A desktop operated computer control mouse including a housing, electronic circuitry within the housing, a user manipulable rotatable ball for pointing control, a plurality of finger depressible buttons exposed on the housing and interfacing with sensors electrically connected with the circuitry. At least some of the finger depressible buttons are for user selection of signals to be sent to the computer for window or screen scroll control, and are associated with sensor(s) which are pressure-sensitive analog sensors structured for varying electrical conductance through at least three readable states or values. The readable states are dependant upon depressive pressure applied to the sensor(s) through the finger depressible button(s). The circuitry is structured to read the at least three readable states of the pressure-sensitive analog sensor(s) and to produce signals representing the state or value of the sensor(s). In one embodiment, the analog sensor(s) are elastomeric dome-cap sensor(s) including pressure-sensitive variable-conductance material positioned over proximal circuit elements of the circuitry. In another embodiment the sensors are packaged sensors including button depressible concavo-convexed conductive disks positioned to compress pressure-sensitive variable-conductance material forming at least a portion of an electrical flow path through the packaged sensor. The analog sensors are associated with window or screen scroll control, and provide user determinable scroll rates dependant upon pressure applied by the user through ergonomically correct finger depressible buttons. Methods of use and manufacture are also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to desk top computer control devices such as desk top operated mice, of the type having a rotatable ball for pointing control, and which further include depressible buttons which can be depressed inward to a main housing by the user's finger for scrolling applications in Windows or the like.
2. Description of the Related Prior Art
Prior art desktop operated computer control devices for pointing control and for controlling certain functions of computers, such as the mouse type desktop operated computer control device, have been used for years, the structures of which and means for interfacing with computers and computer programs being well understood by those skilled in the art.
The term "desktop" associated with desktop mouse and/or desktop operated computer control device(s) as herein used has the meaning of the mouse (computer control device) resting on top of or being supported on a desktop or like stationary surface when operated for controlling the pointer and other functions of the computer, thereby the user's hand and arm remain in a rested or supported position, thus eliminating the undesirable "tired arm syndrome" associated with continuously holding aloft hand supported computer control devices.
A typical prior art desktop mouse comprises a housing usually small enough to be graspable and operable in a single hand. Within the housing is a rotatable ball in-part exposed through a bottom opening of the housing, so that movement of the housing across a surface such as a desktop rolls the ball which is engaged with the surface. Ball movement detectors within the housing, commonly being rotary encoders, such as optical encoders, detect movement of the ball relative to the housing, and electronics in the housing transmit information about ball movement to the computer, via wire (cables) or wireless communication. The computer uses the information in a manner appropriate with the software setup, but typically a cursor or pointer shown on the monitor is moved in the direction of the housing movement.
The rotatable pointer control ball arrangement of a conventional desktop mouse is a certain position type pointer control device or arrangement. Such certain position type pointer control provides advantages (particularly when associated with the limited positions possible on a monitor screen) because a certain rotational position of the ball can directly correspond to a certain location on a computer monitor screen. Pointer control on hand supported computer control devices, sometimes referred to as remote controllers or remote mice such as sold by Interlink Electronic, Inc. of Camarillo, Calif., USA, are operable via a variable speed pointer control button (and possibly scroll control button), yet such devices do not contain the very accurate rotatable ball for pointing control, thus such devices having no rotatable ball for pointing control are considered inferior and not to be within the scope of the herein described invention or the legal claims and their equivalents for claims that include a rotatable ball in the claim. The certain pointing control of a rotatable ball pointing device is clearly superior to any device having pointing control embodied as a vector output device such as depressible buttons or joystick type of manipulated input.
A desktop trackball is a very similar device to a desktop mouse but with the rotatable ball exposed on the top of the housing for rotating by hand, the housing being stationary in use atop a desktop, and thus the term mouse and trackball are herein interchangeable and usable as synonyms of one another, as this disclosure teaches improvement of desktop ball type pointer control devices, and specifically such rotatable ball type devices with depressible buttons dedicated for scrolling control.
Exposed on the exterior top of the housing of the typical or conventional desktop mouse is a plurality of finger depressible selection buttons, commonly two buttons and sometimes more than two, the two buttons commonly referred to as a right select button and a left select button. The finger depressible buttons interface with momentary-On sensors or sensors used only as momentary-On On/Off sensors by the electronic circuitry. The momentary-On sensors are simple On/Off switches which assume a normally off or open position, and which interface between the exposed buttons and the circuitry within the housing. The momentary-On sensors typically are positioned between the exposed button portions and the circuitry which is typically on a circuit board or member sheet or the like. The exposed depressible buttons allow interfacing of a human digit such as a finger or thumb in a natural movement with the electrical switches to close the switches in order to control the circuitry to actuate (or deactuate) a function of the computer via a function-control signal generated electronically in the circuitry and communicated to the computer.
In more recent years, computer desktop mice with pointer control balls have been developed to include exposed finger depressible buttons associated with electrical switches or sensors operable for screen or window scrolling control, such switches or sensors being either structured such that they can be used only as momentary-On only On/Off switches, or being used in conjunction with the associated circuitry such that the switches are only read as having two readable states, On and Off, or activated and de-activated. Such Window or screen scrolling switches allow scrolling vertically up and down if two switches are used, one switch for each direction, and both vertically and horizontally (left and right) if four switches are used.
Such prior art computer desktop mice which include window or screen scrolling finger depressible buttons associated with switches (sensors) generally use one of two types of common switches, i.e., packaged switches or elastomeric dome-cap type switches.
The first type of switch is a packaged momentary-On only On/Off switch capable of providing only two readable states. A typical packaged momentary-On only On/Off switch generally comprises a depressible button-like actuator movably retained to a housing, a pair of electrically conductive proximal circuit elements each in-part within the housing and each in-part exposed exterior of the housing to allow connection thereof to a circuit board, the proximal circuit elements being normally separated from one another within the housing until the depressible button is depressed sufficiently to bring an electrically conductive concavo-convex resilient metal disk downward to contact across both the proximal circuit elements to in effect serve as a conductive link to close the circuit. Upon release of the depressive pressure on the button, the conductive concavo-convex metal disk being resilient, returns to a raised normal position wherein the electrical path across the two proximal circuit elements is again rendered open. The metal disk typically remains in constant contact with one of the proximal circuit elements. A prior art computer desktop mouse which I have seen on the market which uses such packaged switches for use in control of scrolling functions is sold under the tradename of WEB MOUSE with the mouse retail packaging further including MAXXTRO and MUS8 printed thereon.
The second type of switch commonly employed in prior art computer desktop mice which include window or screen scrolling finger depressible buttons associated with such sensors is an elastomeric injection molded dome-cap switch or sensor. A prior art computer desktop mouse currently on the market which uses such elastomeric injection molded dome-cap switches or sensors for use in control of scrolling functions through depressible buttons is sold under the tradename of NET MOUSE by KYE INTERNATIONAL. U.S. Pat. No. 5,657,051 issued Aug. 12, 1997 to J. Liao and assigned to KYE International, describes such a mouse but with the dome-cap switches (only On/Off switches) utilized to control pointer movement along a third or "Z" axis.
The Liao mouse additionally includes the limitation of always having a pivot on the "Z" key preventing simultaneous actuation of the two "Z" axis switches, thus depriving the user of an additional benefit of being able to press down on the center of the Liao's "Z" key whereby both switches would be actuated simultaneously for use in defining a third function or control output, for example the third control output (which Liao's pivot prevents) may toggle select a mode in which movement of the rotatable ball controls scrolling.
As utilized by Liao, and all other known prior art, elastomeric injection molded dome-cap momentary-On switches (sensors) are well known and widely used as On/Off switches incorporated in many different devices. In all known prior art where the elastomeric dome-cap sensor is employed, the molded dome-cap is always used as a component of a sensor having a simple conductor with a single electrical threshold serving as a simple make or break (closed or open) electrical switch in a circuit. The term elastomeric is used to describe any rubber-like material, whether natural or synthetic.
Structurally, the prior art elastomeric injection molded dome-cap carries a normally raised conductive element or disk referred to as a pill or a carbon pill. The conductive pill is herein sometimes referred to as the "active element". The active element in prior art elastomeric injection molded dome-cap sensors is commonly made of a binder of elastomeric or rubbery material binding carbon particles, carbon containing material or like conductive material. The active element is normally connected to the top inside of the non-conductive elastomeric dome-cap and above two proximal highly conductive elements or traces so that with depression of the dome-cap, such as with pressure applied by a finger or finger depressible button, the active element is moved with the collapsing dome-cap into contact with both proximal conductive elements and closes an otherwise normally open circuit. Since the injection molded dome-cap is resilient, with release of pressure on the dome-cap it returns to a raised position carrying the active element with it to open the circuit. Electronic circuitry associated with the two proximal conductive elements, which are either bridged or not bridged by the active element of the elastomeric dome-cap, is circuitry which in the prior art has always been structured only to detect or read an electrical threshold event, i.e., an electrical open or closed, only On/Off states across the proximal conductive elements.
As those skilled in the art will appreciate, most, but not all elastomeric injection molded dome-caps when depressed produce a soft snap, tactile break-over, which is a user discernable tactile feedback. This tactile feedback occurs when the dome-cap is depressed beyond a given point; the point being where a mechanical threshold is crossed and the tactile "snap" is produced. The snap defining the tactile sensation occurs just prior to the temporary collapse of the dome-cap structure, thus the active element is brought into contact with the two proximal conductive elements. The tactile sensation is perceived by the user as occurring at the same time the sensor is activated, which in the prior art is when the switch is closed. The switch remains closed until such time as the user releases pressure on the dome-cap, at which time the dome-cap being made of elastomeric material returns to a raised position carrying the active element with it and off of the proximal conductive elements. The elastomeric injection molded dome-cap typically again produces a tactile sensation as it moves upward crossing the mechanical snap-through threshold. The metal concavo-convexed disk of packaged switches as above described also typically produce a tactile sensation when depressed and also when released.
Elastomeric injection molded dome-caps are typically molded primarily of thermoset rubber, are one-piece absent joints or seams, and provide excellent durability for a very low cost. The active element in the prior art is typically adhered to the inside top of the dome-cap during the injection molding phase of manufacturing the dome-cap.
Another type of electrical sensor employed on desktop mice for scrolling control is a rotary encoder type such as a rotary optical encoder functional with a bi-directionally rotatable exposed wheel as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,455 issued Jun. 25, 1996 to W. G. Gillick. The Gillick prior art rotatable scroller wheel is not considered an optimal interface between a human digit and electrical sensor because of the unfamiliar or non-conventional rotatable aspect requiring a finger motion substantially different than a depressible button, and further because of the rather high cost of optical encoders, and additionally the rotatable wheel is not optimum as a scroll controller for moderate to high speed scrolling because scrolling speed is determined by wheel rotation speed, and high wheel rotation speed is difficult to achieve by finger manipulation. Furthermore, in a low cost mouse, additional high cost optical encoders may be cost prohibitive.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,229 issued May 17, 1994 to F. G. Gilligan et al describes a prior art computer desktop mouse with a scroll control lever on the side of the housing and coupled to optical encoders for allowing the user to scroll screens in multiple directions and at multiple user determinable scroll rates dependant upon which direction the level is moved and where it is held by the thumb of the grasping hand. The Gilligan et al lever-actuated scroll control is considered less than optimal because of the high costs of optical encoders and because of the un-familiar and awkward nature of a thumb lever positioned extending outward from a side of the mouse housing. The Gilligan et al thumb lever is designed to be controlled with thumb movement by the same thumb which is supposed to be aiding in grasping the housing, an operation which is difficult and un-familiar, and thus considered less than optimal. Also, the Gilligan device allows for only one axis of simultaneous control, not two axes.
A prior art desktop mouse taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,334 issued Aug. 19, 1997 to S. L. Yaniger et al and marketed by IBM includes a short joystick lever in the forward top center of the mouse for use in screen scrolling control in two axes or four directions with user determinable variable speed. The short joystick is sized for and intended to be manipulated by a single finger used to push the stick forward, left or right, or to pull the stick rearward. A short finger actuated joystick is considered less than an optimal finger-to-sensor interface primarily because the pushing of the stick to the left or to the right with a finger of a hand gripping the mouse is difficult and not an ergonomically ideal movement of the finger. A natural and ergonomically correct movement of the finger is curling the finger toward the palm, a movement used with mice finger depressible buttons as the action to depress the button inward to the housing, and not the sideways lateral movement necessary to operate a short joystick.
The typical functionality of a desktop mouse scroll control is that assuming proper software is used, activation of a desktop mouse scroll control depressible button, thumb-lever, joystick or roller causes scrolling of the active window or viewed screen. Such scrolling control eliminates the need for the user to carefully locate the pointer on a small window elevator showing on the monitor and to maintain the pointer on the elevator during scrolling.
While screen or window scrolling buttons of the type which are finger depressible inward to the housing, much like the very common and ergonomically correct depressible right and left select buttons common on most all prior art computer mice, provide substantially greater ease in scrolling through windows or screens compared to using a roller, thumb-lever or joystick as described above, there still exist significant shortcomings in the art pertaining to finger depressible button actuated scrolling controls on the desktop mouse having a pointer control ball.
One such shortcoming is that since the finger depressible buttons for scrolling control are associated with On/Off switches or circuitry and switches arranged to provide or read only two readable states of each of the switches, then when initiated, scrolling is at a predetermined scroll rate, the rate not determinable by the user by manipulation of varying pressure to the depressible scroll buttons, and thus the rate may be and often is either too slow or too fast for the user's purposes and liking. While finger depressible buttons, i.e., push buttons actuated by finger movement in a natural, slight finger-curling toward the palm motion, for scrolling control are highly desirable on a desktop mouse because of their ease of operation, natural and ergonomic finger movement, and familiarity to a large percentage of the population who have become accustomed to ergonomically correct push buttons for left and right selection functions on desktop mice, the predetermined scroll rate associated with such buttons is a significant shortcoming in such a computer control desktop mouse.
Clearly, all prior art desktop computer mice having a rotatable ball for precise pointer control, fail to deliver optimum user control of window or screen scrolling by failing to deliver user determinable variable scroll rate in a low cost, ergonomically correct, familiar and desirable finger depressible button arrangement.

