A method of identifying a temporarily located road feature that engenders vehicular speed behavior change comprises a navigation apparatus monitoring speed thereof or a parameter associated therewith. The method also comprises the navigation apparatus generating a message in response to detection of a profile associated with speed of the navigation apparatus and that corresponds to a predetermined speed change profile associated with the presence of the temporarily located road feature.

Portable computing devices, for example Portable Navigation Devices (PNDs) that include GPS (Global Positioning System) signal reception and processing functionality are well known and are widely employed as in-car or other vehicle navigation systems.
In general terms, a modern PND comprises a processor, memory and map data stored within said memory. The processor and memory cooperate to provide an execution environment in which a software operating system is typically established, and additionally it is commonplace for one or more additional software programs to be provided to enable the functionality of the PND to be controlled, and to provide various other functions.
Typically, these devices further comprise one or more input interfaces that allow a user to interact with and control the device, and one or more output interfaces by means of which information may be relayed to the user. Illustrative examples of output interfaces include a visual display and a speaker for audible output. Illustrative examples of input interfaces include one or more physical buttons to control on/off operation or other features of the device (which buttons need not necessarily be on the device itself but could be on a steering wheel if the device is built into a vehicle), and a microphone for detecting user speech. In one particular arrangement, the output interface display may be configured as a touch sensitive display (by means of a touch sensitive overlay or otherwise) additionally to provide an input interface by means of which a user can operate the device by touch.
Devices of this type will also often include one or more physical connector interfaces by means of which power and optionally data signals can be transmitted to and received from the device, and optionally one or more wireless transmitters/receivers to allow communication over cellular telecommunications and other signal and data networks, for example Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, GSM, UMTS and the like.
PNDs of this type also include a GPS antenna by means of which satellite-broadcast signals, including location data, can be received and subsequently processed to determine a current location of the device.
The PND may also include electronic gyroscopes and accelerometers which produce signals that can be processed to determine the current angular and linear acceleration, and in turn, and in conjunction with location information derived from the GPS signal, velocity and relative displacement of the device and thus the vehicle in which it is mounted. Typically, such features are most commonly provided in in-vehicle navigation systems, but may also be provided in PNDs if it is expedient to do so.
The utility of such PNDs is manifested primarily in their ability to determine a route between a first location (typically a start or current location) and a second location (typically a destination). These locations can be input by a user of the device, by any of a wide variety of different methods, for example by postcode, street name and house number, previously stored "well known" destinations (such as famous locations, municipal locations (such as sports grounds or swimming baths) or other points of interest), and favourite or recently visited destinations.
Typically, the PND is enabled by software for computing a "best" or "optimum" route between the start and destination address locations from the map data. A "best" or "optimum" route is determined on the basis of predetermined criteria and need not necessarily be the fastest or shortest route. The selection of the route along which to guide the driver can be very sophisticated, and the selected route may take into account existing, predicted and dynamically and/or wirelessly received traffic and road information, historical information about road speeds, and the driver's own preferences for the factors determining road choice (for example the driver may specify that the route should not include motorways or toll roads).
The device may continually monitor road and traffic conditions, and offer to or choose to change the route over which the remainder of the journey is to be made due to changed conditions. Real time traffic monitoring systems, based on various technologies (e.g. mobile phone data exchanges, fixed cameras, GPS fleet tracking), are being used to identify traffic delays and to feed the information into notification systems.
PNDs of this type may typically be mounted on the dashboard or windscreen of a vehicle, but may also be formed as part of an on-board computer of the vehicle radio or indeed as part of the control system of the vehicle itself. The navigation device may also be part of a hand-held system, such as a PDA (Portable Digital Assistant), a media player, a mobile telephone or the like, and in these cases, the normal functionality of the hand-held system is extended by means of the installation of software on the device to perform both route calculation and navigation along a calculated route.
Route planning and navigation functionality may also be provided by a desktop or mobile computing resource running appropriate software. For example, the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) provides an on-line route planning and navigation facility at http://www.rac.co.uk, which facility allows a user to enter a start point and a destination whereupon the server with which the user's computing resource is communicating calculates a route (aspects of which may be user specified), generates a map, and generates a set of exhaustive navigation instructions for guiding the user from the selected start point to the selected destination. The facility also provides for pseudo three-dimensional rendering of a calculated route, and route preview functionality which simulates a user travelling along the route and thereby provides the user with a preview of the calculated route.
In the context of a PND, once a route has been calculated, the user interacts with the navigation device to select the desired calculated route, optionally from a list of proposed routes. Optionally, the user may intervene in, or guide the route selection process, for example by specifying that certain routes, roads, locations or criteria are to be avoided or are mandatory for a particular journey. The route calculation aspect of the PND forms one primary function, and navigation along such a route is another primary function.
During navigation along a calculated route, it is usual for such PNDs to provide visual and/or audible instructions to guide the user along a chosen route to the end of that route, i.e. the desired destination. It is also usual for PNDs to display map information on-screen during the navigation, such information regularly being updated on-screen so that the map information displayed is representative of the current location of the device, and thus of the user or user's vehicle if the device is being used for in-vehicle navigation.
An icon displayed on-screen typically denotes the current device location, and is centred with the map information of current and surrounding roads in the vicinity of the current device location and other map features also being displayed. Additionally, navigation information may be displayed, optionally in a status bar above, below or to one side of the displayed map information, examples of navigation information include a distance to the next deviation from the current road required to be taken by the user, the nature of that deviation possibly being represented by a further icon suggestive of the particular type of deviation, for example a left or right turn. The navigation function also determines the content, duration and timing of audible instructions by means of which the user can be guided along the route. As can be appreciated, a simple instruction such as "turn left in 100 m" requires significant processing and analysis. As previously mentioned, user interaction with the device may be by a touch screen, or additionally or alternately by steering column mounted remote control, by voice activation or by any other suitable method.
A further important function provided by the device is automatic route re-calculation in the event that: a user deviates from the previously calculated route during navigation (either by accident or intentionally); real-time traffic conditions dictate that an alternative route would be more expedient and the device is suitably enabled to recognize such conditions automatically, or if a user actively causes the device to perform route re-calculation for any reason.
It is also known to allow a route to be calculated with user defined criteria; for example, the user may prefer a scenic route to be calculated by the device, or may wish to avoid any roads on which traffic congestion is likely, expected or currently prevailing. The device software would then calculate various routes and weigh more favourably those that include along their route the highest number of points of interest (known as POIs) tagged as being for example of scenic beauty, or, using stored information indicative of prevailing traffic conditions on particular roads, order the calculated routes in terms of a level of likely congestion or delay on account thereof. Other POI-based and traffic information-based route calculation and navigation criteria are also possible.
Although the route calculation and navigation functions are fundamental to the overall utility of PNDs, it is possible to use the device purely for information display, or "free-driving", in which only map information relevant to the current device location is displayed, and in which no route has been calculated and no navigation is currently being performed by the device. Such a mode of operation is often applicable when the user already knows the route along which it is desired to travel and does not require navigation assistance.
Devices of the type described above, for example the GO 930 Traffic model manufactured and supplied by TomTom International B.V., provide a reliable means for enabling users to navigate from one position to another. Such devices are of great utility when the user is not familiar with the route to the destination to which they are navigating.
An ability to warn as to the oncoming presence of a so-called "safety camera" is a useful feature that some known PNDs offer, usually based upon a subscription service. In this respect, data concerning the locations of safety cameras on a map stored and used by the PND can be downloaded. The downloaded data is then used in conjunction with a current location of a user and a direction of travel to warn the user when approaching a safety camera on a route being followed. However, the safety camera data used only relates to fixed safety cameras and not to mobile safety cameras. This is not surprising because, by their very nature, mobile safety cameras only reside at a given location temporarily and then move to another location.
Consequently, PNDs are typically not capable of providing alerts to users as to when mobile safety cameras are being approached. A road user therefore has to rely upon other means of obtaining this information, for example by listening to a radio station and hoping an announcement will be made by a presenter as to the location of a safety camera that the road user may be approaching. A relevant announcement is only likely to be made by local radio stations as opposed to radio stations with nationwide or even regional coverage. Furthermore, for such an announcement to be made by a radio station, the radio station or some other traffic service provider has to receive advice from road users as to the location of a mobile safety camera, i.e. this advice needs to be provided actively by road users upon spotting a safety camera. Hence, if there is apathy amongst road users (in an area near a mobile safety camera) to report the presence of the mobile safety camera, the necessary information will not be acquired and hence other road users will not be advised. Additionally, in respect of a vocal radio broadcast, there is a limit to the number of safety cameras that can be mentioned, i.e. there is a limit to the number of locations of safety cameras that a broadcaster is willing to announce without spoiling a show. Also, there can be a delay between the initial advice of a location of a safety camera and the announcement to all interested road users, by which time the mobile safety camera may have changed location.

