The object of the invention is a method for emulating the two-way information flow of a real application in a system, which comprises a first network element (101) and a second network element (102), as well as a packet network (103) between said first network element and said second network element. The method comprises transmitting a set of packets from the first network element (101) through the packet network (103) to the second network element (102). At the second network element, at least part of the transmitted packets are received. In a return transmission, a packet arrived at the second network element is transmitted back to the first network element only after a selected delay from the receiving of the packet at the second network element. The object of the invention is also a system, a network element and a computer program product implementing the method.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the emulating of the two-way information flow of a real application. Particularly, but not necessarily, the invention relates to the emulating of the information flow of a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) call for determining the Quality of Service (QoS) at a VoIP application level.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Traditionally, when calling by telephone speech has been transferred in circuit-switched networks, such as in a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). When calling by telephone in a digital circuit-switched network, a permanent connection of 64 kbps (kilo bits per second) is set up for each call. The standard band of the connection, 64 kbps, is due to the bit rate required in the sampling of analog speech when using 8-bit Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) at a sampling frequency of 8 kHz, which procedure enables the transmitting of analog speech having a frequency of 300 to 3400 Hz in a digital format.
The digital telephone network described above that is presently in common use is, however, very ineffective and thus consumes a lot of network resources. In the telephone network, the band for a connection is also reserved when the connection is not used actively, i.e. neither party of the connection is transferring information, such as speech or data, along the connection. The kind of use of a static band consumes a lot of data transmission resources, and as a result of this additional capacity must be invested in as the number of users increases. The type of ineffectiveness described above causes problems especially in calls between continents, where increasing the data transmission capacity is not as easy as in other cases. The problem is also partly manifest in call prices; expensive investments in capacity must be covered by high user charges.
To compensate and supplement calls that use a static band reservation in a telephone network, so-called VoIP calls, i.e. IP calls have been started to be marketed. Typically, the information transmitted in an IP call, such as speech, voice and/or video, is first converted from an analog format into a digital format, then compressed and converted into IP packets that are conveyed over an IP-based packet-switched network, such as the Internet network, sharing the band with other IP traffic. In IP calls, a band can be used in a considerably more effective way than in calls that reserve a static band, which is also shown in call prices. In addition, also new more effective coding schemes can be used, such as e.g. G.723.1 coding.
The time of arrival of transmitted IP packets to a receiver is not known before the packets arrive. And because IP routes the information flow packet by packet the time of propagation of packets from a sender to a receiver may vary greatly and the order of the packets may change. Furthermore, packets may be lost, for example, as a result of the overflows of incoming data that take place in the buffers of routers. By using a reliable protocol over IP, for example, packet losses can be identified automatically at a protocol level and the lost packets can be retransmitted. One such protocol is TCP (Transmission Control Protocol).
However, the retransmissions in question would cause additional varying delay in the transmission of information over the IP network. And since several applications used in repeating speech and/or picture transferred in real time do not function flawlessly if, for example, too much delay occurs in the transmission of information, TCP is not well suited for use as a protocol to be used over IP in IP calls. Therefore, UDP (User Datagram protocol), where there are no retransmissions, is normally used in IP calls. Instead, in a call setup, the use of TCP is recommendable so that the call setup would take place as reliably as possible.
For example, just for the reason that the applications used in repeating realtime information transmitted over an IP network have high realtime requirements in order to function flawlessly, at least some kind of arrangement is needed to guarantee the desired Quality of Service (QoS) for the IP call in question. IP as such does not provide QoS support in a form that it would provide a guaranteed Quality of Service. However, several different techniques exist with which a guaranteed QoS can be provided in an IP network. These are, among others, DiffServ (Differentiated Services) and IntServ (Integrated Services) techniques. Irrespective of which QoS technique is used, it is important that the QoS can be measured in order to find out whether it is really possible to provide a guaranteed QoS for each IP call.
Usually, several QoS parameters are required to describe a QoS. Thus, it is appropriate to measure values for a set of different QoS parameters, which in connection with VoIP are, for example, the following: end-to-end delay, end-to-end delay jitter, packet losses and packet loss correlation. Of these, end-to-end delay means the time that it takes for an IP packet to pass through an IP network from a sender to a receiver. End-to-end delay can also be measured as a round trip measurement, whereupon the time that it takes for an IP packet to pass from a sender to a receiver and back is measured. End-to-end jitter can be denoted, for example, as a standard deviation or variance. Packet losses tell how many of the transmitted IP packets fail to be received on the receiving side, i.e. how many IP packets are lost on the way. As for the system performance, it is highly significant whether IP packets disappear or are lost one here and another there (no packet loss correlation) or whether several successive IP packets are lost (high packet loss correlation).
FIG. 1 shows a principle of one QoS measurement according to prior art. There a stream of IP packets is transmitted from a first host 101 through an IP network 103 to a second host. Before transmitting, the first host 101 adds a first information to each IP packet to be transmitted. The stream of IP packets transmitted by the first host 101 is received at the second host 102, which adds a second information to the IP packets and returns them through the IP network 103 back to the first host 101, which adds a third information to the received IP packets.
FIG. 2 illustrates the structure of an IP packet, the use of which is well known in the QoS measurement arrangement illustrated in FIG. 1. An IP packet 200 comprises various types of fields for storing the information added by hosts to the IP packet. For example, in fields 201 and 202, the first host 101 stores just before transmitting the IP packet as said first information a time stamp data TS1 and a packet sequence number data SEQ1 respectively. In fields 203 and 204, the second host 102 stores as said second information on receiving the IP packet a time stamp data TS2 and a packet sequence number data SEQ2 respectively. After receiving the IP packet, the second host 102 returns the IP packet immediately back to the first host 101 which stores, in a field 205, as said third information a time stamp data TS3 on receiving the IP packet. Now, of the QoS parameters, e.g. end-to-end delay drt can be determined by equationdrt=TS3−TS1.
In addition to the fields 201-205, the IP packet 200 in FIG. 2 comprises a dummy length 206. The dummy length 206 is a data portion of a specific length with which the length of the IP packet can be adapted to the size of the packets of a realistic codec, such as G.711. If the IP packets 200 are yet transmitted as such a typically uniform stream of IP packets as is formed by a realistic codec, a real IP call and its QoS measurements can be emulated by the arrangement presented above.
However, the arrangement according to prior art described above has its problems. Let us assume that a stream of IP packets 200 is sent from the first host 101 through the IP network 103 to the second host 102 and that the transmitting of the IP packets from the first host to the second takes place uniformly. In an ideal case, the time of transmission of all the IP packets (end-to-end delay) from the first host to the second is the same, whereupon the IP packets sent from the first host would also arrive at the second host uniformly. However, in reality, the situation is typically such that, for example, due to a varying IP network load IP packets do not arrive at the second host uniformly but burstily. By this is meant that the stream of IP packets arriving at the second host comprises densities (clusters of IP packets) and spacings (there is an exceptionally long pause between IP packets) instead of a steady stream.
When the second host now returns each IP packet it has received back to the first host, the stream of returned IP packets is already on leaving the second host bursty and not uniform as it would be in the case of a realistic IP call. In this case, the QoS experienced by the bursty stream of IP packets returning from the second host to the first host is normally worse than the QoS experienced by the stream of IP packets transmitted uniformly from the first host to the second host. This asymmetry is not characteristic of a real IP call and it distorts the measuring of the values of QoS parameters. Furthermore, if IP packets sent by the first host are lost on their way to the second host, the stream of IP packets returned from the second host to the first has less IP packets than in the original stream of IP packets sent from the first host to the second. In this case, additional spacings are automatically formed in the stream of IP packets returned from the second host to the first, which again increases asymmetry.
Thus, the measurement arrangement according to the prior art presented above is not suited in the best possible way for the QoS measurements of an IP call.


Provided is a substrate processing apparatus in which after a module is disabled, a substrate is provided to a carry-in module capable of placing the wafers most rapidly in the plurality of unit blocks and the substrates are sequentially transported to the module group by the transportation means to be delivered to the carry-out module according to a providing sequence of the substrate to the carry-in module in each of the plurality of unit blocks. In particular, the substrates are extracted from the carry-out module according to a providing sequence of the substrate to the carry-in module and transported to a rear module or a substrate placing part. Thereafter, the substrates are transported to the rear module from the carry-out module or the substrate placing part according to a predetermined sequence in which the substrate is provided to the carry-in module in a normal state.

