An electronic smoking device (10) includes a battery portion (12) including an electric power source (18), an atomizer/liquid reservoir portion (14) having a mouthpiece opening (36) in an end, a liquid reservoir (34) for accommodating a liquid, and a glass capillary tube (46). The glass capillary tube (46) comprises a first open end (48) arranged inside the liquid reservoir (34) and an outlet portion (50), wherein the glass capillary tube (46) is adapted to transport liquid from the first open end (48) to the outlet portion (50) by capillary force. The electronic smoking device (10) further includes an atomizer (26) arranged at the outlet portion (50) such that is operable to vaporize liquid at the outlet portion (50) to create an aerosol.

An electronic smoking device, such as an electronic cigarette (e-cigarette), usually has a housing accommodating an electric power source (e.g. a single use battery or a rechargeable battery), and an electrically operable atomizer. The atomizer vaporizes or atomizes liquid supplied from a reservoir and provides vaporized or atomized liquid as an aerosol. Control electronics control the activation of the atomizer. In many electronic cigarettes, an airflow sensor is provided within the electronic smoking device which detects a user puffing on the device (e.g., by sensing an under-pressure or an air flow pattern through the device). The airflow sensor indicates or signals the puff to the control electronics. Alternatively, a button may be used to switch on the electronic smoking device to generate a puff of flavor. When a puff is detected, the control electronics supplies electrical power to the atomizer thereby creating vaporized liquid as an aerosol.
To date, fibrous materials like sponges or string wicks suffer from inconsistent liquid delivery as the storage reservoir becomes depleted.

Electronic smoking device with a glass capillary tube


A method for controlling a self-piloted alternator-starter for starting or restarting the thermal engine of an automobile. The alternator-starter includes a rotor rotating in a stator, and a belt for transmitting the torque of the alternator-starter rotor to the crankshaft of the thermal engine. The method includes a first preflux step during which the rotor winding is excited by a preflux electric current, and a second starting step during which the stator windings are excited. The preflux step lasts from 10 to 100 ms so that the transmission belt is tensioned below a degradation tension at the start of the second starting step.

Machines of this type are known from the state of the art, and in particular from patent application WO-A-1,169,762. In this document, the alternator-starter is a reversible alternator which can be used in a motor vehicle with a thermal engine, firstly as an electric generator, and secondly as an electric motor, in particular for the starting of the thermal engine of the vehicle.
An alternator-starter of this type is used in particular in so-called systems for stopping and re-starting of the thermal engine, hereinafter designated as the "system for stopping-re-starting of the thermal engine", otherwise known by the term "stop and start".
These systems make it possible to stop the thermal engine during the phases of stopping of the vehicle, and to start or re-start it when there is the occurrence of a stimulus such as the first demand by the driver, or another criterion which is aimed at generation of fuel savings.
In order to be able to function in a reversible manner, the alternator-starter is connected in rotation to the crankshaft by mean of a flexible transmission unit, for example by a drive belt.
During the use of the alternator-starter in a system for stopping-re-starting of the thermal engine, it is preferable for the response time between the stimulus and the actual re-starting of the thermal engine to be as brief as possible, for example less than 350 ms.
The alternator-starter must in particular produce a starting torque which is greater than a resistant torque of the thermal engine. The resistant torque of the thermal engine is equal to the sum of a starting torque which takes into account the inertia of the mobile elements of the thermal engine, as well as the friction forces which oppose the movement of the latter, and a moment of compression of the fluid which is contained in the cylinders of the thermal engine.
For this purpose, it is known to carry out a pre-flux step, during which the rotor of the alternator-starter is supplied with electricity, without the stator being supplied.
During this pre-flux step, the intensity of the electric current which circulates in the rotor winding increases progressively as a result of the inductance of the stator winding. In a known manner, the intensity of the magnetic rotor field is proportional to the intensity of the electric current.
When the magnetic rotor field reaches a predetermined stage corresponding to a steady state, in general for a duration of the pre-flux step of over 150 ms, the stator is supplied in a following step in order to permit the rotation of the rotor. Thus, the alternator-starter produces a very high starting torque, which makes it possible to re-start the thermal engine very quickly.
This manner of proceeding is entirely satisfactory when the thermal engine which is stopped opposes low resistant torque. This is the case in particular for thermal engines which have resistant torque up to a peak value of approximately 170 Nm. It will be noted that the aforementioned peak value is the sum of the torque caused by the gas, plus the inertia torque, plus the torque caused by the friction.
It has been found however that this method could not be applied as such to thermal engines which have greater resistant torque. In this configuration, when rotation of the rotor begins, the taut section of the drive belt between the alternator-starter and the crankshaft is subjected to sudden tension which may damage it.
In order to solve this problem, it has already been proposed to replace the standard drive belt by a stronger drive belt. However, this solution is very costly.

Method for controlling self-piloted alternator-starter, comprising shortened pre-flux step


An improved Land Grid Array interconnect structure is provided with the use of small metal bumps on the substrate electrical contact pad. The bumps interlock with segments of the fuzz button connection and increase the physical contact surface area between the contact pad and fuss button. The improved contact reduces displacement of electrical contact points due to thermo-mechanical stress and lowers the required actuation force during assembly.

The present invention is directed to electronic packaging, and more particularly, to Land Grid Array interconnections.
The term Land Grid Array (LGA) refers to a design option used by device manufacturers to package their devices without any terminations, such as solder balls, on the bottom of the chip carrier substrate. In order for LGA devices to electrically connect to a circuit board there is an intermediate device with contacts known as "fuzz buttons". Fuzz buttons are commonly manufactured from a single strand of wire and compressed into a cylindrical shaped bundle. The fuzz buttons are inserted between the contact pads on the bottom of the chip carrier substrate and their corresponding contact pads on the circuit board. When the chip carrier is forced against the circuit board, the fuzz-buttons compress between the respective contact pads to form the electrical connection.
Land grid array connections are typically used in high-end applications such as the substrate-to-board attach of high input-output (I/O) count packages. A high I/O count package will contain chip carriers with many contact pads. As RF frequencies, current densities, and I/O counts increase, while chip carrier substrate size and pitch continue to decrease, LGA connections are becoming more commonly used across a broad range of applications.
The fuzz button contact is made by randomly winding wire, typically gold plated molybdenum or tungsten, into a cylindrical bundle or "button". The fuzz buttons are typically loaded into a custom molded insulator or interposer configured to the geometry and pitch of the desired application. In other words, the fuzz buttons will coincide with the chip carrier and circuit board contact pads. In this way the fuzz buttons provide the electrical contact between chip carrier and circuit board. This configuration is commonly referred to as an "LGA socket".
Two major difficulties in manufacturing the current LGA modules are achieving the proper chip carrier substrate contact pad coplanarity (flatness) and controlling the variations with fuzz button contact characteristics such as height and textures of wire webbing. These characteristics are essential to ensure that adequate electrical contacts are made and reliably maintained. The current LGA contact pad is basically flat with no topography. The disadvantages of flat contact pads are the requirement of an excellent chip carrier substrate coplanarity or flatness which results in production yield loss.
Another problem with LGA modules is the requirement of a significant external actuation force to achieve a good electrical contact between chip carrier substrate contact pads, fuzz buttons and circuit board contact pads for the second level packaging. This high external actuation force may cause chip carrier substrate cracks and stress induced corrosion cracks. Another problem with LGA modules is the need for additional fixtures to enhance the electrical contact and prevent the loss of alignment or "walking" of the fuzz buttons and interposer due to the lack of mechanical inter-locking between contact pads and fuzz buttons.
The present invention is to use micro-bumps with controlled geometry, topography and distributions on the contact pad to resolve the above problems. The manufacturing process of producing the disclosed micro-bumps on the contact pads is also disclosed. More particularly, the present invention provides a controlled surface topography on Input-Output (I/O) metal pads on the Land Grid Array (LGA) of microelectronic packages. The result is to enhance the surface areas of contact between the I/O pads in LGA substrates and the fuzz buttons in the interposer.
Thus, a purpose of the present invention is to build micro-bumps on substrate I/O contact pads to improve the physical LGA contact area.
Another purpose of the present invention is to provide mechanical inter-locking between the fuzz-button and contact pad and thereby reduce the displacement of electrical contact points during thermal excursions.
Another purpose of the present invention is to reduce the required actuation force.
These and other purposes of the present invention will become more apparent after referring to the following description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Micro-bumps to enhance LGA interconnections

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention relates generally to a new method and apparatus to enable high yielding double sided and/or multipass screening in the manufacture of multilayer ceramic packages. Also, the present invention enables the screened features to be buried partially or fully with flat surface being available for high yielding post-sinter operations.

