Document	Document Title
US08469086B2	Apparatus and method for recovering fluids from a well and/or injecting fluids into a well Methods and apparatus for diverting fluids either into or from a well are described. Some embodiments include a diverter conduit that is located in a bore of a tree. The invention relates especially but not exclusively to a diverter assembly connected to a wing branch of a tree. Some embodiments allow diversion of fluids out of a tree to a subsea processing apparatus followed by the return of at least some of these fluids to the tree for recovery. Alternative embodiments provide only one flowpath and do not include the return of any fluids to the tree. Some embodiments can be retro-fitted to existing trees, which can allow the performance of a new function without having to replace the tree. Multiple diverter assembly embodiments are also described.
US08469083B2	Heat exchanger with bypass valve A heat exchanger for cooling a liquid has an inlet and an outlet for a liquid to be cooled. A bypass is provided that bypasses the heat exchanger. A valve controls flow of liquid into the heat exchanger or into the bypass. The valve has a valve seat, a valve cone, and at least one spring made of a shape memory material. The at least one spring counteracts a liquid pressure existing in the inlet.
US08469081B2	Corrosion resistant material for reduced fouling, a heat transfer component having reduced fouling and a method for reducing fouling in a refinery A method and device for reducing sulfidation corrosion and depositional fouling in heat transfer components within a refining or petrochemical facility is disclosed. The heat transfer components are formed from a corrosion and fouling resistant steel composition containing a Cr-enriched layer having a surface roughness of less than 40 micro inches (1.1 μm) and a protective layer formed thereon.
US08469076B1	Polarizer film peeling machine and polarizer film peeling method thereof The present invention relates to a polarizer film peeling machine and a polarizer film peeling method thereof. The polarizer film peeling machine includes an operation platform and a conveyor device having a translatable surface. The operation platform forms a slit at a site where a polarizer film is peeled off. The translatable surface of the conveyor device is located under the slit. In peeling off a polarizer film, a glass substrate from which the polarizer film is to be removed is set to slide on the a top surface of the operation platform to pass through the slit and the peeled-off polarizer film is guided through the slit to be laid flat on the translatable surface of the conveyor device and move with the translatable surface of the conveyor device.
US08469073B2	Automatic spacers mounting system for field emission display and method of automatically mounting spacers An automatic spacers mounting system includes a horizontal arraying pallet to hold spacers therein in a horizontal direction; a posture changing pallet and a shutter. The posture changing pallet and the shutter are coupled to the horizontal arraying pallet, such that the posture changing pallet faces the horizontal arraying pallet, and are rotated by 180 degrees with the horizontal arraying pallet. An inserting guide having a plurality of guiding holes is positioned above a panel having sprayed glue thereon is placed. The posture changing pallet and the shutter are disposed above the inserting guide, the plurality of spacers are inserted into the plurality of guiding holes, and a plurality of pressing pins of a pressing chuck are inserted in the guiding holes and press the spacers against the panel.
US08469071B2	Run flat tire A run flat tire in which the maximum tire width position when the tire is in an inflated state, the inclination angle formed by the line S′ tangent to the tire outer wall in the tire shoulder region, the curving form of the tread surface, the relationship between the thickness Ga of the outer side rubber taken on a line X normal to the rim line and centered on the carcass layer 5 and the maximum thickness Gb of the outer side rubber in an upper region of the bead portion 2, the relationship of the thickness Gc of the inner side rubber taken on a line X normal to the rim line and centered on the carcass layer 5 and the thickness Ga of the outer side rubber are each stipulated.
US08469069B2	Tread band with grooves provided with a noise-reducing device A tread 1 having a tread surface 3 onto which there opens at least one cavity 2, this cavity being bounded by a cavity wall 20 comprising a bottom wall 21 extended by a side wall 22 intersecting the tread surface to form at least one edge corner 31, this tread being, over at least part of the wall of the cavity 2, provided with a plurality of supporting strands 4, each supporting strand 4 comprising two ends of which one end 41 is attached to the cavity wall 20, this tread being characterized in that the supporting strands 4 each comprise at least one branching formed by the attachment of at least one branching strand 5.
US08469066B2	Collapsible funnel A funnel assembly includes a tube defining a tube passageway and a tube opening. A funnel member defines a first funnel opening, a second funnel opening, and a funnel passageway that provides fluid communication between the first and second funnel openings. The funnel member is positioned such that the second funnel opening is within the tube passageway. The funnel member is selectively movable between a first configuration in which the first funnel opening is wider than the tube opening, and a second configuration in which the first funnel opening is narrower than the tube opening.
US08469048B2	Pressure feedback shuttle valve A shuttle valve 10 includes a valve body 11, a first inlet port 12, a second inlet port 13, an outlet port 14, and a shuttle poppet 15. The inlet ports 12 and 13 may be connected to different sources of fluid pressure, and the shuttle valve 10 connects the higher pressure one of the inlet ports 12, 13 to the outlet port 14 and isolates the lower pressure one of the inlet ports 12, 13 from the outlet port 14. First valve members 26, 46 selectively open and close fluid communication between the first inlet port 12 and the outlet port 14. Second valve members 27, 47 selectively open and close fluid communication between the second inlet port 13 and the outlet port 14. The shuttle valve 10 includes cushioning cavities 50 and 51 and feedback passages 56, 59 and 60 to reduce shock or water hammer in the system.
US08469046B2	Method for parallel operation of reactors that generate moisture The method for parallel operation of moisture generating reactors according to the present invention operates so that an orifice, provided with an orifice hole having a predetermined opening diameter, is disposed on a mixed-gas inlet side of each of a plurality of moisture generating reactors connected in parallel with each other, and mixed gas G consisting of hydrogen and oxygen is supplied from a mixer to each of the moisture generating reactors through each orifice, and the flows of moisture generated by the moisture generating reactors are combined, and the resulting combined moisture is supplied to an apparatus that uses high-purity water. Thus, a need to increase the amount of high-purity water supply is met by allowing a plurality of moisture generating reactors to perform a parallel water generating operation by branching off a mixed gas consisting of H2 and O2 by using a simple orifice construction.
US08469038B2	Smoking article and method A smoking article provides one or more sheets of material that can be rolled and packaged, at least one sheet including cellulose. In one embodiment, cellulose and tobacco sheet material are separately rolled layers that can optionally be wrapped around a form casing (or pre-rolled inside) and then packaged. In another embodiment, the sheet is a laminated sheet of tobacco and cellulose layers that can be optionally wrapped around (or pre-rolled inside) a form casing. These sheets can be filled with custom tobacco to make one or more new cigars for an end user. In another embodiment, a complete cigar filled with tobacco material can be disassembled by an end user to produce tobacco and cellulose sheets, enabling the end user to form two new cigars using his or her own custom tobacco.
US08469036B2	Tobacco compositions The invention features tobacco compositions and methods of their use and manufacture. Compositions of the invention may be based on a variety of technologies. Technologies include films, tabs, shaped parts, gels, consumable units, insoluble matrices, and hollow shapes. In addition to tobacco, compositions may also contain flavors, colors, and other additives as described herein. Compositions may also be orally disintegrable. Exemplary compositions and methods of their manufacture are described herein.
US08469035B2	Method for preparing fuel element for smoking article The invention provides a method for making a fuel element for a smoking article comprising forming a combustible carbonaceous material into a fuel element adapted for use in a smoking article; incorporating a metal-containing catalyst precursor into the fuel element or onto the surface thereof to form a treated fuel element, the incorporating step occurring before, during, or after said forming step; and optionally heating or irradiating the treated fuel element at a temperature and for a time sufficient to convert the catalyst precursor to a catalytic metal compound. Examples of metal-containing catalyst precursors include iron nitrate, copper nitrate, cerium nitrate, cerium ammonium nitrate, manganese nitrate, magnesium nitrate, and zinc nitrate. Fuel elements treated according to the invention, and smoking articles including such fuel elements, are also provided.
US08469028B2	Respirator assembly A respirator assembly is composed of a respirator, an air purifier, and a connection tube. The respirator includes a first housing having an inflow unit and an air intake. A first pumping unit is located in the first housing for sucking the air through the inflow unit and exhausting the air through the air outtake. The air purifier includes a second housing having an air intake and an outflow unit. A second pumping unit is located in the second housing for sucking the air through the air intake and exhausting the air through the outflow unit. The outflow unit includes a natural-air outlet and a respirator outlet. The connection tube includes two ends, one of which is connected with the respirator outlet and the other is connected with the inflow unit. Accordingly, the respirator assembly can reduce the frequency of replacing the respiratory screen and enhance the quality of filtering the air.
US08469021B2	Fireplace assembly with integrated burn control system A fireplace assembly with an integrated burn control system includes a variety of features that provide an elegant, revolutionary, and highly-efficient way to heat a residence or other environment. The fireplace assembly may be used in combination with gas-burning fireplaces, stoves, and fireplace inserts. The fireplace assembly includes, but is not limited to: a control panel; a concealment door that conceals the control panel when the concealment door is closed; automatic control panel lighting that is activated when the concealment door is open; a split flow or dual burner assembly that simulates a natural wood burning fire; and an intermittent pilot ignition system that allows a pilot flame to run continuously or intermittently. The fireplace assembly can be manually controlled via the control panel or automatically and/or remotely controlled via a remote control device.
US08469015B2	Low cost rescue launcher system A rescue launcher system includes a reusable launcher and a one-time-use, pre-packed payload cartridge removably secured to the reusable launcher. The payload cartridge includes a plastic canister, a pressurization system located within the canister and selectively activated by reusable launcher, and a payload located within the canister and which is launched to a remote location upon actuation of the pressurization system. An actuation grip of the launcher selectively actuates the pressurization system, and an interlock is adapted to prevent actuation of the pressurization system unless the interlock and the actuation grip are simultaneously actuated. The payload can be a buoyancy device including a sealed tube and deflated foam within the sealed tube which inflates using internal vacuum after launch of the buoyancy device.
US08469012B2	Narrow crossbow with large power stroke A crossbow may include a main beam; a compound bow assembly mounted to the main beam; and, a trigger mechanism mounted to the main beam for use in holding a bowstring in a cocked position. The crossbow may include wheels at opposite ends of the bow that operatively receive the bowstring. The wheels may be separated by a wheel distance (WD) when the crossbow is in an un-cocked position. The crossbow may also have a power stroke distance (PD) and the ratio WD/PD may be less than 2.0.
US08469001B2	Work apparatus with internal combustion engine Problems:For enhanced safety of a work apparatus with an internal combustion engine, a cutting element is prevented from an accidental run due to an accidental increase of the engine revolution while a throttle control trigger is in a released state.Solution:In an engine start period, a throttle valve (10) is in a first idling position. The engine 2 at its initial run phase does not increase in revolution because of instability of its running condition. When the running condition begins to stabilize, the revolution rapidly increases. When the engine revolution (Ne) reaches 4,000 rpm or higher, a non-firing control mode is set up. In the non-firing control mode, when the engine revolution reaches or exceeds 4,500 rpm, a non-firing processing is executed (S4). A centrifugal clutch (6) is designed to engage at 5,000 rpm.
US08468997B2	Internal combustion engine with variable effective length connecting rod An internal combustion engine may include a cylinder block defining a cylinder, and a crankshaft defining a crankpin, wherein the crankshaft is rotatably received by the cylinder block and rotates about a longitudinal axis. The internal combustion engine may further include a piston configured to reciprocate within the cylinder, and a connecting rod operably coupled to the piston and the crankpin. The connecting rod may include a first rod element having a first distal end and a first proximate end, wherein the first distal end is operably coupled to the piston. The connecting rod may further include a second rod element having a second distal end operably coupled to the first proximate end of the first rod element, and a second proximate end operably coupled to the crankpin, wherein the first rod element and the second rod element are pivotally coupled to one another.
US08468991B2	Electromagnetic-clutch rotation stopping structure An axially short electromagnetic-clutch rotation stopping structure for use with a phase varying apparatus (30) of an automobile engine, adapted to stop the rotation of an electromagnetic clutch (35) relative to an electromagnetic clutch cover (70) while braking the brake drum (34) of the phase varying apparatus (30) to vary the phase angle of the camshaft (45) of the apparatus (30) relative to the crankshaft of the engine. An electromagnetic clutch cover (70) has a clutch holding section (71) for accommodates a substantially C-shaped leaf spring (73). The electromagnetic clutch (35) is held unrotatable with respect to the clutch holding section (71) by first rotation stopping means (71e, 73a) provided between the electromagnetic clutch (35) and by second rotation stopping means (73b, 35d) provided between the leaf spring (73) and the electromagnetic clutch (35).
US08468984B2	Variable compression ratio apparatus A variable compression ratio apparatus may include an external piston, a piston pin mounted in the external piston and a connecting rod, including an internal piston including a slot and sliding in an interior circumference of the external piston, wherein the piston pin passes through the internal piston and the external piston, a latching pin passing through the piston pin and selectively sliding therein, variable sliders disposed to selectively contact one of both ends of the latching pin, at both sides thereof to push the one of the both ends to the opposite side, and a support plate slidably supporting the variable sliders such that the variable sliders reciprocate perpendicular to length direction of the latching pin, wherein one end of a connecting arm selectively rotating may be connected to the variable slider and a sliding direction of the variable sliders may be controlled by rotation of the connecting arm.
US08468976B2	Poultry raising system, poultry raising method and luminescent device for raising poultry A poultry raising system includes a poultry house and facilities attached to the poultry house. The facilities include lighting facilities irradiating poultry with light; and the lighting facilities include a semiconductor light source, for irradiation with light having peak wavelength in the range of 550 to 650 nm emitted from the semiconductor light source. The light in this wavelength range has positive influence on sexual maturation, appetite, need for sleep and condition of internal organs. Light of shorter peak wavelength includes ultraviolet rays that cause stress on the poultry and attract insects. Light of longer wavelength includes infrared rays that increase temperature of the poultry and of the poultry house. It is possible to emit light having peak wavelength in a specific range effective to growth and fattening. Because of high electricity-to-light conversion efficiency, high economic efficiency can be attained, and CO2 emission can be reduced. Risk of shattering of a globe by abrupt cooling can be reduced, and temperature increase in the poultry house can be prevented. Longer life reduces danger, labor and cost of exchange. Thus, meat and egg yield can be increased and economical efficiency can be improved.
US08468973B2	Excretion disposal sheet for pet animals An excretion disposal sheet for pet animals that contains fragrance adapted to develop aroma effectively masking odor of excretion. The fragrance is in the form of a powder compound wherein the fragrance includes cyclodextrin and this particulate compound is sandwiched between an upper surface of a core material and a liquid-pervious sheet in the form of tissue paper overlying the upper surface.
US08468971B2	Safety switch device for rotary milking parlor Safety switching device for a milking carousel, with a rotatably driven milking platform with a multiple number of milking stations, whereby preferably a milking machine is arranged at each milking station, and with at least one stationary, non-rotating animal passageway, as well as a gap arranged between the rotatable milking platform and the animal passageway, whereby the safety switching device has a movable switching paddle, as well as signaling device arranged or formed on the switching paddle, for triggering an alarm function, and whereby the switching paddle is designed and mounted in such a way that the distance to the outside peripheral edge (U) increases toward a free end.
US08468966B2	Anchor with measurement coupling Anchor comprising a fluke which can be introduced into an anchoring ground in accordance with a direction of penetration by exerting a pulling force on an anchor line connected to the anchor, and a measuring coupling which during introduction of the fluke forms part of a force transfer between the anchor line and the fluke, wherein the measuring coupling is provided with a first coupling member that is connected to the fluke, a second coupling member that is connected to the anchor line, a hollow coupling bar that couples the coupling members to one another, wherein the coupling members in the longitudinal direction of the bar engage onto the coupling bar at different places in order to be able to deform it, and a measuring body extending through the hollow coupling bar and which at least at its ends is connected to the coupling bar in order to deform along with the coupling bar, wherein the measuring body is provided with deformation sensors for recording the deformation parameters of the coupling bar.
US08468960B2	Seeding machine with seed delivery system A seed delivery system for use in a seeding or planting machine that removes the seed from a seed meter by capturing the seed therefrom. The delivery system then moves the seed down to a lower discharge point and accelerates the seed horizontally rearward to a speed approximately equal to the forward travel speed of the seeding machine such that the seed, when discharged has a low or zero horizontal velocity relative to the ground. Rolling of the seed in the trench is thus reduced. Furthermore, as the seed only has a short drop from the outlet to the bottom of the seed trench, the seed has little vertical speed to induce bounce. The delivery system uses a brush belt to capture, move and accelerate the seed. By capturing the seed and moving it from the meter to the discharge, the seed is held in place relative to other seeds and the planter row unit. As a result, the seeds are isolated from row unit dynamics thereby maintaining seed spacing.
US08468959B2	Basket weave trestle table An embodiment of the invention provides a support trestle comprising at least a first, second, and third generally vertically disposed support elements. A first set of stretchers is connected to at least two of the first, second, and third generally vertically disposed support elements, wherein the first set of stretchers include a top first stretcher, at least one middle first stretcher, and a bottom first stretcher. A second set of stretchers is connected to at least two of the first, second, and third generally vertically disposed support elements, wherein the second set of stretchers include a top second stretcher, at least one middle second stretcher, and a bottom second stretcher. The generally vertically disposed support elements that are connected to the second set of stretchers are different from the generally vertically disposed support elements that are connected to the first set of stretchers.
US08468956B2	Collapsible transaction table To provide a usable workspace for use at tradeshows, conventions and similar events, a collapsible transaction table is uniquely designed to provide transportability and flexibility regarding its setup. In its collapsed condition, the transaction table itself is contained and thereby easily transportable. In its expanded condition, components are provided to provide a usable transaction table which preferably sits at a countertop height but with which also may be modified to further extend into a countertop configuration. To achieve the counter top configuration, a pair of transaction tables are coupled with one another utilizing specifically configured bridging elements to thus create a stable and usable countertop. The transaction tables themselves include a collapsible base unit and tabletop elements which are removably attachable to the base units in an interlocking manner to provide additional stability.
US08468950B2	Intermodal rail vehicle to form a train Refinements and improvements in intermodal rail vehicles for making up a train of highway trailers are shown. The improved intermodal vehicle has a one-piece upper frame assembly (26) with a horizontal load carrying surface below the ends of a drawbar for connecting the trailers. Each highway trailer has a coupler socket assembly at both its front and rear into which the drawbar enters and is connected to the intermodal vehicle by a vertical coupling pin projecting upward from the horizontal load carrying surface. The upper frame is supported from dual steerable lower frames (28) by primary air springs (90). A backup suspension system is provided so as to support the upper frame in the event of failure of the primary air springs. A transition rail vehicle for adapting the unit train of trailers is provided, incorporating the necessary features of the intermediate intermodal vehicles heretofore described.
US08468941B2	Method for thermal development with supporting surface for a development medium This invention relates to a method and apparatus for thermally developing a photosensitive element. The thermal development method includes heating the photosensitive element to a temperature sufficient to cause a portion of a composition layer in the element to liquefy, soften, or melt; supporting a development medium with a non-rotating surface to provide contact of the development medium with the heated photosensitive element; and providing relative movement between the development medium and the non-rotating surface.
US08468939B2	Printing system employing deformable polymer printing plates A printing plate has a substrate, an array of cells on the substrate, wherein each cell corresponds to an element of a print image, a deformable polymer material localized into the cells such that each cell is at least partially formed from the deformable polymer material, a reservoir corresponding to each cell to collect the deformable polymer material as needed when the deformable polymer material is one of either melted or softened, and a heater to cause the deformable polymer material to either melt or soften. A method of forming a printing plate provides an array of cells, first heats the array of cells such that the deformable polymer material does one of either melts or softens, actuates the cells in the array to assume a deformed state, cools the array of cells to solidify the cells in the deformed state, second heats the cells such that the deformable polymer material in selected ones of the cells does one of either soften or melt and return to a less deformed state to form a printing pattern, and cools the surface to solidify the deformable polymer material in the printing pattern. A method of forming a printing plate provides an array of cells, heats the array of cells such that the deformable polymer material softens, actuates selected ones of the cells to deform surfaces of the selected ones to form a printing pattern, and cools the array of cells to solidify the printing pattern into a printing plate.
US08468938B2	Apparatus for perforating a web material Apparatuses are disclosed that include forming selected perforation designs and patterns. The perforation designs and patterns can be formed in linear or nonlinear fashion, can extend in the cross direction or the machine direction and can be formed to complement or match an embossed or printed design on the web. The perforation designs and patterns can be formed utilizing various mechanical perforating techniques.
US08468937B2	Baler density control mechanism and method A method of electronically sensing the fill of material in a stuffer chute and tripping a stuffer of a baler.
US08468928B2	Soft recoil system One embodiment of a gun configured with the soft recoil system comprises a plurality of recoiling parts that initially moves in the direction of the projectile being fired before moving in a direction opposite to that of a projectile during the firing of the round. The soft recoil system throttles the movement of the recoiling parts such that the energy expended during the firing of the round is spread over a longer time period and a longer distance than would normally occur. The soft recoil system stores at least a portion of the energy transferred to the recoiling parts and the user may selectively release at least a part of that portion of energy to offset the energy imparted to the gun during the firing of the next round.
US08468924B2	Stowable elevating trainable launcher (SETL) A system and method for launching non-vertical launch munitions with a non-vertical launch trajectory from a launcher that is operationally coupled to a vertical launching system (VLS). The inventors of the present invention recognized that munitions that are unsuitable for vertical launches were unavailable for use with vertical launching systems, thus foreclosing important defense, attack, and cost-savings opportunities for VLS-equipped platforms. A VLS could be substantially more versatile if it accommodated munitions such as torpedoes, counter-measures, direct-fire munitions, point-and-shoot munitions, and a variety of other missiles and equipment. The launcher according to the present invention is also stowable in an upward orientation within a cell of the host vertical launching system.
US08468921B2	Brush cylinder A cutting arrangement comprises a blade shaft (32) which is mounted for drivable rotation about a blade-shaft axis of rotation (31) and which has at least one circular blade (34); and a brush roll (16) which is disposed opposite the blade shaft (32) and mounted for rotation about a brush-roll axis of rotation (15); the brush roll (16) possessing shells (37) in the cross-sectional shape of a segment of a circle which are disposed on a roll core (17) and which have an outside (39) and an inside (40) that is turned towards the roll core (17), bristles that stand out from the outside (39), torque-transmission components (44, 45, 46) for transmitting torque from the roll core (17) to the shells (37), and fastening components (49, 51) for fixing the shells (37) to the roll core (17).
US08468915B2	Compact tool box with ratchet driving function A tool box includes a body having a front end spaced from a force-receiving portion. The body includes first and second sides and two lateral walls. The lateral walls, the front end, and the force-receiving portion are integrally formed as a single and inseparable component of the same material. The front end includes a compartment. A receiving space is defined between the lateral walls and has an opening in the second side or the force-receiving portion. A ratcheting mechanism includes a main body mounted in the body and a ratchet wheel rotatably received in the main body. The ratchet wheel is located in a quarter corner of the body adjacent to the front end and the first side. A driving groove is defined in the ratchet wheel for engaging and driving a shank to rotate. A bit-receiving rack is removably received in the receiving space.
US08468913B1	Magnetic bit holder with switch The disclosure provides devices and methods for magnetizing or demagnetizing a bit inserted in a bit holder without removing the bit from the bit holder. More particularly, the invention includes a bit holder with a cavity containing a magnet. The magnet may be attached to a switch, which allows the magnet to be manually moved within the cavity to an “on” or an “off” position. The bit may be magnetized when the magnet is in the “on” position and demagnetized when the magnet is in the “off” position.
US08468911B2	Feed apparatus A feed apparatus has a ball screw, a nut, a drive motor, a braking mechanism and a controller and moves a movable body vertically. When recognizing a movement command for rapid traverse relating to the movable body, the controller, when the movable body is to be moved upward, moves the movable body past a target position according to the movement command and then reverses the moving direction thereof and moves the movable body to the target position and stops it there, and, when the movable body is to be moved downward, moves the movable body directly to the target position and stops it there. After moving the movable body to the target position and stopping it there, the controller causes the drive motor to keep the position of the movable body at the stop position and causes the braking mechanism to brake the movement of the movable body.
US08468907B2	Shift arrangement A shift arrangement for a motor vehicle transmission has a multiplicity of gear stages. The shift arrangement has a shift shaft which is aligned in an axial direction and has a multiplicity of shift members which are designed to engage on shift sleeves which can be displaced axially in order to shift the gear stages. The shift shaft is mounted so as to be rotatable in order to select in each case one of the shift sleeves and so as to be axially displaceable in order to shift the gear stages. The shift members have in each case one driver device for coupling to the shift shaft. The shift shaft has a coupling arrangement which is designed to engage, depending on the rotational position of the shift shaft, in each case with a driver device of one of the shift members in order to couple that shift member axially to the shift shaft. The driver devices have in each case a multiplicity of at least three lugs which are aligned in the axial direction and which make it possible for the associated shift member and the shift shaft to be coupled to one another in a multiplicity of axial relative positions.
US08468893B2	Pressure meter There is provided a pressure gauge which enables swinging and rotation with respect to a pressure gauge body capable of visually confirming the pressure indication of pressure to be measured. A tubular pressure introduction section 6 through which the pressure to be measured is introduced into the inside is inserted in a pressure introduction port 21 and adapted to be rotatable with respect to a pressure gauge body 2 capable of visually confirming the pressure indication of the pressure to be measured, enabling swinging. A rotating cap 11 rotatable in a circumferential direction is also adapted to be rotatable with respect to this pressure gauge body 2, which can rotate together with a liquid crystal indicator 100 on a substrate 10 attached to the rotating cap 11.
US08468892B2	Ultrasonic sensor for detecting and/or scanning objects An ultrasonic sensor for detecting and/or scanning an object includes a substrate and a piezoelectric sensor unit arranged on or at this substrate and/or connected to this substrate. The rear side of the substrate facing away from the piezoelectric sensor unit has a surface structure including a plurality of elevated portions and recesses, with this surface structure being configured so that a diffuse scattering of ultrasonic waves incident on the rear side from the direction of the sensor unit takes place by it; and/or in that its elevated portions and/or recesses have a mean lateral extent in the range of 0.05 μm to 1 mm, preferably from 0.1 μm to 200 μm, preferably from 0.2 μm to 20 μm, and/or a mean lateral extent which is smaller than or equal to the wavelength of an ultrasonic wave which can be produced by the piezoelectric sensor unit.
US08468888B2	MEMS sensor capable of sensing acceleration and pressure A MEMS sensor capable of sensing acceleration and pressure includes a frame, a proof mass and flexible bridges connected between the frame and the proof mass in such a way that the proof mass is moveably suspended inside the frame. The proof mass is provided with a pressure sensing diaphragm and a sealed chamber corresponding to the diaphragm such that the proof mass is not only served as a moveable sensing element for acceleration measurement but also a pressure sensing element.
US08468880B2	Test stand for motor vehicles A test stand for motor vehicles, in particular a roller type or belt conveyor brake test stand, comprising a measuring device (2) that has a measuring sensor (1) for collecting test data, is characterized with respect to an especially flexible and quasi location independent operability by a chargeable energy accumulator (3) for providing the electric energy required to operate the measuring device (2) and by a feeding device (4) for feeding energy into the energy accumulator (3).
US08468875B1	Pipe leakage detecting system A pipe leakage detecting system includes a sink mounted on a wall. A plurality of pipes is fluidly coupled to the sink. A housing is mounted on the dwelling wall and is positioned below the pipes. The housing has a bottom wall and a perimeter wall that is attached to and extends upwardly from the bottom wall. The perimeter wall has an upper edge defining an opening into the housing. A weight sensor is mounted in the housing. A sound emitter is electrically coupled to the weight sensor and emits an audible sound when the weight sensor detects weight from water falling onto the weight sensor.
US08468872B2	Hydrogen sensor and method of manufacturing the same A novel method of manufacturing a hydrogen sensor is disclosed. The method includes the steps of forming a thin film made of a transition metal or an alloy thereof on a surface of an elastic substrate, and forming a plurality of nanogaps in the thin film formed on the surface of the elastic substrate by applying a tensile force to the elastic substrate. The nanogaps are formed as the thin film is stretched in a direction in which the tensile force acts while being contracted in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the tensile force acts when the tensile force is applied, and is contracted again in the direction in which the tensile force is released while being stretched again in the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the tensile force is released when the tensile force is released.
US08468871B2	System and method for monitoring parameters in containers A system for measuring parameters in a container is disclosed. A system for measuring multiple parameters includes a container having a solution, at least one sensor in conjunction with a tag is in proximity to an impedance analyzer and a reader that constitute a measurement device. The at least one sensor is configured to determine at least one parameter of the solution. The tag is configured to provide a digital ID associated with the sensor, where the container is in proximity to the reader and an impedance analyzer. The impedance analyzer is configured to send and receive a given range of frequencies from the sensor, based on the parameter and calculate parameter changes based on the response.
US08468865B2	Building panel and panel crimping machine An improved panel crimping machine for crimping a building panel having a curved central portion is disclosed. The building panel includes a novel curved central portion connected to two diverging inclined side wall portions in lieu of a straight central portion. Replacing the straight curved portion with a curved portion provides the building panel with increased strength and rigidity, thereby allowing the building panel to withstand increased positive and negative bending moments. Thus, a building constructed of panels having such curved central portions will reduce the present design constraints and increase the size and shape of buildings constructed of such panels.
US08468864B1	Adjustment mechanism kit and rail structure kit along with methods incorporating the same An adjustment mechanism kit to convert an existing machine having incumbent, or existing, mechanisms to incorporate replacement or upgraded mechanisms. Depending on the application, it may be necessary to adjust the elevation of the replacement mechanisms in order to accommodate tooling attached (or to be attached) thereto. For example, in the case where the replacement tooling and support bar assembly is taller than the existing, or incumbent, tooling and support bar assembly, the replacement support bar assembly may be mounted at a lower elevation relative to the existing equipment in order to provide clearance to a framework, for instance. As such, the kits include not only the replacement mechanisms but the necessary mounts and adaptors for adjusting the elevation of the mechanisms. Various portions of the kit may be combined and packaged as separate kits.
US08468859B2	Drum type washing machine A drum type washing machine including a balancer capable of rapidly reducing vibration of a spin tub. The drum type washing machine includes a spin tub which is rotated by receiving rotational force from a driving motor through a rotating shaft, a rear balancer having an annular shape and being coupled to the spin tub, and a shaft flange provided at a center portion thereof with the rotating shaft and coupled to the spin tub so as to uniformly transfer the rotational force to the spin tub. The rear balancer is supported on a rear surface of a rear cover by the shaft flange. Thus, the balls accommodated in the balancer are prevented from moving out of the balancer, even if the balancer is broken due to long-period use.
US08468856B2	Tubular knitted fabric for clothing and legwear A tubular knitted fabric for clothing has a first stitch and a second stitch smaller than the first stitch. The pattern of the tubular knitted fabric for clothing is obtained by selectively disposing the second stitch in units of one stitch. Selectively driving a sinker of a circular knitting machine controls stitch densities, thereby producing the first stitch and the second stitch smaller than the first stitch. A legwear is formed of this tubular knitted fabric for clothing.
US08468854B2	Sinker The main objective of the present invention is to provide a sinker that can produce pile loops of different lengths. The sinker has a nib and a belly formed separately on one end thereof. A throat is formed between the nib and the belly. The nib has a bulge formed on a top edge thereof. The throat has a recess formed on a top edge of the belly. With the bulge and the recess, multiple vertical gaps of different lengths are provided. When yarns are placed at different relative positions, pile loops of different lengths are made by the same sinker. Thus, the sinker results in fabrics with variant appearances and good tactile impression.
US08468851B2	Vacuum degassing apparatus and vacuum degassing method for molten glass A vacuum degassing apparatus for molten glass is comprised of an uprising pipe, a vacuum degassing vessel, a downfalling pipe, an upstream side pit that supplies molten glass to the uprising pipe, and a downstream side pit that receives molten glass from the downfalling pipe. The vacuum degassing apparatus for molten glass is further comprised of a separating mechanism that separates a part of molten glass moving from the downfalling pipe to the downstream side pit, and a returning pipe that returns separated molten glass to the upstream side pit.
US08468842B2	DX system having heat to cool valve Alternative means of inhibiting frosting in the interior heat exchanger of a DX system when switching from the heating mode to the cooling mode, plus an improved insulation and heat transfer means for vertically oriented sub-surface geothermal heat transfer tubing, as well as a means to protectively coat the sub-surface metal tubing of a DX system in a corrosive environment.
US08468825B1	Method for producing shaft horsepower using waste heat One or more methods for generating electricity using waste heat are provided herein. The method can include providing an exhaust gas to a first silencing chamber within an inner housing of a heat recovery silencer, flowing the exhaust gas from the first silencing chamber to a second silencing chamber within the inner housing, flowing the exhaust gas from the second silencing chamber to a third silencing chamber within the inner housing and imparting a spiral flow path to the exhaust gas as the exhaust gas enters the third silencing chamber.
US08468823B2	Supercharged direct-injection engine Disclosed is a supercharged direct-injection engine, which comprises a supercharging device (25, 30) for compressing intake air, and an injector 10 for directly injecting fuel into a combustion chamber 5. In the engine, an excess air factor λ as a ratio of an actual air-fuel ratio to a stoichiometric air-fuel ratio, at least in an engine warmed-up mode, is set to 2 or more in the entire engine-load region. Further, compressed self-ignited combustion is performed in a low engine-load region, and a supercharging amount by the supercharging device (25, 30) is increased along with an increase in engine load in a high engine-load region to allow the excess air factor λ to be kept at 2 or more. The engine of the present invention can effectively reduce NOx emission, while improving fuel economy.
US08468819B1	Pump and engine configuration A pump and engine combination having a pair of hydraulic pumps and at least a portion of the engine disposed in a portion of an engine housing that defines a sump, and the hydraulic pumps each have a trunnion that extends out of one of the sidewalls of the sump portion of the engine housing. The trunnions may be detachably connected to swash plate bodies engaged to the pumps in order to facilitate assembly of the combination.
US08468814B2	Compressed air energy storage system utilizing two-phase flow to facilitate heat exchange A compressed-air energy storage system according to embodiments of the present invention comprises a reversible mechanism to compress and expand air, one or more compressed air storage tanks, a control system, one or more heat exchangers, and, in certain embodiments of the invention, a motor-generator. The reversible air compressor-expander uses mechanical power to compress air (when it is acting as a compressor) and converts the energy stored in compressed air to mechanical power (when it is acting as an expander). In certain embodiments, the compressor-expander comprises one or more stages, each stage consisting of pressure vessel (the “pressure cell”) partially filled with water or other liquid. In some embodiments, the pressure vessel communicates with one or more cylinder devices to exchange air and liquid with the cylinder chamber(s) thereof. Suitable valving allows air to enter and leave the pressure cell and cylinder device, if present, under electronic control.
