Document	Document Title
US09160111B2	Fully embedded electronic plug-in card A fully embedded electronic plug-in card pluggable into a slot of a plug-in socket having a plurality of elastic guide arms includes a main body, a plurality of conductive plates and a recessed structure. The main body can be wholly plugged into the plug-in socket without protruding out from the plug-in socket. The conductive plate is mounted onto the main body, and exposed from a side of the main body, and each conductive plate is electrically coupled to each respective elastic guide arm. The recessed structure is disposed on the main body and at a position corresponding to the slot of the plug-in socket. The electronic plug-in card can be plugged into the plug-in socket all the time to save the trouble and inconvenience of plugging the card for use or unplugging the card for removal.
US09160109B2	Lever actuated electrical center assembly A connector assembly having a first connector portion, which has a lever that is configured to slide a pair of cam track structures, and a second connector portion that includes a plurality of cam followers that are received into cam tracks in the cam track structures. The lever can be operated to draw the first connector portion toward the second connector portion to couple first and second terminals together.
US09160094B2	Wire array rubber connector and method for producing the same Disclosed is a wire array rubber connector (10), including: an electrical insulating rubber (2); and a plurality of conductive metal wires (1) that are arrayed in a thickness direction of the electrical insulating rubber so as to pass through front and back surfaces of the electrical insulating rubber, and localized so as to be electrically connectable to electrical terminals that are disposed at predetermined positions on the front and back surfaces of the electrical insulating rubber. The electrical insulating rubber (2) is a flame-resistant rubber achieving V-0 based on the UL-94 standard. This wire array rubber connector (10) is obtained by: mixing a plurality of conductive metal wires having a predetermined length into a liquid thermosetting electrical insulating rubber material; applying a magnetic field from a thickness direction of the rubber material using an electromagnet that is patterned in a predetermined pattern so that the conductive metal wires are arrayed in the thickness direction and localized; and curing the rubber material by heating, thereby providing the wire array rubber connector with high flame resistance and with low transmission loss in a high frequency region.
US09160092B2	Junction box for snap together electrical connections to photovoltaic panels A junction box adapted to provide an electrical connection to an electrical wire attached to a photovoltaic panel. The junction box has a lower portion which has an entry slot to allow entry of the wire into the junction box and a raised protrusion over which the wire is bent and formed to be substantially in the same shape as the raised protrusion. The junction box also has a clamp adapted to be attachable to said lower portion, whereby the clamp holds the wire in place for providing the electrical connection. The wire is preferably bus ribbon. The lower portion preferably has an elastic polymeric element disposed between the raised portion and the wire. The raised protrusion may have an elastic polymeric element.
US09160082B2	Sleeve contact for an electrical zero-force plug-type connector A sleeve contact includes a base body, a clamping sleeve, and a spring. The base body includes a receiving region. The clamping sleeve displaceable against the base body. The spring has first and second S-curve sections and is mounted at one end to the base body to thereby form a lever having a short lever arm from the end to the first S-curve section and a long lever arm from the end to the second S-curve section. The clamping sleeve acts on the spring as the contact sleeve displaces to produce a contact force towards the receiving region such that the long lever arm is pressed by the clamping sleeve towards the receiving region to thereby cause the short lever arm to bear against a plug contact inserted into the receiving region.
US09160072B2	Antenna system having guard array and associated techniques An antenna system includes a main array and a guard array. The main array has an antenna pattern that includes a main beam and multiple side lobes that are concentrated in distinct side lobe regions. The guard array includes an antenna pattern that encompasses both the main beam and the side lobe regions of the main array. In addition, an outer boundary of the antenna pattern of the guard array roughly tracks an outer boundary of the distinct side lobe regions of the main array. In at least one embodiment, the main array is a rectangular or quasi-rectangular array having side lobes concentrated within two orthogonal ridges and the guard array comprises one of a cross-guard array, an L-guard array, and a T-guard array.
US09160068B2	Systems and methods for antenna arrangements in an electronic device Systems and methods are provided for arranging antennas in an electronic device (200). According to one aspect, the electronic device includes a housing (202) and an antenna arrangement. The antenna arrangement includes a first volume (206) positioned adjacent to an edge (212) of the housing, the first volume enclosing a first antenna structure (230) shaped substantially according to a geometry of the edge; a second volume (208) positioned adjacent to a first corner (216) of an opposing edge (214) of the housing, the second volume including a second antenna structure (232) shaped substantially according to a geometry of the first corner; and a third volume (210) adjacent to a second corner (218) of the opposing edge, the third volume including a third antenna structure (234) shaped substantially according to a geometry of the second corner, wherein the first, second, and third volumes do not overlap and are discontinuous.
US09160066B2	Unipolar antenna, wireless access apparatus and wireless router The present disclosure discloses a unipolar antenna, a wireless access apparatus and a wireless router. The unipolar antenna of the present disclosure comprises a medium substrate, as well as a power feeding point, a feeder line and a metal structure that are disposed on a surface of the medium substrate. The feeder line is connected to the power feeding point, and the feeder line and the metal structure are coupled with each other. The unipolar antenna, the wireless access apparatus and the wireless router of the present disclosure can transmit or receive electromagnetic signals of two or more different wavebands simultaneously so that they can operate within multiple operation wavebands in a single-frequency mode and operate within different operation wavebands simultaneously in a multi-frequency mode. Thereby, the antenna can be miniaturized on the premise of satisfying the performance requirements of the communication devices.
US09160063B2	Wearable device assembly having solder mask A wrist-worn device monitors movements of a user. A curvilinear body of the wrist-worn device includes a plurality of flex areas, and an internal spine member of the wrist-worn device extends through the curvilinear body. A flexible circuit member is wrapped around and connected to the spine member. The flexible circuit member interconnects a controller and one or more sensors of a sensor assembly within the body. A solder mask applied to the flexible circuit member includes a curvilinear edge that distributes stress caused by flexing of the flexible circuit member.
US09160059B2	Antenna device and mobile terminal The disclosure provides an antenna device and mobile terminal including such an antenna device. The antenna device includes a coil including a conductor wound around a plate-shaped magnetic core. A flat conductor is positioned adjacent to the coil, and the coil is positioned such that it is closer than the flat conductor to an antenna of a communication partner positioned near the antenna device. The coil conductor includes a first conductor portion adjacent to a first main surface of the magnetic core and a second conductor portion adjacent to a second main surface thereof. The magnetic core and the coil conductor form an antenna coil. A circuit substrate includes a ground electrode formation area and a ground electrode non-formation area. The antenna coil is mounted on the ground electrode non-formation area of the circuit substrate with the first main surface of the magnetic core facing the circuit substrate.
US09160056B2	Multiband antennas formed from bezel bands with gaps Electronic devices are provided that contain wireless communications circuitry. The wireless communications circuitry may include radio-frequency transceiver circuitry and antenna structures. An inverted-F antenna may have first and second short circuit legs and a feed leg. The first and second short circuit legs and the feed leg may be connected to a folded antenna resonating element arm. The antenna resonating element arm and the first short circuit leg may be formed from portions of a conductive electronic device bezel. The folded antenna resonating element arm may have a bend. The bezel may have a gap that is located at the bend. Part of the folded resonating element arm may be formed from a conductive trace on a dielectric member. A spring may be used in connecting the conductive trace to the electronic device bezel portion of the antenna resonating element arm.
US09160055B2	Wireless device According to one embodiment, a wireless device is provided with a semiconductor chip, a substrate, an antenna, and a sealing material. The chip includes a wireless circuit. The substrate has a plurality of terminals arranged on a first surface and the chip arranged on a second surface. The antenna includes a radiation element and is electrically connected to the chip. The sealing material seals the chip and the antenna. A distance between a first wall of the sealing material substantially parallel to the second surface and the radiation element is equal to or more than a distance between a second wall of the sealing material substantially perpendicular to the second surface and the radiation element.
US09160051B2	Radio frequency combiner/divider An RF combiner/divider includes an input switch, an output switch, an impedance-matching transmission network for connecting the input switch to the output switch, and a control circuit connected to the input switch and the impedance-matching transmission network. The RF combiner/divider is used for automatic impedance transformation for impedance-matching. The RF combiner/divider is suitable for use in an RF system with a changeable number of combiner/divider branches.
US09160048B2	Electronic device with terminal circuits A semiconductor device includes: a terminal configured to input a signal from a signal source; a receiver configured to receive the signal from the signal source through the terminal; and a terminal circuit configured to be coupled between the terminal and an input end of the receiver, and to suppress reflected wave caused by signal reflection at the receiver, wherein impedance of a wire line connecting the terminal and the input end of the receiver, and direct-current impedance of a resistance component included in the terminal circuit are set lower than impedance of an external wire line connected to the terminal.
US09160046B2	Reduced EMI with quarter wavelength transmission line stubs Embodiments of the present invention provide for a transmission circuit that includes a transmission line and a conductive via. The transmission line is electrically coupled to a first conductive via and a second conductive via. The first conductive via includes a first via stub, wherein the transmission line is configured to transmit a signal that is coupled to the first conductive via, and wherein the first via stub extends beyond the transmission line. The second conductive via includes a second via stub, wherein the transmission line is configured to transmit a signal that is coupled to the second conductive via, and wherein the second via stub extends beyond the transmission line. A transmission line stub is electrically coupled to the transmission line or to at least one of the conductive vias, wherein the length of the transmission line stub is configured to suppress a preselected frequency.
US09160040B2	Cell delta-temperature optimized battery module configuration A battery module includes a plurality of battery cells. Each battery cell includes an anode having an anode active area, a cathode having a cathode active area, and an ion-conducting separator interposed between the anode active area and the cathode active area. A first subset of the battery cells are arranged in parallel wired battery cell pairs. Each parallel wired battery cell pair of the first subset has two adjacent battery cells with a cooling fin interposed between the two adjacent battery cells.
US09160037B2	Apparatus and method for estimating available time of battery Disclosed are an apparatus and method for estimating an available time of a battery relatively accurately in consideration of a driving pattern of a user. The apparatus for estimating an available time of a battery includes a current measuring unit for measuring an output current of the battery, a SOC estimating unit for estimating SOC (State Of Charge) of the battery, and a controller for estimating an available time of the battery by using a measured current value obtained by the current measuring unit, an estimated SOC value obtained by the SOC estimating unit and an entire capacity of the battery.
US09160036B2	Electrolyte additives for lithium sulfur rechargeable batteries An electrolyte solution for a lithium sulfur battery contains a lithium oxalatoborate compound in a 0.05-2 M solution in conventional lithium sulfur battery electrolyte solvents, optionally with other lithium compounds. Examples of solvents include dimethoxyethane (DME), dioxolane, and triethyleneglycol dimethyl ether (TEGDME). Electrochemical cells contain a lithium anode, a sulfur-containing cathode, and a non-aqueous electrolyte containing the lithium oxalatoborate compound. Lithium sulfur batteries contain a casing enclosing a plurality of the cells.
US09160034B2	Method for producing sulfide solid electrolyte material and method for producing lithium solid state battery A method for producing a sulfide solid electrolyte material having a small amount of hydrogen sulfide generation and a high Li ion conductivity. To achieve the above, a method for producing a sulfide solid electrolyte material is provided, including steps of: a providing step for providing a crystallized sulfide solid electrolyte material prepared by using a raw material composition containing Li2S and P2S5; and an amorphizing step for applying amorphization treatment to the crystallized sulfide solid electrolyte material.
US09160033B2	Non-aqueous electrolyte composition and non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery The present invention provides a non-aqueous electrolyte composition with excellent high-temperature stability and a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery using the same. The non-aqueous electrolyte composition includes a supporting electrolyte, an organic solvent, and at least one kind of chemical compound (a) selected from the group consisting of a chemical compound (a1) indicated by the following general formula (1) and a chemical compound (a2) indicated by the following general formula (2).
US09160031B2	Positive active material for rechargeable lithium battery, method of preparing the same, and rechargeable lithium battery comprising the same The present invention relates to a positive active material for a rechargeable lithium battery, a method of preparing the same, and a rechargeable lithium battery comprising the same. The positive active material includes a lithium/nickel-based compound wherein primary particles having an average particle diameter ranging from 1 μm to 4 μm are agglomerated to form secondary particles. The positive active material of the present invention has excellent electrochemical performance and outstanding inhibition to swelling at high temperatures.
US09160023B2	Reinforced matrix impregnated with electrolytes for molten carbonate fuel cell and fabrication method thereof The present invention relates to an electrolyte-impregnated, reinforced matrix for molten carbonate fuel cells and a manufacturing method thereof. According to the invention, the electrolyte-impregnated matrix, which comprises both the electrolyte and the reinforcing particles including a metal and an oxide, is manufactured by adding the electrolyte, as required per unit cell of a fuel cell, and the reinforcing particles including the metal and the oxide, to a slurry during the matrix preparation step, and subjecting the resulting slurry to a tape casting process. By doing so, the matrix stacking operation is facilitated, and the matrix manufacturing process is simplified. In addition, cracking caused by the difference in thermal expansion coefficient between an electrolyte sheet and the matrix can be suppressed, and thermal shock occurring during operation of the fuel cell stack can be reduced, thus improving the performance and lifetime of the fuel cell.
US09160018B2	Fuel cell system, control method for the fuel cell system, and electric vehicle equipped with the fuel cell system A fuel cell system includes: a secondary cell; a voltage converter provided between the secondary cell and a load; a fuel cell; an FC relay that turns on and off electrical connection between the fuel cell and the shared electrical path; an electrical leakage detector that detects electrical leakage in an electrical system; and a control portion that performs determination regarding electrical leakage. The control portion has: start means for starting the fuel cell by raising voltage of the fuel cell from a starting voltage to an operation voltage that is lower than an open-circuit voltage; and electrical leakage determination means for performing the determination regarding electrical leakage after a predetermined time elapses, when the FC relay is closed while a voltage difference between the voltage of the fuel cell and voltage supplied from the voltage converter to the load is greater than a predetermined threshold value.
US09160016B2	Fuel cell A fuel cell includes a membrane-electrode assembly and a separator. The membrane-electrode assembly has an electrolyte and a pair of electrodes that are disposed on respective sides of the electrolyte. The membrane-electrode assembly and the separator are stacked in a stacking direction. A reaction surface of the membrane-electrode assembly is in a vertical direction along a direction of gravity and has a shape having a longer dimension in a horizontal direction. The fuel cell is provided with a reactant gas passage to allow a reactant gas to flow along a longitudinal direction of the reaction surface. The reactant gas is an oxidant gas or a fuel gas. A drain channel to allow product water from the reactant gas passage to be drained away is disposed between the membrane-electrode assembly and the separator and under the reaction surface in the direction of gravity.
US09160014B2	Fuel cell system capable of performing gas purge to adjust amount of water therein A fuel cell system includes: a fuel cell having laminated cells; a measuring unit that measures an impedance of the cell and a purging unit that performs purging to discharge residual water from a gas passage. The cell includes a wet region and a dry region which are set depending on a distribution of water in the cell when the purging is executed so as to set a total amount of water in the fuel cell to be a necessary amount of water to start up the fuel cell; the measuring unit measures the impedance at a local portion located at a boundary portion between the wet region and the dry region in the cell; and the purging unit terminates the purging when the impedance measured by the measuring means is larger than a predetermined reference threshold value.
US09160009B2	Compact and low-volume mechanical igniter and ignition systems for thermal batteries and the like An ignition system for a thermal battery where the ignition system includes: a base plate for connection to the thermal battery; and two or more inertial igniters formed on the base plate, each of the two or more inertial igniters having a striker mass which ignites one or more pyrotechnic materials upon a predetermined acceleration profile, the base plate having an opening corresponding to each of the two or more inertial igniters for allowing a generated spark to pass into the thermal battery.
US09160005B2	Modified maleimide oligomer, preparation method thereof and composition containing the same A modified maleimide oligomer is disclosed. The modified maleimide oligomer is made by performing a reaction of a compound having a barbituric acid structure, a free radical capture, and a compound having a maleimide structure. A composition for a battery is also disclosed. The composition includes the modified maleimide oligomer.
US09160004B2	Lithium ion secondary battery In a lithium ion secondary battery including a positive electrode, a separator, and a negative electrode opposed to the positive electrode with an intervention of the separator, the negative electrode includes a negative electrode active material including a silicon compound, and a negative electrode binder including a particular polyimide, and lithium is occluded in both the negative electrode active material and the negative electrode binder even during discharge.
US09159986B2	Battery electrode production method According to the present invention, provided is a method for producing a battery electrode employing a configuration in which a compound material layer containing an active material 22 and a binder 54 is retained on a current collector 10. The formation of the compound material layer is carried out by a method including: a step of forming a binder solution layer 56 by applying a binder solution 50 containing the first binder 54 to the current collector 10; a step of depositing the binder solution layer 56 and a compound material paste layer 46 on the current collector 10 by applying the compound material paste 40 over the binder solution layer 56; and a step of obtaining an electrode in which the compound material layer is formed on the current collector 10 by drying both the binder solution layer 56 and the compound material paste 40.
US09159981B2	Array-type battery power management apparatus and battery power integration units thereof An array-type battery power management apparatus includes at least two battery power management apparatuses. Each battery power management apparatus has a bus unit and at least one battery power integration unit. The battery power integration unit has a battery module and a charging-discharging module. The battery module has a first positive conductive terminal and a first negative conductive terminal. The charging-discharging module has a second positive conductive terminal and a second negative conductive terminal. The second positive conductive terminal is directly connected to the first positive conductive terminal and the second negative conductive terminal is directly connected to the first negative conductive terminal, thus directly electrically connecting to the battery module and the charging-discharging module.
US09159979B2	Nonwoven fabric having cross-linking material A layer includes a main body having a plurality of first pores and at least one crosslinked binder.
US09159978B2	Battery separator and method of forming same The present invention is directed to a sheet product and to a method of forming the sheet product suitable for use as a battery separator. The method comprises forming a mixture of a thermoplastic polymer and fluid having a high vapor pressure, shaping the mixture into a sheet material and subjecting the sheet material to stretching/fluid vaporization at high temperature to form an intermediate material having a ratio of percent fluid to percent polymer crystallinity of between 0.15 and 1 followed by a second stretching/fluid vaporization at a lower temperature while removing a portion of the remainder of the fluid from the sheet. The resultant sheet is annealed and remainder of fluid removed to form a sheet product having a thickness comprising a stratified structure of small and larger pore layered configuration across its thickness.
US09159975B2	Rechargeable battery module A rechargeable battery module is disclosed. The rechargeable battery module includes a number of rechargeable battery cells, two end portion fixing structures, a middle fixing structure, a number of thermal bars, a bolt and a nut. The two end portion fixing structures are positioned in opposite directions. The bolt passes one end portion fixing tube, middle fixing structure and the other end portion fixing tube and fixes the rechargeable battery module by linking with the nut.
US09159974B2	Battery pack and electric bike having the same Provided is an food packing material, manufacturing method. A battery pack and a electrical bike having the same are further provided. In particular, the battery pack may include a battery pack, battery array, a protecting circuit module, and a connection terminal section. The battery case may be formed as cylindrical or polygon. The battery array may include a plurality of batteries formed as multi-stage within the battery pack. The protecting circuit module may be provided between an upper portion of the battery array and an upper surface of the battery pack. A connection terminal portion may be formed at the lower stage of the battery pack and may include a power terminal and a control terminal. By providing the battery pack as bottle shape, the electrical bike can selectively accommodate the bottle for the bike and the battery pack.
US09159972B2	Battery module A battery module includes first and second battery cells having positive and negative cell terminals arranged adjacent one another. A buss bar connects the positive cell terminal of the first battery cell to the negative cell terminal of the second battery cell. The connection to the positive cell terminal is a threaded connection. The connection to the negative cell terminal is a quick connect connection.
US09159967B1	Battery storage and dispensing system A battery storage and dispensing system for efficiently storing and dispensing various sizes of batteries. The battery storage and dispensing system generally includes a housing having a plurality of vertical compartments that each receive a type of battery, a door pivotally connected to the housing to selectively enclose the vertical compartments forming a plurality of lower openings for batteries to be removed from the vertical compartments and a removal device having a magnet that magnetically connects to the metal terminal end of a battery to allow for efficient removal of the lowermost battery from a compartment.
US09159961B2	Case of secondary battery including a bead A secondary battery includes a case, the case including a first side having a bead thereon, the bead having a height h and a width w, a ratio of the height h to the width w satisfying 2 ⁢ % ≤ ( h w × 100 ) ≤ 50 ⁢ % , h and w being in a same unit of measure, and an electrode assembly in the case, the electrode assembly including a first electrode, a second electrode, and a separator disposed between the first and second electrodes.
US09159951B2	Organic electroluminescence display device and method of manufacturing organic electroluminescence display device The organic electroluminescence display device of an embodiment of the present invention includes a substrate, a plurality of pixels formed on the substrate, and a sealing film that covers the plurality of pixels. The sealing film includes a first barrier layer, a base layer covering the top surface of the first barrier layer, an inter layer locally formed on the top surface of the base layer, and a second barrier layer covering the top surface of the base layer and the top surface of the inter layer. The inter layer is formed so as to cover a step on the top surface of the base layer.
US09159947B2	Organic light-emitting device An organic light-emitting device, including a first electrode, the first electrode having a smaller absolute value of a work function energy level than an absolute value of a work function energy level of ITO, a second electrode facing the first electrode, and an organic layer between the first electrode and the second electrode.
US09159945B2	System and method for matching electrode resistances in OLED light panels Provided are an OLED device and a method of manufacturing the OLED device that may provide improved luminance uniformity. The disclosed OLED may have a first electrode that has a first sheet resistance Rs, and a second electrode that has a second sheet resistance, wherein the second sheet resistance may be in the range of 0.3Rs-1.3Rs. In addition, the disclosed OLED may have a plurality of equal potential difference between points on a first electrode and a second electrode. The equal potential difference may be provided by a gradient resistance formed on at least one of the electrodes.
US09159940B2	Conductive adhesive composition, electronic device, positive electrode laminate, and method for manufacturing electronic device An electronic device having, arranged in the following order, a cathodic layer, a conductive layer, a photoelectric conversion layer, and an anodic layer. The conductive layer contains a conductive adhesive composition which contains: (A) a water-soluble polyvinyl polymer, (B) an organic additive, and (C) a conductive organic polymer compound.
US09159939B2	Photoelectric conversion device Provided is a photoelectric conversion device with high conversion efficiency in which the light loss due to light absorption in a window layer is significantly reduced by using a light-transmitting semiconductor layer comprising an organic compound and an inorganic compound. Specifically, the photoelectric conversion device includes: over one surface of a crystalline silicon substrate, a first silicon semiconductor layer; a light-transmitting semiconductor layer; a second silicon semiconductor layer which is partially formed on the light-transmitting semiconductor layer; and a first electrode. The photoelectric conversion device further includes: a third silicon semiconductor layer on the other surface of the crystalline silicon substrate; a fourth silicon semiconductor layer formed on the third silicon semiconductor layer; and a second electrode formed on the fourth silicon semiconductor layer. The light-transmitting semiconductor layer is formed using an organic compound and an inorganic compound, which contributes to the high light-transmitting property of the window layer.
US09159925B2	Process for imprint patterning materials in thin-film devices The present disclosure provides a method for patterning materials that are or are on top of chemically sensitive organic semiconductors. The method employs imprint lithography and a bilayer resist structure that simultaneously protects lower layers from harmful solvents and allows for cleaner liftoff by producing an undercut geometry to the resist pattern.
US09159921B2	Resistive memory cell Semiconductor memory devices, resistive memory devices, memory cell structures, and methods of forming a resistive memory cell are provided. One example method of a resistive memory cell can include a number of dielectric regions formed between two electrodes, and a barrier dielectric region formed between each of the dielectric regions. The barrier dielectric region serves to reduce an oxygen diffusion rate associated with the dielectric regions.
US09159915B2	Phase change memory with threshold switch select device An ovonic threshold switch may be formed of a continuous chalcogenide layer. That layer spans multiple cells, forming a phase change memory. In other words, the ovonic threshold switch may be formed of a chalcogenide layer which extends, uninterrupted, over numerous cells of a phase change memory.
US09159910B2	One-mask MTJ integration for STT MRAM A method for integrating a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) device into an integrated circuit includes providing in a semiconductor back-end-of-line (BEOL) process flow a substrate having a first interlevel dielectric layer and at least a first metal interconnect. Over the first interlevel dielectric layer and the first metal interconnect, magnetic tunnel junction material layers are deposited. From the material layers a magnetic tunnel junction stack, coupled to the first metal interconnect, is defined using a single mask process. The magnetic tunnel junction stack is integrated into the integrated circuit.
US09159908B2	Composite free layer within magnetic tunnel junction for MRAM applications A magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) in an MRAM array is disclosed with a composite free layer having a FL1/FL2/FL3 configuration where FL1 and FL2 are crystalline magnetic layers and FL3 is an amorphous NiFeX layer for improved bit switching performance. FL1 layer is CoFe which affords a high magnetoresistive (MR) ratio when forming an interface with a MgO tunnel barrier. FL2 is Fe to improve switching performance. NiFeX thickness where X is Hf is preferably between 20 to 40 Angstroms to substantially reduce bit line switching current and number of shorted bits. Annealing at 330° C. to 360° C. provides a high MR ratio of 190%. Furthermore, low Hc and Hk are simultaneously achieved with improved bit switching performance and fewer shorts without compromising other MTJ properties such as MR ratio. As a result of high MR ratio and lower bit-to-bit resistance variation, higher reading margin is realized.
US09159901B2	Composite substrate and elastic wave device A composite substrate 10 is a substrate formed by bonding a piezoelectric substrate 12 and a support substrate 14 having a coefficient of thermal expansion lower than that of the piezoelectric substrate 12. The support substrate 14 has a first surface 14a bonded to the piezoelectric substrate 12 and a second surface 14b opposite to the first surface 14a. The coefficient of thermal expansion of the support substrate 14 is decreased along a thickness direction from the second surface 14b to an intermediate position 14c located between the first surface 14a and the second surface 14b.
US09159893B2	Light emitting device including lead having terminal part and exposed part, and method for manufacturing the same A light emitting device includes a substantially cuboid package made up of a molded article and a lead that is embedded in the molded article, and a light emitting element that is installed in the package. The lead has a connector where the light emitting element is installed, and a terminal part and an exposed part that are linked to the connector. The package has a bottom face, a front face that is a light emission face contiguous with the bottom face, and a rear face that is contiguous with the bottom face and is opposite the front face. The first terminal part and the exposed part are linked to the rear face side of the connector are exposed from the molded article and contiguous with the bottom face and the rear face, and are isolated at the bottom face.
US09159887B2	Light-emitting device, lighting device including the light-emitting device, and method of manufacturing the light-emitting device A light-emitting device includes a light-emitting element with a pair of element electrodes as a first element electrode and a second element electrode positioned at the lower surface of the light-emitting element; a phosphor plate disposed on the upper surface of the light-emitting element; a first resin covering the lower surface and the peripheral side surface of the light-emitting element with the first element electrode and the second element electrode partly appearing from the first resin; and a second resin provided in the phosphor plate.
US09159879B2	Semiconductor light emitting element The light emitting element including: a semiconductor laminate including a first layer, an active layer and a second layer; a first electrode including protrusions that penetrate the second layer and the active layer, the first electrode connected to the first layer via the protrusions; a second electrode connected to the second layer on an lower face of the second layer; and an insulation film between the protrusions and the semiconductor laminate, wherein the protrusions each include a protrusion body covered with the insulation film and a protrusion tip, an upper face and a side face of the protrusion tip being exposed from the insulation film, the first layer includes recesses arranged on an upper face of the first layer so as to sandwich first areas located above the respective the protrusions, and a distance between the recesses sandwiching the first area is larger than a width of the protrusion tip.
US09159869B2	LED on silicon substrate using zinc-sulfide as buffer layer A vertical GaN-based blue LED has an n-type GaN layer that was grown over a ZnS layer that in turn was grown directly on a silicon substrate. In one example, the ZnS layer is a transitional buffer layer that is 50 nm thick, and the n-type GaN layer is at least 2000 nm thick. Growing the n-type GaN layer on the ZnS buffer layer reduces lattice defect density in the n-type layer. The ZnS buffer layer provides a good lattice constant match with the silicon substrate and provides a compound polar template for subsequent GaN growth. After the epitaxial layers of the LED are formed, a conductive carrier is wafer bonded to the structure. The silicon substrate and the ZnS buffer layer are then removed. Electrodes are added and the structure is singulated to form finished LED devices.
US09159868B2	Method for manufacturing semiconductor light emitting device A semiconductor light emitting device having high reliability and excellent light distribution characteristics can be provided with an n-electrode arranged on a light extraction surface on the side opposite to the surface whereupon a semiconductor stack is mounted on a substrate. A plurality of convexes are arranged on a first convex region and a second convex region on the light extraction surface. The second convex region adjoins the interface between the n-electrode and the semiconductor stack, between the first convex region and the n-electrode. The base end of the first convex arranged in the first convex region is positioned closer to a light emitting layer than the interface between the n-electrode and the semiconductor stack, and the base end of the second convex arranged in the second convex region is positioned closer to the interface between the n-electrode and the semiconductor stack than the base end of the first convex.
US09159863B2	Method of forming chalcopyrite thin film solar cell In a method of forming a CIGS film absorption layer, a first precursor is provided including a first substrate having a major process precursor film formed thereon, the major process precursor film containing two or more of Cu, In, Ga, and Se. A second precursor is provided including a second substrate having an element supplying precursor film formed thereon, the element supply precursor film containing two or more of Cu, In, Ga and Se. The precursors are oriented with the major process precursor film and element supplying precursor film facing one another so as to allow diffusion of elements between the films during annealing. The oriented films are annealed and then the precursors are separated, wherein the CIGS film is formed over the first substrate and either a CIGS film or a precursor film containing two or more of Cu, In, Ga, and Se remains over the second substrate.
US09159862B2	Solar cell and manufacturing method thereof A solar cell is formed to have a silicon semiconductor substrate of a first conductive type; an emitter layer having a second conductive type opposite the first conductive type and formed on a first surface of the silicon semiconductor substrate; a back surface field layer having the first conductive type and formed on a second surface of the silicon semiconductor substrate opposite to the first surface; and wherein the emitter layer includes at least a first shallow doping area and the back surface field layer includes at least a second shallow doping area, and wherein a thickness of the first shallow doping area of the emitter layer is different from a thickness of the second shallow doping area of the back surface field layer.
US09159852B2	Image sensor device and method A system and method for blocking heat from reaching an image sensor in a three dimensional stack with a semiconductor device. In an embodiment a heat sink is formed in a back end of line process either on the semiconductor device or else on the image sensor itself when the image sensor is in a backside illuminated configuration. The heat sink may be a grid in either a single layer or in two layers, a zig-zag pattern, or in an interleaved fingers configuration.
US09159851B2	Photovoltaic structures having a light scattering interface layer and methods of making the same Photovoltaic (PV) cell structures having an integral light scattering interface layer configured to diffuse or scatter light prior to entering a semiconductor material and methods of making the same are described.
US09159848B2	Light receiving circuit According to one embodiment, a light receiving circuit includes a light receiving element, a differential circuit, a fifth transistor, and first and second current sources. The differential circuit includes an amplifier and a bias circuit. The amplifier includes a first transistor, a second transistor, and a first feedback resistor. The amplifier is configured to convert a current from the light receiving element into a voltage. The bias circuit includes a third transistor, a fourth transistor, and a second feedback resistor. A reference voltage is supplied to a control electrode of the fourth transistor. The second and third transistors are included in a current mirror circuit. A fifth transistor has a control electrode connected to a connection point between the first and second transistors. A voltage signal switched to a high level or a low level according to a change of an optical signal is outputted.
US09159843B2	Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same To improve the electric performance and reliability of a semiconductor device. A memory gate electrode of a split gate type nonvolatile memory is a metal gate electrode formed from a stacked film of a metal film 6a and a silicon film 6b over the metal film 6a. In an upper end part of the metal film 6a, a metal oxide portion 17 is formed by oxidation of a part of the metal film 6a. A control gate electrode of the split gate type nonvolatile memory is a metal gate electrode formed from a stacked film of a metal film 4a and the silicon film 4b over the metal film 4a.
US09159836B2	Thin film transistor, method for manufacturing same, and display device According to one embodiment, a thin film transistor includes a substrate, a gate electrode, a first insulating film, an oxide semiconductor film, a second insulating film, a source electrode, and a drain electrode. The gate electrode is provided on a part of the substrate. The first insulating film covers the gate electrode. The oxide semiconductor film is provided on the gate electrode via the first insulating film. The second insulating film is provided on a part of the oxide semiconductor film. The source and drain electrodes are respectively connected to first and second portions of the oxide semiconductor film not covered with the second insulating film. The oxide semiconductor film includes an oxide semiconductor. Concentrations of hydrogen contained in the first and second insulating films are not less than 5×1020 atm/cm3, and not more than 1019 atm/cm3, respectively.
US09159823B2	Strain compensation in transistors Transistor structures having channel regions comprising alternating layers of compressively and tensilely strained epitaxial materials are provided. The alternating epitaxial layers can form channel regions in single and multigate transistor structures. In alternate embodiments, one of the two alternating layers is selectively etched away to form nanoribbons or nanowires of the remaining material. The resulting strained nanoribbons or nanowires form the channel regions of transistor structures. Also provided are computing devices comprising transistors comprising channel regions comprised of alternating compressively and tensilely strained epitaxial layers and computing devices comprising transistors comprising channel regions comprised of strained nanoribbons or nanowires.
