Document	Document Title
US09172630B2	Method for client data transmission through a packet switched provider network In order to provide a redundancy mechanism in a packet switched provider network, which allows faster recovery from a failure, it is proposed that in case of a failure, a redundancy mechanism is initiated to reroute packet transmission through the provider network via an alternate path and an address withdrawal message is sent to network nodes along the failed path using data plane protocol. A network node receiving the address withdrawal message will flush MAC addresses it had learned before.
US09172626B2	Methods, systems, and computer readable media for preventing traffic congestion within a long term evolution (LTE) multi-user equipment (multi-UE) simulator device Methods, systems, and computer readable media for preventing traffic congestion in a long term evolution (LTE) multi-user equipment (multi-UE) simulator device are disclosed. In one example, a method includes transmitting, from a first module to a second module over a shared bus, one of a plurality of LTE subframe signal portions at the beginning of a first transmission interval. The method further includes sending, from the first module to a third module over the shared bus, a trigger signal upon completing the transmission of the LTE signal portion. The method also includes forwarding, from the third module to the second module over the shared bus, decoded control information associated with at least one of the plurality of LTE subframe signal portions during an idle time period defined by the receipt of the trigger signal and the beginning of a second transmission interval.
US09172620B2	Cooperative proxy auto-discovery and connection interception In a network supporting transactions between clients and servers and proxies that are interposable in a network path, a pair of proxies can modify a packet stream such that packet data from client to server is transformed at a client-side proxy of the pair and untransformed at a server-side of the pair and packet data from server to client is transformed at the server-side proxy and untransformed at the client-side proxy. A discovering proxy transparently discovers its position in a proxy pair by using proxy signals. A discovering proxy might determine that it is a client-side proxy by receipt of a packet from client without a proxy signal, or that it is a server-side proxy by receipt of a packet from server without a return proxy signal. Once a proxy pair is discovered, it might transform traffic from server to client or vice versa, transforming and untransforming the traffic.
US09172611B2	System and method for discovering assets and functional relationships in a network A discovery system (and corresponding method and computer program product) for automatically discovering assets and their roles and functional relationships in a network system is described. In one aspect, the discovery system interrogates known assets through protocol messages, normalizes response messages, and contextually analyzes the normalized response message to identify additional assets and their roles and functional relationships with the interrogated assets. The discovery system can recursively interrogate newly discovered assets to discover additional assets. In another aspect of the present invention, the discovery system is scheduled to periodically interrogate known assets for up-to-date information of the assets and their roles and functional relationships. Such information can be used to provide various services.
US09172607B2	Transmitting of configuration items within a network A method, system and program product for transmitting configuration item data by a network object within a network. The steps include the network object detecting a change; the network object detecting an amount of traffic within the network; the network object transmitting configuration item data to the network at a level based on the amount of traffic present within the network. If all of the configuration item data was not sent and the network object detects that the amount of network traffic within the network is below a determined amount, the network object transmits remaining configuration item data to the network; and if all configuration item data was sent, returns to the step of the network object detecting a change.
US09172602B1	Method and system for auto-negotiation Methods and systems for negotiating between a first network device and a second network device connected to a network, is provided. The method determining if a first port of the first network device having a plurality of Sub-Ports, is auto-negotiation enabled; wherein the plurality of Sub-Ports can be configured to operate independently as a port for sending and receiving information using one of a plurality of network links at a plurality of rates complying with a plurality of protocols; configuring any one or more of the Sub-Ports as one quad lane, two dual lane, one dual lane and two single lane, or four single lane ports; determining if lanes of the first port are physically swapped by identifying which one or more of the Sub-Ports will operate as a lane 0 for communicating with a particular lane 0 of the second network device; and processing auto-negotiation on all lanes.
US09172601B2	Communications links A system including a plurality of remotely configurable telephone network communication terminals (102) is adapted to communicate with a programming terminal (134) over a data network (222) by adding a remote interface means (RIM) (202) for each terminal to convert communications between the terminal to or from a format adapted for transmission over the data network, the programming terminal having a modem emulator (202) having communication and programming capabilities to interface the programming terminal with the network; by converting the programming terminal data to a network compatible format, obtaining an address for the RIM, connecting the programming terminal and the RIM via the data network, connecting the RIM and the communication terminal, transmitting the converted programming terminal data to the RIM, reconstituting the converted data to a format suitable for the communication terminal, and transmitting the reconstituted data to the communication terminal.
US09172598B2	Scalable reliable failover in a network A method is provided for establishing a reliable communication channel between an encapsulation node and a cluster of decapsulation nodes across a communication network. The method is implemented at the encapsulation node and comprises the following steps. A primary session is initialized with a primary decapsulation node in the cluster of decapsulation nodes during which an assigned address is received. A redundant session is initialized with a redundant decapsulation node in the cluster of decapsulation nodes. Data is transmitted to and received from the decapsulation node until a failure is detected. Once the failure is detected, data is transmitted to and received from the redundant decapsulation node instead of the primary decapsulation node.
US09172596B2	Cross-network listening agent for network entity monitoring Various embodiments herein include at least one of systems, methods, and software of a cross-network listening agent for network entity monitoring. In some such embodiments, the cross-network listening agent is an element of software or a hardware device connected to a network and listens for metric data broadcast by other entities of the network. The cross-network listening agent receives the broadcast metric data and transmits the metric data to a network and system management system resident on another network. The network entities are generally any device that reports status with regard to metrics the network entity monitors with regard to its own state. In some embodiments, the network entities report their status in Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) messages that are broadcast on the network, but are unable to reach the network and system management system resident on the other network.
US09172591B2	System and method for management of cloud-based systems System and method for reporting usage of a network infrastructure includes obtaining a map that includes at least one flow-mapping that correlates a flow feature with a service and that correlates a flow feature with an endpoint type, wherein the endpoint types include at least a subscriber type and a service type; at a first computer, receiving flow telemetry of a network infrastructure, the flow telemetry representing at least the destination and source attributes for network traffic in the flow telemetry; categorizing the flow telemetry into at least a subscriber flow category based on the source and destination endpoint types of the traffic; for subscriber flow telemetry of a subscriber, processing the subscriber flow telemetry into at least one flow feature; identifying at least one service to attribute to at least a portion of the subscriber flow telemetry, the service identified through the processed flow feature and a flow-mapping.
US09172588B2	Providing automated quality-of-service (‘QoS’) for virtual machine migration across a shared data center network Providing automated quality-of-service (‘QoS’) for virtual machine migration across a shared data center network, including: identifying, by a virtual machine migration module, a virtual machine to migrate from a source host to a destination host; determining a migration cost for migrating the virtual machine from the source host to the destination host; identifying based on the migration cost a least congested network path between the source host and the destination host and a bandwidth to be used for migration such that migration completes within a user specified time limit; and initiating transmission of the virtual machine from the source host to the destination host over the least congested network path, including reserving bandwidth across the shared data center network for transferring the virtual machine from the source host to the destination host in dependence upon the migration cost.
US09172573B2	Method and system for controlling the peak-to-average power ratio of orthogonal frequency-domain signals Systems and methods are presented for controlling the peak-to-average-power of a baseband orthogonal-frequency-domain multiplexing (OFDM) signal by designating a subset of the available subcarriers as information-bearing data-subcarriers, and loading remaining subcarriers by symbols that are a function of the symbols loading the data-subcarriers. At the receiver, the data-dependent subcarriers are optionally combined with data-subcarriers to increase error protection.
US09172572B2	Digital video broadcasting-cable system and method for processing reserved tone A Digital Video Broadcasting-Cable (DVB-C) system and a processing method for reserved tones are provided. A transmitter determines a position of broadcast data and a position of reserved tones in a frame and sends a broadcast signal into which the broadcast data and the reserved tones are inserted. A receiver determines the position of reserved tones in a received broadcast signal and extracts broadcast data from the broadcast signal in consideration of the determined position of the reserved tones. The system and method may compensate for the peak power of broadcast data to be transmitted through a multi-channel bundle, by inserting reserved tones into the whole multi-channel bundle with combined channel bands. This may reduce the Peak to Average Power Ratio (PAPR) of broadcast signals in the DVB-C system and thereby improve the performance of the DVB-C system while still adopting Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM).
US09172569B2	Phased array antenna and associated methods A phased array transmitter is disclosed comprising a vector modulator, a true time delay block coupled to the vector modulator, a local oscillator phase shifter and RF-converter block coupled to the true time delay block, and an antenna. The vector modulator applies vector modulation to a baseband signal and provides an intermediate frequency signal to the true time delay block. The true time delay block applies a true time delay to the intermediate frequency signal and provides a delayed intermediate frequency signal to the local oscillator phase shifter and RF-converter block. The local oscillator phase shifter and RF-converter block multiplies the delayed intermediate frequency signal by a local oscillator signal and applies a phase shift to the delayed intermediate frequency signal to provide a radio frequency signal to the antenna for onwards transmission.
US09172567B2	Methods and apparatus to reduce signaling power System, methods and apparatus are described that reduce the power consumed by a multi-level encoded communications link. In one example, different logic states of a 4-level pulse amplitude modulation encoded transmission consume greater power than other logic states. The fraction of primary bits in a first logic state in multi-bit data symbols may determine whether the primary bits are inverted prior to transmission. The fraction of secondary bits in the first logic state in the multi-bit data symbols may determine whether the secondary bits are inverted prior to transmission. The primary bits may be swapped with the secondary bits is more secondary bits are in the first logic state than primary bits in the first logic state.
US09172563B2	Integrated combiner with common mode correction A circuit can include multiple data input ports and data output ports, pickoff tees coupled therebetween, and a resistive network coupled between the pickoff tees. A differential signal generator can be coupled with the resistive network and the pickoff tees. Resistances of the pickoff tees and resistive network can be selected such that impedances looking into the data input ports and data output ports are matched to a desired system impedance.
US09172556B2	Method and apparatus for routing between fibre channel fabrics An interfabric link between two separate Fiber Channel fabrics so that devices in one fabric can communicate with devices in another fabric without requiring the merger of the two fabrics. The interfabric switch performs a conversion or a translation of device addresses in each fabric so that they are accessible to the other fabric. In a first embodiment the external ports of the interfabric switch are configured as E_ports. A series of internal ports in each interfabric switch are joined together forming a series of virtual or logical switches. In a second embodiment the external ports are configured as NL_ports and the connections between the virtual switches are E_ports. The virtual switches in the interfabric switch match domains with their external counterparts so that the virtual switches effectively form their own fabric.
US09172551B2	Reliable multicast with automatic session startup and client backfill support A form of multicast, referred to as “on-demand multicast,” provides a methodology that allows for “on demand” multicasting of data. On-demand multicast allows clients to join or leave a transmission at any point. There is no transmission session start or end time—the session is continuously available, although data is not necessarily continuously transmitted. Data blocks missed by late-joining clients are retransmitted per amalgamated client requests through multiple transmission cycles until all clients that have joined the transmission session receive all content. Once a client has received all data blocks comprising the content for the session, the client may exit the ongoing session.
US09172541B2	System and method for pool-based identity generation and use for service access A computer-implemented system and method for pool-based identity generation and use for service access is disclosed. The method in an example embodiment includes seeding an identity generator with a private key; retrieving independently verifiable data corresponding to a service consumer; using the independently verifiable data to create signed assertions corresponding to the service consumer; generating a non-portable identity document associated with the service consumer, the identity document including the signed assertions; signing the identity document with the private key; and conveying the signed identity document to the service consumer via a secure link.
US09172531B2	Information processing apparatus and method To limit use of content, when a source receives a request for transmitting content from a sink, the source performs an authentication process. When the authentication is successful, the source transmits to the sink key information necessary for decrypting the encryption applied to the content. The sink can receive the content by receiving the key information and by decrypting the encryption applied to the content by using the key information.
US09172526B1	IQ-skew adaptation for a symmetric eye in a SerDes receiver Described embodiments provide for, in a receiver circuit, an adaptation process that adjusts the IQ-skew automatically to obtain proper eye centering in a data eye, thereby maximizing horizontal margin of the eye. The IQ-skew adaptation algorithm is realized with a ‘biased’ bang-bang phase detector (BBPD) oof a clock and data recovery circuit (CDR) that biases the weights applied to UP and DOWN outputs of the phase detector, rather than treating them equally. By weighting the BBPD UPs and DOWNs differently, the system locks to the left and right inner corners, and thereby is able to locate the center of the inner eye.
US09172523B2	Image pickup apparatus, lens apparatus, and image pickup system A lens apparatus is detachable from an image pickup apparatus. The lens apparatus includes a controller configured to communicate with the image pickup apparatus in synchronization with a first signal. A communication contains a plurality of blocks in the same cycle of the first signal. The controller transmits information of a first time period to the image pickup apparatus, and prohibits a communication of an m-th block from starting before the first time period passes after a communication of an n-th block starts or ends where n is an integer equal to or larger than 1 and m is an integer larger than n.
US09172522B2	Data transmitter and data receiver A data transmitter for transmitting a data packet to a data receiver via a communication channel includes a generator for generating the data packet and a transmitter for transmitting the data packet. The generator for generating the data packet is configured to generate a data packet having a first data block and a second data block and a predefined first reference sequence and second reference sequence for synchronizing the data receiver, wherein the first reference sequence is longer than the second reference sequence, and wherein in the data packet, the second data block is located between the first reference sequence and the second reference sequence, and the first reference sequence is located between the first data block and the second data block. The transmitter for transmitting the data packet is configured to transmit the data packet to the data receiver via the communication channel.
US09172516B2	Method, system and device for transmitting downlink pilots A method, apparatus and system for downlink pilot transmission solve the problem of power differences among OFDM symbols caused by Walsh Codes. The transmission method is that dedicated pilots are transmitted in the manner of code division multiplexing (CDM) or hybrid of CDM and frequency division multiplexing (FDM), wherein the dedicated pilots are configured with orthogonal sequence sets according to a preset frequency-domain granularity and rules on the resources for transmitting the dedicated pilots, and the same orthogonal sequence set is employed for the dedicated pilots in each frequency-domain granularity.
US09172509B2	Method for transmission time interval bundling in the uplink A method and apparatus for supporting uplink Transmission Time Interval (TTI) bundling in Long Term Evolution (LTE) is provided. Described are related method and apparatus for signaling, activation/deactivation and wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) behavior.
US09172505B1	Methods and apparatus for frame detection One embodiment relates to a frame detection circuit for detecting a frame boundary. The circuit includes at least two frame buffers and a staged-parallel structure of syndrome computation circuits that computes a number of syndromes in one cycle. The two frame buffers are each one word in width. The number of syndromes computed in one cycle by the cascaded series is a fraction of a number of bits in one word. Another embodiment relates to a method for detecting a frame boundary. Another embodiment relates to a method for computing a current syndrome. Other embodiments, aspects, and features are also disclosed.
US09172499B2	Optimized code table signaling for authentication to a network and information system In various embodiments, a system comprising a network interface, a processor, and a non-transient memory medium operatively coupled to the processor is disclosed. The memory medium is configured to store a plurality of instructions configured to program the processor to receive a digital bit stream, transform the digital bit stream to an encoded digital bit stream. The encoded digital bit stream comprises at least one of a gateway channel, a composite channel, or a data channel, and any combination thereof, and provides the encoded digital bit stream to the network interface for transmission. A non-transitory computer-readable memory medium and a computer-implemented method also are disclosed.
US09172482B2	Content recommendations based on personal preferences A method and system for recommending multimedia content includes collecting consumption information for a plurality of users. The consumption information, along with real-time contextual information, may be used to generate collections of recommended multimedia content, including obtainable multimedia assets. The collections may be offered to a user for purchase. The user may be provided access to the multimedia assets. A unified storefront application, providing access to multimedia content via an Internet-protocol television portal, a web portal, and a mobile portal, may be used to offer and provide access to the multimedia assets.
US09172477B2	Wireless device detection using multiple antennas separated by an RF shield A system comprising one or more interior antenna(s) positioned within an at least partially enclosed operator area of a human operated machine and one or more exterior antenna(s) positioned on an external portion of the human operated machine, with a radio frequency shield positioned between the interior antenna(s) and the exterior antenna(s), is usable with a processing module electrically connected with the antennas for analyzing signals received from the antennas to determine whether a radio frequency generating device is active within the at least partially enclosed operator area.
US09172476B2	Method and system for removal of noise in signal A method and system for reception of electromagnetic waves in which interference with radio frequencies of other electronics devices occurs comprising; at least one transmitter for transmitting electromagnetic radiation at a wide range of frequencies; at least one receiver fix receiving the received signal comprising the first electromagnetic radiation and RF interfering signal data; a first memory portion for storing transmitted signal waveforms; a second memory portion for storing RF interfering signal data; a switch for periodically allowing the RF interfering signal data to enter the second memory portion from the receiver; the at least one processor operating to process and compare the received signal containing RE signal data and first electromagnetic radiation by matching the received signal against data relating to the transmitted signal waveforms from the first memory portion and RF interfering signal data from the second memory portion, and extract the RF interfering signal data.
US09172475B2	Method and apparatus for equalizing link performance Embodiments of the present invention provide a method and an apparatus for equalizing link performance, and relate to the field of optical wavelength division multiplexing. In the present invention, target input power spectra and target output power spectra in all OMS sections in a network and single wave attenuation at a power adjusting point may be concurrently calculated based on link information of the OMS sections, fast adjustment may also be implemented for a complex network topology, and the adjustment may be implemented in a one-off manner to avoid a problem that iteration adjustment is caused by mutual impact of power adjusting points during serial adjustment in a ring network. In addition, it is not required to connect an optical path in the calculation phase, thereby eliminating reliance on a connected optical path in a process for equalizing link performance.
US09172465B2	Optical device, and system and method for managing optical device The present invention relates to an optical device, including: an optical module, configured to implement an optical function of the optical device and including several outlet ports; and an identification module, containing identification information for identifying the optical device. The present invention further relates to a system and method for managing an optical device, where the system includes: an interface apparatus, configured to couple multiple optical devices; an identification information obtaining apparatus, configured to obtain identification information of the optical devices and/or identification information of outlet ports of the multiple optical devices through the interface apparatus; and a control apparatus, configured to manage the optical devices according to the obtained identification information.
US09172463B2	Systems, methods and devices for detecting infrared noise at a remote control Systems, devices and methods provide feedback about the quality of communication between a device and a remote control. A wireless signal is sent between a controlled device and the remote control. The quality of the signal can be measured and reported to a user, installer, troubleshooter, customer service agent or other person in any manner. Quality may be determined based upon the strength of the received signal as well as the amount of noise that is present. The quality measurements provide feedback that allows a user, installer, customer service representative or other person to change the positions of the device or the remote control, or to take other actions based upon the quality of the wireless signal that is received.
US09172459B2	Clearing a fault condition over a fibre channel path A method for clearing a fault condition at a target device is disclosed herein. In selected embodiments, such a method includes detecting a fault condition at a target device and receiving N instructions before the fault condition is cleared, where the N instructions are unexecutable due to the fault condition. N fault condition indicators are transmitted in response to the N instructions. Clearing of the fault condition is detected when the fault condition no longer exists. Acknowledgments corresponding to the fault condition indicators are received, where each acknowledgment indicates that one of the fault condition indicators has been received. A fault clear indicator is transmitted only after both all N fault condition indicators have been received and clearing of the fault condition has been detected. A corresponding system and computer program product are also disclosed herein.
US09172458B2	Method and apparatus for high symbol rate communication system with reduced overhead bandwidth A method of providing a high symbol rate communication system with reduced overhead bandwidth includes calculating a minimum feasible aperture length at a network operations center, setting a hub demodulator subsystem to use an aperture length calculated from the minimum feasible aperture length, broadcasting the aperture length to a VSAT, and receiving an inroute data stream from the VSAT utilizing the aperture length.
US09172455B2	Start frame for distributed MIMO Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to communication, and more specifically to distributed multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. For certain aspects, methods and apparatus are provided for transmitting a start frame containing information regarding parallel MIMO transmissions in a transmit opportunity and transmitting one or more parallel MIMO streams in accordance with the information contained in the start frame. For certain aspects, methods and apparatus are provided for receiving a start frame containing information regarding parallel MIMO transmissions in a transmit opportunity and transmitting one or more parallel MIMO streams in accordance with the information contained in the start frame. For certain aspects, methods and apparatus are provided for receiving a start frame containing information regarding parallel MIMO transmissions in a transmit opportunity and receiving one or more parallel MIMO streams in accordance with the information contained in the start frame.
US09172440B2	Antenna device of mobile terminal An antenna device of a mobile terminal for enabling to receive a wireless signal of a new frequency band by appropriately connecting a plurality of antennas through a switch is provided. The antenna device includes a plurality of communication units for transmitting and receiving a wireless signal of a plurality of frequency bands through a plurality of antennas, a plurality of switches for turning on/off an electrical connection between the plurality of antennas and the plurality of communication units, and a controller for controlling the plurality of switches to turn off an electrical connection between the plurality of antennas and the plurality of communication units.
US09172438B2	Devices and methods related to controlling UE assumption of interference To control UE assumption of interference there is a controller module to control a plurality of transmission points, each constituted by a set of at least one transmit antenna, to transmit data to another device in a coordinated transmission from at least a subset of the plurality of transmission points. The controller module is configured to allocate, to each resource linked to the subset of the plurality of transmission points, an interference contribution parameter that is indicative of an expected interference contribution originating from said transmission point, and to inform said another device of those resources to which the subset of the plurality of transmission points is linked, together with the respective interference contribution parameter allocated to each resource. Another device reports feedback based on signals which are scaled with the respective interference contribution parameter.
US09172433B2	Power line communication apparatus including AC power socket A power line communication apparatus (200) includes a mains power connector assembly (210) with three or more first connectors (211) connectable to a mains distribution network. A mains filter (220) provides a filter path between each of its first ports (221) and a corresponding one of second ports (222), wherein each first port (221) is connected to one of the first connectors (211). Each second port (222) is connected to one of three or more second connectors (282) of an AC power socket (280). A power line communication unit (250) is connected with each of the first ports (221) and transmits and/or receives data according to a transmission method using more than one transmission channel between two devices connected via the mains distribution network. The mains filter (220) improves PLC transmission quality by suppressing disturbances generated by the appliances and reduces PLC stray radiation.
US09172430B2	High performance PLC cluster system A device comprises a power input for supplying an external AC power to the device via a power cord, a filter for filtering noise from the outside out of the supplied external AC power and for thereby generating a filtered AC power, at least one power socket for supplying the filtered AC power to at least one other device, a PLC modem configured to be connected to the at least one power socket and to transmit data to or receive data from the at least one other device via power line communication using the filtered AC power, and a managing means configured to establish a data connection with the at least one other device and to detect whether the at least one other device is capable of PLC functionality. A respective power line communication system and a respective power line communication method are also proposed.
US09172429B2	Interference control in a broadband powerline communication system A broadband powerline communication system makes use of knowledge of the spectrum characteristics of a local radio environment in order to improve system performance. A determination is made of the spectrum characteristics of a radio environment in the vicinity of the broadband powerline communication system that is transmitting data on modulated carrier frequencies. In order to avoid interference, certain ones of the carrier frequencies otherwise used by the broadband powerline communication system may be selectively masked based on the determination. The spectrum characteristics may be determined 1) in advance and used to compile a configuration database comprising frequency masking parameters; 2) by monitoring the local radio environment using the transmitter/receiver nodes of the system; or 3) based upon receipt of an indication from a conflicting user that the user is experiencing interference. Various combinations of these spectrum characteristic determination techniques may also be used.
US09172426B2	Voltage mode driver circuit for N-phase systems System, methods and apparatus are described that facilitate transmission of data, particularly between two devices within electronic equipment. Transmission lines are selectively terminated in an N-phase polarity encoded transmitter when the transmission lines would otherwise be undriven. Data is mapped to a sequence of symbols to be transmitted on a plurality of wires. The sequence of symbols is encoded in three signals. Each of the three terminals may be driven such that transistors are activated to couple a terminal to first and second voltage levels through a pair of impedances when the terminal would otherwise be undriven. The terminal is then pulled toward an intermediate voltage level while the terminal presents a desired impedance level to a transmission line.
US09172413B2	Method and apparatus for performing wireless communications with aid of successive data processing in multiple iterations A method for performing wireless communications and an associated apparatus are provided, where the method is applied to an electronic device. The method includes the steps of: receiving at least one data stream, wherein each data stream from the at least one data stream is transmitted from a wireless channel; in a first iteration, utilizing a Maximum Likelihood (ML) estimator to perform demapping processing on at least one portion of the at least one data stream to obtain Log-Likelihood Ratios (LLRs) of the first iteration and performing Turbo decoding according to the LLRs of the first iteration to generate resultant LLRs of the first Iteration; and in at least one following iteration, utilizing a Max A Posterior (MAP) estimator to perform demapping processing on at least one portion of the at least one data stream and performing Turbo decoding, successively, in order to cancel interference due to the wireless channel.
US09172410B2	Transmitter having integrated design of multiple wireless communication modules A transmitter includes a first wireless communication module, a second wireless communication module, a multiplexer, a digital-to-analog converter and a filter. The multiplexer selectively outputs a first digital signal derived from a digital output of the first wireless communication module or a second digital signal derived from a digital output of the second wireless communication module as a selected output. The digital-to-analog converter converts the selected output into an analog signal. The filter processes the analog signal and includes an adjustable resistive element. When the multiplexer selects the first digital signal as the selected output, the adjustable resistive element is adjusted to have a first resistance value such that the filter has a first bandwidth. When the multiplexer selects the second digital signal as the selected output, the adjustable resistive element is adjusted to have a second resistance value such that the filter has a second bandwidth.
US09172398B2	Vehicle data abnormality determination device Disclosed is a vehicle data abnormality determination device including a storage unit for pre-storing a 2-byte remainder term which is a result of a CRC arithmetic operation on a target area for arithmetic operations in a predetermined memory area, and an arithmetic operation unit for performing a CRC arithmetic operation while including the 2-byte remainder term in this CRC arithmetic operation. Because when performing the CRC arithmetic operation, the vehicle data abnormality determination device performs the CRC arithmetic operation while including the 2-byte remainder term in this CRC arithmetic operation after performing an arithmetic operation on the target area, the vehicle data abnormality determination device always makes the computed result be zero when the data has not been falsified, and can detect whether or not the data has been falsified easily and properly.
US09172389B2	High-speed successive approximation analog-to-digital converter A successive approximation register analog-to-digital converter (SAR ADC) for high-speed applications. The SAR ADC uses at least one set of capacitors. Each set of capacitors is formed by 2M capacitor cells. The set of 2M capacitor cells is allocated into p capacitors C(p−1) to C0 decreasing in capacitance. C(p−1)
US09172387B2	Sampling input stage with multiple channels An analog input stage has m differential input channels, wherein m>1. The analog input stage is configured to select one of the m differential input channels and provide an output signal. The analog input stage has n identical selection units each having m differential channel inputs and one differential output, wherein n is at least 2m−1. Each selection unit is operable to be coupled to any of the differential input channels through respective differential multiplexer units, wherein the multiplexor units are driven to select one of the differential input channels and couple the selected differential channel input through a butterfly switch unit with the differential output of the selection unit. The differential output signals of the n selection units are combined whereby unwanted crosstalk from channels other than a selected channel are removed by cancellation.
US09172385B2	Timing adjustment circuit and semiconductor integrated circuit device A timing adjustment circuit includes a voltage-controlled delay line, a phase detector, a control voltage generation circuit, and a startup circuit. The voltage-controlled delay line receives an input clock signal and generates multi-phase clocks, a delay amount of each of the multi-phase clocks is changed according to a control voltage. The phase detector detects a phase difference between a first clock and a second clock, the first clock is a reference, the second clock is generated from the voltage-controlled delay line. The control voltage generation circuit generates the control voltage on the basis of the detected phase difference. The startup circuit operates for a certain period after activation, and continuously changes the control voltage between a first voltage and a second voltage.
US09172381B2	Fast turn on system for a synthesized source signal A fast turn on compensation system for a synthesized signal source includes a synthesized signal source coupled to a power supply and configured to generate a phase stable radio frequency (RF) output signal. A mute amplifier is coupled to the synthesized signal source and the power supply. A dummy amplifier is coupled to the mute amplifier and the power supply. A mute controller is coupled to the mute amplifier and the dummy amplifier, the mute controller is responsive to an enable signal and configured to enable the dummy amplifier and disable the mute amplifier when no RF output signal is being generated and disable the dummy amplifier and enable the mute amplifier when the RF output signal is being generated such that total power supply current delivered to the synthesized signal source and the dummy amplifier or mute amplifier is approximately constant before, during, and after enabling the mute amplifier to reduce phase disturbance of the RF output signals.
US09172378B1	Programmable logic device having logic elements with dedicated hardware to configure look up tables as registers A programmable logic device architecture having logic elements with dedicated hardware to configure the look up tables of the logic element to either perform logic functions or to operate as a register for pipelining. The programmable logic device includes a general interconnect and a plurality of logic array blocks interconnected by the general interconnect. Each of the plurality of logic blocks further includes one or more logic elements. The logic elements each include a first look up table, a second look up table, and dedicated hardware within the logic element to configure the first look table and the second look up table as a register without having to use the general interconnect. In one embodiment, the dedicated hardware includes a plurality of dedicated interconnects within the logic element to configure the two look up tables as a pair of cross coupled muxes or latches when configured as a register.
US09172376B2	Controlling voltage at pad One or more systems and techniques for communicating a signal between a first chip and a second chip using one or more circuits are provided. If the signal corresponds to a first voltage, one or more voltages are provided to one or more locations and a capacitive load is charged using a pull-up driver that is connected to a power supply. If the signal corresponds to a second voltage, one or more voltages are provided to one or more locations and the capacitive load is discharged using a pull-down driver that is connected to ground. When the first chip is powered off, a fail-safe mode is provided by configuring a cross control circuit to generate a bias to control one or more transistors.
US09172373B2	Verifying partial good voltage island structures Structures, methods, and systems for designing and verifying integrated circuits including redundant logic blocks are provided. An integrated circuit includes selection logic and selectable logic blocks that are individually controllable by the selection logic. The selectable logic blocks include respective instances of a redundant logic block, and respective instances of an interface logic block that selectively disable the redundant logic blocks in the integrated circuit.
US09172371B2	Majority dominant power scheme for repeated structures and structures thereof Methods and structures for configuring an integrated circuit including repeated cells that are divided into banks having a respective power assist and a respective operational assist are provided. A method includes configuring the banks without power assist and operational assist. The method further includes selecting the power assist for a bank based on a determination that a weak cell remains in the bank after configuring the bank with the respective operational assist.
US09172363B2	Driving an MOS transistor with constant precharging A drive circuit may be configured to switch on an MOS transistor by precharging an input capacitance of the MOS transistor with a substantially constant amount of charge in a precharging phase, and charging the input capacitance with a controlled charging current after the precharging phase.
US09172357B2	Pulse generator circuit A pulse generator circuit is disclosed that is optimized for printed, solution-processed thin film transistor processing. In certain embodiments, the circuit comprises dual thin film transistors that operate as a diode and resistor, respectively. Optionally, a third thin film transistor may be provided to operate as a pass transistor in response to an enable signal. The elements of the circuit are configured such that a rising pulse on an input node triggers an output pulse on an output node in the manner of a monostable multivibrator.
US09172347B2	Wafer, method of manufacturing package, and piezoelectric oscillator To provide a wafer, a method of manufacturing a package, and a piezoelectric oscillator in which warping of a wafer body is reduced to improve the yields. A wafer for lid substrate has a product region in which a number of recess portions for cavities are formed and a non-forming region of the recess portions set in the product region in the form of a straight line extending along a diameter direction of the product region.
US09172346B2	Numeric audio signal equalization A method for configuring an electronic device having an equalizer suited for processing a numeric audio signal according to an objective equalization improves the equalization of the numeric audio signal. The equalizer has a transfer function that implements a set of band-pass filters having a constant band-pass and a configurable weight in the transfer function. The method provides a set of objective gains representing the objective equalization, with each objective gain corresponding to a respective frequency. The method also determines values of the weights of the band-pass filters that minimize an error evaluated by comparing the set of objective gains to the transfer function. The set of band-pass filters includes at least one pair of band-pass filters having a common central frequency and distinct band-passes. The method also sets the weights of the band-pass filters to the determined values.
US09172338B2	Transformer-based RF power amplifier Various embodiments include a power amplifier having power amplifier cells located in a die, conductive contacts overlying a surface of the die and coupled to the amplifier cells, and conductive lines overlying a surface of the die between the conductive contacts and coupled to the power amplifier cells. Additional apparatus are described.
US09172331B2	Power supply circuit A power supply circuit includes: a push-pull amplifier unit which amplifies an input signal with a push-pull amplification protocol; a variable power supply unit which varies, with a control signal, the voltage level of a power supply voltage which is supplied to the push-pull amplifier; a switch control unit which, on the basis of the input signal, outputs the control signal which controls the voltage level of the power supply voltage; and a timing control unit which applies a specified time delay to the input signal. When the control signal rises, the switch control unit causes the control signal to rise at a faster timing, according to the voltage level switch transition timing, than a delay time upon the timing control unit, and when the control signal falls, the switch control unit causes the control signal to fall at the timing of the delay time.
US09172328B2	Voltage controlled oscillator and phase locked loop including the same A voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) includes an oscillation frequency signal generation circuit and a transconductance control circuit. The oscillation frequency signal generation circuit has a first transconductance and generates a first oscillation frequency signal and a second oscillation frequency signal based on a voltage control signal and a power supply voltage. The first and second oscillation frequency signals are a pair of differential signals. The oscillation frequency signal generation circuit is configured to output the first oscillation frequency signal from a first output node. The oscillation frequency signal generation circuit is configured to output the second oscillation frequency signal from a second output node. The transconductance control circuit is connected to the first and second output nodes and has a second transconductance. The transconductance control circuit is configured to adjust the second transconductance based on a digital control signal.
