A vehicle door, wherein a drive unit for raising and lowering a glass plate is constructed so that a plurality of pulleys across which wires are laid are provided at upper and lower sides of a base panel. The glass plate is moved up and down by driving the wires, and the glass plate is prevented from moving in a vehicle inward direction when the door is closed. Wire fixing portions are prevented from being damaged by large upward and downward stroke movements of the glass plate Furthermore, the wires are prevented from slackening when the wires are driven and stopped by providing a supporting rod along a path of upward and downward movement of the glass plate, and a contact member which has no contact with the supporting rod. Trumpet-shaped guide portions are provided at hole edges of the wire fixing portions, and the V-shaped circumferential surfaces of a tensioner eliminates slack in the wires.

As examples of a conventionally known vehicle door, there are a hinge door and a slide door (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-1756). An example of a conventional hinge door is described in FIG. 9.
The vehicle door 1′ comprises a door panel unit and a door module. The door panel unit comprises an outer panel 13′ forming an outer wall of the door 1′, a hinge member 1′a for attaching the door 1′ to the vehicle body, and an inner panel provided at a vehicle inner circumferential edge of the outer panel 13′.
On the other hand, a frame structure forming the framework of the door module comprises a front sash 6′a positioned at a vehicle front side, a rear sash 6′b positioned at a vehicle rear side, an upper sash 6′c positioned at the highest portion of the door module, a middle frame 6′d that is positioned below the upper sash 6′c and extends horizontally, and a window 5′ enclosed by these sashes, and further comprises a panel 3′ including a lower frame 6′e positioned at the lowest portion of the middle frame 6′d and door module and a space 4′ therebetween. The upper sash 6′c is along an upper edge 10′a of the door glass 10′.
The frame structure comprises a drive unit 20′ for driving the glass plate up and down, a door latch mechanism, and a latching operation mechanism (door inside handle).
The sashes 6′a, 6′b, and 6′c, drive unit 20′, and door glass 10′ compose a door glass lifting and lowering device.
As shown in FIG. 9, the drive unit 2O′ comprises a steel-made base plate (referred to as a base panel, also) 21′ provided between the middle frame 6′d and lower frame 6′e, and a pair of front and rear frames 22′ and 23′ that are fixed on the base plate 21′ and extend vertically. Upper ends and lower ends of the frames 22′ and 23′ are fixed to the middle frame 6′d and the lower frame 6′e. Upper pulleys 26′ and 28′ and lower pulleys 27′ and 29′ are provided at the upper ends and lower ends of the frames 22′ and 23′. Furthermore, a drive pulley 25′ and a motor 24′ for rotating the drive pulley 25′ are provided on the base plate 21′. This motor 24′ is a motor with a reduction gear, which uses an on-vehicle battery (not shown) as a power supply and is rotatable forward and backward.
A wire called a wire cable is set on these pulleys so as to cross over in an X shape. Namely, this wire comprises a front moving portion 31′a laid vertically across the front side upper pulley 28′ and lower pulley 27′, a rear moving portion 31′b laid vertically across the rear side upper pulley 28′ and lower pulley 29′, a first slanting portion 31′c slantingly laid across the upper pulley 28′ and drive pulley 25′, a second slanting portion 31′d slantingly laid across the lower pulley 27′ and drive pulley 25′, and a third slanting portion 31′e slantingly laid across the upper pulley 26′ and lower pulley 29′.
The first and second slanting portions 31′c and 31′d and the third slanting portions 31′e cross each other in an X shape. For the first slanting portion 31′c and second slanting portion 31′c, tension member 30′ for absorbing the elongation and slack of the wire by appropriately tensioning the entire wire.
At the vertical middle portions of the front moving portion 31′a and rear moving portion 31b′, a carrier plate 38′ for supporting the door glass 10′ is fixed so as to be almost horizontal. A U-shaped glass receiving member 41′ is fixed to the carrier plate 38′.
As a means for fixing the wire 31′a to the carrier plate 38′, as shown in FIG. 9(B) and FIG. 9(C), the wire 31′a is inserted into a hole made at a carrier plate attaching location 39′, and fixed by means of an optional method such as caulking.
The end portion of the first slanting portion 31′c is latched on the drive pulley 25′, and a length that allows the lifting and lowering stroke of the door glass 10′ is wound around the drive pulley 25′. The end portion of the second slanting portion 31′d is also latched on the drive pulley 25′, and the length that allows the lifting and lowering stroke of the door glass 10′ is wound in a multi-round spiral groove 25′a of the drive pulley 25′.
Therefore, when the drive pulley 25′ rotates clockwise, the first slanting portion 31′c of the wire is extended from the drive pulley 25′, and the second slanting portion 31′d is wound by the drive pulley 25′, and the moving portions 31′a and 31′b simultaneously rise. In accordance with this rise, the carrier plate 38′ and door glass 10′ lower together. Furthermore, when the drive pulley 25′ rotates counterclockwise, the first and second slanting portions and the moving portions move oppositely to each other, whereby the carrier plate 38′ and door glass 10′ rise.
Next, the well-known tension member shown in FIG. 10 (referred to as a tensioner, also) is described in detail. The tensioner 30′ comprises a swing member 60′, a first slide member 61′, and a second slide member 62′. These members are, as generally known, integrally plastically formed from a synthetic resin such as nylon or polyacetal which enables easy sliding but does not allow the occurrence of sliding noises.
The swing member 60′ integrally connects the first slide member 61′ and second slide member 62′ while leaving a gap 63′ that serves as a passage for the wire 33′ therebetween. The swing member 60′ is pivotally attached to the base panel 21′ so that pendulum-like horizontal reciprocative movements of the second slide member 62′ of the tensioner 30′ are possible. A fixing hole 65′ is formed in the base panel 21′, a through hole 66′ is formed in a hollow portion 61′d in the first slide member 61′, and a pivot 64′ is formed of a caulking pin for pivotally attaching the first slide member 61′ to the base panel 21′.
A wound spring 70′ is housed in a hollow portion 61′e of a lower opening formed in the body of the first slide member 61′, one end thereof is inserted and fixed into a spring end fixing hole formed at an upper side of the body, an other end is inserted and fixed into a spring end fixing hole formed in the base panel 21′, and the wound spring is constructed so as to absorb the slack that may be generated from the wire 33′ by always pressing the second slide member 62′ in one direction.
Circumferential surfaces opposed to the wire 33′ passing through the wire passage 63′ between the first slide member 61′ and second slide member 62′ are shaped as shown in the figure so as to have U-shaped sections opening outward. These first slide surface 61′a and second slide surface 62′a which have U-shaped sections opening outward are provided with brim portions 61′b and 62′b at both sides to guide the passing wire at a central flat portion.
The first slide member 61′ and second slide member 62′ are constructed so that, when the wire 33′ passes through the wire passage 63′ between the first slide member 61′ and second slide member 62′, the wire reciprocates toward an arrow 90′ direction while being always guided by the flat surfaces 61′a and 62′b formed on the circumferential surfaces of the first slide member 61′ and second slide member 62′ in a case where the movement locus of the wire 33′ advancing and retreating between the drum 25′ and pulley 27′ deflects in an axial direction (arrow 90′ direction) of the drum 25′ as shown in FIG. 10 in accordance with the rotation of the drum 25′ which has the abovementioned spiral groove 25′a.
In the condition of FIG. 9, as mentioned above, when the drive pulley 25′ is rotated clockwise to lower the door glass 10′, the second slanting portion 31′d of the wire is strongly tensioned, and a slightly slackening condition is applied to the first slanting portion 31′c of the wire.
Particularly, when the drive pulley 25′ is driven clockwise (counterclockwise) to lower (raise) the door glass 10′ via the wire 33′, even if the door glass 10′ reaches a bottom dead point 10′d (top dead point 10′c) and stops, the drive pulley 25′ continues to slightly rotate, and extends the first slanting portion 31′c (second slanting portion 31′d) of the wire. In such a condition, the second slide member 62′ in the tension member 30′ pulls and tensions the first slanting portion 31′c (second slanting portion 31′d) of the wire that is about to rotate in an arrow 59′ direction and slacken, and absorbs the slack.
In the conventional vehicle door, the glass plate 10′ is supported by elastic members provided in the grooves of two front and rear sashes 6′a and 6′b of the window frame when the glass plate has risen halfway or has entirely risen.
Therefore, at a moment at which the door 1′ is closed with great force and it hits against the frame edge of the getting in/out section, in both cases of a hinge door and slide door, the glass plate 10′ warps toward the inside of the vehicle due to inertia or shifts toward the inside of the vehicle while collapsing the elastic members (blades) in the sashes, and the lower portion of the glass plate 10′ comes into contact with the internal components arranged in the space 4′ of the panel 3′. Thereby, there was a problem that an impact noise occurred.
In order to solve the above mentioned problem, there is a conventional vehicle door 1′ constructed so that an additional guide rail is provided at the middle position between the sashes 6′a and 6′b that are two front and rear guide rails within the panel 3′ of the door 1′, these three rails support the glass plate 10′, and the glass plate 10′ moves up and down while being supported by the rails.
With this construction, door stability when it is closed is improved. However, during use, resistive loads of the three rails are applied to upward and downward movements of the glass plate 10′. Due to the sliding resistance, upward and downward movements of the glass plate become entirely heavy. Therefore, there is a problem that the drive unit is required to output a high output, so that the drive unit is increased in size.
Furthermore, it becomes necessary to match the third rail with the movement locus of the glass plate. That is, it requires high-level techniques to form a guide surface on the third rail in contact with the movement locus of the glass at the middle position between the two front and rear guide rails in accordance with the movement locus of the glass plate which is determined by the sashes 6′a and 6′b serving as the two front and rear guide rails in the window frame. This work involves personnel problems such that it becomes necessary to station a specially skilled person at the line of assembly of the door.
Furthermore, if the skill of a worker is poor, the guide surface of the guide rail added at the middle position between the two front and rear guide rails may not match with the movement locus of the glass plate, and when the glass plate is moved up and down, there is a problem that the glass plate may creak or the movement thereof may become heavy or difficult.
Furthermore, in a case where the window 5′ of the conventional door is large, the door glass 10′ must have dimensions adapted to the window 5′. In accordance with this, the moving up and down stroke of the carrier plate 38′ supporting the glass must be increased. On the other hand, an interval between the upper and lower pulleys 26′ and 27′ supporting the wire 31′a in the drive unit 20′ provided at the panel 3′ is set within a limited range in the internal space of the panel 3′.
Therefore, when increasing the stroke of the carrier plate 38′ between the upper and lower pulleys, the top dead point (bottom dead point) of the carrier plate 38′ comes closer to the pulley.
When the carrier plate 38′ comes closer to the pulley 26′, and in a case where the door is opened and closed, if the lower end of the glass 10′ supported by the elastic blades repeatedly deflects toward a vehicle inward direction 73′ and a vehicle outward direction 73″ as shown in FIG. 9(C), a bending force with a large angle of bending 56′ is repeatedly applied to the fastening point 39′ of the wire 31′a to the carrier plate 38′. Therefore, there is a problem that cutting of the wire 31′a at the fastening point 39′ occurs.
In order to avoid this problem, a method in which the top dead point (bottom dead point) of the carrier plate 38′ is prevented from coming closer to the pulley 26′ can be considered, however, in this case, the moving up and down stroke of the carrier plate 38′ is further reduced, and it becomes necessary to make the window smaller.
Furthermore, in the conventional vehicle door, the first slide surface 61′a and second slide surface 62′a of the tension member 30′ are formed to be flat as shown in FIG. 10.
Therefore, in response to the rotation of the drum 25′ having the above mentioned spiral groove 25′a, the movement locus of the wire 33′ advancing and retreating between the drum 25′ and pulley deflects in the axial direction (arrow 90′ direction) of the drum 25′, whereby the first slide surface 61′a and second slide surface 62′a evenly reciprocatively slide toward the axial core direction (in the arrow 90′ direction).
Thereby, the slide surfaces are evenly worn, and this makes use possible over an extended period of time.
However, in accordance with increases in the number of upward and downward movements of the glass plate 10′ due to a long period of use, the first slide surface 61′a and second slide surface 62′a may be partially severely worn. In such a case, the worn portions are locally depressed, and the wire 33′ that reciprocates in the arrow 90′ direction in FIG. 10(B) and FIG. 10(C) is entangled in the depressed portions. Then, in accordance with increases in a depth of the depressions, when the wire slips out depressions, a snapping noise occurs. There is a problem that the driver of the vehicle mistakes the snapping noise for an abnormal noise and becomes concerned.