Multilayer devices are becoming smaller and more dense with the evolution of new technology. The manufacturers of these types of products are therefore constantly challenged to improve their products. One way to improve would be to identify and eliminate defects. Whereas significant improvements are being made to eliminate systematic defects by reducing process variability. Process improvements alone are not sufficient to eliminate all the random defects which effect both yield and reliability. Historically, screening techniques have been employed to improve product failure rates to acceptable levels by culling out many of these random defects. Another way would be through innovation.
Multilayer ceramic (MLC) structures are primarily used in the production of electronic substrates and devices. However, the MLC products also find use in other areas of technology.
The MLCs can have various layering configurations and other features. For example, an MLC circuit substrate may comprise patterned metal layers which act as electrical conductors sandwiched in between ceramic layers which act as a dielectric medium. One or more of the ceramic layers have tiny holes which are also called via holes. Prior to lamination, the via holes are filled with electrically conductive metal paste and sintered to form vias which provide the electrical connection between the layers.
In addition, the MLC substrates may have termination pads for attaching semiconductor chips, connector leads, capacitors, resistors, etc.
Generally, conventional ceramic structures are formed from ceramic green sheets which are prepared from a slurry of ceramic particulate, thermoplastic polymer binders, plasticizers, and solvents. This composition is spread or cast into ceramic sheets or slips from which the solvents are subsequently volatilized to provide coherent and self-supporting flexible green sheets. After punching, metal paste screening, stacking and laminating, the green sheets are fired at temperatures sufficient to burn-off or remove the unwanted polymeric binder resin and sinter the ceramic particulate together into a densified ceramic substrate. Thus the present invention is directed to the screening, stacking and lamination steps of this process.
In the MLC packaging industry it is very common to use green sheets of various thicknesses. The thicknesses can typically vary from 6 mils to 30 mils and in general the art of punching and metallizing these layers are well known. Presently, green sheet thicknesses below 6 mils are very scarcely used. Handling, screening and stacking of green sheets thinner than 6 mils in general poses tremendous challenge. In fact the use of one to two mils green sheets which are punched and screened using traditional MLC technology are currently being invented.
Also, in the MLC packaging industry it is very common to use capacitor layers. The capacitance necessary in a package depends on the design and such capacitance is obtained by choosing proper dielectric layer thickness and metal area within a layer. The industry is striving for higher capacitance and since the metal area is maxing out for a given substrate size it is necessary to use thinner dielectric layers between electrodes to obtain the required capacitance. For example, as a rule of thumb one could double the capacitance for a given dielectric system and electrode metal area by decreasing the dielectric layer thickness by half. Additionally the number of layers needed for capacitance in a package as well is reduced by about 50 percent. Reduction in number of layers is a positive thing in terms of the cost of making the substrate.
The thickness of the thin sheets could be anywhere from 0.5 mil and above. Screening and stacking of thin sheets is very difficult with current technology as they tend to shrink a lot and distort. Furthermore, each layer may need several passes of screening. For example, in one pass one would fill the vias using metal mask, dry the metal paste (and ceramic green sheet) at elevated temperatures, such as, at 80.degree. C. With a second pass one would screen the pattern using mesh screening and dry the paste. There may even be a third pass screening using mesh on the opposite side of the same green sheet and drying the paste. During every pass one could build an uneven paste height on the green sheet which would impact the next pass screening due to, for example, the mask not laying flat on the green sheet, etc. This could lead to paste bleed out in subsequent screening and would result in a non-manufacturable structure and process. Furthermore, the repeated screening and drying process could also make the green sheets curl and wrinkle and hence further screening or stacking of the green sheets would be very difficult.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,883 (SinghDeo) teaches building an MLC substrate using a serial process, and uses a thin blanket metal for conductor formation. Also taught is an etching process to etch out the area where conductor is not needed. He also teaches the hot pressing of components.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,503 (Casey) teaches releasably-supporting the thin green sheets on a temporary carrier support having an ablatable release layer over a patterned conductive layer, and filling the vias with conductive metal paste, whereby the thin green sheets are supported against warpage and distortion. The supported green sheets are formed as single layers, pairs and stacks thereof, and separated from temporary support for use. The suggested temporary support is a glass plate. The metallization technique is CVD type plating and in the process has to use non-ablatable and ablatable films on the green sheet.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,502,013 (James) addresses a method to form a smooth and flat sintered ceramic surface. Here a greenware precursor is added on a greenware base surface and in sintering a smooth surface is achieved.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,534,092 (Ogawa) teaches the use of two step lamination of stacked green sheets in order to suppress deviation of conductor films and to effectively remove voids by using a modified lamination punch.

Apparatus and method fabricating buried and flat metal features

International Business Machines Corporation


The invention disclosed herein relates to an improved method and system for the optically scanning, storage, management, retrieval and electronic mailing of a persons medical records and identification information on a 24 hour a day basis, primarily for use in a medical emergency of other medical scenario. The invention disclosed also encompasses unique and novel methods of verifying the authenticity of original medical records via a unique physicians digital signature embedded into the documents, a means for standardizing and prioritizing the history and prior medical records of a patient so as to provide an edited or abbreviated medical chart for emergencies which is current and clinically significant, a means of encrypting medical records for security, and a means of providing a unique alpha numerical identified code for each patient and digitally embedding the identifier into said patient records within the system and a means of 24 hour a day electronic access, transmission and updating of said records using a unique telephone exchange system, Internet, wesbite Intranet or other appropriate electronic or wireless means.