Method of identifying a temporarily located road feature, navigation apparatus, system for identifying a temporarily located road feature, and remote data processing server apparatus


An optical scanner and method in which light beams from a plurality of sources are directed onto a medium to form a composite spot. The relative positions of the beams are detected and changed to change the diameter of the composite spot so that lines formed by such spots appear unbroken. The modulating times, intensities and number of sources of the beams can also be varied to provide a linear relation between the dither matrix and the picture element density.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical scanner having a plurality of light sources forming a composite spot and capable of changing the diameter of the composite spot.
As shown in FIG. 1, when a line inclined by 45.degree. is printed in a laser printer, spot diameter D must be larger than pitch d of a scanning line or the inclined line will appear broken. When the intensity distribution of the spot is of an isotropic Gauss type with a central intensity I.sub.o and the spot diameter is defined as a point having intensity I.sub.o /exp(-2), the light intensity Ia at point a is provided by the following formula (1). ##EQU1## When a region having an intensity not less than I.sub.o /exp(-2) is developed, the condition for preventing interruption of a line inclined by 45.degree. is provided by the following inequality (2). EQU I.sub.a .gtoreq.I.sub.o /exp(-2)
From the formula (1) and the inequality (2), the following inequality (3) is formed. EQU D/d.gtoreq.1.22
The dither method is one method for representing the gradation of an image. In the dither method picture elements are decomposed to a matrix and the density of the picture elements changed by changing the coating ratio of this dither matrix. When a dither pattern is printed under the condition of the inequality (3), as shown in FIG. 2, the spot diameter is larger than the area of one dither matrix constituting picture element 71. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the relation between the dither matrix coating ratio and the density of the picture element is not a linear relation. Thus the gradation representation becomes inaccurate in the region in which the dither matrix coating ratio is high. In FIG. 3, the density of the picture element is 1 at its maximum.

Optical scanner and method for generating and detecting a composite dot on a scanning medium


A golfing aid having a body that includes two partially spherical ends with the same radii as each other, whereby the contact points are positioned between 4 and 20 millimetres apart, and methods of producing and using such a golfing aid.

