15509 results about "Start up" patented technology

A method and apparatus is provided for controlling a mobile phone when it has been lost or stolen in order to prevent its use except to help the owner find it. Controlling the phone remotely may be implemented via a known Short Messaging System, for example. The security features provided are as follows: (1) Displaying contact information (phone number) of the owner on screen when the mobile phone can not start up normally, for example, due to an incorrect security code entry; (2) Setting the mobile phone in a secure state where it can only be used to call one number (Emergency calls are of course always possible.); and (3) Commanding the mobile phone to send information about its location and usage via SMS to a given number.

In a method for scroll bar control on a touchpad, the fingers touching on the touchpad are detected to start up and terminate a scroll bar control function. In the scroll bar control function, the movement of the finger or fingers touching on the touchpad is detected for scrolling on a window, and the vertical distance and the horizontal distance of the movement are evaluated for determining the scrolling amount of a vertical scroll bar or a horizontal scroll bar of the window.

System and method for decentralized control of wireless networks, made up by a set of access points (AP) that provide connection service to a set of stations (STA). The method comprises carrying out, during the start-up process, an automatic selection of the transmission channel (S7) of each access point (AP) to minimize interference, and which is based on the following information transmitted between the access points (AP) in the network:a list of the access points (AP) that are within the range of reach of each access point (AP) in the network;the powers with which each access point (AP) receives signals from the access points within its reach;a list of preferred channels, with the lowest level of interference, for each access point (AP) in the network.The method also enables, among other features, carrying out an automatic transmit power selection (S8).

An energy scavenging power system and method may include an energy conversion system having at least one transducer configured to harvest energy, an energy management and storage system configured to store harvested energy; and a load regulation system configured to provide stored energy to power one or more low power-consumption loads. The energy management and storage system may include a start-up capacitor having a small capacitance to allow for quick charging and fast turn-on, a short term capacitor to provide energy to the load or loads once turned-on, and a long term capacitor having a large capacitance to provide for sustained energy delivery to the loads. The system also may include a common charging bus that receives energy from each transducer, conditioned if necessary, and which then determines the capacitor to which the energy should be delivered.

A PFC-PWM controller with a power saving means is disclosed. A built-in current synthesizer generates a bias current in response to feedback voltages sampled from the PWM circuit and the PFC circuit. The bias current modulates the oscillation frequency to further reduce the switching frequencies of the PWM signal and the PFC signal under light-load and zero-load conditions. Thus, power consumption is greatly reduced. The PFC and the PWM switching signals interleave each other, so that power can be transferred more smoothly from the PFC circuit to the PWM circuit. The saturation of the switching components can be avoided by limiting the maximum on-time of the PWM signal. Further, an external resistor is used to start up the PFC-PWM controller and provide an AC template signal for PFC control.

The invention disclosed herein is a dynamic dummy load to allow a phase control dimmer to be used with LED lighting. The invention includes providing a dynamic dummy load to provide a load to the dimmer when the LED electronics do not provide sufficient load due to start up issues or ringing in the circuit, the dynamic dummy load providing a reduced flow of current when the LED and its converter electronics provide sufficient current draw from the dimmer. The system generally includes a power source electrically connected to a phase control dimmer, the phase control dimmer electrically connected to converter circuitry to convert the AC power output of the dimmer to DC power output for powering the LED lighting, a dynamic dummy load electrically connected in parallel with the converter circuitry, the dummy load varying its current draw in response to operation of the converter circuitry.

A method and apparatus for managing power sequencing in a data storage system. The turn-on or spin-up sequence for the media drives in an array of media drives is selectively controlled such that the overall rush current is reduced. The individual drive components are characterized to determine a power profile for each such component. A closed-loop process is then used to manage and reduce peak power requirements when starting up or spinning up an array of media drives using the drive profiles. The media drives can also be organized as a plurality of sets of drives, and a power profile for each set of drives is used to manage and reduce peak power requirements.

The invention relates to a voice-controlled vehicle GPS navigating system and the method for realizing the same, comprising the following steps of: 1, an electric map module make the place names in a map into a place name list, and the place name list is used as a distinguishing set for a voice distinguishing module and then is sent to the voice distinguishing module; 2, the start-up key of the voice distinguishing module is turned on; 3, the voice distinguishing module receives input voice and extracts characters of the input voice; 4, voice recognition is performed after abstracting the characters; 5, after the voice recognition is finished, a plurality of candidates are output for the final affirmation of users; 6, the final results affirmed by users are transmitted to the electric map module and then is mapped into corresponding map coordinate to be displayed on a screen. The invention not only simplified the operation procedures of GPS device, but also provides safeguards for drivers, and the invention, at the same time, facilitates the popularization of GPS.

A disk drive is disclosed comprising a disk for storing initial host requested (IHR) data requested by a host computer during a start-up process of the host computer, a head actuated radially over the disk, and a non-volatile semiconductor memory (NVSM) for caching at least part of the IHR data. The disk drive transmits the cached IHR data from the NVSM to the host computer during the start-up process thereby avoiding the delay associated with initializing the mechanics of the disk drive as well as conserving battery power for mobile applications.

