Document Document Title
US09380999B2 Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, ultrasonic image processing apparatus, and medical diagnostic imaging apparatus
According to one embodiment, there is provided an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes a data acquisition unit configured to scan a three-dimensional region in a subject having a contrast agent injected therein over a predetermined period by using ultrasonic waves and to thereby acquire ultrasonic data concerning the three-dimensional region over the predetermined period, a volume data generation unit configured to generate first volume data in each time phase in an analysis period by using the ultrasonic data concerning the three-dimensional region over the analysis period in the predetermined period and to generate second volume data indicative of contrast agent temporal information about the analysis period and third volume data indicative of a contrast agent characteristic amount at each position in the three-dimensional region in the analysis period, and an image generation unit configured to generate a projected image by using the second volume data and the third volume data.
US09380994B2 Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention includes: a transmitting section, which drives a probe that transmits an ultrasonic wave toward a subject; a receiving section, which receives an ultrasonic echo, produced by getting the ultrasonic wave reflected by the subject, through the probe, thereby generating a received signal; a property value calculating section for calculating property values of the subject based on the received signal over a period of time; a stability estimating section for sequentially estimating the degrees of stability of the property values that have been calculated over the period of time; and a presenting section for presenting the degrees of stability thereon.
US09380993B2 Transmit/receive isolation for an ultrasound system
A transmit/receive isolation for an ultrasound system to block a high voltage transmit signal from being propagated to a receiving unit during a transmission period of an ultrasound signal is disclosed. An ultrasound system includes a switching unit coupled to a transmitting unit, a ultrasound probe and a receiving unit. The switching unit includes diode bridges and a switching module having pairs of switches connected to the respective diode bridges, wherein each pair of switches is configured to perform switching between a plus voltage and a minus voltage to forward-bias a corresponding diode bridge to allow a respective receive signal to be propagated to the receiving unit in a first state and to reverse-bias the corresponding diode bridge to block a respective transmit signal to be propagated to the receiving unit in a second state.
US09380992B2 Method and apparatus for measuring flow in multi-dimensional ultrasound
A method and system are provided for estimating velocity of flow within an ultrasound dataset. A sample volume gate is defined on a two-dimensional (2D) image. The 2D image is based on an ultrasonic dataset. Spectral Doppler velocity estimates of flow are detected within the sample volume gate in first and second dimensions that are orthogonal with respect to each other. A true velocity estimate of the flow within the sample volume gate is determined based on the Doppler velocity estimates.
US09380990B2 Apparatus and method for X-ray imaging of breast
An apparatus for imaging a breast using an X-ray includes a support having a through-hole, a holder having a cylindrical shape, disposed in the through-hole of the support, and accommodating a breast of a patient, a linear X-ray generator disposed outside the holder and emitting an X-ray having a linear beam section that is lengthy in a vertical direction of the holder, a linear X-ray detector arranged outside the holder, and a rotation driver rotating the linear X-ray generator and the linear X-ray detector along an outer circumference of the holder.
US09380989B2 Digital radiographic device having a linear scanner
An x-ray imaging apparatus comprises a platform connected to a frame, a sliding bar, a detector mounted on the sliding bar, an x-ray source, and a control system. The x-ray source includes a collimator to generate an x-ray exposure window. The control system is configured to slide the detector along the sliding bar and synchronously move the collimator to direct the x-ray exposure window to the first detector. The x-ray exposure window movements are registered to the detector movements. The detector interfaces with a processor that processes x-ray image data received from the detector, and generates at least one x-ray image from the x-ray image data.
US09380986B2 Dental surface models
To create a digital surface model of an intra-oral anatomy, a recess or a hole in an impression material having a predetermined shape and size is scanned. The scanning results and information on the predetermined shape and size are used for determining a threshold value representing interface between the impression material and another material. The threshold value is then used in generating the digital surface model from CT scanning data of an impression of an intra-oral anatomy on said impression material.
US09380985B2 X-ray tomosynthesis imaging device and calibration method of an X-ray tomosynthesis imaging device
The X-ray imaging device comprises an X-ray source that is able to move along a predetermined movement path, a movement unit configured to cause the X-ray source to move along the predetermined movement path, an imaging platform that is disposed to face the X-ray source, a flat-panel X-ray detector that is provided to the imaging platform, a marker that is disposed in the imaging platform, a control unit that causes the X-ray source to move and to capture images respectively including the marker from at least two positions, and an image processing unit that calculates a position of an image of the marker in each of the captured images and calculates a slope of a movement axis of the X-ray source with respect to the X-ray detector based on a relative relationship between positions of images of the marker.
US09380984B2 Computer tomography imaging device and method
The present invention discloses a method for performing CT imaging on a region of interest of an object under examination, comprising: acquiring the CT projection data of the region of interest; acquiring the CT projection data of region B; selecting a group of PI line segments covering the region of interest, and calculating the reconstruction image value for each PI line segment in the group; and combining the reconstruction image values in all the PI line segments to obtain the image of the region of interest. The present invention further discloses a CT imaging device using this method and a data processor therein. Since the 2D/3D slice image of the region of interest can be exactly reconstructed and obtained as long as the X-ray beam covers the region of interest and the region B, it is possible to use a small-sized detector to perform CT imaging on the region of interest at any position of a large-sized object, which reduces to a great extent the radiation dose of the X-ray during the CT scanning.
US09380982B2 Adaptive alarm system and method
An adaptive-alarm system and its uses in the context of medical devices, such as patient monitors, are described. In one embodiment, the monitor has a processor configured to receive and analyze an input relating to ambient sounds. The monitor may generate an alarm signal in response to physiological data that meets a defined requirement, such as a physiological alarm condition. The alarm signal that is generated by the monitor is substantially free of masking by the ambient sounds.
US09380975B2 Contact activated lancet device
A lancet device including a housing and a lancet structure having a puncturing element. The lancet structure disposed within the housing and adapted for movement between a retaining or pre-actuated position wherein the puncturing element is retained within the housing, and a puncturing position wherein the puncturing element extends through a forward end of the housing. The lancet device includes a drive spring disposed within the housing for biasing the lancet structure toward the puncturing position, and a retaining hub retaining the lancet structure in the retracted position against the bias of the drive spring. The retaining hub includes a pivotal lever in interference engagement with the lancet structure. An actuator within the housing pivots the lever, thereby moving the lancet structure toward the rearward end of the housing to at least partially compress the drive spring, and releasing the lever from interference engagement with the lancet structure.
US09380973B2 Biological fluid sampling transfer device and biological fluid separation and testing system
A biological fluid sampling transfer device that is adapted to receive and separate a multi-component blood sample is disclosed. After separation, the biological fluid sampling transfer device is able to transfer a plasma portion of the blood sample to a point-of-care testing device. The biological fluid sampling transfer device of the present disclosure also provides a closed sampling and transfer system that reduces the exposure of a blood sample and provides fast mixing of a blood sample with an anticoagulant. The biological fluid sampling transfer device is engageable with a blood testing device for closed transfer of a portion of the plasma portion from the biological fluid sampling transfer device to the blood testing device. The blood testing device is adapted to receive the plasma portion to analyze the blood sample and obtain test results.
US09380966B2 Tissue retractor oximeter
A retractor has an oximeter sensor at its tip, which allows measuring of oxygen saturation of a tissue being retracted by the retractor. The tip includes one or more openings for at least one source and detector. A specific implementation is a spinal nerve root retractor with an oximeter sensor.
US09380965B2 Analyte sensors having a membrane with low temperature sensitivity
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to analyte determining methods and devices (e.g., electrochemical analyte monitoring systems) that have a membrane with low temperature sensitivity. The sensing layer is disposed on a working electrode of in vivo and/or in vitro analyte sensors, e.g., continuous and/or automatic in vivo monitoring using analyte sensors and/or test strips. Also provided are systems and methods of using the, for example electrochemical, analyte sensors in analyte monitoring.
US09380962B2 Apparatus and methods for acoustically or mechanically stimulating a cochlea and intracochlear recording of mechanically or acoustically evoked auditory potentials in the cochlea
An apparatus for acoustic or mechanical stimulation of a cochlea and measurement of acoustically or mechanically evoked electrophysiologic responses from the cochlea is provided. In one example, the apparatus includes an acoustic stimulator for generating an acoustic signal and an electrophysiologic response measuring device positioned proximal the cochlea or within the cochlea for measuring an acoustically evoked electrophysiologic response to the acoustic signal. Methods of utilizing the apparatus for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures related to hearing impairment are also provided.
US09380961B2 Devices, systems and methods for detecting and evaluating impact events
An impact detection device for detecting impacts to a body part of a user and various supporting systems are discussed. In an example, an impact detect device can include a circuit board, a component having a first section and a second section, a battery, and a molding for housing the circuit boat, the battery and the component. The circuit board can include impact detection circuitry including at least two sensors and a communication circuit. A zone of reduced rigidity can connect the first and second sections of the component, with the circuit board secured to the first section. The battery can be secured to the second section of the component allowing for flex relative to the circuit board. The molding can be shaped and dimensioned for mounting to a body part of the user.
US09380959B2 MRI-guided nanoparticle cancer therapy apparatus and methodology
An apparatus and method direct nanoparticles in a body part under imaging guidance using at least one electromagnet configured and operable to create a magnetic field gradient used to direct the nanoparticles, wherein, the magnetic field gradient used to direct the nano-particles does not substantially interfere with the use of magnetic field gradients whose purpose is to image the body part.
US09380956B2 Method and apparatus for classifying cardiac arrhythmia
A method and a device for classifying cardiac arrhythmia, using an electrocardiogram (ECG) signal, are provided. The method includes receiving the ECG signal representing an electrical activity of a heart of an individual over a period of time, the ECG signal including ECG beats. The method further includes converting each of the ECG beats into symbols. The method further includes identifying an arrhythmia class indicating a type of cardiac arrhythmia associated with the individual from arrhythmia classes indicating respective types of cardiac arrhythmia based on the symbols representing each of the ECG beats.
US09380949B2 Modular sensor platform
Exemplary embodiments for reconfiguring a storage system comprise a modular sensor platform, comprising: a base module comprising, a display, a processor, a memory and a communication interface; a band removably coupled to the base module such that the band is replaceable with different types of bands; and a sensor module that collects data from a user, the sensor module in communication with the base module and removably coupled to the band such that the sensor module is replaceable with different types of sensor modules, the sensor module further comprising a plurality of sensor units that are removably coupled to the sensor module such that individual sensor units are replaceable with different types of sensor units.
US09380947B2 Method and system for monitoring hemodynamics
A system for monitoring hemodynamics of a subject is disclosed. The system comprises: a signal generating system configured for providing at least an output electric signal and transmitting the output signal to an organ of the subject. The system also comprises a demodulation system configured for receiving an input electrical signal sensed from the organ responsively to the output electric signal, and for modulating the input signal using the output signal to provide an in-phase component and a quadrature component of the input signal. The system also comprises a processing system configured for monitoring the hemodynamics based on the in-phase and the quadrature components.
US09380943B2 Dental system for trans-illumination of teeth
A dental system may transilluminate teeth using a light source for producing examination radiation by directing the examination radiation at a tooth to be examined. An optical image of the tooth illuminated by the examination radiation may be acquired. The light source may include a light-guiding and/or light-deflecting element that faces the tooth to be examined. Light-guiding and/or light-deflecting elements may be embedded in a transparent, flexible coupling body that is provided to rest on the tooth or the gingiva of the tooth.
US09380938B2 System and methods for documenting and recording of the pupillary red reflex test and corneal light reflex screening of the eye in infants and young children
Systems and methods for documenting, recording, and interpreting the eccentric photorefraction, pupillary light reflex and the corneal light reflex eye screening tests in infants and young children. The system includes a computing device having an image capturing device, a light generating device, and a display. The system includes a computer application that is executable on the computing device and operative to utilize the computing device to perform eye screening tests. The system also includes a website that allows users to upload captured images from the computing device, so that the images may be processed, analyzed, and recorded.
US09380933B2 Method and system for determining power of intraocular lens to be inserted
The present invention accurately predicts postoperative intraocular lens position on the basis of a shape image of the crystalline lens obtained by an optical interference tomographic imaging device. This makes it possible to reduce the postoperative refractive error and determine the power of the intraocular lens. The present invention comprises: a step for finding by computer the equatorial position, which is the site of maximum diameter in the crystalline lens, from the morphology of the crystalline lens obtained from a tomographic image of the patients eye generated by the optical interference tomographic imaging device; and a step for estimating the position of the intraocular lens from the equatorial position thus found.
US09380929B2 Endoscope with an optical member, a frame portion and a bonding member soldering the optical member to the frame portion
An endoscope includes a lens, a lens frame that holds the lens, and a bonding member that water-tightly fixes the lens to the lens frame, the bonding member composed of Sn-alloy solder containing at least one of Zn, Sb, Al and In, having a melting point not higher than 200° C. and forming a chemical bond via oxygen, and the lens, the lens frame and the bonding member are provided at a distal end portion of an insertion portion.
US09380914B2 Comestible product carrier and/or handle and associated methods
Exemplary embodiments are directed to a sandwich carrier handle and carrier for transporting a sandwich, including a plurality of wall portions hingedly joined at a plurality of fold lines. The plurality of wall portions are configured and dimensioned to fold at the plurality of fold lines to form a structure which wraps around the sandwich carrier. The exemplary sandwich carrier handle includes a first end including a first handle portion and a second end including a second handle portion. The first and second handle portions are configured and dimensioned to releasably interlock. The exemplary sandwich carrier handle includes a first open end and an opposing open end of the structure configured and dimensioned to permit the passage of the sandwich carrier therethrough. Exemplary embodiments are further directed to a method of transporting a sandwich carrier.
US09380912B2 Fryer and associated heat exchange system
A fryer unit includes a vat and heat exchange system with multiple passes within the fryer vat. Additional heat exchange passes may be provided in ductwork along the exterior surface of the lateral vat sidewalls.
US09380907B2 Dispenser with holding system for receptacles of different sizes
The invention concerns a beverage dispenser (1) comprising a base (2) and a holding system that comprises a holding part (3) positionable beneath a beverage outlet (4) in order to accept a first, relatively small receptacle, and being configured and dimensioned to be moveable between a deployed holding position suitable for accepting the small receptacle and a second position in which the holding part is moved at least partly out of the way of the beverage outlet to create an unoccupied space in which a second, larger receptacle can be positioned, in place of the first receptacle, beneath the beverage outlet, wherein the holding system comprises a sensor (8) configured for detecting the position of the holding part between the first position and the second position.
US09380906B2 Multifunctional cookware
A multifunctional cookware is disclosed. A side of a chassis is provided with a vessel, so that a single cookware can fry foods with the chassis and cook soups with the vessel. The vessel is covered with a lid, further changing the vessel into a vacuum cooker to simmer the foods. Furthermore, a steaming pan is disposed between the vessel and the lid, so that steam produced by heating up liquid in the vessel can steam the foods on the steaming pan, turning the vessel into a steamer. In the present invention, a frying pan, a stockpot, a vacuum cooker and a steamer are combined into one unit, allowing a single cookware to have multiple purposes at a same time, which increases convenience in using the cookware and reduces the space required to accommodate plural cookware.
US09380871B2 Table with inner row seating
A table having inner row seating comprising a table top having a central opening, outer seating, a center mounting assembly and inner seat positioned on center mounting assembly. The inner seat provides inner row seating for children. Table top and outer seating both have removable portions that provide entry into inner central opening where inner seat is located. A revolving tray and or umbrella can also be added to the table when the inner seat is not in use.
US09380870B2 Tablet arm mechanism
Disclosed is a dual axis of rotation tablet arm storage mechanism. The mechanism includes a first rotor block rotationally secured to a second rotor block. Both rotor blocks travel within a dual walled track of the mechanism. In the use configuration, the walls of the track are adjacent to the second rotor and restrict the rotation of the second rotor to help stabilize the writing surface. While the disclosed tablet arm maintains the benefits of other tablet arm mechanisms, many other benefits are achieved such as a mechanism that is free of pinch points during operation. The disclosed mechanism includes a dual access rotation mechanism that also allows the elevational alignment of the tablet top surface to be adjusted while the table top is in use.
US09380867B2 Partition system and accessories for use therewith
A partition system includes various accessories that may be associated with a wall or base element. The accessories include without limitation a power strip, an adjustable shelf, various backdrops and a worksurface assembly. The wall element may be curved or linear in various embodiments. The wall element may include an upstanding wall or a channel, either or both of which are engaged by one or more accessories. In some embodiments, the accessories may be co-located at a single location, with one or more accessories accommodating the others with an expansion device.
US09380864B2 Furniture item with a vertically adjustable leg
The present disclosure relates to an item of furniture, in particular a table, having at least one length-adjustable leg. The length-adjustable leg includes a first telescopic element which is realized as a hollow body, as well as a second telescopic element which is mounted inside the first telescopic element so as to linearly displaceable along a first axis. A locking device which is arranged on the second telescopic element comprises at least one first pin which is movable using an actuating device from a first position, in which the at least one first pin prevents the movement of the first telescopic element relative to the second telescopic element as a result of a force-fitting connection or form-fitting connection, into a second position in which the displacement is not prevented. In addition, the locking device has at least one second pin which is movable by the actuating device from a first state, where the at least one second pin is pressed against an inside surface of a wall of the first telescopic element in order to brace the second telescopic element in relation to the first telescopic element, and a second state where the at least one second pin is at a spacing from the wall of the first telescopic element.
US09380857B2 Portable self powered line mountable device for measuring and transmitting ambient temperature
A device for attaching to an electric power line conductor includes an electrically conductive housing with an opening for accepting the power line conductor and configured to be grounded to the power line conductor. At least one magnetic core is configured to surround the power line conductor and power a power supply electronics module. An ambient temperature measuring assembly is mounted inside and near the bottom of the electrically conductive housing. The ambient temperature measuring assembly is thermally insulated from the housing for thermally separating the ambient temperature measuring assembly from the housing.
US09380856B2 Portable article carrier
Disclosed is a portable article carrier for carrying and securing portable articles such as mobile phones, cameras, radios, tools, and water bottles; where the device can be secured to a belt, strap, or harness that is optionally worn by a wearer. The portable article carrier can be assembled from a folded flexible strap member and a loop member. The loop member can be flexible, non-flexible, or elastic. The portable article carrier can be configured to present a seamless surface to the portable article in order to minimize surface damage or wear to the portable article.
US09380852B2 Lacquer crayon
A lacquer crayon includes a nail varnish having 20-40 wt % of a lacquer component which includes a swellable layer silicate or a derivative thereof, dissolved and/or dispersed in 60-85 wt % of a substantially waterless solvent mixture which is composed of 10-30 wt % of low-boiling components, 20-50 wt % of medium-boiling components, 20-50 wt % of high-boiling components based on 100 wt % of solvent mixture, in such a way that the lacquer component and the solvent mixture add up to 100 wt %, wherein the lacquer crayon includes a reservoir for the lacquer, a valve, a tip made of an extruded or fibrous material and a removable cap which includes a moisture retaining element.
US09380845B2 Luggage with wrap around design panel
A hard-sided suitcase may include a first shell portion and a complimentary second shell portion connected to the first shell portion and movable between closed position in which the first and second shell portions enclose an interior of the suitcase and an open position permitting access to the interior. The first shell portion may have a first base wall and a first side wall meeting the first base wall at a first juncture. A first design panel may be coupled to the first shell portion. The first design panel covering at least a portion of the first base wall and the first side wall and extending across the first juncture.
US09380836B1 Sandal strap repair device
A sandal strap repair device to repair a toe strap of a thong sandal including a repair disc having a centrally disposed aperture therethrough and a slot on each side of the aperture for receiving a toe strap of a thong sandal therethrough and securing the toe strap between the repair disc and a sole of the thong sandal.
US09380832B2 Article of footwear with fluid-filled chamber lacking an inflation channel and method for making the same
An article of footwear is provided having a pressurized fluid-filled chamber in the sole structure having a continuous perimeter weld and lacking an inflation channel. The chamber may be formed from opposing polymer sheets, a continuous perimeter weld lacking a weld channel bonding the sheets and forming an interior void between the sheets, and a fluid disposed within the interior void exerting outward pressure on the sheets. A method for making the chamber can include placing a pair of polymer sheets in an opposing arrangement, pressing opposing perimeter weld portions of the sheets against each other to form an airtight seal along a perimeter region of an interior void, supplying a flow of pressurized air between the opposing sheets into the interior void, and, while maintaining a desired fluid pressure, welding the perimeter weld portions of the sheets to each other. A high-frequency welder for forming chamber is also provided.
US09380816B2 Wheelchair-bound coat
A garment is disclosed that enables caregivers to safely and comfortably outfit wheelchair-bound people when going outside. The garment comprises a garment body configured to extend around a front of a user and to wrap around a seatback of a user's wheelchair and be secured together, an opening at the top of the garment body for a user's neck, and a pair of sleeves for receiving the arms of the user, and wherein at least one of the opposing sides of the garment body comprises fastening components which are removably secured together to secure the back of the garment body to the front of the garment body. The opening at the top of the garment body comprises an approximately V-shaped notch to accommodate a trachea tube, and a hood for engaging over the head of the user and leaving the face open.
US09380814B2 Urination relief hatch for waterproof waders and foul weather gear
An improved fishing or hunting wader, exposure suit or foul weather pants/bib incorporates a novel waterproof connectable hatch to provide access for urination. The low profile and lightweight waterproof hatch is centered over the groin area and allows the wearer of a fishing wader, or similar foul weather gear pants, to be able to quickly open the hatch and urinate without removing the cumbersome garment. A hinged or connectable lid may swing upwards and downwards and features a hook-and-loop fastener, a magnetic, or mechanical fastener so that the lid is held up in place and out of the way. After urination, the lid may conveniently snap back into place against a seal or O-ring thereby forming a water tight seal.
US09380813B2 Drug delivery system and method
A drug delivery system can include a cylindrical structure extending in a longitudinal direction and formed from a substrate of an electrically conductive material. The cylindrical structure can include multiple electrodes extending laterally on the substrate at respective longitudinal locations. The electrodes each have an electrical resistance small enough to conduct current laterally along the substrate without heating the cylindrical structure. The cylindrical structure can include at least one substrate portion extending longitudinally between a respective pair of electrodes. Each substrate portion can have an electrical resistance high enough to conduct current longitudinally between the electrodes and resistively heat the respective substrate portion in response to the current conducted therethrough. A dose of a drug can be disposed on each substrate portion and configured to volatilize into a gas in response to the resistive heating of the respective substrate portion.
US09380809B2 Rod for a smoking article and method and apparatus for manufacture
A filter rod for a cigarette or other smoking article comprising a filter plug having a plurality of threads extending though at least part of the filter plug, and an apparatus and method for manufacturing such a filter rod.
US09380805B2 Plant trimmer
A leafy plant trimmer that is operable by a single person has a basket that is rotated in relation to a stationary sling in order to trim plants placed within the basket. The basket and the sling are housed within a trimmer body that is pivotally connected to a pivot stand. The trimmer body can be rotated between a product loading position for filling the basket and an in-use position for trimming the plants within the basket. A motor housed in the trimmer body spins the basket through a drive shaft. The motor is electrically connected to a timer such that the trimmer can be operated at designated time intervals. Trimmings are expelled from the trimmer body through a debris hole and collected below. A first receptacle attachment and a second receptacle attachment are positioned below the trimmer body and allow a receptacle to be positioned for collecting the trimmings.
US09380804B2 Systems and methods for food product extrusion
A system for producing food products may include an inner tube configured to extrude a first component, and an outer tube provided about the inner tube to define an annular space through which a second component is extruded, the inner and outer tubes (alone or in conjunction with a nozzle or other extrusion mechanism defining an outlet. Additionally, a collagen head can be configured to apply a layer of collagen gel over the second component. The inner and outer tubes are sized, and flow rate may be configured such that an initial diameter of the first component exiting the outlet is substantially smaller than a final diameter of the first component, and an initial thickness of the second component exiting the outlet is substantially greater than a final thickness of the second component.
US09380802B2 Coated pet chew product
Disclosed herein are pet chews which include a chewable substrate with a palatable coating and methods for making them. The methods include contacting a chewable substrate with a palatable coating composition and drying the coated pet chew or pet food. The coating provides strong binding power, good adhesiveness, and improved palatability and imparts a unique aesthetic to the pet chew product.
US09380798B2 Constructed non-dairy creams
A constructed non-dairy ice cream is prepared by making an aqueous emulsion of a flavorful non-dairy fat composition, dispersing an emulsion stabilizer in the aqueous emulsion, warming the stabilized emulsion to a sub-boiling temperature, and then freezing the emulsion to a temperature below a melting point of the flavorful non-dairy fat composition.
US09380797B2 Antimicrobial capture system with carbon container
According to one embodiment, a container for removing antimicrobials from an antimicrobial composition includes a container body having an exterior and an interior. The interior is at least partially filled with carbon granules configured to remove a portion of the antimicrobials in the antimicrobial composition. The interior is further filled with a liquid to at least a level that completely submerges each of the carbon granules. The container further includes an agitator configured to agitate at least a portion of the carbon granules. The container further includes a drain and a drainage valve. The location of the drainage valve is configured to prevent the drainage valve from lowering a current level of the liquid below the level that completely submerges each of the carbon granules.
US09380791B2 Apparatus and method for macerating meat-type products
An apparatus and method for macerating raw meat pieces includes two sets of rotating arbors, each having a different primary function. More particularly, the first arbor set is primarily configured to flatten and roughly tenderize the meat. The second arbor set is primarily configured to increase the surface area and tenderness of the meat without breaking the meat apart, though the second arbor set may also further reduce the thickness of the meat pieces. The second arbor set is positioned downstream of the first arbor set by a conveyor such that the meat pieces advancing through the macerator are only macerated by one of the arbor sets at any give time. Each arbor set has a pair of counter rotating shafts.
US09380787B2 Composition comprising a biological control agent and a fungicide selected from inhibitors of amino acid or protein biosynthesis, inhibitors of ATP production and inhibitors of the cell wall synthesis
The present invention relates to a composition comprising at least one biological control agent. Furthermore, the present invention relates to the use of this composition as well as a method for reducing overall damage of plants and plant parts.
US09380786B2 Agent for preventing bacterial wilt disease, and method for preventing bacterial wilt disease
Provided are: an agent for preventing bacterial wilt disease, which agent can prevent the development of bacterial wilt disease caused by various different bacterial wilt disease strains, that is, the development of bacterial wilt disease in various different plant varieties; and a method for preventing bacterial wilt disease utilizing the agent for preventing bacterial wilt disease. The agent for preventing bacterial wilt disease comprises as an active ingredient a wilt bacterium (Ralstonia solanacearum) infected with the φRSM1-type filamentous phage and/or the φRSM3-type filamentous phage. The method for preventing bacterial wilt disease comprises the step of inoculating the agent for preventing bacterial wilt disease to a plant. The plant is preferably any one of tomato, potato, green pepper, eggplant, tobacco, capsicum, Japanese basil, Japanese radish, strawberry, banana, marguerite, chrysanthemum and sunflower.
US09380785B2 Antiviral resin member
To provide an antiviral resin member which can efficiently inactivate viruses and has excellent sustainability.An antiviral resin member comprising a resin, an antiviral agent, and a surface potential-controlling agent, characterized in that the surface potential-controlling agent causes the surface potential of the antiviral resin member to shift to a value on the positive side of the potential of the resin alone.
US09380782B2 Tetrazolinone compounds and its use
The present invention provides a compound having an excellent efficacy for controlling pests. A tetrazolinone compound of a formula (1): [wherein, R1 represents an C6-C16 aryl group, an C1-C12 alkyl group, a C3-C12 cycloalkyl group or an adamantyl group, etc., which each optionally be substituted; R2 represents a hydrogen atom, an C1-C12 alkyl group, or a halogen atom, etc.; R4 and R5 represent independently of each other a hydrogen atom or an C1-C3 alkyl group, etc.; R6, R7, R8 and R9 represent independently of each other a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, an C1-C12 alkyl group, a C1-C12 haloalkyl group, an C2-C12 alkenyl group, a C3-C12 cycloalkyl group, an C1-C12 alkoxy group or a C1-C12 haloalkoxy group, etc.; X and Y represent independently of each other a sulfur atom or an oxygen atom; Q represents an oxygen atom or a sulfur atom; and R10 represents an C1-C6 alkyl group, etc.] shows an excellent controlling efficacy on pests.
US09380778B2 Anthroquinone containing derivatives as biochemical agricultural products
Formulations containing anthraquinone derivatives with increased effectiveness as pesticides are provided. These formulations may comprise (a) a preparation comprising one or more anthraquinone derivatives having activity against plant pests; (b) one or more C2-C7 alcohols, or glycols or lactones; and (c) one or more surfactants selected from the group consisting of a sulfate, ethoxylated fatty acid esters wherein said alcohols and surfactants are present in amounts effective to stability said preparation. Also provided are methods of using these formulations as pesticides.
US09380776B2 Game alert system
A game alert system includes a device mountable on a game feeder that detects motion in a target area and automatically sends an electronic signal to a user, or a hunter, in a remote location to notify the hunter of movement in the area, without alerting or startling animals that triggered the device.
US09380773B2 Gear flow divider for agricultural product injection
This application discusses, among other things, agricultural equipment and more particularly agricultural chemical applicators. In an example, an agricultural sprayer system can include a first boom section configured to receive a carrier material and a chemical material and to provide an agricultural chemical mixture, the boom section having a plurality of nozzles for spraying the chemical mixture; and a first rod insert coupled to an end cap of the boom section, the rod insert configured to reduce the volume of the boom section and to provide increased flow velocity of the chemical mixture to each of the plurality of nozzles.
US09380771B1 Bucket stabilizing system cover
A bucket stabilizing system cover for covering a bucket stabilizing system features a cover having an annular top cover surface, a tapered cover side wall, an open cover bottom, and at least one cover slot located in a cover side wall. The cover is placed over a base of the bucket stabilizing system.
US09380756B2 Lettuce variety multigreen 50
The present invention relates to plants of a lettuce variety NUN 09050 LT (referred to as “MULTIGREEN 50”) and, seeds and progeny thereof. The invention further relates to methods for producing a lettuce plant by traditional breeding methods. Moreover, the invention relates to a method for producing a lettuce plant containing in its genetic material one or more transgenes.
US09380750B2 Automatic water sprinkler regulator
An automatic water sprinkler regulator is provided to control sprinkler coverage and times for water cycles. The regulator comprises control interface, series of control buttons, water inlet part, water outlet part, control processor. An improvement made in the present invention focuses on rendering a control interface with multiple approaches to control times for water cycles to make for a controller interface that can be set for irrigating by way of a series of control buttons.
US09380748B2 Vegetation protection system
A protective system for vegetation has an underground housing from which a protective canopy can be deployed. The canopy unfurls as it is deployed and its position above ground can be adjusted after it is fully unfurled. After use, the canopy can be furled and lowered back into the housing. A liquid delivery system allows use of anti-freeze or fertilizer to be delivered via the system. Deployment of the system can be done manually or automatically in response to a selected signal.
US09380747B2 Method for selecting marker for diagnosis of nutritional status of plant, method for diagnosing nutritional status of plant, and method for determining growth status
The present invention provides a method for selecting a marker for diagnosis of the nutritional status capable of reflecting the status of a particular nutrient in a plant without being influenced by various stresses in environmental factors, etc., and a method for diagnosing the status of a particular nutrient in a plant using a marker for diagnosis of the nutritional status selected by the method. A metabolite quantitatively changed depending on only the amount of a particular nutrient in a plant is selected as a marker for diagnosis of the nutritional status reflecting the status of the nutrient in the plant.
US09380745B2 Separating device
A separating device formed with rotationally driven components and stationary components has at least one crop-treatment element for processing crop. The crop-treatment element extends transversely to the rotational direction (R) of the components, at least in sections. The crop-treatment element has a substantially cuboid cross-section and a front edge with a curved course optimized in terms of flow, and which faces a rotational direction (R) and away from a conveyance direction (FR) of the crop.
US09386734B2 Method for producing a plurality of electronic devices
An electronic device comprises a substrate (120), at least one electronic component (171, 172, 173) arranged on the substrate, and an encapsulation (140) covering the at least one electronic component (171, 172, 173). An electromagnetic protective layer (130) covers a surface (143) of the encapsulation (140) that faces away from the substrate (120), and the side faces (121, 141; 122, 142) directed transversely with respect to the surface (143). In particular, a thermal and/or electrical coupling (134, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166) couples the electromagnetic protective layer (130) thermally and/or electrically to a region (168) of the electronic device (111, 112) that is enclosed by the encapsulation. For production purposes, the device is singulated from a panel and the electromagnetic protective layer (130) is subsequently applied.
US09386726B2 Controller
A controller including a case provided with at least one opened surface, a cover opening and closing the at least one opened surface, and a circuit board provided within the case and provided with a heating unit. The cover includes a cover body and a heat radiation unit in which at least a portion of the inner surface of the cover body is concave toward the circuit board so as to be closely adhered to the heating unit for the purpose of heat radiation. Thereby, heat within the controller may be effectively radiated and the lifespan of electrical devices may be extended.
US09386723B2 Adjustable swinging bracket
A universal cable bracket that enables one or more cables to be secured to a telecommunications chassis accommodates cables of various sizes and styles. The cable bracket is configured to be mounted in one of multiple orientations relative to the chassis. One or more fasteners can be inserted through apertures in the bracket and a chassis mounting surface to secure the bracket into the desired orientation. Cables or fanout arrangements can be secured to a platform of the bracket via cable ties or other windings.
US09386720B2 Casing assembly and power supply apparatus with the same
A casing assembly includes a first casing and a second casing. The first casing includes a first lateral plate and a first engaging element. The first engaging element includes a first slab, a first sidewall and a second sidewall. The first sidewall and the second sidewall are connected with the first lateral plate. Moreover, a dent is formed between the first lateral plate and the first engaging element. The second casing is combined with the first casing. The second casing includes a second lateral plate and a second engaging element. The second engaging element includes a second slab, a third sidewall and a fourth sidewall. The third sidewall and the fourth sidewall are connected with the second lateral plate. The second engaging element is accommodated within the dent and in contact with the first engaging element, so that the first casing and the second casing are combined together.
US09386713B1 Modular elements employing latches secured by linkages
Modular elements employing latches secured by linkages are disclosed. A modular element may include a chassis body in communication with a latch, control body, and control arm of the modular element. The modular element is removable from or secured to an enclosure using the latch. The latch may remain secured to the enclosure in a locked mode by being rotated to engage a control catch of a control arm of a linkage. By connecting the control arm to the control body with a rigid member connected to the control body with first and second rotary joints, the rigid member transforms a control body movement into a rotary motion of the control arm to disengage the control arm from the latch. In this manner, the modular element may be disengaged from the enclosure to facilitate upgrades or maintenance of electronic components supported by the chassis body.