This invention relates to a Golfing Aid.
In particular, this invention relates to a golfing aid which provides visual feedback to the golfer about their golf stroke.
It is well known, that golf requires a great deal of practice. This practice involves a large amount of repetition of the fundamental aspects of the game. It is currently necessary to undertake large amounts of practice to become a competent golfer.
The need for practice is particularly true in relation to putting. Putting is the element of the game which can truly make or break a round. Bad putting, for example three-putting can ruin an entire hole regardless of how good the approach shots have been.
To become a better putter you need to strike the ball with a smooth motion. It is also necessary to address the ball correctly and maintain the putter head perpendicular to the line required. If any one of these elements is not right the putting stroke will be defective and result in the ball being mis-hit.
As putting is such an important part of the game golfers undertake large amounts of putting practice. This putting practice has traditionally been undertaken by repetitively hitting the golf ball across a surface towards a receptacle xe2x80x94generally a cup or a hole. A player develops a consistent stroke which allows them to hit the golf ball accurately only after large amounts of practicing this repetitive motion.
A large amount of practice is required, as this type of practice does not provide instant visual feedback to the golfer about their golfing stroke. Ideally there would be a golfing aid which would allow a golfer to instantly see how they are mis-hitting and incorrectly addressing the ball.
U.S. Pat. No""s. 3,918,720, 4,278,254, 5,595,546 and 5,885,165 have all attempted to provide a solution to this problem in ways similar to the invention disclosed in this patent.
U.S. Pat. No 3,918,720 discloses a pair of balls that are spaced substantially apart. These balls are made from solid rubber and are not regulation golf balls. The balls are spaced apart by a rigid shaft that connects the two complete balls. This configuration means that if a golfer makes an inaccurate stroke premature contact with the surface of one ball the putting aid will roll in an arc with a large radius clearly indicating a mis-hit.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,278,254 discloses embodiments similar to ""720. This patent allows for two or three complete balls to be attached by a central shaft projecting through the balls. The shaft protrudes through the outer skin of the outer balls.
There is an alternate construction for this patent which involves one golf ball having a pair of wheels attached to a shaft going through the middle of the golf ball, these wheels have a greater diameter than the golf ball. The wheels and golf ball are fixed together and roll as an integral unit. This product also if mis-hit causes the balls to roll in an arc with a large radius.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,546 is a putting aid comprising of two golf balls connected in an abutting relationship. These balls are connected by a threaded connector which extends into holes formed in the abutting surface of the golf ball. The threaded connector allows the golf balls to be affixed to each other and a relationship whereby the distance between the centres of the two golf balls is less than the length of the putter face. This also means the aid rolls in an arc if mis-hit.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,885,165 provides a putting aid which is similar to the ""546 patent in that two balls are fixed together in an abutting relationship. However, this patent includes a pivotal assembly, as opposed to a threaded connector. This pivotal assembly allows the balls to rotate independently of each other, and therefore react more dramatically to an incorrect stroke.
Other aspects of the game are also critical to the completion of a successful round.
Golfers recognise that although putting has the potential to cause a player to drop the most shots it is necessary to have a complete game. A golfer needs to be able to drive a ball straight and long, and chip the ball accurately from shorter ranges.
A golfer needs to practice a full compliment of shots, however both chipping and driving practice takes a considerable amount of space. A golfer needs to either practice in a park or at a driving range.
In built up metropolitan areas this can often prove difficult as parks where a golfer is allowed to practice or driving ranges are not always readily accessible. This inaccessibility may be either due to location or the costs associated with commercial practicing ranges.
The inability of a number of golfers to practice in enough space to assess defects in their swing and contact with the ball hinders the development of their game. To rectify their inability to practice in the open a large number of golfers resort to practicing with hollow plastic balls. These plastic balls do not fly like regulation golf balls and therefore do not provide an accurate indication of the golfer""s stroke. Further, the actual contact is not like that with a regulation golf ball, the forces involved are significantly less and thus does not allow a golfer to judge the weight necessary for a shot. These deficiencies result in a substandard practice session.
The prior art has a number of problems associated with it. Golf is very much a mental game. If a golfer gets out of a rhythm it can affect their game dramatically. Even minor changes in a golfer""s psyche can result in several extra shots on their score card. Therefore, the object of a good golfing aid would be to enable practice to be as realistic as possible yet retain all the advantages of giving a clear indication of how the golfer has mis-hit their stroke.
Some of the prior art does not use real golf balls and therefore, cannot realistically reproduce the golfing situation or the realistic feel of striking a golf ball.
All of the prior art mentioned contains at least two completely spherical golf balls. The result of this is that while providing an indicator as to the problems associated with a putting stroke, the prior art does not adequately reproduce a realistic golfing situation. All of the prior art contains at least two balls which visually looks quite distinct from the single golf ball being putted under normal playing conditions.
Another problem associated with the prior art is that due to the presence of at least two complete golf balls there is a significant increase in weight. This significant increase in weight results in an artificial practice environment. If a golfing aid is at least twice as heavy as would be experienced under playing conditions the golfer will need to exert a significantly greater amount of force on the golf balls by hitting them harder. This in turn means that golfers are ill prepared when it comes to correctly weighting their shots which is as important in putting as correcting your swing and addressing of the ball to achieve the proper direction.
As all of the prior art contains at least two complete spherical golf balls the golfer needs to be a great deal more accurate if they wish to get the feeling of success by sinking the putting aid in either the hole, or receptacle they are using. This is particularly true if a golfer is practicing either chipping or driving. It is also a lot more difficult to sink a putting aid of this size, therefore the golfer will achieve a far lower success rate. This low success rate easily translates into frustration and the golfer is likely to give up practicing, thereby, not gaining the full benefit of the golfing aid.
The distance between the centres of the golf balls contained within the golfing aid corresponds to the difficulty to putt the golfing aid correctly. The further apart the centres of the golf balls used in the putting aid the harder it is to hit the golfing aid straight. Therefore, in the case of the prior art where the centres of the golf balls are spaced at least the diameter of a golf ball apart a golfing stroke will need to be virtually perfect for the golfing aid to be hit straight. This again results in a large amount of frustration on the part of the golfer which results in the golfer being more likely to give up and not use the golfing aid, thereby, not gaining the full benefit of the golfing aid.
The putting aids in the prior art contain at least two complete spherical golf balls attached together by some connecting means. These putting aids are large and cumbersome, and therefore do not fit conveniently in a golfing bag.
In addition to being cumbersome, the golf balls are independent therefore the connecting means could snap, thereby rendering the putting aid useless. There is a good chance of this happening, as putting aids are carried in golf bags, usually thrown in the back of a car or commonly subjected to other rough treatment, they are reasonably likely to break.
Further, the balls disclosed in the prior art are not sufficiently durable or strong to withstand the forces involved when the ball is chipped, let alone driven.
Another disadvantage of the similar prior art is the points on the golfing aid where contact is made is at least the diameter of an average ball apart. This distance translates to the golfing aid being very hard to hit correctly. If contact is only made with one ball the large forces are applied only to one xe2x80x98halfxe2x80x99 of the putting aid. This force imbalance further frustrates the weakness is the linkage systems of the prior art, and will result in a large number of broken golfing aids.
Another disadvantage associated with the prior art is the distance between club face contact points are unable to be varied. The inability to adjust the distance between these contact points means a golfer cannot adjust the golfing aid to vary when they improve their swing, and therefore move to a harder setting.
Yet another problem with the prior art is that golf is played not only for the sport but also for social reasons. If a golfer wishes to practice on a real surface such as a green then he is likely to feel inadequate if he needs to use a golfing aid, particularly if it draws attention to itself. What is necessary is a golfing aid similar in appearance to a regulation golf ball. This would allow a golfer to use a golfing aid to give instant feedback on his stroke in relative anonymity.
It is an object of the present invention to address the foregoing problems or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.
Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the ensuing description which is given by way of example only.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a golfing aid having a body which includes two partially spherical ends with the same radii as each other, characterized in that the contact points of the golfing aid are positioned between 4 and 20 millimeters (0.16-0.79 inches) apart.
The body may come in a number of configurations. In some embodiments the body can be produced by injection moulding forming an integral golfing aid.
In preferred embodiments golf balls are machined and formed into an integral golfing aid. This golfing aid has partially spherical balls attached together.
In some embodiments the partially spherical ends may come in a number of configurations determined by the proportion of the sphere present.
In preferred embodiments the proportion of the original golf ball present is greater than the proportion not used.
In preferred embodiments the distal portions of the ends are spherical in addition to the main body of the ends. However it is envisaged that other geometrical shapes could fall within the definition of partially spherical. For example, it is envisaged that elliptical or partially conical distal portions can still be present while the main body of the ends are spherical leading the ends as a whole to be considered partially spherical.
Each partially spherical end""s radii is to be the same. In preferred embodiments this radii to the tangents is the same as a regulation golf ball. It should, however, be understood that other radii are still within the ambit of this invention.
The longitudinal axis follows the line of elongation, and runs between the two extreme outer points (distal ends) of the golfing aid, those points which are furthest apart.
These contact points are defined as the two points which come into contact with a flat surface if the golfing aid is in a resting position.
An alternative definition of these contact points is the highest points of the golf ball in a resting position, i.e. where the longitudinal axis is approximately parallel with the flat surface or ground.
A further alternative method of defining the contact points is, they are the points of the golfing aid where the tangents of those points are parallel with the longitudinal axis of the golfing aid.
The longitudinal axis as defined above is the axis of elongation. The tangents of the golfing aid are positioned between 40 and 20 millimeters (0.18-0.79 inches) apart. It is this range which provides the greatest benefit over the prior art.
The optimum distance between the contact points varies depending on the stroke being practiced.
Examples of the preferred range of distances between the contact points for each golf points:
This gap between contact points is the reason for the visual feedback. If the putter head is not perpendicular to the direction required one contact point will be struck first. The result of this means the ball travels in a curved path, veering off to the side, in the opposite direction to the side which contains the contact point which was struck first.
The golfing aid may have the dimples associated with a regulation golf ball, and those dimples may be in any configuration. However, it should, be understood the body of the golfing aid need not contain dimples, to fall within the scope of this invention.
In preferred embodiments the position of the dimples are such that the dimples are located so those contained on one half of the golfing aid reflect or mirror those of the other half.
This dimple alignment allows for a uniform ball surface to strike, ensuring a cleaner contact which translates into a more accurate identification of any swing defects. The dimple alignment also provides a more aesthetically pleasing product.
In some embodiments of the golfing aid the distance between the contact points is capable of being adjusted. For example the partially spherical ends may be slidably mounted on an internal coupling member.
An alternate construction may have the coupling member incorporating a screw thread enabling the distance between the contact points to be adjusted. The coupling member may also be a ratchet system. These examples are given by way of example only and it is envisaged that the adjustment mechanism may come in any suitable form.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of producing a golfing aid with contact points between 4 and 20 millimeters (0.16-079 inches) apart characterized by the following steps:
a) manufacturing a core for the golfing aid using injection molding techniques; and
b) applying a resilient coating to the core. The density of the core of the injection molded golfing aid needs to be sufficient to enable the golfing aid to weigh approximately the same as a regulation golf ball. It should be appreciated that a golfing aid that has 20 mm (0.79 inches) separating the contact points will need a core material less dense than a golfing aid with just 4 mm (0.16 inches) separation.
In some embodiments the core material is manufactured from standard golf ball materials, which may include:
rubber, for example, elastomeric rubber polymers e.g. polybutadiene;
heavy cores, for example, tungsten; and
liquid cores.
However, it should be understood that these examples should not be seen as limiting in any way, and the core material may take any suitable form.
In some embodiments the coating can include balata, elastomers, for example, urethane elastomer, titanium dioxide and ionomers, for example, Surlyn(copyright), marketed by Du-Pont(copyright). However, it should be understood that these are merely examples and the coating may take any suitable form.
In some embodiments the injection moulded core is made in a split mould.
In some embodiments the coating will cover the entire surface of the golfing aid. In other embodiments of the present invention it is envisaged that a band located between the contact points will be left uncoated.
In preferred embodiments the coating will contain dimples and an indicator line around the circumference of the middle of the ball. In preferred embodiments the dimples are mirrored on each half of the ball to provide an even surface to be struck by the club face.
It is envisaged that the coating can be made by dipping the core into the coating, or applied by injecting the coating material into the mould or by any other suitable means.
This injection moulding is particularly useful for producing balls destined to be used for chipping or driving practice.
Injection moulding has several advantages. Once the tooling is produced the golfing aids will be very cheap to produce and require minimal manual input. The injection moulded balls construction enables them to be very durable, and able to withstand the forces or either pitching, chipping or driving while retaining a long lifespan.
In preferred embodiments the golfing aid is manufactured from two golf balls.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of producing a golfing aid with contact points between 4 and 20 millimeters (0.16-0.79 inches) apart characterized by the following steps:
a) removing one face or portion from each of two golf balls to create a cut face;
b) creating an internal locating hole for a coupling member, one in each cut face;
c) inserting a coupling member into the locating hole; and
d) affixing the two partially spherical ends of the golfing aid together.
The size of the portion removed in step (a) depends on the required distance between the contact points or tangents.
In preferred embodiments the process comprises a further step whereby a groove is formed around the circumference of the cut face, after step (a) has been undertaken. Preferably the groove created has a chamfered edge.
In preferred embodiments the locating hole created in step (b) is matched approximately to the size of the coupling member, which can be adjusted to vary the weight of the golf ball.
The coupling member referred to is may take any suitable form. The length and thickness of the coupling member may be varied enabling the weight of the golfing aid to be regulated and kept approximately the same as a regulation golf ball. In preferred embodiments the coupling member will be a dowel. In some embodiments the dowel will be hollow.
In preferred embodiments the dowel will contain barbs. These barbs may come in any suitable form, but include ribs, fingers or projections and the like capable of interacting, and gripping into the golfing aids core to xe2x80x98lockxe2x80x99 the two halves together.
In preferred embodiments the process comprises a further step whereby glue is applied to the cut face of the ball and also into locating hole.
The glue can come in any suitable form but in preferred embodiments it is an epoxy resin. When the two halves are placed to together any excess glue expelled from between the two faces is collected in the portion of the groove created by the chamfered edge.
An advantage of the present invention is the surface area exposed to the glue provides greater adhesion between the two halves of the golfing aid. This greater adhesion has the advantage that it reduces the effect of tortuous forces applied during a stroke. It also results in the lifespan of the golfing aid being increased.
In preferred embodiments the process comprises a further step whereby an indicator ring is located proximally to the join between the two halves, where the join is between the two contact points of the golfing aid. The indicator ring creates an indication line and can be made from plastic, aluminum, rubber and the like. In preferred embodiments it is created using plastic as plastic is more resilient.
In some embodiments the indication line is coloured. In other embodiments the indicator ring is integrally formed with the coupling member.
In embodiments of the present invention produced using injection moulding, a pigment may be added to the core material. This enables it to act as the indication ring, if no coating is present on a portion between the contact points of the golfing aid.
The indication line allows the golfer to correctly line up the direction of the stroke to ensure the direction of travel shown by the indication line is in fact perpendicular to the club head.
The indication line has the added advantage of allowing the golfer to line up the ball with the correct area of the head of the club. Not hitting the ball in the correct area can affect the performance and accuracy of the stroke.
As the golfing aid merely looks like a slightly elongated golf ball it has the advantage that it provides practice which appears real allowing the golfer to be mentally prepared for a normal game of golf. This is because the practice realistically mimics the standard game.
Visually the golfing aid disclosed does not differ greatly from a standard golf ball. This allows a golfer to practice putting on a green in a public course without obviously looking as though they are practicing. This allows for all the advantages of the golfing aid without the stigma attached to the prior art.
Another advantage over the prior art is weight. The ball is only marginally larger than a regulation golf ball. When manufactured a putting aid of this sort, due to its dimensions is the same or substantially the same weight as a regular golf ball. This reduction in weight difference allows a golfer when practicing putting to get a better feel for the effort required for a shot. This improves their putting as the weighting of a shot is as important as the line. Therefore, the present invention is significantly better than the prior art in this respect.
A further advantage is that as the golfing aid is significantly closer to the size of a regulation ball the golfer practicing their putting will undertake a successful putt more often. This is due to sheer mechanics, in that there is greater room for error in the line of the shot while still enabling it to sink a putt, as the putting aid is smaller.
A further advantage is when the ball is being chipped or driven it gives an indication of the golfers stoke immediately after it is stuck. The golfing aid if hit with an incorrect stoke deviates from its normal trajectory very early in it flight. This enables a golfer practicing driving or chipping into a net to observe defects in their stoke before the golfing aid reaches the net. This means that a golfer will no longer have to practice in a park or at the driving range to observe defects in their stoke.
Another advantage of the golfing aid disclosed over the prior art is ease of use. It has been found that, as the contact points of the golfing aid move further apart, the ball becomes progressively harder to hit correctly. At this minimum separation of 4 mm (0.16 inches). the ball is comparable to a regulation golf ball and minimal visual feedback is provided. At the outer limits of 20 mm (0.79 inches). the ball becomes very difficult to hit correctly. Therefore, in the prior art whereby the balls are spaced at least the diameter of of a golf ball apart, approximately 5 cm (2 inches), the putting aid would be nearly impossible to hit correctly. Therefore, there is a greater chance with the decreased spacing between the contact points that a golf will continue to use the golfing aid, thereby gaining the full benefit from its use.
A further advantage over the prior art is that a golfer can progress through different levels of difficulty. For example, a beginner may start using a putting aid with a 5 millimeter (020 inches) spacing between the contact points. Upon mastering this size, they could progress to, for example, a 7 millimeter (0.28 inches) spacing, and so on. Therefore, a golfer can pick a golfing aid which corresponds to their level of skill. The ability of some embodiments of the present invention to be adjusted further compounds this advantage. One golfing aid can, therefore, enable a golfer to hone their skills regardless of their playing ability. When the golfer""s stroke improves, the golfing aid can simply be adjusted to a harder level.
In preferred embodiments the golfing aid will be one integral body. This results in a smaller less cumbersome golfing aid.
It also will reduce the chance of the golfing aid breaking. This has advantages over the prior art in that the golfing aid is transported more conveniently. Also, as a result of being one integral body is likely to have a greater life expectancy, and durability.


