspeaker includes an open loop loudspeaker controller that receives and processes an audio input signal and provides an audio output signal. A dynamic model of the loudspeaker receives the audio output signal, and models the behavior of the loudspeaker and provides predictive loudspeaker behavior data indicative thereof. The open loop loudspeaker controller receives the predictive loudspeaker behavior data and the audio input signal, and provides the audio output signal as a function of the audio input signal and the predictive loudspeaker behavior data. |
| US08023662B2 |
Reverberation adjusting apparatus, reverberation correcting method, and sound reproducing system
The present invention provides a sound reproducing system capable of accurately analyzing a reverberation characteristic of amplified sound including an arrival direction of a reverberation component, which is more natural, and has higher realistic sensation. A surround system 100 has a speaker system 130, a signal processing apparatus 120 for recognizing a reverberation characteristic of a listening room 10 and adjusting a reverberation component of sound source to be amplified on the basis of the recognized reverberation characteristic, and a microphone array 140 constructed by a plurality of microphones M disposed in the listening room 10 and having the same characteristics, and in which distances among the microphones M are determined in advance. In the case where sound source is amplified and output from the speaker system 130 to the listening room 10, the microphone array 140 collects amplified sound in a specific listening position in the listening room 10. |
| US08023655B2 |
System, method, and service for tracing traitors from content protection circumvention devices
A traitor tracing system generates a hypothesized model of the circumvention device that models a hypothesized set of device keys compromised by the circumvention device. The system iteratively invokes a subset tracing system to identify a compromised device key until substantially all the compromised device keys in the set of compromised device keys are identified so as to disable the circumvention device. A subset tracing system generates a circumvention device model that models behavior of a circumvention device using prior knowledge and The system iteratively selects and applies to the circumvention device a test based on the hypothesized model and the circumvention device model and receives a response from the circumvention device indicating a success of the test in playing protected content on the circumvention device. The system updates the hypothesized model using the received response, the selected test, a current version of the hypothesized model, and a current version of the circumvention device model to focus the test selecting process in determining the device keys obtained from the traitor. |
| US08023647B2 |
Password self encryption method and system and encryption by keys generated from personal secret information
A public key cryptographic system and method is provided for a password or any other predefined personal secret information that defeats key factoring and spoofing attacks. The method adopts a new technique of encrypting a password or any predefined secret information by a numeric function of itself, replacing the fixed public key of the conventional RSA encryption. The whole process involving key generation, encryption, decryption and password handling is discussed in detail. Mathematical and cryptanalytical proofs of defeating factoring and spoofing attacks are furnished. |
| US08023639B2 |
Method and system determining the complexity of a telephonic communication received by a contact center
A method of determining the complexity of a telephonic communication received by a contact center is provided. The method comprises the step of establishing a call rule based on one or more of a call duration threshold, a non-interaction threshold, a distress event threshold, a third party dialog threshold, and a call transfer threshold. A recorded telephonic communication is received and call attributes associated with the telephonic communication are determined. The call attributes include one or more of the following: call duration data, non-interaction data, distress event data, third party dialog data and call transfer data. The established call rule is compared to the call attributes of the telephonic communication, and data indicative of the complexity of the telephonic communication is generated. |
| US08023630B2 |
Techniques for voice instant messaging on a telephone set
Techniques for voice instant messaging (VIM) on a programmable telephone set include receiving configuration data that includes VIM ID data that indicates a particular group of telephone sets. A start signal is received that indicates a start of a new message directed to the particular telephone set over a particular communication channel associated with the VIM ID. In response, VIM audio data received over the communication channel is recorded. It is determined whether the particular telephone set is currently in use. If not, then the VIM audio data is played over a speaker on the particular telephone set. These techniques allow instant, persistent audio messages to multiple recipients without a computer. |
| US08023626B2 |
System and method for providing language interpretation
A method and system of providing a language interpretation service is disclosed. A language access number, such as an 811 number, can be provided. The language access number can be used to place a telephone call to a language interpretation service for language assistance. A language access telephone call is received at the language interpretation service provider from a caller speaking a first language. The caller places the language access telephone call by dialing the language access number. The caller has at least one business need. The first language is identified so as to provide the customer with an interpreter that can translate between a first language and a second language. The interpreter can be associated with the language interpretation service provider. The interpreter can telephonically engage an agent representing a merchant that can serve the at least one business need of the caller. The first agent speaks the second language and the interpreter translates a conversation between the caller and the agent. |
| US08023625B2 |
Communication system and voice mail apparatus
According to one embodiment, a communication system includes a voice mail apparatus and a communication terminal which is connected to the voice mail apparatus through a data transmission path, wherein the communication terminal includes a creator which creates e-mail data including the voice files and configuration files necessary to set the voice files to the arbitrary mail boxes as attached files, and a transmitter which transmits the e-mail data to the data transmission path toward the voice mail apparatus, and the voice mail apparatus includes, an analyzer which receives the e-mail data transmitted from the communication terminal to analyze contents of the configuration files, when the voice files and the configuration files are attached to the e-mail data, and a controller which sets the voice files to mail boxes specified by the configuration files based on analysis results. |
| US08023619B2 |
Adaptive scanning in an imaging system
An object within a region is exposed to a first beam of penetrating radiation. The first beam of penetrating radiation is sensed on a side opposite the region from a source of the first beam. An attenuation of the first beam caused by passing the first beam through the object is determined, the attenuation is compared to a threshold attenuation. If the attenuation exceeds the threshold attenuation, a parameter of a second of beam of penetrating radiation is adjusted based on the determined attenuation. |
| US08023617B2 |
Method and device for quality management in mammography apparatus
The present invention relates to a device and method for quality management (5) in a mammography apparatus (10), said apparatus comprising an X-ray source capable of directing a X-ray beam, a breast immobilization means (16, 18), and an X-ray image sensor system (20), said X-ray image sensor system (20) comprising a central area for sensing an image of said breast, and a peripheral area not used for imaging said immobilized breast. According to the invention, the device comprises a sensor for quality management (30), said sensor comprising a radiation dose detector in the path of said X-ray beam, for producing a dose measurement, and radiation absorbing elements (130, 350, 360, 380, 390, 400) for producing a detectable image of said X-ray beam on said X-ray image sensor system (20), acquisition means (20, 50, 60) for acquiring a digital image of said breast, and of said sensor for quality management (30), computing means (70) for computing quality management data (80) from said digital image of said sensor for quality management (30), and from said dose measurement. |
| US08023612B2 |
Shift register with dynamic entry point particularly useful for aligning skewed data
Disclosed are, inter alia, methods, apparatus, computer-storage media, mechanisms, and means associated with a shift register with a dynamic entry point, which may particularly useful for aligning skewed data. The dynamic entry shift register typically includes a series of storage elements, with multiplexers distributed between the storage elements. Each of the multiplexers is configured to select between: (a) the output signal of a previous storage element, and (b) the input signal. A control is configured to configure the multiplexers for a data signal applied as the input signal to induce an appropriate delay of the data signal as the output signal. The dynamic entry shift register can be scaled to accommodate a longer delay while still using only 2:1 multiplexers between stages in the dynamic entry shift register(s). |
| US08023607B2 |
Frequency synchronization method and apparatus
A frequency synchronization method comprise a first step of detecting a frequency error which occurs when a high-frequency receiving signal is converted into a digital signal of a base-band, performing rounding or discarding processing and generating a local oscillation signal depending on the converted analog signals, a second step of generating a digital signal whose frequency depending on a discard component obtained by the rounding or discarding processing when the rounding or discarding processing is performed, and a third step of canceling a frequency component of the digital signal which is generated by the second step from a frequency component of the digital signal of the base-band. |
| US08023605B2 |
Oversampling circuit and oversampling method
A multiphase delay unit causes different delay times to a reference clock to generate a multiphase clock with different phases. A multiphase sampling unit samples the input signal using the multiphase clock, and outputs multiphase sampling data. A phase selecting unit detects a phase relation of the multiphase clock using the multiphase sampling data, and selects output data from the multiphase sampling data based on a result of detecting the phase relation. |
| US08023601B2 |
Weight generation method for multi-antenna communication systems utilizing RF-based and baseband signal weighting and combining
A method for processing signals is disclosed and may include performing using one or more processor and/or circuits in a receiver that uses a plurality of antennas: receiving via a channel, a plurality of RF signals by one or more of the plurality of antennas. The plurality of received RF signals may be weighted utilizing one or more corresponding RF weighting values to generate a plurality of weighted RF signals. The one or more corresponding RF weighting values may include a frequency-independent weight coefficient that is constant over the channel. At least a portion of the plurality of weighted RF signals may be combined to generate one or more combined RF signals. The one or more corresponding RF weighing values may be selected to maximize an output signal-to-noise ratio of the channel. The output signal-to-noise ratio may be averaged over the channel. |
| US08023590B2 |
NICAM audio signal resampler
A NICAM audio signal re-sampler may include a non-linear interpolator configured to interpolate in a non-linear manner between sequential digital samples that are based on a stream of demodulated NICAM audio samples. A phase differential calculator may be included that compares phase information at different resolutions. |
| US08023588B1 |
Adaptive predistortion of non-linear amplifiers with burst data
Apparatus and methods control predistortion of an RF transmitter. A base station or a mobile station can utilize predistortion to improve linearity characteristics of the RF power amplifier. When used effectively, predistortion limits spectral growth such that the amplified signal complies with regulatory requirements. With respect to bursty signals, specific improvement techniques are disclosed. A first technique is related to adaptation using only a smaller subset of samples of a burst. A second technique is related to selective application of digital predistortion, such as, only under high power conditions for a power amplifier. A third technique is directed to adaptation of less than all of the coefficients. These improvements permit the use of a smaller and less expensive amplifier for a given power class and can lengthen battery life for a mobile unit. |
| US08023578B2 |
Two-stage low-complexity max-log bit-level LLR calculator and method
A demodulator and demodulation method includes a bit/symbol hard demodulator configured to obtain hard bit or symbol information from a received signal. At least one lookup table is configured to reference coefficients for computation of log-likelihood ratios (LLRs) from the hard bit or symbol information. A log-likelihood ratio calculation module is configured to compute bit-level LLRs from the coefficients and the received signal. |
| US08023575B2 |
Approach for spectrum analysis in a receiver
A wireless communications apparatus that it is useable as a spectrum analyzer and as a wireless receiver. The wireless communications apparatus has a radio circuit that is configured to receive EM radiation. Signal processing logic receives signals from the radio circuit based on the EM radiation. The signal processing logic has a receiver operational mode that processes the signals in accordance with a communication protocol and outputs data encoded in the signals to a host processor. The signal processing logic has a spectrum analyzer operational mode that generates frequency domain data and passes the frequency domain data to the host processor. The frequency domain data describe strength versus frequency of the EM radiation. The host processes the data in accordance with the configuration currently in use. Therefore, the wireless communications apparatus operates as a receiver in one operational mode and as a real-time spectrum analyzer in another operational mode. |
| US08023574B2 |
Method and apparatus to support scalability in a multicarrier network
A multicarrier communication device can vary the number of subcarriers being used to carry on multicarrier communication within a network, based on a predetermined criterion (e.g., traffic load, etc.). |
| US08023571B2 |
Impulse ultra-wideband radio communication system
A method and apparatus are provided for implementing an impulse ultra-wideband communications system which combines the technique of transmitted reference (TR) with a code-sifted reference scheme that separates the reference and the data pulses with a sequence of codes such as a subset of Walsh codes. The combination of the two techniques in ultra-wideband (UWB) radio systems removes the wideband delay elements required by conventional TR UWB systems. The invention provides a system with no analog carriers and lower complexities than other UWB systems, and which has better performances, higher tolerance to nonlinearity, and larger capacities. |
| US08023562B2 |
Real-time video coding/decoding
A video codec having a modular structure for encoding/decoding a digitized sequence of video frames in a multi-core system is described. The video codec comprises a memory unit; a multithreading engine. and a plurality of control and task modules organized in a tree structure, each module corresponding to a coding operation. The modules communicate with each other by control messages and shared memory. The control modules control all coding logic and workflow, and lower level task modules perform tasks and provide calculations upon receiving messages from the control task modules. The multithreading engine maintains context of each task and assigns at least one core to each task for execution. The method of coding/decoding comprises denoising, core motion estimation, distributed motion estimation, weighted texture prediction and error resilient decoding. |
| US08023551B2 |
Hybrid orthogonal frequency division multiple access WTRU and method
A hybrid orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) and method. A WTRU includes a transmitter and a receiver. The receiver processes received data to recover data mapped to the subcarriers using OFDMA. The receiver recovers first input data by separating user data from multi-user spread data and recovers second input data from non-spread data. |
| US08023547B2 |
Vertical extended cavity surface emission laser and method for manufacturing a light emitting component of the same
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing the light emitting component of a VECSEL and the corresponding VECSEL. In the method a layer stack (2) is epitaxially grown on a semiconductor substrate (1). The layer stack comprises an active region (4), an upper distributed Bragg reflector (5) and a n- or p-doped current injection layer (13) arranged between the active region (4) and the semiconductor substrate (1). A mechanical support (6) or submount is bonded to an upper side of the layer stack (2) and the semiconductor substrate (1) is subsequently removed. A metallization layer (7) is optionally deposited on the lower side of the layer stack (2) and an optically transparent substrate (8) is bonded to this lower side. The proposed method allows the manufacturing of such a component in a standard manner and results in a VECSEL with a homogenous current injection and high efficiency of heat dissipation. |
| US08023541B2 |
Optical transmission circuit
An optical transmission circuit includes a light emitting device (10) having different temperature characteristics at low temperature and high temperature (e.g., a VCSEL (Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser), differential switch transistors (M1, M2) for driving the light emitting device (10), the differential switch transistors having sources connected to each other and drains connected to the light emitting device (10) and a power supply, respectively, a bias current source (11) for causing a bias current to flow, a modulated current source (12) for causing a modulated current to flow, and a temperature compensation current source (20) for controlling currents of the bias current source (11) and the modulated current source (12) so as to compensate for both temperature characteristics at low temperature and temperature characteristics at high temperature of the light emitting device (10). |
| US08023539B2 |
Method for driving surface emitting semiconductor laser, optical transmission module, and handheld electronic device
Provided is a method for driving a surface emitting semiconductor laser including an active region that generates light, a resonator structure disposed such that it sandwiches the active region, and a driving electrode that provides power to the active region. The surface emitting semiconductor laser has an internal resistance defined by voltage and current applied to the driving electrode. The method includes applying a modulation signal to the driving electrode, in which the modulation signal has a current amplitude defined by a first current value and a second current value that is greater than the first current value. The modulation signal is in a negative gradient region in which the internal resistance decreases in contrast to the increase of the current. |
| US08023538B2 |
Ultra-high power parametric amplifier system at high repetition rates
Embodiments of parametric chirped pulse amplifiers seeded with a single pulse source which is subsequently split into a signal arm and a pump arm with appropriate signal and pump conditioning stages are disclosed, which advantageously improve the utility of high average power and/or high energy ultrafast amplification systems. In various embodiments, at least one of the signal or the pump conditioning stages is non-linear, allowing for a great range of seed sources to be utilized. Chirped pulse amplification in the pump conditioning stage may be used to simplify the parametric amplification of pulses with pulse widths of the order of 10 fs. The parametric pump can include coherently combined fiber arrays, hybrid fiber solid-state amplifiers, and/or cryogenically cooled solid-state amplifiers to increase or optimize the energy extraction of high average powers. |
| US08023523B2 |
Communications systems
In a multi user communication system, subcarriers are allocated to subchannels using a quality measurement for each subchannel. An initial sub carrier is allocated to each subchannel, and a quality metric measured. Subsequent subcarriers are allocated in dependence upon the quality measurement for each subchannel. The subchannel with the lowest quality measurement receives the first allocation, and the subchannel with the highest quality measurement receives the last allocation. The subsequent allocation is repeated, following a re-sort of the subchannel quality measurements, until all of the subcarriers are allocated. |
| US08023521B2 |
Methods and apparatus for differentiated services over a packet-based network
Methods and apparatus for the provision of differentiated services in a packet-based network may be provided in a communications device such as a switch or router having input ports and output ports. Each output port is associated with a set of configurable queues that store incoming data packets from one or more input ports. A scheduling mechanism retrieves data packets from individual queues in accord with a specified configuration, providing both pure priority and proportionate de-queuing to achieve a guaranteed QoS over a connectionless network. |
| US08023518B2 |
Efficient path setup in a provider backbone bridge network
In a provider backbone—traffic engineering network, a method and a bridge node are provided for setting up path between edge bridges connected to customer premises. A first edge bridge advertises towards peer edge bridges a tuple comprising a port identity and a layer two address. When it needs to set up a path towards the first edge bridge, one of the peer edge bridges uses information in the tuple to compute a path label. |
| US08023515B2 |
Distributed connection-oriented services for switched communication networks
Connection-oriented services for packet switched data communications networks are provided, including distributed MAC and protocol alias addresses discovery. Link state topology exchanges provide each switch with network topology graphs to determine paths from source to destination end systems. Broadcast frames are resolved to unicast frames to reduce broadcast traffic. Policy restrictions may be applied prior to connection setup. Connection management includes source-routed mapping of connections on the desired path. Distributed call rerouting is provided so switches receive topology change notifications and unmap failed link connections. Broadcast/unknown services provide non-resolvable packet restricted flooding. Connection-oriented switching is provided based on source and destination MAC addresses. Resolution of networks outside the switch domain is enabled by listening for network and server route advertisements and maintaining best routes to the networks and servers. Route and path metrics may be combined to determine paths from access switches to egress switches connected to the external network. |
| US08023502B2 |
Load testing for IP PBX systems
A method of load testing an IP PBX. The IP PBX is connected to a LAN, to which a registration simulator is also connected. The registration simulator is used to load the IP PBX with registrations. Actual phone calls are then made on the LAN, to determine whether the loading has adversely affected performance of the IP PBX. In this manner, the maximum CPU capacity of the IP PBX can be determined. |
| US08023499B2 |
Communication network control system, communication terminal, and communication network control method
To guarantee continuation of communications of the level of the applications, and implement smooth and seamless switching between communication terminals that execute the service.Provided are mobility management means (120) for performing call control and the like, service management means (130) for managing a session while controlling a start, suspension, resuming and releasing of session connection, and exerted are a function of receiving a switching request signal from the communication terminal of a switching source, and instructing the mobility management means (120) to perform call connection to the communication terminal of a switching destination that does not perform communications, another function of notifying the communication terminal of the switching destination of state information of the session executed between a communicating-apparatus communication terminal and the communication terminal of the switching source, and still another function of establishing new session connection between the communication terminal of the switching destination and the communicating-apparatus communication terminal. |
| US08023498B2 |
Controlling access to a destination in a data processing network
A method and system of controlling access to a destination (17, 23, 24) in a data processing network where the destination is limited to a fixed number of requesters responds to a new request (50) for access from a given requestor (20) by determining whether the fixed number would be exceeded. If the fixed number would not be exceeded (51), the new request is granted by connecting (52) the given requester to the destination. If the fixed number would be exceeded, the liveness of the or each current connection to a respective requester is tested (55). If the liveness test succeeds, the new request is rejected but if the liveness test fails, the new request is granted (52). |
| US08023497B2 |
Method and apparatus for dynamic anchoring of CS calls for CS-to-VoIP handoffs
A mobile device that is capable of accessing different types of networks such as a circuit-switched network and a packet-switched network is disclosed. A dynamic anchoring mechanism is invoked when the mobile device determines that a circuit-switched call is to be handed over to a packet-switched network. |
| US08023495B1 |
Method and system for WLAN synchronization
Method and system for synchronizing Access Points in a WLAN, such as a CSMA/CA Access Point. A method of synchronizing a first Access Point and a second Access Point includes the steps of deploying the first and the second Access Point within a wireless network and utilizing the first Access Point to detect a presence of the second Access Point. A first periodic Beacon Frame of the first Access Point is synchronized with a first periodic Beacon Frame of the second Access Point. |
| US08023489B2 |
Burden sharing in satellite communications
Systems and methods for burden sharing in satellite based communication systems are disclosed. One or more users in a satellite based communication system may experience signal degradation or signal fading that can occur for an extended period of time, such as when the fade is due to rain fade. The system can improve a communication link with a particular user by varying the data rate. The data rate can be varied by reducing a coding rate to compensate for low signal quality. In a time multiplexed communication system where multiple users time multiplex the available communication bandwidth, the system can concurrently adjust a time allocated to a user based in part on the coding rate. The time allocated to a user can be increased for decreased coding rates in order to maintain a substantially stable symbol rate to the user for each time multiplex cycle of users. |
