The acceleration of peer-to-peer downloads of content files wherein a tracker performs a condition based peer selection that is dynamically adjustable. A further feature relates to the use of enhanced message scheme for communications. One embodiment is a system in a swarm having at least one origin seed capable of at least initially storing the content files with at least one tracker maintaining a list of peers wherein the tracker uses at least one dynamically adjusting peer selection algorithm to generate a condition based peer-list and provides the condition based peer-list to a requesting peer.

Peer-to-Peer file-sharing technologies are being rapidly adopted to distribute digital information (e.g., multimedia such as movies, TV, music; software; and imagery). One reason for the growth of P2P usage relates to the economics of content distribution. In most cases, the content publisher benefits by lower cost distribution of data. The content consumers benefit by obtaining content faster. This is especially valid for flash crowds that occur with popular data that would otherwise overload the capacity of a publisher's web servers.
While a client-server topology may suffice for limited download access, popular web sites have traditionally resorted to using Content Distribution Network (CDN) services to provide sufficient bandwidth to handle larger crowds. There are now various commercial CDN services available (e.g., Akamai, L3, Limelight). However, with such CDN services, bandwidth and data delivery costs scale linearly with the number of users interested in downloading the site's digital information. As large downloads (e.g., TV shows and movies) become more popular, the distribution costs associated with CDN services are high. P2P technologies offer a way to dramatically reduce such distribution costs.
From a general perspective, a P2P network takes advantage of the numerous, diverse connectivity between participants in a network and the cumulative upload/download bandwidth of all network participants. A pure peer-to-peer network does not have the notion of clients or servers, but only equal peers that each simultaneously function as both "client" and "server" to the other peers in the network. This is very different from the conventional client-server approach wherein one or more servers would be coupled with a number of clients. Peer-to-peer networks are typically used for connecting peers via largely ad hoc connections and are commonly used for sharing content. Unlike the client-server approach, as the number of peers grows, the aggregate network bandwidth of the set of peers grows. Thus, each peer has the potential to obtain the composite of the content faster, there is less chance for denial of service on the part of the content source, and the content source provider's computation and network utilization remains relatively low.
In practice, there are three distinct classes of P2P based distribution technologies: live streaming, download, and hybrid. P2P live streaming technologies (e.g., PPLive) deliver live audio and/or video and must satisfy applicable quality-of-service requirements. For example, the data must arrive in linear order to support playback of content (note that buffering allows some slop in arrival order) while maintaining sufficient bit rate in order to sustain playback. Furthermore, because the content is live, peers do not typically store significant amounts of content other than what is buffered locally. With asymmetric broadband technologies that offer faster download rates compared to upload rates, the ability to leverage peers in distributing video is diminished when the effective upload bandwidth on the peer's Internet connection is less than or comparable to the video content's encoding bit-rate. Hence, higher bit rate content requires additional content servers to supplement the bandwidth provided by the peers, which in turn drives up distribution costs. Because of bit-rate limitations, live streaming technologies are typically used with lower bit-rate media such as live audio and low bit-rate video streams.
With P2P download technologies, such as the original BitTorrent protocol, the digital information is delivered on a "best effort" basis with data being delivered to each peer in no particular order. Hence, traditional P2P download technologies are typically not suitable for video streaming applications, but offer lower distribution costs. Many companies are now offering P2P download-based services with BitTorrent-based protocols being among the most commonly used mechanisms.
Hybrid P2P technologies (also referred to as "peer assisted") enable streaming while simultaneously allowing content to be stored locally on peers. Thus compared to P2P live streaming, a larger pool of peers is available to supply video content to fellow peers. Because video is stored locally, premium content usually must have some form of content protection mechanism (e.g., encrypted file systems, DRM technologies, etc.). There are now many companies offering such hybrid P2P technologies, including VeriSign, Inc., Akamai Technologies, Pando, iTiva, and BitTorrent, Inc. Hybrid P2P technologies typically offer improved quality of service. Most of these efforts have focused on combining P2P-based networks with Content Delivery Network (CDN) services that supplement the P2P network bandwidth in order to ensure higher quality-of-service to individual peers. Some of these (e.g., iTiva) also leverage web proxy servers provided by ISPs to supplement the CDN and P2P networks. The objectives of these hybrid technologies are typically to enhance the quality-of-service for peers, such as enabling streaming video delivery, while reducing distribution costs for content providers and ISPs. However, the use of web and CDN services to supplement P2P bandwidth adds distribution costs over pure P2P-based services. Hence the use of CDN services should typically be minimized without sacrificing end user quality of service.
While content providers and the content consumers enjoy the benefits of P2P, the consumers' Internet service providers (ISPs) do not appreciate the massive data exchange across the peering overlay network and the grossly inefficient use of network resources and bandwidth. Specifically, popular P2P technologies (e.g., BitTorrent) tend to ignore peer locality considerations when matching peers with each other. Hence, peer-to-peer communications are likely to leave the local ISP's network through key network resources that connect to other ISPs. Many commercial peer-to-peer technologies are now integrating various heuristics to group peers that are "nearby", such as within the ISP's local network. Hence, use of "peer locality" to match peers helps make P2P technologies more appealing to ISPs by reducing network congestion with added benefit of enhancing P2P performance for peers.
Peer-to-peer (P2P) technologies provide significantly lower cost mechanisms for content providers seeking to distribute digital information to many different interested parties. However, the analysis of P2P performance and scaling characteristics show that existing peer selection methods can lead to sub-optimal content distribution performance.
BitTorrent Terminology
Some general terminology descriptions may be helpful and are included herein for convenience:                BitTorrent client—a computer program that implements a peer that uses the BitTorrent protocol. The client software may be installed on a variety of devices, such as personal computers, set top boxes, and portable device such as cell phones or media players.        BitTorrent protocol—a P2P protocol used for distributing content via a swarm.        Content Distribution Network or Content Delivery Network (CDN)—a system of Internet-interconnected computers that cooperate transparently to deliver content directly to interested end users.        current peer—the peer currently under consideration.        distributed hash table (DHT)—a decentralized, network-based system that provides a lookup service similar to a hash table.        flash crowd—a sudden network traffic surge caused by a significant influx of users attempting to access the same content.        Mainline—an open source BitTorrent client developed by BitTorrent, Inc. that serves as the reference implementation of the BitTorrent protocol.        miscreant peer—any peer that by design (as opposed to circumstances) does not comply with the implied sharing nature of the swarm.        non-seed—any peer that does not have all the content.        non-origin peer—any peer that is not an origin peer.        non-origin seed—any seed that is not an origin seed.        origin peer—any peer that is controlled by the content publisher and/or CDN and whose primary function is facilitating the distribution of content.        origin seed—any seed that is controlled by the content publisher and/or CDN and can be brought on-line or removed based on demand, and is typically used to initiate distribution of content.        origin server—the original content source computer network service from which the content distribution infrastructure obtains content to disseminate, typically operated by CDN services or content publisher.        overlay network—a logical network that is built on top of another (physical or lower-level logical) network, wherein this typically refers to the communication topology among peers.        peer—any piece-sharing participant in a swarm.        peer-list—a list of peer identifiers, usually Internet protocol addresses and ports.        peer selection algorithm—method used to select a subset of peers in the swarm.        piece—a portion of the content being shared by a swarm.        proxy server—a computer network service that allows clients to make indirect network connections to other network services used to control references locally (ISP, business, etc.). Proxy servers typically cache content locally and are thus leveraged to alleviate traffic on key network resources.        remote peer—a peer on the peer-list of the current peer.        seed—any peer that has all the content.        server—a computer network service.        swarm—a group of P2P processes that interact with each other via a particular file distribution protocol for the purpose of sharing specific content The group is largely composed of peers, but also includes "servers" such as the tracker, web server(s), and proxy server(s).        torrent—the content (unique file or set of files) to be distributed within a swarm—plus a torrent file.        torrent file—a small file containing meta information about a torrent. The file contains unique identifiers (block hashes) for the content and its pieces, as well as the URL(s) for the associated tracker(s).        tracker—a network-based service that helps peers in a swarm find each other, wherein the tracker functionality can be centralized or distributed.        distributed swarm—a swarm that does not require the use of a centralized tracker (trackerless) and the tracker functionality is implemented by peers.BitTorrent Overview
BitTorrent has been one of the most popular protocols for file-sharing and will be used herein for illustrative purposes as an example of the P2P system. It should be noted that the BitTorrent descriptions are based on the present state of the published materials of the BitTorrent protocol and subject to change.
BitTorrent is a protocol that allows a content provider to distribute content to a swarm of peers. The peers within the swarm will then disseminate parts of the content to each other in a peer exchange fashion such that as one peer is obtaining new pieces of content, it is simultaneously sharing its other pieces of content with other peers. One of the features that makes BitTorrent unique is that it provides a built-in mechanism to help facilitate the fair distribution of content and to help prevent selfishness on the part of peers by using a game theoretical "tit-for-tat" piece distribution algorithm. However, there are ways to manipulate this equal distribution scheme and variants (e.g., miscreant peers) have evolved that create priority ranking as well as disrupting equitable sharing which is sometimes referred to as "free riding."
The functionality of a BitTorrent system is well publicized and known to those skilled in the art. However for completeness, a simplified high-level process flowchart for a BitTorrent system is shown in FIG. 1. Initially, there is some content file from a content provider that is prepared for sharing 105. For example, the content provider can be a large corporation or enterprise that uploads the data file to a company server for preparation (e.g., transcoding, DRM, watermarking, etc.), or it could be an independent music artist that prepares a new music video for dissemination to its fans.
The content file is packaged in a format that adheres to the respective P2P protocol being used for the dissemination 110. For example, a large content file will typically be distributed as pieces. Packaging in BitTorrent typically entails generating cryptographic hash values for each of these pieces to ensure their integrity, as well as generating a cryptographic hash of the entire content set. For example, one hash version is the US Secure Hash Algorithm 1 (SHA-1). These hashes are placed in a metafile (i.e., the .torrent file in BitTorrent) describing the information about the content to be distributed via P2P. The content data itself can be any form of digitized data and may consist of one or more files, folders, etc. In one example, the content file is a video and is packaged according to the BitTorrent protocol.
Once the content file has been packaged according to the appropriate P2P requirements, the content is registered with some form of tracker and a copy is placed on some origin seed 115. The metafile with the information about the content is published 120, such as by placing the .torrent file on a website or a syndication feed (e.g., an RSS feed). After the P2P file has been published 120, the content file is then available for downloading.
Peers will join the swarm 125 by downloading the metafile and registering with the tracker to initiate the transfer process. Upon request, the tracker will supply a peer with a list of other peers 130. The tracker will use its peer selection algorithm to determine which peers should go on any given peer-list. When a peer receives a peer-list from the tracker, it attempts to connect to the peers specified on that list 135. Peers then exchange pieces of content with their connected peers 140. At some point (typically determined by the end user), the peer will leave the swarm 145. If the peer leaves the swarm after having obtained all the content (typical), it is said to have been successful.