Vehicle door window unit for raising and lowering a window having a cable tensioner for maintaining tension in support cables


An SRAM memory card includes a monitoring unit that monitors, via a contact, a power supply voltage generated by a battery, set an ON value in an alarm signal when electric potential at the contact is lower than a threshold and set an OFF value in the alarm signal when the electric potential at the contact is equal to or higher than the threshold, and output the alarm signal to an apparatus via an interface unit; a detecting unit that detects an ON/OFF state of the power supply of the apparatus via the interface unit; and a discharge circuit that discharges, according to the ON/OFF state of the power supply of the apparatus detected by the detecting unit, charges accumulated in a first electrode of a capacitive element.

An SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) memory card backed up by a battery is detachably inserted into an apparatus such as a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller). When the SRAM memory card is inserted into the apparatus and receives data from the apparatus, the SRAM memory card retains the received data for backup. In the SRAM memory card, when the voltage of the battery drops below a certain level, it is likely that a circuit such as an SRAM cannot retain the data and the data is lost. To prevent this problem, in the SRAM memory card backed up by the battery, when a battery voltage detection circuit detects the drop in the battery voltage, the battery voltage detection circuit outputs an alarm signal having an ON value to the apparatus. The apparatus urges a user to replace the battery. When the SRAM memory card vibrates, in some case, the battery instantaneously causes a connection failure and the battery voltage detection circuit detects a drop in the battery voltage by mistake and erroneously outputs an alarm signal having an ON value. To prevent the instantaneous erroneous output of the alarm signal, in the SRAM memory card backed-up by the battery, a chattering prevention circuit is provided in parallel to the battery. When chattering occurs, the chattering prevention circuit supplies a voltage to the circuit such as the SRAM on behalf of the battery.
On the other hand, Patent Literature 1 describes that, in a chattering prevention circuit, when an output of a comparator, which compares the voltage of a capacitor and a resistance-divided voltage, is inverted when an external switch is on, an NPN transistor, a base of which is connected to an output of the comparator, is turned on, and an emitter current of the NPN transistor is supplied to a base of the NPN transistor connected to both ends of the capacitor by a current mirror. Consequently, according to Patent Literature 1, because the capacitor is quickly discharged, it is possible to prevent chattering from occurring near a threshold of the capacitor.
Patent Literature 2 descries that, in a chattering removal circuit, when the potential of an input node of an inverter having a hysteresis characteristic drops from high potential to a second level, which is intermediate potential, after a switch is turned on, an output of the inverter is inverted from low potential to high potential, a transistor, a base of which is connected to an output side of the inverter, a collector of which is connected to an input node of the inverter, and an emitter of which is connected to ground potential, is turned on, and a capacitor connected to the input node of the inverter is quickly discharged. When the potential of the input node of the inverter rises from the low potential to a first level, which is intermediate potential, the output of the inverter is inverted from the high potential to the low potential, a transistor, a base of which is connected to the output side of the inverter, a collector of which is connected to the input node of the inverter, and an emitter of which is connected to power supply potential, is turned on, and the capacitor connected to the input node of the inverter is quickly charged. Consequently, according to Patent Literature 2, because the capacitor is quickly charged and discharged, even when a chattering phenomenon lasts long, the capacitor is not fully charged. It is possible to surely remove a chattering signal.
Patent Literature 3 describes that, in a power supply circuit of a small electronic device, a logical product of a battery come-off signal that changes to a "H" level when a battery comes off a power supply mounting section, an ON/OFF signal that changes to the "H" level according to an ON state of a power switch, and an output signal of a voltage detector that changes to the "H" level in a state in which a voltage supply level of a Vcc terminal reaches an operable voltage of a CPU is input to a base of a transistor, a collector of which is connected to the Vcc terminal and an emitter of which is connected to a GND terminal. Consequently, according to Patent Literature 3, when the battery comes off the power supply mounting section, accumulated charges in a capacitor in a device circuit are discharged from the Vcc terminal to the GND terminal. Therefore, the CPU does not malfunction with the accumulated charges of the capacitor. It is possible to prevent occurrence of a deficiency such as memory breakage.

SRAM memory card and voltage monitoring circuit


A lubrication system includes a pair of mating surfaces subject to relative motion and a source of lubrication in communication with the mating surfaces. A microfluidic channel system including at least one diffuser element is disposed in an interface between the mating surfaces to create a coherent fluid film at the interface in response to the relative motion.

