Document	Document Title
US09980092B1	Supporting a surveillance of positions of devices Each of a plurality of transmitters, which are distributed at fixed locations of a site, regularly transmits radio signals. A mesh node performs measurements on radio signals transmitted by at least one transmitter and transmits messages including results of the measurements. The mesh node belongs to a plurality of mesh nodes, each configured to monitor at least one environmental parameter at the site. A gateway node receives messages transmitted by the mesh node directly and/or via at least one other mesh node of the plurality of mesh nodes, wherein each of the plurality of mesh nodes is configured to receive messages from other mesh nodes of the plurality of mesh nodes and to forward received messages. The gateway node transmits received messages to a server that is configured to monitor mesh nodes at the site based on results of measurements.
US09980082B2	System and method for tracking locations and activities Systems, components, and methods for tracking, monitoring, and optionally reminding for use with hospitals, businesses, and office buildings. The components of the systems can include wearable advertising devices (WAD) that emit BLE signals, repeaters and/or gateways for receiving and relaying the BLE signals over a BLE Mesh network to a remote server. IR codes can be included to detect the presence of a WAD before the WAD is energized to emit a BLE signal.
US09980066B2	Bone conduction transducer system with adjustable retention force An external component for a bone conduction hearing implant is described. An external housing contains an electromagnetic drive coil, a coil core, and at least one spacer container located adjacent to one of the longitudinal ends of the coil core and configured to hold an optional removable spacer piece. The coil core and any pole pieces and side pieces are configured to magnetically interact with an implant magnet in the bone conduction transducer in the absence of electrical current in the drive coil to hold the external housing in the fixed attachment on the skin of the hearing implant patient over the bone conduction transducer. And electrical current in the drive coil magnetically interacts with the coil core and any pole pieces and side pieces to generate the implant communication signals to the implant magnet to create a mechanical vibration signal in the bone conduction transducer for perception by the patient as sound.
US09980062B2	Hearing aid and method for producing a hearing aid A hearing aid includes a hearing aid housing and an antenna device constructed to receive and/or transmit electromagnetic waves having a predetermined wavelength lambda. The antenna device has a frame incorporated in the hearing aid housing for holding assemblies of the hearing aid and the frame has an electrically conductive structure being an integral part of the frame. A method for producing a hearing aid includes patterning a surface of the frame, applying an electrically conductive layer to the surface of the frame and incorporating the frame into the hearing aid housing.
US09980048B2	Headband with sling Methods and apparatuses for headbands and headphones are disclosed. In one example, a headband includes an outer band and an inner band. The inner band includes an inner band left arm, an inner band right arm, and an elastic material coupled between the inner band left arm and the inner band right arm.
US09980032B2	Earphone device and sound-reproducing system using the same An earphone device includes first and second earphone bodies into which respective electro-acoustic transducers are built; first and second cables, one end of each of which is connected to the respective earphone body and within each of which a switch member to be turned on by one-way press is disposed over a predetermined range along the length direction of the cable so that the cable has switch functions; wherein a switch is shunted into two switches by the first and second cables, portions of the first and second cables having switch functions are arranged one on top of the other, and an overlapped portion is unidirectionally pressed to simultaneously turn on the respective switches. In addition, a sound-reproducing system is configured by combining a mobile terminal which operates in conjunction with this earphone device.
US09980023B1	Recording high output power levels of sound at low sound pressure levels Systems, methods, and apparatus are provided for recording high output power levels of sound at low sound pressure levels. For example, an apparatus comprises an enclosure, a speaker disposed within the enclosure, a microphone disposed within the enclosure, and an evacuation port. The evacuation port is configured to connect to a system that reduces a pressure level within the enclosure to a level that is less than an ambient air pressure level outside the enclosure. The enclosure is sealed or otherwise configured to provide a sealed enclosure, to maintain the reduced air pressure within the enclosure. The speaker can be driven by an amplifier at high output power levels to generate a distorted sound of an amplified electric musical instrument for recording purposes, while the reduced pressure level within the enclosure serves to attenuate the sound pressure level and perceived loudness which emanates from the speaker.
US09980018B2	Communication device with narrow-ground-clearance antenna element A communication device including a system circuit board and an antenna element is presented. A radiation metal strip of the antenna element does not lie on the same surface as the system circuit board. The radiation metal strip and a ground plane are separated by a clearance region. The radiation metal strip comprises a first metal strip, a second metal strip, and a coupling metal strip. A first end is located in the first metal strip and connected to the ground plane by a first inductive element. A second end is located in the second metal strip and connected to the ground plane by a second inductive element. A first gap is located between the coupling metal strip and the first metal strip. A second gap is located between the coupling metal strip and the second metal strip. The coupling metal strip is connected to a signal source.
US09980008B2	Meeting system that interconnects group and personal devices across a network Systems and methods are provided for hosting collaboration between multiple clients. The system includes a network interface able to communicate with clients, and a control unit. The control unit is able to receive a screen capture that represents visual content at a display of a client, to identify multiple clients for receiving the screen capture, and to transmit the screen capture to the multiple clients for presentation at displays of the multiple clients. The control unit is further able to receive instructions in parallel from the multiple clients representing marks made upon the screen capture, and to transmit the instructions in parallel to the multiple clients to apply the marks onto the screen capture as presented at the displays of the multiple clients.
US09979992B2	Systems and methods for securely providing adaptive bit rate streaming media content on-demand A system for securely providing adaptive bit rate streaming media content on-demand may include a security server of a program distributor that selects, based on a received authorized request, which of a differently encrypted stored versions of a “special segment” of the requested program to deliver to the receiving device during the transmission of the requested program. The selection may be based on a pseudo-random selection process per request for the program based on an identifier of the request associated with the remote control device. The selection of which of the differently encrypted stored versions of the “special segment” of the ordered program to deliver may be=based on the current session. The secure remote then sends to the receiving device the correct decryption key for the receiving device to decrypt the particular encrypted version selected of the “special segment” to be sent to the receiving device.
US09979985B2	Transmission device, transmitting method, reception device, and receiving method The technology is directed to appropriately executing banding suppression processing on a receiving side. A container having a predetermined format and including a video stream including encoded image data is transmitted. In the video stream, information related to banding suppression processing for the image data is inserted. The information includes, for example, information indicating whether the banding suppression processing has been applied to the image data, and information indicating whether banding suppression processing should be applied to the image data. On the receiving side, the banding suppression processing can be controlled based on the information related to banding suppression processing transmitted from the transmitting side, and the banding suppression processing can be appropriately executed.
US09979980B2	Video encoding apparatus and a video decoding apparatus A video encoding apparatus is a video encoding apparatus for subjecting a video image to motion compensated prediction coding, comprising an acquisition module to acquire available blocks of blocks having motion vectors from encoded blocks adjacent to a to-be-encoded block and number of the available blocks, an acquisition/selection module to select one selection block from the encoded available blocks, a selection information encoder to encode selection information specifying the selection block using a code table corresponding to the number of available blocks, and an image encoder to subject the to-be-encoded block to motion compensated prediction coding using a motion vector of the selection block.
US09979946B2	I/O device, I/O program, and I/O method Provided are an I/O device, an I/O program, and an I/O method that enable visual recognition with such a sense of distance as if a target object that is a real image were in contact with a stereoscopic image that is a virtual image. The I/O device according to the present invention includes: a display device that can generate a stereoscopic image; and a depth level sensor that measures a distance to a target object. A stereoscopic region of the stereoscopic image generated by the display device and a depth level detection region of the depth level sensor overlap with each other to thereby have a common region therebetween. As a result, the visual recognition with such a sense of distance as if the target object that is a real image were in contact with the stereoscopic image that is a virtual image is possible.
US09979932B2	Surveillance system control method and surveillance system adopting the method A method of controlling a surveillance system having a visible imaging camera for obtaining a visible image of an object and a display apparatus, includes providing a color visible image, from the visible imaging camera, to the display apparatus and generating a color background image by extracting a background area from the color visible image when a current ambient illuminance belongs to a daytime illuminance range, and replacing a background area of a black and white visible image, from the visible imaging camera, with the color background image and providing a mixed image as a result of the replacement to the display apparatus when the current illuminance belongs to the nighttime illuminance range.
US09979930B2	Head-wearable apparatus, 3D video call system and method for implementing 3D video call Embodiments of the present disclosure disclose a head-wearable apparatus, a 3D video call system and a method for implementing 3D video call. The present disclosure relates to virtual reality technologies and is invented to relatively completely shoot video images of the scenario where the user locates, achieve real-time 3D video call between users of both parties, and mutually share scenes viewed by themselves. The head-wearable apparatus comprises at least two cameras which are spaced apart from each other and arranged on the head fixing means and/or the video output unit, and field of vision of the at least two cameras superimposes and covers all positions in a horizontal direction. In a preferred embodiment, the head-wearable apparatus further comprises a video collecting unit which consists of two neighboring cameras, and the two neighboring cameras synchronously shoot the same scenario according to a distance between two pupils of human eyes to obtain left and right eye image data at different angles to synthesize a stereo image with a 3D effect.
US09979928B2	Internet interface protection circuit and television The present disclosure provides an internet interface circuit, which includes an ethernet interface, a first isolating transformer, a second isolating transformer, a network signal processing chip and a first interference defending circuit; the ethernet interface is used for receiving and sending a network signal; the first isolating transformer is used for separating a receiving data end of the ethernet interface from the network signal receiving chip; the second isolating transformer is used for separating a sending data end of the ethernet interface from the network signal receiving chip; the first interference defending circuit is used for defending common-mode interference and differential-mode interference of the receiving data end of the ethernet interface; the network signal processing chip is used for processing the network signal. The present disclosure also provides a television. The internet interface protecting circuit of the present disclosure can defend the common-mode interference and differential-mode interference.
US09979919B2	Solid-state imaging device and imaging system A solid-state imaging device includes a pixel signal-processing unit which includes a plurality of pixels arranged in a two-dimensional matrix, wherein the pixel signal-processing unit outputs an total pixel signal while outputting a reduced pixel signal; a difference calculation unit which outputs a digital value obtained by calculating a difference between a digital value indicating a magnitude of the total pixel signal and a digital value indicating a magnitude of the reduced pixel signal; and a bit number reduction unit which reduces the number of bits of either the digital value obtained by calculating the difference, or the digital value indicating the magnitude of the total pixel signal, and outputs a digital value whose number of bits is reduced, wherein the solid-state imaging device outputs the digital value corresponding to the total pixel signal and the digital value indicating the magnitude of the reduced pixel signal.
US09979918B2	Image sensor and data tranmission method thereof The present invention provides an image sensor comprising a pixel array module composed of pixel groups, multiple switch control modules, a PFA, a pipelined ADC and a decode module. Each pixel group comprises multiple unit pixels which form at least one unit pixel. Each switch control module corresponds to a row of the pixel array module and includes a first transmission circuit and a second transmission circuit. The PGA process the data outputted by the first and second transmission circuits and the pipelined ADC performs A/D conversion to the data outputted by the PGA. The decode module controls the first and second transmission circuits of each row to alternately read and transmit the unit pixel data, and controls all the first and second transmission circuits to successively output the data of the unit pixels readout thereby to the PGA.
US09979917B2	Information processing apparatus, information processing system, computer-readable non-transitory storage medium having stored therein information processing program, and information processing method An example information processing apparatus including an infrared light emitter capable of emitting infrared light and a camera capable of at least taking an infrared light image is provided. In the information processing apparatus, first, an image taken by use of the camera is obtained. A face detection process based on the image is repeatedly executed. Then, based on a result of the face detection process, emission of the infrared light is stopped and emission of the infrared light is resumed after a lapse of a predetermined time period.
US09979914B2	Imaging device An imaging device includes first and second pixel cells. The first and second pixel cells each include: a photoelectric converter that generates charge; a first charge transfer channel that has a first end electrically connected to the photoelectric converter, and a second end, the charge transfer channel transferring the charge in a direction from the first end toward the second end; a second charge transfer channel that branches from a position of the charge transfer channel, the second charge transfer channel transferring at least a part of the charge; and a charge accumulator that accumulates charge transferred via the second charge transfer channel. Distances from the first end to the position in the direction of the first and second pixel cells are different from each other.
US09979913B2	Driving method of imaging device and driving method of imaging system A driving method of an imaging device, and a driving method of an imaging system set the number of unit cells based on signals output from a plurality of unit cells in a phase difference detection area within an imaging area to a number larger than the number of unit cells based on signals output from a plurality of unit cells in a range other than the phase difference detection area within the imaging area.
US09979910B2	Image capturing apparatus and control method thereof, and storage medium An image capturing apparatus comprises a pixel region in which unit pixels are disposed, a floating diffusion portion which converts signal charges into voltage signals, an output line on which a signal based on a voltage at the floating diffusion portion is output, and a switching unit that switches between a first readout mode, in which all of the signal charges from the plurality of photoelectric conversion portions are transferred to the floating diffusion portion and read out from the output line, and a second readout mode, in which the signal charges from the plurality of photoelectric conversion portions are transferred at least one at a time to the floating diffusion portion and read out from the output line independently, wherein the switching unit switches the readout mode based on a dark current amount.
US09979908B2	Image processing devices and image processing methods with interpolation for improving image resolution According to various embodiments, an image processing device may be provided. The image processing device may include: an input circuit configured to receive input image data including pixels related to varying exposure times; an interpolation circuit configured to determine an output image based on an interpolation based on the input image data; and an output circuit configured to output the output image.
US09979907B2	Multi-layered high-dynamic range sensor An image sensor including: a plurality of sensing elements, each sensing element including a plurality of layers of varying sensitivities, wherein the plurality of layers is configured to record impinging photons, and wherein each layer of each sensing element is configured to attenuate flow of the photons into the next layer. Key words include a multi-layered sensor and high-dynamic range.
US09979890B2	Digital viewfinder user interface for multiple cameras An electronic device has multiple cameras and displays a digital viewfinder user interface for previewing visual information provided by the cameras. The multiple cameras may have different properties such as focal lengths. When a single digital viewfinder is provided, the user interface allows zooming over a zoom range that includes the respective zoom ranges of both cameras. The zoom setting to determine which camera provides visual information to the viewfinder and which camera is used to capture visual information. The user interface also allows the simultaneous display of content provided by different cameras at the same time. When two digital viewfinders are provided, the user interface allows zooming, freezing, and panning of one digital viewfinder independently of the other. The device allows storing of a composite images and/or videos using both digital viewfinders and corresponding cameras.
US09979870B2	Camera module having light-outputting unit A camera module according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises: a housing which comprises a supporting part and in which the inside space therein is divided by the supporting part into a first space and a second space; an image sensor housed in the first space; a lens unit arranged on the image sensor; a light-outputting unit arranged between the lens unit and the housing; and a light source unit arranged in the second space so as to correspond to the light-outputting unit, wherein the light-outputting unit outputs light incident from the light source unit to the outside.
US09979865B2	Vehicle-mounted electronic apparatus A vehicle-mounted electronic apparatus includes: a camera that captures images of an outside of the vehicle; a storage chamber in which the camera is stored; a lid that opens and closes an aperture extending between an inside of the storage chamber and an outside of the storage chamber. Moreover, the vehicle-mounted electronic apparatus further includes an opening switch that is actuated in response to pressure applied to the lid and that sends a signal for opening a door of a luggage compartment of the vehicle when the opening switch is actuated. Thus, the opening switch and the camera can be disposed in a same position of the vehicle.
US09979864B2	Image processing apparatus, image pickup apparatus, and storage medium for storing image processing program An image processing apparatus includes an image acquirer configured to acquire an input image generated by an image pickup apparatus that controls exposure of an image sensor with a light flux from an image pickup optical system using a shutter, and a processor configured to perform image restoration processing for the input image using an image restoration filter generated based on an optical transmission function from the image pickup optical system to the image sensor in the exposure. When one of a front curtain and a back curtain in the shutter is an electronic curtain and the other is a mechanical curtain, the processor uses, for the image restoration filter, a first image restoration filter generated based on the optical transmission function in a state where the mechanical curtain partially shields the light flux from the image pickup optical system to the image sensor.
US09979858B2	Image processing apparatus, image processing method and program To specify a contour to be detected even when there are a plurality of candidates of the contour on the periphery of a photographing target, an image processing apparatus comprises: a determining unit which detects a plurality of candidate points being the candidates of the contour of a subject based on distance image information of the subject in an image, and determines an inspection-target area in the image based on the detected candidate points; and a specifying unit which detects line segments existing in the inspection-target area determined by the determining unit, based on luminance information of the inspection-target area, and specifies the line segment being the contour of the subject based on the candidate point from the detected line segments.
US09979857B2	Image reader acquiring black data and white data for shading correction when cover is in open state In an image reader, a controller acquires a set of first black data for each pixel in a line by reading one line worth of image via a light receiver with a light source being turned off when a detector detects that a cover is in an open state. Subsequently, the controller acquires a set of white data for the each pixel in the line by reading a white reference member via the light receiver with the light source emitting light when the detector detects that the cover is in the open state. The controller calculates a set of correction data for the each pixel in the line by subtracting the set of first black data of the each pixel from the set of first white data of the each pixel. The set of correction data is used in a shading correction.
US09979855B2	Image processing system, image processing apparatus, instruction server, and storage medium An image processing system includes: an image processing apparatus; an instruction server configured to transmit instruction information to the image processing apparatus via a router having a firewall function; and a session server configured to set up a session between the image processing apparatus and the instruction server. The image processing apparatus is configured to switch, in a case where the state of the image processing apparatus is a power saving state when a time specified by a transmission interval elapses from transmission of a connection confirmation packet for the session with the instruction server, to a state in which at least the connection confirmation packet can be transmitted.
US09979853B2	Information coding and decoding in spectral differences Information is encoded in an image signal by exploiting spectral differences between colors that appear the same when rendered. These spectral differences are detected using image sensing that discerns the spectral differences. Spectral difference detection methods include using sensor-synchronized spectrally-structured-light imaging, 3D sensors, imaging spectrophotometers, and higher resolution Bayer pattern capture relative to resolution of patches used to convey a spectral difference signal.
US09979852B2	Image reading apparatus An image reading apparatus includes: three or more light sources configured to each emit light; a light receiving unit including a common light receiving surface configured to detect each light emitted; and an image generation unit configured to cause the three or more light sources to be switched over in a predetermined order and emit the corresponding light, and generate an image read from a document, wherein at least one of the three or more light sources includes a white light source and an optical filter, and the optical filter is configured such that a half-value width of a wavelength with respect to a maximum intensity of a spectral characteristic of the emitted light after transmission is wider than a half-value width of a wavelength with respect to a maximum intensity of the spectral characteristic of the light emitted from at least one of the other light sources.
US09979851B2	Image forming apparatus and image formation in a low noise mode An image forming apparatus includes an image forming device and a communication device configured to perform data communication with at least one external image forming apparatus. A first mode is a mode in which a speed of image forming is a first speed, and the second mode is a mode in which the speed of the image forming is a second speed less than the first speed. When image forming is to be performed in a second mode, the image forming apparatus determines an image forming apparatus to be used to perform first image forming to at least one first external image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus transmits image data relating to the first image forming to the at least one first external image forming apparatus and controls the image forming device to form an image relating to second image forming.
US09979850B2	Printer and printer control method enabling consistently reading settings information To reliably read settings information PD (network settings PD1, printer settings PD2) from memory and correctly set the settings information PD in a printer, a wireless tag 62 storing the settings information PD is disposed to a cover member 40b that is removably installable to a network-connectable printing unit 40a, a reading device 60 that reads the settings information PD from the wireless tag 62 is disposed to the printing unit 40a, and a configurator 50b configures settings based on the read settings information PD.
US09979847B2	Information processing apparatus and method for executing and controlling sequential processing A flow application receives an event generated by an MFP. If a type of data relating to the event is an expansion program including a definition file, and if an event type is installation, the flow application registers an object associated with the definition file included in the expansion program according to installation of the expansion program.
US09979845B2	Image reading apparatus and image reading method A controller of an image reading apparatus is configured to cause the reading device to read an image on an original with moving a reading location from a first position to a second position, after reading the image on the original with moving the reading location from a third position to the first position, the third position being a position between the first position and the second position and spaced from the first position by a particular distance and determining a width of the original in the main scanning direction. The controller is configured to further move the reading location from the second position to the first position, and detect an instruction to continue reading a subsequent original during a period before the reading location reaches the third position. When the instruction is detected, the controller stops moving the reading location when it reaches the third position.
US09979839B2	Image processing device and medium storing image processing program An information interchange unit, a storage unit, and a display controller are configured such that, after a image selection unit selects a first image and a second image, the information interchange unit interchanges, automatically, first image information of the first image with second image information of the second image, or interchanges, automatically, first position information of the first image with second position information of the second image, the storage unit stores and correlates the first image information and the second position information, and stores and correlates the second image information and the first position information, and the display controller controls, automatically, a display to display the one image based on the first image information and the second position information, and the another image based on the second image information and the first position information.
US09979835B1	Customization of traffic control services A method, a device, and a non-transitory storage medium to provide a user interface that allows a user to configure a traffic control service, the traffic control service including at least one of a content-based service, an application-based service, a time-based service, a location-based service, or a quality-of-service-based service; receive, via the user interface, selections of parameters that govern the traffic control service, and a unique identifier of an end user to which the traffic control service pertains; configure the traffic control service in a line card of a network device included in the data path, wherein the configuration includes the rules data and the unique identifier in the line card, and the traffic control service that includes an in-line quota enforcement service and a charging record service.
US09979834B2	Wireless access point having metering capability and metering display The disclosure provides a system and method for metering on a prepaid wireless access point the amount of data transferred between a wireless device and the Internet and inhibiting further data transmission when the amount of prepaid data available reaches or drops below a pre-determined threshold. Specifically, the wireless access point includes a metering client to track one of data usage or an amount of prepaid data available. When the metering client indicates that the amount of data available has dropped below a pre-determined threshold, the wireless access point inhibits further data transmission.
US09979829B2	Normalization of soundfield orientations based on auditory scene analysis Embodiments are described for a soundfield system that receives a transmitting soundfield, wherein the transmitting soundfield includes a sound source at a location in the transmitting soundfield. The system determines a rotation angle for rotating the transmitting soundfield based on a desired location for the sound source. The transmitting soundfield is rotated by the determined angle and the system obtains a listener's soundfield based on the rotated transmitting soundfield. The listener's soundfield is transmitted for rendering to a listener.
US09979825B2	System and method for exposing customer availability to contact center agents A system and method for establishing contact between a customer contact center agent and a customer based on customer availability information. A plurality of communication channels that may be used to communicate with the customer is monitored by the contact center. The availability of the customer is identified for each of the plurality of communication channels and user availability data is dynamically adjusted for each of the plurality of communication channels. The user availability data is provided to a contact center agent handling, for example, an offline task involving the customer. The contact center agent may use the availability data to establish contact with the customer to better handle the offline task.
US09979824B2	Callback system A method mediated by a Service for automatically connecting callers to agents at a call center environment using a communication network. The method comprises receiving at the Service a first call from a Caller to a Destination and placing a call from the Service to the Destination. The method further comprises determining that an Agent at the Destination has answered or is about to answer the placed call, notifying the Caller that an Agent has answered or is about to answer the placed call, receiving at the Service a second call from the Caller, and connecting the Caller to the Agent. The method may advantageously be used in combination with an App for a smartphone. A system is adapted to perform the method for automatic connection.
US09979813B2	Mobile device communication access and hands-free device activation Apparatuses, systems, and methods are provided for analyzing an incoming telephonic event (e.g., call, message, and/or notification) to a mobile device during operation of a vehicle in relation to a combination of factors to determine if the incoming telephonic event is to be allowed to be received during vehicle operation. The mobile device associated with a driver of the vehicle may receive the incoming telephonic event during operation of the vehicle. An incoming telephonic event analysis application operating on the mobile device may apply a soft block preventing the incoming telephonic event from being displayed on the mobile device. Based on the incoming telephonic event data, vehicle operational data, user preferences, hands-free device activation, and driver and road ratings, the incoming telephonic event analysis application may determine whether or not to maintain the soft block or allow the incoming telephonic event to be displayed on the mobile device during operation of the vehicle.
US09979806B2	System and method for connecting a user to business services A system and method for connecting a user to business services monitors all attempts by the user to place outgoing telephone calls. When a user is attempting to place a call to a business, the system checks to see if the business has created a voice application that could be performed for the user. If so, the business' voice application is performed for the user on the user's local device, instead of connecting the user to the business' customer service line. If no voice application is available for the user, then the system connects the user to the business' customer service line, either through a telephone network, or through a data network connection.
US09979798B2	Thin/zero client provisioning and management using centralized management software Present disclosure relates to a desktop cloud manager configured to manage thin client computers. The desktop cloud manager includes: XMS server processor, XMS communication interface for communicating between desktop cloud manager and thin client computers, thin client computer database for storing thin client computers and peripherals information; and non-volatile memory storing an XMS server operating system, and firmware having thin client management software. When executed by XMS server processor, thin client management software firmware performs one or more of following operations: (a) connecting to thin client computers through a cloud, (b) discovering thin client computers using UPnP protocol, (c) registering thin client computers at thin client computer database, (d) detecting management modes of thin client computers, (e) provisioning functionalities of thin client computers according to management modes, (f) configuring device settings of the peripherals attached to thin client computers, and (g) managing and controlling thin client computers connected through cloud.
US09979794B2	Entropy sharing in a large distributed system based on entropy verification by an entropy broker Methods and apparatus for sharing entropy between an entropy broker and various devices wherein the entropy broker receives a communication from a client. Responsive to determining that the client provided entropy, the entropy broker tests the provided entropy for randomness and stores provided entropy that passes verification and responsive to determining that the client requested entropy, the entropy broker adds the client to an entropy queue.
US09979793B2	Methods and systems for sending and receiving information data A method and system for choosing at least one network interface among a plurality of network interfaces to send and receive information data by determining performance data for a plurality of network interface groups. A network interface group comprises one or more network interfaces of a network device. Performance data of a network interface group is determined by sending testing data through at least one network interface comprised in the network interface group. Performance data may be based on a report received from a test server to which the testing data was sent. Performance data is determined according to one or more performance metrics such as a CPU usage metric, a memory usage metric, a response time metric, a packet delay metric, a packet latency metric, a bandwidth metric, a throughput metric, packet loss, packet drop, a power consumption metric, or a signal to noise ratio (SNR) metric. When performance data is determined according to more than one performance metric, weights are assigned to the more than one performance metrics. A network interface group with best performance, according to the performance data, is selected. Information data is sent and received through one or more network interfaces comprised in the network interface group selected.
US09979786B2	Electronic ecosystem for medical examination room A system comprises a storage device, a piece of medical equipment, a portable computing device, and a hub portal. The piece of medical equipment has at least one electrically powered feature and comprises either a medical examination table or a storage cabinet. The storage device is operable to store data and is remotely located relative to the first piece of medical equipment and relative to the portable computing device. The hub portal is operable to provide communication of one or both of data or commands between the storage device, the piece of medical equipment, and the portable computing device. A method includes enablement or activation of an electrically powered feature of medical equipment upon entry of a portable computing device into a medical examination room. The method also includes disablement or further activation of the electrically powered feature upon exit of the portable computing device from the medical examination room.
US09979785B2	Systems and methods for restoring data from opaque data backup streams The disclosed computer-implemented method for restoring data from opaque data backup streams may include (1) initiating a virtual restore of an opaque data backup stream that is designed to be parsed exclusively by a data backup application that created the stream, (2) determining, for each block of data, an original header and tail of the block based on a restored version of the block on the client, (3) sending the original header and tail of the block to a server, (4) creating, at the server, a mapping between a location of the block of data in the stream on the server and the original header and tail of the block, and (5) restoring, without using the data backup application, data in the stream by using the mapping to restore the original headers and tails of the blocks. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.
US09979784B2	Method for cloud data backup and recovery A method for backing cloud data up and a method for recovering cloud data are provided. A cloud server and a client device are connected to a cloud network. The method for backing cloud data up includes: using the client device to obtain an installed application list and to show the installed application list; using the client device to choose a application in the application list; using the client device to obtain a access path where the backup of the application data file in the client device is and to transmit the access path and a backup of the application data file to the cloud server; and using the cloud server to save the access path and the corresponding backup of the application data file. By using the present inventive method, any user's chosen data can be shared among the cloud server and the client device.
US09979779B2	Scheduling software deployment A method for scheduling a deployment in a first server and a second server identifies a succeeding task out of tasks deployed in the first server. The succeeding task is a task required to wait for an end of a preceding task. The preceding task is one of tasks deployed in the second server. The method sets a wait task in a process of the deployment in the first server. The wait task is a task to wait for an execution timing of the succeeding task. The method decides an execution timing of the wait task on a basis of an overlapping time of a first download task and a second download task. The first download task is one of the tasks deployed in the first server. The second download task is one of the tasks deployed in the second server.
US09979778B2	Cloud data management method, electronic apparatus and cloud server A cloud data management method, an electronic apparatus and a cloud server are proposed. The method includes: executing an application launcher installed on the electronic apparatus to send a connection establishing request to the cloud server installed with an application; receiving a finishing command from the cloud server through a connection; and loading the application into a sandbox in the electronic apparatus through the application launcher in response to the finishing command, wherein the application is not installed on the electronic apparatus.
US09979777B1	Scoring stream items with models based on user interests A system and method for generating a stream of content includes a content stream module that generates a model based on user input and/or prior activities using heterogeneous data sources. The heterogeneous data sources include search, entertainment, social activity and activity on third-party sites. The content stream module retrieves candidate content items that have interests that are similar to the user. The candidate content items are compared to the model and scored based upon interestingness of the content item to the user. The content stream module generates the stream of content from the candidate content items.
US09979776B2	Remotely locating and commanding a mobile device Methods and systems are presented for remotely commanding a mobile device. In one aspect, a method includes receiving input identifying a mobile device, presenting to a user one or more remote commands corresponding to the mobile device, receiving user input selecting a remote command from the one or more presented remote commands, generating a remote command message instructing the mobile device to execute the selected remote command, and transmitting the remote command message to a server for publication in a message topic. Further, a selectable list of mobile devices associated with a remote management account can be presented to the user, the selectable list including information uniquely identifying each mobile device. Additionally, the selectable list of mobile devices can include an indication of whether an included mobile device is online.
US09979756B2	Recovery from a potential proxy call session control function (P-CSCF) failure during call origination A user device registers with a proxy-call session control function device (P-CSCF) associated with an Internet protocol (IP) multimedia subsystem (IMS). The user device forwards a request to the P-CSCF requesting a session via the IMS for an IMS call. If a response to the request is not received from the P-CSCF during a time period after forwarding the request, the user device attempts to newly register with the P-CSCF. If the new registration is successful, the user device re-forwards the request to the P-CSCF. Otherwise, if the new registration with the P-CSCF is unsuccessful, the user device registers with a different P-CSCF and forwards the request to the second P-CSCF.
US09979751B2	Application gateway architecture with multi-level security policy and rule promulgations Embodiments of an application gateway architecture may include an application gateway server computer communicatively connected to backend systems and client devices operating on different platforms. The application gateway server computer may include application programming interfaces and services configured for communicating with the backend systems and managed containers operating on the client devices. The application gateway server computer may provide applications that can be centrally managed and may extend the capabilities of the client devices, including the ability to authenticate across backend systems. A managed container may include a managed cache and may provide a secure shell for applications received from the application gateway server computer. The managed container may store the applications in the managed cache and control access to the managed cache according to rules propagated from at least one of the backend systems via the application gateway server computer.
US09979749B2	Network security elements using endpoint resources A method and apparatus for network security elements using endpoint resources. An embodiment of a method includes receiving a request for access to a network at an endpoint server. The method further includes detecting that the request for access to the network includes a request that is unauthorized. The request for access to the network is directed to a network security element.
US09979746B2	Method and apparatus for detecting hidden content of web page According to an example, a web page is loaded and description information of the web page and layout information of the web page are generated, the description information of the web page is compared with the layout information of the web page, whether all tag nodes comprised in the description information of the web page are comprised in the layout information of the web page is determined, and it is determined at least one tag node, which being comprised in the description information of the web page and not contained in the layout information of the web page, as hidden content.
US09979743B2	Computer asset vulnerabilities Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for determining a network path between computer assets. One of the methods includes receiving an asset topology that includes an identifier for each computer-related asset that may be an entry point for an attack simulation, receiving threat data that identifies vulnerabilities of computer-related assets, determining a first computer-related asset that may be an entry point for an attack simulation, identifying one or more first vulnerabilities of the first computer-related asset, determining a path from the first computer-related asset to a second computer-related asset, determining one or more second vulnerabilities of the second computer-related asset, determining a probability that the second computer-related asset will be compromised by an adversary, and determining a change to the asset topology to reduce the probability that the second computer-related asset will be compromised by an adversary.
US09979741B2	Malware beaconing detection methods A method for detecting malware beaconing in a network, the method includes capturing network traffic over a network connection at a network connected device, representing the network traffic over the network connection as a set of tuples wherein each of the tuples defines an OSI layer 4 communications session and includes at least a source Internet Protocol address, a destination Internet Protocol address, and a destination port, associating timestamps with each of the set of tuples, and analyzing the tuples using the timestamps based on frequency of connections to determine malware beaconing on the network, wherein the analyzing is performed by a computing device.
US09979740B2	Data surveillance system Data surveillance techniques are presented for the detection of security issues, especially of the kind where privileged data may be stolen by steganographic, data manipulation or any form of exfiltration attempts. Such attempts may be made by rogue users or admins from the inside of a network, or from outside hackers who are able to intrude into the network and impersonate themselves as legitimate users. The system and methods use a triangulation process whereby analytical results pertaining to data protocol, user-behavior and packet content are combined to establish a baseline for the data. Subsequent incoming data is then scored and compared against the baseline to detect any security anomalies. The techniques are also applicable for detecting performance issues indicative of a system malfunction or deterioration.
US09979739B2	Automated forensics of computer systems using behavioral intelligence A method for computer system forensics includes receiving an identification of at least one host computer (26) that has exhibited an anomalous behavior, in a computer network (24) comprising multiple host computers. Respective images (68) of the host computers in the network are assembled using image information collected with regard to the host computers. A comparison is made between at least one positive image of the at least one host computer, assembled using the image information collected following occurrence of the anomalous behavior, and one or more negative images assembled using the image information collected with respect to one or more of the host computers not exhibiting the anomalous behavior. Based on the comparison, a forensic indicator of the anomalous behavior is extracted from the positive and negative images.
US09979737B2	Scoring persons and files for trust in digital communication A method, using trust software executing from a machine-readable medium on a computerized appliance operating as a trust authority, to assign to a person, a file, or an enterprise an indication of trustworthiness, includes steps of (a) assembling information concerning the person, file, or enterprise; (b) applying trust logic to the information assembled for individual ones of the persons, files or enterprises to assign a trust score; and (c) storing the score associated with at least an identity of the person, file or enterprise.
US09979733B2	Automatically provisioning new accounts on managed targets by pattern recognition of existing account attributes An identity management system is augmented to provide for automated provisioning of user accounts in an IAM system. A user account is autoprovisioned based on detected attribute patterns. Responsive to a user request from a requesting user for access to a first target, it is determined that access will require a creation of a new account on the first target. A set of existing account information is retrieved. The retrieved set of existing account information is analyzed to discover attribute patterns in the existing account information. Next, an account template is generated according to the discovered attribute patterns. Using the generated account template, a new account on the first target is created giving the user access to the target.