Disclosed are a unique system and method that facilitate establishing and maintaining a secure connection between at least one wireless input component and a host (e.g., PC). The system and method involve the wireless input component broadcasting a message that can be “heard” by any potential host located within a given distance from the wireless input component. The message can indicate that the input component is available for use or pairing with a PC. PCs in the area can respond to the message by notifying the user that a wireless input component is available and by generating a random PIN. The PIN can be displayed to the user on the respective PC. The user can be prompted to enter the PIN using the wireless device. When a match between the user's response and the corresponding PC is determined, the two can be securely linked. In addition the invention provides support of wireless input devices at boot or start up.

A method apparatus for orienting a map display in a mobile or portable device. An electronic compass is integrated with a hand-held portable or mobile mapping device and an electronic compass bearing is used to calculate an offset value with respect to the map default orientation. The map is thus reoriented in the display to the direction of the device. In an alternative embodiment, a GPS receiver is also integrated with the device. A heading fix is calculated from two or more GPS position fixes to determine orientation of the device. When a heading fix is unavailable, such as at initial start-up of the device, a compass heading is used in lieu of the GPS heading fix to orient the map on a display.

A power train for a motor vehicle includes a combustion engine, a clutch or other torque-coupling device, a transmission, and an electro-mechanical energy converter that is operable at least as a motor and as a generator. The electro-mechanical energy converter is coupled to the output shaft of the combustion engine through a torque transfer device with at least two rpm ratios that automatically set themselves according to whether the vehicle is operating in a start-up mode or in a driving mode.

A solar energy plant may include a DC bus, photovoltaic panels coupled in parallel to the DC bus, each photovoltaic panel having a DC / DC converter, and a first controller controlling the DC / DC converter depending on whether a voltage on the DC bus is equal to or greater than a first threshold and lower than or equal to a second threshold. The solar energy plant may include a DC / AC inverter coupled to the DC bus and outputting an output AC voltage, an auxiliary start-up power supply charging a parasitic capacitance on the DC bus up to the first threshold, and a second controller turning on the auxiliary start-up power supply based upon a start command, and turning off the auxiliary start-up power supply and simultaneously turning on the DC / AC inverter.

A game information storage medium is removably connected to a first game machine having a first architecture, and includes a game program for a second game machine having a second architecture, an emulator program for converting the second architecture into an architecture compatible with the first architecture, and a game selection program. When the game information storage medium is started-up on the first game machine, by executing the game selection program, the first game machine displays a game title to be selected by a player, and executes a game program of the selected game title by using the emulator program.

There is provided with an access management apparatus which connects a communication network to a local area network and which manages access from the communication network to the local area network, the access management apparatus including: a packet receiver which receives a packet according to TCP or UDP from the communication network; a database storage unit which stores a database having a port number of the TCP or UDP in association with a MAC address; a MAC address detector which detects a MAC address associated with a destination port number in the packet received by the packet receiver, from the database; a start-up request packet generator which generates a start-up request packet to start up a terminal device having the detected MAC address on the local area network; and an output unit which outputs the generated start-up request packet to the local area network.

Disclosed herein are systems and methods that recognize and recapture potentially unused processing time in typical page program and block erase operations in non-volatile memory (NVM) devices. In one embodiment, a characterization module within a controller executes a characterization procedure by performing page program and block erase operations on one or more NVM devices in an array and storing execution time data of the operations in a calibration table. The procedure may be executed at start-up and / or periodically so that the time values are reflective of the actual physical condition of the individual NVM devices. A task manager uses the stored time values to estimate the time needed for completing certain memory operations in its task table. Based on the estimated time for completion, the task manager assigns tasks to be executed during page program and / or block erase cycles, so that otherwise unused processing time can be utilized.

An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for bad block remapping. A bad block identifier module identifies one or more data blocks on a solid-state storage element as bad blocks. A log update module writes at least a location of each bad block identified by the bad block identifier module into each of two or more redundant bad block logs. A bad block mapping module accesses at least one bad block log during a start-up operation to create in memory a bad block map. The bad block map includes a mapping between the bad block locations in the bad block log and a corresponding location of a replacement block for each bad block location. Data is stored in each replacement block instead of the corresponding bad block. The bad block mapping module creates the bad block map using one of a replacement block location and a bad block mapping algorithm.

