This invention relates to cyanoacrylate-containing compositions that include, in addition to the cyanoacrylate component, a rubber toughening component, which is substantially clear and colorless and which is substantially free of release agents and anti-oxidants known to impair the fixture speeds and shelf life stability of cyanoacrylate compositions to which they are added. As a result, the inventive rubber cyanoacrylate adhesive compositions demonstrate improved properties, such as fixture speed, strength and shelf life under accelerated aging conditions.

Field of the Invention
This invention relates to cyanoacrylate compositions that include, in addition to the cyanoacrylate component, a rubber toughening component, which is substantially clear and colorless and which is substantially free of release agents and anti-oxidants known to impair the fixture speeds and shelf life stability of cyanoacrylate compositions to which they are added. As a result, the inventive rubber toughened cyanoacrylate compositions demonstrate improved properties, such as fixture speed, strength and shelf life under accelerated aging conditions.
Brief Description of Related Technology
Cyanoacrylate adhesive compositions are well known, and widely used as quick setting, instant adhesives with a wide variety of uses. See H. V. Coover, D. W. Dreifus and J. T. O'Connor, "Cyanoacrylate Adhesives" in Handbook of Adhesives, 27, 463-77, I. Skeist, ed., Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 3rd ed. (1990). See also G. H. Millet, "Cyanoacrylate Adhesives" in Structural Adhesives: Chemistry and Technology, S. R. Hartshorn, ed., Plenun Press, New York, p. 249-307 (1986).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,440,910 (O'Connor) pioneered rubber toughened cyanoacrylate compositions through the use of certain organic polymers as toughening additives that are elastomeric, i.e., rubbery, in nature. The '910 patent is thus directed to and claims a curable adhesive comprising a substantially solvent-free mixture of: (a) a cyanoacrylate ester, and (b) about 0.5% to about 20% by weight of an elastomeric polymer. The elastomeric polymer is selected from elastomeric copolymers of a lower alkene monomer and (i) acrylic acid esters, (ii) methacrylic acid esters or (iii) vinyl acetate. More specifically, the '910 patent notes that as toughening additives for cyanoacrylates, acrylic rubbers; polyester urethanes; ethylene-vinyl acetates; fluorinated rubbers; isoprene-acrylonitrile polymers; chlorosulfinated polyethylenes; and homopolymers of polyvinyl acetate were found to be particularly useful.
The elastomeric polymers are described in the '910 patent as either homopolymers of alkyl esters of acrylic acid; copolymers of another polymerizable monomer, such as lower alkenes, with an alkyl or alkoxy ester of acrylic acid; and copolymers of alkyl or alkoxy esters of acrylic acid. Other unsaturated monomers which may be copolymerized with the alkyl and alkoxy esters of acrylic include dienes, reactive halogen-containing unsaturated compounds and other acrylic monomers such as acrylamides.
One group of elastomeric polymers are copolymers of methyl acrylate and ethylene, manufactured by DuPont, under the name of VAMAC, such as VAMAC N123 and VAMAC B-124. VAMAC N123 and VAMAC B-124 are reported by DuPont to be a master batch of ethylene/acrylic elastomer.
Henkel Corporation (as the successor to Loctite Corporation) has sold for a number of years since the filing of the '910 patent rubber toughened cyanoacrylate adhesive products under the tradename BLACK MAX, which employ as the rubber toughening component the DuPont materials called VAMAC B-124 and N123. In addition, Henkel has sold in the past clear and substantially colorless rubber toughened cyanoacrylate adhesive products, namely, LOCTITE 4203, 4204 and 4205, which employ as the rubber toughening component the DuPont material, VAMAC G. While VAMAC G contains no fillers to provide color or stabilizers, it does contain processing aids. These processing aids—or release systems—are reported to be ARMEEN 18D and stearic acid in combination with GAFAC RL-210 (or with VANFRE UN, ZELEC UN or SERVOXYL VPAZ-100). In addition, it is believed that polyethylene glycol ether wax is also used as a processing aid. Waxes such as this interfere with the physical properties of cyanoacrylate compositions.
VAMAC VCS rubber appears to be the base rubber, from which the remaining members of the VAMAC product line are compounded. VAMAC VCS is a reaction product of the combination of ethylene, methyl acrylate and monomers having carboxylic acid cure sites, which once formed is then substantially free of processing aids such as the release agents octadecyl amine, complex organic phosphate esters and/or stearic acid, and anti-oxidants, such as substituted diphenyl amine.
Recently, DuPont has provided to the market under the trade designation VAMAC VMX 1012 and VCD 6200, which are rubbers made from ethylene and methyl acrylate. It is believed that the VAMAC VMX 1012 rubber possesses little to no carboxylic acid in the polymer backbone. Like the VAMAC VCS rubber, the VAMAC VMX 1012 and VCD 6200 rubbers are substantially free of processing aids such as the release agents octadecyl amine, complex organic phosphate esters and/or stearic acid, and anti-oxidants, such as substituted diphenyl amine, noted above.
Thus, notwithstanding the state-of-the-technology and the commercial success experienced by Henkel Corporation with its line of rubber toughened cyanoacrylate adhesive products (such as LOCTITE BLACK MAX 380 and 480 and LOCTITE 4203, 4204 and 4205), it would be desirable to provide a substantially clear and colorless rubber toughened cyanoacrylate composition, which demonstrates improved fixturing speed and shelf life stability compared to known rubber toughened cyanoacrylates.


Data is generated in a client based on events at a client, wherein each event is associated with a first dimension, a second dimension and a quantity. A random value is generated for each interval of the first dimension and each instance of the second dimension. The quantity of each event is modified using the random value to determine a modified quantity. A running total for each interval of the first dimension and each instance of the second dimension is determined using the modified quantities and transmitted to an untrusted third party. An exact result of processing the modified quantities and the running totals by the untrusted third party can then be received and decoded by the client.

Privacy Preserving Storage
When data are outsourced by a client to a server for storage, it is often desirable to "hide" the individual data entries from the server in a secure manner. In other words, the server is an untrusted third party, and the data is not revealed to the server.
The reason for this is to preserve privacy of client information, and to prevent the server to gain access to sensitive information about processes used to acquire and generate the data. For these reasons, the data are often modified in a secure manner before outsourcing to the server.
Another reason for "hiding" the individual data entries is to allow the server, or any untrusted party accessing the server to compute aggregate measures (such as mean, variance, or other moments) from the data without revealing individual data. In this way, remote "global" data analysis can be enabled while preserving privacy of sensitive data.
Random Number Generation
One information theoretically secure way to hide the data adds random values drawn from a probability distribution to the data. For number data, for example, privacy can be obtained by masking the data using numbers sampled from a uniform distribution. The numbers can be sampled using a Cryptographically Secure Pseudorandom Number Generator (CS-PRNG). The CS-PRNG uses a seed to generate a pseudorandom sequence of bits, which, in turn, can be used to generate numbers from a desired probability distribution. Typically, the numbers are integers.
CS-PRNG is preferred over PRNG because of two beneficial properties.    (1) Given any bit output by the CS-PRNG, it is impossible to predict a next bit in polynomial time with probability greater than 0.5.    (2) If the CS-PRNG is compromised at any time, it is impossible to reconstruct the sequence bits generated before that time.
Aggregate Statistics
Even though the data are hidden from the server, it is often beneficial to enable the server to determine aggregate statistics that provide summary information about portions of the data. For example, it may be desired to determine a number of pages printed on a given printer on a given day. As another example, it may be desired to determine a total number of "trades" that are performed by a trader during a given time interval.
Common aggregate statistics include sum, weighted sum, average, weighted average, higher moments, weighted higher moments, etc. Techniques such as randomized response hide individual data but allow determination of estimates of aggregate statistics on the data. Randomized response is one method that allows respondents to respond to sensitive issues while maintaining confidentiality of the response.
The straightforward method for implementing randomized response is to additively mask individual data entries using random numbers before transmitting the data entries to the server. By carefully tuning the distribution of the masking values, this allows the storage server to determine an estimate of the aggregate statistic. However, enabling the server to compute the exact aggregate statistic while hiding individual data entries is very difficult, especially when the client side can only perform limited or no buffering of the data when the data are produced.
Audits
From time to time, the client may want to conduct audits on portions of the data stored at the server. An audit refers to recovering a portion of the stored data, and verifying the integrity of the data. This information is typically contained in an audit report. To generate the audit report, the client requests some of the modified data from the server. In order to be able to interpret the audit report, the modified data in the report should be perfectly reversible by the client.

Method for outsourcing data for secure processing by untrusted third parties

Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.


Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. As described herein, a service type may be configured, activated, and utilized for subsequent communications according to the service type. For example, a user equipment (UE) may monitor a downlink control channel associated with the service type based on configuring the service type and activating the service type, receive downlink messages associated with the service type, or transmit uplink messages associated with the service type. In some cases, the service type may be activated by transmitting a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) or a downlink control information (DCI) message. When traffic associated with the service type is no longer present, the service type may be deactivated based on a deactivation indication and/or a deactivation timer. In some cases, the service type may include an ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC) service or a low latency service.

