An ink jet printer includes a frame, at least one flexible ink tube and a trough connected to the frame. The trough has a longitudinal length oriented in a first direction and a planar ink tube receiving portion oriented at an acute angle from a vertical axis. At least a portion of the flexible ink tube is disposed along at least a portion of the planar ink tube receiving portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging device, and, more particularly, to a tubing layout for an ink jet printer having an off-carrier system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ink jet printers are well known. One common type of ink jet printer uses a replaceable print cartridge having a printhead and a supply of ink contained within the cartridge. The printhead is installed in a printhead carrier, which positions the printhead along a printing zone. When the supply of ink contained within the print cartridge is depleted, the print cartridge is disposed and a new print cartridge is installed in the printhead carrier. In contrast, a continuous ink refill system delivers ink through supply tubes from a refillable off-carrier ink supply tank to an ink jet printhead positioned on the printhead carrier.
Constant fluid communication between the ink tank and the printhead is maintained by way of flexible tubes. The flexible tubes may be singular for a single color printhead or there may be multiple tubes disposed in a parallel manner to supply multiple colors of ink to a multi-color printhead. As the ink supply is depleted, needed ink is replaced in the ink tank by the operator, thereby renewing the ink supply in the off-carrier system.
As the printhead traverses the print area, printing ink on a print medium, such as paper, the flexible tubes move along with the printhead causing the tubes to variously curve and flex.
One problem with flexing ink supply tubes is that a considerable amount of vertical room is needed to accommodate the flexing and curved connections of the tubes to the printhead.
What is needed in the art is an apparatus that reduces the vertical displacement of flexible ink tubes.
The present invention provides an apparatus for guiding and partially restraining flexible ink tubing of off-carrier type printers.
The invention, in one form thereof, is directed to an ink jet printer including a frame, at least one flexible ink tube and a trough connected to the frame. The trough has a longitudinal length oriented in a first direction and a planar ink tube receiving portion oriented at an acute angle from a vertical axis. At least a portion of the flexible ink tube is disposed along at least a portion of the planar ink tube receiving portion.
The invention, in another form thereof, is directed to an ink jet printer mid-frame assembly including a mid-frame, a mid-frame upper portion connected to the mid-frame for mounting a plurality of star wheels and an ink tubing trough having an edge portion connected to the mid-frame upper portion. The ink tubing trough having a planar ink tube receiving portion.
The invention, in yet another form thereof, is directed to a method of supporting a flexible ink tubing in an ink jet printer including the steps of: providing an ink tubing trough having an edge portion connected to a mid-frame upper portion; orienting a planar ink tube receiving portion of the ink tubing trough at an acute angle from a vertical axis; and directing the flexible ink tubing to contact the planar ink tube receiving portion as a printhead is repositioned in the ink jet printer.
The invention, in yet still another form thereof, is directed to an ink jet printer including a mid-frame for supporting a sheet of print medium, a mid-frame upper portion connected to the mid-frame, the mid-frame upper portion mounting a plurality of star wheels and an ink tubing trough connected to the mid-frame upper portion, the ink tubing trough having a planar ink tube receiving portion.
An advantage of the present invention is that the flexible tubing that supplies ink to an ink printhead has a reduced vertical travel thereby enhancing the transport of ink.
Another advantage of the present invention is that the tubing trough coacts with the mid-frame upper portion to provide additional strength thereto, thereby enhancing the flatness of the print media during printing.


According to an aspect of the embodiment, there is provided a transmitting apparatus, including a data storage, a first key storage, a second key storage, an additional information generating unit, a first authenticator generating unit, a second authenticator generating unit, a third authenticator generating unit, and a packet transmitting unit.                a judging unit that judges the candidate is admitted as the second authenticator, when the candidate contains a common part of the first authenticator.        a third authenticator generating unit generates a third authenticator based on a second authenticator that is a second authenticator candidate contains a common part of the first authenticator. The packet transmitting unit transmits a packet including the data and the third authenticator.

When communicating devices communicate each other, it is a common practice to authenticate each other for that one communicating device confirms the other communicating device.
For example, a transmitter generates an authenticator based on data and a secret key and transmits the data with the authenticator. A receiver verifies whether the authenticator added to the data is valid or not using a secret key or a public key and judges whether the data transmitted by a valid device using a verification result.
In an authentication method using the authenticator or a digital signature, if an attack that attackers transmits many packets to a receiving apparatus is executed, normal communication is disturbed by increasing authentication processing in the receiving apparatus.
Therefore, there is a fast authentication method that processes authentication fast in TCP layer in addition to an authentication in application layer.
The fast authentication method prevents the normal communication disturbed by suppressing to increase authentication processing.

Transmitting apparatus, communicating system


In a method for using a smart link to access a digital resource, a smart link access request is received from an electronic device interacting with a smart link, wherein a smart link provides access to at least one destination digital resource of a plurality of destination digital resources associated with the smart link. The at least one destination digital resource to access is determined based at least on the smart link access request. The electronic device is directed to the determined at least one destination digital resource.

Digital resource linking systems allow for linking an outward-facing digital resource to an end (e.g., destination) digital resource. Examples of digital resource linking systems include uniform resource locator (URL) shortening, Quick Response (QR) codes, and Near-Field-Communication (NFC) tags. A URL is a digital resource that specifies a location of a website. URL shortening is a technique for converting a longer source URL into a shorter URL, while directing an access attempt to the original source URL. QR codes are two-dimensional barcodes that are machine-readable (e.g., by a smartphone camera) and can include information for linking to another digital resource (e.g., a URL, phone number, email address, etc.) NFC tags are small electronic devices that are machine-readable over a wireless connection (e.g., by an NFC-enabled smartphone) and can include information for linking to another digital resource (e.g., a URL, phone number, email address, etc.) For example, NFC tags can be embedded into posters, payment terminals, signs, etc.

Using a smart link to access a digital resource


The invention relates to a carcass member, in particular a cupboard, a chest of drawers or the like, comprising a flap by which the carcass member can be closed and comprising a fitting which has a mounting panel and a support arm connected in its end region to the flap directly or indirectly, with the mounting panel being mounted on the outer side of a wall of the carcass member and with the support arm being pivotally arranged on the mounting panel.

Cupboards are known from German patented design specifications DE-GM 76 38 682 and DE-GM 78 11 011 which can be closed by means of flaps pivotally supported around horizontally extending axes. The flaps are movable such that they are not flush, or are only slightly flush, with the cupboard interior in their flipped-up open position so that the opening of the cupboard is substantially completely exposed. The mounting plates of the associated fittings are fastened to the inner side of the side wall of the piece of furniture in the previously known cupboards, which brings about the disadvantage that the interior space of the cupboard bounded by the carcass is restricted by the fitting, i.e. by the mounting plate and the lever mechanism arranged thereon. A disadvantage furthermore exists in that the previously known furniture fittings have a comparatively complex construction and can moreover be mounted comparatively awkwardly due to their arrangement on the inner side of the cupboard.


The invention relates to the use of polyether modified short-chain siloxanes in agriculture in order to increase agronomic yield, a method for irrigation, and a kit containing at least one polyether modified short-chain siloxane, and an irrigation system.

One factor which is crucial in determining the productivity per hectare is the penetration of moisture, especially to the root zone. A homogeneous moisture content of the root zone is important for the growth and yield of most plants. This penetration of moisture is determined firstly by the frequency, duration and uniformity of precipitation or irrigation. Therefore, for example, droplet irrigation under some circumstances can lead to distinct increases in yield even compared to conventional irrigation systems. As well as the manner of irrigation, however, penetration of moisture is also dependent on chemical, physical and biological properties of the soil profile. They affect the infiltration and retention of water and aqueous liquids in the soil profile.
Infiltration and retention of water is reduced particularly in hydrophobic soils. Hydrophobic soils are already widespread at temperate latitudes and will spread further in the course of climate change. At particular risk are sandy soils beneath coniferous forest, deciduous forest and grass. Therefore, the increase in the infiltration and retention of water by addition of wetting agents has been studied in the past particularly for hydrophobic soils. In hydrophobic soils, plant growth is highly restricted in some cases, since the surface chemistry of the soils opposes hydration. Over the course of decades, anionic wetting agents such as soaps or mild detergents have been utilized in order to improve water infiltration in hydrophobic soils. However, many of these substances are phytotoxic and can have an unfavourable effect on soil structure (US2015/045225). In intensively utilized areas, but also in the field of hydrophobic plant substrates, nonionic wetting agents such as alkoxylated polyols, glucoethers, ethoxylated and/or propoxylated and/or aromatic alcohols/C8-C22 fatty alcohols, alkyl polyglycosides, for example anionic carboxylic esters of alkyl polyglycosides, alkylated polyglycoside ether carboxylates, alkylated polyglycoside phosphates, betaines, sulphates, alkylated sulphosuccinates, sulphonates, oils having high terpene concentration, terpene alkoxylates or else nonionic alkylene oxide (block) copolymers are used (WO 2013110552).