In a photoresist process as one of semiconductor manufacturing processes, resist is applied to the surface of a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, referred to as a wafer), and then the resist is exposed and developed in a predetermined pattern to form a resist pattern. In a coating and developing apparatus for forming the resist pattern, a processing block including a processing module is provided for performing various processes with respect to a wafer.
The processing block is configured by stacking a unit block that forms various coating films such as a resist film and a unit block that performs development processing as disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-115831. A plurality of liquid processing modules applying a resist liquid or a development liquid, or a plurality of heating modules performing heating processing are inserted into the unit blocks.
In such a resist pattern forming apparatus, in order to improve the throughput, a plurality of unit blocks performing the same processing with respect to the wafer are provided and modules provided in the unit blocks are set as a multi-module in many cases. The multi-module refers to a plurality of modules that have the same transportation sequence and perform the same processing for the wafer. In addition, when the plurality of unit blocks performing the same processing are stacked, the wafers are provided to the unit blocks in sequence and processing is performed in each unit block, and thereafter, the wafers are carried out from each unit block according to the providing sequence, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-76893 (see, for example, claim 8).
In this case, the wafer is transported according to a previously prepared transportation schedule. Assuming that a place where the wafer is disposed is called a module, the transportation schedule is prepared by allocating the sequence to the wafers, and arranging transportation cycle data designating a transportation cycle in time series by making the sequence of the wafers and the sequence of the modules to correspond to each other.
However, in a unit block among the plurality of unit blocks performing the same processing, a module constituting the multi-modules may not sometimes be used due to a trouble or a maintenance. In this case, when a disabled module that cannot be used exists in a unit block, a throughput is deteriorated because an operation rate of the module decreases. However, in the configuration where the wafers are provided to the plurality of unit blocks in sequence and processed wafers are carried out according to the providing sequence from each unit block as described above, the throughput is deteriorated even in other unit blocks.
For example, when two unit blocks are provided, wafers W are alternatively provided to the unit blocks from a first wafer W1 of a lot in sequence. That is, for example, first wafer W1, a third wafer W3, a fifth wafer W5, and the like of the lot are provided in sequence to unit block of one side, and a second wafer W2, a fourth wafer W4, a sixth wafer W6, and the like of the lot are provided in sequence to the unit block of the other-side.
Herein, as a case in which n liquid processing modules are provided in each unit block, when the trouble occurs in one liquid processing module of the unit block of one-side, the operation rate of the liquid processing module of the one-side unit block becomes (n−1)/n.
In addition, in the unit block of the other-side, since wafers W are alternatively provided between the unit blocks of one-side, and the order of wafers W carried out from each unit block is determined, there is a standby status in which providing the wafers to the one-side unit block or carrying out the wafers from the one-side unit block must be waited. For example, when the trouble occurs in the liquid processing module before a seventh wafer W7 of the lot is transported to the unit block of one-side, wafer W7 cannot be transported to the liquid processing module in which the trouble occurs in the original transportation cycle, and as a result, for example, wafer W7 is transported to another liquid processing module in a next transportation cycle.
Therefore, an eighth wafer W8 of the lot is provided to the unit block of the other-side after waiting for providing of wafer W7. As a result, even though n liquid processing modules can be used in other liquid processing module, there occurs liquid processing modules that are not operated, such that the operation rate of the liquid processing module become (n−1)/n.
Accordingly, total 2n liquid processing modules are inserted into two unit blocks and even when the trouble occurs in one liquid processing module, the operation rate of all the liquid processing modules becomes (2n−2)/2n and the throughput of the entire apparatus is deteriorated. In this case, when the providing sequence of the wafers to the unit blocks or the carry-out sequence of the wafers are changed, transportation control becomes very difficult and it is not realistic.


Systems and methods are disclosed for a first WiFi Direct device to receive a machine-readable label from a second WiFi Direct device to provide information on the P2P WiFi capability of the second WiFi Direct device to aid the two devices in establishing a WiFi Direct connection. The machine-readable label may include the display of a QR code by the second WiFi Direct device to the first WiFi Direct device. The information on the WiFi capability of the second WiFi Direct device may include the identity of the listen channel, the operating channel, whether the device is a P2P group owner or not (e.g., a P2P client device), and other service and/or configuration information. Because the first WiFi Direct device knows whether the second WiFi Direct device is a group owner or not, the first WiFi Direct device may take the appropriate connection to establish the WiFi Direct connection.

WiFi Direct technology allows WiFi devices to bypass the Access Point (AP) of a conventional WiFi network and to directly connect with one another in a WiFi Direct group. Although a traditional AP is thus bypassed, one of participants in a WiFi Direct group acts as a "soft" AP and is designated as the peer-to-peer Group Owner (P2P GO). The remaining participants in the WiFi Direct group are denoted as P2P clients. One advantage of WiFi Direct technology is that it eliminates the latency associated with routing communication between the WiFi devices via a conventional AP. This feature is particularly appealing for multi-player gaming and other real-time applications. WiFi Direct technology is thus rapidly gaining popularity.
Although WiFi Direct networks are very promising, the establishment of a WiFi Direct connection (which may also be denoted as a P2P connection) between two WiFi-Direct-enabled devices is quite cumbersome and time consuming. To establish a P2P connection, the devices go through several steps including find, GO negotiation, provisioning, and connect steps. In the find step, a device searches and discovers other P2P devices and their configurations. In WiFi Direct, certain conventional WiFi channels are designated as social channels. Each WiFi Direct device selects one of these social channels as its listen channel. Finding other P2P devices typically involves a given P2P device alternating between transmitting probe requests on its social channels and listening for corresponding probe responses from the other P2P devices on its listen channel. In that regard, it may take some time before a probe request transmitted on the correct social channel is acknowledged by a peer device listening on the same channel as its listen channel. When this happens, the peer device and its listen channel are found.
As discussed above, each WiFi group (also referred to as a P2P group) has a single GO that acts as an AP for that group. Thus, once a given WiFi Direct device has found another peer device that is not already a GO, a GO negotiation ensues between the devices. Analogous to a conventional AP, a GO manages and authenticates other peers in the P2P group. In standard group formation, the GO negotiation step involves a handshaking between the devices in which they independently generate a GO Intent parameter. The device declaring the highest value for this parameter becomes the GO. After a P2P device becomes a GO, it operates on an operating channel that may or may not be the same as one of the social channels.
Once a GO has been declared and the devices agree on their respective roles, the devices go through the provisioning step to establish a secure connection using WiFi Simple Configuration (WSC) protocols. The GO serves the role as the AP with an internal registrar to enroll the other device as the P2P client. In this regard, the GO issues network credentials, i.e., security keys, to the P2P client and authenticates the P2P client. Upon successful completion of the provisioning step, the devices go through the final connect step to complete the P2P connection. During the connect step, the GO runs a Dynamic Host Configuration Step (DHCP) to provide the P2P client with Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.
Frequently, it may take a long time for the devices to complete the find and the GO negotiation steps because of the time it takes to align the transmission phase from a searching device with the listening phase of a responding device. This time delay may further increase in a concurrency scenario where a P2P device is also connected to a conventional AP through a base channel. In the concurrency scenario, the P2P device may have to return to its base channel after every unsuccessful alignment of P2P transmission phase and listening phase during the find or GO negotiation steps to minimize the impact on data throughput through the base channel. Furthermore, a P2P device may switch from a client device to a GO dynamically before the GO negotiation is completed, further complicating the find and the group owner negotiation steps. Accordingly, there is a need to minimize the delay when establishing WiFi Direct connections.

WiFi Direct connection using machine-readable labels


A ring gear to be coupled to a crankshaft of an engine; a starter motor for starting the engine; a pinion gear for transmitting rotation of the starter motor to the ring gear; pinion-gear meshing-engagement unit for moving the pinion gear to achieve meshing engagement with the ring gear; rpm-difference acquiring unit for acquiring an rpm difference between the pinion gear and the ring gear; and restart control unit for allowing the pinion gear to be moved by the pinion-gear meshing-engagement unit when the rpm difference between the pinion gear and the ring gear, which is acquired by the rpm-difference acquiring unit, becomes smaller than a threshold value are provided. The restart control unit includes threshold-value setting unit, and the threshold value corresponding to a characteristic to be input to the threshold-value setting unit is preset.

Conventionally, for the purposes of improving fuel efficiency and reducing an environmental load of automobiles, there have been developed automatic idle-stop systems for automatically performing an idle stop with the satisfaction of predetermined conditions. Among the automatic idle-stop systems, an automatic idle-stop system using a starter is advantageous in that a change in system of a vehicle is small and cost is low, while having a problem in that meshing engagement cannot be achieved before an engine is completely stopped.
To cope with the problem described above, there exists an automatic idle-stop system in which a starter motor rpm is brought into synchronization with an engine rpm by energization with speed governing at the time of restart of the engine and a pinion gear is then pushed out to achieve the meshing engagement at the time when an rpm difference becomes smaller than a predetermined threshold value (for example, see Patent Literature 1).
In addition, there is another automatic idle-stop system which predicts a future ring-gear rpm to predict a time at which a pinion gear rpm comes into synchronization with the future ring-gear rpm, so as to control a push-out timing or push-out speed of the pinion gear for synchronization with the above-mentioned time (for example, see Patent Literature 2).


