Methods for performance evaluation of admission control policies (ACPs) include storing a simulation model including an admission queue and a finite capacity region (FCR), the admission queue admitting queries to the FCR based on an active ACP, the FCR modeling a resource constraint, generating traces, each trace being generated based on processing a single query using the database system, the single query being associated with a query type of a plurality of query types, for each query type, determining a query fork size and a service time from an associated trace to provide a plurality of tuples, each tuple being associated with a query type and including the fork size and the service time associated with the query type, parameterizing the simulation model based on the plurality of tuples, and for each of the ACPs, generating a performance parameter by applying a workload to the simulation model.

Queries can be processed by a database system to analyze and/or manipulate data stored in the database system. In some database systems, queries are queued for processing in a query queue and an admission control policy regulates the order in which queries are processed. A challenge that arises in defining a good admission control policy for database systems is query interference. For example, queries can interfere with each other when concurrently processed in the database system. One factor that reflects database performance is the maximum number of queries that can be concurrently processed. Choosing a relatively small concurrency level results in underutilized resources and low throughputs. Conversely, a relatively large concurrency level may induce excessive contention delays for cores or exhaustion of memory resources.

Simulation techniques for predicting in-memory database systems performance


A fully automatic and energy efficient lighting control or light switch comprises different settings, preset by a user, and activates all or a portion of at least one bank of lights upon detecting occupants within a room. In one embodiment, the light switch detects doppler-shifted, reflected ultrasonic waves caused by occupant motion within the room. In an automatic mode, the light switch is configured to automatically switch from an initial sensitivity level for detecting motion within a short range therefrom, to a higher sensitivity level for detecting motion anywhere within the room. After the room is empty or no motion is sensed, the light switch is configured to turn the lights off following a variable time delay. The light switch returns to its initial low sensitivity level following a predetermined grace period which begins once the lights are turned off. The lights can be turned off manually when the light switch is in its automatic mode, in which case, the light switch continues to operate at the higher sensitivity level. When motion is no longer detected, and following the variable time delay and predetermined grace period, the switch automatically returns to an automatic "on" state. In an alternative manual mode, the light switch can be activated manually and deactivated both manually and automatically. In its manual mode, the light switch is configured to deactivate the lights upon sensing no motion and is configured to reactivate the lights automatically within the predetermined grace period upon sensing motion.

Conservation of energy is a critical national and worldwide concern. Continuous lighting in empty rooms is an unnecessary waste of energy. Some state and local energy conservation/building codes require installation of two light switches in the construction or reconstruction of offices, each to control a different portion of the overhead lighting. The reasoning behind such requirements is that in the interest of energy conservation, employees and janitorial personnel may be offered the opportunity to use approximately one half of the light they would normally require in their day-to-day activities. Depending upon the amount of ambient light available, employees working in a room may select to use only one half of the available bank or banks of lights.
Further, employees may tailor their specific lighting needs to their activities and location in the room. For example, employees working in an area not receiving sufficient ambient light may require more artificial light, depending upon their specific activities. Similarly, employees located in an area receiving sufficient ambient light may require less artificial light. Utilizing office lighting effectively, such that only approximately fifty percent is sometimes used and only in occupied offices, results in substantial energy savings. In addition, for computer applications, it is advantageous to reduce the level of light to eliminate the glare on cathode ray tubes (CRT). Conventional manual switches are inefficient because they depend upon human judgment to turn all or only a portion of the lights on and off. Existing automatic wall switches have also proven to be inefficient. For example, currently available light switches or the like used in offices emit an ultrasonic wave into a room and detect motion of persons by sensing a doppler-shift in the reflected ultrasonic wave. The doppler-shift in the reflected wave is caused by persons moving within the room.
Typically, these ultrasonic light switches are preset to a sensitivity level such that a person moving anywhere within the room is detected. Because the preset sensitivity level for the reflected ultrasonic wave is fixed, a wall switch located adjacent an open door can detect persons moving outside the door and unnecessarily turn on the lights within the room.
Although a wall switch that turns lights on automatically is preferable in most instances, in some applications occupants prefer a manual option for activating lights. For example, in situations where a person enters the room for a very brief period of time, such as a secretary delivering papers, the lights do not need to be turned on. Another example is a situation in which there is adequate ambient light.

Fully automatic energy efficient lighting control and method of making same


An oxygen fired fluidized bed combustor system (Oxy-FBC) is provided. The system provides means of producing a nearly pure stream of carbon dioxide for storage at high efficiency by controlling the oxygen content within certain regions of the combustor to control the rate of heat release allowing efficient transfer of heat from the combustor to the boiler tubes while avoiding excessively high temperatures that will cause ash melting, and simultaneously remove sulphur from the combustor via sorbents such as limestone and dolomite. The present invention utilizes a coarse oxygen carrier bed material to distribute heat and oxygen throughout an Oxy-FBC, while injecting fine sulphur sorbent that will continuously be removed from the bed.