A vehicular lighting assembly for compensating for the change in light emission angle due to load on a vehicle. The assembly included at least one lighting element, an actuator associated with the or each lighting element for adjusting a light emission angle of light emitted therefrom relative to the vehicle with which the vehicular lighting assembly is associated, and an actuator housing in which the actuator is housed. A vehicular-pitch-determining sensor is then arranged to indirectly determine a pitch of the vehicle, and associated with a controller for controlling an actuation of the actuator in response to a vehicular pitch as determined by the vehicular-pitch-determining sensor. A vehicular lighting system, pitch-compensation actuation unit, motor vehicle and method of altering the angle of light emission from the headlamps of a motor vehicle are also provided.

If a motor vehicle has an asymmetric load on its chassis, for instance, if the boot or trunk of the vehicle is heavily laden, then the vehicle will pitch out of the horizontal plane. Since vehicular headlights are calibrated to a given load which is deemed horizontal, any pitch of the vehicle will mean that a light emission angle from the vehicle will be skewed, which can result in glare to oncoming motorists, and/or incorrect illumination of the road surface. This is of particular concern in poor lighting conditions, such as at night or in foggy conditions.
Actuation units are known which are capable of altering the light emission angle of the headlamps in response to the asymmetric load. The pitch of the vehicle is determined in such systems by mounting a plurality of pitch sensors about the chassis of the vehicle, typically at or adjacent to the wheels, and then calculating a vertical displacement between the various sensors so as to determine an overall pitch of the vehicle.
Such systems require a plurality of pitch sensors which may need optical access to the road below and/or be otherwise exposed to the road surface below, for example, where the pitch sensors are formed as potentiometers mounted on the axles of the vehicle. This places various restrictions on the pitch sensors; firstly, the sensors must all be in communication, typically wired communication, with a controller which is able to calculate the pitch of the vehicle based on the output of the pitch sensors; and the pitch sensors are unable to be enclosed securely due to the requirements for exposure.
The positioning of the sensors about the chassis requires that a plurality of wires must be provided along the chassis. This wiring is prone to failure, particularly over extended periods of use and/or in harsh working conditions, which can result in failure of the actuator system as a whole. Furthermore, the requirements for exposure also mean that shielding is required for the pitch sensors, so as to prevent accidental damage from, for example, debris on the road surface.


An image-processing device is provided that applies gate voltage in order to obtain a high quality image. The image-processing device comprises a solid-state image pickup element provided with a plurality of unit pixels each including a photo diode and a plurality of transistors for detecting an optical signal, a circuit for changing gate-applied voltage that changes a voltage applied to each gate of a plurality of the transistors. The circuit for changing gate-applied voltage applies a predetermined voltage to each gate of a plurality of the transistors from the first voltage source while in an accumulation state when carriers are generated from the photo diode in response to received light, and/or applies another predetermined voltage from the second voltage while in a reading out state when a signal in response to carriers accumulated in the accumulation state is read out.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image-processing device, an image-processing method and a solid-state image pickup device. In particular, the invention relates to an image-processing device that picks an image up with a solid-state image-pickup element, an image-processing method and a solid-state image pickup device thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
A semiconductor image sensor is used for various kinds of image input devices. Recently, of such semiconductor image sensors, a MOS solid-state image-sensing device with a threshold voltage modulation system attracts attention since it provides high image quality attained by a CCD (charged coupled device) with low power consumption by a CMOS and restrains deterioration of an image quality and realizes high density and low cost.
Technology of a MOS solid-state image-sensing device with a threshold voltage modulation system is disclosed in the Japanese Patent Publication Laid-Open No. 11-195778 for example. In a MOS solid-state image-sensing device with a threshold voltage modulation system, three states such as initialization, accumulation and reading out are repeated such that an image signal based on charges for emitting light that are accumulated in a carrier pocket of each pixel can be pulled out. An initialization period is a period of discharging residual charges from a carrier pocket. An accumulation period is a period of accumulating charges in a sensor cell. A reading out period is a period of reading a volume of charge out with voltage modulation.
However, for example, if the gate voltage is boosted in order to increase a ratio of selected lines while in the state of an accumulation period for accumulating photo generated charges in a carrier pocket to non selected lines while in the sate of a reading out period for reading an image signal based on accumulated photo generated charges, holes are not selected sufficiently so as not to obtain good image quality.
However, the Japanese Patent Publication Laid-Open No. 11-195778 does not disclose a method of applying a gate voltage in order to obtain a good image quality in such case.
Therefore, the present invention is intended to provide an image-processing device that applies a gate voltage in order to obtain a good image quality, an image-processing method and a solid-state image pickup device thereof.

Image-processing device, image-processing method and solid-state image pickup device


In a primary process for hydroformylating olefins in the presence of a rhodium-containing catalyst solution to produce aldehydes and a gaseous effluent comprising unreacted olefin is vented, the improvement which comprises employing the effluent as a reactant feed for a coupled secondary hydroformylation process conducted jointly therewith in which the catalyst solution is cycled back and forth between the primary and secondary hydroformylation processes.

