Document	Document Title
US09554175B2	Method, computer program, reception apparatus, and information providing apparatus for trigger compaction A method, computer program, and reception apparatus, and information providing apparatus. The method includes receiving a trigger parameters table (TPT). The TPT is associated with a triggered declarative object (TDO) and includes at least one parameter associated with a trigger event. The TPT is stored in a first memory of the reception apparatus. The TDO is executed by a processor of the reception apparatus and is stored in a second memory of the reception apparatus. The reception apparatus receives a trigger associated with the trigger event. At least one parameter associated with the trigger event is retrieved from the TPT based on information included in the trigger. Further, a function is performed based on the retrieved at least one parameter.
US09554172B2	Rebroadcasting system A rebroadcasting system for retransmitting a television broadcast, which was received from a satellite, in a segment broadcasting, such as one-segment broadcasting and three-segment broadcasting, comprises: charging a solar battery during the daytime; recording broadcasts during the retransmission halt time; retransmitting television broadcasts, which are received from the satellite, in real time by use of central (one or three) segments and the charged power during any time when the output of the solar battery is low, for example, during the night, before sunset, after sunrise, or a rainy day; reproducing the recorded broadcasts; and retransmitting the reproduced recorded programs by use of any remaining segments, for example, segments adjacent to the central segments.
US09554171B2	Method for transmitting and receiving a broadcast signal and a broadcast receiver using the method The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving a broadcast signal. The method for receiving a broadcast signal comprises: generating a broadcast stream including at least one program; generating first program table information that represents the broadcast stream; receiving non-real time (NRT) service schedule information; generating second program table information that represents the NRT service, in accordance with the received NRT service schedule information; configuring a stream including the broadcast stream, the 1st program table information and the second program table information; and transmitting the stream.
US09554166B2	Methods and apparatus for providing multi-source bandwidth sharing management Methods and apparatus for providing one or more services such as video on-demand, switched digital video, or Internet services using shared bandwidth. Exemplary embodiments include methods and apparatus for providing video on-demand and switched digital video to a set of customer premise equipment devices using a first dedicated portion of the bandwidth to provide video on-demand services, a second dedicated portion of the bandwidth to provide switched digital video services, and a third portion of the bandwidth to provide both switched digital video and video on-demand services wherein the size of the bandwidth made available to provide video on-demand within the third shared portion of bandwidth varies as a function of requests for video on-demand and switched digital video services and the priorities of the new requests versus the existing operating services. Bandwidth management occurring in accordance with bandwidth sharing policies, priorities and rules generated by a bandwidth sharing mechanism.
US09554162B2	Apparatus for transreceiving signals and method for transreceiving signals The present invention relates to an apparatus for transreceiving signals and a method for transreceiving signals. One embodiment of the present invention provides a method for transmitting signals comprising the steps of: encoding video data; generating signaling information including video configuration metadata information, which can output the encoded video data as a plurality of video sampling formats; and multiplexing the encoded video data and the signaling information and then transmitting the multiplexed video data and the signaling information.
US09554157B2	Method and apparatus for coding video and method and apparatus for decoding video accompanied with arithmetic coding A method of decoding a video through symbol decoding includes parsing symbols of image blocks from a received bitstream; classifying a current symbol into a prefix bit string and a suffix bit string based on a threshold value determined according to a size of a current block; performing arithmetic decoding of the prefix bit string and the suffix bit string by using respective arithmetic decoding methods determined for each of the prefix bit string and the suffix bit string; performing inverse binarization of the prefix bit string and the suffix bit string by using respective binarization methods determined for each of the prefix bit string and the suffix bit string; and restoring the image blocks by performing an inverse transformation operation and a prediction operation on the current block by using the current symbol restored through the arithmetic decoding and the inverse binarization.
US09554155B2	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 An video decoding apparatus including a parser which obtains bit strings corresponding to current transformation coefficient level information by arithmetic decoding a bitstream based on a context model; a parameter determiner which determines 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; a syntax element restorer which obtains the current transformation coefficient level information by performing de-binarization of the bit strings using the determined current binarization parameter and generates 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.
US09554153B2	Data compression using spatial decorrelation Methods and modules for spatial decorrelation and recorrelation are described. A block of data values can be spatially decorrelated in two dimensions efficiently by processing rows of the data values in a particular order such that if the results of spatially decorrelating a first row will be used for column-wise spatial decorrelation of a second row then the data values of the first row are processed in an earlier iteration to that in which the data values of the second row are processed. This allows for highly parallelised processing of the block of data values. Spatial recorrelation can be performed as an inverse process to the spatial decorrelation.
US09554138B2	Method and apparatus for encoding video by using block merging, and method and apparatus for decoding video by using block merging Provided are a method and apparatus for encoding a video by using block merging and a method and apparatus for decoding a video by using block merging. The method of encoding includes: determining an encoding mode indicating a current data unit for encoding of a picture and an encoding method including prediction encoding performed for the current data unit; determining an occurrence of merging with at least one neighboring data unit based on at least one of the encoding mode and a prediction mode; and determining prediction mode information, merging related information, and prediction related information, and determining encoding information of the data unit including the prediction mode information, the merging related information, and the prediction related information.
US09554133B2	Method and apparatus for region of interest video coding using tiles and tile groups Systems, methods, and instrumentalities are disclosed relating to region of interest (ROI) video coding using tiles and tile groups. An encoded video sequence including a plurality of tiles may be received. The plurality of tiles may be divided into one or more tile groups. Signaling indicating parameters of the one or more tile groups may be received. A tile group of the one or more tiles groups may be decoded and a picture relating to the decoded tile group may be displayed. The decoded tile group may overlap the ROI. The ROI may correspond to the displayed picture and the displayed picture may be a portion of the encoded video sequence. The tile groups that do not overlap the ROI may not be decoded.
US09554130B2	Intra prediction mode mapping method and device using the method The present invention relates to an intra prediction mode mapping method and a device using the method. The intra prediction mode includes: decoding flag information providing information regarding whether an intra prediction mode of a plurality of candidate intra prediction modes for the current block is the same as the intra prediction mode for the current block, and decoding a syntax component including information regarding the intra prediction mode for the current block in order to induce the intra prediction mode for the current block if the intra prediction mode from among the plurality of candidate intra prediction modes for the current block is not the same as the intra prediction mode for the current block. Thus, it is possible to increase the efficiency with which are images are decoded.
US09554128B2	Method and apparatus for reduction of deblocking filter A method and apparatus for deblocking of reconstructed video are disclosed. In one embodiment, the method divides a block boundary into two sub-boundaries and separates lines or column across the sub-boundaries into two groups. The deblocking filter decision for each group is determined based on the lines or columns in the respective group. In another embodiment, the method divides block edges of blocks in the LCUs into two edge groups, where the first edge group corresponds to horizontal block edges between two LCUs and the second edge group corresponds to remaining block edges not included in the first edge group. The number of lines processed by a vertical filter in the first edge group is less than the number of lines processed by a vertical filter in the second edge group. Accordingly, a system embodying the present invention has reduced storage requirement.
US09554119B2	Image generation method, image display method, storage medium storing image generation program, image generation system, and image display device A method for generating a stereoscopic panorama image may include acquiring panorama images respectively captured by three or more panorama cameras located in a real space. A left-eye image and a right-eye image for stereoscopic display may be generated by synthesizing parts of the acquired panorama images. The generated left-eye image and the generated right-eye image may be displayed stereoscopically on a display.
US09554115B2	Imaging pixels with depth sensing capabilities An imager may include depth sensing pixels that receive and convert incident light into image signals. The imager may have an associated imaging lens that focuses the incident light onto the imager. Each of the depth sensing pixels may include a microlens that focuses incident light received from the imaging lens through a color filter onto first and second photosensitive regions of a substrate. The first and second photosensitive regions may provide different and asymmetrical angular responses to incident light. Depth information for each depth sensing pixel may be determined based on the difference between output signals of the first and second photosensitive regions of that depth sensing pixel. Color information for each depth sensing pixel may be determined from a summation of output signals of the first and second photosensitive regions.
US09554110B1	Methods and controllers for controlling a data storage device and data storage device comprising the same A method of controlling a data storage device comprising a storage medium using a storage device controller. The method may comprise receiving and providing data to be written to and read from the storage medium over a first interface of the data storage device; receiving and providing data to be written to and read from the storage medium over a second interface of the data storage device; and selectively processing at least data received and provided over the second interface through at least one of an audio codec and a video codec provided within the data storage device controller. The first interface may comprise, for example, a SAS/SATA interface and the second interface may comprise, for example, an HDMI or other high data rate interface.
US09554108B2	Image processing device and storage medium storing image processing program An image processing device includes an imaging unit generating RAW image data of a shot image and a gradation conversion unit. The imaging unit includes an imaging sensor which converts an image of a subject into an electrical signal. Then the gradation conversion unit performs gradation conversion according to a shooting condition for each of color signals based on a pixel array of the imaging sensor on the RAW image data of continuously shot images. Thus, it is possible to efficiently compress the RAW image data of continuously shot images.
US09554104B2	Projection system and semiconductor integrated circuit A projection system includes a projection apparatus, at least one image capture apparatus, and an arithmetic apparatus. The projection apparatus projects image light indicating image content and pattern light indicating a pattern image in which projection coordinates defined in a projection coordinate system are coded.
US09554103B2	Projector and control method therefor A projector can be easily attached by mounting a connecting unit to a socket for illumination in an ordinary home. Since the projector includes a communication unit configured to receive an electronic mail, the projector updates an image signal and adjusts a diffusion degree of modulated light by a light-diffusion adjusting unit on the basis of contents of the mail received by the communication unit. Therefore, when a user desires to inform family members who will return home that the user suddenly has to go out, if the user transmits in advance, to the projector, a mail including a message for a family member who returns home, the family member who returns home turns on an illumination switch at the entrance, whereby the projector can start up, perform an illuminating function, and clearly project and display the message.
US09554095B2	Flow cell alignment methods and systems Imagers and alignment methods for use by imagers imaging deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) fragments on a flow cell are disclosed. The imagers capture intensity values at DNA fragment bead locations in tiles with each tile having a reference location in the flow cell. Flow cells may be aligned by obtaining a dark field image of each tile during a first imaging session, identifying dark field constellations of bead locations within two separate tiles during the first imaging session, identifying corresponding constellations during a second imaging session, altering the reference location of at least one tile during the second imaging session to correct for a linear offset in the corresponding constellations, and applying at least one correction factor for reading out intensity values from the imager for the bead locations in the flow cell to correct for an angular offset determined from offsets in the corresponding constellations.
US09554093B2	Automatically inserting advertisements into source video content playback streams Systems and methods for automatically inserting advertisements into source video content playback streams are described. In one aspect, the systems and methods communicate a source video content playback stream to a video player to present source video to a user. During playback of the source video, and in response to receipt of a request from the user to navigate portions of the source video (e.g., a user command to fast forward the source video, rewind the source video, or other action), the systems and methods dynamically define a video advertisement clip insertion point (e.g., and insertion point based on a current playback position). The systems and methods then insert a contextually relevant and/or targeted video advertisement clip into the playback stream for presentation to the user.
US09554092B2	System and method for providing incentive rewards to an audience tuned to a broadcast signal A technique for offering a reward to an audience member tuned to a broadcast signal which is performed by reproduction equipment, the broadcast signal having commercial content, program content, and commercial content identification codes respectively corresponding to advertisements contained in the commercial content, wherein the audience member captures the commercial content identification codes from the performed broadcast signal and actuates storing of a segment of a program content from the performed broadcast signal. The technique identifies the program based on the segment thereof that was stored in response to the command, and offers the audience member a reward related to the identified program.
US09554089B2	Smart LED lighting device and remote video chat system thereof The present disclosure provides smart LED lighting devices and remote video chat systems thereof. A smart LED lighting device includes an LED light-emitting unit, a power supply unit, a wireless communication unit, an audio and video processing and controller unit, a projection unit, a video acquisition unit, a voice input unit, and a voice broadcast unit. The audio and video processing and controller unit receives, parses, and processes audio and video information from the wireless communication unit, the voice input unit, and the video acquisition unit. The projection unit projects the processed video data in projectable format to a screen. The voice broadcast unit plays the processed audio information. The disclosed devices and systems can play audio and video resources from local terminal or the cloud in the Internet, perform remote video chat freely, and integrate with indoor environment, enhancing the smart home life experience.
US09554082B2	Recording apparatus, recording method, and program A recording apparatus is arranged to control a file name of recorded moving image file and a file name of the recorded still image file, so as to, after a recording stop instruction, in accordance with the file name of at least one of the moving image file and still image file recorded in a period of time from a recording start instruction to the recording stop instruction, change the file name of at least one of the moving image file and still image file recorded in that period so that the file names of the plurality of moving image files recorded in that period have consecutive file numbers corresponding to recording order of the moving image files and the file names of the plurality of still image files recorded in that period have consecutive file numbers corresponding to recording order of the still image files.
US09554072B2	Two-stage analog-to-digital converter for high-speed image sensor The present invention relates to a two- or multiple-stage analog to digital converter. The converter preferably includes an incremental ADC in the first stage. The incremental ADC comprises an integrator and a comparator. After the predefined number of comparisons performed by the comparator, the output of the integrator appropriately scaled is provided to the second stage where it is further sampled. In particular, the scaling gain is inversely proportional to the integrator gain. The second ADC performs the conversion of the remaining least significant bits and then the output of both stages is combined. Moreover, a calibration and correction approaches are provided for the multi-stage ADC.
US09554070B2	Imaging device for reducing pressure on data bus bandwidth An imaging device includes a solid-state imaging device, a storage unit, an imaging-processing unit configured to process input image data output from the solid-state imaging device or image data stored in the storage unit, and a timing-generating unit configured to generate timings at which the solid-state imaging device and the imaging-processing unit operate. The timing-generating unit generates a first synchronization signal for driving the solid-state imaging device to output the first synchronization signal to the solid-state imaging device and output the first synchronization signal and a first clock signal input from the solid-state imaging device to the imaging-processing unit in a first operation based on the timing of the solid-state imaging device. The timing-generating unit outputs a generated second synchronization signal and second clock signal to the imaging-processing unit in a second operation based on an internal timing of the imaging-processing unit.
US09554067B2	Solid-state imaging apparatus The present invention provides a solid-state imaging apparatus that can significantly reduce kTC noise by using a negative feedback amplifying circuit. A solid-state imaging apparatus includes a pixel unit including a plurality of pixels arranged on a semiconductor substrate in a matrix, the pixel unit including, for each column, a source line and a column signal line, each of the plurality of pixels including: a photoelectric conversion unit that generates a signal charge corresponding to incident light; a storage unit storing the signal charge; a reset transistor; an amplifying transistor; and a cutoff transistor, wherein the amplifying transistor and the cutoff transistor form a negative feedback amplifying circuit. With this configuration, kTC noise can significantly be reduced.
US09554063B2	Using infrared images of a monitored scene to identify windows A process classifies objects in a scene. The process receives a captured IR image of a scene taken by a 2-dimensional image sensor array of a camera system while one or more IR illuminators of the camera system are emitting IR light, thereby forming an IR intensity map of the scene with a respective intensity value determined for each pixel of the IR image. The process uses the IR intensity map to identify a plurality of pixels whose corresponding intensity values are within a predefined intensity range, and clusters the identified plurality of pixels into one or more regions that are substantially contiguous. The process determines that a first region of the one or more regions corresponds to a specific material based, at least in part, on the intensity values of the pixels in the first region. The process then stores information in the memory that identifies the first region.
US09554062B2	Video switching apparatus, video switching method, program, and information processing apparatus A video switcher includes: a reception unit which receives video data within a range of a prescribed bandwidth via a network from video output apparatuses; a transmission unit which selects one or more pieces from among received video data, and transmits the selected one or more pieces to a video processing apparatus; a selection unit which dynamically sets a priority degree of each piece of video data, and selects video data to be received; and a control unit which controls a transmission and reception of video data. When a bandwidth necessary for a reception of new video data is insufficient, the selection unit selects video data for which reception is to be stopped from among video data being received based on the priority degree, and the control unit performs a control so as to stop a reception of selected video data and start a reception of the new video data.
US09554059B1	Exposure control system and associated exposure control method An exposure-control system and an associated exposure control method are provided. The exposure-control system includes: an image capturing unit configured to capture a long-exposure image and a short-exposure image with a first exposure value and a second exposure value, respectively; and a processor, configured to calculate histograms of the long-exposure image and the short-exposure image, and calculate an exposure ratio according to the calculated histograms, the first and second exposure values, wherein when the exposure ratio is smaller than a first threshold, the processor switches a current exposure mode to a low dynamic range mode. When the exposure ratio is larger than a second threshold, the processor switches the current exposure mode to a high dynamic range mode. When the exposure ratio is between the first threshold and the second threshold, the processor does not switch the current exposure mode.
US09554053B1	Method and photographing apparatus for controlling function based on gesture of user A photographing apparatus including a sensor, a touchscreen, and a controller is disclosed. The sensor is configured to detect that a user approaches or comes within a predetermined proximity the photographing apparatus. The touchscreen is configured to display an image representing a state of the photographing apparatus and receive a gesture of the user. The controller is configured to enable a function of the touchscreen to detect the gesture based on a signal received from the sensor, and execute a function corresponding to the gesture.
US09554048B2	In-stream rolling shutter compensation In-stream rolling shutter compensation may be utilized to modify image data to compensate for detected camera motion. An image processor may perform motion matching on image data received from a camera sensor to determine whether and how the camera is moving. Strips of image data are analyzed to find matching locations between the current image and a previous image by generating graphical profiles for each image strip. The graphical profiles for the current strip are compared to corresponding profiles from the previous image to determine matching locations between the two frames. A motion vector for the strip may be computed based on spatial distances between the match locations of the current image and corresponding match locations of the previous frame. Image data for the current strip may be modified based on the motion vector to compensate for perceived camera motion as it is written out to memory.
US09554046B2	Method and image processing device for image stabilization of a video stream The present invention relates to an image processing device arranged for image stabilization of a video stream comprising image frames captured by a video camera, the image processing device comprising: an electronic image stabilization module arranged to perform electronic image stabilization to sub-sets of image frames of the image frames of the video stream to compensate for a oscillating movement of the video camera; and a masking module arranged to apply an edge mask to each sub-set of image frames, wherein each edge mask is having a fixed width, wherein the fixed width is based on a camera oscillation amplitude being specific for the sub-set of image frames to which the edge mask is applied. The present invention also relates to a method for image stabilization of a video stream.
US09554043B2	Methods and systems for processing a video for stabilization using dynamic crop Methods and systems for processing a video for stabilization are described. A recorded video may be stabilized by removing at least a portion of shake introduced in the video. An original camera path for a camera used to record the video may be determined. A crop window size may be selected, a crop window transform may accordingly be determined, and the crop window transform may be applied to the original video to provide a modified video from a viewpoint of the modified motion camera path.
US09554040B2	Multi-viewpoint image capturing method and image display method The present technique provides a method of capturing a multi-viewpoint image of an object with a rotation axis of the object optionally changed by a user and an image display method. The present technique is a multi-viewpoint image capturing method including shooting an object from a plurality of different viewpoints, and capturing a plurality of still images, wherein the object is placed at a center of a virtually set ICO sphere, and during the shooting of the object, the images of the object are captured from a vertex of the virtually set ICO sphere toward the center of the ICO sphere such that the plurality of still images are generated.
US09554029B2	Imaging apparatus and focus control method There is provided an imaging apparatus including a first focus detection unit that has a plurality of first focus detection areas in a photographed screen, and detects a first defocusing amount in the first focus detection areas, a second focus detection unit that has a plurality of second focus detection areas in a photographed screen, and detects a second defocusing amount in the second focus detection areas, a defocusing amount selection unit that selects which of the first defocusing amount detected by the first focus detection unit and the second defocusing amount detected by the second focus detection unit is used, and a focus control unit that performs focus control by moving a focus lens on the basis of the defocusing amount selected by the defocusing amount selection unit.
US09554025B2	Solid state image capturing apparatus, camera module and electronic device including anti-reflection plate There is provided a solid state image capturing apparatus including an image capturing element for photoelectric converting an incident light; a light shielding filter for shielding a part of the incident light; and a metal plate partly having an opening for fixing the light shielding filter at a position for blocking the opening, an end of the opening of the metal plate being etched and antireflection treated. Also, a camera module and an electronic device are provided.
US09554020B2	Workflow for content creation and guided display management of EDR video Video data with enhanced dynamic range (EDR) are color graded for a first and a second reference display with different dynamic range characteristics to generate a first color-graded output, a second color graded output, and associated first and second sets of metadata. The first color-graded output and the two sets of metadata are transmitted from an encoder to a decoder to be displayed on a target display which may be different than the second reference display. At the receiver, a decoder interpolates between the first and second set of metadata to generate a third set of metadata which drives the display management process for displaying the received video data onto the target display. The second set of metadata of metadata may be represented as delta metadata values from the first set of metadata values.
US09554010B2	Image reading apparatus and reflecting mirror unit The invention relates to an image reading apparatus and includes: scanning unit including a light source; a focusing mirror which reflects light from the light source on a reflecting surface portion; and a mirror holder which fixes the focusing mirror on fixing portions formed at both ends of the mirror holder, wherein, when the scanning unit is moved to read image information, the focusing mirror is formed such that the fixing portion is smaller than the reflecting surface portion in at least one of strength and rigidity.
US09553995B2	Image processing apparatus, control method thereof, and storage medium An image processing apparatus registers voice call destination information and data transmission destination information for a destination in association with each other. The image processing apparatus executes a voice call with the destination using the voice call destination information, and executes, after the voice call, data transmission to the destination using the data transmission destination information in accordance with a data transmission instruction input by the user.
US09553992B1	Automated emergency notification system An automated notification system for use in a facility, including a telephone system, a controller, a paging system, and a warning system. The warning system includes warning lights, warning speakers, and warning displays. The telephone system includes extension handsets, and the paging system includes paging speakers. The extension handsets, paging speakers, warning speakers, warning lights, and warning displays are distributed throughout the facility. An alert condition may be activated using one of the extension handsets or by an activation device within the facility. Upon detection of an alert condition, the controller actuates the warning system and uses the paging system to provide audible and visual warnings throughout the facility, and provides outgoing notification to emergency personnel through the telephone system. Remote units located in outlying areas around the facility are wirelessly signaled by the control unit to provide appropriate warnings in such locations.
US09553991B1	User input driven short message service (SMS) applications At least one inquiry message is received from a user device in the form or a text message, email or other communication message format. The message may be received and processed to identify the content of the inquiry message to determine whether the inquiry message should be transferred to a live agent queue or whether the inquiry message should be responded to with an automated response stored in a database. In the case of the automated message failing to address the user's inquiry or if the automated responses do not appear to be relevant based on the comparison of the message content to automated response content then transmitting the inquiry message to the live agent queue.
US09553984B2	Systems and methods for remotely tuning hearing devices A method of tuning a hearing device includes sending a test signal to a model of a hearing device that may be remote from the actual hearing device being tuned. The test signal is encoded by the model and sent to the hearing device being tuned. The user of that hearing device sends a response signal based at least in part on the encoded test signal. This response is received and compared to the original test signal. Thereafter, an operational parameter is sent to the hearing device based on the comparison.
US09553979B2	Bluetooth headset and voice interaction control thereof Techniques for a personalized Bluetooth headset and a voice interaction control method thereof are described. According to one aspect of the present invention, the Bluetooth headset is caused to maintain a voice contact list. Each item in the voice contact list corresponds to a phone number associated with a set of audio data (e.g., a voice or a predefined audio). When a paired mobile device receives a call, the voice contact list is searched per the caller number. A corresponding audio is played back when an item is located in the voice contact list. As such a user of the Bluetooth headset knows who is calling and determines whether the call shall be answered or not.
US09553975B2	Portable terminal and method for controlling portable terminal Avoided is falsely detecting a hand of a usual user being in contact with a contact sensor, instead of detecting an object, such as water, having a high dielectric constant being in contact with the contact sensor. A smartphone (1) includes a contact determination section (101) which determines that (i) a hand is in contact with a contact sensor (11) in a case where an output value outputted by the contact sensor (11) is not lower than TH1 and lower than TH3 and (ii) an object, such as water, having a high dielectric constant is in contact with the contact sensor (11) in a case where the output value is not lower than TH3.
US09553967B2	Stateful integration of a vehicle information system user interface with mobile device operations A method, device, and vehicle information system are provided for persisting application context from the vehicle information system to the mobile device. The mobile device provides access to at least one application executing on the mobile device to the vehicle information system. On termination of that access, an operating context is determined for each of the mobile device applications where possible. In some cases, where application context is persisted from one system or device to the other, the current data is presented in accordance with a transport modality associated with the other device or system.
US09553966B2	Method and apparatus pertaining to the dynamic handling of incoming calls A control circuit determines when a user of a corresponding portable communication device is presently driving a vehicle and then, in response to detecting this use state, automatically answer incoming calls and provide at least two contact options to the caller. One of these contact options can comprise the option to speak with the user during this call. Another of these contact options can comprise recording a voice message for the user and discontinuing the incoming call without the caller speaking with the user. The control circuit can determine whether the user is presently driving a vehicle by relying upon a direct acknowledgement of the user and/or by indirect means.
US09553965B2	Method and device for number display based on mobile terminal, and mobile terminal The disclosure provides a method and device for number display based on the mobile terminal and a mobile terminal. The method includes: an International Mobile Subscriber Identity, IMSI, automatic match function is enabled according to a user selection, IMSI information in a Subscriber Identity Module, SIM, card is read, the IMSI information is parsed to acquire Mobile Country Code, MCC, information; an MCC number format list is matched according to the MCC information to acquire and store a corresponding number display format; and when a user opens a dialling interface to input a number, the number is displayed according to the corresponding number display format. The disclosure solves the problem of not being adapted to a display style of the mobile terminal, and has the beneficial effects that an accustomed phone number display style of a corresponding country is automatically matched according to a phone number input by a user and the phone number is displayed according to the number display style, thereby enhancing system performance and improving user experience.
US09553952B2	Image processing system An image processing system in which a client apparatus transmits RAW image data to a server apparatus, receives a result developed by the server apparatus, and displays onto a display area. The client apparatus reduces the RAW image data to a size suitable to display, transmits to the server apparatus, and requests a development processing. The client apparatus also starts a transmission processing of original RAW image data to the server apparatus. While making adjustment of the development processing to reduced RAW image data, the client apparatus and the server apparatus execute a transmission and reception processing of the original RAW image data in parallel therewith. After the development processing of the reduced RAW image data, if there is a request from the client apparatus, the server apparatus also executes the development processing of the original RAW image data.
US09553941B2	Enabling proximity operations with long-range wireless communication interfaces Systems and methods for enabling proximity operations with long-range wireless communication interfaces are described. In an illustrative, non-limiting embodiment, a method may include transmitting a plurality of data packets using a WiFi interface of a first device, where each data packet has a signal strength following a predetermined pattern; and receiving an indication, via the WiFi interface, of whether the predetermined pattern has been identified by a second device.
US09553938B2	Evaluation of content based on user activities Embodiments of the present invention provide an automated scheme for identifying high/low value content. Playback data from users in a social network may be periodically submitted by users of the social network. The playback data indicates segments of content, such as audio or video that the user has skipped over or tagged as low value. The playback data may also indicate segments of content that the user has repeated or tagged as high value. The playback data is then analyzed in aggregate and various clips are identified. In addition, the playback data may be compiled and organized among the users for future use. The playback data may be used to indicate segments of high/low interest to peers in the social network or to arbitrary users.
US09553933B2	Method and apparatus for communication session-based initiation of networked terminals An approach is provided for using one or more identification parameters of terminals associated with a communication session to initiate another communication session among the terminals. A communication platform determines one or more identification parameters associated with one or more terminals participating in at least one communication session. The communication platform further causes, at least in part, an initiation of at least one other communication session among the one or more terminals based, at least in part, on the one or more identification parameters.
US09553921B2	Method for downloading content from a server onto a recording medium as well as recording medium being suitable therefor A method for transferring content from a server (2) onto a recording medium (14), said server (2) being accessible via a communication network (4), comprises the following steps: a) connecting said recording medium (14) to a networkable device (3), b) establishing a connection between the networkable device (3) and said server (2) via said communication network (4), and c) transferring content from said server (2) onto said recording medium (14) via said networkable device (3), wherein at least one of steps b) and c) is managed by an application which is provided on said recording medium (14) and which is activated or is activatable after said recording medium (14) has been connected to said networkable device (3).
US09553915B2	Method and system for implementing commands A method for implementing commands includes storing data defining command operations in a memory. The data defining command operations include a hierarchy of Uniform Resource identifiers (URIs) and Extensible Markup Language (XML) document schema defining XML documents. The method also includes receiving a command request from a remote computer. The command request contains an URI and a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) method. Further, the method includes determining a command operation based on the data defining command operations stored in the memory and the command request received, and executing the command operation based on the command request.
US09553908B2	Wireless music playing method, wireless music playing system and wireless music player The invention discloses a wireless music playing method, a wireless music playing system and a wireless music player, wherein the method includes the following steps. A digital media controller edits a play schedule and delivers the play schedule to a wireless music player, and the play schedule includes a playing time and corresponding location information of a music source. The wireless music player links to the corresponding location information of the music source to play music media data according to the playing time and the corresponding location information of the music source in the play schedule. The technical solution of the invention can simplify the operation of music playing and realize the automatically classified playing according to time.
US09553902B1	Story development and sharing architecture: predictive data A community of authors, readers and contributors interact with each other through a communication framework. The authors share creative works, such as fictional stories, for consumption by the readers and for commenting by the contributors. The readers may see successive drafts of the work as an author completes and revises the work. The contributors may provide comments or other contributions to assist the author. For example, the contributors may make suggestions about how to change the work or provide supplemental content, such as cover artwork, to the author. The author may recognize publicly contributors who provide helpful comments. The likelihood of an author completing a final draft of a work may be determined based on the author's activities regarding the work. The likelihood of a completed work being popular with readers may also be determined based on user interaction with a draft of the work.
US09553899B2	Single pass load balancing and session persistence in packet networks Methods and systems for performing load balancing and session persistence in IP (e.g., IPv6) networks are described herein. Some aspects relate to a destination options extension header that may be used to store load balancing session persistence option (LBSPO) data, including a client identifier and a server identifier for each of a client and a server. A load balancer for a server farm can perform session persistence and load balancing based on the LBSPO information. The server can include its own address in the LBSPO data when responding to an initial request from a client. The client device may then address subsequent packets to the server selected for that session, thereby bypassing the load balancer after the session is established, thereby freeing the load balancer to handle other requests. The LBSPO information may remain unchanged for the duration of the session.
US09553897B2	Method and computer device for monitoring wireless network The present disclosure discloses a method and computer device for monitoring a wireless network. The method is implemented as follows. The computer device obtains configuration file information for accessing the wireless network after the computer device accesses the wireless network, wherein the configuration file information comprises an IP address and a subnet mask of the computer device. The computer device calculates an IP address range of the wireless network according to the IP address and the subnet mask of the computer device. The computer device searches for a device that accesses the wireless network and of which IP address is within the IP address range.
US09553893B2	Enhanced message security A secure messaging system and method includes receiving an encrypted message, the message having been encrypted using a token of a corresponding pervasive device; wirelessly verifying the presence of the pervasive device; and, if the presence can be verified, decrypting the message using the token. The verification step can include the steps of establishing a wireless link with the pervasive device; and, querying the pervasive device over the wireless link. The establishing step can include the step of establishing a Bluetooth link with the pervasive device. Furthermore, the querying step can include the step of requesting geographic coordinates which locate the pervasive device.
US09553886B2	Managing dynamic deceptive environments A deception management system to detect attackers within a dynamically changing network, including a deployment governor dynamically designating a deception policy that includes one or more decoy attack vectors, one or more resources of the network in which the decoy attack vectors are generated, and a schedule for generating the decoy attack vectors in the resources, wherein an attack vector is an object in a first resource that may be used by an attacker to access or discover a second resource, and wherein the network of resources is dynamically changing, a deception deployer dynamically generating decoy attack vectors on resources in the network, in accordance with the current deception policy, a deception adaptor dynamically extracting characteristics of the network, and a deception diversifier dynamically triggering changes in the deception policy based on changes in the network as detected from the network characteristics extracted by the deception adaptor.
US09553877B2	Installing virtual machines within different communication pathways to access protected resources One or more processors fractionate a computer application into disparate components, and assign two or more of the disparate components to different communication pathways, where the different communication pathways lead to requisite resources needed to execute the disparate components. The processor(s) create a virtual machine that controls access to a particular requisite resource by a particular disparate component, and install the virtual machine within at least one of the different communication pathways to control access to the particular requisite resource by the particular disparate component. The processor(s) transmit a resource retrieval instruction to retrieve the particular requisite resource via the virtual machine and at least one of the different communication pathways, and adjust a quantity of virtual machines between the computer application and the particular requisite resource according to a threat level for the particular disparate component.
US09553875B2	Managing user access in a communications network A method of operating a node for performing handover between access networks wherein a user has authenticated for network access in a first access network. The method comprises receiving from a home network a first session key and a temporary identifier allocated to the user for the duration of a communication session. The identifier is mapped to the first session key, and the mapped identifier and key are stored at the node. A second session key is derived from the first session key and the second session key is sent to an access network, and the identifier sent to a user terminal. When the user subsequently moves to a second access network, the node receives the identifier from the user terminal. The node then retrieves the first session key mapped to the received identifier, derives a third session key and sends the third session key to the second access network.
US09553872B2	Method and system for providing zero sign on user authentication An approach for receiving a request for an authentication code for presentation in an authentication user interface, wherein the request is from a relying party and wherein the authentication user interface is presented by the relying party at a first device. The approach further involves transmitting the authentication code to the relying party. The approach also involves authenticating a user with respect to the relying party by determining that a second device associated with the user has read the authentication code from the authentication user interface of the first device, wherein the second device is a previously authenticated device.
US09553867B2	Secure application access system A proxy server receives a synchronization request from an application program resident on a user device. The proxy server determines that the user device requires removal of application program data and synchronizes the application program resident on the user device with a null account that is associated with application program.