US09172321B2	Electrical yaw drive for a wind turbine, wind turbine and method for operating a wind turbine An electrical yaw drive for a wind turbine is described, wherein the wind turbine includes a wind turbine nacelle and a wind turbine tower. The electrical yaw drive has an asynchronous motor, an excitation capacitor bank and dump loads, wherein the excitation capacitor bank and the dump loads are electrically connectable to windings of the asynchronous motor. Furthermore, a wind turbine with such an electrical yaw drive and a method for operating such a wind turbine are described.
US09172320B2	Electronic circuit and method for synchronizing electric motor drive signals between a start-up mode of operation and a normal mode of operation A motor control circuit and associated techniques can drive an electric motor in a start-up mode of operation followed by a normal mode of operation. The motor control circuit and techniques can receive a selection signal provided by a user that can select one of a plurality of sets of parameter values that determine characteristics of drive signals applied to the motor during the start-up mode of operation. The motor control circuit and associated techniques can synchronize operation between the start-up mode of operation and the normal mode of operation.
US09172309B2	Switching mode power supply usable in an image forming apparatus, and image forming apparatus and method of supplying power by using the same A switching mode power supply and a method of supplying power by using the same. The switching mode power supply includes a converting unit to convert an alternating current (AC) voltage input to the switching mode power supply to at least one direct current (DC) voltage by using at least one transformer, and a voltage controller to control a voltage level of an output voltage to be output to a system controller of the image forming apparatus from among the at least one DC voltage, where the system controller controls operations of the image forming apparatus. The voltage controller includes a switching unit to switch the voltage level of the output voltage from a first voltage level to a second voltage level when the image forming apparatus enters a power saving mode, where the second voltage level is lower than the first voltage level.
US09172306B2	Drive enhancement in switch driver circuitry A driver circuitry includes a capacitor, a first switch, and a second switch. The capacitor includes a first node and a second node. The first switch is electrically coupled to the first node of the capacitor. The second switch is electrically coupled to the second node of the capacitor. Additionally, the second node of the capacitor and the second switch are electrically coupled to an output pin of the driver circuitry operable to drive an external switch. As discussed herein, settings of the first switch and the second switch control a voltage outputted from the output pin and charging of the capacitor.
US09172302B2	Switching power supply device of the ripple control method The present invention includes: an ON-timer configured to control a period of time in which a main switching element is on; a voltage detecting circuit configured to detect an output voltage of a filter circuit; a triangular wave generator; a feed-forward circuit configured to generate a feed-forward output whose value decreases as a value of a DC voltage from a DC power supply increases; and a comparator configured to compare a second reference voltage generated by adding together a first reference voltage, a triangular wave signal from the triangular wave generator, and the feed-forward output from the feed-forward circuit, with the output voltage of the voltage detecting circuit, and based on a result of the comparison, output an ON-trigger signal for turning on the main switch element to the ON-timer.
US09172297B2	Frequency multiplier and method for generating frequency multiplied signals The present disclosure provides a method, includes: a first stepped-impedance transmission line configured to receive a first signal of a first differential signal; a second stepped-impedance transmission line configured to receive a second signal of the first differential signal, where the first stepped-impedance transmission line and the second stepped-impedance transmission line superpose the first signal of the first differential signal on the second signal of the first differential signal to obtain a first frequency multiplied signal; a first inverse stepped-impedance transmission line configured to be inversely ground-coupled with the first stepped-impedance transmission line and grounded at an end near an output end of the first stepped-impedance transmission line; a second inverse stepped-impedance transmission line configured to be inversely ground-coupled with the second stepped-impedance transmission line and grounded at an end near an output end of the second stepped-impedance transmission line.
US09172294B2	Planar motor and lithographic apparatus comprising such planar motor A motor includes a stator including a plurality of stator poles arranged in a repetitive arrangement with a first pitch, the stator poles facing a first side of a plane of movement, and a mover including a plurality of mover poles arranged in a repetitive arrangement with a second pitch, the mover poles facing a second, opposite side of the plane of movement. The poles of the stator and/or the mover are provided with a winding to alter a magnetic field in the respective ones of the stator poles and the mover poles in response to an electric current through the respective winding. At least one of the stator and the mover includes a permanent magnet for generating a magnetic field extending from the permanent magnet via at least one respective pole of the stator and the mover to the other one of the stator and the mover and back.
US09172289B2	Wire guide for use in an electric machine A wire assembly for use in an electric machine is provided. The assembly includes a member and a wire. The wire conducts electrical current. At least a portion of the wire is adapted to be wrapped at least partially around the member. The member defines a periphery of the member. At least a portion of the periphery of the member is conformable when the wire is wrapped at least partially around the member.
US09172288B2	Reinforced flexible temperature sensor A stator winding temperature sensor including at least one sensing wire for connecting to a stator. The sensor also includes a body, including a core material comprising a polyimide substrate having an acrylic adhesive surrounding at least a portion of the sensing wire, and a laminate material over the core material. The body has a thickness adapted to protect the sensing wire. The sensor includes a lead wire for connecting to an external monitoring device. The sensing wire is electrically connected to the lead wire at a lead step portion of the sensor. The sensor further includes a tab extending from the lead wire and encompassing the lead step, the tab including a flexible zone where the tab is surrounded by a polyimide and an adhesive but is not surrounded by fiberglass.
US09172281B2	Motor The disclosure discloses a motor including a stator and a mover. The stator and the mover are arranged facing each other so as to be relatively movable via a magnetic air gap. Any one of the stator and the mover includes a yoke, a plurality of teeth, and a plurality of coils. The plurality of teeth are disposed protruding from the yoke to the magnetic air gap side. The plurality of coils are wound around the plurality of teeth. The plurality of coils include, for each phase, coil groups. Each of the coil groups includes a plurality of the coils. The coils are continuously arranged along the relative movement direction and are in-phase with each other and have the same wire diameter with each other. The coil group includes at least one the coil in which a coil width is larger than a teeth pitch.
US09172277B2	Actuator An actuator includes an electrically conductive coil defining a longitudinal axis (L) and having a plurality of winding turns. A magnet is spaced from the winding turns in radial direction. A first conductive element has a mid region covering the coil on a side thereof facing away from the magnet. A second conductive element has a mid region covering the magnet on a side thereof facing away from the winding turns of the coil. The first conductive element projects beyond the coil in axial direction and the second conductive element projects beyond the magnet also in axial direction. The first and second conductive elements have respective collar-shaped projections whereat the first and second conductive elements project beyond the coil and the magnet, respectively. At least one of the first and second conductive elements is made of soft-magnetic powder composite material.
US09172276B2	Power transmission device and power transfer system A power transmission device that includes a high-frequency high-voltage generating circuit which applies a high voltage of high frequency between a power transmission device side active electrode and a power transmission device side passive electrode, the power transmission device side passive electrode being disposed in a manner to surround the power transmission device side active electrode and the high-frequency high-voltage generating circuit. An auxiliary high-frequency high-voltage generating circuit is provided between a ground of the power transmission device having a potential substantially equal to the ground potential and the power transmission device side passive electrode. The auxiliary high-frequency high-voltage generating circuit suppresses a potential change of the power reception device side passive electrode relative to the ground potential.
US09172275B2	Power monitoring and control system and method A system includes a first controller carried by a first electrical outlet, and a management system in communication with the first controller through a first communication link. A second controller is carried by a second electrical outlet, and an electrical load operates in response to receiving power from the second electrical outlet. The management system determines a performance parameter of the electrical load in response to receiving information corresponding to the operation of the electrical load from the first controller.
US09172270B2	Smart and scalable lunar power inverters A method and apparatus is disclosed for solar power generation when irradiance is low and unstable due to sunrise, sunset, clouding, partial shading, warped solar module surfaces, moving solar modules, and other low or varying irradiance conditions. A multi-channel solar power inverter connected to multiple solar modules can work in a “Lunar Power Mode”, inverting DC power induced from the sky, street lights, or surrounding environment to AC power by using a unique rotating power pulling technology. This allows the inverter to dynamically adapt to irradiance variations and generate AC power under complex irradiance conditions. A UPS (uninterruptible power supply) works with a DC power supply to provide DC power to the internal electronic circuits of the inverter allowing it to run in normal power, low power, or lunar power modes.
US09172266B2	Power systems for touch free dispensers and refill units containing a power source Electronic dispensers and refill units for electronic dispensers. An exemplary electronic dispenser includes a housing, a processor and a first battery secured to the dispenser. The first battery provides power to the processor. The dispenser further includes actuator drive circuitry for causing the dispenser to move an actuator to dispense fluid from a refill unit. In addition, the dispenser includes a rechargeable energy storage device for providing power to the actuator drive circuitry. Circuitry for charging the rechargeable energy storage device is also provided. The dispenser includes a holder for holding a refill unit and a connector for releasably connecting to a second battery that is provided with the refill unit. The second battery is installed in the connector when a refill unit is installed in the dispenser and removed from the connector when the refill unit is removed from the dispenser.
US09172261B2	Battery pack, method of charging secondary battery and battery charger A battery pack includes a secondary battery including a plurality of cell blocks, a measuring section, a charge and discharge control switch, a protection circuit, and a memory. The measuring section detects a voltage, a current, and an internal resistance, of the secondary battery. The controller monitors the voltage and the current of the secondary battery and outputs a request signal indicative of a charge condition to charge the secondary battery in accordance with the charge condition which is set. The protection circuit monitors voltages of the plurality of cell blocks. The memory registers an initial internal resistance of the secondary battery. The controller calculates a deterioration coefficient by a ratio of the internal resistance detected by the measuring section to the initial internal resistance registered in the memory, and changes the charge condition in accordance with the deterioration coefficient.
US09172238B2	Vehicle or environment-controlled unit having a multiphase alternator with a protected high-voltage bus A mobile environment-controlled unit, such as an over-the-road compartment trailer, having an environmental-control system, such as a refrigeration unit, powered by an alternator and having a high-voltage alternating current (AC) bus. The unit incorporates a high resistance ground scheme and can incorporate a solid-state input module to detect phase-chassis faults. This combination provides an improvement in protection for mobile applications that cannot have a voltage reference (or neutral point) solidly connected to earth ground.
US09172237B2	Semiconductor integrated circuit A power source circuit includes a voltage converter circuit and a control circuit that includes a voltage divider circuit and a protective circuit. The protective circuit includes a first oxide semiconductor transistor in which an off-state current is increased as temperature is increased, a capacitor that accumulates the off-state current as electric charge, a second oxide semiconductor transistor, and an operational amplifier including a non-inverting input terminal to which a reference voltage is input. The first oxide semiconductor transistor is provided near the voltage converter circuit or an element that generates heat in the control circuit.
US09172229B2	Wire harness securing structure A wire harness securing structure secures a wire harness to a panel using a wire harness clip having a plate portion and a latch portion provided at the plate portion to be press-fitted to a hole of the panel. The latch portion includes a post extending from the plate portion and a pair of latch pieces extending from an end of the post toward the plate portion and having an end which engages with an edge of the hole. The plate portion and the wire harness are covered and secured by the self-adhesive sheet. A surface of the self-adhesive sheet facing the panel contacts with the end of the latch piece before the latch portion is press-fitted. When the latch portion is press-fitted and latched to the hole, the adhesive sheet between the plate portion and the panel is compressed and contacts firmly with an outer periphery of the hole.
US09172227B2	Wire guide member Forward and backward movement of a wire guide member in an axial direction of the wire guide member is restricted, by the wire guide member abuts on a distal end portion holding member and a proximal end portion holding member. The wire guide member is held by an intermediate holding member, the distal end portion holding member, and the proximal end portion holding member to allow insertion and forward and backward movement in the intermediate holding member, the distal end portion holding member, and the proximal end portion holding member. The wire guide member has elasticity.
US09172226B2	Multi-core cable and aligning method therefor One aspect of the invention relates to a multi-core cable in which a cable sheath covers plural electronic wires in each of which a central conductor is covered with a covering. In the multi-core cable, the electronic wires are exposed from a longitudinal end of the cable sheath, and distal ends of exposed portions of the plural electronic wires are parallel aligned, and the exposed portions of the plural electronic wires are fixed by a resin in a place within a range from the end of the cable sheath to a parallel aligned place.
US09172225B2	Induction-based reference point locator According to one aspect of the present disclosure, an induction-based reference point locator is provided. The locator includes transmitter locatable at a position on a first side of a structure, the transmitter configured to generate an alternating magnetic field at a desired frequency; and a receiver locatable on a second side of the structure opposite the first side, the receiver configured to detect the magnetic field and provide a directional indication to the position of the transmitter relative to the second side of the structure.
US09172223B2	Cable manipulator A cable manipulator includes a base and a plurality of plates attached to the base, each of the plurality of plates including a pair of cams attached to each plate. Each cam of the pair of cams is spaced from each other such that a length of cable can be inserted therebetween. At least one of the plurality of plates is a rotatable plate such that rotation of the rotatable plate causes an end of the cable to be moved closer to the cable manipulator.
US09172222B2	Medium-voltage switchgear assembly having a short-circuiting unit A voltage switchgear assembly is disclosed, which includes a short-circuiting unit having short-circuiting devices arranged as a three-phase unit. A support is configured to receive the short-circuiting unit and is configured to be inserted into and withdrawn from an openable section of a switchgear assembly housing.
US09172209B2	Resistive heating element for enabling laser operation Heating resistor used to control laser operation. A laser package, such as a Transmitter Optical Subassembly (TOSA) includes a substrate. A laser is disposed on the substrate. A resistive heating element is disposed on the substrate with the laser. Control circuitry is connected to the resistive heating element. The control circuitry is configured to cause current flow through the resistive heating element based on temperature conditions. Current flow through the resistive heating element causes an increase in the operating temperature of the laser. This can be used to increase the effective operating temperature range of a laser.
US09172191B2	Housing for electrical connection between a foil conductor and a conductor A housing having an electrical connection between a conductor and a foil conductor is described. An inlet opening (8) of the housing is rounded off at entry edges thereof on at least one side for the foil conductor, such that the inlet opening increasingly expands in an outward direction.
US09172186B2	Anti-misinsertion structure of socket connector An anti-misinsertion structure of a socket connector includes a pivot clasped to both sides of the top of an insulating base of the socket connector and two connecting arms extended horizontally from both sides of the pivot. Each connecting arm has a guide piece extended horizontally from an end of each connecting arm, a stop piece formed at the bottom of the connecting arm and proximate to the guide piece of the connecting arm, a downwardly tilted first guide bevel formed at the bottom of the guide piece, a position limit surface defined on a side of the guide piece and proximate to the stop piece, an upwardly tilted second guide bevel formed at the bottom of the stop piece, and a stop surface defined on a side of the stop piece and proximate to the guide piece and perpendicular to the position limit surface of the guide piece.
US09172185B2	Card connector for receiving digital broadcasting and electronic apparatus According to one embodiment, a card connector for receiving digital broadcasting includes a store portion into which a card for receiving digital broadcasting is inserted so as to be ejectable, and an ejection prevention mechanism configured to prevent the card stored in the store portion from being ejected. The card connector can automatically release the ejection prevention mechanism when the card is inserted into the store portion, and can automatically actuate the ejection prevention mechanism after the card is inserted into the store portion.
US09172177B2	Strain-relief/bending-protection apparatus The invention relates to a strain relief/bending protection apparatus for a cable, in particular a high speed cable, connected to a plug connector, comprising a base section which can be fastened to a housing of the plug connector and a sleeve section projecting from the base section for surrounding the cable in a region disposed outside the housing, wherein the sleeve section continuously has a round cross-section and the cross-sectional area of the sleeve section reduces as the spacing from the base section increases.
US09172167B2	Junction failure inhibiting connector An electrical connector for connecting wires including dissimilar electrical conductors such as copper and aluminum conductors with the electrical connector including failure inhibiting features that can include an oxidation inhibiting coating and a sealant. To ensure that a minimum pressure contact has been achieved at the interface between the electrical connector a shearable fastener can be used to secure an electrical conductor in the electrical connector.
US09172159B2	Process for the production of a plug and a plug A process for the production of a plug, in which a circuit board panel with openings is provided for forming a circuit board. A plug insert, having a plurality of pins and a plurality of plug contact surfaces, is then placed in one of the openings, by means of an automatic SMD fitment device, in such a way that at least one pin of the plug rests on the circuit board panel, and at least two plug contact surfaces, which are electrically connected to the pins, rest on the circuit board, with the contact surfaces of the plug being on one plane. The plug contact surfaces are then automatically soldered to at least one of the contact surfaces of the circuit board.
US09172145B2	Transmit/receive daughter card with integral circulator A mixed-signal, multilayer printed wiring board fabricated in a single lamination step is described. The PWB includes one or more radio frequency (RF) interconnects between different circuit layers on different circuit boards which make up the PWB. The PWB includes a number of unit cells with radiating elements and an RF cage disposed around each unit cell to isolate the unit cell. A plurality of flip-chip circuits are disposed on an external surface of the PWB and a heat sink can be disposed over the flip chip components.
US09172143B2	Electronic device module with integrated antenna structure, and related manufacturing method An electronic device module as described herein includes an electronic device package having device contacts. The electronic device package is fixed within encapsulating material, along with an electrically conductive ground layer. The ground layer has a device opening in which the electronic device package resides, and the ground layer also has an antenna opening spaced apart from the device opening. The device contacts and one side of the ground layer correspond to a first surface, and a patch antenna element overlies the first surface. The antenna element is coupled to the electronic device package, and a projection of the patch antenna element onto the first surface resides within the antenna opening. Also provided are methods for manufacturing such an electronic device module.
US09172142B2	Horizontal radiation antenna This disclosure provides a horizontal radiation antenna. The antenna includes a back-surface-side grounded conductor plate on a back surface of a substrate, a radiation element to which a coplanar line is connected on the front surface of the substrate, and a passive element closer to an end portion side of the substrate than the radiation element. A front-surface-side grounded conductor plate is provided at a substantially same height as the radiation element with respect to a thickness direction of the substrate, and a conductive wall surface capable of reflecting a high-frequency signal radiated from the radiation element is provided between the front-surface-side grounded conductor plate and the back-surface-side grounded conductor plate.
US09172141B2	Antenna, antenna apparatus, and communication apparatus The claimed invention discloses an antenna including: a magnetic core (11); a coil winding section (14a, 14b) in which a conductive wiring line is wound around the magnetic core; and an adjustment section (13) connected to one end of the coil winding section. The adjustment section (13) is disposed at an end part of the magnetic core (11) and includes a plurality of adjustable conductive wiring lines (13b-13d) formed by dividing a conductive wiring line connected to one end of the coil winding section (14a, 14b) into multiple conductive wiring lines in a direction intersecting with a winding axis direction of the coil winding section (14a, 14b).
US09172139B2	Bezel gap antennas Electronic devices are provided that contain wireless communications circuitry. The wireless communications circuitry may include radio-frequency transceiver circuitry and antenna structures. A parallel-fed loop antenna may be formed from portions of an electronic device bezel and a ground plane. The antenna may operate in multiple communications bands. An impedance matching circuit for the antenna may be formed from a parallel-connected inductive element and a series-connected capacitive element. The bezel may surround a peripheral portion of a display that is mounted to the front of an electronic device. The bezel may contain a gap. Antenna feed terminals for the antenna may be located on opposing sides of the gap. The inductive element may bridge the gap and the antenna feed terminals. The capacitive element may be connected in series between one of the antenna feed terminals and a conductor in a transmission line located between the transceiver circuitry and the antenna.
US09172134B2	Protective cover for a wireless device In some embodiments, an apparatus includes a protective cover configured to attach to a wireless device having a surface including a first portion and a second portion mutually exclusive from the first portion. The second portion of the surface is associated with a proximity sensor of the wireless device. The protective cover is configured to cover the first portion of the surface when the protective cover is attached to the wireless device. The protective cover is configured to not cover the second portion of the surface when the protective cover is attached to the wireless device such that the proximity sensor is not triggered by the protective cover when the protective cover is attached to the wireless device and when the wireless device is operational.
US09172132B2	Integrated antenna for RFIC package applications A chip package includes a set of layers including conductive planes connected by vias. A first portion has at least one antenna, antenna ground plane, and first grounded vias. A second portion has a conductive plane parallel to the ground plane that forms an interface for connecting to at least one integrated circuit device. A third portion between the first and the second portion has a vertical transmission line that includes a signal via connecting the antenna feed line to the at least one integrated circuit and a parallel-plate mode suppression mechanism. The parallel-plate mode suppression mechanism includes a grounded reflector that forms a cage with the grounded vias around an antenna region and further includes second ground vias surrounding the signal via.
US09172131B2	Semiconductor structure having aperture antenna The semiconductor package includes a first substrate having a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface. A circuit portion is formed on the first surface of the substrate, wherein the circuit portion includes a wave guiding slot and a microstrip line overlapping the wave guiding slot. A chip is disposed on the circuit portion. An antenna is formed on the second surface of the substrate, wherein the antenna overlaps the wave guiding slot.
US09172130B2	RFID inlay incorporating a ground plane An RFID inlay. The RFID inlay can include a substrate having a first area and a second area, a conductive structure having a first part disposed over at least a portion of the first area and a second part disposed over at least a portion of the second area, and a dielectric material disposed over at least a portion of the conductive structure, wherein the substrate is adapted to be folded such that the first part of the conductive structure is disposed over the second part of the conductive structure and the dielectric material is disposed between the first part and the second part.
US09172126B2	Module and coupling arrangement The application concerns a surface mount module adapted for transfer of a microwave signal between the module and a motherboard, the module comprising a substrate with a first microstrip conductor and a second microstrip conductor, wherein the two conductors are connected with a connection through the module. The module is distinguished in that the connection comprises the first microstrip conductor connected to a foil of electrically conducting material coated on the first side, the foil being surrounded by electrically conducting trenches running through the substrate from the first side to the second side forming a substrate integrated waveguide, wherein the trenches on the second side surrounds a second foil of electrically conducting material coated on the second side of the substrate and connected the second microstrip conductor. The application also concerns a coupling arrangement.
US09172122B2	Battery module A battery module includes a first battery cell having a first housing and first and second electrical terminals. The first housing has first, second, third and fourth ends. The first and second electrical terminals extend outwardly from the third and fourth ends, respectively. A distance from the second end of the first housing to a second edge of the first electrical terminal is greater than a distance from the first end of the first housing to a first edge of the first electrical terminal. A distance from the second end of the first housing to a second edge of the second electrical terminal is greater than a distance from the first end of the first housing to a first edge of the second electrical terminal. The battery module further includes a cooling fin disposed adjacent to the first battery cell, and a cooling plate coupled to the cooling fin.
US09172103B2	Transient inlet relative humidity estimation via adaptive cathode humidification unit model and high frequency resistance An apparatus and method to determine the relative humidity of a fuel cell system. A controller is cooperative with a first device and a second device to receive a valve signal and a high frequency resistance value. The controller controls the relative humidity of a fuel cell stack based on the estimation of the relative humidity of the fuel cell stack based on one or more algorithms. The controller modifies the relative humidity of the fuel cell stack through changes in the position of a valve based on at least one of the valve signal and the high frequency resistance value. In one form, the relative humidity of the fuel cell system is determined without the need of a humidity sensor.
US09172099B2	Nano-fibers for electrical power generation A fibrous sheet for fuel cell or battery applications is formed by electrospinning a fluorinated ion-conducting polymer solution to form an agglomeration of fibers.
US09172098B2	Fuel cell stack with improved corrosion resistance The present invention provides a fuel cell stack with improved corrosion resistance, in which the outer edge of the fuel cell stack including an outer cut portion of each metallic bipolar plate can be effectively prevented from being corroded. For this purpose, the present invention provides a fuel cell stack including a waterproof member which is formed at an outer edge of a metallic bipolar plate to seal a gap between joined surfaces of the metallic bipolar plate, a membrane-electrode assembly, a gas diffusion layer, and a gasket from the outside thereof such that water vapor and moisture from the fuel cell stack are prevented from being brought into contact with an outer cut portion of each metallic bipolar plate by the waterproof member.
US09172097B2	Method for making electrode assembly for a solid oxide fuel cell An electrode assembly for a solid oxide fuel cell, the electrode assembly including a porous ceramic oxide matrix and an array of fluid conduits. The porous ceramic oxide matrix includes a labyrinth of reinforcing walls interconnected to one another. Each of the fluid conduits is formed from the porous ceramic oxide matrix and has an external surface with a plurality of struts projecting outwardly therefrom and an internal surface defining a first passage for flowing a first fluid therethrough. The struts are configured to connect the fluid conduits to one another and the external surfaces and the struts define a second passage around the fluid conduits for flowing a second fluid therethrough.
US09172095B2	Method for manufacturing electrode for fuel cell comprising nanocarbon and core-shell-structured platinum-carbon composite and the electrode for fuel cell manufactured by the same The present subject matter provides a method of manufacturing an electrode for a fuel cell, in which nanocarbons are grown on the surface of a substrate for a fuel cell using a process of simultaneously gasifying a platinum precursor and a carbon precursor, and simultaneously core-shell-structured platinum-carbon composite catalyst particles are highly dispersed between nanocarbons The subject matter also provides an electrode for a fuel cell, manufactured by the method. This method is advantageous in that an electrode for a fuel cell having remarkably improved electrochemical performance and durability can be manufactured by a simple process.
US09172091B2	Core-shell type anode active material for lithium secondary batteries, method for preparing the same and lithium secondary batteries comprising the same Provided are a core-shell type anode active material for lithium secondary batteries including a carbonaceous material core; and a shell formed outside the carbonaceous material core, the shell including a PTC (Positive Temperature Coefficient) medium. The core-shell type anode active material for lithium secondary batteries has the shell including the PTC medium, and thus has the improved conductivity and high output density, exhibiting excellent electrical characteristics. And, a lithium secondary battery manufactured using the anode active material has excellent safety, in particular safety against overcharge and external short circuit.
US09172087B2	Electrode material, electrode and lithium ion battery An electrode material contains an agglomerate formed by agglomerating a plurality of agglomerated particles formed by agglomerating a plurality of particles of a carbonaceous coated electrode active material having a carbonaceous coat formed on a surface, the agglomerate is made up of hollow-structured particles and solid-structured particles, the average particle diameter of the agglomerate is in a range of 0.5 μm to 100 μm, the volume density of the agglomerate is in a range of 50% by volume to 80% by volume, the micropore distribution of micropores present in the agglomerate is monomodal, the average micropore diameter in the micropore distribution is 0.3 μm or less, and the NMP oil absorption amount of the agglomerate is in a range of 40 g/100 g to 100 g/100 g.
US09172082B2	Electrode composite material and lithium ion battery using the same The present disclosure relates to an electrode composite material. The electrode composite material includes a number of electrode composite material particles. Each of the plurality of electrode composite material particles includes an electrode active material particle and a doped aluminum phosphate layer coated on a surface of the electrode active material particle. A material of the doped aluminum phosphate layer is a semiconducting doped aluminum phosphate.
US09172080B2	Electrode production system An electrode production system is configured so that a metal foil is folded back a plurality of times and conveyed by a plurality of rollers that are disposed for a coating device, a drying device and a pressing device. A coating process, a drying process and a pressing process are serially performed by the coating device, the drying device and the pressing device, respectively, by using the rollers. This makes it possible to unwind the rolled metal foil and convey the metal foil in the up-and-down direction. The coating device, the drying device and the pressing device can be integrated and thus the size of the electrode production system can be reduced. Furthermore, since a small-size electrode production system can be configured, it is easy to install the electrode production system in a clean and dry environment.
US09172076B2	Membranes suitable for use as separators and electrochemical cells including such separators Disclosed are membranes suitable for use as separators in electrochemical cells as well as electrochemical cells, where the membranes are configured to substantially reduce the passage of multivalent ions therethrough without substantially reducing the permeability of the membranes to lithium ions.
US09172074B2	Nonwoven material with particle filler A ply includes a fibrous nonwoven web fabric forming a foundational structure, wherein the foundational structure includes fibers forming first pores and is partially filled with particles, wherein the particles at least partially fill the first pores so as to form regions filled with particles, wherein the particles in the filled regions form second pores, and wherein an average diameter of the particles is greater than an average pore size of more than 50% of the second pores.
US09172072B2	Battery comprising gas absorbent material and battery system [PROBLEM] In space-conservative fashion, at low cost, and with high efficiency, to carry out absorption of gas produced at the interior of a battery.[SOLUTION MEANS] Secondary battery 21 is provided with case 3 in which positive electrode 10 and negative electrode 11 are sealed together with electrolyte, and with explosion prevention valve 4 for allowing escape of high-pressure gas present at the interior of case 3 when pressure within case 3 rises; and is further provided with gas absorber 13 or 14 for absorbing high-pressure gas. Gas absorber 13, includes gas-absorbent material 6 and capsule 5, which comprises hot-melt material, and is provided within case 3, this capsule 5 including, at the interior thereof, gas-absorbent material 6. Furthermore, gas absorber 14, which may be provided outside case 3, may include gas-absorbent material 6; cartridge case 14a which houses, at the interior thereof, gas-absorbent material 6; gas inlet valve 14b for causing high-pressure gas to flow thereinto; and gas outlet valve 14c for causing high-pressure gas to flow out therefrom.
US09172066B2	Protection circuit board, battery pack including the protection circuit board and method of fabricating the protection circuit board A protection circuit board resulting in a compact battery pack having a higher capacity than a conventional battery pack of the same size, a battery pack including the protection circuit board and a method of fabricating the protection circuit board includes: a first lead terminal disposed on a first side of the protection circuit board; and a first aperture for exposing the first lead terminal to a second side of the protection circuit board. The battery pack also includes: a bare cell including an electrode terminal; a second lead terminal arranged over the electrode terminal; and a protection circuit board electrically connected to the second lead terminal and the bare cell, and having an aperture for exposing the second lead terminal arranged the first side of the protection circuit board to the second side of the protection circuit board.
US09172065B2	Organic EL display panel and method of manufacturing the same An organic electroluminescence display panel includes a thin-film transistor layer above a substrate. A planarizing film is above the thin-film transistor layer with contact holes being formed in the planarizing film. A bank is above the planarizing film. The bank includes openings arranged in rows and columns that define regions for forming organic electroluminescence elements. Each opening is between a pair of adjacent concaves in one of the columns. The concaves are formed in an upper surface of the bank and sunken into the contact holes. The upper surface of the bank has repellency. A light-emitting layer is formed in each opening by ejecting drops of an ink from nozzles of an inkjet head into the openings while moving the inkjet head relative to the substrate. The nozzles further eject drops of the ink into the concaves when above the concaves for ejecting the drops of the ink through every nozzle.
US09172061B2	Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display panel An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display panel comprises: a plurality of pixel units arranged in an array, in which each pixel unit includes an organic light-emitting element provided with a first light-emitting surface and a second light-emitting surface; and light shield layers configured to shield at least the first light-emitting surfaces of organic light-emitting elements of a portion of the pixel units. The OLED display panel combines the double-faced organic light-emitting elements and the light shield layers to simply achieve double emission display.
US09172058B2	Light emitting structure having sub-pixel regions, organic light emitting layers, and a blocking member for emitting different color lights, display device including a light emitting structure and method of manufacturing a display device including a light emitting structure A light emitting structure includes a first hole injection layer, a first organic light emitting layer, a charge generation layer, a second hole injection layer, a second organic light emitting layer, an electron transfer layer, and a blocking member. The light emitting structure has first, second, and third sub-pixel regions. The first organic light emitting layer may be on the first hole injection layer. The charge generation layer may be on the first organic light emitting layer. The second hole injection layer may be on the charge generation layer. The second organic light emitting layer may be on the second hole injection layer. The electron transfer layer may be on the second organic light emitting layer. The blocking member may be at at least one of the first to the third sub-pixel regions.
US09172054B2	Organic light emitting display device Provided is an organic light emitting display device. The organic light emitting display device comprises a substrate; a first electrode formed on the substrate and including a first sub-electrode and a second sub-electrode which have different reflectivities with respect to light wavelengths and are mutually stacked; an organic layer formed on the first electrode and including an organic light emitting layer; and a second electrode formed on the organic layer.
US09172052B2	Phosphorescent OLED An organic light emitting device having a phase-separated light-emissive layer comprising: a charge transport phase comprising a charge transport material; and an emitting phase, the emitting phase comprising a plurality of discrete emissive domains dispersed in the charge transport phase, each emitting domain comprising a host material and one or more metal complexes for emitting light by phosphorescence; wherein the charge transport material has a T1 energy level lower than the T1 energy level of the metal complexes and the host material has a T1 energy level higher than the T1 energy level of the metal complexes.
US09172048B2	Charge-transporting varnish A varnish containing a charge-transporting organic material and a solvent is used as a charge-transporting varnish. The charge-transporting organic material is composed of a charge-transporting substance comprising a charge-transporting monomer, or charge-transporting oligomer or polymer having a number average molecular weight of 200 to 500,000, or is composed of such a charge-transporting substance and an electron- or hole-accepting dopant substance. The solvent contains at least one type of high-viscosity solvent having a viscosity of 10 to 200 mPa·s at 20° C. The charge-transporting substance or the charge-transporting organic material is dissolved or uniformly dispersed in the solvent. The varnish has a high uniform film forming capability even in a system using a charge-transporting substance of low molecular weight and a charge-accepting dopant substance. When the varnish is used in, particularly an OLED device or PLED device, excellent EL device characteristics, namely a low drive voltage, a high luminance efficiency, and a long life are realized.
US09172041B2	Plasmonic graphene devices An integrated graphene-based structure comprises an N-dimensional array of elements formed on a surface of a substrate. The N-dimensional array of elements includes a plurality of rows. Each respective row in the plurality of rows comprises a corresponding plurality of elements formed along a first dimension. Each element in the corresponding plurality of elements comprising at least one graphene stack and separated from an adjacent element along the first dimension by a first average spatial separation thereby resulting in a first periodicity in lateral spacing along the first dimension. Each respective row in the plurality of rows is separated from an adjacent row along a second dimension by a second average spatial separation, thereby resulting in a second periodicity in lateral spacing along the second dimension. The N-dimensional array exhibits a set of characteristic electromagnetic interference properties in response to electromagnetic radiation incident on the N-dimensional array.