Increase in CO2 emissions, such as the combustion of fossil fuels, has contributed to climate change. As a result, measures to reduce CO2 emissions are needed. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been proposed as a major climate change mitigation technology that may capture up to 90% of the CO2 emissions from fossil fuel-fired facilities.
CCS processes consist of three stages: CO2 capture, transportation, and storage. The first stage is the most challenging due to the high cost of currently available technolgies.
Oxy-fuel combustion is a technology used for capturing CO2 from large-scale fossil fuel-fired facilities with the potential to reduce CO2 emissions and meet CCS requirements. In oxy-fuel combustion, fuel is combusted in O2/CO2 atmosphere producing a CO2-rich flue gas with some impurities such as SOx, NOx, Hg and H2O. When the combustion proceeds with a fluidized bed system, such as oxy-FBC (fluidized bed combustion), there are inherent advantages, e.g., fuel flexibility, moderate combustion temperature, and low impurity generation. Further, fluidized bed configuration enables in-situ SO2 capture via sulphur removing sorbents, such as limestone or dolomite, resulting in reduced corrosion risk to system components caused by acid attack after the formation of SO3 at high partial pressures of SO2 and steam.
Oxy-fuel fluidized bed combustion has been shown to be a clean energy technology that can utilize a variety of fuels for producing steam and electrical power and is now demonstrated at the 30 MWth scale and is available at the 330 MWe scale for demonstration. The pure stream of carbon dioxide that can be geologically sequestered; thereby, eliminating the emission of greenhouse gases resulting from combustion of fuels.
There still remain certain drawbacks with the current oxy-fuel fluidized bed combustion technology.
Typically, oxy-fuel fuel combustors use recycled flue gas to provide fluidizing gas and to provide a temperature moderator within the combustor. This flue gas stream requires substantial capital investment and imposes a significant parasitic power loss on the combustor facility.
A major portion of the heat released during combustion is extracted using an in-bed heat exchanger (located within the fluidized bed). Conventional fluidized bed combustion technologies use inert solid particulate substances as the bed material or calcium bearing sulphur capture sorbents. Over time the bed material attrites and forms finer material that is blown out of the fluidized bed, and at which time a bed material replenishment system is required.
While fluidized bed combustors are considered to exhibit good mixing characteristics, they do not mix gases radially to the extent as desired, resulting in regions in the fluidized bed where reducing conditions prevail. The reducing zones result in increased emissions of carbon monoxide and other deleterious impurities and cause corrosion to the boiler components such as boiler tubes, tube supports, and injection ports. For example, there can be localized regions where there is insufficient oxygen to fully combust the fuel. The products of incomplete combustion include the products of complete combustion, as well as a variety of reduced species including hydrogen (H2), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen sulphide (H2S), methane (CH4), higher hydrocarbons, and ammonia (NH3). These species are not desirable in the flue gas of a combustor. It is possible for these species, if in sufficient quantity, to later mix with oxygen resulting in explosions within the downstream equipment. The metal alloys used in components in the combustor typically have a protective oxide layer that prevents corrosion (stainless steel is 'stainless' due to this oxide layer); however, these species are able to reduce the metal oxide layer thereby eliminating the protective layer resulting in corrosion of the components. Corrosion of these components can result in increased erosion rates and component failure. Incomplete combustion reduces the amount of heat that can be recovered from the combustor, since a portion of the fuel has not been burnt and therefore the overall efficiency of the system is reduced. Sulphur removal sorbent performs best when sulphur oxides and oxygen are present. A number of the reduced species can reduce the effectiveness of the CO2 processing unit since the removal of these impurities is required to meet pipeline specifications.
To limit or avoid localized regions with insufficient oxygen, large scale combustors incorporate a multitude of fuel and oxidant injection points. As the number of injection points increases, the cost and complexity of the combustion system also increase.
Several studies have focused on improving fluidized bed combustion processes using reactive bed materials. These improvements include reduced emissions of unburned hydrocarbons, enhanced sulphur capture, improved NOx reduction, increased agglomeration resistance, and reduced corrosion issues.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,084,545 (Nack et al.) describes a method of operating a fluidized bed combustion system comprising an entrained fluidized bed of fine particles part of which also contains a non-entrained fluidized bed portion of coarse particles. The fine particles pass out of the bed with the fluidizing gas, pass through a gas-particle separation device and are then re-entrained into the lower portion of the entrained bed. The coarse particles are retained in the fluidized bed. The fine particles are suggested to be hematite ore, limestone, aluminum oxide, nickel or nickel oxide with their primary purpose being rapid heat transfer to boiler components. It is recognized that redox reactions may occur if the bed material contains iron or nickel though the material has not been selected to enhance this effect. It is also recognized that calcium containing compounds can be used to capture sulfur species. This patent discusses an air-fired combustion system operating at approximately atmospheric pressure. The fluidizing gas is indicated to be in the range 6-12 meters per second which exceeds reasonable limits required to avoid boiler tube erosion in a fluidized bed combustion system with velocities less than about 1.2 meters per second being most appropriate. The high fluidizing velocity has in part been specified due to the fairly large size of the fine particles (420 to 841 micron). It is assumed that the fine particulates will be recycled into the entrained bed, but this patent provides no method of separating fuel ash components from the intended fine particles used for heat transfer. The purpose of the coarse bed particles is to restrict the movement of the coal particles in the principal direction of air flow as to increase the residence time of the coal particles. The coarse particles are specified to be chemically stable (i.e. inert).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,154,581 (Nack et al.) provides an extension to U.S. Pat. No. 4,084,545 through the inclusion of a baffle in the dense bed region to separate the bed into two separate regions operating at differing temperatures to promote the adsorption of sulphur by a calcium bearing sorbent at one temperature while promoting the rate of combustion at the second temperature, although not addressing the other drawbacks of the '545 patent as noted above.
I Adanez-Rubio et al. (Fuel Processing Technology, 2014, 124, 104-114) described a system for oxidizing biomass through the use of chemical looping with dual fluidized beds in which one bed acts as an oxygen carrier oxidizer (the air reactor) and one bed gasifies the biomass (the fuel reactor).
Thunman et al. (Fuel, 2013, 113, 300-309) found that by introducing ilmenite (Fe—Ti based oxygen carrier) to a 12 MWth circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler for biomass combustion, the concentrations of CO, NO, and hydrocarbon were reduced significantly. This was attributed to enhanced oxygen distribution throughout the bed via intermittent reduction and oxidation of ilmenite causing variations in oxygen partial pressures in different regions of the combustor.
Corcoran et al. (Energy Fuels, 2014, 28, 7672-7679) noted that the structure of ilmenite particles injected into a CFB boiler for biomass combustion experienced structural and chemical changes due to the diffusion of potassium from ash into the core of the ilmenite particles. This was found to improve the bed material agglomeration resistance and reduce corrosion issues.
D. R. Chadeesingh et al. (Fuel, 2014, 127, 169-177) discussed that the introduction of an iron-based oxygen carrier into a bubbling fluidized bed for CH4 combustion with air has also been shown to accelerate the combustion of CH4, CO and H2.
Still, there remains the need to address the drawback and risks associated with the current state of art as summarized below in Table 1.
TABLE 1Risks of Oxy-Fluidized Bed Combustion Systems and Mitigation MeasuresRisks associated with the Current State ofArt In Oxy-Fluidized Bed CombustionConventional Mitigation MeasuresSulphur capture using calcium basedChange sorbent particle size, change sorbentsorbents is insufficient to meet CO2source, use alternate sulphur capture technologytransportation specificationsIncreased O2 partial pressure will enhancesorbent sulphur captureAgglomeration, deposition and fouling ofChange recycle gas ratio to control temperatureash and sorbent on boiler tubes and processof the combustor, change oxygen staging toequipmentavoid reducing conditions in regions that areaffectedMore uniform combustion would minimizelocal "reducing environment" and "hotspots,"reducing the risk of agglomeration, depositionand foulingCorrosion and erosion of fuel injectionDependent on local O2 partial pressure -components and boiler tubestherefore fuel injection and dispersion test workto ensure O2 partial pressure controlledMaterials of constructionModify geometry to reduce particle velocities inaffected areas
As can be readily appreciated by a person skilled in the art, there is a trade-off in technical and economic performance of the system based on the ability of the system to transfer sufficient oxygen to complete combustion throughout the combustion region.
It is desirable then to develop a technology which meets this objective without substantially affecting cost or reliability of the system.
While oxy-FBC technology operating at atmospheric pressure has been a technical success, the cost of power is still seen as a barrier to deployment of the technology.
To reduce cost and increase efficiency of oxy-fuel systems, pressurized oxy-combustion technologies are being developed that will have efficiencies 15 to 25% higher than their atmospheric pressure equivalents, reducing the cost of power of at least 20% for power generation with CCS.
As a result, there remains the need to reduce the size of the recycle stream which will improve the economic outlook for deploying oxy-solid fuel combustors technology.

System and method for oxygen carrier assisted oxy-fired fluidized bed combustion

HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN IN RIGHT OF CANADA AS REPRESENTED BY THE MINISTER OF NATURAL RESOURCES


A smart scheduler is provided to prepare a machine for a job, wherein the job has specific requirements, i.e., dimensions. One or more config jobs are identified to configure the machine to meet the dimensions of the job. Information concerning the machine's original configuration and groupings of config jobs that change the machine's configuration are cached in a central storage. The smart scheduler uses information in the central storage to identify a suitable machine and one or more config jobs to configure the machine to meet the dimensions of a job. The smart scheduler schedules a run for the config jobs on the machine.

In today's network computing environments, dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of individual machines may co-exist to perform a variety of computing jobs. A computing job (hereinafter "job") is generally created by a user to automatically perform a wide range of common tasks. For example, some jobs are created to prepare machines to execute tasks (hereinafter "config jobs"). Some jobs are created to clean up machines after running the tasks. Other jobs are created to run the tasks themselves. Some jobs may even be created to do a combination of all three. These different roles of jobs can be classified as config, cleanup, and regular jobs.
In order for the tasks to run successfully on a properly prepared machine, a user needs to ensure that the right jobs are run in the right order. In general, the config jobs, the regular jobs, and the cleanup jobs are not associated with each other. Therefore, a user must manually configure the machines and schedule the jobs to ensure that the right jobs are run on the right machines in the right order. Such a process can be time-consuming if hundreds or thousands of machines need to be configured. Such a process can also make it difficult for people to share tasks, because different tasks may require different setup and cleanup jobs.
In addition, because no apparent connection exists among a config job, a regular job, and a cleanup job, it is hard to optimize the machine preparation process to reduce the number of config and cleanup jobs to be run on different machines. For example, if two regular jobs share the same config and cleanup jobs, conventionally, the config and cleanup jobs are repeated for each of the two regular jobs. It would be more efficient to run the config and the cleanup job only once for both the two regular jobs.
Therefore, there exists a need to automatically schedule jobs such as config jobs and cleanup jobs based on the requirements of other jobs, such as regular jobs. There also exists a need to dynamically prepare machines according to the requirements of a job.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A water appliance including a water flow control unit for controlling a water flow. The control unit includes a flow restrictor and a leakage stop in serial fluid communication with the flow restrictor. The leakage stop cuts off the flow when a pressure difference between an inlet and an outlet of the flow restrictor is below a predetermined value.

Lack of access to clean water is a leading cause of death and disease in a lot of countries, killing many people annually and causing a wide variety of illnesses. Water treatment is necessary to alleviate the health conditions of people and to protect from the ill effects acquired from the consumption of unsafe or contaminated water. In many countries water is a scarce and expensive resource. Methods for waste water treatment have a wide interest associated with the energy consumed by such water treatment. Although waste water can be recycled and re-used it is generally considered of importance to avoid unnecessary spillage of water. Such spillage may occur as a result of leakage caused by e.g. poor maintenance of faucets, faulty pipe connections or worn-out gaskets in various components of water systems or by inattentive closure of faucets, water taps and the like.
Water appliances having a water flow control unit are generally applied for water treatment and may serve various conditioning purposes such as cooling, heating or cleaning of water. They may also serve as a means for dosage of an amount of water tapped from a reservoir or public water system. Water appliances can be incorporated into a public water system or can be used in a domestic environment as under-the-counter appliances which filter water prior to reaching the faucet or as a terminal end device which may be faucet mounted. Water appliances can treat water by means of mechanical filtration to prevent passage of particulates or by chemical treatment of water.

