A spinal plate comprises a body portion and at least one locking mechanism for engaging the body portion. The body portion is made of a radiolucent material, such as a polymer or polyether ether ketone (PEEK), and includes a plurality of bone screw openings for receiving a plurality of bone screws, such as bone screws. The at least one locking mechanism is for securing at least one of the plurality of bone screws when received into the body portion.

The treatment of injuries to the spine has advanced significantly, including treatment for many forms of spinal injury and deformities that can occur due to disease, congenital effects, the effects of tumors, and, of course, fractures and dislocations attributable to physical trauma. For many years, the use of elongated rigid plates has been helpful in the stabilization and fixation of the spine.
It has been found that many plate designs allow for a uni-cortically or bi-cortically intrinsically stable implant. It has also been found that fixation plates can be useful in stabilizing the upper or lower cervical spine in traumatic, degenerative, tumorous or infectious processes. Moreover, these plates provide the additional benefit of allowing simultaneous neural decompression with immediate stability.
During the many years of development of cervical plating systems, particularly for the anterior approach, various needs for such a system have been recognized. For instance, the plate must provide strong mechanical fixation that can control movement of each vertebral motion segment in six degrees of freedom. The plate must also be able to withstand axial loading in continuity with each of the three columns of the spine. The plating system must be able to maintain stress levels below the endurance limits of the material, while at the same time exceeding the strength of the anatomic structures or vertebrae to which the plating system is engaged.
Another recognized requirement for a plating system is that the thickness of the plate must be small to lower its prominence, particularly in the smaller spaces of the cervical spine. The screws used to connect the plate to the vertebrae must not loosen over time or back out from the plate. Preferably the plate should be designed to contact the vertebrae for greater stability.
On the other hand, while the plate must satisfy certain mechanical requirements, it must also satisfy certain anatomic and surgical considerations. For example, the cervical plating system must minimize the intrusion into the patient and reduce the trauma to the surrounding soft tissue. It has also been found that optimum plating systems permit the placement of more than one screw in each of the instrumented vertebrae.
Many spinal plating systems have been developed in the last couple of decades that address some of the needs and requirements for cervical fixation systems. One example is the Anterior Cervical Plating System disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,152,927, which is hereby incorporated by reference. However, even with the more refined plating system designs, there still remains a need for a spinal plating system that provides a high quality, durable device with modulus and mechanical strength properties similar to that of cortical bone. Metallic implants, with a substantially higher modulus than cortical bone, can cause a phenomenon known as "stress shielding," which is commonly thought to lead to bone mass loss and the loosening and subsequent failure of some metallic orthopedic implants. Additionally, radiographic qualities of metallic implants often produce imaging artifacts and scatter, which hinder the inspection of bone growth when using conventional imaging via X-ray, CAT scanning, or MRI techniques.


A method for managing a channel matrix is provided. The method includes: obtaining whether a user logs on or logs off; adding a history record of channel information of the user to a channel matrix when the user logs on; recording current channel information of the user in the channel matrix and deleting the channel information of the user from the channel matrix when the user logs off. The channel matrix may be timely updated based on when the user logs on or off. Accordingly, the channel crosstalk is eliminated timely and correctly according to the channel matrix, and the affection on the crosstalk eliminating capacity caused by the user logs on or logs off can be avoided.