| US08023485B2 |
Method, system and device for realizing user identity association
The present invention discloses a method for realizing user identity association, the method comprising: setting an equivalent behavior user identifier in a Home Subscription Server (HSS); associating IMS Public User Identities (IMPUs) with the equivalent behavior through the set equivalent behavior user identifier. The present invention also discloses a system and a device realizing user identity association. According to the embodiments of the present invention, the association of the IMPUs with the set equivalent behavior is realized, which improves the user experiences. |
| US08023483B2 |
Communication management apparatus, communication control apparatus, and wireless communication system
A 3G authentication apparatus includes: a WLAN communication section which receives a notification of reception of a connection request sent from a WLAN access network in response to the connection request from a mobile unit to connect to a WLAN capable of interworking with a mobile network; a communication section for obtaining, from a user information storing device, information indicating a service available in the mobile communication network to the mobile unit that has sent the connection request, on the basis of the notification of reception of the connection request; and a filter setting section which generates filter information by associating a user authentication ID identifying a mobile unit with an IP address obtained at the communication section. The filter information generated by the filter setting section is sent to the WLAN access network through the WLAN communication section. Thus, traffic in a network such as a WLAN in an interworking system between networks such as a mobile communication network and a WLAN can be reduced. |
| US08023476B2 |
Radio communication method, radio communication terminal accommodating apparatus, and radio communication terminal
A technique for enabling a configuration of an entire radio communication system to be grasped in a manner of bird's-eye is disclosed. In the radio communication system provided with one radio communication terminal accommodating apparatus 101 and a plurality of radio communication terminals 102a to 102e accommodated in this radio communication terminal accommodating apparatus by using the technique, each radio communication terminal transmits identification information of a self-terminal, and monitors a radio transmission medium, and then acquires identification information of a different radio communication terminal transmitted from a different radio communication terminal. Then, each radio communication terminal reports the acquired identification information of the different radio communication terminal to the radio communication terminal accommodating apparatus, and the radio communication terminal accommodating apparatus generates information indicating a relation of a detection of an existence between the plurality of radio communication terminals, in accordance with the report of those identification information, and grasp the configuration of the entire radio communication system in the manner of the bird's-eye. |
| US08023471B2 |
Method of performing communication according to control information in a wireless communication system
A method of communicating with a network in a wireless communication system is disclosed. More specifically, the method includes performing handover by a mobile station (MS) from a first cell to a second cell, and measuring signal strengths of neighboring cells by the MS after moving to the second cell using the at least one default value if at least one parameter is not provided from the second cell. |
| US08023455B2 |
Scheduling in multi-cell multi-carrier wireless systems
Transmission is scheduled in a multi-cell multi-carrier wireless network. Assignments are determined for subcarriers by determining marginal gains for receivers, determining a receiver and an associated base station corresponding to a highest marginal gain, and assigning the receiver to the base station. These steps may be iteratively repeated until each of the receivers is assigned to a base station. The subcarriers are then allocated to the receivers by selecting the receiver with the highest gain. Alternatively, assignments are determined for subcarriers by determining a maximum additional queue size reduction, determining an assignment for each of the subcarriers, determining a receiver associated with a base station that has the determined maximum additional queue size reduction, assigning the receiver to the base station, and allocating the subcarriers to the receivers in the base stations. |
| US08023454B2 |
Apparatus and method for enhanced UM RLC data handling
An unacknowledged mode (UM) radio link control (RLC) entity receives RLC protocol data units (PDUs) delivered through one or more logical channels and re-orders the received PDUs by referring to their sequence numbers and by using a receive window and a timer to minimize delivery delay time, to reduce missing PDUs received from each logical channel, and to process the PDUs by avoiding duplicate PDUs. |
| US08023446B2 |
Systems and methods for facilitating intra-cell-peer-to-peer communication
Methods and systems for providing efficient communications between two mobile stations served by the same base station or relay station are provided. A base station maintains information identifying which mobile stations it is serving. When a connection is set up between two mobile stations, if they are both being served by the same base station, the base station forwards traffic directly between the two mobile stations without forwarding it on to higher level network entities. |
| US08023437B1 |
Methods, systems and program products for a distributed communications configuration
One example embodiment of the invention is directed to a method for communicating streaming data between a plurality of users participating in a real-time communications event over a packet based data network. One example method comprises steps of a source identifying a first sink corresponding to a request, the request including at least a method and method parameters, the source using a sink data repository to determine a first sink address corresponding to the first sink, and the source communicating the request to the first sink at the first sink address. Additional steps include a resource executing the method using the parameters and the resource communicating a response to the source following execution of the method. |
| US08023436B2 |
Multi-rate, multi-port, gigabit serdes transceiver
A multi-port SERDES transceiver includes multiple parallel ports and serial ports, and includes the flexibility to connect any one of the parallel ports to another parallel port or to a serial port, or both. Furthermore, the multi-port transceiver chip can connect any one of serial ports to another serial port or to one of the parallel ports. The substrate layout of the multi-port SERDES transceiver chip is configured so that the parallel ports and the serial ports are on the outer perimeter of the substrate. A logic core is at the center of the substrate, where the logic core operates the serial and parallel data ports, and the bus that connects the data ports. The bus can be described as a “ring” structure (or donut “structure”) around the logic core, and is configured between the logic core and the data ports. The ring structure of the bus provides efficient communication between the logic core and the various data ports. |
| US08023434B2 |
Arrangements for auto-merging and auto-partitioning processing components
In some embodiments, a method for auto-partitioning a scalable processing system is disclosed. The method can include establishing connection data, identifying a primary node and automatically transmitting partitioning commands to other nodes to configure them as secondary nodes. The partitioning commands can adjust the basic input output settings of the secondary nodes such that the system can boot as a single partitioned system. Other embodiments are also disclosed. |
| US08023432B2 |
Cost reduction of NAT connection state keep-alive
Keep-alive processing for NAT devices and reducing power consumption in wireless clients. A server driven keep-alive mechanism facilitates keep-alive messages to a NAT device currently providing a connection to a mobile client to refresh the NAT state, thereby reducing or eliminating power consumption in a wireless device to respond to the connection with keep-alive packets. In one instance, keep-alive packets are sent to the NAT device to reset the NAT timeout timer, and then to the mobile client. The client responds only when expected keep-alive packets are not received at the client. In another instance, keep-alive packets reset the NAT timer to maintain the connection but are dropped or self-destruct before reaching the mobile client thereby providing the optimum power conservation in the mobile device. Thus, the client is not forced into extra client activity to send or receive wireless data, thereby draining the battery. |
| US08023420B2 |
Automatic retransmission and error recovery for packet oriented point-to-multipoint communication
Point to multipoint wireless communication, including automatic retransmission and error recovery for packet oriented point to multipoint communication, which integrates adaptive and dynamic responsiveness for parameters for automatic retransmission using wireless communication. A wireless communication link is divided into a downstream portion and an upstream portion. Parameters are selected for automatic retransmission independently for the downstream portion and the upstream portion of the wireless communication link. A BSC controls the selection of parameters for automatic retransmission for all CPE within a cell. As part of a TDD frame, in which the BSC and the CPE share communication bandwidth using a TDMA technique, the BSC includes its selection of parameters for automatic retransmission to be used by CPE within a control section of the TDD frame. The BSC dynamically and adaptively determines new selected parameters for automatic retransmission, in response to conditions of a wireless communication link with each independent CPE. The BSC dynamically and adaptively allocates acknowledgement time slots within the upstream portion of the TDD frame, for use by each selected CPE. The BSC allocates some portion of the upstream bandwidth as a shared resource and some portion of the upstream bandwidth as unshared when there are messages received but not yet acknowledged. The BSC dynamically and adaptively response to acknowledgement and non-acknowledgement messages from each selected CPE, to integrate the automatic retransmission protocol with the TDD frame and the TDMA technique used within that frame. |
| US08023415B2 |
Measuring and monitoring QoS in service differentiated wireless networks
A wireless network (100) includes a plurality of wireless stations (QSTAs) (102) and an access point (QAP) (101). The QAP, or one or more of the QSTAs, or both, are adapted to measure delay data, or queue data, or both, per one or more traffic type. A method of wireless communication is also described. |
| US08023410B2 |
Messages and control methods for controlling resource allocation and flow admission control in a mobile communications system
Methods and apparatus for aggregating IP packets over an access link between a wireless access router and a core node and for managing resource allocation to access link packet aggregates, e.g., as a function of the status of wireless communications links used to couple mobile nodes to the access router are described. Improved aggregate resource control messages and use of such messages are described. Some of the new messages allow aggregate resources for both upstream and downstream aggregates to be controlled in a single message. A single message may include information corresponding to multiple aggregates and/or multiple constituent flows included in an aggregate with aggregate direction information being included. Use of tunnels to communicate management messages, e.g., messages used to control resource allocation to aggregates is also described. Propagation of access link aggregate information is communicated to tunnel end nodes which generate packets that are communicated over the access link. |
| US08023406B2 |
Route reflector for a communication system
A method, system and apparatus for routing of data transmitted from a mobile electronic device to a first host of a plurality of hosts in a communication network using a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is provided. It is determined that the first host has failed via receipt of BGP rerouted data at least one network element, the BGP rerouted data originally intended for the first host. A negative acknowledgement (NACK) is transmitted to the mobile electronic device from the at least one network element, the NACK enabled to trigger the mobile electronic device to transmit data that was to be transmitted to the first host to another of the plurality of hosts and wherein the NACK is identifiable by the mobile electronic device as having been transmitted by the at least one network element. |
| US08023403B2 |
Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program
An information processing apparatus is disclosed which connects to a network and which controls transmission to the network of data being output by an external apparatus having at least a data output function. The information processing apparatus includes a connection switcher configured to disconnect from the network in case of a failure in data output processing by the data output function of the external apparatus and to reconnect to the network upon recovery from the failure. |
| US08023397B2 |
Joint packet detection in a wireless communication system with one or more receivers
A packet detector joint detects 802.11a packets, 802.11b packets and interference that is within a monitored frequency range but is not formatted as 802.11a packets or 802.11b packets. The packet detector can use signals from one or more antennas. Detection of signals is done using differentially detected correlations. In addition to packet detection, the packet detector can identify signal levels, noise levels and locations of narrowband interference. The process of packet detection and identifying other indicators can be done simultaneously and as the signal is being received. |
| US08023390B2 |
Optical head and optical disk device
An interference type optical head and an optical disk device that can easily adjust an optical path length difference of a couple of lights, ensure higher signal amplification effect, and are suitable for reduction in size are provided in order to improve a regeneration signal quality with amplification of signal in the case where reflectivity of each layer must be lowered and relative noise for the signal increases because read speed is high in a multilayer optical disk. In view of essentially improving an S/N ratio of the regeneration signal in high-speed rotation of a multilayer disk, a plurality of interference phases are generated and an optical system for differential calculation has been reduced in size with an angular selective polarization conversion element in the optical disk device for amplifying the signal with interference of the light not radiated to the disk with the reflected light from the disk. Moreover, adjustment of reflection mirror angle of the reference light is no longer required by using a corner cube prism as the reference light reflection mirror and highly accurate signal detection can also be realized with a simplified structure. |
| US08023384B2 |
Computer program product for controlling an apparatus for accessing dual-path optical recording media
A dual-path optical recording medium and an apparatus for accessing such are disclosed. The dual-path optical recording medium includes a substrate, an intermediate recording layer, a holographic recording layer and a dichronic mirror layer. The intermediate recording layer is a rewritable data storage layer with a relatively low storage capacity. The holographic recording layer is a write-once data storage layer with a relatively high storage capacity. The dichronic mirror layer is located between the holographic recording layer and the intermediate recording layer. The apparatus for accessing the dual-path optical recording medium includes a first light module capable of generating a first laser light, and a second light module capable of generating a second laser light. |
| US08023382B2 |
Information reproduction apparatus and information reproduction method
A small size circuit reproducing data with low error rate even when a signal includes a non-linear distortion is desired. In such a circuit, the Viterbi method is performed. In the Viterbi method, branch metrics are calculated based on a difference of a sampled reproduction signal and a predetermined expectation values. Path metrics are calculated from the branch metrics. Paths among the plurality of paths having the calculated path metrics and merging at a same state are compared with one another. Based on the magnitude of the compared path metrics, survivor path is selected. In the circuit, for the path metrics of paths merging at a same state, offset corresponding to a determination result until a merging point is added to the paths for the comparison for determining the survivor path from the plurality of merging paths. |
| US08023376B2 |
Fast disc recognition by elimination of calibrations
A method and a device for fast disc recognition for use in read/write performances when an optical disc is connected to an optical drive, including the provision of a set S of parameters for safe data transfer between the drive and the disc, the direct calibration during a disc recognition step only of those parameters out of said set S in need of a direct calibration, the start of a read/write data transfer sequence after said disc recognition step is finalized and the calibration of the remaining parameters at first after or during one or more data transfer read/write sequences. |
| US08023367B2 |
Objective lens actuator and disc drive employing the objective lens actuator
An object lens actuator can improve workability and operate with high reliability by prevention of damage to the object lens actuator and a disc and sticking of a moving part caused by an excessive movement of the moving part. In a disc drive employing the object lens actuation, stable writing/reading operation is implemented by always keeping a focal point of an object lens at a predetermined track of a recording surface of the disc even when being under the action of external perturbations such as a vertical deviation or a radial deviation of the disc, resulting in improved reliability. A solder-flux adhesion prevention gadget is provided between a substrate and a stopper receiving face, which may include a stepped stage, a partition protruding from the surface of the lens holder, or alternatively a combination of them arranged in order in the range. |
| US08023366B2 |
Near-field optical head and information recording apparatus
The invention is a near-field optical head that generates near-field light to heat a predetermined area of a medium and applies a magnetic field to the predetermined area to record information, the head including an optical waveguide 103 having a path for propagating a pencil of light, and a tip 117 having an optical minute opening 118 at the position facing against the predetermined area and collecting the pencil of light emitted from the optical waveguide 103 and simultaneously propagating the collected pencil of light to the optical minute opening 118 to generate the near-field light. The optical minute opening 118 is formed by a magnetic pole that applies a magnetic field to the predetermined area. |
| US08023365B2 |
Optical near-field generating device, optical near-field generating method and information recording and reproducing apparatus
An optical near-field generating device is provided. The optical near-field generating device includes: a light source; a light transmissive substrate; and a conductive scatterer irradiated with light from the light source to generate an optical near-field. The scatterer is formed across planes with different heights on the light transmissive substrate and includes a first area formed on a surface closest to an object to which the optical near-field is applied and a second area formed on a surface distant from the object as compared with the first area. The optical near-field is generated from the first area of the scatterer toward the object. |
| US08023363B2 |
Time-to-digital converter apparatus
A time-to-digital converter apparatus including a delay phase-locked loop, a subtracter, a multi-phase detector and a Vernier detector is disclosed. The delay phase-locked loop herein includes digital delay components for producing counting signals. The multi-phase detector includes digital delay components for producing delay outputs according to the counting signals and thereby detecting a pulse input signal. The Vernier detector includes digital delay components for detecting the remainder of the pulse input signal according to the difference between the delay outputs produced by the subtracter. |
| US08023358B2 |
System and method for providing a non-power-of-two burst length in a memory system
A memory system, memory interface device and method for a non-power-of-two burst length are provided. The memory system includes a plurality of memory devices with non-power-of-two burst length logic and a memory interface device including non-power-of-two burst length generation logic. The non-power-of-two burst length generation logic extends a burst length from a power-of-two value to insert an error-detecting code in a burst on data lines between the memory interface device and the plurality of memory devices. |
| US08023355B2 |
Nonvolatile memory device
A nonvolatile memory device includes a nonvolatile memory and a controller unit for the nonvolatile memory. The nonvolatile memory and the controller unit include a first logic section and a second logic section, respectively. The nonvolatile memory includes a voltage detector configured to detect a power supply voltage externally supplied to the nonvolatile memory and the controller unit, and an output of the detection is supplied to the first logic section of the nonvolatile memory provided with the voltage detector, and also to the second logic section of the controller unit and/or a logic section of at least one added nonvolatile memory via a buffer amplifier, simultaneously. |
| US08023338B2 |
Dual function data register
A dual function serial and parallel data register with integrated program verify functionality. The master and slave latching circuits of the dual function data register can concurrently store two different words of data. In a program verify operation, the master latch stores program data and the slave latch will receive and store read data. Comparison logic in each register stage will compare the data of both latches, and integrate the comparison result to that of the previous register stage. The final single bit result will indicate the presence of at least one bit that has not been programmed. Automatic program inhibit logic in each stage will prevent successfully programmed bits from being re-programmed in each subsequent reprogram cycle. Either data word can be serially clocked out by selectively starting the shift operations on either the low or high active logic level of a clock signal. |
| US08023334B2 |
Program window adjust for memory cell signal line delay
A memory device and programming and/or reading process is described that compensates for memory cell signal line propagation delays, such as to increase the overall threshold voltage range and non-volatile memory cell states available. Memory cell signal line propagation delay compensation can be accomplished by characterizing the memory cell signal line propagation delay, such as determining an amount of error due to the delay, and pre-compensating the programmed threshold voltage of the memory cells based on the amount of error induced by the memory cell signal line propagation delay and cell location on the selected memory cell signal line. Alternatively, memory cell signal line propagation delay can be post-compensated for, or the pre-compensation fine tuned, after sensing the threshold voltages of the selected memory cells based on the amount of error induced by the memory cell signal line propagation delay and cell location on the selected memory cell signal line. Other methods, devices, etc., are also disclosed. |
| US08023332B2 |
Cell deterioration warning apparatus and method
Memory devices and methods adapted to process and generate analog data signals representative of data values of two or more bits of information facilitate increases in data transfer rates relative to devices processing and generating only binary data signals indicative of individual bits. Programming of such memory devices includes programming to a target threshold voltage range representative of the desired bit pattern. Reading such memory devices includes generating an analog data signal indicative of a threshold voltage of a target memory cell. Warning of cell deterioration can be performed using reference cells programmed in accordance with a known pattern such as to approximate deterioration of non-volatile memory cells of the device. |
| US08023331B2 |
Semiconductor memory device including stacked gate having charge accumulation layer and control gate and method of writing data to semiconductor memory device
A semiconductor memory device includes memory cells, word lines, a driver circuit, and a control circuit. The driver circuit repeats a programming operation of selecting any one of the word lines, of applying a first voltage to selected one of the word lines, and of applying a second voltage to unselected one of the word lines, to write data to selected one of the memory cells connected to the selected one of the word lines. The control circuit, while the driver circuit is repeating the programming operation, steps up the first voltage and keeps the second voltage constant until the first voltage reaches a first threshold. The control circuit steps up the second voltage after the first voltage has reached the first threshold. |
| US08023327B2 |
Non-volatile semiconductor memory device
A memory device including a NAND string with multiple memory cells connected in series, one end of the NAND string being coupled to a bit line via a first select gate transistor while the other end is coupled to a source line via a second select gate transistor, wherein the device has a data read mode performed under the bias condition of: a selected cell is applied with a read voltage; and unselected cells are applied with read pass voltages, and wherein in the data read mode, one of the unselected cells adjacent to one of the first and second select gate transistor is applied with a first read pass voltage while the other unselected cells are applied with a second read pass voltage lower than the first read pass voltage. |
| US08023325B2 |
Semiconductor memory having electrically erasable and programmable semiconductor memory cells
An electrically alterable non-volatile multi-level memory device and a method of operating such a device, which includes setting a status of at least one of the memory cells to one state selected from a plurality of states including at least first to fourth level states, in response to information to be stored in the one memory cell, and reading the status of the memory cell to determine whether the read out status corresponds to one of the first to fourth level states by utilizing a first reference level set between the second and third level states, a second reference level set between the first and second level states and a third reference level set between the third and fourth level states. |
| US08023320B2 |
Resistance-change random access memory device including memory cells connected to discharge elements
