Document	Document Title
US09216306B2	Filter element that has plenum containing bonded continuous filaments A filter element 12 that includes a fluid inlet 16, a fluid outlet 17 that is in fluid communication with the inlet 16, a filter media 40, 42 through which the fluid passes when moving from the inlet 16 to the outlet 17, and a plenum 38 that comprises continuous filaments 66 that are bonded to each other at points of filament intersection 68. The plenum is easy to manufacture, is resistant to compaction when contorted, and exhibits a low pressure drop as air is distributed across the filter media.
US09216303B2	Mascara formulation Mascara primer and mascara formulations are disclosed.
US09216299B2	Electromagnetic pathologic lesion treatment system and method A method of treating a pathologic legion, such as an intravascular thrombus, is disclosed. The method comprises providing a guide wire and catheter with at least one inductive element within a blood vessel to a distal location associated with the pathologic lesion; and providing electromagnetic energy via at least one inductive element to the pathologic lesion to cause thrombolysis. Medicated magnetic particles can be endovascularly localized and concentrated to the vascular territory affected by the pathologic lesion.
US09216289B2	Method and apparatus for controlling autonomic balance using neural stimulation A neural stimulation system senses autonomic activities and applies neural stimulation to sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves to control autonomic balance. The neural stimulation system is capable of delivering neural stimulation pulses for sympathetic excitation, sympathetic inhibition, parasympathetic excitation, and parasympathetic inhibition.
US09216287B2	Apparatus for measuring and treating dysphagia According to one embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus for measuring and treating dysphagia may comprise: one or more dysphagia measuring sensor units attached to the neck of a patient; one or more electrical stimulation electrode units attached to the neck of the patient to provide electrical stimulation to the neck of the patient in accordance with the dysphagia signal sensed by the dysphagia measuring sensor units so as to resolve the dysphagia; and a control unit which controls the dysphagia measuring sensor units and the electrical stimulation electrode units. Accordingly, the apparatus for measuring and treating dysphagia according to the one embodiment of the present invention has the dysphagia measuring sensor units, and the electrical stimulation electrode units which provide electrical stimulation to the neck of the patient in accordance with the dysphagia signal sensed by the dysphagia measuring sensor units so as to resolve the dysphagia, thus simultaneously enabling convenient measurement of the dysphagia and treatment of the dysphagia using the electrical stimulation electrode units.
US09216284B2	Electrode insertion tools, lead assemblies, kits and methods for placement of cardiac device electrodes Insertion tools, lead assemblies, kits, and methods for placement of cardiac device electrodes. In some embodiments, an insertion tool having a proximal end and a distal, dissecting end includes a structure configured to receive or engage a structure on a lead assembly. Some embodiments include a lead assembly having an end including a structure configured for engaging the distal end of an associated insertion tool. Some embodiments include kits or systems including both an insertion tool and a lead assembly, each having a structure for engaging the other. In these embodiments, the engaging structures may take several forms including threads, small posts, circular or semi-circular receiving members, and/or a slot. Some embodiments also include methods for placement of cardiac device electrodes with the assistance of an associated insertion tool, wherein the cardiac device electrodes are associated with a lead assembly having an end configured to engage a distal, dissecting portion of an associated insertion tool.
US09216283B2	Multi-area pacing lead for a left cavity of the heart, implantable in the coronary network A multi-area pacing lead implantable in a target vein of the coronary network for stimulating a left cavity of the heart, comprising an electrically conductive microcable (12), an electrically insulating outer coating, and carrying at its distal end a free active portion containing a plurality of separate denuded areas forming a network of active stimulation electrodes (14, 16), intended to contact the wall of target veins. The active free portion has a proximal corrugated portion carrying a first set of electrodes (14), a distal corrugated portion carrying a second series of electrodes (16) and an intermediate portion (20) that traverses an anastomosis (22) connecting the ends of two veins (VA, VPL). Both sets of electrodes (14, 16) can thus be placed in two different veins, defining two remote stimulation areas.
US09216278B2	Luer lock connection The invention relates to a Luer lock connection comprising a Luer cone and a threaded sleeve surrounding said cone, the threaded sleeve being fitted on the base of the Luer cone so that it is rotatable along the longitudinal axis of said cone, wherein clamping means are provided between the threaded sleeve and the base of the Luer cone, said means being designed in such a way that when a female part is fitted onto the Luer cone, clamping between the threaded sleeve and the base of the Luer cone is achieved by rotating the threaded sleeve or the female part in the threaded sleeve (4).
US09216265B2	System and respiration appliance for supporting the airway of a subject A respiration appliance (10), system (40), and method (62, 72, 86) for supporting the airway of a subject (12) as the subject (12) breaths. The flow of gas from the lungs of the subject (12) during exhalation is leveraged to provide support to the airway. In particular, a body (14) that encloses one or more external orifices of the subject (12) provides a resistance differential between inhaled gas flows and exhaled gas flows that supports the subject's airway.
US09216262B2	Device for detecting the observance by a patient of an oxygen-therapy treatment The invention relates to a device for implementing a system for detecting the observance by a patient of an oxygen-therapy treatment involving an oxygen supply, and for recording the data of said treatment and transmitting said data. The invention also relates to the use of said device, and to a method for tracking the observance of an oxygen-therapy treatment.
US09216259B2	Methods and apparatus for delivering aerosolized medication A pulmonary drug delivery device having one or more vortexing elements which impart beneficial flow characteristics to an inspiratory air flow carrying a medicament into the patient's lungs.
US09216255B2	Needle assembly A needle assembly (2) for a drug delivery device (1) comprises a needle seal (3), a needle retainer (4) and a needle (5). The needle retainer (4) secures the needle (5) against displacement with respect to said needle retainer (4) when a dose of drug is being delivered. The needle seal (3) is configured to push onto the needle retainer (4) after delivering the dose of the drug, thereby unlocking the needle (5) from the needle retainer (4).
US09216253B2	Needle dispensing and storing apparatus for medicament delivery device A flip-open multi-pack assembly is provided which can contain a plurality of new pen needles, such as through the provision of a rectangular or tube-shaped shaped, hinged shell housing, wherein new pen needles can be stored in a plurality of user accessible openings each having a sterility barrier formed, for example, by covers that cover the non-patient end of the openings in which the new pen needles are contained. Used pen needles can be returned and stored in openings accessible by rotatably opening the shell housing. One or more of the openings within first and second opposite ends of the housing shell can be provided with a slidable internal holder within the device and are configured to releasably secure the inner shield of the new pen needle, and to then be pulled forward when the new pen needle is removed and lock at a forward position, and thereby create an interior space, accessible from an opposite end when the hinged housing is opened, for a used pen needle to be inserted and stored.
US09216251B2	Medicament delivery device The present invention relates to a medicament delivery device. The medicament delivery device may include an operation member configured to act on a medicament container for expelling a medicament. The device may be configured to hold the operation member in a pre-tensioned state. The device may include an activation member configured to interact with the operation member to release it from the pre-tensioned state. The device may further comprise feedback. For example, the feedback may include generating an audible and/or tactile and/or visual signal indicating that the medicament has been completely expelled.
US09216245B2	Manual breast pump The invention provides a manual breast pump which can be disassembled and assembled easily for cleaning purposes, and which can readily modify a negative pressure during expression of milk generated by a lever-type operating section. A breast pump having an accommodating vessel for collecting breast milk, a breast pump main body, and an operating section attached to the breast pump main body and for deforming a negative pressure generating member installed on the breast pump main body, wherein the operating section has a lever form and includes an engagement opening as an engaged section for engaging with an engaging section provided on the breast pump main body, and the engagement opening is selectively engaged with engaging sections in a plurality of positions provided midway on an extending section erected in a pillar shape as one portion of the negative pressure generating member.
US09216239B2	Medical device for intra-lumenal delivery of pharmaceutical agents The present invention relates to intra-lumenal drug delivery devices. The device, such as a stent, is coated or impregnated with a pharmaceutical agent suitable for use in treatment of restenosis, pulmonary hypertension, and cancer. Suitable pharmaceutical agents include vasodilators and chemotherapeutics.
US09216231B2	Sterilization apparatus and method for controlling of a sterilization apparatus The invention relates to a sterilization apparatus (10) and to a method for the sterilization of an object (7) by a gaseous or liquid fluid comprising: a sterilization chamber (8) in which the object (7) is positioned, at least an acceleration device (2) for accelerating the fluid to a predetermined flow-speed, at least a filter device (3) for separating particles from the fluid, characterized in that the sterilization apparatus further comprises at least an orifice device (4) providing a plurality of openings, and a control apparatus for determining the flow-speed of the fluid on the basis of a pressure difference (Δp).
US09216226B2	Compounds and medical devices activated with solvophobic linkers The present disclosure relates to compounds and medical devices activated with a solvophobic material functionalized with a first reactive member and methods of making such compounds and devices.
US09216225B2	Remote assembly of targeted nanoparticles using H-phosphate ENE/-YNE hydrophosphonylation reactions The present invention provides phosphonate compounds and methods of preparing the phosphonate compounds so as to allow, for example, increased capability to modify nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery applications.
US09216214B2	Replication-competent adenoviral vectors This invention provides improved replication-competent adenoviral vectors. The improved vectors have both a hybrid regulatory unit that provides for high level transgene expression. The vectors can be use, e.g., for therapeutic or prophylactic purposes.
US09216210B2	Multiprotease therapeutics for chronic pain The invention includes Clostridial neurotoxin derivatives containing at least two light chain endopeptidase domains, and nucleic acids encoding such Clostridial neurotoxin derivatives. In preferred embodiments, the invention includes methods and compositions for the treatment of inflammatory disorders (such as arthritis); chronic pain, such as neuropathic pain and inflammatory pain through the use of such Clostridial neurotoxin derivatives, including those derived from an intact BoNT/A having an LC/E-derived endopeptidase joined to the LC/A endopeptidase.
US09216199B2	Nutritional supplement containing phospholipid-DHA derived from eggs Described herein are manufactured dietary supplements that contain a phospholipid extract derived from eggs, where the extract contains phospholipid-docosahexaenoic acid derived from eggs, folate, vitamin D, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, vitamin C, calcium, iron, N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine, iodine, and magnesium.Described herein are manufactured dietary supplements that contain a phospholipid extract derived from eggs and the extract contains two forms of phospholipid-docosahexaenoic acid derived from eggs. One form of phospholipid-docosahexaenoic acid is phosphatidylcholine-docosahexaenoic acid, and another form of phospholipid-docosahexaenoic acid is phosphatidylethanolamine-docosahexaenoic acid. And the phospholipid extract has less than about 3% by weight of free triglycerides.
US09216198B2	Compositions and medical devices for controlled release of nitric oxide and methods of production thereof The present disclosure describes compositions providing for controlled release of nitric oxide (NO) and methods for production of these compositions. In some embodiments, the compositions may include a biodegradable polymer and a nitric oxide-releasing material at least partially encapsulated by the biodegradable polymer. Nitric oxide-releasing materials may include, for example, diazeniumdiolates and nitric oxide contained within a zeolite, metal-organic framework or other porous material. In general, the compositions are spun into a porous fiber, which may be further annealed by heating in order to densify the fiber. Annealing may prolong the NO release profile. Medical devices containing the compositions described herein are also contemplated by the present disclosure. Medical devices include, for example, textiles, bandages and articles of clothing.
US09216188B2	Hydrogels for vocal cord and soft tissue augmentation and repair The present invention provides hydrogels and compositions thereof for vocal cord repair or augmentation, as well as other soft tissue repair or augmentation (e.g., bladder neck augmentation, dermal fillers, breast implants, intervertebral disks, muscle-mass). The hydrogels or compositions thereof are injected into the superficial lamina propria or phonatory epithelium to restore the phonatory mucosa of the vocal cords, thereby restoring a patient's voice. In particular, it has been discovered that hydrogels with an elastic shear modulus of approximately 25 Pa are useful in restoring the pliability of the phonatory mucosa. The invention also provides methods of preparing and using the inventive hydrogels.
US09216184B1	Agent and method for increasing testosterone level in a body A composition for regulating male sexual function includes at least one amino acid selected from a group consisting of L-Glutamic acid (glutamate), L-Arginine, glycine, L-aspartate, L-carnitine, L-tyrosine, L-glutamine and/or its pharmaceutically acceptable salt, such as any of monosodium-L-glutamate monogidrate, L-potassiumarginine, L,-ammoniumaspartate, L-arginine HCl, sodium-L-tyrasine, lithium aspartate, in the amount of 1-1000 mg, preferably 10-300 mg; at least one vitamin, in the amount of 1-500% of a daily recommended dose, preferably 10-200%; and at least one chelated compound of a formula: acid-Me-acid.nH2O, wherein Me is a metal chosen from any of Ca, Mg and Zn, wherein the acid is a dicarboxylic acid anion chosen from the group consisting of succinic acid, fumaric acid or aspartic acid, and wherein n=0-8. The composition increases testosterone level in a body of a male mammal.
US09216183B2	Topical treatment for chemotherapy induced eyelash loss or hypotrichosis using prostamide F2 alpha agonists The present invention is directed to compositions and methods for the treatment of post-chemotherapeutic hypotrichosis. More specifically, the present invention is directed to the use of compositions comprising bimatoprost for the treatment of post-chemotherapeutic hypotrichosis which may be applied before, during and after receiving chemotherapeutic treatment.
US09216182B2	Carbamate/urea derivatives containing piperidin and piperazin rings as H3 receptor inhibitors The invention relates to compound of the formula I (I) or a salt thereof, wherein the substituents are as defined in the specification; to its preparation and to medicaments comprising it for treating diseases connected to the inhibition of H3 receptor.
US09216181B2	BMP-2 upregulating compounds for healing bone tissue and screening methods for selecting such compounds The present disclosure relates to a method to stimulate endogenous BMP-2 up-regulation in a subject which method comprises administering to a subject an effective amount of an H1 receptor antagonist, whereby endogenous BMP-2 up-regulation is stimulated in said subject. Also provided is a pharmaceutical formulation including an H1 receptor antagonist present in an effective amount to stimulate BMP-2 up-regulation in a subject and a kit.
US09216179B2	Treatment of gout and hyperuricemia Sodium 2-(5-bromo-4-(4-cyclopropylnaphthalen-1-yl)-4H-1,2,4-triazol-3-ylthio)acetate is described. In addition, pharmaceutical compositions and uses of such compositions for the treatment of a variety of diseases and conditions are described.
US09216171B2	Methods of preventing ischemic injury using peripheral nociceptive stimulation Methods of inhibiting ischemia-related and ischemia-reperfusion-related injury are provided. Remote administration of a C-fiber activator or TRPV1 agonist or remote electrical stimulation and activation of TRPV1 reduces ischemia-related tissue damage in subjects at risk for ischemia-related tissue damage. In aspects of the invention, remote application of a TRPV1 agonist inhibits ischemia-related cardiac tissue damage. Methods of inhibiting cardiac tissue damage by topically administering the TRPV1 agonist, capsaicin are provided.
US09216169B2	Pharmaceutical composition comprising candesartan or ester thereof and chlortalidone, and use thereof Provided is a pharmaceutical composition comprising candesartan or ester thereof and chlorthalidone, and use thereof, wherein the weight ratio of candesartan or ester thereof to chlorthalidone is 5.3:1 to 1:6.25. The pharmaceutical composition has a synergistic antihypertensive effect, and can enhance the antihypertensive effect and extend duration of antihypertension.
US09216168B1	Therapeutic compositions comprising imidazole and imidazolium compounds Therapeutic compositions comprising substituted imidazole or imidazolium compounds may be used for a number of medical purposes, such as treatment of undesirable conditions or diseases, including disease or conditions related to bone, cancer, and/or pain.
US09216167B2	Ketorolac tromethamine compositions for treating or preventing ocular pain Compositions comprising ketorolac tromethamine at a therapeutically effective concentration of less than 0.5% are disclosed herein. Methods of treating or preventing ocular pain using said compositions are also disclosed herein.
US09216164B2	Composition and method to alleviate joint pain using a mixture of fish oil and fish oil derived, choline based, phospholipid bound fatty acid mixture including polyunsaturated EPA and DHA Beneficial and synergistic effects for alleviating joint pain and symptoms of osteoarthritis and/or rheumatoid arthritis have been found using a mixture of fish oil and fish oil derived, choline based, phospholipid bound fatty acid mixture including polyunsaturated EPA and DHA either alone or in combination with other active constituents, including astaxanthin and polymeric hyaluronic acid or sodium hyaluronate (hyaluronan) in an oral dosage form.
US09216156B2	Virosome-like vesicles comprising gp41-derived antigens The present invention relates to a virosome-like vesicle comprising at least a gp41-derived antigen or an analogue thereof, said gp41-derived antigen being located to the external surface of and/or encapsulated inside said vesicle and being in a convenient configuration for conferring said virosome-like vesicle with an ability to induce an immune response against a gp41 protein or a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
US09216152B2	Injectable delivery of microparticles and compositions therefore Compositions and methods of making and using of microparticle compositions that provide faster flow or improved injectability through smaller or small-diameter needles have been developed. Notably, the microparticle compositions can be successfully delivered or administered through smaller-diameter needles than other microparticle compositions prepared from biocompatible or biodegradable polymers including, for example, poly(lactide), poly(lactide-co-glycolide), polycaprolactone, or poly-3-hydroxybutyrate. The microparticle compositions can exhibit a higher solids loading for a given needle size and/or faster flow through needles than other microparticle compositions. Further, blending or mixing the polymer of the microparticle composition with other polymer formulations can enhance the injectability of the resulting formulation.
US09216148B2	Compound having skin-whitening, anti-oxidizing and PPAR activities and medical use therefor Provided are a novel compound having skin-whitening, anti-oxidizing and PPAR activities and a medical use thereof, and the compound has skin-whitening activities for the suppression of tyrosinase, and accordingly, is useful for use in skin-whitening pharmaceutical composition or cosmetic products; has anti-oxidant activities, and accordingly, is useful for the prevention and treatment of skin-aging; and has PPAR activities, and in particular, PPARα and PPARγ activities, and accordingly, is useful for use in pharmaceutical compositions or health foods which are effective for the prevention and treatment of obesity, metabolic disease, or cardiovascular disease.
US09216147B2	Mild cosmetic cleansing composition A mild cosmetic cleansing agent includes in a suitable carrier a) 1 to 6 wt. % of at least one anionic surfactant of the following formula (I), in which R1 denotes a linear or branched, saturated or unsaturated alkyl residue having 6 to 30 carbon atoms, at least one of the residues R2 to R5 denotes a C1-C4 alkyl residue, and the other residues independently of one another denote a hydrogen atom or a C1-C4 alkyl residue, and M+ denotes an ammonium, alkanolammonium or metal cation, b) 2 to 10 wt. % of at least one amphoteric and/or zwitterionic surfactant and c) 0.5 to 10 wt. % of at least one non-ionic surfactant and/or at least one non-ionic emulsifier, selected from at least one of the following groups of alkyl (oligo)glycosides, amine oxides and/or glycerol mono- and/or di(C6-C24) carboxylic acid esters, wherein the stated amounts relate to the total weight.
US09216144B2	Hair treatment process providing dispersed colors by light diffraction A hair treatment process for providing dispersed colors by light diffraction including (a) coating the hair with a material comprising a polymer, (b) pressing the hair with a pressing device including one or more surfaces, and (c) forming a secondary nanostructured surface pattern on the hair that is complementary to the primary nanostructured surface pattern on the one or more surfaces of the pressing device. The secondary nanostructured surface pattern diffracts light into dispersed colors that are visible on the hair. The section of the hair is pressed with the pressing device for from about 1 to 55 seconds. The polymer has a glass transition temperature from about 55° C. to about 90° C. The one or more surfaces include a primary nanostructured surface pattern.
US09216142B2	High-glass transition temperature absorbable microspheres Absorbable microspheres comprising a copolymer formed from greater than 80 to about 99 mole percent D,L-lactideg, L(−)-lactide, D(+)-lactide, or meso-lactide and combinations thereof, and about 1 to less than 20 mole percent of a different second monomer selected from the group consisting of p-dioxanone and trimethylene carbonate and combinations thereof, said microspheres having a particle size ranging from about 5 to 2000 microns. Also described herein are formulations comprising such absorbable microspheres.
US09216136B2	Apparatus and method for administering pain relief An apparatus for administering pain relief has at least one quartz crystal disposed proximate an energizable vibratory element in a support structure for positioning the quartz-crystal-and-vibratory-element combination proximate the head region of an individual. A pair of support structures each having a quartz-crystal-and-vibratory-element combination is mounted upon a shoulder harness in spaced-apart relationship with respect to one another. An energizable lighting structure having a substantially linear series of illuminating elements is disposed in an arced relationship with respect to the quartz-crystal-and-vibratory-element combination. In a method of administering pain relief the apparatus is positioned proximate the head region of an individual, and the vibratory element and the lighting structure are both energized.
US09216127B1	Burial vault and method for customizing a burial vault A decorative burial vault includes a decorative top surface substrate having a decorative graphic thereon, the substrate being attached to the top surface of the burial vault or a carapace attached to the burial vault.
US09216123B2	Bed with pivotable bed surface A central bed having a single longitudinal bed frame and a bed section mounted to the frame for rotation about a substantially vertical axis between a home position aligned with the bed frame and an away position and with a lower leg bed section that is movable away from the central bed section to enable rotation of the central bed section.
US09216122B2	Support apparatus, system and method A therapeutic support device includes a bladder having one or more independently inflatable compartments, each including a plurality of inflatable cells. When inflated, each inflatable cell forms a contact node that may support a user or another object disposed thereon. The inflatable compartments can be alternately inflated and deflated such that contact pressure can be applied to and relieved from corresponding portions of the user's body in an alternating manner.
US09216117B2	Absorbent article with point fusion bonding An absorbent article having improved handling of liquid and improved intake and retention of liquid loadings during use. The absorbent article can minimize the amount of moisture in contact with a wearer's skin and can provide a feeling of softness on the skin of the wearer.
US09216113B2	Hearing protection earpiece A hearing protection earpiece having a shell shaped according to conform to the user's concha and ear canal and having an open hollow lateral portion to be inserted into the user's concha and a medial portion to be inserted into at least an outer portion of the user's ear canal, wherein the medial portion of the shell is axially adjacent to the lateral portion of the shell, wherein the lateral portion of the shell forms part of an open portion of the earpiece and the medial portion of the shell forms part of a closed portion of the earpiece, wherein the earpiece provides for a mechanical sound attenuation of at least 10 dB averaged over the audible frequency range, and wherein the lateral portion of the shell has a wall thickness of not more than 3 mm and is shaped to cover at least half of the concha area.
US09216107B2	Ocular implant delivery systems and methods Described herein are delivery devices and methods of using the devices for delivering an ocular implant into a suprachoroidal space without use of a goniolens. The delivery device includes a handle including a channel extending from a proximal end of the handle to a distal end of the handle, an applier coupled to the handle, the applier including a blunt distal tip and an elongate, flexible wire insertable through a fluid channel of an ocular implant, and a fiber optic image bundle reversibly inserted through the channel such that the fiber optic image bundle extends to a region proximal to the blunt distal tip of the applier.
US09216101B2	Dual taper stent protector A dual taper stent protector having a first stent covering region configured to cover a stent without substantially engaging the stent, a second covering region, and an engagement region for engaging a product mandrel removably disposed within a catheter shaft, and first and second tapered regions connecting the first stent covering region and the second stent covering region and the second covering region and the engagement region respectively, and to methods of making and using the same.
US09216096B2	Intervertebral implants and related tools According to some embodiments, a method for promoting spinal fusion using a spinal implant comprises providing a spinal implant, wherein the spinal implant comprises an anterior wall, a posterior wall and two lateral walls configured to extend between the anterior wall and the posterior wall. In some embodiments, the spinal implant further comprises at least one internal chamber generally positioned between the anterior wall, the posterior wall and the two lateral walls, wherein the internal chamber being is adapted to receive at least one graft and/or other fill material. In some embodiments, at least a portion of the graft and/or other fill material delivered into the internal chamber is configured to exit through the one or more of the openings of the anterior wall.
US09216090B2	Joint implant trial components A humeral component of a prosthesis comprises a stem module for fixing the prosthesis into a bone. A joint adapter can be attached, preferably under different angles to the stem module. The joint adapter holds a liner having a recessed spherical cavity, which is the cup of the joint. The joint adapter has an inner surface and a circumferential groove. The liner has an outer surface including a circular recess. This circular recess preferably is concentric to the major body diameter of the liner for interfacing with the circumferential groove of the joint adapter. Furthermore, the liner has a radial slit, which allows compression of the liner for easy insertion and removal. This allows inserting different liners with different sizes thus allowing to try out different sizes to find the best size for the patient. When the best size has been identified, a final liner without a slit may be inserted.
US09216089B2	Method of surgically preparing a patient's tibia Methods of surgically preparing a patient's tibia are disclosed. Some methods include positioning a guide tower on a surgically-prepared proximal surface above an opening of a medullary canal of the patient's tibia, attaching a stem trial to a lower end of an offset tool that is sized to be received in the guide tower, and advancing the stem trial through the guide tower and the surgically-prepared proximal surface into the medullary canal. The method may include moving the guide tower to a desired offset orientation on the surgically-prepared proximal surface and advancing a reamer through the guide tower into the medullary canal. The method may also include positioning a tibial base trial on the surgically-prepared proximal surface based on the desired offset orientation.
US09216086B2	Adjustable provisional component of a medical device An adjustable provisional component for an implantable medical device comprises a first portion mountable to a first part of a patient, and a second portion coupled to the first portion, wherein at least one of the first portion and the second portion is adjustable to select a value of a first geometric parameter of the adjustable provisional component.
US09216085B2	Partial joint resurfacing implant, instrumentation, and method A method of repairing an articular cartilage defect with the partial joint resurfacing implant includes surgically creating an opening in the articular cartilage defect site. The method also includes obtaining a partial resurfacing implant which is implanted into the opening. The partial resurfacing implant includes a top articulating portion, an implant fixation portion, and a locking mechanism. The implant fixation portion including an upper segment coupled to the top articulating portion and a bone interfacing segment configured to facilitate insertion into the articular cartilage defect site. The method further includes the bone interfacing segment being inserted into the opening with the top articulating portion and adjacent articular cartilage being positioned to each other to facilitate motion and load transfer over the defect site. Another method of repairing an articular cartilage defect with a partial joint resurfacing implant and a partial joint resurfacing implant are also disclosed.
US09216084B2	Patient-specific craniofacial implants Disclosed herein are patient-specific craniofacial implants structured for filling bone voids in the cranium as well as for simultaneously providing soft tissue reconstruction and/or augmentation for improved aesthetic symmetry and appearance. Pterional voids or defects generally result from a chromic skull deformity along with a compromised temporalis muscle or soft tissue distortion from previous surgery. When muscle atrophy occurs in the pterion, temporal hollowing generally results where there would be soft tissue but for the atrophy. The patient-specific temporal implants herein are configured to have an augmented region adjacent the temporal region of the cranium in order to account for and correct any such temporal hollowing.
US09216072B2	Drug-containing personal hygiene implement To provide an economical and sanitary drug-containing personal hygiene implement that is easy to produce and manage, and has an excellent portability even when both personal hygiene implement and drug are used away from home.The drug-containing personal hygiene implement includes a bottle body in which a drug is stored, a personal hygiene body which has a shaft section and a distal-end personal hygiene section, protrudes to a distal-end side of the bottle body, and is used to implement care of a human body, and a passage provided on a distal-end section of the bottle body and guiding the stored drug to the personal hygiene body, the implement being characterized in that opening operation makes it possible for the drug to flow through the passage in the bottle body.
US09216070B2	Intuitive user guided configuration routine A user-guided configuration routine for use with a remote catheter guidance system configured to calibrate of one or more medical devices of the remote catheter guidance system with minimal user input. The user-guided configuration routine being configured to determine the appropriate configuration steps from diagnostic data received from the remote catheter guidance system or from a user.
US09216051B2	Electrosurgical assembly and electrosurgical instrument An electrosurgical assembly is disclosed having an electrosurgical instrument, a detection device for detecting a predetermined constituent of the atmosphere in the region of a treatment site and a treatment unit, which can be connected to the instrument and a current generator for providing RF energy. The treatment unit includes a mechanism for influencing the treatment process depending on an output signal of the detection device.
US09216048B2	Image-guided minimal-step placement of screw into bone The present disclosure describes a device and methods for safely and accurately placing screws into bones with a powered driving device. By employing multiple layers of fail-safe features and image-guidance systems, the powered driving device provides safe, accurate, and efficient screw placement. That is, the powered driving device may continuously monitor a screw advancement and placement and may automatically shutdown when improper placement is detected. Monitoring placement may be conducted by a microcurrent-monitoring system, by an image-guidance system, or by any other appropriate sensory system. Additionally, upon detecting that screw insertion is complete, the powered driving device may be automatically shutdown. As screw placement is continuously simulated by image-guidance in real time, multiple redundant verification steps are eliminated, providing highly accurate screw placement while decreasing clinician error, device contamination, and surgical time, the decreased surgical time associated with decreased patient-recovery time and associated medical costs.
US09216047B2	Surgical cable tensioning apparatus and method A cable tensioning apparatus and method are provided for positioning and tensioning a surgical cable to skeletal tissue or to implants. The invention is most applicable for securing surgical cable and/or orthopedic implants to bone in orthopedic surgery. A linearly translated drive rod attached to cable is driven by a friction drive to create tension on the surgical cable.
US09216046B2	Methods and devices for bone preparation A manifold has at least one manifold aperture extending therethrough and selectively placed in fluid communication with a fluid source. An insertion structure has at least one interior cavity at least partially defined by a structure shell and is selectively placed in fluid communication with a corresponding manifold aperture. The insertion structure is configured for selective placement in a penetrating relationship with a patient tissue below a surface of the patient tissue. At least one shell perforation extends through the structure shell and places the interior cavity in fluid communication with a surrounding ambient space. At least one fluid path extends from the fluid source, through the manifold aperture, into the interior cavity, through at least one shell perforation, and at least one of a proximate relationship and a contacting relationship with the patient tissue beneath the outer surface thereof. A fluid is directed along the fluid path.
US09216045B2	Method of producing a porous bone screw A bone screw and method of producing the same is described. The method of producing a bone screw includes forming a one-piece headless screw body out of a rigid metallic foam that is entirely porous throughout and defines a plurality of inter-connected pores having a size of about 30 to about 500 microns in diameter. The method includes providing at least one thread on an external surface of the screw body, and forming a bore extending through an entire axial length of the screw body, the bore forming a cannula that defines an annular radial wall thickness of the screw body. The method further includes disposing the inter-connected pores throughout the radial wall thickness of the screw body such as to allow for bone in-growth through the full radial wall thickness and into the cannula.
US09216029B1	Surgical forceps This application presents a bifurcated, optimally-angled surgical forceps. In one example, this surgical forceps may enable a more natural maneuver for initial clamping of the vas deferens through the scrotal skin. This may be more comfortable for users and easier to maintain, and may provide greater tactile surface contact between the thumb and vas deferens. This device also may provide the surgeon with an entire segment of vas deferens upon which the vasectomy may be performed, thus reducing the need for frequent repositioning of instruments. The device may also be applied to other surgical procedures that may benefit from the features of the device and where a section of a tubular anatomical structure may need clamping at two points along its length. Examples include blood and lymphatic vessels, ducts of the digestive system, and large nerves or nerve bundles.
US09216025B2	Joint arthroplasty devices and surgical tools Disclosed herein are methods, compositions and tools for repairing articular surfaces repair materials and for repairing an articular surface. The articular surface repairs are customizable or highly selectable by patient and geared toward providing optimal fit and function. The surgical tools are designed to be customizable or highly selectable by patient to increase the speed, accuracy and simplicity of performing total or partial arthroplasty.
US09216013B2	Apparatus for endoscopic procedures A shaft assembly is provided for interconnecting at least one rotatable drive shaft of a hand-held electromechanical surgical device, and an end effector actuatable by an axial drive force. The shaft assembly includes a flexible drive cable rotatably supported in an outer tube, the flexible drive cable includes a proximal end operatively connected to a respective rotatable drive shaft of the hand-held surgical device. The flexible drive cable being off set a radial distance from a central longitudinal axis of the outer tube. The shaft assembly includes an articulation rod at least partially slidably supported in the outer tube, and an articulation link having a proximal end pivotally connected to the distal end of the articulation rod and a distal end pivotally connected to a distal neck housing. The articulation rod being off set a radial distance from the central longitudinal axis of the outer tube.
US09216007B2	Setting a sagittal view in an ultrasound system Embodiments for providing a plurality of slice images are disclosed. In one embodiment, by way of non-limiting example, an ultrasound system comprises: an ultrasound data acquisition unit configured to transmit and receive ultrasound signals to and from a target object to thereby output ultrasound data; and a processing unit configured to form volume data based on the ultrasound data, set a reference slice, a reference point and a window on the volume data based on input information of a user and set a sagittal view for measuring a thickness of a nuchal translucency (NT) of a fetus on the volume data.
US09216003B1	Universal intraoral digital sensor holder for existing digital sensor systems in dentistry A universal dental digital sensor holder has a bite block connected to a rod that has a connector which is used to flexibly attach a sensor holder so as to allow rotational movement of the sensor relative to the bite block and multiple sensor holders are removably connected to the connector so that they can be used to obtain different radiographic projection views due to their differing configurations for holding the intraoral sensor in the patient's mouth. The bite block can have an opening formed in it fitted with a sleeve to allow access to a tooth located beneath the opening in the patient's mouth. A cable protector can be formed in the rod adjacent an anterior bite surface so that an intraoral sensor cable can be held adjacent the rod and at least partially protected from one or more teeth biting the anterior bite surface.