US09159822B2	III-V semiconductor device having self-aligned contacts A method including forming a pair of inner spacers along a vertical sidewall of a gate trench, gate trench extending into a III-V compound semiconductor-containing heterostructure, forming a gate conductor within the gate trench, removing a portion of a first dielectric layer selective to the gate conductor and the pair of inner spacers, forming a pair of outer spacers adjacent to the pair of inner spacers, the outer spacers are in direct contact with and self-aligned to the inner spacers, and forming a pair of source-drain contacts within an uppermost layer of the III-V compound semiconductor-containing heterostructure, the pair of source-drain contacts are self-aligned to the pair of outer spacers such that an edge of each individual source-drain contact is aligned with an outside edge of each individual outer spacer.
US09159819B2	Semiconductor device and RC-IGBT with zones directly adjoining a rear side electrode A semiconductor device includes a drift zone of a first conductivity type in a semiconductor body. Controllable cells are configured to form a conductive channel connected with the drift zone in a first state. First zones of the first conductivity type as well as second zones and a third zone of a complementary second conductivity type are between the drift zone and a rear side electrode, respectively. The first, second and third zones directly adjoin the rear side electrode. The third zone is larger and has a lower mean emitter efficiency than the second zones.
US09159818B2	High-current N-type silicon-on-insulator lateral insulated-gate bipolar transistor A high-current, N-type silicon-on-insulator lateral insulated-gate bipolar transistor, including: a P-type substrate, a buried-oxide layer disposed on the P-type substrate, an N-type epitaxial layer disposed on the oxide layer, and an N-type buffer trap region. A P-type body region and an N-type central buffer trap region are disposed inside the N-type epitaxial layer; a P-type drain region is disposed in the buffer trap region; N-type source regions and a P-type body contact region are disposed in the P-type body region; an N-type base region and a P-type emitter region are disposed in the buffer trap region; gate and field oxide layers are disposed on the N-type epitaxial layer; polycrystalline silicon gates are disposed on the gate oxide layers; and a passivation layer and metal layers are disposed on the surface of the symmetrical transistor. P-type emitter region output and current density are improved without increasing the area of the transistor.
US09159807B2	Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof The reliability of a semiconductor device including a MOSFET formed over an SOI substrate is improved. A manufacturing method of the semiconductor device is simplified. A semiconductor device with n-channel MOSFETsQn formed over an SOI substrate SB includes an n+-type semiconductor region formed as a diffusion layer over an upper surface of a support substrate under a BOX film, and a contact plug CT2 electrically coupled to the n+-type semiconductor region and penetrating an element isolation region, which can control the potential of the support substrate. At a plane of the SOI substrate SB, the n-channel MOSFETsQn each extend in a first direction, and are arranged between the contact plugs CT2 formed adjacent to each other in the first direction.
US09159803B2	Semiconductor device with HCI protection region A device includes a semiconductor substrate, a drift region in the semiconductor substrate and having a first conductivity type, an isolation region within the drift region, and around which charge carriers drift on a path through the drift region during operation, and a protection region adjacent the isolation region in the semiconductor substrate, having a second conductivity type, and disposed along a surface of the semiconductor substrate.
US09159796B2	Method for protecting a semiconductor device against degradation and a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device protected against hot charge carriers A method for protecting a semiconductor device against degradation of its electrical characteristics is provided. The method includes providing a semiconductor device having a first semiconductor region and a charged dielectric layer which form a dielectric-semiconductor interface. The majority charge carriers of the first semiconductor region are of a first charge type. The charged dielectric layer includes fixed charges of the first charge type. The charge carrier density per area of the fixed charges is configured such that the charged dielectric layer is shielded against entrapment of hot majority charge carriers generated in the first semiconductor region. Further, a semiconductor device which is protected against hot charge carriers and a method for forming a semiconductor device are provided.
US09159795B2	High side DMOS and the method for forming thereof A high side DMOS provides high breakdown voltage with small termination area. The high side DMOS has three parts which may comprise a stair-field plate in the termination part of the poly gate.
US09159786B2	Dual gate lateral MOSFET A dual gate lateral MOSFET comprises a drift region over a substrate, an isolation region formed in the drift region and a channel region formed in the drift region. The dual gate lateral MOSFET comprises a drain region formed in the drift region and a source region formed in the channel region, wherein the source region and drain region are formed on opposing sides of the isolation region. The dual gate lateral MOSFET further comprises a first gate and a second gate formed adjacent to the source region, wherein the first gate and the second gate are stacked together and separated by a dielectric layer.
US09159785B2	Semiconductor device having buried layer and method for forming the same Semiconductor devices having a buried layer and methods for forming the same are disclosed. In an exemplary method, a hard mask layer can be provided on a semiconductor substrate. The hard mask layer can have a plurality of through-openings. A plurality of deep trenches can be formed in the semiconductor substrate using the hard mask layer as a mask. A bottom of each of the plurality of deep trenches in the semiconductor substrate can be doped to form a plurality of heavily-doped regions. One or more of the plurality of heavily-doped regions can be connected to form the buried layer in the semiconductor substrate. There is thus no need to use an epitaxial process to form active regions. In addition, lateral isolation structures can be simultaneously formed in the semiconductor substrate.
US09159779B2	Method of fabricating semiconductor device A method for fabricating a semiconductor device includes forming a metal layer over a substrate, forming a capping layer over the metal layer, and densifying the metal layer through a heat treatment.
US09159767B2	Methods of manufacturing magnetoresistive random access memory devices In a method of an MRAM device, first and second patterns are formed on a substrate alternately and repeatedly in a second direction. Each first pattern and each second pattern extend in a first direction perpendicular to the second direction. Some of the second patterns are removed to form first openings extending in the first direction. Source lines filling the first openings are formed. A mask is formed on the first and second patterns and the source lines. The mask includes second openings in the first direction, each of which extends in the second direction. Portions of the second patterns exposed by the second openings are removed to form third openings. Third patterns filling the third openings are formed. The second patterns surrounded by the first and third patterns are removed to form fourth openings. Contact plugs filling the fourth openings are formed.
US09159766B2	Solid-state image pick-up device and manufacturing method thereof, image-pickup apparatus, semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof, and semiconductor substrate A solid-state image pick-up device is provided which includes a semiconductor substrate main body which has an element forming layer and a gettering layer provided on an upper layer thereof; photoelectric conversion elements, each of which includes a first conductive type region, provided in the element forming layer; and a dielectric film which is provided on an upper layer of the gettering layer and which induces a second conductive type region in a surface of the gettering layer.
US09159765B2	Apparatus for detecting soft X-ray radiation and X-ray detection system including such apparatus A soft X-ray detection apparatus includes a semiconductor substrate. The semiconductor substrate has a plurality of detection units disposed thereon, each including a conversion unit and a circuit unit. The conversion unit is formed from, for example, a photodiode. The conversion unit collects electric charge generated upon incidence of soft X-ray radiation. A first conductive type (e.g., N-channel type) amplifier transistor is disposed in the circuit unit. The amplifier transistor serves as an amplifier unit that amplifies and outputs a signal supplied from the conversion unit. A first conductive type transistor is not disposed between the conversion units that are immediately adjacent to each other. Alternatively, transistors included in the detection units that are immediately adjacent to each other are disposed so as to be in close proximity to each other.
US09159761B2	Optical device and solid-state image sensing device According to one embodiment, an optical device includes a plurality of optical elements arrange in array. At least of the optical elements includes an optical layer constituted by a plurality of patterns. The plurality of patterns are formed by a layered body including metal layers and a dielectric layer interlayered between the metal layers, and formed as a plurality of regularly-arranged loop-like patterns with a density decreasing from the center toward the periphery of the loop.
US09159757B2	Photodetection device and sensor package A photodetection device of the present invention includes a semiconductor substrate which is defined such that a first light-receiving portion and a second light-receiving portion are spaced from one another, and an optical filter which is formed on the semiconductor substrate, and includes a first filter which is disposed so as to cover the first light-receiving portion, to selectively allow an optic element in a first wavelength band to transmit through, and a second filter which is disposed so as to cover the second light-receiving portion, to selectively allow an optic element in a second wavelength band different from the first wavelength band, to transmit through, and the optical filter has a filter laminated structure which is defined such that edge portions of the first filter and the second filter overlap one another on a boundary region between the first light-receiving portion and the second light-receiving portion.
US09159756B2	Solid-state imaging device and manufacturing method of the same According to one embodiment, there is a solid-state imaging device including an imaging region. In the imaging region, a plurality of pixels are arranged two-dimensionally. A first inclination angle of a light incidence surface of a dichroic filter in a first pixel among the plurality of pixels relative to a normal to a surface of a semiconductor substrate and a second inclination angle of a light incidence surface of a dichroic filter in a second pixel located farther from a center of the imaging region than the first pixel among the plurality of pixels relative to the normal are decided on so as to make, for light incident on the imaging region, a filter property of the dichroic filter in the first pixel and a filter property of the dichroic filter in the second pixel equalized.
US09159754B1	Image sensor having anti-reflective layer and fabricating method thereof An image sensor includes a pixel layer in which an active pixel array and an optical black pixel array are formed; a first anti-reflective layer which is formed over the active pixel array, and including a hafnium oxide layer with a high transmittance; and a second anti-reflective layer which is formed over the optical black pixel array, and including a hafnium oxide layer with a low transmittance.
US09159746B2	Thin film transistor, manufacturing method thereof, array substrate and display device A thin film transistor and a manufacturing method for the same, an array substrate, and a display device are disclosed. The thin film transistor comprises: a substrate (1) and a gate (2), a first gate insulating layer (3) and an active layer (4) which are disposed in order on the substrate, the first gate insulating layer (3) covers the gate (2), the active layer (4) covers the first gate insulating layer (3), and a material for the first gate insulating layer comprises aluminum oxide.
US09159745B2	Display substrate A display substrate is provided. The display substrate includes a gate interconnection disposed on an insulating substrate, an oxide semiconductor pattern disposed on the gate interconnection and including an oxide semiconductor, and a data interconnection disposed on the oxide semiconductor pattern to interconnect the gate interconnection. The oxide semiconductor pattern includes a first oxide semiconductor pattern having a first oxide and a first element and a second oxide semiconductor pattern having a second oxide.
US09159743B2	Radio-frequency switches having silicon-on-insulator field-effect transistors with reduced linear region resistance Disclosed are devices and methods related to radio-frequency (RF) switches having silicon-on-insulator (SOI) field-effect transistors (FETs). In some embodiments, an RF switch can include an FET with shaped source, drain, and gate selected to yield a reduced per-area value of resistance in linear operating region (Rds-on). In some implementations, a plurality of such FETs can be connected in series to allow use of SOI technology in high power RF switching applications while maintaining a relatively small die size.
US09159740B2	Vertical type semiconductor device and fabrication method thereof A vertical memory device and a method of fabricating the same are provided. The vertical type semiconductor device includes a common source region formed in a cell area of a semiconductor substrate. A channel region is formed on the common source region. The channel region has a predetermined height and a first diameter. A drain region is formed on the channel region. The drain region has a predetermined height and a second diameter larger than the first diameter. A first gate electrode surrounding the channel region.
US09159736B2	Data line arrangement and pillar arrangement in apparatuses Some embodiments include an apparatus having semiconductor pillars in a substantially hexagonally closest packed arrangement. The hexagonally closest packed arrangement includes a repeating pillar pattern which has at least portions of 7 different pillars. Each of the different pillars in a respective one of the repeating pillar patterns is capable of being electrically coupled to a different data line of a plurality of data lines. Some embodiments include an apparatus having semiconductor pillars in a substantially hexagonally closest packed arrangement. The hexagonally closest packed arrangement includes a repeating pillar pattern having at least portions of 7 different pillars. All 7 different pillars of a repeating pillar pattern are encompassed by a single drain-side select gate (SGD).
US09159735B2	Architecture to improve cell size for compact array of split gate flash cell with buried common source structure Some embodiments of the present disclosure relates to an architecture to create split gate flash memory cell that has lower common source (CS) resistance and a reduced cell size by utilizing a buried conductive common source structure. A two-step etch process is carried out to create a recessed path between two split gate flash memory cells. A single ion implantation to form the common source also forms a conductive path beneath the STI region that connects two split gate flash memory cells and provide potential coupling during programming and erasing and thus electrically connect the common sources of memory cells along a direction that forms a CS line. The architecture contains no OD along the source line between the cells, thus eliminating the effects of CS rounding and CS resistance, resulting in a reduced space between cells in an array. Hence, this particular architecture reduces the resistance and the buried conductive path between several cells in an array suppresses the area over head.
US09159720B2	Semiconductor module with a semiconductor chip and a passive component and method for producing the same A semiconductor module includes a semiconductor chip and a passive discrete component. The semiconductor chip includes on its top side and/or on the back side one or more contacts, which in its two-dimensional extent takes up the top side and/or the back side of the semiconductor chip virtually completely. The passive component, arranged in a package, is stacked on one of the contacts. The electrode of the passive component is electrically connected with one of the contacts. The counter electrode of the passive component is operatively connected with a control or signal electrode of the semiconductor chip or an electrode of a further semiconductor chip.
US09159716B2	Stacked chip layout having overlapped active circuit blocks A stacked chip layout includes a central processing chip has a first area and a first active circuit block over the central processing chip, the first active circuit block has a second area. The stacked chip layout further includes a second active circuit block over the first active circuit block, the second active circuit block has a third area, the second active circuit block partially overlaps the first active circuit block and exposes a portion of the first active circuit block. The stacked chip layout further includes a third active circuit block over the second active circuit block, the third active circuit block has a fourth area, the third active circuit block partially overlaps at least one of the first active circuit block or the second active circuit block, and the third active circuit block exposes a portion of the first active circuit block and the second active circuit block.
US09159690B2	Tall solders for through-mold interconnect Generally discussed herein are systems and apparatuses that include an extended TSBA ball and techniques for making the same. A package can include a chip package situated below a lower surface of a first substrate, the package including a die situated on a top surface of a second substrate, a molding disposed over the upper surface of the second substrate, the molding extending over the second die and including an opening extending from an upper surface of the molding towards an upper surface of the second substrate, wherein the opening is configured to admit at least a portion of the solder ball, and a solder column electrically and mechanically coupled to the second substrate, situated in the opening, conforming to the cylinder, and including at least two layers of solder with flux therebetween.
US09159687B2	Solder bump for ball grid array A solder bump structure for a ball grid array (BGA) includes at least one under bump metal (UBM) layer and a solder bump formed over the at least one UBM layer. The solder bump has a bump width and a bump height and the ratio of the bump height over the bump width is less than 1.
US09159686B2	Crack stopper on under-bump metallization layer A semiconductor die includes a crack stopper on an under-bump metallization (UBM) layer. The crack stopper is in the shape of hollow cylinder with at least two openings.
US09159685B2	Conductive structure and method for forming the same A conductive structure for a semiconductor chip and a method for forming the conductive structure are provided. The semiconductor chip comprises a semiconductor substrate, a pad, a passivation layer and a patterned insulating layer. The patterned insulating layer is disposed on the passivation layer and partially and directly covers the first opening of the pad to expose a second opening. The conductive structure comprises an under bump metal (UBM) layer and a conductive bump. The UBM layer is disposed in the second opening defined by the patterned insulating layer and is electrically connected to the pad. The conductive bump is disposed on the UBM layer and is electrically connected to the UBM layer. The upper surface of the conductive bump is greater than the upper surface of the patterned insulating layer, while the portion of the conductive bump disposed in the second opening is covered by the UBM layer.
US09159684B1	Wafer-level packaged device having self-assembled resilient leads A wafer-level packaged semiconductor device is described. In an implementation, the device includes one or more self-assembled resilient leads disposed on an integrated circuit chip. Each of the resilient leads are configured to move from a first position wherein the resilient lead is held adjacent to the chip and a second position wherein the resilient lead is extended away from the chip to interconnect the chip to a printed circuit board. A guard is provided to protect the resilient leads when the resilient leads are in the first position. One or more attachment bumps may also be furnished to facilitate attachment of the device to the printed circuit board.
US09159670B2	Ultra fine pitch and spacing interconnects for substrate Some novel features pertain to a substrate that includes a first dielectric layer, a first interconnect, a first cavity, and a second interconnect. The first dielectric layer includes first and second surfaces. The first interconnect is embedded in the first dielectric layer. The first interconnect includes a first side and a second side. The first side is surrounded by the first dielectric layer, where at least a part of the second side is free of contact with the first dielectric layer. The first cavity traverses the first surface of the first dielectric layer to the second side of the first interconnect, where the first cavity overlaps the first interconnect. The second interconnect includes a third side and a fourth side, where the third side is coupled to the first surface of the first dielectric layer.
US09159669B2	Nanotube structure based metal damascene process In various embodiments a method for manufacturing a metallization layer on a substrate is provided, wherein the method may include forming a plurality of groups of nanotubes over a substrate, wherein the groups of nanotubes may be arranged such that a portion of the substrate is exposed and forming metal over the exposed portion of the substrate between the plurality of groups of nanotubes.
US09159638B2	Conductive via structure The invention relates to a bump structure of a semiconductor device. An exemplary structure for a semiconductor device comprises a substrate; a contact pad over the substrate; a passivation layer extending over the substrate and having an opening with a first width over the contact pad; a conductive via within the opening; and a conductive pillar having a second width completely covering the conductive via, wherein a ratio of the first width to the second width is from about 0.15 to 0.55.
US09159637B2	Electronic device with an interlocking mold package An electronic device includes a mold package which encapsulates a portion of the electronic device and does not encapsulate another portion of the electronic device to enable a sensing portion of the electronic device to be exposed to a condition to be sensed. In an electronic sensing device having a sensor formed by a substrate such as silicon, a sensor area is not encapsulated, but areas surrounding the sensor area are encapsulated. The area surrounding the sensor area includes one or more trenches or interlock structures formed in the surrounding substrate which receives the mold material to provide an interlock feature. The interlock feature reduces or substantially prevents the mold from delaminating at an interface of the mold and the substrate.
US09159632B2	Fabrication method of semiconductor apparatus A method of fabricating a semiconductor apparatus includes forming an insulating layer on a semiconductor substrate, forming a source post in the insulating layer, and forming a semiconductor layer over the source post and the insulating layer.
US09159628B2	Combination-type transistor and method for manufacturing same Disclosed is a combination-type transistor including a first MOSFET that includes a gate, a first source formed on one side of the gate, and a first drain formed on the other side of the gate; a second MOSFET that includes the gate, a second drain formed on the one side of the gate, and a second source formed on the other side of the gate; a first BJT that is formed such that the first source of the first MOSFET is used as an emitter, the second drain of the second MOSFET is used as a collector, and the substrate is used as a base; and a second BJT that is formed such that the second source of the second MOSFET is used as an emitter, the first drain of the first MOSFET is used as a collector, and the substrate is used as a base.
US09159626B2	FinFET and fabricating method thereof A fin-shaped field-effect transistor process includes the following steps. A substrate is provided. A first fin-shaped field-effect transistor and a second fin-shaped field-effect transistor are formed on the substrate, wherein the first fin-shaped field-effect transistor includes a first metal layer and the second fin-shaped field-effect transistor includes a second metal layer. A treatment process is performed on the first fin-shaped field-effect transistor to adjust the threshold voltage of the first fin-shaped field-effect transistor. A fin-shaped field-effect transistor formed by said process is also provided.
US09159624B1	Vacuum lamination of polymeric dry films for wafer dicing using hybrid laser scribing and plasma etch approach Methods of dicing semiconductor wafers, each wafer having a plurality of integrated circuits, are described. In an example, a method of dicing a semiconductor wafer having a plurality of integrated circuits involves laminating a polymeric mask layer onto a front side of the semiconductor wafer by dry film vacuum lamination, the polymeric mask layer covering and protecting the integrated circuits. The method also involves patterning the polymeric mask layer with a laser scribing process to provide gaps in the polymeric mask layer, the gaps exposing regions of the semiconductor wafer between the integrated circuits. The method also involves plasma etching the semiconductor wafer through the gaps in the polymeric mask layer to singulate the integrated circuits. The method also involves, subsequent to plasma etching the semiconductor wafer, removing the polymeric mask layer.
US09159622B2	Dividing method for wafer A dividing method for a wafer includes a step of irradiating a laser beam along streets to form modified regions in an inside of a wafer, a step of dividing the wafer into individual chips beginning with starting points given by the modified regions, a step of placing a processing chamber in which the wafer is charged to a vacuum state and fill the processing chamber with inert gas, and a step of introducing etching gas into the processing chamber filled with the inert gas to etch side faces of the chips.
US09159618B2	Semiconductor device with contacts and metal interconnects and method of manufacturing the semiconductor device A semiconductor device includes a substrate, an interlayer insulation layer, first transistors, a multilayered interconnect layer, capacitance devices, metal interconnects, and first contacts. Interlayer insulation films are disposed over the substrate. The first transistors are disposed to the substrate and buried in the interlayer insulation layer. The first transistor has at least a gate electrode and a diffusion electrode. A multilayered interconnect layer is disposed over the interlayer insulation film. The capacitance devices are disposed in the multilayered interconnect layer. The metal interconnect is in contact with the upper surface of the gate electrode and buried in the interlayer insulation layer. The first contact is coupled to the diffusion layer of the first transistor and buried in the interlayer insulation layer. The metal interconnect includes a material identical with that of the first contact.
US09159611B2	Method of forming electric contact interface regions of an electronic device A method for forming electrical-contact interface regions on a wafer including a silicon-carbide substrate having a surface with at least one conductive region facing the surface. The method includes forming a first and a second resist layer; forming; removing portions of the second resist layer to form a through opening partially aligned to the conductive region; removing, selective portions of the first resist layer to expose the surface of the substrate; removing portions of the first resist layer that extend laterally staggered with respect to the through opening; depositing a nickel layer on the wafer to form a nickel region on the substrate in an area corresponding to the conductive region; removing the first and second resist layers; and carrying out a step of thermal treatment of the wafer to form nickel-silicide regions in electrical contact with the conductive region.
US09159609B2	Semiconductor device with air gap spacer and capping barrier layer and method for fabricating the same A method for fabricating a semiconductor device includes forming an insulation layer over a substrate; forming an open portion in the insulation layer; forming a sacrificial spacer over sidewalls of the open portion; forming, over the sacrificial spacer, a first conductive pattern in a lower section of the open portion; forming an ohmic contact layer over the first conductive pattern; forming an air gap by removing the sacrificial spacer; capping the air gap by forming a barrier layer over the ohmic contact layer; and forming a second conductive pattern over the barrier layer to fill an upper section of the open portion.
US09159603B1	Integrated circuit package strip support assembly An integrated circuit (“IC”) package strip support assembly for a saw table including a first material having a first hardness and having a surface adapted to engage a first surface of an IC package strip during sawing; and a second material having a second hardness and having a surface adapted to engage the first surface of the IC package strip during sawing wherein the second hardness is less than the first hardness.
US09159599B2	Apparatus for chemically etching a workpiece Apparatus for chemically etching a workpiece includes a chamber for receiving a process gas and having a pumping port for extracting exhaust gases, and a workpiece support located in the chamber upstream of the pumping port. The chamber further includes a sub-chamber located upstream of the pumping port and downstream of the workpiece support, and the sub-chamber includes a window and an excitation source, adjacent the window, for creating a plasma in a sample of the exhaust gases to create an optical emission which can be monitored through the window.
US09159595B2	Thin wafer carrier An improved wafer carrier device for carrying and holding semiconductor wafers that have a thickness of below 100 micrometers includes a transportable wafer chuck having an enclosed vacuum reservoir and a top surface configured to support a wafer. The top surface has one or more through-openings extending from the top surface to the vacuum reservoir and the wafer is held onto the top surface via vacuum from the vacuum reservoir drawn through the through-openings.
US09159594B2	Liquid processing apparatus and liquid processing method Disclosed are a liquid processing apparatus and a liquid processing method that can advance a plurality of nozzle supporting arms into a processing chamber. The liquid processing apparatus includes a processing chamber, a nozzle configured to supply a fluid to a substrate held by a substrate holding unit, a nozzle supporting arm configured to support the nozzle, and an arm standby unit installed adjacent to the processing chamber and configured for the nozzle supporting arm retreating from the processing chamber to stand by. In the liquid processing apparatus, a plurality of nozzle supporting arms are installed and one nozzle supporting arm has a different height level from the other nozzle supporting arms.
US09159591B2	Batch type apparatus for manufacturing semiconductor devices A batch type apparatus may include a tube; a boat configured to receive a plurality of semiconductor substrates, the boat vertically moved into the tube; a gas nozzle vertically arranged in the tube, the tube having a first portion and a second portion upwardly extended from the first portion; a gas pipe for supplying reaction gases to the gas nozzle, the gas pipe having a horizontal extension and a vertical extension, and the vertical extension extended in the gas nozzle; a fixing member for fixing the first portion of the gas nozzle to the gas pipe, the fixing member having strength higher than that of the gas nozzle; and a clamping member for clamping the gas pipe to the tube. Therefore, breakage of the gas nozzle may be suppressed.
US09159589B2	Bump structural designs to minimize package defects A method of forming a chip package includes providing a chip with a plurality of first copper post bumps having a first height of copper post. The method also includes providing a substrate with a plurality of second copper post bumps having a second height of copper post. The method further includes bonding the plurality of first copper post bumps to the plurality of second copper post bumps by reflowing solder layers on the plurality of first copper post bumps and the plurality of second copper post bumps together to form a first copper post bump structure of the chip package. The first copper post bump structure has a standoff, wherein a ratio of a sum of the first height of copper post and the second height of copper post to the standoff is equal to or greater than about 0.6 and less than 1.
US09159584B2	Methods and systems of retrieving documents Methods and Systems of Retrieving Documents. Coding a plurality of stored documents as respective document feature vectors in a bit-attribute matric, each feature vector comprising an attribute or class. Generating a query vector based on a query document. Performing one or more logical operations between the query vector and the respective document features vectors in the bit-attribute matrix to obtain respective similarity measures. Assigning an attribute or class to the query document based on the attribute or classes of one or more of the feature vectors.
US09159579B2	Lithography using multilayer spacer for reduced spacer footing A method embodiment for patterning a semiconductor device includes forming a plurality of mandrels over a substrate, and forming a multilayer spacer layer over the plurality of mandrels. The multilayer spacer layer is formed by conformably depositing a spacer layer over the plurality of mandrels and treating the spacer layer with plasma. The plurality of mandrels is exposed by etching a top portion of the multilayer spacer layer, thereby forming a multilayer spacer.
US09159578B2	Self-aligned devices and methods of manufacture A method includes forming patterned lines on a substrate having a predetermined pitch. The method further includes forming spacer sidewalls on sidewalls of the patterned lines. The method further includes forming material in a space between the spacer sidewalls of adjacent patterned lines. The method further includes forming another patterned line from the material by protecting the material in the space between the spacer sidewalls of adjacent patterned lines while removing the spacer sidewalls. The method further includes transferring a pattern of the patterned lines and the patterned line to the substrate.
US09159576B2	Method of forming finFET having fins of different height A method is performed on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer formed of a substrate, a bottom oxide layer on the substrate and an active silicon layer on the bottom oxide layer, where the active silicon layer has a surface opposite the bottom oxide layer. The method includes forming a first mask over the surface at a first portion of the wafer and leaving a second portion of the wafer unmasked, etching the wafer at the unmasked second portion of the wafer to form a depression in the active silicon layer, the depression having a bottom, forming a thermal oxide layer substantially filling the depression, removing the first mask, and forming fins at the first and second portions of the wafer.
US09159572B2	Method of producing semiconductor substrate product, and etching method to be used therein A method of producing a semiconductor substrate product, the method containing: a step of preparing an aqueous solution containing 7% by mass or more and 25% by mass or less of a quaternary alkyl ammonium hydroxide; a step of preparing a semiconductor substrate having a silicon film comprising a polycrystalline silicon film or an amorphous silicon film; and a step of heating the aqueous solution at 80° C. or higher and applying the resultant aqueous solution onto the semiconductor substrate to etch at least a part of the silicon film.
US09159571B2	Tungsten deposition process using germanium-containing reducing agent Methods for depositing low resistivity tungsten in features of substrates in semiconductor processing are disclosed herein. Methods involve using a germanium-containing reducing agent during tungsten nucleation layer deposition to achieve thin, low resistivity nucleation layers.
US09159570B2	Non-volatile memory device and method for fabricating the same A non-volatile memory device includes a channel layer vertically extending from a substrate, a plurality of inter-layer dielectric layers and a plurality of gate electrodes that are alternately stacked along the channel layer, and an air gap interposed between the channel layer and each of the plurality of gate electrodes. The non-volatile memory device may improve erase operation characteristics by suppressing back tunneling of electrons by substituting a charge blocking layer interposed between a gate electrode and a charge storage layer with an air gap, and a method for fabricating the non-volatile memory device.
US09159569B2	Methods of forming charge-trapping regions Some embodiments include methods of forming charge-trapping zones. The methods may include forming nanoparticles, transferring the nanoparticles to a liquid to form a dispersion, forming an aerosol from the dispersion, and then directing the aerosol onto a substrate to form charge-trapping centers comprising the nanoparticles. The charge-trapping zones may be incorporated into flash memory cells.
US09159566B2	Replacement metal gates to enhance transistor strain Some embodiments of the present invention include apparatuses and methods relating to NMOS and PMOS transistor strain.
US09159561B2	Method for overcoming broken line and photoresist scum issues in tri-layer photoresist patterning A method of patterning a semiconductor device using a tri-layer photoresist is disclosed. A material layer is formed over a substrate. A tri-layer photoresist is formed over the material layer. The tri-layer photoresist includes a bottom layer, a middle layer disposed over the bottom layer, and a photo-sensitive layer disposed over the middle layer. A lithography process is performed to pattern the photo-sensitive layer into a mask having one or more openings. Undesired portions of the mask are removed via a first etching process. Thereafter, the middle layer is patterned via a second etching process. The second etching process includes forming a coating layer around the mask while the middle layer is being etched. In some embodiments, the second etching process includes a continuous plasma etching process. The plasma etching process is performed using at least a CxHyFz gas and an H2 gas.
US09159560B2	Methods of forming hole patterns of semiconductor devices A double patterning method of forming a plurality of hole patterns having a small pitch using etch selectivities includes forming a patterning mask pattern defining a preliminary hole exposing an upper surface of a buffer mask layer, an inner spacer exposing the upper surface of the buffer mask layer on an inner wall of the preliminary hole, a buffer mask pattern having a first hole, and a core insulating pattern filling the preliminary hole and the first hole, an outer spacer to expose a first portion of the patterning mask pattern on the exposed portion of the outer side of the inner spacer, and an empty space exposing a first portion of the buffer mask pattern. A second portion of the patterning mask pattern and a second portion of the buffer mask pattern are exposed. A second hole is formed by removing the second portion of the buffer mask pattern.
US09159537B2	Method for analyzing sample components Described herein is a method and system for on-line coupling of capillary isoelectric focusing (cIEF) to high-resolution mass spectrometry in which a sheath flow buffer comprising polar organic solvent and organic acid is used as both an immobilization solution for (cIEF) and an ionization solution for electrospray ionization (ESI).
US09159528B2	Electron beam apparatus An electron beam apparatus includes at least one electron beam column. The at least one beam column includes an electron beam optical system to irradiate an electron beam on a surface of a sample, and a detection system to detect electrons generated from the electron beam. The electron beam optical system includes an object lens to focus the electron beam on a surface of the sample. The object lens includes an electrostatic lens having a first electrode to which a first voltage is applied, a second electrode that is grounded, a third electrode to which a second voltage is applied, and a fourth electrode that is grounded. The first through fourth electrodes sequentially arranged relative to the sample.
US09159524B2	X-ray generating apparatus The X-ray generating apparatus 100 applies an electron beam e1 onto a target 150 to generate X-rays x1, and includes a permanent magnet lens 120 configured to focus the electron beam e1, a correction coil 130 provided on a side of the electron beam e1 with respect to the permanent magnet lens 120 and configured to correct a focus position formed by the permanent magnet lens 120 in a traveling direction of the electron beam e1, and a target 150 onto which the focused electron beam is applied. Accordingly, the apparatus configuration can be extremely compact and lightweight in comparison with general apparatuses. Furthermore, by the correction coil 130, the intensity of the magnetic field can be finely adjusted and the focus position in the traveling direction of the electron beam e1 can be finely adjusted.
US09159522B2	Method for assembling an electron exit window and an electron exit window assembly The present invention refers to a method for assembling an electron exit window of an electron beam generating device, comprising the steps of: arranging a foil support plate on a housing of the electron beam generating device, bonding a window foil to a frame along at least one continuous bonding line, thus creating an exit window sub-assembly, and attaching the exit window sub-assembly onto the housing. The invention also relates to an electron exit window assembly.
US09159520B2	Microwave driven electrodeless lamp comprising magnetron without forced convective cooling A LUWPL luminaire has a housing with a lower transparent closure and a heat dissipating top of cast aluminum. This has a suspension eye. The housing has an upper flange via which it is bolted with the interposition of a seal to a underside rim of the top. Within the rim, the underside is substantially flat, with a magnetron attachment boss and other attachment points. A magnetron is supported by being clamped by a saddle to the attachment boss at the magnetron's anode. The magnetron is fast with a transition box and a crucible support block. A bracket fixed to certain of the attachment points extends down from the top is screwed to the transition box. Thus the LUWPL parts are securely supported below the top.