US08468799B2	Procedure and device for controlling an air supply system of a combustion engine The invention concerns a procedure and a device for controlling an air supply system of a combustion engine with an exhaust gas system and an exhaust gas purification system with a particle filter in the exhaust gas system, whereby a boost pressure of an air supply current is controlled or can be controlled in the air supply system over a combustion air supply duct with the aid if a throttle valve and/or an exhaust gas recirculation between the exhaust gas system and the combustion air supply duct. Regarding the procedure it is provided according to the invention, that the air supply current is determined directly before or during a regeneration of the particle filter by different means with the aid of signals from measuring devices that are arranged in the air supply system and/or sensors that are arranged in the exhaust gas system and that the results are compared to each other. With the procedure and the device defects as leakages in the air supply system of the combustion engine can be diagnosed and thus the regeneration of the particle filter interrupted if necessary before it can be damaged by uncontrolled air infiltrations.
US08468795B2	Diffuser aspiration for a tip turbine engine A fan-turbine rotor assembly includes a diffuser section (114) which turns and diffuses the airflow from a radial core airflow passage (80) toward an axial airflow direction. Diffuser flow passages communicate with the diffuser passages (144) at a location which reduces separation of the airflow as the airflow is turned from the radial core airflow passage (80) toward an axial airflow direction through airflow aspiration at the potentially turbulent locations.
US08468791B2	Texturing machine A texturing machine is described comprising a plurality of processing points for texturing a plurality of multifilament threads. The texturing machine comprises a plurality of delivery mechanisms per processing point and a texturing system for guiding, drawing and texturing one of the threads. A central heating device is associated with the processing points for thermal treatment of a plurality of threads, wherein the texturing systems within the processing points downstream of the heating device each delimit a texturing distance. In order to treat all threads qualitatively the same, according to the invention the texturing systems of the processing points associated with a thread outlet of the heating device are held in a symmetrical arrangement with respect to the heating device such that the threads within the processing points can be guided in texturing distances of the same length.
US08468790B2	Machine for mowing stalk-like crops with conveying disks A conveyor (16) includes a plurality of conveyor disks (20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30) that are arranged coaxial to one another and are rotatable about a common central rotational axis, wherein teeth are distributed around the edge of said conveyor disks. A first conveyor disk (20), and a second conveyor disk (22) situated directly adjacent to the first conveyor disk (20), are spaced apart by a smaller axial clearance than that between the second conveyor disk (22) and a third conveyor disk (24) that is situated directly adjacent to the second conveyor disk (22) and arranged on a side of the second conveyor disk (22) that faces away from the first conveyor disk (20).
US08468789B2	Rotary disk crop harvesting header with an auger member A crop header has generally horizontal flail disks mounted for driven rotation about generally upright axes. A pair of conditioner rolls is mounted in a discharge opening. A crop converging system includes two over-shot auger elements defined by a common auger shaft with an auger flight carried thereon arranged generally longitudinal of the cutter bar so as to carry the cut crop longitudinally of the cutter bar to the entrance opening. Each auger element is arranged with a forwardmost tangent to the auger flight located behind the axes of the rotary disks and with an outer end thereof spaced outwardly of the respective end of the entrance mouth. The common auger shaft is driven by a common rotary drive with the bottom roll of the conditioner rolls. The augers terminate inwardly of the outer end of the cutter bar to locate the drive inboard of the end plates.
US08468787B2	Stackable sprinkler A sprinkler is designed to be stacked upon a like sprinkler. The sprinkler includes a spray tube, a sled, a projection extending from either a top or bottom surface of the sled, and a recess formed at the top or bottom surface of the sled. The recess accommodates the projection extending from the sled of the like sprinkler so that the sprinkler can be stacked with the like sprinkler.
US08468783B2	Pouch transport grippers A pouch-gripping apparatus includes a frame having a vertical mounting surface and a base mounted to that surface. A stationary arm projects outwardly from the vertical mounting surface. The stationary arm has an “L”-shaped distal free end that defines a stop wall. A second arm is rotatably mounted to the stationary arm and a plug is secured to the free end of the second arm. The second arm has a position of repose where it is angled relative to the stationary arm. The plug bears against the stop wall when the second arm rotates from the position of repose to a substantially horizontal position. A rim of a pouch sandwiched between the plug and the stop wall is held by the pressure between the plug and the stop wall and the pressure increases as a weight of the pouch increases.
US08468782B2	Method for producing a bottle-like or tubular container, particularly a tubular bag, comprising a sealed-in bottom, and a correspondingly produced tubular bag The invention relates to a method of producing a bottle-like or tube-like container, especially a tubular pouch (10), having a tubular pouch body (20) and a sealed-in end (30), such as, for example, a base, especially a stand-up base, and optionally a sealed-in top part and/or shoulder part, wherein at least the base (30) and, where applicable, the top part and/or the shoulder part is introduced into the tubular pouch body (20), the tubular pouch body (20) being stretched, especially expanded, at least in the region of introduction, by a predetermined amount before and/or during introduction of the base (30) and, where applicable, of the top part and/or the shoulder part. The invention relates also to a tubular pouch so produced.
US08468769B2	Reversible decorative moldings between floor and wall or wall and ceiling A reversible molding is disclosed having multiple decorative face which differ from one another by at least one property. Such properties can include texture, color, pattern or design or shape. The molding can suitably be used at the joint between a wall and floor or between a wall and ceiling. In one embodiment, the moldings are manufactured from wood, MDF or HDF, with a decorative surface selected from foil, laminate, veneer, paint, stain or digital printing.
US08468766B1	Precast concrete flange connection and method of use A metal flange connection for concrete flanges comprising end members exposed at facing ends of a pair of adjacent, generally horizontal concrete flanges and a connecting member between the end members. Each of the end members has a surface along the end of the concrete flange and the connecting member has a first portion extending between the end members in a first generally horizontal plane and a second portion extending between the members in a second generally horizontal plane above or below the first generally horizontal plane. The first and second portions are connected by a third portion extending between the members and the first and second planes. The connecting member portions provide resistance to a force tending to translate the concrete flanges in a vertical direction with respect to each other.
US08468759B2	Fire retardant cover for fluted roof deck A fire retardant cover is disclosed herein for covering a ceiling-side recess of a fluted roof deck and for providing a flat surface for installation of a head-of-wall track (associated with a steel stud wall assembly). The fluted roof deck has an undulating bottom surface that defines a plurality lengthwise recesses corresponding to a plurality of ceiling-side flutes of the fluted roof deck. The fire retardant cover is substantially flat and configured to sealingly cover at least one of the plurality of lengthwise recesses. The fire retardant cover comprises a piece of sheet metal bent to define first and second upwardly extending protrusions. The protrusions are spaced apart from each other by a substantially flat web section and have laterally facing outer top surfaces matched to sealingly contact lengthwise bottom surfaces of one of the plurality of recesses of the fluted roof deck when the fire retardant cover is installed.
US08468755B2	Solar array support structure Disclosed herein is a solar array support structure that includes a mounting structure extending a length and configured to receive a solar array. The solar array support structure further includes a support column extending from the mounting structure into a ground. Moreover, the solar array support structure includes a lateral force resistance component in communication with the support column in the ground, the lateral force resistance component being dimensioned to reduce pressure on the ground from a force transmitted by the support column in a first direction and a second opposite direction more so than any other two opposite directions located in the same plane as the first and second opposite directions.
US08468754B2	Shingled roof with integrated photovoltaic collectors A solar insert for shingled roofs includes an insert with a generally wedge-shaped body designed to be installed beneath a shingle and a face that is exposed and extends along a lower edge of the shingle. The face preferably is angled with respect to the shingle and a solar collector in the form of a thin-film solar strip is mounted to and extends along the face. The inserts of multiple shingles are electrically coupled together to form an electrical grid for aggregating the electrical energy of the individual solar collectors and delivering it to a remote location for storage or use. In a second embodiment, a shingle has a solar collector strip mounted to its surface extending along a forward edge of the shingle, and in another, the solar collector surrounds the tabs of their shingles. The solar collectors not only generate electrical energy from the sun; they also enhance the appearance of a shingled roof by providing a look of increased thickness and texture.
US08468746B2	Sealing systems for garage door A sealing system for connecting a panel to a frame comprises a plurality of pins extending from the frame; a movable member, within the frame, including a plurality of slots; and a first seal drive system connected to the movable member. In a closed position of the panel relative to the frame, the movable member is movable between a first, unlocked position and a second, locked position, and individual ones of the plurality of pins extending through individual ones of the plurality of slots.
US08468741B2	Semi-automated crop production system A semi-automated crop production featuring a growing module with grids of cells for growing plants and a lighting and airflow fixture positioned above each cell. The lighting and airflow fixture features a fan disposed in a housing, a light emitting diode (LED) assembly board comprising LEDs disposed below the fan; a light diffuser disposed below the LED assembly board, and an adjustable air flow nozzle extending downwardly from the fan and protruding through the LED assembly board and the light diffuser. The adjustable air flow nozzle provides directed air flow downwardly toward a bottom area of the housing.
US08468740B1	Adjustable fishing tackle box system The fishing tackle box includes a container, a plurality of first guide slots spaced along a first sidewall of the container, a plurality of second guide slots spaced along a second sidewall of the container, and at least one lure holder having an angular panel including a plurality of spaced apart slots for receiving at least one fishing lure with a hook of the fishing lure positioned below the panel and a body of the fishing lure positioned above said panel. At least one first protrusion extends laterally outward from a first sidewall of said lure holder and at least one second protrusion extends laterally outward from a second sidewall of said lure holder to be collectively received by at least one first guide slot and at least one second guide slot. The lure holder may be comprised of different sizes to hold different sizes or numbers of fishing lures.
US08468735B1	Firearm auxiliary rear sight A firearm auxiliary sight is stored below the firearm optical sight and quickly deployable by means of activation of a lever which disengages the sight whereby a spring moves it outwardly from a housing. During deployment the auxiliary sight is rotated to an angle of 45 degrees with respect to the firearm and simultaneously the sight aperture is rotated upwardly.
US08468730B2	Ammunition magazine An ammunition magazine including a housing having a base, a follower spring-biased in the housing against the base, a belt coupled to the follower for pulling the follower towards the base, a belt collecting and release mechanism mounted in the base, the belt being coupled to the mechanism for shortening the belt around the wheel when the magazine is rolled along a surface in a forward direction, whereby the belt pulls the follower into the magazine to permit loading of cartridges into the magazine, and for preventing rotation of the wheel to release the belt when the base is rolled along a surface in a rearward direction.
US08468725B2	Mounting pin assembly for an excavator wear member A mounting pin assembly having a retaining member which includes a locating surface and a boss extending from the locating surface. The mounting pin assembly also has a locating member slidably mountable upon the locating surface of the retaining member. The locating member also has an enlarged portion defined by an outwardly divergent face. The mounting pin assembly also has a tensioning member extending between and coupling the boss of said retaining member and the locating member. The tensioning member is configured to cause relative contraction of the mounting pin assembly such that the locating member is drawn upon the locating surface of the retaining member towards the boss when a tensile force is applied to the tensioning member.
US08468718B2	Home laundry drier A home laundry drier (1) comprising an outer box casing (2) and, inside the casing, a laundry drying container (3) for housing the laundry to be dried, a hot-air generator (7) for circulating a stream of hot air inside said laundry drying container (3), and a steam generator (20) for feeding steam into said laundry drying container (3); the steam generator (20) comprising a steam-generating boiler (21) designed to receive water and convert it into a stream of low-pressure steam whose pressure is higher than external pressure, a steam injection nozzle (22) structured for projecting jets of low-pressure steam directly inside the laundry drying container (3), and a steam exhaust manifold (23) connecting the outlet of the steam-generating boiler (21) to the steam injection nozzle (22) for feeding the low-pressure steam produced by the steam-generating boiler (21) directly to said steam injection nozzle (22); the steam injection nozzle (22) being located over the steam-generating boiler (21), and said steam exhaust manifold (23) being dimensioned so that the maximum speed (V0) of the low-pressure steam flowing along at least one portion of said steam exhaust manifold (23) is lower than 9 m/s, so to cause the natural flowing of the water droplets resulting from steam condensation inside the steam exhaust manifold (23) back to the outlet of the steam-generating boiler (21).
US08468715B2	Method for drying wood product and product obtained thereby A method for forming an engineered wood product from pulpwood, comprising providing a quantity of pulpwood; crushing and scrimming the pulpwood to form a mat; drying in a first drying step the mat in a first pass dryer; applying a resin to the mat; and, drying in a second drying step the mat in a second pass dryer. The drying process controls moisture content using the rate of change between the entering and exiting airflow temperature. The resulting product has a high modulus of elasticity and modulus of rupture.
US08468707B2	Polycrystalline diamond elements having convex surfaces A diamond element (10) having a convex surface is disclosed, the convex surface including a spherical segment for which the maximum peak to valley deviation from a perfect spherical surface is less than about 5 μm. The diamond element (10) may be a solid polycrystalline diamond material and/or may comprise base material which is coated with diamond. Alternatively or in addition, the RMS deviation from a perfect spherical surface may be less than about 500 nm, or the RMS roughness less than about 30 nm. A diamond element (10) with a radius of curvature less than about 20 mm is also disclosed. In one aspect a diamond element (10) having a conical half-angle greater than about 10° is described. Diamond elements (10) of this type are intended for use as metrology tips.
US08468704B2	Bow sight laser tuning device The disclosed subject matter relates to an apparatus that can facilitate archery bow sight tuning by way of a laser light device. The apparatus can be mounted to a riser of a bow by way of a substantially arc-shaped mounting slot or aperture. Thus, the apparatus is not confined to a single configuration based upon a fixed location of mounting screws.
US08468700B2	Eating devices which reduce tremors of the hand There is provided an eating device including a grip configured so as to enable the grip to be grasped by a human hand. The grip is elongated and includes at least one side surface. An eating utensil having a front portion and a rear portion is provided. The front portion is configured to make contact with food and the rear portion extends from the side surface of the grip so that the front portion of the elongated utensil extends away from the side surface of the grip.
US08468695B2	Machine and method for machining crankshaft ends A machine which comprises two machining heads (1, 2) designed to machine crankshaft (5) ends and two machining stations (3, 4) designed to receive and secure at least one crankshaft (5). The machining stations (3, 4) are disposed between the two machining heads (1, 2). The crankshafts (5) are mounted in such a manner as to be disposed parallel to each other and oriented at 180°.
US08468691B2	Method for producing an electronic module by means of sequential fixation of the components, and corresponding production line A process for manufacturing an electronic module including a printed-circuit board, at least one first-type component and one second-type component is disclosed. The process involves placing solder on the board, putting the first-type component in a first position, heating the entire board to melt the solder, resulting in soldering of the first-type component, putting the second-type component in a second position such that the second-type component has leads bearing on the board via the solder, and heating the solder locally to melt the solder such that the second-type component is soldered by applying two electrodes on each lead of the second-type component and making an electrical current flow between the electrodes to heat each lead of the second-type component. Each of the two electrodes directly contacts each lead of the second-type component to make the current flow between the two electrodes via the corresponding lead of the second-type component.
US08468684B2	Method and apparatus for magnetizing a permanent magnet A magnetizing coil unit and a method of making a magnetizing coil unit is provided. The coil includes a solenoid coil having a coiled copper sheet in which the width of the copper sheet is equal to the height of the solenoid coil. A magnetizing assembly includes a plurality of magnetizing coil units.
US08468683B2	High bevel angle magnetic writer pole fabrication process Methods of making write poles for perpendicular magnetic recording write heads. The bevel angle of the write pole for a perpendicular magnetic recording write head affects the performance of the write head. By forming reinforcement layer on the polymeric underlayer mask to enhance the mask durability during ion mill and tapering the polymeric underlayer above the non-magnetic mill mask layer using oxygen and nitrogen based reactive ion etch process, the bevel angle of the magnetic write pole can be increased greatly to meet the demands of the next and future generations of magnetic recording write heads.
US08468679B2	Method of manufacture to control scoreline profile A manufacturing method for iron-type golf club heads wherein the scorelines of the iron-type golf club heads are media blasted and partially filled with clear paint to adjust the profile to a desired configuration that satisfies the 2010 condition of competition for golf clubs as set forth by the ruling bodies of golf.
US08468677B2	Water spread limiting system for pre-insulated piping A section of pipe is used in a pre-insulated piping system where the system is made up of lengths of insulated and jacketed pre-insulated piping. Each length of piping is made up of an inner carrier pipe having an interior surface and an exterior surface. An envelope of foamed insulation surrounds the inner pipe exterior surface and an outer protective jacket surrounds the envelope of foamed insulation. The length of piping has a joining end for joining to an adjacent length of piping, whereby the adjacent lengths of piping provide a continuous length of fluid conduit for conveying high temperature fluids. A heat dissipating element surrounds the inner carrier pipe for at least a portion of the length thereof. The heat dissipating element is itself insulated, whereby any water which penetrates the outer protective jacket contacts the heat dissipating element and is cooled below boiling before traveling any significant distance along the length of the section of piping.
US08468672B2	Surface sensing device A method for orienting a surface sensing device (SSD) uses an apparatus having a support attachable to a moveable arm of a machine, such as a coordinate measuring apparatus. The support includes a first member rotatable about a first axis of rotation and a SSD for sensing the surface of a workpiece; the SSD is releasably connectable to the first member for rotation therewith. The method includes the steps of disconnecting a SSD from a support, the SSD being connected to the support in a first orientation; rotating one of the SSD and the support relative to the other of the SSD and the support and reconnecting the SSD and the support into a second orientation. An apparatus for orienting a surface sensing device is further described.
US08468670B2	Enhanced automatic riveting system An enhanced automatic riveting system of the type used in robotized precision facilities to perform multiple functions, such as boring, reaming, rivet insertion, riveting, cleaning, etc. at a single work point, using the same equipment, characterized by the fact that it uses a multi-tool head, which does not move itself but is fixed on a parallel kinematic machine, which carries out all the combined positioning movements of the multi-tool head, performing the relevant position corrections between the different physical locations of the separate tools placed in the tool-holder head.
US08468659B2	Fixing device A device for fixing a first and second object with respect to one another includes a base which has a first channel or sleeve and a second channel or sleeve each suitable for receiving the first and second objects, respectively. A first member is and a second member are movably connected to the base. The first and second members can be moved into a locking position whereby the first member projects into the first channel, and the second member extends into the second channel.
US08468652B2	Decelerating device A decelerating device (1) comprises a cylinder (2) filled with a fluid, a bushing (3) for the closure of the cylinder (2) traversed by a rod (4) sliding in the cylinder (2), and a piston (5) guided to slide inside the cylinder (2) and fitted with means (7) for the calibrated through passage of the fluid, the piston (5) is separate from the rod (4) and there are also first elastic means (8) for the movement of the piston (5) in the direction of extraction from the cylinder (2) and second elastic means (9) independent of the first elastic means (8} for the movement of the rod (4) in the direction of extraction from the cylinder (2).
US08468646B2	Vacuum cleaner for using in both upright form and canister form A vacuum cleaner for using both in an upright form and a canister form, which can stably support and store a cleaner body and at the same time, reduce a suction nozzle assembly in size, is disclosed. The vacuum cleaner includes a pivot unit formed to pivot a connection pipe disposed between an extended tube and a nozzle body of a suction nozzle assembly, on at least two points.
US08468636B2	Apparatus, systems and methods for debris removal from an antenna Debris removal systems and methods are operable to remove debris, such as snow, from a surface. An exemplary embodiment has a wiper blade configured to remove debris from a surface in response to a movement of the wiper blade; a spring coupled to the wiper blade, wherein the spring is configured to store potential energy as the spring is biased from a relaxed position to a biased position; and a motor coupled to the spring, wherein the motor is configured to convert received electrical power into mechanical power that biases the spring. The spring is released from the biased position to release the stored potential energy as the spring returns to the relaxed position. The released potential energy from the spring is converted to mechanical energy that moves the wiper blade.
US08468632B1	Tactical access ramp A tactical access ramp has an upper and a lower section that are connected by a hinge. Optional upper and lower extension sections and arms are available to extend the length of the ramp. Feet are connected to the lower section, or to the lower extension section or lower extension arms if provided, and provide a stable base for the ramp on the lower surface on which it is deployed. A landing section is connected to the upper section, or to the upper extension section or upper extension arms if provided. The landing section has a landing platform that engages an upper surface, and reduces slippage between the ramp and the upper surface. In this manner, animals and personnel are provided with a stable means of ascent from the lower surface to the upper surface.
US08468625B2	Patient gurney having configurable registration capabilities A patient support system includes a wheeled gurney having an upper support frame with at least one open side. A front support plate and a rear support plate are attached to the upper support frame, with the rear support plate spaced apart from the front support plate to correspond to the at least one open side. There is a first registration element positioned on the front support plate and a second registration element positioned on the rear support plate. The first and the second registration elements are repeatably moveable between a first registration configuration and a second registration configuration. A method of positioning a patient support on a gurney begins by identifying a registration feature on a surface of a patient support and then identifying a mating registration feature on wheeled patient gurney that corresponds to the registration feature. Next, there is a step of altering the configuration of the mating registration feature to permit the registration feature and the mating registration feature to engage when the patient support is placed on the wheeled patient gurney. The placing step is performed by a robot, for example. Alternatively, the placing step is performed in a radiation treatment room or performed while the patient support is supporting a patient undergoing a radiation therapy.
US08468623B2	Lift chair A lift apparatus has a frame with open sides and a web assembly slidably retained along the sides which extends from one end of the frame to the other. While the web assembly is retracted, the frame moves to pass around a mobility-impaired individual and rest against the surface supporting the individual. The web assembly is then extended to move underneath or behind the individual, providing lifting support. The frame is configurable for orientations ranging continuously between horizontal and upright sitting. The web assembly has an upper web contacting the individual, a lower web contacting the support surface, a strength layer carrying the individual's weight, and a roller nose bar assembly which is pulled to extend the web assembly. A hand-held power tool can drive the web assembly, adjustment of inclinations of the back and leg sections of the frame, and vertical motion of the lift arm.
US08474061B2	Production scale fabrication method for high resolution AFM tips A method of fabricating high resolution atomic force microscopy (AFM) tips including a single semiconductor nanowire grown at an apex of a semiconductor pyramid of each AFM tip is provided. The semiconductor nanowire that is grown has a controllable diameter and a high aspect ratio, without significant tapering from the tip of the semiconductor nanowire to its base. The method includes providing an AFM probe including a semiconductor cantilever having a semiconductor pyramid extending upward from a surface of said semiconductor cantilever. The semiconductor pyramid has an apex. A patterned oxide layer is formed on the AFM probe. The patterned oxide layer has an opening that exposes the apex of the semiconductor pyramid. A single semiconductor nanowire is grown on the exposed apex of the semiconductor pyramid utilizing a non-oxidized Al seed material as a catalyst for nanowire growth.
US08474045B2	Method of detecting program attacks A program data attack is detected during execution of an algorithm performed by an embedded system. The algorithm uses program data stored in the embedded system. The detection is performed by asserting a detection command signal, initializing a calculation register with a calculation result in response to assertion of the detection command signal, wherein the calculation result is produced by execution of the algorithm using the program data, and comparing the calculation result stored in the calculation register with a reference value included in the program data, wherein the reference value is a value of the calculation result expected to be obtained when the program data is not attacked from outside.
US08474039B2	System and method for proactive detection and repair of malware memory infection via a remote memory reputation system A method for detecting malware memory infections includes the steps of scanning a memory on an electronic device, determining a suspicious entry present in the memory, accessing information about the suspicious entry in a reputation system, and evaluating whether the suspicious entry indicates a malware memory infection. The memory includes memory known to be modified by malware. The suspicious entry is not recognized as a safe entry. The reputation system is configured to store information on suspicious entries. The evaluation is based upon historical data regarding the suspicious entry.
US08474032B2	Firewall+ storage apparatus, method and system A storage firewall architecture, method and system that works in parallel with existing security technologies and, inter alia, provides application software authentication, user authentication & authorization in the execution of an application, examination, verification, and authentication of all storage access requests, monitoring of protected storage to detect & repair anomalous changes, encryption of protected storage, both data and software, provisioning (deployment) of patches, configuration changes, and software through a secure synchronization link to a configuration and patch management server, and server-based system administration & configuration to prevent malware from penetrating local configuration mechanisms.
US08474026B2	Realization of access control conditions as boolean expressions in credential authentications A method, reader, and system are provided for performing group authentication processes. In particular, a group access decision can be made upon the analysis of a group rule. The group rule may contain a Boolean expression including one or more Boolean conditions. If an appropriate group of credentials are presented to a reader such that the Boolean expression is satisfied, then the group of credentials and the holders thereof are allowed access to a protected asset.
US08474023B2	Proactive credential caching In wireless networking, such as per the IEEE 802.11 standard, a technique automatically republishes an authentication credential to a global credential repository. A station can have a first credential, as is created when the station connects to a first access node of a wireless network. Upon trying and failing to connect to a second access node of the wireless network, the station can have a second credential created and published to the global credential repository. In some situations, the station then roams back to the first access node using the first credential. Efficiently, when the station uses the first credential at the first access node, the first credential can be automatically republished as a global credential. The automatic republishing of the first credential can ensure that the station is able to access the wireless network via various access nodes when roaming.
US08474013B2	Securely managing password access to a computer system A method, system or computer usable program product for providing initial access Lo the computer system in response to a user providing a first password, and upon detecting a condition meeting a predetermined criteria, providing subsequent access to the computer system in response to the user providing a second password wherein the first password has stronger security than the second password.
US08474012B2	Progressive consent A consent management system is described which manages an entity's consent to consume application functionality on a per-feature level of granularity. To perform this task, the consent management system maintains consent information which describes a plurality of use conditions associated with the features of the application functionality. In one case, the consent information has a hierarchical data structure that identifies a hierarchy of application features. In operation, the consent management system accesses the content information whenever an entity seeks to access a particular application feature; it grants or denies access to the feature based on the consent information. The consent management system also includes a consent maintenance module that allows an administrator (or other entity) to cancel or modify any use condition in the consent information.
US08474009B2	Dynamic service access Apparatus, systems, and methods may operate to authenticate a desktop client to an identity service (IS), to receive a request, from an application, at the IS via the desktop client for a virtual service internet protocol (IP) address associated with a service. The IS may operate to build a routing token that includes an original physical IP address associated with the service when a policy associated with the IS permits access to the service by a user identity associated with the desktop client. After the routing token is validated, the application may be connected to the service via the desktop client. The application may comprise an e-mail application or a remote control application, such as a virtual network computing (VNC) application. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.
US08474002B2	Method and system for adaptive disk management Provided herein are at least one embodiment of systems and methods of adaptive disk management for a recording device employing a memory storage device such as hard disk storage so that memory storage device usage is tracked in the recording device and the memory storage device is controlled based on time-based patterns of user behavior.
US08474001B2	Near real time delivery of variable bit rate media streams A method of delivering a variable bit rate (VBR) media stream in near real time includes identifying a selected media asset to be streamed to a media receiver, receiving an available access bandwidth at which the media receiver can receive data, and initiating a session setup for delivery of the selected media asset. The method further includes calculating a delay in decoding a media stream associated with the selected media asset at the media receiver based on the available access bandwidth, and a calculated required minimum transmission rate of a VBR media stream representative of the selected media asset. The method further includes transmitting the selected media asset at the required minimum transmission rate of the VBR media stream and providing the calculated delay to the media receiver such that the media receiver begins decoding the media stream in accordance with the calculated delay.
US08474000B2	Managing upstream bandwidth A computer-implemented method for managing upstream bandwidth of a network including changing QoS settings, by a router, of a video device of a plurality of video devices in the network to a higher priority than other of the plurality of video devices. The plurality of video devices concurrently transmit video data. The computer-implemented method further includes estimating an overall upstream bandwidth by the higher priority video device and determining operating rates, by the router, for the plurality of video devices, such that said modem buffer is not backlogged.
US08473999B2	Method and apparatus for providing a picture in picture service A method of forming a picture in picture (PIP) service over an internet protocol (IP) transmission to one or more users, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a request for a PIP channel comprising a first predetermined channel superimposed with a second predetermined channel; determining if the PIP channel already exists; forming the PIP channel if it does not already exist; and transmitting the PIP channel on a dedicated channel to any users who have requested that PIP channel.
US08473997B2	Channel changing method, apparatus, and system Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a channel changing method, apparatus, and system. A network side device records in real time a timestamp of a media packet of a multicast media stream which enters a buffer, and a key frame which enters the buffer; when a terminal's channel changing request has been detected, obtains a first timestamp of a media packet which enters the buffer at a channel changing request moment, and a second timestamp of a media packet in which a key frame which is of the target channel and is the last to enter the buffer is located in the media packet; determines a timestamp difference between the first timestamp and the second timestamp; and transmits the timestamp difference and a burst media stream of the target channel to the terminal. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, a delay in playing the multicast media stream by the terminal is reduced.
US08473986B2	Electronic program guide An apparatus 100 and method is provided for generating an EPG. The apparatus 100 is configured to output data to generate an EPG in which upcoming programs are shown as tiles with a uniform size, regardless of the duration of the program or how much of the program has elapsed. The EPG also has a highlighted portion that is associated with a particular channel at any given time. When a command is received to move forwards or backwards through the EPG, data is output to move the highlighted portion of the EPG in the corresponding direction. The tiles representing programs in the EPG are also shifted so as to be based on the start time of the next or previous (depending on the user input) program on the channel associated with the highlighted portion.
US08473975B1	Methods and apparatus to detect user attentiveness to handheld computing devices Methods and apparatus to detect user attentiveness to handheld computing devices are disclosed. An example method includes detecting a change of a handheld computing device from a first starting spatial condition to a first ending spatial condition; and querying an index associating a plurality of spatial condition changes with respective likelihoods indicative of user attentiveness to determine if the index includes an entry having the first starting spatial condition and the first ending spatial condition of the detected change.
US08473974B2	Activation system and method for activating an optical article An optical article comprising a plurality of optically detectable marks disposed on a surface of the optical article; a removable electrical device disposed on the surface of the optical article; wherein the electrical device is operatively coupled to the optical article; and wherein the electrical device is configured to interact with an activation signal when brought in direct contact with a communication device that applies the activation signal to the electrical device. A removable electrical device is also provided. A system and a method for activation are also provided.
US08473965B2	Net-timer daemon User space applications can utilize custom network protocol timers. A registration request is received from an application to register a custom timer. Responsive to receiving the registration request, a handle is created. The handle is a pointer to be used by the application to reference the custom timer. The handle is forwarded to the application. When a custom timer is required, a request to use a custom timer is received from an application. The kernel is then requested to start the custom timer. A determination is then made as to whether a receipt confirmation is received from the kernel before expiration of the custom timer.
US08473948B1	Method for synchronizing independent cooperative thread arrays running on a graphics processing unit One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a technique for synchronizing the execution of multiple cooperative thread arrays (CTAs) implementing a parallel algorithm that is mapped onto a graphics processing unit. An array of semaphores provides synchronization status to each CTA, while one designated thread within each CTA provides updated status for the CTA. The designated thread within each participating CTA reports completion of a given computational phase by updating a current semaphore within the array of semaphores. The designated thread then polls the status of the current semaphore until all participating CTAs have reported completion of the current computational phase. After each CTA has completed the current computational phase, all participating CTAs may proceed to the next computational phase.
US08473947B2	Method for configuring a physical adapter with virtual function (VF) and physical function (PF) for controlling address translation between virtual disks and physical storage regions A method is provided for use in a system that includes a host computing machine configured to implement a virtualization intermediary and that includes a physical storage adapter, the configures a virtual machine (VM) and a virtual function (VF) to support IO operations to physical storage through a direct IOV path to the VF of the physical storage adapter, the method comprises: creating by the virtualization intermediary mapping information that includes a first mapping between virtual disks and physical regions of physical storage and that includes a second mapping between virtual disks and virtual disk addresses; transmitting the mapping information from the virtualization intermediary over the physical storage adapter from a physical function (PF) of the physical storage adapter to the VF; associating a virtual port with the mapping information within the virtualization intermediary; binding the virtual port to the VF; communicating virtual disk addresses indicated within the second mapping within the transmitted mapping information for the allocated virtual disks to the VM.
US08473944B2	Applying social computing paradigm to software installation and configuration A method for installation and configuration of a software product includes installing a software product and determining configuration settings of the software product based upon a social network of peers. A system for installation and configuration of at least one software product includes at least one client install package capable of utilizing a social network for at least one of installing software; transmitting configuration settings; transmitting post-installation configuration settings; or responding to post-installation configuration modifications; and a server that stores and aggregates the configuration settings of a plurality of users, forming at least one social network.
US08473943B2	Using ecoprint for cloning of applications Methods and systems for automating technology integrations are presented. A source application system that connects to external technologies, such as plug-ins, is ported from one computing environment or ecosystem to another and thereby integrated on the other ecosystem. The porting is facilitated by the extraction of information and code from the source environment, creating an XML “ecoprint” payload file, copying the ecoprint file to the target system, and applying an integration defined by the XML ecoprint payload file to connect and otherwise integrate the application system with external technologies in the target environment.
US08473942B2	Changable deployment conditions Methods and apparatuses receive a plurality of files including a software package having code to execute a program on a system with specific attributes, the software package to contain a list identifying specific system attributes required to execute the program. An installation process for the software package is initialized on a system with at least one system attribute that is compatible with the program but not identified by the list of system attributes in the software package, the installation process to identify the system attributes and configured to fail if the system attributes differ from the list in the software package. The installation process identifies an external list of system attributes from the plurality of files separate from the software package wherein the external list of attributes identifies the compatible attribute. The installation process is then executed based on the external list of system attributes.
US08473931B2	Method, system and program product for optimizing emulation of a suspected malware A method, system and program product for optimizing emulation of a suspected malware. The method includes identifying, using an emulation optimizer tool, whether an instruction in a suspected malware being emulated by an emulation engine in a virtual environment signifies a long loop and, if so, generating a first hash for the loop. Further, the method includes ascertaining whether the first hash generated matches any long loop entries in a storage and, if so calculating a second hash for the long loop. Furthermore, the method includes inspecting any long loop entries ascertained to find an entry having a respective second hash matching the second hash calculated. If an entry matching the second hash calculated is found, the method further includes updating one or more states of the emulation engine, such that, execution of the long loop of the suspected malware is skipped, which optimizes emulation of the suspected malware.