Digital Subscriber Line (xDSL) is a high-speed data transmission technology in which the data is transmitted on Unshielded Twist Pair (UTP) lines. Except for the xDSL based on the baseband transmission, such as ISDN DSL (IDSL), and Single-pair High-speed DSL (SHDSL), the xDSL based on the passband transmission uses Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD), so that the xDSL service and the Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) may coexist on the same twisted pair. The xDSL service uses the high frequency band and the POTS uses the baseband below 4 KHz. The POTS signal and the xDSL signal are separated by a splitter. The xDSL based on the passband transmission uses the Discrete Multitone Modulation (DMT). The system, which provides the multiple xDSL access, is the Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (DSLAM). FIG. 1 shows the systemic model of the DSLAM.
As a transmission channel, the channel capacity of the phone twist pair must satisfy Shannon's channel capacity formula:
  C  =      B    ·                            log          2                                  (                      1            +                          S              N                                )                    .
In Equation 1, C is the channel capacity, B is the signal bandwidth, S is the signal energy, and N is the noise energy. The channel capacity C may be improved by improving the signal bandwidth and the signal energy. The signal bandwidth B depends on the amplitude-frequency characteristic and the signal energy S is limited by the device, and the spectral compatibility. The signal bandwidth B and the signal energy S are both limited to a certain range. Accordingly, the transmission capacity of xDSL may not be further improved. The transmission capacity of the lines can be appropriately improved by reducing the noise energy N.
With the improvement of the frequency band employed by the xDSL technology, the crosstalk, such as the crosstalk in the high-frequency band, becomes prominent. Because the upstream and downstream channels of xDSL employ the FDMA, the Near-End crosstalk (NEXT) may hardly affect the capacity of the system. The Far-End crosstalk (FEXT) will affect the transmission capacity of the transmission line seriously. When a plurality of users based on the same cable requires activating the xDSL service, the FEXT may cause a low speed on some lines, an unstable performance or even an unactivable service. The outgoing line ratio of the DSLAM is low.
The vectored-DSL technology is proposed in the field. The vectored-DSL technology mainly utilizes the possibility of performing the tranceiving coordinately at the DSLAM end and uses the signal processing method to counteract interfere of the FEXT, so that no interfere of the FEXT exists in each signal and the transmission capacity is improved. FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 show that the DSLAM end sends signals simultaneously and the DSLAM end receives signals simultaneously, respectively.
The shared channel H shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 may be represented with a matrix in the frequency domain as follows.
                              H                                (            f            )                          =                              [                                          H                                  k                                                                                m                                                                          (                f                )                                      ]                                              k              =                              1                                                                                …                                                                                L                                      ,                          m              =                              1                                                                                …                                                                                L                                                                            =                              [                                                                                H                      11                                                                                (                      f                      )                                                                                H                      12                                                                                (                      f                      )                                                                                …                                                                                H                                              1                                                L                                                                                (                      f                      )                                                                                H                      21                                                                                (                      f                      )                                                                                H                      22                                                                                (                      f                      )                                                                                …                                                                                H                                              2                                                L                                                                                (                      f                      )                                                                                ⋮                                                  ⋮                                                  ⋱                                                  ⋮                                                                                H                                              L                                                                                1                                                                                (                      f                      )                                                                                H                                              L                                                                                2                                                                                (                      f                      )                                                                                …                                                                                H                      LL                                                                                (                      f                      )                                                                                ]                                L            ×            L
In the matrix, Hkm(f) is an equation representing the transmission from line pair m to line pair k. When m=k, Hkm(f) represents a direct channel of line pair m, and when m≠k, Hkm(f) represents a crosstalk channel from line pair m to line pair k. The X(f) is an L×1 channel input vector, the Y(f) is an L×1 channel output vector, and N(f) is a noise vector. Therefore, the channel transmission equation is represented as follows.Y(f)=H(f)X(f)+N(f)
Because of using FDD technology in DSL, only the FEXT crosstalk is considered. The method for eliminating the crosstalk includes the QR decomposition method and the SVD decomposition method. In vector DSL, the downstream crosstalk is eliminated by the vector transmiter and the upstream crosstalk is eliminated by the vector receiver.
In QR decomposition method, Generalized Decision Feedback Equalization (GDFE) may be used to estimate the input vector X of the user. GDFE is similar to the DFE (a method for eliminating interferes between signals transmitted in a single channel) and can be applied to any channel in the form of y=Hx+n.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the downstream vector transmiter, and the detailed process of the downstream vector transmiter.
According to the QR decomposition method, HT matrix may also be represented as: HiT=Qi·Ri, and Ri is an upper triangular matrix, and Qi is a unitary matrix. For example, QiQi*=Qi*Qi=I, the superscript * represents the conjugation transpose transformation, and HiT is the transpose matrix of H. Hence, Hi=RiTQiT.
Assuming that xi=QiT*xi′ and xi′=Ri−Tdiag(RiT){tilde over (x)}i, and diag represents the diagonal matrix, then:
yi=Hixi+Ni=RiTQiTQiT*Ri−T diag(RiT){tilde over (x)}i+Ni. As for a channel without noise, the output is ŷ=diag(RiT){tilde over (x)}i, which is a diagonal matrix. Therefore, the crosstalk is eliminated.
For example, when L=4,
HiT=QiRi, and R may be represented as:
  R  =      [                                        R            11                                                R            12                                                R            13                                                R            14                                                0                                      R            22                                                R            23                                                R            24                                                0                          0                                      R            33                                                R            34                                                0                          0                          0                                      R            44                                ]
Assuming that xi=QiT*xi′ and xi′=Ri−Tdiag(RiT){tilde over (x)}i, then
                              y          i                =                                            H              i                                                  x              i                                +                      N            i                                                  =                                            R              i              T                                                  Q              i              T                                                  Q              i                              T                *                                                                R              i                              -                T                                                                diag                                            (                                  R                  i                  T                                )                                                                                x                ~                            i                                +                      N            i                                                  =                                            diag                                            (                                  R                  i                  T                                )                                                                                x                ~                            i                                +                      N            i                                                  =                                            [                                                                                R                      11                      T                                                                            0                                                        0                                                        0                                                                                0                                                                              R                      22                      T                                                                            0                                                        0                                                                                0                                                        0                                                                              R                      33                      T                                                                            0                                                                                0                                                        0                                                        0                                                                              R                      44                      T                                                                                ]                        ·                                          x                ~                            i                                +                      N            i                                                  =                              [                                                                                R                      11                      T                                                                                x                        ~                                            1                                                                                0                                                  0                                                  0                                                                              0                                                                                R                      22                      T                                                                                x                        ~                                            2                                                                                0                                                  0                                                                              0                                                  0                                                                                R                      33                      T                                                                                x                        ~                                            3                                                                                0                                                                              0                                                  0                                                  0                                                                                R                      44                      T                                                                                x                        ~                                            4                                                                                ]                    +                      N            i
The outputs for four users are R11T{tilde over (x)}1, R22Tx2, R33Tx3, R44T{tilde over (x)}4, respectively. Therefore, the crosstalk is eliminated.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the upstream vector receiver.
According to the QR decomposition method, Hi matrix may also be represented as: Hi=Qi·Ri, and Ri is an upper triangular matrix, and Qi is a unitary matrix. For example, QiQi*=Qi*Qi=I. The superscript * represents the conjugation transpose transformation.
The upstream receiving vector is:Yi=Hixi+Ni
Both sides of the above equation are multiplied by Qi*, thenŶi=Q*(Hixi+Ni)Ŷi=Qi*•Qi•Rixi+Qi*•Ni=Rixi+Qi*•Ni.
As shown in the above equation, when a channel is a channel without noise, the output is Ŷi=Rixi, 1≦i≦L. Ri is an upper triangular matrix.
The output value may be estimated by GDFE. As can be seen, the Lth output has a value without the crosstalk and the Lth output value may be obtained with a simple decoder. As for the (L−1)th output, the crosstalk on the (L−1)th line from the Lth line is eliminated by subtracting the Lth estimated result from the (L−1)th output. Through a simple estimation, the (L−1)th output value may be obtained. The first output value may be obtained by subtracting the previous estimated value one by one. Therefore, the crosstalk between lines is eliminated.
For example, when L=4,
Hi=QiRi, and Ri may be represented as:
      R    i    =      [                                        R            11                                                R            12                                                R            13                                                R            14                                                0                                      R            22                                                R            23                                                R            24                                                0                          0                                      R            33                                                R            34                                                0                          0                          0                                      R            44                                ]
As for Yi=Hixi+Ni, both sides of the equation are multiplied by Qi*, then
                                          Y            ^                    i                =                                                            Q                i                *                            ·                              Q                i                *                            ·                              R                i                                                                x              i                                +                                    Q              i              *                        ·                          N              i                                                              =                                            R              i                                                  x              i                                +                                    Q              i              *                        ·                          N              i                                                                        =                                                    [                                                                                R                        11                                                                                R                        12                                                                                R                        13                                                                                R                        14                                                                                0                                                                                R                        22                                                                                R                        23                                                                                R                        24                                                                                0                                                              0                                                                                R                        33                                                                                R                        34                                                                                0                                                              0                                                              0                                                                                R                        44                                                                                ]                            ·                              x                i                                      +                                          Q                i                *                                                          N                i                                                    ;            as for a channel without noise,
                                          Y            ^                    i                =                              [                                                                                R                    11                                                                                R                    12                                                                                R                    13                                                                                R                    14                                                                                0                                                                      R                    22                                                                                R                    23                                                                                R                    24                                                                                0                                                  0                                                                      R                    33                                                                                R                    34                                                                                0                                                  0                                                  0                                                                      R                    44                                                                        ]                    ·                      [                                                                                x                    1                                                                                x                    2                                                                                x                    3                                                                                x                    4                                                                        ]                                                  =                  [                                                                                R                      11                                                                                x                      1                                                        +                                                            R                      12                                                                                x                      2                                                        +                                                            R                      12                                                                                x                      3                                                        +                                                            R                      14                                                                                x                      4                                                                                R                      22                                                                                x                      2                                                        +                                                            R                      23                                                                                x                      3                                                        +                                                            R                      24                                                                                x                      4                                                                                R                      33                                                                                x                      3                                                        +                                                            R                      34                                                                                x                      4                                                                                R                    44                                                                          x                    4                                                                                ]
As can be seen, the fourth output has a value without the crosstalk, and the fourth user output value may be estimated through a simple decoder. The crosstalk on the third user from the fourth user is eliminated by subtracting the fourth estimated result from the third output. Through a simple estimation, the third user output value is obtained. The first user output value may be obtained by subtracting the previous estimated value one by one. Therefore, the crosstalk is eliminated.
The user channel information may be used for eliminating the crosstalk. However, when a user logs on, the user may cause the crosstalk on other user channel. Because the crosstalk cancellation device (or, the precoder) is calculated from the user channel information obtained by matrix H before the user logs on, the balance is broken and the crosstalk eliminating capacity is lowered.