The disclosure relates generally to lubrication of mating surfaces subject to relative motion and loading. More specifically, the disclosure relates to hydrodynamic lubrication of mating surfaces subject to reciprocating motion under load.
When two solid surfaces in mechanical contact slide relative to each other, the solid surfaces are subject to wear due to dry friction. When the solid surfaces are bearing surfaces, it is desirable to minimize the dry friction between the surfaces in order to prevent premature failure of the bearing due to surface wear. Lubrication is a common technique for reducing dry friction between two mating surfaces subject to relative motion. Fluid film bearings rely on a thin film of lubricant interposed between the mating surfaces to create clearance between the mating surfaces. In these bearings, dry friction between the mating surfaces is essentially replaced with fluid friction between layers of the lubricating film, and the load applied to the bearing will be supported by the viscous forces in the lubricating film.
Fluid film bearings may be hydrostatic bearings or hydrodynamic bearings. Hydrostatic bearings use an external source of pressurized fluid to force lubricant between the mating surfaces. Hydrostatic bearings have a load capacity and direct stiffness that do not depend on relative motion between the mating surfaces. In contrast, hydrodynamic bearings use relative motion between the mating surfaces to maintain a lubricating fluid film between the mating surfaces. The most basic hydrodynamic bearing is a journal bearing in which a journal pulls a converging wedge of lubricant between the journal and the bearing. The wedge forms between the journal and bearing due to the journal being eccentric with the bearing as the journal rotates. As the journal gains velocity, liquid flows between the two surfaces at a greater rate. The lubricant, because of its velocity, produces a liquid pressure in the lubricant wedge that is sufficient to keep the two surfaces separated while supporting the applied load.
True hydrodynamic lubrication is difficult to achieve between mating surfaces operating under reciprocating motion and load. The reciprocating motion will prevent formation of a coherent fluid film in the interface between the mating surfaces. Without a coherent fluid film between the mating surfaces, boundary lubrication will prevail over hydrodynamic lubrication during normal operation. In the boundary lubrication mode, the mating surfaces will be partially separated by fluid and partially in mechanical contact. Such mechanical contact, when coupled with high contact pressure between the mating surfaces, will accelerate wear of the mating surfaces compared to the case where full-film hydrodynamic lubrication develops and is maintained during normal operation.

Microfluidic-assisted hydrodynamic lubrication system and method


Systems and methods are described for configuring a document management system. In various aspects, post data of a user who submitted an online posting to one or more document management systems is collected. The post data includes a node that identifies the user. Metadata is extracted from the post data, in which the metadata includes an identifier for identifying the posting distributed by the one or more document management systems. The identifier is used to collect reaction data from the one or more document management systems, where the reaction data is associated with the user's posting. A mapping is generated from the post data and the reaction data, in which the mapping includes an association of the node with at least one edge, the edge identifying a second user who reacted to the posting. At least one of the document management systems is then configured with the mapping.

Companies typically employ computerized systems, known as document management systems, to store, retrieve and otherwise manage their respective electronic documents, files, posts, weblogs ("blogs"), and/or other data created by, used by, or otherwise received by their employees, agents, customers, or other users. Each of the stored documents typically contain data, such as text, image, or other data, such as associated metadata, which can include the file size of the document, its number of pages, etc. The document management system may itself store data or metadata associated with the documents, such as the authors of the documents, timestamps indicating when the documents were first created or were last accessed by users of the system, the number of documents on the system, or the number and types of reactions to the documents, such as comments from other users of the document management system, etc.
At large companies, for example, such document management systems can experience the addition of thousands of new documents a day. Overtime, such document management systems can grow to contain tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of documents, files, blog postings, images, and related data and metadata created by or otherwise stored or associated with its users. The users may include distributed users at different physical locations, such as users at a company's headquarters, users at the same company's satellite or remote offices, and/or users working at locations outside of the company's offices on a remote communication link, each accessing and contributing to the document management system.
As the document management system and its related documents and data grows, a problem arises because, without user diligence, which is typically rare, of categorizing, organizing or otherwise associating documents or groupings of documents within the system, the document management system typically becomes an unwieldy set of unrelated documents, files, information, and/or other data which in contrary to the intended purpose of the document management system in the first instance. For example, the disorganization and disassociation of the company's documents and data becomes difficult for the company to manage or put to use for business purposes. For example, such disassociation may cause a company to lose value from a failure to recognize trends or patterns that could otherwise assist with a company's business decisions, communications or internal processes.
Conventional data retrieval methods are typically inadequate to deal with the vast quantities of documents and data of today's document management systems. For example, typical graphical user interface (GUI) user tools provided with document management systems for retrieving documents are generally limited to Boolean search functionality (e.g., "and" and "or" searches) that encourage trial-and-error and manual manipulation of the GUI to retrieve categorical information. Such techniques have proven inadequate to manipulate or associate the large body of documents, files, posts, and other data that is typical of today's companies' document management systems.

Systems and methods for visualizing posting data and facilitating posting communications

STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY


An optical apparatus includes a transparent envelope having opposing first and second faces. An electro-optic material is contained within the transparent envelope and includes molecules oriented in respective predefined directions selected so as to form a geometric-phase structure across an area of the transparent envelope. First and second transparent electrodes are disposed respectively across the first and second faces of the transparent envelope. A controller is coupled to apply a voltage between the first and second transparent electrodes that is sufficient to displace the molecules of the electro-optic material from the predefined directions.

Some applications of handheld electronic devices, such as depth-mapping and recognition of a scene, require the device to illuminate a scene. However, these two applications require different modalities of illumination: Depth-mapping is commonly performed using structured light, for example by projecting multiple discrete spots of radiation onto the scene. Scene recognition, on the other hand, typically requires high spatial resolution, which favors spatially continuous illumination, also referred to as flood illumination.


A base station device is provided with features in which multicast data can be prevented from deterioration in the accuracy of channel estimation due to interference of a unicast data pilot signal when multicast data and unicast data are multiplexed for transmission. In this device, a unicast pilot signal generating unit (105-1) generates a unicast data pilot signal, a multicast pilot signal generating unit (105-2) generates a multicast data pilot signal, a disposing unit (106) disposes a unicast data symbol, a multicast data symbol, the unicast data pilot signal, and the multicast pilot signal at either position on a two-dimensional plane comprised of a frequency axis and a time axis to output them to an IFFT unit (107). In this case, the disposing unit (106) disposes the multicast data pilot signal at a position on the two-dimensional plane comprised of the frequency axis and the time axis where the unicast data pilot signal does not interfere with it.

In recent years, in mobile communication, various kinds of information such as images and data as well as speech are subjected to transmission. Following this trend, it is expected that demands further increase for high reliability and high speed transmission. However, when high speed transmission is performed in mobile communication, the influence of delayed waves by multipath is not negligible, and transmission performance degrades due to frequency selective fading.
Multicarrier communication such as the OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) scheme has attracted attention as one of counter techniques for frequency selective fading. In multicarrier communication, data is transmitted using a plurality of subcarriers of transmission rates suppressed to such an extent that frequency selective fading does not occur. Particularly, with the OFDM scheme, the frequencies of a plurality of subcarriers where data is mapped are orthogonal to each other, so that the OFDM scheme has the highest frequency efficiency in multicarrier communication and implements multicarrier communication with relatively simple hardware configurations. Therefore, the OFDM scheme has attracted attention as a communication method to be employed in cellular scheme mobile communication, and has been studied in various ways. Further, according to the OFDM scheme, to prevent intersymbol interference (ISI), the tail end of each OFDM symbol is attached to the head of that OFDM symbol as a CP (Cyclic Prefix). By this means, on the receiving side, it is possible to prevent ISI as long as the delay time of delay waves stays within the time length of a CP (hereinafter "CP length").
By the way, recently, studies on multicast communication are underway. Multicast communication is not one-to-one communication such as unicast communication, but is one-to-many communication. That is, in multicast communication, one radio communication base station apparatus (hereinafter simply "base station") transmits the same data to a plurality of radio communication mobile station apparatuses (hereinafter simply "mobile stations") at the same time. By this multicast communication, in the mobile communication system, for example, distribution services of music data and video image data and broadcast services such as television broadcast are realized. Further, services using multicast communication may have to be provided in a relatively wide communication area which cannot be covered by a single base station, and, in this case, multicast communication covers the entirety of the wide communication area by transmitting the same data from a plurality of base stations. That is, multicast data is the same between a plurality of cells. Thus, in multicast communication, the same multicast data is transmitted from a plurality of base stations at the same time, and, consequently, a mobile station nearby the cell boundary receives mixed multicast data comprised of multicast data from a plurality of base stations.
Here, in a mobile station located nearby the cell boundary, if the OFDM scheme is employed in multicast communication, when a plurality of the same OFDM symbols transmitted at the same time from a plurality of base stations are received within the CP length, these OFDM symbols are combined and received in a state their received power is amplified. To correct the channel fluctuation (phase fluctuation and amplitude fluctuation) of the combined signals by channel estimation, channel estimation values for these combined signals are necessary. Therefore, in multicast communication using the OFDM scheme, for a pilot used to calculate channel estimation values, the same pilot needs to be transmitted from a plurality of base stations at the same time, as in the case of multicast data. That is, multicast data pilots need to be common between a plurality of cells.
On the other hand, in unicast communication, a plurality of base stations transmit respective data (unicast data) (see Non-Patent Document 1). That is, unicast data differs between multiple cells. Here, unicast data refers to, for example, control data needed to transmit user data from a mobile station. By this means, for the pilot used to calculate channel estimation values in unicast communication, different pilots need to be transmitted from a plurality of base stations as in the case of unicast data. That is, unicast data pilots need to be different between multiple cells.
Further, studies are underway on the method of mapping pilots upon multiplexing and transmitting multicast data and unicast data (see Non-Patent Document 2). Further, while multicast communication employs a mode of communication in which information is transmitted only to specific mobile stations subscribing services such as news groups, broadcast communication employs a mode of communication in which information is transmitted to all mobile stations as in today's television broadcast and radio broadcast. However, the multicast communication is the same as the broadcast communication in that one base station transmits the same data to a plurality of mobile stations at the same time. Therefore, this document describes an MBMS (Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service) combining multicast and broadcast. Further, in this document, broadcast is used for explanation instead of multicast.
Non-Patent Document 1: 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 LTE Ad Hoc Meeting (2005.06) R1-050589 "Pilot channel and scrambling code in evolved UTRA downlink"
Non-Patent Document 2: 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 LTE Ad Hoc Meeting (2006.01) R1-060182 "MBMS Structure for Evolved UTRA"