A double-pipe geothermal water circulating apparatus including an outer pipe having a geothermal water supplying strainer for infiltrating geothermal water from an aquifer and a geothermal water returning strainer for returning used geothermal water to the aquifer, a thermal insulation inner pipe composed of a thermal insulator that forms a flow channel with the outer pipe, a pump for pumping the geothermal water from the thermal insulation inner pipe, a heat source supplying force feed pipe for force-feeding pumped geothermal water to an heat exchanger and a heat source reusing pipe connected to the flow channel for returning the used geothermal water to the aquifer. Also, the double-pipe geothermal water circulating apparatus is provided therein with the flow channel from the geothermal water returning strainer to the geothermal water supplying strainer that is not separated, whereby geothermal water can flow therethrough.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a technology for using geothermal water in an aquifer as a heating and cooling medium for exchanging the heat, and more particularly to a double-pipe geothermal water circulating apparatus that can circulate said geothermal water by returning used geothermal water to said aquifer or an above-located aquifer for exchanging the heat.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is generally known that the underground temperature is lower and higher than the outer temperature in summer and winter, respectively and the geothermal temperature becomes high as its observed point comes deeper. In a conventional invention, by pumping underground geothermal water in an aquifer, the geothermal water is used as a cooling medium in summer and a heating medium in winter.
FIG. 7 shows a conventional type of heat exchanging system using geothermal water. In the heat exchanging system 700, a water collecting tank 710 is installed underground as deep as an aquifer A to feed the geothermal water collected in the water collecting tank 710 to an heat exchanger 750 using a pump 730. Then, used geothermal water is transported to a sewage treatment facility 780 to treat waste water and to an underground geothermal water returning well 770 to be reused underground. In fact, such an heat exchanging system can directly feed the geothermal water to the heat exchanger 750, thereby relatively reducing thermal energy loss and improving thermal efficiency.
Despite these technological advantages, the conventional type of heat exchanging system 700, as shown in FIG. 7, has a drawback of higher initial costs due to required construction of the sewage treatment facility 780 for treating the used geothermal water and the geothermal water returning well 770. Also, this system, which is not designed to return the collected geothermal water to the aquifer A, could cause serious environmental concerns such as exhaustion of water in a well and ground subsidence due to excessive water intake. Consequently, this system is not actually used in most heat exchanging operations.
In the meantime, this inventor proposed an underground geothermal water circulating apparatus that can efficiently melt snow by solving the above-mentioned problems as disclosed in the Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 06-228928.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the underground geothermal water circulating apparatus according to claim 1 of said Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication. An underground geothermal water circulating apparatus 800 comprises a cylinder-type geothermal source collecting casing 810 filled with a medium liquid installed underground, a cylinder-type thermal insulating casing 820 at the axial core of the geothermal source collecting casing 810 and a pump 830 in the thermal insulating casing 820. Then, said pump 830 sucks said medium liquid and distributes it to a non-water spray type snow melting system 850 as a snow-melting heat source. After used medium liquid of a lower temperature is returned to the geothermal source collecting casing 810, it is heated by geothermal source via a side wall of said geothermal source collecting casing 810. Afterward, the pump 830 sucks said medium liquid into said thermal insulating casing 820 and it is repeatedly used as a snow-melting heat source.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the underground geothermal water circulating apparatus according to claim 2 of said Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication. An underground geothermal water circulating apparatus 900 comprises a cylinder-type geothermal source collecting casing 910 installed underground having a geothermal liquid collecting strainer 911 for collecting geothermal water from an aquifer and a snow-melted water reusing liquid returning strainer 912 placed above said geothermal liquid collecting strainer 911 for returning geothermal water used in a snow melting system 950 to an underground zone. Said geothermal source collecting casing 910 is provided with a cylinder-type thermal insulating casing 920 at the axial center thereof. A separating packer 990 is mounted on a wall between said geothermal source collecting casing 910 and said thermal insulating casing 920 for separating reused and collected geothermal liquids.
In the underground geothermal water circulating apparatus 900 of the second embodiment as described above, the geothermal liquid collecting strainer 911 collects the geothermal water to the geothermal source collecting casing 910, which will be sucked by the pump 930 to said thermal insulating casing 920 and then the snow melting system 950. Afterward, geothermal water used in the snow melting system 950 returns to the geothermal source collecting casing 910 as a reused geothermal liquid and it is discharged from the snow-melted water reusing liquid returning strainer 912 and reused in the aquifer. The separating packer 990 can prevent the mixture of the reused and collected geothermal liquids.
The underground geothermal water circulating apparatus disclosed in the above Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication is expected to provide several technological advantages, such as lower installation costs in one integrated unit, a small rate of mechanical failure due to simplified structure and no exhaustion of water in a well and ground subsidence due to excessive water intake by reusing the medium and geothermal liquids.

Double-pipe geothermal water circulating apparatus


A CIS and a method for manufacturing the same are provided. The CIS includes an interlayer insulation layer formed on a substrate having a photodiode and a transistor formed thereon; a plurality of color filters formed on the interlayer insulation layer and spaced a predetermined interval apart from each other; a metal sidewall formed to fill the predetermined interval between the plurality of the color filters; and a microlens formed on each of the plurality of color filters.

In general, an image sensor is a semiconductor device that converts an optical image into an electrical signal. The image sensors are generally classified into charge coupled devices (CCDs) and complementary metal oxide silicon (CMOS) image sensors (CISs).
The CIS includes a photodiode for sensing an irradiated light and a CMOS logic circuit for processing the sensed light into an electric signal for data. As the amount of light in the photodiode increases, the photosensitivity of the image sensor improves.
To increase the photosensitivity, one technique is to increase a fill factor (a ratio of a photodiode area to an entire area of the image sensor). Another is a technique in which the path of light incident into a region other than a photodiode is changed to focus the light on the photodiode.
A typical example of the focusing technology includes a microlens formation. In the microlens formation, a convex microlens is formed of an excellent light transmission material on the photodiode such that more incident light can be directed onto the photodiode region by refracting the incident light.
In this case, the light parallel to an optical axis of the microlens is refracted through the microlens, and thus the focus of the microlens is formed at a predetermined position of the optical axis.
Typically, a CIS is classified according to the number of the transistors in a pixel. For example, the CIS can be classified as a 3T, 4T, or 5T type. The 3T includes one photodiode and three transistors. The 4T includes one photodiode and four transistors.
Hereinafter, a related art CIS will be described with reference to FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the related art CIS.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, a photodiode 12, an interlayer insulation layer 13, and a color filter layer 14, and a planarization layer 15 are sequentially formed on a substrate 11. Then, a microlens 16 is formed on the planarization layer 15.
However, the related art CIS has following problems.
For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, incident light in tilt, which is not parallel to an optical axis of the microlens, included in light incident into the color filter 14 through the microlens 16 is induced into the photodiode 12 of another pixel and not the photodiode corresponding to the color filter. Thus, crosstalk occurs such that light becomes mixed and light sensitivity decreases.

CMOS image sensor and method for manufacturing the same


A system and method for privatizing computer data involves the steps of opening a plurality of original data files, fragmenting said original data files into fragments, and interspersing said fragments among each other forming composite files (privacy protected files). The method then includes the steps of creating a reconstitution file, which identifies hidden dispersion locations and placement of individual fragments to reconstruct the original data files. Finally, the composite files are dispersed to hidden locations. To enhance security, each fragment may be disguised through a multiplicity of high speed mathematical operations, which are directed by a fragment handling guide drawn from a random table, before interspersing fragments in the composite files.