Computer mouse with enhance control button (s)


A processor-cache operational scheme and topology within a multi-processor data processing system having a shared lower level cache (or memory) by which the number of coherency busses is reduced and more efficient snoop resolution and coherency operations with the processor caches are provided. A copy of the internal (L1) cache directory is provided within the lower level (L2) cache or memory. The snoop operations and coherency maintenance operations of the L1 directory are completed by comparing the snoop addresses with the address tags of the copy of the L1 directory in the L2 cache. Updates to the coherency states of the copy of the L1 directory are mirrored in the L1 directory and L1 cache. This eliminates the need for the individual coherency buses of each processor that is coupled to the L2 cache and speeds up coherency operations because the snoops do not have to be transmitted to the L1 caches.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to data processing systems in general and, in particular, to improved cache operations within a data-processing system. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to an improved method, system, and processor cache topology that more efficiently supports cache coherency operations within a data-processing system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A data-processing system typically includes a processor coupled to a variety of storage devices arranged in a hierarchical manner. In addition to a main memory, a commonly employed storage device in the hierarchy includes a high-speed memory known as a cache memory (or cache). A cache speeds up the apparent access times of the relatively slower main memory by retaining the data or instructions that the processor is most likely to access again, and making the data or instructions available to the processor at a much lower latency. As such, caches enable relatively fast access to a subset of data and/or instructions that were recently transferred from the main memory to the processor, and thus improves the overall speed of the data-processing system.
Most contemporary high-performance data processing system architectures include multiple levels of cache memory within the memory hierarchy. Cache levels are typically employed in progressively longer access latencies. Smaller, faster caches are employed at levels within the storage hierarchy closer to the processor (or processors) while larger, slower caches are employed at levels closer to system memory.
In a conventional symmetric multiprocessor (SMP) data processing system, all of the processors are generally identical, insofar as the processors all utilize common instruction sets and communication protocols, have similar hardware architectures, and are generally provided with similar memory hierarchies. For example, a conventional SMP data processing system may comprise a system memory, a plurality of processing elements that each include a processor and one or more levels of cache memory and a system bus coupling the processing elements to each other and to the system memory. Many such systems include at least one level of cache memory shared between two or more processors. To obtain valid execution results in a SMP data processing system, it is important to maintain a coherent memory hierarchy, that is, to provide a single view of the contents of memory to all of the processors.
A coherent memory hierarchy is maintained through the use of a selected memory coherency protocol, such as the MESI protocol. In the MESI protocol, an indication of a coherency state is stored in association with each coherency granule (i.e., cache line) of at least all upper level (cache) memories. Each coherency granule can have one of four states, modified (M), exclusive (E), shared (S), or invalid (I), which can be encoded by two bits in the cache directory. Those skilled in the art are familiar with the MESI protocol and its use to ensure coherency among memory structures.
Each cache line (block) of data in a SMP system typically includes an address tag field, a state bit field, an inclusivity bit field, and a value/data field for storing the actual instruction or data. In current processing systems, both the address tag field and the state bit field are contained in a cache directory. This cache directory may be organized under any caching scheme available, such as fully associative, direct mapped, or set-associative, as are well-known in the art. A compare match of an incoming address with one of the tags within the address tag field indicates a cache xe2x80x9chit.xe2x80x9d
Current implementation of a coherent Symmetric MultiProcessor (SMP) requires a coherence bus on which all memory transactions that change the state of any of the lines in the caches can be xe2x80x9csnoopedxe2x80x9d (i.e., observed) by all processors. In response to a snoop operation by a processor, all the processors must interrogate their cache directories to identify if the line involved in the transaction was cached in that processor cache. This process may also involve broadcasting of the snoop out to the coherency buses. If a matching directory entry is found, indicating that the cache line is present, the cache line may have to be written back to the next level of cache, written back to main memory, or invalidated, depending on the transaction observed. This coherency scheme has the disadvantage that either the processors must arbitrate for a coherence bus, and thus incur delays, or that a separate coherence bus must be provided for each processor as illustrated in FIG. 1A, requiring the implementation of a large number of external connections (pins) on the limited real estate of the processor.
As shown by FIG. 1A, SMP comprises four processing modules 101A-101D, each having a respective central processing unit (CPU) 103A-103D and level 1 (L1) cache 105A-105D. L1 caches 105A-105D each have an associated L1 directory 107A-107D, which are interconnected to each other via a series of cache coherency buses 111. Cache coherency buses 111 extend from pins (connectors) of processing modules 101A-101D to other pins of the other processing modules and to the L2 cache 109. The number of pins required for the connections and the real estate required for the coherency buses are dependent on the number of processors within the multi-processing system that support coherency operations. Thus, with current 32-way, 64-way, and larger SMPs, the number of required pins and complexity of coherency buses may be prohibitive to further development of large SMPs on progressively smaller real estate.
An alternative coherency scheme currently being utilized provides a xe2x80x9cdirectory-based coherence,xe2x80x9d by which the state information of the L1 directories is included in the L2 directory. FIG. 1B illustrates this coherency scheme. As shown, L2 directory 156 contains the directory entries of L1 directory 155A-155D. However, since there are typically many more lines in the L2 cache 159 than in the combined L1 caches or processors 151A-151D, the directory-based scheme utilizes more chip area, requires a large amount of storage devoted to coherence, and therefore takes a longer time to interrogate (snoop) the L1 directory because the entire L2 directory 155 has to be viewed.
In light of the foregoing, the present invention recognizes that it would be desirable to provide a processor-cache configuration that supports more efficient coherency operations without requiring additional hardware. A processor-cache configuration that reduces the number of cache coherency buses and associated coherency bus transactions required to support coherency would be a welcomed improvement. These and other benefits are provided by the invention described herein.
Disclosed is a processor-cache configuration and operational scheme within a multi-processor data processing system having a shared lower level cache (or memory) by which the number of coherency busses is reduced and more efficient snoop resolution and coherency operations with the processor caches are provided. A copy of the processor""s internal (L1) cache directory is provided within the lower level (L2) cache or memory. Lower level snoop operations and coherency operations directed to the L1 cache are evaluated and completed utilizing the copy of the L1 directory in the L2 cache. Updates to the coherency states of the copy of the L1 directory are mirrored in the L1 directory and L1 cache. The configuration and operational scheme eliminates the need for the individual coherency buses interconnecting each processor that is coupled to the L2 cache and speeds up coherency operations because the snoops do not have to be transmitted to the L1 caches for initial resolution.
In the preferred embodiment, the L1 directory and L1 directory copy are initialized during system boot. A processor request for update is received and a check is made for a snoop hit in the L2 cache and in the copy of the L1 directory. That is, the snooped addressed is compared against the address tags of the copy of the L1 directory. If a snoop hit occurs in the L2 cache and in the copy of the L1 directory, then the snoop resolution utility of the L2 cache communicates with the processor to resolve the snoop and the L1 directory and the copy of the L1 directory are updated accordingly.
All objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed written description.

