Document	Document Title
US09941871B1	Zero-offset sampling for clock duty cycle correction Duty cycle sampling circuitry is disclosed that may generate offsets that cancel each other out, thereby improving the accuracy of duty cycle sampling of input clock signals based on sampling clock signals. The input clock input signals may be swapped, or the sampling clock signals may be swapped, or both may be swapped, at various times. Erroneous samples obtained in one configuration can cancel out other erroneous samples obtained in another configuration.
US09941860B1	Filter circuit for noise cancellation earphones The invention is a filter circuit for noise cancelling earphones wherein one end of the filter circuit for noise cancelling earphones is connected to the circuit for noise cancelling microphones. In the circuit starting from one end of the said noise cancelling microphones circuit connected to the resistor R0 set the first current node. The other end of the said noise cancelling microphones circuit is connected to the ground while the other end of the said resistor R0 is connected to the high level. Lead a circuit from the first current node connected to the input end of high pass circuit, the output end of the said high pass circuit is connected to the input end of gain amplifier circuit, the output end of the said gain amplifier circuit is connected to the input end of trap circuit, the output end of the said trap circuit is connected to the input end of gain feedback amplifier circuit through the resistor R7, the output end of the said gain feedback amplifier circuit is connected to the positive electrode of the speaker circuit while the negative electrode is connected to the ground.
US09941858B2	Electricoacoustic component with structured conductor and dielectric layer An electroacoustic component includes a substrate configured to carry acoustic waves. The electroacoustic component can be a guided bulk acoustic wave (GBAW) device, for example. A structured electric conductive layer is arranged on the substrate and an electrically dielectric layer (for example, aluminum oxide) is also arranged over the substrate.
US09941857B1	Attenuation of spurious responses in electromechanical filters A spur cancelling, electromechanical filter includes a first resonator having a first resonant frequency and one or more first spurious responses, and it also includes, electrically connected to the first resonator, a second resonator having a second resonant frequency and one or more second spurious responses. The first and second resonant frequencies are approximately identical, but the first resonator is physically non-identical to the second resonator. The difference between the resonators makes the respective spurious responses different. This allows for filters constructed from a cascade of these resonators to exhibit reduced spurious responses.
US09941856B2	Apparatus for reconfigurable directional couplers in an RF transceiver with selectable phase shifters 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 variable phase shifters to achieve a desired level of directivity in the coupler.
US09941855B1	Motor vehicle sound enhancement A method for modifying sound in a motor vehicle that has an audio system. The audio system has at least one electro-acoustic transducer that creates sound from audio signals. An initial audio signal that represents a particular vehicle sound is provided, where the initial audio signal has a plurality of signal properties. A modified audio signal is then provided to the audio system, based on at least one current motor vehicle operating condition. The modified audio signal includes at least one modified signal property that differs from that of the initial audio signal. The at least one signal property is modified by a modification process that relates to a vehicle operating condition.
US09941854B2	Music reproducing device A music reproducing device has a controller configured to perform volume control on audio data; a digital-to-analog (D/A) converter operatively coupled to the controller and configured to convert the audio data from digital audio data to analog audio data, and to perform volume control on the audio data; and a plurality of different types of audio outputs, including at least one headphone output for outputting the audio data from the D/A converter to one or more headphones; the controller and the D/A converter configured to perform different types of volume control on the audio data, the controller performing all volume control except the volume control related to only the at least one headphone output among the multiple volume control, and the D/A converter performing one or more types of volume control which relate only to the at least one headphone output.
US09941849B1	Programmable optimized band switching LNA for operation in multiple narrow-band frequency ranges An front end module (FEM) integrated circuit (IC) architecture that uses the same LNA in each of several frequency bands extending over a wide frequency range. In some embodiments, switched impedance circuits distributed throughout the FEM IC allow selection of the frequency response and impedances that are optimized for particular performance parameters targeted for a desired device characteristic. Such switched impedance circuits tune the output and input impedance match and adjust the gain of the LNA for specific operating frequencies and gain targets. In addition, adjustments to the bias of the LNA can be used to optimize performance trade-offs between the total direct current (DC) power dissipated versus radio frequency (RF) performance. By selecting appropriate impedances throughout the circuit using switched impedance circuits, the LNA can be selectively tuned to operate optimally at a selected bias for operation within selected frequency bands.
US09941844B2	Dual-mode envelope tracking power converter circuitry Envelope tracking power converter circuitry is configured to receive a supply voltage and simultaneously provide a first envelope tracking power supply signal for amplifying a first RF input signal and a second envelope tracking signal for amplifying a second RF input signal.
US09941839B2	Electronic component, electronic apparatus, and moving object An electronic component includes a wiring substrate, a heating element, a first support, a second support, and a container. The heating element, the first support, and the second support are electrically connected to the wiring substrate. Each of the first support and the second support includes a protrusion portion, and the protrusion portion of the second support is shorter than the protrusion portion of the first support.
US09941826B2	Motor drive control device A motor drive control device drives a motor including a plurality of phase coils and a rotor rotatably supported with respect to the plurality of phase coils, and the motor drive control device includes a controller, which generates a drive control signal; a motor driver, which outputs a drive signal to each of the phase coils of the motor, based on the drive control signal; and a back-electromotive-voltage detector, which is connected to each of the phase coils and includes resistive voltage dividing circuits having respectively different voltage-dividing ratios, wherein the back-electromotive-voltage detector detects a rotational position of a rotor for sensorless driving by using the resistive voltage dividing circuits.
US09941820B2	Force modification system for wave energy convertors A device for generating electrical energy from mechanical motion includes a buoy housing and at least one force modifier disposed at least partially within the interior of the buoy housing. The force modifier receives an input force and applies a modified force to another component. The force modifier includes a hydraulic system and the hydraulic system includes a first hydraulic piston having a first area and a second hydraulic piston having a second area, where the first area and the second area are not equal.
US09941818B2	Micro inchworm-type piezoelectric-driven rotating joint mechanism A micro inchworm-type piezoelectric-driven rotating joint mechanism includes a U-shaped base, bearing pedestals, bearing brackets, bearing rings, piezoelectric ceramic plates, a rotating shaft, a rotating sleeve and end caps. Every bearing ring is divided into two half-rings which are coupled to the bearing pedestals via two bearing brackets. One end of every piezoelectric ceramic plate is fixed to one bearing pedestal, and the other end thereof is coupled to one bearing ring, so that every piezoelectric ceramic plate stretches and deforms under the driving of voltage for driving the bearing ring to achieve micro motions. Two bearing driving modules are respectively symmetrically mounted at two sides of the U-shaped base, and the rotating shaft is supported on the two bearing rings, so that the stepping motion of the rotating shaft is implemented by controlling the timing sequence of clamping, release and rotation of the two bearing driving modules.
US09941813B2	High frequency multi-level inverter A multi-level inverter having at least two banks, each bank containing a plurality of low voltage MOSFET transistors. A processor configured to switch the plurality of low voltage MOSFET transistors in each bank to switch at multiple times during each cycle.
US09941805B2	Frequency and duty cycle strategies for DC/DC converters A method for controlling a DC/DC converter includes the steps of: controlling and keeping an output voltage of the DC/DC converter to stabilize at a first value according to a first interval of an input voltage of the DC/DC converter; controlling and keeping the output voltage of the DC/DC converter to stabilize at a second value according to a second interval of the input voltage of the DC/DC converter; controlling the second value of the output voltage to be greater than the first value; and controlling a switching frequency or a duty cycle of the DC/DC converter within a first predetermined range in the first and second intervals.
US09941795B1	Circuits and method for extracting average load current in DC-DC switching converters An average load current calculator circuit configured for determining an average load current within an at least one phase switch mode power converter (SMPC) having at least one peak/valley detector receives an inductor current sense signal and determines and holds a peak or valley amplitude of the inductor current sense signal. A current corrector circuit receives an input voltage and an output voltage of the SMPC and an inductance value of the inductor of the SMPC for determining an average correction current of the peak or valley amplitude of the current sense. An average current generator receives the peak or valley amplitude of the current sense signal and the average correction current for determining the instantaneous average load current within a switch mode power converter (SMPC) by additively combining the peak or valley amplitude of the current sense signal and the average correction current.
US09941789B2	Feedforward circuit for DC-to-DC converters with digital voltage control loop A method may comprise receiving a first clock signal; receiving a digital duty cycle value; using the first clock signal and digital duty cycle value to generate a digital pulse width modulation (DPWM) signal having a plurality of discrete steps to control a switch of a switched-mode power supply; and using a voltage control circuit to modify a duration of each of the plurality of discrete steps of the DPWM signal, wherein the voltage control circuit is configured to receive an analog voltage input.
US09941787B2	Reference voltage generation circuit and DCDC converter having the same A reference voltage generation circuit includes a bandgap reference circuit, a first resistive element and a second resistive element connected in series between the output node and a ground terminal, a third resistive element, a fourth resistive element, and a first switch connected in series between the output node and the ground terminal, and a second switch having one end connected to a connecting point of the first resistive element and the second resistive element, at which a reference voltage is generated, and the other end connected to a connecting point of the third resistive element and the fourth resistive element. A ratio between resistance values of the first resistive element and the second resistive element is equal to a ratio between resistance values of the third resistive element and the fourth resistive element. The first and second switches are turned on at power-on and turned off after the reference voltage is started.
US09941784B1	Power factor correction current sense with shunt switching circuit A power converter is provided with a totem-pole power factor correction (PFC) circuit for bridgeless line rectification, and current sensing circuit that can be selectively disabled to reduce unwanted current sense signal components and undesirable current transformer voltage stresses. The totem-pole PFC has at least a first leg with first and second switching elements coupled in series. A PFC inductor is coupled between an AC input on a first end and a node between the switching elements. The current sensing circuit includes a first transformer winding coupled in series with the first switching element, a second transformer winding magnetically coupled to the first winding and configured to deliver current from the first winding to a current sense terminal during an active phase for the first switching element, and a shunt circuit configured to disable the current sensing circuit during a freewheeling phase for the first switching element.
US09941774B2	Controlling fan motors using capacitive sensing A motor having a rotor, the rotor including a first metal plate having a first size and a second metal plate having a second size arranged on a first surface associated with the rotor. The first metal plate and the second metal plate are arranged adjacent to each other at a predetermined distance from an axis of rotation of the rotor. The first surface rotates perpendicularly about the axis in response to the rotor being rotated about the axis. A stator includes a third metal plate arranged on a second surface associated with the stator. The third metal plate is arranged on the second surface at the predetermined distance from the axis. The second surface is parallel to the first surface and faces the first surface.
US09941768B2	Electric drive, vehicle having an electric drive, and method for operating an electric drive An electric drive, particularly for vehicles, includes at least one first and at least one second electric machine. The electric machines are arranged relative to one another in a manner comparable to the cylinders of a conventional opposed-cylinder internal-combustion engine.
US09941763B1	Permanent magnet offset systems and methods A magnetic flux offset system selectively modifies the magnetic force at effective poles of a magnetic flux element. Magnetic flux from each effective pole is enhanced and/or effectively nullified using a control coil. The control coil directs magnetic flux from a magnetic flux donor to nullify magnetic flux from a flux donor at one effective pole. Magnetic flux from the control coil could also add to the magnetic flux from a flux donor at another effective pole. Reversing the current to the control coil could switch the effective pole where the magnetic flux is nullified and the effective pole where the magnetic flux is enhanced.
US09941762B2	Stator of rotating electric machine In a stator of a rotating electric machine, an annular stator core has slots. A stator winding includes phase windings of three phases of differing electrical phases that are housed in the slots and wound around the stator core. Three phase bus bars electrically connect the respective phase windings to an external apparatus. Each of the phase windings are configured by multiple parallel windings. The phase bus bars are integrated with a fixing member to form a bus bar module. Each of the phase bus bars include branch portions and a trunk portion. The branch portions are electrically connected to the respective phase windings. The trunk portion electrically connects together the branch portions, and is configured that a cross-sectional area of an end portion closest to the phase winding is smaller than a cross-sectional area of an end portion closest to the external apparatus.
US09941760B2	Rotary electric machine Conductor terminals of a plurality of conductor wires that constitute a stator winding each extend outward at a first axial end of a stator core, and among the conductor terminals, conductor terminals through which same-phase electric power flows are respectively connected by crossover wires, and circumferential regions that are occupied by the crossover wires are separated from each other in a circumferential direction.
US09941758B2	Method for producing a rotor In a method for producing a rotor, permanent magnets are arranged about a lateral surface in a recess of a rotor body from a selected position, e.g. a central position of the longitudinal extension of the rotor body, toward one side or toward two sides along an axis of rotation of the rotor body in side-by-side disposition. An end plate band covers a variable gap formed as a result of manufacturing tolerances of the permanent magnets between an outer face of an outermost one of the permanent magnets and an inner surface of the recess in an area of the recess which is non-parallel to the lateral surface. Subsequently, the permanent magnets and the end plate band are covered with a sleeve.
US09941755B2	Method and apparatus for transmitting power wirelessly Disclosed are an apparatus and a method for transmitting power wirelessly. The method for transmitting power wirelessly includes: detecting whether a receiving apparatus moves while wirelessly transmitting the power to the receiving apparatus through magnetic inductive coupling; performing the magnetic inductive coupling with the receiving apparatus for each of two or more primary coils when it is detected that the receiving apparatus moves; and determining whether to change the primary coil connected with the receiving apparatus based on a result of the magnetic inductive coupling. A signal strength message received from the receiving apparatus is received and stored every primary coil magnetically inductively coupled with the receiving apparatus, and it is determined that the received apparatus is connected through a primary coil corresponding to a largest value among signal strength values included in the signal strength message.
US09941754B2	Wireless power transmission with selective range The embodiments described herein include a transmitter that transmits a power transmission signal (e.g., radio frequency (RF) signal waves) to create a three-dimensional pocket of energy. At least one receiver can be connected to or integrated into electronic devices and receive power from the pocket of energy. The transmitter can locate the at least one receiver in a three-dimensional space using a communication medium (e.g., Bluetooth technology). The transmitter generates a waveform to create a pocket of energy around each of the at least one receiver. The transmitter uses an algorithm to direct, focus, and control the waveform in three dimensions. The receiver can convert the transmission signals (e.g., RF signals) into electricity for powering an electronic device. Accordingly, the embodiments for wireless power transmission can allow powering and charging a plurality of electrical devices without wires.
US09941743B2	Single structure multi mode antenna having a unitary body construction for wireless power transmission using magnetic field coupling A single structure multiple mode antenna having a unitary body construction is described. The antenna is preferably constructed having a first inductor coil portion that is electrically connected in series with a second inductor coil portion. The antenna is constructed having a plurality of electrical connections positioned along the first and second inductor coils. A plurality of terminals facilitates connection of the electrical connections having numerous electrical connection configurations and enables the antenna to be selectively tuned to various frequencies and frequency bands.
US09941741B2	Method, apparatus, and computer program product for powering electronics in smart covers Example method, apparatus, and computer program product embodiments are disclosed for wireless powering of passive objects contained in a functional exchangeable cover of an apparatus. Example embodiments of the invention include a method comprising: receiving, by an apparatus, a signal indicating that a functional exchangeable cover attached to the apparatus requests optical powering, the signal being at least one of a mechanical signal, an electrical signal, or a wireless signal; switching on, by the apparatus, an optical energy source in the apparatus in response to received signal; and transmitting, by the apparatus, from the optical energy source, optical power to the functional exchangeable cover attached to the apparatus.
US09941740B2	Systems, apparatus and methods for quantifying and identifying diversion of electrical energy Systems, apparatus and methods for quantifying and identifying diversion of electrical energy are provided. Bypass and tap diversions may be identified in an electric utility power distribution inventory zone having both bypass and tap diversions. Bypass diversion factors for consumer nodes in an inventory zone are determined by finding a solution to a system of load balance equations having slack variables representing aggregate tap loads for the inventory zone and in which consumer load profile data is scaled by the bypass diversion factors, which solution minimizes an objective function whose value is positively related to the sum of the slack variables representing the aggregate tap loads. Tap loads are correlated with nodes in an inventory zone by solving a first system of power flow equations not having variables representing tap loads, and then solving a second system of power flow equations having variables representing tap loads using an iterative numerical solution technique initialized based on the solution to the first system of power flow equations.
US09941731B1	Carry bag or purse with remote charging and illumination features A bag device that includes a shell having an interior surface and an exterior surface in which the interior surface having at least a first side wall and a second side wall and a bottom wall. The bag device also has a power element positioned proximate to the interior surface, the power element including a body member that has a first face, an opposed second face and an outer perimeter defined by an outer edge surface of the body member. The power element also includes a power storage unit connected to the body member and at least one power outlet in electrical communication with the power storage unit. The at least one power outlet configured to releasibly and operatively receive a power cord associated with a personal electronic device. Also disclosed is a power element device configured to be releasibly inserted in the a carry bag that includes a body member that has a first face and an opposed second face as well as an outer perimeter defined by the body member. The power element device also includes at least one rechargaeable power storage unit attached to the first face of the body member as well as at least one power outlet in electrical communication with the at least one rechargeable power storage unit.
US09941730B1	Wireless charging station Described herein are example charging stations for wirelessly recharging a variety of mobile devices. In some cases, the charging station is configured to receive a location indication of an antenna within the device, to determine a position of the device within the charging station, and to select an antenna from an array of antennas to provide a recharge signal to the device based on the location indication and the position of the device.
US09941728B2	Battery charging device A battery charging device provided with: a bridge-type controlled rectifier circuit having three-phase thyristors for rectifying the output of a three-phase AC generator and supplying a charging current to a battery; and a controller for controlling the supplying of a trigger signal to the thyristors in accordance with the terminal voltage of the battery; the controller being configured so that the trigger signal is supplied to the thyristors simultaneously when it is detected that the terminal voltage of the battery is equal to or lower than a set voltage, and supplying of the trigger signal is stopped when a certain period has elapsed after the terminal voltage exceeds the set voltage, in order to prevent commutation failure of the thyristors when charging of the battery is stopped, and prevent overcharging of the battery.
US09941713B2	Electronic apparatus An electronic apparatus is to be electrically connected to another electronic apparatus. The electronic apparatus comprises a first contact, a memory and a processor. The first contact is a contact whose conductivity varies corresponding to a connection state with another electronic apparatus. The processor is coupled to the memory. The processor is configured to perform acquiring a value indicating the conductivity of the first contact when bringing the first contact into a contact state with another electronic apparatus and determining, based on the acquired value indicating the conductivity and a predetermined reference value, whether a connection between the electronic apparatus and another electronic apparatus is sufficient.
US09941712B2	Electrical storage system An electrical storage system includes a relay switching between an on state where an electrical storage device (10) is connected to a load and an off state where connection of the electrical storage device with the load is interrupted; a controller controlling an on-off state of the relay; and a current interruption circuit (60) interrupting energization of the electrical storage device. The current interruption circuit includes an alarm circuit (63) outputting an alarm signal indicating that any one electrical storage block is in an overcharged state by comparing a voltage value of each electrical storage block with a threshold; a latch circuit (64) retaining the alarm signal; a transistor (66) causing the relay to switch from the on state to the off state upon reception of an output signal of the latch circuit; and a power supply circuit (63d) generating electric power for operating the latch circuit using electric power of the electrical storage device.
US09941706B2	Wireless power safety component Techniques of providing increased safety for wireless systems are described herein. A wireless power receiving unit includes a first receiving coil to inductively couple to a wireless power transmitting unit having a transmitting coil. A safety component is provided to reduce wireless power received at a second receiving coil from the wireless power transmitting unit.
US09941703B2	Solar power generation system having a backup inverter A solar power generation system having a backup inverter, the solar power generation system has N number of solar panels, N number of inverters, at least one backup inverter and at least one AC (Alternating Current) wiring box; each inverter and the backup inverter are parallel connected to the AC wiring box; the AC wiring box can be connected to a utility grid; when each inverter is normally operated, each solar panel can supply power to each inverter; when the X-th inverter is faulted, the X-th solar panel can supply power to the backup inverter, therefore reduce the interruption time of power generation.
US09941702B2	Fault ride-through and power smoothing system The fault ride-through and power smoothing system includes a buck converter for Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) of a PV array power system, a buck-boost converter to connect a supercapacitor energy storage system (SCESS) to the DC link, and a voltage source converter (VSC) to transfer the DC link power to the grid. Three independent controllers are implemented, one for each power electronics block. The effectiveness of the controllers is examined on Real Time Digital Simulator (RTDS).
US09941701B2	Photovoltaic voltage regulation A photovoltaic system includes: a photovoltaic generator comprising strings that each includes one or more photovoltaic cells; a power converter; switches; and a controller. The power converter is configured to convert direct current (DC) power provided by the photovoltaic generator into alternating current (AC) power, and to output the AC power. Each switch is associated with one of the strings and is configured to connect the associated string to the power converter when set to a first setting, such that power generated by the first string can flow to the power converter. Each switch is also configured to disconnect the string from the power converter when set to a second setting. The controller is configured to control the power provided by the photovoltaic generator by selectively connecting the strings of the photovoltaic generator to the power converter by controlling the settings of the switches.
US09941699B2	Systems, methods and apparatus for improved management and control of energy delivery systems Embodiments provide systems, methods and apparatus for controlling an energy delivery system including providing an energy management system (EMS) having an automatic generation control (AGC) system including a load frequency control (LFC) module; executing two or more performance standard functions implemented within the LFC module using input data regarding the energy delivery system, wherein at least one of the performance standard functions is defined to be dependent upon another of the performance standard functions; and implementing corrections to the operation of the energy delivery system based upon solution results of executing the performance standard functions. Numerous other aspects are provided.
US09941695B2	Fault diagnosis method, grid interconnection apparatus, and controller A fault diagnosis method of diagnosing a fault related to a PV PCS 150, configured to perform an interconnected operation in which a PV 100 is interconnected to a grid 10: supplies power from independent operation output of the PV PCS 150 to a storage PCS 250 by an independent operation that does not interconnect the PV 100 to the grid 10 after the grid interconnection apparatus stops the interconnected operation by detecting abnormality; measures an output power state of the PV 100 and/or the PV PCS 150 when power is supplied to the storage PCS 250; and determines that the fault occurs and performs an error process for notification to a user when the measured output power state does not satisfy a predetermined condition.
US09941692B2	Overvoltage protection for a multivoltage vehicle electrical system An overvoltage protection circuit for a first subsystem of a multivoltage vehicle electrical system, in which the first subsystem having a first vehicle electrical system voltage, a second subsystem having a second vehicle electrical system voltage, and an electric machine for supplying the second subsystem. The first system voltage is less than the second system voltage. The overvoltage protection circuit includes a first ground connection for connecting a shared ground potential of the first subsystem, the second subsystem, and the electric machine, an additional second ground connection for connecting a reference ground potential, and a control connection for controlling the electric machine. The overvoltage protection circuit checks whether a ground differential voltage between the first and second ground connections reaches a threshold value, and for reducing the second vehicle electrical system voltage when the ground differential voltage between the first and second ground connections reaches the threshold value.
US09941690B2	Disconnector for high voltage A disconnector for high voltage, including columnar supporting elements which are electrically isolating and are adapted to support electromechanical elements of opening and closing a circuit or an electrical line. At least one columnar supporting element, which is tubular, supports an optical current transformer, the optical fiber of which, surrounded by protection elements, extends inside the tubular columnar supporting element.
US09941678B2	Electrical connection box An electrical connection box includes a frame, and a plurality of blocks each provided with a relay and the like and installed in the frame. The block is placed in an upper side in the frame. At least a portion of the block is placed under the block in a manner overlapping with the block. The relay provided to the block is connected to an electrical wire. The electrical wire is drawn horizontally from the block.
US09941669B2	Protection device cartridge of an electrical installation with intersected connectors A protection device cartridge of an electrical installation intended to be brought on a base including an active protection component having a first terminal and a second terminal; a first connector forming a first electrical circuit portion electrically connected to the first terminal and to a first bearing portion of the base and a second connector forming a second electrical circuit portion electrically connected to the second terminal and to a second bearing portion of the base, the first connector and the second connector being arranged to allow the connection of the cartridge on the base according to an insertion direction, the first bearing portion and the second portion presenting a spacing determined according to the direction transverse to the insertion direction, where the second bearing portion is disposed between a first end point of the first electric circuit portion and the first bearing portion according to the direction transverse to the insertion direction and where the first bearing portion is disposed between the second bearing portion and a second end point of the second electrical circuit portion according to the direction transverse to the insertion direction, the first end point and the second end point presenting a determined spacing, greater than the spacing between the first bearing portion and the second bearing portion.
US09941665B1	Optical device structure using GaN substrates and growth structures for laser applications Optical devices having a structured active region configured for selected wavelengths of light emissions are disclosed.
US09941662B2	Light-emitting element and method for manufacturing the same A light-emitting element includes a mesa structure in which a first compound semiconductor layer of a first conductivity type, an active layer, and a second compound semiconductor layer of a second conductivity type are disposed in that order, wherein at least one of the first compound semiconductor layer and the second compound semiconductor layer has a current constriction region surrounded by an insulation region extending inward from a sidewall portion of the mesa structure; a wall structure disposed so as to surround the mesa structure; at least one bridge structure connecting the mesa structure and the wall structure, the wall structure and the bridge structure each having the same layer structure as the portion of the mesa structure in which the insulation region is provided; a first electrode; and a second electrode disposed on a top face of the wall structure.
US09941659B2	Optical module for ultrahigh-speed communication A TO can-type optical module for ultrahigh-speed communication including a laser diode chip for at least 5 Gbps. A substrate for transmitting a signal to a laser diode chip is formed by coupling an upper substrate (210) on which line patterns for transmission are formed, to a lower substrate (220) of which an upper surface has conductivity with the upper substrate (210) such that the optical module for ultrahigh-speed communication has single ended impedance of 25 ohms or differential ended impedance of 50 ohms. The substrate has a height of about 0.4 mm to which a laser diode chip, for ultrahigh-speed communication, is attached to enable an optical coupling between the laser diode chip, the lens, and the like, and may implement a hight-speed transmission line using a width of 0.6 mm or less thereby providing a substrate which is effectively embedded ina TO can-type package with a narrow mounting area.
US09941658B2	Stackable electrically-isolated diode-laser bar assembly A diode-laser bar assembly comprises a diode-laser bar mounted onto a cooler by way of an electrically-insulating submount. A laminated connector is provided that includes two electrically-conducting sheets bonded to opposite sides on an electrically-insulating sheet. An electrical insulator is located between the laminated connector and the cooler. One electrically-conducting sheet is connected to n-side of the diode-laser bar and the other electrically-conducting sheet is connected to p-side of the diode-laser bar.
US09941653B2	Optical array comprising a beam splitter The invention relates to an optical array comprising a splitting element (1) which splits an input beam (E) into at least two partial beams (T1, T2, T3, T4), at least one optical element (V1, V2, V3, V4, MV) through which at least one of the partial beams (T1, T2, T3, T4) propagates, and at least one combining element (4) which spatially superimposes the partial beams (T1, T2, T3, T4) in one output beam (A). The object of the invention is to provide an optical array which is improved over the prior art and which permits effective and simple splitting of the input light beam, in particular a laser beam with pulsed or continuous emission. The invention achieves this object in that the splitting element (1) and/or the combining element (4) each have a partially reflective element (2, 2′) which reflects the radiation of the input beam (E) or of the output beam (A) two or more times, wherein the partially reflective element (2, 2′) has zones (a, b, c, d) of different reflectivity.
US09941651B1	Systems and methods for generating electric power with an electric motor The present invention uses a traditional electrical motor with a rotor to generate electricity or power. By manipulating the magnetic fields within a rotor, large amounts of electricity are generated by the rotation of the rotor within an external magnetic field. Oppositely charged rare-earth magnets are placed around the rotor to create a strong magnetic field that the rotor can spin or rotate within. A battery or other power source supplies power to the rotor at positive and negative terminals (brushes) that are connected to commutator. The positive and negative terminals contact the commutator close to each other, such that only a few windings or coils are charged or magnetized, and the remaining windings or coils are free to generate electricity within the external magnetic field. The few coils that are charged in combination with the external magnetic fields create sufficient rotation, while enabling the remaining “free” coils to generate electric power. This power or electricity that is generated is then collected at a terminal about 150-200 degrees from the positive and negative terminals from the power source. The rotor may be offset or closer to one set of magnets, which further improves power generation.
US09941647B2	Power apparatus with outlet identification capability and outlet identification method of power apparatus A power apparatus with outlet identification capability and outlet identification method of power apparatus, the outlet identification method uses an identification requirement to enable a power apparatus to identify a plug-in position of at least one powered device, the identification requirement has an internet protocol address and an outlet code of at least one powered device; the power apparatus includes a power distribution equipment, the power distribution equipment has a plurality of outlets, when the power distribution equipment receives an identification requirement, at least one indicator light can be driven to radiate according to the identification requirement, or at least one PDE display can be driven to show an outlet code of the identification requirement.
US09941646B1	Coaxial cable connector and method of use thereof A coaxial cable connector comprises a signal contact member having an inner conductor connecting portion, a grounding contact member, and an insulating housing for supporting the signal contact member and the grounding contact member in a condition of mutual isolation, wherein the insulating housing is provided with first and second holes opposite to each other across the inner conductor connecting portion of the signal contact member with which an inner conductor of a coaxial cable is in contact, the first hole is operative to allow an ultrasonic vibration horn to be put into the first hole for contacting with the inner conductor of the coaxial cable and applying ultrasonic vibrations to the same and the second hole is operative to allow an anvil to be put into the second hole for coming into contact with the inner conductor connecting portion of the signal contact member.
US09941642B1	Electrical outlet cover with excess cord storage A receptacle cover plate assembly for an all-in-one receptacle with one or more electrical outlets and USB ports. A flange plate has rearward angular flanges which project back toward the wall of a structure. The flange plate conceals cord wrapped around a spool plate. The spool plate is provided as part of a combined receptacle, receptacle cover plate and spool plate where a spool cover is offset from a receptacle cover plate face.
US09941636B2	Pyrotechnic connector A pyrotechnic electrical connector comprises a housing and a connector position assurance device. The housing is configured for plugging in and locking to a mating connector. The housing receives a plurality of electrical terminals to be connected to a plurality of mating electrical terminals of the mating connector. The connector position assurance device is insertable in the housing in an insertion direction to a delivery position and a locking position. The locking position maintains locking of the housing to the mating connector when the housing is plugged in and locked to the mating connector. Insertion of the connector position assurance device is blocked at the delivery position and prevented from reaching the locking position if the housing is not plugged in or locked to the mating connector.
US09941628B2	Connector assembly A connector assembly includes first and second connectors. The first connector has a first housing and a first locking portion. The second connector has a second housing and a second locking portion. The first housing is formed with a resiliently supporting portion which rotatably supports the first locking portion. The first locking portion is positioned between a front end and a rear end of the first housing in a mating direction. When the first connector is mated with the second connector, the second locking portion is positioned between the first locking portion and the rear end of the first housing in the mating direction. When seen along the mating direction, the first locking portion and the second locking portion have a first extent and a second extent, respectively, in an orthogonal direction. When the first connector is mated with the second connector, the first extent overlaps with the second extent.
US09941623B2	Flat ethernet cables and associated systems, devices, and methods Flat Ethernet cables and associated systems, devices, and methods are disclosed, particularly as applied to home security system implementations. For example, disclosed herein is a flat Ethernet cable that includes an interior, female connection end, an exterior, female connection end, opposite the interior end, and including a weather-proofing clamshell enclosing the female connection end, and a flat cable portion that runs between the interior end and the exterior end. The flat Ethernet cable is configured as a PoE cable.
US09941616B2	Multi-piece jacket for separable connectors A jacket assembly for a separable connector includes multiple pieces joined by an overlapping or interference fit. The multiple pieces include a body segment between a cable entrance segment and a bushing interface segment. The cable entrance segment includes a bore that extends axially through the cable entrance segment and is sized to receive an insulated power cable. The bushing interface segment includes a lug portion with another bore that is sized to receive a portion of an insulative inner housing and a portion of a conductive insert for accepting a compression lug. The bushing may also be configured to receive another portion of the insulative inner housing and another portion of a conductive insert for accepting a probe or bushing insert from another device. The body segment includes still another bore extending axially from a first end of the body segment to a second end of the body segment.
US09941607B2	Coaxial cable connector, carrier-equipped coaxial cable connector, and method for manufacturing coaxial cable connector There is provided a coaxial cable connector, etc., configured such that the outer conductor shell and the connector carrier are linked by a carrier linkage part provided to part of the edge portion between the distal end and the portion of the outer conductor shell of a coaxial cable connector excluding the crimper, and the connector carrier is disposed on the distal end side of the outer conductor shell (the opposite side from the housing carrier), which simplifies the configuration of the apparatus used to manufacture the coaxial cable connector, and allows the coaxial cable connector to be assembled with the fixing position of the outer conductor shell stabilized while still linked to the connector carrier in the manufacturing process.
US09941604B2	Electric receptacle having a mounting strap and a plurality of terminal openings An electric receptacle includes a housing having a front surface including a socket opening, a back surface opposite the front surface, a first outer edge, and a second outer edge. A neutral terminal is at least partially retained in the housing. A phase terminal is at least partially retained in the housing. A first neutral opening faces the first outer edge and is in communication with the neutral terminal. A second neutral opening faces the back surface and is in communication with the neutral terminal. A first phase opening faces the second outer edge and is in communication with the phase terminal. A second phase opening faces the back surface and is in communication with the phase terminal. A mounting strap can be snap-fit to the housing.
US09941597B2	Antenna arrangement Antenna arrangement for a multi-radiator base station antenna, the antenna having a feeding network based on air filled coaxial lines (1, 2, 3), wherein each coaxial line comprises an outer conductor (8) and an inner conductor (4, 5, 6), wherein an adjustable differential phase shifter including a dielectric part (9) is arranged in the antenna and said dielectric part being movable longitudinally in relation to at least one coaxial line (1, 2, 3).