US09159517B2	Photocathode enhancement system A photocathode enhancement system includes a cathode plate that is movably positioned relative to an incident optical beam. The emission surface of the cathode plate has an area between about 0.5 cm2 to greater than 100 cm2. The system includes a motion controller that is configured to control the movement of the cathode plate relative to the optical beam, so that the optical beam successively strikes non-overlapping portions of the emission surface, and may reach substantially the entire emission surface over a time period of about 10 seconds to about 100 seconds. The movement of the cathode plate is controlled so that on average, the heat from the optical beam is uniformly distributed over the emission surface of the cathode plate.
US09159509B2	Hybrid keypad apparatus Hybrid keypad apparatus are disclosed herein. An example dome sheet carrier apparatus disclosed herein includes a first carrier portion having a first plurality of domes and a second carrier portion adjacent the first carrier portion. The second carrier portion has a second plurality of domes different than the first plurality of domes, where each of the second plurality of domes has a conductive material adjacent an apex of the second plurality of domes.
US09159504B2	Apparatus for storing electric energy and method of manufacturing the same Disclosed herein is an apparatus for storing an electric energy, the apparatus including: an electrode stack in which a cathode and an anode in which a cathode lead and an anode lead are respectively formed are alternately stacked; and collector plates disposed at both sides of the electrode stack, connected to the cathode lead and the anode lead, and provided with external terminals and one or more electrolyte flow holes.
US09159502B2	Supercapacitor with hexacyanometallate cathode, activated carbon anode, and non-aqueous electrolyte A supercapacitor is provided with a method for fabricating the supercapacitor. The method provides dried hexacyanometallate particles having a chemical formula AmM1xM2y(CN)6.pH2O with a Prussian Blue hexacyanometallate, crystal structure, where A is an alkali or alkaline-earth cation, and M1 and M2 are metals with 2+ or 3+ valance positions. The variable m is in the range of 0.5 to 2, x is in the range of 0.5 to 1.5, y is in the range of 0.5 to 1.5, and p is in the range of 0 to 6. The hexacyanometallate particles are mixed with a binder and electronic conductor powder, to form a cathode comprising AmM1xM2y(CN)6.pH2O. The method also forms an activated carbon anode and a membrane separating the cathode from the anode, permeable to A and A′ cations. Finally, an electrolyte is added with a metal salt including A′ cations. The electrolyte may be aqueous.
US09159497B2	Low band gap copolymer and method for manufacturing same Disclosed herein are a copolymer having a low band gap and a preparing method thereof, and more specifically, a copolymer having a low band gap and other various and excellent physical properties, and a preparing method thereof.
US09159494B2	Multilayer ceramic condenser and method of manufacturing the same Disclosed are a multilayer ceramic condenser and a method of manufacturing the same. The method includes printing a plurality of stripe-type inner electrode patterns in parallel on ceramic green sheets; forming a laminate by staking the ceramic green sheets having the plurality of stripe-type inner electrode patterns printed thereon; cutting the laminate in order to have a structure in which first and second inner electrode patterns are alternately stacked; and forming a first side part and a second side part by applying ceramic slurry in order to cover the sides of the laminate to which the first and second inner electrode patterns are exposed.
US09159484B2	Integrated circuit based transformer An integrated circuit based transformer, comprising: a primary winding located in a winding layer, the primary winding having two primary terminals at a first side of the transformer; a secondary winding located in a winding layer, the secondary winding having two secondary terminals at a second side of the transformer, the first and second sides located at different sides of the transformer; and a reference bar located in a reference bar layer, the reference bar having a primary reference bar terminal at the first side of the transformer, and having a secondary reference bar terminal at the second side of the transformer. The reference bar is configured to provide a direct electrical connection between the first reference bar terminal and the second reference bar terminal.
US09159481B2	Non-contact torque sensor with permanent shaft magnetization A device for magnetizing an object includes first and second electrode for contacting the object to be magnetized as well as a current generator. The generator is configured to apply a current having a raising current slope and a falling current slope. The falling current slope is steeper than the raising current slope.
US09159475B2	High pressure bushing of rotating electrical machine and rotating electrical machine According to one embodiment, there is provided a high pressure bushing arranged through by penetrating a stator frame of a rotating electrical machine in which a cooling gas is sealed. At least a communicating hole is provided in the hollow connecting conductor and at least a reflux hole is provided in the gas circulation pipe, such that the cooling gas flows in both of the first gap and the second gap, passes through an inner side of the gas circulation pipe, and is discharged to the machine inner side.
US09159473B2	Method of electrically conductively connecting two superconductive cables A method of electrically conductively connecting two superconductive cables includes freeing the conductors and screens of surrounding layers at the ends of the two cables. Subsequently, the ends of the two cables (1, 2) are placed next o each other and parallel to one another in such a way that their free ends point, in the same direction, and the ends are rigidly connected to one another in this position. The conductors and their screens are electrically conductively connected to each other through electrical contact elements (8, 9) extending transversely of the axial direction. and the two cable ends treated in this manner are arranged in a housing (10) of a cryostat when building up the transmission length which, during operation of the transmission length, a flowable cooling agent with insulating properties flows through the housing.
US09159458B2	Flash interface error injector A flash interface error injector for end-of-life testing of a flash-based array includes a plurality of error injection logic blocks that are implemented by one or more processors. Each of the plurality of error injection logic blocks corresponds with a respective flash channel. The flash injector also includes a bit flip probability logic that identifies one or more bits to be flipped.
US09159455B2	Data retention error detection system A particular method includes selecting a threshold data retention time of a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) memory cell. A pinned layer of the MTJ memory cell has a first direction of magnetization, and a free layer of the MTJ memory cell has a second direction of magnetization. An external magnetic field that has a third direction of magnetization that is opposite to the second direction of magnetization is applied to the MTJ memory cell. A strength of the external magnetic field is determined based on the threshold data retention time. Subsequent to applying the external magnetic field, a read operation is performed on the MTJ memory cell to determine a logic value of the MTJ memory cell. The method further includes determining whether the MTJ memory cell is subject to a data retention error corresponding to the threshold data retention time based on the logic value.
US09159452B2	Automatic word line leakage measurement circuitry The present invention is a circuit and method for measuring leakage on the plurality of word lines in a memory device. In one embodiment, a memory device may include a leakage measurement circuit that is coupled to a plurality of word lines of the memory device. The leakage measurement circuit may be operable to generate a reference current and to determine whether a leakage current on one of the plurality of word lines is acceptable relative to the reference current. In another embodiment, a method may include determining whether leakage on one of a plurality of word lines of a memory device is allowable using a circuit in the memory device.
US09159451B2	Testing system and testing method thereof A testing system for a wafer having a plurality of flash memory dies is provided. The testing system includes a testing apparatus and a probe card coupled to the testing apparatus via a specific transmission line. The testing apparatus provides a testing requirement. The probe card includes a plurality of probes and a controller. The probes contact with at least one of the flash memory dies of the wafer. The controller writes a testing data to the flash memory die according to the testing requirement and reads the testing data from the flash memory die via the probes. The controller provides a testing result to the testing apparatus according to the read testing data.
US09159439B2	Semiconductor memory device A semiconductor memory device includes a sense amplifier, and the sense amplifier includes a bus, first and second latch circuits, and a third transistor. The first latch circuit includes a first transistor connected to the bus, and the second latch circuit includes a second transistor connected to the bus. When data is transmitted from the first latch circuit to the second latch circuit, a third transistor is switched on to precharge the bus by applying a first voltage that is lower than a power source voltage of the first and second latch circuits to a gate of the third transistor. Thereafter, second and third voltages that are lower than the power source voltage are applied to gates of first and second transistors, respectively.
US09159438B2	NAND flash memory having C/A pin and flash memory system including the same A NAND flash memory in which a command/address pin is separated from a data input/output pin. The NAND flash memory includes a memory cell array used for storing data, a command/address pin through which a command and an address are received for transmitting data in the memory cell array, and a data input/output pin through which data are transmitted in the memory cell array. The command/address pin is separated from the data input/output pin in the NAND flash memory. Data input/output speed is increased. Furthermore, the NAND flash memory can perform a bank interleaving operation with a minimal delay time.
US09159437B2	Device and method for resolving an LM flag issue The reliability with which data can be read from a storage medium, such as flash memory storage medium, is enhanced by updating an upper limit of a reading threshold voltage window for a respective portion of the storage medium. For each memory cell in the respective portion of the storage medium, a memory controller is configured to perform a plurality of sensing operations and obtain results from the plurality of sensing operations, where the plurality of sensing operations includes sensing operations using a predefined range of offsets from a previously established reading threshold voltage. The memory controller is further configured to determine the updated upper limit of the reading threshold voltage window based on the-results from the plurality of sensing operations, and store the updated upper limit of the reading threshold voltage window for the respective portion of the storage medium.
US09159426B1	Three dimensional memory device having stacked conductive channels A method includes forming a first group of memory cells coupled to a first conductive channel. The first conductive channel is substantially perpendicular relative to a surface of a substrate. The method further includes forming a second group of memory cells coupled to a second conductive channel. The second conductive channel is electrically coupled to the first conductive channel and is substantially perpendicular relative to the surface of the substrate.
US09159414B1	Programmable impedance element circuits and methods An integrated circuit may can include a memory section that stores data in programmable impedance elements arranged at cross points of select lines and sub bit lines, groups of sub bit lines each being connected to a different main bit line, the elements being formed above a substrate surface.
US09159413B2	Thermo programmable resistor based ROM An integrated circuit is formed having an array of memory cells located in the dielectric stack above a semiconductor substrate. Each memory cell has an adjustable resistor and a heating element. A dielectric material separates the heating element from the adjustable resistor. The heating element alters the resistance of the resistor by applying heat thereto. The magnitude of the resistance of the adjustable resistor represents the value of data stored in the memory cell.
US09159408B2	Memory element with a reactive metal layer A memory cell including conductive oxide electrodes is disclosed. The memory cell includes a memory element operative to store data as a plurality of resistive states. The memory element includes a layer of a conductive metal oxide (CMO) (e.g., a perovskite) in contact with an electrode that may comprise one or more layers of material. At least one of those layers of material can be a conductive oxide (e.g., a perovskite such as LaSrCoO3-LSCoO or LaNiO3-LNO) that is in contact with the CMO. The conductive oxide layer can be selected as a seed layer operative to provide a good lattice match with and/or a lower crystallization temperature for the CMO. The conductive oxide layer may also be in contact with a metal layer (e.g., Pt). The memory cell additionally exhibits non-linear IV characteristics, which can be favorable in certain arrays, such as non-volatile two-terminal cross-point memory arrays.
US09159405B2	Method and apparatus for surface mounting a non-volatile memory device A method and an apparatus for programming data, and a method and an apparatus for setting a data programming mode used for the same are provided. The method for programming data in a non-volatile memory device includes determining a programming mode to be used for data programming among at least two programming modes prescribing different verify voltages for cells to be programmed, based on set mode information, and programming data according to the determined programming mode. Consequently, the loss of programmed data is prevented through an SMD reflow process.
US09159402B2	SRAM bitcell implemented in double gate technology An SRAM bitcell includes first and second CMOS inverters connected as a latch defining a true node and a complement node. The bitcell further includes true and complement bitline nodes. A first direct connection is provided between the true bitline node and a back gate of at least a p-channel transistor, and perhaps also an n-channel transistor, in the second CMOS inverter. A second direct connection is provided between the complement bitline node and a back gate of at least a p-channel transistor, and perhaps also an n-channel transistor, in the first CMOS inverter. A first pass transistor is coupled between the true bitline node and the true node, and a second pass transistor is coupled between the complement bitline node and the complement node. Direct connections are also provided between a wordline and the back gates of each of the first and second pass transistors.
US09159400B2	Semiconductor memory having staggered sense amplifiers associated with a local column decoder A semiconductor memory having bit lines and wordlines crossing each other, a memory cell array formed by memory cells arranged in rows and columns on crossover points of the bit lines and wordlines, and sense amplifier banks arranged on opposite sides of the memory cell array. Each sense amplifier bank has staggered sense amplifiers connected to a bit line according to an interleaved arrangement whereby bit lines alternate in the direction of the wordlines between bit lines coupled to different sense amplifiers. This results in interconnect spaces parallel to the bit lines. Also, each sense amplifier bank includes a local column decoder for selecting a sense amplifier and which is staggered with the sense amplifiers and coupled to the sense amplifier by an output line running in an available interconnect space parallel to the bit lines.
US09159396B2	Mechanism for facilitating fine-grained self-refresh control for dynamic memory devices A mechanism for facilitating improved refresh schemes for memory devices is described. In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a memory device having refresh logic and memory cells, the memory cells including data cells and supplemental cells, the supplemental cells to be observed. The supplemental cells emulate a decay characteristic of the data cells performing regular refresh operations according to an existing refresh policy. The apparatus may further include the refresh logic to receive, from the supplemental cells, observation data relating to decaying of the supplemental cells, and correlate the observation data to data cell performance. The refresh logic to generate a policy recommendation based on the observation data collected by the supplemental cells.
US09159387B2	Memory chip and semiconductor package including the same A memory chip includes a data processing block suitable for serial-parallel converting data inputted and for parallel-serial converting data to be outputted, a write data transmitting unit suitable for transmitting the data serial-parallel converted by the data processing block to a write data interlayer channel, a write data receiving unit suitable for receiving data from the write data interlayer channel, the data to be written to a core area, a read data receiving unit suitable for receiving data from a read data interlayer channel, the data to be parallel-serial converted by the data processing block, and a read data transmitting unit suitable for transmitting data read from the core area to the read data interlayer channel.
US09159386B2	Semiconductor devices and reduction of operation times The semiconductor device includes a command decoder and a voltage generation circuit. The command decoder may be suitable for decoding external command signals to generate a preparation signal and a voltage control signal. The voltage generation circuit may be suitable for generating a read voltage signal used in a read operation and a program voltage signal used in a program operation in response to the preparation signal. In addition, the voltage generation circuit may terminate generation of the read voltage signal and the program voltage signal in response to the voltage control signal.
US09159383B2	Signal management in a memory device Command signal management methods and circuits in memory devices are disclosed. Command signals are selectively passed and blocked to enforce safe operating characteristics within a memory device. In at least one embodiment, a command signal management circuit is configured to selectively block a command signal while a memory device operation is being performed. In at least one other embodiment, one or more command blocking circuits are configured to selectively pass and block one or more command signals generated by a memory access device coupled to the memory device while a memory device operation is being performed in the memory device.
US09159379B2	Switching circuit and semiconductor memory device A switching circuit includes a first well and a second well formed in a semiconductor substrate; a first transistor being connected with a first node at one end, and the first transistor being formed in the first well; a second transistor being connected with another end of the first node at one end, and connected with a second node at another end, and the second transistor being formed in the second well; and a potential control circuit that connects the second well with the first node during a predetermined period including a period for the first transistor and the second transistor to transition from off to on in a state where potential of the second node is lower than potential of the first node, and connects the second well with the second node after the predetermined period.
US09159377B2	Resistive memory apparatus, operating method thereof, and system having the same A resistive memory apparatus includes a memory unit including a resistive memory cell array, a voltage generation unit suitable for receiving a radio frequency (RF) signal, and converting the RF signal into a direct current (DC) voltage, and a control unit suitable for controlling a refresh operation to be performed on the resistive memory cell array, wherein the boosted DC voltage is used as an operation voltage for the refresh operation.
US09159372B2	Housing for receiving a removable hard disk, including a tilting cam for removing said hard disk A box is provided for receiving a removable element. The box is a generally rectangular box fitted with a tilting cam of cut-out sheet metal situated in the rear portion of the box body, the tilting cam having an actuation end and an ejection end situated on either side of a central portion of said cam for the purpose of ejecting the removable element when the cam is tilted about its central portion. The box body has in the rear portion of its top face a tab including a base extended by a tongue that extends parallel to said top face while being spaced apart from said top face, together with a lug projecting from the top face and situated facing a free end of the tongue. The tilting cam is secured to the box body by snap-fastening, having its central portion engaged firstly between the tongue and the top face of the box body, and secondly between the lug and the base.
US09159371B2	Forensic video recording with presence detection At a high level, embodiments of the invention relate to augmenting video data with presence data derived from one or more proximity tags. More specifically, embodiments of the invention generate forensically authenticated recordings linking video imagery to the presence of specific objects in or near the recording. One embodiment of the invention includes video recording system comprising a camera, a wireless proximity tag reader, a storage memory and control circuitry operable to receive image data from the camera receive a proximity tag identifier identifying a proximity tag from the proximity tag reader, and store an encoded frame containing the image data and the proximity tag identity in the storage memory.
US09159368B2	Recording and reproducing apparatus and method thereof In a recording and reproducing apparatus and a recording and reproducing method for the recording and reproducing apparatus for recording and reproducing image information on a scene obtained through photographing, relative to a predetermined first recording medium and being capable of setting one or more chapters to each scene, a face recognizing process is executed for a photographed image based on the image information, an importance level of each chapter is set in accordance with a result of the face recognizing process for a very important person (VIP) set by a user, and each chapter having a relevant importance level among importance levels of respective chapters is selectively reproduced. A user can therefore find an object chapter and scene quickly and easily.
US09159361B2	System and method for distributed trick play resolution using user preferences Distributed trick play resolution in a distributed video viewing group network includes determining trick play preferences for each device of a plurality of nodes in the distributed video viewing group network with respect to a video item. Conflicting trick play preferences between the nodes is determined based on one or more of a group consisting of: user rankings, user voting, trick play ranking, and owner resolution. The determined conflicting trick play preferences are resolved.
US09159350B1	High damping cap layer for magnetic recording media A recording medium having improved signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) capabilities includes a cap layer over the recording layer, where the cap layer has a magnetic damping constant greater than 0.03, such as by using a FeHo cap layer. One mechanism for increasing the SNR is by reducing the switching field distribution. Such a medium is particularly useful in the context of heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR).
US09159349B2	Writer core incorporating thermal sensor having a temperature coefficient of resistance A writer core of a transducer is configured to interact with a magnetic recording medium and comprises an upper core and a lower core. At least one of the upper and lower cores comprises a return pole having a return shield. The apparatus also comprises a writer pole between the upper and lower cores, and a writer gap defined between the writer pole and the return shield. The apparatus further comprises a sensor element within one of the upper and lower cores that includes the writer gap. The sensor element has a temperature coefficient of resistance and is configured to sense for a change in temperature indicative of one or both of a change in spacing and contact between the transducer and the magnetic recording medium.
US09159340B1	Coil structure for write head A write head having a main pole having a pole tip, the main pole having a leading side and a trailing side; and a coil structure around the main pole, the coil structure having no more than two active turns on the trailing side. A non-active, or dummy turn, may be present.
US09159328B1	Audio fingerprinting for advertisement detection A device may receive an audio sample, and may separate the audio sample into multiple sub-band signals in multiple frequency bands. The device may modify an upper boundary and a lower boundary of at least one of the frequency bands to form modified frequency bands. The device may modify the sub-band signals to form banded signals associated with the modified frequency bands. The device may smooth the banded signals to form smoothed signal values. The device may identify peak values included in the smoothed signal values, and may generate an audio fingerprint for the audio sample based on the smoothed signal values and the peak values.
US09159323B2	Deriving geographic distribution of physiological or psychological conditions of human speakers while preserving personal privacy A method including: obtaining, via a plurality of communication devices, a plurality of speech signals respectively associated with human speakers, the speech signals including verbal components and non-verbal components; identifying a plurality of geographical locations, each geographic location associated with a respective one of the plurality of the communication devices; extracting the non-verbal components from the obtained speech signals; deducing physiological or psychological conditions of the human speakers by analyzing, over a specified period, the extracted non-verbal components, using predefined relations between characteristics of the non-verbal components and physiological or psychological conditions of the human speakers; and providing a geographical distribution of the deduced physiological or psychological conditions of the human speakers by associating the deduced physiological or psychological conditions of the human speakers with geographical locations thereof.
US09159310B2	Musical modification effects Systems, including methods and apparatus, for applying audio effects to a non-ambient signal, based at least in part on information received in an ambient audio signal. Exemplary effects that can be applied using the present teachings include generation of harmony notes, pitch-correction of melody notes, and tempo-based effects that rely on beat detection.
US09159304B1	Bore-variable leadpipe for brass instruments A bore-variable leadpipe includes a mouthpiece receiver integrally formed on a tube body of a brass instrument and a mouthpiece adaptor detachably assembled to the mouthpiece receiver. The mouthpiece receiver internally defines a first bore, in which an assembling section, a tapered section and an air-guiding section are sequentially formed. The mouthpiece adaptor has a receiving end for receiving a mouthpiece therein and an assembling end for engaging with the assembling section, and internally defines a second bore between the two ends. When the mouthpiece adaptor is assembled to the mouthpiece receiver, the second and the first bore are aligned and communicable with each other to form a conical passage and a cylindrical passage. The leadpipe can be changed in its bore size by assembling a mouthpiece adaptor of a different bore size to the mouthpiece receiver, so that the same brass instrument can be used with differently sized mouthpieces.
US09159302B2	Piano extended soft pedal/CIP A piano selectively playable in normal and soft modes has multiple piano keys and actions, including a wippen assembly, and multiple piano hammers. A soft pedal system includes a soft pedal and a hammer rest rail mounted for movement between normal and soft mode positions. A piano key lift rail is mounted for movement between a normal mode position spaced from lifting contact with the keys and a soft mode position in contact with and lifting the keys and the wippen assemblies. A soft pedal linkage assembly between the soft pedal and the hammer rest rail and piano key lift rail, upon actuation of the soft pedal, causes movement of hammer rest rail and piano hammers, and movement of the piano keys and the wippen assemblies, between normal and soft mode positions, in gap-closing motion.
US09159299B2	Compensated method of displaying based on a visual adjustment factor A method and a device for displaying images on a display based on a visual adjustment factor related to a user's prescription eyewear are provided. The display includes a front display plane and a back display plane and for each of a plurality of image elements of an image, a respective version of the image element is displayed on each of the front display plane and the back display plane based on the visual adjustment factor such that the respective versions of the image element differ in at least one of line weight and transparency.
US09159297B2	Image-displaying device and display timing control circuit An image-displaying device includes an image data generation section, a progress information acquisition section and a display control section. The image data generation section is configured to perform processing for generating image data indicative of an image of a subject based on output data from an image-capturing section that captures the image of the subject, the image data being composed of a plurality of predetermined data units. The progress information acquisition section is configured to acquire progress information indicative of a status of progress of the processing for generating the image data with respect to each of the predetermined data units of the image data. The display control section is configured to control the display section to display at least one of the predetermined data units of the image data for which the processing for generating the image data is ended based on the progress information.
US09159287B2	Image display apparatus and image display method When the degree of reliability of a motion vector is equal to or higher than a threshold, an interpolated image is generated, and the image of a frame of interest and the interpolated image are output to a panel in the order named. Every time the image is output, a backlight is turned on. When the degree of reliability is lower than the threshold, the image of the frame of interest is output twice to the panel. Every time the image is output, the backlight is controlled to alternately set its light amount to the first light amount and the second light amount smaller than the first light amount.
US09159280B1	GOA circuit for liquid crystal displaying and display device The present invention relates to a GOA circuit for liquid crystal displaying and a display device. The GOA circuit includes a plurality of cascaded GOA units and the nth-stage GOA unit includes a pull-up part (100), a key pull-down part (200), a pull-down holding part (300), a pull-up control part (400), and a boost capacitor (Cb). In operation, a nth-stage clock signal (CK(n)) and first and second clock signals (LC1 and LC2) are inputted. The frequencies of the first clock signal (LC1) and the second clock signal (LC2) are lower than the nth clock signal (CK(n)). The first clock signal (LC1) charging a first circuit point (P) and the second clock signal (LC2) charging a second circuit point (K) are alternately carried out. The present invention also provides a corresponding display device. The GOA circuit of the present invention precisely controls the voltage of the gate Q(n) that affects charging of a horizontal scan line by means of the low frequency clock signal and the high frequency clock signal, so as to ensure a stable output of the GOA charging signal.
US09159267B2	Liquid crystal display device Disclosed herein is a liquid crystal display device having first and second substrates disposed to face each other so as to hold a liquid crystal layer therebetween, and a gate potential creating circuit for outputting a selection potential and a non-selection potential, scanning lines, signal lines, thin film transistors formed so as to correspond to intersection portions between the scanning lines and the signal lines, respectively, pixel electrodes electrically connected to the thin film transistors, respectively, and a gate control circuit for switching the selection potential and the non-selection potential supplied from the gate potential creating circuit over to each other, thereby supplying one of the selection potential and the non-selection potential to corresponding ones of the thin film transistors through corresponding one of the scanning lines being formed on the first substrate, and a common electrode being formed either on the first substrate or the second substrate.
US09159263B2	Pixel with enhanced luminance non-uniformity, a display device comprising the pixel and driving method of the display device A pixel, a display device including the same, and a driving method thereof. The display device includes: a data driver transmitting data signals; a scan driver generating and transmitting scan signals; a display panel including pixels, each emitting light with a driving current according to the data signals; a compensation signal unit generating and transmitting a compensation control signal for controlling simultaneous transmission of a predetermined bias voltage to each of the pixels before a data voltage according to the data signals is applied to each of the pixels; a power controller controlling voltage levels of the first power source voltage and the second power source voltage and supplying the level-controlled first and second power source voltages; and a timing controller generating the data signals by processing an external image signal and generating a plurality of driving control signals.
US09159257B2	Organic light emitting display and method of driving the same The organic light emitting display includes a plurality of pixels positioned at intersections of scan lines, emission control lines, and data lines, a scan driver for sequentially supplying scan signals to the scan lines at a first driving frequency in order to select the pixels in units of horizontal lines, and an emission driver for sequentially supplying emission control signals to the emission control lines at a second driving frequency different from the first driving frequency in order to control emission of the pixels.
US09159248B2	Patient models for oral surgery A model head including a jaw insert having layers of varying materials replicating the anatomical features of a human jaw. The jaw may include a mock nerve system that provides a signal to indicate the condition of the nerve. The jaw also may include a circulatory system including vessels that simulate the bleeding that occurs when a vessel in a human has been damaged.
US09159244B2	Simulation device for training equipment for a vehicle The invention relates to a simulation device (110) for training equipment (100) for a real ground vehicle, comprising —a vehicle model (115) comprising a predetermined number of function models (130b; 131b; 132b) for simulation of corresponding physical function elements (130a; 131a; 132a) of said vehicle; —arrangements (399) for engaging physical function elements (130a; 131a; 132a) to the simulation device (110). The simulation device (110) is arranged such that a function model (130b; 131 b; 132b) concerning a determined function element (130a; 131a, 132a) is intended to be deactivated at engagement of corresponding physical function elements (130a; 131a; 132a) and such that the deactivated function model (130a; 131b; 132b) is reactivated at disengagement of said engaged function element (130a; 131a; 132a). The invention also relates to a computer program and a computer program product comprising a program code (P) for a computer (110; 300).
US09159237B2	Vehicle early warning system and vehicle early warning method A vehicle early warning system and a vehicle early warning method are provided. The vehicle early warning system comprises an inter-vehicle communication device, a processor and a notice device. The inter-vehicle communication device receives an other-vehicle message package having an other-vehicle identification code and an other-vehicle sense message. The processor determines whether the other-vehicle identification code is valid. The processor determines whether the other-vehicle sense message is valid when the other-vehicle identification code is valid. The processor determines whether a driving location is on a predicated collision path according to the other-vehicle sense message when the other-vehicle sense message is valid. The notice device outputs a notice signal when the driving location is on a predicated collision path.
US09159223B2	User monitoring device configured to be in communication with an emergency response system or team A user monitoring device has one or more monitoring sensors and a unique user ID. The one or more sensors acquire user information selected from of at least one of, a user's activities, behaviors and habit information, and user monitoring. ID circuitry is at the user monitoring device. The ID circuitry includes ID storage, a communication system that reads and transmits the unique ID from an ID storage, a power source and a pathway system to route signals through the circuitry. The monitoring device is configured to be in communication with a telemetry system. The telemetry system includes a database of user ID's. The telemetry analyzes telemetry data based on at least one of, user's activities, behaviors and habit information. The telemetry system in operation is in communication with and sends a notification to an emergency response team or system when a monitored parameter is of a certain value.
US09159218B2	Initiation of carbon monoxide and/or smoke detector alarm test using image recognition and/or facial gesturing An apparatus for smoke detection having an image sensor may be tested using image or pattern recognition, or facial gesturing without having to climb a ladder or chair to initiate the test, or be uncomfortably close to the smoke detector apparatus during initiation of the testing thereof. Carbon monoxide (CO) and/or carbon dioxide (CO2) monitoring and alarm may also be incorporated into this apparatus. Other control functions may also be initiated with image or pattern recognition, or facial gesturing such as audio features associated with the smoke detector apparatus such as networked speakers for distribution of music, intercom, telephone, and/or doorbell annunciation.
US09159204B2	Cash drawer capable of preventing loss of banknotes Provided is a cash drawer (10) including a drawer (70) having a banknote container (81) formed therein, and a cash drawer body (20). The cash drawer body (20) includes a drawer accommodating portion (21), a front opening portion (22), a top surface member (40) including a top surface section (41), and a front surface member (50) including a front frame section (51). The front surface member (50) and the top surface member (40) are coupled to each other without forming, at a position between the front surface member (50) and the top surface member (40), a seam extending in a direction being parallel to the top surface of the drawer accommodating portion (21) and intersecting a first direction (X).
US09159202B2	Gaming system, gaming device and method providing a first game and a plurality second wagering games each associated with a separate activatable component of the first game A gaming system having a first skill, partial skill, or pseudo skill based game having a plurality of individually activatable designated components and a plurality of second chance based games each respectively associated with a different one of the individually activatable components of the skill based game. When each designated component of the first game is activated through one or player inputs, a corresponding chance based game associated with that designated component is activated. Each chance based game randomly determines whether the player wins an award. In one embodiment, the likelihood of activating each designated component is different and the chance based game associated with each different designated component is different.
US09159193B2	Method and apparatus for gaming with alternate value payouts Systems and methods are provided for permitting a player to play a game at a gaming device. The gaming device provides a payout for the game. The payout is redeemable for one of a plurality of values, and at least two of the plurality of values are different from each other. The values typically have different corresponding forms of payout, such as cash or merchandise credits.
US09159192B2	Gaming device having resultant wild symbols A gaming device including a plurality of reels or cards having several symbols. The symbols include at least two complimentary symbols that form resultant symbols on related reels or cards. In one embodiment, the resultant symbol is similar to a symbol and acts as a substitute for other symbols on the reels or cards. In another embodiment, the resultant symbol transforms adjacent symbols into symbols or other symbols on the reels or cards. In a further embodiment, the resultant symbol transforms a predetermined or random number of symbols on the reels or cards into symbols or other symbols.
US09159180B2	Media conveying A method and apparatus are disclosed for conveying at least one item of media. The apparatus includes a user interface comprising a media port and a user display. The apparatus also includes a shuttle carriage supporting a presentation platform and movable along a shuttle drive rail between a first end region thereof in which the presentation platform can be aligned at the media port and a further end region in which the presentation platform can be selectively aligned with a selected one of a plurality of possible handling ports of a multi-media station.
US09159179B2	Common access card security and document security enhancement Techniques and systems for maintaining a secure document replication environment based on information contained in CACs are disclosed. In one embodiment of the invention, a device such as an MFP, a printer, a scanner, a copier, or a fax machine comprises or is connected to a card reader. The device prevents users from using the device until the users have been authenticated. In order to authenticate himself to the device, a user inserts his CAC into the card reader. The device reads the user's digital certificate off of the user's CAC. The device determines whether the digital certificate is valid. If the digital certificate is not valid, then, in one embodiment of the invention, the device prevents the user from using any of the device's functions (e.g., printing, scanning, copying, faxing, etc.).
US09159161B1	Systems and methods for creating a two-dimensional representation of a model A method of creating a two-dimensional representation of a model. The method includes receiving data corresponding to a first component and at least one second component of the model, defining a first component representation, defining the at least one second component representation, determining a visibility of the plurality of graphics of the first component representation, determining a visibility of the plurality of graphics of the at least one second component representation, defining a structure of the first component representation, defining a structure of the at least one second component representation, defining one or more display rules, and generating an illustration file.
US09159159B2	Systems and methods for visualizing elongated structures and detecting branches therein The present disclosure is directed to using patients' imaging of a tubular structure to generate a series of maximum intensity projection views of segments of the tubular structure and assembling the views to provide a complete circumferential visualization of the tubular structure. Such views may be used to generate patient-specific models of flow within the tubular structure, predict medical events (e.g. cardiac, pulmonary, respiratory), including plaque rupture and/or myocardial infarction.
US09159150B2	Bitmap array for optimally distributing map data content to wireless communications devices A method of distributing map data from a map server to a wireless communications device entails generating a bitmap array representative of the vector map data for a given zoom level, computing attributes of the bitmap array to determine which map features to retain and which map features to suppress, and then transmitting to the wireless device only the map data for the map features to be retained. By counting the number of bitmap cells representing a polygonal map feature such as a park, lake, or island, the approximate area is quickly estimated. If the area falls below a threshold, the map data for the small polygon is discarded. Similarly, if a polyline map feature overlaps (or is too proximate to) another polyline map feature, one of the polyline map features is discarded. The map data actually transmitted is thus reduced, thereby economizing bandwidth without unduly sacrificing map detail.
