Patents by Inventor Alain Blanc

Alain Blanc has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10876860
    Abstract: A position sensor to provide an absolute position of a movable portion with respect to a fixed portion of a mechanism comprises two elements to move with respect to one another. The first element comprises a component that is sensitive to a magnetic field. The second element comprises two pairs of magnets. In each of the pairs, the orientation of each of the magnets alternates. An air gap is formed between the two pairs of magnets, the air gap configured to allow the component to pass therethrough. Each magnet of one pair faces a magnet of the other pair and the magnets facing one another have the same orientation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 29, 2020
    Assignee: THALES
    Inventors: Damien Chassoulier, Alain Blanc, Guy Carron de la Morinais
  • Patent number: 10370616
    Abstract: The present invention relates to perfuming compositions and consumer products that contain compounds of formula in the form of any one of its stereoisomers or a mixture thereof and wherein one R represents a methyl group and the other R is a hydrogen atom. The compounds are useful as perfuming ingredients in particular to impart lily of the valley/gardenia odor notes to the composition or product.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2019
    Assignee: FIRMENICH SA
    Inventors: Fabrice Robvieux, Pierre-Alain Blanc
  • Patent number: 10309503
    Abstract: A linear actuator comprises a roller screw mechanism guided in rotation with respect to a structure by two angular-contact ball bearings, the roller screw mechanism comprising rollers interposed between an endless screw and two tapped rings which are joined together in rotation and free in translation. Each tapped ring is secured to an inner ring of a ball bearing. The linear actuator further comprises a single preloading device capable of applying load between two outer rings of the angular-contact ball bearings respectively, thereby simultaneously allowing the loading of the roller screw mechanism and the rotational guidance of the roller screw mechanism with respect to the structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2019
    Assignee: THALES
    Inventors: Thomas Combernoux, Alain Blanc, Damien Chassoulier, Yannick Baudasse
  • Publication number: 20180237725
    Abstract: The present invention relates to perfuming compositions and consumer products that contain compounds of formula in the form of any one of its stereoisomers or a mixture thereof and wherein one R represents a methyl group and the other R is a hydrogen atom. The compounds are useful as perfuming ingredients in particular to impart lily of the valley/gardenia odor notes to the composition or product.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 25, 2018
    Publication date: August 23, 2018
    Inventors: Fabrice ROBVIEUX, Pierre-Alain BLANC
  • Patent number: 9982218
    Abstract: The present invention relates to compounds of formula (I) in the form of any one of its stereoisomers or a mixture thereof and wherein one R represents a methyl group and the other R is a hydrogen atom; which are useful as perfuming ingredients.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2018
    Assignee: Firmenich SA
    Inventors: Fabrice Robvieux, Pierre-Alain Blanc
  • Publication number: 20180106643
    Abstract: A position sensor to provide an absolute position of a movable portion with respect to a fixed portion of a mechanism comprises two elements to move with respect to one another. The first element comprises a component that is sensitive to a magnetic field. The second element comprises two pairs of magnets. In each of the pairs, the orientation of each of the magnets alternates. An air gap is formed between the two pairs of magnets, the air gap configured to allow the component to pass therethrough. Each magnet of one pair faces a magnet of the other pair and the magnets facing one another have the same orientation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 18, 2017
    Publication date: April 19, 2018
    Inventors: Damien CHASSOULIER, Alain BLANC, Guy CARRON DE LA MORINAIS
  • Publication number: 20160264910
    Abstract: The present invention relates to compounds of formula (I) in the form of any one of its stereoisomers or a mixture thereof and wherein one R represents a methyl group and the other R is a hydrogen atom; which are useful as perfuming ingredients.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 16, 2014
    Publication date: September 15, 2016
    Applicant: Firmenich SA
    Inventors: Fabrice ROBVIEUX, Pierre-Alain BLANC
  • Publication number: 20150330488
    Abstract: A linear actuator comprises a roller screw mechanism guided in rotation with respect to a structure by two angular-contact ball bearings, the roller screw mechanism comprising rollers interposed between an endless screw and two tapped rings which are joined together in rotation and free in translation. Each tapped ring is secured to an inner ring of a ball bearing. The linear actuator further comprises a single preloading device capable of applying load between two outer rings of the angular-contact ball bearings respectively, thereby simultaneously allowing the loading of the roller screw mechanism and the rotational guidance of the roller screw mechanism with respect to the structure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 15, 2015
    Publication date: November 19, 2015
    Inventors: Thomas COMBERNOUX, Alain BLANC, Damien CHASSOULIER, Yannick BAUDASSE
  • Patent number: 8222199
    Abstract: The present invention concerns the use as perfuming ingredient of a lower alkyl ester of 4,6,6-trimethyl-1,3-cyclohexadiene-1-carboxylate or 4,6,6-trimethyl-3-cyclohexene-1-carboxylate. These compounds are able to impart odor notes of the spicy/saffron type.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 17, 2012
    Assignee: Firmenich SA
    Inventors: Charles Fehr, Pierre-Alain Blanc