Method and device for managing channel matrix


A method for forming fine patterns, particularly contact holes, on semiconductor devices by forming an ArF resist pattern and then reducing the size of pattern openings by exposing the resist pattern to radiation from an VUV (vacuum ultraviolet) excimer laser or E-beam radiation during thermal treatment to reduce, temporarily, the Tg of the resist pattern and allow it to flow, thereby reducing the size of the spaces and openings in the pattern.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for forming fine patterns on semiconductor devices, and more particularly to reducing the size of pattern features through post-development processing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Demand for semiconductor devices having increasing processor speeds and memory devices having ever higher integration densities for use in a wide range of electronic devices has led to a corresponding demand for production of circuit features of sub micron sizing. Lithographic developments, such as improved photoresist compositions and improved dimensional accuracy of the resulting patterns, particularly for structures of minimum feature size, have been driven by these demands for increased integration density. The formation of highly accurate fine photoresist patterns which are widely used to mask etch and ion implantation processes is required for successfully manufacturing high density semiconductor devices. A sensitive photoresist is needed to define these features, but the use of sensitive photoresists presents additional process complications. It is anticipated that that ArF lithography may be utilized in the fabrication devices manufactured using a 0.13 xcexcm process using a single layer resist, but that even greater accuracy and dimensional control will be needed for future sub-0.10 xcexcm processes.
According to Rayleigh""s equation
R=k1xcex/NA
wherein R denotes the ultimate resolution, k1 is a constant, xcex is the wavelength of the light source used during the exposure, and NA is the numerical aperture of the illuminating optical system, decreasing the wavelength of the exposing light source will tend to enhance the ultimate resolution. This principle has been applied during the transition of photolithographic processes from g-line (436 nm) to i-line (365 nm) exposing light sources and more recently to projection exposure equipment using KrF excimer lasers (248 nm) as the exposing light source. This trend toward ever smaller wavelengths is leading to development of projection exposure equipment and processes that may utilize an ArF excimer laser (having a central wavelength of 193 nm) or an F2 excimer laser (having a central wavelength of 157 nm) as the exposing light source.
The wavelength of the exposing light source directly impacts the minimum resolution that may be obtained on any piece of exposure equipment. For instance, in the creation of fine line and space (L/S) patterns, the resolution limit of g-line exposure equipment is approximately 0.5 xcexcm and the resolution limit for i-line exposure equipment is approximately 0.3 xcexcm. More recent device design rules, however, are tending toward L/S measurements of less than about 0.2 xcexcm. In order to transfer such patterns from projection masks onto wafers with sufficient accuracy, KrF and ArF excimer lasers have been utilized as the exposure light sources.
It is anticipated that the minimum feature sizes allowed by future device design rules will continue to decrease. Candidates for exposure apparatus capable of manufacturing devices built to such design rules include F2 excimer laser, X-ray and electron beam (EB or E-beam) exposure apparatus. In particular, as device design rules allow for smaller and smaller minimum features, it becomes more difficult to provide sufficient process margins for the formation of contact and via holes than for the formation of L/S structures having similar sizing. This is particularly true for high-density devices that require the formation of small contact holes with high aspect ratios in the cell array region of the device.
Various techniques have been developed to address the difficulties inherent in forming small, high-aspect ratio contact holes including, for instance, thermal flow and the RELACS (Resolution Enhancement Lithography Assisted by Chemical Shrink) processes. The thermal flow process forms a fine pattern by forming an initial contact hole photoresist pattern with contact holes sized larger than the desired final contact hole size, and then heating the photoresist pattern to a temperature above the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the photoresist. This heating reduces the viscosity of the polymerized photoresist and allows it to flow or slump, thereby reducing the size of the contact openings to achieve the desired contact hole sizing.
Although thermal flow processes may be useful in photolithographic processes utilizing i-line or KrF resists, in the case of ArF resists the Tg (a minimum of approximately 200xc2x0 C.) is generally higher than their decomposition temperature (Td), typically not more than approximately 180xc2x0 C. Therefore, the thermal flow process cannot be used with ArF resists because the resist pattern will begin to decompose before it flows.
The RELACS process forms a fine pattern by again forming a normal contact hole photoresist pattern with contact openings sized larger than the desired final contact hole size. This initial photoresist pattern is then coated with a water-soluble polymer that reacts to form an insoluble cross-linked layer along the surface of photoresist pattern. The unreacted polymer is then removed by rinsing the photoresist pattern. The cross-linked layer increases the effective size of the photoresist pattern, thereby reducing the size of contact openings or the spaces in L/S structures. RELACS processes utilizing a single step for removing the water-soluble polymer, however, may be subject to problems of incomplete removal resulting in development residues, such as specks or films, in the pattern. During subsequent etch processes, such development residues increase the chance of defects in the final device, depressing yield and reliability. A two-step cleansing process in which the wafer is cleaned with a first solution and is then rinsed with water may decrease the amount of development residue left on the wafer, but also tends to complicate the process and increases the expense.
Resist compositions suitable for use with ArF excimer laser exposing light sources (ArF resist) such as poly(meth)acrylate, cyclo-olefin maleic anhydride (COMA) and polynorbornene, are susceptible to problems with critical dimension (CD) line shrinkage during SEM measurement (also referred to as CD slimming) as shown in FIG. 1. ArF resists also suffer from weak dry-etch resistance, Line Edge Roughness (LER) and CD slimming. LER and CD slimming in particular remain significant issues in processes utilizing ArF resists. During CD-SEM measurement, the electron bombardment of the fine resist features during measurement can actually permanently reduce the feature size. If the same resist feature is re-measured, the feature size will continue to shrink. An example of how the measured CD decreases during repeated measurements is shown in FIG. 2.
The differences in composition between KrF resists and ArF resists may produce significant differences in the performance of the materials. For example, KrF resists are more resistant to CD slimming ( less than 2%) during CD-SEM measurement while ArF resists exhibit CD slimming of 6% to 15% during SEM measurement. These results suggest that CD slimming could be a widespread problem with ArF resists. Generally, the CD of the patterned lines tends to decrease while the size of the corresponding patterned space or hole tends to increase, a particular problem for minimum dimension openings. Additionally, ArF resist patterns may exhibit undesirably roughness (LER) as a result of decreased homogeneity of the ArF resist during polymerization.
Recently, E-beam curing has been proposed as a possible remedy for the CD slimming and LER problems experienced with ArF resists. In E-beam curing, the ArF resist pattern is hardened before measurement to reduce CD shrinkage during SEM measurement, typically by exposing the developed ArF resist pattern to a number of E-beam doses using a focus expose matrix (FEM) to increase the degree of crosslinking and rigidify the resist pattern before significant decomposition or mass loss occurs. E-beam curing, however, increases the complexity and length of the manufacturing process and the additional handling increases the likelihood of particulate contamination.
Exemplary embodiments of the invention provide methods for forming fine patterns, particularly contact holes, on semiconductor devices by forming an ArF resist pattern and then reducing the size of pattern openings by exposing the resist pattern to radiation from an VUV (vacuum ultraviolet) excimer laser having a wavelength of not more than 172 nm or E-beam radiation during thermal treatment. VUV refers to a region of the electromagnetic spectrum between the longest-wavelength X-rays and far ultraviolet covering a wavelength range of approximately 100 to 200 nm. Light energy in this range of the spectrum is attenuated by absorption in O2, requiring most VUV processes to be carried out in a vacuum or under N2 purging to reduce the atmospheric O2 content, hence the name. In particular, the exemplary embodiments of the invention provide methods for shrinking the size of contact hole by exposing an ArF resist pattern during thermal treatment at a temperature between about 30xc2x0 C. and about 180xc2x0 C. to VUV light energy or E-beam energy to cause the resist pattern to flow in a controllable and reproducible manner. This patterning method thereby provides the ability to reduce the patterned opening sizing in fine resist patterns while improving CD stability and reproducibility to enhance the process yield and the reliability of the resulting semiconductor devices.

Method for forming fine patterns through effective glass transition temperature reduction


An adjustable desk has base members or sidewalls supporting the desk on a surface. Each sidewall has at least one support movably vertically relative to the sidewall. A tabletop is disposed above the base member and is supported on the supports. A footrest is disposed between the base members beneath the tabletop and can move between a back position toward a back of the desk and a front position toward a front of the desk. One or more mechanisms operatively couple to at least one of the supports and to the footrest. The one or more mechanisms move the at least one support vertically relative to the base member to raise and lower the tabletop relative to the sidewall. Likewise, the one or more mechanisms move the footrest between the back and front positions. Preferably, movement of the footrest is coordinated with the movement of the tabletop so that the footrest moves to the front position when the tabletop is raised for standing and moves to the back position when the tabletop is lowered for sitting.

Recent research shows that standing for part of one's day to offset seated time improves the health of adult workers. In fact, recent epidemiological studies show that decreasing total sedentary time can have significant positive health implications for current and future office workers.
Desk can be adjusted in height from sitting to standing for the purpose of reducing standing fatigue and thereby increasing total standing time. Historically, floor-mounted footrests are used on the floor under the desk. Unfortunately, space under the desk can be limited, and the floor-mounted footrests need to be moved when a user is seated. Moreover, the floor-mounted footrest is also a challenge for cleaning crews, and the floor-mounted footrest complicates the management of phone lines and computer cables under the desk. For these reasons, a floor-mounted footrest can be undesirable.
The subject matter of the present disclosure is directed to overcoming, or at least reducing the effects of, one or more of the problems set forth above.