US09159145B2	Fast dual contrast MR imaging The invention relates to a method of MR imaging of at least a portion of a body (10) of a patient placed in an examination volume of a MR device (1). The method comprises the steps of: -subjecting the portion of the body (10) to a first imaging sequence for acquiring a first signal data set (31, 32) from a central portion of k-space, wherein magnetic resonance is excited by means of RF pulses having a large flip angle (α1); -subjecting the portion of the body (10) to a second imaging sequence for acquiring a second signal data set (33, 34) from the central portion of k-space, wherein magnetic resonance is excited by means of RF pulses having a small flip angle (α2); -subjecting the portion of the body (10) to a third imaging sequence for acquiring a third signal data set (35, 36) at least from a peripheral portion of k-space, wherein magnetic resonance is excited by means of RF pulses having an intermediate flip angle (α 3); -reconstructing a first MR image (37) from a combination of the first signal data set (31, 32) and the third signal data set (35, 36) and -reconstructing a second MR image (38) from a combination of the second signal data set (33, 34) and the third signal data set (35, 36).
US09159131B2	Data matching method and data matching apparatus for matching data groups according to alignment parameters Data matching includes receiving a piece of first relational data and a piece of second relational data. The piece of first relational data is associated with a plurality of pieces of first data, and the piece of second relational data is associated with a plurality of pieces of second data. An approximate value of the piece of second relational data is calculated. A similarity is calculated based on the piece of first relational data and the approximate value of the piece of second relational data. A correspondence between a piece of the first data and a piece of the second data is determined based on the calculated similarity. An alignment parameter is calculated based on the determined correspondence, and a first data group including the piece of the first data is matched with a second data group including the piece of the second data based on the alignment parameter.
US09159130B2	Alignment of an ordered stack of images from a specimen The present invention relates to the field of alignment of an ordered stack of images from a sliced specimen. According to the present method and apparatus, the ordered stack of images is aligned by successively determining, for at least two already aligned images of the ordered stack, the respective misalignments with an unaligned image which is to be aligned next, selecting from the at least two aligned images as a reference image that aligned image with which the unaligned image has the smallest amount of misalignment, and aligning the unaligned image with the selected reference image. This is intended to provide a robust and computationally cheap aligning method and apparatus.
US09159124B2	Contrast to noise ratio (CNR) enhancer A method includes enhancing a contrast to noise ratio (CNR) of image data, generating CNR enhanced image data, wherein the CNR enhanced image data has a substantially same image quality as the image data. A computing system (118) includes a computer readable storage medium (122) encoded with computer readable instructions for enhancing a contrast to noise ratio (CNR) of image data and one or more processors (120), which, when executing the computer readable instructions, causes the computing system to enhance the CNR of the image data. A method includes generating CNR enhanced image data, wherein CNR enhanced image data has a substantially same noise level, noise power spectrum, and spatial resolution of the image data.
US09159123B2	Image prior as a shared basis mixture model An image prior as a shared basis mixture model is described. In one or more implementations, a plurality of image patches are generated from one or more images. A shared basis mixture model is learned to model an image patch distribution of the plurality of image patches from the one or more images as part of a Gaussian mixture model. An image may then be reconstructed using the shared basis mixture model as an image prior.
US09159120B2	Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and storage medium An image processing unit of an image processing apparatus includes: a pixel value acquiring part that acquires pixel values of new pixels obtained by increasing resolution of a first image, using pixel values of multiple original pixels, of the first image, around a position at which each of the new pixels is disposed; a representative value acquiring part that acquires a representative value of the pixel values of the multiple new pixels arranged in an area in which each of the original pixels is disposed; a correction value acquiring part that acquires a correction value using the pixel value of each of the original pixels and the representative value; and a pixel value correcting part that corrects the pixel value of each of the original pixels using the correction value. The image processing unit performs correction processing for correcting the original pixels is repeated once or at least twice.
US09159116B2	Adaptive screen interfaces based on viewing distance Voice commands and gesture recognition are two mechanisms by which an individual may interact with content such as that on a display. In an implementation, interactivity of a user with content on a device or display may be modified based on the distance between a user and the display. An attribute such as a user profile may be used to tailor the modification of the display to an individual user. In some configurations, the commands available to the user may also be modified based on the determined distance between the user and a device or display.
US09159102B2	Client deposit tracking Apparatus and methods for client deposit tracking are provided. The deposit may be tracked from a time the deposit is retrieved from a client location until a value of the deposit is credited to a client. A deposit may be tracked by affixing a bar-code to a cartridge storing containing the deposit. The bar-code may be printed on the cartridge. The bar-code may be electronically transmitted to the cartridge. The bar-code may include deposit information. The deposit information may include deposit weights. The bar-code may be captured an armored courier. Information captured from the bar-code may be transmitted to a financial institution. The financial institution may derive performance metrics based on the information captured from the bar-code. Deposit status determination may be provided based on the information capture from the bar-code. Deposits status information may be transmitted to a client of the financial institution.
US09159101B1	Image processing An image of a check may be presented for payment in a banking system in place of the physical paper check. The check to be deposited can be collected from a depositor using a scanner. A web site, accessed through a depositor's web browser, can be used to drive the process of collecting the check, but in some contexts (e.g., in less popular computing environments, such as those that do not run the most popular operating systems), it is economically infeasible to obtain the certificates that would be used to allow a program executing in the web browser to control the scanner. Thus, a depositor can be instructed to capture and upload images of the check in the form of files, where the image files are then presented for payment through a banking system.
US09159099B2	Exception notification system and method A system and method for distributing prepaid cash alternatives and resolving exceptions related to the sale of prepaid cash alternatives such as traveler's cheques or prepaid cards. Reports of sales may be reviewed to identify exceptions, and information explaining the exceptions may be made available electronically. Sellers may be notified of exceptions by e-mail, which may include a link or address to information explaining the exceptions. The information may be provided in real time through a secure site on a network, such as the Internet. A company may contract with business partners to sell the prepaid cash alternatives to customers, and the business partners may report the sales to the company via reports. After being notified of exceptions, business partners may provide corrected information or new information to resolve the exceptions.
US09159095B1	Database driven computer systems providing real-time updatable graphical user interfaces to track real-time value of airings In some embodiments, the present invention is directed to database driven computer systems providing real-time updatable graphical user interfaces to track real-time value of airings, including: a specifically programmed server; a database accessible by the server, where the server includes a plurality of modules configured to perform: electronically and periodically obtaining media data, web tracking transaction data, call center transaction data, and fulfillment transaction data; associating, in real time, media data records of airings of creatives to fulfillment transaction records by matching records among database tables having media data, web tracking transaction data, call center transaction data, and fulfillment transaction data; continuously calculating, in real-time, a current value of a particular airing of a particular creative; and displaying a graphical user interface, including real-time updated look-up items, outputting one or more real-time report based at least on the continuously calculating the current value of the particular airing.
US09159089B2	Point of sale system with item image capture and deferred invoicing capability A novel and useful mechanism and method for processing transactions on a point of sale system comprising of a conveyor system which continuously moves when one ore more items or items are resting on the conveyor system, and a sensing system to capture the information necessary to identify the items on the conveyor. When all items are correctly recognized by the sensing devices, the customer is charged for the items and an invoice is printed. In the event all the items are not correctly recognized the captured information is forwarded to a remote location for automated recognition processing and manual identification, if necessary. Once all the items are successfully identified, the customer is charged for the purchase and an invoice is processed and sent to the customer.
US09159086B1	System and method to install mobile applications from a desktop Systems and methods for Desktop-To-Mobile (D2M) application installation that allows a publisher to extend their relationship with a consumer from the Desktop PC (PC) to a mobile device. In accordance with some implementations, a mobile application store may be used to offer apps on a user's mobile device as a result of a user acceptance of an offer(s) for the apps. The user may install a personal computer (PC)-based application that runs in the background. The PC-based application receives offers to install mobile applications and may use the mobile app store or a PC to install the mobile applications to the user's mobile device.
US09159082B2	Active and passive personalization techniques A method for personalizing content for a particular user in a computing system comprising a user interface configured to display content. The method comprises identifying a long term profile having one or more features in a feature set and a long term level of importance associated with each term in the feature set, identifying a short term profile having one or more features in the feature set and a short term level of importance associated with each term in the feature set, identifying input related to the display of the one or more content items on the user interface, and using the input to modify the short term level of importance and the long term level of importance associated with each term in the feature set to form a modified user interest set.
US09159079B2	Product discount system, apparatus and method A product discount system, apparatus, and method are herein disclosed. A discount server may receive one or more product discounts from a use. A wireless device may retrieve product identification information from a product and generate a discount request message that is transmitted to a discount server. The discount server may identify potential discounts associated with the product identification information and transmit product availability data to the wireless device. The wireless device may notify a user of available product discounts based on the product availability data. Once notified, the user may proceed by redeeming one or more of the available product discounts.
US09159075B2	System and method for distribution and redistribution of electronic content A system and method for enabling the recordation of electronic content that has been published via a network, such as the Internet, so that the electronic content may be stored, retrieved, shared, and manipulated by individual users. Furthermore, the system and method of the present invention enable the content publisher of the electronic content to analyze activity associated with its storage and sharing.
US09159072B2	Systems and methods for marking collectibles to increase their uniqueness According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method for marking collectible items to increase their collectible uniqueness includes creating a multiplicity of unique date codes, each of the multiplicity of unique date codes including a representation of a calendar month and a representation of a day in the calendar month, randomly selecting one of the multiplicity of unique date codes, and affixing the randomly selected one of the multiplicity of unique date codes to a collectible item. According to other embodiments, a system with a computer and a marking device may apply a date code to a collectible item. According to yet other embodiments, a method for marking collectibles includes creating at least three hundred sixty-five collectibles in a time period shorter than a year, and marking each with a unique date code combination such that no two visually identical collectibles share the same date code.
US09159067B1	Providing content Systems and methods of providing information via a computer network are provided. A request for subject matter to display with a web page can be received via a computer network at a data processing system. The data processing system can identify the web page as being ineligible for ad placement based on content of the web page. The data processing system can determine a keyword based at least in part on the content of the web page, and can format the keyword for display with the web page as a link to a second web page. The data processing system can provide the link for display with the web page. The data processing system can receive a request to access the second web page based on an activation of the link. The data processing system can provide the advertisement for display with the second web page.
US09159058B2	Online payment transfer and identity management system and method A payment transfer method for transferring funds from a payer to payee is provided, including designating a payee and specifying a payment amount and an account; debiting the funds from the account and crediting a first trust account; and identifying the payee by verifying responses received in response to one or more challenge-response questions defined by the payer. If the one or more responses are verified, a second trust account may be debited and a payee account credited with the payment amount. The first and second trust accounts may then be reconciled. There is also provided a payment transfer facility for transferring funds, comprising an application server for storing payment data relating to a transfer of funds and a notification server for providing a notification of the transfer of funds.
US09159055B2	Computational systems and methods for identifying a communications partner Methods, apparatuses, computer program products, devices and systems are described that carry out accepting at least one social network message from at least one member of a network; disambiguating the at least one search term including associating the at least one search term with at least one of network-participation identifier data or device-identifier data; and presenting the sender profile in association with the at least one.
US09159053B2	System and method for abstract communication Systems and methods for providing communication between a user and at least one entity are disclosed. In one example, the method comprises receiving an entity selection input of the at least one entity, and a message from the user to the at least one entity, analyzing the selection input and the message to determine entity information and inquiry information associated with the message and the selection input, determining least one communication channel based on the entity information and the inquiry information, obtaining a response to the message via the at least one communication channel from the at least one entity, and transmitting the response to the user.
US09159050B2	Providing atomicity for a unit of work A method for providing atomicity for a unit of work involving a plurality of participants, the method comprising the steps of: sending a prepare request to at least one participant, wherein the request comprises data required for recovery purposes of the unit of work; and on recovery of the unit of work, recovering the unit of work comprising: obtaining the data from the at least one participant; and using the obtained data to recover and preserve the atomicity of the unit of work.
US09159048B2	Knowledge gathering system based on user's affinity A system, method, and processor readable medium for processing data in a knowledge management system gathers information content and transmits a work request for the information content gathered. The information content may be registered with a K-map and assigned a unique document identifier. A work queue processes the work requests. The processed information may then be transmitted to another work queue for further processing. Further processing may include categorization, full-text indexing, metrics extraction or other process. Control messages may be transmitted to one or more users providing a status of the work request. The information may be analyzed and further indexed. A progress statistics report may be generated for each of the processes performed on the document. The progress statistics may be provided in a record. A shared access to a central data structure representing the metrics history and taxonomy may be provided for all work queues via a CORBA service.
US09159043B2	Enterprise product management system and method A comprehensive enterprise product management system to effectuate efficient product time to market. The system includes a process model and a data model. The process model consists of entities that represent typical concepts in a trade setting and relationships among these entities. The data model represents the complexity of a product, including defining the entities that comprise the product and the relationship among these entities. The process model and the data model accommodate the dynamic characteristics associated with both product definition and channels of trade.
US09159042B2	Facilitating revenue generation from data shifting by data centers The disclosure facilitates management data center utilization for generating energy-related revenue from energy markets. Operating schedules are generated, over a time period T, for operation of an energy management system of energy assets of data center sites. Since CPU utilization (or computing load) can be correlated to energy consumption, the operating schedules can cause the energy management system to modulate the CPU utilization (or computing load) of energy assets within a data center, or to indicate shifting of CPU utilization (or computing load) from one data center site in a certain energy market price region to another data center site in a different energy market price region. When implemented, the generated operating schedules facilitates derivation of the energy-related revenue, over a time period T, associated with operation of the energy assets according to the generated operating schedule.
US09159037B2	Context aware interaction A network-connected server for meeting initiation has software executing on the server from a non-transitory physical medium, the software providing a function allowing a user to schedule a meeting and to configure availability conditions, a function for informing scheduled participants of the scheduled meeting, a function for receiving indications of availability for the scheduled meeting from communication appliances associated with scheduled participants, and a function for connecting the communication appliances to communicate when the configured availability conditions are met.
US09159035B1	Framework for computer application analysis of sensitive information tracking A method is described that involves generating one or more machine learned rules with a machine learning system. The method also involves generating a representation of an application that describes various states and state transitions of the application. The method also involves referring to the one or more machine learned rules and the representation to identify a region of interest of the application. The method also involves configuring one or more monitors for the application to be enabled in a run time environment of the application. The method also involves setting conditions of the application within the run time environment to drive the application's execution to the region of interest. The method also involves observing behaviors of the application and determining whether the region of interest corresponds to improperly behaving code.
US09159033B2	Frequency separation between qubit and chip mode to reduce purcell loss A system, method, and chip to control Purcell loss are described. The chip includes qubits formed on a first surface of a substrate. The method includes determining frequencies of the qubits, and controlling a separation between the frequencies of the qubits and chip mode frequencies of the chip.
US09159032B1	Predicting arrival times of vehicles based upon observed schedule adherence A method and system for determining real-time delay information in a transportation system. Historical operational information about the transportation system, including data related to a plurality of arrival events corresponding to one or more stops within the transportation system is received and a dependency graph is built based upon the historic information. The dependency graph defines relationships that exist in the transportation system between the plurality of arrival events, each of the relationships defining a specific dependent relationship between at least two of the arrival events. Delay dependency values are fitted into the dependency graph, each of the delay dependency values being associated with one of the plurality of relationships and defining a specific dependency value associated with that relationship. Predictive delay information is determined based upon the fitted dependency graph for one or more of the arrival events based upon current operating information.
US09159022B2	System, method and program product for automatically supplying missing parameters for matching new members of a population with analogous members A population comparison system, method and a computer program product therefor. A stored list of population members, e.g., hydrocarbon reservoirs, includes parameters for corresponding known characteristics and analogous members for each member. A new population member input receives new member descriptions including parameters for each respective new member. A parameter extraction system automatically extracts an estimated value for each missing key parameter, providing a supplemented description. An analogous member selector automatically selects a subset of listed population members as analogous members for each new population member responsive to the supplemented description.
US09159021B2	Performing multistep prediction using spatial and temporal memory system Embodiments relate to making predictions for values or states to follow multiple time steps after receiving a certain input data in a spatial and temporal memory system. During a training stage, relationships between states of the spatial and temporal memory system at certain times and spatial patterns of the input data detected a plurality of time steps later after the certain time steps are established. Using the established relationships, the spatial and temporal memory system can make predictions multiple time steps into the future based on the input data received at a current time.
US09159018B2	Method of making conductive patterns A method of forming an electrically-conductive pattern includes selectively electroplating the top portions of a substrate that corresponds to the pattern, and separating the conductive pattern from the substrate. The electroplating may also include electrically connecting the conductive pattern to an electrical component. Conductive ink, such as ink including carbon particles, may be selectively placed on the conductive substrate to facilitate plating of the desired pattern and/or to facilitate separation of the pattern from the substrate. An example of a conductive pattern is an antenna for a radio-frequency identification (RFID) device such as a label or a tag. One example of an electrical component that may be electrically connected to the antenna, is an RFID strap or chip.
US09159015B2	Flexible tag A flexible Radio-Frequency IDentification (RFID) tag comprises a flexible substrate layer on which is fixed an antenna connected to a RFID chip, and a second flexible layer placed directly over the said chip and antenna but without any direct mechanical connection to them, such that the substrate layer and the second layer form a protective inlay for the chip and the antenna. The said inlay is embedded in a flexible housing.
US09159013B2	Mobile device with RFID capability and corresponding boot sequence An electronic device (100) includes a control circuit (108) that is operable with a memory or storage device (120). The electronic device includes an RFID tag (113) having a second memory (118). The RFID tag can be read from, or written to, by a RFID communication device (114) when the electronic device is OFF. Device personalization can be achieved when the control circuit accesses the second memory to retrieve the device configuration data during a boot sequence and configures the electronic device in accordance with the device configuration data retrieved from the second memory during the boot sequence. Device information can be made available when the electronic device is OFF by writing the device information to the second memory.
US09159012B2	RFID condition latching A passive radio-frequency identification (RFID) system has an RFID reader that communicates with and provides power to an RFID tag. The RFID tag has an RFID integrated circuit chip that contains a memory device for storing information to be transmitted to the RFID reader, and energy storage device that stores energy for powering the integrated circuit chip. In the event that the RFID tag is activated during periods when the RFID integrated circuit chip is not receiving sufficient energy from the RFID reader, then either an energy storage device is provided to allow the activation event to be recorded at the RFID integrated circuit chip, or a memory device is provided that senses and records the activation event and communicates this activation event once power has been restored.
US09159004B1	Image forming apparatus that facilitates early elimination of failure An image forming apparatus includes an internal device that executes a job, a controller, a user management unit, a lock requesting unit, and an unlock requesting unit. The controller suspends the execution of the job when the controller detects a predetermined failure in the internal device during the execution of the job, and resumes the suspended job or starts execution of a next job when the controller detects an elimination of the failure. The user management unit specifies identification information of a user mobile device associated with a user. The lock requesting unit transmits a lock request with the identification information to a predetermined server when the controller has suspended the job. The unlock requesting unit transmits an unlock request with the identification information to the predetermined server when the controller has resumed the suspended job or when the controller has started the execution of the next job.
US09158995B2	Data driven localization using task-dependent representations A computer implemented method for localization of an object, such as a license plate, in an input image includes generating a task-dependent representation of the input image based on relevance scores for the object to be localized. The relevance scores are output by a classifier for a plurality of locations in the input image, such as patches. The classifier is trained on patches extracted from training images and their respective relevance labels. One or more similar images are identified from a set of images, based on a comparison of the task-dependent representation of the input image and task-dependent representations of images in the set of images. A location of the object in the input image is identified based on object location annotations for the similar images.
US09158994B2	Apparatus and method for real-time capable disparity estimation for virtual view rendering suitable for multi-threaded execution An apparatus for estimating a disparity map based on at least two images is provided. The apparatus includes at least two processing units, which include a pixel recursion unit configured to determine a disparity value as a pixel recursion disparity candidate based on a plurality of pixel values of the at least two images and a selector configured to select a selected disparity candidate to determine at least one of the disparity map values of the disparity map. The selector is adapted to select the selected disparity candidate from a candidate group assigned to the selector. The candidate group assigned to the selector includes the pixel recursion disparity candidate, a second disparity candidate and a third disparity candidate. Moreover, the selector is adapted to select the selected disparity candidate independently from a different selector of a different processing unit of the at least two processing units.
US09158988B2	Method for detecting a plurality of instances of an object An improved object recognition method is provided that enables the recognition of many objects in a single image. Multiple instances of an object in an image can now be detected with high accuracy. The method receives a plurality of matches of feature points between a database image and a query image and determines a kernel bandwidth based on statistics of the database image. The kernel bandwidth is used in clustering the matches. The clustered matches are then analyzed to determine the number of instances of the object within each cluster. A recursive geometric fitting can be applied to each cluster to further improve accuracy.
US09158987B2	Image processing device that separates image into plural regions An image processing device includes: a processor; and a memory storing computer-readable instructions therein. The computer-readable instructions, when executed by the processor, causes the image processing device to perform: a first separation to separate a target image represented by target image data into a plurality of regions that include a first region and a second region different from the first region; a second separation to separate the first region into a plurality of sub-regions and to separate the second region into a plurality of sub-regions; and generating a consolidated region by consolidating at least two sub-regions among the plurality of sub-regions separated from the first and second regions.
US09158986B2	Character segmentation device and character segmentation method A character segmentation section, for segmenting characters of a character line may include a minimum pixel-value curve creating section configured to extract a smallest pixel value in pixels composing a pixel line arranged in a direction orthogonal to a character line direction in said multi-level image data and create a minimum pixel-value curve, a character partitioning position determining section configured to determine partitioning positions of said characters, based on said minimum pixel value curve, a binarization processing section configured to detect a minimum pixel value indicating said linear drawing from said minimum pixel-value curve, acquires a binarization threshold based on said minimum pixel value, and binarizes said multi-level image data using said binarization threshold, and a character segmentation implementing section configured to extract the image data of each character.
US09158983B2	Microform word search method and apparatus An apparatus for searching for expressions that appear on a microform medium, the apparatus comprising a microform imager including a sensor for generating digital microform images of one segment of the microform medium at a time, a display screen; and a processor programmed to, while the microform imager is generating a digital microform image: (i) use the digital microform image generated by the microform imager to drive the display screen, (ii) search the digital microform image presented via the display screen for instances of a search expression and (iii) visually distinguish the located search expressions in the digital microform image presented via the display screen.
US09158982B2	System and method for imaging an object A system for imaging an object, the system including: a detection zone; a first unit adapted to selectively emit radiation of at least one first wavelength and radiation of at least one second, different wavelength for at least partly illuminating the object in the detection zone; a second unit adapted to capture at least partial images of the illuminated object; and an aperture placed in an optical path between the detection zone and the second unit. The aperture includes: a first, central area adapted to transmit radiation of at least the first wavelength(s) and the second wavelength(s); and a second area surrounding said first area, which second area is adapted to block radiation of the second wavelength(s), but transmit radiation of the first wavelength(s). Also, an imaging method, and use of a diaphragm in a reverse vending machine.
US09158980B1	Use of relationship between activities of different traffic signals in a network to improve traffic signal state estimation Methods and devices for using a relationship between activities of different traffic signals in a network to improve traffic signal state estimation are disclosed. An example method includes determining that a vehicle is approaching an upcoming traffic signal. The method may further include determining a state of one or more traffic signals other than the upcoming traffic signal. Additionally, the method may also include determining an estimate of a state of the upcoming traffic signal based on a relationship between the state of the one or more traffic signals other than the upcoming traffic signal and the state of the upcoming traffic signal.
US09158966B1	Character count determination for a digital image An image processing system or electronic device may implement processing circuitry. The processing circuitry may receive an image, such as financial document image. The processing circuitry may determine a character count for the financial document image or particular portions of the financial document image without recognizing any particular character in the financial document image. In that regard, the processing circuitry may determine a top left score for pixels in the financial document, the top left score indicating or representing a likelihood that a particular pixel corresponds to a top left corner of a text character. The processing circuitry may also determine top right score for image pixels. Then, the processing circuitry may identify one or more text chunks using the top left and top rights scores for pixels in the financial document image. The processing circuitry may determine a character count for the identified text chunks.
US09158956B2	Reader, reading method and computer program product According to an embodiment, a reader includes an acquiring unit configured to acquire an image containing a code; a detecting unit configured to detect a plurality of local regions containing parts of the code from the image; an integrating unit configured to integrate the local regions to obtain an integrated region; and a reading unit configured to read the code on the integrated region.
US09158948B2	RFID protocols with non-interacting variants In an RFID system having at least one tag and at least one reader, a tag and a reader can, in one embodiment, use a pair of keys, known to both the tag and the reader, to restrict the interaction of the tag and the reader so that tags having the pair of keys interact only with readers that use the pair of keys.
US09158945B2	Defining a radio frequency identification read area Defining a radio frequency identification read area includes a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader operable to read RFID tags within a specified read area. An RFID transmitter is coupled with the RFID reader and is operable to radiating a modulated carrier in an area adjacent to the specified read area. The RFID reader controls the RFID transmitter to transmit the modulated carrier during a preamble transmission of the RFID reader to prevent any RFID tags in the adjacent area from recognizing an interrogation signal from the RFID reader.
US09158940B1	Dynamic virtual storage creation and provisioning of virtual machine resources A method and apparatus are disclosed of identifying a virtual machine usage of enterprise network resources, such as memory storage usage. One example method of operation may include transmitting a storage request to a database to determine an amount of physical memory storage available in the enterprise network. The method may also include receiving an alert message indicating a virtual machine currently operating has exceeded a predetermined memory storage threshold value. The method may also include creating a new virtual hard disk (VHD) to accommodate the exceeded predetermined memory storage threshold value.
US09158939B2	Security chip, program, information processing apparatus, and information processing system There is provided a security chip having a tamper-resistant feature, including an acquisition part configured to acquire specific information transmitted by a device performing challenge-response authentication, the specific information being specific to the device, a storage configured to store second key information that enables generation of first key information from the specific information, the first key information being used by the device for challenge-response authentication, and a generation part configured to generate, using the second key information, the first key information from the specific information. A response to be transmitted to the device is generated, using the first key information, from a challenge transmitted by the device. In the device, the first key information is not stored in a tamper-resistant security chip.
US09158937B2	Information processing device and information processing program An information processing device manages the protection state of original data by long-term signature data in storage-target data obtained by combining the long-term signature data and the original data. Management information having a management-target value for each management item obtained from the storage-target data recorded therein is acquired. A management-target value of a predetermined management item is acquired from the acquired management information. The acquired management-target value is compared with a value acquired from the storage-target data or a value acquired from the outside to determine the state of management. A result corresponding to the determined state of management is outputted.
US09158926B2	Engine control unit configuration security An engine control unit configuration security system receives a request with a serial number associated with an engine control unit and a requested engine control unit change. The system determines that the requested engine control unit change is approved and in response generates a code including a serial number associated with the engine control unit and an instruction that causes the engine control unit to implement the requested engine control unit change.
US09158922B2	Method, system, and computer-readable medium for automatically mitigating vulnerabilities in source code A method for automatically mitigating vulnerabilities in a source code of an application is provided in the present invention. The method includes the following steps. First, the source code is complied, and a path graph is built according to the compiled source code. The path graph includes a plurality of paths traversing from sources to sinks, and each of the paths includes a plurality of nodes. Then, at least one tainted path is identified by enabling a plurality of vulnerability rules. Each of the at least one tainted path corresponds to a vulnerability, and each of the at least one vulnerability corresponds to a sanitization method. Then, the at least one vulnerability is determined if it is mitigable. If the at least one vulnerability is mitigable, the at least one vulnerability is mitigated automatically. Furthermore, the method may be implemented as a system and a computer program product.
US09158916B2	Unauthorized access and/or instruction prevention, detection, and/or remediation, at least in part, by storage processor An embodiment may include a storage processor that may be comprised, at least in part, in a host. The host may include at least one host central processing unit (CPU) to execute at least one host operating system (OS). The storage processor may execute at least one operation in isolation from interference from and control by the at least one host CPU and the at least one host OS. The at least one operation may facilitate, at least in part: (1) prevention, at least in part, of unauthorized access to storage, (2) prevention, at least in part, of execution by the at least one host CPU of at least one unauthorized instruction, (3) detection, at least in part, of the at least one unauthorized instruction, and/or (4) remediation, at least in part, of at least one condition associated, at least in part, with the at least unauthorized instruction.
US09158909B2	Authentication of virtual machine images using digital certificates A vendor of virtual machine images accesses a virtual computer system service to upload a digitally signed virtual machine image to a data store usable by customers of the virtual computer system service to select an image for creating a virtual machine instance. If a digital certificate is uploaded along with the virtual machine image, the virtual computer system service may determine whether the digital certificate has been trusted for use. If the digital certificate has been trusted for use, the virtual computer system service may use a public cryptographic key to decrypt a hash signature included with the image to obtain a first hash value. The service may additionally apply a hash function to the image itself to obtain a second hash value. If the two hash values match, then the virtual machine image may be deemed to be authentic.
US09158898B2	System and method for managed distribution of publication assets A system and method is disclosed for managed distribution of publication assets. The method discloses: protecting a set of assets, retrieved from the server system, in a publication component; transferring the publication component with the protected assets from the server to client computers; previewing the publication component on one client computer based on the set of protected assets; and producing the publication component on another client computer based on the set of protected assets. The system discloses: a server system; a publication management module for: applying a set of fonts to a publication component; and transferring the publication component with the protected fonts from a server to client computers; a preview module for previewing the publication component on one client computer based on the set of protected fonts; and a production module for producing the publication component on another client computer based on the set of protected fonts.
US09158894B2	Apparatus and method for analyzing rule-based security event association An apparatus for analyzing rule-based security event association includes a rule management unit to check whether an security event is a candidate security event requiring association analysis, and an event management unit to analyze the candidate security event and check whether the analyzed security event is the candidate security event requiring association analysis. An association processing unit analyzes whether an association event of a rule DB corresponding to a user ID of the candidate security event is matched with a user event list to generate an association analysis result.
US09158890B2	Mobile applications and methods for conveying performance information of a cardiac pacemaker Devices, systems, and methods are disclosed for relaying information from a cardiac pacemaker to an external device. Logic on the pacemaker modulates a heartbeat clock of the pacemaker to encode information onto a blood pressure sequence. This is accomplished by adding or subtracting a small subinterval to or from a pulse repetition interval of the pacemaker. A muscle stimulator beats the heart according to the modulated sequence. A monitoring device external to the body monitors the blood pressure to retrieve the encoded information, or message. The encoded information is then decoded to determine the information in the message. This information may concern the pacemaker as well as other devices within the body that are in communication with the pacemaker such as blood monitors, etc. Since the message is conveyed via simple modulation of the heart beat intervals, no separate transmitter is required in the pacemaker which would otherwise increase cost and decrease battery life.
US09158875B2	Package definition system A package definition system enables a user to dynamically modify a package design by altering a dimension of less than all of the package's faces. The system uses a functional representation of a package having links and nodes that represent faces or functional elements and connecting relationships between them.
US09158869B2	Method and system for property damage analysis A system and method for intelligently combining CAD, inspection, and building guideline data for intelligently setting roof facet directionality, analyzing repair and replacement decisions and estimating material, material waste and recyclables, material recycling requirements, and repair or replacement costs for building facets is described. One embodiment includes receiving digital inspection data of a building facet of a property; receiving a first layer of geographic-based guideline data; receiving a second layer of geographic-based guideline data; reconciling a conflict between guideline data of the first and second layers of guideline data to reach a resulting guideline data item; determining a repair indicator for the building facet based at least in part on the resulting guideline data item and the digital inspection data; and sending an electronic message, wherein the electronic message includes at least a portion of the digital inspection data and the repair indicator.
US09158865B2	Process, program and apparatus for displaying an assembly of objects of a PLM database This invention is directed to a process, computer program and apparatus for displaying an assembly of objects of a product lifecycle management database. The method according to the invention aims at providing an access to the database, selecting the assembly of objects in the database, identifying a plurality of viewpoints on said assembly, retrieving from the database a set of objects of said assembly according to the plurality of identified viewpoints, computing a model of said assembly for all the retrieved objects of the set of objects, and displaying a view of the model, any displayed views being computed locally starting from the objects retrieved at the retrieving step.
US09158857B2	Identifying landing pages for images Methods, systems, and apparatus for identifying landing pages for images. In one aspect, a method includes, for each image of a plurality of images, identifying web pages that each include the image, and, for each of the web pages, receiving a web score generated by a ranking algorithm. The web page having a web score indicating a highest importance relative to other web pages is selected, sets of similar images are determined from the images included in the selected web pages, and each set of similar images includes different images. For each set of similar images, an image is selected based on the selected web page that includes the selected image having a highest web score of the set, and the selected web page that includes the selected image is identified as a landing page for an image search result.