Processes for hydroformylating an olefin to prepare a carbonyl derivative containing one carbon atom more than the parent olefin by reacting the olefin with synthesis gas in the presence of a Group VIII metal, e.g. rhodium, in complex combination with an organic ligand, carbon monoxide also being a component of the catalyst complex, are well known in the art (the "oxo" process) and of growing industrial importance. This technology is summarized, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,527,809 to Pruett et al. The olefin reactant is contacted with the catalyst and the synthesis gas (a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen) in the presence of a liquid reaction medium, which may or may not comprise a separate inert liquid solvent species. The synthesis gas comprising the carbon monoxide and hydrogen is typically bubbled through the liquid reaction medium which is contained in a hydroformylation reactor which can be mechanically stirred or which may be agitated solely by the action of reactant gas being bubbled therethrough. The gas, in addition to hydrogen and carbon monoxide, may also contain vapors of the reactant olefin, in a proportion which will depend upon such factors as reaction conversion rate and the volatility of the olefin.
The aldehyde hydroformylation product can be recovered from the liquid hydroformylation reaction medium in various ways, but, especially when the aldehyde is of comparatively low molecular weight, e.g., when it contains from three to about seven carbon atoms and especially when it contains from three to about five carbon atoms, it is conveniently stripped out in vapor form by distillation, evaporation, or, especially, by being stripped out of the hydroformylation reaction zone in the gases which are being bubbled through the liquid contained therein. Hershman et al have described this technology in "I&EC Product Research and Development" 8, pp 372-375 (1969) in a discussion of hydroformylation of propylene in a gas-sparged reactor.
In more recent years various patents and other publications have appeared directed to the use of special reaction solvents and/or special techniques for stripping the aldehyde product out of the liquid reaction medium. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,329,511 issued to Hackman et al describes useful solvents as well as the use of a particular high molecular weight, high-boiling inert liquid reaction solvent in proportions of about 40 to about 95% by weight of the liquid reaction solution for purposes of controlling the rate of stripping at a level such that at a given weight concentration (relatively low) of product aldehyde in the mixture, and the mole fraction of aldehyde in the mixture will be relatively high. The specific solvents used are not considered critical as long as they are: (1) miscible with the catalyst system; (2) miscible with the reactants; (3) miscible with the reaction products; (4) low in volatility so as to facilitate striping reaction product and by-products from it and (5) chemically inert in the hydroformylation reaction system. The disclosed solvents include, for example, alkyl-substituted benzene; pyridine and alkyl-substituted pyridines; tertiary amines; high boiling esters such as dialkyldicarboxylates and triorganophosphates as well as esters of polyols such as trimethylolpropane and pentaerythritol; ketones; alcohols such as butanols; nitriles such as acetronitriles; and hydrocarbons such as kerosene, mineral oil, cyclohexane, naphtha, etc. and aromatics such as biphenyl. The use of polyalkylene glycols such as polyethylene glycol and polypropylene glycol having molecular weights greater than about 700 are stated to be particularly desirable because of their availability and their desirable properties for use as a hydroformylation solvent.
A related hydroformylation process is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,209 to Paul et al, which describes techniques for recovering aldehyde products from the reaction products by distillation, stripping, employing the ratio of phosphorus contained in the high-boiling reaction by-products to the phosphorus contained in the ligand (triorganophophine ligand) which is present, as the primary control. Although the claimed improvement of the Paul et al process is different from that of the process of U.S. Pat. No. 4,239,511, similar solvents have been found to be satisfactory for use in the hydroformylation reactions described in both of these patents.
An alternative catalyst solvent is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,148,830 issued Apr. 10, 1979 to Pruett et al. As disclosed therein higher boiling aldehyde condensation products are employed as the catalyst solvent. In this patent, liquid effluent from the reaction zone containing catalyst, solvent and gases, is processed to strip and recover the aldehyde product. During this procedure some hydrogen, carbon monoxide, unreacted olefin, and other by-product and inert gases dissolved in the reactor effluent are removed by reducing pressure on the effluent stream to flash off such gases. The desired aldehyde product is then recovered from said effluent and the liquid residue fraction of unrecovered aldehydic product, catalyst and high boiling condensation product is recycled to the reactor. Accordingly, this process has sometimes been referred to as a liquid-recycle hydroformylation process (or "liquid recycle process").
U.S. Pat No. 4,247,486, issued Jan 27, 1981 discloses a hydroformylation process which is directed to further modifications of the basic oxo process disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,527,809 and 4,148,830. In this process, unreacted feed, the aldehyde reaction product and higher boiling condensation products, inter alia, are allowed to distill out of the reaction medium such as by being stripped from the reaction medium as previously described. The aldehyde product and condensation products are condensed from the gas stream which contains unreacted feed, (i.e., syn gas and olefin). The gas stream is recycled to the reactor. Moreover, a purge stream comprising gaseous by-product such as propane can be taken from the gas recycle stream to remove such propane and to control its concentration within the process. The purge stream also contains, inter alia, aldehyde product, unreacted olefin inert gases, as well as carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The recovery of olefin from such a stream is impractical and the purge stream is typically used as a fuel.
Likewise, to control total reactor pressure in a liquid recycle process as described above due to build up of inerts and the like, a gaseous purge is generally taken from the liquid recycle hydroformylation reactor, where excess hydrogen, carbon monoxide, unreacted olefin, inerts and alkane by-products, such propane, are vented as off-gas. In addition, during the product separation step in a liquid recycle process, some gases, primarily unreacted olefin and alkane by-product, which remain dissolved in the liquid catalyst-containing effluent, are separated along with the desired aldehyde product. A portion of such separated gases are condensed with the desired aldehyde product. The remaining separated gases can be purged from the system.
The amount of olefin and syn gas components lost by purging in such recycle processes can amount to a significant economic disadvantage over the life of a commercial continuous operation due to the efficiency loss of such purged desirables as unreacted olefin and syn gas.
In German Pat. No. 3,102,281, issued Dec. 23, 1982, a cobalt-catalyzed high pressure hydroformylation of propylene was conducted and the waste gas, resulting from the decobalting of the reaction mix, containing propylene, carbon monoxide and hydrogen, was introduced into a low pressure rhodium catalyzed hydroformylation process, simultaneously conducted. In German Laid-Open Patent No. 3,245,883, published Jun. 14, 1984, flue gas from a low pressure rhodium hydroformylation process containing propylene is compressed and introduced into a high pressure cobalt catalyzed reactor for conversion to aldehyde.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,127 there is disclosed a primary liquid recycle or gas recycle rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation process for producing aldehydes, wherein an olefin, carbon monoxide and hydrogen are reacted in the presence of a solubilized rhodium-phosphorous complex catalyst, free phosphorus ligand and higher boiling aldehyde condensation by-products to produce an aldehyde product, a gaseous effluent comprising unreacted olefin and any of said aldehyde product, hydrogen, carbon monoxide and an alkane by-product is vented from the process, wherein the improvement comprises conducting a decoupled secondary liquid recycle or gas recycle rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation process conjointly with the primary process, and the vented gaseous effluent together with make-up carbon monoxide and hydrogen is employed as the reactant feed to the secondary process. The decoupled process of this patent requires its own independent catalyst system and independent product recovery system. A key feature of the invention disclosed therein is that unreacted olefin contained in a vent stream from the primary system can be employed as the sole olefin feed to the decoupled secondary hydroformylation process, i.e. make-up quantities of olefin need not be added to the decoupled hydroformylation process.


A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device includes the steps of: (a) forming a gate electrode on a substrate, forming source/drain regions and a channel forming region in the substrate, and forming on the source/drain regions a first interlayer insulating layer equal in height to the gate electrode; (b) forming in the first interlayer insulating layer groove-shaped first contact portions connected to the source/drain regions; (c) forming a second interlayer insulating layer on a whole surface; (d) forming hole-shaped second contact portions in portions of the second interlayer insulating layer on the first contact portion; and (e) forming on the second interlayer insulating layer wires connected to the second contact portions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor devices and semiconductor device manufacturing methods.
2. Description of Related Art
The recent movement toward miniaturization of elements in semiconductor devices and semiconductor integrated circuits has presented the problem of increasing contact resistance. At the same time, many attempts to improve the characteristics of circuit transistors have been made with the use of a technique that intends to increase carrier mobility by applying stress to a channel forming region with a stress applying material.
Concerning the problem of increasing contact resistance, for example, 45 nm High-k+Metal Gate Strain-Enhanced Transistors, C. Auth et al., VLSI Sym. Tech. Dig., pp. 128, (2008) (Non-Patent Document 1) discloses a groove-shaped (trench) contact portion. This publication intends to improve carrier mobility with a contact portion made of a metallic material that has an internal stress.
JP-A-2001-291770 (Patent Document 1) discloses a technique to reduce contact resistance, in which insulating walls are formed on the underlying interlayer insulating layer so as to surround source/drain regions, and a contact plug is formed on a first side-wall spacer provided on the side faces of the insulating walls and a control electrode. Metal plugs connect the contact plug to the wires provided on the overlying interlayer insulating layer formed on the whole surface.

Semiconductor device including source/drain regions and a gate electrode, and having contact portions


The present invention relates to a decorative garden lamp, which includes a holding rod connecting with a bulb holder and a bulb, wherein a soft cover is provided around the bulb and the bulb holder. The characteristic of the invention is that a shell is provided in the soft cover around the bulb to avoid the soft cover contacting with the bulb directly when air leakage is happened. So the soft cover is avoided from being burned.