US09979718B2	System for managing security and access to resource sub-components A means for managing security and access to resources associated with blocks/sub-components of a distributed validating network, such as a blockchain network. Tags are created that can be applied to blocks so that a designated entity/user can locate the block though presentation of keywords associated with the tag. Additionally, a security token is generated that is assigned or otherwise provided to the designated entity/user which is configured to grant the designated entity access to resources in the block. Further, logic may be defined and applied to either the tag, the block and/or the security token that provides control over the access granted to the designated entities/users. The logic may define the period of time for which a designated entity/user is granted access to the block and/or the block's resources or the logic may define an amount of access granted to the designated entity/user.
US09979716B2	Certificate authority A protocol for issuing and controlling digital certificates is described in which an identity management system is used to identify a user requesting a digital certificate and is also used to issue the digital certificate itself. Accordingly, an IDM-based PKI system is provided.
US09979714B2	Authenticating a persona in a social networking system A social networking system provides access to personas comprising information, for example, web pages describing users or entities. The information may be suggested by the social networking system or requested by the user, for example, via search. The social networking system authenticates the personas so that only authentic personas are suggested to users or returned when a user is searching for information. The authenticity of a persona is determined based on the connections and/or likes coming from other personas, user accounts, or other entities represented within the social networking system that have been previously authenticated. The authenticity of the person is also determined based on external links to the persona, for example, external websites referring to the persona or the rate at which external systems such as search engines direct web traffic to the persona.
US09979705B2	Caller-identity based security A method, digital telephone and computer-readable medium for providing a user identity-based secure channel between the digital telephone and a service provider. At the service provider, an encrypted voice transmission from a digital telephone is decrypted. The voice transmission was encrypted at the digital telephone by using a user voice encryption key that was created in the digital telephone. The user voice encryption key was created at the digital telephone by inputting a telephone identifier and a called telephone number into a public encryption key algorithm that is supplied by the service provider. By decrypting the encrypted voice transmission, the service provider is able to extract the voice transmission, the telephone identifier, and the called telephone number, thus allowing the service provider to route the voice transmission to an appropriate answering party at the service provider.
US09979702B2	Persistent household keys for in-home media content distribution A method of enabling media recording compatibility between client devices, comprising provisioning a first client device associated with a subscriber identifier with a household key also associated with the subscriber identifier, receiving a media content stream at the first client device, the media content stream having been encrypted by a content provider, decrypting the media content stream at the first client device, creating a recording with the first client device by digitally recording a portion of the media content stream, encrypting the recording with the household key at the first client device, saving the recording to a memory device, and loading the recording onto a second client device that has also been provisioned with the household key, the second client device also being associated with the subscriber identifier, such that the second client device uses the household key to decrypt and play back the recording.
US09979700B2	Security system and communication control method A security system comprising: a first gateway device; a second gateway device; and a duplex communication line, wherein a first proxy part of the first gateway device is configured, if an inbound data is of a specific protocol, to receive a communication information of the specific protocol transmitted by the inbound data and to send the communication information of the specific protocol to the second gateway device, and, if the inbound data is not of the specific protocol, not to send the inbound data to the second gateway device, and wherein the second proxy part is configured, when the second gateway device receives the communication information of the specific protocol from the first proxy part, to acquire a destination address for communication in an internal network from the communication information of the specific protocol and to send the communication information of the specific protocol to the destination address.
US09979695B2	Method, device, and system for monitoring a security network interface unit The invention relates to a method for monitoring a security network interface unit (23), for example a firewall, which receives a stream of data packets via a first interface (21), checks said data stream with respect to filtering rules, and outputs said data stream to a second interface (22). The method has the steps of duplicating and outputting the data stream to the second interface (22), checking the output data stream for inadmissible data traffic, transmitting a warning message to the security network interface unit if inadmissible data traffic is detected in the data stream, and restricting the data stream by means of the security network interface unit if the warning message is received in the security network interface unit (23). The device or the system according to the invention comprises units which are designed to carry out the aforementioned method.
US09979694B2	Managing communications between virtual computing nodes in a substrate network Systems and method are provided for using proxy addresses to manage communications sent between virtual machine networks hosted by a substrate network. In some embodiments, the substrate network may identify a communication addressed from an instantiated component of a first hosted virtual network to a first proxy component of the first hosted virtual network. The substrate network may cause the communication to be received by a second instantiated component of a second host virtual network. Specifically, the substrate network may alter a destination address of the communication from a proxy address of the first proxy component to a network address of the second instantiated component. The substrate network may also alter a source address of the communication from a network address of the first instantiated component to a proxy address of a second proxy component.
US09979692B2	Method and system for providing message recall functionality The present disclosure provides a method and system for enabling the recall of messages. As an example, the method comprises receiving a message, where the message is created by a sender and configured to be sent to a recipient. The method further comprises identifying a first identifier for the message. The first identifier is configured to verify the sender of the message and enable a recall operation for the message. The recall operation results in the recall of the message, and the recall of the message involves cancelling the transmission of the message to the recipient or deleting the message.
US09979682B2	Command propagation optimization Providing series level updates for a series. A method includes identifying a master message. The master message is a series level message that includes a plurality of default properties for an ordered series. An ordered series of instance messages related to the series level message is identified. For each instance message in the ordered series of instance messages, one or more properties are identified that are not yet defined with default property values from the master message and that have not been defined as valid exceptions to the default properties from the master message. A default property value from a corresponding property of the master message is propagated to each of the identified properties. The ordered series is propagated to one or more legacy clients that are unable to consume certain series level messages by propagating the ordered series of instance messages with the updated property values.
US09979678B2	Methods and systems for providing network access redundancy In a networked multi computer environment with redundant links, network interface cards (NICs) are commonly duplicated and teamed to provide a recovery mechanism when network components fail. Embodiments of the present inventions avoid teaming of pairs of NICs and provide a computing host with redundant network connections for the computing host through a switch that is transparent to the computing host. The computing host itself; that is, its hardware and software, is relieved of the duty of network access redundancy and returned to the simple, simplex networking operating mode. The switch replaces a potentially large number of NICs and the need for computing host network access redundancy management which leads to hardware and software cost reductions and increases the robustness and reliability of the system through redundant network access.
US09979675B2	Anomaly detection and classification using telemetry data Historical telemetry data can be used to generate predictions for various classes of data at various aggregates of a system that implements an online service. An anomaly detection process can then be utilized to detect anomalies for a class of data at a selected aggregate. An example anomaly detection process includes receiving telemetry data originating from a plurality of client devices, selecting a class of data from the telemetry data, converting the class of data to a set of metrics, aggregating the set of metrics according to a component of interest to obtain values of aggregated metrics over time for the component of interest, determining a prediction error by comparing the values of the aggregated metrics to a prediction, detecting an anomaly based at least in part on the prediction error, and transmitting an alert message of the anomaly to a receiving entity.
US09979672B2	System and method providing a virtual private cluster The present invention provides a system, method and computer-readable media for generating virtual private clusters out of a group of compute resources. Typically, the group of compute resources involves a group of clusters independently administered. The method provides for aggregating the group of compute resources, partitioning the aggregated group of compute resources and presenting to each user in an organization a partition representation the organization's virtual private cluster. The users transparently view their cluster and have control over its operation. The partitions may be static or dynamic.
US09979666B2	Deterministic distributed network coding A network and a communication method are described. The network comprises: source nodes, receiver nodes, and coding nodes. The coding nodes are connected with input links for communication of input signals to the coding nodes and output links for communication of output signals from the coding nodes. The output signals are a linear combination of the input signals. The coefficients of the linear combination are deterministically chosen based on local information available locally at the coding node.
US09979646B2	Methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture to provide a multicast virtual private network (MVPN) Methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture to provide a multicast virtual private network (MVPN) are disclosed. An example method to transmit multicast data over a communication network includes receiving, at a first machine, a multicast data packet from an ingress provider edge router of the communication network, the multicast data packet associated with a multicast route, and transmitting a first replication of the multicast data packet from the first machine to a second machine via a first unicast path. The first replication of the multicast data packet includes a first label provided by the second machine to identify the multicast route in the second machine. Example methods further include receiving the first replication of the multicast data packet at the second machine via the first unicast path, and replicating the multicast data packet from the second machine to an egress provider edge router of the communication network.
US09979645B2	Hardware and software methodologies for creating and managing portable service function chains Embodiments of the present disclosure describe a self-contained service function network layer between a chain (e.g., a logical chain or service function chain) and a substrate network. Embodiments of the present disclosure further provide techniques for constructing logical chains for service function networks using chain tables, organizing chain tables using application program interfaces (APIs), deploying service function networks to substrate networks, routing packets through a service function network and a substrate network, and inserting, deleting, re-routing, moving and substituting service functions in logical chains.
US09979643B2	Communication apparatus, communication method, and computer-readable recording medium A communication apparatus includes a first storage unit, a second storage, and a first registrator. The first storage stores at least a destination address representing an IPv6 address that is a destination of a packet and a next hop address representing an IPv6 address of a next hop representing the next destination to which the packet is transferred in association with each other. The second storage stores an IPv6 address of a default router to which the packet is transferred when it is not possible to determine the next hop address by using the first storage. When a second RA packet representing an RA packet other than first RA packets representing a RA packet for 6LowPAN is received, the first registrator registers an IPv6 address from which the second RA packet has been transmitted as an IPv6 address of the default router.
US09979637B2	Network flow management system A network flow management system includes controllers that are each coupled to a subset of switch devices, and a flow management server system that is coupled to each of the controllers. The flow management server system collects first-level flow information for the switch devices from the controllers, and filters and structures the first-level flow information to generate second-level flow information. The flow management server system then analyzes the second-level flow information based on current flow operation policies that are configured to cause the switch devices to perform first flow operations and, in response, determines flow operation policy changes. The flow management server system then distributes updated flow operation policies that includes the flow operation policy changes to each of the controllers, where the updated flow operation policies cause the switch devices to perform second flow operation that are different than the first flow operations.
US09979626B2	Establishing a mesh network with wired and wireless links Embodiments of the present invention solve problems experienced by mesh networks concerning loop formation where two nodes are connected by both a wired and wireless link. The present invention prevents or ‘breaks’ a loop that that would otherwise result in continually repeating and delayed network data transmission.
US09979621B2	Method in a communication network A method to provide a cyber attack resistant and fault tolerant precision clocking scheme for wide area critical infrastructure networks through what is called Distributed Time Source Validation, DTSV, is provided, which is a distributed algorithm and signaling mechanism for a network to detect a compromised time source or sources in a multiple master clock system. The method includes providing a local clock signal, receiving in a node R1 an external clock signal from an external source, C or S1, estimating based on the local clock signal and the external clock signal timing parameters associated with the first node and the external source, comparing the timing parameters to detect any Mutual Clock Discrepancy (MCD) between the first node and the external source, and distributing any detected MCD in the network.
US09979618B2	Detecting and alerting performance degradation during features ramp-up Computerized techniques are described for detecting performance degradation during features ramp up. A first version of web content is sent to first client devices. The first version of the web content lacks a particular feature. First performance data that indicates performance of each first client device with respect to processing the web content is received. A second version of the web content is sent to second client devices. The second version of the web content has the particular feature. Second performance data that indicates performance of each second client device with respect to processing the web content is received. The first performance data is compared with the second performance data to determine a difference between a processing metric associated with the first version of the web content and a processing metric associated with the second version of the web content.
US09979617B1	Techniques for controlling scaling behavior of resources Current methods for providing automated scaling of network resources require tracking a specific metric and based on that metric exceeding a specified limit, provisioning additional resources. By providing additional control functionality for enabling customers to select parameters to use for automated resource scaling, customer systems can automatically and dynamically receive additional resources based on the selected parameters.
US09979616B2	Event-driven framework for filtering and processing network flows Time-based groupings of network traffic flow data for virtualized computing resources are stored. Notifications that the time-based groupings are stored are sent, and in response to the notifications, the groupings are processed in accordance with the notifications. Network traffic flow data that is associated with users who have requested publication is published for associated virtualized computing resources.
US09979608B2	Context graph generation As a network increases in size and complexity, it becomes increasingly difficult to monitor and record relationships between components in the network. The lack of knowledge regarding component relationships can make it difficult to adequately and timely perform analysis of network issues or conditions. As a result, automated generation of a context graph that displays relationships among both hardware and software components in a network can help keep pace with a growing network and improve network analysis. The context graph may be generated based, for example, on event data (alternately referred to as event indications) generated by network components and/or event monitoring agents and network topology information. Additionally, the context graph may be augmented to display inter-component relationships based on multi-event correlations. The context graph can be used to assist in troubleshooting network issues or performing root cause analysis.
US09979602B1	Network function virtualization infrastructure pod in a network environment An example method for instantiating a network using a network function virtualization infrastructure (NVFI) pod in a network environment is provided and includes receiving a request to instantiate a logical network topology in the NFVI pod that includes a pre-selected set of interconnected pre-configured hardware resources, the abstract network topology including a virtual network function (VNF) forwarding graph (FG), distilling the VNF FG into various interconnected VNFs, deploying various VNFs of the VNF FG to a plurality of virtual machines, and instantiating the network topology on appropriate hardware resources in the NFVI pod. In specific embodiments, the pre-selected set of interconnected pre-configured hardware resources includes a plurality of compute servers, a plurality of controller servers, a set of network resources, and a plurality of storage resources. It may also include a high performance virtual switch operating in a user space of respective memory elements of a plurality of servers.
US09979595B2	Subscriber management and network service integration for software-defined networks having centralized control Subscriber management and network service integration for an access network is described in which a centralized controller provides seamless end-to-end service from a network to access nodes. For example, a method includes dynamically establishing a control channel between the centralized controller and an access node, and establishing a transport label switched path (LSP) transport network packets between the access node and the network node. The access node sends, via the control channel, an endpoint indication message that indicates that an endpoint that has joined the network at the access node. The access node receives a pseudo wire request message via the control channel to install forwarding state for creating a pseudo wire for providing one or more network services to the endpoint. The access node receives a direct switch message via the control channel to configure the access node to map traffic received from the endpoint to the pseudo wire.
US09979593B2	Logical L3 processing for L2 hardware switches A method for learning a MAC address of an end machine that is logically connected to a logical network is described. The method receives configuration data for implementing a distributed logical router having different logical ports each of which is associated with a logical port of a logical switch. The method receives a packet through a first logical port of the logical router that has a destination IP address associated with a particular logical switch that is associated with a second logical port of the logical router. In order to learn the MAC address of the end machine, the method sends a first broadcast packet with a first source MAC address to a first set of forwarding elements that implements the particular logical switch, and sends a second broadcast packet with a second source MAC address to a second set of forwarding elements that also implements the particular logical switch.
US09979591B2	Event notifications for applications A server includes a network communication device, memory hardware, and data processing hardware. The data processing hardware receives sensor data and application data from a client computing device. The sensor data includes sensor measurement values from sensors. The application data indicates application states applications. The data processing hardware receives a request to provide event notifications to a first application from the plurality of applications upon an occurrence of an event. The request includes an event description. The data processing hardware identifies an event trigger that indicates the occurrence of the event. The event trigger includes an application state of a second application and a sensor measurement value for at least one of the sensors. The data processing hardware detects the occurrence of the event by comparing the event trigger with the sensor data and the application data, and transmits an event notification to the first application upon detecting the event.
US09979590B2	Digital video system using networked cameras A digital video system including one or more video cameras and a video server connected to the one or more video cameras is disclosed. In an illustrative embodiment, the video server includes a computer having a central processing unit (CPU) for executing machine instructions and a memory for storing machine instructions that are to be executed by the CPU. The machine instructions when executed by the CPU implement a number of functions including identifying a failure mode of one or more cameras from one or more failure modes and executing a contingency function from one or more contingency functions based on the identification of the failure mode. The failure mode may be selected from a first, second and third failure mode. The contingency function may be selected from a first and second contingency function.
US09979576B2	Drift robust convolutional induced reception scheme with noise prediction This document describes techniques for decoding a convolutionally coded signal using a trellis decoder in a drift robust manner. A convolutionally coded and differentially modulated signal may be received. The signal may be decoded using a trellis. A noise prediction loop may be used to reduce noise characteristics of the signal. A frequency offset estimation loop may be used to reduce a frequency offset drift of the signal. The noise prediction loop and the frequency offset estimation loop may be applied at each branch of the trellis.
US09979569B1	Auto-detection of repeated signals Systems and techniques relating to repeated signal detection are described. A described technique includes receiving a signal including first and second portions, the first portion includes first and second symbols; performing a determination, based on a first decision metric component and a second decision metric component, of whether the second symbol is a repeated version of the first symbol, the first decision metric component contributing to the determination that the second symbol is the repeated version of the first symbol, and the second decision metric component contributing to the determination that the second symbol is not the repeated version of the first symbol; and decoding the second portion of the signal in accordance with a first format or a second format. The first format is used if the first symbol is not repeated. The second format is used if the first symbol is repeated.
US09979568B2	Method and apparatus for equalizing signals A system and apparatus are disclosed for a method and apparatus for equalizing signals. An apparatus that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, an equalizer having a channel estimation calculator for calculating a time domain channel estimation from a baseband signal, a Fast Fourier Transform processor for translating the time domain channel estimation to a frequency domain channel estimation, a tap weight calculator for calculating a frequency domain tap weight according to the frequency domain channel estimation, an inverse Fast Fourier Transform processor for translating the frequency domain tap weight calculation to a time domain tap weight calculation, and a filter for equalizing the baseband signal according to the time domain tap weight calculation.
US09979564B2	Virtual customer networks and decomposition and virtualization of network communication layer functionality Aggregate functionality associated with multiple network communication layers may be decomposed and respective functionality associated with different network communication layers may be implemented on different devices. One or more aspects of respective functionality associated with a particular network communication layer may be virtualized based on the decomposition of the aggregate functionality. Virtual customer networks may be established for providing network-based services to a subscriber of an access network.
US09979555B2	Communication monitoring device A communication monitoring device includes, a first voltage application circuit 5, mounted on a first connector portion 2b arranged at one end of a communication cable 2 having at least two signal lines 2a, or a first repeater 3 or a first communication device, connecting the first connector portion 2b, wherein the first voltage application circuit 5 applies an alternating current voltage at a predetermined frequency to between any signal lines 2a in the communication cable 2, and a second display portion 6, mounted on a second connector portion 2c arranged at an other end of the communication cable 2, or a second repeater 4 or a second communication device, connecting the second connector portion 2c, wherein the second display portion 6 detects and displays the alternating current voltage at the predetermined frequency applied to between the any signal lines 2a in the communication cable 2.
US09979539B2	Method and system of authenticating a network device in a location based verification framework A method and system of authenticating a network device includes providing identification information of a first network device to a second network device and a third network device. The identification information includes location information of the first network device and a timestamp. The method includes verifying the location information of the first network device by a hyperbolic verification scheme. The verification is performed by the second network device and the third network device. The method includes authenticating the first network device based on the verification.
US09979538B2	SM3 hash algorithm acceleration processors, methods, systems, and instructions A processor includes a decode unit to decode an SM3 two round state word update instruction. The instruction is to indicate one or more source packed data operands. The source packed data operand(s) are to have eight 32-bit state words Aj, Bj, Cj, Dj, Ej, Fj, Gj, and Hj that are to correspond to a round (j) of an SM3 hash algorithm. The source packed data operand(s) are also to have a set of messages sufficient to evaluate two rounds of the SM3 hash algorithm. An execution unit coupled with the decode unit is operable, in response to the instruction, to store one or more result packed data operands, in one or more destination storage locations. The result packed data operand(s) are to have at least four two-round updated 32-bit state words Aj+2, Bj+2, Ej+2, and Fj+2, which are to correspond to a round (j+2) of the SM3 hash algorithm.
US09979534B2	Enabling RX signal path synchronization and alignment signals in a highly integrated TX RFIC A transmit (TX) signal path circuit in a multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) transceiver responsive to a digital front end (DFE) for generating receive (RX) path phase alignment signals is disclosed. A digital up-conversion block uses a first numerically-controlled oscillator (NCO) for generating digital intermediate frequency (IF) signals for ordinary TX signal generation, and a different, second NCO for generating digital IF signals for RX phase alignment signal generation. An RF up-conversion block uses a TX local oscillator (LO) for generating analog RF signals for ordinary TX signal generation, and a different feedback (FB) LO for generating analog RF signals for RX phase alignment signal generation. Thus, phase alignment of the circuitry used for ordinary TX signal generation is left undisturbed by RX phase alignment signal generation.
US09979531B2	Method and apparatus for tuning a communication device for multi band operation In one example, a wireless communication device adapted for multi-band operation includes a first antenna, a first diplexer configured to pass signals within first and second sets of frequency bands, first and second signal paths, wherein each signal path includes a set of notch filters tunable to attenuate a different frequency. The wireless communication device includes a second antenna, a second diplexer configured to pass the first and second frequency bands, third and fourth signal paths, wherein each of the third and fourth signal paths includes one or more notch filters tunable to attenuate a different frequency, and a transceiver coupled to each signal path.
US09979528B2	Data communication method in overlapping basic service set (OBSS) environment Provided is a data communication method performed at a transmission node, the method including collecting a node list including nodes communicable with the transmission node, exchanging the node list with each of the communicable nodes, determining an allowance of a space recycling transmission to a reception node by determining that the transmission node is a corresponding node as an exposed node in response to an occurrence of a clear-to-send (CTS) timeout, and transmitting data to the reception node based on a result of determining the allowance of the space recycling transmission.
US09979521B2	Downlink resource indication method, apparatus and system for multiple-point-coordination network in LTE system The present document discloses a method, apparatus and system for indicating downlink resources of a coordinated multi-point network in an LTE system. The method includes: determining a control station/cell and a service station/cell of a User Equipment (UE); and indicating through signaling that a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) of the UE occupies radio resources of the service station/cell in a control region, whereby a start position of the PDSCH allocated for the UE by the service station/cell is the first symbol of a subframe, and when a resource mapping in the control region is performed, the PDSCH does not occupy Resource Elements (REs) occupied by a Cell Reference Signal (CRS), a Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH), a Physical Hybrid-ARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH) of a station/cell where the PDSCH is located, and a Physical Downlink Control Channel PDCCH of the UE.
US09979517B2	Distributed multi-band wireless networking system Disclosed is a dedicated control channel for a WLAN network. A number of access points are networked together and communicate data necessary to propagate the WLAN over a backhaul channel, however a dedicated radio on each access point is used to communicate control information between the access points. The control information is communicated over a control channel that is different from the client facing channels or bands, and the backhaul channel. In some embodiments, the control channel is sub 1 GHz.
US09979513B2	Method and device for executing HARQ in TDD-based wireless communication system A method is provided for performing a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) by a user equipment (UE). An uplink (UL) grant for a first subframe of a second serving cell is received through a first serving cell. UL data in the first subframe of the second serving cell is transmitted according to the UL grant. When a not-acknowledgement (NACK) for the UL data is received through a physical HARQ indicator channel (PHICH) in a subframe i of the first serving cell, the UE performs a non-adaptive retransmission for the UL data in a second subframe of the second serving cell. When a PHICH resource corresponding to the UL data is not present in the subframe i, the UE does not perform the non-adaptive retransmission in the second subframe of the second serving cell.
US09979503B2	Signal transmission with interference mitigation In radio transmission between a mobile communication network and a user equipment, signals are received in a subframe comprising a first group of one or more resource elements and a second group of one or more resource elements. The first group is subject to a first level of interference from at least one further radio channel while the second group is subject to a second level of interference from the at least one further radio channel. A first measurement and a second measurement are performed. Based on the first and second measurements the interference from the at least one further radio channel is estimated and interference mitigation is performed.
US09979501B2	Frequency independent isolation of duplexed ports in distributed antenna systems (DASs), and related devices and methods Frequency independent isolation of duplexed ports in distributed antenna systems (DASs) is disclosed. Instead of providing a duplexer in a DAS that provides frequency dependent separation between downlink and uplink communications signals, an isolation circuit is provided. The isolation circuit is coupled to a duplexed port that provides downlink communications signals to the DAS and receives uplink communications signals from the DAS. To isolate uplink communications signals from the downlink communications path, the isolation circuit includes a directional coupler. The directional coupler provides frequency independent isolation between uplink communications signals and a downlink communications path in the DAS. Further, to isolate downlink communications signals from the uplink communications path, the isolation circuit includes at least one circulator isolator. The circulator(s) acts as a one-direction device, allowing uplink communications signals to flow to the directional coupler with minimal attenuation while significantly attenuating downlink communications signals flowing from the directional coupler.
US09979491B2	Subsea power-over-fiber can bus converter Messages on controller area network (CAN) buses are communicated over subsea links to subsea devices that also require electrical power to function. These subsea devices may be disposed kilometers away from the signal source where electrical signal and power transmission is impractical. The present invention provides a subsea power-over-fiber CAN bus converter for converting CAN bus electrical input and electrical power input into optical signals for transmission over a fiber optic cable for conversion into CAN bus electrical output and electrical power output for use by a subsea sensor or other subsea device. The subsea power-over-fiber CAN bus converter of the present invention is may comprise a flying lead harness that has a first connector end, a second connector end, a first optical converter module, a second optical converter module, and a fiber optic cable disposed between the first and second optical converter modules.
US09979470B2	Measuring signal to noise ratio of a WDM optical signal A device for measuring optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) of a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical signal including multiple wavelength channels may include a tunable optical filter to select an optical wavelength channel of the plurality of optical wavelength channels. The device may also include a polarization controller to adjust a polarization state of the selected optical wavelength channel, and a control unit to compute the OSNR of the selected wavelength channel based on a target control point.
US09979469B2	Interposer coupling assembly having an optical pathway including a GRIN lens and related optical plug assemblies Disclosed are interposer including an interposer coupling assemblies for communicating optical signals to an integrated circuit and other interposer structures having an optical interface for optical connections. In one embodiment, the interposer coupling assembly includes a connector attachment saddle having an optical alignment structure, an optical pathway that includes a GRIN lens, and an optical signal turning element adjacent to the GRIN lens. The interposer coupling assembly may be optically attached to an integrated circuit or a base that is attached to an integrated circuit to form an interposer structure that allows high-speed data transfer. Also disclosed are complimentary optical assemblies that may be optically connected to the interposer coupling assembly.
US09979466B2	Reverse wireless broadband system A communication system uses resources (including a first signal path and a second signal path) in a first roundtrip direction for a first set of gateways and subscriber terminals while concurrently using the same resources (including the first signal path and the second signal path) in a second roundtrip direction for a second set of gateways and subscriber terminals.
US09979465B2	Satellite system that produces optical inter-satellite link (ISL) beam based on optical feeder uplink beam Described herein is a space based subsystem of a satellite, and methods for use therewith, for producing and transmitting an optical ISL beam to another satellite. The subsystem can include, inter alia, receiver optics, optical amplifiers, a WDM demultiplexer, beam splitters, a WDM multiplexer, and transmitter optics. The transmitter optics may be configured to receive an amplified wavelength division multiplexed optical signal and, in dependence thereon, transmit an optical ISL beam to another satellite. In certain embodiments, because RF frequencies of a wavelength division multiplexed optical signal produced by the WDM multiplexer are within a same specified RF frequency range within which the other satellite is configured to transmit RF service downlink beams, there is an elimination of any need for the other satellite to perform any frequency conversions when producing the RF service downlink beams in dependence on the optical ISL beam.
US09979461B2	RF repeater In a mobile communication service system, repeaters can be installed to cover shadow areas where it may otherwise be difficult to transmit and/or receive mobile signals. A radio frequency (RF) repeater that may select between an interference cancellation device and a software-defined radio (SDR) device is provided. The RF repeater can select use of the interference cancellation device in environments or situations that are relatively less complex, and can switch to use of the SDR device instead for environments or situations where more complex frequency processing may be needed and where such frequency processing may be prioritized over interference cancellation to provide better or more effective signal transmissions.
US09979450B2	Adaptive codeword and codeblock selection in wireless communications A transmitter may initiate multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications with a receiver in which a number of codewords used in MIMO transmissions may be selected to provide enhanced communications for a particular service that is associated with the MIMO transmission. In cases where a lower-latency service is identified, a MIMO transmission may be configured with one codeword transmitted over multiple spatial layers, which may provide lower processing latency at a receiver relative to processing of multiple codewords. In cases where a mobile broadband service is identified, a MIMO transmission configured with two (or more) codewords may be transmitted over multiple spatial layers, which may provide increased data throughput relative to a single codeword MIMO transmission. A codeblock size for a transmission also may be selected based at least in part on a service associated with the transmission.
US09979447B2	Radio frequency distribution network for a split beam user specific tilt antenna A RF distribution network for split beam antennas is disclosed. The split beam antennas may include four-column cross-polarized user specific tilt antennas implemented in a 4T4R or 4T8R system. A RF distribution network may provide transmit signals from transmitters to antennas while also providing receive signals from the antennas. A RF distribution network may include 180° 6.9 dB combiners coupled to the antennas and also coupled 90° hybrids. A 180° 6.9 dB combiner may include a transmission network with transmission lines in a 4T4R system. Alternatively, a 180° 6.9 dB combiner may include a transmission network with transmit and receive filters in a 4T8R system. The transmission network couples the transmit filter and two filters by at least three λ/4 transmission lines. A transmission network provides isolation between two receive signal paths and, at the same time, provides power splitting of transmitter power to two duplexed transmit signal paths.
US09979443B2	Distributed antenna system for MIMO signals A distributed antenna system, comprising: master unit configured to: receive MIMO channel signals at MIMO frequency from signal source, MIMO channel signals including first and second MIMO channel signals; generate LO signal; frequency convert first and/or second MIMO channel signal from MIMO frequency to different frequency close to first legacy service frequency band using the LO signal; combine first MIMO channel signal, second MIMO channel signal, and LO signal for transmission; optical link operably coupled with master unit; unit communicatively coupled with master unit via optical link for transceiving first second MIMO channel signal, unit including band processing circuitry configured to process first and second MIMO channel signal; conversion circuitry configured to receive converted MIMO channel signal and to frequency convert converted MIMO channel signal from frequency close to first legacy service frequency band back to MIMO frequency for transmission over antenna.
US09979442B2	Methods and systems for dynamic comp-link maintenance This disclosure relates generally to improving wireless data rates, and more particularly to methods and systems for dynamic CoMP-link maintenance. In one embodiment, a system may detect a trigger for coordinated multi-point link maintenance. Disclosed embodiments may also identify one or more potential changes to one or more coordinated multi-point links. Further, disclosed embodiments may estimate a coordinated multi-point link throughput based on the one or more potential changes to the one or more coordinated multi-point links. Additionally, disclosed embodiments may calculate one or more resource utilization metrics based on the one or more potential changes to the one or more coordinated multi-point links. Disclosed embodiments may determine whether to implement the one or more potential changes to the one or more coordinated multi-point links based on the estimated coordinated multi-point link throughput and the one or more resource utilization metrics.
US09979440B1	Antenna tile arrangements configured to operate as one functional unit A system for wireless power transmission is provided. The system comprises a plurality of tiles configured to operate as one functional unit. At least one of the tiles comprises an antenna and a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) coupled to the antenna and the RFIC is configured to engage the antenna such that the antenna emits a plurality of wireless power waves defining a pocket of energy.
US09979433B2	RF front-end circuitry with transistor and microelectromechanical multiple throw switches This disclosure relates generally to radio frequency (RF) front-end circuitry for routing RF signals to and/or from one or more antennas. Exemplary RF front-end circuitry includes a multiple throw solid-state transistor switch (MTSTS) and a multiple throw microelectromechanical switch (MTMEMS). The MTSTS may be configured to selectively couple a first pole port to any one of a first set of throw ports. The MTMEMS is configured to selectively couple a second pole port to any one of a second set of throw ports. The second pole port of the MTMEMS is coupled to a first throw port in the first set of throw ports of the MTSTS. The MTSTS helps prevent hot switching in the MTMEMS since the first throw port of the MTSTS may be decoupled from the second pole port of the MTMEMS before decoupling the second pole port from a selectively coupled throw port of the MTMEMS.
US09979427B2	Privacy and security systems and methods of use Some embodiments include a privacy/security apparatus for a portable communication device that includes a housing assembly configured to at least partially attenuate at least one of sound energy, acoustic energy, and electromagnetic energy including light, optical, and IR energy and RF radiation from passing through the housing assembly. The housing assembly includes a Faraday cage with two or more portions, and at least one protective shell coupled to or forming at least one aperture. The at least one aperture is configured and arranged to at least partially enclose the portable communication device so that at least a portion of the portable communication device is positioned within at least one portion of the Faraday cage, and the at least one seal coupled or integrated with the protective shell. The housing assembly can be an articulating assembly, a sliding assembly, and can include an active acoustic jamming or passive acoustic attenuation element.
US09979418B2	Method and device for transmitting information over a communication channel with variable impedance A method includes digital/analog conversion of a digital signal modulated by information to provide a modulated initial analog signal having a crest factor greater than one, and amplification of the initial analog signal to provide an amplified modulated signal. A modulated channel analog signal derived from the modulated amplified analog signal is transmitted over a communications channel, with impedance of the communications channel varying during the transmission. The method further includes at least one determination during the transmission of a peak-clipping rate of the amplified analog signal over at least one time interval, and an adjustment of a level of the initial analog signal as a function of the determined peak-clipping rate.
US09979404B1	Multi-phase amplitude and phase modulation A technique that reduces or eliminates trading-off power amplifier efficiency and costly external filtering in amplitude and phase modulated sinusoidal signal generation uses multi-phase outphasing and a multi-phase switching mode power amplifier to generate the amplitude and phase modulated sinusoidal signals. The technique combines multiple clock phases with sinusoidally weighted circuits of the switching mode power amplifier to improve amplitude and phase modulated sinusoidal signal generation.
US09979402B2	Spin torque majority gate device The disclosed technology generally relates to magnetic devices and more particularly to spin torque majority gate devices, and to methods of operating such devices. In one aspect, a majority gate device comprises a free ferromagnetic layer comprising 3N input zones and an output zone. The output zone has a polygon shape having 3N sides, where each input zone adjoins the output zone. The input zones are arranged around the output zone according to a 3N-fold rotational symmetry, where N is a positive integer greater than 0. The input zones are spaced apart from one another by the output zone. The majority gate device additionally comprises a plurality of input controls, where each of the input zones is magnetically coupled to a corresponding one of the plurality of input controls, where each of the input controls is configured to control the magnetization state of the corresponding input zone. The majority gate device further comprises an output sensor magnetically coupled to the output zone, where the output sensor is adapted for sensing the magnetization state of the output zone. Each input zones adjoins the output zone at one of the 3N sides.