A resistance-change random access memory device includes a resistance-change memory cell array having a plurality of resistance-change memory cells, where a plurality of word lines are connected to respective first terminals of the plurality of resistance-change memory cells. A plurality of bit lines are disposed perpendicular to the word lines and connected to respective second terminals of the plurality of resistance-change memory cells. The device also includes a plurality of discharge elements that are capable of connecting or disconnecting respective bit lines from a discharge voltage, where the discharge elements connect the respective bit lines to the discharge voltage before write and read operations. |
| US08023315B2 |
Magnetoresistive effect element and magnetic random access memory
A magnetic random access memory has a laminating structure including: a magnetization free layer; an insulating layer; and a magnetization fixed layer. The magnetization free layer includes: a sense layer; a first bonding layer being adjacent to the sense layer; and a storage layer being adjacent to the first bonding layer on an opposite side to the sense layer. At least a part of the sense layer and the storage layer is magnetically coupled to one another through the first bonding layer. A magnetic anisotropy of the storage layer is larger than that of the sense layer. A product of a saturation magnetization and a volume of the sense layer is larger than that of the storage layer. According to such a structure, a magnetic random access memory can be provided in which a current for writing is reduced while enough thermal stability is maintained. |
| US08023298B1 |
Encoding data for storage in a content addressable memory
Approaches for an improved encoding scheme that allows a CAM device to selectively store, within each cell of a row of the CAM device, either a single bit of a binary value or two bits of an encoded data word encoded from the binary value. By storing two bits of the encoded data word in each CAM cell, data may be stored more efficiently and CAM systems may consume less power as compared to traditional binary CAMS when performing certain types of operations, such as exact matching and longest prefix matching. Encoded data words may be, but need not be, balanced data words which have equal number of logic high and logic low values. |
| US08023293B2 |
On-die anti-resonance structure for integrated circuit
A structure and method for reducing the effects of chip-package resonance in an integrated circuit assembly is described. A series RLC circuit is employed to reduce the output impedance of the power delivery system at the resonance frequency. |
| US08023279B2 |
FLMP buck converter with a molded capacitor and a method of the same
An encapsulated buck converter module includes a low side transistor and a control integrated circuit bonded to a first section on a first side of a leadframe, a first clip between a source of the low side transistor and a second section, a source contact of a high side transistor attached to the first section on a second side of the leadframe with a gate contact of the high side transistor attached to a third section, a conductive member attached to the first and second sections on the second side of the leadframe wherein the first side of the conductive member attached to the second conductive member forms a conductive path with a portion of a second side of the conductive member while any portion of the first side of the conductive member attached to the first component attachment section is insulated from the first side of the conductive member, a first plate of a capacitor attached to a drain contact of the high side transistor and a second plate of the capacitor attached to the second side of the conductive member, and means for forming an external connection to the drain contact of the high side transistor. |
| US08023278B2 |
Circuit board
A circuit board includes a plurality of conductive layers, a plurality of insulating layers, a telecommunication network connection port and a modem card processing module. A high voltage signal line is laid out at one of the conductive layers. The insulating layers are disposed between each of the conducting layers, respectively. The telecommunication network connection port is disposed on the conductive layers and is electrically connected to one end of the high voltage signal line. The modem card processing module is disposed on the conductive layers and is electrically connected to the other end of the high voltage signal line. |
| US08023249B2 |
Capacitor and method of manufacturing the same
A capacitor element includes a pair of conductive layer, a plurality of first electrodes and second electrodes, and insulation caps for insulating these electrodes from the conductive layers. By anodizing a metal substrate in two stages, holes filled with the first electrodes and holes filled with the second electrodes are randomly distributed. |
| US08023248B2 |
Electrostatic chuck
An electrostatic chuck includes a dielectric layer 30 formed with an attraction and fix face onto which a plate member 10 is attracted and fixed, wherein the attraction and fix face of the dielectric layer 30 is formed with a plurality of projection parts 32 each with only a tip face abutting the plate member 10 formed as a flat face by grinding and formed with a coolant gas flow path 36 where a coolant gas flows is opened to the flat face of each of the projection parts 32. |
| US08023236B2 |
Precision ground fault detection for aircraft human body protection
A power supply system for use with a component comprises at least three phases of power supply, with each of said three phases passing through a solid state power controller having an on/off switch. Each of the phases of power pass through a current sense transformer. A ground fault circuit receives an outlet from the current sense transformer. The ground fault circuit includes an analog filter connected into a digital processor. An output of the digital processor is operable to control the switches on the solid state power controllers. The three phases distribute power to the component when the switch on their associated solid state power converter is on. |
| US08023219B2 |
Storage device, head position detection method and control circuit
According to one embodiment, a storage device includes an area demodulator and a head position demodulator. The area demodulator demodulates a first demodulation signal and a second demodulation signal having a phase difference of 90° from a read signal by a head of an area demodulation pattern recorded on a medium. The head position demodulator receives the first demodulation signal and the second demodulation signal, and outputs a phase angle indicating a direction of a vector formed in a phase plane by the first demodulation signal and the second demodulation signal as a head position signal. |
| US08023217B1 |
Method and system for read gate timing control for storage controllers
A device includes a data path configured to transfer data from a read channel device to a host. A read gate delay module is configured to receive a first read gate signal, to output a second read gate signal to the read channel device based on the first read gate signal, and selectively delay a transition of the second read gate signal between an asserted state and a non-asserted state based on a data sector size of a data segment and positive and negative edges of a write clock. |
| US08023216B1 |
Calibrating servos
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products are described for calibrating servos, and in some implementations, calibrating spiral servos for use in self-servo-write SSW processes. In one aspect, a method is provide that includes rotating a machine readable medium, and detecting a spiral on the machine readable medium. Detecting a spiral on the machine readable medium includes detecting magnitudes of the spiral and a timing mark, storing a timestamp from a clock signal that corresponds to the timing mark of the spiral, determining a peak of the spiral from the magnitudes, and locking the clock signal to the peak of the spiral using the timestamp. |
| US08023214B2 |
Rework method and apparatus of magnetic record medium, information
A reproducing method of reproducing magnetic information written in each of bits of a recording medium using a magnetic head having a reading element configured to measure external magnetic field intensity includes moving, measuring and specifying steps. In the moving step, the magnetic head moves to a position where the reading element covers two bits, one bit having known magnetic information, the other bit being adjacent to the one bit and having unknown magnetic information. In the measuring step, the reading element measures magnetic field intensity coming from the recording medium. In the specifying step, magnetic information of the bit having the unknown magnetic information is specified based on the magnetic field intensity measured in the measuring step and magnetic information of the bit having the known magnetic information. |
| US08023212B2 |
Lens barrel and image pickup apparatus
A lens barrel capable of preventing reflection of rays of light from a rectilinear motion-causing restriction member on the inner surface of the lens barrel. In a photographic lens unit, to drive an actuator provided on a third lens unit, a flexible wiring board as a current carrying member is connected thereto. This flexible wiring board is disposed in a manner covering the inner surface of a rectilinear motion-causing restriction portion to prevent the same from being exposed toward the optical axis. Further, the flexible wiring board has a surface thereof toward the optical axis subjected to antireflection processing. |
| US08023210B2 |
Optical accessory holder
An optical accessory holder such as an adapter or a focuser drawtube having a passageway through the holder body defining a lengthwise central axis through the passageway. The holder body has an inner surface which includes two substantially linear inner edges parallel to the lengthwise central axis. The inner edges are fixed with respect to the holder body. The holder also includes a clamping member opposite the two inner edges which may be moved with respect to the holder body toward the two inner edges. The holder body may have a partially cylindrical exterior surface. The holder body may also include two substantially linear exterior edges parallel to the lengthwise central axis. |
| US08023209B2 |
Method of manufacturing light source device and the light source device
A method of manufacturing a light source device includes: preparing a holder for a semiconductor laser and a coupling lens having a first side confronting the semiconductor laser and a second side opposite to the first side, a photopolymerizable resin being provided on the holder at least at a location between the coupling lens and the holder; locating a light source for emitting a curing light for curing the photopolymerizable resin on an opposite side of the semiconductor laser with respect to the coupling lens, a reflecting member being provided on an opposite side of the light source with respect to the coupling lens; and curing the photopolymerizable resin by irradiating the curing light from the light source directly on a part of the photopolymerizable resin, and also on another remaining part of the photopolymerizable resin by reflecting the curing light on the reflecting member irradiating the curing light. |
| US08023208B2 |
Miniature stacked glass lens module
A miniature stacked glass lens module is disclosed. The miniature stacked glass lens module includes at least one stacked optical glass lens element, a lens holder and other optical element. The stacked optical glass lens element is formed by cutting along alignment notches on a glued and stacked optical glass lens array. Then the stacked optical glass lens element and other optical element are mounted into the lens holder to form a miniature stacked glass lens module. Thereby the precise alignment of the optical axis of the lens in the lens module can be achieved. The manufacturing processes of the lens module can be simplified dramatically and the manufacturing cost is reduced significantly. |
| US08023207B2 |
Clutching jig
A clutching jig is adapted to disassemble a lens module which includes a lens socket and a lens component mounted to the lens socket. The clutching jig includes a base and at least two inserting slices. The base defines two opposite lateral surfaces and a bottom surface. A slot passes through the opposite lateral surfaces and the bottom surface to divide the base into a first holding portion and a second holding portion. The bottom surface has a receiving recess at a portion thereof. The inserting slices are removably mounted to the opposite lateral surfaces and beyond the bottom surface. Wherein the inserting slices are inserted between the lens component and the lens socket, and the receiving recess receives the lens component with a circumferential dimension thereof lessened to clutch the lens component when the first holding portion and the second holding portion are urged to approach each other. |
| US08023199B2 |
Zoom lens and image pickup apparatus equipped with same
A zoom lens has a plurality of lens units including, in order from its object side to image side, a first lens unit having a negative refracting power composed of two lens elements including a biconcave negative lens and a positive lens, and a second lens unit having a positive refracting power composed of four lens elements including a positive lens and a negative lens. During zooming from the wide angle end to the telephoto end, a distance between the lens units changes, and the second lens unit moves toward the object side. The zoom lens has an aperture stop that moves integrally with the second lens during the zooming and satisfies a specific condition. |
| US08023198B2 |
Lens system and optical apparatus having this lens system
A lens system includes, in order from an object: a first lens group having negative refractive power; and a second lens group having positive refractive power, the first lens group including, in order from the object, a lens having a negative refractive power, a plastic aspherical lens, and a lens having a positive refractive power, and the following conditional expression |fp/f1|>4.0 being satisfied, where fp denotes a focal length of the plastic aspherical lens, and f1 denotes a focal length of the first lens group. |
| US08023196B2 |
Projection lens and projection device using the same
A projection lens and a projection device using the same are provided. The projection device includes a projection lens and an optical element. The projection lens includes a first lens group and a second lens group from an image side sequentially. The first lens group has a negative refracting power, and the first lens group includes an aspherical lens surface. The second lens group has a positive refracting power. The first lens group has a first focal length f1, and the second lens group has a second focal length f2. The first focal length f1 and the second focal length f2 satisfy the following two conditions: 0.5<|f1/f2|<1.5, and −35 mm |
| US08023191B2 |
Printable static interferometric images
Methods of fabricating a static interferometric image device and static interferometric image device formed by the same are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes providing a substrate. A plurality of liquid layers are formed over the substrate by an inkjet process such that the layers are lateral to one another. The liquid layers contain a solidifiable material or particles. Then, the plurality of liquid layers are solidified to form a plurality of solid layers. In some embodiments, the substrate includes pre-defined cavities, and the liquid layers are formed in the cavities. In other embodiments, the substrate includes a substantially planar, stepped, or continuously transitioning surface, and the liquid layers are formed on the surface. The inkjet process provides optical fillers or spacers for defining interferometric gaps between absorbers and reflectors in the display device, based at least partially on an image that the display device is designed to display. |
| US08023182B2 |
Device for collecting flux of electromagnetic radiation in the extreme ultraviolet
Device for collecting a flux of electromagnetic radiation in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emitted by a source, including a main, first collector stage, with a concave collector mirror placed in front of the source at a distance of greater than 250 mm and pierced by a central hole, and a convex mirror placed behind the concave mirror level with the source and pierced by a central hole, and at least a second collector stage with a concave collector mirror placed in front of the stage and pierced by a central hole and a convex mirror placed behind the concave mirror. |
| US08023170B1 |
Total internal reflection modulator
A total internal reflection (TIR) modulator includes a member comprising an electro-optic material; a plurality of first electrode sets; a plurality of second electrode sets; and a first set of electrical conductors, each electrical conductor in the first set of electrical conductors being coupled to one of the second electrode sets wherein the electrodes in each second electrode set are arranged in an interdigitated relationship with the electrodes in one of the first electrode sets; and each of the first electrode sets comprises a first electrode, the first electrodes being arranged in an interdigitated relationship with the electrical conductors in the first set of electrical conductors. |
| US08023169B2 |
Apparatus and method of dual-mode display
One embodiment includes display comprising a light modulator configured to display a portion of an image such as a reflective light modulator, a light emitter configured to display the portion of the image and a circuit configured to selectively provide signals to at least one of the light modulator and the light emitter indicative of the portion of the image. In one such embodiment, an active matrix provides a simple, efficient drive for such devices. Other embodiments methods of making and driving such devices. |
| US08023164B2 |
Color adjustment apparatus, display apparatus, printing apparatus, image processing apparatus, color adjustment method, graphical user interface displaying method and program
Disclosed herein is a color adjustment apparatus, including: a color information storage section configured to store color information regarding an arbitrary region designated through a pointer in an editing image region; and a color coordinate explicitly displaying section configured to explicitly display a mark, which specifies color coordinates corresponding to the color information, at a pertaining position on a hue ring or a hue bar chart prepared for color adjustment. |
| US08023161B2 |
Systems and methods for providing image data encapsulated in a page description language
A multi-function peripheral imaging device for providing page description language (“PDL”) encapsulated image data is disclosed. The imaging device includes a processor for control of the imaging device and memory in electronic communication with the processor. The imaging device also includes a scanner in electronic communication with the processor and a printer in electronic communication with the processor. The multi-function peripheral imaging device includes a control panel for operation of the imaging device by a user. The control panel is in electronic communication with the processor for receiving user inputs. Executable instructions are included that are configured to implement a method for providing PDL encapsulated image data. An image is scanned using the scanner to produce image data. Document and page formatting inputs are obtained from the control panel. The image data is encapsulated in a page description language at the imaging device using the document and page formatting inputs for document formatting. |
| US08023159B2 |
Marking images of text with speckle patterns for theft deterrence
The present invention provides methods and apparatus for embedding an identifying pattern of visible speckles into the digitized image of each page of a document. A speckle is a cluster of black or white pixels. Speckles are printed as black speckles on the white paper, or conversely, as areas of missing black removed from the black text characters, called white speckles. The collective pattern of all embedded black and white speckles on a single document page is called a specklemark. A specklemark can survive contrast manipulations on photocopiers and binary rasterization done by fax scanning prior to data transmission. The random pattern of the black and white speckles visible in the digitized image of a document page can be detected automatically, and by systematically matching the detected pattern with those known to have been embedded into marked copies of a document page, a specific document copy can be identified. Methods for composing, embedding and detecting specklemarks are the subject of this patent. |
| US08023157B2 |
Image data correcting device for correcting image data to remove back projection without eliminating halftone image
An image data correcting device eliminates a back projection image without eliminating an image corresponding to a low-intensity halftone image. An intensity difference detection part detects an intensity difference between first image data corresponding to a part of a predetermined small area and second image data corresponding to the remaining parts of the predetermined small area. A halftone detection part determining whether the first image data corresponds to a halftone image. An intensity change part changes an intensity of the first image data to a predetermined low intensity, when the intensity difference is equal to or smaller than a first predetermined value and the first image data does not correspond to the halftone image and the intensity of the first image data is equal to or smaller than a second predetermined value. |
| US08023146B2 |
Print control device, information processing device, method of print control device, method of information processing device and computer program
A print control device connects via a network to an information processing device that sends an instruction and data thereto. The print control device includes: a receiver for receiving from the information processing device editing information created by an editing application which edits data layout indicating printable data; and a controller for controlling the data layout based on editing information received by the receiver, wherein said data layout is displayed on an operation part of the print control device so that a user of the print control device selects one of the data to be printed by the print control device. |
| US08023136B2 |
Universal scan to store system and method of using the same
A free-standing universal scanner driving device includes a small, light-weight, portable, slow-speed, low memory processor with no monitor or keyboard, and programmed only to support a scanner; a memory having only enough capacity to hold a scanner driver; a slot for receiving an external storage medium; input and output ports; means for writing data on the external storage medium; a housing case; optionally an external numeric keypad; and one and only one push-button, touch pad, or touch screen for initiating an external optical scanner to scan a document placed in the scanner and then directly write the scanned electronic data into the external storage medium by pushing the button, without requiring any setup input from the user. The push-button, touch pad, or touch screen being integrally formed on the case. |
| US08023108B2 |
Crystallographic orientation measurement
A method is disclosed for measuring the crystallographic orientation of a component cast by a directional solidification process. The method comprises the steps of: illuminating at least a region of the component surface with substantially coherent light, measuring the mean angle and intensity of the light reflected from the component surface, and correlating said mean angle and intensity to the crystallographic orientation of the component. The method has been found to lend itself particularly well to automation. |
| US08023107B2 |
System and method for transitioning from a missile warning system to a fine tracking system in a directional infrared countermeasures system
A method for transitioning a target from a missile warning system to a fine tracking system in a directional countermeasures system includes capturing at least one image within a field of view of the missile warning system. The method further includes identifying a threat from the captured image or images and identifying features surrounding the threat. These features are registered with the threat and image within a field of view of the fine tracking system is captured. The registered features are used to identify a location of a threat within this captured image. |
| US08023103B2 |
Exposure apparatus, exposure method, and method for producing device
The present invention provides an exposure method which illuminates each of patterns, to be subjected to double exposure, on entire surfaces thereof in optimal illumination conditions respectively, and which performs the exposure with high throughput. Upon transferring a pattern of a reticle onto a wafer by the scanning exposure method, first and second pattern areas are formed in advance on the reticle to be adjacent in the scanning direction, and when the first and second pattern areas simultaneously pass across a field of a projection optical system, the first pattern area is illuminated in a first illumination condition by using a first illumination slit of which width in the scanning direction is gradually narrowed, and the second pattern area is illuminated in a second illumination condition by using a second illumination slit of which width in the scanning direction is gradually widened, to thereby expose the wafer. |
| US08023099B2 |
Substrate processing system and substrate processing method for double patterning with carrier block, process section, and interface block
A substrate processing system is used for a light exposure apparatus which performs light exposure at least twice on each of substrates. The system includes a carrier block, and a process section configured to process each of substrates transferred from the carrier block one by one. The process section includes a first coating process section configured to perform a first coating process, a first developing process section configured to perform a first developing process, a second coating process section configured to perform a second coating process, and a second developing process section configured to perform a second developing process. The system further includes an interface block configured to transfer substrates between the process section and the light exposure apparatus, and a substrate transfer mechanism configured to transfer substrates among them. |
| US08023091B2 |
Liquid crystal display device having spacer comprising liquid phase material and fabricating method thereof
A liquid crystal display device and fabricating method thereof are disclosed by which a cell gap can be uniformly maintained, regardless of temperature variation, across an LCD panel. Opposing substrates are spaced apart with a prescribed gap using spacers and liquid crystals in the gap between the substrates. The spacers are provided on either or both of the substrates. The spacers contain an organic resin within which a liquid phase material or liquid crystals is dispersed. The liquid phase material or liquid crystals may be encapsulated. The thermal expansion coefficient of the material is substantially equal to or greater than that of the liquid crystals in the gap between the substrates. The thermal expansion coefficient of the column spacer is substantially equal to or greater than that of the liquid crystals in the gap between the substrates. |
| US08023084B2 |
In-plane switching mode LCD and manufacturing method thereof