A microfiche appendix is included with this patent application.
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by any one of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
Keeping data private and secret from unauthorized persons is desirable to everyone. People do not want their personal information such as credit card numbers, medical records, or financial documents disseminated without their permission. Businesses often require that only authorized personnel view or have access to various documents and information. Even the government, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency, has high demand for keeping government matters secret and private, especially matters of national security. In today""s technologically advanced society, it is becoming easier for a computer hacker to obtain access to secret files of the unwary data owner.
Currently, to prevent unauthorized access to data being stored on a hard drive of a computer or to send data over the Internet, encryption is used to scramble the message. There are numerous ways to encrypt plaintext. Some encryption techniques use one private access key for encryption and decryption. The private access key manipulates plaintext into ciphertext and vice versa. This is often referred to as a xe2x80x9csymmetric algorithm.xe2x80x9d Because the same key is used for encryption and decryption, security and protection of the plaintext is directly related to the private key owner""s ability to keep the private key hidden or secret from unauthorized users.
Another method of encryption uses a public key to encrypt plaintext into ciphertext and a private key to decrypt the ciphertext into a readable message. This technique is referred to as an asymmetric algorithm. Because the encryption key can be released into the public domain, no harm is done unless the private key is discovered to decrypt the ciphertext.
Regardless of what technique is used, in traditional encryption one basic premise is retained: one file equals one message. Traditional encryption methods have many problems, including lack of efficiency, reliability and simplicity of use. To completely privatize computer data, a system and method are needed that break out of the conventional encryption wisdom that one file equals one message. Nothing in the art suggests or teaches a method to easily privatize data in such a way that the user(s) is not even aware of the high level of security being provided. Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a system and method for privatizing computer data wherein data files are fragmented, randomly interspersed with other fragments from other files to form composite files and then randomly dispersed to hidden locations over the Internet, a hard drive of a stand-alone personal computer and/or other media, such that only authorized users have access to such data.
A system and method for privatizing computer data comprises the steps of opening a plurality of original data files, fragmenting said original data files into fragments, and interspersing said fragments among each other forming composite files, which together with an index file comprise a privacy protected archive. The method then comprises the steps of creating a reconstitution file, which identifies hidden dispersion locations and placement of individual fragments to reconstruct the original data files. Finally, the composite files may be dispersed to the hidden locations. To enhance security, each fragment is disguised through an exclusive OR operation and other mathematical operations, with the disguising directed by a fragment handling guide drawn from a random table, before interspersing fragments within the composite files.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a system and method for privatizing computer data, which provides substantially complete security from unauthorized persons, without resorting to strong encryption techniques.
Further, it is another object of the present invention to provide a system and method for privatizing computer data, which provides freedom from data mining.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a system and method for privatizing computer data by dispersing files to hidden locations on the Internet and/or other media.
Further, another objective of the present invention is to provide a system and method for privatizing computer data wherein only authorized users on authorized computers can open a reconstitution file to obtain access to the computer data.
Still yet, another objective of the present invention is to provide a system and method for privatizing computer files, which serves as an encryption enhancer in that the method can be used on files that are already encrypted.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a system and method for privatizing computer files, which uses cascading fragmentation.
Further, another objective of the present invention is to provide a system and method for privatizing computer files which protects from file loss through automated redundancy.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a system and method for privatizing computer files wherein data restoration is tightly controlled and the fragmentation process is precisely reversed in order to reconstitute data.
Still, another objective of the present invention is to provide a system and method for privatizing computer files wherein computer files can be automatically restored to the original directory locations.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a method for privatizing computer files wherein an older version does not overwrite a newer copy unless specifically requested.
Still yet, another objective of the present invention is to provide a computer readable medium containing instruction for controlling a computer system to perform a method, where the method comprises the steps of providing a plurality of original data files, providing a plurality of fragment storage structures, providing a plurality of composite files, providing at least two locations for storing the plurality of composite files, fragmenting the original data files into fragments, reading each of the fragments from the plurality of original data files, writing each of the fragments into one of the plurality of fragment storage structures, forming interspersed fragments, filling the fragment storage structures with fragments, and writing the interspersed fragments to the composite files.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a method for privatizing computer files that is economical in price and light in its demands on computer resources.

Method and system for fragmenting and reconstituting data


A method of using an aseptic sampling arrangement. The sampling arrangement includes a septum cartridge and a securing element for use with a fluid enclosure. A locking arrangement is provided to allow selective access to the septum cartridge and the securing element. The sampling arrangement further includes a needle, a tube, and a collection bag. The sampling arrangement can be used to monitor the quality of a fluid product. The method of monitoring includes obtaining a fluid product sample from the fluid enclosure within the collection bag. The collection bag is then incubated for a period of time during which oxygen permeates the bag to simulate post-pasteurizing conditions and/or pre-pasteurizing conditions of the fluid product. The method further includes monitoring the level of contamination detected within the fluid product sample.

There are numerous applications wherein it is desirable to obtain discrete or continuous samples from fluid transportation systems or fluid processing enclosures. Enclosures and fluid transportation systems, as used herein, refer to any closed containment structure without respect to its size. Thus it includes such small enclosures such as cans that may be used in shipping starter bacteria from a culture lab. On the other end of the spectrum, it includes large tanks and associated pipelines, which may have capacities of several thousand gallons, such as are used in the dairy processing industry.
Efficient and effective techniques and apparatus for obtaining aseptic samples from such systems and enclosures, are particularly desirable. Examples of industries that require such aseptic sampling include, but are not limited to, the pharmaceutical, bioengineering/biotechnology, brewing/distilling, food processing and dairy processing industries. Applications for such samplings range broadly from process monitoring to laboratory and research applications. For example, sampling is commonly used on dairy farms for herd management or in regulated manufacturing facilities. The sampling is used to detect and control microbial contamination, spoilage microorganisms, food-borne illness, and environmental mastitis both within systems being sampled and externally of such systems. While preferred embodiments of this invention will be described with respect to its sampling use and application in the dairy industry, it will be understood that the invention is not to be construed as limited to use in that industry or to the application described, or to any limitations associated with the specifics of the components or methods disclosed with respect to such preferred embodiments.
Various methods and devices have been employed to perform sampling tasks. Typical sampling techniques commonly involve discrete or isolated sampling from a laminar portion of a fluid transport line. Typical such sampling systems and techniques that have been used in the dairy processing industry are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,941,517; 5,086,813; and 5,269,350. To the extent that such patents may be used to assist the reader in understanding principles and examples of sampling apparatus and methods, they are herein incorporated by reference.
While the apparatus and techniques described in these patents are particularly applicable to systems designed to accommodate them, there also exists a need to perform sampling in existing enclosures and fluid transportation systems that have not been designed for sampling functions. Such systems typically require redesign or retrofitting to accommodate sampling functions. Such retrofitting can be expensive and/or difficult to achieve, can require significant system downtime in implementation of the sampling function and/or replacement of parts to maintain the system, or can lead to system degradation or contamination of the system being sampled. For example, one known method of discrete sampling of fluid involves inserting a needle through a sealing gasket located between connecting ends of pipelines of the fluid transportation system. Problems arises from this method as this method is not aseptic because the gasket becomes so perforated after repeated sampling that the gasket may lose its sealing integrity or introduce contaminants into the system through the perforations. This method requires that the gasket be replaced, which can become expensive both in labor costs and shut down costs.
There are many applications wherein it is desirable to obtain a continuous sample from fluid transportation systems or fluid processing enclosures. The discrete sampling methods typically extract a discrete sample size limited to the volume of a hypodermic needle and syringe. Typically the needle is inserted, fluid is drawn, and the needle is removed. It would be beneficial in some applications to have a system that could draw a continuous, controlled and constant sample volume over an extended period of time. A sampling device that facilitates this feature would also need to accommodate larger volume samples and a means to cool the sample during longer sampling time periods. While continuous sampling techniques have been tried, they have generally not been particularly effective, efficient or reliable in maintaining the aseptic condition of the system during the sampling interval.
Known discrete sampling techniques have not proven to be readily adaptable to continuous sampling techniques. For example, if the sample is taken from a region of laminar fluid flow, the sampling needle can create a venturi effect in the fluid flow being sampled, which can cause reverse flow siphoning from the collected sample and back into the sampled fluid. If such suction effect is disrupted by providing the sampling system with an air gap, the aseptic nature of the sampling system is compromised.
Improvement in methods and devices for sampling is needed, generally to better accommodate: ease of repeated continuous sampling of large volumes; structural integrity of fluid transport equipment; management of contamination; and convenience of continuous and controlled volume sampling. The present invention addresses these and other needs for continuous sampling of fluid transportation systems or fluid processing enclosures.


An axial roller bearing includes a first bearing including a first cage and a first plurality of rollers and a second bearing including a second cage and a second plurality of rollers. The axial roller bearing further includes a first washer positioned on a side of the first bearing, a second washer positioned on a side of the second washer which is opposite from the side of the first bearing on which the first washer is positioned, and a connecting washer positioned between the first bearing and the second bearing. The first cage is attached at an inner side to the first washer and at an outer side to the connecting washer. The second cage is attached at an inner side to the connecting washer and at an outer side to the second washer.

Axial roller bearings are provided in different applications to carry axial loads. In some applications, it is advantageous to stack multiple roller bearings in order to increase a load carrying capacity and speed capability of the axial roller bearing. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,523,453 to Loeschner et al. ("the '453 Patent") and U.S. Pat. No. 6,857,787 to Meier et al. ("the '787 Patent") disclose axial roller bearings that include two tiers of rolling elements.
The '453 Patent includes multiple disks that form bearing races and are held together by bolts. The '787 Patent also includes multiple disks that form bearing races which are loosely held together by a sleeve. While these designs allow for multiple tiers of roller bearings, they do not allow for a roller bearing that is both compact and securely held together, which is advantageous for both shipping and installation.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide an axial roller bearing that overcomes other drawbacks of the prior art.