US09215997B2	In vivo technology system for human gut research, diagnostics and treatment A method for diagnosing or treating disease associated with a gut or intestinal tract includes collecting samples of gut microbiota from along an intestinal tract of a patient; perturbing the intestinal tract of the patient; and obtaining a response of the perturbing the intestinal tract of the patient. The method can be implemented using one or more capsules designed for introducing stimuli into the gut or intestinal tract, observing the response to the stimulus, and treating the gut or intestinal tract in view of the response to the stimulus and further in view of acquired empirical data compiled into a database.
US09215995B2	Sensor systems having multiple probes and electrode arrays Embodiments of the invention provide amperometric analyte sensors having multiple related structural elements (e.g. sensor arrays comprising a working, counter and reference electrode) and algorithms designed for use with such sensors. While embodiments of the innovation can be used in a variety of contexts, typical embodiments of the invention include glucose sensors used in the management of diabetes.
US09215993B2	Analytical device with lancet and test element The invention concerns an analytical device containing a lancet comprising a lancet needle and a lancet body, the lancet needle movable relative to the lancet body and the lancet body composed, in the area of the tip of the lancet needle, of an elastic material in which the tip of the lancet needle is embedded, and an analytical test element connected to the lancet body. The invention also concerns an analytical device containing a lancet comprising a lancet needle and a lancet body in the form of a hollow body in the area of the tip of the lancet needle and surrounds the tip of the lancet needle, the lancet needle movable relative to the lancet body and the hollow body composed at least partially of an elastic material, and an analytical test element connected to the lancet body. The invention concerns a process for manufacturing an analytical device.
US09215991B2	Systems and methods for monitoring heart function Characteristics of a user's heart are detected. In accordance with an example embodiment, a ballistocardiogram (BCG) sensor is used to detect heart characteristics of a user, and provide a BCG output indicative of the detected heart characteristics. The BCG output is further processed using data from one or more additional sensors, such as to reduce noise and/or otherwise process the BCG signal to characterize the user's heart function.
US09215990B2	Arrangement and method for detecting and/or locating a magnetic material in a region of action In Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) the reconstruction requires the knowledge of a so called system function. This function describes the relation between spatial position and frequency response. For reasonable resolutions and field of views the system function becomes quite large, resulting in large acquisition times for the system function and high memory demand during reconstruction. The present invention proposes to reduce the size of the system function matrix by making use of structural properties of the matrix. Such properties are, for instance, spatial symmetries reducing the number of columns and identical responses at different frequencies reducing the number of rows. In other embodiments the matrix can be transformed to a sparse representation using appropriate base functions.
US09215989B2	Wearable ambulatory medical device with multiple sensing electrodes An ambulatory medical device including a plurality of electrodes configured to be disposed at spaced apart positions about a patient's body, an electrode signal acquisition circuit, and a monitoring circuit. The acquisition circuit has a plurality of inputs each electrically coupled to a respective electrode of the plurality of electrodes and is configured to sense a respective signal provided by a plurality of different pairings of the plurality of electrodes. The monitoring circuit is electrically coupled to an output of the acquisition circuit and is configured to analyze the respective signal provided by each of the plurality of different pairings and to instruct the acquisition circuit to select at least one of the plurality of different pairings to monitor based on at least one of the quality of the respective signal, a phase difference between the respective signal and that of other pairings, a position of electrodes relative to the patient's body, and other criteria.
US09215983B2	Hemoglobin contrast in magneto-motive optical doppler tomography, optical coherence tomography, and ultrasound imaging methods and apparatus A novel contrast mechanism for imaging blood flow using magneto-motive optical Doppler tomography (MM-ODT), Optical Coherence Tomography, and Ultrasound. MM-ODT, OCT, and ultrasound combined with an externally applied temporally oscillating high-strength magnetic field detects erythrocytes moving according to the field gradient.
US09215977B2	Portable device for indirect ophthalmology A device for examining an eye of a subject including a camera detachably mounted on a camera mounting unit. The camera includes an illuminating source, which generates illuminating radiation for irradiating the eye thereby enabling the camera to generate a plurality of images of the eye. The device also includes a first lens assembly detachably mounted on an adjustable lens holder and selected to focus the illuminating radiation towards the eye as well as focusing radiation reflected from the eye towards an entrance pupil of the camera. An extendible support arm supports the camera and the adjustable lens holder at a first distance between the camera and the first lens assembly. Subsequent to adjusting the first distance to correspond to a diopter value of the selected first lens assembly, the illuminating source irradiates the eye and subsequent thereto the camera generates the plurality of images of the eye.
US09215972B2	In-vivo image acquiring apparatus, in-vivo image receiving apparatus, in-vivo image displaying apparatus, and noise eliminating method An in-vivo image acquiring apparatus includes an operation control unit which controls a black image acquiring operation, in which the operation control unit controls an imaging unit and an illuminating unit in such a manner the imaging unit conducts an image acquiring operation in a state the illuminating unit does not conduct an illuminating operation. The in-vivo image acquiring apparatus also includes an average calculating unit which calculates the average value of pixel value in a predetermined determining area, and a black image determining unit, which determines whether the image information acquired by the image acquiring operation is the black image by comparing the average value with a predetermined threshold value. The image information determined as the black image by the black image determining unit is transmitted, as the black image information, to an external apparatus by radio.
US09215969B2	Scanning endoscope system and method of operation of scanning endoscope system A scanning endoscope system includes: a fiber that guides illuminating light from a light source; a first actuator provided on a side of the fiber and expands/contracts according to an applied voltage, thereby swinging the fiber; a second actuator disposed at a position facing the first actuator across the fiber and expands/contracts according to an applied voltage, thereby swinging the fiber; a drive signal output section applying a first voltage for setting a reference position of the fiber where the first actuator is in a contracted state, to the first actuator, and applying a second voltage for setting the reference position of the fiber where the second actuator is in a contracted state, to the second actuator; and a controller that in order to change the reference position of the fiber, controls the drive signal output section to change at least one of the first voltage and the second voltage.
US09215966B2	3D image shooting apparatus and endoscope In one embodiment, an element 106 transform, with a voltage, non-polarized light into plane polarized light with an arbitrary plane of polarization. A synchronizer 112 gives the plane of polarization control element 106 an instruction to rotate the plane of polarization, thereby getting the plane of polarization of the illumination rotated and casting that polarized light toward the object. At the same time, the synchronizer 112 sends a shooting start signal to an image sensor 110, thereby getting video. The synchronizer 112 performs these processing steps multiple times. A captured video signal is sent to an image processing processor 108, where LL, RR and CC images are separately generated as images of light rays that have passed through left and right polarizing areas and the central non-polarizing area and left and right parallax signals are generated and sent to a 3D display section 122.
US09215964B2	Vacuum system and endoscopy arrangement for endoscopic vacuum therapy A vacuum system is described for endoscopic intracavity, intraluminal or intracorporeal vacuum therapy, for aspirating body fluids, wound secretions or gases from a hollow volume, such as a body cavity, a hollow organ, a tissue abscess or an intestinal lumen, particularly in the production of a temporary endoscopic closure of an intestinal lumen. Based on this, many embodiments of an endoscopy arrangement are described.
US09215957B2	Autonomous robot auto-docking and energy management systems and methods A method for energy management in a robotic device includes providing a base station for mating with the robotic device, determining a quantity of energy stored in an energy storage unit of the robotic device, and performing a predetermined task based at least in part on the quantity of energy stored. Also disclosed are systems for emitting avoidance signals to prevent inadvertent contact between the robot and the base station, and systems for emitting homing signals to allow the robotic device to accurately dock with the base station.
US09215951B2	Toaster with independently controllable heating elements A toaster having a body portion engageable over a housing with slots sized for bread passage therethrough aligned with cavities on said house sized to accommodate the bread for toasting. Individually controlled heating elements on each side of each cavity to allow users to independently control the amount of toasting of each side of each inserted piece of bread. The exterior of the body is preferably porcelain to provide resistance to heat transference to the body of the user and to provide a plurality of colors available for the housings.
US09215950B2	Portable grill assembly A portable grill assembly includes a grill grate, a fire tray, the fire tray including a plurality of holes, a plate configured to be secured to the fire tray, a gap created between the plate and the fire tray to enable a uniform flow of oxygen to pass through the gap on all sides of the fire tray into the holes and a grid pattern extending upward from the fire tray to elevate a fuel over the holes, and a support stake. The support stake includes at least one coupler to secure multiple sections of the support stake, the coupler includes a lip to prevent movement of sections of the support stake relative to the coupler. The support stake is configured to secure and position the fire tray a distance above the ground and to secure and position the grill grate a distance above the fire tray.
US09215948B2	Apparatus and system for low-temperature cooking One variation of an apparatus for cooking includes: a housing including a first section configured to be immersed in fluid within a cooking container and a second section adjoining the first section; an annular knob arranged over the second section; a position sensor arranged within the second section and configured to detect rotation of the magnetic element; a display arranged on the housing and configured to display a cooking parameter selected through rotation of the annular knob; a heating element arranged within the first section; a circulator arranged within the housing and configured to draw fluid, in the cooking container, along the heating element; and a controller configured to control the heating element and the circulator according to a temperature of the fluid measured by the temperature sensor, thereby maintaining the fluid within a predetermined range of temperatures including the selected temperature.
US09215947B2	Brewing apparatus with extraction from a portion capsule and method of operating same The present invention relates to a brewing apparatus for brewing by extraction from a portion capsule, having a first brewing-chamber element and a second brewing-chamber element, wherein the first brewing-chamber element can be moved between a loading position, in which the first and the second brewing-chamber elements are spaced apart from one another in order for the portion capsule to be introduced, and an extraction position, in which the first and the second brewing-chamber elements have been advanced towards one another in order to form a substantially closed brewing chamber for the portion capsule, wherein the brewing apparatus is designed such that the orientation of the portion capsule remains substantially constant as it is transferred from the loading position into the extraction position.
US09215941B1	Frame assembly A frame assembly for displaying a flat article and a combined frame assembly and flat article. In one aspect, the frame assembly comprises a frame, a coupler, a backer panel, and a window panel. The frame comprises a floor structure, a wall coupled to the floor structure, a locking feature on the wall, and a coupling member. The coupler comprises a retaining member and a mounting member. The coupler is coupled to the coupling member of the frame by interaction between the mounting member of the coupler and the coupling member. The retaining member of the coupler protrudes into a display cavity of the frame for retaining a flat article by the retaining member extending into an opening in the flat article. The window panel is positioned in the display cavity of the frame and the locking feature retains the window panel within the display cavity.
US09215939B2	Retail fixtures A display fixture has a bin with multiple sections. A clip attached to a back panel of the bin has an aperture for receiving a fastener to fasten the bin to a peg board. A back support is mounted to the bin and has a downwardly extending leg that is sized to fit between the peg board and a back surface of a base that the display fixture is seated upon. The bin includes a lower tier of product sections defined in part by a front panel and has a lower sign support with two legs attached to the front panel and a lower label holder connected between the two legs such that there is an open space defined between the two legs and between a top of the front panel and a bottom of the lower label holder. The bin also includes an upper tier of product sections.
US09215919B2	Cosmetic dispenser with roller applicator A dispenser includes a deformable roller and a housing having a reservoir for containing a product, such as a cosmetic product or a medicinal product. The deformable roller comprises a napped roller over molded to, and encasing, a roller pin. Both the napped roller and the roller pin may be formed of materials that are suitable for an injection over-mold manufacturing process. The deformable roller disposed configured for applying product to a body and for deforming and tangentially mating and/or un-mating with an orifice of a reservoir of the housing for sealing and/or un-sealing the reservoir.
US09215915B2	Mobile storage unit A mobile storage unit is disclosed. The mobile storage unit includes a rigid exo-skeletal frame and a flexible storage bag that couples to the rigid exo-skeletal frame while within an open storage region framed by the exo-skeletal frame. The mobile storage unit also includes a top seat portion and stabilizing features that extend and retract from the rigid exo-skeletal frame to support the mobile storage unit in the upright position. The mobile storage unit can also include a monitoring device for transmitting signals that are used to determine the location of the mobile storage unit.
US09215912B2	Sliding fastener In a sliding fastener, a fastener element is adhered at a predetermined pitch. The fastener element includes: a close-contact portion; and first and second engaging/disengaging portions which are respectively disposed on the first and the second tape surface sides of the close-contact portion. The close-contact portion has a first close-contact surface and a second close-contact surface which are respectively disposed in one direction and the other direction along the tape length direction. In addition, the pitch is set smaller than a sum of a dimension between the first and the second close-contact surfaces and a dimension between the first and the second close-contact surfaces. As a result, it is possible to make an element row rigid in a line in a more firm manner when a left and right element rows are coupled.
US09215911B1	Belt buckle with storage compartment A belt buckle with a storage compartment uses a typical box frame buckle architecture with a storage compartment hingedly attached to a back side of the box frame on a side opposite a grab bar of the box frame. The storage compartment articulates between a closed position against the box frame and an open position. In the closed position, a pin is removably received within a receiver in order to secure the compartment in the closed position. When the storage compartment is in the closed position, pivot posts that hold the grab bar are within the storage compartment and the grab bar partially overlays an open side of the storage compartment.
US09215910B2	Sole cover dispenser device The present invention describes a dispenser of protective covers for the sole of a shoe. The sole covers are disposed on a sheet that is placed within the dispenser. The dispenser comprises a series of roller supports that are adapted to position the sheet of solve covers onto an exposed platform. A user steps the exposed platform in order to apply the cover to the user's footwear and remove the sole cover from the sheet. The top of the sole cover includes an adhesive that enables the cover to adhere to the sole of the user's shoe, thereby enabling a user to walk around the house while reducing the likelihood that the user would spread dirt therein.
US09215904B2	Helmet having magnetically coupled cheek pads In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a helmet having magnetic coupling is provided. In a particular embodiment, the helmet includes at least one protective layer configured to cover at least a portion of a user's head and a pad coupled to a back plate, a back plate coupled to a protective layer, a back plate comprising a magnet.
US09215903B2	Neck protection device A device for use with a helmet in contact sports, which includes a curved body connected with the helmet and configured for disposal along a front part of a user's neck. The body includes: (i) planar first and second surfaces, the first surface having a curved portion to generally conform under the user's chin; and (ii) a third surface that is curved along the front part of the user's neck and configured to be spaced from but does not contact the user's neck. The device is configured to absorb an impact force and resist the user's neck from moving forward during a sports collision. Systems and methods are disclosed.
US09215902B2	Visor with plug in accessory sockets Visors formed from a pliable and flexible material, such as but not limited to EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) having patterns of through-holes and partial cutouts for allowing accessories such as labels, charms, badges, puncture tool and sunglass/eyeglass supports and the like, to be plugged into the holes and cut-outs and easily removable and interchangeable with other accessories. A removable rear head strap be attached to the visor, having a plurality of holes with fasteners to adjust the strap to different head sizes.
US09215901B1	Eyelash application system A method and apparatus of an eyelash application system can include: a cartridge having a handle, a seat, and a cartridge mating structure; an eyelash strip attached to the seat of the cartridge; and an applicator having a top arm with a clamping pad, the clamping pad including an applicator mating structure configured to interlock with the cartridge mating structure.
US09215898B2	Shin guard A shin guard for combat sports is provided having increased protect for the wearer and the opponent. The shin guard has sleeve for surrounding the lower leg of the wearer and a front padding attached to the sleeve with a top portion reversibly secured which covers and hides a closure system. The shin guard may also have a calf reinforcement.
US09215897B2	Lightweight, durable apparel and laminates for making the same Laminates are described having a durable outer film surface for use in making lightweight liquidproof articles of apparel, such as outerwear garments. A method of making the laminate and a lightweight outerwear garment having an abrasion resistant exterior film surface is described.
US09215886B2	Method for making a low-acrylamide content snack with desired organoleptical properties A method for making a food product with a low acrylamide content having organoleptical properties comparable to traditional food products. Potatoes containing a low reducing sugar concentration are used to make potato flakes. Dextrose is added to the low reducing sugar potato flakes to increase the total reducing sugar concentration.
US09215875B2	Thiazolyl oxime ethers and hydrazones as crop protection agents Thiazolyl oxime ethers and hydrazones of the formula (I), in which the symbols A, L1, L2, Y, W, X, R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6 and R7 have the meanings given in the description, and also agrochemically active salts thereof, and their use for controlling phytopathogenic harmful fungi, and also methods for controlling phytopathogenic harmful fungi and processes for preparing compounds of the formula (I).
US09215870B2	Pesticidal compositions and processes related thereto This document discloses molecules having the following formula (“Formula One”): and processes associated therewith.
US09215866B1	Method for treating and preventing bedbug infestations A method is disclosed for treating bedbug infestations, that involves filling the lower portions of the void spaces inside a wall with a thick and stable foam, to form a foam barrier inside the walls, allowing the foam barrier to collapse over time to coat portions of the interior of the wall with residual foam. The foam may contain a non-repellant pesticide, but certain foams are effective in treating bedbugs even if the foam does not contain any pesticide.
US09215862B2	Animal tag applicator An applicator (1) has handles (2, 4) which on closing together will engage an animal tag with the animal's ear but at which time a control member (28) will engage with a linkage (6) to trip the linkage (6) into a jaw-open position. Once the handles (2, 4) have been released the linkage (6) will again be returned to its normal position primarily under the bias of a spring (25).
US09215859B2	Pet stroller with latchable canopy bar A pet stroller having a frame assembly and a cloth platform enclosure connected to a platform enclosure member that defines a base and a sidewall of a pet seating area. Upper and lower canopy bars are pivotably connected to the rear pivot blocks that are pivotable to extend or retract a canopy over the pet seating area. A cloth canopy assembly is connected to the handle and the upper and lower canopy bars, and has a cutout exposing a front portion of the lower canopy bar. An over-center latch assembly is connected to the platform enclosure member in a position aligned with the cutout on the canopy assembly. The over-center latch is movable to a latched position in which it clamps the lower canopy bar to the platform enclosure member to form an enclosed pet seating area.
US09215846B2	Multi-process machine The invention relates to a multi-process machine for the felling and further processing of trees, which is arranged to be suspended on the boom of a loader device with the aid of a pivot. The suspension device of the multi-process machine includes a rotator attached to the arm of the suspension device as well as a transverse frame pivot in its lower part, for supporting the frame of the operating unit, and an operating device. The suspension device further includes a wide-angle mechanism between the operating device and the said frame, for enlarging the rotation created by the length of stroke of the operating device.
US09215844B2	Vacuum collector assembly for lawn tractors A vacuum collector assembly comprises a mountable hitch having support posts connected to one another by horizontal supports and a hinge mechanism for connecting to a trailing carriage. The trailing carriage includes a lift assembly and an engine support frame for mounting thereon an engine operating conjunctively with an impeller assembly for developing negative pressure within a blower housing that is connected in between a receptacle hood and a lawn cutting deck. The engine support frame generally extends outwardly from a pair of vertical columns each having ends connected to support runners for situating atop thereof a pair of receptacles holders suited for receiving receptacle bins utilized in storing collected debris. The lift assembly comprises side arms functioning with a trailer jack having internal gearing made operable by an extension rod and handle assembly to facilitate rotation thereof that effects lifting and lowering of the trailing carriage apart and away from the mountable hitch to allow for wheeled transport and storage of the vacuum collector assembly.
US09215843B2	Conversion kit for automating foldable and unfoldable grain tank extensions of an agricultural combine A conversion kit for automating a foldable and unfoldable grain tank extension for an agricultural combine is provided. The conversion kit includes a first bracket assembly for attaching to a first grain tank extension, a second bracket assembly for attaching to a second grain tank extension and a control actuator. The control actuator extends between and is operatively connected to the first and second bracket assemblies for moving the first and second brackets between a folded position and an unfolded position. A torque rod assembly extends between and is operatively connected to third and fourth grain tank extensions. The torque rod assembly is rotatable to pivotally move the third and fourth grain tank extensions between a folded position and an unfolded position.
US09215839B2	Agricultural apparatus with hybrid single-disk, double-disk coulter arrangement An agricultural row unit assembly includes an attachment frame configured for attachment to a tow bar that is movable in a direction of travel. A proximal end of a swing-arm is coupled to the attachment frame, and an opener disk is mounted to and offset from a distal end of the swing-arm for forming a furrow. A deflecting disk is mounted to the distal end for deflecting debris from entering the furrow, and is mounted between the distal end of the swing-arm and the opener disk. The deflecting disk has a top peripheral edge spaced away from a top peripheral edge of the opener disk. A support bracket is attached as a cantilevered structure depending from the proximal end of the swing arm and extends in a space between the top peripheral edges. A tube is routed long the support bracket for dispensing a material into the furrow.
US09220178B2	Secure system for energy consuming device A support structure includes a groove and a channel. The grove can be defined by a wall and a lip. An energy consumption device includes a housing that supports a magnet and a first and second terminal and the magnet helps couple the energy consumption device to the support structure. The housing is positioned in the groove and the groove helps retain the housing in the support structure while the channel allows the energy consumption device to be visible. To help secure the energy consuming device, a header can be provided on both ends of the support structure so that the housing can be translated along the groove but cannot be removed from the support structure.
US09220174B2	Pedestal for flat panel display device and flat panel display device The present disclosure relates to a pedestal for a flat panel display device. The pedestal comprises: a supporting frame, comprising a horizontally arranged base plate and a framework vertically fixed on the base plate, the framework having a supporting plate on its top, and the supporting plate being configured to support an underside of a display panel of the flat panel display device; at least one circuit board, vertically disposed on the framework; a front shell and a rear shell, fixedly connected with the framework, and wherein the front shell and the rear shell have strip-type notches on their tops respectively, opening directions of the strip-type notches facing to each other and configured to horizontally limit a position of the display panel. An embodiment of the present invention further discloses a flat panel display device including such pedestal.
US09220164B2	High frequency module A high frequency module includes a ground mounting electrode connected to a ground terminal of a component, a first ground in-plane conductor in a multilayer substrate on a portion under the component and connected to the ground mounting electrode with a first ground interlayer connecting conductor, a signal mounting electrode connected to a signal terminal of the component, and a signal in-plane conductor provided in the multilayer substrate on a portion under the first ground in-plane conductor and connected to the specific signal mounting electrode with a signal interlayer connecting conductor. The first ground in-plane conductor is between the component and the signal in-plane conductor, and the signal interlayer connecting conductor is on an outer side portion of the first ground in-plane conductor when seen from above.
US09220157B2	Load control device for high-efficiency loads A two-wire load control device (such as, a dimmer switch or an electronic switch) for controlling power delivered from an AC power source to an electrical load includes a thyristor for controlling the power to the load, a gate coupling circuit electrically coupled to a gate terminal of the thyristor, a control circuit configured to control the thyristor to turn the load on or off, and a power supply configured to conduct current through the electrical load to generate a supply voltage across a capacitor when the thyristor is non-conductive. When the electrical lead is on, the control circuit is configured to maintain the thyristor non-conductive after a beginning of each half-cycle until the magnitude of the supply voltage exceeds a predetermined threshold.
US09220154B2	Lighting system and method for controlling a lighting system The present invention refers to a lighting system comprising ambient light sources and task light sources, and occupancy sensors for detecting occupancy in a number of occupancy zones and for controlling the ambient light sources and task light sources. Each occupancy sensor is provided to communicate wirelessly with other occupancy sensors. On the detection of occupancy of at least one zone, the occupancy sensors detecting the occupancy active at least one ambient light source and send a control signal to other occupancy sensors to active other ambient light sources, and the intensity of a group of task light sources illuminating the occupied zone is set to a level higher than the intensity of the remaining task light sources. The invention also refers to a respective method for controlling a lighting system of this kind.
US09220151B2	Method for controlling a lighting system, and lighting system The invention relates to a method for controlling a lighting system, said lighting system comprising a plurality of luminaires (10, 12, 14, 16, 18), a plurality of sensors (24, 26), a central control unit (22) and a network (20) comprising networking devices for establishing a communication between the luminaires, the sensors and the central control unit. These luminaires, sensors and networking devices represent local units of the lighting system. In a standard operation mode, the luminaires (10, 12, 14, 16, 18) are controlled by the central control unit (22) on the basis of sensor data transmitted to the central control unit (22). In case of failure of operation of the central control unit (22), the lighting systems switches into a fallback mode, wherein each luminare (10, 12, 14, 16, 18) is controlled by a local unit associated to or represented by this luminaire (10, 12, 14, 16, 18).
US09220142B2	Light-emitting device A light-emitting device includes a mounting area that includes a first end and a second end opposite to the first end, a first electrode group disposed adjacent to the first end of the mounting area, a second electrode group disposed adjacent to the second end of the mounting area, a plurality of files each in that a plurality of light-emitting elements are arranged in the mounting area to extend from a vicinity of the first end of the light-emitting area to a vicinity of the second end of the mounting area and electrically connected in series with each other of the light-emitting elements in each file. Light-emitting elements included in two or more files can be a light-emitting block to be lighted together through electrodes of the first electrode group and the second electrode group.
US09220141B2	Programmable solid state light bulb assemblies A driver circuit for programmable solid state light bulb assemblies including light emitting diodes is operable to provide a drive current to a light source of the light bulb assembly. The controller comprises a data storage unit storing a test scenario for calibration of the light bulb assembly; wherein the test scenario indicates a sequence of states of the light source; wherein a state of the light source is associated with settings of the driver circuit; a data input unit receiving a command signal via a modulated electricity supply signal; and a data processing unit retrieving the test scenario from the data storage unit; in dependence of the received command signal, generating a control signal for operating the light source in at least one state of the sequence of states of the test scenario; and to output the control signal.
US09220138B1	Soft bleeder to remove step dimming Power lighting control methods and systems for solid state lighting are disclosed. For example, a power control system includes a transformer that includes a primary coil configured to receive a first voltage based on an output of a switching circuit, a secondary coil configured to generate a first current based on the first voltage to power a solid-state load, and a bleeder coil coupled to a bleeder switch, and a control module that causes the bleeder switch to turn on incrementally during a dimming event over M power cycles, where M is a positive integer, so as to eliminate or reduce a current step in the first current provided to the solid state load.
US09220132B2	Breakover conduction illumination devices and operating method The invention contained herein provides solid-state breakover conduction illumination devices, displays and driving methods. Illumination devices may be fabricated as co-packaged devices or integrated devices using in-organic or organic illumination elements. AC breakover conduction displays are embodied in both small, tightly-integrated configurations as well as, large area discrete implementations. Driving methods employ initialization and resetting methods for subfield based operation; taking advantage of the stable high speed characteristics of solid-state breakover devices such as DIACs. A full-color high-resolution DIAC based display is presented.
US09220129B2	Communication method and system A method of sending information from a first base station to other base stations including sending information to a first plurality of the base stations at a first time; and sending said information to a different plurality of the base stations at a later time according to a predetermined sending pattern for timing sending of said information to different pluralities of the base stations at different times.
US09220104B2	Handover signaling in a wireless network A serving base station transmits to a target base station a first message comprising a parameter indicating whether a wireless device supports an enhanced physical downlink control channel (ePDCCH). The serving base station receives from the target base station a second message comprising parameters indicating: a configuration of a subset of subframes in which first radio resources of a first ePDCCH are configured; and a starting OFDM symbol of the first ePDCCH in the subset of subframes. The serving base station transmits a third message to the wireless device comprising the configuration information of the first ePDCCH.
US09220097B2	Method for sending and receiving control information, apparatus and communication system The present invention provides a method for sending and receiving control information, an apparatus and a communication system. The method for sending control information includes: setting respective control bits in a downlink control information (DCI) format to generate control information applied by a network side to a terminal, wherein indication information indicating whether to swap a corresponding relationship between a transmission block and a codeword is not carried in a control bit in the DCI format, if a dedicated demodulation reference signal used to demodulate data is preconfigured by the network side for the terminal and respective codewords correspond to the same number of layers; and the indication information is carried in a control bit in the DCI format, if the dedicated demodulation reference signal used to demodulate data is not preconfigured by the network side for the terminal; and sending the generated control information to the terminal.
US09220095B2	Communication system, mobile station device, base station device, random access processing method, and integrated circuit A base station device uses a downlink control channel and instructs a mobile station device to perform a random access procedure. The mobile station device switches, according to whether or not random access parameters are included in parameters of a secondary cell that has been allocated to the mobile station device, between a first random access procedure in which information in a carrier indicator field included in the downlink control channel is not used for selection of a cell in which a random access procedure is performed, and a second random access procedure in which information in the carrier indicator field included in the downlink control channel is used for selection of a cell in which a random access procedure is performed.
US09220090B2	Base station apparatus, terminal apparatus, transmission method, and reception method Disclosed is a base station apparatus in which a configuration section (102) configures, within a data assignable region for a terminal apparatus (200), a first search space and a second search space each being a candidate to which control information is assigned, each of the first search space and the second search space including a plurality of control channel elements, and a signal assignment section (105) assigns control information to each of the first search space and the second search space. In addition, the configuration section (102) allocates numbers to a plurality of first control channel elements included in the first search space in an ascending order, and allocates numbers larger than or identical with the numbers allocated to the first control channel elements to a plurality of second control channel elements included in the second search space.
US09220087B1	Dynamic point selection with combined PUCCH/PUSCH feedback A method includes receiving in a mobile communication terminal signals from multiple cells that coordinate transmission of the signals with one another in a Cooperative Multipoint (CoMP) scheme. A respective channel feedback for each of the multiple cells, and a single additional rich channel feedback having a higher information content than the channel feedback computed for the multiple cells, are calculated in the terminal based on the received signals. The channel feedback for the multiple cells is transmitted on a periodic uplink control channel, and the single rich channel feedback is transmitted on an a-periodic uplink channel.
US09220076B2	Base station and method for clock synchronization of base station The present invention discloses a radio base station and a method for clock synchronization of the radio base station. The radio base station may include a base station outdoor apparatus including an adapter, a ground service antenna, and a satellite antenna. A base station indoor apparatus includes a satellite signal processing module configured to perform decoding processing on a satellite radio frequency signal received by the satellite antenna to obtain a satellite service signal. The satellite antenna and the ground service antenna are connected to the adapter. The adapter is configured to couple the signals received by the satellite antenna and ground service antenna, and transmit a coupled signal to the base station indoor apparatus through a first data cable.
US09220074B2	Beacon device for controlling signal strengths in target locations A device is configured to store target location information indicating an acceptable signal strength at a target location. The device may receive a signal emitted from a base station. The signal may be received at the target location. The device may measure the signal strength of the signal at the target location. The device may transmit a signal strength message including information based on the signal strength. The signal strength message may cause the base station to adjust a power with which signals are emitted from the base station such that the signals satisfy the acceptable signal strength at the target location.
US09220069B2	Method and apparatus for delay-constrained end-to-end energy optimization for wireless services An apparatus including a processing system configured to determine an energy consumption on the mobile device during sleep and active modes of the mobile device; determine an energy consumption on the sensor during sleep and active modes of the sensor; determine energy levels of the mobile device and the sensor, and; set sleep durations of the mobile device based on the sleep duration of the sensor while meeting an end-to-end delay constraint for a service related to the sensor. A method is also disclosed.
US09220058B1	Multi-protocol load control Methods, systems, and apparatus, for wirelessly controlling electrical loads. In an aspect, a system include a wireless controller with a communication subsystem that communicates with a plurality of power control devices over a first network, communicates with a wireless smart metering device over a second network, communicates with a system controller over a third network. The system receives an event message from one or more of the wireless smart metering device over the second network or the system controller over the third network, generates one or more power commands for the power control devices, the one or more power commands configured to cause the power control devices to adjust one or more power loads in response to the event message, and transmits the one or more power commands to the power control devices over the first network.
US09220056B2	Method of barring access to network, mobile device for the method, and processor used in mobile device When a network is in a state of requiring any sort of access barring, determining whether a special type access class is included as an access class to which an own device belongs, determining appropriateness of an access by referring to, from barring information, a first barring information for designating whether a mobile device belonging to each access class is subject to access barring when having determined that the special type access class is included, and determining the appropriateness of an access by referring to, from the barring information, second barring information indicating a value serving as a reference for determining the appropriateness of an access according to a relationship between a numerical value generated by each mobile device and the reference indicated by the second barring information when having determined that the special type access class is included.
US09220051B2	Method and apparatus for enabling DNS redirection in mobile telecommunication systems System and method for providing DNS redirection in mobile telecommunication network. The system includes a functionality that is capable of intercepting a DNS reply from a content delivery provider, extracting a token, comparing the token with a stored token and replacing an IP address associated with the content delivery provider with an IP address of a resource of the mobile telecommunication network.
US09220039B2	Inter-RAT/frequency automatic neighbor relation list management In one of its aspects the technology concerns a method of operating a telecommunications system comprising a serving radio base station and a candidate radio base station. The serving radio base station comprises a radio base station to which a wireless mobile station provides measurement reports. The serving radio base station and the candidate radio base station are different with respect to at least one of frequency and radio access technology. The method comprises the serving radio base station allowing the mobile station to obtain information broadcasted by the candidate radio base station. The information is either information for locating Cell Global Identity (CGI) of the candidate radio base station or the Cell Global Identity (CGI) itself of the radio base station. The mobile station obtains the information from the candidate radio base station during at least one reading gap. The reading gap is a time period in which the mobile station does not receive information from the serving radio base station.
