Document	Document Title
US08856960B2	Data leakage prevention for cloud and enterprise networks Apparatuses, methods and articles of manufacture for performing data leakage prevention are provided. Data leakage prevention may be performed by determining a signature of a transmitted document, the transmitted document being in transit to a location beyond a network boundary. The signature of the transmitted document is compared with one or more signatures of documents authorized to be transmitted beyond the network boundary. The transmitted document is prevented from being transmitted beyond the network boundary if the signature of the document does not correspond to a signature of a document authorized to be transmitted beyond the network boundary.
US08856959B2	Creating distinct user spaces through user identifiers A method of, and a processing system for, creating distinct user spaces. In a platform originally intended to be a single user platform, for each of a plurality of users, a first application used by the user can be assigned a user identifier (UID) unique to the user and the first application. The first UID can be associated with user data exclusively associated with the user and the first application to create a multi-user platform.
US08856955B2	Remediating unauthorized sharing of account access to online resources A number of effective alternatives for discouraging unauthorized online-resource sharing are discussed. An anti-sharing strategy can be built by applying one or more of the alternatives in response to possible, strongly-suspected or virtually certain unauthorized sharing.
US08856953B2	Access policy for package update processes Methods and systems for defining and generating fine-grained access policy for authorizing software package updates are provided. The methods of defining and enforcing a package update policy include providing a package update policy file that identifies a set of software packages and users authorized to perform package updates in association with the set of software packages, and storing the policy file on computers in a managed network. When a computer in the managed network receives a request from an unprivileged user to update a software package on the computer, the computer retrieves the package update policy file and determines an authorization of the user to update the software package based on an identity of the user, an identity of the software package, and the policy file. The computer then processes the request based on the determined authorization of the user.
US08856952B2	Blade, computer product, and management method A determining unit determines whether housing specific information decrypted from a license key is identical to housing specific information acquired from the housing to confirm legitimacy of license, thereby ensuring security. The determining unit determines that the license can be activated if a usage number in the housing does not exceed a usable number. Only when the determining unit determines that the license can be activated, the setting unit activates the license to make software usable so that any blade can freely use the software within a limit of the usable number.
US08856949B2	Systems and methods for detecting authorized players One embodiment includes method for determining whether a player application is authorized to play protected content. The method comprises reading a digital signature associated with the player application from a predetermined memory location using a protection interface associated with the player application, where the digital signature comprises one or more file designations. The embodiment further comprises mapping, by the protection interface, the one or more file designations to one or more files associated with the player application and transmitting mapping information from the protection interface to a verification application stored on a storage medium. The verification application is configured to determine whether the player application is authorized to play the protected content if the one or more file designations match the one or more files based on the mapping information.
US08856947B1	Intrusion detection and prevention processing within network interface circuitry A network interface controller (NIC) is configured to couple a host to a network. The NIC coupled to the host via a host bus, and the host is configured to operate a plurality of virtual machines. The NIC is configured to receive at least one data frame, the at least one data frame including at least a source network address and indication of at least one destination network address; determine if the received data frame is a frame on which additional processing should occur; based on a result of the determining step, cause the frame to be provided to the host, via the host bus, for the host to perform the additional processing; and receive, via the host bus, the frame on which additional processing has been performed and steer the frame to a destination based on the at least one destination address.
US08856941B2	Staged control release in boot process Integrity validation of a network device may be performed. A network device comprising a secure hardware module, may receive a root key. The secure hardware module may also receive a first code measurement. The secure hardware module may provide a first key based on the root key and the first code measurement. The secure hardware module may receive a second code measurement and provide a second key based on the first key and the second code measurement. The release of keys based on code measurements may provide authentication in stages.
US08856935B2	Automatic synthesis of unit tests for security testing Performing security analysis on a computer program under test (CPUT). The CPUT can be analyzed to identify data pertinent to potential security vulnerabilities of the CPUT. At least a first unit test configured to test a particular unit of program code within the CPUT can be automatically synthesized. The first unit test can be configured to initialize at least one parameter used by the particular unit of program code within the CPUT, and can be provided at least a first test payload configured to exploit at least one potential security vulnerability of the CPUT. The first unit test can be dynamically processed to communicate the first test payload to the particular unit of program code within the CPUT. Whether the first test payload exploits an actual security vulnerability of the CPUT can be determined, and a security analysis report can be output.
US08856931B2	Network browser system, method, and computer program product for scanning data for unwanted content and associated unwanted sites A system, method, and computer program product are provided for scanning data for unwanted content and unwanted sites in response to a user request. In use, a user request is received via a network to scan data prior to downloading the data utilizing a network browser. In addition, the data is scanned for unwanted content and associated unwanted sites in response to the user request. Further, a response is sent to the user via the network.
US08856921B1	Threat emergence date scan optimization to avoid unnecessary loading of scan engines Threat emergence dates as well as file modification and scanning history are tracked to determine which files need to be scanned for possible infection by various attacking agents. Information concerning which scan engines are used to scan for the presence of different attacking agents is also tracked. Where given files only need to be scanned for a subset of all possible threats and the relevant scanning code resides in only a subset of all the scan engines, only the required scan engines are initialized, loaded or called in order to scan those files.
US08856916B1	User associated geo-location based reauthorization to protect confidential information In response to a trigger indicating to prevent access to confidential information on a specific user's mobile device, access is prevented to all parties, until a successful reauthorization occurs. Preventing access can comprise storing encrypted confidential information and removing the decryption key. In order to subsequently access the confidential information, a reauthorization attempt is made. The current geo-location of the mobile device at the time of the attempt is compared to at least one authorized geo-location associated with the specific user. In response to a) the password and user identifier being correct and to b) the current geo-location of the mobile computing device being an authorized geo-location associated with the specific user, the attempt to reauthorize is successful, whereas otherwise the attempt is unsuccessful. Only in response to a successful attempt is access to the confidential information re-allowed.
US08856909B1	IF-MAP provisioning of resources and services A method may include receiving a request from an endpoint to access a network; granting access to the network; and subscribing to an IF-MAP server for updates relating to the endpoint. The method may also include receiving an update pertaining to the endpoint, from the IF-MAP server; and transmitting the update to the endpoint. Additionally, a method may include receiving a request from an endpoint to access a resource in a network; denying the request from the endpoint based on a security policy; and subscribing or querying to an IF-MAP server for IF-MAP data pertaining to the endpoint. The method may also include receiving from the IF-MAP server the IF-MAP data; and publishing, by the device, to the IF-MAP server, IF-MAP data pertaining to the endpoint, where the IF-MAP data includes security policy parameters that comply with the security policy for accessing the resource.
US08856907B1	System for and methods of providing single sign-on (SSO) capability in an application publishing and/or document sharing environment A client-server computing system includes a computer cluster for hosting certain resources, applications, programs, processes, files, and/or data that are published to users who are accessing the computer cluster remotely. The computer cluster includes a network of one or more host computers, a gateway server, a gateway service database, a user database, and a document database. A single sign-on (SSO) method of the disclosure includes performing a computer cluster authentication process in which a user enters his/her credentials followed by a resource authentication process and/or document sharing process in which there is no need for the user to reenter his/her credentials, having entered them already in the computer cluster authentication process.
US08856898B1	Methods for DNSSEC proxying and deployment amelioration and systems thereof A method, computer readable medium, and device for providing authenticated domain name service includes forwarding at a traffic management device a request for a domain name from a client device to one or more servers coupled to the traffic management device. The traffic management device receives a first response comprising at least a portion of the domain name from the one or more servers. The traffic management device attaches a first signature to the first response when the first response is determined by the traffic management device to be an unauthenticated response, and provides the first response with the first signature to the client device.
US08856894B1	Always on authentication An Always-On Authentication (“AOA”) system comprises a computer system, such as a server, that automatically monitors and authenticates an enrolled individual's online transactions and/or activities to, for example, detect and/or prevent fraud. The AOA system actively monitors and/or authenticates the individual's online transactions and/or activities with service providers. A risk level may be associated with transactions and/or activities, and if a monitored transaction or activity is determined to exceed risk level for the individual, the individual may be prompted for further authentication information. A risk profile may be built for the individual over time based on the individual's history or pattern of transactions and activities. The AOA system may issue a virtual credential to the individual and/or to one or more of the individual's computing devices. The virtual credential may be provided to participating service provider(s) to enable seamless authentication of the individual during his/her interactions with the service provider(s).
US08856893B2	System and method for an ATM electronic lock system A method for ATM Electronic Lock System comprising the steps: (a) a user using ATM card and entering PIN in an ATM Electronic Lock Subsystem, (b) the ATM Lock System authenticating the user, (c) generating a RND and Local One Time Code (LOTC) with the user's personal ID, Equipment ID, (d) displaying the RND to the user and the user sending the RND to ATM management center via mobile device, (e) the Management Center authenticating the user and generating a Management Center One Time Code (MC-OTC) and sending the MC-OTC to the user's mobile device, (f) the user entering the MC-OTC to the ATM Electronic Lock Subsystem, (g) the ATM Electronic Lock Subsystem comparing the MC-OTC with LOTC, and sending unlock command to unlock the ATM Electronic Lock System to allow user to access the ATM if the MC-OTC matches the LOTC, otherwise, the ATM Electronic Lock System remains locked.
US08856891B2	Proxy authentication network A Proxy Authentication Network includes a server that stores credentials for subscribers, along with combinations of devices and locations from which individual subscribers want to be authenticated. Data is stored in storage: the storage can be selected by the subscriber. The data stored in the storage, which can be personally identifiable information, can be stored in an encrypted form. The key used to encrypt such data can be divided between the storage and server. In addition, third parties can store portions of the encrypting key. Subscribers can be authenticated using their credentials from recognized device/location combinations; out-of-band authentication supports authenticating subscribers from other locations. Once authenticated, a party can request that the encrypted data be released. The portions of the key are then assembled at the storage. The storage then decrypts the data, generates a new key, and re-encrypts the data for transmission to the requester.
US08856878B2	Management of access to service in an access point System(s) and method(s) are provided to configure access rights to wireless resources and telecommunication service(s) supplied through a set of access points (APs). Access to wireless resources is authorized by access attributes in access control list(s) (ACL(s)) while a profile of service attributes linked to the ACL(s) regulate provision of telecommunication service(s). Access and service attributes can be automatically or dynamically configured, at least in part, in response to changes in data that directly or indirectly affects an operation environment in which the set of APs is deployed. Automatic or dynamic configuration of access or service attributes enable control or coordination of wireless service provided through the set of APs; degree of control or coordination is determined at least in part by enablement or disablement of disparate services for disparate devices at disparate access points at disparate times and with disparate service priority.
US08856876B2	Apparatus and method for identifying wireless network provider in wireless communication system To check security of an Access Point (AP) in a wireless communication system, an operating method of a terminal includes, before completing connection to the AP, receiving a frame that informs the terminal of existence of the AP; extracting security test information from the frame; and testing the security of the AP using the security test information.
US08856867B1	Technique for controlling access to program assets A system that controls access to program assets, such as software programs or modules, is described. During operation, this system associates a first license code with a first group of program assets and associates a first master code with the first license code, where the first group of program assets includes one or more program assets associated with a first provider, and the first license code identifies the first master code. Then, the system provides the first license code, the first master code, and a pre-defined function to the first provider, and hosts the first group of program assets on a website. Note that the first master code and the pre-defined function allow the first provider to generate a first validation code for a customer. Moreover, the first validation code and the first license code, at least in part, allow the customer to access the first group of program assets hosted on the website, thereby facilitating independent marketing of the first group of program assets by the first provider.
US08856865B1	Prioritizing content classification categories Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for prioritizing content classification categories. One of the methods includes maintaining two or more content categories including a first content category and a second content category, each content category having an associated score, receiving, from a user device, a request to access a resource, the resource being associated both with the first content category and with the second content category, determining a content access policy for the user device to the resource based on the respective scores associated with the first and second content categories, and selectively permitting or denying access to the resource by the user device depending on the determined content access policy.
US08856864B2	Detecting, enforcing and controlling access privileges based on sandbox usage Systems and methods may provide for receiving web content and detecting an access control attribute associated with the web content. Additionally, the access control attribute may be monitored for a disablement condition. In one example, the disablement condition may be detected, an access policy may be determined in response to the disablement condition, and the access policy may be implemented.
US08856863B2	Method and system for rapid accreditation/re-accreditation of agile IT environments, for example service oriented architecture (SOA) A system and method for managing and analyzing security requirements in reusable models. At least one functional model, at least one security implementation model, at least one requirement model, and meta models of the models are read by a reader. A correspondence between the functional model, security implementation model, and the requirements model is analyzed, whereby the correspondence indicates that compliance/security/accreditation requirements defined in the requirement model match with security objectives implemented by controls defined by the security implementation model. Next, it is determined whether correspondence is or is not given based on the analysis of the correspondence and then evidence is generated based on the analysis of the correspondence and the determination and the impact of changes is analyzed.
US08856862B2	Message processing methods and systems Methods and apparatus for controlling the operation of a distributed application using message interception techniques are disclosed. The message interception software is independent of the software components making up the distributed application. The message interception software processes messages by carrying out a series of actions set out in an interceptor chain configuration policy, that policy being selected on the basis of the contents of the intercepted message. The interceptor chain configuration policy is divided into a separate enforcement configuration policy which dictates what actions should be carried out on a message and in what order, and an interceptor reference policy which indicates references to interceptors which are suitable for carrying out the actions specified in the enforcement configuration policy. In this way, the behavior of the message interception software (and thus the distributed application) can be updated while both the interception software and the distributed application are running without requiring the person updating the behavior of the message interception software to deal with esoteric references to interceptor software routines.
US08856860B2	System and method for implementing policy server based application interaction manager In one example embodiment, an apparatus includes a policy repository for storing a policy for application interaction. The policy defines, for a subscriber, a priority associated with a set of specific application identifiers. The priority further defines establishment priority and retention priority for an application identified by a selected application identifier. Another example embodiment includes an apparatus including a processor operable to evaluate a policy for application interaction. The policy defines, for a subscriber, a priority associated with a set of specific application identifiers. The priority further defines establishment priority and retention priority for an application identified by a selected application identifier. The processor is further operable to execute a decision for the subscriber based on the evaluation of the policy.
US08856856B2	Set-top box having media gateway, server and storage units A set top box is provided that has a low profile modular configuration that enables the control unit and storage unit to function independently from each other or as a combined unit. The set top box includes a control unit, a storage unit, and a connector positioned there between. The storage unit includes a housing and a plurality of storage bays for receiving storage modules having two parallel broad sides. The connector is positioned between the control unit and the storage unit and secures the control and storage units together. The connector has a vertical peripheral cross section substantially the same as a vertical peripheral cross section of the control unit and the storage unit.
US08856855B2	System and method for tuning a set-top box remotely via a social network A system and method for controlling a set-top box through a social network. Access is granted to control the set-top box to one or more contacts of a user. The one or more contacts being associated with one or more social networks. Access to control the set-top box is granted to one or more contacts of one or more social networks. A request to change media content is received from one of the one or more contacts. The one or more contacts are authenticated to ensure they are authorized to tune the set-top box to the media content. The media content is tuned in for communication to a display in response to authenticating the request from the one of the one or more contacts.
US08856850B2	Method of tagging signals used for leakage detection and measurement in cable television networks and apparatus for detection and/or measurement of leakage sources tagged with this method A method of tagging signals for leakage detection and measurement in cable television networks which uses additional signals carrying the tagging information and transmitted in these networks. A narrowband tagging signal or signals are placed in the unused frequency spectrum parts of any used cable television channel, in particular in the guard bands (GB) of analog or digital channels, carrying, for example, television, radio or data services.
US08856842B2	Wireless video clock synchronization to enable power saving In a wireless video system, the clock rate for wirelessly transmitting the video data from the transmitting device should be identical to the clock rate for receiving the video data at the receiving device. But the two devices have separate clocks, whose frequencies may drift apart over time, leading the video buffer to be over run or under run. Clock synchronizing messages to prevent this may be sent at short intervals when clock synchronization is first being acquired, and at larger intervals after clock synchronization has already been achieved and is merely being maintained.
US08856838B2	Registration of a personal electronic device (PED) with an aircraft IFE system using aircraft generated registration token images and associated methods A communications system for an aircraft includes an aircraft in-flight entertainment (IFE) system, and at least one personal electronic device (PED) carried by an aircraft passenger. The aircraft IFE system includes an IFE video entertainment source, IFE passenger seat displays, an IFE wireless transceiver, and an IFE controller. The IFE controller is for selectively displaying video from the IFE entertainment source on the IFE passenger seat displays, and for generating a respective registration token image on each IFE passenger seat display. The PED includes a PED optical sensor, a PED wireless transceiver, and a PED controller. The PED controller is for communicating with the IFE wireless transceiver via the PED wireless transceiver based upon the PED optical sensor sensing the registration token image.
US08856837B2	Location-based tuner A method and system of facilitating tuning to content and/or signal streams, including capabilities to facilitate tuning when traveling from one geographical location to another where the different geographical areas may be rely on different identifiers to facilitate locating the content and/or signaling of interest.
US08856820B2	Mobile communication terminal and method of restricting harmful information thereof A mobile communication terminal and a method of restricting harmful information thereof are provided. The mobile communication terminal includes a data judgment module which judges whether to restrict digital content by comparing content information included in a packet of the digital content with viewing restriction information; and a control unit which controls whether to display the digital content in accordance with a result of the judgment of the data judgment module. The method includes receiving digital content that is transmitted in a unit of a packet; judging whether viewing of the digital content is permitted by comparing content information included in the packet with viewing restriction information; and preventing a display of the digital content if it is judged that the viewing of the digital content is not permitted.
US08856814B2	Dynamic selection of advertising content in a social broadcast environment A method of determining advertising content to be included in a broadcast is disclosed. An inclusion criterion is received for each of a plurality of items of advertising content to be used to determine one or both of whether and how that item of advertising content is to be included in a broadcast. Stored user profile data associated with a plurality of users who provided within an observation period an indication that the user was consuming the broadcast is processed, and the respective inclusion criteria of the items of advertising content, to select and integrate into the broadcast selected ones of the items of advertising content.
US08856807B1	Alert event platform Various systems, processes, tools and techniques are provided for managing and processing alerts associated with different business events that impact a corporate entity. In various aspects, the system may employ an event-driven architecture to process business events and then provide customers and other system users with a mechanism for having have visibility into those business events through a subscription process, for example. Subscribers may be offered the ability to tap into different streams of business events, filter the event streams to obtain information only for events of interest, and then receive alerts associated with the events via one or more communication media or channels.
US08856800B2	Service-level enterprise service bus load balancing A method and system for service-level Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) load balancing is described. In one system, an ESB load balancer tracks service usage of multiple nodes, each hosting an ESB instance. The ESB load balancer receives an incoming message directed to a given type of service, determines which of the ESB instances has a least-used service of the given type, and forwards the incoming message to that ESB instance.
US08856797B1	Reactive auto-scaling of capacity Examples of systems and methods are described for managing computing capacity by a provider of computing resources. The computing resources may include program execution capabilities, data storage or management capabilities, network bandwidth, etc. Multiple user programs can consume a single computing resource, and a single user program can consume multiple computing resources. Changes in usage and other environmental factors can require scaling of the computing resources to reduce or prevent a negative impact on performance. In some implementations, a fuzzy logic engine can be used to determine the appropriate adjustments to make to the computing resources associated with a program in order to keep a system metric within a desired operating range.
US08856792B2	Cancelable and faultable dataflow nodes One embodiment includes a method of performing dataflow processing. The method includes representing a first asynchronous processing node as a first future. The first future represents the lifecycle of processing of the first asynchronous processing node. The method further includes representing one or more other asynchronous operations as one or more other futures. The one or more other futures represent the asynchronous completion of one or more operations'processing. The first future and the one or more other futures are represented as a single composite future. The single composite future represents completion of processing of the combination of the first asynchronous processing node and the one or more other asynchronous operations.
US08856790B1	Systems and methods for data management in a virtual computing environment Systems and methods are disclosed for performing operations on a host system with one or more virtual machines without persistently storing an agent or daemon thereon. In certain examples, a management server is configured to inject dependencies, such as binary data, over a network to the host system for performing a requested operation. For instance, systems and methods can establish a secure shell (SSH) port forwarding connection through which dependencies stored on the management server are injected into a service console of the host system. The injected dependencies can then be executed and/or used to perform the requested operation, such as a backup or compression operation on virtual machine data. Once the requested operation has completed, the injected binaries are preferably removed from the host system so as to conserve system resources.
US08856789B2	Facilitating execution of a self-modifying executable Trusted execution of a self-modifying executable is facilitated. An attempt to access a data portion of a self-modifying executable during execution of the self-modifying executable is detected. The self-modifying executable includes the data portion, for storing data to be accessed during execution of the self-modifying executable, and an instruction portion including instructions for execution of the self-modifying executable. The attempt to access the data portion is retargeted to a separate portion of memory space that is separate from another portion of memory space in which the self-modifying executable is loaded for execution. Meaningful measurability of the integrity of the self-modifying executable is thereby provided.
US08856784B2	Decentralized management of virtualized hosts One or more embodiments of the present invention provide a technique for effectively managing virtualized computing systems with an unlimited number of hardware resources. Host systems included in a virtualized computer system are organized into a scalable, peer-to-peer (P2P) network in which host systems arrange themselves into a network overlay to communicate with one another. The network overlay enables the host systems to perform a variety of operations, which include dividing computing resources of the host systems among a plurality of virtual machines (VMs), load balancing VMs across the host systems, and performing an initial placement of a VM in one of the host systems.
US08856781B2	Method and apparatus for supporting assignment of devices of virtual machines A processing system includes at least one processing unit, at least one bus, and at least one device on the bus. A virtual machine monitor (VMM) in the processing system determines whether a base address register (BAR) of the device specifies a barred region size of less than one page. If the BAR specifies a barred region size of less than one page, the VMM reports to a virtual machine (VM) in the processing system, on behalf of the device, that the BAR specifies a barred region size of at least one page. In one embodiment, the bus comprises a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus, such as a PCI Express (PCIe) bus or a PCI Extended (PCI-X) bus. The device may be a video controller, a network interface controller (NIC), or any other suitable device. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US08856777B2	Systems and methods for automatic installation and execution of a client-side acceleration program The present invention is directed towards systems and methods for dynamically deploying and executing acceleration functionality on a client to improve the performance and delivery of remotely accessed applications. The acceleration program of the present invention is automatically installed and executed on a client in a manner transparent to and seamless with the operation of the client. An appliance may intercept a request of the client to establish a communication session or connection with a server, and transmit the acceleration program to the client. In some cases, the appliance determines whether the application being accessed by the client can be accelerated and only provides the acceleration program if the application can be accelerated. Upon receipt of the acceleration program, the client automatically performs a silent installation of the acceleration program and executes the acceleration program upon completion of the installation.
US08856774B1	System and method for processing updates to installed software on a computer system A system and method for testing and optimization of updates. An update is received by a test module, which selects a testing environment and determines a testing period. The test module tests the update in the testing environment and provides the test results to an analyzer module. The analyzer module determines the feasibility of the update installation based on a set of feasibility rules. If the update is deemed feasible, the update is added to the list of the updates for installation and provided to an installation module for installation on computer systems.
US08856773B2	Image forming apparatus including a device that updates stored program based on updating data which is selected based on program that is started or startable An image forming apparatus includes a storage section that stores programs for carrying out processes, an updating data selection section that selects an updating data for at least one of programs from an updating data group, based on a program that is started or is startable, and an updating section that updates at least one arbitrary program stored in the storage section based on the selected updating data.
US08856767B2	System and method for analyzing dynamic performance of complex applications A system and method for monitoring the performance and execution flow of a target application and generating a corresponding data model are provided. The system and method comprise attaching to a thread or process of a target application and tracking the execution of subroutines using instrumentation commands. Data representing the execution flow of the various subroutines, subroutine calls, and their performance is gathered and used to generate data models representing the threads and processes of the application. The data models are optionally merged and/or pruned. A visualization of the data models is generated indicating relevant points of interest within the target application's execution flow.
US08856762B2	Loop detection apparatus, loop detection method, and loop detection program A loop detection method, system, and article of manufacture for determining whether a sequence of unit processes continuously executed among unit processes in a program is a loop by means of computational processing performed by a computer. The method includes: reading address information on the sequence of unit processes; comparing an address of a unit process as a loop starting point candidate with an address of a last unit process in the sequence of unit processes; reading call stack information on the sequence of unit processes; comparing a call stack upon execution of the unit process as the loop starting point candidate with a call stack upon execution of the last unit process; outputting a determination result indicating that the sequence of unit processes forms a loop if the respective comparison results of the addresses and the call stacks match with each other.
US08856757B2	Automatic license entitlement calculation Techniques for automatic license entitlement calculation. A method includes decomposing a license metric definition into metric-generic and metric-specific logic, compiling the metric-specific logic to generate intermediate code, interpreting the metric-generic logic and dynamically loading the intermediate code to execute a license entitlement calculation.
US08856753B2	Granular measurement of processor performance in executing sections of software code Processor performance in executing a section of software code is measured. A clock associated with the section of software code. It is detected that the section of software code is beginning to be executed. In response, the clock associated with the section of software code is started. It is then detected that the section of software code is no longer being executed. In response, the clock associated with the section of software code is stopped. The clock is stopped and restarted as the section of software code temporarily stops execution to cede control to other sections of software code. Ultimately, a value of the clock associated with the section of software code is output, where the value corresponds to the processor performance in executing the section of software code.
US08856749B2	Multi-path brokered test automation execution A test case can be run with actions from the test case being executed in multiple execution paths. This can be done with the aid of an action broker. For example, the broker may identify available automation implementations for the actions and use a priority list to select between available automation implementations for executing an action from the test case. The broker may also perform conversions of results of actions for use by implementations executing other actions in different execution paths, as well as passing results between implementations in different execution paths.
US08856744B2	HDMI-muxed debug cable methods and apparatuses The HDMI debug cable methods and apparatuses are directed toward a means for pulling up a hot plug detect line to a power line. The debug cable methods and apparatuses also include means for providing an extended display identification data (EDID) code indicating a debug cable or debug host device. The debug cable methods and apparatuses also include means for transmitting and receiving debug commands and data.
US08856743B2	System, method, and computer readable medium for universal software testing An automated software testing and validation system allows testing of a software application under test (SAUT) regardless of the dynamic nature of the SAUT. An abstracted set of hierarchal or linear objects model certain regions of the SAUT. Automated test scripts utilize theses regions to intuitively navigate and identify potions of the SAUT to automate. The scripts can also access specific SAUT elements contain within each defined region. These elements can then be used to invoke actions or verify outputs there from. The system uses a set of rich identification rules embodied in the system which allow the user to configure the identification of any element within the abstracted region. The rules are customizable to allow the user to configure the desired level of loose coupling between the automated scripts and the target element to adapt the scripts to the nature of the SAUT.
US08856734B2	Type-safe dependency injection of services into enterprise components A system, method, and medium are disclosed for implementing an application component container. The container is configured to detect that a component managed by the container is dependent on an interface that is implemented by a dynamic module provided by a dynamic module system. The container uses a dependency injection framework to inject the implementation into the dependent component in a type-safe manner.
US08856731B2	Scalable language infrastructure for electronic system level tools Systems and methods of scalable language infrastructure for electronic system level tools. In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, knowledge about types, functions and the like is encapsulated in a plurality of intelligent components called active component extension modules that are external to the infrastructure. The infrastructure implements a communication mechanism between the clients and these intelligent components, and acts as a common backbone. The infrastructure itself does not maintain any knowledge about any client, types, functions, etc. In accordance with a method embodiment of the present invention, a request is received from a client of a language infrastructure. The request is forwarded from the language infrastructure to an active component extension module. The active component extension module performs a service responsive to the request.
US08856729B2	Systems and methods for developing multi-platform applications for computing devices Implementations of the present disclosure include actions of transmitting a first user interface engine (UIE) to a first computing device, the first UIE being specific to a first operating system of the first computing device, transmitting a second UIE to a second computing device, the second UIE being specific to a second operating system of the second computing device, the first operating system being different from the second operating system, and transmitting one or more templates to the first computing device and the second computing device, the one or more templates being agnostic to the first operating system and the second operating system, each of the one or more templates being processable using the first UIE and the second UIE to display a first user interface and a second user interface on the first mobile device and the second mobile device, respectively.
US08856726B2	Verification of computer-executable code generated from a slice of a model In an embodiment, a model is sliced into a plurality of slices. A slice in the plurality of slices is selected. A portion of code, that corresponds to the selected slice, is identified from code generated from the model. The identified code is verified to be equivalent to the selected slice. Equivalence may include equivalent functionality, equivalent data types, equivalent performance, and/or other forms of equivalence between the selected slice and the identified generated code.
US08856724B2	Systems and methods for incremental software development Methods and systems for facilitating incremental software development are disclosed. For example, a method can include receiving a plurality of binary software libraries sufficient for building a software project. A request from a user to modify source code for at least one of the plurality of binary libraries is received. In response to receiving the request, the source code for the at least one of the plurality of binary libraries is retrieved. The source code for the at least one of the plurality of binary libraries is presented to the user. Modified source code for the at least one of the plurality of binary libraries is received. The modified source code is compiled to produce compiled modified code. A revised version of the software project is built using the compiled modified code and the plurality of binary libraries.
US08856719B2	Method for circuit simulation A circuit simulation method for checking a circuit error is disclosed. The method may include generating a netlist with respect to a designed circuit, simulating an operation of the designed circuit using the generated netlist, and checking an error of the designed circuit using the generated netlist and using a waveform generated when performing the simulation.
US08856716B1	Automatic placement system of IC design and method thereof An automatic placement system of IC design and a method thereof is provided. The automatic placement system of IC design concerns the chip area utility ratio, the input-output relationship between components, the power consumption produced from thermal noise of circuits and the MOS-type transformation ratio, and performs the genetic algorithm for providing an optimal solution to the placement problem. Herewith the effect of optimizing the placement according to the data of components and parameter is achieved.
US08856714B2	Method and system for designing 3D semiconductor package A three-dimensional semiconductor package and method for making the same include providing a first package layout parameter for a plurality of first terminals included in a first package, a second package layout parameter for a plurality of second terminals included in a second package disposed above or below the first package, and a connection terminal layout parameter for a plurality of connection terminals electrically connecting the first package and the second package; providing a first wiring connection layout between the first and second terminals and the connection terminals by applying a first process to the first package, second package, and connection terminal layout parameters; and providing a second wiring connection layout between the first and second terminals and the connection terminals by applying a second process, which is different from the first process, to the first wiring connection layout.
US08856713B1	Method and apparatus for performing efficient incremental compilation A method for designing a system on a target device includes identifying candidate portions in the system to preserve based on similarities between the system and another system. Preservation criteria are applied on the candidate portions in the system to preserve to identify portions of the system to preserve. Design results from the another system are reused for portions in the system that are preserved.
US08856712B2	Optimized flip-flop device with standard and high threshold voltage MOS devices A flip-flop operating with standard threshold voltage MOS devices as compared with high threshold voltage MOS devices may have improved speed performance, but greater leakage current. Likewise, a flip-flop operating with high threshold voltage MOS devices may reduce the leakage current and have better power efficiency, but decreased speed and performance. An optimized flip-flop may include a combination of standard threshold voltage MOS devices and high threshold voltage MOS devices. The optimized flip-flop may have less leakage during stand-by mode as compared to a flip-flop with standard threshold voltage MOS devices. In addition, the optimized flip-flop may have better performance and speed as compared to a flip-flop with high threshold voltage MOS devices.
US08856711B2	Apparatus and methods for time-multiplex field-programmable gate arrays A time-multiplexed field programmable gate array (TM-FPGA) includes programmable logic circuitry, programmable interconnect circuitry, and a plurality of context registers. A user's circuit can be mapped to the programmable logic circuitry, the programmable interconnect circuitry, and the plurality of context registers without the user's intervention in mapping the design.
US08856710B2	Tool and method for modeling interposer RC couplings A method comprises analyzing front side conductive patterns and back side conductive patterns on a semiconductor interposer using a machine implemented RC extraction tool, and outputting data representing a plurality of respective RC nodes from the RC extraction tool to a tangible persistent machine readable storage medium. A substrate mesh model of the semiconductor interposer is generated, having a plurality of substrate mesh nodes. Each substrate mesh node is connected to adjacent ones of the plurality of substrate mesh nodes by respective substrate impedance elements. A set of inputs to a timing analysis tool is formed. The plurality of RC nodes are connected to ones of the plurality of substrate mesh nodes of the substrate mesh model. The set of inputs is stored in a tangible machine readable storage medium.
US08856705B2	Mismatch verification device and methods thereof A method can include identifying a device design comprising first and second instantiations of a device, identifying a layer of the device design, identifying a first region of the device design for the first instantiation based on the layer of the first instantiation, and a second region of the device design for the second instantiation based on the layer of the second instantiation. identifying a first compare layer of the device design that comprises a plurality of first compare features including a first compared feature within the first region and a second compared feature within the second region, determining a difference between the first compared feature and the second compared feature, and determining if the difference meets a tolerance to determine if the first instantiation matches the second instantiation.
US08856702B1	Method and apparatus for performing multiple stage physical synthesis A method for designing a system on a target device includes entering the system. The system is synthesized. The system is mapped. The system is placed on the target device. The system is routed. Physical synthesis is performed on the system immediately after more than one of the entering, synthesizing, mapping, placing and routing procedures.