Adjustable footrest for adjustable-height desk


Information is shared among users in a system by the use of a service. The service receives information from at least two different game applications that each have a configuration file (defined with a common schema) that defines information from the game application to share with a service. An intermediary program executing on a computer that is also executing one of said game applications receives information from the application as defined by said configuration files and stores at least a portion of the information received from the application. At least a portion of the information is sent to the service when the intermediary is in communication with the service over a network wherein the service provides information about a user of said at least two game applications based on information received by said service.

In online gaming, game hosting services and game developers have created a number of ways to track and personalize the online gaming experience. One drawback of existing systems is that many of the features have grown up independent of each other. Games send blobs of data about gamers back and forth to a central service, but the service has no way to understand and aggregate the data outside of the game context. Games can host their own Websites, but the data displayed there is not universally accessible to other games. Moreover the service collects its own information about gamers but has no unified process for integrating it with what is happening in the midst of game play.
In a sense, then, the service and games offer two parallel communities that offer great—but separated—resources for gamers. First, in the game community, while playing a game, the gamer can see the community of others who play the specific game, the leaderboards for that game, and his personal achievements in that game. A game can tell a gamer, from the Service data, if a Friend is online, but it can't tell the gamer what, exactly that Friend is doing on the Service or when he will be available. When the game disk is removed, the whole game community disappears from the console, and the gamer's achievements become unreadable.
Second, in the service community, the service knows a gamer's history, all of the games he's played, the amount of time he spends online, the size of his Friends list and all of the games that Friends have played or are playing, the Friends invites sent and received, the Messages sent and received, and all of the Feedback the gamer has given and received. For the gamer, this data manifests as community on the console or PC, but much of it is invisible once the game disk is inserted or the game program is started.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for configuring game data about players


A machine-implemented method for detecting scareware includes the steps of accessing one or more landing pages to be evaluated, extracting one or more features from the landing pages, and providing a classifier to compare the features extracted from the landing pages with features of known scareware and non-scareware pages. The classifier determines a likelihood that the landing page is scareware. If determined to be scareware, the landing page is removed from search results generated by a search engine. The features can be URLs, text, image interest points, image descriptors, a number of pop-ups generated, IP addresses, hostnames, domain names, text derived from images, images, metadata, identifiers of executables, and combinations thereof.

A scareware webpage is a webpage that misrepresents itself to a computer user by offering supposedly legitimate malware solutions when such malware solutions are actually unnecessary. Scareware webpages present false malware scanning activity and/or forge malware detection results, to thereby prey on users' anxieties and trick users into paying for unnecessary malware protection services or software. Furthermore, rather than protecting a user's computer, software downloads and services from scareware webpages often have just the opposite effect. Scareware software and services themselves often include malware that can take control of a user's computer (e.g., while pretending to monitor for the presence of viruses), allow other attackers access to the user's computer, or otherwise harm the user's computer. Consequently, scareware webpages can doubly harm a user by first obtaining payment for unnecessary software and secondly by installing malicious software onto the user's computer.


Embodiments of the present invention provide an approach for managing distributed application relationships and dependencies, and migration of applications and components within the same or a disparate networked (e.g. cloud) service provider. An application dependency management program module (“ADM”), and cloud service migration management program module (“CSMM”) are provided. The ADM, manually or by deductive logic, discovers and manages relationships and dependencies of computer software applications underlying cloud services, state information of the respective computer software applications, as well as upstream and downstream network data connections. The CSMM comprises ensuring that applications are not migrated or modified in a manner that could affect overall service, ensuring that a migration is performed correctly, maintaining a list of service level requirements for monitoring whether those requirements are being met, and performing application migration.

The cloud computing environment is an enhancement to the predecessor grid environment, whereby multiple grids and other computation resources may be further abstracted by a cloud layer, thus making disparate devices appear to an end-user/consumer as a single pool of seamless resources. These resources may include such things as physical or logical compute engines, servers and devices, device memory, storage devices, etc.
Current methods and systems for managing distributed applications in networked (e.g. cloud) computing environment lack sufficient functionality to fully manage application relationships and dependencies and application migrations of networked computing services and respective distributed applications that make up networked computing services provided by the networked (e.g. cloud) computing environments. Moreover, these current computing systems and methods typically do not leverage application relationships and dependencies to prevent the networked (e.g. cloud) computing environments from performing operations that can cause service level agreement targets to be missed. Further yet, current systems typically do not fully take into account application relationships and dependencies of distributed applications for which some networked computing services have critical and/or short term needs.

Management of service application migration in a networked computing environment

International Business Machines Corporation


A protective cover (10) for a motor car (11) comprises inner (12) and outer (13) cover portions connected together at a periphery (14). Elongate, substantially parallel, flexible webs (15) have long edges secured to the cover portions (12, 13) and are disposed in spaced rows transverse the vehicle (11) axis. Particular rows are located at (16), the change of section between the bonnet (17) and the windscreen (20), at (21) spaced adjacent each side of the change of section between the windscreen (20) and the turret roof (21), and at interrupted row (22) allowing for additional inflated thickness at the wing mirrors (23). Intermediate rows (24) are located at gradual changes of section. Webs (15) in the rows are spaced by spaces (18). An air supply assembly (25) comprises an axial fan (26) and motor (30) in a ducted housing (27), controller assembly (32), fly lead (33) and plug (34). The controller assembly (32) includes a wireless receiver paired to a remote fob (not shown) operable to power the fan for forward and reverse. An adjustable strap assembly (35) is provided for each wheel (36) of the vehicle (11) to secure the cover to the vehicle.

The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that the referenced prior art forms part of the common general knowledge.
A vehicle parked outside is exposed to the elements and is generally resistant. However, hail may cause damage, as may missiles impelled by strong winds. Car covers of the kind adapted to protect the vehicle from sun and rain generally conform in contact with the vehicle. Inflatable vehicle covers of the prior art have specific problems to overcome.
Various prior art devices purport to offer some protection from hail. U.S. Patent Publication 2010/0096052, describes an "inflatable bladder" vehicle covering wherein the bladder is inflated to a static inflated state. "Inflatable protective covers" of U.S. Patent Publication 2007/0284023, provides static, sealed, covers inflated to a thickness of one to three inches. U.S. Pat. No. 7,360,820 describes apparatus with an inflatable airway chamber sealed after inflation. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,594 a structure including a number of thin inflatable bags is described. The bags are designed to be inflated and sealed in the inflated state.
The inherent problems of devices that are sealed when inflated include but not limited to susceptibility to failure by leakage.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,439,644 discloses apparatus for protecting a vehicle from falling hail during a hail storm, comprising a cover defined by an inner surface and an outer surface and having the general shape of the vehicle, the surfaces defining an air chamber. A blower constantly supplies air into the air chamber during a hail storm for maintaining the air chamber at a thickness in the range of about 5.5 to 6.5 inches. Pressure relief means and securing means also feature.
This example suffers from a fundamental defect in that the flexible inner and outer surface portions of the disclosed cover are not likely to maintain about 5.5 to 6.5 inches of cover by inflation protected by pressure relief means alone, and will overinflate at the pressures indicated in the description of the preferred embodiment.
US Patent Application Publication No. US 2012/0318416 A1 discloses inflatable covering apparatus comprising a double-layer shroud having an inner layer and an outer layer connected at their peripheries. The outer layer is larger in area than the inner layer to define an inflatable chamber there between. The shroud has a drawstring assembly encircling the shroud periphery to secure the shroud to the vehicle. The shroud has at least one blower port integrated into the shroud and at least one blower assembly for inflating the shroud. A remote control module is operably coupled to the blower(s) and operable by a remote control.
This apparatus again will require inflation to a significant volume over that required to provide protection in order to provide sufficient skin tension. The drawstring system is prone to failure in high winds.


