A data transfer circuit for read data operations in a memory circuit employs a two-stage bit switch. True and compliment bit lines from a memory cell array are coupled to gates of a pair of transistors in a first stage bit switch. The data from the bit lines is thus transferred to a pair of read data nodes without a DC connection, so charge-sharing is avoided. Also, this allows the data to be extracted without a full logic-level swing of the bit lines, so faster operation is provided. The data from the data nodes is transferred to a pair of data lines through a second-stage bit switch activated by a timing input. The differential voltage on the bit lines is enhanced by a sense amplifier, and, also, the use of the first-stage bit switch allows the bit lines to be precharged to only half the logic level, speeding up operation; this sense amplifier is activated before the timing input for the second-stage bit switch. The data lines are precharged then selectively discharged through source-to-drain paths of the transistors of the first and second stage bit switches.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to data transfer circuits in memory devices or the like, and more particularly to a two-stage bit switch for transferring data between bit lines in a memory device to data lines for output in a read operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a memory device of the type having an array of a large number of memory cells on a semiconductor chip, a read operation employs a pair of true and complement bit lines for a column of cells in the array, wherein the data on these bit lines is sensed and transferred to output circuitry. One of the ways to achieve high performance in these memory devices is to speed up this transfer of data in a read operation.
In some prior circuits used in transferring data from bit lines to output circuitry in a read operation, a direct connection between the bit lines and read data lines created a charge sharing problem, whereby data may possibly be read incorrectly. Thus, in order to avoid this charge sharing issue, it is preferred to couple the data on the bit lines to read data output circuitry by a path that does not permit direct currents to flow between the bit lines and the read data lines.
In prior arrangements for read data operations in memory circuits of this type, optimum speed is not achieved because of the time needed in a read operation to transfer data from the bit lines to the read data lines, a problem resulting in part from the delay needed to allow the bit lines to separate or develop a voltage differential large enough for unequivocal sensing in downstream circuitry in the read arrangement. Thus, it is preferable to enable sensing at an earlier point in the cycle of the read operation than has previously been allowed.

Data transfer using two-stage bit switch in memory circuit

International Business Machines Corporation


A honing tool or mandrel mountable for rotation on a honing machine comprising an elongated substantially tubular member having inner and outer surfaces, the inner surface being conically tapered over substantially the length thereof, the outer surface including a portion having abrasive particles thereon, an elongated expander member positioned extending through the tubular member and having an outer surface tapered for making surface-to-surface contact with the tapered inner surface of the tubular member, the expander member being axially movable within the tubular member to change the diameter thereof uniformly along its length, the tubular member being attachable to a honing machine for rotation therewith adjacent one end portion thereof by a mounting structure which enables the tubular member to expand and contract thereat to increase or decrease the diameter thereof. The abrasive particles attached to the tubular member form work engaging mandrel portions along at least a portion of the outer surface thereof, all of the work engaging portions being located on a substantially cylindrical honing envelope. The present mandrel constructions are especially adaptable for use in multi-stroke honing applications and also lend themselves to a two-piece construction including a tubular honing portion and a drive assembly portion.

Many different types of honing mandrels and other honing devices have been designed and manufactured in the past for a wide variety of uses and applications. There also exists numerous designs and constructions of honing mandrels having abrasive assemblies mounted thereon which are adjustable during a honing operation, some of these mandrels utilize single radially adjustable abrasive assemblies while others utilize a plurality of circumferentially spaced abrasive assemblies, one or more of which are radially adjustable during a honing operation to maintain the abrasive assemblies in contact under pressure with a work surface being honed. Typical of the known adjustable honing mandrels and the known abrasive assembly movement means are the constructions shown and disclosed in Sunnen U.S. Pat. Nos. Re 18,763; 1,902,194; 1,904,336; 1,946,041; 1,982,836; 2,040,281; 2,815,615 and 3,378,962.
It has also been common practice in the past to construct honing mandrels having body portions with a central pinion gear rotatably mounted therein, and wherein a plurality of work engaging assemblies are mounted for radial movement on the mandrel body. These mandrel constructions include rack gear portions or pin members which cooperatively engage pinion gears or radial pins and work engaging portions which engage the work surface to be honed. In such prior art constructions, all of the work engaging assemblies are moved radially outwardly at the same rate. Typical of such constructions are the constructions shown and disclosed in Sunnen U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,378,962 and 4,524,549. None of the known prior art honing mandrel constructions which are adjustable during a honing operation utilize an expander member or wedge assembly which moves within a tubular member to uniformly increase the diameter of the tool over its entire length.
Honing tool constructions which utilize an expander member or wedge assembly for increasing the diameter of the mandrel are typically associated with single pass through honing mandrels. With known single pass through devices, it has not been possible to change the honing diameter of such devices during a honing operation but only to preset the honing diameter prior to the honing operation to establish the desired stock removal. For this reason, known single pass through mandrels, and especially those that use super abrasive materials such as abrasives that include diamond particles, particles of cubic boron nitride and other like hard materials, have been tapered over most of their length to control the amount of material that can be removed from the workpiece to establish a desired diameter and work surface smoothness. No adjustment of the honing diameter is possible during honing when using known single pass through honing devices, and this has greatly limited their usefulness and has substantially reduced the amount of stock that can be removed from a work surface. Typical of such known single pass through honing tool constructions are the constructions shown and disclosed in Althen U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,197,680 and 4,253,279.
The present honing mandrel constructions, unlike the known single pass through honing devices, are specifically designed for multi-stroke honing applications and each includes a honing surface which is substantially cylindrical, preferably not tapered, along its length. Also, importantly, each of the present mandrel constructions, unlike the known in-process adjustable mandrel constructions, provide for relative axial movement between a tubular honing member and an expander member or wedge assembly during a honing operation so as to uniformly change the honing diameter of such tool along its length. This enables a user to achieve a more uniform and more accurately honed work surface with a much greater range of honing diameter adjustability as compared to the known prior art constructions and especially single pass devices. These features in a honing tool represent an important advancement in the honing art as will be hereinafter explained.


Described systems and methods allow the detection and prevention of malware and/or malicious activity within a network comprising multiple client computer systems, such as an enterprise network with multiple endpoints. Each endpoint operates a hardware virtualization platform, including a hypervisor exposing a client virtual machine (VM) and a security VM. The security VM is configured to have exclusive use of the network adapter(s) of the respective endpoint, and to detect whether data traffic to/from the client VM comprises malware or is indicative of malicious behavior. Upon detecting malware/malicious behavior, the security VM may block access of the client VM to the network, thus preventing the spread of malware to other endpoints. The client system may further comprise a memory introspection engine configured to perform malware scanning of the client VM from the level of the hypervisor.

