Sony Broadcast & Professional Research Laboratories

About: Sony Broadcast & Professional Research Laboratories is a company organization based out in Taipei, Taiwan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Signal & Image processing. The organization has 38708 authors who have published 63864 publications receiving 865637 citations.

System and method for parent-controlled charging for on-line services

Abstract: A charging method for use in an interactive on-line service where a server and terminals of users are mutually connected by a transmission medium, where a predetermined service is provided from the server to the terminals via the transmission medium, and where the fee for such service is collected from each user individually, includes the steps of opening, in the server, an imaginary account for a child of the relevant user with a limited maximum amount, and withdrawing from the imaginary account the fee for the service provided to the user's child. The server can provide a predetermined service to the relevant user's child within a range of the limited maximum amount preset in the imaginary account. When withdrawing the fee from the imaginary account, the server can restrict the service providable to the terminal. Thus, the parent enables his child to receive a desired on-line service, such as on-line shopping or video-on-demand, on the basis of the child's own judgment by setting an upper limit of a service utilizable by the child and still limiting the services providable for the child, hence realizing promoted utilization of the service by children.

Information processing apparatus and information processing method

Abstract: Disclosed herein is an information processing apparatus including: a communication section configured to acquire application programs from external apparatus; a memory used for storing at least an application program and information relevant to the application program; an application execution section configured to execute the application program stored in the memory; and a control section configured to determine other application programs to be recommended in the course of execution of the application program in the application execution section, wherein information stored in the memory as the information relevant to the application program includes first relevant information and second relevant information which are used for determining the other application programs to be recommended in the course of execution of the application program in the application execution section

Semiconductor light emitting device integral type semiconductor light emitting unit image display unit and illuminating unit

Abstract: A semiconductor light emitting device with improved luminous efficiency is provided. An underlying n-type GaN layer is grown on a sapphire substrate, and a growth mask made from SiO 2 film or the like is formed on the underlying n-type GaN layer. An n-type GaN layer having a hexagonal pyramid shape is selectively grown on a portion, exposed from an opening of the growth mask, of the underlying n-type GaN layer. The growth mask is removed by etching, and then an active layer and a p-type GaN layer are sequentially grown on the entire substrate so as to cover the hexagonal pyramid shaped n-type GaN layer, to form a light emitting device. An n-side electrode and a p-side electrode are then formed.

A 60-GHz 16QAM/8PSK/QPSK/BPSK Direct-Conversion Transceiver for IEEE802.15.3c

Abstract: This paper presents a 60-GHz direct-conversion transceiver using 60-GHz quadrature oscillators. The transceiver has been fabricated in a standard 65-nm CMOS process. It in cludes a receiver with a 17.3-dB conversion gain and less than 8.0-dB noise figure, a transmitter with a 18.3-dB conversion gain, a 9.5-dBm output 1 dB compression point, a 10.9-dBm saturation output power and 8.8-% power added efficiency. The 60-GHz frequency synthesizer is implemented by a combination of a 20-GHz PLL and a 60-GHz quadrature injection-locked oscillator, which achieves a phase noise of -95 dBc/Hz@l MHz-offset at 60 GHz. The transceiver realizes IEEE802.15.3c full-rate wireless communication for all 16QAM/8PSK/QPSK/BPSK modes, and the communication distances with the full data rate using 2.16-GHz bandwidth, measured with an antenna built in the package, are 2.7-m (BPSK/QPSK) and 0.2-m (8PSK/16QAM). The measured maximum data rates are 8 Gb/s in QPSK mode and 11 Gb/s in 16QAM mode over a 5 cm wireless link within a bit error rate (BER) of <;10-3. The transceiver consumes 186 mW from a 1.2-V supply voltage while transmitting and 106 mW from 1.0-V supply voltage while receiving. Both transmitter and receiver are driven by a 20-GHz PLL, which consumes 66 mW, including output buffer, from a 1.2-V supply voltage.

Method and system for performing electronic retailing

Abstract: A bar code scanning and information retrieval system is integrated into a consumer electronic device that has an otherwise main and different function or purpose. Location determining technology, or a user interface through which location-specific information is provided, may be added to the bar code scanning and information retrieval system. A user may readily obtain information regarding the vendor at the location where the product is scanned and other vendors of the scanned product in the vicinity of the scanning device. Information can be provided to the user concerning nearby vendor location, maps to these vendors and product pricing and availability at these vendors, for example. Scanning and memory capability can be provided in connection with a non-Internet-ready portable consumer good and that scanned information can be subsequently transferred to an Internet-ready device by means of removable memory. Scanned information pertaining to a primary product may be used to obtain information from a web site regarding secondary consumer products that are related the to primary consumer product. Scanning a product code may automatically link a user to a web site or other location on a computer network, such as the Internet, which provides information related to the product whose product code was scanned. Thus, scanning the bar code acts as an instruction to a web browser to access a web site associated with the scanned bar code.