A bone broach and method of manufacture of the same for broaching the inside of a femur or other bone preparatory to the receipt of an implant, as in the installation of an artificial hip or the like. The borach is comprised of a support mandrel and a plurality of broach plates stacked on the mandrel and angularly referenced thereto, each of the broach plates having a peripheral surface shaped at least in part to form a cutting edge to define at least part of the desired bone opening for the respective axial position of that broach plate on the mandrel. In this manner, individual broach plates may be cut and finished as desired, so that once stacked on the mandrel in the appropriate order, the same collectively will define the desired three dimensional broach surface. Various embodiments are disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of prostheses, and more specifically to broaches for forming the inside surface of a bone for receipt of a complimentary prosthesis.
2. Prior Art
In recent years the replacement of joints, most frequently hips, in persons having damaged, diseased or malformed joints has become more and more frequent. Since hip replacement is the most common of such operations, the same will be described herein as exemplary of the present and the developing field in general.
In the case of hip replacements, some such operations involve the replacement of the ball or proximal end of the femur with a suitable prosthesis, while other such operations further include the installation of a socket or acetabular prosthesis also. In either event however, the top of the femur is prepared for receipt of the femoral component by drilling a cylindrical hole into the femur from the proximal end thereof, and then appropriately broaching or rasping out substantially all of the remaining cancellous bone so as to shape the same to be complimentary with both the neighboring cortical bone and the adjacent portion of the prosthesis to be installed therein. In many cases, a prosthesis of a standard size is to be installed, and accordingly standard size broaches may be used. Even in these cases however, it is common to provide and use more than one broach size, such as by way of example, a slightly undersized broach for rough forming of the bone opening, and a nominal size for finishing of the opening. Given the need for different size broaches for a given implant, and the various size implants available, standard broaches are now available in a broad range of sizes.
In the prior art, bone broaches were generally fabricated from a solid piece of metal. Since the prosthesis must in effect be supported by the inside of the bone, and the inner surface of the bone at the proximal end thereof is a complicated three dimensional contour, the cutting of a broach to accurately match this three dimensional contour requires special equipment for progressively generating the cutting edges which will define the desired three dimensional contour.
In some instances wherein special problems exist such as malformed hip joints, unusually large (or small) people, certain injuries and the like, special implants must be manufactured to match the specific patient involved, typically using scan or x-ray data for the patient taken before the manufacture of the custom prosthesis and of course well before the installation operation. Obviously, a non-standard prostheses in turn requires a selection of non-standard broaches for use in preparing the bone, which non-standard broaches if manufactured from a solid piece of material are even more expensive than standard broaches. It is therefore one purpose of the present invention to reduce the cost of such broaches by simplifying the manufacturing procedure to achieve in a much less costly manner, bone broaches for the desired contours and characteristic manufactured of appropriate materials. Another purpose of the invention is to achieve a better cutting action by allowing more flexibility in the broach cutting edge design, whether the broach is of a custom or standard design. Still another purpose is to provide a broach which may be more easily and accurately inspected to verify the cutting contours at various positions thereof, again whether of a custom or standard design.

Bone broaches and methods of manufacturing thereof


A simple and economical method and apparatus for identifying the toner installed in a multi-toner printer by identifying the toner holder installed in the printer is disclosed. Additionally, the multi-toner printer is controlled based on the toner holder installed and a job selection. A toner identification apparatus comprising a toner identification module, a display device, and an input device, identifies the toner holder installed in a multi-toner printer by producing and identifying a unique voltage identification signal for the installed toner holder. A job selection algorithm determines whether the installed toner holder is the correct toner holder for a specified job selection. Additionally, if the toner holder installed in the multi-toner printer contains MICR toner, the job selection algorithm mandates a security procedure that must be carried out in order for printing to be allowed. In response to the job selection algorithm, the toner identification apparatus creates a control signal that instructs a control device of a multi-toner printer whether to allow a selected print job.

Today, many printers, both commercial and non-commercial, are capable of printing many types of print jobs. A print job includes both the documents that are to be printed and the printing instructions associated with those documents. The printing instructions (the "job selection") may specify almost any attribute the printed document is to have including but not limited to, the number of copies, and the type of ink (toner), paper, and font to be used, and may be specified by a customer, or other individual or mandated by the type of print job. Because different types of toner may be required or desired for different print jobs, some printers are capable of printing with a variety of toner types. These "multi-toner" printers enable printing for almost every conceivable purpose, application and industry and are limited only by the types of toner available. The almost limitless range of colors available enable printing for virtually any type of commercial, personal, or artistic endeavor. Additionally, toner is available in magnetically-readable form which allows magnetically-readable characters to be printed. Types of toner include, but are not limited to, toners of various colors, and toner in magnetically-readable and non-magnetically readable form, which may also come in various colors.
In order to accommodate the use of many different types of toner, various methods and mechanisms have been devised. For instance, many multi-toner printers available for personal use, such as personal laser printers, are adapted to use exchangeable toner cartridges that may each contain a different type of toner. In another example, some commercial multi-toner printers are adapted to use exchangeable toner stations, wherein each toner station contains a different type of toner. In some cases, each toner station may be dedicated to a single toner or type of toner. Hereinafter, the term "toner holder" will be used to designate any exchangeable container for holding toner, including toner stations and toner cartridges.
One desirable feature for multi-toner printers to have is the ability to determine the type of toner currently installed in the printer. This feature is particularly desirable for commercial printers that print with both magnetically-readable and non-magnetically-readable toner. Magnetically-readable toner is used to create documents that will be read using some type of magnetic ink character recognition ("MICR") method, often without the aid of human intervention. These MICR documents may be, for example, financial documents such as checks. Because these MICR documents will be read magnetically, it is crucial that magnetically-readable toner ("MICR toner") be used when the MICR documents are printed. Additionally, because MICR toner is significantly more expensive than non-magnetically-readable ("standard toner"), it is also important that documents that do not have to be magnetically read ("standard documents") are not printed with MICR toner.
One method for determining the type of toner installed in a multi-toner printer is, of course, visual inspection of the toner holder by a person. However, people often forget to make such an inspection, particularly in rushed or otherwise stressed situations. In the case of a large print job, many pages may be printed and wasted before the incorrect toner is identified, if ever. Another known method for use with multi-toner printers that use exchangeable toner stations includes visual inspection by a laser scanner. U.S. Pat. No. 6,236,816 discloses a method that uses unique barcodes placed on toner stations wherein each of the barcode identifies the type of toner inside the toner station on which it is located. When a toner station is coupled to a printer, a laser scanner located in the printer optically reads the barcode to obtain a barcode reading. A processor then matches the barcode reading with entries in a table in order to identify the coupled toner station. Unfortunately, this method requires the use of an expensive laser scanner.