US09979400B1	Analyzing control signals for quantum logic operations in superconducting quantum circuits In a general aspect, control of a quantum superconducting circuit is analyzed. In some implementation, a parameter set for a control signal for a superconducting quantum circuit is received. The parameters set can include initial voltage amplitudes for respective time segments of the control signal. A first subset of time segments is selected for improving a quality measure of a quantum logic operation produced by delivery of the control signal in the superconducting quantum circuit. New voltage amplitudes are calculated for one or more segments in the first subset, such that the new voltage amplitudes improve the quality measure. The parameter set is updated to include the new voltage amplitudes for the first subset while preserving the initial voltage amplitudes for a second subset of the time segments.
US09979394B2	Pulse-generator The apparatus may include a first latch configured to store a first state or a second state. The first latch may have a first latch input, one of a set input or a reset input, a first pulse clock input, and a first latch output. The first latch input may be coupled to a fixed logic value. The one of the set input or the reset input may be coupled to a clock signal or an inverted clock signal, respectively. The apparatus may include an AND gate having a first AND gate input, a second AND gate input, and a first AND gate output. The clock signal may be coupled to the first AND gate input. The first latch output may be coupled to the second AND gate input. The AND gate output may be configured to output a pulsed clock. The pulsed clock may be coupled to the first pulse clock input.
US09979390B2	Grip sensor A grip sensor includes: a plurality of capacitive detectors which are disposed in a grip of a steering wheel of a vehicle, and output values which vary according to whether a human body is in contact; and a controller which determines, at a preset timing, a reference value to be subtracted from the values output from the plurality of capacitive detectors, to determine whether the human body is in contact, wherein the controller identifies, from among values output from the plurality of capacitive detectors at the preset timing, one or more values each having an absolute value smaller than a first threshold, and determines, as the reference value, one of the one or more values identified or an average of the one or more values identified.
US09979387B2	High speed and high voltage driver Systems, methods, and apparatus for biasing a high speed and high voltage driver using only low voltage transistors are described. The apparatus and method are adapted to control biasing voltages to the low voltage transistors such as not to exceed operating voltages of the low voltage transistors while allowing for DC to high speed operation of the driver at high voltage. A stackable and modular architecture of the driver and biasing stages is provided which can grow with a higher voltage requirement of the driver. Capacitive voltage division is used for high speed bias voltage regulation during transient phases of the driver, and resistive voltage division is used to provide bias voltage at steady state. A simpler open-drain configuration is also presented which can be used in pull-up or pull-down modes.
US09979386B2	Semiconductor device, method for driving the same, and electronic appliance A semiconductor device that suppresses operation delay due to stop and restart of the supply of a power supply potential is provided. A potential corresponding to data held while power supply potential is continuously supplied is backed up in a node connected to a capacitor while the supply of the power supply potential is stopped. Then, by utilizing change in resistance of a channel in a transistor whose gate is the node, the data is restored with restart of the supply of the power supply potential. Note that by supplying a high potential to the node before the data back up, high-speed and accurate data back up is possible.
US09979376B2	Integrated tunable impedance network A tunable impedance network includes at least one variable impedance bank comprising a plurality of digitally controlled unit cells each connected from at least a first end to a routing wire. The tunable impedance network is provided with selection means arranged for selecting, based on a desired impedance, a corresponding predetermined digital control signal to be supplied to the variable impedance bank to switch-on a corresponding combination of the unit cells. Between each pair of unit cells in the variable impedance bank, a routing wire section is provided having a respective routing impedance. Each of the predetermined digital control signals is provided for switching-on a combination of unit cells in such a way that the routing impedance of the routing wire section is exploited to fine-tune the actual impedance generated by the variable impedance bank.
US09979375B2	Multi-harmonic matching networks A communication matching network for multi-harmonic suppression includes a communication circuit configured to provide a signal. The communication matching network further includes a matching circuit configured to receive the signal from the communication circuit and suppress one or more harmonics of the received signal to generate a filtered signal, wherein the matching circuit includes a transformer comprising a first winding and a second winding, wherein the first winding includes a first inductance and the second winding includes a second inductance and wherein the matching network includes a harmonic trap including a third inductance such that the third inductance is located inside or within a physical layout of the first winding and/or the second winding. The communication matching network further includes a receiver circuit configured to receive the filtered signal from the matching circuit for further processing.
US09979374B2	Integrated delay modules An analog time delay filter circuit including a first delay circuit block arranged in a modular layout, having a first time delay filter, a first input, a first output, and first and second pass-throughs; a second delay circuit block arranged in the same modular layout, having a second time delay filter, a second input, a second output, and third and fourth pass-throughs; and an interposer circuit block that electrically couples the second input to the first pass-through and the second output to the second pass-through.
US09979372B2	Reconfigurable microwave filters Illustrative embodiments of reconfigurable microwave filters, as well as associated systems and methods, are disclosed. In at least one illustrative embodiment, a reconfigurable microwave filter may comprise a plurality of cavity resonators on a common substrate and a plurality of control circuits each configured to control a resonant frequency of one of the plurality of cavity resonators. The reconfigurable microwave filter may also comprise a plurality of feedback circuits each configured to generate a feedback signal that is indicative of the resonant frequency of one of the plurality of cavity resonators and to transmit the feedback signal to one of the plurality of control circuits.
US09979357B2	Power amplifier module A power amplifier module includes an amplifier that amplifies an input signal and outputs an amplified signal, a matching circuit disposed between an output terminal of the amplifier and a subsequent circuit, a choke inductor having a first end to which a power supply voltage is applied and a second end from which power supply is provided to the amplifier through the output terminal of the amplifier, and a first attenuation circuit disposed between the output terminal of the amplifier and the second end of the choke inductor and configured to attenuate a harmonic component of the amplified signal.
US09979351B2	Differential amplifier circuit Provided is a differential amplifier circuit having a low current consumption and a small circuit area. The differential amplifier circuit is formed as a drain grounding circuit (source follower circuit), which includes two stages of output transistors that are connected to two stages of amplifier circuits in series, and is configured to control one of the two output transistors by output from the amplifier circuit in the first stage, and to control another of the two output transistors by output from the amplifier circuit in the second stage.
US09979349B2	Multi-band device having multiple miniaturized single-band power amplifiers Multi-band device having multiple miniaturized single-band power amplifiers. In some embodiments, a power amplifier die can include a semiconductor substrate, and a plurality of power amplifiers (PAs) implemented on the semiconductor substrate. Each PA can be configured to drive approximately a characteristic load impedance of a downstream component along an individual frequency band signal path, such that each PA is sized smaller than a wide band PA configured to drive more than one of the frequency bands associated with the plurality of PAs. The downstream component can include an output filter.
US09979346B2	Tracking-type photovoltaic generator The present invention relates to a tracking-type photovoltaic generator. More particularly, the present invention relates to a tracking-type photovoltaic generator in which multiple solar modules are aligned into one or more rows so as to form a group, and the solar modules of the group aligned in the same row may rotate according to the location of the sun by means of the operation of a linear actuator.
US09979334B2	Ripple current sensing type motor controlling apparatus and method thereof A ripple current sensing type motor controlling apparatus includes: an H bridge circuit switched depending on at least one control; a first resistor of which one end is connected to one end of the motor through the H bridge circuit and the other end is connected to a ground; a second resistor of which one end is connected to the other end of the motor through the H bridge circuit and the other end is connected to one end of the first resistor and is connected to one end of the motor through the H bridge circuit; and a controller calculating a RPM of the motor using a voltage across the first resistor in the case in which the driving power is applied to the motor and calculating the RPM of the motor using a voltage across the second resistor in the case in which the driving power is blocked.
US09979332B2	Motor control system and method with flux linkage estimation error compensation A chiller system includes a compressor configured to circulate a refrigerant between an evaporator and a condenser in a closed refrigerant loop and a synchronous motor configured to drive the compressor. The motor includes a stator winding and a rotor. The chiller system includes a controller configured to estimate a flux linkage of the rotor and generate a control signal for the motor based on the estimated flux linkage. Estimating the flux linkage includes applying a voltage of the stator winding to a transfer function having an error correction variable, using a first value of the error correction variable in the transfer function to obtain convergence of the flux linkage over an initial motor starting interval, and using a second value of the error correction variable after the initial motor starting interval to reduce an error in estimating the flux linkage.
US09979331B2	Method for controlling a motor A method for controlling a motor includes detecting output signals output from three phases of a hall sensor, determining a failure of the hall sensor depending on the output signals, diagnosing which of the three phases of the hall sensor is out of order based on the output signals if it is determined that the hall sensor detections deviate from a predicted order, and outputting a virtual signal for the phase which is determined as a failure among the three phases of the hall sensor to a motor controller.
US09979330B2	Three-phase motor control apparatus A three-phase motor control apparatus includes a monitor unit, a three-phase synthesis unit, and a feedback unit. The monitor unit generates monitor voltages derived from output voltages of output transistors having terminals electrically connected to drive coils of respective phases of a three-phase motor. The three-phase synthesis unit converts the monitor voltages into currents and generates a combined current therefrom. The feedback unit generates a feedback signal based on the combined current and feeds the feedback signal back to an output controller that generate control signals for the output transistors based on the feedback signal.
US09979328B1	Dual-drive electric motor control system and methods for hybrid operation of electric motors A dual-drive electric motor control system configured to drive a first electric motor and a second electric motor is provided. The system includes a shared front-end motor drive circuit for converting AC input voltage from an AC voltage source to a DC-link voltage. A first control system has a first inverter coupled to the shared front-end motor drive circuit, and a first switch device configured to couple the AC voltage source directly to the first electric motor. The system further includes a second control system having a second inverter coupled to the shared front-end motor drive circuit, and a second switch device configured to couple the AC voltage source directly to the second electric motor.
US09979323B1	Variable frequency electrostatic drive A variable speed drive for an electrostatic motor provides feedback control by conversion of measured current phases provided to the motor into a vector in a rotating rotor framework. This vector is used for evaluating corrective voltages and then reconverted to a non-rotating framework for application to the motor electrodes. Current-source drive circuits provide current stabilized outputs making such sophisticated control tractable.
US09979314B2	Power semiconductor module and power conversion device A power semiconductor module capable of reducing variation of inductance between upper/lower arms and reducing variation of current caused by the variation of inductance. The power semiconductor module includes circuit blocks (upper/lower arms) each of which is configured by connecting self-arc-extinguishing type semiconductor elements in series; a positive electrode terminal, a negative electrode terminal, and an AC terminal that are connected to each of the circuit blocks; and wiring patterns that connect the self-arc-extinguishing type semiconductor elements of the circuit blocks to the positive electrode terminal, the negative electrode terminal, and the AC terminal, wherein the circuit block is plural in number; the positive electrode terminal, the negative electrode terminal, and the AC terminal are each disposed to be plural in number corresponding to the circuit blocks; and the positive electrode terminals and the negative electrode terminals are closely disposed.
US09979289B2	Method for driving converters, and corresponding converter and device A switching converter includes a first electronic switch and a second electronic switch and respective drive circuits for switching on and switching off alternatively the first and second electronic switches. The drive circuits have a supply line for supplying to them a supply voltage. At least one of the drive circuits has, coupled to it, a capacitor for storing the supply voltage. An electronic-switching circuit is provided for selectively disconnecting the drive circuit from the supply line when the electronic switch driven thereby is switched off. In this mode, the drive circuit is supplied by the voltage stored on the capacitor.
US09979288B2	Switching mode power supply with adaptive frequency Switching mode power supply (SMPS) having a switch circuit and a controller. The switch circuit has an output inductor and a switch with a minimum on time. A control signal is generated by the controller to control the switching operation of the switch based on a clock signal with a switching frequency and an off signal. When the required on time of the switch is smaller than the minimum on time, the SMPS reduces the switching frequency adaptively and the actual on time of the switch is controlled to be the minimum on time.
US09979285B1	Radiation tolerant, analog latch peak current mode control for power converters Systems and methods for providing peak current mode control (PCMC) for power converters using discrete analog components. Peak current mode control functionality for latching, set, reset, clocking and slope compensation is provided via available analog components that provide improved performance, design flexibility, reliability, and radiation tolerance. Discrete analog components may include analog comparators, resistors, capacitors, diodes, etc.
US09979276B2	Control circuit for stopping voltage booster and electronic device using the same A control circuit for stopping a booster circuit and an electronic apparatus using the control circuit are described. The electronic apparatus includes a control circuit, a booster circuit and an electronic device. The control circuit is electrically coupled to the booster circuit and the battery. The booster circuit is electrically coupled to the battery and the electronic device. The booster circuit is used to boost the battery voltage, to generate an output voltage for operation of the electronic device and the control circuit. The control circuit may stop the operation of the booster circuit when the battery voltage is not higher than the first voltage, and when a number of occurrences in which the battery voltage falls below the first voltage reaches a predetermined number, or the output voltage does not reach a second voltage within a predetermined time interval.
US09979273B2	Resonant converters with variable inductor Unique systems, methods, techniques and apparatuses for a ZVT ZCT resonant converter with a variable resonant tank are disclosed. One exemplary embodiment is a system comprising a bidirectional resonant converter comprising an input/output terminal, a switching device coupled with the input/output terminal, a resonant circuit coupled with the switching device and including a variable inductor, an output/input terminal coupled with the resonant circuit, and a DC biasing circuit operatively coupled with the variable inductor. The variable inductor comprises a toroidal core, a first winding wound around the toroidal core and coupled with the switching device and the output/input terminal, a second core structured to overlap a portion of the toroidal core, and a second winding wound around the second core and coupled with the DC biasing circuit. The DC biasing circuit is controllable to vary the inductance of the variable inductor by saturating a portion of the toroidal core.
US09979272B2	Semiconductor device In a semiconductor device, a high-side potential determination circuit outputs an event signal when a high-side reference potential detected by a high-side potential detection circuit rises. If at that time an input logic signal for controlling a high side is at a low (L) level, a pulse generation circuit regenerates a reset signal for a high-side drive circuit. When the input logic signal for controlling the high side is at the L level and the event signal is inputted, an overcurrent detection determination circuit makes an overcurrent detection signal from an overcurrent detection circuit invalid. When the event signal is not inputted, the overcurrent detection determination circuit makes the overcurrent detection signal valid.
US09979266B2	Electrical rotating machines An electrical rotating machine comprises a stator including armature pole coils 14 capable of generating magnetic flux when energized, an inner rotor driven to rotate when the magnetic flux passes therethough, and an outer rotor driven to rotate in a magnetic path of the magnetic flux that passes through the first rotor, the outer rotor having portions of different materials, in permeability, which are situated along the periphery of the outer rotor, the inner rotor having a plurality of salient poles situated along the periphery of the inner rotor and wound by wound coils 34 which induce induced current when linked by the magnetic flux generated by the armature pole coils, the stator including a plurality of wound coils 51, 52, 53 winding around each of poles to constitute the armature pole coil for each of the plurality of salient poles.
US09979258B2	Vibration motor A vibration motor, comprising a base part which expands perpendicular to a vertical center axis; a shaft which protrudes upward along the center axis, a lower end of the shaft being coupled to the base part; a circuit board disposed on the base part; coil parts which are attached onto the circuit board, and face each other in a radial direction across the shaft and a gap; a bearing part which is rotatably attached to the shaft at an upper side than the coil parts; a rotor holder which is attached to the bearing part; a magnet part which is attached to the rotor holder; an eccentric weight which is attached to the rotor holder; a spacer which is attached to the shaft at a portion between the bearing part and the coil part, a top surface of the spacer being in contact with a bottom surface of the bearing part; and a cover part which covers at least a portion of the upper and lateral sides of the rotor holder and the eccentric weight, and is fixed to an upper end portion of the shaft and an edge portion of the base part, wherein a bottom surface of the spacer vertically faces a top surface of the coil part.
US09979255B2	Rotary electric machine and method of manufacturing rotary electric machine In a rotary electric machine, wound wires are connected to a first terminal and a second terminal. Circuit terminals that are configured from a conductive metal other than aluminum, and the first terminal and the second terminal that are configured from a metal with a principal component of aluminum are joined together inside a circuit chamber that has high water resistant properties. Corrosion is accordingly suppressed at join sites of the circuit terminals with the first terminal and the second terminal. There is therefore no need to coat the join sites with for example a sealing material in order to suppress corrosion at the join sites. Good electrical continuity is accordingly enabled between the circuit terminals and the wound wires while suppressing an increase in costs, even when the wound wire is configured from a metal with a principal component of aluminum.
US09979244B2	Rotating electronic machine The present invention concerns a rotating electrical machine, comprising: a magnetic mass (2), in particular a rotor, comprising first housings (3), a plurality of permanent magnets (11) inserted into the first housings (3), and shims (20), preferably deformable, inserted into the first housings (3) and/or into second housings (12) provided in the magnetic mass (2), the shims (20) being configured to wedge the magnets (11) in the first housings by plastic and/or elastic deformation.
US09979242B2	Electric machine with windings having end loop arrangement An electric machine including a rotor and a stator and having a first winding. The stator slots define a plurality of layer positions wherein each of the layer positions is at a different radial distance from the axis. There is an odd number of select stator slots wherein for two slot segments disposed in different layer positions, a pair of end loops connect each of the slot segments with another slot segment in a different slot that is in the same layer position. In some embodiments, at least 60 percent of the end loops connect slot segments that are disposed in different layer positions. For some embodiments, only a single select stator slot is provided with the end loops being positioned to reduce spatial conflicts.
US09979230B2	Short range efficient wireless power transfer including a charging base transmitter built into a desktop component and a power relay integrated into a desktop Method and system for wireless power transmission are disclosed. In one aspect, the system includes a charging base positioned on a desktop component and configured to be positioned on a desktop. The system also includes a transmitter located in the charging base and including a transmit coil wound about a plane, the transmitter being configured to wirelessly transfer power, via a wireless field, from the transmit coil to a first receiver. The system further includes a power relay configured to be positioned on the desktop and configured to relay power received from the transmitter to at least one peripheral device different from the first receiver when the peripheral device is positioned on the desktop.
US09979226B2	Solar battery controller A solar battery controller includes: a solar battery module including a plurality of solar battery clusters and a bypass portion, the plurality of solar battery clusters being arranged side by side in a direction that intersects with a traveling direction of a moving object, the plurality of solar battery clusters being connected in series, the bypass portion being configured to bypass the solar battery cluster to which a light intensity applied has decreased; a light intensity detecting unit configured to detect a light intensity that is applied to a corresponding one of the solar battery clusters, the light intensity detecting unit being arranged ahead of the corresponding one of the solar battery clusters in the traveling direction of the moving object; and a control unit configured to determine a maximum power point of the solar battery module.
US09979220B2	Electronic device and method for controlling charging of the same An electronic device of the present disclosure includes a battery cell configured to be electrically connected between a first node and a second node; an over current protection circuit configured to include a first terminal, a second terminal, and a switching element responsive to an occurrence of over current, and the first terminal is electrically connected to the first node; a power management integrated circuit configured to be electrically connected to the second terminal of the over current protection circuit; and a first protection circuit configured to be electrically connected between the first node and the power management integrated circuit, and to include at least one first passive element, wherein the power management integrated circuit monitors a voltage of the battery cell, based on at least a portion of a voltage or a current which is transmitted through the first protection circuit.
US09979219B2	Charging device for an energy store and method for operating a charging device A battery with simultaneous active compensation of the interference signals occurring during the charging is provided. In order to charge the battery, at least two converters are used, which can control connected loads during the working operation. During the charging operation, one converter controls the charging process while the other converter performs an active compensation of the interference signals that occur.
US09979202B2	Control, protection and power management system for an energy storage system A control, protection and power management system for an energy storage system, comprises an interface configured to communicate and provide energy exchange with a host power system, a local load, and the energy storage system, and processing structure configured to receive signals from the host power system and the energy storage system, to determine a mode of operation of the energy storage system and to provide control, protection and power management to the energy storage system.
US09979200B2	Storage battery system and solar power generation system having the same A solar power generation system includes a storage battery, a solar power generation device that is provided on the side of the storage battery and outputs solar generated power, and a power control device. The power control device includes a variation component extraction unit that extracts a shade variation component from a generated power signal measured by the solar power generation device, and a smoothing unit that smoothens the shade variation component obtained by the variation component extraction unit. The power control device obtains a charge/discharge target value of the storage battery on the basis of an output signal from the smoothing unit.
US09979199B2	Multiple input single output hybrid power system A multiple input single output (MISO) hybrid power system includes an electronics system that maximizes output from multiple input sources of different types. In certain embodiments, the electronics system takes in variable power from a plurality of the input sources and outputs a precisely controlled voltage that may simultaneously power a load and charge batteries. The electronics system includes an intelligent controller that monitors input from the power sources and desired output of the system substantially constantly to control maximum power output from each power source. The controller runs through a decision making algorithm to obtain maximum power from the power sources and output a single constant load.
US09979198B2	Systems and methods for microgrid power generation and management Systems and methods for coordinating selective activation of a multiplicity of emergency power generation equipment over a predetermined geographic area for distribution and/or storage to supply a microgrid of electrical power for a substantially similar geographic area.
US09979192B2	System and method for controlling a power distribution network An electrical power system includes an electrical power distribution network and a control device configured to regulate at least one attribute of said electrical power system. The electrical power system further includes a processor coupled to the control device configured to identify an out-of-bound condition on said electrical power distribution network at a first time. The out-of-bound condition is associated with the at least one attribute. The processor is also configured to determine a trend for the at least one attribute at a second time that is later than the first time after a predetermined delay time elapses. The trend indicates a direction away from at least one of a predetermined range and a predetermined value. The processor is also configured to transmit a control action to said control device based at least in part on the trend.
US09979188B2	Low power high speed interface An interface for inter-chip communication, comprises a transmitter part (TX) for transmitting a differential signal and a receiver part (RX) for receiving the differential signal, the transmitter part (TX) being provided in a first integrated circuit chip (CHIP A) and the receiver part (RX) being provided in a second integrated circuit chip (CHIP B). The transmitter part (TX) comprises a first transistor (Tx1) and a second transistor (Tx2) arranged in a common source configuration, and the receiver part (RX) comprises a third transistor (TR1) and a fourth transistor (TR2) arranged in a common gate configuration. Current flowing in the receiver part (RX) also flows through the transmitter part (TX).
US09979187B2	Power device with overvoltage arrester An example power device includes a semiconductor chip and an arrester element configurable to, in response to a voltage across the arrester element being greater than a threshold voltage, create a current path around an isolation layer configured to electrically isolate the semiconductor chip from a heat sink configured to dissipate heat generated by the semiconductor chip. In this example power device, the threshold voltage is less than a breakdown voltage of the isolation layer.
US09979185B2	Electrostatic protection circuit and integrated circuit An electrostatic protection circuit includes a first transistor connected to an external terminal, a second transistor that is connected in series to the first transistor and that is in a normally OFF state. The electrostatic protection circuit includes a third transistor that is connected between a power source line and a gate of the first transistor, and a fourth transistor that is connected between the power source line and the gate of the first transistor in the opposite direction to the third transistor.
US09979174B2	Method and device for removing material from a power line wire A travelling wave motion is formed in a power line wire, which wave motion loosens material, like snow or ice, on the surface of the wire. A first support point and a second support point are arranged on the wire course, the distance of which support points being substantially smaller than the distance between the adjacent support posts of the power line, and the course of the wire is changed on the part between the support points. Then the wire is suddenly returned into its original course, which evokes a longitudinal and/or transverse wave motion in the wire. The course of the wire can be changed by applying a force on the wire between the first and second support points, in a direction transverse to the longitudinal direction of the wire. Thus the wire is returned into its original course by suddenly removing the force applied into the wire. In implementing of the method can a device hung on a wire be used, which device comprises a flame, a first support roll, a second support roll and a transfer roll movable in relation to the support rolls.
US09979164B2	Electrical distribution apparatus, system, and methods of assembling same An electrical distribution apparatus is provided. The electrical distribution apparatus includes a stacked bus bar assembly including a plurality of bus bars. Each bus bar includes a first plate, a second plate spaced from the first plate in a first direction, and an intermediate member disposed between and interconnecting the first plate and the second plate. At least one of the first plate and said second plate is constructed of an electrically conductive material.
US09979162B2	Plasma jet plug A plasma jet plug includes a rod-shaped central electrode, an insulator having an axial hole, a metal shell disposed around the insulator, an orifice electrode electrically connected to the metal shell and located at a distal end side of the insulator, and a gasket that contacts an outer surface of the insulator and an inner surface of the metal shell. The insulator includes a first member, a second member and an inorganic seal layer. The first member has the axial hole and includes a large-diameter portion and a small-diameter portion. The second member has a through hole into which the small-diameter portion is inserted. The second member has an outer surface that contacts the gasket. The inorganic seal layer seals a gap between the first member and the second member. In a section including the axis, the sum of seal lengths is greater than or equal to 3 mm.
US09979160B2	Integrated optical circulator apparatus, method, and applications An optical circulator is a device that routes optical pulses from port to port in a predetermined manner, e.g. in a 3-port optical circulator, optical pulses entering port 1 are routed out of port 2, while optical pulses entering port 2 exit out of port 3 and optical pulses fed into port 3 exit out of port 3. Currently such an optical circulator is made of discrete components such as magnetooptic garnets, rare-earth magnets and optical polarizers that are packaged together with fiber optic elements. Disclosed herein is a different kind of optical circulator that is monolithically integrated on a single semiconductor substrate and that is applicable for the routing of optical pulses. The embodied invention will enable photonic integrated circuits to incorporate on-chip optical circulator functionality thereby allowing much more complex optical designs to be implemented monolithically.
US09979159B2	Semiconductor laser and manufacturing method thereof In a semiconductor laser, a block layer is provided on both sides of a mesa-type semiconductor part having an n-type cladding layer, an active layer, and a p-type cladding layer. The block layer has: a p-type block layer formed on the side surface of the mesa-type semiconductor part and over a p-type semiconductor substrate; a high-resistance layer formed over the p-type block layer; and an n-type block layer formed over the high-resistance layer, which has a higher resistance than that of the p-type block layer. By providing the high-resistance layer between the p-type block layer and the n-type block layer, the thickness of the p-type block layer can be controlled and a leakage current (flow of a hole) can be reduced. Further, the distance between the n-type cladding layer and the n-type block layer can be secured, and hence a leakage current (flow of an electron) can be prevented.
US09979157B2	External-resonator-type light-emitting device An external resonator type light-emitting device includes a light source oscillating a semiconductor laser light and a grating element configuring an external resonator together with the light source. The light source includes an active layer oscillating said semiconductor laser light. The grating element includes an optical waveguide and a plurality of Bragg gratings formed in the optical waveguide. The optical waveguide includes an incident face to which the semiconductor laser light is incident and an emitting face from which an emitting light having a desired wavelength is emitted. A half value reflectance R50 is larger than a reflectance R2 at an emitting end of the light source. A half value reflectance R50 is 3% or larger. A combined reflectance is not less than the half value reflectance R50 in a wavelength region Δλ50. The wavelength region Δλ50 is continuous over 10 nm or more and 30 nm or less, provided that a half value reflectance is defined as 50 percent of a maximum value Rmax of the combined reflectance of the Bragg gratings.
US09979141B2	Plug connector and power circuit cut-off device A plug connector is provided in a plug housing and has a conductive braided wire that connects ends of a plurality of plug terminals opposite to contact points with receptacle terminals such that each plug terminal can move relatively to each other. A service plug has a plug connector and a receptacle connector.
US09979135B2	Connector A connector having an improved shield performance and EMI shield structure are provided. The connector includes a conductive terminal, a fixed body configured to accommodate the conductive terminal therein, and a shield housing having an open lower portion through which a lower end portion of the conductive terminal is connected to a printed circuit board and formed in a body to accommodate the conductive terminal and the fixed body.
US09979133B2	Shielded telecommunications connector A telecommunications connector (100) includes a connector body (104) and a shield (102) attached to the connector body, the shield including a main body portion configured for attachment to the connector body and a barrel portion (110) for crimping against a cable to be terminated to the connector. The barrel portion of the shield includes a corrugated side wall made up of a series of bends extending along a direction from the rear end of the barrel toward the front end of the barrel along at least a portion of a length of the barrel, wherein the bends defining the corrugated side wall are provided on the shield at a pre-crimped stage.
US09979130B2	Charging inlet A charging inlet 10 described in this specification includes a cable lock mount portion 30 for mounting a cable lock 50. The cable lock mount portion 30 includes: locking walls 31 including locking holes 31A, 31B for insertion of a cable lock pin 40; a pin lock 35 to be locked on the cable lock pin 40 for retaining the cable lock pin 40; and a displacement restricting portion (support walls 36) for restricting displacement of the cable lock pin when the cable lock pin 40 is displaced in a direction toward the pin lock 35. The displacement restricting portion restricts the displacement of the cable lock pin 40 by abutting on the cable lock pin 40 in a position at which the cable lock pin 40 does not contact the pin lock 35.
US09979127B2	Electrical connector and electrical connector assembly An electrical connector includes a housing, a lock mechanism, a trigger, and a strap. The lock mechanism is mounted on the housing and has a locking member. The lock mechanism is movable between a locking position in which the locking member locks the electrical connector to a mating electrical connector and an unlocking position in which the locking member is disengaged from the mating electrical connector. The trigger is pivotally mounted on the housing and is movable between a deactivated position and an activated position. The trigger moves the lock mechanism from the locking position to the unlocking position as the trigger moves between the deactivated position and the activated position. The strap is connected to the trigger and moves the trigger from the deactivated position to the activated position upon applying an activation force to the strap.
US09979112B2	Press-type connector A connector includes a first connector and a second connector mounted on an external device. The first connector includes a contact including a contact portion electrically connected to a connection terminal of the second connector by pressing the connection terminal in a predetermined direction; a flexible conductor connected to the contact; a protection member that protects the contact portion by covering a periphery of the contact; a base body that accommodates the contact, the flexible conductor, and the protection member; and an elastic member that is formed separately from the contact and presses the contact and the protection member in a direction opposite to the predetermined direction.
US09979104B2	Clamps for male terminals A clamp for a male terminal having features for preventing incorrect clamping, which comprises a main body having a ring and two jaws, that are movable toward each other for the ring to hold the terminal. An engagement element is movable in the vertical direction and to act upon the jaws to move them toward each other. A clamping member, operable to move the engagement element comprises a stem and a nut. The stem is fixed to a base body, which is pivotable relative to the main body between a first position, in which the stem is inclined with respect to the vertical and a second position, in which the stem extends in the vertical direction. In the first position, the engagement element prevents the nut from engaging a threaded portion of the stem. In the second position, the threaded portion is adapted to be engaged by the nut.
US09979103B2	Connector arrangement A connector arrangement, comprising a connector comprising an outer connector, an inner connector, and attaching means for attaching the connector to a first object, the connector being movable in relation to the first object; a second connector comprising a second outer connector, a second inner connector, and second attaching means for attaching the second connector to a second object and a bullet connector comprising a bullet outer connector and bullet inner connector. The bullet outer connector is configured to make a contact with the first and the second connector to form first and second conductive signal paths from the first connector to the second connector.
US09979100B2	Ground terminal fitting It is aimed to provide a ground terminal fitting suitably connectable to each of various wires. A ground terminal fitting includes a bolt fastening portion (10) to be bolted to a ground part and a wire connecting portion (20) to be connected to an end part of a wire (30). The bolt fastening portion (10) and the wire connecting portion (20) are coupled after being separately formed. According to this configuration, since the wire connecting portion (20) can be formed of an optimal material into an optimal shape, the wire connecting portion can be suitably connected to each of various wires (30).
US09979099B2	Terminal, crimp terminal, wire harness, and method for manufacturing crimp terminal A crimp terminal has a crimp portion that is formed by bending a plate material into a hollow shape and that has at one end thereof an opening capable of accommodating and crimping a conductor portion of a coated wire. The crimp terminal includes a first weld portion obtained by bringing two edge portions of the crimp portion in close proximity to each other and joining by laser welding, and a second weld portion obtained by forming a lapped portion by overlapping of a transition portion formed at an opposite end of the crimp portion to the opening, and closing the lapped portion by laser welding. A welding trajectory in the second weld portion is constituted by a curve, a plurality of straight lines, or a discontinuously formed line.
US09979095B2	Radio frequency identification techniques in an ultra-low temperature environment According to certain inventive techniques, a system includes a plurality of shelves in an interior chamber of a cold-storage apparatus, an RFID antenna assembly in the cold-storage apparatus, and a controller. Each of the shelves can support items that are connected a corresponding RFID tag. The RFID antenna assembly includes a plurality of RFID antenna elements that direct a transmission of radio frequenc(ies) towards the plurality of shelves. The controller is in communication with the RFID antenna assembly and can individually and separately control each of the RFID antenna elements.
US09979085B2	Ferrite-loaded circular waveguide antenna for 3D scanning The ferrite-loaded circular waveguide antenna for 3D scanning includes the design and optimization of an axially magnetized ferrite loaded circular waveguide antenna with three-dimensional (3D) scan characteristics. The ferrite cylinder is concentrically placed within the circular waveguide and magnetized using solenoid coils wound around the waveguide. The waveguide antenna is excited using an optimally positioned coaxial connector. By changing the magnetic biasing of the ferrite cylinder, individual modes within the multi-mode wave guide are affected separately. This generates tapered Ey-field distribution in the radiating edge of the waveguide, which leads to beam scan. Professional software is used to optimize the dimension and magnetizing requirement of the antenna to realize up to ±30° of beam scan in the azimuth and elevation planes. The magnetizing fields (H0) required for the 3D scan are tabulated. A prototype of the high power antenna is fabricated to experimentally verify the simulated scan characteristics.
US09979075B2	Antenna device and electronic timepiece An antenna device housed in a metallic case body of an electronic timepiece includes: a first substrate which is provided on the side of a back over of the metallic case body and on which a ground pattern and an wireless communication unit as a power feeding circuit are formed; a second substrate which is arranged on the opposite side of the movement and on which a chip antenna is formed; and a conductive electrode which is arranged inside the movement and has one end connected to the wireless communication unit and the other end connected to the chip antenna.
US09979071B2	Electronic device An electronic device including a metal element and an antenna element is provided. The antenna element is disposed on a substrate and includes a radiation portion and a connection portion. A first end of the radiation portion has a feeding point for receiving a feeding signal, and a second end of the radiation portion is an open end. A first end of the connection portion is electrically connected to the first end of the radiation portion. A second end of the connecting portion has a first ground point to be electrically connected the metal element. An orthogonal projection of the metal element on the substrate and an orthogonal projection of the antenna element on the substrate are overlapped with each other. The radiation portion is electrically connected the metal element through a second ground point.
US09979070B2	Resonator, filter, duplexer, multiplexer, and communications device A resonator, a filter, a duplexer, a multiplexer, and a communications device that use the resonator, where the resonator includes a resonant cavity body that has a resonant cavity and an open end, a cover that covers the open end and that is connected to the resonant cavity body, and a resonant tube that is located inside the resonant cavity, a medium material is padded in a capacitor area in the resonant cavity and whose dielectric constant is greater than 1, the resonant tube includes a resonant tube body and an elastic structure that is combined with the resonant tube body, and the elastic structure provides elastic pressure in an axial direction of the resonant tube where the resonator may reduce a conductor loss and improve a power capacity, and has relatively low costs.