US08856700B1	Methods, systems, and apparatus for reliability synthesis In one embodiment of the invention, a method of synthesizing a circuit design is disclosed including receiving an input model of an initial circuit design into an electronic design automation system; receiving a user specification detailing a reliability feature to add to the initial circuit design; adding the reliability feature to the input model based upon the user specification to generate a modified input model; and producing an output model of a circuit design with the reliability feature in response to the modified input model.
US08856697B2	Routing analysis with double pattern lithography Graph analysis for double pattern lithography is described. Layout shapes are decomposed into rectangles and a vertex is provided for each rectangle. Double pattern spacing conflicts are determined and shown as edges for the graph analysis. Odd cycles are used to identify double pattern lithography violations. Cycles can be completed with the addition of edges between vertices where stitches have been included in the layout. Edges between touching shapes do not count toward the odd count in the cycles. Fixes are included by increasing space or by rerouting. A portion of the layout can be incrementally changed and a local update of the graph analysis performed. Correct by construction layout is implemented by avoiding certain odd cycle prone layout routings.
US08856674B2	Electronic device and method for character deletion A virtual keyboard for an electronic device having a display. The keyboard comprises a plurality of virtual keys organized in accordance with a keyboard layout with each key in a position according to the layout. The plurality of virtual keys include a first virtual key designated to activate, upon selection, a backward-delete function for deleting characters in a first direction and a forward-delete function for deleting characters in a second direction. The first direction and the second direction are opposite to each other. The keyboard also comprises direction identifier indicia displayed on the first virtual key. The direction identifier indicia are configured to indicate the first direction when the backward-delete function is activated, and the second direction when the forward-delete function is activated.
US08856669B2	Method for selective erasure based on historical input Systems and methods record graphical marks input through a graphic user interface of a computerized device. The graphical marks comprise input other than keyboard button input. The recording includes recording different input times when the graphical marks are input and recording whether the graphic marks are uninterrupted graphic marks, using a processor of the computerized device. An uninterrupted graphical mark is one of the graphical marks that is input through a discrete and continuous user input action, and is made without the user pausing such discrete and continuous user input action. The systems and methods also display the graphical marks, and provide an erasure option on the graphic user interface. The erasure option allows the user to distinguish which of the graphical marks are erased based on the different input times and/or by distinguishing between erasure of different ones of the uninterrupted graphic marks.
US08856658B2	Representing user interactions as a synchronous action in a business process flow Method and system for generating user interactions in a flow-based engine during the execution of a synchronous flow which potentially represent the logic for handling another user interaction. The method encapsulates and hides the asynchronous nature of the user interaction, thus enabling the author of the business flow to use the user interaction as a single synchronous action oblivious to the underlying asynchronous implementation, said method comprising of the steps: defining user interactions action in a business flow diagram as an atomic action; translating said flow into executable form; executing said flow, presenting said UI to end-user as a replacement to the original UI response for which the flow was invoked; receiving end-user response; resuming said flow and using said response in subsequent flow commands and continuing the original user interaction session.
US08856657B2	User interface for managing network download and configuration tasks A user interface for management of network operations, particularly networked electronic gaming machines, the user interface including operation assignment interfaces, each assignment interface providing information about the respective operation, a calendar interface on which the assignment interfaces are provided, the calendar interface providing at least date and time information, and at least one graphical linking indicator that provides visual relational information of related operations.
US08856653B2	Video display apparatus, video display management apparatus, video display method and video display management method According to one embodiment, a video display apparatus includes a selection module, a Web information analysis module, a screen generation module, a transmission module, a reception module, and an alteration module. The selection module is configured to select a partial area of a Web page. The Web information analysis module is configured to analyze first Web information which specifies the partial area. The screen generation module is configured to generate a screen for displaying page information of the partial area, based on the first Web information. The transmission module is configured to transmit the first Web information to an external apparatus.
US08856648B2	Apparatuses and methods for rearranging menu items An electronic interaction apparatus is provided with a processing unit. The processing unit detects a drag event on a touch screen to indicate a first position to which a menu item is moved, and determines whether the first position corresponds to a page indicator other than a currently highlighted page indicator. If so, the processing unit further configures the touch screen to display a plurality of first menu items corresponding to the page indicator.
US08856645B2	Generating formatted documents based on collected data content Embodiments described herein include a document generator, which is implemented using a computing system with one or more computing devices, to generate a formatted document associated with a collection of data page units. The document generator or can include a collector, an organization unit, and a formatting unit. The collector facilitates collecting data page units in response to a user selection. The data page units are collected intact and in their original format and are associated with a first ordered sequence. The organization unit facilitates re-sequencing the data page units to associate the data page units with a second ordered sequence. The formatting unit facilitates outputting a formatted document incorporating the collected data page units in the second ordered sequence.
US08856644B1	System, method, and architecture for displaying a document Data defining a document is received from an online document processing service, and a plurality of elements within the document is identified. The plurality of elements may comprise paragraphs, lines of text, images, tables, headers, footers, footnotes, footnote reference information, etc. For each of the plurality of elements, a respective object comprising a layout function and a render function is generated. An object corresponding to an element is invoked to generate layout data associated with the element, and the element is rendered based on the layout data.
US08856639B1	Systems and methods for online document sign-up Systems and methods for managing documents are described. A system comprises one or more modules to present controls that reflect a hierarchy of documents available for online delivery, receive an indication of selected controls, and manage online document delivery (ODD) using the indication. A system for presenting a single-page ODD sign-up, comprises one or more modules to identify a user of an online system, determine a financial account associated with the user, and present a hierarchical control, including the financial account, in the single page to the user. A system comprises one or more modules to receive, from a support representative, a user's preference associated with ODD; receive, from an online interface, an indication that the user accepts an agreement associated with ODD; and manage ODD using the indicia reflecting the user's preference after the indication that the user agreed to the agreement has been received. Other embodiments are described.
US08856635B2	Loader and provider configuration for remotely provided services A system and method of accessing remote services through a network including generating a message within a local computer system using a process having a specified type and version. The message is associated with the specified type and version and transported to an remote service provider system. The remote service provider system parses the message to identify the type and version information, then passes the message to a particular process that corresponds to the process used to generate the message based upon the type and version information.
US08856631B2	Systems and methods for parallel retry processing during iterative data processing Systems, circuits, devices and/or methods related to systems and methods for data processing, and more particularly to systems and methods for priority based data processing.
US08856627B2	Performing a cyclic redundancy checksum operation responsive to a user-level instruction In one embodiment, the present invention includes a method for receiving incoming data in a processor and performing a checksum operation on the incoming data in the processor pursuant to a user-level instruction for the checksum operation. For example, a cyclic redundancy checksum may be computed in the processor itself responsive to the user-level instruction. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US08856618B2	Scalable repair block error correction for sequential multiple data blocks in a magnetic data storage device A technique for recovering of “squeezed” sectors in a set of sequential sectors such as are used in Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR) is described. Embodiments of the invention use a programmable erased sector recovery scheme, which is a concatenation of a “Cauchy-type” track erasure correction code, together with a media-error correction code that generates N-weighted parity-sectors per track and is capable of replacing up to N-erased sectors per track in any possible combination.
US08856617B2	Sending a zero information gain formatted encoded data slice A method begins by a dispersed storage (DS) processing module determining whether to send an encoded data slice of set of encoded data slices in accordance with a zero information gain (ZIG) format. When the encoded data slice is to be sent in accordance with the ZIG format, the method continues with the DS processing module selecting a partial encoding threshold number of encoded data slices of the set of encoded data slices, wherein the partial encoding threshold number of encoded data slices does not include the encoded data slice and generating a set of ZIG encoded data slices based on a ZIG function and the partial encoding threshold number of encoded data slices, wherein the set of ZIG encoded data slices represents recovery information of the encoded data slice. The method continues with the DS processing module outputting the set of ZIG encoded data slices.
US08856615B1	Data storage device tracking log-likelihood ratio for a decoder based on past performance A data storage device is disclosed comprising a non-volatile memory (NVM). First data is written to a first area of the NVM, and a first estimated data sequence is read from the first area of the NVM. The first estimated data sequence is first decoded, and a log-likelihood ratio (LLR) is first updated based on the first decode. Second data is written to a second area of the NVM, and a second estimated data sequence is read from the second area of the non-volatile memory. The second estimated data sequence is second decoded in response to the first updated LLR, and the LLR is second updated based on the second decode.
US08856609B2	Accelerated cyclical redundancy check Improved strategies for a Cyclical Redundancy Check (CRC) are disclosed. A CRC check of a codeblock may be initiated by a CRC decoder before receiving all of the bits by a corresponding FEC encoder. Furthermore, an incremental CRC check with respect to the data packet without the need for requesting passed through data from higher layers.
US08856605B2	Method for transmitting data to user equipments, communication system, base station and user equipment A method is provided for transmitting data to user equipments, a communication system, a base station and a mobile station. Data is transmitted to user equipments from a first base station (BBS) and from second base stations (CBS) in a time division multiplexed manner in frames (F). Each frame (F) has a first sub-frame and a second sub-frame. The user equipments are located in cells, each cell a second base station (CBS). Data is transmitted wirelessly, during a first sub-frame of a frame, data from the first base station (BBS) to user equipments in a plurality of cells. Data is transmitted wirelessly, during the second sub-frame of the frame (F), from second base station (CBS) to at least one the plurality of user equipments. The data being transmitted from the first base station (BBS) is also transmitted by the second base station (CBS) to at least one of the plurality of cells.
US08856602B2	Multi-core processor with internal voting-based built in self test (BIST) A method and circuit arrangement utilize scan logic disposed on a multi-core processor integrated circuit device or chip to perform internal voting-based built in self test (BIST) of the chip. Test patterns are generated internally on the chip and communicated to the scan chains within multiple processing cores on the chip. Test results output by the scan chains are compared with one another on the chip, and majority voting is used to identify outlier test results that are indicative of a faulty processing core. A bit position in a faulty test result may be used to identify a faulty latch in a scan chain and/or a faulty functional unit in the faulty processing core, and a faulty processing core and/or a faulty functional unit may be automatically disabled in response to the testing.
US08856591B2	System and method for data disaster recovery A system includes a production computer machine that includes an operating system and a driver stack. The driver stack includes a file system layer, a recovery driver, a storage layer, a driver layer, a bus driver layer, and a storage device. The system also includes a backup computer processor coupled to the production computer machine via the recovery driver. The recovery driver is configured to commence a recovery of data from the backup computer processor, receive a disk access request from the file system layer, determine if the disk access request accesses data that has not yet been recovered from the backup computer processor, and initiate an on-demand recovery request from the backup computer processor when the data has not been recovered from the backup computer processor.
US08856576B2	Energy capture of time-varying energy sources by varying computational workload A method and system for managing computational workload in a computerized system powered by an energy source. This invention relies first and foremost on adapting computational workload at the computerized system according to a time-varying property of the power supplied by the energy source, such that power generated at the source is optimized. A feedback mechanism is accordingly implemented which changes power available for computation, e.g., to track a more efficient energy generation efficiency point at the source.
US08856570B2	Energy efficiency ethernet with low power active idle transmission mode Energy efficient Ethernet with a low power active idle transmission mode. A low power active idle transmission mode is defined for the transmission of idle signals during inter-packet gaps. The low power active idle transmission mode can provide energy savings in those instances that preclude the use of a low power idle mode and/or subrating to produce greater energy savings.
US08856569B2	Microarchitecture controller for thin-film thermoelectric cooling A device having multiple cores executes an algorithm to control Thin-Film Thermoelectric Coolers (TFTEC) that employ the Peltier effect to remove heat from the various cores of the multi-core processor. The algorithms may combine Thread Migration (TM) and Dynamic Voltage/Frequency Scaling (DVFS) to provide Dynamic Thermal Management (DTM) and TFTEC control.
US08856562B2	Switched capacitor voltage regulator with high efficiency over a wide voltage range In some embodiments, a voltage regulator device may include a switched capacitor voltage regulator to receive an input voltage and to provide an output voltage to a load, and a control unit to receive information related to a desired output voltage for the switched capacitor voltage regulator and to determine a desired input voltage for the switched capacitor voltage regulator based on the desired output voltage and selected operation mode or modes of switched capacitor voltage regulator. Other embodiments are disclosed and claimed.
US08856561B2	Allocating and distributing power Example apparatus and methods to allocate and distribute power are disclosed. An example apparatus includes an availability calculator to determine first and second power allocations based on an available power. The example apparatus includes a distributer to supply a first power to a first device and to supply a second power to a second device. The example apparatus includes a power identifier provider to send an identifier of the second power allocation to the second device.
US08856560B2	Settings based on output powered by low power state power rail Example embodiments disclosed herein relate to determining a setting at a component. An output to be powered by a low power state power rail can output a value. The component is to be powered by an auxiliary power rail and determines the setting based on the value at auxiliary power good.
US08856559B2	Integrated circuit allowing to test a power management unit based on or more conditions and configuring the plurality of pins to operate in normal and test mode An integrated circuit is disclosed that contains both a PMU and another processing portion, such as a baseband. Because of the limited pins devoted to the PMU, the PMU receives most of its signals through the other processing portion of the integrated circuit. Thus, in order to protect the PMU, the integrated circuit isolates the PMU portion from receiving different signals from the other processing portion until after certain conditions are satisfied. In addition, the integrated circuit includes a GPIO pin bank in the other processing portion that can be freely configured so as to allow for testing of the PMU.
US08856557B2	Digital power balancing controller An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for providing power balancing for power supplies. A power module measures an amount of input power for each of a plurality of switching power supplies. A conversion module converts the measured amount of input power of each power supply to a digital power measurement signal. An averaging module determines an average amount of input power per power supply based on a summation of the digital power measurement signal of each power supply. A comparison module compares the digital power measurement signal of a power supply to the determined average amount of input power per power supply. An input power adjustment module adjusts the input power of the power supply to cause the amount of input power of the power supply to be substantially equal to the determined average amount of input power per power supply.
US08856550B2	System and method for pre-operating system encryption and decryption of data Systems and methods for reducing problems and disadvantages associated with traditional approaches to encryption and decryption of data are provided. An information handling system may include a processor, a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, an encryption accelerator communicatively coupled to the processor, and a computer-readable medium communicatively coupled to the processor. The encryption accelerator may be configured to encrypt or decrypt data in response to a command from the processor to perform an encryption or decryption task upon data associated with an input/output operation. The computer-readable medium may have instructions stored thereon, the instructions configured to, when executed by the processor: (i) monitor for input/output operations occurring prior to loading of an operating system into the memory; and (ii) in response to detection of an input/output operation, communicate a command to the encryption accelerator to perform an encryption or decryption task upon data associated with an input/output operation.
US08856543B2	User identification with biokinematic input Systems and methods for user identification based on biokinematic input are disclosed herein. The system may include a multi-touch sensitive display including a sensor configured to receive biokinematic input including data representing detected positions of digit touches made by digits of a user, in each of a series of successive time intervals during a defined identification gesture. The system may further include a user identification module executed by a processor of the computing device. The user identification module may be configured to receive the biokinematic input from the sensor, and to compare relative positions of the digit touches and/or relative rates of change in said positions of the digit touches to a stored user template of verified biokinematic data for the user. If a match is determined, an indication that the user has been successfully identified may be displayed.
US08856539B2	Universal secure registry A secure registry system and method for the use thereof are provided which permits secure access to a database containing selected data on a plurality of entities, at least portions of which database has restricted access. Mechanisms are provided for controlling access to restricted access portions of the database are provided, such access being determined by at least one of the identity of the requesting entity and the entity's status. A multicharacter public code may be provided which the system can map to provide permit delivery of items, complete telephone calls and perform other functions for entities. The system may also be utilized to locate an individual based on limited biological data. Organizations utilizing the system may have custom software facilitating their access and use of the system.
US08856506B2	Process for joining a computer to a directory based on either a newly created computer account or renewed computer account depending on a unique identifier associated with an end-user A user-friendly system, method, and program product for installing an image on a computer, the method comprising: booting the computer (400) from an image source; receiving first information from an end-user of the computer (400), wherein the first information is at least one unique identifier associated with the end-user; obtaining automatically second information associated with the end-user based on the first information; determining automatically if there is an existing record associated with the computer based on the second information; renewing automatically, if there is an existing record associated with the computer, a computer account in a directory service based on the existing record; creating automatically, if there is not an existing record associated with the computer, a new computer account in the directory service; installing automatically the image to the computer; and joining automatically the computer to directory service domain based on the newly created computer account or based on the renewed computer account.
US08856498B2	Prefetch request circuit A prefetch request circuit is provided in a processor device. The processor device has hierarchized storage areas and can prefetch data of address to be used between appropriate storage areas among the storage areas, when executing respective instruction flows obtained by multi-flow expansion for one instruction at a time of decoding of the instruction. The prefetch request circuit includes a latch unit to hold, when a state in which the respective instruction flows to access the storage area are executed with a maximum specifiable data transfer volume is specified, the state during a time period of the multi-flow expansion; and a prefetch request signal output unit to output a prefetch request signal to request the prefetch every time when the instruction flow is executed, based on an output signal of the latch unit and a signal indicating an execution timing of the respective instruction flows.
US08856496B2	Microprocessor that fuses load-alu-store and JCC macroinstructions A microprocessor receives first and second program-adjacent macroinstructions of the microprocessor instruction set architecture. The first macroinstruction loads an operand from a location in memory, performs an arithmetic/logic operation using the loaded operand to generate a result, and stores the result back to the memory location. The second macroinstruction jumps to a target address if condition codes satisfy a specified condition and otherwise executes the next sequential instruction. An instruction translator simultaneously translates the first and second program-adjacent macroinstructions into first, second, and third micro-operations for execution by execution units. The first micro-operation calculates the memory location address and loads the operand therefrom. The second micro-operation performs the arithmetic/logic operation using the loaded operand to generate the result, updates the condition codes based on the result, and jumps to the target address if the updated condition codes satisfy the condition. The third micro-operation stores the result to the memory location.
US08856492B2	Method for vector processing The present application relates to a method for processing data in a vector processor. The present application relates also to a vector processor for performing said method and a cellular communication device comprising said vector processor. The method for processing data in a vector processor comprises executing segmented operations on a segment of a vector for generating results, collecting the results of the segmented operations, and delivering the results in a result vector in such a way that subsequent operations remain processing in vector mode.
US08856489B2	Logical sector mapping in a flash storage array A system and method for efficiently performing user storage virtualization for data stored in a storage system including a plurality of solid-state storage devices. A data storage subsystem supports multiple mapping tables. Records within a mapping table are arranged in multiple levels. Each level stores pairs of a key value and a pointer value. The levels are sorted by time. New records are inserted in a created newest (youngest) level. No edits are performed in-place. All levels other than the youngest may be read only. The system may further include an overlay table which identifies those keys within the mapping table that are invalid.
US08856480B2	Mechanism for enabling full data bus utilization without increasing data granularity A memory is disclosed comprising a first memory portion, a second memory portion, and an interface, wherein the memory portions are electrically isolated from each other and the interface is capable of receiving a row command and a column command in the time it takes to cycle the memory once. By interleaving access requests (comprising row commands and column commands) to the different portions of the memory, and by properly timing these access requests, it is possible to achieve full data bus utilization in the memory without increasing data granularity.
US08856477B1	Networked raid in a virtualized cluster Technologies are described herein for providing networked RAID in a virtualized storage cluster. The storage capacity of a storage cluster having two or more storage nodes is organized into tiers. A portion of the available storage capacity is allocated to one tier that is organized using chained declustering. Another portion of the available storage capacity is allocated to another tier that is organized using a networked RAID configuration. The storage cluster monitors the frequency at which data in the storage cluster is accessed. Frequently used data that is stored in the network RAID-configured tier is promoted to the chained declustered-configured tier. Infrequently used data that is stored in the chained declustered-configured tier is demoted to the network RAID-configured tier.
US08856476B2	Systems, methods, and physical computer storage media to optimize data placement in multi-tiered storage systems For optimizing data placement in a multi-tiered storage system, system configuration data and system performance data is collected. A plurality of data movement plans are generated, based in part on the system configuration data and the system performance data. A conflict between the plurality of data movement plans are arbitrated to form an execution plan. The data movement plans are performed according to the execution plan.
US08856474B2	Nonvolatile memory unit with secure erasing function An apparatus includes a nonvolatile memory, an interface that at least receives an erase command of the nonvolatile memory, a first controller that controls the nonvolatile memory to execute data erasing on the basis of the erase command output from the interface, an external input unit which is installed independently of the interface, a second controller that controls the nonvolatile memory to execute data erasing on the basis of an erase instruction signal output from the external input unit, and a change-over circuit that switches between connection of the first controller with the nonvolatile memory and connection of the second controller with the nonvolatile memory, wherein the second controller controls the nonvolatile memory to execute data erasing on the basis of the erase instruction when the connection of the second controller with the nonvolatile memory is established by the change-over circuit.
US08856468B2	Memory device capable of improving write processing speed and memory control method According to one embodiment, a memory device includes a memory unit, a first storage unit, a second storage unit, a third storage unit, a data move unit, and a controller. The first storage unit stores a logical address and an intermediate address. The second storage unit stores the intermediate address and the physical address corresponding to the intermediate address. The third storage unit stores a flag corresponding to the logical address and the intermediate address. The flag represents whether read of latest data by a read operation has succeeded. When the flag stored in the third storage unit represents a success of the read of the latest data, the controller determines whether write has been done for the same logical address of the memory unit during the data move processing, and if the write has been done, invalidates the data move processing.
US08856464B2	Systems for two-dimensional main memory including memory modules with read-writeable non-volatile memory devices In one embodiment of the invention, a system is disclosed including a master memory controller and a plurality of memory modules coupled to the master memory controller. Each memory module includes a plurality of read-writeable non-volatile memory devices in a plurality of memory slices to form a two-dimensional array of memory. Each memory slice in each memory module includes a slave memory controller coupled to the master memory controller. When the master memory controller issues a memory module request, it is partitioned into a slice request for each memory slice.
US08856460B2	System and method for zero buffer copying in a middleware environment Systems and methods are provided for zero buffer copying, where such a system includes one or more high performance computing systems, each including one or more processors and a high performance memory. The system further includes a user space that includes a Java virtual machine (JVM) and one or more application server instances; and a plurality of byte buffers accesible to the JVM and the one or more application server instances. When a request is received by a first application server instance data associated with the request is stored in a heap space associated with the JVM, and the JVM pins the portion of the heap space where the data is stored. The data is pushed to a first byte buffer where it is accessed by the first application server instance. A response is generated by the first application server using the data, and sent by the first application server.
US08856454B2	Anticipatory response pre-caching Interaction between a client and a service in which the service responds to requests from the client. In addition to responding to specific client requests, the service also anticipates or speculates about what the client may request in the future. Rather than await the client request (that may or may not ultimately be made), the service provides the unrequested anticipatory data to the client in the same data stream as the response data that actual responds to the specific client requests. The client may then use the anticipatory data to fully or partially respond to future requests from the client, if the client does make the request anticipated by the service. Thus, in some cases, latency may be reduced when responding to requests in which anticipatory data has already been provided. The service may give priority to the actual requested data, and gives secondary priority to the anticipatory data.
US08856442B2	Method for volume management A computer-readable record medium which contains a volume management program is provided. The volume management program forms a plurality of storage devices into a plurality of layers of volume, and re-arranges a location of a layer where a data block is stored according to its access degree, thereby providing a volume management method having much lower power consumption of the storage devices.
US08856431B2	Mixed granularity higher-level redundancy for non-volatile memory Mixed-granularity higher-level redundancy for NVM provides improved higher-level redundancy operation with better error recovery and/or reduced redundancy information overhead. For example, pages of the NVM that are less reliable, such as relatively more prone to errors, are operated in higher-level redundancy modes having relatively more error protection, at a cost of relatively more redundancy information. Concurrently, blocks of the NVM that are more reliable are operated in higher-level redundancy modes having relatively less error protection, at a cost of relatively less redundancy information. Compared to techniques that operate the entirety of the NVM in the higher-level redundancy modes having relatively less error protection, techniques described herein provide better error recovery. Compared to techniques that operate the entirety of the NVM in the higher-level redundancy modes having relatively more error protection, the techniques described herein provide reduced redundancy information overhead.
US08856423B1	Dual-purpose nonvolatile memory for code and data storage A control module for controlling a solid-state disk (SSD) includes a first interface, a cache memory, and a second interface. The first interface interfaces a nonvolatile semiconductor memory (NVM) of the SSD to a processor that is located externally to the SSD. The cache memory selectively caches at least one of code and data from the NVM. The second interface interfaces the cache memory to the processor and outputs portions of at least one of code and data from the cache memory to the processor.
US08856411B2	Apparatus and method for remotely controlling peripheral devices in mobile communication terminal According to one embodiment, a method for remotely controlling peripheral devices in a mobile communication terminal includes acquiring a profile for a controlled peripheral device, configuring a control application for the controlled peripheral device based on the acquired profile, and controlling the controlled peripheral device using the configured control application.
US08856408B2	Reduced latency barrier transaction requests in interconnects Interconnect circuitry is configured to provide data routes via which at least one initiator device may access at least one recipient device, the circuitry including at least one input for receiving transaction requests; at least one output for outputting transaction requests; at least one path for transmitting the transaction requests between the input and the output. Control circuitry routes received transaction requests from the input to the output in response to a barrier transaction request. An ordering of at least some transaction requests is maintained with respect to the barrier transaction request within a stream of transaction requests passing along one of the at least one paths, by not allowing reordering of at least some of the transactions requests. The control circuitry includes a response signal generator, the response signal generator is responsive to receipt of the barrier transaction request to issue a response signal.
US08856407B2	USB redirection for write streams Methods and systems for conducting a transaction between a USB device and a virtual USB device driver are provided. A client USB manager stores in a buffer one or more data packets associated with the virtual USB device driver. The client USB manager dequeues one of the one or more data packets from the buffer. The client USB manager transmits the dequeued data packet to the USB device for processing. The client USB manager re-fills completed data packets from the buffer and queues the data packets for transmitting to the USB device without waiting for the virtual USB device driver.
US08856405B2	Connection apparatus, storage apparatus, and computer-readable recording medium having connection request transmission control program recorded therein A connection apparatus that connects a plurality of storage units and a controller that establishes connection with the respective storage units in response to a connection request issued from each of the plurality of storage units and accesses the storage units includes a processor; and a memory, wherein the processor transmits a connection request selected based on priority information that represents priority associated with the connection among a plurality of received connection requests to the controller, the priority information being stored in the memory, and changes priority information included in a connection request received from a certain storage unit among the plurality of storage units so that the priority information has higher priority than the priority information included in connection requests received from the other storage units for a period where a connection request is successively received from the certain storage unit and a predetermined condition is satisfied.
US08856403B2	Communication module, communication system and air conditioner First and third current paths are connected at mutual one end, and second and fourth current paths are connected at mutual one end. A transmitter sends signals utilizing the change of a current by changing the current flowing between other ends of the first and second current paths. A switching part brings about a non-conductive state between the other end of the third current path and the other end of the fourth current path by being applied with a control signal from a controller. By contrast with this, the switching part brings about a conductive state between the other end of the third current path and the other end of the fourth current path by not being applied the control signal.
US08856382B2	On-boarding services to a cloud environment A system in a cloud services environment comprises one or more service offerings, one or more service instances and one or more service support utilities. Each of the one or more service offerings is described by at least one service descriptor. Each of the one or more service instances is obtained from at least one of the one or more service offerings. Each of the one or more service support utilities is customized by at least one service descriptor. A service comprises at least one component and a service descriptor comprises one or more models.
US08856375B2	System and method for distributing media related to a location A system and method for distributing media related to a location. The physical location of a media presentation device is received over a network. The physical location of a plurality of end users are identified, via the network, wherein each of plurality of users is associated with a user device capable of storing media files. At least one of the end users is identified who is located in such proximity to the media presentation device that the user can perceive media that presented on the media presentation device. At least one media file that is currently being presented on the media presentation device is identified and transmitted over the network to each of the identified end users.
US08856367B2	Arrangement and method for interchanging time markers An arrangement and a method for interchanging time markers between a first and a second network, wherein the time markers each comprise data packets having a payload comprising a coded time information item. A device is configured to receive a first time marker, directly remove the coded time information item, insert the coded time information item into a new data packet from the second protocol, and to send this data packet as a second time marker using the second network. The arrangement and method allow closed control of the time information or the clock of the time accepter across a network boundary.
US08856361B2	Incrementally changing the availability of a feature Techniques are described to incrementally change the availability of a feature of a software service to clients over a network based on a configuration setting indicating the proportion of the clients that is eligible to receive the feature. In an implementation, a client rank is generated for a client on the network based on a client identification that identifies the client and a feature identification that identifies the feature. The feature may then be made available to the clients via the network if a comparison of the client rank with the configuration setting indicates that the client is eligible to access the feature.
US08856360B2	Automatically identifying dynamic internet protocol addresses Dynamic IP addresses may be automatically identified and their dynamics patterns may be analyzed. Multi-user IP address blocks are determined as candidates for further analysis. An entropy score is determined for each IP address in every candidate block to distinguish between a dynamic IP and a static IP shared by multiple users. IP addresses with high entropy scores are grouped, and then analyzed, and may be used in various applications, such as spam filtering.
US08856359B2	Caller-callee association of a plurality of networked devices The present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for establishing and maintaining communication between two or more communication devices coupled to communication networks. Some specific aspects relate to communication between a plurality of communication devices each of which is coupled to a respective network. Other aspects relate to establishing such communication by way of contact lists maintained and facilitated on systems coupled to the networks. Users of multiple communication networks, such as VoIP, PSTN and wireless, employ multiple communication devices to communicate with their contacts. For example, a VoIP enabled computer is necessary to access contacts on a VoIP network and a mobile or cellular telephone is used to access contacts on wireless and PSTN networks. A contact list, stored on one communication device, in some instances, cannot be accessed from another communication device. For example, a contact list stored in a VoIP enabled computer cannot be accessed from PSTN or wireless phone devices. Various embodiments described herein provide a convenient solution that can integrate contacts stored on different communication devices and make them accessible from a single device.
US08856358B2	System and method for adapting information content according to the capability of the access bearer A communication system is adapted to provide access to application information on an application server utilizing a specific one of multiple radio access types. Access is provided via an access network using an access bearer. The capability of the specifically requested access bearer is sent to the application server to tailor the application information content according to the capability of the specific access bearer. The information content is then transmitted to the requesting device.
US08856338B2	Efficiently relating adjacent management applications managing a shared infrastructure A linkage controller analyzes, for a first management application managing at least one common resource with a second management application adjacent to the first management application within a computing environment comprising multiple resources and relationships, a resource and relationship model known by the first management application of a selection of resources and relationships managed by the first management application from among the plurality of resources and relationships in the computing environment. The linkage controller identifies, for the first management application, only a minimal set of resources and relationships within the resource and relationship model providing at least one optimal linkage point between the first management application and the second management application as to the at least one common resource. The linkage controller outputs the minimal set of resources and relationships to the second management application for relating to the first management application.
US08856333B2	Datacenter execution templates Deployment and execution of a service in a multiple datacenter environment may be facilitated using datacenter execution templates. Developers, business managers, and other interested parties may select and/or modify a declarative execution template embodying multiple factors. The execution template may then be used to generate an execution plan, which is then executed by datacenters which run the service. The execution template may be optimized after deployment of the service, allowing for ongoing adjustment in response to changing business, regulatory, and operational factors.
US08856325B2	Network element failure detection A network element failure detector provides a fallback mechanism when external resources fail to load. For example, a “contingency” tag allows a consumer to load local resources when third party resources specified by a webpage developed by a service provider fail to load. Thus, the webpage developer can specify the functionality of a webpage when the referenced third party external resource fails to load. The consumer can also alert the service provider and/or the third party of the failure to load the referenced third party external resource.
US08856322B2	Supervisory portal systems and methods of operation of same A managed services platform and method of operation of same are described herein. The platform can include a device management service (DMS) server in which the DMS server can act as a gateway for communications with one or more computing devices, and the computing devices are associated with a first entity. The platform can also include an application service (AS) server in which the AS server is communicatively coupled with the DMS server. When a first computing device contacts the DMS server, the DMS server is operable to provide a bundle to the first computing device. As an example, the bundle contains content that at least includes one or more configuration messages and an application set that contains one or more predefined applications. The content of the bundle can be determined at least in part by the first entity.
US08856319B1	Event and state management in a scalable cloud computing environment A scalable cloud infrastructure serves two or more customers, where each customer is associated with at least one unit of virtual resources. The virtual resources are established by apportioning physical resources in the cloud infrastructure that are partitioned into pods within one or more zones in a scalable manner. Additionally, the cloud infrastructure establishes one or more management server clusters each comprising one or more management servers. The two or more customers create a number of virtual machines within pods in one or more zones. As customers interact primarily with the management server cluster to manage their virtual machine, a state and event handling method is devised to centralize the management of a potentially vast number of customer and supporting system virtual machines.
US08856318B2	Network system, data processing method, and computer readable storage medium on which is stored a computer program A delivery server association button of a Web screen 1103 for a monitoring center host computer is depressed to start a Web browser, opening a Web screen for a delivery server. A request from the Web screen for the delivery server and a retrieval request including retrieval conditions are transmitted to the monitoring center host computer. The monitoring center host computer retrieves an image forming apparatus according to the retrieval conditions and transmits the results of retrieval along with information for detecting the interpolation thereof from the monitoring center host computer to the delivery server via a PC with the delivery server as a redirection destination.