  • Patent number: 8085789
    Abstract: A method for selecting packets to be switched in a collapsed virtual output queuing array (cVOQ) switch core, using a request/acknowledge mechanism is disclosed. An egress location for an ingress port is selected based on degrees of freedom for the selection mechanism. The degree of freedom can be derived from the collapsed virtual output queuing array by determining a number of egress locations to which an ingress port may send packets and determining a number of ingress ports from which an egress location can receive packets. Analyzing all the queued packets for assignment to an egress location, starting with a lesser degree of freedom and ending with a greater degree of freedom provides efficient switching allocations and acknowledgements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2011
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Alain Blanc, Rene Glaise, Francois Le Maut, Michel Poret
  • Patent number: 8009702
    Abstract: A communication system which consists of several modules—operating in parallel on segments of a packet—to increase speed and handling capacity. One module acts as master, the others are slave modules controlled by control signals derived by the master module. It is important that in each module the data segment and the respective control signal of each packet are correctly synchronized, because in large systems the data paths carrying packet segments and the control signal paths may have substantially different delays. The invention provides for measurement of the propagation delay differences and for introducing a controlled delay in each slave module, so that data segments and control signals can be correctly correlated by delaying either the one or the other. Synchronization packets are transmitted besides normal data packets, for obtaining time stamps which are used to determine the delay difference.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2011
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Michel Colmant, Alan Benner, Francois G. Abel, Michel Poret, Norbert Schumacher, Alain Blanc, Mark Verhappen, Mitch Gusat
  • Publication number: 20100220749
    Abstract: A communication system which consists of several modules—operating in parallel on segments of a packet—to increase speed and handling capacity. One module acts as master, the others are slave modules controlled by control signals derived by the master module. It is important that in each module the data segment and the respective control signal of each packet are correctly synchronized, because in large systems the data paths carrying packet segments and the control signal paths may have substantially different delays. The invention provides for measurement of the propagation delay differences and for introducing a controlled delay in each slave module, so that data segments and control signals can be correctly correlated by delaying either the one or the other. Synchronization packets are transmitted besides normal data packets, for obtaining time stamps which are used to determine the delay difference.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 11, 2010
    Publication date: September 2, 2010
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Michael COLMANT, Alan Benner, Francois G. Abel, Michel Poret, Norbert Schumacher, Alain Blanc, Mark Verhappen, Mitch Gusat
  • Patent number: 7773602
    Abstract: An embodiment of the system operates in a parallel packet switch architecture having at least one egress adapter arranged to receive data packets issued from a plurality of ingress adapters and switched through a plurality of independent switching planes. Each received data packet belongs to one sequence of data packets among a plurality of sequences where the data packets are numbered with a packet sequence number (PSN) assigned according to at least a priority level of the data packet. Each data packet received by the at least one egress adapter has a source identifier to identify the ingress adapter from which it is issued. The system for restoring the sequences of the received data packets operates within the egress adapter and comprises buffer for temporarily storing each received data packet at an allocated packet buffer location, a controller, and a determination means coupled to a storing means and extracting means.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2010
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Alain Blanc, Rene Glaise, Michel Poret, Rene Gallezot
  • Patent number: 7769003
    Abstract: A high speed data packet switch comprising input and output ports and a switch fabric to link each input port to each output port wherein each connection between input and output ports comprises a dynamic buffer memory for storing at least one data packet for a minimum specified storing time is disclosed. When a data packet is received through an input port, it is written in all individual dynamic memory buffers connected to this input port so as to have a copy of the incoming data packet ready to go through any output port to support unicast, multicast and broadcast traffic. Given the architecture of the data packet switch and its control algorithm, dynamic memory buffers neither need to be refreshed nor their contents have to be restored after reading.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2010
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Rene Glaise, Alain Blanc, Francois Le Maut, Michel Poret
  • Patent number: 7720105
    Abstract: For switching or transmitting data packets, one can provide communication systems which consist of several modules —operating in parallel on segments of a packet —to increase speed and handling capacity. One module acts as master, others are slave modules controlled by control signals derived by the master module. It is important to correctly synchronize in each module the data segment and the respective control signal of each packet, because in large systems the data paths carrying packet segments and the control signal paths may have substantially different delays. The invention provides for measurement of the propagation delay differences and for introducing a controlled delay in each slave module, so that data segments and control signals can be correctly correlated by delaying either the one or the other. Synchronization packets are transmitted besides normal data packets, for obtaining time stamps which are used to determine the delay difference.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2010