US09158852B2	Geographical area correlated websites A system, method and/or software for using overlap between a first website area-of-interest map, associated with a first website, and a searcher area-of-interest map to help prioritize the websites returned by a search engine search. The area-of-interest maps are made up of geographic pixels respectively assigned with area-of-interest values. Overlap area is determined by comparing, on a pixel-by-pixel basis, corresponding pixels of the searcher area-of-interest map and the first website area-of-interest map to determine overlap pixels where the following conditions hold: (i) the first website area-of-interest map has a non-zero interest value, and (ii) the searcher area-of-interest map has a non-zero interest value.
US09158851B2	Location aware commenting widget for creation and consumption of relevant comments Methods and computer readable medium for allowing a user to participate in an online conversation for a head content includes receiving a response from a user for the head content. The response from the user is geo-tagged with a location of the user. A counter indicative of number of responses received for the head content at the location is updated for the head content to include the response from the user. The responses received for the head content from the plurality of users is filtered to generate a subset of the responses related to the location of the user. The subset of responses and an interactive tag cloud for the head content is presented to the user. The subset of responses is presented in a ranked order. The tag cloud identifies one or more locations that have received greatest number of responses from the plurality of users.
US09158850B2	Personal trends module A system and method for generating a personalized trends module includes steps of: for a given user, producing a social timeline by logging content posted on the given user's accounts on social media sites; analyzing the social timeline for recently posted content to derive an interim summary of first trending topics for the given user; receiving from a content personalization platform an in-stream feed of second trending topics based on the user's recent on-line activity including page views, queries, and clicks; augmenting the social timeline with the second trending topics from the in-stream feed to produce an interim list of third trending topics; ranking the third trending topics by source category using a frequency index; selecting the highest ranking third trending topics from each source category; and presenting a personalized trends module with positions allocated to the highest ranking third trending topics.
US09158846B2	Entity detection and extraction for entity cards A system and method are provided for detecting entity information contained within search results. The detected entity information can be used to determine a category of entity as well as a specific entity within the search results. Entity information can be extracted from the documents associated with the search results. This information can be used as part of the information for an entity card, which can be displayed to a user in conjunction with and/or in place of the search results.
US09158842B1	Sound representation via winner-take-all coding of auditory spectra Sound representations and winner-take-all codes of auditory spectra are used in the identification of audio content. A transformation component converts a set of sound frames from audio content into a set of spectral slices. A spectral encoder component encodes the spectral slices of auditory spectra into winner-take-all codes with a winner-take-all hash function. An identification component identifies which spectral dimension of a subset of spectral dimensions within a spectral slice has highest spectral value according to the winner-take-all codes. Reference audio content is determined to be similar or matching to the audio content based on the winner-take-all codes.
US09158837B2	Methods and apparatus for adaptive source filtering and load shedding for data stream processing Techniques are disclosed for adaptive source filtering and load shedding in such data stream processing systems. For example, in one aspect of the invention, a method for use in filtering data in a distributed data stream processing system, wherein a server receives and processes one or more data streams from one or more data sources, comprises the steps of the server periodically re-configuring one or more filters and sending the one or more periodically re-configured filters to the one or more data sources, and the one or more data sources performing data filtering based on the one or more periodically re-configured filters received from the server.
US09158822B2	System and method for pick-and-drop sampling A database system includes an input to a database server configured to deliver a data stream formed of a sequence of elements, D={p1, p2, . . . , pm} of size m of numbers from {1, . . . , n} to the database server. The system further includes a computer program that causes a processor to approximate frequency moments (Fk) in the data stream, such that a frequency of an element (i) is defined as fi=\|{j:pj=i}\| and a k-th frequency moment of D is defined as F k = ∑ i = 1 n ⁢ m i k ⁢ ⁢ in ⁢ ⁢ a single pass through the data stream. The processor is caused to carry out the steps of locating elements (i) with a frequency ΩFk in the data stream as heavy elements and approximating fi as ≧ a fraction of fi to limit memory resources used by the processor to estimate Fk to O(n1−2/k log(n)) bits.
US09158820B2	Method for managing email This disclosure includes method for managing email that includes providing a list of topics, a reference associated with the topics, and a defined importance value for each reference. The method also includes preparing a topic relevance algorithm for each topic, each topic having associated attributes, and each topic relevance algorithm formed by estimating a relationship value between a topic and its associated attributes based on defined relevance of reference. The method further includes preparing an importance algorithm having a weighted importance attributes formed by estimating a weight for each of the importance attributes based on defined importance of the reference, assessing a target mail using the topic relevance algorithms to determine a topic relevance and against the importance algorithm to determine an importance and determining that a target mail has a threshold importance for a particular topic relevance.
US09158813B2	Relaxation for structured queries A structured query may specify attribute values for attributes. An estimate of the number of items that will match the structured query if it is applied to a structured database is determined. If the estimated number of items is below a threshold, the structured query may be relaxed to form new candidate structured queries. The number of candidate queries may be determined based on a desired running time. Each of the candidate structured queries may be determined by changing one or more attribute values of the attributes of the structured query. Estimates of the number of items each of the candidate structured queries will match is determined, and the candidate structured query that has the highest matching estimation is used to query the database. The matching results may be output.
US09158795B2	Compile-time grouping of tuples in a streaming application A system and a method for initializing a streaming application are disclosed. The method may include initializing a streaming application for execution on one or more compute nodes which are adapted to execute one or more stream operators. The method may, during a compiling of code, identify whether a processing condition exists at a first stream operator of a plurality of stream operators. The method may add a grouping condition to a second stream operator of the plurality of stream operators if the processing condition exists. The method may provide for the second stream operator to group tuples for sending to the first stream operator.
US09158793B2	System and technique for editing and classifying documents Embodiments of a computer system which determines information associated with documents are described. During operation, this computer system receives documents (such as images). Then, the computer system determines a first set of editing instructions and classification information associated with the documents using data-processing software. Next, the computer system receives a second set of editing instructions and classification information associated with the documents. Note that the second set of editing instructions and classification information are generated by a group of individuals and include modifications and additions to the first set of editing instructions and classification information.
US09158789B2	Coordinated geospatial, list-based and filter-based selection A geospatial and list-based mapping system, including: a mapping engine configured to: present a map display on a display device, wherein the map display includes elements within a viewing area of the map display, wherein the elements include geospatial characteristics; and present a list display on the display device, wherein the list display includes a customizable list having the elements from the map display; and synchronizer configured to: synchronize the map display and the list display to concurrently update the elements according to a user input.
US09158788B2	Scalable caching of remote file data in a cluster file system Scalable caching of remote file data in cluster file systems is provided. One implementation involves maintaining a cache in a local cluster file system and caching local file data in the cache by fetching file data on demand from the remote cluster file system into the local cached file system over the network. The local file data and metadata corresponds to the remote file data and metadata in the remote cluster file system. Updates made to the local file data and metadata are pushed back to the remote cluster file system asynchronously.
US09158782B2	Cloud based master data management system with configuration advisor and method therefore A system includes a data store, a data registry, an interface process module, a suggestion database, and a configuration module. The data registry establishes storage of a data record at the data store and maintains links identifying relationships between the data record and a source record at a first source enterprise and between the data record and a source record at a second source enterprise. The interface process module determines that a value at the data record has been updated, and provides the updated value to a corresponding source enterprise using an Internet protocol. The suggestion database includes configuration information associated with multiple users of the system. The configuration module provides Internet access to facilitate configuration of the system by a user and to provide configuration guidance to the user based on the configuration information.
US09158778B2	Techniques for content services Techniques for content services are provided. Documents are managed from their native storage locations. Access to portions of the documents is provided via separate addressable references. Principals access and annotate the portions of the documents remotely. Identity and policy restrictions are enforced against access from the native storage locations.
US09158770B1	Memorytag hybrid multidimensional bar text code An apparatus and method for cloud-based storage, retrieval and sharing of files tagged with barcodes and alphanumeric coding is provided. This application and method includes: either scanning a barcode by mobile device or inputting a code into a computer; decoding of the code or barcode provided, by installed application; accessing, by a cloud based storage system which hosts the associated or tagged file; and retrieving the file associated with the barcode or alphanumeric code. This method also includes a process by which: either by smart phone or personal computer; uploading or storing of files onto a cloud-based storage system; tagging of those stored files with a unique bar code and alphanumeric code; generating a barcode and alphanumeric code to associate with those tag files; and a method of transmitting barcodes or alphanumeric codes between smart phone users or computer uses for the purposes of sharing.
US09158762B2	Deconstruction and construction of words of a polysynthetic language for translation purposes For facilitating subsequent translation of words in a target polysynthetic language (e.g. Cherokee) to or from a user language (e.g. English), a method of generating a language parsing reference database, assisted by a computer having a processor, including the steps of organizing the parsing reference database to include polysynthetic word parts WHO is doing an action, WHAT action is being done, HOW an action is happening and WHEN an action is happening. In one embodiment an internet website hosted on a computer server is established, the website being accessible to users via the internet. The computer server runs or executes server side software referencing the parsing reference database, and is operable to translate a word in the target polysynthetic language to the user language, or to construct a word in the target polysynthetic language from a sentence in a user language.
US09158759B2	Engine for human language comprehension of intent and command execution The invention provides a computer system for interacting with a user. A set of concepts initially forms a target set of concepts. An input module receives a language input from the user. An analysis system executes a plurality of narrowing cycles until a concept packet having at least one concept has been identified. Each narrowing cycle includes identifying at least one portion of the language and determining a subset of concepts from the target set of concepts to form a new target subset. An action item identifier identifies an action item from the action items based on the concept packet. An action executer that executes an action based on the action item that has been identified.
US09158758B2	Retrieval of prefix completions by way of walking nodes of a trie data structure Technologies pertaining to providing completions to proffered prefixes are disclosed herein. A suggested completion to a proffered prefix is retrieved by walking nodes of a trie data structure, wherein a node includes one or more characters that are used to extend a character sequence represented by its parent. Each node in the trie data structure is assigned a score, wherein the score maps to a best score assigned to its descendants. The nodes of the trie data structure are sorted based upon score, and the nodes are walked based upon scores assigned thereto.
US09158757B2	System and method for preview and selection of words A system, method and computer-readable medium that previews words and commands recognized by a continuous stroke recognizer based on input into a virtual keyboard layout is presented. The system and method allows a user to see the word that will be recognized or output before the user commits the continuous stroke input to the system. Further, after recognition and output, the system presents the recognized output word and the closest word candidates in a correction display integrated with the virtual keyboard layout. Among other things, the user is provided with options to change the current output word by selecting another word candidate on the correction display, and to delete the current output word by selecting the representation of the current output word on the correction display.
US09158752B2	Data processing method, presentation method, and corresponding apparatuses A data processing method includes obtaining text information corresponding to a presented content, the presented content comprising a plurality of areas; performing text analysis on the text information to obtain a first keyword sequence, the first keyword sequence including area keywords associated with at least one area of the plurality of areas; obtaining speech information related to the presented content, the speech information at least comprising a current speech segment; and using a first model network to perform analysis on the current speech segment to determine the area corresponding to the current speech segment, wherein the first model network comprises the first keyword sequence.
US09158745B2	Optimization of media content using generated intermediate media content An automatic graphics delivery system that operates in parallel with an existing Web site infrastructure is provided. The system streamlines the post-production process by automating the production of media through content generation procedures controlled by proprietary tags placed by an author within URLs embedded within Web documents.
US09158740B2	Systems and methods for speed estimation based on stride data using predictive modeling Systems and methods for speed estimation based on stride data using predictive modeling relate to portable wireless devices (202) that contain GPS or other location resources to generate position and speed data. The device (202) also incorporates an accelerometer (212) or other motion sensor. When GPS signals are interrupted, an estimation module (216) and associated logic generates a speed estimate based solely on stride frequency data from the accelerometer (212). Unlike conventional estimators, the estimation module (216) operates on a non-deterministic basis, generating an estimated speed using a joint probability distribution derived from previous speed and stride data captured while positioning signals are available. The estimation module (216) can continue to operate when GPS signals are available, and either filter the GPS speed measures for spurious signals, or further train the estimation module (216) with new position data. The estimation module (216) can also incorporate altitude measurements when estimating speed.
US09158729B1	Client request processing using protocol abstraction Described are techniques for processing a request. The request is sent from a command layer to a protocol abstraction layer. The request is to perform an operation on a first object of a first object type and the request includes one or more parameters. The protocol abstraction layer selects a first of a plurality of protocols and a first of a plurality of runtime paths for processing the request. The first protocol is selected in accordance with criteria including any one or more of the first object type, the operation being requested, and the one or more parameters. The request is processed in accordance with the first protocol and the first runtime path.
US09158725B2	Flexible control mechanism for store gathering in a write buffer A store gathering policy is enabled or disabled at a data processing device. A store gathering policy to be implemented by a store buffer can be selected from a plurality of store gathering polices. For example, the plurality of store gathering policies can be constrained or unconstrained. A store gathering policy can be enabled by a user programmable storage location. A specific store gathering policy can be specified by a user programmable storage location. A store gathering policy can be determined based upon an attribute of a store request, such as based upon a destination address.
US09158723B2	Expanded protocol adapter for in-vehicle networks A protocol adapter for in-vehicle networks that provides diagnostics, analysis and monitoring. The protocol adapter has a pass-through feature (voltage translator)/smart mode that allows the protocol adapter to emulate older boxes. Visual indicators (LEDs) indicate the pass through feature is in operation. LEDs also indicate activity on the RS232 bus between the adapter and a PC. Single color and multiple color emitting LEDs indicate a program is being executed and identify the program that is being executed. The protocol adapter supports RP1202 and RP1210, J1708 and J1939 and J1939 Transport Layer. The protocol adapter has a Real Time Clock, Standard COMM port connection, 7-32 Volt Supply and is CE compliant. The adapter can be used wirelessly.
US09158705B2	Stride-based translation lookaside buffer (TLB) prefetching with adaptive offset A processing device implementing stride-based translation lookaside buffer (TLB) prefetching with adaptive offset is disclosed. A processing device of the disclosure includes a data prefetcher to generate a data prefetch address based on a linear address, a stride, or a prefetch distance, the data prefetch address associated with a data prefetch request, and a TLB prefetch address computation component to generate a TLB prefetch address based on the linear address, the stride, the prefetch distance, or an adaptive offset. The processing device also includes a cross page detection component to determine that the data prefetch address or the TLB prefetch address cross a page boundary associated with the linear address, and cause a TLB prefetch request to be written to a TLB request queue, the TLB prefetch request for translation of an address of a linear page number (LPN) based on the data prefetch address or the TLB prefetch address.
US09158692B2	Cache injection directing technique A method for directing cache injection based on actual system load may include providing a snooping-based fabric having two or more bus-coupled units. At least one of the bus-coupled units may be configured as an injection unit for directing cache injection. A snoop request may be transmitted from the injection unit to one or more destination units of the other bus-coupled unit. The snoop request may include an identification value having a function identifier. The function identifier may identify a destination function for the cache injection, where the destination function is configured to run on the destination unit. A snoop response may be transmitted from the destination unit to the injection unit in response to the snoop request. The snoop response may include a function response value indicating whether the function identifier matches a function indication of a snoop register for the destination unit.
US09158691B2	Cross dependency checking logic Systems and methods for maintaining an order of transactions in the coherence point. The coherence point stores attributes associated with received transactions in an input request queue (IRQ). When a new transaction is received by the coherence point, the IRQ is searched for other entries with the same request address or the same victim address as the new transaction. If one or more matches are found, the new transaction entry points to the entry storing the most recently received transaction with the same address. The new transaction is stalled until the transaction it points to has been completed in the coherence point.
US09158686B2	Processing system and method including data compression API Memory system operations are extended for a data processor by an application programming interface API, including a set of operations and parameters for the operations, which provides for data compression and decompression during or in conjunction with processes for moving data between memory elements of the memory system. The set of operations can be configured to use the parameters and perform the operations of the API. The API can support moves between memory having a first access latency, such as memory integrated on the same chip as a processor core, and memory having a second access latency that is longer than the first access latency, such as memory on a different integrated circuit than the processor core.
US09158684B2	Flash-DRAM hybrid memory module A memory module that is couplable to a memory controller hub (MCH) of a host system includes a non-volatile memory subsystem, a data manager coupled to the non-volatile memory subsystem, a volatile memory subsystem coupled to the data manager and operable to exchange data with the non-volatile memory subsystem by way of the data manager, and a controller operable to receive read/write commands from the MCH and to direct transfer of data between any two or more of the MCH, the volatile memory subsystem, and the non-volatile memory subsystem based on the commands.
US09158681B1	Process and apparatus to reduce declared capacity of a storage device by conditionally trimming Systems, methods, and/or devices are used to reduce declared capacity of non-volatile memory of a storage device in a storage system. In one aspect, the method includes, detecting an amelioration trigger, and in accordance with the detected amelioration trigger, performing an amelioration process to reduce declared capacity of the non-volatile memory of the storage device, including: obtaining a target capacity of the non-volatile memory of the storage device and a current utilization of the non-volatile memory of the storage device, wherein the target capacity is lower than a current capacity of the non-volatile memory of the storage device and the current utilization corresponds to allocated logical addresses in a logical address space; in accordance with a determination that the target capacity is not greater than the current utilization, trimming at least a portion of the allocated logical addresses; and reducing declared capacity of the non-volatile memory of the storage device.
US09158680B2	Numeric representation to improve life of solid state storage devices Technologies and implementations for improving life of a solid state storage device are generally disclosed.
US09158678B2	Memory address management system and method According to one embodiment, a memory system includes a nonvolatile memory including first blocks configured to store an address indicating a data storage position, and second blocks configured to store the data, a first table configured to store a first address including first information and second information, the second information indicating a data storage position in the first block, and a second table configured to convert the first information into third information, the first information having a first data size by which one entry of the second table can be identified, the third information having a second data size which is larger than the first data size and by which one of the first blocks and the second blocks can be identified.
US09158677B2	Flash storage controller execute loop A storage controller is provided that contains multiple processors. In some embodiments, the storage controller is coupled to a flash memory module having multiple flash memory groups, each flash memory group corresponding to a distinct flash port in the storage controller, each flash port comprising an associated processor. Each processor handles a portion of one or more host commands, including reads and writes, allowing multiple parallel pipelines to handle one or more host commands simultaneously.
US09158668B2	System and program product to allocate and reallocate CPU resources needed to utilize full available network adapter bandwidth capacity for logical partition migration Automated techniques ensure that system central processing unit (“CPU”) power is not a bottleneck when migrating logical partitions from one system to another system or systems (e.g., in the event of a system evacuation). CPU resources needed to fully drive available bandwidth during the migration are computed. CPU resources of the system are then adjusted for the migration, which may comprise scaling down the CPU resources that are guaranteed for the executing partitions and/or adjusting relative partition variable weights to limit the amount of excess capacity that can be allocated to a partition.
US09158667B2	Apparatuses and methods for performing logical operations using sensing circuitry The present disclosure includes apparatuses and methods related to performing logical operations using sensing circuitry. An example apparatus comprises an array of memory cells and sensing circuitry coupled to the array. The sensing circuitry is configured to perform a logical operation using a data value stored in a first memory cell coupled to a sense line as a first input and a data value stored in a second memory cell coupled to the sense line as a second input. The sensing circuitry is configured to perform the logical operation without transferring data via a sense line address access.
US09158654B1	Verification of computer-executable code generated from a model A code verification tool verifies that code generated from a model represents all of the functionality of the model and does not contain any unintended functionality. The code verification tool may receive for examination a model or an intermediate representation (IR) of the model and the generated code or an intermediate representation of the generated code. The code verification tool may create further intermediate representations of the model and/or the generated code in order to compare the functionality presented in both.
US09158651B2	Monitoring thread starvation using stack trace sampling and based on a total elapsed time The present disclosure includes methods and systems for monitoring thread starvation. A number of embodiments include determining an amount of time a thread is not runnable, determining an amount of CPU consumption time for the thread, and determining an amount of thread starvation time based on the amount of time the thread is not runnable and the amount of CPU consumption time for the thread.
US09158646B2	Abnormal information output system for a computer system Provided is an abnormal information output system for a computer system, wherein the computer system includes at least a plurality of hardware devices and a plurality of sensors for detecting operation statuses of each hardware device. The abnormal information output system includes at least a latch module connected to each of the sensors and the hardware devices, wherein the latch module is configured to latch operation status information of the hardware devices when abnormal operation of the computer system is detected; and a basic input-output system (BIOS) module embedded in the computer system and the BIOS module is connected to the latch module and configured to analyze the latched operation status information when the computer system returns to a normal operation so as to output corresponding abnormal information. Accordingly, the computer system is capable of recording a chip failure and information regarding reasons for system failure.
US09158636B2	Serial advanced technology attachment dual in-line memory module device A serial advanced technology attachment dual in-line memory module (SATA DIMM) device includes a circuit board. A storage chip is arranged on the circuit board and stores a first firmware. A memory is arranged on the circuit board and stores a second firmware. A control chip is arranged on the circuit board and connected to the memory, to read the second firmware from the memory and load the second firmware in the storage chip when the first firmware stored in the storage chip is damaged. The control chip is also connected to the storage chip, to control the storage chip to read or to write data.
US09158633B2	File corruption recovery in concurrent data protection An incremental backup system that performs the following (not necessarily in the following order): (i) making a plurality of time-ordered journal entries; (ii) determining that a corruption condition exists; (iii) responsive to a corruption condition, constructing a first incremental mirror data set that reflects a backup data set and all journal entries up to a first corrupted journal entry which is the earliest in time journal entry, of the plurality of journal entries, that is a corrupted journal entry; (iv) responsive to a corruption condition, constructing a second incremental mirror data set that reflects the backup data set and all journal entries up to the first corrupted journal entry; and (v) checking for corruption in the first and second incremental mirror data sets to determine the latest uncorrupted version of the data set.
US09158632B1	Efficient file browsing using key value databases for virtual backups A method, article of manufacture, and apparatus for protecting data. This includes using a directory to identify keys in a key value database, walking through each identified key to identify values, identifying a file based on the walk through, and restoring the identified file to a storage device.
US09158628B2	Bios failover update with service processor having direct serial peripheral interface (SPI) access Certain aspects direct to systems and methods of BIOS failover update with a service processor (SP) having direct serial peripheral interface (SPI) access to a basic input/output system (BIOS) chip of a host computer. In certain embodiments, the SP receives a failover backup image from a BIOS being executed at a CPU of the host computer through a system interface, and stores the failover backup image in the volatile memory. Then the SP monitors operation of the BIOS by receiving, from the BIOS, a notification signal. When the SP detects an error in the operation of the BIOS based on the notification signal, the SP sends a copy of the failover backup image to the BIOS chip of the host computer through the SPI to replace a current BIOS image stored in the BIOS chip of the host computer with the copy of the failover backup image.
US09158626B1	Method and system for providing storage checkpointing to a group of independent computer applications A method and system for storage checkpointing of an independent computer application. The independent computer application is launched by a coordinator; and the coordinator installs at least one of an exec interceptor and a fork interceptor. The coordinator also installs at least one file operations interceptor for all file operations and registers the independent computer application with the coordinator. The independent computer application is run and the at least one file operations interceptor is called upon encountering a file operation. The file operations interceptor logs a file event in a file operations database and passes the operation to at least one of a file system, an operating system, at least one or more device drivers, and a storage disk via a storage interface. The file operations interceptor also verifies that the file operation has been issued.
US09158615B2	Method and apparatus for managing system A disclosed method includes: upon detecting an abnormal condition occurred in a system in which a certain command was executed, extracting one or plural commands executed within a predetermined time before the abnormal condition occurred, from among commands affecting a state of the system and executed in the system; upon detecting that a first command is inputted by a user, determining whether or not a command that matches the first command has been extracted; and upon determining that the command that matches the first command has been extracted, outputting display data representing there is a possibility that an abnormal condition occurs.
US09158612B2	Refresh of non-volatile memory cells based on fatigue conditions In one or more of the disclosed embodiments, memory cells in a memory device are refreshed upon an indication of a fatigue condition. In one such embodiment, controller monitors behavior parameters of the cells and determines if any of the parameters are outside of a normal range set for each one, thus indicating a fatigue condition. If any cell indicates a fatigue condition, the data from the block of cells indicating the fatigue is moved to another block. In one embodiment, an error detection and correction process is performed on the data prior to being written into another memory block.
US09158604B1	Lightweight data-flow tracker for realtime behavioral analysis using control flow Methods and devices for detecting performance-degrading behaviors include identifying a data source component that inputs data into an application executing on a mobile device, and identifying a data sink component that consumes data output from the application. Using a measured runtime control-flow parameter, a likelihood that the data source component is a critical data resource may be determined. Using the probability value, a behavior model that identifies a mobile device feature associated with the critical data resource may be updated and used to determine whether the software application is malicious. Measured runtime control-flow parameters may include a program execution distance between data source and sink components based on heuristics. Determining program execution distances between data sources and sinks may include computing call graph distances by comparing a source call stack length and a sink call stack length, or by counting method invocations or functional calls between data sources and sinks.
US09158599B2	Programming framework for applications An application comprises program code that includes API tags, which during execution of the application may be resolved to reference-able data objects. The data objects may be objects in a knowledge base. The API tags decouple the program code from the specific data contained in the knowledge base, allowing for applications that access the knowledge base to be written independently of the knowledge base; even before the knowledge base is loaded with data.
US09158598B2	Apparatus, method, program and system for processing information utilizing a multi-platform capable of managing a plurality of applications There is provided an information processing apparatus, including a multi-platform capable of managing a plurality of applications, and an operating system which operates on the multi-platform, and is capable of being activated by a command of the multi-platform.
US09158597B2	Controlling access to shared resource by issuing tickets to plurality of execution units Access to a shared resource by a plurality of execution units is organized and controlled by issuing tickets to each execution unit as they request access to the resource. The tickets are issued by a hardware atomic unit so that each execution unit receives a unique ticket number. A current owner field indicates the ticket number of the execution unit that currently has access to the shared resource. When an execution unit has completed its access, it releases the shared resource and increments the owner field. Execution units awaiting access to the shared resource periodically check the current value of the owner field and take control of the shared resource when their respective ticket values match the owner field.
US09158596B2	Partitioned ticket locks with semi-local spinning A partitioned ticket lock may control access to a shared resource, and may include a single ticket value field and multiple grant value fields. Each grant value may be the sole occupant of a respective cache line, an event count or sequencer instance, or a sub-lock. The number of grant values may be configurable and/or adaptable during runtime. To acquire the lock, a thread may obtain a value from the ticket value field using a fetch-and-increment type operation, and generate an identifier of a particular grant value field by applying a mathematical or logical function to the obtained ticket value. The thread may be granted the lock when the value of that grant value field matches the obtained ticket value. Releasing the lock may include computing a new ticket value, generating an identifier of another grant value field, and storing the new ticket value in the other grant value field.
US09158595B2	Hardware scheduling of ordered critical code sections One embodiment sets forth a technique for scheduling the execution of ordered critical code sections by multiple threads. A multithreaded processor includes an instruction scheduling unit that is configured to schedule threads to process ordered critical code sections. A ordered critical code section is preceded by a barrier instruction and when all of the threads have reached the barrier instruction, the instruction scheduling unit controls the thread execution order by selecting each thread for execution based on logical identifiers associated with the threads. The logical identifiers are mapped to physical identifiers that are referenced by the multithreaded processor during execution of the threads. The logical identifiers are used by the instruction scheduling unit to control the order in which the threads execute the ordered critical code section.
US09158590B2	Dynamically acquiring computing resources in a networked computing environment The present invention provides an approach for dynamically acquiring computing resources in a networked computing environment (e.g., a cloud computing environment) based on infrastructure/computing resource needs. In a typical embodiment, a set of computing resources (needed to process a set of workloads) external to a first portion of a networked computing environment is identified. Once identified, electronic negotiations with at least one provider of the set of computing resources may be held for utilizing the provider's set of computing resources to process the set of workloads. In general, the negotiations are based on at least one resource registration (setting forth terms for utilizing the set of computing resources such as usage rates, usage limitations, etc.) associated with the at least one provider stored in at least one computer data structure. Responsive to successful completion of the negotiations, the set of computing resources will be associated with the first portion.
US09158589B2	Method for dynamic migration of a process or services from one control plane processor to another An apparatus comprising a processor configured to migrate load from a source process running on the processor to a target process running on a peer processor in a dynamic manner by monitoring an amount of resources used by the source process, wherein the load is migrated when the amount of resources utilized by the source process exceeds a threshold. Also disclosed is a network component comprising a first processor configured to select a source process to migrate a load from the first processor based on available resources on the first processor and the source process; and a second processor configured upon receiving a migration request from the first processor to one of select and start a target process to which to migrate the load based on available resources for the second processor and the target process.
US09158588B2	Flexible task and thread binding with preferred processors based on thread layout Embodiments of thread binding are provided. An aspect includes generating a thread layout for an application. Another aspect includes determining a task count for the application; determining a task rank for each task of the task count; determining a thread count for each task associated with the application, wherein a thread count for a first task associated with the application is unequal to a thread count of a second task associated with the application; and indicating one or more preferred processors of a plurality of processors for each task associated with the application. Another aspect includes allocating system for each of the tasks of the application based on the thread layout. Another aspect includes affinitizing the tasks by generating child threads for each of the tasks, wherein a number of threads generated for each task corresponds to the thread count for the task in the thread layout.
US09158585B2	Method and apparatus for workflow validation and execution A computer program product comprising: a non-transitory computer readable medium; and a description of a first block comprising: a definition of one or more output port groups each comprising one or more output ports; a definition of two or more input ports, the input ports receive object streams of identical length; one or more instructions for processing input data received in the input ports and for outputting processed data in the output port groups, wherein the instructions are operative to output a same number of output objects to each output port in a same output port group, whereby the output ports of the output port group are operative to output objects stream of identical length, and wherein the instructions are operative to receive a same number of input objects from each input port, whereby the input ports are operative to receive object streams of identical length; and an indication of whether there is a constant ratio between a number of items in input streams received by the first block and a number of items in output streams outputted by the first block; and wherein said description of a first block is stored on said non-transitory computer readable medium.
US09158583B1	Management of computing devices processing workflow stages of a resource dependent workflow Systems and method for the management of resource dependent workflows are provided. One or more resource control devices monitor usage of a computing resource by server computing devices. Each resource control device may direct a server computing device to proceed with a workflow or to pause processing a workflow. A resource control device may further direct a server computing device to take resource conserving actions. When a computing resource is determined to be available, a resource control device may direct a paused server computing device to resume a workflow.
US09158573B2	Dynamic predictor for coalescing memory transactions A transactional memory system predicts the outcome of coalescing outermost memory transactions, the coalescing causing committing of memory store data to memory for a first transaction to be done at transaction execution (TX) end of a second transaction, the method comprising. A processor of the transactional memory system determines whether a first plurality of outermost transactions from an associated program that were coalesced experienced an abort, the first plurality of outermost transactions including a first instance of a first transaction. The processor updates a history of the associated program to reflect the results of the determination. The processor coalesces a second plurality of outermost transactions from the associated program, based, at least in part, on the updated history.
US09158569B2	Virtual interrupt delivery from a graphics processing unit (GPU) of a computing system without hardware support therefor A method includes loading a driver component on a hypervisor of a computing system including a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) without hardware support for virtual interrupt delivery, and loading an instance of the driver component on each of a number of VMs consolidated on a computing platform of the computing system. The method also includes allocating a memory page associated with work completion by the each of the number of VMs thereto through a driver stack executing on the hypervisor, and sharing the memory page with the driver component executing on the hypervisor. Further, the method includes delivering, through the hypervisor, an interrupt from the GPU to an appropriate VM based on inspecting the memory page associated with the work completion by the each of the number of VMs.
US09158568B2	Input/output operations at a virtual block device of a storage server Example embodiments disclosed herein relate to input/output (I/O) operations at a virtual block device of a storage server. Example embodiments include requesting an input/output (I/O) operation at an offset of a virtual block device of a storage server in response to a virtual machine request for an I/O operation at a virtual disk.
US09158566B2	Page mapped spatially aware emulation of computer instruction set Dynamic creation of a spatially aware emulation environment comprising Host cells of Host pages corresponding to Guest cells of Guest pages of Guest instructions. Each Host cell comprises a semantic routine for emulating a corresponding Guest instruction located at the corresponding Guest cell of the guest page.
US09158557B2	Method of deriving web service interfaces from form and table metadata A system and method of deriving web service interfaces from form and table metadata is disclosed. The method uses a discovery subsystem to discover services that are available on an application server, retrieves the metadata descriptions of the services on the application server and uses the services discovered and the metadata descriptions to create web services interfaces such that the service is available using web services description language.
US09158552B2	Adaptive device driver method and system Aspects of the present invention provide a method of specifying a device driver design for a board device. The method includes receiving a board device with various functional elements and on-board storage to be operatively coupled to a computing device through an interconnect. The device driver design is specified through the identification of one or more device driver parameters. The device driver parameters are to be used subsequently to customize an adaptive device driver that interfaces with the board device and each of the one or more functional elements. Device driver parameters are stored in a predetermined storage construct allocated from the board device. These device driver parameters remain stored in the storage construct until there is a need for the board device and corresponding device driver. Customizing the adaptive device driver is done after the device driver parameters have been stored and typically when a computer device starts or ‘boots”. Initially, aspects of the present invention may receive an indication that a board device and one or more functional elements associated with the board device have been attached to an interconnect and requires a device driver. Next, aspect of the present invention retrieve device driver parameters from the storage constructs and customizes the adaptable device driver into a device driver for the board device in accordance with the device driver parameters.