Use of polyether modified short-chain siloxanes in agriculture in order to increase harvest yield


A security system is described, comprising a sensor module (15) which accommodates a laser sensor (10) working with self-mixing interference. The laser sensor (10) generates measurement data which are related to the velocity of an object such as the body of a human being and, optionally, the distance between the laser sensor (10) and the object. Dependent on the measurement data assembled by the laser sensor (10) and supplied to a control circuit (30) such as an airbag computer, the airbag computer activate security means such as an airbag (35)in order to prevent injuries of the human body. Furthermore, a method of driving such a security system is described.

EP1031471 B1 discloses a device for generating a position image of an object or person reflecting or scattering radiation, which device comprises a radiation source for emitting radiation pulses that have such small beam angles that only a small surface area of the object or person is impinged upon by each radiation pulse, at a predefined solid angle, a radiation receiver having a single light-sensitive element and being arranged in a predefined spatial relationship with the radiation source for receiving the parts of the radiation pulses reflected or scattered by the object or person, a control and evaluation device, which controls the radiation source in such a way that the transfer times of the individual radiation pulses can be determined from their emission to their reception and which calculates the position image as a function of the positions of the radiation source and the radiation receiver, the solid angles, at which the respective radiation pulses are sent, and the transfer times. The device is complex and costly.

Security system comprising a self-mixing laser sensor and method of driving such a security system


A phthalocyanine mixed crystal comprising a halogenated indium phthalocyanine and a halogenated gallium phthalocyanine and an electrophotographic photoreceptor containing the phthalocyanine mixed crystal. The phthalocyanine mixed crystal is a charge generating material which provides an electrophotographic photoreceptor excellent in sensitivity, stability on repeated use, and environmental stability.

Known charge generating materials having sensitivity in the near infrared region which can be used in electrophotographic photoreceptors include squarylium pigments, bisazo pigments, and phthalocyanine pigments. Of these materials, phthalocyanine pigments have recently been attracting particular attention because of their high sensitivity, and various species thereof having different crystal forms have hitherto been proposed for use as a charge generating material of electrophotographic photoreceptors. For example, chloroindium phthalocyanine having a .beta.-crystal form is disclosed in JP-A-59-155851 (the term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application"). JP-A-60-59355 reports that chloroindium phthalocyanine having a specific crystal form is effective as a charge generating material. Further, JP-A-1-221459 describes that gallium phthalocyanine having a specific crystal form is also effective as a charge generating material.
JP-A-2-170166 and JP-A-2-280169 disclose that a mixed crystal of two or more species of phthalocyanines or a simple mixture of two or more species of phthalocyanine crystals is useful as a charge generating material of an electrophotographic photoreceptor.
However, a mixed crystal of a halogenated indium phthalocyanine and a halogenated gallium phthalocyanine has not yet been reported.
While the above-described known phthalocyanine species and mixed crystals thereof are useful as a charge generating material, all of them are still unsatisfactory. For example, the chloroindium phthalocyanine having a .beta.-crystal form disclosed in JP-A-59-155851 supra exhibits very high sensitivity but is still insufficient in dark decay, stability on repeated use, crystal form stability in a coating composition, and dispersibility in a coating composition. In order to settle these problems, it has been proposed to incorporate a small amount of a substituted phthalocyanine as described, e.g., in JP-A-3-9962, JP-B-55-27583, and JP-B-54-44684 (the term "JP-B" as used herein means an "examined published Japanese patent application"). In this case, however, since a substituted phthalocyanine incorporated is markedly different from unsubstituted phthalocyanine in crystal form, mixing them gives rise to another problem, such as reduction in electrophotographic characteristics.

Electrophotographic photoreceptor containing phthalocyanine mixed crystals


Techniques for performing metrology on magnetic media disk formations that are arranged in curvilinear patterns are disclosed. Small integrated test patterns having rectangular periodicity are integrated among the concentric circles of patterned media formations. The test patterns cover only very small areas of the disk so as to not significantly affect disk capacity. The periodicity of the test patterns allows their formations to be more readily measured by metrology technology than those having a curvilinear periodicity.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to media disks and, in particular, to an improved system, method, and apparatus for performing metrology on the patterned magnetic media disks used in hard disk drives with integrated test pattern areas.
2. Description of the Related Art
Magnetic media such as the disks used in hard disk drives are typically constructed with concentric circular patterns of formations (e.g., lines, dots, etc.) that are on the order of nanometers in their dimensions. These formations on the patterned media must be qualified during manufacturing to ensure the quality and reliability of the product.
Patterned media may be evaluated with metrology technologies that utilize optical instruments based on spectroscopic ellipsometry or reflectometry. An alignment procedure typically is used for metrology and includes an additional pattern of one or more alignment marks. Alignment is required for pattern search and accurate measurement. These technologies precisely measure critical dimensions, sidewall angles, and multiple layer film thicknesses. The measurements are made on two-dimensional line and space structures, as well as three-dimensional hole and island structures. This technology produces accurate and precise models for production use of scatterometry results for both stand-alone and integrated metrology applications.
However, conventional metrology technologies only work in measuring formations that are arranged in rectilinear (e.g., rectangular, parallelogram-like, or hexagonal) patterns, rather than formations that have curvilinear periodicity such as those on magnetic media disks. In addition, the sizes of patterns, dots, and lines are too small to identify with the inspection techniques used by ellipsometry and x-ray refractivity. These techniques can only provide average dimensions for a periodic collection of islands. Moreover, SEM inspection techniques are slow, expensive and destructive to the sample being measured (i.e., because it requires the sample to be broken into smaller pieces, or because it contaminates the sample). This issue is becoming more significant as the data density (e.g., bits/nm2) in disk drives continues to increase.
As shown in FIG. 1, the regularity of features on magnetic media disks varies according to the radial position of the sample being analyzed on the surface of the disk due to the concentric circular patterns. For example, at sample 11, which is a laser spot having a diameter of 50 μm located at a radial distance of 0.3 inches from the disk center 13, the radius of curvature of the pattern of formations is far more pronounced than at sample 15, which is located at a radial distance of 1.25 inches from the disk center 13. Although current measurement technologies provide adequate metrology for some rectilinear formation patterns, they are not as well suited for curved formation patterns such as those in samples 11 and 15. Thus, an improved solution for measuring features that are arranged in curvilinear patterns would be desirable.

System, method, and apparatus for performing metrology on patterned media disks with test pattern areas


Project management systems and methods to streamline project planning, task management, time management, and other similar applications. The method includes filing a request to start a project on a project management system. The method further includes receiving notice that role handlers have been assigned to a plurality of tasks required to complete the project. The method further includes performing at least one task of the plurality of tasks. The method further includes receiving notice that the at least one task has been reviewed by at least one of the assigned role handlers.

Businesses expend numerous resources and time organizing and tracking various projects or tasks. In particular, large project scopes and communication breakdown between various team members often present barriers to effective project management.
Effective project management is an important factor to success of projects. A project can be thought of as a collection of activities and tasks designed to achieve a specific goal of an enterprise, with specific performance or quality requirements while meeting any time and cost constraints. Project management refers to the managing of the activities that lead to successful completion of a project.
Typically, for any given project, several project tasks are defined. Project tasks describe the activities and phases that have to be performed in the project such as submitting an invention disclosure, researching related art, reviewing business needs, etc. and can be arranged in a hierarchy. However, it may be desirable not only to view a project in terms of tasks, but also in terms of personnel assigned to complete each task. This may allow personnel working on the various tasks to have a better understanding of each person's role in the project and help in effective project management.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art to overcome the deficiencies and limitations described hereinabove.

Project management systems and methods thereof

King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology


A luminaire includes a frame having a lightguide and at least one light emitting diode disposed to direct light into an edge of the lightguide. A low voltage power cable delivers power to the at least one light emitting diode. A plurality of suspension cables are attached to the frame for suspending the luminaire. At least one acoustic panel is attached to the frame.

As compared to incandescent and fluorescent light sources, light emitting diodes (LEDs) offer substantial potential benefit associated with their energy efficiency, light quality, and compact size. However, applying LEDs for use in lighting systems offers both challenges and opportunities. As one example, LEDs can be used in edge-lit solutions where light from the LEDs is directed into a panel of optical material in order to distribute the light for illuminating an area. These types of edge-lit lighting systems provide a variety of opportunities for illuminating an area and for offering other features and benefits.

Suspended pendant lightguide luminaire with sound dampening


An apparatus for providing at least one securing means in conjunction with one of a male and a female portion of a snap already in place, the apparatus comprises a first member having an opposite one a male and a female portion of a snap for engagement with such one of a male and a female portion of such snap already in place. There is an intermediate segment engageable with an inner part of such one of such male and female portion of the first member, the intermediate segment having a projection extending outwardly therefrom. There is a strap like connector having a first aperture in a first end engageable with the projection of the intermediate segment, the strap like connector extending outwardly therefrom and a second member having an opposite one of a male and a female portion of a snap as such first member, such second member secured to an end of the projection of the intermediate segment.

In recreational boating storage areas are at a premium since there is little wasted space on a boat. On many boats canvas covers are used which have female snaps on the cover which are secured to male snaps disposed on various sections of the boat; however, when the cover is snapped in place there is little space that can be used to hang items on the boat. Also when the cover is in place the cover is secured tightly and little air can pass between the boat and the cover. It would be desirable if a device were available which would permit dual usage of such things as the snaps which secure the cover.