A conventional decorative garden lamp mainly includes a holding rod to connect with a bulb assembly, which is provided with a patterned cover for various decorative effects. The prior cover is a rigid body and is monotonous. It is known that an improvement is designed to use a soft cover, which to show a different outlook. But the known soft cover being fulfilled by air may be broken and the air will be leaked out. At this time, the soft cover contacts with the bulb directly that may cause danger of fire.
Accordingly, the primary object of the invention is to provide a decorative garden lamp, which provides a shell outside the bulb for avoiding the soft cover to contact with the bulb directly when it happens a leakage of air. Now the features and advantages of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.


A connector apparatus for a battery includes: a connector block assembly mounted in a battery case of a battery assembly, and including first and second electrodes facing the interior of the battery case; and a header assembly releasably mounted to the connector block assembly, and including first and second terminals connected to the first and second electrodes, respectively. The header assembly is exposed to the exterior of the battery case and the first and second terminals are electrically connected to terminals of a mating connector, respectively.

In recent years, as the perception of environmental crisis and depletion of oil resources has increased, research and development of eco-friendly electric vehicles has actively been conducted. Electric vehicles include plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), battery electric vehicles (BEVs), fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), etc.
An electric vehicle is equipped with a battery assembly which is mounted to a vehicle body. In order to mount the battery assembly, it is important to secure an adequate mounting space on the vehicle body. In addition, since the workability of mounting the battery assembly with a large volume and weight on the vehicle body is also an important issue, those having ordinary skill in the art are focusing on research and development of vehicle body design for mounting the battery assembly.
The battery assembly includes one or more battery modules (or battery cells), electric/electronic components associated with the battery modules, a battery case in which the battery modules and the electric/electronic components are received, and a battery cover with which the top of the battery case is covered. The battery assembly may be mounted under a floor of the vehicle body, and a front subframe may be located in front of the battery assembly. The battery case may be mounted to the floor of the vehicle body through front mounting bolts, side mounting bolts, rear mounting bolts, and the like. High-voltage electric/electronic components such as an electrical fuse and an electrical connector may be mounted in the battery case. In particular, the electrical connector may protrude from an exterior surface of the battery case so as to be connected to a mating connector. The electrical connector may be electrically connected to the battery modules in the battery case through electrical wires and internal terminals.
In the battery assembly according to the related art, there is a risk of damage to the protruding electrical connector due to careless transporting and handling or external impacts, requiring the damaged electrical connector to be replaced.
In the battery assembly according to the related art, the internal terminals need to be separated from the battery case in order to replace the damaged electrical connector. In other words, it is impossible to separate only the damaged electrical connector from the battery case to replace it with a new electrical connector. It is also necessary to completely separate the battery case from the floor of the vehicle body and separate the internal terminals located in the battery case beforehand. These issues make the replacement of the damaged electrical connector inconvenient.
The above information described in this background section is provided to assist in understanding the background of the inventive concept. The background section may thus include any technical concept which is not considered as the prior art that is already known to those having ordinary skill in the art.


A method for determining an encoding used for a sequence of bytes may be provided. The method comprises providing a set of candidate code pages and transforming them into different groups of sequences of bytes, wherein each group of sequences of bytes corresponds to one of the candidate code pages. Thereby each code point is transformed by applying a transformation from one of the candidate code pages to a reference code point value relating to a reference encoding for each code point. The method comprises further separating each of the transformed sequences of bytes into groups of tokens, wherein each group of tokens relates to one candidate code page, and providing an index relating to a text corpus. Furthermore, the method comprises selecting a code page from the set of candidate code pages at least partially based on how many tokens are found in the index.

The invention relates generally to a method for determining an encoding used for a sequence of bytes. The invention relates further to an encoding detection system for determining an encoding used for a sequence of bytes, and a related computer program product.
Since the beginning of the computer age, many encoding schemes for characters and symbols have been created to represent various writing scripts/characters for computerized data. With the advent of globalization and the development of the Internet, information exchanges, crossing both, language and regional boundaries are becoming ever more important. Beside Unicode, which is designated as the default encoding to provide convenient and unified communication, other different character sets or code pages co-exist for their own purpose. With a known code page or character set, information and content can be processed properly.
But there is still a big amount of content with unknown or incorrect code page or character set indicators. The value of these contents can be discovered when they are processed with the proper or right code page. There are several approaches available to detect the correct encoding for documents with unknown/incorrect encoding. They all have various strength and weaknesses. One family of approaches uses machine learning but requires training and has limited quality when it comes to detecting differences between related encodings. Other approaches are using dictionaries as a way to test every possible code page or character set for given code points. Although this is possible to find out an appropriate character set, it is expensive. In addition, for some multi-byte encodings such as EUC-CN and EUC-KR, they share almost identical coding points and it is very hard to distinguish among such encodings with this method.
There are several such families of code pages that differ for a small set of often rarely used characters (e.g., the family of the Latin encodings). While many algorithms exist that can identify code pages or character sets, they often only get the family of the code page correct but have systematic errors in finding the correct encoding down to the exact family member.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Detection of unknown code page indexing tokens

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


An apparatus and method for enhancing channel utilization in a CDMA system are provided. The method includes the steps of receiving a service request for data transmission on a channel; transmitting a service feature by the CDMA system to a channel management module, whereby a channel multiplexing method and a channel bandwidth are selected by the channel management module based on the service feature; transmitting data, wherein when a data transmission rate changes to an extent that capacity of a currently configured channel cannot satisfy a requirement of the data transmission rate, the currently configured channel is re-assigned by the channel management module; accounting a variation of the data transmission rate by the service access module during the data transmission; modifying the service feature of the current service; and updating a corresponding record of the service feature in a system database, so that when a next service request of a same service type of the user is received, updated record of the service feature is used as a reference for configuring and assigning the channel. Accordingly, the channel utilization is enhanced, and the number of times for re-assigning a channel is significantly decreased.

Besides providing basic communication functions, a CDMA communication system provides new data application services, such as facsimiles, short message exchanges, Internet accessing, etc. The new data application may comprise wireless personal computers, mobile offices, electronic transfer accounts transmission, handset network browsing, email transmitting and receiving, and the like. The feature of these applications is the burst characteristic of services, that is, a large amount of data is transmitted in a short time period, and after that, only a few of the data or none of the data will be transmitted. For example, when a WWW page is clicked by a user to connect, a download request is transmitted, and one or more packet sequences are transmitted during a request procedure, and a large amount of data on a channel is required to be transmitted rapidly. When a document requested by the user has been downloaded, the document is read by the user for a certain time period, and less amount of the data is transmitted on the channel during this time period. For such type of services, if channels with certain bandwidth are assigned conventionally to such services, the requirement for rapidly transmitting the data cannot be satisfied during service bursts, and also channel resources are wasted when there are less data. An effective resolution is to multiplex channels based on features of services, and the complementary between a plurality of services is utilized to transmit a plurality of services on one channel. The current data rate of a channel is then monitored. If a current data rate of a channel is very large, and a channel bandwidth cannot satisfy the requirement for transmission, reassignment of the channel will be executed. When services are idle, a small bandwidth will be reassigned to the channel to enhance a utilization ratio of the channel.
A typical feature of a packet service procedure is shown in FIG. 1. A session procedure of a packet service is composed of several packet calls. Each packet call comprises a plurality of packet requests, and an arrival time exists between different packets. When a call of a packet arrives, arriving data is read by a user for a period of time (reading time), and a small amount of data exists on a channel during this time period. After completing the reading of the data, a packet call will again be issued. The procedure is cycled continuously in this manner until the end of the packet service.
CDMA is a spread spectrum communication technology. One of the advantages of CDMA is to support packet services having variable data transmission rates. In the case of CDMA, multiple access is implemented by assigning a pseudo random code, which has an excellent characteristic of self-correlation and weak correlation to each user. A pseudo random code is used to convert user's signals into wideband spread spectrum signals, and the wideband spread spectrum signals are converted by a receiver into the original wideband signals that use the same pseudo random code. In a CDMA system, orthogonal variable spread factor (OVSF) codes, which ensure the orthogonality between different physical channels, are used for a channel code, because their spread factors (SFs) are variable. Therefore, different spread factors can provide different data transmission rate. The smaller the SF, the larger the data transmission rate is provided. This characteristic of CDMA allows a CDMA system to rapidly satisfy a variety of or variations of data transmission rates by selecting different spread factor codes.
A code tree structure of an orthogonal variable spread factor (OVSF) is shown in FIG. 2. The spread spectrum factors of a CDMA system are implemented by code resource management. All of the spread spectrum factors exist in a code tree. A code near a root node corresponds to a higher data transmission rate. The sibling nodes of the tree, i.e., the codes having the same length in a spread spectrum factor, are orthogonal, and a parent code is not orthogonal with a child code. The codes that are assignable in a code tree should satisfy the following conditions:
1) no code has been assigned on a path from the code to the root node C1,1 of the code tree;
2) no code has been assigned in a child tree having the code as the root node.
For a lower data transmission rate channel, assigning a small spread spectrum factor code will cause many large spread spectrum factor codes unable to be assigned, and the number of codes, which can be used by the other users, is restricted. Thus, when assigning the codes, the codes having a large spread spectrum factor are retained as much as possible to satisfy the channel data transmission rate so as to retain more resources for the CDMA system.
Also, channel utilization can be increased by a method of multiplexing a plurality of services by a CDMA system on a physical channel. As shown in FIG. 3, the multiplex occurs before or after encoding internally or externally, after multiplexing the services and encoding the channels, the multi-service data are mapped onto a physical channel. If the entire data transmission rate excesses an upper limit of the data transmission rate of a single code, several physical channels can be assigned. For packet data, such as WWW browsing, FTP loading, and the like, two methods are used by CDMA for data transmission. The first is short data package data transmission, i.e. short data packets are applied directly onto a randomly accessed burst channel. This method is also referred to as common channel packet data transmission, which is adaptively used for infrequent short data packets. For transmitting large and frequent data packets on dedicated channels, a dedicated channel with a suitable spread factor is selected by the CDMA system based on a data transmission rate and a size of packet data. When the packet data bursts occur, the channel with large capacity is selected for data transmitting. Thus, for small or infrequent data packets, channel capacity is decreased to adapt the variation of the data transmission rate.
When a service request reaches a CDMA system, if the service can be multiplexed on the original channel, the physical channels are re-configured by the CDMA system. If the service cannot be multiplexed successfully on the original channel, a code resource management module is requested by the CDMA system for code resources. If a code resource request fails, the service will be rejected.
When the services are assigned by the above CDMA system, it is necessary to multiplex many types of services to increase channel utilization. In one aspect, when assigning the channels and configurations, the specific features of different services are different, and the service features of the same service of different users are also different. In another aspect, when configuring the channels, if the service feature of a specific service cannot be understood, it will cause the configuration to be blindness, resulting in that the channel resources are wasted and/or re-configured frequently, thereby significantly affecting the performances of the CDMA system.
One of the objectives of the present invention is to provide a method for enhancing the channel utilization of a CDMA system. The method assigns a channel bandwidth and a multiplexing method to enhance the channel utilization and reduce the number of re-configurations based on service features of different services of different users.

