Patents Assigned to EPFL
  • Patent number: 8872240
    Abstract: The present invention exploits the combination of the amplification, provided by the integration of a FET (or any other three terminal active device), with the signal modulation, provided by the MEM resonator, to build a MEM resonator with built-in transistor (hereafter called active MEM resonator). In these devices, a mechanical displacement is converted into a current modulation and depending on the active MEM resonator geometry, number of gates and bias conditions it is possible to selectively amplify an applied signal. This invention integrates proposes to integrate transistor and micro-electro-mechanical resonator operation in a device with a single body and multiple surrounding gates for improved performance, control and functionality. Moreover, under certain conditions, an active resonator can serve as DC-AC converter and provide at the output an AC signal corresponding to its mechanical resonance frequency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignee: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)
    Inventors: Mihai Adrian Ionescu, Daniel Grogg
  • Publication number: 20140312385
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a device including a ferroic material having a ferroelectric order parameter and including at least two domains, as well as a first and second electrode in electrical contact with the ferroic material. The device is configured to form a head-to-head polarization orientation or a tail-to-tail polarization orientation at an interface between the two domains to form a charged domain wall at said interface and between the first and second electrodes. The present invention relates to a corresponding method for operating such a device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 18, 2014
    Publication date: October 23, 2014
    Applicant: ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE FEDERALE DE LAUSANNE (EPFL)
    Inventors: Tomas SLUKA, Alexander TAGANTSEV
  • Publication number: 20140307571
    Abstract: A method to optimize the communication on a channel between an access point and at least one client device, said channel being characterized by a center frequency and a bandwidth, comprises: establishing a connection on a first channel according to a first center frequency and a first bandwidth; exchanging data through this first channel between the access point and the client device; monitoring a first interference level on the first channel; the access point, while the data are exchanged, executes: informing the client device to switch to a second channel having a different center frequency and/or a different bandwidth; determining a second interference level on the second channel; comparing the first interference level with the second interference level; deciding to switch back or keep the second channel based on the comparison.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 11, 2014
    Publication date: October 16, 2014
    Applicant: ECOLE PLYTECHNIQUE FEDERALE DE LAUSANNE (EPFL)
    Inventors: Julien HERZEN, Ruben MERZ, Patrick THIRAN
  • Patent number: 8863096
    Abstract: A symbolic execution task is dynamically divided among multiple computing nodes. Each of the multiple computing nodes explores a different portion of a same symbolic execution tree independently of other computing nodes. Workload status updates are received from the multiple computing nodes. A workload status update includes a length of a job queue of a computing node. A list of the multiple computing nodes ordered based on the computing nodes' job queue lengths is generated. A determination is made regarding whether a first computing node in the list is underloaded. A determination is made regarding whether a last computing node in the list is overloaded. Responsive to the first computing node being underloaded and the last computing node being overloaded, a job transfer request is generated that instructs the last computing node to transfer a set of one or more jobs to the first computing node.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2014
    Assignee: École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
    Inventors: Stefan Bucur, Cristian Zamfir, George Candea
  • Publication number: 20140300370
    Abstract: A time reversal process for determining a fault location in an electrical power network comprising multi-conductor lines, comprises measuring at an observation point located anywhere along one of the multi-conductor lines, for each of the conductors of the multi-conductor line, respectively a fault-originated electromagnetic transient signal; defining a set of guessed fault locations each having a different determined location in the electrical power network, and each of the guessed fault locations is attributed a same arbitrary fault impedance; defining a network model for the electrical power network, based on its topology and multi-conductor lines electrical parameters capable of reproducing in the network model the electromagnetic traveling waves; and computing for each conductor a time inversion of the measured fault-originated electromagnetic transients signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 8, 2013
    Publication date: October 9, 2014
    Applicant: ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE FEDERALE DE LAUSANNE (EPFL)
    Inventors: Mario PAOLONE, Farhad RACHIDI-HAERI, Hossein MAHMOUDIMANESH, Reza RAZZAGHI, Gaspard LUGRIN
  • Patent number: 8852344
    Abstract: The invention relates to an effusing source for film deposition made of a reservoir comprising one hole characterized by the fact that the hole diameter is less than one order of magnitude than the mean free path of the molecules determined by the pressure and its thickness is at least one order of magnitude smaller than the diameter. Preferably the source has several holes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 7, 2014
    Assignee: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)
    Inventors: Giacomo Benvenuti, Estelle Halary-Wagner, Simone Amorosi, Patrik Hoffmann
