r Inductive fault current limiter with divided secondary coil configuration By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 17 Mar 2015 08:00:00 EDT An inductive fault current limiter (1), has a normally conducting primary coil assembly (2) with a multiplicity of turns (3), and a superconducting, short-circuited secondary coil assembly (4). The primary coil assembly (2) and the secondary coil assembly (4) are disposed at least substantially coaxially with respect to each other and at least partially interleaved in each other. The secondary coil assembly (4) has a first coil section (4a) disposed radially inside the turns (3) of the primary coil assembly (2) and a second coil section (4b) disposed radially outside the turns (3) of the primary coil assembly (2). The fault current limiter has an increased inductance ratio. Full Article
r High temperature superconducting tape conductor having high critical ampacity By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 17 Mar 2015 08:00:00 EDT The invention relates to a high temperature superconducting tape conductor having a flexible metal substrate that comprises at least one intermediate layer disposed on the flexible metal substrate and comprising terraces on the side opposite the flexible metal substrate, wherein a mean width of the terraces is less than 1 μm and a mean height of the terraces is more than 20 nm, and that comprises at least one high temperature superconducting layer disposed on the intermediate layer, which is disposed on the at least one intermediate layer and comprises a layer thickness of more than 3 μm. The ampacity of the high temperature superconducting tape conductor relative to the conductor width is more than 600 A/cm at 77 K. Full Article
r Superconducting electromagnet device, cooling method therefor, and magnetic resonance imaging device By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 24 Mar 2015 08:00:00 EDT A superconducting magnet device is configured to include: a refrigerant circulation flowpath in which a refrigerant (R) circulates; a refrigerator for cooling vapor of the refrigerant (R) in the refrigerant circulation flowpath; a superconducting coil cooled by the circulating refrigerant (R); a protective resistor thermally contacting the superconducting coil and having an internal space (S); a high-boiling-point refrigerant supply section for supplying a high-boiling-point refrigerant having a higher boiling point than the refrigerant (R) and frozen by the refrigerant (R) to the internal space (S) in the protective resistor; and a vacuum insulating container for at least accommodating the refrigerant circulation flowpath, the superconducting coil, and the protective resistor. Full Article
r Superconducting magnet By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 24 Mar 2015 08:00:00 EDT A superconducting magnet includes a superconducting coil, a heat shield surrounding the superconducting coil, a vacuum chamber accommodating the heat shield, a magnetic shield covering at least a part of the vacuum chamber, and a refrigerating machine fixed to the vacuum chamber to cool the superconducting coil through a heat conducting body. The magnetic shield abuts against said vacuum chamber with an elastic body therebetween to support the vacuum chamber. Full Article
r Superconducting magnet apparatus By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 24 Mar 2015 08:00:00 EDT A superconducting magnet apparatus includes: a bobbin around which a superconducting coil is wound, the bobbin serving as a protective resistor; a persistent current switch for supplying a persistent current to the superconducting coil; a first closed circuit with the superconducting coil and the persistent current switch connected in series to the coil; and a second closed circuit with the superconducting coil and the bobbin connected in series to the coil. Full Article
r Layered superconductor device By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 24 Mar 2015 08:00:00 EDT A layered superconductor device includes multiple layers of a single crystal superconducting material having intermittent layers of superconducting material dispersed in a pattern with a second material such that each layer of the multiple layers a single crystal superconducting material are interconnected via superconducting material, allowing for a continuous current path, and a thickness of the superconducting material never exceeds a first predetermined thickness. Full Article
r Substrate for superconducting compound and method for manufacturing the substrate By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 31 Mar 2015 08:00:00 EDT Provided are a substrate for a superconducting compound and a method for manufacturing the substrate which can realize the excellent adhesive strength simultaneously with high orientation of copper. An absorbed material on a surface of a copper foil to which rolling is applied at a draft of 90% or more is removed by applying sputter etching to the surface of the copper foil, sputter etching is applied to a nonmagnetic metal sheet, the copper foil and the metal sheet are bonded to each other by applying a pressure to the copper foil and the metal sheet using reduction rolls, crystals of the copper in the copper foil are oriented by heating a laminated body formed by such bonding, copper is diffused into the metal sheet by heating with a copper diffusion distance of 10 nm or more, and a protective layer is laminated to a surface of the copper foil of the laminated body. Full Article