US09158550B2	Caching based operating system installation An image of system software is installed by loading an executable image of the system software using a boot loader, where the executable image includes a kernel and a plurality of files used by the kernel. The kernel of the system software is executed to generate the image of the system software that includes a copy of the kernel. Generating the image of the system software involves the steps of generating a plurality of pointers that each point to a different one of the files, retrieving the files using the pointers, and storing a copy of the kernel and the files in a storage device from which the system software is to be booted as the image of the system software.
US09158549B2	Method, apparatus and system for binding MTC device and UICC A method for binding a Machine Type Communication (MTC) device and a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) is disclosed. The method includes: during a process of establishment of a shared key, a Network Application Function (NAF) acquires identity information of the MTC device and identity information of the UICC (101); the NAF establishes a binding relationship between the MTC device and the UICC based on the identity information of the MTC device and the identity information of the UICC, and stores the binding relationship into a binding relationship table stored by the NAF (102). An apparatus and system for binding an MTC device and a UICC and a method and system for establishing a shared key between an MTC device and a UICC are further disclosed, such that the binding relationship between the MTC device and the UICC will not be limited by the life cycle of the shared key when the binding between the MTC device and the UICC is implemented in the manner of Generic Bootstrapping Architecture (GBA) with UICC-based enhancements (GBA-U), thus ensuring the security in use of the MTC device and the UICC.
US09158546B1	Computer program product for fetching from a first physical memory between an execution of a plurality of threads associated with a second physical memory A computer program product, apparatus and associated method/processing unit are provided for utilizing a physical memory system including a first physical memory of a first physical memory class, and a second physical memory of a second physical memory class communicatively coupled to the first physical memory. In operation, one or more pages are fetched from the first physical memory using a time between an execution of a plurality of threads associated with the second physical memory.
US09158543B2	Query sampling information instruction A measurement sampling facility takes snapshots of the central processing unit (CPU) on which it is executing at specified sampling intervals to collect data relating to tasks executing on the CPU. The collected data is stored in a buffer, and at selected times, an interrupt is provided to remove data from the buffer to enable reuse thereof. The interrupt is not taken after each sample, but in sufficient time to remove the data and minimize data loss.
US09158539B2	Enhanced precision sum-of-products calculation using high order bits register operand and respective low order bits cache entry A microprocessor, a method for enhanced precision sum-of-products calculation and a video decoding device are provided, in which at least one general-purpose-register is arranged to provide a number of destination bits to a multiply unit, and a control unit is adapted to provide at least a multiply-high instruction and a multiply-high-and-accumulate instruction to the multiply unit. The multiply unit is arranged to receive at least first and second source operands having an associated number of source bits, a sum of source bits exceeding the number of destination bits, connected to a register-extension cache comprising at least one cache entry arranged to store a number of precision-enhancement bits, and adapted to store a destination portion of a result operand in the general-purpose-register and a precision enhancement portion in the cache entry. The result operand is generated by a multiply-high operation or by a multiply-high-and-accumulate operation, depending on the received instructions.
US09158538B2	User-extensible rule-based source code modification Embodiments of the present invention address deficiencies of the art in respect to parsing for source code porting and provide a novel and non-obvious method, system and computer program product for a user-extensible rule-based source code modification tool. According to an aspect of the present invention, an automated parsing tool for parsing and modifying source code is provided which supports the addition of user-defined rules, and which parses and either modifies source code or suggests modifications to source code based upon the user-defined rules. Users can also associate a user-defined or predefined modification with each rule so that upon detection of a condition satisfying the rule, the user can be presented with the modification as an option. Compound rules built by using one or more rules as preconditions to a rule are also supported.
US09158534B2	Smart endpoint architecture A network-based application development and distribution platform allows application developers to build, modify, and configure dynamic content applications (especially mobile applications) remotely, and without requiring manual software coding. Smart endpoints facilitate creation of distributable applications for multiple operating systems, form factors, access methods, and/or device types, while creating only a single product and associating the product with the desired endpoints corresponding to the operating systems, form factors, access methods, and/or device types. The platform also facilitates software updates, as updates can be made to the product once, rather than once for each version of the application.
US09158530B2	Assigning severity to a software update Assigning severity to a software update, including: receiving, by an update manager, version information for a software application from a computing system, the version information describing a version of the software application installed on the computing system; determining, by the update manager, a severity level of one or more available updates for the software application in dependence upon the version information and update version information; and providing, by the update manager to the computing system, the severity level for each of the one or more available updates.
US09158526B1	Application update using multiple network connections A system and method that enables an application to retrieve application update from the software vendor using one or more network connection. The application checks for updates when it is invoked by the user. The checking of updates is done by sending a request to the vendor server via one or multiple network connections. The network connection can be wired or wireless. By using multiple network connections, the update process can send and receive update data faster than using one network connections. Another aspect of the invention is if the checking for update request failed via the default or 1st network connection, the application will check for the next available network connection to send the update request. By checking for update from the vendor, the application will always have the most up to date patches, fixes, and/or new features.
US09158525B1	Image upgrade A system for image upgrade, according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises an upgrade director and a target device comprising a manager module. The upgrade director sends a first command to the manager module initiating an upgrade event. The manager module receives the first command. The manager module calculates a delay parameter. The manager module downloads an upgrade image after the delay parameter has ended. The upgrade director sends a second command to the manager module indicating that the upgrade event is to conclude. The manager module receives the second command from the upgrade director. The manager module reboots using the upgrade image responsive to the second command.
US09158513B2	Preprocessing kernel print commands Methods, apparatus and computer program products implement embodiments of the present invention that include replacing, in one or more initial source code files, each reference to a first function configured to convey system messages with a respective reference to a second function configured to convey the system messages, thereby producing respective corresponding preprocessed source code files for the one or more initial source code files. The respective corresponding preprocessed source code files are then compiled, thereby creating an executable file. While executing the executable file, a call to the second function is received, wherein the call includes a text string. A name of one of the respective corresponding preprocessed source code files storing the call to the second function is identified, and based on the identified name and the text string, a computed destination is determined for the text string. Finally, the text string is conveyed to the computed destination.
US09158496B2	Secure audio peripheral device A secure audio peripheral device, coupled to a computer, capable of enabling a user to use audio devices such as a microphone, speakers or headset when the device is in operational state, while giving to the user a clear visual indication that the audio devices are enabled. The device simultaneously disables the microphone; and turns off the visual indication when the device is in secure state. The operational state is activated by the user by pressing a momentary push-button switch. A timer resets the device to a secure state after a short preset time. The device has anti-tempering functionality and becomes permanently disabled if tempered with. Optionally the device is coupled to the computer via a USB port that powers a USB CODEC chip and a LED used as the visual indicator.
US09158493B2	Page description language package file preview Various embodiments described herein provide systems, methods, and software to preview files packaged, or otherwise embedded, within page description language documents. Such previews may be viewed without opening a larger application typically used to view such files. Some embodiments include presenting, in a page description language document reader application, a representation of a file packaged within a page description language document and receiving a selection of the packaged file to preview the file within the page description language document reader application. Some embodiments further include selecting a utility to open the packaged file as a function of a file type of the packaged file and calling the selected utility to open the packaged file with a reference to a location where packaged file is located.
US09158492B2	Non-transitory computer-readable medium storing image processing program for N-in-1 printing, image processing apparatus, and image processing method for N-in-1 printing There is provided a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing an image processing program causing a controller to execute: obtaining a plurality of image data; allowing the display section to display at least one print preview image; judging whether two points move away from each other or approach toward each other; and changing the value of N, in a case that it is judged that the two points move away from each other or approach toward each other. In a case that the at least one print preview image has been displayed on the display section and that the value of N is changed, the display section is allowed to display a print preview image in the particular area depending on the value of N changed by the controller.
US09158483B2	Relaying device and system thereof A relaying device may send, to the image processing device, first screen information for causing a first screen to be displayed on a display unit of an image processing device. The first screen may be configured to receive selection as to whether to execute a second print process or a first print process at the image processing device. The second print process may be process using print information received by the image processing device and performed prior to the second print process. The relaying device may send first print information used for the first print process to the image processing device in a case that first process-identification information is received from the image processing device. The relaying device may send second print information used for the second print process to the image processing device in a case that second process-identification information is received from the image processing device.
US09158474B2	Dynamic storage device libraries Tape device paths, library slots and drive information are automatically collected by agents at nodes in a library cluster. The information is reported to a central server database. The central server accesses the information and maps tape devices to path information so an administrator may easily have access to configuration information for the tape device cluster. When a tape device cluster is updated, for example through changes to a device, an added device, device failure or some other reason, the change is detected and the cluster configuration is automatically updated.
US09158471B2	Replicating tracks from a first storage site to a second and third storage sites Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for replicating tracks from a first storage to a second and third storages. A determination is made of a track in the first storage to transfer to the second storage as part of a point-in-time copy relationship and of a stride of tracks including the target track. The stride of tracks including the target track is staged from the first storage to a cache according to the point-in-time copy relationship. The staged stride is destaged from the cache to the second storage. The stride in the cache is transferred to the third storage as part of a mirror copy relationship. The stride of tracks in the cache is demoted in response to destaging the stride of the tracks in the cache to the second storage and transferring the stride of tracks in the cache to the third storage.
US09158470B2	Managing CPU resources for high availability micro-partitions A partition manager relocates a logical partition from a primary shared processor pool to a secondary shared processor pool in response to a predetermined condition, such as a hardware failure. The relocated logical partition is allocated a smaller quantity of processing units from the secondary pool than it was allocated from the primary pool. A quantity of processing units reserved for a second logical partition is identified in the secondary shared processor pool, and a portion of those reserved processing units are allocated to the relocated logical partition. The reserved processing units may be redistributed among multiple relocated logical partitions.
US09158469B2	Flash based memory comprising a Flash translation layer and method for storing a file therein A Flash based memory comprising a Flash translation layer which comprises first translation information associating a first logical address of a logical file system emulating a sectored storage medium, the logical address being a logical sector start address with a first physical address of said flash based memory. The logical file system comprises a number of logical stuffing bits expanding a logical size of data of a file stored in said Flash based memory such that the expanded logical size corresponds to an integer number of logical sectors and the Flash translation layer comprises second translation information associating a second logical address with a second physical address and depending on said number of logical stuffing bits, the file being stored in a contiguous physical address sequence starting at the first physical address and ending at the second physical address.
US09158468B2	High read block clustering at deduplication layer Methods, systems, and computer program products are provided for deduplicating data mapping a plurality of file blocks of selected data to a plurality of logical blocks, deduplicating the plurality of logical blocks to thereby associate each logical block with a corresponding physical block of a plurality of physical blocks located on a physical memory device, two or more of the corresponding physical blocks being non-contiguous with each other, determining whether one or more of the corresponding physical blocks are one or more frequently accessed physical blocks being accessed at a frequency above a threshold frequency and being referred to by a common set of applications, and relocating data stored at the one or more frequently accessed physical blocks to different ones of the plurality of physical blocks, the different ones of the plurality of physical blocks being physically contiguous.
US09158467B2	Optional data encryption by partition for a partitionable data storage library Disclosed are a method and apparatus for a data storage library comprising a first and second drive, a first and second mobile medium, a first and second partition wherein the first partition comprises the first drive and the first mobile medium and the second partition comprises the second drive and the second mobile medium, and a combination bridge controller device. The combination bridge controller device is configurable to control first communication traffic between at least a first client and the first partition wherein the first communication traffic can comprise a first data package. The combination bridge controller device is further configurable to optionally encrypt the first data package for storage on the first mobile medium when the first mobile medium is in cooperation with the first drive.
US09158465B2	Performing authorization control in a cloud storage system A method, apparatus and computer program product for performing authorization control in a cloud storage system. The method comprises: receiving an access request to a file block, wherein the file block is embedded with tag data comprising at least file block authorization information; retrieving the file block; extracting the file block authorization information from the tag data; determining whether the access request matches the file block authorization information; and performing the access request if the access request matches the file block authorization information. Effective authorization control may be performed in a cloud storage system.
US09158464B2	System and method for object integrity service An embodiment for object integrity service in a storage system includes generating a list of objects stored in a storage system, wherein the list of objects may list an unchecked object, and wherein the unchecked object is an object that has not been checked within a set time period, walking through the list of objects to identify the unchecked object, adding a task to a queue to check the unchecked object, and clearing the task from the queue by checking the unchecked object.
US09158463B2	Control program of storage control device, control method of storage control device and storage control device For segments having the number of IOs exceeding a threshold, a data collection unit connects adjacent segments whose distance is within “s” to each other and extracts the connected segments and segments in the range of “s” from outside of the connected segments as an n_segment. A workload analysis unit then determines a target whose data is moved from an HDD to an SSD in units of n_segments.
US09158449B2	Information processing apparatus, information processing system, and program Provided is an information processing apparatus including a transmission processing unit (106) that performs near-field one-to-one communication with a first communication counterpart device, a reception processing unit (108), a reception data processing section (116) that acquires content information retained by the first communication counterpart device, a display processing unit (118) that performs a display process for displaying the content information acquired by the reception data processing section (116), and a display unit (302) that displays the content information.
US09158446B2	Method and apparatus for interfacing A method and apparatus for interfacing includes outputting at least one object to a display embodying a three-dimensional space and determining a radius of rotation of the at least one object, based on a distance between the at least one object and a rotation axis in the three-dimensional space. The method and apparatus further include controlling the at least one object to rotate around the rotation axis based on the radius of rotation when a rotation command for the at least one object is received.
US09158439B2	Remote focusing unit A remote-control device which allows remotely controlling parameters of a light via a console. The console actually does the controlling, but the remote-control device enables control of the light parameters by sending the information to the console. For example, the remote can be used to control preset values or to control other aspects of the console. The console may store presets associated with focus, and those presets can be changed from the remote.
US09158431B2	Apparatus and method for manipulating the orientation of an object on a display device A method of manipulating a three-dimensional object displays a first view of a three-dimensional object on a touchscreen. The touchscreen has three-dimensional views associated with at least one pre-specified visually undelineated portion of the touchscreen. The method receives a touch input on the touchscreen in a visually undelineated portion, and determines a second view of the three-dimensional object based on the view assigned to the visually undelineated portion that received the touch input. The method displays the second view of the three-dimensional object on the touchscreen.
US09158429B2	Rotary input device and electronic equipment Disclosed is a rotary input device, including: a rotary operation device; a rotation detecting section; a rotation driving section; a display control section to scroll an image under display by rotation of the rotary operation device; a judging section to judge whether the detected rotation angle reaches a critical angle corresponding to an end part of a range of the displayed image or not; and a rotation controlling section to reversely rotate the rotary operation device to an initial position or a reference position when it is judged that the rotation angle reaches the critical angle and the rotary operation is released, wherein the display control section displays the image displayed on the display section at a display position corresponding to the initial position or the reference position when the rotary operation device is reversely rotated to the initial position or the reference position.
US09158428B2	Operation display device Disclosed is an operation display device including: a touch panel unit to detect a touch position; a display unit; and a display control unit to execute a display according to a first display process on the display unit when a first operation is received on the touch panel unit, and to execute both of the display according to the first display process and a display according to a second display process when a second operation including an element of the first operation is received on the touch panel unit.
US09158425B2	Touch panel and touch display panel A touch panel includes a substrate, a touch device layer, a sensing circuit structure, and a planarization layer. The substrate includes a sensing region and a peripheral region that surrounds the sensing region. The touch device layer is disposed on the sensing region of the substrate. The sensing circuit structure is disposed on the peripheral region of the substrate, and the sensing circuit structure includes a plurality of sensing lines. The sensing lines are electrically connected to the touch device layer. The planarization layer is located on the substrate. Here, the planarization layer includes a color-resist material that has a dielectric coefficient ranging from about 3 to about 5, and the planarization layer covers the sensing lines located in the peripheral region.
US09158422B2	Capacitive rotary encoder A human machine interface includes a capacitive touch screen having a capacitive sensor. The capacitive touch screen displays text characters and/or graphical information. A control device is rotatably coupled to a structure such that the control device is superimposed over the screen. The control device includes at least one electrically conductive element. The control device rotates about an axis substantially perpendicular to the screen such that the at least one electrically conductive element follows the rotation of the control device. The capacitive sensor senses a rotational position of the at least one electrically conductive element.
US09158413B2	Systems and methods for reducing effects of interference in input devices The embodiments described herein provide devices and methods that facilitate improved input device performance. Specifically, the devices and methods provide improved resistance to the effect of interference on input devices, and in particular, to the effect of unison noise on proximity sensors that use capacitive techniques to generate images of sensor values. The devices and methods provide improved resistance to the effects of interface by using multiple images of sensor values, where the multiple images of sensor values are captured at different times along two different axes. The multiple images of sensor values are combined to produce a modified image of sensor values, the modified image having reduced errors due to noise. This reduction in errors due to noise can improve the accuracy and performance of the input device.
US09158410B2	Utilizing a touch screen as a biometric device A method, system or computer usable program product for authenticating a fingerprint by aggregating samples on a digital touch screen including capturing multiple data samples of a finger swipe across the touch screen, wherein the touch screen is used both for fingerprint recognition and manipulation of a user interface; utilizing a processor to aggregate the multiple data samples to form a combined sample fingerprint of the finger; and responsive to detecting the combined sample fingerprint matching a predetermined allowed fingerprint, providing a signal indicating the fingerprint is authentic.
US09158409B2	Object determining method, object display method, object switching method and electronic device The embodiments of the invention disclose an object determining method, a portable device, an object displaying method, an object switching method and an electronic device. Said method is applied to a touch sensitive portable device. Identifications of multiple objects are displayed within a display area of said portable device. Each of the identifications of said multiple objects has a first status of being selected and a second status of being unselected. Said display area has a first area, the identification of a first object is displayed in the first area, and the first object is in the first status. Said method comprises: obtaining a switch instruction; moving the identification of the first object of the first area, switching the identification of the first object from the first status to the second status, moving the identification of the second object into the first area, and switching the identification of the second object from the second status to the first status according to the switch instruction. The embodiments of the invention can simplify the steps of the user's operation.
US09158399B2	Unlock method and mobile device using the same A method for performing a predefined function on a touch-based mobile device includes displaying a lock-screen image on the touch screen of the mobile device during a locked-state, wherein the lock-screen image comprises a plurality of image pieces; detecting an object on or near the touch screen at a first predefined location corresponding to a predefined image piece of the plurality of image pieces; moving the predefined image piece on the touch screen according to movement of the object; and performing a predefined function on the mobile device when the predefined image piece moves from the first predefined location to a second predefined location on the touch screen.
US09158395B2	Method and system for controlling other devices using a remote user interface A method and system wherein a device remotely controls a user interface being executed in a remote device, using a remote user interface. The device discovers a server that supports a remote control interface. The device receives a list of remote devices that the device can control from the server. A selection input is received to select a remote device from the list of remote devices. A device selection request corresponding to the selection input is transmitted to the server. A remote control interface corresponding to the device selection request is received from the server. The selected remote device is controlled via the received remote control interface.
US09158390B2	Mechanical actuator apparatus for a touch sensing surface of an electronic device A mechanical actuator apparatus for an electronic device having a touch sensing surface, includes a mechanical actuator having a base for accommodating a first magnetic member, an attachment member having a second magnetic member for engaging the first magnetic member, wherein the attachment member includes a surface configured to mount directly over and engage the touch sensing surface. The mechanical actuator further includes a conductive member for contacting the touch sensing surface, and a non-conductive member for spacing the actuator a distance from the touch sensing surface. The mechanical actuator can be a joystick, knob, directional pad, slider, or the like input device.
US09158380B2	Identifying a 3-D motion on 2-D planes Systems and methods for recognizing 3-D human motions are described. In some embodiments, the present disclosure contemplates a variety of methods and systems for recognizing a 3-D motion on 2-D planes. The 3-D human motions may include, but is not limited to, kinematic based gestures, such as clapping, spell casting, security gestures, etc.
US09158375B2	Interactive reality augmentation for natural interaction Embodiments of the invention provide apparatus and methods for interactive reality augmentation, including a 2-dimensional camera (36) and a 3-dimensional camera (38), associated depth projector and content projector (48), and a processor (40) linked to the 3-dimensional camera and the 2-dimensional camera. A depth map of the scene is produced using an output of the 3-dimensional camera, and coordinated with a 2-dimensional image captured by the 2-dimensional camera to identify a 3-dimensional object in the scene that meets predetermined criteria for projection of images thereon. The content projector projects a content image onto the 3-dimensional object responsively to instructions of the processor, which can be mediated by automatic recognition of user gestures.
US09158371B2	Contortion of an electronic apparatus An apparatus including a body configured for resilient contortion from a neutral equilibrium shape by a user, the body having an exterior surface that resiliently contorts in response to user actuation and defines at least part of an exterior surface of the apparatus; and electronic circuitry including at least a processor and a display, controlled by the processor on at least a portion of the exterior surface of the body.
US09158358B2	System and method for intelligent multimedia-based thermal power management in a portable computing device Various embodiments of methods and systems for intelligent multimedia-based thermal power management implemented in a portable computing device (“PCD”) are disclosed. To reduce or increase power consumption in the PCD, embodiments adjust one or more visual multimedia parameters, the settings of which contribute to power consumption associated with an overall multimedia workload. The selection of visual multimedia parameters for setting adjustment is a function of the change in user experience versus the change in power consumption that will likely result from the setting adjustment. Exemplary visual multimedia parameters for which settings may be adjusted by certain embodiments include, but are not limited to, color depth, display brightness, GPU processing resolution, image dynamics algorithm selection, resolution scaling ratios and frames per second processing rates.
US09158348B2	Server memory cooling apparatus A system to aid in cooling an in-line memory module may include a heat spreader including a channel to accommodate the in-line memory module, thermal interface material, and a liquid-cooler block including a heat-conducting cold plate and an internal liquid channel filled with circulating cooling liquid. Also disclosed are systems employing tubes to convey cooling fluid.
US09158347B2	Mounting apparatus for hard disk drive and electronic device with the mounting apparatus A mounting apparatus for a hard disk drive (HDD) which does not require screw fixings includes a bracket defining a first locating hole and a carrier. The HDD includes a pin. The carrier includes a shell receiving the HDD, a resilient connecting member, an unlocking member installed on a side of the shell, and an operating assembly. The unlocking member includes a resilient abutting plate. The operation member includes a connecting rack with rotating latching member mounted to a front end of the shell. A front end of the connecting member is mounted to the shell, a rear end of the connecting member is detachably connected the bracket. The abutting plate abuts against the pin. A block of the latching member latches in the first locating hole, and a second end of the latching member is detachably latched to the connecting rack.
US09158345B1	Managing computer performance Techniques for managing performance of a computing system include monitoring an operating power and an operating temperature of a rack-mounted computer in a data center; determining that the operating power is at or near a threshold operating power of the computer; and adjusting the operating frequency of the computer based on the adjusted operating temperature of the computer.
US09158341B2	Portable computer A portable computer includes a base, a keyboard module, a pushing assembly, a display module, and a sliding assembly. The base includes a front end and a rear end. The keyboard module includes two keyboard portions; each keyboard portion is moveably combined with the base by at least one moving structure. The pushing assembly includes two pushing elements combined moveably with the base. The display module includes a connecting end and a support portion. The sliding assembly includes a slide corresponding element disposed in the base and a sliding element pivoted on the connecting end and moved along the slide corresponding element. When the connecting end moves towards the front end with the slide element, the pushing assembly pushes and moves the moving structures by the slide element, and the two keyboard portions are separated; then the connecting end is moved through the keyboard module with the slide element.
US09158340B2	Apparatus and method for assembling display of indicia reading terminal An apparatus and method for sealing a joint between a display and a housing of a hand held computer terminal is provided. The apparatus comprises a display frame. The display frame comprises a display front, a display back, and display sides. The front of the display frame comprises a recessed portion and a non-recessed portion. The recessed portion is configured to accept insertion of the display. The non-recessed portion defines at least a portion of the perimeter of the recessed portion. Fastening holes can be positioned outside the perimeter of the recessed portion. The display frame is configured to tighten to the housing and to compress the display between the display frame and the housing. The method comprises providing a display frame, assembling a display assembly, inserting the display assembly into the housing, and compressing the display between the display frame and the housing.
US09158335B2	Notebook computer A notebook computer is disclosed in the present invention which comprises: a screen, which is a touch screen configured to be operable via touching; a host, which is integrated in the screen; and a keyboard, which is detachably connected with the screen so that the keyboard and the screen can be in a state of being connected to each other or in a state of being separated from each other in use. When the notebook computer is used, the keyboard and the screen can be in the state of being separated from each other in use, so that the screen and the keyboard of the notebook computer are used separately. And the keyboard and the screen can be separated when needed and the notebook computer can be use by touching operation on the screen.
US09158334B2	Electronic device controlled by flexing An apparatus comprising: a flexible body comprising an arrangement for limiting flexing of the body, the arrangement comprising: a first part within the body; a second part within the body; a flexible interconnect extending at least between the first part and the second part wherein the arrangement is configured to change between a first configuration, in which a portion of the interconnect between the first part and the second part is of a variable length enabling more and less flexing of the interconnect, and a second configuration, in which the portion of the interconnect between the first part and the second part has a limited length that limits one or both of more flexing and less flexing.
US09158333B1	Rendering on composite portable devices Constituent electronic devices such as eBook reader devices may be combined to form a composite device. Resources such as power, data, processing capabilities, network interfaces, displays, and so forth may be shared between the constituent devices. Resources may also be allocated and transferred to increase operational time of depleted individual electronic devices. Content may be presented across the constituent devices of the composite device. A relative spatial arrangement of the composite devices may be determined to facilitate the presentation.
US09158332B2	Limiting movement An apparatus including a first portion comprising a projection extending in a first direction; a second portion comprising an aperture extending in the first direction, where the first portion and the second portion are configured for relative movement in at least the first direction; and wherein the projection extends from the first portion in the first direction between the first portion and the second portion through the aperture and wherein the aperture surrounds the projection with clearances configured to enforce limits on relative movement of the first portion and the second portion while enabling reciprocating movement of the first portion and the second portion in the first direction towards each other and away from each other.
US09158329B2	Bridge device A clock generator is provided. The clock generator includes a crystal oscillator, an inverter coupled to the crystal oscillator in parallel, a first circuit and a second circuit. The crystal oscillator has a first terminal and a second terminal. The inverter generates a first signal and a second signal at the first and second terminals of the crystal oscillator, respectively. The first circuit coupled to the first terminal of the crystal oscillator generates a first clock signal with a constant frequency according to the first signal. The second circuit coupled to the second terminal of the crystal oscillator generates a second clock signal with a variable frequency according to the second signal.
US09158328B2	Memory array clock gating scheme Dynamic power consumption is reduced by clock gating registers that synchronize memory input signals in an embedded memory array. Where a memory enable signal associated with a memory interface input signal does not meet setup timing for clock gating input registers of the memory interface signal, a clock gate enable signal may be generated prior to evaluation of the memory enable signal. The clock gate enable signal includes all functions of the memory enable signal and additional conditions because it is generated prior to evaluation of conditions on which the memory enable signal may depend. Pre-evaluated clock gate enable signals may be generated within a processor core and used to clock gate read address registers, write address registers, data input registers, and/or CAM reference address registers of an embedded memory array.
US09158326B1	Hosting architecture A service provider can maintain one or more host computing devices that can be accessed as host computing device resources by customers. A hosting platform includes components arranged in a manner to limit modifications to software or firmware on hardware components. In some aspects, the hosting platform may include a master latch that indicates whether the components may be configured, and the master latch may be set once and only reset upon completion of a power cycle. In another aspect, the hosting platform can implement management functions for establishing control plane functions between the host computing device and the service provider that is independent of the customer. Additionally, the management functions can also be utilized to present different hardware or software attributes of the host computing device.
US09158322B2	Network latency tolerant control of a demand coordination network An apparatus, including a plurality of devices, a network operations center (NOC), and a plurality of control nodes. Each device consumes a portion of the resource when turned on, and performs a corresponding function within an acceptable operational margin by cycling on and off. The NOC is disposed external to the facility, and generates a plurality of run time schedules that coordinates run times for the each of the plurality of devices to control the peak demand of the resource. Each of the control nodes is coupled to a corresponding one of the devices. The plurality of control nodes transmits sensor data and device status to the NOC for generation of the plurality of run time schedules, and executes selected ones of the run time schedules based on latencies of last communications with the NOC to cycle the plurality of devices on and off.
US09158321B2	Linear current regulator A linear current regulator is disclosed herein, which comprises a first amplifier, a current converter unit, a first resistor, a reference current source, a regulating unit, and a reference voltage circuit. The current converter unit converts voltage level of an non-inverting input end of the first amplifier into a regulated current and outputs it. The first resistor is coupled to an inverting input end and an output end of the first amplifier. The reference current source is coupled to the inverting input end of the first amplifier and the first resistor. The regulating unit is coupled to the reference current source and outputs a current signal for adjusting a reference current of the reference current source. The reference voltage circuit has at least two input ends. The reference voltage circuit has one input end coupled to a reference voltage and another input end coupled to the first amplifier.
US09158319B2	Closed-loop adaptive voltage scaling for integrated circuits In one embodiment, an integrated circuit (IC) device includes a first logic block having performance characteristics, a first critical path monitor (CPM) configured to monitor the performance characteristics of the first logic block, and a first CPM envelope circuit enveloping the first CPM. The first logic block is configured to operate in at least one of a first functional mode and a first scan mode. The first CPM is adapted to operate in at least one of a second functional mode and a second scan mode. The first and second functional modes use higher clock frequencies, respectively, than the first and second scan modes. The first CPM envelope circuit comprises a clock-gate circuit adapted to allow the IC device to operate in a mixed mode, wherein the first CPM operates in the second functional mode while the first logic block operates in the first scan mode.
US09158312B2	Method and device for controlling outlet water temperature of water heater A temperature controlling device includes a setting controller, a gas valve, a burner, an inlet temperature sensor, a water meter, and an operational controller. User sets a desired temperature via the setting controller. The inlet temperature sensor senses an inlet temperature of water at an inlet of a pipe, and then operational controller calculates a difference between the inlet temperature and the desired temperature to get a total heat for heating water in a predetermined heating time and transfer the total heat into a total gas consumption, and controls the gas valve to supply gas to the burner with an amount of the total gas consumption in a predetermined heating time. After that, water should be heated to the desired temperature, and the operational controller controls the gas valve to decrease the gas supply for maintaining water temperature.
US09158310B2	Integrating a data center thermal control system and individual fan controllers for controlling a thermal environment in a data center room A thermal control system for a data center room, for controlling an ambient temperature in the data center room to meet an ambient temperature set point, receives multiple ambient temperature votes from multiple fan controllers positioned in the data center room each for controlling fan speeds for at least one separate fan from among multiple fans each positioned within a separate system from among multiple systems within the data center room. The thermal control system sets the ambient temperature set point to a lowest ambient temperature specified in the multiple ambient temperature votes, such that the thermal control system and fan controllers operate as independent systems, but are integrated for selecting an ambient temperature that minimizes the power required for controlling a thermal environment in the data center room.
US09158307B2	System and method for feed-forward valve test compensation A system includes a controller including a processor configured to execute a program stored in a memory of the controller to generate and transmit a first output comprising a total flow demand value to a plurality of valves communicatively coupled to the controller. Each of the plurality of valves is configured to receive a respective portion of the total flow demand value. The processor is configured to receive an input indicative of a decoupling of a first valve of the plurality of valves and to generate a second output based at least in part on the first output and a first operational characteristic of the first valve. The second output is configured to vary a second operational characteristic of a second valve of the plurality of valves to maintain the total flow demand value.
US09158305B2	Remote control system A remote control system comprises a mobile object, a remote controller for remotely controlling the mobile object, and a storage unit where background images to simulate a driving room or an operation room of the mobile object are stored. The mobile object has a stereo camera, a camera control unit for controlling image pickup direction of the stereo camera, and a first communication unit for communicating information including at least images photographed by the stereo camera. The remote controller has a second communication unit for communicating to and from the first communication unit, a control unit for controlling the mobile object, and a display unit for synthesizing at least a part of the images photographed by the stereo camera and the background images and for displaying the images so that a stereoscopic view can be displayed.
US09158294B2	Microgrid control system A method, apparatus, and computer program product is provided for configuring a microgrid. A first configuration of the microgrid having a set of microgrid elements is initialized. An address for each element in the set of microgrid elements of the microgrid is verified. In response to receiving status data from the set of microgrid elements connected in a peer-to-peer network indicating a reconfiguration of the microgrid, the set of microgrid elements is re-aligned to form a second grid configuration. The second grid configuration is executed.
US09158281B2	Method for preparing a hologram recording medium Two original images to be recorded are prepared as data (S10). A plurality of unit regions, each having an adequate area to record interference fringes of visible light, are defined and positioned on a hologram recording surface (S20). A gradation pattern, with which appearance probabilities of two record attributes gradually change in space, is overlapped onto the recording surface, and to each unit region, one of either record attributes is assigned according to the appearance probabilities of the respective record attributes at each individual position (S30). In each unit region, to which the first record attribute is assigned, the first original image is recorded as an interference fringe pattern, a diffraction grating pattern, or a scattering structure pattern, and in each unit region, to which the second record attribute is assigned, the second original image is recorded as an interference fringe pattern, a diffraction grating pattern, or a scattering structure pattern (S40), and a record pattern is formed on a physical medium (S50).