An apparatus for detecting a phase error for a system such as a CD or a DVD having a multi-level input signal with an irregular zero crossing shift, and a phase locked loop circuit using the same. An A/D converter digitizes a signal read from the CD or the DVD. A phase error detect unit detects a zero crossing of the digital signal consecutively input from the A/D converter, and detects a timing error from a signal corresponding to the detected zero crossing. An error correction unit corrects a sampling timing error of the A/D converter by shifting a phase corresponding to the timing error input from the phase error detect unit. An apparatus for detecting a timing error having a tracking function reduces the amount of normal jitter and a dispersion value of the timing error in accordance with a signal to noise ratio.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for detecting a phase error of an input signal and a phase locked loop circuit using the same, and more particularly to an apparatus for detecting a phase error in accordance with a frequency and a phase change of a signal read from a disk-type storage medium, and a phase locked loop circuit using the same. The present application is based on Korean Application No. 2001-41016, filed Jul. 9, 2001, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
A system for recording and reproducing a signal to and from a disk-type storage medium such as a CD or a DVD records and reproduces the signal by rotating the disk-type storage medium at an equiangular velocity. In the system for recording and reproducing the signal by rotating at the equiangular velocity, when inside tracks, which are located at a center of a radius of the disk-type storage medium, are read, the linear velocity is slow. On the contrary, when outside tracks, which are located at an outer circumference of the radius, are read, the linear velocity is fast. Therefore, since a frequency between the inside tracks and the outside tracks of the disk-type storage medium varies over a large range, there is a need to use an algorithm, which is capable of improving a tracking function by detecting an exact timing error of a receiving signal, which is read from the disk-type storage medium, at a receiving end of the recording and reproducing system.
One example of the algorithm is the MandM (K. H. Mueller and M. Muller) method. The MandM method is disclosed in a thesis entitled xe2x80x9cTiming recovery in digital synchronous data receiverxe2x80x9d (IEEE Trans. Commun., vol. COM-14, pp.516-530, May 1976.)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a structure of a conventional phase locked loop circuit according to the MandM method.
Referring to FIG. 1, the phase locked loop circuit is an apparatus for detecting a timing error and compensating for the timing error. The phase locked loop circuit 1 (hereinafter, referred to as a PLL) detects the timing error from the receiving signal, and synchronizes an input timing and a sampling timing of the receiving signal by compensating the timing error. The timing error in a time domain has the same meaning as a phase error in a frequency domain, thus the timing error and the phase error will be understood to have corresponding meanings hereinafter.
The PLL 1 comprises an A/D converter 10, a phase error detect unit 14, a low pass filter 16, a D/A converter 17, and a voltage controlled oscillator 18 (hereinafter, referred to as a VCO). The A/D converter 10 converts an analog signal into a digital signal. The phase error detect unit 14 detects the phase error from the digital signal input from the A/D converter 10.
The low pass filter 16 removes high frequency noise included in the detected phase error. The D/A converter 17 converts the phase error passed through the low pass filter 16 into an analog signal. The VCO 18 compensates the sampling timing of the A/D converter 10 in accordance with the detected phase error. The PLL 1 includes an interpolation unit 5 for compensating an output characteristic of the PLL 1 to match a system incorporating the PLL 1, for example an optical disk system.
A signal read from each track of the disk-type storage medium, such as a CD or a DVD, by an optical pickup that reproduces the signal from the disk-type storage medium is consecutively input to the A/D converter 10 of the PLL 1. The A/D converter 10 converts the analog signal input from the optical pickup into a digital signal.
The phase error detect unit 14 consecutively receives the digital signal from the A/D converter 10 and obtains the timing error using a method which will be described later. The timing error obtained by the phase error detect unit 14 is input to the low pass filter 16. The low pass filter 16 removes the high frequency noise from the received timing error and inputs the filtered response to the D/A converter 17.
The D/A converter 17 converts the phase error signal, from which the noise has been removed, into an analog signal. The VCO 18 shifts the phase in accordance with the phase error signal to compensate the timing error of the received signal. A/D converter 10 converts the received analog signal into the digital signal at the sampling timing that has been compensated by the shifted phase. The interpolation unit 5 receives the digital signal converted in accordance with the compensated sampling timing, and outputs a controlled signal to match the optical disk system.
According to the described MandM algorithm, the timing error is detected by a mathematical expression 1.
Zk=0.5(Xkakxe2x88x921xe2x88x92Xkxe2x88x921ak)xe2x80x83xe2x80x83[Mathematical expression 1]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the result of the above expression. Referring to FIG. 2, the phase error detect unit 14 comprises a quantization unit 142, a pair of buffers 141 and 143, two multipliers 144 and 145, a subtractor 146, and an amplifier 147.
The buffer 141 receives the digital signal from the A/D converter 10 and stores the digital signal. After the digital signal xkxe2x88x921 is input, if a new digital signal xk is input, the digital signal xkxe2x88x921 is stored in the buffer 141.
The quantization unit 142 receives a new digital signal xk from the A/D converter 10, and outputs a value ak, which has been 2-value quantized as +1 or xe2x88x921 in accordance with the digital signal value, to buffer 143. At this time, an output value akxe2x88x921 of the quantization unit 142 by the digital signal xkxe2x88x921 is stored in the buffer 143. The multiplier 144 receives the output value xkxe2x88x921 of the buffer 141 and the output value ak of the quantization unit 142 based on the new digital signal xk.
The multiplier 145 receives the output value xk of the A/D converter 10 and the output value akxe2x88x921 of the buffer 143. The subtractor 146 obtains the timing error by receiving the value of the multipliers 144 and 145. The amplifier 147 amplifies the obtained timing value by a factor of a half.
FIG. 3 is a graph showing a characteristic of the phase error detect unit 14 of FIG. 2. Referring to FIG. 3, a dotted line xe2x80x9cAxe2x80x9d illustrates an ideal distribution of a timing function value. The straighter the line, the greater is the probability for the timing function value to detect the timing error.
However, a conventional timing function value is shown as an s-type solid line xe2x80x9cRxe2x80x9d. In other words, the conventional timing function value does not satisfy the linear characteristic. The conventional apparatus for detecting a timing error detects the timing error for every sampling clock.
Moreover, as shown in FIG. 8, when the conventional apparatus for detecting a timing error is used, noise generates a large dispersion value in a steady status, when tracking the phase error. In other words, if there is much noise, the error generating probability around the real error value is also high.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 9, when the conventional apparatus for detecting a timing error is used, a normal jitter value is large when tracking the timing error. Therefore, the function of the conventional apparatus for detecting a timing error cannot be assured when a multi-level signal is transmitted in the baseband. Also, when the signal to noise ratio is low, the function cannot be assured.
Moreover, the CD and the DVD system use a run-length limited code signal that is a zero crossing shift of the signal. The signal is irregular and is multi-level. However, when the conventional apparatus for detecting timing error is used, the timing error value is shown in every sampling clock. Thus, there is a problem that the dispersion values of the data sample values show a considerably great variation value in accordance with the influence of the SNR (signal to noise ratio), as shown in FIG. 8 by lines B1, B2, and B3.
The present invention has been made to overcome the above-mentioned problems. Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for detecting a phase error capable of assuring a predetermined function even when an input signal having multiple levels and an irregular zero crossing is used, and a phase locked loop circuit using the same.
The above object is accomplished by providing an apparatus for detecting a phase error comprising a zero crossing detect unit for detecting a zero crossing of digital signals consecutively input; a switching unit for transmitting the consecutively input digital signals when the zero crossing is detected by the zero crossing detect unit; and an error calculate unit for obtaining and outputting timing error between a timing of a present signal input from the switching unit and an input timing of a previous signal for the present signal.
In addition, the above object is accomplished by providing a phase locked loop circuit comprising an A/D converter for converting signals that are consecutively input into digital signals; a phase error detect unit for detecting a zero crossing of the digital signals that are consecutively input from the A/D converter and for detecting a timing error from the signal corresponding to the zero crossing; and an error correction unit for correcting a sampling timing of the A/D converter corresponding to the timing error that has been input from the phase error detect unit.
The phase locked loop circuit is constructed to further include an interpolation unit for outputting an average of a signal output from the A/D converter after the sampling timing is adjusted.
According to the phase locked loop circuit described above, the phase error is calculated only when the zero crossing is detected. Therefore, even when the input signal is a multi-level signal and has an irregular zero crossing, a predetermined function is assured.

Apparatus for detecting phase error by using zero crossing characteristics of input signal, and phase locked loop circuit using the same


The present invention discloses a powdery lipase preparation which is a granulated material comprising a lipase derived from Rhizopus oryzae and/or a lipase derived from Rhizopus delemar and a soybean powder having a fat content of 5 mass % or more. A lipase activity is improved by using this powdery lipase preparation.