r Methods of splicing 2G rebco high temperature superconductors using partial micro-melting diffusion pressurized splicing by direct face-to-face contact of high temperature superconducting layers and recovering superconductivity by oxygenation annealing By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 31 Mar 2015 08:00:00 EDT Disclosed is a splicing method of two second-generation ReBCO high temperature superconductor coated conductors (2G ReBCO HTS CCs), in which, with stabilizing layers removed from the two strands of 2G ReBCO HTS CCs through chemical wet etching or plasma dry etching, surfaces of the two high temperature superconducting layers are brought into direct contact with each other and heated in a splicing furnace in a vacuum for micro-melting portions of the surfaces of the high temperature superconducting layers to permit inter-diffusion of ReBCO atoms such that the surfaces of the two superconducting layers can be spliced to each other and oxygenation annealing for recovery of superconductivity which was lost during splicing. Full Article
r Self-shield open magnetic resonance imaging superconducting magnet By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 31 Mar 2015 08:00:00 EDT A self-shield open magnetic resonance imaging superconducting magnet comprises five pairs of coils: shim coils, first main magnetic coils, second main magnetic coils, third main magnetic coils, and shielding coils. The five pairs of coils are symmetric about the center. The shim coils are arranged closest to the center point; the first main magnetic coils, the second main magnetic coils, the third main magnetic coils, and the shielding coils are arranged in sequence outside. The first main magnetic coils are connected with reverse current. The second and third main magnetic coils are connected with positive current for providing the main magnetic field strength. The shim coils are connected with positive current for compensating the magnetic field in the central region. The shielding coils are connected with reverse current for creating a magnetic field opposite to the main magnetic field for compensating the stray magnetic field in the space. Full Article
r Superconducting magnet device and magnetic resonance imaging system By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 31 Mar 2015 08:00:00 EDT A superconducting magnet device and a magnetic resonance imaging system not only avoid the need for costly aluminum alloy formers but also lower quench pressure effectively, have a baffle covering the former and the coil, with a gap between the baffle and the coil. Full Article
r Superconducting cable By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 07 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT A superconducting cable is provided. The superconducting cable includes a core part including a former disposed at the center of the core part, one or more superconducting conductive layers with each electric phase disposed at the outside of the former in a radial directions, a insulating layer disposed at the outside of each the conductive layer in a radial direction and a shielding layer disposed at the outermost of the insulating layer; and a cryostat disposed at the outside of the core part in a radial direction with first space being interposed therebetween, having a vacuum part disposed therein and electrically wired to neutral pole (N pole). Full Article
r Superconducting film-forming substrate, superconducting wire, and superconducting wire manufacturing method By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 07 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT A tape-shaped superconducting film-forming substrate is disclosed, which includes a film-forming face for forming a laminate including a superconducting layer thereon, a rear face that is a face at a side opposite to the film-forming face, a pair of end faces connected to the film-forming face and the rear face, and a pair of side faces connected to the film-forming face, the rear face, and the pair of end faces, in which each of the pair of side faces includes a spreading face that spreads toward an outer side in an in-plane direction of the film-forming face from an edge part of the film-forming face toward the rear face side. A superconducting wire and a superconducting wire manufacturing method are also disclosed. Full Article
r Superconducting cable By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 14 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT An AC superconducting cable with an insulating layer on the external circumference of a conductor, and wherein: the insulating layer includes a first insulating layer, a second insulating layer and a third insulating layer, from the inside layer to the outside layer; the insulating layer is impregnated with liquid nitrogen; the product of the dielectric constant ∈1 of the first insulating layer and the dielectric loss tangent tan δ1 and the product of the dielectric constant ∈2 of the second insulating layer and the dielectric loss tangent tan δ2 fulfilling the relationship ∈1×tan δ1>∈2×tan δ2; and the product of the dielectric constant ∈2 of the second insulating layer and the dielectric loss tangent tan δ2 and the product of the dielectric constant ∈3 of the third insulating layer and the dielectric loss tangent tan δ3 fulfilling the relationship ∈2×tan δ2 Full Article
r Electrochemical system and method for electropolishing superconductive radio frequency cavities By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 14 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT An electrochemical finishing system for super conducting radio frequency (SCRF) cavities including a low viscosity electrolyte solution that is free of hydrofluoric acid, an electrode in contact with the electrolyte solution, the SCRF cavity being spaced apart from the electrode and in contact with the electrolyte solution and a power source including a first electrical lead electrically coupled to the electrode and a second electrical lead electrically coupled to the cavity, the power source being configured to pass an electric current between the electrode and the workpiece, wherein the electric current includes anodic pulses and cathodic pulses, and wherein the cathodic pulses are interposed between at least some of the anodic pulses. The SCRF cavity may be vertically oriented during the finishing process. Full Article