US09158280B2	Holographic projection device for the enlargement of a visibility region A holographic projection apparatus and a method for magnifying a virtual visibility region, for observing a reconstructed scene with at least one light modulation device and with at least one light source having sufficiently coherent light for generating a wavefront of a scene that is coded in the light modulation device. By means of imaging the wavefront into a viewer plane, it is possible to generate the virtual visibility region for observing the reconstructed scene. The virtual visibility region has at least two virtual viewer windows. In this case, the virtual viewer windows are dimensioned such that the reconstructed scene can always be observed without tracking of the viewer windows upon movement of a viewer in the viewer plane.
US09158277B2	Image forming apparatus having air cleaning function An image forming apparatus includes an image forming section, a paper supply section, a housing member and an ion generating unit. The housing member is disposed at least below the image forming section, and gives the same shape in plane view as the image forming section and the paper supply section. The ion generating unit is contained in the housing member. The ion generating unit includes a duct forming a pathway of flow to guide the air that is sucked in from outside of the housing member again to outside of the housing member, an ion generating device disposed inside the duct, and a fan for generating an air current in the duct.
US09158274B2	Image forming apparatus An image forming apparatus comprising: a built-in rotary driving member; a developing device detachably attachable to the body of the image forming apparatus; a developer driving part disposed at one end in a shaft direction of the developing roller and the agitation screw; a driving part duct enveloping the developer driving part of the developing device; a developer case surface duct formed along a surface parallel to the shaft direction of the developing roller and the agitation screw; and a blast fan or a exhaust fan to blow air from either the driving part duct or the developer case surface duct to each other.
US09158265B2	High-voltage power source, charging device incorporating same, and high-voltage power supplying method A high-voltage power source includes a high-voltage power source unit configured to apply high voltage obtained by superposing a high alternating-current voltage on a high direct-current voltage to a charging member, an output unit configured to output a first direct-current voltage having a first voltage value according to an externally input pulse-width modulation signal, a direct-current voltage conversion unit configured to convert the first direct-current voltage into a second direct-current voltage, a generation unit configured to boost the second direct-current voltage to generate a high direct-current voltage, a peak value detection unit configured to detect a positive peak value and a negative peak value from an alternating-current component of the high direct-current voltage, and a voltage difference output unit configured to output a third direct-current voltage having a third voltage value to the direct-current voltage conversion unit.
US09158244B1	Image forming apparatus using a developer containing a non-volatile oil An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit that forms a toner image on a transported medium using a developer containing toner and non-volatile oil, a heating unit that is arranged on a downstream of the image forming unit in a transport direction of the medium and heats the toner image on the medium to a melting temperature of the toner or higher, and a fixing unit that is arranged on a downstream of the heating unit in the transport direction, wherein the fixing unit includes a heat supply section that supplies heat to the developer on the medium, a removal section that removes the non-volatile oil from the developer to which heat is supplied by the heat supply section, and a fixing section that fixes the toner image, which is formed of the developer from which the non-volatile oil is removed by the removal section, on the medium.
US09158243B2	Fixing device including reflecting plate with tilted ends A fixing device includes a heating element disposed inside a flexible fusing member, a nip member disposed to contact with a surface of the flexible fusing member and to allow the flexible fusing member to slide along the nip member, a reflecting plate for reflecting radiant heat from the heating element toward the nip member, and a backup member for nipping the flexible fusing member with the nip member. The reflecting plate includes a central reflecting portion extending along a longitudinal direction of the heating element at least in a region corresponding to along a heat generating portion of the heating element, and end reflecting portions stationarily provided on both ends of the central reflecting portion. The end reflecting portions are disposed in positions longitudinally outward of the heat generating portion and each has a reflecting surface tilted with respect to the longitudinal direction of the heating element.
US09158238B2	Image forming apparatus using stretch member and contact member to maintain potential with current flowing from current supply member to intermediate transfer belt A voltage maintenance element is connected to a contact member that contacts a primary transfer surface area of an intermediate transfer belt to which toner images are transferred from a plurality of image carriers between stretch members, in such a way as to prevent the electric potential of the intermediate transfer belt from varying between respective image forming stations.
US09158234B2	Developing device for use with an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, process cartridge detachably mountable to a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and an electrophotographic image forming apparatus In a developing device, a rotation shaft is provided with a developer feeding member, a cleaning member, and a receiving portion. The receiving portion is provided downstream of the developer feeding member and upstream of a light transmitting member, provided to a wall surface of a developer accommodating chamber of the developing device, with respect to a rotational direction of the rotation shaft when the cleaning member has passed through the light transmitting member.
US09158233B2	Conveyance device, development device including conveyance device, and image forming apparatus including development device A conveyance device includes a housing, a formation member, and a detection section. The housing has a first conveyance path, a second conveyance path, and a first communication path. The first and second conveyance paths each are a conveyance path for conveying a developer. The first communication path allows a first end portion of the first conveyance path and a first end portion of the second conveyance path to be in communication with each other via a communication surface. The communication surface has a first region and a second region. The formation member forms the second region of the communication surface so that a height of the second region from a bottom portion of the first communication path is lower than a height of the first region from the bottom portion of the first communication path. The detection section detects the amount of the developer.
US09158231B2	Image forming apparatus having process condition control An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member configured to bear an electrostatic latent image, a developing unit including a developing sleeve and containing developer, and a control portion configured to control a process condition for image formation. The control portion changes the process condition for image formation when, in a case where the developing unit detected to have a developer amount smaller than a predetermined amount is removed from a main body of the image forming apparatus, the removed developing unit is remounted to the main body of the image forming apparatus.
US09158219B2	Image forming apparatus changing a fixing pressure and image forming method thereof There is provided an image forming apparatus including an image forming section that forms a toner image on a printing medium by using plural toners including a particular toner, a fixing section that fixes the toner image which is formed on the printing medium by the image forming section, a retransporting section that transports the printing medium to the image forming section again in a state where a surface of the printing medium is the same, and a changing section that changes a fixing pressure at the time of fixing the toner image, in which the particular toner is used, and at the time of fixing the toner image, in which the toners other than the particular toner are used, when the toner image is formed on the printing medium by the image forming section and the toner image is fixed by the fixing section plural times.
US09158217B2	Toner A toner comprising a binder resin and a wax, wherein the binder resin contains a binder resin A and a binder resin B, the binder resin A has a softening point of at least 120° C. and not more than 150° C., has a polyester unit, and has a terminal of which a first aliphatic compound having a melting point of 60° C. or more and not more than 85° C. has been condensed, and the binder resin B has a softening point of at least 80° C. and not more than 115° C., has a polyester unit, and has a terminal of which a second aliphatic compound having a melting point of 90° C. or more and not more than 120° C. has been condensed.
US09158204B2	Photo lithographic rinse solution and method of manufacturing a semiconductor device using the same A photolithographic rinse solution includes deionized water, and a surfactant, the surfactant including a cyclic amine group and at least one non-amine cyclic group joined to or fused with the cyclic amine group, wherein the cyclic amine group includes a ring having a carbon number of 4 to 6, and the non-amine cyclic group includes a ring having a carbon number of 5 to 8.
US09158202B2	Process and composition for removing substances from substrates Compositions are described that are useful for removing organic and organometallic substances from substrates, for example, photoresist wafers. Processes are presented that apply a minimum volume of a composition as a coating to the inorganic substrate whereby sufficient heat is added and the organic or organometallic substances are completely removed by rinsing. The compositions and processes may be suitable for removing and, in some instances, completely dissolving photoresists of the positive and negative varieties, and specifically negative dry film photoresist from electronic devices.
US09158198B2	Photoresist compositions and methods of forming photolithographic patterns Provided are photoresist compositions useful in forming photolithographic patterns by a negative tone development process. Also provided are methods of forming photolithographic patterns by a negative tone development process and substrates coated with the photoresist compositions. The photoresist compositions include one or more polymer additive that contains a basic moiety and which is substantially non-miscible with a resin component of the resist. The compositions, methods and coated substrates find particular applicability in the manufacture of semiconductor devices.
US09158190B2	Optical imaging writer system System and method for applying mask data patterns to substrate in a lithography manufacturing process are disclosed. In one embodiment, a parallel imaging writer system includes a plurality of spatial light modulator (SLM) imaging units, where each of the plurality of SLM imaging units includes one or more illumination sources, one or more alignment sources, one or more projection lenses, and a plurality of micro mirrors configured to project light from the one or more illumination sources to the corresponding one or more projection lens. The parallel imaging writer system further includes a controller configured to control the plurality of SLM imaging units, where the controller tunes each of the SLM imaging unit individually in writing a mask data to a substrate.
US09158182B1	Suspension arrangement, and a monitoring device having a suspension arrangement An assisting suspension arrangement for suspending a monitoring device, comprising a hook member, a blocking member, and a resilient member is disclosed. The suspension arrangement is configured to adopt an open state and a closed state. The suspension arrangement is configured such that when the monitoring device is suspended by the suspension arrangement, the hook member is adapted to carry the weight of the monitoring device and thereby to move toward the open state; and such that when the load of the weight of the monitoring device is released from the hook member, the resilient member is adapted to move the hook member toward the closed state. A monitoring device comprising such a suspension arrangement is also disclosed.
US09158181B2	Light focusing device A light focusing device for detachably coupling to a camera with a built-in flash. The device comprises a mount for detachably coupling to the camera; a housing coupled with the mount, the housing configured to enclose the built-in flash when the built-hi flash is an enabled position and comprising an alignment verification window; and a lens coupled with the housing such that light generated by the built-in flash is focused by the lens such that intensity of the light is increased farther away than what the built-in flash is able to do on its own. One or more spacers are included to adjust the height of the housing with respect to the flash for proper alignment.
US09158152B2	Backlight assembly and liquid crystal display including the same A liquid crystal display includes a backlight assembly. The backlight assembly includes a light guide plate, a light source module which emits light to a side surface of the light guide plate, and a housing which accommodates the light guide plate and the light source module. The light source module includes a printed circuit board on which a plurality of a point light source is mounted, and a light source fixing board which supports the printed circuit board. The housing includes a bottom portion on which the light guide plate is placed, and a fixing portion which extends from an edge of the bottom portion. An extension portion of the light source fixing board, which is adjacent to a corner of the light guide plate, and an end of the fixing portion of the housing, are coupled to a reinforcing member.
US09158149B2	Film for backlight unit and backlight unit and liquid crystal display including same A film for a backlight unit including a semiconductor nanocrystal-polymer composite film including a semiconductor nanocrystal and a matrix polymer in which the semiconductor nanocrystal is dispersed, wherein the matrix polymer is a polymer produced by a polymerization of a multifunctional photo-curable oligomer, a mono-functional photo-curable monomer, and a multifunctional photo-curable cross-linking agent, the multifunctional photo-curable oligomer has an acid value of less than or equal to about 0.1 mg of KOH/g, and a content (A1) of a first structural unit derived from the multifunctional photo-curable oligomer, a content (A2) of a second structural unit derived from the mono-functional photo-curable monomer, and a content (A3) of a third structural unit derived from the multifunctional photo-curable cross-linking agent satisfy Equation 1: A1<(A2+A3). Equation 1
US09158148B2	Liquid crystal display panel and display device Embodiments of the invention provide a LCD panel and a display device, the LCD panel comprises an array substrate and a color filter substrate, the array substrate comprises a first transparent substrate, a data line and a pixel electrode disposed on an inner side of the first transparent substrate, the color filter substrate comprises a second transparent substrate, a color resin, a first black matrix and a common electrode overlaying the color resin and the first black matrix, wherein the first black matrix comprising a flat bottom layer and a protrusion formed on the flat bottom layer, the protrusion has slant surfaces near a boundary between the non-pixel region and the pixel region of the second transparent substrate.
US09158143B2	Dual purpose touch sensor panel and optical retarder When a user operates a touch sensor panel having an LCD device outdoors or in a bright environment, light reflecting off the device can create glare. In order to reduce glare, a user can view the device through polarized filters such as polarized sunglasses. Doing so can reduce the visibility of the image displayed on the LCD. A quarter-wave retardation film can be added to the touch sensor panel's LCD device to mitigate these effects by producing circularly polarized light. However, adding a separate quarter-wave retardation film can increase the thickness and cost of manufacturing the touch sensor panel. Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to a touch sensor panel constructed from a base film having quarter-wave retardation properties that can produce circularly polarized light. Because the base film has the desired optical properties, a separate quarter-wave retardation film may not be needed.
US09158141B2	Thermally activated mattress cover and display A thermally activated display with a temperature management feature and a cover comprising a thermochromic material generally changes from a first color to a second color. The temperature management feature can be a mattress and has a top surface. The cover is substantially flush with the top surface.
US09158106B2	Display methods and apparatus The invention relates to method and apparatus for forming images on a display utilizing a control matrix to control the movement of MEMs-based light modulators. The control matrix is formed on a transparent substrate and includes a first actuator controlled by a first switch to drive the light modulator into a first state, and a second actuator for driving the light modulator into a second state.
US09158091B2	Lens module There is provided a lens module including: a first lens having positive refractive power; a second lens having positive refractive power; a third lens having a shape in which an object-side surface thereof is concave; a fourth lens having refractive power; a fifth lens having negative refractive power; and a sixth lens having negative refractive power, having a shape in which an image-side surface thereof is concave, and having at least one point of inflection formed on the image-side surface thereof.
US09158090B2	Camera module with artificial muscle actuator and structure for focusing during assembly A camera module includes an image sensor having a first threaded portion. A lens assembly includes an electro-active polymer (EAP) structure having a frusto-conical shape with an opening formed in the tip. A lens is secured to a lens holder that is attached to the EAP structure surrounding the opening. A first electrode is attached to a rear face of the EAP structure and extends along a side. A second electrode is attached to the rear face of the EAP structure along the tip. A base frame is attached to the base of the EAP structure. The base frame includes a second threaded portion that engages the first threaded portion, joining the lens assembly to the image sensor assembly and allowing the lens assembly to be rotated relative to the image sensor to adjust the distance between the lens assembly and the image sensor to establish a default focal distance.
US09158085B2	Lens barrel The lens barrel comprises a drive frame, a guide frame, and a moving frame. The moving frame includes a moving frame main body, a second cam mechanism portion, and a guide protrusion. The moving frame main body is configured to move between the drive frame and the guide frame. The second cam mechanism portion is configured to be accommodated in the first accommodation portion of the drive frame and engage to the first cam mechanism portion of the drive frame. The guide protrusion is configured to be accommodated in the second accommodation portion of the drive frame and engage to the guide groove of the guide frame.
US09158080B2	Light-coupling apparatus and methods for light-diffusing optical fibers Light-coupling apparatus and methods for light-diffusing optical fibers are disclosed. The light-coupling apparatus includes a light-diffusing fiber bundle having an end section made up of tightly packed cores by removing the claddings. The spaces between the cores are filled with a material having a refractive index equal to or less than that of the cores. A light-emitting diode light source can be butt-coupled to the bundled-core end of the light-diffusing fiber bundle or can be coupled thereto via a reflective concentrator. A method of forming a flat and smooth end on a cleaved fiber that has a rough end is also disclosed.
US09158075B2	Fiber optic connectors and structures for large core optical fibers and methods for making the same Fiber optic connectors and other structures that can be easily and quickly prepared by the craft for termination and/or connectorization in the field are disclosed. More specifically, the fiber optic connectors and other structures disclosed are intended for use with glass optical fibers having a large core. In one embodiment, the fiber optic connector includes a ferrule having a bore sized to receive an optical fiber and a buffer layer at a front end face of the ferrule. Methods of making the fiber optic connectors and other structures are also disclosed. The methods disclosed allow “rough cutting” of the optical fibers with a buffer layer thereon by the craft.
US09158073B2	Optical fiber connector An optical fiber connector includes a fixing module, an optical fiber ferrule positioned at an end of the fixing module, and an optical fiber gripped in the fixing module. The optical fiber ferrule axially defines a through hole. An end surface of the optical fiber includes an arc surface. The optical fiber is received in the through hole of the optical ferrule.
US09158072B2	Multicast optical switch An optical switch configured to switch optical beams between one or more first ports and two or more second ports includes a wavelength independent beam splitter that simultaneously splits the optical beams from each of the first ports into a plurality of separate sub beams. A reflective wavelength independent switching unit selectively reflectively direct each the sub beam along respective predetermined trajectories such that predetermined sub beams are coupled between the first and second ports. The switching unit includes one independently switchable reflective element corresponding to each second port where each switchable reflective element is switchable between a plurality of preselected switching states and each switching state defines a trajectory of each of the sub beam. The beam splitter and the switching unit are configured to direct the sub beams along substantially free space trajectories unconfined to waveguides.
US09158061B2	Light source module A light source module including a light guide and a light source is provided. An end of the light guide has a light incident surface, and the other end of the light guide has at least three light-guiding branches. The light-guiding branches respectively extend along different extending directions and each light-guiding branch has a light emitting surface. The light source is adapted for providing a light beam, wherein the light beam enters the light guide through the light incident surface and the light beam exits the light guide from the light emitting surfaces.
US09158057B2	Semiconductor light source free from facet reflections A new class of optical source having a truncated waveguide is provided, where a guided section of a light generating medium is terminated at an angle at a predetermined distance away from one end facet of the waveguide, thereby leaving a section for unguided light propagation. A truncated waveguide when implemented in combination with waveguide tilt, effective front facet reflectivity is reduced significantly to eliminate unwanted facet reflections. By extending electrical pumping in the unguided propagation section, the light in the unguided path propagates to a corresponding end facet without attenuation. The reflected light propagates freely without being intercepted by the waveguide. The principles are incorporated in different types of light generating and amplifying medium including a “double-pass” gain medium for designing optical sources having significantly high output power and negligibly small spectral modulation arising from unwanted facet reflections.
US09158056B2	Light spreading illumination apparatus having a light guide with inclined portion having at least one pedestal and a light blocking member disposed thereon A spread illuminating apparatus includes a plurality of point light sources; a printed circuit board on which the plurality of point light sources is each mounted; and a light guide plate with a light input surface facing the point light source and a light output portion that exits plane light emitted from the point light source and introduced through the light input surface, wherein the light guide plate includes an inclination portion between the light input surface and the light output portion, the inclination portion having a thickness gradually decreasing toward the light output portion side, an inclined surface of the inclination portion includes a pedestal for disposing the printed circuit board in an area except the front of the point light source, and a light-blocking member is disposed between the neighboring pedestals.
US09158055B2	Backlight unit A back light unit includes a light source and a light guide unit having a first surface emitting light to a display panel, a second surface facing the first surface, and a plurality of connecting surfaces connecting the first surface and the second surface. The connecting surfaces includes a first side surface, a second side surfaces and a third side surface between the first side surface and a second side surface, A first included angle of the first incident surface and the first diffusion surface is equal to or greater than about 90 degree.
US09158053B2	Polymerizable liquid crystal compounds, liquid crystal composition comprising the compounds, and optically anisotropic body comprising the composition The present invention relates to a polymerizable liquid crystal compound, a liquid crystal composition including the same, and an optically anisotropic body. The polymerizable liquid crystal compound according to the present invention has not only high birefringence but also excellent coating orientation, and thus it is possible to prepare a optically anisotropic body which is thin but superior in optical properties.
US09158048B2	Diimmonium-based component and near infrared absorption filter using same Disclosed are a novel diimmonium-based compound that has low light absorption in visible light region and has superior light absorption efficiency in near infrared region, and has superior durability and weatherability, and a near infrared absorption filter using the same. The diimmonium-based compound is represented by the formula 1 of claim 1.
US09158045B1	Stabilization of a heliostat output mirror using an inertial reference beam A heliostat including a mirror configured to reflect light directed towards a first surface of the mirror, the light being external to the heliostat, the first surface being opposite a second surface of the mirror. A control mechanism is connected to the mirror and configured to change at least two angles of the mirror. An inertial reference unit is in communication with the control mechanism and configured to produce a beam and use the beam to optically sample the second surface of the mirror, the beam at least reflecting from the second surface. The control mechanism is configured to use data from the beam and the inertial reference unit to control the least two angles such that a virtual beam from the inertial reference unit remains about co-aligned with a line of sight vector of the mirror when the heliostat is subjected to an exogenous disturbance.
US09158044B2	Optical film and display panel An optical film having an optically-transparent substrate, and a low refractive index layer having a thickness d on one side of the optically-transparent substrate, a polarizing plate and a display panel provided with the same, and a display provided with the same.
US09158037B2	Resin molded product, method of manufacturing the same, die for resin molded product A resin molded product includes a primary molded object molded by a primary molding die, and a secondary molded object formed to be integrated with the primary molded object by a secondary molding die, the secondary molding die including a shared molding die which shares a part of the primary molding die. The primary molded object includes a rotation regulation portion making a mutual concave-convex fit engagement at a joint portion between the primary molded object and a molding surface of the shared molding die and regulating rotation and shift of the primary molded object in circumferential directions about a center axis of the primary molded object.
US09158029B2	Multi-stage security screening system and smart communication system A multi-stage screening system for screening a container includes a pre-screening stage including a transmission X-ray device. The pre-screening stage is configured to generate constraint data associated with the contents of the container. The system also includes a screening stage including an X-ray diffraction imaging (XDI) device. The screening stage is configured to generate image data associated with the contents of the container. The system further includes a communication system coupled to the pre-screening stage and the screening stage. The communication system is configured to receive and transmit the constraint data and reconstruct at least one image of the container at least partially as a function of the constraint data and the image data.
US09158028B2	Facility for inspecting large-volume goods, in particular freight goods In a facility for checking large-volume goods, in particular freight goods, with an X-ray source, which emits X-rays for irradiating the goods, and with a detector arrangement aligned with the X-ray source, the detectors of the detector arrangement are designed or arranged in such a way that detector rows are produced with two row limbs which abut one another at right angles on their longitudinal sides, of which one limb is aligned parallel to the movement direction of the goods being checked, and the other is aligned perpendicular to this in the direction of the X-ray source.
US09158025B2	Pad device for resistivity imaging in the wells with oil based drilling fluid An apparatus and method for reducing coupling between at least one measure electrode and at least one return electrode in a logging tool in a borehole with non-conductive drilling fluid using a conductive shield disposed between the at least one measure electrode and the at least one return electrode. The apparatus may be configured to impart an electrical current into a formation and to receive a return current from the formation. The method may include using the apparatus.
US09158019B2	Enhancing low frequency content in marine simultaneous vibroseis acquisition A technique is designed for conducting a seismic survey. The technique utilizes a plurality of vibrator arrays employed to conduct a seismic survey utilizing low frequency and high frequency vibrators in each vibrator array. The plurality of vibrator arrays continuously sweeps low frequency signals via low frequency vibrators. While sweeping low frequency signals, high-frequency vibrators emit high-frequency signals in an alternating pattern between vibrator arrays to enhance the seismic survey.
US09158018B2	Waveform inversion using a response of forward modeling Forward modeling is performed to compute a response of a target structure, the forward modeling accounting for distortion of a reflected signal from a reflector in the target structure. Waveform inversion is performed using the response of the forward modeling.
US09158016B2	Multi-dimensional data reconstruction constrained by a regularly interpolated model A process for overcoming aliasing using a minimum weighted norm interpolation (MWNI) technique may include computing an initial, regularly interpolated model with no data gaps and computing a plurality of initial spectral weights using the initial, regularly interpolated model. The initial, regularly interpolated model is used to compute the spectral weights as initial constraints in a least-squares solution methodology. The initial spectral weights are used as initial constraints in a constrained minimum weighted norm interpolation data reconstruction. The process may further include converting the initial, regularly interpolated model into a frequency domain and computing unknown spectral weights from frequency data at each frequency slice of the initial, regularly interpolated model using Fourier transform. The process results in reducing aliasing artifacts and improving data regularization.
US09158014B2	Acoustic source apparatus, systems, and methods In some embodiments, an apparatus and a system, as well as a method and an article, may operate to rotate a rotatable driving member having at least one driving lobe, and to periodically contact at least one cam on a unitary driven member with the at least one driving lobe during rotation of the rotatable driving member, to set the driven member in motion. This motion can be used to launch an acoustic wave along an axis substantially orthogonal to the axis of rotation of the driving member, where the driving member disposed completely within the driven member. The signature of the acoustic wave can be at least partially determined by the profile of the cam and the rotation rate of the driving member. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.
US09158012B2	System and method for detecting and positioning a radioactive source The present disclosure describes systems and methods for the detection and positioning of a radioactive source. In an exemplary embodiment, a detector array is placed in a four-quadrant formation to allow for self-shielding of the individual detectors from the radiation emitted by a radiation source. A further embodiment utilizes a fuzzy logic system and method to analyze the gross count response of each individual detector with respect to the other three to thereby determine a generalized location and direction of a radioactive source.
US09158007B2	Scintillation detector A scintillation detector, especially one for a radiometric measuring device for measuring and/or monitoring a measured variable, especially a fill level of a fill substance located in a container, for covering a predeterminable measuring range as flexibly as possible in shape and length. To this end, the scintillation detector comprises two or more scintillators arranged in series relative to one another for converting thereon falling, radioactive radiation into light flashes, whose light propagates in the respective scintillator toward its ends. Arranged between the scintillators are optical coupling elements, which establish light transmitting connections between adjoining pairs of scintillators. Connected at an end of the series is a photoelectric transducer, which converts light occurring in the series into an electrical signal corresponding to a radiation intensity striking the scintillators. According to the invention, at least one of the coupling elements is a mechanically flexible element, which includes a bundle of light conducting fibers, via which transmission of the light between the two scintillators connected with one another via the fibers occurs.
US09158004B2	Radiation detection device, radiographic image capture device, radiation detection method and program storage medium A radiation detection device includes a radiation detection sensor, a first integration section, a second integration section and a determination section. The first integration section obtains a first integration value by integrating values expressed by signals output from the sensor over a predetermined period of time. The second integration section obtains a second integration value by integrating amounts of change per specific time duration in values expressed by the signals output from the sensor over the predetermined period of time. The determination section determines whether or not radiation has been detected by the sensor based on a ratio of the first integration value to the second integration value.
US09157998B2	Laser radar device placed on glass surface of vehicle A laser radar device has a light projection part that projects light to a monitoring area outside a vehicle from a vehicle interior through a glass surface, a light receiving part that is placed a given distance away from the light projection part in a substantially horizontal direction to receive reflected light from an object outside the vehicle in the light projected by the light projection part through the glass surface, a measuring part that measures the distance to the object in the monitoring area based on timing when the light projection part projects the light and timing when the light receiving part receives the reflected light, and a light-projection shielding part that shields the light projected to an outside of the monitoring area in the light projected by the light projection part.
US09157996B1	Multiple ultrasonic preamplifiers with independent automatic gain control Multiple signals are received from multiple receivers in a motion sensor. Each signal is amplified and undergoes a gain adjustment individually to generate multiple preamplified received ultrasonic signals. A separate demodulator circuit receives a different preamplified received ultrasonic signal and generates a sum of the demodulated signals and a difference between the demodulated signals. A low pass filter corresponding to a demodulator circuit removes the sum of the demodulated signals. The mixer circuit combines the difference between the demodulated signals to generate an integrated circuit. The gain of each preamplifier may be adjusted based on a sensitivity setting, target levels of the preamplifier, and a level of a preamplified ultrasonic signal, resulting in an integrated motion sign that originated from multiple signals to different receivers in the sensor housing.
US09157992B2	Knowledge aided detector Various embodiments are described herein for a detector and method that perform various types of CFAR detection on radar data including knowledge-aided CFAR detection, hybrid-CFAR detection and simplified censored CFAR detection. Knowledge about the type of local environment of a Cell Under Test and the proximity of the Cell Under Test to various types of noise can be used to select particular types of CFAR detection methods or combinations thereof. In other instances, certain parameters of a CFAR detection method can be adapted based on this knowledge.
US09157978B2	Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and method When imaging for sensitivity distribution measurement is performed, a whole-body coil for both transmission and reception and a specified coil used for the present imaging are used as a reception coil, while being switched.The switching of the reception coil is performed by switching between the whole-body coil and the specified coil for each echo in the same encode step.An image created from the echo obtained by the specified coil is divided by an image created from the echo obtained by the whole-body coil to calculate the sensitivity distribution of the specified coil.The sets of data used for the calculation are almost simultaneously obtained, thus providing accurate sensitivity distribution with no influence derived from the movement of a subject.The sensitivity distribution is used to correct the image obtained by the present imaging.Alternatively, the sensitivity distribution is used for the folding operation of parallel imaging.
US09157972B2	Failsafe protection from induced RF current for MRI RF coil assembly having transmit functionality An electrically-controlled failsafe switch is included in an MRI transmit-and-receive RF coil assembly so as to protect it from induced RF currents in the event it is disconnected from an MRI system, but inadvertently left linked to strong MRI RF fields during imaging procedures using other RF coils.
US09157966B2	Method and apparatus for online determination of battery state of charge and state of health An online method and apparatus for determining state of charge (SoC) and state of health (SoH) of batteries on platforms that present dynamic charge and discharge environments is disclosed. A rested open circuit voltage (OCV) may be estimated online using a battery dynamic model along with measured terminal voltage, current and temperature. The SoC and SoH can then be determined from this estimated OCV. The apparatus and methods may estimate SoC and SoH of a battery in a real-time fashion without the need to a) disconnect the battery system from service; b) wait for a predefined rest time; or c) depolarize the battery.
US09157963B2	Method and system for calibrating battery pack voltage based on common-mode calibration parameter and differential-mode calibration parameter Method, system, and programs for calibrating battery pack voltage are disclosed. A negative terminal voltage of a cell is changed from a first to a second negative terminal voltage so that a cell voltage is changed from a first to a second output voltage. A positive terminal voltage of the cell is maintained at a substantially constant level. A differential-mode calibration parameter is calculated based on a difference between the first and second output voltages and a difference between the first and second negative terminal voltages. The negative terminal voltage of the cell is then changed from the first to second negative terminal voltage so that the positive terminal voltage of the cell is changed from a first to a second positive terminal voltage and the output voltage is changed from a third to a fourth output voltage. The cell voltage is maintained at a substantially constant value. A common-mode calibration parameter is calculated based on the differential-mode calibration parameter and a difference between the third and fourth output voltages and a difference between the first and second positive terminal voltages.
US09157960B2	Through-substrate via (TSV) testing Various embodiments comprise apparatuses and methods for testing and repairing through-substrate vias in a stack of interconnected dice. In various embodiments, an apparatus is provided that includes a number of through-substrate vias to couple to one or more devices, at least one redundant through-substrate via to allow a repair of the apparatus, and a pair of pull-up devices coupled to the through-substrate vias and the redundant through-substrate via to provide a high-data value to the first end of the respective through-substrate vias. A test register is coupled the second end of each of the through-substrate vias and the redundant through-substrate via to store a received version of the high-data value. A comparator compares the high-data value with the received version of the high-data value to test the through-substrate vias for short-circuit connections.
US09157946B2	Reducing movement and electrostatic interference in a non-resistive contact sensor assembly A non-resistive contact sensor assembly, includes a non-resistive contact sensor device, a first inner region of material in which the sensor device is surrounded or embedded, a boundary region, around the first inner region, that is at least partly comprised of a conducting material and that picks up electrical charge from the first inner region, a second inner region around the boundary region, an outer region around the second inner region, and at least one diode, disposed in the second inner region and connected between the boundary region through the second inner region to the outer region.
US09157943B2	Multi-channel frequency domain test and measurement instrument A test and measurement instrument including a plurality of input ports; an acquisition system coupled to the input ports and configured to acquire frequency domain data from the input ports; a user interface configured to present frequency domain controls for at least two of the input ports; and a controller configured to adjust frequency domain acquisition parameters of the acquisition system in response to the frequency domain controls such that frequency domain acquisition parameters associated with a first input port can be different from frequency domain acquisition parameters associated with a second input port.
US09157920B2	Method for determining biologically active HGF The present invention relates to a for determining the presence, absence or amount of biologically active or inactive HGF in a sample, comprising the steps: bringing the sample in contact with a gel comprising a HGF binding component of the extracellular matrix or cell membrane, adding toluidine blue to the gel, correlating the color of the gel and/or a liquid in contact with the gel with the presence, absence or amount of biologically active HGF in the sample. It also relates to a kit of parts comprising toluidine blue and a gel comprising at least one HGF-binding component of the extracellular matrix or cell membrane, such as a proteoaminoglycan or a glucosaminoglycan, and optionally buffers, vials and sampling instruments and to a gel comprising at least one HGF-binding component of the extracellular matrix or cell membrane, such as a proteoaminoglycan or a glucosaminoglycan, toluidine blue and HGF.
US09157913B2	Peptides, devices, and methods for the detection of Ehrlichia antibodies The invention provides peptide compositions and mixtures useful for the detection of antibodies that bind to Ehrlichia antigens. The peptide compositions and mixtures comprise polypeptide sequences based on an immunogenic fragment of the Ehrlichia Outer Membrane Protein 1 (OMP-1) protein. The invention also provides devices, methods, and kits comprising such peptide compositions and mixtures useful for the detection of antibodies that bind to Ehrlichia antigens and the diagnosis of monocytic and/or granulocytic ehrlichiosis.
US09157910B2	Assay with increased dynamic range Provided herein are assays and kits useful for avoiding “prozone phenomenon” or “hook effect” and which expand the range of accurately measurable analyte concentrations.