US08856317B2	Secure data transfer in a virtual environment In one embodiment, a method includes receiving at one of a plurality of servers, a request from a client for a secure communication session, storing context information associated with the secure communication session at a virtual context server in communication with the servers, and establishing the secure communication session between one of the servers and the client. The context information includes a session identifier, a secret, and a session state. The stored context information is available to the servers to allow the secure communication session to move between the servers. An apparatus for secure data transfer in a virtual environment is also disclosed.
US08856308B1	Cloud scale automatic identity management Embodiments are directed to towards cloud scale automatic identity management. A floating network may be established using agents operative on hosts across one or more networks. Each node of the floating network is resident on host (computer or cloud instance) that includes an agent configured to perform one or more networking tasks that establish the floating network. Parent nodes may be nodes designated as points in the floating network for adding additional nodes. Accordingly, each parent node includes at least one parent agent that includes at least parent credentials. Agent installers provided to a host may generate a child agent for the host that includes child credentials generated based on its parent credentials. An unambiguous identity value for the new child node may be determined by tracing a trust relationship path from the child node to the root node of the floating network.
US08856304B2	Accelerating UDP traffic Systems and methods are disclosed for the acceleration of UDP traffic. tive action may be taken. Dynamic TCP tunnels may be established as the traffic flows from a source to a destination device. As the present approach is dynamic, the operational complexities are drastically reduced/eliminated. High availability systems become much easier to implement with acceleration that is dynamic and adapts to the traffic flow.
US08856293B1	Methods and devices for NAS-level data protection based on NAS configuration images A network-attached storage (NAS) device comprises an operational state comprising first system settings; a network interface configured to couple to a network and a processor coupled to the network interface. The processor may be configured to identify a NAS configuration image stored on an externally accessible storage device, the NAS configuration image comprising second system settings created from an other NAS device on the network; determine that the NAS configuration image is compatible with the NAS device; receive a copy of the NAS configuration image; compare the second system settings with the first system settings to identify compatible system settings, and modify the first system settings based on the compatible system settings.
US08856291B2	Providing configurable workflow capabilities Techniques are described for providing clients with access to functionality for creating, configuring and executing defined workflows that manipulate source data in defined manners, such as under the control of a configurable workflow service that is available to multiple remote clients over one or more public networks. A defined workflow for a client may, for example, include multiple interconnected workflow components that are specified by the client and that each are configured to perform one or more types of data manipulation operations on a specified type of input data. The configurable workflow service may further execute the defined workflow at one or more times and in one or more manners, such as in some situations by provisioning multiple computing nodes provided by the configurable workflow service to each implement at least one of the workflow components for the defined workflow.
US08856270B2	Method and apparatus for simplified user access to multiple browser transports in a mobile communication device System and method are set forth for providing Web access to a user on a mobile communication device. A plurality of browser transports are associated with a single browser icon for display on the mobile communication device, and a predetermined one of the plurality of browser transports is selected for displaying information based on characteristics of the information being requested by the user.
US08856267B2	Network audio directory server and method A system and method of communicating audio through a network. The method includes detecting audio content from an audio source by a first network terminal, sending a directory packet including a network address of the detected audio content to a second network terminal, and requesting the audio content through the network by the second audio terminal. The further step of storing the detected audio content in a buffer for audio packets identified by packet identities may be added. The sending a directory packet step may include sending a packet identity, and the requesting step may include specifying an audio packet according to the packet identity. A further step of sending a source packet including the network address of the detected audio content to a network directory server by the first network terminal may be added. The network directory server may execute the sending a directory packet step.
US08856251B2	Picture processing method and apparatus for instant communication tool A method and an apparatus for processing a picture of an instant messenger are disclosed, which belong to the field of computers comprising: obtaining related information of an edit region, wherein the related information comprises at least a horizontal coordinate range and a vertical coordinate range; obtaining and recording position information of an initial cursor when a start notice is received, wherein the position information comprises at least coordinates; and obtaining position information of a current cursor in real time, generating a line segment according to the position information of the current cursor, the recorded position information and the related information, and updating the recorded position information into the position information of the current cursor. The apparatus comprises a first obtaining module, a second obtaining module and a generation module. The present disclosure can draw a line according to the movement path of the cursor.
US08856243B2	Method, device, and system for message distribution The disclosure relates to a message distribution method, device, and system. A message distribution method includes: creating a session based on a received first type of session message and allocating a corresponding cluster node to the session; and upon receiving a second type of session message associated with the session, distributing the second type of session message to the cluster node corresponding to the session. With the technical solution according to the embodiments of the invention, both the first type of session message and the second type of session message may be processed on the same cluster node, smooth and dynamic capacity expansion may be achieved for the cluster, the system performance may be enhanced, and system maintenance may be facilitated.
US08856242B2	Method and devices to seamlessly inject services in content flows A method for automating service invocation in message flows between a client (2100) and a server (2104), includes a step of generating a message (2300) including content by said client (2100), a step of transmitting said message by said client (2100) via a network (2103) to said server (2104), wherein said method further includes a step of intercepting said message (2300) by a message interception device (2105) in the network (2103), and a step of determination by said message interception device (2105) whether a service is needed for further execution on said content part of said message. In case a service is needed, said method includes a further step of selecting at least one service engine for further execution of at least one service on said content part of said message.
US08856229B2	System and method for social networking Methods, systems and computer program products are provided for social networking. In one method, a network builder receives a digital object from the user. The digital object contains information associated with the user. The network builder extracts the information associated with the user from the digital object. The network builder further access the strength of relationships between the user and a plurality of other users, each associated with one or more social networks. The relationships strength is extracted based at least in part on the extracted information. The network builder then adds the user to one or more social networks based on the information associated with the user and the strength of the relationships between the user and the plurality of other users.
US08856225B2	System and method of automatic entry creation for blogs, web pages or file-sharing sites based on game events Systems and methods are provided for at least partially automating content generation of blog entries chronicling an entity's interaction with a multiuser environment. The same may combine automatic data generation with user-generated and/or user-edited or created narrative. The systems and methods may be employed for automatically generating and publishing descriptions, such as posting blog articles. In one implementation, a system automatically posts blog articles with automatic screenshots and automatically-generated descriptive copy of events that occur within a video game, such as in a massive multiplayer online role-playing game.
US08856216B2	Method and apparatus for efficiently performing file services using cloud computing A method and apparatus for performing file services using cloud computing comprises receiving, from a client computer, at least one parameter of a file resident on the client computer and a task to be performed upon the file. In view of the task, creating a virtual file based on the at least one parameter of the file, and dividing the virtual file into a plurality of data chunks. The method identifies a byte range within the virtual file associated with the task and at least one corresponding data chunk from the plurality of data chunks that is within the byte range. The method requests the corresponding data chunk(s) from the client computer, receives the corresponding data chunk(s) from the client, processes the corresponding data chunk(s) in accordance with the task, and sends the processed corresponding data chunk(s) to the client computer.
US08856215B2	Detecting visible display of content A displayable object is accessed and one or more portions of the accessed displayable object are selected. A screenshot of a client system display is accessed and a determination is made that the accessed screenshot includes the one or more selected portions of the displayable object. In response to determining that the accessed screenshot includes the one or more selected portions, display information about the displayable object is determined. The determined display information is sent to a server system.
US08856209B2	Systems and methods for synchronization in a networked environment Described herein are systems and methods for synchronization in a networked environment. For example, some embodiments provide methods for synchronizing a client device having a client media time reference with a server device having a server media time reference. In some cases such methods are embodied in computer readable code that is executable on one or more processors. Furthermore, some embodiments provide hardware, such as networked media devices that are configured to perform such methods. In overview, in some embodiments a client obtains timing information from a server and, on the basis of this timing information, applies an adjustment to a client control time reference, thereby to synchronize the client media time reference with the server media time reference. Some embodiments are particularly directed to the situation where there is a desire to synchronize networked media devices across a combination of wired and wireless networks.
US08856200B2	Exponentiation calculation apparatus and exponentiation calculation method A exponentiation calculation apparatus includes a dividing unit which divides an input value as an element of a torus T2(Fq^r) (r is an odd prime, q is a power of a prime) into first and second elements (of Fq^r), a first calculating unit which calculates some multiplications on a base field based on the first and second elements, a second calculating unit which calculates, when the (q+1)th power of the input value as an element of Fq^2r is divided into third and fourth elements (of Fq^r), the third element based on a result of the multiplications, a third calculating unit which calculates the fourth element by Fq^r multiplication based on the first and second elements, and a coupling unit which couples the third element with the fourth element to obtain the (q+1)th power of the input value.
US08856194B2	Efficient garbage collection in virtualization environment A method and system for garbage collection in a virtualization environment. The virtualization environment includes a virtual machine hypervisor, at least one guest operating system, and at least one application program that runs on each guest operating system. The application program performs memory management using a garbage collection mechanism. The method includes, in response to an operating environment of the application program initiating garbage collection, the garbage collector requesting the guest operating system to assign a memory space and in response, the guest operating system assigns the memory space to the garbage collector. Then garbage collector marks live objects in an original memory space of the application program, and replicates the marked live objects to the assigned memory space. Finally, the garbage collector releases the original memory space of the application program to the guest operating system.
US08856192B2	Method and apparatus for updating composition database by using composition pattern of user, and digital photographing apparatus A method and apparatus update a composition database for storing information for setting a composition. The method includes extracting and displaying at least one composition stored in the composition database, counting a composition selected by a user from among the at least one composition, and updating the composition database according to the result of the count. According to the method, compositions selected by a user from among compositions displayed on a screen are counted, and the result of the count is reflected on the composition database. Accordingly, compositions are displayed in a user-centered manner and photographing convenience is increased, a digital photographing apparatus automatically learns compositions preferred by a user during photographing so as to automatically display the compositions preferred by the user, and a composition based on a pattern of the user is suggested instead of a composition according to a certain place or scene.
US08856190B2	Distributed computing system hierarchal structure manipulation A hierarchal structure manipulation system may include a nested table generation module to generate nested tables representing hierarchal relationships of computing systems in a distributed computing environment. A hierarchal structure manipulation module may access at least one nested table to manipulate a hierarchal structure represented by the nested table. The hierarchal structure manipulation module may use a generic algebraic specification to manipulate the hierarchal structure represented by the nested table. The generic algebraic specification may provide a generic abstraction across a plurality of the computing systems in the distributed computing environment.
US08856188B2	Electronic linkage of associated data within the electronic medical record The present invention provides a mechanism to define an association between different data elements from disparate sources of data and databases, and different database elements, and track that association over time. This mechanism track multiples related data elements throughout the continuum of an individual patient's medical record and identifies consistent data relationships across large patient populations.
US08856180B2	System and method for formatting multifunctional electronic books for electronic readers A platform agnostic digital publication format that supports rendered and resizable text, illustrations and graphics, “read to me” features and interactive functionality. The format takes advantage of the alternate renditions feature of the OCF of the EPUB® specification and includes both a ShockWave Flash (SWF) based rendition and a HyperText Markup Language (HTML), Java Script (JS), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) based implementation. In order to avoid duplicating large components (graphics, audio, etc.), files containing those components are not embedded in the SWF files, but are rather externally referenced by both the SWF and the HTML files. A strict and consistent folder structure and file-naming convention improves efficiency and reduces the potential for error.
US08856178B2	Committing events where transaction threads have read-only access to shared memory According to one embodiment, a computer system can execute a plurality of threads in parallel. Each thread can process an event in real-time and each event can pertain to a customer transaction. Read-only data can be accessed from a shared memory of an in-memory database. The read-only data can comprise information needed to rate the customer transaction to which the event pertains. Information regarding the processed event can be sent to a commit engine. The commit engine can be configured to update the shared memory according to the processed event, log the information regarding the processed event to a storage device, and store updates to the shared memory in a memory local to the thread.
US08856169B2	Multi-modality, multi-resource, information integration environment A multi-modality, multi-resource, information integration environment system is disclosed that comprises: (a) at least one computer readable medium capable of securely storing and archiving system data; (b) at least one computer system, or program thereon, designed to permit and facilitate web-based access of the at least one computer readable medium containing the secured and archived system data; (c) at least one computer system, or program thereon, designed to permit and facilitate resource scheduling or management; (d) at least one computer system, or program thereon, designed to monitor the overall resource usage of a core facility; and (e) at least one computer system, or program thereon, designed to track regulatory and operational qualifications.
US08856168B2	Contextual application recommendations The disclosure relates to methods and systems for generating application retention metrics. In one aspect, a method for generating a contextual application recommendation is disclosed. Contextual web location information including a remote developer identifier and/or a remote application identifier is received from a remote application. An application database including application records with a developer identifier and an application identifier is queried to determine if the contextual web location information corresponds to an application recommendation. The application database query includes comparing the remote developer identifier to the application database developer identifier to generate a first application recommendation, and/or comparing the remote application identifier to the application database application identifier to generate a second application recommendation. If a recommendation is found, the first and/or the second application recommendation is transmitted to a user of the remote application.
US08856166B2	Query validator According to some embodiments, a method and apparatus are provided to receive a syntax correct query, analyze the syntax correct query, and output a message associated with the syntax correct query.
US08856164B2	System and method for processing online reading interactions An online reading processing system and method for providing interactive messages to users at end computer devices are provided, which include storing online reading information in a data storage medium; setting the online reading information with a head mark and a tail mark of at least one expert-marked key range by a setting module; reading the information after being set and hiding the head mark and the tail mark thereof; receiving the key range marked by the user; determining whether the user-marked key range covers the head mark and the tail mark so as to form interactive messages according the determination, thereby solving the drawback of failing to provide appropriate feedback or assessment according to users' behaviors as encountered in the prior techniques, and also increasing online reading interaction and enjoyment.
US08856163B2	System and method for providing a user interface with search query broadening A system and method for providing a user interface with search query broadening is described. A query defining a search executable on potentially retrievable information is accepted. The query is parsed. A broadened query is provided. At least one of the broadened query and results of a search executed on the broadened query is presented.
US08856162B2	Cross language search options Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for cross-language image search. One method includes receiving an image search query and image search results responsive to the image search query. Translations of the image search query into other languages are obtained, and search results responsive to each of the translations are received. Instructions are provided to a client device. The instructions cause the client device to present a user interface that includes one or more of the image search results responsive to the image search query and a cross-language search option for each of the translations. Each cross-language search option includes the translation and a preview of the image search results responsive to the translation.
US08856151B2	Output field mapping of user defined functions in databases Systems and apparatuses are provided for analytical data processing. A system includes a processor and a non-transitory computer readable medium, comprising machine readable instructions executable by the processor. The instructions include a query compiler to identify a call to a user defined function and an output expression defining an output field for the user defined function within a query and generate an output table object for the user defined function. The generated output table object contains the defined output field. The instructions further include a processing engine to execute the user defined function and populate the output field in rows into the output table object with the output of the user defined function.
US08856146B2	Device for determining internet activity The invention concerns a method of determining, by an electronic processing device coupled to the internet, a score (Si) indicating the amount of internet activity associated with a subject, the method comprising: receiving one or more search terms relating to said subject, and initiating a search via the internet for items of digital content relating to said one or more search terms; identifying from results of said search a plurality of items of digital content; for each of said plurality of items of digital content, requesting, from at least one digital content sharing site (412, 414), activity data indicating at least the number of times said item of media content has been accessed; and calculating said score based on the activity data for each of said plurality of items of digital content.
US08856142B2	Systems and methods for graphical search interface Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a graphical user interface as a means of inputting search parameters to database search engines. In some embodiments, two or three dimensional projections spatially represent relationships between search parameters, located along the periphery of the projections and search hits whose significance are represented by position relative to the center of the projection and comparative distance from each of the search parameters. As the user manipulates the overall shape of the search projection, the weighting of search parameters adjusts, reconfiguring the search. The present disclosure also provides, in some embodiments, an intuitive means of assimilating search parameter weightings based on peer or social network preferences with global search results.
US08856138B1	Faster substring searching using hybrid range query data structures A system is disclosed for faster processing of range queries. The system includes at least one processor and a memory storing a hybrid range query data structure in the form of a binary tree. The structure includes a root node, non-leaf nodes, and leaf nodes. The root node is a bitmap that includes one bit for each value in a first set of values. The non-leaf nodes are also bitmaps. The leaf nodes eliminate a number of lower levels of the tree and include two or more second values that map to values in the first set of values. The system may include instructions that cause the system to receive a range of first values, use the range of first values to traverse the data structure to identify second values that map to the first values, and return the identified second values in sorted order.
US08856130B2	System, a method and a computer program product for performance assessment A system, a computerized method, and a computer program product for classification of items based on their attributes and on a classification scheme that is defined based on information pertaining to each item of a set of items, and which is indicative of: (a) a quantity of occurrences of the item in a sample; (b) a quantity of successful occurrences of the item in the sample; and (c) at least one attribute of the item with regard to at least one variable out of a set of variables.
US08856128B2	System and method to research documents in online libraries A method and system for storing and searching digital documents, such as digital catalogs, are described. The method in one embodiment comprises inputting digital documents, extracting content from the digital documents, and storing the extracted content in a database so that the content is searchable. The method can include generating a hierarchy of unique database and CMS objects from document covers and pages plus meta data. The method can further include receiving a search query from a user and, in response, identifying content extracted from one of the digital documents and stored in the database, which satisfies the query. The method can further include causing a result set to be output to the user, where the result set includes the identified content which satisfies the search query and an image of a particular page of the digital document from which the identified content was extracted.
US08856120B2	Method and apparatus for updating prototypes An apparatus and method for machine-updating of prototypes—for example, during design of digital objects, or content-management—has input means (15) for inputting descriptive classifiers (tags) that a user assigns to prototypes and a tag model generator (20) that uses machine learning techniques to produce a model of the association between the assigned tags and the values of quantifiable, non-subjective attributes of the tagged prototypes. In order to obtain a desired updating of a current prototype, the user issues a command which defines the desired variation of the current prototype by referring to one or more conditions that should be met by specified tags of the updated prototype. The prototype-updating apparatus/method has a prototype updater (30) that identifies a suitable updated prototype whose tags meet the condition(s) specified in the user's command and which, globally, is fairly similar to the pre-update prototype. The user can, thus, express instructions for prototype-updating using his own terminology.
US08856119B2	Holistic disambiguation for entity name spotting A method resolves ambiguous spotted entity names in a data corpus by determining an activation level value for each of a plurality of nodes corresponding to a single ambiguous entity name. The activation levels for each of the nodes may be modified by inputting outside domain knowledge corresponding to the nodes to increase the activation value of the nodes, spotting entity names corresponding to the nodes to increase the activation value of the nodes, searching the data corpus to spot newly posted entity names to increase the activation value of the nodes, and searching the data corpus to reduce or deactivate the activation value of the nodes by eliminating false positives. The ambiguous entity name is assigned to the node determined to have the highest activation level and is then outputted to a user.
US08856115B1	Framework for suggesting search terms Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for presenting local query suggestions. In general, one aspect of the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in methods that include the actions of determining a general location and a specific location for a client device. Methods also include while receiving a query stem, and before receiving an input submitting a query to the search engine, obtaining general queries containing the query stem, each general query having a first quality measure. Methods also include obtaining local queries containing the query stem, each local query having a second quality measure. Methods also include combining at least one of the general queries and at least one of the local queries into combined queries, the combined queries having a presentation order based on the respective quality measures of the queries. Methods also include presenting the queries.
US08856114B2	Ranking results of multiple intent queries Techniques and systems are disclosed providing improved ranking of results to an online search-based query. One or more user types are identified for a search-based query, and may correspond to a number of user relevant results, and which user results are selected. A user profile can be determined for the respective user types for the search-based query, which may identify a proportion of the users that belong to that type, and how many results are relevant to that type. A set of relevant results can be identified for the respective user types for the search-based query, based on a number of results used by the user type. An improved ranking of the results can be determined for the search-based query, from the one or more sets of relevant results, based on user profiles and a desired user satisfaction metric for a desired number of users.
US08856108B2	Combining results of image retrieval processes A MMR system for newspaper publishing comprises a plurality of mobile devices, an MMR gateway, an MMR matching unit and an MMR publisher. The MMR matching unit receives an image query from the MMR gateway and sends it to one or more of the recognition units to identify a result including a document, the page and the location on the page. The MMR matching unit also includes a result combiner coupled to each of the recognition units to receive recognition results. The result combiner produces a list of most likely results and associated confidence scores. This list of results is sent by the result combiner back to the MMR gateway for presentation on the mobile device. The result combiner uses the quality predictor as an input in deciding which results are best.
US08856105B2	Dynamic data navigation The disclosure provides a method and system for dynamic data navigation. The method may include receiving a data set request, dynamically identifying metadata for items in the data set, creating groupings of items in the data set based on the identified metadata, and displaying the groupings. The system may include a display, a user input; and a data navigation program.
US08856092B2	Systems and methods for managing databases Systems and methods for managing databases are disclosed. One system includes a processor-addressable physical memory and a processor in communication with the processor-addressable physical memory and configured to execute an environment and to allocate an environment memory to the environment. In such a system, the environment is configured to maintain a database of objects in a database memory within the environment memory. An application executes in an application memory within the environment memory, and upon instantiation of a database object, the application environment allocates memory in the database for the database object, the database providing master storage for the database object. Upon an instruction to obtain the database object from said application, the environment provides to the application a reference to the database object; and upon an access operation on the database object by the application, provides to the application direct access to data of said database object.
US08856091B2	Method and apparatus for sequencing transactions globally in distributed database cluster A system and method for receiving and tracking a plurality of transactions and distributing the transactions to at least two replication queues over a network. The system and method comprise a global queue for storing a number of the received transactions in a first predetermined order. The system and method also comprise a sequencer coupled to the global queue for creating a copy of each of the transactions for each of said at least two replication queues and for distributing in a second predetermined order each said copy to each of said at least two replication queues respectively, said copy containing one or more of the received transactions.
US08856090B1	Client-based computation of checksums for product information A client device is configured to generate checksums for attributes of product records to be transmitted to a marketplace operator system that provides an e-commerce marketplace. On subsequent transmissions of the product records, the client device can utilize the checksums to determine if the attributes of the product records have been modified since a previous transmission. If the attributes have not been modified, the client device does not re-transmit the unchanged attributes to the e-commerce marketplace. The client device may also be configured to retrieve a checksum configuration file from the marketplace operator system that includes data defining the manner in which the client device should compute the checksums.
US08856084B2	Data processing method and device The invention concerns a method of processing data to provide output data based on a group of data samples having a time stamp falling within at least one rolling time period, the method comprising: receiving a new data sample and associating said new data sample with a first time stamp; updating said output data corresponding to a first rolling time period to be based on said group of data samples including said new data sample; programming a first callback based on said first time stamp and on the duration of said first rolling time period; and in response to the occurrence of said first callback, updating said output data corresponding to said first rolling time period to no longer be based on said new data sample.
US08856073B2	Data synchronization among file storages using stub files A method switches file server from old file server to new file server which are coupled via a backend network and provides data synchronization. The old file server and new file server are coupled with one or more host computers via a frontend network to direct input/output (I/O) requests from the one or more host computers. The method comprises creating stub files in the new file server, the stub files including stub information indicating location of data in the old file server; switching I/O requests directed to old file server to I/O requests directed to the new file server; checking whether the new file server has any stub files; and, if the new file server has one or more stub files, recalling data corresponding to the one or more stub files from the old file server according to the stub information to replace the one or more stub files.
US08856060B2	Creating stream processing flows from sets of rules Techniques for creating a distributed application flow from a set of rules are provided. The techniques include creating a control-flow graph for each rule, creating one or more dependency links between two or more rules, partitioning a resulting graph, wherein the resulting graph comprises one or more control-flow graphs and one or more dependency links, into one or more operators by determining an optimal set of one or more cuts through the resulting graph such that a cost function is minimized, and generating stream processing flow code from the partitioned graph.
US08856042B2	Method, apparatus and program for performing personal authentication and inputting operation instruction on the basis of biometric information including posture information A method includes obtaining an image to be compared at the time of use which is intended for comparing biometric information at the time of use of a user, obtaining posture information at the time of use which indicates a posture when biometric information at the time of use of the user is shot, performing personal authentication for the user by comparing the image to be compared at the time of use with a preregistered image to be compared at the time of registration of the user, and inputting an operation instruction corresponding to operation information preregistered in association with posture information at the time of registration which is determined to match, by comparing the posture information at the time of use with a plurality of pieces of preregistered posture information at the time of registration of the user.
US08856038B2	System and method for location based content correlation A method and a system to correlate location and content. For example, data is received from a client device that includes current geographical position data identifying a geographical position of the client device. A vendor having a geographical location within a specified distance of the geographical position of the client device is identified. An offer from the vendor within the distance of the client device is returned to the client device.
US08856033B2	Mobile barcode scanner gun system with mobile tablet device having a mobile POS and enterprise resource planning application for customer checkout/order fulfillment and real time in store inventory management for retail establishment A mobile scanner gun system efficiently and reliably processes a retail store purchase and/or performs daily store inventory management functions. The system has a main body portion extending toward a handle portion, the main body portion having a base, side walls, a front wall and a back wall constructed to form an interior cavity, wherein the front wall includes an aperture with a lens recessed therein. The front wall has a trigger member located near the base of the main body. A USB MSR input device integrated on the short edge of the mobile tablet device (upper receiver) is used for processing payment card sales transactions through a secured PCI compliant, end to end encrypted bank card processor. The mobile tablet device has a system integrated therein that enables real-time store level inventory management and fully functioning POS capability for selling merchandise in a retail sales environment.
US08856032B2	Adjustment of a security level of a self-checkout system based on shopper assistant intervention Methods and systems for adjusting a security level of a self-checkout system based on shopper assistant intervention are disclosed. According to an aspect, a method includes deducing that shopper assistant intervention occurs in a self-checkout environment based on detection of one or more events in a self-checkout system. The events may occur at shopper terminals of the self-checkout system and may require attention of a shopper assistant monitoring the shopper terminals. The method also includes adjusting a security level of the self-checkout system in response to deducing that shopper assistant intervention occurs. Further, the method may include implementing a predetermined action in response to adjusting the security level of the self-checkout system.
US08856030B2	Method, system and software for associating attributes within digital media presentations Disclosed are a system, method and software to associate attributes with digital media assets. Digital media contains specific assets, such as images, that can be replaced with other assets. The system, method and software permit the association of attributes with specific assets. The association of attributes and assets enables the provision of content that is enhanced and more impacting for a user.
US08856029B1	Systems and methods for regulating the receipt of data transmitted from a messaging device A computer-implemented method for regulating the receipt of data transmitted from a messaging device is described. A security application that includes a blocking application is initialized. At least one setting for the blocking application is initialized. Incoming data transmitted from the messaging device are detected. At least a portion of the incoming data is blocked based on the initialized at least one setting for the blocking application.
US08856021B2	Scoring of crowd-computing inputs Method, system, and computer program product are provided for scoring of crowd-computing inputs. A group of data is provided to crowd-computing participants and the participants are requested to provide candidate members or the group of data. The computer-implemented method performed includes: receiving an input by a participant, wherein the input is a candidate member; counting multiple inputs of the same candidate member by participants; validating a candidate member; rewarding the participants inputting the candidate member, with a higher reward for participants who input the candidate member earlier than other participants; and supplying the rewards to participants once the candidate member has been validated.
US08856016B1	Methods and systems for providing life insurance Life insurance methods, systems and products are provided that incorporate a fixed account, a separate account, and under specified circumstances a death benefit. One embodiment of a method for providing life insurance policy includes: providing a fixed account for receiving a portion of premiums allocated to the fixed account and providing a separate account for receiving a portion of premiums allocated to the separate account. The separate account allows a policy owner to manage investments in a plurality of investment options. If the policy meets a safety test, the method guarantees the death benefit without withdrawing more than a specified percentage of specified charges from the separate account to fund the guaranteed death benefit.
US08856013B1	Delivering ordered items to an appropriate address A method, system, and computer-readable medium for automatically determining appropriate delivery information for one or more items of an order or potential order is described. A variety of types of information can be considered when determining what delivery information is appropriate for one or more items, such as a type of the items, the particular items, relationships of the items to other items, information about the purchaser, and/or information about the recipient. In addition, the automatic determination of an appropriate address for an item being ordered or potentially ordered by a user can be made in a variety of ways, such as based on inferences from past behavior when ordering items, on inferences from information about the item and from available delivery information for the user, and/or on previous explicit indications from the user.
US08856011B2	Excitation signal bandwidth extension An apparatus for generating a high band extension of a low band excitation signal (eLB) defined by parameters representing a CELP encoded audio signal includes the following elements: upsamplers (20) configured to upsample a low band fixed codebook vector (uFCB) and a low band adaptive codebook vector (uACB) to a predetermined sampling frequency. A frequency shift estimator (22) configured to determine a modulation frequency (Ω) from an estimated measure representing a fundamental frequency (F0) of the audio signal. A modulator (24) configured to modulate the upsampled low band adaptive codebook vector (uACB↑) with the determined modulation frequency to form a frequency shifted adaptive codebook vector. A compression factor estimator (28) configured to estimate a compression factor. A compressor (34) configured to attenuate the frequency shifted adaptive codebook vector and the upsampled fixed codebook vector (uFCB↑.) based on the estimated compression factor. A combiner (40) configured to form a high-pass filtered sum of the attenuated frequency shifted adaptive codebook vector and the attenuated up-sampled fixed codebook vector.
US08856010B2	Apparatus and method for dialogue generation in response to received text A dialog generation apparatus includes a reception unit configured to receive a first text from a dialog partner, an information storage unit configured to store profile information specific to a person who can be the dialog partner and a fixed-pattern text associated with the person, a presentation unit configured to present the first text to a user, a speech recognition unit configured to perform speech recognition on speech the user has uttered about the first text presented to the user, and generate a speech recognition result showing the content of the speech, a generation unit configured to generate a second text from the profile information about the dialog partner, fixed-pattern text about the dialog partner, and the speech recognition result, and a transmission unit configured to transmit the second text to the dialog partner.
US08856007B1	Use text to speech techniques to improve understanding when announcing search results Disclosed are apparatus and methods for generating synthesized utterances related to output of commands. A command is received at a computing device. A textual output for the command is determined using the computing device. A spoken output of the computing device is generated that utilizes a plurality of vocal characteristic sets. At least a portion of the spoken output corresponds to the textual output. At least a first part of the spoken output utilizes vocal characteristics of a first vocal characteristic set. At least a second part of the spoken output utilizes vocal characteristics of a second vocal characteristic set, where at least some of the vocal characteristics of the first vocal characteristic set differ from the vocal characteristics of the second vocal characteristic set.
US08855996B1	Communication network enabled system and method for translating a plurality of information send over a communication network Disclosed communication network enabled system and method for connecting pluralities of users for translating information sent over a communication network comprising a mobile application installed in a portable mobile communication device for receiving the information from the users. A first time user can specify input language and the desired translated output language into the mobile application. The translation request notification information is routed and sent to top tier users selected from a ranked list by a server as a push notification. The first one to respond is connected to the user. The translator can set the frequency of translation requests and can charge for each translation. After the translation is completed the user can rate the translator which will help the translator to get new requests. Too many bad reports about the translation of a user will get that user blocked.
US08855987B2	Method for optimization with gradient information A method of improving a geologic model of a subsurface region. One or more sets of parameter values are selected. Each parameter represents a geologic property. A cost and a gradient of the cost are obtained for each set. A geometric approximation of a parameter space defined by one or more formations is constructed. A response surface model is generated expressing the cost and gradient associated with each formation. When a finishing condition is not satisfied, at least one additional set is selected based at least in part on the response surface model associated with previously selected sets. Parts of the method are repeated using successively selected additional sets to update the approximation and the response surface model until the finishing condition is satisfied. Sets having a predetermined level of cost to a geologic model of the subsurface region and/or their associated predicted outcomes are outputted to update the geologic model.
US08855972B2	Manufacture of heat trace cable, design, installation, and management, and method thereof The manufacture and installation of heat trace systems, particularly cables, are controlled from comprehensive controls in the design and management of the heat trace systems.
US08855969B2	Frequency guard band validation of processors Whether validation of at least one of a plurality of previously validated processors on a first system produced data usable for computing a validation start frequency of an unvalidated processor on a second system is determined. If validation of at least one of the plurality of previously validated processors on the first system produced data usable for validating the unvalidated processor, a validation start frequency associated with the unvalidated processor can be computed based, at least in part, on system parametric data associated with a subset of the plurality of previously validated processors that were validated on the first system. Otherwise, the validation start frequency associated with the unvalidated processor is computed based, at least in part, on tester parametric data associated with the unvalidated processor. Validation of the guard band frequency for the unvalidated processor is initiated at the validation start frequency.
US08855968B1	Analytical evaluation tool for continuous process plants A method for evaluating the operation of a continuous process plant uses operational data. The operational data includes data points representing the quantity of a substance processed by the continuous process plant during a plurality of time periods. The quantity of substance processed during these time periods is compared to a goal value. A reliability score is calculated. A banked opportunity score is calculated. An equivalent lost stream days score is calculated. The average quantity processed during periods that equaled or exceeded the goal is calculated. The average quantity processed during periods that were below the goal is calculated. The components of the equipment or machinery of the continuous process plant are classified and correlated to the quantity of lost opportunity. The scores are reported. The scores are also compared to historical data.
US08855951B2	Power distribution circuit diagnostic system and method A diagnostic system for a power distribution circuit including a line, neutral and ground may include a switch configured to electrically connect the line and neutral, a first sensor configured to sense a line to neutral electrical parameter, and a second sensor configured to sense a neutral to ground electrical parameter. The system may also include a processor configured to close the switch, to observe at least some of the sensed electrical parameters before and after the switch is closed, and to identify a fault condition in the line or neutral based on the observed electrical parameters.
