Patent application number | Description | Published |
20140007146 | SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR AUTOMATICALLY OBTAINING COST-EFFICIENT ACCESS TO A MEDIA CONTENT COLLECTION | 01-02-2014 |
20140049695 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR TRACKING CONTENT SOURCES FROM WHICH MEDIA ASSETS HAVE PREVIOUSLY BEEN VIEWED - Systems and methods for tracking content sources from which media assets have previously been viewed are provided. A user request to access a first content source is received. Content currently being presented to the user from the first content source is monitored to determine whether the content meets a criterion. An amount of time the content being presented meets the criterion is measured. In response to determining the amount of time exceeds a threshold, an identifier of the first content source is stored in a list of content sources from which content meeting the criterion was previously presented to the user. Content received from one of the content sources in the list is presented each time a user request to access a last content source is received. | 02-20-2014 |
20140081988 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING COMMUNICATION BETWEEN USERS RECEIVING A COMMON MEDIA ASSET - Methods and systems are described herein for providing a media guidance application that identifies users accessing the same media asset, determines which users desire to communicate with each other, and provides an asset-integrated notification to each of the users desiring to communicate, facilitating communication between the users. For example, other users with a desire to communicate with an initial user that are accessing the same media asset as the initial user may be indicated by inserting a media element representative of the other users directly into the media asset watched by an initial user. | 03-20-2014 |
20140082659 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR GENERATING PROGRESSIVE ADVERTISEMENT SCHEDULES IN MEDIA ASSETS - Methods and systems for generating progressive advertisement schedules in media assets. Advertisement schedules are generated for currently displayed media assets based at least in part on the advertisement schedules associated with media assets previously viewed by the user and the number of advertisements presented to a user while the user viewed the previous media asset. | 03-20-2014 |
20140088952 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AUTOMATIC PROGRAM RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON USER INTERACTIONS - Methods and systems are provided for generating automatic program recommendations based on user interactions. In some embodiments, control circuitry processes verbal data received during an interaction between a user of a user device and a person with whom the user is interacting. The control circuitry analyzes the verbal data to automatically identify a media asset referred to during the interaction by at least one of the user and the person with whom the user is interacting. The control circuitry adds the identified media asset to a list of media assets associated with the user of the user device. The list of media assets is transmitted to a second user device of the user. | 03-27-2014 |
20150135251 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR EXPORTING DIGITAL CONTENT USING AN INTERACTIVE TELEVISION APPLICATION - The present invention relates to methods and systems for extracting digital content using an interactive television application. The interactive television application may allow the user to record programs on a set-top box. The interactive television application may also allow the user to extract the audio from one of the recorded programs and transfer the extracted audio to removable media (e.g., a CD-R). The interactive television application also be configured to perform a future transfer of digital content to removable media. The future transfer may occur without requiring any further user interaction. | 05-14-2015 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100241923 | Communication device employing LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) coding with Reed-Solomon (RS) and/or binary product coding - Communication device employing LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) coding with Reed-Solomon (RS) and/or binary product coding. An LDPC code is concatenated with a RS code or a binary product code (e.g., using row and column encoding of matrix formatted bits) thereby generating coded bits for use in generating a signal that is suitable to be launched into a communication channel. Various ECCs/FECs may be employed including a BCH (Bose and Ray-Chaudhuri, and Hocquenghem) code, a Reed-Solomon (RS) code, an LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) code, etc. and various implementations of cyclic redundancy check (CRC) may accompany the product coding and/or additional ECC/FEC employed. The redundancy of such coded signals as generated using the principles herein are in the range of approximately 20% thereby providing a significant amount of redundancy and a high coding gain. Soft decision decoding may be performed on such coded signal generated herein. | 09-23-2010 |