US09941587B2	3×3 Butler matrix and 5×6 Butler matrix The present invention relates to a 3×3 Butler matrix, comprising a first directional coupler, a second directional coupler, a third directional coupler, a first fixed phase shifter, a second fixed phase shifter and a third fixed phase shifter; and also relates to a 5×6 Butler matrix, comprising a first 3×3 Butler matrix, a second 3×3 Butler matrix, a fourth directional coupler, a fifth directional coupler, a power divider, a fourth fixed phase shifter and a fifth fixed phase shifter. The 3×3 Butler matrix and the 5×6 Butler matrix provided in the present invention have the features of small size, wide frequency band, low loss, high isolation and stable performance, fill the blank of specific technical schemes about the 3×3 Butler matrix and the 5×6 Butler matrix in the prior art, and have broad application prospects and great value.
US09941586B2	Beam direction selection method and apparatus for use in beamforming system A method and apparatus for selecting a beam direction is for use in a beamforming system. The beam direction selection method of a reception device having a plurality of antenna elements in a wireless communication system using beamforming according to the present disclosure includes acquiring a first reception beam angle estimated as optimal by allocating a first predetermined number of antenna elements to each of beam ports and scanning signals and acquiring a second reception beam angle estimated as optimal by allocating a second predetermined number of antenna elements, which is greater than the first predetermined number, to some of the beam ports and scanning the signals using the first reception beam angle.The beam selection apparatus and method of the present disclosure is capable of selecting a reception beam direction efficiently in a beamforming system.
US09941585B2	Antenna system The present invention relates to the communications field, and in particular, to an antenna system. The antenna system includes: a transmit antenna, a receive antenna, a radome above the transmit antenna and the receive antenna, and a reflector within the radome, where a signal received by the receive antenna after a transmitted signal of the transmit antenna is reflected by the reflector offsets an intra-frequency interference signal generated because the transmitted signal of the transmit antenna is directly received by the receive antenna. As a result, according to the embodiments of the present invention, the intra-frequency interference signal of the transmit antenna to the receive antenna may be eliminated without increasing the number of antennas and a distance between antennas.
US09941570B2	Compact radio frequency antenna apparatuses Antenna assemblies are described herein. In particular, described herein are multi-focal-point antenna devices and compact radio frequency (RF) antenna devices. Any of these assemblies may include a primary feed that includes a single patterned emitting surface from which multiple different beams of RF signals are emitted corresponding to different antenna input feeds each communicating with the patterned antenna emitting surface. The antenna assembly is therefore capable of emitting beams in the same direction having different polarizations using a single primary feed. Also described herein are compact RF antenna devices having a lightpipe that passes through the single patterned emitting surface.
US09941553B2	Battery-connection system, battery pack, and method of forming temperature-detection circuit A battery-connection system in one aspect of the present disclosure comprises a battery pack and a connecting device. The connecting device comprises a temperature-related control unit that is configured to execute a specific temperature-related control in accordance with a detection signal outputted from the battery pack when the battery pack is attached to the connecting device, without identifying a type of a battery in the battery pack.
US09941546B2	Bipolar battery and plate A bipolar battery plate is utilized for production of a bipolar battery. The bipolar battery plate includes a frame, a substrate, first and second lead layers, and positive and negative active materials. The substrate includes insulative plastic with conductive particles homogeneously dispersed throughout the insulative plastic and exposed along surface of the substrate, the substrate positioned within the frame. The first lead layer is positioned on one side of the substrate, while the second lead layer is positioned on another side of the substrate. The first and second lead layer are electrically connected to each through the conductive particles. The positive active material is positioned on a surface of the first lead layer, and the negative active material positioned on a surface of the second lead layer.
US09941542B1	Battery assembly techniques Battery assembly techniques and a corresponding system are disclosed. In various embodiments, the battery assembly techniques include compressing battery cells and inserting the battery cells in a can. Battery cells are stacked and then compressed using pneumatic cylinders that exert pressure on a first external layer of the stacked battery cells. A first portion of the stacked battery cells is released from the pneumatic cylinders while a second portion of the battery cells remains compressed. The first portion of the stacked battery cells is inserted in a can. In various embodiments, friction decreasing materials are added to the stacked battery cells to compress the stacked battery cells or ease insertion.
US09941539B2	Highly conductive polymer electrolyte membrane comprising ionic liquid The present invention relates to a highly conductive electrolyte comprising an ionic liquid and to a polymer electrolyte membrane using same, and more particularly, to a highly conductive polymer electrolyte membrane impregnated with a heterocyclic diazole-based ionic liquid and to a method for manufacturing same. The present invention relates to a polymer electrolyte thin film comprising an ionic liquid based on an imidazole compound represented by chemical formula (1), wherein R1 is an alkyl having a carbon number of 1 to 8 and R2 is hydrogen or an alkyl having a carbon number of 1 to 8:
US09941538B2	Ion exchange membranes having low in-plane swelling Disclosed is an ion exchange membrane comprising a film of a perfluorosulfonic acid ionomer in its acid form; the film having a low in-plane swelling, such that the length and/or width of the film changes by less than 10% when the membrane is exposed to water. Further disclosed is an electrochemical device, such as a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell, comprising an electrolyte comprising the ion exchange membrane.
US09941531B2	Method for cooling a fuel cell A method for cooling a fuel cell (3) using a liquid cooling medium, wherein of the starting materials supplied to the fuel cell and the products discharged from the fuel cell, at least one is gaseous during at least one of the operating conditions. The cooling medium is conveyed through the fuel cell (3) by a coolant conveying device (11). The power consumption of the coolant conveying device (11) is compared to predefined reference values in order to detect gas in the liquid cooling medium by a deviation of the power consumption from the predefined reference values.
US09941525B2	SOFC hot box components Various hot box fuel cell system components are provided, such as heat exchangers, steam generator and other components.
US09941516B2	Porous clusters of silver powder comprising zirconium oxide for use in gas diffusion electrodes, and methods of production thereof This invention provides a rechargeable cell comprising an electrode including: a plurality of porous clusters of silver particles, wherein each cluster includes: (a) a plurality of silver particles, and (b) crystalline particles of zirconium oxide (ZrO2), wherein at least a portion of the crystalline particles of ZrO2 is located in pores formed by a surface of the plurality of silver particles. Electrodes of the present invention catalyze the reduction of oxygen in alkaline solution. When the cell is charged, the silver in the electrodes can be oxidized to Ag2O and further to AgO. Upon discharge, the reduction of the oxidized silver results in additional available energy. This invention provides electrodes for use in rechargeable cells or batteries and methods of making thereof.
US09941514B2	Cathode active material layer, all solid lithium battery, and method of manufacturing cathode active material layer A cathode active material layer used for an all solid lithium battery, comprising a flat cathode active material with a hollowness in a range of more than 0% to 10%, and a solid electrolyte material, characterized in that the flat cathode active material has an aspect ratio (long axis length/short axis length) of 1.5 or more in a section in a thickness direction of the cathode active material layer, and a ratio of the flat cathode active material of which the short axis direction corresponds to a thickness direction of the cathode active material layer is 30% or more with respect to the whole cathode active material.
US09941511B2	Electrode material for non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery, and non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery electrode and non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery using the same A core-shell-type electrode material is used as an electrode active material layer of a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery, the core-shell-type electrode material having a core part in which at least a part of a surface of an electrode active material is coated with a first conductive material and a shell part in which a second conductive material is contained in a base material formed by a gel-forming polymer having a tensile elongation at break of 10% or more in a gel state.
US09941510B2	Electrode material, electrode, and lithium ion battery An electrode material is provided in which a carbon coating film containing an ion-conductive material is formed on surfaces of electrode-active material particles, and at least a portion of a surface of the ion-conductive material is exposed without being coated with the carbon coating film or the ion-conductive material is surrounded by the carbon coating film.
US09941490B1	Manufacture method of quantum dot light-emitting diode display and quantum dot light-emitting diode display The disclosure provides a manufacture method of a quantum dot light-emitting diode display and a quantum dot light-emitting diode display. The manufacture method of a quantum dot light-emitting diode display provided by the disclosure forms a light-emitting layer by a quantum dot thin film prepared by filming a metal complex solution, compared with a conventional ink jet printing method with quantum dot ink, process parameters can be adjusted easily, a process can be simple, costs can be reduced, three primary colors R, G, B can be adjusted by precisely controlling sub pixel levels, a color film can be omitted, which can be a better industrial design in weight and thickness. According to the quantum dot light-emitting diode display provided by the disclosure, the light-emitting layer is formed by a quantum dot thin film, which can offer the quantum dot light-emitting diode display excellent quality in display, the process is simple.
US09941484B2	Organic light emitting display device and method of manufacturing the same An organic light emitting display (OLED) device includes a substrate, a plurality of first electrodes, a plurality of light emitting layers, a second electrode, a power supply line, a third electrode, and an encapsulation member. The third electrode that is formed on the power supply line and the second electrode that is formed on the light emitting layers extend to a contact region that is in a peripheral region of the substrate. The third electrode and the second electrodes have an uneven pattern in the contact region.
US09941468B2	Magnetoresistance effect element and magnetic memory device A magnetoresistance effect element (100) includes a heavy metal layer (11) that includes a heavy metal and that is formed to extend in a first direction, a recording layer (12) that includes a ferromagnetic material and that is provided adjacent to the heavy metal layer (11), a barrier layer (13) that includes an insulating material and that is provided on the recording layer (12) with being adjacent to a surface of the recording layer (12) opposite to the heavy metal layer (11), and a reference layer (14) that includes a ferromagnetic material and that is provided adjacent to a surface of the barrier layer (13), the surface being opposite to the recording layer (12). The direction of the magnetization of the reference layer (14) has a component substantially fixed in the first direction, and the direction of the magnetization of the recording layer (12) has a component variable in the first direction. A current having a direction same as the first direction is introduced to the heavy metal layer (11) to thereby enable the magnetization of the recording layer (12) to be inverted.
US09941454B2	Light emitting device on a mount with a reflective layer Embodiments of the invention include a semiconductor light emitting diode (LED) attached to a top surface of a mount. A multi-layer reflector is disposed on the top surface of the mount adjacent to the LED. The multi-layer reflector includes layer pairs of alternating layers of low index of refraction material and high index of refraction material. A portion of the top surface in direct contact with the multi-layer reflector is non-reflective.
US09941447B2	Semiconductor light emitting device and method for producing the same A method for producing a semiconductor light emitting device includes providing a light emitting element that includes a semiconductor layer structure on a side of a lower surface of a substrate. The light emitting element is placed on a supporting member via a connecting member so that the semiconductor layer structure of the light emitting element faces the supporting member. Surfaces of the substrate, and the semiconductor layer structure, and a side of the connecting member with a light reflection layer are coated using atomic layer deposition so as to expose at least a part of at least one of an upper surface and a side surface of the substrate as a light-extracting region after the light emitting element is placed on the supporting member.
US09941441B2	Structural bonding compositions and attachment brackets, and their use in photovoltaic solar modules The present disclosure relates to structural bonding compositions and attachment brackets, and their use in photovoltaic solar modules. Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to methods of affixing an attachment bracket to a solar module during the lamination step used to manufacture the module.
US09941431B2	Photodiode having a superlattice structure A photodiode includes a light absorbing layer including a first superlattice structure that includes first semiconductor layers and second semiconductor layers, the first superlattice structure having a band structure sensitive to infrared light; a p-type semiconductor region; and an intermediate layer disposed between the p-type semiconductor region and the light absorbing layer, the intermediate layer having a conduction band having a bottom energy level lower than that of the p-type semiconductor region.
US09941424B2	Solar cell A solar cell according to the embodiment includes a substrate; a first electrode layer on a substrate; a light absorbing layer on the first electrode layer; a second electrode layer including a transmissive conductive material on the light absorbing layer; and a grid electrode including a transmissive conductive material on the second electrode layer.
US09941419B2	Monolithically integrated thin-film device with a solar cell, an integrated battery, and a controller A thin-film monolithically integrated solar module with a solar cell, an integrated energy storage device, and a controller may be provided. It may comprise a thin-film solar cell, having at least one solar diode, on a transparent substrate, a thin-film energy storage device, and an electronic controller comprising at least one thin-film transistor above the thin-film energy storage device. The electronic controller may be electrically connected to the thin-film solar cell and the thin-film energy storage device by vias. The named functional units may build a monolithically integrated device on one substrate.
US09941410B2	Oxide thin film transistor and method of fabricating the same The present disclosure relates to an oxide thin film transistor and a fabricating method thereof. In the oxide thin film transistor, which uses amorphous zinc oxide (ZnO) semiconductor as an active layer, damage to the oxide semiconductor due to dry etching may be minimized by forming source and drain electrodes in a multilayered structure having at least two layers, and improving stability and reliability of a device by employing a dual passivation layer structure, which includes a lower layer for overcoming an oxygen deficiency and an upper layer to minimize effects of an external environment on the multilayered source and drain electrodes.
US09941405B2	Nanosheet and nanowire devices having source/drain stressors and methods of manufacturing the same A method of manufacturing a nanosheet or nanowire device from a stack including an alternating arrangement of sacrificial layers and channel layers on a substrate. The method includes deep etching portions of the stack to form electrode recesses for a source electrode and a drain electrode, forming conductive passivation layers in the electrode recesses, and epitaxially growing the source and drain electrodes in the electrode recesses. Each conductive passivation layer extends at least partially along a side of one of the electrode recesses. Portions of the substrate at lower ends of the electrode recesses are uncovered by the conductive passivation layers. The source and drain electrodes are grown from the substrate and the conductive passivation layers substantially inhibit the source and drain electrodes from being grown from the channel layers.
US09941403B2	Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing a semiconductor device A semiconductor device includes a transistor including a source region, a drain region, and a gate electrode. The gate electrode is disposed in a first trench arranged in a top surface of the semiconductor substrate. The device further includes a control electrode. The control electrode is disposed in a second trench arranged in the top surface of the semiconductor substrate. The second trench has a second shape that is different from a first shape of the first trench.
US09941400B2	Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same A semiconductor device includes: a substrate having a rear side on which a grounded electrode is disposed; a semiconductor layer disposed on a front side of the substrate and including an active region and an inactive region; a plurality of source electrodes disposed in the active region; a drain electrode including a plurality of first portions disposed in the active region and a second portion disposed in the inactive region; a gate electrode including a plurality of first portions disposed in the active region and a second portion disposed in the inactive region; and a plurality of source electrode pads having the same number as the plurality of source electrodes and disposed in the inactive region and each being connected to a corresponding source electrode directly. A plurality of through holes electrically connecting the plurality of source electrodes and the grounded electrode respectively are disposed in the plurality of source electrode pads.
US09941388B2	Method and structure for protecting gates during epitaxial growth Embodiments of the present invention provide methods and structures for protecting gates during epitaxial growth. An inner spacer of a first material is deposited adjacent a transistor gate. An outer spacer of a different material is deposited adjacent the inner spacer. Stressor cavities are formed adjacent the transistor gate. The inner spacer is recessed, forming a divot. The divot is filled with a material to protect the transistor gate. The stressor cavities are then filled. As the gate is safely protected, unwanted epitaxial growth (“mouse ears”) on the transistor gate is prevented.
US09941386B2	Semiconductor device structure with fin structure and method for forming the same A semiconductor device structure is provided. The semiconductor device structure includes a substrate. The semiconductor device structure includes a first fin structure and a second fin structure over the substrate. There is a gap between the first fin structure and the second fin structure. The semiconductor device structure includes an isolation structure having a thin portion and a thick portion. A first upper portion of the first fin structure and a second upper portion of the second fin structure protrude from the thin portion. The thick portion is partially between the first upper portion and the second upper portion. The semiconductor device structure includes a dummy gate electrode over the thick portion, the first upper portion, and the second upper portion. The semiconductor device structure includes a gate electrode over the first fin structure and the thin portion.
US09941383B2	Fast switching IGBT with embedded emitter shorting contacts and method for making same Integrated circuits are presented having high voltage IGBTs with integral emitter shorts and fabrication processes using wafer bonding or grown epitaxial silicon for controlled drift region thickness and fast switching speed.
US09941380B2	Graphene transistor and related methods A method and structure for providing high-quality transferred graphene layers for subsequent device fabrication includes transferring graphene onto a hydrophobic surface of a hydrophobic layer and performing a thermal treatment process. In various embodiments, a substrate including an insulating layer is provided, and a hydrophobic layer is formed over the insulating layer. In some examples, a graphene layer is transferred onto the hydrophobic layer. By way of example, the transferred graphene layer has a first carrier mobility. In some embodiments, after transferring the graphene layer, an annealing process is performed, and the annealed graphene layer has a second carrier mobility greater than the first carrier mobility.
US09941379B2	Semiconductor device and manufacturing method therefor The present invention discloses a manufacturing method for a semiconductor device. The manufacturing method includes: providing a substrate; forming a semiconductor stacked structure on the substrate; forming at least apart of a stacked cap layer on the semiconductor stacked structure, wherein the part of the stacked cap layer includes a nitride layer; removing a part of the nitride layer; forming the rest part of the stacked cap layer; forming a protection layer on the stacked cap layer, and etching the protection layer to form an opening, wherein the nitride layer is not exposed by the opening; and introducing an etchant material into the opening to etch the substrate. The present invention also provides a semiconductor device made by the method.
US09941364B2	High voltage semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same In embodiments, a high voltage semiconductor device includes a gate structure disposed on a substrate, a source region disposed at a surface portion of the substrate adjacent to one side of the gate structure, a drift region disposed at a surface portion of the substrate adjacent to another side of the gate structure, a drain region disposed at a surface portion of the drift region spaced from the gate structure, and an electrode structure disposed on the drift region to generate a vertical electric field between the gate structure and the drain region.
US09941363B2	III-V transistor device with self-aligned doped bottom barrier A semiconductor device comprises a first layer of a substrate arranged on a second layer of the substrate the second layer of the substrate including a doped III-V semiconductor material barrier layer, a gate stack arranged on a channel region of the first layer of a substrate, a spacer arranged adjacent to the gate stack on the first layer of the substrate, an undoped epitaxially grown III-V semiconductor material region arranged on the second layer of the substrate, and an epitaxially grown source/drain region arranged on the undoped epitaxially grown III-V semiconductor material region, and a portion of the first layer of the substrate.
US09941358B2	Semiconductor integrated circuit with guard ring A semiconductor integrated circuit includes a first conduction-type semiconductor region, a second conduction-type first impurity region, and a guard ring formed using a first conduction-type second impurity region so as to form a protection device of an electrostatic protection circuit. The first impurity region is formed inside the semiconductor region to have a rectangular planar structure with long and short sides. The guard ring is formed inside the semiconductor region to surround the periphery of the first impurity region. A weak spot is formed on the short side of the rectangular planar structure of the first impurity region. A plurality of electrical contacts are formed in a first portion of the guard ring which faces the long side of the rectangle. A plurality of electrical contracts are not formed in a second portion of the guard ring which faces the weak spot formed on the short side of the rectangle.
US09941355B1	Co-integration of elastic and plastic relaxation on the same wafer An n-doped field effect transistor (nFET) section of an integrated device logic region is provided. The nFET section includes a semiconductor substrate, a layer at least partially formed of silicon germanium (SiGe) disposed on the semiconductor substrate and fin formations. The fin formations are formed on the layer. Each fin formation includes a first fin portion that is at least partially formed of silicon (Si) and a second fin portion that is at least partially formed of hard mask material. The layer is etched to include free surfaces that facilitate elastic relaxation of SiGe therein and a corresponding application of tension in Si of the first fin portion of each of the fin formations.
US09941351B2	Vertical power transistor with deep trenches and deep regions surrounding cell array Various improvements in vertical transistors, such as IGBTs, are disclosed. The improvements include forming periodic highly-doped p-type emitter dots in the top surface region of a growth substrate, followed by growing the various transistor layers, followed by grounding down the bottom surface of the substrate, followed by a wet etch of the bottom surface to expose the heavily doped p+ layer. A metal contact is then formed over the p+ layer. In another improvement, edge termination structures utilize p-dopants implanted in trenches to create deep p-regions for shaping the electric field, and shallow p-regions between the trenches for rapidly removing holes after turn-off. In another improvement, a dual buffer layer using an n-layer and distributed n+ regions improves breakdown voltage and saturation voltage. In another improvement, p-zones of different concentrations in a termination structure are formed by varying pitches of trenches. In another improvement, beveled saw streets increase breakdown voltage.
US09941346B2	Display device and semiconductor device An object is to provide a display device with a high aperture ratio or a semiconductor device in which the area of an element is large. A channel formation region of a TFT with a multi-gate structure is provided under a wiring that is provided between adjacent pixel electrodes (or electrodes of an element). In addition, a channel width direction of each of a plurality of channel formation regions is parallel to a longitudinal direction of the pixel electrode. In addition, when a channel width is longer than a channel length, the area of the channel formation region can be increased.
US09941333B2	Memory device and method of manufacturing the same A memory device includes a first electrode line layer including a plurality of first electrode lines extending on a substrate in a first direction and being spaced apart from each other, a second electrode line layer including a plurality of second electrode lines extending on the first electrode line layer in a second direction that is different from the first direction and being spaced apart from each other, and a memory cell layer including a plurality of first memory cells located at a plurality of intersections between the plurality of first electrode lines and the plurality of second electrode lines, each first memory cell including a selection device layer, an intermediate electrode and a variable resistance layer that are sequentially stacked. A side surface of the variable resistance layer is perpendicular to a top surface of the substrate or inclined to be gradually wider toward an upper portion of the variable resistance layer. The first memory cell has a side surface slope so as to have a width gradually decreasing toward its upper portion.
US09941325B2	Method of manufacturing solid-state image sensor A method of manufacturing a solid-state image sensor, the method comprising preparing a structure including a substrate and an insulating member provided thereon, the substrate including a photoelectric conversion portion, forming a first opening in the insulating member, the first opening having a bottom face at a position higher than an upper face of the substrate and an inclined first face, forming a first member to fill the first opening, forming a second opening in the first member, forming a third opening, having a second face, in the insulating member by etching part of the insulating member under the second opening using the first member, and forming a second member to fill the third opening, wherein the inclined angle of the first face is smaller than that of the second face.
US09941319B2	Semiconductor and optoelectronic methods and devices A method for processing a semiconductor wafer, the method including: providing a semiconductor wafer including an image sensor pixels layer including a plurality of image sensor pixels, the layer overlaying a wafer substrate; and then bonding the semiconductor wafer to a carrier wafer; and then cutting off a substantial portion of the wafer substrate, and then processing the substantial portion of the wafer substrate for reuse.
US09941316B2	Multi-terminal optoelectronic devices for light detection Various embodiments include methods and apparatuses for forming and using pixels for image sensors. In one embodiment, an image sensor is disclosed. The image sensor includes an optically sensitive material; a plurality of electrodes proximate the optically sensitive material, including at least a first electrode, a second electrode and a third electrode; and a charge store. The first electrode is coupled to the charge store, and the first electrode and the second electrode are configured to provide a bias to the optically sensitive material to direct photocarriers to the charge store. Other methods and apparatuses are disclosed.
US09941311B2	Flexible display device and manufacturing method thereof Disclosed herein is a flexible display device, including: a substrate that comprises a first surface and a second surface which is an opposite surface to the first surface; a light-emitting device disposed on the first surface; a reduction layer disposed on the second surface; and a barrier layer disposed between the second surface and the reduction layer.
US09941310B2	Driver circuit with oxide semiconductor layers having varying hydrogen concentrations The silicon nitride layer 910 formed by plasma CVD using a gas containing a hydrogen compound such as silane (SiH4) and ammonia (NH3) is provided on and in direct contact with the oxide semiconductor layer 905 used for the resistor 354, and the silicon nitride layer 910 is provided over the oxide semiconductor layer 906 used for the thin film transistor 355 with the silicon oxide layer 909 serving as a barrier layer interposed therebetween. Therefore, a higher concentration of hydrogen is introduced into the oxide semiconductor layer 905 than into the oxide semiconductor layer 906. As a result, the resistance of the oxide semiconductor layer 905 used for the resistor 354 is made lower than that of the oxide semiconductor layer 906 used for the thin film transistor 355.
US09941304B2	Memory device, semiconductor device, and electronic device A memory device does not need a complex manufacturing process and whose power consumption can be suppressed, and a semiconductor device including the memory device. A solution is to provide a capacitor which holds data and a switching element which controls storing and releasing charge in the capacitor in a memory element. In the memory element, a phase-inversion element such as an inverter or a clocked inverter includes the phase of an input signal is inverted and the signal is output. For the switching element, a transistor including an oxide semiconductor in a channel formation region is used. In the case where application of a power supply voltage to the phase-inversion element is stopped, the data is stored in the capacitor, so that the data is held in the capacitor even when the application of the power supply voltage to the phase-inversion element is stopped.
US09941295B2	Method of making a three-dimensional memory device having a heterostructure quantum well channel A cylindrical confinement electron gas confined within a two-dimensional cylindrical region can be formed in a vertical semiconductor channel extending through a plurality of electrically conductive layers comprising control gate electrodes. A memory film in a memory opening is interposed between the vertical semiconductor channel and the electrically conductive layers. The vertical semiconductor channel includes a wider band gap semiconductor material and a narrow band gap semiconductor material. The cylindrical confinement electron gas is formed at an interface between the wider band gap semiconductor material and the narrow band gap semiconductor material. As a two-dimensional electron gas, the cylindrical confinement electron gas can provide high charge carrier mobility for the vertical semiconductor channel, which can be advantageously employed to provide higher performance for a three-dimensional memory device.
US09941293B1	Select transistors with tight threshold voltage in 3D memory Disclosed herein is a 3D memory with a select transistor, and method for fabricating the same. The select transistor may have a conductive floating gate, a conductive control gate, a first dielectric between the conductive floating gate and the conductive control gate, and a second dielectric between a body and the conductive floating gate. In one aspect, a uniform gate dielectric is formed using lateral epitaxial growth in a recess adjacent a crystalline semiconductor select transistor body, followed by forming the gate dielectric from the epitaxial growth. Techniques help to prevent, or at least reduce, a leakage current between the select transistor control gate and the select transistor body and/or the semiconductor substrate below the select transistor. Therefore, select transistors having a substantially uniform threshold voltage, on current, and S-factor are achieved. Also, select transistors have a high on-current and a steep sub-threshold slope.
US09941291B2	Three-dimensional non-volatile memory device A semiconductor device includes at least one first conductive layer stacked on a substrate where a cell region and a contact region are defined; at least one first slit passing through the first conductive layer, second conductive layers stacked on the first conductive layer; a second slit passing through the first and second conductive layers and connected with one side of the first slit, and a third slit passing through the first and second conductive layers and connected with the other side of the first slit.
US09941285B2	Pattern forming method and semiconductor device manufacturing method using the same A method for forming patterns includes forming an etch target layer; etching the etch target layer to form a pre-pattern having a line forming portion and a plurality of pad portions; forming a plurality of spacers which extend across the pad portions and the line forming portion; forming, over the spacers, a blocking layer having an opening which blocks the pad portions and exposes the line forming portion; and etching the line forming portion by using the blocking layer and the spacers as a barrier, to form a plurality of line portions.
US09941282B2	Integrated metal gate CMOS devices A semiconductor device comprises a first semiconductor fin arranged on a substrate, the first semiconductor fin having a first channel region, and a second semiconductor fin arranged on the substrate, the second semiconductor fin having a second channel region. A first gate stack is arranged on the first channel region. The first gate stack comprises a first metal layer arranged on the first channel region, a work function metal layer arranged on the first metal layer, and a work function metal arranged on the work function metal layer. A second gate stack is arranged on the second channel region, the second gate stack comprising a work function metal arranged on the second channel region.
US09941275B2	3D semiconductor device and structure An Integrated Circuit device, including: a first layer including first single crystal transistors; a second layer overlaying the first layer, the second layer including second single crystal transistors, where the second layer thickness is less than one micron, where a plurality of the first transistors is circumscribed by a first dice lane of at least 10 microns width, and there are no first conductive connections to the plurality of the first transistors that cross the first dice lane, where a plurality of the second transistors are circumscribed by a second dice lane of at least 10 microns width, and there are no second conductive connections to the plurality of the second transistors that cross the second dice lane, and at least one thermal conducting path from at least one of the second single crystal transistors to an external surface of the device.
US09941267B2	Electro-static discharge protection circuit An electro-static discharge (ESD) protection circuit is configured to protect circuitry during an ESD event. The ESD protection circuit includes an ESD detection circuit and an ESD clamp circuit. The ESD clamp circuit includes a stack of transistors that is controlled by the ESD detection circuit. A first stack transistor of the stack of transistors includes a deep n-well. The stack of transistors is configured to be activated responsive to detecting the ESD event. The stack of transistors is configured to be deactivated responsive to detecting at least one of normal current conditions or normal voltage conditions. The ESD detection circuit includes a string of diodes. The string of diodes is configured to be activated responsive to detecting the ESD event. The stack of transistors is configured to be a voltage divider responsive to normal voltage conditions.
US09941265B2	Circuitry with voltage limiting and capactive enhancement Aspects of the present disclosure are directed to circuitry operable with enhanced capacitance and mitigation of avalanche breakdown. As may be implemented in accordance with one or more embodiments, an apparatus and/or method involves respective transistors of a cascode circuit, one of which controls the other in an off state by applying a voltage to a gate thereof. A plurality of doped regions are separated by trenches, with the conductive trenches being configured and arranged with the doped regions to provide capacitance across the source and the drain of the second transistor, and restricting voltage at one of the source and the drain of the second transistor, therein mitigating avalanche breakdown of the second transistor.
US09941257B2	Embedded stacked die packages and related methods Forming a semiconductor package includes coupling electrically conductive elements with a substrate, coupling a first die with one or more of the electrically conductive elements, and at least partially encapsulating the first die and electrically conductive elements in a first mold layer. A first redistribution layer (RDL) is placed over the first mold layer and electrically coupled with the first die. A second die is coupled with the first RDL, and the second die and first RDL are at least partially encapsulated in a second mold layer. A second RDL is formed over the second mold layer and is electrically coupled with the second die. A third mold layer at least partially encapsulates the second RDL. A portion of the substrate is removed to expose (and a solder mask is applied to) surfaces of the electrically conductive elements and of the first mold layer to form a stacked embedded package.
US09941247B2	Stack semiconductor device and memory device with driving circuits connected to through-silicon-vias (TSV) in different substrates in a staggered manner A memory device including a stack semiconductor device including; an upper substrate vertically stacked on a lower substrate, the upper substrate including N upper through-silicon vias (UTSV) and upper driving circuits, and the lower substrate including N lower through-silicon vias (LTSV) and lower driving circuits, wherein each one of the upper driving circuits is stagger-connected between a Kth UTSV and a (K+1)th LTSV, where ‘N’ is a natural number greater than 1, and ‘K’ is a natural number ranging from 1 to (N−1).
US09941246B2	Electronic assembly that includes stacked electronic devices An electronic assembly that includes a first electronic device. The first electronic device includes a cavity that extends into a back side of the first electronic device. The electronic assembly further includes a second electronic device. The second electronic device is mounted to the first electronic device within the cavity in the first electronic device. In some example forms of the electronic assembly, the first electronic device and the second electronic device are each a die. It should be noted that other forms of the electronic assembly are contemplated where only one of the first electronic device and the second electronic device is a die. In some forms of the electronic assembly, the second electronic device is soldered to the first electronic device.
US09941245B2	Integrated circuit packages including high density bump-less build up layers and a lesser density core or coreless substrate In some embodiments, integrated circuit packages including high density bump-less build up layers and a lesser density core or coreless substrate are presented. In this regard, an apparatus is introduced having a first element including a microelectronic die having an active surface and at least one side, an encapsulation material adjacent said at least one microelectronic die side, wherein said encapsulation material includes at least one surface substantially planar to said microelectronic die active surface, a first dielectric material layer disposed on at least a portion of said microelectronic die active surface and said encapsulation material surface, a plurality of build-up layers disposed on said first dielectric material layer, and a plurality of conductive traces disposed on said first dielectric material layer and said build-up layers and in electrical contact with said microelectronic die active surface; and a second element coupled to the first element, the second element including a substrate having a plurality of dielectric material layers and conductive traces to conductively couple conductive contacts on a top surface with conductive contacts on a bottom surface, said conductive contacts on said top surface conductively coupled with said conductive traces of said first element. Other embodiments are also disclosed and claimed.
US09941243B2	Wafer-to-wafer bonding structure A wafer-to-wafer bonding structure includes a first wafer including a first conductive pad in a first insulating layer and a first barrier layer surrounding a lower surface and side surfaces of the first conductive pad, a second wafer including a second conductive pad in a second insulating layer and a second barrier layer surrounding a lower surface and side surfaces of the second conductive pad, the second insulating layer being bonded to the first insulating layer, and at least a portion of an upper surface of the second conductive pad being partially or entirely bonded to at least a portion of an upper surface of the first conductive pad, and a third barrier layer between portions of the first and second wafers where the first and second conductive pads are not bonded to each other.
US09941242B2	Unpacked structure for power device of radio frequency power amplification module and assembly method therefor A power device without a package structure in a radio frequency power amplifier module and an assembly method for a radio frequency power amplifier module are provided. The radio frequency power amplification module includes the power device, a heat dissipating plate and a printed circuit board. The power device includes a carrier flange, a plurality of electronic elements and bond-wires, and the electronic elements are adhered to the carrier flange, the power device and the printed circuit board are fixed on the heat dissipating plate, the electronic elements of the power device are connected with each other through the bond-wires, and the electronic elements are directly connected to the printed circuit board through the bond-wires. The electronic elements include at least one passive device, a decoupling capacitor is disposed on the printed circuit board, and the decoupling capacitor is connected to the passive device through the bond-wires.
US09941238B2	Wiring with external terminal Apparatuses for providing external terminals of a semiconductor device are described. An example apparatus includes: a connection wiring of a ring-shape having comprising a hole and a conductive layer surrounding the hole, the conductive layer including a first connection point and a second connection point that are located so that a straight line between the first connection point and the second connection point crosses over the hole; an external terminal coupled to the first connection point of the conductive layer of the connection wiring; and an internal circuit coupled to the second connection point of the conductive layer of the connection wiring.