US09220035B2	Radio control base station and method of determining connection-target switching center A radio control base station connected to a plurality of switching centers includes a capacity information receiving unit configured to receive capacity information from at least one of the plurality of switching centers, a load information receiving unit configured to receive load information from at least one of the plurality of switching centers, a selection ratio calculating unit configured to calculate a selection ratio for selecting a connection-target switching center to which a call from a mobile station is to be connected based on the received capacity information and the received load information, and a connection-target switching center determining unit configured to determine the connection-target switching center based on the calculated selection ratio.
US09220034B2	Control information feedback over the long-term evolution physical uplink shared channel A network component comprising a plurality of encoders, a plurality of rate-matching modules coupled to the encoders, and a channel interleaver coupled to the rate-matching modules, wherein the rate-matching modules calculate the number of bits for rate matching a plurality of feedback control information based on a total number of bits allocated to a channel traffic without a traffic data. Included is a network component comprising at least one processor configured to encode a plurality of feedback control information, calculate the number of bits for rate-matching the feedback control information based on a total number of bits allocated to a channel traffic without a traffic data. Included is a method comprising receiving a downlink traffic, detecting a request to transmit uplink data in the downlink traffic, and transmitting feedback control information with or without data based on the request.
US09220031B2	Access control method and device Disclosed is an access control method, for use in implementing improved access control. The method comprises: during a random access process, on the basis of a current load of a random access network (RAN) and a core network (CN) and of terminal or service information reported by a user equipment (UE), the RAN judging whether or not access to the RAN and to the CN is allowed; when access is denied by at least one network between the RAN and the CN, the RAN transmitting to the UE an instruction message having attached therein a backoff time corresponding to the access denying network. Also disclosed is a device for implementing the method.
US09220028B2	Methods and apparatus to perform measurements Methods and apparatus to perform measurements are disclosed. An example method disclosed herein for a user equipment (UE) to perform measurements in a mobile communication network comprises receiving configuration information comprising at least one of a validity state, a measurement activation criterion, a measurement deactivation criterion, a reporting criterion or a location request criterion to configure a measurement, and performing the measurement based on the configuration information.
US09220025B2	Core services platform for wireless voice, data and messaging network services A system for managing wireless devices in a wireless network comprising: a processor; and a memory coupled with the processor, wherein the memory is configured to provide the processor with instructions which when executed cause the processor to: receive a diagnostic request to analyze a problem associated with a wireless device operating in the wireless network; retrieve diagnostic information associated with the wireless device from the wireless network; retrieve diagnostic information associated with the wireless device from the wireless device; determine at least one solution for the problem associated with the wireless device based on the retrieved diagnostic information from the wireless network and the wireless device; transmit the at least one solution; and receive a confirmation that the problem has been resolved.
US09220020B2	User apparatus, base station apparatus, and method in mobile communication system A user apparatus transmits an uplink control signal to a base station apparatus using a single carrier scheme. The user apparatus includes: a unit configured to prepare acknowledgement information indicating positive acknowledgement or negative acknowledgement for a downlink data signal based on a result of demodulation of the downlink data signal; a unit configured to prepare channel state information indicating reception quality of a downlink reference signal; a unit configured to channel-code multiplexed control information in which the acknowledgement information and the channel state information are multiplexed to prepare the uplink control signal; and a unit configured to transmit the uplink control signal using dedicated resources different from resources for an uplink data signal.
US09220019B2	Communication system, communication method, program and information storage medium Provided is a communication system for allowing a user to feel the presence of other users existing in the same daily living area without using short-distance wireless communication. The system includes a position coordinate receiving section (80) for obtaining positions from a plurality of user terminals, and a nearby user distributing section (94) for selecting, under the condition that the nearby user distributing section (94) obtains a position of a specified user terminal, one or more of the plurality of user terminals corresponding to the position obtained from the specified user terminal and the positions obtained from the plurality of user terminals and providing the specified user terminal with information on the selected one or more of the plurality of user terminals.
US09220018B1	Communications quality analysis A system and method for analyzing a scenario, such as a communications scenario in which the end-to-end quality of communications between end nodes of a communications link may be affected by various factors and conditions. Such factors and conditions may include performance parameters of the end nodes and intermediate nodes, human operational performance, and external conditions, such as weather. Qualitative and quantitative representations of the end-to-end quality of communications are presented simultaneously and in a time-synchronized manner with displays of the relevant performance parameters, indications of human operational actions, and locations of nodes of the communications link and external conditions.
US09220017B2	Radio parameter control apparatus, base station apparatus, radio parameter control method, and non-transitory computer readable medium A radio parameter control apparatus (1) includes a measurement report collection unit (10) and a radio parameter determination unit (11). The measurement report collection unit (10) collects a plurality of measurement reports generated by at least one mobile station (5), each of the measurement reports containing a measurement result of radio quality of a first cell (62) managed by a base station (4). The radio parameter determination unit (11) determines, based on the plurality of measurement reports so as to reduce the number of cell-edge mobile stations deemed to be located at a cell edge between the first cell (62) and a neighboring cell (61), an updated value of a radio parameter capable of changing coverage of the first cell (62).
US09220010B2	System and method for developing applications in wireless and wireline environments An intelligent messaging network provides multiple software development kits (SDKs) to assist, e.g., engineers in developing client and server applications. The SDKs can contain a consistent set of application program interfaces (APIs) and a set of platform specific libraries for all intelligent messaging network supported platforms and networks. In addition to the SDKs, the intelligent messaging network can provide developers a resource kit including a set of tools to assist the developers when designing, implementing, and testing their client and server applications. The intelligent messaging network can provide a mobile client and server SDK environment to assist engineers developing client applications and servers. The SDKs can provide an easy to use APIs and a set of platform specific libraries to perform, e.g., compression, network management services, server-to-server communication, server registration/de-registration, and reliable message transport services.
US09220006B1	Techniques for automatically activating or deactivating a phone associated with a virtual phone number A computer-implemented technique is presented. The technique includes determining, at a server including one or more processors, one or more phones associated with a virtual phone number associated with a user. The technique includes determining, at the server, a location for each of the one or more phones. The technique includes receiving, at the server, position information from a mobile phone associated with the user indicating the user crossed a geo-fence corresponding to a specific location of a specific one of the one or more phones. The technique includes determining, at the server, a status of the specific phone associated with the geo-fence based on a previous status of the specific phone and the position information. The technique further includes selectively forwarding, from the server, an incoming phone call to the virtual phone number to the one or more phones based on their respective statuses.
US09219998B2	Participant grouping for enhanced interactive experience Representative embodiments of a method for grouping participants in an activity include the steps of: (i) defining a grouping policy; (ii) storing, in a database, participant records that include a participant identifier, a characteristic associated with the participant, and/or an identifier for a participant's handheld device; (iii) defining groupings based on the policy and characteristics of the participants relating to the policy and to the activity; and (iv) communicating the groupings to the handheld devices to establish the groups.
US09219994B2	Methods for transmitting and receiving downlink data in MBSFN subframe and apparatuses thereof A method for receiving a downlink signal from a base station (BS) in a multicast broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) subframe is disclosed. The method is performed by a user equipment (UE) and includes receiving information indicating an MBSFN subframe configured as an almost blank subframe (ABS) (ABS MBSFN subframe) among MBSFN subframes of which a data region is allocated a reduced transmission power lower than a transmission power in a data region of a normal subframe, and demodulating the downlink signal received in the data region of the ABS MBSFN subframe based on a cell-specific reference signal (CRS) in a control region of the ABS MBSFN subframe according to the information.
US09219991B2	System and method for mobile data expansion A data expansion system that provides continuum of discrete wireless small cell coverage areas for mobile terminals includes a set of roadway reflectors configured to provide wireless broadband data services to a mobile terminal. Each reflector includes processing circuitry configured to establish communications between the mobile terminal and a backhaul network. Each reflector includes a wireless transceiver configured to transmit and receive data. Each reflector includes a power source that converts solar energy into electricity. Each reflector includes a housing configured to contain the processing circuitry, the transceiver, and the power source. The housing has a raised reflective surface.
US09219982B2	Apparatus and method for automatically refreshing a display of a telephone Methods and apparatus for refreshing a display of a telephone. A telephone apparatus includes a telephone having a display panel and function by which a user can access a plurality of communication services provided over a communication network. The function may represent a given set of conditions associated with a user, such as static and variable conditions. The function is typically associated with one or more commonly used communication services that would be used by a user under a given set of conditions. A method for automatically refreshing a screen on a display panel of a telephone based on a function change includes displaying on a telephone display a first screen based on a function, the display representing a commonly used communication service associated with the function, and selecting a function based on information.
US09219977B2	Selected restriction of wireless communication services Wireless communications services on a wireless communications device are selectively restricted in accordance with a location of the wireless device and specific permission and/or restrictions assigned to the wireless device while within/at the location. Services can be selectively blocked (denied), selectively modified, or selectively allowed on a wireless device based on lists indicating permissibility for specific services for specific devices at/within specific locations. A location can be a zone of coverage of a cellular tower, micro/pico/Femto cell or wireless access point, a sector of a zone of coverage, a geographic region within a zone of coverage, or any appropriate combination thereof.
US09219972B2	Efficient audio coding having reduced bit rate for ambient signals and decoding using same An apparatus creates first data stream(s) by processing first audio signal(s) and creates second data stream(s) by processing second audio signal(s). The processing includes detecting phase information from at least one of the second audio signal(s) so as to eliminate the phase information. The second data stream(s) are created without the phase information from the at least one second audio signal. The first and second data streams are output. Another apparatus receives first data stream(s) including first audio signal(s) and receives second data stream(s) including second audio signal(s). The second audio signal(s) include at least one second audio signal where phase information has been eliminated. Phase information is detected from one of a selected first audio signal or a selected second audio signal and is added into the at least one second audio signal. Output audio is rendered using the first and second audio signal(s).
US09219971B2	Method of manufacturing a piezoelectric speaker A method of manufacturing a piezoelectric speaker comprises forming a piezoelectric thin film and then forming an upper electrode and a lower electrode on and beneath the piezoelectric thin film, respectively, forming a damping material layer for attachment of the piezoelectric thin film below the piezoelectric thin film with the upper and lower electrodes formed thereon and therebeneath, attaching the piezoelectric thin film to an acoustic diaphragm in an inclined structure in which the piezoelectric thin film is horizontally turned from the acoustic diaphragm, and performing drying at room temperature; and fixing the acoustic diaphragm to a frame using an adhesive material with high elasticity.
US09219970B2	Method and apparatus for manufacturing a passive component for an acoustic transducer The present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for manufacturing a passive component for an acoustic transducer, wherein a mixture of metal oxide filler with an epoxy resin is subjected to ultrasonic wave generated and followed by an addition of a hardener to cast the passive component for the acoustic transducer. Mixing the materials with the ultrasonic wave improves the dispersion of the metal oxide filler over conventional passive components, thus enabling the passive component to have uniform surfaces, resulting in improved sound velocity and attenuation characteristics with acoustic transducers that use the passive component manufactured by the present disclosure.
US09219967B2	Multiuser audiovisual control Various audiovisual presentation arrangements are described. In some embodiments, a headset is configured to output audio to a user. A television receiver may be configured to output a plurality of video feeds for simultaneous presentation by a display device. Each video feed of the plurality of video feeds may be displayed in a different display region of the display device. The television receiver may receive a command indicative of a video feed of the plurality of videos feeds that the user is viewing on the display device. Based on the command, the television receiver may output, to the headset, an audio feed that corresponds to the video feed the user is viewing.
US09219956B2	Contactless audio adapter, and methods A contactless, electromagnetic (EM) replacement for cabled Standards-based interfaces (such as USB, I2S) which handles data transfer requirements associated with the Standard, and capable of measuring and replicating relevant physical conditions on data lines so as to function compatibly and transparently with the Standard. A contactless link between devices having transceivers. A non-conducting housing enclosing the devices. A dielectric coupler facilitating communication between communications chips. Conductive paths or an inductive link providing power between devices. An audio adapter communicates over a contactless link with a source device, and via a physical link with a destination device such as a conventional headset. Power may be provided to the adapter from the source device, and by the adapter to the destination device.
US09219952B2	Voiding calls to signal supplementary services The invention provides a method and system for signaling asynchronous supplementary services in a telephony network. The method comprises initiating a call between a sender and a recipient on a telephony network including generating a telephony request and disconnecting the call prior to completion of a connection. Concomitantly, an asynchronous communication is initiated between the sender and the recipient using information in the telephony request. The call may be disconnected prior to allocation of a traffic channel or prior to generating a ring at a device of the recipient. In one embodiment the call is disconnected after receipt of the telephony request by an originating mobile switching center but before continuing set-up of the call. Calls aborted in this way can be used to initiate messaging or other services without utilizing voice circuits in a network.
US09219946B2	Method of providing contents information for a network television Embodiments provide a method that allows users for easily acquire contents information by receiving and displaying only providable contents lists without connecting to servers of a plurality of contents providers, in a network TV that can receive and play contents while being connected with the contents providers.
US09219943B2	Broadcast receiving apparatus and control method thereof A broadcast receiving apparatus which accumulates and stores a status value of a broadcast signal is provided. The broadcast receiving apparatus includes a signal receiver which receives a broadcast signal, a decoder which decodes the received broadcast signal, a signal detector which detects a signal status of at least one of the received broadcast signal and the decoded broadcast signal, and a storage unit which accumulates and stores a status value of the broadcast signal detected by the signal detector. Accordingly, the past signal status of the broadcast receiving apparatus can be easily recognized.
US09219941B2	Rich media stream management A secondary stream of rich media packets defining scene states of a sub-portion of a scene representable by a primary stream or rich media packets. Local random access data defining instructions for enabling creation, when being processed, of a starting state of the scene sub-portion without affecting the scene state of scene portions is provided. The local random access data is packed into at least one rich media packet, which is inserted into the secondary stream and transmitted to at least one user terminal. The local random access data can be used by terminals for tuning-in to the secondary stream and/or for error recovery relating to the secondary stream.
US09219939B1	Methods and devices for presenting an interactive media guidance application Methods and devices for presenting an interactive media guidance application are provided in accordance with various embodiments. In some embodiments, the methods comprise: determining that a first portion of guide listings corresponding to guidance information for a first amount of time has been displayed on the user equipment device; automatically requesting a second portion of guide listings corresponding to guidance information for a second amount of time from a database having guidance information in response to determining that the first portion of guide listings has been displayed, wherein the second amount of time succeeds the first amount of time in time order and wherein the second portion of guide listings is stored in a cache located between the database and the user equipment device; receiving an indication that a user has requested at least one guide listing within the second portion of guide listings; and receiving the second portion of guide listings from the cache in response to receiving the indication from the user.
US09219934B2	Data stream rate adaptation mechanism A method of controlling data transfer in a data transmission system which includes a plurality of video and/or audio data sources, a single transmitter operable to transmit data from the data sources over at least one transmission channel, a plurality of client receivers operable to receive transmitted data, the method comprising estimating available channel capacity for each client receiver, using parameters relating to the at least one transmission channel, and using information from the transmitter and receiver, and using information relating to queuing of data between the data sources and the transmitter; determining a target bit transmit rate for each client receiver in dependence upon the estimated channel capacity, a quality parameter, and an activity parameter for the client receiver concerned; and controlling the data sources and transmitter in dependence upon the determined bit transmit rate.
US09219930B1	Method and system for timing media stream modifications A system and method for triggering media stream modifications and for modifying media streams accordingly. The method includes a first step of determining, by an apparatus, an opportunity to modify a compressed media stream, by a media stream modifier, to provide a modified media stream that includes additional video content; and a second step of generating modification information representative of said determination, to be further transmitted to the media stream modifier.
US09219928B2	Methods and apparatus to characterize households with media meter data Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed to characterize households with media meter data. An example method includes identifying, with a processor, a household minute credited to a station in a household by a first media meter (MM) device, the first MM device collecting only audio data, determining whether a panelist audience meter device is crediting the station at the same time in the household, when the panelist audience meter device is crediting the same station, associating the household minute with an ambient tuning status, identifying a first automatic gain control (AGC) value and a first code status of the household minute, calculating model coefficients based on the ambient tuning status, the first AGC value and the first code status, and calculating a probability of ambient tuning based on the model coefficients.
US09219926B2	Image encoding apparatus, image encoding method and program, image decoding apparatus, image decoding method and program An image processing apparatus according to the present invention includes, a division unit configured to divide an image to generate a first block group including one or more blocks and a second block group adjacent to the first block group, a first encoding unit to encode the first block group in units of block, a second encoding unit to encode the second block group in units of block, and a storage unit to store encoded information after the first encoding unit processes a block at a predetermined position, in which the storage unit, when the first block group does not include a block at the predetermined position, sets the predetermined position to a block in the first block group and stores the encoded information based on the set position, and wherein the second encoding unit starts encoding based on the encoded information.
US09219922B2	System and method for exploiting scene graph information in construction of an encoded video sequence A system method and computer program product for creating a composited video frame sequence for an application. A current scene graph state for the application is compared to a previous scene graph state wherein each scene graph state includes a plurality of hierarchical nodes that represent one or more objects at each node. A video construction engine determines if one or more objects have moved based upon a comparison of the scene graph states. If one or more objects have moved based upon the scene graph comparison, motion information about the objects is determined and the motion information is forwarded to a stitcher module. The motion information is used to define motion vectors for use by the stitcher module in construction of the composited video frame sequence.
US09219915B1	Selection of transform size in video coding Blocks of a frame of a video stream can be encoded using various prediction modes followed by transforming the predicted blocks. Increasing coding efficiency may be achieved by indicating a default transform mode for a frame in a frame header. The default transform mode can be used to encode blocks of the frame. When the default transform mode is a per-block transform mode, the transform size can be determined on a per-block basis and may be included in block headers. When all available transform sizes are not tested for a current block, estimates of a rate distortion value can be performed for the current block using its prediction mode and the remaining transform sizes. Using these estimates and the actual calculated rate distortion values for blocks of the current frame, the default transform mode can be updated for the next frame.
US09219913B2	Inferred base layer block for TEXTURE—BL mode in HEVC based single loop scalable video coding An apparatus for coding video data using a single-loop decoding approach may include a memory unit and a processor in communication with the memory unit. In an example, the memory unit stores the video data, the video data including a base layer and an enhancement layer. The base layer includes a base layer block, a non-constrained INTRA mode block, and an INTER mode block. The base layer block includes a sub-block located at least partially within one of the non-constrained INTRA mode block or the INTER mode block. The enhancement layer includes an enhancement layer block located at a position in the enhancement layer corresponding to a position of the base layer block in the base layer. The processor approximates pixel values of the sub-block and determines, based at least in part on the approximated pixel values, pixel values of the enhancement layer block.
US09219910B2	Volumetric display system blending two light types to provide a new display medium A method for creating a volumetric display. The method includes projecting a first light type onto a planar projection surface to display first content and, concurrently with projection of the first light type, first projecting a second light type onto the planar projection surface to display second content that at least partially overlays the displayed first content. The method includes second projecting the second light type onto a three dimensional (3D) set of reflective elements, whereby the second content moves between the planar projection surface and the 3D set. The first light type may be non-coherent light and the second light type may be laser light (or coherent light). While projected on the planar projection surface, the coherent light is at a first illumination level that matches or is somewhat greater than the non-coherent light, and a second much higher illumination level is used when projecting onto the 3D set.
US09219899B2	Signal processing device In the present signal processing device, a recording unit is configured to record an inputted signal into a recording medium. A switch input unit is configured to input signal selection information for selecting any one of a plurality of signals. A meta-input unit is provided independently from the switch input unit. The meta-input unit is configured to input metadata. A switch list managing unit is configured to associate the signal selection information and the metadata and manage the signal selection information and the metadata as a switch metadata information every time the signal selection information is inputted into the switch input unit. A playlist recording unit is configured to determine a reproduction duration of each clip and generate a playlist including the metadata based on the switch metadata information. The playlist recording unit is configured to output the playlist to the recording medium.
US09219898B2	Constrained color palette in a color space A technique for enabling display of a source color space on a display color space commences by first receiving source color space information. The source color space information undergoes a conversion into a device independent color space. Once converted into the device independent color space, a LUT or other matrix assigns output colors for the input colors corresponding to the specific display device color space. The LUT or other matrix can be generated with the source material and transmitted to the source display device.
US09219895B2	Projection device A projection device includes: a plate shaped member that is thermally conductive; a light emitting element that is disposed upon the plate shaped member and emits light; a bending member that bends light from the light emitting element into an orientation parallel to the plate shaped member; a modulation element that modulates light bent by the bending member; and a polarized light separation element that bends light modulated by the modulation element into an orientation going away from the plate shaped member.
US09219891B2	Object identification apparatus Identification apparatus is capable of automatically performing processing for separation of objects from background to definitively extract objects to be identified. Backlighting is used to cause illumination from behind a tray on which pastry serving as object has been placed, and while in this state an image of the pastry and the tray are captured. The captured image is converted into an L image representing the L-axis component in Lab color space (S11). The L image is used to create a Canny edge image (S12), and contour extraction is carried out (S13). Pastry region(s) are extracted from background region(s), and a mask image is output (S14, S15). The extracted pastry region(s) are used to carry out identification of pastry type by comparison with registered characteristic quantities. Determination of pastry region(s) is carried out based on magnitude of chromatic dispersion and distance between colors in Lab color space.
US09219882B2	Graphical user interface apparatus and connection method in two-way communication system A GUI (graphical user interface) apparatus for connecting with a location of a participant by a two-way communication system such as a video conference system. The apparatus includes a display processing device for arranging a plurality of display frames to display still pictures representing specific nominated connection destinations on a screen of display device, a plurality of operation devices arranged on the display frames in a one-to-one relation and a connection processing device for connecting with a particular nominated participant through the network when the operation device arranged corresponding to the display frame, on which the still picture representing the particular nominated participant is displayed, is operated.
US09219875B2	Image display apparatus and method A method for operating an image display apparatus having a first display and a second display different from the first display includes displaying an image on the first display, displaying a search window on the second display, and displaying search results matching a search term entered in the search window.
US09219872B2	Image pickup apparatus, driving method for image pickup apparatus, image pickup system, and driving method for image pickup system In an image pickup apparatus, a counter configured to output a count signal to a second AD conversion unit starts, with a delay, counting clock signals as compared with a counter configured to output a count signal to a first AD conversion unit by a time period corresponding to a delay of a reference signal output to a comparator of the second AD conversion unit with respect to a reference signal output to the comparator of the first AD conversion unit.
US09219860B1	Hybrid panoramic optical device with embedded PTZ components A fixed surround imaging component (SiC) can capture a field of view (FOV) of between 270° to 360° of a horizontal plane. A movable second camera (SC) component can include a FOV less than the FOV of the SiC and having a resolution or imaging capability greater than that of the SiC. The SC can physically move to change its field of view. Coverage of the movement of the movable SC can enable coverage with movement of the entire FOV of the SiC. An image aggregator can aggregating images from the SiC and SC. The movement of the SC can be linked to a portion of the SiC that is indicated by a human/program as being a segment of the FOV of the SiC of interest, which results in movement of the movable SC to provide higher resolution or greater imaging capability to that segment.
US09219859B2	Camera assembly having a wide viewing angle and image acquisition method using the same Disclosed is a camera assembly having a wide viewing angle using a variable mirror. The camera assembly includes a variable mirror located in front of an image sensor, a variable mirror controller to switch a mode of the variable mirror to one of a reflection mode to reflect light incident upon the variable mirror and a transmission mode to transmit light incident upon the variable mirror, an image sensor to sense the light reflected by the variable mirror to acquire first image data and to sense the light transmitted through the variable mirror to acquire second image data, and an image processing unit to register the first image data and the second image data acquired by the image sensor to generate a third image.
US09219851B2	Camera module and electronic device with a lens barrel including a local maximum outer diameter section A lens barrel (3) includes a local maximum outer diameter section (3e) and a maximum outer diameter section (3a). The maximum outer diameter section (3a) is provided in a portion of an area of the local maximum outer diameter section (3e) which portion includes an area corresponding to an outer periphery of an image pickup lens (2m) which is the largest in lens diameter. This achieves a further size reduction while achieving a high-accuracy installation of a lens barrel.
US09219845B2	Information storage system and information storage method An information storage system including information processing devices; an information storage device connected to the information processing devices; an access information generating unit configured to generate, based on a request from a first information processing device, access information for accessing a storage area in the information storage device to which access is restricted from the information processing devices other than the first information processing device; a display unit configured to cause the first information processing device to display the access information; a sending unit configured to cause a second information processing device to acquire the access information displayed on the first information processing device and to send the access information to the information storage device; and an access unit configured to cause the information storage device to allow the second information processing device to access the storage area based on the access information that has been sent.
US09219844B2	Intelligent fax retransmission system and method Described herein is a fax processing system for the improvement of efficiency and reliability of fax transmissions over any communications network, specifically for retransmitting an incomplete transmission. Fax images are encoded with an embedded digital bit signal by a fax software program on the originating fax that indicates the number of pages in the document where such bit signal is recognized by fax software at a fax service for the purpose of monitoring the page count of the transmission, and in the case of a failed transmission, using the embedded digital data to notify the recipient that more pages will be transmitted, and further transmitting the remaining pages on the next facsimile phone call.
US09219843B2	Communication terminal and computer readable medium A communication terminal that includes a first communication unit that is coupled to an IP (Internet Protocol) network and conducts a facsimile transmission through the IP network; a second communication unit that is coupled to a public telephone network and conducts a facsimile transmission through the public telephone network; a control unit that, in a case that a communication error is detected when the first communication unit calls to the IP network and that the address information used for calling to the IP network is the address information corresponding to the destination which is converted from the telephone number received by a reception unit, controls the second communication to call to public telephone network by using the telephone number received by a reception unit.
US09219839B2	Image forming apparatus An image forming apparatus, including: an apparatus main body including an image forming portion configured to form an image on a sheet; an image reading apparatus provided on an upper portion of the apparatus main body; a document feeding apparatus located on the image reading apparatus and configured to feed a document to the image reading apparatus; and a support portion configured to support the document feeding apparatus on the apparatus main body without the image reading apparatus in a state in which the document feeding apparatus is openable and closable with respect to the image reading apparatus.
US09219834B2	Image forming apparatus capable of transmitting repair request, method of controlling the same, and storage medium An image forming apparatus that prompts, when instructed by a user to transmit a repair request, the user to perform repair work before it actually transmits the repair request to an external apparatus. A console section receives an instruction for transmitting a repair request for repairing the image forming apparatus to the external apparatus from a user. Upon receipt of the instruction, the console section displays an operation screen indicating a repair operation that the user should perform. When the display unit displays the operation screen and the console section receives from the user the instruction for transmitting the repair request to the external apparatus again, a CPU causes the repair request to be transmitted to the external apparatus.
US09219831B2	Image forming apparatus that receives operation settings for job execution from multiple operation units, and control method and storage medium therefor An image forming apparatus capable of executing functions thereof corresponding to operation setting requests in the order of receptions of the requests, while taking into account of the presence/absence of conflict between the operation setting requests, even when receiving a plurality of operation setting requests from an operation unit of the image forming apparatus and/or an external operation unit such as a portable terminal. When operation setting requests are respectively received from the operation unit of the image forming apparatus and the portable terminal, it is determined whether there is a conflict between resources used by the image forming apparatus to execute jobs and whether a user who operates the operation unit and a user who operates the portable terminal are the same as each other. Only the operation setting request permitted based on results of the determinations is received.
US09219820B2	Method and apparatus for providing voice control for accessing teleconference services A method and apparatus for providing access to teleconference services using voice recognition technology to receive information on packet networks such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Service over Internet Protocol (SoIP) networks are disclosed. In one embodiment, the service provider enables a caller to enter access information for accessing a conference service using at least one natural language response.
US09219816B2	System and method for automated whitelist management in an enterprise small cell network environment A method is provided in one embodiment and includes receiving a network address associated with a wireless device at a first network element in which the network address identifies the wireless device on a first network, and receiving user credentials from a directory service associated with a second network. The user credentials identify a user associated with the wireless device on the second network. The method further includes associating the user credentials with the network address, and communicating a request message to a second network element. The request message includes a request for a user identifier identifying the user on a third network. The method further includes receiving a response message from the second network element including the user identifier, associating the user credentials with the user identifier, and storing the association of the user credentials and the user identifier in a whitelist.
US09219815B2	Identifier technique for communication interchange A method and a communication interchange enhancement system for implementing an enhanced user interface for a communication interchange includes but is not limited to a method including to providing an identifier associated with a third-party participant related to the communication interchange; matching the identifier with the third-party participant in a database storing one or more lists of possible third-party participants; obtaining context data associated with the identifier regarding a group-type characteristic of the third-party participant for purposes of communication interchange with at least another participant; and enabling a user interface to display the group-type characteristic.
US09219814B2	Communication apparatus and control method therefor This invention provides a communication apparatus, which suppresses abrupt changes of a current and voltage generated in a communication line upon connecting an external telephone to the communication line, and a control method thereof. To accomplish this, in a communication apparatus of this invention, when an off-hook state of an external telephone is detected upon connecting the external telephone to a communication line, an SOC captures a line using a first line capture means having an impedance lower than the external telephone side, and then switches an H-relay to connect the external telephone to the communication line. Furthermore, the SOC temporarily switches a line capture state to a second line capture means having an impedance higher than the first line capture means after the H-relay is switched and before the line is released.
US09219811B2	Mode changing of a mobile communications device and vehicle settings when the mobile communications device is in proximity to a vehicle A driver of a vehicle is identified and a command is sent to a mobile communications device that is associated with the identified driver and that is in proximity of the vehicle to force the mobile communications device to change modes such as to enter a hands-free or other suitable mode. The driver may be identified through one or more techniques including biometric sensing, key detection, switch controls, and so forth. Additionally, the driver and/or feature settings preferred by the current driver may be identified by receiving data from the mobile communications device. The data may identify the driver ID with preferred feature settings, the mobile communications device which has an association to a driver ID with preferred feature settings, or the data may specify the preferred feature settings.
US09219809B2	Providing auto-sorting of collaborative partners or components based on frequency of communication and/or access in a collaboration system user interface A system for auto-sorting of lists based on most frequent component access or partner collaboration. The elements in the lists may represent collaboration partners (e.g. instant messaging contacts), and/or collaboration components such as Web addresses, events, collaborative documents, activity objects, and/or desktop applications. The system monitors component accesses and/or partner collaborations over a configurable time period to determine the frequency of collaborations with specific collaboration partners, and/or the frequency of accesses to collaboration components. The disclosed system then determines a set of collaboration partners and/or components that are most frequently collaborated with and/or accessed, and moves the list elements representing those collaboration partners and/or components into a top-located sub-list within a list of elements representing a larger number of collaboration partners and/or components in a user interface provided to a local user.
US09219808B2	Contact information synchronization system and method A method for synchronizing between a first address book on a user terminal and a second address book on an SNS network includes determining a synchronization target and, when the synchronization target is determined as the first address book, downloading contact information from the second address book to the user terminal. The method also includes, when the synchronization target is determined as the second address book, uploading contact information from the first address book to the SNS network, and matching the contact information in the first address book against the contact information in the second address book. Further, the method includes identifying a contact person having same contact information based on the matching and synchronizing information of the contact person in the first address book and information of the contact person in the second address book.
US09219801B2	Implementing a protocol adaptation layer over an internet protocol A system and method are provided that allow WiGig protocol adaptation layers (PALs) to operate differently from the proposed WiGig standard on top of an Internet protocol (IP) layer in order to enhance routing options for communication of the data traffic between a transmitting (source) device and a receiving (sink) device. A layering architecture is provided that allows WiGig PALs, such as WDE, to operate on top of an IP layer. A signaling mechanism is also provided that allows a negotiation, or at least an indication, of the underlying layering structure for specific data communications. Recognizing that the next generation wireless display requires technology such as WiGig WDE to support the driving demand for a cable replacement user experience and richer wireless display use cases, this PAL over IP architecture optimizes alignment of the WiGig data communication technology with other data communication technologies.
US09219799B2	System and a method of operating it A system and a method of operating the system comprising a media provider comprising a first user interface and a controller comprising a second user interface, the method comprising the user browsing the network using the controller and viewing media information on the controller, such as an iPad. The user may control the controller to stream the media information to a media provider, which may be a TV and so that the media information is then provided on both the TV and iPad in a synchronized manner. Subsequent to that, the TV may receive the media information directly from the network so that the controller may be used for other purposes.
US09219798B2	Client and server terminals and method for controlling the same Client and server terminals and method for controlling the same are disclosed, by which a use of a terminal is facilitated in further consideration of user's convenience. According to at least one of embodiments of the present invention, a specific folder (or all folders) storing files of the server terminal can be recognized as a folder in the corresponding client terminal to facilitate the files of the server terminal to be used by a user of the client terminal more conveniently.
US09219796B2	Method and apparatus for obtaining information of user equipment in communication system A method and an apparatus for obtaining information of a user equipment in a communication system are provided. The method includes registering schedule information containing place information by the user equipment, adding service information to the schedule information by the user equipment when a peripheral service server receives service information corresponding to the place information, and displaying the service information by the user equipment when the schedule information is searched. A user of the UE may automatically add the location based information to the UE corresponding to schedule information to manage it without separately searching information or recording the information, thus improving convenience.
US09219795B2	Moving picture file transmitting server and method of controlling operation of same A moving picture suitable for display on a mobile telephone is displayed comparatively quickly. When a moving picture is requested, a leading segment of the moving picture is converted. The leading segment has an amount of data which, after the conversion, is less than the amount of data that is displayable on the mobile telephone that issued the request. A succeeding segment, which can be converted while the leading segment is being transmitted to the mobile telephone and viewed by the user of the mobile telephone, is converted. If there is a request for the succeeding segment after the leading segment is viewed, the conversion of the succeeding segment will be finished by the time of the request for succeeding segment. As a result, the succeeding segment can be transmitted to the mobile telephone quickly, and it can be viewed rapidly.