US08473929B2	Architecture tailoring system According to one embodiment, an architecture tailoring system includes an architecture tailoring tool coupled to multiple architecture tools that each generates architectures according to its native architecture definition. Architecture tailoring tool receives an architecture from an architecture tool generated according to its native architecture definition and convert at least a portion of the architecture to conform a different architecture definition. The converted portion may then be exported to another architecture tool that is configured to manipulate the converted portion of the architecture according to its native architecture definition.
US08473927B2	Points-to analysis using value flow In general, in one aspect, the invention relates to a method for performing points-to analysis by generating a value flow graph for source code. The method steps include: initializing the value flow graph including a set of memory objects and a set of edges based on Base and Assignment instructions, where the set of edges represents inclusion constraints between the set of memory objects and a set of pointer variables; determining a pointed-to-by set including at least one pointer variable of the set of pointer variables; updating the value flow graph by introducing a flow edge based on an indirect reference, where the flow edge is related to a memory object of the set of memory objects that is added to a working list; updating the pointed-to-by set based on the memory object in the working list; and analyzing the source code using the pointed-to-by set.
US08473921B2	Debugging mechanisms in a cache-based memory isolation system Debugging software in systems with architecturally significant processor caches. A method may be practiced in a computing environment. The method includes acts for debugging a software application, wherein the software application is configured to use one or more architecturally significant processor caches coupled to a processor. The method includes beginning execution of the software application. A debugger is run while executing the software application. The software application causes at least one of reads or writes to be made to the cache in an architecturally significant fashion. The reads or writes made to the cache in an architecturally significant fashion are preserved while performing debugging operations that would ordinarily disturb the reads or writes made to the cache in an architecturally significant fashion.
US08473915B2	Coverage analysis tool for testing database-aware software applications Embodiments of the invention provide coverage analysis of database elements accessed by a software application, thus providing improved and more complete testing of database-aware applications. In one embodiment, database elements accessed by the software application are determined during a run-time test of the software application.
US08473912B2	Computer readable medium, system and method of debugging software applications modelled using flow paradigms A debugger allows debugging of applications using a flow paradigm. Breakpoints may be set based on the flow model. Similarly, variables used by the flow model may be queried. Debugging information may be presented in a graphical user interface, in conjunction with a depiction of the application using a flow diagram.
US08473910B2	Method and system for defining a software application as a complete and consistent specification in a software development process A method and system include capturing one or more process flow definitions that define, at least in part, a software application. One or more user interface definitions that define, at least in part, an interface to the software application are captured. One or more data definitions that define, at least in part, data used within the software application are captured. One or more rules for validating at least part of the software application are captured. A design definition is captured as a specification wherein the design definition includes: the one or more process flow definitions, the one or more user interface definitions, the one or more data definitions, and the one or more rules.
US08473907B1	Computer programming adaptive analysis A method and apparatus for evaluating quality of a codebase is provided. The evaluation is provided by developing metrics, indicators, and indices for all levels of a codebase to provide indicators of quality and to enable identification of code blocks that need to be improved.
US08473903B2	Code edit apparatus and recording medium Each of first programs stored in a recording medium causes a computer to execute each specific type of edit process. A second program stored in the recording medium causes the computer to execute the following steps. A first step is a step of acquiring first information for designating a program file and an area to be edited and second information for designating the first program. A second step is a step of causing the computer to execute the process of editing the binary code of the area designated by the first information via the first program designated by the second information.
US08473897B2	Common intermediate representation for data scripting language A common intermediate representation for a data scripting language is provided for efficient representation and direct specification of programming constructs in memory. The common intermediate representation of data scripts allows data intensive applications to be created and analyzed in a machine accessible format, and the elements of the common intermediate representation can be stored independent of underlying storage specifics. Stored elements of the common intermediate representation of code are thus available for fast loading in memory when desired by other applications and programs by mapping the stored elements to the in memory intermediate representation.
US08473891B1	System and method for integrated circuit layout editing using reference frames An automated system, and method of operating the same, for editing the floorplan, placement, and toplevel wiring routing in a layout of an integrated circuit. Components in the layout of the integrated circuit, such components including functional blocks or subchips, and also wire segments of the toplevel wiring, are associated with horizontal reference frames and vertical reference frames. Each reference frame has its position, in the orthogonal direction, specified by a position of a reference line. The positions of subchips and wire segments within the reference frame are expressed as offsets from the reference line. Movement of components is accomplished by moving the reference frame in the orthogonal direction, and updating the reference line position while maintaining the offset values constant.
US08473888B2	Systems and methods of designing integrated circuits A method of designing an integrated circuit includes defining at least one dummy layer covering at least one of a portion of a first metallic layer and a portion of a second metallic layer of an integrated circuit. The second metallic layer is disposed over the first metallic layer. The first metallic layer, the second metallic layer and a gate electrode of the integrated circuit have a same routing direction. A logical operation is performed to a file corresponding to the at least one of the portion of the first metallic layer and the portion of the second metallic layer covered by the dummy layer so as to size at least one of the portion of the first metallic layer and the portion of the second metallic layer.
US08473885B2	Physical design system and method A design system for designing complex integrated circuits (ICs), a method of IC design and program product therefor. A layout unit receives a circuit description representing portions in a grid and glyph format. A checking unit checks grid and glyph portions of the design. An elaboration unit generates a target layout from the checked design. A data prep unit prepares the target layout for mask making. A pattern caching unit selectively replaces portions of the design with previously cached results for improved design efficiency.
US08473878B2	Lithographically enhanced edge determination During a calculation technique, at least a portion of a target pattern associated with an integrated-circuit design is modified so that polygons in the target pattern, which represent features in the design, result in acceptable accuracy during a photolithographic process that fabricates the target pattern on a semiconductor die. In particular, a set of polygon parameters associated with the polygons are modified, as needed, so that a cost function that corresponds to a difference between a modified target pattern and an estimated target pattern produced during the photolithographic process meets a termination criterion. A mask pattern that can fabricate the modified target pattern on the semiconductor die is calculated using an inverse optical calculation in which the modified target pattern is at an image plane of an optical path associated with the photolithographic process and the mask pattern is at an object plane of the optical path.
US08473875B2	Method and system for forming high accuracy patterns using charged particle beam lithography A method and system for fracturing or mask data preparation for charged particle beam lithography are disclosed in which accuracy and/or edge slope of a pattern formed on a surface by a set of charged particle beam shots is enhanced by use of partially-overlapping shots. In some embodiments, dosages of the shots may vary with respect to each other before proximity effect correction. Particle beam simulation may be used to calculate the pattern and the edge slope. Enhanced edge slope can improve critical dimension (CD) variation and line-edge roughness (LER) of the pattern produced on the surface.
US08473872B2	Gradient-based search mechanism for optimizing photolithograph masks A mechanism is provided for optimizing a photolithograph mask. A given target pattern is received. An initial fictitious mask is generated from the given target pattern and an initial value of α2 is selected where the initial value of α2 is used to determine a light intensity and a wafer image. The light intensity for each pixel in the initial fictitious mask and the wafer image for each pixel in the initial fictitious mask are then determined. A determination is then made as to whether a convergence has been achieved by comparing the wafer image generated from the fictitious mask to the given target pattern. Responsive to a convergence of the wafer image generated from the fictitious mask to the given target pattern, a final mask is generated to use to transfer an image to a wafer.
US08473868B1	System and method for reverse hierarchical navigation within a user interface Systems and methods are provided for facilitating navigation of a hierarchy including a plurality of categories within a user interface. A method includes displaying a first set of categories in the hierarchy as respective graphical images along a first axis of a user interface. A reverse navigation option is also displayed along the first axis with the first set of categories. The method continues by allowing the first set of categories and the reverse navigation option to be scrolled along the first axis to place the reverse navigation option within a focus area of the user interface. In response to the reverse navigation option being placed within the focus area, the user interface displays one or more ancestor categories of the first categories as respective graphical images along a second axis of the user interface. In response to an ancestor category being selected from the second axis, the user interface replaces the first categories with second categories along the first axis. The second categories include the selected ancestor category and one or more sibling categories of the selected ancestor category.
US08473863B2	Method for generating an on-screen menu A method for generating an on-screen menu comprising menu buttons and other menu items, e.g. help text, comprises one or more groups of menu buttons or menu items are defined, wherein a group comprises one or more menu buttons or menu items and has associated a defined area on the screen. A state is assigned to a button, the state being “enabled” or “disabled”, wherein only an enabled button or item may be displayed, and wherein within a group not more than one button or item may be enabled. The state of a button can be changed by commands associated with other buttons.
US08473862B1	Organizational tools on a multi-touch display device A process for enabling objects displayed on a multi-input display device to be grouped together is disclosed that includes defining a target element that enables objects displayed on a multi-input display device to be grouped together through interaction with the target element. Engagement of an input mechanism with one of the target element and a particular one of the objects displayed on the multi-input display device is detected. Movement of the input mechanism is monitored while the input mechanism remains engaged with whichever one of the target element and the particular displayed object that the input mechanism engaged. A determination is made that at least a portion of a particular displayed object is overlapping at least a portion of a target element on the multi-input display device upon detecting disengagement of the input mechanism. As a consequence of disengagement and the overlap, processes are invoked that establish a relationship between the particular displayed object and a position on the target element and that causes transformations applied to the target element also to be applied to the particular displayed object while maintaining the relationship between the particular displayed object and the position on the target element.
US08473860B2	Multi-layer user interface with flexible parallel and orthogonal movement A user interface (UI) system calculates movements in a multi-layer graphical user interface. The UI system receives user input corresponding to gestures on a touchscreen. The UI system calculates a movement of a first layer in a first direction (e.g., a horizontal direction) at a first movement rate. The UI system calculates a movement of a second layer substantially parallel to the movement of the first layer, at a second movement rate that differs from the first movement rate. The UI system calculates a movement (e.g., a vertical movement) in a direction substantially orthogonal to the first direction, in a UI element of one of the layers.
US08473852B2	Virtual world building operations center Methods and systems are described that allow coordinated users to employ avatars to observe and control a plurality of buildings—their building support systems and functions from a virtual world environment. Embodiments coordinate building supervisory personnel (specialists), building monitoring and control equipment, and repair (worker) personnel in a virtual world that is controlled by specialist avatars. Operations personnel perform building operation decisions in response to current situations in a virtual world using their specialist avatars.
US08473851B2	Multi-party virtual desktop In one embodiment, a method for sharing data displayed on a user's computer screen includes displaying a movable tile on the user's computer screen, the tile being positionable on the computer screen to identify data displayed on the user's computer screen and selected for sharing with one or more remote users. The method further includes transmitting the data identified by a position of the tile on the user's computer screen to the remote users, receiving shared data from one of the remote users, and displaying the shared data on the user's computer screen. The identified data includes only a portion of data displayed on the user's computer screen and the shared data corresponds to data displayed on a portion of said remote user's computer screen.
US08473848B2	Palette-based color selection within a user interface theme Methods and devices that enable the customization of colors in a user interface by using a palette to define colors. The palette includes strings that have color values assigned to them. The strings are referred to in style sheets where color attributes are specified, such that colors can be redefined in the palette rather than in the style sheet.
US08473843B2	Correcting data inputted into a mobile communications device A method, system, and medium are provided for inputting data into a mobile communications device having a touchscreen. An illustrative method includes receiving a user-entered character string and automatically replacing the user-entered character string with a suggested character string. The suggested character string is marked with a visual indication of the replacement and the visual indication is maintained even if the suggested character string is a correctly spelled word. An input region associated with the visual indication is provided such that a set of alternative character strings as suggested replacements may be provided incident to receiving touch input to the input region.
US08473833B2	Forward error correction method This invention concerns packet recovery for real-time (live) multi-media communication over packet-switched networks like the Internet. Such communication includes video, audio, data or any combination thereof. The invention comprises forward error correction (FEC) algorithms addressing both random and burst packet loss and errors, and that can be adjusted to tradeoff the recoverability of missing packets and the latency incurred.
US08473825B2	Evolved universal terrestrial radio access acknowledged mode radio link control status report for segmented protocol data units A method is provided for an acknowledged mode (AM) radio link control (RLC) receiving entity to promote a retransmission of at least a segment of a data protocol data unit (PDU). The method comprises the receiving entity constructing a STATUS PDU such that an AM RLC transmitting entity receiving the STATUS PDU retransmits the segment.
US08473817B2	LDPC (low density parity check) code size adjustment by shortening and puncturing LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) code size adjustment by shortening and puncturing. A variety of LDPC coded signals may be generated from an initial LDPC code using selected shortening and puncturing. Using LDPC code size adjustment approach, a single communication device whose hardware design is capable of processing the original LDPC code is also capable to process the various other LDPC codes constructed from the original LDPC code after undergoing appropriate shortening and puncturing. This provides significant design simplification and reduction in complexity because the same hardware can be implemented to accommodate the various LDPC codes generated from the original LDPC code. Therefore, a multi-LDPC code capable communication device can be implemented that is capable to process several of the generated LDPC codes. This approach allows for great flexibility in the LDPC code design, in that, the original code rate can be maintained after performing the shortening and puncturing.
US08473797B2	Circuits and methods for clock malfunction detection Circuit for detecting malfunction of a primary clock in SoCs comprises a primary clock circuit having a GRAY code counter for generating a GRAY code sequence based on a number of clock pulses generated Primary clock. A secondary clock circuit is configured to output a secondary clock pulse on each saturation of a secondary clock counter. A clock gated register circuit is clocked by the secondary clock pulse, and is configured to store a plurality of values of the GRAY code sequence, and update the plurality of values of the GRAY code sequence on each saturation of the secondary clock counter. An error detection circuit is configured to output a detection signal for detecting the malfunction of primary clock based on a comparison of the updated plurality of values of the GRAY code sequence with at least one predetermined threshold associated with the malfunction of primary clock.
US08473791B2	Redundant memory to mask DRAM failures A method comprises detecting a defective area in a Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM). The method further comprises establishing a redundant memory buffer at a per-memory module level. The method still further comprises loading the redundant memory buffer with a copy of data from the defective area. The method additionally comprises substituting data from the redundant memory buffer for data stored in the defective area upon a memory access to the defective area.
US08473789B2	Memory leak monitoring system and associated methods A system to check for memory leaks in storage may include a data processing application executing via a computer processor, and storage to store data generated by the data processing application. The system may also include a monitor executing via the computer processor that checks the storage over different time intervals in order to identify a particular sized memory leak in the storage based upon each time interval's length.
US08473780B2	Efficient data storage in storage device arrays A method for data storage includes encoding data with an inter-device Error Correction Code (ECC), and sending the encoded data for storage on two or more storage devices. The data to be stored on each of the storage devices, and which has been encoded with the inter-device ECC, is encoded with an intra-device ECC, and the data encoded with the inter-device and intra-device ECCs is stored on the storage device. After storing the data, at least part of the stored data is retrieved and output by decoding the intra-device and inter-device ECCs, while using information related to one of the intra-device and inter-device ECCs in decoding the other of the intra-device and inter-device ECCs.
US08473773B2	Method and system to provide a compliance clock service suitable for cloud deployment A method and system for providing an improved compliance clock service are described. An example method comprises establishing a system compliance clock (SCC) for a storage system that provides a compliant storage service, and establishing, for a volume in the storage system, a volume compliance clock (VCC). A current value of the SCC may be periodically updated based on hardware ticks monitored at the associated storage node. The volume compliance clock is to update its value based on a current value of the SCC.
US08473770B2	Semiconductor device and data processing system There is provided a serial reception circuit that can suppress the occurrence of a bit error due to long-period jitter while suppressing the power consumption. A serial reception circuit for receiving a serial signal in synchronization with a clock signal samples the serial signal in synchronization with multiphase sampling clock signals out of phase with the clock signal, determines based on sampled signals that a sampling phase having little effect of phase variation of the serial signal on a sampling result is an optimum phase, performs a reception operation in which a signal sampled by the optimum phase is reception data, and has, as determination operations for the optimum phase, a first mode and a second mode in which optimality of an optimum phase determined in the first mode is determined based on a sampling result of a reduced number of samplings.
US08473767B2	Electronic device and power management method thereof A method for managing power of an electronic device receives a power signal of a peripheral device of the electronic device, determines if a data signal of the peripheral device is received at a preset time interval, and sends a time record command to a timer of the electronic device if the data signal is not received to obtain a recorded time of the electronic device. The method further displays an idle status of the peripheral device if the recorded time is greater than a first preset value, and stops supplying power to the peripheral device if the recorded time is greater than a second preset value.
US08473763B2	Image forming apparatus Provided is an image forming apparatus that realizes a distributed control system with a reduced number of power lines, and that has highly reliable power supply and an effective power saving mode. To accomplish this, the image forming apparatus employs a distributed control system including a master CPU, a plurality of sub master CPUs, and a plurality of slave CPUs. The master CPU supplies 5-V power to the sub master CPUs and the slave CPUs in the power saving mode, and supplies 24-V power thereto in a normal mode. Also, the sub master CPUs determine the operating mode in accordance with the level of the supplied power voltage, and operate accordingly.
US08473760B2	Memory system and server system According to one embodiment, a memory system includes a NAND flash memory includes a memory cell array includes pages, and a volatile data register with a storage capacity of one page, and configured to write page data to the memory cell array through the data register, each of the pages includes nonvolatile memory cells and being a unit of data write, a volatile RAM, and a controller includes a power saving mode in which power consumption of the RAM is reduced, and configured to transfer data of the RAM to the data register before entering the power saving mode.
US08473756B2	Systems and methods for securing data using multi-factor or keyed dispersal A secure data parser is provided that may be integrated into any suitable system for securely storing and communicating data. The secure data parser parses data and then splits the data into multiple portions that are stored or communicated distinctly. Encryption of the original data, the portions of data, or both may be employed for additional security. The secure data parser may be used to protect data in motion by splitting original data into portions of data, that may be communicated using multiple communications paths. A keyed information dispersal algorithm (keyed IDA) may also be used. The key for the keyed IDA may additionally be protected by an external workgroup key, resulting in a multi-factor secret sharing scheme.
US08473743B2	Mobile device management Methods and apparatuses that enroll a wireless device into an enterprise service with a management server addressed in a management profile are described. The enrollment may grant a control of configurations of the wireless device to the management server via the management profile. In response to receiving a notification from the management server, a trust of the notification may be verified against the management profile. If the trust is verified, a network session may be established with the management server. The network session may be secured via a certificate in the management profile. Management operations may be performed for management commands received over the secure network session to manage the configurations transparently to a user of the wireless device according to the control.
US08473741B2	System and method for comparing private data The present disclosure is directed to systems and methods including accessing a first private value, generating a first intermediate value based on the first private value, receiving a second intermediate value that is based on a second private value, generating a first comparison value based on the second intermediate value, receiving over the network a second comparison value that is based on the first intermediate value, comparing the first comparison value and the second comparison value to generate a result, and displaying the result, the result indicating that the first private is greater than the second private value when the first comparison value is less than the second comparison value, and the result indicating that the first private value is less than or equal to the second private value when the first comparison value is greater than the second comparison value.
US08473740B2	Method and system for secured management of online XML document services through structure-preserving asymmetric encryption A system and method for encrypting/decrypting a document is provided. The encryption method includes encrypting portions within the document containing structural information with an asymmetric public key, encrypting portions within the document containing content information with a symmetric private key, and outputting the document, whereby a service provider provided with a public key is able to access and process only the structural information.
US08473734B2	Multi-service VPN network client for mobile device having dynamic failover An integrated, multi-service network client for cellular mobile devices is described. The multi-service network client can be deployed as a single software package on cellular mobile network devices to provide integrated services including secure enterprise virtual private network (VPN) connectivity, acceleration, security management including monitored and enforced endpoint compliance, and collaboration services. Once installed on the cellular mobile device, the multi-service client establishes the VPN connection to concurrently include both a layer three (L3) tunnel that uses a first type of transport layer protocol of the operating system and a layer four (L4) tunnel that uses a second type of transport layer protocol of the operating system. The VPN handler determines whether network ports associated with the L3 tunnel are unblocked by an operating system and, when the network ports are unblocked, automatically transitions from the L4 tunnel to the L3 tunnel without terminating the VPN connection.
US08473733B2	Method for managing opaque presence indications within a presence access layer A method for a presentity to provide private presence information for a watcher. The method includes the presentity providing the private presence information in an encrypted form. The method also includes a presence access layer obtaining the private presence information. The method also includes the presence access layer performing one of decrypting the private presence information and sending the decrypted private presence information to the watcher, and leaving the private presence information in the encrypted form and sending the encrypted private presence information to the watcher, wherein the watcher decrypts the private presence information.
US08473732B2	Method and system for secure block acknowledgment (block ACK) with protected MAC sequence number Aspects of a method and system for protected MAC sequence numbers, as well as secure block acknowledgment (block ACK) with protected MAC sequence number are presented. In one aspect of the system a communicating station (STA) may protect the sequence number (SN) field portion of transmitted protocol data units (PDUs), for example data MAC layer PDUs (MPDUs), or frames. In another aspect of the system, starting sequence number (SSN) information communicated via control frames, such as block acknowledgment request (BAR) and block acknowledgment (BA) frames, may be protected. In another aspect of the system, communicating STAs may exchange management frames to enable the protection of SN information in data MPDUs and/or the protection of SSN values in control MPDUs.
US08473731B2	System and method for physical to virtual disk re-layout A method and device may, in a computing system executing a operating system and having a mass storage device, rewrite the boot sector of the operating system on the storage device to execute a hypervisor operating system in a boot process, copy a file including the hypervisor kernel to a first sub-area on the storage device, copy software components of the hypervisor to a second sub-area on the storage device, boot to execute the hypervisor as an operating system, execute the operating system, retrieve information indicative of absolute mapping of sectors used by the operating system on the storage device, allocate for the sectors on a third sub-area of the mass storage device, perform a second boot to run the hypervisor as a host operating system, and execute the operating system as guest operating system.
US08473729B2	Method and apparatus for managing the privacy and disclosure of location information An approach for managing the privacy and disclosure of location information associated with a computer system. For one aspect, a request is received from a requestor for a location property associated with a location of a computer system. It is then determined whether a privacy preference associated with the requestor has been specified. If not, a user may be prompted to supply privacy preferences associated with the requester. The privacy preferences are then applied to determine whether or not to provide the requested information. A user setting, such as a basic input-output system memory location setting, may also be implemented to enable and/or disable location-aware computing.
US08473722B2	Processor architecture for exact pointer identification The present invention relates to an object-based processor architecture which allows exact pointer identification by strictly separating pointers and data from one another in the memory and in the processor registers. The access to the memory is performed exclusively via pointers which refer to objects. An object contains separate areas for pointers and data and an attribute field for describing the length of the two areas. Both the pointers in the pointer registers and also the pointers in the pointer areas of the objects directly contain the address of the objects to which they refer. The suggested processor architecture allows the integration of automatic garbage collection, which may be implemented completely or partially in hardware. A real-time capable garbage collection may be implemented especially efficiently through hardware support.
US08473716B2	Distributed processing system, information processing apparatus, and distributed processing method According to an aspect of the embodiment, a user apparatus transmits a parameter on generation of drawing data to each of drawing data generation apparatuses through a network, to assign generation processing of the drawing data to each of drawing data generation apparatuses. The user apparatus receives the drawing data generated based on the parameter by each of the plurality of drawing data generation apparatuses through the network, and displays the received drawing data. The user apparatus changes the parameter corresponding to the displayed drawing data, and displays a new drawing data corresponding to the changed parameter.
US08473712B2	Method for managing a memory apparatus, and associated memory apparatus thereof A method for managing a memory apparatus including at least one non-volatile (NV) memory element includes: providing at least one block of the memory apparatus with at least one local page address linking table within the memory apparatus, wherein the local page address linking table includes linking relationships between physical page addresses and logical page addresses of a plurality of pages; and building a global page address linking table of the memory apparatus according to the local page address linking table. More particularly, the step of providing the block with the local page address linking table further includes: building a temporary local page address linking table for the local page address linking table corresponding to programming/writing operations of the memory apparatus; and temporarily storing the temporary local page address linking table in a volatile memory of the memory apparatus, and updating the temporary local page address linking table when needed.
US08473708B1	Method and system for managing storage units Method and system for managing storage units are provided. A free space module scans a storage unit data structure and a reference data structure to generate an intermediate data structure that identifies storage units that are not referenced by any storage unit client. A lookup module is initiated and the storage unit clients are notified that all new references to any storage unit should be verified with the lookup module. The free space module then verifies if any of the storage units in the intermediate data structure have been referenced since the intermediate data structure was created. Any referenced storage units are removed from the intermediate data structure and a data structure identifying unreferenced storage units is generated. The data structure is then used to allocate the identified storage units.
US08473700B2	Providing versioning in a storage device Provided are a computer program product, system and method for managing Input/Output (I/O) requests to a storage device. A first entry is located in a volume control table for the logical address to write indicating a version number and a first physical location. The write data is written to a second physical location in the storage device. A second entry is added to the volume control table for the logical address in response to preserve mode being enabled. In response to determining that the preserve mode is enabled, the volume control table is updated to have one of the first and second entry for the logical address point to the second physical location and indicate a current version and to have the first or second entry not indicating the current version to indicate the first physical location and a previous version.
US08473699B2	Facilitating data compression during replication using a compressible configuration bit A method is provided for facilitating data replication in a storage system. A logical volume of a first storage array of a replicated pair is preconfigured with one or more logical volume attributes, which include a compressible configuration bit that indicates whether data blocks to be stored to that logical volume are compressible during replication. Subsequently, with receipt of a data block at the first storage array to be stored to the logical volume, a check of the compressible configuration bit is made to determine whether the data block is compressible during replication, and if so, the data block is compressed for replication. The compressible configuration bit is placed into the payload region of the data packet being replicated to the second storage array. At the second storage array, the compressible configuration bit is used to determine whether to uncompress the replicated data block.
US08473697B1	Method and system for volume based snapshot restore Method and system is provided to perform a plurality of checks before performing a volume based snapshot restore (“VBSR”) operation. The checks may be performed by an application executed at a computing system that interfaces with a storage system. The application may determine if there are any inconsistent LUNS and foreign mapped LUNs. The application may also determine if there are any new LUNs or any new snapshots since the snapshot, which is the basis of the restore operation was created. The application may further determine if there are any backup relationships with respect to a volume that is being restored. The application takes the information and provides a report to a user. The report allows a user to ascertain the consequences of proceeding with the VBSR operation.
US08473679B2	System, data structure, and method for collapsing multi-dimensional data A system and method of data transfer that collapses a multi-dimensional data array while preserving neighboring connectivity. One or more program instructions may be received that request input data comprising a sub-set of data elements from a first data array in an external memory. The sub-set of data elements may be transferred from the first data array in the external memory to a second data array in an internal memory. The retrieved sub-set of requested data elements may be stored in the second array in respective positions translated from the positions in the first array by a plurality of omitted rows and columns from the first data array from which no data elements are requested.
US08473675B2	Memory system and information processing device A memory system includes a first memory that is used as a main memory of a target device, a second memory that has an access speed lower than that of the first memory, a securing section that secures a predetermined area of the first memory as a temporary storage area of the second memory, and a memory control section that receives an instruction to write data into the second memory, temporarily stores the data into the first memory and also transfers the stored data from the first memory to the second memory.
US08473674B2	Information processing device including a plurality of cells to store data, storage control device that controls a storage section including a plurality of cells to store data, and storage control method of controlling a refresh operation of a storage section including a plurality of cells to store data An information processing device includes a first storage section 2 that includes a plurality of cells to store data; a second storage section 3 that holds refresh intervals and the states of implementation of refresh operations for each of a plurality of the cells; and a control section that controls the refresh operation of each of the cells on the basis of the refresh intervals and the states of implementation of refresh operations held by the second storage section 3. The information processing device controls the refresh operation of each of the cells at refresh intervals set for respective cells.
US08473673B2	Memory controller based (DE)compression Systems, methodologies, media, and other embodiments associated with (de)compressing data at a time and in a location that facilitates increasing memory transfer bandwidth by selectively controlling a burst-mode protocol used to transfer data to and/or from a memory are described. One exemplary system embodiment includes a memory controller configured to (de)compress memory, to manipulate size data associated with compressed data, and to selectively manipulate a burst-mode protocol employed in transferring compressed data to and/or from random access memory.
US08473671B2	Semiconductor memory card access apparatus, a computer-readable medium, an initialization method, and a semiconductor memory card A predetermined number of erasable blocks positioned at a start of a volume area in a semiconductor memory card are provided so as to include volume management information. A user area following the volume management information includes a plurality of clusters. A size of the partition control area of an area from a master boot record & partition table sector to a partition boot sector is determined so that the plurality of clusters in the user area are not arranged so as to straddle erasable block boundaries. Since cluster boundaries and erasable block boundaries in the user area are aligned, there is no need to perform wasteful processing in which two erasable blocks are erased to rewrite one cluster.
US08473668B2	Memory device and wear leveling method The memory device selects any one of a first memory cell and a second memory cell based on a number of times that the first memory cell is erased, an elapsed time after the first memory cell is erased, a number of times that the second memory cell is erased, and an elapsed time after the second memory cell is erased, and program data in the selected memory cell. The memory device may improve distribution of threshold voltage of memory cells and endurance of the memory cells.
US08473661B2	System and method for providing multi-process protection using direct memory mapped control registers A method and system for providing multi-process protection using direct memory mapped control registers is disclosed. According to one embodiment, a computer-implemented method provides a set of control registers for each execution unit of a plurality of execution units in a controller switch. The controller switch facilitates communication between a host system and one or more devices connected to a plurality of device ports of the controller switch. A device driver is provided to allow users' processes to access the controller switch and to grant exclusive access to each execution unit of the plurality of execution units. A first access request to access an execution unit of the plurality of execution units is received from a first process. A set of direct accessible addresses to the set of control registers of the execution unit is allocated, and the first process is granted to exclusive access the execution unit until the first process release the exclusive access to the execution unit. A second access request to access the execution unit received from a second process is denied by checking the assignment of the set of direct accessible addresses to the set of control registers of the execution unit while the first process retains exclusive access to the execution unit.
US08473657B2	High speed packet FIFO output buffers for switch fabric with speedup Described embodiments provide a first-in, first-out (FIFO) buffer for packet switching in a crossbar switch with a speedup factor of m. The FIFO buffer comprises a first logic module that receives m N-bit data portions from a switch fabric, the m N-bit data portions comprising one or more N-bit data words of one or more data packets. A plurality of one-port memories store the received data portions. Each one-port memory has a width W segmented into S portions of width W/S, where W/S is related to N. A second logic module provides one or more N-bit data words, from the one-port memories, corresponding to the received m N-bit data portions. In a sequence of clock cycles, the data portions are alternately transferred from corresponding segments of the one-port memories in a round-robin fashion, and, for each clock cycle, the second logic module constructs data out read from the one-port memories.
US08473655B2	Method and apparatus for dividing a single serial enclosure management bit stream into multiple enclosure management bit streams and for providing the respective bit streams to respective midplanes A controller is provided that receives a single enclosure management (EM) serial bit stream from an expander or other device and divides the EM serial bit stream into multiple EM serial bit streams for delivery to multiple respective midplanes or backplanes. In this way, a separate EM serial bit stream is provided to each midplane or backplane without having to increase the number of ports that are available on the expander or other device that interfaces with the backplane or midplane.
US08473652B2	Systems and methods for compression of data for block mode access storage Methods and systems for creating, reading, and writing compressed data for use with a block mode access storage. The compressed data are packed into a plurality of compressed units and stored in a storage logical unit (LU). One or more corresponding compressed units may be read and/or updated with no need of restoring the entire storage logical unit while maintaining a de-fragmented structure of the LU.
US08473648B2	System and method of I/O path virtualization between a raid controller and an environment service module in a storage area network A system and method of I/O path virtualization between a RAID controller and an environment service module (ESM) in a storage area network (SAN) is disclosed. In one embodiment, a type of I/O request is identified by an input/output (I/O) control engine upon receiving an I/O request from a host computer via a RAID controller. Further, a priority is assigned to the received I/O request based on the type of I/O request by the I/O control engine. Furthermore, the processing of the prioritized I/O request is interrupted by the I/O control engine. In addition, the prioritized I/O request is separated into a command I/O request or a status request. Also, the separated command I/O request or the status request is sent to an associated queue in a plurality of solid state drive (SSD) buffer queues (SBQ) in the I/O control engine.
US08473646B1	Balancing latency and throughput for shared resources Input and output (I/O) operations performed by a data storage device are managed dynamically to balance aspects such as throughput and latency. Sequential read and write requests are sent to a data storage device whereby the corresponding operations are performed without time delay due to extra disk revolutions. In order to minimize latency, particularly for read operations, random read and write requests are held in a queue upstream of an I/O controller of the data storage device until the buffer of the data storage device is empty. The queued requests can be reordered when a higher priority request is received, improving the overall latency for specific requests. An I/O scheduler of a data server is still able to use any appropriate algorithm to order I/O requests, such as by prioritizing reads over writes as long as the writes do not back up in the I/O queue beyond a certain threshold.
US08473644B2	Access management technique with operation translation capability Access management techniques have been developed to specify and facilitate mappings between I/O and host domains in ways that provide flexibility in the form, granularity and/or extent of mappings, attributes and access controls coded relative to a particular I/O domain. In some embodiments of the present invention, operation translations coded relative to a particular logical I/O device, domain or sub-window seek to optimize functionality, isolation or some other figure of merit without regard to needs or limitations of another. In this way, operation translations need not be uniform and need not reduce supported operation semantics to correspond to that of a lowest common denominator I/O device. In some embodiments, the form of mappings (e.g., of operation translations) may be specialized on a per-logical-device basis (or even a per-sub-window basis), thereby offering individual logical I/O devices (or sub-windows thereof) immediate, indexed, and/or untranslated operation mapping frameworks appropriate to their individual requirements or needs. In general, flexibilities and efficiencies afforded in some embodiments of the present invention can be desirable, particularly as the diversity of I/O device types and richness of transaction semantics supported in interconnect fabrics increase. Some embodiments may be leveraged in support of sophisticated system partitions or I/O virtualizations.