US09386706B2 Line width protector printed circuit board and method of manufacturing the same
A printed circuit board includes an insulating layer; and a circuit pattern formed on the insulating layer. The circuit pattern includes a seed layer and a metal layer formed on the seed layer, and both sides of the seed layer are formed with an etched groove. Also, a method of manufacturing a printed circuit board includes: forming a seed layer on the insulating layer; forming a plating resist formed with an opening on the seed layer; forming a circuit pattern by performing plating processing on the opening; removing the plating resist; forming a passivation layer on the circuit pattern; performing dry etching on a remaining portion other than a side wall of the passivation layer; and performing wet etching the seed layer exposed on a surface by the dry etching.
US09386704B2 Handheld device assembly
This is directed to several handheld device components to be placed in a handheld device, as well as methods or systems for mounting or retaining components within the device. In particular, this is directed to a rigid shield used in an SMT process and securing connected flex connectors by adhering the flexes together. This is also directed to using foam in combination with a hard material to create an acoustic seal, or several layers of foam to create an acoustic and mechanical seal. This is also directed to selectively folding a sheet of material placed around a battery cell.
US09386703B2 Electronic device
The electronic device is provided with a wiring board, a piezoelectric element (electronic component) which is mounted on an upper surface (front surface) of the wiring board so as to make its functional surface (major surface) face the upper surface, and a resin part which is adhered to a side surfaces of the piezoelectric element and to the wiring board and seals a facing space between the upper surface of the wiring board and the functional surface of the piezoelectric element. Further, the resin part is recessed in shape relative to the facing space.
US09386702B2 Electronic component embedded substrate and method of manufacturing electronic component embedded substrate
An electronic component embedded substrate and a method of manufacturing an electronic component embedded substrate, The substrate includes a first via passing through a part of an insulating portion of the substrate to an electrode of the electronic component, and a second via passing through a part of the insulating portion to the conductor pattern. The second via has a contact portion with a smaller cross-sectional area than the cross-sectional area of a contact portion of the first via.
US09386699B2 Mounted structure and manufacturing method of mounted structure
The present invention has an aspect to provide a mounted structure of which heat-resistant fatigue characteristic is improved. A mounted structure is provided with a substrate having a substrate electrode, an electronic component having a component electrode, and a bonding part bonding the substrate electrode and the component electrode, wherein the bonding part is constituted by a solder reinforcing part and a solder bonding part, the solder reinforcing part is a side vicinity part of the bonding part, and is constituted by In of 3 wt % or more and 8 wt % or less and Sn of 88 wt % or more, and the solder bonding part is constituted by a Sn—Bi system solder material and In of 0 wt % or more and less than 3 wt %.
US09386692B2 Power supply path structure of flexible circuit board
A power supply path structure is provided for a flexible circuit board and includes a first flexible circuit board that includes at least one first connection pad and a first opposite connection pad and a first power supply path connected between the first connection pad and the first opposite connection pad and a second flexible circuit board that includes at least one second connection pad and a second opposite connection pad and a second power supply path connected between the second connection pad and the second opposite connection pad. The first flexible circuit board is stacked, in a vertical direction, on the second flexible circuit board in such a way that the first power supply path and the second power supply path form a parallel-connected power supply path that serves as a power path or a grounding path for the first flexible circuit board.
US09386685B2 Interposer and semiconductor module using the same
An interposer is provided that suppresses heat conduction more effectively between two heat sources when the interposer is placed between the heat sources.An interposer 24 comprises a body having a cavity 23 maintained in vacuum; insulating layers 22a and 22b formed respectively on upper and lower walls 20a and 20b of the body; and heat reflecting layers 21a and 21b formed respectively on the insulating layers 22a and 22b. The interposer 24 thermally insulates semiconductor devices 11a and 21a mounted respectively on upper and lower sides of the interposer 24.
US09386678B2 Plasma generator and plasma generating device
The plasma generator has the dielectric having the inner circumferential surface, and a pair of electrodes which are arranged separated from each other in the direction along the inner circumferential surface and are isolated from each other by the dielectric and which are capable of generating plasma on the inner circumferential surface by application of voltage. In the inner circumferential surface, at the positions between the pair of electrodes in a plan view, recessed portions causing electric field concentration are formed.
US09386677B1 Plasma concentration apparatus and method
An apparatus and method to concentrate a plasma from one or more plasma sources through at least one pathway. A first embodiment of the invention involves a method to concentrate a plasma for treating one or more articles with a selectively concentrated plasma generated from dissociating one or more gases, the method includes supplying one or more gases from a source to a first chamber; applying RF power to dissociate the one or more gases and create a plasma; withdrawing the dissociated one or more gases from the first chamber through at least one pathway; and supplying the dissociated one or more gases to a treatment chamber containing one or more articles, wherein the at least one pathway selectively concentrates the plasma in the at least one pathway by using a narrower pathway with a volume smaller than the treatment chamber to restrict the diffusion of the plasma to concentrate the plasma. A second embodiment of the invention involves an apparatus to concentrate a plasma to treat one or more articles.
US09386673B2 ESD protection device and method for producing same
An ESD protection device providing highly reliable insulation and having good discharge characteristics is provided. An ESD protection device has opposing first and second discharge electrodes, an auxiliary discharge electrode (18) astride between the first and second discharge electrodes, and an insulating substrate (12) supporting the first and second discharge electrodes and the auxiliary discharge electrode (18). The auxiliary discharge electrode (18) is composed of an assembly of core-shell metal particles (24) that have a core portion (22) mainly composed of a first metal and a shell portion (23) mainly composed of a metal oxide that contains a second metal. The metal particles (24) are substantially completely covered with the shell portion (23) mainly composed of the metal oxide, and this improves the insulation reliability of the device against discharge. Preferably, the metal particles (24) have a bond with each other with a vitreous substance (27) therebetween.
US09386671B2 Method and control circuit for starting a gas-discharge lamp
A method operates a gas-discharge lamp (16) in a transition from a “deactivated” state without an electric arc to a stable “light-generating” state. The method comprises steps of discharging a booster capacitor (C2) in an “acquisition” phase following an ignition-voltage impulse via a current path that conducts a current flowing through the gas-discharge lamp (16) and in which an inductor (L1) having at least one switch (S5) lies in series and cyclically discharging the booster capacitor (C2) by a repeated alternating closing and opening of the switch (S5).
US09386669B2 Controlling light intensity at a location
A mobile device that is configured for wireless communication may be configured to operate as a remote control device in a lighting control system, controlling one or more lighting control devices of the lighting control system. The remote control device may control the light intensity in a space, for instance at a location of the remote control device, in response to an ambient light intensity measured at the remote control device. The remote control device may define a user interface for receiving an input that indicates a desired light intensity at the location. The remote control device may measure the ambient light intensity at the location via a light detector, compare the measured ambient light intensity to the desired light intensity, and cause the one or more lighting control devices to adjust the ambient light intensity at the remote control device until it agrees with the desired light intensity.
US09386666B2 Method of optically transmitting digital information from a smart phone to a control device
A load control device is able to receive radio-frequency (RF) signals from a Wi-Fi-enabled device, such as a smart phone, via a wireless local area network. The load control device comprises a controllably conductive device adapted to be coupled in series between an AC power source and an electrical load, a controller for rendering the controllably conductive device conductive and non-conductive, and a wireless communication module operable to receive Wi-Fi communications on a local area network. The controller controls the controllably conductive device to adjust the power delivered to the load in response to the wireless signals received from the wireless network. The load control device may further comprise an optical module operable to receive an optical signal, such that the controller may obtain programming instructions from the received optical signal to enable the wireless communication module to receive digital messages via the Wi-Fi communications on the local area network.
US09386665B2 System for integrated lighting control, configuration, and metric tracking from multiple locations
A mechanism for control and configuration of a lighting system from a user interface. For instance, a wall module designed as a user interface for a tenant to control the system may be implemented so as to be used not only to control the lighting system but also to configure it. The lighting system may involve a controller, circuits of lights, relays, motion and ambient detectors, scenes, schedules, and more. An additional user interface such as a wall module may be connected to the lighting system for control and configuration of the system.
US09386664B2 Methods of controlling an outdoor lighting system
A method (100) of controlling an outdoor lighting system, a computer program product, a controlling device for controlling an outdoor lighting system and an outdoor lighting system are provided. The outdoor lighting system comprises outdoor lamps which are distributed over spatial segments of an outdoor space. The emitted light intensity of the outdoor lamps is controllable per spatial segment, and references are used to refer to specific spatial segments. The method (100) comprises the steps of (i) receiving (102) from a detection system an indication of a sub-area of the outdoor space and receiving at least one activity property or the sub-area, the detection system being arranged for detecting activity in the sub-area, the sub-area being different from all the spatial segments, and the indication being used to refer to the sub-area, and the at least one activity property being related to a traffic density in the sub-area (ii) mapping (104) the at least one indication to at least one reference of a respective spatial segment, (iii) determining (106) a light intensity level for the respective at least one spatial segment in dependence on the received at least one activity property, (iv) providing (108) the at least one reference together with the respective determined light intensity to the outdoor lighting system.
US09386658B2 Smart signal light
Disclosed is a smart signal generator for generating a signal representing a motion. The device includes a processing device associated with a motion sensor and a signal generator and a power source. The signal generator is a light source. When the motion sensor generates data indicating the smart signal generator is slowing down, the processing device activates the signal generator which generates a motion signal. One embodiment of a motion signal is a red light.
US09386657B2 Organic Electroluminescent materials and devices
Novel tricarbazole compounds are provided. By appropriately selecting the nature of the tricarbazole substituents, compounds with appropriate HOMO and LUMO energies can be obtained for use as materials in a secondary hole transport layer.
US09386655B2 Light sensor device and manufacturing method
A light sensor device comprises a substrate (10) having a well (12) defined in one surface. At least one light sensor (14) is formed at the base of the well (12), and an optical light guide (18) in the form of a transparent tunnel (18) within an opaque body (20) extends from a top surface of the device down a sloped side wall of the well (12) to the location of the light sensor (14).
US09386654B2 Controlled function light emitting diode lighting device and method
A lighting device includes an electrical circuit for energizing an LED light source. The electrical circuit is configured to: have a target relationship between two illuminating operational parameters of the LED, connect the LED to a power source, energize the LED with a voltage waveform to effect a current waveform, determine a magnitude of each of the two operational parameters, determine an operational relationship between the two operational parameters, compare the target relationship with the operational relationship, determine a difference between the target relationship and the operational relationship and respond to the difference by adjusting the voltage waveform such that it changes one or both operational parameters to bring the operational relationship towards the target relationship.
US09386653B2 Circuits and methods for driving light sources
A driving circuit for driving a light source having an adjustable color temperature is provided. The driving circuit includes a power converter, coupled between a power source and the light source and operable for receiving power from the power source and for providing a regulated power to the light source; and a color temperature controller, coupled to the power converter and operable for receiving a switch monitoring signal indicative of an operation of a power switch coupled between the power source and the power converter, and for adjusting the color temperature of the light source based on the switch monitoring signal.
US09386645B2 LED drive circuitry with disconnect switch
A circuit is described which allows an LED driver to be controlled by a control signal in such a manner that at a predetermined dimming level the output current goes to zero instead of continuing to indefinitely low dim levels, thus avoiding the possibility of flickering or shimmer at extremely low dim levels. An electronic circuit for driving an LED load with a conventional LED drive circuit has inputs connected to a power source and output terminals providing regulated output power including a load disconnect switch in series with the LED load which has a control node responsive to a control circuit; and a control input which commands varying levels of input power. The control circuit is configured to be responsive to the control input so that when the control input corresponds to a certain continuous level of dimming, the load disconnect switch is opened.
US09386643B2 Visible light communications using a remote control
According to one aspect of the disclosure, a lighting system comprises a remote control unit (4) and at least one lighting device (2a, 2b, 2c) comprising a light driver (13) and a light emitter (14). The remote control unit (4) comprises an image capturing unit (5) and is arranged to control the lighting device (2a, 2b, 2c). To do so, the remote control unit (4) receives information relating to current/present settings of the image capturing unit (5), then determines one or more properties of signals for visible light communications based on these settings. The one or more properties are then communicated to the at least one lighting device (2a, 2b, 2c). Upon reception thereof the light driver (13) generates a light emitting control signal based on the received properties and visible light communications based on the light emitting control signal is emitted by the light emitter (14). According to another aspect, a lighting device (2a, 2b, 2c) adapts emitted modulated light and adapts the modulation so as not to correspond to blind-spots of an image capture unit (5).
US09386641B2 Lighting dimmer synchronous load device
Method, apparatus and system for efficient driving a lighting means. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a synchronous load for a lighting system, wherein the lighting system is fed by an AC supply that is potentially produced by a dimmer. The synchronous load is configured to load the AC supply only if the AC supply is found to be actually produced by a dimmer. In this case, the loading period comprises only the times when the AC supply voltage is lower than a given threshold and when current oscillation occurs.
US09386638B2 Autonomous emergency light unit for an aircraft and emergency lighting system comprising such light unit
An autonomous emergency light unit for an aircraft has a power input for receiving power from an external power supply, a rechargeable power source, at least one LED for illuminating the emergency light unit, and a light unit control logic configured to operate the emergency light unit in a plurality of operating states as a response to external control information received and processed by the light unit control logic. The plurality of operating states includes a discharge and illumination state, with the rechargeable power source being discharged over the at least one LED in the discharge and illumination state. The light unit control logic is configured to operate the emergency light unit in the discharge and illumination state as a response to no power being provided at the power input.
US09386635B2 Induction heating cooking device
The disclosed induction heating cooking device includes a boiling-over detection portion which is adapted to reduce heating output from an inverter to a pre-set value if the amount of change of a capacitance detected by a capacitance detection portion from a reference value (Vo) is equal to or more than an output reduction threshold value (ΔV2), and further is adapted to stop heating, if the amount of change is equal to or more than an output stop threshold value (ΔV3). In this case, the output stop threshold value is provided for each of the plurality of the electrodes, which can absorb impedance variations in the plurality of the electrodes formed through pattern printing using conductive films, thereby uniformizing their sensitivity to boiling over in any directions.
US09386622B2 Call service method and apparatus
A call service method and an apparatus are provided. The call service method of an electronic device includes detecting a communication state change with a counterpart electronic device, checking a reason for the communication state change, and performing at least one of displaying communication state information based on the reason for the communication state change and recovering a call connection.
US09386617B2 Discovery and operation of hybrid wireless wide area and wireless local area networks
Technology for setting up a Device to Device (D2D) communication channel between mobile wireless devices is disclosed. The technology includes identifying a first user equipment and a second user equipment located within a proximity; receiving network assisted proximity discovery information at one of the first UE and the second UE from an evolved packet core (EPC) operating on a third generation partnership practice (3GPP) wireless wide area network (WWAN); and setting up a device to device (D2D) communication between the first UE and the second UE based on the network assisted proximity discovery information received from the EPC.
US09386611B2 Synchronizing mobile devices and displays
Methods and tangible computer-readable media for synchronizing a mobile device to a display via a communication network are disclosed. For example, a method receives an identification code from a display and sends a request to the communication network to establish a communication session between a mobile device and the display. The request comprises the identification code. Thereafter, the communication session is established via the communication network. Another method receives a request to establish a communication session between the mobile device and the display. The request comprises an identification code of the display that was received by the mobile device from the display. The method then establishes the communication session.
US09386610B2 Periodic high power beacon broadcasts
Described herein are systems, methods and computer program products for controlling operation of wireless beacons, such as Bluetooth Low Energy beacons. Multiple beacons may be controlled centrally or may work together in a cooperative fashion such that signals can be exchanged between or repeated by beacons in order to allow for signals received at one beacon to reach another beacon without requiring further central interaction. Power settings of beacons may be altered to change power consumption or to change a detectable range of the beacons.
US09386599B2 Radio communication system, radio base station apparatus and radio communication method
The present invention is designed to provide a radio communication system, a radio base station apparatus and a radio communication method which can realize high transmission rate while reducing the calculation load involved in CoMP scheduling. The present invention provides a radio communication system including a plurality of radio base station apparatuses and a user terminal that is configured to be able to perform coordinated multiple point transmission/reception with the plurality of radio base station apparatuses, and, in this radio communication system: the radio base station apparatus has: an operation section (420) that calculates the priority of a pattern to be a candidate for radio resource allocation, which is determined based on candidate cell information that is reported from the user terminal and that shows a candidate of a cell to perform coordinated multiple point transmission; and a scheduling section (421) that executes scheduling based on the priority calculated in the operation section; and the user terminal has: a reporting section that reports the candidate cell information to the radio base station apparatus.
US09386588B2 Power headroom calculation apparatus and a power headroom calculation method
Provided are a base station apparatus and a communication method that can preclude the recognition mismatch in which the reference formats of different UL grants are recognized between a wireless communication terminal apparatus and the base station apparatus by using power headroom (PHR) calculation. For the PHR calculation of a PUSCH in a CC in which no UL grant is present, a UL grant, which was used for calculating the PHR in another CC having the same subframe number as the PUSCH, is used. For example, as to a subframe number=#1, the UL grant of CC #0 is used for calculating the PHR of CC #2 in which no UL grant is present.
US09386585B2 Systems and methods for a data scrambling procedure
Systems, methods, and devices for communicating in a wireless network are provided. In one aspect, a method for wireless communication is provided. The method includes inserting an indication of a scrambling sequence into a signal field of a first data unit. The signal field occurs before a service field in the first data unit. The method includes scrambling at least a portion of the first data unit based at least on the inserted indication of the scrambling sequence in the signal field of the first data unit. The method includes transmitting the first data unit. The signal field is transmitted at a first data rate and the service field is transmitted at a second data rate greater than the first data rate. The indication of the scrambling sequence comprises either a scrambler seed or one or more parameters indicative of the scrambling sequence.
US09386567B2 Symbol mapping method for repetition channel coding
A symbol mapping method for repetition coding is disclosed. The symbol mapping method comprises performing repetition coding on codeword to output repeated codeword symbols, and mapping the repeated codeword symbols with subcarriers located in different localized resource blocks. According to the embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to obtain maximum reliability in a receiving side by mapping codeword bits with subcarriers to reduce the number of bits having low reliability when a transmitting side uses repetition coding. Also, it is possible to improve decoding throughput and obtain channel diversity.
US09386566B2 Method, apparatus and computer program for controlling a user equipment
A user equipment (UE) has established a first radio link with a serving network node and a second device-to-device (D2D) radio link directly with another user equipment (UE). In response to having D2D data to send to the other UE over the D2D radio link, the UE sends to the serving network node on the first link a request for radio resources for a layer 1 (L1) control channel; and in response to an assignment of D2D resources by the serving network node in reply to that request, the UE sends on the assigned D2D resources to the other UE the D2D data and the L1 control channel. In one example the request includes an indication of the UE's link adaptation for the L1 control channel such as format for a PDCCH or ePDCCH and/or aggregation level.
US09386563B1 Coordination of codec consistency based on cross-carrier assignment
A method and system is disclosed for coordinating codec consistency based on cross-carrier assignments. When a new voice call (or other communication session) is set up between access terminals in a wireless communication system, a network device, such a base station, can determine a respective maximum coding rate supported on carrier frequencies of both an originating access terminal and a terminating access terminal. The network device can then select a coding rate that best accommodates the respective maximum coding rates. Each access terminal may then be instructed to use the selected coding rate for the new call (or communication session). Either or both access terminals may also execute a frequency handoff to a carrier frequency that supports the selected coding rate, if necessary.
US09386550B2 Tandem satellite frame synchronization
Systems and methods are described synchronizing communications frames and their respective time slots for satellite communications architectures having multiple satellites in the same orbital slot in such a way that addresses inter-satellite inter-beam interference. In some embodiments, the first and second satellites communicate with a respective number of ground terminals (e.g., gateway and user terminals) according to first and second satellite time slots, respectively. The satellites maintain relative positions in their orbital slot to manifest a maximum path delay difference between first and second path delays, the first path delay being between the first ground terminals and the first satellite, and the second path delay being between the first ground terminals and the second satellite. A synchronization system can offset the first satellite time slots from the second satellite time slots as a function of the maximum path delay difference.
US09386543B2 Methods and devices for calculation of uplink transmission power
This disclose sets forth methods and devices for calculation of uplink transmission power. An indication of a non-contiguous allocation of resource blocks for an uplink transmission is received. A first additional maximum power reduction (“A-MPR”) is determined based on a smallest contiguous allocation containing the non-contiguous allocation and an allocation correction factor. A second A-MPR is determined as a non-contiguous resource allocation A-MPR for the non-contiguous resource allocation. An uplink transmission power is calculated based on a lesser of the first A-MPR and the second A-MPR. The uplink transmission is performed based on the uplink transmission power.
US09386535B2 Method for determining transmission power information of downlink subframe and apparatus therefor
A method for an eNB to transmit a downlink signal to a User Equipment (UE) is disclosed. The method includes transmitting information about a data transmission power within an OFDM symbol in a data region of a downlink subframe to the UE. The information about the data transmission power is determined according to a specific condition and the specific condition includes at least one of presence/absence of a Cell-specific Reference Signal (CRS) within the symbol and a modulation scheme or a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) of the symbol. The downlink subframe is a Non-Zero Power Almost Blank Subframe (NZP ABS) in which signals are transmitted at a lower transmission power than a transmission power of a normal subframe on downlink.
US09386532B2 Method and apparatus for PUSCH/PUCCH power scaling considering dual connectivity in power limited state
Provided is a method and apparatus for executing an uplink channel power control in dual connectivity configuration when power is limited. An appropriate power controlling method may be determined based on a priority, and may be applied to a UE that has dual connectivity with a Master eNB (MeNB) and a Secondary eNB (SeNB) in a network.
US09386530B2 Method for reducing transmission power and terminal thereof
There is provided a method of reducing transmission power. The method may comprise: receiving a network signal, if a carrier aggregation (CA) is configured and if the configured CA corresponds to an intra-band contiguous CA; applying an additional maximum power reduction (A-MPR) for a transmission, based on the network signal. If a configuration of the CA corresponds to a CA_1C and if the aggregated transmission bandwidth is the summation of 75 RBs and 75 RBs, a value of the A-MPR is specified for L_CRB>10. The L_CRB is a length of a contiguous resource block allocation.
US09386526B2 Methods and apparatus for determining and entering power saving mode in a wireless network
Certain aspects of the present disclosure present methods and apparatus for selecting a power saving mode for a mobile station (MS) in a wireless network. The power saving mode may be selected based on the traffic that is observed at the MS in a predefined duration. Once low overall data traffic is observed, the device may enter a first low power state. If data traffic of a particular type (e.g., not for management or maintenance purposes) is not observed for a predetermined duration, the device may enter a second low power state (deeper than the first low power state).
US09386523B2 Power-saving data scheduling system in LTE and method thereof
A power-saving data scheduling system includes a period decision module for selecting a cycle having a shortest delay time as a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle for each user from quality of service (QoS) requirements related to network services and channel conditions, and a start offset decision module for calculating the number of users in each of periods of the DRX cycle. In addition, a DRX-aware scheduling module is provided for extending the on period by increasing priority of the user and resetting an inactivity timer if a period required by the user's load is shorter than an off period. Optimal DRX parameters and DRX-aware scheduling are used to resolve the existing issues that the channel conditions, system load and QoS are not taken into consideration when the DRX parameters are determined. Moreover, a power-saving data scheduling method is also provided.
US09386513B2 Method for joint use of a radio access network by several mobile radio providers
A method for mobile radio suppliers to provide or share or jointly use a mobile radio access network is provided. Said method is characterized in that a single radio access network (9; 12), which is operated according to UMTS standard, cdma2000 standard, or GSM standard, for example, is jointly used by several mobile radio suppliers. In order to do so, the mobile radio networks comprise a common radio access network but separate core networks. Preferably several PLMN IDs are transmitted by the common radio access network and are made available to the user terminal for selection. The inventive method allows a joint radio access network to be made accessible to different mobile radio suppliers, a mobile radio user selecting one of several transmitted preferably PLMN IDs and using services (CS or PS) via the associated core network of the selected mobile radio operator.
US09386506B2 Method for providing connection type information and method for controlling radio resource of home (e)NodeB
A method for providing connection type information in a network entity comprises: receiving, by the network entity, a connection request message including access mode information indicating at least one of an open access mode, a closed access mode, and a hybrid access mode, from a Home (e)NodeB having received a request from a terminal; determining, by the network entity, a connection type of the terminal based on the access mode information and the terminal's subscriber information; and transmitting, by the network entity, a connection accept message including information about the determined connection type, to the Home (e)NodeB, such that the Home (e) NodeB performs a radio resource control function with respect to the connection with the terminal.
US09386505B2 Systems and methods for secondary cell ID selection
A method performed by a user equipment (UE) is described. The method includes receiving a physical cell identifier information element (IE) from an evolved node B (eNB). The physical cell identifier IE is associated with a secondary cell (SCell) that is on an unlicensed Long-Term Evolution (LTE) carrier frequency. The method also includes determining a physical-layer cell identity (PCI) of the SCell based on the physical cell identifier IE. The method further includes applying the PCI as a parameter for physical channels or signals on the SCell.
US09386504B2 Energy-efficient network protocol and node device for sensor networks
An “on-demand” approach for a routing protocol for a wireless network that achieves balanced energy consumption among all participating nodes in the network. Synchronization messages transmitted by nodes associated with an upstream node include local node information (LNI) that a node can use to repair or bypass a lost upstream node in a real or virtual (temporary) manner depending upon the local node's battery level. Only if a repair process fails will a global re-organization (Re-Org) be initiated. The LNI also allows for nodes having lower power availability (battery level) not to transmit the LNI so that unaffiliated node(s) can select an upstream node having more power availability thereby extending network life.
US09386500B2 Inter-network handover system and method
A method includes receiving, from a user device, a global cell identifier of a cell in the second communications network, wherein information for forming a Location Area Identification ‘LAI’ can be obtained from the global cell identifier, and a Routing Area Code ‘RAC’ for use in identifying a target gateway component operating within a location area represented by the Location Area Identification ‘LAI’ and associated with the neighbor base station component, generating a handover request message in the first communications network, for handing over to the neighbor base station component operating as the target base station component, the handover request message incorporating the Routing Area Code ‘RAC’ and the Location Area Identification ‘LAI’, and transmitting the handover request message to facilitate the handover to the second communications network.
US09386497B1 Managing a wireless data communication session
An application requirement is identified of a wireless device in communication with an access node using a first radio access technology, and a probability is determined that a communication session of the wireless device using the first radio access technology will be dropped based on a wireless device mobility and characteristics of a plurality of neighbor access nodes of the access node. A handover threshold is calculated based on the application requirement and the determined probability, and when a signal level of the first radio access technology received at the wireless device meets the handover threshold, the wireless device is instructed to change from communicating with the access node using the first radio access technology to communicating with the access node using the second radio access technology.
US09386489B2 Method for performing high-speed handover in base station cooperative wireless communication system, and device for same
Disclosed in the present application is a method for a terminal to perform a handover in a wireless communication system. In particular, the method comprises the steps of: receiving a random access triggering signal from a serving cell; executing a random access procedure with a target cell on the basis of the random access triggering signal; receiving a downlink signal from the serving cell and transmitting an uplink signal to the target cell; receiving, from the serving cell, a message ordering a handover to the target cell; and transmitting, to the target cell, a predetermined message indicating the completed handover, on the basis of the message ordering a handover.
US09386486B2 Machine type communication monitoring framework for 3GPP systems
A 3GPP monitoring architecture framework provides monitoring event configuration, detection, and reporting for machine-type and other mobile data applications using a machine type communication interworking function (MTC-IWF) that communicates monitoring event configuration, detection, and reporting messages through existing interfaces, such as Tsp, T4, and T5 interfaces.
US09386480B2 Systems and methods for providing LTE-based backhaul
Systems and methods are disclosed for enabling a mesh network node to switch from a base station role to a user equipment role relative to a second mesh network node, and vice versa. By switching roles in this manner, the mesh network node may be able to benefit from increased uplink or downlink speed in the new role. This role reversal technique is particularly useful when using wireless protocols such as LTE that are asymmetric and allow differing throughput on uplink and downlink connections. Methods for determining whether to perform role reversal are disclosed, and methods for using role reversal in mesh networks comprising greater than two nodes are also disclosed.
US09386467B2 Communication system to provide services using carrier aggregation
The present invention has an object to provide a communication system capable of appropriately providing services while improving a data rate using carrier aggregation. In Step ST1408, of a cell1 and a cell2 of a base station A, RRC connection is established between the cell1 and a UE, and the cell1 becomes a primary cell (PCell). Then, in Step ST1418, the cell1 determines to configure the cell2 as a secondary cell (SCell) to be aggregated with the own cell. Then, the cell1 notifies the UE of the above in Step ST1419. Upon this notification, the operation of restricting access to the cell2 from the UE is stopped by an MME, and thereafter, communication between the UE and the cell2 is started in Step ST1422.
US09386462B2 Methods and apparatus for determining and planning wireless network deployment sufficiency when utilizing vehicle-based relay nodes
A method of planning communication network infrastructure includes calculating a potential capacity of a plurality of vehicular relay nodes in an area, wherein the plurality of vehicular relay nodes relay data between a plurality of portable devices and at least one base station. The method also includes calculating a potential data demand in the area for transferring data between the plurality of portable devices and the at least one base station. The method further includes determining whether the number of base stations serving the area is sufficient by utilizing the potential capacity of the plurality of vehicular relay nodes in the area and the potential data demand in the area.
US09386459B2 Spectrum allocation system and method
Spectrum asset class determination is dynamically assessed so that a radio device may use a more preferred one of licensed spectrum or unlicensed spectrum for the specific wireless communications application of the radio device. Licensed spectrum, in addition to unlicensed spectrum, may be made available to preferred radio devices by validating that the radio system has an equipment ID and a secondary ID that authorizes the use of the licensed spectrum by the radio system.
US09386456B2 Method and apparatus for transmitting indication of cell state in wireless communication system
A method and apparatus for transmitting an expanding request in a wireless communication system is provided. A first cell transmits an expanding request, which includes a cell off state indication which indicates the first cell is going to be turned off, and a cell off timer, to a second cell, receives an expanding request acknowledge as a response to the expanding request from the second cell, and turns off power. Alternatively, a method and apparatus for transmitting a shrinking request in a wireless communication system is provided. The first cell transmits a shrinking request, which includes a cell on state indication which indicates the first cell is going to be turned on, and a cell on timer, to a second cell, receives a shrinking request acknowledge as a response to the shrinking request from the second cell, and turns on power.
US09386452B2 Access control method and apparatus for user equipment
An access control method and apparatus for a user equipment relate to the field of communications technologies. The method includes sending a first message to a CSG server; receiving a second message that is sent by the CSG server and includes access control information of a user equipment; and performing access control on the user equipment according to the access control information of the user equipment.
US09386451B2 Managing application access to certificates and keys
Plural modes of operation, each associated with a class attribute, may be established on a mobile device. The present application discloses a method of handling an application launch request, a computing device for carrying out the method and a computer readable medium for adapting a processor to carry out the method. The method includes receiving a launch request identifying an application that is to be launched, acquiring an identity for the application, acquiring a class for the application, labeling the application with the identity and the class and launching the application.
US09386443B2 System and method of recording and sharing mobile application activities
A method of recording activity at a wireless device is provided. The method includes receiving a record command, determining a user activity at the wireless device, and determining available memory at the wireless device. The method further includes recording the user activity to create a device recording at least partially based on the user activity and the available memory.
US09386438B2 Method and apparatus for active defense and emergency response
A deterrent device is disclosed. At the deterrent device, a first wireless communications link is established with a mobile computing device. The deterrent device is not the mobile computing device and the mobile computing device is not included in the deterrent device. At the deterrent device, a user indication to initiate a deterrent is received. An image capture device component of the deterrent device is activated to capture at least one image in response to the user indication to initiate the deterrent. At least the image is transferred, via the first wireless communications link, from the deterrent device to the mobile computing device. The mobile computing device establishes a connection via a second communication link to at least an emergency contact and at least transmits the image and user information to the emergency contact via the second communication link. In response to the user indication to initiate the deterrent, a releasing of the deterrent from the deterrent device is initiated.
US09386436B2 Alerting message number per alerting category across network technology
An example method includes receiving at a cell broadcast center information for distribution to at least one user equipment. The cell broadcast center determines an alert category and a message number for the alert category. The alert category is based on the information for distribution. The alert category is associated with one or more corresponding alert categories of a plurality of technology networks with which the cell broadcast center is configured to interact. The message number for the alert category is based on a number of alert messages previously forwarded for the alert category. An alert message is forwarded from the cell broadcast center to the at least one user equipment via one or more of the plurality of technology networks. The alert message includes the message number for the alert category and an alert category indicator indicating a respective corresponding alert category of the one or more corresponding alert categories that corresponds with the alert category.
US09386427B1 Communication management based on communication events
A wireless device management environment may include various systems, methods and computer-readable media for managing communications based on a determination of communication events. The communication events correspond to the anticipated unavailability for a wireless device to exchange information via a wireless communication network. Wireless devices collect wireless device information and user event information that can include performance metrics, location information, user interaction information and/or additional information. A data processing component, on the wireless device and/or on a network-based communication management system, processes the wireless device information and user event information to determine communication events. Based on a determination of a communication event, the wireless device can exchange information with the communication management system, which can include the transmission of a set of data to the wireless device, in advance of the anticipated wireless device communication unavailability.
US09386424B2 Method for multicast mobility
A method for supporting proxy mobile internet protocol (PMIP) in a local mobility anchor (LMA) is described. The method includes receiving a request for multicast information corresponding to a request for multicast services from at least one of a plurality of wireless transmit/receive units (WTRUs) which require multicast services associated with a multicast group. The method also includes transmitting, to a mobile access gateway (MAG) via an aggregated multicast tunnel, multicast information for distribution to at least one of the plurality of WTRUs in the multicast group. The multicast information comprises an IP address corresponding to the multicast group.
US09386422B1 Multipath-aware wireless device location identifier systems, devices and methods
A non-transitory processor-readable medium storing code representing instructions to be executed by a processor includes code to cause the processor to receive from a wireless access point (WAP) device frequency-domain data associated with signals received at the WAP device from a wireless device during a time period. The code includes code to determine multiple frequency-domain magnitudes associated with the frequency-domain data for the time period to define a spectral magnitude signature associated with the frequency-domain data. Each frequency-domain magnitude from the multiple frequency-domain magnitudes is uniquely associated with a frequency bin from multiple mutually-exclusive frequency bins associated with the frequency domain data. The code also includes code to identify a spectral response deviation associated with the spectral magnitude signature and send a location identifier associated with a location of the wireless device based on the spectral response deviation.