Symmetric multiprocessor coherence mechanism

International Business Machines Corporation


A pyrotechnic drive unit includes a cylinder tube (12) having an axial end (28), a piston (14) guided in the cylinder tube (12), a pyrotechnic igniter (16) which is adjacent to the piston (14) and constitutes the pyrotechnic drive, and a plastic part (18). The plastic part (18) is injection-molded to the igniter (16) and to the axial end (28) of the cylinder tube (12) so that it fastens the igniter (16) to the cylinder tube (12) and tightly closes the axial end (28) of the cylinder tube (12), the plastic part (18) engaging the piston (14) in an initial position of the drive unit (10).

Such drive units, which take up an extremely small space, are being used increasingly nowadays in active vehicle safety systems, for example for the active positioning of headrests or for tensioning a safety belt, in order to better protect a vehicle occupant in the case of a vehicle impact.
From U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,963 an igniter unit is known which moves a projectile to destroy a membrane of a cold gas pressure container.
It is an object of the present invention to simplify the construction and the production method of pyrotechnic drive units, particularly for active vehicle safety systems, in order to minimize the manufacturing expenditure.

Pyrotechnic drive unit and method for the production of such a unit


A method and apparatus that ensures that requests for pages in a particular domain name are routed to the same proxy server by all of a plurality of clients. If, for example, a proxy server has a persistent connection to a server for a domain, all incoming requests for that domain will be sent to the proxy server and will, thus, will be able to take advantage of the persistent connection. Each client contains a proxy table that is periodically updated by one or more of the proxy servers. A proxy table in a client contains an entry corresponding to each proxy server. When a client needs to access a resource through a proxy server, the client truncates the address (e.g., the URL) of the resource. Thus, for example, all addresses in a particular domain name are truncated to the same value. The truncated address is then used to hash into the proxy table in the client and to identify a proxy server. The client sends its request to the identified proxy server. Thus, all requests for a particular domain hash to the same proxy table entry and, hence, to the same proxy server. If the proxy server has opened a persistent connection to the server for the requested domain, the proxy server will be able to take advantage of the persistent connection.

This invention relates generally to client-server computer networks. More particularly, this invention relates to a general technique for improving the performance of a proxy server array during persistent network access.
The recent publicity and emphasis on the information superhighway has increased the awareness and acceptance of the Internet as a mass communications medium. Until recently, xe2x80x9ccruising or surfingxe2x80x9d the Internet was a disorienting, even a frustrating experience, something like trying to navigate without maps. The World Wide Web has made it easier to access the array of resources available on the Internet. Resources, such as web servers, ftp servers, and telnet servers, provide the user with the ability to easily find the data content or information he wants simply and easily.
The volume of World Wide Web traffic on the Internet is staggering but a significant fraction of this traffic is redundant. That is, a large number of users request the same data from the same resource, at around the same time. As a result, a significant percentage of a corporation""s network infrastructure is carrying and servicing the repeated requests for same data content, day after day.
To manage this growing demand for access to the Internet and to reduce network communications costs, several system-level applications have been developed to extend caching to the client/server network environment. Two current approaches are proxy server arrays and network caches.
Proxy server arrays are network server-based applications that are placed between a client application, such as a web browser, and a resource, such as a Web server. Initially proxy servers were designed to deal with problems caused by firewall issues in corporate web access. Eventually, proxy servers were also recognized as being an ideal environment to cache web data and to improve system performance, as well as to reduce the load on the network and on the servers.
In most World Wide Web based client/server applications, the proxy server receives a request to access a specific resource from a client system. The proxy server examines the request to determine if it can service the request itself. If the particular web page is stored in its cache, the proxy server will retrieve the web page and forward it to client that made the request. If not, the proxy server sends a request to the desired resource site specified by the Uniform Resource Locator (URL). The URL acts as the address of the resource and as such is unique throughout the Internet. The proxy server retrieves the web page from the resource specified by the URL address and transfers the web page to the client. In addition, the proxy server stores the web page in its cache for future use by other client systems.
It is becoming common for networks (such as intranets or the internet) to include a plurality of proxy servers accessible by one or more clients. Requests from clients for various pages stored on servers in the network are routed through the plurality of proxy servers, which cache pages whenever possible.
Certain systems allow the client to specify to which proxy server it will send its request. Thus, a certain client can send requests to more than one proxy server. While caching performed by these proxy servers improves the overall performance of a network, having more than one proxy server store the same web pages in its cache is inefficient.
The World Wide Web operates using the http protocol. An initial version of http (http 1.0) required a separate TCP connection for each transfer of information between a client and a proxy or a server. Subsequently, newer versions of the http protocol have reduced the need to establish a separate connection for each request. For example, version 1.1 of the http protocol includes xe2x80x9cpersistent http,xe2x80x9d where multiple http transfers can use the same connection, i.e., the same proxy server without having to establish a new connection each time. Persistent http connections are described in, for example, Request For Comments (RFC) 2068, xe2x80x9cHypertext Transfer Protocolxe2x80x94HTTP/1.1,xe2x80x9d January 1997, available from the Internet Engineering Taskforce (IETF).
A problem arises, however, if a client can send its requests to more than one proxy server, since clients generally do not know whether a proxy server has a persistent connection to the web server or not. Furthermore, if one or more clients can access one or more proxy servers, the clients do not know which of the proxy servers have already received requests for a particular service from another client (and may therefore have a persistent connection open).
In some conventional systems, the Internet Cache Protocol (ICP) is used to determine and select the most applicable location from which to retrieve a requested web page. In ICP, one proxy server establishes a xe2x80x9cworkingxe2x80x9d relationship with other proxy servers. Proxy servers designated as parents are on one level while child proxy servers are on lower level(s). The terms xe2x80x9cneighborxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cpeerxe2x80x9d refer to either a parent or a sibling which are a single xe2x80x9ccache referencexe2x80x9d away.
In general, in ICP the flow of a client request is up through the hierarchy of proxy servers. If a proxy server does not have a client""s requested web page, it requests that a special proxy server, called an arbitrator, query the other proxy servers to see if they have the desired web page. If any of these proxy servers has the requested web page in its cache, then the inquiring proxy server enters a demand for the web page. The cached web page is either forwarded directly to the client or to the original proxy server for transfer to the client. If none of the proxy servers have the web page in their cache, the proxy server must forward the request either to a parent or back to the origin proxy server for service. Thus, if a successful request or xe2x80x9chitxe2x80x9d occurs, it may fetch the web page from a peer proxy server or the requested wed page is received from a parent but if the request is unsuccessful or xe2x80x9cmissed,xe2x80x9d it must be passed to a parent server for service. The role of a parent is complete the transaction and service the request. If necessary, a parent proxy server will open a resource directly to service a client""s request.
There are several problems that arise with the ICP approach. For example, the arbitrating proxy server may be overrun with requests or the network path between proxy servers may be congested. In addition, the additional hierarchy introduces extra delays for the clients requesting uncached data.
Other conventional client/server systems, such as the CARP (Cache Array Routing Protocol), available from Microsoft, Inc. of Redmond, Wash. access a variety of proxy servers to retrieve pages stored on a single server. CARP, for example, uses a deterministic hashing function in the client to allocate page accessing and caching among a variety of proxy servers. By accessing a variety of proxy servers for various pages stored on a server, the CARP system aims to achieve load balancing between the proxy servers. Unfortunately, such a system has the disadvantage that it requires a hashing function that distributes the page accesses equally among the proxy servers. If the hashing function is poorly chosen or if the URL names lead to unbalanced distribution of the URLs to various proxies, it will negatively affect the load balancing between proxy servers. Thus, CARP""s use of a deterministic hashing function to distribute requests to proxies does not always achieve a good distribution of requests among proxies. Lack of good distribution leads to inefficient usage of proxies. More importantly, with CARP, two URLs for the same Web server are likely to be sent to two different proxy servers, thereby undoing the benefits of persistent connections between a particular proxy and a server.
A described embodiment of the present invention provides a method and apparatus that ensures that requests for pages for a particular domain name are routed to the same proxy server by all of a plurality of clients. If, for example, a proxy server has a persistent connection to a server for a domain, all incoming requests for that domain will be sent to that proxy server and will, thus, will be able to take advantage of the persistent connection between the proxy server and the server hosting the Web site. The clients use a proxy table stored in the client to determine to which of a plurality of proxy servers they should send requests for particular pages.
Each client contains a proxy table that is periodically updated by one or more of the proxy servers. In the described embodiment, each proxy table in a client has an associated xe2x80x9ctime to live.xe2x80x9d When a proxy table""s time to live has expired, the client obtains a new proxy table. In one embodiment, a proxy table in a client contains an entry corresponding to each proxy server. Each proxy table entry identifies the name of the corresponding proxy server, the network address of the proxy server (for example, the IP address), a port number of the proxy server, and a URL from which to get a new copy of the proxy table itself.
In a described embodiment, when a client needs to access a resource through a proxy server, the client truncates the address (e.g., the URL) of the resource. Thus, for example, all addresses in a particular domain name are truncated to the same value. The truncated address is then used to hash into the proxy table in the client and to identify a proxy server. The client sends its request to the identified proxy server. Thus, all requests for a particular domain hash to the same proxy table entry and, hence, to the same proxy server. If the proxy server has opened a persistent connection to the server for the requested domain, the proxy server will be able to take advantage of the persistent connection.
In accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the invention relates to a method of accessing information in a client/server network, comprising the steps, performed by a client in the client/server network, of: receiving a proxy table having at least one entry for each of a plurality of proxy servers in the client/server network, the entry containing information about how to connect to a respective one of the proxy servers; receiving an address of a page to access, the page being stored on a server in the client/server network; truncating the address to remove from the address a portion of the address attributable to the page, yielding a truncated address identifying the domain of the page; hashing the truncated address to yield an index value of the proxy table; and accessing a proxy server that is pointed to by the index value in the proxy table to retrieve the page.
Advantages of the invention will be set forth, in part, in the description that follows and, in part, will be understood by those skilled in the art from the description herein. The advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims and equivalents.