Referring to FIG. 2, a block diagrammatic presentation of a BitTorrent P2P system 210 is depicted for delivering content 220. The intent of the system is for all the peers in the overlay network of peers 270 to each ultimately obtain a full copy of the content. For convenience, only a few elements are shown, however there can be anywhere from one to hundreds of thousands of participants in a P2P swarm. The BitTorrent protocol in this example uses several components, namely torrent files 230, web servers 240, tracker servers 250, origin seed peers 290, and non-origin peers 280. It should be understood that the P2P technology is highly dynamic and that the details herein are intended to provide an understanding of the BitTorrent system at some particular time and may not reflect the most recent protocol version, and some of the command instructions and particulars may differ.
The original content owner/distributor with some content 220 to be distributed will use a complete copy of the content file(s) to generate a torrent file 230. A torrent file 230 is typically composed of a header plus a number of cryptographic hashes for the pieces of the original content file(s), where each piece of the file is a portion (e.g.: 256 KB) of the whole file. The header information typically denotes the IP address or URL of the tracker 250 for the torrent file 230, as the BitTorrent client must be registered with the tracker 250. Once created, the torrent file 230 is then published on a publicly accessible web server 240 or made available in other forms such as a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed.
An origin server or web server 240 is typically the initial distribution content point wherein the content provider will post the availability of some content such as a movie trailer onto a web server 240 for dissemination to the public or to some restricted users. The content itself is not on the web server, only the information about the content. Content providers may own their own servers, or they can use third party web servers. While a web server 240 is used in this example, there are many embodiments that operate with other distribution mechanisms such as via an RSS feed.
The torrent's unique id (the cryptographic has defined in the torrent file 230) is registered with the tracker 250, and the origin seed peer(s) 290 are established with a full copy of all the content pieces comprising the content 220 and the torrent file 230. The origin seed peer(s) 290 start with all the content and will seed the other non-seed peers in the overlay network of peers 270. A new peer needs to register itself with the tracker 250 in order to join the network of peers 270. It does this by contacting the Web Server 240 to obtain the torrent file 230 that specifies the address of the tracker 250. The new peer then contacts the tracker 250 to request the addresses of other peers within the overlay network of peers 270. The tracker 250 then uses peer selection software 260 to randomly choose a subset of peers that it knows about; creates a list of addresses of these selected peers; and sends the resultant list of peer addresses (which will subsequently be referred to as a peer-list) to the requester. Because of the size limit (typically 50 peers) of the peer-list provided by the tracker and mainline BitTorrent's random peer selection, the probability of creating an isolated clique in the overlay network of peers 270 is relatively low, which typically ensures robust network routes for piece distribution.
There are two ways that a current peer can establish a connection with another peer. The first way is when the current peer contacts a remote peer as a result of receiving the remote peer's address from the tracker. The second way is when another peer contacts the current peer. There is an upper limit on the number of remote connections that a current peer can establish. The upper limit is a configuration parameter that according to the BitTorrent reference implementation defaults to eighty. At any point during the piece exchange process, peers may join or leave the swarm's peering network 270. Because of the highly volatile nature of these swarms, a peer will re-request an updated list of peers from the tracker 240 periodically (typically between five and thirty minutes—based on default parameters from the BitTorrent reference implementation). This ensures the robustness of the swarm assuming the tracker 240 remains operational.
The tracker 250 is a network-based server and centrally coordinates the P2P transfer of files among the users. BitTorrent trackers are software server toolkit applications, and XBT, BNBT and CBTT are open source examples of BitTorrent tracker toolkits. Any non-origin peer 280 connects to the tracker 250 and requests a peer-list. The tracker 250 responds by providing the peer 280 with a peer-list that it can use to obtain pieces of the content file from the other peers in the overlay network of peers 270. Typical trackers, such as XBT, create the peer-list by randomly selecting peers that the tracker believes are currently in the swarm—but excluding the requesting peer. If the tracker 250 fails or is taken offline, peers 280 will be unable to connect to additional peers and thereby may be unable to continue sharing those P2P files.
The tracker 250 maintains information about the BitTorrent peers that it has registered. In particular, the tracker identifies each peer that is participating in the network of peers 270. It also typically tracks information that it receives each time it is contacted by a peer such as the number of bytes of content that it has uploaded, the number of bytes of content that it has downloaded, and the number of bytes of content that it still lacks.
The origin seeds 290 and other peers 280 typically transfer pieces (e.g., 256 KB portions) of the content file among themselves using a complex, non-cooperative, tit-for-tat algorithm. After a piece is downloaded, the current peer will validate that piece against the cryptographic hash for that piece. As noted, the hash for that piece is contained in the torrent file 230. When a piece is validated, the current peer is subsequently able to share it with other peers in its peer set (which is a subset of the entire network of peers 270) who have not yet obtained it. The determination of which piece to request from another peer is done using a rarest piece first policy which is used exclusively after the first few randomly selected pieces have been obtained by a peer (typically three pieces but this is a configuration parameter). Because each peer announces to all peers in its peer-set each new piece it has obtained (via a HAVE message), all peers 280 are able to keep copy counts on each piece and determine within their peer-set which piece or pieces are rarest (i.e., lowest copy count). When a non-seed peer has obtained all pieces for the file, it can then switch to being a seed for the content 220.
A present version of the BitTorrent system uses a distributed hash table (DHT) based tracker mechanism. This approach increases swarm robustness even with tracker failures or otherwise without a tracker.
Message Protocol The BitTorrent protocol and behavior are well publicized and known to those skilled in the art. Certain elements and behaviors associated with the BitTorrent protocol are highlighted herein for convenience. When describing specific parameters associated with the BitTorrent protocol, default values associated with the mainline BitTorrent implementation are used. Note that these values may be modified in different BitTorrent implementations.
The mainline BitTorrent message protocol includes 11 primary messages (excluding any custom or "Fast Extensions"). All intra-peer messages are typically sent using TCP whereas peer-tracker messages are typically sent using HTTP, TCP or sometimes UDP. While the commands may vary depending upon the version of the BitTorrent software being utilized, several basic functions are explained herein for exemplary purposes.
Upon entering a swarm, each peer is in the choked and not interested states. Once a peer has obtained its initial peer-set (up to fifty peers by default) from the tracker, it will initiate a HANDSHAKE message to forty peers by default. The upper bound on the number of peer connections is eighty. Thus, each peer keeps a number of connection slots available for peers who are not in its immediate peer-set. This reduces the probability that a clique will be created. The connections are maintained by periodically sending KEEP ALIVE messages.
Once two-way handshaking between peers is complete, each peer will send the other a BITFIELD message that contains an encoding of the pieces that that peer has. If a peer has no pieces, no BITFIELD message is sent. Upon receiving a BITFIELD message, a peer will determine if the remote peer has pieces it needs. If so, it will schedule an INTERESTED message. The remote peer will process the INTERESTED message by invoking its choker algorithm. The output from the remote peer's choker (upload side) is an UNCHOKE or CHOKE message. The response to an INTERESTED message is typically nothing or an UNCHOKE message. Once the peer receives an UNCHOKE message, the piece picker algorithm is invoked on the download side of the peer and a REQUEST message will be generated for a chunk, that is, a 16 KB (16,000 bytes) chunk within a piece. The remote peer will respond with a PIECE message that contains the 16 KB chunk of data. This response will in turn result in additional REQUESTS being sent.
When all 16 KB chunks within a piece have been obtained, the current peer will send a HAVE message to all peers to which it is connected. Upon receipt of the HAVE message, a remote peer may decide to schedule an INTERESTED message for that peer which results in an UNCHOKE message and then REQUEST and PIECE messages being exchanged. Thus, the protocol ensures continued downloading of data among all connected peers. Now, should a current peer have completely downloaded all content available from a particular remote peer, it will send a NOT INTERESTED message to that remote peer. Upon receipt of the NOT INTERESTED message, the remote peer will schedule a CHOKE message if the peer was currently in the unchoke state. Likewise, the remote peer will periodically "choke" and "unchoke" interested peers via the choker algorithm. Last, when a peer has made a request for all pieces of content, it will enter "endgame" mode. Here, requests to multiple connected peers for the same piece can occur. Thus, a peer will send a CANCEL message for that piece to those other peers when one remote peer has responded with the requested 16 KB chunk.
Choker Algorithm
There are two distinct choker algorithms, each with very different goals. The first is the choker algorithm used by a seed peer. Here, the goal is not to select the peer whose upload data transfer rate is best but instead maximize the distribution of pieces. In the case of non-seed peer, it uses a sorted list of interested, connected peers based on upload rates as one of the key determining factors. That is, it wants to try to find the set of peers with whom it can best exchange data.
The seed choker algorithm (SCA) generally only considers peers that have expressed interest in the current peer. First, the SCA orders all of its unchoked peers according to the time they were last unchoked with most recently unchoked peers listed first within a twenty second window. All other connected peers outside that window are ordered by their upload rate. In both cases, the fastest upload rate is used to break ties between peers. Now, during two of the three rounds, the algorithm leaves the first three peers unchoked and unchokes another randomly selected peer. This is known as the optimistic unchoked peer. During the third round, the first four peers are left unchoked and the remaining peers are sent CHOKE messages if they are currently in the unchoked state.
Both choker algorithms are scheduled to run every ten seconds and can be invoked in response to INTERESTED/NOT INTERESTED messages. Each invocation of the choker algorithm counts as a round. There are three distinct rounds that both choker algorithms cycle through.
For the non-seed choker algorithm, at the start of round one, (i.e., every thirty seconds, by default), the algorithm chooses one peer at random that is choked and interested. As in SCA, this is the optimistic unchoked peer (OUP). Next, the non-seed choker algorithm orders all peers that are interested and have sent at least one data block to the current peer in the last thirty second time interval, otherwise that remote peer is consider to be "snubbed". Snubbed peers are excluded from being unchoked to prevent free riders and ensure that peers share data in a relatively fair manner. From that ordered list, the three fastest peers are unchoked. If the OUP is one of the three fastest, a new OUP is determined. The OUP is only unchoked on every third round.
Piece Picker
The piece picker is a two-phase algorithm. The first phase is "random". When a non-seed peer has no content, it selects three pieces at random to download from peers that "have" those particular pieces. Once a peer has those three pieces, it shifts to a second phase of the algorithm which is based on a "rarest piece first" policy. Here, each piece's count is incremented based on HAVE and BITFIELD messages. For each remote peer that has unchoked the current peer, the piece with the lowest count (but not zero) that the remote peer has is selected as the next piece to be requested from the remote peer.
There is considerable anecdotal evidence that BitTorrent-based P2P technologies can suffer from quality-of-service issues. For commercial applications that offer premium content, such quality-of-service issues would be undesirable.
Thus, there are P2P download problems that have not been resolved by the state of the art technology. What is needed, therefore, are systems and techniques for improving the performance, scaling, and quality of service provided by P2P technologies while reducing the dependence on more expensive content distribution options.

