Document	Document Title
US09986836B2	Two-part stacking chair A two-piece chair frame assembly comprises a back piece and a front piece joined together to form a chair frame. The back and front pieces are separate and discrete pieces until joined together. The back piece comprises a pair of rear legs, a backrest frame, and a back seat frame portion. The front piece comprises a pair of front legs and a front seat frame portion. The front and back seat frame portions join together to form a seat frame. The back and front pieces have different surface characteristics.
US09986832B2	Furniture member with wall-proximity mechanism A furniture member may include a base frame, a seat assembly, a drive rod, a legrest mechanism, and a wall-proximity mechanism. The seat assembly is supported by the base frame and includes a seat frame, a seat bottom, a seatback and a legrest. The legrest is movable relative to the base frame and seat frame between a retracted position and an extended position. The seatback is movable relative to the base frame and seat frame between an upright position and a reclined position. The drive rod is rotatably mounted to the seat frame. The legrest mechanism is attached to the legrest and the seat frame and is driven by the drive rod. The wall-proximity mechanism is connected to the base frame and to the seat assembly and tilts the seat frame rearward relative to the base frame and translates the seat frame forward relative to the base frame.
US09986831B2	Structure protector The protector is generally elongate and includes a mouth that is able to open to accommodate the structure. The mouth is biased towards a closed position so that the mouth grips the structure to hold it in place. The mouth is provided by a pair of opposed jaws and an inner plate provided to act as a stop for the mouth. A bumper is provided that extends spaced from the inner plate. The protector further includes at least one angled linear web that extends between the inner plate and bumper at a front of the protector. Advantageously, it has been found that as the bumper crushes, the angled linear web and the side connection of the bumper combine to cause the bumper to spread outwardly and around the structure thereby acting to deflect the force of the impact around the structure. Such deflection reduces the damage to the structure.
US09986828B2	Slide rail assembly and bracket thereof A slide rail assembly includes a rail, a first bracket, a second bracket, an elastic member, and a hook. The second bracket is movably mounted to the rail and has a first contact portion. The hook is movably connected to the second bracket and has a second contact portion. The hook remains at a locked position in response to the elastic force of the elastic member. The first contact portion is pressed against the second contact portion in response to displacement of the second bracket such that the hook is moved relative to the second bracket and away from the locked position.
US09986813B2	Wearable assembly with interchangeable decorative items A wearable assembly is disclosed including a decorative ornament having a coupling surface substantially opposite a decorative surface thereof; and a coupling member coupled to the coupling surface. The coupling member is adapted to selectively, removably couple to a wearable item such that the decorative surface is visible in an assembled configuration of the wearable assembly.
US09986811B2	Container for liquid cosmetics A container for liquid cosmetics may include a container unit having which includes a container which is filled with a liquid cosmetic product and combined with cup-shaped packing in which an accepting pit, through which discharging holes penetrate, is formed and a liquid cosmetic product applying unit which includes a cap combined with the container, is assembled so that a sponge, which is assembled to the front end of an inner cylinder elastically supported with elasticity of a compression spring assembled inside the cap, tightly comes in contact with the accepting pit of the packing to assume the shape of the accepting pit and protrudes, when the cap is removed, the inner cylinder to a predetermined distance to restore the sponge to its original state.
US09986804B2	Device for carrying eyewear A device for carrying eyewear comprising a hollow body having an upwardly protruding feature located inside the cavity protruding upward from a bottom section. A front section and top section are configured to open away from a back to provide access to the cavity from above the hollow body. A spring biased hinged clip is configured to couple the hollow body to a waist belt. A second spring biased hinged clip is configured for retaining against an inside surface of the hollow body a piece of material configured for cleaning an eyewear lens. A pocket is configured to hold to a communication tag configured for wireless communication with a monitoring device, wherein the monitoring device is configured for sending an alert message for display on a user interface of a remote computing device if the monitoring device determines that a proximity is greater than a threshold proximity.
US09986796B2	Clasp for a watch bracelet or a garment belt A clasp for a watch bracelet or for a garment belt includes at least two unfolding arms articulated to each other, a first unfolding arm includes a first end attached to a bracelet strand and a second end pivotally articulated to a first end of a second unfolding arm, a second end of the second unfolding arm is traversed by an arbour about which there is articulated a cover with first and second flaps and to which another bracelet strand is attached. The clasp includes a push button fastening system, including at least one push button that controls a bolt pivotally mounted on the cover, the bolt includes a first hook cooperating with a second hook fitted to the first unfolding arm and keeping the second hook locked when the push button is not manually activated, the first hook being kept engaged with the second hook by an elastic structure.
US09986791B2	Closure device having an actuating element A closure device is provided. The closure device includes a first closure element, a second closure element, which can be arranged on the first closure element in a fixing direction and which is connected to the first closure element in a closed state, and at least one actuating element, which is movably arranged on the second closure element. The at least one of the closure elements has a receptacle into which the other closure element can be shoved at least partially. The second closure element in the closed state is held on the first closure element via the actuating element and for this the second closure element interacts with the actuating element, while in an unloaded state the second closure element can be loosened from the first closure element by activating of the actuating element.
US09986790B2	Buckle for exercise strap Buckles for use in exercise assemblies employing force restorative exercise straps. A looped component and a hooked component of the buckle hold the exercise strap. The looped component and the hooked component can be pivotally mounted to each other. The buckle can hold the strap in two orientations, on an end of a looped strap, or at an adjustable position of the looped strap.
US09986789B2	Strap-securing device with integral fire starter A strap-securing device is configured to be able to be used to ignite a fire. The strap-securing device may include at least one strap-retaining body configured to retain at least one strap, and at least one fire-starting component configured to be used to ignite a fire. For example, the at least one strap-retaining body may include a first buckle member, and a second buckle member configured to be removably connected to the first buckle member. Alternatively, the at least one strap-retaining body may include a slider, cord lock, shackle, and/or the like.
US09986783B2	Shoe with sound and light device A sound and light shoe includes a shoe body including a sole and a sound and light device located in the shoe body. The sound and light device includes a controlling box received in the sole, a sound and light member, and a battery located in the controlling box to supply power to the sound and light member. The sound and light member includes a controlling circuit received in the controlling box including a main PCB having a MPU, a first controlling circuit connected to the main PCB, and a second controlling circuit connected to the main PCB and the first controlling circuit, a light-emitting body connected to the controlling circuit, a first controlling switch connected to the main PCB, a sound-phonating body connected to the controlling circuit, a trigger switch connected to the main PCB, and a second controlling switch connected to the main PCB.
US09986775B2	Convertible garment for carrying and feeding infants A garment designed to convert back and forth between a cover mode for nursing an infant and a carrier mode for carrying an infant or other animate or inanimate object has a first layer designed to loosely cover an attached inner layer or separate garment covering an upper torso of a wearer in the cover mode. The first layer has a neck opening, a back, a front, opposite sides, left and right arm openings, and a faux pocket slit on each side spaced below the respective arm opening and configured for insertion of a wearer's arm through the faux pocket slit and between the first layer and inner layer or garment. After inserting an arm, the wearer can turn a lower portion of the first layer inside out while moving the slit along the arm and over the shoulder to form a sling-like carrier in the carry mode.
US09986773B2	Convertible pants A pair of convertible pants comprising an upper pants portion, a lower pants portion, an opening extending longitudinally from a hem end of the lower pants portion to a section that turns and continuously extending substantially circumferentially around the leg opening and ends at a terminus, and a closure being operable to extend along the entire length of the opening to selectively open and close the opening.
US09986771B2	Garments having stretchable and conductive ink Methods of forming garments having one or more stretchable conductive ink patterns. Described herein are method of making garments (including compression garments) having one or more highly stretchable conductive ink pattern formed of a composite of an insulative adhesive, a conductive ink, and an intermediate gradient zone between the adhesive and conductive ink. The conductive ink typically includes between about 40-60% conductive particles, between about 30-50% binder; between about 3-7% solvent; and between about 3-7% thickener. The stretchable conductive ink patterns may be stretched more than twice their length without breaking or rupturing.
US09986765B2	Container having a heater for an aerosol-generating device, and aerosol-generating device A container for use in an electrically heated aerosol-generating device is provided, the container including a piercing area, wherein the electrically heated aerosol-generating device has a piercing element configured to pierce the piercing area; a casing; and a cap including the piercing area and a heater, the heater defining a boundary of the piercing area. An electrically heated aerosol-generating device is also provided, including a power supply; a cavity configured to receive a container; electrical contacts connected to the power supply and configured to couple the power supply to the heater of the container through electrical contacts of the container; means for piercing the piercing area of the container when the container is received in the cavity. A method of manufacturing a container including an aerosol-generating substrate is also provided.
US09986762B2	Device for storing and vaporizing liquid media A device for storing and vaporizing liquid media can comprise an annular liquid media storage tank and a heater configured to vaporize liquid stored in the annular liquid media storage tank.
US09986751B2	Use of Aspergillus niger aspergilloglutamic peptidase to improve animal performance This invention relates to the use of the Aspergillus niger aspergilloglutamic peptidase in a feed composition containing cereals, pulses, oilseeds, and/or tubers to improve animal performance, reduce nitrogen excretion and/or reduce intestinal inflammation. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a feed composition or a feed additive comprising the Aspergillus niger aspergilloglutamic peptidase. The present invention relates to the discovery that the Aspergillus niger aspergilloglutamic peptidase is capable of efficiently hydrolyzing alpha-amylase/trypsin inhibitors that are present in wheat, barley and related cereal species, as well as hydrolyzing trypsin inhibitors that are present in pulses, oilseeds, and tubers. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method of improving animal performance comprising improving feed conversion ratio, and/or improving daily weight gain, and/or reducing intestinal inflammation, and/or reducing nitrogen excretion in an animal fed a feed stuff containing alpha-amylase and/or trypsin inhibitors, comprising orally administering a sufficient amount of the Aspergillus niger aspergilloglutamic peptidase. It also relates to the pretreatment of feedstuff with the Aspergillus niger aspergilloglutamic peptidase.
US09986737B2	Sterilization method A method of sterilizing a material, said method comprising the steps of: a) providing a sterilizing composition comprising (i) peracetic acid and (ii) a stabilizer selected from the group consisting of citric acid, isocitric acid, aconitic acid and propane-1,2,3-tricarboxylic acid; b) introducing such sterilizing composition into a hot gaseous stream to produce a peracetic acid vapor; and c) contacting such peracetic acid vapor with the material to be sterilized. The use of such an organic acid stabilizer results in an unexpected reduction in the amount of residue deposited on the heating surface employed to vaporize the sterilizing composition.
US09986733B2	Compositions and methods for reducing ice crystal formation The present invention provides peptoid polymers capable of reducing or inhibiting the formation of ice crystals at sub 0° C. temperatures. Also provided are peptoid-peptide hybrids comprising the peptoid polymers provided herein. The peptoid polymers and peptoid-peptide hybrids provided herein are useful for making cryoprotectant solutions. The peptoid polymers, peptoid-peptide hybrids, and cryoprotectant solutions provided herein are useful for making antifreeze solutions, frozen food products, and cosmetic care products. Also provided herein are methods for preserving a tissue, an organ, a cell, or a biological macromolecule using the compositions described herein.
US09986730B2	Rabbit and squirrel call device A portable electronic animal call device comprising a housing, a memory, a plurality of user inputs, a speaker, an amplifier, a power source, a status indicator, and a controller for controlling the electronic components. The housing encloses the electronic components and includes a plurality of sound openings near the speaker. The housing also includes a plurality of ridges and recesses for gripping the device. The memory stores animal sound files therein. The inputs include a power button, a plurality of animal sound selection buttons, and one or more volume inputs. The user holds or presses the power button to turn on and off the device and to resume and pause an animal sound. The user presses one of the animal sound selection buttons to select and play a desired animal sound. The status indicator communicates a power or animal sound status via LED light or similar alert.
US09986726B2	Fishing line of core-sheath structure comprising short fiber A yarn which contains a composite yarn composed of a core part containing a short fiber and a sheath part containing a synthetic fiber filament yarn, the core part and the sheath part being integrated via fluff of the short fiber getting between or entangled with the long fibers, the specific gravity of the yarn being adjustable in the range of 1.0 or more, a fishing line containing the yarn, and a method for producing the fishing line. The present invention provides an ideal fishing line which has a strong core-sheath structure, does not allow separation or detachment of the core part and the sheath part, is easy to handle, and also is excellent in strength, weatherability, and water resistance.
US09986725B2	Combination paddle shaft and fishing rod A combination paddle and fishing rod device is disclosed. The device may incorporate a single ended paddle or double ended paddle. In any embodiment, the device allows a fishing reel to be mounted to the shaft of the paddle. The shaft forms a portion of the fishing rod supporting one or more eyelets for guiding fishing line from a fishing reel mounted to the shaft. In one embodiment, the eyelets are connected to the shaft and or an oar blade. In another embodiment, a short fishing rod section having one or more eyelets is connected to the shaft. The device is configured to permit fishing while a user propels a watercraft.
US09986719B1	Pet door with groomer and vacuum A pet door with groomer and vacuum is a pet door with a swinging, flexible door but the framework around the door has an interior vacuum channel that connects an attachable vacuum with orifices located on the inner periphery of the framework. Bristles attached to the inner periphery act as a grooming brush to brush the hair of a pet passing through and to help remove any loose foreign material and hair clinging to the hair of the pet. The attached vacuum suctions up any loose material and collects it in a trap that is removable for emptying.
US09986717B1	Pet bed A pet bed having a substructure including a square or rectangular-shaped planar base and four sidewalls extending orthogonally from it. The sidewalls are affixed to the planar base proximate its edges and to each other to establish a volume. The substructure is introduced to an outer shell fabric, said outer shell fabric having a top cover selectively joined thereto for providing selective access to the volume. A cushion is shaped and sized for snugly fitting within the volume and being frictionally retained therein, the top cover providing for selective access thereto.
US09986700B2	Hybrid onion variety NUN 17210 ONL The invention relates to the field of Allium in particular to a new variety of hybrid onion designated NUN 17210 ONL as well as plants, seeds and bulbs thereof.
US09986698B2	Process and apparatus for the restoration of seagrass The improved process and apparatus for the restoration of seagrass includes a biodegradable bag or sack, referred to as a sediment tube, that is filled with sand and placed in a prop scar or blow hole. The sediment tube corrects many issues created a prop scar or blowhole: (1) the trench or hole is filled, restoring the elevation of the scar to the surround grade of the seagrass; (2) the sediment tubes stabilize the scar, preventing further erosion of the sand by the flow of water; (3) the sediment tube optionally includes fine-grained sediments that promote seagrass growth and recovery; and (4) the sediment tube includes fertilizer and/or other chemical or minerals that encourage growth.
US09986697B1	Highly integrated vertical farm for optimal manufacturing and operations The present invention is a highly automated vertical farm, grown hydroponically or aeroponically, generally within a closed container, such as a standard shipping container. The present invention utilizes superomniphobic and/or super hydrophobic coatings to decrease drag on NFT water flow and prevent biologic organism growth.
US09986687B2	Stone trap assembly for a harvester A stone trap assembly including an entrance and an exit. The entrance receives objects from a crop flow path for accumulation into the assembly during a harvesting operation, and the exit allows evacuation of the accumulated foreign objects out of the assembly during an evacuation operation. The assembly further includes a door configured to be rotatable around a first rotation axis, substantially transverse to the crop flow path, for movement along a door movement trajectory between a closed position and an evacuation position, and an impeller for forcing the accumulated foreign objects towards the exit. The impeller is configured to be rotatable around a second rotation axis, substantially transverse to the crop flow path, for movement along an impeller movement trajectory between a retracted position and an extended position closer towards the exit. The door and impeller are separately movable during at least a part of the trajectories.
US09986682B2	Trimmer head with pivot posts holding a single strip of line A fixed-line trimmer head for a rotary trimmer device includes the upper portion having a periphery, wherein the upper portion has a plurality of openings spaced from the periphery; and a plurality of mechanisms. Each mechanism can hold a strip of line and includes a post portion disposed through one of the openings in the upper portion, and a flange disposed at one end of the post portion and sandwiched between the upper portion and lower portion of the trimmer head to prevent vertical movement of the mechanism. The post portion includes two line channels, each line channel defining a passageway to receive the same strip of line, wherein at least one of the line channels is curved such that any portion of the strip of line being received through the passageway of that line channel is bent at that portion of the strip of line away from the second line channel while passing through that at least one line channel that is curved.
US09986673B2	Zeroing adjustment for depth control system A zeroing adjustment for a depth control system of an agricultural seed planting implement has an adjustable link to compensate for the variable effects of tolerance stack-up and wear, so that all planting units of the implement can be adjusted to a common zero ground penetration setting from which depth settings can be made.
US09992920B1	Method for accurate population of a circuit carrier A method for accurate population of a circuit carrier (2) with at least one electronic component (1) which comprises at least two separately controllable light-emitting surfaces (3a, 3b, 3c), having the following steps: a) optically detecting current positions of the at least two light-emitting surfaces (3a, 3b, 3c) of the electronic component (1); b) calculating at least one current variable (Sist) characterizing the geometric location of the light-emitting surfaces (3a, 3b, 3c) according to the current positions of the at least two light-emitting surfaces (3a, 3b, 3c) of the electronic component (1); c) comparing the at least one current variable (Sist) to at least one target variable (Ssoll) for calculating at least one correction variable (k); d) populating the circuit carrier (2) with the at least one electronic component (1) according to the at least one correction variable (k).
US09992905B2	Supporting input/output (I/O) connectivity for a printed circuit assembly (PCA) in a hot aisle cabling or a cold aisle cabling arrangement Supporting input/output (I/O) connectivity for a printed circuit assembly (PCA) in a hot aisle cabling or a cold aisle cabling arrangement includes a chassis, the chassis being connected to a rack in a data center, and a PCA slidably connected to the chassis via a tray, in which the PCA comprises a number of bill of material (BOM) options to customize the PCA and a single basic input/output system (BIOS) image, and in which the PCA is physically shifted on the chassis to accommodate a cold aisle cabling or a hot aisle cabling arrangement of the data center.
US09992896B2	Detachable crank and slider circuit pack ejector A mechanism for connecting a first object, such as a chassis and/or motherboard, to a second object, such as a faceplate and/or daughterboard. A first link may be connected to the first object and a second link may be connected to the second object. The second link may have a slot and the first link may have a pin which is releasably connectable to the slot to form a pivot connecting the first link to the second link. The pin may be releasable from the slot at a first point of travel of the pivot and the pin may not be releasable from the slot at a second point of travel of the pivot. The first link may include a first retaining lobe and the second link may include a second retaining lobe disposed to interlock with the first retaining lobe.
US09992895B2	Methods for assembling an electronic apparatus An electronic apparatus including a housing, a motherboard, a battery and a display module is provided. The housing has at least an opening and an accommodating space. The motherboard is disposed in the accommodating space. The battery is disposed in the accommodating space and stacked over the motherboard. The motherboard is located between the housing and the battery. The display module is disposed in the accommodating space and stacked over the battery. The battery is located between the motherboard and the display module. At least one edge of the battery in a width direction of the battery is closer to a corresponding side of the housing than a corresponding edge of the motherboard in a width direction of the motherboard.
US09992887B2	Protective cover for portable electronic device A protective cover for a portable electronic device, which is configured for supporting the device and for storing an earphone and cable, includes a casing body, a winding portion, a limiting plate, and a support plate. The device is received in a receiving portion in the casing body and the winding portion protrudes out of one side of the casing body spaced apart from the receiving portion, the winding portion being able to accept the cable of the earphone wound onto it. The limiting plate covers one side of the winding portion spaced apart from the casing body and defining an opening. The support plate covers the opening of the limiting plate and is rotatably coupled to the limiting plate. A ring-shaped accommodating space is defined between the limiting plate and the casing body for receiving the cable of the earphone wound onto the winding portion.
US09992879B2	Package substrate with metal on conductive portions and manufacturing method thereof A packaging substrate includes a first dielectric layer, a first wiring layer, a first conductive pillar layer, a second dielectric layer, a second wiring layer, an electrical pad layer, and a third dielectric layer. The first dielectric layer has a first surface, a second surface opposite to the first surface, plural openings, and a wall surface that faces at least one of the openings. The first wiring layer is located on the first surface and the wall surface. A portion of the first wiring layer on an edge of the wall surface adjacent to the second surface extends in a direction away from the wall surface. The first conductive pillar layer is located on a portion of the first wiring layer. The second dielectric layer is located on the first surface, the first wiring layer, and in the openings.
US09992878B2	Circuit board and method of manufacturing the same A circuit board disclosed herein includes: two substrates opposed to each other, where a dielectric being interposed between the two substrates; a through hole formed in each of the two substrates and filled with the dielectric; a first conductor film formed on an inner surface of the through hole; and a second conductor film covering the through hole on a main surface of each of the two substrates on an opposite side to the dielectric, the second conductor film being connected to the first conductor film on the main surface side.
US09992872B2	Touch sensor, touch panel, and electronic device An object of the present invention is to allow a connector tail connected to a curved place to be naturally folded. A touch sensor includes: a sensor unit that is curved at least at a peripheral edge; and a connector tail in which a first connection part having a first end portion connected to the sensor unit and a second connection part having a second end portion connected to a connector are continuously formed. The connector tail is configured such that the second connection part extends relative to the first connection part curved in accordance with the curve of the peripheral edge of the sensor portion in a direction in which the curved shape of the first connection part is canceled out.
US09992869B2	Magnetically enhanced electrical signal conduction apparatus and methods Apparatus and methods for magnetically enhanced electrical signal conduction are disclosed. An embodiment electrical connector comprises a connector body, a first active signal contact mechanically attached to and at least partially disposed within the connector body, a ground contact mechanically attached to the connector body, an insulator mechanically separating and electrically isolating the first active signal contact and the ground contact, and a first permanent magnet electrically connected to the first active signal contact. An embodiment electrical cable comprises an elongated insulating sheath, a first active signal electrical conductor disposed within the sheath, a first connector body mechanically attached to a first end of the sheath, a first active signal contact mechanically attached to the first connector body, and electrically connected to the first active signal electrical conductor, and a first permanent magnet electrically connected to the first active signal electrical conductor.
US09992868B2	Wired circuit board having one of the conductive layers disposed in an opening formed in metal supporting board A wired circuit board includes a metal pedestal portion formed from a metal material that is the same as the material of the metal supporting board at the pad portion, a pedestal opening formed by opening the metal pedestal portion, a lower conductive layer disposed on one side in the thickness direction of the metal pedestal portion as the first conductive layer, and an upper conductive layer as the second conductive layer formed on one side in the thickness direction of the lower conductive layer as the first conductive layer, wherein one of the lower conductive layer as the first conductive layer and the upper conductive layer as the second conductive layer is disposed in the pedestal opening when projected in the thickness direction, and the periphery of the other is disposed outside of the pedestal opening when projected in the thickness direction.
US09992866B2	Printed circuit board arrangement and electronic device having a printed circuit board device An electronic device, in particular for a medical implant, and a printed circuit board arrangement including a printed circuit board, wherein at least one UV-transparent element is at least fixedly coupled to the printed circuit board, wherein the UV-transparent element is intended for fixation of the printed circuit board in an electronic device.
US09992863B2	Connector inserts and receptacle tongues formed using printed circuit boards Connector inserts and other structures that have a high signal integrity and low insertion loss, are reliable, and are readily manufactured. One example may provide a connector insert formed primarily using a printed circuit board. Contacts on the connector insert may be akin to contacts on a printed circuit board and they may connect to traces having matched impedances on the printed circuit board in order to improve signal integrity and reduce insertion loss. The printed circuit board may be manufactured in a manner for increased reliability. Plating, solder block, and other manufacturing steps that are native to printed circuit board manufacturing may be employed to improve manufacturability. Specialized tools that may provide a chamfered edge on the connector inserts may be employed.
US09992860B2	Printed circuit board capacitor structures One example includes a printed circuit board (PCB) structure. The PCB structure includes a first dereferenced microstrip and a first capacitor pad contacting the first dereferenced microstrip. The PCB structure includes a second dereferenced microstrip and a second capacitor pad contacting the second dereferenced microstrip. The PCB structure also includes a capacitor including a first terminal contacting the first capacitor pad and a second terminal contacting the second capacitor pad.
US09992859B2	Low loss and low cross talk transmission lines using shaped vias Embodiments of the invention include a packaged device with transmission lines that have an extended thickness, and methods of making such device. According to an embodiment, the packaged device may include a first dielectric layer and a first transmission line formed over the first dielectric layer. Embodiments may then include a second dielectric layer formed over the transmission line and the first dielectric layer. According to an embodiment, a first line via may be formed through the second dielectric layer and electrically coupled to the first transmission line. In some embodiments, the first line via extends substantially along the length of the first transmission line.
US09992853B2	Mobile X-ray apparatus including a battery management system Provided is a mobile X-ray apparatus including: an X-ray radiator configured to emit X-rays; a battery configured to supply power to the X-ray radiator; a charger configured to charge the battery; a battery management system (BMS) configured to receive power from the battery or the charger and output a first signal based on a state of the battery; and a first switch configured to be turned off according to the first signal to prevent power from being supplied to the battery management system (BMS), wherein the first switch is further configured to be turned on by power supplied from the charger when the battery management system (BMS) is shut down.
US09992840B2	Controlled color light source A light source is provided that includes at least two semiconductor light-emitting elements that emit light of different color, a light guide, an electronic control unit, and a light sensor. The light emitted by the elements is injected, at least partially, into the light guide and exits laterally from the light guide. The brightness of the elements can be adjusted by the electronic control unit. The light sensor is arranged to receive the light injected by the elements and laterally exiting from the light guide. The electronic control unit accumulates sensor signals from the light sensor over an integration time interval and compares the accumulated signals with a target value or range to determine a difference, changes a brightness of the elements in response to the difference, and changes the integration time interval in response to the difference or to a change in the target value.
US09992834B2	Light-emitting element driving device, light-emitting device, and vehicle A light-emitting element driving device includes a reset signal generation unit that generates a reset signal in accordance with current flowing in a light-emitting element, a set signal generation unit that generates a set signal in accordance with the anode voltage of the light-emitting element, and an output voltage supply unit that generates an output voltage from an input voltage in accordance with the reset signal and the set signal, so as to supply the output voltage to the light-emitting element. The set signal generation unit includes a current generation unit that generates current according to the anode voltage of the light-emitting element, a charging unit that charges the current generated by the current generation unit, and a comparator that generates the set signal in accordance with a comparison result between a charging voltage of the charging unit and a reference voltage.
US09992830B2	Power distribution Several aspects of power distribution systems are described. One aspect relates to apparatus for providing a direct current to a load comprising one or more light emitting diodes. The apparatus comprises: a rectifier operatively connectable to a secondary winding of a transformer whose primary winding is for carrying a high-frequency alternating current; a first capacitor operatively connectable to the secondary winding; and a second capacitor operatively connectable, at least partly via the rectifier, to the secondary winding. The first and second capacitors together provide a reactance referred to the primary winding which substantially compensates for the reactance of the primary winding.
US09992828B2	Methods and systems for accelerated start-up for a switching regulator A system and method for operating one or more light emitting devices is disclosed. In one example, a reference voltage input at an error amplifier receiving a feedback signal from the one or more light emitting devices is adjusted to a first higher voltage independent of a requested irradiance of the one or more light emitting devices during startup in order to accelerate startup of a switching regulator driving the one or more light emitting devices. Subsequently, upon an output of the switching regulator reaching a desired voltage, the reference voltage is adjusted based on the desired irradiance of the one or more light emitting devices.
US09992822B2	Method of mitigating stratification of temperature within the interior of a mobile heated cabinet, and mobile heated cabinet using same A mobile heated cabinet and method of mitigating stratification of temperature within the interior of the mobile heated cabinet are disclosed, wherein the mobile heated cabinet can be used to both (a) store food at a stationary location and (b) store and transport food when moved from the stationary location. The disclosed mobile heated cabinet and method mitigate stratification of temperature by providing a heating device, an air circulating device, an external power source, and a self-contained power source.
US09992817B2	Wireless data processing in a connected vehicle A computer-implemented method for wireless vehicle data processing includes processing data requests from a communication device in a vehicle over a network using a first connection established between the communication device and an off-board server. Further, the method includes detecting a connectivity error between the communication device and the off-board server based on the first connection and detecting a second connection different than the first connection. A connection protocol type is identified for the second connection and processing of the data requests are resumed over the network via the second connection for a predetermined period of time based on the connection protocol type of the second connection.
US09992814B2	Secure toll-free application data access Secure toll-free application data network access is disclosed. Respective limits for registered traffic (e.g., application provider addresses; content type; transmission time; location; etc.) and non-registered traffic (e.g., all other traffic) may be associated with an application eligible for toll-free connectivity. As traffic is received via the toll-free connection, the data is inspected to determine first whether the traffic is registered or non-registered traffic. If registered, the quantity of data is deducted from the allowable data amount specified during provisioning for registered traffic. If non-registered, the quantity of data is deducted from the allowable amount specified during provisioning for non-registered traffic. Accordingly, a toll-free application provider can agree to sponsor a limited quantity of arbitrary traffic which may be generated as content viewed through the wrapped application.
US09992810B2	Method for providing integrity protection in a dual SIM dual standby device Methods and apparatuses are provided for providing integrity protection in a dual subscriber identity module (SIM) dual standby (DSDS) device. A first message is received on a first SIM of the DSDS device before a radio resource of the DSDS device is tuned away from the first SIM to a second SIM by performing a tune-away procedure. A second message is received after completion of the tune-away procedure. The second message is validated. It is determined whether a first payload of the first message matches a second payload of the second message, when the first message and the second message have a same message sequence number. It is determined that the second message is a duplicate message, when the first payload matches the second payload.
US09992806B2	Public safety discovery and communication using a UE-to-UE relay Embodiments of the present disclosure describe apparatuses for public safety discovery and communication with a user equipment (UE)-to-UE relay. Various embodiments may include processing circuitry to execute instructions to determine a list of UEs with which an apparatus may communicate using device-to-device (D2D) communication and generate an announcement message that indicates the apparatus can serve as a relay based at least in part on the list. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.
US09992799B2	System level information for discontinuous reception, cell reselection and RACH A wireless transmit/receive unit is configured to receive system level information, including discontinuous reception (DRX) information, cell selection information, and RACH information. The system level information is received as defined parameters assigned to system information blocks or signaled through dedicated RRC signaling.
US09992794B2	System and method for supporting inter-band carrier aggregation with different UL/DL TDD configurations In some implementations, a method of wireless communications between a wireless communications network and wireless user equipment includes receiving, using a primary Time Division Duplex (TDD) configuration, data on a primary component carrier in a first frequency band. Using a secondary TDD configuration, data on a secondary component carrier is received in a second frequency band different from the first frequency band. A Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) for data received on the secondary component carrier is transmitted using a supplemental TDD configuration. A transmission or retransmission on the secondary component carrier uses a supplemental TDD configuration as well. The supplemental TDD configuration is different from the secondary TDD configuration. Furthermore, an uplink supplemental configuration may be different from a downlink supplemental configuration.
US09992787B2	Sharing channels in a licensed-assisted access in long term evolution operation A channel sharing method includes determining a starting time for transmission on an LAA-LTE channel. A length of a hybrid preamble is determined based on the starting time and a predetermined transmission time boundary. Subsequent to determining the length of the hybrid preamble, the hybrid preamble having the determined length is transmitted. Subsequent to the hybrid preamble, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) signal is transmitted.
US09992782B2	Device-to-device (D2D) subframe with cell identifier Device-to-device (D2D) user equipment (UE) devices transmit D2D subframes that include a cell identifier of the base station providing wireless service to the D2D UE device. A D2D UE device requesting D2D communication resources for D2D communication with other D2D UE device(s) indicates the cell identifiers of the cells serving the other D2D device(s) to the base station serving the requesting D2D UE device.
US09992779B2	System and method for resource allocation device-to-device for open discovery A method for operating a mobile device adapted for device-to-device (D2D) communications includes determining a utilization measure for discovery resources (DRs) allocated for D2D discovery in a communications system, and sending a utilization measure report to an evolved NodeB (eNB) when a reporting criterion is satisfied, wherein the utilization measure report is configured to prompt an adjustment to a number of DRs allocated for D2D discovery when an adjustment condition is met.
US09992778B2	Method, processing device and information storage means for allocating resources for a downlink communication on a frequency selective channel For allocating resources for a downlink communication on a frequency selective channel from an access point of a wireless telecommunications network to a communication device located in a moving conveyance performing a journey on a path, a processing device performs: obtaining a first interference profile according to a position of the moving conveyance on the path, said first interference profile being representative of interference on said downlink communication implied by at least one interferer located along the path; obtaining a second interference profile, said second interference profile being representative of interference on said downlink communication implied by at least one interferer located in the moving conveyance; and allocating the resources for said downlink communication, on the basis of the first and second interference profiles.
US09992759B2	Downlink multicast channel and data channel in a wireless network Cells are grouped into a plurality of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) groups comprising a primary PUCCH group and a secondary PUCCH group comprising a PUCCH secondary cell. The PUCCH secondary cell is in a first timing advance group (TAG). When a time alignment timer of the first TAG expires, the wireless device stops reception of downlink shared channel transport blocks on a first secondary cell in the secondary PUCCH group and continues reception of downlink multicast channel transport blocks on the first secondary cell.
US09992752B2	Communication system In a communication system of the present invention, a HeNB measures interference in Step ST41 in an energy saving mode. When judging to have detected the interference by a UE during communication with an eNB in Step ST42, the HeNB cancels the energy saving mode and moves to a normal mode in Step ST43 and starts issuing a pilot signal in Step ST44. When the UE judges to have detected the pilot signal in Step ST23 and reports the judgment results to the eNB in Step ST24, in Steps ST25 to ST32, a handover process from the eNB to the HeNB is performed for the UE.
US09992750B2	Methods and apparatus related to interference management when sharing downlink bandwidth between wide area network usage and peer to peer signaling Methods and apparatus related to the sharing of wide area network (WAN) downlink bandwidth with peer to peer communication signaling usage are described. A WAN, e.g., cellular, wireless communications device using a base station attachment point, transmits a signal to be used by a peer to peer wireless communications device for controlling its peer to peer transmit power level. The peer to peer wireless communications device receives and measures the strength of the power control signal from the WAN wireless communications device. The measurement information is used by the peer to peer wireless communications device in determining whether or not peer to peer signal transmission is permitted and/or in determining a peer to peer transmission power level. Thus the WAN device is able to manage interference from the peer to peer devices in its vicinity which impacts its recovery of WAN base station downlink signals.
US09992742B2	Discontinuous reception in a wireless device for in-device coexistence Technology for reducing coexistence interference in a multi-radio wireless device is disclosed. In one method, a determination is made if coexistence interference is occurring in the multi-radio device. The multi-radio device is then configured to not monitor physical downlink control channels for pending uplink transmissions in a wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceiver in the multi-radio device that occur during an unscheduled period of discontinuous reception (DRX).