US09941236B2	Semiconductor device having wire bonding connection and method for manufacturing the same To prevent cracks of an interlayer insulation film at the time of wire bonding while maintaining adhesion of an aluminum pad electrode and the interlayer insulation film in a semiconductor device in which the aluminum pad electrode and a lead frame are connected with bonding wire by a ball bonding technology. In a bonding pad that is configured to have multiple pad electrodes each with two or more layers, the pad electrodes being electrically connected with one another through vias, the vias are not arranged under an area to which a capillary end of a wire bonder contacts at the time of the wire bonding.
US09941234B2	Integrated packaging of multiple double sided cooling planar bond power modules An integrated double sided cooled power module has one or multiple phase legs configuration including one or more planar power packages, each planar power package having an upper power switch unit and a lower power switch unit directly bonded and interconnected between two insulated power substrates, and further sandwiched between two heat exchangers via direct bonds. A segmented coolant manifold is interposed with the one or more planar power packages and creates a sealed enclosure that defines a coolant inlet, a coolant outlet and a coolant flow path between the inlet and the outlet. A coolant circulates along the flow path to remove heat and increase the power density of the power module.
US09941232B2	Electronic component device An electronic component device includes: a lower wiring substrate; an electronic component on the lower wiring substrate; an upper wiring substrate disposed above the lower wiring substrate and the electronic component; a bump conductor disposed between the lower wiring substrate and the upper wiring substrate to electrically connect the lower wiring substrate and the upper wiring substrate; and a sealing resin provided between the lower wiring substrate and the upper wiring substrate to seal the electronic component and the bump conductor. The upper wiring substrate includes: a first wiring layer directly connected to the bump conductor; and a first insulating layer having an opening portion through which the first wiring layer is exposed and disposed to cover the first wiring layer. The first wiring layer and the first insulating layer are not opposed to the electronic component in a thickness direction of the electronic component device.
US09941231B2	Semiconductor device A semiconductor chip includes a substrate, an electrode pad formed on the substrate, an insulating layer covering the substrate and the electrode pad, and having an opening exposing a portion of a surface of the electrode pad, a first conductive layer formed on the exposed portion of the surface of the electrode pad and extending to a surface of the insulating layer, and a second conductive layer formed on the first conductive layer, covering the first conductive layer in a plan view, and having an outer edge portion which is located further out than an outer edge of the first conductive layer in a plan view. The outer edge portion of the second conductive layer has at least one curved portion. At least one portion of the curved portion is located between the outer edge of the first conductive layer and an outer edge of the second conductive layer in a plan view.
US09941223B2	Devices and methods for detecting counterfeit semiconductor devices Techniques for providing a tamper mechanism for semiconductor devices are disclosed herein. The techniques include, for example, providing at least one die and at least one strain gauge, orienting the at least one strain gauge to the die, forming an encapsulated semiconductor device by encapsulating the die and each strain gauge within a mold compound to maintain respective orientation, and measuring an initial strain value for the at least one strain gauge after forming the encapsulated semiconductor device.
US09941211B1	Reducing metallic interconnect resistivity through application of mechanical strain Methods are provided for fabricating metallic interconnect structures having reduced electrical resistivity that is obtained by applying mechanical strain to the metallic interconnect structures, as well as semiconductor structures having metallic interconnect structures formed with permanent mechanical strain to provide reduced electrical resistivity. For example, a method includes forming a metallic interconnect structure in an interlevel dielectric (ILD) layer of a back-end-of-line (BEOL) structure of a semiconductor structure, and forming a stress layer in contact with the metallic interconnect structure. A thermal anneal process is performed to cause the stress layer to expand and apply compressive strain to the metallic interconnect structure and permanently deform at least a portion of the metallic interconnect structure into a stress memorized state of compressive strain.
US09941208B1	Substrate structure and manufacturing method thereof A substrate structure includes a metal substrate, a first connection layer, a second connection layer, a dielectric material layer, a metal core layer and an internal component. The first and second connection layers are disposed on a surface of the metal substrate. The metal core layer having an opening is disposed on a surface of the first connection layer. The internal component having a plurality of electrode pads is disposed on a surface of the second connection layer and in the opening of the metal core layer. The dielectric material layer is disposed on the surface of the metal substrate. The first and second connection layers, the metal core layer and the internal component are partially covered with the dielectric material layer. The metal core layer is electrically connected to one of the electrode pads via the first and second connection layers and the metal core layer.
US09941202B2	Dielectric thermal conductor for passivating efuse and metal resistor A semiconductor device includes a first dielectric layer formed on a second dielectric layer and planar contacts formed in the second dielectric layer. The planar contacts are spaced apart to form a gap therebetween. The first dielectric layer includes a thermally conductive dielectric layer and is formed on lateral sides of the planar contacts and in the gap. A resistive element is formed between the planar contacts over the gap and in contact with at least the thermally conductive dielectric layer in the gap.
US09941201B1	Magnetically decoupled inductor structures In one embodiment, an integrated circuit die includes first and second inductor structures, a first ground conductor, a second ground conductor and a conductive trace. The first ground conductor provides a first ground pathway for the first inductor structure. The second ground conductor provides a second ground pathway for the second inductor structure. The conductive trace coupled between the first and second ground conductors may magnetically decouple the first and second inductor structures. In addition, the integrated circuit die may also include conductive guard ring structures that surround the first and second inductor structures. One of the conductive guard ring structures may be connected to the first grounding pathway and the other conductive guard ring structure may be connected to the second grounding pathway. The conductive guard ring structures may further magnetically decouple the first and second inductor structures.
US09941196B2	Semiconductor device, fabricating method thereof and semiconductor package including the semiconductor device In one embodiment, a semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate having a first surface, and a second surface opposite to the first surface. The second surface defines a redistribution trench. The substrate has a via hole extending therethrough. The semiconductor device also includes a through via disposed in the via hole. The through via may include a via hole insulating layer, a barrier layer, sequentially formed on an inner wall of the via hole. The through via may further include a conductive connector adjacent the barrier layer. The semiconductor device additionally includes an insulation layer pattern formed on the second surface of the substrate. The insulation layer pattern defines an opening that exposes a region of a top surface of the through via. The semiconductor devices includes a redistribution layer disposed in the trench and electrically connected to the through via. The insulation layer pattern overlaps a region of the conductive connector.
US09941195B2	Vertical metal insulator metal capacitor A semiconductor device and a method are disclosed herein. The semiconductor device includes a device die, a molding layer surrounding the device die, a plurality of first vertical conductive structures formed within the molding layer, and a plurality of second vertical conductive structures formed within the molding layer. The first vertical conductive structures and the second vertical conductive structures are interlaced with each other, and an insulating structure is formed between the first vertical conductive structures and the second vertical conductive structures.
US09941192B2	Semiconductor device having repairable penetration electrode A semiconductor device having a repairable penetration electrode is provided. The semiconductor device having the repairable penetration electrode includes first and second signal transfer regions including main penetration electrodes penetrating a substrate, and a repair region including a spare penetration electrode penetrating the substrate. The first and second signal transfer regions are spaced apart from each other. The repair region is disposed between the first and second signal transfer regions. The first and second signal transfer regions share the repair region such that the spare penetration electrode of the repair region is substituted for a defective main penetration electrode of the first and second signal transfer regions.
US09941191B2	Non-bridging contact via structures in proximity A first photoresist layer is patterned with a first pattern that includes an opening in a region between areas of two adjacent via holes to be formed. The opening in the first photoresist is transferred into a template layer to form a line trench therein. The lateral dimension of the trench is reduced by depositing a contiguous spacer layer that does not fill the trench completely. An etch-resistant material layer is conformally deposited and fills the trench, and is subsequently recessed to form an etch-resistant material portion filling the trench. A second photoresist layer is applied and patterned with a second pattern, which includes an opening that includes areas of two via holes and an area therebetween. A composite pattern of an intersection of the second pattern and the complement of the pattern of the etch-resistant material portion is transferred through the template layer.
US09941190B2	Semiconductor device having through-silicon-via and methods of forming the same Semiconductor devices having a through-silicon-via and methods of forming the same are described herein. As an example, a semiconductor device may include a substrate material, a through-silicon-via protrusion extending from the substrate material, a first dielectric material formed on the substrate material, a second dielectric material formed on the first dielectric material, and an interconnect formed on the through-silicon-via protrusion, where the interconnect formed is in an opening in the second dielectric material.
US09941180B2	Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof A semiconductor package and a manufacturing method thereof, which can reduce the size of the semiconductor package and improve product reliability. In a non-limiting example embodiment, the method may comprise forming an interposer on a wafer, forming at least one reinforcement member on the interposer, coupling and electrically connecting at least one semiconductor die to the interposer to the interposer, filling a region between the semiconductor die and the interposer with an underfill, and encapsulating the reinforcement member, the semiconductor die and the underfill on the interposer using an encapsulant.
US09941178B2	Methods for detecting endpoint for through-silicon via reveal applications Systems and methods for processing a semiconductor wafer includes a plasma processing chamber. The plasma processing chamber includes an exterior, an interior region with a wafer receiving mechanism and a viewport disposed on a sidewall of the plasma processing chamber providing visual access from the exterior to the wafer received on the wafer receiving mechanism. A camera is mounted to the viewport of the plasma processing chamber on the exterior and coupled to an image processor. The image processor includes pattern recognition logic to match images of emerging pattern captured and transmitted by the camera, to a reference pattern and to generate signal defining an endpoint when a match is detected. A system process controller coupled to the image processor and the plasma processing chamber receives the signal from the image processor and adjusts controls of one or more resources to stop the etching operation.
US09941173B2	Memory cell layout A system and method for a memory cell layout is disclosed. An embodiment comprises forming dummy layers and spacers along the sidewalls of the dummy layer. Once the spacers have been formed, the dummy layers may be removed and the spacers may be used as a mask. By using the spacers instead of a standard lithographic process, the inherent limitations of the lithographic process can be avoided and further scaling of FinFET devices can be achieved.
US09941172B2	Method for fabricating semiconductor device including a via hole in a mask pattern A method for fabricating a semiconductor device is provided. The method for fabricating the semiconductor device includes forming an interlayer insulating layer that comprises a first region and a second region, forming an etch stop pattern for exposing the second region in the first region of the interlayer insulating layer and forming a mask pattern that comprises a first via-hole that exposes an upper surface of the etch stop pattern and a second via-hole that penetrates the interlayer insulating layer on the interlayer insulating layer and the etch stop pattern.
US09941163B2	Gate tie-down enablement with inner spacer A method for forming a gate tie-down includes opening up a cap layer and recessing gate spacers on a gate structure to expose a gate conductor; forming inner spacers on the gate spacers; etching contact openings adjacent to sides of the gate structure down to a substrate below the gate structures; and forming trench contacts on sides of the gate structure. An interlevel dielectric (ILD) is deposited on the gate conductor and the trench contacts and over the gate structure. The ILD is opened up to expose the trench contact on one side of the gate structure and the gate conductor. A second conductive material provides a self-aligned contact down to the trench contact on the one side and to form a gate contact down to the gate conductor and a horizontal connection within the ILD over an active area between the gate conductor and the self-aligned contact.
US09941159B2	Method of manufacturing a semiconductor device A method of making a semiconductor device includes forming a first opening in an insulating layer, forming a second opening in the insulating layer, forming a third opening in the insulating layer and filling the first opening, the second opening and the third opening with a conductive material. The first opening has a width and a length. The second opening has a width less than the length of the first opening, and is electrically connected to the first opening. The third opening has a width less than the width of the second opening, and is electrically connected to the second opening.
US09941146B2	Semiconductor device and method Disclosed herein is a semiconductor device that includes a semiconductor die and a substrate having a first surface and a second surface. The semiconductor die is attached to the second surface. The substrate includes a layer of insulative material and at least a portion of an embedded conductive circuit in the layer of insulative material. The substrate includes an etched layer of a conductive material attached to the portion of the conductive circuit, the etched layer of the conductive material located on the first surface of the substrate.
US09941139B2	Method of semiconductor integrated circuit fabrication A method of fabricating a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) is disclosed. In one embodiment, a material layer is formed over a substrate and a first hard mask (HM) feature is formed over the material layer. The HM feature includes an upper portion having a first width and a lower portion having a second width which is greater than the first width. The method also includes forming spacers along sidewalls of the first HM feature, forming second HM features over the material layer by using the spacers as a first etch mask and forming patterned features in the material layer by using the second HM features as a second etch mask.
US09941137B2	Substrate planarizing method and dropping amount calculating method According to one embodiment, a substrate planarizing method includes dropping from above a substrate with topography, resist whose amount is determined in accordance with the volume of a concave portion according to the topography. The distance between a blank template with a flat pressing plane and the substrate is set to a predetermined distance and then the resist is cured. After that, the blank template is released from the resist and the substrate is entirely etched. The amount of resist to be dropped on the substrate is adjusted for units of shot of the substrate.
US09941133B2	Plasma processing apparatus and plasma processing method A plasma processing apparatus includes a plasma processing chamber processing a sample using plasma, a radio frequency power supply supplying radio frequency power for generating the plasma, a sample stage including an electrode electrostatically chucking the sample, mounting the sample thereon, a DC power supply applying DC voltage to the electrode, and a control device shifting the DC voltage previously set, in a negative direction by a first shift amount during discharge of the plasma, shifting the DC voltage having been shifted in the negative direction by the first shift amount, in a positive direction by a second shift amount after the discharge of the plasma. The first shift amount has a value changing potential over a surface of the sample to 0 V, upon shifting the DC voltage in the positive direction. The second shift amount has a value obtained based on a floating potential of the plasma.
US09941131B1	Method for applying developer on semiconductor wafer A method for applying developer over a semiconductor wafer is provided. The method includes moving a nozzle over the center of the semiconductor wafer. The nozzle extends across the semiconductor wafer. The method also includes rotating the semiconductor wafer by a dispensing rotation angle that is less than 180 degrees. The method further includes dispensing developer over the semiconductor wafer relative to alignment marks formed on the semiconductor wafer while the semiconductor wafer is rotated by the dispensing rotation angle.
US09941119B2	Method of forming silicon layer in manufacturing semiconductor device and recording medium A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes alternately performing supplying a first process gas containing silicon and a halogen element to a substrate having a surface on which monocrystalline silicon and an insulation film are exposed and supplying a second process gas containing silicon and not containing a halogen element to the substrate, and supplying a third process gas containing silicon to the substrate, whereby a first silicon film is homo-epitaxially grown on the monocrystalline silicon and a second silicon film differing in crystal structure from the first silicon film is grown on the insulation film.
US09941115B2	Method for manufacturing semiconductor device A release layer formed over a substrate; at least one of thin film integrated circuits is formed over the release layer; a film is formed over each of the at least one of thin film integrated circuits; and the release layer is removed by using an etchant; thus, the at least one of thin film integrated circuits is peeled from the substrate. A semiconductor device is formed by sealing the peeled thin film integrated circuit by lamination or the like.
US09941114B2	Organometallic precursors and methods of forming thin layers using the same An organometallic precursor is represented by a chemical formula of Xn(M)(R1)m(R2)k. M is a central metal. X is a ligand of M and one of 6,6-dimethylfulvenyl, indenyl, cyclopentadienyl and cyclopentadienyl substituted with an amino group. R1 and R2 are ligands of M, and each independently an amino group or an ethylenediamino group. Each n, m and k is a positive integer, and a sum of n, m and k is equal to 3 or 4.
US09941113B2	Systems and methods for using electrical asymmetry effect to control plasma process space in semiconductor fabrication Systems and methods are disclosed for plasma enabled film deposition on a wafer in which a plasma is generated using radiofrequency signals of multiple frequencies and in which a phase angle relationship is controlled between the radiofrequency signals of multiple frequencies. In the system, a pedestal is provided to support the wafer. A plasma generation region is formed above the pedestal. An electrode is disposed in proximity to the plasma generation region to provide for transmission of radiofrequency signals into the plasma generation region. A radiofrequency power supply provides multiple radiofrequency signals of different frequencies to the electrode. A lowest of the different frequencies is a base frequency, and each of the different frequencies that is greater than the base frequency is an even harmonic of the base frequency. The radiofrequency power supply provides for variable control of the phase angle relationship between each of the multiple radiofrequency signals.
US09941111B2	Method for processing a semiconductor layer, method for processing a silicon substrate, and method for processing a silicon layer According to various embodiments, a method for processing a semiconductor layer may include: generating an etch plasma in a plasma chamber of a remote plasma source, wherein the plasma chamber of the remote plasma source is coupled to a processing chamber for processing the semiconductor layer; introducing the etch plasma into the processing chamber to remove a native oxide layer from a surface of the semiconductor layer and at most a negligible amount of semiconductor material of the semiconductor layer; and, subsequently, depositing a dielectric layer directly on the surface of the semiconductor layer.
US09941104B2	Systems and methods for delivering liquid to an ion source Methods and systems for delivering a liquid sample to an ion source are provided herein: In various aspects, the methods and systems described herein can utilize the flow provided by an LC pump(s) to drive a calibration fluid to an ion source of a mass spectrometer system. In various aspects, methods and systems described herein can additionally or alternatively be placed upstream of an LC column for providing an elution gradient of a plurality of solvents, without requiring a plurality of pumps and/or separate mixing elements.
US09941100B2	Adjustable nozzle for plasma deposition and a method of controlling the adjustable nozzle The description relates to an adjustable nozzle capable of pivoting about an axis of the nozzle and translating along the axis of the nozzle. A high density plasma chemical vapor deposition (HDP CVD) chamber houses a plurality of adjustable nozzles. A feedback control system includes a control unit coupled to the adjustable nozzle and the HDP CVD chamber to form a more uniform thickness profile of films deposited on a wafer in the HDP CVD chamber.
US09941099B2	Plasma treatment of an elastomeric material for adhesion Elastomeric components, such as a shoe outsole, are treated with a plasma application to clean and activate the elastomeric component. The application of plasma is controlled to achieve a sufficient surface composition change to enhance adhesion characteristics while not adversely physically deforming the elastomeric component. The plasma treatment is applied to increase carbonyl functional group concentrations within an altered region of the elastomeric component to within at least a range of 2%-15% of carbon atomic percentage composition. The cleaning and activation is controlled, in part, by ensuring a defined height offset range is maintained between the elastomeric component and the plasma source by a generated tool path. The elastomeric component may then be adhered, with an adhesive, to another component.
US09941091B2	X-ray tube An X-ray tube includes a cathode including an emitter emitting an electron beam, an anode at which a target material is disposed, the target material emitting an X-ray by colliding with the electron beam, and an insulating spacer isolating the anode, wherein the cathode or the anode is disposed between the emitter and the insulating spacer.
US09941089B2	Cesium primary ion source for secondary ion mass spectrometer A primary ion source subassembly for use with a secondary ion mass spectrometer may include a unitary graphite ionizer tube and reservoir base. A primary ion source may include a capillary insert defining an ionizer aperture. An ionizer aperture may be centrally arranged in an outwardly protruding conical or frustoconical surface, and may be overlaid with a refractory metal coating or sheath. Parameters including ionizer surface shape, ionizer materials, ionizer temperature, and beam stop plate orifice geometry may be manipulated to eliminate ghost images. A graphite tube gasket with a dual tapered surface may promote sealing of a source material cavity.
US09941077B2	Computer thin film switch keyboard The present invention discloses a computer thin film switch keyboard, wherein the keyboard comprises keys/keycaps, a light guide film, a fixing film/air hole layer, metal domes, an air slot layer, a conductive film/PCB and a key plate, the key plate is disposed at the lowest layer, the conductive film/PCB is disposed above the key plate, the air slot layer is disposed above the conductive film/PCB, the metal domes are disposed on the conductive film/PCB, more than one metal dome is disposed corresponding to key configurations on the keyboard, the fixing film/air hole layer is disposed above the metal domes, and the keys/keycaps are disposed above the fixing film/air hole layer. The present invention has characteristics of being light, thin, and easy to carry, and having a Bluetooth function, a short stroke, and lower noises, etc.
US09941074B2	Key structure and keyboard using the same A key structure comprises a substrate, a membrane circuit disposed on the substrate, a waterproof structure disposed on the membrane circuit, a keycap, a conduction switch and a scissors structure. The waterproof structure includes a waterproof plate and a waterproof wall with a through hole. The waterproof wall surrounds the through hole and extends opposite to the membrane circuit. An end of the conduction switch passes through the through hole to be disposed on the membrane circuit, and the other end of the conduction switch protrudes from the waterproof wall to be connected to the keycap. The scissors structure includes a first end portion and a second end portion. The first end portion is pivotally connected to the keycap, and the second end portion is pivotally connected to the waterproof wall for the keycap to move up and down relatively to the membrane circuit.
US09941073B2	Keyboard device A keyboard device includes a base plate, a key and a membrane circuit board. The key is connected with the base plate. The membrane circuit board is arranged between the key and the base plate. The base plate includes a connecting structure. The connecting structure is protruded upwardly and penetrated through the membrane circuit board. The key includes a keycap and a stabilizer bar. The stabilizer bar is pivotally coupled to the keycap. A hook part of the stabilizer bar is penetrated through a corresponding locking hole of the connecting structure. The membrane circuit board includes an extension part. The extension part is extended from a first side of the locking hole to a second side of the locking hole and penetrated through the locking hole. Consequently, the hook part of the stabilizer bar is movable on the extension part of the membrane circuit board.
US09941069B2	Switch-type key structure An improved switch-type key structure includes a support plate, a microswitch, a connection element, and a key cap. The microswitch is fixed onto the support plate and is electrically connected thereto. The connection element is movably disposed on the support plate. The connection element includes a balance portion and a support portion extending downward from the balance portion. The key cap is disposed on the balance portion. The connection element is disposed between the support plate and the key cap through the microswitch, a hook hole corresponding to the support portion is disposed on the support plate, a hook is disposed at a distal end of the support portion, and the hook passes through the hook hole to engage the connection element with the support plate. Accordingly, the key cap is stressed evenly, returns instantly after being depressed, and is prevented from vibrations/wobbles.
US09941065B2	Current assignment method and corresponding switch arrangement A current assignment method and a switch arrangement are disclosed for assigning current, the switch arrangement including two series-connected switches, each including a trigger unit to check whether a preset current condition is satisfied. A signal is sent by the trigger unit of a switch which is postpositionally placed when the current condition is satisfied, the signal at least preventing the immediate triggering of a correspondingly prepositionally placed switch after being received by the corresponding trigger unit. To achieve a technically simple communication connection between switches, in at least one embodiment each trigger unit is formed so as to send but and receive the signal, and each trigger unit includes a measurement unit for measuring an energy flow direction in a subordinate switch and a conversion unit for converting from sending to receiving or from receiving to sending appropriately when the energy flow direction is reversed.
US09941055B2	Solid electrolytic capacitor with interlayer crosslinking A method for preparing a solid electrolytic capacitor and an improved solid electrolytic capacitor is provided. The method includes providing an anode, forming a dielectric on the anode, forming a cathode on the dielectric and forming subsequent layers on the cathode wherein the cathode and subsequent layers preferably comprise interlayers. At least one interlayer comprises a monomer, oligomer or polymer with multifunctional or multiple reactive groups and an adjacent layer comprises a molecule with crosslinkable functionality. The oligomer or polymer with multifunctional or multiple reactive groups on one layer react with the crosslinkable functionality in the adjacent layer.
US09941054B2	Integration of embedded thin film capacitors in package substrates An embedded thin film capacitor and methods of its fabrication are disclosed. The embedded thin film capacitor includes two conductive plates separated by a dielectric layer. In embodiments, the capacitor is enclosed within a package substrate. A method of forming the embedded thin film capacitor includes forming a first insulating layer on a bottom plate and a first trace. A first opening is then formed in a first insulating layer to expose a first region of a bottom plate. An adhesive layer is then formed on the first insulating layer and on top of the exposed first region of the bottom plate. A second opening is formed through the insulating layer and the first insulating layer to expose a second region of the bottom plate. A top plate is formed within the first opening and a via is formed within the second opening.
US09941049B2	Multilayer ceramic electronic component A multilayer ceramic capacitor includes a ceramic element body including internal electrodes therein. External electrodes are provided on end surfaces of the ceramic element body and electrically connected to exposed portions of respective ones of the internal electrodes. Each of the external electrodes includes a sintered metal layer, a conductive resin layer, and a plating layer. In a cross section including a first interface between the sintered metal layer and the conductive resin layer, the sintered metal layer includes a plurality of recesses each including an inlet extending along the first interface and an inner portion extending from the first interface into the sintered metal layer, each of the recesses having a shape in which a dimension of the inner portion is larger than a dimension of the inlet measured along the first interface, and in a cross section including a second interface between the conductive resin layer and the plating layer, a number of the metal particles exposed from the conductive resin layer in a portion of the second interface with a length of about 1 mm is 50 to 250.
US09941037B2	Magnetocaloric material based on NdPrFe17 with improved properties The instant invention relates to a magnetocaloric material based on NdPrFe17 melt-spun ribbons. This material has improved properties when compared with other similar magnetocaloric (MC) materials since it has an enhanced refrigeration capacity in the room temperature range due to its broader magnetic entropy change as function of the temperature curve. This material is useful as magnetic refrigerant as a part of magnetocaloric refrigerators.
US09941032B2	Low-resistance connection body for high-temperature superconducting wire material and connection method Provided is a low-resistance connection body for a high-temperature superconducting wire, in which a high-temperature superconducting bulk body and a high-temperature superconducting wire including a high-temperature superconducting layer are connected to each other, wherein a melting point of the high-temperature superconducting layer is higher than a melting point of the high-temperature superconducting bulk body; the high-temperature superconducting layer and the high-temperature superconducting bulk body are in contact at a connection site of the high-temperature superconducting wire and the high-temperature superconducting bulk body; and a surface of the high-temperature superconducting bulk body that is in contact with the high-temperature superconducting layer is crystallized due to crystal growth. Two high-temperature superconducting wires can be connected, with low resistance, through connection of the two high-temperature superconducting wires to one high-temperature superconducting bulk.
US09941029B2	Buoyant marine electromagnetic cable assembly Embodiments described herein provide an EM source cable assembly with a buoyant member having first and second ends, and a longitudinal axis connecting the first end to the second end, and a plurality of indentations disposed along a surface of the buoyant member between the first end and the second end, wherein the indentations are operable to receive corresponding cables. The indentations extend along the longitudinal axis, and may be arranged helically about the longitudinal axis. The buoyant member may have a low density core material and a dense outer material, each of which may be a polymeric material. The low density material may be a foam, and the buoyant member may be formed by coextruding the low density material and the dense outer material.
US09941022B2	Setting a default read signal based on error correction A number of methods can include reading a page of data from a group of memory cells with a first discrete read signal and error correcting at least one codeword of the page of data as read with the first discrete read signal. Methods can include reading a page of data from the group of memory cells with a second discrete read signal different than the first discrete read signal and error correcting at least one codeword of the page of data as read with the second discrete read signal. One of the first and the second discrete read signals can be set as a default read signal based at least in part on the respective error corrections.
US09941013B2	Memory device that performs sensing operation during a bit line pre-charge operation to determine adjustment to the bit line charging voltage A memory device includes memory cells, word lines that are each connected to gates of a plurality of the memory cells, bit lines that are each connected to a plurality of the memory cells, and a control circuit configured to perform a determination operation on the memory cells. During the determination operation for a first memory cell among the memory cells, a first bit line connected to the first memory cell is charged using a bit line charge voltage, and the bit line charge voltage is adjusted based on a result of a first sensing operation that is performed on the first bit line. A second sensing operation is performed on the first bit line after the first sensing operation to determine whether a threshold voltage of the first memory cell is greater than a reference voltage.
US09941012B2	Twin memory cell interconnection structure Non-volatile memory including rows and columns of memory cells, the columns of memory cells including pairs of twin memory cells including a common selection gate. According to the disclosure, two bitlines are provided per column of memory cells. The adjacent twin memory cells of the same column are not connected to the same bitline while the adjacent non-twin memory cells of the same column are connected to the same bitline.
US09941011B2	Memory array with one shared deep doped region A memory array includes a plurality of memory pages, each memory page includes a plurality of memory cells, and each memory cell includes a floating gate module, a control element, and an erase element. The floating gate module is disposed in a first well, the erase element is disposed in a second well, and the control element is disposed in a third well. The first well, the second well and the third well are disposed in a deep doped region, and memory cells of the plurality of memory pages are all disposed in the deep doped region. Therefore, the spacing rule between deep doped regions is no longer be used to limit the circuit area of the memory array and the circuit area of the memory array can be reduced.
US09941001B2	Circuits for determining the resistive states of resistive change elements Devices and methods for determining resistive states of resistive change elements in resistive change element arrays are disclosed. According to some aspects of the present disclosure the devices and methods for determining resistive states of resistive change elements can determine resistive states of resistive change elements by sensing current flow. According to some aspects of the present disclosure the devices and methods for determining resistive states of resistive change elements can determine resistive states of resistive change elements without the need for in situ selection devices or other current controlling devices. According to some aspects of the present disclosure the devices and methods for determining resistive states of resistive change elements can reduce the impact of sneak current when determining resistive states of resistive change elements.
US09940997B2	Method and apparatus for enhancing read stability of a static random access memory circuit in low voltage operation Read stability of a memory is enhanced in low voltage operation mode by selectively boosting a cell supply voltage for a row of memory cells. The boosted voltage results from a capacitive coupling to the word line in that row. The capacitive coupling is implemented by running the metal line of the power supply line for the cell supply voltage and the metal line for the word line adjacent to each other in a common metallization level. The selective voltage boost is controlled in response to operation of a modified memory cell exhibiting a deteriorated write margin. An output of the modified memory cell is compared to a threshold to generate a signal for controlling the selective voltage boost. Word line under-voltage circuitry is further provided to control application of an under-voltage to the word line.
US09940995B1	Methods and apparatus for reusing lookup table random-access memory (LUTRAM) elements as configuration random-access memory (CRAM) elements A programmable integrated circuit may include configuration random-access memory (CRAM) cells and lookup table random-access memory (LUTRAM) cells. The programmable integrated circuit may include a CRAM column and at least two LUTRAM columns, a first portion of which is operable as LUTRAM cells and a second portion of which is reused as CRAM cells. Each of the memory cells have a configuration write port and a read port. The configuration write ports of the first portion may be gated, whereas the configuration write ports of the second portion lack gating logic. The read port of the memory cells in the LUTRAM columns may be masked only when the first portion of cells are operated in RAM mode and are currently being accessed.
US09940990B1	Data shift apparatuses and methods The present disclosure includes data shift apparatuses and methods. An example apparatus includes a memory device. The example memory device includes an array of memory cells and sensing circuitry coupled to the array via a plurality of sense lines. A first shared input/output (I/O) line is configured to selectably couple a first subset of the plurality of sense lines and a second shared I/O line is configured to selectably couple a second subset of the plurality of sense lines. A shift element is configured to selectably couple the first shared I/O line to the second shared I/O line to enable a data shift operation. A controller is configured to direct selectable coupling of the array, the sensing circuitry, and the shift element to enable a shift of a data value from the first shared I/O line to the second shared I/O line.
US09940982B2	Memory device having bank interleaving access A memory device includes: a plurality of bank groups each comprising one or more banks; a first bus coupled to the plurality of bank groups; a second bus coupled to the plurality of bank groups; a toggle signal generation unit suitable for generating a first signal which toggles in response to a column command signal and a second signal having the opposite logic value of the first signal; a column command transmission unit suitable for transmitting a read command signal or write command signal to the first bus when the first signal is activated, and transmitting the read command signal or write command signal to the second bus when the second signal is activated; and a column address transmission unit suitable for transmitting one or more column address signals corresponding to the read command signal or write command signal to a bus to which the read command signal or write command signal is transmitted, between the first and second buses.
US09940978B2	Programmable memory device sense amplifier Embodiments include circuits, apparatuses, and systems for programmable memory device sense amplifiers. In embodiments, an electronic circuit may include a programmable memory device having a first resistance in a first state and a second resistance in a second state, a reference element, an amplifier to generate a first output signal based at least in part on the resistance of the programmable memory device and a second output signal based at least in part on a current from the reference element, and a comparator to determine a state of the programmable memory device based on the first and second output signals from the amplifier. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.
US09940971B2	Method, system and computer program product for distributed video editing A network editor comprises a central location with stored videos such as movies that can be edited by editors at remote locations. An editor receives a representation of a video, and specifies edits relative to the representation, enabling the editor to use a device lacking sufficient processing capability to edit the video directly, and also reducing the volume of information transmitted between the central location and the remote editor. The central location is able to provide the edited movie in a format suitable to the display capabilities of the viewing device of the viewer requesting the edited video.
US09940968B2	Methods and apparatus to perform speed-enhanced playback of recorded media Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture to perform speed-enhanced playback of recorded media are disclosed. An example method includes parsing an audio frame included in the media to determine a number of skip bytes included in the audio frame, identifying the audio frame as a candidate frame when the number of skip bytes satisfies a skip bytes threshold, and calculating a speed-enhanced playback rate for the media based on a plurality of candidate frames identified in the media.
US09940967B1	Data storage device conditioning write abort based on secondary read signal A data storage device is disclosed comprising a first disk surface comprising a plurality of servo tracks, a first head actuated over the first disk surface, wherein the first head comprises a first read element, and a second read element. During a write operation first servo data in a first servo track is read using the first read element to generate a first read signal, and the first head is servoed over the first servo track based on the first read signal while writing data to the first disk surface. Second servo data is read using the second read element to generate a second read signal, and the write operation is aborted when the first read signal indicates a shock event is affecting the servoing of the first head and the second read signal confirms the shock event.
US09940965B2	Thermal management of laser diode mode hopping for heat assisted media recording A method and apparatus provide for determining a temperature at a junction of a laser diode when the laser diode is operated in a lasing state that facilitates heat-assisted magnetic recording, comparing the junction temperature and an injection current supplied during the lasing state to stored combinations of junction temperature and injection current, and determining a likelihood of mode hopping occurring for the laser diode during the lasing state based on the comparison to stored combinations of junction temperature and injection current.