Water appliance having a flow control unit and a filter assembly


A cleaning unit for an image forming apparatus of the present invention includes removing means made up of a cleaning blade configured to remove toner particles left on the surface of an image carrier in contact with the image carrier and a blade holder holding the cleaning blade. Assuming that the cleaning blade has a natural frequency of fc and that the image carrier has a speed variation frequency of fd ascribable to rotation thereof, a range other than a range represented by the following relation is selected:

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a copier, facsimile apparatus, printer or similar image forming apparatus and more particularly to a cleaning unit configured to reduce the degradation of image quality and noise ascribable to vibration that occurs between a cleaning blade and a photoconductive body or image carrier included in an image forming apparatus for thereby achieving a stable cleaning characteristic.
2. Description of the Background Art
A problem with a cleaning unit included in an image forming apparatus is that stick-slip occurs due to friction acting between a cleaning blade and a photoconductive drum or similar image carrier. Vibration ascribable to the stick-slip constitutes a vibration source causing the image carrier to produce noise or is propagated from the cleaning blade to a unit casing to also produce noise. Because a cleaning unit is essential for removing residual toner left on an image carrier after image transfer, it is necessary to reduce such noise.
Further, if relative vibration between the cleaning blade and the image carrier increases, load acting on the drive of the image carrier varies due to the friction of the cleaning blade. As a result, speed variation is aggravated to bring about banding or similar degradation of image quality. Banding refers to a phenomenon that the density of an output image varies in accordance with the frequency of speed variation, lowering image quality. Such a phenomenon is ascribable to an increase in the speed variation of the image carrier mentioned above.
Moreover, when the cleaning blade vibrates due to resonance, a gap is sometimes formed between the image carrier and the edge of the cleaning blade. If the gap is sized greater than toner particles, then toner particles are allowed to pass through the gap and make cleaning defective.
In order to solve the problems stated above, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-333385, for example, discloses a color image forming apparatus including driving devices against which an image carrier and an intermediate image transfer body are pressed and to which torque is transmitted from a double shaft, double gear motor via gear trains. This color image forming apparatus is characterized in that a dynamic damper or a flywheel is mounted on the motor shaft in order to control the amplification of vibration ascribable to the resonance of the motor. With this configuration, according to the above document, it is possible to reduce the vibration of the image carrier for thereby protecting a latent image formed on the image carrier from disturbance.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 9-222826 teaches that the inertia masses of inertia members, which are included in a rotation driveline, and the numbers of rotations and the numbers of teeth of gears are so selected as to confine the frequency of eccentricity of a rotation driver implemented by gears and the frequency of speed variation based on the meshing of gears in the attenuation range in the frequency response of a rotation driving device. This is successful to prevent the vibration of an apparatus from being amplified.
The problem with the prior art technologies stated above is that vibration is controlled on the basis of the configuration of a driving device, e.g., a dynamic damper or a flywheel or the numbers of teeth or the rotation speeds of gears. As a result, when the number of structural parts, including the dynamic damper or the flywheel and gears, increases, the number of conditions for controlling vibration increases and make the entire configuration sophisticated and bulky.
Technologies relating to the present invention are also disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos. 60-023874, 11-184307 and 2003-177583.

Cleaning unit and image forming apparatus using the same

Abstract: 1              2              ·          f      c        <      f    d    <            2        ·                  f        c            .


Disclosed is an LSI design support system for making a functional design of LSI using a graphic input method. This system comprises a state transition diagram preparation portion for preparing a state transition diagram, state transition table preparation portion for preparing a state transition table, and a state-operation circuit diagram preparation portion for preparing a state-operation circuit diagram. Data from these preparation portions are examined therebetween and the results are displayed at the same time on a picture plane so that a designer can efficiently make a design on circuit operation including its state transition. Also disclosed is another LSI design support system. As well as the preparation portions in the above system, this system comprises a transitional-condition analysis portion for analyzing transitional conditions of a state transition diagram obtained by the state transition diagram preparation portion or a state transition table obtained by the state transition table, an automatic-layout-wiring program execution portion for preparing a state transition diagram by data from the state transition table, and an automatic-table-preparation program execution portion for preparing a state transition table by data from the state transition diagram.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an LSI (large scale integrated circuit) design support system for a function design of LSI based on a graphic input method, and particularly to an LSI design support system which can realize rationalization of the design work.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, as conventional function designs of LSI, there are a design of static circuit operation and another of a state transition system for determining the order of the circuit operation and controlling the operational states.
In such types of designs, designers described directly with a special language. Therefore, the designers must be limited to those who are well versed in the special language.
To solve the problem, there is a design support system of LSI based on a graphic input system, which can perform the function design of LSI without any special language for description even when the designer does not have special knowledge of the language. When the graphic input system is used for designing all the circuit operation, each circuit for expressing a predetermined function thereof can be graphically shown to complete the function design. However, the conventional graphic input system is always employed for the design of a circuit in an operational state. In such a design input system, circuit operation states always input the operational states. Therefore, the states of circuit operation are expressed by providing flip-flops for respectively assigning the operational expressions in the circuit. Each flip-flop is given a state signal which serves as a control signal for expressing the corresponding circuit operation. Accordingly, in this case, a great many of flip-flops must be required, and a circuit diagram to be obtained must be in a large scale and complicated.
While, in the design of a state transition system, there is a method of expressing order of a state translation by assignment of transitional conditions C1 to C6 between respective states st0 to st4 as shown in FIG. 1A. In a transition system shown in FIG. 1B, when 1 is inputted to a state q0, the state q0 changes into a state q1 and 1 is outputted therefrom. The fact is also expressed by a state transition table as shown in FIG. 1C. Conventionally, there is also a known design support system based on a graphic input method by using a table for expressing a transition system as stated above.
However, when the number of the transition states is large, the transitional conditions to be nested in the state transition table are increased so that a state transition diagram to be obtained becomes extremely complicated and difficult to understand. Moreover, when the transition conditions are complicatedly nested in the table, it becomes difficult for the designer to guess the relationship between the transition states so that a lot of time must be required for the design work. Thus, it is difficult to smoothly carry out the design work by such conventional methods.
Moreover, in a conventional design of circuit operation and a transition state system, a state transition diagram or a state transition table is designed separately from the circuit operational portion. Thus, there is not a known method of designing circuit operation and a state transition system at the same time using a circuit diagram, a state transition diagram and a state transition table together. Therefore, it is difficult to efficiently carry out a design with grasping both the circuit conditions and the circuit operation. Namely, in the conventional LSI design support systems, the circuit operation and the state transition system are designed separately by the graphic (circuit diagram) input, thus it takes much time to carry out designs based on such systems.
Furthermore, when the conditions of the state transition are not decided, the design must be stopped at the stage. Therefore, to carry out the design efficiently, the transition conditions should be completely defined in advance, however, once defined, the conditions cannot be added or changed on the way of the circuit design. Accordingly, it is difficult to carry out a flexible design therefor.


A computer-implemented example generator is described which has a memory storing a text item, examples of use of the text item having been requested. A processor searches at least one n-gram language model to identify n-grams containing the text item. The processor is configured to rank the identified n-grams on the basis of a position of the text item in the identified n-grams; and a user interface presents at least some of the identified n-grams to a user taking into account the ranking.

Data input systems such as predictive virtual keyboards, predictive speech input systems and others are increasingly used to enter information into electronic devices and computing systems. Where electronic devices have a small form factor it can be burdensome for users to manually type in data using virtual keyboards. Where speech input is difficult due to background environment noise and/or the need to avoid disturbing others it is burdensome to speak individual data items for input.
Data input systems which use predictive technology to predict candidate next data input items are increasingly available. These include predictive virtual keyboards and other data input systems which offer candidate next data items, such as words, phrases, sentences, emoji, images, stickers, emoticons and others for the user to select. The user can then give a single input action such as a speech input, touch input or other modality of input to input the candidate data item.
Users often have a problem understanding new text items in a language, such as new emoji, new hashtags and new phrases. Understanding infrequently used or rare words and phrases is also difficult for many users. For example, names of people, dialect and specialist language such as medical terminology, scientific terms and acronyms. Existing approaches for finding meanings of text items involve the user navigating to a specialist dictionary web site and manually entering the term concerned. For example, where a user receives a text message containing an emoji that the user does not understand, the user typically needs to move out of the messaging application and into a web browser application. The user then needs to navigate to an emoji dictionary service and copy and paste the emoji into the query box in order to find meanings of the emoji.
The embodiments described below are not limited to implementations which solve any or all of the disadvantages of known data input systems/example generators.


A carbon nanotube field emission device with overhanging gate fabricated by a double silicon-on-insulator process. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Field emission devices (cathodes) serve as a source of electrons, and are of use in various scientific and medical fields. Such applications may include sterilization systems, gas ionization systems (e.g., mass spectrometry), klystrons, flat-panel displays, cathode ray tubes, scanning electron microscopes, transmission electron microscopes, and energy dispersive x-ray analysis, to name a few. As another example, by radiating a target with an accelerated electron beam, field emission devices may be used as a source of x-rays. In many applications, it is desirable that field emission devices provide a relatively high electron flux with relatively low power consumption, are stable with a long life, and which may be efficiently manufactured.

Method for manufacturing a carbon nanotube field emission device with overhanging gate


According to the invention data in a number of logical downlink intended for one or more mobile terminals are received in a first mapping unit, where at least a first High Speed Radio Network Temporary identity is allocated to these logical downlink channels addressing a group of mobile terminals for allowing transmission of channel data for reception by mobile terminals. A mobile terminal then reads, from a Broadcast Control Channel, necessary information including a High Speed Radio Network Temporary identity allocated to at least one logical downlink channel, where at least said first identity exists among possible identities. It then listens to a high speed shared control channel for the read identity. In case it detects the identity, the terminal follows a scheduling command, receives data on a high-speed downlink shared channel and processes said data.