Accelerating peer-to-peer content distribution


A method for operating a mechatronic chassis device of a motor vehicle, wherein the mechatronic chassis device has an arrangement with two servomotors which, when activated, individually change both a toe angle (δ) of a wheel and a camber angle (ε) of the wheel. The servomotors are controlled on the basis of target values in a predetermined manner, wherein if a first servomotor cannot be placed into operation, an emergency program is started and the second servomotor is controlled in a manner different from the predetermined manner such that a lateral force on the wheel is adjusted to a predetermined desired value.

The invention relates to a method for operating a mechatronic chassis device of a motor vehicle.
It is assumed that a mechatronic suspension device which allows setting a toe angle of a wheel and a camber angle of the same wheel includes two servomotors. However, each of these servomotors are configured as part of an associated device to not only set one of the angles; instead, each servomotor alone should, when activated, simultaneously change the toe angle of the wheel and the camber angle of the wheel.
A chassis device with the aforementioned properties is disclosed, for example, in WO 2009/052914 A1. The chassis device described therein allows setting the toe angle and camber angle in a particularly simple manner without introducing undue mechanical complexity. The wheel suspension for motor vehicles from WO 2009/052914 A1 is illustrated in the FIGS. 1 and 2 of the present application. The wheel carrier 3 has a wheel-side supporting member 17 on which a vehicle wheel 1 is rotatably mounted. The wheel carrier further includes an axle-side supporting element 19. The two support elements 17 and 19 are interconnected by an actuator 21. This interconnected actuator 21 includes a wheel-side rotary member 23, which is connected to the supporting element 17 and an axle-side rotary member 25, which is connected to the support element 19. Each rotary member 23, 25 is able to rotate about an axis 27, 28 (FIG. 2). The rotation takes place with the aid of servomotors 38 and 39. When rotating by a rotation angle α, the rotary member 23 moves with a tumbling motion about the rotation axis 27. Simultaneously or with a time offset, the rotary member 25 can be rotated by a rotation angle β relative to the support element 19. When rotating the two rotary members 23, 25, the wheel-side rotary member 23 is deflected by a pivot angle φ relative to the axle-side rotary member 25. A desired toe angle δ and a desired camber angle ε of the wheel 1 can be set by suitably adjusting the rotation angles α and β of the respective rotary members 23, 25.
It will be assumed that the servomotors are controlled in a predetermined manner, see the connections 51 for a control unit 53. The control unit 53 processes target values relating to the toe angle δ and the camber angle ε; to implement the target values, the servomotors are then driven in a predetermined manner, as disclosed in WO 2009/052914 A1.
However, there is a risk that one of the servomotors cannot be operated, either because it has an inherent failure, or because the connection 51 to the control unit 53 is inoperative.
Since the failure of these components cannot be predicted or controlled, it may happen that a certain toe angle and a certain camber angle are set at a certain time of a failure, which should not to remain permanently set. On the other hand, not every desired track angle in combination with any desired camber angle can be set with the remaining operative servomotor alone.

Method for operating a mechatronic chassis device of a motor vehicle


It is an object of the present invention to provide a phase locked loop in which a voltage signal input to a voltage controlled oscillator after a return from a stand-by state becomes constant in a short time and power consumption is reduced. A transistor including a semiconductor layer formed using an oxide semiconductor material is provided between an input terminal of a voltage controlled oscillator and a capacitor of a loop filter. The transistor is turned on in a normal operation state and turned off in a stand-by state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a phase locked loop. The present invention relates to a semiconductor device including the phase locked loop.
2. Description of the Related Art
A phase locked loop (PLL) has functions of generating a periodic signal synchronized with a periodic signal input from the outside, and generating a periodic signal with cycles N times (N is a natural number) as much as a periodic signal input from the outside. Alternatively, the phase locked loop has a function of generating a stable periodic signal when a data signal which is similar to a periodic signal is input.
A basic configuration of a phase locked loop is disclosed in Patent Document 1.

Phase locked loop and semiconductor device using the same

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A board game comprising a game board having a planar playing surface, a goal at each opposite longitudinal end of the game board, a ramp at each opposite longitudinal end of the game board, a large target ball, a plurality of smaller projectile balls and a railing supported above the playing surface around the outer peripheral edges of a playing field. A network of channels and troughs under the game board channel the balls to desired reservoirs. Projectile balls are rolled down the ramps, onto and across the playing surface with the object of striking the target ball and driving it into the opposing goal.

Dynamic amusement board games, those having pieces which are projected across a playing surface, are preferably fun, simple and fast paced. There are many devices for projecting pieces across a playing surface, for example, catapults, spring loaded, pin ball type battering rams, and electric motors inducing vibration of the playing surface. Some board games have simple and more reliable means for projecting the pieces, for example, a surface inclined with respect to the playing surface, down which a ball or disk is rolled onto the playing field.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,792,862 shows a board game having an object which is rolled onto a target at the opposite end of the board. U.S. Pat. No. 3,358,997 shows a board baseball game in which a ball is rolled down a ramp toward the opposite end of the field where the opposing player strikes the ball with a hingedly mounted bat. U.S. Pat. No. 3,817,529 shows a game in which a disk is rolled down an inclined surface to the opposite end of the board onto a target which is part of the board surface. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,463,909, one player of a game tries to knock the opposing player's disks out of the way in the football type board game by rolling his disk down an inclined surface. All of these games have as their object the directing of a ball or disk onto a playing field from a ramp at one end in an attempt to place the rolled object in some desired position on the playing surface.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,033,585, a ball is rolled from one end of a playing field in an attempt to place the ball through a goal at the opposite end, while players on the sides of the playing field try to intercept the rolling ball with balls of their own. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,018,833, a ball is rolled onto a playing surface in order to strike balls suspended above the playing surface. U.S. Pat. No. 2,218,375 shows a game having ramps at opposite ends of the playing field. In this game, balls having a letter painted on them are rolled down the ramps along a track in a particular order to spell a desired word.
In the above cited patents, the games disclosed appear to be either slow paced compared to the speed of dynamic board games to which people have become accustomed, or else mechanically complex. The need exists, therefore, for a fast paced dynamic board game which is simple in function for reliability and enjoyment.


