Document	Document Title
US09226789B2	Thermal ablation system A thermal ablation system comprises a fluid handling unit receiving fluid from a fluid source at a first pressure, the fluid handling unit including a heater heating the fluid to a desired temperature and a pump and an introducer including a sheath which, when in an operative position, is received within a hollow organ, the sheath including a delivery lumen introducing fluid heated by the heater to the hollow organ and a return lumen withdrawing fluid from the hollow organ and returning the withdrawn fluid to the console via a return lumen, wherein the pump increases a pressure of the fluid between the fluid source and the delivery lumen of the introducer.
US09226777B2	Multi-axial spinal fixation system A spinal fixation system includes a rod and anchor devices that include a bone engaging fastener having a head defining a spherical socket. A ball insert is placed within the socket and rotated so that the ball insert is juxtaposed with the socket. The anchor device further includes a yoke defining a yoke channel for receiving the rod and a stem engaged to the ball insert captured within the socket. A sleeve disposed between the yoke channel and the fastener head supports the rod. A set screw is operable to clamp the rod against the sleeve and draw the insert into engagement within the socket. A releasable detent defined between the yoke and the fastener head is configured to releasably retain the yoke in at least one discrete position relative to the fastener. Portions of the releasable detent may also exert a frictional retention force against the fastener head.
US09226774B2	Visual obturator with tip openings The present disclosure relates to an optical obturator that facilitates the visualization of tissue therethrough during use. The optical obturator disclosed herein includes a housing that is disposed at a proximal end thereof, an elongate member that extends distally from the housing, a distal end formed of a substantially opaque material with one or more openings formed therein, and a shield member.
US09226769B2	Railway lumbar combined puncturing needle The present invention provides a puncture needle set for combined spinal-epidural anesthesia comprising an epidural needle with a small guiding conduit on the pin and a groove on the outer wall and a spinal needle with a beaked tip. During anesthesia, first the epidural needle is punctured into the epidural space, then the epidural catheter is placed, afterwards the spinal needle is guided to enter into the groove on the needle peduncle by the small conduit on the pin of the epidural needle and slide into the epidural space, then let it go ahead deep into subarachnoid space. After medicine is injected, the spinal needle and the epidural needle are withdrawn in turn, at the same time the epidural catheter is left back.
US09226763B2	Blade debrider Systems and methods for treating disc herniation or degeneration, disc degeneration, and vertebral body fracture include surgical and endoscopic access and removal of disc tissue. The tissue removal devices that may be used include rotatable blade devices having flow control surfaces that may be inserted into a vertebral disc and rotated to pulverize the disc material and facilitate its removal.
US09226762B2	Atraumatic microsurgical forceps An atraumatic microsurgical forceps may include an actuation structure, an actuation sleeve having an actuation sleeve distal end and an actuation sleeve proximal end, a surgical blank, and atraumatic forceps jaws of the surgical blank having atraumatic forceps jaws distal ends and atraumatic forceps jaws proximal ends. The surgical blank may be disposed within the actuation sleeve wherein at least a portion of the atraumatic forceps jaws extends from the actuation sleeve distal end. A compression of the actuation structure may be configured to gradually extend the actuation sleeve over the atraumatic forceps jaws proximal ends. An extension of the actuation sleeve over the atraumatic forceps jaws proximal ends may be configured to gradually close the atraumatic forceps jaws wherein the atraumatic forceps jaws initially contact at the atraumatic forceps jaws distal ends.
US09226756B2	Bone access instrument A bone access instrument comprising a shaft having a first shaft portion and a second shaft portion. The first shaft portion has a first diameter, a distal end, and at least one cutting edge formed on the distal end. The second shaft portion has a second diameter and a tapered distal end. The second diameter is less than the first diameter, and the second shaft portion extends axially from the distal end of the first shaft portion.
US09226754B2	Anastomosis composite gasket The present disclosure provides structures and/or gaskets for deposition between adjacent intestinal sections in an anastomosis procedure. The structure possesses at least an inner ring of a first material, and a middle ring of a second material. The first material and the second material include a wound treatment material consisting of at least one of an adhesive, a sealant and/or a medicament. The first material is different from the second material.
US09226752B2	Surgical fastener-applying apparatuses with sequential firing A surgical fastening instrument is provided. The surgical fastening instrument includes a handle portion and an elongate portion extending distally from the handle portion and defining a longitudinal axis along a length thereof. The surgical fastening instrument also includes an end effector assembly that includes an anvil and a cartridge supported adjacent a distal end of the elongate portion. Each of the anvil and the cartridge includes a tissue contacting surface oriented substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. One or more independently movable pushers is configured to support one or more surgical fasteners. A thrust bar is operatively coupled to the elongate portion, wherein the thrust bar is movable over a predetermined stroke to effect sequential ejection of at least two surgical fasteners of the plurality of surgical fasteners from the cartridge.
US09226750B2	Methods and systems for detecting clamping or firing failure Systems and methods are provided for detecting failure in clamping of a material and/or firing of a staple into a clamped material and indicating such failure to a user on a user interface. The system and methods are particularly suited for use with end effectors having closing and/or firing mechanisms coupled to an actuator. By monitoring a driving parameter of an actuator that effects the clamping and/or firing, the systems and methods provide an indication of failure in response to the monitored drive parameter. In some embodiments, an indication of failure is output when the monitored drive parameter is outside an acceptable range of desired driving parameters during clamping and/or firing. The disclosed systems and methods are particularly beneficial when used for minimally invasive surgery.
US09226747B2	Medical implement for manipulating sutures particularly useful in arthroscopic surgery A medical implement particularly useful in arthroscopic sutures, includes: a handle having a proximal end configured for manual gripping by a user, a distal end, an internal passageway extending between the proximal end and the distal end, and an intermediate portion formed with a recess extending from the outer surface to the internal passageway. A shuttle is movable through the passageway and has an intermediate portion exposed within the recess for manipulation by a user gripping the handle, and a suture-receiving-element at its distal movable axially through the distal end of the handle. A roller is rotatably mounted to the handle to underlie the exposed portion of the shuttle such that, after a suture has been received by the suture-receiving-element of the shuttle, a user, gripping the handle, may manipulate the shuttle with respect to the distal end of the handle by thumb-pressing the exposed portion of the shuttle against the roller and rotating the roller.
US09226745B2	Method and apparatus for guiding a suture thread A suture device is configured to guide a suture thread. The device includes a sleeve that defines an opening, and a plunger to which a suture thread can be attached. The plunger can be inserted into the opening of the sleeve, and movable between a retracted position and an advanced position. When the plunger is in the retracted position, a distal portion of the suture thread is located proximal with respect to the distal end of the suture device. When the plunger is in the advanced position, the distal portion of the suture thread is driven out the distal end of the suture device.
US09226729B2	Ultrasound diagnostic system, ultrasound image generation apparatus, and ultrasound image generation method The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus, ultrasound image generation apparatus and method transmit ultrasound waves to a subject into which a puncture tool is inserted, receive reflected waves reflected from the subject and the puncture tool, and generate echo signals of time-sequential frames based on the received reflected waves, and generate an ultrasound image of the subject based on the generated echo signals. These apparatus and method generate a differential echo signal between time-sequential frames from the echo signals, perform a tip detection process based on the differential echo signal to thereby detect at least one tip candidate including a tip end of the puncture tool, highlight a tip candidate of the puncture tool detected to thereby generate a tip image, and display the tip image of the highlighted puncture tool so as to be superimposed on the generated ultrasound image.
US09226724B2	Radiographic imaging method and apparatus In a case where a series of operations of an imaging sequence are continuously performed when an imaging switch is continuously in ON state, if the imaging switch is turned into OFF state only for a given period and the given period is not more than a predetermined threshold value, control is exerted such that part of the operations of the imaging sequence is continuously performed.
US09226720B2	Radiographic apparatus A radiographic apparatus comprising, a radiation source for emitting radiation, a radiation detecting device having a detecting surface for detecting radiation, an image generating device for generating images in accordance with detection data outputted from the radiation detecting device, a collimator for restricting spread of a radiation beam emitted from the radiation source, an opening-degree obtaining device for obtaining a degree of opening of the collimator and a display device for displaying a radiation-irradiation area on the image, the opening-degree obtaining device determining the radiation-irradiation area to be displayed on the image in accordance with a relationship between a width of the radiation beam contained in the image obtained in advance by two or more degrees of opening of the collimator through radiation irradiation and the degrees of opening of the collimator as well as the current degree of opening of the collimator.
US09226719B2	X-ray image diagnosis apparatus An X-ray image diagnosis apparatus according to embodiments includes: a table on which an examinee lies down; a table driving unit configured to move the table upward and downward; an imaging device configured to take a side image of the examinee by irradiating a side of the examinee on the table with X-rays and detecting X-rays transmitted through the examinee; and a controller configured to control the table driving unit so that the table driving unit moves the table upward or downward to make a center position of the examinee on the table in a thickness direction of the examinee coincide with a center position of the side image in an upward-downward moving direction of the table.
US09226711B2	Laser direct structured catheter connection for intravascular device The invention generally relates to intravascular imaging catheters and methods of making catheters for imaging systems. The invention provides a connector for an imaging catheter that includes a unitary body with very thin electrical contacts that are formed on the surface of the body. Due to the scale of the contacts, the connector operates essentially as a single unitary piece of material. Each of the leads may be less than about 100 μm wide and less than about 8 μm thick, and further the leads may be spaced apart by less than about 160 μm.
US09226703B2	Holder and light measurement device employing same Provided is a holder which comprises at least two probe mount portions into which a light-transmitting probe for emitting light from the tip thereof or a light-receiving probe for receiving light through the tip thereof is inserted from above and is to be put on the head of a subject, the holder being characterized by further comprising: a linear backbone portion that extends in a first direction that is perpendicular to the above-described direction from above; and at least two linear branch portions that extend in a second direction that is perpendicular to the above-described direction from above and is different from the first direction, wherein the lower end portions of the probe mount portions protrude from the lower surface of the backbone portion or a branch portion and are tapered.
US09226701B2	Error detection in critical repeating data in a wireless sensor system Provided are methods, systems, and apparatus for error detection of bits of a data packet received at a receiver unit by detecting corrupted data bits.
US09226698B2	User authentication via evoked potential in electroencephalographic signals Techniques are disclosed for authentication and identification of a user by use of an electroencephalographic (EEG) signal. For example, a method for authenticating a user includes the following steps. At least one electroencephalographic response is obtained from a user in accordance with perceptory stimuli presented to the user. The user is authenticated based on the obtained electroencephalographic response. The authenticating step may be based on detection of an event-related potential in the obtained electroencephalographic response. The event-related potential may be a P300 event-related potential. The method may also include the step of enrolling the user prior to authenticating the user. The enrolling step may include a supervised enrollment procedure or an unsupervised enrollment procedure.
US09226693B2	Canine gait analyzer A canine gait analyzer is used in connection with a treadmill. A sensor assembly includes a plurality of overlapping sensor panels, each having a pressure transducer array connected to a circuit board with conductive traces. An elastomer sheet with carbon-graphite dampens the dog's pawsteps, and is electrically grounded for static electric charge. The sensor assembly is held fast between the belt inner surface and the treadmill bed with a J bracket. The sensor panel edge extends downward on the side of the frame. A C-shaped side cover is attached to the frame and covers the sensor panel edge having the circuit boards. A motor speed controller is connected to the motor, the circuit boards, and to a computer.
US09226687B2	Catheterscope 3D guidance and interface system Visual-assisted guidance of an ultra-thin flexible endoscope to a predetermined region of interest within a lung during a bronchoscopy procedure. The region may be an opacity-identified by non-invasive imaging methods, such as high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) or as a malignant lung mass that was diagnosed in a previous examination. An embedded position sensor on the flexible endoscope indicates the position of the distal tip of the probe in a Cartesian coordinate system during the procedure. A visual display is continually updated, showing the present position and orientation of the marker in a 3-D graphical airway model generated from image reconstruction. The visual display also includes windows depicting a virtual fly-through perspective and real-time video images acquired at the head of the endoscope, which can be stored as data, with an audio or textual account.
US09226680B1	Patient electrode connectors for electrocardiograph monitoring system An improved ECG electrode connector adapted for attachment to a biomedical patient electrode by either pinch or snap connection is disclosed. A closed-end electrical connector includes pair of pivotally connected members including a main connector body having an electrically conductive plate defining an electrode stud receiving aperture and disposed in proximity to the bottom surface thereof, and a jaw pivotally connected thereto and resiliently biased to a closed position. The jaw is adapted with a beveled surface that functions to urge the jaw in open by engagement of the top surface of an ECG stud thereby allowing the connector to be attached by snap engagement. The electrically conductive plate defines an irregular, generally oval-shaped opening that allows the electrode stud to be inserted through a wide portion of the opening and retained by the narrow portion of the opening. Positioning an electrically conductive plate at the bottom of the connector allows the connector to maximize electrical contact with the electrode stud. An ECG electrode connector in accordance with the present invention may further be fabricated of radiolucent materials.
US09226674B2	Vector-cardio-graphic signal analyzer The current subject matter relates to indicating extent and location of myocardial ischemia in a patient. Electrodes can be placed on a body of the patient. Signal amplifiers can receive orthogonal electrical signals from the electrodes via three bipolar leads. The signal amplifiers can amplify the signals and send the amplified signals to analog to digital converters. The analog to digital converters can convert the amplified signals to digital signals. A computing device can execute a data analysis application that can receive these digital signals, generate QRS complexes associated with these signals, generate depolarization vectors associated with these QRS complexes, and then determine changes in magnitudes and directions of these vectors. Based on the changes in magnitudes and directions, the data analysis application can determine and display extent and location of myocardial ischemia in the patient. Related apparatus, systems, methods, techniques and articles are also described.
US09226673B2	Methods, systems and computer program products for non-invasive determination of blood flow distribution using speckle imaging techniques and hemodynamic modeling Non-invasive methods for determining blood flow distribution in a region of interest are provided. The method includes illuminating a region of interest of a subject with a coherent light source; sequentially acquiring at least two speckle images of the region of interest, wherein sequentially acquiring the at least two speckle images comprises acquiring the at least two speckle images in synchronization with motion of the heart of the subject; and electronically processing the at least two acquired speckle images based on the temporal variation of the pixel intensities in the at least two acquired speckle images to generate a laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) image, determine distribution of blood flow speed in principal vessels and quantify perfusion distribution in tissue in the region of interest from the LSCI image. The LSCI image enables detection of different blood flow speeds.
US09226671B2	Apparatus and method for measuring blood flow An apparatus for measuring blood flow includes a detection part and a signal processing part. The detection part includes a blood flow detector for measuring a blood flow of a measured portion of an object, which makes contact with the measured portion, and a force detector for detecting a contact force between the blood flow detector and the measured portion. The signal processing part produces a corrected blood flow in reflection of an error of the blood flow due to the contact force.
US09226670B2	Methods and systems for determining physiological information based on statistical regression analysis A physiological monitoring system may determine physiological information, such as physiological rate information, from a physiological signal. The system may select two segments of the physiological signal, shifted in time relative to one another by a lag value, and determine a correlation value between the two segments. The system may determine a metric based on the segments, and determine correlation information based on the correlation value and the metric. The metric may be indicative of how well the segments are correlated, providing additional information relative to the correlation value. Based on the metric, the system may modify the correlation value, determine a confidence value, or determine other information. The system may determine physiological rate information based on the correlation information.
US09226668B2	Blood pressure monitor A blood pressure monitor includes a cuff to be wound around a living body of a subject, a measuring unit for measuring blood pressure with said cuff wound around the living body of said subject, a detecting unit for detecting an inclination angle of said cuff, a specifying unit for specifying a current inclination level among a plurality of predetermined inclination levels upon measurement by said measuring unit, based on a result of detection by said detecting unit, a memory for storing therein the inclination level specified by said specifying unit, in association with blood pressure data measured by said measuring unit, and a notifying unit for providing notification of at least one past inclination level of the plurality of inclination levels stored in said memory and said current inclination level, in association with each other.
US09226660B2	Process, system and software arrangement for determining at least one location in a sample using an optical coherence tomography A system, process and software arrangement are provided to determine at least one position of at least one portion of a sample. In particular, information associated with the portion of the sample is obtained. Such portion may be associated with an interference signal that includes a first electro-magnetic radiation received from the sample and a second electro-magnetic radiation received from a reference. In addition, depth information and/or lateral information of the portion of the sample, may be obtained. At least one weight function can be applied to the depth information and/or the lateral information so as to generate resulting information. Further, a surface position, a lateral position and/or a depth position of the portion of the sample may be ascertained based on the resulting information.
US09226658B2	Gonio lens system with stabilization mechanism This disclosure relates generally to methods and devices for use in viewing and positioning an eye with a gonio lens system, such as during ocular exams and ocular surgeries. Some embodiments of the gonio lens system can include a gonio lens for viewing one or more tissues and structures of the eye. In addition, the gonio lens system can include one or more positioning features for controlling movement positioning of the eye.
US09226653B2	Method for monitoring image of examinee's eye and monitoring system A method for monitoring an image of an examinee's eye includes: obtaining first image data including a first examinee's eye image captured by a first ophthalmologic photographing apparatus, and additional information including type information on the first examinee's eye image; obtaining second image data including a second examinee's eye image captured by a second ophthalmologic photographing apparatus different from the first ophthalmologic photographing apparatus, and additional information including type information on the second examinee's eye image; recognizing the first examinee's eye image and the second examinee's eye image as the same type of images, based on the additional information; and correcting a difference between the first examinee's eye image and the second examinee's eye image.
US09226651B2	Laryngoscope insertion section A laryngoscope insertion section comprising a tube guide comprising at least an inferior tube guiding member and a superior tube guiding member, wherein the thickness of the insertion section in a first region is less than the external diameter of the largest diameter endotracheal tube in an operating range of endotracheal tube sizes plus the thickness of the inferior tube guiding member plus the thickness of the superior tube guiding member. Typically, the insertion section comprises an elongate member and the tube guide is lateral of the elongate member. Typically, an endotracheal tube is retained within the tube guide in flexural tension.
US09226641B2	Hard surface cleaning composition having a malodor control component and methods of cleaning hard surfaces A hard surface cleaning composition comprising a malodor control component, and methods of cleaning hard surfaces are provided. In some embodiments, the hard surface cleaning composition comprises at least one volatile aldehyde and an acid catalyst.
US09226637B2	Cleaning implement based on melamine-formaldehyde foam comprising hollow melamine-formaldehyde microspheres The present invention relates to a cleaning implement that includes a melamine-formaldehyde foam and hollow microspheres. The hollow microspheres have a core that includes at least one benefit agent and a shell that includes at least one melamine-formaldehyde resin. Additionally the present invention encompasses a method for cleaning a hard surface with a cleaning implement according to the present invention.
US09226632B2	Robot cleaner, controlling method of the same, and robot cleaning system Disclosed are a robot cleaner, a controlling method of the same, and a robot cleaning system. The robot cleaner can perform a cleaning operation with respect to only a user's desired region, in a repeated and concentrated manner. Further, as the robot cleaner runs on a user's desired region in a manual manner, a designated region can be precisely set. Further, as the robot cleaner performs a cleaning operation by setting a user's desired region, only a simple configuration is added to a terminal device such as a remote control unit. Accordingly, additional costs can be reduced, and a malfunction can be prevented.
US09226631B2	Cyclone separator and vacuum cleaner A cyclonic separator and a vacuum cleaner which efficiently separates dust, collect the dust without re-scattering it and make low noise are provided. In a primary cyclone portion 10, a primary swirl chamber 12 swirls air containing dust sucked from a primary inlet 11, and thereby, separates a first dust and a second dust from the air containing dust to collect them respectively in a zero-order dust case 114 which is provided at a side of the primary swirl chamber 12 and communicates with a zero-order opening portion 113 provided at a side wall, and a primary dust case 14 provided at a lower side of the primary swirl chamber 12. In a secondary cyclone portion 20, a secondary inlet 21 with an opening area smaller than that of a primary outlet body 15 sucks air exhausted from the primary outlet body 15, a secondary swirl chamber 22 swirls the first air to separate the second dust which is finer than the first dust from the first air to collect the second dust in a secondary dust case 24 provided at a lower side of the secondary swirl chamber 12. With regard to the cyclonic separator with such a configuration, the zero-order dust case 114 is formed to cover at least a part of the secondary cyclone portion 20.
US09226627B2	Wet wipes container with flexible dispensing orifice A dispensing container for wet wipes includes a pop-up style dispensing means formed by a rigid port which surrounds a flexible, rubber-like material or sheet having one or more slits through which the wet wipes are dispensed. The configuration of the slits, in combination with the flexibility of the rubber-like material, enables the user to insert at least one finger through the slit to thread a wipe through the slit. The dispensing means has a Penetration Index of greater than 600 grams.
US09226611B2	Capsule system, device and method for preparing a food liquid contained in a receptacle by centrifugation Method for preparing a food liquid from a food substance contained in a receptacle by passing water through the substance using centrifugal forces comprising: driving the receptacle in centrifugal rotation while introducing water in the capsule, passing water through the substance to form a food liquid, collecting the centrifuged food liquid, wherein the receptacle is a single-use capsule and, a flow restriction means is arranged within the flow path of the centrifuged liquid.
US09226603B2	All-acrylic display case A transparent display case system that includes transparent hinges and a transparent case body. The case body is rotatable along an axis which is in alignment with the hinges.
US09226592B2	Fixing device for chairs A fixing device includes an encircle element having lateral sides and two flap portions extending outwardly from the lateral sides and formed with a through hole; a positioning element fixed securely to the encircle element and having lateral sides extending parallel to the lateral sides of the encircle element so as to define restriction chambers, wherein one lateral side of the positioning element has a longitudinal length greater than the lateral sides of the encircle element and is formed with an upward notch; and a locking plate having a first end connected pivotally to the through hole in the encircle element and a second end formed with a downward notch such that the locking plate is pivotable relative to the encircle element between an unlocked position, in which the notches disengage relative to each other and a locking position, in which the notches engages relative to each other.
US09226588B2	Knockdown bed A knockdown bed is formed of a first bed frame and a second bed frame. The first bed frame includes a top side, a bottom side, and an insertion member. The insertion member has an insertion end, a fixed end connected with the bottom side, two lateral sides, and two abutment surfaces connected with the two lateral sides. The two abutment surfaces gradually approach each other from the fixed end to the insertion end. The second bed frame includes a top side, a bottom side, and a slot member adjacent to the first bed frame. The slot member is formed of two sidewalls, two abutment walls connected with the two sidewalls, and a slot, into which the insertion member can be inserted to interconnect the first and second bed frames. In this way, the knockdown bed can be easily assembled and structurally firm.
US09226584B2	Folding book holder for chair A chair with a folding book holder includes a generally horizontal seat portion with an upper surface for supporting an occupant and an opposed lower surface. The folding book holder has a bottom portion and two support portions. Each support portion has a lower edge flexibly interconnected with the bottom portion and an upper edge flexibly interconnected with the chair. The bottom portion and support portions are foldable between a use position and a storage position, wherein in the use position the support portions extend generally downwardly from the seat portion and the bottom portion is spaced from the seat portion, and in the storage position the support portions and bottom portion are folded up against the seat portion.
US09226570B2	Hair care device The invention provides a hair care device for use in untangling hair. The hair care device includes a body portion (10a, 10b) and a plurality of substantially parallel flexible bristles (12a, 12b) made of soft plastics material and projecting from the body portion. The bristles are arranged such that over at least a part of the area of bristles, some of the bristles are of shorter length (12b). The bristles and the shorter length bristles are interspersed over the at least part of the area of bristles.
US09226566B2	Information processing apparatus An information processing apparatus 100 includes: a first casing 101 having an operation section 110 provided on a top surface; a second casing 102 having a display provided thereon; an opening and closing mechanism 120 configured to connect a far side portion of the first casing 101 to the second casing 102 such that the information processing apparatus 100 is openable and closable; and a belt 150 provided on a back surface side of the first casing 101. The belt 150 extends diagonally on a back surface 101a of the first casing 101 from a mounting portion provided on one side surface 101b side of the first casing 101, so as to approach the far side portion of the first casing 101 as a distance from the one side surface 101b side is increased, and reaches a mounting portion provided on a far side of the first casing 101.
US09226550B1	Zipper head assembly structure The instant disclosure relates to a zipper head. The zipper head includes a main structure, a flexible member, a securing member, a replaceable pull tab, a guiding member, and a shaft. The main structure has a first fixing portion and receives the flexible member. The securing member has a second fixing portion corresponding to the first fixing portion. The securing member contacts with the flexible member. The guiding member is pivotally connected to one end of the main structure and contacts with the securing member. A receiving space is cooperatively defined by the main structure, the securing member, and the guiding member. A fixing end of the replaceable pull tab is disposed in the receiving space. The shaft penetrates the main structure and is pivotally connected to the securing member. The instant disclosure also discusses a method for replacing the replaceable pull tab of the zipper head.
US09226543B2	Transforming shoe with rotating, sliding; and pivoting panels A multi-functional transforming shoe that can be taken apart and reassembled in a high-top shoe configuration, a low-top shoe configuration, and an open-back configuration with a strap attachment. The transforming shoe comprises rotating, sliding, and pivoting panels which are configured using attachment means such as snaps, hook-and-loop fasteners, and rod axles. The assembly of different shoe attachments and panels provides for multiple arrangements and designs, allowing the user to switch from one style to another.
US09226542B2	Color change system for an article of footwear with a color change portion A color change system for an article with a color change portion and a method of changing color is disclosed. The article includes at least one color change portion capable of changing colors. The color change portion can change colors according to one or more performance parameters. The color change system can include a computer or a mobile device. The article can be connected to the computer or the mobile device and the color change portion can be controlled using the computer or mobile device.
US09226537B1	Eyelash measuring device An eyelash measuring device having: a ruler, a substantially eye shaped opening formed by an upper arch and a lower arch, and a graticule. The ruler is on the upper arch of the substantially eye-shaped opening and allows a user to measure an eyelash, and then set the measurement via the graticule. The eye shaped opening allows a user to gaze through the device to a mirror for measuring, and the ruler is printed in reverse so that when gazing in a mirror the type appears to be correctly oriented.
US09226533B2	Apparel incorporating a protective element An article of apparel may include may include a garment portion and at least one protective element. The garment portion and the protective element have a configuration that forms a gap, separation, or pleat structure through, for example, folding or overlapping of a textile element of the garment portion. The gap, separation, or pleat structure may permit the protective element to move independent of other portions of the apparel, thereby enhancing a range of movement of the individual and the overall comfort of the apparel.
US09226529B2	Bib with extendable pouch A bib system includes a liquid resistant flexible body member having a bottom configured to cover a torso of a user extending a lower periphery. A closure system is configured to engage the flexible body member with the torso of the user. A collapsible support structure is integrated with the flexible body member and is coupled to the closure. The collapsible support structure is configured to support the lower periphery of the flexible body member when the closure is engaged so that the bottom of the flexible body member forms an open pouch at the bottom of the flexible body member. The collapsible support structure is also configured not to form the pouch when the flexible body member is not applied around the torso of the user.
US09226524B2	Biopolymer foams as filters for smoking articles A process for preparing a filter plug for a smoking article, such as a cigarette, includes: (a) freeze-drying a solution of a biopolymer to form a structure; and (b) cutting the structure to a predetermined dimension, to thereby prepare a filter plug for a smoking article. Another process for preparing a filter plug for a smoking article, such as a cigarette, includes: (a) extruding a mixture of a foaming agent and a biopolymer comprising a protein to form a structure; and (b) cutting the structure to a predetermined dimension, to thereby form a filter plug for a smoking article.
US09226521B2	Infant formula with probiotics and milk fat globule membrane components A nutritional composition is proposed comprising a probiotic and milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) wherein the MFGM and the probiotics mutually potentiate their respective effects and promote complementary beneficial protective mechanisms that reflect physiological synergy. The nutritional composition can be an infant formula, infant cereals, baby food or health care nutritional product. The synergistic effect can include promoting immune maturation and/or immune education and/or reducing inflammation and/or treating or preventing disease or infections.
US09226519B2	Microwave foam product Shelf stable microwave dessert packaged food products for individual servings comprise a cup; a shelf-stable ready-to-heat uncooked microwave bakeable foam product disposed within the cup, and a peelably removable, low gas permeability sealing membrane. The articles provide high quality finished expanded baked dessert goods by microwave cooking and expansion of the foam.
US09226515B2	Protein concentrate and an aqueous stream containing water-soluble carbohydrates Disclosed are process for contacting a protein containing material with one or more wet-mill streams. The protein content of the protein containing material is increased.
US09226514B2	Decorative apparatus to hold candy An apparatus used to arrange and display decorative items or candy. A narrow stem comprises a plurality of holes running throughout the stem. A plurality of metal rods are inserted into respective holes in the stem. Each metal rod has is attached to a plastic petal, which also comprises a clip. A piece of candy can be attached to each clip and can be supported by each respective petal. The plurality of metal rods arranged in this manner create a visually appealing arrangement of decorative items or dispenser of candy.
US09226513B2	Non-contact printed comestible products and apparatus and method for producing same The present disclosure provides systems, apparatuses, methods and products directed to non-contact printing of confectionery products. The confectionery products may include an edible substrate having a surface and an edible ink printed on the edible surface. The edible ink may cover at least about 5% of the surface. An apparatus of the present disclosure may include a removal device for removing at least a portion of a rolling compound from a confectionery material and a printing device for non-contact printing an edible ink-indicia on the confectionery material. An apparatus of the present disclosure may also include a detection device detecting the presence of confectionery material at a predetermined position.
US09226505B2	4-substituted 1-phenylpyrazole-3-carboxylic acid derivatives as agents against abiotic plant stress The invention relates to the use of 4-substituted 1-phenylpyrazole-3-carboxylic acid derivatives of the general formula (I), or salts thereof, where the radicals in the general formula (I) correspond to the definitions given in the description, for enhancing stress tolerance in plants to abiotic stress, for strengthening plant growth and/or for increasing plant yield, and to selected processes for preparing the compounds mentioned above.
US09226503B2	Composition and method for attraction of emerald ash borer Agrilus planipennis fairmaire (coleoptera: buprestidae) The invention disclosed relates to a novel composition and use thereof, for the attraction and detection of emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire. The composition comprises (3Z)-dodecen-12-olide and ash foliar or cortical volatiles (green leaf volatiles) associated with a prism trap of a color in the green range of the visible light spectrum. A significant increase in the capture of male A. planipennis is achieved when traps were deployed in the upper tree canopy. This invention is the first demonstration of increased attraction with a combination of a pheromone and a green leaf volatile in a Buprestid species.
US09226498B2	Safening of 4-amino-3-chloro-6-(4-chloro-2-fluoro-3-methoxyphenyl)pyridine-2-carboxylic acid and derviatives thereof on cereal crops Herbicidal injury that might otherwise be caused by 4-amino-3-chloro-6-(4-chloro-2-fluoro-3-methoxyphenyl)pyridine-2-carboxylic acid and agriculturally acceptable salt, ester, and amide derivatives thereof in cereal crops is reduced by concomitant application of florasulam.
US09226497B2	Agricultural compositions Described are agrochemical compositions comprising alkoxylation products according to general formula (I) R1(CO)m—O—[R2O]nR3 (I) wherein R1 is a linear or branched, saturated or unsaturated, optionally hydroxy-functionalized hydrocarbyl radical containing 8 to 30 carbon atoms, R2 is an ethylene, propylene or butylene group or mixtures thereof, R3 is hydrogen or an acyl group containing 1 to 8 carbon atoms, m is 0 or 1, n is an integer between 3 and 100. When R3 is an acyl group, R2 is ethylene, propylene or mixtures thereof, and when R3 is hydrogen, R2 is ethylene, propylene, butylene or mixtures thereof provided that the terminal group represents a butylene oxide unit.
US09226495B2	Disinfection aerosol, method of use and manufacture Aerosols comprising droplets dispersed in a carrier gas, wherein at least some of the droplets contain an antagonist effective to inactivate a biocide are provided. The droplets may contain the biocide and the antagonist that reacts with the biocide to render it harmless. The biocide is used for disinfection or sterilization, and the nature and concentration of the antagonist is selected, or means are provided, to ensure that the time required for the antagonist to render the biocide ineffective is longer than the time required for the biocide to be effective for a desired level of disinfection or sterilization. Methods of manufacture of aerosols are also provided.
US09226491B2	Method of protecting buildings from termite attack The present invention relates to a method for protecting the lower regions of and structure of a building from damage or degradation by termites. The method comprising for the steps of creating a region in the ground below the building having properties hostile to termites whereby to discourage them from approaching the vicinity of the building. In one embodiment means for creating a hostile region in the ground below the building are provided by a pump which creates a superatmospheric pressure field in this region. In another embodiment, treatment agents such as ozone may be delivered to the ground region in order to provide a hostile effect to the termites by affecting their pheromone chemistry and/or their reproductive or communicative behavior. A secondary function of the present invention relates to the creation of a forced ventilation of the habitable region within which the apparatus of the present invention resides.
US09226490B2	Agricultural spraying equipment boom level control system A system and method for controlling the level of a moveable first wing in a vehicle mounted spray system. The vehicle mounted spray system comprises of the moveable first wing and a moveable second wing mounted to a common support structure to form a pair of opposed independently moveable wings extending laterally from the vehicle. The method and system comprise a first step of determining an initial control signal for the moveable first wing based on a position of the moveable first wing 210, then determining a compensating signal; and then controlling the level of the moveable first wing based on the initial control signal and the compensating signal.
US09226489B2	Heat system for killing pests The present disclosure generally relates to the field of pest elimination including all life stages of bed bugs. The present disclosure includes articles, systems, and methods of heat treatment to target and kill pests.
US09226485B2	Fishing reel and drive mechanism therefor A fishing reel employs a driving mechanism having a cooperative pinion gear and a face gear. The face gear has a tooth form with a cross-section wherein the cross-section of the inner pitch portion is less than the cross-section of an outer pitch portion. The pinion gear effectively engages the inner pitch portion less than an outer pitch portion to provide a more uniform distribution of torque and to improve the wearing rate of the gear mechanism.
US09226478B1	Elevated pet feeding apparatus An elevated pet feeding apparatus including an elevated base, a plurality of legs disposed on a lower surface of the base, a pair of lower support columns disposed on an upper surface of the base, a pair of upper support columns, a pair of pins configured to adjustably mount the pair of upper support columns within the pair of lower support columns, a pair of V-shaped support frames rotatably secured to a top side of the pair of upper support columns, a platform disposed atop the pair of support frames, and a pair of circular apertures disposed in the platform.