r System with a superconductive cable and a surrounding cryostat By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 14 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT A superconductive cable which has a cryostat with two concentric metal pipes where the cryostat has at least a first axial section with a first axial spring constant, and at least a second axial section which has a second axial spring constant which at most is 20%, more preferred at most 10%, of the axial spring constant of the first section. Full Article
r Ceramic substrate and process for producing same By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 14 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT A ceramic substrate includes a substrate body formed of ceramic and having a pair of surfaces each assuming a rectangular shape as viewed in plane, and a metallization layer formed on the surface of the substrate body and adapted to braze a metal frame thereon. A composite material layer is disposed between the surface of the substrate body and the metallization layer and is formed such that a ceramic portion, a metal portion 10m formed of a metal similar to a metal component of the metallization layer or a metal which, together with a metal component of the metallization layer, forms an all proportional solid solution, and a glass portion exist together. The thickness of the composite material layer is thinner than that of the metallization layer. A plating layer is deposited on the surface of the metallization layer. Full Article
r Terminal structure of superconducting cable conductor and terminal member used therein By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 14 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT In a terminal structure of a superconducting cable conductor, a terminal portion of the superconducting cable conductor is connected with a terminal member of a good conductor. The terminal portion includes a superconducting layer disposed on an outer periphery of a central support; and an insulating layer surrounding the superconducting layer. The insulating layer and the superconducting layer are partially removed to expose the central support and the superconducting layer in this order from an end of the superconducting cable conductor. The terminal member includes a metal sleeve which includes a first cylindrical portion whose inner surface is in close contact with an exposed portion of the central support; a second cylindrical portion which is soldered around an exposed portion of the superconducting layer; and a third cylindrical portion into which the insulating layer is inserted. Full Article
r Techniques for protecting a superconducting (SC) tape By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 14 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT Techniques for protecting a superconducting (SC) article are disclosed. The techniques may be realized as an apparatus for protecting a superconducting (SC) article. The apparatus may comprise a porous sleeve configured to fit around the superconducting (SC) article. The porous sleeve may be made of non-conductive, dielectric material. Full Article
r Superconducting structure comprising coated conductor tapes, in particular stapled perpendicularly to their substrate planes By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 14 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT A superconducting structure (1) has a plurality of coated conductor tapes (2; 2a-2o), each with a substrate (3) which is one-sided coated with a superconducting film (4), in particular an YBCO film, wherein the superconducting structure (1) provides a superconducting current path along an extension direction (z) of the superconducting structure (1), wherein the coated conductor tapes (2; 2a-2o) provide electrically parallel partial superconducting current paths in the extension direction (z) of the superconducting structure (1), is characterized in that the coated conductor tapes (2; 2a-2o) are superconductively connected among themselves along the extension direction (z) continuously or intermittently. A more stable superconducting structure with which high electric current strengths may be transported is thereby provided. Full Article
r Device and method for the densification of filaments in a long superconductive wire By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 21 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT A device for the high pressure densification of superconducting wire from compacted superconductor material or superconductor precursor powder particles, has four hard metal anvils (5, 6, 7, 8) with a total length (L2) parallel to the superconducting wire, the hard metal anvils borne in external independent pressure blocks (9, 10, 11), which are in turn either fixed or connected to high pressure devices, preferably hydraulic presses. At least one of the hard metal anvils is a free moving anvil (6) having clearances of at least 0.01 mm up to 0.2 mm towards the neighboring hard metal anvils (5, 8), so that no wall friction occurs between the free moving anvil and the neighboring anvils. This allows for high critical current densities Jc at reduced pressure applied to the hard metal anvils. Full Article
r 3-coaxial superconducting power cable and cable's structure By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 21 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT Provided are a three-phase coaxial superconducting power cable and a structure thereof. A certain space is formed between adjacent superconducting wires of a superconducting layer (disposed at an outer portion) having more superconducting wires among a plurality of superconducting layers, and another wire is disposed in the space, or the superconducting wires of the respective superconducting layers are disposed to have different critical currents. Accordingly, a waste of superconducting wires is prevented, and the optimized three-phase coaxial superconducting power cable is provided. Full Article