Wireless communication base station apparatus and pilot signal disposing method

Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America


The present invention relates to the fields of molecular biology, combinatorial chemistry and biochemistry. Particularly, the present invention describes methods and kits for dynamically reducing the variance between analyte taken from complex mixtures.

Proteomics seeks to generate an identity profile of the entire proteome of an organism and, through analysis of this information, to identify potential diagnostic and therapeutic entities. Current technologies for resolving protein mixtures include two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and multi-dimensional liquid chromatography. Both of these techniques may be coupled to mass spectrometry. An example of this approach is the resolution and identification of 1,484 proteins in yeast (Washburn et al., Nat. Biotechnol. 19(3): 242-2471 (2001)). Another example of methodology that separates and identifies proteins is a modified version of the yeast two-hybrid screening assay developed by Uetz et al. (Uetz et al., Nature 403(6770): 623-627 (2000)) and Ito et al. (Ito et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98(8): 4569-4574 (2001)), which identified over 4,000 protein-protein interactions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A quantitative methodology for protein separation and identification is isotope coded affinity tag (ICAT), developed by Aebersold and colleagues (Smolka et al., Anal. Biochem. 297(1): 25-312 (2001)). ICAT involves site-specific, covalent labeling of proteins with isotopically normal or heavy reagents to quantitate levels of protein expression.
Complex protein mixtures may also be separated on libraries of combinatorially-generated ligands. Following exposure of an entity molecule to a combinatorial library, the entity may bind to ligands in the library. Detection of the bound entity may be accomplished when a purified, radiolabeled initial entity is used (Mondorf et al., J. Peptide Research 52: 526-536 (1998)). Other methods include detection by an antibody against the entity (Buettner et al., International Journal of Peptide & Protein Research 47: 70-83 (1996); Furka et al., International Journal Peptide Protein Research 37(6): 487-493 (1991); and Lam et al., (1991) supra). Ligands to multiple entities can be detected using beads immobilized on an adhesive in combination with a subtractive screening method. This is referred to as the QuASAR method (International (PCT) Patent Application WO 01/40265) and was used to detect ligands that bound to virus and prion protein.
FIoNA assay technology (Hammond et al International (PCT) Patent Application WO 04/007757) and other combinatorial techniques can identify a ligand:entity interation. The FIoNA assay technology identifies proteins from mixtures based on chemical, physical, biological, and/or biochemical function and not merely on their ability to bind a ligand within the library. Thus, the goal of FIoNA is to identify a ligand-support that binds a desired property, then to decode the ligand on the appropriate bead, and synthesize the bead in appropriate amounts to purify the one, or few proteins with the desired activity using current proteomic methods.
The full analysis of analytes in complex biological extracts is hindered by the large difference in concentration between individual analytes. In most biological mixtures some analytes are present at high concentration and others only present at trace-levels. As a result, the concentration of analytes may not be adapted to the dynamic range of a given analytical method. That is to say, the difference in the signal strengths produced by the most abundant and least abundant analyte species in a sample generally is wider than the ability of the analytical method to detect and accurately measure. For example, highly concentrated proteins may saturate the detection system and very low concentrations may be below the sensitivity of the analytical method, as occurs in human serum where the difference in concentration between the most abundant protein (albumin—tens of mg/ml) and the least abundant (e.g., IL-6—less than 1 pg/ml) may reach factors as high as hundreds of millions.
Two ways are currently followed to deal with this gap: the first is to design more adapted instruments and the second is to alter the sample for analysis.
One method of altering the sample is to deplete the sample of the more abundant species, thereby making the less abundant species more available for detection. This method involves, for example, the use of linker moieties, such as antibodies or specific dyes, that are directed to particular species in the sample. For example, in the case of plasma, the abundant proteins include albumin, immunoglobulins, fibrinogen, and alpha-1 proteinase inhibitor. Immunoaffinity columns are expensive, seldom totally specific for their target and will remove proteins associated with the target proteins. Moreover, once the most abundant proteins are removed, another set becomes the most abundant, which then creates the need to develop additional affinity columns. In addition, biological samples from different tissues within the same species and tissues from different species may have a completely different set of most abundant proteins. This method also suffers from the fact that elimination of some analyte species also eliminates species that interact with them. Thus some species that may be of interest are eliminated. While eliminating proteins of high abundance may help in some instances, this approach does not result in the detection of very low abundance proteins whose concentration is still below the sensitivity of the instrument to detect. Moreover, highly abundant species are represented by several proteins (even several dozen in some situations) and therefore a number of specific methods would have to be designed to address each different abundant species. Therefore, this method does not substantially compress the range of concentrations between the remaining analyte species.
Another method is to fractionate the sample, typically by chromatography. This method results in the compartmentalization of classes of analytes into different fractions based on similar biochemical properties. For example, ion exchange chromatography will compartmentalize proteins into fractions based on charge, while size exclusion chromatography compartmentalizes proteins based on size. Therefore, these methods may reduce the concentration range of the analytes, but at the cost of substantially decreasing the diversity of the population of analyte species within each compartment.

Methods for reducing the range in concentrations of analyte species in a sample


The invention provides a method of generating data relating to a vertical structure (20) of a built environment comprising a plurality of floors (24, 26, 28), the method comprising: receiving altitude change data representing changes in altitude within the built environment of a plurality of mobile devices (1a, 1b, 1c, 1d) or from which changes in altitude of a plurality of mobile devices within a built environment comprising a plurality of floors can be determined; determining a parameter relating to an estimated storey height of the building from received said altitude change data; and processing received said altitude change data and the said parameter relating to the estimated storey height to thereby generate data relating to the vertical structure of the multi-storey building.

Mobile telecommunications devices such as smartphones need to determine their locations in order to provide location services to users. Whilst such devices now commonly have Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) position sensors (e.g. GPS (Global Positioning System) position sensors), it is often not possible for a mobile device to obtain direct lines of sight with enough GNSS satellites for those systems to be usable, particularly when the mobile device is located indoors.
It is possible to estimate a two dimensional (longitude/latitude) location of a mobile telecommunications device indoors by detecting electromagnetic signals from terrestrial electromagnetic signal sources of known two dimensional location (longitude and latitude) and estimating the location of the mobile device from the detected electromagnetic signals using either triangulation or stored fingerprint data specifying the expected variation of received signal strength from the said electromagnetic signal sources with distance from the signal source.
Determining the altitude of the mobile device within a multi-storey building can be more difficult, particularly when there is no pre-existing data describing the vertical structure of the building. One way to determine altitude is to use an air pressure sensor such as a barometer or altimeter and indeed mobile telecommunications devices are now commonly fitted with such devices. However, converting air pressure measurements to absolute altitude is highly error prone due to changes in environmental parameters (such as temperature, which affects atmospheric pressure) affecting the conversion. In addition, raw altitude data, however accurate, may not be of much use to a user of a mobile device, particularly indoors.
There are systems which allow the altitude of a mobile device to be estimated by triangulation of detected electromagnetic signals using prior known ground truth locations of the Wi-Fi, RF or Bluetooth beacons or LTE base stations transmitting the said electromagnetic signals. There are also systems which rely on radio maps obtained by prior prescribed manual surveys to collect electromagnetic signal fingerprints in known ground truth co-ordinates. In this case, the altitude of a mobile device can be estimated by comparing electromagnetic signals received by the said mobile device with the radio map. However, these systems require prescribed surveys to have been performed, or prior knowledge of the infrastructure of the building, which can be expensive and time consuming to obtain.
New methods of determining the vertical position of a mobile device and of generating data relating to a vertical structure of a multi-storey building are therefore required.

