A focusing method for a camera by adjusting the focal length from a minimum focal length to a maximum focal length. Obtaining a number of first image definitions for analysis and comparing the first definitions to obtain a greatest definition in the first definitions. When the camera is adjusted for obtaining a second definition, obtaining a number of second image definitions for analysis. Comparing the second definition with the greatest definition and outputting a first informing signal if the second definition is less than the greatest definition. Informing the user that the camera needs to be adjusted and outputting a second informing signal when the second definition is equal to the greatest definition and informing the user that further adjustment is not required.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an auxiliary system and a method for focusing a camera.
2. Description of Related Art
When installing a surveillance camera, two operators are needed for tuning the lens focus. One person adjusts the focus rod of camera lens, and the other person checks a video from the camera. When the clarity of the video meets a requirement, then the operators stop tuning the lens. This focus tuning process is troublesome.

Auxiliary focusing system and focusing method


A device for processing data to be interleaved and stored in target memories includes N interleaving buffers, N producers, and N cells. Each cell includes a register bank of size W, and a delay circuit. The variable M defines a maximum number of concurrent write operations supported per time step W, and defines a maximum buffer size. These parameters are chosen to reflect a standard case. At any time step, each of the N interleaving buffers receives m log-likelihood ratio (LLR) inputs and writes up to M of these into the register banks. When m is larger than M, m-M producers are delayed by the delay circuit. When a buffer overflow occurs (more than W LLRs values), m producers are delayed by the delay circuit. One LLR value is fetched from the register bank and is written in an SRAM interleaving memory.

Turbo-codes were introduced in 1993 and are part of the current communication standards due to their outstanding forward error correction performance. Turbo-codes include concatenated component codes that work on the same block of information bits, separated by interleavers. The component codes are decoded individually. Key to the performance of turbo-codes is the iterative exchange of information between the component decoders.
The information exchanged iteratively represents the likelihood of the received bit k to have been sent either as dk=0 or dk=1. The decision is represented by the sign of the Log−
  Likelihood        -      Ratio                        (                        LLR                                (                          d              k                        )                          =                  log                                                                                P                                            (                                                      d                    k                                    =                  1                                )                                                    P                                            (                                                      d                    k                                    =                  0                                )                                                        )        .  The confidence in this decision is based upon its magnitude. From now on the information exchanged will simply be referred to as LLR.
Interleaving is scrambling the processing order to break up neighborhood-relations, which is essential for the performance of turbo-codes. The LLR produced at position k, denoted as LLR(dk), is written to position interleaved(k) in the RAM:LLRprod(dk)→LLRRAM(dinterleaved(k)).
The interleaver and de-interleaver tables contain one-to-one mappings of source addresses to target addresses. TABLE 1 shows an example for reordering six LLRs to perform interleaving.
TABLE 1AddressInterleavedAddressDeinterleaved131626243531424554536162
De-interleaving brings them into the original sequence again. A 3GPP compliant table, for example, would contain up to 5114 entries.
One LLR has to be read for every LLR produced. If only one LLR is produced per time-step, interleaving can be performed on the fly through indirect addressing. However, high-throughput applications require parallel architectures that produce more than one LLR per time-step. Thus, multiple LLRs have to be read and written concurrently. The number of LLRs read and written may be denoted as N.
In 0.20 μm technology, a single producer can achieve a maximum throughput of about 7 Mbit/s assuming 10 iterations. For 100 Mbit/s, a reasonable assumption for future communication systems is that N=16 producers would be necessary and would require 16-port RAMs. However, the use of N-port RAMs to solve access conflicts is, in general, not practicable.
Read access conflicts can be avoided by using N individual memories. Write access conflicts cannot be avoided that easily. The positions where the produced LLRs have to be stored depend on the interleaver. For arbitrary interleavers, the target memory, that is, the RAM each LLR has to go to, is not known at design time. At each time-step and for each RAM, the number of LLRs to be stored can vary from 0 to N. The resulting concurrent accesses to the same single port memory are the real bottleneck in high throughput turbo-decoding.
The problem is best illustrated by taking the interleaver table of TABLE 1 for two concurrently produced LLRs and assigning its addresses to two individual RAMs. TABLE 2 shows the interleaver table entries together with the associated RAMs and relative addresses. From now on, only the interleaver is mentioned. Of course, the same concepts apply to the deinterleaver as well.
TABLE 2sourcerelativetargetrelativeRAMAddressAddressInterleavedRAMAddress 111313122623133522 214212225421236111
The number of write accesses can be determined from the interleaver tables and the producing scheme. Assuming that the two LLRs are produced in order of ascending relative addresses (i.e., in the first time-step at the absolute addresses 1 and 4) and interleaving is performed according to TABLE 2, TABLE 3 shows the resulting write accesses.
TABLE 3Write AccessesWrite AccessesTime-stepto RAM 1to RAM 2120202311
In the first time-step, for example, one LLR is read from source RAM1 (Addr. 1) and written to target RAM1 (Addr. 3). The other one is read concurrently from source RAM2 (Addr. 1) and written to target RAM1 (Addr. 2), which results in two concurrent write accesses for target RAM1.
In Giuletti et al., "Parallel Turbo Coding Interleavers: Avoiding Collisions In Accesses To Storage Elements," IEEE Electronics Letters, Vol. 38, No. 5, February 2002, a dedicated interleaving scheme for each given architecture and block-size is derived to circumvent the potential access problems. However, this does not allow for pre-defined interleavers, as for example in a standard like 3GPP, nor for arbitrary block-lengths or degrees of parallelization.
In Thul et al., "Enabling High Speed Turbo Decoding Through Concurrent Interleaving" in ISCAS'02, May 2002, Vol. 1, pp. 897-900, a tree-based concurrent interleaving architecture, named TIBB (Tree Interleaver Bottleneck Breaker) is disclosed. The producers implement a Maximum-A-Posteriori (MAP) algorithm. All N MAP producers are connected to N-input buffers via the LLR distributor block. The drawback of this approach lies in the high-connectivity of the LLR distributor as well as the need for N-input buffers, whose combinatorial logic complexity increases exponentially with increasing values of N. Despite a two-level buffer implementation that was proposed to reduce this complexity, the area overhead of the TIBB approach grows exponentially with respect to the number of producers.
Another approach based on local buffer cells interconnected via a ring network (called RIBB) was proposed in Thul et al., "Optimized Concurrent Interleaving For High Speed Turbo Decoding", in ICECS'02, Croatia, September 2002, pp. 1099-1102. Each cell contains its own LLR distributor and either writes LLRs to the local RAM or routes them to its neighboring cells of the destination that is not the local RAM. For single-ring or double-ring architectures, this leads to local cells having a reasonable complexity and efficient architectures for up to 8 producers. Above 8 producers, the size and the number of local buffers become prohibitive and the efficiency of the network requires more than two rings to avoid high latency penalties.
In Thul et al., "Concurrent Interleaving Architectures For High-Throughput Channel Coding" in ICASSP'03, Vol. 2, pp. 613-616, April 2003, is an extension of "Optimized Concurrent Interleaving For High Speed Turbo Decoding". Thul et al. proposes a heuristic approach to generate a random graph routing network that fulfills the requirements of the interleaving for a large number of producers. However the underlying implementation complexity is still high.