r Energy storage device and operating method By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 21 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT In order to store excess kinetic energy, an energy storage device and an operating method are described, in which the kinetic energy can be partially converted into electrical energy by a first electric machine using at least two electric machines arranged on a shaft and can be partially converted into additional kinetic energy, such as rotational energy, by a second electric machine. The method for energy storage of excess kinetic energy provides for converting kinetic energy partially into electric energy and partially into additional kinetic energy, such as rotational energy. Full Article
r Method of producing superconducting conductor, superconducting conductor, and substrate for superconducting conductor By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 21 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT A method for producing a superconductive conductor includes: a base material preparation process of preparing a base material having a groove formed on at least one face thereof; a superconducting layer formation process of forming a superconducting layer on a surface of the base material at a side at which the groove is formed; and a cutting process of cutting completely through the base material along the groove. Full Article
r Cryocooler system and superconducting magnet apparatus having the same By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 21 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT A cryocooler system and a superconducting magnet apparatus having the cryocooler system include a cryocooler having a cool stage that cools a heat shielding unit and a thermal inertia that thermally contacts the cool stage of the cryocooler and has a high heat capacity. The cryocooler system reduces a temperature-increasing rate in a current lead by using the thermal inertia member when the temperature in the current lead is increased due to heat generated when an electrical current applied to a superconducting coil is ramped-up or ramped-down. Full Article
r Magnetic field generation device with alternative quench device By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 21 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT A magnetic field generation device for a magnetic resonance tomography apparatus has a vacuum container that encloses a magnetic coil made of superconducting material, and a conduit of a pipe system is connected with the magnetic coil so as to conduct heat. The pipe system and the conduit are filled with a coolant that places the magnetic coil in a superconducting state during normal operation of the tomography system. A valve connects the pipe system to the interior of a capture container. In the event of non-normal operation, such as a quench, evaporated coolant passes through the valve into the capture container. Full Article
r Layered superconductor device By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 21 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT A layered superconductor device includes multiple layers of a single crystal superconducting material having intermittent layers of superconducting material dispersed in a pattern with a second material such that each layer of the multiple layers a single crystal superconducting material are interconnected via superconducting material, allowing for a continuous current path, and a thickness of the superconducting material never exceeds a first predetermined thickness. Full Article
r Systems, methods, and apparatus for calibrating, controlling, and operating a quantum processor By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 21 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT Quantum annealing may include applying and gradually removing disorder terms to qubits of a quantum processor, for example superconducting flux qubits of a superconducting quantum processor. A problem Hamiltonian may be established by applying control signals to the qubits, an evolution Hamiltonian established by applying disorder terms, and annealing by gradually removing the disorder terms. Change in persistent current in the qubits may be compensated. Multipliers may mediate coupling between various qubits and a global signal line, for example by applying respective scaling factors. Two global signal lines may be arranged in an interdigitated pattern to couple to respective qubits of a communicatively coupled pair of qubits. Pairs of qubits may be communicatively isolated and used to measure a response of one another to defined signals. Full Article
r Oxide superconductor, oriented oxide thin film, and method for manufacturing oxide superconductor By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 05 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT According to one embodiment, an oxide superconductor includes an oriented superconductor layer and an oxide layer. The oriented superconductor layer contains fluorine at 2.0×1016-5.0×1019 atoms/cc and carbon at 1.0×1018-5.0×1020 atoms/cc. The superconductor layer contains in 90% or more a portion oriented along c-axis with an in-plane orientation degree (Δφ) of 10 degrees or less, and contains a LnBa2Cu3O7-x superconductor material (Ln being yttrium or a lanthanoid except cerium, praseodymium, promethium, and lutetium). The oxide layer is provided in contact with a lower surface of the superconductor layer and oriented with an in-plane orientation degree (Δφ) of 10 degrees or less with respect to one crystal axis of the superconductor layer. Area of a portion of the lower surface of the superconductor layer in contact with the oxide layer is 0.3 or less of area of a region directly below the superconductor layer. Full Article
r Additive manufacturing method for SRF components of various geometries By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 05 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT An additive manufacturing method for forming nearly monolithic SRF niobium cavities and end group components of arbitrary shape with features such as optimized wall thickness and integral stiffeners, greatly reducing the cost and technical variability of conventional cavity construction. The additive manufacturing method for forming an SRF cavity, includes atomizing niobium to form a niobium powder, feeding the niobium powder into an electron beam melter under a vacuum, melting the niobium powder under a vacuum in the electron beam melter to form an SRF cavity; and polishing the inside surface of the SRF cavity. Full Article