US09553861B1	Systems and methods for managing access to services provided by wireline service providers A computer-implemented method for managing access to services provided by wireline service providers may include (1) receiving at least one request from a subscriber device to authorize access to at least one service, (2) authenticating the subscriber device with an access gateway of a wireline service provider based at least in part on the request, (3) generating a unique session identifier that uniquely identifies the subscriber device during a service-access session, (4) delivering the unique session identifier to a management server of the wireline service provider to enable the management server to authenticate the subscriber device with at least one network device that provides the service based at least in part on the unique session identifier, and then (5) facilitating access by the subscriber device to the service provided by the network device during the service-access session. Various other systems, methods, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.
US09553848B2	Secure conditional access and digital rights management in a multimedia processor Methods and systems for processing video data are disclosed herein and may comprise receiving within a single mobile multimedia processor chip integrated within a mobile device, a secure key from an off-chip device integrated within the mobile device. The secure key may be decrypted within the single mobile multimedia processor chip, utilizing an on-chip key. The decrypted secure key may be stored within the single mobile multimedia processor chip. The received encrypted data may be decrypted within the single mobile multimedia processor chip, using the stored, decrypted secure key. The on-chip key may be stored within a one-time programmable (OTP) memory in the single mobile multimedia processor chip. The stored on-chip key may be retrieved from the OTP memory for the decrypting. The stored decrypted received secure key may be encrypted utilizing the on-chip key stored within the single mobile multimedia processor chip.
US09553845B1	Methods for validating and testing firewalls and devices thereof A method, non-transitory computer readable medium, and traffic management computing device that obtains one or more parameters for a packet. Firewall policies each corresponding to a logical firewall are applied to the parameters for the packet. A policy log for each of at least a subset of the firewall policies or a hit count for one or more of rules in an access list of each of the subset of the firewall policies is generated. The policy log includes an indication of one or more actions corresponding to at least one rule in the access list of each of the subset of the firewall policies, wherein the at least one rule matches one or more of the parameters of the packet. At least one of the generated policy log or hit counts for one or more of the at least a subset of the firewall policies is output.
US09553839B2	Method and arrangement for obtaining an electronic mail service The a user interface (UI) residing in a mobile environment, which has a possibility of indicating after reading each message whether or not the message is divergent from the normal/general level as to the importance of the message. Advantageously, the user does not need to do the indication every time when reading the mail. In the interface, after a given mail has been read (or a part of the given mail has been read), there occurs a possibility to choose between two alternatives: interesting or non-interesting. Advantageously, there is not required other extra work from the user. Gradually, a mail agent collects information about what kind of mail the user prefers and does not prefer. The result will be a prearranged list by preference in the incoming mail. Any mail similar to the ones previously indicated as important will appear first to the user. The applied algorithm in the methods and systems is based on statistical analysis of the linguistic contents of the mail.
US09553835B2	Active e-mails A computer-implemented method can include accessing a micro-blog to retrieve a real-time copy of the micro-blog thread and delivering the real-time copy of the micro-blog thread for display in an e-mail message.
US09553833B2	Confidential messages in a group chat A device is configured to receive a message associated with a group chat. The group chat may include a communication session among a set of user devices including a first user device and a second user device. The device is configured to receive an indication that the message is confidential and designate the message as a confidential messaged based on the indication. The device is configured to determine that the first user device is authorized to display the message and that the second user device is not authorized to display the message. The device is configured to provide the confidential message to the first user device for display as part of the group chat, and to provide a blocked version of the confidential message to the second user device for display as part of the group chat.
US09553828B1	System and method for collision detection and avoidance for network communications A system and method for collision detection and avoidance that converts a probabilistic, packet based communications system into a deterministic packet based communications system. The system and method operates in packet, frame, or datagram based network environments that support different levels of forwarding priority, for example, IP networks and Ethernet networks.
US09553827B2	Automatic modeling of virtual resources with sizing recommendations A method includes accessing a database comprising a respective non-linear scalability model for each of a plurality of physical resources and each of a plurality of virtual resources in a virtualization environment. The method also includes generating a respective capacity consumption model for each of the plurality of virtual resources based on the non-linear scalability models. The method further includes determining a deviation from a predetermined threshold range in the respective capacity consumption model for a first virtual resource in the plurality of virtual resources. The method additionally includes determining a slope of the respective capacity consumption model for the first virtual resource, and determining a sizing recommendation for components of the first virtual resource based on the slope and the deviation. The method also includes modifying at least one of the components of the first virtual resource based on the sizing recommendation.
US09553824B2	Time synchronized resource reservation over packet switched networks A method is intended for scheduling reservations of resources in a packet-switched communication network comprising end-nodes (H1-H3) and core network switches (S1-S2). This method comprises the steps of: including a time information to each request, issued by an end-node (H1) and forwarded by at least one core network switch (S1), and requesting a resource reservation for receiving a stream defined by specifications at a time which is represented by this time information, and storing the time information, which is included into each forwarded end-node request in correspondence with the associated stream specifications, into at least one related database managed by a core network switch (S1) which participates to the request forwarding.
US09553820B2	Maintaining packet order in a parallel processing network device A plurality of packets that belong to a data flow are received and are distributed to two or more packet processing elements, wherein a packet is sent to a first packet processing element. A first instance of the packet is queued at a first packet processing element according to an order of the packet within the data flow. The first instance of the packet is caused to be transmitted when processing of the first instance is completed and the first instance of the packet is at a head of a queue at the first ordering unit. A second instance of the packet is queued at a second ordering unit. The second instance of the packet is caused to be transmitted when processing of the second instance is completed and the second instance of the packet is at a head of a queue at the second ordering unit.
US09553818B2	Link biased data transmission Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for implementing biased bonding. In one aspect, a method includes estimating an offered load. Data are transmitted over a first communications link of two or more different types of communications links while the estimated offered load is less than or equal to a specified amount. A determination is made that the estimated offered load has exceeded the specified amount. In response to the determination data are transmitted over both of the first communications link and a second communications link of the two or more different types of communications links in response to determining that the estimated offered load has exceeded the specified amount.
US09553815B2	Remote communication system, server apparatus, remote communication method, and program A server apparatus recognizes start of a voice call including the first terminal based on an operation signal received from the first terminal. The server apparatus allows a packet storing voice data to go through to the first terminal when the packet is received from a second terminal connected via the network in a case where start of the voice call is recognized. The server apparatus estimates a bandwidth of the network based on a first response packet sent from the first terminal in response to a packet sent to the first terminal, calculates a bit rate of the voice call according to the estimated bandwidth, and notifies the first terminal of the calculated bit rate. The first terminal switches a bit rate of the voice call according to the notified bit rate.
US09553803B2	Periodical generation of network measurement data Some embodiments provide a method that generates different network measurements data (e.g., network topology, bandwidth estimation of different paths, etc.) for a pair of endpoints upon receiving a network administrative request (e.g., an application programming interface (API) request) or by other means (e.g., automatically and without intervention of a user). In some embodiments, the method is implemented by a network measurement agent operating on each endpoint and a centralized service component (e.g., web service layer) executing on a network manager machine (e.g., a controller) that responds to measurement requests. The network measurement agent probes the network periodically (i.e., in certain time intervals) or upon an API request that it receives through the network manager machine to gather the measurement data of a particular network topology between a pair of endpoints.
US09553784B2	Selection of message passing collectives in presence of system noise Consideration of system jitter in selecting a “message passing collectives algorithm” used in a message passing interface. A set of multiple message passing collectives algorithms are ranked against each other with at least some consideration of relative jitter-related performance as between the algorithms. The consideration of jitter includes consideration of “system jitter” (OS jitter and/or network jitter). In some embodiments, multiple rankings are performed for different levels of system jitter.
US09553781B2	Service level agreement based storage access A method and a system implementing a service level agreement based storage access system. A service level agreement based storage access system presents a single interface for data storage consumers and translates generic data operation requests to data operation request specific to a storage server. The SLA based storage access system also monitors storage server performance and may throttle processes to ensure service level agreements are not violated.
US09553776B2	System and method for accessing operating system and hypervisors via a service processor of a server The present disclosure relates to a server that makes use of a host central processing unit (CPU) which accesses a production network to enable communications with a remotely located subsystem using the production network. A USB host system may be operably associated with the host CPU. A service processor may also be incorporated in the server, which is configured to communicate with an out of band network. A service processor USB system may be operably associated with the service processor and may communicate with the USB host system. This enables access to either an operating system or a hypervisor running on the host CPU via the out of band network, using an Ethernet-over-USB protocol.
US09553775B2	Displaying information in a hierarchical structure Methods and systems for displaying information in a hierarchical structure are disclosed. An embodiment provides a method for displaying HFC network monitoring information and alarms in a hierarchical, topological fashion within a network monitoring system.
US09553773B2	Learning machine based computation of network join times In one embodiment, techniques are shown and described relating to learning machine based computation of network join times. In particular, in one embodiment, a device computes a join time of the device to join a computer network. During joining, the device sends a configuration request to a server, and receives instructions whether to provide the join time. The device may then provide the join time to a collector in response to instructions to provide the join time. In another embodiment, a collector receives a plurality of join times from a respective plurality of nodes having one or more associated node properties. The collector may then estimate a mapping between the join times and the node properties and determines a confidence interval of the mapping. Accordingly, the collector may then determine a rate at which nodes having particular node properties report their join times based on the confidence interval.
US09553772B2	Dynamically determining node locations to apply learning machine based network performance improvement In one embodiment, techniques are shown and described relating to dynamically determining node locations to apply learning machine based network performance improvement. In particular, a degree of significance of nodes in a network, respectively, is calculated based on one or more significance factors. One or more significant nodes are then determined based on the calculated degree of significance. Additionally, a nodal region in the network of deteriorated network health is determined, and the nodal region of deteriorated network health is correlated with a significant node of the one or more significant nodes.
US09553765B2	Geospatial based management of configuration profiles A system, method and program product for managing profiles for devices in a network. A computer system is disclosed having a configuration management system for managing configuration profiles for a set of devices within a network, and includes: a boundary definition system that employs a computerized process for defining a plurality of geospatial boundaries; a device manager that employs a computerized process for interfacing with remote agents associated with respective devices to recognize when a device has migrated into a new geospatial boundary; and a profile management system that employs a computerized process for uploading an updated configuration profile to the remote agent in response to the device being migrated to the new geospatial boundary.
US09553764B2	Migration of guest bridge A system and method for migrating a guest bridge are provided. An example method includes maintaining at a guest bridge a set of forwarding tables including a set of mappings from a network address to at least one virtual network interface of a set of virtual network interfaces. The method includes receiving at the guest bridge a notification that the guest bridge has migrated to a target host machine. The target host machine includes a set of physical network interfaces, and each physical network interface of the set of physical network interfaces is coupled to a network. The method further includes responsive to the notification, updating the set of forwarding tables.
US09553760B2	Method, device, and system for dual-uplink tangent ring convergence A method, device, and system for dual-uplink tangent ring convergence, where ports on a network device are classified into conjugate ports and non-conjugate ports. When receiving an entry update packet from a first port or perceiving a state change of a first port, when it is determined that the first port of the network device is a conjugate port, the network device clears a media access control (MAC) entry and an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) entry that use the first port as an outbound interface and clears all MAC entries that use a non-conjugate port as an outbound interface, in a MAC table and an ARP table of the network device. In this way, traffic interruption can be avoided, wherein a failure of one dual-uplink tangent ring does not cause an entry of one or more other normal dual-uplink tangent rings to be cleared/updated.
US09553758B2	Sandboxing individual applications to specific user folders in a cloud-based service An example system and method comprises receiving a request from the third-party application, wherein the request includes a user identifier; allocating an area that is specific for the third-party application and for the user; and granting access of the area to the third-party application. In one embodiments, the method further comprises providing to the third-party application a token which allows the third-party application to access a given area. Additional embodiments provided herein enable a third-party application to use a user identifier (e.g., an email address or other identifiers) of its user to access area specific of a cloud-based environment/platform/services (e.g., collaboration, file sharing, and/or storage services) without necessarily triggering user account authentication, thereby avoiding the process of requiring access codes from the user which can adversely impact user experience as well as compromise security and/or user's privacy.
US09553756B2	Fingerprint-based inter-destination media synchronization Methods and systems for inter-destination synchronization in first and second receivers for content parts associated with a play-out timeline are disclosed. First timing information comprising first content part identifiers and associated first clock times may be determined, where the first receiver may receive a first content part identifier comprising first fingerprints for identifying a first content part in a first media stream. Second timing information comprising second content part identifiers and associated second clock times may be determined, where the second receiver may receive a second content part identifier identifying a second content part in a second media stream based on the first and second timing information. A timing difference in processing a content part in the first and second media streams may be calculated. Based on the timing difference, synchronization information for inter destination synchronization between said first and second streams may be generated.
US09553751B2	Demodulation device A demodulation device for demodulating a base signal from a composite signal, which is composed of a carrier wave and a sensor modulation signal of the base signal. The demodulation device determines a difference between the composite signal of a former-half period and the composite signal of a latter-half period to be a pre-correction base signal. The former-half period is a one-half period of a sampling period starting at one of a local maximum and a local minimum of the carrier wave. The latter-half period follows the former-half period. The demodulation device determines a reference level from the composite signal and determines a signal level of a post-correction base signal based on a ratio between a signal level of the pre-correction base signal and the reference level.
US09553744B2	Two-dimensional (2D) burst marker (BM) to identify data start and stop A communication device includes a communication interface and a processor configured to generate, transmit, receive, and process signals. The communication device generates orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) frame(s) that include a two-dimensional (2D) start burst marker (BM), a data payload, and a 2D stop BM, and transmits the OFDM frame(s) to another communication device. Alternatively, the communication device receives OFDM frame(s) that include a 2D start BM and a 2D stop BM, and then identifies a data payload within those OFDM frame(s) based on the 2D start burst marker and a 2D stop BM. The 2D start and stop BMs are based on predetermined sequences having particular formats based on corresponding 2D sub-carrier and OFDM/A frame based structure. A receiver communication device then detects the 2D start BM and 2D stop BM within the received OFDM frame(s) based on knowledge of these predetermined sequences and particular formats.
US09553732B2	Certificate evaluation for certificate authority reputation advising In many information security scenarios, a certificate issued by a certificate authority on behalf of a domain is presented to a client in order to verify the identity of the domain. However, due to a decentralized structure and incomplete coordination among certificate authorities, the presence and exploitation of security vulnerabilities to issue untrustworthy certificates may be difficult for an individual client to determine. Presented herein are techniques for advising clients of the trustworthiness of respective certificate authorities by evaluating the certificates issued by such certificate authorities for suspicious indicators, such as hashcode collisions with other certificates and public key re-use. A trust level may be identified of respective certificate authorities according to the presence or absence of suspicious indicators in the certificates issued by the certificate authority, and a certificate authority trust set may be distributed to advise clients of the trustworthiness of certificates issued by the respective certificate authorities.
US09553724B2	Car-charging system The car-charging system can charge only an authenticated car both in a public parking area and at home. The car-charging system is capable of charging a charge-accumulating device in the car to be charged through a power-supplying line from a power source outside the car, and is arranged to authenticate the car by means of communication between an authentication-managing device in a power-supplying device outside the car and a DSRC onboard device in the car. The authentication-managing device and DSRC onboard device each have a DSRC basic application software program implemented thereon.
US09553721B2	Secure execution environment communication A of a method of securely transferring information between execution environments includes: receiving, at a crypto engine, original plaintext from a first execution environment; obtaining a first cryptographic key by the crypto engine, the first cryptographic key being retained in memory such that the first cryptographic key is associated with the first execution environment and a second execution environment that is not the first execution environment; encrypting the original plaintext by the crypto engine using the first cryptographic key to produce encrypted information, and storing the encrypted information in an intermediate storage location; obtaining, at the crypto engine, the encrypted information from the intermediate storage location; decrypting the encrypted information by the crypto engine using the first cryptographic key to produce reconstituted plaintext; and making the reconstituted plaintext available to the second execution environment by the crypto engine.
US09553718B2	PLL circuit and control method thereof According to one embodiment, a PLL circuit includes: a phase comparator (13); a pulse width control unit that adjusts a pulse width of comparison results (UP, DN) of the phase comparator (13) and outputs comparison results (UPi, DNi) having a pulse width smaller than that of comparison results (UPp, DNp); a charge pump (14) that outputs a current (Ip) according to the comparison results (UPp, DNp); a charge pump (15) that outputs a current (Ii) according to the comparison results (UPi, DNi); a filter (16) that removes a high-frequency component of a voltage generated based on the current (Ip) and outputs a control voltage (Vp); a filter (17) that outputs, as a control voltage (Vi), a result obtained by integrating the current (Ii); and a voltage control oscillator (18) that generates an oscillating signal having a frequency according to the control voltage (Vp, Vi).
US09553714B2	Frequency multiplier for a phase-locked loop The problem with duty-cycle correction circuits used by conventional frequency doublers is that they typically analog solutions, such as variable delay lines with long chains of inverters or buffers, that directly adjust the reference signal used by a phase-locked loop (PLL). These solutions can considerably increase the noise (e.g., thermal noise and supply noise) of the reference signal, as well as the overall power consumption and cost of the PLL. Rather than directly correct the duty-cycle of the reference signal, the present disclosure is directed to an apparatus and method for measuring the period error between adjacent cycles of a frequency doubled reference signal in terms of cycles of the output signal generated by the PLL (or some other higher frequency signal) and adjusting the division factor of the PLL frequency divider to compensate for the measured period error.
US09553704B2	Method and user equipment for receiving reference signals, and method and base station for transmitting reference signals According to the present invention, a common reference signal is transmitted in a subframe configured to receive the common reference signal and/or a fixed subframe predefined to receive the common reference signal, from among a plurality of subframes within a frame. In the present invention, the common reference signal is transmitted in every subframe within a legacy frame duration. However, the common reference signal is transmitted in said configured subframe and/or said fixed subframe within a frame duration which is not a legacy frame duration.
US09553700B2	Communication method for control channel and apparatus A control channel of a communication method and an apparatus includes at least one timeslot, and the method includes: obtaining, according to a first data symbol sequence to be transmitted in a timeslot and coefficients a(i) and d(i), a second data symbol sequence and a third data symbol sequence, where, in a(i)+d(i), at least one pair of a(u)+d(u) and a(v)+d(v) have moduli unequal to each other; and using the same extension sequence [w(0), w(1), . . . , w(N−1)] to process the second data symbol sequence and the third data symbol sequence, mapping the processed data respectively onto the same time-frequency resources corresponding to a first antenna array and a second antenna array, and transmitting the data, where i, u, and v are integers, 0≦i≦M−1, and u≠v.
US09553694B1	RF jamming mitigation system and method A jamming detection system for a vehicle may include an antenna configured to receive a radio frequency (RF) wave defining a series of RF pulse and quiet phase durations. The system may include a processor programmed to lock the vehicle in response to one but not both of the durations exceeding a predetermined threshold. The processor may also be programmed to arm an alarm of the vehicle in response to both of the durations exceeding respective predetermined thresholds.
US09553682B2	Selectivity test Testing radio equipment is described wherein an interfering signal is swept in frequency with a step size that is chosen proportional to the bandwidth of the receive channel of the radio equipment. For example, a respective frequency bandwidth (BCh) is determined of a plurality of receive channels of the radio equipment. A proportionality constant is selected for a frequency step size. For each respective receive channel, interfering radio signals are generated and the interfering radio signals are controlled to stepwise sweep in frequency outside of each respective receive channel. The stepwise sweeping of the interfering frequency is performed with a frequency step size that is a product of the respective bandwidth and the selected proportionality constant. Any spurious response is detected in the respective receive channel.
US09553668B2	Network node and a method therein enabling a first unit to connect or to be connected ad-hoc to a second unit Embodiments herein relate to a method in a network node configured in an optical network for enabling a first unit to connect ad-hoc to a second unit in a system configured for remote radio units and main units. The network node receives a connection request from the first unit over the optical network. The network node establishes a connection, to the first unit, for retrieving control data. The network node stores control data regarding the first unit. The control data is retrieved from the first unit over the established connection and wherein the control data enables the first unit to connect/be connected ad-hoc to the second unit for transferring user data over a physical path through the optical network.
US09553665B2	Apparatus and method for detecting optical line fault in passive optical network Disclosed herein is an apparatus and method for detecting an optical line fault in a Passive Optical Network (PON). The apparatus includes an optical distribution unit configured to, when a multiplexed signal of a downstream light signal and a monitoring light signal is input, distribute the multiplexed signal to an Optical Network Unit (ONU) of a first optical path and to a second optical path. An optical layer management unit is installed in the second optical path and is configured to set a time at which the monitoring light signal of the multiplexed signal provided to the second optical path is received to a starting time of monitoring light measurement, compare a monitoring light signal reflected and returned from the ONU with a signal pattern obtained when no fault occurs, and then determine whether a fault has occurred in a distribution network.
US09553661B2	Adaptive preconfiguration in optical transport network A network element operating in an Optical Transport Network (OTN) network and configured to adaptively preconfigure OTN connections includes one or more ports, each port including hardware supporting an Optical channel Transport Unit level k (OTUk) configured to transport an Optical channel Data Unit level k (ODUk) or one or more Optical channel Data Unit level j's (ODUj's), j
US09553650B2	MU-MIMO implementation with configurable antenna system Disclosed herein is a system, apparatus, and method for using an antenna system comprising individually configurable antenna circuitries in a wireless network device to simulate the standard MU-MIMO transmissions as specified in the IEEE 802.11ac standard with antenna beamforming. The individually configurable antenna circuitries can be configured to transmit radio frequency (RF) signals with specific radiation patterns including directional beam patterns. Client devices may be grouped and antenna circuitries may be configured in such a way as to minimize inter-user interference. Frequent sounding-channel state feedback cycles and associated overhead are obviated with antenna beamforming, and no change to standard-compliant client devices is necessary. A better overall performance compared to MU-MIMO based on DSP-based beamforming as specified in the IEEE 802.11ac standard is expected.
US09553647B2	Deterministic processing for MIMO systems A system and method for a single spatial stream based multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication system in wireless MIMO channels with a non-zero mean or a fixed component is provided which utilizes deterministic beamforming in the transmitter and deterministic combining at the receiver. For transmission and reception of a data over MIMO channels, the method and system avoids the requirement of knowledge of the instantaneous channel values at the transmitter and the receiver. By assuming perfect knowledge of the mean value of the channel matrix at the transmitter, a beamforming vector is obtained for the transmitter. The receiver utilizes deterministic receive weights which are chosen using the channel statistics.
US09553646B1	Wireless communication device, wireless communication system, and transmission-data control method A reception device includes an estimating unit, a rank identifying unit, a stream-number determining unit, a precoding-matrix determining unit, and a transmitting unit. The estimating unit receives a known signal transmitted from a transmission device, and estimates a channel between the transmission device and the wireless communication device and a reception signal quality. The rank identifying unit identifies a rank of a propagation path based on the estimated channel. The stream-number determining unit determines the number of data streams based on the estimated reception signal quality and the identified rank. The precoding-matrix determining unit determines a precoding matrix based on the estimated reception signal quality and the determined number of data streams. The transmitting unit transmits information relating to the determined number of data streams and the determined precoding matrix to the transmission device.
US09553640B1	Using multi-feed antennas Methods and devices for use with a multi-feed antenna used in a MIMO communication system are described herein. A method can include obtaining an antenna feed characteristic indicator associated with each of the feeds of the multi-feed antenna, and controlling how power is distributed among the feeds based on the antenna feed characteristic indicator associated with each of the feeds. An antenna feed characteristic indicator can be, e.g., an indicator of impedance matching, in which case power can be distributed among the feeds of the multi-feed antenna based on the indicators of impedance matching associate with each of the feeds. Power can also be distributed based on an indicator of link quality. Additionally, or alternatively, coding rate and/or modulation type can also be controlled for each of the feeds of the multi-feed antenna, based on one or more antenna feed characteristic indicators and/or one or more indicators of link quality.
US09553629B2	Protective implement for electronic devices A protective implement for portable electronic devices such as, but not limited to, smartphones, tablets and laptops includes a set of self-holding protective members that fit tightly on the corners of an electronic device without the need for tools or adhesives. Each protective member fits onto a respective corner of the electronic device and includes a shell formed of a generally rigid material (e.g., plastic, polycarbonate, ABS, silicon, metals, or wood) and an inner shock absorbing material such as, but not limited to, a rubber-like material that frictionally engages the top and bottom of the electronic device at the corner. The shell may be structured to receive a U-shaped spring element to assist with holding the protective member on the corner of the electronic device.
US09553628B1	Phone case capable of measuring distance to object A phone case capable of measuring a distance to an object contains: an accommodating cover, a protective cover, and a cell. The accommodating cover includes a first orifice defined on a front end thereof and includes two locking tabs extending outwardly from two peripheral sides thereof and connecting with a smartphone. The protective cover connects with the accommodating cover and includes an aperture defined on a rear end thereof. A front end of the cell connects with a first printed circuit board (PCB) for measuring a distance to an object, and a rear end of the cell couples with a second printed circuit board (PCB) for controlling a power supply. The first PCB has an infrared ray (IR) receiver, and the second PCB has a charging connector electrically connected with the smartphone and has a button mounted on a bottom thereof.
US09553618B2	Signal cancellation method and device for wireless communication system Provided is a signal cancellation method for a wireless communication system, including: splitting a transmitted signal to obtain a main channel signal transmitted on a main channel and an auxiliary channel signal transmitted on an auxiliary channel; performing digital domain channel characteristic matching processing on the main channel signal and the auxiliary channel signal respectively to obtain a main channel characteristic matched signal and an auxiliary channel characteristic matched signal; and combining the main channel characteristic matched signal and the auxiliary channel characteristic matched signal which are coupled to a receiving channel in order for signal cancellation. A signal cancellation device for a wireless communication system is also provided. Through the technical solution of the disclosure, the signal cancellation problem of a bandwidth can be solved better.
US09553617B2	Apparatus and methods for reconfigurable directional couplers in an RF transceiver with controllable capacitive coupling Provided herein are apparatus and methods for reconfigurable directional couplers in an RF transceiver. Reconfigurable directional couplers can be reconfigured and designed to provide high directivity using configurable capacitors to effect a mutual coupling and using lumped components or delay lines to effect a phase shift. Depending on the embodiment, the reconfigurable directional coupler can include capacitors, inductors, and switching components. The coupler can be designed for multi-band operation with an adjustable coupling factor conducive to semiconductor process integration. The coupler can have configurable coupling capacitors and phase shifters.
US09553616B2	Extremely high frequency communication chip An electromagnetic Extremely High Frequency (EHF) communication chip includes one or more local oscillator circuits, a transducer circuit and at least one of a modulator or a demodulator coupled to the transducer circuit. Each of the local oscillator circuits may have a local oscillator and configured collectively to generate first and second carrier signals having respective first and second EHF frequencies. The first EHF frequency may be different than the second EHF frequency. The transducer circuit may have a first transducer for transmitting and receiving EHF communication signals. The modulator may be coupled to the local oscillator circuits for modulating the first carrier signal or the second carrier signal with a first transmit base data signal. The demodulator may be for demodulating the first carrier signal or the second carrier signal to produce a first receive base data signal.
US09553608B2	Data storage device decoder and method of operation A data storage device includes a nonvolatile memory and a controller having a decoder. The nonvolatile memory is operatively coupled to the controller. The nonvolatile memory is configured to store a set of bits. The decoder is configured to receive the set of bits from the memory. The decoder is further configured to perform a decoding operation using the set of bits based on a parity check matrix. The parity check matrix includes a block row. The block row has a first non-zero sub-matrix and a second non-zero sub-matrix that is separated from the first non-zero sub-matrix within the block row by at least a threshold number of null sub-matrices of the block row.
US09553603B2	R-2R ladder resistor circuit, ladder resistor type D/A conversion circuit, and semiconductor device An R-2R ladder resistor circuit including: plural first resistance elements, one end of each being connected to an input terminal; plural second resistance elements, one end of each being connected to a reference potential; plural third resistance elements, one end of each being connected to an output terminal; and plural switching connection sections that are each in correspondence relationships with the first resistance elements, the second resistance elements, and the third resistance elements, and that connect the input terminal and the output terminal according to a bit signal, wherein, according to the bit signal, each switching connection section switchably connects another end of the third resistance element to another end of the first resistance element or to another end of the second resistance element, among the first resistance element, the second resistance element, and the third resistance element corresponding thereto.
US09553600B1	Skew detection and correction in time-interleaved analog-to-digital converters The present disclosure provides a system, circuit, and method for correcting clock skew in time-interleaved analog-to-digital converters. At least two clock signals are received along respective channels. A delay of a first channel, carrying a first clock signal, is accounted for by applying one or more first adjustment factors to the channels until an edge of the first clock signal is aligned with a transition point of a reference signal. The first clock signal is swapped to the second channel, and vice-versa. A value of the reference signal as sampled by the first clock signal is compared to values of the reference signal as sampled by the second clock signal to determine a skew of the second channel vis-à-vis the first channel, and one or more second adjustment factors are applied to the second channel based on the determined skew of the second channel.
US09553599B1	Techniques for reducing offsets in an analog to digital converter In an example, a successive approximation register analog-to-digital converter includes a switched capacitor digital-to-analog converter (DAC) first array to sample an input signal and to convert a sample of the input signal to a digital value represented by a plurality of bits, the first array including a first group of capacitors representing at least some of the plurality of bits, a switched capacitor DAC second array including a second group of capacitors representing at least some of the plurality of bits, wherein at least one bit of the plurality of bits represented by the second group of capacitors is represented by at least two capacitors, and wherein each of the two capacitors is configured to be selectively connected to a selected one of at least two reference potentials such that the at least one bit represented by the second group of capacitors is switchable between at least three states.
US09553591B2	Hybrid architecture for signal processing Systems and methods of configuring a programmable integrated circuit. An array of signal processing accelerators (SPAs) is included in the programmable integrated circuit. The array of SPAs is separate from a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and the array of SPAs is configured to receive input data from the FPGA and is programmable to perform at least a filtering function on the input data to obtain output data.
US09553590B1	Configuring programmable integrated circuit device resources as processing elements A programmable integrated circuit device includes a plurality of clusters of programmable logic resources. Programmable device interconnect resources allow user-defined interconnection between the clusters of programmable logic resources. A plurality of specialized processing blocks have dedicated arithmetic operators and programmable internal interconnect resources, and having inputs and outputs programmably connectable to the programmable device interconnect resources. A plurality of dedicated memory modules have inputs and outputs programmably connectable to the programmable device interconnect resources. Programmably connectable direct interconnect between at least one respective individual one of the specialized processing blocks and at least one respective individual one of the dedicated memory modules allow the formation of a processor element from a specialized processing block and a memory module. The specialized processing block may be designed with a datapath and operators arranged to support the configuring of a processor element.
US09553584B2	Level-shifting latch A level-shifting latch circuit for coupling a first circuit in a first voltage domain with a second circuit in a second voltage domain, includes an input node to receive an input signal provided by the first circuit, and an output node to output a level-shifted signal, corresponding with the input signal. The level-shifting latch circuit also includes a first latch, having a first node and a second node, for storing the input signal in the first voltage domain, and a second latch, having a third node and a fourth node, for storing the input signal in the second voltage domain. In addition, the level-shifting circuit also includes a first switching element which provides a path to transfer a low voltage at the first node to the third node, and a second switching element which provides a path to transfer a low voltage at the second node to the fourth node.
US09553580B2	Low powered activation arrangement and method thereof A fabric product includes a body having a skin made by interweaving a plurality of textile fabrics and a low powered activation arrangement which includes an electronic unit and one or more conductive threads extended underneath the skin of the body. The electronic unit includes a power source, an activation circuit which is a low powered activation circuit, and an operator. Each of the conductive threads has a proximal end portion electrically coupled with the activation circuit and a distal end portion which is extended to an outer surface of the skin of the body at a predetermined location thereof and is arranged in such a manner that when the distal end portion of the conductive thread is being contacted, the activation circuit is activated to actuate the operator.
US09553579B2	Optical keypad for explosive locations An optical keypad for use in hazardous areas and which can ensure safe and reliable detection of keystrokes through an at least 8 mm thick glass window, as is required for electronics equipment located in hazardous explosive areas (In accordance with ATEX Directive 94/9/EC and similar requirements) is obtained by providing a system in which at least 6 LEDs are lit in a pseudo-random sequence, modulated by a pseudo-random frequency and the interval between the lighting of each of the LEDs is change randomly to avoid interference between collocated keypads and light from other sources, such as daylight and artificial light.
US09553578B2	Transistor switch having constant on resistance with input signal with having variable voltage component Systems, methods, and devices to control a transistor to maintain one or more substantially constant characteristics while activated or deactivated are provided. One such system includes a transistor that receives an activation signal on a gate terminal to become activated during a first period and receives a deactivation signal on the gate terminal to become deactivated during a second period. The transistor receives an input signal on an input terminal during the first period and the second period. The input signal varies during the first period and during the second period. The transistor may have improved reliability (e.g., substantially constant on resistance RON) because a first difference between the input signal and the activation signal substantially does not vary during the first period and a second difference between the input signal and the deactivation signal substantially does not vary during the second period.
US09553576B2	Driving circuit for IGBT module A driving circuit for an IGBT module is provided. The driving circuit includes: a gate driving resistor connected with the IGBT module; a driving module connected with the gate driving resistor; an integrating circuit connected with the driving module, in which the integrating circuit comprises an equivalent resistor and a first capacitor connected in series with the equivalent resistor, and a time constant of the integrating circuit is adjusted by changing a resistance of the equivalent resistor; a first optical coupler connected with the integrating circuit; and a micro control unit, connected with the first optical coupler. The disclosed driving circuit for an IGBT module can adjust an equivalent resistance of the gate driving resistor, thus driving the IGBT module working at different powers without replacing the gate driving resistor, and improving an operation state of the IGBT module.
US09553574B2	Solid state power controller A solid state power controller including: a plurality of pairs of FETs connected in parallel, each pair comprising a first, forward-facing FET and a second, backward-facing FET connected by their respective sources; gate drive means for switching said FETs on and off; and means for isolating the sources of the backwards-facing FETs of the plurality of pairs of FETs from each other and operating the backwards-facing FETs in 3rd quadrant operation mode.
US09553566B2	Hybrid driver circuit In one embodiment, a voltage mode driver circuit includes a first voltage adjusting circuit configured to provide an adjustable first pseudo-supply voltage to a first node based on a first supply voltage, including generating the first pseudo-supply voltage based on a first reference voltage and feedback from the first node. In this embodiment, the voltage mode driver circuit includes switching circuitry configured to selectively couple one of the first node or a second node to a first differential output terminal and a different one of the first node or the second node to a second differential output terminal based on a data signal. In this embodiment, the voltage mode driver circuit includes a current mode emphasis driver configured to selectively couple one of the first differential output terminal or the second differential output terminal to a first set of one or more current supplies and a different one of the first differential output terminal or second differential output terminal to a second set of one or more current supplies, based on one or more emphasis signals.