Disclosed is a feed forward clock and data recovery unit for recovering a received serial data bit stream having a feed forward phase tracking unit for tracking of a sampling time to the center of a unit interval of the received data bit stream. The feed forward phase tracking unit can include a sampling phase generation unit, an oversampling unit, a serial-to-parallel-conversion unit, a binary phase detection unit, a loop filter, a finite state machine, a binary rotator, and a data recognition unit for recovery of the received data stream which includes a number of parallel data recognition FIR-Filters. Further, each data recognition FIR-Filter can include a weighting unit for weighting data samples of the deserialized data stream, a summing unit for summing up the weighted data samples, and a comparator unit for comparing the summed up data samples with a threshold value.

The band limitation of the transmission channel results in the data signal at the receiver being subjected to distortion caused by intersymbol interference (ISI). The received signal itself contains both deterministic and stochastic edge noise.
The clock and data recovery unit according to the present invention provides for a reliable recovery of the data in a severely noisy environment and can be used in a multichannel application (Multiple Lane Application). The achieved BER is very low (Error rate BER<10^−15) even when the received data signal has only a small eye opening.
For high-speed data transmission, the requirements for the transceiver modules to have high speeds, low bit error rates (Bit Error Rate BER) and a long range are becoming more stringent. Depending on the channel and transmission medium, it is necessary to transmit data in the Gigahertz range, for example at 2.488 Gbit/s to 10 Gbit/s, with as few bit errors as possible.
The circuits for data recovery within the transceiver modules are referred to as clock and data recovery units (CDR). There are two fundamental concepts for data recovery according to the state of the art, i.e. phase alignment and phase picking.
FIG. 1 shows a clock and data recovery unit according to the state of the art as employed in a digital receiver.
Caused by clock jitter, band limitation of the data channels, intersymbol interferences (ISI) as well as reflections and crosstalk between the channels the effective usable signal eye opening is only approximately 35% or even smaller than of the respective data bit cell, so that in a 3,125 Gbit/s real bit data stream (NRZ=non return to zero)-modulated data has only a signal eye opening for each unit interval (UI) having a length of 112 ps while the rest of the bit cell is disturbed by clock jitter, intersymbol interferences (ISI) and reflections.
In the phase adjustment (phase alignment) method according to the state of the art a phase locked loop (PLL) is used to set the sampling time to the signal eye center of the received signal (bit cell). An edge-control D-flipflop which is generally used for recovering and synchronization samples the data applied at the D-input by means of the rising edge at the clock input.
FIG. 2 shows a PLL-based clock recovery system according to the state of the art.
In the phase picking method according to the state of the art in simple terms, the input signal is oversampled by connecting two or more D-flipflops in parallel, which are clocked with stepped clock phases. For data recovery, a control circuit then chooses the output of that D-flipflop whose clock phase represents the optimum sampling time in the eye center.
Both conventional methods can be implemented in widely differing ways. Different kinds of both multiphase circuits or phase locked loops PLL can be used for implementation of the phase alignment method and the phase picking method.
Both conventional methods according to the state of the art require a phase detector PD, which assesses the phase angle φ of the input data signal with respect to the clock phase φCLK within the clock and data recovery unit. A digital phase detector PD can be regarded as an edge-control switching mechanism to which the received signal on the one hand and a clock phase on the other hand are supplied, and which detects the phase angle φ by means of international stage transitions. One fundamental disadvantage of such digital phase detectors PD is the fact that the received signal is normally distorted and interfered with by various unavoidable effects in the transmission channel, such as reflections, attenuation, channel crosstalk and intersymbol interference (ISI).
In conventional phase adjustment methods according to the state of the art a digital phase detector PD is provided in which the received data signal acts directly on edge-sensitive inputs, so that the above mentioned signal disturbances generally lead to incorrect assessments of the. phase angle φ. Provided that they do not occur excessively frequently, these incorrect assessments can be sufficiently suppressed by use of a very inert control system so that the signal disturbances do not immediately lead to unlocking of the phase locked loop PLL. However, an incorrect assessment of the phase angle φ leads to a reduction in the jitter budget even when using an inert control system, so that the received data signal needs to have a larger signal eye opening for the same bit error rate BER than would be the case with a phase detector PD that is less sensitive to the above mentioned signal disturbances. A further disadvantage of a inert control system is that the phase locked loop PLL takes longer to lock in.
With the conventional phase alignment methods, the data detection (recovery) is carried out at the data rate DR. The control loop for phase adjustment does not have to achieve the BER<10^−15, but the regenerative flipflop must have appropriate stability. Metastability of the flipflop leads to incorrect decisions in data recovery.
In order to avoid these disadvantages of phase adjustment methods in phase picking CDRs according to the state of the art the phase information is not obtained directly from the received data input signal, but the received data signal is oversampled and the phase angle φ is derived from the oversampled signal.
FIG. 3a, 3b show a phase picking data recovery system according to the state of the art.
In a phase picking data recovery system as shown in FIG. 3a multiple clock phases sample each data bit from the received serial data stream at multiple positions. The phase picking data recovery system detects data transitions and picks the data sample which is furthest away from the detected data transition. By delaying the data samples while the decision is made the phase picking data recovery system as shown in FIG. 3a employs a feed forward loop. Because stability constrains are absent the phase picking method achieves a very high bandwidth and track phase movements on a cycle-cycle-basis. However, the tracking can occur only at quantisised steps depending on the degree of oversampling. The phase picking decision causes some latency.
A principle disadvantage of conventional phase alignment methods and phase picking methods according to the state of the art is that only a small part of the received data signal is effectively used for the decision, wherein the usable signal part is defined by the position of the clock edge and the set and hold times of the decision circuit. To avoid infringement of the setup and hold times of the decision circuit which causes a metastability and so to a undefined logic value the decision circuit is implemented such that its setup and hold times are as small as possible. Accordingly the signal part around the clock edge which is in fact evaluated is very short and accordingly the evaluated signal energy is very low. High frequent disturbances such as high frequent noise leads in particular at very small signal eyes to an increased bit error rate (BER). Undesired high frequent noise can be provided on the supply voltage of the clock and data recovery unit or can be applied together with the received data signal.
To avoid the sensitivity of the clock and data recovery unit because of the small signal power of the sampled signal it is known to use current integrating receivers. In this current integrating receivers the differential data input signal is integrated during a time period corresponding to the unit interval UI of a bit cell. At the end of the bit cell it is evaluated whether the current integral is positive or negative to recover the data bit. However, in a communication system wherein the usable signal eye opening is only in the range of 35% or even smaller of the received bit cell a current integrating receiver can not be employed, because the distorted and disturbed signal portions would be outside the usable signal eye opening.
A conventional clock and data recovery units according to the state of art has the disadvantage that they comprise feed back loops. This leads to band limitation, so that the clock and data recovery unit is less tolerant to phase jitter.
A further disadvantage of clock and data recovery units according to the state of the art having feed back loops is that because of time latency in the feed back loop self-oscillating can occur. Accordingly conventional clock and data recovery units with feed back loops are not suited for a serial data stream having a data rate of more than one gigabit per second.

Feed forward clock and data recovery unit


System, apparatus, and methods are disclosed wherewith a group of independent wireless routing devices known as Service Points work cooperatively to form an ad hoc mesh communication network. The resulting Service Point Network is used to provide reliable address-directed communication services between devices attached by conventional means (wired or wireless) to respective Service Ports on any of the Service Points. Attached Utilizing Devices are not considered a part of the Service Point Network and need not contain any custom software or hardware related to the operations of the Service Point Network. To protect the security of network communications and the integrity of the network, the Service Points are assigned internal IP addresses and unique identifiers that need not be disclosed to the Utilizing Devices. The unique identifiers in turn are used to derive public and private encryption key pairs for each Service Point.

Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) technologies are rapidly making their way into all types of networks (e.g., home, SOHO, education, enterprise). Nearly all networking companies have been rapidly adding WLAN components to their product portfolio. Governing this technology expansion are the IEEE 802.11 standards, currently the industry's choice for WLAN architecture compliance. While the standard defines alternative modes of operation, today it is the Infrastructure Mode that is most commonly deployed. In this mode a wireless Access Point ("AP") is attached to the LAN via an Ethernet cable and wireless Utilizing Devices associate with the AP to gain wireless access to the LAN. The wireless clients must be within radio range of an Access Point and be capable of passing any authentication screening the AP may deploy. Sufficient AP's must be deployed to insure radio coverage of the desired area and capacity for the desired number of clients, as each AP can only support a limited number of associated clients. FIG. 1 (prior art) thus illustrates how access to LAN server 100 and its services is extended one wireless radio hop to Utilizing Devices 120 by the deployment of APs 110.
Deploying a WLAN in this manner can require extensive site evaluation, security planning, and—as illustrated in FIG. 1—lots of wire. Thus, each of AP's 110(a)-(c) are connected via corresponding wires 105(a)-(c) to LAN 100. Moreover, some devices—such as computer server 130, printer 140, and projector 150 in the example of FIG. 1—may not be configured for association with AP's 110, resulting in yet additional wired 105 connections back to the LAN. The mobility afforded by the prior art environment of FIG. 1 is thus focused on accommodating limited motion by clients 120; however the Access Points 110 themselves, as well as servers and services e.g. 130, 140, and 150 are still stationary-wired LAN systems. This prior art design methodology has been instrumental in launching the WLAN revolution worldwide. There is, however, need for a new approach that will enable networking components to gain their freedom via wireless technologies, while continuing to adhere to established industry standards (particularly those governed by IEEE 802.11), and while preserving or even improving the ease and security with which mobile and other devices can access LAN resources.

