The present document relates to methods and systems for setting up and managing two-dimensional or three-dimensional scenes for audio conferences. A conference controller (111, 175) configured to place a plurality of upstream audio signals (123, 173) associated with a plurality of conference participants within a 2D or 3D conference scene to be rendered to a listener (211) is described. The conference controller (111, 175) is configured to set up a X-point conference scene with X different spatial talker locations (212) within the conference scene; assign the plurality of upstream audio signals (123, 173) to respective ones of the talker locations (212); determine a degree of activity of the plurality of upstream audio signals (123, 173); determine a dominant one of the plurality of upstream audio signals (123, 173); and emphasize the dominant upstream audio signal (123, 173).

One of the deficiencies in current multi-party voice conferences is that voices are typically all rendered to the listeners as a monaural audio stream—essentially overlaid on top of each other and usually presented to the listeners "within the head" when headphones are used. Spatialisation techniques, used e.g. to simulate different people talking from different rendered locations, can improve intelligibility of speech in a voice conference, in particular when there are multiple people speaking. The present document addresses the technical problem of designing appropriate two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) scenes for an audio conference which allow a listener to easily distinguish the different talkers of the audio conference. Furthermore, schemes for populating a 2D or 3D conference scene with participants are described, which allow to reduce the impact on an ongoing audio conference, when adding new participants into the conference scene. In addition, appropriate schemes for emphasizing dominant talkers within a conference scene are described.
According to an aspect a conference controller configured to place a plurality of upstream audio signals associated with a plurality of conference participants within 2D or 3D conference scene is described. The conference scene is to be rendered to a listener. Typically, the listener is positioned at a central position of the conference scene (e.g. at the center of a circle or a sphere, if the conference scene is modeled as a circle or a sphere). The plurality of upstream audio signals may be audio signals generated at the terminals (e.g. computing devices or telephone devices) of the corresponding plurality of conference participants. As such, the plurality of upstream audio signals typically comprises the speech signals of the plurality of conference participants. For this reason, the upstream audio signals may also be referred to as talker audio signals. The conference controller may be positioned (at a central position) within a communication network (e.g. in a so called centralized conference architecture) and/or the conference controller may be positioned at a terminal of a conference participant (e.g. in a so called distributed conference architecture). The conference controller may also be referred to as a scene manager, in the instance of using a 2D or 3D rendering system. The conference controller may be implemented using a computing device (e.g. a server).
The conference controller may be configured to set up an X-point conference scene with X different spatial talker locations within the conference scene, X being an integer, X>0 (e.g. X>1, in particular X=1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 10). In this context, the conference controller may be configured to calculate the X-point conference scene with X different spatial talker locations based on one or more of the conference scene design rules described in the present document. One such design rule may e.g. be that the X talker locations are positioned within a cone around a midline in front of the head of a listener. Other design rules may relate to an angular separation of the X talker locations. Alternatively or in addition, the conference controller may be configured to select the X-point conference scene with the X different spatial talker locations from a set of pre-determined conference scenes comprising pre-determined speaker locations. By way of example, the set may comprise one or more pre-determined X-point conference scenes with X different pre-determined spatial talker locations. As such, the X-point conference scene may be a pre-determined X-point conference scene with X pre-determined speaker locations.
The conference controller may be configured to set up different conference scenes (e.g. different X-point conference scenes with differently placed talker locations and/or conference scenes with different values of X). The X talker locations of the X-point conference scene may be positioned within a cone around a midline in front of the head of the listener. The midline may be an imaginary line starting at a mid point on an imaginary line between the ears of the listener and extending perpendicularly to the imaginary line between the ears of the listener in front of the head of the listener. A generatrix of the cone and the midline may form an (absolute) angle which is smaller than or equal to a pre-determined maximum cone angle. The maximum cone angle may be preferably 30°, or narrower such as 20°, or even 15°, depending on the population of the cone.
The conference controller may be configured to assign the plurality of upstream audio signal to respective ones of the X talker locations. By assigning the plurality of upstream audio signals to particular talker locations within the conference scene, the conference controller enables a rendering device (e.g. a terminal of the listener of the conference scene) to render the plurality of upstream audio signals as if the upstream audio signals emanate from the respective particular talker locations. For this purpose, the conference controller is configured to generate metadata identifying the assigned talker location and enabling an audio processing unit (at a listener's terminal) to generate a spatialized audio signal based on the plurality of upstream audio signals. When rendering the spatialized audio signal to the listener, the listener perceives the plurality of upstream audio signals as coming from the assigned talker locations. The audio processing unit may be positioned within the terminal of the listener, or in the central audio server handling the audio streams. The spatialized audio signal may e.g. be a binaural audio signal which is rendered on headphones or loudspeakers at the terminal of the listener. Alternatively or in addition, the spatialized audio signal may be a multi-channel (surround sound) signal, e.g. a 5.1 or a 7.1 multi-channel signal.
The X talker locations may be placed on a circle or a sphere with the listener being placed in a center of the circle or sphere. Alternative conference scenes may comprise talker locations which are placed on an ellipse or ellipsoid. The listener does not necessarily need to be placed in the center. By way of example, in order to simulate a meeting around a table, wherein the meeting comprises the conference participant and the listener, the listener may be placed at an edge of the geometrical shape forming the conference scene, e.g. at an edge of the circle or sphere, or the ellipse or ellipsoid. In the latter case (as well as in the case where the listener is placed in the center of an ellipse or ellipsoid), the distance between the X talker locations and the listener would be different depending on the talker location.
Two adjacent talker locations of the X talker locations may be separated by at least a minimum angular distance. The minimum angular distance may be 5° or more. The above mentioned condition may be fulfilled by all pairs of adjacent talker locations of the X talker locations. The minimum angular distance allows the listener to clearly distinguish upstream audio signals which are rendered from the different talker locations. The angular distance between adjacent talker locations of the X talker locations may differ for different talker locations. By way of example, the angular distance between adjacent talker locations of the X talker locations may increase with increasing distance of the adjacent talker locations from the midline. By doing this, the varying capability of a listener to distinguish the source of sounds coming from different angles may be taken into account.
The conference controller may be configured to determine a degree of activity of the plurality of upstream audio signals at a time instant. The degree of activity of an upstream audio signal at the time instant may be determined by determining an energy (e.g. a mean squared energy value of the samples) of the upstream audio signal at the time instant. Furthermore, the conference controller may be configured to determine a dominant one of the plurality of upstream audio signals at the time instant based on the degrees of activity of the plurality of upstream audio signals at the time instant. A dominant one of the plurality of upstream audio signals may be determined by determining an upstream audio signal having the highest degree of activity at the time instant. The dominant upstream audio signal may fulfill the criteria that a ratio of the degree of activity of the dominant upstream audio signal and the degree of activity of another upstream audio signal exceeds a pre-determined threshold. In particular, the dominant upstream audio signal may fulfill the criteria that the ratios of the degree of activity of the dominant upstream audio signal and the degrees of activity of all other upstream audio signals exceed the pre-determined threshold.
The conference controller may be configured to emphasize the dominant upstream audio signal at the time instant, thereby enabling the listener of the conference scene to focus on the dominant upstream signal (i.e. on the dominant talker within the audio conference). For this purpose, the conference controller may be configured to generate (or initiate the generation of) a set of downstream audio signals, as well as metadata. The set of downstream audio signals may comprise the dominant upstream audio signal, as well as some or all of the other upstream audio signals. The metadata may identify the talker locations of the plurality of upstream audio signals. The set of downstream audio signals and the metadata may enable the audio processing unit at the listener's terminal to generate a spatialized audio signal, such that when rendering the spatialized audio signal to the listener, the listener perceives the dominant upstream audio signal in an emphasized manner.
The conference controller may be configured to assign the dominant upstream audio signal to a first of the X talker locations. In this case, the dominant upstream audio signal may be emphasized at the time instant by re-assigning the dominant upstream audio signal to a center location within the 2D or 3D conference scene. The center location may be closer to the midline in front of the head of the listener than the first talker location. In other words, the conference controller may be configured to emphasize the dominant upstream audio signal by moving the spatial location of the dominant upstream audio signal to the center of the conference scene. The center location may lie between the two talker locations closest to the midline. Alternatively, the center location may correspond to the talker location closest to the midline. In this case, the conference controller may be configured to re-assign an upstream audio signal already assigned to the talker location closest to the midline to another talker location within the conference scene.
The conference controller may be configured to emphasize the dominant upstream audio signal at the time instant by increasing a rendering volume of the dominant upstream audio signal at the time instant. Alternatively or in addition, the conference controller may be configured to emphasize the dominant upstream audio signal at the time instant by moving the first talker location (i.e. the talker location assigned to the dominant upstream audio signal) closer to the listener. This may be achieved by modifying the reverberation parameters, in particular the ratio of the direct and reverberant components of the processed signal, of the conference scene for the dominant upstream audio signal.
The conference controller may be configured to emphasize the dominant upstream audio signal at the time instant by rotating the 2D or 3D conference scene around the head of the listener. Rotating the conference scene typically comprises rotating the talker locations to yield updated talker locations. Subsequent to rotating the conference scene, the upstream audio signals may be placed at one or more respective updated talker locations. The conference controller may be configured to rotate the conference scene such that the updated talker location of the dominant upstream signal is the updated talker location closest to a midline in front of the head of the listener. By rotating the conference scene in such a manner, the rotation of the head of the listener towards the dominant talker is simulated.
The conference controller may be configured to emphasize the dominant upstream audio signal at the time instant by modifying a height of the first talker location relative to the others of the X spatial talker locations. In particular, the conference controller may be configured to increase the height of the first talker location relative to the others of the X spatial talker locations. As outlined in the present document, the X talker locations may be defined using respective azimuth angles and inclination angles. As such, the conference controller may be configured to modify (e.g. increase) an inclination angle of the first talker location relative to the inclination angles of the others of the X spatial talker locations.
The conference controller may be configured to rotate the conference scene such that all updated talker locations are positioned within the above mentioned cone around the midline. Therefore, the amount of rotation within the scene will be different for each of the upstream audio signals. For this purpose, the conference controller may be configured to reduce an angular distance between adjacent talker locations, in order to determine the updated talker locations.
Typically, the conference controller is configured to repeat the determination of a dominant upstream audio signal for a plurality of succeeding time instants. At each time instant the dominant upstream audio signal may be determined. If the dominant upstream audio signal remains unchanged, the emphasis of the current dominant upstream audio signal may be maintained. On the other hand, if a new dominant upstream audio signal is determined, the former dominant upstream audio signal may be de-emphasized (by removing or reversing any of the above mentioned emphasizing schemes) and the new dominant upstream audio signal may be emphasized (according to any of the above mentioned emphasizing schemes). As such, the conference controller may be configured to determine a different new dominant one of the plurality of upstream audio signals at a second time instant after the time instant. In such a situation, the former dominant upstream audio signal may be de-emphasized at the second time instant, and the new dominant upstream audio signal may be emphasized at the second time instant.
The conference controller may be configured to classify the X spatial talker locations into a plurality of clusters, wherein a first of the plurality of clusters comprises at least two spatial talker locations. The spatial talker locations comprised within the first cluster may be directly adjacent. The clustering of spatial talker locations may be used to group the plurality of upstream audio signals according to clusters (e.g. according to departments or functions of a company). The conference controller may be configured to classify the X spatial talker locations into a plurality of clusters dependent upon classification metadata. The classification metadata may comprise an identifier associated with an electronic means of communication of a conference participant. The identifier may comprise an electronic mail address of a conference participant. The classification metadata may comprise an identifier associated with a physical location of a conference participant. The identifier may be encoded using dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signaling. One or more of the plurality of upstream audio signals may comprise the classification metadata. The conference controller may be configured to extract the classification metadata from one or more of the plurality of upstream audio signals. The conference controller may be configured to facilitate input of the classification metadata by a conference participant.
According to another aspect, an audio conferencing system is described. The audio conferencing system comprises a plurality of talker terminals configured to generate a plurality of upstream audio signals associated with a plurality of conference participants, respectively (e.g. using microphones at the talker terminals). Furthermore, the audio conferencing system comprises a conference controller according to any of the aspects described in the present document. The conference controller is configured to assign the plurality of upstream audio signals to respective talker locations within a 2D or 3D conference scene, and to determine and to emphasize a dominant one of the plurality of upstream audio signals. In addition, the audio conferencing system comprises a listener terminal configured to render the dominant upstream audio signal to a listener, such that the listener perceives the dominant upstream audio signal in an emphasized manner.
According to a further aspect, a method for placing a plurality of upstream audio signals associated with a plurality of conference participants within a 2D or 3D conference scene to be rendered to a listener is described. The method comprises setting up a X-point conference scene with X different spatial talker locations within the conference scene, X being an integer, X>0. Furthermore, the method comprises assigning the plurality of upstream audio signals to respective (different) ones of the talker locations. The method proceeds in determining a degree of activity of the plurality of upstream audio signals at a time instant, and in determining a dominant one of the plurality of upstream audio signals at the time instant based on the degrees of activity of the plurality of upstream audio signals at the time instant. Furthermore, the method comprises emphasizing the dominant upstream audio signal at the time instant.
According to a further aspect, a software program is described. The software program may be adapted for execution on a processor and for performing the method steps outlined in the present document when carried out on the processor.
According to another aspect, a storage medium is described. The storage medium may comprise a software program adapted for execution on a processor and for performing the method steps outlined in the present document when carried out on a computing device.
According to a further aspect, a computer program product is described. The computer program may comprise executable instructions for performing the method steps outlined in the present document when executed on a computer.
It should be noted that the methods and systems including its preferred embodiments as outlined in the present patent application may be used stand-alone or in combination with the other methods and systems disclosed in this document. Furthermore, all aspects of the methods and systems outlined in the present patent application may be arbitrarily combined. In particular, the features of the claims may be combined with one another in an arbitrary manner.