An in-plane switching mode liquid crystal display device is provided that prevents light leakages and improves contrast ratio. The in-plane switching mode liquid crystal display device includes first and second substrate, gate and data lines that perpendicularly cross each other on the first substrate to define a pixel region, a thin film transistor at a crossing of the gate and data lines, a pixel electrode and a common electrode alternately formed in the pixel region and spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance, an alignment layer on an entire surface of the substrate, wherein, at least one of the gate line, the data line, the pixel electrode, and the common electrode has a stepped portion with a step difference of about 0.1 μm or greater, the alignment layer is primarily aligned, and at least a portion of the primarily-aligned alignment layer around the stepped portion is secondarily aligned, and a liquid crystal layer between the first and second substrates. |
| US08023083B2 |
Liquid crystal device, method for manufacturing the same, and electronic apparatus including the same
A liquid crystal device includes a first substrate, a second substrate, a liquid crystal layer disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate, a first alignment layer disposed on the liquid crystal layer side of the first substrate, and a second alignment layer disposed on the liquid crystal layer side of the second substrate. At least one of the first alignment layer and the second alignment layer is made of an inorganic porous film having pores exposed at its surface and grooves to control the orientation of the liquid crystal layer. |
| US08023082B2 |
Liquid crystal display device
A liquid crystal display device includes: a first substrate; a second substrate which is placed nearer to a viewer than the first substrate, and which faces a viewer side of the first substrate; a liquid crystal sandwiched between the first substrate and the second substrate; an upper polarization plate which is placed nearer to the viewer than the second substrate, and which faces a viewer side of the second substrate; and a transparent resin plate which is placed nearer to the viewer than the upper polarization plate, and which is attached to a viewer side of the upper polarization plate with one of an adhesive material and a bonding material, the transparent resin plate includes a transparent oxide film on a face that faces the upper polarization plate, and the transparent resin plate is in close contact with the adhesive material or the bonding material through the transparent oxide film. |
| US08023078B2 |
Transflective LCD device
A transflective LCD device includes an array substrate and a color filter. The substrate includes a plurality gate lines, a plurality of common lines, and a plurality of data lines substantially crossing the gate lines to define a plurality of sub-pixel regions. Each sub-pixel region has a reflective area and a transmissive area. Two of the reflective area of two adjacent sub-pixel regions in the same column are juxtaposed to each other. The color filter has a plurality of sub-pixel regions respectively aligned with the sub-pixel regions of the array substrate. The color filter includes an insulating layer disposed on the reflective area of a respective sub-pixel region. An LC layer is disposed between the array substrate and the color filter. |
| US08023069B2 |
Liquid crystal display device
A light guiding plate is manufactured with high precision and in a short period of time in a backlight where light emitting diodes are provided on the side of the light guiding plate, even in the case where the light guiding plate is formed so as to have a spherical surface. In a liquid crystal display device having a backlight for illuminating a liquid crystal panel with light, LED's are provided in a light guiding plate in the backlight as a light emitting element, the light emitting portion of the light guiding plate is formed so as to have a spherical surface by applying heat and pressure to a resin in sheet form, and the light guiding plate is manufactured by fusing a light entering portion formed of a resin through injection molding with the light emitting portion. |
| US08023062B2 |
Image display apparatus
A display apparatus is provided which includes a display panel, a signal board for processing an image signal used in an image display, and a power source board for supplying power from a power source to the signal board and the display panel. The signal board and the power source board are disposed in a horizontal direction relative to the display panel, and a projection portion, being disposed higher above a surface of the power source board than a circuit element of the power source board and not being connected with a member opposing to a mounting side of the circuit element, is provided on the surface of the power source board where the circuit element is mounted. |
| US08023053B2 |
Active-matrix liquid crystal matrix display
In an active matrix for a liquid crystal display, including a plurality of pixel electrodes in an active zone, each of which can be addressed using one selection line among N selection lines and one data line among M data lines, a storage capacitor is connected to each pixel electrode in the matrix, and a line stabilization capacitor is provided for each selection line in the matrix. A first electrode of the stabilization capacitor is connected to the selection line and a second electrode is connected to a reference voltage. Such a structure may find application to active matrix type liquid crystal displays, particularly with integrated drivers. |
| US08023043B2 |
Device for updating component of application software in digital broadcasting signal receiver and method thereof
A device for updating component of application software in a digital broadcasting signal receiver and a method thereof. A storage section stores executing data for executing application software that produces a user interface of the digital signal receiver. A program specific information/service information extracting section extracts program specific information/service information (PSI/SI) from a received digital broadcasting signal. An updating data extracting section extracts updating information for partially updating the application software from the program specific information/service information, and extracts updating data for updating the application software from the digital broadcasting signal according to the updating information in order to update the executing data stored in the storage section to the extracted updating data. An application software section updates and executes the application software according the updated executing data. Therefore, time and resources required to update application software are saved. |
| US08023040B2 |
Electronic device having multiple camera modules
An exemplary electronic device includes a lower housing having a mounting panel, a first camera module mounted to the mounting panel, a sliding member mounted to the lower housing, a second camera module mounted to the sliding member, and two hinge assemblies fixed to the sliding member. The first camera module is configured to be covered by the sliding member. The second camera module is configured to be covered by the mounting panel. The hinge assemblies are configured to make the sliding member slidable relative to the lower housing to expose the first camera module and the second camera module out from the sliding member and the mounting panel, respectively, and enable the sliding member rotatably relative to the lower housing. |
| US08023035B2 |
Auto-focusing apparatus and image pickup apparatus including the same
An auto-focusing apparatus and an image pickup apparatus reliably achieving a focal state in accordance with a recording format are provided. In each apparatus, auto-focus adjustment is implemented by modifying a process of generating an AF evaluation value indicating a sharpness of an image, in accordance with an image-taking mode (a recording type). |
| US08023027B2 |
Solid-state imaging device and imaging apparatus utilizing a dynamic bias current for reduced power consumption
A solid-state imaging device includes: a sensor unit; a vertical scanning unit and a horizontal scanning unit; column amplifier units provided at respective vertical signal lines corresponding to columns in the sensor unit and amplifying signal charges read out to the vertical signal lines; a bias current adjustment unit controlling current flowing in the vertical signal lines by changing bias current of the column amplifier units; a signal processing unit processing signal charges read out to the vertical signal lines and amplified at the column amplifier units into image signals to be outputted; an output unit to which signals outputted from the signal processing unit are supplied; a drive signal generation unit supplying drive signals to the vertical scanning unit, the horizontal scanning unit, the signal processing unit and the output unit; and an input unit supplying plural drive mode signals to the drive signal generation unit. |
| US08023024B2 |
Solid-state imaging element having image signal overflow path
Since the great number of elements constituting a unit pixel having an amplification function would hinder reduction of pixel size, unit pixel n,m arranged in a matrix form is comprised of a photodiode, a transfer switch for transferring charges stored in the photodiode, a floating diffusion for storing charges transferred by the transfer switch, a reset switch for resetting the floating diffusion, and an amplifying transistor for outputting a signal in accordance with the potential of the floating diffusion to a vertical signal line, and by affording vertical selection pulse φVn to the drain of the reset switch to control a reset potential thereof, pixels are selected in units of rows. |
| US08023023B2 |
Image sensing apparatus including charge transfer operation and control method therefor
An image sensing apparatus capable of reducing degradation of a signal-to-noise ratio property occurring when a driving frequency of an image sensing element is high, depending on a state of an operation mode. An information table is stored in a memory section, which includes information on a timing of a horizontal transfer driving signal for performing charge transfer in the horizontal direction in an image sensing element, information on a timing of a reset gate signal for performing charge sweep per pixel, and information on a timing of a feed-through sample-hold signal for sample-holding a feed-through section of the output signal of the image sensing element which becomes a black reference per pixel, in association with an operation mode of an image sensing apparatus. The information table associated with the set operation mode is selected from the memory section, and the element is driven based on the information table. |
| US08023013B1 |
Fixed pattern noise correction with compressed gain and offset
A method of pixel correction is disclosed. The method generally includes the steps of (A) calibrating a per-pixel correction model of a sensor at a plurality of different illumination levels, (B) generating a plurality of pixel values from the sensor in response to an optical signal and (C) generating a plurality of corrected values by applying the per-pixel correction model to the pixel values. |
| US08023011B2 |
Circuit and method of detecting saturation level of image sensor and image sensor including saturation level detecting circuit
A circuit and method of detecting a saturation level of an image sensor including a photodiode using a black pixel circuit included in the image sensor. The saturation level detecting circuit includes a pixel unit, a reset node and a detection controller. The pixel unit includes a floating diffusion node connected to, or disconnected from, the photodiode and outputs a voltage signal corresponding to the voltage of the floating diffusion node. The reset node is connected to, or disconnected from, the floating diffusion node. The detection controller transfers a power voltage or a reference voltage to the reset node. |
| US08023010B2 |
Defective pixel correction device
First pixel data of a pixel of interest is output from a first shift register, while second and third pixel data of neighboring pixels indicative of the same color are output from second and third shift registers, respectively. Differential data between estimated pixel data calculated from the second and third pixel data and the first pixel data is input to a comparator. A threshold value stored in a register is modulated by the estimated pixel data, and is input to the comparator as modulated threshold data. When the comparator judges that the differential data is greater than the modulated threshold data, a selector outputs the estimated pixel data as corrected pixel data. |
| US08023009B2 |
Imaging apparatus for correcting optical distortion and wide-angle distortion
A digital camera includes a distortion correction section, which is composed of a focal length determining section, a distortion evaluation section and a correction amount calculating section. The focal length determining section evaluates a focal length at the time of image capture. Based on the focal length, the distortion evaluation section evaluates the magnitude of wide-angle distortion and optical distortion in a captured image. Based on this evaluation, the distortion correction section selects an appropriate coefficient from an optical distortion correction coefficient table or a wide-angle distortion correction coefficient table. Using the selected coefficient, the correction amount calculating section applies a coordinate transform processing to cause positive or negative distortion to the captured image, and corrects the wide-angle distortion or the optical distortion. |
| US08023002B2 |
Imager, imaging circuit, and image processing circuit
The number of channels is changed in accordance with an operation mode in an image pickup apparatus. An image-pickup control unit 240 determines the number of operation channels W in accordance with an operation mode. A sensor unit 210 outputs an image pickup signal corresponding to each pixel in accordance with the number of operation channels W. A data sending unit 220 performs serial conversion on image pickup signals, and transfers them to the image processing unit 300 using a high-speed interface (a signal line 229) such as an LVDS in accordance with the number of operation channels W. A data receiving unit 311 performs parallel conversion on the transferred serial signal for each of the channels in units of M bits. A data reconstruction unit 500 detects a synchronization code embedded in the parallel signals, extracts data windows, and supplies, to a signal line 319, image pickup signals of bit length n which are reconstructed from the data windows. A clock gating circuit 330 supplies a clock CLK3 to a signal line 337 only during a period in which a valid flag (a signal line 316) indicates validity. |
| US08022994B2 |
Image sensor with high dynamic range in down-sampling mode
An image sensor has an array of photo-sensitive pixels and supports a line-by-line read out of rows. In a normal resolution each row has the same nominal gain and exposure time. In a down-sampling mode the exposure times of the rows are varied according to an alternating sequence having at least two different exposure times. During down-sampling, raw pixel data from rows with different exposure times is combined to simultaneously achieve down-sampling and a high dynamic range. |
| US08022985B2 |
Vehicle-mounted imaging device
Color signals that have passed through a multilayer film filter and been photoelectrically converted are inputted into an image processing LSI. A color signal processing section of the image processing LSI corrects the color signals on a color matrix. The color matrix is divided into a plurality of regions corresponding to the color signals, and the correction is made for each of the regions. |
| US08022977B2 |
Camera placed behind a display with a transparent backlight
A method and combined video display and camera system are disclosed. In one embodiment, the system comprises a first sheet and a second sheet oriented parallel to the first sheet, the second sheet including a light diffuser. A light source is placed along an edge of the second sheet, wherein the second sheet diffuses light generated by the light source. One or more cameras are placed behind the second sheet to capture an image through the second sheet and the first sheet. |
| US08022976B2 |
Laser power switching for alignment purposes in a laser printer
An apparatus for switching and controlling the intensity of a laser beam directed toward a beam detect sensor for an image forming device. A printing power reference signal and a beam detect power reference signal is selectively connected to a laser driver through a first switch. A printing power reference holding capacitor and a beam detect power reference holding capacitor is selectively connected to the laser driver through a second switch that is controlled in tandem with the first switch. During each scan cycle, the output laser power is monitored and used to adjust one of the two holding capacitors based such that both the printing power and the beam detect power have a controlled reference. |
| US08022975B2 |
Line head and image forming apparatus using the same
A line head includes a positive lens system having two lenses, image-side and object-side lens arrays, a light emitter array on an object side of the positive lens system, and an aperture plate that forms an aperture diaphragm. Where the row number of lenses arrayed in a second direction is ‘m’, a gap between effective regions of two image-side lenses adjacent to each other in a first direction is ‘α’, an image-side angle of aperture is ‘θi’, a width of light-emitting elements images in the first direction is ‘Wi’, a focal length of the image-side lens is ‘f2’ and a distance from an image-side principal plane of the image-side lens to an image surface is ‘Si’, the following conditions are satisfied: f2≦(mWi−α)/(2θi), Wi≧2Siθi/(m−1)+α/(m−1). |
| US08022970B2 |
Image processing result display apparatus, image processing result display method, and program for implementing the method
An image processing result display apparatus that is capable of carrying out smooth scrolling. A scrolling direction that will be designated by an operator is predicted based on image data displayed on an LCD. Image data positioned in the predicted scrolling direction is pre-read from an external storage device. Image data is generated by carrying out predetermined image processing on the pre-read image data and is stored in a main memory. A portion of image data displayable on the LCD is read from the image data stored in the external storage device or in the main memory. If image data positioned in the scrolling direction designated by the operator is stored in the main memory, the image data is read from the main memory, and image data positioned in the scrolling direction designated by the operator is generated based on the read image data, and the generated image data is displayed on the LCD. |
| US08022968B2 |
Image display and storage apparatus, method and medium
An image display and storage device, method, and medium to process an original image and generate a main image so that the original image does not overlap a sub image, and store the original image instead of the main image when the main image and the sub image are displayed. The device includes an image processor to receive an image, and to generate a display image and a storage image using the received image, a display unit to receive the display image from the image processor, and to display the display image, and an image storing unit to receive the storage image from the image processor and to store the image. |
| US08022967B2 |
Image processing method and image processing apparatus
An image processing method includes the steps of acquiring an image of a physical space, acquiring a position and orientation of a viewpoint of the image, generating an image of a virtual object, detecting an area which consists of pixels each having a predetermined pixel value, and superimposing the image of the virtual object on the image of the physical space. The superimposition step includes calculating a distance between a position of the virtual object and a position of the viewpoint, acquiring an instruction indicating whether or not the virtual object is emphasis-displayed, and setting a flag indicating whether or not the image of the virtual object is to be set as a masked target. The masking process image of the virtual object is superimposed or not on the image of the physical space depending if the image of the virtual object is set as the masked target. |
| US08022965B2 |
System and method for data assisted chroma-keying
The invention illustrates a system and method of displaying a base image and an overlay image comprising: capturing a base image of a real event; receiving an instrumentation data based on the real event; identifying a visual segment within the base image based on the instrumentation data; and rendering an overlay image within the visual segment. |
| US08022960B2 |
Dynamic configurable texture cache for multi-texturing
Techniques for dynamically configuring a texture cache are disclosed. During a texture mapping process of a three-dimensional (3D) graphics pipeline, if the batch is for single texture mapping, the texture cache is configured as a n-way set-associative texture cache. However, if the batch is for multi-texture mapping the n-way set-associated texture cache is divided into at n/M-way set-associative sub-caches where n and M are integers greater than 1 and n is divisible by M. |
| US08022955B2 |
Operability verification apparatus, operability verification method, and computer-readable storage medium storing operability verification program
An operability verification apparatus includes a work plane generation section that generates a work plane on a virtual space where a three-dimensional model of an equipment to be verified is disposed; a plane display section where a two-dimensional image on a work plane generated in the work plane generation section of the three-dimensional model is displayed on the display screen; and a mark display update section in which a mark representative of the pointing device is displayed on the display screen, and upon receipt of the notification of direction of movement and migration length of the pointing device, the mark on the display screen is moved in the direction of the movement corresponding to the direction of the movement of the pointing device by only a migration length in which a ratio of a real size of the equipment to a display size of the two-dimensional image on the display screen is considered. |
| US08022951B2 |
Node structure for representing 3-dimensional objects using depth image
A family of node structures for representing 3-dimensional objects using depth image are provided. These node structures can be adopted into MPEG-4 AFX for conventional polygonal 3D representations. Main formats of the family are DepthImage, PointTexture and OctreeImage. DepthImage represents an object by a union of its reference images and corresponding depth maps. PointTexture represents the object as a set of colored points parameterized by projection onto a regular 2D grid. OctreeImage converts the same data into hierarchical octree-structured voxel model, set of compact reference images and a tree of voxel-image correspondence indices. DepthImage and OctreeImage have animated versions, where reference images are replaced by videostreams. DIBR formats are very convenient for 3D model construction from 3D range-scanning and multiple source video data. MPEG-4 framework allows construction of a wide variety of representations from the main DIBR formats, providing flexible tools for effective work with 3D models. Compression of the DIBR formats is achieved by application of image (video) compression techniques to depth maps and reference images (videostreams). |
| US08022948B2 |
Image capture and buffering in a virtual world using situational measurement averages
A technique is disclosed for detecting photo opportunities within a virtual environment. In response to detecting a photo opportunity, images of the virtual environment may be captured from perspectives not limited to the user's viewport. A variety of physiological and virtual world parameters are measured to determine when to capture an image of a user interacting with the virtual environment. To improve the quality of images, these parameters may be individually weighted by factors specified by the user. Captured images may be stored in a temporary buffer space, possibly replacing older images. The user may view the buffer contents and select ideal images to move to a permanent gallery. The user's image selections can in turn be used to further improve the quality of future images. |
| US08022945B2 |
Operational amplifier with constant offset and apparatus comprising such as operational amplifier
Apparatus (80) comprising an input stage (61) with an NMOS transistor doublet having a first differential input for receiving input signals, and a PMOS transistor doublet having a second differential input for receiving input signals. The apparatus (80) further comprises switching means for receiving and selectively directing analog input signals either to the first differential input or to the second differential input. The means are controlled by a switching signal (φ,φ) in a manner to keep the ratio of the transconductance of the NMOS transistor doublet and the transconductance of the PMOS transistor doublet constant. |
| US08022943B2 |
Controller arrangement for an optical sensing pen
Provided is a controller arrangement for an optical sensing pen having a nib. The controller arrangement is configured to operatively sense location data by sensing location tags on a page of printed media, and to calculate an orientation of the pen and a nib-to-tag distance. The controller arrangement includes an infrared (IR) illumination LED and image sensor assembly configured to transmit IR light onto, and receive IR light reflected from, respectively, the page of printed media. The controller arrangement also includes a force sensing infrared LED and photodiode assembly configured to detect when the nib contacts the page so that the sensor assembly is only activated when the nib is in contact with said page, and an accelerometer configured to allow the controller to sense motion without reference to the location tags. The controller arrangement further includes a transceiver and antenna assembly, and a processor arranged in signal communication with, and configured to control, the sensor assembly, the photodiode assembly, the accelerometer and antenna assembly to operatively calculate the orientation of the pen and the nib-to-tag distance, and to transmit the location data to a computing system. |
| US08022941B2 |
Multi-user touch screen
A multi-user touch-responsive viewing screen is described which uses frustrated total internal reflection in a slab of transparent material to illuminate the contact point between the slab and a finger or other object substantially matching the slab's index of refraction. Light, coupled upon touch, can be detected with a video camera, and used to determine both the position and pressure of the touch. Multiple touches can be accommodated and each touch accurately located. Projected images can be applied to the slab and a diffuser to construct an interactive touch screen. |
| US08022926B2 |
Radio communications terminal apparatus
A control unit displays broadcasting received by a TV tuner unit on a display unit, and executes telop display of displaying character information such as a received electronic mail, etc. together with an image of the broadcasting. If the image display direction is a longitudinal display, a width of a display area of the character information is smaller than that in a case of a lateral display. In other words, in the longitudinal display, the number of characters displayed is smaller than that in the lateral display. For this reason, if the image display direction is the longitudinal display, the control unit makes the moving speed of the displayed characters relatively lower than that in the lateral display. |
| US08022924B2 |
Field sequential liquid crystal display and driving method thereof