US08473640B2	System and method for implementing a single chip having a multiple sub-layer PHY A system and method are disclosed for supporting 10 Gigabit digital serial communications. Many of the functional components and sublayers of a 10 Gigabit digital serial communications transceiver module are integrated into a single IC chip using the same CMOS technology throughout the single chip. The single chip includes a PMD transmit/receive CMOS sublayer, a PMD PCS CMOS sublayer, a XGXS PCS CMOS sublayer, and a XAUI transmit/receive CMOS sublayer. The single chip supports both 10 Gigabit Ethernet operation and 10 Gigabit Fiber Channel operation. The single chip interfaces to a MAC, an optical PMD, and non-volatile memory.
US08473633B2	Method of routing packets in a packet network A method of routing packets in a packet network is disclosed. The packet network includes a chain of packet nodes, the chain comprising a first and second access node for communicating with one or more mobile nodes and one or more intermediate packet nodes providing a path interconnecting the first and second access nodes. Previous methods are inefficient and lead to additional overhead. The method comprises the steps of: installing, in said intermediate packet nodes, first routing data defining a first routing path in one direction along said chain to a mobile node via said first access node and second routing data defining a second routing path in the opposite direction along said chain to said mobile node via said second access node; operating each of said intermediate packet nodes to: determine, on receipt of a packet destined for said mobile node, whether said packet is from another node on said chain or not; and a) if the packet is determined to be from a node not on said chain, copying the packet and routing said copy along one of said routing paths and routing said packet along the other of said routing paths; and b) if the packet is determined to be from another node on said chain, route said packet along said chain only in the direction in which it is currently travelling.
US08473632B2	Packet receiving apparatus and processing method for the same A packet receiving apparatus determines whether or not data to be stored in a buffer overlaps previously stored data based on information contained in a header portion of a received packet. If it is determined that the data overlaps, a checksum for the overlapping data is subtracted. If it is determined that the data does not overlap, a checksum for the data to be stored in the buffer is added.
US08473627B2	Multitenant hosted virtual machine infrastructure A multi-tenant virtual machine infrastructure (MTVMI) allows multiple tenants to independently access and use a plurality of virtual computing resources via the Internet. Within the MTVMI, different tenants may define unique configurations of virtual computing resources and unique rules to govern the use of the virtual computing resources. The MTVMI may be configured to provide valuable services for tenants and users associated with the tenants.
US08473617B2	Media client architecture for networked communication devices A media client for a networked communication device includes a user agent to communicate with a multimedia application in the networked communication device. The user agent provides a high-level application interface to the multimedia application. A signaling agent under the control of the user agent performs signaling operations necessary to establish and maintain communication sessions. A media agent under the control of the user agent performs media operations. The media client may be located in a network and remotely accessed by the multimedia application. The user agent, signaling agent and media agent have network interfaces that allow these elements to be distributed within the network and accessed remotely.
US08473612B2	Trusted network transfer of content using off network input code Systems and methods for use in connection with the trusted transmission and reception of content, such as encryption key information, from one computing device in a network to a second computing device are provided. In one embodiment, the invention provides a way to trust or validate the transfer of a public key using a very short code entered out of band of the network that is easy for end-users to remember, or write down.
US08473603B2	Cross-tier management in multi-tier computing system architecture Techniques are disclosed for providing cross-tier management in a multi-tier computing system architecture. For example, a method for managing a computing system, wherein the computing system includes a first tier and at least a second tier, wherein the first tier and the second tier are configured to respond to a request received by the computing system, includes the steps of monitoring performance of the second tier from the first tier, and sending one or more management commands from the first tier to the second tier based on the monitored performance. In one embodiment, the first tier may be an application server tier of the computing system, and the second tier may be a database server tier of the computing system.
US08473600B2	System and method for utilizing environment information in UPnP audio/video An environment variable for use cases such as UPnP AV use cases. The environment variable of the present invention is used to store the physical location of the user. For example, the environment variable can be used to identify a particular location as being a user's living room, kitchen, etc. The information stored in the environment variable can be used to enhance the user experience of the digital home or other environment by minimizing the number of manual selections that the user has to make in order to initiate a use case such as playing music in a bedroom or watching movies in a living room. The environment variable is used to trigger a change of a profile and select the devices needed to implement different use scenarios.
US08473593B1	Method for dynamically generating information objects based on a restful subscription request Techniques disclosed herein describe a client and/or server process for managing Information Technology (IT) assets, such as servers and storage devices. The process dynamically generates customized information objects based on subscription requests. A client generates a request for information. The request specifies information associated with a specific managed entity or IT resource. A server that monitors the specific managed entity does not maintain such information in an existing information object. Information associated with the specific managed entity can be performance information, health information, usage information, and the like. A notification manager receives the request and identifies that existing subscription resources don not contain the requested information. The notification manager generates a new information object that contains the requested information, and notifies the client.
US08473592B2	Storage system and management method in storage system An object of the present invention is to recognize the presence of a business-use computer that can be a management target of a management computer, and to register the recognized business-use computer as a management target host.A storage system includes business-use hosts 12 and 14, a management server 16 and a storage subsystem 18; wherein the business-use hosts 12 and 14 are connected via a SAN 22 to the storage subsystem 18, while the management server 16 is connected via a LAN 20 to the business-use hosts 12 and 14 and the storage subsystem 18. The management server 16 for recognizing business-use hosts that can be management objects, sends a communication request to all the IP addresses/ports within a range specified by the user, and registers business-use hosts returning a response in reply to the communication request as management targets.
US08473591B2	Information processing system, information processor, server, information processing method and program An information processor (1) comprises: a history packet transmitter (11) for transmitting via a plurality of ports of a communication processor (2) a plurality of history packets; a request packet transmitter (12) for transmitting a request packet requesting transmission of a return packet; a packet transmission controller (13) for controlling transmission of a request packet; a return packet receiver (14) for receiving a return packet transmitted from a server (3); and a port keeping time detector (15) for detecting the port keeping time of the communication processor (2) based on reception of a return packet by the return packet receiver (14). The server (3) includes: a request packet receiver (31) for receiving the request packet; and a return packet transmitter (32) for transmitting the return packet to the history port of the communication processor (2) where a history packet passed when a request packet receiver (31) received a request packet. This configuration provides an information processing system for detecting the port keeping time of the communication processor.
US08473589B2	Configuration file override In one embodiment, a router is configured to relay a provisioning request originating from a remote network device to a remote provisioning server. When the router receives back a provisioning response including provisioning information identifying a first remotely stored configuration file, the router is configured to modify the provisioning information such that the modified provisioning information no longer identifies the first remotely stored configuration file. The router then relays the provisioning reply, which may identify a second different configuration file, to the remote network device.
US08473584B2	Revocable indication of session termination According to one general aspect, a method for a computing device may include establishing, via a first application executed by the computing device, a data session with a server. The server may maintain a set of session data associated with the data session. The method may also include processing a request to terminate the active functioning of the first application. The method may further include transmitting a session-inactivation message to the server, wherein the session-inactivation message instructs the server to maintain the set of session data.
US08473580B1	Content management system for integrated display substrates A system is provided that includes a content management system, a controller, and an electronic display. The electronic display is integrated into an object, such as the packaging of a consumer product. The content management system sends instructions to the controller for determining content to display. The instructions depend in part on status information obtained by the controller from an external source. At least one instruction pertains to extended periods when the controller is unable to communicate with the content management system.
US08473569B2	Apparatus and method for consumer-oriented distribution of information processing capability In order to provide a home user with cost-effective PC processing capability, the home user is provided with a terminal which has only sufficient processing capability to communicate with a service provider over a network. Any processing and program execution is performed, in response to requests from the home user's terminal, by the service provider and the results are returned to the terminal. In addition to the processing capability, data is stored in the service provider. Because the processing and data storage is performed by the service provider, changes to the programs and/or hardware can the confined to the processing resources of the service provider. In addition, the service provider can be provided with virus and hacking protection, protection that will then not be necessary for the home user's terminal. In this manner, the home user can be charged for only the facilities and software that are actually used, while having available the full capability of a personal computer without the initial cost of a home computer, the on-going cost of maintenance, and the cost of upgrading hardware and software. The communication link can be a secure link.
US08473557B2	Methods and apparatus to migrate virtual machines between distributive computing networks across a wide area network Methods and apparatus to migrate virtual machines between distributive computing networks across a wide area network are disclosed. A disclosed example method includes establishing a data link across a wide area network between a first distributive computing network and a second distributive computing network, the first distributive computing network including a virtual machine operated by a first host communicatively coupled to a virtual private network via a first virtual local area network, communicatively coupling a second host included within the second distributive computing network to the virtual private network via a second virtual local area network, and migrating the virtual machine via the data link by transmitting a memory state of at least one application on the first host to the second host while the at least one application is operating.
US08473546B2	Minimizing PCC rule instantiation latency Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method, policy and charging rules node (PCRN) and machine-readable storage medium for creating policy and control charging rules with minimal rule instantiation latency. Embodiments may include one or more of the following: receiving at a PCRN from an application node a first service request message, determining whether the PCRN should wait for a mate message for the service flow, if the PCRN should not wait for a mate message, immediately generating at least one PCC rule, and immediately pushing the first PCC rule to at least one gateway. Various exemplary embodiments may further include using subscriber preferences and/or a record of previous decisions to determine whether the PCRN should wait for a mage message. In various embodiments, the PCRN may disable a timer when it determines it should not wait for a mate message.
US08473538B2	N-dimensional coordinates conversion Aspects of the subject matter described herein relate to converting between polar and rectangular coordinates. In aspects, the Nth polar angle is measured upward from the sine-projection of the Nth component in the (N−1)th dimension. The last polar coordinate is zero if and only if the corresponding last rectangular coordinate is zero. The conversion may be applied in any number of dimensions without re-writing the conversion logic.
US08473537B2	Secure multi-party computation of normalized sum-type functions Embodiments of present invention disclose a system and a method for determining a result of a function applied to a first vector and a second vector, wherein the function is a normalized sum-type function. The first vector is stored at a first processor, and the second vector is stored at a second processor. The system and the method determine a joint empirical probability distribution (JEPD) of the first vector and the second vector using a secure multi-party computation. The function is determined as a normalized summation of products of values of the JEPD with corresponding values of the function.
US08473531B2	Presenting a file system for a file containing items What is disclosed is a method of operating a volume access system. The method includes processing at least a first file to generate a file system view of the first file comprising a plurality of items within the first file, and providing the file system view of the first file over a network interface as a hierarchical data volume. The method also includes receiving an access request for a requested item of the hierarchical data volume over the network interface, and in response, providing access to a first item of the plurality of items within the first file corresponding to the requested item.
US08473523B2	Deterministic finite automata graph traversal with nodal bit mapping An apparatus, and corresponding method, for generating a graph used in performing a search for a match of at least one expression in an input stream is presented. The graph includes a number of interconnected nodes connected solely by valid arcs. A valid arc may also include a nodal bit map including structural information of a node to which the valid arc points to. A walker process may utilize the nodal bit map to determine if a memory access is necessary. The nodal bit map reduces the number of external memory access and therefore reduces system run time.
US08473522B2	Web server and method to provide web-pages to manage devices A web server and a method to provide web-pages to manage devices. A storage stores data for a web-page setting attributes and attribute values related to at least one device. A web-page generator generates a basic web-page based on the stored data of the web-page if to display of the web-page is requested from a user terminal. A communicator transmits the generated basic web-page to the user terminal. A server controller controls the web-page generator to generate a first web-page to display at least one attribute and attribute values of the at least one attribute on the basic web-page displayed on the user terminal. Thus, only attributes and attribute values, which can be supported by a device, can be displayed on a user interface (UI) screen. As a result, a user can easily write a workform.
US08473516B2	Computer storage apparatus for multi-tiered data security A computer storage apparatus. In one embodiment, the apparatus includes: (1) primary file storage, (2) a controller coupled to said primary file storage and configured to provide an interface by which data is communicated therewith, (3) formula/offset file storage coupled to said controller and configured to store at least one formula/offset and (4) pointer file storage coupled to said controller and configured to store at least one pointer, said controller further configured to provide said interface based on interaction with said formula/offset file storage and said pointer file storage.
US08473515B2	Multi-tenancy in database namespace Database systems are presented including: a database; a database instance of the database, where the database instance includes a set of instance database objects, and where the database instance is accessible by an instance user; and a database tenant associated with the database instance, where the database tenant includes a set of tenant database objects, where the database tenant provides access to the database instance by the tenant user, such that the instance user and the tenant user may independently access the database instance without affecting one another where each of the instance user and the tenant user are configured with independent accessibility. In some embodiments, systems further include: an instance production table associated with the database instance and a tenant production table associated with the database instance.
US08473513B2	Efficient multiple tuple generation over streaming XML data Methods and arrangements for extracting tuples from a streaming XML document. A query twig is applied to the XML document stream, tuples are extracted from the XML document stream based on the query twig, and a quantity of extracted tuples is limited via foregoing extraction of duplicate tuples extraction of tuples that do not satisfy query twig criteria.
US08473504B2	Stabilized binary differencing An apparatus and method for stabilized binary differencing are provided. The method includes obtaining a first report file for a first image corresponding to a current firmware version and a second report file for a second image corresponding to an updated firmware version, each report file containing information about a plurality of sections of the corresponding image, generating a first object array corresponding to the first report file and a second object array corresponding to the second report file, comparing the first object array to the second object array, updating the second object array to reflect the results of the comparison, generating a steering file based on the updated object array, performing a binary differencing on the first image and the second image based on the steering file, and generating a delta file based on the binary differencing.
US08473498B2	Natural language text analytics A method of text analytics includes filtering a plurality of unfiltered records having unstructured data into at least a first group and a second group. The first group and said second group each include at least two records and the first group is different than the second group. The method includes determining a first proportion of occurrence for a term by comparing a first number of records having at least one occurrence of the term in the first group to a first total number of records in the first group, determining a second proportion of occurrence for the term by comparing a second number of records having at least one occurrence of the term in said second group to a second total number of records in the second group, and comparing the first proportion of occurrence to the second proportion of occurrence to yield a resultant comparison occurrence.
US08473491B1	Systems and methods of detecting keyword-stuffed business titles The present invention relates generally to identifying fraudulent businesses and business listings. More specifically, the invention relates to determining a “surprisingness” value for a particular combination of words in a business title based on the likelihood that the combination has appeared in legitimate business titles. The value may be used to determine whether the business or business listing is legitimate or fraudulent. For example, third party hijackers may “keyword-stuff” business titles or attempt to include words associated with prominent businesses in a title of a less prominent business associated with the third party in order to have the less prominent business displayed more often in search results for the prominent business. For example, if a business title has too many surprising word combinations or a particular combination is highly unlikely, the business listing is likely to be fraudulent or “keyword-stuffed” and may be withheld, excluded, removed from search results.
US08473489B1	Identifying entities using search results Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for identifying entities using search results. One of the methods includes the actions of determining that a first search query includes a respective text reference to each of one or more predetermined attributes, wherein each attribute is associated with a first entity type; generating a second search query including the first search query and one or more terms that refer to the first entity type; and evaluating search results obtained for the second search query to select one or more names of entities of the first entity type to include in a response to the first search query.
US08473488B2	Voice operated, matrix-connected, artificially intelligent address book system An online address book system having sufficient hardware and software to operate an address book user interface and to perform intelligent interpretations of voice and text inputs from users. The system includes at least one server software module that includes software to perform a plurality of functions. These include the ability to receive voice input data and separate user voice queries, wherein the software can arrange the data so as to create a data base that includes at least three access dimensions, including contact access, contact-relationship access and contact-time frame access, and so as to create a connectivity matrix based on a plurality of contact pair relationships applying connective recognition logic. The system provides a voice operated user interface that permits access to address book stored data based on user input selected from the group consisting of contact, a contact-relationship pair, a contact-time frame pair, and combinations thereof.
US08473483B2	Performing parallel joins on distributed database data The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for performing parallel joins on distributed database data. Embodiments of the invention include a phased semi-join reduction strategy using replication and shuffle operations to join a first and a second data source. A filter building phase uses replication and pushes down a “Distinct” (e.g., SQL) operator to produce a list of join keys for the first data source (one side of the join). A shuffle phase for the second data source is modified to join to the key list produced in the first phase as a row filtering mechanism. A join phase then joins the first and second data sources.
US08473468B2	System and method for transactional deployment of J2EE web components, enterprise java bean components, and application data over multi-tiered computer networks Provided is a computer system and method for transactional deployment of component(s) over a multi-tier network with J2EE application server program(s) stored on a memory(ies) of the system and which are executed by a central processing unit(s) (CPUs). A J2EE application(s) can be executed by the J2EE application servers, and a J2EE application container(s) are contained within each J2EE application server. Each J2EE application container contains a J2EE application container component(s) and a Java EJB container(s) or Java web containers are contained within each J2EE application container. A J2EE component(s) are delivered to the J2EE application server over one or more tiers of the network. There are one or more logical connections to one or more databases located on the network. This defines a sphere of control managing transactional deployment of the delivered J2EE component(s) and an update of the database to keep the data consistent with the J2EE application.
US08473453B2	Capturing data from user selected portions of a business process and transferring captured data to user identified destinations A graphical user interface (GUI) displays a flow of activities of a business process, including any portion thereof from which capture of data is permitted. The GUI receives, in an operation, at least an indication of a business process portion from which data is to be captured (“sensor”), an identification of an endpoint to which captured data is to be transferred, and a type of the endpoint which identifies (through a mapping) a predetermined software. A sensor may be added any number of times (through a single GUI or though multiple GUIs) by repeatedly performing the operation. Also, a given sensor may be associated with multiple endpoints. Computer(s) executing the business process check whether or not a sensor is present, on execution of the business process portion, and if present, then execute the corresponding predetermined software(s) to transfer data from the sensor directly to the respective endpoint(s).
US08473450B2	Relational database management system (RDBMS) employing multi-dimensional database (MDDB) for servicing query statements through one or more client machines A relational database management system (RDBMS) for servicing query statements through one or more client machines. The RDBMS comprises a query interface adapted to receive query statements from the client machines. The query handling mechanism (i) receives each request from the query interface, (ii) extracts a set of dimensions associated with the request, (iii) uses the dimensions to retrieve aggregated fact data from a multi-dimensional database (MDDB), and (iv) forwards retrieved aggregated fact data to the query processing mechanism for subsequent processing. When the query processing mechanism determines that servicing of one or more query requests require data stored in the relational tables, then the query processing mechanism automatically routes the requests to the relational data tables, so that data can be accessed from the relational tables and forwarded to the query processing mechanism for use in servicing the requests, in a manner transparent to the client machine.
US08473448B2	Compound property prediction apparatus, property prediction method, and program for implementing the method A compound property prediction apparatus includes a memory storing a training sample library in which a parameter value and a value for a prediction item are preregistered for each individual one of a plurality of training samples and an input device inputting data concerning an unknown sample. Also included is a processor programmed to generate a parameter of the unknown sample, calculate the degree of similarity between the unknown sample and an individual training sample, construct a sub-sample set by extracting training samples whose degree of similarity to the unknown sample is not smaller than a predetermined threshold value, construct a prediction model from the sub-sample set, and calculate the prediction value of the unknown sample based on the prediction model. If necessary, the threshold value is changed until a predetermined minimum number of training samples are included in the sub-sample set.
US08473443B2	Inappropriate content detection method for senders Content detection for senders reviews and compares content for sending to one or more profile parameters of a recipient. The one or more profile parameters describe the characteristics of the recipient. Portions of the content determined to be inappropriate or offensive to the recipient based on the recipient's profile parameters are tagged and the sender is alerted. Alternative suggestions to replace those portions in the content may be provided.
US08473439B2	Integrate and fire electronic neurons An integrate and fire electronic neuron is disclosed. Upon receiving an external spike signal, a digital membrane potential of the electronic neuron is updated based on the external spike signal. The electric potential of the membrane is decayed based on a leak rate. Upon the electric potential of the membrane exceeding a threshold, a spike signal is generated.
US08473427B2	Block allocation times in a computer system A method and apparatus improves the block allocation time in a parallel computer system. A pre-load controller pre-loads blocks of hardware in a supercomputer cluster in anticipation of demand from a user application. In the preferred embodiments the pre-load controller determines when to pre-load the compute nodes and the block size to allocate the nodes based on pre-set parameters and previous use of the computer system. Further, in preferred embodiments each block of compute nodes in the parallel computer system has a stored hardware status to indicate whether the block is being pre-loaded, or already has been pre-loaded. In preferred embodiments, the hardware status is stored in a database connected to the computer's control system. In other embodiments, the compute nodes are remote computers in a distributed computer system.
US08473411B2	Bulk activation of portable consumer payment devices Portable Consumer Payment Devices (PCPDs), such as gift cards, can be bulk activated and thereby be made ready to use in a commercial transaction. The bulk activation is provided through a web service giving a user experience that includes an online interactive user interface that receives an order for PCPDs and a request to activate all PCPDs in the order. The respective accounts of the PCPDs in the order are funded upon activation and a fee is assessed for the activations. Thereafter, each activated PCPD can be used in a transaction with a merchant who submits the transaction to an acquirer for processing by a transaction handler who requests an issuer of the account of the PCPD to obtain payment for the transaction from the account corresponding to the PCPD.
US08473407B2	System and method for determining implied market information Implied prices and their quantities are computed. Markets are characterized by exhaustively computing one or more combinations of other related markets. Each combination when summed in a particular way results in the market under consideration. In a described embodiment, the number of market combinations found is an exhaustive list of market combinations such that the market under consideration can be fully and completely characterized, such that each combination provides implied market information about the market under consideration. Implied market information can include implied prices and their quantities, which are computed for each combination and used accordingly in displays or used by automated or semi-automated trading tools.
US08473403B2	Methods and systems for creating and trading strips of financial products The present invention includes a method comprising receiving a first electronic BUY STRIP order; receiving a second electronic SELL STRIP order; matching the first STRIP order with the second STRIP order, wherein the first STRIP order is a contra order to the second STRIP order; executing the matched first and second STRIP orders; generating a first plurality of tradable component financial product trades based on the executed first STRIP order; generating a second plurality of tradable component financial product trades based on the executed second STRIP order; matching the first plurality of tradable component financial product trades with the second plurality of tradable component financial product trades, wherein the first plurality of tradable component financial product trades are contra trades to the second plurality of tradable component financial product trades; and executing the matched first and second plurality of tradable component financial product trades.
US08473400B1	Electronic trading system and method for pricing transactions to account for risk An electronic trading system and method are described in which credit risk associated with a transaction is captured as a price adjustment on a trade-by-trade basis. In one preferred embodiment, a “request for quote” (RFQ) trading model is presented in which each dealer receiving an RFQ determines a base price as well as an additional credit risk adjustment amount by which the base price should be modified to account for credit risk. In other preferred embodiments, an exchange trading model is presented in which traders submit buy and sell orders whose prices are appropriately adjusted for presentation to each potential counterparty to account for credit risk associated with potential transactions. System designs are also presented to address the technical challenge of permitting each trading participant to apply its own credit risk algorithms and methodologies while avoiding their disclosure to other trading participants.
US08473392B1	System and method for evaluation and comparison of variable annuity products In a system and method for evaluating and comparing variable annuities, ranking and comparison of annuities and their guaranteed riders is performed by coding the performance of the annuities into a computer model based on the behavior of one or more annuity products as described in a prospectus. A user is provided with a computer interface to input his/her preferences and then view anticipated performance. The anticipated performance is based on one or more validated scenarios of future market performance. The output is in part based on showing the total value of two or more different annuities over time as a bar chart. Each bar presents the total withdrawals to date in a lower portion and the cash surrender value as a top portion.
US08473390B2	Computerized method and system for managing a financial portfolio relative to market volatility The system and method for managing a financial portfolio relative to market stability includes determining a first allocation of assets in the portfolio and a level of equity exposure, the portfolio including a plurality of funds; monitoring a quantitative risk indicator for market signals, determining whether the quantitative risk indicator meets a predetermined risk threshold value and if the risk indicator meets the risk threshold value, adjusting the level of equity exposure by selling a first position on a first set of options associated with a first fund and purchasing a second position on a second set of options associated with a second fund.
US08473389B2	Methods and systems of purchase contract price adjustment calculation tools Allowability, allocability and adjustment of contract prices are determined using a computer system, based on SERVICE CONTRACT ACT wage determination rules. Upon receiving a request for a contract price adjustment from a contractor, the contractor is required to submit the proposed price adjustment in an electronic spreadsheet format. Information from the spreadsheet is stored and made available electronically to the program. If the proposed price adjustment contains DAVIS BACON ACT hours, then the DBA hours are filtered using a governing wage determination raw data field for separate calculations using applicable rules and regulations. Payroll taxes and appropriate adjustment entitlement values are automatically calculated and the program determines, appropriate price adjustments. Pivot tables are used to summarize and visualize the adjustments and helpful tips are provided on worksheets for ease of understanding and confirming allowability, allocability and accuracy of the request for price adjustment.
US08473388B2	Facilitating compensation arrangements providing for data tracking components Systems and methods for data brokering, and more specifically, data brokering regarding a data provider's search-related activities are described. In particular implementations, various aspects of arranging for compensation to be received from the data consumer in exchange for at least one of installation of or access of a data tracking component related to at least one user interface associated with the data provider, are described.
US08473386B2	Systems and methods to facilitate real time communications between members of a social network Methods and systems to facilitate real time communications and/or commerce via a social network. In one embodiment, communication references are provided to facilitate the requests for real time communications with a member of the social network via a connection provider, which performs scheduling, filtering, payment processing, etc. for the member of the social network. In one embodiment, a method includes, responsive to a request from a first member of a social network, determining a preference of a second member of the social network based at least in part on a characteristic of a social connection between the first and second members who are not socially directly connected in the social network; and facilitating real time communications between the first and second members in accordance with the preference. In one embodiment, the presentation of the advertisement or the advertiser is at least partially based on the social network.
US08473366B1	Method, medium, and system for providing leads to an agent in exchange for credits A system, method, and computer readable medium for authorization of independent agents for processing calls and distribution of calls to authorized agents are provided. An independent agent may purchase or otherwise acquire credits for leads related to commerce transactions. The credits may be maintained by a call center and accessed by a device responsible for routing calls to agents. Calls or other transactions leads may then be directed to the independent agent, and the independent agents credits may be deducted accordingly.
US08473362B2	Item model based on descriptor and images A model generation machine may form all or part of a network-based system. The model generation machine may generate an item model (e.g., a 3D model of the item) based on a set of images of an item and based on a product model (e.g., a 3D model of a product of which the item is a specimen). The item may be available for purchase from a seller. The model generation machine may access the set of images, as well as a descriptor of the item. Based on the descriptor, the model generation machine may identify the product model. Accordingly, the model generation machine may generate the item model from the identified product model and the accessed set of images.
US08473361B2	Method and system for assisting users during online A method, system, and computer program product for assisting a user in one or more activities during online shopping. The method facilitates tracking of at least one activity of the user during online shopping. Thereafter, the method identifies a suitable promotion for the user based on the tracked activity. Subsequently, the method displays the promotion in a predefined format on a portion of the browser.
US08473348B2	Paid media online cooperative method The paid media online cooperative method is a multi-user method having computer-automated steps that provide price negotiation more effectively than a single buyer of media alone can. The digital cooperative includes organizations associated with the co-op, the organizations retaining the same variables as they would normally have outside of the co-op. The co-op method allows users to manage cost in the form of cost per visitor or per impression, thereby reducing advertising cost while upholding impression and visitor counts among all members. Software applications of the method may be centralized or distributed. The method provides a democratically controlled enterprise that is autonomous and independent of any of its members, and based on a lowest cost pricing model. Member participation in the co-op is voluntary. Each member accesses data fields to manage media buys, except the pricing field is unavailable to the member, and is instead managed by the software application.
US08473345B2	Protocol generator and presenter device for analysis of marketing and entertainment effectiveness A protocol generator and presenter device provides stimuli to a subject to allow analysis of the effectiveness of marketing and entertainment materials. A protocol generator generates presentation parameters such as length of presentation, number of repetitions, number of physiological baselines, etc. The presenter device uses the presentation parameters to elicit responses from a subject that are then measured and analyzed using multiple neurophysiological modalities. Feedback is provided to the protocol generator and presenter device to dynamically update presentation parameters.
US08473344B2	Contact history for promotion management A computer implemented method for producing a contact history for a marketing campaign is described. The method includes producing a promotion version history table for the marketing campaign, with the promotion version history table recording promotion attribute values for each promotion version at runtime, producing a treatment history table for the marketing campaign, with the treatment history table representing promotion instances given to a group, producing a contact history table for the marketing campaign, the contact history table recording which contact entities were in which groups at runtime, linking the promotion version history table, the treatment history table, and the contact history table, wherein the linking preserves referential integrity between the promotion version history table, the treatment history table, and the contact history table, and producing the contact history from the promotion version history table, the treatment history table, and the contact history table.
US08473342B1	Method and system for generating certificates having unique Id data A method and system for the electronic distribution of product redemption coupons to remote personal computers located at users' homes are disclosed. A centrally located repository, such as an online service provider or web site on the Internet, stores packages of coupon data for downloading on demand to the user's computer. A coupon generated by the system and method of the present invention comprises an encoded area that consists essentially of a unique Coupon Id. The unique Coupon Id is also recorded in a database comprising a plurality of data tables. At least one of the data tables associates each Coupon Id with one or more of a Promotion Id and a Consumer Id. Preferably, the Print Id is also associated in a data table with a Session Id and information regarding the date/time of printing. The Ids other than the Coupon Id may not be printed on the coupon.
US08473335B2	Providing geocoded targeted web content A system and method are disclosed for providing geocoded web content to a user based on a specific geographic location specified by the user. A determination module receives a geographic location from the user and determines latitude and longitude coordinates associated with the geographic location from a geographic information database. The determination module further determines a geographic boundary associated with the latitude and longitude coordinates based at least in part on an area of interest surrounding the geographic location. A web content search module determines web content comprising substance associated with a location within the geographic boundary. A front end interface transmits the determined web content for display in an order based at least in part on distance from the location associated with the web content to the geographic location.
US08473319B2	System for providing goal-triggered feedback A system and method for encouraging the exchange of feedback in an enterprise. An example method includes providing one or more user interface controls for configuring a feedback reminder to automatically include predetermined insight pertaining to a potential participant in a future feedback exchange; sending the feedback reminder to a messaging system or application; providing a user option to view content of the feedback reminder; and displaying the feedback reminder in response to user selection of the first user option. Another user option enables selection of particular insight, derived from a talent management system, for inclusion in the feedback reminder. The messaging system may include an email application or an application for displaying a worklist.
US08473316B1	System and method for order processing state management Various embodiments of a system and method for order processing state management are described. Embodiments may include an order handling system that includes multiple processing components for performing a respective portion of an order fulfillment process for purchase orders. The order handling system may also include a data store for storing state information of the purchase orders. To process a given purchase order, the order handling system may utilize each processing component to complete a respective portion of the order fulfillment process for that purchase order. The order handling system may also utilize each component to, based on the respective task performed, update state information corresponding to the aforesaid purchase order in the data store. The order handling system may, subsequent to an interruption of the processing of the purchase order, resume the processing of the purchase order based on the updated state information.
US08473314B2	Method and system for determining precursors of health abnormalities from processing medical records Medical reports are converted to document vectors in computing apparatus and sampled by applying a maximum variation sampling function including a fitness function to the document vectors to reduce a number of medical records being processed and to increase the diversity of the medical records being processed. Linguistic phrases are extracted from the medical records and converted to s-grams. A Haar wavelet function is applied to the s-grams over the preselected time interval; and the coefficient results of the Haar wavelet function are examined for patterns representing the likelihood of health abnormalities. This confirms certain s-grams as precursors of the health abnormality and a parameter can be calculated in relation to the occurrence of such a health abnormality.
US08473308B2	System and method for sharing medical information A system and method for sharing information, comprising: creating at least one problem-oriented record utilizing at least one modifier to describe at least one attribute of at least one problem; and utilizing the at least one problem-oriented record to share information.
US08473301B2	Method and apparatus for audio decoding A method for decoding an audio signal includes: obtaining a lower-band signal component of an audio signal corresponding to a received code stream when the audio signal switches from a first bandwidth to a second bandwidth which is narrower than the first bandwidth; extending the lower-band signal component to obtain higher-band information; performing a time-varying fadeout process on the higher-band information to obtain a processed higher-band signal component; and synthesizing the processed higher-band signal component and the obtained lower-band signal component. With the methods provided in the embodiments of the invention, when an audio signal has a switch from broadband to narrowband, a series of processes such as bandwidth detection, artificial band extension, time-varying fadeout process, and bandwidth synthesis, may be performed to make the switch to have a smooth transition from a broadband signal to a narrowband signal so that a comfortable listening experience may be achieved.
US08473291B2	Sound processing apparatus, apparatus and method for controlling gain, and computer program A sound processing apparatus is provided for estimating the power of background noise using a directional sound receiving technology using a plurality of sound receiving units, computing a gain control value on the basis of the estimated power of background noise and a predetermined power target value, and outputting the gain control value, so that a delay time of starting gain control can be reduced, and a slow response of a speech recognition application program or degradation of the speech quality of a voice communication program can be prevented.
US08473289B2	Disambiguating input based on context In one implementation, a computer-implemented method includes receiving, at a mobile computing device, ambiguous user input that indicates more than one of a plurality of commands; and determining a current context associated with the mobile computing device that indicates where the mobile computing device is currently located. The method can further include disambiguating the ambiguous user input by selecting a command from the plurality of commands based on the current context associated with the mobile computing device; and causing output associated with performance of the selected command to be provided by the mobile computing device.
US08473285B2	Method for jointly optimizing noise reduction and voice quality in a mono or multi-microphone system The present technology provides adaptive noise reduction of an acoustic signal using a sophisticated level of control to balance the tradeoff between speech loss distortion and noise reduction. The energy level of a noise component in a sub-band signal of the acoustic signal is reduced based on an estimated signal-to-noise ratio of the sub-band signal, and further on an estimated threshold level of speech distortion in the sub-band signal. In embodiments, the energy level of the noise component in the sub-band signal may be reduced to no less than a residual noise target level. Such a target level may be defined as a level at which the noise component ceases to be perceptible.
US08473284B2	Apparatus and method of encoding/decoding voice for selecting quantization/dequantization using characteristics of synthesized voice A voice encoding/decoding method and apparatus. A voice encoder includes: a quantization selection unit generating a quantization selection signal; and a quantization unit extracting a linear prediction coding (LPC) coefficient from an input signal, converting the extracted LPC coefficient into a line spectral frequency (LSF), quantizing the LSF with a first LSF quantization unit or a second LSF quantization unit based on the quantization selection signal, and converting the quantized LSF into a quantized LPC coefficient. The quantization selection signal selects the first LSF quantization unit or second LSF quantization unit based on characteristics of a synthesized voice signal in previous frames of the input signal.