US09219792B2	Method and system to pre-fetch data in a network A system, a computer readable storage medium including instructions, and a computer-implemented method of pre-fetching in a network, are provided. In an example embodiment, computer-implemented method of pre-fetching in a network comprises receiving a request from a user device for a first network-accessible data item in the plurality of network-accessible data items; transmitting the first network-accessible data item to the user device; identifying a second network-accessible data item in the plurality of network-accessible data items; and transmitting the second network-accessible data item to the user device, the second network-accessible data item being transmitted before receiving a request for the second network-accessible data item from the user device. Pre-fetch logic may be embedded in the first network-accessible data item.
US09219787B1	Stateless cookie operations server A stateless cookie operations server machine can provide real-time, actionable, user-specific tracking abilities in the collection of impressions and user interactions with a company's digital properties. The client-side code (e.g., in a web browser) may load an image element configured with parameters and a hyperlink (e.g., URL) that causes name-value pairs to be sent as parameters, along with a cookie data file, to a remote server. The remote server may process the parameters and perform operations based on both the value and the name of the name-value pairs. Mathematical and/or other operations may be performed on the parameters and the results saved into the appropriate cookie data file. The server sends the update cookie data file and any requested content (e.g., a transparent image pixel, or other information) back to the client-side device. As a result, the client-side application may use the information in the updated cookie data file to perform one or more web analytics and personalization functions on a real-time, user-specific, actionable basis.
US09219786B2	Behavior based client selection for disparate treatment Embodiments for server connection optimization in a persistently connected publish/subscribe environment are provided. A computer assigns an initial activity category for a client. The computer logs, into a log file, one or more select operations of a connection between a client and a first server. The computer calculates a ratio of a number of the select operations to a check time of the first server, wherein the check time is a period of time that has elapsed since a previous review of logged data. The computer sets a second activity category for the client based on a look-up of the ratio in a schedule of ratio ranges in a control file, wherein the second activity category is not the initial activity category. The computer transfers the client from the first server to a second server, in response to setting the second activity category.
US09219779B1	Cloud-based server computing system for and method of providing cross-platform remote access to 3D graphics applications A server computing system in a client-server computing environment includes a virtual display driver that marshals and transmits graphics application programming interface (API) functions to a client via a network. The server may receive capability information from the client, allowing the virtual display driver to resolve differences between the APIs supported on the server and the client.
US09219778B2	Resource upload A method, system and program for uploading a resource from remote storage to a remote service. The method comprises the steps of connecting to the remote service, initiating an upload of the resource to the remote service, selecting the remote storage as a source of the resource, acquiring the resource from the remote storage, and uploading the resource to the remote service. In one embodiment, at least part of the method is executed by a proxy server and the step of acquiring the resource from the remote storage comprises downloading the resource to the proxy server. In another embodiment, the remote service communicates directly with the remote storage. In this further embodiment, a client device acquires authentication data for the resource from the remote storage and the step of acquiring the resource from the remote storage includes providing the authentication data to the remote storage.
US09219758B2	Renewing registrations for a plurality of client applications that are associated with the same host server via an implicit piggybacking scheme In an embodiment, a server registers each of the plurality of client applications on the same client device. The server receives a given registration request message from the client device that includes a request for renewing a registration for a first of the plurality of client applications with the server, and the server renews the first client application's registration in response to the given registration request message. The server also determines, in response to the given registration request message, whether to preemptively renew registrations for one or more other client applications from the plurality of client applications. The server selectively renews the registrations for the one or more other client applications based on the determination.
US09219748B2	Virus co-processor instructions and methods for using such Circuits and methods for detecting, identifying and/or removing undesired content are provided. According to one embodiment, a method for virus processing is provided. A virus signature file that includes multiple virus signatures capable of detecting and identifying a variety of known viruses is downloaded by a general purpose processor. It is determined by the general purpose processor whether a virus co-processor is coupled to the general purpose processor. When the virus co-processor is determined to be coupled to the general purpose processor, then it is further determined by the general purpose processor which virus signatures are supported by the virus co-processor (“CP-supported virus signatures”). The CP-supported virus signatures are transferred to a memory associated with the virus co-processor. The virus co-processor is directed by the general purpose processor to perform a virus scan based on the supported virus signatures.
US09219740B2	Access control system and method Certain embodiments of the invention relate to an access control system defining one or more compartments and providing rules, which are applied to the compartment(s), to control access to network services by entities that are associated with a said compartment, the rules comprising at least a first kind of rule for controlling access to network services that use dynamically-assigned communications ports.
US09219735B2	Protecting online meeting access using secure personal universal resource locators Access to online collaborative resources such as an online meeting, web conference, online chat room, an online video conference, an online audio conference, a collaboratively edited document, a collaborative browsing session, an online social networking group, or a web site is secured by providing a first user-specific URL to a first user for addressing collaborative resource; responsive to the first user accessing the first user-specific URL, granting by a computing system access to the collaborative event to the first user; and responsive to a second user accessing the first user-specific URL, preventing by a computing system access to the collaborative event to the second user. Optionally, time criteria for accessing the first user-specific URL may be used to invalidating the first user-specific URL, wherein access to the collaborative resource is disabled.
US09219733B2	Software-based aliasing for accessing multiple shared resources on a single remote host In order to allow a single user registered on a single local host or other machine to access multiple shared resources on a remote host, an aliasing mechanism is employed so that multiple concurrent connections can be established by the user to a single remote host, with each connection using a different identity. Each connection can therefore be used to access a different shared resource on the remote host. In some illustrative examples, a user's identifier such as his or her machine log-in identification may be associated with two or more resource sharing aliases. As a result, two or more resource sharing sessions can be established by the user with a single remote host, with each of the sessions using a different one of the aliases. The resource sharing sessions are usually established in accordance with a resource sharing protocol such as the Server Block Message (SBM) protocol.
US09219726B2	Print system, image forming apparatus, information processing apparatus, print service system, and storage medium for authorizing access to print data held by a print service system A print system includes a print service system, an information processing apparatus, and an image forming apparatus. The print service system includes a holding unit associated with a user and holding print data instructed by the user, a providing unit that provides access authorization information for the holding unit, to the information processing apparatus upon a request thereof, and an access authorizing unit that authorizes an access to the holding unit if receives the access authorization information. The information processing apparatus includes a transmitting unit that transmits the access authorization information to the image forming apparatus by proximity communication. The image forming apparatus includes an authorization information acquiring unit that acquires the access authorization information by the proximity communication, and a print data acquiring unit that sends the acquired access authorization information to the print service system, is authorized to access the holding unit, and acquires the print data.
US09219723B1	Source device for systems and methods of verifying an authentication using dynamic scoring A source device for systems and methods of verifying an authentication based on dynamic scoring is disclosed, wherein the source device is configured to receive at least one identification feature from a user, and to communicate the identification feature to a verification unit. The verification unit is configured to generate a base verification score associated with the user based on at least one identification input, the identification input comprising the identification feature, a feature validity rating, and a source device validity rating, to receive a request to access a service, wherein the verification unit compares the base verification score with a service authorization threshold associated with the service, and to grant access to the service when the base verification score meets the service authorization threshold.
US09219721B2	Automated credentialing of device newly added to a network A device newly introduced to a network is automatically credentialed to be able to communicate over a network before the device first communicates with the network. For example, at a point of purchase, a user can provide network identification information to a merchant computing device that effects transfer of that information to the new device such that the new device can communicate directly with the network without initial credentialing directly between the unique device and the local network. In another example, the merchant computing device communicates with the local network to register a newly purchased device with the local network before the newly purchased device is introduced to the network. Accordingly, the network is configured to begin communications with the unique device without initial credentialing directly between the unique device and the local network.
US09219708B2	Method and system for remotely authenticating identification devices A method of authenticating, using an authentication server, the use of an authentication device over a communication network via an intermediate communication device, comprising: receiving an authentication datagram by the intermediate device; protecting the datagram by the intermediate device, by at least one of changing, adding to, encrypting and signing of the datagram; and forwarding the datagram to the authentication server for authentication.
US09219698B2	Providing a layer-3 interface Providing a VLAN virtual interface of a default VLAN as a VLAN virtual interface of a layer-3 Ethernet interface provided on an apparatus, assigning an interface MAC address for the layer-3 Ethernet interface, setting a layer-3 interface entry including at least the interface MAC address of the layer-3 Ethernet interface and a VLAN ID of the default VLAN, providing a VLAN virtual interface of a layer-3 Ethernet sub-interface provided on the apparatus based on a binding VLAN of the layer-3 Ethernet sub-interface, assigning an interface MAC address to the layer-3 Ethernet sub-interface, setting a layer-3 sub-interface entry including at least the interface MAC address of the layer-3 Ethernet sub-interface and a VLAN ID of the binding VLAN, receiving a packet from one interface of the apparatus, and performing layer-3 forwarding for the packet if the layer-3 interface entry or the layer-3 interface entry matching with a destination MAC address and a VLAN ID of the packet.
US09219696B2	Increased efficiency of data payloads to data arrays accessed through registers in a distributed virtual bridge A system and method for efficient transfer of data from a controlling bridge to a register of a distributed bridge element. A Load Store over Ethernet (LSoE) frame processing engine (FPE) is equipped with a repeat and a repeat with strobe function that, when coupled with an auto-increment function of an indirect register facility, allows a distributed virtual bridge to move data payload more efficiently which decreases the data loading on the computers data paths used for other data transfers.
US09219693B2	Network devices with time aware medium access controller A network device includes a memory, a MAC module, a host control module, and a selector module. The memory stores frames and timestamps corresponding to the frames. The MAC module receives the frames and the timestamps and forwards the frames to a physical layer device. The MAC module includes queues that store the frames received from the memory, and shaping modules that receive the frames from the queues and spread data in the frames over time to generate blocking signals. The host control module transfers ownership of the frames to the MAC module. The host control module or the MAC module masks the transfer of the ownership of first frames including gating the first frames based on the timestamps to delay reception of the first frames in the queues. The selector module selects one of the blocking signals, and forwards the selected blocking signal to the physical layer device.
US09219691B2	Source-driven switch probing with feedback request Embodiments relate to proactively probing the packet queues of elements in a physical or virtual network to predict and prevent the occurrence of congestion points. An aspect includes receiving a first feedback request at a central controller connected to a plurality of switches in a network. The first feedback request includes a request to periodically probe a status of queues of switches in the network. A second feedback request is then transmitted to one or all the switches in a path leading to a designated destination. Responses to the second feedback request are received at the central controller from a designated proxy switch, which aggregated the responses into a single data packet. Accordingly, the responses extracted from the single data packet at the central controller are used to preventing future congestion points.
US09219683B2	Unified infrastructure over ethernet Systems and methods that provide a unified infrastructure over layer-2 networks are provided. A first frame is generated by an end point. The first frame comprises a proxy payload, a proxy association header and a frame header relating to a control proxy element. The first frame is sent over a first network to the control proxy element. A second frame is generated by the control proxy element. The second frame comprises the proxy payload and a proxy header. The first and second frames correspond to different layer-2 protocols. The control proxy element sends the second frame over a second network employing the layer-2 protocol of the second frame.
US09219682B2	Mintree-based routing in highly constrained networks In one embodiment, a capable node in a computer network may host a path computation element, receive one or more neighborhood discovery messages including neighborhood information from a plurality of nodes in the computer network, and compute a minimum spanning tree (MinTree) for the computer network based on the neighborhood information. The MinTree may divide the plurality of nodes in the computer network into a first subset of routing nodes and a second subset of host nodes. The first subset of routing nodes may form one or more interconnected paths of routing nodes within the MinTree, and each host node within the second subset of host nodes may be located within one hop of at least one routing node. The capable node may then communicate a MinTree message to the plurality of nodes in the computer network to build the MinTree by enabling routing on each routing node.
US09219647B2	Modular device and data management system and gateway for a communications network A gateway provides duplex-directional, multimedia ad hoc mesh networking, peer-to-peer direct communications, power optimization, dynamic configuration, and data management, while operating within various devices and network topologies. A multitasking virtual machine monitor for mobile networked devices, that is capable of functional expandability and portability to various operating environments, interoperability with a variety of operating systems, the Gateway Control System (GCS) performs functional capabilities in both a local and a networked topology using local and remote hardware and software. Software within the GCS is partitioned into sequentially, autonomous code, referred to herein as “modules,” each module being configured to communicate with hardware and other gateway modules. Collectively, all gateway modules are referred to herein as the gateway stack (GS). Each member of the GS can be turned on or off, downloaded from a remote site, and dynamically configured.
US09219643B2	Node and method for the handling of serving gateway partial failure Example embodiments presented herein are directed towards improved handling during Serving Gateway (SGW) partial failures. Some of the example embodiments are directed towards a Mobility Management Entity (MME) configured to alter a S4 Serving General Packet Radio Service Support Node (S4-SGSN) that a SGW partial failure has occurred. Some of the example embodiments are directed towards a Packet Data Network Gateway (PGW) being informed that ISR for a user equipment is activated, this the PGW will save any MME related identification information for a user equipment undergoing a mobility procedure when ISR is activated.
US09219640B2	Performing failover in a redundancy group A system and computer program product for performing failover in a redundancy group, where the redundancy group comprises a plurality of routers including an active router and a standby router, the failover being characterized by zero black hole or significantly reduced black hole conditions versus a conventional failover system. The system comprises a processing unit connected to the memory and adapted to execute the plurality of instructions, which cause an information appliance to: receive an incoming message at a switch; send a request of identification to the plurality of routers to identify a current active router, where the current active router represents a virtual router of the redundancy group; and in response to receiving a reply containing an identification from the current active router within a predetermined time, forward the incoming message to the current active router.
US09219637B2	Facilitating rapid establishment of human/machine communication links with private SIP-based IP networks using pre-distributed static network address translation maps A method and system are provided that enhance human/machine communication so as to more closely approximate natural human/human communication by more effectively establishing communications links for human-interactive media. Specifically, the speed and quality of the connection are improved by the method and system, resulting in a more natural user experience. The method includes receiving a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) call request from an Endpoint (EP). The method determines an external address based on an internal address of the EP uniquely mapped to the external address and pre-distributed to SIP internal routers. The method includes modifying the SIP call request to replace the EP internal address with the EP external address. The method includes forwarding the EP external address to the EP. The method includes establishing a communication link for human-interactive media between the EP and the call provider, the EP using the EP external address, and the communication link not including the SIP Internal Router.
US09219633B2	Recipe exchange and management system A recipe exchange and management system is provided for a group of related restaurants. The system may be implemented as a network service that provides a series of interfaces or web pages to implement recipe creation, recipe sharing, and recipe and menu management. Users of the system may login with a username and password to access recipe data and menu data of any of two or more restaurants supported by the network service. A recipe may be created by a first user and reviewed by one or more second users of the service. A user associated with a first restaurant of the group of restaurants may access a recipe associated with a second restaurant of the group of restaurants.
US09219632B2	Highly-spectrally-efficient transmission using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing A system may comprise a symbol mapper circuit that outputs C′ quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) symbols per orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol. The system may also comprise circuitry operable to process said C′ QAM symbols using a circulant matrix to generate a particular OFDM symbol consisting of C+Δ subcarriers, where C′ is a first integer, C is a second integer less than C′, and Δ is an integer equal to the number of non-data-carrying subcarriers in the particular OFDM symbol. The circulant matrix may be a P×P matrix, where P is an integer less than C′. The system may comprise a nonlinear circuit that introduces nonlinear distortion to said particular OFDM symbol.
US09219620B2	Enhanced unified messaging system with a quick view facility This invention provides an enhancement to messaging systems by providing a message notification feature which allows a user to manage only new messages for which a notification has not yet been cleared without having to access or download the entire set of messages. This management may be performed in single window that operates in conjunction with an application associated with the messaging system. The notification management permits manipulation of the message notifications without influencing the status of the messages themselves, while providing access to the data contained in these messages. This addresses the needs of those users who frequently check their incoming communications queues and need to determine very quickly which items need urgent attention and which ones can be deferred. The present invention further provides specific functionalities for handling a particular message when it does need urgent attention.
US09219614B2	mRSVP-TE based fast reroute in detour (1:1) protection mode An apparatus comprising a memory, and a processor coupled to the memory and configured to transmit a multicast Resource Reservation Protocol-Traffic Engineering (mRSVP-TE) path request (PATH) message upstream, wherein the PATH message requests reservation of a backup Label Switched Path (LSP) to protect an active LSP configured to transmit multicast data. The disclosure also includes a computer program product comprising computer executable instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium such that when executed by a processor cause a network element (NE) to receive a multicast PATH message from a downstream node, wherein the NE acts as a Point of Local Repair (PLR) along an active LSP, wherein the active LSP is configured to transmit multicast data, and wherein the PATH message requests reservation of a backup LSP to protect the active LSP.
US09219607B2	Provisioning sensitive data into third party A method for providing identity data to network-enabled devices includes receiving a request for identity data from a network-enabled device that is deployed to an end-user. The network-enabled device is pre-provisioned with a PIN, a global key pair, a user-accessible first device identifier, and a second device identifier usable by a service provider delivering a service to the device. The identity data request includes the first and second identifiers, a protected rendition of the PIN, and an encryption key or other data from which an encryption key is derivable. The identifiers, the protected rendition of the PIN, and the encryption key or the other data are signed by a private key in the global key pair. The validity of the PIN included in the request is verified to authenticate the device. If the PIN is valid, identity data for the device is generated, encrypted and sent to the network-enabled device.
US09219606B2	Method and device for digital data blocks encryption and decryption Method and System for encrypting plaintext digital data divided into a sequence comprising successive plaintext blocks of a same length of bits each and a residual plaintext block having a length of bits lower than the length of one of the successive plaintext blocks. The successive plaintext blocks are ciphered with the main encryption key by using a ciphering algorithm based on a cipher block chaining mode to obtain a sequence of successive ciphered blocks having the same length as the successive plaintext blocks. A set of round keys having a same length, are generated by applying a key schedule function on a string obtained by adding the last ciphered block to the main encryption key. The round keys of the set are added together to obtain a resulting string having a length equal to the length of a block of the sequence. The residual plaintext block is then added to the most left bits of the resulting string forming a string) having a length equal to the length of the residual block to obtain a residual ciphered block. The method and the system apply also to decipher a sequence of successive ciphered blocks followed by a residual ciphered block.
US09219602B2	Method and system for securely computing a base point in direct anonymous attestation A method and system computes a basepoint for use in a signing operation of a direct anonymous attestation scheme. The method and system includes computing a basepoint at a host computing device and verifying the base point at a trusted platform module (TPM) device.
US09219600B1	Synchronization through waveform correlation Detecting timing of a synchronization sequence included in a data stream transmitted in a noisy channel. The synchronization sequence is a known data sequence purposely injected into the data stream for synchronization. A data stream waveform, is obtained from a noisy communication channel. The data stream waveform includes an instance of a synchronization sequence waveform. One or more samples of the synchronization sequence waveform are obtained. One or more samples of a model synchronization sequence waveform are obtained. The model synchronization sequence waveform models an expected waveform for the synchronization sequence being transmitted on the communication channel by applying the synchronization sequence to a model of the communication channel. The instance of the synchronization sequence waveform is correlated with the model synchronization sequence waveform by correlating one or more samples of the synchronization sequence waveform with the one or more samples of the model synchronization sequence waveform.
US09219599B2	Clock and data recovery circuit A clock and data recovery (CDR) circuit employing zero-crossing linearizing (ZCL) technique. The circuit including a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), an inject-locked divider (ILD), a variable delay unit, a linearized loop, a bang-bang loop, and a loop filter (LP). The differential clock generated by VCO passes through ILD for frequency dividing and variable delay unit to generate 8-phase clocks. Then using these clocks, the PDs over-sample the input data, followed by synchronization and logic operation to control the CPs output current pulses. These currents filtered by LP control the VCO to finish the loop. The circuit recovers 4 channel data and corresponding clocks of the input with low power broken-down and preferable jitter performance and locking property.
US09219590B2	Method for transmitting effective channel status information in wireless communication system supporting multiple carriers A method and apparatus for transmitting effective channel status information (CSI) in a wireless communication system supporting multiple carriers are disclosed. The method for indicating CSI transmission in a wireless communication system supporting multiple carriers includes transmitting downlink control information (DCI) including a channel quality information (CQI) request field to a UE over a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), and receiving CSI reporting of a single downlink carrier or multiple downlink carriers from the UE over a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) without receiving uplink data. If the CSI for the single downlink carrier is reported, the number (NPRB) of resource blocks (RBs) established for the CSI reporting is identical to or less than X (NPRB≦X), and if the CSI for the multiple downlink carriers is reported, NPRB is identical to or less than M (where M>X).
US09219585B2	Radio base station apparatus, pilot transmission method thereof, and a terminal apparatus In conditions of low data traffic, such as during the night, when transmitting pilots in a downlink radio transmission zone, sub frames are divided into (1) first sub frames that transmit common pilots over a whole transmission band, and (2) second sub frames that transmit common pilots over a specified narrow band of a whole transmission band, where first sub frames are transmitted at a specified period, and second sub frames are transmitted for period of time except the specified period.
US09219578B2	Device, system and method of communicating aggregate data units Some demonstrative embodiments include devices, systems and/or methods of communicating aggregate data units. For example, a device may include a wireless communication unit to communicate an aggregate data unit including a plurality of data units in an increasing order of sequence numbers assigned to the data units, such that a first data unit having a first sequence number always precedes a second data unit having a second sequence number, greater than the first sequence number.
US09219573B2	System and method for recovering audio PDU transport elements in digital radio broadcast receiver A method and apparatus are provided for recovering audio packet location fields and/or frame boundary information from a received digital radio broadcast signal frame in which there are detected errors in the signal frame header by using selected header elements and/or protocol data unit (PDU) structured data block parameters relating to minimum, maximum, and average packet length or PDU length in a scalable recovery process that may be throttled dynamically or configured statically based on available computation resources within a specific implementation and/or at a specific time.
US09219571B2	Aperiodic CQI reporting in a wireless communication network According to certain aspects, techniques for aperiodically reporting channel state information (CSI) on protected and unprotected resources are provided. The protected resources may include resources in which transmissions in a first cell are protected by restricting transmissions in a second cell. According to certain aspects, a request for channel quality indicator (CQI) may be sent in a first subframe, CQI may be measured for a second subframe having a first offset from the first subframe, and a corresponding CQI report sent in a third subframe having a second offset from the first subframe.
US09219570B2	Feedback and link adaptation techniques for wireless networks Various example embodiments are disclosed relating to feedback and link adaptation techniques for wireless networks. According to an example embodiment, an apparatus may include a processor or controller. The controller may be configured to determine a channel quality indication (CQI) value for each of a plurality of wireless sub-channels, discard any of the CQI values older than a threshold time, leaving a set of current CQI values, determine a percentile CQI value based on the set of current CQI values, and transmit the percentile CQI value to an infrastructure node. The infrastructure node, may, for example, determine or select one or more data transmission parameters, such as a modulation scheme and/or coding rate, based at least in part on the received percentile CQI value.
US09219569B2	Method and apparatus for optimizing rate control based on packet aggregation considerations Various aspects of the disclosure described herein provide for optimizing rate control during a selection of a communications profile from a set of communications profiles by taking into account effective frame aggregation size as a function of packet error rate (PER). An expected throughput may also be determined for each communications profile and updated after each transmission so that a communications profile having the highest expected throughput may be chosen for a particular frame transmission.
US09219562B2	System and method to dynamically redistribute timing and synchronization in a packet switched network Systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for dynamically redistributing timing and synchronization in a packet switched network are provided. One method includes creating, by a slave node, a peer list comprising an identifier of at least one peer slave node that shares a same master node as the slave node or that has a certain predefined affinity with the slave node. The method may also include announcing a holdover time of the slave node to the at least one peer slave node, and, when a predefined event occurs, announcing to the at least one peer slave node that the slave node is taking on a mini-master role for at least the announced holdover time.
US09219557B2	Circuits, systems and methods for constructing a composite signal Circuits, systems, and methods for assembling a composite signal include a frequency translation circuit coupled to receive an input signal and operable to generate a plurality of frequency-translated versions of the input signal at a respective plurality of different frequencies, the plurality of frequency-translated input signals defining a group of frequency translated signals. The plurality of frequency translated signals may each be processed to provide a composite signal.
US09219550B2	Forward carrier recovery using forward error correction (FEC) feedback A system receive, from an optical receiver, a signal derived from a first optical signal and a second optical signal generated by a local oscillator, that includes a first component that is an in-phase component and a second component that is a quadrature phase component; filter the signal, using a filter, set to one or more configurations, to obtain one or more recovered signals, where each of the recovered signals includes a respective quantity of noise; perform forward error correction, on the recovered signals, to obtain one or more quantities of bit errors that correspond to the recovered signals; and process the signal using the filter set to a particular configuration, of the one or more configurations, that corresponds to a lowest quantity of bit errors of the one or more quantities of bit error.
US09219538B2	System and method for one cell to cover multiple areas A system, method and network device for covering a plurality of areas by one cell are disclosed. The system includes: a plurality of radio frequency groups and at least one base band unit. One radio frequency group corresponds to one area of the cell, one radio frequency group corresponds to one date channel, and one base band unit is connected to a plurality of radio frequency groups through a plurality of date channels. The embodiment of the invention reduces the signal interference among each area of the same cell, increases the system capacity, and benefits cell splitting, i.e., benefits increasing the capacity and upgrading during network enhancement.
US09219534B2	Method and device for signal transmission in a multi-node system Provided are a method and apparatus for transmitting a signal of a multi-node system employing a plurality of nodes distributed geographically and a base station that can be controlled by being connected with each of the plurality of nodes. The method includes: mapping a plurality of codewords to a plurality of streams; mapping the plurality of streams to at least one node among the plurality of nodes; performing multiple input multiple output (MIMO) precoding to map the streams mapped to the at least one node to at least one transmit antennas; and transmitting a signal subjected to the MIMO precoding to a user equipment.
US09219516B2	Stretchable strap cover for electronic device A stretchable strap cover for a handheld electronic device has a flexible and elastic pad with four apertures formed in the pad and extending through the thickness of the pad, and four straps defined between the four apertures and the perimeter of the pad. The pad has at least two configurations, including: 1) an initial configuration in which the pad is separate from the handheld electronic device, an in which the pad is unstretched with an initial unstretched perimeter, length and width, and in which the pad is flat and disposed in a flat layer having a thickness the same as the thickness of the pad, with the straps and the apertures disposed in the flat layer; and 2) an installed configuration in which the pad is coupled to the handheld electronic device, the pad being stretched and under tension, and the straps being disposed out of the flat layer.
US09219515B2	Protective film and related assembly and method A protective film configured to protect a substrate such as a glass panel for a display is provided. The protective film may include a discontinuous outer layer including a multitude of panels and gaps positioned therebetween. Further, the protective film may include a flexible layer positioned between the discontinuous outer layer and the substrate. When panels of the discontinuous outer layer are impacted by a foreign object, the force may be transferred to the flexible layer, rather than propagating through the outer layer. In this regard, the gaps between the panels of the discontinuous outer layer may prevent the formation of cracks that may otherwise occur. Related assemblies and methods are also provided.
US09219500B2	Navigation devices and methods carried out thereon This invention concerns a method of determining a route using map data comprising a plurality of navigable paths, the map data divided into a plurality of regions. The method comprises using at least one processing apparatus to: receive an origin and a destination on the map data and a travel time, determine a route from the origin to the destination using the map data and minimum cost data that identifies minimum cost paths between regions of the map data. The minimum cost data identifies more than one minimum cost path between a pair of the regions if different minimum cost paths exist between the pair of regions at different times and determining a route comprises identifying from the minimum cost paths for the pair of regions comprising the origin and destination, the minimum cost path having a lowest cost at the travel time.
US09219484B2	Reference clock compensation for fractional-N phase lock loops (PLLS) In one embodiment, a method includes determining a phase difference between a reference clock and a feedback clock in even and odd cycles for a phase lock loop (PLL). The even and odd cycles are alternating clock periods. A delta value based on the phase difference is determined. The method then adjusts a division value used by a divider to generate the feedback clock during the even cycle based on the delta value where the delta value is of a first polarity. Also, the method adjusts the division value used by the divider to generate the feedback clock during the odd cycle based on the delta value where the delta value is of a second polarity.
US09219482B2	High voltage switch circuit and nonvolatile memory including the same A high voltage switch circuit includes a high voltage switch suitable for transferring a voltage of an input terminal to an output terminal in response to a voltage of a control node; a first transistor suitable for electrically connecting a first node and the control node in response to an inverted activation signal; a second transistor suitable for supplying a first high voltage to the first node in response to an activation signal; a third transistor connected in parallel to the second transistor, and operable in response to the control node; a discharge transistor suitable for discharging the control node; and a first level shifter suitable for changing a swing level of a preliminary activation signal, and generating the activation signal and the inverted activation signal.
US09219480B2	Low tau synchronizer flip-flop with dual loop feedback approach to improve mean time between failure A flip-flop and a method of receiving a digital signal from an asynchronous domain. In one embodiment, the flip-flop includes: (1) a first loop coupled to a flip-flop input and having first and second stable states and (2) a second loop coupled to the first loop and having the first and second stable states, properties of cross-coupled inverters in the first and second loops creating a metastable state skewed toward the first stable state in the first loop and skewed toward the second stable state in the second loop. Certain embodiments of the flip-flop have lower time constant and thus a higher Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF).
US09219477B2	Non-contact switch The present disclosure relates to a non-contact switch. More particularly, the non-contact switch includes a button which is disposed at a predetermined position of a housing and operated by an external pressure while being formed, at one end portion thereof, with a magnetic substance; a magnetic field sensor device which is accommodated in the housing to face the magnetic substance and generates an induced voltage depending on an interval between the magnetic field sensor device and the magnetic substance; and a semiconductor device which is driven by the induced voltage generated at the magnetic field sensor device to switch power supplied from a separate battery to a separate load.
US09219473B2	Overvoltage protection circuit Universal Serial Bus (USB) protection circuits are provided. A circuit includes a plurality of first transistors connected in series between a pad and ground. The circuit also includes a plurality of second transistors connected in series between the pad and a supply voltage. The circuit further includes a control circuit that applies respective bias voltages to each one of the plurality of first transistors and to each one of the plurality of second transistors. The bias voltages are configured to: turn off the plurality of first transistors and turn off the plurality of second transistors when a pad voltage of the pad is within a nominal voltage range; sequentially turn on the plurality of first transistors when the pad voltage increases above the nominal voltage range; and sequentially turn on the plurality of second transistors when the pad voltage decreases below the nominal voltage range.
US09219465B2	Bulk acoustic wave resonator Provided is a bulk acoustic wave resonator (BAWR). The BAWR may include a bulk acoustic wave resonance unit and an anti-resonant frequency modifying unit to modify an anti-resonant frequency generated from the bulk acoustic wave resonance unit.
US09219458B2	Methods and systems of AGC and DC calibration for OFDM/OFDMA systems Methods and apparatus for automatic gain control (AGC) and DC calibration for orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) or orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems are provided in an effort to avoid saturation of the analog-to-digital converter (ADC) in a radio frequency (RF) front end of a receiver, to handle dynamic received signal power, or to avoid interruptions in a communication link for DC calibration. For certain embodiments, the quantization error in the RF front end may also be decreased.
US09219453B2	Phase shift and attenuation circuits for use with multiple-path amplifiers Embodiments of circuits for use with an amplifier that includes multiple amplifier paths include a first series circuit and a second series circuit in parallel with the first series circuit. The first series circuit includes a first input coupled to a first power divider output, a first output coupled to a first amplifier path of the multiple amplifier paths, and a first adjustable phase shifter and a first adjustable attenuator series coupled between the first input and the first output. The second series circuit includes a second input coupled to a second power divider output, a second output coupled to a second amplifier path of the multiple amplifier paths, and a second adjustable phase shifter and a second adjustable attenuator series coupled between the second input and the second output.
US09219434B2	Motor control device and motor control program A motor control device according to the present invention includes: a boost converter circuit 30 that boosts a direct-current voltage; an inverter 40 that generates a drive pulse for a motor 50 from the direct-current voltage of the boost converter circuit 30; and a control section 60 that presets a set value Id_hold obtained by multiplying a set value Id_max by an intermediate current threshold coefficient α, controls a pulse width of the drive pulse of the inverter 40 based on a speed deviation, controls a d-axis current in the motor 50 based on the speed deviation so that the pulse width of the drive pulse of the inverter 40 does not exceed a threshold value, and controls the direct-current voltage of the boost converter circuit 30 based on the speed deviation so that the d-axis current in the motor 50 does not exceed the set value Id_hold.
US09219427B2	Reduction of electrostatic discharge effects in charge-pump elevator ladder The final cell or cells in a cascade or ladder of voltage elevator cells may be exposed to significant overvoltages from electrostatic discharge originating in off-chip loads. In such conditions, the final cell or cells may be damaged or destroyed by such overvoltages. Protective circuitry may be added to one or more of the final voltage elevator cells to reduce or eliminate such damage or destruction by distributing the overvoltage among two or more cells. Such protective circuitry may include a capacitor coupled in parallel with the input and output node of one or more of the final voltage elevator cells. The protective circuitry may also include a resistor coupled in series between the final voltage elevator cell and the load.