Method and computer processing apparatus for generating data relating to a vertical structure of a built environment and detecting a floor change


A printer including a stepper motor for moving a carriage, a detector for detecting arrival of the carriage at a detection point within a range of the carriage movement, a stop for determining one end of the carriage movement range, and a first setting device operable upon power application to the printer, for activating the motor to move the carriage toward the stop until the carriage arrives at the detection point, and further activating the carriage in the same direction by a predetermined number of steps from the detection point such that the motor is activated without displacement thereof with the carriage held in abutment on the stop for at least the last one step, whereby a zero point of the carriage is established for the first time after the power application. The printer further includes a distance detecting device operable after the establishment of the carriage zero point, for detecting a distance between the stop and the detection point, and a second setting device operable when it is required to establish the carriage zero point for a second and subsequent times after the power application. The second setting device establishes the carriage zero point, based on the distance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printer incorporating a device for zeroing a carriage which has a print head mounted thereon.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
There is known a printer of the type indicated above, wherein the home position or zero point of the carriage or a stepper motor to drive the carriage is detected or established upon power application to the printer, by using a zero-point sensor disposed within a range of movement of the carriage. In this first type of carriage zeroing arrangement, the zero-point sensor should be positioned with extremely high accuracy. A second known type of carriage zeroing arrangement uses a carriage stop disposed on a side frame of the printer, so that the carriage is zeroed by energizing the carriage drive stepper motor to move the carriage into abutting contact with the carriage stop and further energizing the motor in a step-out or out-of-synchronization manner, i.e., without an angular or linear displacement thereof with the carriage held in abutting contact with the stop. In this case, the stepper motor should be energized by a relatively large number of steps for zeroing the carriage or stepper motor. Consequently, the carriage zeroing operation produces a large amount of noise. In view of the above drawbacks of the carriage zeroing arrangements, there is known a third type of zeroing arrangement which employs a position sensor for detecting a detection point of the carriage near the carriage stop. In this case the carriage drive stepper motor is energized by a suitable number of steps to move the carriage toward the carriage stop after the detection point of the carriage is detected by the position sensor, so that the carriage drive stepper motor is energized without an angular or linear displacement thereof with the carriage held in abutting contact with the stop. This third type has a relatively large tolerance of positioning error of the position sensor, or permits relatively easy positioning of the position sensor, as compared with the first type wherein the carriage is zeroed only by means of the zero-point sensor indicated above. Further, the third type is advantageous for a relatively short time of out-of-synchronization energization of the stepper motor, as compared with the second type of zeroing arrangement which does not use the position sensor disposed near the carriage stop.
In the third type of carriage zeroing arrangement, the number of energizations of the stepper motor after the carriage detecting point is detected by the position sensor should be a sum of the number of steps which corresponds to a maximum distance between the carriage stop and the position of the position sensor which varies within a given range of positioning tolerance, and a suitable number of additional steps necessary for the out-of-synchronization energization of the stepper motor without its displacement with the carriage held in abutting contact with the carriage stop. If the position sensor is positioned relatively near the carriage stop, the stepper motor is energized by an unnecessarily large amount, and the time of the energization of the motor in the out-of-synchronization manner is unnecessarily long. Accordingly, the printer using the third type of carriage zeroing arrangement suffers from a large amount of carriage zeroing noise due to the energization of the stepper motor with the carriage in abutting contact with the carriage stop.
While the carriage or stepper motor should be zeroed upon application of power to the printer, the carriage zeroing operation is necessary in other situations. For instance, the carriage should be zeroed when a ribbon cassette on the carriage is changed with the top cover of the printer removed, because the previously established zero point of the carriage might be lost. In the light of this situation, the printer is generally adapted to re-establish the zero point of the carriage when the top cover is opened and closed. According to the third type of carriage zeroing arrangement, the carriage zeroing operation upon the closure of the top cover also requires a long period of energization of the stepper motor and suffers from an accordingly large amount of zeroing noise.


An enterprise process model that comprises a plurality of actors, actions performed by said actors, objects acted upon by said actions, and roles. Data characterizing the view of the attributes of at least one of the objects of the model is generated by associating a plurality of situation/role pairs with the at least one object; and then, for each particular situation/role pair, defining a view definition for subsequent use.

The present invention relates generally to tools that aid in the development of software applications and, more specifically, to tools that aid in the development of large scale enterprise applications.
Enterprise applications perform useful functions (such an expense reimbursement, or order fulfillment) in an enterprise. Software technologies (such as workflow programs, messaging systems, database programs, and Graphical User Interface (GUI) builders) have been developed that aid in the development of large-scale, enterprise-wide applications. These systems are helpful because they provide useful infrastructure and a rapid build time.
However, because such systems use diverse underlying software technologies, it is often very difficult for the system designer to visualize the enterprise process while at the same time visualize the user interface and the information accessible at each stage of the enterprise process.
Thus, there remains a need in the art to provide an efficient mechanism to visualize an enterprise process and also visualize the user interface and information accessible at each stage of the enterprise applications that rely on a set of diverse underlying software technologies.
In addition, in the event that a change is required in the enterprise application, the system designers must make the appropriate changes to each of the underlying software technologies to update the enterprise application. This may be a difficult, error-prone, time-consuming and expensive task if the change effects much of the underlying software technology that makes up the enterprise application.
Therefore, there is a need in the art to provide a system that provides for rapid integration of software technologies into an enterprise application, yet also provides for flexible and efficient updates to such enterprise applications.
The problems stated above and the related problems of the prior art are solved with the principles of the present invention, method and system for generating enterprise applications of a diversity of information technologies. An enterprise process model is generated that comprises a plurality of actors, actions performed by said actors, objects acted upon by said actions, and roles. Data characterizing the view of the attributes of at least one of the objects of the model is generated by associating a plurality of situation/role pairs with the at least one object; and then, for each particular situation/role pair, defining a view definition for the attributes of the at least one object based upon user input, and storing the view definition for subsequent use. Preferably, the view definition is stored as part of a model, and used by a code generation process to build program fragments that execute the enterprise application represented by the model.
Preferably, the view definition provides one or more of the following: i) an indication whether the attributes of the at least one object are to be displayed; ii) information that dictates how to render the attributes of the at least one object; iii) an indication whether the attributes of the at least one object are to be editable; and iv) information that dictates how to edit the attributes of the at least one object.
In another aspect of the present invention, an enterprise application for use in an information system that comprises diverse software services and hardware platforms is generated by generating a model of the enterprise process, wherein the model comprises a plurality of actors, actions performed by said actors, objects acted upon by said actions, and roles. A configuration defining software services and hardware platforms that support the model is generated. Finally, program fragments that support the model are generated. The program fragments are suitable for execution on hardware platforms defined by the configuration and use the software services defined by the configuration. Preferably, a set of templates that support these hardware platforms and software services are used to generate the program fragments. In addition, the model preferably includes a view definition for the attributes of at least one object of the enterprise process, wherein the view definition is generated via user input as described above.

Method and system for generating enterprise applications of a diversity of information technologies

Abstract: In another aspect of the present invention, an enterprise application for use in an information system that comprises diverse software services and hardware platforms is generated by providing a model of the enterprise process, wherein the model comprises a plurality of actors, actions performed by said actors, objects acted upon by said actions, and roles. A configuration defining software services and hardware platforms that support the model is generated. Finally, program fragments that support the model are generated.

International Business Machines Corporation


Data recovery apparatus for receiving two channels of data signal portions skewed in time and recovering from them two data signal portions synchronized with a con, non clock signal. The apparatus includes a phase comparator circuit and a latch circuit associated with each channel of data signals, a single voltage controlled oscillator that generates a clock signal VCO-CLK in response to a VCO control signal and a single charge pumping circuit for generating the VCO control signal. Each phase comparator circuit receives its associated channel of data signal portions and the VCO-CLK signal and generates pump-up/pump-down signals applied to the charge pumping circuit. Each latch circuit is triggered by a selected edge of the VCO-CLK signal, so that the latch circuits respectively provide recovered data signal portions synchronized with the VCO-CLK signal, which may then be recombined in the same sequence as they were originally divided from a common high data-rate signal.