Accurate recording keeping of medical records by medical "providers" (hospitals, physicians, clinics, labs, HMO's, PPO's, etc.), is a requirement of both federal and state laws in the U.S., and is considered a "standard of care" in the medical industry. Such medical records would be of significant benefit to treating patients in the event of a medical emergency or other medical scenario, with rapid, timely and secure access to said records. Providers must maintain records for a given number of years on a patient even after the patient has ceased using the services of the provider. Therefore, providers have a very large burden of maintaining accurate records, which include but are not limited to hand written physician charts, drug prescriptions, x-rays, CAT scans, lab tests, blood and urine tests, eye glass prescriptions, etc. As one could imagine a hospital which handles patients with serious conditions would have a tremendous amount of records on hand in paper and x-ray film format which would have to be maintained for some years. Due to the variable and unpredictable nature of medical emergencies Hospital Emergency rooms have particularly poor access to patient medical records in a medical emergency, whether the person was a prior patient or not. Most patients who are treated in an ER have never been a patient in the hospital before and therefore no medical records are available and there is no central system for ER staff to access and reference any patient records, whether they are former patients or not. Therefore, approximately 95% of the 110 million ER visits in the U.S. are performed with no access to prior patient medical records, clinical tests and history. This lack of ER access to patient medical records, during emergency medical treatment is a source of large amounts of medical errors, including errors due to Adverse Drug Interactions, misdiagnosis, and mistreatment based on a poor knowledge of a patient's medical history, pre-existing conditions, implants, allergies and medication allergies. It is one of the intents of this invention to provide a system for condensed patient medical data, which is organized into digital pages, which can be rapidly accessed via the Internet or other electronic means to provide medical benefit at point of care in a medical emergency or other medical scenario. Generalists as well as specialists such and cardiologist, Neurologists, dermatologists, etc., are also under the same laws to keep and maintain medical records for some reasonable period of time on each and every patient. Therefore, within the last several years many large hospitals and clinics have begun to use custom software packages for directly inputting patient charts into computer format to eliminate paper records. Other facilities have also chosen to put many medical records on microfilm or microfiche which is a more convenient and less bulky method of preserving paper medical records by photographing and reducing the documents onto film. Coupled with this record keeping burden are state and federal laws which restrict the amount a provider can charge for copies of medical records which are given at the request of patients. In most instances the charge for such copies of records in approximately $0.40-$0.60 per page. Therefore, it is not hard to imagine that this record keeping burden is a very large administrative cost for a large provider and one which actually drains revenues from a provider, as opposed to creating revenues for a provider. In contrast to the medical providers are the patients (consumers) who are entitled by law to have access to their medical records within a reasonable time period upon written request to the provider. As one could imagine the average individual and family has to order to try and maintain an individual set of medical records above and beyond what a provider keeps. This would entail the individual and family keeping track of drug prescriptions, eye glass prescriptions, x-rays, dental records, yearly physical examinations, etc., for an entire family. This would be a cumbersome and large set of records assuming the average citizen took the time to compile such records at all (most do not bother). As more and more individuals and families travel both domestically and internationally on vacations, for business and for re-locations and second homes, having rapid access to medical records is all the more important in the event of medical emergency. If one was in a foreign country and had a medical emergency and did not have access to medical records this could either result in many unnecessary and expensive additional medical tests being performed for a new physician to access the individuals condition, and also could result in either the wrong treatment or substandard treat, which could result in adverse medical complications and/or death in the most extreme cases.
One of the intents of the invention disclosed herein is to create a low cost, stream lined system which specifically meets the needs of the medical industry as well as the general public as the medical consumer to make the digitization, computer storage, retrieval, management, and electronic mailing of medical records efficient and low cost so as to fit into the present managed care environment in the U.S., and in particular to address the lack of access of medical records and data during treatment in the emergency room, trauma center or other acute care centers by allowing ER personnel to rapidly and confidentially access patient data stored and organized in easy to read digital pages. The invention disclosed herein would also have benefits on a global scale for aiding in the transfer of medical records and data intra-country and intra-continent, particularly in the case of patient who travel and experience a medical emergency or medical condition. The invention consists of a novel means of optically scanning ORIGINAL medical records into digitized binary format (original is emphasized because it is critical to the integrity of this system to have original patient medical charts and records which have a physicians original signature for authenticity), with unique software organizing the digitized medical records into a condensed digital page format and to prioritize the data by clinical utility and pre-existing condition severity order so as to prioritize and lessen the need for duplicate tests, and with assigning a unique alpha numerical identifier to each patient and individual's medical records (separate from Social Security # and Birth date), with unique software positively identify the validity of "electronic signatures" of physicians and providers, through a stored electronic signature library, which are using computer software packages to generate medical charts and records, a means of rapid access and retrieval of medical records via the Internet, website and other means, and the ability to electronically mail large amounts of medical records simultaneously to multiple individuals at multiple locations who require their medical records either for routine reasons or in the event of a medical emergency. This art includes another means of linking patients to their medical records via a PIN, or unique patient identifier which would be carried or worn on the body on a piece of jewelry or other appropriate means. In the event of a medical emergency, particularly if the user was unconscious, authorized medical personnel could access the patient's records via the said central website, Internet, voice system or telephone exchange using their unique identifier on the jewelry and other appropriate security measures.
There has been a great deal of prior art in the general area of medical records and using computers to organize and lessen clerical burdens. Many of the prior art patents focused mainly on ways to create software to do away with the traditional physician medical charts and to computerized medical charts whereby medical data would be inputted directly into a computer. One such patent is Doue U.S. Pat. No. 5,361,202 which teaches a computer system for managing the length of stay in a hospital of many patients simultaneously. The invention disclosed herein does not overlap or compete with the art that Doue teaches and the only thing they have in common is a computer system and medical data. The same holds true for Whalen U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,341 in which Whalen teaches a computer system and software for organizing patient charts. The main focus of Whalen is the format of the software which teaches the organization of computer medical charts with discrete fields and sections which aid in organizing the medical data. Whalen also claims the use of computer generated narrative reports which would be part of the physicians charts. Again, the inventions disclosed herein do not overlap or compete with the Whalen patent and the only thing the inventions have in common is a computer and medical data. In Lavin U.S. Pat. No. 5,772,585 a computer system is described again to facilitate and organize a physicians office which includes software for scheduling appointments, entering patient medical chart data onto a computerized chart, using a common graphic interface and creating data tables for the information. In Silvio U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,741 a computer system is taught to input large amounts of medical information onto computerized medical charts, transferring the data onto Hand Carried Storage devices, and for computerized searching of the files for character strings to compile health statistics and data. In Perry U.S. Pat. No. 5,241,466 a computer system is taught for storing living will documents presumably so they can be retrieved in the event of a person's death. Neither Lavin, Silvio or Perry teach the art and system disclosed herein in this invention and this invention does not over lap or compete in any way with the inventions taught of Lavin, Silvio or Perry. None of the above patents or other prior art patents teach the art herein for organizing digital, condensed medical data, in order of priority based on clinical utility and pre-existing condition severity, and providing rapid access to said records and data via Internet, wesbite, voice, or other electronic means in a medical emergency at a remote location anywhere in the world. Therefore, this invention is unique and novel and different from all prior art described.

Computer system for optical scanning, storage, organization, authentication and electronic transmitting and receiving of medical records and patient information, and other sensitive legal documents


Digital currency transfer is facilitated by a process that includes receiving an indication of a type and amount of digital currency to be transferred to a recipient as part of a digital currency transfer, and a specified public key of the recipient. The public key identifies a digital permanent wallet of the recipient's account. The process creates and stores a digital temporary wallet to temporarily hold the digital currency. This creates a transaction key uniquely identifying the digital currency transfer, and associates with the digital temporary wallet the transaction key and the public key. The process transfers the digital currency from the digital permanent wallet of the sender to the digital temporary wallet, and sends temporary wallet information of the digital temporary wallet, including the transaction key, for embodiment in a physical wallet to hold the digital currency and to be printed and transferred to the recipient.

Cryptocurrencies are forms of digital currency that can be exchanged between users in a manner similar to traditional currency except that cryptocurrency is maintained in digital form. Cryptocurrency use has become increasingly legitimized as major institutions and other entities adopt it as an acceptable form of payment. Cryptocurrency transactions are secured using cryptographic operations and coordinated via decentralized control in the form of a distributed ledger shared among nodes of a distributed network. Typically, though not always, that ledger is implemented as a blockchain. Example cryptocurrencies are bitcoin, litecoin, ripple, etherium, and zcash. The "coin" is the typical unit of currency.
When a sending party sends an amount of digital currency to a receiving party, the transaction is logged and validated by the distributed network. This takes time—a "waiting period" that can be 40 or more minutes in some instances. The practicality of cryptocurrency usage is often limited by this relatively slow speed at which the distributed network sometimes validates the transactions. Current approaches do not adequately address or overcome this delay. A major event during this window of time, such as a crash or rally in the value of the cryptocurrency, can cause significant problems. Issues of double-spend, lost currency, and inadequate security are among some of the drawbacks that users face with current cryptocurrency networks.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A mobile communications device comprising a location sensing system, producing a location output; a memory, storing a set of locations and associated events: a telecommunications device, communicating event and location information between a remote system and said memory; and a processor, processing said location output in conjunction with said stored locations and associated events in memory, to determine a priority thereof.