A clinch clip for a leaf spring which is rotationally restrained in to mutually orthogonal axes. An upper clip member and a lower clip member are provided. A non-circular rivet connects a leaf of a leaf spring to the lower clip member so as to preclude mutual rotation around a rivet axis. A non-circular bolt connects together the upper and lower clip members so as to preclude rotation around a bolt axis perpendicular to the rivet axis.

Leaf springs are widely used for springably supporting the sprung mass of a motor vehicle with respect to an axle (usually the rear axle) adjacent a wheel. A leaf spring is composed of a number of stacked leaves of progressively longer length, increasing from a shortest leaf disposed adjacent the axle to a longest leaf disposed distal from the axle. The leaf spring is connected at its central portion to the axle, for example via U-bolts and a bracket. Each end of the longest leaf has an end fitting for connecting to the sprung mass. The leaf spring forms a semi-elliptical shape in which the concave shape thereof faces away from the axle.
At a generally medial location between the leaf spring central portion and each end fitting is disposed a clinch clip which serves to engird the leaves thereat so that the leaves can flex and yet be kept clinched together in a closely stacked configuration. In this regard, FIGS. 1A through 1D show an example of a prior art clinch clip 10, wherein FIG. 1A depicts a typical example of operation with respect to a leaf spring 12, an axle A and sprung mass M.
As depicted at FIG. 1C, the leaf spring 12, includes a plurality of leaves 12L, a longest 12a, a shortest 12b and, merely by example, several additional leaves 12c, 12d, 12e disposed in between.
As shown best at FIGS. 1B and 1D, the prior art clinch clip 10 is composed of an upper clip member 14 and a lower clip member 16, each having a U-shape. The upper clip member 14 has a first lateral bar 14a to which at either end thereof is integrally connected a perpendicular first leg 14b, 14c. The lower clip member 16 has a second lateral bar 16a (disposed in parallel relation to the first lateral bar 14a) to which at either end thereof is integrally connected a perpendicular second leg 16b, 16c (each disposed in parallel relation to the first legs 14b, 14c). A cylindrical rivet 18 connects the shortest leaf 12b, via a circular hole 20 formed therein, to the second lateral bar 16a, via a circular hole 22 formed therein. The upper clip member 14 is connected to the lower clip member 16 via first and second pairs of aligned circular holes 24a, 24b formed in a superposition 26 of the first and second legs, respectively, through which a cylindrical bolt 28 passes and is tightly secured thereto by a nut 30 threaded onto end threads of the bolt. A relatively large, generally U-shaped elastomeric spacer 32 is provided, having a pair of robust sidewalls 32a, 32b interconnected by a relatively thin bottom wall 32c disposed between the shortest leaf 12b and its adjacent leaf.
As can be understood from FIGS. 1C and 1D, the leaves 12L of the leaf spring 12 pass into the clinch clip 10. In this regard, the first lateral bar 14a is disposed parallel to the flat upper surface 34 of the longest leaf 12a, the second lateral bar 16a is disposed parallel to the flat of the shortest leaf 12b, and the first legs are disposed parallel to the edges 12g of the leaves. The sidewalls 32a, 32b of the spacer 32 serve to locate the first legs 14b, 14c with respect to the leaf edges 12g, as well as provide a sliding interface therebetween.
In operation, as shown at FIG. 1A, the leaf spring 12 is connected at its central portion 12f to the axle A, and each end of the longest leaf 12a is an end fitting 42a, 42b for connecting to the sprung mass M. The prior art clinch clip 10 keeps the leaves of the leaf spring 12 clinched together in a compact configuration as the axle moves in relation to the sprung mass.
Problematically, since the prior art clinch clip 10 is free to rotate around the bolt axis B (see arrow AB of FIG. 1B) and free to rotate around the (relatively perpendicular) rivet axis R (see arrow AR of FIG. 1B), when under high force and/or the spacer 32 has failed, the prior art clinch clip 10 can squeak in relation to the leaf spring, and/or the longest leaf may generate a "helicopter-like" noise relative to its adjoining leaf, and/or the prior art clinch clip 10 may rotate on either or both the bolt and rivet axes, disrupting the functionality of the leaf spring due to the undesirable load path management of the leaves during operation.
Accordingly, what remains needed in the art is a clinch clip which can somehow be rotationally restrained around the bolt and rivet axes, and yet can be configured such that the attachment of the upper and lower clip members has a compact packaging.

Rotationally restrained leaf spring clinch clip


A cationized supporting material 2 is immersed into a treatment solution containing a level dyeing agent, and then immersed into a treatment solution containing a metal phthalocyanine complex and then dried to thereby obtain an odor eliminating material 1. Alternatively, a cationized supporting material 2 is immersed into a treatment solution containing a metal phthalocyanine complex and a migration inhibitor and then dried to thereby obtain an odor eliminating material 1. The odor eliminating material exerts excellent odor elimination performance against ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan, acetic acid and acetaldehyde.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an odor eliminating material that can be used, for example, as an odor eliminating sheet, an odor eliminating filter for air-conditioners or the like, and also relates to the manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
The following description sets forth the inventor's knowledge of related art and problems therein and should not be construed as an admission of knowledge in the prior art.
In accordance with the recent improvement of life environments, a strong interest is directed to elimination of living odors in living spaces, such as odors of ammonia, trimethylamine, hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan, acetic acid, acetaldehyde or the like, to secure a more comfortable living space.
In order to solve odor problems, various kinds of odor eliminating materials are available in markets. For example, an odor eliminating material in which activated carbon is carried on a surface of a nonwoven fabric is known. Although this kind of adsorption type odor eliminating material is excellent in immediate effect, there are defects such that it is poor in continuous effect and extremely short in life.
In recent years, as an odor eliminating material, an odor eliminating sheet in which metal phthalocyanine complexes are carried by a cloth (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-84057 A) and an odor eliminating paper in which metal phthalocyanine complexes are carried by a thin paper (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 05-269328 A) have been proposed. However, these odor eliminating sheets/papers were not enough in odor elimination performance. Also known is an odor eliminating material in which metal phthalocyanine complexes are adhered by binder resin (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-152982 A). However, enough odor elimination performance could not be obtained by this odor eliminating material. Under the circumstances, a textile product in which metal phthalocyanine complexes are carried by cationized cellulose series fibers has been proposed (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-254269 A).
On the other hand, an odor eliminating material in which photocatalyst such as titanium oxide is carried by a cloth has also been proposed (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-328438 A).
However, the aforementioned conventional prior art techniques had the following drawbacks. That is, in the textile products disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-254269 A, although odor eliminating effects can be improved by cationizing cellulose series fibers in advance to increase the carried amount of the metal phthalocyanine complex to some degree, the odor elimination performance was not fully satisfactory. Therefore, it is desired to further improve the odor elimination performance. A further increased concentration of the metal phthalocyanine complex at the time of the immersion treatment would not cause a further increased carried amount. Therefore, it was difficult to further improve the odor elimination performance.
In the aforementioned odor eliminating material carrying photocatalyst, although there is a feature that various kinds of odor components can be decomposed at normal temperature, it is required to irradiate ultraviolet rays of certain wavelengths to photocatalyst in order to exert the decomposition, which limits the application environment as odor eliminating materials. Furthermore, the odor elimination performance was not enough.
The description herein of advantages and disadvantages of various features, embodiments, methods, and apparatus disclosed in other publications is in no way intended to limit the present invention. Indeed, certain features of the invention may be capable of overcoming certain disadvantages, while still retaining some or all of the features, embodiments, methods, and apparatus disclosed therein.

Odor eliminating material and manufacturing method thereof


A system for directly measuring tire grip conditions is provided which can measure a skidding condition with no need of applying a vibration. A tire rotation speed sensor comprising a detection gear and a magnet sensor is mounted to a rotating shaft of a tire. An output of the tire rotation speed sensor is analyzed in time-frequency domain to detect vibrations caused by slips, thereby determining tire grip conditions, such as a slip ratio and a slip angle. By detecting fluctuations in rotation based on the cause-effect relation between the occurrence of tire slips and the occurrence of fluctuations in rotation, the tire slips can be directly detected. Therefore, the tire grip conditions can be confirmed with high accuracy.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tire grip sensor, and more particularly to a highly reliable control system suitable for detecting a tire grip.
2. Description of the Related Art
In addition to known passive safety techniques, active safety techniques have been developed for the purpose of reducing traffic accidents. The active safety techniques include an ABS (Antilock Braking System), a technique for detecting a collision and alleviating injury, a technique for stabilizing a vehicle, and control for braking, driving and steering with an X-by-Wire system.
To realize those active safety techniques, it is essential to detect a tire grip (frictional) force. As one of known methods for detecting tire grip conditions while a vehicle is running, Patent Reference 1; JP-A-2001-4650, for example, discloses a method of determining an estimated value based on a steering angle, a yaw rate sensor, etc. Another method of directly determining a gradient of frictional forces from a change in resonance gain of a tire-body system is proposed in Non-Patent Reference 1; Katsuhiro Asano, et al., "Wheel Vibration Phenomenon and Maximization Control of Braking Force", Toyota Central R&D Labs., Inc., R&D Review Vol. 34, No. 2, 1999.6, (http://www.tytlabs.co.jp/japanese/review/rev342pdf/342—027a sano.pdf), Patent Reference 2; JP-A-10-2813, and Patent Reference 3; JP-A-8-132831.