Method and apparatus for toner identification


A method and computer program product for structuring a credit guarantee contract, comprising identifying a pool of assets, identifying parameters for the assets, identifying a manner of securing a guarantee fee for the credit guarantee contract, issuing a security clearly articulating the parameters of the assets, and resetting the guarantee fee each period based on realized performance of the assets.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to financial systems for processing financial information and securing repayment of loans. More particularly, the present invention relates to method for structuring and utilizing mortgage-related financial instruments.
2. Related Art
Borrowers purchasing (single-family or multi-family) homes usually borrow funds from a lender (e.g., a bank, finance company or the like, who are also called "originators" or "lenders"). As is well known in the relevant art(s), the legal document by which the borrower uses the purchased property as security to guarantee repayment of the loan is known as a mortgage (or mortgage loan).
In order to have funds to meet additional demand for mortgages, lenders generate and liberate capital by selling the mortgages they originate into the secondary market, keeping the supply of money for housing more widely available and ultimately lowering costs to borrowers.
The majority of mortgages sold into the secondary market are sold directly or indirectly to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation ("Freddie Mac") or the Federal National Mortgage Association ("Fannie Mae") (each, an "Agency" or "Government Sponsored Enterprise (GSE)"), or to another market conduit. Often, these entities create securities, which in their most basic form, pass through the borrowers' payments to investors (such securities are referred to as "mortgage-backed pass-through securities") and in the case of the GSE securities, the payments to the investors are guaranteed by the GSE for a fee (the "guarantee fee").
The guarantee fee charged by the GSE in connection with the securities is priced based on the risk profile of the assets backing the security and is determined at the creation of the security. In a multi-family transaction, the risk profile of the assets is normally determined through an underwriting of the individual assets. After the risk profile is attained and the guarantee fee is set, the guarantee fee normally remains constant for the term of the security.
In those cases where the guarantor has been unable to ascertain the risk profile of the assets underlying the security, either due to limited information, insufficient history with the asset or originator, or because it would not be cost effective to underwrite each asset, it has been difficult to effectively price the risk and set a reliable guarantee fee.
To date, no mortgage backed pass through security exists which allows the price to be adjusted based on the performance of the underlying assets after the security has been issued.
Therefore, given the foregoing, what is needed is a method and computer program product for structuring mortgage-backed pass-through securities and using a credit guarantee contract that involves a "guarantee fee" or "premium" that varies with the realized performance of the underlying assets.

Method of structuring and using a performance-based participation certificate


A method and a device for measuring network performance parameters are disclosed. The method includes: receiving an extended bidirectional forwarding detection (BFD) packet that includes a packet loss monitoring Type-Length-Value (TLV) and/or a time delay monitoring TLV; and calculating network performance parameters according to the packet loss monitoring TLV and/or the time delay monitoring TLV in the received extended BFD packet. The device includes: an extended BFD packet receiving module and a network performance parameter calculating module. The method and the device enables the calculating of network performance parameters and the monitoring of network performance, and therefore the problem of monitoring network performance in technical solutions in the prior art is solved.

Bidirectional forwarding detection (BFD) is a set of international standard protocols for implementing fast detection, which provides detection with light load and short duration. The BFD detects link states in two directions by transmitting a detection packet at two ends of a bidirectional link simultaneously, so as to implement link failure detection in the level of milliseconds. A special case of a bidirectional link is a unidirectional link, for example, a label switched path (LSP). At this time, a BFD control packet needs to be transmitted in one direction only, and the peer end reports the link state through other paths.
The BFD allows failure detection on any types of channels between systems, where the channels include a direct physical link, a virtual circuit, a tunnel, a multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) LSP, a multi-hop route channel, and an indirect channel. Meanwhile, as the failure detection implemented by the BFD is simple and sole, the BFD is able to focus on fast detection of forwarding failures to help networks to transmit voice, video, and other on-demand services with a good quality of service (QoS), and help service providers offer, based on IP networks, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service with high reliability and high applicability and other real-time services required by their customers.
The BFD protocol describes two bidirectional detection mechanisms: an asynchronous mode and a query mode. In addition, an auxiliary echo function can be used in combination with these two modes. The essential difference between the asynchronous mode and the query mode is the detection position. In the asynchronous mode, the local end transmits a BFD control packet periodically, and the remote end needs to detect the BFD control packet transmitted by the local system, while in the query mode, the local system detects the BFD control packet transmitted by the local end.
Although the BFD detection can detect a connection state of a link, it cannot detect a quality problem of the link.
Multi-Protocol Label Switching transport profile (MPLS-TP) is a new MPLS protocol prototype based on Transport MPLS (T-MPLS) and Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) MPLS. The requirements of an MPLS-TP network include contents in various aspects such as Operation, Administration, Maintenance (OAM), forwarding, control, management, and survivability, where the OAM is an important aspect of the transmission-oriented. MPLS-TP network. The MPLS-TP network has strict requirements for OAM tools: The OAM tools must measure performance parameters of the network such as packet loss, time delay, and jitter, and the QoS of the network is monitored by using the performance parameters. However, in the prior art, the network performance parameters are unable to be measured.

Method and device for measuring network performance parameters


A lock which is adapted to transduce the code from a key by electronic means is constructed to resemble the form and functionality of a conventional mechanical cylinder lock. A main casing houses the bolt, a rotatable thrower or cam for retracting the bolt, an electromechanical release mechanism which normally blocks rotation of the thrower, and a processor to control the release mechanism in response to the detected key code. The electronic reading means are located in association with the keyway of a rotatable barrel in a cylinder unit manufactured as a separate unit from the main casing. The thrower and barrel have respective cooperating mechanical couplings and the main casing and cylinder unit have respective cooperating electrical connectors. The lock is therefore assembled by attaching the cylinder unit to the outside of the main casing, thus establishing a rotary driving connection from the barrel to the thrower and establishing an electrical connection from the key reader to the processor.

The present invention relates to locks and more particularly to "electronic" key locks of the kind comprising: a bolt; a rotatable thrower for retracting the bolt; an electromechanical release mechanism which normally prevents retraction of the bolt when thrown but which can be actuated to permit such retraction; a rotatable barrel defining a keyway to receive and be turned by a proper coded key; reading means associated with the keyway for electronically transducing the code from a proper key; and processing means to receive the code transduced by said reading means and to issue a signal to actuate said release mechanism upon the recognition of a correct code.
Electronic key locks are well known, at least in the patent literature, and have been proposed in conjunction with diverse methods of key code detection. It is recognised that, both in the interests of user acceptance and to maximise the utilisation of standard lock components and furniture, the overall appearance, dimensions and functionality of such locks should resemble those of conventional mechanical key locks as far as practicable. A universally known style of mechanical key lock is the conventional cylinder lock, comprising a main casing which houses the bolt and which receives a locking cylinder unit through an aperture therein. The cylinder unit comprises a barrel journalled in the cylinder body and normally blocked against rotation by a series of mechanical tumblers extending across the shear line, but which can be freed for rotation by the insertion of a properly profiled key. At the rear end of the cylinder unit, where it is received within the main casing, the cylinder body bears a thrower (frequently termed a cam) to which the barrel is coupled and the turning of which retracts the bolt.
In the past attempts have been made to embody an electronic key lock in an equivalent structure to that of the conventional mechanical cylinder unit described above. Thus in U.S. patent specification No. 4771620 there is shown an electronic cylinder unit with an equivalent cylinder body, barrel and thrower, but where release of the barrel for rotation is controlled by a solenoid located in the part of the cylinder body which surrounds the barrel and which is actuated in response to the reading of a correct code through electrical contacts on the key. We believe, however, that while meeting the desire for physical resemblence to a conventional cylinder unit, this structure has several disadvantages. Firstly, electrical connections are required from the reading contacts to a processing module outside the cylinder unit and back to the solenoid, which may be difficult to make and vulnerable to attacks. Secondly, it may be possible to attack the lock by forcibly extracting the barrel from the cylinder unit or by forcibly extracting the cylinder unit from the main casing, thus leaving the bolt unblocked and easy to manipulate. Thirdly, the location of the solenoid in the outer portion of the cylinder unit places constraints upon its size, could make it vulnerable to certain kinds of attack and leaves no room in the cylinder body for extra electronics; for example, if a high frequency inductively-coupled key reading system is chosen, it is desirable to have the oscillator circuit for the radiating field as close as possible to the reading head.


An additive for imparting flame retardancy with an organic resin is provided. This additive does not use environmentally harmful halogen or phosphorus flame retardant which also adversely affects the performance of the product, and this additive satisfies severe flame retardancy requirements at the level equivalent to those employing such flame retardants. Also provided are a flame retardant polycarbonate resin composition adapted for use in producing a product having excellent mechanical properties, moldability, and outer appearance as well as an article molded therefrom.