US09226476B2	Portable corral Ranchers and other owners of livestock commonly have a need for a transportable means of setting up a corral for numerous purposes. Sorting must take place in a remote location or a location without a permanent corral, which are prohibitively time consuming and expensive to build. A preferred embodiment of the Portable Corral is comprised of a central chute, a left corral area, and a right corral area. The central chute is comprised of a back chute, a front chute, a left central chute panel and a right central chute panel. The front chute is comprised of a breakaway hitch that in turn is comprised of a left breakaway hitch section and a right breakaway hitch section. The left and right breakaway hitch sections are collapsed together to comprise the breakaway hitch used to connect to the towing vehicle.
US09226472B2	Lettuce variety 79-51 RZ The present invention relates to a Lactuca sativa seed designated 79-51 RZ, which exhibits resistance against downy mildew races Bl:1 to Bl:28 and CA-I, CA-IIA, CA-IIB, CA-III, CA-IV, CA-V, CA-VI, CA-VII, CA-VIII (Bremia lactucae), resistance against Lettuce mosaic virus (LMV:1), resistance against Currant-lettuce aphid (Nasonovia ribisnigri) biotype 0, and leaves which are crisp, deeply-incised, nicely-frilled, and have a medium red colored apical margin. The present invention also relates to a Lactuca sativa plant produced by growing the 79-51 RZ seed. The invention further relates to methods for producing the lettuce cultivar, represented by lettuce variety 79-51 RZ.
US09226469B2	Plants and seeds of hybrid corn variety CH432094 According to the invention, there is provided seed and plants of the hybrid corn variety designated CH432094. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of the variety CH432094, and to methods for producing a corn plant produced by crossing a corn plant of variety CH432094 with itself or with another corn plant, such as a plant of another variety. The invention further relates to genetic complements of plants of variety CH432094.
US09226468B1	Maize hybrid X08D395 A novel maize variety designated X08D395 and seed, plants and plant parts thereof, produced by crossing Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. proprietary inbred maize varieties. Methods for producing a maize plant that comprises crossing hybrid maize variety X08D395 with another maize plant. Methods for producing a maize plant containing in its genetic material one or more traits introgressed into X08D395 through backcross conversion and/or transformation, and to the maize seed, plant and plant part produced thereby. This invention relates to the maize variety X08D395, the seed, the plant produced from the seed, and variants, mutants, and minor modifications of maize variety X08D395. This invention further relates to methods for producing maize varieties derived from maize variety X08D395.
US09226458B2	Winding apparatus for covering openings in wall portions The invention relates to a winding apparatus for covering an opening. According to the invention transmitting means are provided for interaction between a drive unit and a winding element, having a windable pulling element which is received between a first rotatable winding body and a second rotatable winding body in such a manner that the pulling element can be wound and unwound by way of the first winding body which is driveable by the drive unit, wherein the second winding body and the winding element are rotatably coupled together and wherein the cover element can be wound by way of an unwinding operation of the pulling element from the second winding body.
US09226455B2	Molded planter with wide upper rim A planter includes a concave container and a separate rim, both formed from a thermoplastic material. The container has a brim extending radially outward from an upper portion of the container. A vertical wall extends upward from the brim. The rim has a top wall with outer and inner side walls extending downward from its edges. The upper surface of the brim of the container comprises a stop inward of the vertical wall such that when the rim is advanced onto the upper end of the container, a lower portion of the inner rim wall confronts the stop to inhibit further advancement.
US09226453B2	Loop knotter system for a baler A tying mechanism comprising a bill hook, twine holding device for holding strands of twines, a cutting arm adapted for cutting twines between the bill hook and the twine holding device while moving between a rest position and an extended position, a drive adapted to make the bill hook perform at least a first full rotation and a second full rotation and to move the cutting arm from the rest position to the extended position and back during a full operation cycle to form respectively a first and a second consecutive knot wherein the tying mechanism further comprises a tension regulating mechanism able to provide and regulate the tension exerted to the twine holding device during the operation of the tying mechanism.
US09226437B2	Fertilizer applicator with coulter for minimum soil displacement An applicator for applying dry fertilizer or livestock waste in the form of a slurry beneath the soil surface with minimum soil displacement includes a leading spring-cushioned, conical-shaped, wavy coulter angularly offset from the direction of travel which displaces soil laterally in forming a furrow adapted to receive fertilizer. The coulter is trailed by a single, or a pair of, rotary blade(s) which fill the furrow created by the conical-shaped, wavy coulter, covering the deposited fertilizer. A second embodiment includes a second wavy coulter disposed between the leading coulter and the trailing rotary blades for directing soil in a laterally opposed direction from the soil displaced by the leading coulter in forming a wider furrow. The single conical coulter and dual conical coulter embodiments are interchangeable in the applicator, and can be removed and replaced with a curved shank and sweep assembly to convert to sweep fertilizer application.
US09232684B2	Power converter A power converter includes: a plurality of heat generators, at least some of which are arranged within a wind tunnel portion; and a housing for enclosing the wind tunnel portion through which a cooling air flows. The wind tunnel portion includes a first and second duct each having a cooling air inlet and outlet port, a cooling air flow path, and a blower fan. Further, the cooling air flow paths overlap with each other in a parallel arrangement relationship; the cooling air inlet ports of the first duct and the second duct, and the cooling air outlet ports of the first duct and the second duct are arranged adjacent to each other; and the heat generators divisionally arranged within the first duct and the second duct.
US09232674B2	Cover structure and electronic device using the same A cover structure for an electronic device comprises a protective cover and a touch element. The protective cover is connected with the electronic device, and the protective cover is capable of being rotated with respect to the electronic device to a front side or a rear side of the electronic device. The touch element is disposed at the protective cover and can be exerted by an external force to touch the electronic device and activate corresponding functions of the electronic device.
US09232667B2	Display device A display device includes a casing, a frame, a backlight module, at least one cable, and a display panel. The casing has a display opening. The frame is disposed in an inner edge of the display opening, wherein the frame has at least a cable management groove and a support surface. The backlight module is disposed on the frame. The cable is disposed in the cable management groove. The display panel is disposed on the frame and located in the display opening, wherein an edge portion of the display panel is located on the support surface, and the support surface supports the edge portion of the display panel. A part of the cable management groove is located under the display panel and at least partially overlapped with the edge portion.
US09232656B2	Wiring board and method for manufacturing the same A wiring board includes a substrate having an opening portion, multiple electronic devices positioned in the opening portion such that the electronic devices are arrayed in the lateral direction of each of the electronic devices, and an insulation layer formed on the substrate such that the insulation layer covers the electronic devices in the opening portion of the substrate. The substrate has a wall surface defining the opening portion and formed such that the opening portion is partially partitioned and the electronic devices are kept from making contact with each other.
US09232644B2	Wiring substrate There is provided a wiring substrate. The wiring substrate includes: a first wiring layer; a first insulating layer on the first wiring layer; a first coupling agent layer on the first insulating layer; a first copper/tin alloy layer on the first coupling agent layer; a first via hole formed through the first copper/tin alloy layer, the first coupling agent layer, and the first insulating layer to reach the first wiring layer; a metal catalyst provided on only a sidewall of the first via hole; a seed layer provided on the metal catalyst and formed only on the sidewall of the first via hole; and a metal plating layer formed on the first copper/tin alloy layer and the seed layer and filled in the first via hole to contact the first wiring layer.
US09232642B2	Wiring substrate, method for manufacturing the wiring substrate, and semiconductor package A wiring substrate includes an insulating layer including a reinforcement member and having a first surface and a second surface positioned on an opposite side of the first surface, an electrode pad exposed from the first surface, a layered body including first insulating layers and being formed on the second surface, the first insulating layers having a first insulating material as a main component, another layered body including second insulating layers and being formed on the layered body, the second insulating layers having a second insulating material as a main component, and another electrode pad exposed from a surface of the another layered body that is opposite to the layered body. The number of the first insulating layers is equal to that of the second insulating layers. The first insulating layers have a thermal expansion coefficient that is greater than that of the second insulating layers.
US09232629B2	Metal core board for vehicle-mountable junction box Provided is a metal core board which has a preferable function for a vehicle-mountable junction box, specifically, is reduced in size or improved in mounting efficiency. A metal core board for a vehicle-mountable junction box, which is mountable on the vehicle-mountable junction box, wherein a core plate forming an intermediate layer of the metal core board has a plurality of slits and an island surrounded by separating connection parts present between the slits; and in the state where the island is held between insulating layers stacked on both of two surfaces of the core plate, through-bores 46 are formed at the separating connection parts to remove the separating connection parts and the island is made electrically independent from a remaining part of the core plate while being held between the insulating layers. Thus, a plurality of circuits can be formed.
US09232628B2	Method and system for plasma-assisted ion beam processing A system for processing a substrate may include a first chamber operative to define a first plasma and a second chamber adjacent the first chamber, where the second chamber is electrically isolated from the first chamber, and configured to define a second plasma. The system may also include an extraction assembly disposed between the first chamber and second chamber to provide at least plasma isolation between the first plasma and the second plasma, a substrate assembly configured to support the substrate in the second chamber; and a biasing system configured to supply a plurality of first voltage pulses to direct first ions from the first plasma through the second chamber towards the substrate during one time period, and to supply a plurality of second voltage pulses to generate the second plasma and to attract second ions from the second plasma during another time period.
US09232626B2	Wafer grounding using localized plasma source An apparatus may include a substrate support portion, a plasma generation chamber, electrodes, and a power source. The substrate support portion supports a substrate including an insulating layer and a substrate bulk. The plasma generation chamber may include chamber wall portions, a gas port, and a plasma application aperture and is configured to contain a gas. The plasma application aperture may be covered by a portion of the substrate. Each electrode may protrude into or extend into an interior portion of the plasma generation chamber. The power source may be coupled to a particular electrode, and the power source may be configured to apply a voltage to the particular electrode. Application of the voltage to the particular electrode generates a plasma within the plasma generation chamber, whereby generation of the plasma results in a conductive path through the insulating layer of the substrate between the plasma and the substrate bulk.
US09232616B2	Lighting apparatus A lighting apparatus includes a light source module and a power supply module. The light source module includes an electrical light source and a transmitter circuit configured to transmit a wireless signal containing information about the light source. The power supply module is connected to the light source module and includes a power supply circuit configured to generate electric power for the light source, a receiver circuit configured to receive the wireless signal transmitted from the transmitter circuit, and a control circuit configured to control the power supply circuit in accordance with the wireless signal received through the receiver circuit.
US09232612B2	Apparatus and method for luminance control A control unit for controlling luminance in a space, the control unit being configured to estimate a trajectory of a target relative to the space, and control the luminance in the space based on the estimated trajectory and on a function rate corresponding to an adaptability of the target eye to changes in luminance.
US09232601B2	Lighting system The lighting system includes lighting devices and a controller of the lighting devices. The controller includes a display unit and a storage unit which stores area information including target areas in which the lighting devices are arranged, the identification information of the lighting devices, the lighting information regarding different lighting conditions of the lighting devices, and scene setting information regarding a state change pattern for changing a lighting state of one or more lighting devices allotted to each target area. The control unit controls the display unit to display a scene operation screen having pictorial signs each indicating one piece of scene setting information, and selects, if one of the pictorial signs is touched, a corresponding scene setting information represented by the pictorial sign, and controls the display unit to display a state change pattern of each lighting device allotted to the selected piece of scene setting information.
US09232595B2	Backlight driving circuit and liquid crystal display device A backlight driving circuit and a liquid crystal display device are disclosed. The backlight driving circuit is utilized for driving at least one light emitting diode bar and includes a power supply module, a conversion module, a comparison module, and a control module. The power supply module provides a driving current for the light emitting diode bar. The conversion module generates a conversion voltage according to the driving current. The comparison module compares the conversion voltage with a reference voltage. The control module controls whether the power supply module provides the driving current for the light emitting diode bar according to whether the conversion voltage is greater than the reference voltage. The backlight driving circuit and the liquid crystal display device of the present invention can limit the driving current flowing through the light emitting diode bar.
US09232583B2	Flyback boost circuit, LED backlight driving circuit and liquid crystal device A flyback boost circuit is disclosed. The flyback boost circuit includes a converter, a switch module, a driving module and an output diode. The converter includes n number of primary coils and one secondary col. The switch module includes n number of switch components. Homonymous ends of the n number of primary coils respectively connect to the n number of switch components. The other end of the n number of primary coils respectively connects to an input voltage. The homonymous ends of the secondary coil connect to a positive end of the output diode, and the other end of the secondary coil is grounded. An output capacitor is connected between a negative end of the output diode and the ground. The driving module respectively provides control signals to n number of switch components such that only one of n number of switch components is sequentially turned on within a time period for which the duty cycle ratio equals to D. A sum of the duty cycle ratio of the n number of switch components is D. Wherein n is an integer larger than or equaling to 2. In addition, the LED backlight driving circuit having the above flyback boost circuit and the liquid crystal device having the LED backlight driving circuit are disclosed.
US09232582B2	Driver circuits for solid state light bulb assemblies A driver circuit of solid state light bulb assemblies including light emitting diodes comprises a first power converter stage converting an input voltage into an intermediate voltage; a second power converter stage converting the intermediate voltage into a drive voltage for the light source; and a controller. The controller comprises a first control unit generating a first control signal for the first power converter stage; a second control unit generating a second control signal for the second power converter stage; and a state control unit determining a target state of the light source; wherein the first and second control units are receiving information indicative of the target state; and wherein the first and second control units are generating the first and second control signals based on the information indicative of the target state.
US09232571B2	Flexible display device A flexible display device includes a flexible display panel, a plurality of supports on a first surface of the flexible display panel, the plurality of supports being spaced apart from each other, and an actuator on the first surface of the flexible display panel, the actuator being between the supports. The actuator includes an electroactive polymer layer, and a first electrode layer and a second electrode layer that are respectively arranged on an upper surface and a lower surface of the electroactive polymer layer, and the actuator having a property such that when a voltage is applied to the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer, an area of the electroactive polymer layer is changed.
US09232561B2	Wireless communication device and wireless communication method A wireless communication device has a plurality of wireless units each configured to cover a different wireless communication range and be capable of receiving data in the corresponding wireless communication range, a status information generator provided corresponding to the wireless unit utilized to receive data among the plurality of wireless units, in order to generate status information concerning the wireless communication range of the wireless unit utilized to receive the data, and a storage configured to store the status information in association with the data.
US09232558B1	Multi sector antenna and mesh network system A multi-sector antenna system is disclosed that includes two or more flat panel antennas facing different directions and configured to communicate with two separate sites using millimeter wave RF signals. A processing module is communicatively coupled to each of the flat panel antennas. In some embodiments, the processing module may be configured to receive incoming RF signals from a first site via a first flat panel antenna, convert the incoming RF signals to outgoing RF signals, and transmit the outgoing RF signals to a second site via the second flat panel antenna. The flat panel antennas may be configured to transmit and receive RF signals at frequencies in the range of about 57 GHz to 86 GHz. The multi-sector antenna system may be utilized in a mesh network system.
US09232551B2	System and method for transmitting data packets to a plurality of mobile terminations through a single IP connection The invention refers to a radio network entity for transmitting data packets from an IP gateway in a telecommunications network to a user terminal via a plurality of mobile terminations through a single IP connection. The radio network entity comprises: a module for establishing IP connections between the IP gateway and mobile terminations, for activating first and second IP connections and first and second radio connections in response to respective requests from first and second mobile terminations; a packet splitter that applies a splitting algorithm to determine which radio connection is to be used to transmit which data packets, the packet splitter being in communication with a packet combiner in the user terminal; wherein the packet splitter splits the data packets coming only from the first IP connection selected by the user terminal as the only IP connection through which the data packets are received, thereby transmitting data packets over said first and second radio connections for combining at the packet combiner.
US09232548B2	Fast initial link setup discovery frames A method for use in a wireless station includes receiving a fast initial link setup discovery (FD) frame from an access point (AP) between instances of a full beacon frame and determining whether to associate with the AP based on the received FD frame. The FD frame includes FD frame contents and a FD frame control field. The FD frame control field includes a service set identifier (SSID) length field, corresponding to a length of a variable length SSID field in the FD frame contents; and any one or more of: a capability presence indicator, an access network options presence indicator, a security presence indicator, an AP configuration change count presence indicator, or an AP next target beacon transmission time presence indicator. Each of the presence indicators is used to indicate whether a corresponding field is present in the FD frame contents.
US09232539B2	Communication system, communication terminal, and communication method A terminal mode of at least a part of terminals in a centralized control area and terminals in a distributed control area is set to a time division control mode for performing communication in a time division manner. The terminals in the centralized control area, the terminal mode of which is other than the time division control mode, are set in a centralized control mode. The terminals, the terminal mode of which is other than the time division control mode, are set in a distributed control mode. The terminals set in the time division control mode perform transmission in a communication period in which communication is permitted. The terminals set in the centralized control mode and the terminals set in the distributed control mode perform communication without depending on the communication period.
US09232533B2	Method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving scheduling assignments in a communication system A method and apparatus are provided for receiving a Scheduling Assignment (SA) by a User Equipment (UE) in a communication system in which a base station transmits the SA including at least one Information Element (IE). The method includes receiving the SA; identifying if a first IE included in the received SA is set with a first predetermined value and at least one bit in a second IE included in the received SA is set with a second predetermined value; and performing an action corresponding to a semi-persistent scheduling, if the first IE included in the received SA is set with the first predetermined value and the at least one bit in the second IE included in the received SA is set with the second predetermined value.
US09232530B2	Managing a radio transmission between a base station and a user equipment It is described a method for managing a radio transmission between a base station and a user equipment, wherein a communication channel is used for the radio transmission, wherein the communication channel includes a plurality of channel resources and is based on a MIMO transmission scheme. The method includes dividing the plurality of channel resources into a set of channel resource regions, assigning a MIMO rank to each channel resource region, wherein the MIMO rank is indicative for a number of channel resources to be used for a radio transmission within a corresponding channel resource region, selecting a channel resource region for the radio transmission between the base station and the user equipment, and managing the radio transmission between the base station and the user equipment based on the selected channel resource region and the corresponding assigned MIMO rank.
US09232529B2	Node and method for transmission mode switching for downlink transmission in downlink channel The present invention discloses a node for transmission mode switching for downlink transmission in a downlink channel (100), comprising: a configuring unit (110) adapted to configure an initial transmission mode for the downlink transmission as a default transmission mode; a deriving unit (120) adapted to derive channel quality metric (CQM) of the downlink channel; a first determining unit (130) adapted to determine a first predefined threshold on the basis of link level simulation of a first transmission mode and a second transmission mode; and a first switching unit (140) adapted to switch the transmission mode from the initial transmission mode to the first transmission mode or the second transmission mode on the basis of the CQM and the first predefined threshold. The present invention provides a simple, direct and efficient approach for transmission mode switching for downlink transmission in a downlink channel on the basis of available feedback from UE (or other kinds of terminals if appropriate) and/or link adaptation decisions from eNB (or other kinds of base stations if appropriate), provides high peak rate while maintaining cell coverage, and provides a proprietary solution without any impact on protocol/standard or UE implementation.
US09232525B2	Selection of a radio access technology resource based on radio access technology resource historical information The disclosed subject matter provides for selecting a radio access technology resource based on historical data related to the radio access technology resource. Location information can be employed to determine a radio access technology resource. Historical information related to the radio access technology resource can then be employed to determine the suitability of the radio access technology resource. A set of radio access technology resources can be ordered or ranked to allow selection of a suitable radio access technology resource from the set. Incorporation of historical information can provide for additional metrics in the selection of a radio access technology resource over simple contemporaneous radio access technology resource information. In some embodiments timed fingerprint location (TFL) information can be employed to determine a location.
US09232523B2	Allocating resources for shared and non-shared downlink wireless resources Sending information to user equipment (UE) indicating which time slots are not for use by a downlink shared channel is provided. Downlink shared channel resources in shared channel time slots are allocated for UEs. The UEs are subsequently sent downlink shared channel data in the shared channel time slots and sent non-downlink shared channel data to UEs in non-shared channel time slots.
US09232517B2	Method for scheduling bundling in wireless access system and apparatus for same Disclosed are a method for scheduling bundling in a wireless access system and an apparatus for same. In particular, the method includes the steps of: transmitting bundled downlink control information (DCI), including a plurality of pieces of downlink control information, to a terminal through a single physical downlink control channel (PDCCH); and transmitting downlink data to the terminal through a plurality of physical downlink shared channels (PDSCH) scheduled by the bundled DCI.
US09232513B2	Method and apparatus for signaling power information in wireless communication system A method and apparatus for signaling power information in a wireless communication system are provided. A base station apparatus co-schedules a plurality of User Equipments (UEs) to at least one resource element, and transmits power information indicating transmit power values, which are allocated for the co-scheduled UEs, to the co-scheduled UEs. The power information includes first power information including information about a pilot signal power value and a transmit power value for a first UE among the co-scheduled UEs, and second power information indicating a transmit power value for each of at least one second UE except for the first UE among the co-scheduled UEs.
US09232510B2	Selecting uplink sounding sub-carriers A method and apparatus of selecting a number of uplink sounding sub-carriers are disclosed. One method includes estimating an uplink channel of between a base station and a subscriber. A time domain channel response is determined from the estimated uplink channel. A sub-carrier distribution of uplink sounding sub-carriers is selected based on characteristics of the time domain channel response, wherein the distribution defines a spacing of pilot sub-carriers within the uplink sounding symbol. The subscriber transmits uplink sounding symbols having the selected sub-carrier distribution.
US09232502B2	Method and system for uplink multi-user multiple-input-multiple-output communication in wireless networks Wireless communication in a wireless network comprises a wireless station obtaining a transmission opportunity period (TXOP) for communicating with an access point (AP) over a wireless communication channel. The wireless station sends an announcement to the AP to share the transmission opportunity period with at least another wireless station, as a multi-user transmission opportunity period for simultaneously transmitting data from said wireless stations to the AP on multiple uplink (UL) spatial streams over the wireless channel.
US09232497B2	Mobile communication system and paging message processing method thereof A paging message processing method is capable of handling paging message processing delay in handover from a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) network to a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network. A Mobile Switching Center (MSC) includes determines, when an inbound call occurs, whether a Mobility Management Entity (MME) system exists; transmits, when no MME exists, a paging message over an IU interface; determines, when no response message is received, whether a location registration request is received form the MME; transmits, when the location registration request is received, a location registration response to the MME system to deliver the paging message via the MME system; and processes, when a paging response is received, the inbound call. In a heterogeneous network handover from a WCDMA network to an LTE network, the MSC hands over the paging procedure control to the MME immediately so as to facilitate processing the inbound call.
US09232496B2	Mobile terminal and method of controlling the same A mobile terminal including a wireless communication unit configured to perform wireless communication; and a controller configured to receive an incoming call from another terminal through the wireless communication unit, receive an input of a user action, when receiving the incoming call through the wireless communication unit, measure location information of the mobile terminal, if the input of the user action satisfies a preset condition, generate user context information using the measured location information of the mobile terminal and stored user schedule information, and transmit a phone rejection message including the user context information to the other terminal.
US09232491B2	Mobile device geolocation GPS receivers are included in many mobile communications devices; however, there are circumstances where GPS is unavailable or undesirable to use. In an implementation, a device identifies nearby wireless signals, such as Wi-Fi access points and cell towers, and compares them to a database of known signals to determine an approximate location for the device. Because such a database can be large and change rapidly, it may not be appropriate to store the database entirely on a device. Instead, a server may store the database. In an implementation, to minimize the time required to determine a device's location, the device may first transmit location-related information to a server and receive a subset of the database corresponding to an area near the device so that future locations nearby can be determined without needing to communicate with the server.
US09232489B2	Receiver design for geo-location and/or phase coherent processing A receiver system using commercially available super high-speed data converters that are able to directly digitize at multiple GHz sampling rates with sufficient accuracy to fit many radio applications. Unlike conventional receivers, no down converters or mixing stages are required. Instead it uses a bank of RF filters from which the desired RF filter, based on the frequency band of interest, is switched in. The frequency spectrum scan rate is very fast as the settling time for the simple RF front-end is small and the speed of RF switching is high. The filtered output is digitized at a multiple GHz sampling rate and all signal processing is done by FPGA or a combination of FPGA and/or a general-purpose processor.
US09232478B2	Frequency scan method for determining the system center frequency for LTE TDD A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product for wireless communication are provided in which a set of time intervals is obtained from a received radio frequency signal. A power profile is determined for a frequency spectrum segment in each time interval. A first list is used to identify frequency spectrum segments that exhibit a power or energy profile over a range of frequencies associated with a downlink channel bandwidth, and a second list is used to identify frequency spectrum segments that have a total or average energy greater than a threshold energy relative to a noise floor. An absolute radio frequency channel number (ARFCN) of a wireless communication system is determined based on the time intervals identified in the first and second lists.
US09232474B2	Communication method of a terminal and an access point for multi-user transmission opportunity (TXOP) power saving Provided is a terminal and an access point in an active mode for multi-user transmission opportunity (TXOP) power saving that may decrease power consumption by changing an operation state of the terminal from an awake state to a sleep state if there is no stream of data to be transmitted during a TXOP duration.
US09232469B2	Early ending of frame reception An additional cyclic redundancy check (CRC) is inserted in IEEE 802.11 beacon or data frames prior to the end of the frame, at a location following information sufficient for the receiving station to determine whether the frame is from an overlapping basic service set or intended for a different station and to extract other necessary or useful information such as a time of the next full beacon. Upon detecting the CRC, the receiving STA can terminate reception of the frame early to conserve power, and then enter a low power operational mode to further conserve power.
US09232459B2	Method and apparatus of supporting wireless femtocell communications A method and apparatus of routing a call in a femtocell network are disclosed. In one example call routing method, a call is originated from the mobile station via a femtocell access point and the call is transmitted to a femtocell gateway, a mobile switching center and a carrier gateway server and onto an enterprise gateway server to obtain policy information. A routing policy is determined based on the obtained policy information and the call is routed to its destination based on the routing policy. The call may be routed via local media from a femtocell access point directly to the enterprise gateway server. The call routing procedures may implement the Iuh protocol and/or the session initiation protocol (SIP) for call signaling in the femtocell network. Call routing may be performed in a wireless cellular communications network or an enterprise network environment.
US09232450B2	Radio transmitting/receiving apparatus and method, terminal apparatus, base station apparatus and wireless communication system A terminal apparatus (1) which is a radio transmitting/receiving apparatus receives, from a femto cell base station (home eNB), a pilot channel signal for reception quality measurement and a synchronization channel signal for synchronization. The terminal apparatus (1) has a whitelist stored therein indicative of an accessible femto cell, and determines whether or not a CSG cell of handover destination is accessible based on a PCI of the CSG cell acquired from the synchronization channel and the whitelist. The terminal apparatus (1) then adds the PCI and a CGI to a measurement report for reception quality, and transmits the measurement report to a macro eNB (base station apparatus (2)). In this way, it is possible to suppress wasteful signaling and prevent unnecessary resources from being reserved even when two or more CSG cells that use the same PCI are present in the macro cell.
US09232444B2	Method and apparatus for performing handover between core network entities in a packet-switched network A method and apparatus for performing a L3 handover between CNs in a packet-switched network are provided. When a UE moves from an old RAN to a new RAN, the UE sends a measurement report message including cell information to the old RAN. The old or new RAN determines whether to perform a L3 handover. If the L3 handover is required, a tunnel is established between the new RAN and a new CN. The UE performs a handover from the old RAN to the new RAN, without establishing a tunnel between the new RAN and an old CN. Upon detection of the movement of the UE, the new RAN sends a L2 handover complete message to the old RAN. After moving to the new RAN, the UE acquires a new IP address, performs the L3 handover, and communicates with the new CN through the new RAN.
US09232440B2	Method and apparatus for controlling system overload in a wireless communication system The present invention relates to a method for controlling system overload in a wireless communication system. The method comprises: a first step in which a mobility management entity (MME) that has received a tracking region update request message from a first terminal transmits a location update request message to a home subscriber server (HSS); a second step in which, if the HSS has determined that a system overload has occurred, the HSS sets MME-backoff time for preventing the transmission of a request message to the HSS, and transmits a location update rejection message including said MME-backoff time to the MME; and a third step in which the MME drives a backoff timer corresponding to said MME-backoff time and rejects a TAU update request message from a terminal received prior to the completion of the driving of the backoff timer.
US09232436B2	Single MPDU frame signaling Embodiments of systems and methods for providing single MPDU frame signaling are generally described herein. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.
US09232434B2	System and method for WiFi offload Embodiments are provided for enabling WiFi offload by integrating the WiFi and cellular networks operations at a radio access network level. The embodiments include a WiFi network component configured to determine whether to send over a cellular air interface a packet designated for WiFi according to a predefined rule. If the rule is met, the WiFi network component sends the packet to a cellular network component over the cellular air interface. The cellular network component is configured to process the received packet for cellular transmission, and transmit the packet using the cellular air interface to a receiver device. The predefined rule comprises at least one of sending the packet using the cellular air interface if the packet belongs to a predefined packet type, if the packet has a size below a predefined threshold size, and if the nature of the destination address for the packet is a broadcast address.
US09232428B2	Aperiodic channel state information reporting method, radio base station apparatus and user terminal In order to report aperiodic channel state information (A-CSI) flexibly even when a user terminal performs radio communication using a plurality of component carriers (CCs) in an HetNet environment, the present invention provides an aperiodic channel sate information reporting method comprising: a step of transmitting in advance, from a pico base station (PeNB) to pico UE, channel state measurement target information having information about presence or absence of reporting of channel state information and a subframe as a measurement target associated with trigger bit information indicating information about presence or absence of reporting of channel state information and a component carrier as a measurement target (step ST401); and a step of reporting channel state information of the subframe and the component carrier designated by the trigger bit information transmitted on a PDCCH, to the pico base station (PeNB) on a PUSCH (step ST406).
US09232423B2	Method and device for maintaining the performance quality of a communication system in the presence of narrow band interference A system that incorporates teachings of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a process for measuring by a system having a processor, within a wide frequency band, signal power levels received in specified narrow frequency bands, determining an average composite wideband power level that excludes a portion of the power levels of the received signals, detecting interference according to an adaptive threshold based on the average composite wideband power level, and configuring a filter to suppress at least a portion of the interference. Other embodiments are disclosed.
US09232420B1	Automated network testing using in-progress call detail records A method provides automated testing of a network. The method comprises controlling an originating mobile communication device by a server and commanding origination of a call from the originating mobile communication device to a destination communication device. The call is associated with a raw call detail record that is unprocessed. The raw call detail record is monitored on a raw call detail record storage. The method also comprises confirming the raw call detail record accounts for origination of the call from the originating mobile communication device. The destination communication device is controlled by the server, and control is confirmed based on a communication log. The method captures the confirmation that the raw call detail record accounts for the origination of the call and the confirmation that the destination communication device is controlled by the server. Based analysis of the captured confirmations, a baseline metric of expected test results is generated.
US09232417B2	Integrated repeater for integratedly relaying various types of communication signals, and integrated relay system The present invention relates to an integrated repeater and an integrated relay system. The integrated repeater of the present invention receives a signal from a main repeater for relaying signals transmitted from upper devices, and comprises a demultiplexer configured to demultiplex the multiplexed signal of an Ethernet signal and a mobile communication signal received from the main repeater, and separate the signals into the mobile communication signal and the Ethernet signal; a first converter configured to convert the mobile communication signal separated from the demultiplexer into a radio frequency (RF) signal, and transmit the converted RF signal; a second converter configured to convert the Ethernet signal separated from the demultiplexer into a wireless LAN signal, and transmit the converted wireless LAN signal; and a switching unit configured to deliver a signal received from the main repeater to either the demultiplexer or the second converter, depending on whether a fault of the mobile communication signal is generated.
US09232416B2	Uplink power control for distributed wireless communication A method and apparatus for power control for distributed wireless communication is disclosed including one or more power control loops associated with a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU). Each power control loop may include open loop power control or closed loop power control. A multi-phase power control method is also disclosed with each phase representing a different time interval and a WTRU sends transmissions at different power levels to different set of node-Bs or relay stations during different phases to optimize communications.
US09232412B2	Method for minimization of drive tests, method for collecting terminal information, terminal, and network element The present invention discloses a method for minimization of drive tests, a method for collecting terminal information, a terminal, and a network element, which belongs to the field of communication technologies. The method includes: in a process of activating a minimization of drive tests MDT task, checking, by a network element, a consent type of a user corresponding to a selected terminal; sending a MDT task activation command to the selected terminal according to a check result of the consent type; after receiving measured data reported by the selected terminal, performing an operation according to a check result of the consent type. In embodiments of the present invention, check on user consent is implemented in a network detection process, thereby avoiding a case that a user equipment is forced to report personal information without permission of the user and improving the user experience.
US09232411B2	Systems and methods for routing home area network (HAN) messages Embodiments of the disclosure can provide systems and methods for routing home area network (HAN) messages. In one embodiment, a system can be provided. The system can include at least one memory that stores computer-executable instructions; at least one processor configured to access the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions. The computer-executable instructions can receive, by the at least one processor, an instruction for a HAN gateway; send the instruction to a transmission agent for routing to the HAN gateway; and transmit, by the transmission agent, the instruction to the HAN gateway.
US09232410B2	Zero-configuration system and method for network devices The present invention is a zero-configuration system including a registration server connecting (via the Internet) to a network terminal device through a network connection device, and a first network device located in a local area network same as the two devices and having a first identification name and a set of configuration values, wherein the registration server stores the first identification name corresponding to a user information. The network terminal device can login to the registration server by using the user information, and then scan the local area network and, when detecting a second network device having a second identification name not yet stored in the registration server, automatically receive the first identification name from the registration server, obtain the configuration values from the first network device, and configure the second network device according to the configuration values, so as to automatically connect to and access the second network device.
US09232409B2	Binding of an apparatus to a computing device Binding techniques are described that are configured to bind an apparatus for operation with a computing device. A computing device may include one or more object detection sensors that are configured to detect proximity of an object, a wireless communication module configured to support wireless communication, and one or more modules implemented at least partially in hardware. The one or more modules are configured to perform operations that include recognizing a first event as involving detection of proximity of an apparatus by the one or more object detection sensors, recognizing a second event as involving receipt of a wireless communication by the wireless communication module from the apparatus, and responsive to the recognizing of the first and second events, causing the apparatus to be bound for operation with the computing device such that the apparatus is configured to initiate one or more host side commands of the computing device.
US09232405B2	Method and apparatus for inter-cell interference coordination in a wireless communication network One aspect of the teachings herein involves the advantageous use of learned statistical information to improve inter-cell interference coordination (ICIC). The network uses historical signal quality measurements collected over time for wireless communication devices operating within its coverage areas to identify those geographical areas where devices generally experience significant levels of patterned interference. In an example case, the network develops a “map” of the geographical areas that are affected by the transmission patterns of neighboring nodes, and it applies the map to ICIC operations, wherein the serving nodes associated with the affected areas incorporate knowledge of the interfering transmission patterns into the ongoing scheduling of users operating in the affected areas.