Tire grip sensor and control system using the sensor


A digital color image display system adapted to a frame buffer for displaying color images. The system includes apparatus for color quantization. The color distribution of a color image is stored in a memory device (HISTTABLE). The memory device has address format of r0g0b0r1g1b1. . . rnbnzn, where ri is ith bit in red color bits, gi is ith bit in green color bits, and bi is ith bit in blue color bits. Thus, each pixel can be mapped into one of the addresses of the memory device according to its three basic color bits (red, green and blue); and the three basic color bits form a color universe cell in a 3-dimensional space. To select 256 colors from a color image, the color universe cell is divided into 256 color cells according to the color distribution. Because the special address arrangement of the memory device, the division of the color universe cell can be easily accomplished by flipping one bit of the index to the memory device, thus increasing the speed to select 256 colors and reducing complexity of the hardware.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to color image display systems, and more particularly to digital color image display systems used with a frame buffer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Traditionally, digital color images are composed a large number of array of individual pixels. Each pixel in the color image associates with position information indicating its position in the array, and color information including three basic colors (red, green and blue) so that the composite of the three basic colors attains the desired color for the pixel. Typically, each basic color in a pixel is 8 bits (1 byte) long, and each pixel in the color image has 24 bits. The color information for all pixels is stored in a digital memory device.
Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a typical digital color display system 10 which includes a color image transducer 12 (video camera, scanner or facsimile), an image processor 14, a memory device 16, a frame buffer 18 and a displayer 24. The image processor is responsible for controlling the color image transducer, the memory storage, the frame buffer and the displayer, and to process the imaging information. In the process of color imaging, color image transducer 12 converts desired color images into pixels arranged in an array format. Typically, the color image transducer generates approximately 8 mega pixels for a 8.5.times.11 color image at 300 dots per inch (dpi) density. The color information for the pixels are then stored into memory device 16. Because each pixel has three basic colors with each color having 8 bits, approximately 24 mega bytes memory size is needed to store the color information for all pixels. Image processor 14 processes the color information stored in memory device 16 and feeds the processed color information into frame buffer 18. The frame buffer includes a color table 20 and an index memory 22. The color table stores the color combinations for the color image, and the index memory stores the color table and the position information for each pixel. Finally, each of the pixels is displayed at a specific position on displayer 24 according to the color information stored in color table 20 for a color image.
Theoretically, in a color image, each pixel has 16 (2.sup.24) million possible combinations of full colors; in other words, the 16 million possible combinations of full colors form a color space, and the color of any individual pixel in the color image is distributed within the color space. Thus, for a specific image, the color of all pixels in the color image has a specific distribution pattern in the color space. However, in practice, fewer colors are selected to display the color image to considerations such as cost, memory size restriction and speed. In typical frame buffers available in the present market, the color table has a memory with a size of 256 cells for storing selected colors. Thus, in order to use a typical frame buffer to display a full color image, it is necessary to select 256 colors from the color image and map the 16 million possible combinations of full colors into the 256 colors for all pixels stored in memory storage 10. Such selecting and mapping process are called color quantization.
There are several algorithms to select the 256 colors from the color image to be displayed. Generally speaking, the desired criteria of the color selection method are: 1) preserving originality of the color image; 2) having high speed; 3) being easy to be implemented on hardware; and 4) being adaptable to expansion.
One of the algorithms uses a predefined color table which statistically is the most popular colors to represent a color image. The disadvantage of this algorithm is that the color table does not depend on the color distribution of the image itself. For example, if the color image has a lot of red elements, the predefined color table cannot be able to reflect more redness in the color table.
Another algorithm called Medium Cut algorithm subdivides color space for a color image into smaller and smaller rectangular boxes. The division algorithm is based on cutting the boxes along the medium point so that equal number of pixels falls on each side. As a result, each box contains the same number of pixels. One of the disadvantages of this algorithm is that it takes time to calculate the medium point in each division, thus reducing the speed.
Another algorithm divides the color space for a color image into 64 uniform cells. It then calculates an axis with the highest variance in each of the 64 cells. The 32 cells with the largest variance are divided into 2 along the axis with the largest variance. Variance, a mathematical term, is used to measure the degree of changes in a set of samples. So a cell with larger variance means that there is a more uneven distribution of colors in the cell. By dividing cells with the largest variance, the color image can be more accurately represented. This process is repeated 6 times to generate 256 cells in the color space. The disadvantage of this algorithm is the first 64 cells are created independent of the color distribution of the image. Moreover, calculating the variance is even more time-consuming than calculating the medium value. Furthermore, more complicated algorithm may involve higher hardware cost.
Thus, there is a need for a fast color quantization algorithm which has the features of easy hardware implementation, adaptability to expand and preserve originality of the color image.

Color quantization apparatus and method for frame buffer display


A limited-bandwidth microwave transversal or recursive filter, compatible with microwave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) design requirements is described in this invention. The device comprises a means to split an incident signal into multiple parts for distribution among a plurality of input ports of frequency-selective feedforward and feedback network branches comprising filter elements and active devices so designed as to provide a desired degree and type of signal filtration. After filtration, the resulting signals from these branches are combined to form a composite filter output signal.

Conventional passive microwave filters consist of appropriately coupled or connected transmission line segments, which, in a monolithic integrated circuit environment, consume a disproportionate amount of chip area and are hence not well suited for on-chip integration and, also, do not take advantage of the semiconducting properties of the substrate material. Critical chip area may be conserved by resorting to lumped-element filter configurations (involving inductors, capacitors, resistors, etc.), but only at the cost of incurring appreciably higher signal transmission losses and poorly defined passband edges.
In the prior art, an obvious solution to these problems has been to combine space-saving lumped-element circuitry with on-chip amplifying devices so as to compensate for the lumped-element-derived derived losses. One approach has been to employ the familiar active filter techniques used at audio frequencies, involving high-gain amplifiers and lumped-element embedding circuitry. This approach, however, is not practical at microwave frequencies due to the lack of sufficient gain in the available active devices and the presence of large signal time delays associated with these devices. Alternative approaches have been to encompass the use of transistor circuits with positive feedback to establish negative resistance characteristics for the purpose of loss compensation. In these circuits, the drawback lies with their inherent susceptibility to oscillation, especially when narrow bandwidths are involved.
An approach to circumvent the above stated problem with oscillation is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,661,789, where the filter structures are based on transversal and recursive principles. Filtering action is achieved through frequency-dependent constructive and destructive interference engineered among signal components derived from the signal input and subjected to differing amounts of time delay and amplitude weighting. Mathematically, the transfer function of such a filter is described as a polynomial or rational function of terms composed of products of frequency-independent weighting factors and complex exponential functions with frequency-proportional arguments. This approach is particularly attractive for microwave applications, as it neither requires high-gain amplifiers, nor is it hampered by long time delays intrinsic to currently utilized active devices. However, in narrow-band situations where larger amounts of aggregate time delay are required than can readily be realized in a practical circuit with simple transmission lines or lumped-element approximations thereof another solution must be sought.
Prior art transversal and recursive filters have typically contained a designated main signal path with transfer characteristics of the same type as those sought for the overall filter, but lacking adequate frequency selectivity. For instance, if the overall filter is to exhibit bandpass behavior with sharp cutoff properties, the main signal path would typically show bandpass behavior, but without well defined filter lower and upper cutoff frequency characteristics.
In prior art situations, filter sections have been positioned within transversal and recursive structures so as to affect deliberately and principally the amplitude properties of the main signal path. Depending on the selected arrangement, other auxiliary transversal or recursive signal paths are also affected by the filter sections, but to subordinated degree.
The prior art has no more than one signal transfer branch that is both common to only a single signal path and also deliberately contains frequency-selective componentry. In the prior art there are no transversal band-reject microwave filters.
The prior art, employing mostly signal paths with nonselective or only weakly selective frequency behavior, necessitates a large number of transversal branches to achieve acceptable overall filter frequency selectivity in narrowband situations, thus resulting in large structures.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A vehicle control apparatus includes a motor unit, a power accumulating device, a charging power control section, a vehicle state detecting section, a braking/driving force control section, a turning determination section and a charging power correction section. The motor unit is configured to generate an independent driving/braking force for at least each of left and right driving wheels. The charging power control section is configured to set charging power supplied to the power accumulating device in accordance with a power accumulation state of the power accumulating device. The braking/driving force control section is configured to control a braking force or a driving force generated by the motor unit based on the operating state of the vehicle. The turning determination section is configured to determine whether a prescribed vehicle turning condition exists. The charging power correction section is configured to increase the charging power when the prescribed vehicle turning condition exists.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a vehicle control apparatus for an electric vehicle having a power accumulating device and a motor. More specifically, the present invention relates a vehicle control apparatus configured to control a power accumulation state of a power accumulating device when the vehicle is turning.
2. Background Information
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2005-354762 discloses a conventional vehicle control apparatus in which a target yaw moment when the vehicle is turning is determined based on a vehicle speed and a steering angle. Then, in the conventional vehicle control apparatus, motors installed on the left and right wheels, respectively, are controlled to produce a difference in left and right driving forces so that the target yaw moment is achieved.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved vehicle control apparatus. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.