US09979067B2	N-way, ridged waveguide, radial power combiner/divider A microwave radial power divider/combiner device in which ridged waveguides structures are provided to provide adjacent-port isolation, large bandwidth, consistent cross-port phase matching, low insertion loss, and high peak and average power handling characteristics. The device includes a single rectangular input/output waveguide coupled to a bi-conical waveguide, which in turn is coupled to multiple ridged waveguides. These ridged radial waveguides are coupled to waveguide end-launches and impedance transformers located around the circumference of the device.
US09979066B2	Feed line comprised of a triplate line coupled between a waveguide/triplate line converter and patch antennas for optimizing signals through the feed line A feed line in the form of a trip late line that runs from a waveguide/triplate-line converter coupled to a radio to a plurality of patch antennas in a cluster pattern. The width and length of a section of said feed line between the waveguide/triplate-line converter and the branch point nearest thereto are set such that the impedance of said section directly matches the parallel combination of the impedances of branches beyond said branch point and the loss in said section is kept to or below a predetermined upper limit.
US09979063B2	Rod-switched tunable filter A rod-switched tunable resonator includes a housing defining a cavity, a first rod disposed within the cavity, a second rod disposed within the cavity, and a switch connected to the first rod and to the second rod to tune the resonator to one of a plurality of frequencies by connecting or disconnecting one or both of the first and second rods to the housing. A tunable filter may be fabricated using two or more such resonators. The rod-switched tunable resonator may be a combline resonator, coaxial resonator, waveguide resonator, or dielectric resonator.
US09979062B2	Dielectric-filled surface-mounted waveguide devices and methods for coupling microwave energy Dielectric-filled surface-mounted waveguide devices and methods for coupling microwave energy. In some embodiments, a radio-frequency (RF) waveguide can include a dielectric block having a first edge that joins a mounting surface and a first adjacent surface. The RF waveguide can further include a conductive coating that substantially covers the dielectric block. The conductive coating can define a wrap-around opening that exposes the dielectric block along the first edge. The wrap-around opening can include a strip on the first adjacent surface along the first edge and a strip on the mounting surface along the first edge.
US09979061B1	Devices and methods for a dielectric rotary joint A device is provided that includes a first waveguide configured to guide propagation of RF waves inside the first waveguide. A first side of the first waveguide is configured to emit an evanescent field associated with the propagation of the RF waves inside the first waveguide. The device also includes a second waveguide having a second side positioned within a predetermined distance to the first side of the first waveguide. The second waveguide is configured to guide propagation, inside the second waveguide, of induced RF waves associated with the evanescent field from the first waveguide. The device also includes a first probe coupled to the first waveguide and configured to emit the RF waves for propagation inside the first waveguide. The device also includes a second probe coupled to the second waveguide and configured to receive induced RF waves propagating inside the second waveguide.
US09979058B2	Battery thermal energy transfer assembly and method An exemplary battery thermal transfer assembly includes a thermal interface material having a first side with a plurality of protrusions compressed against a plurality of battery cells, and an opposing, second side interfacing with a thermal exchange plate. Another exemplary battery thermal transfer assembly includes a thermal interface material sheet having a first side with a plurality of protrusions compressed against a plurality of battery cells, and an opposing, second side interfacing with a thermal exchange plate.
US09979056B2	Battery pack flow control system with fan assembly An exemplary fan assembly of a flow control system includes a first fan that communicates flow through a first section of a battery pack enclosure under a first system operating condition, and communicates flow through a second section of the battery pack enclosure under a second system operating condition. A second fan communicates flow through the second section under the first system operating condition.
US09979055B2	Sensor apparatus for a battery cell of an electrical energy store, battery cell, method for producing said cell and method for transmitting sensor data inside said cell A sensor apparatus for a battery cell of an electrical energy reservoir is provided, which battery cell has a housing. The sensor apparatus has: a sensing device for sensing sensor data with regard to the battery cell, which sensing device is located inside the housing of the battery cell and has a coupling element for inductive emission of the sensor data and for inductive reception of electrical power; an evaluation device for evaluating the sensor data, which evaluation device is located inside or outside the housing of the battery cell and has a transfer element for inductive transfer of electrical power to the sensing apparatus and for inductive reception of the sensor data from the sensing apparatus.
US09979054B2	Water loss separators used with lead acid batteries, systems for improved water loss performance, and methods of manufacture and use thereof In at least select embodiments, the instant disclosure is directed to new or improved battery separators, components, materials, additives, surfactants, lead acid batteries, systems, vehicles, and/or related methods of production and/or use. In at least certain embodiments, the instant disclosure is directed to surfactants or other additives for use with a battery separator for use in a lead acid battery, to battery separators with a surfactant or other additive, and/or to batteries including such separators. In at least certain select embodiments, the instant disclosure relates to new or improved lead acid battery separators and/or systems including improved water loss technology and/or methods of manufacture and/or use thereof. In at least select embodiments, the instant disclosure is directed toward a new or improved lead acid battery separator or system with one or more surfactants and/or additives, and/or methods for constructing lead acid battery separators and batteries with such surfactants and/or additives for improving and/or reducing water loss from the battery.
US09979053B2	Hybrid battery system A rechargeable, hybrid battery system incorporates a high power battery component and a high energy density battery component. The voltage of the high energy density battery varies as a function of its state of charge, but remains greater than the voltage of the high power battery throughout the operating range of the battery system.
US09979037B2	Process for producing fluorine containing polymer According to this invention, a process for producing fluorine containing polymer to obtain composite polymer electrolyte composition having excellent ion transport number, that is, ion transfer coefficient, for example, excellent transport number of lithium ion, is provided.A process for producing fluorine containing polymer comprising graft-polymerizing a molten salt monomer having a polymerizable functional group and a quaternary ammonium salt structure having a quaternary ammonium cation and anion, with a polymer having the following unit; —(CR1R2—CFX)— X means halogen atom except fluorine atom, R1 and R2 mean hydrogen or fluorine atom, each is same or different atom.
US09979028B2	Conformal thin film of precious metal on a support A coated substrate for forming fuel cell catalyst layers includes a plurality of substrate particles, an adhesion layer disposed over the substrate particles, and a precious metal layer disposed over the adhesion layer. The substrate particles may be carbon powders, carbon nanorods, carbon nanotubes and combinations thereof; with a preferred aspect ratio from 10:1 to 25:1. The adhesion layer includes a tungsten metal layer and may be formed into a heterogeneous layer comprising a lattice-interrupting layer interposed between two tungsten metal layers. The lattice-interrupting layer reduces mechanical stress to the adhesion layer with extended thickness that may develop when it experiences changing environments, and can be any layer other than the metal layer, for example, Al2O3, Al, or WOx, where x is 1.5 to 3.0. Characteristically, the coated substrate is used in fuel cell applications such as providing the catalyst particles used in the cathode and/or anode catalyst layers.
US09979025B2	Carbon black and secondary cell using the carbon black as electroconductive agent The purpose of the present invention is to provide a carbon black capable of efficiently covering the surface of an electrode active material and enhancing the electric current collection effect as an electroconductive agent of a secondary cell. A carbon black comprising carbon black aggregates (2) in which the ratio PPA/d of the number of primary particles (1) (PPA) and the diameter d (nm) of the primary particles (1) is 8 or higher.
US09979021B2	Stoichiometrically controlled lithium cobalt oxide based compounds A lithium metal oxide powder for use as a cathode material in a rechargeable battery, consisting of a core material and a surface layer, the core having a layered crystal structure consisting of the elements Li, a metal M and oxygen, wherein the Li content is stoichiometrically controlled, wherein the metal M has the formula M=Co1-aM′a, with 0≤a≤0.05, wherein M′ is either one or more metals of the group consisting of Al, Ga and B; and the surface layer consisting of a mixture of the elements of the core material and inorganic N-based oxides, wherein N is either one or more metals of the group consisting of Mg, Ti, Fe, Cu, Ca, Ba, Y, Sn, Sb, Na, Zn, Zr and Si.
US09979017B2	Energy storage devices A novel hybrid lithium-ion anode material based on coaxially coated Si shells on vertically aligned carbon nanofiber (CNF) arrays. The unique cup-stacking graphitic microstructure makes the bare vertically aligned CNF array an effective Li+ intercalation medium. Highly reversible Li+ intercalation and extraction were observed at high power rates. More importantly, the highly conductive and mechanically stable CNF core optionally supports a coaxially coated amorphous Si shell which has much higher theoretical specific capacity by forming fully lithiated alloy. Addition of surface effect dominant sites in close proximity to the intercalation medium results in a hybrid device that includes advantages of both batteries and capacitors.
US09979013B2	Electrode material, paste, electrode plate, and lithium ion battery An electrode material includes Fe-containing olivine-structured LixAyDzPO4 (wherein A represents one or more elements selected from the group consisting of Co, Mn, Ni, Cu, and Cr; D represents one or more elements selected from the group consisting of Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Ti, Zn, B, Al, Ga, In, Si, Ge, Sc, Y, and rare earth elements; 0
US09979011B2	LixMn2O4-y(C1z) spinal cathode material, method of preparing the same, and rechargeable lithium and li-ion electrochemical systems containing the same A method of preparing a homogeneously dispersed chlorine-modified lithium manganese-based AB2O4 spinel cathode material is provided. Furthermore, a homogeneously dispersed chlorine-modified lithium manganese-based AB2O4 spinel cathode material is provided. In addition, a lithium or lithium ion rechargeable electrochemical cell is provided incorporating a homogeneously dispersed chlorine-modified lithium manganese-based AB2O4 spinel cathode material in a positive electrode.
US09979005B2	Rechargeable battery having short circuit member A rechargeable battery has a short circuit member that improves safety. The rechargeable battery includes: an electrode assembly including a first electrode and a second electrode; a case having an opening and housing the electrode assembly; a first terminal electrically connected to the first electrode; a second terminal electrically connected to the second electrode; a cap plate coupled to the case at the opening, the cap plate having a short circuit opening and being electrically connected to the first electrode; a short circuit member inserted into the short circuit opening and electrically connecting the cap plate to the second terminal when the short circuit member is modified due to a change in pressure; an upper cover covering the short circuit opening and having an air opening; and a plug inserted into the air opening and being movable by the short circuit member.
US09979002B2	Separator for electrochemical device and manufacturing method thereof Disclosed are a separator for an electrochemical device substantially comprising inorganic particles to provide an excellent mechanical strength, an electrochemical device comprising the same, and a method of manufacturing the separator using a high internal phase emulsion (HIPE).
US09978996B2	Method for producing an optoelectronic component In various exemplary embodiments, a method for producing an optoelectronic component is provided. In this case, a high temperature solid is provided which is stable at least up to a predefined first temperature. A liquid glass solder having a second temperature, which is lower than the first temperature, is applied to the high temperature solid in a structured fashion. The glass solder is solidified, as a result of which a glass solid is formed. An optoelectronic layer structure is formed above the glass solid. The glass solid and the optoelectronic layer structure form the optoelectronic component. The optoelectronic component is removed from the high temperature solid.
US09978978B2	OLED display panel and manufacturing method thereof The disclosure relates to the field of OLED display technology, more particularly, to an OLED display panel and a manufacturing method thereof, during the manufacturing process of the OLED display panel, by forming a low gray color shift adjustment layer between the anode and the OLED device layer, and/or between the OLED device layer and the cathode, so as to solve the color shift problem under low gray-scale by adjusting thickness or doping concentration of the low gray color shift adjustment layer, and improve the accuracy of emitting color of the OLED panel.
US09978976B2	Array substrate, method for producing the same and display apparatus Embodiments of the present disclosure provide an array substrate, a method for producing the same and a display apparatus. The array substrate includes a base substrate; and first to fourth light emitting units provided on the base substrate and arranged periodically thereon. Each light emitting unit of the first to fourth light emitting units includes a first electrode, a second electrode and an organic material function layer, and the organic material function layer comprises a light emitting portion. The light emitting portion includes a first light emitting layer within the second and third light emitting units, a second light emitting layer within the first and second light emitting units, and a third light emitting layer within the third and fourth light emitting units. The first light emitting layer is configured to emit light within at least one of the second and third light emitting units.
US09978975B2	Organic electroluminescence device An organic electroluminescence device including: an anode; one or more organic thin film layers including an emitting layer; a donor-containing layer; an acceptor-containing layer; and a light-transmissive cathode in this order, wherein the donor-containing layer comprises a compound represented by the following formula (I) or (II):
US09978973B2	Organic light emitting display apparatus An organic light emitting display apparatus including a substrate including a plurality of pixel areas; a pixel electrode on the substrate; an opposite electrode on the pixel electrode, the opposite electrode transmitting light; an organic light emitting layer between the pixel electrode and the opposite electrode, the organic light emitting layer emitting a first light toward the opposite electrode; a light emitting layer on the opposite electrode, the light emitting layer absorbing a portion of the first light and emitting a second light; and a sealing layer on the light emitting layer, the sealing layer sealing the pixel electrode, the opposite electrode, the organic light emitting layer, and the light emitting layer.
US09978970B2	Organic light emitting device An organic light emitting device including an organic light emitting element having a low driving voltage and a high luminous efficiency is provided. The organic light emitting device includes two or more stack emission units, and a charge generating layer including an N-type charge generating layer and a P-type charge generating layer is disposed between the stack emission units. Herein, the P-type charge generating layer is formed of a material having an LUMO energy level similar to an HOMO energy level of a hole transporting layer injected with holes from the P-type charge generating layer. Accordingly, even if the P-type charge generating layer is not additionally doped with a P-type dopant, it is possible to readily inject holes into a stack emission unit adjacent to the P-type charge generating layer.
US09978961B2	Organic electroluminescent materials and devices A compound comprising a ligand LA of Formula I: as well as, devices and formulations containing the compound of Formula 1 are disclosed. In the compounds, having a ligand La of Formula I: wherein R1 represents mono, or di-substitution, or no substitution; wherein R2 represents mono, di, tri, or tetra-substitution, or no substitution; wherein R is selected from hydrogen, deuterium, alkyl, cycloalkyl, and combinations thereof; wherein R1 and R2 are each independently selected from hydrogen, deuterium, alkyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, and combinations thereof; wherein any adjacent substituents of R2 are optionally joined to form a fused ring; wherein the ligand LA is coordinated to a metal M; and wherein the ligand LA is optionally linked with other ligands to comprise a tridentate, tetradentate, pentadentate or hexadentate ligand.
US09978959B2	Organometallic compound and organic light-emitting diode including the same An organometallic compound, an organic light-emitting device including the same, and a method of manufacturing organic light-emitting device, the organometallic compound being represented by Formula 1, below:
US09978958B2	Phosphorescent emitters with phenylimidazole ligands Phosphorescent materials are provided, where the materials comprise a coordination compound having at least one ligand L3 having Formula (I): wherein A and B are each independently a 5-membered or 6-membered carbocyclic or heterocyclic ring; wherein RA, RB, RC, and RD each represent mono, di, tri, tetra substitutions, or no substitution; wherein Z1, Z2, Z3, Z4, Z5, Z6, Z7, and Z8 are each selected from N or C; wherein at least one of Z1, Z2, Z3, Z4, Z5, Z6, Z7, and Z8 is N; wherein one of Z1, Z2, Z3, and Z4 is C that is bonded to N of A; wherein Z is selected from the group consisting of BR, NR, PR, O, S, Se, C═O, S═O, SO2, CRR′, SiRR′, and GeRR′; wherein R, R′, RA, RB, RC, and RD are described herein; wherein L3 is coordinated to a metal M1; and wherein L3 may be linked with other ligands to comprise a tridentate, tetradentate, pentadentate, or hexadentate ligand. Devices, such as organic light emitting devices, comprising such compounds are also provided.
US09978950B2	Materials for electronic devices The present application relates to a compound of a formula (I) which contains a spirobifluorene basic structure condensed onto a benzofuran unit. The application furthermore relates to a process for the preparation of the compound of the formula (I), and to the use of the compound of the formula (I) in an electronic device.
US09978940B2	Memristor and method of production thereof A device is disclosed which comprises a first electrode (101), a second electrode (104) spaced from the first electrode, a switching region (102) positioned between the first electrode and the second electrode, and an intermediate region (103) positioned between the switching region and the second electrode, wherein the intermediate region is in electrical contact with the switching region and the second electrode. Preferably, the intermediate region comprises metal nanowires (105) in a polymer matrix, and the device is a memristor or a memcapacitor. In the latter case, the switching region comprises a conductive material (106) and an insulating material (107).
US09978936B2	Post deposition adjustment of chalcogenide composition in chalcogenide containing semiconductors The concentration of a constituent within a chalcogenide film used to form a chalcogenide containing semiconductor may be adjusted post deposition by reacting the chalcogenide film with a material in contact with the chalcogenide film. For example, a chalcogenide film containing tellurium may be coated with a titanium layer. Upon the application of heat, the titanium may react with the tellurium to a controlled extent to reduce the concentration of tellurium in the chalcogenide film.
US09978932B2	Semiconductor devices and methods of fabricating the same Provided are semiconductor devices and methods of fabricating the same. The semiconductor device may include lower wires, upper wires crossing the lower wires, select elements provided at intersections between the lower and upper wires, and memory elements provided between the select elements and the upper wires. Each of the memory elements may include a lower electrode having a top width greater than a bottom width, and a data storage layer including a plurality of magnetic layers stacked on a top surface of the lower electrode and having a rounded edge.
US09978917B1	Light-emitting diode package structure having plane light source and method for manufacturing the same The present invention provides a light-emitting diode (LED) package structure and the method for manufacturing the same. First, a ceramic substrate is provided. Then, an ultraviolet (UV) LED chip, a light-guiding layer, and a metal reflective layer are disposed on the substrate sequentially. By means of the metal reflective layer, the emission light of the UV LED from the light-emitting side is reflected laterally and thus making the UV LED package structure output a plane light source.
US09978910B2	Light-emitting diode with improved light extraction efficiency According to the present invention, a light-emitting diode with improved light extraction efficiency comprises: a semiconductor laminated structure including an N-layer, a light-emitting layer, and a P-layer formed on a substrate; an N-type electrode formed on the N-layer; and a P-type electrode formed on the P-layer, wherein the N-type electrode and the P-type electrode include a pad electrode and a dispersion electrode, and the N-type electrode and/or the P-type electrode includes a reflective electrode layer for reflecting light onto the dispersion electrode. Thus, the light-emitting diode has a reflective electrode layer on the electrode so as to improve light extraction efficiency. Further, a reflective layer is patterned beneath a pad unit, thus forming roughness and improving adhesion.
US09978909B2	Semiconductor device including oxide current aperture A method for fabricating a semiconductor device includes generating a wafer by generating an N-type semiconductor layer and an active region on the N-type semiconductor layer. The N-type semiconductor layer is located on a first side of the active layer. One or more oxidizing layers are generated along with a P-type semiconductor layer generated on a second, opposite side of the active layer. The wafer is etched to expose a surface of each oxidizing layer. Oxidation of a first region of each oxidizing layer is allowed, where a second region of each oxidizing layer remains non-oxidized.
US09978908B2	Non-polar blue light LED epitaxial wafer based on LAO substrate and preparation method thereof A non-polar blue light LED epitaxial wafer based on an LAO substrate comprises the LAO substrate, and a buffer layer, a first non-doped layer, a first doped layer, a quantum well layer, an electron barrier layer and a second doped layer that are sequentially arranged on the LAO substrate. A preparation method of the non-polar blue light LED epitaxial wafer includes: a) adopting the LAO substrate, selecting a crystal orientation, and cleaning a surface of the LAO substrate; b) annealing the LAO substrate, and forming an AlN seed crystal layer on the surface of the LAO substrate; and c) sequentially forming a non-polar m face GaN buffer layer, a non-polar non-doped u-GaN layer, a non-polar n-type doped GaN film, a non-polar InGaN/GaN quantum well, a non-polar m face AlGaN electron barrier layer and a non-polar p-type doped GaN film on the LAO substrate by adopting metal organic chemical vapor deposition.
US09978903B2	Light-emitting element and method for producing the same A light-emitting element includes a sapphire substrate including: a principal surface that is in a c-plane of the sapphire substrate, and a plurality of projections on the principal surface, wherein each of the plurality of projections has a shape of pseudo-hexagonal pyramid including six lateral surfaces, each of the six lateral surfaces including an inwardly curved surface portion, and wherein, in a top view of the sapphire substrate, each of the plurality of projections has a shape of a pseudo-hexagon that includes first curved lines and second curved lines that are alternately connected to one another, the first curved lines being curved toward a center of a corresponding hexagon and disposed between respective adjacent pairs of six vertices of the hexagon, and the second curved lines passing through respective vertices of the hexagon; and a semiconductor layered body comprising a nitride semiconductor on the principal surface side of the sapphire substrate, the semiconductor layered body including an active layer.
US09978888B2	Solar cell and method for manufacturing the same A method for manufacturing a solar cell, the method including: preparing a semiconductor substrate; ion-implanting a pre-amorphization element to form an amorphous layer at at least a part of one surface of the semiconductor substrate; ion-implanting a first conductive type dopant to the one surface of the semiconductor substrate to form a first dopant layer; and forming a first electrode electrically connected to the first dopant layer, wherein a concentration of the pre-amorphization element in one portion of the first dopant layer is different from a concentration of the pre-amorphization element in another portion of the first dopant layer.
US09978882B2	Method of manufacturing semiconductor device and glass film forming apparatus Provided is a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to the present invention, a ring-shaped electrode plate 18 with an opening having a diameter smaller than a diameter of a semiconductor wafer W is disposed between a first electrode plate 14 and a second electrode plate 16, the semiconductor wafer W is arranged between the ring-shaped electrode plate 18 and the second electrode plate 16, and a glass film is formed on a glass film forming scheduled surface in a state where a potential lower than a potential V2 of the second electrode plate 16 is applied to the ring-shaped electrode plate 18. According to the method of manufacturing a semiconductor device of the present invention, even when the glass film forming step is performed using the semiconductor wafer where the base insulating film is formed on the glass film forming scheduled surface as the semiconductor wafer, lowering of deposition efficiency of fine glass particles on the outer peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer can be suppressed and hence, highly reliable semiconductor devices can be manufactured with high productivity.
US09978880B2	Display device A display device is disclosed, which includes: a substrate; a first conductive layer disposed on the substrate and including a gate with a gate edge parallel to a first direction; a semiconductor layer disposed on the first conductive layer; and a second conductive layer disposed on the semiconductor layer and including a drain and a data line extending along the first direction, the second conductive layer electrically connecting to the semiconductor layer, the drain including a drain edge parallel to the first direction, the gate edge located between the data line and the drain edge, and a projection of the drain on the substrate located in a projection of the semiconductor layer on the substrate. Herein, a maximum width of the semiconductor layer overlapping the gate edge along the first direction is smaller than maximum widths thereof overlapping the gate and the drain edge along the first direction.
US09978875B2	Thin film transistor and method for manufacturing the same, array substrate and display device The present disclosure provides a thin film transistor and a method for manufacturing the same, an array substrate and a display device. The method for manufacturing a TFT includes forming a source electrode and a drain electrode, forming a metal layer on the source and drain electrodes, and forming a metal oxynitride semiconductor layer on the metal layer or on the source and drain electrodes and the metal layer. The metal layer is capable of being oxidized by oxygen ions in the metal oxynitride semiconductor layer.
US09978870B2	FinFET with buried insulator layer and method for forming A fin structure suitable for a FinFET and having a buried insulator layer is disclosed. In an exemplary embodiment, a semiconductor device comprises a substrate with a first semiconductor material and having a fin structure formed thereupon. The fin structure includes a lower region proximate to the substrate, a second semiconductor material disposed on the lower region, a third semiconductor material disposed on the second semiconductor material, and an insulating material selectively disposed on the second semiconductor material such that the insulating material electrically isolates a channel region of the fin structure and further such that the insulating material exerts a strain on the channel region. The semiconductor device further comprises an isolation feature disposed adjacent to the fin structure.
US09978867B1	Semiconductor substrate structures, semiconductor devices and methods for forming the same A semiconductor substrate structure includes a substrate having a first conductivity type, an oxide layer disposed on the substrate, and a semiconductor layer disposed on the oxide layer. The semiconductor substrate structure also includes a first buried layer disposed in the semiconductor layer, having a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type. The semiconductor substrate structure further includes a second buried layer disposed in the semiconductor layer and above the first buried layer, having the first conductivity type, wherein the first buried layer and the second buried layer are separated by a distance.
US09978862B2	Power transistor with at least partially integrated driver stage A semiconductor die includes a semiconductor substrate having a first region and a second region isolated from the first region. A power transistor disposed in the first region of the semiconductor substrate has a gate, a source and a drain. A gate driver transistor disposed in the second region of the semiconductor substrate has a gate, a source and a drain. The gate driver transistor is electrically connected to the gate of the power transistor and operable to turn the power transistor off or on responsive to an externally-generated control signal applied to the gate of the gate driver transistor. A first contact pad is electrically connected to the source of the power transistor, and a second contact pad is electrically connected to the drain of the power transistor. A third contact pad is electrically connected to the gate of the gate driver transistor for receiving the externally-generated control signal.
US09978859B2	Semiconductor device with non-uniform trench oxide layer A semiconductor device includes a trench formed in an epitaxial layer and an oxide layer that lines the sidewalls of the trench. The thickness of the oxide layer is non-uniform, so that the thickness of the oxide layer toward the top of the trench is thinner than it is toward the bottom of the trench. The epitaxial layer can have a non-uniform dopant concentration, where the dopant concentration varies according to the thickness of the oxide layer.
US09978855B2	Semiconductor device, method for manufacturing semiconductor device, and method for forming oxide film One embodiment of the present invention is a semiconductor device at least including an oxide semiconductor film, a gate insulating film in contact with the oxide semiconductor film, and a gate electrode overlapping with the oxide semiconductor film with the gate insulating film therebetween. The oxide semiconductor film has a spin density lower than 9.3×1016 spins/cm3 and a carrier density lower than 1×1015/cm3. The spin density is calculated from a peak of a signal detected at a g value (g) of around 1.93 by electron spin resonance spectroscopy. The oxide semiconductor film is formed by a sputtering method while bias power is supplied to the substrate side and self-bias voltage is controlled, and then subjected to heat treatment.
US09978850B2	Contact for high-k metal gate device An integrated circuit having an improved gate contact and a method of making the circuit are provided. In an exemplary embodiment, the method includes receiving a substrate. The substrate includes a gate stack disposed on the substrate and an interlayer dielectric disposed on the gate stack. The interlayer dielectric is first etched to expose a portion of the gate electrode, and then the exposed portion of the gate electrode is etched to form a cavity. The cavity is shaped such that a portion of the gate electrode overhangs the electrode. A conductive material is deposited within the cavity and in electrical contact with the gate electrode. In some such embodiments, the etching of the gate electrode forms a curvilinear surface of the gate electrode that defines the cavity.
US09978849B2	SOI-MOSFET gate insulation layer with different thickness Methods form transistor structures that include, among other components, a substrate having an active region bordered by an isolation region, a gate insulator on the substrate, and a gate conductor on the gate insulator. First and second sections of the gate conductor are within the active region of the substrate, while a third section is in the isolation region of the substrate. The second section of the gate conductor tapers from the width of the first section to the width of the wider third section. The first section and the second section of the gate conductor have undercut regions where the corner of the gate conductor contacts the substrate. The third section of the gate conductor lacks the undercut regions. The gate insulator is relatively thicker in the undercut regions and is relatively thinner where the corner of the gate conductor lacks the undercut regions in the isolation region.
US09978848B2	UTBB FDSOI split gate devices An Ultra Thin Body and Box (UTBB) fully depleted silicon on insulator (FDSOI) field effect transistor (FET) employing a split gate topology is provided. A gate dielectric layer is disposed beneath a gate structure and in contact with a channel layer of the device. The gate dielectric layer contains two portions, a thin portion and a thick portion. The thin portion is arranged and configured to reduce a trans-conductance of the device, while a thick portion is arranged and configured to increase the break down voltage of the device. The device further contains a bulk region that can be electrically connected to voltage source to provide control over the threshold voltage of the device.
US09978842B2	Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing the same According to one embodiment, a semiconductor device includes a first semiconductor region, a second semiconductor region, a third semiconductor region, a first electrode, a second electrode, a control electrode and an insulating film. The first semiconductor region is of a first conductivity type and includes SiC. The second semiconductor region is provided on the first semiconductor region and has a first surface. The second semiconductor region is of a second conductivity type and includes SiC. The third semiconductor region is provided on the second semiconductor region, is of the first conductivity type and includes SiC. The first and second electrodes are electrically connected to the third semiconductor region. The control electrode is provided on the second semiconductor region. The insulating film is provided between the second semiconductor region and the control electrode. The insulating film contacts the first surface and the control electrode and includes nitrogen.
US09978841B2	Graphene-based laminate and method of preparing the same Provided are a graphene-based laminate and a method of preparing the graphene-based laminate. The graphene-based laminate may include a substrate; a graphene layer formed on at least one surface of the substrate; and an inorganic layer formed on the graphene layer and including a fluorine-containing lithium compound.
US09978840B2	Silicon carbide semiconductor device and method for manufacturing the same In a first main surface of a silicon carbide substrate, a second trench having a second side surface which connects to the first main surface and is in contact with a third impurity region and a second impurity region and a second bottom portion continuous to the second side surface is formed. A fourth impurity region has a first region arranged between a second main surface and the second impurity region and a second region connecting the second bottom portion of the second trench and the first region to each other. A first electrode is electrically connected to the third impurity region on a side of the first main surface and is in contact with the second region at the second bottom portion of the second trench.
US09978826B2	Organic light emitting display device An organic light emitting display device is discussed. The organic light emitting display device includes a driving thin film transistor including an active layer and a gate electrode; a storage capacitor including a first electrode and a second electrode; a first pattern electrode including the gate electrode and the first electrode; an anode disposed on the driving thin film transistor and the storage capacitor; a second pattern electrode connected with an anode contact part which connects an output electrode connected with the active layer and the anode; and a patterned semiconductor layer including the active layer having a semiconductive characteristic and a shield unit having a conductive characteristic.
US09978825B2	Curved display device A curved display device including a display area and a non-display area is provided. The curved display device includes a first direction area configured to maintain a flat state and a bending area connected to the first direction area. A thin film transistor (TFT) layer, a passivation layer, a sealing layer, and an upper film are provided on a base substrate in an area where the display area overlaps the bending area, and the sealing layer and the upper film extend to an area where the non-display area overlaps the bending area.
US09978824B2	Organic light emitting display device An organic light emitting display device including a substrate, a first semiconductor element, a first lower electrode, a protection member, a first light emitting layer, a second lower electrode, and a second light emitting layer. The substrate has a first pixel region in which a light is emitted in a first direction, and a second pixel region in which a light is emitted in a second direction that is opposite to the first direction.
US09978817B2	Optoelectronic component An optoelectronic component and a method to operate the optoelectronic component are disclosed. In an embodiment the optoelectronic component includes an organic light-emitting diode configured to emit radiation through a main emission surface and a liquid crystal element configured to adjust a color location of the radiation, wherein the liquid crystal element is switchable into a first state and into a second state, wherein the liquid crystal element in the first state is suitable for selectively reflecting light of a first wavelength range and in the second state is transparent, and wherein the liquid crystal element is arranged on a rear side of the organic light-emitting diode facing the main emission surface so that light of the first wavelength range that is emitted towards the rear side is at least partially reflected in a direction of the main emission surface in the first state of the liquid crystal element.
US09978812B2	Organic electroluminescent display panel The organic EL display panel includes: a substrate; and an organic electroluminescent element disposed on the substrate, the organic electroluminescent element including, in the given order: an anode; a light-emitting layer; and a cathode, the light-emitting layer including multiple light-emitting portions, the multiple light-emitting portions each providing a luminescent color different from the luminescent color of the adjacent light-emitting portion, the multiple light-emitting portions each containing a luminescent dopant material, the concentration of the luminescent dopant material in each light-emitting portion changing in the thickness direction of the light-emitting portion and being at a local maximum in the vicinity of a first interface on the anode side and in the vicinity of a second interface on the cathode side, the local maximum in each light-emitting portion being 20% by weight or higher of the total weight of the light-emitting portion.
US09978810B2	Three-dimensional memory apparatuses and methods of use A three dimensional (3D) memory array may include a plurality of memory cells. An example 3D memory array may include an electrode plane and a memory material disposed through and coupled to the electrode plane. A memory cell included in the memory material is aligned in a same plane as the electrode plane, and the memory cell is configured to exhibit a first threshold voltage representative of a first logic state and a second threshold voltage representative of a second logic state. A conductive pillar is disposed through and coupled to the memory cell, wherein the conductive pillar and electrode plane are configured to provide a voltage across the memory cell to write a logic state to the memory cell.
US09978804B2	Electronic device, method of manufacturing the same, and camera A method of manufacturing an electronic device, comprising fixing a first wafer on a second wafer to form a space theirbetween, via a surrounding member configured to surround the space, forming an opening on a bottom side of the first wafer to expose a conductive member included in the first wafer, and then forming an electrode connected to the conductive member, wherein, in the fixing, the first wafer includes a trench intersecting the surrounding member, on an upper side of the first surface, and, in the forming, the electrode is formed under a condition that the space communicates with an external space via the trench.
US09978795B1	Semiconductor structure A semiconductor structure includes a substrate, a plurality of image sensing devices formed in the substrate, at least a passivation layer formed on the substrate, a plurality of first metal patterns formed on the passivation layer, a plurality of gaps formed between the first metal patterns, an insulating layer lining the gaps, and a plurality of light-guiding structures respectively formed in the gaps. The light-guiding structures respectively include an anchor portion and a body portion, and bottom surfaces of the anchor portions being lower than top surfaces of the first metal patterns.
US09978794B2	Solid-state imaging apparatus A solid-state imaging apparatus includes: a solid-state imaging device photoelectrically converting light taken by a lens; and a light shielding member shielding part of light incident on the solid-state imaging device from the lens, wherein an angle made between an edge surface of the light shielding member and an optical axis direction of the lens is larger than an incident angle of light to be incident on an edge portion of the light shielding member.
US09978791B2	Image sensor and method for manufacturing the same An image sensor structure and a method for forming the same are provided. The image sensor structure includes a first substrate including a first radiation sensing region and a first interconnect structure formed over a front side of the first substrate. The image sensor structure further includes a second substrate including a second radiation sensing region and a second interconnect structure formed over a front side of the second substrate. In addition, the first interconnect structure is bonded with the second interconnect structure.
US09978783B2	Semiconductor device and manufacturing method of semiconductor device A semiconductor device includes first and second photo-electric conversion elements, each having a light-receiving surface, disposed adjacent to each other, each outputting a light current that is a current corresponding to an intensity of received light, a first filter disposed on the light-receiving surface of the first photo-electric conversion element, a second filter disposed on the light-receiving surface of the second photo-electric conversion element, and a third filter disposed on the light-receiving surface of the second photo-electric conversion element and being in contact with the second filter, one end of the second filter and one end of the third filter overlapping one end of the first filter at a vicinity of a boundary between the first photo-electric conversion element and the second photo-electric conversion element.
US09978781B2	Display device A display device including: a substrate including a display area for displaying an image and a non-display area positioned at a periphery of the display area; a plurality of pixels positioned at the display area; a plurality of data lines connected with the plurality of pixels; and a crack detecting line positioned at the non-display area, wherein the crack detecting line includes: a plurality of unit connectors extending in a first direction, wherein the first direction is parallel to an extending direction of a side of the substrate nearest to the unit connectors; and a plurality of wiring portion units connected to each other through the plurality of unit connectors, wherein the number of wiring portion units is an even number.