US09232404B2	Method, apparatus, and system for data transmission Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method, an apparatus, and a system for data transmission. The method for data transmission includes: determining that data to be transmitted is control plane signaling related to a user equipment that camps on a relay node; and transmitting the data through a first user data bearer established between the relay node and a donor base station, where the first user data bearer provides integrity protection for the data. According to the embodiments of the present invention, when the control plane signaling related to the user equipment that camps on the relay node is transmitted between the relay node and the donor base station, integrity protection is provided for the control plane signaling, and therefore attacks such as the denial of a service attack are prevented.
US09232396B2	Data sharing apparatus and method Disclosed herein is an apparatus and method that enable data sharing to be performed between short-range/middle-range/long-range mobile terminals by minimizing specific intervention of a user. The apparatus includes a social relationship management unit for managing social network group information formed by a user while the user utilizes a social network service. A device recognition and authentication unit identifies a mobile terminal of another party attempting to make a connection and allocates a data communication channel for data exchange, based on device information received from the mobile terminal of the other party attempting to make a connection and the social network group information. A shared data setting unit sets data to be shared with the mobile terminal of the other party between which the data communication channel has been established. A shared data transmission unit transmits the data to be shared to the mobile terminal of the other party.
US09232392B2	Method and apparatus for setting profile A method and apparatus for setting profiles are provided. The profile setting method Includes receiving, from a first terminal, a profile transfer request message that requests transfer of a first profile or portion thereof from a first secure element to a second secure element; sending, to the first terminal, a request message requesting the first profile or portion thereof; receiving, from the first terminal, the first profile or portion thereof; configuring a second profile using the received first profile or portion thereof; and sending, to a second terminal, the configured second profile.
US09232384B2	Method, apparatus, and computer program product for adaptive device discovery in wireless networks Method, apparatus, and computer program product example embodiments enable wireless communication devices to reduce connection latency in high device population environments. In example embodiments, a method is disclosed for creating, at an apparatus, operating parameters for a wireless data channel connection and descriptive information regarding a time interval available to the apparatus for transmission of advertising channel messages and a count of a number of previous transmissions of the advertising channel messages to reduce connection latency in high device population environments; transmitting, by the apparatus, one or more wireless advertising channel messages indicating presence of the data channel connection, the operating parameters associated with the data channel connection, and the descriptive information regarding the time interval available for transmission of advertising channel messages and the count of the number of previous transmissions of the advertising channel messages; and transmitting information on the data channel connection according to the operating parameters.
US09232376B2	Concurrent voice and data service on a same digital radio channel A method, a subscriber unit, and a system provide concurrent voice and data systems and methods that “steal bits” from voice frames for low-speed concurrent data. In this manner, concurrent voice and data is supported over protocols that require voice-only in current operation such as Project 25 (P25). The stealing of bits from voice is done in a manner that is transparent and not noticeable to users. The systems and methods enable replication of signaling on the downlink and wireline segments that is replaced on the uplink, encoding of interleaving blocks that extend across multiple Layer 2 voice logical data units (LDUs), flexibility in replacing voice data in LDUs, indication of the availability of the service and an interleaving schedule, notification of upcoming stealing events via signaling, and the like.
US09232375B1	Mobile voice self service system A Mobile Voice Self Service (MVSS) mobile system that includes an MVSS mobile device, on which a VoiceXML browser is implemented directly. The VoiceXML browser may request a VoiceXML application from a VoiceXML application server and process it. A client system may include the VoiceXML application server that the VoiceXML application is requested from. Upon request, the VoiceXML application may deliver the requested VoiceXML application to the VoiceXML application browser. A vendor media resource system may provide advanced Media Resource Control Protocol (MRCP) services, such as Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) or Text-To-Speech (TTS), to the VoiceXML application that is being processed by the VoiceXML application browser. A call data manager may also be implemented on the MVSS mobile device and may provide call data that, in conjunction with data from the VoiceXML application server, may authorize access to advanced Media Resource Control Protocol (MRCP) services.
US09232369B1	Communication device The communication device comprising a voice communication implementer, a ringing mode implementer, a silent mode implementer, an answering machine implementer, and a caller's information displaying implementer.
US09232360B2	Method and apparatus for providing multimedia broadcast and multicast service (MBMS) in wireless communication system A method for receiving a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising acquiring, by the UE, a predetermined system information block (SIB) from a base station (BS); and upon acquiring the predetermined SIB, transmitting an MBMS interest indication message by the UE to the BS. The predetermined SIB includes information related to MBMS service continuity. Whether the transmitting of the MBMS interest indication message is allowed is provided to the UE through the predetermined SIB.
US09232353B2	Approaches for device location and communication An electronic device can utilize image capture technology to detect the presence and location of another device. Using this information, the electronic device can display, in a user interface, a graphical element representing a detected device, along with identity information and the location of the detected device relative to the electronic device. The location of each detected device relative to the electronic device can be tracked and thus the graphical element can be updated in the user interface.
US09232351B1	Location management utilizing initial position for mobile networks The present invention provides a method for updating a mobile terminal (MT) for a mobile communication network when the MT crosses a boundary of a first location-update (LA) area. The method comprises determining a second LA to be assigned to the MT for replacing the first LA. The second LA is characterized by a LA center and a LA size, both determined by optimizing them in a sense that a mean total location-management cost is minimized without restricting the LA center to be fixed at the initial position. The initial position is defined as the location where the MT performs a latest location update at the first LA before crossing the boundary. This invention also provides schemes of partitioning the second LA into sub-paging areas for use in paging the MT when a call arrives at the network, so as to minimize the paging cost while satisfying delay requirements.
US09232347B2	Apparatus and method for playing music Provided is an apparatus and method for playing music, which can play music by simply sharing the music with an external device. An apparatus for playing music includes a first portable terminal and a second portable terminal. The first portable terminal transmits FM channel information of an FM transmitter, which is set to broadcast in-play music thereof, and an FM radio application execution command through near field communication (NFC). The second portable terminal receives the FM channel information and the FM radio application execution command from the first portable terminal through the NFC, then executes the FM radio application based on the FM channel information to receive and play the music broadcasted from the first portable terminal.
US09232341B2	Customized application for proximity transactions A method and system for customizing a mobile application running on a mobile communication device of a user. In one implementation, the method includes providing the mobile application to the mobile communication device of the user, the mobile application having a generic platform; determining a special interest group (SIG) that is affiliated with the user; and customizing the generic platform of the mobile application based on information specific to the special interest group (SIG) that is affiliated with the user.
US09232339B2	Mobile push notification Systems and methods are described herein that provide a mobile push notification system that sends notifications to various types of mobile devices using a single cloud based interface. One example embodiment includes a registration logic configured to receive device data from a mobile device. A record of the device data is stored in a database. A token generator creates a registration token that identifies the mobile device. The registration logic is facilitates communication between the mobile device and a vendor service when the registration token is received from the mobile device.
US09232335B2	Networked speaker system with follow me In a multi-speaker audio system for, e.g., a home entertainment system or other entertainment system, each networked-speaker (wired or wireless) is activated or deactivated as appropriate such that audio play follows a user as the user moves around the home.
US09232330B2	Method and apparatus for determining an amplification factor of a hearing aid device An amplification factor for a hearing aid device is generated by way of the following steps: forming a numerator, wherein the numerator includes a total with a first total component which is formed by means of multiplication of a strength of an approximately undisturbed signal with a first weighting and a second total component, which is formed by multiplication of a strength of a disturbed signal with a second weighting; forming a denominator, which includes the numerator as a first summand and a strength of an interference signal as a second summand. The amplification factor is finally determined by forming a quotient from the numerator divided by the denominator. An apparatus is configured to implement and carry out the novel method.
US09232322B2	Hearing aid devices with reduced background and feedback noises A personal sound processing apparatus has an earphone; a microphone; an electronic sound processor connected between an automatic gain controller (AGC) and a digital volume controller, an automated feedback tracker operatively connected to the microcontroller, and an audio signal amplifier to amplify audio signals which level is controlled by the digital volume controller. The microcontroller is configured to execute electronic instructions for recognizing at least one of a feedback noise condition and a background noise condition in the audio signals and to send a control signal to the digital volume controller to adjust volume level in response to presence of the at least one of the feedback noise condition and the background noise condition.
US09232317B2	Parametric transducer with graphene conductive surface An ultrasonic audio speaker includes an emitter and a driver. The emitter can include a first layer having a conductive surface; a second layer having a conductive surface; and an insulating layer disposed between the first and second conductive surfaces, wherein the first and second layers are disposed in touching relation to the insulating layer. The driver circuit can include two inputs configured to be coupled to receive an audio modulated ultrasonic signal from an amplifier and two outputs, wherein a first output is coupled to the conductive surface of the first layer and the second output is coupled to the conductive surface of the second layer. Either one or both of the conductive surfaces of the first and second layers may be graphene.
US09232307B2	Mobile microphone system and method A method centrally controls communication at a single venue. Information, at least at the venue, is provided to attendees at the venue for transmitting electronic signals to the central communication point. At least one electronic communication transmission from an attendee who has access to the central communication point is enabled to have at least part of the transmission broadcast at the venue or allow open communication from the attendee to be broadcast at the venue. The personal mobile communications device of an attendee is used as a microphone over wireless telephone networks or local wireless communication networks.
US09232296B2	Method and apparatus for transmitting wireless audio streams A method for transmitting wireless audio streams in an audio system comprising a first transmitter unit, the method includes: transmitting a first audio block in a first audio frame, the first audio block comprising a first primary audio package having a transmitter unit address of the first transmitter unit; transmitting a first primary pilot package, the first primary pilot package comprising the transmitter unit address of the first transmitter unit, a first primary time offset, and a channel identifier of a first primary audio package of a second audio block in a second audio frame; and transmitting the first primary audio package of the second audio block at a start time depending on the first primary time offset and the channel identifier.
US09232294B2	Earphone device An earphone device includes a housing having a driver unit, and a sound guide tube mounted on a front surface of the housing to protrude from the front surface, in which the sound guide tube is disposed at a position deviated from a center position of the housing.
US09232289B2	Acoustic bandgap structures for integration of MEMS resonators Example acoustic bandgap devices provided that can be fabricated in a semiconductor fabrication tool based on design check rules. An example device includes a substrate lying in an x-y plane and defining an x-direction and a y-direction, an acoustic resonant cavity over the substrate, and a phononic crystal disposed over the acoustic resonant cavity by generating the phononic crystal as a plurality of unit cells disposed in a periodic arrangement. Each unit cell include: (a) at least one higher acoustic impedance structure having a longitudinal axis oriented in the y-direction and a thickness in the x-direction greater than or about equal to a minimal feature thickness of the semiconductor fabrication tool, and (b) at least one lower acoustic impedance material bordering at least a portion of the at least one higher acoustic impedance structure and forming at least a portion of a remainder of the respective unit cell.
US09232282B2	Subscriber line terminal, control method, and control method for PON system There is provided a technique that enables a process to be performed smoothly between two processing units of an OLT after rebooting of one of the processing units even in the case where a process by the processing unit is temporarily halted. An upper processing unit can be temporarily halted when updating firmware. A basic communication unit (lower processing unit) is configured to maintain its operation even when the upper processing unit is temporarily halted. When an event occurs during a halt period of the upper processing unit, a matching unit matches a management state stored in a first storage unit with a management state stored in a second storage unit after the halt period of the upper processing unit.
US09232274B2	Apparatus for adapting a presentation of media content to a requesting device A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a media processor having a controller to record stereoscopic media content supplied by a multimedia system, receive from a communication device a request for the recorded stereoscopic media content, determine rendering capabilities of the communication device, generate transcoded content by transcoding the recorded stereoscopic media content according to the rendering capabilities of the communication device, and transmit to the communication device the transcoded content. Other embodiments are disclosed and contemplated.
US09232252B2	Queue-based head-end advertisement scheduling method and apparatus A method and apparatus for scheduling and inserting advertisements into a plurality of presentation channels in a communications network in which the presentation channels contain the same programming, but different advertisements. A single programming channel is split into a plurality of presentation channels. Different advertisements are inserted into the different presentation channels. The advertisements to be inserted into advertising avails are they are detected are determined by utilizing queues stored in memory corresponding to each presentation channel. Each queue comprises an ordered list of advertisement resource locators (ARLs), in which the order dictates which advertisement is to be inserted in the next advertising avail and in which the ARLs indicate at least the location from which the advertisement can be retrieved.
US09232247B2	System and method for correlating audio and/or images presented to a user with facial characteristics and expressions of the user A computer includes at least one processor and at least one computer readable storage medium accessible to the processor. The medium bears instructions executable by the processor to cause the processor to receive at least one image of at least one viewer of a display on which content is presented. The instructions also cause the processor to generate a signal representative of at least one expression of the viewer made at or around the time the content was presented based on the image of the viewer, and also to receive metadata identifying the content. The instructions then cause the processor to associate the metadata identifying the content with the at least one expression of the viewer.
US09232246B2	Dynamic splitting of evolved multicast broadcast multimedia service (EMBMS) A reporting server receives reports on unicast and/or broadcast multimedia content items being accessed by respective user equipment (UE) devices through a network. The reporting server determines, for each multimedia content item, a number of UE devices that are accessing the multimedia content item and whether it is being unicast or broadcast. The reporting server ranks the multimedia content items by the number of UE devices accessing each item. In several disclosed examples, a broadcast video provisioning system switches unicast transmissions to broadcast transmissions based on the ranked list, based on this ranking and possibly on the available unicast and broadcast bandwidth.
US09232243B2	Audio and video streaming for media effects One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a technique for streaming digital media content with transition effects. Audio data may be modulated and received by the streaming device for an audio fade-in effect. Similarly, video data may be modulated to perform various visual effects. Such a technique allows for fading-in of audio and/or video, fading-out of audio and/or video, and effects that blend audio from different content and video from different content during a transition from one digital media content to a different digital media content or within the same digital media content. The modulated audio and video data to generate the audio or video effect during a transition may be precomputed or computed in real-time and transmitted to the streaming device. The streaming device switches between original unmodulated content streams and effect content streams when transitions are detected.
US09232240B2	Distributed content delivery network architecture A master video server may deliver video streams to multiple sub-master video servers pursuant to the request of each sub-master video server. Each sub-master video server, in turn, may deliver video steams to multiple slave video servers pursuant to the request of each slave video server. Each sub-master video server may also deliver video streams to one or more other sub-master video servers pursuant to the request of each of the other sub-master video servers.
US09232236B2	Video coding method, video decoding method, video coding apparatus, and video decoding apparatus that use filters for filtering signals A video coding method enables reduction in the decrease in the efficiency of coding a video and enhancement of the image quality of the resulting decoded video. The video coding method includes predicting a video signal to generate a prediction signal; calculating, as a prediction error signal, the difference between the video signal and a prediction signal; and generating a reconstructed video signal by reconstructing the video signal based on the prediction signal and the prediction error signal. The video coding method also includes determining filter data items that are used to filter each of at least two of the prediction signal, the prediction error signal, and the reconstructed video signal; and coding the determined filter data items based on the cross correlations between the determined filter data items.
US09232235B2	Tiling in video encoding and decoding Implementations are provided that relate, for example, to view tiling in video encoding and decoding. A particular method includes accessing a video picture that includes multiple pictures combined into a single picture (826), accessing information indicating how the multiple pictures in the accessed video picture are combined (806, 808, 822), decoding the video picture to provide a decoded representation of at least one of the multiple pictures (824, 826), and providing the accessed information and the decoded video picture as output (824, 826). Some other implementations format or process the information that indicates how multiple pictures included in a single video picture are combined into the single video picture, and format or process an encoded representation of the combined multiple pictures.
US09232228B2	Processing of image The present invention relates to an image processor that is configured to compare a single frame included in the received signal with a preceding processed frame so as to detect changes. In order to enable the image being compressed in as compact a format as possible, the processor is configured to detect changes by dividing the pixels of a single frame into movement blocks and to detect the movement block as changed if in said movement block there is a given number of pixels whose color value change as compared with the corresponding pixels of the preceding processed frame exceeds a predetermined threshold, to exchange the color values of the pixels of the unchanged movement blocks in the frame under process for predetermined values and to generate a signal that indicates the changes.
US09232226B2	Systems and methods for perceptually lossless video compression Systems and methods for compressing video data are provided. The method includes segmenting a video frame, selecting a coding mode, and encoding. The segmenting includes segmenting the video frame of the video data into a sequence of coding blocks. The selecting includes selecting the coding mode from a plurality of coding modes. The selecting of the coding mode is based on an allowable bit budget and occurs for each coding block. The encoding includes encoding each coding block based on the coding mode. The allowable bit budget varies according to a bit utilization of prior encoded coding blocks and varies such that the video frame does not exceed a specified compression ratio.
US09232225B2	Low complexity and memory efficient image CODEC Systems, devices, and methods for encoding a plurality of images by an encoder where the encoder determines a set of subbands associated with an input image, determines a set of wavelet coefficients associated with each subband, generates a wavelet tree comprising a set of nodes and a maximum quantization level for a set of descendants of the set of nodes of the wavelet tree. Then, determines if the maximum quantization level is less than a threshold and sets the wavelet coefficient to zero if it is not, otherwise encodes the maximum quantization level, and encodes the set of wavelet coefficients for transmission in a bit stream comprising the encoded maximum quantization level and the encoded set of wavelet coefficients.
US09232206B2	Multimedia framework to provide ultra-low power multimedia playback A multimedia framework includes a monolithic multimedia component to include a specific interface provided by the multimedia framework, and a component control unit layer to serve as a point of control of an application, and to control a data flow through the monolithic multimedia component. When the application queries the component control unit layer for the specific interface, the specific interface passes a pointer thereof that signifies a role required by the application matching a role identified by the multimedia framework for the monolithic multimedia component to the application. A command from the application is transmitted to a tunnel of a multimedia stack interfaced with the monolithic multimedia component to ensure that the same monolithic multimedia component serves as a source component, one or more transform component(s) and/or a renderer. The application is unaware of the multi-tasking associated with the monolithic multimedia component.
US09232204B2	Method and device for transmitting high-definition video signal Provided in embodiments of the present invention are a method and device for transmitting a high-definition video signal, comprising: isolating from the high-definition video signal a brightness signal and a chrominance signal, and, by using an analog signal transmission mode, using non-overlapping frequency hands to transmit respectively the brightness signal and the chrominance signal. The solution of the present invention employs the analog signal transmission method, utilizes independent frequency bands to transmit respectively the brightness signal and the chrominance signal, and ensures that the brightness signal and the chrominance signal do not affect each other, thus ensuring video quality and timeliness of the high-definition video signal when transmitted over a long distance.
US09232198B2	Moving picture prediction system A method and system for predicting a moving picture to be implemented in an encoder is provided. The system includes a plurality of reference picture memory areas for storing reference pictures to be used for prediction and a prediction generation section that includes a motion compensator and memory updater. The motion compensator receives a parameter representing the motion between an image to be predicted and a reference picture stored in the reference picture memory area and a parameter representing the reference picture memory area to be used for prediction, and generates a predicted image by using the reference picture stored in the reference picture memory area indicated by the parameter representing the reference picture memory area. The memory updater carries out dynamic allocation of reference picture memory areas required for prediction and judges whether to store new reference pictures additionally.
US09232195B2	Monitoring of the close proximity around a commercial vehicle A system for capturing and displaying not directly-viewable spaces near a vehicle includes an apparatus for image capturing and an apparatus for image display. The apparatus for image capturing captures at least two arbitrary points Q and R. A ground plane is spanned by the Cartesian coordinates xv and yv, and xv lies in the vehicle middle plane. The display displays an image that includes an image Q′ of the point Q and an image R′ of the point R on a display plane spanned by the Cartesian coordinates xv′ and yv′, with xv′ lying on a reproduction of the vehicle middle plane. A projection QR, xv of the vector QR onto xv and a projection Q′R′, xv′ of a vector Q′R′ onto xv′ have the same direction, and a projection QR, yv of the vector QR onto yv and a projection Q′R′, yv′ of a vector Q′R′ onto yv′ have the same direction.
US09232194B2	Imaging apparatus, display method, and storage medium for presenting a candidate object information to a photographer An imaging apparatus includes an imaging unit, a position detection unit configured to detect position information of the imaging apparatus, an acquisition unit configured to acquire candidate object information indicating an object which a photographer may desire to capture an image thereof within a search range of position information based on the position information detected by the position detection unit, and a presenting unit configured to present the candidate object information to the photographer.
US09232191B2	Systems and methods for scalable distributed global infrastructure for real-time multimedia communication A new approach is proposed that contemplates systems and methods to support the operation of a Virtual Media Room or Virtual Meeting Room (VMR), wherein each VMR can accept from a plurality of participants at different geographic locations a variety of video conferencing feeds of audio and video streams from video conference endpoints. A globally distributed infrastructure that supports operations of the VMR through a plurality of MCUs (Multipoint Control Unit) built from off-the-shelf components instead of custom hardware as media processing nodes, each configured to process the plurality of audio and video streams from the plurality of video conference endpoints in real time. Each single VMR can be implemented and supported across the infrastructure of globally distributed set of servers/media processing nodes co-located in Points of Presence (POPs) for Internet access, wherein such massively distributed architecture can support thousands of simultaneously active VMRs and yet is transparent to the users of the VMRs.
US09232190B1	Systems and methods for managing multimedia conference calls Systems and methods are disclosed for managing a multimedia conference call. According to certain embodiments, a server establishes a multimedia conference call between a plurality of multimedia conference devices. The multimedia conference call includes the communication of multimedia conference contents via one or more of the plurality of multimedia conference devices. The server also records at least a portion of the multimedia conference contents; and detects one or more interrupting events. The interrupting events occur during the multimedia conference call. The server further provides substitute contents to the other multimedia conference devices of the plurality of multimedia conference devices. The substitute contents are generated based on a recorded portion of the multimedia conference call associated with a time to the interrupting events.
US09232180B2	System and method for coordinating data transmission via user-maintained modes A method and apparatus for controlling data transmission via user-maintained modes is provided. A first audio data stream is recorded on a transmitting electronic apparatus. A second audio data stream is stored on the transmitting electronic apparatus. Transmission of one of the first and the second audio data streams is controlled via a first user-maintained mode when at least the other of the first and the second audio data streams is being transmitted to the electronic apparatus. The one of the first and the second audio data streams is transmitted to a receiving electronic apparatus and the other of the first and the second audio data streams is suspended.
US09232176B2	Method and apparatus for securing computer video and audio subsystems In general, embodiments of the invention include methods and apparatuses for securing otherwise unsecured computer audio and video subsystems. Embodiments of the invention perform watermarking of video and/or audio data streams output by a computer system. Additional security features that are included in embodiments of the invention include fingerprinting, snooping, capturing streams for local or remote analytics or archiving, and mixing of secure system content with local audio and video content.
US09232173B1	Method and apparatus for providing engaging experience in an asset In one embodiment, at least one of number of times a frame is paused by a plurality of users (users) and attention-activity of the users for the frame is tracked for each frame of an asset (video etc.). An interactive version of at least one frame is pre-generated based on the tracking. The interactive version is stored to enable playing of the interactive version of the at least one frame. In another embodiment, pausing of a currently playing frame (frame) of the asset is determined. A determination to replace the frame is made based on at least one of attention-activity of a user in the frame, and detecting metadata, of the frame, specifying that the frame is to be replaced. An interactive version of the frame is generated, based on at least one of the attention of the user and the metadata, to replace the frame with the interactive version.
US09232172B2	Two-stage light modulation for high dynamic range An imaging apparatus for two-stage light modulation in high-definition digital projection or cinema can include two light modulators. Each light modulator can include a multi-chip imaging system coupled to a total internal reflection prism (TIR) system, which has a light input face and an on-state face. Relay optics can be positioned between the two light modulators. The relay optics can be configured to defocus light received from the pre-modulator and to provide defocused light to the prime modulator using a substantially Gaussian pixel shaping function. The prime modulator can be oriented to receive defocused light from the relay optics at the light input face of its TIR prism system. The pre-modulator can be oriented backwards, so as to receive source light at the on-state face of its TIR prism system and to output pre-modulated light to the relay optics via the light input face of the TIR prism system.
US09232159B2	Imaging systems with crosstalk calibration pixels An image sensor may include crosstalk calibration pixels. Crosstalk calibration pixels may include exposed pixels and shielded pixels. Exposed pixels may be partially or completely surrounded by shielded pixels. Calibration pixels may be formed in a checkerboard pattern of alternating shielded and exposed pixels or a double checkerboard pattern of alternating pairs of shielded and exposed pixels. Exposed pixels may have apertures of various size in a shielding layer that shields the shielded pixels from light. Signals generated by exposed and shielded pixels may be used in assessing pixel optical and electrical crosstalk and indirectly deducing the spectral composition of incoming light for particular locations in a pixel array. Information about local crosstalk across the array may be used in coordinate dependent color correction matrices, white balance algorithms, luminance and chroma noise cancellation, edge sharpening, assessment of pixel implantation depth, and measuring a modulation transfer function.
US09232150B2	System and method for estimating an ambient light condition using an image sensor A system and method for calculating an ambient light estimate using an image sensor in a camera of a device. An array of pixels is obtained using the image sensor. A matrix of grid elements is defined. Each grid element is comprised of multiple adjacent pixels of the array of pixels. A first measurement value is generated for a grid element of the matrix of grid elements based on the pixels associated with a respective grid element. A set of grid elements are identified having a first measurement value that satisfies a brightness criteria. A weighted measurement value is calculated using the identified set of grid elements. The ambient light estimate is calculated based on the weighted measurement value and the first measurement value.
US09232147B2	Image pickup apparatus and image pickup method An image pickup apparatus including an image pickup device having a pixel section with a plurality of two-dimensionally arranged pixels and a frame memory which temporarily stores, in an analog manner, analog image data read out from the pixel section and first to third readout control sections which perform first readout control that reads out image data of all pixels obtained through one exposure from the pixel section and stores the image data in the frame memory and perform second readout control that nondestructively reads out a piece of image data of a smaller number of pixels than all the pixels from the image data of all the pixels stored in the frame memory a plurality of times such that the piece of image data each has different object region size.
US09232142B2	Thermography methods A method for presenting a thermal image within a visible light image includes the steps of: identifying an outline of each object of interest within the visible light image; and, selecting an area of the visible light image, whose edge corresponds to the outline of each object of interest, in which to present the thermal image. An alternative method includes the steps of: identifying an area of interest within the thermal image; and selecting another area, separate from the area of interest, from which to remove a portion of the thermal image in order to display the visible light image therein. The visible light and thermal images are captured by a system that includes a visible light camera module and an infrared camera module. The visible light and thermal images are displayed on a display of the system, and selections are made via an interactive element of the system.
US09232139B2	Image stabilization using striped output transformation unit An image signal processor of a device, apparatus, or computing system that includes a camera capable of capturing video clips may be configured to apply non-warping and warping transformations (including image stabilization transformations) to image data received from the camera's image sensor. The transformations may be applied piecewise to pixels of the image data gathered into multiple line buffers. The line buffers may be divided into vertical slices, each of which may be processed in parallel by a respective portion of the image signal processor circuitry (or circuitry of an output rescaling unit thereof). The image signal processor may not write the received image data to system memory until after the transformations have been performed. By leveraging existing filters and scalers of the image signal processor, rather than a CPU or GPU, image stabilization may be provided that consumes half of the bandwidth and power consumed by existing techniques.
US09232131B2	Image capturing apparatus and image capturing method An image capturing apparatus performs rough detection through high-speed focus detection targeting on a face contour portion and then performs focusing through high-precision focus detection targeting on a face-included portion set inside the face contour.
US09232129B2	Method and apparatus for augmenting and correcting mobile camera optics on a mobile device Embodiments of the present invention utilize an attachable lens board that can be secured to the back of a mobile device and placed in a position that is proximate to the built-in camera lens associated with the camera system of the mobile device. As such, the lens board can be positioned to accurately align several different auxiliary camera lenses, each installed within various camera lens receivers formed within the lens board, with the built-in camera lens for focusing and/or image capture. Additionally, embodiments of present invention can include circuitry within the lens board that can be used to identify the types of lenses currently installed within each camera lens receiver. In this manner, embodiments of the present invention can correct possible optical imperfections of resultant images produced by the combination of the built-in camera lens and auxiliary lens selected for focusing and/or image capture by the user.
US09232114B2	Imaging device and method for high-sensitivity optical scanning and integrated circuit therefor An inspection system includes a CMOS integrated circuit having integrally formed thereon an at least two dimensional array of photosensors and providing an inspection output representing an object to be inspected. A defect analyzer is operative to receive the inspection output and to provide a defect report.
US09232112B2	Method and apparatus for effecting color separation, color variation, color characterization, and gamut mapping in color printing Embodiments of the invention concern automatic color separation with a white ink for colored and/or transparent substrate, automatic color separation with a silver ink for a natural rendering, automatic color separation with a varnish which has a gloss scale different from that of the printed sample for all shades of gloss that are possible between high glossy to high matte for a false third rendering, automatic color variation with variable thickness under the inks, and variable gamut mapping for a low contrast space.
US09232092B2	Electronic apparatus that selectively transmits screen data changes based on exclusionary conditions A display processing unit causes a display device to display a screen on the basis of screen image data. A screen change detecting unit watches the screen image data and detects a change of the screen image data. A transmission processing unit transmits the screen image data to a monitoring apparatus if the screen change detecting unit detected a change of the screen image data. A storage device stores excluding condition data. The transmission processing unit does not transmit the screen image data if the detected change of the screen image data satisfies the excluding condition specified by the excluding condition data and transmits the screen image data if the detected change of the screen image data does not satisfy the excluding condition specified by the excluding condition data.
US09232083B2	Multi-function device and screen providing server A multi-function device may acquire specific use information corresponding to a specific user who uses the multi-function device, request a service providing server to provide a specific service in a case where the specific service among plural types of services is selected by the specific user, and acquire screen information from a screen providing server so as to display a screen according to the screen information. The multi-function device may display a first screen for receiving the specific service from the service providing server in a case where the specific use information indicates that the specific user is allowed to use a specific function related to the specific service, and display a second screen indicating that it is not capable of receiving the specific service in a case where the specific use information indicates that the specific user is not allowed to use the specific function.
US09232082B2	Remote support apparatus, electronic apparatus, remote support method, and storage medium An image forming apparatus including a plurality of processing units capable of performing different support processing for a user asking for support, and a remote support apparatus operated by an operator are connected via a communication path. The remote support apparatus transmits to the image forming apparatus a request to perform the support using the selected processing unit, or a request to switch the processing unit to a selected specific processing unit and a request to perform the support. The image forming apparatus allows the processing unit which follows the request to perform the support, to perform the support, and switches the processing unit according to the request to switch the processing unit to allow the switched processing unit to perform the support. Further, the image forming apparatus returns a result which should be returned, among results of the performed support, to the remote support apparatus.
US09232080B2	Image forming apparatus, control method for the same and storage medium An image forming apparatus reads an original to acquire image information, processes the acquired image information, and determines whether or not to form the processing result on the original. Upon determining to form the processing result on the original, the image forming apparatus forms the processing result on the original, and upon determining to not form the processing result on the original, the image forming apparatus forms the processing result on a sheet other than the original.
US09232078B1	Method and system for data usage accounting across multiple communication networks A method and system for data accounting across multiple communication networks are described herein. An enterprise data session request is received from a device configured to operate on a home communication network in which the device is associated with an enterprise. A usage amount can be determined for the session request, and it can be determined that the device is associated with the enterprise. In addition, the usage amount for the session request can be attributed to the enterprise. Another enterprise data session request can be received from a second device configured to operate on a second home communication network in which the second device is also associated with the enterprise. A usage amount can be determined for the session request from the second device, and it can be determined that the second device is associated with the enterprise. The usage amount for the session request from the second device can be attributed to the enterprise such that enterprise data usage accounting for different devices operating on different networks is enabled.
US09232077B2	Automatic subscription system for applications and services provided to wireless devices A system, method, and computer program that automatically creates a subscription for applications and services provided to wireless devices from other computer devices on a wireless network, where the subscription requires periodic payment by the wireless device subscriber for continued access to the application or service. The system monitors wireless device end-user interaction with other computer devices, such as application download servers, across the wireless network and when the end-user obtains an application or service from the computer device, the system automatically records the subscription and can either bill the wireless device subscriber for the subscription(s) or transmit the bill to the carrier or other entity to bill the subscriber.
US09232075B2	Mobile telephone device with screen luminance and sound volume control A flash memory in a memory (9) connected to a baseband chip (3) stores related information on an image/sound in a telephone mode (contrast information, screen luminance information, and sound volume information in the telephone mode), and related information on an image/sound in a television-viewing mode (contrast information, screen luminance information, and sound volume information in the television-viewing mode). In the telephone mode, a display device (6) and a speaker unit (7) are driven based on the related information on the image/sound in the telephone mode. In the television-viewing mode, the display device (6) and the speaker unit (7) are driven based on the related information on the image/sound in the television-viewing mode.
US09232074B2	Device for access to the internet via a mobile communication network A device is provided to access the Internet via a mobile communication network, including a data processing module arranged in a casing and a flexible cable extending outside the casing and connected to the data processing module. The cable ends in a connector for connection of the device to an item of equipment. The casing includes at least one main engagement element for the connector. The casing is configured so that when the connector is engaged in the main engagement element, the cable forms a loop defining a space between the casing and the cable to hang the device.
US09232067B2	Systems and methods to direct a mobile communication device to a preferred teleconference bridge A telecommunication system includes a processor, interfaces in communication with the public telephone network and a data network, respectively, and a memory. The memory comprises executable instructions that when executed by the processor direct the system to controllably permit access to a teleconference bridge in response to a communication from a mobile-communication device that includes information responsive to a previously communicated license key. Generally, the communication is in the form of a call from the user of the mobile-communication device. Upon receipt of the call, the telecommunication system confirms that the mobile-communication device communicates a pass code that was included in an encrypted form in the license key.
US09232065B1	Group pseudo-profiles for online sessions A method, computer program product, and system is described. A group including a plurality of individuals is defined based upon, at least in part, participation of the plurality of individuals in one or more consumption sessions. A group profile is designated for the group. Consumption of a first item of content by a portion of the group during a consumption session participated in by at least the portion of the group is identified. An indicator associated with the first item of content consumed by the portion of the group during the consumption session is associated with the group profile. A recommendation of a second item of content is provided to one or more members of the group, wherein the recommendation is based upon, at least in part, associating with the group profile the indicator associated with the first item of content.
US09232059B1	Method and apparatus of processing caller responses Disclosed is a method, apparatus, system and non-transitory computer program product configured to process user call responses and assign caller specific preferences to the user based on the caller's feedback. One example method of processing spoken words from a user of a calling platform may include operations, such as calling a user via a call processing device, and sending a call prompt message to the user after the user has answered the call, the call prompt message soliciting a user response. The user may respond and the response is received as a spoken call greeting from the user in response to the call prompt message. Other operations may include recording the spoken call greeting, and determining whether the spoken call greeting is indicative of a language preference. The system may process the user's word or utterances and assign language preferences to the user based on the user provided information.