The invention relates to systems and methods for protecting computer systems from malware, and in particular to anti-malware systems employing hardware virtualization technology.
Malicious software, also known as malware, affects a great number of computer systems worldwide. In its many forms such as computer viruses, worms, and rootkits, malware presents a serious risk to millions of computer users, making them vulnerable to loss of data and sensitive information, identity theft, and loss of productivity, among others.
Hardware virtualization technology allows the creation of simulated computer environments commonly known as virtual machines, which behave in many ways as physical computer systems. In typical applications such as server consolidation and infrastructure-as-a-service (IAAS), several virtual machines may run simultaneously on the same physical machine, sharing the hardware resources among them, thus reducing investment and operating costs. Each virtual machine may run its own operating system and/or software applications, separately from other virtual machines. Due to the steady proliferation of malware, each virtual machine operating in such an environment potentially requires malware protection.
Enterprise networks are increasingly using hardware virtualization technology, giving individual users access to computing resources from any location on the network, while protecting corporate data and facilitating network administration. In an exemplary application, instead of operating a computer system having a full-fledged operating system and applications, each user may operate a thin client endpoint acting as a terminal to a virtual machine running remotely on a central corporate location.
There is considerable interest in developing anti-malware solutions for hardware virtualization platforms, solutions which are robust, scalable, and adapted to any network configuration.

Hypervisor-based enterprise endpoint protection


The invention relates to an electronic device for data processing, which includes an execution unit with a temporary register, a register file, a first feedback path from the data output of the execution unit to the register file, a second feedback path from the data output of the execution unit to the temporary register, a switch configured to connect the first feedback path and/or the second feedback path, and a logic stage coupled to control the switch. The control stage is configured to control the switch to connect the second feedback path if the data output of an execution unit is used as an operand in the subsequent operation of an execution unit.

Conventional central processing unit (CPU) architectures always require read and write accesses to register files (data storages, memories) for address or data processing. A register file write occurs even if there is an internal path configured to forward a result of a previous processing step. This write is required because the operand of the subsequent operation might not be known. Program execution might be interrupted by events or internal nodes needing the results of processing steps. This requires storing the results of data processing steps.
Some digital signal processor (DSP) architectures are configured to use arithmetic/logic unit (ALU) output data in further processing. This is generally limited to internal parallel processing and requires additional memory. All memory write and read accesses consume power which is generally undesirable for low power applications.

Virtual register mode by designation of dedicated register as destination operand with switch connecting execution result feedback path and turning clock off to register file


An apparatus for mounting an enclosure to a watthour meter socket adapter includes a mounting strap lockingly encircleable about a side wall of the socket adapter and the enclosure connected to the strap for positioning exteriorly adjacent the side wall of the socket adapter. The interior of the enclosure is disposed in communication with the interior of the socket adapter through aligned apertures in the enclosure, socket adapter and strap for the passage of an electrical conductor therethrough. A releasable lock is carried on the strap for releasably locking the ends of the strap about the side wall of the socket adapter. In one embodiment, the enclosure includes a receiver having a first portion attached to the strap and a second wall portion. The enclosure is mounted in the receiver. Fasteners extend through the enclosure into the second wall portion for securing the enclosure on the wall portion. A removable cover is optionally provided on the enclosure to enable separate access to the enclosure. Alternately, the strap includes first and second strap portions, with one end of each strap portion connectable to the enclosure. Engagable lock members are mounted on the opposed ends of the strap portions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to electrical apparatus and, specifically, to electrical watthour meter socket adapters and related watthour meter apparatus.
2. Description of the Art
In the electric utility industry, plug-in, socket-type watthour meters are commonly employed to measure electric power consumption at a residential or commercial building establishment. A socket is mounted on a wall of the residence or building and contains terminals which are connected to electric line and electric load conductors. The terminals are also connected to internal conductors within the socket which extend to jaw contacts positioned to receive the blade terminals of a plug-on watthour meter to complete an electric circuit through the watthour meter between the line and load terminals and the conductors.
One type of meter socket has a ring-type cover which includes an outwardly projecting, annular mounting flange surrounding an opening in the cover through which the blade terminals of a watt hour meter extend. The mounting flange is sized to mate with a complementary formed mounting flange on the bottom of the watthour meter.
Another type of meter socket known as a ringless or clamp jaw socket has an aperture in the socket cover sized to secure the meter flange within the socket cover. The shell of the socket adapter, after the socket adapter is mounted in the jaw contacts of the watthour meter socket, extends through the aperture in the socket cover and receives a watthour meter in a snap-in connection.
It is common to add various additional features and components to a meter service application, such as surge suppression, circuit breakers, automatic meter reading, communication systems, etc., which the service was not originally designed to accept or utilize. Such components have often been mounted in a separate enclosure or receptacle which is attached to an existing watthour socket adapter, or built in to the interior of the socket adapter with special modifications to the shell and/or terminal portions of the adapter to provide sufficient space to house the additional components.
In certain meter sockets, such as ringless or clamp jaw sockets, there is insufficient aperture size in the meter socket cover to enable an enlarged socket adapter or a socket adapter having a separate receptacle or enclosure mounted thereon to fit through the socket cover meter aperture.
One solution to this problem utilizes a conventional watthour meter socket adapter/extender which is connected to the jaw contacts in a watthour meter socket. The shell portion of the socket adapter/extender extends outward through the aperture in the ringless-style watthour meter socket cover. A separate housing containing additional features or components is attached to a bottom portion of the shell by means of screws extending through adjacent surfaces on the socket adapter/extender shell and the separate housing. Aligned apertures in the shell and the enclosure allow for the passage of electrical conductors between the conductive elements in the watthour meter socket adapter and components or terminals in the separate housing.
This solution, however, is not without problems. Although the housing containing additional features is accessible separately from the watthour meter mounted in the socket adapter/extender to enable replacement or updating of the additional features without removing the watthour meter, any removal or mounting of the housing to or from the shell of the socket adapter/extender typically requires the removal of the watthour meter from the socket adapter/extender. Industry standards require that the watthour meter can only be removed by an authorized utility company serviceman. The authorized utility company serviceman is the only individual who is authorized to remove the seals indicating non-tampering of the watthour meter and/or the socket adapter/extender. Thus, two servicemen, one to remove the watthour meter and the other to service the additional features, may be required for a single service entrance. Also the power to the service will be disconnected requiring the customer to reset electrical or electronic devices due to the power outage.
Solutions to these problems are described hereafter.

Apparatus for mounting an external receptacle to a watthour meter socket adapter


A footwear measuring apparatus includes a body, a plurality of probes, one or more measurement devices and at least one calibration sensor. The plurality of probes are configured to extend from the body. The measurement devices are configured to measure distances that the plurality of probes extend from the body, wherein the distances indicate fit parameters of footwear. The at least one calibration sensor is configured to determine if the footwear measuring apparatus is properly positioned inside of the footwear for measuring.

The number one reason people buy a shoe is for the fit. Unfortunately, there is not a uniform standard for the fit of shoes. This means that a men's US 9.0 is not the same distance from heel to toe across manufactures. The shape of the shoe, commonly called the last, can also vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Additionally, a single manufacturer may use more than one shape, which causes a difference in fit between shoes within the same manufacturer.
It is presently difficult for a consumer to determine how one shoe will fit compared to another without trying on the shoes. Accordingly, when shoes are sold on the internet or through a catalog, consumers frequently return shoes after trying them on at home due to a poor fit. This has created a high return rate for online retailers.