US08473274B1	Providing component connection information Techniques and mechanisms provide design information in a scalable representation. A design includes multiple master components and slave components. The master components and slave components include ports allowing interconnection. Techniques and mechanisms are described for selectively providing a subset of the interconnections between the master components and the slave components.
US08473265B2	Method for designing raised floor and dropped ceiling in computing facilities A system and method for design aspects of a cooling system for a data center is provided. In one example, a method is provided including acts of receiving an indication to position a perforated tile in a model, calculating cooling available in a model space adjacent to the tile, and displaying an indication of cooling availability within the context of the model on a computer system. In another example, a method is provided for manipulating representations of data elements in a model of a data center. The method allows a user to move multiple representations by adjusting the position of a layer of the model space relative to another layer in the model space.
US08473264B2	Geophysical data processing systems A method of processing geophysical data including at least measured potential field data from a potential field survey of a surveyed region of the earth to provide a representation of the geology of said surveyed region, the method comprising generating a first model of said surveyed region by fitting data predicted by said first model to said measured data for a specified frequency range; predicting full range potential field data for all measured frequencies using said generated first model; comparing said full range predicted data to said measured potential field data to provide full range residual data representing a difference between the full range predicted data and the full range measured data, and interpreting said full range residual data to provide a representation of said geology of said surveyed region.
US08473263B2	Multi-infrastructure modeling and simulation system A system for simulating interdependencies between multiple critical physical infrastructure models includes a first infrastructure data model that models a first physical infrastructure; a second infrastructure data model that models a second physical infrastructure, wherein the second physical infrastructure is a different physical infrastructure from the first physical infrastructure; a simulation engine adapted to automatically produce a change in the second infrastructure data model in response to a change in the first infrastructure data model; a user interface permitting a user to interact with the simulation engine; wherein the user interface and the simulation engine are configured such that the user can disable an element of the first physical infrastructure, and subsequently re-enable the element of the first physical infrastructure; wherein the first infrastructure data model comprises a transport network; and wherein the second infrastructure data model comprises a channel network.
US08473262B2	Self-cleaning submerged instrumentation Techniques and apparatus inhibit, limit, or remove biofouling and certain inorganic accumulations, to increase the longevity of accurate in-situ oceanographic and other underwater measurements and transducing processes. The invention deters formation of an initial bacterial layer and other precipitation, without harming the environment. The invention integrates an ultrasonic source into a sensor or other device, or its supporting structures. The ultrasonic source vibrates one or more critical surfaces of the device at a frequency and amplitude that dislodge early accumulations, thus preventing the rest of the fouling sequence. The ultrasonic driver is activated for short periods and low duty cycles, and in some cases preferably while the device is not operating.
US08473258B2	Part design using a context-free grammar The invention relates to a computer implemented method for designing a part modeled by using a seed structure of a context-free grammar, a set of rules of the grammar, at least two design features, each design feature being defined by at least one rule of the set, a priority order between the design features determined by the seed structure and the set of rules. The method comprises the steps of displaying a representation of the part in a graphical user interface according to the priority order, modifying the priority order between said two design features by modifying the set of rules, displaying a representation of the part according to the modified priority order.
US08473256B2	System and method for providing a digital three-dimensional data model The present invention is directed to a method and a system for providing a digital three-dimensional data model of a component. Thereby, modifications which are accomplished on the component, for instance a cable, are being captured by means of photogrammetry for the creation of a digital three-dimensional modifications data model. The digital three-dimensional data model of the component is afterwards automatically updated as a function of the generated modifications data model.
US08473249B2	System and method to detect printing devices with high incident rates Method and systems of identifying a printing device having an exceptional incident rate among a plurality of printing devices are disclosed. For each of a plurality of printing devices, a processor receiving a printing device model, a print volume, and an incident count that includes a number of incidents occurring within a particular time frame. The processor determines a generalized linear regression model of the incident counts for each printing device model and also determines a predicted incident count for each printing device model using the generalized regression model. The processor determines a residual value for each printing device between the incident count for the printing device and the predicted incident count for the printing device model associated with the printing device. The processor identifies one or more printing devices having a residual value exceeding a threshold value.
US08473238B2	Temperature measurement correction using multiple temperature sensors Correcting a temperature measurement of a target sensed at one temperature sensor in an asset tracking device by using another temperature sensor. The asset tracking device includes at least one heat source that affects the temperature sensor for sensing the temperature of the target. The other temperature sensor measures temperature at a location in the asset tracking device. The relationships between an actual temperature of the target and the temperature measured at the two sensors are established through experiments or model. Using the relationships, the measured temperature of the target can be corrected to obtain a corrected temperature of the target.
US08473235B2	Metal detector The present invention provides apparatus for scanning a product to detect metal in that product. The apparatus comprises a drive coil (4), for generating an electromagnetic field in the product, and a detection coil arranged to detect fluctuations in the magnetic field caused by the presence of a metallic particle in the product. A drive circuit (26) for the drive coil (4) comprises a plurality of switches (19 to 22) driven by a controller (16), which switch alternately connect the drive coil across a potential difference to cause the drive coil to be driven at an operating frequency determined by operation of the switches. Using a switching circuit to drive the drive coil (4) greatly increases the number of frequencies at which the drive coil may be operated. The invention has particular application to the food industry.
US08473233B1	Analyzing jitter in a clock timing signal A clock timing signal derived from a clock timing source is converted into samples obtained at a plurality of sample times, each sample representing an amplitude of a clock timing signal at a corresponding sample time. A time-domain histogram of deterministic jitter (DJ) is derived from a plurality of the samples. A set of measurement-based data that is not derived from the samples is also received, from which a time-domain histogram of random jitter (RJ) is derived. A jitter measurement is determined by convolving the time-domain histograms of DJ and RJ. Tangible non-transitory computer-readable storage devices can contain instructions that when carried out on processor(s) carry out the above process An apparatus has a clock sampling unit and a signal analyzer to derive the measure of jitter. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract.
US08473231B2	Systems and methods for monitoring deterioration of a rechargeable battery Systems and methods are provided for monitoring the deterioration of a rechargeable battery. A battery monitoring system may be used to store charging information, discharge information and storage information for a rechargeable battery to a data store. The charging information may include a number of charge cycles incurred by the rechargeable battery. The discharge information may include a number discharge cycles incurred by the rechargeable battery. The storage information may include information relating to periods when the rechargeable battery is not being actively charged or discharged. The battery monitoring system may be further used to determine an amount of deterioration of a battery performance characteristic based on the stored charging information, discharge information and storage information.
US08473229B2	Storage device energized actuator having diagnostics A system having unified diagnostics where an electrical energy storage device may supply an actuator. Various techniques may be used to determine energy storage capacity and actuator current usage. Measured storage capacity and actuator current may indicate the health of the energy storage device and the actuator, respectively. Also, operation of a service switch for the actuator may be checked relative to its state.
US08473225B2	Flow meter A simple, passive and rugged device for measuring the flow rate of liquid. A variable area obstruction valve, a differential pressure sensor and a densitometer are combined in a single housing to provide for a highly accurate and precise measure of mass flow.
US08473224B2	Compensating for frequency change in flowmeters Motion is induced in a conduit that contains a fluid. The motion is induced such that the conduit oscillates in a first mode of vibration and a second mode of vibration. The first mode of vibration has a corresponding first frequency of vibration and the second mode of vibration has a corresponding second frequency of vibration. At least one of the first frequency of vibration or the second frequency of vibration is determined. A phase difference between the motion of the conduit at a first point of the conduit and the motion of the conduit at a second point of the conduit is determined. A quantity based on the phase difference and the determined frequency is determined. The quantity includes a ratio between the first frequency during a zero-flow condition and the second frequency during the zero-flow condition. A property of the fluid is determined based on the quantity.
US08473222B2	Measurement devices and methods for measuring analyte concentration incorporating temperature and pH correction Disclosed herein are methods of estimating an analyte concentration which include generating a signal indicative of the analyte concentration, generating a signal indicative of a temperature, generating a signal indicative of a pH, and transforming the signal indicative of the analyte concentration utilizing an equation of the form of a modified Michaelis-Menten equation depending on Michaelis-Menten parameters, wherein values of the Michaelis-Menten parameters are set based upon data which includes temperature and pH calibration parameters, the signal indicative of a temperature, and the signal indicative of a pH. Also disclosed herein are measurement devices which employ the aforementioned methods.
US08473216B2	Method and program for performing baseline correction of amplification curves in a PCR experiment A method of adjusting amplification curves in a PCR experiment includes receiving a plurality of amplification curves for a sample and computing a first parameter for each of the plurality of amplification curves. The method also includes computing a second parameter for each of the plurality of amplification curves and computing a third parameter using at least a portion of the first or second parameters. The method further includes computing an offset for each of the plurality of amplification curves. The offset is a function of the first parameter and the third parameter. Moreover, the method includes adjusting at least one of the plurality of amplification curves by subtracting the offset.
US08473207B2	Tightly-coupled GNSS/IMU integration filter having calibration features Embodiments of the invention provide a blending filter based on extended Kalman filter (EKF), which optimally integrates the IMU navigation data with all other satellite measurements (tightly-coupled integration filter). Two more states in the EKF for estimating/compensating the speed bias and the heading bias in the INS measurement are added. The integration filter has no feedback loop for INS calibration, and can estimate/compensate the navigation error in the INS measurement within the integration filter.
US08473206B2	Apparatus and method for executing telecommand on geostationary satellite, and apparatus and method for verifying telecommand execution status on geostationary satellite ground control system Provided are an apparatus and method for executing a telecommand on a geostationary satellite, and an apparatus and method for verifying a telecommand execution status on a geostationary satellite ground control system. When a telecommand on a satellite is executed, the satellite generates command execution verification words for the executed telecommand and adds the generated command execution verification words to a telemetry transfer frame, and thus a satellite ground control system can easily verify the telecommand execution. In addition, when telecommand execution result is verified by a satellite ground control system, since an execution result of a time-tag telecommand can be verified without a time delay through command execution verification words provided by a satellite, and a telecommand image DB, a telecommand verifier DB, and a telecommand verifier provided by the satellite ground control system, a series of processes from transmission to verification of a telecommand, in particular a time-tag telecommand, can be automatically processed in real-time without intervention of an operator.
US08473200B1	Displaying location-specific images on a mobile device A system is provided for providing location-specific images to a mobile device for display. The system generally comprises three components: a mobile device having a screen, a position identification system (e.g., a GPS receiver) that determines the position of the mobile device, and a database containing location-specific images taken at various locations. Each location-specific image is associated with geographic coordinates of the location at which the image was taken. Based on the position of the mobile device as determined by the position identification system, a location-specific image is selected from the database and displayed on the screen of the mobile device. For example, when a user is using the mobile device as a car navigation system, a location-specific image of the user's destination location can be selected and displayed when the determined position of the mobile device comes within a certain distance from the geographic coordinates of the destination location.
US08473192B2	Antenna-based zone creation for controlling movement of vehicles A vehicle tracking system includes a wheel containing sensor circuitry capable of sensing various types of conditions, such as wheel rotation, wheel vibration caused by skidding, and specific electromagnetic and/or magnetic signals indicative of particular wheel locations. The sensor circuitry is coupled to an RF transceiver, which may but need not be included within the wheel. The wheel may also include a brake mechanism. In one embodiment, the wheels are placed on shopping carts and are used to collect and monitor shopping cart status and location data via a wireless network. The collected data may be used for various purposes, such as locking the wheel of an exiting cart if the customer has not paid, estimating numbers of queued carts, stopping wheel skid events that occur during mechanized cart retrieval, store planning, and providing location-based messaging to customers.
US08473189B2	Helicopter having collision avoidance apparatus The invention relates to a helicopter, comprising a tail jib (12), at least one distance sensor (16.1) attached to the tail jib (12) for capturing a distance (A) from an object (18) that may be present in a surrounding area of the tail jib (12), and an electric evaluation unit (20), which is connected to the distance sensors (16) and equipped to calculate a position of the object (18) relative to the helicopter (10). According to the invention, a collision avoidance apparatus is provided, which is designed to avoid a collision of a person with the tail jib (12).
US08473188B2	Vehicle collision detecting system A collision detecting system includes a bumper reinforcement member, a crush box disposed between the bumper reinforcement member and a fixing member of the vehicle, a strain inducing member fixed to the crush box so as to distort in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle as the crush box is compressed between the reinforcement member and the fixing member and a strain measuring element fixed to the strain inducing member 5. The strain inducing member has a strain measuring portion having such a shape that stress of the strain inducing member concentrates into the strain measuring portion. The strain measuring element is fixed to the strain measuring portion to measure a component of the strain of the strain measuring portion in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. The strain measuring portion has an asymmetrical cross-section in a vertical direction of the vehicle.
US08473183B2	Control device for internal combustion engine Disclosed is a control device that is used for an internal combustion engine and capable of periodically varying an air-fuel ratio while keeping torque generated by the internal combustion engine at a target torque. The control device can periodically vary a target air-fuel ratio and controls a fuel injection amount in accordance with the target air-fuel ratio which periodically varies. Further, the control device sets an air amount control torque in accordance with the target torque and calculates a target air amount for achieving the air amount control torque at a predetermined virtual air-fuel ratio. The control device then provides air amount control in accordance with the target air amount and calculates an air amount that is estimated to be achieved by the air amount control. Eventually, the control device calculates torque that is estimated to be achieved by the estimated air amount at the target air-fuel ratio, and provides ignition timing control so as to compensate for the difference between the estimated torque and the target torque by correcting ignition timing.
US08473180B2	On-board fuel property detection using pattern recognition and power spectral analysis of cylinder pressure signal Combustion pressure in a diesel combustion chamber is monitored to determine a combustion parameter as a function of the monitored pressure. A cetane number of the fuel combusted is determined as a function of a predetermined correlation between the combustion parameter and the cetane number.
US08473172B2	System and methods for assisted direct start control Systems and methods for assisted direct start control are provided. An example method varies engine torque, forward clutch engagement pressure, and wheel brake pressure during a vehicle launch responsive to longitudinal vehicle grade to improve launch performance.
US08473160B2	Device for detecting steering operation force A steering operation force detection device for a steering wheel including a steering wheel rim having a right-side rim section and a left-side rim section. The device includes load cells that detect six component forces of the steering operation force acting on the right-side rim section and the left-side rim section consisting of forces in three axial directions and moments about three axes. The device includes a steering angle detection sensor that detects a steering angle of the steering wheel, and an inertial force component correcting unit that derives an inertial force component acting on the right-side rim section and the left-side rim section due to rotation of the steering wheel, based on an amount of displacement of the steering angle detected by the steering angle detection sensor, and that corrects the component force detected by the load cells to eliminate an effect of the derived inertial force component.
US08473156B2	Driving dynamics control system for vehicles A driving dynamics control system for vehicles. The control system including at least one driving dynamics controller that is fed setpoint specifications and driving state variables as input data. The control system also includes a plurality of actuators that can be controlled and/or regulated to modify the dynamics of the vehicle, such as steering, adjustable independently of the driver, on a front and/or rear axle of the vehicle, a chassis adjustable independently of the driver, a brake adjustable independently of the driver, and a drive train adjustable independently of the driver. The driving dynamics controller determines a central control specification from the setpoint specifications and the driving state variables and sends it to a distribution algorithm that distributes the control specification into manipulated variables for driving the actuators.
US08473152B2	System, method, and computer program product for utilizing a communication channel of a mobile device by a vehicular assembly A system, method, and computer program product are provided for utilizing a communication channel of a mobile device by a vehicular assembly. In operation, a vehicular assembly communicates with a mobile device having a wireless communication channel. Additionally, at least one vehicular assembly function is performed utilizing the wireless communication channel of the mobile device.
US08473134B1	Method and apparatus for operating a vehicle including a hybrid powertrain system during a launch maneuver A method for operating a vehicle including a hybrid powertrain system includes enabling a commanded electric vehicle (EV) launch when a high-voltage battery state-of-charge (SOC) is greater than an SOC threshold, a transmission output speed is less than a low speed threshold, a transmission output torque is less than a speed-based torque threshold, and an operator torque request is achievable in the EV traction mode. An EV traction mode is employed to execute the commanded EV launch in response to the operator torque request including a launch maneuver.
US08473119B2	Optimal guidance blender for a hovering/flying vehicle For a vehicle having thrusters and control surfaces or other types of effectors having different cost of use and/or effectiveness as a function of vehicle speed, errors in position relative to an asserted control command are apportioned between errors of translational rate and pointing error as a function of speed in the vertical and/or horizontal planes and guidance commands are adjusted accordingly to produce commands that provide an optimal attitude for guidance of the vehicle through an arbitrary maneuver. The commands thus generated are then preferably apportioned between various available effectors to execute the maneuver most efficiently.
US08473114B2	Method of monitoring vehicle batteries A method for monitoring a vehicle battery includes running a timer while the vehicle and a controller are in off states. The method wakes the control module after a first time increment measured by the timer, and sets a second time increment. If needed, the method samples a first state of charge of the battery, and determines whether the battery requires charging prior to the second time increment based upon the sampled first state of charge. Determining whether the battery requires charging may include comparing the first state of charge to a threshold state of charge, or comparing to a second state of charge measured after the second time increment. A diagnostic message may be sent from the vehicle via a communications path, and, if the battery requires charging, an alert message sent to a receiving point accessible to vehicle operator.
US08473110B2	Systems and methods for controlling operation of a motor A method for editing a motor profile is described. The method includes receiving a stored motor profile selection via a user interface, and receiving user inputs via the user interface. The user inputs include instructions relating to an edit of the selected motor profile. The method also includes storing the edited motor profile.
US08473105B2	Feedback control method and device using the same The present invention provides a method for feedback control and a device using the same, wherein the device comprising a sensing layer for generating a plurality of sensing signals with respect to the at least one kind of characteristics on the sensing layer, and a driving layer for changing the surface status of the sensing layer. The control method is started a step of acquiring the plurality of sensing signals within a first specific time interval and establishing a first prediction model accordingly, then predicting a distribution status with respect to the at least one kind of characteristic on the sensing layer at a specific time point according to the first prediction model, and finally, determining whether to change the surface status of the sensing layer according to the distribution status.
US08473101B2	Coordinated action robotic system and related methods A coordinated action robotic system may include a plurality of robotic vehicles, each including a platform and at least one manipulator movable relative thereto. The robotic system may also include a remote operator control station that may include a respective controller for each manipulator. The remote operator control station may also include a mapping module to map movement of each manipulator relative to its platform. Operation of the controllers for manipulator movement in a given direction produces corresponding movement of the respective manipulators in the given direction such that the robotic vehicles may be controlled as if they were one robotic vehicle. The coordinated movement may result in increased operational efficiency, increased operational dexterity, and increased ease of controlling the robotic vehicles.
US08473098B2	Apparatus for dispensing and/or vending a bulk product An apparatus for dispensing and/or vending a bulk product. The apparatus comprises one or more bins for holding a bulk product, a dispensing mechanism operatively coupled to each of the bins, a controller operatively coupled to the dispensing mechanisms, and an interface for receiving a request for one of the bulk products. The controller is operatively coupled to the interface and configured to generate one or more control signals in response to a request for controlling the dispensing mechanism to dispense one of the bulk products.
US08473085B2	Mutex-mediated control of spatial access by appliances moveable over a common physical space A configurable mutual exclusion function oversees movement of appliances mobile over a common physical space in an automated laboratory workstation. A configurable mutex is allotted for each moveable appliance and is configurable to protect a task site when obtained for the respective appliance.
US08473082B2	Portable media playback device including user interface event passthrough to non-media-playback processing A method of operating a portable electronics device can include integrated operation of media playback processing and non-media-playback processing (such as, for example, a game). The method can include receiving an event corresponding to operation of a user interface item by a user of the portable electronics device. The received event can be provided to the non-media-playback processing. The non-media-playback processing can determine whether to cause an action corresponding to the provided received event with respect to the non-media-playback processing. For an event determined by the non-media-playback processing to not cause an action corresponding to the provided received event with respect to the non-media-playback processing, the provided received event can be provided to the media playback processing. Typically, the operating performed by the media playback processing based on the event can be the processing that would otherwise be performed by the media playback processing if the non-media-playback processing was not even occurring.
US08473066B2	External charger for a medical implantable device using field sensing coils to improve coupling By incorporating magnetic field sensing coils in an external charger, it is possible to determine the position of an implantable device by sensing the reflected magnetic field from the implant. In one embodiment, two or more field sensing coils are arranged to sense the reflected magnetic field. By comparing the relative reflected magnetic field strengths of the sensing coils, the position of the implant relative to the external charger can be determined. Audio and/or visual feedback can then be communicated to the patient to allow the patient to improve the alignment of the charger.
US08473064B2	Electrical stimulation method for reduction of joint compression An electrical stimulation method for the reduction of joint compression utilizes an electrical stimulation device that includes a plurality of channels of electrodes each of which includes at least a first and second electrode positioned in electrical contact with tissue of at least two muscles crossing a joint. Agonist/antagonist muscles involved in abduction/adduction, flexion/extension, supination/pronation, protraction/retraction, and/or eversion/inversion of body regions via joint movement are stimulated with a patterned series of electrical pulses through channels of electrodes in accordance with a procedure for reducing joint compression. The patterned series of electrical pulses may comprise: a plurality of cycles of a biphasic sequential pulse train pattern; a plurality of cycles of a biphasic overlapping pulse train pattern; a plurality of cycles of a triphasic sequential pulse train pattern; and a plurality of cycles of a triphasic overlapping pulse train pattern.
US08473052B2	Implantable pacemaker A pacemaker comprises an implantable pacemaker housing and a pacemaker electrode provided to transmit stimulation impulses, and a detector for a current which can be induced by an external magnetic field and flowing through the pacemaker electrode. A circuit element is provided to interrupt this inducible current.
US08473049B2	Implantable neural stimulator with mode switching Various aspects of the present subject matter relate to an implantable device. Various device embodiments comprise at least one port to connect to at least one lead with at least electrode, stimulation circuitry connected to the at least one port and adapted to provide at least one neural stimulation therapy to at least one neural stimulation target using the at least one electrode, sensing circuitry connected to the at least one port and adapted to provide a sensed signal, and a controller connected to the stimulation circuitry to provide the at least one neural stimulation therapy and to the sensing circuitry to receive the sensed signal. In response to a triggering event, the controller is adapted to switch between at least two modes. Other aspects and embodiments are provided herein.
US08473047B2	Multifrequency bioimpedence device and related methods Embodiments relate to a device and a method of monitoring and analyzing physiological parameters of a patient. The method includes electrically connecting one or more electrodes with a measurement site of a patient, generating a stimulation signal or signals sufficient to provide multiple stimulation frequencies, multiple waveforms or a combination thereof, measuring a one or more bioimpedance values from the generated signals and analyzing at least one of a fluid bioimpedance contribution, fat bioimpedance contribution or ion bioimpedance contribution within the one or more bioimpedance values sufficient to generate a physiological report.
US08473042B2	Tachyarrhythmia detection using dynamic duration An apparatus comprises an implantable cardiac signal sensing circuit configured to produce a sensed cardiac signal representative of cardiac activity of a subject and a controller communicatively coupled to the cardiac signal sensing circuit. The controller includes a sensing module configured to detect a cardiac depolarization using the sensed cardiac signal and an arrhythmia detection module. The arrhythmia detection module is configured to detect a depolarization rate or interval that satisfies a first tachyarrhythmia detection rate zone threshold, adjust a specified detection duration threshold for the tachyarrhythmia detection zone according to the detected depolarization rate, declare that the detected depolarization rate is an episode of tachyarrhythmia when the detected depolarization rate is sustained for the adjusted detection duration threshold, and provide an indication of the tachyarrhythmia to a user or process.
US08473026B2	System for monitoring a position of a medical instrument with respect to a patient's body A system for monitoring a position of a medical instrument with respect to a patient's body, including a medical instrument, a reference mount attachable to the patient's body for movement with the patient's body, and an electromagnetic unit for association with the reference mount and the medical instrument for monitoring movement of the medical instrument relative to the reference mount. The electromagnetic unit includes a first member attachable to the patient's body and a second member attachable to the medical instrument. The first and second members communicate by electromagnetic radiation.
US08473018B2	Mobile device cradle having an integrated antenna or amplifier Disclosed is a mobile device cradle, having a body and one or more docking members attached to the body for removably receiving a mobile device capable of sending and receiving communications via a communication network in the form of signals, an integrated antenna capable of communicating signals to and from the mobile device; and an integrated bidirectional amplifier in the body having a first and a second amplifier; a connection to a power adapter. Optionally, embodiments include a means for charging a battery of the mobile device. The mobile device cradle can be mounted inside a vehicle and used to improve the signal between the mobile device and the communication network.
US08473017B2	Adjustable antenna and methods An adjustable monopole antenna especially intended for the mobile terminals. The adjusting circuit (930) of the antenna is located between the radiator (920) and the antenna port of a radio device and forms, together with the antenna feed conductor (901), a feed circuit. This circuit comprises an adjustable reactance between the feed conductor and the ground in series with the feed conductor or in both of those places. For example, the feed conductor can be connected by a multi-way switch to one of alternative transmission lines, which are typically short-circuited or open at their tail end and shorter than the quarter wave, each line acting for a certain reactance. The antenna operating band covers at a time only a part of the frequency range used by one or two radio systems, in which case the antenna matching is easier to arrange than of a real broadband antenna. The space required for both the radiator and the adjusting circuit is relatively small. There is no need to arrange a coupling to the radiator for the antenna adjusting, which means a simpler antenna structure and thus savings in production costs.
US08473016B2	Communication apparatus, and data transmission method Provided is a communication apparatus including a wireless communication unit for performing wireless communication by using a predetermined communication band, a data transmission unit for transmitting serial data through a predetermined transmission path, a jamming determination unit for determining whether or not a transmission band used for transmission of the serial data by the data transmission unit jams the communication band used for the wireless communication by the wireless communication unit, and a rate control unit for switching a transmission rate of the serial data to low by controlling the data transmission unit, in a case the jamming determination unit determines that the transmission band used for transmission of the serial data jams the communication band used for the wireless communication.
US08473015B2	Stopper device for sliding swing type portable communication device Provided is a stopper device for a sliding swing type portable communication device, in which a stopper is made up of a small number of parts capable of restricting the swinging operation after sliding operation as well as the sliding operation after the swing operation. The stopper device includes a body housing and a sliding housing opened or closed by sliding or swinging in relation to the body housing, a first sliding member coupled to the sliding housing, a second sliding member coupled to the first sliding member to enable the first sliding member to slide, a swing member coupled to the body housing, installed between the first and second sliding members, to allow the first and second sliding members to swing, and a stopper unit provided to each member, restricting the swinging of the sliding housing when the sliding housing slides and the sliding of the sliding housing when the sliding housing swings before sliding.
US08473011B2	Method and apparatus allowing for user-selectable acoustic equalizer settings for voice calls A user is allowed to select an acoustic equalizer setting from among a plurality of predetermined acoustic equalizer settings. Upon receiving an indication of a selection of a given acoustic equalizer setting, a handheld telephony device processes voice call downlink audio, based on the given acoustic equalizer setting and drives an audio output device with the processed audio signal.
US08473006B1	Method and apparatus for frequency management Disclosed is a method and apparatus and system for managing frequency use in a system where multiple air interface protocols are in use. When a wireless communication device (WCD) is operating under a particular air interface protocol on a particular frequency channel, the WCD detects a threshold signal under another air interface protocol, and the WCD responsively transitions from operating under the particular air interface protocol on the particular frequency channel to operating under the particular air interface protocol on a different frequency channel. The method may thereby help to reduce likelihood of interference.
US08473000B2	Communication device, integrated circuit and method therefor A communication device is capable of supporting communication compliant with a Dual-Mode 2.5G and 3G interface baseband-radio frequency interface standard and comprises a data interface operably coupled to a number sub-systems and a clock circuit generating a plurality of clock phases for supporting communication there between. At least one of the number of sub-systems comprises a line driver and a line receiver; wherein the communication device is characterized in that the line receiver determines an end of a received data frame sent across the data interface and in response thereto switches itself off.
US08472997B2	Power amplification method and apparatus A method for implementing power amplification processing includes: obtaining power amplifier feature information and service requirement information of a power amplifier, where the service requirement information includes requirement information of a real-time service and requirement information of a non-real-time service; determining a regulation parameter and a scheduling parameter of the power amplifier according to the service requirement information and the power amplifier feature information; and performing, by the power amplifier, transmit power regulation according to the regulation parameter to obtain amplified transmit power.
US08472995B2	System and method for reducing power consumed by a wireless communication device A system and method are provided for facilitating reduced power consumption when communicating between a wireless communication device and a wireless communication controller. A power management controller comprising a power saving detection unit and a power level controller is provided. The power savings detector detects when power savings can be applied in accordance with whether or data loss between the base state controller and the wireless communication device can be tolerated. The power level controller selects a reduced transmission power level at which to transmit data if a data loss can be tolerated.
US08472993B2	Downlink and uplink pathloss estimation gap adjustment scheme for wireless systems Briefly, in accordance with one or more embodiments, a pathloss gap between a downlink pathloss from a base station to a mobile station and an uplink pathloss from the mobile station to the base station is estimated. An initial offset value for uplink power control of the estimated pathloss gap is calculated based at least in part on said estimating. An offset value for an uplink data channel or an uplink control channel, or combinations thereof, is set based at least in part on the initial offset value. The pathloss gap for uplink power control is compensated using the set offset value.
US08472989B2	Messaging protocol/service switching methods and devices Methods, devices, and computer readable media for switching communications from a first messaging protocol/service to a second messaging protocol/service by use of messaging information being embedded in a header of a first message of the first messaging protocol/service to enable the recipient to contact the sender over the second messaging protocol/service, is provided.
US08472983B1	Selective location-aware paging In one embodiment, a method for efficiently paging home nodes comprises receiving location information from a home node which indicates that a mobile device is attached to the home node, storing the location information in one or more data structures, wherein the location information includes an identity of the mobile device and an identity of the home node, mapping in the one or more data structures the identity of the mobile device to the identity of the home node, receiving a paging request message which contains the identity of a desired mobile device, identifying one or more associated home nodes through the mapping with the identity of the desired mobile device, and forwarding the paging request message to the one or more associated home nodes.
US08472982B1	Rapid paging based on device mobility and coverage area mobility Disclosed herein are exemplary methods and systems that may help determine when to make a rapid page attempt in a certain coverage area, before resorting to zone-based paging. An exemplary method involves: (a) at a radio access network, determining that a wireless communication device (WCD) should be paged; (b) responsive to determining that the WCD should be paged: (i) determining a last-known coverage area of the WCD, (ii) based at least in part on a WCD mobility indicator of the WCD and a coverage-area mobility indicator of the last-known coverage area, determining an overall mobility indicator, and (iii) using the overall mobility indicator as a basis for determining whether or not to make a rapid page attempt to the WCD; (c) if it is determined to make the rapid page attempt, then making the rapid page attempt in the last-known sector; and (d) otherwise, using a zone-based paging scheme to page the WCD.
US08472968B1	Location-based detection of interference in cellular communications systems The present specification describes techniques and apparatus that enable location-based detection of interference. In one or more implementations, a neighboring cell generating interference for a mobile device is determined based at least in part on a location of the mobile device.
US08472966B2	Method of operating a wireless communications network, and wireless communications network implementing the method A method of operating a wireless communications network is adapted to provide services to users exploiting a first and a second different radio communications technologies, for example, an enhanced general packet radio service network. The method includes: providing, in a user profile available at the network, a subscription indication adapted to indicate that the user has subscribed for being provisioned with the network services through the first radio communication technology, upon reception by the network of a capability indication from the user adapted to indicate to the network that the user supports the first radio communications technology, looking up the user profile for the presence of the subscription indication; and in case the subscription indication is not found, handling the user as if supporting the second radio communications technology but not the first radio communications technology.
US08472954B2	Base station device, mobile station device, communication system, and communication method A communication system which performs communication between a base station device configuring at least one cell and a mobile station device, wherein: the base station device includes: a synchronization signal generation unit which generates a synchronization signal corresponding to a cell identity for identifying a cell; and a transmission unit which generates a first transmission signal including the synchronization signal using a first parameter obtained from the cell identity, generates a second transmission signal excluding the synchronization signal using a second parameter obtained from a virtual cell identity different from the cell identity, transmits the first transmission signal using a first frequency band, and transmits the second transmission signal via a second frequency band different from the first frequency band. The mobile station device includes: a reception unit which receives a first reception signal including the synchronization signal using the first parameter obtained from the cell identity via the first frequency band and receives a second reception signal using the second parameter obtained from the virtual cell identity via the second frequency band.
US08472946B2	Open to all prepaid roaming systems and methods Some embodiments include a method for providing roaming service for a wireless device of a person that is both a prepaid subscriber of a local network and a subscriber of a home network with which the local network has a roaming agreement. Other embodiments of related systems and methods are also disclosed.
US08472939B2	Communication method and control apparatus, base station apparatuses and terminal apparatus using the communication method A first interface unit receives an incoming signal notification addressed to a terminal apparatus. A generator generates a first message used to have the received incoming signal notification in a paging channel. A second interface unit outputs the generated first message to a base station apparatus corresponding to a paging area of the terminal apparatus. The first interface unit receives, from the base station apparatus, connection information indicating that a communication channel for data communication is established between the terminal apparatus and the base station apparatus. When the connection information is received, the generator generates a second message used to have the incoming signal notification included in the communication channel. The second interface unit outputs the generated second message to the base station apparatus that has established the communication channel with the terminal.
US08472936B1	Dynamically configurable IP based wireless devices and wireless networks A wireless communication and control system including a wireless device. There is a central server for storing communication protocols and control protocols and communicating the communication protocols and selectively communicating the control protocols between the wireless device and the central server. A communication protocol configures the system for communication and control protocols configure the system as one of a selection of intelligent appliance controllers. Alternately the control protocols configure the system as one of a selection of Internet terminals. The wireless device is any hand-held communication device, such as a hand-held computing device, wireless telephone, or cellular phone.
US08472935B1	Communication device The communication device comprising a voice communication implementer and a location dependent program executing implementer.