US09172031B2	Resistive memory device A resistive memory device includes: a resistive layer which includes a first magnetic layer, a second magnetic layer, and a tunnel insulating layer interposed between the first magnetic layer and the second magnetic layer, and is switched between different resistance states; and a strained film formed over a sidewall of the resistive layer and applying a strain to the resistive layer, wherein the strained film includes a semiconductor material containing ions implanted therein
US09172026B2	Piezoceramic composition and method for manufacturing the same A piezoceramic composition comprises, as the main phase, a crystalline phase of a perovskite structure signified as formula ABO3, with Element A consisting of one or more elements selected from among K (potassium), Na (sodium) and Li (lithium) and with Element B consisting of one or more elements selected from among Nb (niobium), Ta (tantalum) and Sb (antimony), with Elements A and B comprising other elements as additives. An X-ray diffraction profile of crushed particles of the piezoceramic composition that are 10 μm or less in diameter has a diffraction peak indicating the presence of the main (single) phase as well as a heterogeneous phase of a crystalline structure signified as formula AsBtOu (s
US09172022B2	Composite structure of graphene and polymer and method of manufacturing the same A composite structure of graphene and polymer and a method of manufacturing the complex. The composite structure of graphene and polymer includes: at least one polymer structure having a three-dimensional shape; and a graphene layer formed on the at least one polymer structure.
US09172019B2	Light emitting device package and method of manufacturing the same A light emitting device package includes a frame unit including at least two lead frames spaced apart from one another and a light emitting region defined by a distance between the two lead frames; a light emitting device mounted on a surface of the frame unit such that the light emitting device is positioned across the light emitting region, and electrically connected to the lead frames; a wavelength conversion unit provided in the light emitting region, and configured to convert a wavelength of light emitted from the light emitting device and emit the light having the converted wavelength; and a reflective molding unit formed on the surface of the frame unit to cover the light emitting device.
US09172011B2	Composition for encapsulant, encapsulant, and electronic device A composition for an encapsulant, an encapsulant, and an electronic device, the composition including an adhesion-promoting agent, the adhesion-promoting agent including an epoxy group in an amount of about 2.0 to about 5.0 mmol/g, at least one first polysiloxane that includes a hydrogen bound to a silicon at a terminal end thereof, and at least one second polysiloxane that includes an alkenyl group bound to a silicon at a terminal end thereof.
US09172002B2	Light-emitting device having a patterned substrate A light-emitting diode device and a manufacturing method thereof. The light-emitting diode device includes: a substrate (1); an epitaxial layer at one side of the substrate (1) and including an N-type layer (2), a P-type layer (4), and an active layer (3) between the N-type layer (2) and the P-type layer (4); an N-type electrode (5); a P-type electrode (7); an adhesive layer (8); and a patterned substrate (9). The light-emitting diode device further includes an insulating layer (6) between the N-type electrode (5) and the P-type electrode (7), the insulating layer (6) electrically insulating the N-type electrode (5) and the P-type electrode (7). In the light-emitting diode device and the manufacturing method thereof, light-emitting efficiency and luminous efficiency of the light-emitting diode device can be improved, wiring is easier as compared with conventional chips, and the manufacturing process can be optimized.
US09171986B2	Semiconductor photo-detecting device A photo-detecting device includes a first nitride layer, a low-current blocking layer disposed on the first nitride layer, a light absorption layer disposed on the low-current blocking layer, and a Schottky junction layer disposed on the light-absorption layer. The low-current blocking layer includes a multilayer structure.
US09171982B2	Integrated jumpers for building integrable photovoltaic modules Provided are novel building integrable photovoltaic (BIPV) modules having integrated jumpers for interconnecting similar modules in adjacent rows. An integrated jumper is provided on a back side of the photovoltaic portion of the module and includes at least two interconnected jumper contact points. The module also has two connectors provided on the front side of its flap portion. Each connector has at least one connector contact point connected to one or more photovoltaic cells of the module. When a module is positioned over flap portions of two other modules previously installed in an adjacent row, the two jumper contact points on the back side of this new module make electrical connections to the two connector contact points on the front side of the installed modules. In turn, these connections interconnect the photovoltaic cells of the two modules without any need for additional connectors or operations.
US09171978B2	Epitaxial wafer, method for producing the same, photodiode, and optical sensor device A method for producing an epitaxial wafer includes a step of growing an epitaxial layer structure on a III-V semiconductor substrate, the epitaxial layer structure including a III-V semiconductor multiple-quantum well and a III-V semiconductor surface layer, wherein the step of growing the epitaxial layer structure on the substrate is performed such that a lattice mismatch Δω of the multiple-quantum well with respect to the substrate satisfies a range of −0.13%≦Δω<0% or 0%<Δω≦+0.13%, the range having a center displaced from zero, and an X-ray rocking curve in a zero-order diffraction peak derived from the multiple-quantum well has a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 30 seconds or less.
US09171976B2	Light detection device A light detection device includes a substrate, a buffer layer disposed on the substrate, a first band gap change layer disposed on a portion of the buffer layer, a light absorption layer disposed on the first band gap change layer, a Schottky layer disposed on a portion of the light absorption layer, and a first electrode layer disposed on a portion of the Schottky layer.
US09171968B2	Solid-state imaging device and camera system There is provided a solid-state imaging device including a wafer in which a guard ring with conductivity in an insulation film layered on a first conductivity type substrate is formed between an edge portion of at least a first chip, out of the first chip and a second chip of a layered chip, and a scribe line region, at least two second conductivity type layers are formed at an interval within a region corresponding to the guard ring, in the first conductivity type substrate, and the guard ring includes a first guard ring part connected to one of the second conductivity type layers on a chip edge portion side, and a second guard ring part connected to another one of the second conductivity type layers on a scribe line side.
US09171959B2	Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof Provided is a miniaturized transistor with stable and high electrical characteristics with high yield. In a semiconductor device including the transistor in which an oxide semiconductor film, a gate insulating film, and a gate electrode layer are stacked in this order, a first sidewall insulating layer is provided in contact with a side surface of the gate electrode layer, and a second sidewall insulating layer is provided to cover a side surface of the first sidewall insulating layer. The first sidewall insulating layer is an aluminum oxide film in which a crevice with an even shape is formed on its side surface. The second sidewall insulating layer is provided to cover the crevice. A source electrode layer and a drain electrode layer are provided in contact with the oxide semiconductor film and the second sidewall insulating layer.
US09171956B2	Thin film transistor and display device using the same In a thin film transistor and a display device provided with the same, a thin film transistor according to an exemplary embodiment includes: a semiconductor layer including a channel region, a source region, a drain region, a light-doped source region, and a light-doped drain region; a gate electrode overlapping the channel region; a source electrode contacting the source region; and a drain electrode contacting the drain region. The channel region includes a main channel portion, a source channel portion, and a drain channel portion, and the source channel portion and the drain channel portion are extended from the main channel portion and separated from each other. The light-doped source region is disposed between the source channel portion and the source region and the light-doped drain region is disposed between the drain channel portion and the drain region.
US09171955B2	Thin film transistor and manufacturing method thereof The present invention provides a structure of the TFT in which a current-voltage characteristic can be improved. The present invention refers to a thin film transistor comprising a lamination layer wherein a first conductive film, a first insulating film and a second conductive film are sequentially laminated, a semiconductor film formed so as to be in contact with the side surface of the lamination layer, and a third conductive film covering the semiconductor film through a second insulating film. The first conductive film and the second conductive film are a source electrode and a drain electrode, and a region which is in contact with the first insulating film and the third conductive film is a channel forming region in semiconductor film, and the third conductive film is a gate electrode.
US09171952B2	Low gate-to-drain capacitance fully merged finFET A low gate-to-drain capacitance merged finFET and methods of manufacture are disclosed. The method includes forming a plurality of fins on a substrate. The method further includes forming at least one dummy gate structure intersecting the plurality of fins. The method further includes forming a gap between sidewalls of the fins and an insulator material, which exposes portions of the substrate. The method further includes merging the fins together with semiconductor material formed within the gaps and over the insulator material.
US09171950B2	Semiconductor component and method for producing a semiconductor component A semiconductor component is produced by forming a trench in a semiconductor region. The trench has an upper trench region and a lower trench region. The upper trench region is wider than the lower trench region such that a step is formed in the semiconductor region. A dopant is introduced into the step to form a locally delimited dopant region in the semiconductor region.
US09171939B2	Method for manufacturing thin-film transistor and thin-film transistor manufactured with same The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a thin-film transistor and a thin-film transistor manufactured with same. The method includes (1) providing a substrate; (2) forming a first metal layer on the substrate and applying a masking operation to form a gate terminal; (3) forming a gate insulation layer on the gate terminal; (4) forming an oxide semiconductor layer on the gate insulation layer and forming a second metal layer on the oxide semiconductor layer, wherein the second metal layer includes a titanium layer formed on the oxide semiconductor layer and a copper layer formed on the titanium layer and is subjected to a masking operation to form a data line and source/drain terminal; and (5) forming a transparent conductive layer on the second metal layer and applying a masking operation to patternize the transparent conductive layer to form the thin-film transistor.
US09171936B2	Barrier region underlying source/drain regions for dual-bit memory devices One embodiment of the present invention relates to a memory cell. The memory cell comprises a substrate and a stacked gate structure disposed on the substrate, wherein the stacked gate structure comprises a charge trapping dielectric layer that is adapted to store at least one bit of data. The memory cell further includes a source and drain in the substrate, wherein the source and drain are disposed at opposite sides of the stacked gate structure. A barrier region is disposed substantially beneath the source or the drain and comprises an inert species. Other embodiments are also disclosed.
US09171931B2	Trench power MOSFET A device includes a semiconductor region of a first conductivity type, a trench extending into the semiconductor region, and a conductive field plate in the trench. A first dielectric layer separates a bottom and sidewalls of the field plate from the semiconductor region. A main gate is disposed in the trench and overlapping the field plate. A second dielectric layer is disposed between and separating the main gate and the field plate from each other. A Doped Drain (DD) region of the first conductivity type is under the second dielectric layer, wherein an edge portion of the main gate overlaps the DD region. A body region includes a first portion at a same level as a portion of the main gate, and a second portion at a same level as, and contacting, the DD region, wherein the body region is of a second conductivity type opposite the first conductivity type.
US09171929B2	Strained structure of semiconductor device and method of making the strained structure An exemplary structure for a field effect transistor (FET) comprises a silicon substrate comprising a first surface; a channel portion over the first surface, wherein the channel portion has a second surface at a first height above the first surface, and a length parallel to first surface; and two source/drain (S/D) regions on the first surface and surrounding the channel portion along the length of the channel portion, wherein the two S/D regions comprise SiGe, Ge, Si, SiC, GeSn, SiGeSn, SiSn, or III-V material.
US09171923B2	Method of fabricating a gallium nitride merged P-i-N Schottky (MPS) diode A semiconductor structure includes a III-nitride substrate with a first side and a second side opposing the first side. The III-nitride substrate is characterized by a first conductivity type and a first dopant concentration. The semiconductor structure also includes a III-nitride epitaxial structure including a first III-nitride epitaxial layer coupled to the first side of the III-nitride substrate and a plurality of III-nitride regions of a second conductivity type. The plurality of III-nitride regions have at least one III-nitride epitaxial region of the first conductivity type between each of the plurality of III-nitride regions. The semiconductor structure further includes a first metallic structure electrically coupled to one or more of the plurality of III-nitride regions and the at least one III-nitride epitaxial region. A Schottky contact is created between the first metallic structure and the at least one III-nitride epitaxial region.
US09171920B2	Gate structure The present invention discloses a gate structure, which is applied for an electronic component comprising a substrate and an active region defined thereon, and such the gate structure is disposed in the active region and is a T-shaped gate having a stem with a height of 250 nm. Preferably, the gate structure has a gate length of 60 nm.
US09171912B2	Group IV element doped P-type Zn(Mg,Cd,Be)O(S,Se) semiconductor A p-type group II-VI semiconductor may include a group IV element as a dopant. The group II-IV semiconductor may be Zn1-a-b-cMgaCdbBecO1-p-qSpSeq, wherein a=0˜1, b=0˜1, c=0˜1, p=0˜1 and q=0˜1.
US09171876B2	Self-aligned implants to reduce cross-talk of imaging sensors A method of preparing self-aligned isolation regions between two neighboring sensor elements on a substrate. The method includes patterning an oxide layer to form an opening between the two neighboring sensor elements on the substrate. The method further includes performing a first implant to form a deep doped region between the two neighboring sensor elements and starting at a distance below a top surface of the substrate. The method further includes performing a second implant to form a shallow doped region between the two neighboring sensor elements, wherein a bottom portion of the shallow doped region overlaps with a top portion of the deep doped region.
US09171866B2	Array substrate for narrow bezel type liquid crystal display device and method of manufacturing the same An array substrate for a narrow bezel type liquid crystal display device and method of manufacturing the same are provided. The array substrate includes: gate lines (GLs) on a substrate, the substrate including a display area and first to fourth non-display areas at respective sides, pixel regions, a gate insulating layer (GIL) on the GLs, a plurality of data lines on the GIL and crossing the GLs, a plurality of gate auxiliary lines parallel to the data lines and connected to respective GLs, an auxiliary line in the third non-display area with a first layer under the GIL and a second layer on the GIL, the first layer contacting the second layer through a first auxiliary contact hole in the GIL, a thin film transistor in each pixel region and connected to the GLs and data lines, and a pixel electrode connected to each thin film transistor.
US09171859B2	Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same A semiconductor device may include interlayer insulating patterns and local word lines which are alternately stacked to form a stepped structure, and a first insulating layer formed on a surface of the stepped structure. The semiconductor device may also include a word line selection gate formed along a surface of the first insulating layer, and active patterns passing through the word line selection gate and the first insulating layer, and connected to the local word lines, respectively.
US09171856B2	Bias generator for flash memory and control method thereof A bias voltage generator for providing a control voltage and a source line voltage to a memory array includes a reference voltage generating circuit and a voltage converting circuit. The reference voltage generating circuit receives a program signal or an erase signal, and generates a reference voltage. If the program signal is received by the reference voltage generating circuit, the reference voltage has a positive temperature coefficient. If the erase signal is received by the reference voltage generating circuit, the reference voltage has a negative temperature coefficient. The voltage converting circuit converts the reference voltage into the control voltage and the source line voltage. The voltage converting circuit enlarges the reference voltage by a first magnification so as to produce the source line voltage, and enlarges the reference voltage by a second magnification so as to produce the control voltage.
US09171855B2	Three-dimensional non-volatile memory A three-dimensional one-transistor non-volatile memory device and a manufacturing method thereof are provided. The memory device includes a primary fin disposed on a substrate along a first direction, first and second secondary fins disposed on the substrate along a second direction, and a first gate of a first memory cell disposed on the substrate in a gate region thereof. The first gate includes a program gate, a floating gate and a control gate.
US09171846B2	Leakage and performance graded memory Embodiments of the present invention provide a memory configuration on a chip containing multiple memory segments having different memory grades. In a typical embodiment, a single chip will be provided on which the memory segments are positioned. A memory grade may include low performance (low leakage), medium performance (medium leakage), and high performance (high leakage). Each memory segment or group of memory segments may have a separate power supply and/or controller. In one example, memory segments may be stacked in a through-silicon via configuration.
US09171845B2	Integrated junction and junctionless nanotransistors Semiconductor devices including a first transistor and a second transistor are integrated on a substrate. Each of the first and second transistors include a nano-sized active region including source and drain regions provided in respective end portions of the nano-sized active region and a channel forming region provided between the source and drain regions. The source and drain regions of the first transistor have the same conductivity type as those of the second transistor, and the second transistor has a threshold voltage lower than that of the first transistor. The channel forming region of the second transistor may include a homogeneously doped region, whose conductivity type is the same as the source and drain regions of the second transistor and is different from the channel forming region of the first transistor.
US09171827B2	Stack type semiconductor package A stack type semiconductor package includes a lower semiconductor package including a lower package substrate and at least one lower semiconductor chip disposed on the lower package substrate; an upper semiconductor package including an upper package substrate larger than the lower package substrate and at least one upper semiconductor chip disposed on the upper package substrate; an inter-package connector connecting an upper surface of the lower package substrate to a lower surface of the upper package substrate; and a filler filling in between the lower package substrate and the upper package substrate while substantially surrounding the inter-package connector.
US09171826B2	High voltage solid-state transducers and solid-state transducer arrays having electrical cross-connections and associated systems and methods Solid-state transducer (“SST”) dies and SST arrays having electrical cross-connections are disclosed herein. An array of SST dies in accordance with a particular embodiment can include a first terminal, a second terminal and a plurality of SST dies coupled between the first and second terminals with at least a pair of the SST dies being coupled in parallel. The plurality of SST dies can individually include a plurality of junctions coupled in series with an interconnection between each individual junction. Additionally, the individual SST dies can have a cross-connection contact coupled to the interconnection. In one embodiment, the array can further include a cross-connection between the cross-connection contacts on the pair of the SST dies.
US09171812B1	Semiconductor device having conductive pads with neck-down portions to prevent solder reflow Methods and devices for a semiconductor device having conductive pads to prevent solder reflow are disclosed and may include a substrate comprising conductive pads of rectangular shape and neck-down portions on opposite sides of the rectangular shape, a semiconductor die comprising conductive pillars, and a solder electrically coupling the conductive pillars to the conductive pads. The neck-down portions may comprise a solder mask for the conductive pads to prevent solder from flowing in an unwanted direction on the conductive pads. The conductive pillars may comprise an elliptical cross-section with a minor axis length X and a major axis length Y. The major axis of the elliptical cross-section may be parallel to a long axis of the rectangular shape of the conductive pads. A decrease (W) in width of the conductive pads from the rectangular shape to the neck-down portions may be defined by X/5≦W≦X/2.
US09171811B2	Bump pad structure An embodiment is a bump bond pad structure that comprises a substrate comprising a top layer, a reinforcement pad disposed on the top layer, an intermediate layer above the top layer, an intermediate connection pad disposed on the intermediate layer, an outer layer above the intermediate layer, and an under bump metal (UBM) connected to the intermediate connection pad through an opening in the outer layer. Further embodiments may comprise a via mechanically coupling the intermediate connection pad to the reinforcement pad. The via may comprise a feature selected from the group consisting of a solid via, a substantially ring-shaped via, or a five by five array of vias. Yet, a further embodiment may comprise a secondary reinforcement pad, and a second via mechanically coupling the reinforcement pad to the secondary reinforcement pad.
US09171810B2	Electronic device incorporating a randomized interconnection layer having a randomized conduction pattern An electronic device incorporating a randomized interconnection layer. In one example, the device includes a randomized interconnection layer having a randomized conductive pattern formed by etching of a heterogeneous layer; and a sensing circuit, electrically coupled to the randomized interconnection layer to detect the randomized conductive pattern. In another example, a method of fabricating the device includes forming a set of electrodes proximate to a silicon substrate; depositing a heterogeneous layer of elements onto the substrate; etching the heterogeneous layer to form a randomized conductive pattern; and electrically coupling the electrodes to a sensing circuit and the randomized conductive pattern.
US09171803B2	Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof To improve the reliability of a semiconductor device including a low-resistance material such as copper, aluminum, gold, or silver as a wiring. Provided is a semiconductor device including a pair of electrodes electrically connected to a semiconductor layer which has a stacked-layer structure including a first protective layer in contact with the semiconductor layer and a conductive layer containing the low-resistance material and being over and in contact with the first protective layer. The top surface of the conductive layer is covered with a second protective layer functioning as a mask for processing the conductive layer. The side surface of the conductive layer is covered with a third protective layer. With this structure, entry or diffusion of the constituent element of the pair of conductive layers containing the low-resistance material into the semiconductor layer is suppressed.
US09171799B2	Photoelectric conversion apparatus, image pickup system, and manufacturing method therefor A photoelectric conversion apparatus includes a semiconductor substrate on which a photoelectric conversion element and a transistor are arranged and a plurality of wiring layers including a first wiring layer and a second wiring layer above the first wiring layer, in which a connection between the semiconductor substrate and any of the plurality of wiring layers, between a gate electrode of the transistor and any of the plurality of wiring layers, or between the first wiring layer and the second wiring layer, has a stacked contact structure.
US09171795B2	Integrated circuit packaging system with embedded component and method of manufacture thereof An integrated circuit packaging system, and a method of manufacture of an integrated circuit packaging system thereof, including: an embedding material on a component; a mask layer on the embedding material; a buried pattern in the mask layer, the outer surface of the buried pattern coplanar with the outer surface of the mask layer, the buried pattern electrically connected to the component; a patterned dielectric on a portion of the buried pattern; and an integrated circuit die on the buried pattern.
US09171794B2	Embedding thin chips in polymer Systems and methods are provided for the embedding of thin chips. A well region is generated in a substrate that includes a conductive material disposed on a flexible polymer. The standoff well region can be generated by pattern the conductive material, where the thin chip is embedded in the standoff well region. A cavity can be generated in the polymer layer to form a polymer well region, where the thin chip is embedded in the polymer well region.
US09171792B2	Semiconductor device packages having a side-by-side device arrangement and stacking functionality A semiconductor device package including a substrate, a first device module, a second device module, and an package body. The first device module and the second device module are disposed side-by-side on a carrier surface of the substrate. The first device module includes first connecting elements provided with a first pitch. The second device module includes second connecting elements provided with a second pitch. The first pitch is different from the second pitch. The package body is disposed on the carrier surface and covers the first chip module and the second chip module. The package body includes first openings exposing the first connecting elements and second openings exposing the second connecting elements.
US09171782B2	Stacked redistribution layers on die Some implementations provide a semiconductor device (e.g., die) that includes a substrate, several metal layers and dielectric layers coupled to the substrate, a pad coupled to one of the plurality of metal layers, a first metal redistribution layer coupled to the pad, and a second metal redistribution layer coupled to the first metal redistribution layer. The second metal redistribution layer includes a cobalt tungsten phosphorous material. In some implementations, the first metal redistribution layer is a copper layer. In some implementations, the semiconductor device further includes a first underbump metallization (UBM) layer and a second underbump metallization (UBM) layer.
US09171778B2	Dual-damascene process to fabricate thick wire structure A method and a semiconductor device are provided. The semiconductor device includes a partial via etched in a stacked structure and a trough above the partial via. The method includes performing thick wiring using selective etching while etching the partial via to an etch stop layer.
US09171776B2	Semiconductor cooling device A semiconductor cooling device includes: a cooling medium flow channel, through which a cooling medium for cooling a semiconductor chip flows; a laminar flow section which is provided in a region upstream of the cooling medium flow channel and allows the cooling medium to flow in the form of laminar flow; and a turbulent flow section which is provided in a region downstream of the laminar flow section in the cooling medium flow channel and allows the cooling medium, which flows in the form of laminar flow from the laminar flow section, to flow in the form of turbulent flow.
US09171767B2	Semiconductor device and manufacturing method for the same A semiconductor device includes a substrate including a circuit region where a circuit element is formed, a multilayer wiring layer that is formed on the substrate and composed of a plurality of wiring layers and a plurality of via layers that are laminated, and an electrode pad that is formed on the multilayer wiring layer. An interlayer insulating film is formed in a region of a first wiring layer that is a top layer of the plurality of wiring layers, in the region the electrode pad and the first circuit region overlapping each other in a planar view of the electrode pad.
US09171766B2	Lead frame strips with support members A lead frame strip includes a plurality of connected unit lead frames. Each unit lead frame has a die paddle for attaching to a semiconductor die, a tie bar connecting the die paddle to a periphery of the unit lead frame, and a plurality of leads projecting from the periphery toward the die paddle. The lead frame strip further includes a support member patterned into or connected to the periphery of each unit lead frame at a proximal end and bent into a different plane than the leads so that a distal end of each support member is disposed above or below the leads and projects toward the die paddles. The distal end of the support members can be anchored in a mold compound encapsulating electronic components attached to the die paddles, to maintain structural integrity during lead frame strip testing prior to unit lead frame separation.
US09171763B2	Methods of manufacturing a semiconductor device having varying p-top and n-grade regions An improved semiconductor is provided whereby n-grade and the p-top layers are defined by a series of discretely placed n-type and p-type diffusion segments. Also provided are methods for fabricating such a semiconductor.
US09171756B2	3D IC method and device A method of three-dimensionally integrating elements such as singulated die or wafers and an integrated structure having connected elements such as singulated dies or wafers. Either or both of the die and wafer may have semiconductor devices formed therein. A first element having a first contact structure is bonded to a second element having a second contact structure. First and second contact structures can be exposed at bonding and electrically interconnected as a result of the bonding. A via may be etched and filled after bonding to expose and form an electrical interconnect to interconnected first and second contact structures and provide electrical access to this interconnect from a surface. Alternatively, first and/or second contact structures are not exposed at bonding, and a via is etched and filled after bonding to electrically interconnect first and second contact structures and provide electrical access to interconnected first and second contact structure to a surface. Also, a device may be formed in a first substrate, the device being disposed in a device region of the first substrate and having a first contact structure. A via may be etched, or etched and filled, through the device region and into the first substrate before bonding and the first substrate thinned to expose the via, or filled via after bonding.
US09171752B1	Product comprised of FinFET devices with single diffusion break isolation structures, and methods of making such a product One illustrative method disclosed herein includes, among other things, forming first, second and third fins that are arranged side-by-side, forming a recessed layer of insulating material in a plurality of trenches, after recessing the layer of insulating material, masking the first and second fins while exposing a portion of the axial length of the second fin, removing the exposed portion of the second fin so as to thereby define a cavity in the recessed layer of insulating material, forming an SDB isolation structure in the cavity, wherein the SDB isolation structure has an upper surface that is positioned above the recessed upper surface of the recessed layer of insulating material, removing the masking layer, and forming a gate structure for a transistor above the SDB isolation structure.
US09171750B2	Methods of forming electrically conductive lines A method of forming an electrically conductive buried line and an electrical contact thereto includes forming of a longitudinally elongated conductive line within a trench in substrate material. A longitudinal end part thereof within the trench is of spoon-like shape having a receptacle. The receptacle is filled with conductive material. Insulative material is formed over the conductive material that is within the receptacle. A contact opening is formed over the conductive material that is within the receptacle. Conductor material is formed in the contact opening in electrical connection with the second conductive material that is within the receptacle. Other method and device implementations are disclosed.
US09171741B2	Packaging substrate and fabrication method thereof A method for fabricating a packaging substrate includes: providing a carrier having a first metal layer and a second metal layer formed on the first metal layer; forming a first circuit layer on the second metal layer and forming a separating portion on an edge of the second metal layer such that the separating portion is spaced from the first circuit layer; forming a dielectric layer on the second metal layer and the first circuit layer such that the first circuit layer and the separating portion are embedded in the dielectric layer and portions of the dielectric layer are formed between the first circuit layer and the separating portion; forming a second circuit layer on the dielectric layer; and applying forces on the separating portion so as to remove the first metal layer and the carrier, thereby maintaining the integrity of the first circuit layer.
US09171739B1	Integrated circuit packaging system with coreless substrate and method of manufacture thereof An integrated circuit packaging system, and a method of manufacture thereof, including: a patterned first conductive plating; a molding on the patterned first conductive plating; a through via through the molding; a second conductive plating on the molding and the through via; a protection layer partially covering the first conductive plating, the second conductive plating and the molding; a device on the first conductive plating; and an external connector being attached to the second conductive plating.
US09171732B1	Thin film transistor and method for manufacturing the same, and display device A method for manufacturing a thin film transistor according to the present disclosure may include the following steps of: performing a two-step etching on an active layer such that part of the active layer is consistent with a source-drain electrode layer, and etching the active layer within a photoresist-removed-area to form an active layer tail; ashing a photoresist layer such that a contour of the photoresist layer is consistent with that of the source-drain electrode layer; further etching the source-drain electrode layer to form a source-drain electrode layer pattern including a source electrode and a drain electrode, and etching off a doped semiconductor layer between the source electrode and the drain electrode, and meanwhile etching off the active layer tail.
US09171721B2	Laser assisted direct bonding Techniques are described for directly bonding different substrates together. In some examples, a technique includes placing a first surface of a first substrate in contact with a second surface of a second substrate to directly bond the first substrate to the second substrate at a contact location. The contact location is defined where at least a portion of the first surface of the first substrate contacts at least a portion of the second surface of the second substrate. The technique may also include directing a laser beam on at least a portion of the contact location to strengthen the direct bond between the first substrate and the second substrate. In this manner, a direct bond may be heated with localized laser energy to strengthen the direct bond. Localized laser energy may create a strong direct bond while minimizing thermal defects in regions proximate the direct bond.
US09171720B2	Hardmask surface treatment Methods of treating the surface of a metal-containing hardmask used in the manufacture of semiconductors by contacting the hardmask surface with a composition capable of adjusting the water contact angle so as to substantially match that of subsequently applied organic coatings are provided.
US09171718B2	Method of epitaxial germanium tin alloy surface preparation Methods of preparing a clean surface of germanium tin or silicon germanium tin layers for subsequent deposition are provided. An overlayer of Ge, doped Ge, another GeSn or SiGeSn layer, a doped GeSn or SiGeSn layer, an insulator, or a metal can be deposited on a prepared GeSn or SiGeSn layer by positioning a substrate with an exposed germanium tin or silicon germanium tin layer in a processing chamber, heating the processing chamber and flowing a halide gas into the processing chamber to etch the surface of the substrate using either thermal or plasma assisted etching followed by depositing an overlayer on the substantially oxide free and contaminant free surface. Methods can also include the placement and etching of a sacrificial layer, a thermal clean using rapid thermal annealing, or a process in a plasma of nitrogen trifluoride and ammonia gas.
US09171714B2	Integrated processing of porous dielectric, polymer-coated substrates and epoxy within a multi-chamber vacuum system confirmation Methods and apparatus for processing a substrate are described herein. A vacuum multi-chamber deposition tool can include a degas chamber with both a heating mechanism and a variable frequency microwave source. A method for degassing a substrate can include positioning a substrate comprising a polymer or an epoxy within a processing chamber maintained between a degas temperature and a glass transition temperature, exposing the substrate to variable frequency microwave radiation, exposing the substrate to a plasma comprising an inert gas, removing oxygen containing compounds from the chamber, raising the pressure of inert gas in the chamber, and maintaining the pressure of inert gas while cooling the substrate to a temperature lower than the degas temperature.
US09171704B2	Mass spectrometer A mass spectrometer of reduced size and weight is provided which is capable to conduct highly accurate mass spectroscopy. The mass spectrometer includes an ion source adapted to ionize gas flowing in from outside in order to ionize a measurement sample and a mass spectroscopy section for separating the ionized measurement sample. The ion source has its interior reduced in pressure by differential pumping from the mass spectroscopy section and ionizes the gas when the interior pressure rises as it inhales the gas, and the mass spectroscopy section separates the ionized measurement sample when its interior pressure falls after inhale of the gas. The mass spectrometer may further include a restriction device for suppressing a flow rate of the gas the ion source inhales and an open/close device for opening and closing a flow of the gas the ion source inhales.
US09171697B2	Method and apparatus for an imaging system The present invention provides apparatus for an imaging system comprising a multitude of imaging elements upon a substrate. In some embodiments the substrate may be approximately round with a radius of approximately one inch. Various methods relating to using and producing an imaging system are discussed.
US09171696B2	Orientation imaging using wide angle convergent beam diffraction in transmission electron microscopy Methods of orientation imaging microscopy (OIM) techniques generally performed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) for nanomaterials using dynamical theory is presented. Methods disclosed may use a wide angle convergent beam electron diffraction for performing OIM by generating a diffraction pattern having at least three diffraction discs that may provide additional information that is not available otherwise.
US09171693B2	Coated X-ray window An X-ray window including a primary and a secondary window element. In order to evaporate debris by ohmic heating, current flows through the secondary (upstream) window element. Meanwhile, electric charge originating from electron irradiation and/or depositing charged particles is to be drained off the window element. To prevent large debris particles from short-circuiting the window element and changing the desired heating pattern, the current for heating the window element flows through a layer which is insulated from the charge-drain layer.
US09171689B2	Method for making carbon nanotube field emitter A method for making carbon nanotube field emitter includes providing a carbon nanotube array formed on a surface of a substrate. A plurality of carbon nanotubes of the carbon nanotube array is selected and pulled out a carbon nanotube film by a drawing tool, wherein the carbon nanotube film includes a plurality of carbon nanotubes oriented along a fixed direction. The carbon nanotube film is cut to a plurality of uniform carbon nanotube sub-films along the fixed direction. The plurality of carbon nanotube sub-films is treated to a plurality of carbon nanotube yarns. The plurality of carbon nanotube yarns is fixed on a surface of a conductive base, and cutting off the plurality of carbon nanotube yarns by a laser beam, to form a carbon nanotube field emitter.
US09171688B2	Cold field emission cathode using carbon nanotubes Devices for use in cold-field emission and methods of forming the device are generally presented. In one example, a method may include providing a conductive base, dispersing carbon-filled acrylic onto the conductive base to form a conductive film, coupling a copper plate to a first side of the conductive film, and irradiating the conductive film. The method may further include dispersing carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on a second side of the conductive film to form a substantially uniform layer of CNTs, removing excess CNTs from the second side, and curing the conductive film. In one example, a device may include a polycarbonate base, a layer of carbon-filled acrylic on one side of the polycarbonate base and a layer of irradiated carbon-filled acrylic on the other, a copper plate coupled to the carbon-filled acrylic, and a substantially uniform layer of randomly aligned CNTs dispersed on the irradiated carbon-filled acrylic.
US09171686B2	Bistable electric switch with shape memory actuator A bistable electric switch is described. The switch has as actuators a pair of opposing SMA wires acting on a drive element integral with a snap-action spring so as to toggle the snap-action spring between two stable positions corresponding to two operating positions of the switch, the drive element being shorter than the distance existing between the two opposing SMA wires when one of the SMA wires is contracted and the other SMA wire is uncontracted. The entire force exerted by the activated SMA wire is used to overcome the resistance of the snap-action spring.