20100241926 | Communication device employing binary product coding with selective additional Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) therein - Communication device employing binary product coding with selective additional cyclic redundancy check (CRC) therein. Product code encoding (e.g., employing row and column encoding of matrix formatted bits, selectively with interleaving and/or permutation of the bits therein) may be combined with additional error correction code (ECC) or forward error correction (FEC) coding thereby generating coded bits for use in generating a signal to be launched into a communication channel. Various ECCs/FECs may be employed including a BCH (Bose and Ray-Chaudhuri, and Hocquenghem) code, a Reed-Solomon (RS) code, an LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) code, etc. The redundancy of such coded signals as generated using the principles herein is in the range of approximately 7%, and hard decision decoding may be performed on such coded signals generated herein. In accordance with decoding such signals, various bit decisions (within certain iterations) may be selectively ignored and/or reverted back to previous bit decisions. | 09-23-2010 |
20140053042 | Communication device employing binary product coding with selective additional Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) therein - Communication device employing binary product coding with selective additional cyclic redundancy check (CRC) therein. Product code encoding (e.g., employing row and column encoding of matrix formatted bits, selectively with interleaving and/or permutation of the bits therein) may be combined with additional error correction code (ECC) or forward error correction (FEC) coding thereby generating coded bits for use in generating a signal to be launched into a communication channel Various ECCs/FECs may be employed including a BCH (Bose and Ray-Chaudhuri, and Hocquenghem) code, a Reed-Solomon (RS) code, an LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) code, etc. The redundancy of such coded signals as generated using the principles herein is in the range of approximately 7%, and hard decision decoding may be performed on such coded signals generated herein. In accordance with decoding such signals, various bit decisions (within certain iterations) may be selectively ignored and/or reverted back to previous bit decisions. | 02-20-2014 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100117623 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF DETERMINING MAXIMUM POWER POINT TRACKING FOR A SOLAR POWER INVERTER - A system and method for operating a photovoltaic element at or near a maximum power point. A maximum power point tracker changes a voltage or current set point of a photovoltaic element in sequential discrete steps, measuring an output power at each step after a predetermined settling time. A slope of a power-voltage curve is then estimated and the slope is corrected for irradiance changes. Finally, an operating voltage or current of the photovoltaic element is adjusted based on the slope of the power-voltage curve and other factors, causing the photovoltaic element to operate at or near its maximum power. | 05-13-2010 |
20100134959 | SOLAR POWER INVERTERS, INCLUDING TEMPERATURE-CONTROLLED SOLAR POWER INVERTERS, AND ASSOCIATED SYSTEMS AND METHODS - A temperature-controlled solar power inverter is described herein. The solar power inverter includes multiple components (for example, a power transistor, a control board, or a heat sink). The temperature of a component may rise due to heat generated by the component or heat absorbed from other components. The solar power inverter also includes a temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature at a location proximate to the component and a cooling device configured to cool the component. The solar power inverter also includes a controller coupled to the temperature sensor and the cooling device. The controller is programmed to receive the temperature from the temperature sensor and control the cooling device based upon the temperature and a temperature setpoint of the component. The temperature setpoint is based upon 1) a component initial temperature, 2) a temperature excursion limit of the component, and 3) an absolute temperature limit of the component. | 06-03-2010 |
20110211290 | SOLAR POWER INVERTERS, INCLUDING SOLAR POWER INVERTERS HAVING SURGE PROTECTIVE DEVICES, AND ASSOCIATED METHODS - In one embodiment, a solar power inverter includes at least one component associated with conversion of direct current (DC) from one or more photovoltaic cells to alternating current (AC). The component is electrically coupleable to an electrical conductor configured to carry electrical current. The solar power inverter also includes a first surge protective device (SPD) electrically coupled to the component and electrically coupleable to the electrical conductor. The solar power inverter also includes a second SPD electrically coupled in parallel with the first SPD and electrically coupleable to the electrical conductor. As described in more detail herein, the first SPD is configured to actuate in response to a voltage surge on the electrical conductor before the second SPD. | 09-01-2011 |