Apparatus and method for improving performance of proxy server arrays that use persistent connections


A tubular arrangement the front end of which defines a fastener outlet is extendably and contractably mounted to a fastener driver body. A drive bit is mounted within the tubular arrangement. A fastener feeder is mounted to the tubular arrangement and contains a pair of fastener guiding plates opposite each other with a predetermined distance sufficient to pass a strapped fastener assembly. One of the fastener guiding plates defines a fastener passage opening for feeding a fastener into the tubular arrangement through a fastener feed hole defined in the side wall of the tubular arrangement. A fastener feed mechanism with a feed roller intermittently engaging and advancing the strap is provided. A fastener separation element of a fastener separation mechanism passes into and out of the fastener passage clearance, presses the fastener and separates it from the strap when the fastener separation element extends out of the fastener passage clearance, to feed the separated fastener into the tubular arrangement. First and second actuators both mounted to the fastener driver body actuate the respective fastener feed and fastener separation mechanisms.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fastener driver driving fasteners, e.g., screws or nails into a workpiece and more particularly to a simply-structured fastener driver which automatically continuously feeds a number of fasteners retained between a pair of straps adhering to each other one by one to the front end of the fastener driver to enable a continuous driving of the fasteners.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, various fastener drivers in each of which fasteners are continuously mechanically fed to a fastener holder provided at the front end of the fastener driver, i.e., without a need for manually mounting the fasteners one by one to the front edge of a rod-shaped drive bit of the fastener driver and each of which can automatically continuously drive the fasteners have been proposed.
Most of the fastener drivers have employed compressed air for a power source for feeding a fastener to the front end of a fastener driver and on the other hand, a few of the fastener drivers have employed a spring force for the power source.
Since the fastener driver employing compressed air requires an air compressor, the air compressor is very inconveniently translated when the fastener driver must be used in a field job site or the like. On the other hand, even when an air source occasionally is present at the field job site, an air hose must be extended from the air source to the fastener driver, which is inconvenient for handling the fastener driver.
On the other hand, since each of the fastener drivers employing the spring force has a magazine case containing fasteners and a feed mechanism of the magazine both movably mounted to the body of the fastener driver and since both have structures experiencing an impact every time a fastener is fed to the fastener holder provided at the front end of the fastener driver, the fastener driver often fails.
The prior-art fastener drivers employing compressed air or the spring force have the drawbacks described above. In addition, they share a complicated structure as a common drawback in a fastener driver leading to an increase in manufacturing cost and to an increase in the overall size of the fastener driver, which is inconvenient to handle the fastener driver.


A wall mounted vertical, gravity fed dispensing container for use with a blister pack includes a pair of perforated sheets defining a holder portion for receiving and supporting the blister pack while holding the blister pack parallel to the wall. The holder portion is formed as a separate element which can be snapped into the container. The two sheets are hinged at the bottom. Behind the holder portion is a catching container fixed to the holder portion and to the wall such that medication expelled from the blisters through the openings by a manually movable punch is caught in the catching container. A bottom wall of the catching container converges the medications to a bottom chute with a manually movable press lever operating a flap valve to discharge the medications into a cup. A front door covers the holder and the blister pack and contains a receptacle for the punch.

Medications are commonly delivered in what are known as "blister packs" in which medications are placed in a series of blisters and then sealed on the other side by a foil layer. The medications are thus maintained in properly supported position in a hygienic manner in the individual blisters and held in place by the foil layer. In some, but not all cases, support is provided by a cardboard backing/overlay, formed of card which can then include printed information or other written information which identifies the medication and/or the patient.
Various designs and arrangements of such blister packs have previously been proposed including the different shaping of the openings and therefore of the blisters to provide particular effects. In particular Canadian Patent 1,310,936 assigned to the present applicant there is disclosed a blister pack of this type in which the openings are arranged in a matrix of seven rows and four columns providing four blisters each of which can be used for a respective day of the week with four medication administration times as defined by the rows, or, by four weeks of seven days for a single specific medication administration time. Thus a patient taking medications four times a day can be supplied with a blister pack of this type in which the medications for each time of day and for each day of the week are set out in the individual blisters.
Further details of this arrangement are shown in the above Canadian Patent issued Dec. 1, 1992, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Other arrangements are shown for example in U.S. design Pat. Nos. D296589 issued Jul. 5, 1988 and D293887 issued Jan. 26, 1988.
Blister packs of this type therefore make the medications properly available to the patient so that the patient can be ensured that they have taken the proper medications at the proper time. Reminders can be provided and the patient will be readily aware if a medication has been omitted since the medications not taken will remain in the blister pack.
As shown in the above Canadian patent, the dimensions of the individual blisters have been modified to provide larger blisters at certain times of day and smaller blisters at other times of day depending upon volume of medication commonly taken at those times.
A critical issue, however, is proper storage and convenient placement of the blister packs to ensure the medications are taken and not forgotten remains an open problem in that they merely may be discarded within the patients home. By not being stored in a consistent location or by being placed in an inconvenient location, or readily supported for the convenience of the patient or for the convenience of a caregiver looking after the patient may lead to medication non-compliance and a serious and potentially dangerous situation.
In addition, poor or improper storage may lead to medication degradation, or provide easy access for individuals not intended for the medications.
A number of different designs have been proposed of devices for holding blister packs and/or expelling of medications from blister packs.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,984 (Romick) issued May 5, 1992 is disclosed a holder for blister packs with two overlying sheets between which the blister pack is retained with each sheet having opening aligned with the blisters by which the medications can be expelled though the openings. A cover extends over one of the sheets.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,651,840 (Van Dulleman) issued Nov. 25, 2003 is disclosed a holder for a blister pack where the blister pack is annular and the holder defines a housing surrounding the outside of the blister pack with a dispensing plunger inside the annulus of the blister pack to expel the medications outwardly though an opening in the outer housing so that the medication when expelled from the blister falls directly through the opening. The plunger and opening are rotated relative to the blister pack to select one of the blisters for expulsion of the medication.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,158 (Honan) issued Sep. 20, 1994 is disclosed a holder for a blister pack where the blister pack is rectangular and the holder defines a corresponding shaped housing with a-top and bottom and with a dispensing plunger at the top of the blister pack to expel the medications downwardly though the bottom so that the medication when expelled from the blister falls directly through a bottom opening. The plunger is movable along an S-shaped track across the top of the housing to interact with each blister in turn.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,187 (Poncetta) issued Nov. 29, 1994 is disclosed a dispenser for simultaneously dispensing medications from a stack of parallel, horizontal, overlying blister packs where a dispensing plunger with a cutter at the top of the blister pack stack is driven downwardly through an aligned column of the blisters of stack to expel the medications downwardly into a bottom container.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,318,051 (Preiss) issued Nov. 20, 2001 is disclosed an automated system for expelling medications from blister packs using a vertically movable plunger which pushes downwardly through the blister pack to expel the medication into a tray below the blister pack.