Lipases are widely used in esterification of various carboxylic acids such as fatty acids with alcohols such as monoalcohols and polyalcohols, transesterification between esters of several carboxylic acids, and the like. Among them, the transesterification reaction is an important technology not only as method for modifying animal and vegetable fats and oils but also as method for producing esters of various fatty acids such as sugar esters and sterol esters. When a lipase, which is an enzyme hydrolyzing fats and oils, is used as a catalyst in the above reactions, the transesterification reaction can be conducted under the mild condition, i.e. at room temperature to about 70° C. Therefore, the reactions using a lipase can better inhibit side reactions and reduce energy costs as compared with the conventional chemical reactions. In addition to it, since a lipase as a catalyst is a natural product, it is highly safe. Further, intended compounds can be effectively produced by using a lipase due to the substrate specificity and positional specificity thereof. However, even if a powdery lipase is used in the transesterification reaction without change, activity thereof does not fully express. Besides, it is difficult to uniformly disperse a basically water-soluble lipase into oil raw materials and to collect such a lipase.
Therefore, generally, it is common to immobilize a lipase to some carriers, such as an anion-exchange resin (Patent Literature 1), a phenol adsorption resin (Patent Literature 2), a hydrophobic carrier (Patent Literature 3), a cation-exchange resin (Patent Literature 4) and a chelate resin (Patent Literature 5) and to use it in the reactions such as esterification and transesterification. Further, the method for producing immobilized lipase particles is proposed which comprises the steps of producing an emulsion wherein a water phase dissolving a lipase and a substance which acts as a carrier of a lipase is dispersing into a hydrophobic phase; and removing water from the emulsion to convert the water phase into solid particles thereof covered with the lipase (Patent Literature 6).
As mentioned above, a lipase has been conventionally immobilized and used in the transesterification reaction. However, the immobilized lipase loses an original lipase activity through the immobilization. In addition to it, when a porous carrier is used, a raw material or a product gets stuck in fine pores and, as a result, the transesterification rate decreases. Further, in the transesterification reaction wherein the conventional immobilized lipase is used, water which a carrier retains is brought into the reaction system, and therefore, it has been difficult to prevent side reactions such as production of diglycerides and monoglycerides in the transesterification reaction of fats and oils.
In light of the above situations, various technologies using a powdery lipase have been developed. For example, the method of the transesterification reaction is proposed which comprises the steps of dispersing a powdery lipase, in the presence or absence of an inactive organic solvent(s), into a raw material comprising an ester(s) so that 90% or more of the dispersed powdery lipase particles maintains a particle diameter of 1-100 μm during the reaction; and transesterifying said mixture (Patent Literature 7). Further, use of an enzymatic powder is also proposed, said enzymatic powder which is obtained by drying an enzyme solution comprising phospholipids and lipid-soluble vitamins (Patent Literature 8).
However, a powdery lipase of which lipase activity is further improved has been desired.
On the other hand, the method for producing an enzyme-immobilized preparation is proposed which comprises the steps of adding a grain powder or a grain powder and sugars to a solution comprising an enzyme(s), and drying the solution comprising an enzyme(s) (Patent Literature 9). The literature discloses that examples of usable enzymes include a lipase, a cellulase, a protease, an amylase and a pectinase, and that the enzyme-immobilized preparation obtained by the above production method can inhibit enzyme deactivation in the presence of a substance reducing an enzymatic activity. However, there is no description on the improvement of an enzymatic activity therein. Further, actually produced examples in the literature are only those in which a defatted soybean powder having less fat content is applied as a cellulase or a protease, and there is no specific description on an example wherein a lipase is used.
Patent Literature 1: JP-A 60-98984
Patent Literature 2: JP-A 61-202688
Patent Literature 3: JP-A 2-138986
Patent Literature 4: JP-A 3-61485
Patent Literature 5: JP-A 1-262795
Patent Literature 6: JP-B 3403202
Patent Literature 7: JP-B 2668187
Patent Literature 8: JP-A 2000-106873
Patent Literature 9: JP-A 11-246893

Powdery lipase preparation, method for producing the same and use thereof


An air conditioning system and a method of heating air flowing through a heater core of a HVAC module is disclosed. The method includes flowing essentially all of the air flowing through an evaporator through a heater core for all HVAC operating conditions. A flow control valve is opened long enough to allow a flow of hot coolant from an engine into the heater core. The valve is then closed to stop the flow of the hot coolant. When the temperature of the hot coolant is determined to have cooled to a predetermined temperature threshold, the flow control valve is then opened again to allow hot coolant to flow into the heater core.

The present invention relates generally to heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems for vehicles, and in particular to heating the air in such HVAC systems.
In a conventional HVAC module, an air temperature door (blend door) is used to direct the flow of air through or around the heater core after the air flows through the evaporator, and a mixing chamber is located downstream of the heater core to allow the air to flow through the heater core to mix with the air that flows around the heater core. This allows for a uniform temperature of the air flowing from the HVAC module by mixing the cooler air that flowed around the heater core with the warmer air that flowed through the heater core. However, with these conventional systems, the HVAC module may be larger than is desired due to the space needed for the blend door and the mixing chamber, and moreover the hot coolant is being continuously pumped through the heater core, whether needed or not.
Some have added a valve to stop the flow of coolant through the heater core when not needed. Others have employed a pump having pulse width modulation or on/off control in order to control the percentage of maximum coolant flow flowing through the heater core based on the current heating needs of the HVAC system. The pulsed width modulation is a linear flow control of the flowing coolant, with reduced flow when reduced capacity is needed and higher flow when higher heater capacity is needed. But these variations of the conventional system still do not overcome some of the drawbacks of the conventional HVAC module.

Heater coolant flow control for HVAC module


Content from multiple different sources can be divided into segments based on time. Matched segments associated with each source can be identified by comparing content included in a first segment associated with a first source, to content included in a second segment associated with a second source. Syndicated content can be identified and tagged based, at least in part, on a relationship between sequences of matched segments on different stations. Various embodiments also include identifying main sequences associated with each source under consideration, removing some of the main sequences, and consolidating remaining main sequences based on various threshold criteria.

Technology is currently available to permit broadcasters, data aggregators, media licensing entities, and others collect data related to broadcast media content. Various analysis techniques can be applied to the collected data to identify user, viewer, or listener demographics and related information. In many cases, the data collection can be substantially automated, but analysis of the collected media content often requires significant human resources.
Sometimes, to determine whether content broadcast on a station is part of a syndicated show, a human manually listens to the radio station, and uses intuition or other human problem solving skills to arrive at a conclusion. This and other techniques currently in use can be inefficient, inaccurate, and time-prohibitive—especially if utilized with a large sampling of stations. Consequently, conventional media content analysis techniques leave room for improvement.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Program and syndicated content detection


Electron-activated photon emission materials are disclosed. A first electron source emits a first electron having a first predetermined energy at a first nanoparticle of a photon emission material that includes a first layer of a plurality of nanoparticles. A first photonic response of the receipt of the first electron by the first nanoparticle is determined. The first photonic response is interpreted as a first numeric value.

Optical storage mediums, such as Digital Versatile Disk (DVD) and Blu-Ray™ disks, are read by focusing a light source, such as a laser, at a spinning disk on which data has been encoded, and interpreting the data encoded thereon based on changes in reflectivity of the light. A number of factors, including the wavelength of the light source, and the need to focus the light source on a spinning disk, limit the amount of data that may be encoded on an optical storage medium. The demand for increasingly larger storage capacities is unrelenting. Accordingly, there is a need for storage mechanisms that offer greater storage capacity than is currently available.

Electron-activated photon emission material and use thereof


An image apparatus capable of improving a frame rate to prevent resolution in the predetermined area from decreasing and forming image signals outside the predetermined area has an area sensor in which a plurality of pixels is arranged in a matrix, a drive circuit unit, a read out circuit unit and a processing unit processing signals transferred from the read out circuit unit. The drive circuit unit and the read out circuit unit perform a first operation in which signals are simultaneously read out from N pixels in a first area of the area sensor (where N is an integer equal to one or more) and a second operation in which signals are simultaneously read out from M pixels in a second area except the first area of the area sensor (where M is an integer equal to two or more and always greater than N), the first and second read out operations are continuously performed in one frame period, and a first and a second signal obtained by the first and the second read out operations are continuously transferred from the read out circuit unit to the processing unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus, a radiation imaging apparatus and a radiation imaging system, and more specifically, to an imaging apparatus used in a radiation imaging apparatus and radiation imaging system suitably used for still image radiographing such as plain radiographing and moving image radiographing such as fluoroscopy in medical diagnosis and an imaging apparatus used in a radiation imaging system. In the present invention, radiation includes not only alpha rays, beta rays and gamma rays being beams produced by particles (including photons) emitted by radioactive decay, but beams whose energy are nearly equal to or greater than the above, such as, for example, X rays, corpuscular rays and cosmic rays.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a radiation imaging apparatus using a flat panel detector (hereinafter, referred to as FPD) formed by a thin film semiconductor material over an insulating substrate has been practically applied as an imaging apparatus used for medical image diagnosis and non-destructive inspection using X rays. The radiation imaging apparatus using the FPD enables a digital radiographing in which radiation such X rays transmitted through an object such as a patient is converted into an analog electric signal by the FPD and the analog electric signal is then converted into a digital image signal. The FPD is roughly classified into two types: direct conversion and indirect conversion. The direct conversion type of a radiation imaging apparatus has an FPD including a two-dimensional area sensor in which a plurality of pixels are two-dimensionally arranged which include conversion elements using semiconductors such as a-Se capable of directly converting radiation into electric charge. The indirect conversion type of a radiation imaging apparatus has an FPD including a two-dimensional area sensor in which a plurality of pixels are two-dimensionally arranged which include a wavelength converter such as phosphor capable of converting radiation into light and a photoelectric conversion element using semiconductors such as a-Si capable of converting light into electric charge. The indirect conversion type of a radiation imaging apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,022,997, for example. The radiation imaging apparatus with the FPD is capable of replacing radiation image with digital information, enabling image information to be momentarily transmitted over distance. The radiation imaging apparatus with the FPD is used as a digital imaging apparatus for still image radiographing such as plain radiographing and moving image radiographing such as fluoroscopy in medical image diagnosis, for example.
One method is based on pixel addition. The following describes pixel addition. In general, the two-dimensional area sensor sequentially reads signals from pixels on a row and/or a column basis. However, the more the number of pixels in the two-dimensional area sensor, the longer the time (or one frame time) required to sequentially read out signals from pixels for one frame on a row basis and/or on a column basis. For this reason, a method referred to as "pixel addition" is used as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H07-322141 in which signals are simultaneously read from a plurality of pixels on a plural row basis and/or on a plural column basis to accelerate a scanning speed to shorten one frame time, improving a frame rate. The pixel addition method enables the frame rate to be improved and sensitivity to be improved because the method treats a signal from a plurality of pixels as one synthesized pixel.
Another method is based on trimming. The following describes trimming. Trimming is a method of selectively reading out signals from pixels in a predetermined area. Only signals from arbitrary pixels are sequentially read out on a row basis and/or on a column basis, and signals from other pixels are not read out or signals from other pixels are simultaneously read out. U.S. Pat. No. 6,690,493 discloses the trimming.
However, the pixel addition is lower in resolution than the method in which signals are sequential read out. For this reason, it may be difficult for the pixel addition to adapt to a part such as a heart that moves quickly and has minute vessels.
In the trimming, signals from the pixels outside a predetermined area are not read out or those are simultaneously read out, so that image signals cannot be formed from signals from the pixels outside the predetermined area. Accordingly, when the trimming is used for monitoring when a catheter is inserted or surgical operation is conducted in fluoroscopy, images outside the predetermined area cannot be formed, so that it may be difficult to follow an object moved outside the predetermined area.