Method and device for handling write access conflicts in interleaving for high throughput turbo-decoding


A method of synthesizing transition metal phosphide. In one embodiment, the method has the steps of preparing a transition metal lignosulfonate, mixing the transition metal lignosulfonate with phosphoric acid to form a mixture, and subjecting the mixture to a microwave radiation for a duration of time effective to obtain a transition metal phosphide.

Transition metal phosphides belong to an important and exciting class of materials with a wide range of emerging applications. One of the applications that have attracted a lot of attention recently is in the petroleum industry. The hydroprocessing of crude oil containing S and N is of paramount importance to the gas and oil industry. This will play an ever increasing importance in the future due to declining quality of oil produced as well as stricter laws mandating reduced level in gasoline and diesel. In view of keeping up with the imposed restrictions it is imperative that improved catalysts for accomplishing these goals be investigated. S—Mo—Ni/Al2O3 has been used in hydrodenitrogenation and hydrodesulfurization of petroleum feedstocks. Researchers have shown that transition metal phosphides are very active catalysts in hydroprocessing.1,2
Among these catalysts, Nickel phosphide, Ni2P, on silica support has been shown to exhibit excellent performance characteristics in both hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) as well as hydrodesulfurization (HDS) with activities greater than commercially available mixed transition metal Ni—Mo—S/Al2O3 catalyst.2
The discovery of Ni2P as an outstanding catalyst for both HDN and HDS has attracted interest in the synthesis of nickel phosphides.3 A comparison of the different synthetic procedures for transition metal phosphide synthesis, indicates that most are tedious that use highly reactive and expensive precursors, use electrolytic reduction or H2 gas for the transformation. Prior techniques have included the combination of the elements under extreme temperature and pressure, reaction of metal chloride with phosphine gas, decomposition of complex organometallics, electrolysis and reduction of phosphate with gaseous hydrogen.1
A different method for controlled synthesis of Ni2P nanocrystals has been reported recently by Liu et al.4 The procedure involves reacting yellow phosphorous and Ni2SO4 in ethylene glycol: water solvent in an autoclave at 180° C. for 12 hours. The black solid product is filtered and washed with absolute ethanol, benzene and water. The XRD of the product showed that it was Ni2P and the morphology was dentritic as determined by SEM. The mechanism of the formation of the product was thought to involve the formation of PH3 upon the reaction of P with water and with H3PO4. Once generated nickel ions were theorized to combine with PH3 to form Ni2P.
Xie et. al5 have reported the synthesis of irregular Nickel phosphide nanocrystals containing Ni, Ni3P, Ni5P2 and Ni12P5 by a milder route using NiCl2 and sodium hypophosphite as reactants at 190° C. The product after reflux was washed with ammonia and ethanol. Copper phosphide hollow spheres have been synthesized in ethylene glycol by a solvothermal process using copper hydroxide and elemental phosphorus as starting material using an autoclave at 200° C. for 15 hours.6
Nevertheless, it is believed that the existing techniques are neither economically attractive nor quick or safe, for large scale commercial manufacture in an industrial setting.
Therefore, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the art to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.

Microwave-assisted synthesis of transition metal phosphide

Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas


An exemplary method of operating a recording device comprises acquiring a title of a recorded program when a recording operation begins. The exemplary method further comprises determining, at a first specific time period after a next-occurring hour of the clock or after a next-occurring half hour of the clock during the recording operation, whichever occurs first, whether the recording operation started within a second specific time period, the second specific time period being between the first specific time period and thirty minutes, storing as the title of the recorded program the title acquired when the recording operation began if the recording operation was not started within the second specific time period, and reacquiring the title of the recorded program if the recording operation was started within the second specific time period.

This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art, which may be related to various aspects of the present invention that are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Watching television is a very popular pastime throughout the world. Television viewers often utilize video cassette recorders (and other broadcast recording devices conventionally known) for recording programs to be enjoyed later. It is desirable for recording devices to capture the correct title of programs that are recorded.
In a video or audio recording device which does not have an electronic program guide, the title of the program is typically determined by information provided in a broadcast signal, such as Program System Information Protocol (PSIP) data for digital-TV programs or Extended Data Services (XDS) data for analog-TV programs. If the title of a recorded program is captured from this information, the title may be displayed to the user as part of a list of recorded programs, even though the user's system does not support or include an electronic program guide. Unfortunately, network programs sometimes start slightly before the hour or half hour in which they are scheduled to start. As a result, current devices, if set to begin recording specifically on the hour or half hour, often miss a few minutes of the program. To help assure that the entire program is captured, a user may program the recording device timer to start recording slightly earlier than the desired program is scheduled to begin so that the entire program is recorded. This may, however, cause the title displayed in the user's list of recorded programs to incorrectly list the title of the preceding program rather than the title of the program the user intended to record. The user may subsequently be confused about whether the desired program was in fact recorded. As a result, many consumer electronic devices simply record and display the time, channel number, and duration for the recording in order to avoid the problem with capturing the title all together.