US09553564B1	Filter for data rate conversion using feedback with a different frequency Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with converting an input signal into an output signal with a different sampling rate. In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a feedforward circuit configured to receive the input signal comprised of discrete data samples with the first sampling rate and to generate a first intermediate value based, at least in part, on a feedforward coefficient and the input signal. The apparatus includes a feedback circuit configured to generate a second intermediate value that is based, at least in part, on a feedback coefficient and a predetermined number of previous samples of the output signal. The apparatus includes a signal combiner configured to combine the first intermediate value and the second intermediate value together to interpolate a data sample of the output signal at the second sampling rate. The output signal is a converted form of the input signal at the second sampling rate.
US09553563B1	Apparatus and methods for a variable gain passive attenuator with multiple layer attenuation devices Provided herein are apparatus and methods for a variable gain passive attenuator with multiple layer attenuation devices. In certain configurations, at least two rows of stacked FETs are layered in blocks, namely H (horizontal) blocks in a hierarchical schematic representation of the variable gain passive attenuator. Each stack of FETs receives a control signal, and by delaying a second control signal with respect to a first control signal, performance and linearity can be enhanced while insertion loss is reduced.
US09553560B2	Quartz crystal unit, quartz crystal oscillator and electronic apparatus In a quartz crystal unit, the unit comprising a case, a quartz crystal tuning fork resonator and a lid, the resonator having a tuning fork base, and first and second tuning fork tines, each of the first and second tuning fork tines having a first side surface and a second side surface opposite the first side surface, the first side surface of the first tuning fork tine confronting the second side surface of the second tuning fork tine; at least one groove having a plurality of surfaces including a first surface being formed in at least one of first and second main surfaces of each of the first and second tuning fork tines so that only the first surface of the at least one groove is directly opposite the first side surface of the corresponding tuning fork tine and a width of the at least one groove is greater than or equal to a distance in the width direction of the at least one groove measured from an outer edge of the at least one groove to an outer edge of the corresponding one of the first and second tuning fork tines and less than 0.07 mm.
US09553556B2	Receiving apparatus that receives packet signal An RF unit receives predetermined signals. The RF unit amplifies the received signals. A gain control unit controls the gain at the RF unit based on the amplified signal and has the RF unit use the controlled gain. The gain control unit performs different controls on the received signals, depending on the case when the received signal is a known signal placed in the beginning of packet signal and the case when the received signal is a signal other than the packet signal.
US09553553B2	Engine sound synthesis system An engine sound synthesis system is operable to analyze sound. Operation of the system may include providing an input sound signal to be analysed and determining a fundamental frequency of the input signal from the input signal or from at least one guide signal. Furthermore, the frequencies of higher harmonics of the fundamental frequency are determined, thus determining harmonic model parameters. A harmonic signal based on the harmonic model parameters is synthesized and a residual signal is estimated by subtracting the harmonic signal from the input signal. Residual model parameters are estimated based on the residual signal. Furthermore, a corresponding method for synthesizing a sound signal is described.
US09553550B2	Multiband RF switch ground isolation A radio frequency (RF) switch semiconductor die and an RF supporting structure are disclosed. The RF switch semiconductor die is attached to the RF supporting structure. The RF switch semiconductor die has a first edge and a second edge, which may be opposite from the first edge. The RF supporting structure has a group of alpha supporting structure connection nodes, which is adjacent to the first edge; a group of beta supporting structure connection nodes, which is adjacent to the second edge; and an alpha AC grounding supporting structure connection node, which is adjacent to the second edge. When the group of alpha supporting structure connection nodes and the alpha AC grounding supporting structure connection node are active, the group of beta supporting structure connection nodes are inactive.
US09553543B2	Photovoltaic system A photovoltaic system includes a pole member which stands on an installation surface, a connecting support member disposed on an upper end section of the pole member, a rail member supported by the connecting support member, and a photovoltaic cell module disposed on the rail member, wherein the pole supporting member includes a lower section that covers at least a portion of an outer peripheral surface of the upper end section of the pole member.
US09553534B2	Electric power tool An electric power tool includes a drive source, a rechargeable battery that supplies power to the drive source, a voltage meter that measures voltage of the rechargeable battery, a temperature meter that measures temperature of the rechargeable battery, and a drive control unit that regulates the power supplied to the drive source from the rechargeable battery to drive the drive source. If the battery temperature measured by the temperature meter is lower than or equal to a predetermined temperature when the battery voltage measured by the voltage meter is lower than or equal to a predetermined voltage, the drive control unit drives the drive source differently from normal driving that is performed if the battery temperature is higher than the predetermined temperature when the battery voltage is higher than the predetermined voltage.
US09553526B2	Bypassed cascaded cell converter In a converter for converting energy from a generator to a power network, wherein the converter comprises multiple power modules, wherein each power module includes at least two power cells and a transformer for connecting the power cells to the power network, wherein each power cell includes a phase input, a phase output, a transformer output connected to the transformer, a rectifier circuit and an inverter, the transformer (T) of a power module (4.1, . . . , 4.n) includes one generator-side winding (10) for each of the power cells (5) and exactly one common grid-side winding for balancing an energy flow through the power cells (5) of a power module (4.1, . . . , 4.n).
US09553518B2	Method and apparatus for controlling current of multi-phase interleaved converter A method and apparatus for controlling a current of a multi-phase interleaved converter are provided. The method includes filtering, through a filter, currents flowing into converters of respective phases in a multi-phase interleaved converter having multiple phases, The method further includes receiving values of the filtered currents for respective phases and a duty ratio for any one of the multiple phases generated in response to a current flowing into the phase and adjusting duty ratios for phases other than the phase, based on the received current values for respective phases.
US09553517B2	Hybrid energy storage system and methods A system includes a first DC rail configured to be coupled to a first terminal of a first energy storage device (e.g., a battery), a second DC rail configured to be coupled to a first terminal of a second energy storage device (e.g., an ultracapacitor), and a plurality of converter legs coupled between the first and second DC rails and including at least one first converter leg configured to be coupled to a second terminal of the first energy storage device and at least one second converter leg configured to be coupled to second terminal of the second energy storage device. The system further includes a switch configured to couple and decouple the second terminals of the first and second energy storage devices. The at least one first converter leg and the at least one second converter leg provide different current capacities to deal with differences in power density of the energy storage devices.
US09553515B2	Boosting device Proper control is performed even during a stuck abnormality of a current sensor 56 configured to detect a reactor current. A boosting converter 12 is controlled by feedback control of a boosted voltage of the boosting converter 12 and a reactor current, detected by the current sensor 56, of a reactor 54 in the boosting converter 12. When a variation of the reactor current is less than a predetermined current value, failure determination of the current sensor is performed and, if a variation of the pre-boosting voltage exceeds a predetermined voltage value, failure of the current sensor is determined.
US09553513B2	Control circuit with chopping amplifier for switching converter A control circuit for switching converter has a chopping amplifier, a sample-hold circuit, a first comparator, an oscillator and a logic circuit. The chopping amplifier generates an amplified error signal based on a reference signal and a feedback signal. The sample-hold circuit generates a sample-hold signal based on the amplified error signal. The first comparator generates a first logic signal based on a comparison result between the sample-hold signal and a current sensing signal representing a current flowing through a power switch in the switching converter. The oscillator generates a clock signal. The logic circuit generates a control signal based on the first logic signal and the clock signal, the control signal is used to control the power switch.
US09553496B2	Low-inertia direct drive having high power density The invention relates to electric machines having permanent excitation, having a very high specific torque and a high power density when correspondingly supplied through power electronics. They are characterized by advantageous production possibilities using composite materials that can be pressed in molds. The nonferrous rotor construction and low required magnet mass results in an extremely low moment of inertia.
US09553483B2	System and method for limiting inrush current in solid state drives A system and method thereof to regulate a current to a capacitive load from a power supply connected to the capacitive load. The system includes a first switch between the power supply and the capacitive load, a super-capacitor configured for charging by the power supply and powering the capacitive load, a current limiting circuit between the super-capacitor and the power supply, a second switch between the super-capacitor and the capacitive load, and a power control circuit configured to control opening and closing of the first switch and the second switch independently, sense a voltage of the power supply, and sense a voltage of the super-capacitor.
US09553481B2	Solar-powered lighting device and charging system A freestanding solar-powered charging system includes a baseplate, a substantially vertical frame member having a first end and a second end, the first end coupled to and extending from the baseplate, one or more panels coupled to the second end of the vertical frame member, each of the panels having an upper surface with a photovoltaic cell, an energy storage device electrically coupled to the photovoltaic cell, and one or more electrical connectors supported by the vertical frame member and electrically coupled to the energy storage device, the electrical connectors configured to engage any one or more of a plurality of consumer electronic devices for charging the consumer electronic devices.
US09553479B2	Method for controlling wireless charging depending on position of FOB key A method for controlling wireless charging depending on a position of an FOB key in a wireless charging system provided in a vehicle and including an output unit, a wireless charging mount, and a controller, includes: transmitting, by the controller, a first signal informing a peripheral region of the wireless charging mount in which a wireless charging target is mounted that wireless charging is being performed in the peripheral region of the wireless charging mount in the case in which the wireless charging starts; transmitting, by the FOB key receiving the first signal, a second signal corresponding to the first signal to the controller; stopping, by the controller receiving the second signal, the wireless charging; and informing, by the controller, a user of the vehicle that the FOB key is present in the peripheral region of the wireless charging mount through the output unit.
US09553476B2	Antenna assembly and method for manufacturing same Disclosed is an antenna assembly including a substrate, and a wireless charge antenna pattern on the substrate. The wireless charge antenna pattern has a sectional surface including a plurality of inner angles in which two inner angles are different from each other. The antenna assembly includes a wireless communication antenna pattern formed on the substrate and provided at an outside of the wireless charge antenna pattern. The wireless communication antenna pattern has a plurality of inner angles at a sectional surface thereof, and a plurality of angle values of the inner angles provided at the sectional surface of the wireless communication antenna pattern correspond to a plurality of angle values of the inner angles provided at the sectional surface of the wireless charge antenna pattern, respectively.
US09553475B2	Wearable mobile device charger A wireless charging device may be worn as a wristband wearable on a user's wrist. The device includes one or more energy collection components located on the wristband. The energy collection components may collect ambient energy and convert the ambient energy to electrical energy. One or more energy storage components located on the wristband and electrically coupled to the energy collection components may store at least some of the electrical energy from the energy collection components. One or more energy transmission components may be located on the wristband and electrically coupled to the energy collection components and the energy storage components. The energy transmission components may wirelessly couple with a mobile device to wirelessly transmit at least some of the collected electrical energy to the mobile device for charging a battery on the mobile device.
US09553468B2	Charging techniques for solid-state batteries in portable electronic devices The disclosed embodiments provide a system that manages use of a solid-state battery in a portable electronic device. During operation, the system monitors a temperature of the solid-state battery during use of the solid-state battery with the portable electronic device. Next, the system modifies a charging technique for the solid-state battery based on the monitored temperature to increase a capacity or a cycle life of the solid-state battery. To modify the charging technique based on the monitored temperature, the system may increase a charge rate of the solid-state battery if the temperature exceeds a first temperature threshold. On the other hand, the system may maintain the charge rate of the solid-state battery if the temperature does not exceed the first temperature threshold.
US09553465B2	Battery management based on internal optical sensing A battery management system includes one or more fiber optic sensors configured to be disposed within an electrochemical battery. Each fiber optic sensor is capable of receiving input light and providing output light that varies based on the input light and an amount of free or dissolved gas present within the battery. A detector detects the output light and generates an electrical detector signal in response to the output light. Battery management circuitry determines the state of the battery based at least in part on the detector signal.
US09553444B2	Method and device for suppressing high-voltage electricity A device for suppressing high-voltage electricity is connected to a three-phase circuit of an electric generator, including three up arm semiconductor switches, three low arm semiconductor switches, three reverse breakdown diodes respectively connected to the low arm semiconductor switches in parallel, and a control circuit sending PWM signals to turn on and off the low arm semiconductor switches sequentially to evenly share and absorb the energy of surge voltage. Each of the up arm semiconductor switches has a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the first terminals are electrically connected together, and the second terminals are respectively electrically connected to one of three coils of the three-phase circuit. Each of the low arm semiconductor switches has a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the first terminals are respectively electrically connected to the second terminals of the up arm semiconductor switches, and the second terminals are electrically connected together.
US09553438B2	Adjustable mud ring assemblies An adjustable mud ring assembly is provided that includes a base plate, a movable ring, and an indexing screw configured to move the movable ring with respect to the base plate between a first position and a second position. The base plate has a junction box connecting portion, a support connecting portion, and a stationary ring. The base plate can have an offset distance (D2) between the junction box connecting portion and the support connecting portion where the offset distance is sufficient to allow the movable ring to move into stationary ring to the first position without protruding, at a lowermost point, into a junction box connected to the junction box connecting portion.
US09553435B2	Manifold for controlling airflow within an explosion-proof enclosure A manifold within an explosion-proof enclosure is described herein. The manifold can include an inlet duct coupled to an air moving device, where the inlet duct can receive exhaust air from the air moving device. The manifold can further include an outlet duct that includes a perimeter and at least one channel, where the outlet duct can send the exhaust air outside the explosion-proof enclosure, where the perimeter of the outlet duct is coupled to a first portion of an inner surface of an outer wall of the explosion-proof enclosure, and where the first portion of the inner surface includes at least one aperture that traverses the outer wall. The manifold can also include a body that includes a cavity, where the body couples the inlet duct to the at least one channel, and where the exhaust air flows from the inlet duct through the cavity to the outlet duct.
US09553424B2	Flared laser oscillator waveguide A broad area semiconductor diode laser device includes a multimode high reflector facet, a partial reflector facet spaced from said multimode high reflector facet, and a flared current injection region extending and widening between the multimode high reflector facet and the partial reflector facet, wherein the ratio of a partial reflector facet width to a high reflector facet width is n:1, where n>1. The broad area semiconductor laser device is a flared laser oscillator waveguide delivering improved beam brightness and beam parameter product over conventional straight waveguide configurations.
US09553422B2	Multiple aperture hand-held laser therapy apparatus A hand-held therapeutic laser apparatus with a special opto-mechanical construction, which enables changeability of a front collimating lens to create different effective laser apertures. A smaller effective aperture has a comparatively higher radiant flux density for treatment of a small area that requires a higher energy dose, while a larger effective aperture facilitates treatment of a large area at a relatively reduced radiant intensity.
US09553421B2	Compact ultra-short pulse source amplifiers The present invention relates to compact, low noise, ultra-short pulse sources based on fiber amplifiers, and various applications thereof. At least one implementation includes an optical amplification system having a fiber laser seed source producing seed pulses at a repetition rate corresponding to the fiber laser cavity round trip time. A nonlinear pulse transformer, comprising a fiber length greater than about 10 m, receives a seed pulse at its input and produces a spectrally broadened output pulse at its output, the output pulse having a spectral bandwidth which is more than 1.5 times a spectral bandwidth of a seed pulse. A fiber power amplifier receives and amplifies spectrally broadened output pulses. A pulse compressor is configured to temporally compress spectrally broadened pulses amplified by said power amplifier. Applications include micro-machining, ophthalmology, molecular desorption or ionization, mass-spectroscopy, and/or laser-based, biological tissue processing.
US09553415B1	Duplex electrical connector with one-piece connector body and radius cast on transition A duplex fitting including a radius cast on transition for effectively stopping advancement of the armor layer of one or more inserted cables while at the same time enabling easy passage of the conductors to the outbound end. Two inbound bores transition to a single outlet bore within the fitting. The duplex fitting includes a one-piece connector body having a leading end with a nose portion and a trailing end with two bores therein. Tubular cable retainers secured within the inbound bores snap-in connection of electrical cables to the trailing end. A fastening arrangement on the nose portion of the duplex fitting enables snap fit connection to a knockout hole in a panel or an electrical box.
US09553413B2	Retractable cable and cable rewind spool configuration A spool apparatus is described to include in one particular example a cable spool with a first cylindrical lip and a second cylindrical lip on an opposite side of the cable spool. A center of the spool includes a clutch bearing in the center of both the first cylindrical lip and the second cylindrical lip that provides a rotational axis for the cable spool to rotate around. The apparatus may also include a feed slot near the first cylindrical lip that provides a passage for cable to pass from the second cylindrical lip to the first cylindrical lip.
US09553409B2	Electrical tongue connector with good shielding and improved contact performance A connector plug comprises a shielding shell, an insulating base, a terminal module and two baffles, the insulating base comprises a base and a tongue plate connected to a front end of the base, a front end face of the tongue plate being backwards concavely provided with a slot running through a rear end of the base; the terminal module comprises an upper terminal module, a lower terminal module and a hook plate sandwiched between the upper terminal module and the lower terminal module; the terminal module is embedded into the slot of the insulating base; and the two baffles are disposed on upper and lower surfaces of the tongue plate, respectively, the shielding shell encloses the tongue plate and the two baffles, and the two baffles are connected to the shielding shell, respectively.
US09553404B2	Guide pins for connector assemblies A guide pin for a connector assembly includes a guide pin body extending along a pin axis. The guide pin body has a stem extending between a root and a tip. The root has threads configured to be threadably coupled to a support frame of the connector assembly and the tip has a lead-in to guide the guide pin body into a mounting block. The stem has slots extending parallel to the pin axis from the tip to an intermediate position along the guide pin body remote from the tip. The slots are configured to receive ribs of a driver tool used to rotate the guide pin body to threadably couple the root to the support frame.
US09553396B1	Anti-rotation seal for connector assembly An interface seal for an electrical connector assembly that includes a housing and a seal retainer defining a seal recess and configured to couple to the housing, is disclosed. The interface seal includes a main body portion configured to substantially surround the housing to create a sealing interface, and an anti-rotation projection coupled to and extending from the main body portion. The anti-rotation projection includes (i) an engagement portion extending in a first direction and (ii) a connecting portion that couples the engagement portion with the main body portion and that extends in a second direction different from the first direction. The anti-rotation projection cooperates with the seal recess to inhibit movement of the interface seal with respect to the housing and seal retainer.
US09553389B2	Active cooling of electrical connectors An electrical connector having an active cooling system is described herein. The electrical connector can include a conductor having an electrically conductive pin, and a conductor receiver slidably coupled to the conductor. The conductor receiver can include a wall having an electrically conductive material forming a cavity into which the pin is received. The conductor receiver can also include an insulating sleeve mechanically coupled to the wall. The conductor receiver can further include a heat sink mechanically coupled to the insulating sleeve and a channel that collects heat absorbed by the heat sink. The heat collected by the channel can be vented outside the conductor receiver. Alternatively, the wall of the conductor receiver can be coupled to an insulator and have at least one aperture that vents heat from the cavity to the insulator.
US09553386B2	Contact A contact monolithically formed of a single metal plate includes a tubular part, a first end part, a second end part, and a spring accommodated in the tubular part. The first end part is at a first end of the tubular part and moves relative to the tubular part. The second end part includes a terminal and a flexible portion. The flexible portion extends from a second end of the tubular part. The terminal extends from the flexible portion in a direction away from the tubular part. The spring urges the first end part in a direction away from the second end part. The flexible portion deforms and thereby moves the terminal on a surface of an object when the terminal is pressed against the object.
US09553385B2	Electronic device comprising an electronic connector and a flexible printed circuit An electronic device includes an electronic connector, a flexible printed circuit and a structure having a stationary printed circuit board. The electronic connector rotates according to a first pivot axis and a second pivot axis with respect to the structure. The flexible printed circuit is fixed to the electronic connector and the stationary printed circuit board, and transfers an electronic current between the electronic connector and the stationary printed circuit board. The flexible printed circuit board comprises a first partly circular bend moving in response to the rotation of the electronic connector according to the first pivot axis and a second partly circular bend moving in response to the rotation of the electronic connector according to the second pivot axis.
US09553378B2	Electrical connection unit between two electronic boards An electrical connection unit for electrically interconnecting two electronic boards, is disclosed. The connection unit includes at least one electrical pin for electrically interconnecting the two boards, a mechanical link part for mechanically interlinking the two boards, where the electrical connection unit is disposed to enable concomitantly the electrical connection of the two boards via the pin and the mechanical link of the two boards via the link part, and a body which simultaneously carries the electrical pin and the mechanical link part, the body including a support portion for receiving and supporting one of the electronic boards, the support portion and the link part being disposed in such a way that the electronic board is held in place by being wedged between the support portion of the body and a point at which the mechanical link part is secured to the board.
US09553358B2	Directive array for drive-by meter reading Antenna assemblies, which may be used in meter reading systems, are provided. One example of antenna assembly includes a first antenna vertically configured to be mounted on a top surface of a vehicle and a second antenna vertically configured to be mounted on the top surface of the vehicle. The antenna assembly also includes a receiver configured to communicate with a plurality of wireless utility meters via the first and second antennas. The first and second antennas are aligned with a direction of travel of the vehicle.
US09553356B2	Antenna module and wireless communication device employing the same An antenna module includes a main antenna and a parasitic resonator. The main antenna includes a feed arm, a ground arm, a first radiating body connected to one end of the feed arm, a second radiating body, and a third radiating body connected to one end of the ground arm. The first radiating body and the third radiating body are connected to the second radiating body and positioned at two sides of the second radiating body. The parasitic resonator is resonated with the main antenna and configured for widening a high frequency bandwidth of the main antenna.
US09553348B2	On-chip vertical three dimensional microstrip line with characteristic impedance tuning technique and design structures A vertical three dimensional (3D) microstrip line structure for improved tunable characteristic impedance, methods of manufacturing the same and design structures are provided. More specifically, a method is provided that includes forming a first microstrip line structure within a back end of the line (BEOL) stack. The method further includes forming a second microstrip line structure separated from the BEOL stack by a predetermined horizontal distance.
US09553347B2	Transmission line A signal line conductor extends in a direction in which a signal propagates, and a dielectric, surrounding the signal line conductor, also extends in the direction in which the signal propagates. Conductive films that define and function as a ground conductor extend on a side surface of the dielectric in the direction in which the signal propagates. Furthermore, conductive films that define and function as a bridge conductor extend on a side surface of the dielectric in a direction across the direction in which the signal propagates, and thus connect the conductive films to each other.
US09553342B2	Battery pack A battery pack includes a plurality of battery cells; a case accommodating the battery cells; a protective circuit module comprising a circuit board adjacent to the battery cells; a temperature sensitive element on the protective circuit module; and a flexible printed circuit board comprising a conductive pattern layer, wherein the conductive pattern layer is thermally connected to the temperature sensitive element.
US09553341B2	Method and apparatus for controlling access to a logic circuit in a battery by multiple components connected to the battery A method and apparatus for controlling access to a logic circuit in a battery by one or more components connected to the battery includes the components initially providing no voltage to a data contact, and sampling a voltage level at the data contact to determine if another component is presently connected to the logic circuit. When the sampled voltage indicates no other component is presently accessing the logic circuit, the component applies a voltage to the logic circuit via the data contact and access the logic circuit. When the sampled voltage indicates that a prior-connected component is connected to the battery, the component uses a voltage level provided by the prior-connected component to access the logic circuit.
US09553336B2	Power supply system for well Provided is a power supply system capable of being used in a well over a long period of time. A power supply system for a well according to the present invention includes a secondary battery having an operating temperature range including a temperature of the inside of a well and supplying power to a device installed in the well; and a charge-discharge mechanism for charging and discharging the secondary battery, and is installed in the well. The secondary battery to be used in the power supply system may be a molten salt battery, and may include a sensor and communication apparatus.
US09553330B2	Separatorless storage battery There is herein described energy storage batteries and methods of manufacturing said energy storage batteries. More particularly, there is described energy storage batteries comprising a laminar configuration and co-planar and co-parallel anodes and cathodes and methods of manufacturing said energy storage batteries.
US09553316B2	Lithium-oxygen batteries incorporating lithium superoxide A composition includes LiO2, reduced graphene oxide, and a metal catalyst or residue thereof.
US09553312B2	Nickel composite hydroxide and production method thereof, cathode active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery and production method thereof, and a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery Provided is a cathode active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery that has a uniform particle size and high packing density, and that is capable of increased battery capacity and improved coulomb efficiency.When producing a nickel composite hydroxide that is a precursor to the cathode active material by supplying an aqueous solution that includes at least a nickel salt, a neutralizing agent and a complexing agent into a reaction vessel while stirring and performing a crystallization reaction, a nickel composite hydroxide slurry is obtained while controlling the ratio of the average particle size per volume of secondary particles of nickel composite hydroxide that is generated inside the reaction vessel with respect to the average particle size per volume of secondary particles of nickel composite hydroxide that is finally obtained so as to be 0.2 to 0.6, after which, while keeping the amount of slurry constant and continuously removing only the liquid component, the crystallization reaction is continued until the average particle size per volume of secondary particles of the nickel composite hydroxide becomes 8.0 μm to 50.0 μm.
US09553307B2	Negative active material, negative electrode, and lithium battery A negative active material includes a conductive unit bound in island-like form to silicon-based nanowires on a carbonaceous base. Such negative active material may improve the electrical conductivity of the silicon-based nanowires, and suppress separation of the silicon-based nanowires caused from volume expansion, and thus may improve lifetime characteristics of a lithium battery.
US09553298B2	Pouch type case, battery cell, and method of manufacturing battery cell Provided is a pouch type case, which includes a pouch type body part including an inner space for accommodating an electrode assembly, and an injection part extending from the body part to guide electrolyte into the inner space. The injection part is corrugated in a zigzag shape.
US09553295B2	Battery pack Provided is a battery pack in which a terminal stand having electrode terminals of battery modules inserted and connected thereinto is formed at one side of a sub plate in which the battery modules are seated, such that the battery modules are easily electrically connected to each other and are attachable and detachable.
US09553290B2	Gas discharge structure for battery cover A gas discharge structure for a battery cover has a battery cover that covers part or all of a battery, a first hose that is connected with the battery cover at a position of a through-hole provided on the battery cover. and an electric wire that is electrically connected to the battery, is inserted into the first hose, and is drawn out to an outside of a vehicle compartment through an electric-wire lead-out hole provided on a vehicle body panel. A space formed between the electric wire and the first hose communicates with a space inside the battery cover. An end portion of the first hose is located at a position corresponding to the electric-wire lead-out hole, so that an opening of the space formed between the electric wire and the first hose faces the outside of the vehicle compartment.
US09553285B2	Battery reinforcement method A battery reinforcement method for reinforcing a rectangular battery cell in which a battery element is disposed in a rectangular external packaging, the method includes enclosing the battery element between two rectangular external packaging sheets and sealing the rectangular external packaging sheets with a sealing part that extends along edges of the rectangular external packaging sheets so as to form the rectangular external packaging, and forming a reinforcing part outside of the sealing part on the rectangular external packaging.
US09553284B2	Molding material for package A molding material for package includes a matte-coating layer having excellent formability, chemical resistance, solvent resistance, electrolytic solution resistance and printing property. The molding material for package includes an outer base material layer including a heat-resistant resin; an inner sealant layer including a thermoplastic resin; a metal foil layer disposed between the outer base material layer and the inner sealant layer; and a matte-coating layer formed on a side opposite to the metal foil layer of the outer base material layer, wherein the matte-coating layer is a multilayer including a bottom layer including a resin composition including a main agent resin including a phenoxy resin and a urethane resin, a curing agent, and solid fine particles; and an upper layer including a resin composition including a fluorine-containing resin.
US09553274B2	Organic electroluminescent materials and devices The present disclosure generally relates to novel compounds containing carbazole and triazine with different number of phenyl units attached to its core. In particular, the disclosure relates to compositions and/or devices comprising these compounds as hosts for PHOLEDs.
US09553273B2	Fluorene derivative, light-emitting element, light-emitting device, electronic device, and lighting device An object is to provide a new fluorene derivative as a good light-emitting material for organic EL elements. A fluorene derivative represented by General Formula (G1) is provided. In the formula, R1 to R8 separately represent a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, a substituted or unsubstituted phenyl group, or a substituted or unsubstituted biphenyl group. Further, α1 to α4 separately represent a substituted or unsubstituted phenylene group. Ar1 represents a substituted or unsubstituted condensed aromatic hydrocarbon having 14 to 18 carbon atoms forming a ring. Ar2 represents a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group having 6 to 13 carbon atoms forming a ring. Ar3 represents an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms or a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group having 6 to 12 carbon atoms. Further, j, m, and n separately represent 0 or 1, and p represents 1 or 2.
US09553272B2	Organic electroluminescent device An organic electroluminescent device comprises, between an anode and a cathode, a hole injection layer, a hole-transporting layer, a luminous layer and an electron-transporting layer, wherein the hole injection layer contains an arylamine compound (α) having three or more triphenylamine skeletons, the hole-transporting layer contains an arylamine compound (β) having two triphenylamine skeletons, and the electron-transporting layer contains an electron-transporting compound having an anthracene ring skeleton and a pyridoindole ring skeleton. The organic EL device emits light highly efficiently, drives on a low voltage, and features excellent durability and long life.
US09553261B2	Methods of manufacturing a magnetic field sensor A semiconductor process integrates three bridge circuits, each include magnetoresistive sensors coupled as a Wheatstone bridge on a single chip to sense a magnetic field in three orthogonal directions. The process includes various deposition and etch steps forming the magnetoresistive sensors and a plurality of flux guides on one of the three bridge circuits for transferring a “Z” axis magnetic field onto sensors orientated in the XY plane.
US09553254B2	Automated manufacturing processes for producing deformable polymer devices and films A process for producing a patterned deformable polymer film for use in a deformable polymer device is disclosed. The process includes positioning an intermediary layer between a deformable film and a process tooling and printing at least one electrode on the deformable film by depositing an ink to form the at least one electrode on a first surface of the deformable film, wherein the intermediary layer permits release of the deformable film from the process tooling subsequent to the printing process. Films produced by the inventive processes may find use in electroactive polymer devices.
US09553252B2	Piezoelectric/electrostrictive film type element containing lead zirconate titanate and a bismuth compound and method for producing the same Provided is a piezoelectric/electrostrictive film type element in which the film thickness of the piezoelectric/electrostrictive film is small, the piezoelectric/electrostrictive film is dense, and the piezoelectric/electrostrictive film has good durability and insulation quality. The piezoelectric/electrostrictive film type element includes a substrate, a lower electrode film, a piezoelectric/electrostrictive film and an upper electrode film. The substrate and the lower electrode film are fixed adherently each other. The film thickness of the piezoelectric/electrostrictive film is 5 μm or less. The piezoelectric/electrostrictive film is composed of a piezoelectric/electrostrictive ceramic. The piezoelectric/electrostrictive ceramic contains lead zirconate titanate and a bismuth compound. The bismuth/lead ratio in the peripheral section inside the grain which is relatively close to the grain boundary is greater than the bismuth/lead ratio in the center section inside the grain which is relatively far from the grain boundary.
US09553251B2	Piezoelectric device, liquid ejecting head, liquid ejecting apparatus, and manufacturing method of piezoelectric device A piezoelectric device includes a deformation portion, a non-deformation portion which hinders deformation of the elastic layer, and a piezoelectric element. The deformation portion includes a first area in which the piezoelectric element is disposed, a third area adjacent to the non-deformation portion, and a second area disposed between the first area and the third area. In the first area, the elastic layer, an insulation layer, the lower electrode layer, the piezoelectric layer, and the upper electrode layer are sequentially stacked. In the second area, the elastic layer, the insulation layer, the piezoelectric layer, and the upper electrode layer are sequentially stacked. In the third area, the elastic layer and the upper electrode layer are sequentially stacked. The elastic layer is silicon oxide, and impurities are added to the upper electrode layer in the silicon oxide in the third area.
US09553248B2	Systems, methods and/or devices for providing LED lighting A lighting device comprising a plurality of LEDs; a plurality of optic devices corresponding to the plurality of LEDs; at least one optical separator for substantially preventing the light emitted from one LED from effecting the other LEDs; a thermoelectric device configured to harvest heat generated by the LEDs and convert the harvested heat into electrical energy; and a low temperature material for creating a temperature difference across the thermoelectric device.
US09553245B2	Light emitting device A light emitting device includes: a substrate having a base body and a plurality of wiring parts provided on at least one side of the base body; a first covering part that covers part of the wiring parts; a plurality of light emitting elements that are disposed on the wiring parts exposed from the first covering part; a second covering part that is disposed on the first covering part surrounding the light emitting elements and is formed from a material whose reflectivity is higher than that of the first covering part, and a resin component that seals the substrate and the light emitting elements, and is disposed in contact with the first covering part and the second covering part.
US09553231B2	Semiconductor layer sequence and method of operating an optoelectronic semiconductor chip The semiconductor layer sequence includes an n-conductive layer, a p-conductive layer and an active zone located therebetween. The active zone comprises N quantum wells with N≧2. At a first working point (W1) at a first current density, the quantum wells have a first emission wavelength and, at a second working point (W2) at a second current density, a second emission wavelength. At least two of the first emission wavelengths differ from one another and at least some of the second emission wavelengths differ from the first emission wavelengths. The first current density is smaller than the second current density and the current densities differ from one another at least by a factor of 2.
US09553230B2	Method and apparatus for fabricating light emitting apparatus A method for fabricating a light emitting apparatus in which at least a portion of a light emitting element is covered with a light transmissive resin containing phosphor which emits light when excited by light emitted by the light emitting element, the method including directly processing the phosphor by irradiating the phosphor with a laser beam which passes through the light transmissive resin, to adjust the chromaticity of light to be emitted by the light emitting apparatus.
US09553224B2	Semiconductor photodetector element and method A semiconductor photodetector element includes a semiconductor substrate having a first conductivity type; a columnar structure formed on a first surface of the semiconductor substrate, the columnar structure being composed of a semiconductor of the first conductivity type; a light absorption layer formed so as to surround the columnar structure; and a semiconductor layer formed so as to surround the light absorption layer.
US09553223B2	Method for alignment of microwires A method of aligning microwires includes modifying the microwires so they are more responsive to a magnetic field. The method also includes using a magnetic field so as to magnetically align the microwires. The method can further include capturing the microwires in a solid support structure that retains the longitudinal alignment of the microwires when the magnetic field is not applied to the microwires.