Wireless service points having unique identifiers for secure communication


An active heat-dissipating type of power supply apparatus includes a casing, a first airflow channel, a second airflow channel, plural electronic components, an airflow driving device and a power input device. The casing includes at least one first airflow opening. The first airflow opening is communicated with the second airflow channel. The electronic components are disposed in the first airflow channel. The airflow driving device includes an airflow gate. The power input device is disposed on the first side of the casing and in the second airflow channel. A cooling air is pumped by the airflow driving device to be introduced into the second airflow channel through one of the first airflow opening and the airflow gate, so that the heat generated from the power input device is exhausted through the other one of the first airflow opening and the airflow gate.

Power supply apparatuses are essential for many electronic appliances and information products. Referring to FIG. 1, a schematic perspective view of an active heat-dissipating type of power supply apparatus is illustrated. The power supply apparatus 1 of FIG. 1 comprises a casing 11 (as indicated in the dotted line), plural electronic components 12, a power input device 13 and a power output device 14. The power input device 13 is an electronic connector such as a power socket. By plugging a plug of a power cable into the power socket 13, an AC voltage is transmitted from an external power source to the power supply apparatus 1. The AC voltage transmitted from the external power source is converted by the electronic components 12 into a regulated DC output voltage, which is transmitted to an electronic device through the power output device 14. During operation, the electronic components 12 may generate energy in the form of heat, and thus the space within the casing 11 is warmed up. If the power supply apparatus 1 fails to transfer enough heat to the ambient air, the elevated operating temperature may result in damage of the electronic components, a breakdown of the whole power supply apparatus 1 or reduced power conversion efficiency. For removing the heat, by forced convection, one or more fans 15 are used to either inhale the ambient air to cool the electronic components or exhaust the hot air to remove heat.
Please refer to FIG. 1 again. The ambient air is inhaled by the fan 15 into the space within the casing 11. The inhaled air is then conducted to the electronic components 12 to partially remove the heat generated from the electronic components 12. At the same time, a hot air is exhausted to the surroundings through an outlet (not shown). Since the hot air may conduct heat to the power input device 13, a portion of heat is accumulated on the power input device 13 due to a large thermal resistance thereof. As the power supply apparatus 1 is developed toward minimization and high power, the electronic components 12 may generate more heat. In addition, the current passing through the conductive terminals of the power input device 13 is also increased and thus the power input device 13 may generate more heat per se. For complying with safety regulations, it is important to dissipate heat away the power input device 13.
Moreover, according to an international standard safety temperature regulation, the operating temperature of the power input device 13 needs to be below such as 70° C. Nowadays, with development of diversified electronic devices, more and more electronic components 12 are loaded in the power supply apparatus 1. With increasing integration of integrated circuits, the power consumption of the power supply apparatus 1 is largely increased. As previously described, the heat generated from the electronic components 12 may influence the temperature of the power input device 13. Generally, for preventing damage from high temperature, the electronic components 12 are made of high-temperature resistant material, which may withstand a high temperature such as 110˜150° C. If the electronic components 12 are operated at such a high temperature, the operating temperature of the power input device 13 may exceed the acceptable value such as 70° C.
For a purpose of increasing integration of the electronic components 12, it is necessary to provide a heat-dissipating mechanism for removing heat from the power input device 13.

Active heat-dissipating type of power supply apparatus having heat-dissipating mechanism for power input device


A register control circuit has a plurality of registers, a control circuit for producing clock signals, and a logic circuit for producing latch clocks based on a reset signal and the clock signals. A shift data is inputted to a first one of the plurality of registers through a 2-input AND gate. The latch clocks are forced to become active simultaneously under a state in which an input to the first stage register being controlled to "0". The shift register is initialized in such a way that a "0" input is sequentially transferred from the first stage register to the final stage register. The shift register can be formed without the need of registers having reset inputs and initialized speedily, while keeping the increase in the device elements at the minimum.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a register control circuit, and more particularly to a register control circuit for initializing registers without a dedicated reset input.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an initialization of a D-type flip-flop circuit (hereinafter referred to as "DFF") which is formed by 2-INPUT AND 2-INPUT NOR gates (hereinafter abbreviated as, e.g., "2AND2NOR gate") 1.about.4 and an inverter 5 as shown in FIG. 1A is performed by supplying a reset signal S.sub.RST directly to a 2AND3NOR gate 13 at a master stage and a 2AND3NOR gate 12 at a slave stage as shown in FIG. 1B, so that the outputs of 2AND2NOR gates 11, 14 are set to "1" and the outputs of the 2AND3NOR gates 12, 13 are set to "0", respectively. To initialize a multi-register circuit such as a shift register, a plurality of DFFs each having a reset input are used so as to form the shift register and a reset input signal is directly applied to the respective DFFs.
FIG. 2A shows an example of a conventional shift register and FIG. 2B shows timing-charts thereof.
In the conventional shift register shown in FIG. 2A, a plurality of the D-type flip-flop circuits (DFFs) R0.about.R7, each having an internal circuit of the same circuit configuration as that shown in FIG. 1B, are connected in series and are commonly supplied with shift clocks S.sub.CK1, S.sub.CK2 and a reset signal S.sub.RST. A shift data D.sub.IN inputted from a shift data input terminal (D.sub.IN) is outputted from a shift data output terminal D.sub.OUT through the DFFs R0.about.R7. While the reset signal S.sub.RST remains "0" immediately after the power is turned on, the states of the DFFs R0.about.R7 are and remain undefined. When the reset signal S.sub.RST is set to "1", the outputs of the DFFs R0.about.R7 are all and immediately initialized to "0". Subsequently, the shift clocks S.sub.CK2 and S.sub.CK1 are supplied and, though not shown in the timing charts given in FIG. 2B, the shift data is inputted to the input terminal D.sub.IN of the shift register circuit and is shifted out from the output terminal D.sub.OUT.
One advantage of the above conventional shift register is that it can be immediately reset when the reset signal is set to "1" because each of the DFFs R0.about.R7 forming the shift register has a reset input terminal. However, since all bits are implemented by DFFs each having a reset input terminal, the shift register suffers from a disadvantage of requiring more logic elements in number than those which constitute DFFs having no reset input terminals as shown in FIG. 1A.
To avoid increasing in the number of elements, there has been known a shift register in which, as shown in FIG. 3A, a DFF having a reset input terminal is used for a DFF Q0 of the first stage and DFFs not having a reset input terminal are used for the remaining DFFs Q1.about.Q7 that follow. The operation of this shift register is described below. While the reset signal stays at "0" immediately after the power is turned on, the outputs of the DFFs Q0.about.Q7 remain undefined, respectively, as shown in the timing charts in FIG. 3B. When the reset signal S.sub.RST is set to "1", the first stage DFF Q0 is initialized immediately, but the remaining DFFs Q1.about.Q7 stay at undefined states since they are given no reset input.
Subsequently, when the shift clocks S.sub.CK1 and S.sub.CK2 are supplied to the respective DFFs with the reset signal being held at "1", the output "0" from the DFF Q0 is shifted into the following DFF Q1 in response to the first clock of the shift clocks, whereby the output of the DFF Q1 becomes "0". In response to the second clock of the shift clocks, the output of the DFF Q1 is shifted into the following DFF Q2 and, thus, the output of the DFF Q2 becomes "0". In a similar manner, the output of the DFF Q7 becomes "0" at last in response to the seventh clock of the shift clocks, thereby completing the initialization of the shift register. Thereafter, a shift data is loaded into the shift register from the data input terminal D.sub.IN.
Since the above circuit adopts only one DFF which is equipped with a reset input terminal, it contributes substantially to the reduction in the number of the necessary elements. However, as can be readily understood from the timing charts shown in FIG. 3B, the circuit takes an extra amount of time to generate the shift clocks that are necessary to completely initialize the entire shift register. This suffers from the disadvantages of increasing the initialization time and also making the shift clock control for the register initialization more complex.
As described above, the conventional register initialization circuits have problems in that the number of the necessary elements is increasing because of the need to directly supply the reset signal to the respective DFFs and, in that the initialization time has increased because of the need for generating shift clocks for initialization. These problems in the conventional shift registers are to be solved by the present invention.

Register control circuit for initialization of registers


A pixel and organic light emitting display device. The pixel includes an organic light emitting diode, first through fourth transistors, and a second capacitor. The fourth transistor is for controlling an amount of current flowing through the organic light emitting diode. A first transistor is coupled between a second terminal of the second capacitor and a data line and is configured to turn on in response to a scan signal supplied to an i-th scan line. A second transistor is coupled between a first terminal of the second capacitor and an initial power source and is configured to turn on in response to an other scan signal supplied to an (i−1)-th scan line. A third transistor is coupled between the second terminal of the second capacitor and a reference power source and is configured to turn off in response to an emission control signal supplied to an (i+1)-th emission control line.