Recording device and method of operation


A support system includes a support post and support means for adjustably supporting a member to the support post. The support means includes a locking mechanism movable between a first position for press-fitting the support means, directly or indirectly, against the support post and a second position for releasing the press-fitting. The locking mechanism has a surface that abuts the support post, or a wedge member associated with the support post, when in the first position thereby to effect the press-fitting and that is released from the support post when moved to the second position to release the press-fitting.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an item-supporting structure that can be used to support shelving or other elements for carrying or supporting any desired item. More particularly, the present invention relates to a support assembly for use in, for example, a knock-down shelving system, to adjustably support shelves.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Shelving systems having adjustable height shelves and so-called "knock-down" type shelving systems are known, and each has utility in many applications. For example, a knockdown shelving system with adjustable height shelves may be used in food service, industrial, commercial, hospital, and similar fields for storage of any desired items.
One type of known adjustable, knockdown shelving system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,424,111 (Maslow) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,523,508 (Maslow), which are assigned to the assignee of the subject invention. The adjustable shelving system disclosed in these patents has achieved great commercial success under assignee's trademark SUPER ERECTA SHELF. This shelving system uses a plurality of cylindrical support posts provided with a series of equally spaced, annular grooves on its outer surface. A basic shelving system might include four support posts to support one or more formed-wire shelves, with each shelf having a frusto-conically-shaped collar at each corner for receiving a support post. A two-piece interlocking sleeve fits around the support post. The sleeve features a rib on its interior surface for engaging one of the grooves on the support post and has a frusto-conically-shaped outer surface, which is widest at the bottom, designed to complement the shape of the shelf collars. The support posts fitted with sleeves are received in the collars of each shelf to assemble the shelving system. When assembled, the weight of the shelf creates a radially-inwardly directed force between the collars and sleeves. This force brings the sleeves into a locking relation with the posts and creates a wedging force between the collars and sleeves.
While the SUPER ERECTA SHELF shelving system has proven very successful in providing an easy to assemble shelving system with a substantial load-bearing capacity, adjusting the shelves can sometimes require the use of a hammer or other tool to disengage the shelf collars from the sleeves. The weight of the shelf and any items supported thereon, especially over time, can build up the wedging force between the shelf collars and the sleeves to the point where a significant amount of force is needed to raise the shelf off of the sleeves.
A shelving system with easy to adjust shelves is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,302. This shelving system uses hanger brackets to permit easy installation and adjustment of the shelves without requiring the disassembly of the entire shelving system or the use of tools. This shelving system is known commercially under the trademark QWIKSLOT SHELF, and the patent is also assigned to the assignee of the subject invention. The QWIKSLOT SHELF shelving system uses support posts formed with a plurality of elongated slots at regular vertical intervals for receiving the hanger brackets. The slotted support post can also have annular grooves as discussed above in the SUPER ERECTA SHELF shelving system. A notch in each hanger bracket receives a truncated corner of a shelf.
The hanger brackets used in the QWIKSLOT SHELF shelving system allow for easy adjustment of the shelves. A potential drawback in some applications, however, is that shelves secured by means of the hanger brackets do not provide the heavy-duty load bearing capacity of other shelving systems, such as the SUPER ERECTA SHELF shelving system. In addition, the slots in the posts are not acceptable in some food service applications.
Still another type of successful shelving system, sold and marketed under the trademark METROMAX features a "knock-down" configuration that uses triangular support posts. Such a system is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,670, U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,350, U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,337, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,231, which also are assigned to the assignee of the subject invention.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,670, a corner assembly for securing each corner of a shelf to the triangular support post includes a wedge member, a corner bracket structurally associated with the shelf and a collar. The wedge member snap-fits on the support post, and the collar and corner bracket form a sleeve around the support post. The formed sleeve fits against the support post and wedge member and supports the shelf by a wedging force.
The shelving systems in U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,350, U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,337, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,231, feature modular shelves in combination with the triangular support posts. The modular shelves include a rectangular shelf frame formed from two end beams connected to two side beams. A center beam may be inserted between the end beams, parallel to the side beams, to increase the load-bearing capacity of the system. A plurality of plastic shelf mats are adapted to be snap-fit onto the shelf frame. The shelf frame is secured to the support post by corner assemblies comprised of a corner portion of the end beam, a wedge member and a separate collar. A sleeve formed by the corner portion and the collar is seated on the support post and wedge member and secured by a wedging action. Two lock cylinders lock the collar to the corner portion to secure the sleeve.
While the design of the modular shelf provides many advantages, adjusting the shelf can, on occasion, require use of a hammer or other tool to disengage the formed sleeve from the wedge member for the same reasons discussed above in connection with the SUPER ERECTA SHELF shelving system.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,017,009 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,113,042, each of which are incorporated herein by reference and are similarly assigned to the assignee of the subject invention, feature a support system for supporting a member on a support post. The support system of these two patents is sold and marketed under the trademark SUPER ADJUSTABLE SUPER ERECTA and the former patent also relates to a system sold under the mark METROMAX-Q. These patents feature a wedge assembly having a tapered face mountable on the support post, a collar, secured to the member to be supported, for example shelves, and a locking mechanism rotatably supported by the collar. The locking mechanism has a first position for press-fitting the wedge assembly against the support post, and a second position for allowing the collar to slide over the support post. The wedge member has beads on an inner surface for mating with grooves provided at least partially around the periphery of the support post. When the locking mechanism is in the first position, the beads of the wedge and the grooves mate to provide a secure fit.
FIG. 1 illustrates one corner of a shelving system utilizing the support assembly in accordance with the METROMAX-Q system. In this figure, a wire shelf frame 10 is positioned on an elongated support post 12 by a corner support assembly 14.
Generally speaking, the corner support assembly 14 is comprised of a collar 16 and a locking mechanism, or flipper, 18 rotatably mounted to the collar. In this view, the flipper is shown in its unlocked position. The corner support assembly is secured between an end outer rail 24 and a side outer rail 24′ which form part of the shelf frame 10. A tapered wedge member 20 is positioned on the post where the shelf frame is to be secured. With the flipper in the closed position, the wedge member is compressed against the support post 12, and the corner support assembly 14 surrounds the support post and wedge member like a sleeve and is seated thereon to support the shelf frame with a wedging force. In addition, as the shelf is loaded, the flipper and shelf will move downwardly relative to the wedge thereby to increase the force with which the wedge member engages the post.
As shown in FIG. 1, the wire shelf frame 10 is part of a modular shelf that is formed by securing the outer rails 24 and 24′ to the corner support assemblies 14 by conventional means such as welding. In a rectangular shelf configuration, for example, two end outer rails 24 and two side outer rails 24′ will be secured between four corner support assemblies to comprise the wire shelf frame. Each outer rail includes a top rail 26, a bottom rail 28 and a snake-like rail 30 secured between the top and bottom rails for stability. One or more transverse rails (unshown) can be secured between parallel outer rails for additional support and to increase the load-bearing capacity of the shelf.
FIG. 2 is an isolated view of the collar 16 as used in an exemplary disclosed embodiment of the METROMAX-Q system. The collar 16 includes a cylindrical shaft 34, preferably non-rotatable, secured between two lateral sides 36 for rotatably supporting the flipper 18. A rear section of the collar 16 joining, or connecting, the two lateral sides is contoured to fit the outward-facing shape of the post 12. The post has a generally triangular cross-section. The rear side is thus shaped to have a straight portion 35 angled from each lateral side and joined by a rounded apex 37.
FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary locking mechanism, or flipper 18 as used in the METROMAX-Q system. The flipper, which is preferably integrally formed, has an upper end 41 and lower end 43. Further, the top end has a flat portion 47 and a rounded portion 49, with the rounded portion defining part of an open cylindrical cavity 40 for receiving and containing the shaft 34 of the collar 16. The lower end includes a flat manipulating portion 42 that can be grasped by the user. A rear face 44 of the flipper, which extends at an angle from the flat portion 47 and cannot be seen in FIG. 3, is shaped to complement the shape of the wedge member 20, which in this embodiment is substantially flat. The flipper is mounted on the collar to rotate about a longitudinal axis of the shaft. The preferred material for the flipper is a rigid molded plastic such as, for example, reinforced nylon.
FIG. 4A shows an example of a wedge member 20 used in the METROMAX-Q system. The wedge member 20 is designed to clip onto an interior face of the support post 12. The wedge member includes a front portion 45 flanked by two contoured lips 47 for clipping, or snap-fitting, the wedge member onto the support post. In addition, detent means such as internal beads, or ribs, 46 are provided on the internal surface of the wedge member and are spaced at intervals corresponding to the spacing of grooves on the support post.
The configuration of the internal beads is designed to mate with the configuration of the grooves in the support post. The internal beads provide vertical support when they are seated in the grooves of a support post. To further secure the wedge member on the support posts, additional vertical support is provided by a wedge action provided by the flipper in the locked position. The wedge member 20 may be clipped on to the support posts at any incremental height, and further may be translated up and down to any other incremental height.
In the example from the METROMAX-Q system illustrated in FIG. 4A, a cut-out 48 can be provided in the front portion 45 to view optional height increment numbers on the support post for vertically aligning the wedge member with wedge members on other support posts.
The outer surface of the front portion is substantially flat to correspond to the substantially flat rear face 44 of the flipper. Although not readily recognizable in FIG. 4A, the front portion is also slightly tapered from its upper end to its lower end, such that the lower end is wider and extends toward an interior of the shelving system.
With the tapered shape of the wedge member, an inwardly directed force is created by the weight of the shelf assembly to provide a wedging action between the corner support assembly and the wedge member, acting as in inclined plane.
As shown in FIG. 4B, the support post 12 has a generally right equilateral triangular cross-section, which can also be described as a triangular cross-section. A right-angled apex 50 and two flat exterior sides 52 face the exterior of the shelving system, and interior angled apexes 54 and an interior side 56 of the support post face the interior of the shelving assembly. The triangular geometry of the support post provides multi-directional stability, particularly in the directions of critical stress forces, i.e., in a direction parallel to the edges of the shelf.
The support post includes a plurality of horizontal grooves 58 that are preferably, but not necessarily, evenly spaced in the longitudinal direction of the post. The grooves receive the internal beads 46 of the sleeve.
Although unshown in the drawings, the top end of each support post 12 can be fitted with an end cap and the bottom end with a caster, a vertically-adjustable foot, an end cap, etc. As one example, the bottom end of the support post can be fitted with a stem receptacle for threadably receiving a leveling leg.
The METROMAX-Q system has been very successful and has provided users with an extremely easy to use yet sturdy adjustable mechanism for member support, in particular supports for heavy duty shelving requirements. This system can be improved so as to be even more convenient if a system can be devised in which the securing wedging action can be provided without using a separate wedge that may come loose from the other components of the corner support assembly. Thus, it would be advantageous if a support mechanism can be provided that has the advantages of the METROMAX-Q system mentioned above, while at the same time having the wedge, or structure that performs the wedging function of the wedge's inclined plane structure, inseparable or less readily separable from the other components of the corner support assembly.