A number of devices are known which provide mobile telecommunication capabilities. Further, known position detection systems employ the known Global Positioning System (GPS), Global Orbiting Navigational System (GLONASS), Loran, RF triangulation, inertial frame reference and Cellular Telephone base site, e.g., time difference of arrival (TDOA) or nearest antenna proximity systems. Known GPS mobile systems include memory to record location, time and event type, and some systems may be integrated with global information systems, to track path, speed, etc. Known Differential GPS (DGPS) systems include mobile telecommunication functionality to communicate between distant units, typically to allow very precise relative position measurements, in the presence of substantial absolute position errors, or to calibrate the position of a mobile transceiver based on a relative position with respect to a fixed transceiver having a known location. These systems do not typically intercommunicate event information between units. Thus, the communications streams relate to position information only. However, known weather balloon transceiver systems, for example, do transmit both position and weather information to a base station.
Many electronic location determination systems are available, or have been proposed, to provide location information to a user equipped with a location determination receiver. Ground-based location determination systems, such as Loran, Omega, TACAN, Decca, U.S. Airforce Joint Tactical Information Distribution System (JTIDS Relnav), or U.S. Army Position Location and Reporting System (PLRS), use the intersection of hyperbolic surfaces to provide location information. A representative ground system is LORAN-C discussed in LORAN-C User Handbook, Department of Transportation, U.S. Coast Guard, Commandant Instruction M16562.3, May 1990, which is incorporated by reference herein. LORAN-C provides a typical location accuracy of approximately 400 meters. A limitation of a LORAN-C location determination system is that not all locations in the northern hemisphere, and no locations in the southern hemisphere, are covered by LORAN-C. A second limitation of LORAN-C is that the typical accuracy of approximately 400 meters is insufficient for many applications. A third limitation of LORAN-C is that weather, local electronic signal interference, poor crossing angles, closely spaced time difference hyperbolas, and skywaves (multipath interference) frequently cause the accuracy to be significantly worse than 400 meters.
Other ground-based location determination devices use systems that were developed primarily for communications, such as cellular telephone, FM broadcast, and AM broadcast. Some cellular telephone systems provide estimates of location, using comparison of signal strengths from three or more sources. FM broadcast systems having subcarrier signals can provide estimates of location by measuring the phases of the subcarrier signals. Kelley et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,173,710 disclose a system that allows determination of a location of a vehicle. FM subcarrier signals are received from three FM radio stations with known locations but unknown relative phases by signal processors at the vehicle as well as at a fixed station having a known location. The fixed station processor determines the relative phase of the signals transmitted by the three FM radio stations and transmits the relative phase information to the vehicle. The vehicle processor determines its location from the FM subcarrier signal phases and from the relative phase information it receives. A limitation of cellular systems and FM subcarrier systems for location determination is that they are limited to small regions, with diameters of the order of 20-50 km.
Satellite-based location determination systems such as GPS and GLONASS, use the intersection of spherical surface areas to provide location information with a typical (selective availability) accuracy of 100 meters, anywhere on or near the surface of the earth. These systems may also be used to obtain positional accuracies within 1 centimeter. The satellite-based location determination systems include satellites having signal transmitters to broadcast location information and control stations on earth to track and control the satellites. Location determination receivers process the signals transmitted from the satellites and provide location information to the user.
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is part of a satellite navigation system developed by the United States Defense Department under its NAVSTAR satellite program. A fully operational GPS includes up to 24 satellites approximately uniformly dispersed around six circular orbits with four satellites each, the orbits being inclined at an angle of 55°, relative to the equator, and being separated from each other by multiples of 60° longitude. The orbits have radii of 26,560 kilometers and are approximately circular. The orbits are non-geosynchronous, with 0.5 sidereal day (11.967 hours) orbital time intervals, so that the satellites move with time, relative to the Earth below. Theoretically, four or more GPS satellites will have line of sight to most points on the Earth's surface, and line of sight access to three or more such satellites can be used to determine an observer's position anywhere on the Earth's surface, 24 hours per day. Each satellite carries a cesium or rubidium atomic clock to provide timing information for the signals transmitted by the satellites. Internal clock correction is provided for each satellite clock.
A second configuration for global positioning is GLONASS, placed in orbit by the former Soviet Union and now maintained by the Russian Republic. GLONASS also uses 24 satellites, distributed approximately uniformly in three orbital planes of eight satellites each. Each orbital plane has a nominal inclination of 64.8° relative to the equator, and the three orbital planes are separated from each other by multiples of 120° longitude. The GLONASS circular orbits have smaller radii, about 25,510 kilometers, and a satellite period of revolution of 8/17 of a sidereal day (11.26 hours). A GLONASS satellite and a GPS satellite will thus complete 17 and 16 revolutions, respectively, around the Earth every 8 sidereal days. The signal frequencies of both GPS and GLONASS are in L-band (1 to 2 GHz).
Because the signals from the satellites pass through the troposphere for only a short distance, the accuracy of satellite location determination systems such as GPS or GLONASS is largely unaffected by weather or local anomalies. A limitation of GLONASS is that it is not clear that the Russian Republic has the resources to complete and to maintain the system for full world wide 24 hour coverage.
The inherent accuracy of the GPS position measured by a commercial GPS receiver is approximately 20 meters. However, the United States Government currently intentionally degrades the accuracy of GPS computed positions for commercial users with Selective Availability, SA. With SA, the GPS position accuracy of a commercial GPS receiver is approximately 100 meters. However, higher accuracy is available with the use of secret decryption codes.
Differential Global Positioning System, DGPS, is a technique for enhancing the accuracy of the GPS position, and of course may be applied to GLONASS as well. The DGPS comprises the Global Positioning System together with a GPS reference station receiver situated at a known position. DGPS error correction information is derived by taking the difference between the measurements made by the GPS reference station and the expected measurement at the known position of the reference station. DGPS error correction information can be in the form of GPS satellite pseudorange offsets or GPS position offsets. If GPS position offsets are used, the GPS satellites used in the calculation of the GPS position must be included as part of the DGPS error correction information. A processor in a "differential-ready" GPS receiver applies the DGPS error correction information to enhance the GPS position to an accuracy in the range of 10 meters to a less than one meter.
Two types of DGPS exist, postprocessed and realtime. In postprocessed systems, the DGPS error correction information and a user's GPS position information are processed after the user has completed his data acquisition. In realtime systems, the DGPS error correction information is transmitted to the GPS user in a DGPS telemetry stream, e.g., a radio wave signal, and processed by a differential-ready GPS receiver as the application progresses. Realtime processing is desirable for many applications because the enhanced accuracy of DGPS is available to the GPS user while in the field. Realtime broadcast of DGPS error correction information is available from many sources, both public and private, including Coast Guard RDF beacon and commercially operated FM broadcast subcarriers. A DGPS radio wave receiver is required to receive the DGPS radio wave signal containing the DGPS error correction information, and pass the DGPS error corrections to the differential-ready GPS receiver.
Many applications of GPS including mineral surveying, mapping, adding attributes or features to maps, finding sites on a map, vehicle navigation, airplane navigation, marine navigation, field asset management, geographical information systems, and others require the enhanced accuracy that is available with DGPS. For instance, a 20 to 100 meter error could lead to unintentional trespassing, make the return to an underground asset difficult, or put a user on the wrong block while walking or driving in a city. These applications require a computer to store and process data, retain databases, perform calculations, display information to a user, and take input from a user entry. For instance, the user may need to store a map database, display a map, add attributes to features on the map, and store these attributes for geographical information. The user may also need to store and display locations or calculate range and bearing to another location.
GPS is typically used by many professionals engaged in navigation and surveying fields such as marine navigation, aircraft piloting, seismology, boundary surveying, and other applications where accurate location is required or where the cost of GPS is small compared to the cost of a mistake in determining location. Some mobile professionals in the utilities, insurance, ranching, prospecting, ambulance driving, trucking, delivery, police, fire, real estate, forestry, and other mobile applications use GPS to save time in their work. GPS is also used for personal travel such as hiking, biking, horseback riding, yachting, fishing, driving in personal cars, and other travel activities. To enhance the usefulness of GPS a number of sources have integrated maps into the output, or provide a global information system (GIS) to process the GPS output. Thus, it is known to sort and display proximate map features and/or attributes in the same coordinate system as the position information.
As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,248, incorporated herein by reference, a satellite location determination system using Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite signal transmitters receives a spread spectrum L1 carrier signal having a frequency=1575.42 MHz. The L1 signal from each satellite signal transmitter is binary phase shift key (BPSK) modulated by a Coarse/Acquisition (C/A) pseudo-random noise (PRN) code having a clock or chip rate of f0=1.023 MHz. Location information is transmitted at a rate of 50 baud. The PRN codes allow use of a plurality of GPS satellite signal transmitters for determining an observer's position and for providing location information. A signal transmitted by a particular GPS satellite is selected by generating and correlating the PRN code for that particular satellite signal transmitter with a GPS signal received from that satellite. All C/A PRN codes used for GPS satellite signals are known and are stored and/or generated in a GPS receiver. A bit stream from the GPS satellite signal transmitter includes an ephemeris location of the GPS satellite signal transmitter, an almanac location for all GPS satellites, and correction parameters for ionospheric signal propagation delay, and clock time of the GPS satellite signal transmitter. Accepted methods for generating the C/A-code are set forth in the document GPS Interface Control Document ICD-GPS-200, published by Rockwell International Corporation, Satellite Systems Division. Revision A, 26 Sep. 1984, which is incorporated by reference herein.
Energy on a single carrier frequency from all of the satellites is transduced by the receiver at a point close to Earth. The satellites from which the energy originated are identified by modulating the carrier transmitted from each satellite with pseudorandom type signals. In one mode, referred to as the coarse/acquisition (C/A) mode, the pseudorandom signal is a gold code sequence having a chip rate of 1.023 MHz; there are 1,023 chips in each gold code sequence, such that the sequence is repeated once every millisecond (the chipping rate of a pseudorandom sequence is the rate at which the individual pulses in the sequence are derived and therefore is equal to the code repetition rate divided by the number of members in the code; one pulse of the noise code is referred to as a chip).