Polycarbonate resins (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as "PC") are widely used in various industrial fields including automobile, OA appliance, and electric and electronic products. However, there is a strong demand for improvement of the flame retardancy for the resin materials used in the applications including OA appliance, and electric and electronic products, and numerous flame retardants have been developed to fulfill such demands. The flame retardants used for the polycarbonate resin have mostly been bromine compounds which were optionally used with antimony trioxide. Such resin composition, however, generates bromine gas in the burning of the resin, and this invites environmental contamination. In view of such situation, use of a phosphorus flame retardant, for example, a phosphate ester simultaneously with or without the bromine compound has been recently reported as an attempt to reduce the amount of the bromine compound used. However, such phosphorus flame retardants has a drawback that it decomposes during its use inviting loss of the mechanical strength of the resin composition, and such phosphorus flame retardants could not completely solve the problem of environmental contamination.
With regard to such non-phosphorus flame retardant materials or non-phosphorus, non-bromine flame retardant materials, Patent Document 1 (JP-A 51-045159), for example, proposes a flame retardant polycarbonate resin composition comprising an organic acid salt such as sulfonate salt of an alkaline metal or alkaline earth metal, polytetrafluoroethylene, and an aromatic polycarbonate; Patent Document 2 (JP-A 06-073281) proposes a flame retardant polycarbonate resin composition comprising a polycarbonate, an alkali metal salt or an alkaline earth metal salt of a perfluoroalkanesulfonic acid, and epoxy resin; and Patent Document 3 (JP-A 2004-155938) proposes a flame retardant polycarbonate resin composition comprising a polycarbonate resin, a metal salt of an aromatic sulfur compound, a fiber-forming fluorine-containing polymer, and a polyorganosiloxane. These flame retardant polycarbonate resin compositions, however, did not exhibit the excellent transparency characteristic to the polycarbonate resin, and also suffered from the drawbacks including loss of melt thermal stability when the flame retardant is added at an amount sufficient for realizing the intended flame retardancy, yellowing and silvering of the molded article, and drastic decrease in the mechanical strength.
Patent Document 4 (JP-A 2003-064229) proposes a flame retardant resin composition comprising a metal sulfonate salt of styrene polymer in which an aromatic monomer unit having sulfonate group in the aromatic skeleton constitutes 15 to 45% by mole of the total monomer units, a styrene polymer having a content of the metal sulfate of up to 5% by weight, and a polycarbonate. This flame retardant resin composition suffered from insufficient thermal stability that invited yellowing of the composition as well as insufficient weatherability.
In the case of the polycarbonate resin compositions having incorporated therein a halogen-free, phosphorus-free flame retardant as described above, the compositions suffered from the drawback that the composition was insufficient in the flame retardancy, and when a flame retardant was incorporated at an amount sufficient for realizing the flame retardancy, the composition exhibited loss of the melt thermal stability and the molded article underwent yellowing and drastic loss of mechanical strength.
In the meanwhile, a number of polymer alloys with another thermoplastic resin have been developed to further improve and modify various properties of the polycarbonate resin. One such polycarbonate composition is the one prepared by blending a polycarbonate resin with a styrene/acrylonitrile graft copolymer such as ABS resin, and this material is widely used in the field of automobiles as well electric and electronic appliances because it is a thermoplastic resin material having excellent mechanical properties, flowability, and thermal properties. In the field where the flame retardancy is required, a flame retardant is blended in such composition. Exemplary halogen-free flame retardant materials having reduced environmental stress include a resin composition comprising a polycarbonate resin and an ABS resin having a phosphorus flame retardant incorporated therein (see for example, Patent Documents 5 and 6: JP-A 02-115262 and JP-A 02-032154). These materials, however, suffered from the problems such as decrease in the distortion temperature under load as well as generation of the mold deposit.
Patent Document 7 (JP-A 11-172063) proposes a resin composition comprising a polycarbonate resin and an ABS resin having a metal sulfonate salt of the polystyrene incorporated therein. However, when the metal sulfonate salt was incorporated at an amount sufficient for realizing the flame retardancy, impact strength and distortion temperature under load of the resin composition decreased, and the molded article exhibited insufficient outer appearance. Patent Document 8 (JP-A 2002-167499) proposes a flame retardant resin composition formed form a polymer comprising a polycarbonate resin, a styrene resin, silicon, boron, and oxygen which has skeleton substantially constituted from silicon-oxygen bond and boron-oxygen bond, and which has aromatic ring in its molecule. This resin composition, however, was insufficient in the flame retardancy and impact strength. Patent Document 9 (JP-A 2004-035587) proposes a flame retardant resin composition comprising an aromatic polycarbonate resin, a styrene resin, an organic alkali metal salt and/or organic alkaline earth metal salt, and a silicone compound having functional groups. This flame retardant resin composition was commercially unpractical due to the insufficient glossiness and insufficient tensile elongation at the welded portion.
As described above, the resin compositions comprising a polycarbonate resin, a styrene resin such as ABS, and a flame retardant have been insufficient in distortion temperature under load, impact strength, and weld strength, and exhibited mold deposit and unfavorable outer appearance, and, currently available flame retardant resin compositions have been unacceptable for use in commercial applications.

Additive for imparting flame retardance with an organic resin, flame retardant resin composition, and article molded therefrom

Abstract: The additive for imparting flame retardancy with an organic resin comprises a silicone compound having phenyl group bonded to silicon atom, an alkali metal sulfonate salt group or an alkaline earth metal sulfonate salt group bonded to silicon atom via a hydrocarbon group (optionally containing a hetero atom), and siloxane bond.


A method and apparatus for a radio base station (200) generates a multicarrier communication signal having a reduced crest factor by processing a block of samples (231) with a peak search window (271) to identify and suppress signal peaks exceeding a power threshold value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed in general to field of wireless communication devices. In one aspect, the present invention relates to a signal processing in a wireless communication system, apparatus, and method for enabling efficient operation of power amplifiers by reducing peak to average amplitude ratios of communication signals.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wireless communication devices, such as mobile devices and base stations, typically include transmitter and receiver circuits (i.e., transceivers) in which power amplifiers are used to amplify a signal before wireless transmission to another device. For example, base stations employing wideband digital communication transmitters will constructively add a plurality of carrier signals, resulting in multi-carrier signals with large peak-to-average power ratios (PAPR) which can adversely constrain the performance of high power amplifiers used to amplify the multi-carrier signal for a transmission. Such high power amplifiers can be very expensive and inefficient parts of the base stations, in part, because the power amplifiers are designed according to the maximum peak power that they have to handle. In order to reduce the cost and improve efficiency of the power amplifier, crest factor reduction (CFR) algorithms have been developed to reduce the peak power of the signals that the power amplifier must amplify. Typically, CFR processing is applied in real time to sequentially process input signal samples to detect peaks in the signal envelope above a certain threshold, and then perform subtractive modification of a region surrounding each detected peak to suppress the peaks to below the threshold. Such real-time detection and processing to sequentially suppress peaks one at a time can impose significant complexity and costs in requiring specialized hardware (such as delay units, synchronization circuits, etc.) and/or high sampling rates, and can also be susceptible to known problems, such as peak regrowth, etc.