Quick adjust support system with trapped or integral wedge


A system for receiving and re-sequencing a plurality of digital data chunks after transmission across a digital data network, so as to recover the natural temporal order of the data chunks as defined at the transmitter, including a chunk sorter for storing the, digital data chunks in a data buffer. The system thereafter sequentially transfers, at a chunk transfer rate compatible with the system playout rate, the digital data chunks to a playout destination according to the natural temporal order. The system further includes a chunk sequence analyzer for measuring the average time that the digital data chunks remain in the data buffer. The chunk sequence analyzer adjusts the playout rate so as to balance an increase in the average time, with an amount of data chunks lost due to arriving late and missing a playout deadline.

Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
The present invention relates to the transmission of encoded speech over packet-switched data networks that provide connectionless, best-effort (non-guaranteed) delivery, such as Internet Protocol (hereinafter xe2x80x9cIPxe2x80x9d) networks. More particularly, the invention relates to the recovery of a relative alignment in time of separately transmitted segments of speech so as to best approximate the user experience of conversing over the connection-oriented, circuit-switched infrastructure of the Public Switched Telephone. Network (hereinafter xe2x80x9cPSTNxe2x80x9d).
The development of far-reaching data networks initially sponsored by corporate, education and governmental needs has in recent years exploded due to the interest in the Internet shown by the general public. As access to such networks becomes more widespread and the carrying capacity increases, new uses for them are being continually devised. A significant emerging use is the transport of real-time speech between users who would otherwise place telephone calls on the conventional PSTN.
The factors motivating the transmission of speech over data networks as opposed to the PSTN are economic and logistical:
1. incumbent local exchange and long distance telephone carriers are proving difficult to displace from traditional services such as PSTN telephony and therefore maintain fee levels consistent with captive consumers;
2. the provision of Internet access is highly competitive and fees are either flat or based only on time, never on the geographical span of communication;
3. corporate information services managers have significant investment in data networks and are motivated to make use of spare capacity;
4. the management of a single corporate network for data and voice is attractive as compared to separate networks;
5. the PSTN is itself slowly migrating to packet-based technology where speech is considered one among many sources of data for transport.
Using data networks for speech can thus be expected to begin with Internet telephony for long distance charge avoidance and migrate through unconventional access such as wireless and cable modem to fully integrated data/telephony networks.
Significant problems that need to be overcome in the use of data networks to carry real-time, two-way speech relate to the fundamental properties of packet-switched data networks as opposed to circuit-switched networks such as the PSTN. These properties derive from the same differences in operation that make packet-switched networks more efficient and flexible than circuit-switched networks:
1. continuous information, such as speech, must be divided into blocks (packets) at the transmitter, each of which is conveyed over the network separately and must be reassembled at the receiver into the original form;
2. the multiplexing of information packets across network links is performed in a statistical fashion rather than by assignment to pre-allocated transmission slots as in circuit-switched networks;
3. due to statistical multiplexing, packets must be queued for entry to the network and at switching points within the network, both of which introduce significant transfer delay as compared to circuit-switched networks;
4. as packets contend with other packets for transmission capacity, they experience variable transfer delays, particularly during periods of network congestion (load approaching the upper limit);
5. severe network congestion and transmission errors can both cause packets to be dropped and therefore not reach their destination.
In addition, connectionless, best-effort data networks, such as IP networks, have the following properties:
6. both transfer delay and the variation of transfer delay from packet to packet can be many tens of milliseconds;
7. large changes in transfer delay can occur as the network resolves the route that packets should take over the network;
8. changes in route can cause packets to arrive at the destination in a different order to that in which they were transmitted;
9. packets may occasionally take multiple routes, resulting in duplicates of the same packet arriving at the destination;
10. severe congestion is quite common since, in a connectionless network, the network switching/routing elements cannot (without pseudo-connection-oriented reservation protocols, such as RSVP, yet to be widely deployed) predict or control the load offered for transport;
11. accepted congestion alleviation strategies include discarding (dropping) groups of consecutive packets from a source (transmitter).
It is an object of the present invention to reassemble packetized, encoded speech information transmitted over an IP or similar network with the above characteristics so as to offer to the users an experience as close as possible to the use of the traditional, circuit-switched telephony network.
The foregoing and other objects are achieved by the invention, a system for recovering the temporal alignment of digitally encoded speech information transmitted over connectionless, best-effort delivery, packet-switched data networks. In general, the system operates on a plurality of digital data chunks that are sequentially generated by a data transmitter according to a natural temporal order and time alignment, and are transmitted across a digital data network to a receiver, such that the digital data chunks arrive at the receiver in a received temporal order substantially independent of the natural temporal order, and a received time alignment substantially independent of the natural time alignment. The system re-sequences and re-aligns the plurality of digital data chunks at the receiver so as to transform the received temporal order into the natural temporal order and the received time alignment into the natural time alignment. In one aspect, the system comprises a chunk sorter for storing the digital data chunks in a data buffer and thereafter sequentially transferring, at a chunk transfer rate compatible with a playout rate, the digital data chunks to a playout destination according to the natural temporal order. The system further includes a chunk sequence analyzer for measuring an average time that the digital data chunks remain in the data buffer. The chunk sequence analyzer also adjusts the playout rate so as to balance an increase in the average time, with an amount of data chunks lost due to arriving late and missing a playout deadline.
In one embodiment of the invention, the digital data network includes a best effort delivery, packet-switched network.
In another embodiment of the invention, the chunk sorter further includes a packet unassembly buffer for receiving a plurality of packets of the digital data chunks, a jitter buffer having a plurality of storage slots for storing the data chunks, and a digital signal processor for receiving the data chunks from the jitter buffer and sequentially playing out the data chunks in the natural temporal order at the playout rate.
In another embodiment of the invention, the chunk sorter transfers each of the digital data chunks from the packet unassembly buffer to the jitter buffer in an order corresponding to a relative sample time associated with each of the data chunks.
In another embodiment of the invention, the relative sample time is a predetermined function of a timestamp associated with each of the plurality of packets.
In another embodiment of the invention, the chunk sorter zero-fills the storage slots so as to accommodate data chunks having a data width less than a width of the storage slots.
In another embodiment of the invention, the chunk sequence analyzer further includes a chunk holding time calculator for determining a chunk holding time for each of the data chunks in the data buffer. The chunk sequence analyzer also includes a mean holding time calculator for receiving the chunk holding time corresponding to each of the data chunks, and averaging a predetermined number of the chunk holding times, so as to produce a mean holding time that corresponds to a set of data chunks in the data buffer. The chunk sequence analyzer also includes a smoothed mean holding time calculator for receiving the mean holding time corresponding to each of the sets of data chunks in the data buffer, and for averaging a predetermined number of the mean holding times within a time window, so as to produce a smoothed mean holding time.