A field sequential driving method includes the following steps. First, a liquid crystal display (LCD) including a display unit and a backlight unit is provided. The display unit includes several pixel units. Next, a white light source of the backlight unit is enabled during a first sub-frame period of a frame period of the LCD. Then, red and blue sub-pixel data are provided to drive a first sub-pixel and a second sub-pixel in the pixel unit during the first sub-frame period. Next, a green light source of the backlight unit is enabled during a second sub-frame period of the frame period. Thereafter, green sub-pixel data is provided to drive a third sub-pixel of the pixel unit during the second sub-frame period. |
| US08022913B2 |
Instant-on heater
A heater, used in a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) pixel array that uses a common voltage polysilicon line to supply heat to the pixel elements, instead of using active control transistor input lines, such as gate input lines. The approach permits the display to be activated during the warm-up process. |
| US08022912B2 |
Liquid crystal display device
In a liquid crystal display device performing multi-picture element driving, gate OFF timing of a switching element connected between each sub picture element and a signal line is matched with phase timing when all the subsidiary capacity wires are at the same potential. This prevents the occurrence of uneven luminance appearing in a lateral streak. |
| US08022911B1 |
Active matrix displays having nonlinear elements in pixel elements
An active matrix display includes a matrix of pixel elements, an array of column conducting lines, an array of row conducting lines crossing the array of column conducting lines, and electronic circuitry for applying a predetermined current to a column conducting line. A pixel element includes a capacitive element, a nonlinear element, and a resistive element. The capacitive element has a first terminal and a second terminal. The nonlinear element has a first terminal electrically connected to a column conducting line and has a second terminal electrically connected to the first terminal of the capacitive element. The resistive element has a first terminal electrically connected to a row conducting line and has a second terminal electrically connected to the first terminal of the capacitive element. |
| US08022908B2 |
Display apparatus
After a look-up table applies γ correction to each of R, G, and B signals, a multiplier multiplies a γ corrected signal by a gain. An adder adds an offset to an output of the multiplier and supplies a resultant gain/offset corrected signal to a display panel. Memories store entropy coded correction data, which can be expanded by corresponding expansion circuits and supplied to the multiplier and the adder, respectively. |
| US08022891B2 |
Radio communication system
A radio communication receiver which includes an antenna array having at least two antennas to provide antenna diversity. The receiver is for receiving signals containing orthogonally coded data sub-streams derived from a source data stream. The receiver also has receiver circuitry, coupled to the antenna array, having a detection stage to detect the data sub-streams and a combiner stage for combining the detected data sub-streams to recover the source data stream. Each antenna has an electrically insulative core of solid material having a dielectric constant greater than 5. Each antenna also has a three-dimensional antenna element structure disposed on or adjacent the outer surface of the core. |
| US08022888B2 |
Antenna device
An antenna device includes a first radiator receiving a first feed signal, a second radiator spaced apart from the first radiator at a predetermined distance and capacitively coupled with the first radiator, a feed line connected to a feed terminal of the first radiator, and a phase shifter diverging from the feed line, connected to a feed terminal of the second radiator, and supplying a second feed signal having a predetermined phase difference with the first feed signal to the second radiator. |
| US08022886B2 |
Crossed dual tag apparatus and system using crossed dual tag apparatus
A crossed dual tag includes two tags each of which comprises, on one plane, a dipole antenna formed with conductors, a feeding part to which an IC chip is connected at the center of the dipole antenna, and a loop-shaped inductance part that is formed between the dipoles of the dipole antenna and connected to the dipoles of the dipole antenna in parallel with respect to the feeding part. The two tags are crossed at right angles, and stacked to contact as closely as possible so that the loops of the inductance parts overlap as wide as possible. A reader/writer of an RFID system sequentially switches the surface of a circular polarized wave of a wireless signal between forward and backward directions, and reads information written to a user memory area from the tag that responds more strongly. |
| US08022885B2 |
System and method for re-aligning antennas
A system for re-aligning an antenna communicating signals point-to-point. The system may include a first antenna, a second antenna configured to communicate a communications signal with the first antenna using point-to-point communications, and a position controller coupled to the first antenna and configured to re-align the first antenna with respect to the second antenna in response to determining a misalignment of the antenna. |
| US08022882B2 |
Antenna device for wireless wide area network (WWAN) and wireless local area network (WLAN)
An antenna device includes a grounding element, a radiating element, and first and second feeding elements. The radiating element includes a first segment that extends from the grounding element and that has an end distal from the grounding element, and second and third segments that extend from the end of the first segment in opposite directions. Each of the first and second feeding elements includes first and second segments. The first segment of each of the first and second feeding elements is disposed proximate to a respective one of the second and third segments of the radiating element. The second segment of each of the first and second feeding elements is disposed proximate to the grounding element. |
| US08022881B2 |
Multiband antenna
A multiband antenna comprises a ground plane, a substrate, and a radiating metal element, wherein a side of the substrate is substantially adjacent to a side of the ground plane; the radiating metal element is on a surface of the substrate. The radiating metal element comprises a radiating portion having a slit, a shorting portion having a first end electrically connected to the radiating portion and a second end electrically connected to the ground plane, and a feeding portion; the feeding portion comprises an antenna feeding point for electrically connecting to a signal source, wherein a first spacing is formed between the feeding portion and the radiating portion, and a second spacing is formed between the feeding portion and the shorting portion. |
| US08022876B2 |
Indoor localization system and method
An indoor localization method is implemented using an indoor localization system that includes beacons in an indoor space and each periodically transmitting a localization signal, a radio badge receiving the localization signals, and a host coupled to the beacons and the radio badge. The beacons transmit the localization signals asynchronously. The indoor localization method includes a training phase and a tracking phase. During the training phase, signal vectors are formed from the localization signals received by the radio badge, and a signal ID value is generated from the signal vectors. During the tracking phase, signal vectors are formed from the localization signals received by the radio badge at a current location. An estimated position of the radio badge is obtained using the signal vectors of the tracking phase and the signal ID values. |
| US08022875B2 |
Indoor localization system and method
An indoor localization method is implemented using an indoor localization system that includes beacons deployed in an indoor space and transmitting localization signals, and a radio badge for receiving the localization signals. The indoor localization method includes forming signal vectors from the localization signals received by the radio badge at each of predetermined locations in the indoor space, and generating a signal ID value from the signal vectors for each beacon from which the radio badge has received the localization signals. During a tracking phase, signal vectors are formed from the localization signals received by the radio badge at a current location. If the number of the signal ID values is smaller than the number of the signal vectors, the sum of the signal distances is normalized by the number of the signal ID values. An estimated position of the radio badge is obtained using the signal vectors and the signal ID values. |
| US08022868B2 |
Inter-channel bias calibration for navigation satellite systems
Dynamic inter-channel bias calibration of a navigational receiver is provided. A reference signal is propagated through front end circuitry of the receiver. A delay caused by the propagation of the reference signal through the front end circuitry is measured. The inter-channel bias of the navigational receiver is reduced using the measured delay associated with the front end circuitry of the receiver. |
| US08022862B2 |
Processing of pulse-echo measurement signals
Pulse echo signals containing false echoes are processed by forming tracks of multiple received echoes and monitoring these tracks by a recursive filter such as a Kalman filter. A track velocity is estimated for each track, and the position of each the next echo on the track is predicted. |
| US08022855B2 |
Analog/digital converter
An A/D converter includes a plurality of comparators that performs sampling of a plurality of reference voltages and analog input signals during a sampling time, and compares each of the plurality of reference voltages with each of the plurality of analog signals during a comparison time. The A/D converter detects bubbles in thermometer codes obtained from output signals of the plurality of comparators and adjusts a ratio of the sampling time and the comparison time of the plurality of comparators so as to reduce the bubbles. |
| US08022854B2 |
Thermometer code transcoding and encoding methods and systems
Examples of systems and methods are provided for generating an output signal having an output code having less number of bits compared to an input signal having a thermometer code representation. The system may partition the input code bits into non-overlapping clusters. The system may generate a control signal for each of the clusters based on, at least in part, a logical OR operation over all bits in a corresponding one of the clusters. The system may determine a transition cluster comprising a 1/0 transition in the input code bits. The system may determine output code bits based on, at least in part, an input code bit pattern in the transition cluster and an identity of the transition cluster. |
| US08022853B2 |
Transparent multiplexing of analog-to-digital converters
A method and apparatus for sampling and converting analog input values. In response to an event, a value is transmitted from an input of a multiplexer to the output of the multiplexer. The output of the multiplexer is coupled to an input of an analog-to-digital converter (ADC). In response to a second event, a value is transmitted from the input of the multiplexer to a second ADC. |
| US08022849B2 |
Phase to digital converter in all digital phase locked loop
A phase to digital converter, all digital phase locked loop, and apparatus having an all digital phase locked loop are described herein. The phase to digital converter includes a phase to frequency converter driving a time to digital converter. The time to digital converter determines a magnitude and sign of the phase differences output by the phase to frequency converter. The time to digital converter utilizes tapped delay lines and looped feedback counters to enable measurement of small timing differences typical of a loop tracking process and large timing differences typical of an loop acquisition process. The tapped delay lines permit the measurement of fractions of a reference period and enable lower power operation of the phase to digital converter by reducing requirements on the speed of the reference clock. |
| US08022848B2 |
Dedicated sample and hold modules
A method and system for sampling values. Multiple values are sampled concurrently. One of the values is stored while another one of the values is converted to a corresponding digital value by an analog-to-digital converter (ADC). Subsequently, the stored value is made available to the ADC. |
| US08022847B2 |
Signal processing device
A signal processing device, even when a steep difference in DC level is included in a signal read from a disc such as a DVD-RAM format, cuts off the DC level and pulls the read signal into an appropriate A/D input level. A steep difference in DC level between a data section and a CAPA section is absorbed by a first offset unit, and an asymmetry which occurs due to variations in the disc manufacturing stage is corrected by a second offset unit. Further, a control signal for operating the two offset units exclusively is generated by a controller, thereby controlling both offset units. |
| US08022830B1 |
Lifeguard alarm system for a swimming pool
A lifeguard alarm system for a swimming pool has a sensing device, at least one electromagnetic wave receiver and a host, the sensing device capable of attaching onto a user; wherein when the sensing device detects the more than two conditions, an microprocessor in the sensing device sends a signal to the at least one electromagnetic wave receiver disposed around the swimming pool and wirelessly connected to the host, and the host sends out an alarm. Furthermore, includes a fail-safe mechanism; therefore, when the first detecting mechanism of the sensing device detects that the user is not in the corresponding predetermined dangerous state, to prevent malfunctioning of the first detecting mechanism from creating problems. |
| US08022829B2 |
RFID-tag structure body, RFID label, and apparatus for producing RFID labels
This disclosure discloses a RFID-tag structure body comprising an affixed portion to be affixed onto an affixed face; a self-supporting portion self-supported with respect to the affixed face; at least one RFID circuit element having an IC circuit part provided at the self-supporting portion and configured to store information, and a tag antenna connected to the IC circuit part; and a stereo-structure preparation portion configured to realize a three-dimensional structure when being affixed onto the affixed face. |
| US08022821B2 |
Smart power supply
A power supply, such as for powering and supplying communication data to devices connected with a low voltage line, is disclosed. For example, a converter device is coupled with an alternating current voltage source. The converter device down-converts an alternating current voltage to a direct current voltage. A switching device is in communication with the converter device. A processor is in communication with the switching device. The processor outputs a signal to the switching device. The switching device generates a square wave signal as a function of the signal from the processor and the direct current voltage. A remote device is controlled by data encoded in the square wave signal. |
| US08022819B2 |
Electronic control apparatus and method for controlling alarm systems of cellular structure
Electronic control apparatus (20) and method for controlling cellular alarm systems (10/11), wherein, by means of sensors (201) of the control apparatus (20), physical measurement parameters (202) of occurring measurement events (203) are triggered and are filtered on the basis of predefined threshold values (204). The alarm systems (10/11) are selected and activated electronically if at least one of the threshold values (204) is exceeded. For the purpose of activation, dedicated activation signals (101) are generated by means of the control apparatus (20) and transmitted to the alarm systems (10/11). By means of a counter module (21) of the control apparatus (20), the generated activation signals (101) are cumulated, as a counter signal (211), within a predefined time window (205) upon each activation. After expiry of the time window (205), the cumulated counter signal (211) is weighted dynamically on the basis of geographical location parameters (2021) and physical measurement parameters (2022) of the measurement parameters (211) by means of a topographical grid (31), and stored in a grid-based topographical lookup table (25). The activation signals (101) transmitted to the alarm systems (10/11) are generated in a grid-cell-wise graduated manner on the basis of the dynamic lookup table elements (251) the alarm systems (10/11) activated accordingly. |
| US08022817B2 |
Tire with monitoring device
The invention provides a monitoring device and tire combination wherein an antenna is mounted to the tire in a location spaced from the monitoring device. In one embodiment, the antenna may be mounted to the tire sidewall outside the body cords of the tire. The antenna may be mounted on the outer surface of the sidewall or embedded within the body of the sidewall. The antenna is connected to the monitoring device with a connector. The connector may be electrically coupled to the monitoring device or may be connected to the monitoring device with a plug and socket connection. When the antenna is outside the body cord, the connector may extend from the antenna through the bead filler, over the top of the turn up, or under the bead ring. |
| US08022806B2 |
Fluid pressure sensor package
A fluid pressure sensor package can be easily assembled to have different types of probe tubes depending upon different application environments. The sensor package includes a sealed casing accommodating a sensor chip for sensing a pressure of a fluid introduced into the casing. A probe tube extends from the casing for introducing the fluid into contact with the sensor chip. The casing has a top opening, and has a side wall formed on its interior surface with a stepped shoulder for bearing a flange at the lower end of the probe tube. The flange is sealingly bonded to the sidewall of the casing by a sealer. Since the probe tube is prepared as a separate member from the casing, the casing can be a common base for various probe tubes having fluid channels of different lengths or diameters. |
| US08022805B2 |
Spiral inductor device
A spiral inductor device is provided. The spiral inductor device comprises an insulating layer disposed on a substrate. A spiral conductive trace with multiple turns is disposed on the insulating layer, wherein the outermost turn and the innermost turn of the spiral conductive trace have a first end and a second end, respectively, and one of the first and second ends is connected to ground. A non-continuous spiral conductive trace with a single turn is disposed on the insulating layer, parallel and adjacent to the turn that belongs to the spiral conductive trace and is extended from the end of the spiral conductive trace without being connected to ground, wherein the non-continuous spiral conductive trace is connected to the ground. |
| US08022803B2 |
Transformer
The present invention provides a transformer capable of driving a plurality of lamps with one transformer by increasing the number of outer bobbins wrapping an outer circumferential surface of an inner bobbin wound by a coil and the number of output terminals by winding other coils around the outer bobbins. |
| US08022800B2 |
Field coil assembly for electromagnetic clutch
A field coil assembly for an electromagnetic clutch, which includes an electromagnetic coil body formed by winding an electromagnetic coil; a bobbin for supporting the electromagnetic coil body; a field core for receiving the bobbin and the electromagnetic coil body; a holder mounted to the electromagnetic coil body; and a thermal fuse installed to the holder to be connected to the electromagnetic coil body, wherein the holder having the thermal fuse installed thereto is provided with an elastic member for elastically supporting the thermal fuse upwards. Thus, the height of the thermal fuse installed to the holder can be adjusted. |
| US08022797B2 |
Superconducting coil apparatus and inductor-type synchronous machine
This superconducting coil apparatus includes: a cylindrical coil container which has an inner circumferential surface and an outer circumferential surface; a superconducting coil which is stored in the coil container to be cooled so that a superconducting member is wound on the inner circumferential surface; and a columnar magnetic body which is fitted to the inner circumferential surface of the coil container. |
| US08022796B2 |
Contactless switch
A contactless switch includes an angularly and/or axially adjustable rotor, by which at least one main magnet is directly or indirectly adjustable. The magnetic field of the at least one main magnet influences at least two magnetic field sensors, which issue signals that correlate with a magnetic field strength of the magnetic field, and/or an alteration in the magnetic field strength and/or a polarization of the magnetic field. |
| US08022785B2 |
Step attenuator circuit with improved insertion loss
A step attenuator circuit is mounted on a printed circuit board and has a highpass filter network passing high frequency signals and a lowpass filter network passing low frequency signals. The lowpass network presents a high shunt reactance to the high frequency signals. The lowpass network includes an attenuator network. The attenuator network attenuates the low frequency signals by a specified amount. Parasitic capacitance exists between the highpass network and the attenuator network, causing an amount of electrical energy from the high frequency signals to be absorbed by the attenuator network. A first capacitive circuit is used to compensate for parasitic capacitance. The first compensation circuit is connected across the attenuator network and is coupled to the parasitic capacitance. Consequently, the amount of electrical energy from the high frequency signals absorbed by the attenuator network is reduced, and, as a result, the insertion loss of the step attenuator is reduced. |
| US08022781B2 |
Redundancy system for a telecommunication system and related methods
A redundancy system for a co-channel telecommunication system and related methods. Implementations of the redundancy system may include at least a first modulator and a second modulator having a symbol mapper coupled to a parallel bit signal. The symbol mapper may be configured to route each of a plurality of parallel bits received through the parallel bit signal to a plurality of significant bit signals. In a first implementation, a plurality of significant bit signal multiplexers may be used to switch the plurality of parallel bit signals to allow the first and second modulators to operate in either a redundant or operating mode. In a second implementation, a premapped symbol (PMSI) encoder and a PMSI decoder may be used to transmit the plurality of significant bit signals across an interface bus as a real dual-data rate (DDR) signal and an imaginary DDR signal. |
| US08022778B2 |
Low phase noise frequency synthesizer
Various apparatuses and methods for a low phase noise frequency synthesizer are disclosed herein. For example, some embodiments provide an oscillator that may be used in a low phase noise frequency synthesizer. The oscillator includes a tank circuit, a plurality of cross-coupled transistor pairs connected to the tank circuit, a current source connected to the plurality of cross-coupled transistor pairs, and at least one switch connected to the plurality of cross-coupled transistor pairs. The switch is adapted to activate a subset of the plurality of cross-coupled transistor pairs and to deactivate another subset of the plurality of cross-coupled transistor pairs to operate the tank circuit in the oscillator using the activated subset of the plurality of cross-coupled transistor pairs. |
| US08022777B2 |
Ovenized crystal oscillator assembly
An oscillator assembly including an oscillator seated on a pad of thermally conductive material formed on the surface of a printed circuit board and covered by a lid defining an oven for the oscillator. In one embodiment, a plurality of heaters are located on different sides of the oscillator and at least partially seated on the pad for evenly transferring heat to the pad and the oscillator. In one embodiment, the oscillator is a temperature compensated crystal oscillator and an integrated amplifier controller circuit on the printed circuit board integrates at least one operational amplifier for controlling the heater(s) and one or more transistors for providing heat to the oven. A canopy seated on the pad and covering the oscillator can be used for transferring heat more evenly to the oscillator. A cavity in the bottom of the printed circuit board defines an insulative air pocket. |
| US08022774B2 |
Phase-locked loop circuit, recording-and-reproducing apparatus, and electronic apparatus
A phase-locked loop circuit includes a phase detection unit which detects phase information of an input signal, a loop filter unit including a series circuit of a resistor and a capacitor, first and second pulse-current output units which supply pulse currents corresponding to the phase information output to one and the other of the resistor and the capacitor, and an oscillating unit capable of varying an oscillation frequency in accordance with a component obtained by combining a voltage generated at both ends of the one of the resistor and the capacitor on the basis of the pulse current supplied from the output terminal of the first pulse-current output unit and a voltage generated at both ends of the other one of the resistor and the capacitor on the basis of the pulse current supplied from the output terminal of the second pulse-current output unit. |
| US08022769B2 |
Semiconductor device
According to one embodiment, there is a semiconductor device including a first active element, a second active element connected in parallel with the first active element, and a first stabilization circuit connected between a gate of the first active element and a gate of the second active element and configured with a parallel circuit of a gate bypass resistor, a gate bypass capacitor, and a gate bypass inductor, the first stabilization circuit having a resonant frequency equal to an odd mode resonant frequency. |
| US08022768B1 |
Doherty amplifier and method for operation thereof
An amplifier having a Doherty-type architecture and a method for operation thereof are provided. The amplifier comprises a main amplifier path comprising a main amplifier, an auxiliary amplifier path comprising an auxiliary amplifier, and an signal preparation unit configured to develop a main amplifier input signal for the main amplifier path and an auxiliary amplifier input signal for the auxiliary amplifier path based on an amplifier input that is to be amplified and a transition threshold associated with the amplifier input. By driving the main and auxiliary amplifiers as a function of the transition threshold, the gain of the Doherty-type amplifier may be increased. |
| US08022761B2 |
Error driven RF power amplifier control with increased efficiency
A power amplifier controller for adjusting a supply voltage to a power amplifier. The power amplifier controller adjusts the supply voltage so that distortion in an RF output signal corresponds to a predetermined limit. An amplitude error signal is generated by the power amplifier controller which represents a difference between an RF output signal and an attenuated RF output signal. The AC components of the amplitude error signal are processed to generate a deviation signal that represents the distortion in the RF output signal. The supply voltage to the power amplifier is increased when the deviation signal exceeds a distortion level control signal, and decreased when the deviation signal drops below the distortion level control signal. |
| US08022751B2 |
Systems and methods for trimming bandgap offset with bipolar elements