The following relates generally to wireless communications, and more specifically to fast activation and deactivation for low latency communications.
Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems which may be referred to as New Radio (NR) systems. These systems may employ technologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), or discrete Fourier transform-spread-OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM). A wireless multiple-access communications system may include a number of base stations or network access nodes, each simultaneously supporting communication for multiple communication devices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UE).
In some wireless communications systems, a set of stringent requirements for reliability and latency may be enforced for a specific service type. For example, a UE and base station may utilize ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC) that includes reliability and latency requirements to ensure messages are transmitted and received quickly and correctly. However, in order to meet the latency requirements, the UE may monitor a downlink control channel frequently for scheduling subsequent communications on time. Accordingly, energy consumption at the UE may increase as a result of frequently monitoring the downlink control channel, which may affect performance of the UE in a power limited scenario. Efficient techniques are desired for employing the specific service type.

Fast activation and deactivation for low latency communications


A compact, powerful, single slab laser oscillator-amplifier system immersed in a high pressure gas which acts as a Raman shifting medium to shift the oscillator output wavelengths from the 1060-3000 nm range to the 1100-14000 nm range. The Raman shifting gas is conained within the casing (29) which also encloses a laser oscillator defined along the long axis of the slab laser medium (1) between dielectric mirror (2) and partially reflecting mirror (3). An electro-optic switch (7) is provided and slab (1) is pumped via a pump light source (22) while being cooled by Peltier stack (26). The slab also includes dielectric mirror (12) and anti-reflection coating (13) which act in conjunction with the slab laser medium (1) and the mirrored substrate (10) to form the amplifier portion of the system. Light passed from the oscillator through prism (4) is reflected by bevelled portion (9) of mirror (10) and directed to slab (1) where it is amplified and reflected by mirror (12). During successive reflections between slab (1) and mirror (10) a Raman shifted beam is generated and is emitted via collimator (19).

The origin of this invention may be traced back to a 1963 proposal (J. L. Hughes, "Nature", May 1963) that experiments involving the focussing of intense laser beams could have a role to play in particle-antiparticle physics. To try and achieve such a goal it was necessary to increase laser peak powers substantially over those available in 1963 and three types of segmented solid state laser media were identified, namely:
(a) laser media segmented in a direction parallel to the direction of propagation of the laser beam;
(b) laser media segmented in a direction perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the laser beam;
(c) a mixture of types (a) and (b).
Lasers of type (a) are known as Phased Array lasers and were studied and abandoned in 1963 by the inventor at the Royal Radar Establishment, Malvern, UK only to be revived in 1979 (Hughes and Ghatah, "Applied Optics", July 1979) and detailed in U.S. patents currently classified.
Lasers of type (b) are known as slab lasers and were first proposed by the inventor in "Applied Optics" in August 1967 in the "Exponential Amplifier" configuration. However, subsequent patents (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,039,962 and 4,132,955) describe the more practical format of the "Folded Exponential Amplifier" of which further development has led to the external cavity slab lasers of co-pending patents and the current application, the common laser development program being "Laser Radar" or more specifically "Variable Beamwidth Laser Radar" originally proposed by the inventor in 1963 and currently in classified patent formats in the United States Patent Office. From our early 1963-1964 field trials of Laser Radar, on Salisbury Plains, UK (Royal Radar Establishment Technical Memo, "Ruby Laser Field Trials", Hughes and Preece, July 1966) it was clear that visible and near infra-red laser wavelengths would not be suitable for target designation and ranging under adverse weather conditions and it would be essential to operate at longer wavelengths to overcome the scattering and absorption problems. The present invention utilizes a single slab of laser medium which duplicates as both a pulse generating medium and a pulse amplifying medium in an external cavity slab configuration as described in co-pending patent applications. By immersing the single slab oscillator-amplifier systems in a Raman shifting gas under pressure the invention's configuration automatically realises a folded path Raman shifter where a normal 100 cms path is reduced effectively to one of 10 cms. Using an Erbium doped yttrium aluminium garnet crystalline slab the fundamental wavelength emitted is 2,936 nanometers which can then be shifted via the Raman effect to the 10,000 nanometer region.
The invention has a wide range of applications other than target designation and ranging. This wider application range arises because if the invention incorporating a slab of neodymium doped yttrium aluminium garnet is used to generate a pulse at 1,064 nanometers, this can be shifted into the 1,100 to 1,500 nanometer wavelength range then frequency doubled or tripled into the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. For example, if we Raman shift the Nd:YAG output of 1,064 nanometers to 1,280 nanometers then frequency double to 630 nanometers we have a source of laser light suitable for cancer radiation therapy. If we shift 1,064 nanometers to 1,154 nanometers and double to 577 nanometers, we have a very useful wavelength for the removal of birthmarks. On the other hand if we shift the 1,064 nanometers of Nd:YAG to 1,600 nanometers double to 800 nanometers and double again to 400 nanometers we have an effective operating wavelength in the deep blue. Alternatively, we could shift to 1,200 nanometers and triple the frequency to 400 nanometers. The number of combinations is very large.


A patch applicator arrangement for securing a patch over a hole in a vehicle part. The arrangement provides a robotic arm having at least one movable joint that allows the robotic arm to move about several axes. At the end of the robotic arm is a spindle that has several spring loaded patch applicators connected. The arrangement also includes a patch dispensing apparatus that the arrangements uses along with the robotic arm to place patches over holes in a vehicle part. The arrangement also provides a verification method to make sure the holes have been properly covered.

The present invention is useful in Automotive, Aerospace, Marine, Recreational (etc.) vehicle manufacturing where multiple holes need to be permanently sealed or covered in a rapid assembly line environment.
Currently the tape is used and is applied manually, which is not fast or efficient.
The manual application of closure tape is often an ergonomically challenging task.
Therefor there remains a need to provide an automated solution for covering holes with an appliqué or patch, which is accurate fast and repeatable. It is also desirable to provide a method of verifying the placement of the patches on the vehicle part to ensure that the holes have been sufficiently covered before moving onto the next part.

Vehicle part hole patch applicator arrangement


Disclosed are various embodiments for a trust establishment application. Machine instances executed in the same computing environment generate side channel patterns embodying data identifying themselves as trusted machine instances. The side channel patterns are detected to determine which machine instances are trusted. An operational mode of a machine instance is configured as a function of whether a quorum of trusted machine instances are executed in the computing environment.

A computing environment may execute multiple machine instances on behalf of many users or customers. The machine instances may be configured to execute confidential or sensitive operations, or configured to perform these operations on confidential, sensitive, or valuable data. The machine instances are often insulated from communicating amongst themselves. This creates difficulties in identifying the machine instances executed in the computing environment and establishing trust to execute these operations.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A method, a system, and a device for implementing device addition in a Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) Device to Device (D2D) network are provided, which belong to the field of communication. The method includes: receiving, by a first D2D client device, a first add request message forwarded by a D2D master device, in which the first add request message carries an identifier of a new device to be added to the D2D network; receiving a first Personal Identification Number (PIN) code of the new device; and forwarding the received first PIN code to the D2D master device, in which the first PIN code of the new device is used for implementing that the D2D master device performs Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) security configuration of the new device according to the first PIN code. Therefore, in the Wi-Fi D2D network, when a new device is to be added, a PIN code of the new device inputted by a user is received by the D2D client device, and the PIN code is forwarded to the D2D master device, so that the addition of the new device through the recommendation of the D2D client device is implemented, and the work continuity of the user using the D2D master device is ensured.

With the development of communication technologies, the Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) Alliance puts forward a Device to Device (D2D) networking mode based on Wi-Fi, in which the Wi-Fi D2D network may have networking modes of 1:1 and 1:n. Referring to FIG. 1, a schematic view of a networking mode of 1:1 in a Wi-Fi D2D network is provided; and referring to FIG. 2, a schematic view of a networking mode of 1:n in the Wi-Fi D2D network is provided. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in the networking mode, the devices are divided into a master (D2D master device) and a client (D2D client device) according to their status. The function of the master device is similar to the function of an Access Point (AP) in an infrastructure network, and the master device has a function of having a built-in register for deciding whether to approve a new device's addition to the D2D network to become a client device; and the client device connected to the master device is similar to a subscriber station (STA) in the infrastructure network. When the client devices intend to communicate with each other, the communication needs to be relayed through the master device.
In the implementation of the present invention, the inventors find that in a Wi-Fi D2D network already having several devices added to the network to become client devices, if a user using a master device is making a speech or doing other important work, when a new device requests addition, the user needs to input a Personal Identification Number (PIN) code of the new device into the master device, and the authentication and approval of the master device is required before the new device can be added. At this time, the user using the master device has to interrupt the ongoing work to deal with the operation of inputting the PIN code of the new device to be added. As a result, the normal work of the user is interrupted. Especially when new devices request addition continuously, the normal work of the user is interrupted frequently, and the user experience is degraded.

Method, system, and device for implementing device addition in Wi-Fi device to device network


An image capture device and an audio hinting method of focusing thereof are provided to perform the following steps. A first digital image is acquired by an image capture device. A focusing value of the first digital image is calculated by a focusing detection module. A second digital image is acquired by an image capture device. A focusing value of the second digital image is calculated by a focusing detection module. The focusing values of the first and second digital images are compared with each other by the focusing detection module. When the focusing values of the first and second digital images are different, a hint sound played by an audio output section is adjusted.