US09232050B2	Visual voicemail scalability test A method includes identifying a peak interval traffic intensity for visual voicemail (VVM) services in a network. The method includes identifying a. plurality of user devices available for implementing scalability testing. A number of requests for VVM services during a prospective time for scalability testing in the network is also identified. The method includes determining a number of additional requests for VVM services from the plurality of user devices that approximates the peak interval traffic intensity during the prospective time for scalability testing in the network. The method also includes determining instructions for at least one of the plurality of user devices to provide the determined number of additional requests. The determined instructions are sent to the at least one of the plurality of user devices.
US09232048B2	Quality of experience determination for multi-party VoIP conference calls that account for focus degradation effects In one embodiment, the quality of experience for a multi-part conference call is determined. Values for network characteristics for a conference call between at least three parties is captured using a multi-party conference call system. The network characteristics encompasses at least parameters expressed in an E-Model R-Factor equation. A quality of experience (QoE) is determined that accounts for degradation effects. The determined QoE is represented as a corrected mean opinion score (MOS) perceived by the receiving party. A controllable parameter of the conference call is dynamically and automatically modified to positively affect the determined QoE of the receiving party when the QoS is below a designated minimal QoE threshold.
US09232041B2	System and method for sending local information from a wireless browser to a web server A system and method for using a wireless browser to send local information from a wireless handset to a Web server. A service request received from a handset user includes the type of local information needed to carry out the request as well as the URL address of the server. The handset confirms that the input is not a telephone number to be dialed. If the input is a telephone number, the browser is terminated and the number is dialed. Otherwise, the browser acquires the local information needed to carry out the request from the handset. The local information is appended to the URL address, which is extracted from the user input, and the browser is instructed to navigate to the URL address to provide the local information to the server.
US09232038B2	Wireless communications interface A wireless communications interface couples wireless service to conventional wireline phone appliances. In one embodiment, the wireless communications interface is connected to the phone appliances through existing phone jacks. This allows a user to place and receive calls over a wireless network using the existing wireline infrastructure in a building. By using the invention, users can consolidate their portable and fixed phone service with one of the multiple wireless service provides and bypass the wireline service provider entirely, if so desired. In a second embodiment, the wireless communications interface is directly connected to the phone appliances, bypassing the installed wireline infrastructure. In a third embodiment, both wireline and wireless service are operative, and the wireless communications interface may include logic arbitration to route multiple calls to multiple phone appliances.
US09232033B2	Attachable mobile phone keypad device The present invention includes a telephone keypad adapted to be mounted to a back surface of a mobile telephone, a mobile telephone including such keypad. The keypad includes a plurality of alphanumerical keys adapted for allowing text entry into the mobile telephone; and an attachment part for mounting the keypad to the mobile telephone.
US09232031B1	Computing device components and assembly The structural rigidity of a device is improved by overmolding one or more layers of the device housing over the antenna components, improving overall wall thickness and avoiding air gaps present in conventional devices. Pull tabs are implemented for battery installation and removal using a stretch-release adhesive connected to the tabs that can hold the battery in place and, upon pulling of the pull tabs, cause the battery to be removable from the device. Camera sensors larger than the camera optics are usable in a device by utilizing only image data captured by those pixels of the sensor that correspond to the appropriate part of the camera optics. Mechanical interlocks can be used advantageously for alignment and connection strength for side soldering. Optical alignment processes are used advantageously in situations such as mounting a device camera relative to an opening of a light absorbing layer on a cover glass sheet.
US09232026B2	System for communicating control messages in an AVB network A system that includes a transmitting apparatus and a receiving apparatus may communicate over an Ethernet Audio/Video Bridging network. The transmitting apparatus and the receiving apparatus may each include an application layer module in communication with an application interface module. The application layer module of the transmitting apparatus may interface with the application interface module to send a control message over the network to control flow of a data stream over the network. The application layer module of the receiving apparatus may interface with the application to interface module to receive the control message.
US09232025B2	Entry of electric power delivery system data in a web-based interface Disclosed herein are a variety of systems and methods for entry of data relating to an electrical power delivery system using a web-based interface. One embodiment may include a computer program product having a client-side module to communicate with a server-side module. The client-side module may further include a web browser interface module to retrieve data entered by an operator into a data entry field in a web browser, a user interface module to display variable length data to a user via the web browser, and a communication module to manage communication with the server-side module. The communication module may further be configured to generate an object comprising data entered by the user into the web browser, transmit the object to the server, and receive a response from the server.
US09232017B2	Systems and methods for managing profiles Methods and systems for managing profiles for electronic content. The methods and systems may involve profiles for a plurality of electronic content items. If a user interaction with an electronic content item of the plurality of electronic content items meets an event definition, the user interaction may be identified as an event associated with the electronic content and recorded in the profile.
US09232015B1	Translation layer for client-server communication System and method for facilitating communication between client and target machine are disclosed. Method includes facilitating receiving data from client. Data is in global secure network communication protocol. Method includes facilitating provision of translation layer for converting data between global secure network communication protocol and specific gateway interface associated with target machine. Translation layer is configured to imitate server compatible with client or client compatible with target machine. Method includes encoding, via operation of translation layer, data into encoded data in specific gateway interface associated with target machine. Specific gateway interface is different from the global secure network communication protocol. Method includes facilitating transmitting encoded data to target machine. Method includes facilitating receiving first response from target machine. First response is in specific gateway interface. Method includes converting first response into second response. Second response is in global secure network communication protocol. Method includes providing second response to client.
US09232000B1	Method and system for balancing load across target endpoints on a server and initiator endpoints accessing the server A method and system for balancing load across a set of target endpoints available on a server, and initiator endpoints accessing the server. The method including starting rebalancing of target endpoints at a defined interval, receiving monitored load data for a set of target endpoints, disqualifying target endpoints in the set of target endpoints that have a low load, selecting a next most busy target endpoint, marking the selected target endpoint as disqualified, classifying alternate paths of virtual connections assigned to the selected target endpoint according to busyness of endpoints of the alternate paths, load order and load imbalance, examining a load reduction offered by the alternate paths in order of classification, and returning an alternate path that has a highest load reduction for target endpoint.
US09231997B2	Discovering device drivers within a domain of a premises A system for managing a domain in a premises is described. The system includes: an action identifier coupled with a server, the action identifier identifies an action to be mapped to a device of the at least one device, wherein the device comprises a communication port that supports a first protocol; a device driver determiner coupled with the server, the device driver determiner determines a device driver that supports a second protocol, wherein the second protocol supports the action; a comparer coupled with the server, the comparer compares the second protocol with a domain configuration store comprising device configuration information for the at least one device; and a device driver implementer coupled with the server, the device driver implementer implements, based on the comparing, the device driver when the first protocol corresponds to the second protocol such that the action is enabled for performance.
US09231996B2	User-influenced page loading of web content Methods and systems may provide for identifying a usage pattern for web content having a plurality of components and receiving a web response from a server, wherein the web response includes the web content. Additionally, a client-side override of the load order of the plurality of components may be conducted based on the usage pattern. In one example, a cookie is generated based on the usage pattern, wherein the cookie is used to conduct the client-side override.
US09231986B2	Apparatus and methods for origination of voice and messaging communication in a network A method that incorporates teachings of the subject disclosure may include, for example, receiving a query from a call session server for a first pointer associated with a telephone number of a terminating device of a requested communication session, transmitting to the call session server the first pointer including a session initiation protocol uniform resource identifier associated with the terminating device to initiate an internet protocol communication session, receiving a notification from the call session server responsive to the call session server failing to initiate the internet protocol communication session, and transmitting to the call session server a second pointer including a telephone protocol uniform resource identifier for originating a circuit-switched communication session responsive to receiving the notification. Other embodiments are disclosed.
US09231981B2	Rules driven multiple passwords A rules driven multiple passwords system is provided wherein a list of stored passwords are used in rotation over time in accordance with a set of rules or conditions managed by the system. With such an arrangement, the currently active password of a system User may automatically be changed, in accordance with the rules or conditions, to the next password in the list. The User is notified as to the newly assigned password.
US09231975B2	Safe script templating to provide reliable protection against attacks Methods, systems, and computer-readable storage media for inhibiting cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks, where actions include receiving a computer-readable document that provides a content security policy (CSP) for a website and an extension to the CSP, the CSP specifying allowed script checksums, each allowed script checksum being associated with a script that is allowed to be executed, the extension requiring comparison of script checksums before respective scripts can be executed, receiving script templates and a value list, calculating an expected script checksum for each script template to provide respective expected script checksums, comparing the expected script checksums to the allowed script checksums, and determining that at least one expected script checksum matches an allowed script checksum, and in response, executing a respective script that corresponds to the at least one expected script checksum.
US09231969B1	Determining file risk based on security reputation of associated objects The creations of objects by files that have not been previously identified as malware are tracked. The security reputations of specific created objects are determined. Based on the determined security reputations of specific created objects, the security risks concerning the specific files that created the objects are determined. Responsive to whether a determined security risk concerning a specific creating file meets a given threshold, it is determined whether the specific creating file comprises malware. Responsive to determining that a specific creating file comprises malware, the creating file is blocked from performing the activity associated with the creation of the associated object. Responsive to determining that a creating file comprises malware, the creating file can be disabled, and an alert concerning the creating file can be transmitted to a central security server.
US09231967B2	Apparatus and method for detecting in-vehicle network attack An apparatus for detecting an in-vehicle network attack, is configured to cumulatively count packets for each device that has a respective ID and is connected to an in-vehicle network bus. The apparatus is configured to cumulate a check value every time the packets are cumulatively counted to calculate a cumulated value, and determine that an attack is conducted when an average cumulated value obtained by dividing the cumulated value by a cumulative counted value does not exceed a first threshold value.
US09231963B2	Detecting anomalous behavior patterns in an electronic environment The behavior of a group of resources, such as a fleet of servers, can be monitored to attempt to determine a baseline of acceptable behaviors. When a behavior is observed, the baseline can be consulted to determine whether the behavior is indicated to be acceptable. If not, the rate or extent at which the newly observed behavior is observed on groupings of similar resources can be monitored. This information can be used to determine whether the behavior is acceptable in which case information for the observed behavior can be used to automatically update the baseline such that the baseline is representative of current acceptable behavior within the group of resources.
US09231955B1	Multiparty authorization for controlling resource access The subject disclosure is generally directed towards an automated mechanism in a computer network or system that controls resource access to any resource designated as needing multiparty authorization. In one aspect, a resource that needs multiparty authorization before access is allowed is identified, along with policy that specifies an authorizer (or multiple authorizers) for the resource. An access control list may contain metadata that indicates the need for multiparty authorization. Authorization may be provided via a token, which may be cached for future use.
US09231952B2	Key-based content management and access systems and methods An exemplary method includes receiving data representative of a content instance over a network from an access device associated with a first user, encrypting the content instance in response to a command initiated by the user by way of one or more graphical user interfaces, providing a key configured to facilitate decryption of the encrypted content instance, creating at least one access rule corresponding to the encrypted content instance, transmitting data representative of the encrypted content instance to a requesting access device associated with a requesting user, receiving, from the requesting access device, data representative of a request to access the key over the network, and performing a predefined action related to the key in response to the request and in accordance with the at least one access rule.
US09231950B2	Out-of-band tokens for rights access Access to content may be administered by storing content, the content comprising one or more selections, accessing a passive optical out-of-band token associated with the content, determining an access right for the content based on the passive optical out-of-band token, and enabling access to the content in accordance with the access right.
US09231947B2	RFID authentication architecture and methods for RFID authentication A method for mutual authentication in an RFID system comprising an RFID reader and an RFID tag, the method comprising requesting an identification from the tag, receiving the identification, using the received identification to select a password associated with the identification, generating a password key based on the selected password, encrypting the selected password using the password key, and transmitting the encrypted password to the tag.
US09231944B2	Method and apparatus for the secure authentication of a web site Methods for the authentication of a web site by a visitor to the web site. The visitor uses a device, such as a portable device like a cell phone to compute a dynamic identification string and a one-time password. The dynamic identification string is sent to a service provider, such as a certification service server associated with the web site. In response, the server computes a one-time password that is transmitted to the visitor's device. The device computed one-time password can then be compared to the server computed one-time password in order to authenticate the web site.
US09231938B2	Determination and classification of defense measures in web applications Techniques for determining classifications of defense measures as described herein. Security tokens are identified to be used to test defense measures of a web application. Combinations of security tokens are determined, wherein the combinations of security tokens are related to classifications of the defense measures. A combination is executed at an input point of the web application. Based on the output of the web application received in response to the executed combination, a classification for a defense measure of the web application is determined.
US09231927B2	Information processing apparatus, data generation method, information processing method, and information processing system for updating and verifying software programs A differencing generator generates difference data between a first data set and a second data set. An encryption unit encrypts data. An electronic signature generator generates the electronic signature of data. A transmission data generator generates transmission data. The encryption unit encrypts the difference data generated by the differencing generator so as to generate encrypted difference data. The transmission data generator generates transmission data containing both the encrypted difference data generated by the encryption unit and the electronic signature of the second data set as generated by the electronic signature generator.
US09231922B2	Cloud storage system, data encryption processing device and data encryption method in cloud storage system A cloud storage system includes a plurality of cloud storage modules for storing and managing data and a data encryption processing device. The data encryption processing device includes a priority manager for managing priorities on encrypting data of a plurality of cloud storage modules by using information on whether encryption processing for each of the plurality of the cloud storage modules is supported; and an encryption requester for selecting at least one cloud storage module on the basis of the priorities managed by the priority manager when receiving request of a data encryption, and performing, by the selected at least one cloud storage module, encryption after delivering the data to the selected cloud storage module.
US09231906B2	Method of assigning identification codes to devices in a network A method of assigning identification codes to devices, each device including a controller, a memory, and a switch, with the devices connected in a series circuit. The method includes opening all of the switches, supplying a signal, including an identification code, to the first device of the series circuit and storing the identification code in the memory of the first device, closing the switch of the first device to connect to the next device in the series circuit, sending an acknowledgement to the series circuit, and repeating the process for each of the devices, successively, for each of the devices in the series circuit, and assigning a different identification code to each of the devices.
US09231905B2	Communication device, method for setting communication device, and program A communication device includes an address generation unit that generates address information, a reply request transmission unit that transmits a reply request to request a reply from the other communication device having the address information generated by the address generation unit, and an address setting unit that sets the address information generated by the address generation unit as address information of the communication device when the reply to the reply request is not received, wherein the address generation unit generates address information different from the previously generated address information when the reply to the reply request is received.
US09231901B1	Subscribing users to entities within an online community and notifying users of upcoming meetings Systems and methods for notifying users of upcoming communication sessions in a virtual forum of an online community, for example, a video or audio forum, in which multiple users “hang out” and communicate. Users are notified of these upcoming meetings in advance, so they may participate in them, even at short notice, for example, in the event a meeting is ongoing. In some embodiments, the systems and methods permit users to subscribe to a particular entity within an online community, which may either be individuals (for example, a celebrity), company pages, groups, etc. Those who subscribe to the particular entity are immediately notified in the event a meeting relating to the entity is designated to occur or is ongoing.
US09231889B2	Packet switch and method of use A packet switch device for providing visibility of traffic in a network includes a housing, a processing unit located in the housing, a first network port communicatively coupled to the processing unit, wherein the first network port is configured to communicate with the network, a second network port communicatively coupled to the processing unit, wherein the second network port is configured to communicate with the network, and at least one instrument port communicatively coupled to the processing unit, the at least one instrument port configured to communicate with a first network monitoring instrument, wherein the processing unit is configured to support a movement of packets from one or both of the first and second network ports to the at least one instrument port.
US09231878B2	Shaping virtual machine communication traffic Cloud computing platforms having computer-readable media that perform methods to shape virtual machine communication traffic. The cloud computing platform includes virtual machines and a controller. The controller limits the traffic associated with the virtual machines to enable the virtual machines to achieve desired communication rates, especially when a network servicing the virtual machines is congested. The controller may drop communication messages associated with the virtual machines based on a drop probability evaluated for the virtual machines.
US09231870B2	Flexible and scalable data link layer flow control for network fabrics A network fabric may divide a physical connection into a plurality of VLANs as defined by IEEE 802.1Q. Moreover, many network fabrics use Priority Flow Control to identify and segregate network traffic based on different traffic classes or priorities. Current routing protocols define only eight traffic classes. In contrast, a network fabric may contain thousands of unique VLANs. When network congestion occurs, network devices (e.g., switches, bridges, routers, servers, etc.) can negotiate to pause the network traffic associated with one of the different traffic classes. Pausing the data packets associated with a single traffic class may also stop the data packets associated with thousands of VLANs. The embodiments disclosed herein permit a network fabric to individually pause VLANs rather than entire traffic classes.
US09231861B2	Label switched path network failure detection and traffic control A method for providing ingress fault protection in a label switched network, comprising sending data traffic from a source node to a first label switched path (LSP) via a first ingress node, detecting a first fault using a first fault detection link between the source node and the first ingress node, sending the data traffic from the source node to a second LSP via a second ingress node in response to detecting the first fault, detecting a second fault using a second fault detection link between the first ingress node and the second ingress node, and merging the data traffic from the second LSP into the first LSP at a next-hop node of the first ingress node, wherein the data traffic is no longer sent to the first LSP via the first ingress node after the first fault.
US09231855B2	Method and system for hybrid automatic repeat request operation for uplink coordinated multi-point signaling A method and system for hybrid automatic repeat request operation for uplink coordinated multi-point signaling, the method in one embodiment sending a data packet from a user equipment to a plurality of network elements; waiting for a control indication from at least one of the plurality of network element; and retransmitting the data packet to the plurality of network elements if the control indication specifies retransmission is required.
US09231852B2	Greening the network with the power consumption statuses of network components In an embodiment, the disclosure includes an apparatus comprising a data store which comprises cost data associated with use of a path in a communications network. The data store also comprises power consumption data associated with the use of the path. The apparatus further comprises at least one processor configured to determine a score for the path based on the cost data and the power consumption data. The disclosure also includes an apparatus comprising a path computation element (PCE) configured to receive data from a plurality of network elements (NEs). The data comprises cost and power consumption data for establishing a path between a plurality of the NEs. The PCE is configured to determine a score for the path based on the cost and power consumption data.
US09231851B2	System and method for computing point-to-point label switched path crossing multiple domains Disclosed is an apparatus comprising a plurality of path computation elements (PCEs) associated with a plurality of inter-coupled domains and configured to communicate with a path computation client (PCC) associated with one of the domains and to implement a Forward Search Path Computation (FSPC) for a preferred path crossing the domains from a source node in a source domain of the plurality of inter-coupled domains to a destination node in a destination domain of the plurality of inter-coupled domains, wherein the preferred path is computed without using a determined order of the domains from the source domain to the destination domain.
US09231849B2	Apparatus and method for controlling virtual switches An apparatus includes a controller, a converter, and table information storing physical identification information identifying a physical port of first and second physical switches in association with virtual identification information identifying a virtual port of a virtual switch. For each virtual switch, the controller outputs control information determined based on a predetermined protocol and manages the received control information. The converter, based on the table information, converts the physical identification information added to the received control information and identifying a physical port via which the first physical switch has received the control information, into the associated virtual identification information, converts the virtual identification information added to the control information outputted from the controller and identifying a virtual port via which the control information is to be transmitted, into the associated physical identification information, and relays the control information between the controller and the second physical switch.
US09231840B2	Optimizing the quality of audio within a teleconferencing session via an adaptive codec switching A Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) session between computing devices can be identified. Each computing device can be associated with a communication link. Each of the computing devices can execute a VoIP application. Each application can include selectable codecs. The codecs can be an audio codec and a video codec. A unique list of the selectable codecs can be generated. The list can include sublists which can identify the codecs. A loss threshold with each sublist based on previously determined performance characteristics of the codecs can be associated. The threshold can be a packet loss threshold value of the link associated with the devices. A packet loss metric of the link can be evaluated. The link can be associated with a codec of the sublists. A programmatic action can be performed to select a different codec from the sublists responsive to the evaluating.
US09231838B2	Method and apparatus for detecting and locating network connection failures In one aspect, the present invention addresses Layer-3 (L3) connection monitoring between two “multi-attached” host nodes that are interconnected via an intervening communication network having a known network topology. The present invention provides the two-fold benefit of rapid connection failure detection and failure location determination. In one or more embodiments, the present invention “pinpoints” the failure location, improving the intelligence of any triggered failure recovery mechanism and/or providing better, more meaningful failure reporting. A BFD session is established between the local and remote host nodes for each L3 communication path between them, e.g., for each unique pairing of local and remote network attachment points. Upon the occurrence of an L3 connection failure, the pattern of up/down states for these BFD sessions is analyzed, along with knowledge of the involved network topology, to determine the apparent location of the L3 connection failure.
US09231823B2	Method and system for detecting failures of network nodes Systems and methods for detecting device failures in a network having nodes coupled to a central controller, in which a first of the nodes communicates with the central controller via a second of the nodes. When the second node determines that the first node has not transmitted a predetermined number of messages over a predefined number of time periods, the second node provides a failure alert to the central controller. The central controller records a failure alert received from the second node in a log. Based on a set of failure alerts received from a number of nodes recorded in the log, the central controller determines whether the first node has failed.
US09231821B2	VLAG PIM link failover using PIM hello message A system for PIM vLAG fast link failover recovery includes a first vLAG switch connected to a second vLAG switch by an ISL. The first vLAG switch is connected to an upstream network device by a failed link and the second vLAG switch is connected to the upstream network device by a functional link. To recover from the failed link, the first vLAG switch transmits a ROUTEUPDATE message to the second vLAG switch upon the ISL that instructs the second vLAG switch to receive data traffic from the upstream network device and forward the data traffic to the first vLAG switch upon the ISL.
US09231814B2	Communication device, method for generating a transport protocol message, and method for processing a transport protocol message A communication device including a source coding unit source-coding data to be transmitted, a transport protocol unit, coupled to the source coding unit, generating at least one transport protocol message from the source-coded data, wherein the transport protocol unit can add to the source-coded data in the transport protocol message control information by means of which processing of the data to be transmitted can be controlled in a communication device receiving the transport protocol message.
US09231804B2	Digital broadcast transmitting device and exciter A digital broadcast transmitting device and an exciter have an AGC function. In a level adjusting unit which receives an input of a baseband digital signal from a modulation processing unit, a comparator generates an error signal from a difference between a level signal obtained by digitizing a feedback signal from a power amplifier by A/D converter and a reference voltage generated by a reference generating unit, and an AGC multiplier/divider carries out digital multiplying/dividing coefficient to the baseband digital signal with or by a gain coefficient such that the error signal becomes 0. Thereby, AGC which controls transmission output from the power amplifier at a fixed level is carried out.
US09231800B2	Method for transmitting data A method for transmitting data between two devices, in which data frames of the data are temporally adjusted in such a way that a constant number of flanks is used for the data frames. In addition, a related system, computer program, and computer program product are also described.
US09231796B2	Power aware equalization in a serial communications link Power aware equalization in a serial communications link that includes a transmitter and a receiver, including: determining, by a power aware equalization module, a required signal eye width and a required signal eye height for signals received by the receiver; identifying one or more signal equalizers for signals transmitted over the serial communications link; identifying one or more cumulative equalizer settings that equalize signals transmitted over the serial communications link to conform with the required signal eye width and the required signal eye height for signals received by the receiver; determining power consumption values associated with each of the one or more cumulative equalizer settings; and setting the one or more signal equalizers to configuration settings in dependence upon the power consumption values associated with each of the one or more cumulative equalizer settings.
US09231790B2	N-phase phase and polarity encoded serial interface System, methods and apparatus are described that facilitate transmission of data, particularly between two devices within an electronic apparatus. Information is transmitted in N-phase polarity encoded symbols. Data is encoded in multi-bit symbols, and the multi-bit symbols are transmitted on a plurality of connectors. The multi-bit symbols may be transmitted by mapping the symbols to a sequence of states of the plurality of connectors, and driving the connectors in accordance with the sequence of states. The timing of the sequence of states is determinable at a receiver at each transition between sequential states. The state of each connector may be defined by polarity and direction of rotation of a multi-phase signal transmitted on the each connector.
US09231788B2	Method and device for estimating channel in multiple-receiving antenna system Disclosed are a method and device for estimating a channel in a multiple-receiving antenna system. The method comprises: a channel estimation is performed on a received pilot signal by using a least square channel estimation algorithm to obtain an estimation value HLS; an N′-dimensional channel autocorrelation matrix formula (I) and a channel frequency domain autocorrelation matrix Ri from a transmitting antenna i to any receiving antenna are acquired, and a weight matrix W which is descrambled and denoised is calculated, wherein i=1, 2, . . . , NT, and NT is the number of antennae at a transmitting end; the estimation value HLS is corrected by using the weight matrix W to obtain a corrected estimation value HP-LMMSE. The method and device of the disclosure may obtain the performance as close as possible to the LMMSE technology through less prior statistic information, and have a simple implementation manner.
US09231783B2	Methods, apparatus and systems for traffic identification Embodiments for enabling traffic content identification by a wireless transmit/receive unit are provided. The WTRU may store interface binding entries in a database associating links in a web page to various traffic content types, such as video, audio, and text. Upon a request to access one of the links, a socket may be created based on a data mobility policy associated with the traffic content type. Alternately, the database may associate the links directly to interface types based on the data mobility policies. The Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF) may provide the data mobility policies to the WTRU.
US09231761B2	System and method for efficient support for short cryptoperiods in template mode System and method embodiments are provided herein for efficient representation and use of initialization vectors (IVs) for encrypted segments using template mode representation in Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over Hypertext Transfer Protocol (DASH). An embodiment method includes sending in a media presentation description (MPD), from a network server to a client, a template for generating a universal resource locator (URL) to obtain an IV that is used for encrypting a segment, in absence of an IV value in the MPD, receiving from the client a URL configured according to the template, and upon receiving the URL, returning an IV corresponding to the URL to the client. Another embodiment method includes receiving in a MPD, at a client from a network server, a template for generating a URL to obtain an IV that is used for encrypting a segment, upon detecting an absence of an IV value or IV base value in the MPD, configuring a URL for the IV using the template, sending the URL for the IV, and receiving an IV.
US09231757B2	Proxy signature scheme Technologies are generally described for proxy key generation, and signature generation and validation. In some examples, a cryptographic key generation system may include an original key generation unit configured to generate a public key and a private key for an original signer, a proxy key generation unit configured to generate one or more proxy public keys and one or more proxy private keys for one or more proxy signers, and a transmitter configured to transmit the proxy private keys respectively to the one or more proxy signers.
US09231754B2	Method for accurate distribution of time to a receiver node in an access network An apparatus comprising a customer node configured to couple to an access node and to receive via a channel from the access node a time of day (TOD) value and a corresponding sample index (SNUM) value, wherein the TOD value and the SNUM value are used to estimate a second time of day (TOD′) value based on a propagation delay of the channel (L-Delay), and wherein the TOD value and the TOD′ value are used to estimate a second SNUM value (SNUM′) based on L-Delay and a plurality of parameters.
US09231752B1	Clock data recovery with increased frequency offset tracking Embodiments include systems and methods for increasing frequency offset tracking in clock data recovery (CDR) systems. For example, in asynchronous clocking environments, the receiver-side clock frequency can be offset from the transmitter-side clock. While traditional CDR systems can handle some amount of offset, they are typically ineffective at accurately adapting the receiver-side clocking to an optimal data sampling rate when the offset is excessive. Embodiments include a CDR frequency offset adaptation loop that generates an adaptation signal, which can be monitored to detect an adaptation error arising from excessive frequency offset. In response to the detecting, an offset seed can be selected and injected into the frequency offset adaptation loop, thereby reinitializing the frequency offset adaptation loop with a less stressful seed.
US09231748B1	Frequency channel assignment based on speed A method and corresponding system is provided to help mitigate the potential quality-of-service degradation associated with fast-moving UEs operating in a network that provides higher-bandwidth frequency channels in some but not all wireless coverage sectors. In accordance with the method, a base station may evaluate a UE's current speed and, when that speed exceeds a threshold speed, the base station may instruct the UE to register on a low-bandwidth channel rather than a higher-bandwidth channel. Registering for service on a low-bandwidth channel instead of a higher-bandwidth channel may help ensure that the UE maintains a consistent quality of service as the UE moves from coverage area to coverage area. Further, the base station may also query nearby base stations to determine whether there exists a sufficient number of base stations that operate on higher-bandwidth channels. If so, the base station may instruct the UE to use a higher-bandwidth channel.
US09231745B2	Method and apparatus for reporting channel status information in a wireless communication system A method and apparatus of a user equipment are provided for transmitting a channel status report in a communication system. The method includes receiving first information for at least one channel status report; generating a first channel status report corresponding to the first information for the at least one channel status report based on a reference signal in a first subframe; and transmitting the first channel status report based on the first information for the at least one channel status report in a second subframe. The first information for the at least one channel status report comprises information for a period and an offset, and a difference between the first subframe and the second subframe is a smallest value greater than or equal to a predetermined value.
US09231743B2	Method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving control signal for merging carriers in transmission Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving a control signal (for example, PDCCH signal) in an asymmetric multicarrier environment. The method for transmitting a control signal for an asymmetric multicarrier in a wireless connection system according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises: determining the size of a carrier indicator field (CIF) indicating a downlink component carrier (DL CC) by which downlink data is transmitted, on the basis of a maximum value of the number of DL CCs and of the number of uplink component carriers (UL CCs) being managed in a base station; transmitting the CIF on a 1st DL CC to a terminal through a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH); and transmitting downlink data on a 2nd DL CC indicated by the CIF to the terminal through a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).
US09231741B2	Reconfigurable notched spectrum for wireless data transmission Systems and methods for communication are disclosed. A system in accordance with the present invention comprises a communications system, comprising at least one transmitter station and at least one receiver station, the transmitter station and receiver station communicating using an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) schema, wherein OFDM signals are transmitted in a notched frequency band arrangement such that at least one other transmission within a notch of the notched frequency band is used outside of the communications system.
US09231738B2	Communication method for relay node and next node of the relay node for network coding Provided is a communication method of a relay node for network coding, including determining one of a plurality of nodes included in a mesh network as a relay node to perform network coding; determining, by the relay node among the plurality of nodes, nodes capable of participating in the network coding; and performing the network coding with respect to the nodes capable of participating in the network coding.
US09231737B1	Method and apparatus for remotely increasing available processing time at a wireless device while maintaining response delay time A first wireless device includes a coding module that encodes packets and adds dummy data to a second packet. A first receiver (i) in response to transmission of a first packet, receives a first acknowledgement (ACK) signal, and (ii) in response to transmission of the second packet, receives a second ACK signal. Reception of the first ACK signal is delayed a first delay period from an end of the transmission of the first packet. Reception of the second ACK signal is delayed a second delay period from an end of the transmission of the dummy data. The coding module, prior to the transmission of the second packet and based on time to process the first and second packets at a second wireless device, determines the amount of dummy data to add to the second packet such that the first delay period is a same length as the second delay period.
US09231735B2	Method and apparatus for stable signal demodulation in communication system A method and apparatus provide for stable signal demodulation in a communication system. The method and apparatus includes including detecting an erroneous demodulation value based on backward-demodulation of received signals, using a difference between a received signal to be demodulated and a preceding signal of the received signals and correcting the error demodulation value. Alternatively, backward-demodulation is used to confirm received signals.
US09231732B2	Packet header protection for utility networks A networking device includes a packet header protect generator, a transmitter, a receiver, a decoder and router. The transmitter transmits a data packet to the receiver. The data packet includes a data packet header. The packet header protection generator is arranged to toggle selected bits of a protected portion of the data packet header and generate a data integrity signature. The receiver receives the data packet and generates a received data integrity signature. The decoder computes a locally computed data integrity signature in response to the protected portion of the received data packet header. The locally computed data integrity signature is compared with the received data integrity signature. The router selects a portion of a routing path in response to whether a data packet forwarding destination includes a decoder arranged to compute a locally computed data integrity signature.
US09231725B2	Passive optical network optical network terminal apparatus and configuration method A method of configuring an optical network terminal, ONT, of a wavelength division multiplexed passive optical network, WDM PON. Sequentially setting a transmission wavelength of a tunable optical filter at the ONT to one or more wavelengths of a pre-selected plurality of transmission wavelengths until a wavelength is identified for which no downstream optical signal from an optical line terminal of the WDM PON is detected. Determining whether a transmitter operable at said identified transmission wavelength is present at the OLT and is available to be assigned to communicate with the ONT. If a transmitter is determined to be present and available, maintaining the transmission wavelength of the tunable optical filter at transmission wavelength and assigning the ONT to the OLT as a subscriber at said identified transmission wavelength. If a transmitter is determined to be one of not present and not available, recommencing the method.
US09231713B2	Method for designing an analog Nyquist filter Methodologies for designing and assembling an analog Nyquist filter require a filter unit which includes a low pass filter in cascade with at least one tapped delay filter. A Signal Generator is used to generate a test pattern for input into the filter unit in order to create a reaction signal from the filter unit. This reaction signal is then compared with a desired Nyquist response. Based on this comparison, amplifier gains for taps in the tapped delay filter are weighted to establish a transfer function in the filter unit. In operation the transfer function shapes analog input signals with the desired Nyquist response for use as an output from the Nyquist filter.
US09231709B2	Transmitting and/or receiving data in a side channel Systems, methods, and apparatus are described that employ specially designed interference patterns to build an in-band side channel without degrading the effective throughput of the main channel. A first device (100) includes a control component (130) that generates control information and an interference component (140) that transmits the control information (450) through emission of patterned interference data concurrently while other users are transmitting other data (420). A second device (300) receives the patterned interference data and the other data via a single antenna (350) and decodes the patterned interference data to extract the control data (450). The first device (100) transmits the other data (420) on a side channel (440) that resides in the same spectrum as the main channel (410) in which the other data (420) is emitted. The first device (100) encodes the interference patterns such that the control data (450) can be safely transmitted and extracted without effecting other data transmission. In one aspect, devices (100, 200, 300) can employ a dynamic cooperation multi-access channel (DC-MAC) protocol (1510) to schedule transmission of the other data (420) on the main channel (410), and to employ the side channel (440) for control and coordination.
US09231708B2	Optical communication systems and methods A system and method to broadcast an optical signal through an amorphous medium, including a primary emitter capable of producing a primary optical signal during at least one broadcast period and capable of transmitting the primary optical signal through the amorphous medium. A secondary emitter, separate from the primary emitter and in operation during at least a portion of the broadcast period, produces a secondary emission detectable by a detector during the broadcast period. A signal entrainment controller, in communication with the primary emitter and the secondary emitter, synchronizes the secondary emitter with the primary emitter to generate a resultant signal of higher intensity than the primary signal by itself.