US09386416B1 Mobile customer presence detection
A computer-implemented method, including detecting, by a first client device, a presence of a mobile customer in a particular geographic location, with detecting being through a direct device communication between the first client device and a second client device that is associated with the mobile customer; in response to the mobile customer presence detection, updating a local registry of the first client device with a customer identifier of the mobile customer; and retrieving, from a server device, customer information about the mobile customer; generating, based on contents of the local registry, a list of customers who are presently located in the particular geographic location; and rendering on a display device of the first client device at least one of the list of customers or the retrieved customer information.
US09386415B2 Geofences based on RF fingerprints
Systems, apparatus and methods in a mobile device for creating and/or using a geofence are presented. When creating a geofence, a mobile device collects at least one RF fingerprint. Each RF fingerprint includes transmitter information from a plurality of transmitters. The transmitter information includes information identifying the transmitter (e.g., location or MAC address of the transmitter) referred to here as absolute information. The transmitter information may also include information indication a relative position of the mobile device with respect to the transmitter (e.g., RTT or RSSI) referred to here as relative information. The RF fingerprints are used to define a geofence. Granularity may further be used to define a geofence. A first mobile device creates the geofence and sends it to a second mobile device, which looks for the geofence. When using the geofence, a second mobile device may trigger an application when a breach of the geofence is detected.
US09386411B2 Radio access system, controlling apparatus, and terminal apparatus
A radio access system includes a controlling apparatus that when the terminal apparatuses to which delivery data is to be delivered are concentrated in a particular area, groups the terminal apparatuses as a terminal apparatus group, selects a representative server terminal apparatus from the terminal apparatuses, creates data map information indicating a delivery rule for delivering the delivery data from the representative server terminal apparatus to another terminal apparatus, adds information for identification of the representative server terminal apparatus to the data map information, transmits the group information and the data map information to the terminal apparatuses, and instructs a delivery data server to deliver the delivery data to the representative server terminal apparatus; and a terminal apparatus that obtains the delivery data by communicating, in accordance with the received data map information, with the another terminal apparatus within the terminal apparatus group included in the received group information.
US09386403B2 Selection process for an application in a terminal using local information obtained from a secure module
The process according to various aspects can be executed by a terminal for selecting an application executable at least in part by a secure module incorporated into the terminal, and may include a step for obtaining location information of the terminal, from a memory of the secure module, and a selection step of an application from the obtained location information.
US09386401B2 Proximity-based sensing, communicating, and processing of user physiologic information
The present invention relates to systems and methods that sense, communicate and process one or more of a user's physiologic parameters, such as during a time when the user is in proximity with an object of interest. Objects may be products, locations and other people. One embodiment of the present invention enables users, designers, manufacturers, marketers and sellers to secure valuable information about how an object is (or many object are) perceived and used by a user (or many users). Various embodiments of the present invention may be used in conjunction with smart objects (e.g., Internet-connected objects) and dumb objects (e.g., objects having no Internet or other network connection).
US09386400B2 Automatic implementation of preferences based on detection of a mobile device
A detector, positioned at a first geographic location, receives a message from a mobile device that is sent without a request from the detector and via a short-range communications protocol, such as Bluetooth® or other WPAN. The detector parses the message to obtain data associated with the mobile device, such as extracting a media access control (MAC) address, a device type, or other information from the message. The detector may further identify an attribute, such as a signal power loss or frequency, associated with the received message. A second geographic location, associated with the mobile device, may be determined based on the attribute. The detector may also identify an associated user based on the data associated with the mobile device. The local device may receive data identifying, for example, the user, the second geographic location, or preference data related to user.
US09386385B2 Method and apparatus to evaluate audio equipment via filter banks for dynamic distortions and or differential phase and frequency modulation effects
A testing method or apparatus utilizes filter banks to measure time varying or dynamic harmonic distortion or intermodulation distortion from a device. With a stairstep or arbitrary signal and filter banks, Nth order harmonic and or intermodulation distortion is measured via the filter banks at different offsets provided by an arbitrary low frequency signal. An amplifier with crossover distortion will show increased harmonic and or intermodulation distortion near the zero crossing while providing less distortion in other portions of the transfer curve of the amplifier. One or more distortion signals from the device (e.g., audio device) may be measured for a phase and or frequency modulation effect.
US09386380B2 Method for the integration of a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) microphone device with a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) device
A microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) package includes a MEMS device and an integrated circuit (IC) device connected by a through silicon via (TSV). A conductive MEMS structure is arranged in a dielectric layer and includes a membrane region extending across a first volume arranged in the dielectric layer. A first substrate is bonded to a second substrate through the dielectric layer, where the MEMS device includes the second substrate. The TSV extends through the second substrate to electrically couple the MEMS device to the IC device. A third substrate is bonded to the second substrate to define a second volume between the second substrate and the third substrate, where the IC device includes the first or third substrate. A method for manufacturing the MEMS package is also provided.
US09386377B2 Magnetic assembly and electro-acoustic transducer using same
An magnetic assembly and an electro-acoustic transducer using the same are disclosed. The magnetic assembly includes a lower plate, a main magnet positioned on a central portion of the lower plate, an auxiliary magnet positioned on a periphery portion of the lower plate, surrounding the main magnet with space, and having an inner surface facing the main magnet and an outer surface opposite to the inner surface, and a first pole plate. The first pole plate includes a base body attached on the auxiliary magnet, and a magnetic conduction member connected with the base body and overlapping the outer surface of the auxiliary magnet for forming a loop of magnetic flux together with the base body and the lower plate as well as the auxiliary magnet.
US09386373B2 System and method for estimating a reverberation time
A system and method for estimating a reverberation time is provided. The method includes estimating at least one room response of an audio capture environment with an acoustic echo canceller and generating an estimate of the reverberation time of the audio capture environment based on the at least one room response from the acoustic echo canceller.
US09386358B2 Automatic identification of relevant video content through replays
Summaries of video programs can be automatically created by identifying and compiling repeated portions of the program content. In many programs (such as broadcasts of sporting events), the most interesting portions of the event are often repeated more than once during the course of the program. By automatically identifying the replayed portions of the video presentation, then, a highlight summary of a television broadcast can be automatically created. Repeated imagery can be automatically identified by comparing metric values representing the contents of video frames. This technique can be implemented within a set top box or other television receiver that is operated by a viewer, thereby providing a high level of flexibility and convenience.
US09386357B2 Display of presentation elements
Disclosed are methods and apparatus for displaying information relating to a portion of a multimedia presentation. A progress bar is provided and displayed. A length of the progress bar is representative of a duration of the multimedia presentation. A user selects a first and a second point in the multimedia presentation, thereby defining a portion of the presentation. Depending on the selection, one or more communications (e.g., comments, online postings, etc.) may be identified. Each of these communications may have been composed in relation to at least a point of the multimedia presentation that is within the defined portion. Information depending on those identified communications may then be displayed to the user.
US09386355B2 Generating alerts for live performances
A live performance is monitored by analyzing an input data stream comprising real-time updates related to the live performance. Different sets of excitement levels, excitement curves, alerts and teasers are generated based on the analysis and reported to a plurality of subscribers using any of a variety of mobile communication and/or computing devices.
US09386352B1 Methods and apparatus for determining a normalized time for use in resuming content playback
Methods and apparatus relating to determining and using a normalized in progress program indicator that can be used for resuming content playback are described. In some embodiments the normalized in progress program indicator, also referred to as a normalized in progress program time, indicates a portion, e.g., fraction, of a program which has been viewed. The normalized in progress time is generated by determining an in progress program point after excluding the time of advertisements that may have been included in a content stream with the program. A user may begin watching a program on one device and resume playback of a different version of the same program on another playback device with the normalization process allowing for the playback starting point to be easily determined whether the same or a different version, with a different duration, of the program is played back.
US09386336B2 Automatic playback overshoot correction system
An automatic playback overshoot correction system predicts the position in the program material where the user expects to be when the user stops the fast forward progression of the program material. The system determines the position where the program material was stopped and transitions to the new mode that the user selected, starting at the stopped position with an overshoot correction factor subtracted from it. The system uses a prediction method to correctly place the user within the program upon transition out of fast forward mode and determines if the speed of the fast forward mode and then automatically subtracts a time multiple to the frame where the transition was detected and positions the user at the correct frame. The time multiple is fine tuned if the user is consistently correcting after the fast forward mode stops.
US09386331B2 Optimizing video clarity
Described herein are techniques and mechanisms for optimizing video clarity. According to various embodiments, a plurality of requests from client devices to access a media content item for playback at the client devices may be received at a server. Each of the client devices may have associated therewith device characteristic information that describes one or more characteristics of the client device. A device characteristic that describes a portion of the client devices may be identified. The portion of the client devices may meet a threshold value for creating a media content encoding item. A media content source item corresponding to the requested media content item may be transcoded to create a media content encoding item. The media content encoding item may be encoded to match the identified device characteristic.
US09386325B2 Method and apparatus for encoding and decoding image by using large transformation unit
An image decoding apparatus in which a size of at least one transformation unit in a coding unit is determined independently from a size of at least one prediction unit in the coding unit.
US09386323B2 Parameter update method for entropy coding and decoding of conversion coefficient level, and entropy coding device and entropy decoding device of conversion coefficient level using same
Methods and apparatuses for decoding and encoding video are provided. A method of decoding video includes obtaining bit strings corresponding to current transformation coefficient level information by arithmetic decoding a bitstream based on a context model; determining a current binarization parameter by updating or maintaining a previous binarization parameter based on a comparison of a threshold and a size of a previous transformation coefficient; obtaining the current transformation coefficient level information by performing de-binarization of the bit strings using the determined current binarization parameter; and generating a size of a current transformation coefficient using the current transformation coefficient level information, wherein the current binarization parameter has a value equal to or smaller than a predetermined value.
US09386322B2 Scalable video encoding method and decoding method, apparatuses therefor, programs therefor, and storage media which store the programs
A scalable video encoding method of performing encoding by predicting an upper-layer signal having a relatively high spatial resolution by means of interpolation using an immediately-lower-layer signal having a relatively low spatial resolution. The method computes a first weighting coefficient for each image area of a predetermined unit size in a search for estimating a motion between an encoding target image area in an upper layer and a reference image area, where the first weighting coefficient is computed based on a brightness variation between an image area, which belongs to an immediately-lower layer and has the same spatial position as the encoding target image area, and the reference image area; and performs a motion estimation using a signal which is obtained by correcting a decoded signal of the reference image area by the first weighting coefficient and functions as an estimated signal in the motion estimation, so as to compute a motion vector. Then the method computes a second weighting coefficient based on a brightness variation between a reference image area indicated by the motion vector and the image area which belongs to the immediately-lower layer and has the same spatial position as the encoding target image area; and determines a signal, which is obtained by correcting a decoded signal of the reference image area by using the second weighting coefficient, to be a compensated signal in motion compensation, which functions as a predicted signal of the encoding target image area.
US09386312B2 Video encoding and decoding with improved error resilience
An encoding method comprises obtaining a target number of motion information predictors to be used for an image portion to encode and generating a set of motion information predictors using the obtained target number. The set is generated by: obtaining a first set of motion information predictors each associated with an image portion having a predetermined spatial and/or temporal relationship with the image portion being encoded; modifying the first set of motion information predictors by removing duplicate motion information predictors to obtain a reduced set of motion information predictors containing a first number of motion information predictors, each motion information predictor of the reduced set being different from any other motion information predictor of the reduced set; comparing the first number of motion information predictors to the target number obtained, and if the first number is lower than the target number, obtaining an additional motion information predictor and adding it to the reduced set of motion information predictors.
US09386309B2 Explicit way for signaling a collocated picture for high efficiency video coding (HEVC) using a single reference list
A system is provided for determining a collocated reference picture to enable encoding and decoding of a current picture for high efficiency video coding (HEVC). The collocated picture is identified by accessing syntax that can include an index for a list0 and a list1, a reference picture set number indicating the number of pictures in list0 and list1, and a flag indicating if the collocated picture is in list0 or list1. The system can further use slice type to determine if both list0 and list1 should be accessed.
US09386308B2 Quality optimization with buffer and horizon constraints in adaptive streaming
Techniques are provided for optimizing quality in adaptive streaming, where information is obtained relating to encoding bitrates and content quality scores for content segments of a content stream. The content segments of the content stream are provided by a content server and downloaded by a computing device. For each content segment, an encoding bitrate is determined for downloading the content segment from the content server, where determining the encoding bitrate for a current content segment is based upon an estimated current network bandwidth, constraints of a buffer into which downloaded content segments are stored, and also upon quality scores associated with content segments within a selected horizon extending from the current content segment to a future content segment in the content stream at an endpoint of the horizon. Each content segment with the determined bitrate for the content segment is downloaded from the content server.
US09386299B2 Reference image techniques for three-dimensional sensing
A method including providing a device that projects a pattern of coherent radiation. The method further includes capturing a reference image of the pattern using an image sensor by projecting the pattern of the coherent radiation onto a reference surface and engendering a relative motion between the reference surface and the image sensor while capturing the reference image. The method also includes storing the reference image in a memory associated with the device.
US09386295B2 Digital receiver and method for processing 3D content in the digital receiver
A digital receiver that processes 3D video data having a receiving unit for receiving a first broadcast signal, including a first 3D service and first signaling data for the first 3D service, via a first channel, and a second broadcast signal, including a second 3D service related to the first 3D service and second signaling data for the second 3D service, via a second channel. The digital receiver further having a demultiplexer for demultiplexing 3D service data and signaling data from the first broadcast signal and second broadcast signal, respectively, a control unit for acquiring information on the channel for receiving the second broadcast signal on the basis of the demultiplexed first signaling data, a decoder for decoding each datum of the 3D service data, and a formatter for formatting each datum of the decoded 3D service data in accordance with an output format of the display screen.
US09386291B2 Video signal processing device
In order to obtain an optimum depth enhancement effect for three-dimensional (3D) images, a depth information extractor configured to compute depth information from an input video signal, a 2D/3D converter configured to convert, when the input video signal is a two-dimensional (2D) video signal, the 2D video signal to a first video signal which is a 3D video signal based on the depth information, a correction factor calculator configured to compute a correction factor based on the depth information, a selector configured to select either the input video signal or the first video signal and output the selected signal, and a contour enhancement processor configured to perform an enhancement process on the output of the selector based on the correction factor and output the enhanced signal as an output video signal are provided.
US09386289B2 Automatic white balancing with chromaticity measure of raw image data
An apparatus and methods for estimating a chromaticity of illumination from raw image data. In an embodiment, one or more image chromaticity weight is determined based on a distance between the raw image data in a sensor chromaticity space and a nearest point within a locus of sensor illumination chromaticities. In a further embodiment, one or more image chromaticity weight is determined based on a disparity among normalized color channel values. In certain embodiments, image chromaticity estimates are utilized to determine a white point estimate for the raw image data. In embodiments, an electronic device including a camera estimates the chromaticity value of raw image data captured by the camera as part of an AWB pipeline. The electronic device may further determine, for example as part of the AWB pipeline, a white point estimate based, at least in part, on the raw image data chromaticity value estimate(s).
US09386287B2 Image processor which rearranges color information, image processing method, and digital camera
An image processor includes: a reduction (resizing) processor 102 that reduces an original image obtained from a single-sensor color imaging device to an image conforming to a display size of a display monitor; and a rearranged color array display data generation processor 103 that generates one or more types of color array images conforming to a color pixel array of the display monitor, based on the reduced image. With this configuration, one or more types of display reduced-size image having color information of the original image are generated. Thus, a small-size image for display generated from a large-size original image output from an imaging device can be displayed at high speed with a minimum frame delay.
US09386286B2 Sparse source array for display pixel array illumination with rotated far field plane
A pixel array display system including an illumination source of discrete emitters with uniform emitting areas, a separate collimator in front of each emitter, and a condenser in front of said collimators which focuses collimated light from the emitters onto the pixel array. The pixel array display system does not include a light homogenizing optical element such as a light pipe. Each emitter is focused onto at least 75 percent of the pixels. A portion of the emitters which provide collimated light cones proximate to a modulated light optical cone from the pixel array may be provided reduced power in a high contrast operating mode.
US09386285B2 Imaging element and imaging device with microlenses and color pixels
An imaging element having a plurality of pixel cells which is arranged in a row direction and a column direction which is perpendicular to the row direction in a lattice, in which two adjacent pixel cells which include photoelectric convening units which detect the same color light form a pair and the pairs are periodically arranged, in each of pixel cell rows in which pixel cells are arranged in the row direction, the micro lenses are arranged such that the micro lenses in odd-numbered pixel cell rows is off-centered in the row direction from the micro lenses in even-numbered pixel cell rows by a half of an arrangement pitch of the micro lenses, and each micro lens which is provided in at least one of the odd-numbered row and the even-numbered row is disposed over two photoelectric converting units which detect different color light.
US09386284B2 Actuating device for a device for monitoring the vehicle surroundings
An actuating device is provided for a device for monitoring the vehicle surroundings, which actuating device is functionally connected to the device for monitoring the vehicle surroundings. A calibration of the device for monitoring the vehicle surroundings is able to be initiated by means of the actuating device, the initiation of the calibration being correlated with a weather parameter detected by the actuating device.
US09386268B2 Communication using interactive avatars
Generally this disclosure describes a video communication system that replaces actual live images of the participating users with animated avatars. A method may include selecting an avatar; initiating communication; detecting a user input; identifying the user input; identifying an animation command based on the user input; generating avatar parameters; and transmitting at least one of the animation command and the avatar parameters.
US09386259B2 Projection display apparatus and method of controlling the same
A projection display apparatus includes an image projecting unit projecting an image, an operation unit as an operation device whose output value changes depending on the amount of operation, a correction amount setting unit changing a keystone correction amount in accordance with an output value of the operation unit, and a keystone correcting unit performing keystone correction on an image to be projected in accordance with the keystone correction amount. A zero reference position in which the keystone correction amount is zero is set in an operation range of the operation unit. The correction amount setting unit sets a dead zone in the operation range such that the dead zone includes the zero reference position and an area surrounding this position, and sets the keystone correction amount to zero in accordance with the output value corresponding to the inside of the dead zone.
US09386247B2 Image processor
An aspect of one present embodiment, there is provided a solid state image processer, including a sample-and-hold circuit sampling an output signal of the CCD to hold the output signal of the CCD as voltage, a pre-buffer receiving an output signal of the sample-and-hold circuit, a selection circuit receiving the output signal of the pre-buffer as a first input signal and the output signal of the CCD as a second input signal to select the first input signal or the second input signal as an output signal of the selection circuit according to an instruction of a selection signal, and a main buffer receiving the output signal of the selection circuit.
US09386241B2 Apparatus and method for enhancing dynamic range of charge coupled device-based spectrograph
The present invention is directed to an apparatus, method and software product for enhancing the dynamic range of a CCD sensor without substantially increasing the noise. Initially, the area of a N×M pixel CCD sensor array is subdivided into two regions, a large region having (M−a) pixels in each column for outputting large-amplitude signals with low noise and a smaller region having a pixels in each column for outputting small-amplitude signals with improved dynamic range. At integration time, the CCD is read out one region's rows at a time into the horizontal shift registers by shifting the pixel charges in either a or M−a vertical shifts. The charges in the horizontal shift registers are then shifted out of the horizontal shift registers in N horizontal shifts. Next, the remaining pixels in the region of the CCD are read out into the horizontal shift registers by shifting the pixel charges in the other of a or M−a vertical shifts. Those charges are then shifted out of the horizontal shift registers in N horizontal shifts. In a spectrographic application, the data from the two regions is read out in the form of a large-amplitude channel from the larger region's rows and a small-amplitude channel from the smaller region's rows.
US09386240B1 Compensation for dual conversion gain high dynamic range sensor
An image sensor, readout circuitry for an image sensor, and a method of operating readout circuitry are disclosed. Readout circuitry includes an analog-to-digital-converter (“ADC”) including input stage circuitry with a first selectable input and a second selectable input. The ADC is coupled to sequentially receive a first reset signal, a second reset signal, a high gain image signal, and a low gain image signal, in that order. The input stage circuitry is configured to select the first selectable input when receiving the first reset signal and the low gain image signal and select the second selectable input when receiving the second reset signal and the high gain image signal.
US09386231B2 State monitoring apparatus
A state monitoring apparatus in a vehicle monitors the state of a driver using a face image of the driver. The state monitoring apparatus emits light from a light projecting part toward a predetermined area and receives, via an imaging unit, light reflected by the face that is assumed to be positioned in the predetermined area. A control circuit in the state monitoring apparatus adjusts a gradation value of the face image by changing length of an exposure period in which an imaging element of the imaging unit is set to an exposure state. Further, the control circuit controls light emission of the projecting part so that light emission brightness at the time of start of the exposure period becomes higher as the exposure period of the imaging element is shortened.
US09386222B2 Multi-camera system using folded optics free from parallax artifacts
Aspects relate to an array camera exhibiting little or no parallax artifacts in captured images. For example, the planes of the central mirror surfaces of the array camera can be located at a midpoint along, and orthogonally to, a line between the corresponding camera location and the virtual camera location. Accordingly, the cones of all of the cameras in the array appear as if coming from the virtual camera location after folding by the mirrors. Each sensor in the array “sees” a portion of the image scene using a corresponding facet of the central mirror prism, and accordingly each individual sensor/mirror pair represents only a sub-aperture of the total array camera. The complete array camera has a synthetic aperture generated based on the sum of all individual aperture rays.
US09386219B2 Imaging apparatus and method for controlling the same
An imaging apparatus is capable of preventing unintended shooting setting when a through-image is displayed at a zoom position different from a field angle for reach shooting. The imaging apparatus includes a recording control unit configured to record a zoom position taken before a start of a function for temporarily changing the zoom position as a first position, a zoom control unit configured to perform control to move the zoom position from the first position to a second position when the function is started, and from the second position to the first position when the function is ended, and a control unit configured to perform control, when the zoom position is at the second position by the function, not to make any changes according to an instruction for changing specific shooting setting.
US09386217B2 Image capturing apparatus and method of controlling the same
An image capturing apparatus having an image sensor including focus detection pixels capable of outputting a pair of image signals for focus detection determines whether each line of the pixels of the image sensor is an addition/non-addition line that outputs the image signal suitable/unsuitable for detection of a correlation amount, obtains the correlation amount for each addition line based on the pair of image signals, add the obtained correlation amount of the addition line, counts the number of addition lines, obtains a defocus amount based on the added correlation amount, and drives a focus lens based on the defocus amount when a product of an evaluation value representing reliability of the defocus amount and a predetermined standard number of additions is smaller than the product of the number of addition lines and a standard evaluation value representing a predetermined evaluation value.
US09386210B2 Imaging apparatus
An imaging apparatus includes an imaging optical system configured to form an optical image of an object, a first imaging sensor device, a second imaging sensor device having an integration degree smaller than that of the first imaging sensor, and a controller configured to execute a first imaging mode in which the first imaging sensor device is used for image pickup of the object while the first imaging sensor device is located at an image plane of the imaging optical system, and a second imaging mode in which the second imaging sensor device is used for image pickup of the object while the second imaging sensor device is located at the image plane of the imaging optical system.
US09386205B2 Optical apparatus
An optical apparatus includes a heat sink radiating the image sensor, a cooling fan unit configured to cool the heat sink, and a first lens barrel including a hollow portion configured to guide light to the image sensor. The first lens barrel holds the cooling fan unit and house the holder unit movably in the hollow portion in an optical axis direction of the image pickup optical system. The holder unit includes a first inlet and a first outlet. The first lens barrel includes a second inlet for taking in external air and a second outlet for exhausting the external air taken in through the second inlet. The first inlet is connected to the second inlet and the first outlet is connected to the second outlet when the holder unit is positioned in the hollow portion of the first lens barrel.
US09386201B2 Electronic apparatus and camera device thereof
The present disclosure relates to a camera device and an electronic device. The camera device comprises a rigid circuit board, an image sensor, and a heat dissipation member. The rigid circuit board comprises an extension portion extending laterally and a plurality of electrical contact pads. The extension portion comprises a board edge. The plurality of electrical contact pads are provided on the board edge. The image sensor comprises an image capture chip. The image capture chip may be directly fixed on the rigid circuit board, a heat dissipation space is left at a position which is below the rigid circuit board and corresponds to the image sensor when the board edge of the rigid circuit board is mated to a board edge connector of laterally connected type provided at one side of a main circuit board. The heat dissipation member may be provided in the heat dissipation space.
US09386195B2 Electronic apparatus having exterior covers
An electronic apparatus capable of reducing assembly man-hours to reduce fabrication costs and capable of improving appearance design thereof. An upper cover of the electronic apparatus has a first abutment portion abutted with a second abutment portion of a right cover. Engagement portions are formed on an inner face of the upper cover, and latch portions are disposed between adjacent ones of the engagement portions and provided to project toward the right cover beyond the first abutment portion. The right cover has engaged portions disposed along the second abutment portion and provided to project toward the upper cover beyond the second abutment portion, and latched portions are disposed between adjacent ones of the engaged portions. The engaged portions of the right cover are engaged with the engagement portions of the upper cover, and the latched portions of the right cover are latched to the latch portions of the upper cover.
US09386188B2 Corrugated shape printing
A print execution unit may convey a sheet in a second direction intersecting with a first direction, in a state in which the sheet is deformed into a corrugated shape along the first direction. A print control apparatus may generate corrected image data from input image data by performing a correction process using correction data, and supply the corrected image data to the print execution unit. The correction process may be performed such that a density of first-type printed partial images printed in first-type areas on a sheet is different from a density of second-type printed partial images printed in second-type areas on an assumption that the input image data represents an image having constant tone values and the sheet is conveyed in a flat state without deformation. The first-type areas and the second-type areas extend along the second direction and are alternately arranged along the first direction.
US09386181B2 Device proximity detection
A method for detecting proximity of two communicating devices is disclosed. Proximity may be determined by measuring deviation from standardized signal timing specifications. An embodiment uses inter-frame space parameters specified by the Bluetooth Low Energy protocol to do proximity detection, and presents a solution that may prevent or mitigate relay attacks. The method offers the advantage that the use of an existent frame timing protocol eliminates the need for specific hardware or firmware modifications.
US09386178B2 Electronic device, device management system, and recording medium that detect change by user operation in power-saving state while reducing power consumption
An electronic device includes a plurality of blocks, a plurality of movable members, a plurality of operation detecting circuits, a plurality of state determining circuits, an electric power control circuit, and a control circuit. The movable members are located in the respective plurality of blocks and operated when the states of the plurality of block are changed. The control circuit that has an electric power mode: causing the electric power control circuit to supply the electric power to the plurality of operation detecting circuits and to cut off the supply of the electric power to the respective state determining circuits; and causing the electric power control circuit to supply the electric power to the state determining circuit corresponding to the movable member where the operation is detected in addition to the plurality of operation detecting circuits when an operation to the movable member is detected by the operation detecting circuit.
US09386165B2 System and method for providing user notifications
A method performed by an end user device associated with a service plan having a limit on usage of a network service, the method comprising storing one or more notification actions corresponding to one or more notification requests; performing a device action that reflects a past or intended use of the network service; receiving one of the one or more notification requests from a network element in response to the device action; performing one of the one or more notification actions in response to the notification request, the notification action causing the end user device to retrieve at least a portion of a notification message associated with a status of the use, the at least a portion of the notification message being separate from the one of the one or more notification requests; and presenting the notification message on a user interface of the end user device.
US09386164B2 Systems and methods to establish communication connections via mobile application
Methods and apparatuses to receive a request from a mobile application identifying a callee and a communication reference, assign a call-in reference to the request, temporarily associate the communication reference and the call-in reference for a period of time, receive a call from a mobile device having the communication reference, authenticate the received call based on the association of the communication reference and the call-in reference, and connect the call to a callee after the call is authenticated. The assigned call-in reference may be randomly selected from a plurality of call-in references of a connection server, in response to the request that is generated when a call button in the mobile application is activated for a connection to the callee.
US09386162B2 Systems and methods for reducing audio noise
Various embodiments of systems and methods for reducing audio noise are disclosed. One or more sound components such as noise and network tone can be detected based on power spectrum obtained from a time-domain signal. Results of such detection can be used to make decisions in determination of an adjustment spectrum that can be applied to the power spectrum. The adjusted spectrum can be transformed back into a time-domain signal that substantially removes undesirable noise(s) and/or accounts for known sound components such as the network tone.
US09386161B2 Content delivery during call idle time
Devices and methods are described that utilize call idle time. In some cases, a device includes an antenna, a baseband modem connected to the antenna, including a radio frequency interface, a power subsystem, an audio, video, or text player, and a controller connected to the baseband modem, to the power subsystem and to the audio, video, or text player for programmatically operating the cell phone in an idle mode and in a normal mode, whereby in normal mode the cell phone sends and receives voice communications via the baseband modem, and in idle mode the cell phone presents pre-designated content via the audio, video, or text player. In some cases methods are described that detect that a phone conversation has been silenced or that a phone call has not been answered, and activate an idle mode in which pre-designated content is presented, and then, when the call is no longer silenced or the phone call is answered, activate a normal mode in which voice communications are enabled.
US09386160B2 Call setup from a circuit switched network to a terminal residing within a packet switched network
A user with a terminal residing in a Circuit Switched (CS) telecommunication network calls a party having a terminal residing at a Packet Switched (PS) telecommunication network, the CS and PS networks connected to each other by gateway entity. The party to be called at the PS network is addressed by means of a Session Initiation Protocol Universal Resource Identifier (SIP-URI). The call setup is performed in a two step process. In a first step, the terminal sends a the SIP-URI in a message together with the address of this terminal to a network entity which stores said message. In a second step, the terminal calls the network entity, wherein the network entity selects the stored SIP-URI and resolves the SIP-URI into an address of the terminal at the PS network and instructs the gateway entity to connect the calling terminal to the terminal.
US09386139B2 Method and apparatus for providing an emotion-based user interface
An approach is provided for accessing services, applications, and content using an emotion-based user interface. Descriptors corresponding to an emotion of the user are presented to the user for selection. Selection of one of the descriptors initiates presentation of options (e.g., actions for accessing service, applications, or content available to a user device) associated with the descriptor.
US09386121B2 Method for providing an adaptive wireless ambient service to a mobile device
A method is described for providing a wireless ambient service to a mobile end-user device operating on a Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN). An ambient service has a primary policy that allows a user to directly access primary ambient content, but not other content, through the service. When the user accesses primary content, however, that content can include user-selectable references to content outside of the primary policy. A secondary policy then allows the user, by selecting such a reference, to access content outside of the primary policy.
US09386116B2 System, apparatus for content delivery for internet traffic and methods thereof
In one embodiment, a method of serving media includes receiving user profiles from a layer3 node in an access network, and receiving a request to serve media content to a user equipment. The user profiles include information relating to user account and/or network characteristics of the user equipment. The method further includes using an user equipment information from the user profiles, assigning a first media server from a hierarchical set of media servers to serve the user equipment if the media content to be served is cacheable. The hierarchical set of media servers include a plurality of first type of media servers deployed in a plurality of layer2 (L2) access networks. The user equipment is coupled to a content delivery network through a layer2 access network of the plurality of layer2 access networks.
US09386105B2 Techniques for dynamic domain-based isolation
Techniques for dynamic domain-based isolation are described. An apparatus may comprise a domain name component operative to receive a domain name request for a uniform resource locator, the domain name component operative to resolve the domain name request 105 on a wildcard entry in a domain name table, a receiving component operative to receive a request for a web application at the uniform resource locator, the uniform resource locator having been dynamically assigned to the web application, and an application identification component operative to determine which hosted web application of a plurality of hosted web applications corresponds to the requested web application on the basis of the uniform resource locator. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US09386102B2 Gateway apparatus, communication apparatus, apparatus co-operation network system, and apparatus co-operation method
A gateway apparatus for allowing a plurality of apparatuses on a first network to co-operate with each other includes: a message monitoring unit which monitors messages communicated on the first network, and detects an apparatus discovery message for discovering an apparatus that satisfies an arbitrary requirement; an activation state managing unit which checks whether at least one target apparatus among the apparatuses that satisfies the requirement indicated by the apparatus discovery message is in an activated state for communication on the first network; a predicted activation time determining unit which determines a predicted activation time predicted as required to activate the at least one target apparatus; and a proxy response unit which transmits, in proxy of the at least one target apparatus, a response message including information indicating the predicted activation time when the at least one target apparatus is not in an activated state.
US09386091B2 Self-adapting direct peer to peer communication and messaging system
A system and method for communication and messaging among self-adapting peer nodes is disclosed, where each node maintains a list of authorized peer nodes. The nodes exchange requests directly with other nodes over networks, providing information identifying the requesting node and the type of request. The receiving node authenticates the requesting node, authenticates the type of request, and determines method of response to the request. If the request is authenticated and the type of request is valid, the receiving node also validates the incoming request and originating node and adapts its peer node database, applying any required changes. The types of requests exchanged between nodes include: status and location change, message, audio, voice, video, text, and data. The types of responses include: authorized, unauthorized, or ignore. The nodes may periodically send and receive requests for status, messages, and data updates from an optional central server.
US09386086B2 Dynamic scaling for multi-tiered distributed systems using payoff optimization of application classes
In one embodiment, a method is described. The method includes: monitoring workloads of a plurality of application classes, each of the application classes describing services provided by one or more applications in a multi-tiered system and comprising a plurality of instantiated execution resources; estimating, for each of the application classes, a number of execution resources able to handle the monitored workloads, to simultaneously maintain a multi-tiered system response time below a determined value and minimize a cost per execution resource; and dynamically adjusting the plurality of instantiated execution resources for each of the application classes based on the estimated number of execution resources.
US09386077B2 Enhanced virtualized mobile gateway in cloud computing environment
A device receives load information associated with one or more mobile gateways or server devices provided in cloud networks, and receives functionality information associated with the one or more mobile gateways or server devices provided in the cloud networks. The device also receives, from a user equipment, a request for a resource provided in one or more of the cloud networks, and selects one of the cloud networks to serve the request based on the load information and the functionality information. The device provides, to the user equipment, an indication of the selected cloud network, where the user equipment connects to the selected cloud network and receives the resource.
US09386070B2 Delay system, delay device and communication device constituting delay system
A delay system which has a communications device connected to a communications network and a relay device which is connected between the communications network ad an external device. The relay device is configured to divide data received from the external device into a plurality of data fragments each containing divided data, and send a sequence of messages, the messages corresponding to the respective divided data and dummy messages being included in the sequence of messages according to a communications rule. The communications device is configured to reconstitute the data from the external device on the basis of the message group from the relay device according to the communications rule.