The present invention is related in general to digital information transmission systems and, more particularly, to data recovery apparatus for use in a digital transmission system in which a high speed data stream is divided and transmitted synchronously on multiple parallel transmission media.
A continuing trend in the development of digital information transmission systems is to increase the bandwidth of transmission media by sending data at a faster data rate. Such transmission media include two-conductor unshielded cable, as can be utilized in telecommunication circuits. However, attempts to increase media bandwidth are restricted by physical limitations on the ability to increase the data transmission rate. For example, an increase in the data transmission rate is accompanied by an increase in the high frequency spectral content of the transmitted signal. Such an increase in the high frequency spectral content results in unacceptably high electromagnetic emission levels that are caused by common mode noise and line imbalance. Also, the levels of electromagnetic emissions resulting from transmission of digital information are subject to conformance with federal and international standards, for example the federal standard established by the Federal Communications Commission. Therefore, the data transmission rate is limited by these considerations.
One solution known in the art for transmitting data carried in a high data-rate data signal while minimizing the problem of high electromagnetic emissions, is the dividing of a high data-rate serial data stream to form multiple parallel data streams that are each transmitted at a correspondingly lower rate. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,630,286 discloses apparatus for dividing a single data stream having a data rate of 28.8 kilobits/second into two data streams, each having a data rate of 14.4 kilobits/second, that are then transmitted over two transmission lines.
In conventional systems in which a high data rate serial data stream is divided into multiple data streams for transmission on multiple parallel transmission media at a lower data rate, it is a typical practice to transmit the data on the parallel media in synchronism, such as by driving the transmissions of the two or more data streams in accordance with a single transmission clock signal. Such synchronized transmission is performed to facilitate the proper recovery of the data and the reformation of a single stream of data at the high data rate at the receiving end of the parallel transmission media. A problem experienced with dividing a high data rate data stream results from the different signal propagation speeds on the parallel transmission media, which cause the parallel data streams to fall out of synchronism, such that time skews develop between respective ones of the parallel data streams. These time skews hinder the successful reformation of the single high speed data stream from the parallel low data rate data streams at the receiving end of the parallel transmission media.
Techniques known in the art for reformation of a single high data rate data stream from multiple related streams of low data-rate data skewed in time, require the use of additional circuitry for removal of the time skew. In accordance with techniques known in the art, the reformation of the single high data-rate data stream requires the steps of recovering the data and then removing the skew associated with each one of the low data rate data streams. For example, it is known in the art to utilize separate phase locked loop circuits respectively dedicated to the multiple parallel transmission media to recover each of the multiple low data rate data streams. Then, separate circuitry is utilized to determine and remove the skew in those data streams so that the high data rate data stream can be reformed. Examples of circuitry for eliminating the time skew in each of two or more received data streams are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,995 and the above noted U.S. Pat. No. 4,630,286.
Disadvantageously, the need to provide additional circuitry to remove time skew from each of multiple low data rate data streams adds to both the complexity and cost of data recovery apparatus.


Methods and systems are provided for regulating fuel flow in a fuel tank. In one example, a method may comprise fueling a fuel tank by receiving a nozzle into a filler tube which extends into a fuel tank to fuel the fuel tank, and directing fuel through the tube against vanes in a baffle which forms a compartment within the tank. Additionally, the method may comprise enabling the vanes to open so that pressure within the compartment remains below a level which would otherwise cause shut off the nozzle during the fueling.

Fuel tanks may be utilized in vehicle systems for storing fuel to be used during combustion in an engine of the vehicle system. During vehicle operation, fuel may be displaced within the fuel tank due to changes in velocity of the vehicle, such as during cornering, braking, and acceleration. When displaced, fuel may impact walls of the tank and generate noise. Noise produced by these impacts may be more apparent with hybrid vehicles, since they may operate with minimal interior noise when fuel combustion is deactivated. As such, liquid fuel tanks for automotive vehicles are designed with various constructions to reduce noise, vibration and ride harshness generated by the motion of fuel within the fuel tank.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,850,933 discloses a fuel tank including one or more baffles, which extend between opposite ends of the tank so as to restrict fuel flow within the tank. As such, the impact force and therefore the noise produced from fuel hitting the walls of the fuel tank may be reduced. Further, many fuel tanks comprise baffles constructed with holes, so that fuel may still flow through the baffle, but in a restricted manner. In this way, the velocity of fuel with respect to the fuel tank may be attenuated while maintaining the overall storage volume of the tank.
However, the inventors herein have recognized potential issues with such fuel tank systems. As an example, during refueling, the baffles may restrict the flow of fuel into the fuel tank. Specifically, fuel entering the fuel tank may bounce off the baffle wall and spray back towards the refueling nozzle. Thus, the baffle wall may act as a flow restriction for fuel entering the tank during refueling. Fuel entering the tank may therefore be impeded and/or confined by the baffle wall. This may result in elevated pressures and/or liquid levels on the refueling side of the baffle as compared to regions of the fuel tank on the opposite side of the baffle. As such, the fuel pump may be shut off before the fuel tank is filled. In another example, vapor pressure in the fuel tank may increase due to the fuel bouncing off the baffle wall. Increases in the fuel tank pressure may result in corresponding rises in loading of a fuel vapor storage canister of the fuel tank system.
In one example, the issues described above may be at least partly addressed by a method for receiving a nozzle into a filler tube which may extend into a fuel tank to fuel the fuel tank, and directing fuel through said tube against vanes in a baffle which may form a compartment within said tank and during said fueling, enabling said vanes to open so that pressure within said compartment may remain below a level which may otherwise cause shut off said nozzle.
In some examples, enabling said vanes to open may comprise a mechanical release of said vanes in response to insertion of said nozzle. However, in other examples, enabling of said vanes to open may comprise an electro-mechanical release of said vanes by a relay in response to insertion of said nozzle. In still further examples enabling said vanes to open may comprise pressure exerted by said fuel acting against said vanes during said fueling which may be sufficient to overcome a weight of said vanes which may be exerting a closing force on said vanes.
In another representation, the issues described above may be at least partly addressed by a method comprising fueling a fuel tank by receiving a nozzle into a filler tube which may extend into said tank and directing fuel through said tube against vanes in a baffle which may form a compartment within said tank, where said vanes may include a plurality of holes to allow a portion of said fuel to flow therethrough. During said fueling, the method may additionally or alternatively comprise enabling said vanes to open so that pressure within said compartment may remain below a level which would otherwise cause shut off said nozzle.
In further examples, the method may comprise routing fuel vapors from said tank into a fuel vapor recovery system. In another example, the method may comprise supplying said fuel from said tank to an internal combustion engine. In yet other examples, the method may additionally or alternatively comprise periodically purging at least a portion of said fuel vapors from said tank and said fuel vapor recovery system into said engine. In some examples, internal combustion may drive a motor vehicle and said baffle may reduce sloshing of said fuel and generation of said fuel vapors while said motor vehicle is being driven.
In this way, fuel tank noise may be reduced, while the storage capacity of the fuel tank may be increased. By including baffles with adjustable vanes, the fuel tank may still offer the same sound reduction benefits of conventional fuel tank systems, while also reducing premature refueling shutoffs and fuel vapor canister loading. During refueling, the vanes may be adjusted to a first position so that fuel may flow to the extremities of the tank, relatively unrestricted. In this way, the amount of fuel impacting the baffle during refueling may be reduced. As a result, vapor pressure in the fuel tank, and canister loading may be reduced. However, after refueling, the baffles may be adjusted to a closed second position, so that movement of fuel within the fuel tank may be restricted and therefore noise produced from the fuel sloshing around in the fuel tank may be reduced.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.