In a typical cellular radio system, mobile terminals communicate via a radio access network (RAN) to one or more core networks. The mobile terminals can be such stations as mobile telephones ("cellular" telephones) and laptops with mobile termination, and thus can be, for example, portable, pocket, hand-held, computer-included, or car-mounted mobile devices which communicate voice and/or data with radio access networks.
The radio access network (RAN) covers a geographical area which is divided into cell areas, with each cell area being served by a base station. A cell is a geographical area where radio coverage is provided by the radio base station equipment at a base station site. Each cell is identified by a unique identity, which is broadcast in the cell. The base stations communicate over the air interface (e.g., radio frequencies) with the mobile terminals within range of the base stations. In the radio access network, several base stations are typically connected (e.g., by landlines or microwave) to a radio network controller (RNC). The radio network controller, also sometimes termed a base station controller (BSC), supervises and coordinates various activities of the plural base stations connected thereto.
One example of a radio access network is the Universal Mobile Telecommunications (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN). The UMTS is a third generation system which in some respects builds upon the radio access technology known as Global System for Mobile communications (GSM). UTRAN is essentially a radio access network providing wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) to mobile terminals. The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has undertaken to evolve further the UTRAN and GSM-based radio access network technologies.
In today's wireless wide area networks, like WCDMA networks, the common transport channels in the downlink, i.e. Paging Channel (PCH), Forward Access Channel (FACH) and Broadcast Channel (BCH), are statically mapped onto physical channels such as Primary Common Control Physical Channel (P-CCPCH) and Secondary Common Control Physical Channel (S-CCPCH) that consume codes and power. The codes are statically assigned to the channels and a normal implementation is that the power cannot be reused for other channels. The BCH is mapped onto the P-CCPCH, whereas the PCH and the FACH are mapped onto the S-CCPCH.
The BCH is used to carry the Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH). BCCH is a logical channel that carries system information, i.e. information on where other common channels are mapped. Thus, the BCCH carries information, e.g., on where the S-CCPCH is located and which of those are carrying FACH, PCH or both. Furthermore, the BCCH carries information on where a High Speed Downlink Shared Channel (HS-DSCH) and its corresponding control channels are mapped. Thus, BCCH, BCH and P-CCPCH are necessary channels that cannot be changed.
The S-CCPCH on the other hand carries PCH and/or FACH. On PCH the paging control channel (PCCH) is mapped. PCCH is used to carry paging messages from a radio resource control protocol (RRC). The FACH is used to carry Common Control Channel (CCCH), Common Traffic Channel (CTCH), Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH) and Dedicated Traffic Channel (DTCH). In addition, FACH is also used to carry Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services (MBMS) related channels such as MBMS point-to-multipoint Control Channel (MCCH), MBMS point-to-multipoint Traffic Channel (MTCH) or MBMS point-to-multipoint Scheduling Channel (MSCH) and Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH) for mobile terminals or user equipment units in CELL_FACH state. CCCH is used by RRC to communicate with terminals that do not have a cell specific Id (a MAC Id). The identity of the terminal is then carried within the RRC message. CTCH is used for Cell Broadcast Services (CBS). DCCH mapped on FACH is used by RRC to communicate with terminals that have a cell specific Id (a MAC Id). DTCH mapped on FACH is a user plane data transfer channel used by a terminal that has a cell specific Id. DCCH and DTCH can also be mapped onto DCH and HS-DSCH. While it is possible to avoid mapping of DCCH and DTCH onto the FACH in an implementation of the WCDMA standard it has previously been necessary to keep the FACH due to the CCCH, CTCH and the MBMS services.
According to the WCDMA standard these various logical channels are thus mapped onto transport channels that are then transmitted to mobile terminals or user equipment units via physical channels. This mapping is according to the WCDMA standard provided through a number of MAC layer mapping units or MAC entities provided in a so-called MAC layer.
FIG. 1 shows a block schematic of a MAC architecture according to this known principle. In the figure there is shown a first mapping unit 10 or MAC entity, which in WCDMA is denoted MAC-c/sh/m. This first mapping unit 10 is connected to RCC units (not shown) provided in an upper layer of the control structure from where it also receives data in the logical channels PCCH, BCCH, CCCH, CTCH, SHCC, MCCH, MSCH and MTCH. Here SHCCH is a Shared Channel Control Channel. The first mapping unit 10 maps these logical channels onto various transport channels PCH, FACH, RACH, USCH and DSCH in order to be carried on various physical channels, like P-CCPCH and S-CCPCH. In order to do this it furthermore receives control signals MAC CTRL from the upper layers of the structure. Here control is indicated by a dashed line originating from upper layers.
There is furthermore a second mapping unit 12, also often denoted MAC-hs, which is responsible for mapping various logical channels onto HS-DSCH and also for the management of the physical resources allocated to HS-DSCH. In order to do this it also receives control signals MAC CTRL from the upper layers of the structure. The logical channels mapped here are normally used for downlink transfer of data. The second mapping unit 12 also provides associated downlink signaling DL S and associated uplink signaling UL S with mobile terminals on associated signaling channels. Here the signaling is indicated with dashed lines.
In the same way there is a third mapping unit 14, also often denoted MAC-e, which is responsible for scheduling logical channels on Enhanced Dedicated Transport Channels (E-DCH). There is here one third mapping unit 14 per mobile terminal that is communicating with the WCDMA network. In order to perform this scheduling the third mapping unit 14 receives control signals MAC CTRL from the upper layers of the structure together with schedule requests from mobile terminals. Also here there is provided associated downlink signaling DL S and associated uplink signaling UL S with mobile terminals on associated signaling channels. E-DCH is with advantage provided for uplink transfer of data. Also here is the signaling indicated with dashed lines. HS-DSCH is thus used for downlink communication, while E-DCH is used for uplink communication.
There is furthermore a fourth mapping unit 16 provided on a mobile terminal per mobile terminal basis, also denoted MAC-d responsible for mapping logical traffic related channels such as Dedicated Traffic Channels (DTCH) and Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH), onto transport channels Dedicated Channels DCH. In order to do this the fourth mapping unit 16 also receives control signals MAC CTRL from the upper layers of the structure.
There is finally a fifth mapping unit 18, also denoted MAC-es and provided on a mobile terminal per mobile terminal basis. This unit 18 handles E-DCH functionality not covered by the third mapping unit 14. Also the fifth mapping unit 18 receives control signals MAC CTRL from the upper layers of the structure.
In FIG. 1 there is furthermore indicated an Iur interface between the first mapping unit 10 and the fourth and fifth mapping units 16 and 18 as well as an Iub interface between the first mapping unit 10 and the second and third mapping units 12 and 14. Thus it is clear that the first mapping unit 10 may be provided in an RNC, the fourth and fifth mapping units may be provided in another RNC and the second and third mapping units 12 and 14 may be provided in a Node-B. Node-B is another term used for a base transceiver station or base station.
Regarding paging in a WCDMA network, a RRC (Radio Resource Control) paging message is used to wake up terminals from sleep mode in Idle, URA_PCH (UTRAN Registration Area_Paging Channel) and CELL_PCH (Cell_Paging Channel) states. The RRC paging message is sent on a Paging Control Channel (PCCH). A Paging Control Channel PCCH is a logical channel that is mapped onto the physical Paging Channel (PCH).
Terminals are divided into different paging groups in order to achieve a power saving for the terminals. At a specific time occasion in discontinuous reception cycle, a so-called DRX cycle of the paging group, the terminals in the paging group wake up and check whether there is paging information to the paging group. A terminal checks that on a paging indicator channel (PICH).
Hence, a terminal in idle, Cell_PCH or URA_PCH state can receive one PCCH, one PCH and one S-CCPCH at regular intervals. Prior to receiving S-CCPCH, the terminal checks the Paging Indicator Channel (PICH) to see if there is a paging message for its paging group on the PCH. Thus a terminal does not listen to the S-CCPCH continuously but at regular intervals controlled by its DRX cycle.
In WCDMA there may be more than one S-CCPCH used for PCH/PCCH. All S-CCPCHs carrying PCH/PCCH are indicated by means of system information on the Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH). The paging groups are spread out over the different S-CCPCHs. The terminal selects its paging group according to a well defined rule based on the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI). Thus each terminal only listens for paging information on one S-CCPCH.
It has been perceived that in the existing WCDMA-system architecture every S-CCPCH consumes power and codes that are statically allocated by a Radio Network Controller (RNC). Thus the power and codes cannot be reused for other traffic than the S-CCPCH resulting in an inefficient use of resources. This is especially the case if there are few mobile terminals in a cell.
If there were a way to map the logical channels that today use FACH onto some other channel, FACH could be avoided. However, it is not only FACH that uses S-CCPCH. Also PCH does that. Hence one needs to be able to map PCCH onto some other channel than PCH to be able to avoid S-CCPCH and thus save codes and power.

Method for mapping logical channel on shared channel


A transistor with an electrical overstress (EOS) protection may include an active region, a plurality of impurity regions and a conduction pattern. The active region may be formed in a substrate. The impurity regions may be formed in the active region and arranged at a predetermined or given distance with respect to each other. The conduction pattern may be arranged between each of the impurity regions in a meandering shape, and the conduction pattern may include a center portion connected to a ground terminal. Therefore, a transistor with EOS protection, a clamp device, and an ESD protection circuit including the same may increase an on-time of a clamp device and may sufficiently discharge a charge due to the EOS by including a conduction pattern configured with gates that are connected with respect to each other in a meandering shape.