US09171680B2	Nanoelectromechanical switch with localized nanoscale conductive pathway The present invention is directed to a nanoelectromechanical (NEM) switch comprising two electrodes (12, 18), wherein: at least one (18) of the electrodes comprises an active layer (10) thereon; and at least one (12) of the electrodes is movable along a given direction (z), from a: non-contact position to a contact position where one of the electrodes contacts the other one (18) of the electrodes, at the level of a contact point (P); and the active layer exhibits a conductive pathway (16), which pathway: extends along said given direction (z) to enable electrical conduction from one of the electrodes to the other one of the electrodes in the contact position; and is confined to a given region (R1) of the active layer, the region having nanoscale dimensions in a sectional plane (x, y) perpendicular to the given direction. The present invention is further directed to related devices, systems and methods.
US09171665B2	Integrated inductor assemblies and methods of assembling same An integrated inductor assembly is provided. The integrated inductor assembly includes a magnetic core, a first inductor, and a second inductor. The magnetic core has a first side, an opposing second side, and an opening defined within the magnetic core. The opening extends into the magnetic core from at least one of the first side and the second side. The first inductor includes a first conductive winding inductively coupled to the magnetic core. The first conductive winding includes a first shorting segment positioned within the opening. The second inductor includes a second conductive winding inductively coupled to the magnetic core. The second conductive winding includes a second shorting segment positioned within the opening. The first and second inductors are configurable to operate independently of one another.
US09171664B2	Touch input device and induction coil thereof An induction coil of a touch input device provided in the present invention includes a ribbon cable and a coupling device. The ribbon cable is disposed on a plane, and the ribbon cable has a first terminal and a second terminal and has a plurality of wires. The ribbon cable defines a sensing region on the plane by a plurality of bends. The coupling device is utilized to couple the wires at the first terminal and the second terminal such that the wires form a circuit with a plurality of turns wound by a single conducting wire. A touch input device is further provided in the present invention.
US09171658B2	Flat-conductor connection element for an antenna structure A flat-conductor connection element for an antenna structure is described. The flat-conductor connection element is arranged in or on a pane and has: a flat conductor with a base layer, a conductor track, a first dielectric layer, a shield, and a second dielectric layer and a metal frame.
US09171657B2	Glass for insulating composition The invention relates to a composition comprising mica and glass, said glass comprising: 10 to 30 mol % of SiO2 5 to 40 mol % of BaO 15 to 30 mol % of B2O3, the sum of the concentrations of zinc oxide, alkali metal oxide and alkaline earth oxide in the glass extending from 15 to 65 mol %. This composition is intended to be molded at a temperature above the Tg of the glass so as to form composite parts that can serve as an electrical insulator.
US09171648B2	Method of replacing shroud of boiling water nuclear reactor, and associated apparatus An improved method of replacing at least a portion of a shroud apparatus of a BWR includes forming a cut in the shroud and removing at least a portion of the shroud apparatus that is adjacent the cut from a remaining portion of the shroud apparatus. The method also includes positioning a replacement shroud system adjacent the remaining portion of the original shroud apparatus and connecting a plurality of removable fastening devices between the new replacement shroud system and the remaining portion of the original shroud apparatus. The replacement shroud system thus can, in the future, be readily replaced by detaching the removable fastening devices, removing the replacement shroud system, and installing a new replacement shroud system with less effort than was required in cutting through the original shroud and replacing it with the replacement shroud system. An improved replacement shroud system is also disclosed.
US09171642B2	Sampling network A circuit with a sampling network may include a pair of capacitors, where each of the capacitors has a first node and a second node; a first pair of switches communicatively coupling corresponding differential input voltage signals to the first node of each of the capacitors; and a second pair of switches communicatively coupling the second node of each of the capacitors to a common mode voltage source. Corresponding differential output voltage signals at the second node of each of the capacitors may be communicatively coupled using a differential switch. The second pair of switches may be coupled in parallel with the differential switch. A clock signal of the differential switch may be de-asserted prior to de-asserting corresponding clock signals for each of the second pair of switches.
US09171633B2	Memory and sense parameter determination methods Memory devices and methods for operating a memory include filtering a histogram of sensed data of the memory, and adjusting a parameter used to sense the memory using the filtered histogram. Filtering can be accomplished by averaging or summing, and may include weighting the sums or averages.
US09171629B1	Storage device, memory controller and memory control method According to one embodiment, a storage device comprises a nonvolatile memory and a memory controller that performs reading and writing data from and into the nonvolatile memory. A number, not being 2n, of threshold areas can be set in the memory cells of the nonvolatile memory. The memory controller performs first writing based on first data value assignment, which sets 2n data values to correspond to 2n threshold areas, in first-time writing into a first memory cell of the nonvolatile memory and performs second writing on the first memory cell after the first writing without erasing data based on second data value assignment, which sets 2n data values to correspond to 2n threshold areas including threshold areas not used in the first data value assignment.
US09171611B2	Nonvolatile memory apparatus and operating method thereof A method operates a nonvolatile memory apparatus. The method includes performing a first write operation to store first data in first to third memory cells; and performing a second write operation to store second data in the first to third memory cells in which the first data has been stored, wherein, as a result of the first write operation and the second write operation, each of the first to third memory cells has one of first to third states.
US09171606B2	Semiconductor device having complementary bit line pair Disclosed herein is a semiconductor device comprising complementary pair of bit lines, memory cells connected to the bit lines, dummy cells having the same structure as the memory cells, a differential sense amplifier, an equalizing circuit equalizing potentials of the bit lines, and a control circuit. The memory cells are disconnected from the bit lines and the dummy cells are connected to the bit lines, and subsequently the bit lines are equalized by the equalizing circuit. When accessing a selected memory cell, the equalizing circuit is inactivated, a corresponding dummy cell is disconnected from the bit line, and subsequently the selected memory cell is connected to the bit line. Thereafter, the sense amplifier is activated so that potentials of the bit lines are amplified respectively.
US09171599B2	Circuits, apparatuses, and methods for oscillators Circuits, apparatuses, and methods are disclosed for oscillators. In one such example oscillator circuit, a plurality of delay stages are coupled in series. A variable delay circuit stage is coupled to the plurality of delay stages and is configured to delay a signal through the variable delay circuit stage by a variable delay. The variable delay increases responsive to a rising magnitude of a supply voltage provided to the variable delay circuit stage.
US09171595B2	Semiconductor device including negative bias voltage generation circuit A semiconductor device includes a bit line connected to memory cells, a negative bias voltage generation circuit generating a negative bias voltage that is to be applied to the bit line during writing, and a negative bias reference voltage generation unit generating a negative bias reference voltage based on a resistance ratio between a first resistor and a second resistor.
US09171592B2	Semiconductor integrate circuit Provided is a semiconductor integrated circuit according to an exemplary aspect of the present invention including a data transmitting circuit that transmits data in parallel through a plurality of signal lines and a data receiving circuit that receives the data. The data transmitting circuit includes a plurality of data output circuits that output the data in a data transmission mode or set an output to a high impedance state in a HiZ mode, a plurality of data selection circuits that select one of the data and fixed data and output the selected data to the data output circuits, and a control circuit that controls the data output circuits to output the fixed data during a period between a time when a mode is switched from the HiZ mode to the data transmission mode and a time when the data output circuits start to output the data.
US09171582B2	Rugged hard drive According to an embodiment of the disclosure, an apparatus includes a sleeve configured to surround a hard drive. The sleeve includes a side portion, a bottom portion, a top portion, a front portion, and a back portion. At least one of the side portion, the bottom portion, the top portion, the front, or the back portion is made of an elastomeric material configured to absorb a portion of shock or vibration from being imparted on the hard drive. Additionally, at least one of the side portion, the top portion, or the bottom portion is tapered.
US09171580B2	Systems and methods for recording and playing back programs having desirable recording attributes Systems and methods for recording multiple copies of a program are provided. The method may include receiving a user instruction to record a program. A determination may be made to record multiple copies of the program. In response to the determination, multiple copies of the program may be recorded. A user instruction to display the recorded program may be received. A copy of the program may be played back. The user may switch to another copy of the recorded program if the original copy lacks desirable recording attributes, or the interactive television application may automatically switch to another copy of the program.
US09171577B1	Encoding and decoding selectively retrievable representations of video content A system and method disposed to enable encoding, decoding and manipulation of digital video with substantially less processing load than would otherwise required. In particular, one disclosed method is directed to generating a compressed video data structure that is selectively decodable to a plurality of resolutions including the full resolution of the uncompressed stream. The desired number of data components and the content of the data components that make up the compressed video data, which determine the available video resolutions, are variable based upon the processing carried out and the resources available to decode and process the data components. During decoding, efficiency is substantially improved because only the data components necessary to generate a desired resolution are decoded. In variations, both temporal and spatial decoding are utilized to reduce frame rates, and hence, further reduce processor load. The system and method are particularly useful for real-time video editing applications.
US09171569B2	Method and apparatus for assisting with content key changes A process may be utilized by the DVR. The process receives a plurality of segments of a set of content and a plurality of corresponding content rule sets. Further, the process provides one or more instructions to record and encrypt the plurality of segments of the set of content on a storage medium. In addition, the process provides the plurality of content rule sets to the DRM component to be inserted into a locally generated and secured content license associated with the encryption of the set of content. The secured content license includes a master key and a list of the plurality of corresponding content rule sets that have been received in order of reception. The process receives a plurality of marker tokens from the DRM component in order to facilitate trick mode playback.
US09171567B1	Data storage device employing sliding mode control of spindle motor A data storage device is disclosed comprising a head actuated over a disk, and a spindle motor configured to rotate the disk. A speed of the spindle motor is sampled, and an error signal is generated based on a difference between the sampled speed and a target speed. A sliding mode control signal for controlling a speed of the spindle motor is generated based on a first non-zero gain when the error signal is greater than zero and less than a first positive threshold, and a second non-zero gain when the error signal is greater than the first positive threshold.
US09171557B1	Write pole paddle A write head having a write pole with a tip portion defining a pole tip and a paddle portion extending from the tip portion away from the pole tip, the paddle portion defining a back edge. The write head also has a coil structure having at least two active turns crossing the paddle portion, wherein a back of the coil structure is no more than 1 micrometer past the back edge of the write pole. In some implementations, a length from the pole tip to the back edge is no more than 4.5 micrometers.
US09171556B2	Magnetic head including two contact sensors A magnetic head includes a medium facing surface, a read head unit, a write head unit, and a protrusion device. The protrusion device causes part of the medium facing surface to protrude toward a recording medium. The read head unit has a first end face located in the medium facing surface and includes a first contact sensor for detecting contact of the first end face with the recording medium. The write head unit has a second end face located in the medium facing surface and includes a second contact sensor for detecting contact of the second end face with the recording medium. The first end face and the second end face are located at positions different from each other in a direction of travel of the recording medium.
US09171554B2	Magnetic disk unit and thermally-assisted magnetic recording method The magnetic disk unit includes: a magnetic recording medium; a thermally-assisted magnetic recording head including a magnetic pole applying a recording magnetic field to the magnetic recording medium and a heating element heating the magnetic recording medium; and a controller allowing the heating element to perform a continuous heating operation at a first temperature for a first time period, and halting the heating operation of the heating element or allowing the heating element to perform a heating operation at a second temperature lower than the first temperature for a second time period that follows the first time period, the first time period having a length substantially equal to or less than a length of a time required for the magnetic recording medium to rotate one turn, and the second time period having a length substantially equal to or more than the length of the first time period.
US09171552B1	Multiple range dynamic level control An audio-based system may perform dynamic level adjustment by detecting voice activity in an input signal and evaluating voice levels during periods of voice activity. The current voice level is compared to a plurality of thresholds to determine a corresponding gain strategy, and the input signal is scaled in accordance with this gain strategy. Further adjustment to the signal is performed to reduce output clipping that might otherwise be produced.
US09171551B2	Unified microphone pre-processing system and method A unified microphone pre-processing system includes a plurality of microphones arranged within a vehicle passenger compartment, a processing circuit or system configured to receive signals from one or more of the plurality of microphones, and the processing circuit configured to enhance the received signals for use by at least two of a telephony processing application, an automatic speech recognition processing application, and a noise cancellation processing application. The method includes receiving signals from one or more of a plurality of microphones arranged within a vehicle passenger compartment, and enhancing the received signals for use by at least two of a telephony processing application, an automatic speech recognition processing application, and a noise cancellation processing application. A computer readable medium containing executable instructions to cause a processor to perform a method in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is also described.
US09171544B2	System for providing a sound source information management service Disclosed is a system for providing a sound source information management service. The system for providing a sound source information management service manages sound source information transmitted from a driver terminal and extracts the sound source information corresponding to voice input data via voice recognition according to the voice input data transmitted from the driver terminal and provides the extracted sound source information to the driver terminal.
US09171543B2	Voice assistant system Methods and apparatuses to assist a user in the performance of a plurality of tasks are provided. The invention includes storing at least one care plan for a resident, the care plan defining a plurality of tasks to be performed for providing care to the resident. Capturing speech inputs from the user, and providing speech outputs to the user to provide a speech dialog with the user reflective of the care plan. Information is captured with a contactless communication interface and is used for engaging the care plan.
US09171537B2	Apparatus and method for cancelling, reducing and modulating noise signal and for signal enhancing and signal proofing The embodiments herein provide an apparatus and method for cancelling signal noise. According to one embodiment, an apparatus for cancelling signal noise has a sensor or receiver to capture the undesirable signals. A transducer converts the energy of the captured signals and modulates the captured undesirable signals. A signal inverting circuit is connected to the transducer to generate the inverse of the captured undesirable signals by inverting the amplitude of the undesirable signal while maintain the frequency at the same level. The generated inverse of the undesirable signal transmitted by a transmitter is received by a receiver and output through a speaker so that the output inverse of the undesirable signal is combined with the undesirable signal to produce a desired signal environment.
US09171533B1	Band driven electronic organ A musical device that includes a housing with a flat top over which a band slides, in both directions, and co-acts with a sensor assembly to detect perforations on the band having predetermined lengths. An electronic simulated musical instrument assembly with inputs adapted to detect each of the sensed coded elements outputs to generate a note or sound for one or more electronically simulated instruments that in turn are amplified and connected to speaker output assemblies. Two or more instruments can play simultaneously and the melody accompaniment, base and percussion performed by the instruments can be changed at any time. A method for playing notes backward without distortion.
US09171532B2	Sound signal analysis apparatus, sound signal analysis method and sound signal analysis program A sound signal analysis apparatus 10 includes sound signal input portion for inputting a sound signal indicative of a musical piece; feature value calculation portion for calculating a first feature value indicative of a feature relating to existence of a beat in one of sections of the musical piece and a second feature value indicative of a feature relating to tempo in one of the sections of the musical piece; and estimation portion for concurrently estimating a beat position and a change in tempo in the musical piece by selecting, from among a plurality of probability models described as sequences of states q classified according to a combination of a physical quantity relating to existence of a beat in one of the sections of the musical piece and a physical quantity relating to tempo in one of the sections of the musical piece, a probability model whose sequence of observation likelihoods each indicative of a probability of concurrent observation of the first feature value and the second feature value in corresponding one of the sections of the musical piece satisfies a certain criterion.
US09171529B2	Tremolo device A tremolo device is provided. The tremolo device has a base plate with a leading edge that comprises a bearing surface. The base plate also comprises a bracket for attachment of a lever. The tremolo device also includes a pivot rail comprising a pivot bearing surface that matingly engages the bearing surface of the leading edge. When matingly engaged, the bearing surface of the leading edge and the pivot bearing surface defines 3 or more contact surfaces having a length of from about 20% to about 100% of the length of the leading edge.
US09171525B2	Graphics processing unit with a texture return buffer and a texture queue A processor and a system are provided for performing texturing operations loaded from a texture queue that provides temporary storage of texture coordinates and texture values. The processor includes a texture queue implemented in a memory of the processor, a crossbar coupled to the texture queue, and one or more texture units coupled to the texture queue via the crossbar. The crossbar is configured to reorder texture coordinates for consumption by the one or more texture units and to reorder texture values received from the one or more texture units.
US09171521B2	Tuning display devices A technique comprising: determining a correction to a drive voltage for the front plane common electrode of a first display device according to the result of one or more measurements of an optical property for the first display device and the result of one or more measurements of said optical property for one or more other devices including an optical medium having the same optical response as the first display device.
US09171515B2	Liquid crystal panel, scanning circuit and method for generating and utilizing angle waves to pre-charge succeeding gate line A liquid crystal panel, a scanning circuit and a method for generating angle waves are provided. A scanning circuit for generating angle waves includes a scanning module and a plurality of angle wave modules. The scanning module has a plurality of scan output ends for outputting scan driving signals respectively in order, wherein the scan driving signal includes a first voltage and a second voltage. The angle wave modules are electrically connected to the scan output ends respectively in order; wherein a second output end of each angle wave module is electrically connected a first output end of next one of the angle wave modules, whereby a part of electrical energy received by the second output end of the angle wave modules is transmitted to the first output end of the next one of the angle wave modules.
US09171485B2	Geodatabase information processing A system is described for processing data of at least one location aware devices for obtaining geo-information. The system comprises an input means for obtaining vector-based data from at least one location aware devices, a data processor for inserting information from the vector-based data into a raster-based data structure so as to derive geo-information based on the raster-based data structure. A corresponding method as well as corresponding computer program products also are described.
US09171482B2	Providing diet and exercise plans with real time tracking, modification, and notification The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for providing diet and exercise plans and for providing real time tracking and notifications of the user's conformance with a plan. The plan can be dynamically updated in real time based on the user's compliance with the plan. In some embodiments, the present invention can be implemented using a user's mobile phone that communicates with one or more other computing devices that are incorporated into exercise devices.
US09171480B2	Early learning tools and kits including manipulator devices for organized play Disclosed are manipulator devices for use in learning games, and kits utilizing the same. The manipulator devices may be a substantially elongated and flat body formed of flexible material and at least partially stuffed to resemble a bean bag. The body is adapted to be capable of manipulation between an unfolded position and a folded position, where the folded position conceals an identifiable attribute of the device selected from the group consisting of a number or a symbol. The kits may include three or more manipulator devices each having at least two attributes identifiable by children and allowing them to associate the plurality of devices into subsets according to shared types of these attributes.
US09171479B2	Training system of a powered vehicle A training system for the solo operation of a powered vehicle, wherein the system includes: —providing means for electronic control of the speed and orientation of a ground vehicle or of the speed, orientation and height of a flying vehicle; —providing a virtual enclosure training area delineated by a plurality of spaced sensors; —providing means associated with said vehicle for communicating with, and receiving instructions from, each of said sensors; —whereby instructions received from said sensors may be used to control said means for electronic control such that movement of said vehicle is restricted to said virtual enclosure training area, and within said virtual enclosure training area, the speed and orientation of a ground vehicle or the speed, orientation and height of a flying vehicle controlled within preset parameters.
US09171477B2	Method and system for recognizing and assessing surgical procedures from video A Method and System For Recognizing and Assessing Surgical Procedures from a video or series of still images is described. Evaluation of surgical techniques of residents learning skills in areas such as cataract surgery is an important aspect of the learning process. The use of videos has become common in such evaluations, but is a time consuming manual process. The present invention increases the efficiency and speed of the surgical technique evaluation process by identifying and saving only information that is relevant to the evaluation process. Using image processing techniques of the present invention, an anatomic structure of a surgical procedure is located on a video, timing of predefined surgical stages is determined, and measurements are taken from frames of the predefined surgical stages to allow the performance of a surgeon to be assessed in an automated and efficient manner.
US09171476B2	System and method for airport surface management Described herein are systems and methods for surface management of an airport. One embodiment of the disclosure of this application is related to a method including receiving airport data from an airport network, receiving surface surveillance data for specific segments of an airport area, identifying predicted conflicts within one of the segments based on the airport data and surface surveillance data, and allocating a taxi time slot for the flight. Another embodiment of the disclosure of this application is related to a system comprising a user interface displaying information related to flight plan data and airport data received from an airport network, and a surface management module receiving the airport data and surface surveillance data for specific segments of an airport area, identifying predicted conflicts within one of the segments based on the airport data and surface surveillance data, and allocating a taxi time slot for the flight.
US09171475B2	Method for determining a potential conflict situation The invention relates to a method for determining a potential conflict situation (2) between objects within a multidimensional traffic area (1), with the objects each moving on predetermined trajectories (T1 to T11), having the following steps: a) subdivision of the traffic area (1), with respect to at least one dimension (x, y, z, t) of the traffic area (1), into at least two partial traffic areas (11, 12, 13, 14, 41, 42, 51, 52, 53, 61), and b) repetition of steps a) and b) corresponding to those partial traffic areas (11, 12, 13, 14, 41, 42, 51, 52, 53, 61) which were subdivided in step a) and are influenced by at least two trajectories (T2, T3), with a potential conflict situation (2) between at least two trajectories (T2, T3) which jointly influence a partial traffic area (113) being determined as a function of an extent with respect to at least one dimension (x, y, z, t) of the partial traffic area (113).
US09171470B2	Wireless locating and monitoring system A wireless tracking device including a positioning system for determining a location of the device and a processor connected to the positioning system. The wireless tracking device further including a wireless radio connected to the processor for transmitting the location of the device across a wireless area network.A vehicle monitoring system including a sensor, a microcontroller configured to receive a sensor input from the sensor and determine a vehicle condition data, and a wireless transmitter in communication with the microcontroller. The wireless transmitter is configured to transmit the vehicle condition data to a remote data network access point.A method of monitoring a vehicle including determining a status of the vehicle, locating an available wireless data network access point, and transmitting the status of the vehicle though the access point.
US09171452B2	AC induction noise canceler A method for removing noise from an electrical signal in an alarm system using a software filter, the method including the steps of converting the electrical signal from an analog signal into a digital signal, wherein the digital signal includes a series of sampled values, entering a most recent of the sampled values into a circular index containing a number of previously sampled values, multiplying each of the values in the circular index by a predetermined filter coefficient, and summing products of each of the multiplied circular index values and filter coefficients to arrive at a filtered digital signal value.
US09171443B2	Marking material A material for indelibly and uniquely marking an article for identification purposes includes a mixture including between about 1% and 10% by weight fluorescent identifier, DNA, and the remainder including predominantly a solvent.
US09171439B2	Method and apparatus for powering a security device A security apparatus and method for protecting merchandise items is presented. In the preferred embodiment, a merchandise security device includes a housing with an access door that has an open position and a closed position, a primary power source, a secondary power source and alarm system. The alarm system determines when a voltage of the primary power source drops below a threshold value. When the voltage drops below the threshold value, the alarm system switches to the secondary power source for its power. When the alarm system is in a standby mode, it will not generate alarms when operating on the secondary power source. However, when the alarm system has not been placed into a standby mode, the alarm system will generate alarms when operating on the secondary power source and the access door is in the open position.
US09171435B2	System and method for light-based identification A visual identification system and device for providing a light based identification alert. The device comprises a housing and a light source disposed within the housing for producing the light based identification alert. The device further includes a processor configured to control activation of the light source in response to receiving a light source control request from a remote source. The processor is further configured to receive an override command for overriding the light source control request so as to prevent the remote source from controlling the light source. In various embodiments, the light source includes one or more activation modes, including a visible light mode and an invisible light mode.
US09171433B1	Use of NFC in conjunction with other range-based sensors to detect theft of other devices A system and method for monitoring devices using near field communications (NFC) techniques is disclosed. A plurality of host devices each incorporates a NFC device. An audio or visual alert device is incorporated into each host device and is coupled to its associated NFC device. A detector has a detector NFC device. A monitor is incorporated in the detector and is coupled to the detector NFC device. An alert activator in each host device is coupled to the associated NFC device and associated alert device and activates the associated alert device when one of the host NFC devices moves out of communication range with another host NFC device. A monitor activator in the detector device coupled to the detector NFC device and the monitor activates the monitor when the one NFC device moves out of communication range with the other NFC device.
US09171430B2	Media item transporter A media item transporter which accommodates media items and bunches media items of various thicknesses. The media item transporter includes a first transport member and a further transport member located opposite the first transport member to transport a bunch of media items located between the transport members along a transport path, a drive mechanism to move a one of the first and further transport members towards or away from a remainder one of the first and further transport members to selectively locate the first and further transport members in a selectable spaced apart relationship, and at least one sensor to determine a position of the one transport member with respect to the remainder one transport member.
US09171429B2	Slots game with improving bonus-winning odds Methods, systems, and computer programs are presented for adjusting bonus winning odds while playing an online slots game. One method includes an operation for receiving user input during a session of an online slots game, where the user input is defined to spin wheels of the online slots game. In addition, the method includes an operation for defining an initial tier and one or more additional tiers for play of the online slots game during the session, each tier being assigned an odds value that changes with each assigned tier, and each tier being defined to have a set of spins. Further, the method includes operations for assigning tiers with changed odds when an option to play a bonus game is not presented during the predefined set of spins for each tier, and for assigning the initial tier upon determining that the bonus game was played during the session.
US09171428B2	Gaming method and apparatus for facilitating a game involving specialty functionality Various embodiments concern a method for facilitating a gaming activity having specialty functionality comprising providing a grid formed by a plurality of elements and marking elements of the plurality with markings selected from a plurality of marking-types, the plurality of marking-types including a feature marking-type. A plurality of feature indicators can be positioned in the grid. Then, for each element of the plurality that is marked with the feature marking-type and positionally associated with a feature indicator of the plurality, the feature marking-type can be re-marked to a respective element of the plurality that is adjacent to the element marked with the feature marking-type and positionally associated with the feature indicator. An outcome can then be determined based on one or more combinations of the markings.
US09171427B2	Gaming device having multiple spins for winning outcomes Embodiments of the present invention set forth systems, apparatuses and methods for providing multiple spins during gaming events to provide increased opportunities to receive winning outcomes. Accordingly, a gaming device can be configured to have a plurality of reels with multiple symbols on each reel. A portion of the symbols on each reel are displayed on a game grid having a number of symbol positions. During a gaming event, the symbols are randomly arranged via a first spin on game grid to generate a first configuration and a determination is made as to whether the first condition satisfies a predetermined condition. When the predetermined condition is satisfied, the reels or symbols in the symbol positions associated with the predetermined condition are held while the remaining reels or symbol positions are subjected to a second spin to randomly generate a second configuration.
US09171422B2	Gaming system having awards provided based on rate of play Gaming systems and methods for operating a gaming system are provided. The gaming system includes a controller operable with a plurality of gaming devices. Based at least in part on wagering activity, the controller determines a ranking for a plurality of gaming devices in the gaming system. The controller determines a plurality of the ranked gaming devices that are eligible for a designated award and, for each of the plurality of eligible gaming devices, determines a probability of being selected to win the designated award. The controller selects at least one of the eligible gaming devices based part on the determined probability for said at least one eligible gaming device, and causes the at least one selected gaming device to provide the designated award.
US09171418B2	Gaming devices and gaming systems with multiple display device arrangement Gaming systems, gaming terminals, and multi-display arrangements for a wagering game terminal are presented herein. A gaming system for conducting a wagering game is disclosed which includes at least one input device, at least one processor, first and second electronic display devices, and an electronic display-transition device. The first and second electronic display devices are mounted in side-by-side, non-coplanar relationship and spaced a gap apart from each other. Each of the display devices is configured to dynamically display aspects of the wagering game. The electronic display-transition device extends across the gap from the first electronic display device to the second electronic display device. The electronic display-transition device is also configured to dynamically display aspects of the wagering game. The electronic display-transition device can have a curvilinear cross-sectional profile and/or a flexible display screen.
US09171405B1	Identifying and filling holes across multiple aligned three-dimensional scenes The capture and alignment of multiple 3D scenes is disclosed. Three dimensional capture device data from different locations is received thereby allowing for different perspectives of 3D scenes. An algorithm uses the data to determine potential alignments between different 3D scenes via coordinate transformations. Potential alignments are evaluated for quality and subsequently aligned subject to the existence of sufficiently high relative or absolute quality. A global alignment of all or most of the input 3D scenes into a single coordinate frame may be achieved. The presentation of areas around a particular hole or holes takes place thereby allowing the user to capture the requisite 3D scene containing areas within the hole or holes as well as part of the surrounding area using, for example, the 3D capture device. The new 3D captured scene is aligned with existing 3D scenes and/or 3D composite scenes.
US09171401B2	Conservative partitioning for rendering a computer-generated animation A system for partitioning a set of assets, where each asset represents a computer-generated object associated with a computer-generated scene. A dependency graph comprising a plurality of interconnected nodes including an organizer node is accessed. The set of assets identified by an input of a predicate test of the organizer node are accessed. It is determined if the at least one predicate test can be evaluated using the set of assets. If the at least one predicate test can be evaluated, one or more partition assets are identified and passed to a next node. If the at least one predicate test cannot be evaluated, a conservative set of assets is identified and passed to the next node, wherein the conservative set of assets is the same set of assets identified by the input of the predicate test.
US09171393B2	Three-dimensional texture reprojection Methods and systems for three-dimensional texture reprojection are provided herein. The method includes calculating an initial distance vector from a vertex within a 3D mesh of an object to each of a plurality of texture images. For each texture image, the method also includes determining coordinates of an intersection point of the initial distance vector with the texture image, determining a number of neighboring points within a specified distance from the intersection point, and calculating an overall distance vector from the neighboring points to any of the points within the 3D mesh. Furthermore, the method includes determining a number of texture images with a lowest difference between the initial distance vector and the overall distance vector.
US09171392B2	Lenticular product having a radial lenticular blending effect A method of integrating a radial zoom effect with a complementary radial image transition effect includes integrating the effects such that the two blended radial effects share a common center, and thereby share common displacement paths during the perceived transition. In addition to the visual appeal of the effect, the invention also resolves operational incompatibilities between the practice of commercial photography and the practice of lenticular printing. A lenticular product is formed in accordance with this method.
US09171388B2	Object display device and object display method In an object display device, in the case that a marker is not detected at present, a display complementing unit acquires a change in an image in real space displayed on a display unit between the past when the marker was detected and the present. Since a virtual object is displayed based on the position and shape of the marker in the image in real space, the display position and display manner of the virtual object are also to be changed in accordance with a change in the image in real space. A display decision unit can therefore decide the display position and display manner of the virtual object at present from the display position and display manner of the virtual object in the past, based on the change in the image in real space between the past and the present.
US09171385B2	Image processing apparatus capable of determining color amount, image processing method, and program When a printing fee is changed, if a printing fee is changed to one for a color amount that is smaller than an actual color amount of an input image, an image processing apparatus automatically performs image processing in order to maximize the color amount at the selected printing fee and prints an image processing result.
US09171372B2	Depth estimation based on global motion This disclosure describes techniques for estimating a depth of image objects for a two-dimensional (2D) view of a video presentation. For example, a plurality of feature points may be determined for a 2D view. The plurality of feature points may be used to estimate global motion, e.g., motion of an observer (e.g., camera), of the 2D view. For example, the plurality of feature points may be used to generate a global motion frame difference. The global motion frame difference may be used to create a depth map for the 2D view, which may be used to generate an alternative view of the video presentation that may be used to display a three-dimensional (3D) video presentation.
US09171367B2	Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and program An image processing apparatus includes a calculation unit configured to calculate information indicating similarity among a plurality of tomographic images, and a generation unit configured to generate a tomographic image from the plurality of tomographic images based on the calculated information indicating similarity.
US09171366B2	Method for localization of an epileptic focus in neuroimaging In a method for localizing a candidate foci in neuroimaging, two images are acquired, one being a baseline (interictal) image and another being an intervention (ictal) image. The two images are aligned and the intensities of the images are normalized. A difference image is calculated by subtracting the baseline (interictal) image from the intervention (ictal) image. The difference image is normalized and regions of interest are selected as candidate foci.
US09171360B2	Method for determining the luminance of traffic signs and device for implementing same The method of the invention comprises: obtaining a sequence of at least two images, with different levels of illumination; extracting the region containing the sign in the image; calculating the luminance values of the signs; and obtaining the difference in luminance of the sign corresponding to the two levels of illumination. The value obtained is the luminance of the sign (11) corresponding to an illumination equal to the difference between the illuminations, or additional illumination. This result is based on the additive property of luminance, according to which the luminance of a sign is the sum of the luminance produced by each source of illumination. A basic illumination device (5), an additional illumination device (7), at least one camera for taking images, and image recording, positioning and synchronism systems are required to implement the method.
US09171359B1	Method and system for auto-correcting perspective distortion in document images Auto-correcting perspective distortion in document images is described. Line segments are identified in a distorted document image. Line segments are combined to form candidate lines. Candidate lines are grouped into a substantially horizontal group of lines and a substantially vertical group of lines. Linear equations are calculated to fit the substantially horizontal group of lines. Linear equations are calculated to fit the substantially vertical group of lines. The distorted document image is transformed based on two linear equations associated with two substantially horizontal lines and two linear equations associated with two substantially vertical lines.
US09171358B2	Image editing device and image editing method An image editing device of the present invention, for editing a combined photographic image formed by combining a plurality of images, comprises a first image processing section for carrying out first image processing on the image and creating a first image, a second image processing section for carrying out second image processing on the first image to create a second image, a combined photograph processing section for creating a combined photograph by combining the second image in accordance combining position of the combined photograph, and a control section for, after the first image processing has been carried out, creating a combined photograph by combining the second image that has been subjected to the second image processing in accordance with combining position of the combined photograph by the combined photograph processing section, and storing the combined photograph and the first image as a single image file.
US09171351B2	Image processing device that synthesizes image An image processing device, includes: an obtaining unit which successively obtains a plurality of images; a synthesis unit which partially superimposes the plurality of images obtained by the obtaining unit to generate a synthesis image when the obtaining unit obtains the images; a first judgment unit which judges whether the synthesis image contains a feature region having a predetermined feature when the synthesis image is generated by the synthesis unit; and a control unit which makes predetermined processing be executed when the first judgment unit judges that the synthesis image contains the feature region.
US09171350B2	Adaptive resolution DGPU rendering to provide constant framerate with free IGPU scale up Embodiments of the present invention are directed to provide novel methods and a system for adaptive resolution rendering via scaling in a multiple graphics processor system. A method is described herein that maintains a constant framerate by reducing the resolution of the graphical output rendered in one graphics processor and using another graphics processor in the same computing system to scale the already-rendered output to its original intended resolution when the framerate drops below a desired threshold.