Apparatus for measuring the internal fit of footwear


In order to provide a ferrule for an optical-fiber connector used for good organization of an optical communication network, the ferrule for an optical-fiber connector is made of a crystallized glass having a composition which consists essentially of, by weight percent, 60-70% of SiO.sub.2, 16-25% of Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, 1.5-3% of Li.sub.2 O, 0.5-2.5% of MgO, 1.3-4.5% of TiO.sub.2, 0.5-3% of ZrO.sub.2, 2-6.5% of TiO.sub.2 +ZrO.sub.2, 1-5.5% of K.sub.2 O, 0-7% of ZnO, and 0-3% of BaO. The crystallized glass includes 30-70 volume % precipitation of .beta.-spodumene solid solution or .beta.-quartz solid solution having an average grain size not greater than 2 .mu.m. In addition, the crystallized glass has a bend strength of 200 MPa or more and a thermal expansion coefficient of -10.about.50.times.10.sup.-7 /.degree. C. at a temperature between -50 and 150.degree. C.

A ferrule used in optical communication is an important component of an optical-fiber connector. The ferrule is a cylindrical component having a through hole for insertion of an optical fiber made of silica glass. Connection of optical fibers is carried out by inserting and fixing optical fibers in the through holes of ferrules, respectively, polishing their ends, and thereafter, inserting the ferrules in an outer tube called a sleeve to face-to-face contact with each other. Therefore, the ferrule must have an excellent dimensional accuracy and is further required to have various material properties such as high mechanical strength, high abrasion resistance against friction upon insertion and removal into and out of the sleeve, polishability which is close to that of silica glass so that a polished amount of the ferrule does not greatly differ from that of the optical fiber during polishing the end, and a thermal expansion coefficient close to that of silica glass. In order to organize an optical communication network well, it is an urgent demand to provide a ferrule which satisfies the above-mentioned material properties and which can be manufactured at a low cost.
At present, there have been used ferrules made of ceramics such as zirconia and alumina and of amorphous glass. Among them, the ferrule made of ceramics is excellent in mechanical strength and abrasion resistance but has the following disadvantages. Specifically, it is considerably low in a rate to be polished as compared with the fiber of silica, so that it is necessary to use a special polishing method. It is so high in thermal expansion coefficient as compared with the optical fiber that an initial connection loss is readily deteriorated by the changes in dimension of both of them following a temperature variation. Furthermore, it is so low in formability and machinability to degrade the production efficiency, resulting in a high cost.
On the other hand, the ferrule made of amorphous glass is advantageous in that the polished rate is very close to that of the silica fiber to require no special polishing method, resulting in a reduced polishing cost, and that the formability and the machinability are excellent to enable the production at a low cost. However, it is disadvantageous in that the mechanical strength and the abrasion resistance are insufficient.
In addition, a proposal is made of a ferrule of crystallized glass. For example, JP-B S63-500684 discloses an art in which the crystallized glass of Li.sub.2 O--Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 --SiO.sub.2 is used as a ferrule material. In the art, it is possible to obtain the ferrule which has the thermal expansion coefficient close to that of the silica fiber, but there is neither consideration about the abrasion resistance, the polishability, and the machinability, nor knowledge is given about those properties. Furthermore, JP-A H1-288803 discloses a connection component made of the crystallized glass of P.sub.2 O.sub.5 --CaO. In the art, it is possible to obtain the ferrule which is excellent in machinability, but there is no consideration about the abrasion resistance and the mechanical strength. In addition, it has cost-rising factors such as the use of a laser to form the through hole, and others.
As described above, there is no such ferrule in the present status that satisfies all of the requirements for use in the optical-fiber connector.
In the meanwhile, the crystallized glass is generally higher in strength than the amorphous glass because of an energy absorption effect given by bending and branching of cracks at the interface between precipitated crystals and a glass matrix. Further, crystallization makes it possible to obtain a material improved in abrasion resistance and low in thermal expansion coefficient. In addition, the crystallized glass advantageously has a formability suitable for mass production, like the amorphous glass.
Accordingly, the use of the crystallized glass has a possibility of providing a ferrule at a low manufacturing cost but with excellent characteristics unexpected in conventional ferrule materials.
However, the above-mentioned excellent features of the crystallized glass widely vary depending upon the kind, the size, and the amount of the precipitated crystals. In an unsuitably crystallized state, the characteristics necessary to the ferrule can not be realized.
In view of the above, it is an object of this invention to provide a ferrule for an optical-fiber connector, which is excellent in mechanical strength and abrasion resistance.
It is another object of this invention to provide a ferrule for an optical-fiber connector, which has a thermal expansion coefficient and a polishability close to those of an optical fiber.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a ferrule for an optical-fiber connector, which has a dimensional accuracy equivalent to that of a zirconia ferrule used for connecting a single mode optical fiber.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a ferrule for an optical-fiber connector, which can be manufactured at a low cost as compared with a zirconia ferrule.