  • Patent number: 8852640
    Abstract: Embodiments include a vehicle for delivery of nitric oxide comprising: a collection of micelles having an internal micelle core that comprises a polymer with N-diazeniumdiolate comprising NO complexed with secondary amines of the polymer. Embodiments include a method of making a nitric oxide vehicle comprising dissolving a polymer that comprises secondary amines in an aqueous solution and combining the polymer with nitric oxide in the solution to form a N-diazeniumdiolate comprising the nitric oxide complexed with the secondary amines, with the formation of the N-diazeniumdiolate causing the polymer to be at least partially insoluble in the solution and to form a collection of micelles that have an internal core that comprises N-diazeniumdiolate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 7, 2014
    Assignee: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)
    Inventors: Jeffrey A. Hubbell, Yun Suk Jo, André van der Vlies
  • Publication number: 20140297021
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method of toolpath generation and cutting parameters optimization for high speed milling of a convex pocket, wherein said method comprises a first sub-method of generating a toolpath and a second sub-method of generating optimized chatfree cutting parameters using a genetic algorithm wherein the first sub-method generates milling toolpaths that minimize the radial depth of cut variations as well as the curvature change variations while avoiding leftover material at the corners, wherein said toolpaths automatically avoid self-intersecting features encountered during the offsetting of pocket boundary such that the said toolpaths result in reduction in milling time for a given maximum acceptable radial depth of cut and wherein said second sub-method allows the free choice of cutting parameters and optimizes the milling time and wherein the optimization method incorporates relevant milling constraints as milling stability constraint, cutting forces, machine-tool and cutting tool capabil
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 13, 2012
    Publication date: October 2, 2014
    Applicant: ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE FEDERALE DE LAUSANNE (EPFL)
    Inventors: Saurabh Aggarwal, Sandeep Dhanik, Paul Xirouchakis
  • Patent number: 8847065
    Abstract: The present invention relates to modified surfaces. The surfaces comprise an inorganic material on which a phosphinic acid derivative is adsorbed. The phosphinic acid thus turns out to be a new anchoring group useful for surface derivatization. The invention has many applications for photoelectric conversion devices, batteries, capacitors, electrochromic displays, chemical sensors, biological sensors, light emitting diodes, electrodes, semiconductors, separation membranes, selective adsorbents, adsorbents for HPLC, catalysts, implants, nanoparticles, antiadhesives, and anticorrosion coatings, for example.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2014
    Assignee: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)
    Inventors: Shaik Mohammad Zakeeruddin, Péter Péchy, Michael Graetzel
  • Publication number: 20140287403
    Abstract: Motion detector comprising a flexible support (1,5) adapted to hold at least one object (6-9), a sensor (4) for measuring the displacement of said support (1) and processing means for differentiating the fluctuations of said support (1) from those induced by said object (6-9).
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 12, 2012
    Publication date: September 25, 2014
    Applicant: ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE FEDERALE DE LAUSANNE (EPFL)
    Inventors: Sandor Kasas, Giovanni Longo, Giovanni Dietler, Livan Bladimir Alonso Sarduy
  • Patent number: 8843385
    Abstract: A computer implemented method is provided for monitoring the quality of service of a service provider, the method comprising the steps of receiving first and second reports from first and second clients, respectively, the first and second reports having information relating to the quality of service provided by the service provider to the first and second clients, respectfully, and estimating the quality of service of the service provider by aggregating the information in the first and second reports and comparing the aggregated information with conditions set forth in an agreement involving the service provider.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 23, 2014
    Assignee: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)
    Inventors: Radu Jurca, Boi Faltings
  • Publication number: 20140274128
    Abstract: An indoor localization method for estimating the location of nodes (n1, n2), at least one node (n1) being connected to at least another node (n2) by at least two different channels (ch1, ch1?), comprising the following steps: measuring a distance between the connected nodes, for each channel, building a Euclidean Distance Matrix (EDM) based on the measured distances, estimating the location of the nodes (n1, n2) based on the built Euclidean Distance Matrices.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 17, 2014
    Publication date: September 18, 2014
    Applicant: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)
    Inventors: Gilles BAECHLER, Reza Parhizkar, Martin Vetterli
  • Patent number: 8837574
    Abstract: An identification method for a data Sk is disclosed which includes; a) construction of a chronological sequence {T1; . . . ; Ti; . . . ; TN} of times of arrival Ti of pulses or a block of successive pulses, b) calculation of a value of similarity between this sequence {T1; . . . ; Ti; . . . ; TN} and a predetermined chronological sequence {TREFk1; . . . ; TREFkj; . . . ; TREFkM} of times of arrival coding the data Sk for several time offsets Ol between the sequence {T1; . . . ; Ti; . . . ; TN} and the sequence {TREFk1; . . . ; TREFkj; . . . ; TREFkM}, c) identification of the data Sk in the series {T1; . . . ; Ti; . . . ; TN} if the calculated value of similarity for one of the time offsets Ol exceeds a predetermined threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2014