US09940957B2	Printed circuit board and method of manufacturing the same A conductor trace is formed on a base insulating layer. The conductor trace includes two terminal portions and one wiring portion. The wiring portion is formed to connect the two terminal portions to each other and extend from each terminal portion. A metal cover layer is formed to cover the terminal portion and the wiring portion of the conductor trace and continuously extend from a surface of the terminal portion to a surface of the wiring portion. The metal cover layer is made of metal having magnetism lower than magnetism of nickel, and is made of gold, for example. A cover insulating layer is formed on the base insulating layer to cover a portion, of the metal cover layer formed on the conductor trace, covering the wiring portion and not to cover a portion of the metal cover layer covering the terminal portion.
US09940951B2	PMR writer with non-conformal side gaps A perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) writer is configured to magnetically record data on a rotatable disk surface. The PMR writer including a pole tip, side shields, an air-bearing surface (ABS) region, a yoke region comprising Silicon Dioxide (SiO2), side gaps and a plurality of throat regions. The side gaps are arranged respectively between the pole tip and the side shields and include SiO2. A side gap width of the plurality of throat regions increases with a side shield throat height above the ABS region for each of the throat regions. The side gap width has a different width variation in each of the throat regions.
US09940947B2	Automatic rate control for improved audio time scaling Input media data with an input playing speed is received and divided into input media data subsets. A first rate of audio utterance is determined for a first input media data subset in the media data subsets. A second different rate of audio utterance is determined for a second input media data subset in the media data subsets. Audio output media data is generated with an output playing speed at which audio utterance in the audio output media data is played at a preferred rate of audio utterance. The audio output media data comprises (a) a first output audio media data subset generated based on the preferred rate, the first rate, and the first input media data subset and (b) a second output audio media data subset generated based on the preferred rate, the second rate, and the second input media data subset.
US09940943B2	Resampling of an audio signal interrupted with a variable sampling frequency according to the frame A method for resampling an audio-frequency signal with an output sampling frequency, for a current signal frame. The method is used when the preceding frame is sampled at a first sampling frequency which is different from a second sampling frequency of the current frame. The method includes: determining a first and second segments of the signal by adding samples at zero at the end of stored samples of the preceding frame and at the start of samples of the current frame, respectively; obtaining the first resampled segment and the second resampled segment by applying at least one resampling filter respectively to the first segment resampling the first frequency at the output frequency, and to the second segment resampling the second frequency at the output frequency; and combining the overlapping portion of the first and second resampled segments to obtain at least one portion of the resampled current frame.
US09940936B2	Methods and apparatus for detecting a voice command According to some aspects, a method of monitoring an acoustic environment of a mobile device, at least one computer readable medium encoded with instructions that, when executed, perform such a method and/or a mobile device configured to perform such a method is provided. The method comprises receiving, by the mobile device, acoustic input from the environment of the mobile device, detecting whether the acoustic input includes a voice command from a user without requiring receipt of an explicit trigger from the user, and initiating responding to the detected voice command.
US09940931B2	Corrective feedback loop for automated speech recognition A method for facilitating the updating of a language model includes receiving, at a client device, via a microphone, an audio message corresponding to speech of a user; communicating the audio message to a first remote server; receiving, that the client device, a result, transcribed at the first remote server using an automatic speech recognition system (“ASR”), from the audio message; receiving, at the client device from the user, an affirmation of the result; storing, at the client device, the result in association with an identifier corresponding to the audio message; and communicating, to a second remote server, the stored result together with the identifier.
US09940929B2	Extending the period of voice recognition One embodiment provides a method, including: receiving, at an audio capture device, an activation cue; receiving, at the audio capture device, at least one command after the activation cue; performing, using a processor, an action based on the at least one command; receiving, at the audio capture device, at least one other command; and performing, using the processor, another action based on the another command without requiring another activation cue. Other aspects are described and claimed.
US09940920B2	Managing a set of devices using a set of acoustic emission data Disclosed aspects relate to managing a set of devices using a set of acoustic emission data which indicates device-health of the set of devices. The set of devices is coupled with a set of acoustic emission sensors. Based on the set of acoustic emission data, a triggering event related to a first device of the set of devices is detected. Using the set of acoustic emission data, an event response which includes a first modification with respect to operation of the first device is determined. Establishment of the event response which includes the first modification with respect to operation of the first device is initiated.
US09940919B2	Method and device for damping or amplifying a sound introduced into a passenger compartment of a motor vehicle The invention relates to a method (30) for damping and/or amplifying a sound introduced into a passenger compartment (10) of a motor vehicle, in particular an electrically driven motor vehicle, said sound being generated (32) by a sound source (22) arranged outside of the passenger compartment (10). A correction signal is generated (40) by means of correction signal means (16) which are paired with the sound source (22) and/or a sound-transmitting structure (20) of the motor vehicle, and the correction signal is determined (38) such that the sound is introduced into the passenger compartment (10) in a damped or amplified state.
US09940916B2	Key guide structure for keyboard instrument A key guide structure for a keyboard instrument, which is capable of stably and appropriately guiding a key pivotally moved by key depression without generating noise. The key guide structure has guide holders each erected below a guide recess of each key, and guide members mounted to tops of the guide holders, respectively, each for sliding contact with lateral inner side surfaces of the recess. Each guide member includes a body disposed between the lateral inner side surfaces of the recess with a predetermined clearance, two lateral flexible portions laterally flexible and extending from lateral ends of a front or rear surface of the body in a manner protruding in a front-rear direction, and two lateral contact portions which are provided at front ends of the flexible portions in a manner protruding sideward and are in contact with the lateral inner side surfaces of the recess.
US09940912B1	Device for preventing a plectrum from entering into instruments The invention relates to a sound hole covering that prevents foreign items from entering into the body of an instrument, while minimizing the effects the covering may cause to the sound quality of the instrument. One such device for preventing a plectrum from entering into a body of an instrument may include, but is not limited to, a sound hole covering having a grid-like structure and a base clip, where one end of the base clip enters into the sound hole and pushes against a back surface of the soundboard while the covering is pressed against a top surface of the soundboard the other end of the base clip to enters into the sound hole in a similar fashion.
US09940909B2	Display system with a virtual display A system for generating a virtual display that is displayed on an existing monitor using a memory (e.g., graphics processing unit (GPU) memory, random access memory (RAM), etc.) of a connected device (e.g., a computer) as a frame buffer for the virtual display. For example, the virtual display may use the RAM or the memory of the GPU of the connected device as a second frame buffer to generate the frames displayed in the virtual display. The virtual display is not a physical display and, thus, does not require any additional hardware or physical space. Rather, the virtual display is displayed on a pre-existing display. The pre-existing display is also used to display the frames generated in a first frame buffer.
US09940905B2	Clock rate adjustment for processing unit Techniques are described in which a processor determines an expected performance level of a graphics processing unit (GPU) based on an amount of commands the GPU is to execute. The processor outputs information indicating the performance level, and the GPU adjusts its clock rate prior to execution of the commands that were used to determine the performance level.
US09940899B2	Image processing apparatus, color adjustment system, and non-transitory computer readable medium An image processing apparatus includes an image information transmission unit, a color information acquisition unit, and a conversion relationship creation unit. The image information transmission unit transmits, to a display device, pieces of color-conversion image information representing images used for performing color conversion for the display device, in ascending order of lightness of the images in a predetermined color space. The color information acquisition unit acquires color information of each image that is displayed on the display device in accordance with a corresponding piece of color-conversion image information among the pieces of color-conversion image information that have been transmitted by the image information transmission unit. The conversion relationship creation unit creates, on the basis of the color information that has been acquired by the color information acquisition unit, a conversion relationship for a color of an image to be displayed on the display device.
US09940896B2	Telecine judder removal systems and methods One embodiment of the present disclosure describes an electronic display. The electronic display includes a display driver that write image frames to pixels of the electronic display with a first refresh rate or a second refresh rate, in which the second refresh rate is less than the first refresh rate. Additionally, the electronic display includes a timing controller that receives image frames from an image source, in which one or more of the image frames are configured to be displayed on the display panel to play video content; determines a capture rate of the video content based at least in part on a cadence with which the image frames are received, in which the capture rate describes a rate at which each of the one or more image frames was captured by an image sensor; and instructs the display driver to write the one or more of the image frames at the second refresh when the second refresh rate is an integer multiple of the capture rate.
US09940895B1	Displays with safety segregation Display systems and methods for configuring such display systems are disclosed. A display system may include a display and a monitoring processor in communication with the display. The monitoring processor may be configured to monitor a status of a device and present the status of the device on the display. The display system may also include a control processor in communication with the display. The control processor may be configured to operate independently with respect to the monitoring processor. The control processor may be further configured to process a user input and facilitate control of the device based on the user input received.
US09940894B2	Circuit of display panel The present embodiment is provided for a circuit of display panel, wherein comprising a signal wire extending along the first direction, a public electrode wire extending along the second direction, a pixel electrode, the first discharge circuit and the second discharge circuit, each signal wire is electrical connecting with the public electrode wire with the first discharge circuit and the second discharge circuit, the first discharge circuit and the second discharge circuit is in series, the pixel electrode is connecting on the intersection point between the first discharge circuit and the second discharge circuit.
US09940891B2	Display apparatus A display apparatus includes a plurality of gate lines, a plurality of data lines, wherein the plurality of data lines includes a plurality of first and second data line pairs, a plurality of pixels connected to the gate lines and the data lines, driving lines connected to the second data lines, a plurality of switching elements connected to the first data lines and the driving lines, and a plurality of dummy elements respectively connected to a corresponding pair of the first and second data lines, wherein the switching elements and the dummy elements are turned on in response to a switching signal.
US09940888B2	Display device with signal lines detouring around opening inside display area A display device is disclosed. The display device includes a substrate having an active area including a plurality of pixels, a bezel area positioned outside the active area, and at least one opening area positioned inside the active area, at least one opening positioned in the opening area, first signal lines arranged in a first direction and making a detour around the opening in the opening area, and second signal lines arranged in a second direction and making a detour around the opening in the opening area. The opening area includes a first opening area in which the first signal lines are arranged and which is adjacent to the opening, and a second opening area in which the second signal lines intersecting the first signal lines are arranged and which is spaced from the opening.
US09940884B1	Automated dimmer wall switch with a color multi-touch LCD/LED display An automated dimmer switch is provided. The dimmer has a color sensor display embodied into plastic or metal housing. The dimmer includes a mother board, a central processor for processing incoming data, an operating memory and a flash memory. The dimmer also has various sensors for use with corresponding smart home technologies and a wireless module for connecting to a network standard IEEE 802.11a/b/n utilizing different internet protocols and chips for other wireless technologies such as Bluetooth and Z-Wave/Zigbee. The dimmer can include a motion sensor, such that the display image changes gradually from stand-by mode to display of interface icons for dimmer operation. The stand-by mode image when not in operation is derived from surrounding wall texture.
US09940881B2	Techniques for dual modulation display with light conversion Techniques for driving a dual modulation display include generating backlight drive signals to drive individually-controllable illumination sources. The illumination sources emit first light onto a light conversion layer. The light conversion layer converts the first light into second light. The light conversion layer can include quantum dots or phosphor materials. Modulation drive signals are generated to determine transmission of the second light through individual subpixels of the display. These modulation drive signals can be adjusted based on one or more light field simulations. The light field simulations can include: (i) a color shift for a pixel based on a point spread function of the illumination sources; (ii) binning difference of individual illumination sources; (iii) temperature dependence of display components on performance; or (iv) combinations thereof.
US09940879B2	White point uniformity techniques for displays The present disclosure generally relates to systems and techniques for calibrating displays to improve the white point uniformity between similar type devices. In one embodiment, a backlight includes multiple strings of LEDs, where each string is driven by a separate driver, or driver channel. Each string may be separately tested at a base current to determine its emitted chromaticity, and values indicative of the emitted chromaticities may be stored within the backlight as calibration values. The calibration values may then be used to determine the driving strength for each string that allows the display to produce the target white point when the light from the strings is mixed. Further, in certain embodiments, adjustments also may be made to the LCD panel based on the emitted chromaticities at the base current.
US09940873B2	Organic light-emitting diode display with luminance control An organic light-emitting diode display may have an array of pixel circuits. Each pixel circuit may contain an organic light-emitting diode that emits light, a drive transistor that controls current flow through the diode, and additional transistors such as switching transistors for loading data into the pixel circuit and emission transistors for enabling and disabling current flow through the drive transistor and diode. Gate driver circuitry may produce emission control signals that control the emission transistors. Display driver circuitry may generate a start signal with a digitally controlled pulse width. The start signal may be applied to shift register circuitry in the gate driver circuitry. The pulse width of the start signal may be adjusted to adjust the luminance of the display.
US09940867B2	Level shift circuit and display driver A level shift circuit configured to generate an output signal having higher amplitude than that of an input signal. The level shift circuit includes serially-connected first and second level shift circuit for two-step amplitude increase of the input signal. The first level shift circuit includes first to fourth transistors, each of which has a control terminal and first and second current terminals, and first and second resistance elements respectively connected between the first and third transistors, and between the second and fourth transistors. A potential difference between two ends of each resistance element is respectively smaller than, or no smaller than, a respective predetermined potential difference when a current does not flow, or flows, therethrough. The second level shift circuit has fifth to tenth transistors, each of which has a control terminal and first and second current terminals. The output signal is outputted through a connection between the second current terminals of the fifth and ninth transistors.
US09940865B2	Liquid crystal display device A liquid crystal display device includes: an image processing circuit configured to carry out image processing on input display data input from an outside; and a timing controller configured to receive display data subjected to the image processing by the image processing circuit, to thereby generate a plurality of timing signals for defining an operation timing of a data line driving circuit and an operation timing of a gate line driving circuit, the image processing circuit being configured to receive at least one timing signal among the plurality of timing signals generated by the timing controller, to thereby carry out the image processing on the input display data based on the received at least one timing signal.
US09940862B2	Flexible display A flexible display is disclosed. In one aspect, the flexible display includes a flexible display panel, a main support supporting a first area of the flexible display panel and first and second sub-supports respectively supporting second and third areas of the flexible display panel. The second and third areas are adjacent to the first area. The flexible display further includes first and second hinges respectively connecting the main support to the first and second sub-supports. The flexible display panel is configured to be arranged in first to third configurations respectively exposing different areas of the flexible display panel.
US09940856B2	Preassembled display systems and methods of installation thereof A preassembled display system is assembled at a first location by attaching a plurality of display panels to a frame. The preassembled display system is loaded onto a transportation vehicle. Next, the preassembled display system is moved to a second location in a transportation vehicle. The display unit is installed at the second location by attaching the preassembled display system to a mounting unit. A receiver box for providing media to display at the plurality of display panels is attached. The attaching of the receiver box may be performed at the first location and/or at the second location. The plurality of display panels are electrically connected to the receiver box. Again, the electrically connecting may be performed at the first location and/or at the second location.
US09940853B2	Label and method of manufacturing the same from recycled material The present invention relates to brand identifiers, more particularly to woven labels used to mark, advertise or otherwise brand apparel and other consumer articles to identify the source of the particular goods. The woven labels of the present invention are preferably composed of post consumer waste or recycled materials, such as polyethylene, PET, polyester, cellulosic and other readily available materials that may be converted for the purpose of the present invention.
US09940852B2	Rosin esters and compositions thereof Rosin esters are provided. The rosin esters can exhibit improved color (e.g., the rosin ester can have a neat Gardner color of 8.5 or less), improved oxidative stability (e.g., when 1000 ppm or less of an antioxidant is present in combination with the rosin ester, the rosin ester can exhibit an oxidative-induction time at 130° C. of at least 75 minutes), improved color stability (e.g., the rosin ester can exhibit less than a 10% change in neat Gardner color when heated to a temperature of 160° C. for a period of three hours), or combinations thereof. Also provided polymeric compositions comprising the rosin esters, as well as methods of making the rosin esters.
US09940846B2	Adaptive interface for continuous monitoring devices Systems and methods that continuously adapt aspects of a continuous monitoring device based on collected information to provide an individually tailored configuration are described. The adaptations may include adapting the user interface, the alerting, the motivational messages, the training, and the like. Such adaptation can allow a patient to more readily identify and understand the information provided by/via the device.
US09940839B2	Emergency safety marker systems An electronic lighted safety marker system used by emergency responders to warn motorists of the presence of an accident scene ahead on or beside the roadway is provided by the invention. Such safety marker can be deployed individually or in groups by the emergency responder along the perimeter of the accident scene and ideally ahead of it along the roadway to provide adequate warning to approaching motorists to avoid the accident scene. The safety marker contains a power source, a light panel, a protective shield for the light panel, and electronic circuitry for controlling the operation of the lights in a predetermined frequency or pattern, and may be automatically actuated and self-righting when it is dropped onto the ground or other hard surface. The safety marker further includes a transmitter for sending a signal to a receiver. Upon impact with the safety marker, the signal ceases and the receiver, equipped with an alarm, triggers either or both of an audible or visual signal. The safety marker can also contain an incursion warning system against incoming vehicles, an early warning radar transponder for sending a warning message to such incoming vehicles, a GPS location detector and transmitter for providing the location of the safety marker and its associated accident scene to a central dispatcher, and a gunshot sensor for detecting the occurrence of gunfire around the accident scene and its location to provide that information to the central dispatcher.
US09940833B2	Method and system for lane-accurate determination of the travel direction of a vehicle and outputting warning messages in the case of wrong-way travel A method for detecting the direction of travel of and for determining travel in the wrong direction by a vehicle which is moving on a lane in a section of road. Identifiers are respectively emitted by an arrangement of radio beacons which are arranged along the lane. When the vehicle travels through the section of road, a radio receiver, in particular a cell phone device, which is arranged in the vehicle, successively receives the emitted identifiers of the radio beacons. The actual direction of travel of the vehicle is determined on the basis of the sequence of the successively received identifiers.
US09940832B2	Traffic management based on basic safety message data The disclosure includes a system and method for managing traffic in a roadway system based on Basic Safety Message data (“BSM data”) included in a set of Basic Safety Messages (“BSMs”). The method may include wirelessly receiving a set of BSMs describing a set of vehicles traveling along the roadway system. Each BSM included in the set of BSMs may describe a specific vehicle included in the set of vehicles, including that vehicle's lane, speed and heading of travel. The method may include analyzing the BSM data to determine whether there is an imbalance of traffic flow among a first set of vehicles traveling towards a first heading and a second set of vehicles traveling towards a second heading. The method may include determining that the bidirectional lane will be reconfigured so that traffic in the bidirectional lane flows towards the second heading based on the imbalance of traffic flow.
US09940829B2	Methods and devices for binding a remote control The present disclosure relates to methods, apparatus, and devices for binding a remote control to a remotely controllable device. In one implementation, a method is disclosed, including: acquiring, by the remote control, a binding operation instruction; sending, by the remote control, a binding request containing identification information of the remote control to a remotely controllable device with which the remote control is to be bound such that the remotely controllable device generates a binding response message in response to the binding request, wherein the binding response message comprises authentication information for binding the remote control; receiving, by the remote control, the binding response message from the remotely controllable device; and performing, by the remote control, binding with the remotely controllable device based on the binding response message, such that the remotely controllable device becomes bound to the remote control and the remote control becomes capable of controlling the bound remotely controllable device.
US09940827B2	Controlling operation of a device A method comprises determining, based on at least one radio frequency packet passed wirelessly between first and second devices using an array of plural antennas provided in one of the first and second devices, an orientation of the second device with respect to the first device and, if the orientation satisfies a predetermined criterion, controlling operation of the first device.
US09940825B2	Barometric pressure to reduce security false alarms A security monitoring system includes at least one sensor configured to sense an event condition. A security monitoring system controller communicates with the sensor and an indicator of alarm and trouble conditions. The central security system also detects barometric pressure within a monitored area. The security system controller is configured to receive an event signal indicative of an event from the at least one of the sensors and receive an indication of the barometric pressure from a barometer. When the barometric pressure from the barometer indicates a change in barometric pressure, the security monitoring system controller confirms that the event is present and outputs an indication signal to the indicator based on the confirmed event. When the barometric pressure from the barometer does not indicate a change in barometric pressure, the security monitoring system controller suppresses the output of the indication signal.
US09940821B2	Systems and methods of privacy within a security system Systems and methods disclosed herein provide setting a mode for a door lock of a door in a building with an electronic device communicatively coupled to the door lock via a communications interface of the door lock, when the mode of the door lock is set in a privacy mode, correspondingly placing a security system device communicatively coupled to the door lock into a privacy mode via the communications interface, and updating an operation state of the security system in the building according to the setting of the privacy mode for the door lock and the device.
US09940820B2	Systems and methods for verified threat detection Systems and methods for verified threat detection are provided. Some systems can include a sensor monitoring an ambient region and an image capturing device, wherein, upon the sensor detecting an alarm condition in the ambient region, the image capturing device is activated for capturing an image of the ambient region to determine whether the image is consistent with the alarm condition.
US09940819B2	Systems and methods for encouraging hand washing compliance In some embodiments, a hand washing compliance system includes a primary soap dispenser adapted to be located near an entrance to a room, the primary soap dispenser comprising a motion sensor configured to detect passage of an individual through the room entrance, a soap dispensation sensor configured to detect dispensation of soap from the primary soap dispenser, and a communication device configured to enable communication with other soap dispensers, and a secondary soap dispenser adapted to be located inside of the room, the secondary soap dispenser comprising a soap dispensation sensor configured to detect dispensation of soap from the secondary soap dispenser, a communication device configured to enable communication with other soap dispensers, and a warning indicator configured to generate an alert that encourages individuals entering the room to wash their hands.
US09940812B2	Circuit protective device fault diagnostic translator An apparatus (100) and method are provided for translating diagnostic information provided by a circuit protective device, such as a circuit breaker, to a graphic display format. The apparatus and method monitor through a sensor (120) a trip sequence implemented by the circuit protective device as a function of time during a read out operation to indicate a type of fault condition from a plurality of fault conditions for a prior occurrence of a trip event or diagnostic information. The apparatus and method then determine a time period of the monitored trip sequence, and determine the type of fault condition based on the determined time period. Information concerning the determined type of fault condition is outputted.
US09940808B2	Geolocation bracelet, system, and methods An identity, position, and/or health monitoring apparatus is provided. The identity, position, and/or health monitoring apparatus includes a retention feature, such as a wristband, configured to removably secure the monitoring apparatus to a person, such as a child. Particularly, the band of the monitoring apparatus may be a flexible and/or stretchable band that may be worn around a part of the body, such as a wrist or ankle. The band may be defoned by a circumferential member and/or may include first and second ends and a clasping mechanism configured to clasp and secure the first and second ends together, such as around the wrist or ankle of the user. In certain instances, the monitoring apparatus is retained within the band, and in other instances, the monitoring apparatus may be removable from the band, and the clasping mechanism may be configured for allowing the monitoring device to be removably attached therewith.
US09940804B2	Protecting mobile objects The invention integrates hardware and software for sensing, communications, data storage and control into a protection module that is sufficiently small and inexpensive to be attached directly to individual objects, such as musical instruments, and the inventory of stores and museums. Sensors monitor environmental factors, such as temperature and humidity, and accelerometers alert owners to unwanted motion, such as theft or misuse. Sensed data is stored locally and transmitted wirelessly to nonproprietary data receivers, such as smart phones or tablets that generate alerts. In some embodiments the data is forwarded to cloud servers for storage and analysis. Bluetooth communication between the attached module and the data receiver allows large spaces, such as stores and showrooms containing many attached modules to be protected. In some embodiments accelerometers enable finger-tap-controlled recording of musical performance and tuning of the instrument relative to tonal frequencies stored in the module.
US09940803B2	One time use multi-function tag An anti-theft tag has two slightly concave shells attached to each other by a hinge. One shell has an aperture through it and the other shell has a post located to insert through the aperture when the two shells are brought together. At least one catch tab extends laterally from the end of the post. The catch tab exceeds the width of the aperture and is constructed to give to allow the post to insert into the aperture, but to resist and prevent the extraction of the post. The post is severable to allow the remove of the catch tab to allow the opening of the tag. One of the shells also has a slot and the other has a tack. When the post is inserted through the aperture, the tack inserts into the slot. The tack passes through an object to be protected and maintains the tag in place.
US09940801B2	Multi-function per-room automation system Examples are directed towards providing a set of hub devices for providing per-room monitoring of an area associated with a structure. A set of hub devices monitors movements of a user through the monitored area to generate user traffic data. A dynamic map of the monitored area is generated based on the user traffic data. The set of hub devices detects sounds occurring within the monitored area. The detected sounds are identified. Some of the detected sounds are amplified and replayed on speaker(s) within the monitored area. Notifications of some detected sounds are provided to user device(s) to notify at least one user of the occurrence of the detected sounds. If a detected sound indicates a safety issue, a safe route leading from a current location of the user to a different potentially safer location is generated and provided to the user to facilitate an evacuation.
US09940792B2	Methods and apparatus for enhanced play in lottery and gaming environments Methods and apparatus for game play using virtual players, sometimes referred to herein as vBots, is disclosed. In one aspect, a method for game play involves the use of the system electronic system environment described herein, wherein one or more virtual players are displayed to the player of the game, preferably, the virtual players have differing play characteristics, receiving from the user association with a selection of a virtual player, displaying a simulated game using the virtual players, identifying a subset of the virtual players as being winners of the simulated game, and awarding a win to the lottery user if the selected virtual player is in the subset of virtual players.
US09940791B2	Metagame reward point system Aspects of the present disclosure include systems and methods for instituting a metagame point system that may be integrated into an online video game network for one or more video game platforms. The metagame points system may increase or decrease a user's point total based upon user performance across a plurality of different video game titles. In some implementations, the points may be transferable between users based upon user performance during multiplayer video game play. In further implementations, the points earned by a user may be redeemable for various rewards.
US09940790B2	Assigning a secure room to a player in online poker game Methods, systems, and computer programs are presented for selecting game servers and assigning seats to players in poker tables. One method includes an operation for receiving table parameters from a user in a poker game. The table parameters identify the characteristics of a desired table for playing poker by the user. A distance from the desired table to the available poker tables is calculated, where the distance based on the similarity between the desired table and each of the available poker tables. Each of the available poker tables is served by one of a plurality of servers. Additionally, the method includes operations for selecting candidate tables from the available poker tables based on the calculated distances, and for selecting a playing table from the candidate tables at random. The user is then connected to a server that serves the selected playing table.
US09940783B2	Automated hand strength estimation for card games In various embodiments, a method of estimating odds that a player will win a round of a card game is disclosed. Information is received pertaining to cards that have been dealt from a deck at a particular point during a round of a card game. The information identifies cards that have been revealed to the player and a number of cards that have not been revealed to the player. An estimation of odds that the player will win the round of the card game is generated. The generating includes repeatedly, for each of the number of cards that has not been revealed to the player and for each remaining card to be dealt in the round, randomly selecting a card from remaining cards in the deck. The estimation of the odds is communicated for integration into a presentation of information pertaining to the card game.
US09940768B2	Access control system Provided is a method for access control, performed by an access control apparatus, including obtaining access authorization information that is communicated to the access control apparatus having at least one access authorization parameter and first check information; using at least the communicated access authorization parameters, the communicated first check information and a second key from a key pair, which second key is stored in the access control apparatus, to perform a first check on whether the communicated first check information has been produced by performing cryptographic operations by means of access authorization parameters corresponding to the communicated access authorization parameters using at least one first key from the key pair, and deciding whether access can be granted, based on the first check delivers a positive result and it is established that at least one predefined set of the communicated access authorization parameters respectively provides access authorization.
US09940764B2	Key fob challenge request masking base station A base station may include a transceiver, an indicator, and a processor programmed to detect presence of a key fob using one or more inputs. When the key fob is detected, the processor may direct the transceiver to broadcast an interference signal using the transceiver to prevent the key fob from detecting and responding to challenge requests and set the indicator to indicate presence of the broadcast. When an access request is received from a modem, using the transceiver the base station may temporarily discontinue broadcast of an interference signal to send a challenge request to the key fob and receive a challenge response, and send a response to the access request including information based on the challenge response.
US09940761B2	Self-driving vehicle sensor fault remediation Methods, systems, and computer program products for self-driving vehicle sensor fault remediation are provided herein. A computer-implemented method includes detecting a fault in one or more sensors of a self-driving vehicle; determining a remedial action in response to the detected fault, wherein said determining comprises (i) comparing the fault to a database comprising (a) historical sensor fault information and (b) sensor fault remedy information, and (ii) analyzing one or more items of contextual information pertaining to the location of the self-driving vehicle; generating a signal comprising one or more instructions pertaining to carrying out the determined remedial action; and outputting the generated signal to one or more remote-controlled pilotless airborne devices configured to remotely carry out the determined remedial action on the self-driving vehicle.
US09940754B2	Head-mounted display system and method for presenting display on head-mounted display Provided is a technique capable of performing displaying or hiding a menu through an operation by a movement of the head of a user wearing a head-mounted display. A head-mounted display system according to an embodiment includes an inclination detector for detecting an inclination from an initial angle of the head-mounted display mounted on a user while an application is in progress, and a display controller for generating an application image in progress in the virtual space in accordance with the detected inclination and outputting the application image to the head-mounted display. When the detected inclination is larger than a first threshold value, the display controller generates an image in which a menu image is superimposed on the application image generated in accordance with the inclination and outputs the generated image to the head-mounted display.
US09940753B1	Real time surface augmentation using projected light A method of augmenting a target object with projected light is disclosed. The method includes determining a blend of component attributes to define visual characteristics of the target object, modifying an input image based, at least in part, on an image of the target object, wherein the modified input image defines an augmented visual characteristic of the target object, determining a present location of one or more landmarks on the target object based, at least in part, on the image of the target object, predicting a future location of the one or more landmarks, deforming a model of the target object based on the future location of the one or more landmarks, generating an augmentation image based on the deformed model and the modified input image, and transmitting for projection the augmentation image.
US09940747B2	Mapping 3D to 2D images A method for mapping a 3D surface that contains a volume in space, the method including: acquiring 3D vertices representing the surface, and defining in the space a first plane cutting the volume and a second parallel plane, external to the volume, thereby partitioning the vertices into a first set not between the two planes and a second set located between the two planes. The method further includes projecting the first set vertices onto the first plane so as to generate first projected points therein, and projecting the second set vertices onto the first plane while translating these vertices in respective directions parallel to the second plane by respective translations responsive to respective distances of the second vertices from the first plane, thereby generating second projected points in the first plane. The first and second projected points are displayed as a 2D representation of the surface on a screen.
US09940740B2	Refractometer The present invention aims to provide a refractometer that can satisfactorily observe an actual state of measurement light during a measurement with low cost. A graph 311 showing detection intensity of measurement light detected by a detector and a captured image 312 by a camera are displayed on one display screen 301 in real time. This configuration eliminates the need to separately provide a display unit for displaying the captured image 312 by the camera, thereby reducing cost. In addition, the actual state of measurement light can satisfactorily be observed during the measurement through the confirmation of the captured image 312 by the camera displayed on one display screen 301 along with the graph 311 in real time.
US09940739B2	Generating interactively mapped data visualizations A method and systems for generating interactively mapped data visualizations are provided. The system includes geocoded data and a user interface for displaying visualized geocoded data. A visualization circuitry is configured to access the time-series geocoded data, obtain activity data, develop relationship data according to the obtained activity data to reflect relationships among the time-series geocoded data, select a data display mode and process the time-series geocoded data by receiving a selection, generating an area map, filtering the time series geocoded data, associating the relationship data with the filtered time series geocoded data, transforming the filtered time series geocoded, and generating a display of the displayable data.
US09940732B2	Implementing reduced video stream bandwidth requirements when remotely rendering complex computer graphics scene A method and apparatus are provided for implementing reduced video stream bandwidth requirements when remotely rendering a complex computer graphics scene. Complexity of a scene is reduced at a server, prior to rendering a video stream that comprises the scene and transmitting the video stream to a client. Reducing the complexity of a scene at the server includes adjusting predefined scene configuration parameters. The order and degree to which predefined scene configuration parameters are adjusted is based upon a required stream bandwidth reduction to be made.
US09940729B1	Detection of invariant features for localization A first image and a second image are provided to a trained neural network. The first image comprises one or more static features and the second image comprises at least one of the one or more static features. A static feature is identified in both the first and second images by a branch of the trained neural network. A three dimensional image comprising the identified static feature is generated and three dimensional geometric information/data related to the static feature is extracted and stored in association with a tile of a digital map. A set of training images may be used to train the trained neural network comprises training image subsets comprising two or more images that substantially overlap that were (a) captured at different times; (b) captured under different (i) weather conditions, (ii) lighting conditions, or (iii) weather and lighting conditions; or both a and b.
US09940721B2	Scene change detection in a dimensioner A package dimensioner is disclosed. A change in the pose of the package dimensioner is detected by background modeling the area of a measurement platform and then determining if a number of points in a scene are different in distance from the background model. Change in the pose can also be detected by comparing a count of support points in a 3D container generated from images taken in a training process with a count of support points in a subsequent images and determining how many support points are different.
US09940717B2	Method and system of geometric camera self-calibration quality assessment Techniques related to geometric camera self-calibration quality assessment.
US09940713B1	MR-based navigators for inter-scan and intra-scan motion correction A method for MRI inter-scan motion correction includes performing (i) an anatomical localizer scan of a region of interest (ROI) to identify anatomical landmarks defining orientation of a surrounding field-of-view (FOV); (ii) an inter-scan motion reference scan of the ROI to acquire a reference inter-scan dataset indicating a reference navigator location in the ROI; and (iii) scans of the ROI to acquire k-space data. Prior to one or more of the scans, a motion correction process is performed that includes (a) performing an inter-scan motion tracking scan to acquire a tracking inter-scan dataset indicating an updated reference navigator location; (b) determining an estimation of inter-scan patient motion based on a comparison between the reference inter-scan and tracking inter-scan datasets; and (c) updating the FOV relative to the landmarks based on that estimation. Images of the ROI may be generated using the k-space data acquired with each of the scans.