US09553222B2	Germanium metal-contact-free near-IR photodetector A Ge-on-Si photodetector constructed without doping or contacting Germanium by metal is described. Despite the simplified fabrication process, the device has responsivity of 1.24 A/W, corresponding to 99.2% quantum efficiency. Dark current is 40 nA at −4 V reverse bias. 3-dB bandwidth is 30 GHz.
US09553221B2	Electromagnetic casting method and apparatus for polycrystalline silicon Disclosed is an electromagnetic casting method of polycrystalline silicon which is characterized in that polycrystalline silicon is continuously cast by charging silicon raw materials into a bottomless cold mold, melting the silicon raw materials using electromagnetic induction heating, and pulling down the molten silicon to solidify it, wherein the depth of solid-liquid interface before the start of the final solidification process is decreased by reducing a pull down rate of ingot in a final phase of steady-state casting. By adopting the method, the region of precipitation of foreign substances in the finally solidified portion of ingot can be reduced and cracking generation can be prevented upon production of a polycrystalline silicon as a substrate material for a solar cell.
US09553216B2	Avalanche photodiode receiver A method of operating an avalanche photodiode includes providing an avalanche photodiode having a multiplication region capable of amplifying an electric current when subject to an electric field. The multiplication region, in operation, has a first ionization rate for electrons and a second, different, ionization rate for holes. The method also includes applying the electric field to the multiplication region, receiving a current output from the multiplication region, and varying the electric field in time, whereby a portion of the current output is suppressed.
US09553214B2	Positioning method of photoelectric conversion device, and liquid ejecting apparatus A positioning method of a photoelectric conversion device (an imaging device) includes irradiating an optical member with light and receiving light which passes through an opening of a light shielding member and the optical member with the photoelectric conversion device. The photoelectric conversion device is moved in a direction orthogonal to an optical axis of the optical member and a first position at which the photoelectric conversion device detects a side of an opening and a second position at which the photoelectric conversion device detects another side opposing the side are acquired. A position of the photoelectric conversion device at which a center of the opening and a center position of the photoelectric conversion device are aligned based on the first position and the second position is determined. The photoelectric conversion device is fixed at the determined position.
US09553213B2	Solar cell apparatus and method of fabricating the same Disclosed are a solar cell apparatus, and a method of fabricating the same. The solar cell apparatus includes: dummy parts disposed on a support substrate; a plurality of solar cells disposed on the support substrate and disposed between the dummy parts; and a bus bar electrically connected to the solar cells and disposed between the support substrate and the dummy parts. Each of the solar cells and the dummy parts has a back electrode layer, a light absorbing layer, and a front electrode layer sequentially disposed on the support substrate.
US09553212B2	Optical coupler An optical coupler includes an optical transmitting unit and an optical receiving unit in a facing arrangement. The optical transmitting unit includes a power lead having a first die-pad portion, a light emitting element on the first die-pad portion, a ground lead having a second die-pad portion, and an integrated circuit on the second die-pad portion. The integrated circuit has a power pad portion, a light emitting element pad portion, and input pad portions thereon. An inter-center distance between an inner lead of the first input lead and an inner lead of the second input lead is equal to or less than an inter-center distance between an outer lead of the first input lead and an outer lead of the second input lead.
US09553202B2	Semiconductor device, manufacturing method thereof, and electronic device The semiconductor device includes a first layer including a first transistor, a second layer including a first insulating film over the first layer, a third layer including a second insulating film over the second layer, and a fourth layer including a second transistor over the third layer. A first conductive film electrically connects the first transistor and the second transistor to each other through an opening provided in the first insulating film. A second conductive film electrically connects the first transistor, the second transistor, and the first conductive film to one another through an opening provided in the second insulating film. A channel formation region of the first transistor includes a single crystal semiconductor. A channel formation region of the second transistor includes an oxide semiconductor. The width of a bottom surface of the second conductive film is 5 nm or less.
US09553195B2	Method of IGZO and ZNO TFT fabrication with PECVD SiO2 passivation The present invention generally relates to a method of manufacturing a TFT. The TFT has an active channel that comprises IGZO or zinc oxide. After the source and drain electrodes are formed, but before the passivation layers or etch stop layers are deposited thereover, the active channel is exposed to an N2O or O2 plasma. The interface between the active channel and the passivation layers or etch stop layers are either altered or damaged during formation of the source and drain electrodes. The N2O or O2 plasma alters and repairs the interface between the active channel and the passivation or etch stop layers.
US09553192B2	Semiconductor devices having source/drain regions with strain-inducing layers and methods of manufacturing such semiconductor devices Semiconductor devices include a strain-inducing layer capable of applying a strain to a channel region of a transistor included in a miniaturized electronic device, and a method of manufacturing the semiconductor device. The semiconductor device includes a substrate having a channel region; a pair of source/drain regions provided on the substrate and arranged on both sides of the channel region in a first direction; and a gate structure provided on the channel region and comprising a gate electrode pattern extending in a second direction that is different from the first direction, a gate dielectric layer disposed between the channel region and the gate electrode pattern, and a gate spacer covering respective lateral surfaces of the gate electrode pattern and the gate dielectric layer. At least one of the source/drain regions includes a first strain-inducing layer and a second strain-inducing layer. The first strain-inducing layer is disposed between a lateral surface of the channel region and the second strain-inducing layer and contacts at least a portion of the gate dielectric layer.
US09553179B2	Semiconductor device and insulated gate bipolar transistor with barrier structure A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor mesa which is formed between cell trench structures extending from a first surface into a semiconductor body. The semiconductor mesa includes a body zone forming a first pn junction with a drift zone between the body zone and a second surface opposite to the first surface. Source zones are arranged along a longitudinal axis of the semiconductor mesa at a first distance from each other and form second pn junctions with the body zone. A barrier structure, which has the conductivity type of the source zones, forms at least one of a unipolar homojunction with the drift zone and a pn junction with the body zone at least outside a vertical projection of the source zones perpendicular to the first surface. The barrier structure may be absent in the vertical projection of the source zones.
US09553171B2	Fin field effect transistor (FinFET) device and method for forming the same Embodiments for forming a fin field effect transistor (FinFET) device structure are provided. The FinFET device structure includes a substrate and a first fin structure extending above the substrate. The FinFET also includes a first transistor formed on the first fin structure. The first transistor includes a first gate dielectric layer conformally formed on the first fin structure and a first gate electrode formed on the first gate dielectric layer. The FinFET further includes an inter-layer dielectric (ILD) structure formed adjacent to the first transistor. The first gate electrode is in direct contact with a sidewall of the ILD structure.
US09553169B2	Method for manufacturing AMOLED backplane The present invention provides a method for manufacturing an AMOLED backplane, in which after a first metal layer is patternized to form a first gate terminal (61), a second gate terminal (63), and an electrode plate (65), with the patternized first metal layer as a shielding layer, a patternized polysilicon layer is subjected to N-type light doping; and then, an insulation layer (7) is deposited and the insulation layer (7) is subjected to non-isotropic etching to form spacers (71), and with patternized first metal layer and the spacers (71) as a shielding layer, the patternized polysilicon layer is subjected to N-type heavy doping to form light-doping drain areas (N−) exactly below the spacers (71) on the opposite sides of the first gate terminal (61), whereby light-doping drain areas (N−) on opposite sides of a channel area of a switching TFT are made symmetric to each other and the length of the light-doping drain areas (N−) is shorten; a conduction current is increased; a photoelectric current can be effectively reduced; one photo mask can be saved; and the cost can be lowered down.
US09553168B2	Semiconductor memory device and method of manufacturing the same The present technology includes a semiconductor memory device, including a channel layer and interlayer insulation layers surrounding the channel layer. The interlayer insulation layers are stacked with a trench interposed therebetween. A seed pattern is formed on a surface of the trench and a metal layer is formed on the seed pattern in the trench.
US09553167B2	Semiconductor device and method for forming the same A semiconductor device is disclosed. The semiconductor device comprising: a semiconductor substrate having first type conductivity and including an active region and a device isolation film, a doping layer having second type conductivity and buried in a bottom part of the semiconductor substrate of the active region, a recess formed in the semiconductor substrate, a gate electrode provided in the recess.
US09553166B1	Asymmetric III-V MOSFET on silicon substrate A semiconductor structure containing a high mobility semiconductor channel material, i.e., a III-V semiconductor material, and asymmetrical source/drain regions located on the sidewalls of the high mobility semiconductor channel material is provided. The asymmetrical source/drain regions can aid in improving performance of the resultant device. The source region contains a source-side epitaxial doped semiconductor material, while the drain region contains a drain-side epitaxial doped semiconductor material and an underlying portion of the high mobility semiconductor channel material.
US09553164B2	Method for manufacturing IGBT A method for manufacturing an IGBT, comprising: providing a substrate having a first surface and a second surface and of a first or second type of electrical conductance; forming grooves at intervals on the first surface of the substrate; filling a semiconductor material of the second or first type of electrical conductance into the grooves to form channels, where the type of electrical conductance of the channels is different from the type of electrical conductance of the substrate; bonding on the first surface of the substrate to form a drift region of the second type of electrical conductance; forming a front-side structure of the IGBT on the basis of the drift region; thinning the substrate starting from the second surface of the substrate until the channels are exposed; and forming a rear-side metal electrode on the channels and the thinned substrate. The method has no specific requirement with respect to sheet flow capacity, nor requires a double-sided exposure machine apparatus, is compatible with a conventional process, and has a simple process and high efficiency.
US09553162B2	Semiconductor device and method of forming semiconductor die with active region responsive to external stimulus A semiconductor device has a semiconductor die and an encapsulant deposited over the semiconductor die. A conductive layer can be formed over the encapsulant and the semiconductor die. A transmissive layer can be formed over the semiconductor die. An interconnect structure can be formed through the encapsulant and electrically connected to the conductive layer, whereby the interconnect structure is formed off to only one side of the semiconductor die.
US09553161B2	Mechanism for forming metal gate structure A method for forming a semiconductor device is provided. The method includes providing a semiconductor substrate and forming a metal gate stack including a metal gate electrode over the semiconductor substrate. The method also includes applying an oxidizing solution containing an oxidizing agent over the metal gate electrode to oxidize the metal gate electrode to form a metal oxide layer on the metal gate electrode.
US09553160B2	Mechanisms for monitoring impurity in high-K dielectric film Embodiments of mechanisms of monitoring metal impurity in a high-k dielectric film are provided. The method includes forming an interfacial layer over a substrate. The method also includes forming a high-k dielectric film on the interfacial layer, and the interfacial layer and the high-k dielectric film form a stacked structure over the substrate. The method further includes conducting the first thickness measurement on the stacked structure. In addition, the method includes performing a treatment to the stacked structure after the first thickness measurement, and the treatment includes an annealing process. The method also includes conducting the second thickness measurement on the stacked structure after the treatment.
US09553157B2	Diffusion-controlled oxygen depletion of semiconductor contact interface A device is created by forming a layer of dielectric material on a silicon-containing region of a semiconductor substrate. An opening is created through the layer of dielectric material, the opening having a bottom and exposing the silicon-containing region. A metal stack is formed within the opening. The metal stack includes at least a first metal film on the silicon-containing region and a second gettering metal film on the first metal film. The metal stack is annealed to cause oxygen to migrate from the substrate to the gettering metal film. A first liner is formed within the opening. A fill metal is deposited in the opening.
US09553154B2	Memory devices and method of fabricating same A device comprises a control gate structure over a substrate, a memory gate structure over the substrate, wherein the memory gate structure comprises a memory gate electrode and a memory gate spacer, and wherein the memory gate electrode is an L-shaped structure, a charge storage layer formed between the control gate structure and the memory gate structure, a first spacer along a sidewall of the memory gate structure, a second spacer over a top surface of the memory gate structure, a first drain/source region formed in the substrate and adjacent to the memory gate structure and a second drain/source region formed in the substrate and adjacent to the control gate structure.
US09553149B2	Semiconductor device with a strained region and method of making A semiconductor device with a strained region is provided. The semiconductor device includes a first dielectric layer, a second dielectric layer disposed over the first dielectric layer, the second dielectric layer having a first fin disposed therein and an interface disposed proximate the first fin. The interface includes a first oxide region disposed in the first dielectric layer and a second oxide region disposed in the second dielectric layer. The interface induces strain in a region of the semiconductor device. A method of making a semiconductor device with a strained region is also provided.
US09553148B2	Method of making a wire-based semiconductor device In some embodiments, a method for manufacturing forms a semiconductor device, such as a transistor. A dielectric stack is formed on a semiconductor substrate. The stack comprises a plurality of dielectric layers separated by one of a plurality of spacer layers. Each of the plurality of spacer layers is formed of a different material than immediately neighboring layers of the plurality of dielectric layers. A vertically-extending hole is formed through the plurality of dielectric layers and the plurality of spacer layers. The hole is filled by performing an epitaxial deposition, with the material filling the hole forming a wire. The wire is doped and three of the dielectric layers are sequentially removed and replaced with conductive material, thereby forming upper and lower contacts to the wire and a gate between the upper and lower contacts. The wire may function as a channel region for a transistor.
US09553145B2	Lateral bipolar junction transistors on a silicon-on-insulator substrate with a thin device layer thickness Methods of forming bipolar device structures and bipolar device structures. An opening may be formed in a device layer of a silicon-on-insulator substrate that extends to a buried insulator layer of the silicon-on-insulator substrate. An intrinsic base layer may be grown within the device layer opening by lateral growth on opposite first and second sidewalls of the device layer bordering the opening. A first collector of a first bipolar junction transistor of the device structure may be formed at a first spacing from the first sidewall. A second collector of a second bipolar junction transistor of the device structure may be formed at a second spacing from the second sidewall. An emitter, which is shared by the first bipolar junction transistor and the second bipolar transistor, is formed inside the opening. Portions of the intrinsic base layer may supply respective intrinsic bases for the first and second bipolar junction transistors.
US09553144B2	Semiconductor device and semiconductor device manufacturing method A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate; a first semiconductor region that includes an extension portion extending in a specific direction at a specific width as viewed along a direction orthogonal to the main surface; a second semiconductor region that is shaped to include a portion running along the extension portion of the first semiconductor region as viewed along the direction orthogonal to the main surface; a field relaxation layer that relaxes a field generated between the first semiconductor region and the second semiconductor region, that is formed on the second semiconductor region side of the main surface, and that is formed by a semiconductor layer; and a conductor that is connected to the second semiconductor region, and that has an end portion on the first conductor region side positioned within the range of the field relaxation layer.
US09553138B2	Organic light-emitting diode display having a repair line An organic light-emitting diode display is disclosed. In one aspect, the OLED display includes a first connection line extending in a first direction and electrically connected to an OLED configured to emit light, a repair line extending in a second direction crossing the first direction, and an insulating layer formed between the first connection line and the repair line and configured to electrically insulate the first connection line from the repair line. The repair line includes a joining portion extending from the repair line in the first direction and at least partially overlapping a portion of the first connection line.
US09553130B2	Semiconductor device and method for producing a semiconductor device A semiconductor device includes four or more memory cells arranged on a row, the memory cells each including a first pillar-shaped semiconductor layer, a first gate insulating film around the semiconductor layer, a first gate line around the first gate insulating film, a third gate insulating film around an upper portion of the semiconductor layer, a first contact electrode around the third gate insulating film, a second contact electrode connecting upper portions of the semiconductor layer and the first contact electrode, and a magnetic tunnel junction storage element on the second contact electrode, a first source line connecting lower portions of the semiconductor layers to each other, a first bit line extending in a direction perpendicular to a direction of the first gate line and connected to an upper portion of the storage element, and a second source line extending in a direction perpendicular to the first source line.
US09553110B2	Array substrate, display device and method of manufacturing the array substrate An array substrate, a display device comprising the array substrate and a method of manufacturing the array substrate are provided. The array substrate include a substrate (1) and a plurality of sub-pixel units on the substrate (1), and each of the sub-pixel units includes a thin film transistor main body layer (2) and a color filter layer (5) disposed above the thin film transistor main body layer (2), and the thin film transistor main body layer (2) includes a gate layer (21), a source layer, a drain layer (24) and a passivation layer (25), an additional layer (7) is further disposed on an upper surface of the thin film transistor main body layer (2), a hollow photoresist material containing part (50) is disposed in a region of the additional layer corresponding to each of the sub-pixel units, a color film material is disposed within the photoresist material containing part (50), and a pixel electrode via hole (6) is formed in the additional layer (7) and the passivation layer (25) at a region corresponding to the drain layer (24). The thin film transistor in the array substrate has a more stable performance, the array substrate has a simpler manufacturing process and lower cost, and the display devices comprising the array substrate has a more stable performance.
US09553109B2	Thin film transistor substrate, method for manufacturing the same, and liquid crystal display A thin film transistor substrate includes a semiconductor channel layer made of an oxide semiconductor, protective insulating layers that cover the semiconductor channel layer, a first source electrode, a first drain electrode, a second source electrode, and a second drain electrode. The second source electrode is located on the first source electrode and connected with the semiconductor channel layer through a first contact hole. The second drain electrode is located on the first drain electrode and connected with the semiconductor channel layer through a second contact hole.
US09553108B2	Array substrate, method of manufacturing the same and display device The present invention discloses an array substrate, a method of manufacturing the array substrate and a display device. Since the respective surfaces of the sources, the drains and the data lines are clad by the respective insulating films, in formation of the patterns of the pixel electrodes above the insulating films by using a patterning process, the insulating films can prevent the sources and the data lines provided under them from being corroded by an etching agent when an etching process is performed to form the patterns of the pixel electrodes, so as to avoid an influence on display quality of a display panel. Furthermore, since the insulating films are formed by curing the insulating material, instead of the photoresist, remained on the patterns of the sources, the drains and the data lines when forming the patterns of the sources, the drains and the data lines by using the insulating material (replacing the photoresist), formation of the insulating films will not increase the number of masks, and a step of peeling off the insulating material is omitted. Furthermore, the respective connecting portions electrically connects the respective drains with the respective pixel electrodes through the respective first via holes A located above the respective drains and passing through the respective insulating films, so that a normal display function of the display panel can be ensured.
US09553103B2	Memory cell profiles Examples of the present disclosure provide devices and methods for processing a memory cell. A method embodiment includes removing a key-hole shaped column from a material, to define a profile for the memory cell. The method also includes partially filling the key-hole shaped column with a first number of materials. The method further includes filling the remaining portion of the key-hole shaped column with a second number of materials.
US09553100B2	Selective floating gate semiconductor material deposition in a three-dimensional memory structure A method of forming a three-dimensional memory device includes forming a stack of alternating first and second material layers over a substrate, forming a memory opening through the stack, forming a memory film and a semiconductor channel in the memory opening, and forming backside recesses by removing the second material layers selective to the first material layers and the memory film, where an outer sidewall of the memory film is physically exposed within each backside recess. The method also includes forming at least one set of surfaces selected from silicon deposition inhibiting surfaces on the first material layers and silicon deposition promoting surfaces over the memory film in the back side recesses, selectively growing a silicon-containing semiconductor portion laterally within each backside recess, forming at least one blocking dielectric within the backside recesses, and forming conductive material layers by depositing a conductive material within the backside recesses.
US09553094B2	Semiconductor device and method for fabricating the same Provided is a method for fabricating a semiconductor device. The method includes forming an interlayer insulating layer on a substrate, the interlayer insulating layer including a first trench; forming a high-k dielectric layer in the first trench; successively forming a diffusion layer and a blocking layer on the high-k dielectric layer; subsequently performing annealing; after the annealing, successively removing the blocking layer and the diffusion layer; forming a first barrier layer on the high-k dielectric layer; successively forming a work function adjustment layer and a gate conductor on the first barrier layer; and forming a capping layer on the gate conductor.
US09553092B2	Alternative threshold voltage scheme via direct metal gate patterning for high performance CMOS FinFETs Multiple gate stack portions are formed in a gate cavity by direct metal gate patterning to provide FinFETs having different threshold voltages. The different threshold voltages are obtained by selectively incorporating metal layers with different work functions in different gate stack portions.
US09553082B2	Process for improving critical dimension uniformity of integrated circuit arrays Methods for patterning integrated circuit (IC) device arrays employing an additional mask process for improving center-to-edge CD uniformity are disclosed. In one embodiment, a repeating pattern of features is formed in a masking layer over a first region of a substrate. Then, a blocking mask is applied over the features in the masking layer. The blocking mask is configured to differentiate array regions of the first region from peripheral regions of the first region. Subsequently, the pattern of features in the array regions is transferred into the substrate. In the embodiment, an etchant can be uniformly introduced to the masking layer because there is no distinction of center/edge in the masking layer. Thus, CD uniformity can be achieved in arrays which are later defined.
US09553080B1	Method and process for integration of TSV-middle in 3D IC stacks Methods for integrating MOL TSVs in 3D SoC devices including face-to-face bonded IC chips. Embodiments include providing a device layer in each of IC chips on upper surfaces of top and bottom silicon wafers; forming, subsequent to the device layer, through-silicon vias (TSVs) extending through an upper surface of the device layer in each of the IC chips and into the bottom Si wafer; forming, subsequent to the TSVs, a dielectric layer on the upper surface of the device layer in each of the IC chips of the top and bottom Si wafers; forming a back-end-of-line metal layer in the dielectric layer of each of the IC chips of the top and bottom Si wafers; face-to-face bonding of opposing IC chips of the top and bottom Si wafers; and dicing adjacent bonded IC chips through vertically aligned dicing lanes in the top and bottom Si wafers.
US09553078B2	Light-emitting diode module and motor vehicle headlight A light-emitting diode module includes a carrier and a plurality of optoelectronic semiconductor chips mounted on a carrier top and configured to generate primary radiation. The semiconductor chips are arranged in part at a first distance and in part at a second, greater distance from one another. Between the adjacent semiconductor chips arranged at the first distance from one another there is located a radiation-transmissive first filling for optical coupling. Between the adjacent semiconductor chips arranged at the second distance from one another there is located a radiation-opaque second filling for optical isolation.
US09553077B2	LED module and method of manufacturing the same A compact LED module and a method of manufacturing such an LED module are provided. The LED module includes a first-pole first lead, a first-pole second lead, a first-pole third lead, a second-pole first lead, a second-pole second lead, a second-pole third lead, a first LED chip, a second LED chip, a third LED chip, and a housing. A distal end of the first-pole first lead is offset toward a second-pole side in a first direction with respect to both a distal end of the second-pole second lead and a distal end of the second-pole third lead.
US09553076B2	Stackable molded microelectronic packages with area array unit connectors A microelectronic package having a substrate, a microelectronic element, e.g., a chip, and terminals can have conductive elements electrically connected with element contacts of the chip and contacts of the substrate. Conductive elements can be electrically insulated from one another for simultaneously carrying different electric potentials. An encapsulant can overlie the first surface of the substrate and at least a portion of a face of the microelectronic element remote from the substrate, and may have a major surface above the microelectronic element. A plurality of package contacts can overlie a face of the microelectronic element remote from the substrate. The package contacts, e.g., conductive masses, substantially rigid posts, can be electrically interconnected with terminals of the substrate, such as through the conductive elements. The package contacts can have top surfaces at least partially exposed at the major surface of the encapsulant.
US09553074B2	Semiconductor package having cascaded chip stack A semiconductor package that includes a package substrate, a lower semiconductor chip mounted on the package substrate, and an upper semiconductor chip stacked on the lower semiconductor chip in a cascade shape is provided. An active surface of the lower semiconductor chip is facing an active surface of the upper semiconductor chip.
US09553073B2	Chip stack structure using conductive film bridge adhesive technology A chip stack structure using conductive film bridge adhesive technology comprises a substrate, a first chip, at least one bridge element, a conductive film, and a second chip. The first chip is electrically connected to a first electrode of the substrate. The at least one bridge element has a first bridge surface and a second bridge surface at two ends, and the first bridge surface and the second bridge surface are electrically connected to the first chip and a second electrode of the substrate, respectively. The conductive film is electrically connected to the first bridge surface of the at least one bridge element. The second chip is stacked and electrically connected to the conductive film. Thus, the structure of the present invention not only facilitates the ease of stacking the chips but also increases the effectiveness of the chips heat dissipation and ability of withstanding electrical current.
US09553072B2	Semiconductor device package and method of manufacturing the same A semiconductor device package includes a substrate, electrical components disposed on the substrate, and a conductive frame disposed on the substrate. The conductive frame includes a top portion including at least one opening, a rim connected to the top portion and surrounding the electrical components, and a compartment extending from the top portion of the conductive frame and separating one or more of the electrical components from others of the electrical components. The semiconductor device package further includes an electromagnetic interference shield in contact with the top portion and the rim of the conductive frame.
US09553067B2	Semiconductor device A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor layer, an electrode layer arranged on the semiconductor layer, a crack starting point layer arranged above the semiconductor layer, and a solder layer being in contact with the electrode layer and the crack starting point layer. A joining force between the solder layer and the crack starting point layer is smaller than a joining force between the solder layer and the electrode layer.
US09553062B1	Fingerprint identification device A fingerprint identification device includes a first dielectric layer, a fingerprint sensing chip, a packaging layer, a first redistribution layer, a second dielectric layer, a second redistribution layer, and a third dielectric layer. The fingerprint sensing chip is disposed on the first dielectric layer and has a sensing transmission pad. The packaging layer defines a first via hole and covers the first dielectric layer and fingerprint sensing chip. Disposed on the packaging layer, the first redistribution layer contacts a drive transmission pad via the first via hole. The second dielectric layer defines a second via hole and covers the packaging layer and the first redistribution layer. Disposed on the second dielectric layer, the second redistribution layer defines a looped pattern, in addition to connect electrically with the first redistribution layer via the second via hole. The third dielectric layer covers the second dielectric layer and second redistribution layer.
US09553058B1	Wafer backside redistribution layer warpage control A method of forming a network of RDL lines on the backside of a thinned TSV die to control warpage and the resulting device are provided. Embodiments include providing a thinned TSV die of a 3D IC stack, the thinned TSV die having a front side and a back side; forming a plurality of RDL lines across the backside of the die; and forming a plurality of UBM structures across the backside of the die.
US09553046B2	E-fuse in SOI configuration A method of forming a semiconductor device comprising a fuse is provided including providing a semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) structure comprising an insulating layer and a semiconductor layer formed on the insulating layer, forming raised semiconductor regions on the semiconductor layer adjacent to a central portion of the semiconductor layer and performing a silicidation process of the central portion of the semiconductor layer and the raised semiconductor regions to form a silicided semiconductor layer and silicided raised semiconductor regions.
US09553045B2	Inductor for post passivation interconnect and a method of forming An inductor device and method of forming the inductor device are provided. In some embodiments the inductor device includes a post passivation interconnect (PPI) layer disposed and an under bump metallization (UBM) layer, each disposed over a substrate. The PPI layer forms a coil and dummy pads. The dummy pads are disposed around a substantial portion of the coil to shield the coil from electromagnetic interference. A first portion of the UBM layer is electrically coupled to the coil and configured to interface with an electrical coupling member.
US09553043B2	Interconnect structure having smaller transition layer via An interconnect structure including a bottom layer over a substrate, where the bottom layer includes at least one bottom layer line and at least one bottom layer via. The interconnect structure further includes a transition layer over the bottom layer, where the transition layer includes at least one transition layer line and at least one transition layer via. The interconnect structure further includes a top layer over the transition layer, where the top layer includes at least one top layer line and at least one top layer via. The at least one transition layer via has a cross sectional area at least 30% less than a cross sectional area of the at least one top layer via.
US09553039B2	Semiconductor device with through-substrate via covered by a solder ball and related method of production The semiconductor device comprises a semiconductor substrate (10) with a metallization (111) having an upper terminal layer (22) located at a front side (20) of the substrate. The metallization forms a through-substrate via (23) from the upper terminal layer to a rear terminal layer (13) located opposite to the front side at a rear side (21) of the substrate. The through-substrate via comprises a void (101), which may be filled with air or another gas. A solder ball (100) closes the void without completely filling it. A variety of interconnections for three dimensional integration is offered by this scheme.
US09553033B2	Semiconductor device models including re-usable sub-structures Methods and tools for generating measurement models of complex device structures based on re-useable, parametric models are presented. Metrology systems employing these models are configured to measure structural and material characteristics associated with different semiconductor fabrication processes. The re-useable, parametric sub-structure model is fully defined by a set of independent parameters entered by a user of the model building tool. All other variables associated with the model shape and internal constraints among constituent geometric elements are pre-defined within the model. In some embodiments, one or more re-useable, parametric models are integrated into a measurement model of a complex semiconductor device. In another aspect, a model building tool generates a re-useable, parametric sub-structure model based on input from a user. The resulting models can be exported to a file that can be used by others and may include security features to control the sharing of sensitive intellectual property with particular users.
US09553032B2	Fin field effect transistor including asymmetric raised active regions Merged and unmerged raised active regions on semiconductor fins can be simultaneously formed on a same substrate by control of growth rates of a deposited semiconductor material on surfaces of the semiconductor fins. In one embodiment, a growth-rate-retarding dopant can be implanted by angled ion implantation onto sidewall surfaces of first semiconductor fins on which retardation of growth rates is desired, while second semiconductor fins are masked by a masking layer. In another embodiment, a growth-rate-enhancing dopant can be implanted by ion implantation onto sidewall surfaces of second semiconductor fins, while first semiconductor fins are masked by a masking layer. The differential growth rates of the deposited semiconductor material can cause raised active regions on the first semiconductor fins to remain unmerged, and raised active regions on the second semiconductor fins to become merged.
US09553029B2	Integrated circuit having a vertical power MOS transistor A method includes forming a buried layer in a substrate, growing an epitaxial layer over the substrate, etching the epitaxial layer and the buried layer to form a first trench and a second trench, wherein the first trench and the second trench are of a same depth and a width of the second trench is greater than a width of the first trench, forming a dielectric layer in a bottom portion of the first trench, forming a first gate electrode in an upper portion of the first trench and filling the second trench with a gate electrode material, forming gate electrodes for a plurality of lateral transistors formed in the substrate, forming a body region, forming a first drain/source region over the body region and forming a second drain/source region over the epitaxial layer.
US09553025B2	Selective Fin-shaping process A method of forming a fin field-effect transistor (FinFET) includes forming a plurality of fins on a substrate. The method further includes forming an oxide layer on the substrate, wherein a bottom portion of each fin of the plurality of fins is embedded in the oxide layer, and the bottom portion of each fin of the plurality of fins has substantially a same shape. The method further includes shaping at least one fin of the plurality of fins, wherein a top portion of the at least one fin has a different shape from a top portion of another fin of the plurality of fins.
US09553024B2	Method of manufacturing semiconductor device Object is to provide a semiconductor device having improved reliability or performance.A high-breakdown-voltage n type transistor has source and drain regions having first, second, and third semiconductor regions, which are formed by ion implantation of a first impurity from the outside of a high-breakdown-voltage gate electrode, a second impurity from the outside of the high-breakdown-voltage gate electrode and a first sidewall insulating film, and a third impurity from the outside of the high-breakdown-voltage gate electrode and the first and second sidewall insulating films, respectively. The first and second impurities are implanted from a direction tilted by 45° relative to the main surface of the semiconductor substrate and the third impurity from a direction perpendicular thereto. The impurity concentration of the first semiconductor region is lower than that of the second one and the ion implantation energy of the first impurity is greater than that of the second impurity.
US09553017B2	Methods for fabricating integrated circuits including back-end-of-the-line interconnect structures Methods for fabricating integrated circuits are provided. In one example, a method for fabricating an integrated circuit includes selectively depositing a metal layer overlying a metal line of a metallization layer that is disposed in an ILD layer of dielectric material while an upper surface of the ILD layer that is laterally adjacent to the metal line is exposed. A hard mask layer is formed overlying the upper surface of the ILD layer laterally adjacent to the metal layer. The metal layer is removed to expose the metal line while leaving the hard mask layer intact. An interconnect is formed with the metal line adjacent to the hard mask layer.
US09553015B2	Fabrication of III-V-on-insulator platforms for semiconductor devices Embodiments of the present invention provide III-V-on-insulator (IIIVOI) platforms for semiconductor devices and methods for fabricating the same. According to one embodiment, compositionally-graded buffer layers of III-V alloy are grown on a silicon substrate, and a smart cut technique is used to cut and transfer one or more layers of III-V alloy to a silicon wafer having an insulator layer such as an oxide. One or more transferred layers of III-V alloy can be etched away to expose a desired transferred layer of III-V alloy, upon which a semi-insulating buffer layer and channel layer can be grown to yield IIIVOI platform on which semiconductor devices (e.g., planar and/or 3-dimensional FETs) can be fabricated.
US09553014B2	Bonded processed semiconductor structures and carriers Methods of fabricating semiconductor structures include implanting atom species into a carrier die or wafer to form a weakened region within the carrier die or wafer, and bonding the carrier die or wafer to a semiconductor structure. The semiconductor structure may be processed while using the carrier die or wafer to handle the semiconductor structure. The semiconductor structure may be bonded to another semiconductor structure, and the carrier die or wafer may be divided along the weakened region therein. Bonded semiconductor structures are fabricated using such methods.
US09553004B2	Cleaning method To provide a cleaning method which makes it possible to reduce alkaline component mixing in an ozone cleaning solution, thereby preventing impairment of cleaning ability of ozone. In the cleaning method, before chuck members retain another workpiece having previously been dipped in an ozone cleaning solution in an ozone cleaning tank, alkaline component attached to part of transfer arms and the chuck members is removed by cleaning, thereby preventing the alkaline component from mixing into the ozone cleaning solution.
US09553002B2	Flow controlled liner having spatially distributed gas passages Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a liner assembly including a plurality of individually separated gas passages. The liner assembly enables tenability of flow parameters, such as velocity, density, direction and spatial location, across a substrate being processed. The processing gas across the substrate being processed may be specially tailored for individual processes with a liner assembly according to embodiment of the present disclosure.
US09552996B2	Semiconductor device, having conductive pattern and electronic apparatus There is provided a conductive pattern forming method that can suppress shape abnormalities caused by the reattachment of a neodymium component. A conductive pattern forming method according to an aspect of the invention includes forming an aluminum-neodymium alloy film on a base material; forming, on the aluminum-neodymium alloy film, a conductive film having a thickness greater than or equal to ¼ times the thickness of the aluminum-neodymium alloy film; and patterning the aluminum-neodymium alloy film and the conductive film by using dry etching.