Dispensing container for a blister pack of medications


Disclosed is a dental floss holder which can control tension of dental floss which may be stretched or weakened during usage of the dental floss and prevent the tension of the dental floss from being decreased during usage of the dental floss by protrusions formed on a tension control portion. According to the present invention, there is provided a dental floss holder capable of controlling tension, the dental floss holder comprising: a body in which a head, to which a part for directly removing foreign matters of teeth from a dental floss is suspended, is provided at a front end thereof, a winding hole is through-formed in the middle thereof, and a locking pole which can be elastically deformed is formed around the winding hole; and a winding wheel which is inserted to the winding hole of the body to be rotatably provided, fixed when a part of the locking pole is suspended, and pulls the dental floss to maintain predetermined tension while rotating together when a part of the dental floss is suspended, in which the locking pole is formed in a cantilevered shape which is elastically deformable based on one end thereof, the locking protrusions are formed at the front end thereof to protrude in a longitudinal direction of the locking pole, locking grooves are grooved at predetermined intervals at a cylindrical insertion portion of the winding wheel along a trajectory which comes in contact with the locking protrusions while the winding wheel is rotated so that the locking protrusions are inserted to the locking grooves to fix the winding wheel.

According to the survey of oral conditions in the world health organization (WHO), the average number of decayed teeth per 12-year-old child in Korea is 3.3 and twice more than the world average of 1.61. Furthermore, the prevalence of gum diseases in adults is over 70%. However, Korean people are working hard on brushing. Annual toothpaste usage per person in Korea was ranked second next to the United States (Survey of McKinsey in 2005). The daily number of brushing of Korean people is 2.35 times higher than that of 1.97 times in Japan. The reason for the high incidence of gum diseases despite the many brushing is due to low information on the use of floss.
Currently, in European countries and most developed countries, a dental floss is used after the meal to remove food between teeth. In some Asian countries, the frequency of use of floss holder and the dental floss is high, while in Korea, due to inadequate recognition and inadequate transmission of usage methods, the number of using toothpicks after the meal is more frequently than the number of using dental flosses. It is a matter of common knowledge that the dental floss is useful for removing food waste from teeth, and can be useful when removing plaque in case of gum diseases.
The floss holder is formed in a Y-shape as a tool to facilitate the use of such a dental floss. In general, the floss holder is fixed and used to both ends of the Y shape so as to have a desired tension.
However, conventional floss holders have the following problems.
The conventional floss holders are used by simply fixing the dental floss, and when the dental floss is loosened by use, the dental floss may interfere with the removal of foreign matters between the teeth.
In addition, if the dental floss does not maintain the desired tension, it is necessary to remove the used dental floss and fix a new dental floss again, and thus there is a problem in that the utilization of the dental floss is lowered.
In Korean Patent Registration No. 1635363, there is disclosed a dental floss holder. In the invention, the tension of the dental floss is maintained by using an annular dental floss pulling lever, but when the tension of the dental floss is decreased, the entire annular dental floss is replaced, and thus there is a problem in that the utilization of the floss is low.
In addition, since a portion of the dental floss holder to which the dental floss is suspended is inserted into the user's oral cavity, and in the case of the prior art, this portion is always exposed to the outside and is contaminated by external pollutants, and thus there is a problem in that it is cumbersome to use because it needs to be cleaned when reused.
In Korean Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-0146041, there is disclosed in a card type dental floss holder. In this invention, provided is a dental floss holder which is easily carried by using a dental floss winding portion having a flat shape and a housing, but there is a disadvantage that the dental floss portion is always exposed to the outside and is vulnerable to contamination.

Dental floss holder capable of controlling tension


Provided is a mutant of the wild type phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C of Bacillus cereus. The mutations involved comprise the amino acid residue at position 63 being mutated from asparagine to aspartic acid, the amino acid residue at position 131 being mutated from asparagine to serine, and the amino acid residue at position 134 being mutated from asparagine to aspartic acid, and may comprise the amino acid residue at position 56 being mutated from tyrosine to alanine, lysine, asparagine, glutamine, histidine or tryptophan, and further, may also comprise the amino acid residue at position 106 being mutated from methionine to valine. Also provided are a polynucleotide molecule encoding the mutant, a nucleic acid construct and a host cell comprising the polynucleotide molecule, a composition comprising the mutant, and the use of the mutant, the polynucleotide molecule, the nucleic acid construct and the host cell.

Degumming is an important step in oil refining, and the traditional hydration degumming suffers from high cost, large material consumption and serious environmental pollution, therefore, many have been committed to using enzymatic degumming in the degumming procedure for oil refining and great progress has been made in recent years. Compared with traditional methods, enzymatic degumming can improve economic efficiency, save energy, reduce emission, decrease environment pollution, and have larger advantages in terms of environment, economic and quality. The enzyme used in oil degumming is phospholipase. Phospholipases possess the ability to hydrolyze one or more ester bonds of phosphoglyceride and represent a class of lipases, acyl hydrolases and phosphatases. Phospholipases, depending on its site of action in the phospholipid molecule, can be divided into phospholipase A1 (PLA1), phospholipase A2 (PLA2), phospholipase C (PLC) and phospholipase D (PLD).
Phospholipase C (for short, PLC), is a lipid hydrolase capable of hydrolyzing C3 phosphatidyl site of glycerophospholipids to form diacylglycerol and phosphorylcholine, inositol phosphates, phosphoethanolamine and other. Phospholipase C is widely found in plants and microorganisms. Plant and animal derived PLCs generally locate on cell membrane, which are complicated in structure, belonging to endogenous phospholipase C, and difficult to separate. Compared to other degumming enzymes, phospholipase C (PLC) showed greater advantages, such as increased yield of diacylglycerol (DAG), and reduced lose of obtained oil.
Microbial derived PLCs generally have simpler structures, and these enzymes have been isolated from various microorganisms, including many bacterial origin comprising Clostridium perfringens [Yun T, Siebel C. Cloning and expression of the PLC gene from Clostridium perfringens and Clostridium bifermentants[J]. Infection and immunity, 1989, 2: 468-476], C. bifermentans, Burkholderia pseudomallei, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus mycoiddes, Bacillus thuringiensis, Listeria monocytogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, P. fluorescens, Straphylococus aureus, Acinetobacter baumannii, Streptomyces clavuligerus, Burkholderi, and others. They may be from actinomycetes such as Streptomyces hachijyoensis, and others. They may also be from yeasts such as Candia albicans [Analuz E, Juan-Jose R, Rosario Cueva. Sequencing of a 4.3 kbp region of chromosome 2 of Candida albicans reveals the presence of homologues of SHE9 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and of bacterial phosphatidylinostiol-phospholipase C[J]. Yeast, 2001, 18(8): 711-721], Saccharomyces cerevisiae [Payne W, Fitzgerald-Hayes M. A mutation in PLC1, a candidate phosphoinositide specific phospholipase C gene from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, causes aberrant mitotic chromosome segregation[J]. Molecular and Cellular Biology, 1993, 13: 4351-4364], and others.
PC-PLC from Bacillus cereus (BC-PC-PLC) is an earlier studied phospholipase C. BC-PC-PLC has a full length of 283 amino acids, comprising a signal peptide of 24 amino acids and a leader peptide of 14 amino acids. The mature form thereof has 245 amino acids (Johansen, T., Holm, T., Guddal, P. H., Sletten, K., Haugli, F. B., Little, C, 1988, "Cloning and sequencing of the gene encoding the phosphatidylcholine-preferring phospholipase C of Bacillus cereus", Gene 65(2): 293-304). The crystal structure of BC-PC-PLC has been reported, which consists of a plurality of helical domains and has a catalytic site of aspartic acid 55 and at least three Zn2+ binding sites (Hough., E., Hansen, L. K., Birknes, B., Jynge, K., Hansen, S., Hordvik, A., Little, C., Dodson, E., Derewenda, Z., 1989, "High-resolution (1.5 A) crystal structure of phospholipase C from Bacillus cereus", Nature, 338:357-60). Little has been studied about the heterologous expression of BC-PC-PLC other than that in Bacillus subtilis and pichia pastoris (Durban, M. A., Silbersack, J., Schweder, T., Schauer, F., Bornscheuer, U. T., 2007, High level expression of a recombinant phospholipase C from Bacillus cereus in Bacillus subtilis, Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 74(3):634-639; Seo, K. H, Rhee J. I., 2004, High-level expression of recombinant phospholipase C from Bacillus cereus in Pichia pastoris and its characterization, Biotechnol Lett 26(19):1475-1479).
Currently, phospholipase C is mainly used in enzymatic degumming. In the manufacture of edible oil such as soybean oil and rapeseed oil, unrefined crude oil mainly comprises a complex mixture of triglycerides, phospholipids, sterols, tocopherols, free fatty acids, trace metals and other trace compounds, wherein the phospholipid will cause deterioration of color and taste, shorter shelf life and affect the effect of subsequent refining process. Currently, the main degumming processes comprise hydration degumming, deep degumming and enzymatic degumming. Enzymatic degumming is becoming preferred due to its mild condition, non-pollution, and low oil consumption.
Since phospholipase C can act on glycerophospholipids to generate diacylglycerol, use of phospholipase C in the enzymatic degumming process thus can significantly improve the yield of oil, thereby enhancing the economic efficiency of production. Therefore, it is of important practical significance to improve the degumming performance of phospholipase C.
However, there is still need of BC-PC-PLC with a higher enzymatic activity in the field.

