Patents by Inventor Hirofumi Aoki

Hirofumi Aoki 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).

  • Publication number: 20220341681
    Abstract: Provided is a heat pipe which is installed in a cold region in a bottom heat posture in which a longitudinal direction of a container is substantially in parallel with a gravitational direction, is capable of preventing the container from deforming even when a working fluid has become frozen, and has excellent heat transport properties.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 8, 2022
    Publication date: October 27, 2022
    Applicant: FURUKAWA ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yoshikatsu INAGAKI, Hirofumi AOKI, Kazuya TAKAHASHI, Shinichi ITO, Shuta HIKICHI
  • Patent number: 11483571
    Abstract: In a video decoding device, a quantization step size decoding unit calculates a quantization step size that controls a granularity of the inverse quantization by, based on an image prediction, selectively using a mean value of at least a quantization step size assigned to a leftwardly adjacent neighboring image block already decoded and a quantization step size assigned to a upwardly adjacent neighboring image block already decoded or a quantization step size assigned to an image block decoded immediately before.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Assignee: NEC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hirofumi Aoki, Keiichi Chono, Yuzo Senda, Kenta Senzaki
  • Patent number: 11415373
    Abstract: Provided is a heat pipe which is installed in a cold region in a bottom heat posture in which a longitudinal direction of a container is substantially in parallel with a gravitational direction, is capable of preventing the container from deforming even when a working fluid has become frozen, and has excellent heat transport properties.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2022
    Assignee: FURUKAWA ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yoshikatsu Inagaki, Hirofumi Aoki, Kazuya Takahashi, Shinichi Ito, Shuta Hikichi
  • Patent number: 11412261
    Abstract: A video decoding device includes a demultiplexer which demultiplexes a video bitstream including video data of an encoded slice, Supplemental-Enhancement-Information having first information indicating a leading picture in gradual refresh, and Supplemental-Enhancement-Information having second information indicating segments where a refresh has completed in a current picture; an extractor which extracts the second information from a message which is part of the demultiplexed Supplemental-Enhancement-Information; and a video decoder which decodes image data from the demultiplexed video bitstream by using at least inter prediction, wherein the video decoder starts decoding based on the leading picture in gradual refresh.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2022
    Assignee: NEC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hirofumi Aoki, Keiichi Chono, Masato Tsukada
  • Publication number: 20220232223
    Abstract: A video decoding device and method, including extracting PCM block size information including a threshold, from a bitstream, determining the threshold based on the extracted PCM block size information; parsing a PCM header from the bitstream with respect to an encoded block, only when said encoded block is prediction mode of intra prediction and a block size of said encoded block is equal to or greater than the determined threshold, controlling an entropy decoding process and a PCM decoding process based on the parsed PCM header; parsing transformed data of a prediction error data of an image in the bitstream; and PCM-decoding PCM data of the image in the bitstream, wherein the decoding performs the decoding operation based on the prediction mode being intra prediction and based on the block size of the encoded block being equal to or greater than the determined threshold.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 4, 2022
    Publication date: July 21, 2022
    Applicant: NEC Corporation
    Inventors: Keiichi Chono, Yuzo Senda, Junji Tajime, Hirofumi Aoki, Kenta Senzaki
  • Publication number: 20220191506
    Abstract: A video encoding device includes encoding control means 11 for controlling an inter-PU partition type of a CU to be encoded, based on the maximum number (PA) of motion vectors allowed for an image block having a predetermined area and the number (PB) of motion vectors of an encoded image block contained in the image block having the predetermined area. A video decoding device includes decoding control means for controlling an inter-PU partition type of a CU to be decoded, based on the maximum number (PA) of motion vectors allowed for an image block having a predetermined area and the number (PB) of motion vectors of a decoded image block contained in the image block having the predetermined area.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 3, 2022
    Publication date: June 16, 2022
    Applicant: NEC Corporation
    Inventors: Kenta SENZAKI, Yuzo SENDA, Keiichi CHONO, Hirofumi AOKI
  • Publication number: 20220191505
    Abstract: A video encoding device includes encoding control means 11 for controlling an inter-PU partition type of a CU to be encoded, based on the maximum number (PA) of motion vectors allowed for an image block having a predetermined area and the number (PB) of motion vectors of an encoded image block contained in the image block having the predetermined area. A video decoding device includes decoding control means for controlling an inter-PU partition type of a CU to be decoded, based on the maximum number (PA) of motion vectors allowed for an image block having a predetermined area and the number (PB) of motion vectors of a decoded image block contained in the image block having the predetermined area.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 3, 2022
    Publication date: June 16, 2022
    Applicant: NEC Corporation
    Inventors: Kenta SENZAKI, Yuzo Senda, Keiichi Chono, Hirofumi Aoki
  • Patent number: 11337336