US09552994B2	Plating apparatus, plating method, and storage medium A plating apparatus 20 includes a substrate holding device 110 configured to hold and rotate the substrate 2; a first discharge device 30 configured to discharge a plating liquid toward the substrate 2 held on the substrate holding device 110; and a top plate 21 that is provided above the substrate 2 and has an opening 22. The first discharge device 30 includes a first discharge unit 33 configured to discharge the plating liquid toward the substrate 2, and the first discharge unit 33 is configured to be moved between a discharge position where the plating liquid is discharged and a standby position where the plating liquid is not discharged. Further, the first discharge unit 33 is configured to be overlapped with the opening 22 of the top plate 21 at the discharge position.
US09552993B2	Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof A number of variations may include a method that may include depositing a first layer on a first semiconductor epi layer (epitaxial layer) in an overlying position with respect to at least one trench structure formed in the first semiconductor epi layer. The first layer may include a first metal and a second metal. A second layer may comprise a material constructed and arranged to scavenge silicon migrating from the first semiconductor epi layer during annealing may be deposited over the first layer. The first semiconductor epi layer may be subjected to at least a first annealing act to provide a first structure. At least a portion of the first structure may be stripped to remove any of the first layer not reacted with silicon to form a silicide during the first annealing act.
US09552987B2	Substrate processing method, substrate processing apparatus, and storage medium A substrate processing method is performed to improve surface roughness of a pattern mask formed on a substrate by being exposed and developed. The method includes supplying a first solvent in a gaseous state to a surface of the substrate to dissolve the pattern mask, and supplying a second solvent to the surface of the substrate, which is supplied with the first solvent, to dissolve the pattern mask, wherein a permeability of the second solvent is lower than a permeability of the first solvent.
US09552980B2	Method of manufacturing semiconductor device, substrate processing apparatus, and recording medium A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes: pre-treating a surface of a substrate by supplying an oxygen-containing gas and a hydrogen-containing gas to the substrate heated in a process chamber under a pressure less than atmospheric pressure; and forming a film on the pre-treated substrate by performing a cycle a predetermined number of times. The cycle includes: supplying a precursor gas to the substrate in the process chamber; and supplying a reaction gas to the substrate in the process chamber.
US09552978B1	Method of decreasing fin bending A method of decreasing fin bending, includes providing a substrate including a plurality of fins, wherein a plurality of trenches are defined by the fins, the trenches include a first trench and a second trench, and the second trench is wider than the first trench. Later, a flowable chemical vapor deposition process is performed to form a silicon oxide layer covering the fins, filling up the first trench and partially filling in the second trench. After that, the silicon oxide layer is solidified by a UV curing process. Finally, after the UV curing process, the silicon oxide layer is densified by a steam anneal process.
US09552977B2	Landside stiffening capacitors to enable ultrathin and other low-Z products Embodiments of systems, devices, and methods to minimize warping of ultrathin IC packaged products are generally described herein. In some embodiments, an apparatus includes an IC mounted on a package substrate, and a capacitive stiffener subassembly mounted on the package substrate. The capacitive stiffener subassembly includes a plurality of capacitive elements electrically connected to contacts of the IC.
US09552972B2	Method for ion production A method for producing multiply charged ions is provided. In the method, a laser is used to ablate a sample comprising a matrix and an analyte. The sample is in the liquid form when it is ablated and the ions produced are passed through a heated conduit. The multiply charged ions produced may be used in mass spectrometry to measure the mass of the analyte.
US09552969B2	Ion mobility separation device An ion mobility separator 4 and a method of separating ions according to their ion mobility are disclosed. An RF ion guide is provided having a plurality of electrodes that are arranged to form an ion guiding path that extends in a closed loop. RF voltages are supplied to at least some of the electrodes in order to confine ions within said ion guiding path. A DC voltage gradient is maintained along at least a portion of a longitudinal axis of the ion guide, wherein the voltage gradient urges ions to undergo one or more cycles around the ion guide and thus causes the ions to separate according to their ion mobility as the ions pass along the ion guide. The closed loop ion guide enables the resolution of the ion mobility separator to be increased without necessitating a large device, since the drift length through the device can be increased by causing the ions to undergo multiple cycles around the device.
US09552966B2	Antenna for plasma generation, plasma processing apparatus and plasma processing method An antenna for plasma generation radiates a microwave transmitted through a coaxial waveguide into a processing chamber and propagates the microwave on a metal surface of the processing chamber to convert gas into surface wave plasma. The antenna includes a gas flow path for passing the gas through the antenna, a plurality of gas holes that communicate with the gas flow path and introduce the gas into the processing chamber, and a plurality of slots that are separated from the gas flow path and penetrate through the gas flow path. The slots pass the microwave transmitted through the coaxial waveguide and a slow-wave plate to the processing chamber. A first space between portions of adjacent slots penetrating through the gas flow path is arranged to be wider than a second space between portions of the adjacent slots opening out to a plasma generation space of the processing chamber.
US09552964B2	Method of fabricating an integrated circuit with a pattern density-outlier-treatment for optimized pattern density uniformity The present disclosure provides one embodiment of an IC method. First pattern densities (PDs) of a plurality of templates of an IC design layout are received. Then a high PD outlier template and a low PD outlier template from the plurality of templates are identified. The high PD outlier template is split into multiple subsets of template and each subset of template carries a portion of PD of the high PD outlier template. A PD uniformity (PDU) optimization is performed to the low PD outlier template and multiple individual exposure processes are applied by using respective subset of templates.
US09552958B2	Alignment marking for rock sample analysis A method for using a Focused Ion Beam and/or Scanning Electron Microscope (FIB/SEM) for etching one or more alignment markers on a rock sample, the one or more alignment markers being etched on the rock sample using the FIB/SEM. The one or more alignment markers may further be deposited with a platinum alloy or other suitable compositions for increasing alignment marker visibility.
US09552957B2	Particle beam system Particle beam system comprising a particle source; a first multi-aperture plate with a multiplicity of openings downstream of which particle beams are formed; a second multi-aperture plate with a multiplicity of openings which are penetrated by the particle beams; an aperture plate with an opening which is penetrated by all the particles which also penetrate the openings in the first and the second multi-aperture plate; a third multi-aperture plate with a multiplicity of openings which are penetrated by the particle beams, and with a multiplicity of field generators which respectively provide a dipole field or quadrupole field for a beam; and a controller for feeding electric potentials to the multi-aperture plates and the aperture plate so that the second openings in the second multi-aperture plate respectively act as a lens on the particle beams and feed adjustable excitations to the field generators.
US09552949B2	Circuit breaker and adapter for a circuit breaker A circuit breaker for protecting an electric circuit contains a housing and an adapter having a receiving connector. The circuit breaker has two electrically conductive, substantially cylinder-shaped connection points which are positioned along an axis. Either the outer diameter of the connection points is between 5.0 mm and 5.3 mm and the maximum distance between the connection points is between 19.0 mm and 21.0 mm, or the outer diameter of the connection points is between 6.2 mm and 6.5 mm and the maximum distance between the connection points is between 30.5 mm and 33.0 mm.
US09552948B2	Sealed contact device and method of manufacturing the same A sealed contact device having a small number of components and high productivity. In the sealed contact device a ring-shaped flange portion extending laterally from a lower opening edge part of a metallic case is welded and integrated with an upper surface of a plate-shaped yoke to form an internal space and a stationary contact and a moving contact are opposed to each other in the internal space so as to enable approach/separation. A ring-shaped projection provided along a lower surface of the ring-shaped flange portion is integrated with the upper surface of the plate-shaped yoke by resistance welding.
US09552947B2	Three phase vacuum interrupter switch for high voltage distribution systems A three-phase vacuum interrupter switch assembly for power distribution systems comprises an outer case having at least one window, a plurality of internal disconnect switch assemblies, and a plurality of vacuum interrupter bottle switch assemblies within the case. Each vacuum interrupter bottle switch is coupled in electrical series with a corresponding internal disconnect switch assembly. Because the open/closed state of a bottle switch is not directly observable owing to its sealed interior, a direct visible indication of the state of the three-phase vacuum interrupter switch assembly is provided by a visually detectable contact rod for each internal disconnect switch that is visible through the case window. To prevent potentially serious damage caused by arcing between the contacts of the internal disconnect switch, the internal disconnect switch is prevented from opening or closing when the bottle switches are closed. The case interior is preferably free of oil and/or SF6 gas.
US09552945B2	Direct current switch with a device for arc extinction independent of current direction A direct current switch with a device for arc extinction independent of current direction includes at least two interconnected switch units, each switch unit having at least one current path having an interruption surface and having at least two switch contact elements for forming the interruption surface. An arc extinction device is associated with one or a plurality of current paths of the switch units. Devices for magnetic field generation are included, each generated magnetic field being assigned to different switch units' interruption surface and oriented such that its field lines run transversally to the respective interruption surface. Given a current flow direction, deflection forces of at least two generated magnetic fields act through flow paths contrary to arcs extending longitudinally to respective interruption surface such that an arc is deflected towards the arc extinction device and a further arc is deflected away from the arc extinction device.
US09552944B2	Switching device for direct current applications A switching device for direct current applications having a first switching chamber for a first current path and a second switching chamber for a second current path, each current path having a switching contact arrangement having a first and second contact, wherein both the contacts, switched-on, come into contact with each other and, switched-off, are kept out of contact with each other by the creation of an isolation gap; a current path having an extinguishing device to extinguish an arc created between the contacts; an arc driver arrangement, arranged in one of the two switching chambers, and which creates a magnetic field at least in the area of the switching contact arrangement for the relevant current path that drives the arc into the relevant extinguishing device.
US09552941B1	Vacuum switching apparatus and electrical contact therefor An electrical contact is for a vacuum switching apparatus. The vacuum switching apparatus includes a second electrical contact. The electrical contact includes a body having a center point and a periphery, the body including a plurality of arcing surfaces structured to face in a first direction toward the second electrical contact and structured to move into and out of engagement with the second electrical contact, and a plurality of arc spinning portions each defining a slot extending inwardly from the periphery generally toward the center point, the plurality of arc spinning portions generally separating the plurality of arcing surfaces from one another. At least one arc spinning portion narrows from a corresponding pair of adjacent arcing surfaces of the body to an interior thereof in a second direction opposite the first direction.
US09552940B2	Switch, switch assembly and switch seal structure Provided is a switch attached to an attachment object through a seal member. The switch includes an operating portion including an operating surface. The switch further includes a support portion supporting the operating portion to enable a push operation for the operating portion. The switch further includes a flange portion disposed in a direction of the push operation relative to the support portion. The switch further includes a seal holding portion disposed in the direction of the push operation relative to the flange portion. The seal holding portion has a circular shaped portion or an oval shaped portion in contact with the seal member to hold the seal member with the circular shaped portion or the oval shaped portion. The switch further includes a pawl portion disposed in the direction of the push operation relative to the seal holding portion and configured to be hooked to the attachment object.
US09552938B2	Rubber mat keyboard, particularly a silicone mat keyboard A data entry and/or operating system, particularly a keyboard, also a POS keyboard, includes a lower part and an upper part as well as at least one circuit board and at least one retainer plate, the retainer plate lying on the lower part. One or more bushings are integrated for the purpose of connecting the circuit board to the retainer plate. The upper part is formed from a rubber mat having keys, and the stability of the keyboard is assured by the circuit board, bushing and metal retainer sheet. The lower part is connected to the upper part in a sealed manner.
US09552935B2	Limit switch The invention relates to a limit switch comprising: a body (1) and a head (2), an actuation member (3), a shaft (30) that can be actuated in rotation about an axis of rotation (Y) by pivoting of the actuation member (3), a plunger (4), a cam mechanism for converting the rotational movement of the shaft (30) into a translational movement of the plunger (4) and vice versa, the cam mechanism comprising: a first cam (7) and a first cam follower (70), arranged to generate between them a first non-zero rotational torque over a first range of rotation of the shaft (30), a second cam (8) and a second cam follower (80), arranged to generate between them a second non-zero rotational torque over a second range of rotation of the shaft.
US09552929B2	Polymer-nanocarbon composites, methods of making composites, and energy storage devices including the composite Embodiments of the present disclosure, in one aspect, relate to composites including a carbon nanomaterial having a redox-active material, such as a polymer containing redox groups, disposed on the carbon nanomaterial, methods of making the composite, methods of storing energy, and the like.
US09552924B2	Methods for forming electrically precise capacitors on insulative substrates, and structures formed therefrom High precision capacitors and methods for forming the same utilizing a precise and highly conformal deposition process for depositing an insulating layer on substrates of various roughness and composition. The method generally comprises the steps of depositing a first insulating layer on a metal substrate by atomic layer deposition (ALD); (b) forming a first capacitor electrode on the first insulating layer; and (c) forming a second insulating layer on the first insulating layer and on or adjacent to the first capacitor electrode. Embodiments provide an improved deposition process that produces a highly conformal insulating layer on a wide range of substrates, and thereby, an improved capacitor.
US09552922B2	Ferrite core structure for a power supply device of an electric vehicle and power supply road structure using same A ferrite core structure for a power supply device of an electric vehicle is disclosed. The ferrite core module improves output and limits a reduction in strength due to warpage in a traveling direction of the vehicle to prevent cracks generated in a surface of an intermediate portion of a power supply road from occurring. The ferrite core structure includes: a plurality of horizontal core parts arranged spaced apart from each other; a plurality of first vertical core parts extending upward from both ends of the horizontal core parts; a second vertical core part having at least two rows extending upward from an intermediate portion of each of the horizontal core parts. The second vertical core part is arranged parallel to the first vertical core parts. A first support part connecting the plurality of first vertical core parts to each other to support the first vertical core parts.
US09552919B2	Coupling device for a multi-phase converter The invention relates to a coupling device (4) for four phases of a multi-phase converter (2). Said coupling device (4) includes four coupling modules (6, 8, 12, 14), each of which encompasses four parallel through-holes. At least one section of a conductor loop (18, 20, 22, 24) for a phase. At least one section of a conductor loop (18, 20, 22, 24) for a phase penetrates a through-hole of a coupling module (6, 8, 12, 14), sections of conductor loops (18, 20, 22, 24) for at least two phases penetrating all four through-holes of a coupling module (6, 8, 12, 14).
US09552918B2	Magnetic device Coil patterns are provided in first and second outer surface layers and an inner layer of the board. First and second heat-dissipation patterns are provided in the second outer surface layer. A first thermal inter-layer connection member connects the coil pattern of the first outer surface layer and the first heat-dissipation pattern. A second thermal inter-layer connection member connects the coil pattern of the inner layer and the second heat-dissipation pattern. The coil pattern provided in the second outer surface layer and the first and second heat-dissipation patterns are separated from each other. An area of the second heat-dissipation pattern is larger than an area of the first heat-dissipation pattern.
US09552916B2	Solenoid actuator A plunger is formed of a soft magnetic material to have one end connected a regulation pin. A permanent magnet is affixed to a stationary portion, which is stationary relative to the plunger, to attract the plunger in a retreated direction. A coil generates a magnetic flux in an opposite direction of the permanent magnet to reduce a magneto attraction force, which attracts the plunger. A spring biases the regulation pin in an advanced direction. The spring applies a biasing force to the regulation pin to move the regulation pin in the advanced direction when electricity is supplied to the coil to reduce the magneto attraction force of the permanent magnet. A magnetism detection unit is located on a magnetic circuit, which conducts a magnetic flux generated by the permanent magnet and the coil, to detect a magnetic flux density.
US09552912B2	Magnetic rubber composition, magnetic rubber molded article obtained by crosslinking the same, and magnetic encoder There is provided a magnetic rubber composition comprising a rubber (A), a thermosetting resin (B) and a magnetic powder (C), wherein a mass ratio (A/B) of the rubber (A) to the thermosetting resin (B) is 0.2 to 5, and a mass ratio [C/(A+B)] of the magnetic powder (C) to the total mass of the rubber (A) and the thermosetting resin (B) is 0.5 to 20. It gives a magnetic rubber molded article excellent in flexibility and abrasion resistance, and a magnetic encoder produced therewith.
US09552902B2	Transparent conducting oxides The invention provides a transparent conducting film which comprises a compound of formula (I): Zn1-x[M]xO1-y[X]y(I) wherein: x is greater than 0 and less than or equal to 0.25; y is from 0 to 0.1; [X] is at least one dopant element which is a halogen; and [M] is: (a) a dopant element which is selected from: a group 14 element other than carbon; a lanthanide element which has an oxidation state of +4; and a transition metal which has an oxidation state of +4 and which is other than Ti or Zr; or (b) a combination of two or more different dopant elements, at least one of which is selected from: a group 14 element other than carbon; a lanthanide element which has an oxidation state of +4; and a transition metal which has an oxidation state of +4 and which is other than Ti or Zr. The invention further provides coatings comprising the films of the invention, processes for producing such films and coatings, and various uses of the films and coatings.
US09552897B2	Method for the capture and storage of waste Systems and methods for capturing waste are disclosed. The systems and methods provide for a high level of confinement and long term stability. The systems and methods include adsorbing waste into a metal-organic framework (MOF), and applying pressure to the MOF material's framework to crystallize or make amorphous the MOF material thereby changing the MOF's pore structure and sorption characteristics without collapsing the MOF framework.
US09552890B2	Antifuse with bypass diode and method thereof The embodiments described herein provide antifuse devices and methods that can be utilized in a wide variety of semiconductor devices. In one embodiment a semiconductor device is provided that includes an antifuse, a first diode coupled with the antifuse in a parallel combination, and a second diode coupled in series with the parallel combination. In such an embodiment the first diode effectively provides a bypass current path that can reduce the voltage across the antifuse when other antifuses are being programmed. As such, these embodiments can provide improved ability to tolerate programming voltages without damage or impairment of reliability.
US09552877B2	Writable device based on alternating current A nonvolatile memory device is writable to a high resistance state and a low resistance state. The nonvolatile memory device may be heated to at least a threshold temperature, based on application of an alternating current (AC) signal, and may be written based on application of a voltage bias.
US09552861B2	Resistance change memory A first normal bit and source lines are connected to a first memory cell. Second normal bit and source lines are connected to a second memory cell. A first column switch connects one of the first and second normal bit lines to a first global bit line. A second column switch connects one of the first and second normal source lines to a first global source line. A first reference bit and source lines are connected to a third memory cell. A third column switch connects the first reference bit line to a second global bit line. A fourth column switch connects the first reference source line to the first global source line. A sense amplifier is connected to the first and second global bit lines, and reads data stored in one of the first and second memory cells.
US09552860B2	Magnetic memory cell structure with spin device elements and method of operating the same A magnetic memory includes a plurality of memory cells and a data identification circuit. Each of the memory cells includes: a first bias node to which a first voltage is applied in data reading, the first voltage being a positive voltage; a second bias node to which a second voltage is applied in the data reading, the second voltage being a negative voltage having substantially the same absolute value as the first voltage; a connection node; a first spin device element connected between the first bias node and the connection node; and a second spin device element connected between the connection node and the second bias node. The first and second spin device elements operate differentially. The data identification circuit identifies data stored in each of the memory cells based on a polarity of a voltage generated on the connection node.
US09552859B2	Electronic memory including ROM and RAM An electronic data-storage apparatus having ROM embedded in an STT-MRAM. The apparatus comprises at least two bit lines, a plurality of bit cells, each including, connected to a source line (SL), a series connection (in any order) of a selection element (e.g., transistor gated by word line WL), a resistive storage element (e.g., MTJ), and a permanent connection to one of the bit lines (e.g., BL0, BL1). The apparatus may also include a ROM sense amplifier which is configured to precharge two output nodes connected to respective ones of the bit lines, so that the jumper in a selected memory cell pulls one of the output nodes to a first reference potential (e.g., GND) and the ROM sense amplifier pulls the other of the output nodes to a second reference potential (e.g., Vdd).
US09552856B2	Memory timing self-calibration Methods for memory input timing self-calibration, apparatuses for input timing self-calibration, and systems are disclosed. One such method includes sequentially programming a plurality of delay trim settings into a delay circuit of a data path. The data path can include a data latch coupled to the delay circuit. A clock is coupled to the data latch to clock data into the data latch. Transitions of the data are substantially aligned with transitions of the clock. An output of the data latch is read after each delay trim setting is programmed. A boundary is determined between a first output state of the data latch and a second output state of the data latch wherein the boundary is associated with a particular delay trim setting of the plurality of delay trim settings. The particular delay trim setting is programmed into the delay circuit.
US09552853B2	Methods for calibrating a read data path for a memory interface A method for calibrating a read data path for a DDR memory interface circuit from time to time in conjunction with functional operation of a memory circuit is described. The method uses the steps of issuing a sequence of read commands so that a delayed dqs signal toggles continuously. Next, delaying a core clock signal originating within the DDR memory interface circuit to produce a capture clock signal. The capture clock signal is delayed from the core clock by a capture clock delay value. Next, determining an optimum capture clock delay value. The output of the read data path is clocked by the core clock. The timing for the read data path with respect to data propagation is responsive to at least the capture clock.
US09552848B2	Solid state drive with improved enclosure assembly The present invention pertains to a hard disk drive form factor compatible solid-state storage device enclosure assembly that protects circuit boards contained within the enclosure from environmental disruption, such as mechanical stress, vibration, external electronic disruption, or any combination of these, while allowing for a variable number of circuit boards in the SSD enclosure. In another embodiment, the solid-state storage device enclosure assembly, or a similar circuit board assembly, includes an alignment guide that precludes a circuit board from being misaligned within the enclosure.
US09552846B1	Variable speed data storage device testing system A data storage device can be tested while spinning at a variety of different speeds. Data may be written to a data sector with a transducing head while at least one disk of a data storage device spins about a spindle at a default speed. One or more tests can subsequently be executed on the disk by reading servo data stored on the disk while the disk spins at a test speed that is greater than the default speed.
US09552843B2	Media file access and storage solution for multi-workstation/multi-platform non-linear video editing systems A novel system, method and computer program product for accessing digital media files stored in a media storage device via a server device in communication with the media storage device. The method provides a Project Sharing feature for enabling collaborative sharing of Non Linear Editing (NLE) Projects, even though the NLE application might normally define and save Projects as a single monolithic project file. The system and method provides a file directory and symlink scheme that allows ALL editors who are “members” of a Project Space to see all the bins created by all other editors, but controlling the WRITE ACCESS to the bins according to whose “User Folder” the bins resided in, i.e., a user-based locking scheme is provided to allow control over who can and cannot write to a file. The system and method further treats a single monolithic project file as a collection of smaller Project files, the permissions and ownerships of which could each be controlled independently.
US09552842B2	Systems and methods for managing the process of creating custom professional videos Systems and methods for creating custom professional videos are disclosed. The system includes client computing devices, an administrator computing device, and professional editor computing devices, all of which communicate with one or more servers via a network. A server of the one or more servers receives media data including at least one image file, text data, and an audio file from a client computing device via a network. The server creates a video job based on the media data and transmits it to a professional editor computing device. The professional editor uses at least one editing application running on the professional editor computing device to create a video based on the video job. The server transmits the created video to the administrator computing device for review. The server transmits the created video to the client computing device upon approval by the administrator.
US09552838B2	Optical information recording medium having first and second pit row of identical reflectance In a case where (i) a reflectance calculated from a reflected light amount obtained from a longest pit (P1max) or a longest space (S1max) in a first pit row is defined as a first reflectance and (ii) a reflectance calculated from a reflected light amount obtained from a longest pit (P2max) or a longest space (S2max) in the second pit row is defined as a second reflectance, the first pit row is formed such that the first reflectance becomes substantially identical with the second reflectance.
US09552834B1	Stabilization of one or more upper sensors in multi-sensor readers A multi-sensor reader that includes a first sensor that has a first sensor stack, which includes a sensing layer that has a magnetization that changes according to an external magnetic field. The first sensor also includes a first seed element below the first sensor stack. The multi-sensor reader also includes a second sensor stacked over the first sensor. The second sensor includes a second sensor stack, which includes a sensing layer that has a magnetization that changes according to the external magnetic field. The second sensor also includes a second seed element below the second sensor stack. The second seed element is structurally different from the first seed element and includes a stabilization feature.
US09552831B2	Method for detecting abnormal sound and method for judging abnormality in structure by use of detected value thereof, and method for detecting similarity between oscillation waves and method for recognizing voice by use of detected value thereof The present invention provides a method for obtaining an accurate detected value of a similarity, such as an hitting sound. The method includes the steps of: creating original standard/input pattern vectors each having a feature quantity of an hitting sound; creating a skewness-weighting vector and a kurtosis-weighting vector based on a reference pattern vector of a reference shape; calculating a skewness-weighted standard pattern vector and a kurtosis-weighted standard pattern vector by product-sum operation using component values of the skewness-weighting vector and the kurtosis-weighting vector and a component value of the original standard pattern vector; creating a dual and weighted standard pattern vector based on these vectors and similarly creating a dual and weighted input pattern vector; creating dual and selected standard/input pattern vectors based on the dual and weighted standard/input pattern vectors; and setting an angle between the dual and selected standard and input pattern vectors as a geometric distance value between the original standard and input pattern vectors.
US09552823B2	Apparatus and method for generating a frequency enhancement signal using an energy limitation operation An apparatus for generating a frequency enhancement signal, includes: a signal generator for generating an enhancement signal from a core signal, the enhancement signal including an enhancement frequency range not included in the core signal, wherein a time portion of the enhancement signal includes subband signals for a plurality of subbands; a synthesis filterbank for generating the frequency enhanced signal using the enhancement signal, wherein the signal generator is configured for performing an energy limitation in order to make sure that the frequency enhanced signal obtained by the synthesis filterbank is so that an energy of a higher band is, at the most, equal to an energy in a lower band or is greater than an energy of a higher band, at the most, by a predefined threshold.
US09552821B2	Encoding method, encoder, program and recording medium A value of gain is updated so that the greater the difference between the number of bits or estimated number of bits in a code obtained by encoding a string of integer value samples obtained by dividing each sample in a sample string derived from an input audio signal in a given interval by gain before the update and a predetermined number B of allocated bits, the greater the difference between the gain before the update and the updated gain. A gain code corresponding to the updated gain and an integer signal code obtained by encoding a string of integer value samples obtained by dividing each sample in the sample string by the gain are obtained.
US09552814B2	Visual voice search A computer implemented method and system for initiating an action uses text converted from a user's speech. A user's speech is converted into text using an automatic speech recognition (ASR) system of a device. A first group of words is determined from the text meeting a first criteria. The text of the first group of words is displayed on a user interface of the device. A first action is initiated in response to the user's selection of a word in the first group. The results of the first action are presented using the user interface of the device.
US09552804B2	Managing acoustic noise produced by a device One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that manages the acoustic noise produced by a device. During operation, the system receives a set of acoustic characteristics for the device. The system then uses these acoustic characteristics to estimate the acoustic noise being generated by the device. Next, the system uses the estimated acoustic noise to adjust a setting in the device to manage the acoustic noise produced by the device.
US09552798B2	Pianoforte instrument, in particular a piano, with a housing on bearing points A pianoforte instrument, in particular a piano, has a base. Several bearings serve to support the pianoforte instrument on a floor. A height adjuster is also provided, which permits a height adjustment of the slide element relative to the base and/or a console. A device that facilitates transport is preferably provided on each of the bearings. The device that facilitates transport has a slide element, which permits sliding on the floor.
US09552791B2	Display driving circuit and a display device having the same A display driving circuit includes first through (2n)-th buffers, a buffer controller, first through n-th image processing units, and a source driver. The buffer controller circularly selects one of the first through (2n)-th buffers in an order from the first buffer to the (2n)-th buffer at each of a plurality of first time intervals, and stores pixel data received during the first time interval in the selected buffer. Each of the first through n-th image processing units is coupled to two corresponding buffers among the first through (2n)-th buffers, and processes the pixel data, which are stored in at least one of their corresponding buffers, during n of the first time intervals to generate processed data when the pixel data are stored in the corresponding buffer during the first time interval. The source driver generates analog signals based on the processed data.
US09552787B2	Display driving circuit, driving method thereof and display apparatus The present disclosure provides a display driving circuit, a driving method thereof, and a display apparatus, to solve the issue regarding power consumption of the display driver due to multiple reversal of the data voltage. The driving method comprises: firstly, determining pre-input data signals that are respectively input by a data line to each pixel unit of a column of pixel units corresponding to the data line when inputting a Nth image frame; next, determining, according to magnitudes or polarities of the pre-input data signals, a scanning order for the gate lines; then, scanning the gate lines according to the scanning order; and then, inputting the pre-input data signals to corresponding pixel units by the data lines.
US09552786B2	Electronic apparatus and display driver In case that a terminal gradation signal output terminal in a pre-stage display driver and an initial gradation signal output terminal in a next-stage display driver of a plurality of display drivers which are arranged in parallel are used in driving the same gradation signal electrode of a display panel, an output of dummy data from the other gradation signal output terminal which mutually competes with an output timing of a gradation signal from one gradation signal output terminal between both the gradation signal output terminals is suppressed by high impedance control of a corresponding gradation signal output terminal.
US09552783B2	Source driver and display device having the same A source driver includes: a gamma voltage generator configured to receive a plurality of gamma reference voltages, a first common pre-emphasis voltage, and a second common pre-emphasis voltage, and to generate a plurality of gamma voltages based on the gamma reference voltages, a plurality of first pre-emphasis pulses respectively corresponding to pixels that emit light of different colors based on the first common pre-emphasis voltage, and a plurality of second pre-emphasis pulses respectively corresponding to the pixels that emit the light of different colors based on the second common pre-emphasis voltage; and a voltage supply unit configured to output one of the first pre-emphasis pulses and the second pre-emphasis pulses to each of a plurality of data lines, and to output data voltages to the plurality of data lines based on the gamma voltages.
US09552779B2	Electronic apparatus and display backlight control method An electronic apparatus and a display backlight control method are provided. The electronic apparatus includes a display, a processing unit, a read-only memory and a backlight controller. The read-only memory stores a basic input output system (BIOS) and a setting table. The setting table includes a plurality of backlight setting values corresponding to each of the displays. When the processing unit executes the BIOS, the processing unit identifies an identifier corresponding to the display connected to the electronic apparatus, so as to obtain the backlight setting values corresponding to the display according to the identifier and the setting table. Then the processing unit provides the backlight setting values to the backlight controller, and the backlight controller controls the backlight power of the display according to the backlight setting values.
US09552772B2	Display apparatus, method of driving a display, and electronic device In a display apparatus including a switching transistor, a correction voltage for eliminating an effect of a variation in a characteristic of a driving transistor is stored in a storage capacitor. The switching transistor is disposed between one current terminal of the driving transistor and a light emitting element. The switching transistor turns off during the non-light emission period thereby to electrically disconnect the light emitting element from the one current terminal of the driving transistor thereby preventing a leakage current from flowing through the light emitting element during the period in which the correction unit operates, and thus preventing the correction voltage from having an error due to the leakage current.
US09552771B2	Display apparatus and method of controlling the same A display apparatus includes a first pixel, a second pixel, and a dummy pixel. The first pixel includes a first light-emitting device connected to a first pixel circuit through a first node. The second pixel is in a same row as the first pixel and includes a second light-emitting device connected to a second pixel circuit through a second node. The dummy pixel includes at dummy pixel circuit with a third node. The controller outputs a first control signal having a first level or a second level based on a first pixel grayscale value corresponding to the first pixel and a second pixel grayscale value corresponding to the second pixel. A switch circuit electrically connects the first node, the second node, and a third node when the first control signal has the first level.
US09552754B2	Display method and device for optimizing screen brightness A display method and a display device for optimizing screen brightness of a mobile terminal are provided. The display method includes: determining an external illuminance value based on a sensor signal by detecting by the sensor signal for determining a brightness value of a screen; determining the brightness value of the screen corresponding to the external illuminance value; and outputting an image signal by using the brightness value of the screen.
US09552734B2	Vehicle monitoring and identification system A vehicle monitoring and traffic enforcement system in which a wireless communication device is associated with motor vehicles The device will transmit vehicle identification data which is relayed to a database which maintains current information concerning insurance law compliance, motor vehicle registration and licensing compliance, traffic citations and other information If a violation or compliance failure is noted, this is transmitted to a law enforcement agency and a nearby law enforcement vehicle A law enforcement officer may be required to pursue the vehicle depending on the violation and traffic conditions The system uses GPS and GIs technology to provide law enforcement with a real time display which will not only show the vehicle being tracked but also a map of the area showing roads, traffic conditions and even the location of other law enforcement or emergency vehicles so that officials may make a safe and fast response to situations.
US09552729B2	Transportation information systems and methods An exemplary method includes determining whether real-time vehicle location information deviates from at least one of historical real-time vehicle location information or scheduled vehicle location information. The exemplary method further includes generating scheduling information for a user based on user data and the public transportation data, determining that the real-time vehicle location information deviates from at least one of the historical real-time vehicle location information or the scheduled vehicle location information by more than a threshold deviation, and updating the scheduling information for the user based on the user data, the public transportation data, and the determined deviation.
US09552727B2	V2V system with a hybrid physical layer A vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication transponder for use in V2V communication, safety and anti-collision systems using a hybrid protocol combining time-division multiplexed access (TDMA), with collision sense multiple access (CSMA) protocol. The TDMA frame is broken into regions, a priority and emergency TDMA region, and a non-priority CSMA region. The sizes of the TDMA regions change dynamically based on demand, with the CSMA region using the remaining time slots. Transponders self-select time slots; selected slots are held until a new time slot selection criteria; all transponders participate in notifying a transponder of a time slot message collision. An inter-transmission guard time may be dynamic based on range. Embodiments are free of MAC and IP addresses. No central authority or road-side equipment (RSU) is required. Embodiments include equipped vehicles and V2V system using the transponder.
US09552726B2	Providing driving condition alerts using road attribute data A method and system for providing a driving condition alert to vehicle drivers and others are disclosed. The alert is provided based on road location and attribute data; real-time, historic, and forecast traffic data; real-time, historic, and forecast weather data; and/or scheduled and unscheduled event data. The alert may include information indicating the reason for the alert provided. In addition, the alert may include a relative scale of hazard (e.g., a scale of 1-10 with 1 representing no hazard and 10 representing the highest hazardous condition). As a result of receiving the alert, the driver may adjust their route or driving behavior.
US09552723B2	Trainable transceiver systems and methods for channel frequency offset adjustment A trainable transceiver for controlling a device includes a transceiver circuit, a control circuit coupled to the transceiver circuit, and memory coupled to the control circuit. The control circuit is configured to receive a signal from the device via the transceiver circuit. The control circuit is configured to determine a frequency of a channel used by the device based on the signal strength of the signal received from the device.