US09171349B1	Method and system for application broadcast Methods and apparatuses are described for application broadcasting. For one embodiment, pixel data being broadcast from a moderator to one or more participants is divided into tiles. Display data is generated for each tile. Each display data segment (segment) contains the pixel data for the tile, and also contains a tile identifier. The segments are periodically evaluated. If the pixel data has changed, the segment is replaced with the most recent segment corresponding to that tile. A time indicator is also included within each segment for each tile indicating the time at which the segment was updated. A participant DPS requests data from the server and provides the time indicator for the last segment it received. The server then transmits the current segment for each tile that has been updated subsequently. This allows presentation at the participant's DPS of the most current version of the moderator's display screen.
US09171345B2	System and method for terminal capacity management A system and method for determining rail terminal capacity needs. In one embodiment, terminal railcar inventory is determined periodically throughout a specific time interval based on terminal traffic data. Train traffic data is accessed and indexed into discrete time periods, such as daily and hourly intervals. Dwell occupancy indexes are created with periodic intervals, and assigned dwell occupancy values based on said dwell occupancy definitions and traffic data. The railcar inventory of the train terminal at any particular time may then be determined by cross-tabulating the occupancy dwell values, and applying business rules. The number and size of tracks needed to accommodate a rail terminal may be determined by assigning blocks of railcars to terminal tracks. Using the railcar inventory, a list of railcar blocks, railcar block sizes, railcar block classifications, and track classifications is created. After specifying switch parameters, the list of railcar blocks is evaluated based on the list of railcar block sizes and the list of railcar block classifications. The list of railcar blocks is then assigned to the terminal tracks, based on the list of railcar block classifications, the list of track classifications, and the switching parameters. After assigning the blocks to tracks, a final list of tracks that have been assigned blocks is generated.
US09171339B2	Behavior change detection A computer program product includes a tangible storage medium readable by a processing circuit and on which instructions are stored for execution by the processing circuit for performing a method. The method includes, upon receiving utility consumption data of a group of elements, defining clusters of elements by like geography and like utility consumption, evaluating a significance of each cluster by comparing an average utility consumption within the cluster with utility consumption of elements neighboring the cluster and determining from a result of the evaluating which clusters exhibit significant differences in utility consumption from the neighboring elements and defining those clusters as regional outliers.
US09171328B2	Method for transferring shopping cart contents to a register from a mobile electronic device A method is disclosed for allowing a customer to create a digital shopping cart on a mobile electronic device while shopping at a brick and mortar store. The customer may scan barcodes, e.g. UPC variants, from a product with the camera of the mobile electronic device and record these product barcodes into the mobile electronic device. The shopping cart contents may be transferred to a checkout register without a data connection between the register and the device. The mobile electronic device may create one or more 2D barcodes with the item information embedded into the 2D barcode and may display the barcode on the device screen. Multiple 2D barcodes may be displayed in sequence. The 2D barcode may be scanned at the checkout register to read the barcode and thereby transmit the shopping cart information to the checkout register.
US09171300B2	Retail convenience market technology with enhanced vendor administration and user mobile app functionality A self-service, self-checkout micro-market retail shopping system for disposition and use in an private or public office, factory or other workspace for use by employees, workers and the like. The micro-market may supply snacks, candies, beverages, other food items and various convenience items such as toiletries for use by employees, workers and other during the work day, lunch and break time. The micro-market may also supply work related items such as uniforms and apparel, tools, office supplies, travel accessories and the like. The devices and process also include enhanced vendor administration tools and functionality. The devices and process also include enhanced user ability to use mobile devices and apps, and on-line tools for creating and managing accounts and for purchasing items.
US09171289B2	Methods and systems for producing, previewing, and publishing a video press release over an electronic network The present invention relates to methods and systems for producing, previewing and publishing a video press release (“VPR”) over an electronic network. A video press release comprises multimedia information. A software transcoder that performs the function of removing incompatibilities between video file formats and text document file formats for producing, previewing and publishing a VPR is implemented. The present invention assures multimedia compatibility of a VPR across video file formats, web browser formats, computer operating systems, and text file formats by transcoding a video file, as well as compressing, resizing and juxtaposing/transposing the transcoded video file along with a text presentation received from a text file, and presenting the so-produced VPR to Internet audience. The invention operates with a webpage of a secure Internet website so that a single individual for a public or private company or other organizations may generate a video press release instantly and efficiently by an accurate, efficient, and time-sensitive method.
US09171282B2	Interactive complex event pattern builder and visualizer Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with complex event pattern building are described. One example method includes receiving, on a server-side, requests associated with user interactions with interactive menus. The method includes responding to the requests with commands that build a set of event-condition-action, data that describes an action to take in response to an occurrence of a complex event pattern. The example method may also include automatically converting the event-condition-action data into a programmatic construct that configures a complex event pattern engine to initiate the specified action in response to detecting an occurrence of the complex event pattern.
US09171281B1	Techniques for filling orders A system includes N location indicators and a mobile scanning device. The N location indicators are configured to be arranged throughout a store that includes a plurality of stocked items for picking according to one or more electronic customer orders. Each of the N location indicators is configured to transmit a different location signal. The mobile scanning device includes a display. The mobile scanning device is configured to wirelessly receive an electronic customer order comprising a plurality of ordered items indicating which of the stocked items are to be picked, detect at least one of the N location signals, and arrange at least some of the plurality of ordered items on the display based on which of the at least one of the N location signals is detected.
US09171275B2	Method for determining communicative value A method of determining which users are experts and which tags are appropriate without some of the disadvantages of the prior art is described. The level of a user's expertise is determined based on previous tags, the categorization of one or more tags, and the rating of the tags previously left by the user. The appropriateness of a tag is based on previous tagging of information by the user, by the number of times a user has tagged information with the same categorization, and the rating of a user.
US09171269B2	System for on-site management of an event A method includes receiving, by a check-in device associated with the event management system, a ticket information for an attendee of an event, the check-in device comprising an access point, the access point being operable to connect by a wireless signal to one or more mobile devices, transmitting, from the check-in device to a gatekeeper system associated with the event management system, the ticket information for the attendee, wherein the gatekeeper system comprises a router, a switch, and a computing system, and wherein the check-in device is communicably connected to the gatekeeper system, validating, by the gatekeeper system, the ticket information for the attendee, and transmitting, from the gatekeeper system to the check-in device, an indication of validity of the ticket information for the attendee.
US09171267B2	System for categorizing lists of words of arbitrary origin The present disclosure provides for categorization of lists of words. The method comprises querying DBpedia to find the resources related to the given list of words. Once the resources are found, the corresponding media Wikipedia categories can be retrieved, as well as their ancestors, generating a graph of categories. A number of graph analysis algorithms can then be applied to the graph, each returning a selected category. For each algorithm a classifier is trained to decide whether the output of the algorithm is indeed the “best” category. An ensemble weighted majority voting can then be used to select the best category based on votes cast by each classifier. The disclosure demonstrates a more accurate selection of the best category and can include an ensemble majority rated voting algorithm comprising all voting members initially casting one vote; i.e., highest frequency, most frequently occurring word, least common ancestor and centrality measures.
US09171262B2	Directed expertise level-based discovery system, method, and device A directed expertise level-based discovery system, method, and device infers an expertise level associated with a system user from a plurality of usage behaviors and delivers one or more computer-implemented objects to the user that are selected in accordance with the inferred expertise level and a directionally distinct relationship between computer-implemented objects. The directed expertise level-based discovery system, method, and device may infer the expertise level from textual information and/or in accordance with calibration information such as test results. Geographic location awareness associated with a portable device may inform the selection of the computer-implemented objects to be delivered to the user. An explanation may be delivered to the user that references information that is used to inform the selection of the computer-implemented objects to be delivered to the user.
US09171261B1	Analyzing or resolving ambiguities in an image for object or pattern recognition Specification covers new algorithms, methods, and systems for artificial intelligence, soft computing, and deep learning/recognition, e.g., image recognition (e.g., for action, gesture, emotion, expression, biometrics, fingerprint, facial, OCR (text), background, relationship, position, pattern, and object), large number of images (“Big Data”) analytics, machine learning, training schemes, crowd-sourcing (using experts or humans), feature space, clustering, classification, similarity measures, optimization, search engine, ranking, question-answering system, soft (fuzzy or unsharp) boundaries/impreciseness/ambiguities/fuzziness in language, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Computing-with-Words (CWW), parsing, machine translation, sound and speech recognition, video search and analysis (e.g. tracking), image annotation, geometrical abstraction, image correction, semantic web, context analysis, data reliability (e.g., using Z-number (e.g., “About 45 minutes; Very sure”)), rules engine, control system, autonomous vehicle, self-diagnosis and self-repair robots, system diagnosis, medical diagnosis, biomedicine, data mining, event prediction, financial forecasting, economics, risk assessment, e-mail management, database management, indexing and join operation, memory management, and data compression.
US09171258B2	Distributed collaborative knowledge generation system System and method related to a distributed collaborative knowledge generation system are disclosed. The distributed collaborative knowledge generation system includes one or more databases configured to store content information related to the distributed collaborative knowledge generation system, a search services module configured to search for the content information, a web services module configured to retrieve and gather the content information, a presentation services module configured to share the content data with multiple users, and a data services module configured to manage the content information by providing interfaces between the one or more databases, the search services module, the web services module, and the presentation services module.
US09171254B2	Method for encoding ontology reasoning on a programmable logic controller A method is disclosed for operating a programmable logic controller which executes program(s) based on cycles having a predetermined cycle time in a predefined memory. An automated reasoning method based on an ontology and a description logic is implemented in the programmable logic controller. To enable this, at least the concepts and roles of the ontology are encoded using index numbers and the axioms of the ontology are encoded using tuples of integral index numbers. The automated reasoning method is interrupted before the end of a cycle and subsequently resumed at the current status of program execution. This allows for the cyclic programming paradigm of a programmable logic controller. The method can be used for any types of programmable logic controller, e.g., controllers of devices belonging to an automation system or energy generation devices. In such scenarios the automated reasoning method may be used for diagnosing the corresponding devices.
US09171253B1	Identifying predictive models resistant to concept drift A plurality of classifiers is identified. A set of test cases is selected based on time. The set of test cases are grouped into a plurality of datasets based on time where each of the plurality of datasets is associated with a corresponding interval of time. Each of the plurality of classifiers is applied to each of the plurality of datasets to generate classifications for test cases in each of the plurality of datasets. For each of the plurality of classifiers, a classification performance score is determined for each of the plurality of datasets based on the classifications generated for the test cases of each dataset. A classifier is selected from among the plurality of classifiers for production based on the classification performance scores of each of the plurality of classifiers across the plurality of datasets.
US09171238B2	Image processing system and method generating lane bitmap elements and receiving position data to adjust position of lane images in the printed image Image processing system for generating control signals for printing means, from source image data from an image source, comprising a raster image processing and layout module configured to convert said source image data into a first lane bitmap element and a second lane bitmap element; a streaming processor arranged to receive said first lane bitmap element and said second lane bitmap element, and position signals comprising position data for said first and/or said second lane image in the printed image; said streaming processor being configured to generate control signals for the printing means based on said first lane bitmap element, said second lane bitmap element, and said position signals in order to be able to adjust the position of said first lane image and/or the position of the second lane image in the printed image.
US09171233B2	Biometric information processing device and biometric information processing program Provided is a small-sized, flat, vein authentication device of high authentication accuracy by photographing a living body several times and thus obtaining as registration data plural images that are picked up at different positions. A biometric information processing device of this invention comprising an image pickup device, which picks up a vein image, an image computing unit, which processes the vein image picked up by the image pickup device, an interface on which a part of a living body to be picked up is placed, and a light source, which emits infrared light. The biometric information processing device is further comprised of a sensor unit, which detects the presence or absence of a subject picked up by the image pickup device, a unit to obtain plural images as registration data, and a unit to select optimum registration data out of images obtained as registration data.
US09171226B2	Image matching using subspace-based discrete transform encoded local binary patterns Determining a match between the subjects of first and second images as a function of decimal-number representations of regions of the first and second images. The decimal-number representations are generated by performing discrete transforms on the regions so as to obtain discrete-transform coefficients, performing local-bit-pattern encoding of the coefficients to create data streams, and converting the data streams to decimal numbers. In one embodiment, the first and second images depict periocular facial regions, and the disclosed techniques can be used for face recognition, even where a small portion of a person's face is captured in an image. Subspace modeling may be used to improve accuracy.
US09171225B2	Device, method, and recording medium for detecting and removing mistracked points in visual odometry systems Three-dimensional coordinates of feature points of an object to be measured are back-projected to a frame image photographed from a specific position, and image coordinates of the back-projected feature points and the feature points in this frame image are compared. In this case, the feature points, which are mismatched, are removed as feature points which are mistracked between plural frames. In this case, two processing systems, of which initial conditions of calculation for obtaining the back-projected coordinates are different from each other, are performed, and the detection of the above mistracked points is performed on each of the two back-projected coordinates. The mistracked points detected in at least one of the processing systems are removed, and are not succeeded to the following processing.
US09171213B2	Two-dimensional and three-dimensional sliding window-based methods and systems for detecting vehicles Provided is a method and system for efficient localization in still images. According to one exemplary method, a sliding window-based 2-D (Dimensional) space search is performed to detect a parked vehicle in a video frame acquired from a fixed parking occupancy video camera including a field of view associated with a parking region.
US09171211B2	Image processing for launch parameters measurement of objects in flight An example embodiment includes a method of measuring launch parameters of an object in flight. The method includes capturing images of an object in flight. A radius of the object and a center of the object are identified in each of the images. A velocity, an elevation angle, and an azimuth angle are calculated based on the radius of the object, the center of the object, and pre-measured camera alignment values. The method further includes cropping the images to a smallest square that bounds the object and flattening the images from spherical representations to Cartesian representations. The method also includes converting the Cartesian representations to polar coordinates with a range of candidate centers of rotations. Based on a fit of the polar image pair, the spin axis and spin rate are measured.
US09171210B2	Method and apparatus for object classifier generation, and method and apparatus for detecting object in image The present invention provides method and apparatus for object classifier generation, and method and apparatus for detecting object in image. The method for generating a two-cell structure feature descriptor of a two-cell structure composed of a center cell and a neighbor cell in an image region, wherein the neighbor cell is one of eight cells around and adjacent to the center cell, the method comprising: calculating step for calculating statistics of gradients in the center cell and the neighbor cell respectively; and comparing step for comparing the calculated statistics of gradients in the center cell and the neighbor cell, so as to obtain a two-cell structure feature descriptor for describing the feature of the two-cell structure, andwherein the two-cell structure feature descriptor is one bit binary value.
US09171206B2	Water tables mapping Described herein are implementations of various technologies for a method for mapping water table depths. In one implementation, a satellite image of an area of interest may be received. The satellite image may comprise a red spectrum, a green spectrum and a blue spectrum. A first map may be generated that identifies only water features on the satellite image. The first map may be convolved with a digital elevation model of the area of interest to generate a second map. The second map may identify elevations of the water features on the satellite image. An interpolation algorithm may be applied to the second map to generate a third map. The third map may identify water tables and elevations for the water tables on the satellite image.
US09171197B2	Facial tracking method A facial tracking method for detecting and tracking at least one face image in a region during a time period. The facial tracking method includes a step of performing an image acquiring operation, a step of performing a facial detecting operation to detect whether there is any face image in the entire of a current photo image, and at least one step of performing a facial tracking operation. For performing the facial tracking operation, plural tracking frames are located around a face image of the current photo image, and a similarity between the face image of the current photo image and the image included in each tracking frame in order to judge whether the face image exists in the next photo image. By the facial tracking method of the present invention, the time period of tracking face images is largely reduced.
US09171192B2	One touch data collection method and medium A method for collecting data and a computer-readable medium are provided. The method includes determining, using a data collection unit, that the data collection unit is physically proximal to a machine, and receiving a tag identifier from a tag positioned in, on, or near the machine using a tag reader of the data collection unit. The method also includes taking one or more measurements of one or more operating conditions of the machine using a sensor of the data collection unit. The method also includes storing the one or more measurements, and associating the one or more measurements with the tag identifier.
US09171170B2	Data and key separation using a secure central processing unit A computing system, comprising includes a first central processing unit (CPU) and a second CPU coupled with the first CPU and with a host processor. The second CPU and the host processor may both request the first CPU to generate keys that have access rights to regions of memory to access specific data. The first CPU may be configured to, in response to a request from the second CPU, generate a unique key with a unique access right to a region of memory, the unique key usable only by the second CPU, not the host processor.
US09171162B2	Random file request for software attestation Technologies pertaining to attesting to computer-executable code residing on a robot are described herein. An attestation server includes a database that comprises file paths that correspond to files on the robot at a time of manufacture of the robot. The database also includes file digests that are indicative of content of the files on the robot. The attestation server randomly selects a file path and transmits the file path to the robot. The robot accesses the file at the file path and computes a file digest for that file. The robot then transmits the file digest to the attestation server, which compares the file digest from the robot with the file digest in the database. If the file digests match, then the attestation server attests to the computer-executable code on the robot.
US09171158B2	Dynamic anomaly, association and clustering detection Techniques are provided for dynamic anomaly, association and clustering detection. At least one code table is built for each attribute in a set of data containing one or more attributes. One or more clusters associated with one or more of the code tables are established. One or more new data points are received. A determination is made if a given one of the new data points is an anomaly. At least one of the one or more code tables is updated responsive to the determination. When a compression cost of a given one of the new data points is greater than a threshold compression cost for each of the one or more clusters, the given one of the new data points is an anomaly.
US09171154B2	Systems and methods for scanning packed programs in response to detecting suspicious behaviors A computer-implemented method for scanning packed programs in response to detecting suspicious behaviors may include (1) executing a packed program that may include (i) malicious code that has been obfuscated within the packed program and (ii) unpacking code that deobfuscates and executes the malicious code when the packed program is executed, (2) monitoring, while the packed program is executing, how the packed program behaves, (3) detecting, while monitoring how the packed program behaves, a suspicious behavior of the malicious code that indicates that the unpacking code has deobfuscated and executed the malicious code, and (4) performing a security operation on the packed program in response to detecting the suspicious behavior of the malicious code. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.
US09171152B1	Systems and methods for preventing chronic false positives A computer-implemented method for preventing chronic false positives may include (1) whitelisting a file based on a challenge notification that challenges a classification of the file as insecure, (2) obtaining attribute information about the file, (3) identifying, by analyzing the attribute information, a primitive that identifies a source of origin for the file, (4) determining, based on an analysis of files that originate from the source of origin, that the source of origin identified by the primitive is trustworthy, and (5) adjusting, based on the determination that the source of origin identified by the primitive is trustworthy, a security policy associated with the primitive to prevent future false positives for other files that originate from the source of origin. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.
US09171151B2	Reputation-based in-network filtering of client event information A policy management system is described herein which generates rules based, at least in part, on reputation information provided by at least one reputation source and client event information forwarded by filtering logic. The policy management system then deploys the rules to the filtering logic. The filtering logic, which resides in-network between clients and at least one service, uses the rules to process client event information sent by the clients to the service(s). In one illustrative environment, the service corresponds to an ad hosting service, which uses the policy management system and filtering logic to help prevent malicious client traffic from reaching the ad host service, or otherwise negatively affecting the ad hosting service.
US09171148B1	Process for reporting and remediating application development standards Embodiments disclosed herein relate to systems, methods, and computer program products for a system for monitoring application development standards. The system, method, and computer program product are configured to access application code on a server associated with a network, wherein the application code is installed on the server; scan the application code to identify applications that are integrated into the application code; identify products in the application code based on the scan, wherein the products are identified based on a textual analysis of the application code; compare the products identified in the application code to a list of non-allowed products; identify non-allowed products in the application code based on the comparison of the products to the list; determine an allowed product as an alternative to the non-allowed product; and provide a report to a user comprising the non-allowed product and the alternative allowed product.
US09171146B2	Method and system for monitoring calls to an application program interface (API) function A method and device for monitoring calls to an application program interface (API) function includes monitoring for a memory permission violation of a computing device caused by the API function call. If a memory permission violation occurs, control of the computing device is transferred to a virtual machine monitor to intervene prior to execution of the API function. The virtual machine monitor may perform one or more actions in response to the API function call.
US09171135B2	Method for acquisition of software applications A method for acquisition of a software application stored on a software application distribution unit and intended to be supplied to a user computer unit is disclosed wherein, the user computer unit communicates an item of identification information identifying the software application to be acquired to an electronic security module connected to the user computer unit. The module generates, using a secret and identification information, an item of user information and transmits it with the identification information to the unit. The unit protects with the user information the software application identified by the identification information and the protected software application is transmitted to the user computer unit. Thus, the software application is protected with an item of information from the electronic security module of the user. The protected software application then has its protection removed on an electronic security unit equipped with an electronic security module.
US09171125B2	Limiting skew between different device types to meet performance requirements of an integrated circuit Methods and systems are provided for that are designed to impose an n-type to p-type device skew constraint that is beyond what normal technology limits allow in order to operate semiconductor devices at lower voltages while still achieving a similar performance at a lower power. More specifically, a method is provided for that includes setting device skew requirements for at least one library element, setting device skew test dispositions for the at least one library element based on the set device skew requirements, designing the at least one library element using device skew assumptions, fabricating the at least one library element on a product that includes at least one device skew monitor, determining an actual device skew of the fabricated at least one library element using the at least one device skew monitor, and determining whether the fabricated product meets target specifications.
US09171104B2	Iterative refinement of cohorts using visual exploration and data analytics Methods and apparatus are provided for iterative refinement of cohorts using visual exploration and data analytics. A cohort comprised of multiple data objects is defined by obtaining an initial cohort seeding; visualizing the initial cohort using a selected view to present a current cohort; reducing the current cohort using one or more visual filters; visualizing the current cohort using a selected view; expanding the current cohort using one or more selected analytics; and determining whether the current cohort should be further modified using one or more of additional reductions and additional expansions. Cohorts can be passed between views and analytics via drag-and-drop interactions as an analysis unfolds.
US09171090B2	Method and apparatus for sharing media content A method that incorporates teachings of the subject disclosure may include, for example, receiving a plurality of operating commands for controlling a first presentation of media content by a first media processor device at a first display device to generate a first viewing experience and transmitting the playback file to a second media processor device via a first network, where a second presentation of the media content by the second media processor device at a second display device according to the plurality of operating commands of the playback file recreates the first viewing experience at the second display device and where the first and second media processor devices are members of the first network based upon common membership in a social media network by a first subscriber associated with the first media processor device and a second subscriber associated with the second media processor device. Other embodiments are disclosed.
US09171087B2	Method and apparatus for the implementation of a real-time, sharable browsing experience on a host device The present invention describes a method and apparatus for the implementation of a real-time, sharable web browsing experience on a host device, utilizing the transfer of URL and form data information. The present invention further describes a method for establishing a synchronized browsing session, comprising sending a request to establish the synchronized browsing session to a synchronization server, receiving a confirmation message from the synchronization server including a session identifier associated with the established synchronized browsing session, and sending an invitation to an invitee to join the synchronized browsing session, wherein the invitation includes the session identifier. The present invention further describes a method for implementing a synchronized browsing session, comprising recording a shared web browsing interaction, and transmitting information related to the shared web browsing interaction to a synchronization server.
US09171084B1	Sorting information by relevance to individuals with passive data collection and real-time injection In one aspect, data, such as information articles, is sorted and prioritized based on a plurality of factors, such as user interest and popularity of data with respect to other users. The data is sorted by initial personal (i.e., user) data, sorted by the most relevant to the user, while passive interaction data is used to continually reorder the articles in real-time, while new stories are being injected into the stream in real time, all while other articles are increasing/decreasing in stature based on popularity with regard to other users and time decay. As such, the system provides that the information is fed to users in an efficient manner, in a manner based on time relevance, assumed interest with regard to that given user based on past actions by that user or information otherwise known about that user, as well as interest in the articles demonstrated by other users.
US09171080B2	Domain constraint path based data record extraction Described herein are techniques for extracting data records containing user-generated content from documents. The documents may be processed into document trees in which sub-trees represent the data records of the document. Domain constraints may be used to locate structured portions of the document tree. For example, anchor trees may be located as being sets of sibling sub-trees with similar tag paths that contain the domain constraints. The anchor trees may then be used to determine a record boundary (e.g., the start offset and length) of the data records. Finally, the data records may be extracted based on the anchor trees and the record boundaries.
US09171067B2	HLA to XML conversion A method includes establishing a connection and subscribing to at least one channel of a High Level Architecture (HLA) federation and an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB). The method further includes receiving a text file defining the format of an HLA message; a first extensible Markup Language (XML) document conforming to a first schema that defines data within a first message type; and a second XML document conforming to a second schema that defines data within a second message type. The method further includes receiving a first HLA message over the at least one HLA channel, extracting at least one piece of data from the first HLA message, generating a first XML message, and publishing the first XML message over the at least one ESB channel. The method also includes receiving a second XML message over the at least one ESB channel, extracting at least one piece of data from the second XML message, generating a second HLA message conforming to the text file, and publishing the second HLA message over the at least one HLA channel.
US09171057B2	Classifying data using machine learning Techniques for data classification include matching one or more attributes of a commodity with one or more terms of a plurality of terms in a word matrix; generating, based on the matching, a vector for the commodity; and identifying, based on the vector, one or more classification regions that each define a classification of the commodity.
US09171052B2	Methods and systems for replicating an expandable storage volume Machine implemented method and system for generating a disaster recovery copy of an expandable storage volume having a namespace for storing information for accessing data objects stored at a data constituent volume is provided. A transfer operation for transferring a point in time copy of the expandable storage volume from a first location to a second location is generated. Information regarding the expandable storage volume from the first location is retrieved and a destination expandable storage volume is resized to match components of the expandable storage volume at the first location. Thereafter, the point in time copy of the expandable storage volume from the first location to the second location is transferred and configuration information regarding the point in time copy is copied from the first location to the second location; a data structure for storing information regarding the transferred point in time copy of the expandable storage volume is updated.
US09171051B2	Data definition language (DDL) expression annotation Techniques are provided for data definition language (DDL) expression annotation. DDL expression text is captured. The DDL expression text corresponds to a DDL change in a source database. A component set is determined. The component set includes at least one component in the DDL expression text. An annotation set is generated. The annotation set includes at least one annotation for at least one component of the component set. Each annotation includes hierarchical data describing at least one hierarchical relationship in the component set. For example, an annotation may include a component ID, a component position, a component length, a component type, and a parent component ID. The annotation set and a change record comprising the DDL expression text are transmitted to a replication client.
US09171050B2	Data synchronization system and method for synchronizing data A data synchronization system includes a database, a management device, and a synchronization device. The database includes user folders, and the management device includes an authentication module and a data storage module. The authentication module authenticates the identification of the user who uses a client terminal device to log in the authentication module and output an authentication signal based on the result of the identification. The data storage module receives the authentication signal and output an index signal based on the authentication signal. The client terminal device is configured to connect to a corresponding user folder based on the index signal, and the corresponding user folder is used as a major user folder. The synchronization device logs in one of the accounts of a commercial database and synchronizes the data of the account to the major user folder. Furthermore, a method for synchronizing data is also disclosed herein.
US09171046B1	System and method for generating an output of relevant queries for a database Relevant queries of a database may be determined by: receiving data from a table in a database and reviewing the data and forming a K=2 graph. A K=2 graph is one which identifies relationships between two items in rows of the table in the database. If two items occur in the a same row in a database, then these two items are considered to have a relationship represented by an arc between each node which represents each data item or point. Each arc may be assigned a weight equal to the number of rows in which the two items appear together. Next, the K=2 graph may be compacted. Subsequently, cliques of up to a predetermined number, like seven nodes from the K=2 graph may be identified. For each clique that is identified, it may be determined if the clique meets a super clique threshold. The resultant super cliques are ranked.
US09171044B2	Method and system for parallelizing database requests Methods and systems are described for applying the use of shards within a single memory address space. A database request is processed by providing the request from a client to a processor, the processor then distributing the request to multiple threads within a single process but executing in a shared memory address environment, wherein each thread performs the request on a distinct shard, and aggregating the results of the multiple threads being aggregated and returning a final result to the client. By parallelizing operations in this way, the request response time can be reduced and the total amount of communication overhead can be reduced.
US09171043B2	Dynamically determining join order A weight is determined for each of a plurality of join predicates for a join between one or more first database objects and one or more second database objects based on a join selectivity for each of the plurality of join predicates. The plurality of join predicates are sorted based on the determined weights. The join operation is performed joining the one or more first database objects with the one or more second database objects in accordance with an order of the sorted plurality of join predicates.
US09171032B2	Radix sort with read-only key Methods and arrangements for a radix sort with a read only key. A plurality of keys are received, an array and a link table are populated for the first digit of the keys based upon the keys; and an array and a link table are populated for each successive digit of the keys based upon the array and link table populated for the preceding digit of the keys. Embodiments may be implemented in both hardware (FPGAs, ASICs, information handling devices, etc.) and software. Other embodiments are also disclosed and claimed.
US09171030B1	Exact match lookup in network switch devices In a method for populating a lookup table, a plurality of hash tables are provided. Each hash table is accessed by a respective hash function. A plurality of hashed values for a key are generated using the hash functions corresponding to the plurality of hash tables. The plurality of hashed values are used to determine whether the key can be inserted into one or more hash tables of the plurality of hash tables without colliding with keys previously stored at respective locations corresponding to the determined hashed values. When it is determined that the key can be inserted into multiple hash tables, it is then determined which one of the multiple hash tables is populated with the greatest number of keys. The hash table that is populated with the greatest number of keys is selected for insertion of the key, and the key is inserted into the selected hash table.
US09171029B2	Performing batches of selective assignments in a vector friendly manner Embodiments of the invention relate to processing queries. A query operation to be performed on a table of data is translated into a series of bit level logical operations using expansion and/or saturation operations. A mask is created from the series of bit level logical operations. This mask is then simultaneously applied to multiple rows from the table of data.
US09171028B1	Method of maintaining a large set of taint labels A method of maintaining a large set of taint labels for tracking a flow of data through a program is provided, including identifying at least a first data and a second data, associated with a first taint storage element and a second taint storage element, respectively; joining the first taint storage element and the second taint storage element to generate at least one joined taint storage element commonly associated with the first data and the second data; processing the first data and the second data associated with the at least one joined taint storage element through the program from the entry point to an egress point; and defining a condition based on the joined taint storage element at the egress point.
US09171022B2	Method and device for ontology evolution A method for modifying a mapping from at least one application path of a data system to a conceptual path of an ontology system, wherein the application path addresses a part of the structure of the data system and the conceptual path addresses a part of the structure of the ontology system. The method includes steps of detecting a change to a part of the structure of the ontology system one or more of the conceptual paths is addressing and updating the mappings to reflect the change to the part of the structure of the ontology system.
US09171017B2	Sharing television and video programming through social networking In particular embodiments, one or more computer systems of a social-networking system determine information associated with a product displayed on a display device and access a database of known products. The one or more computer systems of the social-networking system determine, by comparing the database of known products with the determined information associated with the product, an identity of the product displayed on the display device. The one or more computer systems of the social-networking system provide one or more instructions to display media content related to the identified product.
US09171003B2	Shared media crawler database method and system The embodiments relate to transcoding, cataloging, and extracting metadata about files stored in a storage device. In one embodiment, a crawler runs on the storage device and maintains a database that is stored in the volume with the data that has been cataloged by the crawler. The crawler may discover files of any type and extract associated metadata about the files. The crawler can extract metadata about client interaction with various files, such as edits, play counts, etc. The crawler may discover files of any type and extract associated metadata about the files automatically during a scan or at the request of a client. In one embodiment, the crawler may be responsive to file system events that indicate changes to the file system, such as additions, deletions, or other types of changes. In addition, the crawler may synchronize the database with the file system so that they indicated the same state for a particular file. Furthermore, the crawler may provide notifications to various entities regarding the state of a file.
US09170976B2	Network efficiency and power savings A mechanism is provided for resource management. A first network interface card in a set of network interface cards receives network data from one or more servers in a set of servers. Responsive to the first network interface card determining that a first threshold has been met indicating that an overload condition is imminent in the first network interface card, the first network interface card sends a resume signal to a second network interface card in the set of network interface cards. Responsive to the first network interface card determining that a second threshold is being met indicating that the overload condition has been met in the first network interface card, the first network interface card delegates the network data that caused the overload condition to be met to the second interface card.
US09170974B2	Methods and systems for interconnecting host and expansion devices within system-in-package (SiP) solutions Methods and systems are disclosed for interconnecting die-to-die-port (DTDP) host devices and DTDP expansion devices for combined system-in-package (SiP) solutions. Interconnect circuitry having a plurality of ports is configured to provide communication from the host device to the expansion device so that the expansion device appears to be resident on the host device. Further, direct circuit interconnection blocks (e.g., using copper pillar (CuP) connectors) can be used to improve connectivity and performance. In addition, level shift circuitry can be utilized within expansion devices to allow for standardized interconnect signals and supply voltages to be provided by DTDP host devices to DTDP expansion devices.
US09170971B2	Fabric discovery for a cluster of nodes Implementations of discovery functionalities in accordance with the present invention are characterized by being exceptionally minimalistic. A primary reason and benefit for such minimalistic implementations relate to these discovery functionalities being implemented via a management processor and associated resources of a system on a chip (SoC) unit as opposed to them being implemented on data processing components of a cluster of nodes (i.e., central processing core components). By focusing on such a minimalist implementation, embodiments of the present invention allow discovery functionalities to be implemented on a relatively low-cost low-power management processor coupled to processing cores that provide for data serving functionality in the cluster of nodes.
US09170958B2	False power failure alert impact mitigation Methods, apparatus and computer program products implement embodiments of the present invention that include copying, by a storage system having a volatile memory configured as a write cache, write cache data from the volatile memory to a solid state device, upon receiving a signal indicating a loss of power to the storage system. Subsequent to copying the write cache data, the solid state device is configured as the write cache.
US09170954B2	Translation management instructions for updating address translation data structures in remote processing nodes Translation management instructions are used in a multi-node data processing system to facilitate remote management of address translation data structures distributed throughout such a system. Thus, in multi-node data processing systems where multiple processing nodes collectively handle a workload, the address translation data structures for such nodes may be collectively managed to minimize translation misses and the performance penalties typically associated therewith.