Schemes for emphasizing talkers in a 2D or 3D conference scene

Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation


The present invention provides a storage system and a method of controlling the storage system, in which a second site rapidly resumes system process when a first site is damaged. The storage system comprises a first site including a first storage device, a second site including a second storage device, and a third site including a third storage device, and the method of controlling the storage system comprises a step of making a logical volume of the second storage device consistent with a logical volume of the first storage device by remotely copying only the differential data between the logical volume of the first storage device and the logical volume of the second storage device from a logical volume of the third storage device to the logical volume of the second storage device when the first site is damaged.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a storage system and a method of controlling the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Disaster recovery is important in an information-processing system. As a technique for recovery from a disaster, the standard technique is known to store and manage a copy of the data on a storage device at a primary site by a storage device located at a remote site (hereinafter, this technique is referred to as 'remote copy'). According to this technique, when the primary site is damaged, processes performed at the primary site are continuously performed at the remote site by using data in the storage device located at the remote site.
In the above-described method, in order to continue to perform the process that was being performed at the primary site at the remote site when the primary site is damaged, it is necessary to perform a remote copy from the primary site to the remote site in real time. However, the primary site and the remote site are often separated distantly from each other. Therefore, if the remote copy from the primary site to the remote site is performed in real time, it takes a considerable amount of time for data communication, and the processing performance of the primary site is decreased. In an information-processing system required for high availability (HA), the processing performance of the primary site should not be decreased, and the process should be rapidly resumed at the remote site when the primary site is damaged.

Storage system, method of controlling storage system, and storage device


A multi-filter chemical speciation sampler and a virtual impaction particle separation inlet therefore are provided. The inlet includes a housing having a bottom, a collection tube that extends through the bottom, and collection apertures formed in the bottom, arranged around the collection tube; a first plate disposed on top of the housing, having acceleration nozzles disposed at the perimeter thereof; a second plate disposed in the housing below the first plate, having a central aperture and separation apertures disposed around the central aperture. The sampler includes: an inlet; a virtual impaction separator to further fractionate the PM into a course fraction and a fine fraction; a first separation assembly to divide the course fraction into coarse aliquots, comprising first filters to collect the coarse aliquots; a second separation assembly to divide the fine fraction into fine aliquots, comprising second filters to collect the fine aliquots.

1. Field
Aspects of the present teachings relate to multi-filter chemical speciation samplers to collect particulate matter (PM) fractions from ambient air, and virtual impaction particle separation inlets for the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Airborne particulate matter (PM) is one of the major components of air pollution. PM includes microscopic particles in the air that are generally classified by size as being coarse PM or fine PM. The fine PM includes particles having an aerodynamic diameter (AD) of less than 2.5 microns (μm), and the coarse PM includes particles having an AD of between 2.5 and 10 μm.
PM can be released directly to the atmosphere from natural and anthropogenic sources, such as, industrial smokestacks, automobile tailpipes, wood burning, road dust, wind blown dust, and biological materials (spores and pollen), for example. PM can also form in the atmosphere from chemical reactions involving other pollutants, such as sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), ammonia (NH3), and volatile organic compounds (VOC).
Large particles (>10 μm AD) are generally filtered out by the nose. Middle-size or coarse particles (2.5 μm to 10 μm AD) are deposited in the upper airways, where they can impact on surfaces in the throat, larynx and upper branches of the lungs. Coarse PM may consist of several potentially toxic components, such as resuspended particulate matter from paved and unpaved roads, industrial materials, brake linings, tire residues, trace metals, and bio-aerosols. A considerable portion of these particles may be deposited in the upper airways and to a lesser extent into the lower airways, and may be responsible for the exacerbation of asthma and other respiratory disease. Recent data from a small number of epidemiological studies indicate that, apart from, or in addition to, the fine PM, health effects may also be closely associated with the coarse PM, to an even larger extent than to the fine PM. In vitro studies with human monocytes have shown that cellular toxicity and inflammation may also be associated with the coarse PM and its biological components.
In addition, fine PM reaches the alveoli, where it must be dealt with by macrophages from the immune system. Fine PM can be inhaled deep into the lungs and reach the critical areas where the cells replenish the blood with oxygen. They can cause breathing and respiratory symptoms, irritation, inflammation and damage to the lungs. Health studies have shown significant associations between exposure to fine PM and premature death from heart or lung disease. Fine PM also aggravates heart and lung diseases and has been linked to effects, such as cardiovascular symptoms, cardiac arrhythmias, congestive heart failure, heart attacks, respiratory symptoms, asthma attacks, and bronchitis. These effects can result in increased hospital admissions, emergency room visits, absences from school or work, and restricted activity days. Individuals that may be particularly sensitive to fine PM exposure include people with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children.
Accordingly, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published rules setting forth air quality designations and classifications for fine PM, pursuant to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The U.S. EPA has recently considered (2006) rules for coarse PM but at that time the lack of evidence associating coarse particles to health effects was lacking. The U.S. EPA will likely consider a PMc standard in the next round of NAAQS. To support this effort and learn more about PMc and health effects, the U.S. EPA is developing a coarse particle chemical speciation network, where the material collected on filters will be analyzed in the laboratory for different chemical components. Despite the growing evidence of particulate-related health effects, the paucity of information about specific biological mechanisms, associated with both fine and coarse particles, remains a critical missing link.
Accordingly, a need exists for size-fractionating PM from ambient air, separating the fractionated PM into coarse and fine fractions, and then further separating the coarse fraction into coarse aliquots collected on separate filters, which can be separately analyzed.