US09386066B2 Mixing of encoded video streams
Describe is a video stream mixer (60) for generating a mixed encoded video stream from an encoded primary video stream associated with a primary window, and at least one encoded secondary video stream, each associated with a corresponding secondary window that is smaller than the primary window. The mixer includes the following elements: A video stream splitter (20) configured to split the encoded primary video stream into an encoded unmixed sub-stream associated with a sub-window in the primary window and not involved in mixing, and an encoded complementary sub-stream associated with a sub-window complementary to the other sub-window in the primary window and involved in mixing; A video stream decoder (22) configured to decode the complementary sub-stream and each secondary video stream; A video signal mixer (24) configured to mix the decoded complementary sub-stream with each decoded secondary video stream to form a mixed video signal; A video encoder (26) configured to encode the mixed video signal into an encoded mixed sub-stream; A video stream combiner (28) configured to combine the encoded unmixed sub-stream with the encoded mixed sub-stream.
US09386063B2 Content storage and identification
Content intended for delivery to one or more consuming users may be recorded by a content distribution system. The recording or archival of the content may allow users to retrieve the content at a later time without providing specific instructions to record the content. Storage of the content may include retrieving programming information describing the content and storing the information in association with the content. In one or more arrangements, descriptive data for content may be generated based on user feedback. Additionally or alternatively, content storage may include fragmentation of the content into a number of segments or segments of a specified size. Content may further be paused and resumed between multiple devices, taking into account the capabilities and compatibilities of the devices and a network through which the content is to be delivered.
US09386062B2 Elastic response time to hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) requests
The systems, methods, and devices of the various embodiments enable elastic response times to file requests by a server. In this manner, the server may account for unpredictable delay in object/segment availability and reduce the frequency that error messages (e.g., 404 error messages) are returned in response to file requests when file unavailability is temporary and due to network delays.
US09386061B2 Electronic device and method for managing network bandwidth distribution
An electronic device is connected to a network, and includes a storage unit, the storage unit stores a speed of data transmission required by the electronic device when the electronic device is displaying a video from the network. A method for managing network bandwidth distribution of an electronic device includes the following steps. Detecting a speed of data transmission the network provided to the video displayed by the electronic device. Comparing the detected speed with the stored speed. If the detected speed is greater than the stored speed, decreasing a network bandwidth provided to the video. If the detected speed is less than the stored speed, controlling the running application of the electronic device which occupies the network bandwidth to stop running.
US09386056B1 System, method and computer readable medium for providing media stream fragments
A method for providing on demand streaming media to a user device, the method includes: receiving, at a streaming device, a request to stream a certain media stream to a user device; wherein the streaming device is coupled to multiple user devices over a network and is adapted to concurrently transmit multiple media streams to the multiple user devices; obtaining media stream fragments that belong to the certain media stream by the streaming device and from multiple distribution devices; wherein the streaming device and the multiple distribution devices form a high bandwidth media distribution peer to peer network; wherein the streaming device is prevented from uploading media stream fragments to any distribution device; and streaming to the user device the certain media stream.
US09386051B2 Information sharing system, common terminal and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium
There are provided an information sharing system, a common terminal and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing an information sharing program. An information sharing system includes: a common terminal; and one or more personal terminals each configured to transmit an object to the common terminal and perform a remote operation on an object displayed on a common screen. The common terminal includes a receiving section configured to receive an object transmitted from one of the personal terminals, a display section including the common screen and being configured to display the object on the common screen, and a control section configured to determine, upon receiving an instruction to perform a remote operation on an object displayed on the common screen, whether the instruction satisfies a predetermined condition or not, and prohibit performing the remote operation in response to a determination that the instruction does not satisfy the predetermined condition.
US09386050B2 Method and apparatus for filtering devices within a security social network
A method and apparatus for choosing mobile telephones within a security social network is provided herein. Choosing mobile telephones may take place on a server side or a mobile telephone side. Even though mobile telephones lie within a particular area of interest, no image will be obtained/provided from the mobile telephone when a predetermined condition is met. This will greatly reduce an amount of images provided by mobile telephones along with reducing the possibility of an unwanted image being obtained.
US09386048B2 Method of managing connectivity between resources in a computer network and system thereof
There are provided a computer-implemented connectivity manager and a method of managing connectivity between resources in a computer network using the connectivity manager. The method comprises: generating a connectivity specification of a given application, said specification comprising one or more connections generated in accordance with received by the connectivity manager user's definition of network resources and connections therebetween required to the given application, each connection characterized by one or more source resources, one or more destination resources and services therebetween; recognizing, by the connectivity manager, all access-control devices among the plurality of access-control devices, which are involved in controlling all connections comprised in said connectivity specification; identifying, by the connectivity manager, in each of the recognized access-control devices, access-control rules engaged in control of connections comprised in said connectivity specification; and mapping, by the connectivity manager, said connections comprised in said connectivity specification to the identified engaged access-control rules.
US09386047B2 Method, switch, server and system for sending connection establishment request
A method for sending a connection establishment request is provided, comprising: sending a parameter requesting message to a configuration server from an OpenFlow switch for obtaining connection parameters of an OpenFlow controller; receiving by the OpenFlow switch an Internet Protocol (IP) address and a set of OpenFlow controller connection parameters sent from the configuration server, the set of connection parameters comprising at least connection parameters of a first OpenFlow controller; sending a connection establishment request message to the first OpenFlow controller from the OpenFlow switch according to the IP address and the connection parameter of the first OpenFlow controller. An OpenFlow switch, a configuration server and a system for sending a connection establishment request are also provided. With the solutions provided in embodiments of the disclosure, the automatic connection establishment between the OpenFlow switch and the OpenFlow controller can be realized.
US09386046B2 Statistical message classifier
A system and method are disclosed for improving a statistical message classifier. A message may be tested with a machine classifier, wherein the machine classifier is capable of making a classification on the message. In the event the message is classifiable by the machine classifier, the statistical message classifier is updated according to the reliable classification made by the machine classifier. The message may also be tested with a first classifier. In the event that the message is not classifiable by the first classifier, it is tested with a second classifier, wherein the second classifier is capable of making a second classification. In the event that the message is classifiable by the second classifier, the statistical message classifier is updated according to the second classification.
US09386035B2 Methods and apparatus to configure virtual private mobile networks for security
Methods and apparatus to configure virtual private mobile networks for security are disclosed. A disclosed example method includes identifying, in a wireless network, a communication from a user equipment that matches a security event profile, transmitting, from the wireless network, an instruction to enable the user equipment to be communicatively coupled to a virtual private mobile network, the virtual private mobile network being provisioned for security within the wireless network, and enabling the user equipment to transmit a second communication through the virtual private mobile network securely isolated from other portions of the wireless network.
US09386034B2 Behavioral model based malware protection system and method
A method of protecting a computing system or device against a malicious threat such as malware comprises generating a behavioral model configured to describe one or more interactions associated with a protected data accessible by way of a computing device. The method also comprises determining an attempt to access the protected is abnormal based, at least in part, on a comparison between the attempt to access the protected data and the behavioral model. The method further comprises determining the abnormal attempt to access the protected data is a malicious process based, at least in part, on a determined degree of variation from the behavioral model. The method additionally comprises causing, by a processor, the malicious process to be remediated with respect to the computing device.
US09386032B2 Method and system for detecting restricted content associated with retrieved content
Techniques are described for detecting restricted content associated with retrieved content. A method and system includes receiving a client request for content, where the request includes an outbound network request from the client with a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) containing a domain name, saving contextual information from the request, examining the request for compliance with a management policy, retrieving a content item responsive to the request, and analyzing the contextual information from the request and the content item to detect whether the content item includes restricted content from a list of restrictions in the management policy. A scanning facility may thus utilize the contextual information from the client request to aid in the detection of restricted content associated with retrieved content.
US09386020B2 Permission-based updating of contact information
A system for automatically updating personal consumer and business contact information is disclosed. A server located “in the cloud” automatically controls a database of contact data elements, some of which have preferred privacy protocol. These protocols may restrict some data elements from being shared unless a data-owner's explicit permission is obtained. When the server receives a request for such a restricted data element, the server issues an email or text message in order to obtain the necessary permissions. If permission is granted, the server then supplies the requested data.
US09386016B2 System and device for authentication
An authentication device receives each authentication context including an output information block, an input information block, and an authenticator block. The output information block includes a process result and process result identification information. The input information block includes a process result and process result identification information. The authentication device verifies each authenticator block. The authentication device searches for the output information block having the same value of process result identification information as the value of process result identification information in the input information block from other authentication contexts based on process result identification information in the input information block included in each authentication context. The authentication device verifies whether or not the process result in the input information block is equal to the process result in the searched output information block, and authenticates that all the authentication contexts have validity when all the verification results are valid.
US09386012B2 Web based system that allows users to log into websites without entering username and password information
Internet user passwords are securely managed. A formation component can enable a user to create a master account on a web server, the master account comprising a master username and password. An access component can enable the user to access a plurality of password protected websites from a web browser or non-browser software application resident on the user's computing device when the user logs into the master account by entering the valid master username and password. A selection component can log the user into a website of the plurality of password protected websites when the user selects a hyperlink associated with the website, selects a linked image associated with the website, or selects the website from a pulldown list contained in a toolbar of a web browser. A display component can open a web browser or tab associated with the website.
US09386009B1 Secure identification string
Providing secure access to a mobile or other device using a network-assisted PIN or other short password is disclosed. In various embodiments, upon entry by a user of a personal identification number (PIN) or other short password, the password and a unique identifier, such as a user and/or device identifier, and/or other data, are sent to a remote server. The remote server returns to the mobile or other device a cryptographic key and/or other data, such as a more secure (e.g., more characters and/or including characters drawn from a larger set of characters) password usable at the mobile device to access encrypted data.
US09385992B2 Inline key-based peer-to-peer processing
Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method and related network element including one or more of the following: receiving, in a network element in the telecommunications network, a first plurality of packets transmitted from a P2P client to a P2P central entity, the first plurality of packets relating to a request for peer location information; performing deep packet inspection (DPI) to extract a key from the request for peer location information, the key identifying a P2P content item; querying a key storage module using the key to determine whether the key corresponds to a P2P content item for which transfers are to be prevented; and preventing subsequent transfers of the P2P content item between the P2P client and one or more peers that maintain the P2P content item.
US09385990B2 Relay server and relay communication system
A relay server stores a first routing target address, and stores a second routing target address in association with a virtual address assigned to the second routing target address. The relay server exchanges address filter information with a relay server belonging to a selected VPN group, and establishes a routing session with the relay server. The relay server determines whether or not there is an overlap between the routing target addresses. Upon determination that there is an overlap, the relay server assigns a virtual address to the second routing target address. The relay server uses the virtual address to perform communication between the relay server itself and a first routing target device.
US09385986B2 Timing for providing relevant notifications for a user based on user interaction with notifications
A social networking system provides relevant third-party content objects to users by matching user location, interests, and other social information with the content, location, and timing associated with the content objects. Content objects are provided based on relevance scores specific to a user. Relevance scores may be calculated based on the user's previous interactions with content object notifications, or based on interests that are common between the user and his or her connections in the social network. Context search is also provided for a user, wherein a list of search of results is ranked according to the relevance score of content object associated with the search results. Notifications may also be priced and distributed to users based on their relevance. In this way, the system can provide notifications that are relevant to user's interests and current circumstances, increasing the likelihood that they will find content objects of interest.
US09385984B2 Computer-implemented system and method for notifying users upon the occurrence of an event
A computer-implemented system and method for notifying users on the occurrence of an event is disclosed. An embodiment further includes notifying selected users upon the occurrence of particular events in sessions using a variety of notification methods.
US09385983B1 Gallery of messages from individuals with a shared interest
A machine includes a processor and a memory connected to the processor. The memory stores instructions executed by the processor to receive a message and a message parameter indicative of a characteristic of the message, where the message includes a photograph or a video. A determination is made that the message parameter corresponds to a selected gallery, where the selected gallery includes a sequence of photographs or videos. The message is posted to the selected gallery in response to the determination. The selected gallery is supplied in response to a request.
US09385974B2 Data message queue management to identify message sets for delivery metric modification
A communication system transfers user data messages to users. The system stores the user data messages in association with message stream identifiers and message delivery metrics. The system processes the message delivery metrics to enter the user data messages into a plurality of delivery queues associated with multiple message transmission systems. The system receives a data request indicating a message stream identifier and a message transmission system, and in response, identifies a message set and associated delivery metrics. The system receives a data instruction indicating new delivery metrics, and in response, re-enters the message set into the delivery queue. The communication system transfers the user data messages based on their associated delivery queues over data networks for receipt by the users.
US09385972B2 Automated generation of suggestions for personalized reactions in a social network
A system and method for automatic generating suggestions for personalized reactions. A suggestion generation module includes a plurality of collector modules, a credentials module, a suggestion analyzer module, a user interface module and a decision tree. The plurality of collector modules collect information accessible by the user and important to the user from other systems such as e-mail systems, SMS/MMS systems, micro blogging systems, social networks or other systems. The information from these collector modules is provided to the suggestion analyzer module. The suggestion analyzer module cooperates with the user interface module and the decision tree to generate suggested reactions or messages for the user to send. The suggested reactions or messages are presented by the user interface module to the user. The user interface module displays the original message, other information about the original message such as others' responses, and action buttons for sending, discarding the suggested message.
US09385965B2 Server reservation method, reservation control apparatus and program storage medium
An information processing device including a communication interface that exchanges data with a first device and a second device; and a processor that performs authentication of the first device; receives content data from the first device via the communication interface; and controls the communication interface to send the content data in real time to the second device based on an access control setting, which indicates a restriction on sending the content data.
US09385961B2 Parallel computing device, communication control device, and communication control method
A parallel computing device includes a plurality of communicatively interconnected nodes for executing an arithmetic process. Each of the plurality of nodes includes: a measurement unit configured to measure a communication bandwidth up to a destination node based on a communication scheme among the nodes, and a control unit configured to control a size of a packet transmitted to the destination node according to the communication bandwidth measured by the measurement unit.
US09385952B2 High assurance packet router
Systems (100) and methods (800) for routing packets within a Multi-Channel Communications Device (“MCCD”). The methods involve receiving a first packet (300) which has a first classification level and a second packet (300) which has a second different classification level. Subsequently, modified first and second packets (400) are generated by inserting routing headers (402) between data link layer protocol headers (308, 308′) and network layer protocol headers (310, 310′) of the first and second packets. Each routing header comprises an error-detecting code (512) and routing information (502) describing a route within the MCCD along which the first or second packet is to travel. The routing headers are then used by a single packet router (160) to simultaneously route the modified first and second packets through the MCCD to at least one port of a plurality of output interface ports (116, 1901, . . . , 190N) of the MCCD.
US09385950B2 Configurable service proxy local identifier mapping
Presented herein are techniques in which a service proxy in a service node is configured to receive a packet encapsulated in a service header that includes a variable set of context headers. The service proxy is configured to use the context headers in the service header to map data in the packet to a local identifier that is associated with one of a plurality of service-functions hosted by the service node. The service proxy is further configured to forward the data in the packet to the service-function associated with the local identifier.
US09385946B2 Network-based content filtering utilizing user-specified parameters
Network-based content filtering utilizing user-specified parameters is disclosed. Example methods disclosed herein to perform network-based content filtering include receiving, at an incoming edge router of a provider network, incoming data to be routed in the provider network to a destination device, and before routing the incoming data in the provider network, determining whether to restrict the routing of the incoming data in the provider network to the destination device based on a parameter associated with the destination device, the parameter being related to a content classification of the incoming data.
US09385945B2 Identifying, translating and filtering shared risk groups in communications networks
A method, apparatus, and computer-readable storage medium are disclosed for processing shared risk group (SRG) information in communications networks. The method includes obtaining at least one SRG identifier by processing SRG information included in network information received at a first network layer from a second network layer, and processing the at least one SRG identifier using one or more operations configured to ensure that the SRG identifier is unique among a plurality of SRG identifiers. The apparatus includes a network interface adapted to receive network information comprising SRG information, a processor coupled to the network interface, and a memory coupled to the processor and adapted to obtain at least one SRG identifier by processing the SRG information and to process the at least one SRG identifier. The computer-readable storage medium is configured to store program instructions that when executed are configured to cause a processor to perform the method.
US09385942B2 Methods, systems, and computer readable media for providing N-node multi-switch link aggregation groups (MLAGs)
A system for providing at least one node of an n-node multi-switch link aggregation group (MLAG) includes a packet forwarding device for receiving a packet destined for at least one n-node MLAG, n being an integer greater than 2. The packet forwarding device includes a packet forwarding database for storing packet forwarding rules for the at least one n-node MLAG. The packet forwarding device further includes a processing element for forwarding, blocking forwarding of, or redirecting the packet in accordance with one of the packet forwarding rules defined for the n-node MLAG group in the packet forwarding database.
US09385935B2 Transparent message modification for diagnostics or testing
The modification of a network message so that a supplemental action is performed in transit at a designated intermediary node. The modification is performed in a manner that is transparent to the source computing entity that caused the network message to be generated. Upon acquiring the network message, a message modification component modifies the network message so that the network message is routed through an intermediary node, and further so that the intermediary node performs supplemental action(s). For instance, the modification might cause routing components to route the network message to the intermediary node, and the modification might also include instructions that the intermediary node interprets as being an instruction to perform the supplemental action.
US09385932B2 Unified web hosting and content distribution
Operational performance parameters of a web host and a first content distribution network are monitored. Capacity and health statistics of a second content distribution network are received. A determination is made whether a customer request is to be served by the first content distribution network or the second content distribution network based on a performance threshold. Usage of a primary service provider, the web host, the first content distribution network, and the second content distribution network are tracked.
US09385922B2 Generating EGFT network topologies
A method of generating a plurality of potential generalized fat tree network (GFT) topologies is provided herein. The method includes receiving parameters that specify a number of servers, a number of switches, and a number of ports in the switches. The parameters are for configuring an GFT topology. The method also includes generating a plurality of potential GFT topologies based on heuristics that favor higher bandwidth and lower latency. Generating the plurality of potential GFT topologies includes generating each level of the potential GFT topologies, recursively, and from a bottom level of a potential GFT topology to a top level.
US09385919B2 Information processing apparatus and setting information management method
A setting information management method comprises: receiving a command related to setting information stored in a storage from a network, changing the setting information based on the command, changing the setting information based on an input from a user using a setting screen displayed by a display unit when the change of the setting information based on the command is invalid, and displaying, by using the display unit, the setting screen in a mode that the user is unable to change the setting information displayed on the setting screen when a change of the setting information based on the command is valid.
US09385915B2 Dynamic caching technique for adaptively controlling data block copies in a distributed data processing system
A dynamic caching technique adaptively controls copies of data blocks stored within caches (“cached copies”) of a caching layer distributed among servers of a distributed data processing system. A cache coordinator of the distributed system implements the dynamic caching technique to increase the cached copies of the data blocks to improve processing performance of the servers. Alternatively, the technique may decrease the cached copies to reduce storage capacity of the servers. The technique may increase the cached copies when it detects local and/or remote cache bottleneck conditions at the servers, a data popularity condition at the servers, or a shared storage bottleneck condition at the storage system. Otherwise, the technique may decrease the cached copies at the servers.
US09385905B2 Block-based time-frequency interleaving and de-interleaving
Block-based interleaving to process a block of sub-carriers as a two-dimensional array defined by a frequency dimension and a time dimension. For each symbol of the array a cell is selected at each frequency index of the array in a diagonal wrap-around fashion. The array may be traversed with a modulo-based index computed as a function of an incrementing frequency index, a symbol index, and a modulus defined by a depth of the array. Cells may be selected as indicated by the frequency and time indices, and/or as indicated by a bit-reversed representation of the frequency index and/or the time index. A block interleaver may be configured to time interleave without impacting frequency, or interleave in time and frequency. Frequency interleaving may performed with the bit-reversed representation of the frequency index.
US09385903B2 Rhombic-QPSK modulation for improved tolerance to nonlinearity in fiber communication systems
This invention proposes an alternative modulation format for channels that present improved performance when such channels co-propagate with existing intensity modulated channels. This modulation format is named Rhombic-QPSK (R-QPSK) and it is designed in such a way that it presents more tolerance to phase noise created by the nonlinear interaction with the legacy channels.
US09385902B2 Apparatus and method for transmitting tag
Disclosed are an apparatus and a method for transmitting a tag. The apparatus for transmitting a tag converts 2 bits of a plurality of bit data into one symbol using phase information and orthogonal information. The apparatus for transmitting a tag generates a sub-carrier signal by multiplying the symbol by a square wave having a faster period by a predetermined number of times than a period of the symbol, and transmits the sub-carrier signal to a reader
US09385901B2 Receiver front end architecture for intra band carrier aggregation
A receiver front end architecture for intra band carrier aggregation is disclosed. In an exemplary embodiment, an apparatus includes a first transistor having a gate terminal to receive an input signal, drain terminal to output an amplified signal, and a source terminal connected to a signal ground by a source degeneration inductor. The apparatus also includes a second transistor having a source terminal connected to the drain terminal of the first transistor and a drain terminal connected to a first load. The apparatus also includes a third transistor having a gate terminal connected to the drain terminal of the first transistor, a drain terminal connected to a second load and a source terminal connected to a signal ground.
US09385898B2 Pipelined programmable feed forward equalizer (FFE) for a receiver
A programmable feed forward equalizer (FFE) includes a plurality of unit cells, each unit cell comprising a capacitive element coupled to an input connection by a first switch and coupled to an output connection by a second switch. The FFE also comprises clock logic configured to control the first switch and the second switch so that a selected voltage signal is applied to the capacitive element at a selected time such that the selected voltage signal defines a capacitance of the capacitive element, the clock logic causing the second switch to couple the capacitive element to the output connection so as to apply the selected voltage signal as a filter coefficient to a summing element.
US09385895B2 Radio receiver in a wireless communications system
Techniques are described for optimizing the processing facilities of a receiver in a wireless communication environment, taking into account processing performance set against the computing resources and/or power consumption required to obtain that processing performance. A radio receiver for a wireless communications system can include channel equalization means arranged to receive samples of an incoming signal and to generate an equalized output, said channel equalization means including means for processing said digital samples in accordance with an equalizer algorithm. The receiver includes means for estimating parameters of a channel over which the incoming signal has been transmitted. The receiver can also include means for selecting from a plurality of equalizer algorithms an equalizer algorithm for execution by the processing means based on at least one said estimated channel parameter. Related methods and algorithms are described. Related computer program products are also described.
US09385894B2 Receiving circuit and data decision method
A receiving circuit includes: a first decision circuit to output boundary data obtained by performing a binary-decision on input data in synchronization with a first clock; a first decision feedback equalizer to output center data obtained by performing equalization and a binary-decision on the input data using a first equalization coefficient in synchronization with a second clock; a phase detection circuit to detect phase information of the input data based on the boundary data and the center data; a phase control circuit to output phase difference information of the center data based on an opening of an eye pattern formed by overlaying data transition patterns; a first phase adjustment circuit to adjust a phase of the first clock based on the phase information; and a second phase adjustment circuit to adjust a phase of the second clock based on the phase information and the phase difference information.
US09385891B2 Galvanic isolation interface for high-speed data link for spacecraft electronics, and method of using same
Under one aspect of the present invention, a structure for providing galvanically isolated communication between first and second spacecraft electronic components includes a semi-insulating substrate; an input port disposed on the substrate and configured to receive a signal from the first spacecraft electronic component; a coupling structure disposed on the substrate, coupled to the input port so as to receive the signal, and configured to provide an isolated replica of the received signal as an output; a signal conditioner disposed on the substrate, coupled to the coupling structure so as to receive the isolated replica of the received signal, and configured to condition the isolated replica; and an output port disposed on the substrate, coupled to the signal conditioner so as to receive the conditioned isolated replica, and configured to provide the conditioned isolated replica to the second spacecraft electronic component.
US09385879B2 Apparatus and method for transmitting and receiving multicast data in wireless communication system
An apparatus and method for transmitting/receiving multicast data in a wireless communication system are disclosed. The method of receiving multicast data at a machine-to-machine (M2M) device in a wireless communication system includes: receiving, from a base station (BS), an M2M multicast connection identifier for an M2M multicast service, assigned to the M2M device; receiving a message including control information about transmission of the multicast data and multicast data including an M2M multicast connection identifier from the BS; and determining whether the M2M multicast connection identifier included in the multicast data corresponds to the M2M multicast connection identifier assigned by the BS.
US09385862B2 Method and apparatus for binding subscriber authentication and device authentication in communication systems
An authentication method is provided between a device (e.g., a client device or access terminal) and a network entity. A removable storage device may be coupled to the device and stores a subscriber-specific key that may be used for subscriber authentication. A secure storage device may be coupled to the device and stores a device-specific key used for device authentication. Subscriber authentication may be performed between the device and a network entity. Device authentication may also be performed of the device with the network entity. A security key may then be generated that binds the subscriber authentication and the device authentication. The security key may be used to secure communications between the device and a serving network.
US09385860B2 Fractional PLL circuit
A fractional PLL circuit includes a phase comparator, a voltage-controlled oscillation unit, a phase-selection unit equally dividing a period of an output-clock signal output from the voltage-controlled oscillation unit into a predetermined number of phases, selecting one of the phases, and generating a phase-shift clock signal having a rising edge in the selected phase, a frequency-divider unit dividing a frequency of the phase-shift clock signal and outputting the divided signal to the phase comparator, and a phase-control unit determining the phase to be selected for changing a duration of a period of the phase-shift clock signal by a predetermined phase-shift amount and controlling the phase-selection unit. The phase-control unit operates with the frequency-divided phase-shift clock signal.
US09385859B2 Multi-lane serial data link receiver and method thereof
A serial data link receiver and method are provided. In one implementation, the receiver includes a first equalizer for receiving a first received signal and outputting a first equalized signal, and a second equalizer for receiving a second received signal and outputting a second equalized signal. The receiver further includes an analog CDR (clock-data recovery) circuit for receiving the first equalized signal and outputting a first recovered bit stream and a first recovered clock generated in accordance with an analog control voltage, and a digital CDR circuit for receiving the second equalized signal and the first recovered clock and outputting a second recovered bit stream and a second recovered clock based on selecting a phase of the first recovered clock in accordance with a digital phase selection signal.
US09385857B2 Method and apparatus for applying control information in wireless communication system
Provided are a method and an apparatus for applying control information in a wireless communication system. The method includes the steps of: receiving a setting for ACK/NACK(acknowledgement/not-acknowledgement) repetition from a base station; receiving control information to be applied at a particular time point from the base station; transmitting ACK/NACK for the control information; and performing an operation according to the control information at the particular time point when the transmitted ACK/NACK is ACK, wherein the operation at the particular time point is applied to a subframe which is determined according to the setting for ACK/NACK repetition.
US09385851B2 Method and apparatus for transmitting reception confirmation in wireless system
Provided arc a method and an apparatus for transmitting a reception confirmation in a wireless system. A terminal determines at least one downlink sub-frame for ACK/NACK feedback from each of a plurality of serving cells and determines the number of ACK/NACK bits for the plurality of serving cells. The terminal generates bundled ACK/NACK bits by arraying the ACK/NACK bits in the ascending order of the cell index of the plurality of serving cells, and transmits the bundled ACK/NACK bits.
US09385847B2 Method for transmitting control information and a device therefor
The present invention relates to a wireless communication system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for transmitting uplink control information and to a device therefor, and relates to a method comprising the steps of: selecting one uplink control channel resource corresponding to a plurality of HARQ-ACKs, from a plurality of uplink control channel resources; and transmitting a bit value corresponding to the plurality of HARQ-ACKs, by using the selected uplink control channel resource. The present invention also relates to a device for the method.
US09385843B2 Method and apparatus for using multiple modulation schemes for a single packet
Techniques for using multiple modulation schemes for a single packet are described. Each data packet is processed and transmitted in up to T blocks, where T>1. Multiple modulation schemes are used for the T blocks to achieve good performance. A transmitter encodes a data packet to generate code bits. The transmitter then forms a block of code bits with the code bits generated for the packet, determines the modulation scheme to use for the block (e.g., based on a mode/rate selected for the packet), maps the code bits for the block based on the modulation scheme to obtain data symbols, and processes and transmits the block of data symbols to a receiver. The transmitter generates and transmits another block in similar manner until the data packet is decoded correctly or all T blocks have been transmitted. The receiver performs the complementary processing to receive and decode the packet.
US09385841B2 Apparatus and method for transmission time interval reconfiguration in a mobile communication system
Methods and apparatus are provided for transmitting and receiving data in a wireless communication system. A number of errors for a received data is determined. A power boosting message is generated and transmitted based on the number of errors to a transmitting apparatus such that the transmitting apparatus is configured to transmit data using a boosting power.
US09385840B2 Multicast apparatus and method
Disclosed herein are a multicast apparatus and method. In the multicast method, a multicast apparatus searches one or more communication objects in a distributed network environment. Multicast data is received from a sender-side communication object among the one or more communication objects. A polling message is received from the communication object that transmitted the multicast data. A response message corresponding to the polling message is sent. It is determined whether a transmission error has occurred between communication objects based on results of sending of the response message, and multicasting is performed based on results of determination.
US09385835B2 System and method for adaptive frame size management in a wireless multihop network
A system and method for adaptively managing frame size in a wireless multihop network is disclosed. In one embodiment, a packet is transmitted from a source to a destination. A acknowledgement packet is received and a successful acknowledgement packet counter is incremented if the acknowledgement packet arrives prior to a time-out of a timer. A frame size is increased if the successful acknowledgement packet counter reaches a specified value. If the acknowledgement packet arrives after the time-out of the timer, the successful acknowledgement packet counter is reset and the frame size is decreased. These procedures can be repeated until the frame size is greater than or equal to a maximum frame size or less than or equal to a minimum frame size.
US09385826B2 Communication apparatus and communication method
A managing station comprises a delay time measuring unit that measures, while transmitting a delay time measurement frame to each of the slave stations and receiving a response frame responsive to the delay time measurement frame from the slave station, an elapsed time from when transmitting the delay time measurement frame to when receiving the response frame and that calculates a delay time of the slave station; and a delay detecting unit that compares the calculated delay time and a delay judgment value that is an average of the delay times calculated in a past for the slave station to determine whether delay is occurring in the slave station for each of the slave stations and that identifies, if delay is occurring in the slave station, the position of a delay element using connection configuration information indicating connection states between the communication apparatuses in the network.
US09385824B2 Digital mixer
A digital mixer includes a MO switch and a MO fader in a signal transmission route from each input channel to a bus of a MIX_MINUS type, a signal of the input channel is supplied to the MIX bus without control on its level when the MO switch is OFF, while being supplied to the MIX bus after being controlled on its level by the MOL fader when the MO switch is ON. When the MO switch is changed from OFF to ON, a level adjustment amount by the MOL fader is set to a value so that a signal passing therethrough comes to have zero level.
US09385813B2 Optical fiber transmission line
An optical fiber transmission line capable of minimizing the total splice loss per one span thereof. One span of an optical fiber transmission line provided between repeaters has two connection fibers and (N+1) number of optical transmission fibers. The optical connection fibers and are single mode optical fibers (SSMF) based on International standard ITU-T G.652 standard. (N+1) number of the optical transmission fibers are connected in series in order between the two optical connection fibers. The total splice loss αsp_total of the optical fiber transmission line as calculated from the given formula is 1.4 dB or less, when the average value of the mode field diameter of the two connection fibers is W′, and the average value of the mode field diameter of (N+1) number of the optical transmission fibers is W, and the axial misalignment width at the splice point of the optical transmission fibers is d.
US09385810B2 Connection mapping in distributed communication systems
Power management techniques in distributed communication systems are disclosed. Related components, systems, and methods are also disclosed. In embodiments disclosed herein, the power available at a remote unit (RU) is measured and compared to the power requirements of the RU. In an exemplary embodiment, voltage and current is measured for two dummy loads at the RU and these values are used to solve for the output voltage of the power supply and the resistance of the wires. From at these values, a maximum power available may be calculated and compared to power requirements of the RU.
US09385807B2 Light wave communication
An apparatus for light wave communications is described herein. The apparatus includes an image sensor and a region of interest (ROI) sub-sampler. The image sensor is to receive a first low frequency data stream from a light source. Additionally, data from the ROI sub-sampler is used to configure the image sensor to receive a second data stream from the light source.
US09385805B2 Safety and power control arrangement and method for optical fiber communication systems
Safety and power control arrangement and method for optical communication apparatus, where a first circuit pack emitting an optical signal (OS1) and at least a second and a third circuit pack (2, 3) are connected in series via optical fibers (4, 5). A power monitor (26) connected to an output (27) of the at least second circuit pack (2) reduces the signal power (PW2) output from the second circuit pack (2) to a pre-determined safe value if a loss-of signal monitor (34) of a next circuit pack (3) forwards a loss-of-signal control signal (LOC3). The advantage is that the maximum allowable value is achieved at the input of an interrupted fiber section and the non-interrupted circuits can still receive the optical signals with a reasonable power level.
US09385804B2 Transmission unit and a method for transmitting data
A baseband unit for a radio communication system based on time division multiple access includes a data processing unit configured to generate a configuration macro. The configuration macro includes information about a temporal position of a particular time slot within a time frame, wherein the particular time slot has a time duration corresponding to the total time duration of an integer number of consecutive data symbols.
US09385803B2 Provision of broadband access to airborne platforms
An air to ground (ATG) broadband access system is described. The system includes: a plurality of cell sites that together form a service coverage area, each cell site adapted to generate a local coverage area, each sell site including: multiple antenna fixtures situated at a lower corner of the local coverage area, where the local coverage area includes multiple sectors and each antenna fixture is associated with a different sector than each other antenna fixture; and a radio sub-system connected to each antenna fixture, the radio sub-system including a transmitter capable of modulating and transmitting signals through the antenna fixture and a receiver capable of demodulating and decoding signals received through the antenna fixture; and at least one aerial platform including: at least one antenna fixture capable of forming beams toward the cell site; and a radio sub-system capable of modulating and transmitting signals and demodulating and decoding signals.
US09385798B1 Apparatus and method for efficient waveform portability between different platforms
Method and apparatus for generating channelized hardware-independent waveforms include: generating metadata associated with a waveform, the metadata including a frequency list, a phase list and amplitude information, wherein the metadata is generated independent of a number of channels; interpreting the metadata to generate channel select, frequency, phase and amplitude parameters; providing the frequency, phase and amplitude parameters to a direct digital synthesizer (DDS) to generate a digital signal; providing the channel select parameter to a channel selector to generate a plurality of channelized waveforms from the generated digital signal; and transmitting the plurality of channelized waveforms over a plurality of communication channels.