US09170953B2	System and method for storing data in clusters located remotely from each other A system for storing data includes a plurality of clusters located remotely from each other in which the data is stored. Each cluster has a token server that controls access to the data with only one token server responsible for any piece of data. Each cluster has a plurality of Cache appliances. Each cluster has at least one backend file server in which the data is stored. The system includes a communication network through which the servers and appliances communicate with each other. A Cache Appliance cluster in which data is stored in back-end servers within each of a plurality of clusters located remotely from each other. A method for storing data.
US09170942B1	System, apparatus, and method of automatic data padding A computer-executable method, system, and computer program product for managing a data storage system, wherein the data storage system includes a host-cache and a data storage array, the computer-executable method, system, and computer program product comprising receiving an I/O request, processing the I/O request by locating data related to the I/O request and aligning the I/O request with the data to create an aligned portion of data, and updating the data storage array with the aligned portion of data.
US09170937B2	Data storage device and operating method for flash memory A data storage device and an operating method for a FLASH memory are disclosed. The disclosed data storage device includes a FLASH memory and a controller. The FLASH memory provides a storage space which is stored with a first storage type system information and a second storage type system information. Data recognition for the first storage type system information is stricter than that of the second storage type information. The controller reads the storage space of the FLASH memory and performs an error checking and correction process on data read from the storage space, and, based on the storage type system information, among the first and second storage type information, which first passes the error checking and correction process, the controller operates the FLASH memory.
US09170936B2	Communicating to update a memory Embedded devices typically have an operating system, one or more file-systems, as well as a bootloader and other data components resident in flash memory. During software development and testing, there is frequently a need to selectively update a combination of such images. The described technique organizes the images in the flash memory such that one can speed up the update process by eliminating relocation of existing images. A command-driven update mechanism provides a flexible process—eg, one can upload the images back to a host, one can update the update code itself, etc. A start handshake is used that enables auto-detection of the embedded serial port that is used for the update.
US09170935B2	Semiconductor memory device A semiconductor memory device includes a memory unit configured in page units, an error correction code (ECC) module for generating error correcting codes, a page information addition module for generating page information, and a controller for controlling the reading and writing of data to the memory unit. The controller is configured to associate error correction code information and page information with each frame unit of data written to the memory unit and to store the associated information with each frame unit. The controller is configured to output data to an external host in sizes less than one page unit, such as one frame unit.
US09170921B2	Application testing automation According to one embodiment of the present invention, a test for an application is created. An application is identified with functionality applied through a graphical user interface. A determination is made of expected characteristics of an application object that will be included in a version of the application once the version of the application becomes available for testing through the graphical user interface. A virtual object is created according to the expected characteristics of the application object. A step associated with the virtual object is incorporated into a test case to be used on the version of the application. The test case that includes the virtual object is executed on the version of the application when the version of the application becomes available for testing through the graphical user interface.
US09170911B1	Protocol error monitoring on an interface between hard logic and soft logic Techniques and mechanisms detect deviations from a protocol being used to communicate between devices, for example, in hard logic (e.g., implemented as an ASIC or fixed circuitry) and soft logic (e.g., implemented in configurable logic of an FPGA). Techniques and mechanisms are described for detecting a variety of deviations from a protocol.
US09170910B2	Complex event processing system and method A complex event processing system comprises a complex event processing engine (52) and an event harvesting system, wherein the event harvesting system is operable to monitor a computer network (10, 21, 22, 31, 32, 33), generate simple event reports in response to the result of monitoring the network and pass these to the complex event processing engine for processing. The event harvesting system comprises a central configuration control module (51, 53) and a plurality of capture node modules (41, 42) each of which is operatively connected to the central configuration control module. Each capture node module is operable to receive configuration instructions from the central configuration control module to determine what simple event reports are to be generated by the module and in response to what conditions detected on the monitored computer network. The central configuration control module includes an interface (51) in the form of a web server for receiving configuration instructions from a user of the system and for processing these configuration instructions and sending them to a specified capture node module for causing the module to operate in accordance with the specified configuration instructions.
US09170901B2	System and method for analyzing an electronics device including a logic analyzer A system for testing or debugging a device under test having an embedded logic analyzer. In one embodiment, the system includes software stored in non-transitory memory for testing a device under test having an embedded logic analyzer, the software program product having instructions which, when executed by a computing device associated with the device under test cause the computing device to reconstruct signals of interest in the device under test based at least in part upon signals captured by the embedded logic analyzer during the test or debug session, and cause the computing device to display the reconstructed signals of interest to a user of the computing device.
US09170898B2	Apparatus and methods for providing data integrity The present disclosure includes apparatus (e.g., computing systems, memory systems, controllers, etc.) and methods for providing data integrity. One or more methods can include, for example: receiving a number of sectors of data to be written to a number of memory devices; appending first metadata corresponding to the number of sectors and including first integrity data to the number of sectors, the first metadata has a particular format; generating second integrity data to be provided in second metadata, the second integrity data corresponding to at least one of the number of sectors (wherein the second metadata has a second format); and generating third integrity data to be provided in the second metadata, the third integrity data including error data corresponding to the second integrity data and the at least one of the number of sectors.
US09170893B2	Method and system for selecting region of a nonvolatile memory Disclosed herein is a storage controlling apparatus, including: a status acquisition section configured to acquire status including a number of times of execution of verification after writing into a memory from the memory; a history information retention section configured to retain a history of the status as history information in an associated relationship with each of predetermined regions of the memory; and a region selection section configured to select a region which satisfies a condition in accordance with the history information when a new region is to be used in the memory.
US09170889B2	Recovery from the loss of synchronization with finite state machines The invention is a method of operating a system having multiple finite state machines and a controller. Each finite state machine enters an offline state upon detection of anomalous operation. The controller detects whether all finite state machines are offline. The controller transmits an online activation event signal to each finite state machine when all are offline. Each finite state machine evaluates entering the online state if current conditions permit. Reentering the online state includes loading a predetermined set of operating parameters. The finite state machines are responsive only to a reset event and an online activation event when in the offline state.
US09170887B2	Memory system and controlling method of memory system According to one embodiment, when being notified of an interruption of an external electric power supply, a second processor performs a saving operation for storing management information and data stored in a first volatile memory to a first non-volatile memory, and records a progress log, indicating a progress of the saving operation, into a second volatile memory. The first processor periodically checks whether the progress log is recorded in the second volatile memory or not, and when the progress log is recorded in the second volatile memory, the first processor stores the progress log into the second non-volatile memory.
US09170886B2	Relaxed anchor validation in a distributed synchronization environment Relaxing of anchor validation in a distributed synchronization environment, in one aspect, updates a synchronization anchor during synchronization of data between computing devices only in response to determining that the data operation if repeated the second time on the computing device would change overall data stored on the computing device.
US09170878B2	Memory buffer with data scrambling and error correction A method for operating a DRAM device. The method includes receiving in a memory buffer in a first memory module hosted by a computing system, a request for data stored in RAM of the first memory module from a host controller of the computing system. The method includes receiving with the memory buffer, the data associated with a RAM, in response to the request and formatting with the memory buffer, the data into a scrambled data in response to a pseudo-random process. The method includes initiating with the memory buffer, transfer of the scrambled data into an interface device.
US09170849B2	Migration of task to different pool of resources based on task retry count during task lease Systems and methods are presented for providing resources by way of a platform as a service in a distributed computing environment to perform a job. Resources of the system, job performing on the system, and schedulers of the jobs performing on the system are decoupled in a manner that allows a job to easily migrate among resources. It is contemplated that the migration of jobs from a first pool of resource to a second pool of resource is performed by the system without human intervention. The migration of a job may utilize different schedulers for the different resources. Further, it is contemplated that a pool of resources may automatically allocate additional or fewer resources in response to a migration of a job.
US09170846B2	Distributed data-parallel execution engines for user-defined serial problems using branch-and-bound algorithm A distributed data-parallel execution (DDPE) system splits a computational problem into a plurality of sub-problems using a branch-and-bound algorithm, designates a synchronous stop time for a “plurality of processors” (for example, a cluster) for each round of execution, processes the search tree by recursively using a branch-and-bound algorithm in multiple rounds (without inter-processor communications), determines if further processing is required based on the processing round state data, and terminates processing on the processors when processing is completed.
US09170842B2	Information processing terminal and resource release method In an information processing terminal, a second screen activation monitoring unit that has received a focus OFF notification sends a domain switch request notification to a domain control unit, and the domain control unit that has received the notification sends a domain switch notification to a first OS. Then, the first OS sends a focus ON notification to a first screen activation monitoring unit and further sends the focus OFF notification to a first application. A resource is thereby released by the first application that is implemented to release an acquired resource upon receiving the focus OFF notification.
US09170837B2	Transaction concurrent execution control system, method and program for carrying out a control of concurrently executing a transaction, including measuring execution time from starting to ending of transaction execution A transaction concurrent execution control system carries out a control of concurrently executing a transaction. The transaction concurrent execution control system includes a transaction execution unit for executing the transaction, a back-off time determination unit for determining a waiting time until the transaction is re-executed when a commitment of the transaction has failed, and a transaction pooling unit for causing the transaction to stand by for re-execution until the waiting time has elapsed when the commitment of the transaction has failed.
US09170835B2	Apparatus and method for expedited virtual machine (VM) launch in VM cluster environment Method and apparatus for expedited virtual machine (VM) launch in VM cluster environment. In one embodiment, at least one VM is launched within a host platform. Once initialized, a VM may issue a hypercall to a VM monitor (VMM) of a VM host platform. In response, the VMM may capture a runtime image of the VM. In one embodiment, the VMM loads the runtime image of the VM within a node of the host platform as a child VM. In an alternative embodiment, the VMM issues a VM clone command to a VMM of a next host platform including the runtime image of the VM. In response, the VMM of the next platform loads the runtime image of the first VM within a node of the second host platform as a cloned VM. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US09170831B2	Cloning virtual machines While current solutions for cloning virtual machines can involve copying and duplicating files associated to a virtual machine (VM), systems and techniques can be devised to create thin clones of a VM using the VM's associated storage system to copy and deduplicate storage for the VMs. One can create a base VM in a directory of a storage container attached to a hypervisor, and then map the storage container to a volume on a storage system. One can clone the base VM using a snapshot of respective files associated to the base VM, which can comprise creating metadata that identified a physical storage location of the files. Further, the metadata can then be copied to a desired location on the storage container, to create a VM clone. Once copied, the cloned VM can be customized and registered within the hypervisor.
US09170830B2	Method for controlling program execution An execution-target program is executed, via a program-execution control program, by converting a byte code in the execution-target program into a native code based on a predetermined condition. Upon activating the execution-target program, it is determined whether the execution-target program is an optimization-completed program having a past record of having been converted into an optimized state of the execution-target program, based on a profile including information identifying the optimization-completed program and optimized-code information indicating an optimized code for the optimization-completed program, where the profile is updated at a timing of executing the program-execution control program or another program-execution control program, and the optimized code is generated by converting a byte code into a native code. When the execution-target program is the optimization-completed program, upon activating the execution-target program, a byte code corresponding to the optimized-code information from among byte codes of the execution-target program is converted into a native code.
US09170826B2	Common multi-language text management in a business-oriented software framework A system, a method, and a computer-program product for providing multi-language support in applications are disclosed. A first textual expression contained within an application is obtained. The first textual expression is expressed in a first language. A unique key from a hash of the first textual expression is generated. A language code representative of a second language is determined. Based on the generated unique key and the determined language code, a second textual expression in the second language representative of a translation from the first language into the second language indicated by the language code is determined. The second textual expression is provided to the application to replace the first textual expression in a view presented to a user.
US09170823B2	Fast-boot list to speed booting an operating system A method for booting to an operating system stored on a solid state drive. The method comprises the steps of (A) determining if a boot list has one or more entries, (B) pre-reading one or more logical block addresses of each of the entries from the boot list, (C) receiving a command from a host, (D) reading the command from a memory internal to the solid state drive if the command is in a cache area of the pre-read logical block addresses and (E) reading the command from a main portion of the solid state drive if the command is not in the cache.
US09170813B2	Method and apparatus for performing logical compare operations A method and apparatus for including in a processor instructions for performing logical-comparison and branch support operations on packed or unpacked data. In one embodiment, instruction decode logic decodes instructions for an execution unit to operate on packed data elements including logical comparisons. A register file including 128-bit packed data registers stores packed single-precision floating point (SPFP) and packed integer data elements. The logical comparisons may include comparison of SPFP data elements and comparison of integer data elements and setting at least one bit to indicate the results. Based on these comparisons, branch support actions are taken. Such branch support actions may include setting the at least one bit, which in turn may be utilized by a branching unit in response to a branch instruction. Alternatively, the branch support actions may include branching to an indicated target code location.
US09170807B2	Determining logical configuration commands to create a logical object An approach to generating logical configuration commands for logical objects in a system. A method may involve receiving a command requesting the logical configuration commands to configure the specified logical object (subject logical object) and the logical objects that support the logical object (the support logical objects). The method may also involve determining what logical objects in the system support the subject logical object. This may require determining the support logical objects that directly support the subject logical object, and then recursively examining each support logical objects to find the logical objects on which they depend. For each logical object (whether the subject logical object or one of the support logical objects), the method may involve determining the logical configuration commands to appropriately create and modify the logical object. The logical configuration commands may then be presented to the user.
US09170802B2	Method and information processing apparatus for extracting software correction patch for virtual machine A management server refers to a server information management DB that stores therein information on a plurality of virtual servers generated from a plurality of virtual images and information on software that operates on the virtual servers, and selects other virtual server in conjunction with a particular virtual server from the plurality of virtual servers based on information on the particular virtual server generated from a predetermined virtual image and information on software that operates on the particular virtual server. The management server extracts a patch to be applied to the particular virtual server based on patches applied to the other virtual server.
US09170786B1	Composable context menus Developer-composed context menus, e.g., composed by a developer in connection with use of a software development tool to create an application, are disclosed. In various embodiments, a definition of a context menu option and an associated action are received. Application code to implement the context menu at runtime, including by performing processing at runtime as defined in the definition to determine one or both of the context menu option and the associated action, is generated programmatically.
US09170783B1	Class creation assistant for textual programming languages A program file may include code blocks, such as properties and methods blocks. An assistant module may provide a contextual information tool, a class diagram tool, and a template tool. The assistant module may monitor the location of a user interface element as it is moved about the program file. The assistant may provide information regarding the current location of the user interface element through the contextual information tool. The assistant module also may track the construction of the program, and provide information through the class diagram tool regarding program elements, such as properties and methods, defined so far in the program file. The assistant module may present design information, such as a class construction template, in the template tool, and may dynamically update this information during the creation of the program file.
US09170781B2	Method and system for generating object code to facilitate predictive memory retrieval A method and system are described for generating reference tables in object code which specify the addresses of branches, routines called, and data references used by routines in the code. In a suitably equipped processing system, the reference tables can be passed to a memory management processor which can open the appropriate memory pages to expedite the retrieval of data referenced in the execution pipeline. The disclosed method and system create such reference tables at the beginning of each routine so that the table can be passed to the memory management processor in a suitably equipped processor. Resulting object code also allows processors lacking a suitable memory management processor to skip the reference table, preserving upward compatibility.
US09170779B2	Managing an application development environment Aspects of the invention provide for managing an application development environment. In one embodiment, aspects of the invention include a computer-implemented method of managing an application development environment, the method including: receiving a request for an application build, wherein the application build has at least one dependency on at least one asset; and processing the request for the application build in response to receiving the request, the processing including: submitting at least one query to an asset management system for at least one asset containing a dependency needed for the build, wherein the asset management system separately manages the plurality of assets apart from the application development environment; and receiving at least one asset from the asset management system in response to submitting at least one query.
US09170774B2	Fast carry lookahead circuits A fast lookahead carry adder includes adder logic and lookahead carry-path logic coupled to the adder logic. The carry path logic has a main carry path, a carry entrance path and a carry exit path, the carry entrance path separate from the carry exit path.
US09170764B2	Image forming apparatus An image forming apparatus includes: a motor unit configured to give a rotary drive force to rotary members for conveying a recording medium; a switch circuit provided in a power supply line connecting a power source and the motor unit to supply electric power, connecting the motor unit to the power source upon closure of the body cover, and disconnecting the motor unit from the power source upon opening of the body cover; a power-off detecting section; a rate-of-voltage-change calculating section; and a control section. The control section deactivates each of mechanisms in the image forming apparatus when the power-off detecting section detects shutoff of power supply from the power source, and reactivates each of the mechanisms, provided that the rate of change of voltage calculated by the rate-of-voltage-change calculating section has reached a predetermined threshold, when the power-off detecting section detects electric power is supplied from the power source.
US09170756B2	Method and system for dynamic storage tiering using allocate-on-write snapshots System and method for dynamic storage tiering are disclosed. A storage hot-spot in a first storage pool is detected. A first point-in-time copy of a virtual volume including the storage hot-spot is created in a second storage pool according to the detecting. Write requests directed to the virtual volume are redirected to the second storage pool. When decreased I/O activity directed to the storage hot-spot in the second storage pool is detected, the point-in-time copy in the second storage pool is reintegrated into at least one of a second point-in-time copy or the virtual volume.
US09170753B2	Efficient method for memory accesses in a multi-core processor A method of providing memory accesses for a multi-core processor includes reserving a group of pins of a multi-core processor to transmit either data or address information in communication with one or more memory chips, receiving memory access requests from the plurality of processor cores, determining granularity of the memory access requests by a memory controller, and dynamically adjusting the number of pins in the group of pins to be used to transmit address information based with the granularity of the memory access requests.
US09170751B2	Storage subsystem including logic for copy-out and write A storage server receives a write request from a client system including new data and a location to store the new data. The storage server transmits a copy instruction to a storage subsystem to relocate old data at the location and transmits a write instruction to the storage subsystem to overwrite the old data with the new data. The storage subsystem includes fast stable storage in which the copy instruction and the write instruction are stored. After receiving each instruction, the storage subsystem sends an acknowledgement to the storage server. When both instructions have been acknowledged, the storage server sends an acknowledgement to the client system. The storage subsystem performs the instructions asynchronously from the client system's write request.
US09170748B2	Systems, methods, and computer program products providing change logging in a deduplication process A method performed in a network storage system, the method including receiving a plurality of data blocks at a secondary storage subsystem from a primary storage subsystem, generating a first log that includes a first plurality of entries, one entry for each of the data blocks, in which each entry of the first plurality of entries includes a name for a respective data block and a fingerprint of the respective data block, receiving metadata at the secondary storage subsystem from the primary storage subsystem, the metadata describing relationships between the plurality of blocks and a plurality of files, generating a second log that includes a second plurality of entries, and merging the first log with the second log to generate a change log.
US09170746B2	Clustered raid assimilation management In one embodiment, a node is a member of a cluster having a plurality of nodes, where each node is coupled to one or more storage arrays of solid state drives (SSDs) that serve as main storage. The node executed a storage input/output (I/O) stack having a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) layer that organizes the SSDs within the one or more storage arrays as one or more RAID groups. Configuration information is stored as a cluster database. The configuration information identifies (i) one or more RAID groups associated with an extent store, (ii) SSDs within each RAID group, and (iii) an identification of a node that owns the extent store. The cluster database is stored separate and apart from the main storage.
US09170739B2	Relay apparatus and relay method A management information storage section included in a relay apparatus stores first management information for managing an address of a first buffer which stores data transmitted from a first apparatus to a second apparatus and second management information for managing an address of a second buffer corresponding to the first buffer. An information processing section swaps the address of the first buffer managed by the first management information for the address of the second buffer managed by the second management information. A transmission section transmits to the second apparatus data stored at the address of the first buffer swapped between the first management information and the second management information.
US09170732B2	Information input device, information input method, and information input program An information input device includes a display, an input unit, an input direction determining unit, a tag arranging unit and a movable direction determining unit. The movable direction determining unit specifies, based on a first operation position on an input area of the input unit, a division part including the first operation position from among plural division parts on the input area. The tag arranging unit displays a tag indicating a slide operation pattern of an operator associated with the specified division part in the vicinity of a selection operation object or on the selection operation object on a display area of the display. The input direction determining unit detects, based on a second operation position on the input area, a slide operation pattern of the operator, and determines whether or not the detected slide operation pattern matches the slide operation pattern indicated by the tag within a certain range.
US09170725B2	Information processing apparatus, non-transitory computer readable medium, and information processing method that detect associated documents based on distance between documents An information processing apparatus includes a reception unit that receives manipulation of a manipulator, which corresponds to an electronic document arranged on a screen, a detection unit that detects a manipulation related to a movement of the electronic document from the manipulation received using the reception unit, an extraction unit that extracts at least a location of a movement source, a location of a movement destination, a first electronic document which is a movement target electronic document, and a second electronic document which is an electronic document within a predetermined distance from the location of the movement destination based on the movement manipulation detected using the detection unit, and a relevant document determination unit that determines whether the second electronic document is relevant to the first electronic document based on information extracted using the extraction unit.
US09170720B2	Smart toilet systems and methods A plumbing fixture includes a basin, a plumbing system configured to supply water to the basin, a processing circuit, and a housing containing the plumbing system and the processing circuit. The housing includes ports on the second face allowing access to a digital audio input, the plumbing fixture configured to output audio via a speaker based on the digital audio input. The plumbing fixture further includes a remote control configured to control the plumbing fixture and further configured to customize selectable audio sources for playback via the speaker.
US09170718B2	Systems and methods for enhanced engagement In some embodiments, a method comprises displaying a pre-registration invitation on a first digital device connected to a wireless network, determining one or more wireless network identifiers associated with the wireless network, generating a pre-registration code request, the request including the one or more wireless network identifiers, providing the pre-registration code request to a virtual network server, the server generating a pre-registration code in response to the pre-registration code request, the pre-registration code associated with the one or more wireless network identifiers, receiving the pre-registration code, providing a registration request from a second digital device, the registration request comprising the pre-registration code, and provisioning an account based on the registration request and the wireless network identifiers, the wireless network identifiers identified based on the pre-registration code.
US09170714B2	Mixed type text extraction and distribution Systems, methods, and devices for extracting and distributing text of mixed types from displayed graphical data from a display of an electronic device are disclosed. The text types can include rendered text and text represented in rendered images. Displayed graphical data can be captured from data being displayed by an application on a display device. Text data can be extracted from the captured graphical data as text data at the rendering tree level, or by an optical character recognition process. In response to the extracted text data, a text selection tool with visual representations of selectable text can be applied to the displayed text data. Using the text selection tool, a user can select a subset of the text. In response to the user selection, one or more other applications can be determined and the selected text can be passed to at least one of the other applications for execution.
US09170713B2	Electronic device and control method thereof An electronic device and a method of controlling the electronic device are provided.The electronic device may group items based on a drag input on a virtual bookshelf having the items.
US09170705B1	System and method for determining an interest in promotional content displayed at a mobile communication device Determining interest in promotional content to be displayed at a mobile communication device is described. The promotional content, including a first portion that is visible and a second portion that is hidden in a first state, may be received. The first and second portions are each selectable only when visible. A promotional display that includes the promotional content in the first state is generated. Upon receipt of a first input from the user in relation to the first portion, the promotional content may be transitioned from the first state to a second state such the first portion becomes hidden and the second portion becomes visible. Upon failing to receive a second input from the user in relation to the second portion, the promotional content may be transitioned from the second state to the first state. Upon receipt of the second input, an interest in the promotional content may be indicated.
US09170699B2	Inductive touch screen and in cell inductive touch screen An inductive touch screen is disclosed. Embodiments include a transparent substrate and a conductive layer. The conductive layer includes helical-shaped patterns, and inductive lines electrically connected with the patterns. The patterns form inductive electrodes and output inductive signals through the inductive lines, and the inductive lines include first and second inductive lines. The inductive electrodes includes rows of first sub-electrodes and rows of second sub-electrodes, where the first and second sub-electrodes are arranged alternately in a column direction. Each of the first inductive lines is electrically connected with a row of the first sub-electrodes, and each of the second inductive lines is electrically connected with the second sub-electrodes in a same column. The touch screen further includes a drive line on the substrate, and the drive line is electrically connected with the inductive electrodes to provide the touch screen with a drive signal.
US09170690B2	Waterproof housing for digital devices having capacitive touch screen and its actuator mechanism An actuator mechanism for actuating a capacitive touch screen of a digital device held in a waterproof housing includes an actuator shaft extending through an opening formed on the housing, a press button connected to an outer end of the shaft, a probe head connected to an inner end of the shaft, and a biasing member adapted to urge the probe head away from the touch screen, whereby pushing the press button against the biasing force moves the probe head towards and in contact with the touch screen. A waterproof housing having actuator mechanisms is also disclosed.
US09170686B2	Multi-transducer waveguide arrays Systems and related methods providing for touch sensors having segmented reflective arrays including waveguide cores are discussed herein. A touch sensor may include a substrate configured to propagate surface acoustic waves. The substrate may include two or more segmented reflective arrays. A segmented reflective array may include a major reflective array configured to propagate surface acoustic waves and a waveguide core configured to concentrate acoustic energy of the surface acoustic waves. Two segmented reflective arrays may further include adjacent portions that define an overlap region of the substrate. In some embodiments, the segmented reflective array may further include a beam dump configured to decrease intensity of surface acoustic wave propagation past the end of the segmented reflective array.
US09170679B2	Capacitance sensing apparatus and method, and touch screen apparatus There is provided a capacitance sensing apparatus including: a driving circuit unit applying a driving signal to a first capacitor; a first integrating circuit unit including a second capacitor charged by a change in capacitance generated in the first capacitor based on the driving signal to generate a first output voltage; and a second integrating circuit unit including a third capacitor charged by a change in capacitance generated in the second capacitor to generate a second output voltage, wherein a level of the second output voltage is changed at least twice during a single period of the driving signal applied to the first capacitor.
US09170660B2	Input function display device An input function display device includes: a position information reading unit that is provided with an imaging element optically reading a position information pattern representing a coordinate position on a plane; and a display unit that performs display on the basis of marks read from the position information pattern recorded in a display area, wherein the display unit includes a transparent conductive film having a conductive pattern in which the position information pattern is applied onto the transparent substrate, and a display portion that performs display using the conductive pattern as a common electrode.
US09170658B2	Self-centering tactile thumb joystick for use on a touch screen The present invention provides a self-centering, tactile thumb joystick for use to control a virtual directional pad displayed on a touch screen of an electronic gadget. The thumb joystick is removeably mounted on the touch screen so that movement of a puck via a stem and a button operates the virtual directional pad to control a software running in the electronic gadget. A resilient member, in the form of an annular spring or garter spring, biasing inwardly against a wall element formed around an opening of a hollow housing of the thumb joystick centers the puck when a user releases activating the button.
US09170655B2	Tip element capable of light collection, and light-emitting touch pen incorporating the same for an optical touch device A tip element for a light-emitting touch pen includes: a solid transparent rod having a first rod portion disposed in a pen barrel, and an exposed second rod portion with a tip; and a light collecting unit including a first light-collecting structure formed coaxially in the first rod portion, and a second light-collecting structure formed, coaxially in the second rod portion and projecting toward the first rod portion. A part of light, which is emitted by a lighting unit in the pen barrel and propagates into the first rod portion, is reflected/refracted by the first light-collecting structure toward the second light-collecting structure to thereby radiate out of the second rod portion through reflection/refraction thereby.
US09170654B2	Object information derived from object images Search terms are derived automatically from images captured by a camera equipped cell phone, PDA, or other image capturing device, submitted to a search engine to obtain information of interest, and at least a portion of the resulting information is transmitted back locally to, or nearby, the device that captured the image.
US09170653B1	Motion recognition method A motion recognition method includes: a light detecting step of detecting light reflected by the reflective body to measure a luminous intensity of the light by the light receiving element; a first coordinate setting step of setting a planar coordinate (X1, Y1) of the reflective body; a second coordinate setting step of setting a planar coordinate (X2, Y2) of the reflective body; and a direction determining step of obtaining an angle (θ) between a line segment connecting the origin and the planar coordinate (X1, Y1) in the first position and a line segment connecting the planar coordinate (X1, Y1) in the first position and the planar coordinate (X2, Y2) in the second position and determining that the reflective body moves in a direction passing through a ½ point of the angle (θ) in the first position by the data processing unit.
US09170649B2	Audio and tactile feedback based on visual environment Disclosed herein is an apparatus. The apparatus includes a housing section, electronic circuitry, a touch screen, and a user sensory feedback system. The electronic circuitry is mounted within the housing section. The touch screen is on the housing section. The touch screen is configured to sense a touch at an area of the touch screen. The electronic circuitry is configured to analyze a feature displayed at the area of the touch screen. The user sensory feedback system is proximate the housing section. The user sensory feedback system is configured to perform an operation based, at least partially, upon the touch at the area of the touch screen and upon an image analysis of the feature at the area of the touch screen.
US09170646B2	Ophthalmic lens system capable of interfacing with an external device The present invention provides an energizable ophthalmic lens system capable of wirelessly interfacing with an external device. The energizable ophthalmic lens system may dynamically interact with a specified external device, wherein a user may operate one or more functionalities within the external device through the energizable ophthalmic lens system. The external device may be able to recognize eye gestures, which may comprise deliberate eye and lid movements. The external device may operate a functionality within the ophthalmic lens system, wherein the operation may be based on information received from the ophthalmic lens system. The ophthalmic lens system may comprise at least one energizable ophthalmic lens. Multiple ophthalmic lenses may be preferable where the functionality of either or both the ophthalmic lens system or the external device may occur based on relative position data or communication between lenses.
US09170643B2	Display system containing an adaptive semi-transparent display device and means for detecting the landscape viewed by the user The general field of the invention is that of display systems comprising an electronic calculator containing first image generation means and an associated semi-transparent display device, said display device intended to be arranged in front of an outside landscape. The display device according to the invention consists of two overlaid semi-transparent flat display screens, a photo-sensitive sensor and a position detection system. The first display screen is passive, its transmission rate being controlled by the first image generation means, the second display screen is active, its light emission being controlled by the first image generation means. The image generated is displayed either on the first display screen, or on the second display screen as a function of the outside landscape luminance information output by the photo-sensitive sensor and the position detection.
US09170636B2	Operating system management of network interface devices Operating system management of network interface devices is described. In one or more implementations, a determination is made by an operating system that network traffic associated with one or more applications of the computing device has completed. Responsive to the determination, a network interface device is caused to transition to a mode to reduce power consumption of the network interface device by the operating system.
US09170633B2	Method and apparatus for managing power in computer systems The invention is directed towards minimizing power consumption in computer systems. One embodiment of the invention is a power management system that is used for a computer system that has at least one device and one power domain. This embodiment uses two different power managers to manage the power consumption of the device and the power domain. Specifically, this embodiment has (1) a first power manager that determines when to change power state of the device, and (2) a second power manager that determines when to change power state of the power domain. Each of these power managers decides to change the power state of its corresponding device or domain based on information from several different sources. These sources can include power-management clients and power managers of related domains or devices.
US09170625B1	Selective electrical coupling based on environmental conditions An environmental monitoring device that includes a switching mechanism is described. During operation of the environmental monitoring device, the switching mechanism such as a switch) selectively electrically couples a first electrical-connection node and a second electrical-connection node. For example, using the switching mechanism, an electronic device that is electrically coupled to the first electrical-connection node may be selectively electrically coupled to a second electronic device that is electrically coupled to the second electrical-connection node. The selective electrical coupling may be based on one or more measurements of an environmental condition in an external environment that includes the environmental monitoring device. Moreover, a sensor mechanism in the environmental monitoring device may provide sensor data based on the one or more measurements. Alternatively, an antenna and an interface circuit in the environmental monitoring device may receive the sensor data from a third electronic device.
US09170620B2	Power supply unit A power supply unit includes a shell, a handle, and a latching assembly. The shell includes an end wall defining a receiving slot and a sidewall perpendicularly extending forward from a side of the end wall. The handle includes a rotating member rotatably installed in the receiving slot. The rotating member includes an operation portion. The latching assembly includes a resilient latching member received in the shell and a sliding member. A front end of the latching member is mounted to the sidewall. The sliding is slidably connected to a rear end of the latching member. The sliding member is capable being received in the latching member. The sidewall defines a through hole. A piece protrudes out from the latching member to extend through the through hole. The rotating member is rotatable such that the operation portion is received in the shell.
US09170619B2	Network node with integrated power distribution A control network comprises a plurality of network nodes arranged in a plurality of tiers, with first-tier nodes and lower tier nodes. A master control bus interconnects the first-tier nodes, which are also connected to a power source. Lower-tier buses interconnect groups of the lower tier nodes. The lower-tier buses include both data lines and a power source line derived from the power source, allowing the lower tier nodes to selectively distribute power to local loads. A first-tier node may be embodied as a hub controller configured to be connected to one or more of said lower-tier buses. The hub controller may comprise a plurality of internal hub nodes (including a hub master node and hub slave nodes) integrated within the same physical unit.
US09170618B2	Power management circuit, server, and power management method thereof A server is provided in the present disclosure, and the server includes a power module, a motherboard circuit, and a power management circuit. The power management circuit is coupled to the motherboard circuit and the power module. The motherboard circuit receives a remote control signal through a network module and outputs a power-off command to the power management circuit according to the remote control signal. The power management circuit causes the power module to stop supplying power to the motherboard circuit for a predetermined time according to the power-off command. After the predetermined time, the power management circuit causes the power module to supply power again to the motherboard circuit to execute an initialization procedure.
US09170614B2	Touch input device A touch input device is disclosed. In one aspect, the device includes a body, a conductive net and an elastic member. The body includes a conductive area with one open end. The conductive net covers a conductive area of the body and intersected with a plurality of conductive lines in a mesh shape. The elastic member is received in the body and supports the conductive net.
US09170612B2	Wristband accessories for powering a wearable computer There is provided a wristband for attaching to a computer device. The wristband includes a first end configured to attach to a first side of the computer device, a second end configured to attach to a second side of the computer device, a battery, a battery connection interface configured to connect to a battery port of the computer device for providing power from the battery to the computer device, and a charging port configured to connect to an interface of an external power source to receive power from the external power source for charging the battery.