A plate-shaped display device is partitioned into a meter display area and a HUD display area. Images displayed on the display device are visible on both front and rear surfaces of the display device. A direct image displayed on the meter display area is projected toward an eye range of a vehicle driver. A reflected image displayed on the HUD display area is firstly projected in a direction opposite to the eye range. Then, the reflected image is reflected at a magnifying mirror and a windshield, then finally projected toward the eye range.

The priority application claims priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-226614, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a display apparatus to be mounted on a vehicle, and in particular, the display apparatus to project a combination of direct and reflected images toward an eye range of a vehicle driver. (Here, the eye range is defined as a range of a typical driver's eye position.)
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a display apparatus, in which an image of a second display device buried under an instrument panel is reflected to project toward a vehicle driver, has been mounted on a vehicle. The display apparatus also includes a first display device to display a vehicle speed, various alarms and the like for a vehicle driver as a meter. Namely, the display apparatus displays a combination of direct and reflected images to be seen within an eye range of a vehicle driver.
Incidentally, prior art documents concerning the present invention are, for example, JP-A, 2003-237411 and JP-A, 2002-205571.
The display apparatus described above needs first and second displays for displaying direct and reflected images toward the eye range. Therefore, there are problems that an increase of the number of components, an upsizing of a body, an increase of production cost, and the like of the display apparatus.
On the other hand, common displays today such as a TFT-LCD, a VFD (vacuum fluorescent display) and the like are known to display an image being visible on both front and rear surface thereof. However, only a front surface is currently used as a display surface.
Accordingly, the present invention focuses the ability of the display device to display an image being visible on both the front and rear surfaces of the display device, and an object of the present invention is to provide a display device to display the combination of the images with a single display device for reducing the number of components, miniaturizing the body, and reducing the production cost of the display apparatus.


A vehicle electronic key system acquires a vehicle vibration, which is a vibration generated in a vehicle, at a time of a driver's door of the vehicle being closed after a driver is presumed to get in the vehicle, and a key vibration, which is a vibration generated in an electronic key, at the time of the driver's door being closed after the driver is presumed to get in the vehicle. The system determines whether or not the vehicle vibration and the key vibration at the time of the driver's door being closed match each other, and permits an operation of a predetermined operation target device mounted in the vehicle on the condition that the vehicle vibration and the key vibration match each other.

A method is known in which radio waves transmitted by an in-vehicle device are relayed using a repeater to make an electronic key, which is out of reach of the radio waves transmitted by the in-vehicle device, communicate with the in-vehicle device, thereby illegally establishing authentication.
As a countermeasure against the above-mentioned fraudulent method, the presence or absence of a passenger in the vehicle is determined based on whether a door of the vehicle is opened or closed, and whether or not the electronic key detects a vibration when the vehicle door is closed. Then, the determination result is used as one of operation permission conditions for permitting an operation of a device mounted in the vehicle.

Vehicle electronic key system and in-vehicle device


A game controller includes a casing, a control circuit module received in the casing, a plurality of controlling units embodying as a left control stick, a direction key, a function key, and a right control stick respectively, wherein at least two of the controlling units form as two interchangeable controlling units respectively which are detachable from the casing. A plurality of terminal seats are spacedly provided on the casing for detachably retaining the interchangeable controlling units in position, wherein the number of the terminal seats are corresponding to the number of the interchangeable controlling units to be interchangeably mounted at the casing. The interchangeable controlling units are detachably coupled at the terminal seats to electrically connect to the control circuit module. The positions of the interchangeable controlling units are interchanged according to the game setting and players' habits.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic game accessory, and more particularly to a gamepad.
2. Description of Related Arts
Currently, the electronic game becomes a common entertainment in our daily life. As one of the most important accessories in electronic game, the gamepad has been continuously improved to satisfy the game player's request. For current using gamepad, the control elements such as joystick, function keys, direction keys are all fixed on the shell of the gamepad. While for different games (such as shooting games and fighting games), the control operation and key configuration are largely different. As a result, the players have to buy different gamepads for different types of game. In addition, each player has his/her own habit to play games (for example, left-handed or right-handed). But the control elements are fixed on the body of gamepad and are not adjustable, which is very inconvenient for the players with different habits.


One or more embodiments are described herein of a controller system in a steering system. The controller system includes a first electric control unit (ECU) that operates as a primary ECU of the controller system, the primary ECU sending a motor command to a motor to generate torque. The controller system further includes a second ECU that operates as a backup for the first ECU. The operation as the backup includes monitoring the first ECU for a failure. In response to detecting the failure at the first ECU, the second ECU operates as the primary ECU of the controller system, and initiates a domain controller to operate as the backup ECU.

This application generally relates to steer-by-wire steering systems, and particularly to providing a triple redundancy failsafe for electronic control units (ECUs) operating the steering system in the vehicle.
Increasing reliance on automatic driving assist systems (ADAS) has resulted in one or more controllers of various subsystems in a vehicle to communicate with each other. For example, the communication facilitates the subsystems to share information, in turn facilitating a subsystem to react to actions being taken by other subsystems automatically.
In addition, increasing vehicle safety requirements are driving system redundancy to achieve higher safety levels. Redundancy is achieved by including a backup (or second) component for taking over operations in case a primary (or first) component experiences a failure. The redundant component(s) typically assume the burden of the operations of the EPS system for a limited amount of time.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have a robust inter-controller communication.

Triple redundancy failsafe for steering systems

Steering Solutions IP Holding Corporation


A hanger frames transportation device with gearing driven by a fixed block and a plurality of sticks from a gearing that can stably move, fix, and detach hanger frames, so as to form a continual transportation device. The hanger frames slide along a first transverse track in lines and can be transported to a parallel second transverse track by a longitudinal rail switch in order to lengthen the transportation route; furthermore, a plurality of paralleled first and second transverse tracks are connected by moving devices in order to extend the transportation distance, therefore enabling a wet manufacturing process at the micrometer level during the continual transportation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hanger frames transportation device, particularly to one that can move, fix, and detach hanger frames with gearing.
2. Description of the Related Art
A continual hanger frames transportation structure 1 for electroplating according to the prior art is shown in FIG. 1, comprising a plurality of parallel transverse bars 2, each including a rotatable upper roller 3 disposed below the bottom of a longitudinal pressing bar 5, and a plurality of rotatable lower rollers 4 disposed on a lower member. Thus, hanger frames can be moved along the track.
However, there are a number of drawbacks in the structure above. For example, the rollers 3, 4 tend to wear after being in use for a short period of time; or the hanger frames may abnormally displace in lateral direction, i.e. the direction of X-axis, and thus is not aligned with the longitudinal pressing bar 5, i.e. the direction of Y-axis. Therefore, the continual hanger frames transportation structure 1 according to the prior art is applicable to electroplating manufacturing at the millimeter level but cannot fulfill the needs for more precise and advanced manufacturing processes such as wet manufacturing process at the micrometer level.
Furthermore, the transportation of the hanger frames is to roll the chain 7 for the chain wheels 6 to rotate the upper rollers 3 and the lower rollers 4, therefore transporting the hanger frames. During the transportation, the weight of the hanger frames, transporting speed, driving force . . . , etc. are all the variables that can cause the instability of the chain 7 and the chain wheels 6, or it can cause the upper and lower rollers 3, 4 to displace, resulting the hanger frames to swing, and the dusts resulted from the swing is also a problem in the manufacturing process.
In conclusion, there is still room for improvements in the conventional structure of hanger frames transportation device.

Hanger frames transportation device with gearing


A speech recognition approach that involves forming a series of segments associated with a spoken utterance. Each segment has a time interval within the utterance, and scores characterizing the degree of match of the utterance in that time interval with a set of subword units. Based on the series of segments, the approach includes determining a set of word sequences hypotheses associated with the utterance and then computing scores for the set of word sequence hypotheses using a second set of subword units to represent words in the word sequence hypotheses.