US09385797B2 Flexible, reconfigurable multipoint-to-multipoint digital radio frequency transport architecture
A distributed antenna system includes network interfaces configured to receive signals from devices external to distributed antenna system and to convert signals to downlink serialized data streams; distributed antenna switch communicatively coupled to network interfaces by digital communication links, distributed antenna switch configured to receive downlink serialized data stream from network interfaces across corresponding digital communication link; distributed antenna switch further configured to aggregate downlink serialized data streams into aggregate downlink serialized data stream; remote antenna unit communicatively coupled to distributed antenna switch by digital communication link that receives aggregate downlink serialized data stream across digital communication link, remote antenna unit further configured to extract downlink serialized data streams from aggregate downlink serialized data stream; remote antenna unit having radio frequency converter configured to convert downlink serialized data stream into radio frequency band and radio frequency transceiver/antenna pair configured to transmit signals in radio frequency band to subscriber unit.
US09385788B2 Power supply apparatus, power supply method, and storage medium
A power supply apparatus includes a receiving unit configured to receive a power supply request and a power supply condition from a power receiving apparatus, and a power supply control unit configured to instruct a power supply unit to perform a test power supply to a target power receiving apparatus which is a transmission source of the power supply request, and instruct the power supply unit to perform actual power supply according to the power supply condition when the receiving unit receives a success notification of the test power supply from the target power receiving apparatus after performing the test power supply.
US09385782B1 Communication between network nodes
Network signals are coupled to and from a first communication medium that is coupled to one or more nodes of a first network that exchange signals according to at least one scheduling constraint of the first communication medium. Network signals are coupled to and from a second communication medium that is coupled to one or more nodes of a second network that exchange signals according to a schedule compatible with scheduling information received from the first network. Information conveyed by the coupled network signals is communicated between a first network node and a second network node, according to the schedule compatible with the scheduling information received from the first network.
US09385773B2 Traffic tunnel for end to end low latency
A communication circuitry includes a media access control including a first wireless interface and a second wireless interface. An application processor includes a network stack connected with the media access control. A communication packet is routed from the first wireless interface to the second wireless interface or from the second wireless interface to the first wireless interface without sending the communication packet to the network stack.
US09385768B2 Device and method for extracting physiological information
The present invention relates to a device and a method for extracting physiological information from remotely detected electromagnetic radiation (14) emitted or reflected by a subject. A data stream (24) derived from detected electromagnetic radiation (14) is received, the data stream (24) comprising a sequence of signal samples representing a region of interest (58) exhibiting a continuous or discrete characteristic signal including physiological information indicative of at least one at least partially periodic vital signal (20), and being comprised of at least two wavelength components. The device further comprises a transforming unit for providing coefficient components from the at least two wavelength components and a coefficient selection unit for selecting the coefficient component which is used for calculating the desired signal component used for determining the physiological information.
US09385763B1 Method and apparatus for in-channel interference cancellation
A communication device includes a receiver that is capable of canceling in -channel interference. The receiver includes an antenna for receiving a wireless signal comprising in-channel components and an out-of-channel component, wherein the in-channel components comprise a desired component and an in-channel interference component. A first filter of the receiver filters the wireless signal by blocking at least a portion of the out-of-channel component to produce a first signal comprising the in -channel components, and at least a second filter of the receiver filters the wireless signal by blocking at least a portion of the in-channel components to produce a second signal comprising the out-of-channel component. An in-channel interference estimator of the receiver generates an in-channel interference estimation signal based on the second signal. And a combiner of the filter combines the first signal and the second signal to at least partially cancel the in-channel interference component of the first signal.
US09385762B2 Linearization of intermodulation bands for concurrent dual-band power amplifiers
Systems and methods are disclosed for digital predistortion for a concurrent multi-band transmitter that compensates for both in-band and out-of-band intermodulation products according to a memory polynomial based baseband model. In one embodiment, a concurrent multi-band transmitter includes a digital predistortion subsystem, power amplifier circuitry, and an adaptation subsystem. The digital predistortion subsystem includes multiple digital predistorters configured to process digital input signals for frequency bands of a concurrent multi-band signal to provide predistorted digital input signals each being for a different one of the frequency bands of the concurrent multi-band signal and one or more intermodulation distortion compensation signals each being for a different one of one or more intermodulation distortion frequency bands. The adaptation subsystem is configured to adaptively configure the plurality of digital predistorters according to a memory polynomial based digital baseband model of the digital predistorters.
US09385761B2 Transmission device, and fender provided therewith
A transmission device attached to a fender and for transmitting information via radio waves includes a conductor plate disposed between the water surface and an antenna within a transmission unit of the transmission device. Radio waves that reach a reception antenna by reflecting off the water surface, an object floating on water, or the bottom of water are reflected by the conductor plate.
US09385752B2 Encoder and encoding method providing incremental redundancy
An encoder for error correction code encoding input data words (D) into codewords (Z1, Z2) includes an encoder input for receiving input data words each including a first number Kldpc of information symbols, an encoding unit for encoding an input data word (D) into a codeword (Z1, Z2, Z3, Z4) such that a codeword includes a basic codeword portion (B) including a data portion (D) and a basic parity portion (Pb) of a second number N ldpc - Kldpc of basic parity symbols, and an auxiliary codeword portion (A) including an auxiliary parity portion (Pa) of a third number MIR of auxiliary parity symbols, and an encoder output for outputting the codewords (Z1, Z2).
US09385751B2 Enhanced data compression for sparse multidimensional ordered series data
Disclosed are methods and systems for significantly compressing sparse multidimensional ordered series data comprised of indexed data sets, wherein each data set comprises an index, a first variable and a second variable. The methods and systems are particularly suited for compression of data recorded in double precision floating point format.
US09385744B2 Delta-sigma analog-to-digital converter with error suppression
A delta-sigma analog-to-digital converter (ΔΣ ADC) has a delta-sigma modulator, a decimation filter and an error suppression circuit. The delta-sigma modulator receives an analog input, and converts the analog input into a first digital output. The decimation filter is coupled to the delta-sigma modulator, and generates a second digital output according to the first digital output. The error suppression circuit is coupled to the decimation filter, and receives an error input and injects an error output into the second digital output according to the error input.
US09385739B1 Matched charge exchange circuit for analog and digital conversion
The present invention relates to a circuit for converting between an analog input voltage and a corresponding digital representation of the analog input voltage. First, second and third capacitors are used, the first and second capacitors being matched, the third capacitor serving as an accumulator. A first switch is coupled to one end of the first capacitor, and a second switch is coupled between the one end of the first capacitor and one end of the second capacitor. A third switch coupled between the one end of the second capacitor and one end of the third capacitor, with a discharge circuit being coupled between the one end of the third capacitor and an opposite end of the second capacitor. When the third switch is closed the discharge circuit fully discharges the second capacitor onto the third capacitor. The third switch is closed when the analog input voltage is greater than a reference voltage, and wherein the first switch is closed to discharge the first capacitor followed by opening the first switch and closing the second switch to cause charge on the second capacitor to divide equally between the first and second capacitors when the analog input voltage is not greater than the reference voltage. Logic circuitry may also control the conversion according to a clock pulse.
US09385733B2 Clock generating apparatus and fractional frequency divider thereof
A clock generating apparatus and a fractional frequency divider thereof are provided. The fractional frequency divider includes a frequency divider (FD), a plurality of samplers, a selector and a control circuit. An input terminal of the FD is coupled to an output terminal of a multi-phase-frequency generating circuit. Input terminals of the samplers are coupled to an output terminal of the FD. Trigger terminals of the samplers receive the sampling clock signals. The input terminals of the selector are coupled to output terminals of the samplers. An output terminal of the selector is coupled to a feedback terminal of the multi-phase-frequency generating circuit. The control circuit provides a fraction code to a control terminal of the selector, so as to control the selector for selectively coupling the output terminal of one of the samplers to the feedback terminal of the multi-phase-frequency generating circuit.
US09385713B2 Logic circuit, processing unit, electronic component, and electronic device
A retention circuit provided in a logic circuit enables power gating. The retention circuit includes a first terminal, a node, a capacitor, and first to third transistors. The first transistor controls electrical connection between the first terminal and an input terminal of the logic circuit. The second transistor controls electrical connection between an output terminal of the logic circuit and the node. The third transistor controls electrical connection between the node and the input terminal of the logic circuit. A gate of the first transistor is electrically connected to a gate of the second transistor. In a data retention period, the node becomes electrically floating. The voltage of the node is held by the capacitor.
US09385704B2 Semiconductor device and driving method of the same
In the case of reducing an effect of variations in current characteristics of transistors by inputting a signal current to a transistor in a pixel, a potential of a wiring is detected by using a precharge circuit. In the case where there is a difference between a predetermined potential and the potential of the wiring, a charge is supplied to the wiring to perform a precharge by charging rapidly. When the potential of the wiring reaches the predetermined potential, the supply of charge is stopped and a signal current only is supplied. Thus, a precharge is performed only in a period until the potential of the wiring reaches the predetermined potential, therefore, a precharge can be performed for an optimal period.
US09385703B2 Circuit and method for body biasing
Various example embodiments are directed to methods and circuits for mitigation of on-resistance variation and signal attenuation in transistors due to body effects. In some embodiments, an apparatus includes a transistor configured to provide a data signal from a first one of the source or the drain to the other one of the source or the drain in response to a control signal provided to the gate. A body bias circuit is configured to bias the body of the transistor based on a voltage of the data signal to reduce variation in the on-resistance exhibited by the first transistor. As a result of the reduced variation in the on resistance, attenuation of the data signal is reduced.
US09385702B2 I/O module
An input/output (I/O) module is configured to connect a controller and a field device. The I/O module includes a PWM (pulse width modulation) demodulator configured to demodulate a PWM signal that is input from the controller, a current source configured to output a current based on an output signal of the PWM demodulator to the field device, a resistance connected in line with the current source, and a feedback circuit configured to feed back an output current of the current source to the PWM demodulator via the controller.
US09385689B1 Open loop band gap reference voltage generator
A reference voltage generator that does not require a start-up circuit or a feedback loop generates a proportional-to-absolute-temperature (PTAT) output voltage based on two complementary-to-absolute-temperature (CTAT) currents. The reference voltage generator provides a reference voltage that is a sum of the PTAT output voltage and a CTAT voltage.
US09385681B2 Bias network
An HF-line includes parallel branches with bias terminals, to which a direct voltage source is respectively connected via a first inductor and a second inductor. The inductors are inductively coupled to one another.
US09385677B2 Method and apparatus for gain enhancement of differential amplifier
A differential amplifier circuit and method having a feed-in network coupling an input signal to an intermediate signal. An amplifier amplifies the intermediate signal by a gain factor to output an output signal to a load network. A feedback network configured in a negative feedback topology and couples the output signal to the intermediate signal. A gain enhancing network is configured in a positive feedback topology and couples the output signal to the intermediate signal. Preferably, an impedance of the gain enhancing network is approximately equal to an impedance of a parallel connection of the feed-in network and the feedback network times the gain factor minus one.
US09385666B2 Power amplifier with wide band AM-AM feedback and digital pre-distortion
A system including an amplifier circuit configured to amplify an input and generate an output, a bias circuit configured to bias the amplifier circuit, and a feedback circuit configured to generate feedback based on the input and the output, and to adjust the bias of the amplifier circuit based on the feedback to reduce amplitude nonlinearity in the output. A digital pre-distortion circuit is configured to reduce phase nonlinearity in the output.
US09385663B2 Envelope tracking push-pull or differential power amplifier
There is disclosed a power amplifier arrangement comprising: first and second active devices for amplifying in-phase and anti-phase parts of an input signal; a first DC supply network connected between the output of the first active device and a modulated supply voltage; a second DC supply network connected between the output of the second active device and the same modulated supply voltage and an output combiner for combining the amplified in-phase and anti-phase parts of the input signal.
US09385655B2 Regenerative frequency multiplier
A technology is provided for generating an output frequency. An input signal with a defined frequency may be received. The input signal may be split so that a first signal with the defined frequency of the input signal is received at a frequency multiplier and a second signal with the defined frequency of the input signal is received at a frequency mixer. The first signal may be multiplied by N, wherein N is a predefined integer. The first signal may be limited to a predetermined frequency and passed to the frequency mixer. The first signal and the second signal may be mixed to produce at least two mixed signals. A first output signal and a second output signal may be generated based on the at least two mixed signals.
US09385651B2 60 GHz frequency generator incorporating third harmonic boost and extraction
A novel and useful 60 GHz frequency generator based on a third harmonic extraction technique which improves system level efficiency and performance. The frequency generator employs a third harmonic boosting technique to increase the third harmonic at the output of the oscillator. The oscillator generates both ˜20 GHz fundamental and a significant amount of the third harmonic at ˜60 GHz and avoids the need for a frequency divider operating at 60 GHz. The undesired fundamental harmonic at ˜20 GHz is rejected by the good fundamental harmonic rejection ratio (HRR) inherent in the oscillator buffer stage while the ˜60 GHz component is amplified to the output. The fundamental harmonic is further suppressed by active cancellation by properly combining the two outputs. The oscillator fabricated in 40 nm CMOS exhibits a phase noise of −100 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset from a 60 GHz carrier and have a tuning range of 25%.
US09385650B2 Transformer feedback voltage controlled oscillator (VCO)
A transformer is described. The transformer includes a primary coil and a first secondary coil. A first coupling occurs between the first secondary coil and the primary coil. The transformer also includes a second secondary coil. A second coupling occurs between the second secondary coil and the primary coil. The first secondary coil is separated from the second secondary coil to prevent coupling between the first secondary coil and the second secondary coil. A first width of the first secondary coil is configured independently of a second width of the second secondary coil.
US09385636B2 Transport vehicle, charging system and electricity-generating tire
A transport vehicle includes a driving unit, a wheel and a charging system. The charging system includes an electricity-generating tire and a converting unit. The electricity-generating tire has a tire body mounted on the wheel, and a piezoelectricity generating unit disposed at the tire body and configured to output electricity when the piezoelectricity generating unit is subjected to mechanical forces attributed to movement of the tire body on a ground surface. The converting unit operates to convert the electricity outputted by the piezoelectricity generating unit into a form of energy for storage in an energy storing unit.
US09385635B2 Ultrasonic motor
An ultrasonic motor is described. The ultrasonic motor includes a plurality of plate-shaped piezoelectric ultrasonic actuators. Each of the ultrasonic actuators includes at least one friction element allocated thereto. Each ultrasonic actuator or each of one or more pairs of ultrasonic actuators is assigned an element to be driven. The ultrasonic motor also includes a housing. The ultrasonic motor also includes an electric excitation device. The elements to be driven are movable independently of each other, and each ultrasonic actuator or each of the one or more pairs of ultrasonic actuators is arranged in a holder. The holders are pressed against each other by housing side covers. The friction elements on the ultrasonic actuators are pressed against a friction layer of the corresponding element to be driven by an elastic interlayer that is in contact with edge surfaces of the ultrasonic actuators that are arranged opposite the friction elements.
US09385631B2 Inverter unit
An inverter unit includes a first circuit board and a second circuit board arranged at a predetermined space so as to face each other. Each of the first circuit board and the second circuit board has a main circuit forming area. A plurality of power devices are mounted in the main circuit forming area of the first circuit board and form a main circuit. A plurality of capacitors are electrically connected to the plurality of the power devices and mounted in the main circuit forming area of the second circuit board. A control circuit controls the operation of the main circuit. The second circuit board includes a control circuit forming area separated from the main circuit forming area. The control circuit includes a first control circuit formed in the control circuit forming area of the second circuit board.
US09385623B2 Control system and method for controlling a rectifier
A system and method for controlling a rectifier due to changing operating conditions including at least one reactor per phase connected to the rectifier for providing an input signal, a bias current for controlling the reactor, and a control current for controlling the reactor. The bias current is fixed to a predefined value which is taken as an input signal for providing a control current compensating the difference between the predefined value of the bias current and a start value defining a start point of the linear operating range of the reactor.
US09385622B2 Power system including an electret for a power bus
A power system for an alternating current power bus includes an electret operatively associated with the alternating current power bus. The electret includes an output having an alternating current voltage when the alternating current power bus is energized. A rectifier includes an input electrically interconnected with the output of the electret and an output having a direct current voltage responsive to the alternating current voltage of the output of the electret. A powered device includes an input electrically interconnected with the output of the rectifier. The powered device is powered responsive to the direct current voltage of the output of the rectifier.
US09385620B1 AC link converter switch engine
A multiport AC link converter includes a resonant AC link, an input port, an output port, and a plurality of switches. A first subset of the switches is between the input port the resonant link and a second subset of the switches is between the resonant link and the output port. The switch sequencing for the input port is selected and executed independently of the switch sequencing for the output port the switch sequencings for the output port is selected and executed independently of that for the input port.
US09385619B2 Method for operating a converter circuit
A method is disclosed for operating a converter circuit, in which controllable power semiconductor switches of the rectifier unit of a converter circuit are controlled by a rectifier switch signal and the controllable power semiconductor switches of the inverter unit of the converter circuit are controlled by an inverter switch signal. In order to reduce losses in the no-load state of the converter circuit, the rectifier switch signal is blocked in order to disconnect the controllable power semiconductor switches of the rectifier unit if defined conditions of the converter circuit are fulfilled.
US09385616B2 AC/DC power converter
In one embodiment, an AC/DC power converter can include: a rectifier bridge and a filter capacitor for converting an external AC voltage to a half-sinusoid DC input voltage; a first storage component, where during each switching cycle in a first operation mode, a first path receives the half-sinusoid DC input voltage to store energy in the first storage component, and a first current through the first storage component increases; a second storage component, where a second path receives a second DC voltage to store energy in the second storage component, and a second current through the second storage component increases; and a third storage component, where in a second operation mode, the first current decreases to release energy from the first to the third storage component, where the second DC voltage includes a voltage across the third storage component through a third path.
US09385611B2 Power adapter having programmable gain compensation trim
A power adapter to supply power at an output. The power adapter has a programmable gain compensation trim function. In some examples, the gain compensation trim function is a negative gain compensation trim function, and the output of plural power adapters are connected together to form a power supply.
US09385609B2 Analog current estimation and digital estimation correction for a multiphase buck converter
A phase current estimator for a switching power converter includes analog circuitry for generating a phase current estimate error by comparing a phase current of the switching power converter to an analog representation of an estimate of the phase current. The phase current estimator further includes digital circuitry for revising the phase current estimate based on the phase current estimate error and a plurality of parameters associated with operation of the switching power converter. An estimator fault detection unit is provided for determining whether a difference between the phase current and estimate exceeds a threshold for indicating substandard phase current estimation.
US09385608B1 DC-to-DC converters capable of communicating information between a slave circuit and a master controller, and associated devices and methods
A slave circuit for a DC-to-DC converter includes a switching circuit adapted to repeatedly switch a switching node between two different voltage levels, a slave control adapted to control switching of the switching circuit based at least in part on control signals from a master controller, a communication port, and a communication module. The communication module is adapted to (a) generate an analog slave communication signal at the communication port, where the analog slave communication signal represents information associated with the slave circuit, and (b) generate a digital slave communication signal at the communication port in response to occurrence of an event, where the digital slave communication signal represents additional information associated with the slave circuit.
US09385604B2 DC/DC converter, switching power supply device, and electronic apparatus
Provided is a DC/DC converter for a switching power supply device including a plurality of DC/DC converters which include a master DC/DC converter and a plurality of slave DC/DC converters and have output terminals connected in parallel to each other. The DC/DC converter includes: first and second terminals that are used to cascade the plurality of DC/DC converters in a line; a control circuit that determines that a host DC/DC converter is the master DC/DC converter when a predetermined voltage is detected at the second terminal and determines that the host DC/DC converter is the slave DC/DC converter when the predetermined voltage is not detected; and that controls a current output from the second terminal based on whether the host DC/DC converter is the master DC/DC converter or the slave DC/DC converter.
US09385600B2 Low-loss step-up and step-down voltage converter
A switch-mode DC-DC voltage converter including a boost stage in the form of a charge pump and a buck stage. Control circuitry is provided that enables the operation of the buck stage while the charge pump stage is also enabled, followed by disabling of the charge pump stage as the input voltage and output voltage increase. The buck converter stage is constructed so that it regulates the output voltage at a voltage above that which disables the charge pump stage. Conduction losses in the main current path, due to the necessity of a power FET or other switching device, are avoided.
US09385598B2 Boost converter stage switch controller
A low voltage lamp includes a boost converter stage and a load. The load may include low voltage light producing elements including low voltage light emitting diodes. The boost converter stage receives an electronic transformer output and includes an inductor coupled to a switch and a switch controller that receives one or more controller inputs. Inductor current may be returned to the transformer when the switch is closed and provided to a rectifier coupled to the load when the switch is open. Controller inputs may include a transformer input that receives the transformer output, a sense input indicating switch current, and a load input indicating load voltage. Controller logic may synchronize assertions of a control signal for the switch with edge transitions of the transformer output to maintain peak inductor current within a specified range and to selectively transfer stored energy in the inductor to the load or back to the transformer.
US09385597B2 Multi-mode current-allocating device
A multi-mode current-allocating device serves to control the DC to DC converter in each power supply device of a distributive power supply system. The multi-mode current-allocating device has an active current-sharing control circuit, a current-allocating bypass circuit, and a droop current sharing control circuit to be selectively operated under an active current-sharing mode, a current-allocating mode or a droop current-sharing mode according to the factors of the type of input power of each power supply device, the state of system load, and the system reliability so as to maintain the power supply efficiency of entire power supply system and reduce unnecessary power loss.
US09385591B2 Output ripple voltage control for a capacitive DC/DC converter
A switching direct current (DC)-to-DC converter includes a charge pump circuit with a flying capacitor (104) and a switching circuit (106). The switching circuit (106) has an ON resistance (Ron) and is configured and arranged to boost an input voltage (Vin) by operating in each of a charging mode (loading) during which charge is provided from the flying capacitor (104) to an output voltage (Vout) and a discharging mode (storing) during which charge is not provided from the flying capacitor (104) to the output voltage (Vout). A determination circuit (102) is configured and arranged to determine a ratio between a discharge rate (308) and a charge rate (310). The discharge rate (308) and the charge rate (310) both correspond to a rate of change for the output voltage of the switching DC-to-DC converter. An ON resistance circuit (102) module is configured and arranged to adjust the ON resistance (Ron) of the charging mode (loading) and to change the determined ratio to a target ratio.
US09385585B2 Method for controlling harmonics and resonances in an inverter
In a method based on the MPDTC algorithm for controlling an inverter of an electrical system, the harmonics and resonances in the inverter can be damped by extracting frequency information from predicted data of the MPDTC algorithm and by damping harmonic distortion of the electrical system by reintroducing the extracted frequency information into a control loop of the inverter.
US09385576B2 Rotatory device end cap with unpackaged filters
A rotatory device (1) for energy conversion between electrical energy and mechanical energy includes an end cap (20) to which electric conduction and commutation components (30) are attached. The end cap (20) is electrically insulating and has a flange mating to an electric conductive housing (10) of the rotatory device (1). An unpackaged capacitor (40) is positioned between the housing (10) and the flange (20) without occupying other space inside the housing (10) of rotatory device (1). The unpackaged capacitor (40) is electrically coupled to the electric conduction and commutation component and grounded to the housing (10) of the rotatory device (1).
US09385575B2 Cooling and control of a load bank used in a power generation system
A power generation system that may include a generator having an alternator and an internal combustion engine configured to drive the alternator to generate power. The alternator may convert the mechanical energy created by the engine to electrical energy, such as alternating current. The generator may supply the electrical energy from the alternator to various devices which may be connected with the alternator. The power generation system may further include a load bank. The load bank may include one or more resistive elements, inductive elements, capacitive elements, or combinations of elements. The power generation system may include a cooling system that may remove heat from one or both the internal combustion engine and the load bank. The cooling system may include a liquid that passes through various components of the internal combustion engine to transfer the heat to or from the engine and the load bank.
US09385565B2 Core material, stator core, and motor provided with stator core
In a core material according to the present invention, a predetermined number of core pieces, each having a tooth portion and a yoke portion, are connected to each other via connecting portions. Each of the connecting portions includes: a V-shaped notch portion; a through hole that is formed at a tapered portion of the notch portion with a diameter elongated in a connection direction; and a thin portion that is formed outside of the through hole and connects the core pieces to each other. The width of the thin portion is more increased apart from the axis of symmetry of two sides constituting the V shape of the notch portion, and further, an intersection between extension lines of the two sides constituting the V shape lies within 0.3 W from the inner side of the thin portion in a notch direction and within the thin portion when W designates the width of the thin portion along the axis of symmetry.
US09385563B2 Rotor permanent magnet apparatus for drive motor based on temperature distribution
Disclosed herein is a rotor permanent magnet apparatus for a drive motor based on temperature distribution. The permanent magnet may enhance coercivity without a substantial decrease in magnetic flux density Br by applying a grain boundary diffusion process of diffusing dysprosium on the surface of the permanent magnet based on the temperature distribution of the permanent magnet.
US09385559B2 Semiconductor device, power transmission device, power reception device, charging system, wireless communication system, and charging method
A semiconductor device transmits a wireless signal to a power reception device that charges a battery, transmits a charge completion signal when the battery charge is completed, and transmits a response signal in reply to a query signal in the wireless signal. The semiconductor device includes a drive control circuit, a reception circuit, and a controller. The controller can control, when the reception circuit does not receive the response signal or receives the charge completion signal, the drive control circuit to transmit communication capable power that makes it possible to communicate with the power reception device and control, when the reception circuit receives the response signal and does not receive the charge completion signal, the drive control circuit to transmit charging power capable of charging the battery of the power reception device by the wireless signal, the charging power being higher than the communication capable power.
US09385546B2 To-be-charged apparatus, charging adapter, electronic apparatus set, and plug unit
A to-be-charged apparatus, including: a built-in battery; a plug connectable to a jack included in a data storage apparatus capable of storing data and a jack included in a charging adapter; a drive unit that is capable of acquiring the data from the data storage apparatus while the plug is connected to the jack of the data storage apparatus and is driven by power supplied from the built-in battery; and a circuit that includes a data line for transmitting the data, which is connected between the plug and the drive unit, and supplies, when a connection of the plug to the jack of the charging adapter is detected by a detection switch included in the charging adapter connected to a power supply apparatus, a charge from the charging adapter to the built-in battery using the data line.
US09385526B2 Inrush current suppressor circuit
Disclosed is an inrush current suppressor circuit of a power supply circuit that supplies stand-by voltage from AC voltage. At a stand-by mode, only a diode and a resistor for suppressing inrush current are provided, and a capacitor provided in common between a stand-by power supply part and a start-up power supply part is charged, so that the inrush current is suppressed at both of stand-by and start-up modes and the number of devices of a circuit and power consumption are reduced.
US09385521B2 Communication device for an electrical panel having a switch device
An electrical panel having an unpluggable drawer unit that forms a housing for positioning an electrical device, and an Ethernet-type high-frequency communication device that forms a daisy-chain communication subsystem, the one drawer unit including an unpluggable connector to connect or disconnect it to a communication subsystem, and the drawer unit can occupy a first, plugged-in position connected to the communication subsystem, and it comprises a switch that controls a bypass switch of a bypass on the communication subsystem when the drawer unit occupies a second, unplugged position.
US09385519B2 Cord winder
A cord winder includes a base, a rotating disc, a spiral spring, a cord, a cord positioning element, a push button, and a top cover. When a first end part of the cord is pulled, the rotating disc and the cord positioning element are rotated in a first direction, and two protruding blocks of the push button are moved along an inner surface of the cord positioning element. When the first end part of the cord is no longer pulled, the two protruding blocks are respectively contacted with two notches of the inner surface of the cord positioning element. Consequently, the rotating disc and the cord positioning element are not rotated. When the push button is pressed down, the rotating disc and the cord positioning element are rotated in a second direction in response to a restoring force of the spiral spring. Consequently, the cord is retracted back.
US09385514B2 Power housing with articulating door and faceplate assembly
A power housing assembly includes a housing having a side thereof that is at least partially open. A faceplate, coupled to the open side at a first hinge position, can articulate about the first hinge position between a first position and a second position. The faceplate includes a substantially L-shaped portion that resides (i) in the housing when the faceplate is in its first position, and (ii) outside of the housing when the faceplate is in its second position.
US09385512B2 Electrical junction box with electrical components mounted to conductive metal plates across a gap
An electrical junction box for distributing electric power in a vehicle includes a metal core substrate provided with a core metal assembly having two core metal plates arranged with a gap, an insulating layer embedded in the gap and covering surfaces of the core metal plates to integrate the core metal plates, and electronic components. Electric power from a battery is inputted into the core metal plate, and electric power from an alternator is inputted into the core metal plate. The electronic components are provided with a plurality of attaching portions soldered or screwed to the metal core substrate. At least one of the attaching portions is attached to the core metal plate, and at least one of the attaching portions is attached to the core metal plate.
US09385511B2 Spark plug
A spark plug including an insulator containing an Al component, in terms of oxides, 89 mass % or more and a Ti component, in terms of oxides, more than 0 mass % and 0.2 mass % or less, characterized in that the insulator is formed of an alumina-based sintered material which contains, in a grain boundary phase present between alumina crystal grains, a first crystal phase containing at least one species selected from among an La component, an Nd component, a Pr component, a Y component, an Er component, a Yb component, and an Lu component, and a second crystal phase containing at least one species of Group 2 element components, an Al component and an Si component.
US09385510B2 Spark plug for internal combustion engine and method of manufacturing spark plug
A spark plug includes a tubular housing, a tubular insulator retained in the housing, a center electrode secured in the insulator with a distal end portion of the center electrode protruding outside the insulator, and an annular ground electrode fixed to a distal end of the housing. The housing has, at the distal end thereof, a small-inner diameter portion that has a smaller inner diameter than other portions of the housing. The annular ground electrode is arranged on a distal end surface of the small-inner diameter portion of the housing so that an inner circumferential surface of the ground electrode faces an outer circumferential surface of the distal end portion of the center electrode through a spark gap formed therebetween. The outer diameter of the ground electrode is less than the outer diameter of the distal end surface of the small-inner diameter portion of the housing.
US09385508B2 Control of spatial mode distribution of a large-core laser diode system
System and method for operating a single unit of light-amplifying medium, structured to produce light with a complex spatial spectrum including multitude of high-order spatial modes, in external cavity configured, in conjunction with an optical etalon installed intra-cavity, to reduce spatial spectrum of such light to provide an output containing smaller number of high-order spatial modes and, optionally, only the lowest spatial mode at power levels on the order of 1 W or higher (for example, tens or hundreds of Watts).
US09385502B1 Method and apparatus for adjusting pulse parameters in a solid-state chirped-pulse amplifier system
Optical apparatus for amplifying pulses in a pulsed laser-beam includes a pulse-stretcher having a single transmission-grating in a multi-pass configuration at a non-normal incidence angle. A regenerative amplifier amplifies stretched pulses in the laser-beam. A pulse-compressor including two spaced-apart reflection-gratings in a multi-pass configuration compresses the amplified pulses. Pulse-parameters of the compressed amplified pulses are optimized by iteratively adjusting the incidence angle of the pulsed laser-beam on the transmission-grating of the pulse-stretcher and the spacing between the reflection-gratings of the pulse-compressor.
US09385496B2 Glow plug terminal and glow plug
A glow plug having a main body bracket, a heater, a center shaft, an insulator, an O-ring that is provided between the front end surface of the insulator and the main body bracket, and a pin terminal that is fitted to the rear end portion of the center shaft and used for supplying electricity from the outside. The pin terminal includes a small-diameter portion, a flange, and a large-diameter portion where an engagement portion and a fitting recess are formed. The large-diameter portion includes a crimp formation region, which is formed so as to have the even outer diameter and be capable of being crimped, in a range from the front end thereof to the front end of the engagement portion. A part of the crimping target portion forms a crimping portion that fixes the rear end portion of the center shaft by crimping.
US09385495B1 Weight supporting slip ring
A slip ring assembly is disclosed allowing significant external weight on either the stationary or rotating sides of the slip ring. Additionally, a slip ring assembly is disclosed allowing multiple small, linear, rolling contacts on each conductive ring of each electrical receiver disk of the slip ring (both the stationary and the rotating electrical receiver disks). Disclosed is an embodiment of a separator plate having a spiraling-out-from-the-center series of holes and in those holes of the separator plate are the small linear rolling, contacts. In one embodiment each spiraling series of holes with small the rolling contacts provides one rolling contact on each electrical conductive ring on each receiver disk. These spiral rings enable a slip ring designer to provide multiple rolling contacts on each circular electrical conduction ring by simply increasing the number or spiraled series of holes.
US09385494B2 Power extending board and power supply system using same
A power supply system includes a power source and a power extending board detachably connected between the power source and an electronic device. The power source includes at least two outputs. The power extending board includes at least two first transmitting terminals and a second transmitting terminal connected to the two first transmitting terminals. Each of the two outputs transmits a first driving voltage from the power source to the second transmitting terminal via a corresponding first transmitting terminal. The first driving voltages from the power source are identical to each other. The second transmitting terminal transmits a second driving voltage to the electronic device. The second driving voltage is identical to each of the first driving voltages.
US09385491B1 Overheat auto power off socket
The present invention relates to an overheat auto power off socket, in which a linkage unit it includes is positioned at one side of a conductive shrapnel, and via a hot melt piece found within linkage unit, it conducts electricity, and when the temperature level of the conductive shrapnel is too high, it first melts, and then causes formation of a short circuit between linkage unit and the wiring terminal frame, so that it stops conduction of electricity, and therefore achieves the purpose of preventing formation of dangerous situations due to high temperatures.
US09385485B2 Method and apparatus for terminating wire wound magnetic core
A modular jack has a magnetic assembly including insulative body, two rows of terminals retained to the insulative body, four transformers, and four common mode chokes. Each of the transformer and common mode choke includes a magnetic core and a plurality of conductive wires wound therearound. Each terminal has a recess for receiving an end portions of a corresponding wire and then the terminal is inserted into a through-hole of an internal printed circuit board for dip soldering. Guiding of the wire to the recess can be automated in contrast to manual winding operation.
US09385479B1 Overmolded connector sub-assembly
A connector sub-assembly includes a dielectric carrier, plural signal conductors, and a ground frame. The dielectric carrier is defined by first and second overmolded bodies that engage one another at an overmold interface. An intermediate segment of each signal conductor is encased within the dielectric carrier. The ground frame is held between the first and second overmolded bodies at the overmold interface. The ground frame includes a ground bus bar encased within the dielectric carrier and plural ground conductors extending from the ground bus bar. The second overmolded body is formed in-situ on an inner side of the first overmolded body. An inner side of the second overmolded body at the overmold interface is partially defined by a profile of the inner side of the first overmolded body and partially defined by the ground frame.