1. Field
Aspects of the present invention relate to a pixel and an organic light emitting display device using the same.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, various flat panel display devices having reduced weight and volume in comparison to cathode ray tubes have been developed. Examples of such flat panel display devices include a liquid crystal display device, a field emission display device, a plasma display panel, an organic light emitting display device, etc.
Among the flat panel display devices, the organic light emitting device displays an image by using organic light emitting diodes that emit light by recombining holes with electrons. The organic light emitting display device has advantages such as low power consumption and rapid response speed.

Pixel coupled to three horizontal lines and organic light emitting display device using the same


The use of the JTAG port provides for boundary scan testing of integrated circuits, thereby allowing for the testing of IC's after they have been mounted into a circuit board. However, the conventional JTAG scheme is limited as to speed, since both the input and output vectors must be serially shifted in and out of I/O buffers along the chip boundaries. The present invention speeds the testing of high-speed core logic circuitry by transferring the test program to a special test data register, which downloads the program to the logic circuitry under test, and uploads the results. This allows the core logic to perform the test at its normal operating speed, while still retaining compatibility with the JTAG standard for other tests.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an integrated circuit (IC) that implements the JTAG test port while providing for the high-speed testing of a programmable digital processor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The development of complex integrated circuits increasingly depends upon the ability to test the circuitry sufficiently to ensure proper operation. This is increasingly difficult as the number of logic gates in a given integrated circuit increases. The input test data (referred to as "vectors") must also increase, so that all possible input states, or at least a significant portion of them, are included in the test program. Traditionally. digital processors have been tested for functionality in the factory on a commercial test machine. Either the wafer is probed or the packaged part is tested. A sequence of vectors is applied in parallel to the input pads or pins and comparisons with expected results are performed on output pads or pins. The fault coverage is usually less than 100% and is dependent on how many vectors there are, how well the vectors were written, and the degree of complexity of the circuitry to be tested.
The problems with this prior-art testing scheme include the fact that commercial test sets are having difficulty working fast enough to test very fast parts. The only way to test the packages once they have been soldered into boards is to come down with a custom "bed of nails" that disables other chips on the board and applies vectors to the package under test. This is increasingly difficult as the industry goes to surface mount packages on both sides of a printed circuit board. It is not possible to test the package in the field or even in the factory when the printed circuit board is plugged in to its slot. In an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) methodology, a core processor can end up embedded in a design such that the standard vector set of tests cannot be applied from the bond pads.
Many have advocated dealing with the test problems by adding Built In Self Test (BIST) circuitry to a chip. Here, a signal applied to the chip causes the BIST circuitry to perform a test. Typically, there is a pseudo-random sequence produced by a shift register with feedback. The sequence is applied to circuitry under test and the outputs from the circuitry are compressed and compared with an expected signature. BIST has been used successfully in a number of chips. The problems with this testing scheme include: While BIST solutions are known for regular structures such as memories, there is no general way known to produce BIST for arbitrary random logic with arbitrarily high fault coverage. Also, there can be a problem with BIST with an error condition aliasing to the same signature as a passing condition. In addition, BIST requires adding area overhead and possibly speed overhead to the chip.
A recent development in integrated circuit testing is the use of the so-called JTAG (i.e., Joint Test Action Group) test port for in situ testing of IC chips mounted on a board. This standard has been adopted by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., and is now defined as the IEEE Standard 1149.1, IEEE Standard Test Access Port and Boundary-Scan Architecture, which is incorporated herein by reference. An overview of the development, definition, and application of this standard is provided in The Test Access Port and Boundary-Scan Architecture, C. M. Maunder and R. E. Tulloss, published by the IEEE Computer Society Press, Los Alamitos, Calif. (1990). Referring to FIG. 3, in the JTAG scheme, a four (or optionally five) signal Test Access Port (TAP) is added to each chip or grouping of chips on a board. The TAP includes three inputs: a test clock (TCK), a test mode select (TMS), and test data in (TDI). In addition, there is one output, test data output (TDO). TDI and TDO are daisy-chained from chip to chip, whereas TCK and TMS are broadcast.
Every JTAG chip contains a boundary scan register (300), and a bypass register (301). The boundary scan register provides for serially shifting any desired data pattern from the TDI port into the input stages of the chip. The boundary scan register also provides for receiving the output data of each output stage of the chip, and for serially shifting these bits out through the TDO port. Inputs from the chip terminals I.sub.1 . . . I.sub.3, and system clock terminal CKI are provided to the boundary scan register. These may be output from the boundary scan register to the chip circuitry by lines JI.sub.1 . . . JI.sub.3, and JCKI, respectively. (Other lines, not shown, are used to send signals in the other direction, from the chip output circuitry to the chip output terminals.) Each chip also contains a TAP controller (302) that implements a standard state machine steered by the TMS signal. In this regard, the TAP controller selects one of sixteen states for shifting data and instructions into the registers, among other functions. The instruction register (303) allows test instructions to be entered into each chip, and the instruction decoder (304) serves to decode the instructions. Extra "Status" data bits may defined by the user for inclusion in the instruction register, in addition to mandatory instruction bits. The output of a given register is selected by multiplexers 307 and 308, and driven off-chip by the output buffer (309), which supplies the TDO signal. The external signals applied to the JTAG test access port are provided by a master controller, also referred to as the "JTAG master" herein.
The JTAG standard allows a chip to have arbitrary data serially scanned into its boundary scan register (300), with each bit position corresponding to an input or output terminal of the chip. The data may then be applied as if it were test vector input to the chip or output from the chip. The JTAG standard also supports tri-stating outputs. A standard scheme allows opens and shorts on the board or bond wires to be located. A chip can be tested by applying its entire factory vector set in serially through the boundary scan register. The JTAG standard also allows for optional registers to be added. For example, a manufacturer's identification register (305) provides a unique code identifying the chip type. In addition, a user test register (306) may be defined, typically to provide support for triggering BIST and reading the test status results. However, a problem with the JTAG testing scheme as it has been developed to this point is that testing of a chip by serial scanning is very slow; hence functional testing cannot be performed at full chip speed.

High-speed integrated circuit testing with JTAG


In one aspect, a request is sent to a device for a device descriptor that describes custom interfaces. The custom interfaces may be expressed according to a defined data structure. The device descriptor that describes the custom interfaces is received at a gateway. An interface agnostic application is executed to translate the device descriptor to the custom interfaces for consumption of the data described by the custom interfaces.

Gateways typically use standard protocols to interface with peripheral devices to enable communication between the gateways and the peripheral devices. Interfaces exposed by the peripheral devices are either standardized by industry or require additional software to be installed on the gateways to interpret the data described by the interfaces. As such, current technology for interpreting data between gateways and peripheral devices requires that solutions be implemented for both the gateways and the peripheral devices; ultimately resulting in more development and software quality assurance to design and implement a solution. As such, current technology for interpreting data between gateways and peripheral devices may be time consuming and inefficient.

Self-describing interfaces for communication with gateways


There is provided a method of detection and monitoring of at least one position based activity by a subject, comprising: providing a wearable monitoring device including at least one position tag for tracking location of the subject in a space; collecting body movement and location data of the subject within the space based on the tracked location of the position tag; providing at least one activity sensor configured to sense at least one body movement of the subject within the space; collecting body movement data based on the activity sensor; correlating the body movement data with the location data; contextually analyzing the correlation to identify at least one abnormal event or at least one normal event based on subject body movement and location where the body movement is performed; and generating an alert indicative of the abnormal event or the normal event.

The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to systems and methods for analysis of activities of a subject and, more specifically, but not exclusively, to systems and methods for determining an abnormal event of a subject based on activity analysis.
Certain populations living at home are at increased risk of harm, for example, the elderly, the disabled, and people with chronic medical conditions. Such subjects would like to live at home (e.g., to remain independent, and/or to remain within familiar surroundings), but may require help at certain times, for example, when feeling unwell, when needing extra help to perform certain home activities, and when medical symptoms arise. The subjects may be living alone, and when a problem arises would otherwise remain helpless.
Different systems such as Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS) have been developed to address the needs of this population. In one example, subjects are provided with a wearable button, that when pushed, provides a notification to a monitoring center that help is needed.