US09940710B2	Biological information detection device equipped with light source projecting at least one dot onto living body A biological information detection device includes first and second light sources, an image capturing system, and an arithmetic circuit. The first and second light sources project, onto a living body, at least one first dot formed by first light and at least one second dot formed by second light, respectively. The image capturing system includes first photodetector cells and second photodetector cells. The image capturing system generates and outputs a first image signal and a second image signal. The arithmetic circuit generates information concerning the living body, by using the first and second image signals. The first light includes fifth light. The second light includes sixth light. Each of the fifth light and the sixth light has a wavelength in a range from 650 nm to 950 nm. The wavelength of the sixth light is longer than that of the fifth light by 50 nm or more.
US09940704B2	Pre-layer defect site review using design A system and method to image a layer of a wafer based on a coordinate of a defect in a pre-layer of the wafer are disclosed. A design file for the current layer can be aligned to the wafer using an image of the current layer. A design file for a previous layer can be aligned to the design file for the current layer.
US09940694B2	Resolution enhancement techniques based on holographic imaging technology Systems and techniques for performing resolution enhancement on target patterns based on holographic imaging technique (HIT) are described. During operation, an electronic design automation (EDA) tool can compute an in-line hologram of the target patterns based on parameters associated with a photolithography process that is used in a semiconductor manufacturing process, wherein the semiconductor manufacturing process is to be used for printing the target patterns on a semiconductor wafer. Next, the EDA tool can determine the mask patterns based on the in-line hologram.
US09940693B2	Information processing for display of content based on importance level A system includes a content obtaining circuit configured to obtain a plurality of content and information related to the content from at least one of a plurality of sources, an importance obtaining circuit configured to obtain an importance level for each content, and a display control circuit configured to generate data to control a display of an image corresponding to each of the plurality of content. The importance level is based on the information related to the content. The display control circuit determines a size of each image on a display screen based on the importance level for each content.
US09940690B2	Terminal apparatus and screen updating method A terminal apparatus includes: a buffer memory that stores rendering data displayed on a display device; and a processor that acquires, according to scroll operation of the display device, rendering data including a connection portion, which is connected to a residual portion displayed in a moving destination region on a screen after the scroll operation from a screen before the scroll operation and is displayed, stores, in the buffer memory for storing the rendering data including the moving destination region and the connection portion, the rendering data of the residual portion and the rendering data including the connection portion, and outputs, in response to update of a display position of the rendering data stored in the buffer memory, the rendering data, the display position of which is updated, to the display device after the scroll operation.
US09940689B2	Latency-resistant sparse simulation technique, system and method A Central Processing Unit (CPU), system and method of performing a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) simulation of a fluid-like object in a grid-based simulation space are provided. In one embodiment, the method includes: (1) determining, by a CPU, a list of bricks in the simulation space that the fluid-like object would occupy in a future frame based on simulation data of a current frame and (2) updating, based on the list, a virtual table that maps portions of a GPU memory to tiled resources corresponding to the bricks before a simulation of said future frame.
US09940687B2	Dynamic graphics rendering scheduling Aspects can be for ray tracing of 3-D scenes, and include dynamically controlling a population of rays being stored in a memory, to keep the population within a target, a memory footprint or other resource usage specification. An example includes controlling the population by examining indicia associated with rays returning from intersection testing, to be shaded, the indicia correlated with behavior of shaders to be run for those rays, such that population control selects, or reorders rays for shading, to prioritize shading of rays whose shaders are expected to produce fewer rays.
US09940677B2	System and method for detecting potential property insurance fraud A system and method for assessing a condition of property for insurance purposes includes a sensor for acquiring a spectral image. In a preferred embodiment, the spectral image is post-processed to generate at least one spectral radiance plot, the plot used as input to a radiative transfer computer model. The output of the model establishes a spectral signature for the property. Over a period of time, spectral signatures can be compared to generate a spectral difference, the spectral difference can be used to determine whether a change in the condition of the property was potentially fraudulently caused.
US09940668B2	Switching between data aggregator servers Switching between data aggregator servers. A method for switching between data aggregator servers may include tracking a first financial account using a PFM server, receiving, at the PFM server, first account identification data and first account transaction data for the first financial account from a first data aggregator server over a network, detecting, at the PFM server, that the first account transaction data of the first data aggregator server has become unavailable to the PFM server over the network and that a second data aggregator server is currently available to the PFM server over the network, and in response to the detecting, switching, at the PFM server, from the first data aggregator server to a second data aggregator server, the second data aggregator server configured to send data for the same financial accounts with different data fields and/or with different data formats than the first data aggregator server.
US09940665B1	System and method for providing virtual items to users of a virtual world A shop interface is presented to users in conjunction with presentation of views of an online game, wherein the shop interface is configured to facilitate presentations to users of offers to sell virtual items usable within the game in exchange for consideration. In response to detecting that the online game is systematically unavailable to users, an alternative virtual shop interface is presented to users that is accessed over the Internet separately from the online game, and offers to sell the virtual times usable within the game are presented to users in exchange for less consideration than the offers to sell the virtual items through the shop interface presented in conjunction with the online game.
US09940664B2	Information input method, account information input method and terminal An electronic device for receiving an account identifier is described. The device includes display; one or more processors; and memory storing one or more programs. The device displays a user interface that includes an area for receiving an account identifier and a first set of candidates for a first set of characters. The device detects a selection of a first candidate of the first set of candidates. In response, the device displays characters in the first candidate in the area. The device, subsequent to detecting the selection of the first candidate, receives a manual input of each character in one or more sets of characters; and displays, in the area, characters in the one or more sets of characters concurrently with at least the characters in the first candidate. A corresponding method and a computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs for execution by the electronic device are also described.
US09940662B2	Tag-based product monitoring and evaluation Aspects of tag-based product monitoring and evaluation are described. In one embodiment, a system directs a tag reader to interrogate an RFID tag provided on a product package for a product. In response, the system receives a unique identifier, product detail data, and product usage data from the RFID tag. In certain cases, the system can place an order for the product on an electronic commerce platform based on the unique identifier, the product detail data, and the product usage data. For example, the system can identify when the product package was opened with reference to the product usage data, determine that the product is expired based on when the product package was opened, and place the order for the product based on the product being expired.
US09940661B2	Method and apparatus for recommending a food item A method, non-transitory computer readable medium, and apparatus for recommending a food item are disclosed. For example, the method receives one or more food item data communications over a short range communications protocol that are pushed to a mobile endpoint device, filters the one or more food item data communications in accordance with a food item filter pre-defined by a user to identify an acceptable food item to recommend to the user and recommends the acceptable food item to the user.
US09940654B1	Network system with scheduled breaks A method and system for scheduled breaks are described. A network computer system receives provider data corresponding to a request to initiate a pause state with the network service and also receives a position of the service provider from a computing device equipped with a location-based resource. In response to receiving the request, the network computer system selects a facility, based on a selection objective, from facilities that are associated with the pause state and at least one of the position of the service provider and a destination of a service task that is to be completed. The network computer system transmits data corresponding to the selected facility to the computing device to be displayed on a user interface of the computing device.
US09940650B2	Equipment unit, information processing system, information processing method, and program An equipment unit is disclosed, including a first obtaining unit which obtains first identification information for a parameter set for calculating a use amount of the equipment unit; a comparison unit which compares the first identification information and second identification information for a parameter set for calculating a use amount of the equipment unit; a second obtaining unit which obtains information on a difference between the parameter set related to the first identification information and the parameter set stored in the equipment unit when the first identification information and the second identification information differ; and a control unit which calculates an amount of use of the equipment unit based on the parameter set stored in the equipment unit, and the information on the difference and controls the use of the equipment unit by the user.
US09940646B2	Dynamic insertion of content items into resources Methods, systems, and apparatus include computer programs encoded on a computer-readable storage medium, including a method for providing content. Publisher input is received regarding acceptable content item types and sizes for inclusion with other content in a publication. Publisher input is received regarding how often content items are to appear in the publication. Identification is received of a user device that will render the publication as an article. The other content is evaluated including formatting the article as a single scrolling page, including defining logical pages with boundaries determined by formatted content blocks and based on display capabilities of the user device. Based on the evaluating, content items are selected for presentation along with the other content when presenting the article on the user device, including dynamically determining a number, types and placement of content items based on the logical pages and properties of the user device.
US09940645B1	Application installation using in-video programming A method for delivering and installing applications on user devices includes providing a video and a video annotation for display on a first user device, the video annotation comprising an identifier of a mobile application. The method further includes receiving, by a processing device, an indication of a user selection of the video annotation, the indication of the user selection of the video annotation corresponding to a signal to install the application on the first user device; and causing the application to be remotely installed on the user first device.
US09940643B2	Method and apparatus for advertising on a mobile gaming device In various embodiments, promotions are featured on mobile gaming devices. Data based on which a first promotion associated with a first advertiser may be displayed on a mobile gaming device. The data may include a first set of criteria identifying when the first promotion should be displayed.
US09940642B1	Electronic real estate access system A system for providing physical access to a building that is for sale, lease, or rent is described. The system includes a server, a remote device located at the building that prohibits access to the building, and a handheld device. The handheld device transmits location information for the handheld device and identification information to the server. The server identifies the building based on the location information and transmits marketing information for the building to the handheld device. The device displays the marketing information and transmits a request for access to the building, the request transmitted to the server. The remote device is configured to provide access to the building when the remote device receives an access signal from the server or from the handheld device. The access signal is sent from the server based on confirmation of the location information for the handheld device and confirmation of the identification information.
US09940641B2	System for serving data that matches content related to a search results page A system is described for serving data matching content in a search engine marketing system. The system may include a processor, an interface and a memory. The memory may be operatively connected to the processor and may store a page, a content related to the page, a set of terms and a data. The interface may be operatively connected to the memory and the processor and may be used to communicate with a user. The processor may identify a page and a content, perform a semantic analysis on the content to generate a set of terms, match the set of terms to a data, add the data to the page, and the serve the page to a user via the interface.
US09940638B2	Identifier-based coupon distribution A client device detects a QR code (or NFC tag). The client device decodes the QR code. The client device determines that the data encoded within the QR code includes a URL. Based on the URL, the client device sends a first request to a first server identified by the URL. In response to the first request, the client device receives from the first server data configured to cause the client device to display, to a user of the client device, at least one of: a video or an interactive web page. Responsive to the data encoded in the QR code, the client device sends to a coupon server: identification data associated with a user of the client device, and a request for the coupon server to distribute a digital coupon for an offer associated with an identifier encoded within the QR code to an account associated with the user.
US09940632B2	Real-time broadcast content synchronization database system In response to a track playing on a broadcast radio station, the corresponding artist name is used as a key to access a database of artist messages, news and events information associated with that artist, that may be automatically distributed and geo-targeted while the track is playing. Distribution of the supplemental artist-related content extends to the radio broadcast—via RDS and HD, to the Internet, social media and various mobile devices. The supplement content may comprise messages pre-programmed by the artist, agents, or music labels. The supplemental content may be geo-targeted to include local tour dates, media appearances, related news, album releases and other data tied to the artist's song that is playing on the radio or on a streaming application. Further, the system may feed messages directly from the artist's existing social platforms, to provide further engagement of listeners while the track is playing.
US09940631B2	Online content collection An online content collection system includes a scanning server to scan web sites to retrieve a potential creative uniform resource locator (URL). The scanning and retrieving includes parsing web pages for the web sites, identifying a potential creative URL from the parsed web pages that matches a predetermined criterion for retrieving potential creative URLs, and retrieving the potential creative URL that matches the predetermined criterion. A data storage may be used to store creative URLs. An online content collection server analyzes the retrieved potential creative URL by determining whether the retrieved potential creative URL has been seen before by comparing the retrieved potential creative URL against the creative URLs stored in the data storage, and determining whether the retrieved potential creative URL points to a creative if the retrieved potential creative URL has been seen before.
US09940618B2	Method and apparatus for transmitting wallets between mobile devices A method of and apparatus for transmitting data of a terminal which includes a wallet application used for a commercial transaction service is provided. The method includes determining wallet data which comprise payment information and non-payment information provided by the wallet application, which is able to be transmitted, and a scheme of transmitting the wallet data; notifying a receiving terminal of a transmission of the wallet data according to input transmission information; transmitting the wallet data to the receiving terminal based on the transmission method, after receiving an acceptance message from the receiving terminal; and updating information of the wallet data, which is transmitted to the receiving terminal, based on preset regulation information. The apparatus includes a wallet transmission and reception unit and a wallet management unit.
US09940617B2	On-line pay-per-use system and method Aspects of the invention may involve systems, methods, and computer readable medium. In an embodiment of the invention, a computer-implemented method for paying for usage of a pay per use device may be provided. The method may transmit device identification information from the device to a server. Device setup information and vend price may be received and the vend price may be displayed. User identification may be received and transmitted to the server. An account balance value may be received and displayed on the display. A start request may be received and transmitted to the server. The device may start and an updated account balance may be displayed.
US09940616B1	Verifying proximity during payment transactions Method, systems, and apparatus for processing a transaction for a customer using a first device and a second device, comprising: receiving a notification from the first device, where the notification includes a selection of one or more items for purchase, where the notification includes an identifier, and where the identifier uniquely identifies both the customer and a second device; determining that the second device is in proximity to the first device as an authentication measure; in response to the determining, sending the determination to the second device, where the second device displays details regarding the selection of the one or more items for purchase; receiving, from the second device, user input indicating a confirmation of the purchase of the one or more items; submitting, to a payment processor, the details for authentication.
US09940597B2	Executing a business process by a standard business process engine Executing a business process can include providing a context data object including a payload data structure for storing a payload data and automatically splitting an annotated context data object into one or more utility data objects. Responsive to creating a second utility data object, a pre-processing task can be injected into the business process, the pre-processing task using a copy of a first mapping to read data from the predefined data structure instance and to store the read data as payload data in the payload data structure of the first utility data object. Responsive to creating a third utility object, a post-processing task can be injected into the business process. The post-processing task can use a copy of the second mapping to write the payload data of the first utility data object to elements of a predefined data structure instance.
US09940595B2	Policy-based scaling of computing resources in a networked computing environment Embodiments of the present invention provide an approach for policy-driven (e.g., price-sensitive) scaling of computing resources in a networked computing environment (e.g., a cloud computing environment). In a typical embodiment, a workload request for a customer will be received and a set of computing resources available to process the workload request will be identified. It will then be determined whether the set of computing resources are sufficient to process the workload request. If the set of computing resources are under-allocated (or are over-allocated), a resource scaling policy may be accessed. The set of computing resources may then be scaled based on the resource scaling policy, so that the workload request can be efficiently processed while maintaining compliance with the resource scaling policy.
US09940594B1	Digital workroom A workroom is automatically established for each job created and is associated with a unique email address. The workroom allows members to hold live meetings, communicate in real-time, including via email, upload/manage/share files, and automatically provide transcripts of communication. The workroom also allows team members to launch work trackers directly from the workroom. A work tracker collects work information and directly generates one or more status reports based on the work information collected. A status report includes a back-end version viewable and modifiable by a service provider and a front-end version viewable by a buyer. The status report directly generates an invoice based on the information from the status report. The invoice is submitted to the buyer and allows the buyer to directly pay the service provider.
US09940588B2	Luggage processing station A luggage processing station for registering a passenger's luggage. The station includes an injector for receiving a piece of luggage associated with the passenger. A plurality of sensors are associated with the injector. A weighing machine is also associated with the injector for weighing the luggage while in the injector. The processing station also includes a user interface for receiving various inputs for confirming that a passenger has checked-in and to display information to the passenger during processing the luggage. A controller is associated with the sensors and weighing machine and the user interface. The controller is adapted to accept the luggage if the input received via the passenger's boarding pass or identification indicate that the passenger has checked-in, feedback from the sensors indicates that predetermined criteria are met, and if feedback from the weighing machine indicates that weight of luggage is within a predetermined limit.
US09940573B2	Superpixel methods for convolutional neural networks Methods, systems, and apparatus for efficiently performing a computation of a convolutional neural network layer. One of the methods includes transforming a X by Y by Z input tensor into a X′ by Y′ by Z′ input tensor, wherein X′ is smaller than or equal to X, Y′ is smaller than or equal to Y, and Z′ is larger than or equal to Z; obtaining one or more modified weight matrices, wherein the modified weight matrices operate on the X′ by Y′ by Z′ input tensor to generate a U′ by V′ by W′ output tensor, and the U′ by V′ by W′ output tensor comprises a transformed U by V by W output tensor, wherein U′ is smaller than or equal to U, V′ is smaller than or equal to V, and W′ is larger than or equal to W; and processing the X′ by Y′ by Z′ input tensor using the modified weight matrices to generate the U′ by V′ by W′ output tensor, wherein the U′ by V′ by W′ output tensor comprises the U by V by W output tensor.
US09940566B2	Extracting information from surface coatings A method and system for extracting information from a surface coated with a coating containing quantum dots are disclosed. In embodiments, the method comprises charging the quantum dots in the surface coating, scanning the surface to retrieve information from the quantum dots, and processing the retrieved information to identify data encoded in the quantum dots. In embodiments of the invention, the processing includes filtering the retrieved information to adjust the received information based on defined effects of the coating. In embodiments of the invention, the filtering includes filtering the retrieved information to account for chromatic deviation due to the color of the coated surface. In embodiments of the invention, the quantum dots include a plurality of different types of quantum dots, and the processing the retrieved information includes processing the retrieved information to distinguish between the information retrieved from the different types of quantum dots.
US09940565B2	Two-dimensional code generation device and two-dimensional code generation program product A two-dimensional code generation device includes an image acquisition unit acquiring, from a database, an image visually indicating a type of information to be provided by a two-dimensional code based on coding information, and a code generation unit generating the two-dimensional code based on the coding information. The coding information is information for generating the two-dimensional code. When the image acquisition unit acquires the image visually indicating the type of information to be provided by the two-dimensional code, the code generation unit includes the image acquired by the image acquisition unit in the two-dimensional code in a superimposed manner.
US09940543B2	Control of computer vision pre-processing based on image matching using structural similarity A processor computes a measure of input image structural complexity of an input image, and searches a database of true positives to find one or more entries in the database that represent true positive images that are structurally similar to the input image. The processor compares a measure of signal quality of the input image and a measure of signal quality of one of the true positive images, as retrieved from the database, and based on the comparison updates a control variable that configures a signal quality conditioning process that is to be performed on the input image prior to processing of the input image by a computer vision processor thus improving performance of the computer vision task. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
US09940540B2	Image correction during magnetic resonance dependent on the reception profile of the reception antenna In a method and apparatus for correcting image data acquired by an image data acquisition scanner of a magnetic resonance system, a reception profile of a reception antenna of the magnetic resonance scanner is determined. A correction function is determined by which an asymmetry of the reception profile with respect to a symmetry plane is corrected. Furthermore, image data are received and corrected by multiplying the intensity values of the image data with the determined correction function.
US09940538B2	Visual comparisons using personal objects Embodiments of the present invention provide automated systems and methods for visualizing a product using standard and personal objects. An image can be retrieved from the shopping history or shopping cart of a user, and the dimensions of the image can be automatically adjusted to make an accurate relative size comparison to a product for purchase.
US09940534B1	Digital integrated circuit for extracting features out of an input image based on cellular neural networks Digital integrated circuit (IC) for extracting features out of input image is disclosed. The IC contains one or more identical cellular neural networks (CNN) processing engines operatively coupled to at least one I/O data bus. Each CNN processing engine includes a CNN processing block, a first set of memory buffers for storing imagery data and a second set of memory buffers for storing filter coefficients. CNN processing block is configured to simultaneously perform 3×3 convolutions at M×M pixel locations using received imagery data and corresponding filter coefficients. Imagery data represents a (M+2)-pixel by (M+2)-pixel region of the input image. CNN processing block further performs rectification and/or 2×2 pooling operations as directed. When two or more CNN processing engines are configured on the IC, CNN processing engines are connected to one another as a loop via a clock-skew circuit for cyclic data access. M is a positive integer.
US09940533B2	Scanning window for isolating pixel values in hardware for computer vision operations An apparatus includes a hardware sensor array including a plurality of pixels arranged along at least a first dimension and a second dimension of the array, each of the pixels capable of generating a sensor reading. A hardware scanning window array includes a plurality of storage elements arranged along at least a first dimension and a second dimension of the hardware scanning window array, each of the storage elements capable of storing a pixel value based on one or more sensor readings. Peripheral circuitry for systematically transfers pixel values, based on sensor readings, into the hardware scanning window array, to cause different windows of pixel values to be stored in the hardware scanning window array at different times. Control logic coupled to the hardware sensor array, the hardware scanning window array, and the peripheral circuitry, provides control signals to the peripheral circuitry to control the transfer of pixel values.
US09940529B2	Parking space recognition apparatus and parking space recognition system A parking space recognition apparatus includes an onboard camera, a wireless receiver, and a parking space determination portion. The onboard camera is mounted to a first vehicle and captures a peripheral image around the first vehicle. The wireless receiver is mounted to the first vehicle and receives a parking-space related information that is transmitted from an outside of the first vehicle. The parking space determination portion is mounted to the first vehicle and determines a parking space to park the first vehicle on a basis of the peripheral image and the parking-space related information.
US09940528B2	Driver assistance system for vehicle A driver assistance system for a vehicle includes first and second cameras and a rear backup camera. A control processes image data captured by the first camera and determines that the first camera is misaligned when the first camera is disposed at the left side of the vehicle. The control, responsive to a determination of misalignment of the first camera, is operable to algorithmically at least partially compensate for misalignment of the first camera. At least in part responsive to processing of captured image data, a composite image is displayed that provides a view that approximates a view from a single virtual camera. Image data captured at least by the first camera is processed using an edge detection algorithm to detect edges of objects exterior of the vehicle. Responsive at least in part to processing of captured image data, an object of interest exterior of the vehicle is determined.
US09940524B2	Identifying and tracking vehicles in motion A system comprising a computer-readable storage medium storing at least one program and a method for identifying and monitoring vehicles in motion is presented. The method may include accessing sets of pixel coordinates defining a location of a vehicle within a first image and a second image. The method may further include translating the sets of pixel coordinates to sets of global coordinates defining a first and second geospatial location of the vehicle. The method further includes determining the vehicle is in motion based on a comparison of the first and second geospatial locations of the vehicle. The method further includes causing presentation of a user interface that includes a geospatial map with visual indicators of the first and second geospatial location of the vehicle.
US09940514B2	Automated geospatial image mosaic generation with multiple zoom level support Generation of a plurality of orthomosaic image layers for a geographical area, wherein the layers comprise different spatial resolutions and are radiometrically normalized to facilitate improved radiometric consistency when zooming relative to the geographic area. In applications that facilitate zooming with respect to a geographic area imaged by the orthomosaic layers, radiometric normalization of the orthomosaic image layers may reduce radiometric discontinuities when zooming in, zooming out, and/or panning a displayed portion that is output to the user. The orthomosaic layers may be generated based on one or more orthomosaic image layer or may be developed independently using a source images. In any regard, the radiometric normalization may include generating a normalization function based on image metadata that is calculated and may be independent of the spatial resolution of the image.
US09940509B2	Object detection method and object detection apparatus An object detection method and an object detection apparatus are provided. The object detection method comprises: mapping at least one image frame in an image sequence into a three dimensional physical space to obtain three dimensional coordinates of each pixel in the at least one image frame; extracting a foreground region in the at least one image frame; segmenting the foreground region into a set of blobs; and detecting, for each blob in the set of blobs, an object in the blob through a neural network based on the three dimensional coordinates of at least one predetermined reference point in the blob, to obtain an object detection result.
US09940507B2	Image processing device and method for moving gesture recognition using difference images An image processing device includes a difference image generation unit which generates a difference image by obtaining a difference between frames of a cutout image which is obtained by cutting out a predetermined region on a photographed image; a feature amount extracting unit which extracts a feature amount from the difference image; and a recognition unit which recognizes a specific movement of an object on the photographed image based on the feature amount which is obtained from the plurality of difference images which are aligned in time sequence.
US09940504B2	Method to produce consistent face texture The present invention provides a method for the 3D scanning of a person's head.
US09940498B2	Low power application access using fingerprint sensor authentication A method includes detecting an interaction event on a display of a device in a locked mode. The interaction event originates at one of a fingerprint sensor of the device or an application icon and terminates at the other of the fingerprint sensor or the application icon. The interaction event is authenticated using the fingerprint sensor. A function associated with the application icon is activated responsive to authenticating the interaction event without unlocking the device.
US09940495B2	Optical reader device, tag for use on a disposable or replaceable component, optical data validation system and method for optical data validation The presented principles relate to an optical reader device, to a tag for use on a disposable or replaceable component, to an optical data validation system and to a method for optical data validation. The optical reader device comprises a sensor unit and a signal processing unit. In particular, the sensor unit comprises a light source and an optical sensor arrangement. The light source comprises at least one light emitting component and is arranged for emitting light. The optical sensor arrangement is arranged for generating a first sensor signal indicative of light emitted from the light source and reflected back from a code marking of a tag to be placed in front of the light source in a determined distance. The optical sensor is further arranged for generating a second sensor signal indicative of light emitted by a photo-responsive taggant of the tag after being excited by the light emitted from the light source. The signal processing unit comprises a signal processing unit being arranged to process the first sensor signal and the second sensor signal.
US09940491B2	Location tracking system A location tracking system includes a tag configured to be uniquely associated with and affixed to an item, and automatically and periodically emit a first signal, a receiving transmitter having a Bluetooth signal reception functionality that is configured to automatically receive the first signal from the tag when the receiving transmitter is within a broadcast range of the tag without requiring pairing of the receiving transmitter and the tag and transmit a second signal, and a data system configured to be remotely accessible to the receiving transmitter and receive the second signal transmitted from the receiving transmitter. The second signal can be transmitted via a network to which the receiving transmitter is connected. An application can be installed in the receiving transmitter that allows the receiving transmitter to automatically receive the first signal and initiate transmission of the second signal from the receiving transmitter to the data system.
US09940490B1	Enhanced RFID tag authentication An authentication method includes RFID tags authenticating RFID readers. A tag sends a tag identifier and a reader challenge to a reader in response to one or more commands from the reader. The reader then either derives a response to the reader challenge itself or has a verification authority derive the response. The response may be derived from parameter(s) in the reader challenge, and may be derived using a cryptographic key. The reader then sends the response to the tag along with another command. The tag verifies the response before executing instruction(s) included in the command.
US09940489B2	Radiofrequency transponder circuit The invention relates to radiofrequency transponder circuits, and in particular to such transponder circuits having a unique identifier. Embodiments disclosed include a radiofrequency transponder circuit (100) comprising an antenna module (101), a control circuit (103) and a memory (104), the transponder circuit (100) being configured to respond to a read command received via the antenna module (101) by the control circuit (103) reading and transmitting an identifier stored in the memory (104) via the antenna module (101), wherein the control circuit (103) is configured to perform an integrity check on data stored in the memory (104) upon being powered up by a reader field a first time via the antenna module (101) and to not perform the integrity check for a predetermined time period upon being powered up by a reader field subsequent times via the antenna module (101).
US09940488B2	Dual video pipe with overlap filtering A method includes receiving image information related to a first plurality of pixels at a first data pathway, receiving image information related to a second plurality of pixels at a second data pathway, where the first plurality of pixels and the second plurality of pixels include a shared plurality of pixels. The method also includes performing image processing in dependence on image information related to the shared plurality of pixels, and combining data output from the first and second data pathways into a stream of data where the stream output is generated using a first clock frequency which is substantially the same as that used in the first and second data pathways.
US09940484B2	Techniques for detecting false positive return-oriented programming attacks Various embodiments are generally directed to an apparatus, method and other techniques to determine whether a target address of a register for an execution instruction is valid or invalid based on a comparison between the target address and one or more valid target addresses stored in a storage, increase a number of invalid target addresses if the target address is invalid, and determine whether the number of invalid target addresses is greater than an invalid target address threshold. Various embodiments may also include initiating a security measure to prevent a security breach if the number of invalid target addresses is greater than the invalid target address threshold or executing the execution instruction if the number of invalid target addresses is less than or equal to the invalid target address threshold.
US09940479B2	Identifying and tracking sensitive data A method of classifying privacy relevance of an application programming interface (API) comprises analyzing a set of input applications to identify a plurality of custom APIs and generating a respective taint specification for each identified custom API. The method further comprises generating taint flows based on each taint specification and matching features and associated feature values from the taint flows to a set of feature templates. The method also comprises correlating the matched features and associated feature values with respective privacy relevance of the plurality of custom APIs to identify a set of privacy relevant features. The method further comprises detecting a candidate API, extracting features from the candidate API and comparing the extracted features to the set of privacy relevant features. Based on the comparison, a label is assigned to the candidate API indicating privacy relevance of the candidate API.
US09940474B1	Techniques and systems for data segregation in data storage systems A computer system, such as a data storage system, implements techniques for segregating and controlling access to data stored in multiple regions. In some embodiments, redundancy coded shards generated from the data and stored in durable storage of a data storage system is allocated across multiple regions, but in a fashion that prevents actors with access to regions outside that of a “home” region from recovering a sufficient number of unique shards to regenerate the data represented thereby. In some embodiments, encryption is used to segregate the data by encrypting the generated shards, then storing the cryptographic information on or otherwise controlling access on hosts or other devices of only the home region.
US09940472B2	Edge access control in querying facts stored in graph databases Methods and arrangements for managing user access to a graph database. Nodes are represented in a graph, along with edges which interconnect the nodes. One or more facts are associated with each of the edges, and an access control list is provided with respect to one or more facts associated with one or more of the edges. There is restricted user access to one or more facts associated with the one or more of the edges, based on the access control list. Other variants and embodiments are broadly contemplated herein.
US09940469B2	Encrypted data store for records A method performed by a processing system includes determining a location in a metadata tree of a patient for an electronic health record, generating a record key for the electronic health record based on the location and a provider key corresponding to a provider, the provider key generated from a patient key corresponding to the patient, encrypting the electronic health record using the record key to generate a encrypted record, and providing the encrypted record to an encrypted data store.
US09940468B2	Preserving user privacy Some embodiments of the invention provide a server apparatus, comprising: a control block comprising at least one processor; at least one data reception unit operable to receive a request to share a picture; at least one storage facility, storing programmed instructions for execution by the control block, the programmed instructions defining an image analysis engine operable to determine that the picture comprises an image of a person; and at least one data transmission unit operable to issue a request to the person, or someone associated with the person, to consent to sharing the image. Other embodiments provide a method, performed by at least one computer. The method comprises: (A) receiving a request to share a picture; (B) determining that the picture comprises an image of a person; and (C) requesting that the person, or someone associated with the person, consent to sharing the image.
US09940467B2	Systems and apparatuses for architecture assessment and policy enforcement Example embodiments are disclosed herein for asset architecture evaluation and security enforcement within an enterprise computing platform. One example method includes receiving a proposed architecture for evaluation, wherein the proposed architecture for evaluation relates to integration of an asset into the enterprise computing platform. This example method further includes dynamically evaluating, by risk evaluation circuitry, the proposed architecture against embedded security policies, standards, baselines, or patterns established for the enterprise computing platform. In addition, the example method includes, in an instance in which dynamic evaluation of the proposed architecture identifies security gaps, determining, by the risk evaluation circuitry, changes to the proposed architecture that would remediate the identified security gaps. The example method further includes generating a report regarding the proposed architecture, wherein the report identifies any changes to the proposed architecture that would remediate the identified security gaps. Corresponding apparatuses and computer program products are also provided.
US09940461B2	Enabling an external operating system to access encrypted data units of a data storage system A method for allowing an operating system (OS), to access an encrypted data storage system of a computer, wherein: the data storage system comprises: a partition; and first encrypted data units that comprise partition table data of said data storage system; and said computer is connectable to an external device comprising: a boot loader for an external OS that is not installed on the computer; and partitioning information capturing an expected location of said partition in the data storage system; and wherein second encrypted data units that comprise reference partition table data for said data storage system are available from said computer or said external device, the method comprising: upon connection of said external device to the computer, instructing to boot the computer from said boot loader; and during or after booting of the computer: comparing the first and second encrypted data units; and if the first and second encrypted data units match, allow the external OS to access, based on the partitioning information stored on the external device, one or more data units of said partition on the data storage system.
US09940460B1	Cleaning malware from backup data Embodiments described herein perform cleanup of backup images of a storage system by applying a record of I/O operations recorded while performing anti-malware operations on the storage system. The recording of the I/O operations can be replayed to resolve malware infections in the backup images, snapshots, or replicas of the storage system without requiring a restore-cleanup cycle for each backup image.
US09940455B2	Programming code execution management In one aspect of the present description, operations are described for detecting whether programming code of a first computer program has been modified by a second computer program. In one embodiment, the modification detecting includes registering a first section of programming code of the first computer program in a first registry data structure. To detect a modification, the registered first section of programming code may be validated. In one embodiment, the validating includes comparing the section of programming code actually located at the first memory address to the registered first section of programming code. In another aspect, various selectable remedial actions may be taken upon detecting modification of programming code of the first computer program. Other features and aspects may be realized, depending upon the particular application.
US09940452B2	Method and system for interoperable identity and interoperable credentials The present teaching relates to generating an identifier for a person. In one example, an actual name of the person is received. The identity of the person that is associated with the actual name of the person is proved at a pre-determined level of assurance (LOA) required by an identity management system. When the identity of the person has been proved, a peripheral name is solicited from the person. An identifier that includes the actual name and the peripheral name of the person is created. Whether the identifier is unique is determined. The steps of soliciting, creating, and determining are repeated until the identifier is unique. The peripheral name is associated with the person. The identifier is associated with the person.
US09940449B2	Secure information storage and retrieval apparatus and method A user using a client computer registers with a server computer over a computer network by submitting a biometric scan of a body part of the user. The user commands the client computer to encrypt an electronic file. The client computer generates a private key, encrypts the electronic file and transmits the key to the server computer. The client computer saves the encrypted file. The encrypted file and the key are saved at different physical locations. The owner of the file is able to grant permission to other registered users to unlock the encrypted file.