Multi-filter chemical speciation sampler and virtual impaction particle separation inlet therefore


An electronic device includes a digital circuit, a power delivery subsystem configured to provide a supply voltage and a body-biasing voltage to the digital circuit, and a controller a controller coupled to the power delivery subsystem. The controller is configured to determine a process parameter for the electronic device, determine a current temperature parameter for the electronic device, concurrently determine a first coarse-grain level for the supply voltage and a second coarse-grain level for the body-biasing voltage based on the process parameter, the current temperature parameter, and a frequency of a clock signal to be supplied to the digital circuit, and to determine a fine-grain level for the supply voltage.

Dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS) techniques typically operate to tune a supplied voltage to reduce the power consumption of a digital device while meeting performance expectations. Conventional DVFS techniques take either a set-once approach or an iterative-only approach to configuring a supplied voltage for a specified operating frequency. In the set-once approach, the device employs a look-up table (LUT) to determine the supply voltage level for a detected process parameter and temperature parameter, and then fixes the voltage supply to the voltage level specified by the LUT until a temperature change or frequency change is indicated. While a supply voltage level can be configured relatively quickly using this approach, the voltage levels employed in the LUT typically are relatively coarse and provide excessive margin, and thus the set-once approach tends to result in excess power consumption. In contrast, in the conventional iterative-only approach, the supplied voltage is iteratively adjusted and at each iteration the voltage level is tested to determine whether the device is operational at that voltage level. Once a voltage level is identified as enabling sufficient operation, the supplied voltage is set to that voltage level. While the iterative-only approach typically provides lower voltage margin and thus reduced power consumption, the number of iterations needed to tune to the appropriate voltage level over a relatively wide range can be problematic, as can the energy change required to change the voltage level over the entire device between each iteration for this wide range. Such iterative-only approaches are also susceptible to stability and overshoot issues due to their relatively wide search ranges.

Closed-loop adaptive voltage, body-biasing and frequency scaling


Two sliding user interactions along a display surface of a multitouch input display device are detected in approximately opposite directions proximate to a display location of a scroll element displayed on a graphical user interface (GUI) of the device. Available content displayed within the GUI is automatically zoomed based upon the detected two sliding user interactions along the display surface. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods for multitouch device user interfaces. More particularly, the present invention relates to a scrollbar user interface for multitouch devices.
2. Related Art
Multitouch input technologies provide opportunities for user interface design that provide sensing capabilities for locations of user contact with a display, such as with a finger or stylus. By sensing user contact locations, user interface modules may detect sliding or dragging operations initiated by the user based upon changes to the contact locations. As such, user interface applications have been designed that favor user interactions that mimic physically-oriented activities. For example, user interfaces have been designed that allow a user to flip through a series of album covers by repeatedly sliding a single finger across a display surface and that allow a user to drag a web page up and down by sliding a single finger across the display surface.

Scrollbar user interface for multitouch devices

International Business Machines Corporation


An equipment for precalcining any mineral materials whatsoever comprising a precalciner consisting of a combustion chamber communicating through a passage-way with a reaction chamber itself communicating via a duct with a separation cyclone, the reaction chamber being fed with smokes issuing from a firing furnace and three ducts feeding with hot air issuing from a cooler the combustion chamber, a voluted casing at the level of a burner and said duct, respectively, the equipment in particular permitting the manufacture of cement clinker while greatly minimizing the emission of nitrogen oxides.

The present invention relates to an equipment for precalcining any mineral materials whatsoever such for example as cement clinker, lime, alumina, magnesia or dolomite.
It is also directed to a method of precalcining such materials.
There has already been proposed equipment for precalcining mineral materials comprising in particular a precalciner essentially consisting of a combustion chamber fed with hot air, of a reaction chamber communicating with the combustion chamber and supplied with smokes rich in nitrogen oxides issuing from a firing or calcining furnace, oven or like kiln and of a cyclone permitting the separation of the material and connected to the reaction chamber by a duct.
It is possible to operate this kind of equipment during a reducing run so as to at least partially remove the nitrogen oxides. The reduction of the nitrogen oxides however is limited because in such equipments is generated during a reducing run much unburnt carbon which is practically inactive for the reduction of the nitrogen oxides. Moreover this unburnt carbon is difficult to be subsequently reoxidized and is detrimental to the good operation of the firing furnace.

Equipment for and method of precalcining any mineral materials whatsoever


The present invention provides techniques for performing loop diagnostics in DSL communication systems.

The invention relates to the field of digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, and more particularly, to techniques for performing loop diagnostics on DSL systems.
Generally, there is a need for delivery of broadband services to consumers. One of the more prominent broadband solutions is DSL technology. A popular type of DSL is asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL), although other types of DSL are also available (e.g., very high-bit-ratexe2x80x94VDSL, symmetric high-bit-ratexe2x80x94SHDSL, and high-bit-ratexe2x80x94HDSL). Typically, such DSL services are delivered to consumers by the existing copper wire infrastructure. As such, vendors seeking to provide DSL solutions must contend with widely varying line conditions. Loop diagnostic information allows vendors to characterize given line conditions thereby facilitating deployment of DSL services. Loop diagnostic information might include information such as loop attenuation and quiet noise PSD (power spectral density), and other relevant information (e.g., signal to noise ratio).
Availability of such diagnostic information is useful, for example, on links where initialization fails (for whatever reason, such as a defective modem). Likewise, diagnostic information can be useful when link initialization does not fail (such as in the provisioning of new services). The loop diagnostic information may be exchanged during data mode (e.g., SHOWTIME) through messages over a message-based overhead channel when link initialization succeeds. However, when modems are not able to pass user data due to a failed initialization, the data mode approach cannot be used. In addition, the integrity and reliability of the loop diagnostic information obtained and or derived during failed link activation attempts is questionable. Thus, another diagnostic information exchange mechanism is required for such cases.
There is a need, therefore, for a reliable and robust mechanism for collecting and exchanging loop diagnostic information in the event of link activation failure. In a more general sense, there is a need for loop diagnostic techniques that can be used in troubleshooting a communication link.
The present invention provides techniques for performing loop diagnostics in DSL communication systems. One embodiment includes receiving a probe signal having known transmit characteristics, and determining loop diagnostic information based on the known transmit characteristics and received signal characteristics. Such loop diagnostic information can be useful in a preactivation mode, for example, in troubleshooting link activation failures or otherwise troublesome communication links. Likewise, such diagnostic information can be useful in general troubleshooting mode (regardless of link activation status) in gathering loop characteristics that support configuration and management of the DSL service in an offline loop diagnostic mode.
The features and advantages described in the specification are not all-inclusive and, in particular, many additional features and advantages will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the drawings, specification, and claims. Moreover, it should be noted that the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and not to limit the scope of the inventive subject matter


A filter medium includes at least a first and a second layer. Both first and second layers have a layer volume VLq and a layer filtering surface SLq, where SLq is the accumulation of all mantle surfaces of the fibers present in this layer q. The first layer has a SL1/VL1-ratio of less than 32500 m2/m3, and the second layer has a SL2/VL2-ratio being more than 1.1×SL1/VL1.

Filter media comprising fibers are often used for the purpose of removing soot out of exhaust gasses of combustion units.
Diesel soot filter media comprising metal and/or ceramic fibers are also known in the art, e.g. from WO01/00971.
Filter media comprising metal fibers and consisting of more than one layer of fibers are also known, e.g. from U.S. Pat. No. 3,505,038 and EP1018357.


A fan wheel (1) has a bottom disc (4), a cover disc (3) and impeller blades (2) arranged around a rotation axis (RA) of the fan wheel (1). The blades, in each case, extend over a blade length from a blade leading edge (5) to a blade trailing edge (6). The impeller blades (2) are divided into a front section (10), rear section (12) and transition section (11). The front section (10), extends proceeding from the blade leading edge (5) in the direction of the blade trailing edge (6). The rear section (12) extends proceeding from the blade trailing edge (6), in the direction of the blade leading edge (5). The transition section (11) forms a transition between the front section (10) and the rear section (12). The impeller blades (2) are formed with opposite curvature in the course from the bottom disc (4) to the cover disc (3) in the front section (10) and the rear section (12).

