To provide a highly reliable battery pack having excellent manufacturability, a battery pack according to the present invention includes a stack of a plurality of battery cells 100 that each include a positive electrode lead tab and a negative electrode lead tab led out of a laminate film casing in a same direction, a coupling assisting member 300 that assists in electrically connecting adjoining battery cells 100, and a reinforcing member 200 interposed between the stacked battery cells 100. The reinforcing member 200 includes a protrusion 240 protruding in the same direction as that in which the positive electrode lead tabs and the negative electrode lead tabs of the battery cells 100 are led out. The coupling assisting member 300 includes a guide portion 340 that engages with the protrusion 240 and guides the protrusion 240 in combining the coupling assisting member 300 and the reinforcing member 200.

Lithium ion batteries having high energy density and light weight have been increasingly used as battery cells mounted in a battery pack container. Laminate batteries using a laminate film made of a flexible aluminum sheet of several tens to several hundreds of micrometers in thickness and a resin as a casing are particularly light in weight and are expected to be used for various applications.
A battery using a laminate film casing is configured so that an electrode stack formed by stacking a plurality of positive electrodes and a plurality of negative electrodes via separators and an electrolyte solution with which the electrode stack is impregnated are accommodated inside the laminate film casing, and the rims of the laminate film casing are heat sealed.
Battery cells using a flexible laminate film as the casing excel in terms of weight reduction but have a problem of low strength and vulnerability to external impact, compared to square batteries and cylindrical batteries having a thick, large metal plate casing.
If a battery pack is connected to a device that needs a large battery capacity and the like, a plurality of battery cells inevitably needs to be connected for use. If a plurality of laminate type battery cells is accommodated in a battery pack, the battery cells are either stacked in a stacking direction or arranged in a row in parallel with the inside surface of the outer case.
For example, Patent Document 1 (WO/2012/131802) discloses a battery pack accommodating a battery coupling structure 500 in which stacked unit batteries 100 are coupled by a substrate 300 and the side surfaces of the stacked unit batteries 100 are protected by a battery protection member 400.    Patent Document 1: WO 2012/131802

Battery pack and method for manufacturing battery pack


In some embodiments, computer systems, storage mediums, and methods are provided for controlling a connecting device's access to a plurality of computer networks. In other embodiments, the provided computer systems, storage mediums, and methods may provide for authentication, authorization, and accounting of connecting devices connecting to a plurality of computer networks. In other embodiments, the provided computer systems, storage mediums, and methods may provide for the distribution of authentication routing data and authorization policies among a plurality of computer networks. In yet other embodiments, the provided computer systems, storage mediums, and methods may provide for the distribution of accounting among a plurality of computer networks.