US09219426B2	Switching element, power converter, direct current transmission system, current control device, method of controlling power converter, and method of controlling current in voltage source converter A switching element of a power converter generates a low voltage, using a current flowing in the power converter, and supplies a power to drive itself. A switching element of a power converter for conversion from direct current into alternate current or from alternate current into direct current includes: a terminal and a terminal which are used in building the switching element itself in the power converter; a capacitor, a high-side controllable switch and a low-side controllable switch enabling outputting the voltage of the capacitor, the voltage being output between the terminal and the terminal, and a self-supply power source for supplying a power to drive the bi-directional chopper switching element itself, using a current flowing in the capacitor.
US09219422B1	Operating a DC-DC converter including a coupled inductor formed of a magnetic core and a conductive sheet A DC-DC converter includes power-switching phases which each include a high-side and low-side switch. The high-side switch is coupled to the low-side switch at a connection node. The converter also includes a coupled inductor formed of a magnetic core and a conductive sheet. The sheet is formed of a comb structure having a tab and teeth extending from the tab. The conductive sheet is inserted into a slot defined by the magnetic core and extends through the magnetic core with a portion of the tab protruding from the back and a portion of each tooth protruding from the front of the core. Each tooth is coupled to a connection node of a phase and the tab extending through the core forms a toroidal inductor with a single loop coil for each phase, and for all the phases, a directly coupled inductor.
US09219414B2	Load current readback and average estimation A switching regulator or other apparatus or techniques can include load current monitoring to provide a digital representation of an estimated load current. Load current monitoring can be performed by a circuit including a counter circuit, a comparator circuit, and a digitally-controlled source coupled to the counter circuit and configured to adjust a bias condition of a sensing device in response to a count provided by the counter circuit in order to establish a proportional relationship between a current conducted by the sensing device and a corresponding current conducted by a power switching device. The counter circuit is configured to increment and decrement the count in response to information provided by the comparator output and the count is generally indicative of the estimated load current, such as an average load current.
US09219408B2	Transition mode PFC power converter adapted to switch from DCM to CCM under high load and control method A transition mode power factor correction converter comprising a boost inductor, a switch, a diode, and output tank capacitor, has circuit means of limitation of the off-time interval of the switch to a fraction of the off-time interval, “complementary” to the on-time interval that is normally controlled for regulating the output voltage, during part of a cycle of a rectified sinusoidal voltage waveform input to the converter, when the current flowing in the inductor reaches a maximum threshold, causing the mode of operation of the device to switch from transition mode to continuous current mode for a middle phase angle region of a rectified sinusoidal input voltage waveform, under high load conditions, defined by said maximum current threshold. Current peaks amplitude and ripple are effectively reduced for same output power.
US09219401B2	Vibrator and electronic device including the same There are provided a vibrator and an electronic device including the same, the vibrator including a housing having an internal space; a shaft included in the internal space; a vibrating part suspended in the internal space by elastic members at both ends thereof, including a magnetic field part, and having a bearing member slidably and movably installed on the shaft; and a coil generating vibrations of the vibrating part through electromagnetic interaction with the magnetic field part and provided on an outer peripheral surface of the shaft while facing the magnetic field part.
US09219398B2	Blower motor for HVAC systems A blower motor assembly having a variable speed motor that is suitable for replacing a PSC motor in a residential HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system. The blower motor assembly includes a variable speed motor and motor controller; a first power input for receiving a plurality of AC power signals from a control device for use in determining an operating parameter for the motor; and a second power input for receiving AC power from an AC power source for powering the motor controller even when no AC power signals are received by the first power input.
US09219394B2	Actuator arrangement with worm gear and rotational output having an encoder An actuator arrangement having a rotational output includes a power input, a motor, at least an intermediate gear, a solenoid and an output. The power input connects to a source of electrical power. The motor has an output shaft including a worm gear. The motor is operably connected to the power input. The motor and output shaft are rotatably connected to a housing of the actuator. The output gear generates a rotational output at an axis thereof, and is operably coupled to be driven by the at least one intermediate gear. The solenoid is operably connected to the power input, and includes a piston member. The piston member has an actuated and a non-actuated position. The piston member in the actuated position urges the worm gear and the at least one intermediate gear into meshing connection.
US09219386B2	Motor's stator unit A motor's stator unit includes a base and a stator. The base has a shaft tube. The stator has a silicon steel plate unit, an insulation sleeve unit and a coil unit. The silicon steel plate unit has an inner circumferential wall forming a through-hole. The insulation sleeve unit has an engagement hole. The silicon steel plate unit and the insulation sleeve unit are stacked together. The through-hole and the engagement hole are aligned with each other to allow the shaft tube to extend through the through-hole and the engagement hole. An enameled copper wire is wound around a predetermined part of the insulation sleeve unit to form the coil unit. The insulation sleeve unit is press fitted around an outer circumferential wall of the shaft tube via at least one buffering member, so as to prevent the silicon steel plate unit from excessively compressing the shaft tube.
US09219384B2	Modular power skid that can meet two or more different datacenter tier ratings A method, apparatus, and system in which one or more instances of a same modular power skid are assembled with main and backup uninterruptible power supplies and multiple power distribution cabinets arranged in different electrical configurations and control sequences to meet two or more different datacenter tier ratings with a built-in fault tolerance via a programmable logic controller housed in one of the cabinets on the skid as well as built-in autonomous responses to equipment failures programmed into the programmable logic controller.
US09219381B2	Charging system, control method thereof, and program A power generating unit generates electric power using natural energy, plural secondary battery packs are charged with the electric power generated by the power generating unit, and the secondary battery pack as a power source to be used for an operation control of a control unit controlling the operation of a charging system is selected on the basis of a state of charge of the corresponding secondary battery pack.
US09219377B2	Battery charging apparatus and battery charging method A battery charging apparatus is configured to charge a battery with at least one of charging current and charging power set to a predetermined setpoint, wherein the battery includes a lithium secondary cell. The battery charging apparatus calculates a lithium deposition threshold voltage value based on the setpoint, wherein lithium is assumed to be deposited in the lithium secondary cell when a terminal voltage of the lithium secondary cell is above the lithium deposition threshold voltage value. Then, the battery charging apparatus compares the terminal voltage with the calculated lithium deposition threshold voltage value, and controls the at least one of charging current and charging power depending on the comparison.
US09219370B2	Method and system of performing charging processing for mobile device, and mobile device operating the method and system A method and system of performing charging processing for a mobile device is disclosed. The method includes: obtaining a non-linear equation related to a charging time variable and a charge percentage variable, and obtaining a current charge percentage; calculating remaining charging time according to the current charge percentage and the non-linear equation; and displaying the remaining charging time. By the solution of the present invention, the remaining charging time of the mobile device can be displayed accurately.
US09219364B2	Public power supply system A public power supply system makes it possible to use power in a public location both conveniently and safely without erroneous operations. An outlet, to which power is supplied from a distribution line, is installed in advance in a predetermined public location and a communication terminal requesting the outlet to supply power and a center server are connected in advance via an Internet and when there is a request to the outlet to supply power, the center server outputs a current supply command to a current control unit via a communication network (Internet or telephone network) and the current control unit permits supply of a current to be supplied to the outlet when there is a current supply command and there is information to allow supply of a current to the outlet generated using a remote control prevention device installed near the outlet.
US09219363B2	Photovoltaic system and method employing a number of maximum power point tracking mechanisms A photovoltaic system includes a photovoltaic array and a DC/AC inverter. The photovoltaic array includes an output, a plurality of photovoltaic strings each including a plurality of photovoltaic modules electrically connected in series to form an output having a first direct current voltage, and a plurality of DC/DC converters each including a first maximum power point tracking mechanism for a corresponding one of the photovoltaic strings, an input of the output of the corresponding one of the photovoltaic strings, and an output having a second direct current voltage. Each output of the DC/DC converters is electrically connected in parallel or series to form the output of the photovoltaic array having a direct current voltage. The DC/AC inverter includes a second maximum power point tracking mechanism for the photovoltaic array, an input of the output of the photovoltaic array, and an output having an alternating current voltage.
US09219361B1	Methods, devices, and mediums associated with power management of electrical devices An apparatus may comprise a first controller configured to identify a power requirement associated with an electrical device, and a transmitter configured to communicate the power requirement to a second controller. The second controller may be associated with an electrical circuit configured to provide power to a plurality of electrical devices including the electrical device. Additionally, the apparatus may comprise a receiver configured to receive a response from the second controller. The response may identify an available power associated with the electrical circuit, and the first controller may be configured to enable operation of the electrical device based, at least in part, on a comparison of the power requirement and the available power.
US09219357B1	Kit for covering outdoor electrical devices A kit for covering electrical devices includes a housing having a rear panel which receives adapter plates. An opening in an adapter plate is defined by a forwardly tapered chamfered wall. A frustum insert having a chamfered wall opening may be received in the adapter plate opening and successive frustum inserts, each having a smaller chamfered wall opening, may be inserted within the opening of the prior insert. Each of the openings is dimensioned to receive the face of a different electrical device. A frustum plug having a rectangular toggle switch opening can be received in one of the chamfered openings. The top and side of the housing include arrays of hinge pins and a lid includes mating arrays of hinge knuckles. The lid is mounted to either array of pins. Selected pins have enlarged heads to prevent inadvertent disengagement.
US09219352B2	Power off delay circuit and method, and audio system with power off delay A power off delay circuit includes a switch connected between an external power input terminal and an internal power supply terminal, a capacitor connected to the internal power supply terminal, and a hysteresis comparator to switch the switch according to the voltages of the external power input terminal and the internal power supply terminal. During on-time of the switch, the external power input terminal is connected to the internal power supply terminal and the capacitor can be charged by the external power source. When the switch is off, the capacitor provides electric power for an internal circuit. Application of the power off delay circuit to an audio system may eliminate the turn-off pops of the audio system.
US09219349B2	Surface emitting semiconductor laser, surface emitting semiconductor laser device, optical transmission device, and information processing apparatus A surface emitting semiconductor laser includes: a substrate; a first semiconductor multilayer reflector on the substrate including laminated pairs of a high refractive index layer relatively high in refractive index and a low refractive index layer relatively low in refractive index; an active region on or above the first reflector; a second semiconductor multilayer reflector on or above the active region including laminated pairs of a high refractive index layer relatively high in refractive index and a low refractive index layer relatively low in refractive index; and a cavity extending region formed between the first reflector and the active region or between the second reflector and the active region, having an optical film thickness greater than an oscillation wavelength, extending a cavity length, including a conductive semiconductor material, and including an optical loss causing layer at at least one node of a standing wave of a selected longitudinal mode.
US09219347B2	Optical semiconductor device An optical semiconductor device includes a ring laser including a ring resonator in which an optical gain element having an optical gain by current injection is provided, a waveguide optically coupled to the ring laser, and a reflector provided at an end portion of the waveguide and configured to reverse the advancing direction of light outputted from the ring laser and propagating in the waveguide.
US09219344B2	Generating ultrashort laser pulses based on two-stage pulse processing Techniques and devices for producing short laser pulses, including generating ultrashort laser pulses by separating a nonlinear processing of laser pulses via nonlinear self-phase modulation (SPM) in a nonlinear optical medium from a subsequent linear processing of the laser pulses to achieve ultrashort laser pulses.
US09219332B2	Connecting terminal having toggle lever actuation A connecting terminal includes a receptacle body and a clamping element configured to clamp a conductor inserted into the connecting terminal against a current rail arranged in the connecting terminal in order to form a contact in a contacting state. The connecting terminal also includes a first lever arm rotatably mounted on the clamping element, a compression spring, and a second lever arm rotatably mounted on the compression spring. The second lever arm is configured to engage the first lever arm in the contacting state such that the first and second lever arms are guided together to tension the compression spring and transfer a spring force from the compression spring to the clamping element via the first and second lever arms.
US09219329B2	Harsh duty receptacle connector A sealed electrical receptacle connector, either male or female, includes, in combination, a bushing and a shell threadably coupled together in an end-to-end manner. The bushing is adapted to receive a cable having plural conductors arranged in a spaced manner and separated from another along their respective lengths by an elongated nonconductive insert having plural radially extending spaced members, each disposed between a pair of adjacent conductors. A split washer is disposed between and in abutting contact with adjacent inner end portions of the receptacle and the shell and includes a slot extending therethrough. The split washer facilitates receptacle connector assembly and its slot is adapted to receive the plural conductors and an elongated axial strength member, such as a multi-strand steel cable, disposed within and along the length of the nonconductive insert to provide the receptacle connector and cable combination with high strength.
US09219328B2	Terminal block with protective cover Terminal fittings (11, 12) are connected to a side surface side of a housing (24) of a terminal block (20). A protection cover (50) covers the side surface side of the housing (24) and includes an upper surface cover (51) for covering an upper surface (24T) of the housing (24). The upper surface cover (51) includes an upper surface proximate portion (51P) to be arranged proximate to the upper surface (24T) of the housing (24). A step is formed between an outer edge (51E) of the upper surface cover (51) and the housing (24), the upper surface proximate portion (51P) is rearward than the outer edge (51E) of the upper surface cover (51) and a clearance larger than the one between the upper surface proximate portion (51P) and the upper surface (24T) of the housing (24) is formed below the outer edge (51E) of the upper surface cover (51).
US09219322B1	Under mounted leaf spring connector An apparatus includes a support structure and a leaf spring connector coupled to the support structure. The leaf spring connector has a working height measured from a first surface of the two-sided support structure to a mating surface of the leaf spring connector when the leaf spring connector is in a compressed position. The leaf spring connector is mounted below the first surface of the support structure in order to reduce the working height of the leaf spring connector by at least a portion of a thickness of the support structure.
US09219310B2	Communication terminal apparatus and antenna device An antenna device which includes a coil conductor and a booster conductor. The coil conductor is defined by wound loop-shaped conductors and includes a first opening at a winding center and two ends connected to a feeding circuit. The booster conductor includes a coupling conductor portion and a frame-shaped radiation conductor portion. The coupling conductor portion includes a second opening overlapped at least partially by the first opening, is split in a portion thereof by a slit, and is electromagnetically coupled to the coil conductor. The frame-shaped radiation conductor portion includes a third opening and is connected to the coupling conductor portion.
US09219307B2	Wireless communication device and method for displaying estimated direction and position of a target for wireless communication A wireless communication device transmits and receives a signal by a wireless communication using a millimeter wave frequency band. The wireless communication device includes an antenna section having directivities in a plurality of different directions, an antenna control section adapted to form a directivity in a prescribed direction among the plurality of directivities of the antenna section, a direction and position estimation section adapted to estimate direction and position information of a wireless communication device to be communicated with, which is a target for the wireless communication, in accordance with a receiving signal received by the antenna section having the directivity formed, and a display section adapted to display the estimated direction and position information of the wireless communication device to be communicated with.
US09219302B2	Compact antenna system The various embodiments include multiple antenna system designs for use in smaller sized mobile computing devices where spatial isolation of antennas may not be feasible. The various embodiments include at least an embodiment first antenna having a first arm and a second arm. The first arm and the second arm are positioned proximate to one another in an intersecting perpendicular configuration. The at least first arm and second arm may be formed a plane that is laterally offset from a plane containing a printed circuit board operating as a ground plane. The at least first arm and second arm may also be positioned in a corner of the printed circuit board. Additional embodiments include a second monopole antenna formed in the same plane as the printed circuit board and having a feed contact positioned proximate to a feed and ground contact of the first antenna.
US09219291B2	Cable-type secondary battery The present invention provides a cable-type secondary battery comprising an inner electrode which includes at least one first polarity electrode having a first polarity current collector with a long and thin shape, whose cross-section perpendicular to its longitudinal direction is a circular, oval or polygonal form; a first polarity electrode active material layer formed on an outer surface of the first polarity current collector; and an electrolyte layer filled to surround the first polarity electrode active material layer, and at least one wire-type second polarity electrode which wholly surrounds the inner electrode and is winding around the exterior thereof.Thus, the inventive cable-type secondary battery provided with an outer winding electrode has excellent flexibility to prevent the release of the active material.
US09219285B2	Method for the early detection of liquid water formation in a fuel cell A method for the early detection of liquid water formation in a fuel cell (1), in which a fuel gas and an oxidant gas flow, delivered by a gas supply circuit (50) that has a control module (110). According to the invention, the method includes: monitoring the temperature change in one of said gases over time, detecting a variation in said temperature by measuring a temperature differential by unit of time and comparing it to a threshold value, and generating a signal representative of said detection via said control module (110).
US09219284B2	Fuel cell system and operation method thereof which ensures the system will perform normal operation after operating in a special operation mode A controller in a fuel cell system operates a fuel cell in a normal mode or in a special mode. In the normal mode, the fuel cell is operated to satisfy at least one of a first operation condition and a second operation condition, under the first operation condition an operation time of the fuel cell per unit period is equal to or shorter than a unit allowable operation time, under the second operation condition the number of times of operation of the fuel cell per unit time is equal to or less than a unit allowable number of times of operation, and in the special mode, the fuel cell is operated without being limited by at least one of the first operation condition and the second operation condition.
US09219277B2	Low Co hydrogen storage alloy A hydrogen storage alloy is provided which has an extremely low Co content, and can maintain the drain (power) performance (especially pulse discharge characteristics), activity (degree of activity), and life performance at high levels. The hydrogen storage alloy is manufactured by weighing and mixing every material for the hydrogen storage alloy so as to provide an alloy composition represented by the general formula MmNiaMnbAlcCod or MmNiaMnbAlcCodFee, and controlling the manufacturing method and manufacturing conditions so that both the a-axis length and the c-axis length of the crystal lattice are in a predetermined range. Although it is sufficient if the a-axis length of the crystal lattice is 499 pm or more and the c-axis length is 405 pm or more, by further specifying the a-axis length and c-axis length depending on the values of ABx, a hydrogen storage alloy having high durability can be provided.
US09219275B2	Active material for nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery, method for manufacturing active material, electrode for nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery, and nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery An active material for a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery includes a lithium transition metal composite oxide which has an α-NaFeO2-type crystal structure, is represented by the compositional formula Li1+αMe1−αO2 (Me is a transition metal element containing Mn, Ni and Co; and 0<α<1) and satisfies the requirement of 1.250 ≦(1+α)/(1−α)≦1.425. The half-width of a diffraction peak at 2θ=18.6°±1° is 0.20° to 0.27° and/or the half-width of a diffraction peak at 2θ=44.1°±1° is 0.26° to 0.39° in X-ray diffraction measurement using a CuKα radiation. The lithium transition metal composite oxide is observed as a single phase indexed a hexagonal crystal (space group R3-m) on the X-ray diffraction patterns when electrochemically oxidized to a potential of 5.0 V (vs. Li/Li+).
US09219273B2	Active material for lithium secondary battery, electrode for lithium secondary battery, and lithium secondary battery [Object]; There is provided an active material for a lithium secondary battery, which has a high initial efficiency and a high discharge capacity, and particularly has a high discharge capacity at a low temperature (excellent low-temperature characteristic), and a lithium secondary battery using the active material. [Solution]; An active material for a lithium secondary battery, which contains a solid solution of a lithium transition metal composite oxide having an α-NaFeO2 crystal structure, wherein the composition ratio of metal elements contained in the solid solution satisfies, Li1+x−yNayCoaNibMncO2+d (0
US09219272B2	Secondary particle and lithium battery including secondary particle A secondary particle and a lithium battery including the same are provided wherein the secondary particle includes a plurality of primary particles and each primary particle contains n polycyclic nano-sheets disposed upon one another. The polycyclic nano-sheets include hexagonal rings of six carbon atoms linked to each other, wherein a first carbon and a second carbon have a distance therebetween of L1. L2 is a distance between a third carbon and a fourth carbon, and the arrangement of the polycyclic nano-sheets is such that L1≧L2. The secondary particle is used as a negative active material in the lithium battery, and the secondary particle contains pores, thereby allowing for effective intercalating and deintercalating of the lithium ions into the secondary particle to impart improved capacity and cycle lifespan.
US09219266B2	Secondary battery pack of novel structure Disclosed is a secondary battery pack including an anode terminal and a cathode terminal of a battery cell, and being made of a plate-shaped conductive member, the anode terminal and the cathode terminal being electrically connected to a protection circuit module (PCM), a battery cell having the anode terminal and the cathode terminal formed at one end thereof, the battery cell being provided at the end thereof with a thermally welded surplus portion, and a PCM including a printed circuit board (PCB) having a protection circuit formed thereon, the PCB being provided at one side thereof with a cathode terminal connection portion and an anode terminal connection portion and at the other side thereof with an external input and output terminal connection portion, an external input and output terminal electrically connected to the protection circuit of the PCB via the external input and output terminal connection portion of the PCB.
US09219264B2	Separator for rechargeable lithium battery and rechargeable lithium battery including the same A separator for a rechargeable lithium battery including a tungsten-doped vanadium oxide (VO2) phase transition material and the rechargeable lithium battery including the separator. Here, an explosion possibility of the rechargeable lithium battery including the separator may be prevented and delayed when the battery is excessively heated.
US09219245B2	Organic light emitting diode display and manufacturing method thereof An organic light emitting diode (OLED) display comprises: a thin film transistor substrate including an organic light emitting element; and a sealing substrate attached to the thin film transistor substrate, thereby sealing the thin film transistor substrate. The sealing substrate has a folded portion enclosing a side surface and a bottom surface of an edge portion of the thin film transistor substrate.
US09219240B1	Protective layer(s) in organic image sensors The present disclosure relates to an organic image sensor and an associated method. By inserting an inorganic protective layer between an electrode and an organic photo active region of the image sensor, the organic photo active region is protected from moisture, oxygen or following process damage. The inorganic protective layers also help to suppress the leakage in the dark. In some embodiments, the organic image sensor comprises a first electrode, an organic photoelectrical conversion structure disposed over the first electrode and a second electrode disposed over the organic photoelectrical conversion structure. The organic image sensor further comprises a first protective structure covering a top surface and a sidewall of the organic photoelectrical conversion structure.
US09219224B2	Method for manufacturing piezoelectric substrate The method for manufacturing a piezoelectric substrate includes a process of forming a material having composition M1−y/2+x(N1−yNby)O3+x (where 0≦y≦0.045, M represents Pb1−pSrp with 0≦p≦0.03, and N represents Ti1−qZrq with 0.45≦q≦0.60) into a sheet form, and a process of burning the material formed into the sheet form while mounted on a setter to obtain a piezoelectric substrate. A thickness of the piezoelectric substrate is 30 μm or less, and a surface area/thickness ratio of the piezoelectric substrate is 1×107 μm or more. The variable x has a value within or on a boundary of a region R shown by hatching in FIG. 1.
US09219220B2	Ultrasonic transducer, ultrasonic probe, and ultrasound image diagnosis apparatus An ultrasonic transducer, an ultrasonic probe, and an image diagnosis apparatus perform an ultrasonic procedure. The ultrasonic transducer includes: a piezoelectric layer; an acoustic matching layer disposed on an upper surface of the piezoelectric layer; and a plurality of back efficiency layers that are disposed on a lower surface of the piezoelectric layer and have different acoustic impedances. The sensitivity, bandwidth, and pulse length of the ultrasonic transducer may be controlled by appropriately changing acoustic impedances and thicknesses of the back efficiency layers.
US09219219B2	Oscillation structure of micro actuator An oscillation structure of micro actuator is described. In the oscillation structure, a pair of torsion bars is disposed along a first axis perpendicular to a second axis. The first frame is connected to the pair of torsion bars wherein the torsion bars are disposed on the outer periphery of a first frame along the first axis and a second frame is disposed inside the first frame. Each of the first connection members connects the first frame to the second frame therebetween, and each of the second connection members connects the second frame to the oscillation body therebetween such that the first frame, the second frame and the oscillation body are allowed to rotate about the first axis by the torsion bars as a structure assemblies at an identical angle. The oscillation structure effectively reduces the dynamic deformation of micro actuator.
US09219211B1	Method for manufacturing light emitting unit A method for manufacturing a light emitting unit is provided. A semiconductor structure including a plurality of light emitting dice separated from each other is provided. A molding compound is formed to encapsulate the light emitting dice. Each of the light emitting dice includes a light emitting element, a first electrode and a second electrode. A patterned metal layer is formed on the first electrodes and the second electrodes of the light emitting dice. A substrate is provided, where the molding compound is located between the substrate and the light emitting elements of the light emitting dice. A cutting process is performed to cut the semiconductor structure, the patterned metal layer, the molding compound and the substrate so as to define a light emitting unit with a series connection loop, a parallel connection loop or a series-parallel connection loop.
US09219210B2	Method for producing optoelectronic semiconductor components, leadframe assemblage and optoelectronic semiconductor component A method serves to produce optoelectronic semiconductor components. A leadframe assemblage includes a number of leadframes. The leadframes each comprise at least two leadframe parts and are connected together at least in part via connecting webs. Electrical connections are attached between neighboring leadframes. A potting body connects the leadframes and the leadframe parts mechanically together. At least some of the connecting webs are removed and/or interrupted, the resulting structure is singulated into the semiconductor components.
US09219194B2	Flip-chip light emitting diode and fabrication method A flip-chip LED includes a substrate, having a surface with a p-region metal portion and an n-region metal portion separated from each other; a p-type epitaxial layer, an active layer and an n-type epitaxial layer successively laminated on the substrate; a reflection layer between the substrate and the p-type epitaxial layer; a current blocking layer between the reflection layer and the p-type epitaxial layer and positioned to prevent the current from concentrating on the edge of the LED; an insulating protection layer cladding the LED side wall and exposing part of the side wall of the n-type epitaxial layer; a P electrode connecting the metal reflection layer and the p-region metal portion of the substrate; and an N electrode connecting the side wall of the n-type epitaxial layer and n-region metal portion of the substrate.
US09219191B2	Tuneable quantum light source A photon source comprising a semiconductor heterostructure, said semiconductor heterostructure comprising a quantum well, a barrier region adjacent said quantum well and a quantum dot provided in said quantum well, the photon source further comprising electrical contacts and a power supply coupled to first and second electrical contacts configured to apply a tuneable electric field across said quantum dot to control the emission energy of said quantum dot, said electric field being tuneable across an operating range an wherein the tunneling time of carriers from said quantum dot to said first electrical contact and the tunneling time of carriers from said quantum dot to said second electrical contact are greater than the radiative decay time of an exciton in said quantum dot over said operating range for controlling the emission energy, said photon source being configured such that emission from a single quantum dot exits said photon source.
US09219182B2	Optoelectronic devices incorporating fluoropolymer compositions for protection The fluoropolymer compositions of the present invention generally incorporate ingredients comprising one or more fluoropolymers, an ultraviolet light protection component (hereinafter UV protection component), and optionally one or more additional ingredients if desired. The UV protection component includes a combination of at least one hindered tertiary amine (HTA) compound having a certain structure and a weight average molecular weight of at least 1000. This tertiary amine is used in combination with at least one organic, UV light absorbing compound (UVLA compound) having a weight average molecular weight greater than 500. When the HTA compound and the UVLA compound are selected according to principles of the present invention, the UV protection component provides fluoropolymer compositions with significantly improved weatherability characteristics for protecting underlying materials, features, structures, components, and/or the like. In particular, fluoropolymer compositions incorporating the UV protection component of the present invention have unexpectedly improved ability to resist blackening, coloration, or other de gradation that may be caused by UV exposure. As a consequence, devices protected by these compositions would be expected to have dramatically improved service life. The compositions have a wide range of uses but are particularly useful for forming protective layers in optoelectronic devices.
US09219181B2	Apparatus for generating electricity using an optical fiber cable light source and related methods An apparatus for generating electricity using an optical fiber cable light source and for directing the electricity to an electrical circuit configured to be coupled with an electric utility's electric grid. The apparatus includes an enclosure having an input configured to be coupled with the light source for directing light into the enclosure. The apparatus further includes a photovoltaic module contained within the enclosure and configured to generate electricity from the light. The apparatus further includes an electrical output cable coupled with the photovoltaic module and configured to be coupled with the electrical circuit.
US09219180B2	Optoelectronic arrangement provided with a semiconductor nanowire with a longitudinal section that is surrounded by a part of a mirror The optoelectronic arrangement comprises a semiconductor nanowire intended to participate in the processing, notably in a reception and/or an emission, of a light concerned and a mirror reflecting the light concerned. The semiconductor nanowire comprises a first section and a second section, and the mirror surrounds, at least longitudinally, the first section of the semiconductor nanowire, said second section extending out of the mirror.
US09219170B2	Trench schottky rectifier device and method for manufacturing the same A trench Schottky rectifier device includes a substrate having a first conductivity type, a plurality of trenches formed in the substrate, and an insulating layer formed on sidewalls of the trenches. The trenches are filled with conductive structure. There is an electrode overlying the conductive structure and the substrate, and thus a Schottky contact forms between the electrode and the substrate. A plurality of embedded doped regions having a second conductivity type are formed in the substrate and located under the trenches. Each doped region and the substrate form a PN junction to pinch off current flowing toward the Schottky contact so as to suppress current leakage.
US09219163B2	Display device and manufacturing method thereof The display device includes a gate electrode, a gate insulating film provided over the gate electrode, a semiconductor film provided over the gate insulating film to overlap with the gate electrode, an island-shaped first insulating film provided over the semiconductor film to overlap with the gate electrode, a first conductive film provided over the semiconductor film, a pair of second conductive films which is provided over the semiconductor film and between which the first insulating film is sandwiched, and a second insulating film provided over the first insulating film, the first conductive film, and the pair of second conductive films. In the second insulating film and the semiconductor film, an opening portion which is positioned between the first conductive film and the one or the other of the pair of second conductive films is provided.
US09219154B1	Method of fabricating electrostatically enhanced fins and stacked nanowire field effect transistors Non-planar semiconductor devices including semiconductor fins or stacked semiconductor nanowires that are electrostatically enhanced are provided. The electrostatic enhancement is achieved in the present application by epitaxially growing a semiconductor material protruding portion on exposed sidewalls of alternating semiconductor material portions of at least one hard mask capped semiconductor-containing fin structure that is formed on a substrate.
US09219150B1	Method for fabricating semiconductor structures including fin structures with different strain states, and related semiconductor structures Methods of forming a semiconductor structure include providing a multi-layer substrate having an epitaxial base layer overlying a strained primary semiconductor layer above a buried oxide layer. Elements within the epitaxial base layer are used to alter a strain state in the primary semiconductor layer within a first region of the multi-layer substrate without altering a strain state in the primary semiconductor layer within a second region of the multi-layer substrate. A first plurality of transistor channel structures are formed that each comprise a portion of the primary semiconductor layer within the first region of the multi-layer substrate, and a second plurality of transistor channel structures are formed that each comprise a portion of the primary semiconductor layer within the second region of the multi-layer substrate. Semiconductor structures fabricated by such methods may include transistor channel structures having differing strain states.
US09219148B2	Semiconductor device and fabricating method thereof A semiconductor device and a fabricating method thereof are provided, in which the semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate with a trench formed therein, a bottom electrode placed at a lower inner portion of the trench, the bottom electrode having an uneven upper surface, an insulating layer formed on an upper portion of the bottom electrode and on a sidewall of the trench, and a top electrode placed at an upper portion of the bottom electrode inside the trench, the top electrode having a top electrode which is uneven, in which the top electrode is so configured that the top electrode is inclined toward a center portion.
US09219140B2	Metal oxide semiconductor transistor and manufacturing method thereof The present invention provides a MOS transistor, including a substrate, a gate oxide, a gate, a source/drain region and a silicide layer. The gate oxide is disposed on the substrate and the gate is disposed on the gate oxide. The source/drain region is disposed in the substrate at two sides of the gate. The silicide layer is disposed on the source/drain region, wherein the silicide layer includes a curved bottom surface and a curved top surface, both the curved top surface and the curved bottom surface bend toward the substrate and the curved top surface is sunken from two sides thereof, two ends of the silicide layer point tips raised up over the source/drain region and the silicide layer in the middle is thicker than the silicide layer in the peripheral, thereby forming a crescent structure. The present invention further provides a manufacturing method of the MOS transistor.
US09219138B2	Semiconductor device having localized charge balance structure and method In one embodiment, a semiconductor device has a superjunction structure formed adjoining a low-doped n-type region. A low-doped p-type region is formed adjoining the superjunction structure above the low-doped n-type region and is configured to improve Eas characteristics. A body region is formed adjacent the low-doped p-type region and a control electrode structure is formed adjacent the body region for controlling a channel region within the body region.
US09219132B2	Transistors, semiconductor constructions, and methods of forming semiconductor constructions Some embodiments include a transistor having a first electrically conductive gate portion along a first segment of a channel region and a second electrically conductive gate portion along a second segment of the channel region. The second electrically conductive gate portion is a different composition than the first electrically conductive gate portion. Some embodiments include a method of forming a semiconductor construction. First semiconductor material and metal-containing material are formed over a NAND string. An opening is formed through the metal-containing material and the first semiconductor material, and is lined with gate dielectric. Second semiconductor material is provided within the opening to form a channel region of a transistor. The transistor is a select device electrically coupled to the NAND string.
US09219124B2	Metal gate semiconductor device A semiconductor device including a first gate structure associated with a first type of transistor and a second gate structure of a second type of transistor. The first gate structure includes a capping layer, a first metal layer having a first type of work function on the capping layer, and a second metal layer having a second type of work function, overlying the first metal layer and a fill layer on the second metal layer. The second type of work function is different than the first type of work function. The second gate structure includes the gate dielectric and the second metal layer formed on the gate dielectric, and the fill layer on the second metal layer.