The prior art illustrates fan wheels with impeller blades that are curved forward or curved backward with respect to the direction of rotation. Also, it illustrates impeller blades that are curved with respect to the rotation axis of the fan wheel. See, for example, published document DE 10 2017 114 679 A1.
The fan wheel presented in the present case is used in volume flow-conducting elements, for example, so-called air handling units, in the ventilation field and air conditioning technology. Here, the stability and, in particular, the rotational speed stability play a decisive role. A critical point is the material stress at the transition between the respective impeller blades of the fan wheel and the bottom disc and/or the cover disc. To ensure the rotational speed stability, spokes are frequently provided in the transition region in the prior art.
The underlying aim of the disclosure is to further optimize the previous solutions of the fan wheels with regard to their efficiency, noise generation and the possibility of even higher rotational speeds.

Fan wheel with three dimensionally curved impeller blades


Provided are a method, system, and program for accessing a resource. Requests are generated to access a resource in a first access mode and a second access mode. The requests are processed to access the resource in the second mode before processing at least one request to access the resource in the first access mode. The processing of the requests to access the resource in the first access mode is delayed for a time period after processing all the requests to access the resource in the second access mode in order to wait to receive a subsequent request to access the resource in the second access mode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method, system and program for maintaining a copy relationship between primary volumes and corresponding secondary volumes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data storage systems may maintain a secondary copy of data at a remote site to use in the event of a failure at the primary site. Such dual or shadow copies are typically made as the application system is writing new data to a primary storage device. International Business Machines Corporation (IBM®), the assignee of the subject patent application, provides two systems for maintaining remote copies of data at a secondary site, extended remote copy (XRC) and peer-to-peer remote copy (PPRC). These systems provide a method for recovering data updates between a last, safe backup and a system failure. Such data shadowing systems can also provide an additional remote copy for non-recovery purposes, such as local access at a remote site. These IBM XRC and PPRC systems are described in IBM publication "Remote Copy: Administrator's Guide and Reference," IBM document no. SC35-0169-02 (IBM Copyright 1994, 1996), which publication is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
In such backup systems, data is maintained in volume pairs. A volume pair is comprised of a volume in a primary storage device and a corresponding volume in a secondary storage device that includes an identical copy of the data maintained in the primary volume. Typically, the primary volume of the pair will be maintained in a primary direct access storage device (DASD) and the secondary volume of the pair is maintained in a secondary DASD shadowing the data on the primary DASD. A primary storage controller may be provided to control access to the primary storage and a secondary storage controller may be provided to control access to the secondary storage.
In PPRC mirroring, when establishing a remote copy relationship between data sets in the primary volumes and secondary volumes, an initial copy of the primary volumes is written to the secondary volumes in the secondary DASD. Data sets from the primary volume are copied asynchronously during the initial copy, which means that the write acknowledgment is returned immediately to the host even before the data is physically copied to the secondary DASD over a dedicated cable or line. The initial copy operation sends the data sets in the PPRC relationship over the link in groups of data sets, referred to as establish chains.
In one mode of PPRC, any host writes to data sets in the primary volumes in the PPRC relationship while the initial copy operation is pending are intercepted. The initial copy logs the write operation and after completing the initial copy of a group of data sets, the logged writes are then transmitted over the line to the secondary site. If the initial copy operation has completed with respect to the data set of the intercepted write, then the data sets are copied synchronously to the corresponding secondary volume(s) in the secondary DASD, which means that acknowledgment of the write is not returned to the host initiating the write until the write completes at the secondary site, and acknowledgment is returned to the primary site to return to the host. Host operations may be delayed pending receipt of the synchronous acknowledgment.
The intercepted target data sets that are written synchronously to the secondary site have to share a link with the group of data being copied asynchronously, including both initial copy data and write requests that are handled asynchronously. This sharing of the link can cause further delays in processing the intercepted synchronous writes because the typically large size of asynchronous writes consumes a substantial amount of bandwidth, thereby causing delays in transmitting and processing the intercepted host writes being handled synchronously.
For these reasons, there is a need in the art to provide improved techniques for transferring data in primary volumes being mirrored at a remote site.

Method, system, and program for maintaining a copy relationship between primary volumes and corresponding secondary volumes


A hand massager includes a top shell having two upright tubes on the inside and raised portions on the outside, a bottom shell having two upright posts on the inside made to slide in the upright tubes and raised portions on the outside, a pin set retained between the top and bottom shells and supported between springs and having pins aligned with pin holes on the bottom shell, wherein the pins of the pin set project out of the pin holes on the bottom shell to stimulate the acupuncture points in the hand as the user grips the hand massager in the hand.

The present invention relates to a hand massager which stimulates the acupuncture points in the hand as it is gripped.
It has been known that stimulating certain acupuncture points in the body or rubbing and kneading certain muscles and joints of the body can make certain part of the body work better. Various devices have been disclosed for this purpose. FIG. 1 shows a hand massager designed to massage the muscles and joints of the hand as it is gripped. This hand massager is comprised of an egg-like body having a plurality of raised portions distributed over the outside wall. However, this structure of hand massager has drawbacks. Because it is not compressible, the user will soon tire of gripping it. Further, in order to fully stimulate the acupuncture points in the hand, the position of the hand massager in the hand must be frequently changed.


Hair care compositions include a polypropylene glycol, an ester oil, and a gel matrix comprising a cationic surfactant, a solid fatty compound, and water. Hair care compositions also include a polypropylene glycol, an ester oil selected from a pentaerythritol ester oil, a trimethylol ester oil, and mixtures thereof, and a suitable carrier. The polypropylene glycol has a weight average molecular weight of from about 200 g/mol to about 100,000 g/mol. The HLB value of the ester oil is less than about 4.

The present invention relates to a hair care composition. More specifically, the present invention relates to a hair care composition which provides a conditioning benefit.
Human hair becomes soiled due to its contact with the surrounding environment and from sebum secreted by the scalp. The soiling of the hair causes it to have a dirty or greasy feel, and an unattractive appearance. The soiling of the hair necessitates shampooing with regularity.
Shampooing cleans the hair by removing excess soil and sebum. However, shampooing can leave hair in a wet, tangled, and generally unmanageable state. After shampooing, hair is often left in a dry, rough, lusterless, or frizzy condition due to removal of the hair""s natural oils and other natural conditioning components. Furthermore, such hair may also suffer from a perceived loss of softness. In addition, hair may possess increased levels of static after drying, which can interfere with combing and reduce hair manageability. This results in a condition commonly referred to as xe2x80x9cflyaway hair.xe2x80x9d Certain consumers consider such flyaway hair and the corresponding increase in total hair volume undesirable. Thus, it is desirable to provide smooth, soft, silky-feeling, and healthy-looking hair, while decreasing flyaway hair volume and total hair volume. In addition, it is typically desirable to increase the biodegradability of a hair care composition.
A variety of approaches have been developed to address these issues. Such approaches typically seek to increase smoothness, softness, and luster by including hair conditioning compounds, typically cationic compounds, such as catonic surfactants, into a hair care composition. Such hair conditioning compounds may also reduce static. In theory, these cationic compounds, including quaternary ammonium compounds, seek to neutralize the static charge on the hair, and thus reduce flyaway hair volume. However, these hair conditioning compounds do not sufficiently reduce total hair volume, and may be harsh on the hair, skin, or scalp.
Alternatively, oily compounds, such as a silicone, an ester oil, and/or a hydrocarbon oil have been included in hair care compositions to reduce flyaway hair. However, while these oily compounds may make hair feel smoother, more silky, and/or appear more lustrous, they are not sufficient to satisfy certain consumers.
Accordingly, the need remains for a hair care composition which noticeably reduces total hair volume and is easily biodegradable. The need also remains for a hair care composition which provides smoother, softer, more silky, and more lustrous hair. The need also remains for a hair care composition possessing these benefits, which is effectively deposited onto hair.
The present invention relates to a hair care composition which includes a polypropylene glycol, an ester oil, and a gel matrix. The polypropylene glycol has a weight average molecular weight of from about 200 g/mol to about 100,000 g/mol. The ester oil has the formula R1COOR1, wherein each R1 is independently a C1-C22 alkyl, and the HLB value of the ester oil is less than about 4. The gel matrix includes a cationic surfactant, a solid fatty compound, and water.
In another aspect, the present invention relates to a hair care composition which includes a polypropylene glycol, an ester oil, and a suitable carrier. The polypropylene glycol has a weight average molecular weight of from about 200 g/mol to about 100,000 g/mol. The ester oil is selected from the group of pentaerythritol ester oils, trimethylol ester oils, and mixtures thereof, wherein the ester oil has an HLB value of less than about 4.
It has now been found that total hair volume is actually the sum of the xe2x80x9cflyaway hair volumexe2x80x9d and the xe2x80x9cbulk hair volume.xe2x80x9d It has also been found that a measurable reduction of bulk hair area, flyaway hair area, and total hair area, by the Image Analysis Protocol described herein, corresponds to a noticeable decrease in the bulk hair volume, flyaway hair volume, and the total hair volume, respectively. Accordingly, it has been found that reducing the bulk hair area can therefore play a significant role in reducing the total hair volume. While certain compounds and compositions are known to reduce fly-away hair volume, for example, by reducing the static charge of hair, these compositions do not noticeably reduce bulk hair volume. It has now been found that a hair care composition which moisturizes the hair may noticeably reduce bulk hair volume, and may also noticeably reduce flyaway hair volume. This, in turn, provides a significant, noticeable reduction in total hair volume.
It has now been found that a hair care composition, preferably a hair conditioning composition, and/or a styling composition, containing a polypropylene glycol, an ester oil, and a suitable carrier may also more effectively deposit onto hair, and provide significant consumer-desirable benefits, such as an improved look and feel for hair, reduced bulk hair volume, reduced flyaway hair volume, and reduced total hair volume. Furthermore, the hair care composition is inexpensive to formulate, easily biodegradable, and possesses a non-oily feel.
These and other features, aspects, advantages, and variations of the present invention, and the embodiments described herein, will become evident to those skilled in the art from a reading of the present disclosure with the appended claims, and are covered within the scope of these claims.