US09940445B2	Securing microprocessors against information leakage and physical tampering A processor system comprising: performing a compilation process on a computer program; encoding an instruction with a selected encoding; encoding the security mutation information in an instruction set architecture of a processor; and executing a compiled computer program in the processor using an added mutation instruction, wherein executing comprises executing a mutation instruction to enable decoding another instruction. A processor system with a random instruction encoding and randomized execution, providing effective defense against offline and runtime security attacks including software and hardware reverse engineering, invasive microprobing, fault injection, and high-order differential and electromagnetic power analysis.
US09940441B2	System and method for maximum insulin pump bolus override An ambulatory infusion pump can include a maximum bolus override procedure. When a bolus amount greater than a maximum bolus amount is requested, the pump can provide an alert indicating that the amount requested exceeds the maximum bolus amount. If the user confirms the request in response to the alert, the bolus amount can be delivered to the user. The amount delivered in response to the confirmation can be a first portion of the bolus amount. A reminder can then be provided that a second portion of the bolus amount that is a remaining portion of the requested bolus amount was also requested. If a second confirmation is received in response to the alert, the second portion of the bolus amount can also delivered to the user.
US09940438B2	Medical diagnosis support apparatus and medical diagnosis support method A medical diagnosis support apparatus which provides information for supporting medical diagnosis includes an inference unit which obtains an inference result based on a combination of already input information and each of one or more pieces of information that has not been input (“non-input information”), an evaluation unit which evaluates each piece of non-input information by using an inference result on the already—input information which is obtained by the inference unit and an inference result on each piece of the non-input information which is obtained by the inference unit, and a selection unit which selects non-input information to be presented, from among the various pieces of non-input information, based on the evaluation obtained by the evaluation unit.
US09940437B2	Computer-aided multiple standard-based functional evaluation and medical reporting system A method of performing an objective functional evaluation of a person's physical capacity comprises of a computer program particularly designed to amass and assess test data in accordance with a selected standard. A wide variety of evaluation protocols are incorporated to lead an operator in a step-by-step process. The method includes special testing tools, many of which have been modified to input data directly into the computer diagnostic program. The interface may be a wired or a wireless connection. The software program may use an algorithm to calculate a coefficient of variation for the multiple trials of a test, using the entered data, to providing a determination of validity of the trials. A second algorithm calculates an average result of the condition-specific protocol of tests, after which the software program correlates those average results to a database of normative standards to compute an impairment rating.
US09940434B2	System for genome analysis and genetic disease diagnosis The method for genome analysis translates the clinical findings in the patient into a comprehensive test order for genes that can be causative of the patient's illness, delimits analysis of variants identified in the patient's genome to those that are “on target” for the patient's illness, and provides clinical annotation of the likely causative variants for inclusion in a variant warehouse that is updated as a result of each sample that is analyzed and that, in turn, provides a source of additional annotation for variants. The method uses a genome sequence having the steps of entering at least one clinical feature of a patient by an end-user, assigning a weighted value to the term based on the probability of the presence of the term, mapping the term to at least one disease by accessing a knowledge base containing a plurality of data sets, wherein the data sets are made up of associations between (i) clinical features and diseases, (ii) diseases and genes, (iii) genes and genetic variants, and (iv) diseases and gene variants, assigning a truth value to each of the mapped terms based on the associated data sets and the weighted value, to provide a list of results of possible diagnoses prioritized based on the truth values, with continuous adjustment of the weightings of associations in the knowledge base based on updating of each discovered diagnosis and attendant clinical features, genes and gene variants. This method can be performed in fifty hours or twenty-four hours or less.
US09940431B2	Accurate statistical timing for boundary gates of hierarchical timing models A system to improve performance of a semiconductor chip design includes a hierarchical analysis module that determines a hierarchical arrangement of the semiconductor chip design. The hierarchical arrangement includes a plurality of arcs located at different levels internal to the semiconductor chip design. The different levels include a macro level, a unit level and a core level. The system further includes a timing/load analysis module that determines first timing characteristics of at least one first arc in the macro level based on a first load applied to the at least one first arc. The system further determines second timing characteristics of at least one second arc in at least one of the unit level and the core level based on the first timing characteristics, with a portion of the second timing characteristics determined irrespective of the first load.
US09940429B2	Early overlay prediction and overlay-aware mask design Various embodiments include computer-implemented methods, computer program products and systems for analyzing at least one feature in a layout representing an integrated circuit (IC) for an overlay effect. In some cases, approaches include a computer-implemented method including: modeling a topography of the IC by running at least one of a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) model, a deposition model or an etch model on a data file representing the IC after formation of an uppermost layer; modeling the at least one feature in the IC for an overlay effect using the topography model of the IC; and modifying the data file representing the IC after formation of the uppermost layer in response to detecting the overlay effect in the at least one feature, the overlay effect occurring in a layer underlying the uppermost layer.
US09940423B2	Editing a NoC topology on top of a floorplan A NoC topology is represented on top of a physical view of a chip's floorplan. The NoC topology is edited, such as by adding switches, removing switches, and adding and removing switches on routes. An initial location of switches within the floorplan is automatically computed. Locations can also be edited by a user. Statistical metrics are calculated, including wire length, switch area, NoC area, and maximum signal propagation delay for logic in each of multiple clock domains. Wire density can also be overlaid on chip's floorplan on the display. The NoC topology is represented by a data structure indicating connections between initiator and target endpoints with ordered lists of switches in between. The data structures are written and read from memory or a non-transient computer readable medium. The locations of endpoint and switches are also written out, as scripts for place & route tools.
US09940420B2	Monolithic structure with a rotation in a shearable medium A monolithic structure designed to be built with relatively few manufacturing steps comprises three dimensional elements enclosed by planar faces, a rotation within a shearable medium, a strain arising from the rotation, and potential energy configurations that are dependent upon the strain. A first tensor for strain or displacement within a shearable medium is derived from the rotation. A configuration of a potential energy, its gradient or a potential energy per unit volume in the structure is derived from a second tensor whose coefficients can be derived from a sum of constants and trigonometric functions. A new energy configuration is defined when parameters and coefficients of the second tensor become dependent upon the rotation and its subsequent strain. Drawings illustrate several views and examples of the interaction between the rotation, tensors and three dimensional elements.
US09940414B2	Total asset modeling with integrated asset models and persistent asset models Systems and methods for total asset modeling by updating a preexisting integrated asset model in the form of a unique type model during different stages of an asset lifecycle to identify and evaluate a new asset during the asset lifecycle.
US09940400B2	Accessing software application functionality in search A method includes transmitting a search query from a computing device to a search system configured to generate search results in response to a received search query, and receiving search results from the search system in response to transmitting the search query. The search results include an application access mechanism that references a native application and indicates one or more operations for the application to perform. The application performing the operations sets the application into an application state. The search results also include an application download address that indicates a location for downloading the application. The method also includes generating a user selectable link that includes the application access mechanism and the application download address, and displaying the user link. In response to receiving a user selection of the selectable link, the method also includes downloading, installing, launching, and causing the native application to perform the one or more operations.
US09940399B2	Methods and systems for pathing analysis Methods, systems and computer program products for pathing analysis are provided. The method includes receiving at a server, a query comprising one or more nodes. The method further includes identifying one or more prior queries, wherein the one or more prior queries comprise at least one of the one or more nodes. The method accesses metadata associated with the one or more prior queries. The method then selects based on the metadata, one or more data partitions for further processing. Next, the method causes one or more computers to identify one or more paths in the selected data partitions, wherein the one or more paths comprise at least the one or more nodes. Finally, the method presents the identified paths as an output to the query.
US09940395B2	Influence business benefit from user reviews and cognitive dissonance An approach is provided in which a knowledge manager identifies first opinion phrases included in a first review that the knowledge manager displays on a display. The knowledge manager locates contradictory reviews that include second opinion phrases that contradict the first opinion phrases and, in turn, displays the contradictory reviews on the display.
US09940381B1	Managing information about entities using observations Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for managing entities using observations. In one aspect, a method includes receiving data identifying an entity; generating a user interface document that, when rendered by a user device, presents a plurality of attribute values to a user and allows the user to modify one or more of the plurality of attribute values; and storing an observation in a data store, the observation including a user-modified value of one of the plurality of attribute values and a context including one or more of the presented attribute values.
US09940377B1	Instant copies of storage volumes Techniques are described for allocating computing storage capacity to customers of a provider network. Storage capacity that is allocated to a customer is backed up with a replica of the allocated storage capacity. A request is received for a copy of contents of the allocated storage capacity. Responsive to the indication, the requested copy is provided and is configured to reference the replica when the requested copy is accessed.
US09940368B2	Ranking search results Methods, systems, computer readable media, and apparatuses for ranking search results are presented. According to one or more aspects, two or more search results may be ranked based on the extent to which each search result matches at least one search criterion and based on the amount of time that content corresponding to each search result will remain available. Content with less availability time remaining may be ranked higher than content with more availability time remaining. The ranking may also be based on a genre of the content being ranked, and availability may be weighted differently in ranking content of different genres.
US09940366B2	Image search device, image search method, program, and computer-readable storage medium An image search device is configured to: obtain a plurality of query feature vectors each indicating a local feature of an image serving as a query; select a plurality of image feature vectors respectively corresponding to the plurality of query feature vectors based on proximities between the plurality of image feature vectors respectively indicating a plurality of local features of each of a plurality of search target images to be searched, and the plurality of query feature vectors; generate an image score of the search target image based on a total sum of score elements each corresponding to the proximities between the selected plurality of image feature vectors and the query feature vectors corresponding to the selected image feature vectors; and select at least one of the plurality of search target images based on the image score.
US09940364B2	Obtaining desired web content from a mobile device Methods and systems to obtain desired web content for a mobile device are disclosed. Users access web pages with mobile devices such as smart phones in addition to their non-mobile devices. In order to conveniently display information on mobile devices having smaller screens, mobile versions of web pages offering abridged content are available as well as non-mobile versions. When a web page is selected from search results provided from a query in a web search, the mobile or non-mobile versions of the web page may be delivered. By delivering a web page version to a mobile device based on relevance rankings determined for the non-mobile and mobile versions of the web page, desired content is more efficiently delivered. In this manner, a search experience may be improved by reducing deliveries of mobile versions of web pages to mobile devices where an alternative non-mobile version of the web page is preferred.
US09940362B2	Predicting user needs for a particular context A computing system is described that identifies, based on search histories associated with a group of computing devices for a particular context, a task performed by users of the group of computing devices for the particular context. The computing system determines a first degree of likelihood of the task being performed by the users of the group of computing devices for the particular context and determines a second degree of likelihood of the task being performed by the users of the group of computing devices for a broader context that includes the particular context and at least one other context. Responsive to determining that the first degree of likelihood exceeds the second degree of likelihood by a threshold amount, and that a current context of a particular computing device corresponds to the particular context, the computing system transmits, to the particular computing device, information for completing the task for the particular context.
US09940358B2	Efficient data transfer A determination is made to co-locate geographical dispersed data of a Relational Database Management System (RDBMS). Costs associated with the direction of moving a portion of the dispersed data from one site to another site are computed. A comparison of the costs is made to determine which direction to move the data to co-locate it at one site for optimal performance of a RDBMS operation.
US09940355B2	Providing answers to questions having both rankable and probabilistic components Providing answers to questions. A LAT, a rankable criterion, and a probabilistic criterion are identified in a received query. A set of candidate answers to the question that are instances of the LAT identified in a first data source is generated. Based on the rankable criterion, the candidate answers are ranked. Each candidate answer is assigned a likelihood that the candidate answer satisfies the probabilistic criterion, based on a statistic of occurrences of terms related to the candidate answer and the probabilistic criterion in text passages from a second data source. One or more candidate answers are selected based on the rank and the likelihood of the candidate answers. In another aspect of the invention, a Boolean criterion is also identified in the query and the set of candidate answers is reduced by applying the Boolean criterion.
US09940354B2	Providing answers to questions having both rankable and probabilistic components Providing answers to questions. A LAT, a rankable criterion, and a probabilistic criterion are identified in a received query. A set of candidate answers to the question that are instances of the LAT identified in a first data source is generated. Based on the rankable criterion, the candidate answers are ranked. Each candidate answer is assigned a likelihood that the candidate answer satisfies the probabilistic criterion, based on a statistic of occurrences of terms related to the candidate answer and the probabilistic criterion in text passages from a second data source. One or more candidate answers are selected based on the rank and the likelihood of the candidate answers. In another aspect of the invention, a Boolean criterion is also identified in the query and the set of candidate answers is reduced by applying the Boolean criterion.
US09940346B2	Two-level management of locks on shared resources In a shared data system comprising one or more primary nodes and a plurality of secondary nodes, global lock manager on a primary node manages locks for shared resources by exchanging an abstract lock state with local lock managers on the secondary nodes. The abstract lock state includes a particular representation of all of the applications on the nodes that are requesting or are granted locks. The exchange of these particular lock states instead of individual requests improves performance by increasing concurrency and reducing off-machine communication. A global deadlock detector on a node detects and resolves global deadlocks, in conjunction with local deadlock detectors on the secondary nodes.
US09940345B2	Software method for data storage and retrieval This invention discloses a novel method for storing data in virtual multidimensional blocks and accessing and retrieving desired information from these blocks. Specific items of data whose characteristics fall within the range of a specified block are stored within that block. Blocks with smaller ranges are nested within larger blocks with the same characteristics. This invention's search method involves checking the specific range of a search query against the largest relevant block range, and then successively checking smaller and smaller range blocks that contain the desired data. This method provides greater speed and accuracy than conventional database linear storage and record by record search methods.
US09940338B2	Efficiency of file synchronization in a linear tape file system A mechanism is provided for improved file synchronization of a magnetic tape. A destination device determines whether one or more file checksums exist in an extended file attribute associated with an identified file. Responsive to one or more file checksums existing in the extended file attribute associated with the identified file, the destination device reads the one or more file checksums out of the extended file attribute without accessing the magnetic tape. The destination device transmits the one or more file checksums to a source device. The source device segments the data of the new file into fixed-length blocks that do not overlap one another. The source device calculates one or more new file checksums for each of the fixed-length blocks. The source device transmits the one or more new file checksums to the destination device.
US09940335B2	Information processing apparatus, information processing system, information processing method, and non-transitory computer readable medium An information processing apparatus includes a recording unit, a log display unit, a selection unit, and a storage location data display unit. The recording unit records log entries regarding pieces of data selected by a user as targets of an information process in an information log. The log display unit displays storage locations of the pieces of data and a log list that is a list of the log entries recorded in the information log. The selection unit selects any of the storage locations of the pieces of data displayed. The storage location data display unit displays a storage location data list that is a list of pieces of data stored in the selected storage location.
US09940330B2	System and method for converting a physical disk to a virtual disk A method for converting a disk of a physical computer into a virtual disk for use by a virtual machine is described. Contents of the disk of the physical computer are copied into an image file, wherein the image file has a different sector-by-sector organization of the contents than the disk but a logically equivalent file system organization. Hardware configuration information from the image file is then extracted, wherein the hardware configuration information relates to hardware of the physical computer and, based on a comparison of the extracted hardware configuration information and a virtual hardware configuration of the virtual machine, hardware-dependent files in the image file are replaced with substitute files that are compatible with the virtual hardware configuration of the virtual machine.
US09940323B2	Text classifier operation A mechanism is provided in a data processing system for text classification. A domain terms selector component, executing on a processor of the data processing system, receives an input text. A domain terms selector component executing on a processor of the data processing system identifies at least one domain term in the input text. A domain terms replacer component executing on a processor of the data processing system replaces the at least one identified domain term in the input text with a corresponding replacement term to form a revised input text. A text classifier component configured with a trained text classifier machine learning model classifies the revised input text to form a class determination.
US09940321B2	System for machine translation Systems and methods for machine translation use a novel interlingua comprising a topic stack and a weighted set of marked lemma dependency trees.
US09940318B2	Generating and applying outgoing communication templates Methods, apparatus, systems, and computer-readable media are provided for generating and applying outgoing communication templates. In various implementations a corpus of outgoing communications sent by a user may be grouped into a plurality of clusters based on one or more attributes of a context of the user. One or more segments of each outgoing communication of a particular cluster may be classified as fixed in response to a determination that a count of occurrences of the one or more segments across the particular cluster satisfies a criterion. One or more remaining segments of each communication of the particular cluster may or may not be classified as transient. Based on sequences of classified segments associated with each communication of the particular cluster, an outgoing communication template may be generated to automatically populate at least a portion of a draft outgoing communication being prepared by the user.
US09940309B2	Measuring web page rendering time A method in a network setup that includes a client entity and a network for handling a data flow to the client entity. The method estimates a screen rendering time of content at the client entity. The method includes the steps of observing the data flow to the client entity, estimating a screen area at the client entity based on the observed data flow, determining, from the data flow, content data associated with rendering content in the screen area, extracting at least data items from the determined content data, and estimating, as the screen rendering time, the time required to render the content in the screen area at the client entity based on the extracted data items.
US09940307B2	Augmenting text with multimedia assets Systems and methods are provided for providing a navigation interface to access or otherwise use electronic content items. In one embodiment, an augmentation application identifies at least one entity referenced in a document. The entity can be referenced in at least two portions of the document by at least two different words or phrases. The augmentation application associates the at least one entity with at least one multimedia asset. The augmentation application generates a layout including at least some content of the document referencing the at least one entity and the at least one multimedia asset associated with the at least one entity. The augmentation application renders the layout for display.
US09940306B2	Font loading system and method Disclosed herein is a system and related method for downloading fonts associated with a document in a client-server architecture. On a client side the client is: receiving some of the document to reproduce; retrieving fonts needed to display a page of the document on the client device by: requesting a font loader to load a requested font; determining if the font is loaded by: determining a valid test character of the font that is a viewable character; attempting to draw the test character in a small portion of a display screen of the client device; recording a width of the drawn character; determining that the test character was written in the requested font if its character width is not equal to zero; and determining that the test character was written in a fallback font if its character width is equal to zero.
US09940305B2	Preparation of textual content The invention relates to solution of preparing font information related to textual content of a document. Within the solution a document file is received as an input and the content of at least the received document file is parsed, the parsing comprising determination of font information related to textual content of the received document file. The font information is analyzed and corrected if a deficiency is detected in the font information. Output files are created from the corrected font information and stored in a memory.
US09940301B2	Cache management for RDMA data stores Embodiments relate to methods, systems and computer program products for cache management in a Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) data store. Aspects include receiving a request from a remote computer to access a data item stored in the RDMA data store and creating a lease including a local expiration time for the data item. Aspects further include creating a remote pointer to the data item, wherein the remote pointer includes a remote expiration time and transmitting the remote pointer to the remote computer, wherein the lease is an agreement that that the remote computer can perform RDMA reads on the data item until the remote expiration time.
US09940294B2	Method, apparatus, and system for configuring high-speed serial bus parameter A method for configuring a high-speed serial bus parameter, including sending an application signal from a transmit end of a high-speed serial bus to a receive end of the high-speed serial bus, searching a parameter configuration table for a high-speed serial bus parameter that matches all of a frequency of the application signal, a loss of the application signal on the high-speed serial bus, and a material type of a wiring board of the high-speed serial bus, and configuring the high-speed serial bus according to the high-speed serial bus parameter. According to the method, a problem involving configuration of a high-speed serial bus parameter when a transmitted signal is compensated may be solved.
US09940289B2	Preventing access to misplugged devices by a service processor An approach is provided for preventing access to mis=plugged devices by a service processor (SP). The SP retrieves an expected device identifier of a device associated with a hot-plug event. The hot-plug event was received in response to the device being connected to a selected port of a service processor, and the port is one many ports included in the SP. The SP sends a request for a device identifier via the port and actual device identifier is received from the device. The device is validated by comparing the expected device identifier with the actual device identifier. If the identifiers match, a link between the SP and the device is maintained. On the other hand, if the identifiers do not match, the link between the SP and the device is terminated or otherwise inhibited.
US09940284B1	Streaming interconnect architecture A device can include one of more configurable packet processing pipelines to process a plurality of packets. Each configurable packet processing pipeline can include a plurality of packet processing components, wherein each packet processing component is configured to perform one or more packet processing operations for the device. The plurality of packet processing components are coupled to a packet processing interconnect, wherein each packet processing component is configured to route the packets through the packet processing interconnect for the one or more configurable packet processing pipelines.
US09940282B2	Bus serialization for devices without multi-device support A serial bus is provided with a device (sometimes herein referred to as an I2C serializer device) including circuitry and machine logic that operates as follows: when one of the master devices is using the bus for data communication, then the other master(s) will receive a wait signal until the bus becomes available again. This wait signal allows the master devices to wait as a “hardware response,” rather than requiring the master devices to be equipped with software and/or firmware to control the operation of waiting until the serial bus is available. In some embodiments, the use of the I2C serializer device allows a bus operating under a bus serialization protocol (for example, I2C) to be simultaneously connected to multiple master devices even in the case that one, or more, master device(s) do not include any currently conventional form of multi-master support.
US09940279B2	Processor apparatus with programmable multi port serial communication interconnections A computing and communication chip architecture is provided wherein the interfaces of processor access to the memory chips are implemented as a high-speed packet switched serial interface as part of each chip. In one embodiment, the interface is accomplished through a gigabit Ethernet interface provided by protocol processor integrated as part of the chip. The protocol processor encapsulates the memory address and control information like Read, Write, number of successive bytes etc, as an Ethernet packet for communication among the processor and memory chips that are located on the same motherboard, or even on different circuit cards. In one embodiment, the communication over head of the Ethernet protocol is further reduced by using an enhanced Ethernet protocol with shortened data frames within a constrained neighborhood, and/or by utilizing a bit stream switch where direct connection paths can be established between elements that comprise the computing or communication architecture.
US09940261B2	Zoning of logical to physical data address translation tables with parallelized log list replay An example device includes a memory device and one or more processors. The memory device is configured to store a table that includes two or more mappings, each mapping being associated with a respective logical address and a respective physical address. The processors are configured to identify, within the table, a first zone and a second zone. Each zone includes one or more mappings of the table. The zones do not share any mapping of the table. The processors are further configured to form a first log list indicating one or more mapping updates associated with the mapping(s) included in the first zone, to form a second log list indicating one or more mapping updates associated with the mapping(s) included in the second zone, and to replay a portion of the first log list and a portion of the second log list concurrently to update the table.
US09940258B2	Implementing hardware accelerator for storage write cache management for merging data with existing data on fast writes to storage write cache A method and controller for implementing storage adapter enhanced write cache management, and a design structure on which the subject controller circuit resides are provided. The controller includes a hardware write cache engine implementing hardware acceleration for storage write cache management. The hardware write cache engine manages merging data with existing data on fast writes to storage write cache substantially without using firmware for greatly enhancing performance.
US09940255B2	Implementing hardware accelerator for storage write cache management for identification of data age in storage write cache A method and controller for implementing storage adapter enhanced write cache management, and a design structure on which the subject controller circuit resides are provided. The controller includes a hardware write cache engine implementing hardware acceleration for storage write cache management. The hardware write cache engine performs data age identification in storage write cache substantially without firmware involvement for greatly enhancing performance.
US09940247B2	Concurrent access to cache dirty bits The present application describes embodiments of a method and apparatus for concurrently accessing dirty bits in a cache. One embodiment of the apparatus includes a cache configurable to store a plurality of lines. The lines are grouped into a plurality of subsets the plurality of lines. This embodiment of the apparatus also includes a plurality of dirty bits associated with the plurality of lines and first circuitry configurable to concurrently access the plurality of dirty bits associated with at least one of the plurality of subsets of lines.
US09940243B1	System and method for managing an object cache In order to optimize efficiency of deserialization, a serialization cache is maintained at an object server. The serialization cache is maintained in conjunction with an object cache and stores serialized forms of objects cached within the object cache. When an inbound request is received, a serialized object received in the request is compared to the serialization cache. If the serialized byte stream is present in the serialization cache, then the equivalent object is retrieved from the object cache, thereby avoiding deserialization of the received serialized object. If the serialized byte stream is not present in the serialization cache, then the serialized byte stream is deserialized, the deserialized object is cached in the object cache, and the serialized object is cached in the serialization cache.
US09940238B2	Changing cache ownership in clustered multiprocessor A chip multiprocessor may include a first cluster and a second cluster, each having multiple cores of a processor, multiple co-located cache slices, and a memory controller. The processor stores directory information in a memory to indicate cluster cache ownership of a first address space to the first cluster. In response to a request to change the cluster cache ownership of the first address space to a second address space of the second cluster, the processor provides a quiesce period during which to block new read or write requests to the first cluster and the second cluster; drain read or write requests issued on the first cluster and the second cluster; and remove the block on new read or write requests. The processor may also update the directory information to change the cluster cache ownership of the first address space to the second address space of the second cluster.
US09940229B2	Technologies for persistent memory programming Technologies for persistent memory programming include a computing device having a persistent memory including one or more nonvolatile regions. The computing device may assign a virtual memory address of a target location in persistent memory to a persistent memory pointer using persistent pointer strategy, and may dereference the pointer using the same strategy. Persistent pointer strategies include off-holder, ID-in-value, optimistic rectification, and pessimistic rectification. The computing device may log changes to persistent memory during the execution of a data consistency section, and commit changes to the persistent memory when the last data consistency section ends. Data consistency sections may be grouped by log group identifier. Using type metadata stored in the nonvolatile region, the computing device may identify the type of a root object within the nonvolatile region and then recursively identify the type of all objects referenced by the root object. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US09940220B2	Integrating a protocol analysis device with features of a software development program In general, the subject matter described in this disclosure can be embodied in methods, systems, and program products for controlling a protocol analysis device when a code execution breakpoint is encountered. The method includes displaying computer code in a user interface of a software development program. The computer code includes a breakpoint. The computing system receives user input to cause a first hardware device to execute the computer code. The computing system instructs the first hardware device to execute the computer code. The computing system instructs a protocol analysis device that is in communication with the computing system to begin recording data that is transmitted between the first hardware device and a second hardware device. The computing system determines that execution of the computer code has reached the breakpoint and as a result instructs the protocol analysis device to start or stop recording the data.
US09940217B2	Enhanced policy editor with completion support and on demand validation In an approach to providing completion support and on demand validation in a web tool that operates on live resources, one or more computer processors create one or more lists of content, where the one or more lists of content include one or more references to one or more runtime objects. The one or more computer processors parse the one or more lists of content. The one or more computer processors populate one or more lists of one or more choices with the parsed one or more lists of content. The one or more computer processors create one or more callbacks for one or more runtime objects referenced by the one or more lists of one or more choices.
US09940216B2	System and method for using development objectives to guide implementation of source code An information processing system, computer readable storage medium, and method with an integrated development environment to guide development of applications to implement a programming design objective. A method includes analyzing a selected portion of source code according to meeting each programming design objective from a set of programming design objectives; selecting, based on the analyzing, at least one programming design objective from the programming design objectives, the selected at least one programming design objective being determined suitable for the selected portion of source code based on one of conforming with constraints of the objective, or failing to conform and determining a quick fix can be applied by update to the source code to make it conform. The method outputs a message corresponding to the selected portion of source code and indicative of the selected programming design objective suitable for the portion of source code.
US09940210B2	Healing cloud services during upgrades Embodiments described herein are directed to migrating affected services away from a faulted cloud node and to handling faults during an upgrade. In one scenario, a computer system determines that virtual machines running on a first cloud node are in a faulted state. The computer system determines which cloud resources on the first cloud node were allocated to the faulted virtual machine, allocates the determined cloud resources of the first cloud node to a second, different cloud node and re-instantiates the faulted virtual machine on the second, different cloud node using the allocated cloud resources.
US09940204B2	Memory error recovery An aspect includes memory error recovery in a memory system includes detecting an error condition within a memory chip of the memory system. A chip mark is applied to the memory chip to flag the error condition. An address range of the memory chip associated with the error condition is determined. Data are written from the address range of the memory chip to a cache memory. The chip mark is removed based on determining that all of the data from the address range have been written to the cache memory.
US09940196B2	Methods and systems for offloading RAID parity reconstruction Methods and systems for a storage environment are provided. For example, one method includes receiving a request from a storage server at an offload engine for reconstructing data lost due to a failed storage device of a parity group having a plurality of storage devices; retrieving data and parity by the offload engine from the parity group storage devices that are operational; determining by the offload engine XOR of the retrieved data and parity; presenting XOR of data and parity by the offload engine to the storage server with context information associated with the retrieved data; and reconstructing lost data by the storage server using the XOR of data and parity and the context information provided by the offload engine.
US09940193B2	Chunk definition for partial-page read The present disclosure is related to chunk definition for partial-page read. A number of methods can include setting a chunk size for a partial-page read of a page of memory cells. A start address of the partial-page read and chunk size can define a chunk of the page of memory cells. Some method can include enabling only those of a plurality of sense amplifiers associated with the page of memory cells that correspond to the chunk to perform the partial-page read.
US09940177B2	Traffic control method and system The present invention discloses a method and system for controlling traffic. The method for controlling traffic comprises: receiving, by a gateway, a request for invoking an internal application interface of the development platform from a client application; acquiring, by the gateway, rules for controlling the traffic, of the client application or the internal application interface; detecting, by the gateway, whether the rules for controlling the traffic are satisfied by the client application or the internal application interface; if so, admitting the request for invoking from the client application; otherwise, rejecting the request for invoking from the client application. The present invention prevents one same client application from excessively invoking an internal application through an internal application interface and prevents one same internal application from being invoked excessively, thereby reducing system resource consumption and improving system stability.
US09940172B2	Workload-to-cloud migration analysis based on cloud aspects Methods and systems for evaluating compatibility of a cloud of computers to perform one or more workload tasks. One or more computing solution aspects are determined that corresponding to one or more sets of workload factors, where the workload factors characterize one or more workloads, to characterize one or more computing solutions. The workload factors are compared to the computing solution aspects in a rule-based system to exclude computing solutions that cannot satisfy the workload factors. A computing solution is selected that has aspects that accommodate all of the workload factors to find a solution that accommodates the one or more individual workloads.
US09940161B1	Optimizing preemptive operating system with motion sensing A method and apparatus to provide a scheduler comprising determining a current use characteristic for the device based on motion information and active applications, and scheduling a future task.
US09940158B2	Feedback analysis for virtual machines manager scheduling Embodiments of the present invention include a computer program product for running a virtual manager scheduler for scheduling activities for virtual machines. The computer program product may include program instructions to: define a schedule for one or more activities to be executed for a virtual machine; apply an adjustment to the schedule in accordance with feedback information received via a virtual machine client aggregating the feedback information from a plurality of virtual machine clients, each being related to a virtual machine, per scheduled activity type; and determine of a group adjustment for a determined group of the virtual machine clients based on a function of the feedback information of the plurality of virtual machine clients.
US09940153B2	Method for generating configuration information, and network control unit A method for generating configuration information includes: a network control unit receives a virtual machine association message, where the VM association message includes an identifier of a first VM and an identifier of a first virtual built-in network element (NE), where a state of the first VM changes and the first virtual built-in NE detects that the state of the first VM changes; and the network control unit determines first information according to the identifier of the first VM, where the first information includes at least one of: a first forwarding entry, a location information mapping entry of the first VM, and a first network policy. According to the method, a network control unit determines first information according to an identifier of a first VM whose state changes and whose identifier is included in a VM association message, network configuration efficiency and network performance are improved.
US09940152B2	Methods and systems for integrating a volume shadow copy service (VSS) requester and/or a VSS provider with virtual volumes (VVOLS) Described herein are techniques for configuring a volume shadow copy service (VSS) requester and/or VSS provider so that a snapshot may be taken of application data stored on a virtual volume (VVOL). The VSS requester may receive a request to take a snapshot of a VVOL, the VVOL identified by a VVOL identifier. The VSS provider associated with a storage array may determine whether the storage array supports taking the snapshot of the VVOL. The determination may be based on information derived from a mapping which maps respective VVOL identifiers to respective logical unit identifiers. If the VSS provider supports taking the snapshot of the VVOL, the VSS provider may take the snapshot of the VVOL.
US09940149B2	System and method for automatically launching virtual machines based on attendance Certain aspect of the present disclosure relates to a virtual machine (VM) control system, which includes a VM controller. For a plurality of employees, the VM controller registers each employee by assigning an employee ID, and stores registration information in an attendance database. The VM controller also associates one or more VMs to each employee, and stores VM association information between the VMs and the employees in an employee ID database. The VM controller transmits polling inquiries periodically to the attendance database to retrieve employee presence events of the employees. For each employee, the employee presence events include an ingress event and an egress event. When the ingress event is detected and the associated VM is off, the VM controller launches the associated VM. When the egress event is detected and the associated VM is on, the VM controller shuts down the associated VM.
US09940139B2	Split-level history buffer in a computer processing unit A split level history buffer in a central processing unit is provided. A history buffer is split into a first portion and a second portion. An instruction fetch unit fetches and tags instructions. A register file stores tagged instructions. An execution unit generates results for tagged instructions. A first instruction is fetched, tagged, and stored in an entry of the register file. A second instruction is fetched and tagged, and then evicts the first instruction from the register file, such that the second instruction is stored in the entry of the register file. Subsequently, the first instruction is stored in an entry in the first portion of the history buffer. After a result for the first instruction is generated, the first instruction is moved from the first portion of the history buffer to the second portion of the history buffer.
US09940137B2	Processor exception handling using a branch target cache Data processing apparatus comprises a processor configured to execute instructions, the processor having a pipelined instruction fetching unit configured to fetch instructions from memory during a pipeline period of two or more processor clock cycles prior to execution of those instructions by the processor; exception logic configured to respond to a detected processing exception having an exception type selected from a plurality of exception types, by storing a current processor status and diverting program flow to an exception address dependent upon the exception type so as to control the instruction fetching unit to initiate fetching of an exception instruction at the exception address; and an exception cache configured to cache information, for at least one of the exception types, relating to execution of the exception instruction at the exception address corresponding to that exception type and to provide the cached information to the processor in response to detection of an exception of that exception type.