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation


Power source lines (183) for supplying drive current from power source input terminals (180) to organic EL elements (160) formed in a display pixel region having display pixels are connected by a bypass line (181) along the row direction within the display pixel region. This arrangement minimizes decrease in power source current caused by resistance of the power source lines (183) according to the line length. Accordingly, the organic EL elements (160) can adequately receive the actual desired current, thereby achieving an organic EL device capable of bright displays and having uniform display luminance within the display region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an emissive display device using emissive elements, such as electroluminescence elements, which employs thin film transistors for controlling such elements.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, electroluminescence (referred to hereinafter as xe2x80x9cELxe2x80x9d) display devices comprising EL elements have gained attention as potential replacements for CRTs and LCDS. Research has been directed to the development of EL display devices using, for example, thin film transistors (referred to hereinafter as xe2x80x9cTFTxe2x80x9d) as switching elements to drive the EL elements.
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing one display pixel of an organic EL display device. FIG. 2 illustrates an equivalent circuit for a plurality of display pixels in an organic EL display device. FIG. 3A shows a cross-sectional view taken along line Axe2x80x94A of FIG. 1, while FIG. 3B shows a cross-sectional view taken along line Bxe2x80x94B of FIG. 1.
As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3A, and 3B, each display pixel is formed in a region surrounded by gate signal lines 151 and drain signal lines 152. A first TFT serving as a switching element is disposed near a intersection of those signal lines. The source 131s of the TFT simultaneously functions as a capacitor electrode 155 such that, together with the opposing storage capacitor electrode 154 described later, it forms a capacitor. The source 131s is connected to a gate electrode 142 of a second TFT 140 that drives the organic EL element. The source 141s of the second TFT 140 contacts with the anode 161 of the organic EL element. The drain 141d is connected to a power source line 153.
Near the TFT 130, a storage capacitor electrode 154 is disposed in parallel with a gate signal line 151. The storage capacitor electrode 154 is made of a material such as chromium. The storage capacitor electrode 154 contacts the capacitor electrode 155 via a gate insulating film 112 and together stores charges, forming a capacitor. The capacitor electrode 155 is connected to the source 131s of the first TFT 130. This storage capacitor is provided for retaining voltage applied to the gate 142 of the second TFT 140.
The first TFT 130, or the switching TFT, will now be explained.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3A, gate signal lines 151 made of refractory metal such as chromium (Cr) or molybdenum (Mo), which also serve as gate electrodes 132, are formed on an insulator substrate 110 made of quartz glass, non-alkali glass, or a similar material. Also disposed on the substrate 110 are drain signal lines 152 composed of aluminum (Al) and power source lines 153 also composed of Al and serving as the power source for the organic EL elements.
After forming gate signal lines 151 on the substrate 110, a gate insulating film 112 and an active layer 131 composed of poly-silicon (referred to hereinafter as xe2x80x9cp-Sixe2x80x9d) film are sequentially formed. The active layer 131 is of a so-called LDD (Lightly Doped Drain) structure. Specifically, low-concentration regions 131LD are formed on both sides of each gate 132. The source 131s and the drain 131d, which are high-concentration regions, are further disposed on the outboard sides of the low-concentration regions 131LD.
An interlayer insulating film 115 formed by sequential lamination of a SiO2 film, a SiN film, and a SiO2 film is provided on the entire surface over the gate insulating film 112, the active layer 131, and stopper insulating films 114. A contact hole formed in a position corresponding to the drain 141d is filled with metal such as Al, forming a drain electrode 116. Further, a planarizing insulating film 117 made of an organic resin or a similar material is formed over the entire surface for planarization.
The second TFT 140, or the TFT for driving the organic EL element, will next be described.
As shown in FIG. 3B, gate electrodes 142 composed of refractory metal such as Cr or Mo are formed on the insulator substrate 110 made of quartz glass, non-alkali glass, or a similar material. Further on top, a gate insulating film 112 and an active layer 141 composed of p-Si film are sequentially formed. The active layer 141 is provided with intrinsic or substantially intrinsic channels 141c formed above the gate electrodes 142, and the source 141s and drain 141d are formed on respective sides of these channels 141c by ion doping using p-type impurities, thereby constituting a p-type channel TFT.
An interlayer insulating film 115 formed by sequential lamination of a SiO2 film, a SiN film, and a SiO2 film is provided on the entire surface over the gate insulating film 112 and the active layer 141. A contact hole formed in a position corresponding to the drain 141d is filled with metal such as Al, forming a power source line 153 connected to a power source. Further, a planarizing insulating film 117 made of an organic resin or a similar material is formed over the entire surface for planarization. A contact hole is formed in the planarizing insulating film 117 in a position corresponding to the source 141s. A transparent electrode made of ITO (indium tin oxide) that contacts the source 141s through this contact hole, namely, the anode 161 of the organic EL element, is formed on the planarizing insulating film 117.
The organic EL element 160 is formed by laminating, in order, the anode 161 constituted by a transparent electrode made of ITO or similar material, an emissive element layer 166 which is composed with materials including an organic compound and comprises an emissive layer, and a cathode 167 made of a magnesium-indium alloy. The cathode 167 is disposed over the entire surface of the organic EL display element shown in FIG. 1, that is covering the entire sheet of the figure.
In an organic EL element, holes injected from the anode and electrons injected from the cathode recombine in the emissive layer. As a result, organic molecules constituting the emissive layer are excited, generating excitons. Through the process in which these excitons undergo radiation until deactivation, light is emitted from the emissive layer. This light radiates outward through the transparent anode via the transparent insulator substrate, resulting in light emission.
In this way, electric charge applied via the source 131s of the first TFT 130 is accumulated in the storage capacitor 170 and applied to the gate 142 of the second TFT 140. According to this voltage, the organic EL element emits light.
As shown in FIG. 2, each power source line connected to the power source for driving the organic EL elements is connected with a power source input terminal 180 disposed outside the display pixel region. The power source lines are arranged and connected with each vertical array of display pixels. With such an arrangement, at positions more distant from the power source input terminal 180 resistance of each power source line increases along with its length. The organic EL elements 160 located in display pixels distant from the power source input terminal 180 are therefore not adequately provided with necessary current, causing a disadvantage that the display in such area is dim.
The present invention was created in light of the above existing disadvantage. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an EL display device which prevents decrease in power source current due to resistance of power source lines, and adequately provides EL elements with current that should actually be supplied, accomplishing bright display.
To achieve the above purpose, the present invention provides an electroluminescence display device comprising a plurality of display pixels arranged in a matrix within a display pixel region, said display pixels having electroluminescence elements including an emissive layer between first and second electrodes, wherein, within said display pixel region, power source line for supplying power from a power source to said electroluminescence elements is disposed in a grid pattern.
According to another aspect of the present invention, said power source line includes main power source lines arranged in plural numbers within said display pixel region, and at least one bypass power source line extended to intersect and connect said main power lines within said display pixel region.
In a further aspect of the present invention, each of said display pixels further comprises a first thin film transistor having a gate electrode connected to a gate line, and a first electrode region connected to a data line; and a second thin film transistor having a gate electrode connected to a second electrode region of said first thin film transistor, a first electrode region connected to one of said main power source lines, and a second electrode region connected to said electroluminescence element.
In a still further aspect of the present invention, an emissive display device comprises a plurality of display pixels arranged in a matrix within a display pixel region, each of said display pixels having emissive elements including an emissive layer between first and second electrodes; wherein, within said display pixel region, power source line for supplying power from a power source to said emissive elements is disposed in a grid pattern.
According to another aspect of the present invention, in any one of the above-described devices, said power source line includes main power source lines arranged in plural numbers along the column direction of said matrix within said display pixel region, and at least one bypass power source line extended in the row direction of said matrix to intersect and connect a plurality of said main power lines.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, in any one of the above-described devices, each of said display pixels further comprises a first thin film transistor having a gate electrode connected to a gate line, and a first electrode region connected to a data line; and a second thin film transistor having a gate electrode connected to a second electrode region of said first thin film transistor, a first electrode region connected to one of said main power source lines, and a second electrode region connected to said electroluminescence element or said emissive element.
In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electroluminescence display device comprising a display pixel region having a plurality of display pixels arranged in a matrix. Each of said display pixels includes an electroluminescence element having an emissive layer between an anode and a cathode; a first thin film transistor having a gate electrode connected to a gate line, and a first electrode region connected to a data line; and a second thin film transistor having a gate electrode connected to a second electrode region of said first thin film transistor, a first electrode region connected to a power source line for supplying power from a power source to said electroluminescence element, and a second electrode region connected to said electroluminescence element. Said power source line is provided in plural numbers along the column direction of said matrix within said display pixel region, and those power source lines that are associated with the display pixels adjacently arranged along the row direction are connected to one another via a bypass power source line extending in the row direction of said matrix.
As described above, the power source line for supplying power (current or voltage) from the power source to emissive elements such as electroluminescence elements is arranged in a grid pattern. Alternatively, a plurality of main power source lines may be electrically connected by bypass power source line(s) arranged to intersect the main power source lines. Such an arrangement can minimize the difference between power supplied to emissive elements located near and far from the power source that arises from wiring resistance of the power source lines. Accordingly, the power that should be supplied can adequately be provided to each display pixel emissive element. Irregularities in the luminance between the display pixels that emit light according to supplied power can thereby be reduced, accomplishing uniform light emission within the display pixel region.
According to a still further aspect of the present invention, in any one of the above-described devices, said first and said second thin film transistors include active layers composed of poly-silicon.
Use of thin film transistors, especially those employing poly-silicon as the active layers, as elements for controlling the emissive elements can contribute to large display size and high resolution in display devices because thin film transistors are capable of high-speed operation and control emissive elements to reliably emit light during an appropriate period of time. Further, pixel driver circuits comprising poly-silicon thin film transistors created using similar processes as the TFTs within the pixel region can be integrated on the same substrate where the display pixel region is formed. This can contribute to reducing the size of margins in a display device and to reduction in manufacturing cost of the overall display device.
In another aspect of the present invention, said emissive layer may be a layer using an organic compound as an emissive material. Forming the emissive layer using an organic compound can be extremely advantageous especially in a color display device because organic compounds can provide many variations in emitted colors and a wide selection of materials.
According to another aspect of the present invention, said main power source lines and said bypass power source line are conductive line integrally formed. Alternatively, said main power source lines and said bypass power source line may be conductive lines separately formed in different processes.
In a further aspect of the present invention, said bypass power source line in the above-described device is formed in a layer located underneath said main power source lines and separated by an insulating layer, and is connected to said main power source lines via contact holes.
In a still further aspect of the present invention, said bypass power source line is formed in a same layer as a gate line.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, said bypass power source line is formed on a gate insulating film, and an interlayer insulating film that separates the active layer of said second thin film transistor and a main power source lines is provided between said bypass power source line and said main power source line as said insulating layer.
These arrangements allow efficient and reliable formation of the main power source lines and the bypass power line.