Imaging apparatus having a read out circuit unit with dual readout operation and method of improving a frame rate


A determining section 106 compares received signal strengths of the respective pilot signals stored in a strength table 105 with a predetermined threshold of received signal strength, and reports a pilot signal exceeding the predetermined threshold to a control section 107. The control section 107 instructs a strength extracting section 104 to increase the number of received signal strength extraction times of the pilot signal exceeding the predetermined threshold. The strength extracting section 104 extracts received signal strengths from the respective pilot signals based on the instructed number of times. The strength table 105 detects the received signal strengths of the respective pilot signals at timing when the number of received signal strength extraction times reaches the predetermined number of times.

The present invention relates to a mobile communication terminal apparatus and a received signal strength detecting method in a mobile communication system such as a cellular phone, a car phone, and the like.
A handover, which is performed in a mobile communication system using a code division multiple access (CDMA), is implemented when a mobile station detects received signal strengths from peripheral cells and reports the detected received signal strengths to a control station via a base station in communication.
Namely, the mobile station despreads pilot signals received from a plurality of base stations positioned at the peripheral cells, and detects received signal strengths of the respective pilot signals. The control station performs comparison among the received signal strengths of the respective pilot signals of the peripheral cells reported to the control station via the base station in communication by the mobile station. The control station selects a cell providing the highest received signal strength of pilot signals as a handover destination cell, whereby the handover is carried out. The method of the handover in the mobile communication system using CDMA is described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,261.
An explanation will be next given of a received signal strength detecting method that is used by a conventional radio receiving apparatus in the mobile station. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the conventional radio receiving apparatus.
The respective pilot signals of mobile station peripheral cells received by an antenna 2 of a radio receiving apparatus 1 are subjected to predetermined radio processing and demodulation processing by a receiving section 3. Then, the strength extracting section 4 despreads these pilot signals based on a phase and a spreading code, which are indicated by a control section 5, so as to extract received signal strengths. The received signal strengths of the respective pilot signals are stored in a strength table 6. Then, the strength table 6 calculates average values of the received signal strengths at timing to be described later, and the calculated values are outputted to the other apparatus (not shown) in the mobile station from an output terminal 7. The average values of the received signal strengths of the respective pilot signals are subjected to predetermined processing by the other apparatus (not shown) of the mobile station. Thereafter, the mobile station reports the resultant to the control station via the base station currently in communication.
Next, the following will explain an operation in which the radio receiving apparatus 1 detects received signal strengths of the respective pilot signals of the mobile station peripheral cells. FIG. 2 is a view illustrating that the radio receiving apparatus 1 detects received signal strengths of the respective pilot signals of the mobile station peripheral cells. In FIG. 2, it is assumed that the pilot signals received from peripheral cells A, B, C, and D are pilot signals A, B, C, and D, respectively, the received signal strengths of the respective pilot signals are illustrated under the respective pilot signals, and that the received signal strength increases as the number becomes larger.
A strength extracting section 4 extracts the received signal strengths of the respective pilot signals repeatedly by the same times, and outputs the extracted received signal strengths to the strength table 6. At the time when the received signal strengths of the pilot signals from the same cell are extracted a predetermined number of times, the strength table 6 calculates the average values of the received signal strengths of the respective signals, detects the average values as received signal strengths of the respective pilot signals, and outputs them. The number of extraction times to be predetermined is set to one, which is enough to calculate the average values of the respective pilot signals.
Assuming that the number of extraction times to be predetermined is five. As illustrated in FIG. 2, at timing 17 when the strength extracting section 4 extracts the received signal strength of the pilot signal A five times, the strength table 6 calculates average values of the received signal strengths of the respective pilot signals A, B, C, and D. As a result, the strength table 6 detects the received signal strengths of the respective pilot signals A, B, C, and D as 3, 4, 2, 1, respectively, and outputs them.
The mobile station reports the calculated average values of the received signal strengths of the respective pilot signals to the control station via the base station in communication. Then, the control station selects a base station, which is positioned at the cell B having the pilot signal whose received signal strength is the highest, as a handover destination base station, thereby carrying out the handover.
In the conventional radio receiving apparatus, however, the number of received signal strength extraction times is the same regardless of the received signal strengths of the respective pilot signals A, B, C, and D, and this requires much time to reach a received signal strength detection timing of each pilot signal, and causes a problem in which the selection of the handover destination cell B at the control station is delayed. The more the number of mobile station peripheral cells where the received signal strengths should be detected, the more time is required till received signal strength detection timing of the respective pilot signals is reached, so that the selection of the handover destination cell B at the control station is more delayed.
The delay of the selection of the handover destination cell B causes the handover to the base station, which is positioned at the cell B having the pilot signal whose received signal strength is the highest, to be delayed at the mobile station. This results in the increase of time required for communication between the mobile station and the base station, which is currently in communication and which is positioned at the cell from which the received signal strength is low, so that communication quality is deteriorated.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a mobile communication terminal apparatus and a received signal strength detecting method that carry out a handover speedily and prevent a communication quality from deteriorating by reducing a time required to reach a received signal strength detection timing of each pilot signal.
The inventor of the present invention pays attention to the fact in which the reason why much time is required to reach received signal strength detection timing of the respective pilot signals lies in the point that the number of received signal strength extraction times is the same regardless of the received signal strengths of the respective pilot signals. Then, the inventor of the present invention found out the point in which time required to reach received signal strength detection timing is reduced by increasing the number of received signal strength extraction times with respect to the pilot signals having received signal strengths exceeding the predetermined threshold, and achieved the present invention.
In order to attain the above object, according to the present invention, a cell where a base station, which has transmitted pilot signals having received signal strengths exceeding a predetermined threshold, is positioned is used as a candidate of a handover destination cell. Then, time required to reach received signal strength detection timing is reduced by increasing the number of received signal strength extraction times with respect to the pilot signals having received signal strengths exceeding the predetermined threshold.

Mobile communication terminal apparatus and received signal strength detecting method

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A vehicle wheel comprises a rim (172) and a disk section (171) separate from the rim. Since the disk section is separate from the rim, the freedom of designing the disk section is improved. The rim comprises an outer rim (178) and an inner rim (181) separate from the outer rim. The outer and inner rims are attached to the outer periphery of the disk section at the same place by welding.

Known vehicle wheels include) a two-piece wheel with a rim attached to a side surface of a disk (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. SHO-62-71003), a wheel with a half-split rim (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. HEI-9-20103), a two-piece wheel with a disk attached to the inside of a rim (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. HEI-3-55441), and a wheel of a three-piece configuration.
FIG. 10 hereof illustrates a wheel disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. SHO-62-71003. This wheel has a configuration in which a rim half 202 provided with a disk 201 and a rim half 204 provided with a disk 203 are welded together at the peripheries of the disk 201 and the disk 203. 205 denotes welds.
FIG. 11 hereof illustrates a wheel disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. HEI-9-20103. This wheel is configured with a rim 212 welded to a side surface of a disk 211. 213 denotes a weld.
FIG. 12 hereof illustrates a wheel disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. HEI-3-55441. This wheel is a small-diameter large-width wheel having a step 222 provided in a well 221 of a rim, a disk 223 attached to the step 222, and a plurality of mounting holes 224 provided in the disk 223 for mounting to a hub of a vehicle.
FIG. 13 hereof illustrates a wheel of a three-piece configuration. A wheel 231 consists of an inner wheel 232, an outer wheel 233, a center disk 234 interposed between the inner wheel 232 and the outer wheel 233, and a plurality of connecting members 236 for connecting those three components together and also serving as mounting parts to a hub 235. The connecting members 236 are provided with nut seats for receiving nuts 238 screwed to bolts 237 at the side of the hub 235. With the connecting members 236, the wheel 231 is centered with respect to the hub 235.
In the wheel shown in FIG. 10, the disks 201, 203 of the rim halves 202, 204 are planar. In the case of providing depressions and protrusions or decorative holes in the disks 201, 203, the disks 201, 203 should be formed to an exact shape; otherwise it becomes difficult to join the disks 201, 203 together. Accordingly, the shape of the disks 201, 203 has to be made simple. Under this, the design freedom of the disks 201, 203 is reduced.
The disk 211 shown in FIG. 11 is produced by press molding and the rim 212 is formed by roll forming. If the disk 211 and the rim 212 could be formed by the same forming method such as press molding, they could be produced by the same processing machine on the same line, resulting in improved productivity.
For the wheel shown in FIG. 12, to mount the wheel to the hub, the accuracy of the mounting holes 224 to be fitted to bolts at the hub should be improved; otherwise it becomes difficult to improve the centering accuracy of the wheel with respect to the hub. Improving the accuracy of the mounting holes 224 results in cost increase.
The wheel shown in FIG. 13 has the connecting members 236 as additional members to the other members of the wheel 231, thus having an increased number of components, and the wheel 231 has the three-piece configuration, thus resulting in an increased number of assembling steps, which leads to cost increase.