An integrated circuit has an untrimmed bandgap generation circuit; and a bandgap generation circuit coupled to the untrimmed bandgap generation circuit. The bandgap generation circuit has a current source controlled by the untrimmed bandgap generation circuit and coupled in series with a resistor and a first bipolar diode device, one or more of bipolar diode devices, each bipolar diode device coupled in parallel with the first bipolar diode device, wherein a trimmed bandgap reference voltage output of the integrated circuit is a function of the number of bipolar diode devices. |
| US08022748B2 |
Power source circuits for driving liquid crystal displays
This invention is suitable for use in the field of integrated circuits. It provides a type of power source circuit. Said power source circuit includes: a charge pump circuit used to operate the charge pump to produce driving voltages; a first control circuit, used in the closed-loop control of said charge pump circuit to produce a positive high voltage; a bias-ratio circuit, used with the positive high voltage and the zero-potential voltage produced by the first control circuit to produce a positive sub-high voltage and a lowest positive high voltage; and a second control circuit, used in accordance with the positive sub-high voltage and the lowest positive high voltage produced by said bias-ratio circuit in the closed-loop control of said charge pump circuit to produce a negative high voltage. Using this invention, the system contains no voltage higher than the liquid crystal's driving voltages, and also does not contain any lower negative voltage than the liquid crystal's highest negative driving voltage, thereby reducing the circuit's electrical consumption. |
| US08022744B2 |
Signal generator
Embodiments include a signal generator circuit for generating a time-varying signal, comprising capacitive element; FET to supply to or from the capacitive element a current matched to the FET drain current; a bias voltage generator to provide a bias voltage to the FET gate, wherein: the capacitances per unit area of the capacitive element and the FET gate are matched; the bias voltage is substantially equal to a sum of a first voltage substantially proportional to a reference voltage and a second voltage substantially proportional to temperature; the FET source-gate voltage substantially equal to the sum of the bias voltage and the gate threshold voltage, the bias voltage and a further voltage approximately equal to the gate threshold voltage summed to determine the FET source-gate voltage, the circuit to control a time period of the time-varying signal dependent on the current supply. |
| US08022741B2 |
Digital electronic device and method of altering clock delays in a digital electronic device
A digital electronic device is provided with a first and second sequential logic unit (SS1, SS2), each for receiving an input signal (D) and for outputting a first and second output signal (Q, QF), respectively. The electronic device furthermore comprises a comparator unit (C) for comparing the first and second output signals (Q, QF) and an adaptive clock generator unit (ACG) for generating a first and second internal clock (CK, CKF) for the first and second sequential logic unit (SS1, SS2), respectively. In a self-tuning mode, the adaptive clock generator unit (ACG) is adapted to delay the first and second internal clock signals (CK, CKF) with respect to the other internal clock signal (CKF). The delay induced by the adaptive control generator unit (ACG) is dependent on the result of the comparison unit (C). In a normal operation mode the adaptive control generator unit (ACG) is adapted to maintain the delay between the first and second internal clock signals constant. |
| US08022737B2 |
Electronic device and delay circuit thereof
A delay circuit is used for receiving an input signal from a signal source. The delay circuit includes a delay unit, a switch unit, and a generator. The switch unit is used for receiving a voltage from a power supply and selectively transmitting the voltage to the delay unit according to the input signal. The generator is coupled to the power supply for generating an output signal. The output signal is equivalent to the input signal that is delayed for a predetermined time period. Wherein the delay unit is used for generating an electrical signal according to the voltage and transmitting the electrical signal to the generator. The delay unit includes an adjustable capacitor coupled between ground and an interconnection of the switch unit and the generator. An electronic device including the delay circuit is also provided. |
| US08022730B2 |
Driving circuit with slew-rate enhancement circuit
A driving auxiliary circuit receiving an input voltage to control an output voltage of an operational amplifier via a first switch and a second switch is provided. A pull-low circuit turns on the first switch, including a first input terminal coupled to a high voltage source providing a high voltage and a first output terminal for controlling the voltage level of the output voltage. The output voltage is charged to be equal to the input voltage when the input voltage exceeds the output voltage. A pull-high circuit turns on the second switch, including a second input terminal coupled to the high voltage source providing the high voltage and a second output terminal for controlling the voltage level of the output voltage. The output voltage is discharged to be equal to the input voltage when the output voltage exceeds the input voltage. |
| US08022725B2 |
Convertible logic circuits comprising carbon nanotube transistors having ambipolar charateristics
A convertible logic circuit includes a plurality of carbon nanotube transistors. Each carbon nanotube transistors are configurable as p-type or an n-type transistors according to a voltage of a power source voltage. Each carbon nanotube transistor includes a source electrode, a drain electrode, a channel formed of a carbon nanotube between the source electrode and the drain electrode, a gate insulating layer formed on the carbon nanotubes, and a gate electrode formed on the gate insulating layer. |
| US08022711B2 |
Wire fault locating in distributed power systems
An electrical fault locating system for distributing power from an input to a plurality of output channels provides fault detection and locating for each of the plurality of output channels. Each of the plurality of output channels is monitored by a fault detection circuit to detect the presence of an electrical fault. In response to a detected fault condition, the fault detection circuit isolates the output channel from the input and generates an output identifying the output channel on which the fault was detected. A fault locating device injects a high-frequency (HF) signal onto the input of the electrical system, the HF signal is distributed to each of the plurality of output channels, and the monitored reflection of the HF signal is monitored by the fault locating device to calculate a distance to the detected fault. The distance calculated by the fault locating device is combined with the channel identification provided by the fault detection circuit to generate a specific location associated with the detected fault. |
| US08022710B2 |
Methods for common mode voltage-based AC fault detection, verification and/or identification
Methods for AC fault (ACF) detection are provided. In addition, methods for AC fault (ACF) detection and verification are provided. In addition, methods for identification of a module which is the cause of an AC fault (ACF) are provided. In one implementation, one or more of these methods can be combined to provide a fast, simple, low cost and reliable ACF detection, verification and/or identification. |
| US08022709B2 |
Method and apparatus for determining circular characteristic
A method and a system for determining a circular characteristic for distance protection of a three-phase electric line, the system comprising means for detecting a fault on the electric line, means for identifying a faulted phase or phases of the electric line, means for determining, at a measuring point, a first fault loop impedance by using voltage(s) of the faulted phase(s), a second fault loop impedance by using a polarization voltage and a third fault loop impedance by using predetermined line parameters, and means for determining a radius and midpoint of the circular characteristic. |
| US08022708B2 |
Fiber optic fault detection system and method for underground power lines
Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a method and fault detection system for detecting and identifying the location of faults in underground power lines that can effectively and quickly identify faults in underground power lines. Embodiments can provide a method and fault detection system that quickly identify faults in a power grid that result from open circuits or short circuits in underground conduits. A specific system for fault detection of power lines in a network having one or more substations and corresponding one or more manholes for access to underground lines, includes: a sensor device for each manhole, wherein the sensor device is capable of detecting a magnetic field generated by a power line and can send a signal through a fiber optic cable, the signal including a unique wavelength identifier; and a communication device for each substation for transmitting the signal from the sensor device to an operator. |
| US08022705B2 |
Microstrip coil designs for MRI devices
A microstrip-based RF coil for use in an MRI apparatus constructed to perform human head and extremity imaging according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a coil former defined by an inner core member and a shield support that surrounds the inner core member. An outer surface of the shield support supports a conductive segmented shield and a plurality of conductive strip lines are disposed on an inner surface of the inner core module and extend parallel to a longitudinal axis thereof. According to one aspect of the present invention, all of the strip lines are not homogenous so as to introduce asymmetry into the coil design. |
| US08022702B2 |
MR imaging with an RF pulse producing reduced magnetization transfer
A system and method are provided herein for designing and transmitting RF pulses which cause a reduced off-resonance magnetization transfer saturation. An RF pulse shape may be optimized according to a set of Bloch solutions defining a desired magnetization profile. An RF pulse may be transmitted according to this optimized shape according to a k-space trajectory which traverses a high amplitude portion of the RF pulse more times than one or more low amplitude portions. In addition, a generally alternating slice select gradient may be applied during transmission of the RF pulse. |
| US08022699B2 |
Method and apparatus for acquiring a magnetic resonance image of tissue containing iron oxide
In a method and apparatus for acquisition of a magnetic resonance (MR) image of tissue containing iron oxide particles frequency-selective inversion of the longitudinal magnetization in the tissue is done before acquisition of the MR image, and acquisition of the MR image is done at a zero crossing of the longitudinal magnetization. For water portions of the tissue, multiple inversion pulses that invert the longitudinal magnetization of the water portions are radiated into the tissue. For fat portions of the tissue, multiple inversion pulses are radiated into the tissue that invert longitudinal magnetization of the fat portions. The inversion pulses for the respective tissue portions individually exhibit a fixed time interval from one another. |
| US08022693B2 |
Magnetic field sensitive sensor
A sensor, preferably for magnetic rotary or linear sensor systems which include a scale arranged at a given distance from the sensor. The sensor has at least one magnetic field-sensitive GMR sensor element, which is arranged in a housing. The housing additionally includes at least one magnetic field source each associated to the at least one GMR sensor element. The at least one GMR sensor element is firmly cast into an associated slot in the housing. On at least one side of the slot, a projection protrudes into the interior of the housing, flush with a side wall of the slot, which also includes mounting recesses for accommodating the magnetic field source. |
| US08022691B2 |
Microminiature gauging displacement sensor
A device for providing displacement information includes a housing holding a displacement sensor. The displacement sensor includes a coil and a captive core. An electrical measurement of the coil provides information about displacement of the core. The coil has an axis extending in a first direction, wherein the housing has a minimum outside dimension that is less than 3.00 mm when measured perpendicular to that first direction. The housing has an inner surface having a housing inside dimension. The housing is for holding a displacement sensor and a guidance mechanism. The displacement sensor includes a coil and a captive core having a core outside dimension. The guidance mechanism includes a first part and a second part for guiding the core. The first part includes a bearing connected to the housing. The bearing has an axial hole having a hole dimension about equal to the core outside dimension. The core slidably extends through this axial hole. The second part has a second part outside dimension about equal to the housing inside dimension. The guidance mechanism is for resisting lateral movement and lateral rotation of the core while allowing axial movement of the core into and out of the coil. |
| US08022686B2 |
Reference circuit with reduced current startup
An apparatus is provided. The apparatus comprises a reference circuit and a startup circuit. The reference circuit is adapted to provide a startup current, while the startup circuit receives the startup current and outputs an output voltage. The startup circuit includes a current mirror, a first NMOS transistor, a second NMOS transistor, diodes, and a third NMOS transistor, and a control circuit. The first and second NMOS transistors are coupled to the current mirror at their sources and are coupled to one another and to the reference circuit at their gates. The diodes are coupled between the gate of the second NMOS transistor and the source of the second NMOS transistor, and the third NMOS transistor is coupled to the source of the second NMOS transistor at its gate (which also provides the output voltage at its source). The control circuit is then coupled to the drains of the first and second NMOS transistors. |
| US08022684B2 |
External regulator reference voltage generator circuit
Disclosed is an external regulator reference voltage generator circuit that precisely controls the supply voltage applied to core logic to optimize the operational characteristics of the core logic 120 without using excessive power. An adaptive voltage and scaling optimization circuit 124 is used to detect the operating parameters of the core logic 120 and generate a voltage control signal to control a reference voltage regulator. The reference voltage regulator generates a regulator reference voltage in response to the voltage control signal that controls an external regulator which, in turn, generates the supply voltage. |
| US08022676B2 |
Electronic device
According to one embodiment, an electronic device includes a power supply circuit configured to supply, to a battery, a first charge current for a quick charge and a second charge current for a normal charge smaller than the first charge current, the first charge current and the second charge current being generated from a power from the external power supply, and a controller configured to supply the first charge current to the battery to perform a quick charge when a difference value between a first voltage value of the external power supply wherein the power supply circuit supplies a third charge current smaller than the second charge current to the battery and a second voltage value of the external power supply wherein the power supply circuit does not supply the charge current to the battery is smaller than a threshold. |
| US08022670B2 |
Method for charging battery module
A method for charging a battery module including a plurality of parallel-connected battery core sets is provided. In the present method, a constant charging current is provided for charging the battery module first. Then, the voltage of each parallel-connected battery core set in the battery module is determined whether reaches a nominal voltage. If it reaches the nominal voltage, the charging current or charging voltage applied to the battery module is adjusted for charging the parallel-connected battery core set having the maximum voltage with a constant voltage. Finally, it is determined whether the electric power of the battery module is fulfilled. If not yet fulfilled, a constant voltage is continuously supplied to the battery module for charging until the electric power of the battery module is full. Accordingly, the present invention can charge the battery more quickly with taking the safety of the battery into account. |
| US08022664B2 |
Battery charger
A battery charger includes a housing, an electrical connector, magnets, and sensors. The electrical connector with a magnet attached thereon is received in the housing. The electrical connector is connected to the rear wall of the housing via an elastic member. The electrical connector is capable of extending out of the housing and through an opening in the housing. Another magnet is secured at a front end of the housing. When an attractive force is induced between the magnets, the electrical connector is extended towards and through the opening in the housing. The sensors are configured for detecting that a robot is in position to be charged and for turning on the attractive force between the magnets. |
| US08022661B1 |
Battery over-discharge protection with dead-bus recovery
A battery and photovoltaic based power system comprises a power bus, a battery, a battery circuit, a photovoltaic circuit, a photovoltaic diode, and a switch control. The power bus comprises a supply side and a return side. The battery is coupled to the return side. The battery circuit couples the battery to the supply side and comprises a switch and a diode in parallel with the switch. The photovoltaic circuit is coupled to the return side and comprises a photovoltaic array and a second switch in parallel with the photovoltaic array. The second switch opens if the supply side is substantially depleted of power. The photovoltaic diode is connected in series with the photovoltaic circuit, with a cathode of the photovoltaic diode coupled to the supply side. The switch control monitors one or more battery parameters and controls the switch based on the one or more battery parameters. |
| US08022658B2 |
Motor control system including electrical insulation deterioration detecting system
A motor control system of the present invention includes an accurate electrical insulation deterioration detecting system. A voltage divider circuit is arranged between a negative DC output portion and a ground, through a normally open switch circuit. A detecting operation control section closes the normally open switch while a circuit breaker is opened, and places at least one of transistors electrically connected to a positive DC output portion into a conductive state, from among six transistors included in three arm circuits. A voltage across the first resistor is inputted as a divided voltage into a voltage comparator of a voltage comparison section. The voltage comparison section compares a divided voltage outputted from the voltage divider circuit and a reference voltage using the voltage comparator and outputs an alarm signal if the divided voltage exceeds the reference voltage. |
| US08022649B2 |
Control of switched reluctance machines
A flux switching electric motor (102) is disclosed. The motor comprises a rotor (104), a stator (106), field windings (124, 126) and armature windings (128, 130). #A microcontroller (134) controls supply of electrical current to the field and armature windings. A rotor position sensor includes a divider for (i) receiving an input signal dependent upon the rate of change of current in at least one field winding, (ii) receiving an input signal dependent upon the voltage across at least one armature winding, current through which causes at least part of the current in the field winding, and (iii) providing the microcontroller (134) with a control signal which is dependent upon the ratio of the input signals received by the divider. |
| US08022647B1 |
Gas water heater actuator
A system and method for enabling automated activation of a temperature control shaft of a gas valve includes an electric motor having a motor shaft and integral coupler, wired to a relay control circuit and controlled by a standard electric timer device. |
| US08022642B2 |
Discharge lamp lighting device
A discharge lamp lighting device is provided to comprise tube current detecting circuits 51 to 5n for outputting detection signals VI1 to VIn of tube currents I1 to In flowing through each discharge lamp 11 to 1n from an inverter 3 connected to DC power source 2 via a plurality of transformers 41 to 4n, a maximum detector 6 for detecting a maximum value VIMX of detected signals VI1 to VIn from current detector 51 to 5n, a minimum detector 7 for detecting a minimum value VIMN of detected signals VI1 to VIn from current detector 51 to 5n, a comparison circuit 8 for computing one or plural values of sum, difference, product and quotient between maximum value VIMX from maximum detector 6 and minimum value VIMN from minimum detector 7 to generate a cease signal VCP when the computed value exceeds a given value, and a control circuit 9 for halting operation of inverter 3 when comparison circuit 8 generates cease signal VCP. The device can reliably detect arc discharge resulted from electric connection failure in discharge lamp or lamps by the computed values from comparison circuit 8 to positively protect discharge lamps from overheating by arc discharge at a bad connection location. |
| US08022640B2 |
Electronic power protection circuit and applications thereof
An electric power protection circuit connected in series to a secondary side circuit of a transformer in a switch mode power supply includes a voltage/current limiting device to get an electric power signal output from the secondary side circuit of the transformer that goes through current and voltage limitation before being output and a constant current/voltage controller to get the electric power signal which has the current and voltage limited by the voltage/current limiting device. The electric power signal further is undergone constant voltage/current control to achieve voltage overshoot protection. |
| US08022623B2 |
Ultra-thin multi-substrate color tunable OLED device
The present techniques provide methods and systems for forming devices that may be formed from light emitting regions of electroluminescent organic materials. The small size of the light emitting regions allows the formation of blended colors, which may be formed into illuminated designs. Multiple devices may be joined together to form multilayer panels, where nearer layers may have different designs than farther layers, or farther layers may have solid illuminated colors useful as backgrounds for nearer layers. Further, the multilayer devices may be used as color tunable light sources. |
| US08022615B2 |
Light generating layer for a reflective display
A self emission device (644) that emits light (526). The self emission device can include at least one light emission layer (104) encompassing an area, and generating light over such area in a distributed fashion. The self emission device also can include a first electrode (113) interfacing with a first side (116) of the light emission layer and a second electrode (114) interfacing with a second side (117) of the light emission layer. The first electrode and the second electrode can provide energy used by the light emission layer to illuminate. The self emission device can be a component of a display (100) comprising a reflective display panel (102). |
| US08022614B2 |
Display panel and method for manufacturing the same
A display panel includes pixels with a light emissive layer and an electrode layer deposited on the light emissive layer. A first pixel is determined by a first barrier structure and a second pixel, adjacent to the first pixel, is determined by a second barrier structure. The first and second barrier structures are separated by an electrically conductive structure in electrical contact with the electrode layer. Accordingly, space is available between the barrier structures for electrical shunting of the electrode layer. |
| US08022609B2 |
Thermal field emission cathode
A thermal field emission cathode which is employed in an electron microscope, a critical dimension examine tool, an electron beam lithograph machine, an electron beam tester and other electron beam related systems as an electron source is disclosed. Embodiments disclose changing coating shape, coating position and shorten emitter length to extend the lifetime of the field emission cathode. |
| US08022589B2 |
Brushless motor
Teeth of a stator core are arranged one after another in the circumferential direction at alternating first and second pitches. Each corresponding adjacent two of the teeth, which are spaced from each other by the first pitch, are wound with corresponding two, respectively, of stator coils, which form a corresponding common phase. Each corresponding adjacent two of the teeth, which are spaced from each other by the second pitch, are wound with corresponding two, respectively, of the stator coils, which form corresponding different phases, respectively. |
| US08022586B2 |
Electric machine having rotor and stator configurations
According to one embodiment of the present invention, an electric machine comprises a stator and a rotor. The stator has at least one stator pole with a first leg and a second leg. The rotor has at least one rotor pole. The rotor rotates relate to the stator. The at least one rotor is configured to rotate between the first leg and the second leg of the at least one stator pole. |
| US08022568B2 |
Grip actuated vehicle control system
Grip actuated control system to provide operational control of vehicle functions at a gripping surface of handlebar equipped vehicles. The system can be provided as original equipment and as an aftermarket addition or replacement for existent vehicle controls. The system includes one or more grip controls positioned adjacent a user's fingertips in a grip or glove assembly which are in communication with a control module. The control module is connected to existent or provided vehicle wiring and thus to respective operational equipment such that user actuation of a grip control induces the control module to provide a corresponding output to activate/deactivate or regulate the operation of the respective vehicle equipment. Communication between the grip controls and control module can be wireless for increased flexibility in installation and placement of the module on the vehicle. Combinations, sequences, and relative timing of the grip controls can provide numerous distinct control functions. |
| US08022556B2 |
Electrical component having a reduced substrate area
An electrical component includes a substrate, component structures on the substrate, and solder metal platings electrically connected to the component structures. The substrate is electrically and mechanically connected in a flip chip arrangement to a carrier via connections formed by solder bumps. The solder bumps mate to the solder metal platings. At least one of the solder bumps is on a first solder metal plating. The first solder metal plating has first and second dimensions, where the first dimension is larger than the second dimension. |
| US08022551B2 |
Solder composition for electronic devices
Each of junctions formed between a semiconductor device and a substrate comprises metal balls of Cu, or other materials and compounds of Sn and the metal balls, and the metal balls are bonded together by the compounds. |
| US08022546B2 |
Top layers of metal for high performance IC's