1. Field
Example embodiments relate to electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection, and more particularly, to a transistor with electrical overstress (EOS) protection, a clamp device including the transistor and an ESD protection circuit including the clamp device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electrostatic discharge (ESD) is a phenomenon where a finite quantity of electrostatic charge may be rapidly transferred between bodies or surfaces at different electrostatic potentials. The duration of ESD events may range from picoseconds to microseconds. Electrical overstress (EOS) may be an electrical shock that occurs when a product is exposed to a leakage current or voltage usually from a power supply device or test equipment. The duration of EOS events may range from nanoseconds to milliseconds. As described above, ESD and EOS are different with regards to the duration of electrical transient pulse widths.
A thin insulating layer, e.g., a gate oxide layer, may be damaged, when an ESD event or EOS event occurs in a device manufactured by a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process. Therefore, a protection circuit for ESD and EOS may be required. As a semiconductor technology advances, the degree of integration of semiconductor devices may increase and power consumption of semiconductor devices may decrease, and thus, the semiconductor devices may be more easily exposed to ESD. When the thickness of a gate oxide layer of a MOS transistor ranges from about 3 nm to about 4 nm, an insulating layer may be destroyed by a voltage ranging from about 3 V to about 4 V, and thus, there may be an increasing demand for a protection circuit protecting an internal core from an ESD event and EOS event. For meeting the demand, many protection technologies have been developed for protecting the internal core from an ESD event and EOS event.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram illustrating a conventional gate-grounded n-channel metal oxide semiconductor (GGNMOS) transistor. FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram illustrating a conventional gate-coupled NMOS (GCNMOS) transistor. The GGNMOS transistor of FIG. 1 has a configuration where a gate, a source, and a body may all be grounded, and uses a snap-back phenomenon. The GGNMOS transistor may be capable of protecting the internal core from an EOS event that has a relatively long duration of electrical transient pulse widths. However, the GGNMOS transistor may not be efficiently capable of protecting the internal core from an ESD event because an ESD current may flow into the internal core until triggering a voltage level of the transistor. The ESD current may be discharged through the transistor instead of flowing into the internal core at the triggering voltage level of the transistor.
A GCNMOS transistor having a configuration where a silicide blocking layer (SBL) is eliminated may be employed. The configuration of the GCNMOS may be capable of protecting the internal core from an ESD event that has a relatively short duration of electrical transient pulse widths. However, the GCNMOS may not be capable of protecting the internal core from an EOS event that has a relatively long duration of electrical transient pulse widths. When the GCNMOS of FIG. 2 is implemented with a bipolar insulated-gate field-effect transistor (BIGFET) manufactured in a relatively large size, and the EOS is applied to the BIGFET, a gate of the BIGFET may be in an off state and the BIGFET may be damaged due to a parasitic bipolar operation. Generally, a center portion of the BIGFET may be easily damaged. An on-time of the gate may be increased so as to prevent or reduce the damage. For example, a capacitance of a capacitor C or a resistance of a resistor R may be increased in FIG. 2. However, an additional space may be required so as to increase the capacitance C of the capacitor or the resistance of the resistor R.

Transistor with EOS protection and ESD protection circuit including the same


The present invention provides a signal modulation method. The method includes: generating a transmit signal pulse waveform, where a width of the pulse waveform is τ, each pulse waveform is associated with n symbols (n>1), a width of each symbol is Δτ, and

In a communications system, intercode (or intersymbol) interference (Intersymbol Interference, ISI) is a key factor that affects system performance. To avoid the intercode interference, in the communications field, the Nyquist criterion that can avoid the ISI is proposed, and a raised cosine filter satisfying the Nyquist criterion is proposed. Currently, the Nyquist criterion for ISI-free transmission becomes a guideline for communications system design.
The Nyquist criterion can effectively avoid the ISI intercode interference and reduce detection complexity. However, in a Nyquist system, to satisfy the Nyquist criterion, excessive bandwidth inevitably needs to be introduced, thereby reducing spectral efficiency. In addition, in a current commonly used communications modulation method, there is no ISI intercode interference when each symbol is independently sent, but there is also no coding constraint relationship between transmitted symbols, thereby mitigating a capability of resisting noise and attenuation by a signal.

Abstract: Δτ    =          τ      n        ;performing an operation on every n consecutive symbols in a to-be-sent symbol flow and the pulse waveform according to a preset operation manner, to generate an associated signal of the symbols and the pulse waveform; and sending the associated signal by using a transmission channel. The present invention helps improve spectral efficiency of a system. In addition, symbols are mutually constrained based on a correlation between the symbols, and information symbols are scattered to a plurality of symbols, thereby helping improve a capability of resisting noise and attenuation by a signal.

SHEN ZHEN KUANG-CHI HEZHONG TECHNOLOGY LTD


Embodiments of the invention implement MEJs having improved read-write characteristics. In one embodiment, an MEJ includes: ferromagnetic fixed and free layers, a dielectric layer interposed between the ferromagnetic layers, and an additional dielectric layer proximate the free layer, where the fixed layer is magnetically polarized in a first direction, where the free layer has a first easy axis that is aligned with the first direction, and where the MEJ is configured such that when subject to a potential difference, the magnetic anisotropy of the free layer is altered such that the relative strength of the magnetic anisotropy along a second easy axis that is orthogonal to the first easy axis, compared to the strength of the magnetic anisotropy along the first easy axis, is magnified during the application of the potential difference, where the extent of the magnification is enhanced by the presence of the additional layer.

Devices that rely on the interplay between electricity and magnetism underlie much of modern electronics. Relatively recently, researchers have begun to develop and implement such devices that take advantage of quantum mechanical magnetoresistance effects, such as giant magnetoresistance (GMR) and tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR). GMR and TMR principles regard how the resistance of a thin film structure that includes alternating layers of ferromagnetic and non-magnetic layers depends upon whether the ferromagnetic layers are in a parallel or antiparallel alignment. For example, magnetoresistive random-access memory (MRAM) is a technology that is being developed that typically utilizes TMR phenomena in providing for alternative random-access memory (RAM) devices. In a typical MRAM bit, data is stored in a magnetic polarization within an arrangement that includes two ferromagnetic plates separated by an insulating layer—this arrangement is conventionally referred to as a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ). One of the ferromagnetic plates (the fixed layer) is permanently set to a particular polarization, while the other ferromagnetic plate (the free layer) can have its magnetic polarization altered. Generally, the MRAM bit can be written to by manipulating the magnetic polarization of the free layer such that it is either parallel or antiparallel with the polarization of the fixed layer; and the bit can be read by measuring its resistance, since the resistance of the bit will depend on whether the polarizations are in a parallel or antiparallel alignment.
MRAM technologies initially exhibited a number of deficiencies. In particular, they tended to be inefficient since they required a relatively large current to manipulate the magnetic polarization of the bit's free layer. Consequently, adjunct technologies were implemented to mitigate these deficiencies. For example, spin-transfer torque MRAM (STT-MRAM) is a variant of the base MRAM technology whereby the magnetizing current constitutes spin-aligned electrons that are used to directly torque the domains. Additionally, Thermal Assisted Switching MRAM (TAS-MRAM) is yet another variant of MRAM technology whereby the MTJs are heated during the write phase; the heating of the MTJs reduces the current required to polarize the free layer.
Nonetheless, in spite of these advances to MRAM technology and in spite of the many potential advantages that MRAM technology offers, it has yet to achieve widespread adoption. Accordingly, there exists a need to develop more effective electromagnetic configurations that implement magnetoresistance principles such that they can be made to be more viable.

Systems and methods for implementing magnetoelectric junctions having improved read-write characteristics

THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA


A refill apparatus for multiple containers is provided, which comprises a single piece, integrally molded primary container for holding matter. The basin of the container is comprised of a bottom with a plurality of apertures that are arranged in rows and columns for allowing drainage of matter from the containment portion through the apertures. The plurality of apertures are integrally molded and coupled with an upper portion of a corresponding number of conduits that are commensurately arranged in rows and columns along an exterior of the bottom for allowing matter from the containment portion to flow and drain into a lower portion of the conduits, which are comprised of discharge tubes for facilitating simultaneous flow and depletion of matter out of the containment portion and into a secondary set of containers.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a refill apparatus and, more particularly, to a multi-container refill apparatus.
(2) Description of Related Art
Conventional refill systems have been in use for a number of years, which enable most users to refill a secondary container such as a bottle with matter from a main or primary container. Reference is made to the exemplary U.S. Pat. Nos. 531,388; 693,637; 979,819; 1,076,776; 1,411,284; 4,258,758; 4,351,740; 5,458,168; 5,515,892; 5,630,452; 6,092,547; 6,719,021; and 6,820,660, and the U.S. Patent Application Publication 2005/0145293 A1. Regrettably, most conventional refill systems suffer from obvious disadvantages. With some, a user can refill single secondary containers only one at a time. With others, the refill systems are complex and mainly used on the factory floors of bottling companies using conveyor belts, and other complex electromechanical contraptions that allow simultaneous filling of plurality of bottles. Other refill systems use metal and are too heavy and bulky to be practical for everyday use in home or business. Still others use a single elongated conduit to feed a plurality of bottles lined sequentially, which makes the entire device impractical for use in small spaces, especially if a large number of bottles are to be filled simultaneously.
In light of the current state of the art and the drawbacks to current devices and methods mentioned above, a need exists for a refill apparatus that would allow for a plurality of containers to be refilled with matter without the use of complex electromechanical components, and that would be simple and practical for even home or business use.