US08855949B2	Plasma processing device and method of monitoring discharge state in plasma processing device An object is to provide a plasma processing device capable of properly monitoring a state of plasma discharge and detecting a precursor to abnormal discharge, and a method of monitoring the state of discharge in the plasma processing device. In analysis processing for monitoring executed by detecting, by a signal analyzing portion 30, a signal of a potential change induced in a discharge detection sensor 23 in response to a change in plasma discharge of the inside of a processing chamber and recorded in a signal recorder 20, based on a counter value N3 obtained by detecting a signal of abnormal discharge (first arc discharge) generated between an electrode portion and an object to be processed by a first detector 33 and a counter value N4 obtained by detecting a signal of micro-arc discharge (second arc discharge) generated by deposition of a foreign substance in the processing chamber by a second detector 35, an abnormal discharge determining portion 39 calculates a difference (N3−N4) and compares the difference (N3−N4) with a threshold value a2 for determination and determines whether there is a possibility of generation of abnormal discharge in the processing chamber.
US08855945B2	Feedforward control of the volume flow in a hydraulic system A thermal sub-system for a fuel cell system that employs an algorithm using feed-forward control. The algorithm calculates a Reynolds number based on the velocity of the cooling fluid, a diameter of a coolant loop pipe and a kinematic viscosity (temperature) of a cooling fluid. The algorithm also uses a pressure loss number based on the Reynolds number and a position of a by-pass valve. The algorithm also defines a pressure loss value based on the pressure loss number, the density of the cooling fluid and the velocity of the cooling fluid. The algorithm then calculates a delivery head value based on the pressure loss value, the fluid density and a gravitational acceleration. The algorithm then uses the delivery head value and a predetermined set-point value of the volume flow to determine a desired pump speed based on the current operating parameters of the system.
US08855937B2	Crop characteristic estimation A system for estimating a crop characteristic comprises a database, a plant growth model correlator, and a crop characteristic estimator. The database includes plant growth models for a plurality of fields. The plant growth model correlator is communicatively coupled with the database. The plant growth model correlator is configured for determining at least one harvested field with a first plant growth model which correlates with a second plant growth model for at least a portion of an unharvested field. The crop characteristic estimator is configured for estimating a crop characteristic for the unharvested field based on actual crop characteristic data obtained from the at least one harvested field.
US08855936B2	Production of stable proteins The disclosure provides methods for designing and producing mutants that stabilize a protein. The folding energy of the protein and various mutants can be determined based on an equation comprising intrinsic pKa, of the amino acids, the pH, charge of the amino acids, distances between the amino acids, an optimized dielectric constant for self-energy (∈′p) or an optimized dielectric constant for charge-charge interaction (∈′eff) and compared. A more negative folding energy of the mutant indicates a more stable protein. When a stable mutant is identified, it can be produced with technologies such as cloning and expression.
US08855932B1	Method and apparatus for measuring surface air pressure The present invention is directed to an apparatus and method for remotely measuring surface air pressure. In one embodiment, the method of the present invention utilizes the steps of transmitting a signal having multiple frequencies into the atmosphere, measuring the transmitted/reflected signal to determine the relative received power level of each frequency and then determining the surface air pressure based upon the attenuation of the transmitted frequencies.
US08855918B2	Methods of assisting a user with selecting a route after a personal navigation device transitions from driving mode to walking mode A method of assisting a user of a personal navigation device with automatically selecting a route after the personal navigation device transitions from driving mode to walking mode includes detecting a mode transition in the personal navigation device from driving mode to walking mode, recording a vehicle location where the mode transition from driving mode to walking mode occurs, receiving a request from the user to create navigation instructions to a destination location, determining a distance from the current location to the destination location, and guiding the user back to the vehicle location by providing walking instructions with the personal navigation device when the distance from the current location to the destination location is greater than or equal to a threshold distance and then guiding the user to the destination location by providing driving instructions with the personal navigation device.
US08855915B2	Navigation system, navigation apparatus, method and server A navigation system comprises a detection part for detecting a location and a speed of a navigation apparatus, a voice message weight storage part for storing voice message weight association information, which associates a weight with each of multiple voice messages, a rule storage part for storing priority rule information denoting a rule for deciding a priority for each of multiple voice messages, a priority decision part for deciding a priority for each of the multiple voice messages based on the priority rule information, and a voice output part for outputting from the navigation apparatus multiple voice messages in a sequence conforming to the decided priority. The rule denoted by the priority rule information is a rule for deciding the priority for each voice message based on the detected location and speed of the navigation apparatus, and the weight of each voice message denoted by the voice-weight association information.
US08855905B1	Real-time traffic condition measurement using network transmission data Improved capabilities are described for identifying a first location, at time one, of a plurality of automobiles using cell phone tower triangulation to locate a cell phone within each of the plurality of automobiles, identifying a second location, at time two, for each of the plurality of automobiles using cell phone tower triangulation to locate the cell phone within each of the plurality of automobiles, calculating a vehicle speed for each of the plurality of automobiles using the first and second locations already identified, and creating a traffic condition measure for a route in proximity to the first and second locations. The computer program product may repeat this process in real-time to calculate a real-time traffic condition measure that may be a traffic density measure the computer program product may use to predict a travel time.
US08855900B2	System and method for self-optimizing traffic flow using shared vehicle information A system and method for self-optimizing traffic flow using shared vehicle information that utilizes multiple controllers in dynamic communication to optimize the flow of traffic. The system and method utilizes one or more traffic synchronization controllers (TSCs) (receivers) that receive information from one or more vehicle based transmitters called vehicle information agents (VIAs) and/or a network of traffic control devices (TCDs) associated with the traffic synchronization controllers to determine a variety of information related to traffic within a geographic region, including volume, speed, destination, intended route of the vehicle, as well as other vehicle related information, in order to determine the optimal flow of traffic within the region. The system and method then transmits traffic control signals to the various traffic control devices within the region or adjacent regions in order to optimally control the flow of traffic. The system and method may also share information amongst traffic synchronization controllers within the network in order to optimize the flow of traffic over a larger region.
US08855893B2	Valve timing control apparatus A valve timing control apparatus includes a housing that is rotatable with a crankshaft; a vane rotor that is rotatable with a camshaft; and a phase controller to compulsorily change a rotation phase of the vane rotor alternately between an advance side and a retard side with respect to the housing if an engine shifts to a high rotation state after the engine continuously has a low rotation state for a predetermined period or more. The engine in the low rotation state has a rotation speed lower than a predetermined rotation speed. The engine in the high rotation state has a rotation speed equal to or higher than the predetermined rotation speed.
US08855891B2	Control device for internal combustion engine A control device for an internal combustion engine includes: a variable valve timing mechanism that changes a valve timing; and a control unit that controls a change of the valve timing. The control unit sets an engine stop request-time target valve timing that is a target valve timing at the time when a request for an engine stop is issued, starts control for changing the valve timing coincides with the engine stop request-time target valve timing and causes the internal combustion engine to operate at an idle at the time when the request for the engine stop is issued, starts a process of stopping operation of internal combustion engine at the time when the valve timing has reached a predetermined valve timing.
US08855887B2	Coasting control device A coasting control device capable of avoiding coasting control during turning is provided. A turning recognition unit that recognizes that a vehicle is turning and a unit for prohibiting coasting control during turning that prohibits coasting control when the turning recognition unit recognizes that the vehicle is turning are provided.
US08855868B2	Integrated vehicular system for low speed collision avoidance A method of providing range measurements for use with a vehicle, the method comprising the steps of: a) visually sensing (2) the area adjacent the vehicle to produce visual sense data (22); b) range sensing (26) objects around the vehicle to produce range sense data; c) combining the visual sense data and the range sense data to produce, with respect to the vehicle, an estimate of ranges to the objects around the vehicle (28). The estimate of ranges to the objects around the vehicle may be displayed (29) to a driver.
US08855866B2	Rear end advanced collision technology A method of controlling stability of a vehicle comprises monitoring vehicle information with an electronic control unit. The electronic control unit determines if a rear collision from a second vehicle approaching from a rear direction is likely. A first response signal is sent to at least one vehicle system from the electronic control unit prior to the rear collision. The at least one vehicle system changes state based upon the first response signal to prepare the vehicle for the rear collision.
US08855865B2	Collision determination device, collision determination method, and occupant protection device A collision determination device for determining a collision occurrence against a door part of a vehicle has: a door acceleration detector that detects an acceleration generated on the door part of the vehicle and a direction of the acceleration; and a collision determination part that determines that a collision has occurred against the door part from the outside, when the direction of the acceleration detected by the door acceleration detector is a closing direction of the door part, and determines that no collision has occurred against the door part from the outside, when the direction of the acceleration detected by the door acceleration detector is an opening direction of the door part.
US08855856B2	Vehicle roll control method using controllable friction force of MR dampers A system for providing vehicle roll control that controls the friction-force of dampers provided at the wheels of the vehicle. The system includes a lateral acceleration sensor for determining the lateral acceleration of the vehicle, a steering angle sensor for determining the steering angle of the vehicle and a speed sensor for determining the speed of the vehicle. The system calculates a current control signal for one or more of the dampers based on the lateral acceleration and/or the steering angle, and uses one or both of the current control signals to control the friction-force of the inside, outside or both of the dampers.
US08855850B2	Parking assistant and parking assisting method A parking assistant includes: shooting part shooting surroundings; parking target position setter setting parking target position in surroundings image by shooting part; rearward movement starting position calculator calculating rearward movement starting position based on: target position by position setter, and vehicle's movable area, rearward movement starting position denoting position stopping vehicle and starting rearward movement of vehicle, to park vehicle in target position; movement calculator sensing movement direction and movement amount of vehicle; and image generator superposing an information image on surroundings image based on movement direction and amount which are sensed with movement calculator. Information image denotes rearward movement starting position for allowing vehicle to be parked in target position. According to vehicle's movement, image generator generates, with different displays, following sub-positions of rearward movement starting position: first sub-position allowing vehicle to move to target position, and second sub-position failing to allow vehicle to be parked in target position.
US08855848B2	Radar, lidar and camera enhanced methods for vehicle dynamics estimation A system for estimation vehicle dynamics, including vehicle position and velocity, using a stationary object. The system includes an object sensor that provides object signals of the stationary object. The system also includes in-vehicle sensors that provide signals representative of vehicle motion. The system also includes an association processor that receives the object signals, and provides object tracking through multiple frames of data. The system also includes a longitudinal state estimation processor that receives the object signals and the sensor signals, and provides a correction of the vehicle speed in a forward direction. The system also includes a lateral state estimation processor that receives the object signals and the sensor signals, and provides a correction of the vehicle speed in the lateral direction.
US08855842B2	Vehicular charging facility guidance device, vehicular charging facility guidance method, and computer program A vehicular charging facility guidance device is provided. The guidance device includes a route setting unit that sets a route from a departure point of a vehicle to a destination, a map display unit that displays a map on a display device, and a route display unit that displays the route set by the route setting unit to be overlapped with the map displayed on the display device. The guidance device also includes a frame display unit that displays a frame to be overlapped with the route on the display device and a frame movement unit that moves a reference position of the frame displayed by the frame display unit along the route. The guidance devise further includes a charging facility guidance unit that provides information on a charging facility located within an area delimited by the frame on the map.
US08855836B2	Methods and systems for implementing software-selectable multipurpose aircraft pins An avionics system configurable through software to support more than one pin-out design. An exemplary system includes configuration pins that receive one or more signals from an external source, one or more subcircuits, one or more multipurpose input/output pins, a controller that determines a configuration mode based on one or more received signals, and a selection circuit that connects one of the subcircuits with one or more of the multipurpose input/output pins, based on the determined configuration mode.
US08855827B2	System and method of controlling operation of a liquid diffusion appliance A method of controlling operation of a diffusion appliance to treat the atmosphere within an enclosed space. The method may include programming the operation of the appliance according to a control scheme specifying a flow rate of liquid to a diffusion means and a periodic operation of the diffusion means. Control schemes may be associated with different volumes of spaces to be treated by the appliance, the rate of decay of the liquid within the space to be treated and the level of concentration of the liquid desired within the space.
US08855823B2	Robot controller, simple installation-type robot, and method of controlling simple installation-type robot A robot includes an angular velocity sensor that detects the vibration of a robot. A control device allows the robot to perform a trial operation and acquires the measurement result measured by the angular velocity sensor during the trial operation as vibration information and analyzes the acquired vibration information based on maker evaluating information that is stored in a database. In the maker evaluating information, vibration information and the operating speed appropriate to the installation situation of the robot at which the vibration information is measured are associated with each other. Then, the robot is operated at an operating speed selected based on the analysis result of the vibration information.
US08855822B2	Robotic surgical system with mechanomyography feedback A robotic surgical system for performing a surgical procedure within the body of a subject includes an elongate surgical instrument, a robotic controller configured to control the motion of the distal end portion of the surgical instrument, and a mechanomyography feedback system in communication with the robotic controller. The mechanomyography feedback system includes a mechanical sensor configured to monitor a physical motion of a muscle and to provide a mechanomyography signal corresponding to the monitored physical motion. Additionally, the feedback system includes a processor configured to receive the mechanomyography signal, to determine if the received signal is indicative of an induced muscle response, and to provide a control signal to the robotic controller if an induced muscle response is detected.
US08855811B1	Pharmacy workflow management system including plural counters A pharmacy workflow management system including plural counters and a pharmacy workflow management method. In embodiments, the system includes a housing, a first automatic object counter and a cassette dispenser which feeds objects from a cassette mounted thereto to the first object counter. A second object counter counts objects fed from a cassette mounted to the cassette dispenser. A data processing platform within the housing is programmed with instructions that enable the system to compare the counts from the first and second object counters. The data processing platform also provides for management of pharmacy workflow by providing improved control of prescription fulfillment.
US08855810B2	Apparatus and method for transferring gloves The present invention relates to an apparatus for transferring a glove (100) from a conveyor (200) characterized by: a camera (10); a pick-up assembly (20) comprising a pair of inner grippers (21) and two pairs of outer grippers (22); a pair of sensors (30); a robotic arm (40) mounted with the pick-up assembly (20); a processor. The present invention also relates to a method for transferring a glove (100) from a conveyor (200), characterized by the steps of: locating a cuff (101) of the glove (100) on the conveyor (200) by capturing an image on the conveyor with a camera (10) and analyzing the image with a processor; using a robotic arm (40) to move a pick-up assembly (20) to the located cuff (101); gripping the cuff (101) with a pair of inner grippers (21) of the pick-up assembly (20) and lifting the glove (100) by retracting the pair of inner grippers (21); detecting the glove (100) position by using a pair of sensors (30); opening the glove (100) by grabbing and sliding apart the two pairs of outer grippers (22); shifting the glove (100) towards a workstation (300) by using the robotic arm (40); transferring the glove (100) to the workstation (300) by engaging the glove (100) to the workstation (300).
US08855801B2	Automated integration of feedback from field failure to order configurator for dynamic optimization of manufacturing test processes The present invention addresses the deficiencies of the art in respect to the manufacturing test processes and provides a novel and non-obvious method, system and apparatus for dynamic optimization of manufacturing test coverage with automated integration of field failure feedback with the order configurator. In one embodiment of the invention, a manufacturing field failure feedback method can be provided. The method can include retrieving field failure data, analyzing the field failure data, storing failure analysis object information, modifying a manufacturing test case selection within the test case selection and order configurator based on using field failure data analysis, the test case selection including rules for test case selection and test case object information, and configuring a testing order with an optimized test case selection.
US08855798B2	User interface to media files A user interface generator is configured to access a media file that stores acoustic data representative of sounds. The user interface generator determines a mood category of the media file, based on a mood vector calculated from the acoustic data. The mood category characterizes the media file as being evocative of a mood described by the mood category. The user interface generator generates a user interface that depicts a grid or map (e.g., a “mood grid” or a “mood map”) of multiple zones. One of the zones may occupy a position in the grid or map that corresponds to the mood category. The user interface may then be presented by the user interface generator (e.g., to a user). In the presented user interface, the zone that corresponds to the mood category may be operable (e.g., by the user) to perform one or more actions pertinent to the mood category.
US08855797B2	Managing playback of synchronized content A computing device may provide a control interface that enables the user to manage the synchronized output of companion content (e.g., textual content and corresponding audio content). For example, the computing device may display a visual cue to identify a current location in textual content corresponding to a current output position of companion audio content. As the audio content is presented, the visual cue may be advanced to maintain synchronization between the output position within the audio content and a corresponding position in the textual content. The user may control the synchronized output by dragging her finger across the textual content displayed on the touch screen. Accordingly, the control interface may provide a highlight or other visual indication of the distance between the advancing position in the textual content and the location of a pointer to the textual content indicated by the current position of the user's finger.
US08855785B1	Circuits for minimizing heating of an implanted lead and/or providing EMI protection in a high power electromagnetic field environment An energy management system that facilitates the transfer of high frequency energy induced on an implanted lead or a leadwire includes an energy dissipating surface associated with the implanted lead or the leadwire and at least one non-linear circuit element switch for diverting energy in the implanted lead or the leadwire to the energy dissipating surface. In alternate configurations, the switch may be disposed so that it electrically opens the implanted lead or the leadwire when diverting energy to the energy dissipating surface. The non-linear circuit element switch is typically a PIN diode.
US08855781B2	Remotely programmable personal device and system and method for remote programming of a personal device A remotely programmable personal device, in particular a programmable implantable medical device, e.g., a cardiac pacemaker, a defibrillator, a cardioverter or the like. A system for remote programming of such a personal medical device and a method for remote programming of a programmable personal device.
US08855778B2	Electrical stimulation of the sympathetic nerve chain The present invention provides a method of affecting physiological disorders by stimulating a specific location along the sympathetic nerve chain. Preferably, the present invention provides a method of affecting a variety of physiological disorders or pathological conditions by placing an electrode adjacent to or in communication with at least one ganglion along the sympathetic nerve chain and stimulating the at least one ganglion until the physiological disorder or pathological condition has been affected.
US08855769B2	Connector assemblies for implantable stimulators Exemplary systems include a stimulator configured to be implanted within a patient, the stimulator having a body defined by at least one side surface disposed in between distal and proximal end surfaces, and a connector assembly configured to be coupled to the stimulator and extend parallel to the at least one side surface of the stimulator. The connector assembly is further configured to facilitate removable coupling of a lead having one or more electrodes disposed thereon to the stimulator.
US08855764B2	System and method for detecting atrial activity signal using a monobody lead in a single chamber implantable cardioverter/defibrillator A single-chamber implantable device for detecting a patient's atrial activity using a monobody lead is disclosed. The monobody lead (10) includes a ventricular coil (16), a supraventricular coil (18), a distal electrode (14) forming three electrodes for detecting depolarization signals. A generator (12) of the implantable device collects a first unipolar signal (20) between the ventricular coil and the generator housing and a second unipolar signal (22) between the supraventricular coil and the generator housing. An independent component analysis is performed to the detected depolarization signals to determine an estimated atrial activity signal from the first and second unipolar signals.
US08855753B2	Apparatus and method for measuring a biological signal Provided is a method and apparatuses for measuring a biological signal, in which a biological signal of an examinee is detected via at least one interface that touches skin of the examinee, and a dummy signal is detected via a dummy interface Noise that is generated by a fluctuation in the electrical characteristics of the at least one interface is removed from the biological signal using the biological signal and the dummy signal.
US08855752B2	QRS onset and offset detection with adaptive temporal windowing A heart monitor computes ST segment deviation as the difference in the value of an electrocardiogram signal at the ST and PQ points of a heartbeat. The ST point is found based on slope criteria and temporal criteria. The maximum (positive) slope of the QRS (maxQRS) is located. Within a preset window after the maxQRS point, the processor searches for a sample at which the second finite difference is less than a threshold that is a function of average QRS amplitude. If such a qualifying sample is found, the processor examines its location relative to the location of an adaptive window that is centered on a sample that is an adaptively determined distance from the peak of the R wave. If the qualifying point is within the adaptive window, it is chosen as the ST point. If the qualifying point is after the adaptive window, the ST point is set at the end of the adaptive window. Finally, if the qualifying point is before the adaptive window, the ST point is selected at the beginning of the adaptive window. The adaptive window is then updated according to an exponential average filter based upon the distance between the ST point and the R wave peak.
US08855738B2	Acoustically induced blood stasis and in vivo optical spectroscopy Ultrasound-induced blood stasis has been observed for more than thirty years. Most of the literature has been focused on the health risks associated with this phenomenon and methods employed to prevent stasis from occurring during ultrasound imaging. To date, experimental observations have been either in vitro or invasive. The current work demonstrates ultrasound-induced blood stasis in murine tumor and nontumor tissue, observed through noninvasive measurements of optical spectroscopy, and discusses possible diagnostic uses for this previously undesirable effect of ultrasound.
US08855734B2	Medical sensor and technique for using the same In an embodiment, a sensor may be adapted to provide information related to its position on a patient's tissue. The sensor may include tissue contact sensors which may relay a signal related to the proper placement of the sensor relative to the tissue of a patient. Such a sensor may be useful for providing information to a clinician regarding the location of the sensor in relation to the skin of a patient in order to provide improved measurements.
US08855721B2	Wireless communication device, impedance adjustment method, casing position detection method and information display method A wireless communication device (100) includes a first casing (10) and a second casing (20), and is switched between at least a first state and a second state by displacement of the first casing (10) and the second casing (20). The first casing (10) includes a first conductor (15) and a conductor element (36a) connected thereto. The second casing (20) includes a second conductor (25), and is connected to the first casing (10) so as to be rotationally displaceable with respect to each other around a perpendicular axis. In a first state, an opposite region (241) in the second conductor (25) and the conductor element (36a) are located at positions opposite to each other, and the conductor element (36a) and the second conductor (25) allow electrical conduction to each other at a predetermined frequency. In a second state, the electrical conduction state is different from that in the first state.
US08855717B2	Radio base station and radio network controller A radio base station eNB according to the present invention is provided with: a generation unit 12 configured to generate “eNB DIRECT INFORMATION TRANSFER (a message for information transfer)” including an information element “Inter-system Information Transfer Type” to which either one of a first information element “RIM Transfer” including first radio information requested in GERAN and a first forwarding address destined for the GERAN, or a second information element “SON information transfer for E-UTRAN-UTRAN” including second radio information requested in UTRAN and a second forwarding address destined for the UTRAN can be set.
US08855714B2	Removable media player for mobile phones A digital media device for providing digital media services to a mobile phone is disclosed. In exemplary embodiments, the device includes: a phone memory card that is reversibly deployable to a port of the mobile phone; and a digital media-player application residing on the phone memory card, wherein the combination of the digital media device and the mobile phone is operative to effect a playback of a media file, using the digital media-player application and using at least one of: an operating system; user controls; a visual display system, and an audio system. Optionally, the device further includes: a digital rights-management engine residing on the phone memory card for providing digital rights-management services for at least one media file. Optionally, the device further includes: a media-download engine operative to effect a download of at least one media file into the non-volatile memory.
US08855712B2	Mobile phone using dedicated and programmable processors for pipelined image processing, and method thereof Cell phones and other portable devices are equipped with a variety of technologies by which existing functionality is improved, and new functionality is provided. Some aspects relate to imaging architectures, in which a cell phone's image sensor is one in a chain of stages that successively act on instructions/data, to capture and later process imagery. Other aspects relate to distribution of processing tasks between the device and remote resources (“the cloud”). Elemental image processing, such as filtering and edge detection—and even some simpler template matching operations—may be performed on the cell phone. Other operations are referred out to remote service providers. The remote service providers can be identified using techniques such as a reverse auction, through which they compete for processing tasks. Other aspects of the disclosed technologies relate to visual search capabilities, and determining appropriate actions responsive to different image inputs. Still others concern metadata generation, processing, and representation. A great number of other features and arrangements are also detailed.
US08855702B2	Communication system for inter-cell coordination System and methods for intercell coordination are provided. The system includes a macro terminal and a macro base station that allocate a radio resource for a sounding signal and determine a pattern of a sounding signal, in advance. The macro base station provides a femto base station included in the system with information about the pattern of the sounding signal, and the information about the radio resource of the sounding signal. The femto base station may receive the sounding signal from the macro terminal based on the information, and thus, the femto base station may determine whether the macro terminal exists and may determine a channel between the macro terminal and the femto base station.
US08855701B2	Dynamic transmission power control method The present invention discloses a dynamic transmission power control method for a transmitter of a communication system which comprises the transmitter and a plurality of receivers. The transmitter is coupled to the plurality of receivers via a plurality of corresponding outgoing links. The transmission power control method comprising collecting a plurality of suggested transmission power back-off levels for the plurality of outgoing links to the plurality of receivers and/or and a plurality of channel characteristics corresponding to the plurality of outgoing links from the plurality of receivers; and determining an allowable transmission power back-off level for a desirable receiver among the plurality of receivers according to the plurality of suggested transmission power back-off levels and the plurality of channel characteristics.
US08855698B2	Method and apparatus for dynamically adding participants into an existing talk group In one embodiment, a method includes initiating a dynamic group call, detecting a call alert, and identifying a user system responsible for the call alert. The dynamic group call includes at least one original participant, and is initiated such that an ability to automatically add at least one new participant to the dynamic group call is enabled. Identifying the user system includes obtaining an indicator from the call alert. The indicator is associated with the user system. Finally, the method includes automatically adding the user system to the dynamic group call.
US08855686B1	Method and system of paging a mobile station A method and system of paging a mobile station. In response to receiving a request to set up a communication with a mobile station, a radio network controller (RNC) may identify a last-known location of the mobile station. The RNC may then identify two or more paging areas based on the mobile station's last-known location. In turn, the RNC may determine an indication of traffic for each of the identified paging areas. For example, the RNC may determine an indication of traffic for a paging area by (a) determining a number of communication requests received by BTSs located in the paging area within a given time period, (b) determining a number of BTSs located in the paging area, and (c) dividing the number of communication requests by the number of BTSs. Thereafter, the RNC may page the mobile station in the identified paging area having the highest indication of traffic.
US08855685B2	Positioning with wireless local area networks and WLAN-aided global positioning systems Accurate position capability can be quickly provided using a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN). When associated with a WLAN, a wireless device can quickly determine its relative and/or coordinate position based on information provided by an access point in the WLAN. Before a wireless device disassociates with the access point, the WLAN can periodically provide time, location, and decoded GPS data to the wireless device. In this manner, the wireless device can significantly reduce the time to acquire the necessary GPS satellite data (i.e. on the order of seconds instead of minutes) to determine its coordinate position.
US08855683B1	Providing information to a mobile device based on an event at a geographical location A system, method, and computer readable medium for providing information to a mobile device based on an event comprising detecting an occurrence of the event, determining if the event is a specific event and if the event occurred at or near a geographical location and sending an alert of the event to at least one mobile device if the event is the specific event, if the event occurs at or near the geographical location, and if the at least one mobile device is located at or near the geographical location.
US08855681B1	Using multiple applications to provide location information Methods, systems, and apparatuses for providing location information to a location server by a plurality of applications are described. The plurality of applications of a computing device determines location information associated with the computing device, such as by querying location hardware of the computing device. The applications cause transmission of the location information to a location service via a communication network. The location service utilizes the location information in various ways to target communications to users associated with the computing devices.
US08855676B2	Method and apparatus for providing satellite assistance data Disclosed is a method for providing satellite assistance data to facilitate determination of the location of a mobile station, particularly for instance a mobile station served by a femtocell. When a positioning server receives a request for the location of a mobile station, the positioning server will determine from the request the mobile station is served by a femtocell and that the positioning server should query a femtocell server for seed data, or the positioning server may otherwise determine from the request that the positioning server should query the femtocell server for seed data. The seed data would preferably be geographic coordinates of a femtocell with which the mobile station is registered. The positioning server may then use that seed data to facilitate obtaining satellite assistance data from a base station almanac, and the positioning serve may provide the satellite assistance data to the mobile station to facilitate location determination.
US08855675B2	Mobile phone network management systems A system and methods for maintaining or optimising a mobile phone network by spatially correlating geolocated radio access network (RAN) performance measurement data and geolocated subscriber account data, which in embodiments provides additional technical information on the RAN performance. These data are integrated in a spatial data structure and provided with a spatial querying and data correlation system for identifying, and addressing problem areas of the RAN.
US08855671B1	System and method for determining position Systems and methods for determining a position of a mobile device including a magnetic signal source deployed at a predetermined location. The magnetic signal source is adapted to transmit a low frequency modulated magnetic signal. The position and orientation of the mobile device relative to the predetermined location of the magnetic signal source is determined based on the signal bearing and the signal strength.
US08855661B1	Adaptive power control with an overall power control command Methods and computer-readable media are provided to determine which sector the mobile device will bias during soft handoff. Signals are received from multiple sectors, and for a first quantity of time slots of a frame, the signals are inspected to determine whether a quality threshold is met. Based on whether the quality threshold is met, each sector is assigned a power control command indicating that either a decrease or increase of output power is recommended when a subsequent signal is sent to the mobile device. For a second quantity of time slots, the overall power control command sent to the sectors corresponds to the power control command assigned to the sector that has communicated the highest quality signals for the first quantity of time slots of the frame.
US08855660B2	Mobile communications system, wireless communication apparatus, mobile communications apparatus, and wireless communication method In a wireless communication apparatus, a first generation unit generates first broadcast information used in processing of a first-type mobile station and a second-type mobile station. A second generation unit generates second broadcast information used in processing of the second-type mobile station. A transmission unit transmits the first broadcast information through a first broadcast channel and transmits the second broadcast information through a second broadcast channel. In a mobile communications apparatus operating as the second-type mobile station, a reception unit receives the first broadcast information transmitted through the first broadcast channel and the second broadcast information transmitted through the second broadcast channel. A control unit controls communication with the wireless communication apparatus using the first and second broadcast information.
US08855656B2	Power consumption reduction within a telecommunication network operating with different radio access technologies A method provides radio access within a specific area of a telecommunication network. The specific area is served by first base station(s) assigned to a first RAT and by second base station(s) assigned to a second RAT. Compared to the second RAT the first RAT is a legacy RAT. The method includes (a) determining the amount of radio data traffic within the specific area, (b) comparing the determined amount with a first radio data traffic capacity, and (c) if the first radio data traffic capacity is larger than the determined amount, transferring the second base station(s) into a predefined operational state, in which the second base station(s) has a reduced electric power consumption, and serving the specific area exclusively by the first base station(s). A first base station and a second base station are adapted to carry out the method.
US08855643B2	Method for improving handover success rate of group mobile terminals, mobile proxy, and mobile terminal A method for improving a handover success rate of a group of mobile terminals include obtaining a minimum backoff time value according to obtained access parameters, receiving a message from a mobile terminal after entering a new cell, and sending the message to a base station if the message is a handover request message. If the message is not a handover request message, the method includes sending the received message to the base station upon expiry of a predetermine time after the message is received. The predetermined time is greater than or equal to the minimum backoff time value, and the minimum backoff time value is a minimum time value of the predetermined time when the received message from the mobile terminal is not the handover request message.
US08855636B2	Methods and apparatus for system selection in a multimode wireless device Devices and methods are provided for system selection from a plurality of wireless system access technologies, such as a first group (e.g., 3GPP2 technologies) and a second group (e.g., 3GPP technologies). In one embodiment, the method may involve storing identification information pertaining to the first group in a database, wherein the database may concern the priority of ones of the access technologies pertaining to the second group. The method may also involve selecting a preferred access technology from one of the first and second groups based at least in part on the identification information stored in the database.
US08855627B2	System and method for enhanced diagnostics on mobile communication devices A system and method may comprise providing to a device user in response to one of a user request for troubleshooting assistance and a mobile telecommunications user device monitoring software conclusion that a problem exists, a diagnostic application specific to the mobile telecommunication user device of the device user; receiving from the device user an indication of a problem with the mobile telecommunication user device experienced by the device user; selecting an application update; providing to the device user the application update updating an application running on the mobile telecommunication user device; and determining whether the problem has been solved. If determining indicates that the problem has not been solved the method may further include deleting the application and further determining whether the problem has been solved, and if so forwarding problem solution data to a knowledge database.
US08855615B2	Short messaging service for extending customer service delivery channels A computer implemented method, a computer program product, and a data processing system use short messaging service for extending customer service deliver channels. A message utilizing a short messaging service protocol is received from a sender. Responsive to receiving the message utilizing the short messaging service protocol, the message is parsed into a voice extensible markup language document. A virtual service request is then created from the voice extensible markup language document. Responsive to creating the virtual service request from the voice extensible markup language document, a service is requested from a message recipient, facilitated by using the virtual service request. A non-textual response is then provided to the message sender.
US08855614B2	Retrieving contact information from multiple devices A first device may be connected to a synchronization device to allow utilization of the first device through an interface of the synchronization device. The connection may be utilized to obtain contact information from the first device by the synchronization device. If it is determined that the contact information retrieved from the first device does not include desired contact information, the desired contact information may be retrieved from a second device. The contact information obtained from the second device may be utilized to initiate communication via the first device through an interface of the synchronization device.