US08472930B2	Methods and apparatus for creation and transport of multimedia content flows System for creation and transport of multimedia content flows. The system includes a method for transporting a content flow to a wireless access network for broadcast to devices coupled to the wireless access network. The method includes transmitting a request message to add the content flow to the wireless access network, wherein the request message includes a scheduled delivery time. The method also includes receiving a response message indicating that the content flow will be added to the wireless access network, waiting until the scheduled delivery time, and delivering the content flow to the wireless access network.
US08472925B2	On-demand, real-time interpretation system and method A system and method for on-demand, real-time interpretation services. The system includes a mobile hands-free communicator that cooperates with a two-way radio frequency communication device. The hands-free communicator includes a unique identifier that is operably associated with the user. An initiation protocol enables the user to request interpretation services using the hands-free communicator.
US08472906B1	Systems and methods for recovery of a sub-carrier signal from a stereophonic multiplexed signal Disclosed herein are systems and methods for recovering a sub-carrier signal from a multiplexed signal having an embedded pilot tone signal. The recovery system includes circuitry for recovering a pilot signal from the received multiplexed signal, for generating a frequency-doubled signal from the recovered pilot signal, and for phase-shifting the frequency-doubled signal by a pre-determined phase difference from the embedded pilot tone signal. Another recovery system includes circuitry for recovering a pilot signal from the received multiplexed signal, for phase-shifting the pilot signal by a pre-determined phase difference from the embedded pilot tone signal, and for generating a frequency-doubled signal from the phase-shifted signal.
US08472905B2	Method and system for tuning an antenna using injection A method for wireless communication includes adding a received DVB-H signal with a reference oscillator signal to generate an added DVB-H signal. The reference oscillator signal may be added at an input of a matching load. The matching load may be used to tune a wireless antenna that receives the received DVB-H signal based on a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) associated with the added DVB-H signal. The reference oscillator signal may be generated, and the generated reference oscillator signal may be amplified. The added DVB-H signal may be amplified subsequent to the adding. The RSSI associated with the added DVB-H signal may be determined. The tuning may occur during receiving of a preamble of a packet for the received DVB-H signal.
US08472900B2	Method and system for enhancing the discontinuous transmission functionality The invention allows improving the control of transmission of the silence detection (SID) frames to prevent annoying effects in the music sent to the calling terminal instead of ringback tones. This can be achieved by disabling the discontinuous transmission functionality during the period of call establishment. There are many different ways to accomplish the idea behind the present invention.
US08472899B2	Power control for linear and class AB power amplifiers Aspects of a system for improving efficiency over power control for linear and class AB power amplifiers may include a current source circuit that enables determination of a bias current level for a PA circuit within an IC die based on an amplitude of an input modulation signal. The PA circuit may enable generation of an output signal based on a differential input signal and the input modulation signal to the current source circuit. A generated bias voltage may be applied to a transformer external to the IC die, but internal to an IC package containing the IC die and/or a circuit board containing the IC package. One or more amplifier bias voltage levels may be applied to the PA circuit wherein the amplifier bias voltage levels may be derived from the generated bias voltage level and/or the determined bias current level.
US08472893B2	System for controlling antenna diversity in a home area network A system, in one embodiment, includes an energy services interface having first and second antennas configured to communicate with a home area network (HAN) to receive information related to energy, communication circuitry configured to communicate data using the first and second antennas, and control logic configured to assign the first HAN device to either the first or second antenna as a first assigned antenna based at least partially upon which of the first or second antennas receives a stronger signal when communicating with first HAN device. In addition, the energy services interface is configured to communicate with the first HAN device via the first assigned antenna based on an antenna diversity schedule.
US08472890B2	Adjustable local oscillator path in a communication device with a transmitter A communication device includes a transmitter and a receiver. The receiver mixes a local oscillator (LO) signal with the received signal to downconvert the received signal to an intermediate frequency (IF). The LO path that feeds the LO signal to the downconverting mixer is controlled based on the transmit power of the transmitter. For high transmit power, the drive of the LO path is increased, thereby increasing the signal-to-noise ratio of the LO signal input into the mixer. For low transmit power levels, the drive to the LO path is decreased, reducing power consumption in the communication device. In this way, receiver path noise due to mixing of the LO phase noise with the self-generated transmitter signal is selectively controlled while incurring lower power consumption penalty. The communication device may be an access terminal configured for communication with a cellular radio network.
US08472880B2	Wireless communication apparatus and indicating method A wireless communication apparatus includes: a first unit which is connected in wireless to a base station by radio wave, and which includes: a measuring unit which measures a reception electric field strength of the radio wave in the first unit transmitted from the base station to the first unit; and a transmitter which transmits information of the reception electric field strength measured by the measuring unit; and a second unit which is connected to the first unit, and which includes: a receiver which receives the information of the reception electric field strength transmitted by the transmitter; and a first indicator which indicates on the second unit the information of the reception electric field strength received by the receiver.
US08472873B2	Near field communication and frequency modulation coexistence concealment system and method A system for determining a frequency modulated audio output of a mobile communication device during a near field communication transaction includes a transceiver providing a first frequency modulated audio signal. The device also is configured to determine when the near field communication transaction is occurring; a memory configured to store a replacement sound; and a selection circuit coupled with the transceiver and the memory to select the replacement sound when the near field communication transaction is occurring and select the first frequency modulated audio signal when the near field communication transaction is not occurring. There is also a signal path coupled with the selection circuit and configured to provide a second frequency modulated signal based on the selection circuit. In this way, the replacement sound is the audio output when the NFC transaction is occurring and the regular audio is output when the NFC transaction is not occurring.
US08472872B2	On-channel repeating apparatus and method An on-channel repeating apparatus and method is provided. The method includes subtracting a replica of a feedback signal from a signal received from a main transmitter or another repeating apparatus; demodulating and equalizing the signal to remove noise, a multipath signal, and the remaining feedback signal from the signal; inserting identification signal having good correlation properties into the signal; modulating the signal; and transmitting the modulated signal.
US08472866B1	Themed ornaments with internet radio receiver Apparatuses for playing signals received from the Internet or other information highway on one or more speakers are described. The apparatus has a receiver for receiving information from a preselected address; a processor for interpreting the signals; and at least one sound emitting device for playing the processed signal. The apparatus has an ornamental design on the outside which is related to the topic of the signals received from the address. The apparatus could include a smartphone as the receiver.
US08472852B2	Fixing device and image forming apparatus A fixing device includes a foam fixer generator unit generating a foam fixer containing a softener softening toner by dissolving or swelling part of resin of the toner, an application roller carrying and transferring the foam fixer onto a recording sheet, a pressure roller applying pressure to a toner image on the recording sheet via the foam fixer on the application roller to fix the toner image on the recording sheet, a cleaning device removing residual components remaining on the application roller, a recording sheet detector unit detecting presence or absence of the recording sheet, a remover unit being in contact with and separated from the application roller to remove the foam fixer on the application roller, and a control unit controlling the contact-separation operation of the remover unit based on a detected result of a front end and/or a rear end of the recording sheet.
US08472849B2	Toner cartridge and image forming apparatus having toner cartridge A toner cartridge has first and second toner housing portions configured to house toner. The first toner housing portion has a first bottom part that is arcuately curved. The second toner housing portion has a second bottom part that is arcuately curved. The second bottom part is next to the first bottom part and is situated at a position lower than the first bottom part. A third bottom part is provided between the first bottom part and the second bottom part. The third bottom part has a toner discharge port.
US08472848B2	Developer supply container including a portion for regulating mounting attitude thereof A developer supply container is mountable to a developer receiving apparatus including a driving gear, wherein the container mounted to the apparatus is settable to a set position by a rotating operation of the container in a setting direction by an operator, and includes a substantially cylindrical portion; a developer discharging opening provided on a surface of the cylindrical portion; a developer feeding member provided in the cylindrical portion; a drive receiving member to engage with the driving gear for rotating the developer feeding member; and a regulating portion for regulating a mounting attitude of the cylindrical portion so as to prevent engagement between the drive receiving member and the driving gear. A rotating operation of the cylindrical portion toward a set position about a center of the cylindrical portion in a setting direction engages the drive receiving member with the driving gear.
US08472843B2	Compound apparatus A compound apparatus is supplied in which the manuscript reading apparatus easily moves and rotates. The compound apparatus includes a printer section for forming an image onto record paper and a scanner section that is furnished in the printer section for reading out a manuscript. The printer section includes a box body that has an open mouth on the top and an image forming mechanism section that is furnished in the box body, and the scanner section is capable of rotating between a position closing the open mouth and a position opening the open mouth through a rotation fulcrum axis that is furnished on the left end part of the printer section and that extends to the front and back directions.
US08472839B2	Process cartridge and image forming apparatus A process cartridge detachably mountable to a main assembly of an image forming apparatus includes a rotatable image bearing member on which an image is to be formed; a rotatable roller which is rotated and contacted to the image bearing member at least during image forming operation; and a supporting device for rotatably supporting a shaft of the rotatable roller at least during the image forming operation, the supporting device including an urging member for urging the rotatable roller toward the image bearing member, a bearing member having a holding portion for holding the shaft of the rotatable roller in a position where the rotatable roller is contacted to the image bearing member by the urging member, wherein a relative movement between the rotatable roller and the supporting device is possible by an external force between a first position in which the shaft of the rotatable roller is urged by the urging member while being held by the holding portion, and a second position in which the shaft of the rotatable roller is not held by the holding portion and in which a distance between a rotation axis of the image bearing member and an axis of the rotatable roller is longer than that in the first position.
US08472837B2	Photosensitive member cartridge for holding photosensitive member and mounting developing cartridges A color electrophotographic image forming apparatus includes: a drum cartridge, detachably mountable to the apparatus main assembly, for holding a drum; developing cartridges, each including a developing roller for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on the drum, demountable from the cartridge; a main assembly guide for guiding the cartridge from the main assembly; a drum cartridge guide for guiding the developing devices independently demountably from the cartridge; and a drum cartridge preventor for preventing movement of the cartridge. When the developing cartridge is demounted while drum cartridge is mounted in the main assembly, the preventor is movable between a first position preventing the cartridge from moving in a demounting direction and a second position permitting such movement. The apparatus includes a grip for facilitating demounting of the drum cartridge by facilitating a change of the preventor's position from the first position to the second position.
US08472833B2	Power supply and image forming apparatus A synchronous rectification power supply controls driving of a switching unit in such a manner as to start the driving in response to rising of an output voltage at a secondary side of a transformer and to stop the driving after a predetermined time passed.
US08472829B2	Measuring apparatus, measuring method and image forming apparatus A toner amount measuring unit irradiates a toner image formed on an image carrying member with light, and an image capturing unit captures an image of a reflected waveform according to light reflected by the toner image. Then, an amount of applied toner is calculated based on the peak position or peak height of the reflected waveform in accordance with information associated with the density of the toner image to be formed.
US08472824B2	Image forming apparatus employing two cleaning blades An image forming apparatus includes: a cleaning blade provided on an intermediate transfer member to which a toner image formed on at least one image forming section is primary transferred and on a secondary transfer section which transfers the toner image transferred on the intermediate transfer member onto a transfer material, respectively, which cleans the toner image remained thereon, respectively; a bias power source which is electrically connected to the secondary transfer section; and a controller which causes the image forming section to form a patch toner image onto a non-image area on the image carrier corresponding to an area between adjoining two transfer materials, and causes the bias power source to conduct a power control in synchronization with a positional movement timing of the patch toner image, to supply selectively the patch toner image to the intermediate transfer member and the secondary transfer section.
US08472821B2	Image forming apparatus featuring changeable writing starting position An image forming apparatus includes an executing portion for executing an operation in a correcting mode in which (i) a positional relation between an adjustment toner image transferred onto a belt from a first image bearing member and an adjustment toner image transferred onto the belt from a second image bearing member is detected, and (ii) a writing starting position of the electrostatic latent image to be formed on at least one of the image bearing members on the basis of a result of the detection is determined; and a changing portion for changing the writing starting position determined in the correcting mode on the basis of a difference between a moving direction of a predetermined point on the belt calculated by a feeding direction calculating portion during the operation in the correcting mode and the moving direction calculated by the feeding direction calculating portion during image formation based on an inputted image formation signal.
US08472817B2	Image forming apparatus An image forming apparatus including at least one latent image carrier, an image forming unit to form a toner image on the at least one latent image carrier based on image data, a transfer body onto which the toner image formed on the at least one latent image carrier is transferred in one or more valid image ranges, a non-image range determiner to determine a non-image range on a surface of the transfer body onto which the toner image is not transferred, a surface detector to detect the surface of the transfer body in the non-image range, and a toner determiner to determine whether or not toner is present in the non-image range based on a result detected by the surface detector.
US08472816B2	Process cartridge and image forming apparatus A process cartridge is detachably mountable to a main assembly of an image forming apparatus and includes an image bearing member, a developing device having a developer carrier, a transmitter transmitting a driving force received from the main assembly to the developer carrier, a charger movable toward and away from the image bearing member, for charging the image bearing member while contacting the image bearing member, a spacer, detachably mountable relative to the cartridge, for holding the charger at a position away from the image bearing member when the spacer is mounted and for permitting the charger to charge the image bearing member when the spacer is dismounted, and a drive controller for disengaging the driving connection between the transmitter and the developer carrier when the spacer is mounted, and for establishing the driving connection between the transmitter and the developer carrying member when the spacer is dismounted.
US08472810B2	Optical signal transmitter and method for controlling polarization multiplexed optical signal An optical signal transmitter includes: first outer modulator to generate first modulated optical signal, the first outer modulator including a pair of optical paths and a first phase shifter to give phase difference to the pair of optical paths; second outer modulator to generate second modulated optical signal, the second outer modulator including a pair of optical paths and a second phase shifter to give phase difference to the pair of optical paths; combiner to generate polarization multiplexed optical signal by combining the first and second modulated optical signals; phase controller to control the phase difference by the first phase shifter to A−Δφ and control the phase difference by the second phase shifter to A+Δφ; and power controller to control at least one of the first and second outer modulators based on AC component of the polarization multiplexed optical signal.
US08472809B2	Adaptive cross-polarization modulation cancellers for coherent optical communication systems For coherent fiber optic communications, the nonlinear XPolM impairment is the most important issue to realize over-100 Gbps high-speed transmissions. A method provides a way to cancel time-varying XPolM crosstalk by introducing multi-stage adaptive mechanism. In the method, a low-complexity adaptive filtering based on recursive least-squares (RLS) first tracks the time-varying crosstalk along with the per-survivor trellis-state decoding. The estimated channel and the decoded data are then used to calculate the empirical covariance, which is in turn exploited to obtain more accurate channel estimates by means of optimal-weighted least-squares. This is performed with a low-complexity processing over frequency domain with fast Fourier transform. The performance is significantly improved with turbo principle decoding, more specifically, iterative decoding and iterative estimation over a block.
US08472808B2	Optical data path systems This disclosure is directed to optical data path systems that enable unidirectional and bidirectional transmission of optical signals between nodes of a multi-node system such as a multiprocessor system. In one aspect, an optical data path system includes an optical device layer connected to nodes of a multi-node system and a controller. The optical device layer includes a waveguide network of waveguide branches optically connecting each node of the multi-node system to every other node of the multi-node system, resonators disposed adjacent to the waveguide branches, and detectors disposed adjacent to waveguide branches of the waveguide network. Each detector is electronically connected to a node of the multi-node system. The resonators are operated by the controller to control the path of optical signals sent between the nodes of the multi-node system.
US08472806B2	Systems and methods for photonically assisted RF filtering Systems and methods for improved photonically-assisted RF filtering. Presently, processing of wide-band RF signals involves the use of multiple specialized equipment to isolate a region of interest from the spectrum. The present invention discloses the use of a modulation system to upconvert the RF signal onto the sideband of a light source such as a laser, an optical filter sub-system comprising a plurality of filtering units that function as combinations of IIR and FIR filters, and a resonant channelizing filter for noise reduction and rejection of undesired channels, and means for control and agility of a piecewise coherent optical filter. The resulting filtered RF signal may then be downconverted to the electrical domain for further signal processing.
US08472798B2	Method for focusing A camera and a method for selecting a focus region in a camera view have a plurality of focus regions that are defined in the camera view. A focus distance of the camera is repeatedly set to focus at different distances by setting a lens distance of the camera to different lens distance values. A focus value is determined for each focus region at the set lens distance value. A function for a plurality of focus regions is estimated based on a plurality of determined focus value and lens distance value pairs. A local maximum point of the function is calculated for each focus region for which a function has been estimated, where the local maximum point has a lens distance value. Focus regions are grouped, rated and selected based on the lens distance value of the local maximum point of the focus regions and spatial distances between the focus regions.
US08472784B2	Recording apparatus, recording method, and recording program To provide a recording apparatus for recording at least content data and reproducing control information for controlling reproducing of the content data. The apparatus includes: a recording unit recording content data on a recording medium; and a control unit making a control to generate, with respect to the content data recorded on the recording medium, a clip information file including clip information indicating attribute information on the content data, a PlayList file including a PlayList for calling the clip information, an object file including an object for reproducing the content data by calling the PlayList file, and an index file including an index table for calling the object. The control unit correlates a type, based on a purpose of creating the PlayList file, with the PlayList file as attribute information of the PlayList file so as to make a control to generate the type in the index file.
US08472761B2	Waveguide systems and methods A waveguide apparatus is provided. The apparatus can include a base member including a first surface having at least one first attachment feature and a waveguide member including a first surface and a second surface. The waveguide member first surface is complimentary to and disposed proximate the base first surface. The waveguide member second surface can include at least one channel. The apparatus can further include a cover member, comprising a plurality of second attachment features adapted to engage at least a portion of the at least one first attachment features disposed thereabout. At least a portion of the cover member can be disposed proximate the at least one channel, to provide at least one hollow core waveguide.
US08472748B2	Method of image processing and image processing apparatus A method of image processing includes: providing a radiance map, generating a first image in which an edge part is preserved and a flat part is smoothed by applying an edge preservation smoothing filter to the radiance map, generating a second image having a visually perceivable dynamic range by applying a correction curve to the first image, and generating a display image having corrected lightness by adjusting a hue value and a chroma value of the second image.
US08472744B2	Device and method for estimating whether an image is blurred A method for estimating whether an image (14) is either blurred or sharp includes the steps of (i) determining an image gradient histogram distrbution (410) of at least a portion of the image (14), (ii) comparing at least a portion of the image gradient histogram distribution (410) to a Gaussian model (414), and (iii) estimating a defocus blur size of at least a portion of the image (14) Additional methods for evaluating whether the image (14) has motion blur are provided herein For example, a dominant gradient orientation can be detected by histogram analysis (716), and the dominant gradient orientation (718) can be used to determine a possible motion blur direction (720) Alternatively, a dominant gradient orientation can be detected using principal component analysis (“PCA”) on the image.
US08472740B2	Apparatus and method for processing data According to one embodiment, an apparatus for processing data includes a data input unit, a lossy processing unit, a buffer, a region indication unit, a lossless processing unit, and a data output unit. The data input unit is configured to input time series data. The lossy processing unit is configured to obtain first compressed data by applying lossy processing to the time series data. The buffer is configured to store the first compressed data. The region indication unit is configured to indicate at least one part of the first compressed data. The lossless processing unit is configured to obtain second compressed data by applying lossless processing to the at least one part of the first compressed data. The data output unit is configured to output the second compressed data.
US08472738B2	Apparatus for determining motion vectors and a reference picture index for a current block in a picture to be decoded In one embodiment, the apparatus includes a decoder. The decoder is configured to obtain first and second motion vectors and a reference picture index of a block other than the current block. The decoder is configured to obtain a direction of the first and second motion vectors. The decoder is configured to determine first and second prediction motion vectors of the current block using the first and second motion vectors of the other block such that the first prediction motion vector of the current block has the obtained direction of the first motion vector of the other block and the second prediction motion vector of the current block has the obtained direction of the second motion vector of the other block.
US08472737B2	Attitude estimation in compressed domain In general, in one embodiment, a starfield image as seen by an object is analyzed. Compressive samples are taken of the starfield image and, in the compressed domain, processed to remove noise. Stars in the starfield image are identified and used to determine an attitude of the object.
US08472736B2	Attitude estimation by reducing noise with dragback In general, in one embodiment, a starfield image as seen by an object is analyzed. Compressive samples are taken of the starfield image and, in the compressed domain, processed to remove noise. Stars in the starfield image are identified and used to determine an attitude of the object.
US08472726B2	Document comparison and analysis A method including a process by which a first digital image of the document is obtained. A second digital image of a document is retrieved from a computer, a mobile device, a computer network or by imaging of a second document. The method includes calculating the transformation between the first and second digital images such as geometrical distortion, local brightness and contrast differences and blurring due to the optical imaging process. The method estimates the parameters of these transformations so that the transformations can be applied to one of the images, rendering it as similar as possible to the other image. The method further compares the two images in order to find differences such as addition, deletion or changing of characters or words.The method further displays the differences on a display such as a computer screen or mobile device screen or reports to the user that the two documents are identical.
US08472719B2	Method of stricken-out character recognition in handwritten text A method of identifying stricken-out characters in handwriting, comprising parsing a scanned image into regions and objects, defining objects containing handwritten characters, applying structural or feature classifiers for primary character recognition, applying one or more supplemental feature classifiers preliminarily trained by strike-out characters, and identifying a stricken-out character if any. The stricken-out character may be further examined by special procedures, either automated or manual.
US08472717B2	Foreground image separation method A foreground image separation method is disclosed to separate dynamic foreground and static background in a sequence of input images which have been processed either with automatic white balance or brightness control by the camera. First, an input image is received from the camera, and then a white balance or brightness compensation is performed to the input image according to a reference image to generate a compensated image with background color and background brightness which are approximately similar to that of the reference image. Finally, a background subtraction algorithm is performed to the compensated image to generate a background separation result. The background subtraction algorithm could be a Gaussian Mixture Model based algorithm. The method could process successive images received from the camera to continuously generate background separation results and update the reference image accordingly, such that video surveillance system could adapt to the change of illumination.
US08472714B2	Identification apparatus and method for identifying properties of an object detected by a video surveillance camera The present invention deals with an identification apparatus (100) in a video surveillance system for identifying properties of an object captured in a video sequence by a video surveillance camera. The identification apparatus comprises: an object identification unit (102) for identifying a specific object in a video sequence; a color histogram generator (104) for generating a color histogram in at least two dimensions of a color space based on color and intensity information of the specific object identified in the video sequence, the color and intensity information originating from a plurality of images of the video sequence; and an object properties identificator (106) for identifying properties of the object based on the generated color histogram. The identified properties can then be used in a tracking device (200) of the video surveillance system for tracking an object between different video sequences, which may be captured by two different video surveillance cameras. The present invention also deals with a corresponding method for identifying properties of an object captured in a video sequence and a method for tracking the object in a video surveillance system.
US08472705B2	System, method, and apparatus for selecting one or more representative images Embodiments of methods, apparatuses, devices and systems associated with one or more representative images are disclosed.
US08472701B2	Position measuring apparatus A position measuring apparatus including a first irradiating part that irradiates a first beam to an object, a second irradiating part that irradiates a second beam to the object, a capturing part that captures images of the object, a processing part that generates a first difference image and a second difference image by processing the images captured by the capturing part, an extracting part that extracts a contour and a feature point of the object from the first difference image, a calculating part that calculates three-dimensional coordinates of a reflection point located on the object based on the second difference image, and a determining part that determines a position of the object by matching the contour, the feature point, and the three-dimensional coordinates with respect to predetermined modeled data of the object.
US08472700B2	Method and apparatus for creating 3D face model by using multi-view image information A method for creating a 3D face model by using multi-view image information, includes: creating a mesh structure for expressing an appearance of a 3D face model by using a first multi-view image obtained by capturing an expressionless face of a performer; and locating joints of a hierarchical structure in the mesh structure, by using a second multi-view image obtained by capturing an expression performance of the performer. Further, the method includes creating a 3D face model that is animated to enable reproduction of a natural expression of the performer, by setting dependency between the joints and the mesh structure.
US08472699B2	Arrangement and method for three-dimensional depth image construction Three-dimensional image data is generated. According to an example embodiment, three-dimensional depth information is estimated from a still image. A set of monocular images and their corresponding ground-truth depth maps are used to determine a relationship between monocular image features and the depth of image points. For different points in a particular image, the determined relationship is used together with local and global image features including monocular cues to determine relative depths of the points.
US08472692B2	Method and apparatus for controlling a microscope In accordance with the present invention there is provided a method for controlling a microscope to scan a microscope slide. By analyzing an overview image it is determined quantatively which swathe contains the most image detail and an optimum scanning order can subsequently be determined relative to the swathe determined as having the most detail. By scanning the swathe with the most detail first a good focus characteristic can be established for a dynamic focussing system and prediction errors in the dynamic focus system are likely to be low when scanning subsequent swathes.
US08472689B2	Method for enhanced voxel resolution in MRI image A method for providing an enhanced 3-D image for a volume imaging apparatus obtains 3-D volume images of an object at a first resolution and forms a 3-D matrix of voxels at a second, higher resolution. Two or more 3-D volume images that have different spatial orientations and that intersect at the voxel are registered. The voxel is mapped to the 3-D matrix. Inpainting fills in gap regions between mapped voxels in the 3-D matrix. A simulated first-resolution data value is generated according to one or more 3-D matrix values. The simulated first-resolution data value is compared with an observed first-resolution value from the 3-D volume images and, until the simulated first resolution data value is within a predetermined threshold value of the observed first-resolution value or until a predetermined number of iterations is reached, the 3-D matrix voxel values are adjusted and the simulated first-resolution data value recomputed.
US08472675B2	Systems, methods and devices for use in filter-based assessment of carcass grading Methods, systems and devices are implemented in connection with measuring the relative content of intramuscular fat (IMF) in a portion of muscle tissue. Consistent with one such method a probe is presented to the portion of muscle tissue. The probe produces a response-provoking signal in the muscle tissue. A resulting signal is used to determine the relative content of IMF in the portion of muscle tissue as a function of a selected filter.
US08472670B2	Target detection device and target detection method Disclosed is a target detection device which can match a moving object in a captured image to an identifier when a plurality of identifiers began to be received in a short time, or when the number of identifiers received was larger than the number of detected position histories. The device (100) comprises: a feature information extraction unit (103) which extracts the feature information of at least one moving object imaged in a captured image, a read unit (104) which reads the identifier of the wireless terminal held by the moving object, a history controller (105) which links and saves the feature information and the identifier at each time, and a matching unit (106) which matches the feature information and an identifier stored in the history controller (105) based on the degree of similarity with the feature information stored in the history controller (105) and the links between the feature information and the identifier.
US08472666B2	Electronic apparatus with angle-adjustable operation panel An electronic apparatus may include an operation panel, a driving device, an image pickup device, a face detection unit, and a control unit. The operation panel may be configured to move. The driving device may be configured to move the operation panel. The image pickup device may be configured to be installed proximate the operation panel, and/or to capture an image of a user. The face detection unit may be configured to detect a position of a facial image of the user within the image captured by the image pickup device. The control unit may be configured to control the driving device such that the operation panel and an optical axis of the image pickup device move according to the position of the facial image detected by the face detecting unit.
US08472664B1	Inferring locations from an image Systems and methods are disclosed for determining the location where an image was captured. In general, a device such as a smartphone may capture one or more images from a location, such as images of buildings, street signs and the like, and a central system may compare the submitted images to images in an image library to identify matches. The location of the match may then be provided back to the smartphone.
US08472655B2	Audio processing An audio processing arrangement (200) comprises a plurality of audio sources (101, 102) generating input audio signals, a processing circuit (110) for deriving processed audio signals from the input audio signals, a combining circuit (120) for deriving a combined audio signal from the processed audio signals, and a control circuit (130) for controlling the processing circuit in order to maximize a power measure of the combined audio signal and for limiting a function of gains of the processed audio signals to a predetermined value. In accordance with the present invention, the audio processing arrangement (200) comprises a pre-processing circuit (140) for deriving pre-processed audio signals from the input audio signals to minimize a cross-correlation of interferences comprised in the input audio signals. The pre-processed signals are provided to the processing circuit (110) instead of the input audio signals.
US08472644B2	High efficiency audio amplifier and method thereof A high efficiency audio amplifier is disclosed. The high efficiency audio amplifier includes an input end for receiving an input audio signal, an output end for outputting an output audio signal, a signal generator coupled to the input end for determining a frequency of an oscillating signal according to the distribution of the input audio signal and a reference voltage, and generating the oscillating signal accordingly, a waveform transformer coupled to the input end and the signal generator for comparing the input audio signal with the oscillating signal to generate a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal, a pre-drive circuit for generating a pre-drive signal according to the PWM signal, an output stage coupled to the pre-drive circuit for generating an output signal, and a filter coupled to the output stage for filtering the output signal to generate the output audio signal to the output end.
US08472637B2	Variable ANR transform compression Apparatus and method of reducing the provision of ANR at an one end of a range of frequencies at which the ANR is provided without reducing the provision of the ANR at the other end of the range of frequencies by repeatedly reconfiguring coefficients of one or more digital filters to reduce the provision of ANR at the one end in increments at a first recurring interval, and then later reversing the reduction in the provision of the ANR at the one end by repeatedly reconfiguring coefficients of the one or more digital filters in increments at a second recurring interval.
US08472633B2	Detection of device configuration Devices connected with a computer system are interrogated to detect whether they are configured and functioning. In an audio device implementation, a known audio sample is output to a loudspeaker. If the loudspeaker is properly configured and functional, an attached microphone will capture the sound corresponding to the audio sample generated by the loudspeaker. If sound corresponding to the audio sample is detected, an indication is provided to the user that the microphone and loudspeaker are operational. If no sound corresponding to the audio sample is detected, an indication is provided to the user that the loudspeaker is not enabled and additional configuration is required.
US08472629B2	Communication system, communication device and processing method therefor A master generates a session key, receives public keys from a plurality of slaves, encrypts the session key using the individual public keys, transmits the encrypted session key to the plurality of slaves, encrypts data using the encrypted session key, and sends it to the plurality of slaves. A plurality of slaves transmit public keys to a master device, receive and decrypt a session key encrypted using individual public keys, receive data encrypted using the session key from the master, and decrypt it using the decrypted session key.
US08472616B1	Self calibration of envelope-based acoustic echo cancellation Systems and methods for envelope-based acoustic echo cancellation in a communication device are provided. In exemplary embodiments, a primary acoustic signal is received via a microphone of the communication device, and a far-end signal is received via a receiver. Frequency analysis is performed on the primary acoustic signal and the far-end acoustic signal to obtain frequency sub-bands. An echo mask based on magnitude envelopes of the primary and far-end acoustic signals for each frequency sub-band is generated. A noise mask based on at least the primary acoustic signal for each frequency sub-band may also be generated. A combination of the echo mask and noise mask may then be applied to the primary acoustic signal to generate a masked signal. The masked signal is then output.
US08472613B1	Intelligent and automatic calling process Ways for facilitating an automated calling process are described. An embodiment includes receiving a start indication to start recording events associated with a call process, starting a timing reference, receiving data provided by a user, storing information suitable to reproduce the received data based on the timing reference, and repeating the receiving step and the storing step until a stop indication to stop recording events is received. Redialing can occur without user intervention by retrieving a first indication of an information-providing event associated with a dialing process, providing data to satisfy the information-providing event, determining whether a subsequent information-providing event is to be expected, waiting for a correct time or for a prompt to provide additional data to satisfy the subsequent information-providing event, providing additional data to satisfy the subsequent information-providing event, and without user interaction, repeating the determining, waiting, and providing steps until the call is connected or until there is no additional data to provide.
US08472612B1	Call center customer queue shortcut access code An improved system and method that allows a customer waiting, for example, in a call center queue to leave contact information, a preferred callback time frame and drop out of the queue. The system and method computes a priority access code and a time frame when its use is valid that coincides with the preferred callback time frame of the call center or customer service department, etc. In response to the request for a priority access code to use when the customer calls back, the system and method sends the customer a callback message including the priority access code and time frame when its use is valid. During the time frame the priority access code is valid, the customer contacts the call center for example by calling back or by initiating a web chat, etc., re-enters the queue and uses the priority access code. This allows the customer to enter a general queue at their convenience and at a higher priority or go straight to the head of the general queue. Alternatively, the customer may enter a callback queue, which already has a higher priority than the general queue.
US08472609B1	Method and computer readable medium for geographic agent routing A method and computer readable medium for routing a call to geographically dispersed agents based on agent skill-set, agent location and caller location that results in the call being delivered to the best available agent. The computer readable medium and method are utilized with a system comprised of a call center application module coupled to a database module with a communications network being used to couple incoming calls from customers with the best available agent. A database contains a ranking of available agents, based on a dataset including information regarding skill-set, previous interaction with the customer, proximity to the customer, language capability, current availability, and the like. The method chooses the best available agent to service a customer call based on the agent rankings. In the case where the customer has a preference for proximity of the agent to the customer, the system adjusts the agent rankings according to the agent's distance from the customer prior to making a selection.
US08472603B2	Remote monitoring of phone calls A communication system includes a plurality of endpoints associated with predetermined groups of endpoints; a server adapted to store for each group of endpoints a list of the endpoints, among the plurality of endpoints, associated therewith; and a communication network adapted to allow the server and the plurality of endpoints to communicate with each other, wherein, for an incoming phone call from a calling endpoint, each endpoint of the plurality of endpoints includes modules adapted to: 1) receive from the calling endpoint a request to establish the incoming phone call; 2) send a message to the server reporting about the incoming phone call from the calling endpoint, and wherein the server includes modules adapted to: a) receive the message sent in 2); b) identify, based on the received message, a group of endpoints associated with the endpoint sending the message in 2); c) identify at least one monitoring endpoint associated with the group of endpoints identified in b); and d) send to the at least one monitoring endpoint identified in c) a message notifying of the incoming phone call.
US08472602B2	Conference waiting room method and apparatus The present invention comprises a method for hosting: (i) a first conference call on a first teleconferencing bridge from time tA to time tB, and (ii) a second conference call on the first teleconferencing bridge from time tB to time tC. When a teleconferencing manager receives a request from a telecommunications terminal at time tD to connect to the second conference call, the teleconferencing manager determines whether the request received at time tD is greater than or less than time tB. If the request received at time tD from the telecommunications terminal is greater than time tB, then the telecommunications terminal is connected to the first teleconferencing bridge. On the other hand, if the request from the telecommunications terminal received at time tD is less than time tB, then the telecommunications terminal is connected to a third conference call on a second teleconferencing bridge.