The present invention adds one or more thick layers of polymer dielectric and one or more layers of thick, wide metal lines on top of a finished semiconductor wafer, post-passivation. The thick, wide metal lines may be used for long signal paths and can also be used for power buses or power planes, clock distribution networks, critical signal, and re-distribution of I/O pads for flip chip applications. Photoresist defined electroplating, sputter/etch, or dual and triple damascene techniques are used for forming the metal lines and via fill. |
| US08022545B2 |
Top layers of metal for high performance IC's
A method of closely interconnecting integrated circuits contained within a semiconductor wafer to electrical circuits surrounding the semiconductor wafer. Electrical interconnects are held to a minimum in length by making efficient use of polyimide or polymer as an inter-metal dielectric thus enabling the integration of very small integrated circuits within a larger circuit environment at a minimum cost in electrical circuit performance. |
| US08022544B2 |
Chip structure
A chip structure includes a semiconductor substrate, an interconnecting metallization structure, a passivation layer, a circuit layer and a bump. The interconnecting metallization structure is over the semiconductor substrate. The passivation layer is over the interconnecting metallization structure. The circuit layer is over the passivation layer. The bump is on the circuit layer, and the bump is unsuited for being processed using a reflow process. |
| US08022540B2 |
Chip package
The present provides the improved structure of a chip package, comprising an electrical contact surface of at least a chip configured with a under fill layer, the first solder mask layer, the first metal layer, dielectric material layer, the second metal layer, the second solder mask layer, and metal ball layer, characterized in the electrical contact surfaces among the first metal layer, the second metal layer, and the chip accomplish the electrical connection by employing the contacts of the surfaces of the conducting layers. |
| US08022535B2 |
Systems, devices, and methods for semiconductor device temperature management
Devices, systems, and methods for semiconductor die temperature management are described and discussed herein. An IC device is described that includes at least one intra-die cooling structure. In an embodiment, the IC device includes a semiconductor die formed of integral device layers and further includes at least one coolant reservoir and at least one coolant channel. In an embodiment, the at least one coolant reservoir and at least one coolant channel are disposed wholly within the semiconductor die. In various embodiments, at least one coolant reservoir and at least one coolant channel are constructed and arranged to circulate coolant fluid in proximity to at least one IC device structure in order to decrease and or normalize an operating temperature of the IC device. In other embodiments, systems and methods for designing and/or fabricating IC die that include at least one intra-die cooling structure are provided herein. |
| US08022531B2 |
Integrated circuit package system using heat slug
An integrated circuit package system includes a substrate having an integrated circuit die thereon; a heat slug having a tie bar, the tie bar having characteristics of singulation from an adjacent heat slug; and an encapsulant molded on the substrate, the heat slug, and the integrated circuit die includes the encapsulant which fills all of the space between the integrated circuit die and the heat slug. |
| US08022530B2 |
Package substrate having electrically connecting structure
A package substrate having an electrically connecting structure are provided. The package substrate include: a package substrate substance with at least a surface having a plurality of electrically connecting pads formed thereon, allowing an insulating protective layer to be formed on the surface of the package substrate substance and the electrically connecting pads and formed with a plurality of openings corresponding in position to the electrically connecting pads so as to expose a portion of the electrically connecting pads, respectively; and a metal layer provided on an exposed portion of the electrically connecting pads, walls of the openings of the insulating protective layer, and a circular portion of the insulating protective layer encircling each of the openings thereof, and provided with a slope corresponding in position to a bottom rim of each of the openings. Accordingly, solder bleeding and short circuits are prevented. |
| US08022524B2 |
Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device includes a wiring board having: plural stacked insulating layers; test pads and external connection pads which are disposed on a face of the plural stacked insulating layers located on the side opposite to that where another wiring board is connected; first wiring patterns which electrically connect internal connection pads with the test pads; and second wiring patterns which electrically connect semiconductor element mounting pads with the external connection pads. The external connection pads are placed on the inner side of the test pads. |
| US08022523B2 |
Multi-chip stack package
A multi-chip stack package comprising a first wiring substrate, a first chip, a second wiring substrate, and a second chip is provided. The first wiring substrate is with a front side and a rear side. The first chip is disposed on the front side of the first wiring substrate and electrically connected to the first wiring substrate and the first chip has a first active surface. The second wiring substrate is disposed on the first active surface of the first chip and electrically connected to the first wiring substrate. The second chip is disposed on the second wiring substrate and electrically connected to the second wiring layer. The second active surface of the second chip faces the first active surface of the first chip. |
| US08022515B2 |
Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device includes a lead frame having an element support and a lead portion. The lead frame has an area from the element support to inner leads of the lead portion, which is formed flat. First and second semiconductor elements are stacked in order on a lower surface of the lead frame. Electrode pads of the first semiconductor element are connected to the inner leads via first metal wires. Ends of the first metal wires, which are connected to the first semiconductor element, are embedded in the second adhesive layer of the second semiconductor element. |
| US08022513B2 |
Packaging substrate structure with electronic components embedded in a cavity of a metal block and method for fabricating the same
A packaging substrate structure with electronic components embedded therein and a method for fabricating the same are disclosed. The packaging substrate structure comprises a core board with a wiring layer on the two opposite surfaces thereof; a first built-up structure disposed on at least one surface of the core board and having a cavity to expose the surface of the core board; an electronic component disposed in the cavity and having an active surface and an inactive surface, where the active surface has pluralities of electrode pads and the inactive surface faces the surface of the core board; and a solder mask disposed on the surfaces of the first built-up structure and the electronic component, where the solder mask has pluralities of first openings to expose the electrode pads of the electronic component. Accordingly, the packaging substrate disclosed by the present invention can efficiently enhance electrical performance and product reliability. |
| US08022512B2 |
No lead package with heat spreader
A no-lead electronic package including a heat spreader and method of manufacturing the same. This method includes the steps of selecting a matrix or mapped no-lead lead frame with die receiving area and leads for interconnect; positioning an integrated circuit device within the central aperture and electrically interconnecting the integrated circuit device to the leads; positioning a heat spreader in non-contact proximity to the integrated circuit device such that the integrated circuit device is disposed between the leads and the heat spreader; and encapsulating the integrated device and at least a portion of the heat spreader and leads in a molding resin. |
| US08022508B2 |
Semiconductor wafer
A semiconductor wafer 10 has a plurality of semiconductor chip areas 10a and a scribe area 10b, each of the semiconductor chip areas 10a having semiconductor elements and electrode pads (electrode portions) 16a electrically connected to the respective semiconductor elements, the scribe area 10b having monitor elements and electrode pads (electrode portions) 16b electrically connected to the monitor elements, wherein projecting electrodes 18 are selectively formed only on the respective electrode pads 16a in the semiconductor chip areas 10a by electroless plating. Thus, for example, the electrode pads 16b are covered with an insulating film 14. |
| US08022497B2 |
Semiconductor device comprising insulating film
A semiconductor device capable of preventing an interlayer dielectric film from deterioration resulting from a liquid such as a chemical solution penetrating into the interlayer dielectric film and recovering the interlayer dielectric film from deterioration with a prescribed gas is obtained. This semiconductor device comprises a first insulating film formed on a substrate and a first gas-liquid separation film, formed on at least a part of the surface of the first insulating film, composed of a material hardly permeable by a liquid and easily permeable by a gas. |
| US08022490B2 |
Micro electro-mechanical sensor (MEMS) fabricated with ribbon wire bonds
A micro electro-mechanical sensor is provided. The micro electro-mechanical sensor includes a substrate, and a conducting plane disposed on the substrate. A conducting via is disposed on the substrate, such as adjacent to the conducting plane. A plurality of ribbon conductors are disposed over the conducting plane and electrically connected to the conducting via, such that the plurality of ribbon conductors form a transducer array in combination with the conducting plane, such as through capacitive coupling that changes in response to changes in the physical shape of the plurality of ribbons. |
| US08022484B2 |
Semiconductor memory device
In a semiconductor memory device which includes a shared sense amplifier portion, a pair of memory cell portions disposed on opposite sides of the shared sense amplifier portion, a pair of transfer gates between the pair of memory cell portions and the shared sense amplifier portion, and bit lines constituting a plurality of bit line pairs and connecting the pair of memory cell portions to each other through the pair of transfer gates and the shared sense amplifier portion, the bit lines in a bit line pair of the plurality of bit line pairs are twisted at a substantial center between the pair of transfer gates on the opposite sides. |
| US08022470B2 |
Semiconductor device with a trench gate structure and method for the production thereof
A semiconductor device with a trench gate structure includes a semiconductor body with switching electrodes. At least gate electrode controls the off state and the on state between the switching electrodes. The at least one gate electrode in the trench gate structure controls at least one vertical switching channel through at least one body zone. The trench gate structure includes at least one trench with side walls, wherein the at least one gate electrode, which is insulated against the side walls in the region of the at least one body zone alternately by at least one gate oxide section and at least one trench oxide section and forms a switching channel with a gate oxide section in the at least one region, is located in the at least one trench. |
| US08022467B2 |
Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device and method of fabricating the same
A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device includes a first insulating layer, charge storage layers, element isolation insulating films, and a second insulating layer formed on the charge storage layers and the element isolation insulating films and including a stacked structure of a first silicon nitride film, first silicon oxide film, intermediate insulating film and second silicon oxide film. The first silicon nitride film has a nitrogen concentration of not less than 21×1015 atoms/cm2. Each element isolation insulating film includes a high-temperature oxide film formed along lower side surfaces of the charge storage layers between the charge storage layers and a coating type insulating film. The first silicon nitride film is formed on an upper surface of the high-temperature oxide film in upper surfaces of the element isolation insulating films and not on the upper surface of the coating type insulating film. |
| US08022465B2 |
Low hydrogen concentration charge-trapping layer structures for non-volatile memory
Memory cells comprising: a semiconductor substrate having at least two source/drain regions separated by a channel region; a charge-trapping structure disposed above the channel region; and a gate disposed above the charge-trapping structure; wherein the charge-trapping structure comprises a bottom insulating layer, a first charge-trapping layer, and a second charge-trapping layer, wherein an interface between the bottom insulating layer and the substrate has a hydrogen concentration of less than about 3×1011/cm−2, and methods for forming such memory cells. |
| US08022464B2 |
Semiconductor memory device and manufacturing method thereof
This semiconductor memory device comprises a semiconductor substrate, a plurality of tunnel insulator films formed on the semiconductor substrate along a first direction and a second direction orthogonal to the first direction with certain spaces in each directions, a plurality of charge accumulation layers formed on the plurality of tunnel insulator films, respectively, a plurality of element isolation regions formed on the semiconductor substrate, the plurality of element isolation regions including a plurality of trenches formed along the first direction between the plurality of tunnel insulator films, a plurality of element isolation films filled in the plurality of trenches, a plurality of inter poly insulator films formed over the plurality of element isolation regions and on the upper surface and side surfaces of the plurality of charge accumulation layer along the second direction in a stripe shape, a plurality of air gaps formed between the plurality of element isolation films filled in the plurality of trenches and the plurality of inter poly insulator films and a plurality of control gate electrodes formed on the plurality of inter poly insulator films. |
| US08022463B2 |
Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same
This semiconductor device comprises a semiconductor substrate, a gate insulating film formed thereon, and a gate electrode formed through the gate insulating film on the semiconductor substrate. The first silicon nitride film is formed on the upper surface of the gate electrode, and a protection insulating film is formed on the side thereof. The second silicon nitride film is formed on the side of the protection insulating film. The third silicon nitride film is formed on the upper surface of the protection insulating film, and the bottom thereof is formed on a higher position than the bottom of the first silicon nitride film. |
| US08022462B2 |
Methods of forming shallow trench isolation structures with buried bit lines in non-volatile memories
Methods of forming buried bit lines in a non-volatile memory device can include forming impurity regions in a substrate of a non-volatile memory device to provide immediately neighboring buried bit lines for the device and then forming a shallow trench isolation region in the substrate between the immediately neighboring buried bit lines to substantially equalize lengths of the immediately neighboring buried bit lines. |
| US08022456B2 |
Checkerboarded high-voltage vertical transistor layout
In one embodiment, a transistor fabricated on a semiconductor die includes a first section of transistor segments disposed in a first area of the semiconductor die, and a second section of transistor segments disposed in a second area of the semiconductor die adjacent the first area. Each of the transistor segments in the first and second sections includes a pillar of a semiconductor material that extends in a vertical direction. First and second dielectric regions are disposed on opposite sides of the pillar. First and second field plates are respectively disposed in the first and second dielectric regions. Outer field plates of transistor segments adjoining first and second sections are either separated or partially merged. |
| US08022450B2 |
Image sensor and method for manufacturing the same
Disclosed are an image sensor and a method for manufacturing the same. The image sensor includes a first pixel having a first photodiode and a first readout circuit and a second pixel having a second photodiode and a second readout circuit. The second pixel is aligned at one side of the first pixel, and a light receiving area of the first photodiode is different from a light receiving area of the second photodiode. |
| US08022449B2 |
Photodiode array, method of manufacturing the same, and detecting device
A photodiode array includes a p-side electrode provided on each p-type region formed by selective diffusion and an n-side electrode connected to a non-growth part of an InP substrate and extends to the top surface side of an epitaxial multilayer. A wall surface of an edge at the non-growth part side of the epitaxial multilayer is a smooth surface. A lattice defect density in a portion of the edge of the epitaxial multilayer is higher than a lattice defect density in the inside of the epitaxial multilayer. Furthermore, the non-growth part of the InP substrate to which the n-side electrode is connected has a flat surface continuous from the inside of the InP substrate. |
| US08022447B2 |
Metal-oxide-semiconductor device including an energy filter
A MOS device includes first and second source/drains spaced apart relative to one another. A channel is formed in the device between the first and second source/drains. A gate is formed in the device between the first and second source/drains and proximate the channel, the gate being electrically isolated from the first and second source/drains and the channel. The gate is configured to control a conduction of the channel as a function of a potential applied to the gate. The MOS device further includes an energy filter formed between the first source/drain and the channel. The energy filter includes an impurity band operative to control an injection of carriers from the first source/drain into the channel. |
| US08022432B2 |
Light-emitting device comprising conductive nanorods as transparent electrodes
Disclosed herein is an electrical light-emitting device including a transparent conductive nanorod type electrode, in which transparent conductive nanorods grown perpendicular to a light-emitting layer are used as the electrode. Hence, light is not absorbed by the electrode, and tunneling easily occurs due to nanocontact of the nanorods, thus increasing current injection efficiency, and also, total internal reflections decrease. Thereby, the light-emitting device according to this invention has light-emitting properties and luminous efficiency superior to conventional light-emitting devices, including metal electrodes or thin film type transparent electrodes. |
| US08022429B2 |
Light emitting device
A light emitting device includes a light emitting element (LEE) on a mounting board, a metal reflector surrounding the side surfaces of the LEE on the mounting board, a conductor electrically connecting the LEE with the mounting board, and a sealing resin fitted within the reflector to cover and seal the LEE and the conductor. The mounting board includes a metal baseboard, and an insulating board laminated on the base board with a window hole larger than the outer periphery of the LEE. A mount for the LEE is on the base board within the window hole with a clearance defined from window hole side surfaces. The conductor straddles the clearance, and electrically connects the wiring pattern on the insulating board with the LEE and mount. Part of the clearance associated with the area that projects from the conductor to the mounting board is narrower than the remainder. |
| US08022426B2 |
Color mixing light emitting diode device
An exemplary color mixing light emitting diode (LED) device includes a substrate, LED dies, an encapsulating body, and a light mixing structure. The substrate has a main surface. The LED dies are arranged adjacent the main surface of the substrate. The light mixing structure is arranged adjacent an outer portion of the main surface of the substrate, around the LED dies. The encapsulating body encapsulates the LED dies and the light mixing structure. The light mixing structure is made of light transmissive material, and the light mixing structure has light scattering particles doped therein. |
| US08022422B2 |
Display apparatus with color pixels
A display apparatus includes pixel electrodes disposed on a first base substrate, a second base substrate which faces the first base substrate, color pixels disposed on the second base substrate, the color pixels correspond to the pixel electrodes in a one-to-one correspondence, each color pixel partially covers the corresponding pixel electrode, a common electrode disposed on the second base substrate to cover the pixel electrodes and an electrophoretic layer including a plurality of electrophoretic particles, the electrophoretic layer being interposed between the pixel electrodes and the common electrode. |
| US08022418B2 |
Composite semiconductor device, LED print head that employs the composite semiconductor device, and image forming apparatus that employs the LED print head
A composite semiconductor device includes a plurality of semiconductor thin films and a substrate on which the semiconductor thin films are attached. Each semiconductor thin film includes a plurality of semiconductor elements. Each semiconductor element includes a first contact region and a second contact region. The first contact region is connected to a first electrode, and the second contact region is connected to a second electrode. The semiconductor thin film is attached to a substrate such that the plurality of semiconductor elements are aligned in a row, and such that the first contact region and the second contact region are in the row of light emitting elements. |
| US08022415B2 |
Light emitting device package and light unit having the same
Discussed is an LED package The LED package includes a body having a cavity at one side thereof, at least one of lead frames having a bottom frame and a sidewall frame in the cavity, and a light emitting device electrically connected with the lead frames. |
| US08022412B2 |
Epitaxial structure having low defect density
An epitaxial structure having a low defect density includes: a base layer; a first epitaxial layer having a plurality of concentrated defect groups, and an epitaxial surface that has a plurality of first recesses corresponding in position to the concentrated defect groups, the sizes of the first recesses being close to each other; and a plurality of defect-termination blocks respectively and filling the first recesses and having polished surfaces. The defect-termination blocks are made of a material which is different in removal rate from that of the first epitaxial layer. The polished surfaces are substantially flush with the epitaxial surface so that the first epitaxial layer has a substantially planarized crystal growth surface |
| US08022410B2 |
Thin film transistors
A thin film transistor includes a layer structure having a gate electrode, a gate insulation layer and a channel layer. A source line may contact the channel layer, and may extend along a direction crossing over the gate electrode. The source line may partially overlap the gate electrode so that both sides of the source line overlapping the gate electrode may be entirely positioned between both sides of the gate electrode. A drain line may make contact with the channel layer and may be spaced apart from the source line by a channel length. The drain line may have a structure symmetrical to that of the source line. Overlap areas among the gate electrode, the source line and the drain line may be reduced, so that the thin film transistor may ensure a high cut-off frequency. |
| US08022408B2 |
Crystalline nanowire substrate, method of manufacturing the same, and method of manufacturing thin film transistor using the same
Example embodiments relate to a crystalline nanowire substrate having a structure in which a crystalline nanowire film having a relatively fine line-width may be formed on a substrate, a method of manufacturing the same, and a method of manufacturing a thin film transistor using the same. The method of manufacturing the crystalline nanowire substrate may include preparing a substrate, forming an insulating film on the substrate, forming a silicon film on the insulating film, patterning the insulating film and the silicon film into a strip shape, reducing the line-width of the insulating film by undercut etching at least one lateral side of the insulating film, and forming a self-aligned silicon nanowire film on an upper surface of the insulating film by melting and crystallizing the silicon film. |
| US08022403B2 |
Semiconductor apparatus including photodiode unit and method of inspection of the same
A semiconductor apparatus has a light-receiving element. The light-receiving element has a photodiode unit having a shield film for removing noise, at least two test pads, and a shield film pseudo pattern which is formed by the same membranous type as the shield film and connected to the two test pads. The photodiode unit and the shield film pseudo pattern are integrated in one semiconductor chip. A resistance value of the shield film pseudo pattern is measured using the test pads connected to the shield film pseudo pattern. CMR of a photocoupler can be evaluated according to the correlation relationship between the measurement result and the sheet resistance of the shield film. |
| US08022392B2 |
Semiconductor layer structure with superlattice
The semiconductor layer structure includes an active layer and a superlattice composed of stacked layers of III-V compound semiconductors of a first and at least one second type. Adjacent layers of different types in the superlattice differ in composition with respect to at least one element. The layers have predefined layer thicknesses, such that the layer thicknesses of layers of the first type and of the layers of the second type increase from layer to layer with increasing distance from an active layer. An increasing layer thickness within the layers of the first and the second type is suitable for adapting the electrical, optical and epitaxial properties of the superlattice to given requirements in the best possible manner. |
| US08022389B2 |
Light source, and device
In accordance with the invention, a light source for display and/or illumination is provided, the light source comprising a heterostructure including semiconductor layers, the heterostructure forming a waveguide between a first end and a second end, the heterostructure comprising a plurality of layers and comprising an optically active zone formed by the plurality of layers, the optically active zone capable of emitting light guided by said waveguide, at least two different radiative transitions being excitable in the optically active an electrical current between a p-side electrode and an n-side electrode, transition energies of said at least two different radiative transitions corresponding to wavelengths in the visible part of the optical spectrum, the light source further comprising means for preventing reflections of light from the waveguide by at least one of said first and second end back into the waveguide, thereby causing the light source to comprise a superluminescent light emitting diode. |
| US08022377B2 |
Method and apparatus for excimer curing