A processor including: a first and at least a second data processing channel with enable logic for selectively enabling the second channel; logic for generating first and second storage addresses having a variable offset therebetween based on the same one or more address operands of the same storage access instruction; and circuitry for transferring data between the first address and a register of the first data processing channel and between the second address and a corresponding register of the second channel based on a same one or more register specifier operands of the access instruction. The first data processing channel performs an operation using one or more registers of the first data processing channel, and on condition of being enabled the second channel performs the same operation using a corresponding one or more of its own registers based on the same one or more operands of the data processing instruction.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a known processor architecture. The processor may employ a dual path architecture whereby the processor comprises two different separate hardware execution paths: a control execution path in the form of a control unit 2 which is dedicated to processing control code, and a data execution path in the form of a data processing unit 4 which is dedicated to processing data. The distinction between data and control processing will be discussed shortly. An exemplary instance of such an architecture is described for example in international patent application publication number WO 2005/096141.
In the illustrated processor, the control unit 2 is coupled to an instruction memory 6, which may be integrated onto the same chip as the processor or alternatively connected off-chip. Each of the control unit 2 and the data processing unit 4 is coupled to a data memory 8, which again may be integrated onto the same chip as the processor or alternatively be connected off-chip. The control unit 2 comprises a set of control registers 10, an instruction decoder 12, and an address formation unit 14. An exemplary control unit will also have control processing logic, not shown, e.g. for performing branch operations, and may also have scalar data processing logic. The data processing unit 4 comprises a set of data registers 16 and data processing logic 18. A set of registers is sometimes called register file. The instruction decoder 12 is coupled to the data registers 16 and to the data processing logic 18, as well as being coupled to the instruction memory 6 via fetch circuitry (not shown). The instruction decoder 12 is further coupled to the internal logic of the control unit 2, including being coupled to the control registers 10 and address formation unit 14. Each of the address formation unit 14 and the set of control registers 10 is also coupled to the data memory 8.
In operation, the fetch circuitry (not shown) fetches a sequence of instructions from the instruction memory 6 into the instruction decoder 12. The instruction decoder 12 decodes each instruction in the sequence and, depending on the decoded opcode contained within the instruction, determines which unit is required to execute the instruction. The processor thus executes a mix of three types of instruction, as follows:                (i) control instructions such as branches, which are executed by the control unit 2;        (ii) data processing instructions, which are decoded by the control unit 2 but then passed (as register addresses and opcodes) to the data processing unit 4 for execution; and        (iii) memory access instructions (loads and stores), for which the control unit 2 computes memory addresses of the data memory 8, and the corresponding memory data is then transferred to or from either the control registers 10 or the data registers 16.
The term "control" as used herein refers to program flow control, including branching and address generation, and some logic and arithmetic for that purpose. In contrast, the phrase "data processing" or similar as used herein refers to other arithmetic and logical operations to be performed on data that is the subject of the program, i.e. data representing something other than the control flow of the program itself. Data processing in this sense does not include flow control (but may generate results which are used to make control flow decisions, e.g. branch conditions). For example, in the case of a software modem for wireless communication, the data may represent signals received or to be transmitted over an air interface, and the data processing operations may comprise signal processing operations. The results of such signal processing may be supplied to the control unit to allow it to make control flow decisions (e.g. as to what further signal processing is necessary), but the control flow itself (including the sequence of program branches and memory addresses) is effected by the control unit. As another example, the data could represent information from a peripheral device, or information to be output to manipulate a peripheral device. Typically the distinction between the control and data paths is manifested in that control unit 2 uses only scalar processing whereas the data processing unit 4 is configured to use vector processing (see below). In some applications some data processing in fact may be executed on the control path, although control flow code would not be executed on the data processing path.
Memory access instructions such as loads and stores may be considered a third type of instruction, in addition to control instructions and data processing instructions, which can act on the control unit 2 or both the control unit 2 and data processing unit 4.
As illustrated schematically in FIGS. 2a and 2b, each instruction comprises an opcode 28 and one or more associated operands 30 (or in the case of a few kinds of instruction it is possible that no operand is required). The opcode is a sequence of bits which when decoded by the instruction decoder 12 indicates the kind of operation to be performed. The one or more associated operands are a sequence of bits which when decoded by the instruction decoder 12 indicates the data to be operated on by that operation, usually by specifying a register and/or memory location where the subject data is currently being held, and depending on the kind of instruction a register and/or memory location for storing the result of the operation.
Data is loaded from the data memory 8 into the control registers 10 or data registers 16 by means of one or more load instructions (a type of memory access instruction). A load instruction 24 is illustrated schematically in FIG. 2a. It comprises an opcode 28 that when decoded indicates a load operation, and two operand fields 30. The first operand field comprises one or more destination operands and the second operand field comprises one or more source operands. For example, the source memory location is more usually indicated by two register addresses, the registers providing a base and an offset which when added together point to the memory location—this is the purpose of the address formation unit 14. Sometimes the offset is an immediate value instead of a register address. The source operand field specifies a memory location from which to take data, and the destination operand field specifies a register into which to place that data.
When loading to the control registers 10, load instructions act on only the control unit 2. The address formation unit 14 computes the relevant memory address from the source operand(s) and causes the data from that address within the memory 8 to be loaded into one of the control registers 10 specified by the destination operand. When loading to the data registers 16, load instructions act on both the control unit 2 and data processing unit 4. The address formation unit 14 computes the relevant memory address from the source operand(s) and causes data from that address within the memory 8 to be loaded into one of the data registers 16 specified by the destination operand.
As a simple example, consider load two instructions:    Load $r1, A1    Load $r2, A2
The first of these load instructions has one destination operand $r1, and one source operand field A1 (typically specified by $base+$offset). When executed it loads a word of data from memory address location A1 into register $r1. The second of these load instructions has one destination operand $r2 and one destination operand A2. When executed it loads a word of data from memory address location A2 into register $r2.
Once data is loaded into registers 10 or 16, then operations can be performed using the contents of those registers. If the instruction decoder 12 encounters a control instruction then it retains the instruction on the control path by executing it internally within the control unit 2 using the control unit's own internal logic and values in the control registers 10. If on the other hand the instruction decoder 12 encounters a data processing instruction, it diverts the instruction onto the data processing path by supplying the decoded opcode to the data processing logic 18 of the data processing unit 4 and supplying the decoded operand or operands in the form of one or more operand register addresses to the set of data registers 16. Alternatively one or more of the operand(s) 30 may be immediate (literal) values. A data processing instruction 26 is illustrated schematically in FIG. 2b.
Referring to the example above, supposing $r1 and $r2 are data registers in the data register set 16, then data processing instructions can operate on them. For illustrative purposes, some simple examples would be:    Not $d1, $r1    Add $d2, $r1, $r2
The first of these data processing instructions has one source operand $r1 and one destination operand $d1. When executed it takes the bitwise complement of the value in register $r1 and places the result in a destination register $d1 of the data register set 16. The second of these data processing instructions has two source operands $r1 and $r2, and one source operand $d2. When executed it adds the contents of registers $r1 and $r2 and places the result in a destination register $d2 of the data register set 16.
The result of a data processing operation can be stored from the destination within data register set 16 into the data memory 8 by means of store instructions, and/or operated on again by means of further data processing instructions. Ultimately the results of such data processing will be output from registers 16 and/or data memory 8 to an external device, e.g. to output a decoded audio or visual signal to a speaker or screen in cases such as the processing of incoming signals received over a wireless communication system, or to transmit an encoded signal for transmission over a wireless communication system, or to manipulate a radio-frequency (RF) front end for transmitting such wireless signals.
The control and data paths may have instruction set architectures with asymmetric instruction widths, and may have asymmetric register and processing path widths. The rationale is that control code favours shorter, simpler instructions; whereas data processing code favours a larger, more specialised instruction set and vector data values requiring wider data registers.
To improve the amount of data processed per unit time, the processor may be arranged with some degree of parallelism.
Referring to FIG. 2c, one example of parallelism is "long instruction word" (LIW) type processing. For instance in the illustrated processor, the fetch circuitry of the control unit 2 may fetch multiple instructions at a time in the form of instruction packets, each packet comprising a plurality of constituent instructions, and each instruction comprising its own respective opcode 28 and associated operand(s) 30 for performing its own respective operation. A suitable program compiler can identify (for example) pairs of instructions which can be executed in parallel, and arrange such pairs into packets in instruction memory for atomic execution. The compiler guarantees that there are no data dependencies between the instructions within a packet, so the machine need not check for such dependencies and can execute the constituent instructions simultaneously or in any order with respect to each other, provided execution is ordered with respect to other packets. Such packets may be referred to as a long instruction word (sometimes also called a "Very Long Instruction Word", VLIW, especially if there are more than two instructions in each atomic packet). So in the illustrated processor, if the packet comprises a control instruction 32 and a data processing instruction 26, then the instruction decoder 12 directs them in parallel to the control unit 2 and data processing unit 4 respectively for parallel execution by those respective units (although if for example the packet comprises only control instructions then these may have to be executed sequentially).
Note therefore that it is not strictly accurate to refer to an "LIW instruction", but rather an LIW packet. Each LIW packet in fact comprises multiple instructions, in the sense of an instruction being a discrete unit of code comprising a single opcode and any associated respective operands.
Referring to FIG. 2d, another example of parallelism is a type of vector processing referred to as SIMD (single instruction, multiple data) processing. According to a SIMD arrangement, rather than a single data element, each data register in the set 16 is able to hold a vector comprising a plurality of constituent data elements. The data processing logic 18 and memory load/store pathways operate on each element of the short vector operands substantially in parallel, in response to a single shared opcode. That is, a single load instruction can load a whole vector into a vector register of the set 16, and a single data processing operation (with a single opcode) can cause the data processing logic 18 to perform the same operation substantially simultaneously on each element of the loaded vector. For example, as shown schematically in FIG. 2d, if a first source register s holds a vector (s1, s2, s3, s4) and a second source register t holds a vector (t1, t2, t3, t4), then a single add instruction (comprising a single opcode and specifying only the two source registers s, t and a single destination register d) will operate to add the individual elements of the two source vectors and store the elements of the resulting vector (s1+t1, s2+t2, s3+ts, s4+t4) to respective elements of the destination register d, i.e. to (d1, d2, d3, d4) respectively.
Other forms of parallelism are also known, e.g. by means of superscalar processors. These are similar to LIW type processors in that they execute multiple instructions in parallel, except that they comprise additional hardware to detect and avoid dependency conflicts between the parallel instructions (whereas LIW processors require dependency conflicts to be avoided in advance by the compiler).