r Increased normal zone propagation velocity in superconducting segments By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 12 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT There is described herein a superconducting segment and method of making same comprising one or several layers with very high electrical resistivity, acting as a current flow diverter when the current transfers from the superconductor to the stabilizer. The purpose of this current flow diverter is: i) to increase the contact resistance between the superconductor and the stabilizer, by reducing the contact area, and ii) to force the current to flow along a specific path, so as to increase momentarily the current density in a specific portion of the stabilizer. The consequence of i) and ii) is that heat generated at the extremities of the normal zone is increased and spread over a longer length along the superconducting segment, which increases the NZPV and thus, the uniformity of the quench. Full Article
r Superconducting wire By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 12 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A superconducting wire includes a linear superconductor and a carbon nanotube structure. The carbon nanotube structure is located on the linear superconductor. The carbon nanotube structure includes a number of carbon nanotubes joined end to end by van der Waals attractive force between and arranged helically along an axial direction of the linear superconductor. Full Article
r Superconducting wire By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 12 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A superconducting wire includes a superconductor layer and a carbon nanotube layer. The superconductor layer and the carbon nanotube layer are stacked on each other and rolled to form the superconducting wire. Thus, the superconductor layer and the carbon nanotube layer are simultaneously rolled and alternately stacked on each other. Full Article
r Electricity transmission cooling system By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A cooling system includes a first section of high temperature superconducting (HTS) cable configured to receive a first flow of coolant and to permit the first flow of coolant to flow therethrough. The system may further include a second section of high temperature superconducting (HTS) cable configured to receive a second flow of coolant and to permit the second flow of coolant to flow therethrough. The system may further include a cable joint configured to couple the first section of HTS cable and the second section of HTS cable. The cable joint may be in fluid communication with at least one refrigeration module and may include at least one conduit configured to permit a third flow of coolant between said cable joint and said at least one refrigeration module through a coolant line separate from said first and second sections of HTS cable. Full Article
r Composite barrier-type Nb3AI superconducting multifilament wire material By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A composite barrier-type Nb3Al superconducting multifilament wire material comprises Nb barrier filaments, Ta barrier filaments, Nb bulk dummy filaments, and a Nb or Ta covering. In the composite barrier-type Nb3Al superconducting multifilament wire material, the Nb barrier filaments and Ta barrier filaments are disposed in the wire material so that the Nb barrier filaments are concentrated in a filament region near a core formed from the Nb bulk dummy filaments and only the Ta barrier filaments are disposed or the Nb barrier filaments are dispersed in the Ta barrier filaments in an outer layer portion formed from a region outside the Nb barrier filaments, excluding the Nb or Ta covering. Full Article
r Intermediate connection unit of superconducting cables By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT In an intermediate connecting unit 50 of superconducting cables, by forming the connecting superconducting wires 101 in a trapezoid shape tapered in the direction of the electric insulating layer 113 (the superconducting shield layers 114) sides from the large radius section 213a side of the reinforcement insulating layer 213, the inclined surface sections 213b can be covered without spaces and without the plurality of connecting superconducting wires overlapping. The plurality of connecting superconducting wires 101 cover the inclined surface sections 213b of the reinforcement insulating layer 213 formed thicker than the radius of the cable cores 11 of the superconducting cables 10. The connecting superconducting wires 101 further connects the superconducting wires 10 arranged on the outer periphery of the large radius section 213a of the reinforcement insulating layer 213 and the superconducting wires 100 constituting the superconducting shield layers 114. Full Article
r Superconducting thin film material and method of manufacturing same By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 14 Jul 2015 08:00:00 EDT A superconducting thin film material exhibiting excellent superconducting properties and a method of manufacturing the same are provided. A superconducting thin film material includes a substrate, and a superconducting film formed on the substrate. The superconducting film includes an MOD layer formed by an MOD process, and a gas-phase-formed layer formed on the MOD layer by a gas-phase process. Since the MOD layer is formed first and then the gas-phase-formed layer is formed in this manner, degradation of the properties of the gas-phase-formed layer due to heat treatment in the step of forming the MOD layer (heat treatment in the MOD process) can be prevented. Full Article
