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U.S. Patents Awarded to Inventors in California (July 1)(Targeted News Service Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Targeted News Service Targeted News Service ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- The following federal patents were awarded to inventors in California. *** Advanced NuMicro Systems Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- Advanced NuMicro Systems, San Jose, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,969,637) developed by Yee-Chung Fu, Fremont, Calif., for a "MEMS mirror driven by one motion with oscillations of different frequency for bidirectional rotation." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) mirror system has an actuator that imparts a motion with a first periodic movement of high frequency superimposed a second periodic movement of low frequency to a frame and a mirror coupled to the frame so that the mirror rotates about two axes. The mirror is coupled by springs to the frame so the mirror is rotatable about a first axis. The frame has pivots each coupled by springs to actuators so the frame is rotatable about a second axis. The mirror has a first resonant frequency and the frame including the mirror has a second resonant frequency. The low frequency of the second periodic movement is equal to one of the first and the second resonant frequencies, and the high frequency of the first periodic movement is equal to the other one of the first and the second resonant frequencies." The patent application was filed on June 30, 2008 (12/164,358). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,969,637.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,637&RS=PN/7,969,637 Written by Anjali Jha; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Konica Minolta Systems Laboratory Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- Konica Minolta Systems Laboratory, Tokyo, has been assigned a patent (7,969,616) developed by Ken Ota, Cupertino, Calif., for "systems and methods for efficient print job compression." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Systems and methods described herein provide for an efficient method for print job compression. In some embodiments, threshold halftone lookup tables directed to specific object types are used to compare pixel data for specific detected objects. Pixel data for such specified objects may be encoded using the appropriate object-specific threshold halftone lookup table into one of two multi-bit values, which serve to increase the frequency of repetitive or redundant encoded data and permit efficient compression by algorithms that exploit data repetition and/or redundancy. The methods described herein are applicable to a variety of printers, including raster and PDL printers." The patent application was filed on March 30, 2007 (11/731,197). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,969,616.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,616&RS=PN/7,969,616 Written by Anjali Jha; edited by Jaya Anand. *** QUALCOMM MEMS Technologies Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- QUALCOMM MEMS Technologies, San Diego, has been assigned a patent (7,969,638) developed by four co-inventors for a "device having thin black mask and method of fabricating the same." The co-inventors are Gang Xu, Cupertino, Calif., Chun-Ming Wang, Fremont, Calif., Fan Zhong, Fremont, Calif., and Qi Luo, Cupertino, Calif. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A thin black mask is created using a single mask process. A dielectric layer is deposited over a substrate. An absorber layer is deposited over the dielectric layer and a reflector layer is deposited over the absorber layer. The absorber layer and the reflector layer are patterned using a single mask process." The patent application was filed on April 10, 2008 (12/101,073). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,969,638.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,638&RS=PN/7,969,638 Written by Anjali Jha; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Adobe Systems Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Adobe Systems, San Jose, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,969,604) developed by Dejan Markovic, Sunnyvale, Calif., for "systems and methods for printing artwork containing transparency." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Systems and methods provide a mechanism to print documents having transparent artwork that overlaps other artwork. One aspect of the systems and methods includes sending the document to a printer control system coupled to a printer. The printer control system detects overlapping areas, and processes the artwork into separate atomic regions. Objects contributing to the atomic region are placed in an object stack. A rasterizer having knowledge of the printer characteristics creates object raster buffers for the portions of the objects that contribute to the atomic region. The object raster buffers are then blended according to transparency values associated with the object to create an atomic region raster buffer. The atomic region raster buffer is combined with other atomic region raster buffers and raster images for other non-overlapping objects into a printer raster buffer that may be processed by the printer to produce a page." The patent application was filed on Nov. 30, 2005 (11/291,177). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,969,604.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,604&RS=PN/7,969,604 Written by Anjali Jha; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Samsung Electronics Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Samsung Electronics, South Korea, has been assigned a patent (7,969,456) developed by Candice Hellen Brown Elliott, Santa Rosa, Calif., Thomas Lloyd Credelle, Morgan Hill, Calif., and Paul Higgins, Sebastopol, Calif., for "methods and systems for sub-pixel rendering with adaptive filtering." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Processing data for a display including pixels, each pixel having color sub-pixels, comprises receiving pixel data, and converting the pixel data to sub-pixel rendered data. In one embodiment, the conversion generates the sub-pixel rendered data for a sub-pixel arrangement including alternating red and green sub-pixels on at least one of a horizontal and vertical axis. Processing the pixel data for the display also includes correcting the sub-pixel rendered data if a condition exists and outputting the sub-pixel rendered data." The patent application was filed on Feb. 26, 2007 (11/679,161). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,969,456.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,456&RS=PN/7,969,456 Written by Shabnam Sheikh; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Apple Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Apple, Cupertino, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,969,453) developed by Ralph Brunner, Cupertino, Calif., and John Harper, San Francisco, for "partial display updates in a windowing system using a programmable graphics processing unit." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Techniques to generate partial display updates in a buffered window system in which arbitrary visual effects are permitted to any one or more windows (e.g., application-specific window buffers) are described. Once a display output region is identified for updating, the buffered window system is interrogated to determine which regions within each window, if any, may effect the identified output region. Such determination considers the consequences any filters associated with a window impose on the region needed to make the output update." The patent application was filed on April 4, 2007 (11/696,588). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,969,453.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,453&RS=PN/7,969,453 Written by Shabnam Sheikh; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Tamiras Per Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Tamiras Per, Dover, Del., has been assigned a patent (7,969,449) developed by Caba Moldvai, Dublin, Calif., Mathew D. Halfant, San Jose, Calif., and Zisheng Le, San Jose, Calif., for "systems and methods for color control of display devices." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Various techniques for implementing aspects of color control in display devices are disclosed. One exemplary technique includes measuring an input/output profile of a display, then applying a mathematical model to the display's measured profile to generate color control tables. One exemplary technique may include tracking a first color temperature below a high-luminosity transition point and gradually transitioning to tracking a second color temperature above the high-luminosity transition point. One exemplary technique may also include gradually transitioning from tracking a darklight color temperature below a low-luminosity transition point to tracking the first color temperature above the low-luminosity transition point. Another exemplary technique may include tracking a response curve for a specified chromaticity above a low-luminosity transition point." The patent application was filed on Oct. 17, 2007 (11/874,167). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,969,449.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,449&RS=PN/7,969,449 Written by Shabnam Sheikh; edited by Jaya Anand. *** EverNote Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- EverNote, Sunnyvale, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,969,440) developed by four co-inventors for a "method and system for curve fitting using digital filtering." The co-inventors are Vladislav Polyakov, Los Gatos, Calif., Boris Gorbatov, Sunnyvale, Calif., Fedor Trushkin, Moscow, and Alexander Pashintsev, Cupertino, Calif. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "In one embodiment, a method for curve generation includes forming an initial interpolation polygon using samples within input data as interpolation knots, and upsampling the interpolation polygon by inserting extra samples in each segment between interpolation knots. A filter is then passed throughout a sequence of samples representing the upsampled interpolation polygon. Next, the interpolation polygon is substituted with the filtered polygon converted into a next interpolation polygon using segment-by-segment transformations, where segments of the filtered polygon are delimited by consecutive samples corresponding to interpolation knots, and each segment is transformed to fit between respective interpolation knots. Further, the passing of the filter and the substitution of the current interpolation polygon are repeated until a predefined condition is satisfied, to provide fitting curves." The patent application was filed on Oct. 1, 2007 (11/906,454). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,969,440.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,440&RS=PN/7,969,440 Written by Shabnam Sheikh; edited by Jaya Anand. *** NVIDIA Assigned Patent for System, Method and Computer Program Product for Transforming a Polynomial Equation ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- NVIDIA, Santa Clara, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,969,436) developed by Edward Colton Greene, Portola Valley, Calif., and Patrick Matthew Hanrahan, Portola Valley, Calif., for a "system, method and computer program product for transforming a polynomial equation from a coordinate frame of one tile to a coordinate frame of another tile at a finer level of a hierarchy." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Z-buffer rendering of three-dimensional scenes is made more efficient through a method for occlusion culling by which occluded geometry is removed prior to rasterization. The method uses hierarchical z-buffering to reduce the quantity of image and depth information that needs to be accessed. A separate culling stage in the graphics pipeline culls occluded geometry and passes visible geometry on to a rendering stage. The culling stage maintains its own z-pyramid in which z-values are stored at low precision (e.g., in 8 bits). The efficiency of hierarchical z-buffering is improved through hierarchical evaluation of line and plane equations." The patent application was filed on March 3, 2005 (11/072,822). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,969,436.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,436&RS=PN/7,969,436 Written by Shabnam Sheikh; edited by Jaya Anand. *** NVIDIA Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- NVIDIA, Santa Clara, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,969,446) developed by Edward A. Hutchins, Mountain View, Calif., Brian K. Angell, San Jose, Calif., and Paul Kim, Fremont, Calif., for a "method for operating low power programmable processor." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A graphics processor is disclosed having a programmable Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) stage for processing pixel packets. Scalar arithmetic operations are performed in the ALUs to implement a graphics function." The patent application was filed on March 13, 2006 (11/374,947). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,969,446.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,446&RS=PN/7,969,446 Written by Shabnam Sheikh; edited by Jaya Anand. *** NVIDIA Assigned Patent for System, Method, and Computer Program Product for Broadcasting Write Operations ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- NVIDIA, Santa Clara, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,969,445) developed by Brian Keith Langendorf, Benicia, Calif., James P. Reilley, Sunnyvale, Calif., and Suyash Ranjan, Bangalore, India, for a "system, method, and computer program product for broadcasting write operations." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A system, method, and computer program product are provided for broadcasting write operations in a multiple-target system. In use, a write operation is received at one of a plurality of apertures of an address space. Such write operation is then replicated to produce a plurality of write operations. To this end, the write operations may be broadcasted to a plurality of targets. At least one of the targets includes another one of the apertures that produces at least one additional write operation." The patent application was filed on June 20, 2007 (11/765,676). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,969,445.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,445&RS=PN/7,969,445 Written by Shabnam Sheikh; edited by Jaya Anand. *** NVIDIA Assigned Patent for Distributed Rendering of Texture Data ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- NVIDIA, Santa Clara, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,969,444) developed by five co-inventors for a "distributed rendering of texture data." The co-inventors are Ralf Biermann, Aachen, Germany, Barthold B. Lichtenbelt, Fort Collins, Colo., Ross A. Cunniff, Fort Collins, Colo., Jeffrey F. Juliano, Cary, N.C., and Jeffrey A. Bolz, Santa Clara, Calif. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A method and apparatus for distributing the workload of rendering an image where texture mapping is involved among multiple graphics processing units (GPUs) are provided. The method generally entails dividing a texture map among multiple GPUs, performing texture mapping in each GPU to render image data in each GPU's frame buffer, combining the image data from each frame buffer, and scanning out the combined image to a display." The patent application was filed on Dec. 12, 2006 (11/609,820). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,969,444.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,444&RS=PN/7,969,444 Written by Shabnam Sheikh; edited by Jaya Anand. *** NVIDIA Assigned Patent for System and Method for Dynamically Processing Content Being Communicated Over a Network for Display Purposes ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- NVIDIA, Santa Clara, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,969,443) developed by William Samuel Herz, Hayward, Calif., for a "system and method for dynamically processing content being communicated over a network for display purposes." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A system and method are provided for dynamically selecting one or more modules of a graphics processor for processing content to support communication of the content over a wireless network link for subsequent display of the content utilizing a display." The patent application was filed on Aug. 1, 2006 (11/461,676). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,969,443.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,443&RS=PN/7,969,443 Written by Shabnam Sheikh; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Pixar Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Pixar, Emeryville, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,969,447) developed by Ferdi Scheepers, Pleasant Hill, Calif., John Anderson, San Anselmo, Calif., and Rick Sayre, Kensington, Calif., for a dynamic wrinkle mapping. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A method for a computer system includes retrieving a plurality of base poses for an object, retrieving a plurality of base texture maps associated with the plurality of base poses, receiving a desired pose for the object, determining a plurality of coefficients associated with the plurality of base poses in response to the desired pose and to the plurality of base poses, and determining a desired texture map in response to the plurality of coefficients and to the plurality of base texture maps." The patent application was filed on May 6, 2004 (10/841,219). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,969,447.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,447&RS=PN/7,969,447 Written by Shabnam Sheikh; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Pacific Data Images Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Pacific Data Images, Redwood City, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,969,438) developed by Feng Xie, Belmont, Calif., for "soft shadows for cinematic lighting for computer graphics." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A method and apparatus for high quality soft shadows for area lights in cinematic lighting for use in computer graphics, such as computer enabled animation. The method is an extension of traditional shadow maps, so the complexity of the present method is independent of geometric complexity. It uses multilayer translucent shadow maps, which can be used to produce high quality soft shadows for scenes with extremely complex geometry, fur, and volume objects. The present method computes the shadow factor by ray tracing the multilayer translucent shadow map." The patent application was filed on Feb. 16, 2007 (11/707,346). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,969,438.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,438&RS=PN/7,969,438 Written by Shabnam Sheikh; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Caustic Graphics Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Caustic Graphics, San Francisco, has been assigned a patent (7,969,434) developed by Luke Tilman Peterson, Park City, Utah, James Alexander McCombe, San Francisco, and Ryan R. Salsbury, San Francisco, for a "method, apparatus, and computer readable medium for accelerating intersection testing in ray-tracing rendering." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "For ray tracing scenes composed of primitives, systems and methods accelerate intersection testing by testing rays against elements of geometry acceleration data (GAD) arranged in a graph of nodes, where pairs of nodes are connected by edges, and each element bounds a varying granularity selection of the primitives. Upon detection of intersections between rays and elements, references to the rays are added to respective collections associated with the elements. Further processing of those rays is deferred until rays of a given collection are determined ready, and then rays from such a ready collection are tested for intersection with elements of GAD connected by edges to the element associated with the ready collection. When a primitive is bounded by no higher granularity GAD element, it is tested for intersection, and indications of intersection are output. Some examples encourage production of many secondary rays and collect such rays for parallelized testing, regardless of traversal order, camera ray association, or a time when each ray was spawned." The patent application was filed on Sept. 17, 2007 (11/856,612). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,969,434.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,434&RS=PN/7,969,434 Written by Shabnam Sheikh; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Universal Electronics Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Universal Electronics, Cypress, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,969,514) developed by Joseph Lee Haughawout, Aliso Viejo, Calif., and Patrick H. Hayes, Mission Viejo, Calif., for a "system and method for simplified setup of a universal remote control." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A system and method for enabling set up of a controlling device capable of controlling a plurality of appliances, via an interactive instruction set and associated programming. The programming is accessible by a STB or other controllable appliance and is configured to appropriately display interactive instructions and prompts to a user during a user initiated set up procedure for configuration of another controllable device (e.g., DVD, VCR, DVR, etc.) available to the user. Appropriate set up data, generally in the form of command library codes, is displayed to the user by the interactive instruction set and associated programming for entry and trial by the user in set up of the desired appliance(s)." The patent application was filed on April 27, 2010 (12/768,325). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=79,69,514&OS=79,69,514&RS=79,69,514 Written by Rajat Puri; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Seiko Epson Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Seiko Epson, Japan, has been assigned a patent (7,969,534) developed by Huiping Zhang, Suwa, Japan, and Yoshitomo Kumai, Suwa, Japan, for a "polarizing element, polarizing element manufacturing method, liquid crystal device, and projection display." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A polarizing element manufacturing method includes (a) forming a plurality of fine metal wires by forming a metal film on a substrate and patterning the metal film, (b) applying, onto a base material, a glass precursor solution for forming a protective layer for protecting the fine metal wires, (c) placing the substrate on the base material so that ends of the fine metal wires are immersed in the glass precursor solution, and (d) forming the protective layer by drying the glass precursor solution, and bonding together the base material and the substrate with the protective layer therebetween." The patent application was filed on June 3, 2010 (12/792,958). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=79,69,534&OS=79,69,534&RS=79,69,534 Written by Rajat Puri; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Array Converter Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Array Converter, Sunnyvale, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,969,757) developed by Kent Kernahan, Cupertino, Calif., for an "apparatus providing bias to solar cells." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Solar panels of certain technologies may experience a degradation of their efficiency as a result of exposure to sunlight, either prior to installation or during normal operation. A direct current to pulse amplitude modulated ("PAM") current converter, denominated a "PAMCC", is connected to the solar panel and to a source of alternating current. The PAMCC receives direct current from the solar panel and provides pulse amplitude modulated current at its output terminals at such times that the solar panel is capable to provide current, denominated "normal operation". The PAMCC may be reconfigured to form a buck converter and a rectifier wherein the rectifier converts power received at the output (during normal operation) terminals to provide rectified, direct current to the buck converter. The buck converter provides direct current in the forward biased direction to the solar panel, thereby reconditioning the solar panel. Alternating current received at the output terminals of the PAMCC may be provided by an electric grid or by other means, such as other solar power converters." The patent application was filed on Dec. 12, 2008 (12/334,234). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,969,757.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,757&RS=PN/7,969,757 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Jaya Anand. *** QUALCOMM Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- QUALCOMM, San Diego, has been assigned a patent (7,969,767) developed by four co-inventors for a "spin transfer torque--magnetic tunnel junction device and method of operation." The co-inventors are Xia Li, San Diego, Kangho Lee, San Diego, Xiaochun Zhu, San Diego, and Seung H. Kang, San Diego. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A method is disclosed that includes controlling current flow direction for current sent over a source line or a bit line of a magnetic memory device. A current generated magnetic field assists switching of a direction of a magnetic field of a free layer of a magnetic element within a spin transfer torque magnetic tunnel junction (STT-MTJ) device." The patent application was filed on May 29, 2009 (12/474,608). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,969,767.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,767&RS=PN/7,969,767 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Jaya Anand. *** SuVolta Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- SuVolta, Los Gatos, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,969,759) developed by Damodar R. Thummalapally, Milpitas, Calif., and Richard K. Chou, Palo Alto, Calif., for a "method and apparatus for improving SRAM write operations." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A memory cell includes a first access transistor, first and second pull-up transistors, a depletion transistor, and first and second pull-down transistors. The first access transistor is connected to a word line and connected between a first bit line and a first data node. The first pull-up transistor is connected to a first power supply point and the second pull-up transistor is connected to the first power supply point and the second data node. The first pull-down transistor is connected to a second power supply point and to the first data node and the second pull-down transistor is connected to the depletion transistor and to the second data node. The depletion transistor is connected to the word line and to the second power supply point." The patent application was filed on Dec. 19, 2008 (12/339,618). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,969,759.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,759&RS=PN/7,969,759 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Active-Semi Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Active-Semi, British Virgin Islands, has been assigned a patent (7,969,753) developed by four co-inventors for a "maintaining a constant output voltage by sampling and holding a voltage across an auxiliary winding." The co-inventors are Steven Huynh, Santa Clara, Calif., Mingliang Chen, Seterrett, Ala., Chuan Xiao, ShangHai, China, and Mingfan Yu, Shanghai, China. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A lower-cost and more precise control methodology of regulating the output voltage of a flyback converter from the primary side is provided, which works accurately in either continuous voltage mode (CCM) and discontinuous mode (DCM), and can be applied to most small, medium and high power applications such cell phone chargers, power management in desktop computers and networking equipment, and, generally, to a wide spectrum of power management applications. Two highly integrated semiconductor chips based on this control methodology are also described that require very few components to build a constant voltage flyback converter." The patent application was filed on Oct. 24, 2008 (12/288,927). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,969,753.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,753&RS=PN/7,969,753 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Seiko Epson Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Seiko Epson, Tokyo, has been assigned a patent (7,969,475) developed by Ali Zandifar, Cupertino, Calif., and Anoop K. Bhattacharjya, Campbell, Calif., for a "low memory auto-focus and exposure system for large multi-frame image acquisition." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Embodiments of the invention are described that provide automated and efficient optimization of camera settings. In certain embodiments of the invention, both focus and exposure settings are determined based on an analysis of compressed images taken of a frame. Based on this analysis, the camera focus and exposure settings are set to provide a preferred image quality of the particular frame. This optimization of the focus and exposure settings is performed at each frame within the multi-frame image source. As a result, each frame image is independently optimized and addresses variations, such as light and surface inconsistencies, across the multi-frame image source." The patent application was filed on July 17, 2007 (11/778,968). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=79,69,475&OS=79,69,475&RS=79,69,475 Written by Rajat Puri; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Harris Technology Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Harris Technology, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,969,509) developed by Scott C. Harris, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., for an aspect ratio enhancement. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "An adaptive compensation system for aspect ratio conversion. Video information, intended for her first aspect ratio display, e.g. the standard NTSC aspect ratio, is processed to determine additional information that can enable that video to be displayed and fill a wider aspect ratio screen. The processing can be a calculation which calculates, for example, texture, color and/or brightness of the edge portions, and automatically calculates video information to match the texture, brightness or color. The processing can be a database lookup, which automatically looks up likely portions from a database. The processing can also be an adaptive determination of what vertical portions of the image can be stretched without affecting the viewability, and then an adaptive stretching of different portions by different amounts." The patent application was filed on Dec. 17, 2009 (12/641,016). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=79,69,509&OS=79,69,509&RS=79,69,509 Written by Rajat Puri; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Xerox Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Xerox, Norwalk, Conn., has been assigned a patent (7,969,472) developed by David K. Biegelsen, Palo Alto, Calif., and Andrew Berlin, San Jose, Calif., for an "automatic camera steering control and video conferencing." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "An automatic camera steering control for directing video conferences including a communicator with a microphone and a voice activated LED emitter. Cameras receive an LED signal transmitted by the LED emitter and focus on the speaker associated with the activated LED emitter. A controller automatically selects and inserts into the video stream the audio and video of the speaker." The patent application was filed on March 27, 2002 (10/063,172). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=79,69,472&OS=79,69,472&RS=79,69,472 Written by Rajat Puri; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Pixar Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Pixar, Emeryville, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,969,433) developed by John Anderson, San Anselmo, Calif., and Mark Meyer, San Francisco, for "methods and apparatus for determining high quality sampling data from low quality sampling data." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A method for a computer system includes determining a plurality of illumination modes associated with a plurality of scene descriptors, wherein the plurality of scene descriptors includes a first scene descriptor and a second scene descriptor, determining a first plurality of weights, wherein each weight from the first plurality of weights is associated with an illumination mode from the plurality of illumination modes, determining illumination data associated with the first scene descriptor in response to the first plurality of weights and in response to the plurality of illumination modes, determining a second plurality of weights, wherein each weight from the second plurality of weights is associated with an illumination mode from the plurality of illumination modes, and determining illumination data associated with the second scene descriptor in response to the second plurality of weights and in response to the plurality of illumination modes." The patent application was filed on Nov. 22, 2006 (11/562,651). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,969,433.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,433&RS=PN/7,969,433 Written by Shabnam Sheikh; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Hewlett-Packard Development Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Hewlett-Packard Development, Houston, has been assigned a patent (7,969,426) developed by Peter Skillman, San Carlos, Calif., and Chun Wun Yeung, Cupertino, Calif., for a "light sensitive display interface for computing devices." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "According to one or more embodiments, a variation is detected in light that is cast over a display interface of a computing device. A characteristic of the light variation is identified. From this characteristic, a determination is made as to whether the variation in light is to be interpreted as an input or to be ignored." The patent application was filed on Oct. 31, 2006 (11/555,214). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,969,426.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,426&RS=PN/7,969,426 Written by Shabnam Sheikh; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Intel Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Intel, Santa Clara, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,969,437) developed by Alexander V. Reshetov, Saratoga, Calif., Alexei M. Soupikov, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, and Alexander D. Kapustin, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, for a "method and apparatus for triangle representation." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Embodiments of the invention provide for accelerated polygon intersection testing of rays against a set of polygons. The amount of computation required in the rendering process is reduced by preprocessing the scene into a data structure that can be more efficiently traversed. During the preprocessing stage, triangles such as triangle may be converted into vertex and edge representation." The patent application was filed on Dec. 28, 2004 (11/024,886). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,969,437.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,437&RS=PN/7,969,437 Written by Shabnam Sheikh; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Immersion Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Immersion, San Jose, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,969,416) developed by Marc R. Tremblay, Mountain View, Calif., and Mark H. Yim, Palo Alto, Calif., for a "tactile feedback man-machine interface device." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A man-machine interface which provides tactile feedback to various sensing body parts is disclosed. The device employs one or more vibrotactile units, where each unit comprises a mass and a mass-moving actuator. As the mass is accelerated by the mass-moving actuator, the entire vibrotactile unit vibrates. Thus, the vibrotactile unit transmits a vibratory stimulus to the sensing body part to which it is affixed. The vibrotactile unit may be used in conjunction with a spatial placement sensing device which measures the spatial placement of a measured body part. A computing device uses the spatial placement of the measured body part to determine the desired vibratory stimulus to be provided by the vibrotactile unit. In this manner, the computing device may control the level of vibratory feedback perceived by the corresponding sensing body part in response to the motion of the measured body part. The sensing body part and the measured body part may be separate or the same body part." The patent application was filed on Oct. 30, 2007 (11/981,228). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,969,416.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,416&RS=PN/7,969,416 Written by Shabnam Sheikh; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Sharp Laboratories of America Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Sharp Laboratories of America, Camas, Wash., has been assigned a patent (7,969,596) developed by 10 co-inventors for "methods and systems for imaging device document translation." The co-inventors are Rono Mathieson, Camas, Wash., Bryan K. Schacht, Laguna Beach, Calif., Roy Chrisop, Camas, Wash., Tanna Richardson, Portland, Ore., Bogdan Plewnia, Mission Viejo, Calif., Lena Sojian, Fountain Valley, Calif., Joey Lum, Irvine, Calif., Mark Stevens, Laguna Hills, Calif., Uoc Nguyen, Long Beach, Calif., and Shinichi Yamamura, Irvine, Calif. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Aspects of the present invention relate to systems, methods and devices for translating documents through the use of an imaging device. Some aspects relate to the receipt of a document at an imaging device, in some cases in conjunction with language selection parameters, and the transmission of that document and any accompanying language parameters to a remote computing device at which the document is translated and then sent to a destination." The patent application was filed on Oct. 8, 2004 (10/962,103). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,969,596.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,596&RS=PN/7,969,596 Written by Anjali Jha; edited by Jaya Anand. *** California Inventor Develops Patent for 3-D Computer Input Device and Method ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Cherif Atia Algreatly, Newark, Calif., has developed a patent (7,969,418) for a "3-D computer input device and method." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A 3-D computer input device to provide position information to a computer system in three dimensions is disclosed. Said 3-D computer input device is comprised of five buttons each one capable of generating one signal when it is touched by the user's finger, each two different succeeding touches represent a motion in a positive or negative direction along an axis, or represent a clockwise or anti-clockwise rotation about one axis. Accordingly, 12 different succeeding touches represent motion in six degrees of freedom. The five buttons are coupled to a chassis which is suitable for a user to grasp with one hand or to put it on a finger ring, or to be attached to a keyboard, portable hand-held device, game controller, or the like." The patent application was filed on Nov. 30, 2006 (11/564,882). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,969,418.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,418&RS=PN/7,969,418 Written by Shabnam Sheikh; edited by Jaya Anand. *** International Business Machines Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- International Business Machines, Armonk, N.Y., has been assigned a patent (7,969,359) developed by Harish Krishnaswamy, Los Angeles, Arun Sridhar Natarajan, White Plains, N.Y., and Alberto Valdes Garcia, Hartsdale, N.Y., for a "reflective phase shifter and method of phase shifting using a hybrid coupler with vertical coupling." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A phase shifter and method include a hybrid coupler being ground shielded. The hybrid coupler with reflective terminations connected to the hybrid coupler is configured to phase shift an applied signal wherein the reflective terminations include a parallel LC circuit." The patent application was filed on Jan. 2, 2009 (12/348,163). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=79,69,359.PN.&OS=PN/79,69,359&RS=PN/79,69,359 Written by Ruby Maibam; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Velodyne Acoustics Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Velodyne Acoustics, Morgan Hill, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,969,558) developed by David S. Hall, Los Altos Hill, Calif., for a "high definition lidar system." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A lidar-based 3-D point cloud measuring system and method. An example system includes a base, a housing, a plurality of photon transmitters and photon detectors contained within the housing, a rotary motor that rotates the housing about the base, and a communication component that allows transmission of signals generated by the photon detectors to external components. The rotary component includes a rotary power coupling configured to provide power from an external source to the rotary motor, the photon transmitters, and the photon detectors. In another embodiment, the photon transmitters and detectors of each pair are held in a fixed relationship with each other. In yet another embodiment, a single detector is "shared" among several lasers by focusing several detection regions onto a single detector, or by using a single, large detector." The patent application was filed on July 13, 2007 (11/777,802). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,969,558.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,558&RS=PN/7,969,558 Written by Anjali Jha; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Applied Materials Israel Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Applied Materials Israel, Rehovot, Israel, has been assigned a patent (7,969,564) developed by Gilad Almogy, Kiriat-Ono, Israel, Chris Talbot, Emerald Hills, Ariz., and Lior Levin, Cupertino, Calif., for a "system and method for defect localization on electrical test structures." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A method and system for defect localization includes: (i) receiving a test structure that includes at least one conductor that is at least partially covered by an electro-optically active material; (ii) providing an electrical signal to the conductor, such as charge at least a portion of the conductor; and (iii) imaging the test structure to locate a defect." The patent application was filed on Oct. 3, 2003 (10/530,157). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,969,564.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,564&RS=PN/7,969,564 Written by Anjali Jha; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Nikon Assigned Patent for a Environmental System Including a Transport Region for an Immersion Lithography Apparatus ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Nikon, Tokyo, has been assigned a patent (7,969,552) developed by W. Thomas Novak, Hillsborough, Calif., Andrew J. Hazelton, Tokyo, and Douglas C. Watson, Campbell, Calif., for an "environmental system including a transport region for an immersion lithography apparatus." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A lithographic projection apparatus that is arranged to project a pattern from a patterning device onto a substrate using a projection system has a liquid supply system arranged to supply a liquid to a space between the projection system and the substrate. The apparatus also includes a liquid collecting system that includes a liquid collection member having a wick structure member through which a liquid is collected from a surface of an object opposite to the liquid collection member." The patent application was filed on June 28, 2007 (11/819,689). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,969,552.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,552&RS=PN/7,969,552 Written by Anjali Jha; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Applied Materials Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Applied Materials, Santa Clara, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,969,581) developed by Lei Lian, Santa Clara, Calif., and Matthew Fenton Davis, Brookedale, Calif., for a "determining endpoint in a substrate process." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "An endpoint detection method for detecting an endpoint of a process comprises reflecting polychromatic light from a substrate, the polychromatic light having a plurality of wavelengths. A plurality of light beams having different wavelengths are generated from the reflected polychromatic light. A wavelength of light is determined from the plurality of light beams, at which a local intensity of the reflected light is maximized." The patent application was filed on Oct. 5, 2010 (12/898,672). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,969,581.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,581&RS=PN/7,969,581 Written by Anjali Jha; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Applied Materials Assigned Patent for Spectrographic Metrology of Patterned Wafers ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Applied Materials, Santa Clara, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,969,568) developed by James Matthew Holden, San Jose, Calif., Edgar Genio, Santa Clara, Calif., and Todd J. Egan, Fremont, Calif., for a "spectrographic metrology of patterned wafers." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Light reflected from respective image elements of a workpiece is channeled through respective light channeling elements to respective locations of a spectrographic light disperser. Spectral distributions of the respective image elements produced by the spectrographic light disperser are recorded. A processor groups similar spectral distributions into respective groups of mutually similar distributions, and classifies the groups by the number of distributions contained in each group." The patent application was filed on Feb. 11, 2009 (12/369,627). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,969,568.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,568&RS=PN/7,969,568 Written by Anjali Jha; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Quawell Technology Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Quawell Technology, Sunnyvale, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,969,575) developed by Peter Du-hai Zuo, Fremont, Calif., for a "method and apparatus for measuring light absorption of liquid samples." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Techniques for measuring light absorption of liquid samples are described herein. According to one embodiment, an apparatus includes an upper arm having a first measuring surface and a lower arm having a second measuring surface coupled to the lower arm via a hinge. The upper arm is capable of swinging via the hinge. One of the measuring surfaces is coupled to a light source while the other is coupled to a detector. The apparatus further includes an actuator configured to position the upper arm into a first measuring position. The first measuring surface of the upper arm and the second measuring surface of the lower arm are spaced approximately to contact and sandwich a liquid sample in between to form an optical path, such that light generated from the light source is received and detected through the light path by the detector for measuring light absorption by the liquid sample. Other methods and apparatuses are also described." The patent application was filed on Feb. 3, 2009 (12/364,943). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,969,575.PN.&OS=PN/7,969,575&RS=PN/7,969,575 Written by Anjali Jha; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Zanio Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Zanio, Wilmington, Del., has been assigned a patent (7,969,354) developed by four co-inventors for "authenticating a signal based on an unknown component thereof." The co-inventors are Peter Levin, Newtonville, Mass., David S. De Lorenzo, Palo Alto, Calif., Per K. Enge, Mountain View, Calif., and Sherman C. Lo, San Mateo, Calif. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Authentication of a signal, signal.sub.A, that is provided as having been received from a source at a first global location by comparing it to a signal that is received from the source at a second global location, signal.sub.B, where signal.sub.B contains an unknown signal that is unique to the source, and determining, that signal.sub.A contains the same unknown signal that is contained in signal.sub.B." The patent application was filed on Feb. 2, 2008 (12/012,412). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=79,69,354.PN.&OS=PN/79,69,354&RS=PN/79,69,354 Written by Ruby Maibam; edited by Jaya Anand. *** SiRF Technology Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- SiRF Technology, San Jose, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,969,351) developed by five co-inventors for a "mode determination for mobile GPS terminals." The co-inventors are Ashutosh Pande, San Jose, Calif., Lionel Jacques Garin, Palo Alto, Calif., Steve Chang Chiayee, San Jose, Calif., Gengsheng Zhang, Cupertino, Calif., and Randall J. Silva, Monument, Colo. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "The present invention discloses a system for determining the position of a GPS terminal. The system comprises a GPS terminal, a location aiding server, and a communications system. Messages are passed between the GPS terminal and the server, as well as within the GPS terminal, to determine the mode of operation of the GPS portion of the system. Decisions are made based on availability of aiding data and Quality of Service requirements." The patent application was filed on Dec. 4, 2007 (11/949,778). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=79,69,351.PN.&OS=PN/79,69,351&RS=PN/79,69,351 Written by Ruby Maibam; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Raytheon Assigned Patent for Fast Implementation of a Maximum Likelihood Algorithm for the Estimation of Target Motion Parameters ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Raytheon, Waltham, Mass., has been assigned a patent (7,969,345) developed by Theagenis J. Abatzoglou, Huntington Beach, Calif., and Johan Enmanuel Gonzalez, El Segundo, Calif., for "fast implementation of a maximum likelihood algorithm for the estimation of target motion parameters." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A system and method for implementing a maximum likelihood estimator for making a joint estimation of range, range rate, and acceleration of a target utilizing a pulse doppler radar. The MLE of target motion parameters are determined by keystone processing a baseband signal, and generating a first estimate of the motion parameters based on the processed signal. The first estimate is utilized to set up sampling intervals for the performance of a coarse search. Then a fine search is performed using Newton's method to determine the MLE." The patent application was filed on April 13, 2009 (12/422,878). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=79,69,345.PN.&OS=PN/79,69,345&RS=PN/79,69,345 Written by Ruby Maibam; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Boeing Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Boeing, Chicago, has been assigned a patent (7,969,352) developed by four co-inventors for a "global positioning system accuracy enhancement." The co-inventors are James A. DiLellio, Irvine, Calif., Edward Carolipio, Bellflower, Calif., Jya-Syin Wu Chien, Tustin, Calif., and Kamran Ghassaei, Orange, Calif. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Methods and systems enhance the accuracy of the global positioning system (GPS) using a low earth orbiting (LEO) satellite constellation. According to embodiments described herein, GPS data is received from GPS satellites at a GPS control segment and is used to create GPS correction data to be utilized by user equipment to correct errors within the GPS data. The GPS correction data is transmitted from the GPS control segment to a LEO ground segment, where it is uplinked to the LEO satellite constellation. To account for bandwidth constraints and minimize any performance degradation of the LEO satellites, the GPS correction data is broadcast to earth on a subset of the total number of available spot beams. The subset of spot beams is selected in part according to satellite angular velocity, bandwidth constraints, and message latency estimates. " The patent application was filed on Dec. 22, 2008 (12/341,158). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=79,69,352.PN.&OS=PN/79,69,352&RS=PN/79,69,352 Written by Ruby Maibam; edited by Jaya Anand. *** InvisiTrack Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- InvisiTrack, Edgewater, Md., has been assigned a patent (7,969,311) developed by Felix Markhovsky, San Jose, Calif., and Truman Prevatt, Brooksville, Fla., for a "multi-path mitigation in rangefinding and tracking objects using reduced attenuation RF technology." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A method and system for identification, tracking and locating in wireless communications and wireless networks. The method and system use reference and/or pilot signals that are present in wireless communications and wireless networks. The method and system might also use RTT, TOA and time-stamping measurements/techniques to determine one or more reference signals traveling time between the Base Station (eNB) or its functional equivalent and mobile device (UE) and or network device. Other wireless networks that do not use reference and/or pilot signals may employ one or more of the following types of alternate embodiments of present invention: 1) where a portion of frame is dedicated to the ranging signal/ranging signal elements; 2) where the ranging signal elements are embedded into (spread across) transmit/receive signals frame(s); and 3) where the ranging signal elements are embedded with the data. The method and system includes multi-path mitigations processor and multi-path mitigations techniques and algorithms which improve the track-locate accuracy. The method and system allow achieving increased accuracy by using multi-path mitigations processor and multi-path mitigations techniques and algorithms. The techniques of Digital Signal Processing and Software-Defined Radio are used." The patent application was filed on Jan. 18, 2011 (13/008,519). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7969311.PN.&OS=PN/7969311&RS=PN/7969311 Written by Ankresh Ranjan; edited by Jaya Anand. *** California Inventor Develops Patent for Integrated Theft Deterrent Device ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Adel O. Sayegh, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., has developed a patent (7,969,310) for an "integrated theft deterrent device." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "An integrated theft deterrent tag 20 having a lanyard 38 emanating therefrom. The lanyard 38 having a pin 48 permanently attached thereto and the pin 48 being received within a locking mechanism 32 and enclosing an article to be protected." The patent application was filed on Feb. 29, 2008 (12/040,635). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7969310.PN.&OS=PN/7969310&RS=PN/7969310 Written by Ankresh Ranjan; edited by Jaya Anand. *** SAP Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- SAP, Walldorf, Germany, has been assigned a patent (7,969,306) developed by seven co-inventors for a "context-aware and real-time item tracking system architecture and scenarios." The co-inventors are Peter S. Ebert, Menlo Park, Calif., Richard J. Swan, Portola Valley, Calif., Tao Lin, Mountain View, Calif., Jie Weng, Sunnyvale, Calif., Hartmut K. Vogler, Foster City, Calif., Brian S. Mo, Palo Alto, Calif., and Stephan Haller, Karlsruhe, Germany. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, for real-time and context-aware tracking of items. Tags bound to items are read and information read from the tags and location information about the tags is provided by at least two enterprises and used to maintain disposition information about the items, which is made visible to enterprises in the supply chain. The disposition information can be mapped to a world model that tracks the items and circumstances affecting the items, for example, geo-spatial events and traffic delays. Visibility of the disposition information can be controlled through authorization. Visible information can include relationships between particular items and business documents such as order and shipping documents." The patent application was filed on Jan. 10, 2003 (10/340,208). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7969306.PN.&OS=PN/7969306&RS=PN/7969306 Written by Ankresh Ranjan; edited by Jaya Anand. *** International Business Machines Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- International Business Machines, Armonk, N.Y., has been assigned a patent (7,969,300) developed by Pedro E. Coronel, Thalwil, Switzerland, Simeon Furrer, Mountain View, Calif., and Wolfgang H. Schott, Rueschlikon, Switzerland, for a "signal transmission between a sensor and a controller device in a wireless sensor network." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A wireless sensor network includes a controller connected with multiple antennas for sending out a beacon signal at different instants into different directions and for receiving a sensor signal. Furthermore, the wireless sensor network comprises a sensor having a receiver connected with a sensor antenna for receiving the beacon signal, a transmitter connected with the sensor antenna for sending out the sensor signal, and a control unit which takes care that the sensor signal is transmitted after the beacon signal has been received." The patent application was filed on March 10, 2008 (12/045,194). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7969300.PN.&OS=PN/7969300&RS=PN/7969300 Written by Ankresh Ranjan; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Apple Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 1 -- Apple, Cupertino, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,969,478) developed by four co-inventors for a "method and apparatus for color correction of color devices for various operating conditions." The co-inventors are Kok Chen, Sunnyvale, Calif., Gabriel G. Marcu, San Jose, Calif., Wei Chen, Palo Alto, Calif., and John Z.Z. Zhong, Cupertino, Calif. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Methods and apparatuses for color correction of color device for various operating conditions. In at least one embodiment of the present invention, operating under a current condition, a color correction operation that is derived from color correction operations defined for other conditions is performed on the color data. In another embodiment, a device profile for managing colors for a color device operating under one condition is interpolated from the device profiles for the color device operating under other conditions (e.g., based on the input received from a user interface according to the perception of the user or based on the measurement of a sensor). The interpolation can be based on the input received from a user interface according to the perception of the user or it can be based on the measurement of a sensor or a set of sensors. Various operating c For more information about Targeted News Service products and services, please contact: Myron Struck, editor, Targeted News Service LLC, Springfield, Va., 703/304-1897; [email protected]; http://targetednews.com. -1052906 (c) 2011 Targeted News Service |