US08855613B2	Monitoring mobile phone communications The specification describes systems, and operation thereof, allowing parents or other parties to monitor mobile device activities of a child. In addition, parent can dynamically control mobile device activities of the child. Software, or network adjuncts, can link a mobile device to a station set or mobile phone under the control of the parent. Calling traffic to and from the mobile device may be routed to a receiver at a location monitored by the parent. In some embodiments, software allows the parent to intervene in the communications of the child. The intervention may take a variety of forms, such as interrupting a call in progress, terminating call activity, interrupting or terminating Internet access. Where the mobile device is provided with pre-programmed restraining software, the intervention may be modifying the restraining software.
US08855598B2	Methods, systems, and products for sharing usage plans Shared usage plans are popular with families, friends, and small businesses. These shared usage plans share some cumulative utilization of resources, such as communications services. Even though multiple devices may share a monthly allotment of resources, an individual threshold is established for each device. The multiple individual thresholds may then be dynamically regulated to maintain the monthly allotment of resources.
US08855595B1	Emergency radio In one embodiment, an emergency radio includes a processor in data communication with a radio receiver, electronic memory, an input device, an output device, and electronic instructions. The electronic instructions, when executed by the processor, perform steps for: (a) automatically obtaining a SAME code and at least one initial frequency setting for a given location; (b) sampling each of the at least one initial frequency settings using the radio receiver and disregarding any initial frequency setting that fails to meet predetermined criteria, whereby any remaining initial frequency setting is a potential frequency setting; (c) identifying a selected frequency setting from all of the potential frequency settings; (d) storing the SAME code and the selected frequency setting in the electronic memory; and (e) causing all alert data associated with the SAME code and the selected frequency setting to be output.
US08855572B2	Method and apparatus for link control in wireless communications Methods and Systems are disclosed for use in a communication system 200 to selectively delay transmitting a second negative acknowledgement (NAK) after an initial NAK has already been sent requesting retransmission of a corrupted packet. The receiving entity 210 initiates a NAK prohibit timer 641 associated with a specific NAK 631 which prevents status reports to transmitting entity 220 from including a retransmission of the specific NAK until the timer expires. Use of the NAK prohibit timer 641 reduces the likelihood of spurious retransmissions from the transmitting entity 220 caused by a second NAK from the receiving entity 210 when the retransmission process has already been initiated.
US08855565B2	Terminal device and application control method A mobile telephone (1) includes a link establishment detection module (18) that detects establishment of a link with Bluetooth headphones (2), an application setting check module (17) that checks whether an application (12) to be started is set to inhibit playback through the Bluetooth headphones (2), a link termination control module (19) that terminates a link with the Bluetooth headphones (2) when establishment of the link with the Bluetooth headphones (2) is detected and setting to inhibit playback through the Bluetooth headphones (2) for the application (12) to be started is recognized, and a speaker control module (20) that switches output of the speaker (16) to mute when a link is terminated by the link termination control module (19).
US08855549B2	Mobile station association procedures with type II relays A relay node including one or more components configured to measure a signal strength of sounding reference signals (SRS) received from a mobile station, and in response to the signal strength being above a predetermined threshold, to transmit a first request to an access node. The first request is for the access node to associate the mobile station with the relay node.
US08855542B2	Fuser, image forming apparatus, and image forming method Certain embodiments provide a fuser including a cylindrical fixing belt, a heating member, an auxiliary heat generating member, a plurality of heat pipes, a pressurizing pad, and a pressurizing roller. The heating member heats the fixing belt. The auxiliary heat generating member auxiliary heats the fixing belt. The plural heat pipes are sparsely arranged in the center in the longitudinal direction of the auxiliary heat generating member and more densely arranged at the ends in the longitudinal direction of the auxiliary heat generating member than in the center. The pressurizing pad is arranged on the inside of the fixing belt. The pressurizing roller is arranged in contact with the outer circumference of the fixing belt. The pressurizing roller presses the fixing belt against the pressurizing pad.
US08855541B2	Heating device and image forming apparatus A heating device includes a magnetic-field generating unit that generates an alternating-current magnetic field, an endless belt, and a heat transfer unit that includes a heat storage layer, a thermosensitive layer, and a diffusion layer. The thermosensitive layer extends so as to separate the magnetic-field generating unit and the heat storage layer from each other, and forms a magnetic path that allows a magnetic flux of the alternating-current magnetic field to pass therethrough in a direction in which the thermosensitive layer extends at a temperature below a Curie temperature and a magnetic path that allows the magnetic flux to extend therethrough and reach the heat storage layer at a temperature higher than or equal to the Curie temperature. The diffusion layer has a higher thermal conductivity than thermal conductivities of the thermosensitive layer and the heat storage layer, and diffusing heat of the belt.
US08855533B2	Power transmission apparatus and image forming apparatus having the same A power transmission apparatus and an image forming apparatus are provided. The power transmission apparatus of transmitting driving power to first and second movable members includes a driving unit which receives the driving power from a driving power source, and which rotates in forward and backward directions, a first driven unit which transmits the driving power to the first movable member, an elastic clutch which is provided between the driving unit and the first driven unit to selectively allow the driving power from the driving unit to be conveyed to the first driven unit based on the direction of the driving power, and a second driven unit to convey the driving power to the second movable member regardless of the direction of the driving power so as to allow the second movable member to rotate bi-directionally. The first movable member may be, e.g., a photosensitive body. The second movable member may be, e.g., exit rollers for ejecting processed printing medium out of the image forming apparatus.
US08855531B2	Image forming apparatus with removable cartridge supporting member An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material includes a cartridge supporting member carrying a first cartridge and a second cartridge. The cartridge supporting member includes a first guide portion for guiding mounting and demounting of the first cartridge relative to a first mounting portion, and a second guide portion for guiding mounting and demounting of the second cartridge relative to a second mounting portion. When the second cartridge is dismounted from the second mounting portion, the second cartridge moves in a downstream direction with respect to a drawing direction, and wherein a distance of movement, in the downstream direction, of the second cartridge along the second guide portion from the second mounting portion until the second cartridge is dismounted is greater than a distance of movement, in the downstream direction, of the first cartridge along the first guide portion from the first mounting portion until the first cartridge is dismounted.
US08855528B2	Developer transporting mechanism, developing device with the same, and image forming apparatus A developer transporting mechanism includes a pipe-like transporting path, sealing member, shutter, and urging member. The pipe-like transporting path, through which a developer is transported, has an discharge port at part of its side surface. The shutter is slidable along the surface of the sealing member to open and close the discharge port. The urging member urges the shutter in a direction in which the discharge port is closed. The sealing member is secured to the outer circumferential surface of the pipe-like transporting path. The sealing member also has a reduced part; its dimension in a width direction orthogonal to a direction in which the shutter moves is gradually reduced from the upstream end in the closing direction of the shutter toward the downstream end.
US08855513B2	Image forming apparatus An image forming apparatus includes: a transfer portion that transfers a toner image from a first image forming element to a second image forming element when transfer voltage is applied; and a control portion, at time of cleaning the plurality of image forming elements, after integrally forming a cleaning toner image to be supplied to the first image forming element and the second image forming element on the surface of the photoreceptor along a revolving direction, that controls the application of the transfer voltage to the transfer portion to transfer the toner image in a manner such that the toner image is divided into at least four sections along the revolving direction, out of which at least two sections that are not adjacent to each other are transferred from the first image forming element to the second image forming element.
US08855506B2	Image forming apparatus An image forming apparatus includes a fixing device. The fixing device includes a rotatable endless fixing member, a nip forming member arranged inside the fixing member, a pressing member in contact with the nip forming member via the fixing member, and a heating source configured to heat the fixing member. When an abnormality occurs in at least one of the fixing device and other devices included in the image forming apparatus, a rotation of the fixing member is stopped prior to stopping a rotation driving of a discharging unit and, after stopping, the fixing member is controlled to rotate.
US08855505B2	Image stabilization control system and image forming apparatus directed to electrophotographic process for maintaining and improving image quality An image stabilization control system directed to an electrophotographic process is provided. The image stabilization control system includes a color measuring unit for measuring the color of a toner image after being fixed on a medium. The color measuring unit has an SCE color measuring function of measuring a component excluding specular reflection out of reflected light produced by light emitted from a light source being reflected at the toner image and an SCI color measuring function of measuring the reflected light including the specular reflection. A control value for a fixing step in the electrophotographic process is adjusted based on a first component attributed to a glossiness difference in chrominance, and a control value for a step other than the fixing step in the electrophotographic process is adjusted based on a second component attributed to another factor in the chrominance.
US08855499B2	Power recapture in an optical communications system In an n-node optical communications system, energy harvesting photodetectors at each node receive extraneous electromagnetic wavelengths that are not used for communication or other purposes by the associated node. The energy harvesting photodetectors convert the unused electromagnetic energy into reusable electrical energy. The harvested electrical energy may be used as auxiliary power at the node or elsewhere in the communication system, or stored in a battery, capacitor, or other energy storage device. The system may be used in an “all-to-all” broadcast and select communication scheme or in some other broadcast and select interconnect system that has extraneous wavelengths at node receivers.
US08855497B2	Optical transmission system There is provided an optical transmission system including: an optical transmitting apparatus including: a first processing circuit configured to process a transmission signal to be transmitted, a second processing circuit configured to process overhead data, the processed overhead data being multiplexed to the transmission signal, a retaining circuit configured to retain the overhead data, the retained overhead data being multiplexed to the transmission signal; and an insertion circuit configured to generate an identifier to be inserted into the retained overhead data; and an optical receiving apparatus including a detecting circuit configured to receive the transmission signal transmitted from the optical transmitting apparatus, and detect the identifier, wherein, when the overhead data is a predetermined state, the first processing circuit multiplexes the retained overhead data into which the identifier is inserted and the detecting circuit detects the identifier.
US08855496B2	Optical clock rate negotiation for supporting asymmetric clock rates for visible light communication A method and apparatus conduct an optical clock rate negotiation to support asymmetric clock rates for visible light communication (VLC) in a VLC device. A first frame that includes a receiver clock rate supported by a first VLC device is transmitted at a predetermined clock rate. A response frame that includes a receiver clock rate supported by a second VLC device is received from the second VLC device. A transmission clock rate of the first VLC device is selected based on the response frame from the second VLC device. Subsequent frames for data communication are transmitted to the second VLC device at the selected transmission clock rate of the first device. Alternatively, when conducting optical clock negotiation in the PHY layer, multiple clock rates are supported within a single frame.
US08855495B2	Time-domain based composite modulation for spectrally efficient optical networks Methods, systems, and apparatuses for time-based composite modulation of an optical carrier signal are provided. Time-based composite modulation includes determining a plurality of fixed time slots for the optical carrier signal, wherein the plurality of fixed time slots comprise a time-division-multiplexing frame. Determining a modulation format for each fixed time slot of the time-division-multiplexing frame, wherein a transport spectral efficiency of the modulation format determined for a first fixed time slot is different from a transport spectral efficiency of the modulation format determined for a second fixed time slot, and determining a number of binary bits for each fixed time slot of the time-division-multiplexing frame, wherein the number of binary bits for a fixed time slot is based on the modulation format determined for the fixed time slot.
US08855493B2	ONU emulator deployment for mixed types of ONU traffic An Optical Network Unit (ONU) emulator enables traffic emulation in a Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network (GPON) that couples an Optical Line Termination (OLT) system to the ONU emulator and carries mixed types of emulated ONU traffic and real ONU traffic. The ONU emulator includes one or more emulated ONU platforms; each emulated ONU platform includes multiple ONU emulator blocks, and each ONU emulator block includes circuitry to emulate multiple emulated ONUs simultaneously. An emulated ONU platform generates upstream GPON frames according to respective profiles of the emulated ONUs, and sends the upstream GPON frames to the OLT system. At least a subset of the upstream GPON frames reach the OLT system via one or more passive optical splitters that couple the emulated ONU platform and a set of real ONUs to the OLT system. The emulated ONU platform also receives downstream GPON frames from the OLT system.
US08855492B2	Selectable multiple-wavelength access for optical network units in arrayed waveguide based wavelength division multiplexing passive optical network An optical network unit (ONU) accesses services provided by multiple optical line terminals (OLTs) in a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) passive optical network (PON). The ONU receives downstream signals from a first plurality of OLTs through a designated port of an arrayed waveguide (AWG). At any given time, the bandpass filter module can select any one of a first plurality of AWG cycles allocated to the first plurality of OLTs. Based on received downstream signals, the ONU transmits upstream signals to a second plurality of OLTs through the designated port of the AWG. At any given time, the bandpass filter module and a transmitter of the ONU can select any one of a second plurality of AWG cycles allocated to the second plurality of OLTs. The ONU may be configured with a plurality of receivers and transmitters, whereby it is enabled to simultaneously subscribe to a plurality of AWG cycles.
US08855489B2	Communications method, particularly for a mobile radio network Communications method between a main station and processing nodes includes interconnecting the main station and the nodes in an optical path defining adjacent nodes and non-adjacent nodes, operatively grouping the nodes in a plurality of distinct sub-groups, each formed by non-adjacent nodes, at least one of said sub-groups including at least two nodes generating at the main station a multiplexed optical signal propagating along the path for serving the nodes, the multiplexed optical signal including a plurality of optical channel signals having a respective plurality of distinct carrier wavelengths, each carrier wavelength being associated with a respective sub-group of nodes, and serving each node of each sub-group of nodes with a respective portion of the optical channel signal having the associated carrier wavelength.
US08855481B2	Apparatus and method for photographing timer control of a camera of a terminal Terminals, methods, and apparatuses for controlling a photographing timer of a camera operating in a terminal, such as a mobile terminal, including a photographing timer control apparatus, and may include: a display unit to display a photographing icon on the terminal to set a time for a photographing timer of a camera of the terminal, a timer value computing unit to compute or determine a self-timer value based on a touch duration of a touch input on the photographing icon when the touch input is provided at a position corresponding to the photographing icon, and a control unit to control a photographing operation of the photographing timer of the camera of the terminal, based on the self-timer value computed or determined by the timer value computing unit.
US08855480B2	Camera module A camera module comprises an housing and at least two metal plating layers. The housing comprises a base and two platforms. The base includes a bottom surface, a top surface and an outer wall surface. A receiving hole configured to receive a lens device may be formed in the base, the receiving hole may pass through the base in a direction from the top surface to the bottom surface. The two platforms may be positioned above the top surface of the base and may have different heights. The metal plating layers extends on the outer wall surface of the base. A first end portion of each of the two metal plating layers extends to the top surface of the corresponding platform and the other end portion of the each metal plating layer extends to the bottom surface of the base.
US08855479B2	Imaging apparatus and method for controlling same To provide an imaging apparatus and a method of controlling the apparatus that enables improved automatic focus adjustment performance also in relation to an image having a shallow depth of field. An imaging element 103 includes a focus state detection unit for detecting a phase difference. A camera signal processing unit 106 generates a focus adjustment signal based on the imaging signal and outputs the signal to a camera control unit 109. The camera control unit 109 acquires an in-focus lens position in accordance with a focus lens based on a focus deviation amount based on a focus state detection result, calculates distance information related to the in-focus distance on the image screen, and controls the driving of the focus lens 102 based on the distance information and the focus adjustment signal from the camera signal processing unit 106. When a difference between the in-focus lens position and the position of the focus lens at the current time exceeds a threshold, the camera control unit 109 drives the focus lens to the in-focus lens position based on the distance information. When the difference between the in-focus lens position and the focus lens position at the current time is less than or equal to the threshold, the camera control unit 109 executes the in-focus control based on the focus adjustment signal.
US08855475B2	Radiant heating system and boiler housing for use therein A radiant heating system comprising a substantially hollow housing having detachable baffle plates internally positioned within the housing. The housing has an inlet and outlet for a flow of coolant to enter into and leave the housing, and a top plate sealing the upper surface of the housing has openings defined therein for insertion of heating elements to project into the housing and be in direct contact with the coolant to heat it. The inlet and the outlet are interconnected with piping to form a closed fluid flow circuit. Two or more baffle plates are used to increase turbulence of the coolant within the housing as it flows through, and temporarily keep coolant in the housing longer to heat it.
US08855466B2	Separate video file for I-frame and non-I-frame data to improve disk performance in trick play A device has an input circuit to receive a stream of video data, which includes intra-frames (I-frames) and inter-frames. A video frame parser separates the I-frames and inter-frames from the stream of video data. A memory device has a file system thereon, and a processor is configured to process the video data. The processor stores the I-frames in an I-frame file in a contiguous memory region of the memory device and stores the inter-frames in an inter-frame file of the memory device. The processor also stores an index file, which includes information to coordinate a pre-parsed position of each I-frame with at least one adjacent inter-frame.
US08855465B2	Moving image recording apparatus, moving image recording method, and program A moving image recording apparatus includes: a reading unit configured to read at least part of a file allocation table (FAT) from a recording medium, which is attached to an attachment unit and whose files are managed by a FAT file system, onto a storage unit; a recording medium determination unit configured to determine whether the recording medium attached to the attachment unit is a write-once recording medium; a moving image recordable time calculation unit configured to calculate, if the recording medium determination unit determines that the recording medium is a write-once recording medium, moving image recordable time based on the number of free clusters in the FAT read onto the storage unit by the reading unit; and a moving image recordable time display unit configured to display the moving image recordable time calculated by the moving image recordable time calculation unit on a display unit.
US08855464B2	Video reproductions apparatus and video reproduction method According to one embodiment, a video reproduction apparatus includes a processor and a controller. The processor is configured to perform signal processing on a video signal including a plurality of videos, The controller is configured to determine that a battery usable time of glasses for viewing the plurality of videos is shorter than a reproduction time of a content corresponding to the video signal, and to stop output of a video signal on which the signal processing has been performed by the processor and to display a warning message for replacement or charging of a battery of the glasses when determines that the battery usage time of the glasses is shorter than the reproduction time of the content corresponding to the video signal.
US08855462B2	Video playback system for enhancing drama effect and related computer program product A video playback system for enhancing drama effect is disclosed, including: a video playback device having a main display to playback a target video; a first portable communication device having a first screen for displaying a first auxiliary image; and a drama effect enhancing server configured to operably transmit content of the target video to the video playback device via a network and to operably transmit content of the first auxiliary image to the first portable communication device via a network. When the target video playbacked on the main display reaches a first target point of time, the drama effect enhancing server instructs the first portable communication device to utilize the first screen to begin displaying the first auxiliary image.
US08855457B2	Optical splitting component The present disclosure relates to an optical device that includes an optical splitting component that optically couples an optical input fiber to a plurality of optical output fibers. The optical output fibers have non-connectorized free ends that have been processed to reduce the ability of the non-connectorized free ends to reflect light back towards the optical splitting component.
US08855453B2	Quadratic phase weighed solar receiver A leaky travelling wave array of optical elements provide a solar wavelength rectenna.
US08855452B2	Silicon photonic chip optical coupling structures A silicon photonic chip is provided. An active silicon layer that includes a photonic device is on a front side of the silicon photonic chip. A silicon substrate that includes an etched backside cavity is on a backside of the silicon photonic chip. A microlens is integrated into the etched backside cavity. A buried oxide layer is located between the active silicon layer and the silicon substrate. The buried oxide layer is an etch stop for the etched backside cavity.
US08855448B2	Advanced modulation format using two-state modulators An optical modulator device comprising an interferometer. The interferometer includes an input optical coupler, an output optical coupler, and two or more controllable optical waveguides located on a substrate. Each controllable optical waveguide connects the input optical coupler to the output optical coupler and has two-state modulator along a segment thereof. The two or more controllable optical waveguides are connected to transmit an output to the output optical coupler, substantially different light amplitudes and/or phases when the two-state modulators of the two controllable optical waveguides are in different states, as driven by data streams having different information content. The two or more controllable optical waveguides are configured to modulate the light amplitudes and/or phases in a substantially same manner when the two-state modulators are in identical states.
US08855442B2	Image registration of multimodal data using 3D-GeoArcs An accurate, flexible and scalable technique for multi-modal image registration is described, a technique that does not need to rely on direct feature matching and does not need to rely on precise geometric models. The methods and/or systems described in this disclosure enable the registration (fusion) of multi-modal images of a scene with a three dimensional (3D) representation of the same scene using, among other information, viewpoint data from a sensor that generated a target image, as well as 3D-GeoArcs. The registration techniques of the present disclosure may be comprised of three main steps, as shown in FIG. 1. The first main step includes forming a 3D reference model of a scene. The second main step includes estimating the 3D geospatial viewpoint of a sensor that generated a target image using 3D-GeoArcs. The third main step includes projecting the target image's data into a composite 3D scene representation.
US08855436B2	System for and method of selective video frame compression and decompression for efficient event-driven searching in large databases A method of, and system for, selective video frame compression and decompression is presented. The disclosed technique is particularly suited for efficient event-driven searching in large databases. The technique involves designating certain frames in a video sequence as reference frames, to be compressed using a first compression technique, where the remaining frames are compressed using a second compression technique. The first compression technique may be implemented without requiring data from any neighboring frames.
US08855435B2	Image coding method, image decoding method, image coding apparatus, image decoding apparatus, and image coding and decoding apparatus The image coding method is used to code images to generate a coded stream. The image coding method includes: writing, into a sequence parameter set in the coded stream to be generated, a first parameter representing a first bit-depth that is a bit-depth of a reconstructed sample in the images; and writing, into the sequence parameter set, a second parameter which is different from the first parameter and represents a second bit-depth that is a bit-depth of an Intra Pulse Code Modulation (IPCM) sample in the images.
US08855430B1	Refining image annotations Methods, systems and apparatus for refining image annotations. In one aspect, a method includes receiving, for each image in a set of images, a corresponding set of labels determined to be indicative of subject matter of the image. For each label, one or more confidence values are determined. Each confidence value is a measure of confidence that the label accurately describes the subject matter of a threshold number of respective images to which it corresponds. Labels for which each of the one or more confidence values meets a respective confidence threshold are identified as high confidence labels. For each image in the set of images, labels in its corresponding set of labels that are high confidence labels are identified. Images having a corresponding set of labels that include at least a respective threshold number of high confidence labels are identified as high confidence images.
US08855427B2	Systems and methods for efficiently and accurately detecting changes in spatial feature data Systems (100) and methods (300) for efficiently and accurately detecting changes in feature data. The methods generally involve: determining first vectors for first features extracted from a first image using pixel information associated therewith; comparing the first vectors with second vectors defined by spatial feature data; classifying the first features into a plurality of classes based on the results of the vector comparisons; and analyzing the first image to determine if any one of the first features of at least one of the plurality of classes indicates that a relevant change has occurred in relation to an object represented thereby.
US08855426B2	Information processing apparatus and method and program An information processing apparatus includes: an inputting section adapted to input an image; a detection section adapted to detect a portion of an image pickup object from within the inputted image; a noticed region setting block adapted to set a noticed region from the detected portion; a restriction region setting block adapted to set a restriction region from the detected portion; and an extraction section adapted to extract feature values of the noticed region restricted by the restriction region.
US08855420B2	Descriptor determination in a multimedia content A method and apparatus are provided for determining a descriptor for a region of interest in an image. The method includes defining a grid of points for the region of interest. A respective zone of influence is associated with each point of the grid of points. A representative value is determined for each point of the grid of points as a function of its respective zone of influence. The representative value obtained for each point of the grid of points is compared with at least one reference value. The result of the comparison serves to define a descriptor for the region of interest.
US08855411B2	Opacity measurement using a global pixel set A computing device is described herein that is configured to select a pixel pair including a foreground pixel of an image and a background pixel of the image from a global set of pixels based at least on spatial distances from an unknown pixel and color distances from the unknown pixel. The computing device is further configured to determine an opacity measure for the unknown pixel based at least on the selected pixel pair.
US08855402B2	Image creation method, substrate inspection method, non-transitory recording medium having program recorded thereon for executing image creation method or substrate inspection method, and substrate inspection apparatus An image creation method of creating a filter image for removing a pseudo defect to inspect presence/absence of a defect on a substrate includes a filter image creation step of creating the filter image by replacing a picture element value of any one of picture elements located on a circumference of a circle about a center position of a registered image with a maximum value of picture element values of a plurality of picture elements selected from among the picture elements located on the circumference.
US08855398B2	Method of identifying a counterfeit bill using a portable terminal A method and a portable terminal for identifying a counterfeit bill. The method includes receiving, by the portable terminal, an image of a bill photographed using visible rays and an image of the bill photographed using infrared rays; determining a denomination of the bill by comparing the image photographed using the visible rays with a denomination database; obtaining correction information for making the image photographed using the visible rays correspond to a corresponding bill image in the denomination database; forming a corrected image by correcting the image photographed using the infrared rays using the correction information; binary-coding the corrected image; and determining whether the bill is counterfeit by comparing the binary-coded corrected image with an image of the corresponding bill pre-stored in a genuine bill database.
US08855397B2	Method for detecting clusters of biological particles The invention relates to a method for detecting clusters of biological particles (12) on a surface (11), comprising steps that involve: a. determining (E1) a topographical representation (20) of said surface; and b. detecting (E3, E4), on said topographical representation, at least one contour defining a region that is likely to correspond to a cluster of biological particles.
US08855395B2	Conditional likelihood material decomposition and methods of using the same Embodiments of methods and apparatus are disclosed for obtaining a radiographic phase-contrast digital computed tomography imaging system and methods for same that can include obtaining a first and second plurality of 2D projection images over a range of scan angles, generating at least two statistically independent reconstructed images of an object from the first plurality of 2D projection images and the second plurality of 2D projection images, determining a material property as a function of volume for each of at least two materials represented in the projection images, using a conditional likelihood determination comprising the material property as a function of volume and the at least two statistically independent reconstructed images to differentiate the at least two materials in a reconstructed image of the object.
US08855394B2	Methods and apparatus for texture based filter fusion for CBCT system and cone-beam image reconstruction Embodiments of methods and/or apparatus for 3-D volume image reconstruction of a subject, executed at least in part on a computer for use with a digital radiographic apparatus can obtain a 3D volume reconstruction or projection image by generating a first-filtered set of projection images from a plurality of 2-D projection images taken over a range of scan angles and a different second-filtered set of projection images from the plurality of 2-D projection images. Then, for example, a first 3-D volume image of the subject from the first-filtered set of projection images and a second 3-D volume image of the subject from the second-filtered set of projection images can be combined using different weighting combinations in at least two corresponding portions to generate the 3-D volume image of the subject.
US08855393B2	Three-dimensional X-ray imaging techniques and devices Embodiments of a system, device, and method used in connection with the capture, processing, and display of radiographic images for use in a three-dimensional radiographic image representation are generally described herein. In some embodiments, a digital x-ray unit is arranged to provide transmission of x-ray energy at a series of determined angles and perspectives. The transmission of x-ray energy may be captured as series of two-dimensional digital x-ray images, and provided to a processing environment. A three-dimensional radiographic image representation may be created from the series of two-dimensional digital x-ray images, and provide for display in various three-dimensional display environments. Suitable three-dimensional display environments include a stereoscopic display provided on a three-dimensional electronic display unit, and a virtual three-dimensional environment simulated with a software user interface provided on a two-dimensional electronic display unit.
US08855392B2	Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and synchronous measurement method An image with a desired contrast is obtained while suppressing body motion artifacts caused by both random motion and periodic motion of an object. In order to do so, an imaging sequence using a non-Cartesian sampling method is executed so as to synchronize with a biological signal only at the start time and a repetition time (TR), which is an execution interval between shots within the imaging sequence, is maintained. In addition, a time difference between a delay time and a start time of each shot is calculated, and a shot with a predetermined time difference or more is executed again after the TR time.
US08855389B1	Automated patient-specific bone-implant biomechanical analysis An apparatus, method, and computer program product for providing information for surgical planning based on automated biomechanical analysis of a bone-implant system using finite element analysis of a patient's 3D medical image, including automated biomechanical analysis of bone-implant systems for use in surgical planning both pre-operatively and intra-operatively and for use in research and development studies.
US08855383B2	Lesion diagnosis apparatus and method to determine regularity of shape of lesion A lesion diagnosis apparatus and method to determine a regularity of a shape of a lesion are provided. The lesion diagnosis apparatus to determine a regularity of a shape of a lesion, includes a lesion area detecting unit configured to form a lesion area by selecting virtual points along a boundary of a lesion included in an image, and a lesion diagnosing unit configured to determine the regularity of the shape of the lesion by analyzing a correlation of the selected virtual points.
US08855380B2	Device for identifying a person by a print thereof The invention relates to a device (100) for identifying or authenticating a person by a print thereof, the identification or authentication device (100) including: a bearing means (102, 130) including a transparent base (130) and a transparent block (102) supported by said base (130) on which the part of the body carrying the print is pressed, the surface of the transparent block (102) on which the part of the body carrying the print is pressed having a test chart (132), the transparent block (102) being made of a flexible material that deforms and fits the shape of the part of the body carrying the print when the latter is pressed against the former, a means (106, 126) for capturing an image of said print and the test chart (132) through said bearing means (102, 130), a means (108) for analyzing the image of the deformed test chart (132), a means (110) for constructing a template of the print according to the print thus captured and the image of the test chart (132) thus analyzed, a means (114) for verifying the identity of the person or a means (114) for authenticating the person according to the template thus constructed.
US08855362B2	Infra red detector system and method A detector system is described in which an image of a scene is displaced with reference to a dual waveband detector array. Such ‘scanning’ increases the sampling density, thereby reducing the effective pixel pitch, by moving the image of the scene relative to the detector array by fractions of a pixel pitch in sequential frames. The display is then reconstructed with the data from these frames interleaved relative to the original scan displacement.
US08855354B2	Electroacoustic transducer with wireless charging coil An electro-acoustic transducer includes a frame; a cover covering the frame, a magnetic system assembled with the frame, a vibration system having a diaphragm and a driving coil assembled with the frame, conductive terminals assembled with the frame, and an wireless charging coil supported by the frame. The conductive terminals include a pair of first terminals connecting to the driving coil and a pair of second terminals connecting to the wireless charging coil. The present electro-acoustic can provide wireless charging function.
US08855352B2	Listening aid device An earphone plug for receiving sound signals, having a first headphone cord connected to the earphone plug having a first length and a second headphone cord connected to the earphone plug having a second length is provided. A first earphone body connected to the first headphone cord is provided for converting the sound signals to audible sounds. A second earphone body, connected to the second headphone cord, is provided for converting the sound signals to audible sounds. A flexible strap, having a portion thereof in communication with one of at least a portion of the first headphone cord and the second headphone cord is also provided.
US08855351B2	Ear phone listening device An earphone plug for receiving sound signals, having a first headphone cord connected to the earphone plug having a first length, and a second headphone cord connected to the earphone plug having a second length is provided. A first earphone body connected to the first headphone cord is provided for converting the sound signals to audible sounds. A second earphone body, connected to the second headphone cord, is provided for converting the sound signals to audible sounds. An attachment mechanism coupled to at least a portion of the first headphone cord or the second headphone cord for securing the earphone to an article of clothing.
US08855345B2	Battery module for perpendicular docking into a canal hearing device A modular canal hearing aid assembly having a main module and a disposable battery module that docks perpendicularly into the main module which surrounds the battery module circumferentially and laterally for secure connection that eliminates inadvertent separation of the modules during removal of the hearing aid assembly from the ear canal. The disposable battery module incorporates battery cell, sound port, and handle, in a unitary structure that is easy to handle and replace as an integrated unit when any of the degradables within are consumed. The disposable battery module also comprises a membrane filter for filtering out earwax and liquids. The perpendicular docking mechanism provides highly space efficient design for comfortable and inconspicuous fit deep in the ear canal.
US08855344B2	Dynamic noise reduction in auditory prosthesis systems An exemplary method includes a sound processing subsystem 1) dividing an audio signal presented to an auditory prosthesis patient into a plurality of signals each representative of a distinct frequency portion of the audio signal and each contained within a distinct analysis channel included in a plurality of analysis channels, 2) determining a sound level of each signal included in the plurality of signals, and 3) setting an amount of noise reduction applied to each signal included in the plurality of signals in accordance with the determined sound level of each signal included in the plurality of signals. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed.
US08855343B2	Method and device to maintain audio content level reproduction An earpiece and method to control a level of audio reproduction within an occluded ear canal are provided. The method includes the steps of measuring an ambient sound level from an Ambient Sound Microphone (ASM) at an entrance to an occluded ear canal, measuring a residual background noise level within an occluded ear canal from an Ear Canal Microphone (ECM), measuring a level of audio content delivered to the occluded ear canal, and adjusting a gain of the audio content so as to maintain reproduction of the audio content within a predetermined level range.
US08855328B2	Earpiece and a method for playing a stereo and a mono signal An earpiece for providing an audio signal to two ears of a user, includes an audio interface for providing the audio signal, a bone conduction speaker coupled to the audio interface for outputting an output signal, an adaptive filter with an adjustable impulse response to provide a filtered signal that once played to the second ear of a user, by an in-ear speaker, reduces an audio effect of the leakage signal on the second ear of the user, an in-ear speaker coupled to the audio interface for providing an in-ear audio signal to the second ear of the user, in response to the filtered signal and the second input signal, an in-ear microphone for sensing a sensed audio signal, and a processor for updating an impulse response of the adaptive filter in order to reduce a contribution of the leakage signal to the sensed audio signal.
US08855313B2	System and method for providing variable security level in a wireless communication system A system and method for providing variable security levels in a wireless communication network. The present invention optimizes the often conflicting demands of highly secure wireless communications and high speed wireless communications. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, various security sensors are scanned to determine the likely presence of an intruder within a predetermined trust zone. If an intruder is likely present, the security level is changed to the highest setting, and consequently a lower data rate, while the intruder is identified. If the identified intruder is in fact a trusted node, the security level is returned to a lower setting. If the identified intruder is not a trusted node, the security level is maintained at an elevated state while the intruder is within the trust zone.