Emissive display device and electroluminescence display device with uniform luminance


A hematological stain includes Wright's stain powder together with a thiazole dye and a pH control agent which is a neutral or near neutral salt. The stain may further include a surfactant as well as buffers and anti-oxidants.

The use of stains is very important in the investigation of biological tissues and is of particular importance in hematology. By the use of appropriate stains, the various components of blood, such as platelets, cells and structures thereof may be selectively visualized, facilitating microscopic inspection of the blood sample and the identification of deviant morphologies and/or disease causing organisms. There are a variety of stains utilized in hematology. These stains are typically organic dyes having differential affinities for various cells and cell structures. One of the most commonly employed stains is what is referred to as Wright's stain. This stain, also called RG stain in Europe is a mixture of dyes prepared by the steps of oxidizing methylene blue and precipitating the mixture with tetrabromofluorescein. The preparation of this mixture of dyes was first described by J. H. Wright in the Journal of Medical Research, Volume 7, p. 138, 1902. Wright's stain is typically provided in the form of a prepared powder referred to as "Wright's stain powder". This is a staple item of commerce available from a variety of suppliers including the Aldrich Chemical Corporation of Milwaukee, Wis.
Commercially available Wright's stain is a complex mixture of many different dyes some of which are active and some of which are inactive, although it is generally agreed that the most important components are the azure A and azure B dyes. It has generally been found that the best Wright's stain usually has a first absorption maximum between 650-656 nm and a separate Eosin absorption peak around 517 nm although these peaks may differ significantly from batch to batch of dyes without significantly impairing stain function. It should be clear from the foregoing that the exact composition of a batch of Wright's stain powder is variable and is usually not precisely determined. For this reason, the term "Wright's stain powder" as utilized herein is generally meant to refer to methylene blue derived stain mixtures as are well-known and available to those of skill in the art and as such is a generic term and not restricted to any one specific dye mixture.
Although Wright's stain has been known for some time, its use is not without problems. It has previously been found that Wright's stain suffers from problems of stability, both of the prepared solution and the sample stained thereby. U.S. Pat. No. 3,670,072, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, recognizes these problems of stability and provides for an improved stain system incorporating Wright's stain powder together with buffers and anti-oxidant fixatives. The invention of the '072 patent provides for a fast acting and permanent staining system.
Despite these advances, there are still problems associated with Wright's stain materials. For example, it has been found that in many instances the granulation of stained white blood cells is indistinct. This effect correlates with particular batches of Wright's stain powder and also appears to be related to the pH of the blood samples. Incorporation of the afore-mentioned buffers does not fully address problems of indistinct granulation and further investigation suggests that the pH of the dried blood samples may affect the differentiation of the granulation. Another problem with stain materials of this type is that the color imparted to the blood cells is frequently too blue thereby preventing resolution of fine detail and differentiation of cell structures. It is believed that this problem also relates inter alia to inconsistencies in the commercially available Wright's stain powder. These problems are particularly important now that computerized interpretation of blood smears is coming into use. The use of such automated methods exacerbates the need for quicker and more uniform staining of blood smears. Toward that end, there is a need for improved wetting agents.
Yet another problem which occurs in connection with the use of various stain materials is the presence of artifacts therein. These artifacts comprise particulate contaminants in the stain solution, which may be undissolved dye particles, trace contaminants and the like. These artifacts can interfere with interpretation of test results and are particularly troublesome in connection with automated evaluation systems.
It will thus be appreciated that there is a need for a Wright's stain system which enhances the structure of the granulation of white blood cells and improves the overall differentiation of cell structure by eliminating the effects of any "blue shift". It is further desired that these Wright's stain systems include a low number of artifacts and uniformly and rapidly wet and stain blood samples. The present invention provides an improved Wright's stain system which: greatly enhances the details of cell granulation, provides a color balance which maximizes differentiation of cell structures, is low in artifacts and rapidly and consistently stains a variety of blood samples. These and other advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent from the discussion and examples which follow.


A mounting element and assembly for a sash frame tensioner used in a sash window frame to support the window in any desired open position, the assembly comprising a channel section member and a sash frame support element slidable in said channel section member. A coiled ribbon spring having a free outer end thereof engaged with said sash frame support member, and a mounting element, the mounting being disposed between the sash frame support member and a coiled body portion of said coiled ribbon spring with a free end of said coiled ribbon spring disposed alongside said mounting, said mounting being secured to said channel section member, directly or indirectly, and in use impinging upon an outer surface of said coiled body portion to retain said coiled body portion in position during uncoiling of said coiled ribbon spring as said sash support member is moved away from said coiled body portion.

The invention relates to a mounting for a coiled ribbon spring and is particularly, though not exclusively, applicable to sash springs used in sash frame tensioning arrangements for windows.
Such coiled ribbon springs are in the form of a flat coil with an open area at their center and two free ends, an outer one on the outside of the coil and one on the inside; the springs being similar in construction to clock springs except that the inner free end is not (as in a clock spring) secured to a fixed point.
It is known in the art to mount such coiled ribbon springs on a drum within a hollow channel in a window frame by means of a screw or other fixing, about which the spring is able to uncoil as an outer free end of the spring attached to a window sash moves away from the coil as the sash is moved. The drum may be arranged to be stationary or to rotate with the spring, through the drum is provided only to guide the spring and is not operatively secured thereto (thus, if the spring were unwound too far, it would be unwound completely from the drum).
It is a feature of these known mountings that the spring is supported from the open space within the coil so that an upper part of the coil rests on the drum with a lower part of the coil slung below the drum and not supported thereby. It is, as stated above, a feature of such springs that the inner free end of the spring is not secured to any point (on the drum or elsewhere) such springs being referred to in some instances as "constant tension" springs.
The drum is merely to provide a reaction member and as a means of retaining the body of the spring loosely in position in the channel as its free outer end is uncoiled.
It has been a disadvantage of this known type of mounting that the spring is not silent in use, possibly due to relative movement between the inner, free end of the spring and the spring support drum.
The present invention seeks to overcome this disadvantage.