With the development of micro-electromechanical technology, the digital photographing becomes more popular. The digital photographing can be applicable to record many matters, e.g. scenery and cultural activities, or to the secure monitoring.
Generally, the auto focusing (AF) is used the most in the digital photographing, because users would pay attention rather to desired matters, e.g. the composition of photo, than to the adjustment of focus. The AF has the contrast-detection AF and the phase-detection AF. The contrast-detection AF provides high focusing accuracy but has slow focusing speed. The phase-detection AF provides high focusing speed but has low focusing accuracy.
Even though the AF has many advantages, the manual focusing is more suitable than the AF in some photographic environments. For the manual focusing, a sharp frame that is watched by human eyes is a fact to determine whether a captured image is in focus or not, thereby leading to do the digital photographing inconveniently.

Image capture device and audio hinting method thereof in focusing


A right angle transition adapter allows vertical connector components to be used in a right angle connector. The right angle transition adapter comprises a vertical connector housing, a wafer, overmolded lead frames, and a right angle transition housing. The overmolded lead frames can be mounted to a board while the vertical connector housing can connect with mating connectors as if it were a vertical connector.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention is directed to a right angle transition adapter with interchangeable gender components that is capable of converting a typical vertical electrical connector to a right angle electrical connector.
2. Description of Related Art
Other electrical connectors disclose a right angle feature. However, such connectors are either male or female connectors, and one gender connectors cannot be converted to the opposite gender. Thus, there is a need in the art for a right angle transition adapter with interchangeable gender components.

Right angle transition adapter with interchangeable gender components and method of use


An adhesive mass consisting of (a) at least one elastomer component, of a polybutadiene-polyvinyl aromatic block copolymer type, having a proportion with respect to the total adhesive mass of 42 to 55 wt. % and having a diblock proportion with respect to the total block copolymer content of 32 to 55 wt. %, (b) at least one adhesive resin, which is a hydrocarbon resin having a DACP value of at least +50° C. and at most +85° c, (c) optionally at least one soft resin having a proportion of 0 to 15 wt. % with respect to the total adhesive mass, and (d) optionally further additives, which adhesive mass is particularly suitable for adhering on rough substrates such as plaster or woodchip wallpaper.

Adhesives with high bonding and holding performance, which are detachable without residue from a bonding substrate by means of extensive stretching, are known. Adhesives for this purpose may be formulated advantageously on the basis of vinylaromatic block copolymers and tackifier resins.
The diverse applications of adhesive strips featuring such adhesives include bonds to walls, and more specifically not only to smooth, planar substrates, but in particular also to any rougher surfaces such as plaster, wood, woodchip wallpaper, especially coated woodchip wallpaper, other textured wallpapers, panels, or wall boards. Here as well there is a desire to affix articles, even those of high weight, without damaging the substrate (the wall). In the case of adhesive bonding, to coated woodchip wallpaper, for example, there are three particular challenges which arise, however, by comparison with numerous other substrates: (a) woodchip wallpaper is not a smooth bonding substrate; (b) the surface of the woodchip wallpaper typically carries a paint, which because of binders and/or additives may have a low surface energy; (c) woodchip wallpaper in particular constitutes a relatively easily splittable bonding substrate, which is not to be damaged during redetachment. The surface properties may vary greatly according to the nature of the paint. A further aspect is the moisture content of the coated woodchip wallpaper, which is dependent on the time of day, the season, and the geographical region, and which accordingly may also be subject to temporary fluctuations. For others in the list of example substrates given above, all or some of these challenges are applicable similarly. For these purposes, suitable adhesives are required. Also required are adhesive strips featuring adhesives with high bonding and holding performance which can be detached without residue and as far as possible without destruction from coated plaster or other rough surfaces, by extensive stretching.
Pressure-sensitive adhesive strips which have a high elastic or plastic extensibility and which are redetachable without residue or destruction by extensive stretching in the bond plane are known from, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,024,312 A, DE 33 31 016 C2, WO 92/01132 A1, WO 92/11333 A1, DE 42 22 849 A1, WO 95/06691 A1, DE 195 31 696 A1, DE 197 08 366 A1, DE 196 49 727 A1, DE 196 49 728 A1, DE 196 49 729 A1, DE 197 08 364 A1, DE 197 20 145 A1, DE 198 20 854 A1, and DE 100 03 318 A1, and below are also referred to as strippable pressure-sensitive adhesive strips or simply as (adhesive) strips. For these adhesive products it is possible with particular advantage to use formulations comprising styrene block copolymer.
The application of bonding adhesive strips to woodchip wallpaper has likewise been described before in principle, and is a typical application in the household and in offices.
DE 10 2004 030 252 A1 describes a hook system to be affixed to a rough substrate, this system allowing the adhesive strip to be detached nondestructively from the sensitive surface. Specific embodiments of the adhesive of the adhesive strip redetachable by extensive stretching are not given.
EP 845 513, EP 845 514, and EP 878 526 describe requirements associated with bonding to rough substrates, and observe that high bond strengths can in general be achieved on smooth and firm substrates using the self-adhesive tapes identified before. On rough substrates, there are numerous applications for which the bond strength is inadequate, especially for products of low thickness, but also for self-adhesive tapes of relatively high layer thickness. The cause of the inadequate bond strength is assumed to be an insufficient bond area, owing to inadequate conformability of the adhesive tapes to rough and irregular surfaces. As a solution, EP 845 513 A2 proposes the use of specific foam carriers in the adhesive products. Pressure-sensitive adhesives employed are preferably those based on block copolymers containing polymer blocks formed from vinylaromatics, preferably styrene, and blocks formed by polymerization of 1,3-dienes, preferably butadiene and isoprene. Block copolymers of these kinds can be used with a variety of architectures, and hence diblock copolymers may also be present. Typical concentrations in which the styrene block copolymers are used are located in the range between 15 wt % and 75 wt %, preferably in the range between 30 wt % and 60 wt %, more preferably in the range between 35 wt % and 55 wt %. Nothing is said about the fraction of diblock copolymers in relation to the total block copolymer content. One exemplary adhesive is composed of a mixture of a polystyrene-polybutadiene block copolymer (Vector 8505), a polystyrene-polyisoprene block copolymer (Vector 4211), and an ester of a partially hydrogenated rosin as tackifier resin. These block copolymers contain substantially no diblock copolymers.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,231,962 B1 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,403,206 B1 likewise describe double-sided adhesive strips featuring a foam carrier. Bonding substrates indicated for bonding applications are sensitive, easily splittable substrates such as painted wall panels, but not particularly rough substrates such as coated woodchip wallpaper. The adhesive used may comprise formulations based on styrene block copolymer. In specific example formulations, mineral oil is utilized to be as plasticizer. This is a disadvantage in the context of application to woodchip wallpaper, since the substrate may become saturated with grease, and this saturation may remain visible after removal of the adhesive strip.
EP 1 988 144 A1 proposes adhesives which in relation to the total resin amount contain at least 40% of a plasticizing resin. Stated applications include the bonding of lightweight (papers) to moderately heavy objects to woodchip wallpaper. The objective of such formulations is not that of high holding power, but instead the possibility of parting the bond, even from woodchip wallpaper, by extensive stretching or peeling. The diblock content of the elastomers is not specifically claimed. The examples describe formulations which have a diblock content either of >45% (example 1) or of <30% (examples 2-4).
U.S. Pat. No. 7,276,272 B2 describes double-sided adhesive strips which are redetachable even from sensitive substrates such as plaster, paint, or wallpaper. No bonding substrates featuring particularly pronounced roughness are indicated. For adhesives, moreover, reference is made merely to earlier general texts relating to strippable adhesive products (U.S. Pat. No. 4,024,312, U.S. Pat. No. 5,516,581, U.S. Pat. No. 6,231,962, and DE 33 31 016) WO 2002/038692 A2 describes adhesive products which are redetachable without residue or destruction by extensive stretching in the bond plane and which feature an adhesive based on styrene block copolymers with specific aging inhibitors that exhibit reduced propensity for discoloration on the bonding substrate. For these products, bonding to coated woodchip wallpaper, for example, is described. The text does not disclose any polystyrene-polybutadiene block copolymer-containing adhesives with a specific ratio of triblock copolymer to diblock copolymer.
DE 10 2007 063 083 A1 describes styrene block copolymer-based adhesives for nonpolar substrates. For this purpose, the adhesives described therein are admixed with a high fraction of a plasticizing resin. The amount claimed is at least 30%, based on the total resin amount. Moreover, the adhesive comprises at least two block copolymers, of which the first is a diblock copolymer and the second may be a multiblock copolymer, in the simplest case a triblock copolymer. The diblock fraction, relative to the total block copolymer content, is at least 50%. Adhesive products based on such adhesives and redetachable without residue or destruction by extensive stretching in the bond plane are not specified in the text, and nor is the use on rough substrates.
WO 2000/024840 A1 describes styrene block copolymer-based adhesives for nonpolar substrates. The adhesive comprises at least two block copolymers, of which the first is a diblock copolymer and the second may be a multiblock copolymer, in the simplest case a triblock copolymer. The diblock fraction, relative to the total block copolymer content, is at least 40% and at most 95%. Bonding to rough substrates, and adhesive products which are redetachable without residue or destruction by extensive stretching in the bond plane, are not specified. Formulations that are explicitly specified always contain mineral oil, leading to the risk of grease saturation on woodchip wallpaper.
DE 10 2013 2106 624 A1 describes adhesive products which are redetachable without residue or destruction by extensive stretching in the bond plane and which feature an adhesive based on styrene block copolymers, particular features being transparency and ozone stability. It is possible to utilize mixtures of triblock copolymers and diblock copolymers. The diblock copolymer fraction in the total block copolymer content is at most 50%. Tip-shear loading on woodchip wallpaper is not mentioned. Explicit examples have a diblock content of <30%.
DE 10 2008 023 741 teaches pressure-sensitive adhesives containing styrene block copolymer, with a total block copolymer content of at least 50%, for bonding printing plates.
Applications on woodchip wallpaper, and redetachability performed by extensive stretching, are not mentioned. Examples with polystyrene-butadiene block copolymers contain 60% of elastomer, based on the adhesive.
There continues to be a demand for adhesives which, for self-adhesive strips redetachable by extensive stretching, are especially suitable for rough substrates, particularly on coated woodchip wallpaper.
The desire is therefore for pressure-sensitive adhesives for self-adhesive strips redetachable by extensive stretching, more particularly for bonding to splittable and/or rough and/or coated substrates, with high bonding and holding performance.