Apparatus and method for enhancing channel utilization ratio in a CDMA


A method is provided for transmitting a packet including information describing a bus transaction to be executed at a remote device. A bus transaction is detected on a first bus and a network packet is generated for transmission over a network. The network packet includes an opcode describing the type of bus transaction. One or more control signals of the bus transaction map directly to one or more bits of the opcode to simplify decoding or converting of the bus transaction to the opcode. The packet is transmitted to a remote device and the bus transaction is then replayed at a second bus. In addition, the packet includes a data field having a size that is a multiple of a cache line size. The packet includes separate CRCs for the data and header. The packet also includes a transaction ID to support split transactions over the network. Also, fields in the packet header are provided in a particular order to improve switching efficiency.

The present invention relates generally to computers, and more particularly to communications between interconnected computer nodes, storage subsystems, and other network devices.
Assessments of server and I/O technologies and their respective marketplaces make clear that cluster communications, including server-to-server communications and server-to-I/O communications, will be increasingly based on a distributed model. Existing server architectures, based on a shared-address-space model, bus-oriented connections to I/O devices and I/O transactions based on a load/store memory model, have limitations.
FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a current generation computer, including CPUs 105 and 110 connected to a host bus 111. CPU 105 is connected to a cache 106 and CPU 110 is connected to a cache 108. The system also includes main memory 109, and one or two host/PCI bridges 112 and 115. Host/PCI bridges 112, 115 convert transactions between host bus 111 and a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus 113. A storage controller 324 and several I/O devices 120, 122 and 124 are connected to PCI bus 113. I/O devices 326 are also connected to storage controller 324.
There are limitations on the number of electrical loads which may be placed on the host bus 111. Moreover, these configurations are also limited by the PCI bus 113, which imposes limits both on the number of electrical loads it is capable of supporting and the physical distances at which devices can be placed. As illustrated in FIG. 1, storage connectivity and proximity are typically restricted to what fits within a single enclosure.
An architecture for I/O pass through of the present invention overcomes some of the disadvantages and limitations of prior art computer systems by increasing the number of I/O devices that can be connected to a computer system, by increasing the distance at which the I/O devices are located, and by permitting a more distributed architecture. The distributed computer system of the present invention increases the number of I/O devices and the distance at which they are coupled to host computers, while retaining some of the features of current I/O buses, such as PCI. However, current packet formats are impractical for usage in such a distributed computer system of the present invention. For example, the packet size used in Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) is 53 bytes. However, 53 bytes is very unfriendly for use in a 32 byte cache line. Moreover, current packet formats cannot be easily used to transport host and I/O transactions without requiring significant circuitry for decoding commands or opcodes.
As a result, a need exists for an improved packet format that is more compatible with the distributed computer system of the present invention.


A device for extracting a substance to be brewed comprising: an extraction compartment in a first and a second portion, movable relative to the first portion to switch the compartment between a closed position and an open position; a linking device between the first and the second portion, comprising a holder with a first link so configured as to produce a rotation of the holder relative to the first portion, and a second link relative to the second portion, and the device comprises an articulation joint so configured as to successively produce, during a rotational motion of the holder about the first link in a first direction of rotation, a first tilting of the second portion in the first direction, then a second tilting of the second portion in a second direction opposite the first direction.

Using coffee machines generally requires several operations by a user, among which the filling of an extraction chamber with ground coffee, the closing of the chamber in a position so that it is ready to receive hot water injection, then, when brewing is completed, the emptying of the used ground coffee.
The marketing of ground coffee-containing packagings substantially improved such operations by limiting or even eliminating any contact between the ground coffee and the coffee machine. The phases of filling and emptying the extraction chamber are more particularly facilitated.
In some cases, coffee is packaged in tight pods, so that coffee is brewed inside the pod, and the machine now simply has a receptacle for the pod, a system for injecting hot water through one face of the pod, and a duct for dispensing beverage, through another, opposite, face of the pod.
Despite such improvements, the phases of opening and closing the extraction chamber are still complex. To remedy this problem, document WO-A1-2007/137937 provides for a device, wherein the brewing chamber(s) is/are formed in two mutually movable portions. An upper stationary portion covers the brewing chamber and can be added onto a coffee machine. Another lower portion moves along a kinematic characteristic to open the brewing chamber, lower the second portion and then cause the tilting of the second portion towards the front of the machine. The filling and the emptying of the brewing chamber are facilitated from the front face of the machine when such technique is used.
A need exists however for a further improvement of the operation phases of such a device to make the filling and the emptying of the extraction chamber more practical.

Device for extracting a substance to be brewed


Described are methods of assay design and assay image correction, useful for multiplexed genetic screening for mutations and polymorphisms, including CF-related mutants and polymorphs, using an array of probe pairs (in one aspect, where one member is complementary to a particular mutant or polymorphic allele and the other member is complementary to a corresponding wild type allele), with probes bound to encoded particles (e.g., beads) wherein the encoding allows identification of the attached probe. The methods relate to avoiding cross-hybridization by selection of probes and amplicons, as well as separation of reactions of certain probes and amplicons where a homology threshold is exceeded. Methods of correcting a fluorescent image using a background map, where the particles also contain an optical encoding system, are also disclosed.