The invention relates to an automatic speech recognizer which uses multiple processing stages to determine the words contained in a spoken utterance.
Real-time speech recognition can be implemented on a variety of types of computers. An implementation of a speech recognizer, in general, uses a digital signal processor, a general purpose processor, or both. Typical digital signal processors (DSPs, such as the Texas Instruments TMS320C31) are suited for computationally intensive tasks, such as signal processing, and for low latency processing. However, available memory to a DSP is generally limited, in part, due to the cost of memory devices that allow the DSPs to execute at their full speed (i.e., without memory wait states). General purpose processors (such as the Intel Pentium) can, in general, support more memory, which is generally less costly than DSP memory, but the processors are not tailored to signal processing tasks.
A speech recognition algorithm implemented on a DSP based computer, in general, has a vocabulary size and linguistic complexity that is limited by memory resources associated with the DSP. More complex speech recognition algorithms, for example supporting larger vocabularies, have been implemented using computers based on general purpose processors, as have xe2x80x9cN-bestxe2x80x9d algorithms that produce multiple alternative hypotheses, rather than a single most best hypothesis, of what was said.
A speech recognition algorithm that is implemented using both a DSP and a general purpose processor often relies on the DSP to perform signal processing tasks, for example computing spectral features at regular time intervals. These spectral features, such as linear predictive coefficients, cepstra, or vector quantized features, are then passed from the DSP to the general purpose processor for further stages of speech recognition.
Speech recognition has been applied to telephone based input. PureSpeech Inc. has previously released a software product, Recite 1.2, that recognizes utterances spoken by telephone callers. A computer architecture on which this product can be executed is shown in FIG. 1. Computer 100 is used to interact by voice with callers over multiple telephone lines 110. Computer 100 automatically recognizes what the callers say, and can play prompts to interact with the callers. Computer 100 includes one or more telephone interfaces 130 coupled to a general purpose computer 120, such as a single-board computer, over a data bus 125. General purpose computer 120 includes a general purpose processor 122, working memory 124, such as dynamic RAM, and non-volatile program memory 126, such as a magnetic disk. Alternatively, program memory can reside on another computer and be accessed over a data network. Telephone interfaces 130 provide an interface to telephone lines 110 over which callers interact with the computer. Also coupled to general purpose computer 120 over data bus 125 are one or more DSP platforms 140. DSP platforms 140 are coupled to telephone interfaces 130 over a second bus, time division multiplexed (TDM) bus 150. TDM bus 150 can carry digitized speech between DSP platforms 140 and telephone interfaces 130. Each DSP platform 140 includes multiple DSP processors 142, working memory 144, a data bus interface 146 to data bus 125, and a speech interface 148 to TDM bus 150. In one version of the Recite 1.2 product, general purpose processor 122 is an Intel Pentium, data bus 125 is an ISA bus, DSP platform 140 is an Antares DSP platform (model 2000/30, 2000/50, or 6000) manufactured by Dialogic Corporation, and TDM bus 150 is a SCSA bus which carries telephone signals encoded as 8-bit speech samples sampled at a 8 kHz sampling rate. Each Antares DSP platform includes four DSP processors 142, TMS320C31 processors manufactured by Texas Instruments. Working memory 144 includes 512 KB of static RAM per DSP and 4 MB of dynamic RAM shared by the four DSP processors 142. Telephone interfaces 130 are any of several interfaces also manufactured by Dialogic corporation, including models D41ESC, D160SC, and D112SC. For instance, each D112SC interface supports twelve analog telephone lines 110.
PureSpeech Inc.""s Recite 1.2 product incorporates a speech recognition approach related to that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,487, xe2x80x9cAUTOMATIC SPEECH RECOGNITIONxe2x80x9d, (the ""487 patent) which is incorporated herein by reference. In that implementation, each DSP processor on the DSP platforms is associated with exactly one telephone channel. A DSP associated with a particular telephone channel hosts initial stages of the recognition approach that are shown in FIG. 3 of the ""497 patent. In addition, an echo canceler stage is also included on the DSP prior to the spectral analyzer in order to reduce the effect of an outbound prompt on an inbound utterance. The DSP is essentially dedicated to the single task (process) for accepting input received from the TDM bus, processing it, and passing it to the general purpose computer. The output of the phonetic classifier is sent to the general purpose computer where a sentence level matcher is implemented. The sentence level matcher can provide multiple sentence hypotheses corresponding to likely utterances spoken by a talker.
In many speech based telephone applications, a caller is talking for a relatively small fraction of the time of a telephone call. The remainder of the time is consumed by playing prompts or other information to the caller, or by quiet intervals, for example while information is being retrieved for the caller. In the Recite 1.2 software product, one DSP is allocated for each telephone interaction, regardless of whether a caller is talking, or a prompt or information is being played. This is necessary, for example, as a caller may begin speaking before a prompt has completed. Therefore, in order to support 12 concurrent telephone conversations, three Antares DSP platforms with four DSPs each are needed to host the initial stages of the recognition approach.
Speech recognition approaches have been adapted to large vocabularies, such as lists of names in the range of 1000 to 10000 names. One aspect of recognition approaches used to achieve adequate accuracy on such large vocabularies is that a large number of subword model parameters, or a large number of subword models themselves, is typically used. A phonetic classifier is hosted on the DSP in the Recite 1.2 software. As the static RAM used for storage related to the subword models, and the amount of static RAM available to each DSP is limited, the number of subword models and their parameters is limited. This memory limitation can impact accuracy on some large vocabulary tasks.
In one aspect, in general, the invention is software stored on a computer readable medium for causing a multiprocessor computer to perform the function of recognizing an utterance spoken by a speaker. The software includes software for causing a first processor, such as a DSP processor, to perform the function of computing a series of segments associated with the utterance, each segment having a time interval within the utterance, and scores characterizing the degree of match of the utterance in that time interval with a first set of subword units, and sending the series of segments to a second processor. The software also includes software for causing the second processor, such as a general purpose processor, to perform the functions of receiving the series of segments, determining multiple word sequence hypotheses associated with the utterance, and computing scores for the word sequence hypotheses, using a second set of subword units to represent words in the word sequence hypotheses. The first set of subword units can be a set of phonemes, and the second set of subword units can be a set of context dependent phonemes.
In another aspect, in general, the invention is a method for recognizing the words in a spoken utterance. The method includes accepting data for the spoken utterance and forming a series of segments associated with the utterance. Each segment has a time interval within the utterance, and scores characterizing the degree of match of the utterance in that time interval with a set of subword units. Based on the series of segments, the method includes determining a set of word sequences hypotheses associated with the utterance and computing scores for the set of word sequence hypotheses using a second set of subword units to represent words in the word sequence hypotheses.
The invention can include one or more of the following features.
Computing scores for the multiple word sequence hypotheses can include forming a graph representation from the word sequence hypotheses, wherein the graph representation includes representations of words using the second set of subword units, and then computing scores for paths through this graph representation.
Determining the multiple of word sequence hypotheses can include determining a word graph representation wherein each of the word sequence hypotheses is associated with a path through the graph representation.
An advantage of the invention is that a multistage speech recognition can be implemented in part on a DSP processor and in part on a general purpose processor. Multiple channels can be processed by one DSP by taking advantage of the fact that caller is speaking for only a fraction of the time of a call. By sharing a preliminary recognition stage for all the channels serviced by one DSP, memory requirements for that DSP are reduced compared to having a separate preliminary recognizer for each channel. Furthermore, by sharing the preliminary recognizer on an utterance-by-utterance basis, inefficiencies introduced by context switching can be reduced.
Another advantage of the invention is that computation on the DSP can use a limited amount of memory that does not depend on the size of a vocabulary being recognized. Communication of segmental information between the DSP processor and the general purpose processor allows a set of word sequence hypotheses to be computed efficiently on the general purpose computer. By using a set of phonetically-based rules in determining the possible pronunciations of allowable word sequences, the correct word sequence is included with a high probability in the set of word sequence hypotheses that is computed. High accuracy for the top choice of word sequences is then obtained by rescoring these word sequence hypotheses on the general purpose processor, for example using a hidden Markov model (HMM) based recognition approach. This multistage recognizer allows a large number of concurrent recognition channels to be processed simultaneously using one or more DSP processors attached to the general purpose processor, while achieving high recognition accuracy.
Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, and from the claims.


Creating a policy to be used by a malware prevention system uses multiple events triggered by malware. A sample of malicious computer code or malware is executed in a computer system having a kernel space and a user space. Event data relating to multiple events caused by the malicious code executing on the computer system are captured and stored. The event data is configured using a specific property that facilitates malware behavior analysis. A behavior list is then created utilizing the multiple events and associated event data. The behavior list, together with data in a malware behavior database, is used to derive a policy for use in a malware prevention system. The computer system is free of any malicious code, including viruses, Trojan horses, or any other unwanted software code. The malicious computer code executes without any constraints so that the execution behavior of the malicious code may be observed and captured. Critical events are selected based on the user's expertise and experience in dealing with malware and a sequential stream including the event as the events occur is created.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computer network security. More specifically, it relates to software and computer systems for creating policies for malware detection and behavior analysis systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional malware detection and prevention system may operate using malware policies developed for detecting potentially malicious behavior in a computer system. The accuracy and efficiency of such a system depends in large part on the specificity of the policies which it uses to operate. Presently, polices are developed using single events. This limits the abilities of the malware detection system. Processes for analyzing malicious system behavior analyze a single event that results from the malware operating on the system. This may be too narrow and may limit the functionality of the malware detection and prevention system. Analysis based on a single event results in malware policies that are not very precise and which may result in a high frequency of false positives. That is, when a "white list" is checked in the malware prevention system, the event being checked may be in the white list but should not be because it may be part of a malicious process stream. Generally, it is difficult to characterize malicious behavior by examining one event. However, presently it is difficult to obtain policies that are derived from examining multiple events in malicious behavior process streams. For example, conventionally, malware executes on a PC and when the malware's behavior on the PC is analyzed, a single event that is believed to be caused by the malware is used to derive a policy, which is used by the malware detection and prevention system. This system uses a white list to determine which events are acceptable and the white list, in turn, is determined by the policy. If the policy is not precise, then there is a high occurrence of false positives using the white list. Thus, it would be desirable to have a more precise process and system for making malware detection/prevention policies.