Vector instruction execution to load vector data in registers of plural vector units using offset addressing logic


Systems, devices, methods, and program products are provided for operating a medical system that is operable within at least two different medical device regulatory classes. A device control module receives an indicator for performing at least one procedure with a medical device. Based on the indicator, it selects a binary image for booting the control module from among multiple images including a controlled-type and a non-controlled type, which operate in different regulatory classes. A controlled-type image, which may be FDA PMA or other regulatory classes, is verified to be unaltered, and is then used to operate as a regulated medical device. The indicator can be automatic or manual. The indicator may result from connection of a specific medical device or peripheral device, or may be user input.

Various medical procedures require electronic systems (e.g., software and firmware (e.g., FPGA code) that are regulated by the FDA or other regulatory bodies and must be strictly controlled. For example, endoscopic fluorescence imaging systems capable of autofluorescence and/or Photodynamic Diagnosis (PDD) procedures are currently classified as an FDA Class III medical device, which is governed by a Premarket Approval (PMA) release and approval process.
Because of the risk profile of Class III devices, Class III devices are "locked down" such that no changes to system hardware, programmable hardware such as field-programmable-gate-array (FPGA) devices, or software are allowed without further FDA approval. This may take the form of a PMA supplement and can take six to twelve months to obtain. It may also require clinical testing for approval pending the level of change.
The typical approach to controlling and maintaining Class III and similarly PMA-controlled devices is to establish a unique part number for each device, which is only allowed to connect to an approved control module and other approved peripheral devices. Unfortunately, this process forces customers to purchase a separate, completely PMA-controlled set of equipment to perform procedures that involve a Class III device, even though the equipment is often suitable for use with other devices that are not controlled. This results in duplicated expenses in order to comply with regulations.
What is needed are improved ways to manage and control medical equipment to ensure the configuration reliably complies with regulations. What is further needed are ways to reduce cost by reducing unnecessary duplication of equipment.

Method and apparatus for medical devices under regulatory control


An electrochemical cell for electrolytic treatment of aqueous solutions, particularly for cyanide detoxification or oxidation, has a solution container with a cell housing mounted on it, in which an electrode stack is located. Solution is delivered to the cell housing in the region of its housing bottom by a circulation device, and after passing through the electrode stack by an overflow over the side walls of the cell housing, is delivered to a cascadelike drain container with its own overflow for the sake of degassing; after passing through the second overflow, the now largely degassed solution is returned to the solution container and recirculated. The invention provides a compact structural form with a pressure-free recirculation system and simple maintenance of the electrode stack or individual electrodes.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,919, FABIAN et al. and corresponding German Patent 31 38 438 disclose a compact, direct through-flow cell with an easily exchangeable electrode stack, in which the cell can be adapted to the needs of the particular user by varying such parameters as the salt concentration, throughput, and so forth; by means of a low salt concentration and a high throughput, for instance, a high salt yield can be attained; alternatively, a high current yield can be achieved by means of a high salt concentration and a low throughput.
In such an arrangement, it was shown to be problematic that the flow speed of the liquid flow must be slower than the speed with which the gas bubbles contained in the solution rise, in order to assure complete degassing. The gas bubbles are guided along the elongated, cartridge-like electrode surfaces, so that the electrolyte required for the electrochemical reaction is partly forced away from the active electrode surface. Moreover, sealing provisions are necessary in the region of the electrode stack, to prevent the solution, which is under pressure, from escaping.

Electrochemical cell with degassing device


A programmable logic device is provided that has a two-dimensional array of logic array blocks. The logic array blocks, which contain advanced macrocells, contain programmable input arrays based on pterm logic and are two-dimensionally interconnected with global horizontal and vertical conductors. The logic array blocks and the connections between conductors are configured using programmable multiplexers and demultiplexers. Redundant conductive pathways are provided so that the programmable logic device may be efficiently programmed to perform a variety of logic functions. Furthermore, logic is provided with each logic array block that allows the global horizontal and vertical conductors to be interconnected without directly involving the logic in the logic array block, which therefore can be used to provide greater logical functionality.

This invention relates to programmable logic devices, and more particularly to programmable logic devices having improved logic array blocks, and improved interconnections between macrocells within these blocks and between blocks.
Programmable logic devices are capable of being programmed to provide complex logic functions by interconnecting regions of logic of low to moderate sophistication. However, the most advanced logic can be difficult to interconnect because this involves programmably interconnecting a large number of logic terms. Unless sufficient routing resources are provided, the logic on the programmable logic device will be under-utilized. For instance, if too few conducting lines are provided or the interconnections are insufficiently flexible, all pathways between certain regions of logic may be blocked. Further, the schemes generally used for interconnecting the more basic types of logic cannot simply be scaled up to accommodate complex logic. Merely providing a larger number of conductors in substantially the same fashion as used for interconnecting rudimentary logic quickly becomes untenable with regard to circuit speed and chip "real estate."
Another consideration involves using logic that it is arranged in complex logic blocks that are based on multiple "macrocells" of logic. With this type of logic, if the macrocells themselves are sufficiently complex it becomes necessary to provide a more sophisticated macrocell interconnection scheme. Macrocells must work efficiently with the other macrocells within each logic block, which necessitates interconnections that can be flexibly routed to allow logic in each macrocell to be shared among other macrocells in the same logic block. Further, it would be advantageous if the outputs of the macrocells could be fed back as inputs to the other macrocells, as this allows relatively more complex logic functions to be provided by a single logic array block. Macrocell resources should also be available to be shared among distinct logic blocks so that logic designers are not unduly constrained by the specific number of macrocells within each block.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide improved programmable logic devices.
It is a further object of this invention to provide improved programmable logic devices having improved programmable interconnections between improved logic array blocks that are based on advanced macrocells.

Programmable logic device having multiplexers and demultiplexers randomly connected to global conductors for interconnections between logic elements


A flight control system according to the present invention includes a first sensor, a flight control computer, a link mechanism, a separation unit, and a second sensor detecting a force transmitted from the first control lever to the link mechanism. The first sensor detects a force applied from an outside to a first control lever. The flight control computer determines whether or not sticking arises in the first control lever on the basis of the force detected by the first sensor and the force detected by the second sensor, and outputs a separation command to the separation unit when determining that the sticking arises. The separation unit disconnects the link mechanism on the basis of the separation command to separate a connection between the first control lever and the second control lever.

A control lever includes a wheel and a column manipulated by a pilot. The pilot can execute an operating input of a rolling direction (a roll input) by rotating the wheel and an operating input of a pitching direction (a pitch input) by pushing and pulling the column. The roll input and the pitch input are converted into electric signals by displacement sensors of the wheel and column, and are inputted to a fight control computer as a pitch command and a roll command (collectively referred to as an operating command). A control law calculation is executed on the basis of this operating command in the flight control computer and control surfaces are driven by actuators which are controlled based on the calculation result, and thus a fuselage (for example, an aircraft) can be controlled. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application JP-P 2000-335496 A discloses a flight control system of an aircraft using a fly-by-wire described above.
In the flight control system using the control lever of the wheel and column, the control levers on a pilot side and on a co-pilot side, generally, are mechanically linked and the flight control can be carried out if the input is executed from either one of the control levers. Since a force (an operating input) applied to one of the control levers is transmitted to the other of the control levers by a link mechanism, the two control levers move with being interlocked.
It is assumed that the above described control levers are stuck in a movable portion. When the control levers are stuck, it becomes impossible to carry out the flight control and there is a possibility to lead to a fuselage loss.
In order to avoid the above mentioned uncontrollable state caused by the sticking, a conventional technique includes a mechanism (a separation mechanism) for releasing the mechanical linkage (the link mechanism) between both of the control levers in some way.
As a related technique, there is a flight control system (for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,782,436) including a mechanism for avoiding the jamming by generating a slip when a force equal to or more than a predetermined value is applied from the control lever to the link mechanism. In this case, even when one of the control levers is jammed, the flight control can be carried out by applying a force equal to or more than the predetermined value to the other non-jammed control lever. However, since a jammed portion is not clear in such a technique, it is required to apply a large force to both of the control levers to specify the operable control lever. In addition, since it is required to generate the slip by applying the force equal to or more than a predetermined value in order to avoid the jamming, a pilot needs to constantly input a large operating force. Furthermore, the technique for avoiding the jamming by using the slip sometimes generates the slip depending on some conditions even in a case other than the jamming. On this occasion, negative effects, such as a false detection of a sensor signal from the control lever and a fighting between systems each of which is connected to both control levers, may sometimes occur.
For this reason, a technique for separating a control lever which is stuck from a non-troubled control lever is demanded.
On the other hand, U.S. Pat. No. 5,456,428 discloses a flight control system for carrying out, when the fly-by-wire is out of order, mechanical backing up by engagement using a clutch.

Flight control system and method of separating control lever linkage