The 1.023 MHz gold code sequence chip rate enables the position of the receiver responsive to the signals transmitted from four of the satellites to be determined to an accuracy of approximately 60 to 300 meters.
There is a second mode, referred to as the precise or protected (P) mode, wherein pseudorandom codes with chip rates of 10.23 MHz are transmitted with sequences that are extremely long, so that the sequences repeat no more than once per week. In the P mode, the position of the receiver can be determined to an accuracy of approximately 16 to 30 meters. However, the P mode requires Government classified information about how the receiver is programmed and is intended for use only by authorized receivers. Hence, civilian and/or military receivers that are apt to be obtained by unauthorized users are not responsive to the P mode.
To enable the receivers to separate the C/A signals received from the different satellites, the receiver includes a plurality of different locally derived gold code sources, each of which corresponds with the gold code sequence transmitted from one of the satellites in the field of the receiver. The locally derived and the transmitted gold code sequences are cross correlated with each other over one millisecond, gold code sequence intervals. The phase of the locally derived gold code sequences vary on a chip-by-chip basis, and then within a chip, until the maximum cross correlation function is obtained. Since the cross correlation for two gold code sequences having a length of 1,023 bits is approximately 16 times as great as the cross correlation function of any of the other combinations of gold code sequences, it is relatively easy to lock the locally derived gold code sequence onto the same gold code sequence that was transmitted by one of the satellites.
The gold code sequences from at least four of the satellites in the field of view of the receiver are separated in this manner by using a single channel that is sequentially responsive to each of the locally derived gold code sequences or by using parallel channels that are simultaneously responsive to the different gold code sequences. After four locally derived gold code sequences are locked in phase with the gold code sequences received from four satellites in the field of view of the receiver, the position of the receiver can be determined to an accuracy of approximately 60 to 300 meters.
The approximately 60 to 300 meter accuracy of GPS is determined by (1) the number of satellites transmitting signals to which the receiver is effectively responsive, (2) the variable amplitudes of the received signals, and (3) the magnitude of the cross correlation peaks between the received signals from the different satellites.
In response to reception of multiple pseudorange noise (PRN) signals, there is a common time interval for some of the codes to likely cause a degradation in time of arrival measurements of each received PRN due to the cross correlations between the received signals. The time of arrival measurement for each PRN is made by determining the time of a peak amplitude of the cross correlation between the received composite signal and a local gold code sequence that is identical to one of the transmitted PRN. When random noise is superimposed on a received PRN, increasing the averaging time of the cross correlation between the signal and a local PRN sequence decreases the average noise contribution to the time of arrival error. However, because the cross correlation errors between the received PRN's are periodic, increasing the averaging time increases both signal and the cross correlation value between the received PRN's alike and time of arrival errors are not reduced.
The GPS receiver may incorporate a Kalman filter, which is adaptive and therefore automatically modifies its threshold of acceptable data perturbations, depending on the velocity of the vehicle (GPS antenna). This optimizes system response accuracy of the GPS system. Generally, when the vehicle increases velocity by a specified amount, the GPS Kalman filter will raise its acceptable noise threshold. Similarly, when the vehicle decreases its velocity by a specified amount, the GPS Kalman filter will lower its acceptable noise threshold.
Extremely accurate GPS receivers depend on phase measurements of the radio carriers that they receive from various orbiting GPS satellites. Less accurate GPS receivers simply develop the pseudoranges to each visible satellite based on the time codes being sent. Within the granularity of a single time code, the carrier phase can be measured and used to compute range distance as a multiple of the fundamental carrier wavelength. GPS signal transmissions are on two synchronous, but separate, carrier frequencies "L1" and "L2", with wavelengths of nineteen and twenty-four centimeters, respectively. Thus within nineteen or twenty-four centimeters, the phase of the GPS carrier signal will change 360° (2π radians). However, the number of whole cycle (360°) carrier phase shifts between a particular GPS satellite and the GPS receiver must be resolved. At the receiver, every-cycle will appear essentially the same, over a short time frame. Therefore there is an "integer ambiguity" in the calculation. The resolution of this integer ambiguity is therefore a calculation-intensive arithmetic problem to be solved by GPS receivers. The traditional approaches to such integer ambiguity resolution have prevented on-the-fly solution measurement updates for moving GPS receivers with centimeter accurate outputs. Very often, such highly accurate GPS receivers have required long periods of motionlessness to produce a first and subsequent position fix.
There are numerous prior art methods for resolving integer ambiguities. These include integer searches, multiple antennas, multiple GPS observables, motion-based approaches, and external aiding. Search techniques often require significant computation time and are vulnerable to erroneous solutions or when only a few satellites are visible. More antennas can improve reliability considerably. If carried to an extreme, a phased array of antennas results, whereby the integers are completely unambiguous and searching is unnecessary. But for economy, reduced size, complexity and power consumption, the minimum number of antennas required to quickly and unambiguously resolve the integers, even in the presence of noise, is preferred.
On method for integer resolution is to make use of the other observables that modulate a GPS timer. The pseudo-random code imposed on the GPS satellite transmission can be used as a coarse indicator of differential range, although it is very susceptible to multipath problems. Differentiating the L1 and L2 carriers in phase sensitive manner provides a longer effective wavelength, and reduces the search space, i.e., an ambiguity distance increased from 19 or 24 centimeters to about 456 centimeters. However, dual frequency receivers are expensive because they are more complicated. Motion-based integer resolution methods make use of additional information provided by platform or satellite motion. But such motion may not always be present when it is needed. Another prior art technique for precision attitude determination and kinematic positioning is described by Hatch, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,963,889, incorporated herein by reference, which employs two spaced antennas, moveable with respect to each other. Knight, U.S. Pat. No. 5,296,861, incorporated herein by reference, provides a method of reducing the mathematical intensity of integer ambiguity resolution. See also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,218, incorporated herein by reference.
Direct range measurements, combined with the satellite geometry, may also allow the correct integer carrier phase ambiguities to be determined for a plurality of satellites tracked at two or more sites. The use of additional sensors, such as a laser level, electronic distance meter, a compass, a tape, etc., provide valuable constraints that limit the number of possible integer ambiguities that need to be considered in a search for the correct set.
Many systems using handheld computers, having software and databases defining maps and running standard operating systems, have been coupled to GPS Smart Antennas. Wireless, infrared, serial, parallel, and PCMCIA interfaces have been used to interconnect the handheld computer and the GPS Smart Antenna. Differential-ready GPS Smart Antennas having an input to receive signals representative of DGPS error corrections are also commercially available. Further, GPS receivers and Differential-ready GPS Smart Antennas which are self contained, built onto a type II PCMCIA card (PC Card), and/or having serial data communications ports (RS-232 or RS-422) are commercially available. See, U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,451, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,210,540, assigned to Pioneer Electronic Corporation.
There are several different types of vehicle navigational systems. The first system makes use of stored map displays wherein the maps of a predetermined area are stored in the in-vehicle computer and displayed to the vehicle operator or driver. The maps, combined with information describing the location where the vehicle started and where it is to go, will highlight the direction and the driver will have to read the display and follow the route. One such stored map display system was offered by General Motors on their 1994 Oldsmobile, using Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites and dead reckoning techniques, and likely map matching to determine a precise location. The vehicle has radio receivers for receiving data from satellites, giving the location of the receiver expressed in latitude and longitude. The driver enters details of the desired destination into an on-board or in-vehicle computer in the form of specific address, a road intersection, etc. The stored map is displayed, allowing the operator to pinpoint the desired destination. The on-board computer then seeks to calculate the most efficient route, displaying the distance to, and the direction of, each turn using graphics and a voice prompt.
Other known systems employ speech recognition as a user input. For example, another system, described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,274,560 does not use GPS and has no sensing devices connected to the vehicle. The routing information is contained in a device that is coupled to a CD player in the vehicle's audio system. Commands are entered into the system via a microphone and the results are outputted through the vehicle's speakers. The vehicle operator spells out the locations and destinations, letter by letter. The system confirms the locations by repeating whole words. Once the system has received the current location and destination, the system develops the route and calculates the estimated time. The operator utilizes several specific performance commands, such as "Next", and the system then begins to give segment by segment route directions.
Still another system, such as the Siemens Ali-Scout™ system, requires that the driver key-in the destination address coordinates into the in-vehicle computer. A compass located in the vehicle then gives a "compass" direction to the destination address. Such a compass direction is shown in graphics as an arrow on a display unit, indicating the direction the driver should go. Along the side of the road are several infrared beacon sites which transmit data information to a properly equipped vehicle relative to the next adjacent beacon site. From all of the information received, the in-vehicle computer selects the desired beacon data information to the next beacon and displays a graphic symbol for the vehicle operator to follow and the distance to the desired destination. In this system, there is no map to read; both a simple graphic symbol and a segment of the route is displayed, and a voice prompt telling the vehicle operator when to turn and when to continue in the same direction is enunciated. Once the program begins, there is minimal operator feedback required.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,970, describes a method for traffic management in a routing and information system for motor vehicle traffic. The system has a network of stationary routing stations each located in the vicinity of the roadway, which transmit route information and local information concerning its position to passing vehicles. The trip destination address is loaded by the vehicle operator into an onboard device in the vehicle and by dead reckoning techniques, a distance and direction graphic message is displayed. The first routing station which the vehicle passes transmits a message to the vehicle with route data to the next routing station. The vehicle receives the message and as it executes the several vector distances in the message, it accumulates time and distance which it then transmits to the second routing station when it is interrogated by the second routing station. In this manner, traffic management is updated in real time and the vehicles are always routed the "best way". Of course, the best way may be the shortest way, the less traveled way, the cheapest way or any combination of these plus other criteria. See also, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/258,241, filed on Aug. 3, 1994.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,668,880, incorporated herein by reference, relates to an intervehicle data communication device.