Malware behavior analysis and policy creation


A key marking overlay for telephone keypads. The overlay is mountable over the telephone keypad and allows pressing of the keys through the overlay. It provides a mechanism for keeping track of the keys which have been pressed during period of use of the keypad. The overlay may also present graphical indicia assigning arbitrary functions to selected keys of the keypad.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of templates and overlays for keys and keypads and, more particularly, to overlays for a touchtone telephone keypad.
2. Description of the Related Art
Keypads have been in use for many years on a wide variety of equipment, such as calculators, both mechanical and electrical or electronic, touchtone telephones, computer keyboards and many other devices. Commonly referred to as "numeric" or "alphanumeric"--the latter because it designates the use of keys with both alphabetical and numeric functions--an alphanumeric keypad is generally understood to encompass other symbols as well, such as the star or asterisk (*) and the pound or number sign (#) on a telephone keypad. Overlays for alphanumeric keypads have been developed for protection (to protect the keys and the underlying circuitry from vandalism, dirt and other environmental damage), for key enhancement, such as enlarging the effective touch area for key manipulation, and for numerous other purposes.
The known related art is exemplified by patents U.S. Pat. No. 3,491,221 to Zamarra and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,438,300 and 4,555,600, both to Morse, all of which are exclusively concerned with protecting telephone keypads from dirt, liquid spills or vandalism. Insofar as is known, the existing related art provides no means for adapting telephone keypads to new uses. While recent technical advances have created new telephone features and a host of telephone services, such as the so-called "900"-number services, very little development of an innovative nature has occurred in the field to which the present invention relates.

Key marking overlay for alphanumeric keypads


A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device comprises: forming a processing target; forming a first supporter on the processing target; forming a first mask so as to contact one side surface of the first mask with a side surface of the first supporter; patterning the processing target using, as masks, the first mask and the first supporter; forming a second supporter so as to be contacted with a side surface of the processing target exposed in first processing step and the other side surface of the first mask; removing the first supporter; and patterning the processing target using, as masks, the first mask and the second supporter.

In recent years, as a semiconductor device has been downsized, a double patterning technology has been developed. The double patterning technology is a technology for forming a minute circuit pattern, in which the circuit pattern to be formed is separated into two parts followed by exposure. As the double patterning technology, a method of forming a minute pattern using a sidewall as an etching mask has been known (see Japanese Patent Kokai Publication No. JP2001-156283A (Patent Document 1), for example).
FIGS. 21A to 22C illustrate schematic flowcharts (including figures corresponding to FIGS. 1(a)-(f) of Patent Document 1) to explain a method of forming a minute pattern according to a background art. In FIGS. 21A to 22C, (Z) figures on a left side are schematic top views of a semiconductor device. At the upper left of FIG. 21A, directions in the (Z) figures are shown. In the (Z) figures, a lateral (horizontal) direction corresponds to X axis, a vertical direction corresponds to Y axis, and a perpendicular direction to the surface corresponds to Z axis. The (X) figures at the central are schematic cross-sections along an X-X line of the (Z) figure on the left side, and the (Y) figures on the right side are schematic cross-sections along a Y-Y line of the (Z) figure. In FIG. 21A, a semiconductor substrate 91, a processing target layer 92 and a first dielectric interlayer 93 are stacked. Here, the background art will be explained giving an example of a method of forming the minute pattern of the processing target layer 92.
First, the first dielectric interlayer 93 is etched to make openings 94 on both sides, and therefore a dielectric interlayer line 93a is formed (FIG. 21B). Next, an etching mask layer 95 is formed on the processing target layer 92 and the dielectric interlayer line 93a (FIG. 21C). Next, sidewalls of the dielectric interlayer line 93a are formed by etching-back of the etching mask layer 95 (FIG. 21D). These sidewalls serve as etching masks 95a along side surfaces of the dielectric interlayer line 93a. Next, the dielectric interlayer line 93a between two etching masks 95a is removed by etching (FIG. 22A). Next, minute patterns 92a are formed by etching the processing target layer 92 using the etching masks 95a as masks (FIG. 22B). Lastly, the etching masks 95a are removed, and a second dielectric interlayer 96 is formed around the minute patterns (FIG. 22C).
The following analysis is given in view of the present disclosure.
In the method illustrated in FIGS. 21-22, as described in Patent Document 1, the etching mask 95a exists on the minute pattern 92a in the state illustrated in FIG. 22B. Because the thickness of the minute pattern 92a is equal to the thickness of the processing target layer 92, and the etching mask 95a is formed as the sidewall of the first dielectric interlayer 93, a total thickness t of the minute pattern 92a and etching mask 95a depends on a thickness of each layer (200 nm of the total thickness t, for example). Accordingly, the narrower the width w of the minute pattern 92a becomes (10 nm-30 nm of the width w, for example), the higher an aspect ratio (7 to 20 in the above example of the thickness t and width w, for example) of the combination pattern of the minute pattern 92a and etching mask 95a becomes.
Therefore, there is a probability that a combination pattern of the minute pattern 92a and the etching mask 95a becomes unstable so as to fall down. This may happen also in a state where only the etching mask is present as illustrated in FIG. 22A.

Method of manufacturing semiconductor device


Provided is a computer-readable, non-transitory medium storing an algorithm selection program for selecting one of algorithm among of a plurality of algorithms included in an extension program for executing a predetermined function when a call-out source program calls out the extension program, the algorithm selection program causing an information processing device including a storage device to execute:acquiring, from the storage device, selection information in which a command for calling out the extension program in the call-out source program and the one of algorithm are correlated; and selecting an algorithm for executing the predetermined function based on the acquired selection information.

In creating a computer program, a library interface, which is an interface for calling out a library, links the library and the computer program so as to import a function provided by the library to the computer program. The library interface is conventionalized as a standard specification in order to realize compatibility with a predetermined standard and to facilitate porting to another platform. An example of the standard specification includes an MPI (Message Passing Interface). Functions provided by the conventionalized library interface are generalized and abstracted to improve the compatibility and the portability. The generalization and abstraction of functions denote providing a plurality of processes executed in the library as one function to a program for using the library. As a result, considering an implementation of more efficient processing of the provided functions, the information obtained by the library interface may not be sufficient in selecting a processing algorithm. For example, the library interface does not provide sufficient information for a requested selection in an access pattern of a file I/O, a communication algorithm in network communication, and the like. More specifically, even if a plurality of algorithms for attaining one processing object are prepared, the library interface does not provide means for selecting the algorithm.
An example of a conventional solution to the problem includes a method in which a program as a call-out source of a library presents additional information called an environment variable to the library. In the method, a creator or an executioner of a call-out source program presents additional information related to an item defined in the implementation of the library. The additional information is provided to the library as an argument upon execution, and as a result, an internal processing algorithm of the library can be changed.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-109044    Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 11-212837    Patent Document 3: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 9-101899

Algorithm selection device and algorithm selection method


A method and apparatus for identifying and reproducing a background of a pixelmap. The method includes dividing the pixelmap into a grid of tiles, determining for each tile a background component and building a representation of a background in the pixelmap using the determined background component for each tile.

The invention relates to computing systems and more particularly, to methods and apparatus for recognizing a background in a multicolor image.
Text recognition techniques, such as optical character recognition (OCR), can identify text characters or objects in an image (the "original image") stored as a pixelmap in a computer and convert the text into corresponding ASCII characters. An OCR program can differentiate between text objects and non-text objects (such as the background) in an image based on intensity differences between the text objects and the background. This can be accomplished when the text characters and the background are two distinct colors.
However, the task of recognizing text in a multicolor image is more difficult. For example, an image may include text characters, background, and non-text characters, such as graphical objects, having different colors. Furthermore, different blocks of text in the image may have different combinations of colors. For example, one text block may have red text against a white background and another text block may have yellow text against a black background.
In addition to text recognition problems, multicolor images present an additional problem when attempting to reproduce the original image. Conventional OCR programs extract text from a pixelmap and the remaining information is typically represented as a colored rectangle. Thus, a cyan page with black text would conventionally be reproduced as a cyan rectangle with black text rendered on top of the rectangle. The reason for this is the extraction of the text may result in a text alignment for the rendered text that does not exactly align with the original pixelmap. As such, to ensure no gaps are produced in the final rendered image, the reproduction of a pixelmap after OCR is typically limited to simple background rectangles. When operating on a multicolor image, conventional OCR programs typically reproduce the text over a colored rectangle without regard for gradients or patterns found in the background portion of the original image.

Recognizing background in a multicolor image