An image data outputting apparatus and method form satisfactory images regardless of characteristics of an image forming apparatus by outputting copy forgery preventing image data for preventing copy-based forgery to the image forming apparatus. For example, a recording medium outputting system is constructed by connecting a LAN having a DB server managing transmission/reception of data to/from a database in the city office, and many LANs each having a terminal and a printer installed in a convenience store via a communication line and the Internet. Document data of a certificate is retrieved from the database in the city office by operating a terminal in a store, the retrieved document data is merged with copy forgery preventing image data corresponding to characteristics of a printer in the same store, and the merged data is outputted from the printer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image data outputting apparatus and an image data outputting method, and more particularly to an image data outputting apparatus and an image data outputting method that output copy forgery preventing image data for preventing copy-based forgery to an image forming apparatus for forming images, based on forgery prevention target image data to be protected from copy-based forgery.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A virtual shop for selling commodities on a computer network such as the Internet or intranet has the convenience that the user can purchase various commodities by accessing the shop from a terminal. The contents dealt by the virtual shops are rapidly increasing to tours, music, books, insurance, and the like. Through a virtual shop, various commodities can be sold without displaying the commodities in an actual shop. Consequently, in many convenience stores, multimedia terminals are installed.
In recent years, by providing or connecting a color printer in/to the multimedia terminal, real-time on-demand output service such as sales of a picture of a star is becoming available. Since the convenience of the virtual shop further increases by such real-time on-demand output service, expansion of the contents, for example, issuance of securities such as a gift certificate, various tickets such as airline ticket and show ticket, a certificate of residence, and the like is expected.
In spite of the fact that a picture of a star or the like can be copied by a color copier, under present circumstances, no measure of protecting the copyright and the rights to one's portrait is taken. There is also the possibility that a secret document such as a certificate of residence related to the privacy of an individual, securities and a ticket are forged or counterfeited by being copied. When a measure of preventing illegal copying is not taken, such a secret document cannot be directly outputted from a printer by operating, for example, the multimedia terminal installed in a convenience store.
Conventionally, to prevent illegal copying of a secret document, a special sheet called a copy forgery prevention sheet is used. The copy forgery prevention sheet is a sheet on which a special pattern of characters of warning or the like which is not easily seen by the eyes of a human but appears when the sheet is copied by a copier is printed in advance. When a document printed on the copy forgery prevention sheet is copied by a copier, letters of warning such as "copy prohibited" appear conspicuously on a copy. An illegal act of copying can be psychologically suppressed, and the original and a copy can be discriminated from each other by the characters of warning.
When such copy forgery prevention sheets are loaded in a printer installed in a convenience store or the like and document data read from a database by operating the multimedia terminal is printed on the copy forgery prevention sheet, a secret document such as certificate of residence, securities and a ticket can be directly outputted from the printer.
Since special printing has to be performed in advance, the copy forgery prevention sheet has a problem such its cost is higher than a sheet used by an ordinary copier or printer. In the case of changing a design of a background pattern, a logo, a symbol mark, or the like, printing on sheets has to be newly performed. Consequently, it is not easy to change something in the sheet.
As for an example of certificates such as certificate of residences issued by city offices, the city offices use copy forgery prevention sheets of kinds unique to the city offices, and also use different kinds of copy forgery prevention sheets, depending on the kinds of certificates. Therefore, users managing multimedia terminals must provide numerous kinds of copy forgery prevention sheets, locate copy forgery prevention sheets according to certificates, and exchange them with sheets placed on a tray to start printout, imposing heavy loads on the users. If the kinds of copy forgery prevention sheets are changed, post-change copy forgery prevention sheets must be distributed to users who install multimedia terminals. Moreover, the users must carefully manage copy forgery prevention sheets to prevent malicious use of them, and bear the management cost.
The applicant of the present invention proposes a recording medium outputting method that allows a recording medium to be printed without using copy forgery prevention sheets by performing printout after merging copy forgery preventing image data capable of preventing copy-based forgery according to forgery prevention target image data to be protected from copy-based forgery . U.S. application Ser. No. 09/853,576. According to the present invention, documents to be protected from copy-based forgery such as certificates issued by city offices can be outputted without using copy forgery prevention sheets.
However, two or more models such as monochrome printer and color printer may coexist in a convenience store or the like. Also, where printers are changed to a new model, it is difficult to replace all of a large number of printers at the same time, and there will occur a period during which new and old models coexist. On the other hand, where a recording medium printed by merging copy forgery preventing image data is to be outputted, although a copy forgery preventing image is buried as a latent image, it may be reproduced differently on the recording medium, depending on resolution and tone property, or printer characteristics specific to color printers and monochrome printers. As a result, the copy forgery preventing image, which should be latent, may be conspicuous depending on the model of a printer to which it is outputted, posing the problem of impairing the quality of a visible image.

Image data outputting apparatus and image data outputting method


A three-conductor cable includes three cables disposed in a triangular form in a cross sectional view thereof, and a first refrigerant path at a cable center portion surrounded by the three cables along a longitudinal direction of the three cables for flowing a refrigerant for cooling the three cables therethrough. The first refrigerant path is formed along a part of each of the three cables in a cross sectional view thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a three-conductor cable used as a feeding cable etc. for an in-wheel motor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, many cables (or electrically conducting path) with cooling functions are disclosed (e.g., JP-A-2000-133058, JP-A-2001-202837).
In recent years, a feeding cable for an in-wheel motor (i.e., a motor enclosed in a vehicle wheel) has been increasingly researched.


A mounting bracket assembly for mounting an electrical box having one or more far-side supports, which fold out and contact the structure behind the bracket to provide additional stability and support. The mounting bracket assembly includes: a mounting plate having a pair of opposing sides, an opening for receiving an electrical box and a far-side support; and a mounting bracket attaching end. The far-side support has a first end, a second end and a pair of sides and includes a first section and a second section. The far-side support foldably extends from the mounting plate and the second section foldably extends from the first section. The first end of the far-side support is connected to the mounting plate and the far-side support can include a support bending aperture at the first end. The second section can include a first end, a second end and a pair of sides and the first end of the second section can have an extender bending aperture and can connect to the second end of the first section. The pair of sides of the first section are substantially parallel to the pair of sides of the second section.

There are many different methods used to secure electrical boxes to the walls, floor or ceilings of a structure, such as a building. When studs are used to frame the structure, the most common method used is to secure the box directly to the stud. The advantage of this method is that installation is quick and simple. However, there is no guarantee that all the boxes installed in this fashion will be the same height off the floor and that they will be adequately supported. Also, there is no guarantee that all the boxes will be positioned at the same depth within the wall cavity. This is important so that any dry-wall ring or other device subsequently secured to the box will fit properly on the surface of the wall material.
When an extendable mounting bracket for an electrical box is required to span two adjoining studs that are not closely spaced together, it is often necessary to provide additional support for the bracket. This is especially true when more than one electrical box is mounted on the bracket and the weight of the boxes causes the bracket to flex and/or bend. Moreover, if the architectural plans call for the box or boxes to be mounted some distance from a stud, then methods requiring direct stud-mounting cannot be employed. In such cases, a bracket is required in order to support the box at some distance from the stud. There are basically two different types of brackets used for this type of application, either horizontal wall-mounted brackets or vertical floor-mounted brackets. In either case, once a particular electrical box size is selected and secured to the bracket, the installer is limited to using only a correspondingly sized dry-wall ring or other cover attachment.
Many different designs of floor-mounted and wall-mounted brackets are known and they typically are designed for mounting vertically with one end attached to the sole plate of a wall or between studs with standard center-to-center dimensions. Therefore, a user may have to stock several different sizes of brackets to accommodate different center-to-center dimensions. This is an added expense for the user. Moreover, when a bracket is mounted between studs having non-standard center-to-center dimensions, the user may have to add additional framing before he can install the bracket. Adjustable brackets that have been used in the past do not have the strength and rigidity of non-adjustable brackets and, therefore, have not been widely used. Moreover, brackets that span long distances may flex and bend easily and so they require additional far-side support.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a bracket (which can be either floor-, wall- or ceiling-mounted) for mounting electrical boxes between structural supports within the walls, floor or ceilings of a building that overcomes this deficiency. One object of this invention is to provide an adjustable mounting bracket assembly that is simple in construction and easy to install between studs having a variety of different center-to-center dimensions. Another object of this invention is to provide an adjustable mounting bracket assembly that has adequate strength and rigidity for supporting one or more electrical boxes and a far-side support between the ends of the bracket that are attached to the structure.