A burner assembly includes a catalyzed burner for combusting an anode exhaust stream from a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell power plant. The catalysts coated onto the burner can be platinum, rhodium, or mixtures thereof. The burner includes open cells which are formed by a lattice, which cells communicate with each other throughout the entire catalyzed burner. Heat produced by combustion of hydrogen in the anode exhaust stream is used to produce steam for use in a steam reformer in the PEM fuel cell assembly. The catalyzed burner has a high surface area wherein about 70-90% of the volume of the burner is preferably open cells, and the burner has a low pressure drop of about two to three inches water from the anode exhaust stream inlet to the anode exhaust stream outlet . The burner assembly operates at essentially ambient pressure and at a temperature of up to about 1,700° F. (646° C.). The burner assembly can combust anode exhaust during normal operation of the fuel cell assembly. The burner assembly also includes an adjunct burner which can combust gasoline or anode bypass gas (the latter of which is a reformed fuel gas which is tapped off of the fuel cell stack fuel inlet line) during startup of the fuel cell power plant. Once start up of the fuel cell power plant is achieved, the burner assembly will need only combustion of the anode exhaust by the catalytic burner to produce steam for the reformer.

An improved switching regulator for implantable medical devices includes a control circuit with a capacitor divider to conserve energy, and selectable duty cycles to efficiently match the duty cycle to the charge level in a holding capacitor. The switching regulator charges the holding capacitor to commanded voltage levels, and the holding capacitor provides current for tissue stimulation. The commanded voltage level is reached by “pumping-up” the holding capacitor with the output of the switching regulator. For control purposes, the high voltage (i.e., the voltage across the holding capacitor) is divided between a fixed capacitor and a variable capacitor, and the voltage between the fixed capacitor and the variable capacitor (i.e., the divided voltage) is compared to a reference voltage. The result of the comparison is used to turn-off the switching regulator once the commanded voltage level is reached. The switching duty cycle is set to one of two values. At start-up, or when the output voltage drops below a determined threshold, a low duty cycle is used. Once the output voltage reaches the threshold, a higher duty cycle is used.

An automobile catalytic converter that utilizes the energy of the exothermic reactions that take place in the catalysis substrate to produce electrical energy with a thermoelectric generator. On vehicle cold start, the thermoelectric generator is used as a heat pump to heat the catalyst substrate to reduce the time to catalyst light-off. In this way, the catalytic converter comes up to operating temperature more rapidly, reducing the amount of pollutant emissions at vehicle start-up.

An order management system enables a customer to use a terminal device to order food, but can respond rapidly to changes and additions to the menu. When this system starts up, it transmits an operating program and image data from main management equipment to each of a number of order-taking terminal devices. Each order-taking terminal device stores the thus received operating program and image data and displays a menu screen on a display screen on the basis of the thus stored operating program and image data.

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for controlling the thermal stress in lighting devices, for example light-emitting elements, that are exposed to large thermal gradients typically upon start-up, for example light-emitting elements operating in relatively cold ambient environments. The present invention provides an apparatus that can reduce this thermal stress, wherein the apparatus comprises a temperature determination mechanism for evaluating the temperature of the light-emitting elements prior to activation, and a control system to control the drive current such that it is gradually ramped up to the desired steady state peak current value, wherein the ramping of the drive current is dependent on the evaluated temperature of the light-emitting element.

In a power generation plant having at least one gas turbine cycle with heat-recovery boiler (4) and at least one steam turbine cycle operated via the heat-recovery boiler (4), the gas turbine cycle being designed to be semi-closed and essentially free of emissions and essentially comprising a compressor (1), a combustion chamber (2) arranged downstream of the compressor (1), a gas turbine (3) arranged downstream of the combustion chamber (2), a heat-recovery boiler (4) arranged downstream of the gas turbine (3), and at least one generator (8) coupled to the gas turbine (3), modes of operation with the gas turbine cycle stopped and start-up using fresh air are made possible by first means (12) being arranged which alternatively or additionally allow hot gas to be fed into the hot-gas path (23) between gas turbine (3) and heat-recovery boiler (4), and by second means (15) being arranged which alternatively or additionally allow exhaust gas to be expelled from the exhaust-gas path (40) downstream of the heat-recovery boiler (4).

A PWM controller has a line voltage input that allows using a start-up resistor for both start-up and power-limit compensations so that it can save the power consumption, ease the PCB layout, and shrink the power supply size. In the integrated circuit, a current switch used for both start-up and line voltage sensing is composed of a diode and a switch transistor. A current multiplier is used to improve the precise by canceling the impact of the integrated resistor's absolute value, which is composed of a transistor loop, a constant current and a reference current. Thus, by properly selecting the value of the start-up resistor, an identical output power limit for low line and high line voltage input can be achieved.

A light emitting diode (LED) based illumination module performs on-board diagnostics. For example, diagnostics may include estimating elapsed lifetime, degradation of phosphor, thermal failure, failure of LEDs, or LED current adjustment based on measured flux or temperature. The elapsed lifetime may be estimated by scaling accumulated elapsed time of operation by an acceleration factor derived from actual operating conditions, such as temperature, current and relative humidity. The degradation of phosphor may be estimated based on a measured response of the phosphor to pulsed light from the LEDs. A thermal failure may be diagnosed using a transient response of the module from a start up condition. The failure of LEDs may be diagnosed based on measured forward voltage. The current for LEDs may adjusted using measured flux values and current values and a desired ratio of flux values. Additionally, the LED current may be scaled based on a measured temperature.