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Michael Colmant, Alan Benner, Francois G. Abel, Michel Poret, Norbert Schumacher, Alain Blanc, Mark Verhappen, Mitch Gusat
  • Patent number: 7706394
    Abstract: A system and a method to avoid packet traffic congestion in a shared-memory switch core, while dramatically reducing the amount of shared memory in the switch core and the associated egress buffers, is disclosed. According to the invention, the virtual output queuing (VOQ) of all ingress adapters of a packet switch fabric are collapsed into its central switch core to allow an efficient flow control. The transmission of packets from an ingress buffer to the switch core is subject to a mechanism of request/acknowledgment. Therefore, a packet is transmitted from a virtual output queue to the shared-memory switch core only if the switch core can actually forward it to the corresponding egress buffer. A token based mechanism allows the switch core to determine the egress buffer's level of occupation. Therefore, since the switch core knows the states of the input and output adapters, it is able to optimize packet switching and to avoid packet congestion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2010
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Alain Blanc, Rene Glaise, Francois Le Maut, Michel Poret
  • Patent number: 7668672
    Abstract: A method and systems for automatically adjusting the parameters of signal emitter in a synchronous high-speed transmission system, is disclosed. According to the method of the invention, the quality of a high-speed received signal is analyzed for a plurality of sets of parameter values and the one producing the best signal quality is selected. In a first embodiment, the quality of the high-speed received signal is determined by analyzing a digital eye characterizing the signal behavior, obtained by over-sampling the high-speed received signal. In a second embodiment, the quality of the high-speed received signal is determined by analyzing the behavior of the phase rotator used for data sampling. Finally, in a third embodiment, the quality of the high-speed received signal is determined by analyzing a digital eye, obtained by moving the position of a phase rotator from one end to the other and sampling data at each position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2010
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Alain Blanc, Patrick Jeanniot
  • Publication number: 20090141733
    Abstract: A method for selecting packets to be switched in a collapsed virtual output queuing array (cVOQ) switch core, using a request/acknowledge mechanism. According to the method, an efficient set of virtual output queues (at most one virtual output queue per ingress adapter) is selected, while keeping the algorithm simple enough to allow its implementation in fast state machines. For determining a set of virtual output queues that are each authorized to send a packet, the algorithm is based upon degrees of freedom characterizing states of ingress and egress adapters. For example, the degree of freedom, derived from the collapsed virtual output queuing array, could represent the number of egress ports to which an ingress port may send packet, or the number of ingress ports from which an egress port may receive packets, at a given time.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 3, 2009
    Publication date: June 4, 2009
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Alain Blanc, Rene Glaise, Francois Le Maut, Michel Poret
  • Patent number: 7486683
    Abstract: A method for selecting packets to be switched in a collapsed virtual output queuing array (cVOQ) switch core, using a request/acknowledge mechanism. According to the method, an efficient set of virtual output queues (at most one virtual output queue per ingress adapter) is selected, while keeping the algorithm simple enough to allow its implementation in fast state machines. For determining a set of virtual output queues that are each authorized to send a packet, the algorithm is based upon degrees of freedom characterizing states of ingress and egress adapters. For example, the degree of freedom, derived from the collapsed virtual output queuing array, could represent the number of egress ports to which an ingress port may send packet, or the number of ingress ports from which an egress port may receive packets, at a given time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2004
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2009
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Alain Blanc, Rene Glaise, Francois Le Maut, Michel Poret
  • Patent number: 7477685
    Abstract: Methods and systems for analyzing the quality of high-speed signals are provided, wherein a high speed signal is sampled simultaneously a plurality of times during a sampling clock period at each of a plurality of phase rotator positions to generate a plurality of partial values, wherein subset pluralities of the partial values are associated to phase rotator positions. The partial values are combined into a global value which is analyzed to determine a quality of the high speed signal. Phase rotator behavior may also be analyzed to determine signal quality. A best position to lock a phase rotator when determining signal quality may be determined from a graphic characterization of a phase rotator position distribution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2009
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Alain Blanc, Patrick Jeanniot