Refill apparatus for multiple containers


A resistive memory apparatus provides resistive memory material between conductive traces on a substrate or in a film stack on a substrate. The resistive memory apparatus may provide a sealed cavity or may utilize material obviating the need for the cavity. Methods and materials utilized to form the resistive memory apparatus are compatible with current microelectronic fabrication techniques. The resistive memory apparatus is nonvolatile or requires no power to maintain a programmed state. The resistive memory device may also be directly integrated with other microelectronic components.

A memresistor is an electronic device that can change conductivity. For example, a memresistor may provide a high conductivity state when a first voltage is applied to the memresistor, and the memresistor may provide a low conductivity state when a second voltage is applied to the memresistor.
A memresistor may be utilized in a variety of electronic applications such as, but not limited to, nonvolatile storage. Additionally, a memresistor may be integrated with other electronic components such as, but not limited to, diodes, transistors, or other electronic components.

Integrated nonvolatile resistive memory elements


An airflow system adapted for receiving airflow from a refrigeration unit mounted on a front of a lead trailer. The airflow system is also adapted for transferring and receiving airflow from a pup trailer pulled behind the lead trailer. The airflow system uses heated or cooled airflow discharged from the refrigeration unit inside the lead trailer to heat or cool goods at a constant temperature stored inside both of the trailers. The airflow system includes a modified air chute attached to the refrigeration unit and a lead airflow transfer hole in a rear door of the lead trailer. A transfer tube is connected to the transfer hole and to a pup airflow intake hole in the front of the pup trailer for circulating the airflow through the pup trailer. A return tube is connected to a pup airflow return hole in the front of the pup trailer and a lead airflow return hole in the lead trailer""s rear door. The return tube returning airflow from the pup trailer to the lead trailer for circulating the airflow through the lead trailer and recirculating the airflow back to the refrigeration unit.

(a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates broadly to the cooling and heating of the inside of a highway transport trailer and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to an airflow system and method for maintaining a constant temperature inside both a lead or front trailer and inside an attached xe2x80x9cpupxe2x80x9d or rear trailer. The airflow system using a single refrigeration unit mounted on the front of the lead trailer.
(b) Discussion of Prior Art
Heretofore, there have been a variety of different types of cooling systems and refrigeration units used with highway transport trucks and trailers and railroad cars when transporting perishable fruits, vegetables and other items. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,303,867 to Stebbins, an early method of refrigerating railroad cars and commercial trucks is disclosed. A cooling unit is attached to a side of a railroad car or a truck and cold air is circulated around and past perishable vegetables. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,937,510 to Allyne, an apparatus for controlling temperature inside a trailer is described. The trailer includes a refrigeration unit adapted to contain Dry Ice. Using a fan, air is drawn upwardly from a cargo space and through an air-cooling space and back over the top of the cargo. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,255 to McDonnell et al., a food treating apparatus and method for ripening fruit without having to remove the fruit from a truck or trailer is illustrated. A fruit ripening unit with air circulating system is parked next to a rear of three trucks for circulating air at a controlled temperature into the trucks with stored fruit. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,972,674 to Harrell, a crop drying apparatus is disclosed for drying tobacco, peanuts and grain hung inside a trailer.
None of the above mentioned prior art patents specifically disclose the unique features, structure and function of the subject airflow system used with a lead trailer with a refrigeration unit and attached pup trailer for maintaining a constant temperature inside both of the trailers and using the same refrigeration unit.
In view of the foregoing, it is a primary objective of the subject airflow system to provide a constant temperature to goods and products being transported inside a lead trailer with refrigeration unit and inside a pup trailer and using only a single refrigeration unit for cooling or heating the two trailers. For example, during the transporting of beer, the airflow system maintains the temperature of the stored beer at 40 degrees F. in both front and rear trailers. Also, depending on the heating and cooling capacity of the refrigeration unit, the two trailers can be heated and cooled at a constant temperature in a range of 35 to 60 degrees F. The two trailers are used for carrying various types of goods and products that require a constant temperature when being transported.
Another object of the invention is the subject airflow system can be used with both a standard 48 foot or 53 foot lead trailer with refrigeration unit and with an attached 28 foot or 32 foot pup trailer. The combination of the lead and pup trailers provide for increased payloads of the goods being shipped, less transportation cost and less maintenance cost.
Still another object of the airflow system is it can be quickly disconnected from the lead and pup trailers so that each trailer can be used independently of each other when the new airflow system is not required.
Yet another object of the invention is the airflow system can be retrofitted for different lengths of lead trailers and pup trailers, when the overall length of the two units is approved by state and federal law.
The airflow system is adapted for attaching to a refrigeration unit mounted on a front of a lead trailer and adapted for attaching to a pup trailer pulled behind the lead trailer. The airflow system uses the heated or cooled airflow discharged from the refrigeration unit to either heat or cool goods at a constant temperature. The goods are stored inside the lead trailer and the pup trailer. The airflow system conveys the airflow along the length and the top of both the lead trailer and the pup trailer. The airflow is then redirected back along the length and the bottom of both the pup trailer and the lead trailer heating and cooling the goods at a constant temperature. The return airflow is then drawn into the refrigeration unit and recirculated.
The airflow system includes a modified air chute having a first end adapted for attaching to an air discharge opening in the refrigeration unit. A second end of the air chute is attached to a rear door air manifold. The air manifold is mounted on an upper portion of one of the lead trailer""s rear doors. The rear door manifold is disposed around a lead airflow transfer hole in the rear door. The transfer hole is connected to one end of a transfer tube. An opposite end of the transfer tube in connected to a pup airflow intake hole. The intake hole is in an upper portion of the front of the pup trailer.
The airflow, received from the lead trailer, is circulated along the length and the top of the pup trailer where it engages the pup""s rear door. The airflow is then redirected back along the bottom and floor of the pup trailer before returning through a pup airflow return hole. The return hole is in a lower portion of the front of the pup trailer. The return hole is connected on one end of a return tube. An opposite end of the return tube is connected to a lead airflow return hole. The lead airflow return hole is in a lower portion of the lead trailer""s rear door. The airflow is discharged along the bottom and floor of the lead trailer before being received in an air return opening in the refrigeration unit.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those familiar with various types of refrigeration units used for heating and cooling products transported by trailers when reviewing the following detailed description, showing novel construction, structure, function and method steps as described herein, and more particularly defined by the claims, it being understood that changes in the various embodiments to the invention are meant to be included as coming within the scope of the claims, except insofar as they may be precluded by the prior art.

Airflow system for maintaining constant temperature inside a lead trailer and attached pup trailer