Disclosed are vehicle inspection systems and methods, and more particularly, systems and methods for appraising the damage caused to a vehicle during an accident and in certain embodiments for dispositioning the vehicle from the accident scene. The disclosed appraisal systems can include one or more cameras, scanner and sensors and a computing device. The cameras can be mounted to a recovery vehicle, for example, for taking imagery of the damaged vehicle at an accident scene. The computing device receives the imagery from each camera and/or sensors/scanners and communicates the data and imagery to a remote server for use in a damage assessment. An evaluation is performed using the transmitted data and a determination is made as to whether sufficient information has been provided in order to allow an agent of the insurer and/or a data analysis module to make a damage assessment and provide a routing instruction for dispositioning the vehicle from the accident scene and, if appropriate, for automatically arranging a rental car service for the driver or owner of the damaged vehicle based on factors such as vehicle and coverage data.

Currently, most rapid, on-scene or remote vehicle appraisal systems and processes require assistance from the vehicle owner or someone else using a camera and/or a smart device. Such systems can introduce some inherent safety and risk concerns due to the nature of most accident scenes being around moving traffic and emergency vehicles.
Moreover, when the vehicle is deemed non-drivable, it must be removed from the accident scene by means of a recovery vehicle or tow truck. It is not uncommon for the owner, the driver of the recover vehicle or the insurance company to not know whether the vehicle should be taken to a repair facility or to a salvage yard. Many times, the wrong decision is made since the vehicle appraisal remains outstanding at the time when a decision is needed as to where to disposition the vehicle. These delivery errors burden both the owner and the insurance company with significantly extra time and cost.
Moreover, reliance on human adjusters to inspect a damaged vehicle at a remote location can be a big expense for insurance companies, especially when travel to remote locations is necessary.
There is a need therefore, for a cost-effective, on-scene or remote vehicle inspection system which reduces the safety concerns identified above. Preferably, the system is capable of providing a recommendation for dispositioning the vehicle from the accident scene or remote location and for automatically providing rental car services to the vehicle driver or policy owner if appropriate based on information, such as for example, vehicle and coverage data.

United Services Automobile Association (USAA)


A retractable contact assembly includes an outer casing having a first opening and a piston located in the first opening of the outer casing and moveable axially within the opening. The piston has a second opening. The assembly further includes an inelastic force generating device configured to control an axial movement of the piston and a contact located in the second opening of the piston and movable axially in the second opening of the piston. The assembly further includes an elastic force biasing device configured to provide an elastic force to the contact in an axial direction outward from the second opening.

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an electrical retractable contact assembly, and in particular to an electrical contact, such as a conductive brush, positioned within a retractable piston.
Conventional brush and slip ring assemblies supply electrical power from a brush to a slip ring positioned around a rotating shaft, such as may be used to electrically provide de-icing power to a rotating propeller. However, conventional assemblies suffer from rapid wear and require frequent replacement of the brushes and/or the slip rings. In addition, typical brush and ring systems generate considerable debris, since the brushes are in constant contact with the ring. In addition, in some systems, such as de-icing systems, power is required only occasionally. However, since the brushes are in constant contact with the ring, even when power is not required, the brushes may wear down unnecessarily.


A readily erectable and demountable lightweight sectional dock structure has cylindrical anchor posts arranged in a series of spaced pairs, stringers supporting deck plates, and cross braces. Clamp structures unite the stringers and cross braces independently to the posts and comprise a first U-shaped outer part with a semi-cylindrical post socket joined to leg portions having flat, interior, transversely extending, interlock surface portions removably joined to an inner clamp part with an opposing socket forming a merged continuation of the first part socket, the inner clamp part having longitudinally spaced, transversely extending socket legs with flat transversely extending exterior interlock surface portions abutting the interior surface portions on the outer clamp part, and transversely inwardly extending projections on the inner clamp parts receiving the cross braces telescopically.

The dock system of the present invention is of portable lightweight construction and employs multi-purpose clamp structures which cooperate with sectional stringers and cross brace elements in a manner to rigidly fix the dock to the standards or anchor posts which extend vertically below the water line to support the system on the bed of a lake or other body of water. More particularly the invention is concerned with a dock construction, utilizing readily available or extrudable aluminum members, which can be easily erected and demounted seasonally with relatively little effort. A variety of prior patents have been granted for various dock structures including the following:
______________________________________ Re. 24,837 Usab 2,044,703 Kline 3,287,919 Hahn 3,345,825 Parker 3,614,871 Nordell 3,999,397 Albery 4,028,899 Carmichael, III 4,037,420 Wicks 4,050,257 Parks et al 4,087,977 Kuhlman ______________________________________
While these patents incorporate some of the elements of the invention claimed, it is to be noted that none of them combinatively disclose the claimed invention. For example, while the Usab patent Re. No. 24,837 discloses a two part clamp, it lacks the complementing, abutting, flat interlock surfaces which are utilized by the applicant, and other elements which are defined. The Parks et al Pat. No. 4,050,257 discloses cross braces which telescopically receive projections on the clamp structure but lacks other elements of the combination claimed.


An apparatus receives a first image captured by an image capture device of a mobile apparatus. The first image corresponds to surroundings of the mobile apparatus. Each artificial image of a first plurality of artificial images respectively is a two-dimensional projection of a three-dimensional model from a perspective of an image position and image pose. The apparatus determines one or more first image attributes respectively for one or more sections of the first image; identifies at least one artificial image of the first plurality of artificial images that has one or more artificial image attributes that substantially match the one or more first image attributes for corresponding sections of the at least one artificial image and the first image; and determines a location and/or pose of the mobile apparatus based at least in part on the image position and/or the image pose associated with the at least one artificial image.

Autonomous driving, for example, requires high accuracy, real-time localization of vehicles. Pedestrian navigation, especially in dense urban environments, also relies upon receiving precise real-time location data. Currently, most navigation has been accomplished using a global positioning system (GPS), which provides a real-time location with a 95% confidence interval of 7.8 meters, according to the US government. However, in complicated urban environments, reflection or obstruction of GPS signals by tall buildings and other structures can further increase this error, such that a determined location may be off by as much as 30 meters (also known as multipath error). In an autonomous driving example occurring in a large city, this accuracy is not sufficient to properly localize an autonomous vehicle so that it can make safe route planning decisions, given that the width of many lanes is only 3 to 4 meters. City blocks typically extend around 80 meters, thus this error in GPS localization could mean the difference of almost half of a block. Local device sensors, such as inertial measurement units (IMUs) can increase the accuracy of localization by taking into account movement, but these sensors tend to drift and still do not provide sufficient accuracy for localization. Navigation in indoor environments is even more unreliable due to the even greater obstruction of GPS signals. Furthermore, navigation relies on GPS signals for positioning, hence the positioning system name, but typically count on local device sensors for orientation (pose), which again may drift or simply be inaccurate. Therefore, there is a widely recognized need for accuracy for position and pose data across many industries, a significant example being autonomous driving.
Visual-based localization methods have been contemplated as an alternative and/or a supplement to GPS navigation in some environments due to the ability of visual-based localization methods to achieve high accuracy of localization. Current visual localization methods rely on a database of geo-tagged visual features, thereby requiring a visual survey of the area of interest before localization can be done. As such, an obvious barrier to ubiquitous implementation of visual-based localization methods is scalability, especially on a global scale, as an incredibly large database would be required to store data on a large number of geo-tagged visual features. Even following implementation of a large visual features database, most if not all localization methods can only be implemented on the server side as a network-centric architecture, due to client devices exhibiting constraints in data storage capacity and/or computational power. Thus, a visual-based localization method that provides at least the same or more accuracy as GPS navigation, that can also be relatively portable in use by client devices would be an improvement over current methods and is desirable.

Visual localization using a three-dimensional model and image segmentation