In another embodiment of the invention, the holding time calculator calculates a total holding time TN for N data chunks in the data buffer, at a time that an Nth data chunk is stored in the data buffer. The total holding time TN includes a sum of a next preceding total holding time TNxe2x88x921, an aging term EN, and a chunk holding term CN.
In another embodiment of the invention, the mean holding time calculator calculates a mean holding time HN for N data chunks in the data buffer at a time that an Nth data chunk is stored in the data buffer. The mean holding time HN includes a product of the total holding time TN and 1/N.
In another embodiment of the invention, the chunk sorter initiates a transfer of the data chunks in the data buffer to the playout destination when the mean holding time HN equals or exceeds a predetermined holding time goal.
In another embodiment of the invention, the chunk sequence analyzer further associates an arrival time with each of the data chunks according to a playout clock associated with the digital signal processor.
In another embodiment of the invention, upon playout of the data chunks, the holding time calculator calculates, for each of the data chunks, a chunk holding time being a difference between a head playout time and an arrival time of the data chunk.
In another embodiment of the invention, the mean holding time calculator calculates, for a set of K data chunks, a mean holding time being a product of (a) a sum of K chunk holding times corresponding to the set of K data chunks, and (b) 1/K.
In another embodiment of the invention, the sum of K chunk holding times includes K consecutive chunk holding times.
In another embodiment of the invention, the smoothed mean holding time calculator calculates, for a set of J mean holding times, a smoothed mean holding time being a product of (a) a sum of J mean holding times and (b) 1/J.
In another embodiment of the invention, the sum of J mean holding times includes J consecutive mean holding times.
Another embodiment of the invention further includes a playout adjustment selector for receiving the mean holding time, the smoothed mean holding time and a holding time goal, and provides a playout adjustment signal to the digital signal processor. The playout adjustment signal adjusts the playout rate, and is a predetermined function of the mean holding time, the smoothed mean holding time and the holding time goal.
In another embodiment of the invention, the predetermined function compares the mean holding time to the holding time goal, provides an advance playout command via the adjustment signal if the mean holding time is larger than the holding time goal, and provides a retard playout command via the adjustment signal if the mean holding time is smaller than the holding time goal.
In another embodiment of the invention, the predetermined function compares the smoothed mean holding time to the holding time goal, provides an advance playout command via the adjustment signal if the smoothed mean holding time is larger than the holding time goal, and provides a retard playout command via the adjustment signal if the smoothed mean holding time is smaller than the holding time goal.
In another embodiment of the invention, the predetermined function compares the mean holding time to the holding time goal so as to produce a comparison value, and provides the adjustment signal such that an adjustment magnitude corresponds to the comparison value.
In another embodiment of the invention, the chunk sequence analyzer further includes a holding time goal adapter for adjusting a chunk holding time goal. The holding time goal adapter determines, for each data chunk, an arrival margin by which the data chunk either achieves storage in the data buffer prior to playout, or does not achieve storage in the data buffer due to missing the playout deadline. The holding time goal adapter further sorts the arrival margins into a predetermined set of arrival margin bins, and adjusts the chunk holding time goal as a predetermined function of the sorted arrival margins.
In another embodiment of the invention, the arrival margin is a predetermined function of an associated chunk holding time, an associated smoothed mean holding time, and a previous holding time goal value.
In another embodiment of the invention, the chunk holding time goal is further a predetermined function of a loss tolerance value and a margin value width of the arrival margin bins.
In another aspect, the invention comprises a first software module for storing speech data packets in a data buffer as the packets arrive from a data network, and for retrieving the data packets from the data buffer in the natural temporal order and at a time at which the speech data packets should be played out to a receiving party. The apparatus further comprises a second software module for measuring and adjusting an average time that the speech data packets spend in storage, so as to balance an additional delay with an occurrence of the speech data that arrives from the data network too late for playout.
In another embodiment of the invention, the data network provides best-effort, connectionless service such that the packets conveyed thereby are subject to transit delay, variation in transit delay from one packet to another, packet loss, packet duplication, and out-of-order packet delivery.
In another embodiment of the invention, the data network is operated according to Internet Protocol, and includes, but is not limited to, corporate private networks operating according to Internet Protocol, and the public Internet.
In another embodiment of the invention, the packets of encoded speech data are transported over the Internet Protocol data network using a Real-Time Transport Protocol.
In another embodiment of the invention, the sequence in which the encoded speech data is played out is recovered by storage in a Jitter Buffer, according to a relative playout time value provided by a packet protocol header, and independent of the packet arrival order.
In another embodiment of the invention, the digitally encoded speech is encoded according to a frame-based encoding method such as ITU-T Recommendations G.723.1 and G.729. Fixed or variable-size frames of encoded speech data are generated at a transmitter, and a complete frame must be available at a receiver in order for it to be played out as reconstructed audio.
In another embodiment of the invention, the digitally encoded speech is encoded according to a sample-based encoding method such as ITU-T Recommendations G.711, G.726 and G.727. A continuous stream of speech waveform samples are generated at a transmitter, division into packets for transport on the data network is arbitrary and, any number of adjacent samples at the receiver can be played out as reconstructed audio.
In another embodiment of the invention, the digitally encoded speech passes continuously from a transmitter towards a receiver without regard to periods during which a user at the transmitter is not speaking.
In another embodiment of the invention, a transmitting station includes means of detecting that the user is not speaking and the transmitting station sends an indication of a background noise characteristic to a receiver, followed by no further encoded data until speech resumes.
In another embodiment of the invention, the transmitting station periodically sends updates of the background noise characteristic to the receiver.
In another embodiment of the invention, the Jitter Buffer is divided into storage partitions into each of which encoded speech data representing a known time interval is stored, and the time interval is configurable according to the speech encoding method in use.
In another embodiment of the invention, the storage partitions are arranged by a software module, in a fixed order, representing the natural temporal order.
In another embodiment of the invention, each frame received in a packet on the data network is stored in an individual storage partition of the Jitter Buffer.
In another embodiment of the invention, the samples received in a packet on the data network are distributed into the storage partitions of the Jitter Buffer such that each partition contains an amount of data representing a selected partition time interval.
In another embodiment of the invention, a selection of storage partitions is made with reference to information about an encoder""s relative sampling time included in the packet header by the transmitter.
In another embodiment of the invention, the apparatus, while decoding and playing out speech, maintains a playout clock, advancing in step with speech playout. Each storage partition is labeled with a value of the playout clock when the partition is filled with data, for the purpose of measuring the time the data spends in storage between arrival and playout.
In another embodiment of the invention, the average time spent in storage by encoded speech data is measured by processing the storage time of the data in each successive storage partition with accumulate-and-dump and/or sliding window averaging and smoothing algorithms, so as to reduce fluctuations due to stochastic variations in packet delay.