US09231702B2	Optical MIMO processing A technique is provided for an optical multiple input multiple output (MIMO) processing system. The optical (MIMO) processing system includes an interface to a multi-mode fiber at a first end of the optical processing system; M first single-mode waveguides coupled to the interface; wherein the first waveguides are arranged to carry M first optical signals, respectively; N second single-mode waveguides at a second end of the optical processing system, wherein the second waveguides are arranged to carry N second optical signals, respectively, wherein the N second optical signals are associated with N modes carried by the multi-mode fiber; and an optical processing core arranged to transform the first optical signals into the second optical signals such that a correlation between the second optical signals is decreased compared to a correlation between the first optical signals using a plurality of optical couplers for coupling each of the M first optical signals with one another, such that each of the N second optical signals is a linear combination of all of the M first optical signals.
US09231696B2	Methods and apparatuses for supervision of optical networks Methods and apparatuses for enabling supervision of fibers in an optical communication network, where a Central Office provides data signals to a Remote Node for distribution to Optical Network Terminals (ONTs). The Central Office generates and sends test signals of different monitoring wavelengths associated to predefined groups of said ONTs, to the Remote Node. The Remote Node routes each test signal to a corresponding associated group of ONTs according to the wavelength of the test signal. When receiving a back-scattered and back-reflected test signal caused by a faulty optical fiber, the Central Office is able to identify the faulty optical fiber based on the wavelength of the back-scattered and back-reflected signal.
US09231695B2	Optical transmission device and optical transmission method An optical transmission device includes: a switching configured to be capable of switching a transmission path to which light is input from a first transmission path to a second transmission path; a first calculation unit configured to calculate, based on a difference between a first light level of the first transmission path and a second light level of the second transmission path, a first control amount for the second light level; and a control unit configured to perform a first control in which the second light level is decreased or increased based on the first control amount upon switching of the transmission path.
US09231694B1	Method for establishing platform for translating between device inputs The present invention provides a platform for translating between devices, updating device software, receiving and normalizing device signals, processing them, and determining appropriate responses to containers. The present invention seeks to keep intelligence at the back end allowing smart devices to remain effective under the complex conditions of the intermodal shipping industry. According to a further preferred embodiment, the invention further includes container transponders adapted to receive local signals and repeat or forward the signals. Further, the present invention discloses a method designed to increase signal reliability between smart devices which may act as relay nodes to communicate with existing devices.
US09231690B2	Signal tracking and decoding in GNSS Method, computer program product, and apparatus for signal tracking and decoding in GNSS are disclosed. In one exemplary implementation, a satellite receiver may be configured to receive a first sub-frame of a satellite signal. It defers a determination of validity of the first sub-frame until a preamble of a second sub-frame is received. The satellite receiver receives the preamble of the second sub-frame, and then determines whether there is a data decoding error of the first sub-frame using the first sub-frame and the preamble of the second sub-frame.
US09231682B2	Method for single stream beamforming with mixed power constraints System and method for calculating a transmitter beamforming vector related to a channel vector h under per-antenna power constraints combined with total power constraint, under per-antenna power constraints combined with overall line of site (LOS) effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) and under all three constraints. Calculating a transmitter beamforming vector may be done in the transmitter, in the receiver and feedback to the transmitter or in both. The method may be adapted to perform with a multi-antenna receiver and with multi-carrier systems.
US09231680B2	Multi-channel radio frequency front end circuit A front end circuit for coupling a plurality of antennas to a multi-channel time domain duplex RF transceiver is disclosed. The front end circuit has a first transmit port, a first receive chain primary port, a first receive chain secondary ports, and a first antenna port connectible to a first one of the plurality of antennas. The front end circuit also has a second transmit port, a second receive chain primary port, and a second receive chain secondary port connectible to a second one of the plurality of antennas. A first switch has terminals connected to the first transmit port, the first receive chain primary port, and the second receive chain secondary port, as well as a common terminal that is connected to the first antenna port. Additionally, the front end circuit has a second switch that has terminals connected to the second transmit port, the second receive chain primary port and the first receive chain secondary port, and a common terminal connected to the second antenna port.
US09231676B2	Low effort massive MIMO antenna arrays and their use An apparatus includes a number of first RF chains configured to be able to be coupled to a plurality of first antennas from an antenna array and a number of second RF chains configured to be able to be coupled to a plurality of second antennas from the antenna array. The first and second antennas are different. The first and second RF chains are configured to create RF signals from baseband signals. The first RF chains have a certain functionality, and the second RF chains have a reduced functionality relative to the certain functionality. The apparatus may include the antenna array. The first and second antennas may have the same or different characteristics. A base station may include the apparatus. Sets of antennas for the second RF chains may be use to create signals used for over-the-air signal combining at a receiver. Methods and program products are also described.
US09231671B1	Method and apparatus for link optimization in a Wi-Fi home network A link optimizer for optimizing a link on a wireless local area network (WLAN). The link optimizer including: a beamform matrix generator configured to generate discrete candidate beamforming matrices for spatially modulating successive communication packets from a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) capable transmitter one of the WLAN nodes that supports beamforming to a recipient one of the nodes that does not support beamforming; and a beamform evaluator configured to evaluate discrete ones among the set of candidate beam forming matrices generated by the beamform matrix generator based on receipt acknowledgements from the recipient one of the nodes for each successive communication packet transmitted from the MIMO capable transmitter one of the nodes; and to utilize a successfully evaluated one of the candidate beam forming matrices for transmission of subsequent communication packets from the MIMO transmitter one of the nodes to the recipient one of the nodes.
US09231666B2	Enabling coordinated multi-point reception This invention measures the propagation delay τ1 between the user equipment and a first cooperating unit and the propagation delay τ2 between the user equipment and a second cooperating unit. These propagation delays are used to compute a timing advance amount to the user equipment to enable coordinated multi-point reception. In a first embodiment one cooperating unit receives a function of the propagation delay, computes the timing advance amount and transmits a timing advance command to the user equipment. In a second embodiment a central unit performs these operations.
US09231665B2	Portable electronic device capable of expanding transmission distance for near field communication functions A portable electronic device capable of expanding transmission distance of NFC is provided. The portable electronic device includes a watch-strap portion, a power module, an NFC module, and a relay coil group arranged in the watch-strap portion. The power module includes a wireless charging coil, and the NFC module includes an NFC antenna. The relay coil group is configured to relay external electromagnetic power from an external power source to the power module by the coil group being magnetically coupled with the wireless charging coil. The relay coil group is also configured to relay NFC information between the NFC module and an external NFC read-write device or an external NFC storing device by the coil group being magnetically coupled with the NFC antenna. Therefore, the distances for both charging and NFC functions are expanded.
US09231663B2	Near field communication (NFC) method, apparatus, and system employing a cellular-communications capable computing device Cellular-capable computing device and a related system and methodology are disclosed. The computing device includes a touch screen display, one or more processors, a memory device, and a first near field communication (NFC) module and first NFC antenna configured to be communicatively coupled to a second NFC module and second NFC antenna of an electronic device. The computing device includes a network transceiver configured to communicate with a cellular communications network. The memory device stores one or more applications configured to be executed by the one or more processors, and the computing device is configured to transmit to the at least one electronic device a representation of one or more electronic credentials stored in the at least one memory device based on the first NFC antenna being within a radio frequency (RF) field of the second NFC antenna.
US09231660B1	User authentication using near field communication A mobile computing device is authenticated to a user using an NFC tag embedded within or attached to an object that is commonly carried or worn by the user. The NFC tag may be initially associated when an NFC reader of the device senses the NFC tag and wirelessly retrieves a tag identifier from the tag. The tag identifier is stored for subsequent retrieval. The authentication process begins by positioning the device proximate the object such that the NFC reader of the device retrieves the tag identifier from the NFC tag. In the event that the retrieved tag identifier matches the stored tag identifier, the mobile computing device is unlocked and the user may access the mobile computing device. If the retrieved tag identifier does not match the stored tag identifier, the user is not authenticated and the mobile computing device remains locked.
US09231650B2	Method and apparatus for an adaptive filter architecture A system that incorporates teachings of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a method for identifying a spectral region in a radio frequency spectrum for initiating a communication session having a transmission link and a reception link, determining a correlation factor from signals measured in the spectral region, detecting according to the correlation factor a foreign communication signal in the spectral region, generating coefficient data to prevent interference with the foreign communication signal while transmitting in the transmission link, filtering a first signal for transmission in the transmission link according to the coefficient data to generate a filtered signal, and causing a transmission of the filtered signal which prevents interference with the foreign communication signal while transmitting in the transmission link. Other embodiments are disclosed.
US09231642B2	Radio frequency splitter A multichannel splitter formed from 1 to 2 splitters. An input terminal of a first 1 to 2 splitter defines an input of the multichannel splitter. The 1 to 2 splitters are electrically series-connected. First respective outputs of the 1 to 2 splitters define output terminals of the multichannel splitter.
US09231636B2	Display apparatus and method of controlling the same A display apparatus and a method of controlling the same are disclosed. The method of controlling a display apparatus includes: displaying an interface for setting up a remote controller that controls an external device connected to at least one input terminal of the display apparatus; receiving a selection of a user for setting up the remote controller through the user interface; and transmitting remote controller code information corresponding to the external device to the remote controller in accordance with the selection.
US09231633B1	Method and apparatus for performing run-time compensation of I/Q mismatch in a baseband signal A downconversion downconverts a received signal. The downconverted signal includes IQ mismatch. A compensation module generates a compensated signal based on (i) the downconverted signal and (ii) an IQ mismatch compensation value. First and second mixers mix the compensated withal with first and second oscillating signals, respectively. First and second Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) modules perform FFTs on outputs of the first and second mixers to generate a first and second FFT signals, respectively. An IQ mismatch estimation module captures portions of the first and second FFT signals generated in response to the received signal including a first and second predetermined sequences. The IQ mismatch estimation module generates the IQ mismatch compensation value based on: the portions of the first and second FFT signals; the first predetermined sequence; and the second predetermined sequence.
US09231632B2	Apparatus for interference cancellation in MIMO receiver, method for interference cancellation in MIMO receiver and MIMO receiver An interference canceller (500) includes an interference cancellation coefficient calculator (510) configured to calculate an interference cancellation coefficient using a received value located in a location of a reference signal (RS) from a channel estimate H calculated by a channel estimator and a received signal r delivered from an FFT, an interference cancellation filter (520) configured to cancel interference in the received signal and the channel estimate using the calculated interference cancellation coefficient, an increment or decrement operator (530) configured to increase or decrease the received signal and the channel estimate by λ times; an interference cancellation output controller (540) configured to receive a channel estimate before interference cancellation and a channel estimate after interference cancellation to compare a signal before the interference cancellation with a signal after the interference cancellation and then determine whether to deliver the signal before applying the interference cancellation or the signal after applying the interference cancellation, and a switch (550) configured to receive a control signal from the interference cancellation output controller (540).
US09231629B2	Ultra low power super-regenerative receiver and method thereof An ultra low power super-regenerative receiver is provided. The ultra low power super-regenerative receiver includes a bit synchronizer configured to use a value sampled from a signal output from a super-regenerative oscillator to estimate a pulse-level position having a maximum amplitude value in a single period of a received symbol, a frame synchronizer configured to combine a plurality of pulse-level positions determined based on the estimated pulse-level position, and detect a predetermined bit sequence using the plurality of pulse-level positions combined, the frame synchronizer being configured to perform frame synchronization, and a data detector configured to detect data using the plurality of pulse-level positions determined after the frame synchronization is completed.
US09231627B2	Adaptive ISO-Gain pre-distortion for an RF power amplifier operating in envelope tracking The output of a Radio Frequency (RF) Power Amplifier (PA) is sampled and down-converted, and the amplitude envelope of the baseband feedback signal is extracted. This is compared to the envelope of a transmission signal, and the envelope tracking modulation of the RF PA supply voltage VCC is adaptively pre-distorted to achieve a constant ISO-Gain (and phase) in the RF PA. In particular, a nonlinear function is interpolated from a finite number gain values calculated from the feedback and transmission signals. This nonlinear function is then used to pre-distort the transmission signal envelope, resulting in a constant gain at the RF PA over a wide range of supply voltage VCC values. Since the gains are calculated from a feedback signal, the pre-distortion may be recalculated at event triggers, such as an RF frequency change. Furthermore, the method improves nonlinearity in the entire transmitter chain, not just the RF PA.
US09231623B1	Chase decoding for turbo-product codes (TPC) using error intersections A set of error intersections is determined using at least a first set of error-containing codewords and a second set of error-containing codewords. A first set of bit locations is selected from the set of error intersections using soft information associated with the first set of error-containing codewords. Chase decoding is performed on the first set of error-containing codewords. The set of error intersections is updated, based at least in part on the Chase decoding, to obtain an updated set of error intersections. From the updated set of error intersections, a second set of bit locations is selected using soft information associated with the second set of error-containing codewords. Chase decoding is performed on the second set of error-containing codewords.
US09231621B2	Computationally efficient convolutional coding with rate-matching An error coding circuit comprises a non-systematic convolutional encoder for coding an input bit stream to produce two or more groups of parity bits, an interleaver circuit for interleaving parity bits within each group of parity bits, and a rate-matching circuit for outputting a selected number of the interleaved parity bits ordered by group to obtain a desired code rate.
US09231603B2	Distributed phase detection for clock synchronization in multi-layer 3D stacks There is provided a clock distribution network for synchronizing global clock signals within a 3D chip stack having two or more strata. The clock distribution circuit includes, on each of the two or more strata, phase detectors, a logic circuit, and a phase de-skewing element. Each phase detector has a respective output for providing phase information relating to a phase difference between two of the global clocks signals on respective different ones of the two or more strata. The logic circuit is connected to the respective outputs of the phase detectors for determining a phase adjustment plan for a given one of the two or more strata upon which the logic circuit is located responsive to the phase information. The phase de-skewing element is for adjusting a clock skew of a same stratum located one of the two of the global clock signals responsive to the phase adjustment plan.
US09231602B1	A-priori-probability-phase-estimation for digital phase-locked loops A digital phase locked loop operates with a time-to-digital converter and an a-priori-probability-phase-estimation component or estimator component that estimates the un-quantized phase associated with a quantization output of the time-to-digital converter. The time-to-digital converter generates a quantized value as the quantization output from a local oscillator signal of a local oscillator and a reference signal of a reference clock. The estimation component estimates a phase value from the quantized values as a function of a-priori data related to the time-to-digital converter and boundaries of the quantized value.
US09231599B2	Oscillation apparatus An oscillation apparatus corrects a setting value for an output frequency based on a detection result of an environmental temperature. The oscillation apparatus includes a first crystal unit, a second crystal unit, an integrated circuit chip, and a container. The first crystal unit includes first excitation electrodes on respective surfaces of a crystal element. The second crystal unit includes second excitation electrodes on respective surfaces of a crystal element. The integrated circuit chip includes a first oscillation circuit, a second oscillation circuit, and a correction unit. The container houses the first crystal unit, the second crystal unit, and the integrated circuit chip. Assuming that distances from a gravity center position of the integrated circuit chip to respective gravity center positions of the first excitation electrodes and the second excitation electrodes in plan view are denoted by D1 and D2, D1/D2 is within a predetermined range close to 1.
US09231597B2	Digitally controlled oscillator calibration circuit and method A calibration circuit for a DCO includes a signal-conditioning module configured for (i) receiving at input an oscillating signal generated by the DCO and a reference signal, both designed to oscillate between a high logic value (“1”) and a low logic value (“0”), and (ii) detecting a respective first and second stable logic value of the reference signal and of the oscillating signal; and a period-to-voltage converter module coupled to the signal-conditioning module and configured for (iii) generating a difference signal identifying a difference between the period of the reference signal and the period of the oscillating signal, and (iv) controlling, on the basis of the difference signal, the DCO so as to conform the duration of the period of the oscillating signal to the duration of the period of the reference signal. Likewise described is a calibration method implemented by the calibration circuit.
US09231594B2	Non-LUT field-programmable gate arrays New logic blocks capable of replacing the use of Look-Up Tables (LUTs) in integrated circuits, such as Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the new logic block is a tree structure comprised of a number of levels of cells with each cell consisting of a logic gate or the functional equivalent of a logic gate, one or more selectable inverters, and wherein the inputs of the logic block consist of the inputs to the logic gate or functional equivalent of the logic gate and inputs to the selectable inverters. The new logic blocks can map circuits more efficiently than LUTs, because they include multi-output blocks and can cover more logic depth due to the higher input and output bandwidth.
US09231593B2	Apparatus for compensating for process variation of resistor in electronic circuit An electronic circuit apparatus for compensating for a process variation of a resistor in an electronic circuit is provided. The electronic circuit includes a detecting part for generating a tune voltage corresponding to a process variation value of the at least one resistor, and a compensating part for compensating for a process variation of the at least one resistor using the tune voltage.
US09231587B2	Input device having electrodes shaped to enhance capacitive sensitivity at a given position In order to improve operability when operating a target key, an input device has a plurality of keys arranged in a column direction. Each of the plurality of keys comprises a key indication mark (211) formed on an operation surface and an electrode plate (221) of a capacitive touch sensor disposed behind the operation surface, and the electrode plates (221a, 221b and so on) has a shape in which the top edge and the bottom edge are V-shaped and bend downwards so that the center of gravity of the electrode plate is positioned downwards in the column direction from a center of a minimum rectangle region enclosing the corresponding key indication marks (221a, 221b and so on).
US09231585B2	System and method for calibrating chips in a 3D chip stack architecture A system and method is disclosed for adaptively adjusting a driving strength of a signal between a first and second chip in a 3D architecture/stack. This may be used to adaptively calibrate a chip in a 3D architecture/stack. The system may include a transmission circuit on one chip and a receiver circuit on another chip. Alternatively, the system may include a transmission and receiver circuit on just one chip.
US09231584B2	Device and method for micro-electro-mechanical-system photonic switch In one embodiment, a micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) photonic switch includes a first plurality of collimators and a first mirror array optically coupled to the first plurality of collimators. The first mirror array includes a first plurality of first MEMS mirrors integrated on a first substrate and a first plurality of first photodiodes integrated on the first substrate, where the photodiodes are disposed in interstitial spaces between the MEMS mirrors.
US09231583B2	Power transistor gate driver The present invention relates to a gate driver for a power transistor comprising a first charging path operatively connected between a first voltage supply and a gate terminal of the power transistor for charging the gate terminal to a first gate voltage. A second charging path is connectable between the gate terminal of the power transistor and a second supply voltage to charge the gate terminal from the first gate voltage to a second gate voltage larger or higher than the first gate voltage. A voltage of the second voltage supply is higher than a voltage of the first voltage supply.
US09231579B2	Highly linear buffer Techniques relating to buffer circuits. In one embodiment, a circuit includes a first transistor configured as a source follower and a feed-forward path coupled to the gate terminal of the first transistor and the drain terminal of the first transistor. In this embodiment, the feed-forward path includes circuitry configured to decouple the feed-forward path from a DC component of an input signal to the gate terminal of the first transistor. In this embodiment, the circuitry is configured to reduce a drain-source voltage of the first transistor based on the input signal. In some embodiment, the feed-forward path includes a second transistor configured as a source follower and the source terminal of the second transistor is coupled to the drain terminal of the first transistor. In various embodiments, reducing the drain-source voltage may improve linearity of the first transistor.
US09231562B2	Decimation filter A system includes a decimation module having an adjustable decimation rate and a filter module responsive to the decimation module. A digital phase lock loop is operable to control a decimation rate of the decimation module. The decimation module is a cascade integrator comb decimation module.
US09231557B2	Duplexer A duplexer includes a transmitting filter including serial resonators and parallel resonators connected in a ladder configuration, and a receiving filter. A resonator of the serial resonators and the parallel resonators in the transmitting filter that is arranged closest to a common terminal of the transmitting filter and the transmitting filter includes a surface acoustic wave resonator, and at least one resonator excluding the resonator that is arranged closest to the common terminal includes a film bulk acoustic wave resonator.
US09231552B2	RF front-end module and mobile wireless terminal An electronic device including a first reception band pass filter having a first reception frequency set as a passband; a second reception band pass filter having a second reception frequency set as a passband; a first matching circuit having a first end connected to an antenna terminal; a first switch having a first end connected to a second end of the first matching circuit: a second switch having a first end connected to the second end of the first matching circuit; a second matching circuit connected between a second end of the first switch and the first reception band pass filter; and a third matching circuit connected between a second end of the second switch and the second reception band pass filter, wherein at least one of the first, second, and third matching circuits is a variable matching circuit having a controllable matching constant.
US09231543B2	Audio power amplification with reduced input power supply crest factor A power converter has an output that is coupled in parallel with an energy reservoir circuit and a power supply node of an audio power amplifier. The converter can set an upper limit on its input supply current that is variable in accordance with a control input. A controller is to produce a signal, coupled to the control input of the power converter, that is responsive to a measure of input supply voltage of the power converter and either output voltage of the power converter or output power of the amplifier. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
US09231542B1	Amplifier common-mode control method A fully differential amplifier performs common-mode voltage control while having reduced sensitivity to random offsets and mismatches and improved common-mode control loop bandwidth. The amplifier disclosed comprises an additional common-mode control sub-amplifier, which senses common-mode voltage of the fully differential main amplifier at nodes within the continuous-time signal path feedback network, compares the common-mode voltage sensed with a reference voltage, and regulates depending on the result of the comparison the output common-mode voltage via the existing continuous signal path feedback network. Furthermore the internal common-mode control can be implemented in such a manner as to provide a feed-forward transconductance function in addition to common-mode control if desired. Moreover it is possible to use feedback from other amplifier stages in an amplifier chain to implement common-mode feedback.
US09231535B2	Silent start class-D amplifier A Class-D amplifier includes a pre-amplifier having an input configured to receive an amplifier reference voltage signal which is ramped at start-up at a fast rate. An integrator has a first input configured to receive an input signal from the pre-amplifier and a second input configured to receive an integrator reference voltage signal which is ramped at start-up at a slower rate. A modulator has an input coupled to an output of the integrator. The modulator generates a pulse width modulated output signal. Operation of the Class-D amplifier is controlled at start-up by applying a slow ramped signal as the integrator reference voltage signal and a fast ramped signal as the amplifier reference voltage so that the pulse width modulated output signal exhibits an increasing change in duty cycle in response to an increasing voltage of the integrator reference voltage signal, and no “pop” is introduced at start-up.
US09231532B2	Amplifier circuit An amplifier circuit includes an amplifier circuit that emitter-grounds a first transistor that amplifies an input signal; and an emitter-grounded feedback circuit in which a collector of the first transistor is connected to an output line of the amplifier circuit and a base is wiring-connected only to the output line by using a resistor.
US09231525B2	Compensating a two stage amplifier Systems and techniques are disclosed for configuring a circuit containing a two-stage amplifier including a first stage containing at least a differential amplifier, a second stage containing at least a transistor, and a sensing circuit configured to provide a gate voltage to a compensation component. The compensation component may be configured to connect the first stage and the second stage and to generate a lead-lag compensation. The compensation component may contain a compensation capacitor and a variable compensation resistive component in series connection with the compensation capacitor.
US09231522B2	Generation of band-limited noise with tunable crest factor A method for generating a signal having a defined bandwidth and a desired crest factor is disclosed. The signal is composed of a number of individual sinusoidal signals, each having an amplitude and a frequency. The method includes determining an exponent to be used in a specific exponential function and corresponding to the desired crest factor, the exponent being determined based on an a priori known relationship between crest factor and exponent; calculating a phase value for each sinusoidal signal using the specific exponential function and the previously determined exponent; and superposing the sinusoidal signals to obtain the signal having the desired crest factor, whereby the phases of the individual signals are maintained.
US09231519B2	Temperature compensation for oscillator A temperature compensation apparatus may include a sense circuit configured to produce a sense voltage that is dependent on temperature and a temperature compensation circuit configured to receive the sense voltage and produce a temperature compensation control signal to control a compensation capacitor array of an oscillator. The temperature compensation circuit may be configured to calibrate the control signal to have a first value at a first temperature. The temperature compensation circuit may also be configured to calibrate a trimming level (e.g., slope) of the control signal.
US09231516B2	Control device for generator-motor and control method for generator-motor Provided is a control device for a generator-motor including: a control section (111) for controlling a rotary electric machine (12) with use of an inverter (11); and a connection switch section (5) provided between a power source and the inverter, the connection switch section including a change-over contact (51) which is ON/OFF-controllable by the control section and a current reducing resistor (52) which are connected in parallel. The control section performs ON/OFF control of the change-over contact in accordance with drive characteristics of the rotary electric machine so that a drive current that flows when the rotary electric machine operates as a motor falls within a range not exceeding a permissible current value of the rotary electric machine.
US09231514B2	Motor control apparatus and motor control method A winding switching signal generator is configured to obtain information indicating a degree of field weakening from at least one of a current command calculator and a constant output controller, and to generate a winding switching signal for switching from a low speed rotation state to a high speed rotation state when the degree of the field weakening exceeds a predetermined condition in the low speed rotation state.
US09231510B2	Control device for rotary machine and inductance measurement method for rotary machine A control device for rotary machine includes: a voltage instruction generation section for generating a voltage instruction; a voltage application section for applying voltage to a rotary machine based on the voltage instruction; a current detection section for detecting rotary machine current of the rotary machine; and an inductance calculation section for calculating an inductance of the rotary machine from the voltage instruction and the rotary machine current. The voltage instruction generation section generates voltage instructions of constant DC voltages. The voltage application section applies voltages to the rotary machine based on the voltage instructions. The inductance calculation section calculates the inductance from a voltage instruction for measurement arbitrarily selected from the voltage instructions, and the rotary machine currents detected by the current detection section before and after application of the voltage instruction for measurement.
US09231509B2	System and method for operating a power generation system within a power storage/discharge mode or a dynamic brake mode In one aspect, a system for operating a power generation system within a battery storage/discharge mode or a dynamic brake mode may generally include a power convertor having a DC link, a switching module coupled to the DC link and a selector switch configured to selectively couple the switching module to one of a storage device or a resistive element of the power generation system. The selector switch may be movable between a first position, wherein the switching module is coupled to the storage device such that power is capable of being directed between the DC link and the storage device via control of the switching module, and a second position, wherein the switching module is coupled to the resistive element such that power is capable of being directed between the DC link and the resistive element via control of the switching module.
US09231506B2	Semiconductor device, electrical device and control signal, generation method A The present invention provides a semiconductor device, an electrical device, and a control signal generation method that enable easy generation of a given control signal even by a comparatively low cost and low processing power microcontroller, whereby a microcontroller of a motor control system includes a PWM device equipped with a PWM setting register. The PWM setting register includes a duty update cycle register, a duty update value register and a duty update-times number register. A PWM generator generates and outputs a PWM signal according to values set in each register of the PWM setting register. The PWM device is capable of generating and outputting a PWM signal automatically with the PWM generator according to setting values set in the PWM setting register, even without an interruption by the software (CPU).
US09231505B2	Signal transducer and control system comprising the same A control system for electrical equipment, the system including: a system controller; a motor; and a signal transducer. The system controller outputs a plurality of rotation switch signals, and the rotation switch signals are high-voltage AC signals. The motor is a brushless DC motor or electronically commutated motor (ECM). The signal transducer is connected between the system controller and the ECM, and includes a rotation switch sensing circuit, a microprocessor controller, and an interface signal processing circuit. The rotation switch sensing circuit detects the rotation switch signals output from the system controller, and transmits the rotation switch signals to the microprocessor controller for processing. The microprocessor controller is connected with the ECM via the interface signal processing circuit.
US09231500B2	Sensorless motor braking system An electric motor control system includes a motor control circuit for generating a motor control signal and a braking mechanism for adjusting the motor control signal to augment motor losses when the motor control circuit is in a braking mode. The braking mechanism includes a difference component for receiving a first signal containing motor reference speed information, for receiving a second signal containing actual speed information, and for generating a third signal containing information indicating a difference between the reference speed and the actual speed. An integrating component integrates the third signal and generates a fourth signal representing the integrated third signal. The fourth signal may augment a voltage control signal in a voltage-based control circuit or may augment a flux-producing component of a current control signal in a current-based control circuit. The electric motor control circuit may include multiple braking mechanisms for use in different modes of operation.
US09231497B2	Optical member driving apparatus and lens apparatus having the same An optical member driving apparatus includes an optical member holder holding an optical member, which is rectilinearly guided and has a rotating member supported rotatably about a rotation shaft extending perpendicularly to a movable direction in which the optical member holder is movable, a fixed member that extends in the movable direction, has two sliding surfaces facing each other with predetermined spacing therebetween, and is arranged in such a way that the rotating member is located between the two sliding surfaces, two movers each of which includes a base and a vibrator connected to the base, and a controller that controls driving of the two vibrators to move the optical member holder in the movable direction. The vibrators of the two movers are in pressure contact with one and the other of the two sliding surfaces respectively. The rotating member is rotatably held between the bases of the two movers.
US09231493B1	Rectifier with auxiliary voltage output A rectifier includes two input paths configured to receive an alternating input voltage, two output paths configured to provide a direct output voltage, and an auxiliary output path configured to provide an auxiliary output voltage. At least two rectifying paths are connected between each of the input and output paths. At least two rectifying paths are switched-mode rectifying paths that are connected to the same output path. The two switched-mode rectifying paths are configured to connect one output path to one input path during one half wave of the input voltage, and to connect the one output path to the other input path during the other half wave. The two switched-mode rectifying paths each comprise two semiconductor elements with controllable paths that are series-connected with each other by an auxiliary output node. At least one rectifier element is connected between the auxiliary output and the two auxiliary output nodes.
US09231486B2	System and method for information communication between electrically isolated circuits An exemplary power conversion system includes a power converter and a protection circuit coupled with the power converter. The power converter is configured to convert an input power into an output power. The power converter includes an isolator magnetically coupling a primary side and a secondary side and at least one primary switch coupled in series with the primary side. The at least one primary switch is configured to turn on or turn off current to the isolator on the primary side. The protection circuit is coupled to the at least one primary switch. The protection circuit includes a detecting device for detecting switch state of a secondary switch on the secondary side. The detecting device is configured to drive the at least one primary switch according to the detected switch state. A method for operating the power conversion system is also described.
US09231479B2	Power supply device A power supply device includes a first semiconductor switching device for controlling an alternating input current waveform, a smoothing capacitor to which a rectified voltage is applied, and an inverter that converts the rectified voltage into alternating current via a step-up chopper. The step-up chopper includes an inductor and a diode connected between the smoothing capacitor and inverter, and a second semiconductor switching device connected to the inductor and diode. The power supply device further includes an instantaneous voltage drop compensation function whereby the energy of the smoothing capacitor is supplied by an operation of the step-up chopper to the inverter when there is an instantaneous voltage drop in an alternating current power supply voltage. MOSFETs with a breakdown voltage lower than that of the first semiconductor switching device are connected between terminals of the step-up chopper, thus further reducing loss in comparison with when a bypass diode is used.
US09231478B2	Step-down direct-current to direct-current converter, controller and control method thereof, and electronic apparatus using same An M-channel (M is an integer of at least two) synchronous rectification type step-down DC/DC converter is provided. A controller in the converter (i) calculates a load current on a basis of currents flowing through M inductors, (ii) dynamically changes the number K of driving phases (K is an integer of up to M) on the basis of the calculated load current, (iii) generates a pulse signal adjusted in duty ratio such that an output voltage of an output line coincides with a predetermined reference voltage, (iv) selects K drivers among M drivers, and distributes the pulse signal with a phase difference of (360/K) degrees to each of the selected K drivers, and (v) monotonically increases an amplitude control signal indicating the amplitude of a gate driving voltage with respect to the calculated load current in a range determined in advance for each number K of driving phases.
US09231476B2	Tracking energy consumption using a boost-buck technique The invention relates to an apparatus and method for tracking energy consumption. An energy tracking system comprises at least one switching element, at least one inductor and a control block to keep the output voltage at a pre-selected level. The switching elements are configured to apply the source of energy to the inductors. The control block compares the output voltage of the energy tracking system to a reference value and controls the switching of the switched elements in order to transfer energy for the primary voltage into a secondary voltage at the output of the energy tracking system. The electronic device further comprises an ON-time and OFF-time generator and an accumulator wherein the control block is coupled to receive a signal from the ON-time and OFF-time generator and generates switching signals for the at least one switching element in the form of ON-time pulses with a constant width ON-time.
US09231475B2	DC-DC converter, semiconductor device, and electronic device A DC-DC converter with improved voltage conversion efficiency is provided. The DC-DC converter includes a first circuit configured to generate a first signal containing data on current flowing through a load, a second circuit configured to amplify the first signal, a third circuit configured to generate a second signal containing data on voltage applied to the load, a fourth circuit configured to hold the second signal, a fifth circuit configured to amplify the second signal held by the fourth circuit, a sixth circuit configured to correct a difference in electrical characteristics between the second circuit and the fifth circuit, a seventh circuit configured to convert a first voltage to a second voltage supplied to the load, and an eighth circuit configured to control a level of the second voltage generated by the seventh circuit in accordance with either the amplified first signal or the amplified second signal.
US09231474B2	DC/DC converter and display device There are provided a DC/DC converter and a display device. The DC/DC converter includes: an inductor connected to an input terminal; a switching element connected between the inductor and the earth; a diode connected between the inductor and an output terminal; a capacitor connected between the output terminal and the earth; a feedback circuit connected between the output terminal and the earth and outputting a feedback voltage; and an oscillating circuit performing an ON/OFF control of the switching element at a frequency corresponding to the received feedback voltage. The DC/DC converter further includes: a detection circuit which detects an external magnetic field and outputs a signal that is different depending on whether or not the detected magnetic field exceeds a predetermined threshold; and a control circuit performing a control of the DC/DC converter according to the signal, to suppress an overcurrent of the DC/DC converter in a strong magnetic field.
US09231436B2	Vehicular power source system A controller is provided in an in-vehicle electronic control unit (ECU) for controlling a backup power source to maintain continuous power supply to a memory in a standby state of ACC-OFF using a battery of a vehicle. The controller reduces dark current in the standby state by reducing an output voltage of the backup power source of the ECU depending on a state of the battery of the vehicle. The controller may be provided to not only the single ECU but also other ECUs in the vehicle, thereby reducing the dark current in the whole of the vehicle.
US09231431B2	Integrated circuit for wireless charging and operating method thereof An integrated circuit for wireless charging and a wireless charging method in an integrated circuit are provided. The integrated circuit includes a first wireless communication unit configured to support a first wireless communication method; a second wireless communication unit configured to support a second wireless communication method; a first route selection unit configured to perform a selection from among a first power input according to wired charging and a second power input according to wireless charging to be allowed as input; a second route selection unit configured to perform a selection from among a power between a third power input from a battery and a fourth power input according to wireless charging to be allowed as input; a power block configured to receive the power from any the first and second route selection units; and a controller configured to control an operation of the first and second route selection units.