Systems which integrate GPS, GLONASS, LORAN or other positioning systems into vehicular guidance systems are well known, and indeed navigational purposes were prime motivators for the creation of these systems. Radar, laser, acoustic and visual sensors have all been applied to vehicular guidance and control, as well. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,450 relates to a reflected beam system for detecting a preceding vehicle, in order to allow control over intervehicular spacing. U.S. Pat. No. 4,833,469 relates to an obstacle proximity sensor, employing, e.g., a radar beam to determine distance and relative velocity of an obstacle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,600,561 relates to a vehicle distance data processor which computes a velocity vector based on serial timepoints. U.S. Pat. No. 4,552,456 relates to an optical pulse radar for an automobile. U.S. Pat. No. 4,543,577 relates to a moving obstacle detection system for a vehicle, using Doppler radar. U.S. Pat. No. 4,349,823 relates to an automotive radar system for monitoring objects in front of the vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,473,538 relates to a collision judging system for a vehicle, triggered by a braking event and determining a distance to an obstacle in front of the vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,168,499 relates to an anti-collision radar system. U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,850 relates to a vehicle detection and collision avoidance apparatus, using an acoustic sensor. U.S. Pat. No. 4,028,662 relates to a passing vehicle signaling apparatus, to detect adjacent vehicles during a lane change. U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,590 relates to a vehicle crash predictive and evasive system, employing neural networks. U.S. Pat. No. 5,646,612 relates to a vehicle collision avoidance system, using an infrared imaging system. U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,523 relates to a neural network system for recognizing driving conditions and controlling the vehicle in dependence thereon. U.S. Pat. No. 5,189,619 relates to an artificial intelligence based adaptive vehicle control system. U.S. Pat. No. 5,162,997 relates to a driver-adaptive automobile control system. U.S. Pat. No. 3,689,882 relates to an anti-collision radar system for detecting obstacles or on-coming vehicles.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,855,915 relates to a vehicle which may be autonomously guided using optically reflective materials. U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,456 relates to an intelligent roadway reference system for controlling lateral position of a vehicle, using magnetic sensors. U.S. Pat. No. 5,189,612 relates to an autonomous vehicle guidance system employing buried magnetic markers. U.S. Pat. No. 5,039,979 relates to a roadway alarm system employing metallized painted divider lines. U.S. Pat. No. 4,239,415 relates to a method for installing an electromagnetic sensor loop in a highway. U.S. Pat. No. 4,185,265 relates to a vehicular magnetic coded signaling apparatus which transmits binary signals using magnetic signposts. U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,215 relates to a vehicular emergency message system. U.S. Pat. No. 5,550,055 relates to a position monitoring system for vehicles, for example in case they are stolen. U.S. Pat. No. 5,563,071 relates to a system for time and/or event logging of an event, employing differential GPS. U.S. Pat. No. 5,701,328 relates to a chirped spread spectrum positioning system.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,689,269, 5,119,504, 5,678,182, 5,621,793, 5,673,305, 5,043,736, 5,684,860, 5,625,668, 5,602,739, 5,544,225, 5,461,365, 5,299,132, 5,301,368, 5,633,872, 5,563,607, 5,382,957, 5,638,078, 5,630,206, 5,610,815, 4,677,555, 4,700,301, 4,807,131, 4,963,889, 5,030,957, 5,144,317, 5,148,179, 5,247,306, 5,296,861, 5,347,286, 5,359,332, 5,442,363, 5,451,964, expressly incorporated herein by reference, relate to systems which employ GPS and telecommunication functionality. Such systems are often employed in differential global positioning system (DGPS) and vehicular security and tracking applications.
Typical "secure" encryption Systems include the Rivest-Shamir-Adelman algorithm (RSA), the Diffie-Hellman algorithm (DH), the Data Encryption Standard (DES), elliptic curve encryption algorithms, so-called PGP algorithm, and other known algorithms. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,200,770, 4,218,582, 4,405,829, 4,424,414 and 4,424,415, expressly incorporated herein by reference, relate to RSA-type encryption systems. Other cryptographic system patents include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,658,094 and 4,797,920, incorporated herein by reference. See also:    "A Method for Obtaining Digital Signatures and Public-Key Cryptosystems." By R. L. Rivest, A. Shamir, and L. Adelman, Communication of the ACM, February 1978, Volume 21 Number 2. Pages 120-126.    The Art of Computer Programming, Volume 2: Seminumerical Algorithms, By D. E. Knuth, Addison-Wesley, Reading, Mass. 1969.    "The First Ten Years of Public Key Cryptography". By Whitfield Diffie, Proceedings of the IEEE, Volume 6 Number 5, May 1988, Pages 560-577.    U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,668,952; 4,698,632; 4,700,191; 4,709,407; 4,725,840; 4,750,215; 4,791,420; 4,801,938; 4,805,231; 4,818,997; 4,841,302; 4,862,175; 4,887,068; 4,939,521; 4,949,088; 4,952,936; 4,952,937; 4,954,828; 4,961,074; 5,001,777, 5,049,884; 5,049,885; 5,063,385; 5,068,663; 5,079,553; 5,083,129; 5,122,802; 5,134,406; 5,146,226; 5,146,227; 5,151,701; 5,164,729; 5,206,651; 5,239,296; 5,250,951, 5,268,689; 5,270,706; 5,300,932; 5,305,007; 5,315,302; 5,317,320; 5,331,327; 5,341,138; 5,347,120; 5,363,105; 5,365,055; 5,365,516; 5,389,930; 5,410,750; 5,446,923; 5,448,638; 5,461,383; 5,465,413; 5,513,110; 5,521,696; 5,525,989; 5,525,996; 5,528,245; 5,528,246; 5,529,139; 5,510,793; 5,529,139; 5,610,815, expressly incorporated herein by reference, relate to radar and radar detection and identification systems, and associated technologies.    U.S. Pat. No. 5,519,718, incorporated herein by references, relates to a mobile bidirectional pager communication scheme.    U.S. Pat. No. 5,218,620, incorporated herein by references, relates to a spread spectrum communication device.    U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,161,871; 3,568,161; 3,630,079; 3,664,701; 3,683,114; 3,769,710; 3,771,483; 3,772,688; 3,848,254, 3,922,673; 3,956,797; 3,986,119; 3,993,955; 4,002,983; 4,010,619; 4,024,382; 4,077,005; 4,084,323; 4,114,155; 4,152,693; 4,155,042; 4,168,576; 4,229,620; 4,229,737; 4,235,441; 4,240,079; 4,244,123; 4,274,560; 4,313,263; 4,323,921; 4,333,238; 4,359,733; 4,369,426; 4,384,293; 4,393,270; 4,402,049; 4,403,291; 4,428,057; 4,437,151; 4,445,118; 4,450,477; 4,459,667; 4,163,357; 4,471,273; 4,472,663; 4,485,383; 4,492,036; 4,508,999; 4,511,947; 4,514,665; 4,518,902; 4,521,885; 4,523,450; 4,529,919; 4,547,778; 4,550,317; 4,555,651; 4,564,085; 4,567,757; 4,571,847, 4,578,678; 4,591,730; 4,596,988; 4,599,620; 4,600,921; 4,602,279; 4,613,867; 4,622,557; 4,630,685; 4,633,966; 4,637,488; 4,638,445; 4,644,351; 4,644,368; 4,646,096; 4,647,784; 4,651,157; 4,652,884; 4,654,879; 4,656,463; 4,656,476; 4,659,970; 4,667,203; 4,673,936; 4,674,048; 4,677,555; 4,677,686; 4,678,329; 4,679,147; 4,680,715; 4,682,953; 4,684,247; 4,688,244; 4,690,610; 4,691,149; 4,691,385; 4,697,281; 4,701,760; 4,701,934; 4,703,444; 4,706,772; 4,709,195; 4,713,767; 4,718,080; 4,722,410; 4,727,492; 4,727,962; 4,728,922; 4,730,690; 4,731,613; 4,740,778; 4,741,245; 4,741,412; 4,743,913; 4,744,761; 4,750,197; 4,751,512; 4,751,983; 4,754,280; 4,754,283; 4,755,905; 4,758,959; 4,761,742; 4,772,410; 774,671; 4,774,672; 4,776,750; 4,777,818; 4,781,514; 4,785,463; 4,786,164; 4,790,402; 4,791,572; 4,792,995; 4,796,189; 4,796,191; 4,799,062; 4,804,893; 4,804,937; 4,807,714; 4,809,005; 4,809,178; 4,812,820; 4,812,845; 4,812,991; 4,814,711; 4,815,020; 4,815,213; 4,818,171; 4,819,053; 4,819,174; 4,819,195; 4,819,860; 4,821,294; 4,821,309; 4,823,901; 4,825,457; 4,829,372; 4,829,442; 4,831,539; 4,833,477; 4,837,700; 4,839,835; 4,846,297; 4,847,862; 4,849,731; 4,852,146; 4,860,352; 4,861,220; 4,864,284; 4,864,592; 4,866,450; 4,866,776; 4,868,859; 4,868,866; 4,869,635; 4,870,422; 4,876,659; 4,879,658; 4,882,689; 4,882,696; 4,884,348; 4,888,699; 4,888,890; 4,891,650; 4,891,761; 4,894,655; 4,894,662; 4,896,370; 4,897,642; 4,899,285; 4,901,340; 4,903,211; 4,903,212; 4,904,983; 4,907,159; 4,908,629; 4,910,493; 4,910,677; 4,912,475; 4,912,643; 4,912,645; 4,914,609; 4,918,425; 4,918,609; 4,924,402; 4,924,417; 4,924,699; 4,926,336; 4,928,105; 4,928,106; 4,928,107; 4,932,910; 4,937,751; 4,937,752; 4,939,678; 4,943,925; 4,945,501; 4,947,151; 4,949,268; 4,951,212; 4,954,837; 4,954,959; 4,963,865; 4,963,889; 4,968,981; 4,970,652; 4,972,431; 4,974,170; 4,975,707; 4,976,619; 4,977,679; 4,983,980; 4,986,384; 4,989,151; 4,991,304; 4,996,645; 4,996,703; 5,003,317; 5,006,855; 5,010,491; 5,014,206; 5,017,926; 5,021,792; 5,021,794; 5,025,261; 5,030,957; 5,030,957; 5,031,104; 5,036,329; 5,036,537; 5,041,833; 5,043,736; 5,043,902; 5,045,861; 5,046,011; 5,046,130; 5,054,110; 5,055,851; 5,056,106; 5,059,969; 5,061,936; 5,065,326; 5,067,082; 5,068,656; 5,070,404; 5,072,227; 5,075,693; 5,077,557; 5,081,667; 5,083,256; 5,084,822; 5,086,390; 5,087,919; 5,089,826; 5,097,269; 5,101,356; 5,101,416; 5,102,360; 5,103,400; 5,103,459; 5,109,399; 5,115,223; 5,117,232; 5,119,102; 5,119,301; 5,119,504; 5,121,326; 5,122,803; 5,122,957; 5,124,915; 5,126,748; 5,128,874; 5,128,979; 5,144,318; 5,146,231; 5,148,002; 5,148,179; 5,148,452; 5,153,598; 5,153,836; 5,155,490; 5,155,491; 5,155,591; 5,155,688; 5,155,689; 5,157,691; 5,161,886; 5,168,452; 5,170,171; 5,172,321; 5,175,557; 5,177,685; 5,184,123; 5,185,610; 5,185,761; 5,187,805; 5,192,957; 5,193,215; 5,194,871; 5,202,829; 5,208,756; 5,210,540; 5,210,787; 5,218,367; 5,220,507; 5,220,509; 5,223,844; 5,225,842; 5,228,695; 5,228,854; 5,245,537; 5,247,440; 5,257,195; 5,260,778, 5,265,025; 5,266,958; 5,269,067; 5,272,483; 5,272,638; 5,274,387; 5,274,667; 5,276,451; 5,278,424; 5,278,568; 5,292,254; 5,293,318; 5,305,386; 5,309,474; 5,317,321; 5,319,548; 5,323,322; 5,324,028; 5,334,974; 5,334,986; 5,347,285; 5,349,531; 5,364,093; 5,365,447; 5,365,450; 5,375,059; 5,379,224; 5,382,957; 5,382,958; 5,383,127; 5,389,934; 5,390,125; 5,392,052; 5,400,254; 5,402,347; 5,402,441; 5,404,661; 5,406,491; 5,406,492; 5,408,415; 5,414,432; 5,416,712; 5,418,537; 5,418,538; 5,420,592; 5,420,593; 5,420,594; 5,422,816; 5,424,951; 5,430,948; 5,432,520; 5,432,542; 5,432,841; 5,433,446; 5,434,574; 5,434,787; 5,434,788; 5,434,789; 5,519,403; 5,519,620; 5,519,760; 5,528,234; 5,528,248; 5,565,874 and Re32856, expressly incorporated herein by reference, relate to GPS systems and associated technologies.    Foreign patent references CA 1298387, 19920300; CA 1298903, 19920400; CA 2009171/1990 02; DE 3310111, 19840900; DE 3325397/1985 01; DE 3419156, 19840500; DE 3538908A1, 19870500; DE 4123097; EP 0155776/1990 08; EP 0158214, 19851000; EP 0181012, 19860500; EP 0290725/1992 09; EP 0295678, 19880600; EP 0309293A2, 19890300; EP 0323230, 19890500; EP 0323246, 19890700; EP 0348528, 19900100; EP 0393935, 19901000; EP 0444738, 19910900; EP 0485120, 19920500; EP 0501058/1991 04; EP 0512789, 19921100; FR 2554612, 19850500; GB 2079453, 19820100; GB 211204, 19830600; GB 2126040, 19870100; GB 2238870, 19891100; GB 2256987; JP 57-32980, 19820200; JP 63-26529, 19840200; JP 1130299, 19871100; JP 1136300, 19871100; JP 153180, 19890300; JP 63188517, 19890500; JP 0189414, 19900700; JP 2212713, 19900800; JP 02-243984, 19900900; JP 03-17688, 19910100; JP 3-080062, 1991 04 12; JP 3-080063, 1991 04 12; JP 0078678, 19910400; JP 0092714, 19910400; JP 1272656, 19910900; JP 03245075, 19911000; JP 3245076, 19911000; JP 63-12096; JP 221093; WO 87/06713, 19871100; WO 92/08952, 19920500; WO 93/09510, 19930500; WO 87/07056, 19871100 and WO 91/05429, incorporated herein by reference, relate to GPS and related technologies.
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A potted plant tray includes a tray bottom portion comprising a floor, a sidewall, and an outlet, and a tray top portion comprising a perforated inner floor and one or more bottom supports to support the tray top portion above the tray bottom portion.