r Computing numeric representations of words in a high-dimensional space By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for computing numeric representations of words. One of the methods includes obtaining a set of training data, wherein the set of training data comprises sequences of words; training a classifier and an embedding function on the set of training data, wherein training the embedding function comprises obtained trained values of the embedding function parameters; processing each word in the vocabulary using the embedding function in accordance with the trained values of the embedding function parameters to generate a respective numerical representation of each word in the vocabulary in the high-dimensional space; and associating each word in the vocabulary with the respective numeric representation of the word in the high-dimensional space. Full Article
r Automatic disclosure detection By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A method of detecting pre-determined phrases to determine compliance quality is provided. The method includes determining whether at least one of an event or a precursor event has occurred based on a comparison between pre-determined phrases and a communication between a sender and a recipient in a communications network, and rating the recipient based on the presence of the pre-determined phrases associated with the event or the presence of the pre-determined phrases associated with the precursor event in the communication. Full Article
r Email administration for rendering email on a digital audio player By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT Methods, systems, and computer program products are provided for email administration for rendering email on a digital audio player. Embodiments include retrieving an email message; extracting text from the email message; creating a media file; and storing the extracted text of the email message as metadata associated with the media file. Embodiments may also include storing the media file on a digital audio player and displaying the metadata describing the media file, the metadata containing the extracted text of the email message. Full Article
r Sound localization for user in motion By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT Methods, apparatus, and computer programs for simulating the source of sound are provided. One method includes operations for determining a location in space of the head of a user utilizing face recognition of images of the user. Further, the method includes an operation for determining a sound for two speakers, and an operation for determining an emanating location in space for the sound, each speaker being associated with one ear of the user. The acoustic signals for each speaker are established based on the location in space of the head, the sound, the emanating location in space, and the auditory characteristics of the user. In addition, the acoustic signals are transmitted to the two speakers. When the acoustic signals are played by the two speakers, the acoustic signals simulate that the sound originated at the emanating location in space. Full Article
r Automated communication integrator By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT An apparatus includes a plurality of applications and an integrator having a voice recognition module configured to identify at least one voice command from a user. The integrator is configured to integrate information from a remote source into at least one of the plurality of applications based on the identified voice command. A method includes analyzing speech from a first user of a first mobile device having a plurality of applications, identifying a voice command based on the analyzed speech using a voice recognition module, and incorporating information from the remote source into at least one of a plurality of applications based on the identified voice command. Full Article
r Script compliance and quality assurance based on speech recognition and duration of interaction By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT Apparatus and methods are provided for using automatic speech recognition to analyze a voice interaction and verify compliance of an agent reading a script to a client during the voice interaction. In one aspect of the invention, a communications system includes a user interface, a communications network, and a call center having an automatic speech recognition component. In other aspects of the invention, a script compliance method includes the steps of conducting a voice interaction between an agent and a client and evaluating the voice interaction with an automatic speech recognition component adapted to analyze the voice interaction and determine whether the agent has adequately followed the script. In yet still further aspects of the invention, the duration of a given interaction can be analyzed, either apart from or in combination with the script compliance analysis above, to seek to identify instances of agent non-compliance, of fraud, or of quality-analysis issues. Full Article
r Image processing apparatus and control method thereof and image processing system By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT An image processing apparatus including: image processor which processes broadcasting signal, to display image based on processed broadcasting signal; communication unit which is connected to a server; a voice input unit which receives a user's speech; a voice processor which processes a performance of a preset corresponding operation according to a voice command corresponding to the speech; and a controller which processes the voice command corresponding to the speech through one of the voice processor and the server if the speech is input through the voice input unit. If the voice command includes a keyword relating to a call sign of a broadcasting channel, the controller controls one of the voice processor and the server to select a recommended call sign corresponding to the keyword according to a predetermined selection condition, and performs a corresponding operation under the voice command with respect to the broadcasting channel of the recommended call sign. Full Article