Hair care composition comprising a polypropylene glycol and an ester oil


A tracked climbing vehicle containing a compliant suspension apparatus to prescribe the distribution of forces on the adhering members in the tracked climbing machine capable of negotiating irregular surfaces. The compliant suspension apparatus is configured to negotiate irregularities in a climbing-surface without its tracks losing full surface contact and adhesion. It does this by distributing the loads from the climbing machine chassis to the adhering traction members in a specific prescribed fashion to avoid exceeding the allowable force in any adhering traction member and thus significantly improve the performance of the climbing machine.

This invention relates generally to the field of robotics and more specifically to a self-propelled climbing machine having endless-tracks. Such vehicles may be employed to perform remote operations in locations that are difficult for, or incompatible with, human presence or access. One example is a vehicle that can travel over a steel surface in a vertical, horizontal or upside-down configuration, such as on tanks, pipes, boiler walls or ship hulls, and also carry equipment to perform manufacture, maintenance or inspection functions.
There are many structures which require maintenance, repair, inspection or manufacturing operations that could be performed by a remote machine in a tele-operated or autonomous fashion. Numerous vehicles have been proposed to travel over inclined surfaces, and even operate upside down. These vehicles generally employ legs, wheels, or endless-tracks. Vehicles using endless-tracks provide several advantages, in particular the potential for a large area of contact between the vehicle and contact surface. Endless-tracks provide exceptional potential for large-area surface contact between the track-members (for example magnets) and the climbing-surface.
This invention concerns vehicles of the endless-track type with magnetic track-members incorporated in the endless-tracks. These vehicles are intended to operate on significant inclines, or upside down and/or on surfaces having, alone or in combination, concave, convex or irregular contours.
The endless-track type climbing vehicles available in previous technologies, may have, adhering track-members attached to the tracks and employ an endless-track of specific properties, to include very high tensile stiffness of the endless-track itself, in the axial direction of the track, but negligible stiffness in all transverse directions and negligible stiffness with respect to in bending. This creates a technological disadvantage in that the track in such cases is capable of supporting tensile forces, but, has only minimal stiffness in bending or in torsion for small angles it. Accordingly, it can support only negligible loads in any other direction, cannot support shear side-loads, and cannot support compressive loads.
To more closely examine circumstances under which this disadvantage becomes apparent, we note that for such a climbing vehicle to remain in equilibrium in any given position and orientation on a climbing-surface, forces affecting that equilibrium must be transferred from the climbing-surface to the vehicle. For a simple track type climbing vehicle, these forces are transferred from the track-members to the vehicle chassis through tensions in the endless-track. This would, ideally, allow the endless-track to accommodate irregular climbing-surface, but would concurrently result in localizing, on the outer adhering track-members, all of, or a majority of, the forces necessary to affect and maintain positional and orientational equilibrium with the climbing-surface.
The surface normal forces are a subset of the total forces that are required to maintain vehicle equilibrium on the climbing-surface. The surface normal forces are perpendicular to the climbing-surface and are required for equilibrium. To distribute this subset of forces in a manner intended to maintain equilibrium between the climbing vehicle and the climbing-CS, one might envision employment of a rigid guide section that slidably connects to the endless-track. But, this approach creates its own set of disadvantages in that it causes the surface normal forces to be localized on individual adhering track-members whenever and wherever climbing-surface irregularities are encountered.
The performance of an endless-track type climbing vehicle depends directly on the effective ability of the track, and accordingly, the track-members, to adhere to the climbing-surface. Numerous patents exist for climbing vehicles containing endless-tracks with adhering track-members incorporated into the tracks. One shortcoming of these previous technologies is their universal lack of a means to distribute the load among these adhering track-members in a manner that can accommodate a wide variety of surface geometries. Creation of such a load distribution means would significantly improve the performance of these climbing vehicles, and is, therefore, a desirable advancement in the art.
As is detailed below, previous technologies do not provide effective means to distribute the load among a plurality of adhering track-members.
Thus, an invention such as described herein, that distributes the forces required to maintain equilibrium between the vehicle and climbing-surface during operation among a plurality of adhering track-members, is novel to the state of art and is usefully and directly applicable to climbing vehicles having, or requiring, adhering track-members incorporated in endless-tracks. The herein taught art comprises a compliant suspension apparatus that distributes stiffness (and correspondingly the forces of equilibrium) relative to the plurality of adhering track-members.
The following discussion details and contrasts the instant art with illustrative examples of previous technologies and their associated shortcomings that the instant art overcomes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,901, by Awamura, presents a traditional suspension system consisting of a plurality of press wheels equipped with elastic members (springs). These are capable of providing adjustment to the adhering members directed in to the climbing-surface only. The device provides, in contrast to the instant art, no means to compensate for, or to integrate, any other forces or balance adjustments. Although, as does the instant art, the Awamura et al. device includes magnets, an endless-track, and a suspension system, as designed, it only makes provision to adjustments necessary to push the magnets into contact with the climbing-surface. The device is equipped with auxiliary wheels, each wheel having a suspension supported by the vehicle body, pressing the wheel against the endless-track. These wheels are each supported by an elastic member in communication with the vehicle chassis. This is in contrast to the instant applicant's use of a compliant beam guide and support which automatically adjusts to balance the load carried and to maximize traction U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,405 by Schempf, et at teaches a reconfigurable mobile robot with magnetic tracks.
In contrast to the instant art, which uses permanently active magnets in the tracks, U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,405 by Schempf, et al teaches a magnetic system that can be activated and deactivated in the propulsion tracks. In further contrast, no guide, rigid or otherwise is mentioned with respect to the endless-track. Finally, unlike the instant art, the track appears to have no track-guide.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,037 by Kneebone uses two or more endless-tracks with plurality of permanent magnetic adhering members. Each adhering member comprises a permanent magnet sandwiched between magnetic metal plates. The magnet does not, itself, contact the climbing-surface, but contacts only these metal plates. As taught, it does allow pivotal rocking motion of track assemblies relative to the vehicle body, for negotiating uneven or curved surfaces, the track assemblies comprising, for each track unit, two laterally spaced chains, each forming an endless member. The device also uses a pump in the center of the body to apply additional upward or downward pressure to press the tracks onto the climbing-surface, and does teach a fan to create suction force normal to the climbing-surface. But the patent mentions no sort of trackguide, rigid or otherwise.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,884,642 by Broadbent teaches endless-tracks with plurality of magnetic sections, each tread using four rare earth magnetic segments, adjacent treads being oriented in opposing polarities. It does not, however, discuss any type of guide for the tracks, nor automatic balance control or adjustment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,828,059, by Naito, et al. employs a track guide that is used only to engage and disengage track magnets from climbing-surfaces. Locations of loads carried by the Naito device are limited to remaining within the upper and lower planes of the endless propulsion tracks. It employs a plurality of permanent magnets on outer surface of crawler tracks and has a guidance device on crawler tracks for restraining and releasing crawler track from moving relative to crawler body in direction normal to traveling plane of magnets. It also includes a track control mechanism so designed such that the guidance device can restrain or release motion of the track to the main body in a direction normal to the surface. When this guide load is released, the load is essentially transferred in its entirety, to only the end magnets of the tracks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,440, by Seemann presents a rigid guide, and a pair of parallel, endless-tracks equipped with suction cup feet These tracks slide along a grooved structure that allows for communication between a vacuum pump and those suction cups which are positioned for contact with the climbing-surface. It makes little or no provision for significant surface irregularities.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,672,413 B2 by Moore, et al. describes a remote controlled inspection vehicle utilizing magnetic adhesion to traverse non-horizontal, non-flat, ferromagnetic surfaces. Although this device employs magnets to adhere to the climbing-surface, no magnets are attached to, or guided by a track. The magnets are, rather, attached directly to the vehicle. The track comprises modules each of which contains a permanent magnet that the endless-track surrounds. These modules are so constructed as to pivot about longitudinal axes in an attempt to conform to pipes or other irregularities.