When a device connects to one or more computer networks, the device may be authenticated, authorized, and its activities on the one or more computer networks may be accounted for. Such a process is commonly referred to as Authentication, Authorization and Accounting ("AAA"; Accounting may be referred to alternatively as Auditing).
Authenticating a device prior to granting access to a computer network generally protects the network from unauthorized access. Before the device may gain access to the network, the device may be required to provide a credential, used to authenticate the device to the computer network. If the credential is recognized and deemed authentic, the device may be permitted access to the network. A credential may be a username and a password submitted from a user of the device, a digital certificate related to the device or the user thereof, a MAC address of the device, or the like.
Many different network authentication protocols and access policies are well-known and, accordingly, need not be set forth herein in detail. However, several different commonly encountered authentication protocols are generally described below to highlight the advantages and features of various embodiments.
One well-known standard that includes authentication is IEEE 802.1X. IEEE 802.1X provides a framework for several different authentication methods so that a Network Access Controller ("NAC"), such as a router, wireless access point, virtual private network ("VPN") device, or other similar device designed to facilitate access to a network, need not be cognizant of the authentication protocol being used. Instead, the NAC simply unpacks and repackages Extensible Authentication Protocol ("EAP") packets received from a device attempting to connect to a network and forwards the packets to a server that will perform the authentication.
In the terminology of the 802.1X standard, the connecting device to be authenticated may be called a supplicant. The server doing the authentication, such as a Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service ("RADIUS") server, may be called the authentication server. The device in between a supplicant and the authentication server, such as a wireless access point or port of a NAC, may be called the authenticator. An advantage of the 802.1X standard is that the authenticator may simply pass frames encapsulating the EAP packets between the supplicant and the authentication server.
When a device connects to a computer network, the authenticator may send an "EAP-Request/Identity" packet to the supplicant as soon as it detects that the link is active (e.g., a laptop computer with wireless capabilities establishes a wireless connection with a wireless access point). In situations where the authenticator supports local authentication methods, it may examine the type field of the response sent from the supplicant to determine whether to act on the packet itself or forward it to an authentication server. If the authenticator forwards the packet to the authentication server, the authentication server may send a challenge back to the authenticator, such as with a token password system, which the authenticator may forward to the supplicant.
Different authentication methods may vary this message, as well as the total number of messages required for authentication. EAP supports client only authentication and strong mutual authentication, the latter being particularly useful for wireless networks. The supplicant may respond to the challenge via the authenticator, which may forward the response to the authentication server. If the supplicant provides a valid credential, the authentication server may respond with a success message, which may be sent to the authenticator, which may in turn allow access to the computer network. As noted above, RADIUS is a common authentication protocol utilized by the 802.1X standard.
After authentication, authorization of a connecting device to a computer network provides for further control of connecting device's use of the computer network, including which network resources the device may access based on any number of user, device or network characteristics related to the device. In many ways, authorization is similar to authentication. However, authentication verifies that a particular device or the user of a device is who/what it purports to be. In contrast, authorization is the process of determining whether the authenticated device has the authority to perform a given operation or access a particular network resource.
Authorization standards may be described in ways similar to authentication standards. Once a user or device is authenticated, the NAC may take on the role of a policy enforcement point ("PEP"), and the authentication server (e.g., an AAA server such as a RADIUS server) may begin operating as a policy decision point ("PDP"). A PDP may be configured to store one or more authorization policies comprised of one or more rules, and to decide whether an authenticated device is permitted access to a particular resource by comparing characteristics of the device (or the user thereof, hereafter referred to as authorization information) to the rules of the authorization policies. The PDP may communicate its decision to the PEP at which the user or device is connected to the network, and the PEP may enforce the PDP's decision.
A further component of many authorization systems is a policy information point ("PIP"), which may be a role adopted by an authentication database from the authentication processes described above. Authorization information contained in PIPs (e.g., groups of which a user is a member, the user's role in a corporation, etc.) may be accessed by PDPs to make policy decisions.

Distributed authentication, authorization and accounting


The present invention relates to an improved carrier for an ethylene epoxidation catalyst, the carrier comprising alumina in combination with a stability-enhancing amount of mullite. The invention is also directed to an improved catalyst containing the improved carrier, as well as an improved process for the epoxidation of ethylene using the catalyst of the invention.

As known in the art, high selectivity catalysts (HSCs) for the epoxidation of ethylene refer to those catalysts that possess selectivity values higher than high activity catalysts (HACs) used for the same purpose. Both types of catalysts include silver as the active catalytic component on a refractory support (i.e., carrier). Typically, one or more promoters are included in the catalyst to improve or adjust properties of the catalyst, such as selectivity.
Generally, HSCs achieve the higher selectivity (typically, in excess of 87 mole % or above) by incorporation of rhenium as a promoter. Typically, one or more additional promoters selected from alkali metals (e.g., cesium), alkaline earth metals, transition metals (e.g., tungsten compounds), and main group metals (e.g., sulfur and/or halide compounds) are also included.
There are also ethylene epoxidation catalysts that may not possess the selectivity values typically associated with HSCs, though the selectivity values are improved over HACs. These types of catalysts can also be considered within the class of HSCs, or alternatively, they can be considered to belong to a separate class, e.g., "medium selectivity catalysts" or "MSCs." These types of catalysts typically exhibit selectivities of at least 83 mole % and up to 87 mole %.
In contrast to HSCs and MSCs, the HACs are ethylene epoxidation catalysts that generally do not include rhenium, and for this reason, do not provide the selectivity values of HSCs or MSCs. Typically, HACs include cesium (Cs) as the only promoter.
It is well known that with use of a catalyst, the catalyst will age (i.e., degrade) to a point until use of the catalyst is no longer practical. For obvious reasons, there is a continuous effort to extend the useful lifetime (i.e., "longevity" or "usable life") of catalysts. The useful lifetime of the catalyst is directly dependent on the stability of the catalyst. As used herein, the "useful lifetime" is the time period for which a catalyst can be used until one or more functional parameters, such as selectivity or activity, degrade to such a level that use of the catalyst becomes impractical.
It is known in the art that, while the selectivity of HSCs is generally acceptable to the industry, their useful lifetime can use improvement. For example, while HACs typically last between 24 and 36 months, HSCs tend to be operated for less than 24 months, often less than 12 months, typically due to an unacceptable loss of selectivity.
Stability of the catalyst has largely been attributed to various characteristics of the carrier. Some characteristics of the carrier that have undergone much research include surface area, porosity, and pore volume distribution, among others.
The most widely used formulation for the carriers of ethylene epoxidation catalysts are those based on alumina, typically α-alumina. Much research has been directed to investigating the effect of the alumina composition for improving stability and other properties of the catalyst. The preparation and modification of alumina carriers for enhancing ethylene epoxidation catalyst performance are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,226,782, 4,242,235, 5,266,548, 5,380,697, 5,597,773, 5,831,037 and 6,831,037 as well as in U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2004/0110973 A1 and 2005/0096219 A1. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 5,395,812 discloses coating the outer surface and surface of pores therein with an amorphous silica-alumina mixture in order to improve, inter alia, the lifetime of a silver-based ethylene epoxidation catalyst.
However, there remains a need in the art for further improvements in the stability of ethylene epoxidation catalysts. There is a particular need for improving the stability of such catalysts by modifying the carrier by means that are facile and financially feasible.