r Method and system for facilitating communications for a user transaction By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT Current human-to-machine interfaces enable users to interact with a company's database and enter into a series of transactions (e.g., purchasing products/services and paying bills). Each transaction may require several operations or stages requiring user input or interaction. Some systems enable a user to enter a voice input parameter providing multiple operations of instruction (e.g., single natural language command). However, users of such a system do not know what types of commands the system is capable of accepting. Embodiments of the present invention facilitate communications for user transactions by determining a user's goal transaction and presenting a visual representation of a voice input parameter for the goal transaction. The use of visual representations notifies the user of the system's capability of accepting single natural language commands and the types of commands the system is capable of accepting, thereby enabling a user to complete a transaction in a shorter period of time. Full Article
r Using a physical phenomenon detector to control operation of a speech recognition engine By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A device may include a physical phenomenon detector. The physical phenomenon detector may detect a physical phenomenon related to the device. In response to detecting the physical phenomenon, the device may record audio data that includes speech. The speech may be transcribed with a speech recognition engine. The speech recognition engine may be included in the device, or may be included with a remote computing device with which the device may communicate. Full Article
r Method for classifying audio signal into fast signal or slow signal By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT Low bit rate audio coding such as BWE algorithm often encounters conflict goal of achieving high time resolution and high frequency resolution at the same time. In order to achieve best possible quality, input signal can be first classified into fast signal and slow signal. This invention focuses on classifying signal into fast signal and slow signal, based on at least one of the following parameters or a combination of the following parameters: spectral sharpness, temporal sharpness, pitch correlation (pitch gain), and/or spectral envelope variation. This classification information can help to choose different BWE algorithms, different coding algorithms, and different postprocessing algorithms respectively for fast signal and slow signal. Full Article
r Comparison of character strings By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A computer-readable, non-transitory medium storing a character string comparison program is provided. The program causes, when executed by a computer, the computer to perform a process including splitting a first character string and a second character string into words; acquiring information including a semantic attribute that represents a semantic nature of each of the words and a conceptual code that semantically identifies said each of the words, from a storage device; identifying a pair of the words having a common semantic attribute between the first character string and the second character string; comparing the conceptual codes of the specified pair of the words between the first character string and the second character string; and generating a comparison result between the first character string and the second character string based upon a comparison result of the conceptual codes. Full Article
r Keyword assessment By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT Methods, systems, and techniques for keyword management are described. Some embodiments provide a keyword management system (“KMS”) configured to determine the effectiveness of multiple candidate keywords. In some embodiments, the KMS generates multiple candidate keywords based on an initial keyword. The KMS may then determine an effectiveness score for each of the candidate keywords, based on marketing information about those keywords. Next, the KMS may process the candidate keywords according to the determined effectiveness scores. In some embodiments, processing the candidate keywords includes applying rules that conditionally perform actions with respect to the candidate keywords, such as modifying advertising expenditures, modifying content, or the like. Full Article
r Analysis filterbank, synthesis filterbank, encoder, de-coder, mixer and conferencing system By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT An embodiment of an analysis filterbank for filtering a plurality of time domain input frames, wherein an input frame comprises a number of ordered input samples, comprises a windower configured to generate a plurality of windowed frames, wherein a windowed frame comprises a plurality of windowed samples, wherein the windower is configured to process the plurality of input frames in an overlapping manner using a sample advance value, wherein the sample advance value is less than the number of ordered input samples of an input frame divided by two, and a time/frequency converter configured to provide an output frame comprising a number of output values, wherein an output frame is a spectral representation of a windowed frame. Full Article
r Controlling a voice site using non-standard haptic commands By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT An apparatus and an article of manufacture for controlling a voice site using a haptic input modality include validating a haptic input from an instrument capable of accessing a voice site, processing the haptic input on a server to determine a voice site command corresponding to the haptic input, and processing the voice site command at the server to control an interaction with the voice site. Full Article