US09552720B2	Testing system and method for fire alarm system A system and method for testing fire detection and fire annunciation devices of a fire alarm system includes a central operations system, which provides a link between a control panel of the fire alarm system and a mobile computing device operated by a technician. During a walkthrough test, the on-site technician activates fire detection or fire annunciation devices of the fire alarm system and the activated devices signal the control panel and event data are generated. Event data from the control panel are sent to the central operations system to be stored. The central operations system sends the event data to a mobile computing device operated by the technician. The on-site technician is then able verify that the devices are physically sound, unaltered, working properly, and located in their assigned locations.
US09552710B2	Systems and methods for customer deactivation of security elements Systems (100) and methods (1100) for activating an Electronic Article Surveillance (“EAS”) element deactivator. The methods involve: obtaining customer-related data from a customer of a business organization who is attempting to deactivate an EAS element of at least one item; obtaining transaction data contained in a receipt issued upon completion of a checkout transaction for the customer; communicating the customer-related data, transaction data and a unique identifier for an EAS element deactivation system to a remote computing device; processing the customer-related data and transaction data to obtain confirmation that the customer has recently successfully completed the checkout transaction for the item and the EAS element of the item has not yet been deactivated; and activating the EAS element deactivator of the EAS element deactivation system subsequent to when the confirmation is obtained.
US09552706B2	Color changing backlight for fluid delivery devices displaying temperature A display unit for a fluid delivery device which outputs water includes a printed circuit board, a diffuser supported by the printed circuit board, and a display screen electrically coupled to the printed circuit board. The display unit further includes a first light source electrically coupled to the printed circuit board, and a second light source electrically coupled to the printed circuit board. The first and second light sources define backlighting for the display screen. Operation of the first and second light sources is adjusted in response to a change in temperature of the output water of the fluid delivery device.
US09552705B2	Life safety device with compact circumferential acoustic resonator Low frequency alarm tones emitted by life safety devices are more likely to notify sleeping children and the elderly. Disclosed herein is a life safety device equipped with a novel, compact, circumferential resonant cavity which increases the low frequency (400-600 Hz square wave) acoustic efficiency of an audio output apparatus formed by acoustically coupling an audio output transducer to the resonant cavity.
US09552700B1	Casino game system and method of use A card game system/method pitting players against a live or virtual dealer. Players make two mandatory wagers and optionally place bonus and jackpot wagers followed by each player and the dealer receiving six cards. Each player and the dealer must set the six cards into three, two-card hands based on pre-established rules. The main and play wagers are resolved based on a comparison of the player's three hands to the dealer's three hands, respectively. The bonus wager relates to the strongest five-card poker hand formed using the six cards and the jackpot is paid if the player wins all three hands and the two cards of the first hand meet a minimum threshold (e.g., Ace high or better). An automatic winning hand may be utilized as well. For example, any player receiving the King of Spades and King of Clubs would win their main and play wagers automatically. A player v. player (e.g., home version) version of the game is also disclosed.
US09552697B2	Mobile applications and wagering game machines In some embodiments, a wagering game is presented at a wagering game machine. A wireless communication is established between the wagering game machine and a mobile device. In response to a wagering game player satisfying a wagering game criteria when playing the wagering game, access to content can be enabled on the mobile device, wherein the content is based on a context resulting from the wagering game player playing the wagering game.
US09552673B2	Grasping virtual objects in augmented reality An augmented reality system which enables grasping of virtual objects is described such as to stack virtual cubes or to manipulate virtual objects in other ways. In various embodiments a user's hand or another real object is tracked in an augmented reality environment. In examples, the shape of the tracked real object is approximated using at least two different types of particles and the virtual objects are updated according to simulated forces exerted between the augmented reality environment and at least some of the particles. In various embodiments 3D positions of a first one of the types of particles, kinematic particles, are updated according to the tracked real object; and passive particles move with linked kinematic particles without penetrating virtual objects. In some examples a real-time optic flow process is used to track motion of the real object.
US09552671B2	Method for operating three-dimensional handler and terminal supporting the same A terminal for supporting an operation of a three-dimensional handler includes: a display unit displaying a three-dimensional handler region having at least one link object and a link object information region outputting link object information in response to a movement or selection of the at least one link object on the three-dimensional handler and outputting the collected link object information in the link object information region.
US09552667B2	Adaptive shading in a graphics processing pipeline One embodiment of the present invention includes a parallel processing unit (PPU) that performs pixel shading at variable granularities. For effects that vary at a low frequency across a pixel block, a coarse shading unit performs the associated shading operations on a subset of the pixels in the pixel block. By contrast, for effects that vary at a high frequency across the pixel block, fine shading units perform the associated shading operations on each pixel in the pixel block. Because the PPU implements coarse shading units and fine shading units, the PPU may tune the shading rate per-effect based on the frequency of variation across each pixel group. By contrast, conventional PPUs typically compute all effects per-pixel, performing redundant shading operations for low frequency effects. Consequently, to produce similar image quality, the PPU consumes less power and increases the rendering frame rate compared to a conventional PPU.
US09552666B2	3-D rendering pipeline with early region-based object culling An apparatus and a method for generating images from 3-D source data provide for making a display list for each tile of a set of tiles for an image to be rendered, each display list including identifying information for objects overlapping that tile and depth information for the object. A fetch unit configured to fetch parameter data for objects to be processed by an Image Synthesis Processor (ISP) is coupled to receive depth range information for a current tile, which is produced by the ISP, and to determined, based on the depth range for the current tile and the object-specific depth information from the display list for the current tile, whether the parameter data for the object is to be provided to the ISP for processing or not. The object-specific depth information can be stored with a pointer to parameter data for the object.
US09552663B2	Method and system for volume rendering of medical images Methods and systems for generating images including one or more anatomical objects imaged in a volume data set are provided. Volume data from a 3D or 4D ultrasound imaging system is obtained, wherein the volume data represents structures inside a body of a subject. Then, data values of selected positions in the volume data along a viewing direction are mapped to a color and opacity. Predetermined tissue similarity values for the selected positions in the volume data are obtained, wherein the tissue similarity value is associated with a selected tissue or structure. For example, the tissue or structure may be blood vessels, bone, or organs such as a liver. The opacity and lighting for each particular position is then modified based on the obtained predetermined tissue similarity value and, finally, one or more images including the selected positions representing the selected tissue or structure are generated.
US09552661B2	Distinguishing superimposed links to a node by spreading connection points of links to node according to coordinates of bend point or opposite end point of links A method, system and computer program product for distinguishing superimposed links to a node in a drawing area. Links connected to a side of a node involved in an editing interaction are identified. The order of the identified links to be connected to the side of the node is determined by sorting the identified links based on the coordinates of the links' bend point and/or opposite end point. The connection points of these identified links are repositioned based on this determined order. By only repositioning the connection points to the node involved in the editing interaction instead of rerouting all of the links in the diagram area, the processing time is improved. Furthermore, by repositioning the connection points that were superimposed so that they are spaced apart based on the coordinates of the links' bend point and/or opposite end point, it is easier to distinguish between the different links.
US09552656B2	Image-based color palette generation Systems and methods are provided for generating an image-based color palette based on a color image. A color palette can be a collection of representative colors each associated with a weight or other metadata. A color palette may be generated based on palette generation criteria, which may facilitate or control a palette generation process. Illustratively, the palette generation process may include image pre-processing, color distribution generation, representative color identification, palette candidate generation and palette determination. Representative colors with associated weight can be identified from a distribution of colors depicted by the color image, multiple palette candidates corresponding to the same color image can be generated based on various palette generation criteria, and a color palette can be identified therefrom.
US09552653B2	Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and storage medium There is provided an information processing apparatus including an acquisition unit configured to acquire a motion state of a real object, and a display control unit configured to display a virtual object according to the acquired motion state.
US09552652B2	Image encoder and image decoder An image encoder includes an extreme value determiner, a floating point-to-integer converter and an encoder. The extreme value determiner determines minimal and maximal values of a floating point image value of each pixel of a part of an image, an image or a group of images. The floating point-to-integer converter maps the floating point image value of each pixel to an integer image value. The minimal floating point image value is mapped to a minimal integer image value of a predefined range of integer image values and the maximal floating point image value is mapped to a maximal integer image value of the predefined range of integer image values. The encoder encodes the integer image value of each pixel to obtain and provide encoded image data of the part of the image, the image or the group of images.
US09552651B2	Method for monitoring inside a chamber of a coke oven, management method for a chamber wall of a coke oven, and monitoring system A coke oven monitoring system capable of quantitatively monitoring changes in the state of the furnace walls in a coke oven with good accuracy has: an oven width measurement device (6) that measures the oven width; an in-furnace observation device (7) that photographs the oven walls; and a computer (10) that analyzes oven width data measured by the oven width measurement device, and oven wall image data captured by the in-furnace observation device. The computer is characterized by including: a oven width/oven wall image data extraction unit (10a) that extracts width data and oven wall image data in different extrusion cycles for the same location of the same kiln; and an oven width/oven wall image data analysis and processing unit (10b) that determines oven wall abnormalities when the oven width data and oven wall image data obtained in the current extrusion cycle have both changed relative to the oven width data and oven wall image data obtained in past extrusion cycles in such a manner as to exceed established values.A coke oven monitoring system capable of quantitatively monitoring changes in the state of the furnace walls in a coke oven with good accuracy has: an oven width measurement device (6) that measures the oven width; an in-furnace observation device (7) that photographs the oven walls; and a computer (10) that analyzes oven width data measured by the oven width measurement device, and oven wall image data captured by the in-furnace observation device. The computer is characterized by including: a oven width/oven wall image data extraction unit (10a) that extracts width data and oven wall image data in different extrusion cycles for the same location of the same kiln; and an oven width/oven wall image data analysis and processing unit (10b) that determines oven wall abnormalities when the oven width data and oven wall image data obtained in the current extrusion cycle have both changed relative to the oven width data and oven wall image data obtained in past extrusion cycles in such a manner as to exceed established values.
US09552648B1	Object tracking with integrated motion-based object detection (MogS) and enhanced kalman-type filtering Described is a system for object tracking with integrated motion-based object detection and enhanced Kalman-type filtering. The system detects a location of a moving object in an image frame using an object detection MogS module, thereby generating an object detection. For each image frame in a sequence of image frames, the system predicts the location of the moving object in the next image frame using a Kalman filter prediction module to generate a predicted object location. The predicted object location is refined using a Kalman filter updating module, and the Kalman filter updating module is controlled by a controller module that monitors a similarity between the predicted object location and the moving object's location in a previous image frame. Finally, a set of detected moving object locations in the sequence of image frames is output.
US09552645B2	Compound object separation Representations of an object (110) in an image generated by an imaging apparatus (100) can comprise two or more separate sub-objects, producing a compound object (500). Compound objects can negatively affect the quality of object visualization and threat identification performance. As provided herein, a compound object (500) can be separated into sub-objects. Three-dimensional image data of a potential compound object (500) is projected into a two-dimensional manifold projection (504), and segmentation is performed on the two-dimensional manifold projection of the compound object to identify sub-objects. Once sub-objects are identified, the two-dimensional, segmented manifold projection (900) is projected into three-dimensional space (1104). A three-dimensional segmentation may then be performed to identify additional sub-objects of the compound object that were not identified by the two-dimensional segmentation.
US09552643B2	Method and apparatus for estimating position of part of object An apparatus configured to estimate a position of a part of an object in an image includes: an image receiver configured to receive the image; a reference point setter configured to set a reference point in the image; a controller configured to generate information about the reference point by repeating a process a predetermined number of times, the process comprising obtaining one piece of direction information about a probability and a direction that the reference point is to be moved to the part of the object by a classifier, and resetting the reference point by moving the reference point a predetermined distance based on the one piece of direction information; and a location estimator configured to estimate a position of the part of the object in the image by using the information about the reference point as the reference point is reset the predetermined number of times.
US09552639B2	Plane-based self-calibration for structure from motion Robust techniques for self-calibration of a moving camera observing a planar scene. Plane-based self-calibration techniques may take as input the homographies between images estimated from point correspondences and provide an estimate of the focal lengths of all the cameras. A plane-based self-calibration technique may be based on the enumeration of the inherently bounded space of the focal lengths. Each sample of the search space defines a plane in the 3D space and in turn produces a tentative Euclidean reconstruction of all the cameras that is then scored. The sample with the best score is chosen and the final focal lengths and camera motions are computed. Variations on this technique handle both constant focal length cases and varying focal length cases.
US09552613B2	Label inference in a social network At least one embodiment of this disclosure includes a method of inferring attribute labels for a user in a social networking system based on the user's social connections and user-specified attribute labels in the social networking system. The method can include: establishing variational equations based on attribute labels of nodes in an ego network in a social graph of a social networking system; determining likelihood scores for at least a portion of the attribute labels of neighboring nodes from a focal user node in the ego network based on user-specified attribute labels from the social networking system; and calculating probability distributions of possible attribute labels for the focal user node of the ego network based on the variational equations and the likelihood scores.
US09552611B2	Systems and methods for modifying resources to manage loss events Methods and systems for modifying resources equipped to manage loss events and processing associated therewith based on an analysis of real-time data. An insurance provider can maintain historical data that indicates resources usage data for managing previously-occurring loss events. The insurance provider can receive real-time first-party and third-party loss event data from a variety of sources, the loss event data being associated with a recent or forecasted loss event. The insurance provider can compare the received loss event data to the historical data to determine that resources configured to manage insurance claim processing resulting from the loss event may need to be modified. In embodiments, the resources may be hardware or software resources, a workforce, physical goods or supplies, or other resources. The insurance provider can facilitate the appropriate resource modification by interfacing with various components and entities.
US09552603B1	Relating individual items to similar purchased categories Technologies are described herein for relating individual items to categories of items purchased concurrently by a customer. A representative category may be assigned to each of the items offered for sale by an online merchant. Purchase history data containing information regarding each item purchased by a customer on a specific date is augmented with information regarding each representative category of items from which an item was purchased by the customer on the same date. From the purchase history data, an attach rate is calculated between each particular item and a number of representative categories indicating the frequency of concurrency of purchase of the particular item with items assigned to the representative category. A user interface may then be generated containing the attach rates between the particular item and the representative categories and sent to a customer computer for display to the customer.
US09552600B1	Generating and updating recommendations for merchants Disclosed are various embodiments for generating and updating recommendations for merchants. A recommendation for a merchant in an electronic marketplace is evaluated to determine whether a corresponding action for the recommendation has been completed in response to a recommendation query for the merchant. A list of recommendations that correspond to actions that have not yet been completed for the merchant is generated.
US09552598B2	Mobile trigger web workflow In an example embodiment, actions taken on a web site using one device initiate a workflow on a different device. A main process, including a series of steps, is executed on one user device. When a particular step in the main process is reached, a secondary process is then initiated on another device, such as a mobile device.
US09552595B2	System and method for item inquiry and information presentation via standard communication paths A method and system is provided for item inquiry and information presentation via standard communication paths. More particularly, the method and system detects an item associated with an avatar of a virtual universe (VU) user in a VU and determine information associated with the item. Additionally, the method and system are operable to display the information in the VU in a high-resolution component of the VU.
US09552593B2	System and method for cross-selling A scan and link system prompts salespersons or cashiers to recommend a certain product to a customer which is associated with, or complimentary to, a product that the customer wants to buy. The scan and link system and method improves customer attention and commercial profitability. Each time a product is scanned by a salesperson, scan and link software loaded on the cash register checks a database of associated or complimentary products and displays information on the cash register display via one or more advice pop-ups. The salesperson or cashier can suggest that the customer purchase the associated or complimentary products. The database of associated or complimentary products can be generated by the store owner, and/or by experts working in the specific industry of the user. Administration tools allow the user to change the position of the advice pop-up on the display, to hide it, or adjust its display frequency.
US09552591B2	Systems and methods for generating lead intelligence Techniques for generating marketing lead intelligence information are described. Some embodiments provide a marketing activity support system (“MASS”) configured to generate lead intelligence by aggregating marketing activity information and customer information. In one embodiment, the MASS transmits a marketing message that references a Web page or other marketing content. Next, the MASS receives tracking information about activities of a customer with respect to the referenced Web page. The MASS then generates lead intelligence information about the customer by aggregating the tracking information, personal information about the customer, and/or information about an associated marketing campaign. The MASS may then present the generated lead intelligence information, such as by displaying details about the customer and their activities with respect to the Web page.
US09552590B2	Systems, methods, and media for mobile advertising conversion attribution A method for mobile advertising conversion attribution can include receiving, for example, at a conversion tracking server, a signal from a user device indicating that a conversion tag has been received. The signal can include a segment identifier, and a user agent (UA) and/or an internet protocol (IP) address of the user device. A conversion identifier can be defined that is associated with the segment identifier, the UA, and/or the IP address. The conversion identifier can be stored in a first database along with an indication of when the conversion identifier was received. A second database can be searched for an advertisement identifier that matches the conversion identifier and was received within a predetermined period of time before the conversion identifier. If a match between the conversion identifier and an advertisement identifier is located, a signal indicating that an advertisement was converted can be sent to an advertiser.
US09552582B2	Controlling ecommerce authentication with non-linear analytical models A method of operating a computer system is disclosed. An eCommerce authentication request is received. Content of the eCommerce authentication request is processed through a non-linear analytical model to generate a risk score. The eCommerce authentication request is selectively provided to an authentication node based on the risk score. Related authentication gateway nodes and computer program products are disclosed.
US09552568B2	Mobile dispensing cart inventory management system A mobile dispensing cart having a plurality of locked drawers has medical articles stored therein for particular patients. The storage drawers have sizes wherein the resonant frequency of the sizes does not match the frequency of operation of the RFID system of the cart. Enclosures are used in the storage areas that provide robust RFID fields for exciting and reading RFID tags. A health care practitioner for a particular patient obtains access and opens a drawer. An RFID tracking system takes an inventory of the cart after the drawer is later closed to determine if any medical article was taken, and if so which one. The identified taken article is compared to a data base of medical articles stored in the cart for the patient and if the taken article does not match the patient data base, an alarm is provided.
US09552566B1	Method and system for selling products over a communications network A system and method for selling services, experiences, and/or products over the Internet is presented. Customers may subscribe to a boutique product purchase feature that allows them to purchase limited offer products without proceeding through a check-out procedure. The method may include the steps of: (1) presenting the user with purchase options, (2) selecting a purchase option (3) presenting an order summary, (4) confirming the order, (5) charging an account, and (6) returning the user to a shopping page. Alternatively, the method may perform steps (1) though (5) without leaving the shopping page.
US09552563B2	System to construct an improved view of a process The proper visualization of a business process plays a key role in analyzing, changing, simulating and monitoring the business process. Most BPMS systems today, provide a modeling environment where the business user can define and visualize business processes as BPMN diagrams. Some more advanced systems (such as Savvion Business Manager) enable monitoring of the business process at run-time via a color-coded view of the process diagram. While process diagram is an important view of the process, it lacks the level of abstraction needed to provide information in an optimal way to the business users. The proposed visualization, called the 360 degree view provides an optimal view of a business process without losing important details about the process.
US09552551B2	Pattern detection feedback loop for spatial and temporal memory systems A spatial and temporal memory system (STMS) processes input data to detect whether spatial patterns and/or temporal sequences of spatial patterns exist within the data, and to make predictions about future data. The data processed by the STMS may be retrieved from, for example, one or more database fields and is encoded into a distributed representation format using a coding scheme. The performance of the STMS in predicting future data is evaluated for the coding scheme used to process the data as performance data. The selection and prioritization of STMS experiments to perform may be based on the performance data for an experiment. The best fields, encodings, and time aggregations for generating predictions can be determined by an automated search and evaluation of multiple STMS systems.
US09552548B1	Using classified text and deep learning algorithms to identify risk and provide early warning Deep learning is used to identify specific, potential risks to an enterprise (of which litigation is the prime example) while such risks are still internal electronic communications. The system involves mining and using existing classifications of data (e.g., from a litigation database) to train one or more deep learning algorithms, and then examining the internal electronic communications with the trained algorithm, to generate a scored output that will enable enterprise personnel to be alerted to risks and take action in time to prevent the risks from resulting in harm to the enterprise or others.
US09552546B1	Apparatus and methods for efficacy balancing in a spiking neuron network Apparatus and methods for plasticity in spiking neuron networks. In various implementations, the efficacy of one or more connections of the network may be adjusted based on a plasticity rule during network operation. The rule may comprise a connection depression portion and/or a potentiation portion. Statistical parameters of the adjusted efficacy of a population of connections may be determined. The statistical parameter(s) may be utilized to adapt the plasticity rule during network operation in order to obtain efficacy characterized by target statistics. Based on the statistical parameter exceeding a target value, the depression magnitude of the plasticity rule may be reduced. Based on a statistical parameter being below the target value, the depression magnitude of the plasticity rule may be increased. The use of adaptive modification of the plasticity rule may improve network convergence while alleviating a need for manual tuning of efficacy during network operation.
US09552543B2	Method and apparatus for proving an authentication of an original item and method and apparatus for determining an authentication status of a suspect item An apparatus and method for authenticating an item wherein a code is assigned to the item and includes a plurality of modules arranged in an ideal image. A barcode is encoded within the modules and a picture of the code is printed onto the item. A picture of the printed code is recorded with a low resolution camera at high speed during the production process from which the barcode content is decoded. Irregularities in the picture are analyzed and a numerical value describing an individual imperfection profile is calculated. The numerical value of the imperfection profile depends on at least one unique feature inherently related to the original printing device. The individual imperfection profile is printed onto the item and/or a database record is generated. To authenticate a suspect item, the imperfection profile of the suspect item is compared with the imperfection profile of the original item.
US09552530B2	Method and system to detect objects in multimedia using non-textural information within segmented region A method and a system for detecting and monitoring of at least one object in a multimedia content are provided. The method includes extracting at least one contour from the multimedia content using non-textural information in a segmented region within the multimedia content, computing a histogram for the extracted at least one contour in the segmented region of the selected multimedia content to represent an object shape based on the computed histogram, and determining an orientation change of the represented object shape within the segmented region of the multimedia content.
US09552529B2	Analysis of electrophoretic bands in a substrate A method and system to enhance analysis of electrophoretic bands by overlaying only the pixels of interest. The overlaid pixels are superimposed as a layer above, i.e., in the foreground of, the overlaid image, i.e., in the background. A user employs the superimposed pixels for molecular weight determination and is still able to generate densitometry analysis of the remaining pixels in the overlaid image.
US09552527B1	Apparatus, method, and computer-readable storage medium for determining a rotation angle of text An apparatus, method, and computer-readable storage medium for determining a rotation angle of text. The method includes computing, for each object of a plurality of objects included in text within an image, a distance to a closest neighboring object, computing an average distance of the distances to the closest neighboring objects, determining a ratio between the average distance and an average font stroke width, the average font stroke width being an average of a font stroke width of each of the plurality of objects, and determining a rotation angle of the text by comparing the ratio to a threshold value.
US09552524B2	System and method for detecting seat belt violations from front view vehicle images A system and method for detecting a seat belt violation in a vehicle. The method may include receiving an image including a region of interest where a seat belt is visible if the seat belt is buckled. One or more first features may be extracted from the image. The one or more first features may be compared to one or more second features extracted from a plurality of sample images. It may be determined whether the seat belt is buckled in the image based upon the comparison.
US09552520B1	Systems and methods for automatic key frame extraction and storyboard interface generation for video A storyboard interface displaying key frames of a video may be presented to a user. Individual key frames may represent individual shots of the video. Shots may be grouped based on similarity. Key frames may be displayed in a chronological order of the corresponding shots. Key frames of grouped shots may be spatially correlated within the storyboard interface. For example, shots of a common group may be spatially correlated so that they may be easily discernable as a group even though the shots may not be temporally consecutive and/or or even temporally close to each other in the timeframe of the video itself.
US09552518B2	Method of out-of-band correction for multispectral remote sensing A method of image processing. A band-averaged spectral radiance is measured using at least one optical filter upon scanning a plurality of original radiances. The measured band-averaged spectral radiance includes a measured in-band-averaged spectral radiance and a measured band-gap-averaged spectral radiance. A multispectral radiance vector is generated from the measured band-averaged spectral radiance. The multispectral radiance vector and an out-of-band correction transform matrix corresponding to the at least one optical filter are matrix-multiplied to generate a band-averaged spectral radiances image vector representing a plurality of recovered band-averaged spectral radiances. The plurality of recovered band-averaged spectral radiances is analyzed for a presence of a target.
US09552511B2	Identifying images using face recognition A method includes identifying a named entity, retrieving images associated with the named entity, and using a face detection algorithm to perform face detection on the retrieved images to detect faces in the retrieved images. At least one representative face image from the retrieved images is identified, and the representative face image is used to identify one or more additional images representing the at least one named entity.
US09552507B2	System and method for reading optical codes on bottom surface of items An automated checkout system and method of operation for reading encoded data on a bottom surface of an item using a data reader. The automated checkout system includes a leading conveyor section and a trailing conveyor section separated by a gap therebetween, where the item is transported across the gap as it moves between the conveyors. A first and second reading device are each positioned beneath the conveyor sections, where each reading device has a field of view projecting through the gap. The first reading device is configured to acquire a first set of scan data and the second reading device is configured to acquire a second set of scan data different from the first. In some embodiments, the first set of scan data may include two-dimensional area views of the encoded data, and the second set of scan data may include linescans of the encoded data.
US09552499B2	Circuit arrangement and method for safeguarding a circuit arrangement with respect to repeated light attacks In various embodiments, a circuit arrangement is provided. The circuit arrangement may include a detection circuit, which is designed to detect light attacks on the circuit arrangement; a processing circuit, which is designed to initiate a current flow through a line for each light attack detected by the detection circuit; and a control circuit, which is designed to enable functioning of a component of the circuit arrangement depending on the conducting state of the line.
US09552489B1	Restricting network spidering Disclosed are various embodiments for a request monitoring application. Content identifiers are generated according to a known sequence or pattern. Requests for invalid content identifiers are logged. Response behavior to subsequent requests is modified when a number of requests from a source having invalid content identifiers meets a threshold.
US09552472B2	Associating distinct security modes with distinct wireless authenticators In some aspects, a first device detects information encoded in a wireless authenticator device based on a wireless interaction between the first device and the wireless authenticator device. The first device detects the information while securing resources on the first device according to a first security mode. Based on the detected information, the first device selects a second security mode associated with the wireless authenticator device. The first device then applies the selected second security mode. The selected second security mode is one of multiple distinct security modes. Each of the multiple distinct security modes is associated with a respective one of multiple wireless authenticator devices and defines accessibility attributes of the resources on the first device.
US09552470B2	Method, device, and system of generating fraud-alerts for cyber-attacks Devices, systems, and methods of detecting user identity, differentiating between users of a computerized service, and detecting a cyber-attacker. An end-user device (a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a smartphone, a tablet, or the like) interacts and communicates with a server of a computerized server (a banking website, an electronic commerce website, or the like). The interactions are monitored, tracked and logged. User Interface (UI) interferences are intentionally introduced to the communication session; and the server tracks the response or the reaction of the end-user to such communication interferences. The system determines whether the user is a legitimate human user; or a cyber-attacker posing as the legitimate human user. The system displays gauges indicating cyber fraud scores or cyber-attack threat-levels. The system extrapolates from observed fraud incidents and utilizes a rules engine to automatically search for similar fraud events and to automatically detect fraud events or cyber-attackers.
US09552465B2	Authentication method and system The invention provides a computer-implemented authentication method comprising the step of enabling a user to input an identifier (e.g. a PIN) into an electronic device having a screen and a keypad operable within a keypad zone of the screen; by operating at least one key of the keypad via an image of at least part of a scrambled keypad which is displayed at least partially within the keypad zone. The user's operation of the keypad key via the image generates an encoded version of the user's intended input. In one sense the invention can be perceived as superimposing a non-functional image of a scrambled keyboard over an underlying, functional keypad. The image may be any type of electronic image, and may include a video image. The invention is particularly suited for use with, but not limited to, mobile phones, tablet computer, PCs etc. It can be implemented in any system wherein a user's identity must be verified before access is granted to a controlled resource.
US09552458B2	Comprehensive analysis pipeline for discovery of human genetic variation Systems and methods for analyzing genetic sequence data involve: (a) obtaining, by a computer system, genetic sequencing data pertaining to a subject; (b) splitting the genetic sequencing data into a plurality of segments; (c) processing the genetic sequencing data such that intra-segment reads, read pairs with both mates mapped to the same data set, are saved to a respective plurality of individual binary alignment map (BAM) files corresponding to that respective segment; (d) processing the genetic sequencing data such that inter-segment reads, read pairs with both mates mapped to different segments, are saved into at least a second BAM file; and (e) processing at least the first plurality of BAM files along parallel processing paths. The plurality of segments may correspond to any given number of genomic subregions and may be selected based upon the number of processing cores used in the parallel processing.
US09552456B2	Methods and apparatus for probing signals from a circuit after register retiming A circuit design may have registers and combinational gates. Circuit design computing equipment may perform register retiming in the circuit design, whereby registers are moved across combinational gates. Information about the register moves may be recorded, and a modified circuit design is created. The circuit design computing equipment may implement the circuit design in an integrated circuit. A logic analyzer may be used to debug the circuit design implemented in the integrated circuit in real-time and at high-speed. To facilitate the debugging process, the circuit design computing equipment may augment the integrated circuit and/or compensate for register retiming based on the information recorded during register retiming.
US09552450B2	Determining a user-specified location in a graphical user interface of an electronic design automation tool Methods and apparatuses are described for creating, editing, and viewing a floorplan of a circuit design. Specifically, some embodiments enable a user to perform a graphical operation at an inference point in a circuit design layout, wherein the location of the inference point is determined based on existing graphical objects in the circuit design layout. Some embodiments substantially instantaneously update a congestion indicator in _a circuit design layout in response to modifying the circuit design layout. Some embodiments substantially instantaneously update pin locations of a block or partition in response to changing the size or shape of the block or partition. Some embodiments enable a user to view a circuit design layout based on the logical hierarchy, and also based on at least one additional attribute type such as voltage, power, or clock domain.
US09552425B2	System and method for determining query aspects at appropriate category levels In various example embodiments, a system and method for determining query aspects for appropriate categories is provided. In example embodiments, query data is collected. The query data indicates a query term and tracked user behavior associated with past queries involving the query term. An aspect demand ratio is calculated for each category of a category tree based on the collected query data. Using at least one processor, one or more lowest categories of the category tree that satisfies a category threshold is determined. The one or more lowest categories are then appended to the query term and stored in a database.
US09552423B2	Method and apparatus for searching non-public data using a single search query Method and apparatus for facilitating real-time searching of non-public data using a single search query are provided. Method includes facilitating reporting of availability of companion application of remote source unit to auto discovery module to enable client device to automatically discover remote source unit and to enable client device to search, in real-time, non-public data on remote source unit using single search query. Companion application is non-public application. Single search query comprises a search term. Method includes enabling automatic access to non-public data on remote source unit, by single search query. Method includes facilitating receipt, at remote source unit, of single search query with search term. Method includes, in response to single search query, searching, in real-time, non-public data on remote source unit using search term; retrieving, in real-time, non-public search result comprising one or more file names or folder names; and transmitting non-public search result in real-time.
US09552420B2	Feature engineering and user behavior analysis Systems and techniques are disclosed to rank documents by analyzing a query log generated by a search engine. The query log includes data relating to user behavior, queries and documents. The systems and techniques distill query log information into surrogate documents and extract features from these surrogate documents to rank the documents.
US09552414B2	Dynamic filtering in application search One embodiment of a disclosed system, method, and computer readable storage medium provides dynamic filtering in application searches. Partner systems leverage search functionality of an application search system configured to perform searches for applications. In one embodiment, partner systems select application categories to be associated with search queries submitted to the application search system via the partners' websites. When users submit search queries to the application search system via a partner system, the users' queries are associated with the partner system's application category selection. Alternatively, the search queries may implicitly or explicitly specify an application category. In response to receiving the queries, the application search system returns search results from the selected application category.
US09552409B2	Genre generation device, non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing genre generation program, and genre generation method A genre generation device (200) includes a calculating part (235) that calculates a co-occurrence level of a first keyword representing a first genre to be generated and a second keyword representing a second genre that is an attended genre in a search query in a genre hierarchy, and a generating part (265) that generates the first genre in a different layer from a layer where the second genre belongs when a difference between the co-occurrence level of the first keyword and the second keyword, and, a threshold for a level is smaller than a threshold for a disparity.
US09552406B2	Method and system for sandbox visibility A method for local data visibility is disclosed. The method includes detecting data items in a local data repository located in a local environment. In response to the detecting, a computer processor of the local environment collects metadata describing the data items in the local data repository. The metadata includes a project identifier. The metadata is then transmitted, separate from the data items, to a data manager of a database, where the database is accessible by multiple local environments. Accordingly, the data manager determines, based on the project identifier, a synchronization status of the data items in the local data repository, where the synchronization status represents a relationship between the data items in the local data repository and exploration and production data in the database. The data manager further generates, according to a pre-determined data management scheme, an alert based on the synchronization status.
US09552399B1	Displaying information about distributed group discussions Techniques are described for analyzing user-supplied information, including to predict future aspects of additional information that will be supplied by users. The analyzed information may include distributed group discussions involving numerous users and occurring via user comments and other content items supplied to social networking site(s) and/or other computer-accessible sites. The techniques further include displaying information to users about analyzed and/or predicted information for one or more categories and/or topics or other attributes, to reflect corresponding constituent content items for those categories/topics/attributes for one or more time periods—the information display may further occur in a real-time or near-real-time manner with respect to corresponding events or activities to which the information corresponds (such as within seconds, minutes or hours), and may display information about total quantity of constituent content items, rate of change in total quantity, aggregate sentiment, etc.
US09552398B1	Presenting search query results Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, for presenting search results. In one aspect, a method includes receiving a query and determining whether it is desirable to group search results responsive to the query. If so, the method further includes grouping search results by, for example, domain and displaying an indicator (e.g., a favicon) in proximity to a URL associated with search results that are related to the domain. In another aspect, a method includes crawling web properties to determine if a domain has an associated indicator, and storing an identifier associated with the indicator in a database that associates the identifier with one or more words indicative of the domain. Upon receipt of a query that includes the one or more words, the method further includes retrieving the indicator and displaying the indicator in proximity to a link describing the domain.