    Assignee: Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne (EPFL)
    Inventors: Pierre-André Farine, Cyril Botteron, Roman Merz
  • Patent number: 8836368
    Abstract: New logic blocks capable of replacing the use of Look-Up Tables (LUTs) in integrated circuits, such as Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the new logic block is an AND-Inverter Cone (AIC), which is a binary tree including one or more AND gates with a programmable conditional inversion and a number of intermediary outputs. Compared to LUTs, AICs are richer in terms of input and output bandwidth, because the area of the AICs grows only linearly with the number of inputs. Also, the delay grows only logarithmically with the input count. The new logic blocks can map circuits more efficiently than LUTs, because the AICs are multi-output blocks and can cover more logic depth due to the higher input bandwidth.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2014
    Assignee: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)
    Inventors: Hadi Parandeh Afshar, David Novo Bruña, Paolo Ienne Lopez
  • Publication number: 20140254875
    Abstract: A method for automatic localization of objects in a mask. The method includes building a dictionary or atoms, wherein each atom models the presence of one object at one location and iteratively determining the atom of said dictionary which is best correlated with said mask, until ending criteria are met. The invention system concerns also automatically detects objects in a mask. At least one fixed camera is provided for acquiring video frames. A computation device is used for calibrating at least one fixed camera for extracting foreground silhouettes in each acquired video frames for discretizing said ground plane into a non-regular grid of potential location points for constructing a dictionary of atoms, and for finding objects location points with the previous method. And a propagating device is provided to propagate the result in at least one fixed camera view.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 1, 2014
    Publication date: September 11, 2014
    Applicant: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)
    Inventors: Alexandre ALAHI, Mohammad Golbabaee, Pierre Vandergheynst
  • Publication number: 20140239288
    Abstract: The invention relates to substituted ullazine and analogs of ullazine as sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and other photoelectrochemical and/or optoelectronic devices. The sensitizers may comprise donor substituents and/or acceptor substituents, besides an anchoring group suitable for attaching the sensitizer on a semiconductor surface. DSSCs based on this type of sensitizers exhibit high power conversion efficiencies.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 18, 2011
    Publication date: August 28, 2014
    Applicant: Ecole Polytechnique Féderale de Lausanne (EPFL)
    Inventors: Jared Delcamp, Michael Graetzel, Mohammad Khaja Nazeeruddin
  • Publication number: 20140238144
    Abstract: The invention concerns a pressure transducer comprising a deflecting membrane, said membrane comprising two piezoresistors (10, 11) of different types, said piezoresistors being arranged such that a same stress or a same strain is applied on said piezoresistors and said piezoresistors (10, 11) yield changes in resistance, wherein a piezoresistor of a first type (10) is positioned such that its current direction is perpendicular to the stress direction (trans verse) and a piezoresistor of a second type is parallel to the stress direction (longitudinal), allowing, when a tensile stress is applied to the transducer, said piezoresistor of the first type to increase its resistance and said piezoresistor of the second type to decrease the resistance; or when a compressive stress is applied to the transducer, said piezoresistor of the first type to decrease its resistance and said piezoresistor of the second type to increase the resistance; wherein said piezoresistor of the first type (10) has a specific width and a
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 18, 2012
    Publication date: August 28, 2014
    Applicant: Ecole Poyltechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)
    Inventor: Terunobu Akiyama
  • Patent number: 8810647
    Abstract: The present invention concerns a time-of-flight based imaging system having a photon emitter used as an illumination source, a photon sensor, and an electronic system for delivering a signal depending on the reception time of photons by said photon detector. The electronic display is used as the photonic source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2014
    Assignee: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)
    Inventors: Cristiano Niclass, Edoardo Charbon, Julian Nolan
  • Patent number: 8796264
    Abstract: The present invention relates to new 2-piperazin-1-yl-4H-1,3-benzothiazin-4-one derivatives and their use for the treatment of mammalian infections caused by bacteria, especially diseases like tuberculosis (TB), Buruli ulcer and leprosy that result from infection with closely related mycobacteria.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2014
    Assignee: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)
    Inventors: Vadim Makarov, Stewart Cole
  • Publication number: 20140214548
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method for generating a user profile of a user of an online platform, a computer-implemented method for providing a first user with targeted information and a computer-implemented method for providing a user of an online platform with targeted advertisements.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 30, 2013
    Publication date: July 31, 2014
    Applicant: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)
    Inventors: Boi Faltings, Claudiu-Cristian Musat, Yizhong Liang