Mullite-containing carrier for ethylene oxide catalysts


A method of manufacturing an electrical trace includes forming a continuous electrical trace strip having a plurality of electrical trace elements, stamping one or more electrical trace isolators onto the continuous electrical trace strip across select ones of the plurality of electrical trace members forming one or more electrical trace sub-assemblies, and detaching the one or more electrical trace sub-assemblies from the continuous electrical trace strip.

Many devices rely upon electrical current for providing power and control signals. Many of the devices, such as computers, audio, and portable electronic devices employ low currents that are passed through conductive pathways formed in printed circuit boards. Other devices rely upon higher currents for operation. In such devices, the higher currents are passed through larger electrical traces formed from a conductive material, such as copper bars supported by insulators. Conventionally, the electrical traces are formed by positioning multiple copper bars/strips joined through one or more bridge sections into a jig, injection molding insulators onto the copper bars, removing the bridge sections to form an electrical trace sub-assembly, and mounting or overmolding the electrical trace sub-assembly into a system component. The time and complexity for forming the electrical traces increases overall manufacturing costs for the system component. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a method of manufacturing electrical traces that reduces manufacturing costs and complexity.

Method of manufacturing electrical circuit traces


A database for a telecommunication service includes a first record for a first number having a predetermined NXX, and a second record for a second number having the predetermined NXX. The first record includes an indication that a call having an automatic number identification associated therewith is acceptable for the first number. The second record includes an indication that a call having at least one of an automatic number identification and a calling party identification associated therewith is acceptable for the second number. Associated methods and systems for providing a telecommunication service for the predetermined NXX are disclosed.

The present invention relates to methods and systems for providing telecommunication services.
Previously, xe2x80x9c555xe2x80x9d NXX calls were dedicated for directory assistance services. For example, a xe2x80x9c555-1212xe2x80x9d call provides directory assistance within a calling party""s area code, and a xe2x80x9cNPA-555-1212xe2x80x9d call provides directory assistance within another area code depending on a local dialing plan.
The Industry Numbering Committee (INC) approved guidelines to broaden the assignment of 555 NXX line numbers in a document entitled, 555 NXX Assignment Guidelines, INC#94-0429-002. These guidelines enable the assignment of 555 numbers on either a national basis or a non-national basis. In accordance with these guidelines, the number 555-1212 is considered unassignable for any purpose other than directory assistance services provided by interexchange and local exchange carriers. In addition, a block of one hundred 555 line numbers from 555-0100 to 555-0199 are reserved as fictitious non-working numbers for use by the entertainment and advertising industries. Other 555 numbers also have been grandfathered.
Using these guidelines, many enhanced service providers, information providers, and businesses have requested and been assigned 555 numbers for their use.
As of June 1996, 2,143 numbers have been assigned of the available 555 numbers. Of these assigned numbers, 1,785 (83%) numbers are national numbers. The industry expectation is a 7 digit dialed 555 number.

Method, system, and database for providing a telecommunication service


The invention provides systems and methods to identify local market media content utilizing a disturbed system and to determine what additional content is relevant in a self-aware, automatic way. A central location stores identification information and related content so in the future it is available if and when another user watches the same content. Therefore, the next time local market media content is played, it can be identified and additional related content can be quickly (e.g. in real time) made available.