US09231425B2	Battery pack system of improving operating performance using internal resistance of cell Disclosed is a battery pack system to supply current necessary to operate an external device, including a battery module including battery cells which can be charged and discharged, a temperature sensor, an auxiliary power unit to supply a charge and discharge pulse current to the battery module, and a controller to connect the auxiliary power unit to the battery module so that the charge and discharge pulse current is supplied to the battery module when a measured temperature (Tbat) of the battery module is less than a set temperature (Tcrit) based on information detected by the temperature sensor before the battery module is electrically connected to the external device and to interrupt the supply of the charge and discharge pulse current to the battery module when the temperature of the battery module becomes equal to or greater than the set temperature (Tcrit) and an operating method of the same.
US09231424B2	Charging system Disclosed is a charging system for both plug-in charging systems and contactless charging systems, having a simple electrical configuration, and capable of achieving miniaturization and weight saving. The charging system includes a secondary cell charged via first/second coils of a transformer to which electrical power is supplied from a first power supply via a plug-in connector, and a third coil supplied with electrical power from a second power supply, a relative position of which to the second coil of the transformer is variable, and which can be magnetically coupled to the second coil when the second coil approaches the third coil, wherein the secondary cell is charged via magnetic coupling between first/second coils when charging the secondary cell by the first power supply, and the secondary cell is charged via magnetic coupling between the third coil and second coils when charging the secondary cell by the second power supply.
US09231402B2	Circuit device and method of suppressing a power event A circuit device includes a diode bridge having a first power input and a second power input and having a first output terminal and a second output terminal. The diode bridge includes a plurality of diodes and a respective plurality of diode bypass elements associated with the plurality of diodes. The circuit device further includes a logic circuit to detect a power event at the first and second power inputs and to selectively activate one or more of the respective plurality of diode bypass elements in response to detecting the power event to limit a rectified power supply at the first and second output terminals.
US09231398B2	Cable collector The present invention relates to a cable collector (1; 101; 201; 301) for collecting and managing a cable (8), for connecting an audio device (20) to user equipment, by means of a connection plug (9) fixed to one end of the cable. The cable collector comprises: a) a main body (2; 102; 202; 302) having a first end portion (3; 103; 203; 303) to which the connection plug (9) is intended to be attached, protruding from a surface (3A) thereof; b) a second end portion (4; 104; 204; 304) having a through passage (7; 107; 207; 307) with inner dimensions smaller than a largest outer diameter (D1) of the connection plug, enabling secure retaining of the latter therein in an active cable collecting state; c) a foldable middle portion (5; 105; 205; 305) joining the two end portions; and d) a cable passage (6) formed within the first and second end portions as well as the middle portion of the main body, said passage being adapted to at least partially accommodate a portion of a cable nearest to the connection plug. The present invention also relates to a cable and cable collector unit.
US09231391B2	Electric vehicle charging-socket flap device compatible with pedestrian impacts A charging-socket flap device for electric vehicles, including: a structure including an aperture and a jacket adjacent to the aperture, the jacket including an orifice; a movable gate forming a flap configured to close the aperture of the structure; an element hinging the gate housed in the jacket; a cover configured to close the orifice of the jacket. The cover is mounted on the orifice of the jacket to be a distance away from the orifice on at least one edge of the orifice in the closed position on the jacket, the cover being kept a distance away from the edge by a support making it possible for the cover to move with a damped movement toward the edge when a region of the vehicle body panel covering the flap device is impacted, or impacted by a pedestrian.
US09231386B2	Electric cable cutter An electric cable cutter used with a hand-held tool includes a housing; a pair of cutting blades supported by the housing; a pair of orthogonal gears; a drive shaft with an eccentric shaft portion attached to an output gear of the pair of orthogonal gears; a differential gear mechanism which decelerates a rotation of the drive shaft; and an Oldham coupling which corrects an eccentric rotation of an output gear of the differential gear mechanism. A circular-arc-shaped outer surface of the one cutting blade is supported by the other cutting blade so as to be openable and closable. The pair of cutting blades is provided with an outer toothed portion engaging with an output gear of the Oldham coupling. An input gear of the pair of orthogonal gears is connected through an adapter pin to the hand-held tool attachable and detachable through a one-touch operation.
US09231379B2	Spark plug having firing pad A spark plug has a shell, an insulator, a center electrode, a ground electrode, and a firing pad. The firing pad is made of a precious metal material and is attached to the ground electrode. The firing pad has a side surface at a peripheral edge that can be flush or nearly flush with a free end surface of the ground electrode. This construction can help improve ignitability and flame kernel growth of the spark plug during a sparking event, and can provide better thermal management at the attached ground electrode and firing pad.
US09231376B2	Technique for the growth and fabrication of semipolar (Ga,Al,In,B)N thin films, heterostructures, and devices A method for growth and fabrication of semipolar (Ga,Al,In,B)N thin films, heterostructures, and devices, comprising identifying desired material properties for a particular device application, selecting a semipolar growth orientation based on the desired material properties, selecting a suitable substrate for growth of the selected semipolar growth orientation, growing a planar semipolar (Ga,Al,In,B)N template or nucleation layer on the substrate, and growing the semipolar (Ga,Al,In,B)N thin films, heterostructures or devices on the planar semipolar (Ga,Al,In,B)N template or nucleation layer. The method results in a large area of the semipolar (Ga,Al,In,B)N thin films, heterostructures, and devices being parallel to the substrate surface.
US09231375B2	Semiconductor device A semiconductor device includes: a semiconductor substrate made of a hexagonal Group III nitride semiconductor and having a semi-polar plane; and an epitaxial layer formed on the semi-polar plane of the semiconductor substrate and including a first cladding layer of a first conductive type, a second cladding layer of a second conductive type, and a light-emitting layer formed between the first cladding layer and the second cladding layer, the first cladding layer being made of Inx1Aly1Ga1-x1-y1N, where x1>0 and y1>0, the second cladding layer being made of Inx2Aly2Ga1-x2-y2N, where0≦x2≦about 0.02 and about 0.03≦y2≦about 0.07.
US09231373B2	Multi-chip VECSEL-based laser tunable independently at multiple wavelengths A laser device capable to simultaneously generate light at multiple wavelengths that are independently (and, optionally, simultaneously) tunable without a limit of how small a spectral separation between such wavelengths can be made is enabled with the use of a laser-cavity network that (i) contains multiple spatially-distinct laser cavity portions all of which have at least one spatial region of the cavity network in common and (ii) is defined by such optical elements that prevent the intracavity amplification of light at first and second of multiple wavelengths at the expense of the same laser gain medium. Each of the distinct cavity portions contains a dedicated laser chip supporting the generation of light at a corresponding wavelength. In a special case, at least two of the multiple lasing wavelengths in the output of the device can be simultaneously and independently tuned to become equal.
US09231367B2	Co-modulation of DBR laser and integrated optical amplifier In an embodiment, a laser chip includes a laser, an optical amplifier, a first electrode, and a second electrode. The laser includes an active region. The optical amplifier is integrated in the laser chip in front of and in optical communication with the laser. The first electrode is electrically coupled to the active region. The second electrode is electrically coupled to the optical amplifier. The first electrode and the second electrode are configured to be electrically coupled to a common direct modulation source.
US09231362B2	Multi-pass slab laser with internal beam shaping The laser resonator includes a first resonator wall, a second resonator wall that is substantially parallel to the first resonator wall and is separated from the first resonator wall in a first transverse direction thereby defining a gap having a gap width between the first and second resonator walls, and at least two laser cavity mirrors. The laser cavity mirrors are arranged to allow an intra-cavity laser beam to reflect from the output coupling mirror thereby forming a first beam spot on the output coupling mirror. The first curved mirror has a radius of curvature such that the reflection of the intra-cavity laser beam from the first curved mirror causes the first beam spot on the output coupling mirror to have a substantially symmetric shape.
US09231361B2	Tunable laser with high thermal wavelength tuning efficiency A monolithically integrated thermal tunable laser comprising a layered substrate comprising an upper surface and a lower surface, and a thermal tuning assembly comprising a heating element positioned on the upper surface, a waveguide layer positioned between the upper surface and the lower surface, and a thermal insulation layer positioned between the waveguide layer and the lower surface, wherein the thermal insulation layer is at least partially etched out of an Indium Phosphide (InP) sacrificial layer, and wherein the thermal insulation layer is positioned between Indium Gallium Arsenide (InGaAs) etch stop layers.
US09231356B1	Electrical connector for transferring high frequency signal An electrical connector includes a body having a tongue, a row of first terminals insert-molded in the body, a depressed slot, and a positioning slot. The tongue includes a first surface having multiple receiving slots. Each first terminal has a contact portion accommodated in the receiving slot and exposed from the first surface. The first terminals include a pair of differential signal terminals and multiple non-high-speed terminals. The depressed slot is depressed from the first surface, located between contact portions of two differential signal terminals, and in communication with two adjacent receiving slots. The positioning slot is depressed from the first surface, located between contact portions of two adjacent non-high-speed terminals, or of adjacent non-high-speed terminal and differential signal terminal, and in communication with two adjacent receiving slots. The length of the positioning slot is less than the length of the depressed slot.
US09231345B2	Connector and connector device A connector is to be connected to a mating connector. The connector includes a base portion for accommodating a plug and a cable connected to the plug; a connecting member disposed on the base portion to be rotatable relative to the mating connector for connecting the connector to the mating connector; a tightening member disposed on the base portion to be movable relative to the connecting member for tightening the cable; and a rotation preventing member disposed on the base portion to be movable relative to the connecting member for engaging with the connecting member so that the rotation preventing member prevents the connecting member from rotating relative to the mating connector.
US09231344B1	Double-sided USB connector structure having a spring mechanism supporting an insulating body with plurality of terminals on two surfaces of the insulating body A double-sided USB connector structure includes an insulating body, a plurality of first terminals, a plurality of second terminals, a metal housing, and a spring mechanism. Said first terminals are disposed on the insulating body, several first contact portions are provided on the first terminals respectively, and the first contact portions are exposed on a first surface of the insulating body. Said second terminals are disposed on the insulating body, several second contact portions are provided on the second terminals respectively, and the second contact portions are exposed on a second surface of the insulating body. A containing space is provided within the metal housing, an opening is provided on one end of the metal housing, and the insulating body is floatingly suspended within the containing space through the spring mechanism.
US09231342B2	Connector A lock arm (33) is arranged on the upper surface of a female connector housing (27), and lock-arm protection walls (37) stand at opposite widthwise sides of the lock arm (33). Detector protection walls (38) are provided behind the lock-arm protection walls (37), and first and second lock receiving portions (43, 44) are formed on the inner surfaces thereof. Two inwardly deflectable locking arms (56) are formed on a detector (39) and locked to the first or second lock receiving portions (43, 44) to restrict a backward movement when the detector (39) is at an initial position and a detecting position. The locking arms (56) are arranged utilizing dead spaces behind the lock-arm protection walls (37).
US09231340B2	Releaseable electrical contact connection A releasable electrical contact connection is formed between a first plug part and a complementary second plug part. The first plug part has an electrically conductive screw bolt on which a cable end can be mechanically and electrically connected by a threaded nut, the cable end and the threaded nut being part of the second plug connector. The cable end and the threaded nut are disposed in an insulating plug housing of the second plug part and are held movably in the direction of a longitudinal axis of the screw bolt in the plug housing, in order to establish or release the electrical and mechanical connection. The threaded nut can be rotated from outside the plug housing. The plug housing is surrounded by an insulating housing wall of the first plug part.
US09231334B2	Connector A connector is configured such that a casing for covering a board is to be mounted on an upper surface of a housing. Connector fitting receptacles are provided side by side in the housing while being spaced apart in a horizontal direction and mating connectors can fit therein. A lever accommodating receptacle is arranged above the connector fitting receptacles and receives a lever for assisting a connection to the mating connector. An upwardly open groove extends along an arrangement direction of the connector fitting receptacles and is provided behind the lever accommodating receptacle in a connecting direction to the mating connector. A hole is provided on a bottom part of the groove and communicates with a clearance between adjacent connector fitting receptacles.
US09231327B1	Electronic circuit slidable interconnect An electronic circuit interconnect apparatus that includes two zipper tracks configured to zip together thereby causing a first circuit to electrically couple with a second circuit. Specifically, each of the zipper tracks include a plurality of teeth, one or more of which are electrically coupled to the first circuit or the second circuit. As a result, when the teeth coupled to the first circuit are zipped to the teeth coupled to the second circuit it causes the first and second circuits to be electrically coupled.
US09231323B1	Spacecraft docking connector An interface connector is provided for connecting homogenous spacecraft cells. The interface connector includes at least one male valve assembly and at least one female valve assembly. The male valve assembly includes an extendable and retractable piston having a central conduit. The female valve assembly has a central bore closed by a ball valve. Preferably, the male and female valves are positioned so that extension of the piston engages the ball valve so as to create a fluid pathway. Various components in the male and female valve assemblies are electrically conductive to allow the transmission of power and data. Further, the male valve assembly is constructed to function as a propulsion thruster when not mated to a female valve assembly.
US09231321B2	Slim-profile hard-disk drive connector Connectors having a slim profile and that may be used for hard-disk drives and other devices. One example may provide a connector that provides a route path including a 180-degree turn while maintaining a slim profile. Another example may provide a connector having a slim profile that is easily manufactured.
US09231315B2	Electrical spike connector The invention relates to an electrical spike connector for electrically contacting a first electrical conducting track of a first electrical line piece (211), said first electrical conducting track being insulated by means of an insulating layer, comprising a socket element (101) having a first conductive spike (105) and comprising a socket mating element (103) for retaining the first electrical line piece, wherein the first conductive spike (105) of the socket element (101) can be pressed against the first electrical line piece retained in the socket mating element (103) in order to pierce the insulating layer and to electrically contact the first electrical conducting track.
US09231312B2	Terminal-wire assembly A wiring harness (1) includes a copper wire (3), an aluminum wire (4) and a ground terminal (2) connected to these wires. The ground terminal (2) includes two wire-side terminal portions (11), (12). A conductor barrel (11b) of the first wire-side terminal portion (11) is crimped to have such a first crimping height (H1) that the conductor barrel (11b) can come into contact with a surface of a conductor (3a) of the copper wire (3). A conductor barrel (12b) of the second wire-side terminal portion (12) is crimped to a conductor (4a) of the aluminum wire (4) to have such a second crimping height (H2) lower than the first crimping height (H1) that the conductor barrel (12b) can come into contact with the conductor (4a) of the aluminum wire (4) through an oxide film (4d) covering a surface of the conductor (4a).
US09231299B2	Multi-bandpass, dual-polarization radome with compressed grid A radome is provided and includes a dielectric wall and one or more inductive metallic grids embedded in and/or disposed on the dielectric wall. Each of the one or more grids includes compressed grid arms and is tuned to permit bandpass transmission at upper and lower frequencies.
US09231296B2	Multi-elevational antenna systems and methods of use The present disclosure provides systems and methods associated with an antenna system comprising a tension member configured to be towed by an aerial platform. In some embodiments, a first end of the tension member may be secured to the aerial platform and the second end may extend unsecured from the aerial platform at a different elevation than the first end. A plurality of antenna assemblies, each comprising at least one antenna, may be secured to and spaced along the length of the tension member. Each of the plurality of antennas may be adapted for use with a particular frequency or frequency bandwidth. For example, each of the plurality of antennas may be adapted or tuned for one or more frequencies useful for synthetic aperture radar (SAR). In some embodiments, a receiving system, a communication link, and/or an antenna location system may be utilized.
US09231295B2	Wearable device for wireless communication A wearable device for wireless communication includes a device body, a wearable belt, a ground element, a feeding element, and a radiation element. The device body substantially has a central hollow structure. The ground element and the feeding element are both disposed in the device body. The feeding element is coupled to a signal source. The radiation element is disposed on a surface of the wearable belt or in the wearable belt, and is disposed adjacent to the feeding element. A coupled-fed antenna structure is formed by the feeding element and the radiation element.
US09231293B2	Integrated antenna and sensor element apparatus for a portable wireless terminal An apparatus with a metal member used as at least one of an antenna and a sensor element in a portable terminal is disclosed. The apparatus includes the metal member, responsive to a sensed body, and for transmitting and receiving a signal in at least one or more communication service bands, and a main board having a communication module for processing a signal transmitted and received by the metal member and a sensor module for obtaining information in response to the approach of a sensed body.
US09231284B2	Electronic device with power indication function and indicating method thereof An electronic device with a battery displays a label for indicating different power levels of the battery. The label comprises a plurality of columns. Each of the columns is capable of being illuminated. A number of the columns lighted correspond to a corresponding the power levels in a one-to-one relationship. The electronic device comprises a detection module, storage, an acquiring module, a check module, and a display module. The detection module detects the current voltage of the battery at regular intervals and stores the information in the storage. The acquiring module acquires a previous detected voltage from the storage. The check module checks whether the current voltage is a fluctuated voltage. The display displays the label with the numbers of the lighted columns corresponding to the power level which contains the previous detected voltage when the current voltage is a fluctuated voltage.
US09231281B2	Button cell comprising a coil electrode with a thermal fuse A button cell closed without flanging includes a housing formed of two housing halves including a cell cup and a cell lid, an electrically insulating seal separating the cell cup and the cell lid, an electrode-separator assembly including at least one positive and at least one negative electrode arranged inside the housing, metal diverters electrically connecting the at least one positive and the at least one negative electrode to the housing halves, and a thermal fuse connected to or integrated into one of the diverters.
US09231279B2	Electrode assembly including electrode units having the same length and different widths, and battery cell and device including the electrode assembly There are provided an electrode assembly, a battery cell including the electrode assembly, and a device including the electrode assembly. The electrode assembly includes a combination of two or more electrode units having the same length and different widths, wherein the electrode units are stacked so that a stepped portion is formed between the electrode units, and electrodes having different polarities face each other at an interface between the electrode units.
US09231275B2	Method for manufacturing sulfide-based solid electrolyte Provided is a method for manufacturing a sulfide-based solid electrolyte including preparing a precursor comprising lithium sulfide, germanium sulfide, aluminum sulfide, phosphorus sulfide, and sulfur, conducting a mixing process of the precursor to prepare a mixture, and crystallizing the mixture to form a compound represented by Li9.7Al0.3Ge0.7P2S12. The sulfide-based solid electrolyte may have high ionic conductivity.
US09231269B2	Non-aqueous electrolyte air battery An object of the present invention is to provide a non-aqueous electrolyte air battery with large discharge capacity and excellent rate characteristics. Disclosed is a non-aqueous electrolyte air battery including an air cathode, an anode and a non-aqueous electrolyte present between the air cathode and anode, wherein the non-aqueous electrolyte includes an ionic liquid as the solvent, the ionic liquid including bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide as the anion portion.
US09231260B2	System and method for redistribution of the flow of fuel under faulted conditions in a fuel cell system A system and method for redistribution of the flow of fuel under faulted conditions in a fuel cell system is disclosed. The fuel cell system includes a fuel cell stack; a fuel tank for storing fuel; fuel injectors that sequentially supply fuel from the fuel tank to the fuel cell stack; and a controller for determining whether a fault condition exists in one of the fuel injectors. If a fault condition exists in the first injector, the controller is capable of redistributing the flow of fuel from a first injector to a second injector.
US09231259B2	Fuel cell stack A fuel cell stack includes a stack body formed by stacking a plurality of power generation cells. At one end of the stack body, a terminal plate, an insulating member, and an end plate are stacked. At the other end of the stack body, a terminal plate, an insulating member, and an end plate are stacked. A coolant channel is formed between the insulating member and the end plate for allowing a coolant to flow along a surface of the end plate.
US09231258B2	Cooling system for a fuel cell The invention relates to a cooling system for a fuel cell, comprising a main heat-transfer-fluid circuit including a circulation pump (6) and a heat exchanger (8) with the exterior, which feed an upstream pipe (12) supplying the fluid to the cells (4) of the fuel cell, said fluid leaving the cells via a downstream pipe (14) in order to return to the main pump. The invention is characterized in that the main circuit comprises a three-port controlled valve (10, 16) on each upstream (12) and downstream (14) pipe, the third available port (10c) of the upstream pipe (12) being connected to the inlet of the pump (6) and the third available port (16c) of the downstream pipe (14) being connected to the outlet of the pump in order to establish a secondary fluid circuit.
US09231252B2	Electroactive particles, and electrodes and batteries comprising the same Provided herein is a coated electroactive particle, comprising i) an electroactive agglomerated particle that comprises a first and second electroactive materials; and ii) a polymeric overcoating on the surface of the electroactive agglomerated particle. Also provided herein is a coated electroactive particle, comprising i) an agglomerated particle that comprises subparticles of a first electroactive material and subparticles of a second electroactive material; and ii) a polymeric overcoating on the surface of the electroactive agglomerated particle.
US09231235B2	Battery pack A battery pack includes a pouch-type bare cell, a protecting circuit module, a top case and a protecting circuit module support part. The pouch-type bare cell has a sealing region positioned in an extraction direction of an electrode lead. The protecting circuit module is positioned in the sealing region and connected to the electrode lead. The top case surrounds the protecting circuit module. The protecting circuit module support part is provided between the top case and the protecting circuit module. Accordingly, the protecting circuit module support part is formed between the top case and the protecting circuit module, so that it is possible to prevent a component mounted on the protecting circuit module from being damaged by an external impact and to prevent the inflow of a foreign matter from the outside of the battery pack, thereby improving the reliability and safety of the battery pack.
US09231232B2	Light-emitting element, light-emitting module, light-emitting panel, and light-emitting device A light-emitting element, a light-emitting module, a light-emitting panel, or a light-emitting device in which loss due to electrical resistance is reduced is provided. The present invention focuses on a surface of an electrode containing a metal and on a layer containing a light-emitting organic compound. The layer containing a light-emitting organic compound is provided between one electrode including a first metal, whose surface is provided with a conductive inclusion, and the other electrode.
US09231223B2	Three-dimensional bicontinuous heterostructures, method of making, and their application in quantum dot-polymer nanocomposite photodetectors and photovoltaics The present invention provides of a three-dimensional bicontinuous heterostructure, a method of producing same, and the application of this structure towards the realization of photodetecting and photovoltaic devices working in the visible and the near-infrared. The three-dimensional bicontinuous heterostructure includes two interpenetrating layers which are spatially continuous, they are include only protrusions or peninsulas, and no islands. The method of producing the three-dimensional biocontinuous heterostructure relies on forming an essentially planar continuous bottom layer of a first material; forming a layer of this first material on top of the bottom layer which is textured to produce protrusions for subsequent interpenetration with a second material, coating this second material onto this structure; and forming a final coating with the second material that ensures that only the second material is contacted by subsequent layer. One of the materials includes visible and/or infrared-absorbing semiconducting quantum dot nanoparticles, and one of materials is a hole conductor and the other is an electron conductor.
US09231220B2	Substituted tetraarylbenzenes The present invention relates to electronic devices comprising at least one compound of the formula (1) where X is N and Y is CR1, and to the use thereof.
US09231214B2	Photovoltaic devices including self-assembling fullerene derivatives for improved efficiencies Described herein are photovoltaic devices including self-assembling fullerene derivatives. In one embodiment, a photovoltaic device includes a first electrode layer, a second electrode layer, and an active layer disposed between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer. The active layer is configured to absorb incident light to produce a first type of charge carrier that is transported to the first electrode layer and a second type of charge carrier that is transported to the second electrode layer. The active layer includes self-assembled molecules of a fullerene derivative to provide a conductive path through at least a portion of the active layer.
US09231209B2	Nanocomposite material, tunable resistor device, and method Various embodiments of a composite material are provided. In one embodiment of the present invention a nanometer-scale composite material comprises, by volume, from about 1% to about 99% variable-conductivity material and from about 99% to about 1% conductive material. The composite material exhibits memristive properties when a voltage differential is applied to the nanocomposite. In another embodiment, a variable resistor device includes a first electrode terminal and a second electrode terminal and a nanocomposite in electrical communication with the electrode terminals. The composite material comprises, by volume, from about 1% to about 99% variable-conductivity material and from about 99% to about 1% conductive material. The memristor is tunable as the minimum instantaneous resistance can be altered several orders of magnitude by varying the composition and ratio of the variable-conductivity material and conductive material constituents of the composites.
US09231207B2	Method for forming resistance changing element capable of operating at low voltage A resistance changing element according to the present invention comprises a first electrode (101) and a second electrode (103); and an ion conducting layer (102) that is formed between the first electrode (101) and the second electrode (103) and that contains at least oxygen and carbon.
US09231192B2	Semiconductor memory device and method for manufacturing the same According to one embodiment, a memory device with magnetroresistive effect element is disclosed. The element includes first metal magnetic film (MMF) with nonmagnetic element and axis of easy magnetization perpendicular (EMP), first insulating film, first intermediate magnetic film between the first MMF and the first insulating film, second MMF on the first insulating film and including nonmagnetic elements, the second MMF having axis of EMP, second intermediate magnetic film between the first insulating film and the second MMF, and diffusion preventing film including metal nitride having barrier property against diffusion of the nonmagnetic elements between the first MMF and the first intermediate magnetic film.
US09231189B2	Sodium niobate powder, method for producing the same, method for producing ceramic, and piezoelectric element A sodium niobate powder includes sodium niobate particles having a shape of a cuboid and having a side average length of 0.1 μm or more and 100 μm or less, wherein at least one face of each of the sodium niobate particles is a (100) plane in the pseudocubic notation and a moisture content of the sodium niobate powder is 0.15 mass % or less. A method for producing a ceramic using the sodium niobate powder is provided. A method for producing a sodium niobate powder includes a step of holding an aqueous alkali dispersion liquid containing a niobium component and a sodium component at a pressure exceeding 0.1 MPa, a step of isolating a solid matter from the aqueous dispersion liquid after the holding, and a step of heat treating the solid matter at 500° C. to 700° C.
US09231179B2	Method for producing optoelectronic semiconductor components, lead frame composite, and optoelectronic semiconductor component A method for producing a packaged component is disclosed. In one embodiment, a lead frame composite has first lead frame parts, second lead frame parts and test contacts, electrically connecting via first electrical connections the first lead frame parts to the other first lead frame parts. A potting body is formed on the lead frame composite thereby mechanically connecting the first lead frame parts to the second lead frame parts and encapsulating the first electrical connections. First semiconductor components are placed on the first lead frame parts after forming the potting body. The first semiconductor components are electrically connected to the second lead frame parts via second electrical connections. The first semiconductor components are electrically tested at the test contacts prior to singulating the lead frame composite and the potting body. The lead frame composite and the potting body are singulated thereby forming the packaged semiconductor components.
US09231178B2	Wafer-level flip chip device packages and related methods In accordance with certain embodiments, semiconductor dies are at least partially coated with a conductive adhesive prior to singulation and subsequently bonded to a substrate having electrical traces thereon.
US09231170B2	Phosphor LED A phosphor LED for emitting light emitting diode light may include an LED designed for emitting blue primary light; and an LED phosphor designed and arranged such that it is excited by the primary light during operation and emits secondary light as a consequence, said secondary light forming at least a portion of the LED light. The LED phosphor may include a green phosphor and a red phosphor. The green phosphor and the red phosphor may be provided in a ratio such that the light emitting diode light in the CIE standard chromaticity system has a color locus in the green which is spaced apart from the Planckian locus, to be precise by at least 0.01 in terms of absolute value.
US09231164B2	Light-emitting device A light-emitting device comprises a first semiconductor layer; and a transparent conductive oxide layer comprising a diffusion region having a first metal material and a non-diffusion region devoid of the first metal material, wherein the non-diffusion region is closer to the first semiconductor layer than the diffusion region.
US09231144B2	Light collecting module A light collecting module includes a pliable light guide, an inner light source, and a photocell. A surface of the light guide has a first area, a second area, and a third area. The first and second areas face each other, and the third area is adjacent to the first or second area. At least one optical structure is formed in the second area, and the photocell is adjacent to the third area. The optical structure is for redirecting ambient light incident on the first or second area such that the ambient light is guided to the third area by refraction or reflection and incident on the photocell. The optical structure is for redirecting the light from the inner light source such that the light is guided to the surface of the light guide by refraction or reflection and exits the light guide.
US09231141B2	Controlling a solar tracking system A method of tracking the sun is disclosed. A measurement of a gravity vector is obtained in a frame of reference of a solar collector rotatable with respect to an earth center of reference. A measurement of a magnetic direction vector is obtained in the frame of reference of the solar collector. The orientation of the solar collector is determined from the obtained measurement of the gravity vector and the obtained measurement of the magnetic direction. The orientation of the solar collector is altered in order to track the sun.
US09231137B1	Infrared photodetector with reticulated contact Using a highly doped Cap layer of the same composition as the Contact material in an nBn or pBp infrared photodetector allows engineering of the energy band diagram to facilitate minority carrier current flow in the contact region and block minority current flow outside the Contact region. The heavily doped Cap layer is disposed on the Barrier between the Contacts but electrically isolated from the Contact material.
US09231132B2	Process for manufacturing solar cell equipped with electrode having mesh structure A solar cell having on a light incident surface side an electrode with both low resistivity and high transparency to promote efficient excitation of carriers using inexpensive materials. The solar cell includes a photoelectric conversion layer, a first electrode layer arranged on the light incident surface side, and a second electrode layer arranged opposed to the first electrode layer. The first electrode layer has a thickness in the range of 10 to 200 nm, and plural penetrating openings, each of which occupies an area in the range of 80 nm2 to 0.8 μm2, and has an aperture ratio in the range 10 to 66%. The first electrode layer can be produced by etching using an etching mask in the form of a single particle layer of fine particles, or of a dot pattern formed by self-assembly of a block copolymer, or of a stamper.
US09231124B2	Ball grid array packaged camera device soldered to a substrate An assembly that attaches a ball grid array (BGA) packaged camera device to a printed circuit board (PCB) substrate is provided. The assembly includes a spacer between the device and the substrate. The spacer is configured to prevent excessive collapse of solder balls located between the device and the substrate during reflow of the solder balls. The spacer includes one of solder mask, tape, and/or legend ink.
US09231116B2	Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device includes a charge storage layer on a first insulating film, a second insulating film which is provided on the charge storage layer, formed of layers, and a control gate electrode on the second insulating film. The second insulating film includes a bottom layer (A) provided just above the charge storage layer, a top layer (C) provided just below the control gate electrode, and a middle layer (B) provided between the bottom layer (A) and the top layer (C). The middle layer (B) has higher barrier height and lower dielectric constant than both the bottom layer (A) and the top layer (C). The average coordination number of the middle layer (B) is smaller than both the average coordination number of the top layer (C) and the average coordination number of the bottom layer (A).
US09231111B2	Semiconductor device An object is to provide a semiconductor device that includes an oxide semiconductor and is suitable for a power device. An object is to provide a semiconductor device in which large current can flow. An object is to provide a highly reliable semiconductor device. A semiconductor device includes an oxide stack in which a first oxide layer, a first oxide semiconductor layer, a second oxide semiconductor layer, and a second oxide layer are stacked and has a structure in which a region that contains an element imparting conductivity and is provided in the first oxide semiconductor layer overlaps an electrode functioning as a source electrode and does not overlap an electrode functioning as a drain electrode.
US09231110B2	Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing the same It is an object to provide a highly reliable semiconductor device including a thin film transistor whose electric characteristics are stable. In addition, it is another object to manufacture a highly reliable semiconductor device at low cost with high productivity. In a semiconductor device including a thin film transistor, a semiconductor layer of the thin film transistor is formed with an oxide semiconductor layer to which a metal element is added. As the metal element, at least one of metal elements of iron, nickel, cobalt, copper, gold, manganese, molybdenum, tungsten, niobium, and tantalum is used. In addition, the oxide semiconductor layer contains indium, gallium, and zinc.
US09231109B2	Electro-optical device and electronic apparatus An electro-optical device includes a first light shielding film; a transistor element formed on the first light shielding film to overlap the first light shielding film; a second light shielding film formed on the transistor element to overlap the transistor element and electrically connected to an input terminal of the transistor element; a transparent conductive film extended toward an upper layer side of the second light shielding film in an opening region, through which light penetrates, of the display region; a dielectric film formed on the transparent conductive film in the opening region; and a transparent pixel electrode formed on the dielectric film in the opening region, constituting a storage capacitor together with the transparent conductive film and the dielectric film, and having a transparent pixel electrode which is electrically connected to the transistor element.
US09231103B2	Vertical MOSFET transistor, in particular operating as a selector in nonvolatile memory devices A vertical MOSFET transistor is formed in a body of semiconductor material having a surface. The transistor includes a buried conductive region of a first conductivity type; a channel region of a second conductivity type, arranged on top of the buried conductive region; a surface conductive region of the first conductivity type, arranged on top of the channel region and the buried conductive region; a gate insulation region, extending at the sides of and contiguous to the channel region; and a gate region extending at the sides of and contiguous to the gate insulation region.
US09231100B2	Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing a semiconductor device A semiconductor device is at least partially formed in a semiconductor substrate, the substrate including first and second opposing main surfaces. The semiconductor device includes a cell field portion and a contact area, the contact area being electrically coupled to the cell field portion, the cell field portion including at least a transistor. The contact area includes a connection substrate portion insulated from other substrate portions and including a part of the semiconductor substrate, an electrode adjacent to the second main surface and in contact with the connection substrate portion, and a metal layer disposed over the first main surface, the connection substrate portion being electrically coupled to the metal layer to form an ohmic contact between the electrode and metal layer. The connection substrate portion is not electrically coupled to a component of the cell field portion by a conductive material disposed between the first and second main surfaces.
US09231092B2	Bi-directional switch with Q1 and Q4 control A vertical bidirectional switch of the type having its control referenced to the rear surface, including on its rear surface a first main electrode and on its front surface a second main electrode and a gate electrode, this switch being controllable by a positive voltage between its gate and its first electrode, wherein the gate electrode is arranged on the front surface of a via crossing the chip in which the switch is formed.
US09231089B2	Formation of an asymmetric trench in a semiconductor substrate and a bipolar semiconductor device having an asymmetric trench isolation region Disclosed is a trench formation technique wherein an opening having a first sidewall with planar contour and a second sidewall with a saw-tooth contour is etched through a semiconductor layer and into a semiconductor substrate. Then, a crystallographic wet etch process expands the portion of the opening within the semiconductor substrate to form a trench. Due to the different contours of the sidewalls and, thereby the different crystal orientations, one sidewall etches faster than the other, resulting in an asymmetric trench. Also disclosed is a bipolar semiconductor device formation method that incorporates the above-mentioned trench formation technique when forming a trench isolation region that undercuts an extrinsic base region and surrounds a collector pedestal. The asymmetry of the trench ensures that the trench isolation region has a relatively narrow width and, thereby ensures that both collector-to-base capacitance Ccb and collector resistance Rc are minimized within the resulting bipolar semiconductor device.