Efficient phospholipase C mutant that does not rely on zinc ions

Wilmar (Shanghai) Biotechnology Research & Development Center Co., Ltd.


A method for etching a feature in a low-k dielectric layer through a photoresist etch mask over a substrate. A gas-modulated cyclic stripping process is performed for more than three cycles for stripping a single photoresist mask. Each cycle of the gas-modulated cyclic stripping process comprises performing a protective layer formation phase and a stripping phase. The protective layer forming phase using first gas chemistry with a deposition gas chemistry, wherein the protective layer forming phase is performed in about 0.005 to 10 seconds for each cycle. The performing the stripping phase for stripping the photoresist mask using a second gas chemistry using a stripping gas chemistry, where the first gas chemistry is different than the second gas chemistry, wherein the etching phase is performed in about 0.005 to 10 seconds for each cycle.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method of obtaining a structure on a semiconductor wafer by etching through structures defined by a photoresist mask and then stripping the mask.
2. Description of the Related Art
In semiconductor plasma etching applications, a plasma etcher is usually used to transfer a mask pattern into a circuit and line pattern of a desired thin film and/or filmstack (conductors or dielectric insulators) on a wafer. This is achieved by etching away the films (and filmstacks) underneath the photoresist materials in the opened areas of the mask pattern. This etching reaction may be initiated by the chemically active species and electrically charged particles (ions) generated by exciting an electric discharge in a reactant mixture contained in a vacuum enclosure also referred to as a reactor or process chamber. Additionally, the ions may be also accelerated towards the wafer materials through an electric field created between the gas mixture and the wafer materials, generating a directional removal of the etching materials along the direction of the ion trajectory in a manner referred to as anisotropic etching. At the finish of the etching sequence, the masking materials are removed by stripping them away, leaving in its place a replica of the lateral pattern of the original intended mask patterns. During the etching process, the mask materials are usually eroded and/or damaged in exchange for the pattern transfer. Consequently, some of the damage and erosion also may be transferred to the underlying layers leaving such undesirable pattern distortions such as striation, CD enlargement, faceting, etc.
In addition, for low-k dielectric materials (k<3.0), during the stripping of the photoresist, damage may occur to the low-k dielectric material, which may increase the k value. In such a stripping process, it is desirable to limit such damage during the stripping process.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for plasma stripping using periodic modulation of gas chemistry and hydrocarbon addition


An embodiment of the present invention is a method for monitoring various data sources for events indicative of a current or potential system health problem, thereby automating management of system health monitoring, prediction, and notification, and providing the ability to correct said system health issues in the environment of a multiprocessor system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a utility service that automates management of system health-operations in monitoring, prediction, and notification, and provides the ability to correct system health issues in a digital environment.
2. Description of Related Art
Monitoring the health of complex multi-processor systems is a difficult and time-consuming task. Human operators must know where and how frequently to check for problem conditions and how to react to correct them when found. Recognizing the signs of a possible future problem so that it can be avoided altogether is even more difficult and is not a task that is performed with any consistency across customer sites. Earlier releases of the Unisys Server Sentinel software suite attempted to address these issues for Unisys ES7000 systems through a set of approximately 20 knowledge scripts provided with the Server Director product. Although these scripts provided automated monitoring for predetermined alert conditions, each script had to be separately configured and deployed by technical staff at each customer site. The conditions being monitored were generally only things that could be expressed very simply (such as simple threshold violations), and the script set provided little in the way of predictive monitoring.
On related art method to which the method of the present invention generally relates is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,230 entitled "Expert System For Processing Errors In A Multiplex Communications System". This prior related art method is a method and apparatus for detecting and analyzing errors in a communications system. The method employs expert system techniques to isolate failures to specific field replaceable units and provide detailed messages to guide an operator to a solution. The expert system techniques include detailed decision trees designed for each resource in the system. The decision trees also filter extraneous sources of errors from affecting the error analysis results.
The present invention differs from the above related cited art in that the prior invention deals specifically with a "communications system", not a general-purpose computer system. The cited prior reference targets actual failures of field replaceable hardware units, whereas the present invention will detect warning conditions that predict failure (as well as failures that have already occurred) and is capable of monitoring software as well as hardware.
Yet another related art method to which the method of the present invention generally relates is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,263,452 entitled "Fault-tolerant Computer System With Online Recovery And Reintegration Of Redundant Components". This prior related art method involves a computer system in a fault-tolerant configuration which employs multiple identical CPUs executing the same instruction stream, with multiple, identical memory modules in the address space of the CPUs storing duplicates of the same data. The system detects faults in the CPUs and memory modules, and places a faulty unit offline while continuing to operate using the good units. The faulty unit can be replaced and reintegrated into the system without shutdown. The multiple CPUs are loosely synchronized, as by detecting events such as memory references and stalling any CPU ahead of others until all execute the function simultaneously; interrupts can be synchronized by ensuring that all CPUs implement the interrupt at the same point in their instruction stream. Memory references via the separate CPU-to-memory busses are voted at the three separate ports of each of the memory modules. I/O functions are implemented using two identical I/O busses, each of which is separately coupled to only one of the memory modules. A number of I/O processors are coupled to both I/O busses. I/O devices are accessed through a pair of identical (redundant) I/O processors, but only one is designated to actively control a given device; in case of failure of one I/O processor, however, an I/O device can be accessed by the other one without system shutdown.
The present invention differs from this related art in that the cited prior art focuses on a method that deals with fault-tolerant configuration of redundant CPUs. The method of the present invention is not limited to hardware and is concerned with reporting hardware and software problems rather than automatically swapping out bad hardware components.
Another related art method to which the method of the present invention generally relates is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,237,114 entitled "System And Method For Evaluating Monitored Computer Systems". This prior related art method is a computer system used in monitoring another computer system and provides both textual resolution information describing a likely solution for a problem encountered in the monitored computer system as well as component information that relates to the particular problem. The component information includes the various hardware, software and operating conditions found in the monitored computer system. The monitoring computer system determines if a condition of a predetermined severity exists in the monitored computer system according to diagnostic information provided from the monitored computer system. The diagnostic information is represented in the monitoring computer system as a hierarchical representation of the monitored computer system. The hierarchical representation provides present state information indicating the state of hardware and software components and operating conditions of the monitored computer system. The resolution information relating to the condition is retrieved from a resolution database and relevant component information is retrieved from the hierarchical representation of the computer system and presented to a support engineer to assist them in diagnosing the problem in the monitored computer system.
The present invention differs from this related art in that the cited prior art focuses on a system for describing a problem found on a monitored system and advises the user of possible resolutions. The method of the present invention does not attempt to advise the user as it is more concerned with detecting and reporting failures and bad data trends that may indicate potential future failures. Many of these conditions are self-explanatory. This cited art seems to appear like this is a distributed application and the monitoring system is responsible for determining if a problem condition is present. However, in the present invention, all monitoring is performed locally and is tailored to use only a set of special monitoring policies that apply to the local system.