US09385478B2 High-speed connector inserts and cables
High speed connector inserts and cables having improved heat conduction, high strength, and may be manufactured in a reliable manner. One example may provide a connector insert having several paths by which heat may be removed from circuitry in the cable insert. In one example, heat may be removed from one or more circuits by forming a thermal path between a circuit and a shield of the connector insert. Another path may include one or more pads on a side of an integrated circuit board that are soldered directly to the shield. A braiding surrounding a cable may be soldered or otherwise thermally connected to the shield. Another example may provide a cable having a braiding that includes one or more types of fibers, such as aramid fibers. Another example may provide for increased manufacturability by using a wire comb and a solder bar.
US09385477B2 High speed edge card connector
A connector for connection between a circuit board and a further electronic component is disclosed. The connector includes an insulating housing having a board slot open towards a mating direction for accommodating the circuit board, and a plurality of terminals. The terminals have a rear portion, an intermediate portion and a tip portion, the intermediate portion including a contact portion for contacting a surface portion of the circuit board when accommodated in the board slot. The housing includes a window such that for a number of adjacent terminals housing material is absent between the intermediate portions. A shield member may be arranged in between the rear portions of the terminals. Improved circuit boards are also disclosed.
US09385475B1 Indicating handles for electrical connectors
An electrical connector is described herein and can include a first connector end and a second connector end removably coupled to the first connector end. The first connector end can include a first collar forming a first cavity, where the first collar comprises a connector coupling feature. The first connector end can also include a first handle disposed on a first outer surface of the first collar, wherein the first handle comprises a handle coupling feature. The second connector end can include a second collar forming a second cavity, where the second collar includes a complementary connector coupling feature, where the connector coupling feature of the first connector end couples with the complementary connector coupling feature of the second connector end. The second connector end can also include a second handle disposed on a second outer surface of the second collar that includes a complementary handle coupling feature.
US09385473B2 Lever-actuated electrical connector and mating system
A lever-actuated electrical connector is disclosed having a housing mateable with a mating connector having a complementary mating terminal. A mating lever is positioned on the housing and rotatable from an initial mating position to a final mating position. A lever lock is disposed on the mating lever and latches to a mating housing of the mating connector when the mating connector and electrical connector are completely mated. A mating detection terminal is positioned on the mating lever and forms a detection circuit when in contact with the mating terminal of the mating connector. The position of the mating detection terminal is controlled by the lever lock through the operation of the mating lever, and the detection circuit is only formed when the mating lever is in a final mating position.
US09385468B2 Joint connector assembly
The invention relates to a joint connector assembly including first and second connectors connected to each other by a circuit board and connected to third connectors by connection terminals. The circuit board is mounted at the center of the third connectors below the first and second connectors located in an upper region of a main body housing and is integrally formed with the main body housing in a lower region thereof. The upper region of the main body housing defines first and second connector receptacles for the first and second connectors. A cover member is attached to a lower surface of the circuit board to cover the circuit board. The joint connector assembly has a reduced volume because the connectors are connected to one another without lines and all the connectors are inserted in the main body housing, allowing the joint connector assembly to be installed in a small space.
US09385467B2 Coaxial connector having detachable locking sleeve
A connector is provided for attachment to a coaxial cable. The connector includes, in one embodiment, a connector body and a locking sleeve. The locking sleeve is configured to be moved between an attached and a detached state. In each such state, the locking sleeve is configured to receive the end of the cable. In one position, the locking sleeve is configured to lock the end of the cable to the connector body.
US09385465B2 Terminal spacer
A terminal spacer having a cylindrical shape is attached to the circumference of an electric wire connected to a charge terminal. The terminal spacer includes a slit portion extending across the entire length in the axial direction of the terminal spacer. The slit portion includes an electric wire insertion slit portion into which the electric wire can be inserted, and a narrow slit portion continuously extending from the electric wire insertion slit portion and having an opening width narrower than that of the electric wire insertion slit portion.
US09385457B2 Connector assembly and method
Connectors and methods to couple packages and dies are shown. Selected examples include plugs and receptacles having two or more terraces with contacts provided along the terraces. Examples of connectors and methods include configurations where the connector is usable with a package including a die coupled along a substrate. In selected examples a heat sink is coupled over the die, and a package includes a side access port between the heat sink and the substrate configured to receive the connector, such as one or more of a plug or receptacle through the side access port.
US09385454B2 Connector and connector assembly including a plurality of contacts which are separated from each other and are arranged in a pitch direction perpendicular to a connection direction
A connector is to be fixed to a principal surface of a connection object and to be connected with a mating object. The connector comprises a plurality of contacts and a guide member. Each of the contacts has a first soldered portion, a first main portion and a first auxiliary portion. The first main portion has a contact portion. The guide member has a second soldered portion, a second main portion and second auxiliary portion. The second main portion has a guide portion which guides the mating object. When the first soldered portions and the second soldered portion are soldered to the principal surface, the contacts are arranged in a pitch direction while being separated from one another, and the guide member is separated from the contacts. The first auxiliary portion and the second auxiliary portion have cross-sections same as each other in a plane perpendicular to the pitch direction.
US09385450B2 Cable connector assembly
A cable connector assembly comprises: a first connector module comprising an insulative housing with a plurality of receiving rooms, a plurality of first connectors respectively received into the receiving rooms, a first PCB electrically connected to the plurality of first connectors and a metallic shell enclosing the insulative housing; and a second connector module comprising a second PCB formed therein; a flat wire electrically connecting to the first connector module and the second connector module. One end of the flat wire is electrically connected to the first PCB, and the other end of the flat wire is electrically connected to the second PCB.
US09385447B2 Electrical contacting of tensile carriers in support components
A system for electrical contacting of tensile carriers in support means includes a support means and a contacting device. The support means has a casing and at least four tensile carriers. The tensile carriers are arranged parallel to one another in the casing and lie substantially in one plane. The contacting device has a contact element. The contact element has a cutting side for penetration of the casing, wherein the cutting side of the contact element is so guided through the casing that the contact element contacts the at least four tensile carriers at least by the cutting side.
US09385445B2 Composite intelligent terminal wiring device and plug device
A combined-type intelligent terminal wiring device and a plug device are provided. The wiring device includes a top wiring terminal board, a bottom wiring terminal board and a combined-type socket. An interior of each terminal of the combined-type socket has a spring-leaf structure, and each spring leaf includes an upper spring leaf and a lower spring leaf which are conductively connected via a contact surface. The top wiring terminal board has one end configured to connect the upper spring leaf, and the bottom wiring terminal board has one end configured to connect the lower spring leaf. The plug device includes a plug and a wiring terminal, the plug is located at a front end of the plug device and is a conductive metallic sheet, and the wiring terminal is located at a rear end of the plug device and has one end connected to the conductive metallic sheet.
US09385438B2 Cable connector assembly with small outline
A cable connector assembly includes an insulative housing, a cable defining a number of core wires, and a number of conductive terminals held in the insulative housing. Each conductive terminal includes a contacting portion, a soldering portion soldered to the cable, and a middle portion between the contacting portion and the soldering portion. The conductive terminals include a number of first terminals in a row and a number of second terminals in another row. Both the first terminals and the second terminals include a pair of power terminals and a pair of grounding terminals. The soldering portion of only one kind conductive terminal of the first terminals is bent to a plane of the soldering portion of a corresponding conductive terminal of the second terminals with same function to form a shared soldering portion. The shared soldering portion is electrically connected to a corresponding core wire.
US09385436B2 Dual-band dichroic polarizer and system including same
A dual-band dichroic polarizer is provided for converting linearly polarized electromagnetic energy within distinct frequency bands into oppositely polarized circularly polarized electromagnetic energy. The polarizer includes an array of unit cells distributed across a sheet, wherein the unit cells each include a stack of one or more resonant structures, the stack configured to introduce a phase differential of approximately +90° to linearly polarized electromagnetic energy within a first distinct frequency band that is incident upon and passes through the sheet, and configured to introduce a phase differential of approximately −90° to linearly polarized electromagnetic energy within a second distinct frequency band, separate from the first distinct frequency band, that is incident upon and passes through the sheet, a linear polarization of the electromagnetic energy in the first distinct frequency band and a linear polarization of the electromagnetic energy in the second distinct frequency band being the same.
US09385433B2 Multiband hybrid antenna
An antenna including a high band generating assembly having a first end and a second end, the high band generating assembly including a feed point and a bifurcated conductive element coupled to the feed point and having an angularly bent tip, the feed point defining the first end of the high band generating assembly, the angularly bent tip defining the second end of the high band generating assembly, at least one low band generating assembly, the at least one low band generating assembly including the high band generating assembly and at least one pair of dipole arms extending from the bifurcated conductive element, and a balun portion coupled to the feed point.
US09385429B2 Penta-band internal antenna and mobile communication terminal thereof
A penta-band internal antenna and a mobile communication terminal may include: a first high-frequency branch, a second high-frequency branch, and a low-frequency branch of an antenna radiating element, and a first slotted hole and a second slotted hole arranged on a printed circuit board. The first slotted hole may be arranged along a direction substantially perpendicular to the current flow direction of the printed circuit board. The open-circuit end of the low-frequency branch may be fitted into the first slotted hole and the open-circuit end of the second high-frequency branch may be fitted into the second slotted hole.
US09385426B2 Method for formation of radiometric images and an antenna for implementation of the method
A method of radiometric image generation is provided using a series of isochronous revolutions of a multi-beam antenna with a dispersion characteristic. The antenna is combined with a multi-channel receiver with frequency channel separation to form an imaging unit. The method comprising cyclically executing the following phases: two separate calibration phase; using first and second standards; external radiation reception phase; data processing phase and data transformation phase.
US09385421B2 Antenna and electronic device for close proximity wireless communication
According to one embodiment, an antenna includes first and second coupling elements and first to fourth connecting elements. An electrical length between a middle point of the first coupling element and each of both open ends thereof is a first electrical length which is an odd multiple of ¼ of a wavelength λ corresponding to a frequency used for close proximity wireless communication. An electrical length between a middle point of the second coupling element and each of both open ends thereof is the first electrical length. An electrical length of each of the first to fourth connecting elements is a second electrical length which is an odd multiple of ¼ of the wavelength λ.
US09385420B2 Wireless antenna for RFID tires
An RFID device for tires utilizes a wireless antenna. The antenna is formed of a pair of spaced apart electrically conductive rubber units. The conductive rubber antenna is encapsulated between a pair of non-conductive sheets. A third non-conductive member encircles the conductive rubber antenna and is itself sealed between the first and second sheets of non-conductive material. A microchip is positioned in the slot defined by the space between the units and conductively attached to each of the units.
US09385413B2 Platform assemblies for radio transmission towers
Platform structures and platform assemblies are provided for supporting a plurality of radio frequency (RF) antennas and the weight of one or more workers. One platform structure provided herein includes a steel radial beam extending from an RF tower and a plurality of steel arms welded to the radial beam. The platform structure also includes a first front plate having a front facing portion and an angled portion, where the front facing portion of the first front plate is welded to a first steel arm. Also included is a second front plate having a front facing portion and an angled portion, where the front facing portion of the second front plate is welded to a second steel arm. The platform structure further includes a first side plate having a side facing portion and an angled portion. The side facing portion of the first side plate is welded to a third steel arm. The platform structure also includes a second side plate having a side facing portion and an angled portion, where the side facing portion of the second side plate is welded to a fourth steel arm.
US09385408B2 Reduced backdrilling with quarter wavelength transmission line stubs
Embodiments of the present invention provide for a transmission line stub that includes a via stub of a conductive via. The conductive via includes a via stub and a coupling element, wherein a first transmission line configured to transmit a signal is coupled to the conductive via at the intersection of the via stub and the coupling element. The coupling element is configured to transmit the signal from the first transmission line. A line stub electrically coupled to the via stub, wherein the length of the line stub is selected such that the transmission line stub having a length of the sum of the lengths of the via stub and the line stub is configured to suppress a preselected frequency.
US09385390B2 High surface area flow battery electrodes
A flow cell battery includes at least one anode compartment and at least one cathode compartment, with a separator membrane disposed between each anode compartment and each cathode compartment. Each anode compartment and cathode compartment includes a bipolar plate, a fluid electrolyte, and at least a carbon nanomaterial on the surface of the bipolar plate, wherein the fluid electrolyte flows around the carbon nanomaterial.
US09385389B2 Fuel cell
An electrolyte membrane 22 constituting a membrane electrode assembly includes thick portions 23 having a relatively large thickness. The thick portions 23 have a strip shape and are disposed at a predetermined distance from each other along the electric conduction direction. The thick portions 23 extend from one side L1 of the electrolyte membrane 22 extending in a direction perpendicular to the electric conduction direction to the other side L2 of the electrolyte membrane 22 extending in the direction perpendicular to the electric conduction direction. The thick portions 23 have a convex shape with respect to the anode side surface and the cathode side surface of the electrolyte membrane 22.
US09385382B2 Systems and methods for controlling cabin heating in fuel cell vehicles
System and methods for controlling and optimizing coolant system parameters in a fuel cell system to obtain a requested cabin temperature in a fuel cell vehicle are presented. A method for managing a temperature in a vehicle cabin may include receiving an indication relating to a desired vehicle cabin temperature and a plurality of measured operating parameters. Based on the measured operating parameters, a projected output temperature of a cabin heat exchanger may be estimated. A determination may be made that the projected output temperature of the cabin heat exchanger is less than the indication. Based on the determination a fuel cell coolant parameter may be adjusted.
US09385378B2 Method for manufacturing lead-acid battery
Provided herein is a lead-acid battery for which the risk of breakage of a current collecting lug part of a plate while in use is eliminated by simple means. At least a positive plate group of the lead-acid battery includes: one or more plates each including a current collector having a current collecting portion formed by expanding or punching a lead alloy sheet manufactured by cold rolling, and one or more current collecting lug parts unitarily formed with the current collecting portion; and a strap formed by a cast-on strap casting method and coupled to the one or more current collecting lug parts. The current collecting lug part is formed with an elongated protrusion extending in a direction away from the current collecting portion. The elongated protrusion continuously extends in a direction toward the current collecting portion of the plate from inside the strap.
US09385377B2 Method for producing a catalyst for fuel cells
An object of the present invention is to provide a production method which can increase the activity of a catalyst particle comprising a core particle and an outermost layer, the core particle comprising at least one of palladium and a palladium alloy, and the outermost layer comprising at least one of platinum and a platinum alloy and covering the core particle. The method is for producing a catalyst for fuel cells, in which a catalyst particle is supported by an electroconductive carrier, the method comprising the steps of: preparing a supported catalyst in which a catalyst particle comprising a core particle and an outermost layer is supported by an electroconductive carrier, the core particle comprising at least one of palladium and a palladium alloy, and the outermost layer comprising at least one of platinum and a platinum alloy and covering the core particle; acid treatment to bring the supported catalyst into contact with an acid solution which dissolves palladium more preferentially than platinum; and firing the supported catalyst at 80° C. or more and less than 200° C. in a reducing gas atmosphere after the acid treatment step.
US09385376B2 Manufacturing method of fibrous perovskite-type oxide catalyst
A manufacturing method of a fibrous perovskite-type oxide catalyst includes: a first preparing step; a jetting step; a heating step; and an impregnating step. The first preparing step prepares a first solution by mixing metal salts containing La, Sr, Fe, Co and O elements, a first polymer, a metal salt containing a Zn element and a first solvent. The jetting step jets the first solution by using an electrospinning method to produce a precursor fiber. The heating step heats the precursor fiber to produce a perovskite-type oxide mixed with a Zn oxide. The impregnating step impregnates the perovskite-type oxide with an alkaline solution to remove the Zn oxide.
US09385372B2 Lithium secondary battery of high power property with improved high energy density
A high-output lithium secondary battery is provided. In some embodiments, the lithium secondary battery includes a cathode having a first cathode active material having a layered structure and. a second cathode active material having a spinel structure, wherein the-amount of the second cathode active material is between 40 and 100 wt % based on the total weight of the cathode active materials, an anode including crystalline graphite having a specific surface area (with respect to capacity) of 0.005 to 0.013 m2/mAh as an anode active material, and a separator.
US09385364B2 Carbon-deposited alkali metal oxyanion electrode material and process for preparing same
The present invention relates to a process for the synthesis of a carbon-deposited alkali metal oxyanion cathode material comprising particles, wherein said particles carry, on at least a portion of the particle surface, carbon deposited by pyrolysis, said process comprising a dry high-energy milling step performed on precursors of said carbon-deposited alkali metal oxyanion prior to a solid-state thermal reaction.
US09385359B2 Cell connector having voltage tapping point coated with contacting material
A cell connector is provided by means of which an electrically conductive connection between a voltage tapping point and a voltage tapping line can be established, wherein the cell connector is for the connection of a first cell terminal of a first electro-chemical cell and a second cell terminal of a second electro-chemical cell and includes a voltage tapping point with a contact element for connection to a terminal element of a voltage tapping line and also a longitudinal axis and a peripheral wall extending about the longitudinal axis. The contact element includes a base material, which is at least partially pre-coated with a contacting material in an initial state, and reshaped from the initial state into a final state such that the proportion of the peripheral wall coated with the contacting material to the overall peripheral angular extent of the peripheral wall amounts to more than 50%.
US09385358B2 Separator for rechargeable lithium battery, and rechargeable lithium battery including the same
Disclosed are a separator for a rechargeable lithium battery including a porous substrate and an adherence porous layer on at least one side of the porous substrate, and including a first fluorovinylidene-hexafluoropropylene copolymer, a second fluorovinylidene-hexafluoropropylene copolymer, and filler particles, and a rechargeable lithium battery including the same.
US09385345B2 Organic light emitting display device and method of fabricating the same
Disclosed herein are an organic light emitting display device includes first to third sub-pixels realizing different colors, wherein each of the first to third sub-pixels includes first and second electrodes disposed on a substrate so as to face each other, an emission layer formed between the first and second electrodes, a multi-layered hole transporting layer formed between the first electrode and the emission layer to be in contact with the first electrode and the emission layer, and an electron transporting layer formed between the second electrode and the emission layer, wherein multi-layered hole transporting layer of at least one of the first to third sub-pixels includes an at least two-layered first hole transporting layer formed of a hole host and a p-type dopant having a doping concentration of 1 to 10% and a second hole transporting layer formed of the hole host.
US09385344B2 Organic light emitting diode device and method of manufacturing the same
An organic light emitting diode device includes an array substrate including a display region where a plurality of pixel regions each include a light emitting diode, and a non-display region surrounding the display region; and a protection layer covering the display region, extending to the non-display region, and including a round corner, wherein a maximum of a radius of the corner of the protection layer is determined according to a distance between a side of the protection layer and a side of the display region corresponding to the side of the protection layer, and the radius of the corner is at least 0.1 mm.
US09385339B2 Organic light-emitting element and light-emitting device with the organic light-emitting element
The present invention provides a white organic light-emitting element high in the emission efficiency. In particular, the invention provides a white organic light-emitting element that has an emission spectrum having peaks in the respective wavelength regions of red color, green color and blue color and is high in the emission efficiency. It is preferable to use an electron transport material between a first emission region and a second emission region and more preferable to use a hole block material.
US09385338B2 Organic light-emitting component
An organic light-emitting component includes a first light-emitting layer sequence, which is designed to emit light in a first wavelength range during the operation of the component. A second light-emitting layer sequence is designed to emit light in a second wavelength range during the operation of the component. A charge carrier generating layer sequence is designed to output charge carriers to the first light-emitting layer sequence and to the second light-emitting layer sequence during the operation of the component. The first wavelength range differs from the second wavelength range. The charge carrier generating layer sequence is arranged between the first light-emitting layer sequence and the second light-emitting layer sequence in a stacking direction of the organic light-emitting component.
US09385335B2 Organic electroluminescent device
The present invention relates to phosphorescent organic electroluminescent devices which have a low concentration of the phosphorescent emitter in the emitting layer.
US09385332B2 Organic-inorganic hybrid multilayer gate dielectrics for thin film transistors
Disclosed are organic-inorganic hybrid self-assembled multilayers that can be used as electrically insulating (or dielectric) materials. These multilayers generally include an inorganic primer layer and one or more bilayers deposited thereon. Each bilayer includes a chromophore or “π-polarizable” layer and an inorganic capping layer composed of zirconia. Because of the regularity of the bilayer structure and the aligned orientation of the chromophore resulting from the self-assembly process, the present multilayers have applications in electronic devices such as thin film transistors, as well as in nonlinear optics and nonvolatile memories.
US09385328B2 Composite material, light-emitting element, light-emitting device, electronic device, and lighting device
A composite material which includes an organic compound and an inorganic compound and has a high carrier-transport property is provided. A composite material having a good property of carrier injection into an organic compound is provided. A composite material in which light absorption due to charge-transfer interaction is unlikely to occur is provided. A composite material having a high visible-light-transmitting property is provided. A composite material including a hydrocarbon compound and an inorganic compound exhibiting an electron-accepting property with respect to the hydrocarbon compound is provided. The hydrocarbon compound has a substituent bonded to a naphthalene skeleton, a phenanthrene skeleton, or a triphenylene skeleton and has a molecular weight of 350 to 2000, and the substituent has one or more rings selected from a benzene ring, a naphthalene ring, a phenanthrene ring, and a triphenylene ring.
US09385327B2 Heterocyclic compound and organic light-emitting device including the same
A heterocyclic compound is represented by Formula 1. An organic light emitting device includes a first electrode, a second electrode and an organic layer between the first and second electrodes. The organic layer includes the heterocyclic compound. An organic light-emitting display apparatus includes the organic light-emitting device and a transistor including a source, a drain, a gate and an active layer. The source or the drain is electrically connected to the first electrode of the organic light-emitting device.
US09385323B2 Patterning of OLED materials
A method of making a patterned OLED layer or layers. The method uses a shadow mask having, for example, a free-standing silicon nitride membrane to pattern color emitter material with a feature size of less than 10 microns. The methods can be used, for example, in the manufacture of OLED microdisplays.
US09385319B1 Filamentary based non-volatile resistive memory device and method
A resistive memory device includes a first metallic layer comprising a source of positive metallic ions, a switching media having an upper surface and a lower surface, wherein the upper surface is adjacent to the first metallic layer, wherein the switching media comprises conductive filaments comprising positive metallic ions from the source of positive metallic ions formed from the upper surface towards the lower surface, a semiconductor substrate, a second metallic layer disposed above the semiconductor substrate, a non-metallic conductive layer disposed above the second metallic layer, and an interface region between the non-metallic conductive layer and the switching media having a negative ionic charge.
US09385318B1 Method to integrate a halide-containing ALD film on sensitive materials
Various embodiments herein relate to methods and apparatus for depositing a bilayer barrier layer on a substrate. The bilayer barrier layer may include a first sub-layer designed to protect underlying halide-sensitive layers from damaging halide-containing chemistry, as well as a second sub-layer designed to protect underlying materials from damage due to oxidation. In a number of embodiments the first sub-layer is layer having a high carbon content, and the second layer is silicon nitride. The silicon nitride second sub-layer may be deposited with halide-containing chemistry that would otherwise damage halide-sensitive materials, if not for the presence of the first sub-layer. The resulting bilayer barrier layer provides high quality protection for underlying materials.
US09385310B2 Phase change memory structure comprising phase change alloy center-filled with dielectric material
A phase change memory structure, including a substrate having a cavity extending from a surface of the substrate into an interior region thereof, wherein the cavity is bounded by side wall surface, wherein the cavity is coated on the side wall surface with a film of phase change memory material defining a core that is at least partially filled with dielectric material such as alumina. Such phase change memory structure can be fabricated in a substrate containing a cavity closed at one end thereof with a bottom electrode, by a method including: conformally coating sidewall surface of the cavity and surface of the bottom electrode closing the cavity, with a phase change memory material film, to form an open core volume bounded by the phase change memory material film; at least partially filling the open core volume with alumina or other dielectric material; and forming a top electrode at an upper portion of the cavity.
US09385304B2 Magnetic memory and method of manufacturing the same
According to one embodiment, a magnetic memory is disclosed. The memory includes a conductive layer containing a first metal material, a stacked body above the conductive layer, and including a first magnetization film containing a second metal material, a second magnetization film, and a tunnel barrier layer between the first magnetization film and the second magnetization film, and an insulating layer on a side face of the stacked body, and containing an oxide of the first metal material. The first magnetization film and/or the second magnetization film includes a first region positioned in a central portion, and a second region positioned in an edge portion and containing As, P, Ge, Ga, Sb, In, N, Ar, He, F, Cl, Br, I, Si, B, C, O, Zr, Tb, S, Se, or Ti.
US09385300B2 Magnetostrictive actuator
A method of minimizing the cold start delay and impact fatigue of an actuator includes calibrating the actuator by initially raising the temperature to a desired operating temperature through induction heating of the actuator rod. Additionally, a control system for a magnetostrictive actuator includes a rod of magnetostrictive material, a solenoid coil wrapped at least once around said rod, and a controller operatively connected to said solenoid coil wherein the controller detects an impact of the rod with another surface and adjusts the operation of the actuator to minimize the potential for additional future impacts. The rod may be segmented and include end caps to further reduce the potential for impact fatigue.
US09385298B2 Electromechanical conversion element, liquid drop discharge head and image forming apparatus
An electromechanical conversion element includes a lower electrode formed directly or indirectly on a substrate or a base film; an electromechanical conversion film formed on the lower electrode and including a piezoelectric body having a perovskite crystal structure preferentially oriented with a {n00} plane where n is a positive integer; and an upper electrode formed on the electromechanical conversion film. A diffraction peak at a position 2θ at which a diffraction intensity has a maximum value and which corresponds to a (X00) plane or a (00X) plane, X being 1 or 2, obtained by θ-2θ measurement in X-ray diffraction measurement, shows a trapezoidal peak shape and has two or more bending points.
US09385292B2 Geothermally-cooled solar thermoelectric energy harvester
A solar thermoelectric generator (STEG) is disclosed. A STEG includes a thermoelectric generator (TEG) configured to convert light energy from solar light into electrical energy, and a heat transfer structure coupled to the TEG where a portion of the heat transfer structure is configured to be embedded in the earth. The TEG includes a first side and a second side, wherein the solar light is incident on the first side of the TEG and the heat transfer structure is configured to provide cooling for the second side of the TEG using geothermal cooling. The use of geothermal cooling to provide cooling for the second side of the TEG increases the temperature difference across the TEG of the STEG, thereby increasing the net generation efficiency of the STEG.
US09385287B2 Batwing LED with remote phosphor configuration
A lens is formed over one or more light-emitting devices disposed over a substrate. The lens includes a trench that circumferentially surrounds the one or more light-emitting devices. The trench is filled with a phosphor-containing material.
US09385282B2 Color stable red-emitting phosphors
A process for synthesizing a Mn4+ doped phosphor includes contacting a precursor of formula I, Ax(M1−z,Mnz)Fy  I at an elevated temperature with a fluorine-containing oxidizing agent in gaseous form to form the Mn4+ doped phosphor; wherein A is Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, or a combination thereof; M is Si, Ge, Sn, Ti, Zr, Al, Ga, In, Sc, Hf, Y, La, Nb, Ta, Bi, Gd, or a combination thereof; x is the absolute value of the charge of the [MFy] ion; y is 5, 6 or 7; and 0.03≦z≦0.10.
US09385280B2 Semiconductor light emitting element and method of manufacturing the same
A semiconductor light emitting element having: a semiconductor laminated body; a full surface electrode containing an Ag provided on an upper surface of the p-type semiconductor layer; a cover electrode that covers a surface of the full surface electrode, is provided to contact on the upper surface of the p-type semiconductor layer at an outer edge of the full surface electrode, and is made of an Al-based metal material; a p-side electrode that is provided on a portion of a surface of the cover electrode; a metal oxide film that covers other surfaces of the cover electrode and contains an oxide of a metal material forming the cover electrode; and an insulation film that is made of an oxide and covers a surface of the metal oxide film, is provided.
US09385268B2 Method of manufacturing semiconductor chips
A method of manufacturing semiconductor chips includes: forming grooves on a front face side of a substrate; and forming grooves on a back face side of the substrate as defined herein, and in manufacturing conditions in which a variation range of a top section of the cutting member having a tapered tip end shape with no top face in the groove width direction changes from a range included in the groove on the front face side to a range away from the groove on the front face side as wear of the cutting member advances, the use of the cutting member is stopped before the variation range changes from the range included in the groove on the front face side to the range away from the groove on the front face side.
US09385243B2 Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device includes a first electrode, a second electrode, a first semiconductor region that is formed between the first electrode and the second electrode and is in contact with the first electrode, a second semiconductor region that is formed between the first semiconductor region and the second electrode, a contact region that is formed between the second semiconductor region and the second electrode and is in contact with the second semiconductor region and the second electrode, a plurality of third semiconductor regions that are formed between the second electrode and the first semiconductor region and are in contact with the second electrode, and a wiring that is in contact with the second electrode, a portion of the wiring bonded to the second electrode being positioned above the third semiconductor region and not positioned above the contact region.
US09385239B2 Buffer layers for metal oxide semiconductors for TFT
The present invention generally relates to a thin film semiconductor device having a buffer layer formed between the semiconductor layer and one or more layers. In one embodiment, a thin film semiconductor device includes a semiconductor layer having a first work function and a first electron affinity level, a buffer layer having a second work function greater than the first work function and a second electron affinity level that is less than the first electron affinity level; and a gate dielectric layer having a third work function less than the second work function and a third electron affinity level that is greater than the second electron affinity level.
US09385229B2 Semiconductor device with improved breakdown voltage
Semiconductor device structures and related fabrication methods are provided. An exemplary semiconductor device structure includes a first region of semiconductor material having a first conductivity type and a first dopant concentration, a second region of semiconductor material having a second conductivity type overlying the first region, a drift region of semiconductor material having the first conductivity type overlying the second region, and a drain region of semiconductor material having the first conductivity type. The drift region and the drain region are electrically connected, with at least a portion of the drift region residing between the drain region and the second region, and at least a portion of the second region residing between that drift region and the first region. In one or more exemplary embodiments, the first region abuts an underlying insulating layer of dielectric material.
US09385220B2 Semiconductor device having fin structure that includes dummy fins
A semiconductor device includes: a substrate, a fin-shaped structure on the substrate, and a dummy fin-shaped structure on the substrate and adjacent to the fin-shaped structure. Preferably, the fin-shaped structure includes a gate structure thereon and a first epitaxial layer adjacent to two sides of the gate structure, and the dummy fin-shaped structure includes a second epitaxial layer thereon. A contact plug is disposed on the first epitaxial layer and the second epitaxial layer.
US09385219B2 Method and apparatus for selective deposition
Methods for forming fin structures with desired materials formed on different locations of the fin structure using a selective deposition process for fin field effect transistors (FinFETs) are provided. In one embodiment, a method of forming a structure with desired materials on a substrate includes depositing a first material on a substrate having a three-dimensional (3D) structure formed thereon while performing an implantation process to dope a first region of the 3D structure. The first material may be removed and a second material may be deposited on the 3D structure. The second material may selectively grow on a second region of the 3D structure.
US09385218B1 Method and structure for forming dielectric isolated FinFET with improved source/drain epitaxy
A semiconductor structure is provided that includes a fin structure of, from bottom to top, a semiconductor punch through stop (PTS) doping fin portion, a dielectric material fin portion, and a topmost semiconductor fin portion that is present on a wider semiconductor fin base. A functional gate structure straddles the semiconductor fin structure. Portions of the wider semiconductor fin base that are not located directly beneath the fin structure of the present application and that are not covered by the functional gate structure can be used as an area for epitaxial growth of source/drain structures. The wide semiconductor fin base improves source/drain epitaxy for better dopant incorporation and strain enhancement.
US09385212B2 Method for manufacturing semiconductor device
A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device is provided. The method includes forming, on a substrate, a plurality of fins extending along a first direction; forming, on the fins, a dummy gate stack extending along a second direction; forming a gate spacer on opposite sides of the dummy gate stack in the first direction; epitaxially growing raised source/drain regions on the top of the fins on opposite sides of the gate spacer in the first direction; performing lightly-doping ion implantation through the raised source/drain regions with the gate spacer as a mask, to form source/drain extension regions in the fins on opposite sides of the gate spacer in the first direction; removing the dummy gate stack to form a gate trench; and forming a gate stack in the gate trench.
US09385206B2 Semiconductor device having spacer with tapered profile
A semiconductor device is disclosed. The semiconductor device includes a substrate, a gate structure on the substrate, and a spacer adjacent to the gate structure, in which the bottom of the spacer includes a tapered profile and the tapered profile comprises a convex curve.
US09385201B2 Buried source-drain contact for integrated circuit transistor devices and method of making same
An integrated circuit transistor is formed on a substrate. A trench in the substrate is at least partially filed with a metal material to form a source (or drain) contact buried in the substrate. The substrate further includes a source (or drain) region in the substrate which is in electrical connection with the source (or drain) contact. The substrate further includes a channel region adjacent to the source (or drain) region. A gate dielectric is provided on top of the channel region and a gate electrode is provided on top of the gate dielectric. The substrate may be of the silicon on insulator (SOI) or bulk type. The buried source (or drain) contact makes electrical connection to a side of the source (or drain) region using a junction provided at a same level of the substrate as the source (or drain) and channel regions.
US09385198B2 Heterostructures for semiconductor devices and methods of forming the same
Various heterostructures and methods of forming heterostructures are disclosed. A structure includes a substrate, a template layer, a barrier layer, and a device layer. The substrate comprises a first crystalline material. The template layer comprises a second crystalline material, and the second crystalline material is lattice mismatched to the first crystalline material. The template layer is over and adjoins the first crystalline material, and the template layer is at least partially disposed in an opening of a dielectric material. The barrier layer comprises a third crystalline material, and the third crystalline material is a binary III-V compound semiconductor. The barrier layer is over the template layer. The device layer comprises a fourth crystalline material, and the device layer is over the barrier layer.
US09385186B2 High voltage device with composite structure and a starting circuit
A high voltage device with composite structure comprises a high voltage power MOS transistor HVNMOS and a JFET. The high voltage power MOS transistor HVNMOS comprises a drain, a source, a gate and a substrate, and a P-type well region Pwell as a conducting channel which is arranged between the source and the drain. The JFET comprises the drain, the source, the gate and the substrate, and an N-type well region Nwell as a conducting channel which is arranged between the source and the drain. The high voltage power MOS transistor HVNMOS and the JFET share the same drain, and the drain is processed by using N-type double diffusion process. The embodiment of the present invention further presents a starting circuit using the high voltage device with composite structure.