The standard method of genomic analysis for mutations and polymorphisms, including for CF, is the "dot-blot" method. Samples including target strands are spotted onto a nitrocellulose, support, and then contacted with labeled probes complementary to the mutations or polymorphic regions. The labels allow detection of probe hybridization to immobilized complementary target sequences, as unbound labeled probes are removed by washing. In another method—a "reverse dot-blot format"—an array of oligonucleotide probes is bound to a solid support, and then contacted with a sample including target sequences of interest. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,837,832.
Both methods of assaying mutations or polymorphisms have significant disadvantages. The dot-blot method is itself labor-intensive. It can also yield erroneous results due to the inaccurate reading of assay signals, usually done by autoradiography, which adds further labor, as the probes must be frequently re-labeled. The method described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,837,832 involves a complex and costly on chip synthesis of an array of oligonucleotides, an approach which is better-suited for large-scale genomic analysis and is neither practical nor cost-effective for diagnostic applications requiring only a limited but changing number of probes.
An assay method suitable for multiplexed analysis which avoids many of the problems associated with the above methods involves use of random encoded arrays of microparticles, where the encoding indicates the identity of an oligonucleotide probe molecule bound thereto. See U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/204,799: "Multianalyte Molecular Analysis Using Application-Specific Random Particle Arrays." The bead array is contacted with labeled amplicons, generated from a patient sample, and the labels are then detected (if the labels are fluorescent, the detection can be with optical means) and the bound amplicons are identified by decoding of the array.
In a multiplexed hybridization assay, cross-hybridization among mismatched, but closely homologous, probes and amplicons can generate false positive signals. Thus, the assay should be designed to minimize such effects. A number of mutations and polymorphisms are significant only if they are homozygous, and therefore, to be useful in such cases, the assay must be capable of discriminating heterozygotes from homozygotes. Also, in determining the assay results, where both the encoding method for the beads and the determination of assay results is with optically detectable means, the encoding on the beads can cause spectral leakage, which can be affect the assay signal discrimination. A method of correcting for such spectral leakage is also needed.
Cystic fibrosis ("CF") is one of the most common recessive disorders in Caucasians, with an occurrence of 1 in 2000 live births in the United States. Mutations in the cystic fibrosis (CF) transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene are associated with the disease. The number of CFTR mutations is growing continuously and rapidly, and more than 1,000 mutations have been detected to date. See Kulczycki L. L., et al. (2003), Am J Med Genet 116:262-67. Population studies have indicated that the most common CF mutation, a deletion of the 3 nucleotides that encode phenylalanine at position 508 of the CFTR amino acid sequence (designated ΔF508), is associated with approximately 70% of the cases of cystic fibrosis. This mutation results in the failure of an epithelial cell chloride channel to respond to cAMP (Frizzell R. A. et al. (1986) Science 233:558-560; Welsh, M. J. (1986) Science 232:1648-1650.; Li, M. et al. (1988) Nature 331:358-360; Quinton, P. M. (1989) Clin. Chem. 35:726-730). In airway cells, this leads to an imbalance in ion and fluid transport. It is widely believed that this causes abnormal mucus secretion observed in CF patients, and ultimately results in pulmonary infection and epithelial cell damage. A number of mutations are associated with CF, and researchers continue to reveal new mutations associated with the disease. The American College of Medical Genetics ("ACMG") has recommended a panel of 25 of the most common CF-associated mutations in the general population, especially those in Ashkenazi Jewish and African-American populations. A multiplexed hybridization assay for CF-associated mutations in the general population would test for this panel.

Differentiating homozygous, heterozygous and wild-type alleles using a multiplexed hybridization-mediated assay


A turbojet thrust reverser has two doors that are displaceable between a reverser open position and a reverser closed position, each door being controlled by a respective electronic control unit connected to a FADEC, and each door having a respective locking device for locking the position of the door associated therewith. Each locking device can be unlocked solely on receiving orders that come simultaneously from both electronic control units.

The present invention relates to the general field of thrust reversers for bypass turbojets. It relates more particularly to an electromechanical thrust reverser having at least two displaceable elements that co-operate, in the open position of the reverser, in producing thrust reversal, such as, for example, a thrust reverser having grids, doors, or shells.
Thrust reversers fitted to bypass turbojets are well known in the field of aviation. They serve to increase the safety of an airplane by providing assistance in braking during landing. Thrust reversers are generally in the form of at least two moving elements such as sliding doors which are capable of being displaced relative to the pod of the turbojet by means of control actuators so that, when operating to provide thrust reversal, i.e. when the in the open position, they constitute an obstacle for a fraction of the gas coming from the turbojet, which fraction is redirected forwards so as to provide the airplane with reverse thrust.
Thrust reversers are provided with various levels of locking, each level of locking being individually capable of holding the doors of the thrust reverser. Generally, these levels of locking are provided by three locking devices per reverser: a primary lock; a secondary lock; and a tertiary lock. Each of the locks is designed to withstand the loading on the doors in the event of the other two locks failing. The primary and secondary locks are controlled individually by a thrust reverser control unit, and the tertiary lock is controlled directly from the airplane cockpit.
In order to obtain good safety when opening and closing the reverser, it is necessary to ensure that control of the locks is synchronized between the doors, and in particular that control of their primary locks is synchronized. In thrust reversers of known type, the primary locks are controlled in parallel during reverser opening and closing sequences. There therefore exists no way of genuinely synchronizing their control to ensure that in the event of one of the primary locks becoming jammed, no action can be taken on the other primary lock. The absence of such synchronization between the control of the primary locks can be particularly damaging for the thrust reverser, particularly in the event of one of the locks failing or jamming.

Turbojet electromechanical thrust reverser with synchronized locking devices


A tracking distance-measuring equipment for measuring the distance from a moving target on the principle of triangulation by electrically detecting the respective dislocations of first and second images focused on the image sensors of paired first and second optical systems disposed side by side from the optical axis through the comparison of image signals provided by the image sensors respectively representing the first and second images. A window is set in a specific portion of either the first or second image signal, image signals provided by the image sensors are sampled periodically at predetermined intervals. The sample image signals provided by one of the image sensors are compared with the window set in an image equivalent to the sample image signal provided by the other image sensor at a sampling point. The tracking distance-measuring equipment is capable of continuously measuring the distance from the moving target and determining the direction and distance of movement of the target.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tracking distance-measuring system for continuously measuring distance to, and the distance and direction of movement of, a moving target such as a running automobile.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 5 shows a distance-measuring system disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-46363. Referring to FIG. 5, the distance-measuring system has a right optical system and a left optical system respectively comprising lenses 1 and 2 disposed a distance L apart, which corresponds to the length of a base line between the respective optical axes thereof, and image sensors 3 and 4 disposed at a distance f apart, corresponding to the focal lengths of the lenses 1 and 2 on the optical axes respectively. The image of a target 5 at a distance R from a plane including the lenses 1 and 2 are focused on the image sensors 3 and 4 respectively by the lenses 1 and 2. Then, the image sensors generate image signals. AD converters (analog-to-digital converters) 6 and 7 convert the analog image signals into proportional digital image signals, and memories 8 and 9 store the digital image signals respectively. A microprocessor 10 processes the digital image signals stored in the memories 8 and 9 to determine the distance from the target 5.
In operation, the microprocessor 10 reads a picture element signal representing a picture element at the upper left-hand corner of the image sensor 3 from the memory 8, reads a picture element signal representing a picture element signal at the upper left-hand corner of the image sensor 4 from the memory 9, and then calculates the absolute value of the difference between these two picture element signals. Then the microprocessor 10 reads picture element signals respectively representing picture elements respectively nearest to and on the right-hand side of the picture elements respectively at the respective upper left-hand corners of the image sensors 3 and 4, calculates the absolute value of the difference between the picture element signals, and then adds the absolute value to the absolute value obtained in the preceding cycle of calculation. This procedure is repeated sequentially for all the picture elements of the image sensors 3 and 4 to obtain a first value. Subsequently, the microprocessor 10 reads the picture element signal representing the picture element at the upper left-hand corner of the image sensor 3 from the memory 8, reads a picture element signal representing a picture element next to the picture element at the upper left-hand corner of the image sensor 4 to the right, and then calculates the absolute value of the difference between these picture element signals. This procedure is repeated sequentially for the differences between the picture element signal representing the foregoing picture element of the image sensor 3 and the picture element signals representing the rest of the picture elements of the image sensor 4 to obtain a second value, i.e., the accumulated total of the absolute values of the differences.
The relative dislocation of the right and left images is represented by the minimum of the accumulated total. The distance from the target 5 is determined by a formula: EQU R=f.multidot.L/n.multidot.p
where R is the distance from the target 5, n is the number of picture elements corresponding to the relative dislocation, p is the pitch of the picture elements, f is the focal length of the lenses 1 and 2, and L is the distance between the optical axes of the lenses 1 and 2 corresponding to the length of the base line.
This conventional distance-measuring system is able to measure only the distance from only a target on its optical axis. Accordingly, in measuring the distance from a moving object, the distance-measuring system must be turned according to the movement of the moving target so that its optical axis coincide with the target.

Tracking distance-measuring equipment system with means for setting a window and means for sampling image signals at predetermined time intervals


A mobile terminal and a method for split screen control thereof, and a computer readable storage medium are provided. The method includes the following. The mobile terminal determines, in a split screen mode, a first split screen. The mobile terminal detects, in the split screen mode, an instruction for desktop display. The mobile terminal acquires a desktop icon and displays the desktop icon on the first split screen, upon receiving the instruction for desktop display.

The popularity of intelligent mobile terminals greatly facilitates people's life, entertainment, and learning, and more and more things can be done with mobile terminals (such as, mobile phones, tablets, etc.). As screens of the mobile terminals become larger and larger, the demand for multitasking display is increasing. For example, a video window needs to be displayed in upper half of the screen and a chat application window needs to be displayed in lower half of the screen.

Mobile terminal and method for split screen control thereof, and computer readable storage medium

GUANGDONG OPPO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP., LTD.