US08855312B1	Mobile trust broker A method performed by a first computing device is disclosed. The method includes (a) establishing a proximity-based communications channel between the first computing device and a second computing device, one of the first device and the second device being a mobile device, (b) sending a request for authentication of identity of a remote entity from the first device to the second device, the remote entity being in possession of the second device, (c) receiving, at the first device, from the second device, an identity assertion that the remote entity is authentically identified by an identifier, the identity assertion's truth being conditional on a proximity-based condition, (d) verifying, at the first device, that the proximity-based condition is satisfied, and (e) in response to verifying, validating the identifier of the remote entity. An apparatus and computer program product for carrying out the method are also provided.
US08855309B2	Apparatus and method for providing security service An apparatus and method for providing a security service are provided. The apparatus for providing a security service includes a first block cipher and a second block cipher. The second block cipher is independent of the first block cipher, and is configured to be used as a random number generator when the first block cipher is used to perform encryption/decryption, and to be used to perform encryption/decryption when the first block cipher is used as a random number generator.
US08855307B1	Validation service portal for wireless location management A method, system, and medium are provided for validating the identity or authority of a user of a wireless device to consent to providing geographic locations of their respective wireless device to a third-party application. Upon receiving a request to validate the authority of a user to consent to providing of geographic locations, the user is automatically redirected to a validation service portal. The validation service portal verifies the identity or authority of the user to consent by requiring the user to provide identification information. The identification information is compared to identification information in one or more databases to determine if the user has the authority to consent. An indication is provided by the validation service portal to the third-party application of whether the user has the authority to consent. The third-party application then initiates location-based services based on the indication.
US08855304B2	System and method for generating session keys The present disclosure describes systems and methods of generating a cryptographic session key based on a known master key shared between a sender communicator and a receiver communicator in a communication network. In one example, a method includes receiving a request from the receiver communicator, by the sender communicator, to establish a communication session between the sender and the receiver communicator. The method further includes generating an open random number signal at the sender communicator and combining the generated open random number signal with the known master key to generate the cryptographic session key.
US08855302B2	Apparatus and method for Skein hashing Described herein are an apparatus and method for Skein hashing. The apparatus comprises a block cipher operable to receive an input data and to generate a hashed output data by applying Unique Block Iteration (UBI) modes, the block cipher comprising at least two mix and permute logic units which are pipelined by registers; and a counter, coupled to the block cipher, to determine a sequence of the UBI modes and to cause the block cipher to process at least two input data simultaneously for generating the hashed output data.
US08855296B2	Data processing systems with format-preserving encryption and decryption engines A data processing system is provided that includes format-preserving encryption and decryption engines. A string that contains characters has a specified format. The format defines a legal set of character values for each character position in the string. During encryption operations with the encryption engine, a string is processed to remove extraneous characters and to encode the string using an index. The processed string is encrypted using a format-preserving block cipher. The output of the block cipher is post-processed to produce an encrypted string having the same specified format as the original unencrypted string. During decryption operations, the decryption engine uses the format-preserving block cipher in reverse to transform the encrypted string into a decrypted string having the same format.
US08855291B2	Limiting contact in a networked contact center environment This document discusses, among other things, limiting contact to a networked contact center that is a host to multiple tenants. In an example embodiment, a communication is received by a networked contact center. In determining whether to allow the communication to reach contact center resources, a contact rate value may be examined. The contact rate value may represent an allowable quantity of contact within a time interval. For some example embodiments, a determination of whether the network contact center is to accept or reject the communication is made based on the contact rate value.
US08855286B2	Audio conference device An audio conference device receives and emits sounds to perform transmission/reception of audio signals via communications. The device has a speaker array with a plurality of speakers arranged on the lower surface of an elongated main housing, and a microphone array with a plurality of microphones arranged on the side surface of the main housing along the longitudinal direction. Legs are attached to the main body to support the main housing at a prescribed height above the resting surface and to secure good sound emission characteristics of the speaker array. The device further controls directivity of the microphones.
US08855281B2	Systems for retrieving content in a unified communications environment Described are a system and method for processing content in a unified communications environment. As part of an electronic communication session between a first party electronic device and at least one second party electronic device, an identifier is received from the first party electronic device at the at least one second party electronic device. A search is performed for collaborative history data at the second party electronic device using the identifier. Data related to the electronic communication session and/or the collaborative history data is presented at the second party electronic device.
US08855278B2	Dial up telephone conferencing system controlled by an online computer network In a telephone conferencing system, a digital communication network such as the Internet is used to establish and control the telephone connections between multiple conferees with the telephone network being the means of exchanging verbal information. Each conferee may have a computer connected to the digital network, and each has an independent telephone instrument connected to the public switched telephone network. An in-charge conferee utilizes his computer containing appropriate software to initiate the conference and to control the participation of the conferees. The in-charge conferee sends digital control signals to a switch interface controlling a telephone switch as a gateway to the telephone network using SS7 control signals. These SS7 control signals include the commands by which the conferee telephones are rung up, brought on line, or dropped from the conference.
US08855271B2	Intelligent disposition manager When a communication is directed to an intended recipient, a determination may be made by an intelligent communication disposition manager as to whether one or more available communication devices of the intended recipient are available for routing the incoming communication either based on device availability or routing previously defined by the intended recipient. The intelligent communication disposition manager may utilize presence data of the intended recipient for sending a notification of the incoming communication to one or more of the intended recipient's available communication devices. The intended recipient may select a preferred call routing option for the incoming call/message to be sent. Based on the real-time response from the intended recipient, the call/message may be routed to his/her preferred communication device.
US08855265B2	Correction method for differential phase contrast imaging The present invention generally refers to a correction method for grating-based X-ray differential phase contrast imaging (DPCI) as well as to an apparatus which can advantageously be applied in X-ray radiography and tomography for hard X-ray DPCI of a sample object or an anatomical region of interest to be scanned. More precisely, the proposed invention provides a suitable approach that helps to enhance the image quality of an acquired X-ray image which is affected by phase wrapping, e.g. in the resulting Moiré interference pattern of an emitted X-ray beam in the detector plane of a Talbot-Lau type interferometer after diffracting said X-ray beam at a phase-shifting beam splitter grating. This problem, which is further aggravated by noise in the obtained DPCI images, occurs if the phase between two adjacent pixels in the detected X-ray image varies by more than π radians and is effected by a line integration over the object's local phase gradient, which induces a phase offset error of π radians that leads to prominent line artifacts parallel to the direction of said line integration.
US08855260B2	Device for the transportation of nuclear fuel and method for loading/unloading of the said device The subject of the present invention is principally a transportation device for nuclear fuel which includes a compartment (2) to receive a casing loaded with irradiated fuel, the said compartment (2) including an opening (4) for loading and unloading of the casing (18) from the device and an opening (6) for applying a longitudinal force on the casing (18) causing it to move inside the compartment (2) in the direction of the unloading opening in order to unload it, through a force transmission component (32) which forms a biological shield.
US08855257B2	Adaptation techniques in MIMO A method of the multiple input multiple output feedback is disclosed. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the multiple input multiple output feedback method includes a receiver receiving a reference signal from a base station and calculating a signal to interference and noise ratio from the received reference signal. The method further includes determining a modulation and coding scheme based on the signal to interference and noise ratio and a receiver type.
US08855256B1	Serial data recovery in digital receiver configurations An adaptive filtering arrangement for providing bit-synchronous, time-dependent filtering of a time-varying analog input signal taking the form of a time-dependent low pass filter including at least one adaptive resistive element that exhibits a varying resistance value as a function of a time. The time-dependent low pass filter uses as a “control” input a modifying element responsive to a clock signal associated with the received signal for creating a time-varying control signal applied as an input to the adaptive resistive element. The time-varying control signal is created to be synchronous with a baud interval of a created output signal such that the instantaneous bandwidth of the time-dependent low pass filter is synchronous with the baud interval, exhibiting a relatively small bandwidth during a central portion of the baud interval and exhibiting a relatively large bandwidth during a transition from one baud interval to the next.
US08855239B2	Digital broadcasting transmission/reception system having improved receiving performance and signal processing method thereof A digital broadcasting transmission/reception system having improved receiving performance and signal processing method thereof. A digital broadcasting transmitter according to the present invention includes a data pre-processor which processed robust data and generates robust data packet of predetermined format, a TS stream generator which combines robust data packet with a normal data packet to generate a TS stream of a predetermined format, a randomizer which randomizes the TS stream output from the TS stream generator, a convolution encoder which performs convolution encoding with respect to the robust data of the data output from the randomizer, and a RS encoder which performs RS encoding with respect to the data output from the convolution g encoder. Accordingly, digital broadcasting receiving performance can be improved in a poor multipath channel, while maintaining compatibility with existing transmission/reception system.
US08855237B2	Digital broadcasting transmission/reception system having improved receiving performance and signal processing method thereof A digital broadcasting transmission/reception system having improved receiving performance and signal processing method thereof. A digital broadcasting transmitter according to the present invention includes a data pre-processor which processed robust data and generates robust data packet of predetermined format, a TS stream generator which combines robust data packet with a normal data packet to generate a TS stream of a predetermined format, a randomizer which randomizes the TS stream output from the TS stream generator, a convolution encoder which performs convolution encoding with respect to the robust data of the data output from the randomizer, and a RS encoder which performs RS encoding with respect to the data output from the convolution g encoder. Accordingly, digital broadcasting receiving performance can be improved in a poor multipath channel, while maintaining compatibility with existing transmission/reception system.
US08855234B2	Method and system for baseband predistortion linearization in multi-channel wideband communications systems An efficient baseband predistortion linearization method for reducing the spectral regrowth and compensating memory effects in wideband communication systems using effective multiplexing modulation technique such as wideband code division multiple access and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing is disclosed. The present invention is based on the method of piecewise pre-equalized lookup table based predistortion, which is a cascade of a lookup table predistortion and piecewise pre-equalizers.
US08855231B2	Methods and apparatus for signal conditioning for polar transmitters Methods, systems, devices, and apparatuses for signal condition of polar transmitters are discussed this patent application. According to one embodiment, a frequency limiting mechanism for a polar transmitter can perform minimal distortion frequency limiting to comply with the polar transmitter requirements while meeting emissions specifications. Embodiments of the present invention may be utilized as features or components of wireless communication devices to enable minimal distortion to information carrying signals and to meet emissions specifications. Other aspects, embodiments, and features are claimed and discussed above.
US08855226B2	Rate selection with margin sharing Rate selection with margin sharing in a system with independent data stream rates is presented. Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) estimates are obtained for each stream. Rates are selected for the streams based on the SNR estimates, such that at least one data stream has an SNR margin below a threshold, each remaining data stream has an SNR margin above a respective threshold, and the total SNR margin for all streams is above a total threshold. For rate selection with margin sharing with a vector-quantized rate set, SNR estimates are obtained for usable transmission channels. The total SNR margin is determined for each rate combination based on the estimates. Each rate combination is associated with a specific number of data streams to transmit, a specific rate for each data stream, and a specific overall throughput. The combination with the highest overall throughput and non-negative total SNR margin is selected.
US08855204B2	Method of predicting motion and texture data The invention relates to a method for generating for at least one block of pixels of a picture of a sequence of interlaced pictures at least one motion predictor and at least one texture predictor from motion data, respectively texture data, associated with the pictures of a sequence of low resolution interlaced pictures.
US08855202B2	Flexible range reduction Techniques and tools are described for flexible range reduction of samples of video. For example, an encoder signals a first set of one or more syntax elements for range reduction of luma samples and signals a second set of one or more syntax elements for range reduction of chroma samples. The encoder selectively scales down the luma samples and chroma samples in a manner consistent with the first syntax element(s) and second syntax element(s), respectively. Or, an encoder signals range reduction syntax element(s) in an entry point header for an entry point segment, where the syntax element(s) apply to pictures in the entry point segment. If range reduction is used for the pictures, the encoder scales down samples of the pictures. Otherwise, the encoder skips the scaling down. A decoder performs corresponding parsing and scaling up operations.
US08855201B2	Method and apparatus for encoding video and method and apparatus for decoding video by considering skip and split order A method of encoding a video includes: splitting a picture into a maximum coding unit; for the maximum coding unit, determining coding units having a tree structure including coding units of coded depths and determining encoding modes for the coding units of the coded depths by performing encoding based on coding units according to depths, the coding units according to depths obtained by hierarchically splitting the maximum coding unit as a depth deepens; and outputting information about a maximum coding unit size and, for the maximum coding unit, information indicating an order of split information and skip mode information which is selectively determined for the coding units according to depths, information about the encoding modes for the coding units of the coded depths including the split information and the skip mode information which are arranged according to the order, and encoded video data.
US08855199B2	Method and device for video coding and decoding Embodiments of the present invention relate to video coding for multi-view video content. It provides a coding system enabling scalability for the multi-view video content. In one embodiment, a method is provided for encoding at least two views representative of a video scene, each of the at least two views being encoded in at least two scalable layers, wherein one of the at least two scalable layers representative of one view of the at least two views is encoded with respect to a scalable layer representative of the other view of the at least two views.
US08855197B2	Method and apparatus for aligning IDR frames in transcoded multi-bitrate video streams A video stream is transcoded to provide a plurality of primary profiles. Individual frames of the video stream have a Presentation Time Stamp (PTS). A PTS is used as a token to identify particular frames to be encoded as Instantaneous Decoder Refresh (IDR) frames in each profile. An IDR frame period is determined, indicative of a desired number of video frames between two IDR frames. An IDR frame is inserted into each profile every IDR frame period. The IDR frames of each profile are aligned with the same IDR frames of the other profiles. The PTS of each IDR frame in each profile is monitored. Upon determining that a PTS is out of alignment, the next PTS of the affected profile is aligned with the corresponding PTS of remaining profiles. Backup transcoders produce backup profiles that are maintained in alignment with each other and with the primary profiles.
US08855193B2	Image processing apparatus and method for converting divisional code streams into packets using header information Disclosed herein is an image processing apparatus, including, a header information production section configured to produce, regarding each of divisional code streams obtained by dividing a code stream having a structure of a progression order produced by coding image data, header information at a start and an end of the divisional code stream, the header information including a characteristic amount of an image of the image data, and a packet production section configured to convert each of the divisional code streams into a packet using the header information produced by the header information production section.
US08855190B2	Communication system with compressive sensing Systems and methods for communication systems with compressive sensing are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method of signal processing includes receiving a data packet at a processor. The data packet includes compressively measured data in wavelet transform coefficients of a signal. The signal is reconstructed using a clustering property of the wavelet transform coefficients.
US08855185B2	Equalization device, reception device and equalization method This equalization device and method, while preventing an expansion of circuit size, enable high-speed detection of a CIR in order to effectively achieve frequency domain equalization even when the phase of the received signal is significantly different from the phase of the known signal, and when the transmission channel has large temporal variations. A reference signal extraction unit (112) extracts both a real part component and an imaginary part component from the portion of the received signal including the known signal. A CIR detection filter unit (120) filters the known signal to generate a first processed signal and a second processed signal, detects real part filter coefficients by updating a first filter coefficient used in filtering the known signal in such a way that the first processed signal converges to the real part component, and detects imaginary part filter coefficients by filtering the known signal in such a way that the second processed signal converges to the imaginary part component. A CIR output unit (140) uses either the real part filter coefficients or the imaginary part filter coefficients to identify the channel impulse response.
US08855182B2	Optimization method of optimally setting emphasis and optimization device for optimally setting emphasis In an emphasis optimization device, a calculating unit calculates an inverse characteristic of an amplitude characteristic based on the amplitude characteristic of a transmission path, and an inverse Fourier transform unit performs an inverse Fourier transform on the inverse characteristic to obtain an impulse response. An extracting unit extracts, from the obtained impulse response, an impulse response corresponding to the number of taps necessary for emphasis to be added to a digital signal to be transmitted on the transmission path. An emphasis amount calculating unit converts the extracted impulse response into a value of the emphasis to calculate an emphasis amount.
US08855179B1	Measuring impairments of digitized signals in data and timing recovery circuits On-chip at-speed eye measurements of digitized signals in data and timing recovery circuits are disclosed. Eye diagrams and jitter measurements are used to evaluate signal quality and bath-tub Bit Error Rate characteristics in baseband communication systems. This disclosure describes a method and apparatus for digitally sampling a received signal at speed to produce an eye diagram of the received signal. This involves adding a small amount of circuitry to the existing prior art systems that use an interpolator for timing recovery and data recovery. In the present disclosure a temporary offset is applied to the interpolation index of the interpolator to obtain interpolated samples between the baud center and baud edge. The eye diagram can be produced from the received digitized and interpolated signal before equalization, or alternatively from the equalized signal.
US08855174B2	Frequency agile multiband transmitter using a radio frequency digital to analog converter Embodiments of the claimed subject matter provide a method and apparatus for generating a first radio frequency digital signal and providing the first radio frequency digital signal to a radio frequency digital-to-analog converter operating at a sampling frequency. The output of the radio frequency digital-to-analog converter includes a first carrier signal corresponding to the first radio frequency digital signal and having a first frequency below the sampling frequency and an image of the first carrier signal having a second frequency above the sampling frequency. The output of the radio frequency digital-to-analog converter is filtered to select the image of the first carrier signal for transmission.
US08855169B2	Methods and apparatus for RFID tag communications The present invention provides backscatter interrogators, communication systems and backscatter communication methods. According to one aspect of the present invention, a backscatter interrogator includes a data path configured to communicate a data signal; a signal generator configured to generate a carrier signal; and a modulator coupled with the data path and the signal generator, the modulator being configured to spread the data signal to define a spread data signal and amplitude modulate the carrier signal using the spread data signal, the modulator being further configured to phase modulate the carrier signal.
US08855163B2	Optical semiconductor device An optical semiconductor device of one embodiment includes: a first semiconductor layer of a first conductivity type; an active layer provided on the first semiconductor layer and has a ring- or disk-like shape; a second semiconductor layer of a second conductivity type that is provided on the active layer and has a ring- or disk-like shape; a first electrode provided on the first semiconductor layer; and a second electrode provided on the second semiconductor layer. The first semiconductor layer includes a first region having a ring- or disk-like shape, and a second region provided around the outer circumference of the first region and has a smaller thickness than the first region. The first electrode is provided on the second region, and a groove or holes are provided in a portion of the second region located between the first region and the first electrode.
US08855161B2	Semiconductor laser device, method of manufacturing semiconductor laser device, and semiconductor laser array A semiconductor laser device includes a substrate, ridge stripes on the substrate and separated by separation sections, a top surface electrode continuously extending over the ridge stripes, and a bottom surface electrode on a bottom surface of the substrate. Each of the ridge stripes includes a lower cladding layer on the substrate, an active layer on the lower cladding layer, an upper cladding layer on the active layer, and a contact layer on the upper cladding layer.
US08855160B2	Horizontal-cavity surface-emitting laser Specifically, provided is a horizontal-cavity surface-emitting laser including, on a semiconductor substrate: a cavity structure; a waveguide layer; and a reflecting part, wherein a first electrode provided on the semiconductor substrate along side regions of the cavity structure and the reflecting part and a second electrode provided on the main surface of the cavity structure are provided, the first electrode includes an electrode (1) that is provided around one side region of the reflecting part located in the direction intersecting with the traveling direction of light guided through the waveguide layer and an electrode (2) provided around one side region of the cavity structure and the other side region of the reflecting part that are located in the direction parallel with the traveling direction of light guided through the waveguide layer, and the shape of the electrode (2) has different widths at at least two positions.
US08855156B2	DFB laser diode having a lateral coupling for large output power The invention relates to a DFB laser diode having a lateral coupling, which comprises at least one semi-conductor substrate (10), at least one active layer (40) that is arranged on the semiconductor substrate, at least one ridge (70) that is arranged above the active layer (40), at least one periodic surface structure (110) that is arranged next to the ridge (70) above the active layer (40) and at least one wave guide layer (30, 50) comprising a thickness ≧1 μm that is arranged below and/or above the active layer.
US08855141B2	Methods, systems, and computer readable media for utilizing metadata to detect user datagram protocol (UDP) packet traffic loss Methods, systems, and computer readable media utilizing metadata to detect UDP traffic loss in a test environment are disclosed. In one example, the method includes generating, at a user datagram protocol (UDP) traffic generation module, a plurality of UDP packets associated with a UDP stream, wherein origination information corresponding to the UDP traffic generation module is included in a payload in each of the plurality of UDP packets and receiving, at a UDP traffic receiver module, at least one of the plurality of UDP packets associated with the UDP stream. The method also includes transmitting, from the UDP traffic receiver module to the UDP traffic generation module, recipient information that identifies the UDP traffic receiver module as the receiver of the UDP stream and receiving, at the UDP traffic receiver module via a lossless environment, stream verification metrics from the UDP traffic generation module.
US08855140B2	Method and apparatus for configuring minimum guaranteed bit rate in wireless communication system A method for configuring bit rate in a user equipment (UE) for use in a wireless communication system includes receiving guaranteed bit rate information comprising one or more bit rates which are supported by a base station (BS) for communications with the UE, selecting a minimum guaranteed bit rate responsive to user input received at the UE, the minimum guaranteed bit rate being a bit rate identified by the guaranteed bit rate information, generating a first request message requesting the selected minimum guaranteed bit rate, transmitting the first request message from the UE to the BS, the first request message including a request for receiving communications from the BS at the selected minimum guaranteed bit rate, receiving a response message from the BS in response to the first request message, and receiving data from the BS at a bit rate which is at or greater than the selected minimum guaranteed bit rate when the response message comprises an acknowledgement (ACK) message.
US08855134B2	Network-assisted peer discovery Techniques for transmitting information in a long term evolution (LTE) wireless communication network are disclosed. A base station may receive a first user equipment (UE) expression and first UE location information of a UE seeking peers. The base station may also receive a second UE expression and second UE location information of at least one of the peers. In accordance with the first and second UE expressions and the first and second UE location information, the base station may match ones of the peers proximate to the UE. The base station may transmit, using a data exchange efficiency technique, information to alert the UE to the presence of the peers. This transmission may comprise wide area network (WAN)-specific signaling.
US08855126B2	Fast data packet transfer operations A fast send method may be selectively implemented for certain data packets received from an application for transmission through a network interface. When the fast send method is triggered for a data packet, the application requesting transmission of the data packet may be provided a completion notice nearly immediately after the data packet is received. The fast send method may be used for data packets similar to previously-transmitted data packets for which the information in the data packet is already vetted. For example, a data packet with a similar source address, destination address, source port, destination port, application identifier, and/or activity identifier may have already been vetted.
US08855123B2	Gateway apparatus, method and system When a location of a portable terminal connected to another network beyond a packet communication network side changes, the gateway apparatus that is arranged between a mobile circuit switching network and a packet communication network (IMS network) and that performs mutual conversion between a circuit switching protocol and a packet communication protocol to execute voice communication, exercises control such that at least one of a sequence number and a timestamp in a packet destined to a portable terminal and output to the packet communication network, is made to vary continuously before and after movement of the portable terminal, in case the portable terminal connected to a network beyond the packet communication network side, moves its location.
US08855109B2	Method and device for transmitting data in messages on a bus system A method for transmitting data in messages on a bus system where the messages are transmitted in transmission time slots at a certain transmission rate, the transmission rate within a transmission time slot being changeable in such a way that the message, allocated to this transmission time slot, may be transmitted repeatedly within this transmission time slot.
US08855092B2	Direct link setup method in tunneled direct link setup wireless network and station supporting the method Provided are a Tunneled Direct Link Setup (TDLS) establishment method for a TDLS initiator and a station supporting the establishment method. In the establishment method, a requesting Non-AP QSTA transmits a TDLS setup request frame via an access point (AP) to an intended peer Non-AP QSTA. And, the requesting Non-AP QSTA receives a TDLS setup response frame via the AP from the intended peer station in response to the TDLS setup request frame. And, the requesting Non-AP QSTA transmits a TDLS setup confirm frame via the AP to the intended peer station in response to the TDLS setup response frame.
US08855088B2	Reverse protocol for low latency wireless applications Embodiments of a system and method for communicating according to an IEEE 802.11 standard or a WiGig specification. The method includes identifying a message that requires a response from another station in less than a threshold amount of time, and that the other station cannot likely respond to within a point coordination function (PCF) interframe sequence (PIFS). The message also includes setting a reverse direction (RD) response time field in a header of an MPDU corresponding to the message to a value indicating that a response from the other station is not required within a short interframe sequence (SIFS).
US08855086B2	Method and apparatus for efficient multimedia delivery in a wireless packet network The present invention sends multiple versions of a multimedia packet to the base station, and, based on the radio channel and traffic characteristics, an appropriate version of the multimedia packet is selected to send to the mobile station at a given time. In this way, source transmission is improved to instantaneous conditions. The steps of the present invention are performed in conjunction with RTP used for multimedia transmission over internet protocol (IP) networks. In a first embodiment, the multiple versions are sent to the base station in the same RTP packet, and the base station strips out the extraneous versions. In a second embodiment, the base station receives multiple RTP packets having identical information in the packet header in many fields, and selects an appropriate one among these for transmission to the mobile station, discarding the rest.
US08855082B2	Application load balancing for different domains In one embodiment, a method includes receiving a message associated with a device in a first domain. An identifier is determined for the device. The message is then sent to a load balancer where the message includes the identifier. The load balancer is then configured to send the message to a network device in a plurality of network devices. The network device is configured to process messages from the device. A second message may be received at the load balancer from a second domain. The second message may include the identifier for the device. The load balancer may then send the second message to the selected network device such that the first message and the second message are processed by the same network device.
US08855078B2	System and method for managing resources in heterogeneous network A system and method for managing resources in a heterogeneous network, which includes a primary system and a secondary system, and in which a communication coverage range of the primary system is divided into a plurality of regions, the system including: a heterogeneous network resource management module configured to collect and manage resource usage status within a managed region; and a secondary system resource management module configured to acquire the resource usage status of each region from the heterogeneous network resource management module and to allocate resources to the secondary system by utilizing the acquired resource usage status of each region in accordance with a priority determined based on an efficiency of resource multiplexing between the primary system and the secondary system in each region. The system and method improve resource usage efficiency.
US08855077B2	Communication method and radio transmitter Radio transmission is performed even to a communication party whose bandwidth that can be used for transmission and reception is limited without having an influence of an offset of a DC component. A radio transmitter applied to an OFDMA communication system in which a plurality of different terminals performs communication using OFDM signals at the same time that includes a mapping part that allocates transmission power to each subcarrier, and also selects a subcarrier to which minimum power of the transmission power to be allocated is allocated and modulates transmission data in units of communication slots to output the modulated data; and a transmission part for transmitting radio signals including the modulated data using each of the subcarriers.
US08855072B2	Relay backhaul resource allocation The present invention relates to a method for allocating a relay backhaul resource in a wireless communication system and to an apparatus for same. In detail, the present invention provides a signal-receiving method in which a terminal receives a signal in a wireless communication system, and to an apparatus for same, wherein the method comprises a step of receiving, from a base station, information on one or more first resource blocks (RB) allocated for a relay, a step of receiving resource allocation information through a control channel from the base station, and a step of receiving a predetermined resource block indicated by the resource allocation information among logically continuous second resource blocks. The second resource blocks are logically continuous when excluding said one or more first resource blocks from the entirety of the resource block.
US08855071B1	Handling errors in subscriber session management within mobile networks In general, techniques are described for handling errors in subscriber session management within mobile networks. A downstream mobile gateway comprising a forwarding unit and a service unit may implement the techniques. The forwarding unit receives a packet that includes a destination address for a subscriber and a tunnel endpoint identifier (TEID). The service unit determines whether the TEID is associated with one of a number of subscriber records that store session data for current sessions associated with subscriber devices to communicate with the mobile network. In response to determining that the TEID is not associated with one of the subscriber records, the service unit generates a message that includes the TEID and the destination address and indicates that the downstream mobile gateway has determined that the TEID is not associated with one of the subscriber records. The forwarding unit then sends the message to the upstream mobile gateway.
US08855063B2	Method and apparatus for response scheduling in a downlink multiple-user multiple input multiple output network Embodiment and methods and apparatus for scheduling one or more responses for multiple stations (STAs) in a downlink multiple-user multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) network transmission are provided.
US08855062B2	Dynamic selection of subframe formats in a wireless network Techniques for dynamically selecting subframe formats in a wireless network are described. In an aspect, a base station may dynamically switch between different subframe formats to support communication for different types of user equipments (UEs). In one design, the base station may declare a set of subframes as multicast/broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) subframes for first/legacy UEs. The base station may send signaling conveying the set of subframes as MBSFN subframes to the legacy UEs. The base station may dynamically select the formats of the set of subframes for second/new UEs, e.g., on a per subframe basis. The format of each subframe may be selected from a plurality of formats, which may include at least one regular subframe format, at least one MBSFN subframe format, and/or at least one blank subframe format. The base station may send transmissions in the set of subframes based on the selected formats.
US08855048B2	Method and system for peer-to-peer cellular communications Aspects of a method and system for peer-to-peer cellular communications are provided in which one or more cellular communication channels may be established between a femtocell and a plurality of communication devices. The femtocell may control routing of data between the plurality of communication devices via the one or more cellular communication channels. The femtocell may enable multicasting and/or broadcasting data from one of the communication devices to two or more remaining ones of the communication devices. The multicast and/or broadcast data may be communicated via the cellular communication channels and may be additionally communicated via an IP connection to the femtocell. Data may be communicated over the cellular communication channels in compliance with 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) standards and/or 3rd generation partnership project 2 (3GPP2) standards. The femtocell may reformat data prior to communicating it to one or more of the plurality of communication devices.
US08855046B2	Method and system for uplink coordinated reception in orthogonal frequency division multiple access systems Embodiments disclose a method of coordinating reception of uplink transmissions in order to reduce interference among transceivers in an OFDM wireless transmission system, or similar communication system, including a number of receivers communicating with one or more basestations in cell or sector arrangements. A basestation within each sector includes an uplink coordinated reception process that imposes coordinated reception techniques across sector or cell boundaries in order to improve uplink transmission quality between target terminals and basestations within each sector.
US08855044B2	Two-step uplink synchronization for pico/femtocell A two-step uplink synchronization method is provided for uplink synchronization between a mobile station and a pico/femto base station that is deployed together with an overlay macro/micro base station. In a first step, the pico/femto BS encodes and broadcasts UL transmission timing advance offset information via a broadcast channel. The MS decodes the received UL transmission timing advance offset information and advances its uplink timing for uplink ranging or reference signal transmission based on the decoded offset value. In a second step, the MS and the pico/femto BS performs regular uplink synchronization and uplink access. In one example, the UL transmission timing advance offset information indicates a round-trip propagation time of radio signals between the pico/femto base station and the overlay macro/micro base station. By using the two-step uplink synchronization method, a unified synchronous ranging channel may be used for ranging and UL access in pico/femtocells with reduced interference.
US08855038B2	Methods and systems for handling unsuccessful reception in broadcast/multicast service The present disclosure discloses a method for handling unsuccessful reception in broadcast/multicast service. The method comprises: the user terminal which fails to receive broadcasted/multicasted service contents obtains the service contents actively or passively after a mobile data broadcast/multicast platform broadcasts/multicasts the service contents. The present disclosure also discloses a system for handling unsuccessful reception in broadcast/multicast service, in which an obtaining unit is configured to obtain the service contents actively or passively by the user terminal which fails to receive the broadcasted/multicasted service contents after the mobile data broadcast/multicast platform broadcasts/multicasts the service contents. By the method and system provided in the present disclosure, handling of the unsuccessful reception of broadcasted/multicasted service contents can be triggered and realized by the user terminal.
US08855032B2	System and method for uplink resource utilization A system and method are described for providing an efficient uplink resource utilization wireless communication system. The system and method include determining an on duration during which a user equipment is awake, based on a discontinuous reception; and scheduling a reference signal transmission from the user equipment to occur during the on duration, wherein the reference signal is to maintain uplink resource synchronization.
US08855030B2	Suppression of discovery of mobile devices in a wireless network Technologies are generally described for suppressing discovery of mobile devices in a wireless ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) network, reducing the number of network transmissions by devices in the network and reducing network congestion and prolonging battery life. A mobile device may add supplementary information to introductory beacons transmitted by the device that indicate no response is necessary from other devices participating in the network except for a coordinator of the network. The mobile device may transmit a malformed introductory beacon that will be ignored by other devices in the network except for the coordinator. The coordinator of the wireless network may detect the mobile device moving through the network and transmit a suppression signal to other devices in the network causing the devices to ignore the introductory beacons transmitted by the mobile device.
US08855028B2	Apparatus and method for bidirectional communication between multi-nodes using relay node An apparatus for bidirectional communication between multi-nodes using a relay node receives 2M signals, encoded using a nested lattice code chain, from a base station and M user nodes in a predetermined time interval, estimates M pairwise lattice code sum signals between the base station and the M user nodes based on the nested lattice code chain with respect to the 2M encoded signals, encodes the M pairwise lattice code sum signals to broadcasting codewords to generate M encoded signals after the predetermined time interval has ended, and transmits the M encoded signals to the base station and the M user nodes.
US08855000B2	Interference estimation using data traffic power and reference signal power In a wireless communication system, interference on data tones is estimated by detecting data transmissions from interferers. An overall interference covariance matrix is estimated as a function of scalar traffic to pilot ratio (TPR) estimates, residual interference covariance estimates, and covariance of channel estimates of dominant interferers. The interference estimates are refined as a function of reliability based on a ratio of power received from a serving cell and power received from a dominant interferer.