US09978780B2	Thin film transistor array panel and a method for manufacturing the same A thin film transistor array panel includes a substrate; a plurality of gate lines that are formed on the substrate; a plurality of data lines that intersect the gate lines; a plurality of thin film transistors that are connected to the gate lines and the data lines; a plurality of color filters that are formed on upper parts of the gate lines, the data lines, and the thin film transistors; a common electrode that is formed on the color filters and that includes a transparent conductor; a passivation layer that is formed on an upper part of the common electrode; and a plurality of pixel electrodes that are formed on an upper part of the passivation layer and that are connected to a drain electrode of each of the thin film transistors.
US09978775B2	FinFET device with abrupt junctions A plurality of semiconductor fins is formed on a surface of an insulator layer. Gate structures are then formed that are orientated perpendicular and straddle each semiconductor fin. A dielectric spacer is then formed on vertical sidewalls of each gate structure. Next, an etch is performed that removes exposed portions of each semiconductor fin and a portion of the insulator layer not protected by the dielectric spacers and the gate structures. The etch provides semiconductor fin portions that have exposed vertical sidewalls. A doped semiconductor material is then formed from each exposed vertical sidewall of each semiconductor fin portion, followed by an anneal which causes diffusion of dopants from the doped semiconductor material into each semiconductor fin portion and the formation of source/drain regions. The source/drain regions are present along the sidewalls of each semiconductor fin portion and are located beneath the dielectric spacers.
US09978774B2	Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing the same A highly reliable semiconductor device suitable for miniaturization and high integration is provided. The semiconductor device includes a first insulator; a transistor over the first insulator; a second insulator over the transistor; a first conductor embedded in an opening in the second insulator; a barrier layer over the first conductor; a third insulator over the second insulator and over the barrier layer; and a second conductor over the third insulator. The first insulator, the third insulator, and the barrier layer have a barrier property against oxygen and hydrogen. The second insulator includes an excess-oxygen region. The transistor includes an oxide semiconductor. The barrier layer, the third insulator, and the second conductor function as a capacitor.
US09978772B1	Memory cells and integrated structures A memory cell comprises, in the following order, channel material, a charge-passage structure, charge-storage material, a charge-blocking region, and a control gate. The charge-passage structure comprises a first material closest to the channel material, a third material furthest from the channel material, and a second material between the first material and the third material. Dielectric constant (k) of the first material is less than 5.0. Sum of bandgap (BG) and electron affinity (chi) of the second material is no greater than 6.7 eV. The k of the second material is at least 5.0. Sum of BG and chi of the third material is less than 9.0 eV and at least 0.5 eV greater than the sum of the BG and the chi of the second material.
US09978768B2	Method of making three-dimensional semiconductor memory device having laterally undulating memory films A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes forming a stack of alternating layers comprising insulating layers and spacer material layers over a substrate, forming a memory opening through the stack, forming a layer stack including a memory material layer, a tunneling dielectric layer, and a first semiconductor material layer in the memory opening, forming a protective layer over the first semiconductor channel layer, physically exposing a semiconductor surface underneath the layer stack by anisotropically etching horizontal portions of the protective layer and the layer stack at a bottom portion of the memory opening, removing a remaining portion of the protective layer selective to the first semiconductor channel layer, and forming a second semiconductor channel layer on the first semiconductor channel layer.
US09978766B1	Three-dimensional memory device with electrically isolated support pillar structures and method of making thereof A first tier structure including a first alternating stack of first insulating layers and first sacrificial material layers is formed over a substrate. First support openings and first memory openings are formed through the first tier structure. A dielectric material portion providing electrical isolation from the substrate is formed in each first memory openings. A second tier structure including a second alternating stack of second insulating layers and second sacrificial material layers is formed the first tier structure. Second support openings and second memory openings are formed through the second tier structure above the first support openings and the first memory openings. Memory stack structures are formed in inter-tier openings formed by adjoining the first and second memory openings. The dielectric material portions provide electrical isolation between the substrate and the vertical semiconductor layers formed within support pillar structures to prevent or reduce electrical shorts to the substrate through the support pillar structures.
US09978765B2	Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device and method for manufacturing same According to one embodiment, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device includes a plurality of U-shaped memory strings, each of the plurality of U-shaped memory strings including a first columnar body, a second columnar body, and a conductive connection body. The conductive connection body connects the first columnar body and the second columnar body. A plurality of first memory cells are connected in series in the first columnar body and are composed of a plurality of first conductive layers, a first inter-gate insulating film, a plurality of first floating electrodes, a first tunnel insulating film, and a first memory channel layer. The plurality of first floating electrodes are separated from the plurality of first conductive layers by the first inter-gate insulating film. A plurality of second memory cells are connected in series in the second columnar body, similarly to the plurality of first memory cells.
US09978761B2	Self-aligned flash memory device The present disclosure relates to an improved integrated circuit having an embedded flash memory device with a word line having its height reduced, and associated processing methods. In some embodiments, the flash memory device includes a gate stack separated from a substrate by a gate dielectric. The gate stack includes a control gate separated from a floating gate by a control gate dielectric. An erase gate is disposed on a first side of the gate stack and a word line is disposed on a second side of the gate stack that is opposite to the first side. The word line has a height that monotonically increases from an outer side opposite to the gate stack to an inner side closer to the gate stack. A word line height at the outer side is smaller than an erase gate height.
US09978756B2	Semiconductor chips and methods of manufacturing the same Semiconductor chips are provided. A semiconductor chip includes a peripheral circuit region on a substrate. The semiconductor chip includes a semiconductor layer on the peripheral circuit region. The semiconductor chip includes a cell region on the semiconductor layer. Moreover, the semiconductor chip includes a layer/connector that is adjacent the semiconductor layer. Methods of manufacturing semiconductor chips are also provided.
US09978754B2	Semiconductor arrangement with capacitor A semiconductor arrangement includes a logic region and a memory region. The memory region has an active region that includes a semiconductor device. The memory region also has a capacitor within one or more dielectric layers over the active region. The semiconductor arrangement includes a protective ring within at least one of the logic region or the memory region and that separates the logic region from the memory region. The capacitor has a first electrode, a second electrode and an insulating layer between the first electrode and the second electrode, where an electrode unit of the first electrode has a first portion and a second portion, and where the second portion is above the first portion and is wider than the first portion.
US09978750B1	Low resistance source/drain contacts for complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) devices A method for fabricating a semiconductor device includes accessing source/drain regions (S/D) in an n-type field effect transistor (NFET) region and in a p-type field effect transistor (PFET) region. First alloy elements are implanted in the S/D regions in the NFET region, and second alloy elements are implanted in the PFET region with the NFET region blocked. The first and second alloy elements form respective amorphized layers on the S/D regions in respective NFET and PFET regions. The amorphized layers are recrystallized to form metastable recrystallized interfaces using an epitaxy process wherein the metastable recrystallized interfaces formed in respective NFET and PFET regions exceed solubility of the first and second alloy elements in respective materials of the S/D regions in the NFET and PFET regions. Contacts to the metastable recrystallized layers of the S/D regions in the NFET and PFET regions are concurrently formed.
US09978749B2	Method to improve device performance for FinFET A method includes providing a semiconductor structure comprising multiple fins and a gate structure on the fins. The method also includes removing a portion of the fins not covered by the gate structure to form a remaining portion of the fins, performing a first epitaxially growth process to form first epitaxially grown regions on the remaining portion of the fins, performing a first annealing process so that an upper portion of the first epitaxially grown regions is greater than a lower portion, performing a second epitaxially growth process on the annealed first epitaxially grown regions to form second epitaxially grown regions, and performing a second annealing process on the second epitaxially grown regions, so that an upper portion of the second epitaxially grown regions is greater than a lower portion. The second epitaxially grown regions are separated from each other before and after the second annealing process.
US09978747B2	Transistors having offset contacts for reduced off capacitance Systems, apparatuses and methods for reduced OFF capacitance in switching devices are disclosed. A transistor stack includes first and second doped regions serving as a source and drain, respectively of a transistor, an elongated gate structure including a first gate structure disposed between the first and second regions and serving as a gate of the transistor, a first set of electrical contact pads disposed on the first region, and a second set of electrical contact pads disposed on the second region, the second set of contact pads having an offset position with respect to the first set of contact pads in a longitudinal direction of the first and second regions.
US09978739B2	Semiconductor arrangement facilitating enhanced thermo-conduction A semiconductor arrangement includes a well region and a first region disposed within the well region. The first region includes a first conductivity type. The semiconductor arrangement includes a first gate disposed above the well region on a first side of the first region. The first gate includes a first top surface facing away from the well region. The first top surface has a first top surface area. The semiconductor arrangement includes a first gate contact disposed above the first gate. The first gate contact includes a first bottom surface facing towards the well region. The first bottom surface has a first bottom surface area. The first bottom surface area covers at least about two thirds of the first top surface area.
US09978726B2	Display device using semiconductor light emitting device and method for manufacturing the same A display device including a substrate including a wiring electrode; a plurality of semiconductor light emitting devices electrically connected to the wiring electrode; and an intermediate electrode extending along one direction to be electrically connected to conductive electrodes of adjoining semiconductor light emitting devices, covering the conductive electrodes, and facing the wiring electrode to be electrically connected to the wiring electrode.
US09978723B2	Semiconductor device A semiconductor device includes a first semiconductor substrate, a second semiconductor substrate, a bonding electrode, and a dummy electrode. The first semiconductor substrate has a first surface and a first wiring, and contains a first semiconductor material. The second semiconductor substrate has a second surface and a second wiring, and contains a second semiconductor material, and the first surface and the second surface face each other. The bonding electrode is arranged between the first surface and the second surface, and is electrically connected to the first wiring and the second wiring. The dummy electrode is arranged between the first surface and the second surface, and is electrically insulated from at least one of the first wiring and the second wiring. The bonding electrode has a bonding bump and a first bonding pad. The dummy electrode has a dummy bump and a first dummy pad.
US09978722B2	Integrated circuit package assembly with wire end above a topmost component Embodiments of the present disclosure describe integrated circuit (IC) package assemblies having one or more wires that extend beyond a topmost component in the IC package assembly, computing devices incorporating the IC package assemblies, methods for formation of the IC package assemblies, and associated configurations. An IC package assembly may include a substrate having a first side and a second side opposite the first side, an IC die having a first side and a second side opposite the first side, where the first side of the IC die faces the first side of the substrate, a wire electrically coupled with the IC die, where an end of the wire extends beyond a topmost component in the IC package assembly, and an overmold coupled with the topmost component. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.
US09978719B2	Electronic component, arrangement and method A method includes applying solder paste to a portion of a circuit board, arranging a first contact pad of a first electronic component adjacent the layer of solder paste, the first electronic component comprising a dielectric layer, at least one semiconductor die embedded in the dielectric layer, the at least one first contact pad being electrically coupled to the semiconductor die and arranged on a lower side of the dielectric layer, and at least one second contact pad positioned on an upper side of the dielectric layer, and melting the solder paste to produce a molten solder that flows onto at least one of the first contact pad and the second contact pad of the first electronic component.
US09978714B1	Structure and method of bonding chip with electronic circuit A bonding structure of a chip and an electronic circuit contains: a chip holder, a chip accommodated in the chip holder, multiple conductive feet electrically connected with the chip, and an electronic circuit. The chip and the multiple conductive feet are covered by a packaging material, and a part of each of the multiple conductive feet exposes outside the packaging material to form an extension. The electronic circuit includes a porous substrate and an electric circuit connected on the porous substrate, wherein the electric circuit is formed from conductive inks which penetrate into the porous substrate, and the extension is inserted through the electric circuit, hence the extension is electrically connected with the electric circuit.
US09978713B2	Method of manufacturing semiconductor device and wire bonding apparatus A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes: a wire tail forming step of forming a wire loop 130 between a first bonding point and a second bonding point with a bonding tool 40, and then cutting a portion of a wire 42 extending from a tip of the bonding tool 40 to thereby form a wire tail 43 at the tip of the bonding tool 40; and a wire tail bending step of bending the wire tail 43 so as to direct a tip 43a of the wire tail 43 upward by descending the bonding tool 40 toward the second bonding point with the wire loop 130 formed thereat and pressing the wire tail 43 against a portion of the wire loop 130 located above the second bonding point. Thus, the wire tail can be bent easily and efficiently.
US09978707B1	Electrical-device adhesive barrier A circuit-board-assembly includes a printed-circuit-board, an integrated-circuit-die, a ball-grid-array, a barrier-material, and an adhesive-material. The printed-circuit-board includes a mounting-surface that defines a plurality of contact-pads and a continuous-trace that interconnects a selected-group of the contact-pads. The integrated-circuit-die includes an electrical-circuit having a plurality of solder-pads. The ball-grid-array includes a plurality of solder-balls interposed between the contact-pads and the solder-pads. The plurality of solder-balls establish electrical communication between the electrical-circuit and the contact-pads. The barrier-material is located between a string of solder-balls that are attached to the selected-group of the contact-pads to create a barrier. The barrier segregates an underfill-region from a non-underfill-region between the printed-circuit-board and the integrated-circuit-die. The barrier is in direct-contact with the string of the solder-balls, the integrated-circuit-die, and the continuous-trace. The adhesive-material is in direct contact with a portion of the underfill-region and the barrier prevents the adhesive-material from encroaching upon the non-underfill-region.
US09978706B2	Ball grid array rework Embodiments relate to a method and apparatus for rework of a BGA package. Memory shape material is placed adjacent to a plurality of solder joints of the package. Stimulation is applied to the material, with the stimulation causing the material to change from a non-stimulated shape to a stimulated shape. This stimulation causes an expansion of the material. As the material expands, it exerts a tensile force on the BGA package and an adjacently positioned carrier, causing a separation of the two components, while mitigating collateral heat of adjacently positioned components.
US09978703B2	Method and a system for producing a semi-conductor module In a method for producing a semi-conductor module (10) comprising at least two semi-conductor chips (12, 14) and an interposer (20) which has electrically conductive structures (28) connecting the semi-conductor chips (12, 14) to one another, the interposer (20) is printed directly onto a first (12) of the semi-conductor chips. When the interposer (20) is printed on, the electrically conductive structures (28) are produced by means of electrically conductive ink (68). The second semi-conductor chip (14) is mounted on the interposer (20) such that the two semi-conductor chips (12, 14) are arranged one above the other and that the interposer (20) forms an intermediate layer between the two semi-conductor chips (12, 14).
US09978700B2	Method for building up a fan-out RDL structure with fine pitch line-width and line-spacing A semiconductor device has a semiconductor die and an encapsulant deposited over the semiconductor die. A first insulating layer is formed over a first surface of the encapsulant and an active surface of the semiconductor die. A second insulating layer is formed over a second surface of the encapsulant opposite the first surface. A conductive layer is formed over the first insulating layer. The conductive layer includes a line-pitch or line-spacing of less than 5 μm. The active surface of the semiconductor die is recessed within the encapsulant. A third insulating layer is formed over the semiconductor die including a surface of the third insulating layer coplanar with a surface of the encapsulant. The second insulating layer is formed prior to forming the conductive layer. A trench is formed in the first insulating layer. The conductive layer is formed within the trench.
US09978698B1	Interconnect structure for electrical connecting a pair of microwave transmission lines formed on a pair of spaced structure members A structure having pair of structure members separated by a gap and an interconnect structure member disposed in the gap. The interconnect structure member includes: a fill-structure having opposing sides in direct contact with the opposing sides of the first structure member and the second structure member; and, an interconnecting microwave transmission line disposed on the fill-structure electrically interconnecting the microwave transmission line of the first structure member to the second member structure. An electrically conductive member is disposed over a signal line of, and electrically connected to the ground conductor the interconnecting microwave transmission.
US09978686B1	Interconnection of semiconductor devices in extreme environment microelectronic integrated circuit chips A process of fabrication and the resulting integrated circuit device is made of patterned metal electrical interconnections between semiconductor devices residing on and forming extremely harsh environment integrated circuit chips. The process enables more complicated wide band gap semiconductor integrated circuits with more than one level of interconnect to function for prolonged time periods (over 1000 hours) at much higher temperatures (500 C).
US09978668B1	Packaged semiconductor devices with laser grooved wettable flank and methods of manufacture In a general aspect, a packaged semiconductor device can include a semiconductor device and a metal leadframe structure having a signal lead that is electrically coupled with the semiconductor device. The device can also include a molding compound encapsulating at least a portion of the metal leadframe structure. At least a portion of the signal lead can be exposed outside the molding compound. The device can further include a solder plating disposed on exposed portions of the metal leadframe structure. In the device, a flank of the signal lead can have a surface area. At first portion of the surface area of the flank can be defined by the solder plating, and a second portion of the surface area of the flank can be defined by exposed metal of the metal leadframe structure. A perimeter of a surface of the exposed metal can have at least one curved edge.
US09978667B2	Semiconductor package with lead frame and recessed solder terminals A semiconductor device (100) comprising a leadframe (120) having an assembly pad (121) in a first horizontal plane (180), the pad's first surface (121a) with a semiconductor chip (110) attached; further a plurality of leads (122) in a parallel second horizontal plane (190) offset from the first plane in the direction of the attached chip, the leads having a third surface (122a) with bonding wires, and an opposite fourth surface (122b); a package (140) encapsulating leadframe, chip, and wires, the package having a fifth surface (140a) parallel to the first and second planes; a plurality of recess holes (150) in the package, each hole stretching from the fifth surface to the fourth surface of respective leads; and solder (160) filling the recess holes, the solder attached to the fourth lead surface and extending to the fifth package surface.
US09978665B2	Semiconductor device and method of forming low profile fan-out package with vertical interconnection units A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor die. A first interconnect structure is disposed over a peripheral region of the semiconductor die. A semiconductor component is disposed over the semiconductor die. The semiconductor component includes a second interconnect structure. The semiconductor component is disposed over the semiconductor die to align the second interconnect structure with the first interconnect structure. The first interconnect structure includes a plurality of interconnection units disposed around first and second adjacent sides of the semiconductor die to form an L-shape border of the interconnection units around the semiconductor die. A third interconnect structure is formed over the semiconductor die perpendicular to the first interconnect structure. An insulating layer is formed over the semiconductor die and first interconnect structure. A plurality of vias is formed through the insulating layer and into the first interconnect structure with the second interconnect structure disposed within the vias.
US09978656B2	Mechanisms for forming fine-pitch copper bump structures The mechanisms of forming a copper post structures described enable formation of copper post structures on a flat conductive surface. In addition, the copper post structures are supported by a molding layer with a Young's modulus (or a harder material) higher than polyimide. The copper post structures formed greatly reduce the risk of cracking of passivation layer and delamination of at the dielectric interface surrounding the copper post structures.
US09978645B2	Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same The present disclosure relates to a semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same. The method of manufacturing the semiconductor device includes: providing a substrate, forming a patterned semiconductor layer on the substrate, forming a filter layer to cover the patterned semiconductor layer and forming a low concentration dopant buried layer within the semiconductor substrate, wherein one to forty percent of dopant are filtered out by the filter layer in the formation of the low concentration dopant buried layer.
US09978644B1	Semiconductor device and manufacturing method Methods of dicing a wafer into a plurality of singulated dies are disclosed. Some methods coating sidewalls of the singulated dies with a polymer. The polymer may cover cracks formed in the sidewalls as result of dicing the wafer. Other methods may fill cracks formed in the sidewalls with a polymer. Such coating and/or filling of cracks may increase the structural integrity of the die.
US09978639B2	Methods for reducing copper overhang in a feature of a substrate Methods for forming layers on a substrate having a feature are provided herein. In some embodiments, a method for forming layers on a substrate having a features may include depositing a copper layer within the feature, wherein a thickness of the copper layer disposed on upper corners of an opening of the feature and on an upper portion of a sidewall proximate the upper corners of the feature is greater than the thickness of the copper layer disposed on a lower portion of a sidewall of the feature proximate a bottom of the feature; and exposing the substrate to a plasma formed from a process gas comprising hydrogen (H2) gas to selectively etch the copper layer proximate the upper corners of the opening and the upper portion of the sidewall proximate the upper corners, without substantially etching the copper layer proximate the lower portion of the sidewall proximate the bottom of the feature.
US09978638B2	Metal trench de-noise structure and method for forming the same A metal trench de-noise structure includes a trench disposed in a substrate, an insulating layer deposited on the sidewall of the trench, an Inter-Layer Dielectric layer covering the substrate and the insulating layer, and a metal layer penetrating the Inter-Layer Dielectric layer to fill up the trench. The metal layer may be grounded or floating.
US09978634B2	Method for fabricating shallow trench isolation and semiconductor structure using the same A method for fabricating a shallow trench isolation includes forming a trench in a substrate, forming a bottom shallow trench isolation dielectric filling a gap of the trench, and forming a top shallow trench isolation dielectric on the bottom shallow trench isolation. The bottom shallow trench isolation dielectric has a concave center portion, and the top shallow trench isolation dielectric is deposited on the bottom shallow trench isolation by a high density plasma chemical vapor deposition process using low deposition to sputter ratio. A semiconductor structure having the shallow trench isolation is also disclosed.
US09978629B1	Method of transferring micro devices and micro device transfer apparatus A method of transferring micro devices is provided. A carrier substrate including a plurality of first electrodes and a plurality of micro devices is provided. The micro devices are separated from each other and respectively electrically connected to the first electrodes. A receiving substrate is made to relatively close to the carrier substrate. The receiving substrate includes a plurality of second electrodes, and the second electrodes and the first electrodes are opposite in electrical property. A first voltage and a second voltage are applied to a portion of the adjacent two first electrodes, so that the micro devices are released from the carrier substrate to the receiving substrate and bonded to the receiving substrate. The first voltage is different from the second voltage. In addition, a micro devices transfer apparatus is also provided.
US09978627B2	System and method for selective zapping A system for zapping a wafer, the system includes a pulse generator; a sensor; a first conductive interface; a second conductive interface; a controller; wherein the pulse generator is configured to generate zapping pulses; wherein the first conductive interface is configured to provide the zapping pulses to a first location of a backside insulating layer of a wafer; wherein the sensor is configured to monitor a coupling between the first conductive interface and the second conductive interface to provide a monitoring result; wherein the monitoring occurs while the second conductive interface contacts a second location of the backside insulating layer; and wherein the controller is configured to control a generation of the zapping pulses in response to the monitoring result.
US09978622B2	Moisture and/or electrically conductive remains detection for wafers after rinse / dry process A method, device, and apparatus is provided for detecting moisture and/or electrically conductive remains on a wafer after the wafer is removed from a drying chamber of a processing tool that includes wet clean processing. Embodiments include fixing a wafer to an endeffector between a processing chamber and a FOUP, moving the wafer from the processing chamber toward the FOUP, detecting moisture and/or electrically conductive remains on the wafer, and delivering the wafer to the FOUP, if no moisture and/or electrically conductive remains are detected, or delivering the wafer to a buffer station, if moisture and/or electrically conductive remains are detected.
US09978620B2	Method and apparatus for reducing radiation induced change in semiconductor structures Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an apparatus and a method for reducing the adverse effects of exposing portions of an integrated circuit (IC) device to various forms of radiation during one or more operations found within the IC formation processing sequence by controlling the environment surrounding and temperature of an IC device during one or more parts of the IC formation processing sequence. The provided energy may include the delivery of radiation to a surface of a formed or a partially formed IC device during a deposition, etching, inspection or post-processing process operation. In some embodiments of the disclosure, the temperature of the substrate on which the IC device is formed is controlled to a temperature that is below room temperature (e.g., <20° C.) during the one or more parts of the IC formation processing sequence.
US09978613B1	Method for making lead frames for integrated circuit packages Disclosed examples include a method of making a semiconductor die package comprising arranging at least one preformed die attach pad and at least two preformed leads on a lead frame carrier in a predetermined configuration to form a lead frame, attaching a semiconductor die to the at least one preformed die attach pad, wire bonding the semiconductor die to the at least two preformed leads, forming a molding structure including at least part of the semiconductor die and the at least two preformed leads, and removing the molding structure from the lead frame carrier.
US09978611B2	Stack frame for electrical connections and the method to fabricate thereof A method for forming a conductive structure is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of: forming a metallic frame having a plurality of metal parts separated from each other; forming an insulating layer over the top surface or the bottom surface of the plurality of metal parts; and forming a conductive pattern layer on the insulating layer for making electrical connections with at least one portion of the plurality of metal parts.
US09978610B2	Pulsing RF power in etch process to enhance tungsten gapfill performance Methods and apparatuses for filling features with metal materials such as tungsten-containing materials in a substantially void-free manner are provided. In certain embodiments, the method involves depositing an initial layer of a metal such as a tungsten-containing material followed by removing a portion of the initial layer to form a remaining layer, which is differentially passivated along the depth of the high-aspect ratio feature. The portion may be removed by exposing the tungsten-containing material to a plasma generated from a fluorine-containing nitrogen-containing gas and pulsing and/or ramping the plasma during the exposure.
US09978603B2	Memory devices and method of fabricating same A method comprises forming a control gate structure over a substrate, depositing a memory gate layer over the substrate, applying a first etching process to the memory gate layer to form a memory gate structure, wherein, after applying the first etching process, a remaining portion of the memory gate layer is an L-shaped structure, forming a first spacer along a sidewall of the memory gate structure and forming a second spacer over the memory gate structure.
US09978599B2	Wafer cooling apparatus and method An ion implantation system has a first chamber and a process chamber with a heated chuck. A controller transfers the workpiece between the heated chuck and first chamber and selectively energizes the heated chuck first and second modes. In the first and second modes, the heated chuck is heated to a first and second temperature, respectively. The first temperature is predetermined. The second temperature is variable, whereby the controller determines the second temperature based on a thermal budget, an implant energy, and/or an initial temperature of the workpiece in the first chamber, and generally maintains the second temperature in the second mode. Transferring the workpiece from the heated chuck to the first chamber removes implant energy from the process chamber in the second mode. Heat may be further transferred from the heated chuck to a cooling platen by a transfer of the workpiece therebetween to sequentially cool the heated chuck.
US09978595B2	Photo mask and exposure system The present invention belongs to the field of semiconductor technology, and specifically provides a photo mask and an exposure system. The photo mask is provided with a patterning structure for forming a resulting pattern, the patterning structure comprising a strip-like main body for forming a rectilinear pattern, wherein the patterning structure further comprises a patterning structure auxiliary unit provided at two sides of the strip-like main body, the patterning structure auxiliary unit being capable of adjusting and compensating direction and intensity of light during exposure. With the photo mask, the resulting pattern formed through exposure using the photo mask has improved fineness, thereby improving accuracy of the formed rectilinear pattern.
US09978584B2	Apparatus and method for treating substrate A method for treating a substrate, in which a supercritical fluid is supplied into a chamber, in which the substrate is carried, to treat the substrate, the method including a supply step of supplying the supercritical fluid into the chamber until a pressure of the interior of the chamber reaches a preset pressure, and a substrate treating step of performing a supercritical process while repeating supply and exhaust of the supercritical fluid into and out of the interior of the chamber after the supply step, wherein a flow rate of the supercritical fluid supplied into the chamber in the supply step is variable.
US09978580B2	Lamps and light sources including RFID tags, and methods of assembling and operating the same A lamp is provided. The lamp includes a transparent envelope for emitting light, and an RFID tag coupled to a portion of the transparent envelope.
US09978566B2	Plasma etching method Disclosed is a plasma etching method which is performed using a plasma processing apparatus that is a capacitively coupled plasma processing apparatus, and includes: a processing container; a gas supply unit that supply an etching processing gas into the processing container; a placing table including a lower electrode; an upper electrode provided above the placing table; and a plurality of electromagnets including a plurality of coils, or a plurality of electromagnets each including a coil, on the upper electrode. The plasma etching method includes generating plasma of the processing gas to perform a plasma etching on a single film of a workpiece placed on the placing table; and controlling a current supplied to the plurality of electromagnet to change a distribution of an etching rate of the single film in the diametric direction with respect to the central axis during the generating of the plasma of the processing gas.
US09978563B2	Plasma treatment method to meet line edge roughness and other integration objectives Provided is a method of patterning a layer on a substrate using an integration scheme, the method comprising: disposing a substrate having a structure pattern layer, a neutral layer, and an underlying layer, the structure pattern layer comprising a first material and a second material; performing a first treatment process using a first process gas mixture to form a first pattern, the first process gas comprising a mixture of CxHyFz and argon; performing a second treatment process using a second process gas mixture to form a second pattern, the second process gas comprising a mixture of low oxygen-containing gas and argon; concurrently controlling selected two or more operating variables of the integration scheme in order to achieve target integration objectives.
US09978561B2	Post column filter with enhanced energy range The invention relates to a post-column filter (a PCF) for a (Scanning) Transmission Electron Microscope (a (S)TEM). Traditionally these filters use excitations of the optical elements before the slit plane that are identical in both the EFTEM and the EELS mode. Although this eases the task for the person skilled in the art of developing and tuning a PCF, as it reduces the number of degrees of freedom to a manageable amount. Inventors found ways to determine settings of the optical elements before the slit plane for EELS mode that are different from the EFTEM mode and where the performance of the PCF in EELS mode is improved (especially the relative energy range that can be imaged) without degrading the performance of the PCF in EFTEM mode.
US09978557B2	System for orienting a sample using a diffraction pattern A method and apparatus are provided for aligning a sample in a charged particle beam system. The charged particle beam is directed toward the sample to obtain a sample diffraction pattern. The sample diffraction pattern is compared with reference diffraction patterns having known misalignments to determine which reference pattern most closely matches the sample pattern. The known alignment of the best-matching reference diffraction pattern is used to correct the tilt of the sample. The “patterns” compared can be lists of bright spots with corresponding intensities rather than images.
US09978547B1	Battery powered keypad assembly A battery powered control device configured to be mounted on a wall comprising a front housing cover comprising a vertical wall and a bezel frame extending therefrom, a button assembly, a circuit board, and a rear housing plate. The button assembly is located within the bezel frame and comprises at least one button protruding through an opening in the bezel frame. The circuit board is located within the bezel frame behind the button assembly and comprises at least one tactile switch configured for being depressed by the at least one button. The rear housing plate is mounted within the front housing cover such that a periphery of the rear housing plate fits within and is surrounded by a peripheral wall of the front housing cover and a rear surface of the rear housing plate is substantially flush with the terminal end of the peripheral wall of the front housing cover. The battery powered control device further comprises a battery receiving channel located on one side of the bezel frame and configured for guiding a battery through a battery receiving opening in the front housing cover and into a battery compartment located between the circuit board and the rear housing plate.
US09978532B2	Maximizing the power conversion efficiency of a tin perovskite/silicon thin-film tandem solar cell A bi-facial tandem solar cell and a method of making a non-toxic perovskite/inorganic thin-film tandem solar cell stable, having matching bandgaps and a hysteresis free design including the steps of depositing a textured oxide buffer layer on an inexpensive substrate, depositing a metal-inorganic film from a eutectic alloy on the buffer layer; and depositing perovskite elements on the metal-inorganic film, thus forming a perovskite layer based on a metal from the metal-inorganic film, incorporating the metal into the perovskite layer wherein said perovskite layer is stable, hysteresis-free, and has a bandgap that matches the bandgap of the metal-inorganic.
US09978527B2	Solid Electrolytic capacitor and manufacturing method thereof A solid electrolytic capacitor includes: an anode foil on which an oxide film is formed; a cathode foil; and a separator between the anode and cathode foils, wherein a solid electrolyte in a fine particle form made of a conductive high molecular weight compound and a water-soluble high-molecular weight compound in a liquid form are introduced into a gap between the anode and cathode foils in a state where the water-soluble high-molecular weight compound in a liquid form surrounds the solid electrolyte, and a ratio of an area that the solid electrolyte occupies in the gap is set to a value which falls within a range of 1 vol % to 30 vol %, and a ratio of an area that the water-soluble high-molecular weight compound in a liquid form occupies in the gap is set to a value which falls within a range of 10 vol % to 99 vol %.
US09978522B2	Multilayer ceramic capacitor and mounting board therefor A multilayer ceramic capacitor includes: a ceramic body having dielectric layers laminated in a thickness direction, the dielectric layers having a greater width than a length; an active layer in which capacitance is formed, by including first and second internal electrodes alternately exposed to end surfaces of the ceramic body opposite to each other in a length direction with the dielectric layer interposed therebetween; upper cover layer; lower cover layers being thicker than the upper cover layer; and first and second external electrodes, wherein, when half of thickness of the ceramic body is denoted by A, thickness of the lower cover layer is denoted by B, half of thickness of the active layer is denoted by C, and thickness of the upper cover layer is denoted by D, 1.042≤(B+C)/A≤1.537 is satisfied.
US09978498B2	Resin-molded core and reactor using the same A resin-mold core includes right and left leg portions, and a yoke portion interconnecting those. The resin-mold core includes a magnetic core, and a mold component having the magnetic core embedded therein by molding. Openings where the magnetic core in the mold component is exposed are formed in multiple faces of the mold component that are upper, lower, front, rear, and right and left faces. A part of the yoke portion of the resin-mold core corresponding to a location where terminals are drawn to the exterior of the core from coils attached to the outer circumferences of the leg portions of the core has no opening formed in the multiple faces of the mold component. Positioning members to coaxially align the leg portions of the opposing resin-mold core are formed in abutting faces of the leg portions of the resin-mold core.
US09978497B2	Wound magnetic core and method of producing the same The invention provides a wound magnetic core which is configured by winding an Fe-based amorphous alloy ribbon, the wound magnetic core containing a recess row including plural recesses formed by laser irradiation in a central part of the Fe-based amorphous alloy ribbon in a width direction, in which a ratio of a length of the central part to a total width is from 0.2 to 0.8.
US09978496B1	Stacked magnetic assembly A magnetic device for an electronic circuit includes a printed circuit board. A first and second magnetic component assembly can be electrically connected to the printed circuit. The second magnetic component assembly can be stacked on the first magnetic component assembly. The first magnetic component assembly can be positioned between the second magnetic component assembly and the printed circuit board. Each magnetic component assembly can include a bobbin, a winding disposed on the bobbin, and a core extending through the bobbin. A second bobbin on the second magnetic component can be positioned on either a first core or a first bobbin of the first magnetic component assembly. The stacked magnetic component configuration can help reduce the board space required to electrically connect both the first and second magnetic component assemblies to the printed circuit board, which can help increase the power density of the magnetic device.
US09978494B2	Electromagnetic induction coil A primary electromagnetic induction coil, which supplies power to a primary resonance coil in a pair of a primary and a secondary resonance coils that conduct non-contact power supply by magnetic field resonance, includes a coil main body and a wedge that mounts an end portion of the coil main body to separate the end portion from other portions. Impedance matching can be achieved by adjusting a position of the wedge and a number of turns of the coil main body.