    Abstract: A cooling device including a container to which at least one heating element is thermally connected, a primary refrigerant, and a condensation tube through which a secondary refrigerant flows, wherein a container inner surface area increasing portion is formed on an inner surface of the container to which the heating element is thermally connected, and a plate-shaped member is provided, that includes a shielding portion that is located above the container inner surface area increasing portion in a direction of gravity and below the condensation tube in the direction of gravity, with at least a part of the shielding portion not immersed in the primary refrigerant in a liquid phase, and the plate-shaped member includes a support portion extending from the shielding portion, in a part of a periphery along an orthogonal direction to the direction of gravity, of the container inner surface area increasing portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2022
    Assignee: Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hirofumi Aoki, Yoshikatsu Inagaki, Kenya Kawabata, Yoshinori Nakamura
  • Patent number: 11323720
    Abstract: A video encoding device includes encoding control means 11 for controlling an inter-PU partition type of a CU to be encoded, based on the maximum number (PA) of motion vectors allowed for an image block having a predetermined area and the number (PB) of motion vectors of an encoded image block contained in the image block having the predetermined area. A video decoding device includes decoding control means for controlling an inter-PU partition type of a CU to be decoded, based on the maximum number (PA) of motion vectors allowed for an image block having a predetermined area and the number (PB) of motion vectors of a decoded image block contained in the image block having the predetermined area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: NEC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kenta Senzaki, Yuzo Senda, Keiichi Chono, Hirofumi Aoki
  • Publication number: 20220132697
    Abstract: A vapor chamber is provided that allows space-saving and weight reduction of a device in which the vapor chamber is to be mounted. The vapor chamber has a container in which a cavity portion is formed by one plate-shaped body and another plate-shaped body facing the one plate-shaped body, and a working fluid enclosed in the cavity portion. The container includes a heat transfer portion that transfers heat by a phase change of the working fluid, and an extending portion that extends outwards from the heat transfer portion and has a function other than a heat transfer function.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 7, 2022
    Publication date: April 28, 2022
    Applicant: Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshikatsu INAGAKI, Kenya KAWABATA, Hirofumi AOKI
  • Publication number: 20220128314
    Abstract: The disclosure provides a vapor chamber that has excellent fixing stability of a wick structure inside a container and also has excellent circulation properties for a liquid-phase working fluid due to excellent capillary force of the wick structure. The vapor chamber includes a container in which a cavity portion is formed by one plate-shaped body and another plate-shaped body facing the one plate-shaped body, a working fluid enclosed in the cavity portion, and a wick structure contained in the cavity portion and welded to the container so that a welded portion is formed in the wick structure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 7, 2022
    Publication date: April 28, 2022
    Applicant: Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshikatsu INAGAKI, Kenya KAWABATA, Hirofumi AOKI
  • Patent number: 11310510
    Abstract: A video decoding device and method, including extracting PCM block size information including a threshold, from a bitstream, determining the threshold based on the extracted PCM block size information; parsing a PCM header from the bitstream with respect to an encoded block, only when said encoded block is prediction mode of intra prediction and a block size of said encoded block is equal to or greater than the determined threshold, controlling an entropy decoding process and a PCM decoding process based on the parsed PCM header; parsing transformed data of a prediction error data of an image in the bitstream; and PCM-decoding PCM data of the image in the bitstream, wherein the decoding performs the decoding operation based on the prediction mode being intra prediction and based on the block size of the encoded block being equal to or greater than the determined threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2022
    Assignee: NEC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Keiichi Chono, Yuzo Senda, Junji Tajime, Hirofumi Aoki, Kenta Senzaki
  • Publication number: 20220109880
    Abstract: A video decoding device includes a demultiplexing unit which demultiplexes a video bitstream including video data of an encoded slice, Supplemental-Enhancement-Information having first information indicating a refresh group of segments in gradual refresh, and Supplemental-Enhancement-Information having second information indicating segments where a refresh has completed in a current picture, an extracting unit which extracts the second information from a message which is part of the demultiplexed Supplemental-Enhancement-Information, and a video decoding unit which decodes image data from the demultiplexed video bitstream by using at least inter picture prediction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 17, 2021
    Publication date: April 7, 2022
    Applicant: NEC Corporation
    Inventors: Hirofumi AOKI, Keiichi Chono, Masato Tsukada
  • Publication number: 20220109881
    Abstract: A video decoding device includes a demultiplexing unit which demultiplexes a video bitstream including video data of an encoded slice, first Supplemental-Enhancement-Information having information indicating segments where a refresh has completed in a current picture, and second Supplemental-Enhancement-Information having information indicating a synchronization starting picture and a synchronization completed picture, an extracting unit which extracts the information indicating segments where a refresh has completed in a current picture from a message which is part of the demultiplexed Supplemental-Enhancement-Information; and a video decoding unit which decodes image data from the demultiplexed video bitstream by using at least inter prediction, wherein the synchronization starting picture is a leading picture within a refreshing period, and the synchronization completed picture is the end position of the refreshing period.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 17, 2021