US09219122B2	Silicon carbide semiconductor devices Methods, systems, and devices are disclosed for thermal processing of silicon carbide semiconductor devices. In one aspect, a method for fabricating a silicon carbide semiconductor device includes forming a thin epitaxial layer of a nitrogen and phosphorous co-doped SiC material on a SiC epitaxial layer formed on a SiC substrate, and thermally growing an oxide layer to form an insulator material on the nitrogen and phosphorous co-doped SiC epitaxial layer, in which the thermally growing the oxide layer results in at least partially consuming the nitrogen and phosphorous co-doped SiC epitaxial layer in the oxide layer to produce an interface including nitrogen and phosphorous between the SiC epitaxial layer and the oxide layer.
US09219120B2	Semiconductor film with adhesion layer and method for forming the same Presented herein is a method for forming a semiconductor film using an adhesion layer, comprising providing an oxide layer disposed over a substrate, forming at least one adhesion layer over the oxide layer, and forming a film layer over the at least one adhesion layer in a same process step as the forming the at least one adhesion layer. Forming the at least one adhesion layer further comprises at least forming a first adhesion layer over the oxide layer and forming a second adhesion layer over the first adhesion layer. Forming the first adhesion layer comprises providing the terminating gas at a substantially constant first flow rate, and wherein the forming the second adhesion layer comprises ramping a flow rate of the terminating gas to a zero flow rate from the first flow rate.
US09219113B2	Semiconductor device having breakdown voltage enhancement structure A semiconductor device includes a substrate of a first conductivity type, a first impurity region of a second conductivity type formed on a top surface side of the substrate, a second impurity region of the second conductivity type formed on the top surface side of the substrate and in contact with the first impurity region, the second impurity region laterally surrounding the first impurity region and having a greater depth than the first impurity region, as viewed in cross-section, and a breakdown voltage enhancing structure of the second conductivity type formed to laterally surround the second impurity region. A boundary between the first and second impurity regions has a maximum impurity concentration equal to or less than that of the second impurity region, and a current is applied between a top surface and a bottom surface of the substrate.
US09219112B2	Lattice-mismatched semiconductor structures with reduced dislocation defect densities and related methods for device fabrication Fabrication of monolithic lattice-mismatched semiconductor heterostructures with limited area regions having upper portions substantially exhausted of threading dislocations, as well as fabrication of semiconductor devices based on such lattice-mismatched heterostructures.
US09219110B2	MIM capacitor structure The present disclosure relates to a MIM capacitor, and an associated method of formation. In some embodiments, the MIM capacitor has a first electrode having a bottom capacitor metal layer disposed over a semiconductor substrate. A second electrode having a middle capacitor metal layer overlies the bottom capacitor metal layer. A third electrode having a top capacitor metal layer has a stepped structure is laterally and vertically separated from the middle capacitor metal layer by a capacitor dielectric layer continuously extends from a first position between the bottom capacitor metal layer and the middle capacitor metal layer, to a second position between the middle capacitor metal layer and the top capacitor metal layer. The capacitor dielectric layer allows for the MIM capacitor to have a structure that improves fabrication of the capacitor.
US09219096B2	Solid-state imaging device According to one embodiment, a photoelectric converting layer, a charge accumulating layer, and a light collecting unit are provided. The photoelectric converting layer is formed at a back surface side of a semiconductor substrate. The charge accumulating layer is formed at a front surface side of the semiconductor substrate, and accumulates charges photoelectric-converted by the photoelectric converting layer. The light collecting unit makes light incident to the back surface side of the semiconductor substrate to be collected on the photoelectric converting layer not to be incident to the charge accumulating layer.
US09219090B2	Solid-state image capturing device and electronic device A solid-state image capturing device including: a semiconductor substrate having a photosensitive surface including a matrix of pixels as respective photoelectric converters; and a photochromic film disposed in a light path through which light is applied to each of the photoelectric converters, the photochromic film being made of a photochromic material having a light transmittance variable depending on the intensity of applied light in a predetermined wavelength range; wherein the light transmittance has a half-value period shorter than one frame during which pixel signals generated by the pixels are read from all the pixels.
US09219088B2	Array substrate, manufacturing method thereof, and display device Embodiments of the present invention provide an array substrate, a manufacturing method thereof, and a display device. The array substrate comprises: a pixel region, a data-line pad region and a gate-line pad region; the pixel region comprises: a pixel electrode, a gate electrode of a TFT, source and drain electrodes of the TFT, a connection electrode, and a common electrode; the data-line pad region comprises: an insulating layer, a semiconductor layer, a data line, and a data-line connection pad; the data line and the source and drain electrodes are of a same layer and a same material; and the gate-line pad region comprises: a gate line, an insulating layer, and a gate-line connection pad; the gate line and the gate electrode are of a same layer and a same material; and the gate-line connection pad and the source and drain electrodes are of a same layer and a same material. The array substrate can reduce the number of masks and exposure times, thereby reducing manufacturing costs and improving production efficiency.
US09219081B2	Display unit, method of manufacturing the same, and electronic apparatus A display unit includes: a display layer including a pixel electrode; a semiconductor layer provided in a layer below the display layer, the semiconductor layer including a wiring layer that includes a material removable by an etchant by which the pixel electrode is also removable; and a terminal section configured to electrically connect the semiconductor layer to an external circuit, the terminal section including a first electrically-conductive layer made of a material same as a material of the wiring layer.
US09219076B2	Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device and method for manufacturing the same On a silicon substrate is formed a stacked body by alternately stacking a plurality of silicon oxide films and silicon films, a trench is formed in the stacked body, an alumina film, a silicon nitride film and a silicon oxide film are formed in this order on an inner surface of the trench, and a channel silicon crystalline film is formed on the silicon oxide film. Next, a silicon oxide layer is formed at an interface between the silicon oxide film and the channel silicon crystalline film by performing thermal treatment in an oxygen gas atmosphere.
US09219074B2	Three-dimensional semiconductor device A 3D semiconductor device is provided, comprising plural memory layers vertically stacked on a substrate and parallel to each other; plural selection lines disposed on the memory layers and parallel to each other; plural bit lines disposed on the selection lines, and the bit lines arranged in parallel to each other and in perpendicular to the selection lines; plural strings formed vertically to the memory layers and the selection lines, and the strings electrically connected to the corresponding selection lines; a plurality of cells respectively defined by the strings, the selection lines and the bit lines correspondingly, and the cells arranged in a plurality of rows and columns, wherein a column direction is parallel to the bit lines while a row direction is parallel to the selection lines. The adjacent cells in the same column are electrically connected to the different bit lines.
US09219071B1	Semiconductor device A semiconductor device includes a substrate, a plurality of element regions that are partitioned in a line-and-space shape and extend in a first direction in the substrate, a plurality of selection gates that are formed on the substrate to extend in a second direction intersecting the first direction. In addition, the semiconductor device includes a contact region that includes a plurality of contact plugs which are provided between two selection gates adjacent to each other and are connected to the respective element regions in the substrate. Further, the contact plug includes an upper portion and a lower portion. The upper portion has a first width and is formed of a first conductive film and a second conductive film. The lower portion has a second width smaller than the first width and is formed of the first conductive film.
US09219065B2	Method of fabricating CMOS inverter and integrated circuits utilizing strained silicon surface channel MOSFETS A method of fabricating a circuit comprising an nMOSFET includes providing a substrate, depositing a strain-inducing material comprising germanium over the substrate, and integrating a pMOSFET on the substrate, the pMOSFET comprising a strained channel having a surface roughness of less than 1 nm. The strain-inducing material is proximate to and in contact with the pMOSFET channel, the strain in the pMOSFET channel is induced by the strain-inducing material, and a source and a drain of the pMOSFET are at least partially formed in the strain-inducing material.
US09219061B2	Semiconductor device and manufacturing method of semiconductor device A semiconductor device capable of reducing an inter-source electrode resistance RSS(on) and reducing a chip size is provided. A semiconductor device according to the present invention includes a chip partitioned into three areas including a first area, a second area, and a third area, and a common drain electrode provided on a back surface of the chip, in which the second area is formed between the first and third areas, a first MOSFET is formed in the first area and the third area, and a second MOSFET is formed in the second area.
US09219056B2	Passive devices for FinFET integrated circuit technologies Device structures, design structures, and fabrication methods for passive devices that may be used as electrostatic discharge protection devices in fin-type field-effect transistor integrated circuit technologies. A portion of a device layer of a semiconductor-on-insulator substrate is patterned to form a device region. A well of a first conductivity type is formed in the epitaxial layer and the device region. A doped region of a second conductivity type is formed in the well and defines a junction with a portion of the well. The epitaxial layer includes an exterior sidewall spaced from an exterior sidewall of the device region. Another portion of the device layer may be patterned to form fins for fin-type field-effect transistors.
US09219055B2	Structure and method for dynamic biasing to improve ESD robustness of current mode logic (CML) drivers An integrated circuit having a CML driver including a driver biasing network. A first output pad and a second output pad are connected to a voltage pad. A first driver is connected to the first output pad and the voltage pad. A second driver is connected to the second output pad and the voltage pad. A first ESD circuit is connected to the voltage pad, the first output pad, and the first driver. A second ESD circuit is connected to the voltage pad, the second output pad, and the second driver. The first ESD circuit biases the first driver toward a voltage of the voltage pad when an ESD event occurs at the first output pad, and the second ESD circuit biases the second driver toward the voltage of the voltage pad when an ESD event occurs at the second output pad.
US09219050B2	Microelectronic unit and package with positional reversal A semiconductor unit includes a chip having left and right columns of contacts at its front surface. Interconnect pads are provided overlying the front surface of the chip and connected to at least some of the contacts as, for example, by traces or by arrangements including wire bonds. The interconnect pads alone, or the interconnect pads and some of the contacts, provide an array of external connection elements. This array includes some reversal pairs of external connection elements in which the external connection element connected to or incorporating the right contact is disposed to the left of the external connection element incorporating or connected to the left contact. Such a unit may be used in a multi-chip package such as a two-chip package having a first chip facing upwardly and a second chip facing downwardly towards a package substrate, disposed below the chips. The reversed connections simplify routing, particularly where corresponding contacts of the two chips are to be connected to common terminals on the package substrate.
US09219047B2	Stacked device and method of manufacturing the same A stacked device encompasses a lower chip including a plurality of wiring lands and a plurality of wall-block patterns, each of the wall-block patterns is allocated at a position except locations where the wiring lands are disposed, each of the wall-block patterns has a inclined plane, a height of each of the wall-block patterns measured from a reference plane of the array of the wiring lands is higher than the wiring lands, and an upper chip including a plurality of wiring bumps assigned correspondingly to the positions of the wiring lands, respectively, and a plurality of cone bumps assigned correspondingly to the positions of the wall-block patterns, respectively.
US09219046B2	Strength of micro-bump joints A device includes a work piece including a metal bump; and a dielectric layer having a portion directly over the metal bump. The metal bump and a surface of the portion of the dielectric layer form an interface. A metal finish is formed over and contacting the metal bump. The metal finish extends from over the dielectric layer to below the interface.
US09219038B2	Shielding for through-silicon-via 3D integrated circuit devices include first and second semiconductor bodies. The first semiconductor body has an active area, a through-silicon-via outside the active area, and two or more disjoint guard rings. The first guard ring encircles the via. The second guard ring encircles the active area, but not the via. The guard rings can reduce the noise coupling coefficient between the via and the active area to −60 dB or less at 3 GHz and 20 μm spacing.
US09219019B2	Packaged semiconductor devices having solderable lead surfaces exposed by grooves in package compound A semiconductor device has a leadframe with a pad and a row of elongated leads with a solderable surfaces in a common plane; a package encapsulating the leadframe with an assembled semiconductor device, leaving the common-plane lead surfaces un-encapsulated and coplanar with the package material between adjacent leads, the row of aligned leads positioned along a package edge; and grooves in the package material cut in the common-plane surface, the grooves extend along a portion of each lead length, have a width and a depth about twice the width, and expose solderable lead surfaces.
US09219016B2	Structure design for 3DIC testing A work piece includes a first copper-containing pillar having a top surface and sidewalls, and a first protection layer on the sidewalls, and not over the top surface, of the first copper-containing pillar. A test pad includes a second copper-containing pillar having a top surface and sidewalls. The test pad is electrically coupled to the first copper-containing pillar. A second protection layer is disposed on the sidewalls, and not over the top surface, of the second copper-containing pillar. The first and the second protection layers include a compound of copper and a polymer, and are dielectric layers.
US09219007B2	Double self aligned via patterning A method including forming a penta-layer hardmask above a substrate, the penta-layer hardmask comprising a first hardmask layer above a second hardmask layer; forming a trench pattern in the first hardmask layer; transferring a first via bar pattern from a first photo-resist layer above the penta-layer hardmask into the second hardmask layer resulting in a first via pattern, the first via pattern in the second hardmask layer overlapping the trench pattern and being self-aligned on two sides by the trench pattern in the first hardmask layer; and transferring the first via pattern from the second hardmask layer into the substrate resulting in a self-aligned via opening, the self-aligned via opening being self-aligned on all sides by the first via pattern in the second hardmask layer.
US09219006B2	Flowable carbon film by FCVD hardware using remote plasma PECVD Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to methods for forming a flowable carbon-containing film on a substrate. In one embodiment, an oxygen-containing gas is flowed into a remote plasma region to produce oxygen-containing plasma effluents, and a carbon-containing gas is combined with the oxygen-containing plasma effluents in a substrate processing region which contains the substrate. A carbon-containing film is formed in trenches which are formed on the substrate and a low K dielectric material is deposited on the carbon-containing film in the trenches. The carbon-containing film is decomposed by an UV treatment and airgaps are formed in the trenches under the low K dielectric material.
US09219004B2	Method of fabricating polymer film in the cavity of a wafer A method for obtaining a film made out of a first material on a polymer support, said method comprising bonding a first wafer to a second wafer, thereby defining a bonding interface between said first wafer and said second wafer, at least one of said first and second wafers comprising a layer of said first material situated in proximity to said bonding interface, in said first wafer, hollowing out a cavity, said cavity comprising a bottom parallel to said bonding interface that defines, in said first wafer, a bottom zone at a controlled distance relative to said second wafer, forming, in said cavity, a polymer layer on a thickness controlled from a bottom thereof to obtain a combined wafer portion, said combined wafer portion comprising a bottom zone formed by said polymer layer on said bottom and a peripheral zone, and eliminating said second wafer on a major portion of a thickness thereof, thereby releasing, beneath said polymer layer, a film comprising said layer of said first material.
US09218995B2	Transfer apparatus for transferring electronic devices and changing their orientations A transfer apparatus for transferring electronic devices from a wafer to a test handler. The transfer apparatus comprises: i) a rotary device rotatable about an axis; and ii) a plurality of holders configured to hold the electronic devices for transfer from the wafer to the test handler. The plurality of holders are coupled to, and extendable from, the rotary device to pick the electronic devices from the wafer. Specifically, the plurality of holders are arranged circumferentially around, and inclined with respect to, the axis of the rotary device, so as to change an orientation of the electronic devices on the wafer to a desired orientation of the electronic devices on the test handler.
US09218990B2	Method and apparatus for holding a plurality of substrates for processing A substrate carrier includes a carrier plate, a cover plate and a plurality of substrate support slots. The carrier plate has recesses for receiving substrates. A sidewall of each recess includes protrusions for engaging the OD of a substrate. The cover plate is rotatable and has a cam on an undersurface. The cam is enagageable with a lateral slot in each of a plurality of substrate supports of the carrier plate. Rotating the cover plate causes the cam to move the substrate supports, one by one, so a substrate engaging end of the substrate support moves away from an associated substrate recess. A substrate is loaded into the recess, whereupon the cover plate is rotated further so the cam disengages from the lateral slot. The substrate supports are biased to engage the OD of the substrate to lock the substrate within the recess. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US09218988B2	Microelectronic packages and methods therefor A method of making a microelectronic assembly can include molding a dielectric material around at least two conductive elements which project above a height of a substrate having a microelectronic element mounted thereon, so that remote surfaces of the conductive elements remain accessible and exposed within openings extending from an exterior surface of the molded dielectric material. The remote surfaces can be disposed at heights from said surface of said substrate which are lower or higher than a height of the exterior surface of the molded dielectric material from the substrate surface. The conductive elements can be arranged to simultaneously carry first and second different electric potentials: e.g., power, ground or signal potentials.
US09218981B2	Hydrogen passivation of integrated circuits An integrated circuit with a passivation trapping layer. An integrated circuit with a hydrogen or deuterium releasing layer underlying a passivation trapping layer. Method for forming an integrated circuit having a hydrogen or deuterium releasing layer. Method for forming an integrated circuit having a passivation trapping layer.
US09218980B2	Surface treatment to improve CCTBA based CVD co nucleation on dielectric substrate Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a method of forming a cobalt layer on a dielectric material without incubation delay. Prior to depositing the cobalt layer using CVD, the surface of the dielectric material is pretreated at a temperature between 100° C. and 250° C. Since the subsequent CVD cobalt process is also performed at between 100° C. and 250° C., one processing chamber is used for pretreating the dielectric material and forming of the cobalt layer. The combination of processing steps enables use of two processing chambers to deposit cobalt.
US09218979B2	Low resistivity ohmic contact Embodiments of a low resistivity ohmic contact are disclosed. In some embodiments, a method of fabricating a low resistivity ohmic contact includes providing a semiconductor material layer and intentionally roughening the semiconductor material layer to create a characteristic surface roughness. The method also includes providing an ohmic contact metal layer on a surface of the semiconductor material layer and providing a diffusion barrier metal layer on a surface of the ohmic contact metal layer opposite the semiconductor material layer. In this way, the adhesive force between the semiconductor material layer and the ohmic contact metal layer may be increased.
US09218969B2	Method for reducing intermixing between films of a patterning process, patterning process, and device manufactured by the patterning process An example embodiment relates to a patterning process including forming a photoresist pattern on a structure. The photoresist pattern includes a cross-linked surface that is insoluble in an organic solvent. The process also includes spin-on coating a dielectric layer on the photoresist pattern, partially removing the dielectric layer to form a plurality of dielectric spacers surrounding the photoresist pattern, and removing the photoresist pattern.
US09218965B2	GaN epitaxial growth method By using a nano-scale patterning process, a dislocation defect density of a GaN epitaxy layer can be further reduced. This is because the nano-scale epitaxy structure dimension is advantageous to the reduction of the strain energy accumulated by mismatched lattices, thereby decreasing the possibility of generating defects. It is verified that the nano-scale patterning process can effectively decrease the dislocation defect density of the GaN epitaxial layer on a sapphire substrate. Considering uniformity and reproducibility on the application of the large-size wafer, the invention has utilized the soft mask NIL patterning technology to successfully implement the uniform deposition and position control of the InAs quantum dot on a GaAs substrate. This further utilizes the NIL technology in conjunction with dry-etching to perform the nano-scale patterning on a heterogeneous substrate, such as Si, sapphire or the like.
US09218958B2	Method for forming a semiconductor device A method for forming a semiconductor device includes carrying out an anodic oxidation of a surface region of a semiconductor substrate to form an oxide layer at a surface of the semiconductor substrate by generating an attracting electrical field between the semiconductor substrate and an external electrode within an electrolyte to attract oxidizing ions of the electrolyte, causing an oxidation of the surface region of the semiconductor substrate. Further, the method includes reducing the number of remaining oxidizing ions within the oxide layer, while the semiconductor substrate is within an electrolyte.
US09218948B2	Mass spectrometer The larger an m/z to be adjusted, the wider a peak width which represents change in intensity in relation to change in voltage. This allows voltage step size to be increased during a search for an optimum voltage without overlooking a maximum intensity. Thus, a relational expression which gives a narrow voltage step size for a low m/z and gives a wide voltage step size for a high m/z is prestored in a voltage step information storage unit (32), an optimum voltage adjustment controller (31) finds an optimum voltage step size for the m/z to be adjusted, during automatic voltage adjustment using the stored information, and controls a power supply unit 21 so as to change a voltage applied to a first ion guide (8) stepwise. Ion intensity obtained each time the applied voltage changes is determined, and a voltage value which gives a maximum ion intensity is found and stored in an optimum voltage information storage unit (33). Consequently, during automatic adjustment of a voltage applied to an ion transport optical element such as an ion guide, the time required for the adjustment can be reduced without overlooking an optimum voltage value which gives a maximum ion intensity.
US09218943B2	Plasma processing apparatus and plasma processing method There is provided an inductively coupled plasma processing apparatus capable of reducing a RF power loss within a high frequency power supply unit (particularly, a matching unit) and capable of enhancing a plasma generation efficiency. In this inductively coupled plasma processing apparatus, a multiple number of closed-loop secondary circuits 96, 98 independent from each other are formed between a coaxial antenna group 54 and a transformer 68. Further, by varying electrostatic capacitances of variable capacitors 64 and 66, secondary currents I2A and I2B flowing through an inner antenna 58 and an outer antenna 60, respectively, of the coaxial antenna group 54 are independently controlled. Accordingly, it is possible to readily control a plasma density distribution on a semiconductor wafer W in a diametrical direction.
US09218936B2	Deflecting device for electron beams, magnetic deflecting unit for such a deflecting device, and device for vapor coating a planar substrate using such a deflecting device A vaporizing device is provided, wherein an elongated pot having material to be vaporized is impinged upon by an electron beam, preferably via several electron guns. Each electron gun is responsible for a certain section of the pot. The electron beam is guided over the melt in a pendular manner. For this purpose, a first magnetic deflecting unit is provided, which produces a variable parallel displacement of the electron beam. In order to achieve this, two magnetic fields are provided, the magnetic field boundaries of which form a type of lens system, wherein the outlet side of the first magnetic field is convex and the inlet side of the second magnetic field is concave. In order to deflect the electron beam into the pot, a second magnetic deflecting unit is provided, the magnetic field of which can be moved synchronously with the beam displacement parallel to the pot.
US09218933B2	Low-dose radiographic imaging system An inspection system for scanning cargo and vehicles is described which employs an X-ray source that includes an electron beam generator, for generating an electron beam; an accelerator for accelerating said electron beam in a first direction; and, a first set of magnetic elements for transporting said electron beam into a magnetic field created by a second set of magnetic elements, wherein the magnetic field created by said second set of magnetic elements causes said electron beam to strike a target such that the target substantially only generates X-rays focused toward a high density section in the scanned object, which is estimated in a second pulse using image data captured by a detector array in a first pulse. The electron beam direction is optimized by said X-ray source during said second pulse to focus X-rays towards said high density section based on said image data in said first pulse.
US09218931B2	Electromagnetic force driving device An electromagnetic force driving device having reduced size and weight, and easily changeable electromagnetic characteristics and holding force, is provided. The device includes: a first housing; a second housing installed under the first housing; a partitioning wall partitioning the first and second housings; a first mover installed on a top of the first housing; a coil unit installed at a lower portion of the second housing to be movable according to a direction of current supplied; a second mover including one end combined with the coil unit, and another end passing through the partitioning wall and connected to the first mover to operate the first mover according to a movement of the coil unit; an upper magnet installed in the first housing to maintain a predetermined position of the first mover; and a lower magnet arranged in the second housing to form a magnetic field at the coil unit.
US09218922B2	Fuse assembly including controlled separable contacts and power system including the same A fuse assembly structured for use with a power circuit includes: a fuse holder defining a space and including first and second terminals structured to electrically connect to the power circuit; a fuse disposed in the space defined by the fuse holder; and a relay disposed in the space defined by the fuse holder. The relay includes separable contacts, an operating mechanism structured to open and close said separable contacts, and a control circuit cooperating with said operating mechanism to cause said operating mechanism to open or close said separable contacts. Current flowing between the first and second terminals flows through the separable contacts and the fuse and opening the separable contacts interrupts said current flowing between said first and second terminals.
US09218919B2	Electrical contactor An electrical contactor has a pair of first terminals and a pair of second terminals. Each first terminal has a fixed member with at least one fixed electrical contact facing the other fixed member. The second terminals having back-to-back electrically-conductive movable arms with an electrically-insulating partitioning element there between. Each second terminal is associated with a different one of the first terminals, and has a movable electrical contact on the associated movable arm which faces the corresponding fixed contact. When the contacts close, contra-flowing current through the back-to-back movable arms produces a repulsive force between the movable arms increasing a force between the fixed and movable contacts.
US09218916B2	Graphene, power storage device, and electric device An object is to provide graphene which has high conductivity and is permeable to ions of lithium or the like. Another object is to provide, with use of the graphene, a power storage device with excellent charging and discharging characteristics. Graphene having a hole inside a ring-like structure formed by carbon and nitrogen has conductivity and is permeable to ions of lithium or the like. The nitrogen concentration in graphene is preferably higher than or equal to 0.4 at. % and lower than or equal to 40 at. %. With use of such graphene, ions of lithium or the like can be preferably made to pass; thus, a power storage device with excellent charging and discharging characteristics can be provided.
US09218911B2	Solid electrolytic capacitor A silver paste layer constituting a collector layer in a solid electrolytic capacitor includes first silver particles having a peak particle size of 150 nm or less, second silver particles having a peak particle size of 500 nm or more, inorganic particles composed of material different from silver, and resin material. The inorganic particles are included at a volume ratio of 15% or more and 50% or less with respect to the total of the first silver particles and the second silver particles.
US09218906B1	Nano-capacitor arrays for energy storage using native aluminum oxide layers and other ultra-thin dielectrics Methods and apparatus for storing information or energy. An array of nano-capacitors is provided, where each nano-capacitor has a cathodic electrode and an anode separated by a dielectric. The thickness of the intervening solid dielectric is in the range between 0.1 nanometers and 1000 nanometers and is shorter than an electron mean free path within the dielectric. The cathodic electrode is at least 100 times larger than the thickness of the intervening dielectric in every direction transverse to the thickness of the intervening dielectric. An excess of electrons is stored on the cathodic electrode. The dielectric may be a metal oxide, particularly a native oxide of the cathode material.
US09218903B2	Reconfigurable multi-stack inductor A reconfigurable multi-stack inductor formed within a semiconductor structure may include a first inductor structure located within a first metal layer of the semiconductor structure, a first ground shielding structure located within the first metal layer that is electrically isolated from and circumferentially bounds the first inductor structure, and a second inductor structure located within a second metal layer of the semiconductor structure, whereby the second inductor structure is electrically coupled to the first inductor structure. A second ground shielding structure located within the second metal layer is electrically isolated from and circumferentially bounds the second inductor structure, whereby the first and second inductor generate a first inductance value based on the first ground shielding structure and second ground shielding structure being coupled to ground, and the first and second inductor generate a second inductance value based on the first ground shielding structure and second ground shielding structure electrically floating.
US09218902B2	Power transformer with electronic components The invention relates to a power transformer with electronic components. The aim of the invention is to arrange the energy supply of the electronic components of a power transformer closer to the components and thus eliminate the disadvantages of the prior art. According to the invention, a stray field collector is brought into a stray field of the power transformer, whereby a voltage is generated.
US09218898B2	Conductive paste and electronic device and solar cell including an electrode formed using the conductive paste A conductive paste including a conductive powder, a metallic glass including aluminum (Al) and a first element which forms a solid solution with the aluminum (Al), and an organic vehicle.
US09218894B2	Device and method for memory repair using test logic A device for repairing a memory device using a test-bypass register associated with the memory device may include a comparator configured to compare a current address of the memory device with a faulty address and to generate a match signal when the current address matches the faulty address. A logic block may be coupled to the comparator and configured to generate one or more output signals in response to the match signal. The faulty address may be associated with a non-operational cell of the memory device. The one or more output signals may be coupled to one or more memory-bypass inputs of the test-bypass register. The one or more output signals may be configured to enable use of the test-bypass register instead of the non-operational cell of the memory device.
US09218893B2	Memory testing in a data processing system In a method of memory testing in a data processing system, in response to receiving a request for a hardware memory test during boot process of the data processing system, a controller accesses a stored past memory test result. The past memory test result includes at least a first number of test loops used in a past memory test, an identification of a first test pattern, and an error that occurred in the past memory test. The controller adjusts a second number of test loops and a second test pattern to be used in the hardware memory test according to the past memory test result. The controller then performs the hardware memory test according to the adjusted second number of test loops and the second test pattern.
US09218888B2	Non-volatile semiconductor memory data reading method thereof A non-volatile semiconductor memory includes a memory array, a selecting device selecting a page according to addresses, a data storage device, storing page data, and an output device outputting the stored data. The data storage device includes a first data storage device receiving data from a selected page of the memory array, a second data storage device receiving data from the first data storage device, and a data transmission device configured between the first and the second data storage device. The data transmission device transmits data in a second part of the first data storage device to the second data storage device when data in a first part of the second data storage device is output, and transmits data in a first part of the first data storage device to the second data storage device when data in a second part of the second data storage device is output.
US09218886B2	String dependent parameter setup In a three-dimensional NAND memory in which a block contains multiple separately-selectable sets of strings connected to the same set of bit lines, sets of strings are zoned, and different operating parameters applied to different zones. Operating parameters for a zone are obtained from characterizing a reference set of strings in the zone.
US09218882B2	Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device includes a first memory string including memory cell transistors and a first select transistor that are connected in series, a second memory string including memory cell transistors and a second select transistor that are connected in series, a bit line that is electrically connected to a first end of the first memory string and a first end of the second memory string, a first transistor having a gate that is connected to a second end of the first memory string, a source line that is electrically connected to a first end of the first transistor, and a second transistor having a gate that is connected to a second end of the second memory string, a first end that is electrically connected to a second end of the first transistor, and a second end that is electrically connected to the bit line.
US09218880B2	Partial update in a ternary content addressable memory A TCAM may have a plurality of rows of cells. Each row may have a match line. Each cell may have elements for storing first and second bits, and compare circuitry associated to determine matches between a bit of a search word and data stored in the cell. For at least one first row of the rows, the TCAM includes a valid row cell having at least one element to store a partial update indication. The valid row cell may cause the match line associated with the first row to signal that the first row does not match a search word when the partial update indication associated with the first row is enabled. When the partial update indication associated with the first row is disabled, the determination of matches with a search word is performed solely by the compare circuitry without influence of the valid row cell.
US09218875B2	Resistive non-volatile memory A multi-bit NVM cell includes a storage unit having resistive elements, such as phase change resistive elements. The NVM cell may be configured as a single port or dual port multi-bit cell. The NVM cell includes primary and secondary cell selectors. The primary selector selects the multi-bit cell while the secondary selector selects a bit within the multi-bit cell. A plurality of storage units can be commonly coupled to a primary selector, facilitating high density applications.
US09218868B2	Magnetic memory A magnetic memory according to an embodiment includes: a plurality of memory cells, each memory cell including a first MTJ element and a first selection unit; a pair of a first and second bit lines provided to each column of the memory cells; a word line provided to each row of the memory cells; an equalizer circuit provided to each column of the memory cells, and to connect between the first and second bit lines; and a control circuit that sets the first and second bit lines connected to a selected memory cell to be a first and second potentials to conduct a write operation, and after the write operation, transmits a control signal to the equalizer circuit between the first and second bit lines to activate the equalizer circuit to equalize potentials of the first bit line and the second bit line, thereby bringing into floating states.
US09218851B2	Power drop protection for a data storage device A data storage device includes a non-volatile memory. A method includes programming a first page at a word line of the non-volatile memory. While programming a second page at the word line, first storage elements of the word line are selectively programmed in response to a power drop at the data storage device to increase a state separation that separates data values of the first page.
US09218846B2	Demodulation method of magnetic data and demodulation device of magnetic data A demodulation method of magnetic data may include a first data creating step which creates a preliminary data string for creating the demodulation data on a basis of an interval that is a time interval between peaks of a read signal of an analog-shaped magnetic data, and a second data creating step which creates a demodulation data creating data for creating the demodulation data on a basis of the preliminary data string created in the first data creating step. When a peak of the read signal is not detected for a predetermined time, a pseudo-peak is generated and a pseudo-interval is stored in a data storage section, and steps similar to the first data creating step and the second data creating step are executed, and the pseudo-peak is generated until the demodulation data creating data corresponding to a final interval is created.
US09218844B2	System and method for controlling audio source An apparatus for signal processing, wherein a disc is placed on a turntable and is provided with a groove which can be followed by the pick-up element, and employing a time-code signal wherein during use of the disc the said time-code signal controls the digital audio source.
US09218826B1	Tuned horizontally symmetric magnetic stack A data storage device may be constructed as a data reader in various embodiments with a magnetic stack that has a barrier layer disposed between first and second magnetically free layers. The magnetic stack may have a horizontally symmetrical configuration that provides negative exchange coupling between the magnetically free layers.
US09218823B2	Read head with multiple reader stacks A read head includes a bottom shield and a bottom isolation layer that electrically isolates the bottom shield. The read head includes left and right reader stacks having respective bottom layers disposed on at least a portion of the bottom isolation layer. The left and right reader stacks are cross-track adjacent to one another. The read head also includes left and right bottom contacts electrically coupled to respective left and right bottom layers. A top shield is configured as a common top contact electrically coupled to respective top layers of the left and right reader stacks.
US09218822B1	Disk drive with preamplifier with isolation for multiple readers in a slider with a common return signal Interconnect and preamplifier designs are described for use in a disk drive with a common signal return lead system that interconnects a plurality of read transducers (readers) in a slider through the suspension to the preamplifier mounted on the actuator. Preamplifier embodiments have an isolated differential amplifier for each of the plurality of readers in the slider. The set of signal traces in the suspension include a common signal return lead for the plurality of readers in the slider. A preamplifier circuit design according to an embodiment of the invention includes isolated amplifiers for each reader with a separate bias source and power supply isolation elements for both power supply polarities for reduced crosstalk signal and noise between amplifiers.