Spring mounting for sash frame tensioning arrangements


A user apparatus for use in a mobile communications system is disclosed. The user apparatus includes a unit which determines, using acknowledgement information received from a communications counterpart, whether retransmission is required for a transmitted signal; and a unit which transmits, to the communications counterpart, a signal required to be retransmitted according to a round-trip delay (RTD) which is set for the user apparatus for retransmission control, wherein, the RTD of the user apparatus is arranged to be changed, when the user apparatus enters a region which uses an RTD shorter than the RTD set for the user apparatus to an integer multiple of the shorter RTD.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the technical field of mobile communications and particularly relates to mobile communications systems, base station apparatuses, user apparatuses, and methods that perform retransmission control.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, schemes for implementing two-way communications include a full duplex scheme and half duplex scheme. A specific example of the former scheme includes a frequency division duplexing (FDD) scheme. A specific example of the latter scheme includes a time division duplexing (TDD) scheme. The FDD scheme, which use different frequencies for uplink and downlink, respectively, makes it possible to simultaneously communicate transmit and receive signals. The TDD scheme, which uses the same frequency for uplink and downlink, has uplink and downlink periods alternating. Currently, these schemes differ from country to country and/or from region to region.
As globalization moves forward, roaming between regions of different two-way communications schemes is also in the process of being performed. Roaming may be supported with relative ease when an FDD terminal being used in an FDD system enters a TDD region. This is because a transition from the full duplex scheme to the half duplex scheme is relatively easy.
On the other hand, immediate support for roaming when a TDD terminal being used in a TDD system enters the FDD system is impossible. This is because the TDD terminal cannot tune to two frequencies simultaneously to process signals in uplink and downlink separately. In this case, similar to the FDD terminal, it is possible to provide the TDD terminal with a duplexer and to arrange for uplink and downlink to process signals separately for uplink and downlink. However, such a method may cause the TDD terminal to become extremely expensive. From such a point of view, it is being considered to change a tuning frequency between TDD terminal uplink and downlink periods, and make the TDD terminal conduct half duplex communications as before, even within an FDD system. In this way, while benefits of full duplex communications may not be obtained, roaming of the TDD terminal to the FDD system may be supported in an easy and inexpensive manner. For example, Non-patent document 1 discloses conducting half-duplex communications while changing frequencies in the FDD system.    Non-patent document 1: 3GPP, R1-050731, Vodafone Group, T-Mobile International, TeliaSonera, Telefonica, "Support of operation in paired and unpaired spectrum"