A new and improved sport net includes a net assembly which includes two long sides, a first short side, and a second short side. A first sleeve member is connected to the first short side of the net assembly, and a second sleeve member is connected to the second short side of the net assembly. The first sleeve member and the second sleeve member are capable of slipping over a top portion of respective support poles. A first ear assembly is connected to the first sleeve member. The first ear assembly includes a flap portion and a first aperture located within the flap portion, and a second ear assembly is connected to the second sleeve member. The second ear assembly includes a flap portion and a second aperture located with the flap portion, such that guy wires can be passed through the respective first aperture and the second aperture for reinforcing the stability of the poles and the apparatus attached to the poles. A score keeping assembly, which includes a plurality of markers for indicating respective scores of respective players, may be connected to the net assembly. A sensor/signalling assembly, including a trip wire attached to the first sleeve member and the second sleeve member, may be used for sensing and signalling when the net assembly is hit. When the trip wire is tripped after the net assembly is hit, a visible or an audible signal of the hit is provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to nets, and, more particularly, to nets used in sports such as volleyball and badminton.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A number or sports or games require the presence of an elevated net extending across the width of a playing court. Such sports include volleyball and badminton. Supports for conventional nets for such sports are generally stiff poles that are driven into the ground. Conventional nets generally employ strings to tie respective corners of the nets to the poles.
The use of strings to tie nets to poles presents a number of problems. One problem relates to the formation of knots. It is often difficult to repetitively tie strings onto poles without forming undesired knots. In this respect, it would be desirable if a sport net were provided which precludes the problem of knots forming in strings used to tie a net to support poles.
Another problem relating to the use of strings for tying a sport net to a support pole relates to the fact that a net has four corners, and four knots must be tied to secure the net to the pole. With such a conventional net, not only must four knots be tied to install the net, but four knots must be untied to disassemble the net when the game is over. In this respect, it would be desirable if a sport net were provided which precludes the necessity of tying four knots to assemble a net on support poles and precludes the necessity of untying four knots when the net is disassembled.
Strings that support nets on poles are generally secured to the nets by a relatively few stitches. Such few stitches undergo quite a bit of stress and strain when the strings are in use. As a consequence, such few stitches tend to prematurely break under the stress and strain making it difficult to secure the net to the respective poles properly. In this respect, it would be desirable if a sport net were provided which is not supported by strings that have a relatively few stitches that tend to wear prematurely.
Sport nets erected on poles should ideally be quite taut to serve their purposes. Often, however, it is difficult to maintain tautness of a net when the net is supported on the poles only at its four corners. In this respect, it would be desirable if a sport net were provided which is easy to keep taut.
When a sport net is erected on poles, it is often necessary or desirable to support the poles with guy wires and the like. Attaching guy wires to conventional poles may be a difficult task. In this respect, it would be desirable if a sport net were provided which makes it easy to attach guy wires for supporting the poles.
When conventional nets are supported on conventional poles by four sets of strings attached to respective corners of the nets, the nets may tend to exhibit a curled, as opposed to flat, appearance. The curled appearance may be due to the fact that it is very difficult to retain two dimensional tautness of the net with the four corners tied to the poles. More specifically, two corners on one pole must be taut with respect to the vertical dimension along the pole; and, in addition, opposing corners, on opposite poles must also be maintained in a taut condition. In actuality, such two dimensional tautness is difficult to maintain with four corners of the net. In this respect, it would be desirable if a sport net were provided which facilitates maintaining the net so that it has a flat, not curled, appearance.
In all sports, scores must be recorded, and players are often kept up to date as to the current score. Often the score is kept on a scoreboard. Generally, either one or both players must look away from the game court to see the scoreboard. Glancing away from the playing court at an inappropriate time may be a blunder in a closely fought game. In this respect, it would be desirable if a sport net were provided which enables a player to see the current score without looking away from the playing court.
In net games such as volleyball and badminton, when a net is hit is often a significant occurrence in the game. Hitting a net can often have great consequences in the score of the game. Sometimes a gentle hit of the net may not be perceived equally by both sides. Often heated disputes take place as to whether the net was hit or not. In this respect, it would be desirable if a sport net were provided which includes a device for sensing and signalling when the net is hit during the game.
Throughout the years, a number of innovations have been developed relating to supports for nets used in sports, and the following U.S. patents are representative of some of those innovations: U.S. Pat. No. 3,758,116; U.S. Pat. No. 4,083,561; U.S. Pat. No. 4,809,988; U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,461; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,375. None of these patents, however, relate to the type of net that is erected and used in the sports of volleyball and badminton.
Thus, while the foregoing body of prior art indicates it to be well known to use sport nets supported on poles, the prior art described above does not teach or suggest a sport net which has the following combination of desirable features: (1) precludes the problem of knots forming in strings used to tie a net to support poles; (2) precludes the necessity of tying four knots to assemble a net on support poles and precludes the necessity of untying four knots when the net is disassembled; (3) is not supported by strings that have a relatively few stitches that tend to wear prematurely; (4) is easy to keep taut; (5) makes it easy to attach guy wires for supporting the poles; (6) facilitates maintaining the net so that it has a flat, not curled, appearance; (7) enables a player to see the current score without looking away from the playing court; and (8) includes a device for sensing and signalling when the net is hit during the game. The foregoing desired characteristics are provided by the unique sport net of the present invention as will be made apparent from the following description thereof. Other advantages of the present invention over the prior art also will be rendered evident.


Efficient memory operation is provided by maintaining alignment with cache line boundaries in response to a read command. A prefetching scheme is used to limit the amount of operations needed to respond to a read command. In addition, the prefetch amount is initially adjusted where the starting address of the read request falls in between cache line boundaries. The adjusted read amount is determined based on the misaligned portion from the starting address of the read request to the nearest cache line boundary outside of the requested data block, such that the adjusted read amount ends on a cache line boundary. Subsequent read requests to the same data block will thereby begin at the last cache line boundary and end upon a subsequent cache line boundary by providing the pre-configured prefetch data amount corresponding to the requesting master device. Efficient bus utilization and memory controller operation efficiency is maximized by allowing the memory control to operate and respond to read requests in data amounts maintaining cache line alignment.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to bridge devices in multicontroller computer applications, and more particularly, to improving bus utilization efficiency during data transfer operations among the system controllers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Inclusion of multiple microcontroller devices within a single application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) has become common place. As the size of ASIC computer chips decrease and system speeds increase, system efficiency is scrutinized at every level. Communications among the multiple controllers in a system or on an ASIC present one part of the larger computer system efficiently that ultimately affects overall system speed. Data transfer, including read and write operations to system memory and even among the ASIC controllers, are required to be efficient or risk choking overall system speeds as devices wait for bus operations to catch up to internal processes. To make matters more complex, the various controllers and the system memory often reside on multiple computer communications buses. As such, bridge-type devices have become a common component to facilitate data transfers among the different bus interfaces. However, xe2x80x9cdumbxe2x80x9d bridges serve to introduce additional latencies without efficiency improvement.
One communication protocol, utilized in PCI-X systems, requires providing the amount of data to be transferred as a byte count at the start of a cycle along with the command and address. Another protocol uses a FRAME# signal to indicate when the initiating device intends to continue transferring data past the first data phase. The FRAME# signal remains asserted until the next to last transfer that the initiating device intends to complete.
One approach has been to minimize the number of operations needed to complete a particular task. Device characteristics, if known, can be used to predict a data transfer mode that could improve efficiency. To this end, ASICs have been designed to provide configuration blocks in which registers can be set during initial configuration based on device characteristics of the devices among which the ASIC knows communication will occur. Data can then be provided in response to a read request from any one of the controllers based on the amount of data set in the configuration register for that requesting device. This xe2x80x9cprefetchingxe2x80x9d scheme reduces overhead where device characterstics are static during particular operations. Once the preferred data response is known, the responding device, such as a memory controller, is able to automatically provide data without additional internal computing operations. However, standard prefetching does not take advantage of inherent operating efficiencies of certain responding devices, like a memory controller. For example, memory controllers are generally more efficient responding to a read request when it operates on cache line boundaries (i.e. responding by providing data in amounts equal to a cache line and aligned with its cache boundaries). However, if a read request begins misaligned from a cache line boundary, the above prefetching scheme will serve only to perpetuate the misalignment across a large data stream through its standardization of subsequent read amounts.
The bridge device according to the present invention maintains cache line alignment during read operations between the bridged devices. The amount of data read in response to a read command from any potentially requesting controller or other requesting device is preset. If the starting address of the read request is misaligned with respect to a memory cache line boundary, the preset prefetch amount is recalculated such that the ending address will be aligned on a cache line boundary. An amount of data equal to this adjusted amount is returned in response to the read request instead of the preset prefetched amount. The next request to a continuous data stream in memory will thus automatically begin cache-line aligned. Successive starting read requests continue returning the preset prefetch amount as long as the address is aligned with a cache line boundary. Host memory controller efficiency is maximized by providing subsequent read request starting on cache line boundaries for large data streams.

Providing data in response to a read command that maintains cache line alignment

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A polishing method and a polishing apparatus which can increase a polishing rate and can control a polishing profile of a substrate being polished by adjusting a surface temperature of a polishing pad are disclosed. The polishing method for polishing a substrate by pressing the substrate against a polishing pad on a polishing table includes a pad temperature adjustment step of adjusting a surface temperature of the polishing pad, and a polishing step of polishing the substrate by pressing the substrate against the polishing pad having the adjusted surface temperature. In the pad temperature adjustment step, the surface temperature of a part of an area of the polishing pad, the area being to be brought in contact with the substrate, is adjusted during the polishing step so that the rate of temperature change of a temperature profile in a radial direction of the surface of the polishing pad becomes constant in the radial direction of the polishing pad.