US09157909B2	Male reproductive health panel and uses thereof A method for assessing male reproductive health is disclosed. In some embodiments, the method comprises screening a sperm sample for sperm DNA accelerated decondensation (SDAD), for sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI) and/or for delayed sperm DNA decondensation (SDD). The method is useful in the screening and clinical management of reproductively challenged human couples and for assessing reproductive health of potential sperm donors. A method is also provided for selecting an assisted reproductive technology (ART) best suited for a particular donor sperm sample. An automated method for assessing SDAD and SDD test scores is also disclosed, as well as an automated sperm processing protocol for preparing sperm for analysis of SDAD and SDD.
US09157907B2	Panels of immortalized mammalian cells and their use Panels of mammalian cell samples, kits and methods of use thereof. The panels comprise samples or sets of samples of immortalized primary cells, obtained from different tissues and organs of healthy and/or diseased donors. The cell panels are useful in assays for testing effects of drug candidates, e.g. for activity and toxicity.
US09157905B2	Method for identifying oncogene, method for establishing oncogene-expressing cell, and method of screening oncogene targeting drug The present invention provides a methodology that can develop a more excellent anti-cancer drug than conventional ones for various cancers. Specifically, the present invention provides a method for establishing an artificial cell, comprising treating a cancer cell with an expression vector for a foreign oncogene and then culturing the cancer cell treated with the expression vector under a condition which inhibits an expression or function of an oncogene that is inherent to the cancer cell, and an established artificial cell; a method of screening an anti-cancer drug, comprising evaluating whether or not a test substance inhibits a proliferation of the artificial cell; as well as a method for identifying an oncogene, comprising treating a cancer cell with an expression vector for a test gene and then culturing the cancer cell treated with the expression vector under a condition which inhibits an expression or function of an oncogene that is inherent to the cancer cell.
US09157904B2	Wnt antagonists and methods of treatment and screening The present invention relates to compositions comprising Wnt antagonists and methods of treating Wnt-associated diseases and disorders, such as cancer, inducing differentiation, and reducing the frequency of cancer stem cells, as well as novel methods of screening for such Wnt antagonists. In particular, the invention discloses soluble FZD, SFRP and Ror receptors and their use.
US09157900B2	System and method for monitoring the atmosphere of an anaerobic workstation Aspects of the invention relates to a system and method for determining the efficacy of the catalyst comprising means to detect any temperature change in the catalyst when oxygen is present in the anaerobic workstation and determine the efficacy of the catalyst in accordance with the temperature change. A detectable rise in the temperature of the catalyst is indicative of a catalytic reaction to remove oxygen from the anaerobic work station. Thus, the system determines the catalyst is an active catalyst if the temperature of the catalyst rises when oxygen is present in the anaerobic workstation. The system determines the catalyst is an inactive catalyst if the temperature of the catalyst does not rise when oxygen is present in the anaerobic workstation. Further aspect of the invention relate to a system and method for determining the atmosphere of an anaerobic workstation in accordance with the efficacy of the catalyst of the anaerobic workstation.
US09157898B1	Ultrasonic receiving circuit An ultrasonic occupancy sensor for detecting presence or absence of an occupant in a space includes an ultrasonic receiving circuit having a synchronous rectifier that allows the circuit to detect small-magnitude ultrasonic waves having a Doppler shift. The sensor comprises an ultrasonic transmitter for transmitting ultrasonic waves at an ultrasonic operating frequency, and a controller that drives the transmitting circuit with complementary drive signals to control the ultrasonic operating frequency. The synchronous rectifier receives the drive signals from the controller and rectifies an amplified input signal to generate a rectified signal, which is filtered by a filter to generate a filtered signal. The controller receives the filtered signal and determines that the space is occupied if the magnitude of the filtered signal exceeds a threshold. The ultrasonic occupancy sensor may also include a low phase-noise oscillator circuit coupled to the controller for setting an internal operating frequency of the controller.
US09157897B2	High voltage ultrasound transmitter with gate protection diodes and intrinsic output zeroing An ultrasound transmitter including intrinsic output zeroing is disclosed herein. A transmitter for generating ultrasound signals includes a first transmitter output driver and a first transmitter input driver. The first transmitter output driver includes an N-type device serially coupled to a P-type device. The first transmitter input driver includes an N-type device serially coupled to a P-type device. An output of the first transmitter input driver is coupled to an input of the first transmitter output driver. The first transmitter output driver drives an output of the transmitter to a first voltage and the first transmitter input driver drives the output of the transmitter to a second voltage while the first transmitter output driver is disabled.
US09157894B2	Automated ultrasonic elasticity image formation with quality measure Image data and E-mode images used in ultrasonic elasticity imaging may be automatically evaluated for quality to provide a single value used as operator feedback or for automatic selection of images for averaging or animation.
US09157882B2	Analytical test strip An analytical test strip has mutually-insulated first and second electrodes arranged to define a sample-receiving chamber. Electrically-insulating layers are disposed over respective electrodes. First and second electrical contact pads are electrically connected to the first electrode, and a third pad to the second electrode. A first side of the test strip has a first electrically-insulating layer and the third pad, and a second side has the second electrically-insulating layer and the first and second pads. The third pad extends longitudinally from the sample-receiving chamber farther than does the first electrically-insulating layer. Methods for determining an analyte in a bodily-fluid sample and analytical test systems for use in the determination of an analyte in a bodily-fluid sample are also described.
US09157876B2	Method and apparatus for characterizing objects and monitoring manufacturing processes A method of characterizing an object includes determining a depth-wise composition of the object at a measurement site within the object. A property of the object within a region adjacent to the measurement site can, optionally, be estimated based on the determining. Another method of characterizing an object includes disposing at least a portion of an object within a measurement region of a metrology tool, aligning a feature of the object and a location of a designated measurement site within the measurement region relative to each other, and performing a performing a compositional analysis of a portion of the object occupying the measurement site. Various apparatus for performing these methods are also disclosed, as are methods of monitoring manufacturing processes based on these methods.
US09157866B2	Light source device, surface inspecting apparatus using the device, and method for calibrating surface inspecting apparatus using the device A surface inspecting apparatus can inspect a smaller defect by using a PSL of a smaller particle size. However, the particle size of the PSL is restricted. In the conventional surface inspecting apparatus, therefore, no consideration has been taken as to how to inspect the defect of such a small particle size as is not set in the PSL which will be needed in the near future in an inspection of a semiconductor manufacturing step. The invention has a light source device for generating light which simulated at least one of a wavelength, a light intensity, a time-dependent change of the light intensity, and a polarization of light which was scattered, diffracted, or reflected by an inspection object, and the light is inputted to a photodetector of the surface inspecting apparatus. The smaller defect can be inspected.
US09157863B2	Separation of doping density and minority carrier lifetime in photoluminescence measurements on semiconductor materials Methods are presented for separating the effects of background doping density and effective minority carrier lifetime on photoluminescence (PL) generated from semiconductor materials. In one embodiment the background doping density is measured by another technique, enabling PL measurements to be analyzed in terms of effective minority carrier lifetime. In another embodiment the effective lifetime is measured by another technique, enabling PL measurements to be analyzed in terms of background doping density. In another embodiment, the effect of background doping density is removed by calculating intensity ratios of two PL measurements obtained in different spectral regions, or generated by different excitation wavelengths. The methods are particularly useful for bulk samples such as bricks or ingots of silicon, where information can be obtained over a much wider range of bulk lifetime values than is possible with thin, surface-limited samples such as silicon wafers. The methods may find application in solar cell manufacturing.
US09157860B2	Achromatic lens array A luminescence detection system may include an excitation light source, a single element achromat, and a detector. The single element achromat may be configured to regulate the excitation light from the light source and direct the regulated light to a target, and the detector may be configured to detect luminescence generated by the target. The single element achromat may be configured to regulate the emission light from the target and direct the regulated light to a detector, and the excitation light source may be configured to direct the excitation light to the target. The single element achromat may be configured to regulate both the excitation light from the light source and the emission light from the target and direct the regulated light to, respectively, the target and a detector.
US09157853B2	Moisture sensor, moisture detector, and image forming apparatus A moisture sensor for detecting moisture content of an object includes a light source to emit light having an infrared wavelength that is absorbed by water; an optical system to receive the light from the light source and output linearly polarized light having a first polarization direction in a direction toward the object, and to receive light scattered from the object and output linearly polarized light having a second polarization direction perpendicular to the first polarization direction in another direction other than the direction toward the object; and a photodetector to receive the linearly polarized light having the second polarization direction output from the optical system.
US09157851B2	Drug evaluation method and drug evaluation device The drug evaluation device obtains, by an attenuated reflection method using a terahertz wave, an evaluation absorption spectrum for a frequency with respect to a liquid to be evaluated. When crystalline particles are suspended in a liquid, an absorption peak having a peak area corresponding to the amount of suspension appears in its absorption spectrum. Therefore, whether or not and by what ratio crystalline particles are suspended in the liquid can be determined according to whether or not the absorption peak exists and the peak area. When amorphous particles are suspended in the liquid, the baseline of its absorption spectrum lowers according to the ratio of amorphous particles suspended in the liquid. Therefore, whether or not and by what ratio amorphous particles are suspended in the liquid can be determined according to the lowering amount of the baseline.
US09157845B2	2-D MEMS tribometer with comb drives A microelectromechanical (MEMS) nanoindenter transducer including a body, a probe coupled to and moveable relative to the body, the probe holding a removeable indenter tip, a first micromachined comb drive and a second micromachined comb drive. The first micromachined comb drive includes an actuator comprising a plurality of electrostatic capacitive actuators configured to drive the probe along a first axis, including in an indentation direction, in response to an applied bias voltage, and a displacement sensor comprising a plurality of differential capacitive sensors having capacitance levels which together are representative of a position of the probe relative to the first axis. The second micromachined comb drive includes an actuator comprising a plurality of electrostatic capacitive actuators configured to drive the probe along a second axis, which is perpendicular to the first axis, in response to an applied bias voltage, and a displacement sensor comprising a plurality of differential capacitive sensors having capacitance levels which together are representative of a position of the probe relative to the second axis. Each of the electrostatic capacitive actuators and the differential capacitive sensors comprises an electrode comb pair, each electrode comb pair including a fixed electrode comb coupled to the body and a moveable electrode comb coupled to the probe.
US09157843B2	Testing method of bending stress and testing apparatus thereof A testing method of bending stress and a testing apparatus thereof are provided. The method includes the following steps. A stress distribution model of a structure to be tested is built. Next, a testing sample of the structure to be tested is provided, and a force is applied on two ends of the testing sample to bend the testing sample till it breaks at a breaking point, so as to obtain a first distance between the two ends of the testing sample when the testing sample breaks, or a second distance from the breaking point to a closer end of the two ends. Next, a maximum principle stress value of the stress distribution model or a break point principle stress value at the breaking point of the stress distribution model is obtained according to the first distance or the second distance.
US09157841B2	Magnetic particles based separation and assaying method A magnetic particle based separation and assaying method uses at least two sets of magnetic particles placed in solution within a container and characterized respectively by a coercive field e1 and e2, wherein e1 is greater than e2. The first magnetic particles with a larger coercive field e1 will be used as carrier to handle the second affinity magnetic particles having a lower coercive field e2. A magnetic particles handling method includes the step of applying an external magnetic field having a polarity and amplitude that varies with time to cause the said carrier magnetic particles to be in relative motion within the container driving thereby the affinity particles to form an homogenous suspension of particles in perpetual relative movement with the respect to the liquid.
US09157836B2	Method and device for removing a sample from a coil The present invention relates to a device (1) for removing a sample (24) from a coil (2), comprising at least one bottom roll unit (30, 32) for supporting the coil (2) during removal of the samples, at least one contact roll unit (40, 42) pressable against an outer surface of the coil (2), and at least one strip binding device for binding the coil (2) supported on the at least one bottom roll unit (30, 32). The present invention further relates to a device for removing a sample (24) from a coil (2), comprising a deflection device (70) for deflecting a material beginning (20) of the coil (2) from a beneath located layer (22), wherein the deflection device is so formed that the strip beginning only elastically deflected from the beneath layer (22). The invention also relates to corresponding methods.
US09157835B2	Sensor device with plural detecting units A torque sensor to which a sensor device is applied includes: a first sensor IC that detects a torque that acts on a steering shaft of a vehicle and outputs detection signals based on the detection results; and a second sensor IC that detects a torque that acts on the steering shaft of the vehicle and outputs detection signals based on the detection results.
US09157834B2	High voltage probe apparatus and method for tire inner surface anomaly detection A tire testing apparatus and method for detecting anomalies in the surface of a tire is disclosed. A high voltage probe having a conductive spring electrode is placed adjacent a portion of a tire surface such that the conductive spring electrode is compressed against the surface of the tire. Relative motion is imparted between the high voltage probe and the surface of the tire. An electrical discharge occurs between the high voltage probe and a reference electrode at the location of an anomaly on the surface of the tire. The apparatus and method are configured to determine a precise azimuthal and radial position on the tire of the electrostatic discharge. The conductive spring electrode can have a length sufficient to ensure contact with a given point on the tire surface during a charge cycle for the high voltage probe at increased tire surface speeds.
US09157832B2	Method and system for detecting incipient bearing failures Methods and systems for estimating wear damage of a rolling-element bearing system including at least one rolling-element bearing are provided. A first number of first condition indicators representative of the wear damage of the at least one rolling-element bearing are generated. A second number of second condition indicators are generated based on the first plurality of first condition indicators. The second number is less than the first number an indication of the wear damage of the at least one rolling-element bearing is generated based on the second number of second condition indicators.
US09157828B2	Method and apparatus for differential voltage grid-based moisture monitoring of structures A method and apparatus for differential voltage grid-based moisture monitoring of structures is provided. The method involves detecting a defect in a structural component, the structural component comprising a membrane for fluid impermeability, a deck for supporting the membrane, and a plurality of electrically conductive elements adjacent the membrane and electrically insulated from each other, by sensing the potential difference between a first element of the plurality of elements and a second element of the plurality of elements separated from the first element when there is an electrical potential between the deck and an electrically conductive fluid in contact with the first and second elements. The apparatus includes a switching circuit for connecting a voltage measuring circuit to the first and second elements, the voltage measuring circuit being operable to sense the potential difference between the first and second elements.
US09157826B2	Method and system to compensate for temperature and pressure in piezo resistive devices A method and system to calibrate temperature and pressure in piezo resistive devices for non-linear sensors having two variables, where a piezo resistive device such as a piezo resistive transducer (PRT) used for example in a pressure sensor system is calibrated to calculate actual/ambient temperature and pressure even though the PRT impedance is unbalanced relative to pressure.
US09157824B2	High pressure fluid coupling A process fluid pressure sensing system includes a process fluid pressure transmitter and a process manifold. The process fluid pressure transmitter has first and second pressure inlets and is configured to obtain a measurement relative to pressures applied at the first and second pressure inlets and provide a process variable output based on the measurement. The process manifold is operably coupled to a process fluid and has first and second pressure outlets. A first high-pressure coupling joins the first pressure outlet of the process manifold to the first pressure inlet of the process fluid pressure transmitter. A second high-pressure coupling joins the second pressure outlet of the process manifold to the second pressure inlet of the process fluid pressure transmitter. The first and second high-pressure fluid couplings are configured to accommodate misalignment between the respective pressure outlets and inlets.
US09157814B2	Apparatus and methods for time domain measurement using phase shifted virtual intervals Systems and methods for perturbation analysis of harmonic oscillations in the time domain according to several embodiments can include a time domain switching sensor and a resonator for imposing a first oscillation and a second oscillation on the sensor. The first and second oscillations can have the same amplitude A and period P, but can have a known phase shift. The sensor can use a time interval, which can be defined by the time between when the sensor passes a reference point due to motion caused by the first oscillation and when the sensor passes the same reference point, but due to motion caused by the second oscillation. With this configuration an improved accuracy of measurement for the system can be realized.
US09157800B2	System and method for assessing analytes using conformal filters and dual polarization A system and method for detecting at least one target of interest using at least two conformal filters in a dual polarization configuration. A plurality of interacted photons are collected from a sample comprising at least one analyte of interest. The plurality of interacted photons are separated into at least a first and second optical component. The first optical component is passed through a first conformal filter and the second optical component is passed through a second conformal filter. A Data set corresponding to each filtered optical component is generated and an optical computation is applied to assess at least one characteristic of the analyte.
US09157799B2	Optical wavelength dispersion device and method of manufacturing the same An optical wavelength dispersion device includes a first substrate; an input unit formed on the first substrate having a slit for receiving an optical signal; a grating formed on the first substrate for producing a first light beam form the optical signal for outputting; and a second substrate covered on the top of the input unit and the grating; wherein the input unit and the grating are formed from a photo-resist layer by high energy light source exposure.
US09157797B2	Avalanche photo diode detector control systems and method An avalanche photo diode detector including an avalanche photo diode, an adjustable voltage source, a current mirror coupled to the voltage source output of the adjustable voltage source and having a current measurement output, and a processor coupled to the adjustable voltage source and the current mirror. The processor implements a process of obtaining a signal current measurement from the current mirror, computing an estimate of an input optical power level from the signal current measurement and adjusting the output of the adjustable voltage source based upon on the estimate of the input optical power level.
US09157793B2	Pulse width modulation of continuum sources for determination of chemical composition A light source and a method for its use in an optical sensor are provided, the light source including a resistively heated element. The light source includes a power circuit configured to provide a pulse width modulated voltage to the resistively heated element, the pulse width modulated voltage including: a duty cycle with a first voltage; and a pulse period including a period with a second voltage, wherein: the duty cycle, the first voltage, and the pulse period are selected so that the resistively heated element is heated to a first temperature; and the first temperature is selected to emit black body radiation in a continuum spectral range. Also provided is an optical sensor for determining a chemical composition including a light source as above.
US09157791B2	Actively aligned detectors for optical and optoelectronic arrays A multi-channel optical device and method of making the same are disclosed. The optical device includes a plurality of detectors on a detector mounting substrate, and a corresponding plurality of lenses on an interior surface of the optical device. Each detector detects light having a unique center wavelength. Each center wavelength corresponds to a channel of the optical device. Each lens focuses light towards a corresponding detector. Each detector has a location corresponding to a focal point of the light focused by a corresponding lens. The method of making the optical device includes placing lenses on a surface of the optical device housing, transmitting light having a plurality of center wavelengths through the lenses, determining locations on a detector mounting substrate where each light beam is focused by a lens, and placing a detector at each location.
US09157789B2	Electromagnetic wave detector and electromagnetic wave detector array An electromagnetic wave detector that detects incident light by converting the incident light into an electric signal includes a flat metal layer formed on a supporting substrate, an intermediate layer formed on the metal layer, a graphene layer formed on the intermediate layer, isolated metals periodically formed on the graphene layer, and electrodes arranged oppositely on both sides of the isolated metals. Depending on a size of a planar shape of each of the isolated metals, light having a predetermined wavelength at which surface plasmon occurs is determined out of the incident light, and the light having the predetermined wavelength is absorbed to detect a change in the electric signal generated in the graphene layer.
US09157777B2	Electromagnetic flowmeter, electromagnetic flow rate measurement system, and electromagnetic flow rate measurement method An electromagnetic flow meter comprises: an excitation member (5) in which a plurality of magnets (5a, 5b, 5c) are arranged spaced apart from one another along an outer circumferential surface of a flow channel (1) through which liquid metal flows, and in which a magnetic field is formed in a direction perpendicular to the outer circumferential surface of the flow channel (1); and electrodes (6a, 6b) provided between the magnets (5a, 5b, 5c) of the excitation member (5), for measuring the voltage generated when the liquid metal crosses the magnetic field. A pulse excitation electric-current supply device (7a) for supplying a pulsed excitation current to the excitation member (5) is provided, whereby a flow speed distribution can be suppressed from being generated in the circumferential direction of the channel (1) even when the flow speed of the liquid metal is low, and the flow rate can be accurately measured.
US09157776B2	Magneto inductive, flow measuring device A magneto inductive flow measuring device having a measuring tube and at least one magnet system arranged on the measuring tube, wherein the measuring tube has at least one planar area and an otherwise cylindrical lateral surface, which border the measuring tube from its environment, against which planar area the magnet system is prestressed The magnet system is prestressed against the planar area of the measuring tube by means of a screwed connection between measuring tube and magnet system and/or the magnet system is prestressed against the planar area of the measuring tube by means of a mounting clip, which is secured shape-interlocked to the measuring tube. A method for manufacturing the magneto inductive, flow measuring device is also discussed.
US09157773B2	Sensor validation method, patient monitor, physiological sensor, and computer program product for a patient monitor In order to increase sensor manufacturing yield without compromising patient safety, at least one first value is determined respectively for at least one sensor feature parameter indicative of characteristics of a physiological sensor and the determined value(s) is/are stored in a predefined memory location prior to use of a physiological sensor. In response to the physiological sensor being connected to a patient monitor, at least one second value is defined respectively for the at least one sensor feature parameter and the at least one first value of each of the at least one sensor feature parameter is retrieved from the predefined memory location. Each of the at least one second value is compared with respective at least one first value and a decision is made, based on the comparison, on the acceptance of the physiological sensor.
US09157772B2	Sensing assembly components and methods of assembling, mounting and orientating same A variety of sensing assembly components, and methods of assembling, mounting, and orientating such assemblies and/or components, are disclosed. In one example embodiment, a sensing assembly includes a main body including at least a housing portion, and a mounting portion protruding outward from the main body. The mounting portion includes an outer connector section including at least one electrical connector, and an intermediate section that includes an outer surface that either has substantially a shape of a polygon or is at least partly threaded, where the intermediate section is positioned in between the main body and the outer connector section. Additionally, the intermediate section has an outer diameter, the outer connector section has an outer diameter, and the intermediate section outer diameter is greater than the outer connection section outer diameter. In other example embodiments, retaining structures on portions of a sensing assembly, or bracket assembly components, are provided.
US09157760B2	Community mapping and direction indicating Enabling a user to perceive map or route information including a status includes enabling a first user to perceive one or more features of a map and receiving condition information that reflects a condition perceived by the first user as existing relative to the one or more features based on input from the first user. Also, enabling a user to perceive map or route information includes receiving a request for a route from a second user and determining a response to the request for the route including the route based on the condition information received from the first user related to the one or more features. Further, enabling a user to perceive map or route information includes enabling the second user to perceive the route based on receipt of the response.
US09157758B2	Navigation or mapping apparatus and method The invention relates to a navigation device (200) comprising a display (240) for displaying a digital map to a user, a processor (210) configured to access digital map data and cause a digital map to be displayed to a user using the display, and a user interface operable by a user to enable the user to interact with the apparatus. The user interface is arranged to allow a user to provide, on the displayed digital map displayed to the user, an indication of a selected region present in the digital map which the user wishes to include or exclude from a route calculation process. The processor (210) is arranged to determine digital map data relating to the selected region indicated by the user, and to calculate a route including or excluding the region.
US09157754B2	Guided maneuvering of a mining vehicle to a target destination A navigation device and a method for navigation are disclosed. A display is provided and a processor is connected to the display. The processor is configured to communicate with a database. The database stores information describing a plurality of objects in a mining environment. The processor is configured to identify a heavy equipment in the database, and identify a loading envelope for the heavy equipment. The loading envelope is at least partially determined by a location of the heavy equipment. The processor is configured to display the loading envelope on the display.
US09157753B2	Navigation system, recording medium recording computer program, and current position calculation method When a narrow-angle branch point PA at which a road branches at a narrow angle gets closer, routes from the narrow-angle branch point to all points a-c reachable by traveling for a distance L after passing of the narrow-angle branch point in a current traveling direction. When the narrow-angle branch point is passed, processing to calculate, as a matching degree of each route, a matching degree between each of the gradients G1-G3 of routes R1-R3, which are indicated by map data, and history Ang of an inclination angle of a vehicle is performed until a route with a matching degree equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold is generated or until a distance L is traveled after the passing of the narrow-angle branch point. When the route with the matching degree equal to or higher than the predetermined threshold is generated, a current position is calculated on the route.
US09157750B2	Device having touch panel, radar apparatus, plotter apparatus, ship network system, information display method and information display program A touch panel device includes a display unit and a controller. The display unit displays, on a map or a nautical chart, a position acquired from a GNSS sensor and a symbol set on the map or the nautical chart. The controller controls, when an operation of specifying the symbol is detected, an auxiliary tool to appear on a display screen of the display unit, the auxiliary tool for recognizing a touch operation of moving the symbol.
US09157748B2	System and method for hailing taxicabs The present application provides a system and method for enabling a driver to locate a passenger. In one or more implementations, a graphical user interface is provided that is operable to send and receive information associated with passengers and vehicles. A location of a first vehicle, a location of a first passenger and a location of a second passenger are received. Information associated with the locations of the first and second passenger is transmitted and a representation of at least one of the first passenger and the second passenger and the respective location thereof is provided.
US09157745B2	Scalable routing for mobile station navigation with location context identifier Examples disclosed herein may relate to identifying up to a specified amount of points of interest nearest to an estimated position of a mobile station on a first map, selecting a second map identified by a first location context identifier associated with a first point of interest of the identified points of interest, and determining a route from the estimated position of the mobile station to a destination point using the first map and the second map.
US09157740B2	Micro-gyroscope for detecting motions The invention relates to a micro-gyroscope for detecting motions relative to an X and/or Y and Z axis, particularly as a 3D, 5D, or 6D sensor. Sample masses are disposed uniformly about an anchor and can be driven radially relative to the central anchor. Anchor springs are disposed to attach the sample masses to a substrate, and these sample masses can be deflected both radially within and out of the X-Y plane. A sensor mass is disposed on one of the sample masses by means of sensor springs, and the sensor springs allow deflection of the sensor mass within the plane of the sample mass, and orthogonal to the radial drive direction of the sample masses. Drive elements oscillate these sample masses in the X-Y plane, and sensor elements captures the defection of the sample masses due to the Coriolis forces generated when the substrate is rotated.
US09157737B2	Altimeter with calibration An altitude dead reckoning system using measurements of forward speed, a yaw angle rate and external altitude information in order to estimate an error in the acceleration due to an accelerometer bias; and an output converter configured to use the forward speed, yaw angel rate, acceleration and estimated accelerometer bias to calculate a change in altitude.
US09157734B2	Optical automatic attitude measurement for lightweight portable optical systems An optical automatic attitude measurement device for a lightweight portable optical system is disclosed. In one embodiment, a first optical device is configured to provide an attitude beam. A second optical device mechanically coupled to the first optical device to a lose tolerance. The second optical device is configured to provide a reference beam and to receive the attitude beam from the first optical device. The second optical device is further configured to obtain an attitude measurement by computing a differential measurement between the reference beam and the attitude beam in x and y planes at room temperature.
US09157730B2	PECVD process A method of processing a substrate according to a PECVD process is described. Temperature profile of the substrate is adjusted to change deposition rate profile across the substrate. Plasma density profile is adjusted to change deposition rate profile across the substrate. Chamber surfaces exposed to the plasma are heated to improve plasma density uniformity and reduce formation of low quality deposits on chamber surfaces. In situ metrology may be used to monitor progress of a deposition process and trigger control actions involving substrate temperature profile, plasma density profile, pressure, temperature, and flow of reactants.
US09157721B1	Measuring system A measuring system includes a sensor and a positioner cooperatively engaged with the sensor. The measuring system may also include a base cooperatively engaged with the positioner such that the base and positioner cooperate to selectively secure the relative position of the sensor with respect to a first and second structure. The position of one of the structures may then be changed, and the sensor may detect the relative change in position. The sensor may communicate this change in position to a controller or other component for further processing.
US09157717B1	Projectile system and methods of use Systems, a ballistic device, and methods of use are provided herein. The system includes at least one first ballistic device having a first payload configured to detonate, and a second ballistic device configured to track at least one of a position and a movement of an object, and enable the at least one first ballistic device to identify at least one of the position and the movement of the object. The second ballistic device includes a second payload configured to detonate.
US09157715B1	Polymer marking projectile with integrated metallic sealing ring A marking projectile configured to be fired through the barrel of a firearm having rifling formed therein is provided. The marking projectile includes a polymeric base portion configured to engage the rifling of the barrel and a polymeric front shell portion coupled to the base portion. The polymeric front shell portion has a cavity formed therein for housing a marking compound and a structure configured to deform on impact and thereby release the marking compound. The marking projectile includes a metallic annular sealing component (e.g., a crimped metal ring) configured to seal the polymeric front shell portion to the polymeric base portion.
US09157714B1	Tail thruster control for projectiles A system and method for guiding a projectile is presented. A method for guiding a projectile includes storing a gas in a chamber that is attached to the projectile. The projectile has an explosive front end and a rear guidance kit consisting of a body extension and a tail boom. The chamber is located in the body extension with the control electronics. Two or more fins that are configured to stabilize the projectile while the projectile is in flight. Pulses of gas are released out of the chamber through a nozzle at the end of the tail boom to control an angle of attack to control the lift of the projectile to guide the projectile to a target while the projectile is in flight.
US09157713B1	Limited range rifle projectile Ammunition comprising bullets having destabilizing mechanisms that, under ballistic phase conditions, create instability in the bullets resulting in failure of the trajectory of the bullet and/or the sustainable velocity of the bullets.
US09157706B2	Shooting range target assembly A shooting range target assembly and a method for moving and positioning the target in a controlled manner are disclosed. The assembly includes a conveyor line containing a carriage, a drive, a target assembly, a turning and positioning mechanism and a programmable logic for setting and controlling the movement of the carriage. Controlling the movement, positioning of the target and maintaining target position are accomplished by properly balancing a torque force applied onto a pulley wheel, a drag force applied by a detent assembly and a force applied by a brake. The assembly is configured for moving the target along the conveyor and turning it such that the front side, the back side or an edge faces the shooter.
US09157703B2	Transparent Armor Structure A transparent armor structure includes a layer having a first planar surface and a second planar surface of substantially the same configuration as the first planar surface. The second planar surface is located opposite the first planar surface and oriented such that it is not parallel to the first planar surface and such that corresponding locations on the first and second planar surfaces are displaced approximately 90 degrees from each other.
US09157690B2	Distribution system and heat exchanger apparatus The invention relates to a distribution system (1) for distributing a fluid (15) into a container (27) from a fluid inlet (26) of the container (27). Distribution system (1) comprises one or more guide plates that form a guide section (2) and a distribution section (3) that adjoins the guide section (2). Distribution section (3) has regions (4, 5) with openings (8, 9) for allowing fluid (17) to pass through. The invention also relates to a heat exchanger device (100) that has a container (27) with a fluid inlet (26), with at least one heat exchanger block (28) that is arranged in the container (27). A distribution system (101) according to the invention is arranged in the container (27) above the heat exchanger block (28).
US09157687B2	Heat pipes incorporating microchannel heat exchangers A heat pipe can include a microchannel heat exchanger at the heat absorbing end and another heat exchanger which is optionally also a microchannel heat exchanger at the heat sink end, with one or more pipes flowably connecting the two ends for transporting liquid working fluid to the head absorber and vaporized working fluid to the heat sink. The heat pipes may be used to cool electronic devices with rejection of heat outside an enclosure, and optionally outside a room, containing the electronic devices. The heat pipes may be used to cool photovoltaic or solar collection devices with rejection of heat to ambient air at a distance removed from the photovoltaic devices. Heat pipe systems are disclosed wherein the working fluid is a hydrofluorocarbon or a mono-chlorinated hydrofluoroalkene having a normal boiling point in a range from 10° C. to 80° C.
US09157681B2	Surface treatment method for atomically flattening a silicon wafer and heat treatment apparatus In a silicon wafer which has a surface with a plurality of terraces formed stepwise by single-atomic-layer steps, respectively, no slip line is formed.
US09157677B2	Refrigerator water filter assembly A water filter assembly including a water filter housing and a manifold coupled to the water filter housing. The manifold includes an inlet and an outlet. Filters are disposed in the water filter housing. The water filter assembly has a door. The door is disposed on the water filter housing providing selective access to the water filter housing. The door is connected to the water filter housing to open and close to replace the plurality of filters. The water filter assembly also has a valve associated with at least one of the plurality of filters. The valve is manipulated from an opened to a closed position to close the inlet when the filters are removed from the water filter housing.
US09157675B2	Insulated case construction A temperature controlled display device includes a body portion at least partially defining an interior space for storing refrigerated or frozen objects therein. The display device includes a frame coupled to the body portion, where the frame defines at least one opening and a door is coupled thereto for movement between a closed position and open position to permit access to the interior space through the opening. The frame includes two parallel vertical members and two parallel horizontal members. A lighting device is coupled to an interior surface of at least one of the vertical members, to illuminate the interior space. A thermally conductive member is disposed within the vertical member and extends at least partially along the length of the vertical members to transfer heat from the lighting device to an exterior surface of the vertical member.
US09157674B2	Cabinet refrigerating system The present invention relates to a refrigerated air supply system (21) for a freezer and/or refrigerator cabinet having at least one cabinet compartment (17) at least partly defined by inner walls (16), an insulation layer at least partly enclosing the cabinet compartment. The cabinet compartment (17) has an compartment opening facing substantially upwards, which compartment opening connects the cabinet compartment (17) with the space surrounding the cabinet, the cabinet also including, a door which in one position covers the compartment opening and substantially encloses the cabinet compartment (17). The cabinet further includes a machine compartment (23) for storing at least a compressor, at least one of the inner walls (16) having a substantially horizontal shelf plane (52) where at least one of the planes (52) is being positioned vertically above the machine compartment (23).

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10