System for and method of recovering temporal alignment of digitally encoded audio data transmitted over digital data networks


In order to provide a fuel cell system (which ensures high proton conductivity and high energy conversion efficiency and, in addition, copes with an operating mode of the startup/shutdown type and which has excellent durability capable of effectively preventing a polymer electrolyte membrane from deterioration) and an operating method of such a fuel cell system, a fuel cell system (100) is provided with a fuel cell (11), a fuel gas supplier (16) and an oxidizing gas supplier (17), a temperature supplier (19) which controls the temperature of the fuel cell, and a humidifier unit (18) which humidifies oxidizing gas, wherein there is further provided a controller (20) which controls the dew point of fuel gas and the dew point of oxidizing gas as follow: during the generation of electric power, the fuel gas dew point is made higher than or equal to the temperature of the fuel cell while the oxidizing gas dew point is made less than the temperature of the fuel cell and, before interrupting the electric connection between the fuel cell and a load, at least, the temperature of the fuel cell and the oxidizing gas dew point are made to conform to each other.

A fuel cell system capable of small-scale electric power generation at high efficiency has been developed as an electric power generating system of the distributed type capable of implementing high energy-use efficiency because it is easy to construct a system for making utilization of heat energy produced when electric power is generated.
A fuel cell system includes, as a main body of its electric power generating section, a fuel cell. As such a fuel cell, for example, a phosphoric acid fuel cell, a molten carbonate fuel cell, an alkali aqueous solution fuel cell, a polymer electrolyte fuel cell, or other like fuel cell is employed. Of these types of fuel cells, the polymer electrolyte fuel cell is characterized by its ability to generate electric power at relatively low temperatures (from about 50 to about 120 degrees Centigrade) and by its high output density and long service life. Therefore, the polymer electrolyte fuel cell is expected to be applied to electric vehicle's motive electric power sources which are required to have a high output characteristic and a quick startup, to cogeneration systems for household use which are required to have a long-term reliability, or to other like system.
In a polymer electrolyte fuel cell, during its operation of generating electric power, hydrogen-containing fuel gas is supplied towards an anode while on the other hand oxygen-containing oxidizing gas is supplied towards a cathode. As a result, in the anode of the polymer electrolyte fuel cell, hydrogen supplied is converted into electrons and protons. The electrons generated in the anode will reach the cathode of the polymer electrolyte fuel cell by way of an external load connected to the fuel cell system. On the other hand, the protons generated in the anode will reach the cathode through a polymer electrolyte membrane. Meanwhile, in the cathode of the polymer electrolyte fuel cell, water is generated from incoming electrons arriving by way of the external load, incoming protons arriving through the polymer electrolyte membrane, and oxygen present in the oxidizing gas supplied to the cathode. By such a series of mechanisms, electric power is outputted from the polymer electrolyte fuel cell, whereby the external load is driven. Furthermore, fuel gas is supplied from a fuel gas supplier which generates hydrogen, for example, from methane by a steam reforming reaction. In addition, oxidizing gas is supplied from an oxidizing gas supplier which takes in air from the atmosphere, for example, by means of a "sirocco" fan.
Incidentally, in a fuel cell system equipped with a polymer electrolyte fuel cell, it is required that its polymer electrolyte membrane be maintained in a wet condition in order to ensure proton conductivity from the anode side to the cathode side. To this end, in the fuel cell system, fuel gas humidified and oxidizing gas humidified are supplied to the anode side and to the cathode side, respectively. In addition, in the fuel cell system, in order to ensure high energy conversion efficiency when converting a change in the free energy of a chemical reaction into electric energy, the polymer electrolyte fuel cell is operated, for example, in an operating condition that meets the following interrelations: Tcell>Tda and Tcell>Tdc (hereinafter, such an operating condition is referred to as a "low-humidification operating condition") where Tda is the fuel gas dew point, Tdc is the oxidizing gas dew point, and Tcell is the polymer electrolyte fuel cell temperature. Hereby, the fuel cell system will stably exhibit its predefined electric power generation performance over long periods (for example, see Patent Document 1).
On the other hand, the electric power generating operation of the fuel cell system generally employs such a startup/shutdown type operating mode that the electric power generating operation of the polymer electrolyte fuel cell is started up or shut down depending on the situation, because there is no need to carry out an operation of producing electric power if neither electric energy nor heat energy that the fuel cell system generates is needed. In this startup/shutdown type operating mode, when neither electric energy nor heat energy is required the controller of the fuel cell system first controls the fuel gas supplier and the oxidizing gas supplier to stop their operation and then disconnects the electric connection between the polymer electrolyte fuel cell and the external load. Hereby, the polymer electrolyte fuel cell enters the open circuit state. And in order to prevent the polymer electrolyte membrane from becoming dried, the controller causes humidified inactive gas to be sealed within the inside of the polymer electrolyte fuel cell. In addition, the controller shuts off the connection of the polymer electrolyte fuel cell with the fuel gas supplier and the oxidizing gas supplier, thereby closing off a fuel gas passage and an oxidizing gas passage in the polymer electrolyte fuel cell. Hereby, the fuel cell system prevents the polymer electrolyte membrane from becoming dried over long periods (for example, see Patent Documents 2, 3, and 4).    Patent Document 1: JP-A-H04-502749    Patent Document 2: JP-A-H06-251788    Patent Document 3: JP-A-2004-163037    Patent Document 4: JP-A-2004-006166