Adhesive mass, in particular for strippable adhesive strips and use for adhering on coated woodchip wallpaper


The present disclosure discloses a distributed energy system, an energy intelligent terminal, and a control method thereof. The energy intelligent terminal determined as the master node controls each energy intelligent terminal in the distributed energy system to set calculation for operation mode in an enabled state when target power changes or a new duty cycle is started at the end of current duty cycle, so as to make each energy intelligent terminal determine an operation mode for the next duty cycle form a corresponding set of alternative operation modes. The operation mode of the distributed energy system can be regulated in real time. The regulating method is simple and improves the efficient and stability of the distributed energy system. Moreover, the distributed energy system according to the embodiments of the present disclosure has ad hoc network capability with the characteristics of fast deployment and plug and play terminals.

With the ever-growing demand for energy and increasing pressure for environmental protection, distributed energy system, as an open energy system, is a powerful complement to traditional centralized energy supply systems, which not only includes multiple energy inputs but also can satisfy a variety of energy needs of users simultaneously. However, the large number of distributed energy system being connected to the power grid has brought about unignored impacts. Therefore, how to make the distributed energy system realize the absorption of energy in situ and improve the efficiency and stability of distributed energy system is a problem to be solved imperatively.

Distributed energy system, energy intelligent terminal and control method thereof


An apparatus of an antenna is provided. The apparatus includes a first conductor plate disposed on an upper side of a single plate and comprising an aperture, a plurality of vias inserted to vertically penetrate through the single plate, a second conductor plate disposed on a lower side of the single plate, and a feed line for applying a signal to radiate to a dielectric resonator embedded as a cavity which is formed by the first conductor plate, the second conductor plate, and the vias. The aperture is in a size which produces multiple-resonance at an operating frequency.

As a transmitting/receiving system of the related art, products configured by assembling separate parts have been mainly used. However, recent studies have been conducted on system on package (SOP) products which configure the transmitting/receiving system of a millimeter wave band in a single package, and some products are commercialized. A technology for providing the single package product has been developed together with a multi-layer substrate process technology which stacks a dielectric substrate, such as low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) and liquid crystal polymer (LCP).
In an environment, such as the LTCC process and the LCP process, a patch antenna having a planar characteristic is mainly used. The patch antenna is disadvantageous in that its bandwidth generally narrows below 5%. To address the narrow bandwidth, the bandwidth is expanded by generating multiple-resonances by adding a parasitic patch on the same plane as the patch antenna serving as a main radiator, or by inducing multiple-resonances by stacking two or more patch antennas.
The bandwidth can increase using a plurality of patches. However, using such a multiple-resonance technology, a radiation pattern of the antenna may be different for each resonant frequency and the antenna characteristic due to process errors may change more considerably than the single resonance antenna. Hence, in order to increase efficiency and to secure a wider bandwidth of the antenna, a dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) may be used. It is known that the DRA has excellent characteristics in terms of the bandwidth and the efficiency, compared with the patch antenna of the related art having the multiple-resonances.
Although the DRA is frequently used in order to overcome drawbacks of the patch antenna, it requires a separate dielectric resonator outside of a substrate. As a result, it is more difficult to manufacture the DRA than the patch antenna which is fabricated through the single process. In addition, the DRA can generate the multiple-resonance in response to the size increase of the dielectric resonator (e.g., a length in a direction not affecting the resonant frequency) and thus secure a wider bandwidth, but is disadvantageous in that its radiation pattern is skewed within the bandwidth.
Therefore, a need exists for an antenna apparatus having multiple-resonances.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.

Apparatus for multiple resonance antenna

Korea University Research and Business Foundation


A digital radio receiver generates coherent signals for synchronous detection without use of a phase-locked loop by employing an adaptive notch filter to cancel the desired signal. The cancelling signal is employed as the coherent signal for synchronous detection. The invention obtains faster locking to the desired signal, a wider capture range, and more efficient software coding in a digital signal processing receiver.

The present invention relates in general to digital radio receivers employing coherent (i.e., synchronous) detection, and more specifically to the generation of a coherent signal using adaptive notch filter techniques, without use of a phase-locked loop.
Coherent detection (i.e., synchronous detection) is a well-known technique employed in a variety of radio receivers, especially receivers for amplitude modulated signals. This type of demodulation requires that the receiver have a signal available with the same phase and frequency as the original modulating signal used prior to signal transmission. Coherent detection is used to demodulate mono and stereo commercial AM broadcasts and the stereo difference channel in commercial FM stereo broadcasts.
The coherent signal used in coherent detection is typically generated using a phase-locked loop (PLL). FM stereo broadcasts include the transmission of a pilot signal which is isolated by the receiver and input to the phase-locked loop. In AM receivers, the PLL locks to the carrier signal which is transmitted as the center frequency of the AM broadcast.
Although commercial AM and FM broadcasts are comprised of a modulated analog signal, it is becoming increasingly popular to convert the received analog signal into a digital signal and to process the radio broadcast signal digitally. Such digital signal processing (DSP) receivers realize various advantages, such as circuit integration, reduced size, exact operation, minimal adjustments, and the ability to combine signal processing for various audio functions (e.g., tone control, concert hall emulation, and equalization).
It is well-known that digital systems must employ a sample rate equal to at least twice the frequency of the analog signal to be represented. Thus, a digital sampling of FM broadcast signals at their transmitted radio frequencies of over 100 MHz would require sample rates in excess of 200 MHz, which is undesirable. Instead, it is desirable to employ an analog tuner to generate a signal at a lower frequency (e.g., a demodulated signal or an intermediate frequency signal) which can be represented using a lower sample rate. For example, a standard analog tuner is employed to generate an FM intermediate frequency (IF) of 10.7 MHz which is FM detected to form an analog FM baseband signal. The baseband signal has a frequency range of from 50 Hz to 53 kHz and is digitized in an analog-to-digital converter (ADC). A pilot signal is isolated from the FM baseband signal using a digital bandpass filter. The pilot signal is then input into a digital phase-locked loop for generating a coherent digital signal.
Digital phase-locked loops suffer several disadvantages. As in any phase-locked loop, the requirement for a loop filter tends to slow down the locking process of the phase-locked loop and also limits the maximum capture range. Furthermore, a digital phase-locked loop employs excessive amounts of processing time and software code.

Coherent signal generation in digital radio receiver


This lightweight folding bicycle adopts the four-bar-linkage-folding-frame. Two diagonal-bar-hinges are added. Each diagonal-bar-hinge is made up of two parts. One end of the diagonal-bar-hinge hinge joints in the middle of a seat tube at the same point as a standing tube hinged, the other end of the diagonal-bar-hinge joints in the middle of a crossbar at the same point as a down tube hinged. There is a four-bar-linkage-speed-folding-fastener on a handlebar stem and a folding device on the pedal. This type of folding bike is of simple structure, reasonable design and easy to fold. The four-bar-linkage-speed-folding-fastener grips a large area, which can press half the circle as maximum, so as to enlarge the suffering area and balance the received force. It is easy and quick to fold the bike and safe to drive.

This invention relates to a lightweight folding bicycle, particularly to the improvment on the structure of normal folding bicycle.
A shockproof foldable bicycle is disclosed in China Patent No.902074636. Its folding structure is with two seat tubes in front and back, their buttom ends hinge joint with the tail end of a crossbar respectively and the bottom end of the back crossbar joints a back fork simultaneously. The other end of the back fork joints a flat fork and the other end of the flat fork joints a standing tube and a down tube at the same point. The other end of the standing tube joints in the middle of the front seat tube and the other end of the down tube joints in the middle of the crossbar. The siting of the bike while unfolded is realized by a bidirectional-interlocking-device mounted in the tail end of the crossbar. A wedge clip on the knob of the bidirectional-interlocking-device embed on the sunken of the front seat tube bottom end to prevent the front seat tube rotating around an axle, so as to site the frame. Because the sunken in the bottom end of the front seat is near the axle while a saddle fixed on the top of the front seat tube is far from the axle and the seat tube leans back, the saddle endures weakly. Besides, the surface of the wedge clip is easy to be worn and then produce gap, it will bring some hidden danger to rider. A pedal has no folding device. A folding device of a handlebar stem is fixed by screws. This type of folding bicycle has a complicated structure and cannot be handled easily. It is also high cost, heavy weight, less loaded and the saftey of use cannot be insured.