Systems and methods for analysis of subject activity


A self-configuring method of a femtocell base station extracts preambles from signals received from adjacent macrocells and femtocells. Transmission power of the femtocell base station is set using the extracted macrocell preambles. In addition, the preambles of the femtocell base station are selected using the correlation values between the macrocell preambles and the pre-stored femtocell preambles. Moreover, the resources for data transmission of the femtocell base station are allocated considering the adjacent macrocells and the femtocells.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a femtocell base station apparatus and a self-configuring method thereof. More specifically, the present invention relates to a femtocell base station apparatus that senses peripheral macrocell environments, performs self-configuration, and allocates resources according to situations, when an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA)-based cellular mobile communication network is installed with a femtocell base station apparatus, and a self-configuring method thereof.
(b) Description of the Related Art
A femtocell, which is a micro base station providing mobile communication services to an area within about a 30 m radius, may be referred to as a home node-B. The femtocell is installed at an area that degrades the radio waves of the macrocell, such as a home or building or a shadow area, to compensate for the quality of the mobile communication services.
The existing femtocell base station is developed based on a code division multiple access (CDMA) network to expand the cell area. The OFDMA-based femtocell base station has not been commercialized until now.
Currently, in standardization organizations such as the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the 3rd Generation Partnership Project Long Term Evolution (3GPP LTE), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16m, study of standard technologies and requirements for the femtocell base station are being actively performed.
However, there are many problems to be solved in the OFDMA-based femtocell-based system.
The access scheme of the femtocell is classified into a closed network that permits access only to authenticated users and an open network that permits access to all users. In the case of the open network, there is a problem in that priority of handover may be same, which can be easily solved by setting a handover threshold value, etc.
However, in the case of the closed network, since the femtocell base station is installed in a macrocell coverage area, there may be a case where the femtocell base station is not smoothly operated due to interferences of the macrocell base stations when the femtocell base station is installed without separate configuration.
On the other hand, when macrocell terminals are in the femtocell base station area, a case may occur where the communication of the macrocell terminal is impossible due to interference of the femtocell base station.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Femtocell base station apparatus and self-configuring method thereof

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


The present invention is an abstraction layer that “hides” the complexity of underlying workflow engine and provides a unified application programming interface (API) to access underlying workflow functions. The abstraction layer of the present invention serves as a gateway between application flow logic and one or more workflow engines and allows an application to build flow implementation logic once and then be able to run on various workflow engines without significant code changes. The present invention also enables different workflow engines to run concurrently to support one application and without the need for applications to migrate or consolidate to one workflow engine.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to work flow management (a/k/a business process management (BPM)) products, and particularly relate to an abstraction layer that allows one or more BPM's to interface with one or more applications with the addition of abstraction-layer features.
2. Description of Related Art
There are many workflow/BPM (Business Process Management) products available including those that are commercially available and those developed in-house. Many of these products are developed using different workflow engines as a component of the BPM. The big challenge is that different application implementation is required for different workflow engine products. Those product implementations cannot co-exist in a homogeneous deployment environment easily and therefore produce problems in system integration, product upgrade and migration. There are some open standards in workflow area; however, those standards only address the definition part of the flow process. Existing workflow standards do not have a unified interface to define all workflow functionalities. Moreover, there are many areas that standards leave to vendor implementation purposely, such as work assignment and dispatch, administrative flow management, runtime flow status display, etc.
Organizations make use of many workflow products in various systems and application products may have their own workflow providers and need to integrate external ones as well. On user interface side, an application desirably exposes the client to a consistent look and feel for business process management functionalities. On the flow implementation side, an application tries to avoid workflow-vendor-specific implementation to promote code reuse and flexibility. On the development and testing side, an application wants to have a set of tools to help and automate daily implementation, debugging and testing.

Process abstraction and tracking, systems and methods


A fish hook for live bait includes a coil spring axially positioned on the fish hook shank. One end of the spring is fixedly attached to the shank adjacent to a barbed end of the hook, and the other end of the spring can be slideably moved along the shank as the spring is compressed and released. A flexible line is positioned axially within the spring and defines a looped end which is positioned adjacent to the barbed end of the hook. The looped end grasps and holds the bait adjacent to the barbed end and in an orientation which enables the bait to be in alignment with the shank. The positioning and orientation of the live bait with respect to the barbed end of the hook enables the bait to move in a natural manner during trolling and provides the hook with the characteristic of being weedless.

This invention relates to fish hooks and more particularly to a fish hook for use with live bait.
Minnows, crickets, worms and other live bait are difficult to keep alive after being pierced with a hook. After the bait is cast a few times the flesh becomes worn and torn and frequently results in loss of the bait.
Over the years various types of fish hooks have been devised for use with live bait. Although such devices have served the purpose, they have not proved entirely satisfactory. Many known fish hooks do not permit the bait to be positioned immediately adjacent to the barbed hook and fish can steal the bait or take a portion of the bait without being hooked. Other known fish hooks for use with live bait do not position the live bait on the hook to give the hook the characteristic of being weedless. The position of the live bait on known live bait hooks also does not position the bait with respect to the hook in a manner which permits natural movements of the bait during trolling.
Henckler, U.S. Pat. No. 615,170, for example, describes a fish hook for use with live bait which positions the bait perpendicularly with respect to the barbed curved end of the hook. Because of this orientation of the bait with respect to the hook, the bait will not move in a natural manner during trolling. Also the bait is positioned in spaced-apart relationship and on the opposite side of the hook with respect to the barbed end of the hook so that fish can steal the bait or portions of the bait without being hooked.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a fish hook for use with live bait.
Another object is to provide a fish hook for use with live bait which enables the bait to be quickly and easily attached to the hook.
A further object of the invention is the provision of a fish hook for use with live bait wherein the bait can be firmly held and positioned against or immediately adjacent to the barbed end of the hook so that fish cannot take the bait without being hooked.
Still another object is to provide a fish hook for use with live bait which enables the bait to be held against the barbed end of the hook and substantially in parallel relationship or in-line with the shank of the hook to give the hook the characteristic of being weedless.
Yet another object of the present invention is the provision of a fish hook for use with live bait which positions the bait so that the bait moves in a natural fashion during trolling.
A still further object is to provide a fish hook for use with live bait which is simple in design and which is inexpensive to manufacture.
Another object is to provide a fish hook for use with live bait which can be used with a variety of live bait.
Still another object is to provide a fish hook for use with live bait which provides for a line surrounding the body of the bait to hold it firmly to the hook.
A further object of the invention is the provision of a fish hook for use with live bait which eliminates piercing of the bait with the hook and which enables the bait to live longer.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages are realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.


A new method for making and manufacturing the User-Friendly USB Male connectors which is faster, lower cost, more energy efficient, waterproof and reliable, with no expensive tooling and molding required, having better quality and being easily adaptable for automated assembly.

Conventional, non User-Friendly USB Male connectors have been in the market for over 16 years (since 1996.) The old-fashioned methods of making the conventional, non User-Friendly USB Male connectors have become obsolete now. Using old fashioned methods to make the User-Friendly USB Male connectors are too slow and expensive, very difficult to control the quality, and not operator/automation friendly.
Conventional non User-Friendly USB Male connectors are very complicated to make. It uses a precision injection-molded holder to hold the precision stamped metal pins. Conventional methods of making old-fashioned USB Male connectors require many steps of pre-assembly of the components because of its complexity. The final assembly put everything together by shoving the pre-assembled holder with metal pins into the metal housing.
On the other hand, the new User-Friendly USB is much simpler to make, Precision stamped pins are replaced by a thin, flat, rigid printed circuit board (PCB). There is no need for a precision injection-molded holder or the pre-assembly of the metal pins. The PCB is simply held afloat in the middle of the metal housing by a pair of spacers, one on the top and the other under the PCB. Therefore, the old prior art method of making conventional non User-Friendly USB Male connectors should not apply to the new User-Friendly USB Male connectors.
As far as quality control is concerned, the new User-Friendly USB Male connectors require tighter, more rigid strength to hold the PCB without slack compares to regular male USB connector. It would be extremely difficult to achieve this method of manufacture with conventional methods.