US09385184B2 Active device and semiconductor device with the same
A semiconductor device is provided, comprising a substrate; a first well having a first conductive type and extending down from a surface of the substrate; a diffusion region doped with impurity of the first conductive type and extending down from a surface of the first well; and a plurality of active devices formed within the diffusion region, and the active devices arranged separately from each other. The active devices are electrically isolated from each other by the diffusion region. The active device is self-isolated by a conductive guarding structure, and the semiconductor device comprising embodied STI-free active devices solves STI edge issues.
US09385182B2 Junction termination structures including guard ring extensions and methods of fabricating electronic devices incorporating same
An electronic device includes a semiconductor layer, a primary junction in the semiconductor layer, a lightly doped region surrounding the primary junction and a junction termination structure in the lightly doped region adjacent the primary junction. The junction termination structure has an upper boundary, a side boundary, and a corner between the upper boundary and the side boundary, and the lightly doped region extends in a first direction away from the primary junction and normal to a point on the upper boundary by a first distance that is smaller than a second distance by which the lightly doped region extends in a second direction away from the primary junction and normal to a point on the corner. At least one floating guard ring segment may be provided in the semiconductor layer outside the corner of the junction termination structure. Related methods are also disclosed.
US09385172B2 One-way transparent display
A transparent emissive device is provided. The device may include one or more OLEDs having an anode, a cathode, and an organic emissive layer disposed between the anode and the cathode. In some configurations, the OLEDs may be non-transparent. The device may also include one or more locally transparent regions, which, in combination with the non-transparent OLEDs, provides an overall device transparency of 5% or more.
US09385171B2 Active matrix organic light-emitting diode array substrate, manufacturing method thereof and display device including the same
An active matrix organic light-emitting diode array substrate, a manufacturing method thereof and a display device including the same are disclosed to improve the aperture ratio of pixel of the array substrate and the display quality of the display device. The array substrate includes: a substrate; and a plurality of pixel units located on the substrate and arranged in array manner, each of the pixel units comprising a thin film transistor, a first transparent electrode, a second transparent electrode and a gate insulation layer provided between the first transparent electrode and the second transparent electrode. The first transparent electrode is provided on the substrate and is electrically connected to a gate of the thin film transistor; and the second transparent electrode is electrically connected to a drain of the thin film transistor, and the second transparent electrode is positioned opposite to the first transparent electrode to form a storage capacitor of the pixel unit therebetween.
US09385163B2 Addressable SiOX memory array with incorporated diodes
Various embodiments of the resistive memory cells and arrays discussed herein comprise: (1) a first electrode; (2) a second electrode; (3) resistive memory material; and (4) a diode. The resistive memory material is selected from the group consisting of SiOx, SiOxH, SiOxNy, SiOxNyH, SiOxCz, SiOxCzH, and combinations thereof, wherein each of x, y and z are equal to or greater than 1 and equal to or less than 2. The diode may be any suitable diode, such as n-p diodes, p-n diodes, and Schottky diodes.
US09385159B2 Electronic circuitry having superconducting tunnel junctions with functional electromagnetic-responsive tunneling regions
A device includes at least one superconducting tunnel junction having a junction region comprising a junction barrier material responsive to electromagnetic fields within the MHz to THz range. The junction may be contained within a bi-SQUID loop having two main junctions and a center junction. The junction barrier material for the main junctions may have different electromagnetic-responsive properties than the junction barrier material for the center junction. The junction barrier material may include type-I multiferroics, type-II multiferroics, a composite multiferroic including layers of magnets and ferroelectrics, or piezoelectric materials. An array of connected bi-SQUID loops may be formed, where the main junctions of each bi-SQUID loop in each row are connected. The electromagnetic-responsive properties of the junction barrier material for center junctions of each bi-SQUID loop may vary by each array column or row. The center/main junctions of each bi-SQUID loop may be connected to an input signal line.
US09385158B2 Bipolar junction transistor pixel circuit, driving method thereof, and image sensor
A bipolar junction transistor (BJT) pixel circuit, an image sensor and a driving method thereof are provided. The BJT pixel circuit includes a BJT, a photodetector, a feedback amplifier circuit, a shutter circuit, and a current generating unit. The photodetector generates a first base current to a base of the BJT responsive to a light incident on the photodetector. The feedback amplifier circuit is operative to increase an emitter voltage of the BJT according to the light intensity. The shutter circuit controls an exposure time of the photodetector according to a shutter signal. The current generating unit generates the second pulsed base current responsive to a trigger signal causing a base voltage of the BJT to drop while the feedback amplifier circuit operates to increase the emitter voltage of the BJT so as to build-up the base-emitter voltage to a predetermined voltage level when a light source turns on.
US09385136B2 Silicon dot formation by self-assembly method and selective silicon growth for flash memory
Some embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a method that achieves a substantially uniform pattern of discrete storage elements within a memory cell. A copolymer solution having first and second polymer species is spin-coated onto a surface of a substrate and subjected to self-assembly into a phase-separated material having a regular pattern of micro-domains of the second polymer species within a polymer matrix having the first polymer species. The second polymer species is then removed resulting with a pattern of holes within the polymer matrix. An etch is then performed through the holes utilizing the polymer matrix as a hard-mask to form a substantially identical pattern of holes in a dielectric layer disposed over a seed layer disposed over the substrate surface. Epitaxial deposition onto the seed layer then utilized to grow a substantially uniform pattern of discrete storage elements within the dielectric layer.
US09385125B2 Semiconductor integrated circuit device
An MV-PMOS and MV-NMOS configuring a high side drive circuit are formed in an n-type isolation region formed on a p-type semiconductor substrate. The MV-NMOS is connected to a p-type isolation region of an intermediate potential in the interior of the n-type isolation region. An n-type epitaxial region is provided in a surface layer of the p-type semiconductor substrate on the outer side of the n-type isolation region, and a p-type GND region of a ground potential (GND) is provided on the outer side of the n-type epitaxial region. A cavity is provided between the p-type semiconductor substrate and n-type epitaxial region between the high side drive circuit and p-type GND region, and a p-type diffusion region is provided penetrating the n-type epitaxial region and reaching the cavity. The intermediate potential is applied to the p-type isolation region.
US09385124B1 Methods of forming reduced thickness spacers in CMOS based integrated circuit products
One method disclosed herein includes, among other things, forming a first spacer proximate gate structures of first and second transistors that are opposite type transistors, forming an initial second spacer proximate the first spacer of the first transistor and a layer of second spacer material above the second transistor, performing a timed, wet etching process on both of the transistors so as to completely remove the layer of second spacer material from the second transistor while leaving a reduced thickness second spacer positioned adjacent the first spacer of the first transistor, wherein the reduced thickness second spacer has a thickness that is less than an initial thickness of the initial second spacer, and forming a third spacer on and in contact with the first spacer of the second transistor.
US09385116B2 Semiconductor ESD device
An electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection device on a semiconductor substrate and a method for making the same. The device has an active region. The active region includes a gate. The active region also includes a source including a silicide portion having a source contact. The active region further includes a drain including a silicide portion having a drain contact. The source and drain each extend away from the gate along a device axis. The drain contact is laterally offset with respect to the source contact along a direction orthogonal to the device axis whereby current flow between the source contact and the drain contact has a lateral component. The device further comprises a non-silicide region located laterally between the drain contact and the source contact.
US09385115B2 Electrostatic discharge protection device
The present disclosure relates to an electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection device. The electrostatic discharge protection device, may comprise: a semiconductor controlled rectifier; and a p-n diode. The semiconductor controlled rectifier and the diode may be integrally disposed laterally at a major surface of a semiconductor substrate; and a current path for the semiconductor controlled rectifier may be separate from a current path for the diode.
US09385108B2 Light-emitting device having optoelectronic elements on different elevations
The present application provides a multi-dimensional light-emitting device electrically connected to a power supply system. The multi-dimensional light-emitting device comprises a substrate, a blue light-emitting diode array and one or more phosphor layers. The blue light-emitting diode array, disposed on the substrate, comprises a plurality of blue light-emitting diode chips which are electrically connected. The multi-dimensional light-emitting device comprises a central area and a plurality of peripheral areas, which are arranged around the central area. The phosphor layer covers the central area. When the power supply system provides a high voltage, the central area and the peripheral areas of the multi-dimensional light-emitting device provide a first light and a plurality of second lights, respectively. The first light and the second lights are blended into a mixed light.
US09385104B2 Bonding apparatus
Provided is a flip-chip bonding apparatus (500) capable of stacking and bonding a second-layer of the semiconductor chip (30) onto a first-layer of the semiconductor chip (20) having first through-silicon vias, the second-layer of the semiconductor chip (30) having second through-silicon vias at positions corresponding to the first through-silicon vias. The flip-chip bonding apparatus (500) includes: a double-view camera (16) configured to take images of thechips (20) and (30); and a control unit (50) having a relative-position detection program (53) for detecting relative positions of the first-layer of the semiconductor chip (20) and the second-layer of the semiconductor chip (30) that are stacked and bonded based on an image of the first through-silicon vias on a surface of the first-layer of the semiconductor chip (20) taken by the double-view camera (16) before stacked bonding, and an image of the second through-silicon vias on a surface of the second-layer of the semiconductor chip (30) taken by the double-view camera (16) after stacked bonding. This provides accurate connection between through-silicon vias using a simple method.
US09385102B2 Semiconductor device and method of forming supporting layer over semiconductor die in thin fan-out wafer level chip scale package
A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor die. An encapsulant is formed around the semiconductor die. A build-up interconnect structure is formed over a first surface of the semiconductor die and encapsulant. A first supporting layer is formed over a second surface of the semiconductor die as a supporting substrate or silicon wafer disposed opposite the build-up interconnect structure. A second supporting layer is formed over the first supporting layer an includes a fiber enhanced polymer composite material comprising a footprint including an area greater than or equal to an area of a footprint of the semiconductor die. The semiconductor die comprises a thickness less than 450 micrometers (μm). The thickness of the semiconductor die is at least 1 μm less than a difference between a total thickness of the semiconductor device and a thickness of the build-up interconnect structure and the second supporting layer.
US09385095B2 3D semiconductor package interposer with die cavity
Disclosed herein is a method of forming a device, comprising mounting a plurality of first interconnects on one or more first integrated circuit dies. One or more second integrated circuit dies are mounted on a first side of an interposer. The interposer is mounted to at a second side to the first integrated circuit dies, the plurality of first interconnects disposed outside of the interposer. The interposer is mounted to a first side of a substrate by attaching the first interconnects to the substrate, the substrate in signal communication with one or more of the first integrated circuit dies through the first interconnects.
US09385094B2 Apparatus, system, and method for wireless connection in integrated circuit packages
Some embodiments of the invention include a connecting structure between a support and at least one die attached to the support. The die includes a number of die bond pads on a surface of the die. The connecting structure includes a plurality of via and groove combinations. Conductive material is formed in the via and groove combinations to provide connection between the die bond pads and bond pads on the support. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US09385093B2 Chip diode and diode package
A chip diode includes a plurality of diode cells formed on a semiconductor substrate, each having a diode junction region; and parallel connection portions provided on the substrate to connect the diode cells in parallel and including a first electrode formed in one side of the substrate and having at least two extending portions extending only to another side of the substrate. At least two diode junction regions are formed along each of the extending portions. At least two extending portions are formed to have line symmetry and at least four diode junction regions are formed to have point symmetry and line symmetry in a plane view. A space is formed in the center of at least the four diode junction regions. Fluctuations in characteristics of the diode are suppressed even when a large stress is applied to a pad of a diode package for electrical connection with the exterior.
US09385092B2 Semiconductor device, electronic device and method for fabricating the semiconductor device
A semiconductor device includes a substrate, a semiconductor chip mounted on the substrate, a plate-like member that is fixed on the semiconductor chip and has a thermal expansion coefficient different from that of the substrate, and a first adhesive that is provided between the substrate and the plate-like member, the first adhesive being connected to the plate-like member and separated from the substrate, or being separated from the plate-like member and connected to the substrate.
US09385085B2 Interconnects with fully clad lines
A metallization layer including a fully clad interconnect and a method of forming a fully clad interconnect. An opening is formed in a dielectric layer, wherein the dielectric layer has a surface and the opening includes walls and a bottom. A diffusion barrier layer and an adhesion layer are deposited on the dielectric layer. An interconnect material is deposited on the dielectric layer and reflowed into the opening forming an interconnect. An adhesion capping layer and diffusion barrier capping layer are deposited over the interconnect. The interconnect is surrounded by the adhesion layer and the adhesion capping layer and the adhesion layer and the adhesion capping layer are surrounded by the diffusion barrier layer and the diffusion capping layer.
US09385072B2 Method of manufacturing semiconductor device and semiconductor device
Reliability of a semiconductor device is improved. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes a step of arranging a plurality of semiconductor chips next to each other over a chip mounting surface of a die pad. Further, the method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes a step of electrically coupling the semiconductor chip and the semiconductor chip via a wire. In this regard, a pad (chip-to-chip connection pad) of the semiconductor chip on a second bonding side in the step of coupling the wire is provided such that it is distantly located from a peripheral portion of a surface of the semiconductor chip.
US09385059B2 Overmolded substrate-chip arrangement with heat sink
An electronic device comprises a substrate, at least one electronic chip mounted on and electrically connected to the substrate and being configured as a system control unit for controlling a connected system, a heat removal structure thermally connected to the at least one electronic chip and configured for removing heat generated by the at least one electronic chip upon operation of the electronic device, and an overmolding structure configured for at least partially encapsulating at least the at least one electronic chip and the substrate.
US09385049B2 Process for manufacturing integrated device incorporating low-voltage components and power components
An integrated device includes: a semiconductor body having a first, depressed, portion and second portions which project from the first portion; a STI structure, extending on the first portion of the semiconductor body, which delimits laterally the second portions and has a face adjacent to a surface of the first portion; low-voltage CMOS components, housed in the second portions, in a first region of the semiconductor body; and a power component, in a second region of the semiconductor body. The power component has at least one conduction region, formed in the first portion of the semiconductor body, and a conduction contact, coupled to the conduction region and traversing the STI structure in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the first portion of the semiconductor body.
US09385045B2 Methods of forming gated devices
Some embodiments include methods of forming gated devices. An upper region of a semiconductor material is patterned into a plurality of walls that extend primarily along a first direction. The walls are spaced from one another by trenches that extend primarily along the first direction. Steps are formed along bottoms of the trenches. Gatelines are formed on the steps and along lower regions of the walls. After the gatelines are formed, the walls are patterned into spaced-apart pillars that have bottom regions below the gatelines. In some embodiments the gated devices may be transistors or thyristors.
US09385037B2 Semiconductor arrangement comprising metal cap and dielectric layer defining air gap
One or more semiconductor arrangements are provided. A semiconductor arrangement includes a first dielectric layer defining a first recess, a first contact in the first dielectric layer, a first metal cap over at least part of the first contact and a second dielectric layer over the first dielectric layer within the first recess and defining an air gap proximate the first contact.
US09385036B2 Reliable packaging and interconnect structures
Methods and apparatus for forming a semiconductor device are provided which may include any number of features. One feature is a method of forming an interconnect structure that results in the interconnect structure having a top surface and portions of the side walls of the interconnect structure covered in a dissimilar material. In some embodiments, the dissimilar material can be a conductive material or a nano-alloy. The interconnect structure can be formed by removing a portion of the interconnect structure, and covering the interconnect structure with the dissimilar material. The interconnect structure can comprise a damascene structure, such as a single or dual damascene structure, or alternatively, can comprise a silicon-through via (TSV) structure.
US09385028B2 Air gap process
Methods are described for forming “air gaps” between adjacent metal lines on patterned substrates. The common name “air gap” will be used interchangeably with the more technically accurate “gas pocket” and both reflect a variety of pressures and elemental ratios. The air gaps are produced within narrow gaps between copper lines while wide gaps retain dielectric material. Retention of the dielectric material within the wide gaps enables formation of a desirable planar top surface. Using a hardmask layer and a selective dry-etch process enables a wet processing step to be avoided right before the formation of the air gaps. The air gaps can have a dielectric constant approaching one, favorably reducing interconnect capacitance compared with typical low-k dielectric materials.
US09385026B2 Sublithographic Kelvin structure patterned with DSA
In one aspect, a DSA-based method for forming a Kelvin-testable structure includes the following steps. A guide pattern is formed on a substrate which defines i) multiple pad regions of the Kelvin-testable structure and ii) a region interconnecting two of the pad regions on the substrate. A self-assembly material is deposited onto the substrate and is annealed at a temperature/duration sufficient to cause it to undergo self-assembly to form a self-assembled pattern on the substrate, wherein the self-assembly is directed by the guide pattern such that the self-assembled material in the region interconnecting the two pad regions forms multiple straight lines. A pattern of the self-assembled material is transferred to the substrate forming multiple lines in the substrate, wherein the pattern of the self-assembled material is configured such that only a given one of the lines is a continuous line between the two pad regions on the substrate.
US09385024B2 Room temperature metal direct bonding
A bonded device structure including a first substrate having a first set of metallic bonding pads, preferably connected to a device or circuit, and having a first non-metallic region adjacent to the metallic bonding pads on the first substrate, a second substrate having a second set of metallic bonding pads aligned with the first set of metallic bonding pads, preferably connected to a device or circuit, and having a second non-metallic region adjacent to the metallic bonding pads on the second substrate, and a contact-bonded interface between the first and second set of metallic bonding pads formed by contact bonding of the first non-metallic region to the second non-metallic region. At least one of the first and second substrates may be elastically deformed.
US09385018B2 Semiconductor manufacturing equipment with trace elements for improved defect tracing and methods of manufacture
A semiconductor manufacturing equipment comprising trace elements and method of manufacture are disclosed. The semiconductor manufacturing equipment includes one or more components, wherein at least one component is made from an alloy comprising one or more materials and one or more rare earth elements (REEs). The alloy comprises predetermined quantities of the respective REEs. The method for manufacturing a component includes forming an alloy comprising at least one material and one or more selected rare earth elements (REEs) and building the component with the alloy.
US09385016B2 Semiconductor processing system and program
In a processing system of a linear tool in which plural carrying robots are arranged in carrying mechanical units to which processing modules are coupled and a processing target is delivered and received between the plural carrying robots, in the case where there are plural carrying routes on which the processing target is carried, the present invention provides a technique for determining the carrying route on which the highest throughput can be obtained.In the processing system of a linear tool, in the case where there are plural carrying routes on which the processing target is carried, the throughputs of the respective carrying routes are compared to each other, and the carrying route is determined by a unit for selecting the carrying route with the highest throughput.
US09385015B2 Transfer chamber and method for preventing adhesion of particle
A transfer chamber is provided between a processing unit for performing a predetermined process on a target substrate to be processed in a depressurized environment and an atmospheric maintaining unit for maintaining the target substrate in an atmospheric environment to transfer the target substrate therebetween. The transfer chamber includes a chamber main body for accommodating the target substrate, a gas exhaust unit for exhausting the chamber main body to set the chamber main body to the depressurized environment, and a gas supply unit for supplying a predetermined gas to the chamber main body to set the chamber main body in the atmospheric environment. Further, in the transfer chamber, an ionization unit is provided outside the chamber main body, for ionizing the predetermined gas and an ionized gas supply unit is provided to supply the ionized gas generated by the ionization unit to the chamber main body.
US09385011B2 Apparatus for processing semiconductor wafers, in particular for carrying out a polymers removal process step
An apparatus for processing semiconductor wafers includes at least a wet bench and an automatic handling system of a wafer carrier removably connected thereto. The wet bench includes a first processing tank, a second processing tank and a third processing tank, separated from one another, each processing tank being dedicated to a different chemical, as well as a special cleaning and drying tank for processing the automatic handling system when the wafer carrier has been removed.
US09385010B2 Multiple swivel arm design in hybrid bonder
An apparatus for cleaning a wafer includes a wafer station configured to hold the wafer, and a first and a second dispensing system. The first dispensing system includes a first swivel arm, and a first nozzle on the first swivel arm, wherein the first swivel arm is configured to move the first nozzle over and aside of the wafer. The first dispensing system includes first storage tank connected to the first nozzle, with the first nozzle configured to dispense a solution in the first storage tank. The second dispensing system includes a second swivel arm, and a second nozzle on the second swivel arm, wherein the second swivel arm is configured to move the second nozzle over and aside of the wafer. The second dispensing system includes a second storage tank connected to the second nozzle, with the second nozzle configured to dispense a solution in the second storage tank.
US09385008B2 Semiconductor component of semiconductor chip size with flip-chip-like external contacts
A semiconductor component and a method for its production in semiconductor chip size, can have a semiconductor chip, which has external contacts of the semiconductor component that are arranged in the manner of a flip-chip on its active upper side. The semiconductor chip can be encapsulated by a plastic compound at least on its rear side and its side edges. The outer contacts, which can be arranged on external contact connecting areas, can project from the active upper side.
US09385000B2 Method of performing etching process
A method of performing an etching process is provided. A substrate is provided, wherein a first region and a second region are defined on the substrate, and an overlapping region of the first region and the second region is defined as a third region. A tri-layer structure comprising an organic layer, a bottom anti-reflection coating (BARC), and a photoresist layer is formed on the substrate. The photoresist layer and the BARC in the second region are removed. An etching process is performed to remove the organic layer in the second region by using the BARC and/or the photoresist layer as a mask, wherein the etching process uses an etchant comprises CO2.
US09384999B2 Plasma etching method and storage medium
A plasma etching method that can prevent residues from becoming attached to bottoms and sides of via holes and trenches. An interlayer insulation film formed of CwFx (x and w are predetermined natural numbers) and a metallic layer or a metal-containing layer formed on a substrate are exposed at the same time to plasma generated from a process gas. The process gas is a mixed gas including CyFz (y and z are predetermined natural numbers) gas and N2 gas, and the flow rate of the N2 gas in the process gas is higher than the flow rate of the CyFz gas.
US09384986B2 Dual-metal gate CMOS devices and method for manufacturing the same
A method for manufacturing a dual metal CMOS device comprising: forming a first type metal work function modulation layer in the first gate trench and the second gate trench; forming a second type work function metal diffusion source layer in the first gate trench and the second gate trench; forming a heat isolation layer that shields the region of the first type device; and thermally annealing the regions where the first type device and the second type device are located.
US09384980B2 Manufacturing method of semiconductor device
According to an embodiment, a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device includes: forming a first film on a processing target by using a first material; forming a second film on the first film by using a second material; selectively removing the second and first films to provide an opening pierced in the second and first films; selectively forming a metal film on an inner surface of the opening in the first film; and processing the processing target by using the metal film as a mask.
US09384975B2 Nanowire devices
A method of forming nanowire devices. The method includes forming a stressor layer circumferentially surrounding a semiconductor nanowire. The method is performed such that, due to the stressor layer, the nanowire is subjected to at least one of radial and longitudinal strain to enhance carrier mobility in the nanowire. Radial and longitudinal strain components can be used separately or together and can each be made tensile or compressive, allowing formulation of desired strain characteristics for enhanced conductivity in the nanowire of a given device.
US09384973B2 Methods of forming semiconductor films and methods of manufacturing transistors including semiconductor films
Provided are semiconductor films, methods of forming the same, transistors including the semiconductor films, and methods of manufacturing the transistors. Provided are a semiconductor film including zinc (Zn), nitrogen (N), oxygen (O), and fluorine (F), and a method of forming the semiconductor film. Provided are a semiconductor film including zinc, nitrogen, and fluorine, and a method of forming the semiconductor film. Sputtering, ion implantation, plasma treatment, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), or a solution process may be used in order to form the semiconductor films. The sputtering may be performed by using a zinc target and a reactive gas including fluorine. The reactive gas may include nitrogen and fluorine, or nitrogen, oxygen, and fluorine.
US09384969B2 Method of manufacturing semiconductor device by forming a film on a substrate
Provided is a technique including forming a film on a substrate, the film including a first element and a second element different from the first element, by performing a cycle a predetermined number of times. The cycle includes: forming a first layer including the first element by supplying a gas containing the first element to the substrate, wherein the first layer is a discontinuous layer, a continuous layer, or a layer in which at least one of the discontinuous layer or the continuous layer is overlapped; and forming a second layer including the first element and the second element by supplying a gas containing the second element to the substrate to modify the first layer under a condition where a modifying reaction of the first layer by the gas containing the second element is not saturated.
US09384958B2 High-pressure discharge lamp
A high-pressure discharge lamp may include a bulb, which surrounds a discharge volume, wherein a fill which contains mercury and a noble gas from the group consisting of neon, argon, krypton, xenon on its own or in a mixture is accommodated in the discharge volume, wherein the fill contains Gd in halide form in order to produce a color temperature of at least 7500 K.
US09384957B2 Mass analysis device and mass calibration method
In conducting multiple repetitions of MS/MS analysis on the same test sample for which a precursor ion whose m/z is known (m/z=M) has been established, MS/MS analysis is conducted under a dissociation condition in which CID is less prone to occur in part of the analysis. When an MS/MS spectrum is created by summing up spectral data thus obtained, a known precursor ion is observed at m/z=M without exception. Thus, a peak corresponding to the precursor ion is detected on the MS/MS spectrum, a mass deviation between an actual measured value and theoretical value M of m/z at the peak is determined, and a spectrum is created by correcting other peaks for mass shifts based on the mass deviation. This makes it possible to mass-calibrate the MS/MS spectrum in substantially the same manner as an internal standard method and improve mass accuracy over conventional methods.
US09384955B2 Mass spectrometer, control system and methods of operating and assembling a mass spectrometer
A mass spectrometer and methods for controlling a mass spectrometer are provided. In an exemplary embodiment, the mass spectrometer includes a plurality of discrete functional modules, each operable to perform a predetermined function of the mass spectrometer, wherein the modules are individually addressable and connected in a network. The mass spectrometer can also include a scheduler operable to introduce discrete packets of instructions to the network at predetermined times to instruct at least one module to perform a predetermined operation.
US09384948B2 Hammerhead TCP coil support for high RF power conductor etch systems
The chamber, having a ceramic window disposed in a ceiling of the chamber is provided. Included is a ceramic support having a plurality of spokes that extend from a center region to an outer periphery, and each of the spokes include a hammerhead shape that radially expands the ceramic support in a direction that is away from an axis of a spoke. Also included is a plurality of screw holes disposed through the ceramic support. The plurality of screw holes defined to enable screws to connect to a TCP coil having an inner and outer coil. The outer coil is to be disposed under the hammerhead shape of each of the spokes, and a radial gap is defined between each of the hammerhead shapes. The radial gap defines a non-continuous ring around the outer coil. A plurality of screws are disposed through the screw holes for attaching the TCP coil.
US09384943B2 Ion generating apparatus and method of removing a fluorine compound deposited in a source housing thereof
Provided is an ion generating apparatus. The ion generating apparatus includes opposed electrodes connected to a high-frequency power supply, and hence, even in a case where a cathode filament is broken, hydride gas can be ionized to generate hydrogen ion. Thus, a fluorine compound deposited in a source housing is reduced in vacuum, and gas containing fluorine generated due to the above-mentioned reduction reaction is discharged with a vacuum pump.
US09384940B2 Charged particle beam apparatus
In order to provide a charged particle beam apparatus capable of high resolution measurement of a sample at any inclination angle, a charged particle beam apparatus for detecting secondary charged particles (115) generated by irradiating a sample (114) with a primary charged particle beam (110) is provided with a beam tilt lens (113) having: a yoke magnetic path member (132) and a lens coil (134) to focus the primary charged particle beam (110) on the sample (114); and a solenoid coil (133) configured to arrange the upper end on the side surface of the yoke magnetic path member (132) and arrange the bottom end between the tip end of the pole piece of the yoke magnetic path member (132) and the sample (114) in order to arbitrarily tilt the primary charged particle beam (110) on the sample (114).
US09384939B2 Electron beam writing apparatus and output control method
An output control method according to an embodiment is to control an output by a deflection amplifier that outputs a voltage signal to a deflection electrode of an electron beam writing apparatus. The voltage signal is proportional to input data, and the method includes: performing, for the voltage signal generated by synthesizing respective outputs by a plurality of D/A converters to which a control range of the voltage signal is assigned, the respective outputs by the plurality of D/A converters being proportional to respective inputs, sampling on at least either a lower limit value of the voltage signal within the control range or an upper limit value thereof; and generating a correction value to correct the output by the D/A converter based on the sampling result.
US09384938B2 Particle-optical systems and arrangements and particle-optical components for such systems and arrangements
The present invention concerns a charged-particle multi-beamlet system that comprises a source of charged particles (301); a first multi-aperture plate (320) having plural apertures disposed in a charged particle beam path of the system downstream of the source; a first multi-aperture selector plate (313) having plural apertures; a carrier (340), wherein the first multi-aperture selector plate is mounted on the carrier; and an actuator (350) configured to move the carrier such that the first multi-aperture selector plate is disposed in the charged particle beam path of the system downstream of the source in a first mode of operation of the system, and such that the first multi-aperture selector plate is disposed outside of the charged particle beam path in a second mode of operation of the system. The source, the first multi-aperture plate and the carrier of the system are arranged such that a first number of charged particle beamlets is generated at a position downstream of both the first multi-aperture plate and the first multi-aperture selector plate in the first mode of operation, and that a second number of charged particle beamlets is generated at the position in the second mode of operation, wherein the first number of beamlets differs from the second number of beamlets.
US09384937B2 SiC coating in an ion implanter
An ion implanter has a coating of low resistivity silicon carbide on one or more of the conductive surfaces that are exposed to ions. For example, ions are generated in an ion source chamber, and the interior surfaces of the walls are coated with low resistivity silicon carbide. Since silicon carbide is hard and resistant to sputtering, this may reduce the amount of contaminant ions that are introduced into the ion beam that is extracted from the ion source chamber. In some embodiments, the extraction electrodes are also coated with silicon carbide to reduce the contaminant ions introduced by these components.
US09384935B2 Cathode structures for X-ray tubes
An apparatus and method comprising a cathode structure which can be a cylindrical filament coiled in a helix or which can be constructed of a ribbon or other suitable shape. The cathode structure can be heated by passage of an electrical current, or by other means such as bombardment with energetic electrons. Selected portions of the surface of the cathode structure have an altered property with respect to the non-selected portions of the surface. In one embodiment, the altered property is a curvature. In another embodiment, the altered property is a work function. By altering the property of the selected portions of the surface, the electron beam intensity is increased, and the width is decreased.
US09384931B2 Remote operated circuit breaker
A circuit breaker having a movable contact arm for opening and closing the circuit which is controlled separately by a circuit breaker mechanism for circuit protection and by a switch lever mechanism which does not require actuation of the circuit breaker mechanism to function. The switch lever may be activated by a solenoid or other suitable means, and various interlocking mechanical states exist among the elements that provide added safety features.
US09384930B2 Fuse appliance
A fuse appliance has a fuse carrier for receiving a fuse and a base. The fuse carrier is in a cavity of the base and is manually operable to remove or insert the fuse. Fixed contacts are provided on the base which engage with moving contacts provided on the carrier. Wiring terminals are electrically connected to the fixed contacts. A rotational-linear pulling operation mechanism has a semicircular rotary shaft structure that has two semicircular convex shafts and first and second circular straight grooves fitted to each other so that the fuse carrier performs rotational and linear movements relative to the base and an interchange between rotational and linear movements at a transition position when the carrier is pulled out of or pushed into the appliance.
US09384925B2 Sterile disposable remote pneumatic actuators
The various embodiments of the present invention relate to remote pneumatic (bellows-action) actuators for switching applications, which are preferably sterile and/or disposable. When compressed, the bellows-action actuator provides a pulse of air pressure sufficient to actuate a remotely-located pneumatic switch configured to turn on/off an electrical, mechanical or optical device. The pulse of air pressure is propagated along a non-conducting tube, thereby substantially reducing the risk of e.g., electric shock or O2 ignition/combustion associated with conventional electric switches in wet, hazardous or medical environments.
US09384916B1 Keycap with multi-character display
In accordance with aspects of the disclosure, a computing device includes a keyboard having a keycap. The keycap includes first passageways extending between first openings in a first surface of the keycap and first openings in a second surface of the keycap. The keycap includes second passageways extending between second openings in the first surface of the keycap and second openings in the second surface of the keycap. A first light source is positioned at a first location to allow light to pass through the keycap via the first passageways and inhibit light from passing through the keycap via the second passageways. A second light source is positioned at a second location to allow light to pass through the keycap via the second passageways and inhibit light from passing through the keycap via the first passageways.
US09384897B2 Multilayer ceramic capacitor and method of manufacturing the same
There is provided a multilayer ceramic capacitor including a ceramic body having first and second side surfaces facing each other, and third and fourth end surfaces connecting the first and second side surfaces, a plurality of internal electrodes formed in the ceramic body and having one ends thereof exposed to the third end surface or the fourth end surface, and first and second side margin parts formed from the first and second side surfaces to edges of the internal electrodes, wherein in a width direction of the ceramic body, both edges of the internal electrodes include oxide regions, the oxidation regions of an internal electrode contributing to capacitance formation except for uppermost and lowermost internal electrodes among the internal electrodes have a maximum length Lmax of 3 μm or less, and a standard deviation in length is 1 μm or less.
US09384895B2 Polytetrafluoroethylene film capacitor
A capacitor having a first electrode, a second electrode, a dielectric layer of a PTFE film having a dielectric strength greater than about 500 V/um, a tensile strength of greater than about 10,000 psi (or, alternatively, a tensile yield strength of greater than about 2,000 psi), and a thickness less than about 20 microns disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode.
US09384894B2 Dielectric composition to be sintered at low temperature, multilayer ceramic electronic component containing the same, and method of manufacturing the multilayer ceramic electronic component
A dielectric composition to be sintered at low temperature may include BaTiO3 as a major component; and (1-x)Li2O-xCuO as a minor component, wherein x is 0.1 to 0.9, and the minor component is contained in a content of 0.1 mol % to 2.0 mol % based on 100 mol % of the major component.
US09384890B2 Powder-filling system
A powder-filling system capable of filling a container with powder at an approximately uniform filling density has: a hopper having an opening removably and hermetically closably attached to the container, the hopper communicating with the container at the opening for supplying powder to a container; a powder supplier for supplying powder to the hopper; a gas supplier for repeatedly supplying compressed gas in a pulsed form to the hopper, with the hopper hermetically closably attached to the container; and a sieve member provided at the opening and having a smaller openings in a region near a side wall of the hopper than in its central region. The smaller openings in the region near the side wall of the hopper where the powder more easily falls from the hopper into the container impedes the fall of the powder in that region and improves the overall uniformity in the filling density.