US09992741B2	Device and method of providing grant frame for bandwidth scheduling Devices and methods of limiting wideband STA communication are generally described. The STA receives, over a primary channel, a wakeup frame containing an indication of a SP or CBAP to acquire a wideband TXOP over a wide bandwidth channel including the primary channel and a secondary channel and a control trailer having an indication of the wide bandwidth channel. Prior to the SP/CBAP, the STA opens reception from the primary channel to the wide bandwidth channel. The STA then communicates with another STA over the wide bandwidth channel and subsequently reduces reception from the wide bandwidth channel to the primary channel. The wakeup frame originates from an AP/PCP or the other STA, and contains fields indicating the wakeup frame length and SP or a sensing time length prior to the CBAP.
US09992739B2	Proactive radio resource allocation The present disclosure concerns radio communication. More particularly, the embodiments presented herein generally relate to allocation of radio resources. In one example embodiment, a radio network node 700 determines that an operational status of a user equipment (UE) is an operational status where the UE is in transition from an IDLE mode to a CONNECTED mode. In response thereto, the radio network node 700 determines a radio resource allocation for the UE. Also in response thereto, the radio network node 700 may proactively transmit a data message indicating the determined radio resource allocation to the UE.
US09992738B2	Physical layer power save facility with random offset Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide methods and apparatus for using a random offset to achieve power savings. For certain aspects, a Basic Service Set (BSS)-specific offset may be added to the (partial) association identifier (AID) prior to entering the partial AID into a 9-bit field of the physical layer (PHY) header (e.g., bits 13-21 of the NSTS field). The BSS-specific offset may be selected randomly by an access point (AP) and signaled to the associated stations (STAs) through the association response, or the offset may be communicated to the STA via other means. In this manner, the value in the 9-bit field for downlink transmissions may, with high likelihood, be different from one BSS to the next, allowing STAs to remain awake only when a frame is being transmitted to them.
US09992727B2	Method for managing a proxy table in a wireless network using proxy devices The invention relates to a proxy node comprising means for managing a proxy table, a receiver for receiving a message from a first resource restricted device, said message being intended to at least one corresponding destination device, control means for checking whether an entry for the first resource restricted device is included in the set of entries of the proxy table, the set of entries of the proxy table indicating the set of resource-restricted devices the proxy node is in charge of, a transmitter for forwarding the message depending on the result of the proxy table checking, the means for managing the proxy table being arranged for cleaning the proxy table of the entry relative to the resource-restricted device by monitoring the relative usage of the proxy node for forwarding messages for the resource restricted device with the usage of competitor proxy nodes for forwarding messages for the resource restricted device.
US09992701B2	Method and apparatus for adaptive transmission techniques with connection context aware radio communication management and path prediction An information handling system operating as a smart vehicle gateway and includes a wireless adapter for communicating with a wireless link and a storage device for storing a spatial-temporal user profile comprising wireless device usage trend data for a location in or near a predicted smart vehicle gateway path during a future time interval for a smart vehicle gateway. The smart vehicle gateway may operate to establish a wireless link on one of several WWAN link options as a home network via a programmable eSIM. The information handling system further includes positional detector and an application processor that determines a trajectory estimation during a future time interval.
US09992695B2	Methods and apparatuses for performing measurements in a wireless network Embodiments herein relate to a user equipment, UE, configured to performing measurements in a wireless communication network. The UE acquires system information, SI, of a cell during autonomous gaps, and also performs at least one non-SI measurement related to a serving and/or to one or more neighbor cells during a time period comprising the autonomous gaps. The embodiments also relate to a serving network node, a target network node and respective method therein.
US09992692B2	Network node, a mobility management node and methods therein for handling GTP tunnel failures in a radio communications network A method performed by a network node (110) for handling a GTP tunnel failure in a radio communications network (100) is provided. The network node (110) receives a release message from a mobility management node (150) for a wireless device (121) associated with the network node (110). The release message comprises information identifying at least one E-UT-RAN Radio Access Bearer, E-RAB, and information that the release message was caused by a DPRS Tunneling Protocol, GTP, error indication. The network node (110) also allocates one or more tunnel endpoint identifiers, TEIDs, for the at least one E-RAB identified in the received release message. Then, the network node (110) transmits a modification message to the mobility management node (150) to modify the at least one E-RAB identified in the received release message, said modification message comprising the allocated one or more TEIDs for the at least one E-RAB. A network node for handling a GTP tunnel failure in a radio communications network (100) is also provided. A mobility management node (150) and a method therein for handling a GTP tunnel failure in a radio communications network (100) is also provided.
US09992689B2	Methods and systems for processing communications between a base station and mobile device based on wireless communciations of another base station Methods and systems for processing communications based on wireless communications of adjacent base stations are disclosed. According to an aspect, a method includes monitoring, by a separate interference monitoring receiver communicatively coupled to a first base station, wireless communications transmitted by a second base station to communicate with one or more mobile devices. The method also includes determining, based on the monitored wireless communications, a wireless communication scheme for processing communications between the first base station and one or more other mobile devices. Further, the method includes processing communications between the first base station and the one or more other mobile devices based on the wireless communication scheme.
US09992687B2	Efficient beam scanning for high-frequency wireless networks Systems and methods relating to non-adaptive beam scanning in a wireless network are disclosed. In some embodiments, a method of operation of a transmit node to perform non-adaptive beam scanning for transmit beam patterns of the transmit node that partition a service coverage area of the transmit node into transmit partition cells is provided. The method transmitting a known signal using each of multiple scanning beam patterns for each of multiple beam scanning stages over non-overlapping radio resource slots. The scanning beam patterns for the beam scanning stages are such that each unique combination of scanning beam patterns consisting of one scanning beam pattern from each of the beam scanning stages corresponds to a different transmit beam pattern of the transmit node. This multi-stage beam scanning approach provides an exponentially more efficient process for beam scanning than the conventional Sequential Beam Sweeping (SBS) approach.
US09992680B2	System and method for establishing security in network devices capable of operating in multiple frequency bands A method includes establishing, in response to a network device operating in the first frequency band, security for the first frequency band and a second frequency band by performing a single authentication in the first frequency band prior to the network device switching operation from the first frequency band to the second frequency band. The method includes transferring, subsequent to the network device switching operation from the first frequency band to the second frequency band, a communication session of the network device from the first frequency band to the second frequency band. The method includes resuming the communication session of the network device in the second frequency band using the security established for the second frequency band (i) during the operation of the network device in the first frequency band, and (ii) prior to the network device switching operation from the first frequency band to the second frequency band.
US09992671B2	On-line signup server for provisioning of certificate credentials to wireless devices Embodiments of a mobile device and method for secure online sign-up and provisioning of credentials for Wi-Fi hotspots are generally described herein. In some embodiments, provisioning occurs using a service set identifier (SSID) to associate with a hotspot and retrieve a virtual LAN (VLAN) identifier. The VLAN identifier is used to complete the signup and provisioning process. In some embodiments, a hotspot may implement a primary SSID and a dependent SSID. The mobile device associates with the hotspot using the dependent SSID to perform the secure online signup and provisioning process. Once credentials are obtained using the signup and provisioning process, the device can connect to the hotspot using the primary SSID and the already provisioned credentials. The provisioned credentials may include certificates, username/password, or SIM-type credentials.
US09992662B1	Method and apparatus for enrolling connected electronic devices in a connected home monitoring-security system A system and method (10) are provided for enrolling electrical control devices (12) in a system (14) for wirelessly controlling and monitoring a plurality of electrical control devices (12) located throughout a building (16). The system (10) includes a portable electronic control panel (20) that connects wirelessly to the devices (12). The system (10) automatically creates a list of the devices (12) based their wireless signal strength and allows a user to select and operate each of the devices (12) one at a time to thereby verify the identity of each device (12) and input a user created identifier for each device (12) into the system (10).
US09992660B1	Method and apparatus for inductive communication A radio-frequency identification (RFID) transponder device is disclosed. The RFID transponder device includes an antenna component for inductive communication with at least one basestation transceiver device and an interface component coupled to the antenna component. The interface component includes a demodulation component arranged to perform demodulation of a signal at the antenna component for basestation-to-transponder communication and a modulation component arranged to perform modulation of the signal at the antenna component for transponder-to-basestation communication. The interface component is arranged to operate in at least a charge and talk mode of operation, and during the charge and talk mode of operation the modulation component is arranged to perform binary phase-shift keying, BPSK, modulation of the signal at the antenna component for the transponder-to-basestation communication. A RFID basestation transceiver device is also disclosed.
US09992659B1	Stream-processing of telecommunication event records A method of real-time streaming telecommunication event records. The method comprises receiving event records by a collector component executing on a computer system, storing the event records in a messaging queue by the collector component, where the messaging queue is executed on the computer system, retrieving some of the event records from the messaging queue by a producer component executing on the computer system, where each of the retrieved event records are associated with a same on-going telecommunication activity, aggregating the event records associated with the same on-going telecommunication activity by the producer into a bundle, retrieving the bundle by a consumer component executing on the computer system, formatting the bundle by the consumer component into an aggregated data record, analyzing the aggregated data record based on a predefined fraud pattern by the consumer component, and generating a billing record by the consumer component based on the aggregated data record.
US09992640B2	Short-message service verification of account information In one embodiment, a method includes accessing one or more short-message service (SMS) messages received at the first mobile device from a server of a verification authority; automatically and without manual user input, processing by the application data in the SMS messages to detect a particular bit sequence; and automatically and without manual user input, transmitting the information of the first user to the verification authority from the first mobile device in response to detecting the particular bit sequence.
US09992636B2	Transmission management system, management method, and recording medium A transmission management system, in response to receiving a registration request for registering a candidate counterpart terminal in a candidate list of a first transmission terminal, determines whether a target of the registration request is a second transmission terminal or a group. The management system transmits, to the second transmission terminal, an approval request for requesting whether to approve registering the second transmission terminal as a candidate counterpart terminal in the candidate list of the first transmission terminal, when the target of the registration request is determined to be the second transmission terminal. The management system transmits, to an administrator terminal operated by an administrator of the group, an approval request for requesting whether to approve registering all transmission terminals in the group as candidate counterpart terminals in the candidate list of the first transmission terminal, when the target of the registration request is determined to be the group.
US09992634B2	Resource selection method and wireless device A resource selection method and a wireless device are disclosed. The method includes: determining whether the wireless device is desired to broadcast a first scheduling assignment (SA) signal in an SA slot of an SA phase; if yes, selecting an SA broadcasting resource for broadcasting the first SA signal based on a first list and a second list recorded by the wireless device; if no, listening to all SA channels included in an SA channel resource pool, and removing a first SA channel from the first list after a second SA signal being carried on the first SA channel is listened to.
US09992633B2	Bluetooth low energy location system and method A BLE location system and method are disclosed. The BLE system may provide accurate location of a BLE enabled object in a three dimensional space. The three dimensional space may be a building and the BLE system and method permits accurate location at a room, bay, and bed level in the three dimensional space to be determined. In some embodiments, the BLE system may determine if a BLE enabled object crosses a boundary and the boundary may be, for example, a boundary to a room, such as a door, a boundary to a space, such as a hallway or meeting area, or a boundary to a particular location identified by set of coordinates (X,Y or X,Y,Z for example). The determination of the boundary crossing of the BLE enabled object or the location of the BLE enabled object may be used for staff and patient locating and their associated workflows as well as high accuracy asset tracking in a hospital embodiment.
US09992632B2	Mobile apparatus and service providing system A mobile apparatus travels within a predetermined service provision area and, in response to receiving an instruction to provide a service from at least one user present in the service provision area, travels to the user to provide the service to the user. The mobile apparatus moves to a priority stand-by position which is determined based on a location of the at least one user from a plurality of stand-by positions provided within the service provision area and waits for the instruction to provide a service.
US09992626B2	Method and apparatus for providing location-based services using location-based traces An approach is provided for providing contemporaneous traces of user movement for algorithms and methods of location-based applications and/or services. The location traces platform determines a request, from one or more applications, for location information associated with at least one device. The location traces platform determines one or more location traces associated with the at least one device, wherein the one or more location traces represent at least a portion of a movement history associated with the at least one device. The location traces platform causes, at least in part, a return of the one or more location traces, one or more service parameters, one or more service suggestions, or a combination thereof to the one or more applications in response to the request.
US09992620B2	Platform for geo-fence social media A social media application that integrates with a map application which enables users to interact with both stationary and mobile geo-fences that are placed around locations or objects of interest. The geo-fences are populated with content or programmed to provide notifications, and social features. The social features include, among other things, categorization, peer review, interest suggestion, threshold alerts, private and public messaging, private and public content dissemination, and cloud repository.
US09992611B2	Communication portable device and communication method A method for managing the communication between a communication portable device (200) including a NFC device and a NFC tag (100) including a plurality of information, comprises comprising determining a position and/or orientation of the communication portable device (200) and enabling the communication portable device to read a portion of the plurality of information units, depending on the position and/or orientation of the communication portable device.
US09992603B1	Method, system and apparatus for measuring head size using a magnetic sensor mounted on a personal audio delivery device A magnetic sensor mounted on a headband of the personal audio delivery device may output a sensor signal indicative of an interaction between a magnetic field of a transducer of a personal audio delivery device and the magnetic sensor. A head size of a head on which the personal audio delivery device is worn is calculated based on the sensor signal from the magnetic sensor. Based on the head size, a non-linear transfer function is identified which characterizes how sound is transformed via the head with the calculated head size. An output signal is generated indicative of one or more audio cues to facilitate spatialization of sound associated with the output signal based on the identified non-linear transfer function. The sound associated with the output signal is output by the transducer of the personal audio delivery device.
US09992598B2	Method for manufacturing an ultrasonic transducer An ultrasonic transducer includes: a diaphragm pot that has a surrounding wall; a transducer element mounted in a diaphragm pot on a transducer section on an inner side of the diaphragm for generating the ultrasonic vibrations; a first damping element situated in the diaphragm pot on transducer element for damping the diaphragm; and a second damping element situated within the diaphragm pot in an edge section of the diaphragm around the transducer element for damping vibrations of the wall; the second damping element being connected with force locking, at least section by section, both to the edge section and to the inner side of the wall.
US09992594B2	Ear model unit, artificial head, and measurement device and method using said ear model unit and artificial head A measurement device and measurement method for evaluating an acoustic device that allows a sound to be transmitted via vibration transmission by being held by a human ear includes an ear model unit having an ear model modeled after a human ear and an artificial external ear canal unit continuous with the ear model. The ear model unit is formed from rubber, a same material as an auricle model conforming to IEC 60318-7 or IEC 60268-7, or a material having a Shore hardness of from 30 to 60. The ear model is provided with an auricle or a hole which holds the acoustic device. A microphone is configured to measure an air-conducted component generated within an artificial ear canal of the artificial ear canal unit by vibration transmitted to the ear model unit from the acoustic device held by the auricle or the hole.
US09992587B2	Binaural hearing system configured to localize a sound source A hearing aid system comprising a pair of hearing devices, e.g. hearing aids, worn at the ears of a user receives a target signal generated by a target signal source and transmitted through an acoustic channel to microphones of the hearing aid system. Due to (potential) additive environmental noise, a noisy acoustic signal is received at the microphones of the hearing system. An essentially noise-free version of the target signal is simultaneously transmitted to the hearing devices of the hearing system via a wireless connection. Based on a sound propagation model of the acoustic propagation channel from the target sound source to the microphones of the hearing aid system, and on relative transfer functions representing direction-dependent filtering effects of the head and torso of the user in the form of direction-dependent acoustic transfer functions from a microphone on one side of the head, to a microphone on the other side of the head, a direction-of-arrival (DoA) of the target sound signal relative to the user is determined using a maximum likelihood approach.
US09992582B2	Method of operating a hearing aid system and a hearing aid system A hearing aid system and method of operating the hearing aid system, wherein the impedance of a hearing aid receiver is measured, the measured impedance is used to determine non-linearity characteristics of the receiver, and upon detecting that the non-linearity exceeds a threshold, the user is alerted and/or the receiver non-linearity is compensated.
US09992581B2	Optical microphone system One embodiment includes an optical microphone system. The system includes a laser configured to emit an optical beam at a linear polarization and an optical cavity system comprising a membranous mirror that is configured to reflect the optical beam and to vibrate in response to an acoustic input signal. The optical cavity system includes at least one photodetector configured to receive at least a portion of the optical beam to generate a microphone signal that is indicative of the vibration of the membranous mirror resulting from the acoustic input signal based on the reflection of the optical beam. The system further includes an acoustic processor configured to process the microphone signal to calculate a frequency of the acoustic input signal.
US09992580B2	Signal to noise ratio using decentralized dynamic laser microphones A communication system includes a processor and a computer readable medium, coupled with the processor, comprising instructions that program the processor to: cause an electromagnetic emitter to irradiate a location on a selected object in proximity to a speaker; determine, from radiation reflected by the selected object at the irradiated location, an audio characteristic of the irradiated location; and when the audio characteristic is acceptable, assigning an electromagnetic microphone to collect audio information from radiation reflected by the selected object at the irradiated location.
US09992578B2	Unidirectional dynamic microphone unit In a unidirectional dynamic microphone unit, a cylindrical tube is provided to cover the microphone unit, a cylindrical wall of a first cylindrical portion that is included in the cylindrical tube and extends to at least the rearward is provided with a rear sound wave introducing portion weighted such that an acoustic resistance value is gradually made smaller toward the rearward side from positions of sound holes for taking in a sound wave transmitting around from the rearward side, preferably formed of a trumpet-shaped opening, and it is possible to enhance the sensibility to sound pressures without degradation of the frequency response and the directionality.
US09992569B2	Camera-mountable acoustic collection assembly An acoustic collection and collection assembly comprises an acoustic collection dish, a support frame, and a microphone mount extending from the support frame that allows one or more microphones to be positioned at the acoustic focal point of the dish for optimal capture of distant sounds.
US09992568B2	Method and apparatus for audio playback In accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus includes at least one earpiece, at least one hands-free speaker, and a sound reproduction system. The sound reproduction system includes the at least one earpiece and the at least one hands-free speaker. The sound reproduction system is configured to provide a downlink audio signal to the at least one earpiece and a corresponding audio signal associated with the downlink audio signal to the at least one hands-free speaker.
US09992565B2	Suspension system mechanism A suspension system is provided with a frame to mount to a side surface of a speaker cabinet with a plurality of apertures formed therethrough. The suspension system is also provided with a lever arm with a proximal end and a distal end that are both adapted to connect to an upper support. The lever arm also has an intermediate portion that is pivotally connected to the frame about a pivot axis with a plurality of arcuate slots formed through. Each arcuate slot is formed with an end stop that corresponds to a splay angle of the speaker cabinet relative to the upper support, and each slot aligns with one of the apertures to receive a pin. Whereby suspending the speaker cabinet from the upper support pivots the lever arm in a first direction until the pin engages the end stop.
US09992564B2	Speaker assembly A speaker assembly has a mounting box and a speaker. The mounting box has one bottom plate, a first sidewall, a second sidewall, and a third sidewall. The speaker is mounted on the mounting box. The third sidewall is between the first sidewall and the second sidewall, and the speaker and the three sidewalls define an opening. A display device has a casing, a backlight module and the aforementioned speaker assembly. The backlight module is in the casing, and the speaker assembly is located in a space defined by the casing and the backlight module.
US09992558B2	Message routing using location routing numbers Various embodiments provide for a way of routing messages using location routing numbers. More specifically, some embodiments can route calls on different legacy networks by using features of existing telecommunication policy and databases. For example, a location routing number can be registered in a number portability administration center database. The location routing number may be in a native number block of a facility carrier and a company registering the location routing number in the number portability administration center database may not be the facility carrier. The destination switch of the facility carrier can be programmed to accept traffic associated with the location routing number. As a result, components of the network can route the message for the company to a destination switch of the facility carrier.
US09992544B2	Method and system for reproducing contents, and computer-readable recording medium thereof A content reproducing method and system for performing seamless playback of contents between devices is provided. The contents reproducing system includes a portable device which, when a short distance communication with a remote control which is configured to control an electronic device occurs during reproducing of contents, generates data required by the electronic device for reproducing the contents that are being reproduced, and which transmits the generated data to the remote control; the remote control which receives the data from the portable device and which transmits the received data to the electronic device, in conjunction with the occurrence of the short distance communication with the portable device; and the electronic device for receiving the contents from a contents provider and reproducing the contents.
US09992541B2	Media processing apparatus and controlling method thereof A media processing apparatus is provided. The media processing apparatus includes an interface unit which is connected to each of a plurality of terminal devices through a communication interface including a video channel, an audio channel, and a data channel, a processor which receives a control signal from a first terminal device having control rights, a control unit which notifies the first terminal device if there is an access attempt from at least one of a second terminal device and transfers the control rights to the second terminal device if a message to permit the transfer of the control rights is received from the first terminal device. Accordingly, control rights may be transferred and shared in a reasonable manner.
US09992537B2	Real-time tracking collection for video experiences Methods and systems for tracking events associated with use of video content are disclosed. A method collects events associated with use of video content at a computing device. In response to determining that a tracking interval has elapsed, the method optimizes the collected events by grouping similar events together, serializes the optimized events by structuring the optimized events in a defined format, and creates a tracking call to send the serialized events to a remote computing device. A system determines setup parameters for tracking collection on a client computing device, the setup parameters comprising an error tracking parameter, and setup check and tracking intervals. The system periodically receives serialized event data from a client device in accordance with the tracking interval, the event data having been collected in response to occurrences of tracked events associated with use of video content at the client device, the video content including an advertisement.
US09992534B2	Sharing television and video programming through social networking In particular embodiments, one or more computer systems of a social-networking system provide social content for display in a mobile application running on a mobile device of a user of the social-networking system. The mobile application is configured to display the social content and an interface for selecting media content to view on a display device. The social content is from a social graph of the social-networking system. The social graph includes nodes and edges connecting the nodes. The nodes include user nodes that are each associated with a particular user of the social-networking system. The one or more computer systems of the social-networking system receive an indication from the mobile application that an option to view particular media content has been selected and provide one or more instructions to display the selected particular media content on the display device.
US09992521B1	System and method for simultaneously broadcasting multiple media-components Disclosed herein is a system and method for simultaneously broadcasting video components (VCs). In one example, a method includes an automation-system (AS) selecting a log entry including (i) a first identifier that maps to a first VC, and (ii) a second identifier that maps to a second VC; a recording-and-playout device (RAPD) retrieving the first VC; the RAPD sending the retrieved first-VC to an encoder; the encoder generating a first transport-stream (TS) having (i) program-identification (PID) data, and (ii) payload data including the sent first-VC; the encoder sending the generated first-TS to a first outbound-broadcast device (OBD); the encoder sending the generated first-TS to a transport-stream splicer; the AS loading the splicer with the second VC; the splicer generating a second TS having (i) the PID data of the generated first-TS, and (ii) payload data including the loaded second-VC; and the splicer sending the generated second-TS to a second OBD.
US09992520B2	Apparatus and methods for providing content to an IP-enabled device in a content distribution network Apparatus and methods for providing content to IP-enabled devices in a content distribution network. In one embodiment, a network architecture is disclosed which enables delivery of content to such IP-enabled devices without the use of a high-speed data connection This capability allow the managed network operator to provide content services to an IP-enabled device associated with a non-data subscriber. In one implementation, requests for content from user IP-enabled devices are received, authenticated, and content processed into a series of encrypted segments. Once the requesting user/device is authenticated, the segments are provided with a playlist. The rendering device is also provided access to a decryption key (e.g., via a URL to a managed key server). Variants providing (i) user access to the MSO distribution network via an indigenous modem or gateway; and (ii) user access to the MSO core via a gateway and a third party unmanaged network are described.
US09992517B2	Providing enhanced content based on user interactions Some of the various features described herein include providing an enhanced view of content. Some content may be cropped or edited for general transmission, and a primary- or second-screen device may be used to receive and view additional views or portions of content that may otherwise be unavailable. For example, if a cropped portion of content is delivered to a device, a different device may be used to view at least a portion of the content that was removed during the cropping process. Another aspect may include providing a higher-resolution version of content to a second-screen device.
US09992504B2	Coding method for data compression of power spectra of an optoelectronic component and decoding method A coding method for data compression of a power spectra of an optoelectronic component and a decoding method are disclosed. In an embodiment, a coding method includes providing a power spectrum, sampling the power spectrum at particular sampling wavelengths in order to provide a discrete source spectrum, indexing the discrete source spectrum in order to provide a source graph having discrete source values, producing an image graph having discrete image values by transforming the source graph from a source range into an image range with a discrete frequency transform, performing compression of the image graph, and digitizing the compressed image graph in order to produce compressed spectral data.
US09992495B2	Method for encoding a matrix, in particular a matrix representative of a still or video image, using a wavelet transform, with numbers of wavelet levels that vary according to the image and different quantization factors for each wavelet level An encoding method for encoding successive layers of an initial matrix into a compressed matrix and restoring it as a restored matrix, each cell of the initial matrix containing a respective initial numerical value; each cell of the compressed matrix containing a respective compressed numerical value corresponding to the respective initial numerical value; each cell of the restored matrix containing a respective restored numerical value corresponding to the respective initial numerical value; is characterized in that to encode, one applies: —wavelet transforms applied to the entire matrix over a limited number of levels, such that a residual level remains with dimensions larger than or equal to 2×2; then, a differential encoding of the residual level, i.e., a compression of the residual level by obtaining differences with each of the values of the residual level.
US09992492B2	Providing a common set of parameters for sub-layers of coded video Systems and methods disclosed herein may describe methods and systems for generating, receiving, and/or processing a bitstream comprising at least a first coded video stream (CVS), the first CVS comprising a first flag that indicates whether each of a plurality of sub-layers in a coded video sequence has a respectively corresponding set of sub-layer parameters or whether a common set of sub-layer parameters corresponds to the plural sub-layers, wherein each sub-layer corresponds to a respective temporal identifier value.
US09992491B2	Method and apparatus for encoding and decoding haptic information in multi-media files A method for encoding haptic information inside a multi-media file having content includes changing a portion of the content in the multi-media file, and adding the haptic information to the changed portion of the content, the haptic information corresponding to a haptic signal for generating a haptic effect upon playback of the multi-media file. A method for decoding haptic information from inside a multi-media file having content includes locating the haptic information inside the multi-media file, and generating a haptic signal based on the located haptic information during playback of the content of the multi-media file. A method includes receiving a multi-media signal comprising an audio signal and a haptic signal with a receiver of a haptic device, and outputting a haptic effect with a haptic output device of the haptic device based on the haptic signal in the multi-media signal.
US09992486B2	Method of enhanced alignment of two means of projection An alignment, on a first projector, of a second projector, including: activating the projectors to project respective circles; transmitting projected image data from pictures of the projections to an analysis device that identifies respective centers of the projected circles and transmits adjustment commands the second projector to make the projected circle centers coincide. The analysis device: identifies at least one first and one second pair of projected-image zones, each zone of a pair including an arc of a circle, and the zones, pairwise, being spaced a maximum distance apart; identifies luminous intensity extrema in respective profiles of spatial distribution of luminous intensity; deduces spatial co-ordinates of points corresponding to said intensity extrema; defines spatial co-ordinates of the medium between the two points of the first pair and of the medium between the two points of the second pair, to deduce therefrom spatial co-ordinates of the center of the circle.
US09992458B2	Projector and method of preventing image deterioration thereof A projection lens has a lens barrel holding a lens. In a case where an image forming panel is disposed to be shifted with respect to an optical axis of the projection lens, in a second part on a side to which the image forming panel is shifted with respect to the optical axis of the projection lens, there is a great increase in temperature, and in a first part on the opposite side, there is a small increase in temperature. A lens barrel heating optical section has a first mirror, condensing lenses, and a second mirror. The lens barrel heating optical section emits the redundant light, which is reflected by the color wheel, toward the first part of the lens barrel. By heating the first part through redundant light, temperature distribution in the circumferential direction becomes uniform, and deterioration in performance of the projected image is suppressed.
US09992457B2	High resolution multispectral image capture The use of a hybrid camera tool may capture high resolution multispectral images without sacrificing resolution in exchange for spectral accuracy. The capture of a high resolution multispectral image may include forming a high spatial resolution image based on a portion of incoming light and generating a high spectral resolution image that includes multispectral samples based on another portion of the incoming light. The high resolution multispectral image is then synthesized by consolidating the high spatial resolution image with the high spectral resolution image.
US09992455B2	Video encoding method and video encoder system Input video frames are encoded into a sequence of output video frames arranged in groups of pictures (GOP). Each input video frame is encoded into an output video frame using a respective compression value. Each GOP in the sequence of output video frames has a GOP length defined by a number of frames contained in the GOP. A level of motion and a level of light in a first input video frame are determined. If level of light is below a predetermined threshold value, encode the first input video frame using a predetermined constant GOP length and a compression value which is a decreasing function of the level of light. If level of light is above, encode the first input video frame using a GOP length which is a decreasing function of the level of motion, and a compression value which is a decreasing function of the level of light.
US09992451B2	Information processing device, control method, and system An information processing device including a display control unit configured to carry out control in a manner that a display unit disposed before eyes of a user displays past data relating to a recognized interlocutor, and a sharing setting control unit configured to carry out control in a manner that sharing of the past data with another person is set.
US09992447B2	Inter radio access technology management for audiovisual calls This disclosure relates to inter radio access technology management for audiovisual calls. Wireless link availability and suitability for an audiovisual call may be evaluated for each of a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology. One or more wireless links on which to establish an audiovisual call may be selected based on the evaluations. The audiovisual call may be established on the selected wireless link(s). Wireless link availability and suitability for an audiovisual call may be monitored during the audiovisual call and decisions on whether to perform handover to a different wireless link and/or media duplication on multiple wireless links may be made based on the suitability for an audiovisual call of available wireless links.
US09992444B2	System and method for preventing unauthorized recording, retransmission and misuse of audio and video In some embodiments, a method includes receiving, at a device, digital audio content to be converted by a digital-to-analog converter to produce analog audio content. The digital audio content has at least one audible frequency. The method also includes selecting, at the device, a first signal and a second signal to output with the analog audio content. The first signal has an inaudible carrier frequency and a bandwidth, and the second signal also has an inaudible carrier frequency and a bandwidth. A difference between the first signal and the second signal is an undesired audible signal. The method further includes outputting, from the device, the analog audio content, the first signal and the second signal, such that when the analog audio content is detected by a recording device the undesired audible signal is detected with the analog audio content.
US09992443B2	System and methods for time lapse video acquisition and compression Techniques and devices for acquiring and compressing timelapse video are described. The techniques are adaptive, in that the acquisition frame rate is adapted and captured images are periodically deleted during filming. To implement the method, a user need not know ahead of time how long the source video will be acquired. Regardless of the acquisition time, the resulting video is automatically edited to provide a timelapse clip of a predefined length or of a length within a predefined range.
US09992440B2	Method, apparatus and computer program product for configuration of a display screen A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided to facilitate the configuration of a display screen, such as an idle screen, a home screen, etc. The method provides for presentation of a setup screen defining a plurality of display channels and a time scale for the display channels. The method also receives an indication of a user interface component configured to generate information to be presented in a respective display channel commencing at a respective time. Further, the method provides for presentation of a display screen that includes a plurality of display channels and further includes information generated by the user interface component in the respective display channel commencing at the respective time. A corresponding apparatus and computer program product are also provided.
US09992437B1	Stacked image sensor pixel cell with in-pixel vertical channel transfer transistor A pixel cell has a photodiode, a readout circuit, and a vertical transfer transistor. The photodiode is disposed within a first substrate of a first semiconductor chip for accumulating an image charge in response to light incident upon the photodiode. The readout circuit is disposed within a second substrate of a second semiconductor chip. The vertical transfer transistor is coupled between the photodiode and the readout circuitry to transfer the image charge from the photodiode to the readout circuitry.
US09992429B2	Video pinning Techniques for maintaining display of a portion of a video as the video continues to be displayed in a background are described herein. In some instances, a video may be captured at a first location and transmitted to a second location, where the video is output in real-time. As the video is displayed, a user may select a portion of the video to be paused. Based on the selection, the portion of the video may be paused while the rest of the video continues in a background. The background video may be displayed according to a different level of focus, image resolution, transparency, etc. than the portion of the video.
US09992423B2	Constant field of view for image capture Devices and methods for capturing images are described herein. A processor may be configured to capture a first image. The processor may further be configured to determine a distance between a lens and an image sensor of the image capture device for capturing the first image. The processor may further be configured to determine a portion of the image sensor to use for the first image based on the determined distance in order to maintain a constant field of view for one or more images captured by the image capture device. The processor may further be configured to adjust the portion of the image sensor used for the first image based on the determined portion of the image sensor to generate an adjusted first image.
US09992422B2	Motion guiding method and motion guiding apparatus A motion guiding apparatus includes a guiding device and a mobile unit. The guiding device includes a main body, an arm piece, and a linear light source. The main body is in connection with the arm piece and arranged on a reference surface. The linear light source is arranged on the arm piece and forms a reference light line on the reference surface and a direct light line on the main body. The mobile unit is capable of capturing an image showing the reference light beam, the direct light beam, and a reflected light line. The mobile unit can also compute an angle formed between the reference light line and the reflected light line to obtain a relative angle between the mobile unit and the linear light source, so as to move in accordance to the relative angle. A motion guiding method is also provided.
US09992420B2	Systems and methods for previewing newly captured image content and reviewing previously stored image content Systems and methods for previewing newly captured image content and reviewing previously stored image content using an electronic device are provided. The previously stored image content may include an individual distinct image or at least two consecutive video frame images.
US09992416B2	Real time electronic video stabilization In various embodiments, an image stabilization system includes a dual-path, processing pipeline in which a first path serves as a stabilization path, and a second path serves as a preview path. An image signal processor produces a stream of image frames for each path. Frames that are received by the stabilization path undergo stabilization processing to produce post processed frames that are cropped in a manner that provides for visual stabilization. Frames that are received by the preview path are processed to provide a real-time preview while corresponding frames are processed by the stabilization path.
US09992415B2	System and method for correlating camera views A method for correlating views of two or more video camera systems includes obtaining a plurality of data point coordinate sets to represent relative positioning between the camera systems and data point objects in the environment. The views may be correlated through Interpolation or extrapolation using the obtained data point coordinate sets. Devices such as lasers may also be used to correlate views of two or more video camera systems.
US09992410B2	Apparatus and method photographing image A method and apparatus for photography using an electronic device. The method and apparatus include a preview display operation of displaying a first image output from a first image sensor as a main image, and displaying a second image photographed by a second image sensor as a sub-image. A panorama photography operation of buffering the main image is executed when a panorama photography operation is requested. The sub-image is captured from a preset frame. When the panorama photographing operation is terminated, a composition panorama is generated from a panorama image of the main image, and compositing with the captured sub-image.