Method for health monitoring with predictive health service in a multiprocessor system


A bearing arrangement for a harvesting machine, including a bearing configured to couple a rotatable shaft with a chassis of the harvesting machine, a first element coupled with the shaft so as to be rotatable therewith, and a second element coupled with the chassis of the harvesting machine. Additionally, at least a portion of the second element is substantially concentrically enclosed by the first element and the first and second elements cooperate to define a contactless seal configured to substantially prevent contamination of the bearing. The shaft is coupled with a product treating element, such as a crop feeding and/or processing element that is driven or idle rotating.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to a bearing arrangement for a product treating element for a harvesting machine. More specifically, the invention is for use with a machine having a driven or freely rotating shaft that is connected to a product conveying and/or product processing element.
2. Related Technology
DE 101 15 331, which is also published as U.S. Pat. No. 6,619,851, describes a bearing arrangement in which the rotating shaft of a harvested material processing device is supported by a rolling bearing on the frame of a harvesting machine. A first washer acting as a seal is joined stationary to the side wall of a feed channel of the harvesting machine and with the shaft encloses a relatively narrow gap. A second washer that also acts as a seal rotates with the shaft. The second washer is situated between the first washer and the rolling bearing arranged on the outside side of the side wall. The rolling bearing is to be protected from penetrating foreign material, in particular plant juices, by the washers and a seal with flexible lips that lie against a ball race of the rolling bearing, which ball race rotates with the shaft.
Another bearing arrangement is described in DE 195 48 636 A. The shaft has threads that in cooperation with stationary collectors are to discharge the plant juices to the outside and prevent damage to the rolling bearing.
DE 350 15 131 A describes another bearing arrangement with rolling bearings arranged on the outside of the side wall of a conveying channel, which rolling bearings are protected from penetrating plant juices by a labyrinth seal, whose part connected to the shaft is designed as a centrifugal washer.
Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,206 A suggests a bearing arrangement with a stationary axis that extends in the interior space of a rotating roller. A rolling bearing in the interior of the roller rotatably supports the roller on the axis. A sealing washer is connected to the roller and is in cooperation with a washer connected to the axis to seal the rolling bearing against the outside.
Finally, EP 0 920 799 A, which is also published as U.S. Pat. No. 6,139,478, suggests a bearing arrangement for a driven roller in which the rolling bearing is situated in an opening in the side wall of the compression chamber of a ball press and supports a shaft penetrating the opening. The rolling bearing is sealed by flexible sealing lips that rotate with the roller and that lie against a ring that extends axially and that is attached to the inside of the side wall.

Bearing arrangement for a harvesting machine


Compositions and methods for enhancing plant growth and crop yield in legumes and non-legumes are described. The compositions include lipo-chitooligosaccharides in combination with chitins/chitosans or in combination with flavonoid compounds or in combination with a herbicide. The method includes applying the compositions to seeds and/or plants either concomitantly or sequentially.

Nitrogen fixation plays a vital role in agricultural production by making atmospheric nitrogen available in a form that can be used by plants. In plants of the Leguminoseae family, the symbiotic interaction between the plants and nitrogen-fixing bacteria of the Rhizobiaceae family ("rhizobia") enhances plant growth and crop yield. The symbiotic interaction is initiated when a plant releases flavonoid compounds that stimulate rhizobial bacteria in the soil to produce "Nod-factors." Nod-factors are signaling compounds that induce the early stages of nodulation in plant roots, which lead to the formation of root nodules containing the nitrogen-fixing rhizobial bacteria. Although this process occurs naturally over time in legumes, agricultural procedures have been developed to begin the process earlier. These procedures include providing nitrogen-fixing bacteria to seeds or soil and applying Nod factors directly to seeds or soil prior to or at planting.
Nod factors have recently been shown to also enhance the germination, growth and yield of legumes and non-legumes through processes other than nodulation (U.S. Pat. No. 6,979,664; Prithiviraj et al., Planta 216: 437-445, 2003). Although the effects of Nod factors on nodulation have been widely studied and reviewed, e.g., Ferguson and Mathesius, J. Plant Growth Regulation 22: 47-72, 2003, the mechanisms for Nod factor effects independent of nodulation are not well understood. Application of Nod factors to seeds of legumes and non-legumes stimulates germination, seedling emergence, plant growth and yield in crop and horticultural plant species, e.g., as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,979,664 and 5,922,316. Nod factors have also been shown to enhance root development (Olah, et al., The Plant Journal 44:195-207, 2005). Foliar application of Nod factors has also been demonstrated to increase photosynthesis (U.S. Pat. No. 7,250,068), and fruiting and flowering (WO 04/093,542) in crop and horticultural plant species.
Nod factors are lipo-chitooligosaccharide compounds (LCO's). They consist of an oligomeric backbone of β-1,4-linked N-acetyl-D-glucosamine ("GlcNAc") residues with an N-linked fatty acyl chain at the nonreducing end. LCO's differ in the number of GlcNAc residues in the backbone, in the length and degree of saturation of the fatty acyl chain, and in the substitutions of reducing and nonreducing sugar residues. LCO structure is characteristic for each rhizobial species, and each strain may produce multiple LCO's with different structures. LCO's are the primary determinants of host specificity in legume symbiosis (Diaz, Spaink, and Kijne, Mol. Plant-Microbe Interactions 13: 268-276, 2000).
LCO synthesis can be stimulated by adding the appropriate flavonoid, for a given genus and species of rhizobium during growth of the bacteria. The flavonoid molecules bind to the rhizobium and turn on bacterial genes for the production of specific LCO's which are released into the fermentation medium. In nature, leguminous plants release the appropriate flavonoid, which binds to soil rhizobia, turning on genes for LCO production. These LCO's are released by bacteria into the soil, bind to the roots of leguminous plants, and initiate a cascade of plant gene expression that stimulates formation of nitrogen-fixing nodule structures on legume roots. Alternatively, modified and synthetic LCO molecules can be produced through genetic engineering or chemical synthesis. Synthetic LCO's of the same molecular structure interact with plants and stimulate nodulation in the same manner as naturally produced molecules.
Chitins and chitosans, which are major components of the cell walls of fungi and the exoskeletons of insects and crustaceans, are also composed of GlcNAc residues. These compositions have been applied to seeds, roots, or foliage of a broad spectrum of crop and horticultural plants. Chitin and chitosan compositions enhance protection against plant pathogens, in part, by stimulating plants to produce chitinases, enzymes that degrade chitin (Collinge, et al., The Plant Journal 3: 31-40, 1993).
Flavonoids are phenolic compounds having the general structure of two aromatic rings connected by a three carbon bridge. Flavonoids are produced by plants and have many functions, e.g., as beneficial signaling molecules, and as protection against insects, animals, fungi and bacteria. Classes of flavonoids include chalcones, anthocyanidins, coumarins, flavones, flavanols, flavonols, flavanones, and isoflavones. (Jain and Nainawatee, J. Plant Biochem. & Biotechnol. 11: 1-10, 2002; Shaw, et al., Environmental Microbiol. 11: 1867-1880, 2006.)

Lipo-chitooligosaccharide combination compositions for enhanced plant growth and yield


This disclosure describes systems, methods, and devices related to link aggregation between devices. A device may encode a multi-band element for transmission using a first interface of one or more interfaces to a first device. The device may cause to send a first link aggregation setup request to the first device including at least in part the multi-band element. The device may identify a first link aggregation setup response from the first device. The device may cause to establish a multi-band link aggregation session with the first device using the first interface.

Efficient use of the resources of a wireless local area network (WLAN) is important to provide bandwidth and acceptable response times to the users of the WLAN. However, often there are many devices trying to share the same resources, and some devices may be limited by the communication protocol they use or by their hardware bandwidth.

Multi-band link aggregation setup frames


Technologies for managing replica caching in a distributed storage system include a storage manager device. The storage manager device is configured to receive a data write request to store replicas of data. Additionally, the storage manager device is configured to designate one of the replicas as a primary replica, select a first storage node to store the primary replica of the data in a cache storage and at least a second storage node to store a non-primary replica of the data in a non-cache storage. The storage manager device is further configured to include a hint in a first replication request to the first storage node that the data is to be stored in the cache storage of the first storage node as the primary replica. Further, the storage manager device is configured to transmit replication requests to the respective storage nodes. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Typical distributed storage systems include a storage manager device, which is sometimes referred to as a proxy, coupled to multiple storage nodes. The storage manager device is configured to receive data uploaded from a client device and transmit the data to several of the storage nodes for storage therein, as copies ("replicas"). Similarly, when a client device requests the data, the storage manager device requests the data from one of the storage nodes that stored a replica of the data, based on load balancing policies or other rules. The storage manager device then receives the data and transmits the data to the client device. In some distributed storage systems, the storage nodes include hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs), which provide faster read and write times than HDDs. In such systems, a determination to store data in the SSD rather than the HDD is applied across all of the storage nodes that are to store the data, such that the each of the storage nodes stores the data in their respective SSD rather than their HDD.