US09218810B2	System and method for using semantic and syntactic graphs for utterance classification Disclosed herein is a system, method and computer readable medium storing instructions related to semantic and syntactic information in a language understanding system. The method embodiment of the invention is a method for classifying utterances during a natural language dialog between a human and a computing device. The method comprises receiving a user utterance; generating a semantic and syntactic graph associated with the received utterance, extracting all n-grams as features from the generated semantic and syntactic graph and classifying the utterance. Classifying the utterance may be performed any number of ways such as using the extracted n-grams, a syntactic and semantic graphs or writing rules.
US09218805B2	Method and apparatus for incoming audio processing A system includes a processor configured to receive a verbal request to active an audio playback application on a remote device wirelessly connected to the processor. The processor is also configured to relay the request to the remote device for handling. The processor is further configured to receive a request from the remote device for audio playback. The processor is also configured to select a source channel for incoming audio. The processor is additionally configured to receive incoming audio from the remote device over the selected source channel and playback the incoming audio over a vehicle output.
US09218792B2	Variable scaling of image data for aspect ratio conversion A mechanism for enabling a user to vary the scale or zoom of image data for aspect ratio conversion using a graphical user interface is disclosed. A user may move a selector of the graphical user interface to one end for selecting a linear scaling, to the other end for selecting a parabolic scaling or in between for selecting a scaling associated with another function, thereby enabling a user to vary the magnitude of the scaling across the image data. A parametric function with a single parameter may be used to scale the image data, where the movement of the selector may change the parameter and consequently vary the scaling of the image data. In this manner, a user may efficiently vary or select the scaling of the image data using a graphical user interface to reduce objectionable distortion associated with changing the aspect ratio of the image data.
US09218783B2	Display apparatus A display apparatus transmits a picture acquisition request for getting picture information to an external image apparatus connected through a predetermined interface to the display apparatus from the external image apparatus at predetermined intervals and gets a plurality of pieces of picture information from the external image apparatus to be displayed. The plurality of pictures may be switched at predetermined intervals, for example, to be displayed, so that the plurality of pictures may be displayed in a so-called slide show manner. A plurality of pictures for thumbnail may be produced from the plurality of pieces of picture information and be arranged together to be displayed in one picture screen of a display device.
US09218775B2	Display driving circuit, display device, and display driving method A display device employing CC driving switches from (i) a first mode in which to carry out a display by converting resolution of a video signal by a factor of 2 in a column-wise direction to (ii) a second mode in which to carry out a display at the resolution of the video signal. During the first mode, signal potentials having the same polarity and the same gray scale are supplied to pixel electrodes included in respective two pixels that correspond to two adjacent scanning signal lines and that are adjacent to each other in the column-wise direction, and a direction of change in the signal potentials written to the pixel electrodes varies every two adjacent rows (2-line inversion driving). During the second mode, the direction of change in the signal potentials written to the pixel electrodes lines varies every single row (1-line inversion driving).
US09218762B2	Dimming techniques for emissive displays This describes power saving techniques for emissive displays. In one example, the outputs of emissive elements in an emissive display are selectively reduced in order to save power when the emissive display does not change its output imagery for a defined period. The techniques of this disclosure may achieve effects in emissive displays that appear visually similar to, or better than, the effects in conventional transmissive displays when the backlight dims over time.
US09218755B2	Direction active projection A directionally active projection device is described that includes a planar display providing a pattern of information. The planar display includes regions of light transparency and regions for blocking light transmittance. The directionally active projection device also includes a lens arranged adjacent to the planar display, and a collection of light sources arranged as an array in a focal plane of the lens. Also described are methods of controlling directionally active projection devices.
US09218751B2	Clinical simulation device A dental simulator includes a base and a platform connected to the base. The base has a first end, an opposing second end, and a longitudinal axis extending from the first end toward the second end. The platform has at least a first portion which is movably connected to the base. The first portion of the base also includes at least one actuator. The simulator further includes a torso support movably connected to the base and at least a first instrument holder movably connected to the base. At least the first portion of the platform, the torso support, and the first instrument holder are configured to move in unison with respect to the base along the longitudinal axis thereof.
US09218749B2	System and method for monitoring behavior of students in field trips Provided is a system and method for monitoring a student behavior in a field trip. The system may include: a plurality of member terminals held respectively by a plurality of members conducting a group activity and provided with a plurality of sensors, an imaging device, and a data storage device to collect and store behavior information of the members to match time information, the behavior information including location information, orientation information, view information, and motion information; at least one leader terminal held by a leader and configured to receive and store the behavior information of the members collected by the plurality of member terminals; and an analysis terminal configured to receive the behavior information from the at least one leader terminal and the plurality of member terminals.
US09218740B2	Enriching driving experience with cloud assistance Described is a technology by which driver safety technology such as collision detection is implemented via mobile device (e.g., smartphone) sensors and a cloud service that processes data received from vehicles associated with the devices. Trajectory-related data is received at the cloud service and used to predict collisions between vehicles and/or lane departures of vehicles. To operate the service in real-time with low latency, also described is dividing driving areas into grids, e.g., based upon traffic density, having parallel grid servers each responsible for only vehicles in or approaching its own grid, and other parallel/distributed mechanisms of the cloud service.
US09218738B2	Obtaining consumer electronic device state information Apparatus, systems, and methods may operate to obtain an image of a consumer electronic device, the image comprising at least one visual indication of a first operating state of the consumer electronic device, and to transmit one or more commands to the consumer electronic device to change to a second operating state different from the first operating state, responsive to determining the first operating state by extracting information associated with the at least one visual indication from the image. The commands may be determined by accessing a database having control instructions associated with the consumer electronic device. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.
US09218736B2	Sensor nodes, apparatuses, and methods for wirelessly transmitting data to a power infrastructure Apparatuses, sensor nodes, systems and methods for modulating and transmitting sensor data wirelessly to an existing power line network are described. An apparatus may include a microcontroller having an oscillator and an input/output buffer. The microcontroller may process an electrical signal and the input/output buffer may drive a digital signal. The apparatus may include a transmitter utilizing the oscillator and the input/output buffer of the microcontroller. The transmitter may include a resonator coupled to the oscillator and modulation circuitry coupled to the oscillator and resonator. The resonator may modulate a frequency of the oscillator responsive to a modulation signal based on the processed electrical signal. The transmitter may further include an antenna coupled to the input/output buffer of the microcontroller for transmission of the data, and a resonant tank coupled to an output of the input/output buffer to provide an analog signal to the antenna.
US09218735B2	Wireless patient monitoring system and method for monitoring the physiological status of a patient having a network access point The invention relates to a patient monitoring system comprising at least one monitoring unit (24) for monitoring the physiological status of a patient and a host system (14) comprising a network of access points (16, 18, 20) for wireless reception of physiological status data. Each monitoring unit (24) is provided to transmit physiological status data to the access points at selected points of time, together with time related data indicating the expected point of time of the next data transmission. The invention further relates to a respective method for monitoring the physiological status of a patient.
US09218732B2	Integrated flood and temperature sensor for use in a home network environment Methods and systems for an integrated flood and temperature sensor may comprise sensing a presence of water in a premises by measuring a resistance between at least one pair of metal probes in an integrated flood and temperature sensor, sensing a temperature utilizing one or more temperature sensors, and sensing an orientation of the integrated flood and temperature sensor with respect to gravity utilizing one or more level sensors. The metal probes may be extendable. The metal probes may be gold plated. A tamper sensor may sense whether an enclosure for the integrated flood and temperature sensor has been tampered with. The presence of water may be sensed utilizing a remote probe. The integrated water and temperature sensor may communicate wirelessly with one or more external devices utilizing a wireless transceiver.
US09218731B2	Wireless device networks with smoke detection capabilities An electronic device may include a smoke detector. The electronic device may use the smoke detector to monitor for the presence of smoke. In response to detecting smoke with the smoke detector, the electronic device may issue an alert or take other suitable action. The electronic device may transmit alerts to nearby electronic devices and to remote electronic devices such as electronic devices at emergency services facilities. Alerts may contain maps and graphical representations of buildings in which smoke has been detected. Motion detectors and other sensors and circuitry may be used in determining whether electronic devices are being used by users and may be used in determining where the electronic devices are located. Alerts may contain information on the location of detected smoke and building occupants.
US09218729B2	System and method of monitoring the video surveillance activities A method and apparatus. The method includes the steps of an activity analysis processor monitoring the activities of a security system protecting a secured area and a human operator of the security system and evaluating the system's and operator's activities, the activity analysis processor detecting an event and saving a summary of the event to a cloud server, a user interface of the cloud server detecting a request from a user for a report of activities and the cloud server downloading the activity report to the user, the activity report displayed to the user including playback features controlling playback of the summary, the playback features further including provision to accept requests for additional data from the user and the playback features downloading and displaying the additional data in response to the requests.
US09218719B2	Electronic gaming machine and gaming method An electronic gaming machine includes an electronic game controller and a display where game symbols are arranged in an array of predetermined game positions. The appearance of a first special symbol causes a group of predetermined game positions to be selected where each game symbol occupying a predetermined game position in the group is changed into a second special symbol either during a play of a game or at the completion of the play, the change into the second special symbol being visible to the player. A gaming method is also provided.
US09218717B2	Method of gaming, a gaming system and a game controller Aspects of the present invention provide a gaming method, system and game controller for a game of skill. The result of the game of skill is evaluated to determine whether any potential award value for the game of skill is lost based on the player's skill based result. Potential award value for the game of skill may be lost as a result of application of the player's skill based result. Any lost potential award value is applied to a prize pool.
US09218715B2	Avatar as security measure for mobile device use with electronic gaming machine A gaming system compatible with patron-controlled portable electronic devices, such as smart phones or tablet computers, is described. The gaming system is configured to establish a secure communication session between an electronic gaming machine and a portable electronic device. The system can confirm that a communication session is secure by displaying pre-selected content unique to the portable electronic device. The content can be continuously displayed on the EGM during the active communication session to indicate that the session is secure.
US09218704B2	Dispensing system and user interface A dispensing system may be configured to dispense a custom product based on a user selection. The user selection may be provided via a user interface of the dispensing system. The user interface may simultaneously display selectable icons for the available types of products (e.g., types of beverages) and other icons for modifying a chosen product (e.g., a flavoring or additive to a beverage, such as a sweetener or a cherry flavoring). The user interface may receive input from a user in order for the user to select a custom product (e.g., a custom drink) and the dispensing system may dispense the custom product to the user.
US09218703B2	Virtual vending machine in communication with a remote data processing device A vending machine system for dispensing goods or services. The vending machine system may include a vending machine with a vending mechanism, a data processing device remote from the vending machine, and a vending bridge. The vending bridge is in communication with the data processing device and the vending mechanism of the vending machine so as to instruct the vending mechanism to dispense the goods or the services.
US09218699B1	Firearm safe for facilitating firearm receipt A firearm safe is described which may provide a firearm in a state for ready access such that release of the firearm from the safe is performed when a user's hand is in position to readily accept and use the firearm with no or minimal avoidance of obstructions. The firearm safe may maintain the firearm in a locked and protected position when access is not desired and may carry the firearm on a carriage assembly. The firearm safe may provide the firearm only upon activation by a user, such as by biometric or RFID readers. Upon such activation, the firearm safe may provide the firearm to the user. The biometric readers may be positioned such that, upon release of the firearm, the user's hand may be in position to receive the firearm with minimal or no obstructions and may readily grasp the firearm for use.
US09218698B2	Vehicle damage detection and indication Methods and systems for vehicle damage detection, identification and communication are disclosed. Specifically, a method to detect damage to a vehicle, identify the extent and location of the damage, and communicate the damage event is provided. In the event of damage to a vehicle, the system may take a number of actions. In one embodiment, the actions comprise notifying authorized users of the vehicle, a maintenance provider, an insurance provider and/or an emergency agency, disabling the vehicle, and emitting a visual or audio alarm.
US09218683B2	Collection rearrangement animation Collection rearrangement animation techniques are described herein, which can be employed to represent changes made by a rearrangement in a manner that reduces or eliminates visual confusion. A collection of items arranged at initial positions can be displayed. Various interaction can initiate a rearrangement of the collection of items, such as to sort the items, add or remove an item, or reposition an item. An animation of the rearrangement is depicted that omits at least a portion of the spatial travel along pathways from the initial positions to destination positions in the rearranged collection. In one approach, items can be animated to disappear from the initial positions and reappear at destination positions. This can occur by applying visual transitions that are bound to dimensional footprints of the items in the collection. Additionally or alternatively, intermediate and overlapping positions can be omitted by the animation.
US09218651B2	Image processing method for dynamically adjusting luminance and contrast of image An image processing method for adjusting the luminance and contrast of an input image comprises the following steps. First, local spatial luminance statistics is performed on the first pixels of the input image to generate a luminance image including a plurality of second pixels. Then, from a preset mapping curve group comprising a plurality of smooth mapping curves, a corresponding smooth mapping curve is selected for each of the second pixels according to an adjusting function. Next, the pixel values of the second pixels are adjusted according to the corresponding smooth mapping curves to generate an adjusted image.
US09218628B2	Method and system for generating behavior profiles for device members of a network A method and system for generating a digital profile defined by digital behavior expressed by a device includes receiving digital behavior data and identifying information defined by a device in communication with a content server, generating a device profile for the device, associating the device with at least one device population, and generating a population profile defined by the device population. The device profiles and population profiles may be made accessible to users of a social network. Related contents, including identifying information, device behavior analysis, comparative ratings, service and diagnostic information, messages and alerts may be associated with a device profile or population profile and published to the social network. A population profile may define normal digital behavior of the population, such that the population profile may be compared with the device profile of a device, to determine whether the device operation is abnormal with respect to the population profile.
US09218619B2	Internet transaction and user interface therefor A user account including a personal profile is stored by a server for subsequent use. The user is provided a list of displayable entries sortable using specified criteria in a manner that allows the user to review a selection of entries and to make a change to the selection prior to submitting a transaction for processing. Responsive to a request to log into the user account, the identity of the user is verified. Once verified, the transaction is facilitated between a vendor and the user pursuant to instructions from the user. The instructions are generated based on a shopping cart screen rendered by a client device of the user. The user is sent a confirmation message regarding the transaction while the user is logged in the server. The user can be provided an account screen allowing access to information relating to user transactions and information relating to an account balance.
US09218599B1	Method and system for automatic chargeback reimbursement for product returns A method for processing an automatic chargeback request includes: storing, in an account database, a plurality of account profiles, wherein each account profile includes data related to a payment account including at least an account identifier; receiving, by a receiving device, an indication of a product return, wherein the indication includes at least a specific account identifier, a product amount, and a merchant identifier; identifying, in the account database, a specific account profile where the included account identifier corresponds to the specific account identifier; generating, by a processing device, a chargeback request for a chargeback to be initiated against a merchant associated with the merchant identifier for the product amount for benefit to the payment account related to the specific account profile; and transmitting, by a transmitting device, the generated chargeback request.
US09218597B2	Wireless devices for storing a financial account card and methods for storing card data in a wireless device A system and method for enabling a wireless device to use card data during a transaction are provided. The method is performed by one or more processors configured to receive first financial card data, associate a first transaction type with the first financial card data, receive second financial card data, and associate a second transaction type with the second financial card data. The method further comprises receiving transaction type data, automatically selecting the first financial card data or the second financial card data based on the received transaction type data, and communicating the automatically selected financial card data for use in the transaction.
US09218596B2	Method and apparatus for providing real time mutable credit card information A method for using a smartcard is provided. The smartcard may include a microprocessor chip, a button, a dynamic transaction authorization number, a Bluetooth low energy (“BLE”) device, and a battery. The battery may power the BLE and the microprocessor chip. The smartcard may also include memory. The memory may store the dynamic transaction authorization number. The smartcard may also include a dynamic magnetic strip. The dynamic magnetic strip may include a digital representation of the dynamic transaction authorization number. The method may include pressing the button. The method may also include transmitting an instruction to a smartphone for a request for a dynamic transaction authorization number. The transmission of an instruction may be in response to the pressing of the button. The method may also include receiving a dynamic transaction authorization number from a smartphone.
US09218590B2	Time tracking system and method of use A system and method of managing time and, more particularly, to a system and method for automatically tracking time in an electronic system. The system includes a time tracking tool is configured to be integrated with an instant messaging system. The time tracking tool is configured to associate a received instant message with one or more projects and track a session time in which the received instant message is active.
US09218589B2	Issuance, conveyance and management of endorsements Systems and methods for the issuance, management and conveyance of endorsements to authorities, the system comprising an endorsement issuance module configured to issue an endorsement associated with an endorsee, wherein the endorsement prescribes to specified endorsement issuance rules, an endorsement conveyance module configured to validate the endorsement according to the specified endorsement conveyance rules, and an endorsement management module configured to maintain the specified rules according to an authority.
US09218587B2	Information-providing method, and information-providing system An information-providing method provides a notification relating to an item owned by a user in accordance with change in condition of the item. The information-providing method is implemented on a computer system that stores therein notifications that are each linked to one of a plurality of levels expressing possible conditions of the item. In the information-providing method, condition information is acquired which indicates change in condition of the item resulting from aging or use. Judgment is performed as to whether a current time is a provision time at which a notification is to be provided to the user. Upon judging affirmatively, a level matching condition of the item at the provision time is selected from among the levels, based on the condition information, and a notification linked to the selected level is determined to be the notification that is provided.
US09218584B2	Method and system for measuring quality of performance and/or compliance with protocol of a clinical study A method is proposed for determining clinical study compliance. The method includes obtaining criteria for the clinical study and accessing stored clinical data relating to the clinical study. Thereafter, the criteria and clinical data are correlated to determine a measure of compliance with the criteria of the clinical study.
US09218579B2	Method and system for facilitating retrieval of information from images Disclosed embodiments relate to systems and methods for facilitating retrieval of information from an image. The one or more image characteristics are modified to degrade the original image. The degraded image is provided as a first task to at least one first remote worker, the first task corresponds to an activity of tagging one or more regions of interest in the degraded image by the at least one first remote worker. Further, one or more second images are generated based on the one or more tagged regions of interest and are provided as one or more second tasks to at least one second remote worker, the one or more second tasks correspond to an activity of retrieving information from the one or more second images.
US09218570B2	Determining an anomalous state of a system at a future point in time A prediction technique to predict an anomalous state of a processing environment at a future point in time. One or more values of one or more metrics of the processing system are obtained. For the one or more metrics, one or more predicted values are determined for one or more points in time in the future. Based the predicted values, one or more change values for one or more points in time are determined, and based on the one or more change values, a determination is made as to whether an anomalous state exists within the processing system.
US09218567B2	Quantum processor based systems and methods that minimize an objective function Quantum processor based techniques minimize an objective function for example by operating the quantum processor as a sample generator providing low-energy samples from a probability distribution with high probability. The probability distribution is shaped to assign relative probabilities to samples based on their corresponding objective function values until the samples converge on a minimum for the objective function. Problems having a number of variables and/or a connectivity between variables that does not match that of the quantum processor may be solved. Interaction with the quantum processor may be via a digital computer. The digital computer stores a hierarchical stack of software modules to facilitate interacting with the quantum processor via various levels of programming environment, from a machine language level up to an end-use applications level.
US09218563B2	Spiking neuron sensory processing apparatus and methods for saliency detection Apparatus and methods for salient feature detection by a spiking neuron network. The network may comprise feature-specific units capable of responding to different objects (red and green color). The plasticity mechanism of the network may be configured based on difference between two similarity measures related to activity of different unit types obtained during network training. One similarity measure may be based on activity of units of the same type (red). Another similarity measure may be based on activity of units of one type (red) and another type (green). Similarity measures may comprise a cross-correlogram and/or mutual information determined over an activity window. During network operation, the activity based plasticity mechanism may be used to potentiate connections between units of the same type (red-red). The plasticity mechanism may be used to depress connections between units of different types (red-green). The plasticity mechanism may effectuate detection of salient features in the input.
US09218554B2	Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and storage medium A method for image processing executed by an image processing apparatus includes sequentially receiving PDL data and transferring a figure included in the PDL data to processing in a subsequent stage, assigning edge extraction processing as a unit of processing for extracting edge information for each transferred figure, merging the edge information extracted from each figure, spooling the merged data in a tile format as intermediate data, and reading out the intermediate data in the tile format from spooling process and performing processing on each tile to generate a pixel from the intermediate data.
US09218550B2	Method and system for creating a customized print A method for producing a customized print includes determining a color of at least one feature of an object, where the object is imaged with a reference color chart. A color palette is selected based on the at least one determined feature color and a print is generated based on the selected color palette. A system for producing a customized print is also described.
US09218549B2	Printing apparatus and print control method A number of printable images on a continuous sheet and printing throughput can be increased when printing an image in which images of different sizes coexist and are arranged. In a printing apparatus which prints a plurality of images by using a full-line inkjet printhead while conveying the sheet, the size of an image and a position of a sheet where the image is printed are analyzed from inputted image data. A necessary type of preliminary discharge is determined in accordance with the analysis result. Then, print data is generated by adding, to the image data, data for preliminary discharge complying with the determined type of preliminary discharge. It is controlled to print by the full-line printhead based on the generated print data.
US09218546B2	Choosing image labels Methods, systems and apparatus for choosing image labels. In one aspect, a method includes receiving data specifying a first image, receiving text labels for the first image, receiving search results in response to a web search performed using at least some of the text labels as queries, ranking the text labels, at least in part, based on a number of resources referenced by the received search results, wherein at least some of the resources each include an image matching the first image, and selecting an image label for the image from the ranked text labels, the image label being selected based on the ranking.
US09218529B2	3-D imaging sensor based location estimation A system and method for estimating a location of an object or vehicle is provided. Images of a region encompassing the object are obtained, providing a three dimensional (3-D) view frame of the region. 3-D view frames are collected along a direction of travel of the object. A 3-D map is generated along the direction of travel of the object, the map based on the 3-D view frames and further based on an estimate of motion of the object at times associated with the 3-D view frames. A first set of features is extracted from the 3-D map. A geo-referenced feature database is searched for a second set of features that match the first set of features. A geo-location associated with the second set of features is retrieved from the feature database. The location of the object is estimated based on the retrieved geo-location.
US09218524B2	Automatic spatial context based multi-object segmentation in 3D images Methods and systems for automatic classification of images of internal structures of human and animal bodies. A method includes receiving a magnetic resonance (MR) image testing model and determining a testing volume of the testing model that includes areas of the testing model to be classified as bone or cartilage. The method includes modifying the testing model so that the testing volume corresponds to a mean shape and a shape variation space of an active shape model and producing an initial classification of the testing volume by fitting the testing volume to the mean shape and the shape variation space. The method includes producing a refined classification of the testing volume into bone areas and cartilage areas by refining the boundaries of the testing volume with respect to the active shape model and segmenting the MR image testing model into different areas corresponding to bone areas and cartilage areas.
US09218521B2	Case and data read-write assembly using the same A case includes a main body, a protective frame, and at least one fixing member. The main body includes a first mounting portion and a second mounting portion rotatably connected to the first mounting portion. The protective frame is disposed on boundaries of the first mounting portion. The at least one fixing member is mounted on the first mounting portion and the second mounting portion. The first mounting portion and the protective frame jointly define an accommodation space to receive a reader, the second mounting portion secures a portable electronic device communicating with and separates from the reader. The first mounting portion rotates relative to the second mounting portion to be secured on the second mounting portion via the at least one fixing member.
US09218509B2	Response to tamper detection in a memory device In response to a tamper-attempt indication, a memory device selectively disables one or more memory operations. Disabling can be accomplished by different techniques, including altering bias voltages associated with performing the memory operation, gating off a current needed for performing the memory operation, and limiting the needed current to a magnitude below the threshold magnitude required for the operation. After disabling the memory operation, a mock current can be generated. The mock current is intended to mimic the current normally expended during the memory operation when not disabled, thereby leading a user to believe that the device is continuing to operate normally even though the memory operation that is being attempted is not actually being performed.
US09218508B2	Electronic device and protection method thereof An electronic device includes a positioning module, a micro processing unit and a first storing device. The micro processing unit electrically connects with the positioning module and the first storing device. The electronic detects a position thereof via the positioning module and generates a positioning coordinate datum. The micro processing unit determines whether the electronic device is in a preset working area through the positioning coordinate datum. When the electronic device is not in the preset working area, the micro processing unit stops the electronic device from accessing the first storing device. When the electronic device is in the preset working area, the micro-processing unit allows the electronic device to access the first storing device and boot a first operating system stored thereon.
US09218502B1	System and architecture for electronic permissions and security policies for resources in a data system An electronic permissions and security system are disclosed which may be used to determine permissions and policies for resources in a complex multi-dimensional data system. Analysis of resource data hierarchies and/or accessor data hierarchies using the permissions computing systems and methods discussed herein may provide efficient and flexible permissions analysis, determination, and management. The electronic permissions system may include for example, a permissions analysis module or component configured to access, traverse and/or analyze a resource hierarchy and/or an accessor hierarchy to determine permissions with respect to a resource. Permissions may be defined according to various policies which may include specific actions allowed or disallowed for the policy. Specific actions within a policy may also be organized hierarchically such that one particular grant of one permission may imply granting of another permission.
US09218501B2	Secure access management against volatile identity stores Embodiments of the present invention are directed to managing access to protected computer resources. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods for modifying a user's ability to access a protected computer resource while the user is currently using the resource. If the privileges granted to a user for accessing the protected resource are altered, these alterations take effect in substantially real time. In an exemplary embodiment, a user data repository will initiate the process of altering the user's access privileges upon changes of data in the repository. In this way, it does not matter how or by whom the data in the repository is changed, but the change itself is sufficient to initiate a re-computation of a user's access privileges to the protected resource.
US09218497B2	Incentive-based app execution Systems and methods of a personal daemon, executing as a background process on a mobile computing device, for providing personal assistant to an associated user is presented. Also executing on the mobile computing device is a scheduling manager. The personal daemon executes one or more personal assistance actions on behalf of the associated user. The scheduling manager responds to events in support of the personal daemon. More particularly, in response to receiving an event the scheduling manager determines a set of apps that are responsive to the received event and from that set of apps, identifies at least a first subset of apps for execution on the mobile computing device. The scheduling manager receives feedback information regarding the usefulness of the executed apps of the first subset of apps and updates the associated score of each of the apps of the first subset of apps.
US09218494B2	Secure client drive mapping and file storage system for mobile device management type security Methods and systems for providing a secure client drive mapping and/or file storage for mobile device management type security may include executing a managed application for presentation on a mobile device, receiving a request to save a data file locally on the mobile device, and determining whether the data file contains sensitive data are described herein. Subsequently, when the data file contains sensitive data and responsive to the request, the methods and system may also include encrypting the data file, storing the encrypted data file on the mobile device, and linking the encrypted data file to an unencrypted version of the data file, the unencrypted version of the data file not containing the sensitive data.
US09218469B2	System and method for installing authentication credentials on a network device A method for installing authentication credentials on a network device. An intermediary computing device (e.g., client computer) downloads an application for installing the authentication credentials from a secure website. The application on the intermediary computing device requests authentication credentials from a Network Access Control (NAC) credential service. The application passes the authentication credentials received from the NAC credential service through the intermediary computing device to an endpoint (e.g., video conferencing device). The application installs the authentication credentials on the endpoint.
US09218468B1	Systems and methods for verifying attributes of users of online systems For sharing of information in a virtual or online environment, methods and systems are provided which enable verifying attributes of an individual. An individual registered for participation in a virtual or online environment may provide evidence of the attributes from a verification source that exists outside the virtual or online environment. An administrator associated with the virtual or online environment verifies the attributes by receipt of the evidence. Alternatively, the attribute for the individual may be verified after receipt of one or more signals indicating individuals registered for participation in the virtual or online environment have corroborated the attributes. A verification indication for an attribute may be shared with other individuals in the virtual or online environment.
US09218462B2	Authentication using lights-out management credentials A method includes upon receiving a request from a user to perform an operation on a device that is running under an operating system, authenticating the user on the basis of credential data that is retrieved from a data storage unit that is associated with a lights-out management (LOM) capability of the device. If authentication of the user is successful, the user is enabled to perform the operation.
US09218460B2	Defining and mining a joint pharmacophoric space through geometric features A technique for mining pharmacophore patterns including computer-implemented methods for generating a database of pharmacophores and computer-implemented methods for classifying a query molecule with the database of pharmacophores. Generation of the pharmacophore database includes methods of defining a Joint Pharmacophore Space (JPS) using the three-dimensional geometry of pharmacophoric features of all active molecules against multiple targets.
US09218449B2	Methods for analyzing massively parallel sequencing data for noninvasive prenatal diagnosis This invention provides several ways of managing GC bias that occurs during seequencing and analysis of genomic DNA. Maternal plasma can be used as a source of fetal DNA for analysis. DNA segments or tags obtained from the plasma can be aligned with a chromosomal region of interest and with an artificial reference chromosome assembled from regions of the genome having matching GC content. This technology can be used, for example, to detect and evaluate aneuploidy and other chromosomal abnormalities.
US09218443B1	Heterogeneous multiprocessor program compilation targeting programmable integrated circuits OpenCL program compilation may include generating, using a processor, a register transfer level (RTL) description of a first kernel of a heterogeneous, multiprocessor design and integrating the RTL description of the first kernel with a base platform circuit design. The base platform circuit design provides a static interface within a programmable integrated circuit to a host of the heterogeneous, multiprocessor design. A first configuration bitstream may be generated from the RTL description of the first kernel using the processor. The first configuration bitstream specifies a hardware implementation of the first kernel and supporting data for the configuration bitstream. The first configuration bitstream and the supporting data may be included within a binary container.
US09218439B2	Search systems and computer-implemented search methods Search systems and computer-implemented search methods are described. In one aspect, a search system includes a communications interface configured to access a plurality of data items of a collection, wherein the data items include a plurality of image objects individually comprising image data utilized to generate an image of the respective data item. The search system may include processing circuitry coupled with the communications interface and configured to process the image data of the data items of the collection to identify a plurality of image content facets which are indicative of image content contained within the images and to associate the image objects with the image content facets and a display coupled with the processing circuitry and configured to depict the image objects associated with the image content facets.
US09218438B2	Computing architecture for storing a graph database based on temporal aspects of its edges Data specifying a new edge of a graph database may be received. A data store for storing the new edge may be identified from amongst a plurality of data stores utilized to store one or more portions of the graph database. Each of the plurality of data stores may be associated with a set of values corresponding to an aspect of edges of the graph database. The data store for storing the new edge may be identified based on the new edge being associated with a value corresponding to the aspect of edges of the graph database that is within a set of values corresponding to the aspect of edges of the graph database associated with the data store for storing the new edge.
US09218437B1	Systems and methods providing event data Computer applications may generate a large volume of different types of record data. In one example, the large volume of record data may represent millions of different processes occurring every second. Described herein are systems, methods and devices for generating parsed data based on the large volume of record data. The parsed data may be consumed by computing nodes within a designated amount of time from the generation of the record data.
US09218432B2	Personnel crisis communication management system Systems and methods are disclosed for providing personnel communications management within an enterprise or group of related enterprises during crisis situations. In particular, the systems and methods provide event management, shared situational awareness, personnel tracking, and unified crisis notification management to multiple users.
US09218430B2	Methods, systems, and computer program products for recommending applications based on user interaction patterns A method for recommending an application includes obtaining an input model representing user interaction patterns during execution of a first application. The input model is compared to a reference model representing user interaction patterns during execution of a second application. A similarity is determined between the input model and the reference model. A recommendation of the second application is generated in response to the similarity.
US09218415B2	System and method for providing broadcast listener participation A method of allowing listeners to participate in broadcast programming is provided, the method generally comprising one or more of providing a library of media elements accessible by a plurality of listeners; receiving from each of at least two of the listeners a playlist of media elements, wherein at least one of the media elements in each playlist is from the library of media elements; editing the playlists using broadcast scheduling software; providing the edited playlists to the plurality of listeners for playback, and for feedback regarding the playlists; and receiving feedback from at least one of the listeners regarding the playlists. A system and apparatus are similarly provided.
US09218413B2	Venue-related multi-media management, streaming, online ticketing, and electronic commerce techniques implemented via computer networks and mobile devices Various aspects described or referenced herein are directed to different methods, systems, and computer program products relating to multi-media management and streaming techniques implemented over a computer network, including, for example, one or more features and/or functions relation to one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): venue-based streaming radio stations, mobile user graphical user interfaces, creation and streaming of dynamic streaming radio stations based on a user's geolocation, ticketing and reservations, etc.
US09218406B2	System and method for managing user data in a plurality of storage appliances over a wide area network for collaboration, protection, publication, or sharing In various embodiments, the present invention relates to a method of operating a server to manage user data in a plurality of storage appliances. The method involves establishing in a database system, via the server, information for each registered user; establishing and storing in the database system a set of relationships, based on designations by the users, among registered storage appliances and container designations; and using a central service running on the server to deliver storage appliance-container relationship data to the storage appliances so as to enable the appliances to substantiate the containers therein, and to replicate user data with other storage appliances that have substantiated corresponding containers, in a manner consistent with the stored relationships, and wherein the central service operates without interaction with user data stored in the containers.
US09218405B2	Batch processing and data synchronization in cloud-based systems Disclosed are methods and apparatus for efficiently storing application data received from clients in a database stored on a server, such as a cloud-based database. The methods include receiving a batch of a plurality of web operations that specify actions to be performed on data objects that represent application data stored in a cloud database, translating the web operations to a batch of data storage operation sets, creating a temporary database having a subset of contents of the cloud database, applying the data storage operation sets to the temporary database, recording database operations generated by the temporary database based on the plurality of data storage operation sets, and applying the plurality of database operations to the cloud database in a transaction. Translating the web operations can include mapping the actions to be performed on the data objects to transactions to be performed on the cloud database.