US09552396B2	Prioritizing comments A method for prioritizing comments is disclosed. Some embodiments quantify comments by allowing other respondents to agree and identify priorities among comments left by others. In some embodiments, the method for prioritizing comments includes steps for selecting a set of comments, presenting the set of comments, and receiving one or more respondent-initiated responses to the set of comments. In some embodiments, the method further includes entering a starting set of comments into the pool of all comments prior to select the comments. In some embodiments, the method further includes receiving an input to add a comment and incorporating the new comments into the pool of all comments.
US09552388B2	System and method for providing search query refinements A system and method for providing search query refinements are presented. A stored query and a stored document are associated as a logical pairing. A weight is assigned to the logical pairing. The search query is issued and a set of search documents is produced. At least one search document is matched to at least one stored document. The stored query and the assigned weight associated with the matching at least one stored document are retrieved. At least one cluster is formed based on the stored query and the assigned weight associated with the matching at least one stored document. The stored query associated with the matching at least one stored document are scored for the at least one cluster relative to at least one other cluster. At least one such scored search query is suggested as a set of query refinements.
US09552387B2	Security for debugging of database sessions A system includes reception of authorization information associated with one or more database server sessions of a first user, the authorization information associating the first user, a second user, and an authorization period, establishment of a first database server session of the first user, establishment of a second database server session of the second user, reception, from the second user, of a request to debug the first database server session, determination, based on the authorization information, that the second user is authorized to debug the first database server session, and, in response to the determination, attachment of the second database server session to the first database server session, and transmission of debugging information of the first database server session to the second user.
US09552385B2	Centralized peripheral access protection Implementations are disclosed for a centralized peripheral access controller (PAC) that is configured to protect one or more peripheral components in a system. In some implementations, the PAC stores data that can be set or cleared by software. The data corresponds to an output signal of the PAC that is routed to a corresponding peripheral component. When the data indicates that the peripheral is “unlocked” the PAC will allow write transfers to registers in the peripheral component. When the data indicates that the peripheral component is “locked” the PAC will refuse write transfers to registers in the peripheral component and terminate with an error.
US09552379B2	Foreign key identification in database management systems Systems and methods for foreign key identification are described. The method includes computing a threshold value for each of a primary key-foreign key (PK-FK) pair of a super-set of PK-FK, and generating a sub-set of PK-FK pairs based on comparison of the threshold value and a predefined threshold value. The predefined threshold value is indicative of an acceptance criterion. Further, the method includes determining a conformance score for each of the PK-FK pair of the subset of PK-FK pairs. The conformance score is based on deviations between Cumulative Probability Distribution (CPD) values of PK and CPD of FK for each PK-FK pair. Further, the method includes comparing the conformance score of the each PK-FK pair of the sub-set of PK-FK pairs with a predetermined acceptability index. The predetermined acceptability index is indicative of an acceptance of at least one positive FK from the set of PK-FK pairs.
US09552375B2	Geocoding of images based on search queries Systems and methods for determining a geocode for an image based on user-provided search queries and corresponding user selections are provided. One example method includes determining a selection value for each of a plurality of search strings associated with an image based at least in part on user selection data. The method includes generating a textual document for the image based at least in part on the selection values. The textual document includes one or more of the plurality of search strings. The method includes identifying a plurality of geographic entities by analyzing the textual document using a textual processor. The method includes selecting one of the plurality of geographic entities as a primary geographic entity and associating, by the one or more computing devices, a geocode associated with the primary geographic entity with the image.
US09552374B2	Imaging workflow using facial and non-facial features A method for determining an impact score for a digital image includes providing the digital image wherein the digital image includes faces; using a processor to determine an image feature for the faces; using the processor to compute an object impact score for the faces, wherein the object impact score is based at least upon one of the determined image features; weighting the object impact score for the faces based on one of the determined image features for a face; using the processor to compute an impact score for the digital image by combining the weighted object impact scores for the faces in the image; and storing the computed impact score in a processor accessible memory.
US09552364B2	Portable content player, content storage device, and method of synchronizing content state lists between portable content player and content storage device A portable content player, a content storage device, and a method of synchronizing content between the portable content player and the content storage device, the method including: generating a first content state list for content stored in the content storage device and a second content state list for content stored in the portable content player; generating an execution list based on the first content state list and the second content state list; and matching the first content state list with the second content state list by executing a synchronization command included in the execution list on content selected to be synchronized. Accordingly, a user can automatically match the content state lists of the portable content player and the content storage device.
US09552358B2	Guiding a user to identified content in a document A method for identifying content in a document. The method includes determining that a user of a computing device has accessed one or more documents and determining a subject matter of the one or more documents. The method includes determining that the user has accessed at least one additional document. The method further includes searching the at least one additional document for the determined subject matter and responsive to finding the determined subject matter, identifying the found subject matter in the at least one additional document.
US09552354B1	Method and apparatus for cross-lingual communication A system and method for a highly interactive style of speech-to-speech translation is provided. The interactive procedures enable a user to recognize, and if necessary correct, errors in both speech recognition and translation, thus providing robust translation output than would otherwise be possible. The interactive techniques for monitoring and correcting word ambiguity errors during automatic translation, search, or other natural language processing tasks depend upon the correlation of Meaning Cues and their alignment with, or mapping into, the word senses of third party lexical resources, such as those of a machine translation or search lexicon. This correlation and mapping can be carried out through the creation and use of a database of Meaning Cues, i.e., SELECT. Embodiments described above permit the intelligent building and application of this database, which can be viewed as an interlingua, or language-neutral set of meaning symbols, applicable for many purposes. Innovative techniques for interactive correction of server-based speech recognition are also described.
US09552351B2	Information processing system and information processing method for character input prediction An information processing system for input prediction that displays written character string candidates of words or phrases corresponding to an input character string in a terminal device. The terminal device acquires internal candidates by performing a search based on the input character string and transmits a candidate transmission request signal including identification information of a terminal dictionary stored in the terminal device and the input character string to a server. The server performs a search through the terminal dictionary corresponding to the identification information in the received signal and through a server dictionary dedicated to the server. From dictionary data extracted from the server dictionary, the server returns dictionary data of external candidates different from dictionary data extracted from the terminal dictionary as external candidates to the terminal device. The terminal device generates a final candidate list by arranging the internal and external candidates according to a predetermined priority.
US09552345B2	Gestural annotations Gestural annotation is described, for example where sensors such as touch screens and/or cameras monitor document annotation events made by a user of a document reading and/or writing application. In various examples the document annotation events comprise gestures recognized from the sensor data by a gesture recognition component. For example, the gestures may be in-air gestures or touch screen gestures. In examples, a compressed record of the sensor data is computed using at least the recognized gestures, document state and timestamps. In some examples the compressed record of the sensor data is used to facilitate consumption of the annotation events in relation to the document by a second user. In some examples the sensor data comprises touch sensor data representing electronic ink; and in some examples the sensor data comprises audio data capturing speech of a user.
US09552344B2	Producing visualizations of elements in works of literature A visualization of literary elements of a work of literature, such as a novel or short story, is generated from meta-data records representing a digital work of literature including literary elements (humor, drama, adventure, etc.), characters, and plot devices related to a position within the work of literature where each appears. A significance level is determined for each of the elements, characters and plot devices at each position within the work of literature, and these are plotted into a sequential graph having position (e.g. timeline) axis and a significance level axis. The sequential graph is then output for printing or display. Human-generated and machine-generated meta-data may be ingested equally well by the method. Colors, line thickness, and a broken line patterns may be employed for greater visual meaning. And, the sequential graph may be annotated according to segments (e.g. chapters, sections) and dominant genre within each segment.
US09552335B2	Expedited techniques for generating string manipulation programs A program creation system is described which generates sets of subprograms for respective input-output examples. The program creation system then groups the sets into partitions by performing an intersection operation. According to one aspect, the program creation system generates subprograms so as to exclude tokens that are not represented by the input strings of the input-output examples. According to another aspect, the program creation system first generates the subprograms without attempting to generate loop-type expressions. If this operation produces unsatisfactory results, the program creation system repeats its processing, this time including loop-type expressions. According to another aspect, the program creation system performs the grouping operation using an expedited graph-intersection operation. According to another aspect, the program creation system ranks programs (which are created based on the results of the grouping operation) based on the presence of preferred features found in the programs.
US09552334B1	Geotemporal web and mobile service system and methods A system and a method are presented for providing a data schema for managing people's important relationships to other people and businesses, past-present-future plans and events, places, activities, memorable life moments and any information about anything that exists or occurred in the earth's time-space reality, as well as a set of Internet services and transactions that allow people to make plans for the future, discover what to do and where to go for their present and future, discover content and commercial offerings for places in which they are or may be interested, and let them organize, share, recall and relive their history in useful and powerful ways.
US09552326B2	Cache system and cache service providing method using network switch A cache system configured to provide a cache service includes a network switch and a cache device. The network switch is configured to route data associated with a plurality of servers. The cache device is disposed in association with the network switch. The cache device is configured to cache, in at least one memory available to the network switch, data published by the plurality of servers via the network switch. The cache device is also configured to transmit at least some of the cached data in response to a request received from at least one of the plurality of servers. The network switch provides the cache service via the cache device.
US09552325B2	Camera control interface extension bus System, methods and apparatus are described that offer improved performance of a serial bus used for Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) and/or camera control interface (CCI) operations. CCI extension (CCIe) devices are described. CCIe devices may be configured as a bus master or as a slave. In one method, a CCIe transmitter may generate a transition number from a set of bits, convert the transition number into a sequence of symbols, and transmit the sequence of symbols in the signaling state of a two-wire serial bus. Timing information may be encoded in the transitions between symbols of consecutive pairs of symbols in the sequence of symbols. For example, each transition may cause a change in the signaling state of at least one wire of the two-wire serial bus. A CCIe receiver may derive a receive clock from the transitions in order to receive and decode the sequence of symbols.
US09552312B2	Executing virtual functions using memory-based data in a PCI express SR-IOV and MR-IOV environment A method, including receiving, by an extended virtual function shell positioned on a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) configuration space, a virtual function call comprising a request to perform a specific computation, and identifying a physical function associated with the called virtual function, the physical function one of multiple physical functions positioned on the PCIe configuration space. One or more first data values are then retrieved from a virtual function instance stored in the memory, one or more first data values, the virtual function instance associated with the called virtual function, and one or more second data values are retrieved from the identified physical function. The specific computation is then performed using the first data values and the second data values, thereby calculating a result.
US09552309B2	Methods, systems, and computer readable media for providing precise timing in virtual data network or storage network test environment Methods, systems, and computer readable media for providing precise timing in a virtual data network or storage network test environment are provided. One method includes providing at least one peripheral device or peripheral device emulator including a timing source. The method further includes connecting the at least one peripheral or peripheral device emulator to a peripheral interface of a computing platform hosting a hypervisor on which at least one test or application under test virtual machine executes. The method further includes making the timing source available to the at least one virtual machine. The method further includes executing a test and using the timing source to provide precise timing for the test.
US09552306B2	Concurrent virtual tape usage A request to access a virtual tape volume is identified and a lock status is maintained for the virtual tape volume. The lock status includes a shared status and an exclusive lock status. In shared status, it is determined whether the request includes a request for write access to the virtual tape volume. Concurrent access to the virtual tape volume can be allowed by two or more applications during the shared status based at least in part on whether the applications request for write access to the virtual tape volume.
US09552297B2	Method and apparatus for efficient cache read ahead A method for providing improved sequential read performance in a storage controller is provided. In response to the storage controller receiving a host read request from a host computer, the method includes identifying, by the storage controller, a largest burst length of a plurality of burst lengths in a memory of the storage controller, and determining a maximum number of consecutive times between bursts having a value less than a predetermined value. A burst includes a consecutive group of sequential host read requests from the same host computer. The method also includes multiplying the largest burst length of the plurality of burst lengths by the maximum number of consecutive times between bursts having a value less than the predetermined value to obtain an effective burst length and reading into a storage controller cache memory at least the effective burst length of data from storage devices coupled to the storage controller.
US09552296B2	Verifying shared memory integrity A method, a system and a computer program product including instructions for verification of the integrity of a shared memory using in line coding is provided. It involves an active step wherein multiple bus masters write a corresponding data to a shared memory. After that it also includes a verification step where data entered in the shared memory by multiple bus masters is verified.
US09552295B2	Performance and energy efficiency while using large pages Technologies are described herein for improving performance and energy efficiency in a computing system while using a large memory page size. Some example technologies may configure a main memory of the computing system to include a page-to-chunk table and a data area. The page-to-chunk table may include multiple entries such as a first entry. The first entry may correspond to a page that is made up of multiple chunks. The first entry may include pointers to the multiple chunks stored in the data area.
US09552293B1	Emulating eviction data paths for invalidated instruction cache A method of managing processor caches. The method includes invalidating a cache line from a first instruction cache level and in response to invalidating the cache line from the first cache level, fetching data associated with the invalidated cache line from a third cache level or memory and writing the fetched data to a second cache level. The third cache level is larger or differently associative than the second cache level and the second cache level is larger or differently associative than the first cache level.
US09552291B2	Memory management method A method for managing main memory including DRAM and NVRAM in a computer depending on the operation state of the computer is provided. The method includes: (a) upon start of the computer, loading a program and the like into the DRAM, and loading predetermined read-only data and the like into the NVRAM; (b) in a state transition from a normal operation to a suspend state, moving data in the DRAM to the NVRAM; (c) in a state transition from the suspend state to the normal operation, reading data from the NVRAM for program execution; (d) in the case where a data write to the NVRAM occurs, stopping the data write, and moving data in a data area of the NVRAM subjected to the data write, to the DRAM; and (e) performing the data write to the DRAM to which the data has been moved.
US09552282B2	Module interrogation Module interrogation techniques are described in which modules configured to rely upon one or more operating system features are interrogated to determine which features are used and by which modules. A module is loaded that is configured to interact with a plurality of features provided by an operating system. Using one or more redirection techniques, calls made by the module to access features of the operating system are redirected to alternate functionality. Based on the redirection, data is generated to indicate the features of the operating system that are used by the module. The techniques may be performed for each of a plurality of modules to populate a database that relates features of the operating system to the plurality of modules.
US09552280B2	Visual analysis and debugging of complex event flows Methods, systems, and computer-readable media to generate a user interface (UI) to analyze a complex event processing (CEP) query are disclosed. A particular method includes receiving data representing an event flow associated with execution of a CEP query. The CEP query includes a plurality of operators. A UI including a graph is generated. The graph includes a plurality of nodes. Each node of the graph corresponds to an operator of the CEP query, and each edge of the graph corresponds to a stream between operators of the CEP query. The method includes receiving an input identifying a particular node of the graph, where the particular node corresponds to a particular operator of the CEP query. In response to the input, an operator-specific output associated with at least one event processed by the particular operator is displayed.
US09552276B1	Query-based software dependency analysis Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for generated aggregated dependencies between software elements in a code base. One of the methods includes receiving a query that defines a dependency between the software elements in a project. Searching a database to identify matching source software elements having the one or more source attributes and target software elements having the one or more target attributes of the query. Identifying pairs of matching source software elements and matching target software elements having the specified relationship, and generating, for each pair of matching source software elements and matching target software elements having the specified relationship, a new dependency in a raw dependency graph, the new dependency being a dependency from a source software element of the pair to the target software element of the pair.
US09552268B2	Testing device and a test method with zoom display A testing device (10) comprises a storage unit (13), a display unit (11) and a control unit (12). The storage unit (13) is embodied to store messages of at least one test performed on at least one device under test. The control unit (12) is embodied to read in at least one part of the messages, to add them to a selection and to display at least an excerpt of the selection in a view on the display unit (11). The control unit (12) provides a zoom device (16), which, in the selection of messages, controlled by a user by means of an operating device (14), is configured to increase a number of contained messages in the case of a first user entry, and/or to reduce a number of contained messages in the case of a second user entry.
US09552260B2	Using an object retain block in a virtual machine A method for using a retain block in application code executing on a virtual machine includes identifying an instruction in application code, the instruction pertaining to an object, determining the instruction is part of a retain block, prior to executing the instruction, determining whether the instruction is to cause the object to be modified, and when the instruction is to cause the object to be modified, storing data indicating a first state of the object in a retain block store and causing the first state of the object to be modified using a second state. Also, the method includes in response to an error occurring during an execution of the instruction, returning the object from the second state to the first state using the stored data.
US09552250B2	Detecting X86 CPU register corruption from kernel crash dumps Discovering a hardware failure in a processor is disclosed. When an operating system or application fails, a function containing the instruction that failed along with the register set of the CPU at the failure is recorded. The function is analyzed into its basic blocks. The failing instruction, the failing basic block, the definitions that reach the failing instruction, and the CPU register set at the failure provide information to determine whether the failure was caused by hardware or software. If, after a complete search of the definitions reaching the failing instruction, the search discovers a first definition defining the failing instruction and a second definition defining the first definition such that the second definition reaches the failing instruction and the first definition assigns a register value that does not match a register value in the failing instruction, then a hardware failure is the cause of the crash.
US09552243B2	Detecting an abnormal subsequence in a data sequence A method for detecting abnormal subsequences in data sequence includes constructing a hierarchical data structure of a target subsequence, each node in a bottommost layer of the data structure storing corresponding data of the target subsequence, and each node in a layer above the bottommost layer storing values based on data stored in corresponding nodes in a lower layer next to the layer above the bottommost layer; determining a second number of neighbors of the target subsequence based on the data structure of the target subsequence and of the first number of reference subsequences constructed in advance, the second number of neighbors having minimum Euclidean distances from the target subsequence; determining a third number of neighbors of each reference subsequence in the second number of reference subsequences, which have minimum Euclidean distances from each reference subsequence and determining whether the target subsequence is an abnormal subsequence.
US09552240B2	Exposure of remotely invokable method through a webpage to an application outside web browser Web browsing environments are commonly used to facilitate user interaction with data over the Internet. A web browser is a tool used to view and interact with a webpage. A webpage may interface with a web service to provide remote functionality that the webpage does not locally provide. An effective method for specifying and consuming remote functionality that an application invokes outside of the web browser is disclosed herein. A webpage exposes remote functionality (e.g., web service) that a web browser and/or browser extensions may discover through browsing the webpage. A browser extension associated with an application determines whether the application is compatible with the remote functionality. Once a compatible application is determined, it may be executed so as to connect to and invoke the remote functionality outside of the web browser. The application may provide a more robust experience with the remote functionality compared to the web browsing environment.
US09552237B2	API validation system A system that validates an application programming interface (API) call is provided. A key and a value associated with the key are read from a test script containing a script. The key and the value are separated by a colon. The key is included in first double quotes, and the value is included in second double quotes. Whether the key matches a plurality of keys defined for an API call is determined. Based on the key matching the plurality of keys defined for the API call, the API call is configured using the key and the value without any of the colon, the first double quotes, or the second double quotes. The configured API call is executed.
US09552235B2	Using pagerank algorithm-based lock analysis to identify key processes for improving computing system efficiency A system is described for identifying key lock contention issues in computing devices. A computing device is executed and lock contention information relating to operations during execution of the computing device is recorded. The data is parsed and analyzed to determine blocking relationships between operations due to lock contention. Algorithms are implemented to analyze dependencies between operations based on the data and to identify key areas of optimization for performance improvement. Algorithms can be based on the Hyperlink-Induced Topic Search algorithm or the PageRank algorithm.
US09552233B1	Virtual machine migration using free page hinting Systems and methods are disclosed for migrating a virtual machine from a source hypervisor to a destination hypervisor. An example method of migrating a virtual machine from a source hypervisor to a destination hypervisor includes receiving, by a source hypervisor running a virtual machine, an indication to migrate the virtual machine to a destination hypervisor. A guest runs on the virtual machine and is allocated guest memory. The method also includes reading, by the source hypervisor, a free value indicating whether a memory page in the guest memory is active. The method further includes transmitting the memory page to the destination hypervisor if the free value indicates that the memory page is active. The method also includes determining to not transmit the memory page to the destination hypervisor if the free value indicates that the memory page is inactive.
US09552218B2	Network resource management system utilizing physical network identification for load balancing The disclosed network resource management system employs a hardware configuration management (HCM) information handling system (IHS) that may couple to a single administered IHS or to multiple administered IHSs via an administrative network. An HCM tool in the HCM IHS may generate, modify and store hardware configuration information, including physical network identifications (PNet IDs), in an HCM database and share the HCM database with the administered IHSs. The administered IHS may be a load balancing IHS. A load balancing tool may extract hardware configuration information, including PNet IDs, from the HCM database. The load balancing tool may utilize the hardware configuration information to enable the load balancing IHS to balance adapter loads in the load balancing IHS. The load balancing tool may also utilize the hardware configuration information to enable the load balancing IHS to failover from a failing adapter to other adapters in the load balancing IHS.
US09552213B2	Systems and methods for facilitating software interface localization between multiple languages In one aspect, there is provided a system having a processor and a data storage device coupled to the processor. The data storage device stores instructions executable by the processor to receive a software module, the software module having an interface adapted to display a plurality of first graphemes in a first language, provide at least one look-up table having at least some of the first graphemes and a plurality of second graphemes in a second language associated therewith, said association being based on a phonetic similarly between the first and second graphemes when the first graphemes are vocalized in the first language and the second graphemes are vocalized in the second language, and replace at least one of the first graphemes in the interface with the associated second graphemes such that the interface is adapted to display the second graphemes in the second language, the second graphemes being understandable in the first language when the second graphemes are vocalized.
US09552212B2	Caching intermediate data for scroll view rendering Data to be rendered for a scrolling display is processed into an intermediate format. The intermediate format includes data that maps directly to the rendered, displayed format with little computation, yet is smaller in size than the rendered data. This intermediate format is cached, and is rendered on demand during scrolling. During idle times of the display, original data, likely to be accessed in response to scrolling the display, can be prefetched and transformed to the intermediate format.
US09552207B2	Method and apparatus for performance efficient ISA virtualization using dynamic partial binary translation Methods, apparatus and systems for virtualization of a native instruction set are disclosed. Embodiments include a processor core executing the native instructions and a second core, or alternatively only the second processor core consuming less power while executing a second instruction set that excludes portions of the native instruction set. The second core's decoder detects invalid opcodes of the second instruction set. A microcode layer disassembler determines if opcodes should be translated. A translation runtime environment identifies an executable region containing an invalid opcode, other invalid opcodes and interjacent valid opcodes of the second instruction set. An analysis unit determines an initial machine state prior to execution of the invalid opcode. A partial translation of the executable region that includes encapsulations of the translations of invalid opcodes and state recoveries of the machine states is generated and saved to a translation cache memory.
US09552203B1	Configuration dependency manager for configurable applications In one embodiment, during runtime use of a configurable application that is used by multiple service requesters, a configuration dependency manager is integrated in the configurable application to check a set of features for one of the service requesters. The method receives a service requester configuration for the set of features. A configuration dependency manager determines a set of dependencies for the set of features that have been configured by the service requester configuration and determines a developer's configuration for a plurality of features for the configurable application. Then, the configuration dependency manager analyzes the set of dependencies with corresponding dependencies in the developer's configuration to determine when an issue exists with the service requester configuration and provides a visualization of the set of features based on the analyzing the set of dependencies, wherein the issue is shown on the visualization.
US09552198B2	Drift management of images Techniques are described for managing drift within a standardized environment. According to one embodiment, an end state definition is stored that identifies a standard set of source components for a plurality of targets. A drift manager determines that at least one target of the plurality of targets has drifted from the standard set of source components identified by the end state definition. After determining that the at least one target of the plurality of targets has drifted from the standard set of source components identified by the end state definition, the drift manager reconciles the at least one target with the end state definition.
US09552194B2	System and method for creating a graphical user interface within a manufacturing execution system A graphical user interface for a manufacturing execution system (MES) wherein a client application builder tool (CAB) enables a user to display MES screens and customize MES applications and/or proprietary applications. A MES database contains required data stemming from a production process to be displayed on the MES screens. Specification data are determined in a configuration file with a meta-data fixed structure enabling the generation of a configuration interface. A dynamically built and WEB-technology based GUI configuration tool is executed, calling the specification data and offering the user the configuration interface within the GUI configuration tool to create the GUI according to the specification data. The configuration interface is generated by using the meta-data fixed structure. The graphical user interface is created according to data entries made to the configuration interface. The data from the MES database are filled into the respective data fields, creating the MES screens.
US09552193B2	Automated compiler specialization for global optimization Techniques are provided herein for the offline static analysis of a stable code base in order to build a compiler and tools specialized to that code base. This allows global code base knowledge to be applied earlier in the compilation process giving better opportunities for optimization. The offline static analysis produces specialized compiler components that are then used to rebuild the compiler. This results, over time, in a compiler specialized to the code base with improved optimization after every compiler release cycle.
US09552188B1	Method and device for displaying supplemental information while rendering a playlist A media player device and method for receiving and playing a playlist is provided. The device has a transceiver to wirelessly send and receive communication, a memory, a control system connected to the memory and the transceiver, and at least one speaker to play the plurality of songs. The control system and method receive a command to log into an account before receiving a playlist, receive and display the playlist identifying a plurality of songs in a menu with context sensitive icons representing different functions, receive and display information associated with an artist from a currently playing song of the plurality of songs in the playlist, receive and display information on a related song that is from a genre similar to that of one of the currently playing song, and receive and display advertising. The method provides for the speaker to play the plurality of songs.
US09552178B2	Printing system and image forming apparatus A printing system includes a distribution apparatus, print servers, and an image forming apparatus. Upon each reception of print data, the distribution apparatus distributes the print data to one print server, the print server creates a print job from the print data and transmits the print job to the image forming apparatus, and the image forming apparatus executes the print job. Each print server includes an identifier addition unit adding identifier of the print server to a created print job, the image forming apparatus includes an exception event determination unit, upon reception of a print job from one print server, determining whether exception event has occurred in the print server based on identifier added to the print job, and the distribution apparatus includes an exclusion unit, when exception event has occurred in one print server, excluding the print server from candidates for distribution destination of a subsequent print job.
US09552173B2	Robust data replication Disclosed is a system for replicating data. The system may comprise a plurality of nodes preferably organized in groups with one of the nodes acting as a coordinator node. The nodes are configured to receive write requests from an external server and to apply these write requests to a data storage source of the data storage system. The write requests typically belong to a batch of independent write actions identified by a batch sequence number. Each node stores the write request in non-volatile memory with the coordinator node monitoring which batches are secured in their entirety in non-volatile memory. The coordinator node authorizes all other nodes to sequentially replicate the write requests in their non-volatile memory to the data storage source for all writes up to the highest batch sequence number for which all writes have been secured in non-volatile memory.
US09552172B2	Storage processing apparatus, computer-readable recording medium storing program for controlling storage, and storage system A storage processing apparatus controls a second volume of a second virtual storage device storing a duplicate of a first volume of a first virtual storage device, the storage processing apparatus including a memory that stores a first identifier of the first volume received from the first virtual storage device; and a controller that establishes the first identifier stored in the memory as a second identifier of the second volume, and reports the first identifier established by the establishing in accordance with a notification request of the second identifier.
US09552169B2	Apparatus and method for efficient memory renaming prediction using virtual registers A method and apparatus are described for efficient memory renaming prediction using virtual registers. For example, one embodiment of an apparatus comprises: a memory execution unit (MEU) to perform store and load operations to store data to memory and load data from memory, respectively; a plurality of memory rename (MRN) registers assigned to store and load operations, each MRN register to store data associated with a store operation so that the data is available for a subsequent load operation; and at least one MRN predictor comprising a data structure to allocate virtual memory rename (VMRN) registers to each of the MRN registers, the MRN predictor to query the data structure in response to a load and/or store operation using a value identifying the MRN register assigned to the load and/or store operation, respectively, to determine a current VMRN register associated with the load and/or store operation.
US09552161B2	Repetitive data block deleting system and method An analysis device obtains hash lists from databases of a server cluster. The analysis device determines repetitive hash values and repetitive data blocks. The analysis device deletes the repetitive data blocks from servers of the server cluster.
US09552160B2	Preserving data availability and I/O performance when creating virtual raid volumes A method for preserving data availability and I/O performance when creating a virtual RAID volume includes exposing a set of backend virtual volumes. The backend virtual volumes are implemented on a set of physical storage devices (e.g., physical disks or solid state drives) residing on a storage system. The method further enables selection of the set of backend virtual volumes to create a virtual RAID volume having a selected RAID level. The method further provides verification that the backend virtual volumes will be implemented on the physical storage devices in a way that preserves the data availability and I/O performance associated with the selected RAID level. A corresponding computer program product and apparatus are also described.
US09552157B2	Mode-dependent access to embedded memory elements A system has a plurality of functional modules including a first functional module and one or more other functional modules. The first functional module includes an embedded memory element and is configurable in a plurality of modes including a first mode and a second mode. When the first functional module is in the first mode, access to the embedded memory element is limited to the first functional module. At least one of the one or more other functional modules is provided with access to the embedded memory element based at least in part on the first functional module being in the second mode.
US09552153B2	Ultrasound apparatus and method of inputting information into the same Provided are an ultrasound apparatus and a method of inputting information into the ultrasound apparatus. The method includes receiving a selection of a control item of the ultrasound apparatus from a user via a control area included in the user input unit; displaying a control window for displaying the selected control item on a screen; adjusting a configuration value of the selected control item based on a touch operation of a touch input which is received via the control area.
US09552152B2	Presently operating hand detector On a mobile electronic device, a user may manually or automatically select between a first user interface configured to persons having a left dominant hand (or simply operating the device with the left hand), and a second user interface configured to persons having a right dominant hand (or simply operating the device with the right hand).
US09552151B2	Information processing apparatus and storage medium There is provided an information processing apparatus including an operation recognition unit configured to recognize a drag start area in a first application and a droppable area in a second application, the drag start area being an area where an drag operation is started, and the second application being different from the first application, a paste content processing unit configured to analyze attributes of the drag start area and the droppable area, and to determine a paste content in response to a comparison result between the respective attributes, and a paste execution unit configured to paste the paste content determined by the paste content processing unit, in the droppable area, when the operation recognition unit recognizes a drop operation in the droppable area.
US09552149B2	Controlled interaction with heterogeneous data A two-dimensional canvas contains objects of various types. The two-dimensional canvas is fixed in one dimension, but extensible in a second dimension. The canvas is displayed in miniaturized form at the same time at least a portion of the canvas is displayed in another view, such as an edit view. Selection or modification of an object in the miniaturized version of the canvas will also result in a modification or selection of the corresponding object in the other view.
US09552148B2	Display device mounted on steering wheel of vehicle and control method thereof A display device installed on a steering wheel of a vehicle. The display device includes a display configured to display a GUI (Graphic User Interface) having an indicator indicating a rotation of the steering wheel; a sensing unit configured to sense whether or not the steering wheel is rotated; and a controller configured to rotate the displayed GUI in an opposite direction of a rotation direction of the steering wheel, when the steering wheel is rotated, and change a gauge of the indicator according to an amount of the rotation of the steering wheel.
US09552141B2	Methods and apparatuses for operating a data processing system Methods and apparatuses for operating data processing systems. One exemplary method of operating a data processing system which includes a display device includes receiving an input from a user, the input specifying an object to be represented in a user configurable portion of a window which is displayable on a display device, and displaying the window with the user configurable portion wherein the user configurable portion is present in an open interface window or a save interface window. Other methods are also described, and data processing systems are also described.
US09552134B2	Pointer controlling apparatus, method thereof, and pointer controlling program to prevent erroneous operation A pointer controlling apparatus, a control method, and a pointer controlling program are provided which can protect a button from erroneous operation without interrupting the operational flow or using excessive display area. The pointer controlling apparatus permits a pointer to move into a predetermined region after a predetermined period of time has elapsed from a point in time when the pointer comes into contact with a boundary line of the predetermined region. Accordingly, the predetermined area can be securely protected from a point in time at which the pointer comes into contact with the boundary line of the predetermined region for the predetermined amount of time. Furthermore, since the pointer is permitted to enter the predetermined region immediately after the predetermined time has elapsed, the predetermined region can be protected without interrupting the operational flow, and without using an excess of a display region.
US09552133B2	Display apparatus and control method thereof A display apparatus including: a display unit; a communication unit which receives information about a coordinate from an input device; and an image processor which displays an image including an object and a cursor on the display unit, and moves the cursor toward the object according to a position of the object in the image with respect to information about movement corresponding to a first input coordinate at an input start point and a second input coordinate at an input termination point, wherein the first input coordinate and the second input coordinate are received from the input device through the communication unit.
US09552120B2	Touch screen panel and method for fabricating the same A touch screen panel includes a sensing electrode area, a pad area, and a peripheral wiring area. The sensing electrode area includes first sensing electrodes and second sensing electrodes on a touch substrate and spaced from each other. The peripheral wiring area connects the sensing electrode area to the pad area. Each of the first sensing electrodes includes a first sensing metal layer on the touch substrate, a sensing insulation layer on the first sensing metal layer, and a second sensing metal layer on the sensing insulation layer and having a mesh structure. The second sensing metal layer is thicker than the first sensing metal layer.
US09552118B2	Capacitive finger navigation module and manufacturing method thereof A capacitive finger navigation module including a pressure detection mode and a finger movement detection mode is provided. In the pressure detection mode, a finger press is detected to generate a continuous cursor movement signal. In the finger movement detection mode, a finger movement is detected to generate a single cursor movement signal.
US09552116B2	Touch apparatus A touch apparatus includes a substrate, a plurality of first sensing electrodes, a plurality of second sensing electrodes, a plurality of third sensing electrodes, a plurality of fourth sensing electrodes, a switch module and a control unit. The switch module is electrically connected with the first sensing electrodes, the second sensing electrodes, the third sensing electrodes and the fourth sensing electrodes. The control unit is electrically connected with the switch module. The touch apparatus decide the connection mode of the switch module according to the touch strength of a touch point on the touch apparatus.
US09552112B2	Capacitive touch display panel, capacitive touch panel and manufacturing method thereof A capacitive touch display panel including a display panel and a capacitive touch device is provided. The capacitive touch device is disposed on a display surface of the display panel. The capacitive touch device includes at least one opaque bridge line and at least one low reflection pattern layer. The opaque bridge line has a first linewidth and two first main borders. The low reflection pattern layer is disposed on a side of the opaque bridge that is opposite to the display panel. The low reflection pattern layer has a second linewidth and two second main borders. The low reflection pattern layer overlaps the opaque bridge line in a vertical projection direction. The first line width is substantially equal to the second line width, and the first main borders are substantial aligned to the second main borders. A capacitive touch panel and a manufacturing method thereof are provided, too.