Managing replica caching in a distributed storage system


A device for creating a corrosive condition and monitoring that condition, adapted for use in active fluid heat exchangers, has a sealed tube having corrosion sites spaced apart on its exterior. Structure positioned on the outside of the tube at the corrosion sites provide crevices for retaining corrosive sludges in contact with the corrosion sites. The interior of the tube is pressurized with a gas to stress the tube thereby accelerating corrosion of the surface. Heat is provided to the corrosion sites from within the tube when placed within a fluid reservoir, such as the secondary side of a fluid heat exchanger. The heat concentrates corrosive chemicals at the corrosion sites, also accelerating corrosion. Electronic probes can be mounted in proximity to the corrosion sites for real time monitoring of the progress of corrosion.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a class of devices for creating a range of corrosive conditions simulating those found in crevices of metal surfaces contained within a corrosive medium. It has particular application to the conditions found in heat exchangers, especially at the surfaces of heat exchange tubes within the secondary side of pressurized water reactor nuclear steam generators.
This invention additionally relates to methods of monitoring and predicting tube crevice corrosion, also having applications to the operation of heat exchangers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The thin-walled metal tubes that are generally used in heat exchangers often suffer highly stressed conditions during extended periods of use. Stresses caused by elevated temperatures and pressures in combination with a corrosive chemical environment can lead to failure of these metals. This process occurs frequently at the crevices formed at interfaces with supporting structures. Corrosive debris suspended in a heat exchanger fluid can accumulate in the crevices as a corrosive sludge. Where a heat exchanger contains a hazardous material, or where the heat exchanger is within a system that is difficult or costly to shut down for maintenance, it is especially important to be able to monitor corrosive degradation, or even better, to predict catastrophic failure before it happens. Environmental concerns and cost considerations are both important in pressurized water reactor (PWR) nuclear steam generators.
Because corrosion of the heat exchanger tubes of PWR steam generators present special concerns related to this invention, it is worthwhile to outline some of the details of these systems. Nuclear powered steam generators have three principle parts. A primary side contains radioactive hot water heated by the nuclear core. A secondary side contains non-radioactive water which, upon being converted into steam, powers the turbine generator. Heat is transferred from the primary side to the secondary side by a heat exchanger comprising a tube sheet in which the inlet and outlet ends of a plurality of U-shaped tubes are mounted. In PWR's, water from the primary side enters the U-shaped tubes through the inlets, flows through the U-shaped tubes and exits the outlets which are hydraulically isolated from the inlets by a divider sheet. A second hydraulic flowpath circulates non-radioactive water around the outside surfaces of the U-shaped tubes extending into the secondary side. Heat from the primary side is transferred across the metal boundaries of the U-shaped tubes to the secondary side.
The U-shaped heat exchange tubes of nuclear powered steam generators are subjected to conditions which can lead to corrosion and failure of the tubes. Corrosion in the crevice regions of the heat exchanger is especially troublesome. Crevices are formed in the annular space between the heat exchange tubes and the tube sheet and also in the annular clearance between the tubes and the support plates in the secondary side. The support plates are used to uniformly space and align these tubes which otherwise would be buffeted about by the strong hydraulic flow around them. A sludge formed of particulates in suspension in the secondary side tends to collect in these crevices. These sludges are comprised predominantly of iron oxides and copper. The normal hydraulic circulation of the water in the secondary side is not sufficient to flush out the sludge from these crevices. In fact, the poor hydraulic circulation in these regions exacerbates the situation. The collection of sludge in the crevices impedes heat transfer from these regions, creating localized areas of elevated temperature (or "hot spots") in the tubes adjacent the sludge. The elevated temperatures in the "hot spots" allow higher local concentrations of corrosive impurities in solution, accelerating the corrosion process. Nuclear power plant operators periodically attempt to sweep the sludge out of the generator vessel by hydraulic means, however this is not always effective. The U-shaped heat exchange tubes of nuclear steam generators are typically formed from corrosion resistant nickel alloys, such as Inconel.RTM. 600, but corrosion in the crevices due to the elevated heat conditions and the high pressures found within the U-shaped tubes may ultimately penetrate the tube wall, resulting in leakage of radioactive water from the primary side into the non-radioactive water in the secondary side of the steam generator. Remedial action taken during maintenance shutdowns of the reactor can prevent such leakage, however it would be very useful to be able to know when corrosion is occurring before there is significant propagation.
While early forms of steam generator corrosion (thinning and denting) could be readily related to a particular operating chemistry, more recent forms of corrosion (intergranular corrosion and cold leg thinning) usually cannot be related to a direct cause. As impurity levels in steam generators have been reduced, it has become progressively more difficult to correlate contaminant levels, as measured either in the steam generator blowdown during power operation or by monitoring the hideout return following a shutdown, with the severity of corrosion, as measured by the time period required to initiate corrosion, its subsequent propagation rate, and the number of affected tubes. Because of the inability of using the operating chemistry as a means of judging the possible future extent of corrosion, a more direct means of relating a particular operating chemistry to the future occurrence of corrosion is highly desirable. With such a capability, it would be possible to undertake a corrective action well in advance of the corrosion actually occurring.
For this reason, model steam generators were developed to monitor the corrosion occurring in the heat exchange tubes of particular steam generators so that corrective action could be taken before failure of the tube walls. Model steam generators are bulky complicated apparatuses that attempt to mimic the actual steam generators. They contain all the hydraulic elements of an actual steam generator including circulating primary water, circulating secondary water and heat exchange tubes. They operate by subjecting an array of sample heat exchange tubes to a set of heat, pressure and chemical conditions approximating that which surrounds the heat exchange tubes in such nuclear steam generators. Their accuracy depends upon the accuracy of the simulation of the conditions within the operating steam generator. One type of model steam generator is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,628,870, 4,635,589 and 4,640,233, all which were assigned to the Westinghouse Electric Corporation. A more compact model steam generator was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,637,346, also assigned to the Westinghouse Electric Corporation.
Model steam generators, while being useful instruments for simulating conditions in an actual steam generator, do not subject the tubes in the model steam generators to exactly the same conditions as found in an operating generator. Although the same secondary side feedwater source as used in a PWR generator may be fed into the model generator's secondary side, this does not guarantee the same chemistry as that found within the power plant's secondary side. An additional defect they suffer is that it is difficult to change the primary tubes in the model steam generators, for example, to do inspection or destructive testing of the heat exchange tubes.


Method, system and computer-readable medium to locate a prefix hijacker of a destination prefix within a one-hop neighborhood on a network. The method includes generating one-hop neighborhoods from autonomous system (AS)-level paths of plural monitors to a destination prefix. The method also includes determining a suspect set of AS identifiers resulting from a union of the one-hop neighborhoods. The method further includes calculating a count and a distance associated with each AS identifier of the suspect set. The count indicates how often the AS identifier appeared in the one-hop neighborhoods. The distance indicates a total distance from the AS identifier to AS identifiers associated with the plural monitors. Yet further, the method includes generating a one-hop suspect set of AS identifiers from the suspect set that have highest counts and highest distances.

Prefix hijacking refers to a misconfigured or a malicious border gateway protocol (BGP) router that originates or announces a route to an Internet Protocol (IP) destination prefix (e.g., a destination prefix) that it does not own. This is becoming an increasingly serious Internet security thereat.
On a network, such as the Internet, IP packets are routed based on destination IP addresses. Routing tables of BGP routers are also organized based on the destination IP addresses. For scalability, plural destination IP addresses may be represented collectively by an IP destination prefix and routes stored in the BGP routers' routing tables are indexed based on the IP destination prefix. The IP destination prefix indicates an address portion common to the plural destination IP addresses (e.g., destination prefix) and a number of bits associated with the destination prefix. For example, a destination prefix of 168.205.122/24 indicates that a first 24 bits are common to destination IP addresses represented by the destination prefix (e.g., 10101000 11001101 01111010 in binary or 168.205.122 in hexadecimal). The example destination prefix may represent destination IP addresses from 22.214.171.124 to 220.127.116.11.
On the Internet, one or more subnet networks that are under control of an independently administered domain constitute an autonomous system (AS), which is identified via a unique numerical ID (e.g., AS ID) assigned to it by its regional Internet registry. The AS includes one or more BGP routers to facilitate inter-domain routing, e.g., routing of IP traffic through neighboring autonomous systems (ASes). The AS ID is associated with one or more IP destination prefixes that the AS owns.
The Internet includes tens of thousands of ASes. ASes establish neighboring relationships, employing BGP routers to maintain and exchange inter-domain routing information (or routing announcements). BGP operates based on the assumption that there is implicit trust among the ASes. As a result, inter-domain routing between ASes is incapable of preventing a BGP router of a malicious AS (e.g., prefix hijacker) from announcing a route to a destination prefix using a fabricated AS path (e.g., false announcement). Such a false announcement may cascade quickly to a large number of BGP routers across multiple ASes and pollute their associated routing tables.
Based on the false announcements, entries in the routing tables may be updated by the BGP routers for the destination prefix because the BGP router's malicious AS appears to be a very attractive next hop for forwarding traffic towards that destination prefix, resulting in hijacking of the destination prefix. Thus, IP traffic from certain parts of the Internet destined to the destination prefix may be affected. For example, the malicious AS may drop all IP traffic addressed to the destination prefix to effectively cause a denial of service attack against the destination prefix. The malicious AS may also redirect IP traffic to an alternate destination prefix that may operate as a phishing attack. Other types of attacks are also possible by hijacking the destination prefix. As a result, one or more networks of a domain identified by the hijacked destination prefix may experience performance degradation, service outage, and/or a serious security breach.
Destination prefix monitors (e.g., prefix hijack monitors) may be disposed at certain ASes on the Internet to determine and report AS-level paths of IP traffic from the ASes at which the prefix hijack monitors are disposed to the destination prefix across the Internet using a traceroute program. It would be desirable to locate a prefix hijacker of a destination prefix within a one-hop neighborhood using the reported AS-level paths.

System and method to locate a prefix hijacker within a one-hop neighborhood


An axle drive (1) for a vehicle is provided, comprising a differential (2) and an electrical motor (17) in driving connection with said differential (2) via a disconnect (7), wherein lubrication of said axle drive (1) is adjusted automatically by means of the position of said disconnect (7).

Axle drives, such as electrical rear axle drives, may be provided with a disconnect for selectively disconnect the rotating parts from the drivetrain. The disconnect, which normally is provided as a dog clutch, will upon disengagement prevent rotational connection between the electric motor, used to provide driving torque to the axle drive, and the differential mechanism of the axle drive.
The demands for efficient lubrication will typically vary during operation of the axle drive, and it would therefore be advantageous to provide a solution which allows for improved lubrication.