US09978493B2	Parallel dipole line trap with variable gap and tunable trap potential Techniques for tuning magnetic potential using a variable gap in a parallel dipole line (PDL) trap are provided. In one aspect, a PDL trap is provided. The PDL trap includes: a pair of dipole line magnets separated from one another by a variable gap g; and a diamagnetic object levitating above the dipole line magnets. The dipole line magnets can be separated from one another by at least one spacer, or a variable gap fixture can be used in which the dipole line magnets are affixed to separate mounts for varying the gap g between the dipole line magnets. A bigger trap or track can be built with multiple segments of PDL trap. A method of operating a PDL trap is also provided.
US09978492B2	Coil, rotating electrical machine, and linear motor This disclosure discloses a coil. An outer shape of the coil as viewed from the first direction has an approximately rectangular shape or an approximately square shape with four corner parts. The coil includes at least one parallel part extended parallelly along the circumferential direction, and at least one connecting part arranged at a portion corresponding to any of the four corner parts, the at least one connecting part being extended along a diagonal direction with respect to the circumferential direction to connect the two parallel parts.
US09978489B2	Method of producing grain oriented electrical steel sheet Provides is a method of producing a grain oriented electrical steel sheet by heating a steel slab having a predetermined composition, then subjecting the slab to hot rolling to obtain a hot rolled sheet, then optionally subjecting the hot rolled sheet to hot band annealing and subsequent cold rolling once, or twice or more with intermediate annealing performed therebetween to obtain a cold rolled sheet with final sheet thickness, then subjecting the cold rolled sheet to primary recrystallization annealing and subsequent secondary recrystallization annealing, in which the aging index AI of the steel sheet before final cold rolling is set to 70 MPa or less to effectively grow Goss-oriented grains to thereby obtain a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet with good magnetic properties, without the restriction of containing a relatively large amount of C.
US09978484B2	Metal nitride film for thermistor, process for producing same, and thermistor sensor of film type Provided are a metal nitride film for a thermistor, which has an excellent bending resistance and can be directly deposited on a film or the like without firing, a method for producing the same, and a film type thermistor sensor. The metal nitride film for a thermistor, which consists of a metal nitride represented by the general formula: TixAlyNz (where 0.70≤y/(x+y)≤0.95, 0.4≤z≤0.5, and x+y+z=1), wherein the crystal structure thereof is a hexagonal wurtzite-type single phase, and the peak ratio of the diffraction peak intensity of a-axis orientation (100) relative to the diffraction peak intensity of c-axis orientation (002) (i.e., the diffraction peak intensity of a-axis orientation (100)/the diffraction peak intensity of c-axis orientation (002)) is 0.1 or lower in X-ray diffraction.
US09978478B2	Polymer composition for electrical devices The present invention relates to a polymer composition, to the use of the composition for producing an electrical device, as well as to a cable surrounded by at least one layer including the polymer composition.
US09978476B2	Polymer composition for electrical devices The present invention relates to a polymer composition with improved electrical properties and to a use thereof preferably in electrical devices as well as to a cable surrounded by at least one layer including the polymer composition.
US09978472B2	Transparent conductor and optical display including the same A transparent conductor and an optical display including the same are disclosed. The transparent conductor includes a base layer, and a transparent conductive layer formed on the base layer and including metal nanowires. The transparent conductor has a total diffuse reflection (DR) of greater than or equal to about 80% and less than 330% at a wavelength of about 380 nm to about 780 nm and a reflective b* value from about −2 to about 1 at a wavelength of about 380 nm to about 780 nm.
US09978471B2	Flying spot forming apparatus and design method A flying spot forming apparatus includes a radiation source and a shielding body. A side wall of the shielding body is provided with at least two pairs of helical grooves. Each helical groove is provided with a predetermined slope. A first incident groove is adjacent to a second incident groove. A head end of the first incident groove is higher than a head end of the second incident groove. A tail end of the first incident groove is higher than a tail end of the second incident groove. The tail end of the first incident groove is not higher than the head end of the second incident groove. A first axial cross section of the shielding body intersects with the tail end of the first incident groove. A second axial cross section intersects with the head end of the second incident groove.
US09978467B2	Excavation and weld repair methodology for pressurized water reactor piping and vessel nozzles The invention is an innovative design/repair methodology for PWR piping nozzles and vessel nozzles that are attached to the piping/vessel base material with a full penetration weld joint geometry. The development of a robust repair methodology for nozzles of this configuration is necessary due to plant aging, potential material degradation in the original materials of construction, potential increased nondestructive examination requirements, and PWSCC phenomena in the susceptible original materials of construction. The purpose/objective of the repair methodology is to provide a means of partially replacing the existing pressure boundary susceptible materials with PWSCC-resistant materials to facilitate the long-term repair life of the plant. The invention may be applied to a plurality of nozzle, piping, and vessel sizes with a full penetration weld joint.
US09978466B2	Self-contained in-ground geothermal generator and heat exchanger with in-line pump A method of harnessing geothermal energy to produce electricity by lowering a geothermal generator deep into a pre-drilled well bore below the Earth's surface. The Self Contained In-Ground Geothermal Generator (SCI-GGG) includes a boiler, a turbine compartment, an electricity generator, a condenser and produces electricity down at the heat sources and transmits it up to the ground surface by cable. The Self Contained Heat Exchanger (SCHE) is integral part of (SCI-GGG) system and can function independently. It consists of a closed loop system with two heat exchangers. No pollution is emitted during production process. There is no need for hydro-thermal reservoirs although not limited to hot rocks. It can be implemented in many different applications. The SCHE also includes an in-line water pump operatively coupled to the closed loop system and can be used in many different applications.
US09978465B2	System for regulating a liquid in a circuit This invention relates to a system for regulating a liquid in a circuit, with the system comprising: a plug valve comprising at least one inlet and one outlet, the plug comprising an internal passage through which is intended to pass the liquid flowing from the inlet to the outlet of the valve when the valve is open at least partially, an expansion reservoir in communication with the liquid flowing in the circuit and intended to contain liquid and a compensating gas, characterized in that the plug comprises at least partially an expansion channel which has at least one lateral opening located on a lateral face of the plug and which is conformed to provide a permanent communication between said lateral opening and the expansion reservoir, the valve being conformed in such a way that: at least when the valve is closed: the lateral opening is in direct communication with the liquid coming from the inlet or from the outlet of the valve, when the valve is open at least partially, the lateral opening cooperates with an inner wall integral with a body of the valve in such a way as to form a conduit in communication on the one hand with the expansion reservoir and on the other hand with the internal passage. The invention also relates to a circuit integrating this system as well as a use of this system.
US09978453B2	Memory device and method of operating the same A memory device with a plurality of memory block may include a plurality of memory cells constituting a memory blocks, and two or more select transistors coupled to the plurality of memory cells constituting the memory block and configured to select the memory block, the two or more select transistors having different threshold voltages from one another.
US09978439B1	Line defect detection circuit and semiconductor memory device including the same The semiconductor memory device includes a cell array unit comprising a plurality of cell mats; a column decoder suitable for outputting a plurality of column selection signals based on a column address to a plurality of column selection lines, respectively, during a normal operation, and for applying a signal having a first logic level to the plurality of column selection lines during a test operation; and a line defect detection circuit suitable for detecting whether a defect is present in the plurality of column selection lines in response to signals of the plurality of column selection lines, and outputting a defect detection signal based on the detection result, during the test operation.
US09978438B2	Device having multiple switching buffers for data paths controlled based on IO configuration modes A device includes a first data terminal, a second data terminal, a first switching buffer coupled between a data node and the first data terminal and a second switching buffer coupled between the data node and the second data terminal. The first switching buffer and the second switching buffer are arranged such that a distance between the first switching buffer and the second data terminal is shorter than a distance between the second switching buffer and the second data terminal and that a distance between the first switching buffer and the first data terminal is shorter than a distance between the second switching buffer and the first data terminal.
US09978427B2	Data recorder A device capable of continuing to record data even when a volume of data in a storage medium reaches a capacity limit in the middle of recording the data in the storage medium. A CPU of a data recorder divides data, which are to be recorded in one recording session, into a plurality of small files, and sequentially records the small files into memory. When a volume of data in the memory reaches a capacity limit of the memory, the earliest small file among the small files that are recorded in the memory and that make up the recording session is deleted, and the small files are continually recorded in an available space created by deletion. After completion of recording, all the small files making up the recording session are coupled and recorded in the memory.
US09978423B2	Modified playback rate for portions of video content A method and system includes obtaining video content at a programmed processor. The programmed processor generates a playback rate for each of multiple portions of the video content based on a predetermined playback rate obtained by the processor for each of the multiple portions. The processor further modifies the multiple portions of the video content for playback, wherein each portion is modified in accordance with the generated playback rate which is variable for each of the portions. The modified multiple portions may be provided to a monitor device for playing the video content via in accordance with the generated playback rate for each portion of the video content.
US09978409B2	Offset waveguide system with a mode converter and a tapered bend A read/write head has an input coupler that receives light at a fundamental mode from an energy source. A mode converter of the read/write head converts light from the fundamental mode to a higher-order mode. The read/write head has a bent waveguide coupled to the mode converter at an interface. The bent waveguide includes a curve with a taper. The taper nullifies the fundamental mode generated in the curve and recovers the higher-order mode at an output of the bent waveguide. A near-field transducer that receives the output of the bent waveguide is offset from the facet of the input coupler in a cross-track direction.
US09978407B2	Integrated optical nanoscale probe A diamond probe is suitable to be attached to an Atomic Force Microscope and is created with a tip that incorporates a one or more Nitrogen Vacancy (NV) centers located near the end of the tip. The probe arm acts as an optical waveguide to propagate the emission from the NV center with high efficiency and a beveled end directs excitation light to the NV center and directs photoluminescence light emanating from the NV center into the probe arm. The light source (or a portion of the light source), a detector, as well as an RF antenna, if used, may be mounted to the probe arm. The probe with integrated components enable excitation of photoluminescence in the NV center as well as optically detected Electron Spin Resonance (ODMR) and temperature measurements, and may further serve as a light probe utilizing the physical effect of Stimulated Emission Depletion (STED).
US09978404B2	Magnetic recording head and disk device with the same According to one embodiment, a magnetic recording head includes an air bearing surface, a magnetic pole having a distal end portion, a write shield opposed to the distal end portion of the magnetic pole across a write gap, and a high-frequency oscillator between the magnetic pole and the write shield in the write gap. The high-frequency oscillator includes a spin injection layer, an intermediate layer and an oscillation layer which are stacked in a head travel direction. A film thickness of the spin injection layer in the head travel direction at a height position away from the air bearing surface is greater than a film thickness of the spin injection layer in the head travel direction on the air bearing surface.
US09978401B1	Chirped current profile with undershoot feature Systems and methods for a providing a chirped current profile with an undershoot for a channel preamplifier are described. A method for writing bits in a magnetic recording disc may include applying an overshoot to a write current which is supplied to a magnetic writer of the magnetic recording disc and applying an undershoot to the write current after the overshoot is applied to at least partially de-saturate the magnetic writer. The method may also include writing a bit to the magnetic recording disc with the magnetic writer using the supplied write current. In some examples, the application of a short negative pulse after an overshoot portion of the write current waveform is delivered to the head during a write operation that writes the bit to the magnetic recording disc.
US09978393B1	System and method for automatically removing noise defects from sound recordings Embodiment apparatus and associated methods relate to automatically improving the quality of a segmented audio stream containing a desired signal, based on filtering an audio segment with an audio filter configured to remove a predetermined noise, and adapting the audio filter degree of noise removal determined as a function of a characteristic of the desired signal in the audio segment. In an illustrative example, the desired signal may be human voice. The predetermined noise may be, for example, wireless ring, hum, or tick resulting from a wireless microphone. In various implementations, the desired signal characteristic may be voice activity detected in the audio segment, and the audio filter degree of noise removal may be adapted as a function of the voice activity. Various examples may advantageously provide faster and more accurate vocal dialog editing in sound production procedures such as ADR (known as Alternative Dialog Replacement, or, Additional Dialog Recording).
US09978391B2	Method, apparatus and server for processing noisy speech According to an embodiment, a power spectrum iteration factor is determined according to a noisy speech and a background noise, and a moving average power spectrum of the speech is obtained according to the power spectrum iteration factor. A server is able to trace the noisy speech according to the power spectrum iteration factor.
US09978387B1	Reference signal generation for acoustic echo cancellation An audio device may have an output speaker that produces audio within the environment of a user and one or more input microphones that capture speech and other sounds from the user environment. The audio device may use acoustic echo cancellation (AEC) to suppress echoed components of the speaker output that may be present in audio captured by the input microphones. The AEC may be implemented using an adaptive filter that estimates echoing based on an output reference signal. The output reference signal may be generated by a reference microphone placed near the speaker of the audio device.
US09978384B2	Audio decoding using modulator-demodulator An electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes: a first processing unit; a storage unit, configured to store at least one audio file; a first memory unit; and a modulator-demodulator (modem), configured to perform audio processing of the electronic device during a phone call, wherein when the electronic device is used to play the audio file, the first processing unit reads the audio file from the storage unit, retrieves header information of the audio file, and writes the audio file into the first memory unit, wherein the modem accesses the audio file stored in the first memory unit based on the header information, and performs audio decoding on the audio file.
US09978382B2	Method and apparatus for embedding and extracting watermark data in an audio signal Methods and apparatus for audio watermarking are disclosed in which watermark data is codified in a plurality of Fourier transform coefficients of the audio signal. The watermarked audio is transmitted and captured as sound waves after analogic conversion, typically through a medium with some degree of signal degradation. The receiving end converts the watermarked audio back to the digital domain before extracting the watermark data from the Fourier transform coefficients. This configuration is enhanced in certain embodiments by a robust bit codification technique with fast decoding algorithms, synchronization signalling and error correction.
US09978373B2	Method of accessing a dial-up service A method of accessing a dial-up service is disclosed. An example method of providing access to a service includes receiving a first speech signal from a user to form a first utterance; recognizing the first utterance using speaker independent speaker recognition; requesting the user to enter a personal identification number; and when the personal identification number is valid, receiving a second speech signal to form a second utterance and providing access to the service.
US09978363B2	System and method for rapid customization of speech recognition models Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media for generating domain-specific speech recognition models for a domain of interest by combining and tuning existing speech recognition models when a speech recognizer does not have access to a speech recognition model for that domain of interest and when available domain-specific data is below a minimum desired threshold to create a new domain-specific speech recognition model. A system configured to practice the method identifies a speech recognition domain and combines a set of speech recognition models, each speech recognition model of the set of speech recognition models being from a respective speech recognition domain. The system receives an amount of data specific to the speech recognition domain, wherein the amount of data is less than a minimum threshold to create a new domain-specific model, and tunes the combined speech recognition model for the speech recognition domain based on the data.
US09978361B2	Systems and methods for building state specific multi-turn contextual language understanding systems Systems and methods for building a dialog-state specific multi-turn contextual language understanding system are provided. More specifically, the systems and methods infer or are configured to infer a state-specific schema and/or state-specific rules from a formed single-shot language understanding model and/or a single-shot rule set. As such, the systems and methods only require the information necessary to form a single-shot language understanding model and/or a single-shot rule set from a builder to form or build the dialog-state specific multi-turn contextual language understanding system. Accordingly, the systems and methods for building a dialog-state specific multi-turn contextual language understanding system reduce the expertise, time, and resources necessary to build a dialog-state specific multi-turn contextual language understanding system for an application when compared to systems and methods that require further input from the builder than necessary to build a single-shot language understanding system.
US09978360B2	System and method for automatic detection of abnormal stress patterns in unit selection synthesis Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media for detecting and correcting abnormal stress patterns in unit-selection speech synthesis. A system practicing the method detects incorrect stress patterns in selected acoustic units representing speech to be synthesized, and corrects the incorrect stress patterns in the selected acoustic units to yield corrected stress patterns. The system can further synthesize speech based on the corrected stress patterns. In one aspect, the system also classifies the incorrect stress patterns using a machine learning algorithm such as a classification and regression tree, adaptive boosting, support vector machine, and maximum entropy. In this way a text-to-speech unit selection speech synthesizer can produce more natural sounding speech with suitable stress patterns regardless of the stress of units in a unit selection database.
US09978356B2	System and method for actively influencing sound A system includes a sound generator (20) that generates sound superimposed to sound to be manipulated. An error sensor (50) measures superimposed sound and outputs a corresponding feedback signal (e′(n)). A signal generator (91) generates a sound signal (y(n)). A controller (92) generates a control signal (λ(n)) representing a value of a sequence of rational numbers. A weighter (93) weights the generated sound signal (y(n)) with the control signal (λ(n)) and inverts it. An adder (94) adds the weighted/inverted sound signal to the feedback signal (e′(n)) and outputs a modified feedback signal (e(n)) to the signal generator (91). A weighter (95) weights the generated sound signal (y(n)) with the difference from one and with the control signal (λ(n)) and outputs the sound signal y′(n). The generated sound signal (y(n)) is a function of the modified feedback signal (e(n)).
US09978354B2	Acoustic panel with vertical stiffeners A panel for attenuating noise includes a core having a first baffle, a second baffle, a first septum, a second septum and a stiffener. The core forms first and second cavities vertically between a first skin and a second skin, wherein the first and the second cavities are each fluidly coupled with perforations in the first skin. The first cavity is formed laterally between the first baffle and the second baffle and has a first cross-sectional geometry. The first septum is laterally between the first baffle and the second baffle and divides the first cavity into fluidly coupled sub-cavities. The second cavity is formed laterally between the second baffle and the stiffener and has a second cross-sectional geometry that is at least approximately identical to the first cross-sectional geometry. The second septum is laterally between the second baffle and the stiffener and divides the second cavity into fluidly coupled sub-cavities.
US09978351B1	Modular apparatus for self-supported wielding of musical instruments A modular apparatus having at least two connecting members substantially at right angles from each other for self-supported wielding of musical instruments. The modular apparatus is worn over at least one shoulder and around the back of the user's neck while it is detachably connected to a musical instrument, such as a violin. The musical instrument is detachably connected to the modular apparatus via a support attachment, support, strap and fastening mechanism. The plurality of members allows even distribution of pressure and tension throughout the upper body caused by supporting and playing the musical instrument.
US09978349B2	Drum accessory and drumming method A clamp is attachable to a rim or rim region of a drum, and is suited for resiliently retaining an ancillary drumstick such that a terminal end of the ancillary drumstick is positioned above a skin of the drum, and advantageously spaced apart from the skin by a selected distance, allowing a single drumstick strike to the ancillary drumstick by another drumstick held by the drummer to create multiple hits by the clamped ancillary drumstick in response to a drum strike by the hand-held drum stick.
US09978336B2	Display controller and semiconductor integrated circuit devices including the same A display controller includes a first register set by an open operating system, a second register set by a secure operating system, a first data input circuit configured to read normal data according to set information in the first register, a second data input circuit configured to read secure data according to set information in the second register, and a data processor configured to blend and output the normal data with the secure data to display the secure data over the normal data.
US09978335B2	Display apparatus having color pixel diagonal group to receive data voltages having same polarity A display apparatus includes gate lines extending in a first direction, data lines extending in a second direction crossing the first direction, first color pixels, and second color pixels. A first color pixel arranged in an f-th column between an f-th data line and an (f+1)th data line is connected to one of the f-th data line and the (f+1)th data line. A first color pixel arranged in a g-th column between a g-th data line and a (g+1)th data line is connected to one of a (g−1)th data line and a (g+2)th data line. First color pixels in a first color pixel diagonal group receive data voltages having a same polarity.Second color pixels in a second color pixel diagonal group receive data voltages having a same polarity.
US09978331B2	Digital to analog conversion module, data drive circuit and liquid crystal display The present invention discloses a digital to analog conversion module, a data drive circuit and a liquid crystal display, wherein the digital to analog conversion module can comprise 2N−1 sub circuits and 2N−1−1 first divider resistors, and each sub circuit comprises a second divider resistor, a first switch circuit and a second switch circuit, wherein the first switch circuit and the second switch circuit are respectively coupled to two ends of the second divider resistor; the first switch circuit comprises N first switch units coupled in series, and the second switch circuit comprises a second switch unit and at least one first switch unit coupled in series; according to a preset order, a control end of the second switch unit is coupled to a connection node of a N−1th and a Nth first switch units; an output end of the second switch unit is coupled to the first switch unit.
US09978325B2	Control unit for a segment liquid crystal display and a method thereof A unit (10; 11; 12; 13) used to control a segment liquid crystal display (15; 16). The segment liquid crystal display (15; 16) includes at least a backplane electrode (20) and at least a front plane electrode (25) both associated with a same segment of the segment liquid crystal display (15; 16). The unit (10; 11; 12; 13) includes a controller (30; 40; 50) in order to generate a pulse-width-modulated control signal (35) that has two voltage levels and a variable duty cycle. The unit (10; 1; 12; 13) further includes an integrator (60; 61) to integrate the pulse-width-modulated control signal (35) and to provide an integrated control signal (90) which has more than two discrete voltage levels corresponding to different variable duty cycle values. An output of the unit (10; 11; 2; 13) supplies the integrated control signal (90) to the at least a backplane electrode (20) or to the at least a front plane electrode (25) so that visibility of the same segment in the segment liquid crystal display (15; 16) can be controlled. By having a pulse-width-modulated control signal (35) with only two voltage levels and different duty cycle values generated by the controller (30; 40; 50), and by having the integrator (60; 61) integrating said pulse-width-modulated control signal (35), more than two different discrete voltage levels are generated to control the at least a backplane electrode (20) or at least a front plane electrode (25) without the need to use an application specific segment liquid crystal interface in the unit (10; 11; 12; 13), thereby abating the cost of implementation of the unit (10; 11; 12; 13).
US09978322B2	Display apparatus A display apparatus includes gate lines extending in a first direction data lines extending in a second direction crossing the first direction, and pixels connected to the gate lines and the data lines. The pixels displaying first, second, third, and fourth colors are repeatedly arranged in the second direction. A k-th gate line connected to at least one of first pixels displaying the first color among the pixels arranged in an i-th row is electrically connected to a (k+j)th gate line connected to at least one of second pixels displaying the first color among pixels arranged in one row of (i+1)th, (i+2)th, and (i+3)th rows.
US09978309B2	Pixel circuit and driving method thereof To prevent image retention, the pixel circuit includes: a light emitting element; a driving transistor which supplies an electric current according to an applied voltage to the light emitting element; a capacitor part which holds the voltage containing a threshold voltage and a data voltage of the driving transistor; and a switch part which has the voltage containing the threshold voltage and the data voltage held to the capacitor part and applies the voltage to the driving transistor. Further, the switch part has a function which applies a constant voltage to the driving transistor before having the voltage containing the threshold voltage and the data voltage held to the capacitor part.
US09978307B2	Organic light emitting display and driving method thereof An organic light emitting display includes: a first pixel; and a second pixel adjacent to the first pixel, the second pixel being configured to emit light at a different time from the first pixel, wherein the first pixel and the second pixel share a storage capacitor configured to store a voltage of a data signal.
US09978299B2	Transparent display The present invention discloses a transparent display, comprising a first display, comprising a plurality of first display regions and a plurality of transparent regions alternately arranged along a first direction; a second display, comprising a plurality of second display regions and a plurality of second transparent regions which are alternately located along the first direction, and the second display is laminated with the first display and located at one side of the first display in an image display direction, and the vertical projections of the second display regions on the first display completely coincide with the first transparent regions, and the vertical projections of the second transparent regions on the first display completely coincide with the first transparent regions; a camera shooting module; a signal process module.
US09978287B2	Systems and methods for improving tennis stroke recognition Certain embodiments relate to systems and methods for improving tennis stroke recognition that includes: outputting on an output device a video or animation of an opponent player executing a tennis stroke, a layout of the near court, and one or more tennis stroke indicators corresponding to different tennis strokes; detecting a first user gesture or voice utterance adjacent to the output device to select one of the tennis stroke indicators a user believes is executed by the opponent player; detecting a second user gesture adjacent to the output device identifying a location in the layout of the near court the user expects the ball to hit; and updating the output device to display an actual type of tennis stroke executed by the opponent player and an actual location in the layout of the near court the ball hits as a result of the actual tennis stroke executed by the opponent.
US09978279B2	Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and information processing system An advice target location at which a user had a predetermined emotion, for example, is determined based on location information, user biological information, and user transportation means information, which have been acquired by a terminal device (20) being used by the user. Advice information containing information indicating an advice presentation region set by a server device (50) is generated based on the advice target location. This advice information is supplied from the server device (50) to the terminal device (20), so that the terminal device (20) presents advice. With this, advice as to locations pedestrians find dangerous can be presented to drivers, and advice as to locations drivers find dangerous can be presented to pedestrians. Accordingly, accidents and the like can be prevented.
US09978278B2	Vehicle to vehicle communications using ear pieces A system includes a vehicle, a vehicle network disposed within the vehicle, and at least one earpiece for use within the vehicle. The vehicle is configured to wirelessly communicate with the at least one wireless earpiece within the vehicle. The vehicle is configured to wirelessly communication with at least one wireless earpiece within a separate and independent vehicle. A method includes sensing data with a sensor of a wireless earpiece within a first vehicle to provide sensed data, determining by the wireless earpiece within the first vehicle an alert condition based on the sensed data, and wirelessly communicating a message from a wireless earpiece within a first vehicle to a wireless ear piece within a second vehicle, the message indicating occurrence of the alert condition.
US09978276B2	Vehicle exterior environment recognition device A vehicle exterior environment recognition device includes a traveling path predicting module that predicts a traveling path on which a vehicle travels, based on a current traveling condition of the vehicle, a traveling path restricting module that restricts the predicted traveling path in the width direction of the vehicle, according to at least one or more parameters selected from the group consisting of a traveling speed of the vehicle, an indicating state of a blinker, an angular speed of the vehicle, and a steering angle, and a control input identifying module that identifies a traffic indicator that exists ahead of the vehicle based on the restricted traveling path and that is to be used as the control input.
US09978270B2	Self-configuring traffic signal controller Embodiments describe new mechanisms for signalized intersection control. Embodiments expand inputs beyond traditional traffic control methods to include awareness of agency policies for signalized control, industry standardized calculations for traffic control parameters, geometric awareness of the roadway and/or intersection, and/or input of vehicle trajectory data relative to this intersection geometry. In certain embodiments, these new inputs facilitate a real-time, future-state trajectory modeling of the phase timing and sequencing options for signalized intersection control. Phase selection and timing can be improved or otherwise optimized based upon modeling the signal's future state impact on arriving vehicle trajectories. This improvement or optimization can be performed to reduce or minimize the cost basis of a user definable objective function.
US09978256B1	Method and system for monitoring fire alarm systems The near-universal connection between control panels and monitoring stations is used to transmit status information for non-compatible control panels to connected services systems. In this way, connected services systems can incorporate monitoring and tracking of non-compatible control panels as well as compatible control panels.
US09978254B2	Wireless speaker devices for wireless audio/video recording and communication devices A wireless speaker device configured for use with a wireless A/V recording and communication device, such as a doorbell. The wireless speaker device, which includes a speaker, may connect to the user's local area network (LAN), such as a Wi-Fi network. The LAN is connected to a wide area network (WAN), such as the Internet and/or a public switched telephone network (PSTN). When the wireless A/V recording and communication device detects a visitor, it sends a signal, via the LAN, to at least one device in the WAN, such as a server and/or a service. In response, the at least one device in the WAN sends a signal, via the LAN, to the wireless speaker device. The signal to the wireless speaker device includes a command for the wireless speaker device to emit a tone through its speaker. The wireless speaker device then emits a tone through its speaker to alert the user that a visitor is at the wireless A/V recording and communication device.
US09978251B2	Wireless location-based system and method for detecting hazardous and non-hazardous conditions A wireless location-based gas detection system and method includes a gas detector for wirelessly detecting location information associated with a hazardous gas event. The gas detector includes one or more remote gas sensors that monitor for the occurrence of a gas event and wirelessly communicates information with respect to the location of the event in association with time information to a server or location manager. A wireless communication device in association with one or more location anchor points periodically and under event conditions, transmits the location information and the gas concentration level. A location engine calculates an estimated location of the gas detector based on information received from the wireless communication device and provides the location data to the location manager. The location manager records the gas concentration level, the estimated location, and the time information and stores this information within a database. A graphical user interface is provided for visualizing the current and historical information.
US09978243B2	Wandering notification server and wandering notification system A wandering notification system (1) to which the present invention is applied is provided with a management server (2), a neighborhood terminal (3), and an external terminal (4). A wandering information transmission unit (10) of the management server (2) extracts a plurality of neighborhood terminals (3) for making known information with a notification area in a certain range, set on the basis of an address of a person to be protected who starts wandering, as a reference. Further, the wandering information transmission unit (10) receives positional information of the extracted neighborhood terminals (3) and transmits personal information and wandering information of the person to be protected to the neighborhood terminal (3) that exists within the notification area.
US09978235B2	Multi-technology transponder and system Systems (100) and methods (800) for operating a security tag. The methods involve: coupling the security tag to an article by at least partially inserting an attachment assembly into a tag body; performing core security tag functions by a first electronic circuit disposed within the tag body of the security tag to protect the article from an unauthorized removal of the article from an area; and performing at least one first peripheral security tag function by a second electronic circuit disposed within the attachment assembly of the security tag.
US09978234B2	Method for manufacturing housing of radiation detection cassette Provided is a method for manufacturing a housing of a radiation detection cassette that can appropriately form a recess without a housing material depositing on an end mill or the like, in a case where a recess is formed by working the housing material formed of an alloy containing Mg and Li. A method for manufacturing a housing of a radiation detection cassette that houses a radiation detector in the housing includes preparing a housing material that is formed of an alloy containing Mg and Li and contains 0.1 mass % or more of Li, forming a recess using a working method other than cutting work on a surface of the housing material, and performing cutting work on the formed recess to shape the recess.
US09978231B2	Tamper-respondent assembly with protective wrap(s) over tamper-respondent sensor(s) Tamper-respondent assemblies and methods of fabrication are provided which include an inner enclosure, a tamper-respondent sensor(s), a protective wrap(s) and an outer enclosure. The inner enclosure is sized to receive one or more electronic components to be protected, and the tamper-respondent sensor(s) wraps around the inner enclosure. The protective wrap(s) overlies and wraps around the tamper-respondent sensor(s) and inner enclosure, and together the inner enclosure, tamper-respondent sensor(s), and protective wrap(s) form a tamper-respondent subassembly. The outer enclosure receives and surrounds, at least in part, the tamper-respondent subassembly, with the tamper-respondent sensor(s) and protective wrap(s) disposed between the inner enclosure and the outer enclosure. When operative, the inner enclosure, tamper-respondent sensor(s), protective wrap(s) and outer enclosure are coupled together and facilitate conduction of heat from the electronic component(s) out to the outer enclosure.
US09978227B2	Keyless entry device for haptic communications A keyless entry device is provided. The keyless entry device includes a transceiver, a haptic actuator coupled to a drive circuit, and a processor coupled to the transceiver and the drive circuit. The transceiver communicates with a vehicle over a communication channel. The processor determines proximity information between the keyless entry device and the vehicle, selects a control signal based on the proximity information, and outputs the control signal to the drive circuit to cause the haptic actuator to periodically or continuously generate a haptic effect to a user.
US09978224B2	Method and apparatus for delivering audible information from an electronic device Embodiments of the invention generally include an alarm system and method of using an alarm system to reliably provide an alarm to a user at a desired time or at the occurrence of some desired action. In some embodiments, the apparatus and methods include a media output device that can receive information about an alarm event and then automatically provide an alarm prompt at the time when the alarm event is to occur. In one configuration, a media output device is configured to communicate and synchronize with a portable electronic device, so that a reliable and coordinated delivery of an alarm prompt can be obtained by these devices. Some aspects of the invention may include an apparatus, method and/or computing device software application configured to more easily setup and reliably deliver the alarm signal information to the user using one or more media output devices that are used in combination with an input device.
US09978221B2	Gaming system and method for providing a multiple dimension symbol game with expanding wild symbols Gaming systems and methods for providing a multi-dimensional symbol game with expanding wild symbols.
US09978218B2	Systems and methods for enabling remote device users to wager on micro events of games in a data network accessible gaming environment A method and system for micro-betting. One or more micro-bets can be electronically placed with respect to one or more micro-events associated with an event during a round of micro-betting. One or more wages with respect to the micro-bet(s) can be managed and controlled during the round of micro-betting. The wager(s) can be managed and controlled remote from electronically placing the micro-bet(s) during the round of micro-betting. Additionally, a portion of a profit can be automatically obtained with respect to the round of micro-bets in exchange for the aforementioned managing and controlling of the wager(s) with respect to the micro-bet(s) during the round of micro-betting.
US09978215B2	Secondary gameplay features for a computer-implemented group matching game Embodiments relate to gaming devices and to techniques for operating such devices in connection with secondary gameplay features of computer-based games. The secondary gameplay may share gameplay features with primary gameplay. In some group-matching games, each game piece includes two characteristics that may affect a display of the game piece in a computer user interface. One characteristic may be used during primary gameplay and another may be used to track when a user has an opportunity for secondary gameplay. For example, a gameplay facility may determine whether the grid includes a set of game pieces having a first characteristic. If so, the gameplay facility may then evaluate each of the game pieces in the set and increment a score based on whether each game piece has a second characteristic. When the score meets or exceeds a threshold, the gameplay facility triggers secondary gameplay.
US09978212B2	Peel-away security covering for a ticket A solution for concealing confidential information that is printed at the point of sale in a game of chance utilizing a more common type printer designed for printing on a standard grade and biodegradable direct thermal paper. This system can print and cut each individual ticket in variable lengths. The unique and innovative concept of this new system allows a second and separate biodegradable substrate to be collated in a continuous stream over top of the printed ribbon before it is cut away and delivered into the presenter. The second substrate contains a strip of a specially formulated adhesive and is adhered to the top surface of the printed ribbon as the two substrates join together while passing through mechanical nip rollers. The confidential printed information is now covered and the combined substrates are cut and delivered as one ticket unit. The ticket information is revealed by easily peeling away the adhered top layer.
US09978203B2	Effect assemblage for gaming machine In an effect assemblage for a gaming machine which is configured to display a process of determining win/loss and a result of the win/loss by moving a first object image and a second object image relative to each other and stopping the first object image at a predetermined part of the second object image, after the first object image and the second object image move relative to each other, the movement of the second object image is corrected, with the result that a predetermined part of the second object image reaches the end of the movement locus at a timing at which the first object image reaches the end of the movement locus.
US09978199B2	Methods and systems for processing transactions Methods and systems are provided for processing a transaction between a first party and a second party. Information defining terms of the transaction and identifying a presentation instrument are received at a host system. Preference information associated with the presentation instrument is retrieved with the host system. The preference information specifies terms for an allocation of transaction amounts among multiple transaction types. An amount for the transaction is allocated among the transaction types in accordance with terms of the transaction and the terms for the allocation.
US09978175B2	Real time concurrent design of shape, texture, and motion for 3D character animation Systems and methods for automatically generating animation-ready 3D character models based upon model parameter, clothing selections, and texture-region color component selections are described. One embodiment of the invention includes an application server configured to receive the user defined model parameters and the at least one texture selection via a user interface. In addition, the application server includes a generative model and the application server is configured to generate a 3D mesh based upon the user defined model parameters using the generative model and to apply texture to the generated mesh based upon the at least one texture selection.