US08472592B1	Methods and systems for call processing Systems and methods are described for processing calls. A call is received at a softswitch or other call processing system from a caller intended for a first subscriber. The first call is associated with signaling information, the signaling information including a phone number associated with the caller. A determination is made as to whether the first subscriber has previously received a call associated with the caller phone number at the softswitch. If the first subscriber has not previously received a call associated with the caller phone number at the softswitch, a first message is played to the caller. An indication that the first message was played to the caller is stored in association with an account record associated with the first subscriber.
US08472586B2	X-ray source and X-ray photographing apparatus including the source An X-ray source includes an electron-beam generating unit that generates an electron beam, and a transmission type target electrode to be irradiated with the electron beam to generate X-ray radiation. A plurality of convex portions each having an inclined surface with respect to an incident direction of the electron beam is formed on a surface of the transmission type target electrode.
US08472583B2	Radiation scanning of objects for contraband In one example, a scanning system for examining contents of an object is disclosed comprising a frame encompassing, at least in part, a first interior region, a robotic arm movably supported by the frame, and a radiation source to generate a radiation beam to examine an object, the radiation source being pivotally coupled to the robotic arm. A detector is positioned and configured to encompass, at least in part, a second interior region within the first interior region, to detect radiation after interaction with the object. A conveying system moves the object, at least in part, through the second interior region. The frame and the robotic arm are configured to move the radiation source at least partially around the object to be examined and the robotic arm is configured to pivot the radiation source to aim the source toward the object.
US08472582B2	Method and apparatus for determining volume fractions in a multiphase flow A method, apparatus and computer program product for measuring a composition of a multiphase fluid, including radiating a photon beam through the multiphase fluid and measuring radiation absorption by the multiphase fluid for at least three energy levels to obtain measured radiation absorption data, and providing the measured radiation absorption data to processing unit configured to calculate the composition of the multiphase fluid using the measured radiation absorption data, whereby an effect of an injected fluid on the absorption of the photon beam is taken into account during calculation of the composition of the multiphase fluid.
US08472577B2	Apparatus and method for detecting reception signal symbol synchronization in wireless communication system Provided is an apparatus and method for detecting reception signal symbol synchronization in a wireless communication system. The method, includes: calculating a channel power value in each of multiple antennas; selecting and averaging at least 2 channel power values; compensating carrier frequency offset for an average value; and determining a symbol boundary of a reception signal according to the size of the average value compensating the carrier frequency offset.
US08472573B2	Automatic gain control with out of band blocking signal compensation One embodiment of the present subject matter includes a method of receiving an input signal. The method, in various embodiments, includes detecting a peak of the input signal and detecting an envelope of the input signal. In various embodiments, the peak and envelope are used to identify out-of-band blocking signals and to adjust gain control. The method also includes comparing the peak to a first threshold Tp and comparing the envelope to a second threshold Te. In the method, if the peak is above the first threshold and the envelope is below the second threshold, then ignoring the input signal. If the envelope is above the second threshold, the method includes applying automatic gain control to decode information encoded in the input signal.
US08472561B2	Receiver circuit A receiver circuit includes: a first sampling circuit to sample input data in synchronization with a first edge of a sampling clock signal; a second sampling circuit to sample the input data in synchronization with a second edge of the sampling clock signal; a duty-cycle-distortion detection circuit to detect a duty-cycle-distortion amount indicating an error in a duty ratio of the sampling clock signal based on first data which is sampled by the first sampling circuit and second data which is sampled by the second sampling circuit; a correction circuit to correct the first data or the second data to generate first corrected data or second corrected data, respectively, based on the duty-cycle-distortion amount; and a clock data recovery circuit to select data out of the first corrected data and the second data and to recover the selected data.
US08472556B2	Amplifier device and predistortion control method This invention relates to an amplifier device and a predistortion control method. The amplifier device comprises a predistortion unit, a predistortion control unit, and an amplifier unit, of which the predistortion control unit controls the predistortion unit in accordance with a signal fed back from the amplifier unit. The predistortion control method comprises determining power of a left side lobe of two side lobes of a frequency spectrum of the signal fed back from the amplifier unit; determining power of a right side lobe of two side lobes of a frequency spectrum of the signal fed back from the amplifier unit; determining a cost function in accordance with the power of the first and right side lobes, and controlling the predistortion unit in accordance with the cost function.
US08472555B2	Ultra wideband interference cancellation for orthogonal frequency division multiplex transmitters by protection-edge tones A transmitter and communication system are disclosed. A first component operable to determine an active interference cancellation value for each of a plurality of active interference cancellation tones and a protection-edge value for each of a plurality of protection-edge tones based on optimizing active interference cancellation, and further based on constraining an average power of the active interference cancellation values and the protection-edge values to less than or equal to a maximum power level, and on a plurality of data values. A second component is operable to transform a sequence of tones to a time domain signal, the sequence of tones comprised of the active interference cancellation tones, the protection-edge tones, and a plurality of data tones, the data tones containing the data values. A third component operable to transmit an orthogonal frequency division multiplex signal based on the time domain signal.
US08472553B2	Channel estimation for wireless systems without matrix inversion In various embodiments, techniques are provided to determine channel characteristics of various communication systems such as OFDM systems or systems using a plurality of transmit antennas by using various sets of training symbols that produce zero cross-correlation energy. Channel communication can accordingly be simplified as the zero cross-correlation property allows for channel estimation without a matrix inversion.
US08472548B2	Radio base station apparatus and method for selecting modulation and coding scheme Provided is a radio base station apparatus capable of selecting an optimal modulation and coding scheme for each transmission stream easily. The radio base station apparatus has a CQI information decoder (101) configured to decode CQIs of plural downlink transmission streams and an MCS selector (102) that has an N-dimensional table (two-dimensional reference table (1021)) in accordance with the number N of downlink transmission streams where combinations of modulation and coding scheme between the plural downlink transmission streams are defined in accordance with each of the CQIs of the downlink transmission streams and is configured to select from the combinations of modulation and coding scheme for the downlink transmission streams based on each of the CQIs of the downlink transmission streams decoded by the CQI information decoder (101).
US08472541B2	Signal processing under attenuated transmission conditions Signal processing under attenuated transmission conditions. Within an orthogonal signal space, the number of orthogonal signals that are used to transmit information from a transmitter to a receiver is reduced and the transmitted power of each of the now remaining orthogonal signals is modified; this may involve increasing the power of all of the remaining orthogonal signals equally or alternatively modifying them individually. The same modulation used before the reduction may also be used afterwards; within communication systems having multiple transmitter-receiver paths, this will ensure that the communication system's throughput and efficiency will remain unchanged even when one (or more) transmitter-receiver paths are highly attenuated. In addition, robust mode operation is provided for ranging and registering of transmitter devices when entering the communication system. In addition, the unused orthogonal signals may be employed to support interference cancellation of those orthogonal signals that are used to transmit information.
US08472537B2	Systems and associated methods to reduce signal field symbol peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) The device, system and method reduce the peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) of a signal field symbol in a multi-carrier modulation communication signal. The device includes an antenna, a transceiver coupled to the antenna, and a controller to cooperate with the transceiver and being configured to reduce the PAPR of the signal field symbol in the multi-carrier modulation communication signal. The controller is configured to transmit information using a frame format including a header and a data field, the header having a signal field and a service field each having a plurality of bits, the plurality of bits of the signal field defining the signal field symbol. The controller selectively changes at least the header bits to generate the signal field symbol with a reduced or lowest PAPR.
US08472535B2	Multi-carrier transmitter back-off estimation Methods and apparatus taught herein estimate the amount by which to reduce a multi-carrier signal's maximum transmit power based on metrics specific to each carrier of the multi-carrier signal. These carrier-specific metrics may include a maximum-power reduction or cubic metric determined for that carrier as if it would be transmitted alone. In one embodiment, estimation of the required back-off is based on a weighted sum of the carrier-specific metrics, where the weights applied depend on a power ratio. Only a few relatively small look-up tables or simple computations are required in this case: one for obtaining the carrier-specific metrics based on configuration parameters of each carrier, and another for obtaining the weights based on the power ratio. Accordingly, methods and apparatus herein advantageously require less computational complexity and/or memory usage than that needed if estimating the required back-off based on similar metrics obtained for the multi-carrier signal as a whole.
US08472533B2	Reduced-complexity common-mode noise cancellation system for DSL A noise cancellation system has a first transformer with an input side and an output side, the input side having first and second taps coupled to a signal provider, and a center tap providing a first common-mode voltage signal. A first digital subscriber line (xDSL) modem has an input coupled to the output side of the first transformer and an output coupled to customer premises equipment (CPE) for providing an xDSL signal to the CPE. A second transformer has an input side and an output side, the input side having first and second taps coupled to a signal provider, and a center tap providing a second common-mode voltage signal. A second xDSL modem is coupled to the output side of the second transformer. The difference between the first and second common-mode voltage signals is provided to at least one of the first and second xDSL modems to filter out noise from the xDSL signal provided by that modem.
US08472529B2	Estimating complexity of video frames for encoding Complexity for a video frame after a special event is estimated and used for encoding the frame. The complexity for a key frame of a special event is estimated based on its intra activity and a complexity of a previously encoded key frame in the video stream prior to the special event. The complexity for a dependent frame after a special event is estimated based on a motion estimation cost for the dependent frame and a complexity of a previously encoded dependent frame prior to the special event.
US08472528B2	Method for marking a digital image with a digital water mark The invention relates to a method for marking a digital document, especially a digital image, with a digital watermark for the purpose of manipulation recognition while inserting an integrity information and at least one multibit message.
US08472526B2	Low-complexity film grain simulation technique The simulation of film grain in a video image occurs by first creating a block (i.e., a matrix array) of transformed coefficients for a set of cut frequencies fHL, fVL, fHH and fVH associated with a desired grain pattern. (The cut frequencies fHL, fVL, fHH and fVH represent cut-off frequencies, in two dimensions, of a filter that characterizes the desired film grain pattern). The block of transformed coefficients undergoes an inverse transform to yield a bit-accurate film grain sample and the bit accurate sample undergoes scaling to enable blending with a video signal to simulate film grain in the signal.
US08472508B2	Data transmission A system for transmitting input data over a speech channel of a network comprising: a modulator arranged to produce a modulated waveform signal transforming the data for transmission over the network; a channel compensation filter arranged to filter the modulated waveform signal after it has been transmitted over the speech channel to compensate for the response of the speech channel; and a demodulator arranged to retrieve the data from the filtered waveform signal.
US08472496B2	Optoelectronic device and method of making same A device representing a reflector, for example, an evanescent reflector or a multilayer interference reflector with at least one reflectivity stopband is disclosed. A medium with means of generating optical gain is introduced into the layer or several layers of the reflector. The optical gain spectrum preferably overlaps with the spectral range of the reflectivity stopband. This device can be attached to air, semiconductor or dielectric material or multilayer structures and provide a tool for preferential amplification of the optical waves propagating at larger angles with respect to the interface with the evanescent or the multilayer interference reflector. Thus angle selective amplification or generation of light is possible. Several evanescent or interference reflectors can be used to serve the goal of preferable amplification the said optical waves.
US08472476B2	Digital broadcasting system and data processing method in the digital broadcasting system A digital broadcasting system and a data processing method are disclosed. In an aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides a data processing method including receiving a broadcast signal in which main service data and mobile service data are multiplexed, demodulating the received broadcast signal, outputting demodulation time information of a specific position of a broadcast signal frame, and acquiring reference time information contained in the mobile service data frame, setting the reference time information to a system time clock at a specific time based on the demodulation time information and decoding the mobile service data according to the system time clock.
US08472475B2	System and method for retransmission and fragmentation in a communication network A system and method for fragmented transmission and retransmission in a communication network. According to various embodiments of the disclosed method and apparatus, a method for fragmenting a protocol data unit for transmission from a source node in a communication network includes the operations of determining a plurality of subpackets in which to send the protocol data unit having one or more service data units; creating a data unit header for a first of the plurality of subpackets; identifying one or more fragments for inclusion in the first of the plurality of subpackets; creating an aggregation subheader for the first of the plurality of subpackets, wherein the aggregation subheader comprises data identifying the one or more fragments; and concatenating the data unit header, one or more fragments and aggregation subheader to build the first of the plurality of subpackets.
US08472458B2	Buffer space allocation method and related packet switch A buffer space allocation method for a packet switch includes periodically performing a measurement process to obtain a plurality of measurement results at different times, each measurement result indicating a total size of accumulated packets in an output queue corresponding to one of a plurality of network ports of the packet switch, and adjusting a dedicated buffer space of the output queue according to the plurality of measurement results and a reserved space value for the dedicated buffer space.
US08472457B2	Method and apparatus for queuing variable size data packets in a communication system Variable size data packets are queued in a communication system by generating from each data packet a record portion of predetermined fixed size containing information about each packet and storing only data portions of the packets in independent memory locations in a first memory. The record portions are only stored in one or more managed queues in a second memory having fixed size memory locations equal in size to the size of the record portions. The first memory is larger than the second memory; and the memory locations in the first memory are arranged in blocks having a plurality of different sizes. The memory locations are allocated to the data portions according to the size of the data portions.
US08472454B2	Relay-server arranged to carry out communications between communication terminals on different LANS A technique of carrying out communications between communication terminals on different LANs while realizing reductions in the burden of account control and suppression in load on a server includes first and second relay servers on first and second LANs issuing a registration request to a SIP-server, respectively. A first communication terminal on the first LAN issues a registration request to the first relay server while a second communication terminal on the second LAN issues a registration request to the second relay server. The first and second relay servers exchange account information about the registered communication terminals with each other. When the first communication terminal generates communication data addressed to the second communication terminal, the first relay server selects the second relay server as a relay based on the exchanged account information to relay the communication data. Then, the second relay server relays the communication data to the second communication terminal.
US08472451B2	Method and apparatus for routing and forwarding between virtual routers within a single network element A method and apparatus for routing and forwarding between virtual routers is described. A method in a single network element comprises peering a first virtual router to a second virtual router, wherein the first and second virtual routers have separate address spaces and separate routing tables, distributing a set of one or more routes from the first virtual router to the second virtual router, wherein a first of the set of routes identifies the first virtual router as a next hop of the first route, said first route including a destination, and downloading to a set of one or more forwarding tables, the destination and the next hop.
US08472450B2	Method and system for establishing tunnels A method for establishing tunnels includes establishing a first unidirectional tunnel from a first node to a second node, and sending a first instruction for establishing a reverse tunnel of the first tunnel, when sending the first instruction to the second node, triggering the establishment of a second unidirectional tunnel from the second node to the first node, and binding the second tunnel to the first tunnel as the reverse tunnel of the first tunnel. A system for establishing tunnels is also provided. The establishment of a reverse tunnel may be automatically triggered after a forward tunnel is established, and a bidirectional tunnel is established.
US08472449B2	Packet file system A system and method of recording packets and packet streams to random-access block-oriented recording media, and retrieving the packets and packet streams from said recording media is disclosed. Incoming packets are copied into very large fixed sized blocks, which in turn are distributed to a plurality of disk drives for recording. Supplementary blocks of index data constructed as packets are received and recorded. The index data reduces the time required to locate and read specific packets and packet streams from the recording media. Recorded packets are retrieved and converted to standard pcap format files.
US08472446B2	Method for data packet classification in a data communications network The present invention pertains to a method for performing specific data forwarding actions depending on the nature of data traffic comprising data packets, which method comprises the steps of:—receiving incoming data traffic of a specific nature, belonging to at least a specific class among a number of pre-defined classes, step 201—classifying the data traffic by determining the nature of the data traffic, provided by a process of inspecting values of a plurality of selected header field(s) of an address space of a data packet, said process providing an input key, step 202, and comprising the step of compressing the rules in the classifier to a list of compressed rules such that the number of bits involved in classification is reduced, step 203, further selecting a first matching class from an ordered list of n rules that identify each class, wherein each rule comprises D fields, step 204 and a preprocessing algorithm for building a decision tree based on the structure of the classifier, said preprocessing algorithm including cutting such that one cut in each dimension is performed, step 205.
US08472444B2	Method and apparatus for handling traffic in a data communication network A method and apparatus for offloading data traffic routing from one NI (network interface) to another. The NI receives data traffic, and that portion of the data traffic that must be L3 routed is passed to the CPU of the NI though a token bucket meter or equivalent metering device that selectively designates a portion of the routing traffic to another NI for routing. The portion of the traffic designated corresponds to the capacity of the CPU and offloading a portion of the data traffic helps to reduce the number of packets that are discarded when a CPU is overloaded. The threshold for determining when and in what quantity the data traffic should be offloaded is either statically or dynamically set, and in the latter case may be updated automatically when traffic levels and, in some implementations, other considerations require.
US08472441B2	Multicast communication apparatus and method for receiving and forwarding data via a network among a plurality of nodes A multicast communication apparatus for receiving and forwarding data via a network among a plurality of nodes. The apparatus has: a receiving section that receives the data from a source node; a routing table that stores route information of the data including the source node and a destination node of the data; a forwarding section that forwards the data to a next destination node according to the route information of the routing table; a hop length table that includes a hopping number of the data forwarded from the source node to the next destination node; and a mixing processing section that performs mixing processing of data received from another node. The mixing processing section performs the mixing processing according to the hopping number in the hop length table.
US08472423B2	Physical layer structures and initial access schemes in an unsynchronized communication network Physical layer structures and related access schemes for unsynchronized communication networks are provided. Access channel information, preferably including a common synchronization code associated with all transceiver stations in a communication network and a cell-specific synchronization code uniquely associated with one of the transceiver stations, is modulated onto at least one set of time-continuous signal components of a communication signal. In order to access the communication network, communication terminals search for the access channel information in one or more sets of time-continuous signal components and synchronization parameters are then determined based on a location of the access channel information in the sets of time-continuous signal components. Some embodiments of the invention provide for joint frame synchronization and coarse timing synchronization. In further embodiments, the communication signal also includes a scattered pilot channel onto which a portion of the access channel information, preferably the cell-specific synchronization code, is modulated. The pilot channels may then be re-used for initial access operations in addition to its conventional uses for such operations as channel estimation.
US08472420B2	Gateway device A gateway device includes a local area network (LAN) interface including a plurality of LAN ports, and a processor connected to the LAN interface. The gateway device communicates with an Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4) network and at least two Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) networks. All the plurality of LAN ports are classified into a plurality of port groups corresponding to the at least two IPv6 networks. When an IPv6 user device is connected to any one of the plurality of LAN ports, the processor identifies the LAN port connected to the IPv6 user device, and enables the IPv6 user device to communicate with the IPv6 network corresponding to the port group which includes the LAN port connected to the IPv6 user device.
US08472416B2	Hybrid coordination in an IEEE 802.11 network A system and method are provided for maintaining a hybrid coordinator (HC) in a wireless communications local area network (LAN). The method comprises: a station (STA) seeking a guaranteed quality of service (QoS); establishing a basic service set (BSS) through association with an access point (AP); the AP selecting a HC from STAs in the BSS; the AP broadcasting the HC information to STAs in the BSS; and, the STA initiating a transmission specification (TSPEC) with the HC. In one aspect, selecting an HC from STAs in the first BSS includes integrating the HC function into the AP. Then, a STA seeking a guaranteed quality of service (QoS): receives a broadcast message including a list of potential APs; and, communicates with an AP from the broadcast list. If the STA is unable to communicate with an established AP, then it instantiates a BSS with itself as the AP.
US08472414B2	Sharing a frequency band between different radio communications protocols A method including enabling a first mode of a first radio communications protocol using a shared radio frequency band and having a first defined schedule for communication in the shared radio frequency band; enabling a second mode of a second radio communications protocol using the shared radio frequency band and having a second defined schedule for communication in the shared radio frequency band; and enabling the first mode and disabling the second mode at a conflict time at which the first defined schedule and the second defined schedule coincide.
US08472413B2	Protocol for wireless networks A wireless transmission method includes providing a commanding node and a plurality of sub-networks. Each of the sub-networks includes at least one responding node. Time slots are assigned to the sub-networks such that time slots assigned to each sub-network are interleaved in time with time slots assigned to at least one other sub-network. Within each time slot, at least one acknowledgement packet is transmitted from the at least one responding node before a command packet is sent from the commanding node within the time slot. Each at least one acknowledgement packet indicates whether or not a most recent command packet from the commanding node was correctly received by the responding node.
US08472410B2	Rake receiver architecture within a WCDMA terminal A baseband processing module includes an RX interface, a rake receiver combiner module, and may include additional components. The RX interface receives the baseband signals from an RF front end and creates baseband RX signal samples there from. The rake receiver combiner module includes control logic, an input buffer, a rake despreader module, and an output buffer. The rake despreader module is operable to despread the baseband RX signal samples in a time divided fashion to produce channel symbols including pilot channel symbols and physical channel symbols.
US08472406B2	Handover data integrity in a wireless data network A method and apparatus for handover data integrity of a mobile station in a wireless data network with a plurality of wireless network service areas. The method and apparatus includes initiating handover by a mobile station, identifying a target access service network (ASN) for handover from a serving ASN. When the target ASN is identified, receive a data integrity capability from the target ASN, and determine whether a direct data delivery mode is available as a data integrity mode. When a direct data delivery mode is available, direct data delivery is performed with the data associated with the service flow from the serving ASN to the target ASN.
US08472404B2	Mobile communication method and radio base station A mobile communication method according to the present invention includes the steps of: (A) calculating, at the radio base station (eNB1), an estimated neighbor radio base station parameter, on a basis of load information acquired from a neighbor radio base station (eNB2), the estimated neighbor radio base station parameter being supposed to be used in the neighbor radio base station (eNB2); and (B) notifying, from the radio base station to (eNB1) the neighbor radio base station (eNB2), the estimated neighbor radio base station parameter.
US08472372B1	Wireless communication system, method, and computer program product A system, method, and computer program product are provided for transmitting wireless signals to one or more portable devices. In use, a plurality or wireless signals is received utilizing a plurality of protocols. In addition, the plurality of protocols associated with the plurality of wireless signals are converted to a single different protocol. Further, the plurality of wireless signals is transmitted to at least one portable device utilizing the single different protocol.
US08472360B2	Mobile communication method and mobile station A mobile communication according to the present invention includes a step A of causing the mobile station to judge whether or not the mobile station is allowed to go into a standby mode in a cell corresponding to a predetermined pilot channel when the mobile station detects a predetermined operation made by a user and a step B of causing the mobile station to enter the standby in the cell when the mobile station judges that the mobile station is allowed to be in the standby mode in the cell.
US08472356B2	System and method for managing communication links A system and method for managing a communication link between a consumer electronic device adapted for two-way, wireless communications with at least one peripheral. The communication link is managed using a controller that is associated with the consumer electronic device that functions to assign communication slots to the peripheral to facilitate communications between the peripheral and the consumer electronic device.
US08472355B2	System, apparatus and methods for broadcasting and transmitting ETWS message The present invention relates to an earthquake and tsunami warning system (ETWS) technology, and in particular to a system, apparatus and methods for broadcasting and transmitting an ETWS message. The system for broadcasting and transmitting an ETWS message includes: an ETWS message publishing entity, adapted to publish an ETWS message; a cell broadcast center (CBC), adapted to: encapsulate the ETWS message published by the ETWS message publication entity into a cell broadcast service (CBS) message, and send the CBS message; a mobility management entity (MME), adapted to forward the CBS message sent by the CBC to a radio access network (RAN); and the RAN, adapted to: receive the CBS message forwarded by the MME, and send the received CBS message to a user equipment (UE). The preceding system provides a new technical solution for transmitting an ETWS message, which can guarantee the security of the ETWS message transmission by using the security mechanism of the CBS.
US08472349B1	Determining mean opinion scores (MOS) for variable bit rate audio streams Systems and methods for determining mean opinion scores (MOS) for variable bit rate (VBR) audio streams transmitted over VoIP networks are described. In an embodiment, a method may include monitoring a communication over a network and detecting portions of the communication including packets having a different packet payload sizes. The method may also include deriving bit rates corresponding to those portions. The method may then include calculating MOS values for each portion based on the derived bit rates, and calculating an overall MOS value for the communication based upon each individual MOS value averaged according to a distribution of packets having the different packet payload sizes.
US08472348B2	Rapid network formation for low-power and lossy networks In one embodiment, a node joins a communication network, and in response to joining the network, operates in a rapid startup mode, wherein the node in rapid startup mode establishes network configurations rapidly by deemphasizing quality (optimality) of the network configurations. Subsequent to operating in the rapid startup mode (e.g., after some timer or explicit command), the node then operates in a robust mode, wherein the node in robust mode iteratively refines the network configurations to increase the quality of the network configurations.
US08472347B2	System and method for providing network resiliency The invention is directed toward an automated system and process to provide resiliency to a network infrastructure where traditional established methods tend to fail. The system analyzes the underlying physical characteristics of the network topology to identify physically diverse backup routing paths among nodes in the network. The system takes as input the number of diverse paths desired and a characteristic(s) used to choose the most desirable paths, such as delay, flow, or cost. The invention searches for multiple solutions for the selected number of diverse paths within the network.
US08472340B1	Network interface with autonegotiation and cable length measurement A network device including a transceiver module, an autonegotiation module, and a cable length estimator. The transceiver module is configured to communicate with a second network device via a wire medium. The autonegotiation module is configured to i) detect a selector field of the second network device, ii) transmit, in response to the selector field of the second network device matching a first predetermined value, a first base page to the second network device via the transceiver module, and iii) transmit, in response to the selector field of the second network device matching a second predetermined value, a second base page to the second network device via the transceiver module. The cable length estimator is configured to, in response to the selector field of the second network device matching the second predetermined value, determine a physical length of the wire medium.
US08472339B2	Apparatus and method for controlling a wireless feeder network An apparatus and method are provided for controlling a wireless feeder network used to couple access base stations of an access network with a communications network. The wireless feeder network comprises a plurality of feeder base stations coupled to the communications network and a plurality of feeder terminals coupled to associated access base stations. Each feeder terminal has a feeder link with a feeder base station, and the feeder links are established over a wireless resource comprising a plurality of resource blocks. Sounding data obtained from the wireless feeder network is used to compute an initial global schedule to allocate to each feeder link at least one resource block, and the global schedule is distributed whereafter the wireless feeder network operates in accordance with the currently distributed global schedule to pass traffic between the communications network and the access base stations. Using traffic reports received during use, an evolutionary algorithm is applied to modify the global schedule, with the resultant updated global schedule then being distributed for use. This enables the allocation of resource blocks to individual feeder links to be varied over time taking account of traffic within the wireless feeder network, thereby improving spectral efficiency.
US08472338B2	Efficient transmission of data to multiple network nodes An improved method, system, and computer program product for efficient transmission of data to multiple network nodes is disclosed. A method for transmitting a data block over a network from a first sending node to a first set of recipient nodes, comprises, in the first sending node, a) dividing the first set of recipient nodes into a subset of selected nodes, selected according to scoring criteria associated with each recipient node, and a subset of unselected nodes, b) assigning at least one of the unselected nodes to at least one selected node according to scoring criteria associated with the respective selected nodes, c) transmitting to each selected node a packet including the data block and a list of the nodes assigned to the selected node.
US08472332B2	Apparatus for detecting quality deterioration of a telecommunications network by discriminating periodic faults An apparatus for detecting deterioration in quality of a telecommunications network includes a packet monitor for monitoring a packet flowing through the network, a quality information extractor for extracting the quality index of the network on the basis of the packet monitored, a quality deterioration detector for detecting deterioration in quality of the network on the basis of the quality index. The quality deterioration detector determines, for the packet monitored and coming only from a wired line, that the quality of the network is deteriorated if the quality index decreases, and determines, for the packet monitored and coming from a wireless line, that the quality of the network is deteriorated if the quality index aperiodically decreases.
US08472323B2	Monitoring connection quality Quality of a connection between a terminal and a gateway is monitored in the gateway. The gateway informs a core network element handling signaling relating to the connection about the quality of the connection. The core network element triggers an access network control element to inform the terminal about the quality of the connection. The gateway or the core network element may determine when to trigger the access network control element. Upon receiving triggering information from the core network element, the access network control element informs the terminal about the quality of the connection for indicating changes in the quality of connection between the terminal and the gateway.
US08472320B2	Jitter buffer control A method of controlling an adaptable jitter buffer in accordance with the present invention detects a context description of data handled by the adaptable jitter buffer. Thereafter it is determined whether the detected context description is equal to a predetermined context description. If not, jitter buffer adaptation proceeds as normal. Otherwise it is determined whether the current target buffer depth is too low for the detected context description. If not, the target buffer depth is frozen to the current value. Otherwise it is increased and frozen at a higher value that is compatible with the detected context description.
US08472319B2	Relay station operated according to QOS level of service packet and method of operating relay station A relay station, including a delay information storage unit to store remaining delay information generated in a path from a target relay node to a destination node; an order determination unit to determine an order of processing service packets with a plurality of quality of service (QoS) levels using the remaining delay information, the service packets being received from a neighbor node; and a processing unit to process the service packets in the determined order.
US08472315B2	Method and system for controlling link saturation of synchronous data across packet networks A method for controlling admissions of data packets across a packet network comprising the steps of establishing a communication route along a plurality of interconnected secondary nodes, determining an amount of available network and determining whether to admit the data packets to the communication route based on the determined amount of available network bandwidth. Also disclosed is a system for implementing the method comprising a first provider edge element, a second provider edge element, a plurality of interconnected secondary nodes disposed between the edge elements. Each of the secondary nodes comprises at least one first detection device for determining an amount of available network bandwidth and at least one admission device in communication with the respective first detection device for determining whether to admit the data packets to the communication route based on the determined amount of available network bandwidth.
US08472313B2	System and method for optical bypass routing and switching Optical bypass circuits are selected and created with a desired amount of traffic on each circuit to offload from the IP routers, the maximum possible amount of traffic. In a first phase, each node in a network independently determines the maximum number of optical bypass circuits, configured to their maximum capacity, to as many destinations, that could possibly originate at that node. The determination is made by aggregating traffic from a given traffic matrix. The optical bypass circuit transports traffic that originates at the node plus transient traffic that the node receives from other nodes. In the second phase, the node will eliminate an optical bypass circuit found in the first phase if any of its parent nodes created a necessarily longer optical bypass circuit to the same destination. In addition, if a descendent node has more aggregate traffic to fill more bypass circuits than the parent node, then the extra optical bypass circuits from the descendent node are also created.
US08472310B2	Packet distribution band controlling method, distributing apparatus, and video distributing system An object of the present invention is to enable a real-time distribution even if the band of a network varies. A distributing apparatus receives a packet retransmission request or a packet restoration notification, which is transmitted from a receiving apparatus, with an error information receiving unit. If the number of received retransmission requests or that of restoration notifications becomes equal to or larger than a certain value, a distribution band controlling unit decreases a band used to distribute a packet by a certain band.
US08472308B2	Method for generating a preamble sequence and a method for determining a cyclic shift A method for generating a preamble sequence and determining a cyclic shift. The method includes: when set a piece of root sequence can only generate one preamble sequence and there is no cyclic shift restriction, setting the cyclic shift step length NCS to be equal to 0 and the corresponding cyclic shift amount Cv=0, at this time the root sequence is directly used as the preamble sequence; when set a piece of root sequence can generate a plurality of preamble sequences and there is no cyclic shift restriction, the cyclic shift step length NCS being not equal to 0, at this time the cyclic shift amount Cv=v·NCS, wherein v=0, 1, 2, . . . , └NZC/NCS┘−1. This method is applied to the situation that a root sequence generates a preamble sequence, and the method for generating the preamble sequence is simple and easy to operate.
US08472307B1	Channelization circuits having multiple commutators A channelization circuit channelizes baseband signals in the channels of a wideband signal. The channelization circuit includes a phase shifter, a Fourier transform circuit, filtering circuits, commutator circuits, and a summation circuit. The phase shifter circuit is configured to receive the baseband signals. The Fourier transform circuit is coupled to the phase shifter circuit and configured to frequency translate the baseband signals to the channels of the wideband signal. The filtering circuits are coupled to the Fourier transform circuit, and the commutator circuits are coupled to the filtering circuits. The summation circuit is coupled to the commutator circuits and configured to generate the wideband signal.
US08472304B2	Carrier allocation and time sharing for OFDMA/TDMA networks A method allocates bandwidth to channels in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access and time division multiple access (TDMA) network. The network includes a master device (master) communicating with a set of slave devices (slaves). The master defines a set Ψm of logical indices ν of a set of N physical subcarriers for a set of M data streams to be allocated to a set of Nd logical data subcarriers according to Ψm={ν\|ν=iM+m, i=0,1,2, . . . , d−1}, where d=Nd/M. The set of N data subcarriers is mapped to the set of Nd logical subcarriers according to the logical indices, and the data subcarriers are allocated to the logical subcarriers.
US08472300B2	Optical head device and optical disc device An optical head device mounted in an optical disc device. The optical head device is provided with a diffractive optical element and a photodetector. The diffractive optical element has: a primary diffraction region at a location on which the positive and negative first-order components and some of the zero-order component of a reflectively diffracted light beam are incident; and secondary diffraction regions at locations on which the rest of the zero-order component but none of the positive or negative first-order components of the reflectively diffracted light beam are incident. A main light-receiving section of the photodetector receives the zero-order component of a transmissively diffracted light beam that has passed through the primary diffraction region and the secondary diffraction regions. Secondary light-receiving sections receive the positive first-order component and/or the negative first-order component of the transmissively diffracted light beam that has passed through the secondary diffraction regions.
US08472298B2	Optical information recording and reproducing apparatus and optical information recording method An optical information recording and reproducing apparatus includes an irradiation unit of a signal light beam and a reference light beam required for data recording, and a cure irradiation unit having at least one of a pre-cure irradiation that irradiates a predetermined light beam on to a desired position prior to irradiating the reference light bean and the signal light beam on to the desired position when information is recorded in the desired position on an optical information recording medium and a post-cure irradiation that irradiates a predetermined light beam on to the desired position so as to make the desired position non-recordable after the information is recorded in the desired position on the recording medium. The cure irradiation unit is disposed in one driving device in a freely movable manner in the driving device.
US08472295B1	Selective error protection over multiple sectors The present disclosure is directed to selectively protecting a portion of a track including a plurality of data sectors. The data sectors include a plurality of user sectors and one or more parity sectors. Protected bits are designated in each of the of data sectors. The protected bits are selected to have matching bit indices across the data sectors resulting in a parallel alignment of the protected bits across the user and parity sectors. One or more selections of protected bits of the user sectors are encoded across matching bit indices to generate data values in the corresponding protected bits of the parity sectors. At least one portion of at least one failed sector is recoverable by decoding at least one selection of the protected bits when a sector error occurs at a protected bit.