Tracked climbing machine with compliant suspension apparatus


A method and device to enable a medical or surgical procedure using electro-cautery on a patient with an implantable device in a cautery-safe mode of operation. In one embodiment, the invention provides an electronic implantable device programmer having a computer processor, and a display screen configured to display information based on signals from the computer processor. The programmer also includes an input device, and a wireless transmitter controlled by the computer processor. The programmer display and input give the operator the option of programming an implanted electronic device in a cautery-safe mode. With this input, from the operator, instructions are provided in the programmer to transmit a signal from the wireless transmission device to the implanted electronic device to program the electronic device to be in a dedicated bipolar mode where electrical noise produced when operating an electro-cautery device during and medical/surgical procedure does not interfere with operation of the electronic device.

Electro-cautery, also referred to simply as "cautery" or "electric cautery" is commonly used in the surgical operating room (OR), and other medical/surgical procedure sites, for a wide variety of applications, including cutting through tissue with minimal bleeding and hemostasis or the termination of bleeding. It is used during a wide range of medical/surgical procedures, from brain surgery and eye surgery, to open heart and colorectal surgery. Electro-cautery is typically delivered in the unipolar or bipolar mode. It is often used in patients who already have an implantable therapeutic devices or monitoring devices that operate electrically, such as cardiac pacemakers, implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICD), neurological stimulators, gastric stimulators, electrocardiographic [ECG] monitors, physiologic sensor systems and similar devices. Cautery is also used during the implantation for other medical/surgical procedures in patients who already have implantable devices (e.g., pacemakers, ICDs) in place. At present, there is concern that use of cautery, especially unipolar cautery, has the potential to interfere with normal implantable pacemaker and implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) function. Specifically, there are concerns that the pacemaker may sense the electrical 'noise' (i.e., electrical signals) generated by the cautery device and this sensing of these extraneously generated electrical signals will either inhibit pacemaker/ICD function or potentially cause a change in pacemaker/ICD programming, or damage implantable device circuitry.
At the present time, conventional medical/surgical practice is such that during surgery of any form (whether placement of the implantable therapeutic device itself, or concomitant surgery in an individual who has an implantable device that was placed previously), there is the potential for electrical interference with an implantable pacemaker or defibrillator and the concern is further heightened if the cautery is performed within 6 inches of the implantable device. As such, it is recommended by many manufacturers and medical specialty organizations that write clinical guidelines that patients with pacemakers or ICDs undergo device reprogramming prior to surgery to preclude the implantable device from detecting the external electrical signal and thereby avoid altering implantable device function. Such pre-surgical intentional reprogramming may include disabling therapeutic or sensing functions of the implanted pacemaker or ICD device, leaving the patient temporarily without the defibrillation or pacing benefits of the implanted device. Furthermore, given the recommendation to pre-operatively reprogram devices to a non-sensing mode, additional recommendations are given by implantable device manufacturers and medical specialty organizations that write clinical guidelines that these implanted therapeutic or monitoring devices need to be re-assessed after surgery, at which time they are reprogrammed back to the pre-surgical normal function. These programming and re-programming steps require considerable human resources, and may be inconvenient in emergency situations as well as during procedures in which manufacturer representatives or specialized implantable device professionals are not typically present.

Systems and methods for placing electronic devices into “cautery-safe” mode


The invention relates to a device for injecting gas into a metallurgical vessel, comprising a blowing head (5) having a feed line (5b) for delivering gas, in particular oxygen, to the blowing head (5), and at least one Laval nozzle (1) disposed on the blowing head (5), said nozzle having an inlet section (2) which conveys the gas and an outlet section (3), wherein the gas is delivered to the inlet section (2) via the feed line (5b) and leaves the outlet section (3) at supersonic speed, wherein the Laval nozzle (1) comprises at least one first nozzle part (2, 3) and a second nozzle part (7), wherein the nozzle parts (2, 3, 7) are adjustable relative to one another by changing the geometry of the Laval nozzle (1).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for injecting gas into a metallurgical vessel having a blowing head having a feed line for delivering gas, particularly oxygen, to the blowing head, and at least one Laval nozzle, which is arranged on the blowing head and has an inlet section which conveys the gas and an outlet section with the gas being delivered to the inlet section via the feed line and leaving the outlet section at supersonic speed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In many steel production methods, for example, in the basic oxygen furnace method ("BOF") or the argon oxygen decarburization method ("AOD"), it is provided to move a lance from above into a metallurgical vessel or converter, in order to blow a gas, such as oxygen, from a defined distance onto a metal melt. The lances have blowing heads that usually have several outlet nozzles, from which the gas for generating an oscillating blowing depression flows at supersonic speed onto the metal melt. Such lances and blowing heads have a limited lifespan, wherein nozzles undergo wear for reasons including compression shocks and/or contact of the nozzle margins with the hot and reactive environment in the converter.

Device for injecting gas into a metallurgical vessel


A microstrip combline bandpass filter includes an input port, an output port, and a plurality of resonators each including a microstrip line having a first end and a second end. One of the plurality of resonators is connected to the input port, and another of the plurality of resonators is connected to the output port. The filter also includes a plurality of pairs of series coupled varactors. The first end of each microstrip line is coupled to one of the pairs of varactors, and the second end of each microstrip line is coupled to ground.

Some electronic circuits, such as Frequency doublers and sub-harmonic VCOs, may generate unwanted frequency harmonics at half integers of the fundamental frequency. These spurious outputs are called sub-harmonics of the fundamental frequency. These unwanted signals are usually filtered with fixed mechanical or electrical circuits and brought down to acceptable levels. Such filtering preferably passes the fundamental frequency (Freq) with slight loss and good return loss while suppressing frequencies at Freq/2 and 3*Freq/2 and higher. If the particular circuit of interest has an operating range that spans near an octave of frequencies, the required filter becomes complex and might need to be tunable. Furthermore, electrical systems that span an octave will generally have amplitude response that falls off with frequency. For such systems a tunable filter that not only rejects frequencies at sub-harmonics but also compensates for the amplitude roll-off is desirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,889,214 discloses a tunable stripline combline filter that utilizes discrete manufacturing processes. U.S. Pat. No. 4,835,499 discloses a microstrip combline discrete circuit having less biasing circuitry. These filters are large, expensive, limited in upper frequency range and their resonators would need additional tuning in order to match them to each other due to their inherent mismatch. Also these filters have limited linearity performance.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,525,630 discloses microstrip tunable filters deposited onto a substrate. The filters of the '630 patent, although promising low loss and high Q, are rather expensive, have repeatability challenges, require high operating control voltages and need high isolation on the control lines. The filters also need to employ a pseudo-combline approach, where the microstrip ends opposite of the varactor cannot be grounded, but rather have to be extended in length and left open for DC isolation reasons.
There are applications in which it is desirable to have a bandpass filter which is more selective than the filters described above, and which may also have a tunable response that can reject other interfering signals close to the wanted signal. Examples of such applications are up-conversion mixers where variable LO frequencies may be used and wide band receiver front-ends having interfering frequencies.


A ground sand maker which includes a grinding drum (2); a mass of working pebbles (25) placed within the grinding drum; a driving device (7) for rotating the grinding drum; an inlet port (17) provided on a first end (2b) of the grinding drum for supplying rock fragments (28) and water (26) into the grinding drum; and an outlet sieve (20) provided on a circumferential surface (2a) of the grinding drum adjacent a second end (2c) opposite to the first end for discharging ground sand and water.

The present invention relates generally to machines for making an aggregate for concrete and, more particularly, to a machine for making ground sand for concrete.
Rod mills for making crushed sand for concrete are well known. A rod mill includes a cylindrical crushing drum and a plurality of iron rods provided within the cylindrical drum. Rock fragments and water are supplied to the rotating crushing drum in which the iron rods exert impacts on the rock fragments to provide crushed sand.
In the above rod mill, the iron rods are lifted along the inside wall of the rotating drum and fall to crush the rock fragments. The hardness of the iron rods is much higher than that of the rock fragments so that the impacts upon the rock fragments are very high. The iron rods, however, do not sufficiently grind them to provide high quality sand.
Among river sand, mountain or pig sand, sea sand and land sand, the river sand is the hardest and has the most spherical shape and is the highest in quality as an aggregate. An experiment has shown that the particle shape percentage (unit volume mass divided by specific gravity in absolute dry condition) of a river sand sample prepared by washing with water according to Japan Industrial Standards (JIS) A 5004 is 57-59 percent while the particle shape percentage of the crushed sand obtained from the above rod mill is about 53 percent.
It is desirable that the particle size distribution curve falls between a pair of broken lines A and B in FIG. 13 (standard particle size range of a fine aggregate for concrete according to the Japanese Society of Civil Engineers). A test has shown that the particle size distribution curve of the crushed sands made by the rod mill does not always fall within the range.
In other words, the crushed sand made by the rod mill has flat and sharp particles with rough surfaces. Some of the particles even have a crack. These properties have adverse effects on the concrete characteristics such as workability and fluidity.
Hence, this inventor has proposed a machine for making ground sand for concrete in Japanese Patent Application No. 63-254539. This machine includes a cylindrical drum and a plurality of pebbles placed within the drum. Rock fragments (sand) and water are supplied to the rotating grinding drum through an inlet port on one end of the drum and ground sand is discharged through an outlet port on the other end of the drum. In this machine the rock fragments are ground by the pebbles and water with friction in a way similar to a river so that impurities are removed from the rock fragments, and sand having spherical particles with smooth surfaces without a crack are obtained in a short period of time.
The above machine, however, has the following disadvantages.
Rock fragments and water are supplied through the inlet port on one end of the drum and the ground sand and water is discharged through the outlet port on the opposite end. This outlet port is placed somewhere around the axis of the drum so that there is a very small centrifugal force acting on the ground sand in the vicinity of the outlet port, let alone a force acting along the axis. As a result, the fluidity of the ground sand near the outlet port is so low that the ground sand is not efficiently discharged through the outlet port.
In addition, water is supplied through the inlet port on only one end so that the water fails to sufficiently separate the ground sand from the working pebbles, impairing discharge of the ground sand.
Moreover, the inside surfaces of the end walls are so smooth that the rock fragments and working pebbles are slipping on the surface, failing to make any contribution to the grinding action within the drum.