US09992409B2	Digital mirror apparatus Provided is a digital mirror apparatus including: a camera that captures an image of a user; a display having a display surface located at a position that allows the user to visually identify the display; a controller; a memory; and a control panel operable by the user, wherein the controller: horizontally flips a live image of the user that is being captured by the camera to generate a mirror image; reads a reference image to be compared with the mirror image; superimposes the reference image on the mirror image to display on the display a display image in a region of the display in which the reference image and the mirror image overlap one another; and stores one frame of the live image in the memory, based on an operation performed on the control panel by the user while the display image is displayed on the display.
US09992399B2	System, method and apparatus for independently controlling different cameras from a single device A method, system, and apparatus are provided that enable control of multiple cameras, and even multiple types of cameras, from a single device. Responsive to linking a camera to the controller, a unique control panel is generated to display settings and status information associated with said camera. As additional cameras are added, additional control panels are generated respective to each linked camera. A navigable display on the controller then enables a user to optionally access each control panel so that he may assess the respective camera's status and optionally adjust the respective camera's settings from a single device.
US09992390B2	Electronic movie camera An electronic video camera has a camera body which comprises an inner carrier structure and at least one outer cover element which is arranged at the carrier structure and which bounds an interior space of the camera body. In this respect, the camera structure forms a central cooling passage which divides the interior space of the camera body into a ventilation space within the cooling passage and into at least one component space outside the cooling passage. The ventilation space is open toward the environment of the video camera. The component space is sealingly closed with respect to the ventilation space and the environment of the video camera. The video camera has electronic components which are received in the component space and are thermally conductively coupled to the ventilation space via at least one side wall of the cooling passage. The cover element furthermore forms a side cover which is releasable to expose the electronic components arranged in the component space for servicing purposes.
US09992389B1	Universal wall/ceiling-plate with security camera An apparatus comprising a power adapter, a security camera portion and a socket adapter. The power adapter may be configured to receive an AC power source and generate DC power. The security camera may be configured to receive DC power from the power adapter. The socket adapter may comprise a first connector a second connector and a third connector. A camera module may be integrated in a cavity of the security camera portion. The power adapter may be within the socket adapter. The first connector may be removably connected to a light bulb and the second connector may be removably connected to a light fixture. The power adapter may receive the AC power source from an electrical connection to the light fixture. The security camera may be configured to connect to the third connector to receive the DC power.
US09992383B2	Color measurement apparatus and printing apparatus A color measurement apparatus includes a color measurement portion, a carriage, and a movement mechanism the color measurement portion starts color measurement after a predetermined initialization process, a moving section between patches from a point P1 to a point P3 overlaps an initialization section where the spot moves at the time of performing the initialization process, and the moving section between the patches is a section between a forward point having a distance as a radius of the spot with respect to the X direction and a backward point having a distance as a radius of the spot with respect to the X direction, based on a boundary of the patches.
US09992381B2	Color hash table reuse for print job processing One embodiment comprises a system that stores a pre-defined color conversion table and a hash table. The system receives user-defined color conversions for a print job, stores them in first locations in the hash table, and marks the first locations as persistent. The system processes the print job utilizing the color conversion table to convert colors in the print job to the output color space, and responsive to encountering colors in the print job that do not have color conversions in the color conversion table, interpolates between color conversions in the color conversion table to generate new color conversions, stores the new color conversions in second locations in the hash table, and marks the second locations as non-persistent. The system determines that the hash table is to be re-initialized, allows reuse of the second locations in the hash table, and prevents reuse of the first locations in the hash table.
US09992377B2	Information processing apparatus for authenticating user, information processing method An information processing apparatus includes a reception processing portion, an authentication determining portion, a presence/absence determining portion, a storage processing portion, and a process executing portion. The reception processing portion receives an authentication code input via an operation portion. The authentication determining portion determines whether an authentication is successful or unsuccessful based on the authentication code. The presence/absence determining portion determines whether the authentication code by which the authentication was determined to be unsuccessful is present or absent in a first storage portion. The storage processing portion stores the unsuccessful authentication code in the first storage portion after a determination of the presence/absence determining portion. The process executing portion executes a predetermined process when a number of times that the presence/absence determining portion determined that the authentication code was absent has exceeded a predetermined upper limit number of times.
US09992373B2	Information processing apparatus and method for monitoring an operating state of a network device A monitoring apparatus determines a monitoring mode of a network device which is not registered in a central management apparatus based on capability information of the relevant network device and registers the relevant network device in the central management apparatus. When monitoring information is not yet transmitted from a network device of which a monitoring function is enabled to the central management apparatus or invalid, the central management apparatus is requested to start communication with the relevant network device. Based on a result of the communication, a registration state, communication information, and device information of the relevant network device managed by the monitoring apparatus are updated.
US09992368B2	Communication control method for controlling communication with USB devices, storage medium, and printing apparatus A communication control method which prevents control over a USB device from being hampered and reducing power consumption at the same time. When the USB device and a control apparatus, which controls the USB device, are connected to the printing apparatus, and a communication via the printing apparatus is being carried out, the printing apparatus and the USB device are not shifted into a power saving mode in which energization of the printing apparatus and the USB device is limited. When the USB device and the control apparatus are connected to the printing apparatus, and a communication via the printing apparatus is not being carried out, the printing apparatus and the USB device are shifted into the power saving mode.
US09992362B2	Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and non-transitory computer readable medium for displaying simplified operation screen An information processing apparatus includes an acquisition unit that acquires, from a terminal apparatus, control information including model identification information for identifying a model of the terminal apparatus and setting information concerning display setting of a screen of the terminal apparatus; and a controller that causes a screen on which fewer display items than an ordinary screen are displayed to be displayed on a display in a case where the model identification information included in the control information indicates a specific model or in a case where the setting information included in the control information indicates specific setting.
US09992357B2	Authentication of a print request Examples disclosed herein provide methods and systems for the authentication of a print request. As an example, an email service associated with an enterprise network may receive an electronic message having a destination address indicative of a request to print data included in the message, wherein the destination address may have a domain name associated with the enterprise network. The email service may access an authentication service associated with the enterprise network to determine whether a sender address of the electronic message is a valid address to submit print jobs. Upon determining the sender address is a valid address, the email service may forward the electronic message to a cloud print service to prepare the print job comprising the data included in the message for printing.
US09992354B2	Media reflectance identifiers In one embodiment, a stated reflectance identifier for a media to be printed on during fulfillment of a print job is received. Utilizing an optical sensor and an illuminator, a measurement is taken of light from the illuminator reflected off the media. The measurement is compared to a stored average brightness value. Responsive to determining the measurement is within a range of the average value, the average value is adjusted to include the measurement, and printing on the media is caused according to the job. Responsive to determining the measurement is outside the range, the measurement is compared to a database associating brightness measurements and reflectance identifiers to determine an estimated reflectance identifier for the media. The estimated identifier is sent to a user and the user is prompted to perform a correction event. The media is printed on according to the job.
US09992350B2	Enhanced redirection handling from policy server Systems and methods are disclosed for directing a mobile device user with insufficient mobile credit to secondary pay sites. A PCRF receives a request from a mobile device corresponding to a user. The PCRF detects credit associated with a user mobile network usage account is below a threshold and assigns a tag to the request, the tag including redirect site information and secondary site information, the redirect site information including at least one network identifier corresponding to a redirect site and the secondary site information including at least one network identifier corresponding to a payment site accessible by the user when the credit associated with the user mobile network usage account is below the threshold. The PCRF transmits the request and the corresponding tag to a PCEF for routing the user to the at least one of the redirect site and the at least one payment site.
US09992349B2	Policy control method and system, and relevant apparatus The present invention discloses a policy control method and system, and a relevant apparatus. The method includes: receiving, by a policy decision apparatus, a control policy request sent by a gateway device, where the control policy request carries a subscriber identifier; sending, by the policy decision apparatus, a session request message carrying the subscriber identifier to a charging system; receiving, by the policy decision apparatus, a response message; receiving, by the policy decision apparatus, a notification message sent through an established session by the charging system, and generating a service data flow control policy according to information of an occurred charging relevant event; and sending, by the policy decision apparatus, the control policy to the gateway device. The method may implement, based on charging relevant information of a subscriber, policy control of a data flow, flexibility is desirable, and service experience of the subscriber is good.
US09992341B2	System and method for managing customer interactions for contact center based on agent proximity In a method for managing customer interactions for a customer contact center, the method includes: receiving, by a processor, information on an interaction to be routed; identifying, by the processor, a context associated with the interaction; receiving, by the processor, first proximity information relating to a proximity between an electronic device and a first proximity device; adjusting, by the processor, a proficiency level of an agent corresponding to the context associated with the interaction to a first value in response to the receiving of the first proximity information; determining, by the processor, whether or not the agent is qualified to handle the interaction based on the proficiency level; and transmitting, by the processor, a message for routing the interaction to the agent in response to determining the agent is qualified to handle the interaction based on the proficiency level.
US09992340B2	Communication system for establishing automated call back using queues A communication device is provided for enabling a user to establish an automated call back from a communication system, such as a call center, for example. A software device application enables the communication device to communicate with the call center through the exchange of data. The communication device includes a display screen for displaying controls for allowing the user to interact with the communication system. The controls allow the user to request a list of providers from which to select a provider or company to contact. The communication device further provides controls for allowing the user to select a queue to join from a list of queues associated with the selected provider. An embodiment may also communicate contextual data between a communication device and a communication system, including information associated with the user of the communication device and information used to assist, instruct, or solve a user's problem.
US09992337B2	Securely and efficiently transferring sensitive information via a telephone An apparatus includes a communications module that establishes a telephonic connection between a customer service representative of a company and a customer through an electronic device. An identification module receives an identifier that alerts the customer service representative and/or a computer system of the company that the customer has a customer profile that includes information to identify the customer. The identifier is received in conjunction with the telephonic connection. The customer profile is stored previous to the telephonic connection. An ID request module sends a request to the customer to provide identifying information via the electronic device of the customer. The identifying information is input to the electronic device by the customer using an electronic, non-verbal technique. An ID confirmation module receives an identification confirmation in response to the identifying information input by the customer matching the information to identify the customer in the customer profile.
US09992336B2	System for analyzing interactions and reporting analytic results to human operated and system interfaces in real time A computerized system for advising one communicant in electronic communication between two or more communicants has apparatus monitoring and recording interaction between the communicants, software executing from a machine-readable medium and providing analytics, the software functions including rendering speech into text, and analyzing the rendered text for topics, performing communicant verification, and detecting changes in communicant emotion. Advice is offered to the one communicant during the interaction, based on results of the analytics.
US09992323B2	Activity information sharing method and apparatus A real-time activity information sharing method performed at a user terminal include: invoking, by the user terminal, an activity tracking application running on the user terminal; establishing, by the user terminal, a near field communication connection between the activity tracking application and a real-time activity information collection apparatus located adjacent the user terminal; executing, by the user terminal, a control instruction on the activity tracking application that causes the real-time activity information collection apparatus to processes real-time activity information associated with a user of the user terminal; receiving, by the user terminal, real-time activity information collected by the real-time activity information collection apparatus of a current activity of the user on the activity tracking application; and sharing, by the user terminal, the real-time activity information on a social networking application by using the control instruction on the activity tracking application running on the user terminal.
US09992321B2	Mobile terminal with a built-in voice message searching function and corresponding searching method A mobile terminal with a built-in voice message searching function includes: a voice recording module configured to record a voice searching signal from a user and to send the voice searching signal to the pre-processing module for pre-processing, a pre-processing module configured to pre-process the voice searching signal, and to send the pre-processed signal to the matching module for signal matching, a matching module configured to extract a characteristic parameter of the pre-processed signal, to calculate a similarity of the extracted characteristic parameter with a characteristic parameter of a stored voice message, and to send the voice message with a similarity higher than or equal to a threshold to the result outputting module, and a result outputting module configured to display the voice message with the similarity higher than or equal to the threshold on a screen of the mobile terminal.
US09992316B2	Interactive networked headphones Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for connecting an interactive wearable device with a network. In one aspect, a method includes loading content from a playlist; recognizing contextual information relating to the content; determining the location of the user; requesting supplemental content via a network based on the contextual information and the location; displaying supplemental information to a user; interacting with the supplemental information at least in part via an interactive headphone.
US09992313B2	Electronic device An electronic device 1 includes: a panel 10; a housing 60 holding the panel 10; and a piezoelectric element 30 attached to the panel 10, wherein the deformation of the piezoelectric element 30 causes the panel 10 to vibrate, to transmit human body vibration sound to an object in contact with the panel 10, and the perpendicular line or normal to the main surface of the panel 10 and the surface of the piezoelectric element 30 attached to the panel 10 are not orthogonal to each other.
US09992307B2	Interoperability of discovery and connection protocols between client devices and first screen devices A second screen application operating on a client device presents a deduplicated listing of devices in a user interface, each listed device associated with one or more coupling protocols. A selection of a listed device is received via the user interface with which to participate in a video display session. Application status information is obtained from a control server for a first screen application of the selected device, the application status information indicating whether the first screen application is in an existing video display session with a second client device. A coupling methodology is determined based on the indicated application status and coupling protocols available to the client device and the one or more coupling protocols of the first screen application; and the client device couples to the first screen application via the determined coupling methodology.
US09992300B2	Method of adaptively deploying cache positioned at subscriber network, and system therefor Disclosed is an adaptive cache transformation architecture for a cache deployed forward to minimize duplicated transmission, by automatically storing content in a subscriber network area. The system for adaptively deploying a cache positioned at a subscriber network includes a cache service group configured to store all or a part of pieces of content serviced from one or more content providing apparatuses to one or more terminals and including a plurality of caches deployed at a subscriber network between the content providing apparatus and the terminal in a distributed manner, and a resource manager configured to transform a deployment structure of the plurality of caches forming the cache service group, based on at least one of an increase rate in the number of pieces of contents requested by the one or more terminals and a reutilization rate for each content.
US09992288B2	Method and device for an adaptive handling of data traffic A method in a communications network for adaptive handling of network data traffic between a user equipment and a network resource, said data traffic being enabled by a lookup procedure for obtaining a network address of the network resource. The user equipment sends to a server a request for accessing said data traffic. The server obtains access information related to a connection of the user equipment to the communications network and sends a further request to a lookup adaptation server. The source address of the further request is based on the access information. Based on the source address of the further request, the lookup adaptation server returns to the user equipment a network address of the network resource capable of handling the data traffic.
US09992284B2	Datacasting system with intermittent listener capability A server-client system or architecture that allows datacast applications to reliably transport data objects from a network server over a unidirectional packet network (“datacast network”) to one or more clients, each of which may be listening to the packet stream at different times. The invention allows the clients to listen intermittently to the datacast, yet still receive all of the data objects published by the server in a timely manner, and in a way that is more optimal in terms of client resource use. This ensures that listening clients can receive a complete set of the data objects broadcast while being able to conserve client processing and power resources by not requiring continuous listening by the client to the datacast.
US09992276B2	Self-expanding software defined computing cluster Methods, computing systems and computer program products implement embodiments of the present invention that include initializing multiple computing nodes to execute one or more software applications that provide a computing service, each of the computing nodes having a respective set of configuration data. Examples of the services include storage services, computational services and web service. Subsequent to deploying the multiple computing nodes as a software defined computing (SDC) cluster, an additional computing node is initialized using a given set of configuration data, and the additional computing node is added to the SDC cluster. In some embodiments, the additional node can be initialized and added to the SDC cluster in response to detecting a condition in the SDC cluster. In alternative embodiments, the additional node can be initialized and added to the SDC cluster in response to receiving a request to add an additional service to the SDC cluster.
US09992271B2	ENF selection for NFVI A method and system implemented by a computing device to establish a session between a residential gateway and a virtual edge network function (vENF) in a network function virtualization infrastructure (NFVI) over an access network where a plurality of residential gateways are connected to the access network through a plurality of access nodes that tunnel edge network function requests to the NFVI via a NFVI gateway the broadcasts initial service requests to a plurality of VENF in the NFVI. The method defines a process for a vENF to self-select to service an initial service session request from the residential gateway.
US09992264B2	High-speed trace functionality in an on-demand services environment Techniques and architectures to provide trace functionality. Trace record data is received from a plurality of client threads executed by one or more processors. The trace record data is stored in a plurality of chunks maintained in an in-use list. The in-use list has a chunk for individual use by the corresponding client threads. Chunks in the in-use list are moved to a completed queue when a chunk in the in-use list is substantially full. A chunk from a free list is placed in the in-use list to replace removed chunks. The chunks from the completed queue are stored in at least one memory device.
US09992253B2	Non-invasive remote access to an application program Systems and methods for providing remote access to an application program. A server remote access program may cooperate with a screen scraping application to provide screen data to a client computing device. The display associated with the application program may be resized or cropped by a server for display on the client computing device. The client may connect to the server using a client remote access program that receives inputs from a user interface program.
US09992234B2	System for providing DNS-based control of individual devices A device control system is associated with individual devices connected through a network control point to a gateway and thereby to the Internet. The gateway inserts an EDNS0 pseudo resource record into an additional data section in each DNS query initiated by an individual device, the EDNS0 pseudo resource record identifying the initiating device. A dynamic policy enforcement engine in front of the DNS engine intercepts the DNS query, identifies the initiating device, and selects a policy that applies to the device. The dynamic policy enforcement engine may provide parental control and security service to the individual device by blocking the DNS query or passing it to the DNS engine according to the policy. A component that intercepts DNS queries may provide several additional types of services to the individual devices, including advertising, messaging, mobile device tracking, individual device application control, and delivery of individualized content.
US09992220B2	Graphical display of events indicating security threats in an information technology system A disclosed computer-implemented method includes receiving and indexing the raw data. Indexing includes dividing the raw data into time stamped searchable events that include information relating to computer or network security. Store the indexed data in an indexed data store and extract values from a field in the indexed data using a schema. Search the extracted field values for the security information. Determine a group of security events using the security information. Each security event includes a field value specified by a criteria. Present a graphical interface (GI) including a summary of the group of security events, other summaries of security events, and a remove element (associated with the summary). Receive input corresponding to an interaction of the remove element. Interacting with the remove element causes the summary to be removed from the GI. Update the GI to remove the summary from the GI.
US09992209B1	System and method for characterizing security entities in a computing environment System and method to characterize a security entity in a computing environment is disclosed. Communication between a user computer and at least one destination computer by a security appliance is monitored by a security appliance. Selective information from the communication is extracted by the security appliance, selective information indicative of the security entity. A plurality of words from the communication between the identified security entity and at least one destination computer are selectively extracted. A word cloud is generated based on the selectively extracted plurality of words. The word cloud is evaluated to characterize the identified security entity.
US09992203B2	Providing access to remote networks via external endpoints Systems and methods for providing access to a remote network via an external endpoint are provided. A client establishes a secure connection between an external endpoint and a remote network. Transmissions from clients to the external endpoint are supplemented with additional information regarding handling within the remote network, and then transmitted to an internal endpoint within the remote network. The internal endpoint processes the transmission based on the supplemental information and returns a response to the external endpoint. A response is then returned to the client. Access policies may be created by authorized users to establish processing of client transmissions. These policies may be stored and enforced by the internal endpoint or the external endpoint.
US09992195B2	Network authentication of a geo-fenced volume Provided is a method for managing a software defined network using a software control layer to regulate a geo-fenced volume. The software control layer can use a Global Positioning System (GPS) including a range of latitudes, a range of longitudes and a range of altitudes. A resource within the geo-fenced volume can be assigned a location using the GPS coordinates. The resource can be managed by external applications that are operating through the software control layer. To determine an access of a device to the geo-fenced volume, the GPS coordinates, are gathered as a geographical location of the device. A user profile can be accessed to determine an access path of the user. Depending on the geographical location of the device a first condition can be generated based on the device being within the geo-fenced volume. A network permission can be granted to the device based on the first condition.
US09992173B2	Apparatus for and method of playing back content A method of playing back streaming content includes decoding the content based on a first decryption circuit configured based on a first key and outputting the content; requesting a second key from a server; receiving the second key and configuring a second decryption circuit based on the second key; and decoding the content based on a second decryption circuit and outputting the content, wherein the decoding of the content based on the first decryption circuit and outputting the content is performed until the second decryption circuit is configured.
US09992170B2	Secure data parser method and system A secure data parser is provided that may be integrated into any suitable system for securely storing and communicating data. The secure data parser parses data and then splits the data into multiple portions that are stored or communicated distinctly. Encryption of the original data, the portions of data, or both may be employed for additional security. The secure data parser may be used to protect data in motion by splitting original data into portions of data that may be communicated using multiple communications paths.
US09992167B2	Systems and methods for a VPN ICA proxy on a multi-core system The present invention is directed towards systems and methods for sharing licenses across resources via a multi-core intermediary device. A device intermediary to a plurality of clients and a server may grant a license for a virtual private network (VPN) session established by a first core of a plurality of cores of the device with a client. A second core of the plurality of cores may receive a first request from the client to establish an application connection between an application and a server via the VPN session. The second core may send a second request to the first core to share the license of the VPN session responsive to determining that the first core owns the VPN session. The second core may establish the application connection responsive to receiving from the first core a response accepting the second request to share the license of the VPN session.
US09992166B2	Hierarchical rule development and binding for web application server firewall At least one of an HTTP request message and an HTTP response message is intercepted. A corresponding HTTP message model includes a plurality of message model sections. A representation of the at least one of an HTTP request message and an HTTP response message is parsed into message sections in accordance with the message model sections of the HTTP message model. A plurality of security rules are bounds to the message model sections. The plurality of security rules each specify at least one action to be taken in response to a given condition, which is based, at least in part, on a corresponding given one of the message sections. The at least one of an HTTP request message and an HTTP response message is processed in accordance with the plurality of security rules. Techniques for developing rules for a web application server firewall are also provided.
US09992163B2	Multi-tiered protection platform A multi-tier platform provides security at a perimeter of a computer system, where an intermediate layer interacts between a web layer and an application layer. A data request that is associated with a data set is received at the web layer and passed to the intermediate layer. The intermediate layer determines the authoritative source for the data set and whether the data set has a static or dynamic value. If the value is static, the intermediate layer accesses the value stored at the intermediate layer. However, if the value is dynamic, the intermediate layer queries the source registered to the data set, obtains the value from the authoritative source, and returns the dynamic value via the web layer, where the registered source may be internal or external to the computer system. Consequently, the intermediate layer may function as an aggregate layer that supports both database and messaging services.
US09992159B2	Communication information detecting device and communication information detecting method A communication information detecting device includes: a receiving unit that receives an address resolution request message transmitted from a start-point communication device through L2 broadcast and having an IP address of a target communication device set therein as a target address for L2 address resolution; a generating unit that generates an address resolution request message having the IPv6 address of the target communication device, which is set in the received address resolution request message, set therein as a target address for L2 address resolution; a follow-up processing unit that transmits this address resolution request message through L2 broadcast; a receiving unit that receives an address resolution reply message returned from the target communication device in response to the address resolution request message; and a detecting unit that extracts an L2 address and an IP address concerning the target communication device from the address resolution reply message.
US09992156B2	DNS security system and failure processing method The present invention provides a DNS security system and failure processing method. The DNS security system comprises: at least one client, configured to initiate a DNS request; a root node, configured to provide authorization information to the DNS request; an authorization information database, configured to store all DNS requests and corresponding authorization information in a designated area; a virtual root node, configured to invoke corresponding authorization information from the authorization information database when a DNS resolution failure occurs on the root node, and to provide a resolution service to a corresponding client. Using the present invention enhances the security and stability of DNS resolution.
US09992154B2	Layer 3 convergence for EVPN link failure A network device is configured to provide, via an Ethernet segment with a customer network, active-active multi-homing L2 virtual bridge connectivity to the customer network using an EVPN instance (EVI) and L3 routing using an IRB interface that is a L3 routing interface assigned to the EVI; to receive, from a peer PE device of the EVPN instance, an EVPN route comprising an L2-L3 binding for a customer device of the customer network and associating the L2-L3 binding with the Ethernet segment, the L2-L3 binding comprising an L2 and an L3 address assigned to the customer device, wherein the peer PE device provides, with the network device and via the Ethernet segment, active-active multi-homing L2 virtual bridge connectivity to the customer network; and to forward, via the Ethernet segment and based at least on the L2-L3 binding received from the peer PE device, an L3 packet to the customer device.
US09992153B2	Managing link aggregation traffic in edge nodes Exemplary methods, apparatuses, and systems include a first network edge device configuring a physical network interface to be included within a link aggregation group (LAG). The physical network interface of a second network edge device is also included within the LAG. The first network edge device receives, via the LAG, a first address resolution packet including a source and a destination. The first network edge device determines that the destination of the address resolution packet is a networking address assigned to a logical interface that is unique to the second network edge device. In response, first network edge device transmits the address resolution packet from a synchronization network interface to a synchronization network interface of the second network edge device. The synchronization network interface of each network edge device is excluded from sharing a LAG with network edge device ports of the other network edge device.
US09992138B1	Method and apparatus for processing scheduling requests in a shared calendar system According to a computer-implemented method, a scheduling request is received to schedule a user in a shared calendar system as a participant in a meeting to occur on a specified date. Based on a predefined meeting policy, a determination is made of a maximum permissible quantity of meetings for the user to participate in during a predefined time period that includes the specified date. A quantity of meetings in the shared calendar system that are already scheduled for the user to occur within the predefined time period is compared to the maximum permissible quantity of meetings for the user. Based on the comparing indicating that the quantity of meetings already scheduled is greater than or equal to the maximum permissible quantity of meetings, a notification is transmitted to the user to indicate that that approval of the scheduling request would violate the predefined meeting policy.
US09992136B2	Network system and management server A communication device includes a plurality of packet processing modules in which a packet processing function is changeable with a program, and a management server holds program information of a plurality of different packet processing module circuits settable to the packet processing modules, selects the packet processing module circuit to be set to the packet processing module, of the plurality of different packet processing module circuits, and transmits the program information of the selected packet processing module circuit and information for identifying the packet processing module that is an object to be set, to the communication device that is an object to be set.
US09992131B2	Diameter routing agent load balancing Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method and related network node including one or more of the following: receiving a Diameter message at the DRA from an origin device; encountering an instruction to perform load balancing; locating an applicable load balancing pool of a plurality of load balancing pools for the Diameter message; identifying a pool host from the applicable load balancing pool to receive the Diameter message; modifying a destination address of the Diameter message to include an address of the identified pool host; and transmitting the Diameter message based on the modified destination address.
US09992120B2	System and method for rate-based packet transmission over a network An appliance for controlling data transmission is described. The appliance includes a packet engine configured to acquire data regarding a flow of first data packets over a link and to determine transport communication protocol (TCP) characteristics for the flow. The appliance also includes a data transmission controller configured to receive second data packets, determine a rate of transmission based on the TCP characteristics, and determine, based on one or more criteria, whether to use a rate-based data transmission control to control a transmission of the second data packets. The data transmission controller is also configured to, responsive to determining that a rate-based data transmission control is to be used to control a transmission of the second data packets, cause the packet engine to transmit the second data packets in groups, wherein transmission times of each group of second data packets are determined based on the rate of transmission.
US09992119B2	Mobility network operator service delivery hub A service delivery hub controlled by a network operator includes an access controller; a network services gateway in communication with the access controller and in communication with external network elements, a partner management center in communication with the access controller and the network services gateway, the partner management center configured to establish a service level agreement with application service providers or enabler providers; an interface defined by the service level agreement, the interface configured to provide a single point access to the application service developers, to provide a set of programming interfaces to the developers whereas the programming interfaces provide access to the external network elements; and a charging system interface to a charging gateway, wherein the charging system is subject to the service level agreement and wherein the service delivery hub allocates revenue in accordance with the service level agreement.
US09992110B2	Dynamic switching control over multiple internet services provided for home networks System and method of dynamically switching among multiple WANs for data transmission to and from a LAN based on real-time network performance. Each WAN may be owned by a respective Internet Service Provider (ISP) of the LAN. A switching device coupled between the WAN and the LAN evaluates the real-time network performance of the current WAN used for data transmission between a LAN user device and a target IP address. If the network performance deteriorates, the switching device may select a different WAN for the data transmission according to a set of service quality policies. The switching device may maintain a flow table to control data routing and communicate with other components in the LAN in compliance with the OpenFlow protocol.
US09992106B2	Generating a host route According to an example, in a method for generating a host route, a host route entry may be generated based on an IP address of a virtual machine, and an update message carrying a host route of the host route entry may be sent to an IBGP peer.
US09992104B2	Communication method, communication system, resource pool management system, switch device and control device The present disclosure provides a communication method, a communication system, a resource pool management system, a switch device and a control device in a Software-Defined Network (SDN). The communication method may include steps of: obtaining network attributes of one or more virtual machines which are configured by a resource pool management system based on operations on a network resource pool by a user; converting tenant networking topology information derived from the network attributes into flow tables, in the case that a first virtual machine and a second virtual machine attempt to communicate with each other for the first time; and distributing the flow tables to one or more switch devices corresponding to the one or more virtual machines, so as to directly discard packets to be transmitted during the communication for the first time and subsequent communication between the first virtual machine and the second virtual machine, in response to determining by one of the switch devices that the communication between the first virtual machine and the second virtual machine is disabled based on a corresponding flow table. In the communication method, it is not necessary for the controller to broadcast the ARP messages to the whole SDN, and it is reduced the number of the packet_in packets to be transmitted to the SDN controller, so that the network resources of the SDN may be fully utilized, and the availability of the network resources and the controller resources are improved.
US09992102B2	Methods and systems to select active and standby ports in link aggregation groups Systems and methods for automatically selecting active ports and standby ports in a Link Aggregation Group (LAG) or a Multi-Chassis LAG (MC-LAG) between a first node and a second node are described. The systems and methods include receiving a configuration associated with the LAG or the MC-LAG; automatically determining a port status for each of a plurality of ports based on the configuration; and communicating the determined port status for each of the plurality of ports between the first node and the second node.
US09992098B2	Content centric M2M system A method for routing data at a first node of a network including a second node. The method includes: providing the first node with a database storing an association between: an URL component identifying content at the first node, and a unique identifier associated to the second node, the unique identifier being specified by the second node; registering content locally stored in the second node by storing in the database an association between an URL component identifying the locally stored content and the unique identifier of the second node; and, upon reception from a requesting entity, by the first node, of a content request having a content identifier, the method includes: checking in the database whether the content identifier includes the URL component, and forwarding the content request to the second node if the content identifier includes the URL component associated with the unique identifier of the second node.
US09992088B1	Packet coding based network communication A method for data communication between a first node and a second node over a data path includes estimating a rate at which loss events occur, where a loss event is either an unsuccessful delivery of a single packet to the second data node or an unsuccessful delivery of a plurality of consecutively transmitted packets to the second data node, and sending redundancy messages at the estimate rate at which loss events occur.
US09992084B2	Cable modems/eMTAs under test A system for testing multiple cable modem/eMTA devices independently and simultaneously using different types of device probes is disclosed. The system employs multiple device probes configured to test various functions and connectivity associated with the device under test, including wireless local area network (WLAN), local area network (LAN), Multimedia Over Coax Alliance (MoCA), DOCSIS, and Foreign Exchange Station (FXS). The system includes real-time, bi-directional/asynchronous communication and interaction between the system components.
US09992077B2	Optimizing allocation of on-demand resources using performance zones In one embodiment, the present invention can be used to efficiently allocate on-demand resources to a customer of a data center such as a multi-tenant data center having resources dedicated to given customers, as well as on-demand resources that can be flexibly provisioned to customers using a performance zone concept realized via logical switches to present a single logical network to the customer.
US09992076B2	Dynamic cache allocating techniques for cloud computing systems Techniques are presented herein to allow a tenant application in a cloud computing environment to automatically adjust storage infrastructure cache allocation according to performance needs and cost associated with use of the cache. Information is stored for a spot price of a cache of a storage infrastructure used for data storage in a cloud computing environment. A request is received to allocate additional cache for use by one or more applications associated with a first tenant running in the cloud computing environment. Information is sent to the one or more applications indicating a current spot price of the cache of the storage infrastructure. An instruction is received from the one or more applications to purchase the additional allocation of the cache based on the current spot price or based on a predetermined fixed price. An allocation request is sent to the storage infrastructure for additional allocation of the cache.
US09992074B2	Granular permission assignment A system and method for storing role definitions for cloud provider systems, receiving a first request to assign a user to a first role specifying a first cloud computing resource of a respective resource type, identifying a role definition corresponding to the first role that includes an action set permitted, and creating the first role for the user on the first cloud computing resource by associating the identified role definition with the first cloud computing resource and the user. A second request to assign the user to a second role is received specifying a second cloud computing of the respective resource type, and the second role is created for the user on the second cloud computing resource, where the identified role definition corresponds to the first and second roles, and wherein creating the second role includes associating the identified role definition with the first cloud computing resource and the user.
US09992061B2	Configuring wireless devices for a wireless infrastructure network Systems and methods permit a wireless device to receive data wirelessly via an infrastructure wireless network, without physically connecting the wireless device to a computer in order to configure it, and without having an existing infrastructure wireless network for the wireless device to connect to. A remote server hosts a website that permits a user of the wireless device to input via a computer credential data for at least one infrastructure wireless network. The content access point transmits the credential data for the at least one infrastructure wireless network to the wireless device via the ad hoc wireless network, such that, upon receipt of the credential data for the at least one infrastructure wireless network, the wireless device is configured to connect to the at least one infrastructure wireless network.
US09992060B2	Method and system for determining a network configuration for a deployment environment Operations include determining a network configuration for a current deployment environment based on network configurations of known deployment environments that share one or more characteristics with the current deployment environment.
US09992059B2	Network operation management system, network operation management apparatus, and network operation management method A network operation management system includes: an imaging unit configured to capture a video image in a predetermined sight of the area; a wireless management unit configured to obtain operational information of the wireless terminal, and to manage the obtained operational information in association with an obtained date; and a video image management unit configured to receive a video image and a captured date captured by the imaging unit, and to manage the video image in association with the captured date. The video image management unit obtains the operational information and the obtained date from the wireless management unit, manages the video image associated with a captured date which matches with the obtained date, in association with the operational information, and extracts the video image and the operational information associated with a predetermined date.
US09992055B2	Disseminating commands from a DMS server to fielded devices using an extendable command architecture A method of remotely managing a fielded device with a device management system (DMS). Via a processor, a DMS directive can be received on the fielded device. The DMS directive can include at least one system command for a DMS agent instantiated on the fielded device and intelligence information not previously stored on the fielded device that is necessary for the DMS agent to interpret the system command. Via the processor the DMS agent can be executed to process the system command using the intelligence information provided in the DMS directive to implement the system command without requiring an update to computer-readable program code that defines the DMS agent.