20110282502 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF DETERMINING MAXIMUM POWER POINT TRACKING FOR A SOLAR POWER INVERTER - A system and method for operating a photovoltaic element at or near a maximum power point. A maximum power point tracker changes a voltage or current set point of a photovoltaic element in sequential discrete steps, measuring an output power at each step after a predetermined settling time. A slope of a power-voltage curve is then estimated and the slope is corrected for irradiance changes. Finally, an operating voltage or current of the photovoltaic element is adjusted based on the slope of the power-voltage curve and other factors, causing the photovoltaic element to operate at or near its maximum power. | 11-17-2011 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090122148 | DISJOINT LIGHT SENSING ARRANGEMENTS AND METHODS THEREFOR - Imaging is carried out using multiple views (e.g., from a single monolithic device) to generate an image. According to an example embodiment, a scene is imaged using disjoint sensors beyond a designated focal plane to obtain multiple views of common points in the focal plane. For the common points, the multiple views are processed to compute a depth of field, and the computed depth of field to generate an image. | 05-14-2009 |
20130214795 | Chemical Sensor Array with Leakage Compensation Circuit - To reduce the pixel size to the smallest dimensions and simplest form of operation, a pixel may be formed by using only one ion sensitive field-effect transistor (ISFET). This one-transistor, or 1T, pixel can provide gain by converting the drain current to voltage in the column. Configurable pixels can be created to allow both common source read out as well as source follower read out. A plurality of the 1T pixels may form an array, having a number of rows and a number of columns and a column readout circuit in each column. | 08-22-2013 |
20130228829 | TWO-TRANSISTOR PIXEL ARRAY - A two-transistor (2T) pixel comprises a chemically-sensitive transistor (ChemFET) and a selection device which is a non-chemically sensitive transistor. A plurality of the 2T pixels may form an array, having a number of rows and a number of columns. The ChemFET can be configured in a source follower or common source readout mode. Both the ChemFET and the non-chemically sensitive transistor can be NMOS or PMOS device. | 09-05-2013 |
20140193938 | CHEMICALLY SENSITIVE SENSOR WITH LIGHTLY DOPED DRAINS - A chemically sensitive sensor with a lightly doped region that affects an overlap capacitance between a gate and an electrode of the chemical sensitive sensor. The lightly doped region extends beneath and adjacent to a gate region of the chemical sensitive sensor. Modifying the gain of the chemically sensitive sensor is achieved by manipulating the lightly doped region under the electrodes. | 07-10-2014 |
20140219062 | CMOS ULTRASONIC TRANSDUCERS AND RELATED APPARATUS AND METHODS - CMOS Ultrasonic Transducers and processes for making such devices are described. The processes may include forming cavities on a first wafer and bonding the first wafer to a second wafer. The second wafer may be processed to form a membrane for the cavities. Electrical access to the cavities may be provided. | 08-07-2014 |
20140264322 | CHEMICAL SENSOR WITH PROTRUDED SENSOR SURFACE - In one implementation, a chemical sensor is described. The chemical sensor includes a chemically-sensitive field effect transistor including a floating gate conductor having an upper surface. A conductive element protrudes from the upper surface of the floating gate conductor into an opening. A dielectric material defines a reaction region. The reaction region overlies and extends below an upper surface of the conductive element. | 09-18-2014 |
20140264464 | CHEMICAL SENSOR WITH SIDEWALL SPACER SENSOR SURFACE - In one implementation, a chemical sensor is described. The chemical sensor includes chemically-sensitive field effect transistor including a floating gate conductor having an upper surface. A dielectric material defines an opening extending to the upper surface of the floating gate conductor. A conductive sidewall spacer is on a sidewall of the opening and contacts the upper surface of the floating gate conductor. | 09-18-2014 |
20140264466 | CHEMICAL SENSOR WITH PROTRUDED SENSOR SURFACE - In one implementation, a chemical sensor is described. The chemical sensor includes a chemically-sensitive field effect transistor including a floating gate conductor having an upper surface. A dielectric material defines an opening extending to the upper surface of the floating gate conductor. A conductive element on a sidewall of the opening and extending over an upper surface of the dielectric material. | 09-18-2014 |
20140264469 | CHEMICAL SENSOR WITH SIDEWALL SENSOR SURFACE - In one embodiment, a chemical sensor is described. The chemical sensor includes a chemically-sensitive field effect transistor including a floating gate conductor. A material defines an opening overlying the floating gate conductor. The material comprises a conductive element having an inner surface defining a lower portion of a sidewall of the opening. A dielectric is on the conductive element and has an inner surface defining an upper portion of the sidewall. | 09-18-2014 |