Room 402, No. 46, Ting Lin Xin Jian New Village

Golden Mountain District, Shanghai City 201505


Controlled release oral dosage formulations containing calcium channel blockers, and methods of use thereof, are provided for the once-a-day treatment of cardiovascular disorders, such as hypertension, angina, and cardiac arrhythmia. The active agent is preferably a dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker, such as nisoldipine. The formulation provides an increase in the bioavailability of the calcium channel blocker as compared to the bioavailability of the calcium channel blocker in other drug delivery formulations known in the art. In one embodiment, the formulation provides an increase in the bioavailability of the calcium channel blocker, nisoldipine, as compared to the same dose of nisoldipine in the coat-core version of the drug (SULAR®). The formulation can be in the form of a trilayer tablet containing a core or central layer and one or more barrier layers.

Calcium channel blockers are a heterogeneous group of drugs that prevent or slow the entry of calcium into cells by regulating cellular calcium channels. (Remington, The Science and Practice of pharmacy, Nineteenth Edition, Mack Publishing Company, Eaton, Pa., p. 963 (1995)). The regulation of calcium entry into the cells of the cardiovascular system is of paramount importance to the proper functioning of this system. Cardiac and vascular smooth muscle cells have calcium channels located within the cell membrane. Calcium influx through these channels initiates a process of electromechanical coupling which ultimately leads to muscle contraction. The ability to regulate the entry of calcium into cardiac and vascular smooth muscle cells is a powerful therapeutic approach in the treatment of angina and hypertension. Likewise, blocking calcium influx into cardiac tissues and conduction systems can provide a useful approach for controlling certain types of arrhythmia.
The dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker, nisoldipine, is a yellow crystalline substance, which is practically insoluble in water, but soluble in ethanol. Nisoldipine coat-core (marketed as SULAR® by Sciele Pharma, Inc.) is a long-acting formulation of the drug, suitable for once daily administration in the treatment of patients with hypertension. SULAR® is an FDA approved controlled-release formulation of the calcium channel blocker, nisoldipine, which employs coat-core technology, and has been marketed for the treatment of hypertension since 1995. SULAR® tablets consist of an external coating and an internal core. Both the coating and the core contain nisoldipine; the coating as a slow release formulation and the core as an immediate or fast release formulation. In clinical trials in patients with mild to moderate hypertension, SULAR® has shown efficacy and tolerability similar to that of other calcium antagonists, and antihypertensive efficacy equivalent to that of agents from various other drug classes including beta-blockers, thiazide diuretics and ACE inhibitors. SULAR® demonstrates dose proportional pharmacokinetics and has a plasma half-life of about 7-12 hours with a mean Tmax of about 6-12 hours. The absolute bioavailability of nisoldipine from SULAR® is about 5%.
Unlike beta-blockers and thiazide diuretics, calcium antagonists (including nisoldipine coat-core) are not associated with clinically significant adverse metabolic effects on the serum lipid profile or glycaemic control. Nisoldipine coat-core maintains consistent plasma drug concentrations and antihypertensive effects throughout the 24-hour dosage interval, thereby attenuating intermittent reflex increases in sympathetic activity. In addition, the high degree of vasoselectivity of nisoldipine minimizes negative inotropic effects which may be observed with less selective agents such as nifedipine (Plosker, D L and Faulds, D. Drugs, 52(2), 232-53 (1996)).
Although the coat-core technology has been shown to be safe for the delivery of calcium channel blockers, studies have shown that there are slightly more adverse effects with the coat-core systems compared to other drug delivery systems, especially with respect to the drug, nifedipine (Defina et al. Ann Pharmacother. 31 (7-8): 819-822 (1997)). The coat-core technology also requires the use of specialized equipment which can be costly.
There exists a need for controlled release formulations that provides a lower dose of the drug, which may decrease the cost of manufacturing and may eliminate or diminish unwanted side effects, and which can be manufactured using conventional equipment.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide controlled release formulations and methods of making and using thereof that provide alternative pharmacokinetic release profiles that may eliminate or diminish unwanted side effects and which are easier and cheaper to manufacture.
It is further an object of the invention to provide a controlled release formulation of a calcium channel blocker, such as nisoldipine, which is effective in the treatment of cardiovascular disorders, especially, hypertension, and which provides advantages over known formulations such as SULAR®.
It is further an object of the invention to provide a controlled release formulation of a calcium channel blocker, where the amount of the drug is efficacious, yet reduced, as compared to known formulations such as SULAR®.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a controlled release formulation of a calcium channel blocker, where the bioavailability of the drug is increased compared to the bioavailability of the drug to known formulations such as SULAR®.

Controlled release nisoldipine compositions


At least some instructions executed in a pipeline are each associated with corresponding trace information that characterizes execution of that instruction in the pipeline. A predetermined type of store instructions flow through a subset of contiguous stages of the pipeline. A signal is received to store a portion of the trace information. A stage before the subset of contiguous stages is stalled. A store instruction of the predetermined type is inserted into a stage at the beginning of the subset of contiguous stages to enable the store instruction to reach the memory access stage at which an operand of the store instruction including the portion of the trace information is sent out of the pipeline. The store instruction is filtered from a stage of the subset of contiguous stages that occurs earlier in the pipeline than a stage in which trace information is generated.

The invention relates to managing trace information storage using pipeline instruction insertion and filtering.
Processors can be configured to capture trace information, which can be used for testing and debugging of programs. For example, trace information can include a history of particular instructions that were executed in the pipeline of a processor for any number of processes or threads executing on that processor. The capture of trace information can generally be enabled or disabled. For a given thread, the trace information may include an entire instruction stream that includes every instruction that was executed in the lifetime of the thread and corresponding results, if any, for each instruction. Or, the trace information may include only selected instructions, from which other instructions that executed could be reconstructed if necessary. For example, to reduce the amount of information that needs to be stored to capture the trace information, the instruction stream can be filtered such that only instructions affecting control flow (e.g., branch instructions) and their resulting control flow changes (e.g., branch "taken," or "not taken"), and certain other instructions that have dynamically determined results (e.g., load instructions and store instructions) are included. Whereas, instructions that do not affect control flow and whose results can be easily reconstructed from static analysis of the binary code for the original program (e.g., arithmetic operation instructions, such as add or subtract) are filtered out of the trace information. Other optimizations are also possible. For some processors, dedicated trace circuitry can be used to capture and store trace information during operation of a processor's pipeline.

Managing trace information storage using pipeline instruction insertion and filtering


A solar powered generator (100) has thermoelectric elements adjacent to and below solar cells. Concentrated sunlight is provided. A heat sink (104), which can be variable in temperature or efficiency, is in contact with the cold junction (108) of the thermoelectric device (103). The thermal resistivity is designed in relation to the energy flux, whereby the thermoelectric device (103) develops a gradient of several hundred Kelvin. Preferably the solar cell comprises a high band gap energy semi-conductor. The generator (100) maintains relatively consistent efficiency over a range of cold junction (108) temperatures. The heat sink (104) can be a hot water system. High efficiencies are achieved using nanocomposite thermoelectric materials. Evenly but thinly dispersing the thermoelectric segments in a matrix of highly insulating material reduces the amount of material required for the segments without sacrificing performance. A unitary construction of the solar cell and thermoelectric elements provides further advantages.