The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also correspond to embodiments of the claimed inventions.
Proper airflow and water drainage for potted plants is difficult with many standard potted plant trays and saucers. Air cannot flow underneath potted plants very well and there are few potted plant trays with channels or spouts for good water drainage. Most potted plant tray products also have a flat solid bottom, which does not allow proper airflow to the holes on the bottom of a pot. Plants that are grown in cloth pots may also face this problem. Good airflow underneath a potted plant is essential for the health of its root system, and proper water drainage is essential for removing salts and mineral waste from the soil and root system. Holes can be made manually for drainage but doing so can be difficult and imperfect. It is very difficult to do without water draining in undesired directions. Risers may be used to lift plant pots out of waste accumulation and provide airflow, however, they make it even more difficult to remove fluids from the tray or saucer. Risers are bulky and obstruct a tray bottom where water gathers, making maintenance difficult and messy. Wet vacuum cleaners have been used to clear away waste from the tray. Without proper maintenance, plants soak their own waste back into their soil over time, which is detrimental to plant health.
The present state of the art may therefore benefit from a potted plant tray as is described herein.


A method and system for enabling an image production device to generate differential gloss for a print includes exposing a toner image of a material to laser to cause one or more portions of the toner image to melt. The material includes the toner image and a substrate. The substrate is to remain substantially unaffected by the laser.