Method of making user-friendly USB male connector


There is disclosed a flat NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) coil system especially adapted for evaluating thin samples of material(s), or samples in which a thin surface region of the sample is to be examined. The apparatus and method work well in a static magnetic field oriented generally perpendicular to the planes of the flat sample and coil. In one preferred mode, the coil is located approximately parallel to (and generally proximate to or in flush contact with) the surface of the subject sample, while the coil typically also is oriented so that the flux of the strong static field for performing the NMR is approximately normal to the planes of the coil and the sample surface. The coil has a wire path routed to define at least one continuous “figure eight” double loop arrangement, to improve operational performance of the complete coil.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is for a flat nuclear magnetic resonance coil, particularly a flat coil for examining thin samples of material(s), or for evaluating a thin region close to a surface of a sample. More specifically, the flat nuclear magnetic resonance coil according to this invention works well in a static magnetic field, for example Earth's magnetic field, that is oriented generally perpendicularly to the surface of the flat sample and plane of the coil.
2. Background Art
Nuclear magnetic resonance ("NMR") is a well-established technique with applications in fields such as physics, chemistry, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, petroleum engineering, biology, and medicine. Most applications of NMR use strong static magnetic fields from magnets (a wide variety of types of magnets are employed in different systems, depending upon the system), functioning together with electrical current-carrying coils that generate time-varying magnetic fields at samples, to receive NMR signals from the samples that are induced by the time-varying magnetic fields. In this disclosure, "sample" refers to any object or material that is the intended subject of examination by NMR process. The strong static magnetic fields usually are generated by magnets that surround the sample. Examples include cylindrical horizontal superconducting magnets used for medical magnetic resonance imaging ("MRI"). In medical MRI, the current-carrying coils normally reside within the cylindrical superconducting magnet, and a patient is placed inside the specially designed coils (typified by the so-called "birdcage" coils). Other examples include vertical superconducting magnets used for chemical analysis, in which small sample-containing glass tubes are lowered into coils situated in the bore of the vertical superconducting magnets. Yet other examples include permanent magnets that do not require superconductors (which currently require cryogens). Permanent magnets usually have their sample spaces defined by steel poles, north and south, between which the samples in coils are placed. In a minority of examples, the sample is placed to one side of the magnet and coil to allow the examination of samples too large to fit inside the magnets. This class of single-sided or remote NMR experiments includes large-scale experiments in which the magnetic field of the Earth is used in lieu of artificial magnets, and in which some type of coil is spread out on the ground surface to detect signals from underground samples such as, for instance, water in aquifers.
The most critical parameter for NMR process is the signal-to-noise ratio, S/N. This ratio increases steeply in stronger magnetic fields; consequently there is a major push in the NMR field of endeavor to perform NMR experiments and evaluations in the strongest possible magnetic field. However, the cost, size, weight, and care required rises with both the strength of the magnetic field and the size of the region in which the magnetic field is generated. Thus, there is a critical need to attain the optimal S/N ratio at almost any field strength, but especially at the weaker magnetic field strengths that are, by necessity, used for the larger samples. The NMR coil represents the most critical component of the NMR apparatus for defining the maximum S/N available from a given sample.
Conventionally, the common NMR sample is not extremely "flat"—that is, its aspect ratio of any two orthogonal dimensions is fairly close to one. As examples, consider the human body for medical MRI, or a test tube-like geometry used in analytical chemistry, in which the large dimension generally is, at most, about ten times the small dimension. These aspect ratios are consistent with commonly used coil geometry, such as a solenoid with an aspect ratio close to unity. When the sample that requires inspection is flat, i.e., some of the aspect ratios being larger than, say, 100, the traditional coil geometries (such as a solenoid) are inefficient due to the mismatch between the geometries of the sample and the coil.
By way of further illustration, consider the sample to be a flat piece of paper and the coil available is a solenoid. Unless the paper can be rolled up, it will occupy an infinitesimal volume inside a hypothetical solenoid that is large enough to accommodate the extent of the paper. Another example is a case where signal is to be obtained from only a thin layer near the surface of an object such as the skin of an animal. Thus, there is a need for NMR coils that are tailored for flat high aspect ratio samples. This requirement is true for cases such as Earth's field NMR measurement of moisture content in soil at fairly shallow depths. The use of Earth's field avoids the need to use heavy and expensive magnets, but its relative weakness requires that a large amount of sample be examined. Thus, the geometry for such a situation is a flat coil that is large enough to generate a sufficient S/N ratio for practical use.
There are examples of prior art in which a coil has been designed to be sensitive to NMR signals from a relatively flat region of an object that was located to one side of the coil and experiencing a static magnetic field. In all such cases, and in contrast with the system and apparatus of the present disclosure, the sensitivity profile has not been uniform at a given distance from the coil; as an undesirable result, under examination a thin sample yielded much less than optimal signal-to-noise ratio S/N.
A loop of wire forming a "surface coil" used to obtain NMR signals from the neighborhood of the coil that is placed on the surface of a sample, as opposed to deep inside a three dimensional sample, has been proposed by Ackerman. J. J. H. Ackerman, et al., "Mapping of metabolites in whole animals by 31P NMR using surface coils," Nature 283, 167-170 (1980). When such a coil is placed close to the region of interest, the S/N ratio can be much better than a volume coil that is not tailored to the specific geometry. However, the simple loop of Ackerman et al. is not well-suited for use with a sample having a large aspect ratio (i.e., that which is much larger in horizontal extent compared to its thickness), because the sensitivity is not uniform in a plane close to the loop. Further, it does not work well in a static magnetic field that lies perpendicular to the plane of the coil—as opposed to the present invention, which works well in that orientation as well as parallel to the plane and to the wires simultaneously.
Array coils have been designed to receive NMR signals from a multitude of overlapping and closely positioned surface coils that can cover the region of interest, as described in P. B. Roemer, et al., "The NMR Phased Array," Magn. Reson. Med. 16 , 192-225 (1990). Such coils are used in medical MRI, for example, to study the spine. An array of surface coils produces separate but overlapping data that are combined numerically to produce NMR signals. The aspect ratio (extent to depth) of the sampled space depends on the ratio of the overall size of the array to the size of the individual coil. Therefore, the number of coil elements, as well as the numerical complexity required, increases undesirably rapidly for large aspect ratios. And once again, the optimal static field direction is parallel to the plane of the coil array.
A "meanderline coil" is a surface coil with currents in an array of parallel wires with alternating directions; that is, the current flow in adjacent parallel wires is in opposite directions. Meanderline coils specifically designed for NMR of flat samples in biology have been described. T. Nakada, et al., "31P NMR Spectroscopy of the Stomach by Zig-Zag Coil," Magn. Reson. Med. 5, 449-455 (1987). They also have been utilized for studies of multiple-layer materials and coatings, where signals from a shallow sample region are desired without signals from the deeper regions of the sample that represent interference. Such a use of meander line coils is shown in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,326,787 to Cowgill, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference by way of useful background. These applications are useful in static magnetic fields that lie parallel to the wires (i.e., in a specific direction in the plane of the coil), but are not useful for static field components out of the plane of the coil. In the case, for example, of the Earth's field NMR, where the static field is mostly out of the plane of the coil, the component of the coil-generated magnetic field that is perpendicular to the static field is extremely non-uniform near the coil. The specific component oscillates in space because the current directions are opposite in adjacent wires. The resulting non-uniform sensitivity, at a given depth, makes the S/N quite poor for a sample close to the coil. And thin samples to be evaluated typically are placed close to the coil. (In contrast, the invention disclosed hereinafter will work well, not only with the field normal to the plane of the coil, but also for the case suited for meanderline, that is, with the coil wires parallel to the static field). The meander line coil has also been used in nuclear quadrupole resonance of solids, where the alternating direction of the currents in adjacent wires do not matter because there is no static magnetic field. M. L. Buess, et al., "NQR Detection Using a Meanderline Surface Coil," J. Magn. Reson. 92, 348-362 (1991). In sum, the meanderline type of coil does not work well for static magnetic fields that are situated substantially perpendicular to the plane of the coil, because the component of the RF field generated by the coil that is orthogonal to the static field is very non-uniform. This is especially true in regions that are halfway between adjacent wire segments, where the predominant component of the generated field is parallel to the static field.
Surface GARFIELD, as described by P. J. McDonald, et al., "A unilateral NMR magnet for sub-structure analysis in the built environment: The Surface GARField," Journal of Magnetic Resonance, 185, 1-11 (2007), is a NMR system containing a specialized magnet that is designed to obtain diffusion measurements, not NMR intensity measurements, in a thin region near the surface of a material. The special array coil is designed to work only with the specific arrangement of the permanent magnets that generate magnetic field gradients, and not with a uniform static magnetic field from an external magnet including the Earth's magnetic field.
A transmission line coil has been designed specifically to have an extremely low-Q for rapid recovery of the NMR system for the study of planar solids with very short spin-spin relaxation time T2. Lowe, I. J., and Engelsberg, M., "A fast recovery pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance sample probe using a delay line," Review of Scientific Instruments 45, 631-639 (1974). Similarly, there have been applications in membrane biology in which thin samples need to be examined, and for which specialized coils have been designed, such as those suggested in N. C. Nielsen, et al., "A flat-coil NMR probe with hydration control of oriented phospholipid bilayer samples," Journal of Biomolecular NMR, 5 (3), 311-314 (1995). In both of the immediately foregoing cases, the coil encloses the sample and, therefore, is not a surface coil that is suitable solely for separated thin samples (and not samples that are a part of a larger object).
STRAFI is the name of an NMR technique whereby the sample is placed in the stray magnetic field away from the center of the magnet, often even outside the magnet, and a very thin region is examined because of the steep magnetic field gradient that exists at the sample. STRAFI is described in P. J. McDonald and B. Newling, "Stray field magnetic resonance imaging," Rep. Prog. Phys. 61, 1441-1493 (1998). Because NMR "looks" for signals only at a certain frequency, i.e., the Larmor frequency, the steep magnetic field gradient insures that the signal arises from only a very thin region having the requisite Larmor frequency. In the STRAFI measurements, no special coil is used to optimize the S/N ratio. Instead, a solenoid is usually used to enclose a sample that is not especially flat, and a flat "slice" of the sample is rendered NMR-sensitive by the steep magnetic field gradient. Thus, the flat sample region accessible to STRAFI evaluation techniques is not due to any special coils, but rather to the way the static magnetic field is formed.
Against the foregoing background, the presently disclosed apparatus and method were developed. The present apparatus is of a coil that is tailored specifically to examine flat samples located to one side of the coil, and is especially suited to, but not limited to, single-sided NMR. The method of the presently disclosed invention is especially attractive because, as shall be described later herein, it performs well with a static magnetic field perpendicular to the plane of the coil.


It is an object of the present invention to provide an aqueous ethylene-vinyl alcohol-based copolymer dispersion which is excellent in long-term storage stability and in film-forming properties even when subjected to low-temperature or short-time drying or applied to give thick coats and can give coatings showing high gas barrier performance. The prevent invention is an aqueous ethylene/vinyl alcohol-based copolymer dispersion, which comprises: (A) an ethylene/vinyl alcohol-based copolymer with an ethylene content of 15-65 mole percent and a degree of saponification of not lower than 80 mole percent, (B) a base-neutralized ethylene/α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acid-based copolymer and (C) a polyvinyl alcohol with a degree of saponification of 75-100 mole percent and a degree of polymerization of 100-3500, the content of the polyvinyl alcohol (C) being 0.5-100 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of the ethylene/vinyl alcohol-based copolymer (A).