An apparatus for An apparatus for generating excimer radiation is provided. The apparatus includes a housing having a housing wall. An electrode is configured within the housing. A tubular body is around the electrode. The tubular body includes an outer wall and an inner wall. At least one inert gas is between the outer wall and the inner wall, wherein the housing wall and the electrode are configured to excite the inert gas to illuminate an excimer light for curing. |
| US08022367B2 |
Multipoint sensing system
A self-powered energy harvesting unit/controller receives motion data from one or more self-powered sensors via low power wire. The energy harvesting unit sends signals wirelessly to a system to perform certain functions as a result of received motion signals or the absence of such motion signals. |
| US08022365B2 |
Charged particle beam equipments, and charged particle beam microscope
In an electron microscope to which a phase retrieval method is applied, an image size determined by a pixel size p of a diffraction pattern, a camera length L, and a wavelength λ of an illumination beam is allowed to have a certain relation with an illumination area on a specimen. Further, a beam illumination area or a scanning area of a deflector when a magnified image is observed is set by an illumination adjustment system, so that an image size when the magnified image is used for the phase retrieval method is allowed to have a certain relation with the image size determined by the pixel size of the diffraction pattern, the camera length, and the wavelength of the illumination beam. Accordingly, the information of the diffraction pattern is substantially equal to an object image to be reconstructed. |
| US08022364B2 |
Electron spin detector, and spin polarized scanning electron microscope and spin-resolved x-ray photoelectron spectroscope using the electron spin detector
An electron spin detector includes plural magnetoresistive sensors and a deceleration lens of an electron beam, and each magnetoresistive sensor is inclined so that the electron beam spread by the deceleration lens can be input perpendicularly to the magnetoresistive sensor. |
| US08022361B2 |
Monolithic multinozzle emitters for nanoelectrospray mass spectrometry
Novel and significantly simplified procedures for fabrication of fully integrated nanoelectrospray emitters have been described. For nanofabricated monolithic multinozzle emitters (NM2 emitters), a bottom up approach using silicon nanowires on a silicon sliver is used. For microfabricated monolithic multinozzle emitters (M3 emitters), a top down approach using MEMS techniques on silicon wafers is used. The emitters have performance comparable to that of commercially-available silica capillary emitters for nanoelectrospray mass spectrometry. |
| US08022351B2 |
Single photon detection with self-quenching multiplication
A photoelectronic device and an avalanche self-quenching process for a photoelectronic device are described. The photoelectronic device comprises a nanoscale semiconductor multiplication region and a nanoscale doped semiconductor quenching structure including a depletion region and an undepletion region. The photoelectronic device can act as a single photon detector or a single carrier multiplier. The avalanche self-quenching process allows electrical field reduction in the multiplication region by movement of the multiplication carriers, thus quenching the avalanche. |
| US08022334B2 |
Heatable glass pane
A heatable glass pane is disclosed. The glass pane includes two bus bars which are located parallel to a base edge of the glass pane and arranged essentially in a line in their axial direction, spaced apart a short distance from one another. The glass pane includes a set of heating wires which are in electrical contact with the two contact busbars and the heating wires have essentially the same lengths. |
| US08022332B2 |
Laser processing device
A laser condensing optical system of the present invention includes a laser beam source which emits a laser beam, a condensing optical system which is arranged between the laser beam source and a medium and condenses the laser beam in the medium, and a laser divergence point moving unit which can move the position of a laser divergence point of the laser beam along an optical axis of the laser beam in accordance with the refractive index of the medium in which the laser beam is desired to be condensed and the distance from a surface of the medium to a position where the beam is desired to be condensed. |
| US08022328B2 |
Device for detecting faulty position and separating fasteners and spacers as well as method
A device for detecting the faulty position of and separating fasteners, more particularly blind rivets in a continuously operating conveyor apparatus, by means of which the fasteners are supplied to an automated joining machine, wherein each fastener is followed in the normal case by a spacer. According to the disclosed embodiments the device has at least three detectors, more particularly contactless inductively acting ring initiators with which on the one hand fasteners can be differentiated from spacers and on the other hand fasteners in the correct position can be differentiated from fasteners in the faulty position in the conveyor apparatus, more particularly in a supply tube. As a result of the at least three ring detectors a minimum-wear low-maintenance operation is ensured so that outage times of the rivet setter and automated riveting machine are reduced as a result of the device connected in on the input side. Furthermore a complex breakdown recognition is possible with corresponding evaluation. Furthermore the disclosed embodiments relate to a method for detecting the position of and separating fasteners in the conveyor apparatus by means of the device. |
| US08022327B2 |
Switch, circuitry, and method of assembly for electrosurgical pencil
Formation of an assemblage of electrically conductive components for a new electrosurgical pencil is disclosed, and assembly of those components in a method for automating the manufacture and combination of current carrying metal circuitry and operable switching components in “electrosurgical pencils” which supply current to an active terminal, for application of high frequency or high power electrical current to a surgical site, and control of such current through coaction of the elements of the switch. In manufacture, the design of the switch components allows start-to-finish automated assembly of the switch, in an industry which knows only partially automated assembly, and partial assembly by hand, to create an improved tool for surgical cutting, coagulation, and cauterizing. |
| US08022326B2 |
Push switch
A push switch includes an upper movable contact, a lower movable contact, a center fixed contact, an intermediate fixed contact, and a peripheral fixed contact. The lower movable contact includes an annular portion, and four legs extending from the annular portion. One of the four legs is placed on a peripheral fixed contact. The upper movable contact faces the center fixed contact through a circular hole in the annular portion of the lower movable contact via a space between the upper movable contact and the center fixed contact. Two legs out of the four legs are located away from each other by an angular interval smaller than 90 degrees with respect to the center of the annular portion. Upon being pressed, the actuator activates two combinations of switch contacts, one combination including the movable contacts and the intermediate fixed contact and the other combination including the movable contacts and the center fixed contact, providing the push switch with a small size. |
| US08022325B2 |
Keyswitch and keyboard
The invention discloses a keyboard comprising a substrate and a plurality of keyswitches. The keyswitches are disposed on the substrate. The substrate includes a first connection portion and a reinforcement structure. The first connection portion is formed from bending the substrate. Each keyswitch includes a keycap and a lift support device. The keycap has a second connection portion. The lift support device is disposed between the keycap and substrate. The lift support device has a third connection portion and a fourth connection portion. The first connection portion is connected to the third connection portion, and the second connection portion is connected to the fourth connection portion. The lift support device is used for carrying the keycap to move vertically relative to the substrate. The reinforcement structure can enhance the connection strength between the first connection portion and the substrate. |
| US08022307B2 |
Fabric circuits and method of manufacturing fabric circuits
A flexible, fabric-based circuit comprises a non-conductive flexible layer of fabric and a conductive flexible layer of fabric adjacent thereto. A non-conductive thread, an adhesive, and/or other means may be used for attaching the conductive layer to the non-conductive layer. In some embodiments, the layers are attached by a computer-driven embroidery machine at pre-determined portions or locations in accordance with a pre-determined attachment layout before automated cutting. In some other embodiments, an automated milling machine or a computer-driven laser using a pre-designed circuit trace as a template cuts the conductive layer so as to separate an undesired portion of the conductive layer from a desired portion of the conductive layer. Additional layers of conductive fabric may be attached in some embodiments to form a multi-layer construct. |
| US08022306B2 |
Printed circuit board and method of manufacturing the same
A mounting region is provided at a substantially center of one surface of an insulating layer. A metal layer is provided on the other surface of the insulating layer. A slit is formed to cross a region (an opposite region) of the metal layer that coincides with the mounting region and to divide the metal layer. A plurality of regions (large regions) of the metal layer divided by the slit each include a partial region (small region) of the opposite region. The area of each large region is set corresponding to the area of the small region included therein. Specifically, the small region having the area of A [%] with respect to the whole area of the opposite region is included in the large region having the area of (A±δ) [%] with respect to the whole area of the metal layer. Here, δ is an acceptable error range, and the acceptable error range δ is not more than (A×0.3). |
| US08022292B2 |
Photovoltaic device employing a resonator cavity
A photovoltaic device utilizing a gain means and an amplification means to intake and convert incident light/photons to greater intensities of highly coherent and monochromatic photons whereby said photons are passed to a resonating means and absorption means, allowing for said photons to be absorbed with increased conversion efficiency. |
| US08022285B2 |
Automatic guitar tuning case
An automatic guitar tuning case is a tuning system to automatically, synchronously, accurately and rapidly turn an acoustic guitar or electrical guitar with no requirement of modifying the guitar. It has six optical transducers to respectively detect and convert the vibration of associated six guitar strings to electric signals. A microcontroller unit compares the frequencies of these input signals to selected tones, and then controls six electric tuning wrenches for tuning the six guitar strings. The automatic tuning guitar system also consists of a control panel for a user to preset and select tuning pattern, operate and monitor the system. It only needs to take a few seconds to tune a guitar by this tuning device. |
| US08022278B2 |
Method for transferring one or more genetic traits from a plant of the purple-flowered Capsicum species to a plant of the white flowered Capsicum species
The present invention relates to a method for transferring one or more genetic traits from a plant of the purple-flowered Capsicum species comprising said genetic trait, to a plant of the white-flowered Capsicum species, said method comprising the steps of: (a) preparing a first hybrid plant comprising said genetic trait by crossing a first plant of the purple-flowered Capsicum species comprising said genetic traits with a second plant of another purple-flowered Capsicum species, and selecting plants comprising said genetic trait; (b) preparing a second hybrid plant by crossing said first hybrid plant comprising said genetic trait, with a first plant of the white-flowered Capsicum species; (c) crossing said second hybrid plant with said first plant of the purple-flowered Capsicum species comprising said genetic trait, and selecting from the progeny thereof plants comprising the genetic trait; (d) preparing a third hybrid plant by crossing the plants obtained in step (c) with a second plant of the white-flowered Capsicum species, and selecting from the progeny thereof plants comprising the genetic trait. The invention further relates to the plants per se, as well as to the fruits, seeds and other plant parts derived from said plants. |
| US08022266B2 |
Method of treating a wound utilizing suction
A therapeutic device for promoting the healing of a wound in a mammal is disclosed. An exemplary device comprises a permeable structure having a plurality of depressions formed in a surface thereof. In use, the surface having the depressions is disposed adjacent a surface of the wound. A method of treating a wound comprises the steps of providing a permeable structure comprising a plurality of randomly disposed fibers and having i) a plurality of wound surface contact elements disposed between end portions of the structure, and ii) a plurality of voids defined by the contact elements; and applying the permeable structure to at least one surface of the wound. |
| US08022263B2 |
Selective aromatics isomerization process
This invention is drawn to a process for isomerizing a non-equilibrium mixture of xylenes and ethylbenzene using a catalyst comprising a zeolite having specific particle-size characteristics, a platinum-group metal and a silica binder. A relatively minimal amount of hydrogen is supplied to the process on a once-through basis, resulting in low saturation of aromatics while achieving effective xylene isomerization with reduced processing costs. |
| US08022261B2 |
Catalyst composition, the method of manufacturing, and the process of use thereof in aromatics alkylation
A catalyst composition comprises a crystalline MCM-22 family molecular sieve and a binder, wherein the catalyst composition is characterized by an extra-molecular sieve porosity greater than or equal to 0.122 ml/g for pores having a pore diameter ranging from about 2 nm to about 8 nm, wherein the porosity is measured by N2 porosimetry. The catalyst composition may be used for the process of alkylation or transalkylation of an alkylatable aromatic compound with an alkylating agent. The molecular sieve may have a Constraint Index of less than 12, e.g., less than 2. Examples of molecular sieve useful for this disclosure are a MCM-22 family molecular sieve, zeolite Y, and zeolite Beta. |
| US08022257B2 |
Methods for producing polyols using crude glycerin
Methods for producing a polyols and polyurethanes are described. The polyols described herein can be produced directly from crude glycerin or through liquefaction of lignocellulosic biomass using a solvent comprising crude glycerin. The polyols produced in accordance with certain aspects may be derived from a significant proportion of renewable resources. |
| US08022253B2 |
Aromatic amine derivative and organic electroluminescence device using the same
To attain an organic electroluminescence device having a long lifetime and high luminous efficiency, and is capable of emitting blue light having a high color purity, and an aromatic amine derivative for realizing the device, the present invention provides an aromatic amine derivative having a specific structure, and an organic electroluminescence device including an organic thin film layer composed of one or more layers including at least a light emitting layer and interposed between a cathode and an anode, in which at least one layer of the organic thin film layer contains the aromatic amine derivative alone or as a component of a mixture. |
| US08022249B2 |
Compounds for the treatment of metabolic disorders
Compounds useful for the treatment of various metabolic disorders, such as insulin resistance syndrome, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, fatty liver disease, cachexia, obesity, atherosclerosis and arteriosclerosis are disclosed. wherein n is 1 or 2; m is 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5; q is 0 or 1; t is 0 or 1; R1 is alkyl having from 1 to 3 carbon atoms; R2 is hydrogen, halo, alkyl having from 1 to 3 carbon atoms, or alkoxy having from 1 to 3 carbon atoms; R3 is hydrogen or —(CH2)gOH wherein g is 0, 1 or 2; R4 is hydrogen, methyl or ethyl; A is phenyl, unsubstituted or substituted by 1 or 2 groups selected from: halo, alkyl having 1 or 2 carbon atoms, perfluoromethyl, alkoxy having 1 or 2 carbon atoms, and perfluoromethoxy; or cycloalkyl having from 3 to 6 ring carbon atoms wherein the cycloalkyl is unsubstituted or one or two ring carbons are independently mono-substituted by methyl or ethyl; or a 5 or 6 membered heteroaromatic ring having 1 or 2 ring heteroatoms selected from N, S and O and the heteroaromatic ring is covalently bound to the remainder of the compound of formula I by a ring carbon; or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt of the compound. |
| US08022248B2 |
Substituted acids for the treatment of respiratory diseases
The invention relates to substituted acids of formula (I), where T, W, X, Y, Z, R1 and R2 as defined in the claims, as useful pharmaceutical compounds for treating asthma and rhinitis, pharmaceutical compositions containing them, and a processes for their preparation. |
| US08022238B2 |
Phosphate surfactants
A compound of Formula 1 Rf-A-OP(O)(O−M+)(OROH) Formula 1 wherein Rf is a C2 to C6 linear or branched perfluoroalkyl optionally interrupted by one, two or three ether oxygen atoms; A is (CH2CF2)m(CH2)n—, (CH2)oSO2N(CH3)(CH2)p—, O(CF2)q(CH2)r—, or OCHFCF2OE-; m is 0 to 4; n, o, p, and r are each independently 2 to 20; q is 2; E is a C2 to C20 linear or branched alkyl group optionally interrupted by oxygen, sulfur, or nitrogen atoms; a cyclic alkyl group, or a C6 to C10 aryl group; M is H or a Group I metal or an ammonium cation (NHxR2y)+ wherein R2 is a C1 to C4 alkyl, x is 0 to 4, y is 0 to 4 and x+y is 4; and R is a C2 to C60 linear or branched alkyl group optionally interrupted by hetero atoms selected from the group consisting of an oxygen, sulfur, or nitrogen atom; a cyclic alkyl; or a C6 to C10 aryl; provided that when R is greater than 8 carbons, the ratio of hetero atoms to carbon atoms is at least 1:2. |
| US08022234B2 |
Compounds and compositions
The invention provides compositions comprising formula 1 steroids, e.g., 16α-bromo-3β-hydroxy-5α-androstan-17-one hemihydrate and one or more excipients, including compositions that comprise a liquid formulation comprising less than about 3% v/v water. The compositions are useful to make improved pharmaceutical formulations. The invention also provides methods of intermittent dosing of steroid compounds such as analogs of 16α-bromo-3β-hydroxy-5α-androstan-17-one and compositions useful in such dosing regimens. The invention further provides compositions and methods to inhibit pathogen replication, ameliorate symptoms associated with immune dysregulation and to modulate immune responses in a subject using the compounds. The invention also provides methods to make and use these immunomodulatory compositions and formulations. |
| US08022227B2 |
Method of synthesizing 1H-indazole compounds
A method is provided for synthesizing 1H-indazole compounds in which aromatic carbonyl compounds are reacted with a nitrogen source to form oximes which are then converted to 1H-indazoles. |
| US08022221B2 |
Aurora kinase modulators and method of use
The present invention relates to chemical compounds having a general formula I wherein A1, A2, C1, C2, D, L1, L2, Z and R3, R4, R6, R7 and R8 are defined herein, which are capable of modulating Aurora kinase protein activity, thereby influencing various disease states and conditions related to the activities of Aurora kinase proteins. For example, the compounds are capable of influencing the process of cell cycle and cell proliferation to treat cancer and cancer-related diseases. The invention also includes pharmaceutical compositions, processes of preparing compounds of the invention, synthetic intermediates and methods of treatment of conditions related to the activity of Aurora kinase. |
| US08022208B2 |
Benzene derivative or salt thereof
Problem: To provide compounds which have an anticoagulation effect based on their ability to inhibit the activated blood coagulation factor X and are useful as coagulation inhibitors or agents for prevention or treatment for diseases caused by thrombi or emboli.Means for Solution: Benzene derivatives or their salts having a characteristic chemical structure with a phenol ring and a benzene ring bonding to each other via an amide bond, in which the phenol ring further bonds to a benzene ring or a heteroaryl ring via an amide bond. They have an excellent effect of inhibiting the activated blood coagulation factor X, and especially have an excellent oral activity. |
| US08022207B2 |
Compound having affinity to amyloid
The invention relates to a compound which has affinity with amyloid, shows sufficiently rapid clearance from normal tissues and is suppressed in toxicity such as mutagenicity, and also relates to a low-toxic diagnostic agent for Alzheimer's disease containing the compound. The compound is represented by the following formula (1) or a salt thereof: wherein A1, A2, A3 and A4 independently represent a carbon or a nitrogen, and R3 is a group represented by the following formula: wherein R1 is a radioactive halogen substituent; m is an integer of 0 to 4; and n is an integer of 0 or 1, provided that at least one of A1, A2, A3 and A4 represents a carbon, and R3 binds to a carbon represented by A1, A2, A3 or A4. |
| US08022205B2 |
Pyrimidine derivatives as PI3K inhibitor and use thereof
A drug is provided that is useful as a preventive or therapeutic for cancer as a result of having superior PI3K inhibitory effects as well as superior stability in the body and water-solubility.A compound, or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, represented by formula (I): [wherein, X represents a single bond, etc.; Y represents a single bond, etc. (provided that X and Y are not simultaneously single bonds); Z represents a hydrogen atom, etc.; m represents an integer of 1 or 2; and R1 represents a cyclic substituent]. |
| US08022199B2 |
SiRNA targeting myeloid differentiation primary response gene (88) (MYD88)
Efficient sequence specific gene silencing is possible through the use of siRNA technology. By selecting particular siRNAs by rational design, one can maximize the generation of an effective gene silencing reagent, as well as methods for silencing genes. Methods, compositions, and kits generated through rational design of siRNAs are disclosed including those directed to nucleotide sequences for MYD88. |
| US08022198B2 |
siRNA targeting histamine receptor H1
Efficient sequence specific gene silencing is possible through the use of siRNA technology. By selecting particular siRNAs by rational design, one can maximize the generation of an effective gene silencing reagent, as well as methods for silencing genes. Methods, compositions, and kits generated through rational design of siRNAs are disclosed. |
| US08022197B2 |
Nucleic acid and gene derived from novel HCV strain and replicon-replicating cell using said gene
The present invention relates to a gene derived from a novel fulminant hepatitis C virus strain, an HCV replicon RNA with a high replication efficiency obtained using the gene, and an HCV replicon-replicating cell transfected with the replicon RNA. When the HCV replicon RNA and the HCV replicon-replicating cell of the present invention are used, HCV proteins can be continuously produced in a large amount. |
| US08022196B2 |
Polynucleotides and polypeptides involved in post-transcriptional gene silencing
This invention relates to isolated nucleic acid fragments encoding polypeptides involved in post-transcriptional gene silencing. The invention also relates to construction of a recombinant DNA construct encoding all or a portion of the polypeptide involved in post-transcriptional gene silencing, in sense or antisense orientation, wherein expression of the recombinant DNA construct results in production of altered levels in a transformed host cell of the polypeptide involved in post-transcriptional gene silencing. |
| US08022195B2 |
Vectors encoding cell growth and adhesion factors for simultaneous growth and adhesion of cells
The present invention relates to endothelial and smooth muscle cells genetically altered to express or over-express one or more cell adhesion factors. The invention further relates to cells genetically altered to express or over-express both cell proliferation growth factor(s) and cell adhesion factor(s). In addition, the present invention relates to nucleic acid constructs and nucleic acid construct systems that encode the cell adhesion and cell proliferation growth factors that are used to transfect/transform the cells so that they can express the factors. |
| US08022194B2 |
2′-nitrobenzyl-modified ribonucleotides
This disclosure provides novel reversibly terminated ribonucleotides which can be used as a reagent for DNA sequencing reactions. Methods of sequencing nucleic acids using the disclosed nucleotides are also provided. |
| US08022190B2 |
Immuno-molecules containing viral proteins, compositions thereof and methods of using
An immuno-molecule which comprises a soluble human MHC class I effector domain; and an antibody targeting domain which is linked to the soluble human MHC class I effector domain, methods of making same and uses thereof. |
| US08022180B2 |
Method for preventing and treating Alzheimer's disease
The invention relates to the use of a compound comprising the following amino acid sequence X1X2X3X4X5X6X7, wherein X1 is an amino acid, except of C, X2 is an amino acid, except of C, X3 is an amino acid, except of C, X4 is an amino acid, except of C, X5 is an amino acid, except of C, X6 is not present or any amino acid, X7 is not present or any amino acid, and wherein X1X2X3X4X5X6 is not DAEFRH, said compound having a binding capacity to an antibody being specific for the natural N-terminal Aβ42 sequence DAEFRH, and 5-mers thereof having a binding capacity to said antibody being specific for the natural N-terminal Aβ42 sequence DAEFRH, for the preparation of a vaccine for Alzheimer's disease. |
| US08022179B2 |
Compositions and methods for topical application and transdermal delivery of an oligopeptide
The invention relates to the transdermal application of oligopeptides for reducing synaptic transmission in tissues of an animal. In one aspect, this invention relates to compositions comprising an oligopeptide and optionally a carrier comprising a positively charged “backbone” having positively charged branching or “efficiency” groups, as described herein. Most preferably the positively charged carrier is a long-chain positively charged polypeptide or a positively charged nonpeptidyl polymer, for example, a polyalkyleneimine. The invention further relates methods for producing a biologic effect of reducing synaptic transmission in a tissue by topically applying an effective amount of such a composition, preferably to the skin, of a subject or patient in need of such treatment. This invention also provides kits for preparing or formulating a composition that comprises the oligopeptide and optionally a carrier, as well as such additional items that are needed to produce a usable formulation, or a premix that may in turn be used to produce such a formulation. |
| US08022174B2 |
C-type lectin transmembrane antigen expressed in human prostate cancer and uses therof
A novel gene (designated PC-LECTIN) that is highly overexpressed in prostate cancer and its encoded protein is described. PC-LECTIN in normal human tissues is restricted to testis, but is highly expressed in prostate cancer. Consequently, PC-LECTIN provides a diagnostic and/or therapeutic target for prostate cancer. |