US08472289B2	Static TOC indexing system and method A method and system is provided for doing compact disc TOC look-ups cheaply and efficiently by using a special indexing mechanism particularized to TOC look-ups. The indexing scheme allows a successful search of TOCs using as few as 2 disk seeks in contrast to the usual hundreds of disk seeks required by a general purpose indexing scheme. This performance improvement is achieved by using a static database of TOCs in a read-only implementation so that the data organization and code for lookups can be optimized without regard for any updates to this data at a later time. The index data structure is arranged in a fashion that allows for seek-less, linear scans of index information once the proper scan location in the index has been identified.
US08472277B2	System and method for memory array decoding A memory system includes a plurality of bit lines, a plurality of word lines, a plurality of memory cells, and a read/write module. The bit lines include a first bit line and a second bit line. The word lines include a first word line and a second word line. Each memory cell is located at an intersection of a respective one of the bit lines and a respective one of the word lines. The memory cells include a first memory cell and a second memory cell. The first memory cell is located at the intersection of the first bit line and the first word line. The second memory cell is located at the intersection of the second bit line and the second word line. The read/write module is configured to concurrently activate the first memory cell and the second memory cell for (i) a read operation or (ii) a write operation.
US08472276B1	System and method for de-latch of an integrated circuit A system and method is provided for hot de-latch of a parasitic device in an integrated circuit (IC) that restores the IC to normal operation without de-powering the IC or resulting in a loss of data. In one embodiment the method, includes reducing a voltage supplied to at least a portion of the IC from a normal operation voltage to a de-latch voltage for a time to de-latch the parasitic device without de-powering the IC. Other embodiments are also disclosed.
US08472274B2	Using temperature sensors with a memory device In one implementation, a method for performing memory operations includes receiving, at a memory device, a request to read data from one or more non-volatile memory cells; and retrieving stored temperature information associated with the non-volatile memory cells, wherein the temperature information is associated with a temperature at approximately at a time when the data was written to the non-volatile memory cells. The method can further include reading, by the memory device, the data from the non-volatile memory cells. The method can also include processing the read data based on, at least, the retrieved temperature information; and providing the processed data.
US08472273B2	Semiconductor device A semiconductor device includes a sense amplifier circuit. The sense amplifier circuit includes a cross-coupled first transistor and second transistor that perform amplification. The sources of the cross-coupled transistors are respectively connected in series with a third transistor and a fourth transistor, and electrical current supply capability of the third and fourth transistors is controlled by a control voltage given to control electrodes of the third and fourth transistors. In a data retaining period, a minimum sub-threshold current necessary for retaining the data is flowed to the third and fourth transistors according to the control voltage, and bit line potential is maintained.
US08472272B2	Semiconductor device having hierarchical bit line structure A semiconductor device of the invention comprise a memory cell array configured with hierarchical local bit lines and global bit lines, in which there are provide local bit lines, global bit lines, switches controlling a connection between the global bit lines, sense amplifiers, and a control circuit controlling the switches. In a first period, each sense amplifier amplifies a signal of one of adjacent global bit lines, and in a second period, each sense amplifier amplifies a signal of the other thereof. Accordingly, coupling between the global bit lines can be suppressed.
US08472262B2	Sense amplifier for reading a crossbar memory array A sense amplifier for reading the data stored in a crossbar array includes a storage transistor to store a first voltage resulting from an electric current from a column line connected to a target memory element while the target memory element is half-selected, the first voltage resulting from bias voltages applied to row lines not connected to the target memory element; a mirror transistor to store a second voltage resulting from an electric current from the column line while the target memory element is fully selected; a cross-coupled inverter circuit having a first branch connected to the storage transistor and a second branch connected to the mirror transistor; and an output node to output a signal from the first branch of the cross-coupled inverter circuit, the signal based on a comparison between the first voltage stored in the storage transistor and the second voltage across the mirror transistor.
US08472257B2	Nonvolatile memory and method for improved programming with reduced verify A group of memory cells of a nonvolatile memory is programmed in parallel in a programming pass with a minimum of verify steps from an erased state to respective target states by a staircase waveform. The memory states are demarcated by a set of increasing demarcation threshold values (V1, . . . , VN). Initially in the programming pass, the memory cells are verified relative to a test reference threshold value. This test reference threshold has a value offset past a designate demarcation threshold value Vi among the set by a predetermined margin. The overshoot of each memory cell when programmed past Vi, to be more or less than the margin can be determined. Accordingly, memory cells found to have an overshoot more than the margin are counteracted by having their programming rate slowed down in a subsequent portion of the programming pass so as to maintain a tighter threshold distribution.
US08472239B2	Nanowire mesh FET with multiple threshold voltages Nanowire-based field-effect transistors (FETs) and techniques for the fabrication thereof are provided. In one aspect, a FET is provided having a plurality of device layers oriented vertically in a stack, each device layer having a source region, a drain region and a plurality of nanowire channels connecting the source region and the drain region, wherein one or more of the device layers are configured to have a different threshold voltage from one or more other of the device layers; and a gate common to each of the device layers surrounding the nanowire channels.
US08472233B1	Circuits and methods for multiple programmable memory using one-time programmable memory Circuits and methods for utilizing multiple programmable memory using one-time programmable (OTP) memory in a device controller. The device controller generally includes a plurality of OTP memories, each capable of being programmed once and only once; a state machine configured to enable writing updated parameter information to an available OTP memory and to provide a control signal indicating a next OTP memory to which next received data are to be written, and read logic coupled to the plurality of OTP memories, the read logic configured to read an output from a most recently programmed OTP memory. The method generally includes receiving updated parameter information to be stored in the memory, programming one of a plurality of one-time programmable (OTP) memories with the updated parameter information, indicating an availability of a next OTP memory, and reading an output from a most recently programmed OTP memory.
US08472232B2	Self-identifying stacked die semiconductor components A semiconductor die having a functional circuit (e.g., a memory array) and a decode circuit suitable for use in a stacked die semiconductor component (e.g., a random access memory component) is described. The decode circuit permits individual die in a stacked die structure to automatically determine their location or position in the stack and, in response to this determination, selectively pass one or more external control signals (e.g., chip select and clock enable signals) to the decode circuit's associated functional circuit based on inter-die connection patterns. This “self-configuring” capability permits all die designated for a specified functionality (e.g., a memory module including four vertically aligned die) to be uniformly or consistently manufactured. This, in turn, can reduce the cost to manufacture stacked die components.
US08472231B2	Semiconductor memory device An object is to provide a semiconductor memory device which stores data with the use of a transistor having small leakage current between a source and a drain in an off state as a writing transistor. In a matrix including a plurality of memory cells, gates of the writing transistors are connected to writing word lines. In each of the memory cells, a drain of the writing transistor is connected to a gate of a reading transistor, and the drain is connected to one electrode of a capacitor. Further, the other electrode of the capacitor is connected to a reading word line. In the semiconductor memory device in which the memory cells are connected in series so as to have a NAND structure, gates of the reading transistors are provided alternately, and the reading word line and the writing word line are shared.
US08472230B2	Selective access memory circuit A selective access memory circuit (SAMC) is described. The SAMC is a class of complex programmable memory device (CPMD) that reconfigures access to memory cells by using gates in an integrated gate array mechanism configured at regular intervals in memory arrays. CPMDs are applied to embedded controllers, microprocessors, DSPs and system on chip (SoC) circuit architectures.
US08472222B2	Method for operating an inverter, and inverter In an inverter and a method for operating an inverter, the inverter includes a step-up converter circuit, a dynamic intermediate circuit, and a step-down converter circuit for converting a direct voltage of a direct voltage generator or string into an alternating voltage for supplying a network. The step-up converter circuit increases the direct voltage if the latter is lower than a peak-to-peak maximum of the network voltage, and the step-down converter circuit lowers a dynamic intermediate circuit voltage, as needed, to a lower voltage currently required in the network. The step-up converter circuit dynamically increases the direct voltage to the value currently required in the network and in the process temporarily supplies an approximately sinusoidal voltage curve for the intermediate circuit voltage.
US08472221B1	High voltage rectifier using low voltage CMOS process transistors A high voltage full wave rectifier circuit having complementary serially connected low voltage MOSFET stacks provides high voltage rectifier capability. The MOSFET stacks are coupled to a pair of cross coupled MOSFETs that provide a full wave rectified output voltage. The state of the MOSFETs in the MOSFET stacks is controlled by resistors coupled between the rectifier output and a time varying input signal. The resistance values of the resistors are selected to maintain operation of the stacked MOSFETs below their breakdown voltages. A pair of diodes is connected between ground and the MOSFET stacks. A plurality of diode connected MOSFETs are connected between the rectifier output and the resistors to establish bias voltages on the gates of the MOSFETs in the MOSFET stacks to control operation of the rectifier during input voltage cycles. A voltage doubler circuit is also described where low voltage MOSFETs are utilized in a novel configuration to provide high voltage doubling capability.
US08472219B2	Method and systems for converting power A power conversion system includes a first converter coupled to a power source, wherein the first converter includes an input side, and an output side electrically isolated from the input side. The power conversion system also includes a second converter coupled to the power source, wherein the second converter includes an input side, and an output side electrically isolated from the input side. The second converter input side is coupled in parallel with the first converter input side, and the second converter output side is coupled in series with the first converter output side. The power conversion system also includes an inverter coupled to the first converter output side and to the second converter output side, and the inverter supplies alternating current to an electrical distribution network.
US08472218B2	Mismatch-free charge pump and method thereof The charge-pump apparatus is disclosed having a substantially fixed current source for outputting a first current of a first polarity; a variable current source for outputting a second current of a second polarity opposite to the first polarity; a first current steering network for steering the first current into either an output node or a termination node in accordance with a first control signal; a second current steering network for steering the second current into either the output node or the termination node in accordance with a second control signal; a voltage follower for receiving a first voltage associated with the output node and outputting a second voltage at an internal node; a current sensor inserted between the termination node and the internal node for sensing a current flowing between the termination node and the internal node; and a feedback network for adjusting the variable current source in accordance with an output of the current sensor.
US08472216B2	Circuit arrangement and control circuit for a power-supply unit, computer power-supply unit and method for switching a power-supply unit A circuit arrangement includes a switching element that switches a load current, a current-limiting element connected in series to the switching element, a bistable first relay connected in parallel to the switching element and the current-limiting element, and a control circuit that switches the power-supply unit from a first operating state to a second operating state in which a load current for generating a DC voltage flows from the power grid to the power-supply unit, such that the control circuit turns on the switching element for a first time period during switching of the power-supply unit from the first to the second operating state, to turn the bistable relay on during the first time period, and to turn the switching element off at the end of the first time period.
US08472213B2	Extending pulse width modulation phase offset Extending pulse width modulation phase offset when generating phase shifted groups of pulse width modulation (PWM) signals is accomplished with a separate phase counter that is independent of the time-base counters used in traditional PWM generation circuits and that is prevented from being retriggered until an existing duty cycle has completed. This is accomplished with a phase offset counter, a phase comparator and a circuit that is triggered via a master time base for overall synchronization of the multi-phase PWM signal generation.
US08472211B2	Single stage power conversion unit with circuit to smooth and holdup DC output voltage The Power Conversion Unit includes a single stage rectifier circuit that generates a DC voltage which is stored on a first capacitor. A circuit arrangement connected to the first capacitor monitors the DC voltage at the capacitor and other predefined signals to generate signals for smoothing ripples associated with the DC voltage and maintains the DC voltage at a predefined level for a predefined time interval. The holdup and smoothing voltages are generated by developing and storing a high voltage on a second capacitor. A switching device connected to the second capacitor causes energy to flow from the second capacitor into the primary winding of a transformer whose secondary winding are switched to deposit the energy stored in said transformer onto the first capacitor. A circuit for charging the second capacitor is also provided.
US08472201B2	Circuit module An isolator includes a core isolator mounted on a circuit board and including a ferrite and permanent magnets to apply a direct-current magnetic field to the ferrite, and includes no yoke for controlling the leakage of the direct-current magnetic field out of the isolator. Power amplifiers are arranged in a straight line along with the core isolator interposed therebetween. A metal case covers the core isolator and the power amplifiers. The heights of the power amplifiers are greater than that of the core isolator.
US08472192B2	Portable hand held multi-source power inverter with pass through device A portable hand held power inverter/converter having a pass through device for simultaneously sourcing A.C. and multiple voltage D.C. power consuming devices through a single D.C. power source connection. Inverter and converter circuitry is provided to invert and convert D.C. voltage to an A.C. voltage source and a lower DC voltage. A.C. electrical outlets are provided to facilitate a connection to an external A.C. power-consuming device and a DC outlet to a lower volt DC power-consuming device. The pass through device provides an independent and simultaneous connection to an additional D.C. outlet that would otherwise be eliminated when occupied by the inverter thus allowing simultaneous connection and operation of both A.C. and multi source D.C. power consuming devices through a single external D.C. power outlet of a single D.C. power source.
US08472183B1	Rack-mounted computer system with front-facing power supply unit A data center includes a row of one or more racks. Computer systems are mounted in the racks. A cold aisle is on a first side of the rack row and a hot aisle is on the second side of the rack row. An air handling system moves air from the cold aisle on the first side of the row of racks through computer systems in at least one of the racks and exhausts air from the computer systems into the hot aisle on the second side of the row of racks. The computer systems include input/output connectors, power input connectors, and power supply air inlets on the first side (cold-aisle side) of the row. One or more power rack power distribution units are provided on the first side (cold-aisle side) of the row.
US08472178B2	Memory retention system to reduce shock-related discontinuities A memory retention and support system includes a memory chassis. A board is mounted to the memory chassis. A memory connector is mounted to the board and includes a pair of guide members at opposite distal ends of the memory connector and a pair of opposing outer walls extending between the guide members. A connector reinforcing member engages the memory connector to urge the guide members toward each other and to urge the opposing outer walls toward each other. A damping member is operable to be positioned adjacent to and spaced apart from the memory connector in order to engage a memory module when the memory module is coupled to the memory connector. The connector reinforcing member and the damping member act to resist a discontinuities between a plurality of memory contacts on the memory module and a plurality of connector contacts on the memory connector.
US08472175B2	Folding electronic device with swivel function A folding electronic device includes a first case, a second case, and a hinge element. The hinge element includes a shaft, a swing member, a toothed gear, and a spring clip. When the first case opens up at an about 180 degree angle relative to the second case from a folded position, the central projection of a spring clip engages with one tooth of the toothed gear, the first case may rotate relative to the second case under the horizontal direction or the vertical direction from any angle between about 0 and 180 degrees.
US08472174B2	Video display system A video screen enclosure is disclosed for housing a flat panel video display unit (“FPD”), comprising a housing and a front panel member joined to the housing with an airtight seal. An environmental control unit (“ECU”) within housing includes means to internally circulate air within said enclosure to maintain a temperature within a range suitable for operation of said display, and a control system to maintain the interior temperature within said enclosure within a selected range suitable for operation of said FPD. The enclosure may form a sealed unit with interior air being recirculated through said ECU, or ambient air may be circulated through the enclosure.
US08472173B2	Electric apparatus An electric apparatus is provided in which it is possible to connect a signal line to multiple key panels which are rotatably attached to a main body chassis. The electric apparatus has multiple first hinges and multiple second hinges. The first hinge rotatably attaches a panel to the second hinge. Further, the second hinges are rotatably attached to a main body of the electric apparatus. The multiple second hinges are rotatably connected.
US08472159B2	Method to charge toner for electrophotography using carbon nanotubes or other nanostructures In accordance with the invention, there are systems and methods to impart an electrostatic charge to particles. An exemplary method can include providing a plurality of particles to be charged and providing a plurality of nanostructures disposed over a first electrode array, the first electrode array including a plurality of electrodes spaced apart. The method can also include providing a multi-phase voltage source operatively coupled to the first electrode array and applying a multi-phase voltage to the first electrode array to create a traveling electric field between each electrode of the first electrode array, thereby causing electron emission from the plurality of nanostructures and forming a plurality of charged particles. The method can further include transporting each of the plurality of charged particles using the traveling electric field onto a surface.
US08472155B2	Leakage detection protective circuit The leakage detection protection circuit comprises power input and output ends, an induction coil, a self-excitation coil, a control chip, a controlled silicon rectifier, a commutation diode, a resistor, a current limiting resistor, a filter capacitor, a tripping coil, a pair of main circuit switches linked with a reset button, a test button, and first and second test switches. When the reset button is in a tripped state, the first test switch is open and the second test switch is closed. Additionally, when the reset button is pressed down, the first test switch changes from open to closed, the second test switch remains closed, and the neutral wire of the power input end is connected to the output end of the live wire of the power input end to enable generation of an analog leakage current. Finally, when the reset button is reset, the first and second test switches are both open.
US08472142B2	Method of making a bonded structure for an electrical component, and/or head gimbal assembly, head stack assembly, and disk drive unit incorporating the same The present bonded structure uses metal ball to bond or weld the respective bonding surfaces of electrical pads which are arranged to face the same direction. The structure can be controlled visually and thus enables a high connection quality of no short circuit. In addition, the bonding operation of the bonded structure is carried out without using pressure, thus it will not damage surroundings of the electrical components. Accordingly, the manufacture yield is significantly improved and the cost is prominently reduced. The present invention also discloses a bonding method and a head gimbal assembly and a head stack assembly and a drive unit using the bonded structure.
US08472138B2	Self-aligned full side shield PMR and method to make it A magnetic pole suitable for perpendicular magnetic recording is described. This write pole is symmetrically located relative to its side shields and has at least three additional surfaces that are disposed to lie in planes that are normal to the substrate's top surface.
US08472135B1	Microwave-assisted magnetic recording head having a current confinement structure According to one embodiment, a high-frequency magnetic field-assisted magnetic recording head includes a main pole adapted for producing a writing magnetic field, a STO positioned above the main pole, a low-resistance layer positioned above the STO, and a current confinement layer positioned between the low-resistance layer and the main pole, wherein the main pole and the low-resistance layer are adapted for acting as poles for writing data to a magnetic medium in response to a flow of current to the STO positioned therebetween to generate a high-frequency magnetic field which overlaps with the writing magnetic field, and wherein the current confinement layer is adapted for controlling a current density and/or a current density distribution of the current flowing to the STO. Other magnetic recording heads and methods of production thereof are also described according to more embodiments.
US08472131B1	Disk drive including a filter component with coarse and fine sections There is provided a disk drive including a disk drive base, a disk rotatably coupled to the disk drive base, and a spindle motor attached to the disk drive base and configured to support the disk for rotating the disk with respect to the disk drive base. The disk drive further includes a filter component. The filter component includes a filter housing coupled to the disk drive base, and a filter element disposed within the filter housing for filtering disk rotation induced airflow. The filter element includes a coarse section and a fine section. The coarse section has a porosity greater than a porosity of the fine section.
US08472128B2	Optical image capturing lens assembly The present disclosure provides an optical image capturing lens assembly comprising, in order from an object side to an image side: a first lens element with positive refractive power having a convex image-side surface; a second lens element; a third lens element; a fourth lens element, at least one of an object-side surface and an image-side surface thereof being aspheric; a fifth lens element, at least one of an object-side surface and an image-side surface thereof being aspheric; and a sixth lens element with negative refractive power having a concave image-side surface, at least one of an object-side surface and the image-side surface thereof being aspheric, at least one inflection point being formed on at least one of the surfaces thereof. With the aforementioned arrangements, the sensitivity of the optical system can be attenuated while the aberration and astigmatism can be effectively corrected to improve the image quality.
US08472123B2	Zoom lens system, interchangeable lens apparatus and camera system A zoom lens system is provided that includes a compactly constructed focusing lens unit and that has a suppressed change in the image magnification at the time of movement of a focusing lens unit. The zoom lens system according to the present invention comprises a plurality of lens units and an aperture diaphragm arranged in the lens unit. The plurality of lens units include a focusing lens unit that is arranged on an object side relative to the aperture diaphragm and that moves in a direction along the optical axis at the time of focusing. Further, the zoom lens system satisfies at least one of the following conditions: (1) 1.2<\|fF/fW\|<6.0; and (2) 0.10<\|fF/fT\|<1.8 (here, fT/fW>3.0, fF: a focal length of the focusing lens unit, fT: a focal length of the entire system at a telephoto limit, fW: focal length of the entire system at a wide-angle limit).
US08472122B2	Optical system The optical system of the present invention includes a plurality of lens groups and a variable focus lens. Here, the variable focus lens satisfies the following condition: −0.023≦{(nA−1)/νA−(nB−1)/νB}/(nB−nA)≦0.023 where nA and nB respectively denote the d-line refractive indices of a first medium and a second medium, and νA and νB respectively denote the d-line Abbe numbers of the first and second media. In addition, the plurality of lens groups moves in an optical axial direction; and the following condition holds: 0.8<\|fao\|/fw<5 where fao denotes the composite focal distance at the wide angle end of the part of the optical system, and fw denotes the focal distance of the entire system at the wide angle end.
US08472121B2	Adjustable electromagnetic energy collimator An EM energy projector incorporates a final stage radiator including a shaped reflecting spike having a forward radiant axis. The shaped spike defines a set of equivalent, discrete input locations, there being a plurality of such locations. The emitters are arranged in a closed line array, and disposed with all of the emitters oriented inwardly toward the forward radiant axis.
US08472112B2	Stable infrared films Provided are infrared films comprising a substrate, a layer of an aminium radical cation compound in a crystalline state and an organic polymer selected from the group consisting of a divinyl ether polymer, a fluoropolymer, and a silicone polymer, and, optionally, a water repellent layer overlying the layer of the aminium compound. Such infrared films are stable in their optical properties and useful for security markings, test strips for analysis of fluids, and other optical articles for detection in the infrared. Also provided are methods for making such infrared films.
US08472111B2	Apparatus and method for deep ultraviolet optical microscopy An apparatus and method for performing optical microscopy are disclosed. In at least one embodiment, the apparatus includes a deep ultraviolet light source configured to generate light having a wavelength within a window in the deep ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum within which a local minimum in the absorption coefficient of Oxygen occurs. Further, the apparatus includes a lens device that receives at least a first portion of the generated light, directs at least some of the first portion of the generated light toward a location, receives reflected light from the location, and directs at least some of the reflected light toward a further location. Additionally, the apparatus includes a camera device that is positioned at one of the further location and an additional location, where the camera device receives at least a second portion of the reflected light, whereby an image is generated by the camera device.
US08472106B2	Wavelength conversion element A wavelength conversion element 20 has a periodic polarization reversal structure formed in a non-linear optical crystal, wherein positive/negative polarity is periodically alternated in period d expressed by the following formula (1), outputs light having frequency of 2ω from the incident light having frequency of ω, and is characterized in that the non-linear optical crystal is a nitride single crystal: d=mλ/[2(n2ω−nω)] (1) where, m represents the order of phase matching, λ represents the wavelength of the incident light, nω represents the refractive index of the nitride single crystal such as AlN for the light having frequency of ω, and n2ω represents the refractive index of the nitride single crystal such as AlN for the light having frequency of 2ω.
US08472101B2	Dual display A dual display is disclosed, including a first substrate and a second substrate comprising a plurality of pixels, wherein each pixel comprises a plurality of subpixels. The first substrate comprises a reflective region and a transmissive region for each subpixel, and a first color fluid is movable by an electric field on the reflective region and the transmissive region of a first subpixel, wherein when the first color fluid covers the transmissive region, the dual display provides a first viewing side at the first substrate side under a transmissive mode, and when the first color fluid covers the reflective region or covers the reflective region and the transmissive region, the dual display provides a second viewing side at the second substrate side under a reflective mode.
US08472099B2	Scanning optical apparatus A scanning optical apparatus includes: a light source; a first optical element configured to convert light emitted from the light source into a beam of light; a second optical element configured to convert the beam of light having passed through the first optical element into a linear image extending in a main scanning direction; a deflecting mirror configured to deflect the beam of light having passed through the second optical element in the main scanning direction; and a third optical element configured to convert the beam of light having been deflected by the deflecting mirror into a spot-like image and focus it on a target surface to be scanned. The third optical element is a single lens having a pair of opposite lens surfaces, and each of the pair of lens surfaces is aspheric in a main scanning plane to satisfy the formula:  ( 1 - S k ⁡ ( y 1 , y 2 ) f t ⁡ ( y 1 , y 2 ) ) · h ⁡ ( y 1 , y 2 )  < r e ⁢ min 2 .
US08472097B2	Optical scanning apparatus and image forming apparatus provided with the same The present invention is an optical scanning apparatus provided with a light source, an optical deflector that reflects and deflects a light beam from the light source, one or more lenses through which the light beam reflected by the optical deflector passes, a reflective mirror group which guides the light beam having passed through the lens, and an image bearing member on which the light beam having passed through the reflective mirror group forms an image, in which the reflective mirror group disposed in accordance with the light source is configured by including at least a third reflective mirror that reflects the light beam having passed through the lens toward the image bearing member, and the third reflective mirror and the image bearing member are arranged opposing each other across an optical path reflected by the optical deflector and passing through the lens.
US08472083B2	Intra prediction apparatus and intra prediction method using first blocks obtained by dividing a picture and second blocks obtained by dividing the first block To provide an intra prediction apparatus which can circumvent a hazard problem and improve the time reduction effect. An intra prediction apparatus 11 performs intra predictions of a picture. The intra predictions include: second intra predictions of respective second blocks (blocks) which are obtained by dividing a first pixel block; and a first intra prediction of the first block (macroblock) which constitutes the picture. The intra prediction apparatus 11 includes: an intra prediction unit (a prediction unit 113, an orthogonal transform and quantization unit 115, an inverse orthogonal transform and inverse quantization unit 116, and an adder 117) which performs the intra predictions; and a control unit 119 which controls the intra prediction unit to perform in parallel the intra prediction of the macroblock and the intra predictions of the respective pixel blocks.
US08472080B2	Image forming method and system for performing different halftoning processes according to developer A printing method, and an image forming apparatus and image forming system to perform the method, the method including performing a multi-bit halftoning of a pixel of image data if the pixel is to be printed with a dark developer, performing a single-bit halftoning of the pixel if the pixel is to be printed with a light developer, and printing the halftoned image data.
US08472079B2	Image processing apparatus, method, and program product for display and control of color material amount used in seperated object areas For a printing apparatus which saves on a color material, an image processing apparatus is realized which enables a user to incur printing costs only for necessary information and necessary areas in a print product. For this purpose, there is provided an image processing apparatus including a separation unit configured to analyze and separate print information into text, photograph, and graphic constituent elements, a display unit configured to display information about a color material used amount to be used in printing for each of the separated constituent elements, and a setting unit configured to allow a user to set a change in the color material used amount for each of the separated constituent elements.
US08472078B2	Image processing apparatus for determining whether a region based on a combined internal region is a table region An image processing apparatus includes a region segmentation unit configured to perform region segmentation based on a black pixel connected region in a document image, a selection unit configured to select a processing target region from regions segmented by the region segmentation unit, an internal region combining unit configured to generate a combined internal region by combining internal regions which are included in the regions selected by the selection unit and satisfy a predetermined condition, a table region determination unit configured to determine whether a region based on the combined internal region obtained by the internal region combining unit is a table region, and an extraction unit configured to extract the region determined by the table region determination unit as a table region.
US08472075B2	Print job management device, print job management method, and computer-readable storage medium When it is set by a user to use a nearline finisher with priority, if a print job that uses an inline finisher is to be processed, the print job using the inline finisher is divided into a print job to be executed with the inline finisher and a print job to be executed with the nearline finisher. In contrast, when it is set by a user to use the inline finisher with priority, if a print job that uses the nearline finisher is to be processed, a portion to be executed with the inline finisher and a portion to be executed with the nearline finisher are aggregated, thereby converting the print job to a print job for the inline finisher.
US08472068B2	Image processing apparatus, image processing system, and program An image processing apparatus includes a receiving unit that receives all image data of pages that are imposed; an input unit that inputs the number of pages in vertical and horizontal directions and a page opening direction; a calculation unit that calculates a division number on the basis of the number of pages and the page opening direction; an all image data dividing unit that divides the all image data into divided image data on the basis of the division number; and an acquisition unit that acquires a bind width and a back width from the all image data, wherein the printing position of the divided image data is corrected by calculating a margin from the bind width, the back width, a length of the print sheet, a length of the divided image data, and the number of pages of the divided image data in a correction direction.
US08472066B1	Usage maps in image deposition devices Embodiments of the present invention provide apparatuses and methods for determining usage maps in handheld image deposition devices. The utilization of usage maps in combination with color planes may facilitate the output of varying levels of intensity. Additionally, the storage of processed images and the print data associated with various image locations of the processed image, according to a consistent offset of memory addresses, may expedite retrieval of print information.
US08472061B2	Server apparatus, client apparatus, control method of server apparatus, control method of client apparatus, and program A server apparatus is disclosed which communicates with a client apparatus and an image forming apparatus. The server apparatus executes a print service to transmit print data to the image forming apparatus and allows the image forming apparatus to print the print data in accordance with a print request transmitted from the client apparatus. The server apparatus then transmits a processing situation of the executed print service in accordance with a request repeatedly transmitted from the client apparatus. The server apparatus finally stops the request repeatedly transmitted from the client apparatus in response to completion of a process corresponding to the print request in the executed print service.
US08472058B2	Image processing device, image processing method, and program The invention provides an image processing device capable of restarting a print job in process without involving a user when a network interruption in the course of receiving the print job is reconnected.
US08472054B2	Information distribution apparatus, information distribution method, and computer program for distributing a setting value of a program based on a condition A method for distributing information includes acquiring information indicating a condition for a setting value to be set to a program from an image forming apparatus, verifying whether the setting value satisfies a range of the setting value based on the acquired information, and distributing, if the setting value satisfies the condition, the setting value to the image forming apparatus.
US08472034B2	Job control device, job control file, job control method, and job control program When batch jobs are submitted, the names of the jobs can be arbitrarily designated, so that a user can prepare a configuration file in an easy manner, and the time and effort of the management thereof can be alleviated. Upon submitting batch jobs, a configuration file reading part (1) reads in a control file (F) in which job names arbitrarily designated by the user are described, and a processing execution part, which is constituted by a job state handling part 6, an execution-content executing part (4) and a job submitting part (5), determines the sequence of the respective jobs according to the job names by making reference to a job state database (2), submits necessary jobs at appropriate timing, and thereafter monitor the states of the jobs thus submitting.
US08472031B2	Apparatus and method for optical interrogation An interrogation apparatus and method use a partial shear optical interference apparatus to interrogate the optical properties of an array of target specimen probe volumes as compared to an array of reference sample probe volumes. The apparatus produces a formatted probe beam that contains a partially sheared probe beam pair that is formatted into an array of completely sheared probe beam pairs. Target specimen probe volumes and reference sample probe volumes are suitably organized and exposed to the array of completely sheared probe beam pairs.
US08472026B2	Compact surface plasmon resonance apparatus and method A miniaturized surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor is introduced for on-chip applications. The sensor's sensing surface is arranged in between a light source and detector. The structure facilitates building a SPR device on a chip. In one embodiment, a prism and light source are placed on top of a detector chip. In another embodiment, a self-mixing interferometer is incorporated to enable highly sensitive phase measurement. Other embodiments include SPR systems with integrated optical power monitors or on-chip microfluidic SPR systems.
US08472025B2	Device and method for detecting reflected and/or emitted light of an object A device and a method for detecting reflected and/or emitted light of an object (1) are proposed having at least one illumination device (2) illuminating the object (1) with pulsed light, and having at least one sensor (4, 6) capturing the light reflected and/or emitted by the object (1), and having a transport device transporting the object relative to the illumination device (2) and past the sensor 4, 6) in the direction of transport, and having a power supply (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22) for the illumination device (2) providing the illumination device (2) with a current that is a periodic function over time, wherein a period comprises at least two current pulses (23, 24) of different magnitudes.
US08472019B2	Spectroscopic characteristics acquisition unit, image evaluation unit, and image forming apparatus A spectroscopic characteristics acquisition unit includes a light emitting unit to illuminate a measurement target; a lens array including lenses to receive reflected light reflected from the measurement target; a light blocking member having a pinhole array including openings; a focusing unit to focus light coming from the pinhole array; a diffraction unit to diffract the light to different directions depending on wavelength of light received by the focusing unit; and a light receiving unit to receive the reflected light diffracted by the diffraction unit. The light receiving unit includes a spectroscopic sensor array having spectroscopy sensors including pixels. Each of the lenses constituting the lens array corresponds to one of the openings of the pinhole array. The numerical aperture NA of the lens in the arrangement direction in the lens array satisfies the formula NA>sin(θmax) with respect to the maximum angle of view θmax of the focusing unit.
US08472018B2	Grating for multiple discrete wavelengths of Raman scattering Systems and methods employ a layer having a pattern that provides multiple discrete guided mode resonances for respective couplings of separated wavelengths into the layer. Further, a structure including features shaped to enhance Raman scattering to produce light of the resonant wavelengths can be employed with the patterned layer.
US08471999B2	Low voltage liquid crystal lens with variable focal length Disclosed herein is a liquid crystal lens with a variable focal length. The gradient profile of the liquid crystals molecules that causes the gradient profile of the refractive index is achieved by inducing non-uniformly distributed anchoring energy and an external electric or magnetic field applied to the liquid crystal layer. Unlike existing electrically controlled liquid crystal lens, the external electric or magnetic field has a uniform spatial distribution within the liquid crystal layer. The focal length of the liquid crystal lens is controlled via the non-uniformly distributed anchoring energy and by varying the uniformly distributed electric or magnetic field.
US08471998B2	Liquid crystal display element, display device, and method for driving the same A liquid crystal display element includes a liquid crystal composition sandwiched between substrates, wherein at least two types of liquid crystal compositions which exhibit liquid crystal phase in different temperature ranges are contained within each one pixel, and each of the at least two types of liquid crystal compositions is sealed and isolated within each pixel.
US08471970B2	Liquid crystal display and operation method thereof Disclosed is a liquid crystal display device to display moving and still images with superior image quality, comparable to common LCDs and to display memory images by a voltage lower than conventional electronic paper, and a method for operating the same. The liquid crystal display device comprises: a pair of electrode substrates facing each other; an orientation film of a polymer material on the pair of electrode substrates; a liquid crystal material between the pair of electrode substrates, wherein the liquid crystal display device displays an image by varying orientation of the liquid crystal material and a surfacial region of the orientation film, depending on temperature and voltage.

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