Ethylene/vinyl alcohol-based copolymers (hereinafter referred to as "EVOH" for short) obtained by saponifying ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymers or the like are particularly excellent in gas barrier properties against oxygen and other gases, aroma retention, oil resistance and chemical resistance and therefore are properly used in the form of various films, sheets, containers and like molded articles. They are also attracting attention as protective coating materials for metal surfaces, paper, wood and timber, among others. They are particularly excellent in gas barrier properties as compared with other resin films and therefore are very useful as food packaging materials such as films, sheets, laminates, hollow containers and the like, which are required to be capable of preventing the contents from being oxidized and/or the aroma from being lost.
As for the methods of molding EVOH into films and sheets, among others, the method comprising melt extruding or injection molding EVOH and the method comprising laminating EVOH films are generally and widely adopted. On the other hand, the technique of applying solutions or aqueous dispersions of EVOH, followed by drying has been proposed since they can form relatively thin coatings and can readily form coatings on hollow containers and other articles complicated in shape.
However, with the increase in EVOH solid content, EVOH solutions show increases in viscosity, making it difficult to use them; further, there are such problems as working environment deterioration by organic solvent evaporation in the coatings formation process and economic disadvantage due to the necessity of an apparatus for recovering the organic solvent, since the solutions comprises a organic solvent such as dimethyl sulfoxide or a mixed solvent composed of an alcohol and water. On the contrary, the method comprising applying an aqueous EVOH dispersion is considered as advantageous, hence expected, from the working environment and economic viewpoint, since the dispersion medium is water.
As regards aqueous EVOH dispersions, proposals have been made, for example, of a method of producing emulsified dispersions of a saponified ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer which comprises dissolving a saponified ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer with warming in the presence of an alcohol, water and a surfactant and emulsifying and dispersing the solution while removing the alcohol under forced high-speed stirring (Patent Document 1), a method of producing aqueous emulsified dispersions of saponified ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymers which comprises maintaining an emulsified dispersion of a saponified ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer at a pH of not higher than 5.5 to thereby cause the emulsified dispersion to aggregate, filtering off the resulting aggregate and neutralizing the filtered aggregate obtained using a basic substance with stirring for redispersion (Patent Document 2), a method of producing aqueous emulsified EVOH dispersions which comprises emulsifying and dispersing a copolymer resulting from block-wise or graft-wise bonding between an EVOH component and an ionic group-containing component and insoluble in water at ordinary temperature (Patent Document 3), an aqueous dispersion comprising an ionic group-containing EVOH species as a dispersion stabilizer and EVOH as a dispersoid (Patent Document 4), a method of producing EVOH dispersions which comprises concentrating the resinous material by centrifugation during the process for producing EVOH dispersions (Patent Document 5), and an aqueous dispersion of a specific EVOH copolymer modified with a peroxide, for instance (Patent Document 6).
However, such aqueous EVOH dispersions have problems; namely they are poor in long-term storage stability or insufficient in film-forming properties.
On the other hand, an aqueous EVOH dispersion has been proposed in which a base-neutralized ethylene/α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acid copolymer is used as a dispersion stabilizer (Patent Document 7).
The above aqueous EVOH dispersion is excellent in long-term storage stability even at a high solid matter concentration and the coatings obtained therefrom are excellent in gas barrier properties. However, when the above dispersion is subjected to low-temperature or short-time drying or applied to give thick coatings having a thickness of 10 μm or thicker, for instance, a number of cracks appear on the coat surface, sometimes leading to inferior gas barrier properties; improvements in film-forming properties are demanded.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Kokai Publication Sho-54-101844    Patent Document 2: Japanese Kokai Publication Sho-56-61430    Patent Document 3: Japanese Kokai Publication Hei-04-225008    Patent Document 4: Japanese Kokai Publication Hei-05-93009    Patent Document 5: Japanese Kokai Publication Hei-05-179001    Patent Document 6: Japanese Kokai Publication Hei-07-118471    Patent Document 7: WO 03/025058

Aqueous ethylene/vinyl alcohol copolymer dispersion


An apparatus include one or more DACs and a resistor divider are configured to generate a variable bias voltage VBIAS with respect to a CM voltage VCM. The CM voltage VCM is applied to a cathode of one or more thermopiles or a negative input of one or more amplifiers to prevent saturation and over range of one or more low voltage readout amplifiers and one or more ADCs.

A thermopile sensor is a two terminal composite device that is sensitive to thermal or infrared (IR) energy and is characterized by an anode (positive terminal) and a cathode (negative terminal) terminating multiple thermocouple devices in series. A thermopile sensor typically outputs a diminutive voltage, proportional to the energy of an impinging IR wave, at its anode with respect to the voltage present at the cathode. The thermopile sensor output voltage amplitude typically ranges from nanovolts to a few millivolts depending on the amount of absorbed IR energy, the optical filter (if any), the material the thermocouples are made of, and on how many thermocouples make up the pile.
Low noise, chopper stabilized amplifiers with high gains are often employed to amplify the tiny thermopile voltages before being digitized with an analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The ADC can also have a resolution where its least significant bit (LSB) value is lower than either the signal or the amplified voltage being measured. The readout circuit may select the amplifier gain and ADC resolution in such a way as to optimize power and bandwidth. Regardless of the ADC resolution, some form of buffering is usually required because thermopiles have non-zero output resistance, which can exceed 10 kOhm. High thermopile output resistance generally requires low pass filtering in the gain path up to the ADC in order to reduce the associated Johnson noise of the thermopile.
A problem emerges when one tries to resolve small signal dependent changes or differences in the thermopile output voltage(s) when the nominal or time averaged thermopile voltage already requires high gain to resolve. The small changes or differences in thermopile output voltage(s) between two instants in time due to variations in the detected IR may be orders of magnitude less than the nominal thermopile output voltage, and thus, difficult to visualize without digital signal processing (e.g. averaging, wavelet filtering, etc.).
However, digital signal processing requires more samples to be acquired, adds cost in terms of memory and computation hardware and thus increases the power dissipation of a readout. Thus, an increase in the analog resolution of the measurement by one or more orders of magnitude may reduce the power dissipation, processing time and cost in the overall readout circuit and associated signal processing.
A classic solution to the problem of resolving small analog difference signals is to either increase the gain in the path leading to the ADC and/or increase the resolution of the ADC. However, high gain increases the risk of saturating the outputs of the amplifier chain(s) and/or over-ranging the ADC(s) when some or all of these components reside on a low voltage readout integrated circuit (ROIC). For example, let's assume that the nominal output voltage of a thermopile exposed to a steady stream of equal amplitude IR packets is 1 mV. This would require a gain of 1,000 to amplify it to 1.0V. If a subsequent IR packet impinging on the thermopile generates, for example, a +1 uV output voltage deviation, the thermopile output signal increases by 1 uV to 1.001 mV, and with the same gain of 1,000 results in an amplified signal of 1.001V. If the ADC range/resolution is 2V/12-bits (for example), then the LSB is 488 uV and said +1 uV deviation would be ultimately resolved as a +2 LSB delta. This may not be large enough to discern from the system noise floor without substantial digital signal processing.
A large ADC output deviation count in response to any IR signal change is usually needed, for example, at least 10 LSBs in order for the signal change to be discerned from the noise floor. In the above example, to achieve the required 5X higher resolution for the 1 uV change, a gain of 5,000 would be needed but this would in turn require a single-ended amplifier to try to output a voltage of 5.005V. This would severely saturate the amplifier and ADC in any low voltage CMOS process node.
The problem is particularly acute when there are multiple thermopile "pixels" such as in a linear or rectangular thermopile array in an IR focal plane. The pixel analog output voltages can all be slightly different from one another depending on their position in the array, which is exposed to the IR radiation generating a plurality of tiny voltage differences. The voltage differences may be orders of magnitude less than the average value of the ensemble of the elements. This would influence the measured resolution of the image along or across the array, which would also affect the image quality of an IR focal plane array.
Higher ADC resolution also may be used to increase the sensitivity of the measurement but with higher cost and power dissipation due to the increased complexity of the ADC architecture.
Thus, a method to increase the sensitivity of a readout channel with a reduced risk of over-ranging or saturating the amplifier(s) or ADC(s) could reduce the cost, power dissipation and processing time of low-level analog signals.
Further, a method to increase the sensitivity of a readout channel without increasing the resolution of the digitizer could also reduce the cost, power dissipation and processing time of low-level analog signals.
In particular, a method to increase the sensitivity of a readout channel by applying a singular voltage adjustment to a plurality of thermopile amplifiers could also reduce the cost, power dissipation and processing time of low-level analog signals.
Further, a method to increase the sensitivity of a readout channel in a low voltage sub-micron CMOS process node could increase the number of thermopile sensors that could be discerned with increased resolution.

Thermopile bias method for low voltage infrared readout integrated circuits

United States of America as represented by the Administrator of NASA