Mobile communications system, base station apparatus, user apparatus, and method


An interaction simulator uses computer vision, and inputs of other modalities, to analyze the user""s mental state and/or personality. The mental state and/or personality are classified and this information used to guide conversation and other interaction. In a chatterbot embodiment, the substance of the conversation may be altered in response to the mental state and/or personality class, for example, by changing the topic of conversation to a favorite subject when the user is sad or by telling a joke when the user is in a good mood.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices that simulate personal interaction with a user through various outputs modalities such as light pulsations, synthetic speech, computer generated animations, sound, etc. to create the impression of a human presence with attending mood, ability to converse, personality, etc.
2. Background
With increasing sophistication in technology, the variety of possible features and options associated with many appliances can be daunting. This phenomenon is exemplified by satellite and cable TV where the number of program choices is unwieldy in some cases. Many examples exist, including cell phones, personal computer applications, e-trading systems, etc. In such environments it is useful for the machines to take some of the routine work out of making choices from among an overwhelming number of options. However, often, the solutions are not much less painful than the problems they are supposed to address. For example, user interfaces that filter a large number of choices using custom templates for each user must be trained as to the user""s preferences. For example, a user can enter his/her preferences by actively classifying his/her likes and dislikes (xe2x80x9ccustomizationxe2x80x9d). This can also be done passively such as by having a computer process xe2x80x9cobservexe2x80x9d the selections made by the user over time (xe2x80x9cpersonalizationxe2x80x9d). Such systems are discussed in a variety of patent applications assigned to Gemstar and Philips Electronics. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,173 for System And Method For Automatically Recording Television Programs In Television Systems With Tuners External To Video Recorders; U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,089 for Apparatus And Method For Channel Scanning By Theme; U.S. Patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,949,471 Apparatus And Method For Improved Parental Control Of Television Use. Another example is For U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,924.
The user-interfaces that permit the specification of preferences, either explicitly or passively, are often sophisticated enough to be fun and intuitive. More and more such systems have evolved toward seemingly xe2x80x9csmartxe2x80x9d systems that try to seem like human helpers rather than control panels. For example, help dialogs in complex software applications such as Microsoft(copyright) Office(copyright) accept natural language sentences and give text responses quasi-synchronously with animated characters. Another example of an interface that accepts natural language questions is AskJeeves(copyright), a search engine for the Internet.
User interfaces are evolving rapidly away from function oriented systems where a sequence of steps are performed, the last step of which results in the desired result, to object oriented interfaces which allow the user to manipulate the subject matter of concern providing immediate feedback on the results. The ultimate embodiment of this idea is noncommand interfaces such as virtual reality environments that permit a user to manipulate controls and experience the effects rather than performing a prescribed series of steps to achieve a result. Agents are another type of noncommand interface. The eventual goal of some research is to provide highly intelligent agents that know all about the user""s needs and lifestyle and can retrieve exactly the information required of the user at any given time. Practical embodiments of such noncommand interfaces are, however, not quite ready for introduction into practical products. One of the problems is that the software technology required is highly sophisticated and requires a great deal of programming and/or training. For now, computers still need to be told what to do and the dream of interfaces that are truly easy to use, those giving the impression of being xe2x80x9csmart,xe2x80x9d are for most applications, still rather far off.
Computers that look smart without actually being smart, however, have been around for a while. A very different area of computer software development began in the mid-1960s with an MIT computer scientist Joseph Weizenbaum who created a simple program with no utility apart from how smart it appeared to be. It simulated the role of a Rogerian psychotherapist by attempting to draw the user out and encouraging the user to continue talking. This program was called ELIZA. Many users found ELIZA very convincing. Even Weizenbaum""s secretary demanded to be left alone with the program. However, ELIZA""s conversation is effective only as long as one is willing to accept the very passive conversational style of a Rogerian psychotherapist, in which either the xe2x80x9ctherapistxe2x80x9d usually responds by repeating part of what the xe2x80x9cpatientxe2x80x9d has said or by asking the xe2x80x9cpatientxe2x80x9d to explain or elaborate on what he has just said. What makes ELIZA seem convincing is that it does not do this in a rote manner. If the user mentions his mother, for example, ELIZA might ask the user to tell xe2x80x9cherxe2x80x9d more about his family.
Below is a sample conversation reproduced from ELIZA:
User: Men are all alike.
ELIZA: In what way?
User: They""re always bugging me about something or other.
ELIZA: Can you think of a specific example.
User: Well, my boyfriend made me come here.
ELIZA: Your boyfriend made you come here.
User: He says I""m depressed much of the time.
ELIZA: I""m sorry to hear you are depressed.
User: It""s true. I am unhappy.
ELIZA: Do you think coming here will help you not to be unhappy?
User: I need some help, that much seems certain.
ELIZA: What would it mean to you if you got some help?
User: Perhaps I could get along with my mother.
ELIZA: Tell me more about your family.
User: My mother takes care of me.
ELIZA: Who else in your family takes care of you.
User: My father.
ELIZA: Your father.
User: You are like my father in some ways.
ELIZA: What resemblance do you see?
So far, virtually all these so-called conversation simulators have used a basic method that generates shallow responses based on template-matches (rules) without any real understanding. For example, the template: xe2x80x9cI wish I were  less than x greater than xe2x80x9d (where  less than x greater than  represents any series of words) matches on the user statement: xe2x80x9cI wish I were taller.xe2x80x9d The template is associated with the machine response: xe2x80x9cWhy do you wish you were  less than x greater than ?xe2x80x9d The machine responds with the statement: xe2x80x9cWhy do you wish you were taller?xe2x80x9d What distinguishes one conversation simulator from another is not so much its sophistication and complexity as the size and variability of its database of responses. More sophisticated variants have a larger database of templates and responses including whimsical responses that can make them more interesting than the passive, flat responses of ELIZA.
Some conversation simulators provide information on specific topics, rather than general conversation simulation. For example, conversational simulators have been used for providing information regarding a particular topic. Basically, their libraries of responses anticipate questions about some subject and provide xe2x80x9ccannedxe2x80x9d responses. Some conversation simulators have been programmed to appear as if they had a life story to relate. They would talk about their story when they could not come up with a good template match to keep the conversation going.
A typical conversation simulator may be described as having two parts: a user-interface shell and a database. The user-interface is a computer program that remains essentially constant irrespective of which personality or information database is used. The database is what gives the conversation simulator its personality, knowledge, etc. It contains the specific answers and information about questions for a topic. The database has pre-defined answers linked together by question templates. The realisticness of the conversation simulator depends on how well the creator of the database has anticipated the questions people are likely to ask and the patterns that are common to classes of questions with the same answer. The user-interface accepts questions from a person, searches through the templates and returns the (or a random of the) most appropriate answer (or answers) corresponding to it. The technology requires the author to create the typical database; there is no initial knowledge about natural language in the user-interface and the systems cannot learn on their own. The systems are not perfect and give gibberish or simply bail out when good matches cannot be found. But this is tolerable. In principle, a perfect database would work for every conceivable situation, but if 80 percent of questions are handled adequately, this appears to be enough to keep people interested.
Another approach to making conversation-capable machines employs more sophisticated xe2x80x9csmartxe2x80x9d technology, but as discussed above, these require too much complexity and/or training to be of use as a basis for a conversation simulator. Attempts, such as Mega Hal give the impression of actually being nonsensical. But the smart technology has its uses. An area of research called xe2x80x9ccomputational linguistics,xe2x80x9d a branch of artificial intelligence attempts to develop an algorithmic description or grammar of language. This technology can be used to parse sentences and do things like identify the most important words in a sentence or identify the direct object and verb, and things like that. In fact, the research goes much further. Computational linguists are very interested in the technology required to make computers really understand what a person is saying: lexical and compositional semantics. This is the determination from speech (written or spoken), the meaning of words in isolation and from their use in narrow and broad contexts. However, programming a computer to distinguish an ambiguous meaning of a word is far short of what is required to make a computer subsequently respond appropriately, at least a verbal response.
The technology used successfully in conversation simulators typically works by matching the user""s input against its database of templates. They choose a predefined template that xe2x80x9cbestxe2x80x9d matches a user""s statement and produce one of the template""s associated responses. To describe this mechanism in more detail, it helps to use a specific example. For this purpose we will use Splotch, a program created by Duane Fields at Carnegie Mellon University, and whose source code is publicly available from CMU""s web site. xe2x80x9cSplotchxe2x80x9d is a variation of xe2x80x9cSpotxe2x80x9d, so named because it is sort of pet like, i.e., an ill-defined spot.
Splotch, like other such programs, works by template matching. The user""s input is compared with a database of templates. Among those templates that match, the highest-ranking template is chosen, and then one of the template""s associated responses is chosen as output. The templates can be single words, combinations of words, or phrases.
A single template can include alternate words or phrases. For example the xe2x80x9cmoneyxe2x80x9d template can also match on the word xe2x80x9ccashxe2x80x9d. There is one other way that alternatives can be specified: a synonym dictionary. Before the user""s input is matched against Splotch""s templates, the words and phrases in the input are converted into canonical form. This is done by comparing them to words and phrases in the synonym dictionary and substituting the preferred form for all variants. Many of these variants will be alternative spellings, including misspellings. For example, xe2x80x9ckoolxe2x80x9d in converted to xe2x80x9ccoolxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cgottaxe2x80x9d to xe2x80x9cgot toxe2x80x9d. This enables a single template to match many alternative, but equivalent, words or phrases, without specifying these alternatives for each template.
Words or phrases in templates can be marked for necessary inclusion or exclusion. If a word or phrase is matched for exclusion, then there is no match on this particular template when this word or phrase is present. For example, Splotch would not match on the xe2x80x9cbusinessxe2x80x9d template, if the phrase xe2x80x9cnone of yourxe2x80x9d was marked as having to be absent by being preceded by xe2x80x9c!xe2x80x9d, e.g., xe2x80x9cbusiness:!none of yourxe2x80x9d. On the other hand, when a word or phrase is marked for necessary inclusion, then a match fails if the specified word or phrase is absent. For example, the xe2x80x9cgender:sex:andwhatxe2x80x9d template will successfully match if the user""s input includes either the word xe2x80x9cgenderxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9csexxe2x80x9d, but only if it also includes the word xe2x80x9cwhatxe2x80x9d.