An increasing number of households now have high definition televisions (HDTVs) and broadband Internet connections. Consumers watch a significant amount of television on these HDTVs. Consumers are also increasingly accessing media content via the Internet, primarily on traditional desktop and laptop computers, as well as mobile computing devices and the like. These trends are very likely to continue as more HD programming becomes available, more consumers buy HDTVs, and more consumers switch to or obtain wired or wireless broadband Internet connections.
Consumers commonly use computing and mobile devices to augment their television watching experiences (such as when using a laptop to track election results or sports scores while watching related content on the television). This trend is also likely to continue, as consumers are constantly seeking out additional information related to a television program, even while watching the programming. Advances in television services and Internet media content related to television services have facilitated this behavior. Ever increasing and accessible ways of manipulating television programs are becoming available (e.g. picture in picture displays, pausing live programs via digital video recorders (DVRs) and the like, etc.). Likewise, increasing amounts of Internet media content related to television programs is becoming available.
However, there is currently no conventional way for allowing a user to have a truly integrated television and Internet media experience. Even when watching television programs on an Internet-connected device (e.g. laptop, desktop or mobile computing devices), a truly integrated experience is lacking, as consumers must choose between watching the program or browsing the Internet. Consequently, consumers resort to switching between media devices (e.g. between television and laptop) or applications manually, in a time consuming and disjointed fashion.
Moreover, there are numerous local media markets that offer local programming content. For example, in the United States alone there are over two hundred local television markets. Program content varies across markets, lending to difficulties in providing an integrated television and Internet media experience with regard to these local markets, particularly with regard to identification of local market media content and obtaining related media content.
Accordingly, the inventors have recognized a need for an integrated system that is capable of providing an integrated multi-media experience and overcomes the above mentioned shortcomings of conventional arrangements.