An out-of-plane micro-structure which can be used for on-chip integration of high-Q inductors and transformers places the magnetic field direction parallel to the substrate plane without requiring high aspect ratio processing. The photolithographically patterned coil structure includes an elastic member having an intrinsic stress profile. The intrinsic stress profile biases a free portion away from the substrate forming a loop winding. An anchor portion remains fixed to the substrate. The free portion end becomes a second anchor portion which may be connected to the substrate via soldering or plating. A series of individual coil structures can be joined via their anchor portions to form inductors and transformers.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to photolithographically-patterned, out-of-plane coil structures for use in integrated circuits, circuit boards and other devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Standard bonding techniques for electrically connecting integrated circuits, or chips, to a circuit board or other device include wire bonding, tab bonding, and solder-bump flip-chip bonding. FIG. 1 shows a contact pad 3 formed on a chip 2 wire bonded to a corresponding contact pad 3 formed on a substrate 1. The contact pads 3 are electrically connected, or bonded, by a wire 4. Since the chip 2 typically has tens or even hundreds of the contact pads 3, wire bonding each contact pad 3 on the chip 2 to the corresponding contact pad 3 on the substrate 1 is labor intensive, expensive and slow. Further, the contact pads 3 must be large enough to accommodate both the wire 4 and the accuracy of the wire bonding device used to create the wire bond. Therefore, the contact pads 3 are made larger than otherwise necessary to compensate for the size limitations of wire 4 and the wire bonding device.
FIG. 2 shows the contact pad 3 formed on the chip 2 tab bonded to the corresponding contact pad 3 on the substrate 1. A flexible substrate 5 having conductive lines formed on its lower surface is forced against the contact pads 3. A layer of anisotropic adhesive (not shown) is placed between the contact pads 3 and the flexible substrate 5. When the flexible substrate 5 is pressed against the contact pads 3, the anisotropic adhesive and the conductive lines formed on the flexible substrate 5 cooperate to complete the electrical connection between the contact pads 3. Like wire bonding, tab bonding suffers from yield loss and high cost. Irregularities in the heights of the contact pad 3 result in non-uniform contacting force pressing the flexible substrate 5 against the contact pads 3. The non-uniform contacting force means that some contact pads 3 will not be properly bonded to the flexible substrate 5.
Another conventional method for bonding the contact pads 3 formed on the chip 2 to the contact pads 3 formed on the substrate 1 or to some other device is solder-bump flip-chip bonding. FIG. 3 shows the chip 2 inverted with the contact pads 3 facing toward the substrate 1. The name "flip-chip" derives from the inversion of the chip 2, since the chip 2 is "flipped over" with the contacts pads 3 facing the substrate 1, in contrast to both tab bonding and wire bonding where the contact pads 3 on the chip 2 face away from the substrate 1. In standard flip-chip bonding, solder bumps 6 are formed on the contact pads 3 on the substrate 1. The electrical connection between the corresponding contact pads 3 is completed by pressing the contact pads 3 on the chip 2 against the solder bumps 6.
Flip-chip bonding is an improvement over both wire bonding and tab bonding. The relatively soft solder bumps 6 tend to permanently deform when the chip 2 is pressed down against the solder bumps 6. This deformation of the solder bumps 6 compensates for some irregularity in the heights of the contact pads 3 and any uneven contacting pressure forcing the chip 2 against the solder bumps 6.
However, flip-chip bonding does suffer from both mechanical and thermal variations in the solder bumps 6. If the solder bumps 6 are not uniform in height or if the substrate 1 is warped, contact between the contact pads 3 and the solder bumps 6 can be broken. Also, if the contacting pressure forcing the chip 2 down on the solder bumps 6 is uneven, contact between some contact pads 3 and corresponding solder bumps 6 can fail.
FIG. 4 shows a standard technique for establishing a temporary electrical contact between two devices. A probe card 7 having a plurality of probe needles 8 contacts the contact pads 3 by physically pressing the probe needles 8 against the contact pads 3. The physical contact between the probe needles 8 and the contact pads 3 creates an electrical connection between the probe needles 8 and the lines 9 formed on the substrate 1.
The probe cards 7 are generally used to create only temporary contacts between the probe needles 8 and the contact pads 3, so that the device 10 can be tested, interrogated or otherwise communicated with. The device 10 can be a matrix of display electrodes which are part of an active-matrix liquid crystal display. Testing of the devices 10, such as liquid crystal display electrode matrices, is more thoroughly described in an application JAO 34053 to the same inventor, co-filed and co-pending herewith and herein incorporated by reference.
The probe cards 7 have many more applications than only for testing liquid crystal displays. Any device 10 having numerous and relatively small contact pads 3, similar to those found on the chip 2, can be tested using the probe card 7. However, standard techniques for producing the probe card 7 are time consuming and labor-intensive. Each probe card 7 must be custom-made for the particular device 10 to be tested. Typically, the probe needles 8 are manually formed on the probe card 7. Because the probe cards 7 are custom-made and relatively expensive, the probe cards 7 are not typically made to contact all of the contact pads 3 on the device 10 at one time. Therefore, only portions of the device 10 can be communicated with, tested or interrogated at any one time, requiring the probe card 7 be moved to allow communication, testing or interrogation of the entire device 10.
The probe cards 7 are also used to test the chips 2 while the chips 2 are still part of a single-crystal silicon wafer. One such probe card 7 is formed by photolithographic pattern plated processing, as disclosed in Probing at Die Level, Corwith, Advanced Packaging, February, 1995, pp. 26-28. Photolithographic pattern plated processing produces probe cards 7 which have essentially the same design as the standard probe card 7. However, this new type of processing appears to automate the method for producing probe needles 8, thus avoiding manually forming the probe needles 8. Also, this article discloses a probe card 7 which is bent at the end nearest the probe needles 8, as shown in FIG. 5. The bend in the probe card 7 allows the probe needles 8 to contact the contact pad 3 at an angle. As the probe card 7 pushes the probe needles 8 into the contact pads 3, a mechanical scrubbing action occurs which allows the probe needles 8 to break through the oxide formed on the top surface of the contact pad 3.
All of the standard probe cards 7, however, are limited to testing contact pads 3 which are arranged in a linear array. Also, the standard probe cards 7 are sensitive to variations in the height of the contact pads 3 on the substrate 1, irregularities or warping of the substrate 1, and temperature variations.
The integration of small inductors on silicon substrates has been the subject of intense worldwide research for more than 15 years. This effort is driven by the desire to integrate coils on silicon and gallium arsenide integrated circuits (ICs). The structures proposed so far, however, have been variations of devices in which, due to technological constraints, the coil windings have almost always been implemented as spirals parallel to the underlying substrate.
These in-plane architectures have two major drawbacks. When made on a substrate that is slightly conducting such as silicon, the coil magnetic fields induce eddy currents in the underlying substrate. These currents cause resistive dissipation that contributes to the coil losses. The second problem arises when the coil is operated at high frequencies, where skin and proximity effects force the coil current to flow along the outer surfaces of the conductor. The "skin depth" is about 2 to 3 μm for typical conductors at frequencies of interest for wireless communication, for example, 900 MHz, 1.9 GHz and 2.4 GHz. The AC resistance of the coil conductor becomes appreciably higher than its DC resistance because the cross section of the conductor is not fully used.
FIG. 31 shows the current distribution in in-plane coils operated at high frequencies. Darker shading in the coil indicates a higher current density. The disk-shaped coil shown in FIG. 31a has a current distribution that is concentrated at the outer edges of the winding wire. Therefore, widening the conductor simply increases the unused portion of the conductor and does not reduce the AC resistance. This situation may be compared to the typical discrete component, out-of-plane coil of FIG. 31b, where the AC resistance can be reduced by simply making the conductors wider.
Solutions have been proposed and tried in the past to address the drawbacks associated with in-plane inductor coils. Eddy currents can be reduced, for example, by etching away the substrate underneath the coil. However, this approach is not practical as it sacrifices structural integrity and destroys existing electronic circuitry on the silicon substrate. To reduce the AC resistance of the device in FIG. 31a, the conductor can be made very thick using micromachining techniques such as LIGA (see A. Rogner et al., "The LIGA technique—what are the new opportunities," J. Micromech. Microeng., vol. 2, pp. 133-140, 1992.). However, processing high aspect ratio structures is difficult and expensive.
Various out-of-plane techniques have been suggested. For example, Chukwunenye Stanley Nnebe, in "A Mechanically-raised Micromachined Variable Inductor Coil" (www.ee.cornell.edu/MENG/Abstracts/tien.htm) describes an out-of plane variable inductor structure. The structure is initially gold-metallized strips of polysilicon on the surface plane of the substrate, which are then raised and fastened via a hinging system to form a triangular geometry upon contact. After the setup of the coil is completed, the slider representing the magnetic core can then be activated through an impact system that is controlled by four comb-drive resonators (two comb-drive resonators for each direction of motion). The insertion of the magnetic core through the coils would influence the magnetic flux developed around the coils and, thus, would vary the inductance accordingly. The tuning range of the inductor is set by this effect, and reliable data may be obtained by carefully controlling the four resonators that actuate the slider causing it to move a finite distance through the coils. Such a technique is fairly complicated to micromachine and requires additional components on valuable chip real estate.
Robert B. Marcus et al. in International PCT Application No. WO 99/18445 filed Oct. 2, 1998, entitled "Michromachined Element and Method of Fabrication Thereof" discloses a coiled structure that is formed by depositing two layers of material having different coefficients of thermal expansion on a sacrificial layer, removing the sacrificial layer, then heating the cantilevered structure until it curls partially upon itself. Coil closure is achieved by patterning a tethered end to the tip of the cantilevered structure. When the sacrificial layer is removed and the cantilever heated, the cantilever curls on itself, causing the tethered end to twist. Such a method and structure, however, is impractical for creating arrays of densely packed, integrated micro-inductors and other structures on silicon substrates.
Low-loss inductors that can be integrated on chip are most desirable in wireless communication devices such as cellular phones, pagers, GPS receivers, warehouse management RF identification tags, wireless computer LANs, personal digital assistants, and satellite telecommunication. Small portable devices, in particular, require the lowest possible power consumption for extended battery life and a maximal circuit integration to reduce device size and PC board complexity. The quest for low-loss inductors is driven by a fundamental trade-off between power consumption on one hand and the need for low-loss circuit passives (i.e., inductors and capacitors) on the other. Lowering the transistor bias in radio circuits reduces the power dissipation, but also significantly degrades amplifier gains, oscillator stability and filter selectivity. Using low-loss passives is the only viable technique to overcome this problem. Low-loss capacitors in the 0.1 to 100 pF range are routinely integrated on chip nowadays. However, state-of-the-art integrated coil architectures are still too lossy to be of use in integrated RF designs. All present RF chipsets, therefore, are limited to using discrete inductors that form a real estate bottleneck in today's increasingly miniaturized applications.
Modern wireless designs typically run in the lower GHz bands. The standard frequencies for cellular phones are 900 MHz, 1.8 GHz, 1.9 GHz and 2.4 GHZ, while 900 MHz is the frequency of choice for digital cordless phones. The 410-430 MHz, 870 MHz and 900-930 MHz bands are used for wireless RS-232, computer LANs and RF identification. At these 100 MHz to GHz frequencies, the passives of choice are typically, for inductors, 1 to 30 nH and, for capacitors, 1 to 30 pF. The intermediate frequencies in superheterodyne receivers are 40 to 350 MHz which calls for passives in the order of 100 to 1000 nH and 10 to 100 pF. Although high quality on-chip capacitors ranging from 0.1 pF to 100 pF are commonplace, integrated inductors and integrated variable capacitors that meet the low-loss requirements are currently not available.
Variable capacitors (varicaps) that can be integrated on chip are also in great demand. The benchmark architecture for contemporary wireless transceivers is still the superheterodyne architecture, which uses both inductors and varicaps. Variable capacitors are essential components of superheterodyne circuits used in many wireless devices. Superheterodyne circuits containing both inductors and capacitors currently cannot be integrated on chip in commercial devices, and so present a bottleneck to device miniaturization. The missing links in implementing full superheterodyne wireless architectures on a chip are inductors with quality factors of at least 30 to 50, variable capacitors (varicaps) with a tuning range of 10% and quality factors of 30 to 50, and oscillators with quality factors of 10,000 or more. The process technology for making the capacitors should be compatible with the process for making the inductors.
Present wireless devices use discrete off-chip components to implement superheterodyne circuits. The very high Q oscillator is usually a crystal oscillator. There are also numerous Voltage Controlled Oscillators (VCOs), each of which uses at least one discrete inductor and one discrete varicap. Because of these discrete components VCOs occupy a large portion of many RF circuit area. Being able to integrate entire VCOs on chip requires a new type of varicap as well as inductor.
There is a need for a micromachined coil structure which is easy to manufacture and does not use a lot of chip real estate. There is a need for low loss coil structures and variable capacitors that can be integrated on conductive substrates, such as silicon. There is also a need for an integrated coil structure in which the windings have lower resistance. There is a need for a method of manufacturing a coil structure in which closing the turns of the coil electrically produces a viable electrical structure. There is a need for a manufacturable technique that results in a closed coil structure suitable for high-Q integrated passive inductor elements. There is a need for a manufacturing technique which would enable the integration of both on chip inductors and varicaps.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method of making photolithographically-patterned out-of-plane coil structures