20140264470 | CHEMICAL SENSORS WITH CONSISTENT SENSOR SURFACE AREAS - In one embodiment, a chemical sensor is described. The chemical sensor includes a chemically-sensitive field effect transistor including a floating gate conductor having an upper surface. A material defines an opening extending to the upper surface of the floating gate conductor. The material comprises a first dielectric underlying a second dielectric. A conductive element contacts the upper surface of the floating gate conductor and extends a distance along a sidewall of the opening, the distance defined by a thickness of the first dielectric. | 09-18-2014 |
20140264471 | CHEMICAL DEVICE WITH THIN CONDUCTIVE ELEMENT - In one implementation, a chemical device is described. The sensor includes a chemically-sensitive field effect transistor including a floating gate structure having a plurality of floating gate conductors electrically coupled to one another. A conductive element overlies and is in communication with an uppermost floating gate conductor in the plurality of floating gate conductors. The conductive element is wider and thinner than the uppermost floating gate conductor. A dielectric material defines an opening extending to an upper surface of the conductive element. | 09-18-2014 |
20140264472 | CHEMICAL SENSOR WITH CONSISTENT SENSOR SURFACE AREAS - In one embodiment, a chemical sensor is described. The chemical sensor includes a chemically-sensitive field effect transistor including a floating gate conductor having an upper surface. A material defines an opening extending to the upper surface of the floating gate conductor, the material comprising a first dielectric underlying a second dielectric. A conductive element contacts the upper surface of the floating gate conductor and extending a distance along a sidewall of the opening. | 09-18-2014 |
20140264660 | COMPLEMENTARY METAL OXIDE SEMICONDUCTOR (CMOS) ULTRASONIC TRANSDUCERS AND METHODS FOR FORMING THE SAME - Complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) ultrasonic transducers (CUTs) and methods for forming CUTs are described. The CUTs may include monolithically integrated ultrasonic transducers and integrated circuits for operating in connection with the transducers. The CUTs may be used in ultrasound devices such as ultrasound imaging devices and/or high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) devices. | 09-18-2014 |
20140273324 | METHODS FOR MANUFACTURING CHEMICAL SENSORS WITH EXTENDED SENSOR SURFACES - In one implementation, a method for manufacturing a chemical sensor is described. The method includes forming a chemically-sensitive field effect transistor including a floating gate conductor having an upper surface. A dielectric material is formed defining an opening extending to the upper surface of the floating gate conductor. A conductive material is formed within the opening and on an upper surface of the dielectric material. A fill material is formed on the conductive material. The fill material is used as a protect mask to remove the conductive material on the upper surface of the dielectric material. The fill material is then removed to expose remaining conductive material on a sidewall of the opening. | 09-18-2014 |
20140288428 | MONOLITHIC ULTRASONIC IMAGING DEVICES, SYSTEMS AND METHODS - To implement a single-chip ultrasonic imaging solution, on-chip signal processing may be employed in the receive signal path to reduce data bandwidth and a high-speed serial data module may be used to move data for all received channels off-chip as digital data stream. The digitization of received signals on-chip allows advanced digital signal processing to be performed on-chip, and thus permits the full integration of an entire ultrasonic imaging system on a single semiconductor substrate. Various novel waveform generation techniques, transducer configuration and biasing methodologies, etc., are likewise disclosed. HIFU methods may additionally or alternatively be employed as a component of the “ultrasound-on-a-chip” solution disclosed herein. | 09-25-2014 |
20140364320 | Chemical Sensor Array Having Multiple Sensors Per Well - In one embodiment, a device is described. The device includes a material defining a reaction region. The device also includes a plurality of chemically-sensitive field effect transistors have a common floating gate in communication with the reaction region. The device also includes a circuit to obtain respective output signals from the chemically-sensitive field effect transistors indicating an analyte within the reaction region. | 12-11-2014 |
20140367750 | ION-SENSING CHARGE-ACCUMULATION CIRCUITS AND METHODS - An ion-sensitive circuit can include a charge accumulation device, to accumulate a plurality of charge packets as a function of an ion concentration of a fluid, and at least one control and readout transistor, to generate an output signal as a function of the accumulated plurality of charge packets, the output signal representing the ion concentration of the solution. The charge accumulation device can include a first charge control electrode above a first electrode semiconductor region, an electrically floating gate structure above a gate semiconductor region and below an ion-sensitive passivation surface, a second charge control electrode above a second electrode semiconductor region, and a drain diffusion region. The first control electrode can control entry of charge into a gate semiconductor region in response to a first control signal. The ion-sensitive passivation surface can be configured to receive the fluid. The second charge control electrode can control transmission of the plurality of charge packets out of the gate semiconductor region and into the drain diffusion region in response to a second control signal. The drain diffusion region can receive the plurality of charge packets from the gate semiconductor region via the second electrode semiconductor region. | 12-18-2014 |