US09940133B2	Operation of a multi-slice processor implementing simultaneous two-target loads and stores Operation of a multi-slice processor that includes a plurality of execution slices and a load/store superslice, where the load/store superslice includes a set predict array, a first load/store slice, and a second load/store slice. Operation of such a multi-slice processor includes: receiving a two-target load instruction directed to the first load/store slice and a store instruction directed to the second load/store slice; determining a first subset of ports of the set predict array as inputs for an effective address for the two-target load instruction; determining a second subset of ports of the set predict array as inputs for an effective address for the store instruction; and generating, in dependence upon logic corresponding to the set predict array that is less than logic implementing an entire load/store slice, output for performing the two-target load instruction in parallel with generating output for performing the store instruction.
US09940129B2	Computer processor with register direct branches and employing an instruction preload structure A computer processor with register direct branches and employing an instruction preload structure is disclosed. The computer processor may include a hierarchy of memories comprising a first memory organized in a structure having one or more entries for one or more addresses corresponding to one or more instructions. The one or more entries of the one or more addresses may have a starting address. The structure may have one or more locations for storing the one or more instructions. The computer processor may include one or more registers to which one or more corresponding instruction addresses are writable. The computer processor may include processing logic. In response to the processing logic writing the one or more instruction addresses to the one or more registers, the processing logic may to pre-fetch the one or more instructions of a linear sequence of instructions from a first memory level of the hierarchy of memories into a second memory level of the hierarchy of memories beginning at the starting address. At least one address of the one or more addresses may be the contents of a register of the one or more registers.
US09940126B2	Cluster update system A locking system may place a persistent object on each of the devices in a computer cluster. The objects may indicate that an update is being performed on the devices so that other systems may not also update the devices. When an update has completed, the objects may be removed. The objects may include an identifier for the system owning the objects, as well as other information regarding the update. In some cases, the objects may include executable code and perform some of the update functions on the various devices.
US09940123B1	Updating device code through a bus Techniques for updating code of a device may be described. In an example, bus may connect the device to a management entity. The device may run a first version of the code. A second version of the code may be available from memory. The device may access the second version from the memory, stop running the first version of the code, and start running the second version of the code without restarting the management entity or the device.
US09940121B2	Electronic apparatus An electronic apparatus includes a control portion (1) including: an installation portion (11) that associates the user who performs installation with the installed program; and a program use control portion (17) that permits all users to use a first installed program associated with a first user and permit a second user and a third user who attempts to install a second installed program associated with the second user to use the second installed program. When the third user who is a user other than an administrator attempts to install an application program that the third user is not permitted to use, if the application program is the second installed program, the installation portion (11) does not perform installation and causes the program use control portion (17) to permit the third user to use the second installed program.
US09940120B2	Generating and caching software code Aspects of the subject matter described herein relate to generating and caching software code. In aspects, a target device may receive software to install. The software may include source code that has not been compiled. The target device may install the software and indicate the source code of the package is to be compiled into intermediate or executable code that is persistently stored. If the target device receives a request to execute the software prior to it being compiled, the target device may compile and execute the software without delay. If the target device receives a request to execute the software after it is compiled, the target device may obtain and execute the compiled code. The behavior above may also be applied to scripting code obtained from a server remote to the target device.
US09940118B2	Systems and methods utilizing highly dynamic wireless ad-hoc networks Systems and methods for propagating a mesh network are disclosed. In embodiments, an API for participation in a mesh network stored on a first device may be distributed without a central provider. The presence of the first device may be detected on a second mobile device. The second mobile device may wirelessly connect to the first device. A web browser application may be accessed on the second mobile device and used to access a DNS implementation on the first device. The second mobile device may submit a request for an API from the first device. The API from the first device may be downloaded and installed at the second mobile device. The second mobile device, using the installed API, may connect to and communicate with the first device.
US09940111B2	Policy-based application deployment to a target application platform system Implementations for policy-based application deployment and continuous best-fit placement across heterogeneous computing infrastructures are disclosed. A method of the disclosure includes determining that an application of a source application platform system triggered a metrics-based threshold of a plurality of metrics-based thresholds, determining, based on the metrics-based threshold that was triggered, a target application platform system to deploy the application, translating metadata of the application from a format of the source application platform system to a format of the target application platform system, and causing the application to be deployed at the target application platform system.
US09940103B2	Discovery and modeling of deployment actions for multiple deployment engine providers Provided are techniques for modeling operational units, each operational unit corresponding to an operational workflow and to one or more deployment engines of a plurality of deployment engines; selecting, for each of the plurality of operational units, one of the corresponding deployment engines; ordering the operational units with respect to the operational workflow; grouping the ordered operation units according to the selected deployment engines into deployment engine groupings; mapping output parameters corresponding to a first operational unit that concludes a first deployment engine grouping to input parameters corresponding to a second operational unit that initiates a second deployment engine grouping, inserting between the first operational unit and the second operational unit a transitional operational unit for transitioning between a first deployment engine corresponding to the first deployment engine grouping and as second deployment engine corresponding to the second deployment engine grouping to generate a multi-deployment engine operational workflow.
US09940090B2	Synchronized playback system, synchronized playback apparatus, and control method In a synchronized playback system, a plurality of synchronized playback apparatuses are connected and perform synchronized playback. Each of the plurality of synchronized playback apparatuses includes a playback device that reproduces a content file which is delivered through a network from a delivery server, in which the content file is stored, and a control device that controls the synchronized playback. One of the plurality of synchronized playback apparatuses causes the control device to operate in a case in which the synchronized playback is performed and control the synchronized playback of a plurality of synchronized playback devices, which participate in a synchronized playback group, of the playback devices which are included in the plurality of respective synchronized playback apparatuses.
US09940089B2	Vehicle information display and management Approaches presented herein include an electronic, programmable vehicle window display device and a method of managing the same. Specifically, an electronic, programmable vehicle window display device is provided for displaying a registration or other vehicle information in a window of a vehicle. The device displays a vehicle information document having an expiration date. The device, at pre-specified times, queries a vehicle database for an updated version of the document having a later expiration date. If an updated document is found, the device retrieves the updated document and saves the updated document in a storage area of the device. The device then modifies the display to show the updated document.
US09940076B2	Printing apparatus, method for controlling the same, and storage medium A printing apparatus includes an accepting unit configured to accept one of a first setting and a second setting, the first setting indicating that another print job managed by the management unit is to be executed while leaving an execution of the print job interrupted, and the second setting indicating that execution of the print job is to be canceled, and a control unit configured to, when the first setting is made in a case where a job interruption event occurs during execution of a print job, execute another print job managed by the management unit while leaving the execution of the print job interrupted, or to, when the second setting is made in a case where a job interruption event occurs during execution of a print job, cancel the execution of the print job.
US09940074B1	Method to determine the best printing device amongst a group of printing devices using an in-line spectrophotometer A print management method implemented in a system including a client computer, a server, and a plurality of printers is disclosed, which includes by the server: (a) receiving, from a client computer, a request relating to a print job; (b) determining whether a predetermined print quality is required for the print job; (c) filtering at least two printers each of which has an in-line spectrophotometer from the plurality of printers; (d) instructing the each filtered at least two printers to conduct a color validation process by using the in-line spectrophotometer; (e) receiving, from the each filtered at least two printers, a result corresponding to the color validation process by the in-line spectrophotometer; and (f) determining at least one candidate of a destination printer for the print job based on whether the each filtered at least two printers meets predetermined print quality, using the result corresponding to the color validation process.
US09940072B2	Extending existing storage devices in virtualized environments A method, system and computer program product for providing a guest with access to a virtual storage on a physical storage using a peripheral component interface hub. In one embodiment, the method comprises the guest sending to the peripheral component interface hub a request to access the physical storage, the request including physical addresses of the physical storage, and the peripheral component interface hub sending specified information about the request to a hypervisor. This method further comprises the hypervisor determining whether to grant or to reject the request; and when the hypervisor grants the request, the hypervisor sending a configuration command to the peripheral component interface hub. This command includes a mapping of addresses from the physical storage to addresses from the virtual storage. In an embodiment, the peripheral component interface hub uses this mapping to replace the addresses in the request with translated virtual addresses.
US09940069B1	Paging cache for storage system A method, article of manufacture, apparatus, and system for a paging cache is disclosed. The backup cache may be broken into pages, and a subset of these pages may be memory resident. The pages may be sequentially loaded into memory to improve cache performance.
US09940060B1	Memory use and eviction in a deduplication storage system The method includes storing data including an index summary (IS) and a deduplication map (DDM) in volatile memory of a deduplication system. The method also includes detecting that the stored data exceeds a data allocation size limit for the volatile memory. The method includes evicting the data from the volatile memory using a memory eviction policy to meet the data allocation size limit. The method further includes performing a first eviction by evicting the DDM levels from an oldest DDM level to a newest DDM level until a first one of the data allocation size limit or a DDM threshold is met. The method also includes performing a second eviction by evicting the IS levels from an oldest IS level to a newest IS level until a first one of the data allocation size limit or IS threshold is met in response to the data allocation size limit not being met by the first eviction.
US09940051B2	Power state change in disk drive based on disk access history A data storage device that includes a magnetic storage device selects one or more power states of the magnetic storage device based on a time interval since a most recent time data has been read from or written to the magnetic storage device. The power state of the magnetic storage device can be changed from a higher power consumption state to a lower power consumption state when the time interval exceeds a predetermined value. The power consumption state may be changed from an active servo state to an intermediate power consumption state, a park state, and/or a standby state, depending on the time elapsed since the most recent time data has been read from or written to the magnetic storage device.
US09940046B2	Semiconductor memory device with operation environment information storing circuit and command storing function A semiconductor memory device which stores operation environment information such as use time data, operating temperature data, or operating voltage data includes an internal circuit configured to perform a function set in the semiconductor memory device, and an operation environment information storing circuit configured to sense information about an operation environment of the semiconductor memory device when the semiconductor memory device operates, store the operation environment information in non-volatile memory cells, and provide the operation environment information stored in the non-volatile memory cells to an outside based on a request of reading out information.
US09940039B2	Method and data storage device with enhanced data retention A data retention operation is performed in a non-volatile memory in response to detection of a triggering event. The data retention operation includes updating a value of a write parameter of the non-volatile memory and storing into the non-volatile memory at least one copy of contents of a boot portion of the non-volatile memory using the updated value of the write parameter. The updated value of the write parameter increases retention of stored data during extended periods of inactivity at the non-volatile memory.
US09940032B2	Storage system, method, and apparatus for processing multi-layer protocol encapsulation or decapsulation operation requests According to a storage system, method, and apparatus for processing an operation request provided by embodiments of the present invention, a controller directly encapsulates a SCSI protocol operation request into an Ethernet operation request packet at the MAC layer instead of using the TCP/IP protocol layer and a disk enclosure decapsulates the Ethernet operation request to obtain the SCSI protocol operation request and sends the SCSI protocol operation request to a target disk, thereby reducing layers of encapsulation, reducing a processing delay of the storage system, and improving performance of the storage system.
US09940031B2	Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device comprises a cell unit including a first and a second selection gate transistor and a memory string provided between the first and second selection gate transistors and composed of a plurality of serially connected electrically erasable programmable memory cells operative to store effective data; and a data write circuit operative to write data into the memory cell, wherein the number of program stages for at least one of memory cells on both ends of the memory string is lower than the number of program stages for other memory cells, and the data write circuit executes the first stage program to the memory cell having the number of program stages lower than the number of program stages for the other memory cells after the first stage program to the other memory cells.
US09940027B2	Method and processor for recording variable size data, and method, processor and recording medium for reading variable size data Disclosed is a method of recording variable size data. A first processor receives, from a second processor, a read parameter including information on a read address value of data which has been read by the second processor and is stored in an external memory, compares the read address value acquired from the received read parameter and a record address value for data previously recorded in the external memory by the first processor, and determines whether or not the first processor is to transmit data to the second processor on the basis of the comparison result.
US09940026B2	Multidimensional contiguous memory allocation The present disclosure is related to multidimensional contiguous memory allocation. Multidimensional contiguous memory allocation can include receiving an allocation request for an amount of memory that is contiguous in a multiple dimensions of the memory and determining whether the memory includes a region corresponding to the requested amount that is a candidate as being unallocated based on information indicating a maximum number of contiguous unallocated allocable portions of the memory. In response to determining that the memory includes the candidate region, the method can include determining whether the candidate region is unallocated based on a subset of information indicating whether each allocable portion of the memory is allocated. The subset of information corresponds to the candidate region only.
US09940019B2	Online migration of a logical volume between storage systems Methods, apparatus and computer program products implement embodiments of the present invention that include configuring, by a source storage system, a logical volume to comprise source regions of the source storage system that have a mapping between a host computer and the source storage system, the source regions storing source data. The source data is copied from the source regions to target data in target regions of a target storage system, the target regions being in a one-to-one correspondence with the source regions, and the volume is reconfigured so that the target regions have the mapping between the host computer and the source storage system. In some embodiments, the mapping between the host computer and the source storage system comprises a first mapping, and upon reconfiguring the volume, a second mapping can be added between the host computer and the target storage system, and the first mapping can be deleted.
US09940015B2	Interacting with application beneath transparent layer An approach is provided for associating touch-screen handwriting to application components. Prior to changing focus to a second user interface, a set of handwriting inputs are received at the touch-screen of a device. The received handwriting inputs are associated with an input area of the first user interface that appears on the touch-screen with the first user interface having the system focus while the handwriting inputs were received. Subsequently, when the user changes the focus from the second user interface back to the first user interface, the first set of handwriting inputs are retrieved and converted to a text format and inputted to the input area of the first user interface.
US09940002B2	Image variation engine Various features described herein may include ways of processing multiple images to determine whether any duplicates are among the multiple images. A hashing algorithm may be used to create a hash key of an image. Multiple hash keys corresponding to multiple images may be compared to determine whether those images are duplicate images. A root mean square algorithm may be used to further identify whether multiple images are duplicate images. An image variation engine, which uses intensity coding, may be used to display differences between images. For example, similar areas in images may be drawn with low intensity or high opacity, while different areas in images may be drawn with high intensity or low opacity.
US09940001B2	Drag and release navigation A computer-implemented method for controlling a portable electronic device comprising a touch-sensitive display is disclosed. The computer-implemented method allows the portable electronic device to detect contact and movement of contact on the touch-sensitive display, and in response to the detected contact and movement of content to browse and select categories of elements and elements. Accordingly, a user may be allowed to select a specific element belonging to a specific category by use of only one contact with the touch-sensitive display.
US09939999B2	Treatment of teeth by aligners A method for treating a subject's teeth. A target configuration for the subject's teeth is determined. Receiving features are produced on a dental base in response to the target configuration, the receiving features being configured to receive physical tooth models. The physical tooth models are assembled on the dental base to form a physical arch model. A dental aligner is produced using the physical arch model to move the subject's teeth to the target configuration.
US09939993B2	Jukebox network system A plurality of jukeboxes each having a display, input component, audio output, and controller are connected over a network. The controller is configured to play music data sets selected by a user and to store local affinity data uploadable to the network. The controller is further configured to store network popularity and affinity data received from the network. The controller causes the display to present menus and screens based on the data received from the network. The controller is also configured to perform searches over multiple identification categories and store collections of music data sets based on multiple identification categories.
US09939991B2	Tile visualizations for navigating hierarchical data on mobile devices A tile visualization has a window with a swim lane area and a panel area for displaying tiles that represent hierarchical data items. Tiles may be styled as cards. The swim lane displays an active tile and its immediate ancestors in a row or column. The active tile may be identified by a visual indicator. The panel displays one or more levels of the active tile's descendants. The descendants may be arranged in a matrix, or in columns each headed by an immediate descendant. The swim lane and panel are scrollable. A user can navigate up in the hierarchy by activating a tile in the swim lane, or down by activating a tile in the panel. Users may select one or more tiles without activating them.
US09939988B2	Method and user equipment for managing application programs The present invention provides a method and a user device for managing application. The method includes: detecting the touch event which induced by a user touching icons displayed in a display interface; determining the area of the display interface which the first icon located in, when the touch event corresponding to the first icon is detected and the detected touch event persists a scheduled time; displaying a second icon in the determined area; detecting the movement path which induced by the user dragging the first icon through the application corresponding to the second icon, when the first icon moves into the location of the second icon. The distance of moving the first icon will not be very long and easy to operate, when the first icon is moved into the location of the second icon and the application corresponding to the first icon is deleted.
US09939987B2	Method and apparatus for user interface of input devices A 3 dimensional (3-D) user interface system employs: one or more 3-D projectors configured to display an image at a first location in 3-D space; one or more sensors configured to sense user interaction with the image and to provide user interaction information; and a processor configured (i) to receive the user interaction information from the one or more sensors; (ii) to correlate the user interaction with the image; and (iii) to provide one or more indications responsive to a correlation of the user interaction with the image, including displaying the image at a second location in 3-D space.
US09939982B2	Control of application based on user operation on information processing apparatus There is provided an information processing apparatus including a determination unit configured to determine, for each window, whether time decided by a certain method has elapsed since a last operation performed on a window in a display screen, and a control unit configured to shut down an application of a window for which the determination unit has determined that the time has elapsed.
US09939980B2	Task assistant including navigation control A method of providing a task assistant to provide an interface to an application is described. The method includes, in one embodiment, identifying a user and determining whether there is a push notification to be shown to the user. When there is a push notification to be shown to the user, the task assistant displaying the push notification to the user, such that when the user acknowledges the push notification, the user is directed to a push destination. When there is no push notification, receiving input from a user through multimodal input including a plurality of speech input, typing input, and touch input, interpreting the input, and providing a formatted query to the application, receiving data from the application in response to the query, and providing a response to the user through multimodal output including a plurality of: speech output, text output, non-speech audio output, haptic output, and visual non-text output.
US09939979B2	Apparatus and method for performing capture in portable terminal An apparatus and method for specifying a capture region, performing a picture capture for a specific region (partial region) on an output picture, and verifying contents of capture data copied to a clipboard. The apparatus includes a capture window setting unit configured to output a capture window specifying a region to be captured, and change a setting of the capture window. The apparatus also includes a data processing unit configured to acquire capture data for a region corresponding to the capture window when the setting of the capture window is completed.
US09939973B2	Display device including a touch sensor A display device includes: a display panel having: a lower substrate; an upper substrate facing the lower substrate and having at least one through hole formed therein; a display active layer disposed between the lower substrate and the upper substrate; at least one lower pad disposed on the lower substrate; a touch sensing layer disposed on the upper substrate; and at least one connection pad disposed on the upper substrate. The connection pads are electrically connected to the lower pads through connectors disposed in the though holes of the upper substrate.
US09939969B2	Systems and methods for capacitive touch detection System and methods are provided for touch detection. An example system includes: a measurement unit configured to acquire capacitance measurement data from a touch panel; a pre-processing unit configured to detect whether a touch event occurs on the touch panel based at least in part on the capacitance measurement data and generate an activation signal in response to the detection of the touch event; and a microcontroller unit configured to be activated in response to the activation signal to perform post-processing operations related to the touch event.
US09939962B2	Enhanced keyboard including multiple application execution A default virtual interface is replaced by an adapted interface to an independent application. The adapted interface allows one (dependent) application to be accessed from within a second (independent) application. This allows, for example, a game application to be executed within a text messaging application. Output of the dependent application can be conveyed to the base application. The adapted user interface optionally includes a plurality of shortcut keys each represented by a different shortcut icon. One or more of the shortcut keys are optionally configured for sharing the dependent and/or independent applications with remote devices. Content shared via the virtual interface is optionally provided as a data stream and is optionally mapped to a social network, such sharing can be tracked across social networks.
US09939958B2	Touch sensitive surface with recessed surface feature for an electronic device An electronic device (300) includes a housing (301). A touch sensitive surface (100) can be disposed along the housing. The touch sensitive surface can include a recessed surface feature (106) on a portion of the touch sensitive surface. A control circuit (315), operable with the touch sensitive surface, can detect a predetermined gesture sequence (501, 502, 503) when a touch actuation along the touch sensitive surface interacts with the recessed surface feature.
US09939947B2	Touch communications device with multiple partial firmwares and related method A touch communications device includes a first touch panel, a touch controller chip and a second storage device. The touch controller chip is capable of executing instructions derived from a firmware to control at least one operation of the first touch panel, wherein the firmware includes a plurality of partial firmwares including at least a first partial firmware and a second partial firmware, and the touch controller chip includes a first storage device capable of storing one of the first partial firmware and the second partial firmware. The second storage device is external to the touch controller chip, wherein the second storage device is capable of storing the other of the first partial firmware and the second partial firmware.
US09939938B2	Display panel with touch detecting and display device A display panel and a display device are disclosed. The display panel comprises: a gate line and a common electrode structure extended along a first direction; and a data line extended along a second direction. the gate line, the common electrode structure, and the data line are intercrossed with each other and correspond to a sub-pixel; one end of the data line is connected with a source driving circuit and the other end of the data line is connected with a touch sensing terminal; and one end of the common electrode structure is connected with a common voltage input terminal and the other end of the common electrode structure is connected with a touch transmitting terminal.
US09939932B2	Position sensing device and method using self-capacitance A capacitive position sensing system has a pickup electrode, a shield electrode partially enclosing the pickup electrode, and an essentially grounded relatively movable target near the pickup electrodes; a capacitance-to-digital converter, and switching means for connecting each electrode in turn to the converter input or to ground. A capacitive position sensing method in the system includes measuring a first capacitance C1 of at least one pickup electrode set with the shield electrode set grounded, measuring a second capacitance C2 of at least one shield electrode set with the pickup electrode set grounded, and measuring a third capacitance C3 of the pickup electrode set and the shield electrode set connected together; and calculating a first result indicating a position of a target using the first capacitance C1, the second capacitance C2 and the third capacitance C3.
US09939930B2	Active stylus with multiple sensors for receiving signals from a touch sensor In one embodiment, a stylus includes a first sensor disposed proximate a first end of the stylus. The first sensor is adapted to receive a first receive signal via a first capacitive coupling with a touch sensor of a device. The first end of the stylus is at a tip-end of the stylus. The stylus also includes a second sensor disposed proximate the first end of the stylus. The second sensor is adapted to receive a second receive signal via a second capacitive coupling with the touch sensor of the device. A proximity of the first sensor to the first end of the stylus is greater than a proximity of the second sensor to the first end of the stylus. A widest portion of the first sensor has a greater width than at least a portion of the second sensor.
US09939929B2	Apparatus, method, and program product for erasing with a stylus Apparatuses, methods, and program products are disclosed for erasing with a stylus. By use of a processor, an orientation of a stylus relative to a display is determined. Whether a touch event of the display occurs is determined. An erase function is performed in response to the touch event occurring and the orientation of the stylus being is in a substantially inverted position.
US09939907B2	Gesture detection using MEMS wind turbines A portable device includes micro-electro-mechanical systems (“MEMS”) wind turbines integrated in the portable device. A gesture detection module receives signals generated by the MEMS wind turbines based on movement of the portable device that causes a wind force to be applied to the MEMS wind turbines. The gesture module then recognizes a gesture based on the signals generated from the wind force and initiates an action of the portable device that corresponds to the gesture (e.g., the device is awakened).
US09939906B2	Combiner and operation detection device A combiner that reflects a light projected by a projector toward an operator, includes: a reflection layer that reflects the light projected by the projector; an electric field generation layer that generates an electric field around the combiner; and an output layer that outputs a voltage according to change of the electric field generated by the field generation layer.
US09939904B2	Systems and methods for pressure-based haptic effects One illustrative system disclosed herein includes a sensor configured to detect a user interaction with a touch surface and transmit a sensor signal including data associated with a pressure of the user interaction. The illustrative system also includes a processor in communication with the sensor, the processor configured to: receive the sensor signal; determine, based on the sensor signal, a pressure level; determine a user interface level based at least in part on the pressure level; perform a function associated with the user interface level and the user interaction; determine a haptic effect based at least in part on the user interface level and the user interaction; generate a haptic signal based at least in part on the haptic effect; and transmit the haptic signal. The illustrative system further includes a haptic output device in configured to receive the haptic signal and output the haptic effect.
US09939897B2	Gaze-based security Systems and methods for presenting actual data on a display device based on eye-tracking data. An eye-tracking engine receives sensed data from an eye-tracking device, determines a movement status of an eye based on the sensed data, and determines a display configuration based on the determined movement status. The display configuration is output on the display device and includes masking data when the determined movement status indicates the eye is in motion.
US09939895B2	Image displaying system An image displaying system includes: a display device, a detection device and an image compensating chip. The detection device obtains position information of a view point relative to the display device, and an angle of sight line; the image compensating chip divides equally the image to be displayed into a plurality of first sub-images along a first reference direction, calculates a compensation ratio along the first reference direction for each first sub-image, and compensates each first sub-image along the first reference direction; the first virtual section line segment has two endpoints located on the frame of the display device, is extended along the first reference direction, and passes through an intersection of the sight line and the display device; the display device displays the compensated image, so that the compensated first sub-images are viewed as having the same size along the first reference direction.
US09939890B2	Image generation apparatus and image generation method of generating a wide viewing angle image A panorama image processing unit generates a wide viewing angle image like a panorama image which is seen from a given point of view. An image conversion unit converts the generated wide viewing angle image into an image of a transmission format in which the angular resolution which is a number of pixels per unit angle centered at the point of view is adjusted in response to a ray direction toward the point of view. An image provision unit transmits the image in the transmission format in which the angular resolution is adjusted to a head-mounted display unit. The head-mounted display unit converts the received image so as to conform the image to an optical characteristic of a device and displays the image on the device.
US09939889B2	Interaction methods and systems The present application provides an interaction method and system, and relates to the field of information interaction. The method comprises: sending a first wave signal; receiving a second wave signal that corresponds to the first wave signal after the first wave signal is transmitted by using a medium comprising at least a part of a user body; and judging whether the user body contacts an object according to a signal characteristic of the received second wave signal. The interaction method and system can help a user to naturally and efficiently complete an information interaction process, simplify an interaction process, and improve the interaction efficiency.
US09939879B2	Controlling operating frequency of a core domain via a non-core domain of a multi-domain processor In one embodiment, the present invention includes a method for determining that a non-core domain of a multi-domain processor is not operating at a frequency requested by the non-core domain, sending a request from the non-core domain to a power controller to reduce a frequency of a core domain of the multi-domain processor, and responsive to the request, reducing the core domain frequency. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US09939878B2	Energy-aware code offload for mobile devices A method described herein includes an act of, at a mobile computing device, receiving an indication that a portion of code of a program executing on the mobile computing device is to be offloaded to a second computing device for execution on the second computing device, wherein the indication is based at least in part upon an estimated energy savings of the mobile computing device by offloading the portion of the code for execution on the second computing device. The method also includes an act of transmitting data to the second computing device that causes the second computing device to execute the portion of the code.
US09939874B2	Selectively disabling sensors and associated functions An embodiment provides a method, including: receiving, at an information handling device, input of a sensor; mapping, using a processor, the sensor input to a sensor disabling condition; selecting, using a processor, a sensor based on the mapping; and disabling, using a processor, the sensor according to the sensor disabling condition. Other aspects are described and claimed.
US09939867B2	Handling a failure in a system with distributed control of power and thermal management An apparatus includes a plurality of components and a plurality of component controllers. Each of the plurality of component controllers is associated with at least one component of the plurality of components. Each component controller is configured to compute a local power budget for the at least one component based, at least in part, on the power differential and the proportion of the total power consumption corresponding to the at least one component. A service processor is configured to determine failure associated with at least one component controller of the plurality of component controllers or the at least one component associated with the at least one component controller. The service processor is configured to in response to a reset threshold not being exceeded, reset the at least one component controller without interrupting operations of any components of the at least one component that have not failed.
US09939863B2	Power control system and storage system According to one embodiment, a power control system includes a power controlled unit, a first power controller configured to generate a first control signal that controls the power of the power controlled unit, and a second power controller including a signal holding unit configured to hold the first control signal and to transmit a second control signal including information identical to the information of the first control signal to the power controlled unit, the second power controller being different from the first power controller as hardware.
US09939857B1	Chassis and hard drive Examples include a system comprising chassis and hard drive. In some examples, the hard drive has a set of positioning members and the chassis includes a hard drive slot having a guide rail unit to guide the hard drive into the hard drive slot via a positioning member of the set of positioning members on the hard drive. The chassis also includes a latch assembly connected to the hard drive slot to retain and extract the hard drive.
US09939854B2	Handling of a modular information handling resource A tool for handling a modular information handling resource may include a drive portion, a first finger mechanically coupled to the drive portion, the first finger configured to apply a first force to a first side edge of the information handling resource when the information handling resource is engaged with the tool, and a second finger mechanically coupled to the drive portion, the second finger configured to apply a second force to a second side edge of the information handling resource opposite from the first side edge when the information handling resource is engaged with the tool. When the information handling resource is coupled to a connector via a bottom edge of the information handling resource adjacent and perpendicular to the side edges, a retention force applied by the connector to the information handling resource overcomes the first and second forces such that the tool releases the information handling resource.
US09939852B1	Hinge assembly A hinge assembly comprises a first component including a moveable tensioning guide and a second component connected to the first component such that the first and second components are moveable relative to one another. A flexible interconnect runs between the first component and the second component. The flexible interconnect is routed around the moveable tensioning guide of the first component such that movement of the first component relative to the second component causes movement of the tensioning guide. Movement of the tensioning guide modifies a flexible path taken by the flexible interconnect during movement of the first and second components.
US09939848B2	Portable information handling system detachable support and attachment device A tablet information handling system detachable base couples with a tablet information handling system by inserting a trapezoidal-shaped support into a trapezoidal-shaped opening of the tablet information handling system. The smaller perimeter of the support has room to fit in the larger perimeter opening of the tablet information handling system for ease of insertion, yet the support snuggly fits into the opening after complete insertion. A latch couples the support with an inclined lower surface so that pulling on the tablet information handling system without releasing of the latch translates into a more secure latch coupling. A latch release timer allows one-handed detachment by maintaining the latch in a released position for a predetermined time after latch release actuation.
US09939846B2	Display device and method of manufacturing a display device Provided is a display device including: a bottom member; a display panel on the bottom member, the display panel configured to emit light; a top member on the display panel; a touch screen panel on the top member; and a groove region formed by removing at least a portion of at least one of the top member and the bottom member at a bent portion of the display device.
US09939844B2	Electronic device with curved display module and operating method thereof An electronic device includes a flexible display module including a curvature, and a bracket supporting the flexible display module, wherein the bracket includes at least a part formed with a curvature corresponding to the curvature of the flexible display module.
US09939843B2	Apparel-mountable panoramic camera systems According to one embodiment, an apparel-mounted panoramic camera system includes a panoramic camera module, a base module, and a mounting apparatus. The camera module includes a panoramic lens having a longitudinal axis, an image sensor positioned below the lens, a processor operable to process image data received from the sensor, a wireless communication transceiver operable to transmit processed image data provided by the processor, and a battery that supplies power to the camera module components. The base module includes a wireless communication transceiver operable to receive the processed image data from the camera module communication transceiver, a processor operable to further process the received processed image data, and a battery that supplies power to the base module components. The mounting apparatus attaches the camera module to an item of apparel such that the longitudinal axis of the panoramic lens is tilted from a vertical direction by a non-zero tilt angle.
US09939840B2	Enhanced status monitor for scan testing An integrated circuit receives test-control information that is phase encoded on a scan clock used for testing a scan chain within the IC. The phase encoding does not affect the normal use of the scan clock and scan test chain and allows additional test-related data such as power supply, clock, and additional global and specialized status data to be collected by a secondary test data storage system such as a shift register. The phase encoding further controls selectively outputting the enhanced test status or the traditional scan test outputs.
US09939838B1	Systems and methods for time stamping sensor data Systems and methods are disclosed for providing sensor data to a host processor. A sequence of data samples may be generated at a sample rate established by a clock source associated with the sensor. A time stamp derived from another clock source, such as the clock employed by the host processor, is assigned to at least one of each periodically retrieved data samples. As such, at least one of the assigned time stamps then may be adjusted by applying a correction determined from a timing characteristic associated with retrieval of the data samples.
US09939837B2	Method for generating piecewise-affine multivariable functions with on-line computation of the search tree and device for implementing same Method for generating piecewise-affine multivariate functions, wherein the online computation of the search tree is performed in order to locate the input value in the polytopes of the partition, and the subsequent generation of the corresponding affine function. It also proposes a configurable and programmable device for generating piecewise-affine multivariate functions composed of an architecture with four functional blocks namely: a control unit block (1), a tree memory block, a parameter memory block and an arithmetic unit block; and it has at least three operating modes which can be selected using different values of a bus (config): writing of the tree memory, writing of the parameter memory and evaluating the affine function. It may include a fourth operating mode, which is the test mode.
US09939834B2	Control of power consumption A system and method for computing at a facility having systems of multiple compute nodes to execute jobs of computing. Power consumption of the facility is managed to within a power band. The power consumption may be adjusted by implementing (e.g., by a power balloon) activities having little or no computational output.
US09939832B2	Voltage regulator and integrated circuit including the same A voltage regulator is provided that includes an error amplifier circuit having a reference voltage input port that receives a reference voltage, N input ports, N output ports, and N power transistors, where N is a positive integer that is greater than or equal to 2. Each of the power transistors has a gate that is connected to one of the N output ports. The error amplifier amplifies a difference between the reference voltage and each of N respective feedback voltages input to the N input ports, respectively, and outputs amplified voltages to the respective N output ports.
US09939827B1	Temperature dependent power supply circuitry An integrated circuit having power supply circuitry configured to generate a temperature dependent power supply voltage is provided. The power supply circuitry may include temperature sensors formed at different regions on the integrated circuit. The power supply circuitry may use a selected one of the temperature sensors to vary the temperature dependent power supply voltage. The power supply circuitry may include voltage clamping circuitry configured to clip the power supply voltage to an upper fixed voltage level when the power supply voltage exceeds a first predetermined threshold and to clip the power supply voltage to a lower fixed voltage level when the power supply voltage falls below a second predetermined threshold. The power supply circuitry may also include voltage overshoot-undershoot protection circuitry configured to keep the temperature dependent power supply voltage within a specified voltage range in the presence of transient perturbations in the temperature dependent power supply voltage.