US08854990B1	Multiple concurrent call sessions over a single voice call account A cordless telephone base unit includes first and second network controllers and a terminal controller. The first network controller establishes concurrent call sessions for a single voice call account with a service provider over the Internet. Each of the concurrent call sessions includes at least one media session. Each of the media sessions has a corresponding software port number. The second network controller wirelessly communicates with cordless telephones, which each have a corresponding IP address. The terminal controller connects each of the media sessions to one or more of the cordless telephones and includes a switch logic that implements a terminal map, and a switch fabric that connects the cordless telephones with the media sessions according to the terminal map. The terminal map associates the corresponding IP address of each of the cordless telephones with the corresponding software port numbers of one or more of the media sessions.
US08854985B2	System and method for using ultrasonic communication A system for wireless communication using ultrasonic signals that includes a transmission module, which receives input signals from a wireless device, modifies the received input signals in a manner that converts each received input signal into a corresponding ultrasonic signal and wirelessly transmits each said ultrasonic signal over an ultrasonic link, and a receiving module, which receives the transmitted ultrasonic signals, recovers the corresponding input signals therefrom and enables outputting each respective input signal through one or more output devices. Modification of the input signals may include compressing, encoding and modulating the input signals. The input signals may be voice audio signals for enabling to use the system for supporting phone calls by enabling ultrasonic communication between for instance, a wireless headset and a mobile phone. Transmission and receiving modules may be associated with a wireless headset and mobile phone for allowing ultrasonic and optionally RF communication therebetween.
US08854979B2	Radio measurement collection method and radio terminal A radio measurement collection method using UE configured to perform a process of retaining a measurement log including a measurement result of a radio environment according to a measurement configuration set by a measurement configuration message received from a network includes a step S109 in which the network transmits a UEInformationRequest message to request a transmission of the measurement log to the UE, and a step S110 in which the UE transmits a UEInformationResponse message to transmit the measurement log to the network. In step S110, the UE transmits the UEInformationResponse message to the network even when the measurement log is not retained.
US08854972B1	Security device implementing flow lookup scheme for improved performance A security device performing flow classification and storing flow information in a flow table includes a flow engine generating a flow key identifying a flow to which a received data packet belongs, the flow engine applying a hash function to the flow key to generate a flow hash value and an entry hash value being orthogonal to each other. The security device includes a hash map and a flow data table. The hash map table is indexed by the flow hash value and an entry index value is derived from the entry hash value. The flow data table is indexed by the flow hash value and the entry index value to return at least a retrieved flow key from a flow record of an indexed entry.
US08854966B2	Apparatus and methods for network resource allocation Methods and apparatus for allocating resources (such as communications bandwidth) using a network access device. In one embodiment, the network includes a wireless network (e.g., WiFi), and the access device includes a wireless router or gateway in communication with a plurality of wireless users. The device includes an administrator function which allows the network administrator to implement one or more resource allocation policies or rules. Using this approach, resources such as bandwidth can be allocated based on any number of different parameters or use classifications, including for example: (i) public versus private use; (ii) security level; (iii) user range from the access device; (iv) type of PHY or air interface; (v) type of channel coding; (vi) air interface mode or application (e.g., data versus voice). In one variant, the allocation policies are manually controlled by the administrator. In another variant, substantially automatic resource allocation is performed by the administrator program.
US08854960B2	Mechanism to prevent load in 3GPP network due to MTC device triggers Embodiments of methods and apparatus to manage MTC device trigger load in a wireless network are described herein. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.
US08854957B2	Packet retransmission control system, packet retransmission control method and retransmission control program A packet retransmission control system includes an application processing module on which an application for executing communication processing operates, a retransmission control determination module which determines whether to execute high-speed retransmission control by a lower layer based on a predetermined rule with respect to a packet whose sending is requested by the application processing module, a packet processing branching module which allocates a packet determined to be subjected to high-speed retransmission control and a packet determined not to be subjected to high-speed retransmission control, an MAC retransmission control module which executes retransmission control of a transmission packet by a retransmission time-out shorter in time than a protocol of a transport layer with respect to a packet determined to be subjected to high-speed retransmission control, and an external output module which externally outputs a packet sent from the MAC retransmission control module or the packet processing branching module.
US08854939B2	Optical information apparatus and gap control method thereof An optical disk apparatus has: a laser (14) that outputs light; an optical system that includes an SIL (2) for forming a predetermined sized beam spot on an optical disk (1) using the light from the laser; a detector (26) that detects output power of the laser and generates a laser power detection signal; a laser power control circuit (27) that controls the output power of the laser using the laser power detection signal; a detector (10) that detects a gap length between the optical disk and the SIL and generates a gap detection signal; and a gap control circuit (15) that controls the gap length between the optical disk and the SIL using the gap detection signal. The power control circuit has a gain crossover frequency greater than a gain crossover frequency of the gap control circuit.
US08854935B2	Disk drive device A front-end unit 2 includes: a communication unit 8 and a local storage 9 to be used by a CPU 4b on the board in which the front-end unit itself is arranged; and I/F units 10a, 10b that make connections in an accessible manner from the CPU 4b to the communication unit 8 and the local storage 9 in the front-end unit 2.
US08854926B2	Multi-lane stop watch An electronic multi-lane stop watch is disclosed. Said multi-lane stop watch can record multi-athletes' split times and final times simultaneously. Said multi-lane stop watch can also automatically save collected data to files and export/import information and data to/from external devices such as computers or printers.
US08854925B1	Smart watch and control method for the same Discussed are a smart watch and a control method for the same, which provide a notification indicating events, which are scheduled to occur later on the basis of a take-off time, if the smart watch is taken off. The smart watch includes a display unit to display content, a communication unit to perform transmission/reception of data, and a sensor unit to detect an input signal with regard to the smart watch and transmit the signal to a processor that serves to control the aforementioned units. The processor detects a take-off signal, indicating separation of the smart watch from a user, in a worn mode, to switch the smart watch to an unworn mode in response to the detected take-off signal, and provides a notification indicating at least one event that is scheduled to occur after detecting the take-off signal in the unworn mode.
US08854919B2	Generating inversion ready seismic data A technique includes receiving first seismic data acquired by one or more receivers in response to energy produced by one or more seismic sources interacting with a subsurface feature. The first seismic data is indicative of measured reflection coefficients for image points for the subsurface feature, the measured reflection coefficients are associated with incidence angles, and a range of the incidence angles varies with respect to an image point position. The technique includes processing the first seismic data in a machine to generate second data indicative of a normal incidence reflection coefficient for at least one of the image points not associated with a normal angle of incidence.
US08854914B2	Semiconductor memory device According to one embodiment, a memory cell, a word line, and a peripheral circuit are provided. In the memory cell, a ferroelectric film is provided for a gate insulating film. The word line is connected to a control gate electrode of the memory cell. In the peripheral circuit, ferroelectric films are provided for gate insulating films and the peripheral circuit is provided near the memory cell. Here, between the same conductive type transistors of the peripheral circuit, a channel impurity concentration of a transistor to which a driving voltage which drives the word line is applied is different from a channel impurity concentration of a transistor to which a voltage which is lower than the driving voltage is applied.
US08854883B2	Fusion memory According to one embodiment, there is provided a fusion memory including a first memory cell array formed of a NAND cell unit and a second memory cell array formed of a DRAM cell on a semiconductor substrate. The NAND cell unit is formed of a non-volatile memory cell having a two-layer gate structure in which a first gate and a second gate are stacked, and a selective transistor connecting the first and second gates of the non-volatile memory cell. The DRAM cell is formed of a cell transistor having a structure same as the structure of the selective transistor, and a MOS capacitor having a structure same as the structure of the non-volatile memory cell or the selective transistor.
US08854881B2	Circuits and techniques to compensate memory access signals for variations of parameters in multiple layers of memory Embodiments of the invention relate generally to semiconductors and memory technology, and more particularly, to systems, integrated circuits, and methods to implement circuits configured to compensate for parameter variations in layers of memory by adjusting access signals during memory operations. In some embodiments, memory cells are based on third dimensional memory technology. In at least some embodiments, an integrated circuit includes multiple layers of memory, a layer including sub-layers of semiconductor material. The integrated circuit also includes an access signal generator configured to generate an access signal to facilitate an access operation, and a characteristic adjuster configured to adjust the access signal for each layer in the multiple layers of memory.
US08854874B2	Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device including variable resistance element According to one embodiment, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device includes a memory cell array and a control circuit. The memory cell array include the memory cells each including a variable resistance element in which a reset current flowing in a reset operation is smaller than a set current flowing in a set operation by not less than one order of magnitude. The control circuit performs the reset operation and the set operation for the memory cells. The control circuit performs the reset operation for all memory cells being in the low resistance state and connected to selected first interconnections and selected second interconnections.
US08854868B2	Sense amplifier Embodiments of the invention provide a sense amplifier, a SRAM chip comprising the sense amplifier and a method of performing read operation on the SRAM chip. The sense amplifier according to embodiments of the invention comprises an additional driving assist portion, which further takes a global data bus as input, the driving assist portion is configured to enable the sense amplifier to provide assisted driving for other sense amplifiers. With the solution according to embodiments of the invention, driving capability of a sense amplifier on global data bus can be enhanced.
US08854857B2	Electronic device and method for FRAM power supply management The invention is an electronic device including a ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM), a first supply voltage domain, a second supply voltage domain and a low drop output voltage regulator (LDO) receive a first supply voltage of the first supply voltage domain and providing a second supply voltage of the second supply voltage domain. The second supply voltage domain supplies the FRAM. The LDO switches between a first state providing and maintaining the second supply voltage of the second supply voltage domain and a second state providing a high impedance output to the second supply voltage domain. The electronic device switches the LDO from the first state to the second state in response to a failure of the first supply voltage domain.
US08854855B2	Semiconductor memory device and method for manufacturing the same The present technology includes a semiconductor memory device and a method of manufacturing the same. The semiconductor device includes insulation patterns and cell word lines alternately stacked on a substrate. A cell channel layer is formed through the insulation patterns and the cell word lines. A select channel layer is connected to the cell channel layer, and the select channel layer has a resistance higher than a resistance of the cell channel layer. A select line surrounds the select channel layer.
US08854846B2	Method and apparatus for determining a fault current portion in a differential current When determining a fault current portion IF in a differential current idiff(t) measured by an inverter, an AC voltage uAC(t) applied to an AC output of the inverter is measured and a periodic reference function y(t) of alternating sign is generated as a function of the measured AC voltage uAC(t) in order to determine an AC fault current portion IFAC in the differential current idiff(t). The differential current idiff(t) is multiplied by the periodic reference function y(t), and the product of the differential current idiff(t) and the reference function (y(t)) is averaged over an integral number of periods of the reference function y(t). The reference function y(t), at least for one operating state of the inverter, is generated with a predefined phase offset with respect to the measured AC voltage uAC(t) and/or with a frequency which is an integer multiple of the frequency of the measured AC voltage uAC(t).
US08854833B2	Serial advanced technology attachment dual in-line memory module A serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) dual-in-line memory module (DIMM) includes a circuit board. A control chip and a number of storage chips are arranged on the circuit board. First and second extending boards extend from an end of the circuit board and are coplanar with the circuit board. A space is defined between the first and the second extending boards. A first edge connector is arranged on the first extending board and connected to the control chip. A second edge connector is arranged on bottom edges of the second extending board and the circuit board. A third edge connector is arranged on a top edge of the circuit board opposite to the bottom edge of the circuit board.
US08854823B2	Handle latching mechanism An assembly can include a base with a front side, a back side, a hinge axis, a hinge end, an opposing end and a beveled surface disposed intermediate the hinge end and the opposing end where the beveled surface includes an opening; a handle, configured for rotation about the hinge axis, with a front side, a back side, a hinge end and a swing end where the swing end includes an angled frame that defines an opening for access to a surface; and a latch with a pivot axis, a spring, a prong biased by the spring about the pivot axis and an actuation surface where, for a latched orientation, the prong extends through the opening of the beveled surface and into the opening of the angled frame to access and contact the surface of the handle and to bias the swing end of the handle toward the base. Various other apparatuses, systems, methods, etc., are also disclosed.
US08854822B2	Data center equipment cabinet information center A cabinet frame enclosure is provided having a first side wall, a second side wall, a first opening and a second opening each in combination defining an interior space for accommodating a plurality of equipment, the equipment being removable through the first opening. A plurality of functional modules are provided such as: an asset tracking module for detecting the presence or absence of the equipment from the interior space of the cabinet frame enclosure, the asset tracking module disposed in the first side wall adjacent the first opening; an access control module for providing electronic locking and access control to the interior space of the cabinet frame enclosure; an environmental management module for monitoring and controlling environmental conditions within the interior space of the cabinet frame enclosure; a power management module for monitoring and controlling power distribution to equipment located in the interior space of the cabinet frame enclosure, the power management module disposed in one of the first side wall or second side wall and adjacent the second opening; and a cabinet control module (CCM) for providing consolidated connectivity to the plurality of functional modules, wherein the CCM presents a single network connection for managing the equipment located in the cabinet frame enclosure.
US08854815B2	Apparatus for externally changing the direction of air flowing through electronic equipment A first conduit is externally attached to one of two opposing sidewalls of electronic equipment and a second conduit is externally attached to the other of the opposing sidewalls. Each conduit has an open end, a closed end, and a side having a vent that is aligned with a vent in the sidewall of the electronic equipment to which that conduit is attached. The first conduit takes air in through its open end, channels the air in a direction substantially orthogonal to the direction of air flowing through the electronic equipment, and directs the air into the electronic equipment through its aligned vents. The second conduit receives air from the electronic equipment through its aligned vents, channels the air in a direction that is substantially orthogonal to the direction of air flowing through the electronic equipment, and exhausts the air through the open end of the second conduit.
US08854811B2	Electronic device with cover plate An electronic device including a housing, a cover plate, and a button is provided. The cover plate is separably disposed on the housing and corresponds to an opening on the housing. A groove is formed on an edge of the cover plate. The button pivotally connects to an edge of the housing which encompasses the opening. The button can rotate on a housing plate of the housing and corresponds to the position of the groove. The button is behind the edge of the housing while the button is in a release position; a portion of the button extends out and into the groove of the cover plate while the button rotates to a lock position.
US08854810B2	Portable computer having removable access panel Embodiments of the present invention disclose a portable computer 100 having a removable access panel 108 for accessing data processing components stored within the portable computer. In one embodiment, the portable computer includes an upper housing 102 pivotably connected to a base housing 104. The base housing accommodates the data processing component and includes a top side that faces the upper housing and a bottom side opposite the top side. Furthermore, the access panel is formed to have substantially similar dimensions as the bottom side of the base housing, while also being configured to tool-lessly and releasably attach to said bottom side so as to expose or cover the removable component and an entire area of the bottom side of the base housing.
US08854798B1	Transmitter holder apparatus and method A transmitter holder apparatus includes a bezel with a front surface, sides and a flat back where the front surface includes a recess A transmitter assembly is provided where the transmitter assembly is configured to fit within the recess in the front surface of the bezel. A connector device is provided for removably connecting the transmitter assembly with the bezel.
US08854787B2	Bond lead A bonding lead comprising a core; and a sheath bonded to the core. The core comprises a substrate of fibers coated with nano-objects with at least one dimension between 1 nm and 200 nm. The nano-objects form a continuous electrically conductive network from one end of the bonding lead to the other with some of the nano-objects coating the fibers and others forming bridges between adjacent fibers. The nano-objects may be carbon nanotubes and the core may be woven or knitted. A conductive connector is provided at each end of the bonding lead, for instance a tab formed from an electrically conductive polymer. The lead can be used to dissipate static charge and/or lightning current between components, typically within an aircraft fuel tank.
US08854786B2	System and method for providing surge protection Methods and systems described herein provide protection for sensitive circuits against power surges on power lines. A surge protector for protecting a load coupled to a power source is provided. The surge protector includes an input having a first node, a second node and a third node to respectfully couple to line, neutral, and ground connections of a power source, an output having a fourth node, a fifth node, and a sixth node for respectfully coupling to line, neutral and ground connections of the load, a first voltage limiting circuit coupled between the fourth node and the fifth node, a first inductor coupled between the first node and the fourth node, and a second voltage limiting circuit coupled between the first node and the second node.
US08854783B2	Battery pack A battery pack that can quickly transfer heat from a battery cell to a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) to quickly cut off a current when the battery cell is heated to a high temperature. A battery pack includes: a battery cell including a cell tab; a protective circuit module including an internal terminal connected to the cell tab, a PTC connected to the internal terminal, and an interconnection pattern between the internal terminal and the PTC and electrically connecting the internal terminal to the PTC; and a heat transfer member including a surface contacting the interconnection pattern, and opposite sides respectively connected to the internal terminal and the PTC.
US08854780B2	Protection circuit of battery pack and battery pack using the same A programmable protection circuit of a battery pack and a battery back are disclosed. The protection circuit includes programmable protection level specifications based on battery characteristics by incorporating a storage unit therein. Accordingly, the protection circuit can be use with various batteries in various battery packs, thereby saving design and manufacturing costs.
US08854779B2	Integrated circuit An integrated circuit includes an internal power line, a no-connection (NC) pad, and a switch configured to electrically connect the internal power line with the NC pad to supply a first external voltage to the internal power line through the NC pad in response to a control signal.
US08854776B2	Relay and method for protecting transformer, and transformer protecting system having the same Disclosed are a relay and method for protecting a transformer, and a transformer protecting system having the same. In the present disclosure, whether a transformation ratio of a transformer has been correctly set or not may be determined based on an inner algorithm. If it is determined that the transformation ratio of the transformer has been incorrectly set, a user may be informed to reset the transformation ratio. This may prevent a malfunction of the relay when the system is operated, and may enhance a system stability.
US08854766B1	Disk drive having a conformal peripheral foil seal having an opening covered by a central metal cap A novel hermetically sealed disk drive comprises a disk drive enclosure that includes a disk drive base with a bottom face, four side faces, and a top cover. The disk drive also comprises a peripheral foil seal overlapping each of the four side faces and having a first opening therethrough that overlies the upper surface of the top cover. The peripheral foil seal conforms to the disk drive enclosure and is adhered to the top face and to each of the four side faces by a first continuous adhesive layer. The hermetically sealed disk drive also includes a central metal cap completely covering the first opening and being adhered to the upper surface of the top cover through the first opening by a second continuous adhesive layer. The central metal cap is thicker than the continuous metal foil, and the disk drive enclosure is helium-filled.
US08854763B2	Systems and methods for managed operational marginalization Systems, methods, devices, circuits for data processing, and more particularly to data processing including operational marginalization capability.
US08854761B1	Method and system for specifying self-servo-write patterns A method of writing servo data to a data storage medium includes reading a servo instruction from a memory, the servo instruction comprising a control portion and a data portion, processing the servo instruction in a controller to generate a servo data pattern from the data portion based on the control portion, and transferring the servo data pattern to the data storage medium. The processing may include transforming the data portion into the servo data pattern based on the control portion. The processing also may include following a command in the control portion to use the data portion as an index to retrieve a pre-programmed servo data pattern from a pattern store. The transferring may include storing the servo data pattern in a buffer, and writing the servo data pattern from the buffer to the data storage medium.
US08854758B2	Track defect map for a disk drive data storage system A method and apparatus for storing a disk drive media defect table or list. Defect table entries for a subject disk track are stored on the subject track and retrieved for determining defective sectors only when the subject track is accessed for a data read or write operation.
US08854752B2	Systems and methods for track width determination Various embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods for read sensor characterization. As an example, a data storage device is disclosed that includes a storage medium, a read/write head assembly disposed in relation to the storage medium, and a track width setting circuit. The track width setting circuit is operable to: write data to at least a first track and a second track on the storage medium, read data from the second track, determine an estimated track offset where interference from the data written to the first track is insubstantial, and modify at least the second track width based at least in part on the estimated track offset. The first track is a first track width and the second track is a second track width.
US08854748B2	Lens barrel and image pickup apparatus In a lens barrel including an image pickup optical system containing plural lens groups and a barrel member for holding the image pickup optical system and conducting protruding and retracting, the lens frame holding a prescribed lens group of the image pickup optical system is swung so that the prescribed lens group is moved to a position where the optical axis is different from those of other lens groups at the time of the retraction, and in the process of changing from the protruded state to retracted state, the lens frame is swung by engagement with a cam-shaped portion of a first engagement member, and is then engaged with a second engagement member.
US08854746B2	Image capturing optical lens system An image capturing optical lens system includes, in order from an object side to an image side, a first lens element, a second lens element, a third lens element, a fourth lens element and a fifth lens element. The first lens element with positive refractive power has a convex object-side surface. The second lens element with negative refractive power has a concave object-side surface. The third lens element has refractive power. The fourth lens element with refractive power has a concave object-side surface and a convex image-side surface. The fifth lens element with refractive power has a concave image-side surface, wherein an object-side surface and the image-side surface of the fifth lens element are aspheric, and the fifth lens element has at least one inflection point on the image-side surface thereof.
US08854745B1	Imaging lens assembly An imaging lens assembly includes, in order from an object side to an image side, a stop, a first lens element, a second lens element, a third lens element, a fourth lens element, a fifth lens element and a sixth lens element. The first lens element with positive refractive power has a convex object-side surface. The second lens element with negative refractive power has a concave image-side surface. The third lens element has refractive power. The fourth lens element has refractive power. The fifth lens element has refractive power. The sixth lens element with refractive power has a concave image-side surface at a paraxial region thereof, wherein the image-side surface of the sixth lens element has a convex shape at an off-axis region, and both of the surfaces of the sixth lens element are aspheric. The imaging lens assembly has a total of six non-cemented lens elements with refractive power.
US08854744B2	Optical image lens system An optical image lens system includes, in order from an object side to an image side, a first lens element, a second lens element, a third lens element, a fourth lens element, a fifth lens element and a sixth lens element. The first lens element with positive refractive power has a convex object-side surface. The second lens element and the third lens element have positive refractive power. The fourth lens element has refractive power. The fifth lens element with positive refractive power is made of plastic and has a convex object-side surface and a concave image-side surface, wherein at least one surface thereof is aspheric. The sixth lens element with refractive power is made of plastic and has a concave image-side surface, wherein at least one surface thereof is aspheric, and the image-side surface thereof changes from concave at a paraxial region to convex at a peripheral region.
US08854738B2	Coupling device for detachably connecting an eyepiece of an endoscope optical system with a camera lens A coupling device for detachably connecting an eyepiece of an endoscope optical system with a camera lens includes a receptacle for the eyepiece, attachment means for securing the eyepiece in the receptacle, and a manually activated handle arranged on the outside for releasing the attachment. The attachment means are controlled by the eyepiece so as to automatically attach the eyepiece in the receptacle while introducing the eyepiece into the receptacle.
US08854737B2	Collimator device and laser light source The present invention relates to a laser light source and others for decreasing wavelength-by-wavelength differences of focal positions of focused components in collimating and then focusing polychromatic light with a wide spectrum width. The laser light source includes a collimator device, in which relative positions of emergence of a laser beam emitted from a polychromatic light source and a collimating lens composed of an achromatic lens can be adjusted at a 10 μm level or less.
US08854733B2	Optical lens An optical lens made of resin, which includes a molded body made of a molding material containing a transparent polyamide such as polyamide 12 and a stabilizer, which has total light transmittance of at least 60% when the molded body has a thickness of 2 mm, and has total light transmittance of at least 50% after the molded body maintained at 80° C. was irradiated with light in an amount of 1000 W/m2 for 500 hours by using a xenon lamp, which is lightweight, highly transparent, and resistant to discoloration, deformation, aging, and the like due to irradiation with light emitted from a xenon lamp, a blue-violet laser or the like serving as a light source, and which is suitable for use in a light emitting device of a flash lamp and the like, is provided.
US08854730B2	Negatively birefringent polyesters and optical films Presently described are multilayer optical films, oriented polyester films, negatively birefringent copolyester polymers, fluorene monomers, and polyester polymers prepared from such fluorene monomers. In one embodiment, the multilayer optical film comprises at least one first birefringent optical layer; and at least one second optical layer having a lower birefringence than the first optical layer; wherein at least one of the optical layers comprises a negatively birefringent polyester polymer comprising a backbone and repeat units comprising at least one pendent aromatic group that is conformationally locked relative to the backbone.
US08854718B2	Electrowetting display device An electrowetting display device includes a plurality of pixels each including an array substrate, an opposite substrate, and an electrowetting layer. The array substrate includes a base substrate, a barrier wall defining a pixel area, a partition wall partitioning the pixel area into a plurality of sub-pixel areas, a hydrophobic layer disposed in the sub-pixel areas, and an electronic device controlling the electrowetting layer.
US08854716B2	Reflection type variable optical attenuator An input/output port, a birefringent element, variable polarization rotator, and a reflector are arranged along an optical axis in the order named. The variable polarization rotator includes permanent magnets for applying a fixed magnetic field to a Faraday rotator in an in-plane direction to magnetically saturate the Faraday rotator and a solenoid coil for applying a variable magnetic field to the Faraday rotator in a direction of the optical axis. A fixed magnetic field is applied in the <211> direction, in which the Faraday rotator is likely to be magnetically saturated. The Faraday rotator can be saturated with a low magnetic field of about 100 Oe. The permanent magnets may employ ferrite permanent magnets, which have weak magnetic forces. A variable magnetic field may also be reduced. Therefore, an air-core coil can be used.
US08854713B2	Power selective optical filter devices and optical systems using same In an embodiment, a power selective optical filter device includes an input polarizer for selectively transmitting an input signal. The device includes a wave-plate structure positioned to receive the input signal, which includes at least one substantially zero-order, zero-wave plate. The zero-order, zero-wave plate is configured to alter a polarization state of the input signal passing in a manner that depends on the power of the input signal. The zero-order, zero-wave plate includes an entry and exit wave plate each having a fast axis, with the fast axes oriented substantially perpendicular to each other. Each entry wave plate is oriented relative to a transmission axis of the input polarizer at a respective angle. An output polarizer is positioned to receive a signal output from the wave-plate structure and selectively transmits the signal based on the polarization state.
US08854711B2	Microelectromechanical system with reduced speckle contrast The present disclosure describes, among other things, a reduced speckle contrast microelectromechanical system. One exemplary embodiment includes micromechanical structures configured to form a uniform reflective surface on a substrate, an elastic substance coupled to the substrate, and an energy source that applies a voltage to the elastic substance to alter the shape of the surface of the substrate, for example, by about 10% to about 25% of a wavelength of light projected onto the substrate at a frequency of at least 60 Hz. Another exemplary embodiment includes micromechanical structures formed on a surface of a substrate, a reflective diaphragm connected to the substrate, an elastic substance coupled to the diaphragm, and an energy source that applies a voltage to the elastic substance to vibrate the diaphragm at a frequency of at least 60 Hz.
US08854707B2	Imaging device analysis systems and imaging device analysis methods Imaging device analysis systems and imaging device analysis methods are described. According to one embodiment, an imaging device analysis system includes a light source configured to generate a plurality of light beams for analysis of an imaging device, wherein the light beams comprise light of a plurality of different spectral power distributions, processing circuitry coupled with the light source and configured to control the light source to generate the light beams, and an optical interface optically coupled with a light receiving member of the imaging device and configured to communicate the plurality of light beams to the light receiving member of the imaging device.
US08854697B2	System and method for scanning and enlarging user selected grid areas of a printed page Systems and methods of scanning, enlarging, and printing one or more selected areas of a document are disclosed. The systems and methods include an imaging device that partitions a document into a plurality of grid areas and receives, from a user, a selection for one or more of the grid areas to be enlarged and printed. The imaging device further receives or determines an enlarged output size for the selected grid areas. The imaging device scans the document to form digital images corresponding to the selected grid areas, and adjusts and enlarges the digital images to equate to the enlarged output size. A printer of the imaging device outputs the enlarged digital images on paper of the output size.
US08854695B2	Image processing apparatus, method, and program An image processing apparatus is provided, which makes it possible to classify and store documents after scanning the documents by intuitive operations such as physically classifying the documents. The image processing apparatus according to the present invention includes an acquisition unit configured to acquire image data obtained by capturing an image of a document placed in an image capturing area; and a classification unit configured to classify the acquired image data according to at least one of a direction to which the document is framed-out from the image capturing area and a direction from which the document is framed-in to the image capturing area.
US08854693B2	Image editing apparatus, image editing method, and recording medium An image editing apparatus configured to perform ganging of a plurality of content images on a printing plate capable of transferring ink onto an output medium, includes: a region dividing unit that two-dimensionally divides a predetermined region on the printing plate into a plurality of sub regions; a priority order giving unit that gives an order of priority of disposition to each of the sub regions in a descending order of relative transfer amounts of the ink onto the output medium; a usage amount estimating unit that estimates respective usage amounts of the ink according to two or more content images out of the plurality of content images; and a disposition determining unit that determines respective disposing positions of the content images according to a disposition rule for sequentially disposing the content images of which the usage amount is estimated to be large in the sub regions having high priorities.
US08854687B2	Image forming apparatus with setting screen, setting method, and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium encoded with setting program An image forming apparatus includes a setting screen displaying portion to display a setting screen having a setting value setting area, an input screen displaying portion, responsive to designation of a position within a prescribed area determined by the setting area in the setting screen while the setting screen is being displayed, to display an input screen including input key images to be overlaid on the setting screen, a first setting value accepting portion to accept a value corresponding to the input key image designated by the user in the input screen, an operation accepting portion including hard keys, a second setting value accepting portion to accept a value corresponding to the hard key designated by the user, and a display terminating portion, responsive to acceptance of an operation of enabling the operation accepting portion while the input screen is being displayed, to terminate the display of the input screen.
US08854685B2	Image forming device that detects an undecodable image portion Provided is an image determination device including a sheet detecting unit that detects a sheet on which a code image is printed, a first acquiring unit that acquires information on the code image and an absorption wavelength of the code image, a second acquiring unit that acquires a reading unit necessary for decoding a code portion of the code image, a third acquiring unit that acquires a document image of an electronic document, a dividing unit that divides the document image into plural blocks corresponding to the reading unit, a detecting unit that detects a block in which an image portion of the document image that uses a color having an absorption band at the absorption wavelength of the code image overlaps with the code portion of the code image as an undecodable block, and an output unit that outputs a warning indicating the generation of an undecodable area.
US08854683B2	Apparatus and methods to code print data A method to code print data where print data to control a print head of a printer is received, where a coding strategy to change the size of the print data is determined based on at least one characteristic of a print mode of the printer, and the size of the print data is changed using the determined coding strategy.
US08854681B2	Image recording apparatus and control method for an image recording apparatus In an image recording apparatus, when a photograph image to be printed on a printable surface area of a circular recording medium is selected, a margin area for writing a title or a description is set. Once the margin area has been set, the photograph image is arranged in an area of the printable surface area of the recording medium excluding the margin area. Then, the photograph image is printed in the area excluding the margin area of the recording medium as arranged.
US08854679B2	Image forming apparatus, E-mail server, E-mail facsimile transmission system having the same, and E-mail facsimile setting method of image forming apparatus An image forming apparatus, an e-mail server, an e-mail facsimile transmission system having the same and an e-mail facsimile setting method of an image forming apparatus. The e-mail facsimile setting method of an image forming apparatus which transmits an e-mail for facsimile transmission to a facsimile server, includes displaying a parameter setting screen applied to a plurality of facsimile servers, inputting a parameter value depending on the displayed parameter setting screen; and transmitting an e-mail with an identification type to correspond to one kind of facsimile server of the plurality of facsimile servers to the facsimile server based on the input setting value. Thus, a setting screen commonly applied to a plurality of facsimile servers is provided to a user, thereby saving time and cost needed in an e-mail facsimile setting.
US08854663B2	Dynamic print server generation in a distributed printing environment Methods, systems, and devices are described for dynamic print server generation in a distributed printing environment. A data store may store multiple operating systems. A central server computer system is in communication with the data store. The central server computer system may receive notification of a print job, select a printer for the print job, map a stored driver to the selected printer, select an operating system associated with the driver from the data store, and dynamically load the operating system associated with the driver to generate a print server for the print job.
US08854658B2	Selectively displaying print job information based on image forming apparatus display capability Upon reception of print jobs from a host, an application server holds the print jobs, saves a price list, and calculates the cost to output the print jobs based on the price list and the setting information of the received print jobs. The server transmits the cost information and print jobs to a print apparatus which outputs the print jobs. The print apparatus displays the received cost information on an operation unit to make a user determine whether to output the print jobs prior to output of the jobs.
US08854656B2	Management apparatus, system, and management method A management apparatus transmits a reservation request for specifying time for turning off power supply of an image processing apparatus in response to determination that current time is in a time period for turning off the power supply of image processing apparatus if a start-up request is received from the image processing apparatus, transmits a start-up response for permitting start-up of functions other than a communication function provided in the image processing apparatus when a reservation response, to the reservation request from the image processing apparatus, including specified time for turning off the power supply of the image processing apparatus is received, and transmits a command for turning off the power supply of the image processing apparatus at the time specified by the reservation response, to the image processing apparatus.
US08854652B2	Host device and printing control method thereof A host device and a printing control method of the host device. The host device includes a print data generation unit to generate print data for each page of a document to be printed, a transmission unit to transmit the generated print data to an image forming device, a menu generation unit to generate a print option setting menu if an interrupt occurs while transmitting the print data through the transmission unit, and a controller to control the print data generation unit to convert the print data after occurrence of the interrupt into print data to which the reset print option is applied.