    Publication date: April 7, 2022
    Applicant: NEC Corporation
    Inventors: Hirofumi Aoki, Keiichi Chono, Masato Tsukada
  • Publication number: 20220046824
    Abstract: A cooling device that can reduce heat resistance by improving a heat exchange action of a condensation tube, and can exhibit excellent cooling characteristics, and a cooling system using the cooling device are provided. The cooling device includes a container to which at least one heating element is thermally connected, a primary refrigerant sealed inside the container, a condensation tube through which a secondary refrigerant flows and which penetrates through a gaseous phase portion inside the container, and a porous member provided at an outer surface of the condensation tube.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 22, 2021
    Publication date: February 10, 2022
    Applicant: Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hirofumi AOKI, Yoshikatsu INAGAKI, Yoshinori NAKAMURA, Hideaki KAWABATA
  • Publication number: 20220046825
    Abstract: The vapor chamber includes a container having a cavity formed of one plate-shaped body to which a heating element is thermally connected and another plate-shaped body facing the one plate-shaped body, a working fluid enclosed in the cavity, and a wick structure that is enclosed in the cavity and separated from the container. The container includes a support part protruding from an inner surface of the other plate-shaped body toward the one plate-shaped body, the support part being formed of a recessed part provided to an outer surface of the other plate-shaped body. At the rising base portion of the support part from the inner surface of the other plate-shaped body, the defined angle between the support part and the inner surface of the other plate-shaped body is an obtuse angle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 22, 2021
    Publication date: February 10, 2022
    Applicant: Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshikatsu INAGAKI, Kenya KAWABATA, Hirofumi AOKI
  • Patent number: 11227367
    Abstract: An image processing device which is capable of accurately detect pixels covered by cloud shadows and remove effects of the cloud shadows in an images are provided. The device includes: a cloud transmittance calculation unit that calculates transmittance of the one or more clouds in an input image, for each pixel; a cloud height estimation unit that determines estimation of a height from the ground to each cloud in the input image to detect position of corresponding one or more shadows; an attenuation factor estimation unit that calculates attenuation factors for the direct sun irradiance by applying an averaging filter to the cloud transmittance calculated; and a shadow removal unit that corrects pixels affected by the one or more shadows, based on a physical model of a cloud shadow formation by employing the attenuation factors calculated and the position, and outputs an image which includes the pixels corrected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2022
    Assignee: NEC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Madhuri Mahendra Nagare, Hirofumi Aoki, Kazutoshi Sagi
  • Publication number: 20210321538
    Abstract: A cooling device including a container to which at least one heating element is thermally connected, a primary refrigerant, and a condensation tube through which a secondary refrigerant flows, wherein a container inner surface area increasing portion is formed on an inner surface of the container to which the heating element is thermally connected, and a plate-shaped member is provided, that includes a shielding portion that is located above the container inner surface area increasing portion in a direction of gravity and below the condensation tube in the direction of gravity, with at least a part of the shielding portion not immersed in the primary refrigerant in a liquid phase, and the plate-shaped member includes a support portion extending from the shielding portion, in a part of a periphery along an orthogonal direction to the direction of gravity, of the container inner surface area increasing portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 24, 2021
    Publication date: October 14, 2021
    Applicant: Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hirofumi AOKI, Yoshikatsu INAGAKI, Kenya KAWABATA, Yoshinori NAKAMURA
  • Patent number: 11137215
    Abstract: There is provided a flat heat pipe that is not easily deformed in spite of a reduction in thickness and can maintain high heat transport capacity. A flat heat pipe 100 includes a container 130 in which a cavity 130S is formed by plates 110 (110a, 110b) made of metal and disposed substantially in parallel with each other, working fluid that is enclosed in the cavity 130S, and a wick structure 150 that is inserted into the container. The wick structure 150 includes a first sheet-like member 140, and hollow protruding portions 170 protruding in a height direction of the container 130 are formed on the first sheet-like member 140.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 5, 2021
    Assignee: FURUKAWA ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Tomoaki Toratani, Yoshinori Nakamura, Yoshikatsu Inagaki, Hirofumi Aoki
  • Publication number: 20210295731
    Abstract: An information processing apparatus including: a head information acquiring unit, a display controlling unit, a viewpoint information acquiring unit, and a risk assessing unit. The head information acquiring unit acquires head information specifying movement of the head of the examinee. The display controlling unit displays a simulated moving image including: a scene and a target object. The viewpoint information acquiring unit acquires viewpoint information for specifying the position of the viewpoint of the examinee on the simulated moving image while the image is displayed. The risk assessing unit assesses the risk based on the degree of coincidence between the position of the viewpoint of the examinee specified by the viewpoint information and the position of the target object at the time when the simulated moving image is displayed, and outputs assessment information indicating the result of the risk assessment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 5, 2019
    Publication date: September 23, 2021
    Inventors: Hirofumi AOKI, Makoto INAGAMI, Aiko IWASE