US09552099B2	Portable terminal, control method and program There is provided a portable terminal including a display panel having a display surface with a touch pad, an area management unit which defines a plurality of display areas formed by dividing the display surface, and a display control unit which performs control on an image display in each display area. In a state where two display areas are defined with a first boundary line, in response to a touch operation on the touch pad, the area management unit determines, based on a touch position of the touch operation, a second boundary line passing one point on the first boundary line and one point within a predetermined range from the touch position and defines two areas which are formed by dividing an object area of the two display areas with the second boundary line, as first and second display areas in place of the object area.
US09552088B2	Display device for a vehicle The invention relates to a combined display and input device for a vehicle, wherein a virtual first input unit is provided, which is designed as a touch-sensitive screen for operating a plurality of functions and for displaying information. According to the invention, a physical second input unit is provided, wherein the functions can be selected by means of the first input unit and/or the second input unit, and target values of the functions can be set by means of the first input unit and/or the second input unit, wherein the functions and/or target values can be displayed on the touch-sensitive screen.
US09552087B2	Multi-layer body In a multi-layer body with a carrier and at least one conduction layer first areas and second areas are galvanically isolated from each other by third areas. In the third area sections are omitted from conductor traces and replaced by replacement pieces. The multi-layer body thereby has an optically homogeneous effect (e.g. is uniformly transparent or uniformly reflective).
US09552082B2	Input device Input devices allow a hand and/or fingers to relay input to machines. Input devices include an operation unit coupled with an X-, Y-, and/or Z-axis sensor that detects movement of the operation unit by a human hand for input. The operation unit includes a base configured to receive a thumb on the hand of a human operator and a cover that covers the thumb. A frontwall blocks further movement in front of the cover. Input devices may further include a base or cover nail configured to hook the thumb for backward pulling.
US09552080B2	Incremental feature-based gesture-keyboard decoding In one example, a method includes outputting, at a presence-sensitive display operatively coupled to a computing device, a graphical keyboard comprising a plurality of keys and receiving an indication of a gesture to select a group of keys of the plurality of keys. The method may further include determining, in response to the indication, a candidate word based at least in part on the group of keys. The method may further include determining a group of alignment points traversed by the gesture and respective cost values for each of at least two keys of the plurality of keys. The method may further include comparing the respective cost values for at least each of at least two keys of the plurality of keys to determine a combination of keys having a combined cost value and outputting the candidate word that is based on the respective cost values.
US09552079B2	Method, electronic device and system for remote text input A method, electronic device, and system for remote text input in the electronic device are provided. A display signal may be outputted in the electronic device, displaying a text field for inputting text (e.g., by the user of the electronic device). A request for text input may be sent from the electronic device to another device (e.g., a communication device) which may be addressed by an identifier of the other device (e.g., a SIM of the communication device). The electronic device may then receive the requested text input from the other device (e.g., once the user of the other device enters the requested text).
US09552078B2	Safety navigation device and an executing method thereof A safety navigation device and an executing method thereof in the present disclosure are based on an integrated circuit module and a server for safety certification. According to an algorithm or instantaneous time, the integrated circuit module which is electrically connected to electronic equipment creates an IP address, controlling the electronic equipment to enable the IP address via a virtual keypad. Then, the dominating server in which a certification mechanism is installed will check validity of the IP address and issues corresponding information.
US09552075B2	Cursor mode switching Methods and systems for processing input from an image-capture device for gesture-recognition. The method further includes computationally interpreting user gestures in accordance with a first mode of operation; analyzing the path of movement of an object to determine an intent of a user to change modes of operation; and, upon determining an intent of the user to change modes of operation, subsequently interpreting user gestures in accordance with the second mode of operation.
US09552073B2	Electronic device There is provided an electronic device including a plurality of sensing devices and a host. The sensing devices are connected in parallel or series. A part of the sensing devices and the host may remain in a power saving mode or a standby mode in operation so as to reduce the power consumption.
US09552071B2	Information processing apparatus, information processing method and computer program There is provided an information processing apparatus according to the present invention including a detection unit for detecting a moving direction and a moving amount of a finger on an operation panel, and a moving control unit for changing the moving amount of an object on a display unit for a finger's unit moving amount depending on the moving direction of the finger which moves the object displayed on the display unit. According to the present invention, the moving amount of the object within a display region changes based on the moving direction of the finger to be operated on the operation panel. In this manner, the object moving amount is corrected depending on the finger moving direction, thereby eliminating the factors for reducing the operability during the object moving operation and improving the operability.
US09552070B2	Tracking hand/body pose Tracking hand or body pose from image data is described, for example, to control a game system, natural user interface or for augmented reality. In various examples a prediction engine takes a single frame of image data and predicts a distribution over a pose of a hand or body depicted in the image data. In examples, a stochastic optimizer has a pool of candidate poses of the hand or body which it iteratively refines, and samples from the predicted distribution are used to replace some candidate poses in the pool. In some examples a best candidate pose from the pool is selected as the current tracked pose and the selection processes uses a 3D model of the hand or body.
US09552063B2	Electronic device including transparent display and method of controlling the electronic device A method of controlling an electronic device having a transparent display. The method includes controlling the electronic device to provide a first image through an optical display mode operation of the transparent display in which light incident from an object is transmitted, controlling the electronic device to acquire a second image through a video display mode operation of the transparent display in which an image captured from the object is displayed, and selectively displaying the first and second images using the transparent display by a mixing, by the electronic device, of the first and second images. The mixing may be dependent on a distance between the electronic device and the object or a display ratio between the first and second images. An image for an object may be displayed in a region of interest and an image for another object in a remaining region.
US09552033B2	Latency-based power mode units for controlling power modes of processor cores, and related methods and systems Latency-based power mode units for controlling power modes of processor cores, and related methods and systems are disclosed. In one aspect, the power mode units are configured to reduce power provided to the processor core when the processor core has one or more threads in pending status and no threads in active status. An operand of an instruction being processed by a thread may be data in memory located outside processor core. If the processor core does not require as much power to operate while a thread waits for a request from outside the processor core, the power consumed by the processor core can be reduced during these waiting periods. Power can be conserved in the processor core even when threads are being processed if the only threads being processed are in pending status, and can reduce the overall power consumption in the processor core and its corresponding CPU.
US09552028B2	Portable electronic device and voltage converting circuit thereof A portable electronic device includes a battery, a central processing unit (CPU), and voltage converting circuit. The battery includes an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) and a signal terminal connected to the EPROM. The CPU includes a read/write control terminal. The voltage converting circuit includes a first power terminal connected to a first power supply, a second power terminal connected to a second power supply, a first port connected to the read/write control terminal through a 1-wire bus, and a second port connected to the signal terminal.
US09552025B2	Cooling electronic devices in a data center A data center cooling system includes a thermosiphon, an actuator coupled to the thermosiphon, and a controller. The thermosiphon includes an evaporator; a condenser; and at least one conduit coupled between the evaporator and the condenser to transport a working fluid between the evaporator and the condenser. The controller is coupled to the actuator and configured to operate the actuator to adjust a liquid level of the working fluid in the evaporator based, at least in part, on a parameter associated with a heat load of one or more data center heat generating computing devices.
US09552014B2	Electronic apparatus There is provided an electronic apparatus, including a first housing, a second housing which has a display section and a support member supporting the display section, and a housing connection section which rotatably connects the second housing with respect to the first housing. The support member includes a first support section connected to the housing connection section, a second support section which fixedly supports the display section, and a support connection section, positioned between the first support section and the second support section, which has a flexibility to rotatably connect the second support section with respect to the first support section.
US09552013B2	Mobile terminal having a double-sided display and controlling method thereof A mobile terminal including a first display unit, a second display unit having an e-paper display panel, a sensor unit configured to detect an input signal and transmit the detected input signal to a processor, a power unit configured to supply power. The processor is further configured to detect a first time prior to a predetermined period from a second time at which the power of the mobile terminal is turned off, disable a detection of the input signal for the mobile terminal and control a content currently displayed on the first display unit to be displayed on the second display unit between the first time and the second time, and switch a state of the mobile terminal to a power-off state.
US09552011B2	System for modifying throttle control for UTV's and related vehicles A throttle control modification assembly includes an attachment assembly configured to removably attach the modification assembly to an existing throttle pedal of a vehicle. A foot plank is coupled to the attachment assembly, the foot plank being configured to extend from the throttle pedal of the vehicle toward the floor of the vehicle.
US09552010B2	Locomotive hand brake tools An extension tool is provided for operating handwheels, such as those found on locomotive handbrakes. The tool includes a spinning handle and a tool body. The handle freely rotates about a longitudinal axis and provides a user with a spinning grip, allowing him or her to quickly and easily turn a handwheel. The tool body includes two or more jaws that clamp to the handwheel. The tool body additionally includes a screw mechanism for selectively tightening or releasing the jaws, in order to respectively attach or detach the tool from the handwheel as desired. Preferably, the screw mechanism further includes a drawbar that extends through an interior of the handle, and is adapted to move longitudinally to rotate the jaws. The drawbar is moved by rotating a threaded drawbar nut at an end of the tool.
US09552009B2	Reference voltage generator having diode-connected depletion MOS transistors with same temperature coefficient A reference voltage generator has a first N type depletion MOS transistor configured to cause a constant current to flow, and a second N type depletion MOS transistor diode-connected to the first N type depletion MOS transistor and configured to generate a reference voltage based on the constant current. The first and second N type depletion MOS transistors have the same temperature coefficient of a threshold voltage. The first N type depletion MOS transistor has a buried channel into which arsenic impurities are diffused. The second N type depletion MOS transistor has a buried channel into which phosphorous impurities are diffused.
US09552005B2	Systems and methods for estimating an output current of a power conversion circuit A controller for a power conversion circuit that includes an inductor, a diode, and a switch. The controller includes a counter configured to determine, based on a first voltage input to the inductor, an on-time of the diode. The on-time of the diode corresponds to an amount of time that the diode is conducting a first current to a load of the power conversion circuit. A current estimation circuit configured to estimate, based on the on-time of the diode and an on-time of the switch, an output current of the power conversion circuit. The on-time of the switch corresponds to an amount of time that the switch is conducting a second current. A pulse width modulator is configured to provide, based on the estimated output current, a gate drive signal to the switch. The gate drive signal selectively transitions the switch between an on state and an off state.
US09552003B2	Zero drift, limitless and adjustable reference voltage generation A circuit for generation of a reference voltage for an electronic system, which circuit comprises at least one digital buffer (U21, U31, U32, U41, U51), a low pass filter (R21, C21; R31, C31; R41, C41; R51, C51) and an operational amplifier (OA21, OA31, OA41, OA51)), which circuit is adapted to revive an input in the form of a bandgap reference voltage into the digital buffer, which digital buffer is adapted to receive a digital input from a Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) signal, which digital buffer is adapted to generate an output signal adapted to be fed to the low pass filter, which output signal after filtration is adapted to be fed to a positive input terminal of the operational amplifier, which operational amplifier comprises a feedback circuit, which feedback circuit comprises at least one capacitor (C22, C32, C44, C54) adapted to be connected from an output terminal of the operational amplifier towards a negative input terminal of the operational amplifier so as to form an integrator, wherein the feedback circuit further comprises at least one chopped signal path (R22, S21; R33, R34, S32; R33, R35, C35, S31), which chopped signal is adapted to be modulated by the output signal of the digital buffer.
US09552002B2	Graphical user interface for setpoint creation and modification A user-friendly programmable thermostat is described that includes a body having a central electronic display surrounded by a ring that can be rotated and pressed inwardly to provide user input in a simple and elegant fashion. The thermostat can be used to graphically display a two-dimensional setpoint plot area that includes a number of setpoint symbols each being positioned according to the time of day and temperature associated with the setpoint. The user can initiate the “birth” of a new setpoint, which includes presenting an animated sequence in which a new setpoint symbol is moved to a position on the plot area associated with the time of day and temperature for the new setpoint.
US09551995B2	Tip-based computer controlled system for a hand-held dental delivery device A tip-based computer controlled system for a dental delivery device is disclosed. The system automatically controls an operating characteristic such as power control or fluid flow based on tip identification and history. The operating characteristic may also be controlled in response to particular conditions throughout the dental procedure, such as (but not limited to) temperature, dental hygiene material, fluid type, etc. The system may provide an alert or shut off if unsafe conditions occur and/or error circumstances are detected. An operator interface is provided to configure the system and augment/override an executing control algorithm during a procedure. A method and a computer-readable storage medium are also disclosed.
US09551981B2	Real-time monitoring, controlling, and optimizing electrical generation assets based on emission level measurements A method is implemented in a computer infrastructure and includes receiving data defining a detected gas emission level of a power generation facility. The method also includes communicating the data defining the detected gas emission level to at least one subscriber device using one of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) based communication and Session Initial Protocol (SIP) based communication.
US09551973B2	Image forming apparatus According to an embodiment, there is provided an image forming apparatus that forms a color image using a plurality of discolorable coloring materials and a plurality of non-discolorable coloring materials. In a case where insufficiency of at least one coloring material from among the plurality of discolorable coloring materials and the plurality of non-discolorable coloring materials is detected, the image forming apparatus performs color image formation using the plurality of discolorable coloring materials and the plurality of non-discolorable coloring material in combination.
US09551971B2	Sheet storage apparatus and image forming apparatus Provided is a sheet storage apparatus for storing a sheet conveyed by a sheet conveyance unit, wherein at a home position, at least a part of a sheet presence detection flag overlaps a rotational axis of a sheet presence detection flag of an adjacent sheet storage unit in a vertical direction.
US09551966B2	Image forming apparatus Temperature of a printing medium 110 is sufficiently decreased by stopping the printing medium 110 in a discharge path, conveying the printing medium at a low speed, switching a conveyance path, or the like. If the temperature of the printing medium 110 can be sufficiently decreased, the thermochromism phenomenon is suppressed. As a result, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of achieving highly accurate color matching and color stability.
US09551964B2	Separable fusing device and printer using the same A fusing device comprising a pressure roller, a heating roller, a pressure applying element and a releasing element is provided. The pressure roller is installed in a frame. The heating roller opposite to the pressure roller is installed in a housing. The pressure applying element connects the pressure roller and the housing at a first side and applies a force on the pressure roller and the heating roller. The releasing element releases and locks the pressure roller and the housing at a second side. A printer from which jammed sheet may be easily removed is provided. The printer comprises a frame, a housing, an image forming device, and the fusing device. The first and second sides are parallel to axial direction of the pressure roller and the heating roller. The image forming device forms an image on a medium. The fusing device fuses the image on the medium.
US09551963B2	Fixing device having a heater and reflector arrangement and image forming apparatus having same A fixing device includes a fixing rotator rotatable in a given direction of rotation and a pressure rotator pressed against the fixing rotator to form a fixing nip therebetween, through which a recording medium is conveyed. A first heater is disposed opposite the fixing rotator with a first interval therebetween to heat the fixing rotator. A reflector reflects light emitted by the first heater to the fixing rotator. The reflector is disposed opposite the first heater with a second interval therebetween that is greater than the first interval.
US09551961B2	Fixing device having heating section support with hole for releasing heat A fixing device having: a fixing member extending in a first predetermined direction; a heating roller extending in the first predetermined direction; a fixing belt stretched between the fixing member and the heating roller and being annular when viewed in a plan view in the first predetermined direction; a heating section heating the heating roller and being provided in the heating roller; a first support section supporting the heating roller in such a manner that the heating roller is movable with respect to the fixing member along a predetermined plane perpendicular to the first predetermined direction; a pressure section exerting a force upon the heating roller in such a direction that the heating roller moves away from the fixing member; and a second support section supporting the heating section in such a manner that the heating section is movable together with the heating roller.
US09551954B2	Image forming apparatus An image forming apparatus is provided that can adjust an inclination deviation even after a laser scanner unit and a photosensitive drum are embedded. A CPU 601 selects at least two screen angles from among screen angles, and generates image signals corresponding to the respective selected at least two screen angles, based on these angles. The CPU 601 causes light emitting elements to emit light beams at different emission timings with reference to a timing on which a BD 803 detects the light beam, based on a generated image signal, thereby forming latent images of test images on a photosensitive drum. The latent images formed on the photosensitive drum are developed, and test images are formed on a recording medium.
US09551948B2	Image forming apparatus fixing of toner containing flat particles An image forming apparatus includes: a first image forming section that uses a toner containing flat pigment particles; a second image forming section that uses a toner not containing the flat pigment particles; and a fixing section that fixes an image formed on a recording medium to the recording medium using heat. The quantity of heat that the fixing section applies to the image is increased in the case where the image formed on the recording medium using the toner containing the flat pigment particles is to be fixed compared to a case where the image formed on the recording medium using the toner not containing the flat pigment particles is to be fixed.
US09551944B2	Method for replacing objective parts A method and a device for replacing objective parts, especially of a projection or illumination objective for microlithography in which an objective having an objective interior and objective parts provided therein is provided. At least one objective part is replaceably accommodated in the objective. Immediately prior to installation in the objective, the replaceable objective part is cleaned outside the objective interior in at least one cleaning room sealed off from the ambient atmosphere. Immediately after cleaning, the replaceable objective is installed in the objective without contact with the normal ambient atmosphere.
US09551940B2	Lens comprising a plurality of optical element disposed in a housing The invention relates to a lens comprising several optical elements that are disposed in a lens housing. At least one sensor array encompassing at least one capacitive sensor unit and/or at least one inductive sensor unit is provided for determining the relative position between a first optical element and a second optical element or between a load-bearing structural element of the lens and a second optical element.
US09551930B2	Photoresist composition and associated method of forming an electronic device A photoresist composition includes a first polymer in which at least half of the repeat units are photoacid-generating repeat units, and a second polymer that exhibits a change in solubility in an alkali developer under the action of acid. In the first polymer, each of the photoacid-generating repeat units comprises photoacid-generating functionality and base-solubility-enhancing functionality.
US09551926B2	Determination method, storage medium and information processing apparatus The present invention provides a determination method of determining exposure conditions of an exposure apparatus including an illumination optical system which illuminates a mask, and a projection optical system which projects a pattern of the mask onto a substrate, the method including a step of setting an illumination parameter for a light intensity distribution formed on a pupil plane of the illumination optical system, and an aberration parameter for an aberration of the projection optical system, and a step of determining a value of the illumination parameter and a value of the aberration parameter so that an image performance of an optical image of the pattern of the mask satisfies an evaluation criterion set for a target pattern to be formed on an image plane of the projection optical system.
US09551913B2	Transparent display apparatus and method for controlling the same There are provided a transparent display apparatus and a method for controlling the same. The transparent display apparatus includes a transparent display unit that includes an emissive area and a transmissive area and is configured to display a video, an optical sensor configured to measure the amount of light, and a light shielding unit that is disposed on one surface of the transparent display unit and is configured to adjust transmittance on the basis of the amount of light.
US09551891B2	Display module and display device According to an aspect, a display module includes a display panel that displays an image on a display surface; an optical member; and a housing that supports the display panel and the optical member. The housing includes a first housing, a second housing, and a third housing that is arranged on a side of the second housing opposite to the first housing side. An end of the first housing on a display surface side of the display panel protrudes toward the center of the display surface to face an outer edge of the display surface. An end of the second housing on a side opposite to the display surface side of the display panel protrudes toward the center of the display surface to face an outer edge of a surface opposite to the display surface. The optical member is provided between the second housing and the third housing.
US09551886B2	Liquid crystal lens and liquid crystal small-aperture glasses The present disclosure provides a liquid crystal lens including a liquid crystal cell including a first substrate, a second substrate and a liquid crystal layer arranged between the first and second substrate. The first substrate includes a first base plate, a plurality of transistors arranged on the first base plate, a first electrode electrically connected to one electrode of each of the transistors, and a first polarizer arranged at a side of the first base plate away from the liquid crystal layer. The second substrate includes a second base plate, and a second polarizer arranged at a side of the second base plate away from the liquid crystal layer. The liquid crystal lens further includes a second electrode arranged on the first or second base plate. The first and second base plates are opaque, and each includes a plurality of small apertures which are provided in a one-to-one correspondence manner.
US09551885B2	Prosthetic lenses and methods of making the same A method of obtaining an impression of an eye, the method comprises preparing an impression material, contacting the impression material with an eye of a subject, obtaining an impression of the eye on the impression material, creating an indication of the orientation of the impression with respect to the eye, and removing the impression material from the eye. The impression can be used in a method of manufacturing a lens for an eye that comprises receiving one or more data files comprising a back lens surface calculation and a front lens surface calculation, forming a back lens surface from a lens blank based on the back lens surface calculation, forming a front lens surface from the lens blank based on the front lens surface calculation, and forming one or more asymmetric features in the back lens surface based on the back lens surface calculation.
US09551883B2	Contact lens for keratoconus The present invention is directed to a non-deforming contact lens for keratoconus patients having a displaced central zone. In particular, the central zone is displaced from the geometric center of the lens. The shape of the central zone is egg or spoon-shaped and is rotationally asymmetrical with one semi-meridian that is shorter than a corresponding semi-meridian. An intermediate transition zone is formed integral with the periphery of the central zone, and a peripheral zone is formed integral with the periphery of the intermediate transition zone, forming a round contact lens.
US09551878B2	Patterned retarder film and display apparatus The present invention provides a patterned retarder film and a display apparatus. The patterned retarder film is attached to a display panel of the display apparatus. The display panel comprises first, second and third sub-pixels arranged along a first direction, and the patterned retarder film comprises at least two phase retarders. First saw portions and second saw portions are disposed at two opposite sides of the phase retarders and adjacent to at least one of the first, second and third sub-pixels. In the present invention, the color shift problem can be prevented.
US09551873B2	Head mounted device (HMD) system having interface with mobile computing device for rendering virtual reality content A head mounted display (HMD) system is provided. The system includes a housing and optics disposed in the housing. The system further includes a processor disposed in the housing and shutter control logic interfaced with the processor. The shutter control logic is configured to operate to alternate between opening a left eye-side of the optics and closing a right eye-side of the optics to opening the right eye-side of the optics and closing the left eye-side of the optics. A holder portion is integrated with the housing. The holder portion is configured to receive a smart device having a display screen. The display screen is oriented toward the optics of the housing in a direction that is toward a face of a user when the HMD system is worn by the user. The shutter control in operation is configured to enable a three-dimensional view of image date rendered on the display screen of the smart device when viewed through the optics of the housing.
US09551867B1	Head-up display In an en-route navigation system such as for a vehicle, an image of a cable is presented as a navigation object in a head-up display to indicate a route that the vehicle should follow. The head-up display may comprise a projection screen, light projector apparatus configured to project one or more images onto the projection screen, viewing optics and a computer, wherein the projection screen is moveable under control of the computer in such a way as to adjust positions of the projection screen and to thereby adjust the distance between the projection screen and the viewing optics during at least a portion each of a succession of refresh periods.
US09551861B2	Display device A display device includes a display panel, and an optical assembly on the display panel. The display panel includes a display area configured to display an image, and a peripheral area adjacent to the display area. The optical assembly overlaps the display area and the peripheral area. The optical assembly includes a supporting member overlapping the peripheral area, an optical member, a covering member covering the display panel, and a transparent member between the display panel, the optical member and the covering member. The optical member includes a first face contacting the display area, a second face opposite to the first face and tilted with respect to the first face, a third face contacting the supporting member, and a fourth face opposite to the third face.
US09551852B2	Method and device for sheathing a light guide A method for sheathing a light guide with a flexible layer of sheathing. The method includes providing a light guide and a sheathing strip. The sheathing strip is made of a flexible material. The method also includes joining the light guide and the sheathing strip using a forming aid to form a light guide-sheathing composite. The forming aid places the sheathing strip about the light guide, leaving two excess ends of the sheathing strip extending from the light guide. The method further includes feeding the light guide-sheathing composite to a connection unit and connecting the two excess ends to produce a mounting tab for the light guide-sheathing composite.
US09551848B1	Stackable optoelectronics chip-to-chip interconnects and method of manufacturing thereof An optoelectronics chip-to-chip interconnects system is provided, including at least one packaged chip to be connected on the printed-circuit-board with at least one other packaged chip, optical-electrical (O-E) conversion mean, waveguide-board, and (PCB). Single to multiple chips interconnects can be interconnected provided using the technique disclosed in this invention. The packaged chip includes semiconductor die and its package based on the ball-grid array or chip-scale-package. The O-E board includes the optoelectronics components and multiple electrical contacts on both sides of the O-E substrate. The waveguide board includes the electrical conductor transferring the signal from O-E board to PCB and the flex optical waveguide easily stackable onto the PCB to guide optical signal from one chip-to-other chip. Alternatively, the electrode can be directly connected to the PCB instead of including in the waveguide board. The chip-to-chip interconnections system is pin-free and compatible with the PCB. The main advantages of this invention are to use the packaged chip for interconnection and the conventional PCB technology can be used for low speed electrical signal connection. Also, the part of the heat from the packaged chip can be transmitted to the PCB through the conductors, so that complex cooling system can be avoided.
US09551847B2	Latch mechanism for communication module A latch may include a follower and a driver. The follower may include a follower opening configured to receive a post of a housing. The driver may include a driver opening configured to receive the post of the housing such that the driver is selectively rotatable relative to the post. The driver may further include an interfacing finger positioned to be received by the follower opening. The interfacing finger may be configured to urge the follower to slidingly move relative to the housing as the driver is rotated relative to the post.
US09551846B1	Method for manufacturing optical engine packages and apparatus from which optical engine packages are manufactured The present disclosure relates to a method for manufacturing one or more optical engine packages, each optical engine package comprising a silicon photonic die. The method includes receiving a substrate comprising a package portion and a cutting area adjacent to the package portion, assembling the optical engine package on the substrate such that an edge-coupled waveguide of the silicon photonic die overlaps a boundary between the cutting area and the package portion, and cutting the optical engine package and the substrate in the cutting area to expose the edge-coupled waveguide for optical coupling thereof to an optical fiber core.
US09551843B2	Connector When a moving member moves to a fixing position, a fixing member moves to a second fixing position, a blade of the fixing member cuts into a protection layer of a cord, and thereby the cord is fixed. When the moving member moves to a releasing position, the fixing member moves to a second releasing position, the blade leaves the protection layer, and thereby the cord is released.
US09551839B2	Optical component including nanoparticle heat sink An optical fiber assembly includes at least one optical component configured to deliver light from a first end to a second end opposite the first end. The at least one optical component includes at least one localized heat-sensitive area that emits increased temperatures with respect to remaining areas of the at least one optical fiber in response to light traveling through the localized heat-sensitive area. The optical fiber assembly further includes a nanoparticle heat sink that contacts the optical component and that completely surrounds the localized heat-sensitive area such that the nanoparticle heat sink dissipates heat from the at least one optical component.
US09551834B2	Method to assemble transmitter optical subassembly A method to assemble a transmitter optical module is disclosed, where the optical module installs two lenses, one of which concentrates an optical beam emitted from a laser diode, while, the other collimates the optical beam concentrated by the former lens. The method has a feature that the first lens is firstly positioned in a point to collimate the optical beam coming from the laser diode, then, moved to a point, which is apart from the former point with respect to the laser diode, to concentrate the optical beam. The process performs the steps to position the lens by a jig to extract the optical beam passing through the first lens outside of the housing.
US09551833B1	Ultra compact free-space multiplexer/demultiplexer An apparatus for multiplexing and demultiplexing comprises: a substrate having a first surface and a second surface, where the second surface is opposite to the first surface; a first fiber array unit disposed on the first surface of the substrate and a second fiber array unit disposed on the second surface of the substrate, where a plurality of fibers in a fiber array unit are arranged in an array on a chip; a first microlens array disposed on the first surface of the substrate and a second microlens array disposed on the second surface of the substrate; a plurality of thin film filters disposed on the first and second surface of the substrate, where each thin film filter transmits light having a different wavelength band; a fiber collimator disposed on the first surface of the substrate; a turning prism disposed at an edge of the substrate for turning light from the first surface to the second surface of the substrate or also turning light from the second surface to the first surface of the substrate.
US09551818B2	Apodized broadband partial reflectors having differing optical packets A broadband partial reflector includes a first multilayer polymeric optical film having a total number of optical repeating units from a first side to a second side of the first multilayer polymeric optical film and a second multilayer polymeric optical film having a total number of optical repeating units from a first side to a second side of the second multilayer polymeric optical film and an intermediate layer on the second side of the multilayer polymeric optical film separates the first multilayer polymeric optical film from the second multilayer polymeric optical film. The first multilayer polymeric optical film has a first baseline optical repeating unit thickness profile and a first apodized optical repeating unit thickness profile monotonically deviating from the first baseline optical repeating unit thickness profile and defining the second side of the first multilayer polymeric optical film. The second multilayer polymeric optical film has a second baseline optical repeating unit thickness profile and a second apodized optical repeating unit thickness profile monotonically deviating from the second baseline optical repeating unit thickness profile and defining the first side of the second multilayer polymeric optical film.
US09551814B2	Method for manufacturing a structure, optical component, optical layer stack In a method for manufacturing a structure of curable material, a first structure from a first curable material is molded and cured on a substrate, and a second structure of a second curable material is molded and cured on a first surface of the first structure facing away from the substrate, so that at the first surface of the first structure a boundary surface forms between the first and second structures so that the first structure is not covered by the second structure in a passage area. A solvent is introduced into the passage area to dissolve the first curable material of the first structure so that a cavity forms between the second structure and the first surface of the substrate. After curing, the first curable material is soluble and the second curable material is insoluble for the solvent. An optical component and an optical layer stack are made of curable material.
US09551803B2	Geological medium exploration Systems and methods for geological medium exploration are provided herein. A method of geological medium exploration may include generating vibrations in a geological medium and recording wave-fields at a surface and in a borehole. Additionally, the method may include obtaining a wave field modification operator and applying the wave-field operator to a full range of seismic data to achieve a spectrally-modified wave field.
US09551797B2	Device and method for reading out X-ray information stored in a fluorescent storage layer The present invention relates to an apparatus and to a corresponding method for reading out X-ray information stored in a storage phosphor layer (1) comprising a light source (2) for generating a stimulation light beam (3) which can stimulate the storage phosphor layer (1) to emit emission light, and a deflection element (4) for deflecting the stimulation light beam (3) in such a way that the deflected stimulation light beam (3′) is moved over the storage phosphor layer (1). In order to achieve the highest possible quality of the X-ray image obtained in the simplest and most cost-effective way possible, a drive device (5) is provided for driving the deflection element (4) by delivering drive energy to the deflection element (4) dependently upon a location of the deflected stimulation light beam (3′) and/or dependently upon a position, in particular an angular position, of the deflection element (4).
US09551789B2	System and method for quality-enhanced high-rate optoacoustic imaging of an object The disclosure relates to systems and methods for optoacoustic imaging of an object comprising, in some embodiments, an image acquisition unit for acquiring a first sequence of tomographic optoacoustic images, the image acquisition unit comprising an illumination device and a detection device configured for repeatedly collecting acoustic waves emerging from the object and for generating the first sequence of tomographic optoacoustic images.In some embodiments, a processing unit is provided for generating a second sequence of one or more tomographic optoacoustic images from the first sequence of tomographic optoacoustic images based on an analysis of one or more tomographic optoacoustic images of the first sequence of tomographic optoacoustic images and/or at least one property of the object while acquiring the first sequence of tomographic optoacoustic images and/or at least one property of the acquisition unit while acquiring the first sequence of tomographic optoacoustic images.
US09551784B2	Intrusion detection Systems, methods, and devices for an intrusion detection system are described herein. For example, one or more embodiments include transmitting a DSSS signal, receiving a reflected DSSS signal from a target, correlating the reflected DSSS signal and the transmitted DSSS signal, and determining a distance to the target based on the correlation between the reflected DSSS signal and the transmitted DSSS signal.
US09551774B2	RFID tag search method, non-transitory storage medium storing RFID tag search program, and RFID tag search device A method to be executed by a user terminal for searching for locations of one or more wireless devices that are located within an area in which the one or more wireless devices can wirelessly communicate with the user terminal, wherein each of the one or more wireless devices periodically transmits a beacon signal. The method includes detecting a number of the one or more wireless devices that are located within the area based on the beacon signals; determining a transmission period for transmitting the beacon signals depending on the number of the one or more wireless devices; and instructing the one or more wireless devices that are located within the area to transmit the beacon signals in accordance with the determined transmission period.
US09551773B2	Isolating active electron spin signals in EPR A system and method involve performing electron paramagnetic resonance on an object under study. The system comprises a first field generator adapted for generating an orienting magnetic field for orienting the magnetization of the object under study and a second field generator adapted for generating RF excitation waves at a frequency to generate electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) in the object under test. The system also comprises a detection unit adapted for detecting the EPR signals emitted by the object under test and a control unit adapted for controlling the relative orientation of the orienting magnetic field induced by the first field generator with respect to the detection unit. The system furthermore comprises a processing unit programmed for combining detected EPR signals obtained using different relative orientations of the orienting magnetic field with respect to the detection unit.
US09551754B2	Test device for kinetic switches and method of testing kinetic switches Test apparatus and method of testing kinetic switches. The test apparatus utilizes an RFID device attached to a high speed centrifuge on which the kinetic switches are mounted for testing. Sensors monitor the operation of the kinetic switch for movement from a first position to a second position. In addition, the speed of the centrifuge at the time of the movement is determined. This information may be transmitted in real time as received by the RFID device or saved in RFID memory and transmitted to determine the force applied to the kinetic switch at the time of the movement so that the acceptability of the kinetic switch can be determined.
US09551753B2	Electric storage system determining operation of current breaker The state of a plurality of electric storage blocks connected in serial is determined. Each of the electric storage blocks includes a plurality of electric storage elements connected in parallel. Each of the electric storage elements includes a current breaker configured to break a current path in the electric storage element. When a first voltage characteristic is shifted from a second voltage characteristic, it is determined that the current breaker is operated. The first voltage characteristic is acquired from a voltage sensor acquiring an open circuit voltage of each electric storage block and indicates a change in the open circuit voltage with respect to a capacity of the electric storage block. The second voltage characteristic is calculated from a capacity retention rate and a variation of the capacity and indicates a change in the open circuit voltage with respect to the capacity of the electric storage block.
US09551752B2	Dual ground breaker testing system A system for testing substation circuit breakers while the circuit breakers are grounded on both sides using a ground clamp probe electrically connected to one side of the circuit breaker contacts, where the ground clamp probe provides a means of interfacing standard test equipment to the circuit breaker without removing either safety ground, and analyzing the circuit breaker and outputting the results to a technician on a display.

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