Aspects of the invention include computer-implemented methods, computing systems and computer program products for calculating an active time on a software application with respect to a first work item. A computer-implemented method includes retrieving activity data from a software development application and a plurality of input signals generated by a peripheral device. The method further includes determining a causal relationship between the input data and any events described by the activity data. In response to a determination of a causal relationship, a first time interval is calculated between an initial signal and a final signal of the plurality of input signals. The first time interval is compared to an estimated time interval. A schedule of a second work item is determined based on the comparison, wherein the first time interval relates to a first work item.

The present invention generally relates to programmable computing systems, and more specifically, to a computing system that aggregates developer activity data to calculate time during a development process.
Computing systems are employed to track an employee's time spent on individual activities performed to complete an overall task. The goal of monitoring the time spent by an employee is to increase effectiveness, efficiency, and/or productivity related to completing the overall task. A computer system can receive user-inputted time data regarding a description of the task and the time spent completing the task. The ability to ascertain the active time spent on a work item is important to providing insight into the effectiveness of a software development process.

Calculating developer time during development process

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


The present invention relates to variants of a parent glycoside hydrolase, comprising a substitution at one or more positions corresponding to positions 21, 94, 157, 205, 206, 247, 337, 350, 373, 383, 438, 455, 467, and 486 of amino acids 1 to 513 of SEQ ID NO: 2, and optionally further comprising a substitution at one or more positions corresponding to positions 8, 22, 41, 49, 57, 113, 193, 196, 226, 227, 246, 251, 255, 259, 301, 356, 371, 411, and 462 of amino acids 1 to 513 of SEQ ID NO: 2 a substitution at one or more positions corresponding to positions 8, 22, 41, 49, 57, 113, 193, 196, 226, 227, 246, 251, 255, 259, 301, 356, 371, 411, and 462 of amino acids 1 to 513 of SEQ ID NO: 2, wherein the variants have glycoside hydrolase activity. The present invention also relates to nucleotide sequences encoding the variant glycoside hydrolases and to nucleic acid constructs, vectors, and host cells comprising the nucleotide sequences.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to variants of a glycoside hydrolase having one or more improved properties relative to its parent enzyme, nucleic acids encoding the variants, methods of producing the variants, and methods of using the variants.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cellulose is a polymer of the simple sugar glucose covalently bonded by beta-1,4-linkages. Many microorganisms produce enzymes that hydrolyze beta-linked glucans. These enzymes include endoglucanases, cellobiohydrolases, and beta-glucosidases. Endoglucanases digest the cellulose polymer at random locations, opening it to attack by cellobiohydrolases. Cellobiohydrolases sequentially release molecules of cellobiose from the ends of the cellulose polymer. Cellobiose is a water-soluble beta-1,4-linked dimer of glucose. Beta-glucosidases hydrolyze cellobiose to glucose.
The conversion of cellulosic feedstocks into ethanol has the advantages of the ready availability of large amounts of feedstock, the desirability of avoiding burning or land filling the materials, and the cleanliness of the ethanol fuel. Wood, agricultural residues, herbaceous crops, and municipal solid wastes have been considered as feedstocks for ethanol production. These materials primarily consist of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Once the cellulose is converted to glucose, the glucose is easily fermented by yeast into ethanol.
Ståhlberg et al., 1996, J. Mol. Biol. 264: 337-349, describe activity studies and crystal structures of catalytically deficient mutants of cellobiohydrolase I from Trichoderma reesei. Boer and Koivula, 2003, Eur. J. Biochem. 270: 841-848, disclose the relationship between thermal stability and pH optimum studied with wild-type and mutant Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase Cel7A.
WO 2004/016760 discloses variants of a Hypocrea jecorina cellobiohydrolase.
It would be an advantage in the art to provide glycoside hydrolase variants with improved properties for converting cellulosic materials to monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides. Improved properties include altered temperature-dependent activity profiles, thermostability, pH activity, pH stability, substrate specificity, product specificity, and chemical stability.
It is an object of the present invention to provide variants of glycoside hydrolases with improved properties compared to its parent enzyme.