Fuel cell system and operating method thereof


Porcine prolactin (pPRL) is administered to poultry in dosages of from about 1-500 ug/kg/day, preferably 10-100 ug/kg/day, to promote growth by improving the rate of weight gain and/or increasing feed utilization efficiency.

Generally, prolactin (PRL) is a 199 amino acid protein which is normally produced by the pituitary throughout an animal's life. PRL plays a role in the development of mammary tissue in females and, during pregnancy, produces a further development of mammary tissue and stimulates the production of milk. Although known for its mammatropic and lactogenic effects, PRL is generally not considered an efficient anabolic agent. In addition, PRL is considered species specific. Human, ovine, and porcine PRL have 144 of their 199 residues in identical positions but neither the ovine nor porcine PRL is active in humans.
PRL has been isolated from excised pituitary tissue. See, e.g., Li et al., Nature, 224, 695-696 (1963) (ovine); Lewis et al., Biochem Biophys. Res. Commun., 44(5), 1169 (1971) (human); Reisfeld et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 83, 3719 (1961) (sheep); and Li et al., J. Biol Chem, 146, 627 (1942) (ox, sheep and swine) PRL can also be obtained from genetically engineered microorganisms containing recombinant DNA which specifies the production of PRL using well known techniques. For example, the nucleotide coding sequence and an amino acid sequence of native bovine prolactin (bPRL) have been reported; e.g. W.L. Miller et al., J. Biol. Chem., 255, 7521-24 (1980); U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,839 to Souza discloses a method for preparing bPRL by utilizing recombinant DNA methodology.
The preparation of porcine prolactin (pPRL) is well known in the art. For example, pPRL is extracted from pituitary glands of swine or can be produced via recombinant DNA technology in appropriate hosts by means well known to skilled artisans. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,317,392 to Eppstein and 3,265,580 to Nelson et al, both incorporated by reference herein, disclose processes for preparing porcine prolactin from porcine pituitary glands. PRL can be purchased commercially from Pituitary Hormones and Antisera Center, Harbour/U.C.L.A. Medical Center, 1000 West Carson Street, Torrance, CA.
FRL produced in animals of different species vary in antigens induced, isoelectric points, N-terminal and C-terminal amino acid residues, and amino acid composition. PRL is generally species-specific that is PRL from one species is inactive or has very weak activity in another species.
This species specific limitation on the use of PRL has several disadvantages. Equipment, expertise, recombinant microorganism strains, process and handling conditions, etc. must be obtained or developed for the production of PRL for each desired species. Additionally, PRL for one species may be more costly to produce, more difficult to recover, or less stable than PRL for a different species. It would, therefore, save considerable expense and duplication of effort if, contrary to previous teachings, the PRL from one species could be used to treat other non-related species. For example, a particular advantage in costs and duplication of effort could be saved if PRL from one species could be used to promote growth in another species. Such a surprising discovery would be contrary to two prior previous teachings relating to PRL; (1) that PRL is species specific, and (2) that PRL is not an effective anabolic agent.


Subdivision per basic color channels of grey level data generated by a color sensor is no longer required according to a novel color interpolation method of an image acquired by a digital color sensor generating grey levels for each image pixel as a function of the filter applied to the sensor by interpolating the values of missing colors of each image pixel for generating triplets or pairs of values of primary colors or complementary base hues for each image pixel. The method may include calculating spatial variation gradients of primary colors or complementary base hues for each image pixel and storing the information of directional variation of primary color or complementary base hue in look-up tables pertaining to each pixel. The method may further include interpolating color values of each image pixel considering the directional variation information of the respective values of primary colors or complementary hues stored in the respective look-up tables of the pixel for generating the multiple distinct values for each image pixel.

In order to reconstruct a color image it is usually necessary to carry out an operation known as color interpolation (or demosaicing) to generate triplets of base color values (RGB) or more values, one for each base hue, through appropriate interpolation algorithms for generating values of missing colors for each image pixel. Numerous techniques for processing data provided by a digital color sensor have been proposed. It is worth mentioning the following documents: M. R. Gupta, T. Chen, "Vector Color Filter Array Demosaicing" SPIE Electronic Imaging 2001; R. Ramanath, W. E. Snyder, G. L. Bilbro, W. A. Sander, "Demosaicing Methods for Bayer Color Arrays", Journal of Electronic Imaging, vol. 11, n. 3, pages 306-315, July 2002; R. Kimmel, "Demosaicing: Image Reconstruction from Color CCD Samples"; R. Kakarala, Z. Baharav, "Adaptive Demosaicing with The Principal Vector Method", IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics, vol. 48, n. 4, pages 932-937, November 2002; B. E. Bayer, "Color Imaging Array", U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,065, July 1976; B. K. Gunturk, Y. Altunbasak, R, Mersereau, "Color Plane Interpolation Using Alternating Projections", IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, vol. 11, no. 9, pages 997-1013, September 2002; S. Smith, "Colour Image Restoration with Anti-Alias", EP 1,098,535, May 2001. Many known techniques preliminarily subdivide the image data stream generated by the digital color sensor into two or more channels, such as three channels for the case of a filtering based upon the RGB triplet of primary colors (red, green, blue). When the red component of a pixel is to be estimated, but only its green level has been acquired, it is necessary to estimate the red pixels adjacent to the considered pixel, and so on, when the value of another missing color is to be estimated. Clearly, subdividing in different channels grey level data generated by the digital color sensor and the successive merging operation of the values calculated for primary colors or base hues with the known value of the primary color of base hue for the considered pixel implies an evident computational burden or, in case of hardware implementation, an increased circuit complexity.
The development of new consumer applications of digital photo-cameras and similar devices, for instance in cellular phones, in laptop (notebook) or hand-held computers, and other devices for mobile communications, encourages the need to devise more effective and at the same time low cost techniques for processing images acquired by a digital color sensor. A particular important factor is the low cost, because these techniques may desirably be used in devices economically accessible to individual consumers, and there is considerable competition in this field among manufacturers of these devices and their components.