There is a long recognized and continuing need for cost effective renewable energy sources. With this goal, significant efforts have been made to develop cost effective solar powered generators to harvest solar energy. The main focus of these efforts have been to make high efficiency low cost solar panels.
Solar panels are photovoltaic devices designed to convert solar energy directly to electricity. Basic solar panel technology is based on p-n junctions. The difference in charge carrier concentration between p- and n-doped regions of a semiconductor material cause charge carriers to diffuse, thereby creating a static electric field within the semiconductor. The semiconductor has a band gap energy which is the energy difference between the minimum of its conduction band maximum of its valence band. Many semiconductors the band gap energy that lies within limits of the solar radiation spectrum. Photons with energy greater than the band gap energy can be absorbed by the semiconductor and raise charge carriers from its valance band to its conduction band. The excited carriers flow as a result of the electric field and provide electrical power.
Solar panels in current use can be broadly divided into crystalline silicon and thin film technologies. Crystalline silicon is a relatively poor absorber of light and requires a comparatively large thickness (several hundred microns) of material in comparison to materials such as Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) and Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) used in thin film technologies. Presently, crystalline silicon solar panels provide higher efficiencies than thin film solar panel, but are more expensive to make. Good conversion efficiencies for solar panels commercially available at this time are in the range from 14-19%. Higher conversion efficiencies are possible.
A maximum efficiency for converting un-concentrated solar radiation into electrical energy using a single junction solar panel at room temperature is about 31% according to the well known Shockley-Queissar limit. This limit takes into account a thermodynamically unavoidable rate of carrier recombination and a mismatch between the band gap energy of the semiconductor and the solar energy spectrum.
The mismatch relates to the quantization of energy in light. Wavelengths of light with energy below the band gap energy cannot excite charge carriers. Wavelengths of light with energy above the band gap energy can excite carriers, but the energy in excess of the band gap energy is rapidly converted to heat. Band gap energies around 1.3 eV provide the highest theoretical efficiency for a single-junction solar panel at room temperature.
The Shockley-Queissar limit for a single-junction solar panel can be exceeded by providing multiple junctions. A typical multi-junction solar panel comprises a layered stack of two or more semiconductor materials having different band-gap energies. The uppermost layer has the highest band gap energy. Ideally, the uppermost layer absorbs the portion of the spectrum with energy equal to or greater than the upper layer's band gap energy while passing longer wavelengths for use by the layers beneath.
Optical transparency for the layered structure generally requires that all layers have similar crystal structure and lattice constants. A lattice constant describes the spacing of the atom locations in a crystal structure. Mismatch in the lattice constants between different layers tends to creates dislocations and significantly deteriorates the efficiency of a multi-junction solar panel.
While the choice of materials for multi-junction solar panels is constrained, many suitable combination have been found and shown to outperform single junction cells. By suitably dividing the absorption spectrum, excellent results have been obtained with two, three, and four junction cells. For example, a two junction cell comprising InGaP (1.9 eV) and GaAs (1.4 eV) held a record efficiency near 30% in the 1990's. A three junction cells comprising GaInP (1.85 eV), GaAs-layer (1.42 eV) and Ge (0.67 eV) has been used to demonstrate efficiencies near 40%.
Another way to improve solar panel efficiencies is by concentrating sunlight onto the solar panel surface. Aside from the obvious benefit of providing more light per unit area, the direct light provided by a concentrator (as compared to the diffuse light received by a panel directly exposed to the sun) allows for a higher efficiency. 41% is the theoretical limit for a single junction cell and 55% for a two junction cell. For direct sunlight, the optimal bandgap energy at room temperature is 1.1 eV. For a two junction cell in the standard series configuration, a 0.77 eV, 1.55 eV pairing is the approximate optimum. For three junctions, 0.61 eV, 1.15 eV, and 1.82 eV approximates the ideal as reported by M. A. Green in. Third-Generation Photovoltaics: Advanced Solar Energy Conversion, pp 60-63 (Springer: Heidelberg, 2003).
A further improvement to enhancing the electrical conversion efficiency involves deriving electrical energy from the excess energy absorbed when an electron is excited by a photon with energy in excess of the band gap energy. Initially, this energy is retained by the carriers, resulting in "hot carriers". There are two fundamental ways to use the hot carriers for enhancing the efficiency of electrical energy production. One way produces an enhanced voltage and the other produces an enhanced current. The former requires that the carriers be extracted before they cool, while the latter requires that hot carriers having sufficient energy to produce a second electron-hole pair through impact ionization. For either process to be effective, it must be carried out at a rate competitive with the rate of carrier cooling, which is itself very fast.
The rate of carrier cooling can be greatly reduced by producing the carriers within a nanocomposite material that alters the relaxation dynamics through quantum effects. Nanocomposite materials include quantum wells, quantum wires, and quantum dots. These structures confine the carriers to regions of space that are smaller than or comparable to the carrier's deBroglie wavelength or to the Bohr radius of excitons in the semiconductor bulk. Quantum dots are most effective in this regard.
Quantum dots consisting of very small crystals of one semiconductor (e.g. Indium Gallium Arsenide) within a matrix of another semi-conductor (e.g., Gallium Arsenide) can slow carrier cooling to the point where impact ionization becomes significant. Impact ionization when a hot carrier gives up some of its energy to excite a second carrier from the valence band to the conduction band while itself retains sufficient energy to remain in the conduction band. Impact ionization can also be achieved by quantum dots consisting of very small semiconductor crystals dispersed in an organic semiconductor polymer matrix.
Hot carrier extraction can be achieved by ordering the quantum dots in closely spaced three-dimensional array with sufficiently close spacing for strong electronic coupling and the formation of mini-bands to occur. The mini-bands allow long-range electron transport. The mini-bands provide fast enough transport for the hot carrier current to be drawn off at a potential above the normal conduction band potential. To understand this mechanism, it may help to note that the hot carrier energy spreads among all the carriers in the conduction band on a shorter time scale than the timescale on which the energy spreads towards thermal equilibrium in other ways. Thus the entire carrier stream is "hot".
To avoid confusion with the above mechanisms, it is worth noting there is another use for quantum wells in enhancing solar panel efficiencies. Quantum wells can be used to adjust and finely tune the band gap energies of the semi-conductors into which they are incorporated. This allow semi-conductor band gap energies to be adapted to better match the solar spectrum and provides flexibility in selecting materials.
Still further, nanocrystals within a semiconductor composite have highly size dependent band gap energies. These can be used to make available to charge carriers energy states intermediate the valance and conduction bands of the matrix materials. These intermediate bands allow the composite to achieve electrical conversion of photons with energy below the band gap energies of the matrix semiconductors through a two step process of exciting charges from a valance band to the intermediate bands and from the intermediate bands to a conduction band.
Many of the foregoing structural enhancements are only economical in conjunction with solar concentration. Commercially available solar concentrators provide solar energy with concentrations of 500. While such high concentration justifies the use of highly engineered semiconductor materials it introduces the problem of managing intense heat. Heating is very detrimental to solar panel performance.
The theoretical maximum efficiencies quoted above all diminish with increasing temperatures. All solar panels undergo diminishing efficiency with increasing temperature. According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), as reported in U.S. Pat. No. 7,148,417, a typical silicon solar panel loses about 0.45% power per degree centigrade of increasing temperature. Above 250° C., silicon solar panels produce essentially no power. GaAs solar panels fare somewhat better, losing only about 0.21% power per degree Celsius. Multi-junction thin film solar panels generally fared even worse because the layer thickness are generally carefully matched to equalize currents produced by each layer. Even a 5% mismatch can severely disrupt the multi-Junction solar panel's operation. M. A. Green in Third-Generation Photovoltaics: Advanced Solar Energy Conversion, p, 63 (Springer: Heidelberg, 2003). The routine solution of this problem is to provide cooling.
Solar panels have been used to provide hot water for domestic use in addition to electricity. As noted by U.S. Pat. No. 2004/0055631, using the solar panel in this manner requires operating the solar panel at a temperature of at least about 60° C., which significantly compromises the cell's electrical production efficiency. The solution proposed by that application is make the solar panel to a portion of the solar energy spectrum with energy below a semiconductor's band-gap energy. The solar panel is insulated from the heating elements, which utilize a portion of the solar energy spectrum that could not be converted to solar panel. The solution is said to be more space efficient than the alternative of using separate solar energy collectors for electricity production and water heating. Another way to go generate hot water is to draw heat from the solar collection system. When high degrees of solar concentration are used, the waste heat can be considerable.

Combined solar/thermal (CHP) heat and power for residential and industrial buildings


A vehicle capable of multiple varieties of locomotion having a main body; a plurality of motors and blades providing flying capability; each motor being associated with and powering a blade assembly; two legs extending from opposing sides of the main body creating a ground propulsion system. The ground propulsion system having two legs; each leg connected to a track body at the opposing leg end; each track body comprised of a plurality of drive gears; each track body connected to and retaining a track providing ground propulsion. The vehicle can either drive or fly based on its base structure, in additional to carrying a payload. The payload is carried below the main body of the vehicle and between the tracks or running gear. When the vehicle is in flight, the tracks are able to rotate up into a fly/flight mode to protect the blades during flight.

Quadrotors and hex rotors have revolutionized a variety of applications, including toys, the delivery of goods, or the delivery of devices and information in the battlefield. Although the ability to fly allows such devices to reach locations that are inaccessible to ground vehicles, there are locations where ground vehicles are still best suited for a given task.
For example, a policeman involved in a hostage situation may like to have a flying vehicle capable of traversing an open doorway; however, he may then prefer to possess a ground vehicle for traversing the indoors of the building in search of the suspect. A combination between air and ground vehicles would be better suited for this mission. In particular, such a vehicle would be able to provide a significantly longer work time, since the ground vehicle consumes significantly less energy than the quadrotor. Similar levels of efficiency can be found with a quadrotor that becomes an air-boat. In the next section, we will present different embodiments of the invention.