US09939823B2	Home automation control system A smart premises controller unit for processing data received from a plurality of sensors and for controlling and monitoring one or more pieces of equipment in at least one room in a premises responsive to the processing includes an alarm resolver to activate an alarm, a climate resolver to control a climate in the room and a presence resolver to determine at least the presence of a human in the room. Each resolver receives input from a subset of the plurality of sensors and each the resolver comprises a sensor processor and scorer for at least one of its associated subset of sensors. Each resolver comprises a set of models for each of its associated sensors according to its type of resolver. Each sensor processor and scorer matches its sensor data against its models to produce a score for each of its associated models.
US09939802B2	Automated conflict resolution management A system, a method of performing conflict management in a system, and a conflict manager in a system are described. The system includes two or more controllers to issue corresponding two or more commands to one or more actors to accomplish a respective activity, the actor being one of a tool to be controlled based on the command, an application to be executed based on the command, or an operator to be instructed based on the command. The system also includes a conflict manager, implemented by a processor, to resolve a conflict with one of the two or more commands or between the two or more commands.
US09939800B2	Path following machining method and apparatus Disclosed is a method and apparatus for machining a workpiece (2). The method comprises specifying a path along which a cutting tool (6) is moved during machining the workpiece (2), the path comprising segments (26); defining, for each segment (26), an exit point on that segment (26); defining, for each segment (26), an exit path (38) from the exit point of that segment (26) to a point remote from the workpiece (2); performing a machining process including moving the cutting tool (6) along the tool path and machining the workpiece (2); and, during the machining process, when one or more criteria are satisfied: interrupting the machining process and, without machining the workpiece (2), moving the cutting tool (6) to the exit point of the current segment (26) and then along the exit path (38) of the current segment (26).
US09939797B2	Motor control program transferring system, host controller, motor control device, and motor control program transferring method A motor control program transferring system includes: an upper control device including a memory storing motor control program(s) that are executable on motor control device(s) and circuitry which performs assigning operation(s) that assigns unique identification information to the motor control device(s) and transfers the motor control program(s) to the respective motor control device(s) to which the respective unique identification information has been assigned; motor control device(s) which communicates with the upper control device, the motor control device(s) each including a volatile memory, and a storage; and switching circuitry which enables communication between a first one of the motor control devices and the upper control device during initial state and switch on communication between a second one of the motor control devices and the upper control device after a respective unique identification information is assigned to the first motor control device. The motor control devices each having initially designated identification information.
US09939795B2	Dynamic simulated motor for controller testing A controller is configured to generate control signals to control a variable frequency drive coupled with a load. A simulator receives the control signals and processes the control signals. The simulator simulates a variable frequency drive and a load by generating feedback signals based on a model and the control signals. The controller receives the feedback signals from the simulator.
US09939794B2	Jog push button Systems and methods are provided to facilitate correct execution of a machine jog operation where a plurality of interfaces can generate a machine jog command, which is received by an industrial controller. One or more machine jog commands can be received and state data is maintained regarding whether a machine jog command has been received. An OR gate logic operation is performed on the state data to determine whether a machine jog operation has been received from any of the plurality of interfaces, and in the event of receiving a machine jog operation, a control command is generated to effect a machine jog operation. The plurality of interfaces enable interaction with the controller, to facilitate control of a machine from a plurality of locations. The system can be expanded to include further interfaces. Also, information regarding a machine jog command can be published to the plurality of interfaces.
US09939789B2	Communication apparatus, electronic timepiece, communication method and recording medium A communication apparatus comprises a communicator that receives a standard time from an external apparatus, a manipulation receiver that receives a time correction action from a user, and a controller that performs a timing processing for clocking time and a time correction processing for correcting the time clocked by the timing processing, on the basis of the standard time received by the communicator, or on the basis of the time correction action received by the manipulation receiver. The controller changes processing contents of the time correction processing until a prescribed time interval has elapsed, when the time clocked by the timing processing is corrected on the basis of the time correction action received by the manipulation receiver.
US09939786B2	Device for motor-driven appliance A device for a motor-driven appliance includes a communication unit, a date/time information acquisition unit, and a control unit. The communication unit performs communication with an external appliance having a date/time information indicating a current date and time. The date/time information acquisition unit acquires the date/time information from the external appliance via the communication unit. The control unit performs control based on the date/time information acquired by the date/time information acquisition unit.
US09939778B2	Cartridge and cover member A cartridge includes a cover member that includes a flat portion, a substantially circular hole portion formed in the flat portion, an arc portion inserted through the hole portion, a first cutaway portion having a shape formed by cutting in the hole portion radially outward, the first cutaway portion arranged in a position opposed to the protrusion portion when viewed in a direction of a rotational axis, and a second cutaway portion having a shape formed by cutting the flat portion toward a photosensitive drum in the direction of the rotational axis to expose a coupling member when viewed in a direction orthogonal to the rotational axis.
US09939772B2	Image forming apparatus, toner container attachable to image forming apparatus An image forming apparatus includes a toner container, a container attachment portion, and a control portion. The toner container has a coupling portion. The container attachment portion includes a coupled portion that includes a first key member. A second key member of the coupling portion is formed at position where it does not interfere with the first key member in attachment state. The second key member is made of insulator. The coupled portion includes a contact terminal in which a contact is opened by the second key member and becomes OFF state when the toner container is inserted to attachment position, and the contact is closed and becomes ON state when the toner container is removed from the attachment position. The control portion detects the toner container attached to the container attachment portion when the contact of the contact terminal changes from the ON state to the OFF state.
US09939768B2	Printing apparatus, method for controlling the same, and storage medium A printing apparatus that sets a setting value to be used as a threshold value for notifying the user of a decreased amount of recording material, the setting value being one of a first setting indicating that a threshold value set by a user is to be used or a second setting indicating that the user-set threshold value is not to be used.
US09939767B2	Image forming apparatus and control method for image forming apparatus This image forming apparatus (100) is equipped with: a document set detector (3a, S1, S5); a document size detector (3a, S2, S3, S5); a manual feeder (6) with a manual feed tray (61) that is not equipped with a sensor for detecting the size of set manually-fed paper; a printer (5) that performs printing on the basis of image data; an operation panel (4) that receives setting for feeding paper from the manual feeder (6); and a controller (7) that recognizes the size of a set document and performs manually-fed-paper automatic setting for recognizing the recognized size of the set document as the size of the manually-fed paper.
US09939762B2	Image forming apparatus and sheet feeding device An image forming apparatus includes a main assembly; an image forming portion for forming an image on a sheet; an openable member rotatably supported by the main assembly; a first feeding guide provided on the openable member; a second feeding guide provided in the main assembly, wherein when the openable member is closed, a sheet feeding path for feeding the sheet is formed by the first and second feeding guides; a hole provided in the first feeding guide; and an illumination device, provided on the openable member, for illuminating at least a part of the second feeding guide through the hole when the openable member is open.
US09939754B2	Image forming apparatus that corrects a width of a fine line, image forming method, and recording medium Density values of two non-fine line parts that sandwich a specified fine line part in image data are corrected to density values lower than a density value of the fine line part based on the density value of the specified fine line part.
US09939753B2	Printed circuit board, exposure device having printed circuit board, and image forming apparatus A printed circuit board of which a part of at least one side of the circuit board is divided by a division process including a first area where a component is placed, and a divided portion where the component is not placed, and which includes the part of the at least one side. Silk is applied to an entire area of the divided portion.
US09939752B2	Semiconductive roller, and method of producing the same A semiconductive roller is provided, which includes a tubular main body having a multiplicity of concavities (2) provided in an outer peripheral surface (1) thereof in at least one of circumferentially overlapping relation and axially overlapping relation. The concavities are each gently concave toward a center thereof from an outer periphery thereof. A semiconductive roller production method is also provided, which includes the step of forming the concavities by a laser processing method.
US09939751B2	Charging device and image forming apparatus A charging device (51) includes a charging roller (65), a supporting section (71), a guide (73), a first biasing section (75), and a second biasing section (90). The charging roller (65) charges an image bearing member (50). The supporting section (71) supports the charging roller (65) such that the charging roller (65) is rotatable. The guide (73) guides the supporting section (71) in a first direction (D1). The first biasing section (75) biases the supporting section (71) in the first direction (D1) to press the charging roller (65) against the image bearing member (50). The second biasing section (90) biases the supporting section (71 toward the guide (73).
US09939749B2	Image forming apparatus that reduces image quality deterioration caused by adhesion of paper powder and scattering of toner An image forming apparatus includes an intermediate transfer belt and a developer unit. The image forming apparatus includes a cooling unit, a cleaning roller, and an auxiliary brush. The cooling unit cools a predetermined component by sending air by a fan inside the image forming apparatus. The cleaning roller removes remaining toner on the intermediate transfer belt at an upstream side of a region facing the developer unit in a rotationally moving direction of the intermediate transfer belt and at an upstream side of a region with which the image carrier is in contact in the intermediate transfer belt. The auxiliary brush located on an outer surface of the developer unit so as to close the clearance between the intermediate transfer belt and the developer unit and is in contact with the intermediate transfer belt to clean the intermediate transfer belt.
US09939744B2	Multi-layer electrophotographic photosensitive member A multi-layer electrophotographic photosensitive member includes a conductive substrate and a photosensitive layer. The photosensitive layer includes a charge generating layer and a charge transport layer. The charge generating layer contains a charge generating material. The charge transport layer contains a charge transport material, a binder resin, and silica particles. The charge transport layer is a monolayer. The charge transport layer is disposed as an outermost surface layer of the multi-layer electrophotographic photosensitive member. The silica particles have a content of at least 0.5 parts by mass and no greater than 15 parts by mass relative to 100 parts by mass of the binder resin. The binder resin includes a polyarylate resin. The polyarylate resin has a repeating unit represented by general formula (I) shown below. In general formula (I), R1-R3 and Y are defined as those described in the specification.
US09939735B2	Method of determining focus, inspection apparatus, patterning device, substrate and device manufacturing method A method of determining focus of a lithographic apparatus has the following steps. Using the lithographic process to produce first and second structures on the substrate, the first structure has features which have a profile that has an asymmetry that depends on the focus and an exposure perturbation, such as dose or aberration. The second structure has features which have a profile that is differently sensitive to focus than the first structure and which is differently sensitive to exposure perturbation than the first structure. Scatterometer signals are used to determine a focus value used to produce the first structure. This may be done using the second scatterometer signal, and/or recorded exposure perturbation settings used in the lithographic process, to select a calibration curve for use in determining the focus value using the first scatterometer signal or by using a model with parameters related to the first and second scatterometer signals.
US09939734B2	Photolithography apparatus comprising projection system for control of image size The present disclosure concerns a photolithography apparatus (100) and method for controlling relative image size (S1/S0) of a projected substrate pattern (W). A projection system (10) is arranged for projecting an image of a mask pattern (M) as the substrate pattern (W) onto a substrate (6), wherein the projection system (10) comprises an adjustment lens (13) moveable in a range (Xmin,Xmax) encompassing a central position (X0) for controlling a relative image size (S1/S0). The projection system (10) is arranged to project the mask pattern (M) onto the adjustment lens (13) such that, when the adjustment lens (13) is positioned at the central position (X0), an apparent mask pattern (M′) from a point of view of the adjustment lens (13) appears to be at a distance (2*F) from the adjustment lens (13) that is twice a focal length (F) of the adjustment lens (13).
US09939726B2	Photopolymerizable flexographic printing elements for printing with UV inks Photopolymerizable flexographic printing elements which contain cyclohexanepolycarboxylic esters as plasticizers and also their use for producing flexographic printing forms for printing with UV inks, in particular for UV narrow web printing.
US09939723B2	Mask blank, method of manufacturing phase shift mask, phase shift mask, and method of manufacturing semiconductor device A mask blank having a structure in which, on a transparent substrate, a phase shift film, a light shielding film, and a hard mask film are laminated in the stated order from the transparent substrate side. The phase shift film is formed of a material containing silicon, the hard mask film is formed of a material containing at least one element selected from silicon and tantalum, and the light shielding film is formed of a material containing chromium. The mask blank has a structure in which the following three layers: a lower layer, an intermediate layer, and an upper layer are laminated, the upper layer having a highest content of chromium in the light shielding film, the intermediate layer having a lowest content of chromium in the light shielding film, and containing at least one metallic element selected from indium, tin, and molybdenum.
US09939722B2	Projection screens and related systems and methods A projection screen system includes a housing defining a channel, a screen and motor assembly including a projection screen and a tubular motor, and first and second opposed mounting features configured to hold the screen and motor assembly in the channel of the housing. The housing is configured to be installed recessed in a ceiling and the screen and motor assembly is configured to be mounted in the housing of the installed housing such that the installation of the housing and the mounting of the screen and motor assembly are performed independently.
US09939712B2	Imaging apparatus, flicker detection method, and flicker detection program Provided are an imaging apparatus, a flicker detection method, and a flicker detection program that can accurately detect a flicker even in a case in which an image of a bright object is captured. A digital camera directs a MOS imaging element 5 to perform a plurality of imaging operations at an arbitrary frame rate and compares captured image signals which are read from the imaging element 5 for frame periods F1 and F2 based on the frame rate to detect whether a flicker has occurred. The end time of a signal reading period in the frame period F1 is before the end time of the frame period F1 and the end time of a signal reading period in the frame period F2 coincides with the end time of the frame period F2.
US09939710B2	High-temperature isotropic plasma etching process to prevent electrical shorts A method includes placing a device having a titanium nitride layer into a chamber. The device also has a mask that includes a photoresist material and an aluminum copper hardmask. The method also includes performing an ashing process on the mask using the chamber. The method further includes, after the ashing process, performing an etching process using the chamber to etch through portions of the titanium nitride layer. Performing the etching process includes flowing a gas mixture containing tetrafluoromethane (CF4) and oxygen gas (O2) into the chamber at a temperature of at least about 200° C.
US09939708B2	Electro-optical modulator and method for generating an electrical optical modulator An electro-optical modulator is provided. The electro-optical modulator comprises at least one optical waveguide; a plurality of segments, wherein each one of the segments comprises at least one waveguide electrode for supplying a voltage to the optical waveguide, wherein the segments are arranged one behind the other along the optical waveguide, and wherein each one of the segments comprises its own driver unit electrically connected to the waveguide electrode of the segment for supplying an electric signal. Each one of the segments forms an electrical resonant circuit, wherein the segments are configured in such a way that the resonance frequency of the electrical resonant circuit of at least one of the segments lies within the frequency range of an electrical signal supplied to the driver units.
US09939704B2	Moisture resistant electrochromic device An electrochromic device is structured to restrict moisture permeation between an electrochromic stack in the device and an external environment. The electrochromic device includes conductive layers and one or more encapsulation layers, where the encapsulation layers and conductive layers collectively isolate the electrochromic stack from the ambient environment. The encapsulation layers resist moisture permeation, and at least the outer portions of the conductive layers resist moisture permeation. The moisture-resistant electrochromic device can be fabricated based at least in part upon selective removal of one or more outer portions of at least the EC stack, so that at least the encapsulation layer extends over one or more edge portions of the EC stack to isolate the edge portions of the EC stack from the ambient environment. The encapsulation layer can include one or more of an anti-reflective layer, infrared cut-off filter, etc.
US09939702B2	Controlled switching for electrochromic devices An electrochromic device is structured to selectively switch separate regions to separate transmission levels, based at least in part upon different transport rates of different charged electrolyte species in the separate regions. Charged electrolyte species can be introduced in various regions of one or more electrochromic stack layers, including a counter-electrode layer, ion-conducting layer, and electrochromic layer. The charged electrolyte species can have different transport rates, so that a distribution of one species introduced in some regions move between layers and different rates relative another distribution of another species introduced in some regions. A species can be introduced, in one or more regions, in one or more particular distributions associated with a particular transmission pattern to structure the electrochromic device to selectively switch to the particular transmission pattern. Species can be introduced via various processes, including ion implantation, chemical diffusion, etc.
US09939701B2	Protic-soluble organic electrochromic compounds Protic-soluble electrochromic materials, ion-paired electrochromic materials including protic-soluble electrochromic materials, as well as electrochromic media and electrochromic devices incorporating such materials, are provided. The use of protic solvent mixtures, especially mixtures incorporating water, allows for the use of a wider variety of substrate materials. For example, plastics that may be soluble in organic aprotic solvent systems may be used in water-based devices.
US09939700B2	Display panel and display apparatus The present invention discloses a display panel comprises: a cholesteric liquid crystal cell configured to convert a light passing therethrough into a polarized light; a first light modulator, which is provided at a light output side of the cholesteric liquid crystal cell and directly contacts the cholesteric liquid crystal cell, configured to generate a phase retardation in the polarized light passing therethrough so as to modulate a polarization of the polarized light; a first linear polarizer provided at a side of the first light modulator opposite from the cholesteric liquid crystal cell and configured to selectively permit the polarized light modulated by the first light modulator to pass therethrough. The present invention also discloses a display apparatus.
US09939698B2	Liquid crystal display device A liquid crystal display device comprising a TFT substrate having pixels each including a common electrode formed on an organic passivation film, an interlayer insulating film formed so as to cover the common electrode, a pixel electrode having a slit and formed on the interlayer insulating film, a through-hole formed in the organic passivation film and the interlayer insulating film, and a source electrode electrically conducted to the pixel electrode via the through-hole. A taper angle at a depth of D/2 of the through-hole is equal to or more than 50 degrees. The pixel electrode covers part of a side wall of the through-hole but does not cover the remaining part of the side wall of the through-hole. This configuration facilitates the alignment film material to flow into the through-hole, thereby solving a thickness unevenness of the alignment film in vicinity of the through-hole.
US09939697B2	Electro-optical device and electronic apparatus An electro-optical device is capable of high quality images. An electro-optical device (200) includes a first capacitive element (491), a second capacitive element (492), and a third capacitive element (493). The first capacitive element (491) includes a first conductive film (408), a first part of a second conductive film (411), and a first dielectric film (410). The second capacitive element (492) includes a third conductive film (416), a second part of a fourth conductive film (418), and a second dielectric film (417). The third capacitive element (493) includes the third conductive film (416), a third part of the fourth conductive film (418), and the second dielectric film (417). Since a capacitive element that includes a large capacitance value is formed in a narrow region, even if the pixel becomes smaller as the definition is increased, it is possible to realize an excellent electro-optical device in which display defects are suppressed.
US09939695B2	Display device A display panel includes a display panel having a curved shape and a printed circuit hoard (PCB). At least one carrier connects the display panel and the PCB. At least one driving integrated circuit (driving IC) is disposed on each carrier. Each carrier includes a body and at least one connector extending from the body. Each connector is spaced apart from each other connector.
US09939694B2	Liquid crystal display device having subpixel arrangement with respect to common lines A liquid crystal display device includes an arrangement of pixels, wherein each of the pixels includes at least three subpixels, wherein the second subpixel is a Red subpixel, in contrast to the traditional Red-Green-Blue subpixel configuration. Further, a signal line is disposed next to each of the subpixels, but a common line is disposed next to a subpixel which is not a Red subpixel. Thus, the second subpixel, which is a Red subpixel, has on both sides thereof signal lines, but lacks a common line next thereto.
US09939690B2	Array substrate and display device Disclosed are an array substrate and a display device. The array substrate comprises a plurality of sub-pixel units arranged in an array. Each of the sub-pixel units comprises a first transparent electrode and a second transparent electrode cooperating with each other, and a first switching element and a second switching element cooperating with each other. The signals provided by the first switching element and the second switching element are different, and are interchanged with each other each time after a given time period.
US09939685B2	Liquid crystal panel and method for manufacturing the same The present disclosure provides a liquid crystal panel and a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel. The liquid crystal panel includes a first substrate, a second substrate arranged opposite to the first substrate, and a sealing frame disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate. The liquid crystal panel further includes a first electrode, a second electrode and a plurality of filling patterns filled in the sealing frame. The filling pattern is made of a piezoelectric material, and a size of the filling pattern is capable to be changed after the first electrode and the second electrode are applied with a voltage to generate an electric field, so as to adjust a height of the liquid crystal panel in a peripheral area thereof.
US09939682B2	Liquid crystal alignment layers and method of fabrication Methods are provided for making layers with nano- and micro-patterned topographies by laser action or inkjet printing on a first surface. These topographies have a periodicity of 5 nm to 500 μm in a first direction in the plane of the first surface. These layers can be used as anisotropically patterned alignment layers in electro-optical devices and generate an orientational order of at least 0.30.
US09939680B2	Light diffusion plate and display apparatus having the same Provided is a display apparatus includes a display panel, a light source configured to emit light toward the display panel, a light diffusion plate disposed between the display panel and the light source such that light emitted from the light source is diffused and guided to the display panel, and at least one light diffusion layer provided on the light diffusion plate, having a light source corresponding portion corresponding to the light source, and including a plurality of light transmitting portions provided with a higher density at an edge portion of the light source corresponding portion than at a central portion of the light source corresponding portion.
US09939677B2	Back light unit and liquid crystal display using the same Provided is a back light unit comprising a plurality of LED light source formed on a printed circuit board and a resin layer which is laminated on the LED light source and forwardly induces diffusion of the emitted light wherein the resin layer is made of synthetic resin comprising an oligomer. According to the present invention, an essential light guide plate for a general back light unit configuration is removed and a resin layer mainly consisting of an oligomer is used to guide the light source, and thereby decreasing the number of the light source, minimizing luminance variation when the unit is lighted at a high temperature and kept it for a predetermined time period, and implementing excellent heat-resistant property and optical property.
US09939663B2	Dual-ring-modulated laser that uses push-pull modulation A dual-ring-modulated laser includes a gain medium having a reflective end coupled to a gain-medium reflector and an output end coupled to a reflector circuit to form a lasing cavity. This reflector circuit comprises: a first ring modulator; a second ring modulator; and a shared waveguide that optically couples the first and second ring modulators. The first and second ring modulators have resonance peaks, which are tuned to have an alignment separation from each other. During operation, the first and second ring modulators are driven in opposing directions based on the same electrical input signal, so the resonance peaks of the first and second ring modulators shift wavelengths in the opposing directions during modulation. The modulation shift for each of the resonance peaks equals the alignment separation, so the resonance peaks interchange positions during modulation to cancel out reflectivity changes in the lasing cavity caused by the modulation.
US09939653B2	Despeckling stability An apparatus and method that improves the stability of despeckling using stimulated Raman scattering in an optical fiber. Optical modes in the fiber are scrambled by physical movement of the optical fiber, focusing assembly, or laser beam. The improvement in stability may include a reduction in flicker or reduction in long-term drift.
US09939650B2	Wearable display system A wearable display system has a first lens sub-assembly defining a first optical path and a second lens sub-assembly defining a second optical path. The first and second lens sub-assemblies are disposed in a frame in respective first and second lens-holding sub-assemblies. The frame also has a device holder configured to maintain a display of a device in the first and second optical paths. The display can be maintained within a predetermined range of distances and angles with respect to the first and second lens sub-assemblies. This arrangement permits the display, such as, for example, a smartphone display, independently to provide a specific image to each eye of a user. For example, different images can be independently provided to each eye from different portions of a common display, thereby enabling the user to perceive a three-dimensional image.
US09939644B2	Technologies for controlling vision correction of a wearable computing device Technologies for controlling vision correction of a wearable computing device includes controlling an opacity of an adjustable lens of the wearable computing device to generate a viewing port through the adjustable lens such that a region defined by the viewing port has an opacity less than a remaining region of the adjustable lens. For example, the opacity of the adjustable lens may be increased except for the region defined by the viewing port. In use, the wearable computing device may adjust the location, size, and/or shape of the viewing port based on a predefined prescription, the direction of the user's gaze, the user's viewing context, and/or other criteria. Additionally or alternatively, an image may be displayed on an external display surface of the adjustable lens. The wearable computing device may include multiple adjustable lens, each of which may be controlled in a similar manner.
US09939639B2	Screen provided with retroreflective microstructures A retroreflective screen including a first film having a surface including a plurality of microrecesses, each microrecess having a bottom substantially parallel to the mean plane of the screen and first and second lateral walls substantially orthogonal to each other and substantially orthogonal to the bottom, the first and second lateral walls and the bottom of the microrecess joining at a same point and forming a trihedron.
US09939634B2	Zoom lens and image pickup apparatus having the same To obtain a zoom lens easily performing image blur correction and maintaining optical performance while performing image blur correction while restricting an increase in size of the lens. A zoom lens including, in order from an object side: a positive first unit; a negative second unit; a positive third unit; and a rear group that has one or more units. Spacings between adjacent units change during zooming. First and second correction systems rotatable about first and second centers on or in the vicinity of an optical axis during blur correction are respectively constituted by at least a part of the second unit and at least a part of an optical system disposed on image side of the second unit. The first and second centers are on image side of a surface vertex of the respective first and second correction systems closest to the object side.
US09939629B2	Optical filter device, optical module, and electronic apparatus An optical filter device includes a variable wavelength interference filter having a pair of reflecting films opposed to each other, and an electrostatic actuator adapted to change a gap dimension between the pair of reflecting films, and at least one bandpass filter disposed on an optical axis of the pair of reflecting films, and the bandpass filter includes a plurality of transmission wavelength bands in which light is transmitted.
US09939614B2	Imaging lens for forming an image on an imaging element An imaging lens includes a first lens group having positive refractive power; and a second lens group having negative refractive power, arranged in this order from an object side to an image plane side. The first lens group includes a first lens having positive refractive power, a second lens having positive refractive power, and a third lens having negative refractive power. The second lens group includes a fourth lens having negative refractive power, a fifth lens having negative refractive power, and a sixth lens having positive refractive power. The first lens group has a specific focal length, and the first to third lenses have specific Abbe's numbers so that the specific conditional expressions are satisfied.
US09939611B2	Optical lens An optical lens including a first lens group and a second lens group is provided. The first lens group is disposed between a magnified side and a reduced side and has a negative refractive power. The first lens group includes four lenses. Two lenses closest to the magnified side in the first lens group are aspheric lenses. The second lens group is disposed between the first lens group and the reduced side and has a positive refractive power. The second lens group includes at least seven lenses.
US09939601B2	Anchoring cables to rack with self-locking cable clamp arrangements A self-locking cable clamp arrangement includes a bracket and a flexible tab disposed on the bracket. The bracket has a cable mounting region, a first engagement region, and a support region disposed therebetween. A cable can be clamped to the cable mounting region. The support region defining two members spaced apart sufficient to enable an edge of the panel to extend partially therebetween. The flexible tab can be selectively coupled to the cable mounting region and to the first engagement region. The clamp arrangement mounts to the panel by sliding the bracket downwardly through an open-ended slot defined in the panel until the tab is received within a cutout portion of the panel to secure the bracket to the panel.
US09939586B2	Apparatus, systems, and methods for waveguide-coupled resonant photon detection A photodetector includes a germanium layer evanescently coupled to a ring resonator. The ring resonator increases the interaction length between light guided by the ring resonator and the germanium layer without increasing the size of the photodetector, thereby keeping the photodetector's dark current at a low level. The germanium layer absorbs the guided light and converts the absorbed light into electrical signals for detection. The increased interaction length in the resonator allows efficient transfer of light from the resonator to the germanium layer via evanescently coupling. In addition, the internal and external quality factors (Q) of the ring resonator can be matched to achieve (nearly) full absorption of light in the germanium with high quantum efficiency.
US09939584B2	Base member used for fusion splicer for joining optical fibers and fusion splicer On a top face (24a) of a base member (3), V-shaped grooves (15a) and (23a) are provided. On a reverse face (24b) of a base member (3), V-shaped grooves (15b) and (23b) are provided. The V-shaped grooves (15a) and (15b), which are first V-shaped grooves and are for holding optical fibers, and the V-shaped grooves (23a) and (23b), which are second V-shaped grooves and are for holding electrode rods (7), are formed facing each other, respectively. The positions of optical fibers and the electrode rods (7) are determined by the V-shaped grooves (15a) and (15b) and the V-shaped grooves (23a) and (23b), respectively.
US09939578B2	Low cost integration of optical components in planar lightwave circuits Planar lightwave circuits with a polymer coupling waveguide optically coupling a planar waveguide over a first region of a substrate to an optical component, such as a laser, affixed to a second region of the substrate. The coupling waveguide may be formed from a polymer layer applied over the planar waveguide and optical component such that any misalignment between the two may be accommodated by patterning the polymer into a waveguide having a first end aligned to an end of the planar waveguide and a second end aligned to an edge of the optical component. In embodiments, the polymer is photo-definable, such as a negative resist, and may be patterned through direct laser writing. In embodiments, the optical component is a thin film affixed to the substrate through micro-transfer printing. In other embodiments, the optical component is a semiconductor chip affixed to the substrate by flip-chip bonding.
US09939576B2	Providing structural support via backlight system Examples of structurally supportive backlight systems and devices incorporating such backlight systems are disclosed. One disclosed example provides a backlight system comprising a reflector, a light guide comprising a glass sheet, the glass sheet being adhered to the reflector with adhesive light extracting features, and a light source positioned to direct light into the light guide.
US09939571B2	Display panel and its manufacturing method thereof A display panel includes a color filter film, a first polarizing film, and a second polarizing film. The color filter film comprises a color filter region and a light blocking region. The first polarizing film, placed at one side of the color filter film, comprises a first region corresponding to the color filter region of the color filter film and a second region corresponding to the light blocking region of the color filter film. The second polarizing film, placed at the one side of the color filter film, comprises a first region corresponding to the color filter region of the color filter film and a second region corresponding to the light blocking region of the color filter film, wherein a polarization axis of the second region of the second polarizing film and a polarization axis of the second region of the first polarizing film are perpendicular to each other.
US09939564B2	Light-diffusing member, method for manufacturing light-diffusing member, and display device This light-diffusing member includes a light-transmissive substrate, a plurality of wavelength-controlling layers formed on one surface of the light-transmissive substrate, and a light-diffusing portion formed on the one surface of the light-transmissive substrate in a region other than a region where the wavelength-controlling layers are formed. The light-diffusing portion includes a light-emitting end-surface that makes contact with the light-transmissive substrate and a light-incident end-surface that is opposite to the light-emitting end-surface and that has an area greater than an area of the light-emitting end-surface, and is made of a photosensitive resin; a height of the light-diffusing portion from the light-incident end-surface to the light-emitting end-surface is greater than a thickness of the wavelength-controlling layers; and the wavelength-controlling layers have characteristics that an optical absorptance at a first wavelength in a ultraviolet wavelength band is higher than an optical absorptance at a second wavelength in a visible-light wavelength band.
US09939562B2	Diffuser plate, backlight unit and display device A diffuser plate, comprising: a substrate (4), wherein an upper surface of the substrate (4) comprises at least a first concave surface (42), a lower surface of the substrate (4) comprises at least a second concave surface (41); a first base layer (5) disposed on the upper surface of the substrate (4); a first scattering particle film layer (6) disposed on an upper surface of the first base layer (5); a second base layer (3) disposed on the lower surface of the substrate (4); and a second scattering particle film layer (2) disposed on a lower surface of the second base layer (3).
US09939559B2	Optical device with deformable membrane An optical device having variable focal length may include a deformable membrane, a support to which a peripheral anchoring area of said membrane is connected, and a cavity filled with a constant volume of fluid. The cavity being delimited by the membrane, a base opposite the membrane and a wall of the support extending between the base and the membrane. The optical device further includes an actuation device of a region of the membrane located between the peripheral anchoring area and a central part of the membrane, configured to bend said membrane by application of electrical actuation voltage so as to displace some of the volume of fluid. The membrane comprises a stiffening structure comprising cells which delimit, in the central part of said membrane, at least two deformable regions each constituting a diopter of a respective elementary optical system, each elementary optical system comprising said respective deformable region of the membrane, the fluid and the base of the cavity.
US09939555B2	Cinnamic acid derivative, polymer thereof, and liquid crystal alignment layer comprising cured product thereof Provided is a liquid crystal alignment layer of which a constituent member is a compound represented by the general formula (I).
US09939543B2	Seismic data enhancement Various implementations described herein are directed to methods for processing seismic data including enhancing seismic data generated by a seismic sensor. The methods may include receiving seismic data that had been acquired using the seismic sensor. The seismic data may include one or more first seismic data elements related to a first seismic event. The methods may include generating summands of the seismic data as an inner product of multiple seismic data elements associated with the first seismic data elements and one or more second seismic data elements. The second seismic data elements may be different than the first seismic data elements. The methods may further include enhancing the seismic data by estimating outliers in the summands of the inner product and replacing the outliers with interpolated values.
US09939542B2	Signal enhancement using diversity shot stacking for reverse time migrations (DeSSeRT) A method of processing seismic data so as to provide an image of a subsurface region, comprises providing plurality of migrated shot gathers that contain information about the region, summing portions of the migrated shot gathers to provide a pilot stack, partitioning the plurality of gathers into a plurality of groups and summing the gathers in each group to provide a substack, wherein each group includes at least two migrated shots and wherein a substack is generated from each group, applying an amplitude normalization algorithm to the pilot stack so as to generate an amplitude-normalized pilot stack, calculating a weight function by comparing each substack to the normalized pilot stack, weighting each substack using the weight function so as to generate a plurality of weighted substacks, summing overlapping portions of the weighted substacks so as to generate a output stack, and using the output stack to generate an image.
US09939541B2	Layered linear inversion techniques for locating microseismic activity A method for locating a microseismic event in a subsurface formation, in some embodiments, comprises: receiving a microseismic signal at a detector; obtaining a velocity model representative of the subsurface formation, the velocity model comprising multiple velocity layers; estimating, for each of the multiple velocity layers in the subsurface formation, a microseismic event location and a microseismic event origin time; and selecting one of the estimated locations and times using a parameter of the microseismic signal received at the detector.

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