20140368250 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DELTA DOUBLE SAMPLING - An array of sensors arranged in matched pairs of transistors with an output formed on a first transistor and a sensor formed on the second transistor of the matched pair. The matched pairs are arranged such that the second transistor in the matched pair is read through the output of the first transistor in the matched pair. The first transistor in the matched pair is forced into the saturation (active) region to prevent interference from the second transistor on the output of the first transistor. A sample is taken of the output. The first transistor is then placed into the linear region allowing the sensor formed on the second transistor to be read through the output of the first transistor. A sample is taken from the output of the sensor reading of the second transistor. A difference is formed of the two samples. | 12-18-2014 |
20150032002 | INTERCONNECTABLE ULTRASOUND TRANSDUCER PROBES AND RELATED METHODS AND APPARATUS - Ultrasound devices and methods are described, including a repeatable ultrasound transducer probe having ultrasonic transducers and corresponding circuitry. The repeatable ultrasound transducer probe may be used individually or coupled with other instances of the repeatable ultrasound transducer probe to create a desired ultrasound device. The ultrasound devices may optionally be connected to various types of external devices to provide additional processing and image rendering functionality. | 01-29-2015 |
20150064829 | CHEMICAL SENSOR WITH SIDEWALL SPACER SENSOR SURFACE - In one implementation, a chemical sensor is described. The chemical sensor includes chemically-sensitive field effect transistor including a floating gate conductor having an upper surface. A dielectric material defines an opening extending to the upper surface of the floating gate conductor. A conductive sidewall spacer is on a sidewall of the opening and contacts the upper surface of the floating gate conductor. | 03-05-2015 |
20150080724 | INTERCONNECTABLE ULTRASOUND TRANSDUCER PROBES AND RELATED METHODS AND APPARATUS - Ultrasound devices and methods are described, including a repeatable ultrasound transducer probe having ultrasonic transducers and corresponding circuitry. The repeatable ultrasound transducer probe may be used individually or coupled with other instances of the repeatable ultrasound transducer probe to create a desired ultrasound device. The ultrasound devices may optionally be connected to various types of external devices to provide additional processing and image rendering functionality. | 03-19-2015 |
20150084053 | COMPLEMENTARY METAL OXIDE SEMICONDUCTOR (CMOS) ULTRASONIC TRANSDUCERS AND METHODS FOR FORMING THE SAME - Complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) ultrasonic transducers (CUTs) and methods for forming CUTs are described. The CUTs may include monolithically integrated ultrasonic transducers and integrated circuits for operating in connection with the transducers. The CUTs may be used in ultrasound devices such as ultrasound imaging devices and/or high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) devices. | 03-26-2015 |
20150087977 | MONOLITHIC ULTRASONIC IMAGING DEVICES, SYSTEMS AND METHODS - To implement a single-chip ultrasonic imaging solution, on-chip signal processing may be employed in the receive signal path to reduce data bandwidth and a high-speed serial data module may be used to move data for all received channels off-chip as digital data stream. The digitization of received signals on-chip allows advanced digital signal processing to be performed on-chip, and thus permits the full integration of an entire ultrasonic imaging system on a single semiconductor substrate. Various novel waveform generation techniques, transducer configuration and biasing methodologies, etc., are likewise disclosed. HIFU methods may additionally or alternatively be employed as a component of the “ultrasound-on-a-chip” solution disclosed herein. | 03-26-2015 |
20150097610 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DELTA DOUBLE SAMPLING - An array of sensors arranged in matched pairs of transistors with an output formed on a first transistor and a sensor formed on the second transistor of the matched pair. The matched pairs are arranged such that the second transistor in the matched pair is read through the output of the first transistor in the matched pair. The first transistor in the matched pair is forced into the saturation (active) region to prevent interference from the second transistor on the output of the first transistor. A sample is taken of the output. The first transistor is then placed into the linear region allowing the sensor formed on the second transistor to be read through the output of the first transistor. A sample is taken from the output of the sensor reading of the second transistor. A difference is formed of the two samples. | 04-09-2015 |