Vehicle capable of multiple varieties of locomotion


A system that senses proximity includes a magnet producing a magnetic field and a sensor having a switch. The switch includes a cantilever supported by a supporting structure. The cantilever has a magnetic material and a longitudinal axis. The magnetic material makes the cantilever sensitive to the magnetic field, such that the cantilever is configured to move between first and second states. The switch also includes contacts supported by the support structure. The switch can be configured as a reed switch. When the magnet moves relative to the sensor, the cantilever interacts with a respective one of the contacts based on the position of the magnet during movement.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to proximity sensors.
2. Background Art
Switches are typically electrically controlled two-state devices that open and close contacts to effect operation of devices in an electrical or optical circuit. Relays, for example, typically function as switches that activate or de-activate portions of electrical, optical or other devices. Relays are commonly used in many applications including telecommunications, radio frequency (RF) communications, portable electronics, consumer and industrial electronics, aerospace, and other systems. More recently, optical switches have been used to switch optical signals (such as those in optical communication systems) from one path to another.
Although the earliest relays were mechanical or solid-state devices, recent developments in micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technologies and microelectronics manufacturing have made micro-electrostatic and micro-magnetic switches possible. MEMS switches enjoy the low signal loss and good isolation associated with mechanical switches, and the high switching speeds, low power consumption, and compactness of semiconductor switches.
Micro-magnetic switches typically include an electromagnet that, when energized, causes a cantilever to make or break an electrical contact. Because the switching function depends upon movement of a cantilever, MEMS switches must be packaged so that the cantilever is free to move to perform its function. Often this precludes the use of conventional microelectronic packaging techniques for MEMS devices, or requires that these techniques be modified. Such packaging considerations can complicate fabrication processes and increase costs.
Conventional micro-magnetic switches have other disadvantages. Typically, a spring or other mechanical force is used to restore the cantilever to its quiescent position when the electromagnet is deenergized. Thus, such switches are characterized as having only a single stable position (i.e., the quiescent state) and lack a latching capability (i.e., they do not retain a given position when power has been removed from the electromagnet). Furthermore, the spring required to restore the cantilever to its quiescent position can degrade or break over time.
Non-latching micro-magnetic switches are known. These switches include a permanent magnet and an electromagnet. The electromagnet is used to generate a magnetic field that intermittently opposes the field produced by the permanent magnet. Thus, the electromagnet must consume power to maintain the cantilever in at least one of the available positions. The power required to generate this opposing field can be significant. Such power requirements can reduce the desirability of such switches for use in space, portable electronics, and other applications that demand low power consumption.
The basic elements of a latching micro-magnetic switch include a permanent magnet, a substrate, an electromagnet, and a cantilever. The cantilever is at least partially made of a soft magnetic material so that the cantilever can retain a given position when power has been removed from the electromagnet. In an optimal configuration, the permanent magnet produces a static magnetic field that is substantially perpendicular to the plane of the cantilever.
Generally, proximity sensors are devices that include circuitry for sensing change in a magnetic, electric, or optical field. In most applications, these proximity sensors are designed to only detect when an object is in a general area of the sensor, but have no other functionality. Typically, these sensors are not sufficiently versatile to provide a proximity sensing for a variety of different applications.
However, the magnetic field lines produced by a regularly shaped permanent magnet (e.g., disk, square, etc.) may not necessarily be perpendicular to the plane of the cantilever. This is especially likely near the edges of the permanent magnet. Components of the magnetic field produced by the permanent magnet that are not substantially perpendicular to the plane of the cantilever can eliminate one of its bistable positions or greatly increase the current that is needed to switch the cantilever from one position to another.
Therefore, what is needed is a micro magnetic proximity sensor that is versatile and can be used in a variety of applications with only slight modification, that is relatively easy to fabricate and use, that can sense very small or very short distances, and that is capable of sensing direction of movement, distance, proximity, velocity, acceleration, and other relative characteristics between an detected object and the sensor.


A pitching practice apparatus (10) including a backstop member (30) stretched between a main frame member (20); wherein, the backstop member (30) is provided with a generally flaccid strike zone member (40) forming a pouch (43) that may be stretched by an auxiliary tensioning unit (15); and, wherein a strike zone obscuring unit (14) which will selectively obscure the upper and/or lower portions of the strike zone opening (37) in the backstop member (30).

This invention was the subject matter of Document Disclosure Program Registration No. 251595 which was filed in the United States Patent and Trademarks Office on Apr. 26, 1990.
As can be seen by reference to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,643,423; 4,863,166; 4,826,164; and 4,210,326; the prior art is replete with myriad and diverse stationary as well as variable strike zone target area pitching practice devices.
While all of the aforementioned prior art constructions are more than adequate for the basic purpose and function for which they have been specifically designed, these patented devices are deficient in one or more of the following areas: non-variability of the strike zone; limited ball stopping non-strike zone surface area; or lack of a dedicated strike zone ball collection area to let the pitcher know how many of the pitched balls were on target.
As a consequence of the foregoing situation, there has existed a longstanding need among pitchers for a new type of pitching practice apparatus that will overcome all of the combined shortcomings of the prior art devices; and, the provision of such a construction is a stated objective of the present invention.


A fish attracting rattling skirted assembly for incorporation in a fishing lure comprising in combination:. a noise making subassembly comprising; PA1 a hollow housing; PA1 an object enclosed within said hollow housing generating fish attracting audible noises; PA1 a first hollow resilient tube having an outer wall and an inner diameter allowing insertion and retention of said hollow housing into said first hollow resilient tube for promoting an essentially aligned, colinear, longitudinal occupation of an open ended inner space enclosed by an inner wall of said first hollow resilient tube; PA1 a second hollow resilient tube having an outer wall and open ends and having an open ended space within its inner wall unoccupied and reserved for allowing adaption to the fishing lure; and PA1 a fish attracting undulation skirt having a waistband allowing evelopment of said fish attracting noise making subassembly, and said second hollow resilient tube.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an assembly for generating audio, olfactory and visual disturbances for attracting fish. The assembly is adapted to be incorporated into a fishing lure, such as a spinner bait, a buzz bait, a jig or the like by the fisherman in the field.
2. Description of the Background Art
Presently, there exist many types of complete fishing lures on the market designed to attract and catch fish. The lures must be purchased as a complete system. Most complete lures depend on a combination of color, noise and movement to attract the fish visually and audibly and to simulate a prospective meal to the attracted fish.
There are many patents granted for fishing lures of various types and design. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,747,228 issued to Giovengo, Jr. discloses a complete fishing lure having a hook, a sinker, an eyelet, a plurality of wiggling tails, a closed end hollow capsule with corrugated cylindrical walls, and a plurality of steel balls therein for generating fish attracting noise.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,988,851 issued to Sacharnoski, Sr. discloses a sound making closed end glass capsule containing a plurality of spherical balls therein for generating fish attracting noise. U.S. Pat. No. 4,203,246, a division of U.S. Pat. No. 3,988,851 issued to Sacharnoski, Sr. discloses a fishing lure having an elongated worm-like body of soft flexible material and a sealed glass capsule containing a plurality of noise making metal balls therein. The glass capsule is housed in the elongated soft, flexible, worm-like body.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,802,115 issued to Auten et al. discloses a device for converting a silent fishing lure into a noise making fishing lure by forcing an elongated hollow tube into the body of the worm-like lure thereby creating a cavity. A sealed capsule containing a plurality of shot balls is the inserted into the cavity in the worm-like lure.
None of the above mentioned patents enable the fisherman to adapt the noisemaking and undulation generating assembly to a different type of lure in the field. The fisherman must have a multiplicity of noise making and undulation generating lures adapted for each of the various circumstances he or she might encounter when fishing.
Further none of the above mentioned patents have the ability to receive and release a scent to attract fish.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide an apparatus which overcomes the aforementioned inadequacies of the prior art devices and provides an improvement which is a significant contribution to the advancement of the fishing lure art.
Another object of this invention is to provide an assembly for noise making, scent receiving and releasing and undulation generation for attracting fish that may be readily adapted in the field to a variety of fishing lures by the fisherman depending on the circumstances encountered.
A further object of this invention is to generate visual, olfactory and audio disturbances that will be incorporated into the appropriate fishing lure for attracting fish when deployed and operated underwater by the fisherman.
Another object of this invention is to produce the audio, olfactory and visual disturbance assembly in an easy to manufacture, relatively low cost unit.
Another object of this invention is to utilize water resistant natural products to improve the service life of the assembly.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be obtained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


A measuring device measures distances via a thin retractable wire with a removable head. Distance is calculated and displayed on a very bright, large LED or other type screen. As the wire is extended, a microprocessor calculates the distance and displays it on its screen. The digital measuring device comprises a housing, a very thin extendable wire, cable or tape, a rotating spool, (from which the wire extends then automatically retracts to), a sensor which measures the amount of wire extended, a microprocessor, a tiny flash drive or other type of memory storage, a microphone/speaker, a large (size of unit) mono or duo chromatic or other type of display screen (LED) and a few buttons and/or a menu driven interface which control functionally. A plurality of removable heads may be attached to the wire for performing different measuring functions.