US09992047B1	Pseudomorphic modulation for RF signal transmission A method for pseudomorphic modulation to mimic a particular type of Radio Frequency (RF) signal transmission in an RF environment may include selecting a physical modulation scheme that is utilized for RF signal transmission in the RF environment. The method may also include pseudorandomly generating a plurality of symbols associated with the physical modulation scheme. The method may further include receiving encoded data for transmitting in the RF environment. The method may also include pseudomorphically modulating the encoded data by mapping the encoded data to the plurality of pseudorandomly generated symbols.
US09992046B2	Method and apparatus of iterative channel tracking for MIMO-OFDM system Methods and systems for channel estimation using iterative channel tracking algorithm, in a communication system combined multiple input multiple output (MIMO) technology with orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), are disclose. The initial channel estimation of a data packet uses the first preamble inserted in front of the OFDM blocks. After demodulating subsequent one or more OFDM blocks, iterative channel tracking method is used for channel estimation until the next preamble is received. The iterative channel tracking is based on the received signals and the demodulated results of subsequent one or more OFDM blocks.
US09992045B2	On-line signal event detection and identification method and apparatus A method of and apparatus for on-line detection and identification of synchronous and asynchronous piecewise-constant signals corrupted by noise and distortion. The method achieves joint temporal and amplitude detection and identification by following an initial amplitude approximation with a change detection that continually converges to an accurate joint identification while continually correcting intermediate approximation errors via analysis of temporal signatures. In turn, the temporal identifications employ accumulated statistics partly determined by the initial amplitude approximation.
US09992044B2	System and method for applying adaptive frequency-domain RLS DFE for uplink SC-FDMA A device includes circuitry configured to determine feedforward and feedback coefficients for an adaptive frequency-domain decision feedback equalizer (AFD-DFE) based on previously received signals. The equalizer output is determined by applying the feedforward and feedback coefficients of the AFD-DFE to a received signal, and the feedforward and feedback coefficients of the AFD-DFE are updated based on the equalizer output.
US09992035B2	Apparatus and method for sharing a bookmark with other users in a home network A method and apparatus for sharing a bookmark, which is created by a user, with other users. In a method for sharing a bookmark in a home network, information of a bookmark for sharing in a home network device of a bookmark creator is created. The bookmark or the information of the bookmark is stored in an Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) terminal in the home network of the bookmark creator. The bookmark or the information of the bookmark is then transmitted from the IPTV terminal to an IPTV service provider.
US09992032B2	Method and system for managing telephony services in a universal plug and play home network environment The present invention provides a method and system for managing telephony services in a Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) home network environment. In one embodiment, a method includes creating one or more profiles associated with at least one Telephony Control Point (TelCP) in an UPnP home network environment, each of the one or more profiles includes one or more service settings associated with telephony services. The method also includes storing the one or more profiles associated with the at least one TelCP in a service settings database. Additionally, the method includes setting one of the one or more profiles as an active profile for the at least one TelCP, and providing telephony services to the at least one TelCP according to the one or more service settings associated with the active profile.
US09992026B2	Electronic biometric (dynamic) signature references enrollment method A system or method for enrolling a signature may include transmitting a user's public key and a time stamp to a client device. The method may further include receiving an encrypted time stamp and encrypted signature data associated with the user, wherein the signature data is encrypted using the user's public key. The encrypted time stamp may be decrypted using the user's private key, and the received encrypted signature data may be validated based on the decrypted time stamp. If the received encrypted signature data is determined to be valid, the encrypted signature data may be stored and digitally signed with the user's private key. The encrypted signature data may be further digitally certified with an administrator's private key.
US09992025B2	Monitoring installed applications on user devices Software applications previously or currently being installed on a plurality of user devices are monitored. In one embodiment, a first set of the installed applications that is signed with a signing identifier of a developer are identified. A report is then sent to the developer that includes an identification of the first set. In another embodiment, the authenticity of a first application is evaluated including determining, based on a respective signing identifier for each of a plurality of applications, that the applications are similar to the first application. A notification is sent to the developer that identifies applications having a signing identifier that is different from the signing identifier of the developer.
US09992012B2	Detector A differential detector for a receiver and a method of detecting the value of symbols of a signal is disclosed. In particular, a detector comprising: an analog to digital converter for sampling samples from symbols of a signal; a differentiator configured to differentiate the samples with a transfer function to produce a differentiated series of samples for each symbol; and a decision device configured to determine the value of each symbol by comparing values of the differentiated series of samples with boundary condition values.
US09991998B2	Ratio resource sharing and contention scheme for device-to-device communication in white space spectrum bands The present invention discloses a method, an apparatus and a computer program for resource contention in device-to-device communication links. The method partitions the time-frequency radio resource grid with a resource block set forming the resource unit in the grid, for all available, used and unusable frequency bands around a given virtual central frequency. Each resource block set is partitioned into a common control channel and a data channel. With a given procedure of control data transmission between transmitting and receiving user terminals, the resources are competed and shared. Frequency shifting with short distance frequency change or frequency transference with a larger frequency hopping into a free radio resource is available. The competition procedure is done in order to fairly share the frequency bands as a function of time between different device-to-device communication links in a localized manner.
US09991996B2	Scheduling for orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) transmissions in a wireless local area network (WLAN) An access point (AP) contends for a medium during a contention period in order to obtain exclusive control of the medium for a certain time period that may include one or more transmission opportunities. The AP and client stations (STAs) communicate during the time period using orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) techniques with scheduled use (i.e., allocation) of sub-channels of the medium. The AP controls this scheduling for down-link and up-link communications by sending control signaling to inform the STAs of the resource allocation schedule which specifies STAs involved in the OFDMA communications along with the sub-channel identification bandwidth allocated to each STA. The control signaling may be a combination of physical layer (PHY) and medium access control layer (MAC) communicated information.
US09991975B2	Method and device for triggering specified operation The present disclosure relates to a method and a device for triggering a specified operation, and belongs to the field of smart home technologies. The method includes obtaining a wireless signal received by a receiving device and sent by a specified signal source, determining whether a disturbance occurs in the first wireless signal, obtaining a signal quality characteristic of the wireless signal if it is determined that a disturbance occurs in the wireless signal; determining whether the signal quality characteristic matches with predetermined characteristic sample; and triggering the intelligent device to perform the specified operation if the signal quality characteristic matches with the predetermined characteristic sample.
US09991968B1	Devices and methods for electromagnetic signal phase discrimination using SQUID arrays and electro-optical materials An electromagnetic signal is received at first and second Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) SQUID arrays. The first and second SQUID arrays output respective voltage signals corresponding to the electromagnetic signal as received at the first and second SQUID arrays. The first and second SQUID arrays are spaced apart such that there is a phase difference between the electromagnetic signal as received at the first and second SQUID arrays. The phase difference results in a voltage amplitude difference. At least one of the voltage signals is applied to at least one reference optical signal input into an electro-optical device to modify the reference optical signal. The modified optical signal output by the electro-optical device includes a change compared to the reference optical signal. The change is indicative of the phase difference in the electromagnetic signal as received at the first and second SQUID arrays.
US09991966B1	Optical transmitter An optical transmitter including an optical waveguide and N microring resonators (MRRs) coupled to the optical waveguide is provided. In such an optical transmitter each of the N MRRs having a different coupling coefficient determining the amount of coupling to the optical waveguide, wherein N>1. In some embodiments, each of the N MRRs has a different spacing distance from the optical waveguide, wherein the coupling coefficient for each MRR is dependent on the spacing. In some embodiments the optical transmitter further includes an input for receiving N drive signals from a controller, each drive signal shifting the resonant wavelength of the corresponding MRR to control the optical power coupled in the corresponding MRR from the optical waveguide in which an optical signal propagates.
US09991960B2	Optical receiver with optical transmitter-specific dispersion post-compensation An apparatus comprises a polarization-diversity optical hybrid that converts an optical signal into a plurality of optical signals comprising a first polarization component and a second polarization component orthogonal to the first polarization component, one or more detectors that convert the plurality of optical signals into a plurality of first analog electrical signals, DC blocking elements that remove DC signal components to output a plurality of second analog electrical signals, analog to digital converters (ADCs) coupled to the DC blocking elements that convert the plurality of second analog electrical signals into a plurality of digital signals, and a digital signal processing (DSP) unit coupled to the ADCs. The DSP is configured to perform a fiber dispersion compensation on the plurality of digital signals and add DC offsets to output a plurality of DC-restored compensated digital signals.
US09991944B2	High altitude platform with multibeam coverage for aero-based terminals A description of a high altitude platform with multibeam coverage for aero-based terminals is provided herein. An example apparatus includes a plurality of user link antennas each configured to provide communication coverage among a plurality of aero-based terminals within a specified volume (or area) of the sky, each antenna being configured to communicate with a specified cell within the specified volume. The apparatus also includes a gateway link antenna configured to provide communication coverage to a ground-based gateway terminal. The user link antennas are configured to have differently sized apertures to maintain a similar spectral density among the cells within the specified coverage area. Such a configuration of user link antennas provides consistent Quality of Service and bandwidth for aero-based terminals (such as private and commercial aircraft) operating within the specified coverage area.
US09991939B2	Multi-user MIMO-SDMA for finite rate feedback systems A multi-user MIMO downlink beamforming system with limited feedback (200) is provided to enable precoding for multi-stream transmission, where a channel codeword (ui) and one or more channel quality indicator values (CQIA, CQIB) are computed at the user equipment (201.i) on the basis of maximizing a predetermined SINR performance metric (ρi) which estimates the receive signal-to-noise-ratio (SINR) at the user equipment (201.i). The computed codeword (ui) and CQI values (or differential values related thereto) are quantized and fed back to help the base station (210) which applies a correction to the appropriate CQI value in the course of designing the transmit beamforming vectors w and determining the appropriate modulation and coding level to be used for downlink data transmission.
US09991928B2	Communication system and work vehicle A communication system provided to a working vehicle includes: an information receiving unit that communicates with identification devices and receives identification information; a first area information storage that stores first area information indicating an area where use of the information receiving unit is permitted; a comparing unit that compares the first area information with second area information indicating an area where the working vehicle is used; and a communication control unit that prohibits the information receiving unit from outputting electric waves when the second area information is not included in the first area information.
US09991919B2	Digital detection method A passive detection method implemented by a device comprising one or more sensors comprises a step of sampling signals received by each sensor using various sub-Nyquist sampling frequency values, a step of transforming the sampled signals to the frequency domain by discrete Fourier transform, the frequency pitch ΔF being chosen constant, and, for each time/frequency box, a step of calculating the normalized power in each reception channel, a step of calculating the quadratic sum of the calculated powers while taking into account the power of a possible parasitic signal, and a thresholding step carried out so as to ensure a given probability of false alarm.
US09991916B2	Receiving device and receiving method At least one distributor that distributes a high-frequency signal received by an antenna; and a high-frequency processing unit that outputs a received signal obtained by mixing the high-frequency signal distributed by the distributor with a local oscillator frequency generated by a local oscillator that includes a voltage-controlled oscillator are included. Furthermore, a control unit that, when executing a local oscillator frequency search to investigate a correspondence between a control voltage applied to the voltage-controlled oscillator and the local oscillator frequency of the voltage-controlled oscillator, sets to a dormant state parts constituting the local oscillator that are uninvolved in operation of the local oscillator frequency search is included.
US09991911B1	Method for automatically adjusting a tunable passive antenna and a tuning unit, and apparatus for radio communication using this method The invention relates to a method for automatically adjusting one or more tunable passive antennas and a single-input-port and single-output-port tuning unit. The invention also relates to an apparatus for radio communication using this method, for instance a radio transceiver. An apparatus for radio communication of the invention comprises: a tunable passive antenna; a feeder; a single-input-port and single-output-port tuning unit; a sensing unit; a transmission and signal processing unit which applies an excitation to the input port, which delivers one or more antenna adjustment instructions, and which delivers one or more tuning unit adjustment instructions; and a control unit which delivers one or more antenna control signals to the tunable passive antenna, and one or more tuning control signals to the single-input-port and single-output-port tuning unit.
US09991907B1	Concatenates of an E8 lattice with binary and non binary codes A transceiver architectures can contain an encoder and a decoder for communicating high speed transmissions. The encoder can modulate signal data for being mapped in a constellation that is generated based on concatenations of an E8 lattice having binary and non-binary codes. The data can be transmitted at a high speed according to the constellation with an embedded E8 lattice configuration in order to generate a coding gain. A decoder operates to decode the received input signal data with a decreased latency or a minimal latency with a high spectral efficiency.
US09991904B2	Digital modulation device, and digital modulation method A digital modulation device is provided. The digital modulation device includes an input unit; N delta-sigma modulation units; and an output unit. N is an integer greater than or equal to 2, the input unit is configured to: input initial values which differ from each other to the N delta-sigma modulation units; and then, input a same first signal into the N delta-sigma modulation units, each of the N delta-sigma modulation units is configured to: output a second signal by performing delta-sigma modulation processing on the first signal for each first clock cycle, and the output unit is configured to: sequentially output each second signal for each one Nth of the first clock cycle.
US09991890B2	Driver circuit, display device including the driver circuit, and electronic appliance including the display device An object of the present invention is to provide a driver circuit including a normally-on thin film transistor, which driver circuit ensures a small malfunction and highly reliable operation. The driver circuit includes a static shift register including an inverter circuit having a first transistor and a second transistor, and a switch including a third transistor. The first to third transistors each include a semiconductor layer of an oxide semiconductor and are depletion-mode transistors. An amplitude voltage of clock signals for driving the third transistor is higher than a power supply voltage for driving the inverter circuit.
US09991876B2	Master-slave flip-flop A master-slave flip-flop includes a master latch, a slave latch, a first logic gate and a signal transition detector. The first logic gate is receiving a reference clock and a first control clock, and outputting a first trigger signal to control one of the master latch and the slave latch, which are connected with a logic circuit, to switch to an opaque state or a transparent state, wherein the other one of the master latch and the slave latch is switched to an opaque state or a transparent state according to the reference clock. The above-mentioned master-slave flip-flop can correct sampling when a timing error occurs.
US09991875B2	Reconfigurable radio frequency (RF) bandstop/intermediate frequency (IF) bandpass filter A reconfigurable filter circuit has a first path including a transimpedance amplifier (TIA). The transimpedance amplifier has an input that receives an input current and an output that outputs a voltage. The reconfigurable filter circuit also includes a switchable feedback path. The switchable feedback path includes a first low-pass filter coupled to an output of the TIA. The switchable feedback path also includes a first switch to couple the feedback path to provide a feedback current to the first path resulting in a bandpass response in the output voltage when the switch is closed and a low-pass response in the output voltage when the switch is open.
US09991874B1	8GHz-20GHz noise cancelling transversal reconfigurable notch filter A tunable analog noise-cancelling transversal reconfigurable filter for filtering an RF signal. The filter includes a noise-cancelling balun responsive to the RF signal and providing gain and noise suppression, and a time delay network responsive to the signal from the balun. The time delay network includes a single continuous three-dimensional air coaxial line where a separate tap is provided between sections of the line. The filter also includes a multiplication and summing network having a plurality of multiplication stages, where each stage is fed by a voltage signal from at least one of the taps, and each stage includes a multiplication amplifier that amplifies the voltage signal. A tuning element provides a multiplication coefficient to the amplified signal. Each amplified signal in each stage is added on an output line, where the multiplication and summing network operates under Millman's Theorem.
US09991860B2	Control system for a power amplifier An apparatus for controlling the gain and phase of an input signal input to a power amplifier comprises a gain control loop configured to control the gain of the input signal based on power levels of the input signal and an amplified signal output by the power amplifier, to obtain a predetermined gain of the amplified signal, and a phase control loop configured to obtain an error signal related to a phase difference between a first signal derived from the input and a second signal derived from the amplified signal, and control the phase based on the error signal, to obtain a predetermined phase of the amplified signal. The phase control loop delays the first signal such that the delayed first signal and the second signal used to obtain the error signal correspond to the same part of the input signal. The apparatus may be included in a satellite.
US09991854B1	Power amplifier output circuit arrangements with mutual coupling between inductors Embodiments of an RF amplifier include a transistor with a control terminal and first and second current carrying terminals, and a shunt circuit coupled between the first current carrying terminal and a ground reference node. The shunt circuit includes a first shunt inductive element, a second shunt inductance, and a shunt capacitor coupled in series. Instead of a separate inductive element, the second shunt inductance may be achieved via magnetic coupling of the first shunt inductive element and an envelope inductive element of a video bandwidth circuit that is coupled between an RF cold point node (between the first and second shunt inductances) and the ground. Alternatively, an envelope inductance in the video bandwidth circuit may be achieved via magnetic coupling of first and second shunt inductive elements. A better RF cold point may be achieved without physically incorporating separate inductive elements, allowing for reduction in cost and size.
US09991850B2	Amplifier with base current reuse An RF amplifier module that has a plurality of amplifiers wherein at least one of the amplifiers is powered via an envelope tracking module. The biasing input of at least one of the amplifiers is provided to the first amplifier to power the first amplifier to reduce power consumption. The first amplifier may also be powered via fixed biasing to provide greater stability of the module.
US09991842B2	Systems and methods to reduce field buildup between cells and glass and frame assembly for solar energy production Systems and methods for removing charge buildup/leakage from solar modules. A discharge controller may be coupled between a solar module and a string bus of a solar array. The discharge controller is configured to disconnect the solar module from the string bus, and to connect a grounded frame to solar cells of the solar module. Since the grounded frame of the solar module is grounded, connecting the grounded frame and the solar cells allows charge buildup/leakage to discharge into ground.
US09991840B2	Method and unit for controlling and/or protecting an actuator of a piece of mobile equipment of a building A method for controlling and/or protecting an actuator of a piece of mobile equipment of a building, the actuator comprising a motor, comprises the steps consisting of: (E1) providing an instantaneous signal representative of the electrical power provided to the motor, (E2) carrying out a sampling of values of the instantaneous signal, (E3) performing a control of each sampled value according to a first protection criterion of the actuator, and issuing a first piece of anomaly information for each sampled value that does not satisfy the first criterion, (E3′) acquiring a set of values from the sampled values, (E4′) performing a control according to a second protection criterion of the actuator applied to all of the acquired sampled values, and issuing a second piece of anomaly information for all of the acquired sampled values that do not satisfy the second protection criterion.
US09991838B2	Drive control unit for motor A drive control unit in which a drive control system for a motor is made redundant so that a motor having two coil sets is individually driven and controlled for each coil set includes an inverter substrate on which a first inverter circuit that drives each coil of a first coil set, and a second inverter circuit that drives each coil of a second coil set are formed; a control substrate on which a first control circuit that includes a microcomputer which controls the first inverter circuit, and a second control circuit that includes a microcomputer which controls the second inverter circuit are formed; and a housing in which the inverter substrate and the control substrate are arranged in parallel to each other. The first control circuit is positioned on the front surface side, and the second control circuit is positioned on the rear surface side of the control substrate.
US09991834B2	System and method for permanent magnet motor control A method of operating an electric motor is disclosed. The method includes: determining a d-axis resistance of an electric motor and a Q-axis resistance of the electric motor as a function of a bulk current; determining a d-axis inductance of the electric motor and a Q-axis inductance of the electric motor as a function of the bulk current; generating an estimated flux of the electric motor based on the d-axis resistance of the electric motor, the Q-axis resistance of the electric motor, the d-axis inductance of the electric motor, and the Q-axis inductance of the electric motor; generating an estimated angle of the electric motor based on the estimated flux of the electric motor; and, based on the estimated angle of the electric motor, controlling switching of an inverter that powers the electric motor.
US09991830B2	Control method for motor of electronic brake Disclosed is a control method for a motor of an electronic brake. The control method for a motor of an electronic brake includes: a stop mode-starting step of starting a stop mode when a vehicle is stopped by a brake; an electrical angle-measuring step of measuring an electrical angle of a motor providing pressure to the brake in the stop mode; an electrical angle-calculating step of calculating a changed electrical angle using a predetermined electrical angle change and the electrical angle of the motor measured in the electrical angle-measuring step; and a motor-controlling step of controlling a current flowing to the motor in accordance with the changed electrical angle. Therefore, it is possible to keep a vehicle stopped, prevent a high current from flowing at any one phase of the motor, and prevent the motor from burning.
US09991829B2	Direct-axis current protection method and device for permanent magnet synchronous motor drive system A direct-axis current protection method and device for a permanent magnet synchronous motor drive system. The method includes: pre-calculating the direct-axis current of the next moment according to the current voltage transmitted from an inverter to a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM); comparing the direct-axis current of the next moment with a maximum protection current; if the direct-axis current of the next moment is less than the maximum protection current, continuing transmitting the current voltage to the PMSM; if the direct axis current of the next moment is greater than or equal to the maximum protection current, redistributing the voltage according to a protection direct-axis current and a protection quadrature-axis current, and transmitting the redistributed voltage to the PMSM. The direct-axis current of the next moment is tended to be normal by adjusting the voltage.
US09991828B2	Voltage level detecting device, motor driving apparatus, motor driving system, and method for detecting voltage level A voltage level detecting device is provided including comparators, a detection circuit, a trigger signal output circuit, a delayed control signal output circuit, a delayed comparison result signal output circuit, a circuit, and a control circuit. The comparators compare a voltage level of an input signal with each threshold level to generate and output a comparison result signal. The detection circuit detects a change in the comparison result signal and outputs a detection signal. The trigger signal output circuit outputs a trigger signal when a predetermined time has elapsed. The delayed control signal output circuit outputs a delayed control signal indicating a value of the control signal. The delayed comparison result signal output circuit outputs a delayed comparison result signal indicating the value of the comparison result signal. The circuit outputs a voltage level signal indicating a voltage level of the input signal. The control circuit outputs the control signal.
US09991817B2	Power converting device that uses a sine-wave-shaped current control range to output drive signal A power converting device includes: a rectifying circuit connected to an alternating-current power supply for converting alternating-current power from the alternating-current power supply into direct-current power; a short-circuit unit constituted by a diode bridge and a short-circuit element connected to opposite output ends of the diode bridge for short-circuiting the alternating-current power supply via a reactor; and a control unit that generates plural drive signals to control the short-circuit unit during a half cycle of the alternating-current power supply. The control unit generates a sine-wave-shaped current control range that is a target control range of power supply current of the alternating-current power supply, and maintains values of the power supply current of the alternating-current power supply within the current control range.
US09991816B2	Method for operating an at least generator-operable electric motor and means for the implementation thereof A method for controlling a multi-phase electric machine, operable at least in generator mode, whose phase terminals in an active bridge rectifier are respectively connected, via addressable first current valves capable of being switched on and shut off, to a first DC voltage terminal and via second current valves to a second DC voltage terminal. The method includes: in a generator mode of the electric machine after occurrence of a load dump, repeatedly initiating and discontinuing phase short circuits of the phase terminals via the first current valves. A magnitude characterizing a natural frequency of the electric machine is ascertained, and the first current valves are addressed with a switching frequency in order to initiate and discontinue the phase short circuits on the basis of the magnitude characterizing the natural frequency of the electric machine.
US09991813B2	Method for data transmission from a transmitter to a receiver in an AC power supply system, and apparatus for data transmission with AC power supply systems The invention relates to a method for the data transmission from an emitter (1) to a receiver (2) in an AC voltage network, comprising a distributor (3) and at least one user group (4) with one or several users (5), wherein the emitter (1) feeds a signal to the AC voltage network by means of a power source (6).
US09991812B2	Variable blanking frequency for resonant converters A power supply includes a transistor that is connected to a primary winding of a transformer. A controller controls a switching operation of the transistor by quasi-resonant switching. The controller receives a feedback voltage and adjusts the feedback voltage to adjust a blanking frequency, which is an inverse of a blanking time during which the transistor is prevented from being turned on. The controller turns on the transistor after expiration of the blanking time based on a level of a resonant ring.
US09991803B1	Reduction of electromagnetic interference in a flyback converter A method for reducing electromagnetic interference in a flyback converter includes activating a first switch to generate a primary current therein. The first switch is deactivated to generate a secondary current from a magnetic flux generated by the primary current. The magnetic flux is removed by the generation of the secondary current. A second switch is activated with a first voltage pulse to limit an excess voltage across the first switch. The excess voltage is generated in response to the deactivation of the first switch. A second switch is activated with a second voltage pulse to limit a voltage oscillation across the first switch. The voltage oscillation occurs after the removal of the magnetic flux. A first pulse width of the first voltage pulse is increased by a first jitter delay. A second pulse width of the second voltage pulse is increased by a second jitter delay.
US09991792B2	Current sensing with RDSON correction Current sensing with RDSON correction is disclosed. In an embodiment, a method comprises: measuring an approximate temperature of a MOS transistor switch by a temperature sensor to yield a measured temperature; calculating a corrected temperature from the measured temperature using a stored temperature sensor gain and offset correction function; measuring a gate drive voltage for the MOS transistor; calculating a voltage correction factor using a stored voltage correction function, wherein the stored voltage correction function is a function of the corrected temperature and the gate drive voltage; measuring a RDSON voltage drop across the MOS transistor switch to yield a measured RDSON voltage drop; and calculating the current using the measured RDSON drop and the voltage correction factor.
US09991788B2	Power factor correction circuit for regulating operating frequency control circuit of power factor correction circuit and control method thereof, electronic apparatus, and power adapter A control circuit of a power factor correction circuit including two channels, each of which includes a switching transistor, an inductor and a rectification element, includes: an error amplifier amplifying an error of a feedback signal according to output voltage of the power factor correction circuit and target value of the feedback signal and generating an error signal; a pulse modulator generating first and second pulse modulated signals in current critical mode in response to the error signal; a first driver driving the switching transistor of first channel based on the first pulse modulated signal; and a second driver driving the switching transistor of second channel based on the second pulse modulated signal, wherein the pulse modulator switches between a first mode where phase difference between the first and second pulse modulated signals is 180° and a second mode where the first and second channels are exclusively and alternately used.
US09991777B2	Method and circuitry for generating pulse width modulated signals A method of generating pulse width modulated (PWM) signals includes receiving a coarse signal correlated to the widths of pulses to be generated in the PWM signal. Trigger signals are generated and a one-shot device is triggered in response to the trigger signals. The one-shot device generates pulses having widths correlated to the coarse signal. A control signal correlated to the widths of the pulse to be generated in the PWM signal is received and the widths of the pulses generated by the one-shot device are adjusted in response to the control signal.
US09991775B1	Constant on-time converter having fast transient response The present disclosure provides a constant on-time converter having fast transient response, which adaptively adjusts an on-time and an off-time by a first compensation circuit and a second compensation circuit, to accordingly adjust an inductive current. When a load converts a light loading into a heavy loading, the constant on-time converter adaptively adjusts the on-time of the clock signal. When the load converts a heavy loading into a light loading, the constant on-time converter adaptively adjusts the off-time of the clock signal. Therefore, the output voltage can be adjusted rapidly in response to different load changes to enhance the transient response of the output voltage.
US09991757B2	Three-phase rotary electric machine Communication grooves for communicating an outer circumferential side with an inner circumferential side of a stator core are formed at a contact face, that contacts the stator core, of a three-phase terminal fixing member. Furthermore, a retention part deeper than the communication grooves is formed. When resin is injected, air between the stator core and a stationary mold and between the stator core and a movable mold is discharged to the outside through the communication grooves, and thus it is possible to suppress formation of voids between the stator core and the stationary mold and between the stator core and the movable mold. In addition, the resin expands by releasing its pressure at the retention part, and thus it is possible to suppress the resin from flowing to the outside through the communication grooves.
US09991749B2	Coil unit, wireless power feeding device, wireless power receiving device, and wireless power transmission device A coil unit, a wireless power feeding device, a wireless power receiving device, and a wireless power transmission device are provided that are capable of reducing high voltage induced on the metal part. A coil unit Lu1 includes a power transmission coil L1, a first reactance circuit X10 that is connected to one end portion of the winding of the power transmission coil L1 and forms a resonant circuit together with the power transmission coil L1, a metal part SD disposed on the same side as the back side of the power transmission coil L1, and a first adjustment capacitor C10 connected between the other end portion of the winding of the power transmission coil L1 and the metal part SD.
US09991747B2	Signaling charging in wireless power environment Exemplary embodiments are directed to wireless power transfer including generating an electromagnetic field at a resonant frequency of a transmitter to create a coupling-mode region within a near field of the transmitter during a synchronization portion of a time-multiplexed recurring period. During a power transmission portion of the recurring period, the electromagnetic field will continue to be generated when there is a receiver within the coupling-mode region, or the electromagnetic field will be disabled when there are no receivers within the coupling-mode region. Different segments of the power transmission portion are allocated to different receivers. The transmitter issues serial commands to the receivers by on/off keying the electromagnetic field. The receivers issue serial replies by changing the amount of power consumed from the electromagnetic field between two different states. The serial commands and serial replies are used to determine the number of receivers, their power requirements, and the allocation of segments.
US09991735B1	Electronic device including non-contact charging module and battery A mobile terminal is provided, which includes a wireless charging module, a battery pack, and a circuit board substrate. The wireless charging module includes a charging coil formed of a wound conducting wire and a communication coil placed adjacent to the charging coil. The wireless charging module has a substantially planar shape. The battery pack has a substantially planar shape and is configured to store power from the wireless charging module. The circuit board substrate is configured to control operation of the mobile terminal. The wireless charging module overlaps with each of the circuit board substrate and the battery pack.
US09991724B2	Battery management system for vehicle and controlling method thereof A battery management system for a vehicle is provided to prevent current consumption of a battery by operating a relay connected between the battery and electronic loads to prevent an over-discharge of the battery. The battery management system includes a sensing unit that is configured to measure a current and a voltage of a battery for a vehicle and a relay that is connected between the battery for the vehicle and electronic units of the vehicle. Additionally, a controller is configured to receive data from the sensing unit to turn off the relay.
US09991720B2	Load control apparatus and load control system A load control apparatus and a load control system capable of more efficiently using power generated from a private power generator, in which a load control apparatus includes a memory, a selector, and a load controller. The memory is configured to store a plurality of patterns having a plurality of control operations that are prioritized for a plurality of loads operated by consuming electric power. The selector is configured to select one of the patterns stored in the memory. The load controller is configured to operate the loads in order of priority on the basis of the control operation of the selected pattern while a total sum of power consumed by the loads does not exceed a target power value representing a value based on power suppliable by the electric generator.
US09991718B2	Power interchange system, power transmitting/receiving device, power interchange method, and program A power interchange system preferentially transmits electric power from a suitable power supply. A controller (100) includes signal sending/receiving means (300) for receiving information regarding a power transmitting/receiving device (101); power transmitting/receiving device information storage means (310); priority information storage means (310); and information control means (301) for determining, based on the information regarding the power transmitting/receiving device (101) and the priority of the power supply (104b), an amount of power to be transmitted and the power transmitting/receiving device (101) which is to transmit electric power, and creating, based on the determination, a control instruction to make the power transmitting/receiving device (101) transmit electric power. The signal sending/receiving means (300) transmits the control instruction to at least the power transmitting/receiving device (101), the power transmitting/receiving device (101) transmits electric power according to the control instruction.
US09991713B2	Energy storage system comprising a modular multi-level converter An energy storage system (ESS) for an electrical system includes an energy storage, and a converter interface arranged for connecting the energy storage to the electrical system. The converter interface includes a modular multilevel converter in which each phase leg includes a plurality of series connected cells of which at least one is a half-bridge cell and at least one is a full-bridge cell.
US09991711B2	Automated voltage support from load resources Loads on a distribution circuit are operated, which causes the loads to consume electricity delivered to the loads via the distribution circuit. A circuit voltage of the distribution circuit is measured. An excursion of the measured circuit voltage outside of a normal operating voltage range is responded to by triggering a sub-set of the loads on the distribution circuit to increase or decrease their power draw to counter the excursion. For an overvoltage condition, the responding comprises triggering a sub-set of the loads on the distribution circuit to operate, or increase their power draw, in order to reduce the circuit voltage. For an undervoltage condition, the responding comprises triggering a sub-set of the loads on the distribution circuit to cease operating, or reduce their power draw, in order to increase the circuit voltage.
US09991709B2	Adding and shedding loads using load levels to determine timing Some embodiments relate to a method of adding and shedding loads that are connected to a generator. The method includes determining whether a plurality of loads is being supplied with power by the generator and then determining the total load that the generator is supplying to the plurality of loads. The method further includes determining whether to change a number of the loads in the plurality of loads based on the amount of load L that is being supplied by the generator. The method further includes determining an amount of time T in which to change the number of loads in the plurality of loads based on the amount of load that is being supplied by the generator.
US09991708B2	Power supply A power supply and a method for operating the power supply in which a transformer connected to an excitation circuit which is adapted to be connected to a power source, which secondary winding is connected to at least one first power supply. From prior art. switch mode power supply based on fly back technology is well known. Here a power supply with a power inlet is provided with a plurality of separated power outlets. One of the lines connected to the primary winding is further connected to a discharge control circuit, which discharge control circuit is further connected to at least one second power supply and the primary winding is further connected to a discharge circuit where at least one further power supply is connected.
US09991707B2	Aggregate Load Controllers and Associated Methods Aggregate load controllers and associated methods are described. According to one aspect, a method of operating an aggregate load controller includes using an aggregate load controller having an initial state, applying a stimulus to a plurality of thermostatic controllers which are configured to control a plurality of respective thermostatic loads which receive electrical energy from an electrical utility to operate in a plurality of different operational modes, accessing data regarding a response of the thermostatic loads as a result of the applied stimulus, using the data regarding the response, determining a value of at least one design parameter of the aggregate load controller, and using the determined value of the at least one design parameter, configuring the aggregate load controller to control amounts of the electrical energy which are utilized by the thermostatic loads.
US09991703B1	Dual wall input for network attached storage device The present invention relates to providing reliable power to a storage device. In one embodiment, the storage device employs dual external power supplies. The power supplies may both provide power to the storage device. Alternatively, the power supplies may provide power in different configurations. One power supply may be a primary supply providing all or a majority of power, while the other power supply may be a backup. The storage device may comprise high efficiency DC-to-DC converters to permit the use of lower power-rated external power supplies. A staggered startup procedure by the storage device may be implemented to manage peak power draw. The storage device may be further configured to load balance and power share between the external power supplies. In addition, the storage device is configured to monitor the status of the external power supplies and send a notification if one or more of the power supplies fails.
US09991697B1	Fail open or fail short surge protector A surge protector includes a first and second contact connected via an energy absorbing element, such that electrical current travels from the first contact to the second contact via the energy absorbing element. The surge protector further includes a thermal spacing unit contacting the energy absorbing element and configured to be in a first physical state or a second physical state based on a temperature of the energy absorbing element. The surge protector further includes a connection unit connected to the second contact, the connection unit configured to be in a first position when the thermal spacing unit is in a first physical state and a second position when the thermal spacing unit is in a second physical state, such that the electrical current from the first contact to the second contact via the energy absorbing element is interrupted when the connection unit is in the second position.