US09170606B2	Information processing device, processing control method, program, and recording medium An information processing device, while in a first input mode for receiving a touchless operation as an input, receives a touchless operation as an input, and starts processing that corresponds to the received touchless operation. If the information processing device detects a switch operation, which is made with a touch on the information processing device for switching from the first input mode to a second input mode that is a mode for receiving a touch operation as an input, within a predetermined time period after the reception of the touchless operation, the information processing device sets an output status obtained as a result of the started processing to an output status which has been obtained before the start of the processing.
US09170604B2	Keyboard A keyboard includes a first keyboard section, a second keyboard section, and a connection structure. The connection structure includes a hook portion, a first operation member, a drive portion, and at least one latch portion. The hook portion, the first operation member, and the drive portion are defined at the first keyboard section, and the at least one latch portion is defined at the second keyboard section. The first operation member is detachably clasped with the hook portion. The drive portion drives the hook portion moving along a first direction to protrude out of the first keyboard section when the first operation member is operated to detach the hook portion. The at least one latch portion is configured for latching with the hook portion to detachably engage the first keyboard section with the second keyboard section.
US09170598B2	Folding handle for lift and slide door An apparatus for use with a door adapted to lift and slide. The apparatus includes a base connected to the door and a lever hingedly connected to the base for maneuvering the door. The lever is positioned within the base such that the lever is fully recessed in the base. In use, the lever may be extended away from the base and folded into an operating position for moving the door.
US09170584B2	Water circulation system valve assemblies having water temperature control A valve assembly for a water circulation system includes a valve body defining a bypass passage between a hot water side and a cold water side of the valve body. The bypass passage has a valve seat therein. A bypass valve is received within the bypass passage. The bypass valve restricts the flow of water through the bypass passage based on a temperature of the water in the bypass passage. The bypass valve is variably positionable with respect to the valve seat to control a bypass shut-off temperature of the water.
US09170576B2	Energy conservation diagnosis system An energy conservation diagnosis system manages electrical device K which consumes electricity to operate based on control schedule information, and includes acquiring unit 14a, rule information generation unit 14b, operating determination unit 14c and display unit 12. Acquiring unit acquires operating information obtained by relating an operating condition of electrical device to a clock time. Rule information generation unit generates rule information by relating a rule on use of electrical device to a clock time, based on one or more predetermined time slots depending on a benefit of electricity consumed by electrical device. Operating determination unit acquires control schedule information of electrical device, and generates an image data by superimposing acquired control schedule information and rule information onto operating information so that each clock time is fitted to a clock time of operating information. Display unit displays the image data.
US09170569B2	Method for electing an active master device from two redundant master devices A method includes electing an item of active master equipment from two redundant primary and secondary master items of equipment (10, 20), the primary and secondary master items of equipment (10, 20) being directly connected to a fieldbus (1) and linked together by a terminal cable (30) and each having an active operating mode and a standby mode. Each of the primary and secondary master items of equipment (10, 20) also has one and the same state machine (12, 22) for designating one of the primary and secondary master items of equipment (10, 20) as the active master item of equipment, and the terminal cable (30) used for establishing a directional relation of the primary master item of equipment (10, 20) to the secondary master item of equipment (10, 20).
US09170567B2	Satellite radio-controlled wristwatch In a satellite radio-controlled wristwatch, a time to be spent on acquisition and tracking is reduced and also a reception success probability is increased. A satellite radio-controlled wristwatch according to the present invention includes: a satellite radio wave reception unit including an antenna for receiving a satellite radio wave, a high frequency circuit, and a decoder circuit; a clock circuit for holding and counting an internal time; and a controller for controlling timings of at least: an activation operation of supplying power to the satellite radio wave reception unit for activation thereof; an acquisition and tracking operation of acquiring and tracking a certain satellite radio wave by the satellite radio wave reception unit; and a time information acquisition operation of acquiring time information from the satellite radio wave received by the satellite radio wave reception unit, the controller being configured to: wait for arrival of an activation time point, which is inversely calculated by subtracting an acquisition and tracking time period and an activation time period from a time information receivable time point that is predicted based on the internal time, and then start the activation operation; and vary the acquisition and tracking time period depending on a predetermined condition.
US09170555B2	Image forming apparatus capable of reducing a toner consumption amount by performing toner supply control In an image forming apparatus, to provide a lubrication effect for an abutment portion of a transfer belt and a belt cleaning blade, when a control toner image is supplied, the control toner image is supplied to the abutment portion even when it is not necessary, thereby consuming a large amount of toner. In the image forming apparatus, the control unit changes a toner amount of the control toner image reaching the abutment portion of a photosensitive member and a photosensitive member cleaning blade and the toner amount thereof reaching the abutment portion of a transfer belt and a belt cleaning blade, based on a detection result of an environment detection unit.
US09170553B2	Image forming apparatus with a movable sheet guide in a feeding path An image forming apparatus is provided. The image forming apparatus includes a chassis, a cover, photosensitive members, an intermediate transfer belt, primary-transfer members, a secondary-transfer roller, a first feed roller, a cleaner device, a waste toner container, which is movable along the predetermined direction to be removably installed in the chassis through a first opening and stores residual toner, a connector, a first feeding path, a second feeding path being a path for a recording sheet inserted through a sheet inlet and includes a sheet guide to guide the recording sheet, and a second feed roller. The second feed roller is movable along with at least a part of the sheet guide. The waste toner container is movable through space, which is occupied by the second feed roller in an upper position, and the first opening when the second feed roller is in a lower position.
US09170550B2	Image forming apparatus controlling power from an AC power supply to a heater in accordance with the temperature sensed by a temperature sensing element Part of a plurality of power levels of control patterns selected to control power supplied from an AC power source to a heater of an image forming apparatus include power levels of a) waveforms in which power is supplied in part of negative and positive half cycles in order after no power supply during a one half of a positive half cycle, and waveforms in which power is supplied in part of a positive cycle after no power supply during one half of a negative half cycle, or b) waveforms in which power is supplied in part of positive and negative half cycles in order after no power supply during one half of a negative half cycle, and waveforms in which power is supplied in part of a negative half cycle after no power supply during one half of a positive half cycle.
US09170538B2	Electronic device An electronic device includes a power supply, a current measuring unit, a converter, a plurality of devices, and a control unit. The current measuring unit measures a current value of current that is output from the power supply. The voltage and the current from the power supply are input into the converter, and the converter converts the input voltage into voltage of a different voltage value, and outputs the voltage thus converted and the current. The control unit controls the converter to output voltage of a voltage value corresponding to a minimum current value measured by the current measuring unit, in which the voltage is voltage of a voltage value between a maximum value of lower limit voltage and a minimum value of upper limit voltage within an operating voltage range of one or a plurality of devices that operate in the energy saving mode.
US09170534B2	Fixing device provided with temperature detection unit A fixing device may include: a nip member; an endless belt; a heater; a temperature detection unit; and a biasing member. The endless belt may circularly move such that an inner peripheral surface thereof may move in a sliding direction at a position in sliding contact with the nip member. The temperature detection unit may include: a temperature sensor and a holder. The temperature sensor may detect a temperature of the inner peripheral surface and may include: a base and a sensor element supported at the base. The holder may support the base and may have a guide surface for guiding the inner peripheral surface. The guide surface may be disposed on at least one of first and second sides of the temperature sensor in a first direction extending along an axis of the endless belt. The biasing member may bias the holder toward the inner peripheral surface.
US09170529B2	Process cartridge A process cartridge includes: a drum cartridge including a photoconductor; a development cartridge configured to be detachably attached to the drum cartridge and including a developer carrying member for supplying developer to the photoconductor; a locking member provided on the drum cartridge and configured to be switchable between a locking position in which the development cartridge attached to the drum cartridge is in a locked state and restrained from being moved in a removing direction in which the development cartridge is removed from the drum cartridge and a lifting position in which the locked state is released and the development cartridge is movable in the removing direction, and a retaining member configured to retain the development cartridge which has been moved from the locked state in the removing direction by switching the locking member from the locking position to the lifting position.
US09170527B2	Image forming apparatus having developer replenishment control An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member and a developer replenishment device. In addition, a control portion executes a first mode of detecting a first toner image for control by a sensor and controlling an operation of the replenishment device so that a detection result from the sensor attains a first target value, a second mode of detecting a second toner image for control by the sensor and setting a development contrast of a maximum image density so that a detection result attains a second target value, and a third mode of detecting a third toner image for control by the sensor and changing, based on the detection result, at least one of the first target value and a development contrast of the first toner image for control, wherein the control portion executes the third mode according to a timing at which the second mode is executed.
US09170518B2	Method and system for closed-loop control of nip width and image transfer field uniformity for an image transfer system Disclosed is a closed-loop control method and system to control the nip width and transfer field uniformity associated with an image marking apparatus. According to an exemplary embodiment, a closed-loop control system senses the uniformity of the image transfer field and applies forces to a transfer nip based on the sensed field to provide a more uniform field.
US09170494B2	Antireflective compositions and methods of using same The present invention relates to a novel antireflective coating composition comprising a polymer obtained from a reaction product of at least one amino compound chosen from the group consisting of a polymer with repeat unit of structure (1), structure (2) and mixtures thereof reacted with a hydroxy compound chosen from the group consisting of structure (3), structure (4) and mixtures thereof, and, a thermal acid generator. The invention also relates to a process for using the novel composition in lithography.
US09170492B2	Silicon-containing film-forming composition, silicon-containing film, and pattern forming method A silicon-containing film-forming composition includes a polysiloxane and organic solvent. The polysiloxane includes a first structural unit, a second structural unit, and a third structural unit. The first structural unit is derived from a tetraalkoxysilane. The second structural unit is derived from a compound shown by a formula (1), wherein R1 represents a hydrogen atom or an electron-donating group, at least one R1 is an electron-donating group, R2 represents a monovalent organic group, and n represents 0 or 1. The third structural unit is derived from a compound shown by a formula (2), wherein R3 represents an alkyl group having 1 to 8 carbon atoms, and R4 represents a monovalent organic group.
US09170491B2	Negative-type photoresist composition for thick film and use thereof The present invention relates to a negative-type photoresist composition for thick film, comprising: (A) 20 to 50 wt % of an alkali-soluble resin which is polymerized from a plurality of kinds of monomers, wherein the monomers includes compounds represented by formulas (1A) and (1B), and based on the weight ratio of the monomers to the alkali-soluble resin, the sum of the formula (1A) compound and the formula (1B) compound are 20 to 60%, and X of the formula (1A) and (1B) may be independently H, methyl or ethyl. (B) 10 to 30 wt % of crosslinker which can be a bisphenol fluorene derivative monomer having at least one ethylenically unsaturated double bond; (C) 5 to 15 wt % of photo initiator; and (D) residual solvent. The present invention also relates to use of the above-mentioned negative-type photoresist compound for thick film.
US09170486B2	Method of manufacturing black column spacer, black column spacer, and color filter Disclosed are a method of manufacturing a black column spacer that includes preparing a substrate; forming a first organic layer on the substrate; forming a second organic layer on the first organic layer; performing exposure on the substrate on which the first organic layer and the second organic layer are formed using a half-tone mask; and developing the substrate and curing the resultant product, a black column spacer manufactured using the manufacturing method, and a color filter including the black column spacer.
US09170484B2	Mask and method of manufacturing the same A method of manufacturing a mask includes: providing a base substrate including light-absorbing layer patterns on a first surface thereof; providing a reflective layer on the light-absorbing layer patterns and the first surface of the base substrate; and providing reflective patterns by partially removing the reflective layer. The providing the reflective patterns includes removing the light-absorbing layer patterns and a portion of the reflective layer, by irradiating the light-absorbing layer patterns with laser light.
US09170480B2	Reflective extreme ultraviolet mask and method of forming a pattern using the same According to example embodiments, a reflective EUV mask may include a mask substrate, a patterned structure and a non-patterned structure on the mask substrate. At least one of the patterned structure and the non-patterned structure may include a thermally treated region configured to reduce a reflectivity of the respective patterned and non-patterned structure.
US09170479B1	Zoetrope light emitting device A zoetrope device having a plurality of panels is disclosed. Each of the panels may be formed with one or more indicia representing various objects such as people and things. The panels may be mounted to a rotatable platform that traverses the panels over a light source. When the panel is traversed over the light source, the light source may illuminate the edge of the panel and the indicia formed on the panel. The indicia may be formed at different depths to provide the viewer with an image that appears to be three dimensional. Moreover, the light source may have one or more different light colors for illuminating the indicia therewith and/or alternately illuminating the indicia with different light colors.
US09170477B2	Light emitting device and super-luminescent diode having layer with first, second and third waveguides A light emitting device includes a first layer that generates light by an injection current, the first layer is provided with a first optical waveguide extending from a first light emitting section disposed on a first side surface to a first light reflecting section disposed on a second side surface, a second optical waveguide extending from the first light reflecting section to a second light reflecting section disposed on a third side surface, and a third optical waveguide extending from the second light reflecting section to a second light emitting section disposed on the first side surface, and an element of the group II or the group XII is diffused in the first light reflecting section and the second light reflecting section.
US09170471B2	Optical system having integrated illumination and imaging optical systems, and 3D image acquisition apparatus including the optical system An optical system including integrated illumination and imaging optical systems, and a 3-dimensional (3D) image acquisition apparatus including the optical system. In the optical system of the 3D image acquisition apparatus, the illumination optical system and the imaging optical system are integrated to have a coaxial optical path. Accordingly, there is no parallax between the illumination optical system and the imaging optical system, so that depth information about an object acquired using illumination light may reflect actual distances between the object and the 3D image acquisition apparatus. Consequently, the depth information about the object may be more precise. The zero parallax between the illumination optical system and the imaging optical system may improve utilization efficiency of the illumination light. As a result, a greater amount of light may be incident on the 3D image acquisition apparatus, which ensures to acquire further precise depth information about the object.
US09170460B2	In-plane-switching mode liquid crystal panel, manufacturing process and display device thereof The present invention provides to an in-plane-switching (IPS) mode liquid crystal panel, which comprises: a first substrate, a second substrate, a coplanar transparent electrode layer and a liquid crystal layer. The first and second substrates have a first alignment film and a second alignment film, respectively. The coplanar transparent electrode layer is disposed onto the second alignment film. The liquid crystal layer is disposed in a space between the first alignment film of the first substrate and the coplanar transparent electrode layer of the second substrate. The liquid crystal layer comprises dual-frequency liquid crystal molecules and dual-frequency reactive mesogens/monomers. The liquid crystal panel of the present invention can overcome the problems of pollution and static electricity generated from the rubbing alignment in the in-plane-switching (IPS) mode, so as to simplify the manufacturing process and provide the advantages of high contrast, high response speed and wide viewing angle.
US09170458B2	Liquid crystal display device having an alignment film produced via polyamide acid ester and polyamide acid as precursors A liquid crystal display device includes a TFT substrate having a first alignment film and an opposing substrate having a second alignment film with liquid crystals sandwiched therebetween. One of the first and second alignment films, comprises a first polyimide produced via polyamide acid ester containing cyclobutane as a precursor and a second polyimide produced via polyamide acid as a precursor. The polyamide acid has a higher polarity than that of the polyamide acid ester. The one of the first and second alignment films is responsive to photo-alignment. A first side of the one of the first and second alignment films is adjacent to the liquid crystals, and a second side thereof is closer to one of the TFT substrate and the counter substrate than the first side. The first side contains more of the first polyimide and less of the second polyimide than the second side.
US09170441B2	Apparatus for fabricating flat panel display, and apparatus and method for detecting quantity of static electricity thereof A fabricating apparatus of a flat panel display device includes lift pins for lifting a substrate, a susceptor through which the lift pins pass, and a static electricity quantity detector for detecting a quantity of static electricity on the substrate by sensing when the susceptor separates from the substrate by sensing a traveled distance of the susceptor when the susceptor is separated from the substrate.
US09170438B2	Suppression of resonant polarization conversion in photonic integrated circuits A device may include a number of optical waveguides, each of which being spaced from one another. The optical waveguides may each include at least one curved section and widths of the curved sections of the optical waveguides may be selected to reduce polarization conversion of light traversing the birefringent optical waveguides.
US09170431B2	Eyewear and lenses with deflection attenuation mechanisms Eyewear, lenses, and methods of forming lenses are disclosed. In an example eyewear, first and second temples are coupled to a lens. The lens includes a viewing portion, a mounting portion configured to be coupled to at least one of the first and second temples, a connecting portion connecting the mounting portion to the viewing portion of the lens. The lens further includes an elongated slot that defines at least in part the mounting portion and the connecting portion. The mounting portion and connecting portion are configured to effectively isolate the viewing portion from deflection of the mounting portion.
US09170430B2	Anti-vibration actuator, lens unit and camera furnished therewith, and manufacturing method for same To provide an anti-vibration actuator capable of smooth transition to image-blur prevention control. The present invention is an actuator (10) furnished with a locking mechanism, including: a fixed portion (12); a movable portion (14) with an image-blur prevention lens (16); a movable portion support means (18); a drive means for driving the movable portion; a movable portion locking mechanism (42) for locking a movable portion by limiting the range over which the movable portion can move to be within a predetermined locked movable range; a memory section (36a), within which is stored the movable portion initial position to which the movable portion is moved upon startup of image-blur prevention control; and a control section (36) for moving the movable portion to the initial position and releasing the lock upon startup of control; whereby the predetermined position in the locked movable range is stored as an initial position.
US09170424B2	Illumination unit and display Provided are an illumination unit and a display capable of achieving size reduction in a case where a plurality types of light sources emitting light with various different wavelengths are in use. An optical-path conversion member 12 is provided for performing optical-path conversion to light (red laser light Lr, green laser light Lg, and blue laser light Lg) coming from three types of light sources (a red laser 11R, a green laser 11G, and a blue laser 11B) in a light source unit 11 in such a manner that, compared with an angle formed by center rays in the light, an angle formed by center rays in outgoing light becomes much smaller. Such optical-path conversion is performed without using a large-scale optical system (optical members).
US09170421B2	Display apparatus incorporating multi-level shutters This disclosure provides systems, methods and apparatus for providing multi-level multi-state shutter assemblies. The shutter assembly includes at least a first shutter at a first height over a substrate and a second shutter at a second height over the substrate. Both the first shutter and the second shutter can be operated in an open or closed state for passing or partially blocking light propagating through an aperture. In some implementations, the shutter assembly can operate in four states: a fully transmissive state, a fully obstructive state and two partially transmissive states based on the open or closed states of the first and second shutters.
US09170420B2	Pixel based gobo record control format A special record format used for commanding light pattern shapes and addressable light pattern shape generator. The command format includes a first part which commands a specified gobo and second parts which command the characteristics of that hobo. The gobo is formed by making a default gobo based on the type and modifying that default gobo to fit the characteristics.
US09170415B2	Headware mountable optical device A removable optical loupe that is mountable to headwear is provided. The inventive loupe is configured to clip on to the brim of a hat, or the bill of a cap or visor. Embodiments of the inventive loupe have a pivoting joint for positioning the lens of the optical loupe into and out of the line of sight when not in use. The lens of the inventive optical loupe is used for magnifying objects for inspection.
US09170412B2	Objective lens changer mechanism suitable for use in a compact microscopy system There is disclosed an apparatus for magnifying and capturing images of one or more samples, as well as an apparatus for changing objective lenses. Methods of using the apparatuses, and other embodiments, are also disclosed.
US09170407B2	Zoom lens and image pickup apparatus including the same A zoom lens includes, in order from an object side to an image side thereof, a first lens unit having a positive refractive power, a second lens unit having a negative refractive power, a third lens unit having a positive refractive power, and a fourth lens unit having a positive refractive power. A distance between adjacent ones of the lens units changes during zooming. The first lens unit consists of, in order from the object side to the image side thereof, one negative lens element and one positive lens element. Lengths of travel M1 and M2 of the first lens unit and the second lens unit, respectively, during zooming from a wide-angle end to a telephoto end, focal lengths f1 and f2 of the first lens unit and the second lens unit, respectively, and a zoom ratio Z of the zoom lens are set appropriately.
US09170406B2	Zoom lens and imaging apparatus A zoom lens includes: a first lens group having a positive refractive power which is fixed while changing magnification; a second lens group constituted by two or more magnification changing groups; an aperture stop; and a third lens group having a positive refractive power which is fixed while changing magnification, provided in this order from an object side. The magnification changing groups respectively move along an optical axis while changing magnification from a wide angle end to a telephoto end. The zoom lens satisfies the following conditional formula: u′/u<0.5 (1) wherein u is the angle of inclination of a paraxial chief ray of light that enters the lens surface most toward the object side within the first lens group, and u′ is the angle of inclination of the paraxial chief ray of light that exits the lens surface most toward an image side within the first lens group.
US09170403B2	Imaging lens and imaging apparatus equipped with the imaging lens An imaging lens is constituted by: a first lens having a positive refractive power and is of a meniscus shape with a convex surface toward the object side; a second lens having a negative refractive power; a third lens having a positive refractive power and a convex surface toward the object side; a fourth lens having a positive refractive power and a convex surface toward the object side; and a fifth lens having a negative refractive power, a concave surface toward the image side on the surface thereof toward the image side in the vicinity of the optical axis, and an inflection point on the surface thereof toward the image side, provided in this order from the object side.
US09170400B2	Photographing optical lens assembly, image capturing unit and mobile device A photographing optical lens assembly includes a first lens element, a second lens element, a third lens element, a fourth lens element, a fifth lens element and a sixth lens element. The first lens element has positive refractive power. The second lens element with negative refractive power has an object-side surface being convex in a paraxial region thereof and an image-side surface being concave in a paraxial region thereof. The third lens element, the fourth lens element, the fifth lens element and the sixth lens element have refractive power. The sixth lens element has an image-side surface being concave in a paraxial region thereof, wherein the image-side surface of the sixth lens element has at least one inflection point. The photographing optical lens assembly has a total of six lens elements with refractive power.
US09170397B2	Supporting structure for a movable mirror, method for reducing the tilting of a movable mirror, and interferometer The present invention relates to a supporting structure for a movable mirror of an interferometer, the supporting structure comprising a fixed frame (11), a movable frame (12) to which the movable mirror (42) is arranged to be attachable, and at least two flexible members (13), first ends of said members (13) being fastened to the fixed frame (11) and second ends of said members (13) being fastened to the movable frame (12) in such a way that the distance between fixing points of each flexible member (13) is essentially the same and the distance between the fixing points of the first ends essentially equals the distance between the fixing points of the second ends. The supporting structure comprises support members (16) attached to at least one side of at least two flexible members (13). The invention also relates to an interferometer and a method for reducing the tilting of a movable mirror of an interferometer.
US09170392B2	Telecommunications assembly A telecommunications assembly includes a chassis defining an interior region and a tray assembly disposed in the interior region. The tray assembly includes a tray and a cable spool assembly. The cable spool assembly is engaged to a base panel of the tray. The cable spool assembly is adapted to rotate relative to the tray. The cable spool assembly includes a hub, a flange engaged to the hub and an adapter module. The flange defines a termination area. The adapter module is engaged to the termination module of the flange. The adapter module is adapted to slide relative to the flange in a direction that is generally parallel to the flange between an extended position and a retracted position.
US09170390B2	Armored fiber optic assemblies and methods of forming fiber optic assemblies Cables have dielectric armors with armor profiles that provide additional crush and impact resistance for the optical fibers and/or fiber optic assembly therein, while retaining flexibility to aid during installation. The armored cables recover substantially from deformation caused by crush loads.
US09170389B2	Hybrid fiber optic cable systems Hybrid fiber optic cables including one or more electrical coaxial subassembly allowing for fiber movement to reduce attenuation during bending are disclosed. Related connectorized cables and systems are also disclosed. The hybrid fiber optic cables include both one or more coaxial subassembly and optical fibers to provide both optical and electrical connectivity as part of a connectorized system. Use of one or more coaxial subassembly reduces impedance variations and lowers cost. Each coaxial sub-assembly also includes multiple electrical conductors to increase electrical connectivity capacity (e.g., power and signals) of the hybrid cable, as needed or desired. Further, the hybrid cable may include a channel with optical fiber(s) of the hybrid cable disposed therein, free of attachment to the channel. The channel allows the optical fibers to move relative to the cable jacket and control bend radius to reduce optical attenuation when the hybrid fiber optic cable is bent.
US09170385B2	Connection system for an optical cable The present invention provides a plug for mounting on at least one cable having at least one optical conductor, the plug comprising a body and including at least one optoelectronic converter provided with connection means arranged inside the body in a manner that is removable and interchangeable.
US09170370B2	Optical printed circuit board, apparatus and method for manufacturing same An optical printed circuit board includes a substrate, a first cladding layer, a core layer, and a second cladding layer. The first cladding layer is formed on the substrate and defines a receiving groove. The core layer is received in the receiving groove. The second cladding layer is formed on the core layer. The refractive index of the core layer is greater than that of the first cladding layer and that of the second cladding layer. The core layer includes a bottom surface, a first refractive surface, and a second refractive surface. An included angle between the bottom surface and the first refractive surface is about 135 degrees. An included angle between the bottom surface and the second refractive surface is about 135 degrees.
US09170369B2	Graded refractive index bending-resistant multimode obtical fiber A graded refractive index bending-resistant multimode optical fiber includes a core layer and claddings. The core layer has a radius in a range of 22.5-27.5 μm; refractive indexes being a gradient-graded refractive index distribution with a distribution exponent α in a range of 1.99-2.06; and a maximum relative refractive index difference (RRID) Δ1% max in a range of 0.9%-1.3%. The claddings has an inner cladding surrounding the core layer, an intermediate cladding surrounding the inner cladding and an outer cladding surrounding the inner cladding. The inner cladding has a radius in a range of 25.5-34.5 μm, and an RRID Δ2% in a range of −0.02%-0.02%. The intermediate cladding is a pure quartz glass layer, and has a radius in a range of 30.5-49.5 μm, and an RRID Δ3% in a range of −0.01%-0.01%. The outer cladding has a radius in a range of 61.5-63.5 μm, and an RRID Δ4% is in a range of −0.20%-0.30%.
US09170366B2	Distributed optical chemical sensor The invention relates to a sensor system comprising a waveguide, which waveguide comprises a grating in at least a part of the waveguide, which waveguide further comprises a coating, the coating comprising a polymer, which polymer comprises a chain, in which chain are present an aromatic group and a chemical group selected from the group of sulfonyl groups, carbonyl groups, carbonate groups, fluorocarbon groups, siloxane groups, pyridine groups and amide groups.
US09170360B2	Display device A display device includes a side light type backlight for white color display by single color LEDs, an LED set is placed in a concave portion of a light guide plate, in which a first color LED is located in the center and a second or third color LED is located on the side of the first color LED. An incident slit with an arc shaped convex portion is formed facing the first color LED, and a saw tooth slit with a right-angled triangular concave portion is formed facing the second or third color LED. This allows directing the distribution axes of the lights from the second and third color LEDs to the center side, and adjusting orientation angles to allow effective mixing of the three color lights, in order to increase the white color area and effective display area.
US09170355B2	Reflective polarizer having a dispersed polymer A reflective polarizer of the invention has excellent optical properties even though a very small number of polymer components per unit area is disposed inside a matrix thereof compared to reflective polarizers of the related art, which include birefringent polymer, since the polymer inside the matrix has a plate-like shape. This is advantageous for covering the entire range of visible light, since a plate-like polymer having a variety of optical thicknesses can be used. The additional processing of bonding the skin layer is not performed, since the skin layer is formed on at least one surface of the core layer in the state in which it is molten. This can greatly reduce manufacturing costs, and is advantageous in that it maximizes optical properties in a limited thickness.
US09170354B2	Retroreflective sheet and fabrication method thereof A retroreflective sheet and a fabrication method thereof are provided, the retroreflective sheet including a base, a bonding layer formed on the base, a colored layer formed to be thicker in a non-reflective region NRA2 than in a reflective region RA2 to have a concavo-convex surface on the bonding layer, and having a fluorescent function or a phosphorescent function or having the both fluorescent and phosphorescent functions, a reflective layer formed in the concave portion of the reflective region RA2 on the surface of the colored layer, and a light concentrating layer having a plurality of beads aligned therein on the reflective layer. Thus, since a step is not generated between the reflective region and the non-reflective region, the light reflective member can be prevented from being delaminated from the body when used, and also, the light reflective member can be simply formed in the reflective region of the colored layer.
US09170353B2	Light emitting mirror structure A light emitting mirror structure includes a casing caved in to form an accommodating space having a light guiding area and a mirror area, and at least one surface of the casing as a sidewall communicating with the accommodating space. The mirror structure includes a light guiding device having a light guide plate, and a light emitting member disposed on a side of the light guide plate, and the light guiding device is placed at the light guiding area of the accommodating space of the casing. A mirror body having a substrate and a mirror surface located on the substrate is provided for the disclosed mirror structure also. The mirror body is integrated on the mirror area of the accommodating space, the light guiding plate causes a light to be emitted through the sidewall at a first side of the mirror body, and the mirror surface is uncovered by the sidewall.
US09170340B1	Compact ion chamber based neutron detector A directional neutron detector has an ion chamber formed in a dielectric material; a signal electrode and a ground electrode formed in the ion chamber; a neutron absorbing material filling the ion chamber; readout circuitry which is electrically coupled to the signal and ground electrodes; and a signal processor electrically coupled to the readout circuitry. The ion chamber has a pair of substantially planar electrode surfaces. The chamber pressure of the neutron absorbing material is selected such that the reaction particle ion trail length for neutrons absorbed by the neutron absorbing material is equal to or less than the distance between the electrode surfaces. The signal processor is adapted to determine a path angle for each absorbed neutron based on the rise time of the corresponding pulse in a time-varying detector signal.
US09170333B2	Dynamic range three-dimensional image system Disclosed is a system of a dynamic range three-dimensional image, including: an optical detector including a gain control terminal capable of controlling an optical amplification gain; a pixel detecting module for detecting a pixel signal for configuring an image by receiving an output of the optical detector; a high dynamic range (HDR) generating module for acquiring a dynamic range image by generating a signal indicating a saturation degree of the pixel signal and combining the pixel signal based on the pixel signal detected by the pixel detecting module; and a gain control signal generating module generating an output signal for supplying required voltage to the gain control terminal of the optical detector based on the magnitude of the signal indicating the saturation degree of the pixel signal.
US09170330B2	Velocity estimation for vector flow imaging (VFI) in ultrasound An ultrasound imaging system includes a transducer array, with an array of transducer elements that transmits an ultrasound signal and receives a set of echoes generated in response to the ultrasound signal traversing a flowing structure. The ultrasound imaging system further includes a beamformer that beamforms the set of echoes, generating a beamformed signal. The ultrasound imaging system further includes a pre-processor that performs basebanding, averaging and decimation of the beamformed signal and determines an autocorrelation of the basebanded, averaged and decimated beamformed signal. The ultrasound imaging system further includes a velocity processor that generates an axial velocity component signal and a lateral velocity component signal based on the autocorrelation. The axial and lateral velocity components indicate a direction and a speed of the flowing structure in the field of view.
US09170328B2	Systems and methods for improving bearing availability and accuracy Systems and methods for improving bearing initialization for a pair of two-element antennas. An exemplary system includes two-element antennas mounted on the bottom and top of an aircraft fuselage, an output device, and a processing device. The processing device receives phase-difference information based on phase of signals received at each element of a two-element antenna, determines if the received phase-difference information is within a predefined low-confidence region, and initializes bearing if the phase-difference information is not within the low-confidence region or the phase-difference information from a predefined number of consecutively received signals meets a predefined consistency requirement.
US09170327B2	Apparatus and method for providing obstacle information in autonomous mobile vehicle An apparatus for providing obstacle information in an autonomous mobile vehicle and a method thereof, in which a target object is determined to be what obstacle by combining pieces of information received from a laser distance sensor and radars, thereby enabling the autonomous driving of a vehicle. The apparatus and method for providing obstacle information in an autonomous mobile vehicle, which is capable of providing robust obstacle information not only in environments normal times, but also dust environments by combining a laser distance sensor and radars. A problem that an obstacle through which a mobile unit can pass, such as dust, is mistaken for an obstacle through which the mobile unit cannot pass can be solved.
US09170312B2	Phase-sensitive imaging of magnetization exchange and isotope flux A method for imaging a substrate and product over time is provided. The substrate and product are magnetically tagged with at least one magnetic gradient where magnetically tagging provides a tag-dependent signal phase for the substrate and a different tag-dependent signal phase for the product. At least one readout of magnetically tagged substrate and product is provided over time. The tag-dependent signal phase is used to determine product that has been transformed from magnetically tagged substrate and substrate that has been transformed from magnetically tagged product over time.
US09170310B2	Cryogenically cooled whole-body RF coil array and MRI system having same A whole body RF coil array module configured for cryogenic cooling for use in magnetic resonance imaging. The RF coil array may be a superconducting coil array, such as a high temperature superconducting (HTS) array. The RF coil array module provides sufficiently high signal-to-noise ratio and large field of view such that the RF coil array may be used in an MRI whole body system for diagnostic imaging of all body parts without requiring using special-purpose RF coils for different body parts.
US09170307B2	Hall sensors and sensing methods Embodiments relate to multi-terminal sensor devices and operating methods thereof that can reduce or eliminate offset error. In embodiments, sensor devices can comprise three or fewer terminals, and multiple such sensor devices can be combined. The sensor devices can comprise Hall sensor devices, such as vertical Hall devices, or other sensor devices in embodiments. Operating modes can be implemented for the multi-terminal sensor devices which offer improvements over conventional spinning current techniques, including reduced residual offset.
US09170305B2	Battery management system and method of controlling the same A battery management system (BMS) and a method of controlling the same are disclosed. In one embodiment, the BMS includes a reference setup unit configured to set a charge completion value used to calculate a state of health (SOH) of the battery, wherein the battery comprises one or more battery packs each including a plurality of battery cells, and a charge amount calculation unit configured to calculate an amount actually charged in the battery from a first point in time when charging of the battery begins to a second point in time when the battery charging actually reaches the charge completion value. The BMS may further include an SOH calculation unit configured to calculate the SOH of the battery based on a ratio of i) the actual charge amount to ii) a preset charge amount expected to be charged from the first time point to the second time point.