Current tape measures do one thing: allow users to read units of measure after extending the tape. And while they perform that function well, reading the measurement is typically only the first step of several in order to collect and/or calculate and/or use the data. The most obvious being, after using a standard tape measure, one generally needs to write down the measurement, save the measurement and remember to bring the measurement with them to perform a task, purchase, or the like. Each step of this process takes time and can lead to error (costing time and money).
Additionally, the units of measure (hash marks) are printed directly on the tape and reading those measurements can be difficult (is that three eights or five sixteenths?) even in the best of conditions. Usually, a user needs to perform mental calculations immediately to get a better idea of the measurement: "127 inches divided by 12 is . . . what?" Because of the direct correlation between length of tape and the size of the housing, current tape measures usually max out at 25-30 feet (for hand held units). No product is currently available that exceeds this amount with resorting to the larger, crank-based products which are bulky and heavy.
Digital measuring tapes are known in the art. However, most of such digital measuring tapes comprise standard Prior Art measuring tapes (flexible metal tape rules) with a digital measuring device added on. The apparatus still functions as a measuring tape, with the option of reading out measurements in digital form. None of the Prior Art references discovered takes advantage of digital technology to create a whole new class of measuring instrument. As a result, most of these Prior Art digital measuring tapes are awkward to use and limited capabilities.
Komura et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,392 and Corcoran, U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,643, both incorporated herein by reference, show tape measures with digital readouts attached to traditional tape drives, showing a measurement readout of the amount of tape unspooled. The readouts on such devices can be hard to see from a distance, and these devices do little more than provide a digital readout on a tape measure. The standard tape measure has indeed been a mainstay of construction, carpentry, and other arts as the measurement standard. However tape rules are limited in that they cannot flex around objects easily, and the hash marks on the tapes are hard to read. The Komura and Corcoran Patents provide a hard-to-read digital readout in place of hard-to-read hash marks.
A number of Prior Art devices described below are known in the art, all of which are incorporated herein by reference. Many of these are similar in that they are all were directed toward tape measures with digital readouts. These references are relevant in that they show various means for converting the amount of tape unspooled into a digital readout, including optical, magnetic, holes, and the like. These references also show the features of storing tape measurements and allowing for keypad inputs to such measurements (calculating area or other values).
There are a number of Prior Art references disclosing a hand-held measuring device having a digital display. Falk, U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,014, incorporated herein by reference, includes the additional feature of communicating a measurement to a remote location. In Falk, the remote location is a sawing station, which is provided with a dedicated receiving unit, which displays measurements and other data. Falk does not disclose transmitting data to a PC or the like. However, Falk fairly teaches the concept of transmitting data wirelessly to a second device.
The eTAPE device found on www.gadgetvenue.com, incorporated herein by reference, and also available on www.thinkgeek.com shows a digital display, iPod like interface pad, and the ability to add the case size to any measurement. The RYOBI, STANLEY, and OURHOUSE digital tape devices, all incorporated herein by reference, have similar features. Note that the STANLEY device will store multiple measurements, but only is capable of automatically adding them together.
Consumer reviews of such products, appearing on the web, are not positive. These prior art devices were mere combination of existing tape measures with additional digital features—not a product designed from the ground up as a digital measuring device. The Prior Art products merely forced new features onto an existing product concept, with predictable results. These were not designed well, features not well integrated, and they were ugly and clunky. Displays were small and poorly lit. However, there has been some positive feedback: "I am in the window treatment business and use for measuring for blinds, shades, etc. I find that the buttons for inside/outside, midpoint and others can easily be touched and change the measurement." Others, however, have been less kind: "I have to constantly check the mode before and after taking the measurement, its quite annoying and I have made more mistakes this than with standard measuring tape. Also, the size of the case does not allow pocketing or placing in most tool belts, but on the other hand, it doesn't hide easily. We returned it for a refund, Oct. 10, 2002. It was much too big and bulky, wasn't all that accurate, not worth the $$ . . . . We went back to the trusty regular metal type rule that works every time!"
Size is another problem noted by customers of the Prior Art digital tape measures: "It doesn't matter what kind of functions this tape has, there is one major problem with it—it is too big and heavy. I have the largest sized hands of anyone I know, and I could barely hold on to it with one hand without dropping it . . . let alone using the thing. Prepare to grow a third arm if you are going to order it, two arms to hold the thing, and a third to operate the tape. The pictures are very deceiving." Others have criticized the size and location of the display: "I was very excited to get this ruler from my kids for Fathers Day. However, I've been struggling with it for two months and have given up using it, with much disappointment. The problems: 1. You must turn on the ruler almost every time you pull out the blade. It only stays on for two minutes and then it automatically shuts down, and thus you must press the start button again. This is a nuisance. 2. The display is on the side of the ruler, not the top. So, you can only see the display if you pull the ruler in the direction that keeps the side near you. As a lefty I found it was on the opposite side of the direction I typically draw my ruler. 3. The memory function makes no sense. One would think there would be three or four separate memories to store multiple measurements before you go back to your workbench, right? But the memory is actually cumulative: Memory=Mem1+Mem2 etc. This is great if you are measuring something longer than the ruler, but most situations are multiple measurements on one object. 4. It's enormous, weighing several times that of a normal tape measure. Be prepared for your tool belt to list to one side. The positives: 1. The ability to add in the length of the ruler case for inside measurements. 2. The ability to display the readout in inches, feet and inches, or metric. All told, I was very disappointed. I'm sticking with a regular tape measure for now."
The above comments illustrate that there is a long felt need in the industry for a digital measuring device which has a large, easy to read display in a readable location, while at the same time being lightweight and easy to handle. Such a device should also be intuitive and easy to use.
The Voice Recording Tape Measure (www.rehabmart.com) device, incorporated herein by reference, contains a 10-second voice-recording feature to allow a user to record measurements or other data verbally. It does not appear to record actual data measurements from the tape, however. Rather, this device appears to be little more than a standard tape measure with a voice recordation device attached to it. The voice recordation device is not integrated into the tape measure—it does not record measurements automatically from the tape. Thus, it does not synchronize audio inputs with measurements. The user can record a measurement, but only by verbally speaking the measurement into the audio recording device. Such audio recording devices are commonly available, and a user could simply purchase one and attach it to his existing tape rule for the same effect.
Peterson, U.S. Pat. No. 7,363,723, incorporated herein by reference, discloses a Digital display (either LED or LCD), Save and recall functionality, Calculation of area and volume for the measured readings, Labeling each measurement as Width (W), Length (L), Height (H), a Camera to store a digital image which is associated with the measurement taken (Image tag is used instead of voice tag), and transferring measurements to a remote location via radio/optical communications. Peterson is interesting in that he specifically discloses a technique for converting measurements into time and materials calculations for carpenters, or painters, or for other applications, using memory chips. Peterson makes reference to transmitting data to another device, but it appears in his primary embodiment that these calculations occur in the tape measure itself.
Washizuka et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,316,081, incorporated herein by reference, discloses a digital "tape" measure, which uses a chain of "balls" both magnetic and non-magnetic, enclosed in a synthetic resin. While the term "tape" is used in this reference (translation error?), it does not appear that a tape (flat) is used, but more a circular cross-sectional tube. Washizuka discloses a digital readout and input keys with his device.
Hara, Japanese Patent Document JP-56096297, incorporated herein by reference, discloses a measure with a wire. From the translated Abstract, Hara appears to fairly teach the idea of using a wire as a measuring device, with an electronic means used to measure the length of the wire and display the length on a display. Rickman, U.S. Pat. No. 6,928,029, incorporated herein by reference, discloses a measuring reel using a line and a digital display. Sanoner, U.S. Pat. No. 6,868,620, incorporated herein by reference, shows a similar device.
Malone, U.S. Pat. No. 5,802,732, incorporated herein by reference, shows an audio recorder combined with a tape measure. This Patent appears to cover the REHABMART device discussed above. Caraway, U.S. Pat. No. 7,370,433, incorporated herein by reference, shows a removable recording device. Hu, published U.S. Patent No. 2008/0072446, incorporated herein by reference, discloses a digital tape measure that is miniaturized (on a key ring).
Arlinsky, U.S. Pat. No. 6,658,755, incorporated herein by reference, discloses a tape measure with length and angle measurements, which may communicate with a computer or personal digital assistant or the like. The Arlinsky Patent is remarkably brief. While it discloses communicating with a computer 13, it appears that this communication is primarily from the computer to the tape device, so that the computer can program the tape device. Arlinsky does disclose (Col. 3, lines 35) transmitting data from the tape device to the computer "for printing" but does not suggest integrating such data into a software package.


A method is disclosed to update multiple devices disposed in a computing system comprising a plurality of devices. The method receives a request to perform a firmware image update for a plurality of designated target devices, where each of those designated target devices comprises a first firmware image, and where the request comprises a second firmware image. The method uploads the second firmware image to a shared memory device, where each of the designated target devices is in communication with that shared memory device, and broadcasts an update command to each of the plurality of devices. The method determines the device state of each of the designated target devices, and if each of the designated target devices reports either an operational device state or an error device state, then the method reports that the firmware update is complete.

Computing systems generate information, access information, and store information, using a plurality of hardware components, where each of those hardware components comprise one or more devices. Those devices generally comprise a processor and a firmware image comprising microcode, instructions, and the like. The processor utilizes the firmware image to operate the device.
Every so often it is necessary to update the firmware image disposed in a plurality of target devices disposed in the computing system. Using prior art methods, the computing system operator must update each of the target devices one at a time. Such a firmware update process can be time inefficient.

Apparatus and method to update multiple devices disposed in a computing system

International Business Machines Corporation


A system may use metadata to identify and extract specific upstream data, provision data batches, and provide dynamic downstream data access. Workflow data is received by the system from a business process management application and modeled for downstream use. Use of a data staging engine includes utilization of a metadata repository that assists with the extraction, organization, transformation and loading of workflow data from a proprietary format to a modeled relational format. A self-service batch provisioning tool enables users and applications to request and receive batch payloads in an automated fashion. Users are presented with a graphical interface for submitting authorization credentials and justifications for workflow data request. Scope of accessible workflow data based on user-provided credentials and justifications are presented via the graphical interface and allow the user to select specific data subcategories for batch provisioning.

Today there are many steps involved in transforming data from proprietary workflow management output format to a relational format for downstream applications, systems, and consumers. In addition, the process of determining authorization for specific subsets of information for downstream users remains a cumbersome process. Delivering data to downstream applications, systems, and consumers presents unique challenges and the potential for increased security problems. As such, there is a need for developing and deploying a framework for improving this process.

System for using metadata to identify and extract specific upstream data, provisioning data batches, and providing dynamic downstream data access