US09991685B2	Electrical junction box An electrical junction box includes: an electrical junction box housing; and a common relay block, an individual corresponding relay block, a common power supply block, and an individual corresponding semiconductor module. The common relay block, the individual corresponding relay block, the common power supply block, and the individual corresponding semiconductor module are attached to the electrical junction box housing.
US09991670B2	Laser light source device and inspection device A laser light source device having a simple configuration and an inspection device are provided. A laser light source device 200 according to an exemplary embodiment in accordance with the present invention has a repetition frequency of 1 MHz or higher, and includes fundamental wave generation means 201 for oscillating laser light including a fundamental wave with its center wavelength being included in one of first to fourth wavelength bands, and means 205 for generating a sixth harmonic of pulsed laser light extracted from the fundamental wave generation means 201. The first wavelength band is 1064.326 nm to 1064.511 nm. The second wavelength band is 1064.757 nm to 1064.852 nm. The third wavelength band is 1063.805 nm to 1063.878 nm. Further, the fourth wavelength band is 1063.962 nm to 1064.031 nm.
US09991669B2	Semiconductor light-emitting device and manufacturing method for the same The embodiment relates to a semiconductor light-emitting device comprising a semiconductor substrate, a first cladding layer, an active layer, a second cladding layer, a contact layer, and a phase modulation layer located between the first cladding and active layers or between the active and second cladding layers. The phase modulation layer comprises a basic layer and plural first modified refractive index regions different from the basic layer in a refractive index. In a virtual square lattice set on the phase modulation layer such that the modified refractive index region is allocated in each of unit constituent regions constituting square lattices, the modified refractive index region is arranged to allow its gravity center position to be separated from the lattice point of the corresponding unit constituent region, and to have a rotation angle about the lattice point according a desired optical image.
US09991667B2	Method for generating femtosecond vortex beams with high spatial intensity contrast A method for generating femtosecond vortex beams with high spatial intensity contrast, where a noncollinearly pumped HG beam femtosecond laser generates femtosecond HG beam and a cylindrical lens mode converter converts the femtosecond HG beam to femtosecond LG vortex beam. The HG beam femtosecond laser comprises a pump source, a gain medium, a saturable absorption mirror as mode-locker, and an output coupler with a noncollinear angle between the laser beam and the pump beam in the gain medium, which enables the laser to generate pure, order-tunable femtosecond HG beams. Femtosecond vortex beams obtained after the cylindrical lens converter have high-intensity-contrast, and are topological charge-tunable.
US09991664B1	High-efficiency high-power ring laser amplifier A high-efficiency high-power ring laser amplifier includes four polarizers, four amplifiers, fours lens, two filter apertures, two electro-optic switches, a mirror, a wavefront corrector. A bidirectional ring laser amplifier configuration with twin pulses is suitable for any type of gain media and pumping configurations. This amplifier configuration can effectively improve the extraction efficiency of the gain medium. The amplification configuration proposed by the present invention patent can realize the ring amplification for any number of rounds in principle, and can effectively control quality of the output laser beam and relax the restriction on the injected energy. The two spatial filters in the novel high-efficiency high-power ring laser amplifier of the present invention patent can effectively removing the spatial modulations in the laser beams, and the first and second spatial filters reimage the beam at wavefront corrector to mirror which can effectively inhibit the diffraction effect.
US09991658B2	Brush assembly An electric power steering assembly includes a motor which includes a brush assembly. The brush assembly includes a brush base, a plurality of brush units and a plurality of fixing units for fixing the brush units to the brush base. The brush unit includes a brush, a guide rail and a spring. The rail includes two guiding arms, a closed end interconnecting the guiding arms and wings extending from free ends of the guiding arms. Grooves in the brush receive the guiding arms. The fixing unit includes a first fixture and a second fixture. The closed end of the guide rail engages the first fixture. The second fixture includes two columns spaced from each other. Each column defines a slot in a top end. Protrusions extend from a side of each slot to lock the wings in the slots.
US09991648B1	Electrical plug for a safety grounded tree An artificial lighted tree is presented with power routed through the trunk of the tree and three-wire safety grounding. The artificial lighted tree comprising a fused electrical plug having improved safety features comprising: a body portion surrounding respective first ends of a first, a second and a third electrical wire, the body portion further comprising a fuse holder embedded within an upper region of the body portion, and a fuse adapted to be releasably secured within the fuse holder via releasable securing means, a live blade in electrical communication with the first end of the first electrical wire, a neutral blade in electrical communication with the first end of the second electrical wire, a ground pin receptacle in electrical communication with the first end of the third electrical wire, wherein the body portion surrounds and maintains the live blade, neutral blade, and ground pin receptacle in spaced apart orientation corresponding to sockets on an electrical outlet.
US09991647B1	Plug connector having a circuit board with an encryption chip connected to a terminal A plug connector includes a dielectric body having a docking surface, a circuit board mounted to a rear of the dielectric body, a plurality of first terminals and a second terminal. The plurality of the first terminals are fastened to the dielectric body. Top surfaces of front ends of the plurality of the first terminals are exposed to the docking surface of the dielectric body. Rear ends of the plurality of the first terminals project beyond a rear surface of the dielectric body and are soldered to the circuit board. The second terminal is fastened to the dielectric body. A front end of the second terminal elastically projects beyond the docking surface of the dielectric body, and a rear end of the second terminal projects beyond the rear surface of the dielectric body and is soldered to the circuit board.
US09991646B2	Combined charger connector, charger cable decoration, and spurious emission common-mode filtering coil Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, are provided for a filtering coil. In some example embodiments, there may be provided an apparatus. The apparatus may include a connector mated to enable coupling to a user equipment; and an air-core inductive coil coupled to the connector, wherein the air-core inductive coil includes at least one coil configured to attenuate a radio frequency signal emanating from the user equipment and pass at least direct current power signal to the connector.
US09991644B2	Cable assembly and motor having the same A cable assembly includes a cable having a conductive core, an electromagnetic wave shielding layer, and an internal insulation layer between the conductive core and the electromagnetic wave shielding layer, a connector connected to one end of the cable, and a ground terminal portion disposed at the connector and having a first terminal electrically connected to the electromagnetic wave shielding layer and a second terminal disposed to expose from the connector, wherein the first terminal and the second terminal are connected by bending. The cable assembly provides an advantageous effect of implementing a grounding arrangement at the cable assembly coupled to the motor in a vertical direction that is parallel with the shaft direction of the motor by forming the first terminal and second terminal of the ground terminal portion by bending.
US09991635B2	Release tab for an electrical connector and electrical connector comprising said release tab The present invention relates to a release tab (37) for an electrical connector (1), comprising a body (38) and an unlocking nose (42) for unlatching a latch (13) securing the electrical connector (1) connected with a mating connector (2), as well as to an electrical connector (1) comprising a housing (4), a latch (13) for securing the housing (4) to a mating connector (2), the latch (13) extending from the housing (4), having an opening (19), as well as being transferable to an unlatched position, and a release tab (37) being arranged movable between a released position and an actuated position, and having an unlocking nose (42) extending into the opening (19) to transfer the latch (13) to the unlatched position when moving the release tab (37) from the released position to the actuated position. For providing an improved release tab and an improved electrical connector of a simple and compact design, allowing the connector to be unplugged in high density applications, the unlocking nose (42) is arranged at a cantilever (41) projecting from the body (38), and the release tab (37) of the present invention is arranged at the electrical connector.
US09991633B2	Electrical socket device including at least one locking and unlocking element Some embodiments relate generally to the field of electrical installations. In particular, some embodiments relate to an electrical socket device including at least one mechanism for locking and unlocking a corresponding electrical plug. More precisely, some embodiments relate to the electrical sockets and plugs of couplers, such as those defined by International Standard IEC 60320, for example of type C13 and type C19. These (coupler) sockets and plugs are applied or used in particular in a building that has a network, for example of LAN (Local Area Network) type, or in a data center, where several items of electrically powered equipment are installed.
US09991612B2	Coaxial connector splice A coaxial cable connector splice including a central conductor extending between opposed ends and an insulating structure interposed between the central conductor and an outer body.
US09991611B1	Wire nut (lug) fuse holder combination A device is provided for use with an electrical apparatus. The device comprises a wiring lug having a side and a base configured to receive a mounting screw. The wiring lug is configured to connect with a wire. The device further comprises a shaped spring configured to apply a force to a fuse for maintaining an electrical connection between the fuse and the wiring lug thus eliminating a separate electrical bus part that in a typical installation would pass a current from a conductive fuse clip to the wiring lug. The shaped spring provides a fuse clip with one side defined by the shaped spring and other side defined by the side of the wiring lug to contact a ferrule on the fuse or contact a blade extending from the ferrule on the fuse.
US09991605B2	Frequency-scaled ultra-wide spectrum element An antenna element including a base plate, a first ground clustered pillar projecting from the base plate, a second ground clustered pillar projecting from the base plate and spaced apart from a first side of the first ground clustered pillar, a first ground member projecting from the base plate between the first ground clustered pillar and the second ground clustered pillar, wherein a distal end of the first ground member is configured to capacitively couple to the second ground clustered pillar, and a first signal member projecting from the base plate between the first ground clustered pillar and the first ground member, wherein the first signal member is electrically insulated from the base plate, the first ground clustered pillar, and the first ground member, and a distal end of the first signal member is configured to capacitively couple to the first ground clustered pillar.
US09991597B2	Impedance tuning circuit A circuit for tuning an impedance matching network is disclosed. The circuit includes a current sensor, a control circuit coupled to the current sensor and a reference current source and a tunable capacitor coupled to the control circuit. The control circuit is configured to generate a control signal based on an output of the current sensor, wherein the control signal is configured to vary a capacitance of the tunable capacitor.
US09991596B2	Method and apparatus for sensing environmental parameters using wireless sensor(s) A passive radio frequency identification (RFID) sensor includes at least one antenna. The least one antenna has an antenna impedance operable to vary within an environment in which the antenna is placed. The RFID sensor further includes a processing module coupled to the antenna comprising a tuning module coupled to the antenna. The tuning module is operable to vary a reactive component impedance coupled to the antenna in order to change a system impedance, the system impedance includes the antenna impedance and the reactive component's impedance, to produce an impedance value representative of the reactive component's impedance. The RFID sensor further includes a memory module operable to store the impedance value representative of the reactive component's impedance, and a wireless communication module coupled to the processing module, operable to communicate with an RFID reader and to exchange the impedance value representative of the reactive component's impedance with the RFID reader.
US09991584B2	Portable electronic device housing having insert molding around antenna Embodiments are described herein in the context of housings for electronic devices. In one embodiment, a housing can make use of an outer member, which can be formed of glass. The outer member can be secured with respect to other portions of the housing for the electronic device. The output member can also be protected at its edges by a protective side member. Still further, one or more antenna can be provided at least partially internal to the protective side member. The electronic devices can be portable and in some cases handheld.
US09991580B2	Launcher and coupling system for guided wave mode cancellation Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a coupling module that includes a waveguide that guides a first electromagnetic wave conveying data from a transmitting device. A dielectric coupler receives the first electromagnetic wave from the waveguide to form a second electromagnetic wave, and that guides the second electromagnetic wave along the dielectric coupler adjacent to a transmission medium, and wherein the dielectric coupler has a length that supports a cancellation of at least one cancelled wave mode from a coupling of the second electromagnetic wave to the transmission medium.
US09991573B2	Housing device for at least one energy store cell and method for producing an housing device for at least one energy store cell A housing device for at least one energy store cell is described. The housing device includes an housing element for accommodating the energy store cell, the housing element having a back wall and at least two side walls lying opposite to each other. Furthermore, a front side of the housing element, lying opposite the back wall, is open, and is closable by a further back wall of an additional housing element.
US09991572B2	Arrangement and method for cooling a technical component including vaporizing water by residual thermal energy An arrangement in a motor vehicle includes a housing configured to accommodate a technical component, at least one pressure equalization element integrated into the housing, a cooling device configured to cool the technical component in the housing, and a control device configured to control the cooling device. The control device is configured such that, in the event of an exceedance of a temperature threshold value in the housing, the control device increases the cooling power of the cooling device in order to attain a first temperature value in the housing. After such an increase, proceeding from a second temperature value in the housing, the control device decreases the cooling power such that thermal residual energy of the technical component is sufficient to evaporate the condensation water generated in the housing as a result of the cooling, wherein the second temperature value is higher than the first temperature value.
US09991571B2	Battery module with flanges in fluidic communication A battery module (10) has a first and second partial modules (12, 16) with first and second battery cells (14, 18) respectively. A cooling medium for cooling the first battery cells (14) is in a first volume that is bounded by a first partial housing (28) and can flow through the first partial module (12), and a cooling medium for cooling the second battery cells (18) in a second volume bounded by a second partial housing (34) can flow through the second partial module (16). The first partial housing (28) has a first tubular flange (36) projecting into a first intermediate space (24) between the first battery cells (14), and the second partial housing (34) has a second tubular flange (38) projecting into a second intermediate space (30) between the second battery cells (18). The first and second volumes are connected via the first and second tubular flanges (36, 38).
US09991570B2	Battery pack temperature regulating apparatus A battery pack temperature regulating apparatus includes an evaporator configured to cool air inside a battery casing receiving a battery used for driving a vehicle; an evaporator casing receiving the evaporator; and a heater attached to the evaporator casing and configured to heat the air inside the battery casing.
US09991559B2	Functionalized ionic liquid electrolytes for lithium ion batteries An ionic liquid that is a salt has a Formula: Such ionic liquids may be used in electrolytes and in electrochemical cells.
US09991553B2	Electrolyte for lithium air battery and lithium air battery including the same An electrolyte for a lithium air battery and lithium air battery including the electrolyte are provided. The electrolyte includes a compound represented by Formula 1 and a lithium salt:
US09991551B2	Assembled battery, method of charging an assembled battery, and charging circuit which charges an assembled battery A method of charging an assembled battery, includes mechanically connecting two external terminals of an assembled battery and two connecting lines of a charging circuit, respectively, the assembled battery including a plurality of lithium ion battery cells connected in series, a lithium ion battery cell of the plurality of lithium ion battery cells including a positive electrode active material including a first lithium compound comprising iron, the two external terminals, and a first communicating unit. The method also includes electrically connecting the first communicating unit of the assembled battery to a second communicating unit of the charging circuit, charging the assembled battery through the two external terminals using a quasi-constant voltage charging procedure, and reducing a charging current toward a late stage during the charging of the assembled battery.
US09991543B2	Aqueous redox flow batteries featuring improved cell design characteristics Provided are compositions having the formula MnTi(L1)(L2)(L3) wherein L1 is a catecholate, and L2 and L3 are each independently selected from catecholates, ascorbate, citrate, glycolates, a polyol, gluconate, glycinate, hydroxyalkanoates, acetate, formate, benzoates, malate, maleate, phthalates, sarcosinate, salicylate, oxalate, a urea, polyamine, aminophenolates, acetylacetone or lactate; each M is independently Na, Li, or K; n is 0 or an integer from 1-6. Also provided are energy storage systems.
US09991542B2	Two-electron high potential and high capacity redox active molecules for energy storage applications A non-aqueous redox flow battery includes a catholyte including a compound of formula (I), a compound of formula (II), or a compound of formula (III): wherein two R groups have the formula X, wherein X is X, wherein X is a group of formula IV-A or IV-B;
US09991541B2	Microbial fuel cell A microbial fuel cell includes a container unit and an electrode unit. The container unit includes an electrolytic cell and a communication port. The electrode unit includes a gas-phase chamber, a positive electrode, a negative electrode that is configured to hold microbes, an ion transfer layer that is interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, a first vent port, and a second vent port. The gas-phase chamber is communicated with the communication port through the second vent port.
US09991540B2	Electrolyte supported cell designed for longer life and higher power A solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) that includes an anode electrode, a cathode electrode and a solid oxide electrolyte having a fuel inlet riser opening and a fuel outlet riser opening. The electrolyte is located between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode. The SOFC also includes a ceramic support layer on the electrolyte. The ceramic support is layer located around the at least one of a periphery of the electrolyte or at least partially around perimeters of the fuel inlet and fuel outlet riser openings. The ceramic support layer comprises a multi-component material comprising yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) and alpha alumina.
US09991536B2	Self-supplied hydrogen fuel cell system and working method thereof The Invention discloses a self-supplied hydrogen fuel cell system and a working method thereof, the system comprising a diesel tank, a gas separator, a fuel cell, a low-temperature separation reactor, a high-temperature separation reactor, an auto-thermal reformer, a water tank and a catalytic burner; With the high-temperature separation reactor, the low-temperature separation reactor and the auto-thermal reformer, diesel is cracked into H2 and CO; as the fuel for the fuel cell, H2 may react with O2 in the air and generate electric energy; the unreacted H2 and CO enter into the catalytic burner for combustion, ensuring that the water is heated; thus, it not only provides H2 to the fuel cell, but also provides high-temperature water to the auto-thermal converter to produce H2; electric energy can be generated without burning diesel; since no NOx or particulate matters but CO2 is generated, the goal of ultra-low emission is achieved.
US09991532B2	Hydrogen fuel cartridge with spring loaded valve A hydrogen generating fuel cartridge includes a case having a perforated opening layer. A hydrogen producing fuel is disposed within the case. A hydrogen permeable membrane is disposed between the hydrogen producing fuel and the perforated opening layer in the case. A spring loaded slideable valve plate is positioned adjacent the perforated opening layer such that the slideable valve plate and perforated opening form a valve that is biased in a closed position to prevent hydrogen from escaping from the fuel cartridge.
US09991529B2	Fuel cell system and operating method of a fuel cell A fuel cell system operates under at least one of the conditions of no humidity or high temperature, and an operating method thereof, are characterized in that a fuel cell has a fuel gas flow path and an oxidant gas flow path arranged such that fuel gas and oxidant gas flow in opposite directions, a determining apparatus that determines the amount of water near the oxidant gas flow path inlet, and a fuel gas control apparatus which increases the amount of water near the oxidant gas flow path inlet by increasing the fuel gas flowrate and/or reducing the fuel gas pressure if it is determined in the determining apparatus that the amount of water near the oxidant gas flow path inlet is insufficient.
US09991528B2	Fuel cell system A fuel cell system includes: a fuel cell; a fuel gas path supplied with fuel and allowing a part of fuel gas discharged from the fuel cell to circulate; an exhaust mechanism discharging the reacted fuel gas to an outside; a circulation mechanism circulating the fuel gas; and a control unit configured to temporarily stop circulation of the fuel gas by the circulation mechanism when determining that discharge from the exhaust mechanism is not normal, drive the circulation mechanism so that the fuel gas circulates at a first circulation speed when determining that the discharge is not normal and a parameter relating to water vapor in the fuel gas path is equal to a predetermined value or greater, and drive the circulation mechanism so that the fuel gas circulates at a second circulation speed greater than the first circulation speed when determining that the discharge is normal.
US09991526B2	SOFC hot box components Various hot box fuel cell system components are provided, such as heat exchangers, steam generator and other components.
US09991521B2	Method for dispersing particles in perfluorinated polymer ionomer A method for preparing dispersing particles in perfluorinated polymer ionomer includes combining particles and a perfluorinated ionomer precursor in a mixture, and converting the perfluorinated ionomer precursor to a perfluorinated proton-conducting ionomer in the presence of the particles.
US09991515B2	Rechargeable lithium battery Disclosed is a rechargeable lithium battery that includes a positive electrode including a positive active material, a negative electrode including a negative active material, and a non-aqueous electrolyte, wherein the positive active material includes a compound represented by the following Chemical Formula 1, the negative active material includes a silicon-based compound, the compound represented by the above Chemical Formula 1 is included in an amount of about 3 wt % to about 30 wt % based on 100 wt % of the positive active material, and the silicon-based compound is included in an amount of about 3 wt % to about 10 wt % based on 100 wt % of the negative active material. Lix1CO1-yMyO2 Chemical Formula 1 In the above Chemical Formula 1, 1.05
US09991512B2	Thermally conductive lithium ion electrodes and batteries A thermally conductive electrochemical cell comprises a lithium ion-containing liquid electrolyte contacting a cathode and anode. The cathode and anode are in the form of electroactive sheets separated from each other by a membrane that is permeable to the electrolyte. One or more of the cathode and anode comprises two or more layers of carbon nanotubes, one of which layers includes electrochemically active nanoparticles and/or microparticles disposed therein or deposited on the nanotubes thereof. The majority of the carbon nanotubes in each of the layers are oriented generally parallel to the layers. Optionally, one or more of the layers includes an additional carbon material such as graphene, nanoparticulate diamond, microparticulate diamond, and a combination thereof.
US09991499B2	Battery A flat electrode body of a battery has a first-side curved end positioned on a first side of an electrode body width direction and a second-side curved end positioned on a second side. A positive electrode innermost curved portion of a positive electrode sheet is disposed inside the first-side curved end. When the dimension from a positive electrode connecting portion to the end on the first side of the electrode body is defined as a distance and the dimension from the positive electrode connecting portion to the end on the second side of the electrode body is defined as a distance, the positive electrode connecting portion being in the positive electrode protrusion wound portion and connected to a terminal connecting portion of a positive terminal member, the terminal connecting portion is connected to the positive electrode connecting portion at a position satisfying the condition Ha≥1.1Hb.
US09991497B2	Electric storage battery construction and method of manufacture An electric storage battery and method of manufacture thereof characterized by a feedthrough pin which is internally directly physically and electrically connected to an inner end of a positive electrode substrate. A C-shaped mandrel extends around the pin and substrate end enabling the pin/mandrel to be used during the manufacturing process as an arbor to facilitate winding layers of a spiral jellyroll electrode assembly. The pin additionally extends from the battery case and in the final product constitutes one of the battery terminals with the battery case comprising the other terminal. Active material is removed from both sides of the outer end of the negative electrode in the jellyroll to allow room for adhesive tape to secure the jellyroll. The electrolyte is injected through the open end of the case after the endcap is welded to the negative electrode but before sealing the endcap to the case. The electrolyte is preferably injected through the C-shaped mandrel to facilitate and speed filling.
US09991481B2	Thermal insulating cover A thermal insulating cover which can be easily fitted on an object.[Means for solution] A thermal insulating cover 10 to be fitted on a battery B so that a wall portion 12 in a cylindrical form of the cover covers the entire periphery of the side surface of the battery B. The wall portion 12 has a general portion 18, which is disposed to be separate from the side surface of the battery B, and a sealing portion 20, which is formed to protrude inward more than the general portion 18 and elastically abutting on the side surface of the battery B. The thermal insulating cover 10 closes an upper side of a space G formed between the side surface of the battery B and the general portion 18 by the sealing portion 20.
US09991478B2	Methods for fabricating an organic electro-luminescence device and flexible electric device A method for fabricating an organic electro-luminescence device, comprising: forming a first conductive layer comprising a first electrode and a contact pattern on a substrate; forming a first mask on the first conductive layer, the first mask comprising an opening for exposing a portion of the first electrode and a portion of the contact pattern; forming a patterned organic functional layer by shielding of a second mask, the patterned organic functional layer covering the first mask and the first electrode exposed by the first mask, and the second mask being disposed over the first mask to shield the portion of the contact pattern exposed by the opening; forming a second conductive layer and patterning the second conductive layer by removing the first mask and a portion of the second conductive layer on the first mask to form a second electrode electrically connected to the contact pattern.
US09991476B2	Method for manufacturing flexible OLED display component Disclosed is a method for manufacturing a flexible organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display component which includes steps of: forming a ferromagnetic material layer on a surface of a flexible substrate; and abutting the ferromagnetic material layer against a flat bearing surface, and applying a magnetic pull force directing to the bearing surface on the ferromagnetic material layer. Drawn by the magnetic pull force, the ferromagnetic material layer abuts closely against the flat bearing surface, smoothing out the flexible substrate, and meanwhile fixing the flexible substrate on the bearing surface.
US09991464B2	Organic light-emitting display device and method of fabricating the same An organic light-emitting display device includes a substrate defining an emission area and a non-emission area; an insulating layer on the substrate and having at least two grooves being defined at a portion of the insulating layer corresponding to the non-emission area; a first electrode on the insulating layer at a portion of the insulating layer corresponding to the emission area; an auxiliary electrode on the insulating layer and spaced apart from the first electrode, the auxiliary electrode being on at least a portion of the insulating layer having the at least two grooves; a bank pattern on portions of the first and auxiliary electrodes; a barrier on the auxiliary electrode and separated from the bank pattern, the barrier being formed of a same material as the bank pattern; an organic light-emitting layer on the first electrode; and a second electrode on the organic light-emitting layer.
US09991455B2	Amine compound and organic electroluminescent element An organic electroluminescence device having good emission efficiency is provided. The organic electroluminescence device includes an amine compound which includes a benzofluorene structure and an aryl group and/or a heteroaryl group, wherein the benzofluorene structure has a specific substituent at 9-position of the fluorene ring.
US09991452B2	Condensed-cyclic compound and organic light-emitting device including the same A condensed-cyclic compound is represented by Formula 1: where X1 and R1 to R10 are as defined in the specification, and at least one of R1 to R10 is a group represented by Formula 2, and at least one of R1 to R10 is a group represented by Formula 3: where L1, L2, Ar1 to Ar4, a1 and a2 are as defined in the specification.
US09991451B2	Organic light-emitting device, display apparatus, image display apparatus, lighting apparatus, image formation apparatus, and exposure apparatus An organic light-emitting device is provided that is driven with a low voltage and has a high luminous efficiency and a long device lifetime. The organic light-emitting device includes an anode, a cathode, a light-emitting layer disposed between the anode and the cathode, and an organic compound layer disposed between the cathode and the light-emitting layer and being in contact with the cathode. The organic compound layer includes a complex represented by Formula [1]:
US09991443B2	Conjugated polymer zwitterions and solar cells comprising conjugated polymer zwitterions A conjugated polymer zwitterion includes repeating units having structure (I), (II), or a combination thereof wherein Ar is independently at each occurrence a divalent substituted or unsubstituted C3-30 arylene or heteroarylene group; L is independently at each occurrence a divalent C1-16 alkylene group, C6-30 arylene or heteroarylene group, or alkylene oxide group; and R1 is independently at each occurrence a zwitterion. A polymer solar cell including the conjugated polymer zwitterion is also disclosed.
US09991435B2	Device for exhaust gas heat utilization, exhaust gas module having such a device, and method of manufacturing the device A device for exhaust gas heat utilization in internal combustion engines of motor vehicles has an outer housing through which exhaust gas can flow and at least one thermoelectric generator module received in the outer housing. The at least one thermoelectric generator module is fastened onto a wavelike carrier wall. The invention further relates to an exhaust gas module having such a device, and to a method of manufacturing this device.
US09991427B2	Photonic crystal phosphor light conversion structures for light emitting devices Solid state light emitting devices include a solid state light emitting die and a photonic crystal phosphor light conversion structure. The photonic crystal phosphor light conversion structure may include a solid phosphor layer that includes dielectric nanostructures therein and may be on a light emitting surface of the solid state light emitting die. The photonic crystal phosphor light conversion structure may be attached to the light emitting surface of the solid state light emitting die via an adhesive layer. The photonic crystal phosphor light conversion structure may also be directly on a light emitting surface of the solid state light emitting die. Related methods are also disclosed.
US09991415B2	Display device and method of producing display device A configuration of a display device capable of color display is obtained. The display device includes a plurality of rod-shaped light-emitting elements each of which includes a semiconductor and which emit light beams having wavelength distributions different from each other, and alignment electrodes (12). The alignment electrodes (12) include a first electrode pair (12a), a second electrode pair (12b), and a third electrode pair (12c). The plurality of rod-shaped light-emitting elements include a first rod-shaped light-emitting element, which is arranged so that one end of the first rod-shaped light-emitting element is adjacent to one electrode of the first electrode pair while the other end is adjacent to the other electrode of the first electrode pair, a second rod-shaped light-emitting element, which is arranged so that one end of the second rod-shaped light-emitting element is adjacent to one electrode of the second electrode pair while the other end of the second rod-shaped light-emitting element is adjacent to the other electrode of the second electrode pair, and a third rod-shaped light-emitting element, which is arranged so that one end of the third rod-shaped light-emitting element is adjacent to one electrode of the third electrode pair while the other end of the third rod-shaped light-emitting element is adjacent to the other electrode of the third electrode pair. Lengths R1 to R3 of the first to third rod-shaped light-emitting elements and distances d1 to d3 of the first to third electrode pairs (12a) to (12c) satisfy the following relationships. d1≤R1
US09991409B2	Wafer level packaging, optical detection sensor and method of forming same An optical detection sensor functions as a proximity detection sensor that includes an optical system and a selectively transmissive structure. Electromagnetic radiation such as laser light can be emitted through a transmissive portion of the selectively transmissive structure. A reflected beam can be detected to determine the presence of an object. The sensor is formed by encapsulating the transmissive structure in a first encapsulant body and encapsulating the optical system in a second encapsulant body. The first and second encapsulant bodies are then joined together. In a wafer scale assembling the structure resulting from the joined encapsulant bodies is diced to form optical detection sensors.
US09991404B2	Solar cell module and solar cell module manufacturing method A solar cell module manufacturing method is provided. This method includes: preparing a solar cell element that has a surface whose outer periphery is surrounded by a plurality of sides, an encapsulant that seals the solar cell elements, and a coating that has light diffusivity; applying the coating in an outer peripheral area of the surface via a printing plate that has a pattern corresponding to the outer peripheral area and in which a protection member is provided at a position that corresponds to a corner portion located between two sides of the plurality of sides, the two sides extending in directions that intersect with each other; and sealing, with the encapsulant, the solar cell element on which the coating is printed.
US09991403B2	Optical device An improved optoelectronic device is described, which employs optically responsive nanoparticles and utilises a non-radiative energy transfer mechanism. The nanoparticles are disposed on the sidewalls of one or more cavities, which extend from the surface of the device through the electronic structure and penetrate the energy transfer region. The nanoparticles are located in close spatial proximity to an energy transfer region, whereby energy is transferred non-radiatively to or from the electronic structure through non-contact dipole-dipole interaction. According to the mode of operation, the device can absorb light energy received from the device surface via the cavity and then transfer this non-radiatively or can transfer energy non-radiatively and then emit light energy towards the surface of the device via the cavity. As such, the deice finds application in light emitting devices, photovoltaic (solar) cells, displays, photodetectors, lasers and single photon devices.
US09991393B2	Semiconductor device, module, and electronic device A semiconductor device includes a first conductor, a second conductor, a first semiconductor, a second semiconductor, a third semiconductor, and an insulator. The second semiconductor is in contact with an upper surface of the first semiconductor. The first conductor overlaps with the second semiconductor. The insulator is located between the first conductor and the first semiconductor. The second conductor is in contact with an upper surface of the second semiconductor. The third semiconductor is in contact with the upper surface of the first semiconductor, the upper surface of the second semiconductor, and an upper surface of the second conductor.
US09991392B2	Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof To provide a novel semiconductor device which includes a transistor and a metal film containing Cu for a wiring, a signal line, or the like. The semiconductor device includes a first wiring, a second wiring, a first transistor, and a second transistor. The first wiring is electrically connected to a source or a drain of the first transistor, and the second wiring is electrically connected to a gate of the second transistor. The first wiring and the second wiring each include a Cu—X alloy film (X is Mn, Ni, Cr, Fe, Co, Mo, Ta, or Ti). The Cu—X alloy film in the first wiring is connected to the Cu—X alloy film in the second wiring.
US09991390B2	Thin film transition metal dichalcogenides and methods A coated substrate including a thin film of a transition metal dichalcogenide and associated methods are shown. In one example, the substrate is a semiconductor wafer. In one example, the thin film is atomically thin, and the substrate is a number of centimeters in diameter. In one example a crystalline structure of the thin film is substantially 2H hexagonal.
US09991388B2	FINFETs with wrap-around silicide and method forming the same A device includes isolation regions extending into a semiconductor substrate, with a substrate strip between opposite portions of the isolation regions having a first width. A source/drain region has a portion overlapping the substrate strip, wherein an upper portion of the source/drain region has a second width greater than the first width. The upper portion of the source/drain region has substantially vertical sidewalls. A source/drain silicide region has inner sidewalls contacting the vertical sidewalls of the source/drain region.
US09991385B2	Enhanced volume control by recess profile control The present disclosure relates to a semiconductor device that controls a strain on a channel region by forming a dielectric material in recesses, adjacent to a channel region, in order to provide control over a volume and shape of a strain inducing material of epitaxial source/drain regions formed within the recesses. In some embodiments, the semiconductor device has epitaxial source/drain regions arranged in recesses within an upper surface of a semiconductor body on opposing sides of a channel region. A gate structure is arranged over the channel region, and a dielectric material is arranged laterally between the epitaxial source/drain regions and the channel region. The dielectric material consumes some volume of the recesses, thereby reducing a volume of strain inducing material in epitaxial source/drain regions formed in the recesses.
US09991384B2	Semiconductor device including fin structures and manufacturing method thereof A semiconductor Fin FET device includes a fin structure disposed over a substrate. The fin structure includes a channel layer. The Fin FET device also includes a gate structure including a gate electrode layer and a gate dielectric layer, covering a portion of the fin structure. Side-wall insulating layers are disposed over both main sides of the gate electrode layer. The Fin FET device includes a source and a drain, each including a stressor layer disposed in a recess formed by removing the fin structure not covered by the gate structure. The stressor layer includes a first to a third stressor layer formed in this order. In the source, an interface between the first stressor layer and the channel layer is located under one of the side-wall insulating layers closer to the source or the gate electrode.
US09991380B2	Lateral super-junction MOSFET device and termination structure A lateral superjunction MOSFET device includes multiple transistor cells connected to a lateral superjunction structure, each transistor cell including a conductive gate finger, a source region finger, a body contact region finger and a drain region finger arranged laterally within each transistor cell. Each of the drain region fingers, the source region fingers and the body contact region fingers is a doped region finger having a termination region at an end of the doped region finger. The lateral superjunction MOSFET device further includes a termination structure formed in the termination region of each doped region finger and including one or more termination columns having the same conductivity type as the doped region finger and positioned near the end of the doped region finger. The one or more termination columns extend through the lateral superjunction structure and are electrically unbiased.
US09991379B1	Semiconductor device with a gate insulating film formed on an inner wall of a trench, and method of manufacturing the same A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate, which includes: a drift region that has a first conductivity type; a body region that has a second conductivity type and is formed on the drift region; and an impurity region that has the first conductivity type and is formed inward from a surface of the body region. The semiconductor device further includes a trench, which is formed on a front surface of the semiconductor substrate and reaches the drift region; a control electrode, which is formed in the trench; an oxide film, which is formed between an inner wall of the trench and the control electrode; an electrode, which is connected to the impurity region; and a transistor, which includes a nitride film formed on the front surface of the semiconductor substrate excluding an upper side of the control electrode and a formation position of the electrode, in the semiconductor substrate.