US09384879B2 Magnetic multilayer structure
A mechanism is provided for an integrated laminated magnetic device. A substrate and a multilayer stack structure form the device. The multilayer stack structure includes alternating magnetic layers and diode structures formed on the substrate. Each magnetic layer in the multilayer stack structure is separated from another magnetic layer in the multilayer stack structure by a diode structure.
US09384878B2 Ferromagnetic carbon and boron lithium borohydride complexes
A novel ferromagnetic composition is provided. The reagent includes at least one zero-valent atom, whether metal, metalloid, or non-metal, in complex with at least one hydride molecule. The composition need not contain any inherently ferromagnetic elements and can be much lighter than conventional iron or other metal-based ferromagnetic materials. Core-solenoid devices having ferromagnetic cores which employ the novel ferromagnetic composition are additionally provided. Examples such as electric motors or generators for use in hybrid or all-electric automobiles are included.
US09384872B2 Coaxial cable device and method involving weld connectivity
A coaxial cable device and method involve weld connectivity. The device includes an outer conductor engager and an inner conductor engager. At least one of such conductor engagers includes a weld interface for weld connection with part of a coaxial cable.
US09384858B2 Computer system predicting memory failure
The prediction of memory failure is obtained by reducing the voltage on a bank of memory cells to momentarily artificially age the memory cells and subjecting the memory cells to a test in which one or more predetermined vectors are written to and read from the memory cells to detect memory cell errors.
US09384857B2 Error control using threshold based comparison of error signatures
A technique is provided for system reliability. An input is received, and a computation operation on the input is repeated to generate multiple output values. The multiple output values are stored in a table along with a number of hits for each distinct output value in the multiple output values, and the number of hits indicates a number of times each distinct output value was generated by the repeating. A reliability circuit checks whether the number of hits for any one distinct output value meets a confidence threshold. Based on meeting the confidence threshold for the number of hits, the any one distinct output value is output. Based on the number of hits for the any one distinct output value not meeting the confidence threshold, the computation operation is continuously repeated on the input until the number of hits for the any one distinct output value meets the confidence threshold.
US09384846B1 Semiconductor memory device, memory system including the same, and operating method thereof
Disclosed are a semiconductor memory device, a memory system including the same, and an operating method thereof. The memory system includes: a semiconductor memory device including a plurality of memory chips; and a controller configured to measure a cell current of each of the plurality of memory chips, generate temperature compensation data corresponding to the measured cell current, and store the generated temperature compensation data in each of the plurality of memory chips.
US09384845B2 Partial erase of nonvolatile memory blocks
Erasing blocks of a nonvolatile memory may include two erase steps. A first erase step brings the memory cells of a block to an intermediate state between their programmed states and an erased state. The block is then maintained with the memory cells in the intermediate state for a period of time. Subsequently, a second erase step on the block brings the memory cells from the intermediate state to the erased state.
US09384840B2 Method compensation operating voltage, flash memory device, and data storage device
Disclosed is a method generating a compensated operating voltage, such as a read voltage, in a non-volatile memory device, and a related non-volatile memory device. The operating voltage is compensated in response to one or more memory cell conditions such as temperature variation, programmed data state or physical location of a selected memory cell, page information for selected memory cell, or the location of a selected word line.
US09384839B2 Write sequence providing write abort protection
In a multi-level cell (MLC) nonvolatile memory array, data is assigned sequentially to the lower and upper page of a word line, then both lower and upper pages are programmed together before programming a subsequent word line. Word lines of multiple planes are programmed together using latches to hold data until all data is transferred. Tail-ends of data of write commands are stored separately.
US09384836B2 Content addressable memory
This disclosure provides a content addressable memory which includes: a data memory cell for storing a data bit; a mask memory cell for storing a mask bit; and a comparing and readout unit connected to at least one read word line for receiving at least one read word signal, connected to at least one function bit line for receiving a search bit signal, and connected to the data memory cell and the mask memory cell for receiving the data bit and the mask bit; wherein the data memory cell is connected to a data-use write word line for receiving a data-use write word signal, the mask memory cell is connected to a mask-use write word line for receiving a mask-use write word signal, so as to decide whether a write bit signal can be written into the data bit and the mask bit through a pair of write bit lines.
US09384834B2 Storage device with 2D configuration of phase change memory integrated circuits
A storage device, apparatus, and method to write and/or read data from such storage device. The storage device, comprises a channel controller and phase change memory integrated circuits (PCM ICs) arranged in sub-channels, wherein each of the sub-channels comprises several PCM ICs connected by at least one data bus line, which at least one data bus line connects to the channel controller. The channel controller is configured to write data to and/or read data from the PCM ICs according to a matrix configuration of PCM ICs, wherein: a number of columns of the matrix configuration respectively corresponds to a number of the sub-channels, the sub-channels forming a channel, and a number of rows of the matrix configuration respectively corresponds to a number of sub-banks, the sub-banks forming a bank, wherein each of the sub-banks comprises PCM ICs that belong, each, to distinct sub-channels of the sub-channels.
US09384833B2 Memory system
The memory system includes at least one volatile memory configured to store data. The memory system also includes a non-volatile memory controller configured to provide a control signal to allow the data to be stored in a non-volatile memory during a power interruption mode. In addition, the memory system includes a termination resistor (TER) configured to control a data path in response to a power interruption signal.
US09384832B2 Memory device and method of operating the same
A method is for operating a memory device including a plurality of memory cells disposed in regions where a plurality of first signal lines and a plurality of second signal lines cross each other. The method includes applying an initial voltage to the plurality of first signal lines, floating the plurality of first signal lines to which the initial voltage is applied, applying a second inhibit voltage to the plurality of second signal lines, and increasing voltage levels of the plurality of first signal lines to a first inhibit voltage level via capacitive coupling between the plurality of first signal lines which are floated and the plurality of second signal lines to which the second inhibit voltage is applied.
US09384831B2 Cross-point memory single-selection write technique
A system and technique is disclosed for writing data in a cross-point memory. The state of one or more memory cells of the cross-point memory are sensed and then are continued to be selected and left on. It is then determined which of the one or more memory cells are to change state based on incoming user data that is to be written into the one or more memory cells. The one or more memory cells determined to change state and are still selected to be on are then written by applying a write-current pulse to the memory cells. In one exemplary embodiment, the one or more memory cells comprise one or more phase-change-type memory cell devices.
US09384824B2 List sort static random access memory
A list sort static random access memory (LSSRAM) unit cell includes a static random access memory (SRAM) cell having a pair of cross-coupled elements to store data and a dynamic/static (D/S) mode selector to selectably switch the LSSRAM unit cell between a dynamic storage mode and a static storage mode. The LSSRAM unit cell further includes a swap selector to swap the stored data with data stored in an adjacent memory cell during the dynamic storage mode when the swap selector is activated, and a data comparator to compare the stored data in the SRAM cell with the data stored in the adjacent memory cell and to activate the swap selector according to a result of the comparison.
US09384821B2 Row hammer monitoring based on stored row hammer threshold value
Detection logic of a memory subsystem obtains a threshold for a memory device that indicates a number of accesses within a time window that causes risk of data corruption on a physically adjacent row. The detection logic obtains the threshold from a register that stores configuration information for the memory device, and can be a register on the memory device itself and/or can be an entry of a configuration storage device of a memory module to which the memory device belongs. The detection logic determines whether a number of accesses to it row of the memory device exceeds the threshold. In response to detecting the number of accesses exceeds the threshold, the detection logic can generate a trigger to cause the memory device to perform a refresh targeted to a physically adjacent victim row.
US09384814B2 Thyristor memory and methods of operation
Apparatuses and methods can include write schemes for a thyristor memory cell in which an access pulse applied to the gate of the thyristor memory cell is adjusted relative to the data pulse to write data into the thyristor memory cell. Some of the write schemes may substantially reduce or eliminate an unselected data line disturb. In various embodiments, the thyristor memory cell can be structured with two control nodes and its cathode or anode coupled to a reference voltage node common to all thyristor memory cells in a memory array. Additional apparatuses and methods are disclosed.
US09384812B2 Three-phase GSHE-MTJ non-volatile flip-flop
Systems and methods are directed to a three-phase non-volatile flip-flop (NVFF), which includes a master stage formed from a dual giant spin Hall effect (GSHE)-magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) structure, with a first GSHE-MTJ and a second GSHE-MTJ coupled between a first combined terminal and a second combined terminal, and a slave stage formed from a first inverter cross-coupled with a second inverter. A first data value is read out from the slave stage during a read phase of the same clock cycle that a second data value is written into the master stage during a write phase. The three-phase NVFF includes three control signals, for controlling an initialization phase of the slave stage, the read phase, and the write phase.
US09384806B2 Circuits and techniques to compensate memory access signals for variations of parameters in multiple layers of memory
A memory device includes a plurality of memory layers and a selecting circuit configured to select a delta value corresponding to a parameter of at least one of the plurality of memory layers having fabricated thereon at least one memory cell accessed during an operation. The memory device further includes an adjusting circuit configured to adjust an access signal based at least in part on the delta value, the access signal being configured to access the at least one memory cell during the operation.
US09384792B2 Offset-cancelling self-reference STT-MRAM sense amplifier
Embodiments are directed to a self-reference STT-MRAM sensing scheme that uses offset-cancellation to reduce the impact of FET mismatch and thereby allow the sensing of lower read voltages. In some embodiments, the sensing scheme includes a differential amplifier having a first input connected to a memory cell. In some embodiments, a second input of the differential amplifier may be connected to ground, a common mode voltage of the system or a mid-level supply voltage. The present disclosure provides flexibility with respect to the voltage level at which the sensing is performed (e.g., ground, Voc, Vmid, etc.). The present disclosure provides further flexibility with respect to the sense voltage polarity.
US09384790B2 Memory device with separately controlled sense amplifiers
A memory device includes a memory array comprising memory cells, sense amplifiers configured to sense data stored in the memory cells of the memory array, and control circuitry configured to generate a plurality of separate sense amplifier control signals for application to respective control inputs of respective ones of the sense amplifiers. For example, the memory device may comprise a row of dummy memory cells each coupled to a dummy wordline. In such an arrangement, the control circuitry may comprise a plurality of logic gates coupled to respective ones of the dummy memory cells, with each such logic gate configured to generate a corresponding one of the separate sense amplifier control signals for a corresponding one of the sense amplifiers as a function of a data transition at a bitline of the corresponding dummy memory cell. The separate sense amplifier control signals may comprise respective sense amplifier enable signals.
US09384783B2 Editing method and recording and reproducing device
In order to provide a recording and reproducing device that allows a user to select and manage arbitrary play lists, a unit of management for managing all registered play list information and an upper management hierarchical level are added. The unit of management is adapted to be handled on the same level with unified information that indicates a reproduction range of all AV data. User-defined unified information is adapted to be handled on the added management hierarchical level. The user-defined unified information is formed to allow arbitrary reproduction ranges contained on a lower hierarchical level to be registered.
US09384778B2 Online iteration resource allocation for large sector format drive
Systems and methods for resource allocation for a large sector format processing may include, but are not limited to, operations for: determining non-convergence of a magnetic disc sub-sector of a first magnetic disc sector within a processing time frame allocated to the magnetic disc sub-sector; determining a convergence of a second magnetic disc sector occurring in less time than a processing time frame allocated to the second magnetic disc sector; and processing the magnetic disc sub-sector during a portion of the processing time frame allocated to the second magnetic disc sector remaining after processing of the second magnetic disc sector.
US09384776B2 Clamping device of spindle motor including case having inclination surface
The clamping device of spindle motor is disclosed, wherein a case portion contacted by the other distal end of the arms is inclined due to depression of a distal end of the arms by the disk, such that the arms linearly moves into the case to allow the other distal end to further rotate upwards, whereby the disk can be easily inserted into the case regardless of size of the inner diameter of the disk.
US09384775B2 Ratcheting gripper for a storage library
Embodiments of the invention include systems and methods for selective gripping and/or releasing of media cartridges using a robotic ratcheting gripper mechanism. Embodiments operate in context of a data storage library having a number of media cartridges physically located within slots of one or more magazines. A robot with a hand assembly uses a gripper mechanism to retrieve and ferry the cartridges between the magazines and one or more media drives. A novel gripper mechanism is provided that toggles between open and closed states according to movement of the gripper. In some embodiments, movement of a carriage from a retracted to an extended position extends the gripper mechanism and toggles its state, while movement of the carriage from the extended to the retracted position retracts the gripper mechanism while maintaining its state. Certain embodiments implement this functionality with simple mechanical components.
US09384773B2 Annealing treatment for ion-implanted patterned media
The present disclosure relates to a method for fabricating an ion-implanted bit-patterned medium. The method includes providing a medium, the medium having a magnetic layer and a substrate and the magnetic layer includes migrating components. The method further includes forming a patterned mask layer on the surface of the magnetic layer and then ion-implanting the medium through the patterned mask layer, wherein the exposed portions of the magnetic layer comprise trench regions, the covered portions of the magnetic layer comprise island regions, and the transition areas between the trench regions and the island regions comprise boundary regions, wherein the island regions have more favorable magnetic properties than the trench regions. The method also includes annealing the medium, wherein the migrating components diffuse from inside the island regions towards the trench regions.
US09384772B2 Magnetic recording medium having L10 magnetic layer and plurality of underlayers, and magnetic storage apparatus
A magnetic recording medium includes a substrate, a magnetic layer including an alloy having a L10 type crystal structure as a main component thereof, and a plurality of underlayers arranged between the substrate and the magnetic layer. The plurality of underlayers include a first underlayer including two or more elements selected from a group consisting of Ta, Nb, Ti, and V, and one or more elements selected from a group consisting of W and Mo, and a second underlayer including MgO.
US09384770B2 Near-field transducer with enlarged region, peg region, and heat sink region
A near-field transducer includes an enlarged region having a top side adjacent to a magnetic pole, a base side opposite the top side, and a circumference that extends from proximal to a media-facing surface to distal to a media-facing surface. The near-field transducer includes a peg region in contact with a region of the base side of the enlarged region, the peg region extending from the enlarged region towards the media-facing surface. The near-field transducer also includes a heat sink region having a contact side, a base side, and a circumference that extends from proximal to the media-facing surface to distal from the media-facing surface. The contact side of the heat sink region is in thermal contact with both the peg region and at least a region of the base side of the enlarged region.
US09384764B1 Electrically conductive magnetic shield laminate structure for contact recording sensor
In one general embodiment, an apparatus includes a magnetic sensor structure, a magnetic shield having at least one laminate pair comprising a magnetic layer and an electrically conductive nonmagnetic layer, and a nonmagnetic spacer layer between the sensor structure and the magnetic shield. In another general embodiment, an apparatus includes a magnetic tunnel junction sensor structure, and a magnetic shield having at least two laminate pairs, each pair comprising a magnetic layer and an electrically conductive nonmagnetic layer. A deposition thickness of the nonmagnetic layer in each laminate pair is about 10% or less of a total deposition thickness of the laminate pair.
US09384751B2 User authentication of voice controlled devices
Methods, systems, and devices are described herein. One method can include receiving a voice command from a user at a voice controlled device, determining a presence of the user to the device using a sensor, converting the voice command to a device specific command, and performing the device specific command using the device in response to the determined presence.
US09384750B2 Oversampling in a combined transposer filterbank
The present invention relates to coding of audio signals, and in particular to high frequency reconstruction methods including a frequency domain harmonic transposer. A system and method for generating a high frequency component of a signal from a low frequency component of the signal is described. The system comprises an analysis filter bank (501) comprising an analysis transformation unit (601) having a frequency resolution of Δf; and an analysis window (611) having a duration of DA; the analysis filter bank (501) being configured to provide a set of analysis subband signals from the low frequency component of the signal; a nonlinear processing unit (502, 650) configured to determine a set of synthesis subband signals based on a portion of the set of analysis subband signals, wherein the portion of the set of analysis subband signals is phase shifted by a transposition order T; and a synthesis filter bank (504) comprising a synthesis transformation unit (602) having a frequency resolution of QΔf; and a synthesis window (612) having a duration of DS; the synthesis filter bank (504) being configured to generate the high frequency component of the signal from the set of synthesis subband signals; wherein Q is a frequency resolution factor with Q≧1 and smaller than the transposition order T; and wherein the value of the product of the frequency resolution Δf and the duration DA of the analysis filter bank is selected based on the frequency resolution factor Q.
US09384740B2 Apparatus and method for encoding and decoding multi-channel signal
Provided are an encoding apparatus and a decoding apparatus of a multi-channel signal. The encoding apparatus of the multi-channel signal may process a phase parameter associated with phase information between a plurality of channels constituting the multi-channel signal, based on a characteristic of the multi-channel signal. The encoding apparatus may generate an encoded bitstream with respect to the multi-channel signal using the processed phase parameter and a mono signal extracted from the multi-channel signal.
US09384736B2 Method to provide incremental UI response based on multiple asynchronous evidence about user input
Techniques disclosed herein include systems and methods for managing user interface responses to user input including spoken queries and commands. This includes providing incremental user interface (UI) response based on multiple recognition results about user input that are received with different delays. Such techniques include providing an initial response to a user at an early time, before remote recognition results are available. Systems herein can respond incrementally by initiating an initial UI response based on first recognition results, and then modify the initial UI response after receiving secondary recognition results. Since an initial response begins immediately, instead of waiting for results from all recognizers, it reduces the perceived delay by the user before complete results get rendered to the user.
US09384728B2 Synthesizing an aggregate voice
A system and computer-implemented method for synthesizing multi-person speech into an aggregate voice is disclosed. The method may include crowd-sourcing a data message configured to include a textual passage. The method may include collecting, from a plurality of speakers, a set of vocal data for the textual passage. Additionally, the method may also include mapping a source voice profile to a subset of the set of vocal data to synthesize the aggregate voice.
US09384724B2 Music playing device, electronic instrument, music playing method, and storage medium
A CPU detects an operation state on a fingerboard at a prescribed period, stores the detected operation state in a memory every time an operation state is detected, detects whether or not any of a plurality of extended strings has been struck, determines a pitch of a note to be played based on the operation state stored in the memory in response to a string being struck, and controls a note to be played in a sound source based on the detected operation state and the operation state stored in the memory every time the operation state is detected after a command to play a note of a determined pitch is issued to the sound source.
US09384723B2 Method of retrieving processing properties and audio processing system
Techniques for storing and retrieving processing properties for processing an audio signal in an audio processing system, such as, an audio mixing console are provided. The processing properties specify audio effects and/or audio mixing applied to the audio signal. Type information is established which relates to audio content properties of the audio signal. The type information allows classifying audio signals based on their audio content. Based on the type information, processing parameters are stored in a database and/or retrieved from the database.
US09384721B2 Pickup assembly for an electrical stringed musical instrument
A pickup for an electrical, stringed musical instrument includes a first assembly and a second assembly. The first assembly includes a base plate, a pole that extends upward from the base plate and a coil of wire wrapped around the pole above the base plate. The second assembly includes a housing that has a fastening feature that allows the second assembly to be user attachable and detachable from the first assembly independently of any electrical connections made by the first assembly. The second assembly also includes a magnet seated within the housing. The pickup is further constructed so that the second assembly readily attaches and detaches to the first assembly such that when attached, the pole of the first assembly is in magnetic cooperation with the magnet of the second assembly.
US09384720B2 Keyboard musical instrument, and method for recording half performance of pedal or key damper on keyboard musical instrument
Dampers provided in corresponding relation to a plurality of keys are each controlled in response to both an operation of a pedal and an operation of the corresponding key. One half region or half point is determined based on a plurality of half pedal regions or half pedal points, in a stroke of the pedal, specific to the individual dampers. Performance data instructing a pedal operation is generated and recorded on the basis of a stroke position detected in response to a pedal operation and the determined one half region or half point. For each of the keys, a key-damper half region or key-damper half point in a stroke of the key is identified in advance. Performance data instructing key operations is generated and recorded on the basis of the key-damper half regions or key-damper half points specific to the keys and stroke positions detected in response to key operations.
US09384717B2 Tone generation assigning apparatus and method
Tone generating instructions designating one or more tone pitches are received in response to performance operation on a keyboard, for example. A plurality of assigners are provided to assign tone colors to the one or more tone pitches designated by the received tone generating instructions. The plurality of the assigners are configured to select, for each assignor, from among the one or more tone pitches designated by the one or more tone generation instructions received by a reception section, one or more target tone pitches to which the tone color is to be assigned by the assigner, and determine, for each assignor and on the basis of a priority order set for each assigner, from among the selected one or more target tone pitches, one or more tone pitches of which tones are to be generated with the tone color assigned by the assigner.
US09384714B2 Display device
The subject of the present invention is preventing the generation of screen burn-in in the case of low power consumption driving. A display panel of the present invention includes an image line for inputting an image voltage to each pixel, and a drive circuit, the drive circuit includes an internal control signal generation circuit for generating a control circuit, a memory for storing image data of a fixed display pattern in the case of the low power consumption drive mode, an image voltage output means for converting image data read from the memory to an image voltage and supplying the image voltage to the image line, and a means for changing a read timing of image data read from the memory, wherein the read timing of image data and a display position of the fixed display pattern to be displayed on the display panel is changed for each frame.
US09384712B2 Liquid crystal display device, method of driving liquid crystal display device, and electronic apparatus
A liquid crystal display device is provided. The liquid crystal including an array of pixels each having a memory function; and a buffer to output a first voltage, wherein a second voltage is supplied to a counter electrode of a liquid crystal capacitor, and wherein each of the pixels supplies one of the first voltage and the second voltage to a pixel electrode of the liquid crystal capacitor according to a data value stored in the each of the pixels.
US09384703B2 Techniques for avoiding and remedying DC bias buildup on a flat panel variable refresh rate display
A method for driving a display panel having a variable refresh rate is disclosed. The method comprises receiving a current input frame from an image source. It also comprises determining a first number of re-scanned frames to insert between the current input frame and a subsequent input frame, wherein the re-scanned frames repeat the current input frame, and wherein the determining depends on a minimum refresh interval (MRI) of the display panel. Further, it comprises calculating intervals to insert the first number of re-scanned frames between the current input frame and the subsequent input frame. Further, it comprises scanning the current input frame for display on the display panel. Finally it comprises inserting the first number of re-scanned frames at the respective intervals between the current input frame and the subsequent input frame from the image source, wherein the inserting is operable to reduce charge accumulation in the display panel.
US09384699B2 Organic light-emitting display device
An organic light-emitting display device includes an organic light-emitting display panel displaying an image that includes a plurality of frames, a data driver providing a plurality of data signals, which correspond to the image, to the organic light-emitting display panel, and a gamma voltage generator providing a gamma voltage, which varies in a same period as each of the frames, to the data driver.
US09384694B2 Display panel and driving method thereof
A display panel includes a control circuit and a pixel structure. The control circuit selectively provides a data signal or a first reference voltage signal. The pixel structure includes a capacitor, a first, a second and a third switch unit. For the first switch unit, a first and a second terminal are coupled to two the capacitor in series, and a control terminal receives a control signal. For the second switch unit, a first terminal is coupled to the second terminal of the first switch unit, and the control terminal receives a first scan signal. For the third switch unit, a first terminal receives the data or first reference voltage signal, a second terminal is coupled to the second terminal of the second switch unit and a light emitting element, and the control terminal is coupled to the second terminal of the first switch unit.
US09384687B2 Device display
The present invention relates to a display device and, more particularly, to a display device configured to minimize short circuit of power lines by minimizing overlap between the power lines. A display device according to an aspect of the present invention includes: a first substrate on which data lines, scan lines intersecting the data lines, first to p-th (p being a natural number greater than 1) power lines through which first to p-th source voltages are supplied, and pixels arranged in a matrix form are formed; and a second substrate on which first to p-th auxiliary electrodes are formed, wherein the first to p-th power lines are respectively connected to the first to p-th auxiliary electrodes.
US09384683B2 Direct thermal media and registration sensor system and method for use in a color thermal printer
Provided is a direct thermal media containing a regular repeating pattern of color-forming thermally-imageable stripes printed parallel to the print head element line and a system for using such direct thermal media in color direct thermal printers including an optical registration system optimized for use with this media and an image processing unit that monitors the position of the stripe pattern relative to the print head and synchronizes the start of the printing process. This direct thermal media together with the optical registration system and image processing unit comprise an operative system in that the design of the thermal media, the optical registration system and image processing unit used to control printing are optimized for use with each other. This system may be utilized, for example, in color thermal printers for documents, receipts, tags, tickets or labels.
US09384667B2 Scalar product based spacing calculation
A method is described that includes receiving, by a spacing system of an ownship aircraft, a current position of the ownship aircraft and a reference position of a target aircraft, wherein the reference position is a position of the target aircraft prior to a current position of the target aircraft. The method may also include, projecting, by the spacing system of the ownship aircraft, the reference position on a trajectory of the ownship aircraft, determining a first distance between the projected reference position and the current position, projecting, by the spacing system of the ownship aircraft, the current position on a trajectory of the reference position, determining a second distance between the projected current position and the reference position, and adjusting, by the spacing system and based on an average between the first distance and the second distance, a velocity of the ownship aircraft.
US09384664B2 Parking assistance device
Provided is a parking assistance device capable of setting a parking target position without placing a burden on a driver. The parking assistance device includes: a ground object detection unit configured to detect a ground object that defines a parking stall in a predetermined detection region set in advance on a lateral side of a vehicle; a parking stall calculation unit configured to, based on the ground object detected by the ground object detection unit, calculate a parking stall that exists in the detection region; and a target parking stall setting unit configured to, among the parking stalls calculated by the parking stall calculation unit, sets a parking stall in a width direction of the vehicle in a view from a driver's seat of the vehicle as a target parking stall.
US09384659B2 Driving support system
Traffic information is provided to an in-vehicle unit of a vehicle located in a shadow portion of a large-sized vehicle and to an in-vehicle unit of a vehicle at a location separated from an intersection 193. A UHF beacon unit 112 is installed at the intersection 193, thereby distributing the traffic information using a UHF beacon signal having a diffraction characteristic. This arrangement can allow the in-vehicle unit of the vehicle located in the shadow portion of the large-sized vehicle as well to receive the traffic information. Further, since the UHF signal propagates far, this arrangement can allow the in-vehicle unit of the vehicle at the location separated from the intersection 193 as well to receive the traffic information. The UHF beacon unit 112 transmits, to a plurality of concentric zones, UHF beacon signals with different traffic information set therein for the different zones, by time division. At this time, the UHF beacon unit 112 transmits the UHF beacon signals with the different traffic information set therein, with different transmission output powers.
US09384657B2 Architectural covering cradle system, multifunction remote and method of use
A multi-function remote control and cradle system is presented. The remote fits within the opening of a standard light-switch faceplate and is magnetically held within a cradle which is connected to a conventional electrical box in the wall. The remote control includes a dwell function wherein when a button is pressed for less than a predetermined amount of time a first signal is sent, wherein when a button is pressed for more than a predetermined amount of time a second signal is sent. The remote control also includes a plurality of scene buttons wherein when pressed a plurality of architectural coverings are moved to a predetermined position. The remote control also includes a channel selector and a jog function wherein a unique signal is sent for each jog position between a fully open position and a fully closed position.
US09384646B2 Motion monitoring method and device
Provided is a motion monitoring method for monitoring a user's motion state with a motion monitoring device, sending an alert signal from the motion monitoring device to remind the user and displaying user data for recognizing the user when the motion monitoring device detects that the user's motion state does not generate any variation within a predetermined period of time or a generated variation is less than a standard value, and sending a distress signal from the motion monitoring device to specific and/or nonspecific persons if the alert signal is not turned off after the motion monitoring device having sent the alert signal continuously for a while, so as to lend a helping hand to the user as soon as possible.
US09384634B2 Wagering game employing a threshold-based game enhancement
A gaming method of conducting a wagering game includes conducting one or more successive plays of the wagering game via one or more display devices in response to a triggering event. For each of the one or more successive plays, the method includes determining one or more award amounts based on the displayed outcomes of the one or more successive plays. The method further includes aggregating, via one or more processors, each of the one or more award amounts determined over the successive plays to calculate an aggregate award amount and determining, via at least one of the one or more processors, whether the aggregate award amount is greater than a threshold amount. The method includes providing an enhancement to the wagering game in response to the aggregate award amount being greater than the threshold amount.
US09384631B2 Head-to-head and tournament play for enriched game play environment
Methods and systems for enhanced head-to-head hybrid gaming are provided. An enhanced head-to-head hybrid game has a gambling game with a real world engine that provides a randomly generated payout for the gambling game, an entertainment software engine that executes an entertainment game providing outcomes upon a player's execution of the entertainment game, and a game world engine that manages the entertainment software engine and communicates gameplay gambling event occurrences based upon a player's execution of the entertainment game that trigger the gambling game. A global betting manager receives player performance measurements from the game world engine, determines tournament eligibility, assigns a tournament handicap based at least in part upon the performance measurements from the game world engine and sends information concerning these parameters to the game world engine which is configured to implement each assigned handicap and tournament eligibility within the enhanced head-to-head hybrid game.
US09384628B2 Gaming community management and personalization
The present invention involves methods and devices for controlling many aspects of a player's gaming experience, including game themes presented, game denomination, pay models, content and promotions. Some implementations of the invention provide a casino operator the necessary tools to create subsets of customers, often referred to herein as “communities,” and to control the gaming experiences of players in these communities. In some such implementations, communities may be created and/or modified according to various criteria, some of which may be weighted more heavily than others. Specific marketing messages, promotions, etc., may be provided to attract and retain players having similar characteristics and preferences.
US09384622B2 Methods and systems for presenting pari-mutuel betting options and constructing wagers
Methods and systems of pari-mutuel wagering are disclosed to facilitate the wager construction process. In one method, patrons or tellers select a graphic area on a display element to place runners in a position of a pari-mutuel wager. In another method, a patron or teller selects a graphic area of a display element to copy a runner of a position to another position of a pari-mutuel wager. Another method provides a patron or teller with an opportunity to sort a list of runners of a pari-mutuel gaming activity by selecting an icon of a display element. In a further method, a patron or teller places a multi-position pari-mutuel wager by selecting an area of a display element.
US09384621B1 Product and cup dispensing mechanisms concentrically arranged on common rotatable wheel in a sanitized vending machine
A sanitized vending machine includes product and cup dispensing mechanisms and actuation mechanism. Product dispensing mechanism, holding one or more product items, rotates through a product dispensing cycle to dispense them. Cup dispensing mechanism, holding a stack of cups, rotates through a cup dispensing cycle to dispense a cup. Dispensing cycles occur in a predetermined sequence so as to enable dispensed product items to be received in a previously dispensed cup. Dispensing mechanisms are respectively disposed in a concentric relationship to one another on a single rotatable wheel so as to rotate together during respective dispensing cycles. Actuation mechanism includes a handle and rotatable drive gear drivingly interfaced with a driven gear on product dispensing mechanism such that when handle is turned by a user through an actuation cycle the drive gear rotates driven gear which concurrently rotates therewith the respective mechanisms through respective product and cup dispensing cycles.
US09384611B2 Method and system for self-discovery and management of wireless security devices
A system and method for automated discovery of wireless locks in a security system allows installers to assign each wireless lock to a slot on a wireless hub that provides wireless communications to the wireless locks. Device controllers poll the wireless hubs to discover the communications paths to each wireless lock. The device controllers store the information obtained from the polling, and present the information to a control system that manages the wireless locks. This eliminates the current practice of manually updating assignment information on the control system between wireless hub slots and the wireless locks in response to additions, deletions, or relocations of wireless locks within the security system. This is especially useful in installations that include hundreds or thousands of wireless locks within office buildings, hotels, or conference centers.
US09384608B2 Dual level human identification and location system
Systems and methods for controlling access to a Restricted Area (“RA”). The methods involve: determining whether a person desires to enter RA; checking whether the person is authorized to enter RA using a first unique identifier associated with a wearable access sensor being worn thereby; causing the person's Portable Communication Device (“PCD”) to transmit a second unique identifier and location information useful in determining the PCD's location within a surrounding environment, when a determination is made that the person is authorized to enter RA; using the second unique identifier and location information to confirm that the person is currently located at an access point of RA; and causing actuation of a mechanical actuator to enable the person's entrance into RA when it is determined that the person desires to enter RA, the person is authorized to enter RA, and the person is currently located at the access point of RA.
US09384601B2 Aircraft electronic fingerprint and monitoring performance of an aircraft component using the aircraft's electronic fingerprint
An initial electronic fingerprint for a vehicle and selected component of the vehicle, e.g. an aircraft windshield having a heatable member, is made. During operation of the aircraft, the initial electronic fingerprint of the aircraft and a real time electronic fingerprint of the aircraft are compared to determine the operating performance of the heatable member. The parameter that provides the performance of the component includes a time count within a predetermined time period. As the time count increases during the predetermined time period, the performance of the heatable member toward unacceptable performance increases.
US09384599B2 Handheld automotive diagnostic tool with VIN decoder and communication system
Provided is a method of receiving data from a vehicle having an onboard computer. The vehicle identification data location on the vehicle is optically scanned and matched to a second protocol database to identify the specific protocol useful for retrieving desired diagnostic data from the vehicle. A diagnostic device is connected to the vehicle onboard computer and polls the onboard computer to identify a protocol useful to establish a communication link between the diagnostic device and the onboard computer. Once the communication link is established, the diagnostic device is configured communicate an information request to the onboard computer in the specific protocol(s) associated with vehicle identification data. The diagnostic data received from the onboard computer may then be communicated to a remote diagnostic database, via a cellphone, to identify a possible vehicle fix(es) for defects associated with the received diagnostic data.
US09384598B2 Method and system for generating a vehicle identifier
Upon initial boot-up, a telematics device receives a PID map in response to a PID map request. The TCU may send multiple PID map requests for different mode and PID combinations over a vehicles communication bus, and then may append each received PID map to the already-received PID maps. The multiple PID maps appended to one another form a composite bit value, or composite PID map. The composite PID map is processed according to a hash algorithm, resulting in a pseudo-VIN. Upon subsequent boot-ups of the TCU, the TCU sends the multiple PID map requests over the vehicle's bus and generates a pseudo VIN following the same steps as it did at initial boot-up. The TCU compares the currently generated pseudo-VIN to the initial pseudo VIN; if it determines a mismatch, it sends a notification to an interested third party that indicates improper usage of the TCU.
US09384593B2 Level of detail processing
A method for the level of detail processing in the visualization of virtual models. In the method, the patches for each object are sorted according to the visualization error for producing the fine detail level of the model. When more than one geometry level is used, reduced detail levels are formed so that the patches are in the same order as in the fine detail level. When visualizing the model, a sliding window is placed on the model according to a determined quality factor. The sliding window is positioned on the levels so that it can be partially on two different levels.