US09170300B2	Linking circuitry selectively coupling TDI/TDO with first and second domains This disclosure describes a reduced pin bus that can be used on integrated circuits or embedded cores within integrated circuits. The bus may be used for serial access to circuits where the availability of pins on ICs or terminals on cores is limited. The bus may be used for a variety of serial communication operations such as, but not limited to, serial communication related test, emulation, debug, and/or trace operations of an IC or core design. Other aspects of the disclosure include the use of reduced pin buses for emulation, debug, and trace operations and for functional operations.
US09170299B2	DDR addressable TAP interface with shadow protocol and TAP domain A process and apparatus provide a JTAG TAP controller (302) to access a JTAG TAP domain (106) of a device using a reduced pin count, high speed DDR interface (202). The access is accomplished by combining the separate TDI and TMS signals from the TAP controller into a single signal and communicating the TDI and TMS signals of the single signal on the rising and falling edges of the TCK driving the DDR interface. The TAP domain may be coupled to the TAP controller in a point to point fashion or in an addressable bus fashion. The access to the TAP domain may be used for JTAG based device testing, debugging, programming, or other type of JTAG based operation.
US09170293B2	Power line indicator accessory for fusible circuit protection device array A power line indicator accessory configured to simultaneously determine an operating state of a plurality of conductors establishing a circuit connection to a plurality of circuit protection devices such as a fusible switch disconnect devices or modular fuse holders arranged side-by-side in an array. The accessory includes an onboard power supply and a thin, elongated body facilitating its use in tight spaces.
US09170290B1	Method for asynchronous impulse response measurement between separately clocked systems A method for measuring acoustic impulse response of a Device Under Test (DUT) addresses sample rate variations by determining clock rate differences between the DUT and test system, and making adjustments to compensate for the different clock rates. An interrogation signal is generated with two “events” spaced a known number of samples apart, at the nominal sampling rate of the DUT. The interrogation signal is played through the DUT and recorded by a measurement system. The number of samples between the two “events” is measured in the sampled signal to determine the shift introduced by the different clock rates. The adjustment is then applied to either the original frequency response measurement signal by adjusting the sampling rate of a frequency response measurement signal to compensate for the different clock rates, or to the measured signal before averaging, to align the samples and prevent cancelling.
US09170288B2	Dielectric elastomer self-sensing using plane approximation The present invention provides a method for obtaining feedback parameters related to the state of a dielectric elastomer (DE). The method comprises introducing a small-scale oscillation to the voltage difference between electrodes of the DE, monitoring or repeatedly measuring several measurable electrical characteristics of the DE, deriving other relevant data from the measurements, deriving an equation for a plane of best fit through the relevant data when defined as orthogonal axes, and deriving the feedback parameters from coefficients of the plane equation. The method thus provides important feedback regarding the capacitance, leakage current and/or electrode resistance of the DE. Also disclosed are a computer program and a system adapted to perform the method.
US09170284B2	A.C. power measuring apparatus and A.C. power measuring method An A.C. power measuring apparatus includes a voltage detecting unit that detects voltage waveforms of each of phases of a set of insulated cables for supplying a three-phase A.C. power to a load, by performing a contactless measurement by electrostatic capacitance coupling, and a current detecting unit that detects current waveforms of the set of insulated tables, by performing a contactless measurement by electromagnetic induction coupling. The apparatus further includes a processing unit that computes a power to be supplied to the load, based on line-to-line voltage waveforms, the current waveforms, and prescribed voltage values, by normalizing the voltage waveforms of each of the phases so that as amplitude ratio of the voltage waveforms becomes in accordance with a grounding type of the three-phase A.C. power, and obtaining the line-to-line voltages of the set of three insulated cables based on the normalized voltage waveforms of each of the phases.
US09170283B2	Current detector A current detector includes a magnetic core that is molded by sintering powder made from a magnetic material, and a current detection busbar. The current detection busbar is a conductor including a penetrating portion that penetrates a hole portion of the magnetic core in a first direction in which a current flows, and terminal portions that are in connection with the penetrating portion on both sides in the first direction. The width of the terminal portions is larger than the maximum width of the hole portion, and the minimum width of the cross-sectional contour of the penetrating portion is larger than the thickness of the terminal portions. An insulating casing holds the magnetic core, the current detection busbar, and the Hall element, while keeping them from coming into contact with each other.
US09170277B2	Electrical connection module with interruptible circuit An electrical connecting module includes a first electrical connection terminal with a first connection pole and a second connection pole; a module element with a second electrical connection terminal, which comprises a first connection pole and a second connection pole, and with a third electrical connection terminal, which comprises a first connection pole and a second connection pole. A test channel is provided for accommodating a test probe. wherein the test channel is intended for making electrical contact with the second connection pole of the first connection terminal by means of the test probe when there is an electrical connection between the first connection pole of the first connection terminal and the first connection pole of the third connection terminal and when the electrical connection between the second connection pole of the first connection terminal and the second connection pole of the third connection terminal is disconnected.
US09170267B2	Fluid-pressure regulator and related methods and systems A fluid-pressure regulator for regulating the pressure of a fluid. The regulator includes a variable-resistance fluid element and a variable-volume fluid element located downstream of the variable-resistance element. Pressure in the fluid at the outlet of the regulator is controlled by substantially simultaneously changing the resistance of the variable-resistance element and the volume of the variable-volume element. In one example, a decrease in pressure is effected at the outlet by simultaneously increasing the resistance of the variable-resistance element and increasing the volume of the variable-volume element. Some embodiments of the regulator are particularly useful to effect long-term and high-speed pressure changes in high-resistance fluidic channel networks.
US09170266B2	Fluorescent probe A compound represented by the formula (I) (one of substituents represented by R1 is a trapping group for an object substance for measurement; R2 and R3 represent hydrogen, alkyl, or halogen; R4 and R5 represent alkyl or aryl; R6 and R7 represent hydrogen, alkyl, or halogen; R8 represents hydrogen, alkylcarbonyl, or alkylcarbonyloxymethyl, and X represents silicon, germanium, or tin, which can be used as a fluorescent probe that enables red color bioimaging using intramolecular photoinduced electron transfer.
US09170262B2	Comparison of protein samples Methods of qualitatively and/or quantitatively detecting the presence of mutations, modifications or impurities in a protein sample are provided. The methods utilize isotopically labeled variants of amino acids incorporated into proteins prior to protein digest to enable comparisons of two protein samples in bottom-up liquid chromatography.
US09170261B2	Peptide specific for ovarian cancer and applications The present invention provides a novel peptide with high specificity for recognition of ovarian cancer. The peptide is selected using M13 phage display library and epithelial-enrich-conjugated magnetic beads. Only a small amount of the peptide is required to establish over 80% binding activity to ovarian cancer comparing to low binding activities to other cancers, showing high specificity for ovarian cancer. Thus the peptide of the present invention can be effective in early detection of ovarian cancer.
US09170260B2	Myeloperoxidase, a risk indicator for cardiovascular disease Diagnostic tests for characterizing an individual's risk of developing or having a cardiovascular disease. In one embodiment the present diagnostic test comprises determining the level of myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity in a bodily sample obtained from the individual or test subject. In another embodiment, the diagnostic test comprises determining the level of MPO mass in a bodily sample obtained from the test subject. In another embodiment, the diagnostic test comprises determining the level of one or more select MPO-generated oxidation products in a bodily sample obtained from the test subject. The select MPO-generated oxidation products are dityrosine, nitrotyrosine, methionine sulphoxide or an MPO-generated lipid peroxidation products. Levels of MPO activity, MPO mass, or the select MPO-generated oxidation product in bodily samples from the test subject are then compared to a predetermined value that is derived from measurements of MPO activity, MPO mass, or the select MPO-generated oxidation product in comparable bodily samples obtained from the general population or a select population of human subjects. Such comparison characterizes the test subject's risk of developing CVD.
US09170249B2	N-acetylhexosamine-containing N-glycans in glycoprotein products The present invention provides methods of evaluating a glycoprotein preparation for the absence, presence or amount of an N-acetylhexosamine glycan, e.g., an N-acetylglucosamine glycan.
US09170244B2	Method for the dynamic detection of leakages for SCR catalytic converters A method and an arrangement for dynamic breakthrough detection is proposed. The arrangement comprises at least a transfer element, at least a memory unit in which sensor characteristic curves, at least a controller and an evaluation logic are stored.
US09170243B2	Method for determining odor when using a self-tanning agent A method for evaluating an odor generated when using a self-tanning agent, wherein at least one compound selected from pyrazine compounds represented by the following general formula (1) is used as an indicator substance: wherein R1 represents a methyl group, an ethyl group or an acetyl group, and R2, R3 and R4 independently represent a hydrogen atom or a methyl group.
US09170239B2	Magnetostrictive sensor having crimped magnetostrictive strip for high temperature operation A sensor for use in magnetostrictive testing of a structure. The sensor has a thin ferromagnetic strip with a series of parallel crimps across its width. A first wire coil is wrapped around the width of the strip and along its entire length, such that portions of wire that cross the bottom surface of the strip are located inside the crimps, and portions of wire that are wrapped across the top surface of the strip are between the crimps. The sensor further has a second coil wrapped around the length of the strip, or for pipeline applications, around the pipeline.
US09170230B2	MSP nanopores and related methods Provided herein are Mycobacterium smegmatis porin nanopores, systems that comprise these nanopores, and methods of using and making these nanopores. Such nanopores may be wild-type MspA porins, mutant MspA porins, wild-type MspA paralog porins, wild-type MspA homolog porins, mutant MspA paralog porins, mutant MspA homolog porins, or single-chain Msp porins. Also provided are bacterial strains capable of inducible Msp porin expression.
US09170225B2	Obtaining selectivity in gas sensors via a sensor array system composed of P and N type material Systems and methods for discriminating among volatile compounds is provided using a semiconductor junction structure or sensor device. Sensor devices of the present disclosure employ a combination of hole carriers (p-type) and electron carriers (n-type) metal oxides deposited, for example, on a gold microspring array designed so that it has several leads that are at different distances from each other.
US09170217B2	Facility and method for molecular structure determination A molecular structure determination facility includes a first X-ray source capable of emitting a pulsed coherent X-ray beam along a first emission direction and a plurality of first measurement stations aligned along the first emission direction. Each of the first measurement stations comprises a sample injector device for injecting a sample beam of a liquid into an interaction region, a focusing unit for focusing an X-ray beam, and a detector arranged around and comprising a central opening aligned with the emission direction, and being sensitive to X-rays emerging from the interaction region. A method uses the facility by emitting a coherent X-ray beam pulse using the first X-ray source, triggering the injector devices to inject sample beams of liquid into the interaction regions such that the coherent X-ray pulse intersects the sample beams of liquid in the interaction regions, and detecting X-rays emerging from the interaction regions using the detectors.
US09170214B2	Motion-based radiograph interlock systems, structures, and processes A motion-based interlock apparatus, system, and method prevent an x-ray source in an x-ray machine from activating if the current relative motion between the x-ray source and an image receptor would compromise the quality of the resulting plain radiograph. The system activates the interlock based on either or both of the velocity and acceleration of the tubehead, as measured by instrumentation corresponding to any of the tubehead, the extension arm, or off board the x-ray machine. The system may preferably compare the measured motion against one or more acceptable motion thresholds. If the measured motion exceeds one or more of the acceptable motion thresholds, exposure may preferably be delayed until the motion of the tubehead subsides. By ensuring that the image is not exposed while the tubehead is moving substantially, the quality of the resultant radiograph is improved.
US09170213B2	Sensor device for a packaging machine designed as a capsule filling and sealing machine or for a capsule control device The invention relates to a sensor device (30; 30a; 30b; 30c) for a packaging machine (100) designed as a capsule filling and sealing machine or for a capsule control device (100a), said device having a positioning element (35; 35a) for positioning a container (c) having a longitudinal axis (15) and filled with a filling material in the region of the sensor device (30; 30a; 30b; 30c) and at least one radiation source (31; 31 a; 3 b) and at least one detector (40; 40a; 40b) for detecting the radiation after said radiation radiates through the container (c). According to the invention, the at least one radiation source (31; 31a; 31b) radiates through the container (c) perpendicular to the longitudinal axis (15) thereof and the positioning element is designed as a tubular or shaft-shaped conveying element (35; 35a) which can be penetrated by the radiation in a radiation cone (38) of the radiation source (31; 31a; 31b).
US09170212B2	Method and system for performing inspection of a liquid product at a security checkpoint A method, an apparatus and a system are provided for assessing at a security checkpoint the threat status of a liquid product comprised of a bottle at least partially filled with liquid. Generally, an X-ray image of the liquid product is obtained and processed to derive a level of fill of the bottle and the threat status of the liquid product is determined at least in part based on the level of fill of the bottle. In some examples presented, an X-ray image of the liquid product is processed to derive location information associated with a meniscus formed by the liquid in the bottle and an estimated length of a path followed by X-rays through the liquid held in the bottle is used to determine the threat status of the liquid product, the length of the path being derived in part based on the location information.
US09170206B2	Inspection apparatus for sheet An inspection apparatus for a sheet includes: white LED illuminators which irradiate a sheet of paper with light containing visible light: IR-LED illuminators which irradiate the sheet of paper with light containing infrared rays: two visible color cameras; one IR monochrome camera: an IR filter which eliminates the visible light in the light emitted from the white LED illuminators and the IR-LED illuminators and reflected off the sheet of paper, and makes only the infrared rays incident on the IR monochrome camera; and a control device which determines appropriateness of a pattern portion on the sheet of paper on the basis of the visible light made incident on the visible color cameras, and determines appropriateness of pattern portions on the sheet of paper on the basis of the infrared rays made incident on the IR monochrome camera.
US09170199B2	Enhanced sensors in three dimensional scanning system Various improvements to three dimensional imaging systems having inflatable membranes are disclosed. These improvements include, among other things, a proximity sensor that can be used to warn a user of the device when approaching a feature in a cavity, such as an eardrum in an ear canal; or optical sensors with an optical coating matching the refractive index of the medium in which the optical sensors are deployed, to improve data acquisition.
US09170194B2	Material property measuring apparatus A material property measuring apparatus includes a radiation source irradiator configured to irradiate a measurement target material with radiation beams having n different wavelengths, a detector configured to detect intensities of radiation beams having the respective wavelengths after the irradiation of the measurement target material, and a processing unit configured to correct the detected intensity of the radiation beam having at least a part of the respective wavelengths using a correction coefficient in which rows and columns are respectively represented by a matrix of an order of n or less, and to calculate an index value indicating a property of the measurement target material on the basis of relative intensities of the radiation beams having the respective wavelengths after the correction.
US09170184B2	Method of regulating the viscosity of a mixture comprising at least two components having different viscosities A method of regulating the viscosity of a mixture containing at least two components having different viscosities, which includes the steps of: (a) determination of the viscosity of the mixture via ultrasound measurements, (b) standardization of the viscosity determined to standard conditions, (c) comparison of the standardized viscosity with a prescribed intended value, and (d) adjustment of the viscosity of the mixture by increasing or decreasing the proportion of at least one component of the mixture, where the ultrasound measurements in step (a) are carried out at or in a line conveying the mixture or in a vessel.
US09170181B2	Test jig Provided is a test jig including a jig main body having, at an end portion thereof, an insertion part into which an electrode lead is inserted and a fixing member detachably coupled to the insertion part to fix the electrode lead inserted to the insertion part, wherein the insertion part includes insertion faces outwardly extending from both end portions of the jig main body, and coupling faces extending from the insertion faces toward insides of the jig main body and brought into contact with the fixing member, and thus a tensile test is performed on an ultrasonic-welded portion of the electrode lead without an additional cell.
US09170172B2	Composite structure having an embedded sensing system A composite structure having an embedded sensing system is provided, along with corresponding systems and methods for monitoring the health of a composite structure. The composite structure includes composite material and an optical fiber disposed within the composite material. The optical fiber includes a plurality of quantum dots for enhancing its non-linear optical properties. The quantum dots may be disposed in the core, in the cladding and/or on the surface of the optical fiber. The optical fiber is configured to support propagation of the signals and to be sensitive to a defect within the composite material. The quantum dots create a non-linear effect, such as a second order effect, in response to the defect in the composite material. Based upon the detection and analysis of the signals including the non-linear effect created by the quantum dots, a defect within the composite material may be detected.
US09170155B2	System and apparatus for analysis of a guayule plant in situ A system and method for in-field near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) analysis of rubber and resin concentrations a guayule plant is provided. The system includes a wagon or other vehicle with the NIRS device mounted on the wagon. A computer or processor electrically coupled to the NIRS device is also housed within an area or extension of the wagon. During measurement of a guayule plant in the field, a guayule plant covering is placed over the guayule plant and a light shield coupled to the NIRS device is inserted into an opening on the guayule plant covering. The NIRS device is configured to perform a reading of the guayule plant within the plant covering and communicate results of the reading to the computer. A calibration equation is then preferably applied to the guayule plant readings to produce the rubber and resin concentrations of the guayule plant.
US09170137B2	Rotatable orifice plate for direct flow measurement A valve is provided having a valve housing/body configured to be arranged in, or form part of, a piping having a fluid flow, and configured with a pressure tap arranged at a location along the piping to allow pressure of the fluid flow of the piping to be measured, and also having a rotatable orifice plate configured to rotate in the valve body/housing on an axis of rotation positioned at a different location along the piping than the pressure tap for rotating between a first rotatable position for providing a normal fluid flow operation and a second rotatable position substantially perpendicular to the fluid flow for providing a direct flow measurement of the fluid flow determined based on signaling sensed by the pressure tap sensor containing information about a measured pressure at the pressure tap when the orifice plate is in the second rotatable position.
US09170128B2	Motion sensor, method, and computer-readable storage medium providing a motion sensor with a vibration processor to set a state of a flag in response to selected ones of a plurality of test results being indicative of a passing conditions A motion sensor has a vibration processor to set a flag in response to a plurality of test results provided by a plurality of tests being indicative of a passing condition. A corresponding method and computer-readable storage medium can be used by the motion sensor.
US09170127B2	AMR/AMI pit lid antenna bracket An RF antenna bracket for placement through and under a utility meter pit lid for use in an AMR or AMI system that includes a transmitter bracket cap for placement in a hole disposed in a meter pit lid; a cylindrical threaded neck disposed under and depending downwardly from said cap; a female threaded collar threadably disposed on said threaded neck; first and second elongate parallel slide posts connected to and depending downwardly from said female threaded collar, said first slide post having teeth disposed linearly along the length of an interior side of said first slide post; and an antenna mount slidably affixed to said first and second slide posts, said antenna mount engaging said teeth on said first slide post for vertical adjustment and positioning.
US09170124B2	Variable step tracking Variable step tracking is described in which a monitoring station is operable to receive data signals representative of step movement of an asset as detected by a monitoring device carried by the asset. A database stores a step length of the asset. A step length modification module modifies the step length based on at least one of energy, asset orientation, direction, and frequency associated with the step movement. An asset position is estimated with respect to a known location based on cumulative step lengths.
US09170118B2	Navigation system for electric vehicle A navigation system for an electric vehicle includes a telematics center, a display terminal, and a charging station. In response to a request from the display terminal, the telematics center sends a route search result, which is created based on information on an electric vehicle and the charging station and which includes base point information whose remaining battery capacity is to be confirmed, to the display terminal. The display terminal displays route guidance information, the current position, and a result of comparison between the current remaining battery capacity and the base point information to the user who is driving the electric vehicle.
US09170106B2	Shock-resistant device and method A shock-resistant device includes snubbers that may be selectively extended to selectively create a stiff attachment between a vibration-isolated component of the device, and another part of the device. The snubbers may be electromechanical or hydraulically driven. The device may be a sensor system for an unmanned aerial vehicle, with the snubbers extendible to create a stiff attachment between an inner gimbal and an outer shell of the sensor system, for example prior to landing the unmanned aerial vehicle on an aircraft carrier, or prior to transportation or storage of the unmanned aerial vehicle. The snubbers may be able to be manually actuated, even when the unmanned aerial vehicle has no power available.
US09170105B1	System and method for improved accuracy gyro rate sensing The present invention addresses performance limitation of gyros (e.g., MEMS gyros) by significantly reducing common-mode noise and bias effects. In one embodiment, an array of gyros, which may comprise four or more gyros, is configured so that common-mode error effects can be separated from the sensed rotational motion of the gyros and therefore removed. Removing the common-mode effects increases attitude estimation and spacecraft pointing accuracy, particularly during periods when the gyros must solely provide the attitude reference.
US09170103B2	Stereo camera device, correction method, and program A stereo camera device detecting a distance to a subject includes two cameras and a calculation unit that calculates a distance to the subject based on the images acquired by the two cameras. The calculation unit includes an image processing unit that searches for corresponding points of the images acquired by the two cameras and calculates two parallaxes based on differences in positional coordinates of the corresponding points on the images, an offset value calculation unit that calculates parallax offset values across the images based on the two parallaxes calculated by the image processing unit at least at two time points, and a statistical processing unit that performs a statistical analysis on a distribution of the parallax offset values and determines an optimum value of the parallax offset values, the optimum value being used as a correction parameter.
US09170097B2	Hybrid system A system and method is provided for imaging an article within a field of view, projecting an illumination field onto the article within field of view, and selectively projecting illumination structures onto the article within the field of view. Then, image data corresponding to the illumination field and the illumination structures may be received and a feature of the article may be analyzed based on the illumination field and the illumination structures.
US09170090B2	Method for estimating volume A cargo handling vehicle comprising a mast and a lifting device movable along said mast. The cargo handling vehicle comprises a range sensor located on said cargo handling vehicle at a position suitable for measuring the distance to the top of a piece of cargo. The cargo handling vehicle also comprises means for calculating a calculated height of said piece of cargo with respect based on said distance to the top of the piece of cargo, and means for calculating the estimated volume of said piece of cargo based on said known length and width and said calculated height. The cargo handling vehicle is used in a method for calculating the estimated volume of said piece of cargo.
US09170078B2	Expandable broadhead An expandable broadhead includes a number of fixed blades cumulating in a point, with each of the fixed blades having a channel for receiving a cammable deployable expansion blade, with the expansion blade having a slot which cooperates with a fixed retaining pin transverse to the channel that cams the deployable blade outwardly when a forward impact shoulder of the deployable blade strikes a target. This moves the blade relative to the fixed retaining pin and thus cams the deployable blade out to an expanded position for maximum blade cutting edge contact to effectuate maximum damage to the target and a quick kill.
US09170071B2	Mosaic extremity protection system with transportable solid elements A flexible armor system adaptable to a garment suitable for extremity protection uses a planar array of polygon-shaped solid elements which detach upon projectile impact and combine their mass with the projectile for reduced velocity and increased impact area. The solid elements are bonded between an elastic strike-side spall cover and a high tensile strength flexible backer layer, and are further supported by a substantial fiber pack. In embodiments, the solid elements are ceramic, and are commutated but remain essentially intact after the projectile impact. Edge bars can cover junctures between solid elements, and center buttons can cover intersections between the junctures. Edge bars and center buttons can also be ceramic. The ceramic parts can include titanium backing layers. After formation, ceramic cores can be compressed upon cooling by an outer ceramic layer having a higher coefficient of thermal expansion, the outer layer being formed by glazing or doping.
US09170059B2	Heat transfer pad having localized treatment zones A heat transfer pad includes a pad inlet port for feeding a heat transfer fluid to the pad, a pad outlet port for discharging the heat transfer fluid from the pad and a bladder having an internal flowpath for the heat transfer fluid which extends from the pad inlet port to the pad outlet port. The internal flowpath is divided into a first flow channel and a second flow channel through which first and second flow streams of the heat transfer fluid, respectively, flow between the pad inlet and outlet ports. A first flow restrictor is positioned downstream in the first flow channel and a second flow restrictor is correspondingly positioned downstream in the second flow channel and the flow restrictors are configured to create substantial back pressures in the first and second flow channels, respectively.
US09170056B2	Duplex flexible heat exchanger A method and system for cooling an electrical heat source is disclosed. A heat exchanger has two principal sub-assemblies. A closed-loop fluid flow is provided through a second sub-assembly, disposed next to a heat source. An open-loop fluid flow is provided though a first sub-assembly in communication with a second sub-assembly. Each of the first and second sub-assemblies has a rotational element. The fluid flow entering the first sub-assembly rotates the first rotational element, and magnetic communication between the rotational elements causes movement of the second rotational element, thereby achieving fluid movement within the second sub-assembly. Operationally, the closed-loop sub-assembly removes heat from the heat source and transfers it to the open-loop sub-assembly for subsequent heat transfer in a downstream fluid flow.
US09170051B2	Reflow oven and methods of treating surfaces of the reflow oven A reflow oven used to join electronic components to a substrate includes a chamber housing having surfaces that are in contact with heated air mixed with contaminants, including flux, and an intermediate layer selectively applied to the surfaces of the chamber housing. The reflow oven may include fabricating the intermediate layer with a foam material, including foaming polymers, e.g., epoxy, polyurethane, polyester, and silicone, or a non-foam material, including non-foaming polymers, e.g., polytetrafluoroethylene and polyimide. A method of treating surfaces of a reflow oven exposed to contaminants, including flux, is further disclosed.
US09170036B2	Thermoelectric module A thermoelectric module includes a thermoelectric element and an electrode. The thermoelectric element has a rectangular end face. The electrode includes a first joint portion joined to a center portion of the end face; and a second joint portion joined to one end and a third joint portion joined to the other end. Each of the second joint portion and the third joint portion is disposed at a distance from each of four corners of the end face. A joint length in the second direction orthogonal to the first direction between the first joint portion and the end face is longer than each of a joint length in the second direction between the second joint portion and the end face, and a joint length in the second direction between the third joint portion and the end face.
US09170030B2	Storage hot water supplying apparatus, hot water supplying and space heating apparatus, operation control apparatus, operation control method, and operation control program A storage hot water supplying apparatus provides heated water to a load circuit through which users uses water, and includes a water storage tank which stores water and has outlets for water to be heated at different heights, and an outlet selecting unit to select, from among the outlets, an outlet to take out the water, based on a provision temperature which is a temperature of water to be provided from the water storage tank to the load circuit and temperatures of the water to be taken out through the outlets. A heating unit heats the water taken out through the selected outlet and to be returned to the water storage tank.
US09170027B2	Quick-attach steam dispersion tubes and method of attachment A steam dispersion system is disclosed. The steam dispersion system includes a header and a mounting plate spaced from the header. A steam dispersion tube including a first end and a second end and an interior cavity defined between the first end and the second end is mounted between the mounting plate and the header. The steam dispersion tube defines a longitudinal axis. A biasing structure is mounted between the mounting plate and the header, wherein the biasing structure applies a biasing force on the steam dispersion tube along a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the steam dispersion tube when mounted between the header and the mounting plate.
US09170026B2	Heating element A heating element is provided that has at least one flat electrical heating device to heat at least one spatial region found on one side of the heating device. The heating device has a contact configured to connect to a power supply and control device of a baking and roasting oven. The contact is configured to alternately connect to an electronic mechanism external to the baking and roasting oven. In addition, an arrangement of the heating element with an electronic mechanism external to the baking and roasting oven is provided.
US09170011B2	High-power LED lamp A high-power LED lamp set is provided in the present invention. The high-power LED lamp set comprises: a power converting module; a power supply casing (2) for housing the power converting module; a light source casing (4), connected with the power supply casing; electrode rods (1), arranged at a rear end of the power supply casing (2) and connected with the power converting module; and LED lamps (7), mounted on a bottom surface of the light source casing (4); said light source casing (4) is provided with a lens board (5) at its opening end, wherein the lens board (5) is perforated with through holes at the positions corresponding to the LED lamps, and a high transmittance lens (8) is embedded in each of the through holes.
US09170009B1	One-handed activation device A one-handed activation device includes a hand attachment assembly having an activatable device attachment portion securable to at least a portion of a user's hand and a first switch portion securable to at least a portion of one of a proximal phalanx of a user's thumb and a middle phalanx of a user's finger. The one-handed activation device further includes an activatable device configured to be selectively activated that is secured to the activatable device attachment portion and a first switch configured to selectively activate the activatable device. The first switch is secured to the first switch portion and it is positioned such that the first switch substantially overlies an extensor surface of one of the proximal phalanx of the user's thumb and the middle phalanx of the user's finger.
US09169994B2	Light emitting device, and illumination apparatus and luminaire using same A light emitting device including multiple kinds of light emission units with different emission colors; a driver which drives the light emission units; and a cover member which is commonly provided for the multiple kinds of light emission units. The multiple kinds of light emission units include solid state light emitting elements of the same kind, and wavelength converters which cover the solid state light emitting elements, respectively, and convert wavelengths of lights emitted from the solid state light emitting elements into different wavelengths from each other. Further, the cover member contains a correction phosphor for correcting a chromaticity of light obtained by mixing lights emitted from the light emission units, to a predetermined chromaticity.
US09169989B2	Diamond optical element A method of manufacturing an optical element, the method comprising: growing a first layer of single crystal diamond material via a chemical vapor deposition technique using a gas phase having a first nitrogen concentration; growing a second layer of single crystal diamond material over said first layer via a chemical vapor deposition technique using a gas phase having a second nitrogen concentration, wherein the second nitrogen concentration is lower than the first nitrogen concentration; forming an optical element from at least a portion of the second layer of single crystal diamond material; and forming an out-coupling structure at a surface of the optical element for increasing out-coupling of light.
US09169981B1	LED lamp and LED lighting assembly An LED lamp or LED lighting assembly includes a light guide having opposed major surfaces configured to propagate light by total internal reflection and a light input edge extending between the major surfaces. A light source is adjacent to the light input edge and is configured to edge light the light guide. In some embodiments, the light source is moveable relative to the light input edge, and the spectrum of the light output from the light guide may be adjusted by movement of the light source relative to the light input edge.
US09169980B2	Lighting device and display device A lighting device includes a translucent member having the same cross sectional tubular shape throughout a longitudinal direction and including a lens that includes a light incident surface for receiving incident light and a pair of light exit surface for diffusing and emitting the light incident on the light incident surface to the outside, and a light-emitting portion mounted on a substrate and emitting the light toward a region including the light incident surface of the translucent member, where in the translucent member includes a pair of light guide portions for guiding the light incident on the light incident surface to a pair of the light exit surfaces so that the light incident on the light incident surface is diffused and emitted from the pair of light exit surfaces in a width direction that is orthogonal to the longitudinal direction.
US09169978B1	Intelligent light emitting diode lamp tube compatible to T5/T8 electronic ballast An intelligent light emitting diode lamp tube compatible to a T5/T8 electronic ballast comprises a tube body, a circuit board provided with at least one LED lamp string to be disposed in the tube body, an integrated circuit disposed on the circuit board, a selection circuit comprising a first conduction loop and a second conduction loop configured with an inductor, and a switch member connected to the integrated circuit. When the intelligent light emitting diode lamp tube is connected to a self-oscillating electronic ballast or an IC-controlled electronic ballast, the internal arithmetic of the integrated circuit can be utilized to conduct the selection circuit and the switch member to change resonance frequency of electrical circuit, so that effects of low power consumption, high adaptiveness and energy conservation can be attained.
US09169977B2	LED lamp A LED lamp has an enclosure including an optically transmissive lens. LEDs are mounted on a plane in the enclosure and are operable to emit light through the lens when energized through an electrical path. A portion of the lens extends behind the plane of the plurality of LEDs such that a portion of the light is emitted as back light. Approximately between 5 and 25 percent of the total Lumen output of the lamp is emitted as backlight.
US09169971B2	Sealed bearing assembly failure detection A method and system for magnetically detecting thermal degradation of a component. A multiple of ferrous metal segments are attached to a component not within a lubrication circuit of a lubrication system with a thermally-affected bonding agent. The thermally-affected bonding agent is operable to detach at a threshold temperature at least one of the multiple of ferrous metal segments such that the at least one of the multiple of detached ferrous metal segments enters the lubrication circuit of the lubrication system. The at least one of the multiple of ferrous metal segments which detached are then detected within the lubrication system.
US09169969B2	Mounting screw retention feature for a housing of an electronic device A corner mountable housing (10) is provided for encasing an electronic device and for mounting the electronic device in a corner (12) of a wall or other mount surface (14) via at least one fastener (16) extending through the housing (10) to engage the corner (12). The housing (10) includes a surface-mountable housing portion (20) in the form of a rear cover, with the housing portion (20) being a one-piece molded construction and having first and second fastener retention features (22) and (24) formed therein.
US09169965B2	Geometric and material hybrid systems for tray table arm In an embodiment, a support arm includes: a thermoplastic material and a filler. A cross-section of the support arm taken along a line from an inner edge to an outer edge of the support arm comprises a modified I-shaped, a I/U-shaped, or a U-shaped cross-section.
US09169962B2	Multi-linkage clip for camera and other devices Systems and methods related to computer peripheral devices and mounts are described including device mounts with three linkages. A first linkage may include a body, an abutment piece approximately perpendicular to the body, and a device attachment mechanism disposed proximate to said abutment piece. A second linkage is rotatably connected to the first linkage and a third linkage is rotatably connected to the second linkage. The third linkage may at least partially overlaps the second linkage and extend beyond an end of the second linkage. A camera housing may also be attached to the first linkage, e.g. by a hinge or socket joint. The second linkage may be connected to the first linkage via a friction hinge, and the third linkage may be connected to the second linkage via another friction hinge. The third linkage may preferably include a substantially planar contact surface with a chamfered leading edge.
US09169955B2	Helical spline lock A helical spline lock for securing an inlet duct to a portion of a combustor body includes a helical spline key having a helical shape defined at least in part by a shape of a combustor body. A first lug is disposed about the combustor body and has a first channel for at least partially receiving and interfacing with the helical spline key. A second lug is disposed about an inlet duct and has a second channel for at least partially receiving and interfacing with the helical spline key. The first lug and the second lug are configured to mate with one another to form a helical keyway from the first and second channels, and the helical spline key is insertable into the keyway to secure the inlet duct to the combustor body.

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