US09218404B2	Replication support for heterogeneous data types A method, system and computer readable storage medium for replicating database data of heterogeneous data type are disclosed. The method includes determining the data type of an element of heterogeneous data type to be replicated. The element is packed into a predetermined transfer format as an opaque data type, based on the determined data type, and replicated to a replication server. The replication server is instructed to not modify the element noted as opaque.
US09218400B2	Multidimensional data representation A system for data aggregation and representation, comprising a data aggregator that may request or receive input from a plurality of data sources, a visualization engine that may generate representations of data, and an interaction manager that may handle interactions from an analyst, and a method for multidimensional representation of data.
US09218396B2	Insight determination and explanation in multi-dimensional data sets Techniques are disclosed for determining reasons underlying insights gleaned from multi-dimensional data. In one embodiment, a contingency table is accessed that represents multiple dimensions of the data, in order to identify one or more insights. One or more dimensions, other than the represented dimensions, are evaluated to identify one or more reasons underlying a first insight of the one or more insights, and the one or more reasons are output.
US09218395B2	Managing attributes in stream processing A method and system for managing attributes in a streaming application is disclosed. The system may have a stream manager communicatively coupled with processing elements for tracking a stream of tuples. The system may also have a first stream operator communicatively coupled with the stream manager and capable of receiving the stream of tuples, wherein the first stream operator selects the selected attribute of the first tuple and assigns a first identifier to the selected attribute. The system may also have a second stream operator communicatively coupled with the stream manager and capable of receiving the stream of tuples, and capable of replacing the selected attribute in the second tuple with a second identifier provided by the first stream operator. The system may also have an identifier table communicatively coupled with the stream manager and the first and second stream operator, wherein the identifier table includes identifiers for selected tuples.
US09218391B2	Scalable computation of data Techniques for producing a cross tabulation are described. The techniques involve issuing a plurality of queries to a database. The queries are for each of at least one sublevel of data for each of at least one dimension of data associated with records in the database. The queries provide sublists of sorted identifiers for each one of the queries. The technique determines occurrences of intersections of levels of one dimension with levels of another dimension of the data associated with records in the database by traversing the sublists to detect intersections of the dimensions.
US09218384B2	Evaluation method and information processing apparatus A memory stores a plurality of data objects and their respective evaluation scores. A processor is configured to update, in response to an update made to a first data object, evaluation values of one or more second data objects linked from at least the first data object, based on the evaluation score of the first data object. In response to a reference request for one data object, the processor determines the evaluation score of the requested data object, based on the evaluation scores of one or more third data objects having a link to the requested data object.
US09218378B2	Method of indexing a database A method of sorting a database of records and data items, in which each record has an identifier, data variables and paths pointing to data items being the value of the data variables is disclosed. The database has a first and second frequency for each path of the first and second data variables, respectively. The method includes creating an intermediate array having a section for each value of the second data variable. Storing the identifier of each record. Creating a final array having sections for each value of the first data variable. Storing the identifier of the records into the section of the final array corresponding to the value of its first data variable. Identifying break points in the final array. Repeating the previous two steps for each section of the intermediate array. Creating a break point index.
US09218370B2	Processing data loads A method and system for processing a data load. A request is received for a data load to load data into a database in accordance with a data template that includes data to be loaded into the database. The template includes columns and rows. The request specifies a request type characterized by at least one column that collectively includes unique data for each row. The columns include N sets of columns (N≧1) in addition to the at least one column. The data load is split into multiple loads of data. The multiple loads include one load and N additional loads. The one load is associated with the at least one column. The N additional loads are respectively associated with the N sets of columns and are configured to generate or modify one or more rows in each table of N respective additional tables in the database.
US09218364B1	Monitoring an any-image labeling engine A system for monitoring an image tagging system comprises a processor and a memory. The processor is configured to provide a user display for a type of monitoring of an image tagging system. The user display includes image tagging monitoring for: a) in the event that a computer vision match is found, a computer vision match and an associated computer vision tag and, b) in the event that no computer vision match is found, a human vision match and an associated human vision tag. A memory coupled to the processor and configured to provide the processor with instructions.
US09218363B2	System and method for maintaining location information in a database The invention relates to a method for maintaining location information in a database. An application running in a client device scans for stationary devices that have a unique identifier. If such a device is found, the location of the device by means of the unique identifier is looked up from a central server comprising a database. If the unique identifier is in the database the physical location of the stationary device could be retrieved. As the stationary device is in the vicinity of the stationary device, the physical location of the user using the stationary device is known. If the unique identifier of the stationary device is not found, the user is asked once to identify its location. The unique identifier and location is then stored in the data structure of the database. Subsequent requests by a client device for the same stationary device will result in a known location.
US09218360B2	User-selected tags for annotating geographic domains containing points-of-interest A location-based service is provided that allows a user of a mobile device to tag and track the places he or she visits and share these places with social networking members. To implement this service a system receives location information from the user's location-aware mobile device over a wireless network. The location information identifies various locations or other points-of-interest that the user has visited. Based on this information the system determines a geographical domain that encompasses at least some of the locations the user has visited. Once a geographic domain has been determined it is presented to the user via the mobile device. The user is prompted to tag the geographical domain with an annotation that describes the geographic domain. The system stores the geographical domain and the annotation associated therewith so that it can be searched and accessed or retrieved by the user or members of the user's social network.
US09218356B2	Systems and methods for accelerating networking functionality Methods and systems for synchronizing network configuration state tables between an operating system kernel and an attached ASIC switch device are disclosed. An instruction to update a target network configuration state table in either an operating system kernel or an attached ASIC switch device is received. Data from the target network configuration state table and data from a corresponding network configuration state table are retrieved. Values of data in the two tables are compared and an instruction is sent to update the target network configuration state table with one or more values from the corresponding network configuration state table.
US09218354B2	Query-aware compression of join results A method is provided for compressing results of a join query. A join order of a result set is determined from the join query, where the result set includes a plurality of tuples. A plurality of dictionary entries for the result set is received. A nested hierarchy of dictionaries is created based on the join order and the dictionary entries. A plurality of encoded tuples is received. The nested hierarchy of dictionaries is used by a processor to decode the plurality of encoded tuples so as to produce the plurality of tuples of the result set.
US09218344B2	Systems, methods, and software for processing, presenting, and recommending citations The present invention provides systems, methods, and software for automatically processing data included in a document and identifying and recommending citations matching the processed data. The system allows a user to select and submit text segment(s) for analysis and to select from a set of recommended citations a citation(s) that matches the text segment as well as profile data for inclusion in the document. One or more citation libraries or authority databases are queried to find citations for recommendation which best match the text segment selected and submitted by the author. The system automatically processes data submitted by an author to generate a set of recommended citations for consideration and for inclusion within a document while the document is presented by a document rendering application. A selected citation is then formatted and inserted in the document.
US09218337B2	Text editing apparatus and storage medium A text editing apparatus is disclosed, which comprises a display device; an operation device; a conversion candidate creating portion that creates at least one conversion candidate associated with a character and outputs a signal for displaying the created conversion candidate; a finally-determined character string output portion that outputs a signal for displaying the corresponding conversion candidate; and a learning portion that learns and storing character string data for the next creation of said conversion candidate at the time of an input of a learning instruction different from the time of the input of said selective final determination.
US09218336B2	Efficient implementation of morphology for agglutinative languages Constructing an automaton for automated analysis of agglutinative languages comprises: constructing an affix automaton for each of a plurality of affix types of an agglutinative language, where each of the affix types is associated with one or more affixes associated with a morphological concept; combining any of the affix automatons to form a plurality of template automatons, where each of the template automatons is patterned after any of a plurality of agglutination templates of any of the affix types for the language; and combining the template automatons into a master automaton.
US09218330B2	Method of inputting information into an electronic form Described is a method to communicate to a third party information for part of an electronic form that cannot be competed and then to incorporate returned information into the electronic form. In various embodiments, while filling in an electronic form, a requestor requests assistance in the form of information from a third party such as a supervisor. The requestor specifies a range of the part requiring assistance, and copies the partial form into a field of a message. An agent acquires information concerning the partial form based on the copy operation. The message including the information on the partial form is sent to the third party. The third party inputs information into an input field concerning the input request and returns the partial form in a message. The agent incorporates the information included in the returned message into the original electronic form.
US09218328B2	Display of supplementary information on a graphical user interface Disclosed are method and apparatus for displaying supplementary information on a graphical user interface. A request for supplementary information is received. The supplementary information is retrieved and displayed in a reserved display field in a graphical user interface. The reserved display field may be configured by a user to adapt to specific applications, but remains stationary throughout the user session. The reserved display field does not obstruct any other display fields in the graphical user interface. A request for supplementary information may be generated by using a mouse to first position a cursor over an active display element. A request for supplementary information associated with the active display element may be generated by clicking the mouse, or by holding the cursor stationary for a time interval greater than a threshold dwell time.
US09218325B2	Quick font match Embodiments of the present invention relate to a font match technology, and in particular relate to a technology for performing font match with attribute values of a font. A method for font matching may include generating a two-dimensional link matrix based on available fonts and attribute values of the available fonts, receiving a font match query, and determining a font matching the received font match query from the available fonts by using the two-dimensional link matrix. Font matching may be implemented automatically, quickly, and accurately, without the need of manually randomly trying each font of a plurality of available fonts. Meanwhile, this method is independent from text processing software and may be called by any arbitrary text processing software (application). Moreover, this method allows the user to flexibly configure selection of the font attributes so as to perform font match more efficiently.
US09218313B2	Shared-bandwidth multiple target remote copy In one embodiment, a method for sharing bandwidth in a data processing system having a plurality of locations includes splitting data into a plurality of data elements, sending each one of the plurality of data elements to a different location selected from the plurality of locations, wherein each data element is different, and sending a message to each of the locations. In another embodiment, a method for sharing bandwidth in a data processing system having a plurality of locations, wherein the plurality of locations comprises a first location and plurality of further locations, includes receiving a first data element, receiving a message, wherein the message comprises an address of each of the further locations, and sending the first data element to each of the further locations of the plurality of further locations, responsive to determining the address of each of the further locations.
US09218312B2	Memory device and memory system including the same A memory device includes an interface unit and a memory unit. The interface unit receives a clock signal, a command signal and a data signal, internally adjusts input impedance based upon at least one of the command signal and the clock signal, and generates internal control signal of the memory device based upon the command signal and data signal. The memory unit performs read/write operations based upon the internal control signal.
US09218307B2	Reader-writer synchronization with high-performance readers and low-latency writers Data writers desiring to update data without unduly impacting concurrent readers perform a synchronization operation with respect to plural processors or execution threads. The synchronization operation is parallelized using a hierarchical tree having a root node, one or more levels of internal nodes and as many leaf nodes as there are processors or threads. The tree is traversed from the root node to a lowest level of the internal nodes and the following node processing is performed for each node: (1) check the node's children, (2) if the children are leaf nodes, perform the synchronization operation relative to each leaf node's associated processor or thread, and (3) if the children are internal nodes, fan out and repeat the node processing with each internal node representing a new root node. The foregoing node processing is continued until all processors or threads associated with the leaf nodes have performed the synchronization operation.
US09218306B2	Memory sharing circuit employing a buffered address and data bus and preventing bus collision Disclosed is a memory sharing circuit for sharing a memory, the circuit including a plurality of unit processors connected to the memory, wherein the unit processor includes a buffer configured to be connected through the memory, a buffering address and a data bus, and a processor configured to be connected to the buffer for access to the memory through the buffer, and wherein the plurality of unit processors is configured to allow the processors to share the memory by preventing address/data bus collision for access to the memory by the processors.
US09218305B2	Reader-writer synchronization with high-performance readers and low-latency writers Data writers desiring to update data without unduly impacting concurrent readers perform a synchronization operation with respect to plural processors or execution threads. The synchronization operation is parallelized using a hierarchical tree having a root node, one or more levels of internal nodes and as many leaf nodes as there are processors or threads. The tree is traversed from the root node to a lowest level of the internal nodes and the following node processing is performed for each node: (1) check the node's children, (2) if the children are leaf nodes, perform the synchronization operation relative to each leaf node's associated processor or thread, and (3) if the children are internal nodes, fan out and repeat the node processing with each internal node representing a new root node. The foregoing node processing is continued until all processors or threads associated with the leaf nodes have performed the synchronization operation.
US09218304B1	Method for intercepting input/output requests and responses A method and system for intercepting I/O requests and responses in a proprietary operating environment or hypervisor-virtualization utilizing open source software or general public license device drivers. The processing includes at the added functionality module comprises at least one of encrypting, de-duplicating, compressing and caching.
US09218301B2	Storage device security system A storage device security system includes a server that is coupled to a storage device, a storage controller, a configuration IHS, and a remote access controller. The remote access controller receives a storage device access key request and a storage controller Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) from the storage controller. The remote access controller also receives a server GUID from the server. The remote access controller also receives a security key from the configuration IHS over a network. The remote access controller is configured to use a remote access controller Media Access Control (MAC) address, the storage controller GUID, the server IHS GUID, and the security key to generate a storage device access key. The remote access controller may then provide the storage device access key to the storage controller, and storage controller may use the storage device access key to access the storage device coupled to the server IHS.
US09218290B2	Data caching in a network communications processor architecture Described embodiments provide for storing data in a local cache of one of a plurality of processing modules of a network processor. A control processing module determines presence of data stored in its local cache while concurrently sending a request to read the data from a shared memory and from one or more local caches corresponding to other of the plurality of processing modules. Each of the plurality of processing modules responds whether the data is located in one or more corresponding local caches. The control processing module determines, based on the responses, presence of the data in the local caches corresponding to the other processing modules. If the data is present in one of the local caches corresponding to one of the other processing modules, the control processing module reads the data from the local cache containing the data and cancels the read request to the shared memory.
US09218286B2	System cache with partial write valid states Methods and apparatuses for processing partial write requests in a system cache within a memory controller. When a write request that updates a portion of a cache line misses in the system cache, the write request writes the data to the system cache without first reading the corresponding cache line from memory. The system cache includes error correction code bits which are redefined as word mask bits when a cache line is in a partial dirty state. When a read request hits on a partial dirty cache line, the partial data is written to memory using a word mask. Then, the corresponding full cache line is retrieved from memory and stored in the system cache.
US09218284B2	Storage device command interval controller In some implementations, an apparatus includes a first programmable hardware timer that specifies an initial wait time before issuing two or more commands to a storage device, and a second programmable hardware timer that specifies an interval time between at least two commands of the two or more commands.
US09218276B2	Storage pool-type storage system, method, and computer-readable storage medium for peak load storage management A storage apparatus is provided, including a first storage unit; a load information obtaining unit that obtains load information for each of a plurality of portions defined by dividing the first storage unit; a portion identifying unit that identifies a candidate portion that is to be relocated in the first storage unit based on the load information; a determining unit that determines whether or not data in the candidate portion is allowed to be migrated to a second storage unit, the second storage unit having a performance value higher than a performance value of the first storage unit; an adder that adds the second storage unit, when the determining unit determines that the data in the candidate portion is not allowed to be migrated; and a relocation unit that migrates the data in the candidate portion from the first storage unit to the added second storage unit.
US09218273B2	Automatic generation of a resource reconfiguring test A test generator generating a test for a system having a plurality of executing entities that are capable of concurrent execution, the test comprises transactions that comprise one or more access transactions that are configured to access a shared resource and one or more reconfiguration transactions configured that are configured to reconfigure the shared resource, wherein said generating comprises: determining a partial order between pairs of transactions that are both associated with the shared resource and that at least one of which is a reconfiguration transaction; and generating the test so as to enforce the partial order during execution of the test by the system.
US09218265B2	Monitoring and controlling the operation of devices in a distributed network of broadcast devices The invention relates to a system and method for monitoring and controlling the operation of devices in a distributed network of broadcast devices, such as Set Top Boxes (STBs). Such devices typically require periodic updates as new versions of operating software is developed. However, it is not possible to guarantee that all devices that have received an updated software version are able to operate correctly. The system initiates a test for a STB and monitors in real time the state of the STB as the software download occurs. The state of the STB is reported to a system controller and the results are output to a test engineer. Other devices in the broadcast network can be controlled by the controller and various troubleshooting or operational tests performed.
US09218261B2	Test case execution Systems, methods, computer readable media and apparatuses for executing one or more test cases associated with verifying a functionality of a computer system, software application, or the like are presented. The test cases may be received by a system and may be prioritized and integrated into an existing queue of test cases based on the determined priority. In some examples, a configuration for a computing device to execute the test cases may be identified and transmitted to one or more computing devices available to or scheduled to execute the test cases. Accordingly, the test cases may be dynamically allocated to available computing devices for execution. In some arrangements, one or more reports may be generated and/or transmitted reporting the results of the execution of the test cases. The reports may be accessible via the system and/or may be transmitted to a user via, for example, an email message.
US09218258B2	Debug architecture Roughly described, an integrated circuit chip comprises a plurality of peripheral circuits, each peripheral circuit connected to a respective debug unit, the respective debug unit configured to generate debug information of that peripheral circuit; and a plurality of separate stores for receiving debug information, storing debug information, and outputting debug information; wherein in response to a single trigger signal, the debug units are configured to stream their generated debug information to the plurality of separate stores; and wherein each of the plurality of separate stores is configured to receive debug information at a higher stream rate than it outputs debug information.
US09218242B2	Write operations for defect management in nonvolatile memory Data that is stored in a higher error rate format in a nonvolatile memory is backed up in a lower error rate format. Data to be stored may be transferred once to on-chip data latches where it is maintained while it is programmed in both the high error rate format and the low error rate format without being resent to the nonvolatile memory.
US09218241B2	Wireless receiver circuit and method One example discloses a wireless receiver circuit comprising: a wireless receiver unit having a first voltage power supply and providing an output as a stream of digital output bits; a parity check unit at the output; a control unit configured to derive a control output based on the difference between the parity check unit output and a target parity error rate; and a voltage regulator for providing the first voltage to the wireless receiver unit, in dependence on the control unit output wherein the voltage regulator implements a voltage overscaling function for the wireless receiver unit and is operable to overscale the first voltage in response to a parity error rate of less than 0.5 and to drive the first voltage to a predetermined maximum voltage value in response to a parity error rate of 0.5.
US09218239B2	Apparatuses and methods for error correction This disclosure relates to error correction circuitry. In one aspect, an error correction circuit can serially receive a digit stream and parse the digit stream into substrings of a predetermined length of digits. Each of the substrings can include data digits and parity digits in certain embodiments. As the substring is received, parity can be tracked in defined regions of the substring. When the entire substring has been received, an error in one of the data digits of the substring can be corrected based on an indication of parity in at least one defined region in some embodiments. Then corrected data, which can include the corrected data digit and the other data digits of the substring, can be stored. According to certain embodiments, the error correction circuit can be implemented by asynchronous circuitry.
US09218232B2	Anomaly detection methods, devices and systems A method for detecting an anomaly in operation of a data analysis device, comprising: receiving present real-time readings of multiple sensors associated with the data analysis device, and maintaining a history of past real-time readings; determining which of said multiple sensors are correlated; computing a deviation between at least some of said present and at least some of said past real-time readings of said correlated sensors; and declaring an anomaly when said deviation exceeds a predetermined threshold.
US09218223B2	Barrier synchronization with dynamic width calculation A sequencer of a processing unit determines, at runtime, a barrier width of a barrier operation for a group threads, wherein the barrier width is smaller than a total number of threads in the group of threads, and wherein threads in the group of threads execute data parallel code on one or more compute units. In response to each thread in a subgroup of the group of threads having executed the barrier operation, the subgroup including a same number of threads as the barrier width, the sequencer may enable the subgroup of the group of threads to execute on the one or more processors past the barrier operation without waiting for other threads in the group of threads to execute the barrier operation, wherein the subgroup of the group of threads is smaller than the total number of threads in the group of threads.
US09218222B2	Physical manager of synchronization barrier between multiple processes A computer device with synchronization barrier including a memory and a processing unit capable of multiprocess processing on various processors and enabling the parallel execution of blocks by processes, the blocks being associated by groups in successive work steps. The device further includes a hardware circuit with a usable address space to the memory, capable of receiving a call from each process indicating the end of execution of a current block, each call comprising data. The hardware circuit is arranged to authorize the execution of blocks of a later work step when all the blocks of the current work step have been executed. The accessibility to the address space is achieved by segments drawn from the data of each call.
US09218221B2	Token sharing mechanisms for burst-mode operations Methods and apparatus for token-sharing mechanisms for burst-mode operations are disclosed. A first and a second token bucket are respectively configured for admission control at a first and a second work target. A number of tokens to be transferred between the first bucket and the second bucket, as well as the direction of the transfer, are determined, for example based on messages exchanged between the work targets. The token transfer is initiated, and admission control decisions at the work targets are made based on the token population resulting from the transfer.
US09218218B2	Method and system for policy based lifecycle management of virtual software appliances A system and method for managing dynamically allocated resources assigned to a service includes providing a service to be used by a plurality of sites in a federation. Usage information associated with the service is communicated to each of the plurality of sites. A disposition of the service is determined based on local policies and the usage information received from other sites by a service owner. The disposition of the service is updated across a plurality of sites in accordance with messages sent by the service owner to reduce resource usage.
US09218216B2	Centrally driven performance analysis of low power and Lossy Networks In one embodiment, a centralized device for a computer network divides the computer network into one or more regions for which performance is to be measured, and selects one or more nodes within each respective region of the one or more regions. The centralized device may then send a performance measurement request (PMR) to the selected node(s) for each region, and receives measured performance reports from the selected node(s) for each region in response to the PMR. Accordingly, based on the measured performance reports, the centralized device may then adjust at least one of either the divided regions or the selected node(s) for one or more of the one or more regions, e.g., for future PMRs.
US09218210B2	Distributed processing system A management node includes a distributed task management unit that divides a task including a plurality of processing targets and allocates the task to a plurality of execution nodes, and an execution status information memory update unit that updates execution status information of the task in accordance with execution status update requests from the execution nodes. Based on a first period of time required for processing the processing targets of a unit amount by the execution node and a second period of time required for processing the execution status update request by the management node, the distributed task management unit determines the amount of the task allocated to each of the execution nodes such that a difference in the completion time of the task allocated to any two execution nodes, among the execution nodes, becomes greater than the second period of time.
US09218208B2	Method and system of traffic processor selection for broadcast/multicast service in a wireless network A method and system for selecting traffic processors for processing and transmitting broadcast/multicast service flow in a cellular network includes evaluating processor occupancy of a plurality of traffic processors and selecting the traffic processors with the highest available processor occupancy. The cellular network has one or more base stations that are connected to a radio network controller, the radio network controller having a plurality of traffic processors to process the radio signals and data traffic to be transmitted to the base stations. A required processor occupancy for transmitting the broadcast/multicast service flow to the base stations is estimated and the traffic processors are selected such that their combined available processor occupancy is greater than the required processor occupancy for the broadcast/multicast service flow. The method and system optimizes resource utilization and distribution among the plurality of traffic processors.
US09218202B2	Prioritizing jobs within a cloud computing environment Embodiments of the present invention provide an approach to prioritize jobs (e.g., within a cloud computing environment) so as to maximize positive financial impacts (or to minimize negative financial impacts) for cloud service providers, while not exceeding processing capacity or failing to meet terms of applicable Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Specifically, under the present invention a respective income (i.e., a cost to the customer), a processing need, and set of SLA terms (e.g., predetermined priorities, time constraints, etc.) will be determined for each of a plurality of jobs to be performed. The jobs will then be prioritized in a way that: maximizes cumulative/collective income; stays within the total processing capacity of the cloud computing environment; and meets the SLA terms.
US09218200B2	Selective class hiding in open API component architecture system Methods, systems and computer readable media for granting class level trust in an open application programming interface (API) system is disclosed. The method includes defining a common information model (CIM) architecture, and the CIM architecture is configured with a CIM object manager (CIMOM) for managing client requests made through APIs. The APIs are handled by the CIMOM and the CIMOM accesses schemas that include one or more classes. The method includes applying trust level settings to particular ones of the one or more classes of the schemas, and the trust level settings define client permissions to the particular classes. The method further includes hiding the particular classes to clients that lack a trust level sufficient to access the particular classes. Clients that lack the trust level are serviced with classes that do not have the applied trust level settings.
US09218199B2	Identifying thread progress information by monitoring transitions between interesting states Embodiments relate to a method, apparatus and program product and for capturing thread specific state timing information. The method includes associating a time field and a time valid field to a thread data structure and setting a current time state by determining a previous time state and updating it according to a previously identified method for setting time states. The method further includes determining status of a time valid bit to see if it is set to valid or invalid. When the status is valid, it is made available for reporting.
US09218193B2	Distributed virtual machine image management for cloud computing Embodiments of the present invention and provide a method for distributed virtual machine (VM) image management in a cloud computing management includes receiving in a hypervisor executing in memory of a host computer, a request for VM image data from a VM and determining whether or not the requested VM image data is present in a local cache of either the hypervisor of the host computer or in a cache of a hypervisor of a peer host. The method additionally includes retrieving the requested VM image data from a seed image in a remote data store in the cloud computing environment only when it is determined that the VM image data neither is present in the local cache of the hypervisor of the host computer nor is present in the cache of the hypervisor of the peer host.
US09218188B2	Animation sequence associated with feedback user-interface element In one embodiment, a content item and a feedback user-interface (UI) element associated with the content item may be displayed on a user device. The feedback UI element enables a user to provide feedback with respect to the content item. In response to a user interaction with the feedback UI element, an animation sequence featuring the feedback UI element is displayed on the user device.
US09218184B2	Processor to execute shift right merge instructions Method, apparatus, and program means for performing bitstream buffer manipulation with a SIMD merge instruction. The method of one embodiment comprises determining whether any unprocessed data bits for a partial variable length symbol exist in a first data block is made. A shift merge operation is performed to merge the unprocessed data bits from the first data block with a second data block. A merged data block is formed. A merged variable length symbol comprised of the unprocessed data bits and a plurality of data bits from the second data block is extracted from the merged data block.
US09218183B2	System and method for improving memory transfer System and method for performing a high-bandwidth memory copy. Memory transfer instructions allow for copying of data from a first memory location to a second memory location without the use of load and store word instructions thereby achieving a high-bandwidth copy. In one embodiment, the method includes the steps of (1) decoding a destination address from a first memory transfer instruction, (2) storing the destination address in a register in the bus interface unit, (3) decoding a source address from a second memory transfer instruction, and (4) copying the contents of a memory location specified by the source memory address to a memory location specified by the contents of the register. Other methods and a microprocessor system are also presented.
US09218178B2	Secure firmware updates A firmware update system is described that collectively handles secure firmware updates for hardware resources in a defined and consistent manner. The firmware update system may be configured to manage at least some firmware updates in a pre-boot environment (e.g., before an operating system is loaded). By doing so, the firmware update system exercises control over the updates and reduce entry points exposed to attackers. In one approach, update states are defined for hardware resources that are managed by the firmware update system. In a pre-boot environment, the update states for the managed hardware resources are set to enable firmware updates. The firmware update system may then detect and apply firmware updates available for the managed hardware resources. Update states may be set to disable before loading the operating so that firmware updates for managed resources are disabled outside of the secure pre-boot environment.
US09218177B2	Techniques to optimize upgrade tasks Techniques to prioritize and optimize the execution of upgrade operations are described. A technique may include determining the size of data blocks that are to be copied from one storage medium to another, and the dependencies of upgrade tasks on the data blocks and on other tasks. A task may be prioritized according to a weight that includes the cumulative sizes of the data blocks that it and its dependent tasks depend on. A data block copying may be prioritized according to the cumulative weights of the tasks that depend on that data block. Some embodiments may perform several data copying and/or tasks in parallel, rather than sequentially. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US09218171B2	Method, program, and system for code optimization Method, program and system for code optimization. The method includes detecting a sign assignment instruction having an input operand and an output operand identical in size to each other. Analyzing and determining whether a value of the input operand results from an add or subtract operation and if the value is greater than the value prior to the operation. If so then removing the sign assignment instruction on the condition that the input operand and the output operand of the sign assignment instruction have their addresses identical to each other and replacing the sign assignment instruction with a copy instruction for copying the value of the input operand of the sign assignment instruction to a value of the output operand on the condition that the addresses of the input operand and the output operand of the sign assignment instruction are not identical and do not overlap each other.
US09218169B2	Callpath finder Techniques and systems for creating a function call graph for a codebase are disclosed. Graph creation includes identifying functions in the codebase by a function signature and representing a function as a first node in the call graph. For that function, identifying call-to functions, call-from functions, and inheritance parents and children, and a base class from the function signature of that function; adding child nodes to the first node based on the identified call-to and call-from functions; for an interface call to a base class method in the function, adding child nodes to the first node based on implementations of an override of the base class method; for an added child node, removing that child node from the first node if a source file that includes an implementation of an override and a source code file that includes the function don't share at least one common binary file.
US09218165B2	System and method for an object instance acquirer A method, computer program product, and computer system for receiving, at a computing device, an input including an indication of a type of an object for which an instance is required. Code that is declared in a software development application is scanned for the instance. An output is generated including one or more suggestions how to acquire the instance based upon, at least in part, the code that is declared in the software development application.
US09218161B2	Embedding a software content space for run-time implementation A computer-implemented method for generating user stories for a software product, includes collecting, by a processor, a plurality of requirements, creating, by the processor, a plurality of content space specification files that includes the plurality of requirements, processing, by the processor, the plurality of content space specification files to generate the user stories, defining, by the processor, a content space, and embedding, by the processor, the content space in the software product.
US09218155B2	Portable information terminal, display control method, and program A portable information terminal includes a display element and a control element. The display element includes a plurality of display screens. The control element divides a whole image including two or more rows of individual images arrayed in a direction where the plurality of display screens are arrayed into a plurality of divided images by a dividing line passing through gaps between the individual images in the respective rows, and displays each of the divided images on each of the display screens of the display element.
US09218154B2	Displaying categories of notifications on a dual screen device Embodiments are described for displaying indications of notifications received by a multi-screen device. The notifications may relate to a number of different categories including, without limitation, phone calls, SMS messages, email, notifications from applications, battery level, and signal strength. The multi-screen device includes a unified desktop that displays indications of the notifications regardless of the state of the multi-screen device, which in embodiments includes an undocked state and a docked state, in which a peripheral screen is used to display the indications. The indications may be displayed differently depending on the state of the multi-screen device.
US09218153B2	Servicing a print request from a client system A method and system for servicing a print request from a specific client system. Client-specific information from a client profile is read from database accessible to at least two printer server systems. The client-specific information includes the specific client system's geographic location, a favorite time span reflecting when the specific client system was previously connected to a network, an amount of data reflecting data previously printed within a given historical time span, a maximum data transfer rate at which the specific client system can transfer data to the network, a minimum speed required for printing data received from the specific client system by each printer server system, or combinations thereof. At least one best-suited printer is ascertained to be used for servicing the print request, utilizing the client-specific information, printer server information, and printer information. The print request is serviced by the at least one best suited printer.
US09218152B2	Image forming apparatus and control method thereof An image forming apparatus comprises: a detection unit which detects the abnormal condition of the image forming apparatus; a storage unit which stores, as history information, information about a type of the abnormal condition and an occurrence situation of the abnormal condition in a case where the detection unit detects the abnormal condition; a determination unit which determines whether an occurrence frequency of the abnormal condition which has newly occurred is higher than a predetermined frequency; and a notification unit which, in a case where an abnormal condition has newly occurred and the determination unit determines that the occurrence frequency of the abnormal condition which has newly occurred is higher than the predetermined frequency, stops the image forming apparatus and notifies the user of trouble information for making a repair request by the user.
US09218143B2	Management system and method for an image forming apparatus configured to identify and report failures related to forming an image A management server capable of communicating with a providing apparatus via a network and using a function provided by the providing apparatus includes a reception unit configured to receive failure information from the image forming apparatus, and a notification unit configured to perform notification for arranging maintenance of the image forming apparatus according to the failure information received from the image forming apparatus, wherein the management server does not arrange the maintenance of the image forming apparatus if it can be identified that the failure is caused by the providing apparatus based on the received failure information.
US09218138B1	Restoring snapshots to consistency groups of mount points A method is used for managing consistency groups in storage systems. A consistency group comprising multiple logical objects is created and multiple replicas of the consistency group are created. The consistency group is restored to one of the multiple replicas.
US09218126B2	Methods circuits apparatus and systems for human machine interfacing with an electronic appliance Disclosed are methods, circuits, apparatus and systems for human machine interfacing with a computational platform or any other electronic device, such as a cell-phone, smart-phone, e-book, notebook computer, tablet computer, etc. According to some embodiments, there may be provided an adaptive touch-screen input arrangement, such as a keyboard, keypad or any other touch screen input arrangements including one or more input elements such as rendered or projected keys or buttons which may be projected onto or rendered on a touch screen display. The adaptive touch-screen input arrangement may be adapted to alter the size, shape or location of input elements within proximity of a finger, limb or implement used by a user to touch the screen.
US09218125B2	Portable electronic device and method of controlling same A method includes displaying information associated with a first application on a touch-sensitive display, detecting a touch on a touch-sensitive display and determining touch attributes, determining when the touch is a first gesture type based on the touch attributes, and when the touch is determined to be the first gesture type, forwarding information related to the touch to a second application, otherwise forwarding the information related to the touch to the first application.
US09218118B2	Media player playlist management Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to techniques for enabling easy generation, editing, and access to digital content compilations, such as playlists, etc. Specifically, embodiments of the present disclosure employ one or more graphical user-interfaces that provide a playlist toolbar (e.g., a sidebar) after determining a user wishes to access a digital content compilation. Further, predictions may be made to determine potential activities associated with these compilations based upon previous actions performed by the user.

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