US09991376B2	High voltage MOSFET devices and methods of making the devices A SiC MOSFET device having low specific on resistance is described. The device has N+, P-well and JFET regions extended in one direction (Y-direction) and P+ and source contacts extended in an orthogonal direction (X-direction). The polysilicon gate of the device covers the JFET region and is terminated over the P-well region to minimize electric field at the polysilicon gate edge. In use, current flows vertically from the drain contact at the bottom of the structure into the JFET region and then laterally in the X direction through the accumulation region and through the MOSFET channels into the adjacent N+ region. The current flowing out of the channel then flows along the N+ region in the Y-direction and is collected by the source contacts and the final metal. Methods of making the device are also described.
US09991349B2	Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing semiconductor device Certain embodiments provide a semiconductor device including a semiconductor substrate, a semiconductor element, and wiring. The semiconductor element has an electrode provided on a surface of the semiconductor substrate. The electrode includes a junction layer joined to the surface of the semiconductor substrate, a diffusion-suppressing layer provided on the junction layer, and a pad layer provided on the diffusion-suppressing layer. The wiring is provided on a back surface of the semiconductor substrate and on an inner surface of a through hole which penetrates the semiconductor substrate immediately below the electrode. The wiring is electrically connected to the electrode.
US09991348B2	Array substrate with reduced flickering, method for manufacturing the same and display device An array substrate includes a gate electrode and a source electrode arranged on a base substrate of the array substrate. The source electrode has a first end connected to a pixel electrode on the array substrate, and a second end opposite to the first end. A tip of the second end is provided with an extension portion, and an orthogonal projection of the extension portion onto the base substrate extends beyond an orthogonal projection of the gate electrode onto the base substrate.
US09991339B2	Bulk to silicon on insulator device A method for forming a semiconductor device comprises forming a fin in a bulk semiconductor substrate and depositing a first insulator layer over portions of the bulk semiconductor substrate adjacent to the fin. The method further includes removing portions of the first insulator layer to reduce a thickness of the first insulator layer and expose a sidewall of the fin. An etch stop layer is deposited on the first insulator layer. A gate stack is formed over a channel region of the fin and over portions of the etch stop layer. A portion of the bulk semiconductor substrate is removed to expose portions of the etch stop layer and the fin, and a second insulator layer is deposited over exposed portions of the fin and the etch stop layer.
US09991328B2	Tunable on-chip nanosheet resistor A method of forming an integrated circuit device having a nanosheet resistor includes forming a nanosheet structure having alternating sheets of silicon and silicon germanium. An ion implantation is performed on the nanosheet structure. A thermal anneal is performed on the nanosheet structure. A dielectric oxide is placed around the nanosheet structure. A first contact and a second contact are coupled to the nanosheet structure to form a resistor between the first contact and the second contact. Other embodiments are also described herein.
US09991322B2	Organic light emitting display panel and manufacturing method thereof, display device The present invention discloses an organic light emitting display panel and manufacturing method thereof and a display device, which can reduce the critical dimension bias of the pixel defining layer and improve the display uniformity. The organic light emitting display panel provide by the present invention comprises: a pixel defining layer, which is provided with a plurality of light emitting material filling areas, being characterized by further comprising: a metal layer provided on the pixel defining layer; the metal layer is provided with openings corresponding to the light emitting material filling areas respectively. The solutions provided by the present invention are used to improve the display effect of the organic light emitting display device.
US09991319B2	Thin film transistor, method of manufacturing the thin film transistor and flat panel display having the thin film transistor A thin film transistor (TFT), method of manufacturing the TFT and a flat panel display having the TFT are disclosed. In one aspect, the TFT comprises a substrate and an active layer formed over the substrate, wherein the active layer is formed of oxide semiconductor, and wherein the active layer includes two opposing sides. The TFT also comprises source and drain regions formed at the opposing sides of the active layer, a first insulating layer formed over the active layer, a gate electrode formed over the active layer, a second insulating layer formed covering the first insulation layer and the gate electrode, and a first conductive layer formed on the source and drain regions and contacting the second insulating layer.
US09991318B2	Organic light emitting display device An organic light emitting diode (OLED) display device includes a substrate, reflection structure, and a sub-pixel structure. The substrate includes a plurality of sub-pixel regions and a reflection region surrounding the sub-pixel regions. The reflection structure is disposed on the substrate in the reflection region and has a plurality of openings exposing the sub-pixel regions. The reflection structure includes first reflection patterns, second reflection patterns, and connection patterns. The first reflection patterns extend in a first direction parallel to an upper surface of the substrate, and are spaced apart from each other in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. The second reflection patterns are spaced apart from each other in the first direction between two adjacent first reflection patterns. The connection patterns electrically connect two adjacent second reflection patterns in the second direction. The sub-pixel structure is disposed on the substrate in the sub-pixel region.
US09991315B2	Memory device including ovonic threshold switch adjusting threshold voltage thereof A memory device may include a substrate, a first conductive line on the substrate and extending in a first direction, a second conductive line over the first conductive line and extending in a second direction crossing the first direction, a third conductive line over the second conductive line and extending in the first direction, a first memory cell at an intersection of the first conductive line and the second conductive line and including a first selection element layer and a first variable resistance layer, and a second memory cell at an intersection of the second conductive line and the third conductive line and including a second selection element layer and a second variable resistance layer. A first height of the first selection element layer in a third direction perpendicular to the first and second directions is different than a second height of the second selection element layer in the third direction.
US09991310B2	Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing thereof A semiconductor device includes a first semiconductor layer of a first conductivity type having a primary surface on one side thereof and a secondary surface on an opposite side thereof, and having a sensor therein, a second semiconductor layer of a second conductivity type having a circuit element formed therein, the second semiconductor layer being formed at said one side of the primary surface of the first semiconductor layer, an insulating layer formed between the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer, and being disposed on the primary surface of the first semiconductor layer, and a charge-attracting semiconductor layer of the first conductivity type configured to attract electrical charges generated in the insulating layer when a fixed voltage is supplied to the charge-attracting semiconductor layer.
US09991307B2	Stacked grid design for improved optical performance and isolation A back side illumination (BSI) image sensor with a dielectric grid opening having a planar lower surface is provided. A pixel sensor is arranged within a semiconductor substrate. A metallic grid is arranged over the pixel sensor and defines a sidewall of a metallic grid opening. A dielectric grid is arranged over the metallic grid and defines a sidewall of the dielectric grid opening. A capping layer is arranged over the metallic grid, and defines the planar lower surface of the dielectric grid opening.
US09991306B2	Hybrid bonded image sensor and method of operating such image sensor In one form, a hybrid bonded image sensor comprises a photodiode chip, a circuit carrying chip, and an interconnection. The photodiode chip provides charge to a first floating diffusion in response to incident light, wherein the first floating diffusion is coupled to a first terminal on a first surface of the photodiode chip. The circuit carrying chip has a first terminal aligned with the first terminal of the photodiode chip, the circuit carrying chip forming an output voltage based on charge transferred on the first floating diffusion sensed from the first terminal thereof. The interconnection connects the first terminal of the photodiode chip to the first terminal of the circuit carrying chip.
US09991299B2	Image sensors An image sensor includes a substrate including an active region defined by a device isolation layer, a photoelectric conversion layer in the substrate, a floating diffusion region in the substrate at an edge of the active region, and a transfer gate on the active region. The transfer gate is in contact with a portion of the device isolation layer adjacent the active region.
US09991296B2	Liquid crystal display with pixel transistors having different channel widths A liquid crystal display includes a first pixel and a second pixel that extend in a data line direction. The first and second pixels are connected to a same data line, and the first pixel is closer to a data driver than the second pixel. A channel width of a thin film transistor of the first pixel is less than a channel width of a thin film transistor of the second pixel.
US09991294B2	Thin film transistor and method for manufacturing the same, array substrate, and electronic apparatus A thin film transistor and a method for manufacturing the same, an array substrate including the thin film transistor, and an electronic apparatus including the thin film transistor or provided with the array substrate. The thin film transistor includes: a gate electrode, a gate insulating layer, an active layer, and a source electrode and a drain electrode, the active layer is formed of a mixture including a semiconductor nano-material and a photoresist material. The method for manufacturing the thin film transistor includes: preparing a mixture including a semiconductor nano-material and a photoresist material; applying the mixture over a substrate, and forming a patterned active layer by exposure and development.
US09991291B2	Array substrate and manufacturing method thereof and display apparatus An array substrate is disclosed, which includes a display region and a drive circuit region; the drive circuit region includes GOA units, the GOA unit including a substrate, a gate electrode layer, an insulation layer, an active layer and a source/drain electrode layer, and the drive circuit region further includes a gate wire connecting to the gate electrode layer, and a source/drain layer wire at the same layer with the source/drain electrode layer, wherein the area between the portions of the gate wire and the source/drain layer wire which intercross with each other is only formed with the insulation layer. A manufacturing method of an array substrate and a display apparatus including the array substrate is further disclosed.
US09991289B2	Pixel structure having a single side overlapping light shielding pattern An active device of a pixel structure includes a semiconductor layer, an insulation layer covering the semiconductor layer, a gate electrode disposed on the insulation layer and electrically connected to a scan line, a protection layer covering the gate electrode, a source electrode and a drain electrode electrically connected to a source region and a drain region of the semiconductor layer. A channel region is disposed between the source region and the drain region. A source lightly doped region is disposed between the channel region and the source region. A drain lightly doped region is disposed between the channel region and the drain region. The light shielding pattern shields the source lightly doped region and the drain lightly doped region. The light shielding pattern is overlapped with one side of the scan line and not overlapped with another side of the scan line.
US09991282B1	Three-dimensional memory device having passive devices at a buried source line level and method of making thereof A layer stack including a lower semiconductor layer, a lower dielectric layer, and a spacer material layer is formed over a semiconductor substrate, and the spacer material layer is patterned to form spacer line structures. An upper dielectric layer and an upper semiconductor layer are formed, followed by formation of an alternating stack of insulating layers and spacer material layers. Memory stack structures are formed through the alternating stack, the upper semiconductor layer, and the dielectric material layer. The upper semiconductor layer, the upper dielectric layer, and the lower semiconductor layer can be patterned to form a buried source layer and at least one passive device. Each passive device can include a lower semiconductor plate, a dielectric material plate, and an upper semiconductor plate. Each passive device can be a resistor or a capacitor.
US09991279B2	Method for manufacturing electronic device using sacrificial layer A method for manufacturing an electronic device includes forming a first source layer including a trench, forming a first sacrificial layer in the trench, forming a first structure over the first source layer, wherein the first structure includes first material layers and second material layers which are alternately stacked over the each other, forming first openings passing through the first structure and extending to the first sacrificial layer, forming first channel layers in the first openings, forming a slit passing through the first structure and extending to the first sacrificial layer, forming a second opening by removing the first sacrificial layer through the slit, and forming a second source layer in the second opening, wherein the second source layer is coupled to the first channel layers.
US09991277B1	Three-dimensional memory device with discrete self-aligned charge storage elements and method of making thereof A memory opening can be formed through an alternating stack of insulating layers and sacrificial material layers over a substrate. A material layer stack containing, from outside to inside, an aluminum oxide tunneling dielectric layer, a silicon-containing tunneling dielectric layer, and a vertical semiconductor channel is formed within the memory opening. After forming backside recesses by removing the sacrificial material layers, charge trapping material portions are formed on physically exposed surfaces of the aluminum oxide tunneling dielectric layer by employing a selective silicon nitride deposition process. A backside blocking dielectric layer and electrically conductive layers are formed in the backside recesses. The charge trapping material portions are discrete silicon nitride portions located at levels of the electrically conductive layers and vertically spaced from one another by the insulating layers.
US09991275B2	Semiconductor memory device A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes forming a laminated structure including sacrificial layers and a select gate layer on a substrate, forming a penetration region penetrating the laminated structure, forming a select gate insulating layer on a sidewall of the select gate layer exposed by the penetration region, and forming an active pattern in the penetration region. The method also includes exposing a portion of the active pattern by removing the sacrificial layers and forming an information storage layer on the exposed portion of the active pattern.
US09991273B2	Floating gate memory cells in vertical memory Floating gate memory cells in vertical memory. A control gate is formed between a first tier of dielectric material and a second tier of dielectric material. A floating gate is formed between the first tier of dielectric material and the second tier of dielectric material, wherein the floating gate includes a protrusion extending towards the control gate. A charge blocking structure is formed between the floating gate and the control gate, wherein at least a portion of the charge blocking structure wraps around the protrusion.
US09991267B1	Forming eDRAM unit cell with VFET and via capacitance A method is presented for forming an embedded dynamic random access memory (eDRAM) device. The method includes forming a FinFET (fin field effect transistor) device having a plurality of fins over a substrate and forming a via cap adjacent the FinFET device by forming a contact trench extending into a bottom spacer, depositing a conductive liner within the contact trench, filling the contact trench with an organic dielectric layer (ODL), etching portions of the conductive liner and a portion of the ODL, and removing the ODL. The method further includes depositing a high-k material within the contact trench and depositing a conducting material over the high-k material.
US09991261B2	Gate-all-around nanowire device and method for manufacturing such a device The disclosed technology generally relates to a semiconductor device, and more particularly to a gate all around (GAA) semiconductor device and a method for fabricating the same. In one aspect, a semiconductor device has a vertical stack of nanowires formed on a substrate, wherein the vertical stack of nanowires comprises an n-type nanowire and a p-type nanowire each extending in a longitudinal direction parallel to a main surface of the substrate. The n-type nanowire comprises a first material and the p-type nanowire comprises an inner part having two sides and an outer part at each side of the inner part in the longitudinal direction, wherein one or both of the two outer parts comprises a second material different from the first material. The n-type nanowire and the p-type nanowire each comprises a channel region electrically coupled to respective source and drain regions. The channel region of the p-type nanowire comprises the inner part. The device additionally includes a shared gate structure circumferentially surrounding the channel regions of the n-type and p-type nanowires.
US09991259B2	Semiconductor device Provided are a semiconductor device and a fabricating method thereof. The fabricating method includes forming first to fourth fins, each extending in a first direction, to be spaced apart in a second direction intersecting the first direction, forming first and second gate lines, each extending in the second direction, on the first to fourth fins to be spaced apart in the first direction, forming a first contact on the first gate line between the first and second fins, forming a second contact on the first gate line between the third and fourth fins, forming a third contact on the second gate line between the first and second fins, forming a fourth contact on the second gate line between the third and fourth fins and forming a fifth contact on the first to fourth contacts so as to overlap with the second contact and the third contact and so as not to overlap with the first contact and the fourth contact, wherein the fifth contact is arranged to diagonally traverse a quadrangle defined by the first to fourth contacts.
US09991253B2	Protection element, protection circuit, and semiconductor integrated circuit To provide a protection element in which an increase in current due to off-state leakage can be reduced while a drive current can be ensured during an ESD operation.Provided is the protection element including: a clamp MOS transistor that has a drain coupled to a power supply line and a source coupled to a ground line; and a potential increasing circuit that increases a potential of a diffusion layer at the ground line side of the clamp MOS transistor, more than a potential of the ground line. In this protection element, the potential of the diffusion layer coupled to the ground line of the clamp MOS transistor is increased from the potential of the ground line, whereby an increase in current due to off-state leakage can be reduced while a sufficient drive current is ensured during an ESD operation.
US09991246B2	Contoured package-on-package joint A contoured package on package joint and a method for making the same are disclosed herein. A method for forming a device comprises providing a substrate having a package land and forming a mounting stud on the package land. A molded underfill is applied to the substrate and in contact with the mounting stud. A contoured stud surface is formed on the mounting stud is contoured and connecting member attached to the contoured stud surface with a second package attached to the connecting member. The connecting member may be solder and have a spherical shape. The contoured stud surface may be etched or mechanically formed to have a hemispherical shape conforming to the connecting member shape.
US09991228B2	Semiconductor device with electromagnetic shield A semiconductor device includes an electronic component and a wiring structural body located below the electronic component. The wiring structural body includes an insulation layer and a wiring layer that is connected to an electrode terminal of the electronic component. The semiconductor device also includes a wiring shield body arranged on a side surface of the wiring structural body, an encapsulation resin covering an upper surface of the wiring structural body and a side surface of the electronic component, and a component shield body covering a surface of the encapsulation resin and continuously covering an upper surface side of the electronic component. The wiring shield body is connected to the component shield body. The wiring shield body includes an exposed side surface that is coplanar with a side surface of the component shield body.
US09991205B2	Semiconductor device and method A representative method for manufacturing a semiconductor device (e.g., a fin field-effect transistor) includes the steps of depositing a first insulating material over a substrate, and forming a first conductive contact in the first insulating material. The first conductive contact has a protruding uppermost surface, with a first height along a central portion of the first conductive contact, and a second height along a vertical vector projection of a sidewall of the first conductive contact. The first height is larger than the second height. A second insulating material is deposited over the first insulating material, and a second conductive contact is formed in the second insulating material. The second conductive contact is disposed over and at least partially within the first conductive contact. A distance between a bottommost surface of the second conductive contact and the protruding uppermost surface of the first conductive contact is less than about 1.0 nm.
US09991199B1	Integrated shielding and decoupling capacitor structure A shielding and decoupling capacitor structure can be fabricated within an integrated circuit (IC) by forming recesses in a top surface of a dielectric layer and forming a trench in a top surface of an intra-metal dielectric portion of a metal layer deposited on the top surface of the dielectric layer. A bottom of the trench exposes the recesses. A bottom of each recess exposes a conductive structure. A first plate may be formed by depositing a conductive liner onto the bottom and side of the recess and onto the bottom and side of the trench. A conformal dielectric film may be deposited onto the first plate within the trench and recesses. A second plate may be formed by depositing an electrically conductive material within the trench and recesses over the conformal dielectric film. The conformal dielectric film electrically insulates the first and second plates from each other.
US09991192B2	Semiconductor package Provided is a semiconductor package. The semiconductor package includes: a first die that is a monolithic type die, a driver circuit and a low-side output power device formed in the first die; a second die disposed above the first die, the second die comprising a high-side output power device; and a first connection unit disposed between the first die and the second die.
US09991179B2	Method of manufacturing semiconductor device Provided is a technique capable of obtaining a satisfactory yield for a semiconductor device with an air gap. The technique includes a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, including: (a) receiving a thickness information of a wiring layer formed on a substrate including: a first interlayer insulation film; and the wiring layer disposed on the first interlayer insulation film, the wiring layer including: copper-containing films used as wiring; and an inter-wiring insulation film having trenches filled with the copper-containing films and insulating the copper-containing films; (b) placing the substrate on a substrate support installed in a process chamber; and (c) etching the wiring layer using an etching gas based on an etching control value corresponding to the thickness information of the wiring layer.
US09991174B2	Method and system of measuring semiconductor device and method of fabricating semiconductor device using the same The measurement method may include obtaining first measurement data from a recess region formed in a semiconductor substrate, obtaining second measurement data from a conductive pattern filling a portion of the recess region, calculating a first volume of the recess region from the first measurement data, calculating a second volume of the conductive pattern from the second measurement data, and calculating a measurement target parameter using a difference between the first and second volumes.
US09991172B2	Forming arsenide-based complementary logic on a single substrate In one embodiment, the present invention includes a method for forming a logic device, including forming an n-type semiconductor device over a silicon (Si) substrate that includes an indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs)-based stack including a first buffer layer, a second buffer layer formed over the first buffer layer, a first device layer formed over the second buffer layer. Further, the method may include forming a p-type semiconductor device over the Si substrate from the InGaAs-based stack and forming an isolation between the n-type semiconductor device and the p-type semiconductor device. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US09991171B1	Semiconductor device and integrated circuit A semiconductor device and an integrated circuit are provided. The semiconductor device includes a field effect transistor, a negative capacitor and a control circuit, which are disposed at different horizontal levels on a substrate. The field effect transistor includes a front gate, a back gate and an oxide semiconductor layer disposed between the front gate and the back gate. The negative capacitor is electrically connected to the back gate of the field effect transistor. The negative capacitor includes a pair of electrodes and a ferroelectric material layer disposed between the pair of electrodes. The negative capacitor is electrically connected between the back gate of the field effect transistor and the control circuit, the control circuit is configured to charge the negative capacitor and to asses a voltage between the pair of electrodes of the negative capacitor.
US09991168B2	Germanium dual-fin field effect transistor In one example, a field effect transistor includes a pair of fins positioned in a spaced apart relation. Each of the fins includes germanium. Source and drain regions are formed on opposite ends of the pair of fins and include silicon. A gate is wrapped around the pair of fins, between the source and drain regions.
US09991167B2	Method and IC structure for increasing pitch between gates Aspects of the present disclosure include integrated circuit (IC) structure and methods for increasing a pitch between gates. Methods according to the present disclosure can include: providing an IC structure including: a first gate structure and a second gate structure each positioned on a substrate, a dummy gate positioned between the first and second gate structures, and forming a mask over the first and second gate structures; and selectively etching the dummy gate from the IC structure to expose a portion of the substrate underneath the dummy gate of the IC structure, without affecting the first and second gate structures.
US09991165B1	Asymmetric source/drain epitaxy A method includes forming a plurality of fins on a substrate and a dummy gate structure over the fins. A spacer layer is formed over the dummy gate structure and the fins. The spacer layer is recessed to form asymmetrically recessed spacers along sidewalls of each of the fins, thereby exposing a portion of each of the fins. A source/drain epitaxy is grown on the exposed portions of the plurality of fins, a first source/drain epitaxy on a first fin being asymmetrical to a second source/drain epitaxy on a second fin. A device includes a first and second fin on a substrate with a gate structure formed over the first and second fins. An epitaxy if formed over the first fin and the second fin on the same side of the gate structure, where the height of the first epitaxy is greater than the height of the second epitaxy.
US09991164B2	Semiconductor die singulation methods Methods of singulating semiconductor die. Specific implementations may include: providing a semiconductor wafer including a plurality of die located on a first side of the semiconductor wafer where the plurality of die include a desired thickness. The method may include etching a plurality of trenches into the semiconductor wafer from the first side of the semiconductor wafer where the plurality of trenches is located adjacent to a perimeter of the plurality of die. A depth of the plurality of trenches may be greater than the desired thickness of the plurality of die. The method may also include mounting the first side of the semiconductor wafer to a tape, thinning a second side of the semiconductor wafer, exposing the plurality of trenches while thinning the second side, and singulating the plurality of die through exposing the plurality of trenches.
US09991163B2	Small-aperture-ratio display with electrical component A small-aperture-ratio display includes a display substrate and a plurality of spatially separated pixel elements distributed over the display substrate. Each pixel element includes one or more light emitters. An active electrical component is electrically connected to each of the pixel elements and each active electrical component is located on the display substrate at least partly between the pixel elements. The display substrate has a contiguous display substrate area that includes the pixel elements, the light emitters each have a light-emissive area, and the substrate area is greater than or equal to one-quarter the combined light-emissive areas of the light emitters.
US09991156B2	Self-aligned quadruple patterning (SAQP) for routing layouts including multi-track jogs An interconnect structure having a pitch of less than 40 nanometers and a self-aligned quadruple patterning process for forming the interconnect structure includes three types of lines: a β line defined by a patterned bottom mandrel formed in the self-aligned quadruple patterning process; a γ line defined by location underneath a top mandrel formed in the self-aligned quadruple patterning process; and an α line defined by elimination located underneath neither the top mandrel or the bottom mandrel formed in the self-aligned quadruple patterning process. The interconnect structure further includes multi-track jogs selected from a group consisting of a βγβ jog; a βαβ jog; an αβγ jog; a γβα jog, and combinations thereof. The first and third positions refer to the uncut line and the second position refers to the cut line in the self-aligned quadruple patterning process.
US09991145B2	Plating apparatus and plating method A plating apparatus allows a substrate holder to be serviced easily while ensuring easy access to the substrate holder and while a substrate is being processed in the plating apparatus. The plating apparatus includes a plating section for plating a substrate, a substrate holder for holding the substrate, a substrate holder transporter for holding and transporting the substrate holder, a stocker for storing the substrate holder, and a stocker setting section for storing the stocker therein. The stocker includes a moving mechanism for moving the stocker into and out of the stocker setting section.
US09991143B2	Carrier transport system and transport method Carriers to be temporarily stored are increased in number, without providing a local vehicle with a lateral transfer mechanism. Carriers are transported between load ports of equipment by overhead travelling vehicles and local vehicles, both provided with a hoist, and the overhead travelling vehicles are provided with a lateral transfer mechanism for laterally moving the hoist. A travelling rail for the overhead travelling vehicles is provided so as to pass over a load port, and a travelling rail for the local vehicle is provided below the travelling rail for the overhead travelling vehicles and over the load port. Slidable buffers are provided and configured to slide between forward positions under the travelling rail for the local vehicle and rearward positions laterally separated from the positions under the travelling rail for the local vehicle. A space over the slidable buffers at the rearward position is open for the transfer of carriers.
US09991131B1	Dual mandrels to enable variable fin pitch A double masking process is used to form semiconductor fin arrays having a controlled and variable fin pitch within different arrays. During the process, a top mandrel layer overlies a bottom mandrel layer over a semiconductor substrate. Sidewall structures formed on first mandrels within a first region of the substrate define a patterned hard mask that cooperates with a patterned photoresist layer over a second region of the substrate to form second mandrels within first and second regions of the substrate. Sidewall structures formed on the second mandrels are used as a masking layer to form a plurality of fins over the substrate.
US09991128B2	Atomic layer etching in continuous plasma Methods and apparatus for etching substrates using self-limiting reactions based on removal energy thresholds determined by evaluating the material to be etched and the chemistries used to etch the material involve flow of continuous plasma. Process conditions permit controlled, self-limiting anisotropic etching without alternating between chemistries used to etch material on a substrate. A well-controlled etch front allows a synergistic effect of reactive radicals and inert ions to perform the etching, such that material is etched when the substrate is modified by reactive radicals and removed by inert ions, but not etched when material is modified by reactive radicals but no inert ions are present, or when inert ions are present but material is not modified by reactive radicals.
US09991126B2	Semiconductor device including an electrically floated dummy contact plug and a method of manufacturing the same A semiconductor device includes a substrate; a hydrogen insulating layer disposed on the substrate and including hydrogen ions; a first level layer disposed on the substrate and including a first wire and a second wire; a second level layer disposed on the substrate at a different level from the first level layer and including a third wire; an interlayer insulating layer disposed between the first level layer and the second level layer; a diffusion prevention layer contacting the third wire; a contact plug penetrating the interlayer insulating layer and electrically connecting the second wire to the third wire; and a dummy contact plug penetrating the interlayer insulating layer. The dummy contact plug contacts the first and second level layers, is spaced apart from the diffusion prevention layer, and is configured to provide a movement path for the hydrogen ions in the hydrogen insulating layer.
US09991120B2	Dilution doped integrated circuit resistors A process for forming an integrated circuit with a dilution doped resistor with a resistance that may be tuned by partially blocking the implant used to dope the resistor. A process for forming an integrated circuit with a dilution doped polysilicon resistor by partially blocking the resistor dopant implant from a portion of the polysilicon resistor body.
US09991119B2	Heat treatment method and heat treatment apparatus for semiconductor substrate A heat treatment method for a semiconductor substrate is provided which improves the shapes of the sharp corners at the opening and the bottom of a trench without using flammable or explosive gas while improving productivity. The heat treatment is performed on a semiconductor substrate with a recess formed therein in a treatment chamber where gas is sealed at a pressure exceeding a pressure in a molecular flow region.
US09991112B2	Method for forming dielectric film and method for fabricating semiconductor device A method of forming a dielectric film includes providing a substrate in a chamber, and forming a silicon nitride film on the substrate using an atomic layer deposition (ALD) method in which a first gas including a silicon precursor containing hexachlorodisilazane (HCDZ) and a second gas containing a nitrogen ingredient are introduced into the chamber.
US09991097B2	Plasma processing apparatus A plasma processing apparatus includes a chamber; a mounting table configured to mount thereon a target object in the chamber; a plasma source configured to introduce microwaves into the chamber through a ceiling wall of the chamber and generate a surface wave plasma in the chamber; a first gas introduction unit configured to introduce a first gas into the chamber from the ceiling wall; and a second gas introduction unit configured to introduce a second gas into the chamber from a predetermined height position between the ceiling wall and the mounting table. The second gas introduction unit has a plurality of nozzles extending from the ceiling wall toward the mounting table and arranged on a same circumference at a regular interval. Each of the nozzles discharges the second gas toward a nozzle adjacent thereto.
US09991096B2	Plasma processing apparatus Provided is a plasma processing apparatus in which a variable inductor is installed in series with a variable condenser in a second power feeding unit that distributes and supplies high-frequency power to an inner upper electrode 56. As a result, a characteristic around a resonance point may be broad in a capacitance-outer/inner power distribution ratio of the variable condenser (varicon). Therefore, an area around the resonance point may be stably used as a controllable area within a variable range of varicon capacitance.
US09991094B2	Low energy electron microscopy The disclosure relates to a low energy electron microscopy. The electron microscopy includes a vacuum chamber; an electron gun used to emit electron beam; a diffraction chamber; an imaging device; a sample holder used to fix two-dimensional nanomaterial sample; a vacuum pumping device; and a control computer. The electron beam transmits the sample to form a transmission electron beam and diffraction electron beam. The control computer includes a switching module to switch the work mode between a large beam spot diffraction imaging mode and small beam spot diffraction imaging mode.
US09991079B2	Circuit breaker for an electrical circuit A circuit breaker is disclosed, including a series circuit including a measuring unit for determining the electrical current or/and voltage of the electrical circuit, an exchangeable trip unit for determining when current limit values are exceeded, and a switching unit for interrupting the electrical circuit if current limit values are exceeded. A switch characteristic module is connected to the trip unit and stores characteristic data relating to the circuit breaker. If a trip unit used is at least exchanged for a new trip unit, the characteristic data are transmitted to the new trip unit. Data specific to the trip unit are transmitted from the trip unit and are stored in the further memory area of the switch characteristic module. If a new trip unit is used, the characteristic data and the data specific to the trip unit are transmitted to the new trip unit.
US09991073B2	Switching device with permanent-magnetic arc extinguishment The present invention relates to a switching device with at least one contact point and an arc blow device associated with the contact point, where the arc blow device comprises at least one blow magnet for generating a magnetic blow field, and where the blow field is of such nature that a switch arc developing when the contact point opens is blown out from the contact point. It is according to the invention provided that the blow field comprises a first magnetic field area and a second magnetic field area arranged adjacent to the first magnetic field area, where the magnetic field lines of the first magnetic field area are oriented in opposite direction to the magnetic field lines of the second magnetic field area, and where the blow field further comprises a transition area which connects the first magnetic field area and the second magnetic field area with each other, where the orientation of the magnetic field lines in the transition area, each starting out from the first magnetic field area and the second magnetic field area, aligns toward the contact point so that the switch arc within the transition area is in dependence of the direction of the current, starting out from the contact point, directed either into the first magnetic field area or into the second magnetic field area and there in both cases blown in the same direction away from the contact point.
US09991069B2	Surgical instruments and switch assemblies thereof A switch assembly includes a switch housing, a first switch subassembly, and a second switch subassembly. The first switch subassembly includes a shaft and a toggle button. The shaft is disposed within the switch housing and has a proximal end portion and a distal end portion. The shaft is pivotable relative to the switch housing about at least one pivot axis to actuate at least one function of a surgical instrument. The proximal end portion of the shaft includes a magnet. The toggle button is non-rotatably connected to the distal end portion of the shaft. The second switch subassembly includes a safety bar and a post. The safety bar is axially movable within the switch housing. The post extends through the safety bar such that movement of the safety bar along a longitudinal axis thereof moves the post between a firing position and a non-firing position.
US09991064B2	SF6 insulated circuit breaker system with thermal capacitor A sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) insulated circuit breaker system has a tank constructed to hold a quantity of SF6; a circuit breaker having contacts insulated by the SF6; a heater operative to supply heat to the SF6; and a thermal capacitor in conductive engagement with the tank, and operative to store heat energy and constructed to conduct the heat energy to the SF6 in the tank. A thermal energy storage system for a sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) insulated circuit breaker system having a tank storing a quantity of SF6 includes a thermal capacitor operative to store heat energy and constructed to engage the tank and conduct the heat energy to the SF6 in the tank.
US09991063B2	Interlock article An interlock for a circuit breaker having a first circuit breaker switch and a second circuit breaker switch. The interlock includes a first actuator movably associated with the first circuit breaker switch, a first limiter plate and a first handle securely associated with the first actuator and the first limiter plate. The interlock further includes a second actuator movably associated with the second circuit breaker switch, a second limiter plate, and a second handle securely associated with the second actuator and the second limiter plate. The first limiter plate and second limiter plates are configurable between a first configuration and a second configuration. When the first plate is in the second configuration, the second plate is non-movably configured in the first configuration, and when the second plate is in the second configuration, the first plate is non-movably configured in the first configuration.
US09991053B2	Power capacitor A power capacitor, in particular a DC link capacitor, having a capacitor housing which has a first housing wall, in particular made of metal, which is galvanically connectable to a housing of an electronics unit, in particular a power electronics unit, and planar energizing units for energizing the power capacitor. A first subregion of a first energizing unit extends in an inner space of the housing adjacent to and at a distance from the first housing wall or from a different housing wall of the capacitor housing that is conductively connected to the first housing wall. A layer made of a dielectric material other than air is situated between the first subregion of the first energizing unit and this housing wall.
US09991048B2	Wireless power transfer systems and methods Systems and methods for transmitting and receiving wireless power are disclosed. A transmitter may include one or more magnetic inductive coil(s) configured to transmit power, a plurality of drive loops, one or more switches connected to the plurality of drive loops, and a controller configured to connect or disconnect the drive loops using the one or more switches. A receiver may include one or more magnetic inductive coil(s) configured to receive power, a plurality of load loops, one or more switches connected to the plurality of load loops, and a controller configured to connect or disconnect the load loops using the one or more switches. The wireless power system may include inductive coils and RF antennas that are adaptively controlled and configured. A transmitter and/or a receiver may adaptively rotate, adjust orientation and/or location.
US09991046B2	Energy intake apparatus for a motor vehicle that can be operated electrically and method for operating an energy intake apparatus for a motor vehicle that can be operated electrically An energy intake apparatus for a motor vehicle can be operated electrically, with an induction coil, which is configured to charge an energy storage unit of the motor vehicle. The energy intake apparatus contains a shield apparatus, by which the induction coil can be shielded from the motor vehicle. The shield apparatus has at least one first shield component separating the induction coil from the motor vehicle in the transverse vehicle direction and/or in the longitudinal vehicle direction and at least one second shield component separating the induction coil from the motor vehicle upward in the vertical vehicle direction. The second shield component being connected to the first shield component.