US09231085B2	Semiconductor structure and methods of manufacture FinFET end-implanted-semiconductor structures and methods of manufacture are disclosed herein. The method includes forming at least one mandrel on a silicon layer of a substrate comprising an underlying insulator layer. The method further includes etching the silicon layer to form at least one silicon island under the at least one mandrel. The method further includes ion-implanting sidewalls of the at least one silicon island to form doped regions on the sidewalls. The method further includes forming a dielectric layer on the substrate, a top surface of which is planarized to be coplanar with a top surface of the at least one mandrel. The method further includes removing the at least one mandrel to form an opening in the dielectric layer. The method further includes etching the at least one silicon island to form at least one fin island having doped source and drain regions.
US09231062B2	Method for treating the surface of a silicon substrate The present invention relates to a method for chemically treating the surface condition of a silicon substrate for the roughness contrast characterized in that it comprises at least two successive treatment cycles, with each treatment cycle comprising a first step including placing in contact the silicon substrate with a first solution containing water diluted hydrofluoric (HF) acid and then a second step carried out at a temperature of less than 40° C., comprising placing in contact the silicon layer with a second solution containing water (H2O) diluted ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), in order to obtain a roughness of less than 0.100 nanometer on a 1 μm×1 μm area upon completion of the treatment cycles.The invention will be applied in the field of microelectronics for the production of transistors, of surfaces for photovoltaic panels or for direct molecular bonding.
US09231058B2	Gallium nitride semiconductor substrate with semiconductor film formed therein A method of fabricating a single crystal gallium nitride substrate the step of cutting an ingot of single crystal gallium nitride along predetermined planes to make one or more signal crystal gallium nitride substrates. The ingot of single crystal gallium nitride is grown by vapor phase epitaxy in a direction of a predetermined axis. Each predetermined plane is inclined to the predetermined axis. Each substrate has a minor polished primary surface. The primary surface has a first area and a second area. The first area is between an edge of the substrate and a line 3 millimeter away from the edge. The first area surrounds the second area. An axis perpendicular to the primary surface forms an off-angle with c-axis of the substrate. The off-angle takes a minimum value at a first position in the first area of the primary surface.
US09231055B2	Semiconductor device having fin gate, resistive memory device including the same, and method of manufacturing the same A semiconductor device having a fin gate that improves an operation current, and a method of manufacturing the same. The semiconductor device includes an active pillar formed on a semiconductor substrate, the active pillar including an inner region and an outer region surrounding the inner region, and a fin gate overlapping an upper surface and a lateral surface of the active pillar. The inner portion of the active pillar includes a first semiconductor layer having a first lattice constant, and the outer region of the active pillar includes a second semiconductor layer having a second lattice constant smaller than the first lattice constant.
US09231054B2	Drain extended CMOS with counter-doped drain extension An integrated circuit containing a diode with a drift region containing a first dopant type plus scattering centers. An integrated circuit containing a DEMOS transistor with a drift region containing a first dopant type plus scattering centers. A method for designing an integrated circuit containing a DEMOS transistor with a counter doped drift region.
US09231048B2	Capacitor and method of forming same A device comprises a substrate having at least one active region, an insulating layer above the substrate, and an electrode in a gate electrode layer above the insulating layer, forming a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitor. A first contact layer is provided on the electrode, having an elongated first pattern extending in a first direction parallel to the electrode. A contact structure contacts the substrate. The contact structure has an elongated second pattern extending parallel to the first pattern. A dielectric material is provided between the first and second patterns, so that the first and second patterns and dielectric material form a side-wall capacitor connected in parallel to the MOS capacitor.
US09231047B2	Capacitors and methods with praseodymium oxide insulators Methods of forming and the resulting capacitors formed by these methods are shown. Monolayers that contain praseodymium are deposited onto a substrate and subsequently processed to form praseodymium oxide dielectrics. Monolayers that contain titanium or other metals are deposited onto a substrate and subsequently processed to form metal electrodes. Resulting capacitor structures includes properties such as improved dimensional control. One improved dimensional control includes thickness. Some resulting capacitor structures also include properties such as an amorphous or nanocrystalline microstructure. Selected components of capacitors formed with these methods have better step coverage over substrate topography and more robust film mechanical properties.
US09231046B2	Capacitor using barrier layer metallurgy A metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor using barrier layer metallurgy and methods of manufacture are disclosed. The method includes forming a bottom plate of a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor and a bonding pad using a single masking process. The method further includes forming a MIM dielectric on the bottom plate. The method further includes forming a top plate of the MIM capacitor on the MIM dielectric. The method further includes forming a solder connection on the bonding pad.
US09231040B2	Organic light emitting diode display An organic light emitting diode (OLED) display according to the present invention includes: a pixel portion wherein an organic light emitting diode including a pixel electrode, an organic emission layer, and a common electrode is formed, and a periphery portion surrounding the pixel portion and having a plurality of common voltage lines applying a common voltage to the common electrode. The common voltage lines include a plurality of common voltage pads to which the common voltage is applied from an external source, a common voltage contact portion overlapping an end of the common electrode and contacting the common electrode, a common voltage connection portion connecting a common voltage pad and the common voltage contact portion. A width of the common voltage contact portion is larger than that of the common voltage connection portion.
US09231039B2	Organic light emitting diode display An organic light emitting diode (OLED) display is provided. One inventive aspect includes: a substrate, a scan line formed on the substrate and transmitting a scan signal, a data line configured to intersect the scan line and to transmit a data signal, a switching transistor connected to the scan line and the data line, a driving transistor connected to a switching drain electrode of the switching transistor, a compensation transistor connected to the driving transistor, an aging transistor connected to a driving drain electrode of the driving transistor and a source electrode of the compensation transistor, and an organic light emitting diode (OLED) connected to a driving drain electrode of the driving transistor. The compensation transistor is configured to compensate a threshold voltage of the driving transistor. The aging transistor is configured to perform an aging process for reducing a leakage current of the compensation transistor.
US09231032B2	Organic electroluminescent device and method of fabricating the same An organic electroluminescent device is disclosed which includes: first and second pixel regions defined by first and second gate lines and data lines crossing each other; first sub-pixels arranged in the first pixel region close to the first gate line; first driving cells arranged between the first sub-pixels; second sub-pixels arranged in the second pixel region close to the second gate line; and second driving cells arranged between the second sub-pixels.
US09231028B2	Non-volatile memory device and method of manufacturing the same According to one embodiment, there are provided a memory cell forming region, a first wiring hookup region in which first wirings extending in a first direction are formed by being drawn outside of the memory cell forming region, a second wiring hookup region which is disposed in a layer above the first wirings and in which second wirings extending in a second direction are formed by being drawn outside of the memory cell forming region, and a first dummy wiring connected to each of the second wirings. The first dummy wiring is disposed so that a sum of the area of the second wiring and the area of the first dummy wiring becomes the same in the respective second wirings.
US09231026B2	Magnetoresistive sensor module with a structured metal sheet for illumination and method for manufacturing the same In the method of manufacturing a magnetoresistive sensor module, at first a composite arrangement out of a semiconductor substrate and a metal-insulator arrangement is provided, wherein a semiconductor circuit arrangement is integrated adjacent to a main surface of the semiconductor substrate into the same, wherein the metal-insulator arrangement is arranged on the main surface of the semiconductor substrate and comprises a structured metal sheet and insulation material at least partially surrounding the structured metal sheet, wherein the structured metal sheet is electrically connected to the semiconductor circuit arrangement. Then, a magnetoresistive sensor structure is applied onto a surface of the insulation material of the composite arrangement, and finally an electrical connection between the magnetoresistive sensor structure and the structured metal sheet is established, so that the magnetoresistive sensor structure is connected to the integrated circuit arrangement.
US09231020B2	Device and method of gettering on silicon on insulator (SOI) substrate Some demonstrative embodiments include devices and/or methods of gettering on silicon on insulator (SOI) substrate. For example, a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) integrated circuit (IC) may include a plurality of pixels arranged on a wafer, a pixel of the pixels including: a silicon active area; at least one non-silicided leakage-sensitive component formed on the active area, the leakage-sensitive component is sensitive to metal contaminants; a non-leakage-sensitive area formed on the active area, the non-leakage-sensitive area surrounding the leakage-sensitive component; and at least one silicided gettering region formed on the non-leakage-sensitive area to trap the metal contaminants.
US09231019B2	Solid-state image sensor and method of manufacturing the same A method of manufacturing a solid-state image sensor, includes forming a first isolation region of a first conductivity type in a semiconductor layer having first and second surfaces, the forming the first isolation region including first implantation for implanting ions into the semiconductor layer through the first surface, forming charge accumulation regions of a second conductivity type in the semiconductor layer, performing first annealing, forming an interconnection on a side of the first surface of the semiconductor layer after the first annealing, and forming a second isolation region of the first conductivity type in the semiconductor layer, the forming the second isolation region including second implantation for implanting ions into the semiconductor layer through the second surface. The first and second isolation regions are arranged between the adjacent charge accumulation regions.
US09231018B2	Wafer level packaging structure for image sensors and wafer level packaging method for image sensors A wafer level packaging structure for image sensors and a wafer level packaging method for image sensors are provided. The wafer level packaging structure includes: a wafer to be packaged including multiple chip regions and scribe line regions between the chip regions; pads and image sensing regions located on a first surface of the wafer and located in the chip regions; first dike structures covering surfaces of the pads; a packaging cover arranged facing the first surface of the wafer; and second dike structures located on a surface of the packaging cover. Projections of the second dike structures onto the first surface of the wafer are included in the scribe line regions. The packaging cover and the wafer are jointed fixedly via the second dike structures, while tops of the first dike structures and the surface of the packaging cover are contacted.
US09231017B2	Manufacturing method of semiconductor device An optical component is fixed precisely on a sensor chip. After a sensor chip including a front surface having a sensor plane with a plurality of light receiving elements is mounted face-up over a wiring substrate, an adhesive is disposed on the front surface of the sensor chip at a plurality of positions, and a plurality of spacers having adherence is formed by curing this adhesive. Then, an adhesive paste is disposed on the front surface of the sensor chip. Then, an optical component held by a bonding tool is disposed on the front surface via the spacer and the adhesive. After that, the bonding tool is separated from the optical component and the optical component is fixed by curing the adhesive in a state in which a load is not applied to the optical component.
US09231015B2	Backside-illuminated photosensor array with white, yellow and red-sensitive elements A monolithic backside-sensor-illumination (BSI) image sensor has a sensor array is tiled with a multiple-pixel cells having a first pixel sensor primarily sensitive to red light, a second pixel sensor primarily sensitive to red and green light, and a third pixel sensor having panchromatic sensitivity, the pixel sensors laterally adjacent each other. The image sensor determines a red, a green, and a blue signal comprising by reading the red-sensitive pixel sensor of each multiple-pixel cell to determine the red signal, reading the sensor primarily sensitive to red and green light to determine a yellow signal and subtracting the red signal to determine a green signal. The image sensor reads the panchromatic-sensitive pixel sensor to determine a white signal and subtracts the yellow signal to provide the blue signal.
US09231013B2	Resonance enhanced absorptive color filters having resonance cavities Resonance enhanced color filter arrays are provided for image sensors. Resonance cavities formed with color filter materials that enhance the color filtering capabilities of the color filter materials. Resonance enhanced color filter arrays may be provided for back side illumination image sensors and front side illumination image sensors. A layer of high refractive index material or metamaterial may be provided between a microlens and a color filter material to serve as a first partially reflecting interface for the resonance cavity. An optional layer of high refractive index material or metamaterial may be provided between color filter material and a substrate. In front side illumination image sensors, color filter material may be provided in a light guide structure that extends through interlayer dielectric. The color filter material in the light guide structure may form at least part of a resonance cavity for a resonance enhanced color filter array.
US09231012B2	Image sensor package An image sensor package and method for fabricating the same is provided. The image sensor package includes a first substrate comprising a via therein, a driving circuit and a first conductive pad thereon. A second substrate comprising a photosensitive device and a second conductive pad thereon is bonded to the first substrate, so that the driving circuit, formed on the first substrate, can electrically connect to and further control the photosensitive device, formed on the second substrate. A solder ball is formed on a backside of the first substrate and electrically connects to the via for transmitting a signal from the driving circuit. Because the photosensitive device and the driving circuit are fabricated individually on the different substrates, fabrication and design thereof is more flexible. Moreover, the image sensor package is relatively less thick, thus, the dimensions thereof are reduced.
US09231010B2	Photoelectric conversion apparatus and imaging system having impurity concentration profile in a depth direction of the plural semiconductor regions A photoelectric conversion unit has first semiconductor regions and a second semiconductor region that is disposed between the first semiconductor regions being adjacently disposed in the unit. Impurity concentration profile in a depth direction of the first and semiconductor regions has a plurality of peaks. The impurity concentration peaks of the first semiconductor region include a first impurity concentration peak and a second impurity concentration peak being lower than the first impurity concentration peak. The impurity concentration peaks of the second semiconductor region include a third, a fourth, and a fifth impurity concentration peak. The fourth impurity concentration peak is higher than the third impurity concentration peak, and a fifth impurity concentration peak is higher than the third impurity concentration peak. The depth of the third impurity concentration peak is closer to the depth of the second impurity concentration peak than that of the first impurity concentration peak.
US09231007B2	Image sensors operable in global shutter mode and having small pixels with high well capacity An image sensor operable in global shutter mode ma include small pixels with high charge storage capacity, low dark current, and no image lag. Storage capacity of a photodiode and a charge storage diode may be increased by placing a p+ type doped layer under the photodiode and the charge storage diode. The p+ type doped layer ma include an opening for allowing photo-generated charge carriers to flow from the silicon bulk to the charge storage well located near the surface of the photodiode. A compensating n− type doped implant may be formed in the opening. Image lag is prevented by placing a p− type doped region under the p+ type doped photodiode pinning layer and aligned with the opening. The p+ type doped layer may extend under the entire pixel array.
US09230999B2	Pixel substrate and fabrication method thereof A pixel substrate and a fabrication method thereof are provided. The method includes: forming a gate and a lower pad on a substrate; forming a gate insulating layer overlaying the gate and the lower pad; forming a channel layer and a first electrode layer on the gate insulating layer, in which the projection areas of the channel layer and the gate on the substrate are overlapped; forming an etching-barrier material layer on the substrate and simultaneously forming a contact opening at the gate insulating layer to expose the lower pad; forming a source, a drain and an upper pad on the substrate; forming a protective layer; forming a second electrode layer with multiple slits on the protective layer, in which one of the first and second electrode layers is electrically connected to the drain. The invention can simplify the process steps and reduce fabrication time.
US09230984B1	Three dimensional memory device having comb-shaped source electrode and methods of making thereof A monolithic three dimensional memory device includes a comb-shaped electrode within a trench, where the electrode includes an elongated continuous portion of an electrically conductive material that is raised from a major surface of a substrate and a plurality of second portions that include spaced-apart conductive pillars extending between the continuous portion and the major surface of the substrate. A fill material, such as a dielectric material, is located between the plurality of second portions.
US09230977B2	Embedded flash memory device with floating gate embedded in a substrate An embedded flash memory device includes a gate stack, which includes a bottom dielectric layer extending into a recess in a semiconductor substrate, and a charge storage layer over the bottom dielectric layer. The charge storage layer includes a portion in the recess. The gate stack further includes a top dielectric layer over the charge storage layer, and a metal gate over the top dielectric layer. Source and drain regions are in the semiconductor substrate, and are on opposite sides of the gate stack.
US09230975B2	Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device According to one embodiment, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device includes a semiconductor substrate, a first stacked layer structure including first to nth semiconductor layers (n is a natural number greater than or equal to 2) stacked in a first direction, and extending in a second direction, and first to nth memory cells provided on surfaces of the first to nth semiconductor layers facing a third direction. The ith memory cell (1≦i≦n) comprises a second stacked layer structure in which a first insulating layer, a charge storage layer, a second insulating layer, and a control gate electrode are stacked. The second insulating layer has an equivalent oxide thickness smaller than that of the first insulating layer.
US09230974B1	Methods of selective removal of blocking dielectric in NAND memory strings Methods of making a monolithic three dimensional NAND string may enable selective removal of a blocking dielectric material, such as aluminum oxide, without otherwise damaging the device. Blocking dielectric may be selectively removed from the back side (e.g., slit trench) and/or front side (e.g., memory opening) of the NAND string. Also disclosed are NAND strings made in accordance with the embodiment methods.
US09230961B2	Semiconductor arrangement facilitating enhanced thermo-conduction A semiconductor arrangement includes a well region and a first region disposed within the well region. The first region includes a first conductivity type. The semiconductor arrangement includes a first gate disposed above the well region on a first side of the first region. The first gate includes a first top surface facing away from the well region. The first top surface has a first top surface area. The semiconductor arrangement includes a first gate contact disposed above the first gate. The first gate contact includes a first bottom surface facing towards the well region. The first bottom surface has a first bottom surface area. The first bottom surface area covers at least about two thirds of the first top surface area.
US09230960B1	Combined tap cell and spare cell for logic circuit Embodiments of the present disclosure provide an apparatus for providing a combined tap cell and spare cell in a logic design. An integrated circuit contains a plurality of logic cells that are arranged in a series of columns and rows and that include one or more transistors. A first cell includes a logic portion including one or more transistors, and a tap portion. The tap portion provides tap connectivity to the one or more transistors of the subset of the plurality of logic cells, and to the one or more transistors of the logic portion.
US09230956B2	Junction field effect transistors and associated fabrication methods A JFET having a semiconductor substrate of a first doping type, an epitaxial layer of the first doping type located on the semiconductor substrate, a body region of a second doping type located in the epitaxial layer, a source region of the first doping type located in the epitaxial layer, a gate region of the second doping type located in the body region, and a shielding layer of the second doping type located in the epitaxial layer, wherein the semiconductor substrate is configured as a drain region, the shielding layer is in a conductive path formed between the source region and the drain region.
US09230952B2	Semiconductor device A protection circuit used for a semiconductor device is made to effectively function and the semiconductor device is prevented from being damaged by a surge. A semiconductor device includes a terminal electrode, a protection circuit, an integrated circuit, and a wiring electrically connecting the terminal electrode, the protection circuit, and the integrated circuit. The protection circuit is provided between the terminal electrode and the integrated circuit. The terminal electrode, the protection circuit, and the integrated circuit are connected to one another without causing the wiring to branch. It is possible to reduce the damage to the semiconductor device caused by electrostatic discharge. It is also possible to reduce faults in the semiconductor device.
US09230951B2	Antistatic device of display device and method of manufacturing the same Discussed are an antistatic device of a display device, which has a high electrostatic discharge (ESD) speed and reduces consumption power, and a method of manufacturing the same. The antistatic device can include a first switching thin film transistor (TFT) in which an active layer is formed of oxide, a second switching TFT in which an active layer is formed of oxide, and an equalizer TFT in which an active layer is formed of amorphous silicon.
US09230949B2	Method of making stacked multi-chip packaging structure A stacked multi-chip packaging structure comprises a lead frame, a first semiconductor chip mounted on the lead frame, a second semiconductor chip flipped-chip mounted on the lead frame, a metal clip mounted on top of the first and second semiconductor chips and a third semiconductor chip stacked on the metal clip; bonding wires electrically connecting electrodes on the third semiconductor chip to the first and second semiconductor chips and the pins of the lead frame; plastic molding encapsulating the lead frame, the chips and the metal clip.
US09230941B2	Bonding structure for stacked semiconductor devices A semiconductor device, and a method of fabrication, is introduced. In an embodiment, one or more passivation layers are formed over a first substrate. Recesses are formed in the passivation layers and a first bonding pad, a second bonding pad, and a first via are formed in the recesses. In some embodiment, the first via may have electrical contact with the first bonding pad and may provide an electrical pathway to a first plurality of metallization layers. The first bonding pad and the second bonding pad in the first substrate are aligned to a third bonding pad and the fourth bonding pad in a second substrate and may be bonded using a direct bonding method. A bond between the first bonding pad and the third bonding pad may provide an electrical pathway between devices on the first substrate and devices on the second substrate.
US09230924B2	Method of producing semiconductor module and semiconductor module In order to securely ground an exterior shield and reduce burden imposed on a dicing blade and the exterior shield, a method of producing a semiconductor module comprises a hole-forming step of forming a hole 30 extending from a top surface of a sealing resin layer 3 to a ground wiring 111 (112) provided at a collective substrate 100, a film-forming step of forming an electrically conductive film made of an electrically conductive material so as to cover at least the top surface of the sealing resin layer 3, an internal surface of the hole 20, and the ground wiring 111 (112), and a separation step of separating from each other a plurality of individual module sections which the individual module section comprises.
US09230908B2	Through-wafer via device and method of manufacturing the same The present invention relates to a through-wafer via device (10) comprising a wafer (12) made of a wafer material and having a first wafer surface (12a) and a second wafer surface (12b) opposing the first wafer surface (12a). The through-wafer via device (10) further comprises a plurality of side by side first trenches (14) provided with a conductive material and extending from the first wafer surface (12a) into the wafer (12) such that a plurality of spacers (16) of the wafer material are formed between the first trenches (14). The through-wafer via device (10) further comprises a second trench (18) provided with the conductive material and extending from the second wafer surface (12b) into the wafer (12), the second trench (18) being connected to the first trenches (14). The through-wafer via device (10) further comprises a conductive layer (20) made of the conductive material and formed on the side of the first wafer surface (12a), the conductive material filling the first trenches (14) such that the first conductive layer (20) has a substantially planar and closed surface.
US09230902B2	Interconnect structure for wafer level package A package includes a device die having a substrate. A molding compound contacts a sidewall of the substrate. A metal pad is over the substrate. A passivation layer has a portion covering an edge portion of the metal pad. A metal pillar is over and contacting the metal pad. A dielectric layer is over the passivation layer. A package material formed of a molding compound or a polymer is over the dielectric layer. The dielectric layer includes a bottom portion between the passivation layer and the package material, and a sidewall portion between a sidewall of the metal pillar and a sidewall of the package material. A polymer layer is over the package material, the molding compound, and the metal pillar. A post-passivation interconnect (PPI) extends into the polymer layer. A solder ball is over the PPI, and is electrically coupled to the metal pad through the PPI.
US09230897B2	Semiconductor devices having through-substrate via plugs and semiconductor packages including the same Provided is a semiconductor package including a package substrate having lands, a first semiconductor device mounted on the package substrate and having a bottom surface on which first lines are disposed, and solder balls respectively electrically connected to the lands of the package substrate with the first lines of the first semiconductor device. The first semiconductor device includes a first substrate, and through-substrate via (TSV) plugs that vertically pass through the first substrate. The TSV plugs are respectively vertically aligned with the first lines, overlap first regions corresponding to 70% or less of diameters of the solder balls from central axes of the solder balls, and do not overlap second regions corresponding to the remaining 30% or more of diameters of the solder balls from the central axes of the solder balls. Adjacent ones of the TSV plugs are arranged at irregular intervals with respect to each other.
US09230896B2	Semiconductor device and method of reflow soldering for conductive column structure in flip chip package A semiconductor device comprises a substrate and a semiconductor die. Bumps are formed over the substrate or a first surface of the semiconductor die. Conductive columns devoid of solder are formed over the substrate or the first surface of the semiconductor die. The semiconductor die is disposed over the substrate. A collet including a first cavity and a second cavity formed in a surface of the first cavity is mounted over the semiconductor die with a second surface of the semiconductor die opposite the first surface disposed within the first cavity. The bumps are reflowed. A force is applied to the collet to hold the bumps to the conductive columns while reflowing the bumps to make electrical connection to the conductive columns. The collet is removed. An underfill material is deposited between the semiconductor die and substrate. An encapsulant is deposited over the semiconductor die and substrate.
US09230894B2	Methods for manufacturing a chip package A method for manufacturing a chip package is provided. The method including: arranging a plurality of dies over a carrier; depositing encapsulation material over the carrier wherein the plurality of dies are covered by the encapsulation material thereby forming a structure including the encapsulation material and the plurality of dies; and removing encapsulation material thereby forming a thinned portion of the structure and a further portion of the structure including encapsulation material thicker than the thinned portion.
US09230893B2	High efficiency module including a plurality of MOSFETS A module (1) includes a first functional device (2) and a second functional device (3). The first functional device (2) includes a base electrode, an emitter electrode and a collector electrode. The second functional device (3) includes at least one electrode. The module (1) further includes a conductive frame (4). One of the base electrode, the emitter electrode, and the collector electrode of the first functional device (2) is directly connected to the frame (4). The electrode of the second functional device (3) is also directly connected to the frame (4). The frame (4) includes a portion serving as a terminal for external connection.
US09230891B2	Semiconductor device There is provided a semiconductor device having a converter circuit, a brake circuit and an inverter circuit and manufacturable by a simplified manufacturing process. the semiconductor device has a plurality of die pads, IGBTs, diodes, freewheel diodes, an HVIC and LVICs mounted on the plurality of die pads, a plurality of leads, and an encapsulation resin body that covers these component parts. In a manufacturing process, a single-plate lead frame having the above-described plurality of die pads and leads connected together can be prepared. The semiconductor device may be manufactured by using this single-plate lead frame.
US09230890B2	Semiconductor device and measurement device A semiconductor device includes a lead frame, an oscillator, an integrated circuit and first bonding wires. The oscillator includes plural terminals separated from each other by a predetermined distance, and that is mounted to an oscillator mounting region formed on a first face of the lead frame. The oscillator mounting region has a narrower width than the distance between the plural terminals. The integrated circuit is mounted to a second face of the lead frame, which is on an opposite side to the first face. The first bonding wires connect the plural terminals of the oscillator to terminals of the integrated circuit.
US09230889B2	Chip arrangement with low temperature co-fired ceramic and a method for forming a chip arrangement with low temperature co-fired ceramic A chip arrangement is provided, the chip arrangement, including: a carrier; at least one chip including at least one contact pad disposed over the carrier; an encapsulation material at least partially surrounding the at least one chip and the carrier; and at least one low temperature co-fired ceramic sheet disposed over a side of the carrier.
US09230882B2	Signal transmission device Thermal connection between a plurality of communication modules and a heatsink placed on these communication modules is securely achieved and maintained. In a signal transmission device in which a common heatsink is arranged on a plurality of communication modules equipped on a board, the signal transmission device has a coil spring provided between the board and the communication modules, and the communication modules are biased toward the heatsink by the coil spring so that an upper surface of the communication module is pressed against a bottom surface of the heatsink.
US09230881B2	Heat sink for dissipating a thermal load A heat sink for dissipating a thermal load is disclosed that includes one or more heat sink bases configured around a central axis of the heat sink so as to define an interior space, at least one heat sink base receiving the thermal load, a thermal transport connected to the at least one heat sink base receiving the thermal load so as to distribute the thermal load in the heat sink, and heat-dissipating fins connected to each heat sink base, the heat-dissipating fins extending from each heat sink base into the interior space of the heat sink, each heat-dissipating fin shaped according to the location of the heat-dissipating fin with respect to the location of the thermal load and the location of the distributed thermal load in the heat sink.
US09230879B2	Thermal management in electronic apparatus with phase-change material and silicon heat sink Embodiments of an electronic apparatus with a thermal management technique utilizing a silicon heat sink and/or a phase-change material, as well as an assembling method thereof, are described. In one aspect, the electronic apparatus comprises a main unit, a phase-change material and an enclosure enclosing the main unit and the phase-change material. The main unit comprises a substrate and at least one integrated-circuit (IC) chip disposed on the substrate. The phase-change material is in direct contact with each IC chip of the at least one IC chip to absorb and dissipate heat generated by the at least one IC chip.
US09230877B2	Methods of forming serpentine thermal interface material and structures formed thereby Methods of forming a microelectronic packaging structure and associated structures formed thereby are described. Those methods may include forming a thermal interface material comprising a thermally conductive serpentine foil located between a first and a second interface material. The serpentine foil may be in a parallel position or a rotated position, in embodiments.
US09230872B2	Lead-free glass for semiconductor encapsulation The technical task of the present invention is to provide a lead-free glass for semiconductor encapsulation, which is easy to automate an appearance inspection, and furthermore, has excellent refinability and encapsulatability of semiconductor devices. In the lead-free glass for semiconductor encapsulation according to the present invention, a temperature at which the viscosity of glass is 106 dPa·s is 670° C. or lower, and, as a glass composition, the content of CeO2 is from 0.01 to 6% by mass, and the content of Sb2O3 is 0.1% by mass or less.
US09230867B2	Structure and method for E-beam in-chip overlay mark The present disclosure provides an integrated circuit structure that includes a semiconductor substrate having a first region and a second region having an area less than about 10 micron×10 micron; a first material layer over the semiconductor substrate and patterned to have a first circuit feature in the first region and a first mark in the second region; and a second material layer over the first material layer and patterned to have a second circuit feature in the first region and a second mark in the second region. The first mark includes first mark features oriented in a first direction, and second mark features oriented in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. The second mark includes third mark features oriented in the first direction, and fourth mark features oriented in the second direction.
US09230851B2	Reduction of polysilicon residue in a trench for polysilicon trench filling processes A method of fabricating a semiconductor device includes forming at least one trench from a top side of a semiconductor layer, wherein the trench is lined with a trench dielectric liner and filled by a first polysilicon layer. The surface of the trench dielectric liner is etched, wherein dips in the trench dielectric liner are formed relative to a top surface of the first polysilicon layer which results in forming a protrusion including the first polysilicon layer. The first polysilicon layer is etched to remove at least a portion of the protrusion. A second dielectric layer is formed over at least the trench after etching the first polysilicon layer. A second polysilicon layer is deposited. The second polysilicon layer is etched to remove it over the trench and provide a patterned second polysilicon layer on the top side of the semiconductor layer.
US09230844B2	Carrier transfer facilitating device A carrier transfer facilitating device does not require, for example, renewal (replacement) of an existing load port. Specifically, a carrier transfer facilitating device is provided for a load port on which a FOUP is placed. The carrier transfer facilitating device includes a temporary table on which the FOUP is temporarily placed, a carrier transferring carriage that travels above a carrier table of the load port and the temporary table in the horizontal direction and that lifts and transfers the FOUP between the carrier table and the temporary table, a supporting member that supports the temporary table and the carrier transferring carriage, and a controller that controls the movement of the carrier transferring carriage so as to avoid contact of the carrier transferring carriage with the FOUP while the FOUP is transferred between the hoop supporting table or the temporary table and an OHT.
US09230821B2	Dry etching agent and dry etching method using the same A dry etching agent according to the present invention contains (A) a fluorinated propyne represented by the chemical formula: CF3C≡CX where X is H, F, Cl, Br, I, CH3, CFH2 or CF2H; and either of: (B) at least one kind of gas selected from the group consisting of O2, O3, CO, CO2, COCl2 and COF2; (C) at least one kind of gas selected from the group consisting of F2, NF3, Cl2, Br2, I2 and YFn where Y is Cl, Br or I; and n is an integer of 1 to 5; and (D) at least one kind of gas selected from the group consisting of CF4, CHF3, C2F6, C2F5H, C2F4H2, C3F8, C3F4H2, C3ClF3H and C4F8. This dry etching agent has a small environmental load and a wide process window and can be applied for high-aspect-ratio processing without special operations such as substrate excitation.
US09230819B2	Internal plasma grid applications for semiconductor fabrication in context of ion-ion plasma processing The embodiments disclosed herein pertain to improved methods and apparatus for etching a semiconductor substrate. A plasma grid assembly is positioned in a reaction chamber to divide the chamber into upper and lower sub-chambers. The plasma grid assembly may include one or more plasma grids having slots of a particular aspect ratio, which allow certain species to pass through from the upper sub-chamber to the lower sub-chamber. In some cases, an electron-ion plasma is generated in the upper sub-chamber. Electrons that make it through the grid to the lower sub-chamber are cooled as they pass through. In some cases, this results in an ion-ion plasma in the lower sub-chamber. The ion-ion plasma may be used to advantage in a variety of etching processes.
US09230817B2	Apparatus and method for monitoring a thickness of a silicon wafer with a highly doped layer Apparatus for monitoring a thickness of a silicon wafer with a highly-doped layer at least at a backside of the silicon wafer is provided. The apparatus has a source configured to emit coherent light of multiple wavelengths. Moreover, the apparatus comprises a measuring head configured to be contactlessly positioned adjacent the silicon wafer and configured to illuminate at least a portion of the silicon wafer with the coherent light and to receive at least a portion of radiation reflected by the silicon wafer. Additionally, the apparatus comprises a spectrometer, a beam splitter and an evaluation device. The evaluation device is configured to determine a thickness of the silicon wafer by analyzing the radiation reflected by the silicon wafer by an optical coherence tomography process. The coherent light is emitted multiple wavelengths in a bandwidth b around a central wavelength wc.
US09230812B2	Method for forming semiconductor structure having opening A method for forming a semiconductor structure having an opening is provided. First, a substrate is provided, wherein a first region and a second region are defined on the substrate and an overlapping area of the first region and the second region is defined as a third region. A pattern density of the first region is substantially greater than that of the second region. Then, a material layer is formed on the substrate. A first hard mask and a second hard mask are formed on the material layer. The first hard mask in the first region is removed to form a patterned first hard mask. The second hard mask in the third region is removed to form a patterned second hard mask. Lastly, the material layer is patterned by using the patterned second hard mask layer as a mask to form at least an opening in the third region only.
US09230811B2	Active layer ion implantation method and active layer ion implantation method for thin-film transistor Disclosed are an active layer ion implantation method and an active layer ion implantation method for thin-film transistor. The active layer ion implantation method comprises: applying a photoresist on the active layer; and implanting ions into the active layer through the photoresist.
US09230810B2	System and method for substrate wafer back side and edge cross section seals Systems and methods for substrate wafer back side and edge cross section seals. In accordance with a first method embodiment, a silicon wafer of a first conductivity type is accessed. An epitaxial layer of the first conductivity type is grown on a front surface of the silicon wafer. The epitaxial layer is implanted to form a region of an opposite conductivity type. The growing and implanting are repeated to form a vertical column of the opposite conductivity type. The wafer may also be implanted to form a region of the opposite conductivity type vertically aligned with the vertical column.
US09230805B2	Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof A semiconductor device having favorable electric characteristics and a manufacturing method thereof are provided. A transistor includes an oxide semiconductor layer formed over an insulating layer, a source electrode layer and a drain electrode layer which overlap with part of the oxide semiconductor layer, a gate insulating layer in contact with part of the oxide semiconductor layer, and a gate electrode layer over the gate insulating layer. In the transistor, a buffer layer having n-type conductivity is formed between the source electrode layer and the oxide semiconductor layer and between the drain electrode layer and the oxide semiconductor layer. Thus, parasitic resistance is reduced, resulting in improvement of on-state characteristics of the transistor.