US08854651B2	Image forming apparatus, information processing method, and recording medium indicating a version of a function supported by the image forming apparatus An image forming apparatus including an application is disclosed. The image forming apparatus includes a determining unit that, when the application starts in the image forming apparatus, checks first information indicating a function to be used by the application against second information indicating a function supported by the image forming apparatus so as to determine whether the function to be used by the application is executable, and changes operations of the application according to a determination result. The determining unit is automatically updated if the determining unit does not support a structure of the first information or a structure of the second information.
US08854644B2	Instruction accepting system for contacting one or more instruction devices on display device and validate identification information to process images Between a digital multi-function peripheral for processing data, and one or a plurality of memory devices for giving an instruction for the digital multi-function peripheral to process data, when the memory device(s) contacts a display surface of a display section of the digital multi-function peripheral, the digital multi-function peripheral accepts a first instruction concerning authentication and a second instruction concerning processing of the data based on a contact position, in this case, acquires first identification data stored in the memory device(s) concerning the first instruction and second identification data stored in the memory device(s) concerning the second instruction, and when the first identification data and the second identification data do not coincide with each other, invalidates the accepted second instruction.
US08854642B2	Image forming apparatus and image forming method If pixel segment insertion/extraction control by random number control which is uniform irrespective of a type of image data is performed, in the case of a character or diagram, main scanning positions where the pixel-segment insertion/extraction is executed become discontinuous in a sub-scanning direction, and image quality deteriorates. To solve the above problem, there is provided an image forming apparatus having: a unit for dividing an image into a plurality of areas in the main scanning direction; a unit for setting a reference area for performing pixel segment insertion/extraction control in each of divided areas; and a unit for deciding a position where the pixel segment insertion/extraction control in each of the divided area, in accordance with attribute information of image data in the set reference area.
US08854640B2	Electronic device, control method for an electronic device, and recording medium An electronic device that supports multiple command systems embodies a function for switching from one to another of the multiple command systems regardless of the specifications of the command system being used. A hybrid device 10 that operates based on commands sent from a host computer 200 sets a specific transition condition for changing to another command system after the last command system change corresponding to a switching command sent from the host computer 200. When the set transition condition is met, the computer returns to the command system used before the command system was last changed or changes to another command system.
US08854639B2	Control device, image forming apparatus, and reading device For functions of a multifunction machine for processing of processing items relating to document reading operations and processing items relating to operations other than document reading operations in a case where operation screens for setting content in regard to the processing items in a wizard format display are displayed in the wizard format display, a display order is set in advance for the operation screens for the processing items so that the operation screens for processing items relating to document reading operations are displayed prior to operation screens for processing items relating to operations other than document reading operations.
US08854638B2	Variable printing control apparatus and control program A variable printing control apparatus for creating an image data to be printed, using variable printing data containing a plurality of page data in which one of a plurality of parts is arranged in one page, the variable printing control apparatus being configured to implement: a first processing method for rasterizing the plurality of page data, extracting the plurality of parts from each of pieces of raster data, and superimposing the plurality of parts of raster data to create the image data; and a second processing method for converting the plurality of page data into PDL data, extracting the plurality of parts from each of pieces of PDL data, superimposing the plurality of parts of PDL data, and rasterizing the superimposed PDL data to create the image data.
US08854636B2	Host device with universal image scanning device driver and driver management method thereof A host device and a driver management method of the host device are provided. The driver management method of the host device includes searching for at least one image scanning device connected to the host device, displaying a list of the at least one image scanning device found as a result of searching, selecting one of the at least one image scanning device from the displayed list, generating a user-specified driver for the selected image scanning device, and adding the generated user-specified driver. Therefore, it is possible to simplify the use of a universal image scanning device driver.
US08854633B2	Volume dimensioning system and method employing time-of-flight camera Volume dimensioning employs techniques to reduce multipath reflection or return of illumination, and hence distortion. Volume dimensioning for any given target object includes a sequence of one or more illuminations and respective detections of returned illumination. A sequence typically includes illumination with at least one initial spatial illumination pattern and with one or more refined spatial illumination patterns. Refined spatial illumination patterns are generated based on previous illumination in order to reduce distortion. The number of refined spatial illumination patterns in a sequence may be fixed, or may vary based on results of prior illumination(s) in the sequence. Refined spatial illumination patterns may avoid illuminating background areas that contribute to distortion. Sometimes, illumination with the initial spatial illumination pattern may produce sufficiently acceptable results, and refined spatial illumination patterns in the sequence omitted.
US08854626B2	Rotating stall detection using optical measurement of blade untwist Systems and methods are provided for real-time detection of the onset of stall in turbomachinery, such as compressor stall. The methods are capable of detecting and analyzing time of arrival of the chord of the blade at a sensor array to provide an indication of the onset of compressor stall. Systems for detecting the onset of compressor stall include: light sources; a plurality of linearly arranged optical fibers for transmitting light from the light sources and for receiving transmitted light reflected from a blade; a detector for measuring intensity of the reflected light; and a processor for analyzing the intensity of the reflected light to determine blade twist angle and from the blade twist angle identify onset of compressor stall. The invention can prevent the needless loss of life and assets caused by compressor stall that may lead to unexpected catastrophic failure of an engine.
US08854619B2	Multispectral imaging device with MOEMS type filter for satellite observation A multispectral imaging device for satellite observation utilizing “push broom” scanning over an observed area centered on one or more wavelengths which can be electrically controlled to produce a filtering function wavelength band, thus obviating the need for conventional stacking.
US08854615B2	Inspection apparatus and inspection method According to one embodiment, an inspection apparatus includes a first monochromatic body disposed behind an inspection target including a transparent member or a semitransparent member, relative to an observation position which deviates from a normal direction of the inspection target, a light source configured to illuminate the inspection target and disposed at such a position in front of the inspection target that an image of the light source is not reflected on the inspection target which is observed at the observation position, and a second monochromatic body disposed at such a position in front of the inspection target that an image of the second monochromatic body is reflected on the inspection target which is observed at the observation position.
US08854605B2	Illumination optical system, exposure apparatus, and device fabrication method The present invention provides an illumination optical system which illuminates an illumination target surface with a light beam from a light source, the system including a plurality of adjustment units each having one of a reflectance distribution and a transmittance distribution to adjust an incident angle distribution of the light beam which impinges on the illumination target surface, the plurality of adjustment units including an adjustment unit which adjusts differences between light amounts, in a first direction, of incident angle distributions of light beams at a plurality of points on the illumination target surface, and light amounts, in a second direction, thereof, and an adjustment unit which adjusts at least one of light amount differences, in the first direction, of the incident angle distributions of the light beams at the plurality of points on the illumination target surface, and light amount differences, in the second direction, thereof.
US08854602B2	Holding device for an optical element in an objective A holding device for an optical element in an objective has a mount that is connected to the objective, on the one hand, and at least indirectly to the optical element, on the other hand. Arranged between the mount and the optical element is a reinforcing element whose coefficient of thermal expansion corresponds substantially to the coefficient of thermal expansion of the optical element.
US08854598B2	Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method A lithographic apparatus having an illumination system configured to condition a radiation beam, a support constructed to support a patterning device, the patterning device being capable of imparting the radiation beam with a pattern in its cross-section to form a patterned radiation beam, a substrate table constructed to hold a substrate; a projection system configured to project the patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of the substrate; and, an actuator arranged to exert a force on an object, wherein the apparatus includes a thermal expansion error compensator configured to avoid an error caused by thermal expansion of the object by any heat dissipated by the actuator or another heat source.
US08854594B2	System and method for tracking Systems and methods are provided for tracking at least position and angular orientation. The system comprises a computing device in communication with at least two cameras, wherein each of the cameras are able to capture images of one or more light sources attached to an object. A receiver is in communication with the computing device, wherein the receiver is able to receive at least angular orientation data associated with the object. The computing device determines the object's position by comparing images of the light sources and generates an output comprising the position and angular orientation of the object.
US08854592B2	Liquid crystal display and manufacturing method thereof A liquid crystal display includes a lower panel and an upper panel facing each other. A liquid crystal layer is interposed between the lower panel and the upper panel. An attachment member attaches the lower panel and the upper panel and encloses the liquid crystal layer. A gate driver is integrated on the lower panel. The gate driver generates a gate signal and includes a plurality of stages. A plurality of control signal lines transmit a control signal to the gate driver. A passivation layer is disposed on the gate driver and the plurality of control signal lines. An alignment layer is disposed on the passivation layer and completely covers the gate driver and the plurality of control signal lines. The alignment layer includes a first region and a second region connected to the first region. The second region extends to an edge of the lower panel.
US08854589B2	Conducting film or electrode comprising a dielectric intervening layer having electrically conductive pathways disposed between first and second transparent or semi-transparent conductive layers A conducting film or device electrode includes a substrate and two transparent or semitransparent conductive layers separated by a transparent or semitransparent intervening layer. The intervening layer includes electrically conductive pathways between the first and second conductive layers to help reduce interfacial reflections occurring between particular layers in devices incorporating the conducting film or electrode.
US08854582B2	Method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device comprising an alignment film that includes polyamide acid ester with 80% or more of which is polyamide ester including cyclobutane A method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device having a TFT substrate in which an alignment film is formed over a pixel including a pixel electrode and a TFT, an opposing substrate which faces the TFT substrate, and liquid crystals sandwiched between the TFT substrate and the opposing substrate, the alignment film on the TFT substrate including a first and a second alignment film. The method includes depositing a mixture liquid of polyamide acid ester, 80 percent or more of which is polyamide acid ester including cyclobutane, and polyamide acid not including cyclobutane onto the TFT substrate and the opposing substrate, and after drying and firing the TFT substrate and the opposing substrate to harden the alignment film, irradiating the alignment film with ultraviolet light for photo-alignment of the alignment film and, thereafter, heating the TFT substrate and the opposing substrate, thereby forming the alignment film.
US08854579B2	Liquid crystal display An exemplary embodiment of the present invention relates to a liquid crystal display having a display area and a non-display area which includes a first substrate and a second substrate facing the first substrate, a layer having a first opening, a spacer disposed in the first opening, and a first light blocking member disposed in the non-display area. The spacer is disposed in the first opening to maintain an interval between the first substrate and the second substrate. The spacer and the first light blocking member include the same material.
US08854575B2	Electroluminescent displays A display including an electroluminescent layer, a liquid crystal layer, a barrier layer arranged between the electroluminescent layer and the liquid crystal layer to restrict migration of liquid crystal from the liquid crystal layer to the electroluminescent layer, and a first electrode and a second electrode arranged such that the electroluminescent layer and the liquid crystal layer are disposed between the first and second electrodes and arranged to apply an electric field across both the electroluminescent layer and the liquid crystal layer.
US08854574B2	Film-shaped lightguide plate unit, planar light unit, display apparatus and electronic device A film-shaped lightguide plate unit enables reductions in thickness and weight. The film-shaped lightguide plate unit (7) has a film-shaped lightguide plate (6) and a support frame (8) made of a film material to support at least the outer peripheral edge of the film-shaped lightguide plate (6). Optical sheets including the film-shaped lightguide plate, a diffusing sheet, a prism sheet, etc. are disposed inside the support frame.
US08854573B2	Electronic device An electronic device including a display is provided. The display displays a received information content, and the information content has a horizontal direction. The display has a horizontal direction parallel to the information content's horizontal direction. The display includes a display panel, a backlight module and a first polarization unit. The backlight module is disposed at a side of the display panel, wherein the backlight module includes a horizontal prism sheet. The horizontal prism sheet includes a plurality of first prisms, wherein top angles of the first prisms are larger than or equal to 80 degrees and are smaller than 90 degrees. The display panel is located between the first polarization unit and the backlight module. A first angle between a transmission axis of the first polarization unit and the horizontal direction of the display is larger than 45 degrees and smaller than 135 degrees.
US08854566B2	Pixel element of liquid crystal display and method for producing the same The present invention provides a method for forming a pixel element. The method comprises: forming a first patterned metal layer within the pixel area; forming an insulation layer on the first patterned metal layer; forming a semiconductor layer on the insulation layer; patterning the semiconductor layer to form bend seed generation portion; and forming a second metal layer to connect the semiconductor layer.
US08854561B2	Liquid crystal display panel with charge sharing scheme A LCD panel in which a pixel has a first sub-pixel area and a second sub-pixel area, each area having a storage capacitor. Each pixel has a first gate line for providing a first gate-line signal for charging the first and second storage capacitors, and a second gate line for providing a second gate-line signal for removing part of the charges in the second storage capacitor to a third capacitor after the first gate-line signal has passed. The width of the first and second gate-line signals and their timing can be varied so that the first gate-line signal provided to a row can be used as the second gate-line signal to one of the preceding rows. In some embodiments, a pixel in each row has a duplicate pixel arranged to similarly receive the first and second gate-line signals, but data signals are received from different data lines.
US08854553B2	Video display correction to provide on-axis view at an off-axis angle Embodiments describe methods, apparatus and systems to provide video display correction to provide an on-axis view at an off-axis angle so that the display surface displays a rectangular video image. For instance, a device may receive a stream of video data to be displayed on a display surface of a display, the video data having a first rectangular aspect ratio to be viewed from an on-axis location with respect to the display surface. The device may also receive a user selection of an off-axis viewing angle with respect to the display surface. The device may then correct the first rectangular aspect ratio to a second, non-rectangular aspect ratio based on the off-axis viewing angle, so that from the off-axis angle, the display surface appears to display a rectangular video image. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
US08854546B2	Method and apparatus for displaying data content A method of displaying input data content, the input data content comprising video data placed in a video plane and overlay data placed in an overlay plane, said method comprising the steps of: —shifting the video plane compared to the overlay plane so as the overlay plane does not occult the video plane, —mixing the resulting shifted video plane and overlay plane, for generating output data content, and —displaying said output data content.
US08854536B2	External device operable in synchronization with camera wirelessly connected thereto, and camera operable in synchronization with external device wirelessly connected thereto The external device, for example, an electronic flash device, is wirelessly connectable to an information communication device, for example, a camera. The external device includes: a synchronization data creation unit that outputs synchronization data for synchronization of timing of processing related to photography; a packet creation unit that creates a communication packet including control information; and a packet output unit that outputs the communication packet to the exterior by wireless communication. The packet creation unit includes a packet reception unit that receives the communication packet; a detection unit that detects the synchronization data before all of the received communication packets received by the packet reception unit has been read in; and a signal output unit that outputs a synchronization signal used for establishing synchronization of the timing of the processing related to photography on the basis of detection by the detection unit of the synchronization data.
US08854532B2	Imaging apparatus, imaging method, and program An imaging apparatus includes: an optical system that forms an image corresponding to subject light incident through a lens; an imaging device that produces a signal corresponding to the subject light incident through the lens and outputs the signal as a captured image; acquisition means for acquiring the distance to the subject; and correction means for correcting blur in the captured image outputted from the imaging device based on an imaging characteristic of the optical system specific to the subject distance acquired by the acquisition means.
US08854531B2	Multiple remote controllers that each simultaneously controls a different visual presentation of a 2D/3D display Remote control devices that can be used to independently modify multiple visual presentations that are simultaneously displayed by a screen assembly are described, wherein at least one of the visual presentations is observable by a first viewer but not a second viewer. The remote control devices can also be used to independently select media content upon which each of the multiple visual presentations is based and to control the manner in which such media content is delivered to the screen assembly. In accordance with certain embodiments, at least one of the visual presentations comprises a three-dimensional visual presentation. Display systems that include such remote control devices and methods of operating the same are also described.
US08854529B2	Image capturing apparatus and focus detection method An image capturing apparatus performs focus detection based on a pair of image signals obtained from an image sensor including pixels each having a pair of photoelectric conversion units capable of outputting the pair of image signals obtained by independently receiving a pair of light beams that have passed through different exit pupil regions of an imaging optical system. In the focus detection, an f-number of the imaging optical system is acquired, the pair of image signals undergo filtering using a first filter formed from an summation filter when the f-number is less than a predetermined threshold, or using a second filter formed from the summation filter and a differential filter when the f-number is not less than the threshold, and focus detection is performed by a phase difference method based on the pair of filtered image signals.
US08854527B2	Optical lens having fixed lenses and embedded active optics An electrically controllable optical lens apparatus makes use of fixed lenses and an active optical element together in a lens enclosure. The enclosure may be a barrel structure that is easily mounted to a camera device having an image sensor. The active optical element, such as a tunable liquid crystal lens, receives an electrical signal from the camera device via electrical conductors integral with the lens enclosure that provide electrical pathways between the active element on the interior of the enclosure and surface contacts on the camera device. The enclosure may be a two-piece structure, and the electrical conductors may be attached to either piece of the structure. The lens enclosure may also be threaded for attachment to the camera device. The electrical conductors may also use spring loaded contact portions or molded interconnect devices.
US08854518B2	Solid-state imaging device, method of driving the same, and electronic system including the device A solid-state imaging device includes: a unit pixel including a photoelectric conversion section, an impurity-diffusion region capable of temporarily accumulating or holding electric charges generated by the photoelectric conversion section, and a reset transistor resetting the impurity-diffusion region by a voltage of a voltage-supply line, and having an impurity concentration such that at least the reset transistor side of the impurity-diffusion region becomes a depletion state; and a drive circuit changing the voltage of the voltage-supply line from a first voltage lower than a depletion potential of the reset transistor side of the impurity-diffusion region to a second voltage higher than the depletion potential while the reset transistor is on.
US08854506B2	Solid-state imaging device, method of driving the same, and electronic apparatus using the same Disclosed herein is a solid-state imaging device including: a photoelectric conversion portion generating signal electric charges corresponding to a quantity of light; a pixel array block having pixels, each of the pixels including three or more electric charge accumulating portions having a first electric charge accumulating portion, a second electric charge accumulating portion, and a third electric charge accumulating portion, and plural pixel transistors; a scanning block carrying out scanning in such a way that accumulation periods of time for the signal electric charges become simultaneous for all of the pixels, and scanning reading-out of the low illuminance signal and the high illuminance signal; and an arithmetic operation processing portion acquiring a false signal accumulated in the third electric charge accumulating portion before the reading-out of the low illuminance signal, and correcting the low illuminance signal and the high illuminance signal by using the false signal.
US08854502B2	Image recording and playback device, and image recording and playback method An image processing device of the present invention comprises a storage section for storing first image data obtained by imaging in front of the imaging device body or using a telephoto lens, and second image data obtained by imaging behind the imaging device body or using a wide-angle lens; a movement pattern detection section for processing the first image data to detect a movement pattern of the first image represented by the first image data; a movement pattern determination section determining whether or not the movement pattern of the first image is unstable movement; and an image processing section for rewriting a part of the first image data, for which it has been determined by the movement pattern determination section that the movement pattern of the first image is unstable, using the second image data.
US08854501B2	Image processing apparatus and image processing method for processing spectral image data An image processing apparatus for processing spectral image data of an object includes a normalization unit configured to normalize spectral data in each pixel of the spectral image data with respect to luminance level, a deviation amount calculation unit configured to calculate a deviation amount between the spectral data of a reference pixel and the spectral data of a target pixel to be clustered, which are normalized by the normalization unit, among each of the pixels of the spectral image data, and a segment determination unit configured to determine an affiliated segment of target pixel in the object of the spectral image data based on the deviation amount calculated by the deviation amount calculation unit.
US08854493B2	Hand held image capture device with multi-core processor for facial detection A hand held image capture device that has a camera with an image sensor to capture a scene viewed by the camera and, a central processor having multiple processing units and an image sensor interface integrated onto a single chip. The image sensor interface is configured to receive data from the image sensor and the multiple processing units being configured for processing in the data. The processing of the data includes detecting faces within the scene.
US08854490B2	Method and apparatus for compensating a black level of an image signal A method and an apparatus for compensating a black level are provided, in which an image signal processor converts an input image signal into an image signal at YUV color coordinates so that the image signal at the YUV color coordinates is in a first signal range, and a black level compensator compensates a Y component of the image signal at the YUV color coordinates so that the Y component of the image signal at the YUV color coordinates are in a second signal range narrower than the first signal range or maintains the Y component of the image signal at the YUV color coordinates in the first signal range, according to a type of an external image output device.
US08854487B2	Imaging apparatus and imaging method A focusing operation is started before desired exposure according to a second program diagram is obtained when a program diagram is switched from a first program diagram to be used in a first mode to the second program diagram to be used in a second mode based on a light metering value.
US08854485B1	Methods and systems for providing functionality of an interface to include an artificial horizon Methods and systems for providing functionality of an interface to include an artificial horizon are provided. In one example, a method includes receiving information indicating a range of motion of a camera on a device, and providing an interface on a second device remote from the device. The interface may be configured to receive an input indicating a command for an orientation of the camera on the device. The method may further include based on the information indicating the range of motion of the camera, providing an artificial horizon at a fixed position on the interface that indicates the range of motion of the camera on either side of the artificial horizon. The fixed position of the artificial horizon may be associated with an orientation of the camera having a tilt value of about zero or having a pan value of about zero.
US08854481B2	Image stabilization devices, methods, and systems Image stabilization devices, methods, and systems are described herein. One image stabilization device includes a sensor having an array of pixels, wherein the sensor is configured to track a moving object using a number of the pixels, wherein the number of the pixels track only a particular portion of the moving object, and form an image of the moving object using the number of the pixels and their neighboring pixels that were not used to track the moving object.
US08854472B1	Imagine capturing device and image capturing method Disclosed is an image capturing device having an irradiation unit, an image capturing unit, and a color representation setting unit. The irradiation unit irradiates a subject with infrared rays having different wavelength intensity distributions, the image capturing unit captures images of the subject by the respective infrared rays having different wavelength distributions which are reflected by the subject, and forms image information indicating the respective images, and the color representation setting unit sets color representation information for representing the respective images, which are indicated by the formed image information, by different plain colors. Also disclosed is an image capturing method for separating infrared rays from a subject into infrared rays having different wavelength intensity distributions, capturing images of the subject by the respective infrared rays having different wavelength intensity distributions, forming image information indicating the respective images, and representing the respective images, which are indicated by the formed image information.
US08854465B1	Vehicle security surveillance system and method for surveillance of a vehicle A vehicle security surveillance system includes a camera installed within a vehicle's interior a memory device coupled to the camera, an external device interface coupled to the memory device, a wiring interface coupled to a power supply, a network interface module, and an image packet application. The camera is normally rendered in a “stand-by” mode until trigger activated to generate digital images of the interior of the vehicle. An image packet application facilitates, generation of at least one vehicle interior image packet. On receiving a trigger from the motion sensors, the camera is rendered to record digital images to the memory device and the image packet application initiates generation of at least one vehicle interior image packet including the recorded digital images and encrypts each digital image. The at least one vehicle interior image packet is sent from the vehicle security surveillance system via the network interface module.
US08854463B2	Method and apparatus for generating a bird's-eye view image An obstacle detecting unit detects whether an obstacle exists in an area surrounding a vehicle in the direction a camera installed on the vehicle is pointed. If the obstacle is determined to have a portion at a predetermined height above a road surface with which the vehicle may make initial contact when the vehicle moves toward the obstacle, a virtual projection surface is set to the height of the predicted contact portion and viewpoint conversion processing is performed so as to project pixels of an image captured by the camera onto the virtual projection plane. In this way, the height of the projection plane and the height of the predicted contact portion match each other and the distance between the predicted contact portion and the vehicle is accurately expressed on a bird's-eye view image resulting from the viewpoint conversion.
US08854462B2	Method of determining the passage of a vehicle through a gap The invention discloses a method of determining the ability of a vehicle to pass through a restricted gap in the roadway, including the steps of: detecting a restricted gap in the roadway, defining an image of the vehicle, and comparing the vehicle image with the restricted gap.
US08854460B2	Image providing apparatus, image displaying apparatus, image transmitting system and image transmitting method using the same An image providing apparatus, an image displaying apparatus, an image transmitting system and an image transmitting method thereof. The image providing apparatus includes a storage unit, a transceiver to receive transmission request information and a stored image, and a controller to process the image using extracted information. Accordingly, a waste of resource required for data processing at an external device is reduced and an image optimized for display is provided to the external device.
US08854457B2	Systems and methods for the autonomous production of videos from multi-sensored data An autonomous computer based method and system is described for personalized production of videos such as team sport videos such as basketball videos from multi-sensored data under limited display resolution. Embodiments of the present invention relate to the selection of a view to display from among the multiple video streams captured by the camera network. Technical solutions are provided to provide perceptual comfort as well as an efficient integration of contextual information, which is implemented, for example, by smoothing generated viewpoint/camera sequences to alleviate flickering visual artifacts and discontinuous story-telling artifacts. A design and implementation of the viewpoint selection process is disclosed that has been verified by experiments, which shows that the method and system of the present invention efficiently distribute the processing load across cameras, and effectively selects viewpoints that cover the team action at hand while avoiding major perceptual artifacts.
US08854441B2	Electronic magnification device Disclosed is a magnification device for use by blind and/or low vision individuals. The device includes an X-Y table upon which an item to be magnified can be placed. A stationary camera arm and a pivotal monitor arm are oriented over the X-Y table. The monitor arm includes a video monitor pivotally mounted at its distal end. The camera arm also includes two laterally disposed lighting arms. A series of controls are provided along a lower edge of the monitor via a mounting bracket.
US08854437B2	Double-layer switchable stereo liquid crystal display and operation method thereof A double-layer switchable stereo liquid crystal display includes a timing controller, a microprocessor, a backlight module, a first liquid crystal panel, a controller, and a second liquid crystal panel. The timing controller receives an image signal and generates a left/right eye signal and a two-dimensional/three-dimensional control signal. The microprocessor outputs the image signal, and generates a control signal and a backlight control signal according to output timing of the image signal. The first liquid crystal panel receives and displays the image signal. The controller outputs a voltage control signal according to the control signal. The second liquid crystal panel rotates liquid crystal within the second liquid crystal panel according to the voltage control signal. A period for the second liquid crystal panel rotating the liquid crystal to a second angle is longer than a period for the second liquid crystal panel rotating the liquid crystal to a first angle.
US08854436B2	Stereoscopic image display and method for driving the same A stereoscopic image display includes a display panel, which displays first to nth view images produced by separating cameras from one another by a general distance between both eyes and photographing images of an object, where n is a natural number, a liquid crystal (LC) lens cell, which moves LC molecules existing in an LC layer between a lower substrate and an upper substrate of the display panel based on a voltage difference between a common electrode and each of electrodes to form an LC lens, an LC lens cell controller controlling a voltage supplied to each of the common electrode and the electrodes, and an LC lens cell driver supplying the voltage to each of the common electrode and the electrodes.
US08854434B2	Transmission device, receiving device, program, and communication system There is provided a demultiplexer that receives video data for one of a three-dimensional display and a two-dimensional display. There is also provided an HDMI transmission portion that transmits the video data and display information that pertains to one of the three-dimensional display and the two-dimensional display of the video data to a television receiver through TMDS channels #0, #1, and #2 of an HDMI cable. There is also provided a transmission/receiving portion that transmits the display information to the television receiver through a CEC line of the HDMI cable.
US08854426B2	Time-of-flight camera with guided light A time-of-flight 3D camera and related method for illuminating a camera field of view and capturing return image light are disclosed herein. In one example, the time-of-flight 3D camera includes a light source that emits source light along an optical axis, and a collimator that receives and collimates the source light to create collimated light. A refractive diffuser is tuned to the camera field of view and receives and diffuses the collimated light to create refracted light having a varying intensity profile. The refractive diffuser guides the refracted light to illuminate the camera field of view to reduce wasted source light.
US08854421B2	Image processing apparatus and on-vehicle camera apparatus An image processing apparatus includes a line buffer, an FIR filter serving as an edge enhancement filter that enhances high-frequency components of an image, and an IIR filter serving as a low-pass filter that reduces noise. The same line buffer is used by both the FIR filter and the IIR filter. According to a switching signal, switches enable the FIR filter and disable the IIR filter for a relatively low noise level while the switches enable IIR filter and disable the FIR filter for a relatively high noise level.
US08854419B2	Method and system for controlling multipoint video conference, central control subsystem and video terminal A system and method for controlling multipoint video conference, a video terminal and a central control subsystem are provided by the present invention. The system includes a central control subsystem and a video terminal at the conference place side, and central office equipment at the network side. The central control subsystem is configured to transmit a multipoint video conference control command to the video terminal; the video terminal is configured to transmit the received multipoint video conference control command to the central office equipment at the network side; the central office equipment is configured to control the video terminal of each conference place according to the received multipoint video conference control command. The scheme of the present invention maintains the good usability of the central control subsystem and guarantees the safety and the stability of the central office system.
US08854410B2	Exposure device and image forming apparatus An exposure device includes at least one light emitting element that emits light in a normal direction of the substrate; at least one hologram element that is recorded on a recording layer arranged on the substrate to diffract light emitted from the light emitting element and condense the diffracted light on a condensing point on a normal line of the light emitting element; and at least one light inhibiting part that is arranged on a straight line that connects the light emitting element and the condensing point such that the light diffracted by the hologram element passes through the outside of the light inhibiting part and condenses at the condensing point, to inhibit transmission of zeroth-order light that goes straight toward the condensing point from the light emitting element without being diffracted by the hologram element.
US08854406B1	Collective marking of a surface by steering multiple laser beams generated by a laser controller Disclosed are methods, systems, and/or apparatus for the collective marking of a surface by two or more laser beams generated by a laser controller. A method includes receiving one or more input signals from a controller of the laser system. The method also includes adjusting a first mirror through a first galvanometer scanner, a second minor through a second galvanometer scanner, a third mirror through a third galvanometer scanner, and a fourth mirror through a fourth galvanometer scanner based on the one or more input signals. The method further includes steering, through the first mirror and the second mirror, a first laser beam generated by the controller and transmitted to a marking head through a beam delivery vessel; and steering, through the third mirror and the fourth minor, a second laser beam generated by the controller and transmitted to the marking head through another beam delivery vessel.
US08854402B2	Liquid crystal display apparatus and driving method thereof A liquid crystal display (LCD) apparatus and a method of driving the LCD apparatus are provided. The LCD apparatus includes a panel unit including at least one pixel having a plurality of sub-pixels and a controller which inserts gray data into at least one pixel of the plurality of sub-pixels based on a frame period and a polarity of a liquid crystal of the at least one pixel.
US08854401B2	System and method to improve image edge discoloration Present techniques involve methods and systems for reducing edge discoloration in a display. In one embodiment, the first and last columns of a display are dimmed by adjusting a black mask or reducing transmittance of the relevant pixels. Further, the first and last columns of a display may be entirely covered by the black mask. In some embodiments, using a coupling extrusion on a neighboring sub-pixel can be used to control the coupling between the neighboring sub-pixels to reduce edge discoloration. Display software may also be used to reduce edge discoloration. For example, software may automatically reduce the brightness of the first and last column. In some embodiments, software may be used to detect edges of objects within the display area. Edges of an object are detected, and the last sub-pixel of the background and/or the first sub-pixel of the object are compensated.
US08854395B2	Method for producing artistic image template designs A method for storing a pre-designed digital template having a number of digital openings for displaying at least one digital image within each opening. Each opening has stored required image attributes associated with it for finding appropriate images to place in the opening. At least one of the non-primary image files has a satisfactory required image attribute score as computed by the computer system which is based on a required image attribute for an associated opening where an image of the at least one other of the non-primary image files will be displayed. The required image attribute itself is based upon at least one of the image attributes of the primary image file.
US08854394B2	Processing method and apparatus therefor and image compositing method and apparatus therefor In order to combine N (N≧3) pieces of image data including not only color data but also distance data and opacity data, when images that are to be combined are input, distance data of each pixel in each image data is sorted in parallel for each pixel data at identical coordinates in a plurality of images so as to determine the distance relationship as the order relationship concerning the input image data. On the other hand, color data and opacity data of each input image that are to be combined are stored in a pixel-by-pixel manner. The color data and opacity data stored in the storing step are read and rearranged in parallel by using the order relationship concerning the input image data obtained in the sorting step so that the color data and opacity data are arranged in the order relationship corresponding to the input images. The color data and opacity data rearranged in the rearranging step are combined, in an alpha blending technique, in parallel.
US08854391B2	Method and system for providing images of a virtual world scene and method and system for processing the same A method and systems for providing and processing images of a virtual world scene. The method includes: rendering the scene of the virtual world to generate a plurality of rendering results, generating at least one image stream based on at least part of the plurality of rendering results, and sending the at least one image stream to the client. The system for providing the images includes: rendering means to generate a plurality of rendering results; image stream generation means for generating at least one image stream; and sending means for sending said at least one image stream to a client. After providing the images, the images are processed by receiving means for receiving, at a client, two image streams and merging means for merging the two image streams into a single image stream for playing.
US08854388B2	Image processing apparatus and memory management method for image processing apparatus An image processing apparatus has a plurality of functions and is capable of executing a job relating to any of the plurality of functions. The image processing apparatus includes a memory management unit to secure a storage region in a first storage device for program execution, a save unit to save information from the storage region in the first storage device to a second storage device, a history recording unit to record a history relating to execution of the job each time the image processing apparatus executes the job, and a save restriction unit to restrict saving of information from the storage region in the first storage device to the second storage device in order to execute a job relating to a function which is specified based on a job history recorded by the history recording unit from among the plurality of functions.
US08854386B2	Method and apparatus for controlling writing of data to graphic memory A method and apparatus for controlling writing of data to a graphic memory is provided. In the method and apparatus, a plurality of consecutively input data pieces are controlled to be not consecutively written to the same memory area in terms of time or space.

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