US09991045B1	Bobbin and core assembly configuration and method for E-core and I-core combination A magnetic assembly includes a bobbin having at least first and second end flanges. The bobbin includes a channel wall displaced from the first end flange to from a channel therebetween. The channel receives and frictionally engages an I-core to retain the I-core in the channel. The bobbin includes a passageway that receives a middle leg of an E-core. The passageway includes a plurality of longitudinal ribs that extend from the first end flange toward the second end flange. The ribs are tapered with respect to the inner wall of the passageway. The middle leg of the E-core crushes the ribs. The frictional engagement of the crushed ribs with the middle leg retains the middle leg in the passageway. No taping, gluing or other additional step is required to assemble the bobbin and the two cores.
US09991034B2	Rare-earth permanent magnet and method for manufacturing rare-earth permanent magnet There are provided a rare-earth permanent magnet and a manufacturing method thereof capable of preventing deterioration of magnet properties. In the method, magnet material is milled into magnet powder. Next, a mixture is prepared by mixing the magnet powder and a binder made of long-chain hydrocarbon and/or of a polymer or a copolymer consisting of monomers having no oxygen atoms. Next, the mixture is formed into a sheet-like shape so as to obtain a green sheet. After that, the green sheet is held for a predetermined length of time at binder decomposition temperature in a non-oxidizing atmosphere so as to remove the binder by causing depolymerization reaction or the like to the binder, which turns into monomer. The green sheet from which the binder has been removed is sintered by raising temperature up to sintering temperature. Thereby a permanent magnet 1 is obtained.
US09991029B2	Multi-phase cable A multi-phase cable, the cable including a plurality of conductors for conducting currents of two or more different phases, each phase being associated with one or more conductors and each conductor being associated with one respective phase. Each conductor has a cross-section with at least one dimension that is sized to decrease a skin effect of the conductor at a maximum or nominal operation frequency of the conductor. The conductors are arranged to permit free air cooling of the cable on at least two sides of each conductor, and such that each conductor of a given phase has, as immediate neighbors, only conductors of one or more different phases.
US09991028B2	System and method for protecting a downhole cable This disclosure relates to a system and method for protecting a downhole cable. A cable protection system can comprise a cable clamp. The cable clamp can comprise a pair of outer segments that can protrude in opposite directions and a middle segment that can connect the outer segments. Each of the outer segments can comprise an outer segment top portion and outer segment side portions. The outer segment top portion and the outer segment side portions can be connected substantially in a U-shape. Each of the outer segment side portions can comprise one or more slots.
US09991027B2	Electric wire and cable An electric wire includes a conductor having a cross-sectional area of not less than 225 mm2 and not more than 275 mm2, an insulation provided so as to cover the outer periphery of the conductor, and a wire sheath provided so as to cover the outer periphery of the insulation. The amount of deflection is not less than 130 mm when, at 23° C., one end of the electric wire is fixed to a fixture table so that another end horizontally protrudes 400 mm from the fixture table and a weight of 2 kg is attached to the other end, and cracks and breaks do not occur when wound with a bending diameter of three times the diameter at −40° C.
US09991024B2	Aluminum alloy wire rod, aluminum alloy stranded wire, coated wire, wire harness and manufacturing method of aluminum alloy wire rod An aluminum alloy wire rod comprising 0.1-1.0 mass % Mg; 0.1-1.0 mass % Si; 0.01-1.40 mass % Fe; 0.01-0.50 mass % Zr; 0.000-0.100 mass % Ti; 0.000-0.030 mass % B; 0.00-1.00 mass % Cu; 0.00-0.50 mass % Ag; 0.00-0.50 mass % Au; 0.00-1.00 mass % Mn; 0.00-1.00 mass % Cr; 0.00-0.50 mass % Hf; 0.00-0.50 mass % V; 0.00-0.50 mass % Sc; 0.00-0.50 mass % Co; and 0.00-0.50 mass % Ni, a Mg/Si ratio being greater than 1, wherein a dispersion density of an Mg2Si compound having a particle size of 0.5 μm to 5.0 μm is less than or equal to 3.0×10−3 particles/μm2, and in the sectional structure, a concentration of each of Mg and Si other than a compound is less than or equal to 2.00 mass %.
US09991016B2	Surface-modified carbon hybrid particles, methods of making, and applications of the same Surface-modified carbon hybrid particles may be characterized by a high surface area and a high mesopore content. Surface-modified carbon hybrid particles may be in agglomerated form. Surface-modified carbon hybrid particles may be used, for example, as conductive additives. Dispersions of such compounds in a liquid medium in the presence of a surfactant may be used, for example, as conductive coatings. Polymer compounds filled with the surface-modified carbon hybrid particles may be formed. Surface-modified carbon hybrid particles may be used, for example, as carbon supports.
US09991015B2	Wire for electric fencing lines and electric fencing lines made from such wires A use of a carbon steel wire for electric fencing lines, said carbon steel wire having a corrosion resistant coating, wherein the carbon content of said carbon steel wire is below 0.20 wt % and said corrosion resistant coating is zinc aluminum alloy or zinc aluminum magnesium alloy coating with a coating weight in the range of 30 to 100 g/m2.
US09991014B1	Fast positionable X-ray filter The preferred embodiment of the disclosed invention comprises rotary actuators that move one or more x-ray attenuating plates in the x-y plane (ie. image plane). These x-ray attenuating plates attenuate the x-ray beam with thin metal sheets or plates that contain one or more apertures, which fully exposes the desired region of interest (ROI) while filtering the rest of the image, reducing the radiation exposure for the procedure. The devices will typically have a selection of many attenuation profiles. A small aperture or low attenuation profile region will result in a higher total exposure reduction and a large aperture or large attenuation profile will result in a smaller exposure reduction. The x-ray attenuating plate can be rotated to select an attenuation profile using a detent wheel.
US09991010B2	System and method for minimizing movement of nuclear fuel racks during a seismic event A system for storing nuclear fuel, the system including a storage rack and a bearing pad. The storage rack includes an array of cells, each cell configured to receive and store nuclear fuel rods, a base plate configured to support the array of cells, and a support structure configured to support the base plate and to allow cooling fluid to circulate under and up through apertures in the base plate. The bearing pad is coupled to the support structure and is configured to limit lateral movement of the storage rack independent from lateral movement of the bearing pad. The base plate defines a base plate profile in a horizontal plane of the base plate, and the bearing pad defines a bearing pad profile in the horizontal plane of the base plate, wherein the bearing pad profile extends outside of the base plate profile.
US09991009B2	Electrical feedthroughs for nuclear reactor A nuclear reactor includes a nuclear reactor core comprising fissile material and a pressure vessel containing the nuclear reactor immersed in primary coolant water at an operating pressure. The pressure vessel has a vessel penetration passing through a wall of the pressure vessel. An electrical feedthrough seals the vessel penetration and has an outside electrical connector mounted at the pressure vessel. The outside electrical connector is at atmospheric pressure. The electrical feedthrough may include a flange disposed inside the pressure vessel and sealing against an inside surface of the wall of the pressure vessel. The outside electrical connector of the electrical feedthrough may be inset into the wall of the pressure vessel.
US09991007B2	Nonvolatile memory device and a method of operating the same A nonvolatile memory device with a memory cell array including a plurality of memory cells coupled to first through M-th wordlines and first through N-th bitlines (M>2, N>2), and a page buffer circuit including first through N-th page buffers that are coupled to the first through N-th bitlines, respectively, and generate first through N-th output data, respectively. A K-th page buffer includes first through L-th latches which generate read data by sampling a voltage of a K-th output line, which is discharged through a K-th bitline, at different sampling timings after a read voltage is applied to a P-th wordline (K≤N, L>1, P≤M). The K-th page buffer outputs the first output data if an error in the read data of the first latch is correctable.
US09990997B2	Semiconductor device including transistor with back gate, and memory device including the semiconductor device The memory device includes a first transistor and a circuit. The circuit includes a second to a (2n+1)th transistor, a first to an n-th capacitor, a first wiring, and a first to an n-th retention node (n is an integer greater than or equal to 2). When n is 2, a memory cell MC[1] includes a transistor ROS[1], a transistor WOS[1], and a capacitor C[1] and a memory cell MC[2] includes a transistor ROS[2], a transistor WOS[2], and a capacitor C[2]. A back gate of the transistor WOS[1] and a back gate of the transistor WOS[2] are electrically connected to a wiring WBG. A bake gate of a first transistor, a back gate of the transistor ROS[1], and a back gate of the transistor ROS[2] are electrically connected to a wiring RBG.
US09990996B2	Flash memory data storage device and programming method thereof A data storage device includes a flash memory and a controller. The flash memory includes a memory array. The controller performs a programming operation for the flash memory. After the controller issues a program command of the programming operation to the flash memory, the controller issues a first read status command to the flash memory before a page program time of the flash memory has been reached, and the controller determines whether the programming operation is performed in the flash memory according to a first memory status provided by the flash memory.
US09990990B2	Apparatuses and methods for accessing variable resistance memory device The disclosed technology generally relates to memory apparatuses and methods of operating the same, and more particularly to a memory device having a controller configured to cause a write operation to be performed on a variable resistance memory cell, which includes application of two successive access pulses having opposite polarities, and methods of using the same.
US09990988B2	Determining whether a memory cell state is in a valley between adjacent data states A determination can be made as to whether a state of a memory cell is in a valley between adjacent distributions of states associated with respective data states. A signal indicative of a data state of the memory cell and whether the state of the memory cell is in the valley can be transmitted.
US09990985B1	Memory device with determined time window A memory device includes a memory array that comprises at least a bit cell configured to store a data bit; a tracking circuit, coupled to the memory array, and configured to provide an enable signal in response to a first timing edge of a clock signal, wherein the enable signal emulates an electrical signal path propagating the memory array; and a control logic circuit comprising a timing control engine coupled to the tracking circuit, wherein the timing control engine is configured to select a faster timing edge between a second timing edge of the clock signal and a third timing edge of the enable signal so as to terminate an ongoing operation of the bit cell.
US09990984B1	Pulse-stretcher clock generator circuit for high speed memory subsystems The apparatus provided includes a memory. The memory is configured to receive a memory clock. The apparatus also includes a single stage logic gate configured to generate the memory clock from a reference clock. The memory clock is a gated clock. Additionally, the memory clock has a wider pulse width than the reference clock. In an example, the single stage logic gate comprises a pull-up circuit configured to pull-up the memory clock, and a pull-down circuit coupled to pull-down the memory clock. In an example, the pull-up and the pull-down circuits are configured to be controlled by the reference clock, a delayed reference clock, and a gating signal. An example further includes a delay circuit configured to generate the delayed reference clock from the reference clock. An example further includes a latch configured to generate the gating signal.
US09990982B2	Memory module and memory system In a memory module including a plurality of DRAM chips which transmit/receive a system data signal with a predetermined data width and at a transfer rate and which transmit/receive an internal data signal having a larger data width and a lower transfer rate as compared with the system data signal, the transfer rate of the system data signal is restricted. Current consumption in DRAMs constituting the memory module is large, hindering speed increases. For this memory module, a plurality of DRAM chips are stacked on an IO chip. Each DRAM chip is connected to the IO chip by a through electrode, and includes a constitution for mutually converting the system data signal and the internal data signal in each DRAM chip by the IO chip. Therefore, wiring between the DRAM chips can be shortened, and DLL having a large current consumption may be disposed only on the IO chip.
US09990976B1	Method and apparatus for storing data in a reference layer in magnetoresistive memory cells A magnetoresistive memory device that stores data in the reference portion of spin-torque memory cells provides for more robust data storage. In normal operation, the memory cells use the free portion of the memory cell for data storage. Techniques for storing data in the reference portions of memory cells are presented, along with techniques for recovering data stored in the reference portions of memory cells.
US09990973B1	Systems and methods using neighboring sample points in memory subsystem calibration A method and apparatus for using neighboring sampling points in a memory subsystem calibration is disclosed. In one embodiment, a memory subsystem includes a memory and a memory controller coupled thereto. A calibration unit in the memory controller is configured to perform calibrations of a data strobe signal and a reference voltage to determine eye openings for signals conveyed between the memory and the memory controller. Performing the calibration includes determining a number of different calibration points and computing initial scores for each of the calibration points. The method further includes calculating adjusted scores for each calibration point. For a given calibration point, the adjusted score includes weighted values of one or more calibration points that are adjacent thereto. The method further includes selecting a calibration point having the highest adjusted score as the calibrated value.
US09990966B2	Simulating access lines Examples of the present disclosure provide apparatuses and methods for simulating access lines in a memory. An example method can include receiving a first bit-vector and a second bit-vector in a format associated with storing the first bit-vector in memory cells coupled to a first access line and a first number of sense lines and storing the second bit-vector in memory cells coupled to a second access line and the first number of sense lines. The method can include storing the first bit-vector in a number of memory cells coupled to the first access line and a second number of sense lines and storing the second bit-vector in a number of memory cells coupled to the first access line and a third number of sense lines, wherein a quantity of the first number of sense lines is less than a quantity of the second and third number of sense lines.
US09990963B2	Word line voltage generator for multiple-time programmable memory A word line voltage generator circuit, a semiconductor device, and an electronic device are provided. The word line voltage generator circuit includes a switch circuit connected to a high-level signal and a low-level signal and configured to output the high-level signal or the low-level signal as a word line voltage signal based on an input signal, and a drive signal control circuit configured to provide a drive signal connected to the switch circuit in response to the input signal. A voltage rising speed of the word line voltage signal is controlled by the drive signal.
US09990961B2	Offset-printing method for three-dimensional package The present invention discloses an offset-printing method for a three-dimensional 3D-oP (three-dimensional offset-printed memory)-based package. The mask-patterns for different 3D-op dice are merged onto a same data-mask. At different printing steps, a wafer is offset by different values with respect to the data-mask. Accordingly, data-patterns from a same data-mask are printed into different 3D-oP dice.
US09990951B2	Perpendicular magnetic recording with multiple antiferromagnetically coupled layers Provided herein is an apparatus including a top continuous layer and a bottom continuous layer under the top continuous layer. The top continuous layer and the bottom continuous layer are antiferromagnetically coupled. A number of granular columns are under the bottom continuous layer. The number of granular columns include at least a first granular layer under the bottom continuous layer and a second granular layer also under the first granular layer. The first granular layer and the second granular layer are separated by a non-magnetic spacer. The first granular layer and the second granular layer are ferromagnetically coupled. The first granular layer is antiferromagnetically coupled to the bottom continuous layer.
US09990943B2	Texture-control layer for spin torque oscillator A magnetic field-assisted magnetic recording (MAMR) head is provided, which includes a recording main pole and a texture control layer (TCL), a seed control layer, and a spin torque oscillator (STO) positioned over the main pole, in this order, in a stacking direction from a leading side to a trailing side of the recording head. The STO has a crystallographic preferred growth orientation and includes a spin polarized layer (SPL). The TCL may include a Cu layer.
US09990941B1	Selectable readers for improvements in yield, reliability and performance A method of forming a read head. The method includes forming first and second read sensors. A first read measurement is performed on a storage medium using the first read sensor. A second read measurement is performed on the storage medium using the second read sensor. Based on a comparison of the first and second read measurements to a predetermined quantity, either the first read sensor or the second read sensor is selected to be operational in a data storage device.
US09990931B2	Method for coding pulse vectors using statistical properties Improved methods for coding an ensemble of pulse vectors utilize statistical models (i.e., probability models) for the ensemble of pulse vectors, to more efficiently code each pulse vector of the ensemble. At least one pulse parameter describing the non-zero pulses of a given pulse vector is coded using the statistical models and the number of non-zero pulse positions for the given pulse vector. In some embodiments, the number of non-zero pulse positions are coded using range coding. The total number of unit magnitude pulses may be coded using conditional (state driven) bitwise arithmetic coding. The non-zero pulse position locations may be coded using adaptive arithmetic coding. The non-zero pulse position magnitudes may be coded using probability-based combinatorial coding, and the corresponding sign information may be coded using bitwise arithmetic coding. Such methods are well suited to coding non-independent-identically-distributed signals, such as coding video information.
US09990920B2	System and method of automated language model adaptation Systems and methods of automated adaptation of a language model for transcription of audio data include obtaining audio data. The audio data is transcribed with a language model to produce a plurality of audio file transcriptions. A quality of the plurality of audio file transcriptions is evaluated. At least one best transcription from a plurality of audio file transcriptions is selected based upon the evaluated quality. Statistics are calculated from the selected at least one best transcription from the plurality of audio file transcriptions. The language model is modified from the calculated statistics.
US09990917B2	Method and system of random access compression of transducer data for automatic speech recognition decoding A system, article, and method of random access compression of transducer data for automatic speech recognition decoding.
US09990901B2	Method and apparatus for controlling screen An electronic device is provided. The electronic device is configured to check whether an event is generated during a first period in a state in which a screen is displayed, change a chroma of the screen when the event is not generated during the first period, check whether the event is generated during a second period, and adjust a lighting brightness of the screen when the event is not generated during the second period.
US09990898B2	Voltage supply unit and display device having the same A voltage supply unit and a display device including the voltage supply unit are provided. The voltage supply unit includes a first voltage input terminal to which a first voltage as a DC voltage is input; a second voltage input terminal to which a second voltage as an AC voltage is input; a first capacitor between a first node and the second voltage input terminal; and a current control circuit between the first voltage input terminal and the first node and controlling a current value flowing from the first voltage input terminal to the first node so as to be equal to or less than a current limit value.
US09990885B2	Throttling power consumption based on a current draw of an organic light emitting diode (OLED) Embodiments of systems and methods for power control in an Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) display device are described. In an embodiment, a method includes monitoring a level of current draw from an Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) display device. The method may also include comparing the level of current draw to a threshold value. Additionally, a method may include throttling system power consumption in response to the level of current draw exceeding the threshold value.
US09990881B2	Display device and driving method thereof A method of driving a display device includes the following steps: a step of applying a first voltage to a drain of the driving transistor from the first power supply line, while applying an initialization voltage lower than the first voltage to a gate of the driving transistor; a step of applying a voltage higher than the initialization voltage lower than the first voltage to the drain of the driving transistor, and applying a voltage based on a video signal to the gate of the driving transistor; and a step of applying the first voltage to a drain of the driving transistor from the first power supply line and supplying a current to the light emitting element while holding the voltage based on the video signal to the gate of the driving transistor.
US09990880B2	Pixel unit reducing voltage stress applied to driving transistor, pixel circuit having the pixel unit and driving method thereof Provided is a pixel unit, a pixel circuit comprising the pixel unit and a driving method thereof. The pixel unit comprises a light-emitting element and n driving sub-circuits; wherein n is a natural number and n>1; each of the driving sub-circuits comprises a scan signal line for control-electrode, a switching transistor and a driving transistor; the switching transistor has a control electrode connected to the scan signal line for control-electrode, a first electrode connected to a data line, and a second electrode connected to a control electrode of the driving transistor; the driving transistor has a first electrode connected to a power supply line and a second electrode connected to a first electrode of the light-emitting element; and a second electrode of the light-emitting element is connected to a reference voltage terminal.
US09990873B2	Display apparatus and method of testing the same A display apparatus includes: a display unit including a plurality of pixels connected to a plurality of scan lines and a plurality of data lines; an initialization unit for applying an initialization signal to the plurality of data lines; and a wire test unit for applying a wire test signal to the plurality of data lines through a plurality of fan-out lines respectively connected to one end of each of the plurality of data lines.
US09990866B2	Container tamper-proof protection by use of printed fiber optics manufacturing and integrated sensors The disclosed embodiments provide a method for tamper-proof protection of containers used for shipment of goods. An optical fiber is embedded in an Optical Shield Wallpaper which lines all interior surfaces of any size of a shipping container, package, box, barrel or other shaped container. Wallpaper is manufactured using large scale rollers that press fibers with encapsulated adhesives onto an appropriate medium. Small medicine containers are protected with a fiber optic shield and sensors manufactured using ink jet printing techniques. Light is applied to the optical fiber and a measurement of optical fiber characteristics is performed. Digital signal processing is used to generate pedigree information, which may include items such as shipping location, serial numbers and lot numbers for the goods. The status of the autonomous anti-tampering system is monitored real-time for unauthorized intrusions. Intrusions detected are relayed to an authorized recipient via a variety of communication channels.
US09990864B2	Monitoring of a time period relating to a product A label includes a timer to monitor a predetermined time period relating to a medical device, such as an indwelling cannula, or other product. The label includes a signalling apparatus that provides an alert signal on expiry of the predetermined time period and a fixing portion to fix the label to a support surface such as medical records of a patient. The label can have a first portion and a second portion and the first portion can be separable from the second portion. The fixing portion can be provided in the second portion and all or part of the signalling apparatus provided in the first portion. Also disclosed is a monitoring system for a medical device, including a base station and a label receivable by the base station. The monitoring system monitors a predetermined time period based on receipt of the label by the base station.
US09990852B2	Converging path detection A method and apparatus for use in traversing a vehicle transportation network may include receiving a remote vehicle message including remote vehicle information indicating remote vehicle geospatial state information and remote vehicle kinematic state information, identifying host vehicle information including host vehicle geospatial state information and host vehicle kinematic state information, determining convergence information indicating whether a remote vehicle expected path for the remote vehicle and a host vehicle expected path for the host vehicle are convergent based on the host vehicle information and the remote vehicle information, and traversing a portion of the vehicle transportation network in response to the convergence information. Determining the convergence information may include determining an orientation sector based on a geodesic between the host vehicle and the remote vehicle, and determining relative position information for the host vehicle and the remote vehicle based on the orientation sector.
US09990850B2	System, media, and method for parking management Systems, methods, and media for parking management are provided. A method includes receiving from a parker at a first device authentication input and then vehicle input that associates a vehicle with the parker, wherein the vehicle input comprises vehicle registration input or selection of a registered vehicle. The method may further include subsequently receiving, from the parker at the first device, spot criteria comprising location criteria and temporal criteria. The method may also include outputting to the first device, based upon receipt of the spot criteria, spot indicators representing spots based on the location criteria, the temporal data, and characteristics of the vehicle, wherein each spot comprises a stored status. The method may further include subsequently receiving a selection of a spot from the parker at the first device.
US09990845B2	Communications platform for facilitating efficient container transport A process, including a mobile application, for tracking the drayage driver and vehicle movement and reporting where the driver is and how much time he has been at a location, as well as details about the driver and cargo is described. This process can correlate driver and vehicle identification and allow for the transfer of bill of lading or hazardous material restrictions. Data captured is easily be made available in advance to the port terminals (which must have container ready for pick up); available for the shipping company (which can see cargo en-route—regardless of which company the driver works for); and available for the destination warehouse (which must receive and process the shipment). The association of cargo owners, shippers, terminal yards, drayage companies, drivers, and drayage job assignments can further be linked.
US09990843B2	Remote controlled device and a remote control for controlling multiple remote controlled devices By transmitting a remote controlled device identifier through an optical signal emitted by a remote controlled device to a remote control pointed at the remote controlled device, the remote control is able to address the remote controlled device via a communication network and be paired with the remote controlled device. As the remote control just has to be pointed at the remote controlled device that is to be paired the pairing is intuitive. A verification unit can be added to the remote controlled device that transmits a challenge via the optical signal to the remote control. The remote control creates a response and transmits the response to the remote controlled device for verification by the verification unit. If the verification is successful the pairing is allowed. As the challenge can only be extracted from the optical signal, access to the room in which the remote controlled device is locate dis required in order to gain control over the remote controlled device. A hack solely over the communication network is prevented as the challenge is not available on the communication network.
US09990841B2	Testing system and method for fire alarm system A system and method for testing fire detection and fire annunciation devices of a fire alarm system includes a central operations system, which provides a link between a control panel of the fire alarm system and a mobile computing device operated by a technician. During a walkthrough test, the on-site technician activates fire detection or fire annunciation devices of the fire alarm system and the activated devices signal the control panel and event data are generated. Event data from the control panel are sent to the central operations system to be stored. The central operations system sends the event data to a mobile computing device operated by the technician. The on-site technician is then able verify that the devices are physically sound, unaltered, working properly, and located in their assigned locations.
US09990840B2	Predictive alert targeting for mass notification systems A system and a method are disclosed for predicting potential reach of an alert to a targeted audience, targeted personal delivery devices and targeted non-personal notification delivery devices in an emergency mass notification system. The method includes receiving recipients and alert delivery devices data which define a targeted audience and devices of an emergency alert. The method further comprises evaluating contact and configuration data targeting quality rating, tracking data targeting quality rating and real-time data targeting quality rating based on the received recipients and devices data and a data sources repository. Responsive to the targeting quality ratings and prediction weighting data (e.g., numeric weights and descriptive thresholds), the method generating one or more predictions of the potential reach of the alert based on the targeting quality ratings.
US09990838B1	Digital emergency signal transfer system A digital emergency signal transfer system includes a receiving terminal; the receiving terminal including at least one emergency button; when accident occurs, pressing the emergency button causing the receiving terminal to emit an emergency call to related receivers for adapting required actions; a network switch receiving signals from the receiving terminal and then converts the received emergency call into digital signals which have formats and protocol matching the protocol acceptable in the network communication; and a controller connected to the network switch by wired or wireless way; the controller serving to receive the digital signals from the network switch; then the controller emitting alert signals corresponding to the emergency signals to a plurality of electronic information device at the same time or sequentially.
US09990833B2	Apparatus and method for providing a task reminder based on user location Providing a reminder of a task to be performed at a task location includes receiving location information identifying a location of a user via a mobile communication device associated with the user, receiving information that identifies a task, receiving information that identifies a task location, and providing a reminder for the task based on a current location of the user and on a comparison of an estimated probability of the user traveling in a trajectory leading toward or away from the task location.
US09990831B2	Home incarceration confirmation system A location confirmation platform of a home confinement location confirmation system for establishing a virtual boundary in which an incarcerated individual is authorized to occupy and polling and confirming the individual's presence within the boundary by comparing previously collected individual attribute data and comparing the collected data to corresponding data received from the individual in real time.
US09990828B2	Rescue method, rescue system, wandering person care method, and wandering person care system A rescue method for identifying and rescuing a person in question, the rescue method comprising an operation in which a user wearing a jewelry item having a serial number is encountered and the serial number on the jewelry item is recognized, an operation in which the serial number is conveyed to a data management company that stores the serial number as identification information pertaining to the user, an operation in which the identification information pertaining to the user is conveyed to a rescue organization, and an operation in which a command to rescue the user is issued at the rescue organization.
US09990825B2	System and method for detecting and suppressing fire using wind information A fire detection and suppression system correcting fire detection based on wind. Wind may affect both the apparent position of the fire detected by the fire detectors and also the suppressant jet being delivered by a monitor. Typically wind results in shifting of estimated fire location away from the real fire in the direction of wind. Similarly, the suppressant jet will also be diverted in the same direction. The system comprises fire detectors for acquiring two-dimensional fire location information for a fire. A wind sensor acquires wind information, often in region of the fire. A system controller then compensates the three-dimensional fire location information based on the wind information. Additionally, the position of fog/jet monitors is preferably compensated based on the wind information. The jet pressure setting is also ideally determined based on the wind.
US09990823B2	System and method for monitoring and tracking items A method includes determining, by a tag, that a gateway is not within communication range of the tag using a first wireless communication mode and enabling, in response to the tag determining that the gateway is not within communication range of the tag, a second wireless communication mode. The method also includes determining, by the tag, that a mobile device is not within communication range of the tag using the second wireless communication mode and enabling, in response to the tag determining that the mobile device is not within communication range of the tag, a third wireless communication mode and a location detection capability. The method further includes determining, by the tag, a geographic location of the tag using the location detection capability and transmitting, using the third wireless communication mode, to a server the geographic location of the tag.
US09990814B1	Automatic notification generation An electronic computing device includes a processing unit and system memory. The system memory includes instructions which, when executed by the processing unit, cause the electronic computing device to monitor audio from a conversation. One or more keywords are identified from the audio. A context of the conversation is identified from the audio. One or more alerts are displayed on a display screen of the electronic computing device. Each of the one or more alerts corresponds to the context of the conversation. Each of the one or more alerts corresponds to a notification to be communicated to an individual. One of the notifications is obtained. The notification is displayed on the display screen of the electronic computing device.
US09990810B2	Decoy sensor system for automated teller machines Apparatus and methods for a sensor system are provided. The system may be configured to detect a dispensing of cash from an automated teller machine (“ATM”). The system may be configured to orient one or more sensors to capture a first information stream that includes the dispensing of cash. The system may be configured to detect a retraction of cash by the ATM. The system may orient one or more sensors to capture a second information stream that includes the retraction. The system may be configured to determine an estimate of cash collected by an ATM customer. The estimate may be based on a comparison of the first information stream and the second information stream.
US09990808B2	Games, lotteries, and sweepstakes and tickets, systems, technologies, and methods related thereto Games, lotteries, and/or sweepstakes as well as tickets, systems, technologies, and/or methods related thereto. In some embodiments, unique games and/or unique administrations of games and/or unique tickets useful for participating in games. In certain preferred embodiments, games which can be administrated or participated in contemporaneously with an event, such as a sporting event, music performance, or trade show (e.g., at the same time or during a live event). In certain of such preferred embodiments, participants in games make no payment to participate in the games.
US09990807B2	Method and system for controlling a graphical user interface of a terminal A community gaming system including a central controller and a plurality of gaming terminals each with a graphical user interface operating. The system determines that a bonus event is triggered and which of the terminals qualify. The central controller transmits a trigger signal to each of the qualified gaming terminals in the sequence in turn, in response to which each qualified gaming terminal initiates scrolling of a bonus event graphic across its respective graphical user interface such that as the bonus event graphic scrolls across the graphical user interface of one of the qualified gaming terminals to reach an edge of that graphical user interface a next one of the qualified gaming terminals in the sequence then initiates scrolling of that bonus event graphic across its graphical user interface. The bonus event graphic appears to scroll across successive graphical user interfaces of the sequence of terminals.
US09990804B2	Wagering game having interlinked progressive values with shared increment A gaming system is primarily dedicated to playing a regulated casino wagering game providing eligibility to a plurality of progressive jackpots. The gaming system comprises a secure gaming cabinet, an electronic display device, an electronic input device, a random element generator, and game-logic circuitry. The game-logic circuitry is configured to allocate a portion of the wager to at least one of a first group of progressive jackpots, direct the electronic display device to increment the value of the first group of progressive jackpots, and direct the electronic display device to increment the values of a second group progressive jackpots based on the values of the first group of progressive jackpots. And, in response to a progressive-triggering outcome, the game-logic circuitry directs the electronic display device to display a reset value for the awarded progressive jackpot and an altered reduced value for another one of the progressive jackpots.
US09990801B2	Systems and methods for gaming account funding Systems and methods are disclosed for associating a player identifier with a financial account. The financial account can holds funds that are accessible through the player's use of a payment vehicle. The payment vehicle can be, for example, a credit payment vehicle or a debit payment vehicle. The player can load funds from the financial account to a wagering account.
US09990800B2	Casino game download system and method of use Certain embodiments provide systems and methods for multi-tiered gaming data download. The system includes a gaming device for local play of a game. The gaming device includes a communication interface receiving and transmitting data to download a game for play at the gaming device. The system also includes a plurality of download servers communicating with the gaming device to provide game data for download to and play at the gaming device. The system further includes a middle tier server acting as a hub to communicate with the plurality of download servers to provide game data from one or more of the plurality of download servers. The middle tier server allocates download server resources and schedules a download of game data from one or more download servers to the gaming device based on resource constraints at the plurality of download servers and availability for download at the gaming device.
US09990798B2	Multi-mode element interleaved wagering system A multi-mode element interleaved wagering system is disclosed, including an interactive processing device constructed to: provide an interactive application display; communicate session initiation indication data and application telemetry data; receive wagering telemetry and application resource data; automatically configure a wagering user interface; and incorporate application resource data; a wager server constructed to: receive session wager request data; determine a plurality of wager outcomes; communicate session wager outcome data; receive wager outcome data; and automatically adjust a credit meter; and the process controller operatively connecting the interactive processing device and the wager server, constructed to: receive session initiation indication data; automatically communicate session wager request data; receive session wager outcome data; receive application telemetry data; determine whether to trigger a wager request; access a session wager outcome; automatically determine wagering telemetry data and application resource data; communicate wagering telemetry data, application resource data; and wager outcome data.
US09990796B2	Data card verification system A method of verifying a pair of correspondents in electronic transaction, the correspondents each including first and second signature schemes and wherein the first signature scheme is computationally more difficult in signing than verifying and the second signature scheme is computationally more difficult in verifying than signing. The method comprises the step of the first correspondent signing information according to the first signature scheme and transmitting the first signature to the second correspondent, the second correspondent verifying the first signature received from the first correspondent, wherein the verification is performed according to the first signature scheme. The second correspondent then signs information according to the second signature scheme and transmits the second signature to the first correspondent, the first correspondent verifies the second signature received from the second correspondent, wherein the verification is performed according to the second signature algorithm; the transaction is rejected if either verification fails. The method thereby allows one of the correspondents to participate with relatively little computing power while maintaining security of the transaction.
US09990793B2	Media item separation The present invention provides a method and apparatus for separating a media item from a bunch of media items. The apparatus comprises at least one first roller located on a first side of a transport path along which a media item is transported and at least two further rollers located on a further side of the transport path opposite the first side, said at least two further rollers being spaced apart to receive a portion of said at least one first roller therebetween, wherein in an advance mode of operation said first and further rollers rotate in the same direction and in a reject mode of operation said first and further rollers rotate in opposite directions.
US09990786B1	Visitor credentials A request is received by a member of a credential granting authority to issue an electronic visitor credential to a visitor of the credential granting authority, the electronic visitor credential enabling access to resources of the credential granting authority. It is determined that the member of the credential granting authority is authorized to issue the credential to the visitor. Based on the determination that the member of the credential granting authority is authorized to issue the credential to the visitor, the electronic visitor credential is issued with at least one timing restriction that defines a time period during which the electronic visitor credential is valid and at least one usage restriction that limits resources of the credential granting authority to which the electronic visitor credential enables access It is determined to withdraw the electronic visitor credential. Based on determining to withdraw the electronic visitor credential, the credential is withdrawn.
US09990785B2	Access system for a vehicle and method for managing access to a vehicle An access system for a vehicle is provided. The access system includes a central rights management unit, an access control device, and a portable identification medium. The access control device makes it possible to run verification mechanisms on the identification medium with the use of input means for interacting with a user. To this effect the identification medium includes an authentication unit and also a data part that depends on it which for viral epidemic propagation of privilege data may forward this data to access control devices without its own data connection. Even in the case of an incomplete infrastructure, extensive vehicle movements and very substantial fluctuations in personnel it is nevertheless possible to achieve very high security and reliability of enabling access and vehicle functions.
US09990783B2	Regulating vehicle access using cryptographic methods A system and method of regulating access to a vehicle from a wireless device communicating using short-range wireless communications includes: transmitting a vehicle access certificate signing request from the wireless device to a central facility; receiving an authenticated vehicle access certificate from the central facility in response to the vehicle access certificate signing request, wherein the authenticated vehicle access certificate is signed using a central facility private key and includes the wireless device public key; transmitting the authenticated vehicle access certificate containing the wireless device public key from the wireless device to the vehicle via a short-range wireless communications protocol; receiving from the vehicle a shared secret that is encrypted by the wireless device public key; decrypting the received shared secret using a wireless device private key; generating a command controlling vehicle functions; and transmitting the command from the wireless device to the vehicle.