Disclosed herein is a method and system for creating gloss images using differential gloss, as well as the corresponding computer-readable medium.
Gloss is an image or substrate attribute that describes how much specular reflection one get from a surface of a substrate. Specular reflection is the mirror-like reflection of light from a surface, in which light from a single incoming direction is reflected into a single outgoing direction. Because the surface of the substrate is not always perfectly flat, the light reflected from the surface of the substrate is not similar to what would generally be reflected from a mirror. When a surface of a substrate is rough, the percentage of the light that is reflected as specular reflection is less. In general, the rougher the surface, the lesser the chance of the reflected light is going to travel in the direction of the specular reflection. By varying the roughness of the surface, different types of finishes may be achieved.
One current technology that may be used to generate image-wise gloss effect is referred to as glossmark. Glossmark may involve paper, ink, halftones, and the manner of fusing the ink onto the paper. By adjusting the combination, the gloss can be modulated, creating a subtle image that may be viewed when the paper is held a certain way. The glossmark technology is described in US Patent Publication No. 20040001233 titled "Protecting printed items intended for public exchange with glossmarks" and US Patent Publication No. US20040156078 titled "Application of glossmarks for graphics enhancement". One disadvantage of the glossmark technology is that it can only be created at limited colors with small contrast. Another current technology that may affect a roughness of a surface is laser engraving. Laser engraving is the practice of engraving or marking an object by removing the materials from a solid surface using a high power laser. One of the disadvantages of laser engraving is that it requires very high energy: power density and energy density. Because of the high energy required, the speed of laser engraving is slow. Further, laser engraving generates fume and dust which is not environmental and user friendly. In addition, image resolution of laser engraving is very limited.

Method and apparatus for generating differential gloss image using laser energy