System and method for distributed local content identification


A circuit substrate includes a plurality of electronic devices including a heat-generating electronic device, and a printed circuit board having the plurality of electronic devices mounted thereon and having a slit hole for thermally isolating a portion for mounting the heat-generating electronic device and a portion for mounting other electronic devices.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to circuit substrates having a printed circuit board on which electronic devices generating much heat and requiring cooling (hereinafter referred to as heat-generating electronic devices) are mounted, and more particularly, to a circuit substrate which permits the influence of heat from the heat-generating devices upon the entire printed circuit board and other peripheral electronic devices by localizing the conduction of the heat to the mounted area of the electronic devices or to a particular direction, thereby restricting the conduction of heat in the direction along the surface of the printed circuit board.
2. Description of the Background Art
Devices such as CPUs installed in electronics such as work station and personal computer generate significant heat. Thus, the process of radiating heat from such a heat-generating electronic device is indispensable in order to provide satisfactory operation specs.
In conventional devices, in order to radiate heat generated from a heat-generating electronic device installed on a top surface layer of a printed circuit board, there are provided a number of through holes at the printed circuit board, and the through holes are plated. Then, the heat-generating electronic device and the through holes are connected. Further by connecting the through holes at the back surface layer of the printed circuit board to a heat radiation plate, heat generated from the electronic device is allowed to escape onto the heat radiation plate through the printed circuit board via these through holes.
In the conventional structure, however, a significant amount of heat is still transmitted from the heat-generating electronic device to the printed circuit board, the heat is transmitted in the vertical direction from the top surface layer to the back surface layer of the circuit board, in other words in the thickwise direction of the substrate, but part of the heat is also diffused in the crosswise direction of the printed circuit board, in other words in the direction along the surface, and the heat generated from the mounted portion of the printed circuit board adversely affects other peripheral electronic devices. Furthermore, the temperature of solder generally used as means for connecting electronic devices is raised at soldered parts of the printed circuit board by the conduction of heat, which could adversely affect the entire circuit substrate and is likely to cause operation faults or shorten the useful life of the circuit substrate.
FIGS. 1A and 1B are a plan view and a cross sectional view, respectively of a circuit substrate in a first conventional example disclosed by Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-52079. The circuit substrate shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B is incorporated into a personal computer or the like, and an electronic device generating much heat (heat-generating electronic device) 22 is provided on a printed circuit board 21.
Printed circuit board 21 includes a top surface layer 21a, a bottom surface layer 21b, a pair of inner layers 21c provided between top and bottom surface layers 21a and 21b and serving as a signal layer having signal lines for a particular circuit, and a ground plane layer 21d provided between the pair of inner layers 21c. There is provided at the top surface layer 21a or bottom surface layer 21b of printed circuit board 21, a die attaching pad 23 serving as a mounting portion electrically and physically insulating within circuit board 21.
Note that a denotes the die area.
Heat-generating electronic device 22 takes the form of TCP (Tape Carry Package), and the central portion of heat generation (die) 24 is secured to the die area a of die attaching pad 23 on the top surface layer 21a of the printed circuit board by a thermally conductive adhesive, a die attaching adhesive 25. Printed circuit board 21 having heat-generating electronic device 22 mounted thereon has its back surface side connected to a heat radiation plate 27 through solder or a thermal compound 26.
Thus, in the first conventional example, one or more plated through holes 28 are provided at printed circuit board 21, heat from heat-generating electronic device 22 is transmitted onto the back surface layer 21b of printed circuit board 21 through through holes 28, and the heat is further transmitted to heat-radiation plate 27.
FIGS. 2A and 2B are a plan view and a cross sectional view, respectively of a circuit substrate in a second conventional example disclosed by Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-52079. In the second conventional example, one or more relatively large, un-plated through holes 29 are provided at printed circuit board 21.
Through hole 29 is formed larger than die area a, and a fitting portion 27a extended as a projection from heat-radiation plate 27 is fitted therein. Heat-generating electronic device 22 is directly connected to a surface of radiation plate fitting portion 27a exposed from through hole 29 using die attaching adhesive 25. As a result, heat from heat-generating electronic device 22 may be directly transmitted to radiation plate 27 without being passed through printed circuit board 21.
FIG. 3 shows a third conventional example, in which only heat-generating electronic device 22 is separately provided at a dedicated printed circuit board 21, so that heat generated from heat-generating electronic device 22 will not be transmitted to other peripheral electronic devices 30, 31 and 32. These other peripheral electronic devices 30, 31 and 32 are mounted on a printed circuit board 21a which is separately prepared, and a stacking connector 33 or the like is provided to connect these printed circuit boards 21 and 21a.
The first to third conventional examples are encountered with the following problems. In the third conventional example, printed circuit board 21 dedicated to heat-generating electronic device 22 should be provided separately from printed circuit board 21a for other peripheral electronic devices, which is disadvantageous in terms of cost for materials as well as in terms of mounting efficiency and electrical characteristics as compared to the case of mounting heat-generating electronic device 22 and other devices together at a single printed circuit board 21.
In contrast, the first conventional example is advantageous in terms of the efficiency, because heat generated from electronic device 22 is transmitted from the top surface layer 21a of printed circuit board 21 to bottom surface layer 21b, and then onto heat-radiation plate 27. However, since the heat conduction is through a number of through holes 28 provided with plated layers at printed circuit board 21, and therefore the part of printed circuit board 21 having through holes 28 is exposed to high heat from heat-generating electronic device 22.
As a result, as heat diffuses onto the entire surface of printed circuit board 21, the temperature of printed circuit board 21 is raised, and thermal stress imposed on the other peripheral electronic devices or the soldered portion cannot be avoided.
In the second conventional example, heat radiation plate fitting portion 27a is engaged into one or more relatively large un-plated through holes 29 provided at printed circuit board 21, and therefore fitting portion 27a and heat-generating electronic device 22 are directly connected. Thus, heat conduction is allowed without transmitting heat from heat-generating electronic device 22 to printed circuit board 21. However, die attaching adhesive 25, a generally heat conductive adhesive, is used as means for connecting the surfaces of heat-generating electronic device 22 and heat radiation plate 27, and therefore die attaching adhesive 25 should be removed and re-adhesion is necessary during disassembling and replacement working for repairing or the like.
Since the adhesion process by die attaching adhesive 25 requires a heat curing process, and therefore after heat-generating electronic device 22 is again attached by applying die attaching adhesive 25, a heat-curing process should be once again performed.
When heat is radiated through printed circuit board 21, in general heat radiation structures including the above conventional examples, heat from heat-generating electronic device 22 is diffused into the periphery of printed circuit board 21 or printed circuit board 21 is shielded against heat. Therefore, the direction of heat conduction and diffusion onto printed circuit board 21 cannot be specified.
As described above, the first and second conventional examples both suffer from the problems, and to achieve optimum heat radiation for printed circuit board 21, it is inevitable to transmit heat from heat-generating electronic device 2 to the side of bottom surface layer 21b through a number of plated through-holes, shield printed circuit board 21 against heat conduction and diffusion, whereby to avoid transmission of heat onto other electronic devices 30, 31, and 32 mounted on printed circuit board 21 and the soldered portions.

Circuit substrate including printed circuit board having heat-shielding portion