US09978173B2	Generating views of three-dimensional models illustrating defects Systems and methods are disclosed for generating viewpoints and/or digital images of defects in a three-dimensional model. In particular, in one or more embodiments, the disclosed systems and methods generate exterior viewpoints by clustering intersection points between a bounding sphere and rays originating from exterior vertices corresponding to one or more defects. In addition, in one or more embodiments, the disclosed systems and methods generate interior viewpoints by clustering intersection points between one or more medial spheres and rays originating from vertices corresponding to interior vertices corresponding to one or more defects. Furthermore, the disclosed systems and methods can apply colors to vertices corresponding to defects in the three-dimensional model such that adjacent vertices in the three-dimensional model have different colors and are more readily discernable.
US09978169B2	Method and apparatus for creating a computer simulation of an actor A method for creating a computer simulation of an actor having a first foot, a second foot and a body including the steps of planting the first foot as a support foot along a space time-varying path. There is the step of stopping time regarding placement of the first foot. There is the step of changing posture of the first foot while the first foot is planted. There is the step of moving time into the future for the second foot as a lifted foot and changing posture for the lifted foot. An apparatus for creating a computer simulation of an actor depicting the actor based on a plurality of postural parameters of the actor. A method for creating a computer simulation of a crowd.
US09978163B2	Exposure management system An exposure management system according to an embodiment includes a processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to calculate a deviation index related to a difference between a target exposure index indicating an index of an exposure value that is set as a target of an X-ray image taking process and an image-taking-period exposure index indicating an index of an exposure value observed during the X-ray image taking process. The processing circuitry is configured to control so as to cause a display device to display history information from a predetermined time period indicating at least one selected from between image-taking-period exposure indices and deviation indices.
US09978158B2	Spectral projection data de-noising with anti-correlation filter A method includes receiving at least two sets of noisy basis material line integrals, each set corresponding to a different basis material and filtering the at least two sets of noisy basis material line integrals with an anti-correlation filter that at least includes a regularization term with balancing regularization factors, thereby producing de-noised basis material line integrals. An imaging system (100) includes a projection data processor (116) with an anti-correlation filter (118) that filters at least two sets of noisy basis material line integrals, each set corresponding to a different basis material, thereby producing de-noised basis material line integrals, wherein the anti-correlation filter includes a regularization term with regularization balancing factors.
US09978157B2	Method and system for x-ray CT imaging Methods and systems for performing x-ray computerized tomographic (CT) reconstruction of imaging data on a rotatable portion of the system, such as a ring-shaped rotor. The rotor may include an x-ray source, and x-ray detector system and a processor, coupled to the detector system, for performing tomographic reconstruction of imaging data collected by the detector system.
US09978155B2	Method and apparatus for counting number of persons A method and apparatus for counting a number of persons in an image are provided. The person counting apparatus includes: a detector configured to detect a movement area in a top-view distance image, of at least one image frame, providing distance information; an estimator configured to estimate a candidate head area from the movement area based on the distance information; and a determiner configured to determine whether the candidate head area is an actual head of a person based on a similarity to a circle of the candidate head area and a spherical curvature of the candidate head area estimated from the distance information about the candidate head area.
US09978147B2	System and method for calibration of a depth camera system A method and apparatus for performing inbuilt calibration of camera system that performs three-dimensional measurements and depth reconstruction are described. In one embodiment, the method includes displaying, using a projector of a capture device, a fiducial projection pattern in response to calibration of the capture device. The method may also include capturing, with a camera of the capture, an image of the fiducial projection pattern. The method may also include determining calibration coefficient values indicative of relative physical relationships of one or more components of the depth camera system based on analysis of the captured image of the fiducial projection pattern.
US09978146B2	Data-processing system and method for calibration of a vehicle surround view system A method of operating data-processing system for calibration of a vehicle surround view based on images captured of one or more 2D calibration patterns located at arbitrary positions in an overlapping field of view between two or more cameras fixed to the vehicle. The calibration patterns are arbitrary orientated in respect to the vehicle or other calibration patterns. Each calibration pattern is laying in the plane Z=0 on which the vehicle having surround view system is parked. The images of any calibration pattern j positioned in an overlapping field of view between two or more cameras are taken simultaneously establishing connected topological structure of the form: . . . —camera i—pattern j—camera i′—pattern j^′—camera i″— . . . The data-processing results with the corrected extrinsic camera i parameters Ri,Ci for the vehicle coordinate system.
US09978145B2	Assessment of an attentional deficit A system and method are provided for use in the assessment of an attentional deficit. During the assessment, a test image is presented to a subject on a display. A camera image is obtained from a camera which is indicative of a geometric relation between the head of the subject and the display during the assessment. The camera image is analyzed to determine a deviation in the geometric relation between the head of the subject and the display from a reference geometric relation. Deviation data is then generated and output which is indicative of the deviation. Advantageous uses of the deviation data include providing visual feedback to the user, adjusting the test image, and taking the deviation into account when processing test data of the assessment. Advantageously, the need for a trained professional to be present during the assessment is reduced or avoided.
US09978142B2	System and method for quality assessment of optical colonoscopy images A system for quality assessment of optical colonoscopy images includes an input device configured to acquire a series of images during an optical colonoscopy. A computing device is coupled in communication with the input device and configured to acquire from the input device an input image from the series of images captured during the optical colonoscopy; form a cell grid including a plurality of cells on the input image; perform an image transformation onto the input image with each cell of the plurality of cells within the cell grid; reconstruct each cell to form a reconstructed image; compute a difference image of a sum of a plurality of differences between the input image and the reconstructed image; compute a histogram of the difference image; and apply a probabilistic classifier to the histogram to calculate an informativeness score for the input image.
US09978133B2	Ejection controller and ejection control method for injection molding machine In an ejection controller for an injection molding machine, an image of an ejection process for a molded article is captured, a point in time when the molded article starts to drop from a mold is obtained as a drop start time point, an ejection stop time point is set based on the obtained drop start time point, and an ejection operation of an ejection device is interrupted at the set time point. Thus, the ejection is interrupted in a predetermined position, so that an operator can manually remove the molded article.
US09978131B2	Video image denoising and enhancing method and device based on random spray retinex The invention relates to image processing technology field, and discloses a video image denoising and enhancing method based on random spray retinex, including: structuring spray pixel sets, and tuning parameters related to the random spray retinex based on the spray pixel sets, wherein the parameters include quantity of the spray pixel sets and quantity of pixels; processing video images with random spray retinex based on tuned parameters; denoising the video images processed by the random spray retinex via low pass filters and blur channels to get a brightness variation calculating formula; obtaining a brightness calculating formula of output images, combined with the brightness variation calculating formula, and calculating brightness variations of three channels via the brightness calculating formula to get local brightness estimating vectors; and fusing the three channels based on the local brightness estimating vectors to get denoised and enhanced video images.
US09978127B2	Aligning a result image with a source image to create a blur effect for the source image A processing device receives input representing a selection of a first area of a source image. The processing device identifies a result image that corresponds to the source image. The result image is previously created for the source image using a blur operation. The processing device aligns the selected first area of the source image with a corresponding portion in the result image. The processing device transforms, using the corresponding portion in the result image, the aligned first area in the source image to a blurred area without blurring a remaining area of the source image.
US09978120B2	Warping panoramic images to fit a boundary The present disclosure is directed toward systems and method for warping a panoramic image to fit a predetermined shape using content-unaware warping techniques. For example, systems and methods described herein involve generating a mesh grid for a panoramic image with skewed edges by sampling boundary points around edges of the panoramic image and interpolated interior vertex points from the boundary points. Further, systems and methods described herein involve warping the mesh grid and underlying pixels of the panoramic image to fit a predetermined boundary. Further, systems and methods described herein involve generating the mesh grid and warping the panoramic image without consideration of content included therein and without overly-warping individual cells of the mesh grid and underlying pixels of the panoramic image.
US09978114B2	Systems and methods for optimizing graphics processing for rapid large data visualization A system for optimizing processing and display of large datasets is provided. The system includes a graphics processing and optimization (GPO) computing device. The GPO computing device is configured to store a dataset including a data point in a memory device, select the data point to display on a display device based on a first display request signal received via a user interface, and accelerate graphical processing of the dataset using optimization algorithms, wherein the GPO computing device is configured to assign a worker process to execute on the data point, The GPO computing device is also configured to convert the data point into a renderable graphics component, and generate a least-compute intensive representation of the data point, and cause the user interface to display a graphical representation of a first subset of the data including the renderable graphics component at a first display resolution.
US09978104B2	System and method for displaying and analyzing financial correlation data A method for displaying a matrix of correlations or other statistical measures of co-movement associated with a plurality of financial instruments, portfolios, indices, or asset classes is disclosed. The method includes: converting the matrix of correlations or other co-movement measures into a probability transition matrix; defining a corresponding abstract distance measurement between any two of the plurality of financial instruments, portfolios, indices, or asset classes based on the probability transition matrix; assigning coordinates in a Euclidean space to each of the plurality of financial instruments, portfolios, indices, or asset classes, wherein a Euclidean distance between any two financial instruments, portfolios, indices, or asset classes in the Euclidean space corresponds to the corresponding abstract distance measurement; and displaying on a display device the plurality of financial instruments, portfolios, indices, or asset classes based on more significant dimensions of the Euclidean space.
US09978102B2	Apparatus and method for trade aggregation of trade allocations and settlements A post-trade aggregation system includes an allocation middleware interface, which interacts with data interface to allocate and settle trades. An order management system receives a trade order on behalf of a customer and causes apportionment of the trade into a plurality of smaller orders to be transmitted to a plurality of order destinations directly (e.g. via the FIX protocol). The post-trade aggregation system includes an allocation middleware interface which receives the individual trade executions from the plurality of order destination and compresses them into a single average-priced block. The allocation middleware interface then transmits the single average-priced block to be cleared by a designated clearing agent and allocates the single average-priced block into one or more custodian accounts.
US09978090B2	Shopping optimizer A method, system, and/or computer program product optimizes shopping for one or more desired items. An identification of a desired item, which is initially available for purchase at a first physical store, is received. An identity of a second shopper, who also wants the desired item and is currently shopping for the desired item, is received. One or more processors then determine a likelihood of the first shopper arriving at the first physical store before the second shopper purchases a last available instance of the desired item in the first physical store. In response to determining that the first shopper will arrive at the first physical store before the last available instance of the desired item has been purchased by the second shopper, the first shopper is provided with an identity of the first physical store.
US09978083B2	Systems and methods for determining a dynamic advertisement schedule for a playlist session Methods and systems are provided herein for determining a dynamic advertisement schedule. These methods and systems are provided by way of associating a first value with a selectable delay option on a playlist menu, and associating a second value with a selectable skip option on the playlist menu. Each time the selectable delay option is selected, the first value may be added to a composite value, and each time the selectable skip option is selected, the second value may be added to a composite value. The composite value may be compared to a threshold value, and when the composite value corresponds to the threshold value, an advertisement may be generated for display on a display screen and the composite value may be reset.
US09978078B2	Tracking offers across multiple channels Provided is a process, including: obtaining a coupon issued by a merchant, the coupon being redeemable both on-line, at the merchant's website, and in-store, at a physical location of the merchant; sending the coupon to publishers for presentation to consumers by the publishers on user devices of the consumers; and receiving indications from the user devices of the consumers that the consumers interacted with the coupon, the indications indicating a consumer selection of an in-store redemption option or an on-line redemption option.
US09978076B2	Location-based crowdsourced funds Methods and systems for providing cash using crowdsourcing are described. A requestor sends a request for cash, and the request is relayed to a plurality of lenders in the vicinity of the requestor. The requestor is matched with a lender based on certain criteria. After the exchange of cash is confirmed, the lender may be given a reward, such as cash, coupons, a good rating, and/or virtual points.
US09978073B2	System and method of advertising and marketing The invention relates to an improved advertising and marketing system and method that includes a data terminal for communicating information over a communication network and a display terminal for displaying information related to first and second products that are being offered for sale.The invention also relates to the measurement and specific sales and marketing that can be performed as a result of the information gathered by the data terminals.
US09978070B1	Dynamic customer relationship management while maintaining customer privacy Functionality is disclosed herein for providing messages specified by a third party to customers of an electronic marketplace while maintaining customer privacy. An occurrence of a customer relationship management event configured by a third party is detected and a message is provided to one or more customers of an electronic marketplace. Actions of customers of the electronic marketplace might be tracked that relate to the message. Analytics may also be provided to a third party while maintaining customer privacy.
US09978067B1	System and methods for dynamic digital threat mitigation Systems and methods include: collecting digital event data from at least one remote source of digital event data; using the collected digital event data as input into primary machine learning ensemble that predicts the likelihood of digital fraud and/or digital abuse; generating by the machine learning system the global digital threat score; identifying a sub-request for a specific digital threat score for a digital abuse type; in response to identifying the sub-request, providing the input of the collected digital event data to a secondary machine learning model ensemble of the machine learning system that predicts a likelihood of the identified digital abuse type; generating by the secondary machine learning ensemble the specific digital threat score for the digital abuse type based on the input of the collected digital event data; and transmitting the global digital threat score and the specific digital threat score for the identified digital abuse type.
US09978060B2	Mobile secure element based shared cardholder verification In a payment-enabled smartphone, a shared cardholder verification method (CVM) applet serves a number of mobile payment cardlets. The shared CVM applet validates CVM information input by a user of the smartphone and in response issues a CVM token. The CVM token is passed to a particular one of the mobile payment cardlets that is selected for a current transaction. The selected mobile payment cardlet submits the CVM token back to the shared CVM applet for verification. Upon verifying the CVM token, the shared CVM applet enables the selected mobile payment cardlet to perform the current transaction.
US09978059B2	Systems, apparatus and methods for mobile companion prepaid card Methods and systems for a mobile companion prepaid card purchase transaction. In an embodiment, a process includes a wallet provider computer receiving, via an application program interface (API) Web request from an issuer financial institution (FI) processor, mobile companion prepaid card data and purchase transaction data and then verifying the availability of funds in a mobile wallet prepaid card account. The process also includes authorizing the purchase transaction based on the verification, debiting an open to buy amount of the mobile companion prepaid card account, and then transmitting a purchase transaction authorization response to the issuer FI processor.
US09978049B2	Remote configuration of a point-of-sale device A method of remotely configuring a point-of-sale device that is configured with resident executable program code involves the resident executable program code transmitting a framework update request to a computer server. The resident executable program code imposes a security requirement prohibiting unauthorized change of the resident executable program code. The resident executable program code also defines an operational framework of at least one allowed mode of operation for the point-of-sale device. The framework update request includes a credential. In accordance with a validity of the credential, the point-of-sale device receives a framework update payload in response to the framework update request, and installs the framework update payload into the point-of-sale device. The resident executable program code together with the framework update payload define an updated version of the operational framework. The updated version of the operational framework maintains the imposed security requirement.
US09978017B1	State change detection and behavioral prediction of a nonlinear and non-stationary system A method includes performing a comparison, at a computing device, of first probability distribution function (PDF) parameters of a first data set to second PDF parameters of a second data set. The first data set and the second data set at least partially overlap. The method also includes determining, at the computer device, based on the comparison whether a state change occurs between the first data set and the second data set. The method further includes, in response to determining that the state change occurs, generating an indication of the state change.
US09978016B2	Pneumatic valve system, method for controlling an actuator in a pneumatic valve system, and non-transitory computer readable medium A pneumatic valve system that includes an actuator that pneumatically actuates a valve, and circuitry that calculates a control signal to control the actuator by compensating for nonlinear dynamic of the actuator using a stable inverse model of the valve, optimizes parameters of the stable inverse model such that a difference between output information of the pneumatic valve system and desired reference information is reduced, and outputs the control signal to control the actuator.
US09978013B2	Systems and methods for recognizing objects in radar imagery The present invention is directed to systems and methods for detecting objects in a radar image stream. Embodiments of the invention can receive a data stream from radar sensors and use a deep neural network to convert the received data stream into a set of semantic labels, where each semantic label corresponds to an object in the radar data stream that the deep neural network has identified. Processing units running the deep neural network may be collocated onboard an airborne vehicle along with the radar sensor(s). The processing units can be configured with powerful, high-speed graphics processing units or field-programmable gate arrays that are low in size, weight, and power requirements. Embodiments of the invention are also directed to providing innovative advances to object recognition training systems that utilize a detector and an object recognition cascade to analyze radar image streams in real time. The object recognition cascade can comprise at least one recognizer that receives a non-background stream of image patches from a detector and automatically assigns one or more semantic labels to each non-background image patch. In some embodiments, a separate recognizer for the background analysis of patches may also be incorporated. There may be multiple detectors and multiple recognizers, depending on the design of the cascade. Embodiments of the invention also include novel methods to tailor deep neural network algorithms to successfully process radar imagery, utilizing techniques such as normalization, sampling, data augmentation, foveation, cascade architectures, and label harmonization.
US09977999B2	Paper classification based on three-dimensional characteristics Examples disclosed herein relate to classifying paper based on three-dimensional characteristics of the paper. For example, a representation of the three-dimensional characteristics of the paper may be created, and statistical summary information related to the three-dimensional characteristics of the paper may be determined based on the representation. The paper may be classified based on the statistical summary information.
US09977997B2	Training method and apparatus for convolutional neural network model Disclosed are a training method and apparatus for a CNN model, which belong to the field of image recognition. The method comprises: performing a convolution operation, maximal pooling operation and horizontal pooling operation on training images, respectively, to obtain second feature images; determining feature vectors according to the second feature images; processing the feature vectors to obtain category probability vectors; according to the category probability vectors and an initial category, calculating a category error; based on the category error, adjusting model parameters; based on the adjusted model parameters, continuing the model parameters adjusting process, and using the model parameters when the number of iteration times reaches a pre-set number of times as the model parameters for the well-trained CNN model. After the convolution operation and maximal pooling operation on the training images on each level of convolution layer, a horizontal pooling operation is performed. Since the horizontal pooling operation can extract feature images identifying image horizontal direction features from the feature images, such that the well-trained CNN model can recognize an image of any size, thus expanding the applicable range of the well-trained CNN model in image recognition.
US09977985B2	Method for producing a histogram of oriented gradients A method for producing a histogram of oriented gradients (HOG) for at least a portion of an image comprises dividing said image portion into cells, each cell comprising a plurality of image pixels. For each image pixel of a cell, a horizontal gradient component, gx, and a vertical gradient component, gy, is obtained based on differences in pixel values along at least a row of said image and a column of said image respectively including the pixel. A gradient is allocated to one of a plurality of sectors, each sector extending through a range of orientation angles. At least some of said sectors are divided from adjacent sectors along lines including gx=2n·gy, where n is any integer value with a magnitude greater than or equal to 1. At least one sector is associated with a bin; and a count of each instance of a pixel gradient of a cell associated with a bin is performed to provide a HOG for said cell.
US09977976B2	Path score calculating method for intelligent character recognition Disclosed herein is a method that improves the performance of handwriting recognition by calculating path scores so as to identify the path with the highest score as the basis for interpreting handwritten characters. Specifically, the method comprises the following steps: detecting connected regions in an input image comprising handwritten characters; determining a plurality of segmentation positions of the input image; obtaining a plurality of recognition results for each segment of each path in the input image, wherein each recognition result represents a character candidate for the segment and each path comprises one or more segments; obtaining a plurality of scores corresponding to the recognition results; calculating scores for each path in the input image based on segment lengths and the scores corresponding to the recognition results; and using the path with the highest score to interpret the handwritten characters in the input image.
US09977970B2	Method and system for detecting the occurrence of an interaction event via trajectory-based analysis Disclosed is a method and system for detecting an interaction event between two or more objects in a surveillance area, via the application of heuristics to trajectory representations of the static or dynamic movements associated with the objects. According to an exemplary embodiment, trajectory interaction features (TIFs) are extracted from the trajectory representations and heuristics are applied to the TIFs to determine if an interaction event has occurred, such as a potential illegal drug deal involving two or more pedestrians.
US09977964B2	Image processing device, image processing method and recording medium In the image processing device, the image processing method and the recording medium, the instruction acquiring section acquires the instruction input by the first user. The image group selecting section selects, as the second image group, a part of images from the first image group owned by the first user based on the instruction. The image analyzer carries out image analysis on images contained in the first image group. And the image group extracting section extracts, as the third image group, at least a part of images having relevance to images contained in the second image group from the first image group except the second image group based on the result of image analysis on images contained in the first image group.
US09977960B2	Eye-tracking enabled wearable devices A system for determining a gaze direction of a user is disclosed. The system may include a first illuminator, a first profile sensor, and at least one processor. The first illuminator may be configured to illuminate an eye of a user. The first profile sensor may be configured to detect light reflected by the eye of the user. The processor(s) may be configured to determine a gaze direction of the user based at least in part on light detected by the first profile sensor.
US09977956B2	Selecting primary groups during production of a flowchart object from an image A method for image processing. The method includes: reading an image of a flowchart; identifying, within the image, a plurality of paths corresponding to the flowchart; grouping the plurality of paths into a plurality of groups including a first group and a second group; calculating a plurality of likelihood scores corresponding to flowchart elements for each of the plurality of groups; identifying a first path belonging to the first group and the second group; and selecting the first group as the primary group for the first path based on a maximum likelihood score for the first group and a maximum likelihood score for the second group; and generating a flowchart object based on the primary group for the first path.
US09977955B2	Method and system for identifying books on a bookshelf A method and system for identifying books located on a bookshelf. Photographs of the bookshelf are captured and processed to identify individual books. Processing involves segmenting the photograph into individual book spines and extracting and analyzing features of the book spines. Analysis may include database matching and/or optical character recognition. Book spines for which a match is not found are human labeled, and the label information is added to the database. User feedback is also used to update the database.
US09977942B2	Sensing apparatus for detecting user touch A sensing apparatus includes a substrate, N groups of sensing elements formed on the substrate, a sensing circuit and a switch control circuit. Each group of the N groups of sensing elements includes a plurality of sensing elements. Each of the sensing elements includes a thin-film transistor (TFT) switch and a sensing electrode. The sensing electrode drives the N groups of sensing elements to sequentially generate N groups of sensing signals. By controlling the TFT switches, the switch control circuit controls a plurality of sensing electrodes included in one group of the N groups of sensing elements to be coupled to the sensing circuit.
US09977936B2	Item locator A computer-implemented method for tracking an item having an electromagnetic frequency signature is provided. The method includes obtaining, using a processor system of a device, an electromagnetic frequency signature of an item. The item associated with the obtained electromagnetic frequency signature is identified and the location of the device at the time the item is identified. The identity of the item associated with the electromagnetic frequency signature and the location of the device at the time the electromagnetic frequency signature is obtained are recorded for associating the item with the location of the device.
US09977932B2	Method and arrangement for providing and managing information linked to RFID data storage media in a network A method provides and manages information linked to RFID data storage media in a network with data transmission between an RFID data storage medium and an RFID reading unit, integrated in a mobile radio device, for reading the data stored on the RFID data storage medium. A data link is set up to a network server in a network via a radio interface of the mobile radio device. A data memory area on the network server is associated with the RFID data storage medium. An arrangement provides and manages information linked to RFID data storage media in a network. The arrangement includes an RFID data storage medium, a mobile radio device with an integrated RFID reading unit for reading RFID data records, and a network with a network server. The network server has a data memory area which is associated with the RFID data storage medium.
US09977929B2	Communication device for identifying and/or locating an RFID transponder A communication device is provided for identifying and/or locating an RFID transponder. The communication device includes a first RFID reader and at least one second RFID reader. The first and/or the at least one second RFID reader is configured to send out a query signal to the RFID transponder and to receive a response signal from the RFID transponder. The communication device also includes a trigger device configured to send a trigger signal to the first and/or the at least one second RFID reader, and as a result of which, the first and/or the at least one second RFID reader is configured to send out the query signal.
US09977928B2	Radio frequency identification tray systems and methods A radio frequency identification (RFID) tray for use with a cloud application platform is described. A cloud application, operatively coupled to the RFID tray via the cloud application platform, issues a command to the RFID tray. The issued command is received by an embedded agent of the RFID tray. Based on the received command, the RFID tray performs an RFID scan of one or more RFID-tagged items placed on or in the RFID tray, and the embedded agent sends the tag information from the one or more RFID-tagged items to a cloud application of the cloud network that tracks an inventory of the RFID-tagged items.
US09977925B2	Device for determining an amount of insulin to be injected for diabetes patients The invention relates to a slide device (1) for ascertaining an amount of insulin to be injected, comprising portions of flat material arranged in layers, which form a disk-like housing body (52), having a plurality of slide tongues displaceable counter to one another, wherein a first slide tongue (8) has a plurality of input scales (16), each with an equidistant line graduation, and a output scale (18), and can be manually grasped for the intended use and is displaceable in a first direction (14); wherein each input scale (16) is assigned a first parameter (37); wherein a second slide tongue (30) is displaceable in a second direction (32), which extends transversely to the first direction (14), and has a window (34) with a setting mark (35), which can be positioned relative to the housing body (52) in such a way that a visual inspection selectively of each of the input scales (16) is enabled; wherein next to the second slide tongue (30), a third slide tongue (38) is displaceable in the second direction (32) and has a plurality of windows (40), which are embodied and arranged in such a way that each window (40), in a suitably selectable displacement position of the third slide tongue (38) relative to the housing body (52), enables a visual inspection of the output scale (18); and wherein each window (40) of the third slide tongue (38) on its periphery in the first direction has a reading scale (42) with an equidistant line graduation, and each reading scale (42) is assigned a second parameter (45); and wherein the second slide tongue (30) and the third slide tongue (38) can be placed nondisplaceably in a respective positioning relative to the housing body (52); and wherein after the second and third slide tongues (30, 38) have been positioned, the first slide tongue (8) can be positioned opposite the setting mark (35) at the window (34) of the second slide tongue (30) and then, at a value of the reading scale (42) as a reading mark, a value on the output scale (18) can be read out, which is equivalent to the amount of insulin to be injected.
US09977917B2	Retroactive shared content item links A content management system implementing methodologies providing retroactive shared content item links is disclosed. The content management system and methodologies allow a team administrator of a team to configure a team-wide shared link policy that determines whether non-team members can access content items associated with team accounts using shared links generated for the content items by team members. The team shared link policy has two settings. In a first setting, the content management system allows non-team members to use shared links generated by team members to access content items associated with team accounts. In a second setting, the content management system blocks access to the content items by non-team members. Shared links are retroactive in the sense they do not need to be regenerated after the team shared link policy has been changed from the second setting back to the first setting.
US09977910B2	Trusted user circles A trusted user circle server for encryption key distribution and authentication support, as well as a client-side application which resides on user's devices are disclosed. In particular, the trusted user circle server manages a repository for static public keys (SPUK) which are used for authentication and secure distribution of a dynamic private context key (DPCK) used for the end-to-many encryption. Accordingly, posting users encrypt posted document using the DPCK and viewing users retrieve the DPCK to decrypt the posted document. These keys are associated to the trusted user circle and are generated dynamically for a given circle policy context (CPC). The CPC is an identifier that represents a group of members of a trusted user circle. It changes whenever any member of the trusted user circle leave it, when a new trusted user circle is created or when the DPCK expires after a pre-determined period of time.
US09977909B1	Selectively obscuring and/or revealing sensitive information in a display of a computing device A computer-implemented method may include (1) generating or receiving, at a computing device, display data defining a display layout and one or more fields, (2) providing, upon a display screen of the computing device and by processing the display data, a display that initially either obscures or shows first information in a first field of the one or more fields without obscuring an entirety of the display, (3) detecting, by one or more sensors of the computing device, a physical movement of the computing device or a change in orientation of a user of the computing device relative to the computing device, and, (4) in response to the sensor(s) detecting the physical movement or the change in orientation, causing the display to either show or obscure the first information in the first field without obscuring the entirety of the display. As a result, enhanced security for sensitive information is provided.
US09977907B2	Encryption processing method and device for application, and terminal Provided are an encryption processing method and device for an application, and a terminal. In the method, a first application to be encrypted is acquired, wherein the first application to be encrypted is selected by a user of the terminal; the user is prompted to input first information; a first key is generated according to the first information; the first application is encrypted by using the first key and the first key is stored in the first application. The technical solution can encrypt an application.
US09977905B2	Method and system for identification of security vulnerabilities A system for securing an electronic device may include a processor and a memory. The memory may be communicatively coupled to the processor and include instructions. The instructions, when loaded and executed by the processor, cause the processor to scan data including one or more application components to uniquely identify elements therein, determine from a given application component additional components to be accessed by the given application component, scan the additional components to uniquely identify elements therein, determine whether the additional components include any known vulnerabilities, associate one or more known vulnerabilities of the additional components with the given application component, record the known vulnerabilities and the given application component. The given application component may be uniquely identified.
US09977904B2	Systems and methods for automated detection of application vulnerabilities Disclosed are systems and methods for performing automatic, large-scale analysis mobile applications to determine and analyze application vulnerability. The disclosed systems and methods include identifying potentially vulnerable applications, identifying the application entry points that lead to vulnerable behavior, and generating smart input for text fields. Thus, a fully automated framework is implemented to run in parallel on multiple emulators, while collecting vital information.
US09977897B2	System and method for detecting stack pivot programming exploit Systems, methods and media are shown for detecting a stack pivot programming exploit that involve extracting return addresses from a call stack from a snapshot of a running program and, for each extracted return address, identifying a stack frame and following frame from stack pointer information, checking whether the stack is consistent with the type of stack generated by the operating system and architecture conventions, and alerting that a stack pivot is likely if an anomaly in stack layout is found. Some examples involve determining whether the stack frame and following frame follow consistently in one of ascending or descending addresses. Some examples involve, given a consistent directional polarity and metadata about the directional polarity of the stack specified by one of the microarchitecture, operating system, software, or other configuration, determining whether the observed directional polarity corresponds to the expected directional polarity.
US09977895B2	Malicious software identification integrating behavioral analytics and hardware events A security system and method secures and responds to security threats in a computer having a CPU, a Kernel/OS, and software applications. A low-level data collector intercepts a selection of first tier calls between the CPU and Kernel/OS, and stores associated first tier call IDs. A Kernel module intercepts a selection of second tier calls between applications and the Kernel/OS, and stores associated second tier call IDs. An Analytic Engine maps the stored first and second tier call IDs to a rulebase containing patterns of security threats, to generate a threat analysis, and then responds to the threat analysis. The Analytic Engine enlarges or contracts the selection of first and second tier calls to increase or decrease specificity of the threat analysis. A Management Module generates user interfaces accessible remotely by a user device, to update the rulebase and configure the low-level collector, the Kernel module, and the Analytic Engine.
US09977879B2	Multimedia data method and electronic device An information security method operable to be executed in an electronic device with modules, such as a calculating module, a first determining module, an extracting module, a logic operation module, and an adjusting module. The modules find out audio segments which are suitable for the concealing of copyright and other information by way of phase inversion of the original data as audio codecs are applied and build the concealable information into the data by way of a key.
US09977873B1	Secure transfer of medications within hospital A process of safe, secure storage and transfer of prescription medications for patient care in a hospital, clinic, nursing home, or similar health care facility, permits the authorized user to obtain medications for multiple patients along a patient care route, place the medications in respective locking compartments for each patient, and bring the cart to each patient in turn to administer the medications. Scanning in the user ID opens the cart, and the ward or floor medications cabinet displays a 2-D bar code containing patient identification data, the user identification, and one or more delimiter characters indicating that the medication was transferred by the authorized user directly to the cart. For each patient, a patient specific drawer or compartment is unlocked and opened, and the medications are placed into it. This is repeated for each patient on the care route. At each patient bedside, the user scans in the patient ID, which opens only the patient specific drawer. If a medication is obtained when the cart is not at the cabinet, the cabinet labels the medication with a bar code containing a different delimiter. The system maintains an audit of each person handling the medication, and when each event occurred.
US09977870B2	Medication adherence monitoring system and method A medication management system is described that is operable to determine whether a user is actually following a protocol, provide additional assistance to a user, starting with instructions, video instructions, and the like, and moving up to contact from a medication administrator if it is determined that the user would need such assistance in any medical adherence situation, including clinical trial settings, home care settings, healthcare administration locations, such as nursing homes, clinics, hospitals and the like. Suspicious activity on the part of a patient or other user of the system is identified and can be noted to a healthcare provider or other service provider where appropriate.
US09977866B2	Search engine systems for matching medical providers and patients In one embodiment, a method comprises receiving a set of parameters for selecting a physician from an administrator of a matching-engine system. The matching-engine system stores the parameters in a data store of the matching-engine system. The matching-engine system receives from a user a search query with a location of the user and a user-specified symptom or treatment. The matching-engine system determines a base-concept of a medical diagnosis or medical procedure based on the search query. The matching-engine system may identify a set of physicians to be recommended to the user based on the parameters, and a performance-score and experience-score associated with the base-concept for each physician. The matching-engine system may send a search-results page to the user listing the recommended physicians.
US09977860B2	Differential dissociation and melting curve peak detection Systems and methods are provided for processing a melting or dissociation curve of a DNA or other sample, for example, during PCR processing. In some embodiments, detection of the melting point and melting curve behavior can be enhanced by taking a derivative of the curve, and detecting peaks in the differential dissociation curve. In some embodiments, the derivative operation can comprise the use of edge-processing, or other detection algorithms. In some embodiments, the dissociation analysis can comprise removing low-frequency (or pedestal) components of the differential dissociation curve. In some embodiments, the differential dissociation curve can exhibit a smoothed or more regular appearance than the raw detected data.
US09977859B2	Digital holographic method of measuring cellular activity and of using results to screen compounds Motility contrast imaging (MCI) is a depth-resolved holographic technique to extract cellular and subcellular motion inside tissue. The holographic basis of the measurement technique makes it highly susceptible to mechanical motion. The motility contrast application, in particular, preferably includes increased mechanical stability because the signal is based on time-varying changes caused by cellular motion, not to be confused with mechanical motion of the system. The use of the resulting spectrogram response signatures, or “fingerprint” data, of known compounds is disclosed to screen new compounds for leads as to those having potentially beneficial mechanisms of action. The “fingerprint” data of known toxic compounds can be used to screen new compounds for toxicity.
US09977858B2	Electromagnetic interference filters for power converter applications Methods, computer-readable storage mediums and systems provide for designing a motor drive power system including switching mode power conversion equipment. According to aspects of the disclosure, a resonant point is shifted to a shifted resonant point by changing impedance of at least one of a feeder or a motor. An EMI filter is designed for the shifted resonant point that is at a higher frequency such that the EMI filter for the shifted resonant point is lighter as compared to an EMI filter designed for the resonant point before it is shifted.
US09977851B2	Automated attribute propagation and hierarchical consistency checking for non-standard extensions Examples of techniques for automated attribute propagation and hierarchical consistency checking are disclosed. In one example implementation according to aspects of the present disclosure, a computer-implemented method may include: detecting, by a processor, a non-standard extension during convergence of an integrated circuit logic design; propagating, by the processor, the non-standard extension to each level of a plurality of hierarchies of the integrated circuit design for which a net utilizes a special constraint; and verifying, by the processor, a hierarchy consistency across each level of the plurality of hierarchies.