US09230799B2	Method for fabricating semiconductor device and the semiconductor device A method for fabricating a semiconductor device including GaN (gallium nitride) that composes a semiconductor layer and includes forming a gate insulating film, in which at least one film selected from the group of a SiO2 film and an Al2O3 film is formed on a nitride layer containing GaN by using microwave plasma and the formed film is used as at least a part of the gate insulating film.
US09230792B2	Ion generation using modified wetted porous materials The invention generally relates to ion generation using modified wetted porous materials. In certain aspects, the invention generally relates to systems and methods for ion generation using a wetted porous substrate that substantially prevents diffusion of sample into the substrate. In other aspects, the invention generally relate to ion generation using a wetted porous material and a drying agent. In other aspects, the invention generally relates to ion generation using a modified wetted porous substrate in which at least a portion of the porous substrate includes a material that modifies an interaction between a sample and the substrate.
US09230776B2	Ion irradiation apparatus and ion irradiation method An ion irradiation apparatus is provided. The ion irradiation apparatus includes a support member, a measuring device, and a control device. The support member is larger than the substrate. The measuring device is disposed forwardly in a traveling direction of an ion beam. The ion irradiation apparatus operates in a first mode during which the measuring device is irradiated with a remaining part of the ion beam after being partially shielded by the support member, when the substrate is not irradiated with the ion beam after crossing the ion beam; and a second mode during which the measuring device is irradiated with the ion beam without being shielded by the support member, when the substrate is not irradiated with the ion beam after crossing the ion beam. The control device controls the substrate so that the ion treatment process is performed in the first mode at least one time during the treatment.
US09230772B2	Device and method for ion generation Illustrative embodiments of the present invention are directed to devices and methods for ion generation. One such device includes a substrate. The substrate is disposed within a housing that is configured to contain a gas. The substrate includes an interior surface that at least partially defines an interior volume. The substrate also includes a number of channels with walls. Nano-tips are disposed on the walls of the channels.
US09230771B2	Method of manufacturing an electrodeless lamp envelope A method of forming a hermetically sealed electrodless lamp envelope includes: (1) forming an envelope blank; (2) depositing a gas and light generating expedient material in an interior of the envelope blank; (3) arranging a window on an open end of the envelope blank; and (4) using an ultra-short pulse laser system to locally heat the axial end of the envelope blank and the window to seal the window on the envelope blank without degrading the contents deposited in an interior of the envelope or damaging or cracking the envelope blank and/or window.
US09230768B2	Circuit breaker thermal-magnetic trip units and methods A trip unit is provided for a circuit breaker that includes electrical contacts, a trip mechanism, a bimetallic strip, and an armature. The trip unit includes a first trip bar coupled to the trip mechanism and disposed about a pivot point, and a second trip bar coupled to the first trip bar and disposed about the pivot point. In a first operating condition, the first trip bar rotates about the pivot point substantially independently of the second trip bar, and activates the trip mechanism to open the electrical contacts. In a second operating condition, the second trip bar rotates about the pivot point, causing the first trip bar to rotate about the pivot point and activate the trip mechanism to open the electrical contacts. Numerous other aspects are provided.
US09230765B2	Modular overload relay assembly with mechanically isolated connector A mating connector assembly for electrically coupling modular electrical devices. A first stationary connector is coupled to a first rigid circuit board positioned within a first housing of a first modular electrical device. The first floating connector is coupled to a flexible circuit element positioned within a second housing of a second modular electrical device, the flexible circuit element coupled to a circuit board positioned within a second housing of a second modular electrical device. The second housing includes a first latch plate adjustable between an unlatched position and a latched position, the first latch plate including a biasing member, such that, when the first modular electronic device is pressed together with the second modular electronic device, the biasing member applies a force to the first floating connector during a latch plate transition position to ensure that the first floating connector has fully mated with the first stationary connector.
US09230762B2	System for automatic decommissioning of network participants wherein device has a deflective member having various states and various lengths Disclosed is a memory device in which the state of the memory may be set by a mechanical action, with or without mains power present. The memory state may be detected by a microcontroller. The state for the memory device may be reset by a microcontroller. The microcontroller may be external to an apparatus containing the memory device, adjacent to or within the apparatus.
US09230756B2	Circuit breaker handle actuation device A circuit breaker handle actuation device used in conjunction with a circuit breaker having a circuit breaker handle and an external handle located on an electrical enclosure. The device includes a stationary frame having first and second horizontal supports. The device also includes a rotatable frame having first and second horizontal elements which extend from first and second vertical elements, respectively. The first and second vertical elements are rotatably attached to the first and second horizontal supports. In addition, an opening for receiving the circuit breaker handle is located between the first and second vertical elements. Further, the device includes a rotatable bracket having first and second vertical arms which are rotatably attached to the first and second horizontal elements, respectively, wherein the rotatable bracket is connected to the external handle. Movement of the external handle between ON, OFF and RESET/PARK positions causes corresponding movement of the circuit breaker handle.
US09230755B2	Switch assembly for a mobile device A switch assembly for an electronic device comprises a switch mount and a keycap. The switch mount has a slide switch with a slide switch base and a slide switch actuator. The keycap is positionable for slidable movement relative to the switch mount and is coupleable to the slide switch actuator. The keycap has an exposed portion slidable by a user between at least a first position and a second position to execute a first control function. The keycap is depressible in at least one of the first and second positions to execute a second control function.
US09230743B2	Gravure printing plate and manufacturing method thereof, gravure printing machine, and manufacturing method for laminated ceramic electronic component Banks, as well as a plurality of substantially recess-shaped cells defined by the banks, are provided in an image section formed in a gravure printing plate. Each of edge cells located along an outer edge of the image section is provided with a projecting portion that projects from a part of a base surface of that edge cell, and each projecting portion is distanced from the banks and located closer to the outer edge than the center of the corresponding edge cell. Preferably, the projecting portions and the banks that face the outer edge are positioned at a predetermined interval from the outer edge, and substantially frame-shaped recess portions that extend continuously along the outer edge are provided in the image section.
US09230737B2	Multilayer ceramic electronic component having a conductive paste Disclosed are a conductive paste for an inner electrode and a multilayer ceramic electronic component having the same. There is provided a conductive paste for an inner electrode, including: a conductive metal powder for manufacturing the inner electrode for multilayer ceramic electronic component; an organic binder including at least one selected from a group consisting of acryl-based resin, butyral-based resin, and a cellulose-based resin to disperse the conductive metal powder; and a solvent including eucalyptol.
US09230731B2	Fault current limiter with saturated core A three-phase current limiter (30) for an alternating current system includes an AC magnetic circuit having at least one AC coil (35R1, 35S1, 35T1) for each phase of a 3-phase AC supply wound on a saturable ferromagnetic core and configured to subject respective AC coils for each phase to a common magnetic flux, and a DC magnetic circuit (34a, 34b) for biasing the AC magnetic circuit into saturation at normal conditions. In use the AC coils are connected in series with a load and during alternate half cycles of the AC supply at least one of the AC coils produces a magnetic field that opposes a magnetic field of the DC magnetic circuit. The AC coils (35R, 35S, 35T) for each phase are configured so that at least one of the AC coils exhibits unbalanced magnetic impedance relative to remaining ones of the AC coils for each phase.
US09230715B2	Flat cable A flat cable includes at least two conductors offset from and in parallel with one another, and an insulating covering disposed over a periphery of the conductors. The insulating covering includes a vinyl chloride-based resin composition with a brittle temperature from −40° Celsius to −25° Celsius, a hardness D from 35 to 55, and heating deformation of 10% or below. The vinyl chloride-based resin composition substantially contains only vinyl chloride homopolymer as the resin component.
US09230707B2	Production method for a transparent conductive film and a transparent conductive film produced thereby Provided is a production method for a transparent conductive film wherein: a substrate has formed thereon a transparent conductive oxide, a conductive metal body, and a conductive polymer comprised in a transparent composite conductive layer; or else a substrate has formed thereon a transparent conductive oxide layer; a conductive metal body layer, and a conductive polymer layer comprised in a transparent composite conductive layer; or a substrate has formed thereon a transparent conductive oxide layer, and also a conductive metal body and a conductive polymer comprised in an organic-inorganic hybrid layer in a transparent composite conductive layer. Also provided is a transparent conductive film produced by means of the method.
US09230697B2	Steam generator for a nuclear reactor A steam generator for a nuclear reactor comprises plenums proximate with a first plane, wherein the first plane intersects a bottom portion of a riser column of a reactor vessel. The steam generator may further comprise plenums proximate with a second plane, approximately parallel with the first plane, wherein the second plane intersects a top portion of the riser column of the reactor vessel. The steam generator may further include a plurality of steam generator tubes that convey coolant from a plenum located proximate with the first plane to one of the plenums proximate with the second plane.
US09230694B2	Method of determining nuclear fusion irradiation coordinates, device for determining nuclear fusion irradiation coordinates, and nuclear fusion device An object of the present invention is to efficiently improve uniformity of energy lines to be irradiated. A method of determining nuclear fusion irradiation coordinates according to the present invention is a method of calculating irradiation coordinates when energy lines are irradiated onto a nuclear fusion target, and comprises an initial arrangement step S202 of virtually arranging electric charges Qi at initial coordinates of the number of irradiation coordinates NB on a spherical surface S0 set by using random numbers, a coordinate analysis step S203 of analyzing coordinates ri of the electric charges Qi in time series based on coulomb forces acting among the electric charges Qi by constraining the coordinates ri onto the spherical surface S0, potential evaluation steps S205 and S206 of determining a timing at which potential energies of the electric charges Qi were stabilized based on the coordinates ri, and an irradiation coordinate deriving step S207 of deriving coordinates ri at the timing at which potential energies were stabilized as irradiation coordinates of energy lines in a case where a nuclear fusion target is arranged at the center of the spherical surface S0.
US09230689B2	Finding read disturbs on non-volatile memories In non-volatile memory devices, the accessing of data on word line can degrade the data quality on a neighboring word line, in what is called a read disturb. Techniques are presented for determining word lines likely to suffer read disturbs by use of a hash tree for tracking the number of reads. Read counters are maintained for memory units at a relatively coarse granularity, such as a die or block. When the counter for one of these units reaches a certain level, it is subdivided into sub-units, each with their own read counter, in a process that be repeated to determine frequently read word lines with a fine level of granularity while only using a relatively modest amount of RAM on the controller to store the counters.
US09230683B2	Semiconductor device and driving method thereof An error of stored data is detected with high accuracy. Data (e.g., a remainder in a CRC) used for detecting an error is stored in a memory in which an error is unlikely to occur. Specifically, the following semiconductor device is used: a memory element including a plurality of transistors, a capacitor, and a data storage portion is provided in a matrix; the data storage portion includes one of a source and a drain of one of the plurality of transistors, a gate of another one of the plurality of transistors, and one electrode of the capacitor; a semiconductor layer including a channel of the transistor, the one of the source and the drain of which is connected to the data storage portion, has a band gap of 2.8 eV or more, or 3.2 eV or more; and the data storage portion stores data for detecting an error.
US09230672B2	High-resolution readout of analog memory cells A method includes storing data in an analog memory cell by writing an analog value into the memory cell. After storing the data, the data stored in the memory cell is read by discharging electrical current to flow through the memory cell, during a predefined time interval, while applying a variable voltage to a gate of the memory cell. A fraction of the predefined time interval, during which the variable voltage allows the electrical current to flow through the memory cell, is estimated. The stored data is estimated based on the estimated fraction.
US09230667B2	Semiconductor device A semiconductor device includes a memory block including memory cells for storing program data and one or more flag cells for storing erase state information, an operation circuit suitable for performing a program operation, an erase operation, and a read operation on the memory cells and the flag cell, and a data conversion circuit suitable for encoding read data read from the memory cells based on the erase state information.
US09230665B2	Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device A control circuit provides an at least partially negative threshold voltage distribution to a memory cell, thereby erasing retained data of the memory cell, and provides multiple levels of positive threshold voltage distributions thereto, thereby programming multiple levels of data to the memory cell. The control circuit, when executing a program operation to the memory cell, executes a first program operation that provides the multiple levels of positive threshold voltage distributions to a first memory cell which is a memory cell subject to program, and executes a second program operation that provides a positive threshold voltage distribution, to a second memory cell adjacent to the first memory cell, irrespective of (regardless of) whether data to be programmed to the second memory cell is (already) present in the second memory cell or not.
US09230663B1	Programming memory with reduced short-term charge loss Techniques are provided for reducing the effects of short-term charge loss while programming charge-trapping memory cells. Short-term charge loss can result in a downshift and widening of a threshold voltage distribution. A programming operation includes a rough programming pass in which memory cells are programmed close to a final threshold voltage distribution, for each target data state. Subsequently, a negative voltage is applied to control gates of the memory cells. Subsequently, a final programming pass is performed in which the memory cells are programmed to the final threshold voltage distribution. Since the negative voltage accelerates charge loss, there is reduced charge loss after the final programming pass. The rough programming pass can use incremental step pulse programming for the lowest target data state to obtain information regarding programming speed. An initial program voltage in the final programming pass can be set based on the programming speed.
US09230657B2	Memory device with erase mode memory cells A memory device includes a memory cell array including a plurality of memory cells, a common source line to which sources of the plurality of memory cells are commonly connected, and a second electrical connection path further connecting the common source line to a ground voltage using erase-mode memory cells when the common source line forms a first electrical connection path and is connected to the ground voltage.
US09230649B2	Non-volatile ternary content-addressable memory 4T2R cell with RC-delay search The 4T2R cell comprises a write transistor, a first variable resistive element, a first transistor, a second variable resistive element, a second transistor, and a charge control transistor. The first transistor is electrically coupled to the first variable resistive element in series, and the second transistor is electrically coupled to the second variable resistive element in series, for providing search paths. For operating in a search phase, a pulse voltage is applied across the gate electrode and the source electrode of the first transistor (or across the gate electrode and the source electrode of the second transistor) for determining whether the gate voltage of the charge control transistor changes larger than a match threshold during the period of the pulse. Different RC-delay of the variable resistive elements controlling the voltage change speed of the gate voltage of the charge control transistor determines the matching result.
US09230647B2	Metal line connection for improved RRAM reliability, semiconductor arrangement comprising the same, and manufacture thereof An integrated circuit device includes an array of RRAM cells, an array of bit lines for the array of RRAM cells, and an array of source lines for the array of RRAM cells. Both the source lines and the bit lines are in metal interconnect layers above the RRAM cells. The source line are thereby provided with a higher than conventional wire size, which increases the reset speed by approximately one order of magnitude. The lifetime of the RRAM transistors and the durability of the RRAM device are consequentially improved to a similar degree.
US09230634B2	Refresh scheme for memory cells with next bit table A memory refresh control technique allows flexible internal refresh rates based on an external 1× refresh rate and allows skipping a refresh cycle for strong memory rows based on the external 1× refresh rate. A memory controller performs a memory refresh by reading a refresh address from a refresh address counter, reading a weak address from a weak address table and generating a next weak address value based at least in part on a next bit sequence combined with the weak address. The memory controller compares the refresh address to the weak address and to the next weak address value. Based on the comparison, the memory controller selects between skipping a refresh cycle, refreshing the refresh address, refreshing the weak address, and refreshing both the refresh address and the weak address.
US09230633B2	Memory device with timing overlap mode In some examples, a memory device is configured to receive a precharge command and an activate command. The memory device performs a first series of events related to the precharge command in response to receiving the precharge command and a second series of events related to the activate command in response to receiving the activate command. The memory device delays the start of the second series of events until the first series of events completes.
US09230617B2	Low-voltage current sense amplifer In one embodiment, an integrated programmable device has a plurality of current sense amplifiers for reading data from non-volatile memory and a reference generator that provides common bias reference voltages to the sense amplifiers. The sense amplifiers can read data from the non-volatile memory at low power supply voltage levels (e.g., 750 mV) relative to the nominal supply level (e.g., 1.2V). Each sense amplifier has a trans-impedance amplifier that converts a memory bit-line current into a voltage level indicative of whether a selected memory cell is programmed or erased. The trans-impedance amplifier has a current mirror with a high-threshold regeneration device that lowers the sense amplifier's range of operating voltages. Each sense amplifier also has a level-shifted inverter that further lowers the sense amplifier's operating voltage range. The reference generator generates a ground-referenced bias voltage that each sense amplifier or group of sense amplifiers converts into a local, supply-referenced bias voltage.
US09230616B2	Memory devices, memory device operational methods, and memory device implementation methods Memory devices, memory device operational methods, and memory device implementation methods are described. According to one arrangement, a memory device includes memory circuitry configured to store data in a plurality of different data states, temperature sensor circuitry configured to sense a temperature of the memory device and to generate an initial temperature output which is indicative of the temperature of the memory device, and conversion circuitry coupled with the temperature sensor circuitry and configured to convert the initial temperature output into a converted temperature output which is indicative of the temperature of the memory device at a selected one of a plurality of possible different temperature resolutions, and wherein the converted temperature output is utilized by the memory circuitry to implement at least one operation with respect to storage of the data.
US09230614B2	Separate microchannel voltage domains in stacked memory architecture Separate microchannel voltage domains in a stacked memory architecture An embodiment of a memory device includes a memory stack including one or more coupled memory dies, wherein a first memory die of the memory stack includes multiple microchannels, and a logic chip coupled with the memory stack, the logic chip including a memory controller. Each of the microchannels includes a separate voltage domain, and a voltage level is controlled for each of the plurality of microchannels.
US09230607B2	Hard drive mounting and shock system A mounting system can be used in a storage device or other electrical device to mount a component, such as a drive, while also providing at least some shock absorption. The mounting system can include a deflection arm, a protrusion and a hole. The protrusion and hole can be configured to engage one another. One of either the hole or the protrusion can be on the deflection arm and the other can be on the component being mounted. The mounting system can also include a locking tab configured to move to a position behind the deflection arm. The locking tab can decrease the amount of deflection that can be experienced by the deflection arm to prevent the component from becoming prematurely dislodged from the mounting system.
US09230603B2	Display device for having a function of searching a divided screen, and the method for controlling the same Disclosed herein are a video apparatus including a screen-division searching function and a method of controlling the same, which are capable of solving problems caused in a process of reproducing and checking a recorded broadcasting program at a high speed. The method of controlling the video apparatus includes selecting specific video data stored in a memory, and dividing a full screen into a plurality of partial screens, dividing the selected specific video data into a plurality of portions, and respectively displaying the portions of the selected specific video data on the plurality of partial screens. Accordingly, it is possible check the whole contents of a specific broadcasting to—accurately program or a material recorded by a closed circuit television (CCTV) camera at a high speed.
US09230595B2	Error correction method and data reproduction device The error correction processing includes: data reproduction processing of reproducing recording data, constituted by a plurality of data units each made of a plurality of bits, from a recording medium sequentially; error correction processing of performing error correction in the row direction and error correction in the column direction at least once for an error correction code block that has the reproduced recording data arranged in the row direction over a plurality of rows; determination processing of determining whether uncorrectable data is left behind after execution of the error correction processing; and erasure correction processing of performing, when it is determined that uncorrectable data is left behind, column-direction error correction considering data constituting at least one row of the error correction code block as erasure data, even in cases where uncorrectable data in the error correction in the row direction is not left behind.
US09230591B2	Optical disc library and storage apparatus including disc changer functionality In an optical disc library apparatus having a cartridge storing discs; a drive carrying out recording and playback with respect to the discs; and a robot carrying out disc movements between the aforementioned cartridge and the aforementioned drive; wherein: the periphery of a disc is point restrained in three places during disc movement.
US09230584B1	Position demodulation apparatus and position demodulation method According to one embodiment, a position demodulation apparatus is provided which demodulates a first demodulated signal and a second demodulated signal, based on a servo-pattern read signal read out by a head from a medium, acquires a plurality of sets of a vector length and phase angle of vectors on a phase plane denoting the first and second demodulated signals, detects a phase angle for which the vector length is greatest based on the sets acquired, and executes rotational correction using the difference between the detected phase angle and a particular reference angle as a correction amount.
US09230576B1	Scissor reader with side shield decoupled from bias material Embodiments disclosed herein generally relate to a magnetic head having a sensor stack and a bias material that is aligned in a direction perpendicular to a media facing surface. The sensor stack and a first portion of the bias material are laterally bookended by synthetic antiferromagnetic (SAF) structures, and a second portion of the bias material is laterally bookended by a dielectric material. In this configuration, the SAF structures are decoupled from the bias material, which minimizes the disturbance to the bias material.
US09230574B2	Magnetoresistive head with a CPP structure having suppressed side reading According to one embodiment, a CPP structure magnetoresistive head includes a magnetoresistive sensor film between a lower shield layer and an upper shield layer and a longitudinal biasing layer disposed at each side of the magnetoresistive sensor film via a read track width defining insulator film. In the stripe height direction, the length of the longitudinal biasing layer is longer than the length of a second ferromagnetic layer in which its magnetization rotates in response to the external magnetic field. The second ferromagnetic layer is one of the layers comprising the magnetoresistive sensor film. At a stripe height, the surface of each longitudinal biasing layer has a step to change the thickness thereof across the step so that the air bearing surface section thereof has a larger thickness than any other section. Other structures using a magnetoresistive head and methods of production thereof are described as well.
US09230570B1	Write head having two yokes A write head comprising a main pole having a pole tip proximate an air bearing surface (ABS), a leading side and a trailing side, with a leading yoke on the leading side of the main pole and a trailing yoke on the leading side of the main pole. The leading yoke has a greater thickness than the trailing yoke, with a ratio of the thickness of the leading yoke to the trailing yoke of at least 1.5:1.
US09230565B1	Magnetic shield for magnetic recording head A magnetic shield for a magnetic recording head includes a plurality of ferromagnetic layers, a spacer layer, and a buffer layer, wherein the buffer layer includes Co, Fe, B, or a combination thereof and effectively reduces irregular grain growth within the ferromagnetic layers, the spacer layer includes Ru, and the ferromagnetic layers magnetically couple through each of the buffer layer and the spacer layer.
US09230561B2	Method for sending multi-media messages with customized audio A system and method of creating a customized multi-media message to a recipient is disclosed. The multi-media message is created by a sender and contains an animated entity that delivers an audible message. The sender chooses the animated entity from a plurality of animated entities. The system receives a text message from the sender and receives a sender audio message associated with the text message. The sender audio message is associated with the chosen animated entity to create the multi-media message. The multi-media message is delivered by the animated entity using as the voice the sender audio message wherein the mouth movements of the animated entity conform to the sender audio message.
US09230558B2	Device and method for manipulating an audio signal having a transient event A signal manipulator for manipulating an audio signal having a transient event may have a transient remover, a signal processor and a signal inserter for inserting a time portion in a processed audio signal at a signal location where the transient event was removed before processing by the transient remover, so that a manipulated audio signal has a transient event not influenced by the processing, whereby the vertical coherence of the transient event is maintained instead of any processing performed in the signal processor, which would destroy the vertical coherence of a transient.
US09230552B2	Advanced encoding of music files A system for the playback of content files includes a memory storing a content file including a plurality of stems, each stem encoding a portion of the audio of a sound recording, multiple stems in the plurality of stems representing different portions of the sound recording for the same time period, the content file also including a set of instructions controlling playback of the stems. A decoder is configured to decode the stems according to the set of instructions to create an audio output signal.
US09230544B2	Spoken dialog system based on dual dialog management using hierarchical dialog task library The present invention relates to a spoken dialog system and method based on dual dialog management using a hierarchical dialog task library that may increase reutilization of dialog knowledge by constructing and packaging the dialog knowledge based on a task unit having a hierarchical structure, and may construct and process the dialog knowledge using a dialog plan scheme about relationship therebetween by classifying the dialog knowledge based on a task unit to make design of a dialog service convenient, which is different from an existing spoken dialog system in which it is difficult to reuse dialog knowledge since a large amount of construction costs and time is required.
US09230523B1	Cymbal mounting assembly with centering clip A cymbal mounting assembly that has a housing with a through hole. A mounting rod of a cymbal stand is to be conducted through the through hole with therebeing a loose fit between the mounting rod and the housing. A cymbal is loosely mounted on the housing so it can freely pivot or rock. The assembly includes a tightening nut with a friction feature included to adjust the amount of clamping force being applied to the cymbal. This friction feature prevents unauthorized adjusting of the rocking or pivoting motion (action) of the cymbal and this preselected amount of action by the drummer is maintained even when the cymbal is placed in storage when the drummer moves to another playing location and is only changed when the drummer decides to do so. The assembly may also include a centering clip within the through that prevents the housing from contacting the mounting rod in the area of the upper portion of the assembly.
US09230522B1	Hitting device for cajon A hitting device for cajon includes a base having a cajon hitting assembly, a shaft, and a driving portion assembled thereon. When the treading portion is treaded, the first end of the bar member is pivoted about the pivoting portion, so that the bar member drives the driving member to move longitudinally and the arm drives the shaft to rotate along a direction where the cajon hitter moves forward the hitting surface of the cajon.
US09230516B2	Automatic scrolling speed control by tracking user's eye According to an aspect, an information display device includes a display unit, a visual line detector, and a control unit. The display unit displays information in a scroll region, which is provided in at least a part of a screen of the display unit, while scrolling the information. The visual line detector detects a visual line position of an operator with respect to the scroll region. The control unit controls a scroll speed, at which the information is scrolled in the scroll region, based on the visual line position detected by the visual line detector.
US09230513B2	Apparatus, system and method for cooperatively presenting multiple media signals via multiple media outputs An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for cooperatively presenting multiple media signals via multiple presentation devices. Disclosed are apparatuses, systems and methods that integrate portions of multiple media signals and cooperatively present the portions via multiple media output devices.
US09230509B2	Luminance changing image processing with color constraints To be able to do good color mapping between color encodings for gamuts with considerably different luminance dynamic range while not introducing significant color errors, we describe an image color processing apparatus (201) arranged to transform an input color (L,x,y) of a pixel specified in a color representation corresponding to a first luminance dynamic range into an output color (L,x,y) of a pixel specified in a color representation corresponding to a second luminance dynamic range, which first and second dynamic ranges differ in extent by at least a multiplicative factor 1.5, comprising a tone mapping deformation unit (203) arranged to determine on the basis of an input tone mapping (301) and a quantity linearly related to the luminance (L) of the input color, an adjusted output luminance (L, 309), wherein the determining is arranged so that the adjusted output luminance (L, 309) obtained by applying the input tone mapping to the input luminance (L) of all possible input luminances in its extent of valid values [0,1] giving the highest output (L,L_HDR), is not higher than a maximum luminance Lmax(x,y) which for the chromatic coordinates (x,y) of the input color is maximally achievable in the gamut corresponding to the second luminance dynamic range for those chromatic coordinates (x,y).
US09230506B2	Compensation methods for display brightness change associated with reduced refresh rate A method is provided for compensating for brightness change in a display. The method includes storing a plurality of look-up tables (LUTs), where each table has a plurality of pixel levels at a variable refresh rate (VRR) and a plurality of brightness signals that provide compensation for the brightness change when refresh rate is changed during a panel self-refresh (PSR). The method also includes receiving an input signal from a graphics processing unit (GPU) and determining the VRR of the input signal from the GPU. The method further includes obtaining the LUT at the determined VRR of the input signal and adjusting the input signal to produce an output signal that compensates for the brightness change for each pixel or sub-pixel in a timing controller based upon the LUT at the determined VRR. The method further includes transmitting the output signal to the display. A system is also provided.
US09230496B2	Display device and method of driving the same This display device has a demultiplexer (501) formed on a liquid crystal panel, the demultiplexer including three switching elements SW1 to SW3 for time-division drive, which are connected to video signal lines SL1 to SL3. Here, the number of switching control signal lines for transmitting switching control signals GS1 to GS6 to be provided to switching elements coupled to the video signal lines is six, which is twice the number of time divisions, and switching control signals (e.g., GS1 and GS4) with the same timing are individually transmitted by two switching control signal lines, so that the number of switching elements to be coupled to the switching control signal lines as loads can be halved, resulting in reduced waveform rounding of the control signals.
US09230495B2	Self-detection charge sharing module A self-detection charge sharing module for a liquid crystal display device is disclosed. The self-detection charge sharing module includes at least one detecting unit, for detecting a plurality of input voltages of a plurality of operational amplifiers driving a plurality of data line sand a plurality of output voltage of the plurality of data line, to generate at least one detecting result, and at least one charge sharing unit, for conducting connection between at least one first data line and at least one second data line among the plurality of data line when the at least one detecting result indicates at least one corresponding first input voltage and at least one corresponding second input voltage among the plurality of input voltage have opposite voltage variation direction and vary toward each other. The at least one first input voltage and the at least one second input voltage maintain respective polarities.
US09230493B2	LCD device driver circuit, driving method, and LCD device A driver circuit of a liquid crystal display (LCD) device includes a drive line driving a lightbar of the LCD device. A discharge module and a switch module are in series connection between the drive line and a ground end of the LCD device driver circuit in sequence; a starting signal sent by the LCD device is coupled to the switch module. When the starting signal is an OFF signal, the switch module is turned on, and when the starting signal is an ON signal, the switch module is turned off.
US09230490B2	LED backlight driver circuit A light emitting diode (LED) backlight driver circuit includes an LED lightbar and a driver module of the LED lightbar. The driver module includes a backlight driver integrated chip (IC) regulating an output voltage of the driver module, and the backlight driver IC includes a first comparator correcting the output voltage of the driver module. The output end of each LED lightbar is coupled to an inverting input end of the first comparator, and a non-inverting input end of the first comparator is coupled to a protection module. The protection module includes a detection unit detecting an output current of the driver module. When the output current of the driver module detected by the detection unit is greater than a preset first current, the protection module outputs a first reference voltage to the non-inverting input end of the first comparator. When the output current of the driver module detected by the detection unit is lower than the preset first current, the protection module outputs a second reference voltage, which is lower than the first reference voltage, to the non-inverting input end of the first comparator.
US09230487B2	Display device and television receiver A display device that can adjust brightness of each of a plurality of regions of an image by performing local dimming executes local dimming in a case of displaying a multi-color image (color image), and does not execute local dimming in a case of displaying a grayscale image. Moreover, in a case of displaying a mixed image of a multi-color image and a grayscale image, the display device does not execute local dimming in regions including a grayscale image among a plurality of regions of an image. Displaying a multi-color image at high contrast and displaying a grayscale image at high tone reproduction are both achieved.
US09230473B2	Dual duty cycle OLED to enable dynamic control for reduced motion blur control with constant brightness in augmented reality experiences A head-mounted display (HMD) device is provided with reduced motion blur by reducing row duty cycle for an organic light-emitting diode (LED) panel as a function of a detected movement of a user's head. Further, a panel duty cycle of the panel is increased in concert with the decrease in the row duty cycle to maintain a constant brightness. The technique is applicable, e.g., to scenarios in which an augmented reality image is displayed in a specific location in world coordinates. A sensor such as an accelerometer or gyroscope can be used to obtain an angular velocity of a user's head. The angular velocity indicates a number of pixels subtended in a frame period according to an angular resolution of the LED panel. The duty cycles can be set, e.g., once per frame, based on the angular velocity or the number of pixels subtended in a frame period.
US09230472B2	Organic light emitting display and degradation compensation method thereof An organic light emitting display includes a display panel including pixels, a degradation sensing circuit which senses a threshold voltage of organic light emitting diodes included in the pixels and calculates an average degradation value defined by an average luminance value due to the degradation based on the sensed threshold voltage, a compensation target adjustor which adjusts a compensation target based on the average degradation value, each time the average degradation value is reduced by a previously determined reference value, and a data modulator which adds and subtracts a luminance compensation value determined depending on the adjusted compensation target to and from digital video data and modulates the digital video data.
US09230453B2	Open-ditch pipeline as-built process Imaging, attribution, and 3D modeling of utility pipelines and other assets is accomplished through the processing of terrestrial photogrammetric, aerial photogrammetric, and/or 3D LiDAR scanning measurements, all of which may be augmented by an Inertial Measurement Unit. These measurements are spatially controlled by photo-identifiable targets whose positions are established by real-time or post-processed GPS measurements which, in turn, determine the relative and absolute positions of the resulting 3D model. The necessary attribute information is available the moment an optically readable code is affixed to the asset. All proposed data collection methods provide imagery and point clouds systematically. It is therefore possible to read the attributes encoded in the optically readable code directly from the imagery or point cloud. Both the attributes of the feature and the position of the encoded attributes on the feature are captured. The information unique to each joint of pipe is attached to that joint positionally.
US09230449B2	Welding training system A system for training welders that includes a data generating component, a data capturing component and a data processing and visualization component. The data generating component operates in real time and derives data from an actual manually-executed weld and further includes a weld process-specific jig, a calibration block positioned on the jig, wherein the geometric configuration of the calibration block is specific to a particular type of weld joint, a weld coupon positioned on the welding process-specific jig adjacent to the calibration block, a welding gun for use by a trainee, wherein the welding gun is operative to form the weld; and at least one target mounted on the welding gun that is recognized by the data processing and visualization component for providing multidimensional position and orientation feedback to the trainee.
US09230446B1	Integrated live and simulation environment system for an aircraft A method and apparatus comprising an aircraft, a network interface, a display system, a sensor system, and a computer system. The network interface, the display system, the sensor system, and the computer system are associated with the aircraft. The network interface is configured to exchange data using a wireless communications link. The computer system is configured to run a number of processes to receive simulation data received through the network interface over the wireless communications link. The computer system is configured to generate simulation sensor data using the simulation data. The computer system is configured to receive live sensor data from the sensor system associated with the aircraft. The computer system is also configured to present the simulation sensor data with the live sensor data on the display system.
US09230436B2	Dynamic location referencing segment aggregation In one embodiment, road segments are aggregated for DLR. A plurality of connected road segments and corresponding traffic information for each of the connected road segments are identified. A processor aggregates the connected road segments into a fewer number of dynamic location reference (DLR) segments than the plurality. By testing different possible combinations, road segments with similar congestion are grouped. The processor calculates a traffic value for each of the DLR segments. Each traffic value is a function of the traffic information for the connected road segments of the respective DLR segment. An indicator of the aggregated DLR segment and the traffic value for at least one of the DLR segments is output.
US09230434B2	Road traffic information server and road traffic information system Provided are a server and a system that are capable of generating road traffic information on traffic congestion in a more appropriate manner, considering actual road traffic conditions. If a vehicle speed V falls below a first reference speed V1 and then exceeds a second reference speed V2 (>V1), then a traffic congestion situation is estimated based on an inference that the vehicle is highly likely to have escaped from traffic congestion. To estimate a traffic congestion situation, it is required that a situation in which the vehicle speed V exceeds the second reference speed V2 continue for a second specified distance or more or for a second specified time T2 or more.

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