Color interpolation method of an image acquired by a digital sensor by directional filtering


A silicone pressure-sensitive adhesive composition having high adhesion and tack while having a high percentage of adhesive failure when peeled from substrates is disclosed, said composition consisting essentially of. (A) 50 to 80 parts by weight of an MQ organopolysiloxane resin; PA1 (B) 20 to 50 parts by weight of a polydiorganosiloxane having at least 3 alkenyl groups in its molecule, with the proviso that the alkenyl group content of said polydiorganosiloxane is 0.1 to 4 mole percent, the total amount of components (A) and (B) being 100 parts by weight; PA1 (C) an organohydrogenpolysiloxane crosslinking agent having, on average, at least 3 SiH groups per molecule, the amount of said organohydrogenpolysiloxane being sufficient to provide a molar ratio of said SiH groups of component (C) to said alkenyl groups of component (B) in the range of 0.1 to <1.0; and PA1 (D) a curing amount of a hydrosilation catalyst.

Silicone pressure-sensitive adhesives (hereinafter also referred to as PSAs) typically contain at least two primary components, namely a linear siloxane polymer and an MQ resin consisting essentially of triorganosiloxane (M) units (i.e., R.sub.3 SiO.sub.1/2 units, in which R denotes a monovalent organic group) and silicate (Q) units (i.e., SiO.sub.4/2 units). In addition to the above two ingredients, silicone PSA compositions are generally provided with some crosslinking means in order to optimize various properties of the final adhesive product. And, in view of the high viscosity imparted by the polymer component, these PSA compositions are typically dispersed in an organic solvent for ease of application.
When such silicone PSA compositions employ an alkenyl-functional polymer and a crosslinking agent containing silicon-bonded hydrogen atoms, they can be cured by a hydrosilation addition reaction therebetween using a platinum-type catalyst. In such systems, the molar ratio of silicon-bonded hydrogen groups to silicon-bonded alkenyl groups is typically greater than 1, as exemplified by the disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 4,988,779 to Medford et al. Although many of these PSAs have good adhesive properties, they often lack a balance between aggressive adhesion to substrates, such a metal, and high initial tack. A major drawback of such systems is that they tend to fail in a cohesive mode when peeled from a substrate, particularly when the peel rate is high. This has the untoward effect of transferring some of the adhesive to the substrate from which it is peeled (i.e., small "islands" of PSA remain on the substrate after the PSA is delaminated therefrom). This is highly undesirable in many commercial applications (e.g., in electronic masking applications do not want PSA residue left on components).


A receptacle connector including a ladder-like insulative body, a plurality of first conductive contacts and a plurality of second conductive contacts. The first conductive contacts and the second conductive contacts are exposed toward the same side over one end of the insulative body. The first conductive contacts and the second conductive contacts can be soldered to a transmission wire for data transmission. The instant disclosure further comprises an assembling method of a receptacle connector.

1. Field of the Instant Disclosure
The instant disclosure relates to an electrical connector and an assembling method thereof; in particular, to a receptacle connector and an assembling method thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Receptacle connectors are commonly used for data transmission in recent days, where one of the most popular receptacle connectors is the USB 3.0 connector. Compared to the prior versions such as the USB 1.0, 1.1, and 2.0, the USB 3.0 has a much faster data transmitting speed. Furthermore, the USB 3.0 has a lower power consumption rate and is compatible to the prior versions such as the USB 1.1 and 2.0. In terms of structural design, a standard USB 3.0 includes a plurality of differential signal contacts, a power contact, and a pair of ground contacts. According to the Taiwan patent, No. TWM391203, a wire-soldered receptacle connector is disclosed, where the receptacle connector has a plurality of first soldering cups and a plurality of second soldering cups. Furthermore, the first soldering cups and the second soldering cups are exposed by facing the opposite directions. After the transmission wires are soldered to the first soldering cups, the receptacle connector has to be flipped over for the transmission wires to be soldered to the second soldering cups. In addition, the signal wire, the power wire and the ground wire which are soldered to the differential signal contact, power contact, and the ground contact are bundled together.

Receptacle connector and assembling method thereof


A method of supplying electrical power to at least one device at a tree of an underwater fluid extraction well is disclosed. The method comprises using magnetic resonance coupling for wirelessly transmitting power from a supply to each device.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to the supply of electrical power to underwater devices, in particular those at a tree of an underwater fluid extraction well.
2. Description of the Prior Art
On a subsea fluid extraction well Christmas tree, the supply of electrical power to pressure and/or temperature (P/T) sensors and to directional control valves (DCVs) within a subsea control module (SCM) is typically supplied from a subsea electronics module (SEM). Likewise, electrical power to sensors mounted on the Christmas tree itself, external to the SCM, are also fed from the SEM via the SCM. Such power is supplied via simple wiring. However, the wiring, along with the connectors which have to operate under high barometric pressures and low temperatures, are expensive. Embodiments of the present invention provide a cheaper alternative to the power wiring and connectors.


A heterogeneous arrangement of encoder and precoder are provided in a multi-hop communications network. The net effect of the encoder and precoder is to present, to a destination node, a quasi-orthogonal space time block coded transmission.

MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) communications has been in development for some considerable time. However, these have generally been arranged on a point-to-point basis, i.e. with a source MIMO node communicating directly with a destination MIMO node. While this communication technology is proven, it is desirable to identify arrangements which allow for implementation of a MIMO relay network, that is where a source node, a relay node and a destination node all are equipped with multiple antennas.

Method and apparatus for coding a signal in a relay network


A conductive clip for a semiconductor device package. In one example, the conductive clip may include a number of protrusions that extend from a surface of the conductive clip that in practice is solder-mounted to a leadframe of the semiconductor device package. In another example, the conductive clip may include the number of protrusions that each extend from the surface of the conductive clip that in practice is solder-mounted to the leadframe of the semiconductor device package, and may also include a number of protrusions that each extend from a surface of the conductive clip that in practice is solder-mounted to at least one electrical component that in turn is solder-mounted to the leadframe of the semiconductor device package.

A half-bridge circuit may include two analog devices or switches. Half-bridge circuits may be used in power supplies, power converters, motors, rectifiers, drivers power electronics, and other applications. Half-bridge circuits are often held within a circuit package. Half-bridge circuit packages may have several contacts and may include several conductive paths or elements to connect the contacts to each other and to external components.

Semiconductor device package having solder-mounted conductive clip on leadframe