US09977848B1	Method and system for predicting rocket nozzle deformation during engine start-up and shut-down transients Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) computations are performed at time increments using structural properties of the nozzle and flow properties of combustion products flowing through the nozzle. Each CFD computation accounts for movement of the wall geometry of the rocket nozzle due to the flowfield. Structural dynamics computations are performed at each time increment using the CFD computations in order to describe the movement of the wall geometry. Mesh dynamics computations at each time increment redefine the flowfield to account for the movement of the wall geometry. The mesh dynamics computations are based on a spring analogy process. The computations are iterated to solution convergence at each time increment with results being output to an output device.
US09977847B2	Efficient forecasting for hierarchical energy systems Examples of energy forecasting in hierarchical energy systems are provided herein. A global forecast model instance for a hierarchical energy system can be determined through aggregation of energy forecast model data from individual energy smart meters. Energy forecast model data can include values for energy forecast model parameters used by the individual smart meters. The energy smart meters include measurement, forecasting, and calculation capabilities. The smart meters locally determine a forecast model instance used by the smart meter and provide corresponding information to higher levels in the energy system hierarchy. A global forecast model instance is determined based on the provided information.
US09977845B2	Method of performing static timing analysis for an integrated circuit A method of performing a static timing analysis on an integrated circuit includes loading a library that includes local random variation information of the integrated circuit and global variation information of the integrated circuit that is obtained based on a set of a plurality of global variation parameters of the integrated circuit, calculating delays of timing arcs included in the integrated circuit based on the library, and determining whether at least one timing path of a plurality of timing paths included in the integrated circuit violates a timing constraint based on the delays of the timing arcs in the at least one timing path, the local random variation information of the integrated circuit and the global variation information of the integrated circuit.
US09977843B2	Systems and methods for providing a lighting control system layout for a site Methods and systems for providing a lighting control system layout for a site. The site includes a plurality of floors and a plurality of lighting control system components. In response to a request from a user for the lighting control system layout, a user interface may be provided. The user interface includes a three-dimensional representation of the site. The three-dimensional representation includes a plurality of layers representative of the plurality of floors and a plurality of icons representative of the plurality of lighting control system components. The user may, in turn, perform one or more actions in connection with the provided interface. In response, different and/or additional information about the site, particularly the lighting control system, may be provided in the user interface. The provided lighting control system layout allows users, such as, for example, site managers, to easily navigate, maintain, and mange a lighting control system for a site.
US09977839B2	Improving accuracy of time of event determination at sensor device Systems, devices, methods, and computer-program products for reducing sensor reading time error and estimating the time of an event sensed by a sensor are presented. According to implementations, a sensor indicates to a system with which it interacts, the time when an event occurred. In some implementations, the sensor can generate an interrupt that is usable by the system to estimate the time when the event occurred. In implementations, the sensor can output a correction value that is usable by the system to estimate when the event occurred.
US09977834B2	Personalizing content associated with a third party system for presentation to an online system user based on interactions performed by the user with content from the third party system An online system stores information identifying interactions by online system users with content provided by a third party system. The third party system includes a tracking mechanism in content that specifies one or more interactions with the content. When a user performs a specified interaction with the content via a client device, the tracking mechanism communicates information describing the performed interaction from the client device to the online system. The online system retrieves information identifying the user from the client device and stores the information describing the performed interaction in association with the information identifying the user. The third party system requests the online system generate content for presentation to the user, and the online system identifies content provided by the third party system with which additional users having at least a threshold measure of similarity to the user interacted to present to the user.
US09977832B2	Electronic personal assistant privacy A method comprises receiving a first user communication, accessing a directory entry associated with the user, accessing, by a processor, a database stored in a memory that includes content designated as private that is associated with the user in the directory, determining with the processor whether the first user communication includes content designated as private that is associated with the user, generating a second user communication by removing the content designated as private that is associated with the user from the first user communication, and sending the second user communication to an electronic personal assistant.
US09977830B2	Call summary A faster and more streamlined system for providing summary and analysis of large amounts of communication data is described. System and methods are disclosed that employ an ontology to automatically summarize communication data and present the summary to the user in a form that does not require the user to listen to the communication data. In one embodiment, the summary is presented as written snippets, or short fragments, of relevant communication data that capture the meaning of the data relating to a search performed by the user. Such snippets may be based on theme and meaning unit identification.
US09977825B2	Document analysis system, document analysis method, and document analysis program Efficiency in monitoring documents is promoted by quantifying the priorities of the documents to be monitored. A document analysis system (1) includes: a score calculation unit (116) that calculates a score indicating strength of linkage between a document included in document information and a classification code indicating the relevance between the document information and a lawsuit or a fraud investigation; and a score report unit (701) that reports the score to a user according to the calculated score.
US09977820B1	System and method for synchronizing states in associated data records A system for synchronizing states in associated for data records has been developed. The system includes a first data repository (R1) containing a first data record (DR1) and a second data repository (R2) containing a second data record (DR2). The system also includes a synchronizer that initiates synchronization activity between DR1 and DR2. Upon change in DR1, the system generates a listing of all possible target states for DR2 and determines the correct target state of DR2 from the listing of possible target states. The system then determines if DR2 is in the correct target state. If not, the system transitions DR2 to the correct target state, and synchronizes the data of DR2 with DR1.
US09977815B2	Generating secured recommendations for business intelligence enterprise systems In one embodiment a computer-implemented method for recommending documents to a user, the method comprises determining, by a computer, audit logs entries that are associated with members of a group that includes the user as a member, each audit log entry is associated with a file that a member of the group has accessed; analyzing, by the computer, the associated audit log entries; and generating, by the computer, a recommendation of at least one file for the user based on the analyzing of the associated audit log entries.
US09977813B2	Storage device and data migration method As a method for migrating data of a volume adopting a snapshot function to a new storage system, in order to perform migration without depending on a method for compressing snapshot data of a migration source storage system, and without stopping transmission and reception of data between the host computer and the storage system, at first, after migrating data of a volume being the source of snapshot (PVOL), migration is performed sequentially from newer generations. At this time, migration target data of each SVOL is all the data within the migration source storage system. The SVOL data copied to a migration destination storage is compared with one-generation-newer SVOL data within the migration destination storage system, and based on the comparison result, a difference management information is created. If there is difference, a VOL allocation management table is updated, and difference data is stored in the area allocated within the pool.
US09977811B2	Presenting availability statuses of synchronized objects The objects of an on object set may be synchronized across many clients (e.g., various devices may synchronize files of a mirrored filesystem). However, the synchronization of an object may be complicated, and an object may not yet be synchronized in the object set of a client for many reasons, such as an incomplete reception of the object, an unavailability of the object from currently reachable hosts, and a versioning conflict with a different version of the same object in the object set. In order to inform a user of the availability of an object in the object set, an analysis of the availability status of the object may be performed (e.g., by tracking metadata stored in object descriptors of respective objects of the object set, and later examining the metadata of respective objects), and a selected availability status may be presented to the user.
US09977808B2	Intent based real-time analytical visualizations Various embodiments of systems and methods to provide intent based real-time analytical visualizations are described herein. In one aspect, a requirement statement is received at real-time to generate visualization analysis. Further, an analytical requirement statement is generated from the received requirement statement by natural language processing. The analytical requirement statement is mapped with a unique analytical profile of a user associated with the requirement statement and corresponding business data artifacts, and the visualization analysis is generated based on the mapping information. The generated visualization analysis is displayed on a computer generated graphical user interface (GUI).
US09977805B1	Distributed data set indexing An apparatus including a processor to index data records within a data cell, wherein for each data record, the processor retrieves data values from first and second data fields; determines whether the first and second data fields store unique data values; in response to the first data field storing a unique data value, adds an identifier of the data record to a first unique values index, in response to the second data field storing a unique data value, adds the identifier to a second unique values index, wherein identifiers of data records within the unique values indexes are ordered based on corresponding unique data values; and generates an indication of ranges of data values of the first and second data fields to enable a determination of whether a data value specified in search criteria is present within at least the data cell.
US09977802B2	Large string access and storage Techniques for handling large string values in a string dictionary within an in-memory database system are presented. The string dictionary can be a paged-column main dictionary. For example, a value block of a dictionary may be loaded into memory, where the dictionary stores values for dictionary compression. The value block may include a first portion of a large string value and one or more logical pointers to one or more large string pages containing a remainder of the large string value. The large string value may be materialized into a contiguous location in memory, and a pointer to the materialized large string value may be created.
US09977799B2	System and method of dynamic data object upgrades A method, article of manufacture, and apparatus for managing a cloud computing environment. In some embodiments, this includes modifying an object or a component of an object at runtime and storing the modified object or modified component of an object in a storage device. In some embodiments, components of an object such as data structures are modified. In some embodiments, objects may have more than one version.
US09977784B2	Presenting images of multiple media entities Methods and systems for presenting multiple images of entities associated with media items in a media list are provided. A method may include identifying a first entity associated with a first media item in a media list. The first media item may be associated with a first time period. A second entity associated with a second media item may be identified in the media list. The second media item may be associated with a second time period. Next, from a database of entity images, a first image of the first entity may be selected based on the first time period and a second image of the second entity may be selected based on the second time period. As a result, the first image and the second image may be presented in an interface during activation of the media list.
US09977779B2	Automatic supplementation of word correction dictionaries Methods and systems for providing a supplemental word correction dictionary are provided. The method is performed at one or more electronic devices each having one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors. The method includes receiving an at least partial word input by a user. In some implementations, the at least partial word is input into a text field, such as an email body. The method includes determining that a use condition of the at least partial word is satisfied, such as whether the word appears in a trigger word list. The method further includes, in response to determining that the use condition is satisfied, obtaining a supplemental word correction dictionary that includes words associated with a same subject matter as the at least partial word, wherein the supplemental word correction dictionary supplements an existing word correction dictionary.
US09977771B2	System and method for printable document viewer optimization In some embodiments a method includes sending, from a composition compute device and to a user compute device, a data file that is based on a print file template. The data file includes (1) a plurality of raster image fonts based on user selected text, (2) a low-resolution image based on a user selected image, and (3) frame data indicative of coordinate locations on a webpage for the raster image fonts and for the low-resolution image. The method includes receiving, at the composition computer device and from the user computer device, a signal indicative of a modification to the data file. The method includes defining, at the composition compute device, a print file based on (1) a plurality of vector fonts based on the user selected text, (2) a high-resolution image based on the user selected image, (3) the frame data, and (4) the modification to the data file.
US09977768B2	System for clipping webpages by traversing a dom, and highlighting a minimum number of words Disclosed is software which enables a service which allows users to load screen-shots of webpages to boards as clipped content, which preserves “live” links to the webpages from the clipped content, which identifies the content which was clipped, and which preserves links and other dynamic content in the clipped content.
US09977758B1	Device profiling for tuning OpenCL applications on programmable integrated circuits A system may include a first region implemented in programmable circuitry of a programmable integrated circuit. The first region may include predefined interface circuitry configured to communicate with a host processor. The system may include a second region implemented in the programmable circuitry of the programmable integrated circuit. The second region may include a first hardware accelerated kernel of an OpenCL application. The system may include a first monitor circuit implemented within the first region or the second region. The first hardware accelerated kernel and the first monitor circuit may be coupled to the interface circuitry of the first region. The first monitor circuit may be operable responsive to control signals received from the host processor of a platform through the interface circuitry to store operation data for the first region or the first hardware accelerated kernel.
US09977754B2	Electronic system with diagnostic interface mechanism and method of operation thereof A electronic system includes: an integrated circuit including: an internal data path, configured to drive a functional output, a universal streaming and logging interface, coupled to the internal data path, to generate a trace data bus, and a direct memory access (DMA) controller, coupled to the universal streaming and logging interface, to manage the storage of the trace data bus; a support circuit, coupled to the integrated circuit, configured to receive the trace data bus; and a support processor chip, coupled to the support circuit, configured to analyze the trace data bus for identifying a failure mode of the integrated circuit.
US09977751B1	Method and apparatus for arbitrating access to shared resources Embodiments include a method for arbitrating access to a plurality of resources by a plurality of components of a computing system, the method comprising: assigning, to each resource of the plurality of resources, a corresponding identification number, wherein a first resource of the plurality of resources is assigned a first identification number; assigning the first resource to a first component such that the first component has access to the first resource; storing (i) the first identification number of the first resource in a first assignment register of a plurality of assignment registers, and (ii) an identification of the assignment of the first resource to the first component in a first queue register; and while the identification of the assignment of the first resource is stored in the first queue register, refraining from assigning the first resource to any component, other than the first component.
US09977750B2	Coherent memory interleaving with uniform latency A data processing system includes a network of interconnected switch points having a plurality of edge switch points located at an edge of the network; a plurality of network interface controllers, wherein each edge switch point of the plurality of edge points is coupled to a corresponding network interface controller of the plurality of network interface controllers; a plurality of target controllers; and a crossbar switch coupled between the plurality of network interface controllers and the plurality of target controllers. The crossbar switch is configured to communicate read/write signals between any one of the plurality of network interface controllers and any one of the plurality of target controllers.
US09977749B2	Application processor and data processing system including the same A data processing system includes an application processor, a memory device, and a channel connecting the application processor and the memory device. The application processor encrypts first data using a first encryption key and a first initialization vector in response to a write command, and transmits first encrypted data to the memory device through the channel. The memory device decrypts the first encrypted data using a second encryption key and a second initialization vector, and stores first decrypted data in a memory core. The second encryption key and the second initialization vector are stored in the memory device. The first encryption key is the same as the second encryption key, and the first initialization vector is the same as the second initialization vector.
US09977748B2	Managing storage of digital content Apparatuses, methods, systems, and program products are disclosed for managing storage of digital content. An eligibility module determines one or more content elements that are eligible for compression. A content element is determined to be eligible for compression based on one or more characteristics of the content element. A rate module determines a compression rate for each of the one or more content elements. The compression rate comprises an amount of compression to be applied to a content element. The amount of compression to be applied to the content element is determined as a function of one or more characteristics of the content element. A compression module compresses each of the one or more eligible content elements according to the determined compression rate.
US09977747B2	Identification of page sharing opportunities within large pages Memory performance in a computer system that implements large page mapping is improved even when memory is scarce by identifying page sharing opportunities within the large pages at the granularity of small pages and breaking up the large pages so that small pages within the large page can be freed up through page sharing. In addition, the number of small page sharing opportunities within the large pages can be used to estimate the total amount of memory that could be reclaimed through page sharing.
US09977746B2	Processing of incoming blocks in deduplicating storage system Methods, systems, and computer programs are presented for deduplicating data. One method includes an operation for receiving a data block having a logical address. The storage system includes a logical address mapping index for mapping logical addresses to block numbers, a block index for mapping block numbers to physical locations, and a fingerprint index for mapping fingerprints of data blocks to block numbers. Additionally, the method includes an operation for inline processing the data block. Inline processing the data block includes determining a fingerprint of the data block, examining the fingerprint index to determine if the fingerprint is already mapped to an existing data block in the storage system, if the fingerprint is already mapped then adding a mapping of the logical address to the existing data block in the logical address mapping index, and if the fingerprint is not already mapped then creating the corresponding entries in the indices.
US09977745B2	Flow control through packet router A router requests a reservation for an egress port prior to dequeuing data from an ingress port data queue. A request is also made for the allocation of a buffer. After the reservation is received and a buffer is allocated, the data is copied the ingress port data queue to the buffer, and an identifier of the buffer is enqueued to an identifier queue of the egress port. After the identifier is dequeued, the data is copied from the buffer to an egress data queue of the egress port, and the buffer is released for reallocation. The buffer can be released prior to completion of the data being copied from the buffer. The queues associated with the egress port determine whether their depths equal or exceed a threshold associated with the respective egress queues. If one or more of the depths does equal or exceed the associated threshold, the granting of reservations for the egress port are postponed. The thresholds are each set to less than full capacity, so as to indicate that the respective queue is congested, rather than to indicate that they have no space available.
US09977742B2	Cache coherency A cache coherency controller comprises a directory indicating, for memory addresses cached by a group of two or more cache memories in a coherent cache structure, which of the cache memories are caching those memory addresses, the directory being associative so that multiple memory addresses map to an associative set of more than one directory entry; and control logic responsive to a memory address to be newly cached, and configured to detect whether one or more of the set of directory entries mapped to that memory address is available for storage of an indication of which of the two or more cache memories are caching that memory address; the control logic being configured so that when all of the set of directory entries mapped to that memory address are occupied, the control logic is configured to select one of the set of directory entries as a directory entry to be overwritten and the corresponding cached information to be invalidated, the control logic being configured to select a directory entry to be overwritten, from the set of directory entries, in dependence upon which of the group of two or more cache memories is indicated by that directory entry, according to a likelihood of selection amongst the two or more cache memories.
US09977737B2	Method and an apparatus for memory address allignment A method and a system embodying the method for a memory address alignment, comprising configuring one or more naturally aligned buffer structure(s); providing a return address pointer in a buffer of one of the one or more naturally aligned buffer structure(s); determining a configuration of the one of the one or more naturally aligned buffer structure(s); applying a modulo arithmetic to the return address and at least one parameter of the determined configuration; and providing a stacked address pointer determined in accordance with the applied modulo arithmetic, is disclosed.
US09977725B2	Automatic classification and parallel processing of untested code in a protected runtime environment A system is provided to run new code modules safely in a duplicative, protected environment without affecting the code modules that are already trusted to be on the system. The system receives a new code module that validates operational data of a computing device, and instantiates a new, parallel execution engine to run the new code module on the operational data in parallel with another execution engine running the trusted/verified code modules that also validate the same operational data. The new engine runs the new code module with the operational data to produce new code module results. The production engine runs the trusted/verified code modules with the operational data to produce verified code module results. The new code module results are combined with the verified code module results to produce combined results describing the operational status of the computing device.
US09977724B2	Systems and methods for correcting timestamps on data received from untrusted devices Aspects of the technology include receiving (202) an event log of events, each that are associated with wall clock and uptime clock timestamps, and extracting (204) a currently analyzed event from the event log. Further, aspects include associating (208) a processor time to the currently analyzed event as a trusted event time if the event is the first event. Aspects include calculating (212) an elapsed time from wall clock times associated with an immediately preceding event and the currently analyzed event where the immediately preceding event is a boot log event. Further aspects can include calculating (214) the elapsed time from uptime clock times associated with the immediately preceding event and the currently analyzed event where the immediately preceding event is not a boot log event. Finally, aspects can include calculating (216) a trusted time by deducting the elapsed time from a trusted event time.
US09977711B2	Operation method of nonvolatile memory system An operation method of a nonvolatile memory system is provided. The method includes selecting a source block of memory blocks, performing a cell-counting with respect to the selected source block based on a reference voltage, and performing a reclaim operation on the source block based on the cell-counting result.
US09977710B2	Self-stabilizing network nodes in mobile discovery system The disclosure relates to cloud-based mobile discovery networks. For example, a mobile discovery network may include a network responsive to successful watermark detection or fingerprint extraction. One claim recites a cloud-based computing resolver cell in a mobile discovery network, the mobile discovery network having a cloud-based traffic router for forwarding requests from remote devices. The resolver cell includes: memory for storing response information; one or more processors programmed for: combine results from a third party inquiry, a traffic router health check, and an internal component or processing check within a certain time period determine whether to enter into a stabilization mode; entering the stabilization mode when a determination indicates stabilization is warranted; verifying, for a predetermined period, the status of the resolver cell before exiting the stabilization mode. Of course other claims and combinations are provided as well.
US09977708B1	Error correction in ancestry classification Error correction in ancestry classification includes obtaining, from a classifier, initial ancestry classifications associated with portions of two phased haplotypes of a chromosome pair of an individual; performing error correction on an initial ancestry classification, including detecting a phasing error in the initial ancestry classifications; and outputting a corrected ancestry classification in which the phasing error is corrected.
US09977704B1	Automated backup and replication of virtual machine data centers Embodiments are described for automatic backup and replication of virtual machines in a virtual center. A system or processor-based operation defines policies governing backup conditions and criteria for backing up and recovering the virtual machines, continuously polls the VMs of the virtual center to determine the health or change in each virtual machine. A backup component backs up at least one VM by copying or transferring data including content and state information of the VM to a storage device or other virtual center. The system detects if a failure condition or change in excess of a defined threshold value exists for any virtual machine, and if so, initiates a recovery operation, and then sends a message to the system administrator regarding the backup and recovery.
US09977697B2	Task management system for a modular electronic device Systems and methods are provided for managing task performance for a modular electronic device. In one implementation, a modular electronic device can include one or more electronic modular components. The modular electronic device can identify a computational task associated with the modular electronic device and identify one or more computing devices that are available to perform at least a portion of the computational task. The modular electronic device can obtain one or more sets of data associated with one or more computational resources of the computing devices. The modular electronic device can determine a potential benefit to the modular electronic device associated with the performance of the computational task by the computing devices. The modular electronic device can perform at least a portion of the computational task with the computing devices based, at least in part, on the sets of data associated with the computational resources and the potential benefit.
US09977678B2	Reconfigurable parallel execution and load-store slice processor A processor core having multiple parallel instruction execution slices and coupled to multiple dispatch queues by a dispatch routing network provides flexible and efficient use of internal resources. The configuration of the execution slices is selectable so that capabilities of the processor core can be adjusted according to execution requirements for the instruction streams. Two or more execution slices can be combined as super-slices to handle wider data, wider operands and/or vector operations, according to one or more mode control signal that also serves as a configuration control signal. The mode control signal is also used to partition clusters of the execution slices within the processor core according to whether single-threaded or multi-threaded operation is selected, and additionally according to a number of hardware threads that are active.
US09977677B2	Execution slice with supplemental instruction port for an instruction using a source operand from another instruction port Supplemental instruction dispatch may be used in some instances in a parallel slice processor to dispatch additional instructions, referred to as supplemental instructions, to supplemental instruction ports of execution slices and using primary instruction ports of one or more execution slices to supply one or more source operands for such supplemental instructions. In addition, in some instances, in lieu of or in addition to supplemental instruction dispatch, selective slice partitioning may be used to selectively partition groups of execution slices in a parallel slice processor based upon a threading mode within which such execution slices are executing.
US09977674B2	Micro-operation generator for deriving a plurality of single-destination micro-operations from a given predicated instruction Disclosed are an apparatus, system, and method for implementing predicated instructions using micro-operations. A micro-code engine receives an instruction, decomposes the instruction, and generates a plurality of micro-operations to implement the instruction. Each of the decomposed micro-operations indicates a single destination register. For predicated instructions, the decomposed micro-operations include “conditional move” micro-operations to select between two potential output values. Except in the case that one of the potential output values is a constant, the decomposed micro-operations for a predicated instruction also include an append instruction that saves the incoming value of a destination register in a temporary variable. For at least one embodiment, the qualifying predicate for a predicated instruction is appended to the incoming value stored in the temporary register.
US09977673B1	Systems and methods for providing a platform-specific porting layer for multi-level software stacks Systems and methods are disclosed for providing a platform-dependent porting layer. The method includes receiving source code, provided by a user, comprising a plurality of generic instructions. The method includes determining a platform type of a target platform for executing the source code. The method includes retrieving, based on the platform type, a porting layer, associated with the target platform, comprising a plurality of platform-specific instructions. The method includes mapping each generic instruction of the plurality of generic instructions to a platform-specific instruction of the plurality of platform-specific instructions.
US09977667B2	Updating software utilizing domain name system (DNS) Examples described herein are directed to systems and methods for updating software. An update system may generate a first Domain Name System (DNS) record comprising first version data indicating a version of an update to the software. The update system may send the DNS record to a DNS server with an indication of a domain name associated with the software.
US09977665B2	Satisfying application dependencies The dependencies of an application are identified by intercepting application programming interface calls made by an application. A determination is then made at the runtime of the application as to whether the dependencies of the application are present. If the dependencies are not present, a client device upon which the application is executing is configured such that the dependencies are present and are made available only to the authorized application. If the dependencies are present and the application is authorized to interact with the dependencies, the application is permitted to execute.
US09977661B2	Method and system for generating a user interface The present disclosure provides a method and system for generating an user interface, and the method includes: reading, by a script engine having memory and one or more processors, a user interface description file, analyzing, by the script engine, the user interface description file and generating, by the script engine, user interface data; and transmitting the user interface data to a main program wherein the main program acquires, from the script engine, a user interface element corresponding to the user interface data and draws a user interface according to the user interface element and the user interface data. The method for generating the user interface enables the main program to quickly generate the user interface.
US09977657B2	Application dashboard for website development and management A web editing server includes an app dashboard module that provides a dashboard user interface for presenting information provided by apps installed on users' websites. In one embodiment, the app dashboard module organizes the information as a series of cards, with each card providing information for an associated app. A user can select a card to obtain more information from the app. An app developer system allows an app developer to create and/or service an app in the app center. App developers may create cards by selecting one or more components from a card definition module. The app developer system may determine data attributes from received app data, which can be used to automatically create cards for the app dashboard.
US09977652B2	System, method, and computer-readable medium for high throughput pseudo-random number generation Disclosed embodiments include systems, methods, and computer-readable media for generating pseudo-random numbers. Disclosed embodiments may receive, by the at least one processor, range data indicating a range of numbers. Disclosed embodiments may generate, based on the range data and by the at least one processor, a digitized finite state machine configured to produce pseudo-random output within the range of numbers. Further, disclosed embodiments may provide, by the at least one processor to a specialized pattern-matching device, programmable instructions to implement the digitized finite state machine on the specialized pattern-matching device. Disclosed embodiments may transmit, by the at least one processor to the specialized pattern-matching device, a pseudo-random bit stream for processing by the digitized finite state machine. Disclosed embodiments may receive, by the at least one processor from the specialized pattern-matching device, pseudo-random output from the digitized finite state machine.
US09977651B2	Mobile terminal and image processing method thereof The present disclosure discloses an image processing method of a mobile terminal, and a mobile terminal. To process an image, an audio signal is collected using a sensor of the mobile terminal. Air-blowing signal intensity is acquired by performing a windowed fast Fourier transform (FFT) on the audio signal to obtain a frequency domain signal of the audio signal. The frequency domain signal of the audio signal is divided into at least one time-slice frequency domain signal. It is then identified whether the audio signal is an air-blowing signal according to the at least one time-slice frequency domain signal and a preset property of the air-blowing signal. The air-blowing signal intensity is acquired according to the at least one time-slice frequency domain signal when the audio signal is identified as an air-blowing signal. An image is acquired according to the air-blowing signal intensity. In this manner, the image processing method using the air-blowing signal intensity may provide improved processing efficiency and simplified operation.
US09977649B2	Synchronized audio mixing A first example playback device includes one or more processors and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the first playback device to perform functions. The functions include generating a mixed audio signal comprising one or more components of a first audio stream and one or more components of a second audio stream; and playing the mixed audio signal, where the one or more components of the second audio stream of the mixed audio signal played by the first playback device are played in synchrony with a second playback device configured to play the second audio stream. An example non-transitory computer-readable medium and an example method, both related to the first example playback device, are also disclosed herein.
US09977642B2	Methods and apparatuses for supporting screen sharing The invention relates to an encoder and a decoder and methods therein for supporting screen sharing, where the screen sharing comprises encoding pictures F representing pixels of a shared screen, providing said pictures to a decoder where they are decoded. The method performed by the encoder comprises deriving information related to an object which is moved on the shared screen between two pictures Fn and Fn+1. At least part of the derived information is related to an intermediate position of the object, on the shared screen, between the two pictures Fn and Fn+1. The method further comprises providing said information to the decoder, thereby enabling the decoder to generate intermediate pictures, FIMD, in addition to the pictures, F, based on the provided information, wherein the object is generated in different positions in said intermediate pictures, FIMD, thus reconstructing the movement of the object between two provided pictures Fn and Fn+1.
US09977641B2	Display system and method for portable device A display system is disclosed. The display system includes a processor. The display system also includes a first display device having a first display surface and receiving display data from the processor. The display system also includes a second displayed device having a display area smaller then the first display device and moveable over the surface of the first display device. The display system also includes a sensor in communication with the processor and communicating location data to the processor. The location data is representative of the relative location of the first display to the second display. Further still, the display system includes a program running on the processor and providing display data to the first and second display devices. The display data is provided to the second display device based on the location data.
US09977632B2	Apparatus and method for processing information on file or job An information processing apparatus which can be connected to a first network includes a connection acceptance portion which accepts connection to the first network from a first device, a job acceptance portion which accepts a job output from the first device connected to the first network to a second network different from the first network, and a transfer portion which transfers, when the job is a job held in a second holding portion included in the second network and designated to be executed in response to acceptance of an execution instruction from a user in the second network, the job to a first holding portion such that the job is held in the first holding portion included in the first network.
US09977615B2	Smart refresh of data on flash devices A method and apparatus for refreshing flash memory are disclosed herein. The method includes allocating a different and increasing sequence number to each of a plurality of physical blocks of the flash memory and storing each of the sequence numbers in connection with each of a corresponding one of the physical blocks in non-volatile memory. A refresh-sequence number equal to the highest sequence number in the non-volatile memory is also stored, and in response to a refresh trigger, data in each of the physical blocks that has a sequence number less than the refresh-sequence number is copied to a corresponding one of a plurality of new physical blocks. A new sequence number is then allocated to each of the new physical blocks.
US09977611B2	Storage device, method, and computer-readable medium for selecting a write destination of target data to nonvolatile memories having different erase limits based upon a write interval According to one embodiment, a storage device includes a storage, first data in which a sequence number indicating a write-completion order is associated with each erase unit area included in areas of the storage, second data indicating a relationship between each write interval and each write destination, a selection module which obtains the erase unit area corresponding to a logical address of target data to be written, calculates a write interval of the target data from a difference between the sequence number at an occurrence time of writing and the sequence number corresponding to the erase unit area of the first data, and selects the write destination corresponding to the write interval of the target data, and a write module which writes the target data to the selected write destination, and changes the sequence number when writing is completed for one erase unit area.
US09977607B2	Portable lighting device with reconfigurable user interface A portable lighting device that provides different user interfaces that may be selected by the user. Each user interface may provide one or more operational modes, such as on mode, power save mode, strobe mode or momentary mode. After a user interface is selected, the user may select on of the operational modes. The portable lighting device may be a flashlight.
US09977600B1	Optimizing flattening in a multi-level data structure A system and method for efficiently maintaining metadata stored among a plurality of solid-state storage devices. A data storage subsystem supports multiple mapping tables. Records within a mapping table are arranged in multiple levels. Each level stores at least pairs of a key value and a physical pointer value. The levels are sorted by time. New records are inserted in a created new highest (youngest) level. No edits are performed in-place. A data storage controller determines both a cost of searching a given table exceeds a threshold and an amount of memory used to flatten levels exceeds a threshold. In response, the controller incrementally flattens selected levels within the table based on key ranges. After flattening the records in the selected levels within the key range, the records may be removed from the selected levels. The process repeats with another different key range.
US09977599B2	Data deduplication with support for both thick and thin provisioning of storage objects Techniques for implementing data deduplication in conjunction with thick and thin provisioning of storage objects are provided. In one embodiment, a system can receive a write request directed to a storage object stored by the system and can determine whether the storage object is a thin or thick object. If the storage object is a thin object, the system can calculate a usage value by adding a total amount of physical storage space used in the system to a total amount of storage space reserved for thick storage objects in the system and further subtracting a total amount of reserved storage space for the thick storage objects that are filled with unique data. The system can then reject the write request if the usage value is not less than the total storage capacity of the system.
US09977597B2	Enhanced read recovery based on write time information Systems and methods for enhanced read recovery based on write time information are described. In one embodiment, the systems and methods include opening a block of flash memory cells for programming, tracking a block open time, and performing a read operation of a programmed page from the block based at least in part on the block open time. In some embodiments, the block includes a plurality of pages, each page including a plurality of flash memory cells. In some cases, the block open time includes an amount of time between the block opening for programming to a time the block closes for programming.
US09977583B2	System, method and apparatus for displaying a non-biasing and self-adjusting visual analog scale on a computing device A system and method for displaying a non-biasing VAS that automatically adjusts to different screen aspect ratios/resolutions of a computing device, while preserving the reliability of the VAS. The system and method can calculate a number of pixels available on a screen display to display a VAS. Further, the system and method can generate a VAS comprising equally sized intervals of distance to fit the available screen display. In addition, the system and method can include an anchor line at each end of the VAS that indicates an upper and lower value of a range of values measured by the VAS. The system and method can also include a unit cursor on the VAS that allows a subject to indicate, by pixel, interval or target area, a position on the VAS.
US09977576B2	Method and apparatus for managing an application being executed in a portable terminal A method and an apparatus are provided for preventing battery power consumption and degradation of system performance due to the system resources being utilized by applications being executed, while providing a multi-tasking function through a plurality of applications. In the method, when a plurality of applications are executed, such execution of the plurality of applications is reported to the user, so as to enable the user to terminate one or more applications, thereby preventing unnecessary consumption of battery power.
US09977563B2	Physics based graphical diagram editor System and method for editing a graphical diagram. A graphical diagram, such as a graphical program, is displayed on a display device. User input may be received editing the graphical diagram, thereby generating an edited graphical diagram. Placement of one or more elements in the graphical diagram may be adjusted in response to the editing based on determined forces applied to the one or more elements in the edited graphical diagram based on the said editing, resulting in an adjusted edited graphical diagram. The adjusted edited graphical diagram may be displayed on the display device, which may include displaying an animation illustrating the movement of the elements to an equilibrium state in which the forces balance and movement ceases. The editing, adjusting, and displaying may be performed sequentially and/or concurrently, as desired.
US09977552B2	Touch control device A touch control device includes a touch control circuitry and a plurality of touch control electrodes electrically coupling with the touch control circuitry. Each touch control electrode includes a plurality of micro electrodes. Each micro electrode has a first length along a first direction and a second length along a second direction which is perpendicular to the first direction. Both the first and second lengths are equal to or smaller than 80 micrometer and equal to or larger than 50 micrometers.
US09977550B2	Active one-layer multi-touch sensor panel device An active one-layer multi-touch sensor panel device includes a one-layer multi-touch sensor panel, a die of touch controller IC, and a flexible printed circuit board. The one-layer multi-touch sensor panel has a plurality of conductive lines for forming a plurality of touch sensing areas thereon. The die of touch controller IC is bonded onto the one-layer multi-touch sensor panel by a chip-on-glass method. The die of touch controller IC is connected to the plurality of conductive lines to drive the plurality of conductive lines and receive sensing signals associated with the plurality of conductive lines for detecting touch positions on the one-layer multi-touch sensor panel. The flexible printed circuit board is electrically connected to the die of touch controller IC by the one-layer multi-touch sensor panel to transmit the sensing signals received.
US09977549B2	Single substrate touch sensor The embodiments described herein are related to capacitive input device, including a substrate, first sensor electrodes deposited on the substrate and arranged in a first direction, an insulating layer, connecting elements deposited on the insulating layer, and second sensor electrodes. The second sensor electrodes includes sensor electrode elements deposited on the substrate ohmically isolated from the first sensor electrodes. Each of the sensor electrode elements are connected to at least one other sensor electrode element. The capacitive input device may further include a routing elements deposited on the insulating layer, where each of the routing elements are coupled to one of the second sensor electrodes and is substantially disposed in the first direction.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10