Furthermore, a template can have a variable. For example, the xe2x80x9cDo you like  less than x greater than xe2x80x9d template has a variable as its fourth term. The variable can be passed on to the response, e.g., xe2x80x9cNo, I don""t like  less than x greater than xe2x80x9d. In this case all the words after xe2x80x9cDo you likexe2x80x9d would be bound to the variable. In the template, xe2x80x9cMen are  less than x greater than  than womenxe2x80x9d, words between xe2x80x9carexe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cthanxe2x80x9d would be bound to the variable.
Each template has an implementer-assigned rating. After Splotch has tried matching the user""s response to all its templates, it chooses the template with the highest rating, and then responds with one of the responses listed with the template. The next time this same template is chosen, it will choose a different response until it has cycled through all listed responses.
Besides variables passed from the template, responses can have another type of xe2x80x9cvariablexe2x80x9d. These indicate place holders which point to alternative words or phrases. For example, the response, xe2x80x9cMy favorite color is @color.wxe2x80x9d, indicates that the color is to be chosen randomly from a file, color.w, containing a list of color words. This allows a response associated with a template to be, in effect, many alternative responses. The phrases in the xe2x80x9c@xe2x80x9d files can themselves contain pointers to other xe2x80x9c@xe2x80x9d files.
Prior art conversation simulators tend to be repetitive unless they contain a very large number of installed template files. The large number of template files can be unwieldy. In addition, even with a large number of alternative templates, a conversation simulator remains static. For example, real people know that the USSR has been dissolved and no longer holds the romantic intrigue it once did in spy movies. A conversation simulator programmed much before 1989 would contain many templates that would produce responses that sounded odd if they came from a person.
Most prior art conversation simulators perform poorly in simulating a personality, if they do so at all. Hutchens"" HeX, for example, was successful because it had a sarcastic, insulting personality. Certainly, prior art conversation simulators lack the appearance of a personality with any depth. A conversation simulator cannot simulate sharing in the way that people do in trusting relationships because they have no history and no experience to share; in addition to lacking the appearance of a personality, they generally lack the appearance of an identity as well.
Conversation simulators are often designed to encourage users to talk. Certainly that was the idea behind ELIZA, the progenitor of this class of program. But the tricks used to get users to talk can quickly become tiresome and predictable. One device for making conversation simulators interesting is to design the conversation simulator so that it provides factual or entertaining information. Since conversation simulators can""t understand the semantics of user""s queries, any attempt to respond to factual questions or declarations will often lead to inappropriate replies. Furthermore, a conversationalist that simply cites facts is soon perceived as a know-it-all and a bore. The most convincing conversation simulators encourage the user to talk and to respond more on an emotional than a factual level, expressing opinions and reacting to (e.g., supporting) the opinions and values of the user. This is not to say that the conversation simulator cannot be content-free while being convincing. Hutchens did a fairly adequate job in providing HeX with the sorts of information usually found in so-called small talk.
Another problem with conversation simulators is that they are easily thrown off the current subject by brief replies from the user. They do not have a sense of context and it is difficult to create a simulation of a sense of context. One solution is to provide some persistence mechanism by bringing up an old topic raised by the user using a template that requests a response from the user on that subject, for example, a question about topic  less than x greater than . But some conversation simulators that are claimed to be context sensitive will stick with a subject even if the user wants to change the subject.
Machine-learning schemes, in which new conversational content is learned from past or sample conversations, are unlikely to be successful. Such approaches generally produce novel responses, but these responses are usually nonsensical. The problem emanates in part from the fact that these techniques attempt to employ a large number of inputs to select from among a large number of outputs with a concomitant need for tremendous training and tolerance of unpredictability in the results.
Even for conversation simulators that are highly convincing, in the long run, they are essentially entertainment; a dissipative activity. Upon learning what they do, many people ask why someone would bother to spend time with a conversation simulator. Many who are initially intrigued end up bored, so even the entertainment value of conversation simulators is limited. Except for using the information gathered in a chat for filling in the blanks of response templates or, when computational linguistic approaches are used perhaps new phrase structures or ideas, all the data delivered by a user to a conversation simulator ends up going down the drain. Thus, all that data simply leads to more chat, but no new knowledge accrues and none is put to use. This adds to the basic view of conversation simulators as being interesting experiments, with very little practical justification.
Another problem with conversation simulators is that using them is not a very spontaneous and natural act. Currently there are no conversation simulators whose actions evidence a great deal of common sense, for example, that will know when to invite a user to engage in a session or when to stop, pause, or change the subject. Even if a conversation simulator had something particularly useful to say, there are no known strategies, proposals, or even the recognition of a need for providing a conversation simulator with such abilities.
An area of research that has generated technology that may be employed in computer programs generally is, so called, xe2x80x9caffective computing.xe2x80x9d This is the use of computers to be responsive to human emotions and personality to create better user interfaces. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,987,415, describes a system in which a network model of a user""s emotional state and personality are inferred and the inference used to select from among various alternative paraphrases that may be generated by an application. The approach is inspired by trouble-shooting systems in which a user attempts to obtain information about a problem, such as a computer glitch, using a machine-based system that asks questions to help the user diagnose and solve the problem himself. The approach can be summarized as follows. First, the system determines a mood of a user based on a network model that links alternative paraphrases of an expected expression. The mood and personality are correlated with a desired mood and personality of the engine that generates the feedback to the user. Mood descriptors are used to infer the mood of the user and the correlation process results in mood descriptors being generated and used to select from among alternative paraphrases of the appropriate substantive response. So, if there are two possible paraphrases of the substantive response by the computer (say, xe2x80x9cGive it up!xe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cSorry, I cannot help you!xe2x80x9d), the application will select the one that best corresponds to the mood and personality the programmer has determined to be desirable for the computer to project given the user""s mood/personality. In summary there is a stochastic model used to determine the mood and personality projected by the user""s response, then a model is used to link the user""s mood and personality to a desired mood and personality to be projected by the computer. Finally, the paraphrase of the response that best matches the desired mood and personality is selected and used to generate the response using the same stochastic model in reverse.
The above user interface separates mood and personality from content. Also, stochastic models are notoriously difficult to train. Conversation simulators in the past have enjoyed great power and success in using rule-based systems.
Another technical approach for communicating the user""s attitude to a computer is a manually-settable user-interface. The user may explicitly indicate his/her attitude, for example, by moving a cursor over a graphical image of a face to change a sad face into a happy face. This approach for creating a user interface is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,977,968. The range of feelings that may be conveyed using such an interface, however is limited and it is difficult and unnatural to convey one""s feelings in this way.
Another application area in which the user""s emotional state may be determined by a computer is medical diagnosis. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,617,855 describes a system that classifies characteristics of the face and voice along with electroencephalogram and other diagnostic data to help make diagnoses. The device is aimed at the fields of psychiatry and neurology.
In still another application area, machines automatically detect a user""s presence or specific features of the user for purposes of machine-authorization and authentication or convenience. To that end, some prior art systems employ biometric sensing, proximity detectors, radio frequency identification tags, or other devices.
Another system that inputs the user""s emotional state is described in JP10214024 where a device generates scenes based on a video input. Information relating to the emotional state of the user is input from the user by a recognition system and used to control the development of a story.
An interaction simulator, is like a conversation simulator, but with a broader range of possible inputs and outputs. It is possible for people and machines to express themselves in ways other than by speaking. For example, a person can use gestures, remote controls, eye movement, sound (clapping), etc. Machines can flash lights, create computer generated animations, animate mechanical devices, etc. An interaction simulator is a more general term that encompasses the entire range of inputs and outputs that could be used to create expressive interaction between a user and a machine. Briefly, the invention is an interaction simulator that provides greater ease of use than prior art conversation simulators, enhances the quality of the interaction between user and the simulator, and increases the utility derived from interaction with the simulator. The invention also provides these advantages to the field of user interfaces for data storage and retrieval. To this end, the present invention is built around an interaction simulator that is responsive to the uniqueness of each individual""s personality by automatically adapting itself to a particular user. In addition, a system and method employed by the interaction simulator provide a mechanism whereby simulator-initiated interaction is responsive to the user""s situation, for example, a conversation simulator embodiment may cease talking, to avoid interrupting the user""s monologue and stop talking if the user falls asleep. Further, the utility of the interaction simulator is extended by passively funneling useful information gleaned from conversations with a user into systems that can take advantage of the information. For example, an electronic program guide preference database can be augmented by extracting likes and dislikes from dialogues and applying them to the database. Such data may be elicited from the user responsively to the needs of the database. Still further, the interaction simulator model is extended to a range of input and output modalities. For example, a television with audio output and input capability may generate artificial speech with synchronized light or color in the cabinet of the television or a synchronized animation on the screen to attend the chat to provide the impression of a television that talks. The user""s expression can be input to the interaction simulator by means of gestures, sound, body position, manual controls, etc. Still further the substantive content of the interaction simulator""s output is enhanced by providing an ability to obtain information from regularly-updated data sources or live data feeds. The extraction of such information may be guided by data gleaned by the simulator from conversations and/or other interaction.

User interface/entertainment device that simulates personal interaction and responds to user""s mental state and/or personality