US09990781B2	Vehicle information system A vehicle information system is described. The vehicle information system may include an OBD interface device configurable for communication with a vehicle computer system. The OBD interface device may include at least a first transmitter and a first receiver. One or more communication protocols may be configured for communication between at least one of the OBD interface device and a client electronic device, the OBD interface device and a server computer, and the OBD interface device and a wireless receiver. An application programming interface may be configured to allow interaction between the OBD interface device and at least one of a server computer and a client electronic device.
US09990775B2	Methods and systems for point-to-multipoint delivery of independently-controllable interactive media content An exemplary interactive media content provider system generates overall data representative of interactive media content. The exemplary interactive media content provider system concurrently provides the overall data to both a first media player device associated with a first user and a second media player device associated with a second user by way of a point-to-multipoint media delivery protocol. The first media player device and the second media player device may each be configured to render different portions of the overall data to respective display screens of the media player devices at a particular point in time based on different user input from the first user and the second user, respectively, as the first user and the second user independently interact with the interactive media content. Corresponding methods and systems are also described.
US09990770B2	User-to-user communication enhancement with augmented reality The enhancement of user-to-user communication with augmented reality is described. In one example, a method includes receiving virtual object data at a local device from a remote user, generating a virtual object using the received virtual object data, receiving an image at the local device from a remote image store, augmenting the received image at the local device by adding the generated virtual object to the received image, and displaying the augmented received image on the local device.
US09990767B1	Generation of 3D models using stochastic shape distribution Described herein are a system and methods for generating 3D models using imaging data obtained from an array of camera devices. In embodiments, a stochastic shape distribution may be applied upon an object to be modeled in invisible ink. The system activates a first lighting mode which causes the stochastic shape distribution to be visible and captures a first set of images that depict the stochastic shape distribution on the object. The system then activates a second lighting mode that causes the stochastic shape distribution to be hidden and captures images of the object as it would normally appear (without the stochastic shape distribution). The images having the stochastic shape distribution may be used to determine alignment information for the images within the set of images. That alignment information may then be attributed to the second set of images and used to generate the 3D model.
US09990757B2	Enhancing video chatting A method for a computing device to enhance video chatting Includes receiving a live video stream, processing a frame in the live video stream in real-time, and transmitting the frame to another computing device. Processing the frame in real-time includes detecting a face, an upper torso, or a gesture in the frame, and applying a visual effect to the frame. The method includes processing a next frame in the live video stream in real-time by repeating the enhancing, the detecting, and the applying.
US09990756B2	Animations At least certain embodiments of the present disclosure include a method for animating a display region, windows, or views displayed on a display of a device. The method includes starting at least two animations. The method further includes determining the progress of each animation. The method further includes completing each animation based on a single timer.
US09990754B1	System for rendering using position based finite element simulation The present disclosure provides embodiments of systems and methods for rendering and skinning in video game applications that utilize a modified finite elements analysis in combination with position based dynamics. Position based dynamics can be used to provide a tradeoff of accuracy for speed and stability. The resulting position based finite element process provides for rendering and skinning elements, such as character models, during real time execution of a game application. Embodiments of the position based finite element technique can provide high quality deformations with a small number of elements, and simulate those elements more efficiently than previous methods used in the art.
US09990751B2	Radioactive substance distribution map producing system and method of producing radioactive substance distribution map A radioactive substance distribution map producing system includes a radiation detector, a position measuring unit and a radioactive substance distribution map producing apparatus. The radiation detector is loaded on a moving vehicle and measures radiations from radioactive substances. The position measuring unit measures a position of the moving vehicle. The radioactive substance distribution map producing apparatus receives measurement data which contains a measurement result by the radiation detector and position data of the moving vehicle measured by the position measuring unit. The radioactive substance distribution map producing apparatus produces a distribution map of the radioactive substances by using the measurement data obtained at the plurality of positions while the moving vehicle moves.
US09990741B2	Motion correction in a projection domain in time of flight positron emission tomography Motion correction is performed in time-of-flight (TOF) positron emission tomography (PET). Rather than applying motion correction to reconstructed images or as part of reconstruction, the motion correction is applied in the projection domain of the PET data. The TOF data from the PET scan is altered to account for the motion. The TOF data is altered prior to starting reconstruction. The motion in the patient or image domain is forward projected to provide motion in the projection domain of the TOF data. The projected motion of different phases is applied to the TOF data from different phases, respectively, to create a combined dataset of motion corrected TOF data representing the patient at a reference phase. The dataset is larger (e.g., similar size from projection data dimension point of view, but contains more counts per projection data unit or is more dense) than available at one phase of the physiological cycle and is then used in reconstruction.
US09990739B1	Method and device for fisheye camera automatic calibration A method and device for fisheye camera automatic calibration is disclosed. A first straight line and a second straight line are respectively moved to generate a first fisheye line and a second fisheye line being straight lines. At least two symmetric points are generated on the second straight line based on an intersection of the first straight line and the second straight line as a symmetric central point, so as to correspondingly generate at least two fisheye symmetric points. The second straight line rotates until a distance between the first fisheye line and each of two fisheye symmetric points is equal. Then, central intersection coordinates, fisheye symmetric coordinates, a fisheye symmetric distance are retrieved and used to calculate fisheye parameters.
US09990733B2	Object tracking device and a control method for object tracking device In an object tracking device that obtains image data, detects an object, and tracks a target object, a matching unit collates image data of a characteristic model that represents a tracking object, which is a tracking target, with input image data, and outputs a candidate region of the tracking object. An object region determination unit determines an object region from the candidate region that is output by the matching unit. A depth map calculation unit calculates depth information relating to the input image. An object depth setting unit obtains the object region that has been determined by the object region determination unit in the past and the depth information that has been calculated by the depth map calculation unit, and sets a predetermined depth range where the object can exist. The object region determination unit determines an object region relating to the tracking object based on a region corresponding to the depth in a predetermined range set by the object depth setting unit and the candidate region that is extracted by the matching unit.
US09990728B2	Planar region guided 3D geometry estimation from a single image Techniques for planar region-guided estimates of 3D geometry of objects depicted in a single 2D image. The techniques estimate regions of an image that are part of planar regions (i.e., flat surfaces) and use those planar region estimates to estimate the 3D geometry of the objects in the image. The planar regions and resulting 3D geometry are estimated using only a single 2D image of the objects. Training data from images of other objects is used to train a CNN with a model that is then used to make planar region estimates using a single 2D image. The planar region estimates, in one example, are based on estimates of planarity (surface plane information) and estimates of edges (depth discontinuities and edges between surface planes) that are estimated using models trained using images of other scenes.
US09990726B2	Method of determining a position and orientation of a device associated with a capturing device for capturing at least one image A method of determining a position and orientation of a device is provided. The position and orientation of the device is determined based on multiple degrees of freedom (DoF) and the device is associated with a capturing device for capturing at least one image is provided. The method includes: capturing at least one image of a real object with the capturing device, and providing a coordinate system in relation to the object; providing an estimation of intrinsic parameters of the capturing device; providing pose data to compute first and second DoFs in the coordinate system, with each DoF having a confidence degree; determining an initial pose of the device; performing a pose estimation process, and calculating in the pose estimation process an estimation of the DoFs having a second confidence degree; and determining a position and orientation of the device.
US09990721B2	System and method for detecting trachea Disclosed are systems, devices, and methods for detecting a trachea, an exemplary system comprising an imaging device configured to obtain image data and a computing device configured to generate a three-dimensional (3D) model, identify a potential connected component in a first slice image, identify a potential connected component in a second slice image, label the first slice image as a top slice image, label the connected component in the top slice image as an active object, associate each connected component in a current slice image with a corresponding connected component in a previous slice image based on a connectivity criterion, label each connected component in the current slice image associated with a connected component of the preceding slice image as the active object, and identify the active object as the trachea, based on a length of the active object.
US09990720B2	System and method for creating a decision support material indicating damage to an anatomical joint A system for creating decision support material indicating damage to an anatomical joint of a patient. The system is configured to: i) receive a series of radiology images of at least a part of the anatomical joint; ii) obtain a three-dimensional image representation of the at least part of the anatomical joint; iii) identify tissue parts of the anatomical joint using image analysis; iv) determine damage to the anatomical joint by analyzing said image representation; v) mark damage to the anatomical joint in the obtained three-dimensional image representation; and vi) generate decision support material. The analysis comprises: detecting an irregular shape of a contour of a tissue part; and/or detecting that the intensity in an area within or adjacent to bone and/or cartilage parts differs from a predetermined value; and/or comparing at least one identified tissue part with a template representing a predefined damage pattern for an anatomical joint.
US09990719B2	Method and system for generating multiparametric nosological images The method of generating multi-parametric nosological images including the steps of obtaining a stack of images; improving such images; reducing the images to a new space of equivalent representation; classifying in an unsupervised manner the units of the images obtained according to a pre-established number of classes without biological interpretation; automatically assigning multi-parametric profiles to the obtained classes; and generating a nosological image through the obtained classes. The system includes an imaging unit; an image processing unit for processing the obtained images and generating therefrom a multi-parametric nosological image; a connection for transmitting the images obtained by the imaging unit to the image processing unit; and a display for displaying the generated multi-parametric nosological image.
US09990718B2	System and method for reconstructing ECT image The present disclosure provides a system and method for PET image reconstruction. The method may include processes for obtaining physiological information and/or rigid motion information. The image reconstruction may be performed based on the physiological information and/or rigid motion information.
US09990715B2	Radiotherapy targeted to promote a systemic abscopal effect Methods for personalized treatment of tumor lesions in subject with metastatic cancer are disclosed.
US09990711B2	Manipulation of a respiratory model via adjustment of parameters associated with model images Imaging data including images associated with a patient may be received. A subset of the images that are used with a model that is associated with the position and motion of a targeted region of the patient to receive radiation treatment may be identified. The subset of images may be sorted. A graphical user interface (GUI) that identifies two or more of the images of the sorted subset may be provided. A selection associated with one of the images of the sorted subset may be received by the GUI. Furthermore, a new model to identify the targeted region based on the selection that is associated with one of the two or more images may be generated.
US09990701B2	Image-processing apparatus, image-processing method, and computer program product According to the present disclosure, an image-processing apparatus acquires horizontal black hat image data by taking a difference between source image data and horizontal closing image data obtained by performing closing processing on each pixel row of the source image data, acquires vertical black hat image data by taking a difference between the source image data and vertical closing image data obtained by performing the closing processing on each pixel column of the source image data, and acquires logical conjunction image data where a logical conjunction of the horizontal black hat image data and the vertical black hat image data is taken.
US09990695B2	Edge sensing measure for raw image processing A method, apparatus and system for performing a demosaic operation are described. In one embodiment, the apparatus comprises: a plurality of interpolation modules to perform a plurality of interpolation operations to generate color pixel values of a first color for a plurality of pixel locations in an image region that do not have color pixel values of the first color; a first module to generate a set of color pixel values of the first color for the image region, one or more color pixel values in the set of pixel values being generated based on color pixel values of the first color from one of the plurality of interpolation modules; and a second module to select the one interpolation module based on an interpolation direction determined by color intensity gradient calculations that involve pixel values of the first color and at least one other color.
US09990693B2	Method and device for rendering multimedia content Various aspects of a device and a method for rendering multimedia content are disclosed herein. The method determines a ratio between a first resolution of multimedia content and a second resolution of a display screen of a display device. At least one user input is received that selects a region of interest (ROI) on the multimedia content being rendered on the display screen. Based on the determined ratio, the selected ROI on the multimedia content being rendered on the display screen is dynamically modified based on the determined ratio.
US09990672B2	Methods, systems and devices for user profile-based viewable images and for merging of the images An e-commerce method involves on-line viewing of a first article through a linking node for virtual merging on another structure. A particular application of the invention is directed to on-line apparel shopping involving a color matching scheme using color codes provided with images to be merged. For example, on-line viewing of one article, such as clothing, on another structure, includes creating an item from image-data corresponding to a colored article selected by an on-line viewer from an on-line viewer site with an image of a colored structure selected by the on-line viewer, and indicating whether the colored article and the colored structure satisfy a color-matching criterion.
US09990662B2	Computer-based technology for aiding the repair of motor vehicles A computer-assisted inspection system provides computer architectures and software controlled algorithms to automatically provide vehicle inspections and repair recommendations including estimated repair time and cost of depression type damage such as dents. Features provided by a handheld wireless touchscreen based inspection device include flat car part picking, auto grading including seller grading, and automatic calculation of body and bumper dent repair parameters and directions.
US09990651B2	Method and apparatus for selective delivery of ads based on factors including site clustering For each of various sites, a mathematical representation is computed according to prescribed characteristics of users that have conducted one or more predetermined types of interaction with the site. Cluster of the sites are identified whose computed representations are similar according to prescribed criteria. Responsive to notification of an opportunity to deliver unidentified advertising to a given user via a given site, at least one ad is selected based upon factors including the ad having a prescribed performance history at one or more clusters containing the given site. The selected ad is transmitted to the given user at the given site, or a bid is transmitted for such placement of the ad.
US09990642B2	System and method for granting promotional rewards to credit account holders A system and method for providing promotional rewards is provided. First, a promotional reward is communicated to a customer. The promotional reward offer comprises a promotional reward associated with one or more promotional reward-earning behaviors and a promotional time frame. The offer may specify a customer population, and the customer may be enrolled in the promotional reward program if the customer is determined to be in the population. The customer is credited a promotional reward if the customer accomplishes the promotional reward-earning behavior(s) within the promotional time frame. The customer may also be enrolled in a base reward program. The promotional rewards and base rewards may be accumulated in a customer account. A system for implementing a promotional rewards program is also provided.
US09990638B1	Providing data messaging support by intercepting and processing received short message service (SMS) messages at a customer support service A message receiving, intercepting and processing method and corresponding application and device may provide receiving a message at a message processing server, the message being intended for a phone number associated with a customer service provider, identifying a telephone number of the sender of the message, parsing at least one word from the message, retrieving user account information of the sender, and generating an automated response to the message that includes contextual information that is based on at least one of the user account information and the parsed at least one word from the message.
US09990633B2	Providing market feedback associated with electronic commerce transactions to sellers An electronic commerce system providing market feedback to sellers includes a server. The server records query information associated with a search query for a buyer of one or more databases containing product data and also records presentation information associated with presentation of multiple search results to the buyer, each search result including data for a product matching one or more search criteria specified in the search query, the search results including one or more search results reflecting product data for a particular seller. The server also records selection information associated with selection by the buyer of a particular search result from among the multiple search results and also provides at least some of the recorded query information, presentation information, or selection information to the particular seller to allow the particular seller to assess one or more aspects of its product data relative to product data of other sellers.
US09990632B1	Dynamic modification of a verification method associated with a transaction card A device may determine that a verification method associated with a transaction card is to be modified from a first verification method to a second verification method. The first verification method and the second verification method may use different types of verification information. The device may provide a set of instructions to the transaction card after determining that the verification method is to be modified. The set of instructions may cause the transaction card to modify the verification method from the first verification method to the second verification method. The device may provide information identifying a modification to the verification method to a transaction backend device to notify the transaction backend device that the verification method associated with the transaction card has been modified from the first verification method to the second verification method.
US09990627B2	Centralized identity authentication for electronic communication networks A method of centralized identity authentication for use in connection with a communications network includes registering users of the communications network such that each registered user's identity is uniquely defined and determinable, and registering a plurality of vendors having a presence on the communications network. The registered vendors selectively transact with registered users, wherein the transactions include: (i) the registered vendor selling goods and/or services to the registered user; (ii) the registered vendor granting the registered user access to personal records maintained by the registered vendor; and/or (iii) the registered vendor communicating to the registered user personal information maintained by the registered vendor. The method also includes each user's identity being authenticated over the communications network prior to completion of transactions between registered vendors and registered users.
US09990622B2	Authentication and payment system and method using mobile communication terminal Disclosed herein are an authentication and payment system and method. The authentication and payment system of the present invention includes an issuer server, an issuer information management intermediate server, an acquirer server and a payment server. The issuer server issues, manages and operates payment means. The issuer information management intermediate server manages URL information required to access domestic and foreign issuer servers. The acquirer server performs payment approval and performs acquisition and settlement for member stores. The payment server intermediates between the issuer server and the acquirer server to provide an authentication and payment service in response to a request from a terminal of the merchant. Accordingly, the present invention can provide a safe and convenient payment process with respect to payment means, such as credit cards, electronic money or mobile phone micro payment that can be selected between a purchaser and a merchant.
US09990620B2	Shared mobile payments Methods and systems are provided for facilitating shared mobile payments. According to an embodiment, a user can initiate a purchase using a mobile device. The mobile device can display a total price for the purchase. The first user can cooperate with one or more second users to share the cost of the purchase. The cooperation can be facilitated via the first and second users' mobile devices.
US09990616B2	Magnetic head protection frame, card swiping module, and POS machine The present invention is applicable to the field of POS machines, and provides a magnetic head protection frame used in a POS machine, a card swiping module using the magnetic head protection frame, and a POS machine using the card swiping module. The magnetic head protection frame comprises a support frame, the support frame is strip-shaped, and the support frame defines a first opening exposing the magnetic head; a circuit board is mounted on an outside surface of the support frame, the circuit board is arranged along the whole length direction of the support frame, and the circuit board avoids a position corresponding to the first opening; connecting wires are connected on the circuit board. By arranging the circuit board on the outside surface of the support frame, since the circuit board will be open-circuited or short-circuited when it is subjected to a physical attack, an alarming signal will be triggered, and thus a security processor on a main board of the POS machine can be triggered, such that information stored in electronic components in a protected area is erased or destroyed, the function of preventing user information from being stolen is achieved, and the magnetic head is protected so as to read card information safely.
US09990614B2	Tactile touch screen A machine (10) is operative to carry out financial transfers responsive to data included on data bearing records including user cards. The machine includes a user interface (15) including a display (24). The user interface includes a card reader (16) which is operative to read data on user cards which identify at least one of user and a user's financial accounts. Records of the financial transfers are provided by a printer (30). A touch screen display module (608) is operative to securely receive manual inputs and/or card data. The touch screen display module includes a contact surface that can be electronically contoured to provide outputs that can be perceived through finger contact with the contact surface.
US09990602B2	Cost and latency reductions through dynamic updates of order movement through a transportation network A method, system, and computer program product for shipping management. The computer implemented method commences upon receiving a first set of orders to be shipped to a destination region in accordance with a first set of timing constraints, then building a first set of multi-stop shipments, the first set of multi-stop shipments comprising a first multi-stop carrier schedule that satisfies the set of timing constraints. The method waits a calculated duration before receiving a second set of orders to be shipped to the destination region in accordance with a second set of timing constraints. A second set of multi-stop shipments is built, wherein the second set of multi-stop shipments comprises a second multi-stop carrier schedule for at least one stop not included in the first set of multi-stop shipments, and the second multi-stop carrier schedule satisfies both the first set of timing constraints and the second set of timing constraints.
US09990601B2	System, delivery device and methods for use therewith A delivery device includes an image capture device for generating delivery image data of a delivery at a service address. A processor executes a delivery application to bidirectionally communicate delivery data with the delivery data server via the network interface, wherein the delivery data includes a delivery tracking number and the delivery image data. The delivery data server processes the delivery data to provide a delivery confirmation to a customer at the service address, wherein the delivery confirmation includes the delivery tracking number and the delivery image data.
US09990595B2	Modeled service endpoints in business process model and notation tools A system and method for modeling service endpoints of BPMN processes is disclosed. The process is modeled using a BPMN modeling tool. A service endpoint is modeled using the BPMN modeling tool. A uniform resource locator (URL) is generated for the service endpoint, the URL being a web-based address under which a service represented by the process can be called by a business process application. The service endpoint is linked to the process, and then service-provisioned to be executed in the BPMN domain.
US09990594B2	Geolocation check-in system Embodiments of the invention are directed to systems, methods and computer program products for providing a geolocation check-in system. An exemplary apparatus is configured to collect positioning data related to a user. After collecting position data the apparatus may be configure to determine, based at least partially on the positioning data that the user has crossed a threshold of a geofence associated with a merchant's location. Based at least partially on this determination the apparatus may be configured to initiate a merchant check-in associated with the user and transmit user information to the merchant.
US09990591B2	Automated assistant invocation of appropriate agent Invoking an agent during a dialog between a user and an automated assistant. Some implementations are directed to receiving, during a human-to-automated assistant dialog, natural language input of the user that indicates a desire to engage an agent, but that fails to indicate a particular agent to be engaged. Those implementations are further directed to selecting a particular agent from a plurality of available agents, and transmitting an invocation request to the selected particular agent. In some implementations an agent selection model can be utilized in selecting the particular agent, such as a machine learning model. The machine learning model can be trained to enable generation of output that indicates, for each of a plurality of available agents (and optionally intent(s) for those agents), a probability that the available agent (and optionally intent) will generate appropriate responsive content.
US09990590B2	Machine learning apparatus and method for optimizing smoothness of feed of feed axis of machine and motor control apparatus including machine learning apparatus A machine learning apparatus includes: a state observation unit that observes a state variable composed of at least one of data relating to the number of errors that is an error between a position command relative to a rotor of a motor which is drive-controlled by the motor control apparatus and an actual position of a feed mechanism unit, an operation program of the motor control apparatus, any command of the position command, a speed command, or a current command in the motor control apparatus, data relating to a workpiece machining condition in a machine tool including the motor control apparatus, and data relating to a state of the machine tool including the motor control apparatus; and a learning unit that learns a condition associated with the number of corrections used to correct the above-mentioned command in accordance with a training data set constituted by the state variable.
US09990585B2	Information processing apparatus, information processing method and computer-readable storage medium for generating course information Provided is an information processing apparatus including a course setting unit that sets a course containing at least one place associated with positional information, a course information generation unit that generates first course information regarding the course on the basis of first user behavior information generated from a behavior of a first user having visited the course, and a course information provision unit that provides the first course information to a second user different from the first user.
US09990584B2	Rule-based register checking for digital voltage regulator controllers A method of rule-based register checking for a digital voltage regulator controller includes: defining register settings for the digital voltage regulator via a GUI (graphical user interface) based controller parameter configuration system; accessing a rule-based checker by the GUI based configuration system to check for rule violations in the register settings; and uploading the register settings from the GUI based configuration system to the digital voltage regulator controller after checking the register settings for rule violations. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program operable to implement the rule-based register checking is also provided.
US09990583B2	Match engine for detection of multi-pattern rules Methods, systems and computer program products are disclosed for detecting patterns in a data stream that match multi-pattern rules. One embodiment of the invention provides a method of recognizing a specified group of patterns in a data stream. The method comprises identifying a rule for said specified group of patterns in the data stream, and using a first array of finite state machines to scan the data stream for at least some of the patterns in the specified group. For patterns in the specified group that are found in the data stream by the first array of finite state machines, pattern identifiers are sent to a second array of finite state machines. The second array of finite state machines determines if the specified group of patterns is in the data stream in accordance with the identified rule by, at least in part, using said pattern identifiers.
US09990575B2	Card and card production method To provide a card capable of improving external appearance, and a card production method. A card (1) is provided with: a module substrate (30); a lower layer (10) and an upper layer (50) arranged above and below the module substrate (30), the layers having an outline larger than the outline of the module substrate (30); and thickness adjustment layers (11, 51) for adjusting the thickness in a substrate outward region (S1), the thickness adjustment layers being provided between the lower layer (10) and the upper layer (50) and to the substrate outward region (S1) further outward than the outline of the module substrate (30), and being provided by printing to at least one layer among the layers that form the card (1).
US09990564B2	System and method for optical character recognition This disclosure relates to system and method for optical character recognition. In one embodiment, the method comprises providing an image data to a plurality of customized machine learning algorithms or various customized neural networks, configured to recognize a set of pre-defined characters. The method comprises presenting one or more suggestions for the character to the user in response to negative character recognition, and training a customized machine learning algorithm corresponding to the character if one of the suggestions is identified by the user. If the suggestions are rejected by the user, the method comprises prompting the user to identify the character and determining presence of the character in the set of pre-defined characters. The method further comprises training a customized machine learning algorithm corresponding to the character if the character is present, or dynamically creating a customized machine learning algorithm corresponding to the character if the character is not present.
US09990556B2	Image processing apparatus, imaging apparatus, movable object, program, and region setting method An image processing apparatus (14) includes a road information receiver (24) and a region setter (25). The road information receiver (24) obtains road information around a movable object. The region setter (25), based on the road information, sets a region of a peripheral image of the movable object to extract.
US09990549B2	Complex marking determining device and complex marking determining method A complex marking determining device includes a brightness state calculating portion configured to calculate a lane marking representative value indicative of a brightness state of a plurality of pixels that make up a lane marking display region, and calculate a road surface representative value indicative of a brightness state of a plurality of pixels that make up the road surface display region; and a complex marking determining portion configured to determine that the lane marking is a complex marking at least when a degree of deviation between the lane marking representative value and the road surface representative value is equal to or greater than a first threshold value.
US09990545B2	Extraction method and extraction device for crime scene footprint through photographing This application involves a crime scene footprint photography and extraction method and extraction device that can photograph a first image of the footprint in the oblique light from a fixed angle, and a second image of the footprint in the diffuse reflected light from a fixed angle; divide the first image's brightness component V1 by the second image's brightness component V2 to produce their brightness distribution ratio V3; and extract a third image corresponding to the brightness distribution ratio V3. According to the technical scheme of this application, the technology has a better image collection effect, and can provide better image materials for future footprint acquisition and identification, and can also remove the patterns of the footprint trace carrier, and leave only footprint images displayed clearly and cognizably. Moreover, the method is simple and the results are more accurate.
US09990536B2	Combining images aligned to reference frame In various examples there is an image combiner comprising a memory storing two or more frames being images depicting the same scene; and at least one processor. The memory holds instructions executable by the processor to select at least one of the frames and designate it as a reference frame and to designate the other frames as target frames. The instructions align the target frames to the reference frame and compute an output image by combining the reference frame and the aligned target frames. The process of selecting the reference frame comprises any one or more of: local analysis of characteristics of the frames, face detection, smile detection, object detection, computing signal to noise ratio of individual frames, use of sensor data from at least one non-camera sensor.
US09990534B2	Image processing device and image processing method There is provided an image processing device. A feature point acquiring unit acquires a plurality of feature points of objects of each frame image. A grouping unit performs a grouping process of dividing the feature points into groups corresponding to the individual objects. A masking unit performs a masking process of excluding feature points included in some areas of the frame image. A highlighting-image generating unit generates highlighting images for highlighting objects of the frame image corresponding to the feature point groups. A superimposed-image generating unit superimposes the highlighting images on the frame image, thereby generating a superimposed image.
US09990533B2	Self-capacitive fingerprint sensor with active amplified pixels In one aspect, a fingerprint sensor device includes a substrate and a sensor chip disposed over the substrate. The sensor chip includes an array of sensor pixels configured to generate fingerprint data by sensing ridges and valleys of a surface of a finger contacting the fingerprint sensor device. Each sensor pixel includes a single sensor electrode an amplifier having an inverting terminal electrically connected to the sensor electrode and a non-inverting terminal electrically connected to a drive signal. The drive signal generates electric fields between the sensor electrode and at least one of the ridges and valleys of the surface of the finger contacting the fingerprint sensor device to generate a variable capacitor having a variable capacitance based at least partly on a distance between the sensor electrode and the at least one of the ridges and valleys of the finger.
US09990532B2	Fingerprint data registering method and fingerprint data registering apparatus In a fingerprint data registering method, a blurred pseudo image is displayed and, when a fingerprint image for authentication registration is acquired, a fingerprint position of the acquired fingerprint image is extracted. A position in the pseudo image, which corresponds to the extracted fingerprint position, is determined. A part of the blurred pseudo image at the determined corresponding position is converted to a clear partial pseudo-image having a higher resolution than that of the blurred pseudo image and the clear partial pseudo-image is displayed. The acquired fingerprint image is registered as an authentication-purpose fingerprint image in association with the converting and outputting process.
US09990529B2	Sensor for detecting fingerprint and identification apparatus and controlling method of sensor for detecting fingerprint A sensor for detecting a fingerprint, a fingerprint identification apparatus and a controlling method of a sensor for detecting a fingerprint are provided. The sensor for detecting the fingerprint includes a detecting panel including: a detecting region with a plurality of detecting units, in which the plurality of detecting units are distributed in a plurality rows and columns on the detecting region; and a conductive layer, configured to form a sensing capacitance between the conductive layer and a finger when the finger is close to the detecting region; a capacitance detecting module, configured to detect the sensing capacitance; and a control module.
US09990528B2	Methods and systems for capturing biometric data A method of capturing biometric data is provided that includes activating a security application in a device. The security application is activated by an operator of the device and is configured to cause the device to display an outline image. Moreover, the method includes displaying the outline image in a stationary position on a display of the device, positioning desired biometric data proximate the device such that the desired biometric data appears as a biometric image on the device display, and monitoring the outline and biometric images shown on the device display. Furthermore, the method includes positioning the device and the desired biometric data to better align the outline and biometric images when the outline and biometric images do not align and capturing the desired biometric data from an individual after approximately aligning the outline image with the biometric image.
US09990523B2	Optical accessory for attachment to mobile device An attachment for use with a mobile device with an imaging device and a mobile-device light source can include one or more of an attachment base and an attachment body. The attachment base can be configured to secure the attachment body to the mobile device via a case for the mobile device. The attachment body can include at least one optical device for use with the imaging device, and an optical sensor to receive optical control signals from the mobile-device light source.
US09990521B2	Bundled unit identification and tracking A unique digital identifier of a bundled set of items may be generated based on imaging data or other information captured from the bundled set, stored, and used for any purpose. The imaging data or other information may depict or describe the bundled set after the items have been wrapped or otherwise combined in a unique manner using a binding agent, e.g., a sheet of shrink wrap, a rubber band, or any other materials. Unique digital identifiers of bundled sets of items may be stored in association with information regarding the items. When a bundled set of items is recognized based on its unique digital identifier, information regarding the bundled set may be accessed and used for any purpose, such as to identify a common container for the bundled set based on attributes of any of the items or an order with which the bundled set is associated.
US09990516B2	Security systems and methods for social networking Data may be masked on public networks, such as social networking sites. At a publishing node, the system may monitor data input fields in a webpage that are processed by an internet browser. The system may intercept data, such as text, images, and video input at the data input fields, prior to the data being posted online. The publishing node may control which users are permitted access to the posted data by defining a policy associated with the data input field. The posted data may be transformed or tokenized to ensure that it is inaccessible to a user (or group of users) unless that user/group has access to the decoding key under the policy. In this way, data security and data control may be provided to a publishing user node. Data that has already been posted may be destroyed, for example, by deleting the decryption key or a token.
US09990512B2	File backup with selective encryption A method for automatically encrypting files is disclosed. In some cases, the method may be performed by computer hardware comprising one or more processors. The method can include detecting access to a first file, which may be stored in a primary storage system. Further, the method can include determining whether the access comprises a write access. In response to determining that the access comprises a write access, the method can include accessing file metadata associated with the first file and accessing a set of encryption rules. In addition, the method can include determining whether the file metadata satisfies the set of encryption rules. In response to determining that the file metadata satisfies the set of encryption rules, the method can include encrypting the first file to obtain a first encrypted file and modifying an extension of the first encrypted file to include an encryption extension.
US09990510B2	Database logging using storage class memory A plurality of reserve and commit log operations are initiated in a database system. Thereafter, at least a portion of the database operations are logged in a log such that transient data structures are kept in-memory of the database system and persistent data structures are kept in byte-addressable memory. Next, each of one or more clients concurrently accessing the log are registered to enable such clients to access the log.
US09990504B1	Systems and methods for generating and maintaining immutable digital meeting records within distributed network nodes Embodiments disclosed herein provide systems and methods for digital meeting management within a blockchain. Before a meeting, a computer may generate a digital meeting record containing a plurality of data fields and linked to various smart contracts to capture meeting activities. During the meeting, a first smart contract may authenticate and record attendees in the digital meeting record based on biometric information received from the attendees' devices. Furthermore, a second smart contract may capture in the digital meeting record, meeting actions of each attendee, including date, time, and location associated with the meeting actions. After the meeting, a third smart contract may autopopulate post meeting documentation. After review by the attendees, the third smart contract may store a hash of the documentation to the digital meeting record and store the documentation in a repository. Once appended to the blockchain, the digital meeting record becomes an immutable record of the meeting.
US09990501B2	Diagnosing and tracking product vulnerabilities for telecommunication devices via a database Systems and methods for tracking telecom computing device vulnerabilities. The system includes a database storing a plurality of entries that describe security vulnerabilities, and a controller that receives input from a user selecting a class of telecommunication devices, e.g. a product line, and searches the database to identify pertinent entries describing a relevant security vulnerability for the class. The controller also identifies an authoritative entry that describes the relevant security vulnerability, validates pertinent entries within the database that conform with the authoritative entry, generates a report indicating a severity of the security vulnerability within the class based on valid entries within the database, and assesses a severity of the relevant security vulnerability for the class based on the conforming entries.
US09990495B2	Elimination of false positives in antivirus records Systems and methods for managing antivirus records. A method can include providing a data store of antivirus records, providing an antivirus application to be executed on each of a plurality of user computers, and executing instructions by a remote server to implement a processing tool configured to collect an antivirus record parameter for a particular antivirus record and collect statistical data of a detection events associated with the antivirus record, and a processing tool to configured to determine a false activation using the antivirus record parameter and the statistical data.
US09990493B2	Data processing system security device and security method Provided is a security device and method that protect a data processing system from various types of malicious code and prevent the divulgence of data and erroneous operation. The security device for a data processing system includes: an execution module configured to be called by a security loader when a stub file, including a security loader formed in a routine form and a stub composed of an original executable file, is executed, and to perform processing so that the original executable file restored from the stub by the security loader is executed; and a monitoring module configured to monitor the operation of the data processing system attributable to the execution of the restored original executable file.
US09990488B2	Secure data entry A method and associated computing device. A first arrangement of numeric characters 0-9 is displayed, on a touch screen of the computing device, for an entry of a confidential sequence of numeric characters by a user during display of the first arrangement of the numeric characters 0-9 in ten respective regions of the touch screen. Each region includes (i) a unique numeric character and (ii) a graphical design that does not include the unique numeric character. The graphical design in each region is a different graphical design in each region. Each region has a closed exterior boundary and is totally filled with the graphical design consisting of a background pattern or no pattern. A graphical characteristic is instantiated differently for each numeric character displayed in the first arrangement. User touches are received on the displayed first arrangement of the confidential sequence of numeric characters to authenticate or authorize the user.

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