In recent years, high integration and high density in semiconductor device demands smaller and smaller wiring patterns or interconnections and also more and more interconnection layers. Multilayer interconnections in smaller circuits result in greater steps which reflect surface irregularities on lower interconnection layers. An increase in the number of interconnection layers makes film coating performance (step coverage) poor over stepped configurations of thin films. Therefore, better multilayer interconnections need to have the improved step coverage and proper surface planarization. Further, since the depth of focus of a photolithographic optical system is smaller with miniaturization of a photolithographic process, a surface of the semiconductor device needs to be planarized such that irregular steps on the surface of the semiconductor device will fall within the depth of focus.
Thus, in a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device, it increasingly becomes important to planarize a surface of the semiconductor device. One of the most important planarizing technologies is chemical mechanical polishing (CMP). In the chemical mechanical polishing, while a polishing liquid (slurry) containing abrasive particles such as silica (SiO2) or ceria (CeO2) therein is supplied onto a polishing pad, a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer is brought into sliding contact with the polishing pad and polished using the polishing apparatus.
CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing) apparatus is used in a process of polishing a surface of a substrate in a semiconductor device fabrication. The CMP apparatus is designed to hold and rotate the substrate by a top ring and press the substrate against a polishing pad on a rotating polishing table to polish the surface of the substrate. During polishing, a polishing liquid (slurry) is supplied onto the polishing pad, so that the surface of the substrate is planarized by a chemical action of the polishing liquid and a mechanical action of the abrasive particles contained in the polishing liquid.
A polishing rate of the substrate depends not only on a polishing load on the substrate against the polishing pad, but also on a surface temperature of the polishing pad. This is because the chemical action of the polishing liquid on the substrate depends on the temperature. Thus, it is important for the semiconductor device fabrication to maintain an optimum surface temperature of the polishing pad during polishing of the substrate in order to increase the polishing rate and keep the polishing rate constant.
Therefore, the present applicant has proposed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2012-176449 a polishing apparatus which has a pad temperature adjustment mechanism for adjusting a surface temperature of a polishing pad by supplying a temperature-adjusted liquid to a pad contact member that is brought into contact with the surface of the polishing pad.
Because of special importance placed on an increase in the polishing rate, the pad contact member proposed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2012-176449 is designed to have the largest possible contact area under layout restrictions in order to quickly raise the surface temperature of the polishing pad to a target temperature. Specifically, the pad contact member extends, in the radial direction of the polishing pad, from a peripheral position on the polishing pad to a position near the center of the polishing pad. In view of the expected radial temperature gradient of the surface of the polishing pad during polishing, the width of the pad contact member is large at an outer circumferential side of the polishing pad and is gradually smaller toward the center of the polishing pad. Thus, the pad contact member has a generally triangular planar-shape, and is a plate-like body having a liquid flow passage therein.
The present applicant has obtained the following knowledge through repetition of a process for polishing substrates by a polishing pad whose temperature has been raised by using a pad contact member as described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2012-176449.
Since the pad contact member is designed to have the largest possible contact area under layout restrictions in order to quickly raise the surface temperature of the polishing pad with the emphasis on an increase of the polishing rate, the temperature of the polishing pad in its entirety can be raised quickly. However, temperature distribution of the polishing pad is such that the increase in the temperature is larger in the outer circumferential portion of the polishing pad than in the central portion of the polishing pad. Thus, it has been found that since the temperature of the polishing pad in its entirety can be raised by the pad contact member, the polishing rate is increased, but the polishing profile is deformed and become the concave. Thus, the central portion of the surface, being polished, of the substrate is polished more than the peripheral portion thereof, resulting in the concave central portion of the substrate. If the temperature of the polishing pad is not raised, the polishing profile is not deformed and does not become the concave. Thus, it has been found that the temperature distribution in the radial direction of the polishing pad and temperature history of the substrate which is experienced during polishing need to be approximated to those as observed in polishing performed without a pad contact member.

Polishing method and polishing apparatus


An apparatus and method for holding photograph albums in localized association with photo negatives corresponding to the photoprints in the respective albums. The holder preferred embodiment includes three substantially rectangular panels, a first spine pivotally connecting a first one of the panels and a second one of the panels, and a second spine longitudinal parallel to the first spine pivotally connecting the second panel and a third one of the panels. Album retaining means are carried by the panels for retaining the photo albums thereon, and negatives storage means are also carried by the panels for storing photo negatives in respective localized association with the album retaining means.

This invention relates to an apparatus and method for holding photograph albums in localized association with photo negatives corresponding to the photoprints in the respective albums.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,530,176, issued to Sasson Rejwan on Jul. 23, 1985, which patent and its disclosure are hereby incorporated herein by reference, teaches an apparatus for cataloguing and retrieving photographic prints and negatives stored together in a box-like case. The apparatus taught by the Rejwan patent includes a photograph album having front and rear cover leaves, an index member forming a label at the album's bound edge, a plurality of mounting tongues with photographs respectively adhesively connected thereto, and a hanger element, all held together at the top by an elastic band. The photographs are hinged with respect to the mounting tongues near the adhesive connection in order that the prints may be pivoted or flipped for permitting easy viewing thereof.
The box-like case disclosed in the Rejwan patent contains a compartment fitted with a pair of parallel, spaced support members, for receiving a plurality of such photograph albums. Each photograph album is supported in the case's album compartment by the album's hanger member resting on the compartment's horizontal support members. The case further includes another compartment for receiving a correspondingly shaped negatives album in the form of a small notebook having a plurality of plastic leaves. Each leaf forms an envelope with one open edge for receiving a paper negative/print wallet of the type customarily provided by photographic film processors. This negatives album is used for containing photo negatives corresponding to the photoprints included by all of the photo albums contained in the case's photo album compartment.

Apparatus for holding photograph albums and method


A rotary head type magnetic recording/reproducing device includes a stationary drum, and a rotary drum disposed coaxially with the stationary drum and secured to the rotary shaft of the motor. The rotary drum has a cylindrical portion which is slightly greater in diameter than the stationary drum, a first truncated cone portion integrally connected to the cylindrical portion at a bottom thereof and decreasing in diameter in a direction toward the stationary drum at a first taper angle, and a second truncated cone portion integrally connected to a top surface of the first truncated cone portion at a bottom thereof and decreasing in diameter in the direction toward the stationary drum at a second taper angle which is greater than the first taper angle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rotary head type magnetic recording/reproducing device, more especially relates to a rotary head type magnetic recording/reproducing device used in VTR (video tape recorder), DAT (digital audio tape recorder), a data recorder and a back-up streamer each having a rotary head.
2. Description of the Related Art
A rotary head type magnetic recording/reproducing device according to the related art comprises a lower stationary drum, a motor having a rotary shaft penetrating the stationary drum, and an upper rotary drum disposed coaxially with the stationary drum and secured to the rotary shaft of the motor.
An opening for accommodating a magnetic head is formed on an outer surface of the rotary drum at a position adjacent to the lower end of the rotary drum, thus the magnetic head is mounted within the opening. A stepped portion for guiding a magnetic tape is formed in an outer surface of the stationary drum.
In order to conduct the recording/reproducing by bringing the magnetic head into directly contact with the magnetic tape, the magnetic head radially projects over the outer surface of the rotary drum. The rotary drum is arranged to have the same outer diameter from the top end thereof to the lower end thereof, the rotary drum being greater in diameter than the stationary drum by a certain degree.
The magnetic tape is arranged to come into contact with both the rotary drum and the stepped portion formed in the stationary drum.
However, the above-described device encounters the following problems:
A contact pressure between the magnetic tape and the rotary drum is greater than a contact pressure between the magnetic tape and the stationary drum. The contact pressure between the magnetic tape and the rotary drum increases when it approaches the stationary drum.
The magnetic tape is bent in its widthwise direction since the contact pressure becomes maximal in a portion in which the magnetic tape comes contact with the magnetic head. Furthermore, a vacuum pressure is generated in a gap between the magnetic head and the opening, the vacuum pressure causing the magnetic tape to be sucked in the direction toward the center of the rotary drum. Accordingly, the magnetic tape is warped in its lengthwise direction, causing the magnetic powder to be separated from the magnetic tape. The separated magnetic powder can contaminate the surface of the magnetic head. As a result, the recording/reproducing performance of the device of this type deteriorates. Furthermore, the magnetic tape can be damaged during its contact with a corner portion of the rotary drum defining the opening. The magnetic tape loses its durability due to the damage.

Rotary head type magnetic recording/reproducing device


An IVT machine includes an input shaft, a drive wheel on the input shaft, an output shaft, a ratio changing device which is mounted on the output shaft, an endless belt which passes over the drive wheel and in an open loop on the ratio changing device, control elements for enlarging and reducing the belt loop dimension about the output shaft axis, belt guide elements providing a throat through which the belt enters and leaves its loop on the ratio changing device, and a drive arrangement on the ratio changing device for the transmission of drive power to the output shaft and is engaged with the belt in a portion of its loop on the device and engageable with the belt on both sides of the throat in its transition across the throat during rotation of the ratio changing device.

A significant body of prior art relating to IVT machines of the above type exists. Typical examples of these are described in the following publications: relating to bicycles—U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,883, GB2062142A, GB2135743A, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,618,331, 3,956,944, 4,832,660, 5,984,814 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,879; relating to CVT/IVT—WO03/042575 and WO03/078869; relating to grooved/ribbed cone disc engagement—WO01/75333 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,367,067; relating to variable sprocket teeth ladder chain—WO94/04411 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,863.
It will be seen from the specifications of U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,883, GB2062142A, GB2135743A, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,618,331, 3,956,944, 4,832,660, 5,984,814 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,879 that these machine consist largely of radially positionable engagement devices that operate, either by means of sprocket teeth or frictionally, within fixed tracks, which are spaced radially about a variable sprocket hub. Because of the limited number of engagement devices the flexible member track around them does not constitute a circular arc and their outputs are as a result, pulsed. Another problem with these prior art machines is the non-exact synchronisation of their engagement devices with drive chain links where engagement is accomplished via spring-loaded sprocket teeth or rotatable full sprockets operating in the fixed guides which make these devices suitable only for low speed applications, for example on bicycles. In high speed and high torque applications the above prior art machines are unsuitable.
In the cases of WO03/042575 and WO03/078869 the synchronisation problems have largely been solved, but they rely on sprag clutches which do not provide for power transmission in both directions (do not allow for engine braking).
In the cases of WO01/75333 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,367,067 the positive synchronised engagement of the chain with the disc grooves/ribs again presents a synchronisation problem.
In the cases of WO94/04411 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,863 positive engagement is accomplished but the storage of the ladder chain as well as its adjustment presents a problem in high speed applications.
The devices in most of the above publications sacrifice synchronised positive engagement for the ability to vary the ratio in infinitely small increments.