The object of the present invention is to provide steering responsiveness and linear steering perception when the steering wheel is restored, even when there is excessive, sudden steering beyond a predetermined tolerance (−θE≦θ≦θE).

The present invention relates to a steering control device equipped with a turning mechanism including a turning actuator driving a turning shaft whose position can be controlled and a steering angle sensor detecting a steering angle θ of a steering wheel.
The present invention is useful in various types of automotive steering control devices such as "steer-by-wire" systems and "variable gear ratio" systems.
Widely known examples of standard, conventional steer-by-wire systems include the technologies in Japanese patent publication number 2001-334947 and Japanese patent publication number Hei 5-105100 below.
FIG. 24 is a control block diagram illustrating the control system of a steering control device 900, which is a conventional steer-by-wire system.
The steering mechanism of the steering control device 900 is formed primarily from a steering shaft separated from a turning shaft 8, a steering wheel 1, a torque sensor 3 (steering torque sensor), a reaction motor 4 (steering actuator), a reaction control section 5, and the like.
The reaction control section 5 and the position control section 10A can be formed as separate processing devices (control devices) or as two control programs executed by a single processing device (control device). Also, the motor driver circuits (not shown in the figure) driving the motors 4, 6 can be installed at their respective motors or can be installed at the processing device (control device). These aspects of the structure can generally be designed freely.
The reaction control section 5 determines an instruction current in for the reaction motor 4 based on a steering torque τ output by the torque sensor 3 and an instruction current In for the turning motor 6, which is determined by a predetermined feedback control (hereinafter referred to as a position control A) executed by the position control section 10A.
Also, the turning mechanism of the steering control device 900 is formed primarily from the position control section 10A, which executes the position control A described above, the steering angle sensor 2, the turning motor 6 (turning actuator), the position sensor 7 (turning displacement sensor), the turning shaft 8, the tires 9, and the like.
FIG. 25 is a control block diagram illustrating the control system of the position control section 10A of the conventional steering control device 900 described above. A turning instruction value calculating section 11A for executing the position control A determines an instruction value Xn for the turning displacement of the turning shaft so that the value is roughly proportional to the steering angle θ. A PID control section 12 uses widely known PID control operations to determine an instruction current In for the turning motor 6 based on the turning displacement instruction value Xn and a turning displacement measurement value Xa. With this position control A, the orientation of the tires 9 is controlled so that a desired orientation is achieved.
In the control system described above, a large steering operation that causes the turning displacement instruction value Xn to exceed an actual physical end position (+/−XE), the instruction current In will increase suddenly based on this excess. Since the action of the reaction control section 5 will lead to a sudden increase in the output torque (steering reaction) of the reaction motor 4 as well, there will naturally be a generated (simulated or emulated) virtual endpoint for the steering range even if there is no physical restriction (endpoint or abutment position) to the rotation range of the steering wheel 1.
In other words, in cases such as when there is no physical restriction (endpoint or abutment point) to the rotation range of the steering wheel 1, the conventional control system described above is useful in generating a virtual abutment counterforce (steering reaction) that prevents a steering angle θ from exceeding a threshold tolerance range (−θE≦θ≦θE).
However, in the conventional system described above, the virtual abutment counterforce (steering reaction) near the endpoints of a predetermined steering range is a force created by the increase of the instruction value Xn in tandem with θ while the turning displacement Xa is mechanically fixed at the end. When this counterforce is generated, the instruction current In for the turning motor 6 can become very high. Thus, if this state continues for an extended period, the turning motor 6 may overheat and malfunction.
Thus, the conventional system described above can lead to obstacles to providing a compact and light design for the turning actuator (turning motor 6). As a result, the use of this conventional system will be inefficient in terms of production costs for automobiles, the degree of freedom made available in automobile design, performance of automobiles, and the like.
FIG. 1 is a control block diagram illustrating a control system of a steering control device 100 that includes a heating prevention function and that was developed to overcome the overheating problem described above. In this steering control device 100, the position control system of the turning shaft 8 is somewhat different from that of the position control section 10A of the steering control device 900 described above.
A position control section 10B shown in FIG. 1 includes a turning instruction value calculating section 11B shown in FIG. 2 in place of the turning instruction value calculating section 11A shown in FIG. 25. The position control (position control B) of the turning shaft 8 is implemented by the actions of the turning instruction calculating section 11B and the PID control section 12. The other elements such as the PID control section 12 are the same as described above.
FIG. 2 is a graph illustrating the calculations performed by the turning instruction value calculating section 11B of the steering control device 100. In this graph, +/−XE represents the tolerance range for turning displacement and is set according to the actual limit points for turning shaft displacement. If, for example, upper and lower limits for the turning displacement instruction value Xn are guarded in this manner with a limiter or the like, excessive values for the instruction current In for the turning motor 6 would be prevented, thus eliminating the heating problem described above.
However, when this type of guarding procedure is implemented, the actions of the PID control section 12 and the counterforce control section 5 will also restrict the output torque (turning counterforce) of the reaction motor 4, thus preventing the virtual steering range endpoints from being generated (simulated or emulated) as in the steering control device 900 shown in FIG. 24.
Also, since no abutment counterforce (steering counterforce) will be generated as in the steering control device 900, the steering wheel will be able to easily enter the regions indicated by the shading in FIG. 2. Thus, when the steering angle θ enters this "play" region, linear steering feel and turning responsiveness are decreased.
The object of the present invention is to overcome the problems described above. When the steering angle θ exceeds a tolerance range (−θE≦θ≦θE), a localized gear ratio (∂Xn/∂θ) is prevented from being continuously 0 during the subsequent return steering. This maintains steering responsiveness during this return steering.
Means for overcoming the above problems will be described.
According to first means of the present invention: in a steering control device equipped with: a turning mechanism including a turning actuator driving a position-controllable turning shaft; and a steering angle sensor detecting a steering angle θ of a steering wheel, a steering control device includes: a turning displacement sensor detecting a turning displacement X (−XE≦X≦+XE) in the turning mechanism; and means for calculating a turning instruction value calculating an instruction value for a turning displacement in the turning mechanism based on the steering angle θ. The turning instruction value calculating means includes means for generating hysteresis characteristics calculating, in exceptional situations where an absolute value |θ| of the steering angle θ exceeds a predetermined threshold value θE corresponding to an upper limit XE of the turning displacement X, the instruction value Xn based on: a vertical axis coordinate corresponding to the steering angle θ on a predetermined hysteresis loop with one side being a section of a line Xn=+−XE on a θ−Xn plane; and a steering direction (steering direction/restoring direction) of the steering wheel.
The "line Xn=+/−XE" referred to above indicates either a line Xn=+XE or a line Xn=−XE. More specifically, when steering takes place to the left and steering exceeds the left-side endpoint, the former (line Xn=+XE) applies. When steering takes place to the right and steering exceeds the right-side endpoint, the latter (line Xn=−XE) applies. Also, the use of the "+−" expression below should be interpreted in this manner unless otherwise stated.
With the structure described above, if the steering angle θ suddenly enters a "play" region at the left or right end as shown in FIG. 2, a localized gear ratio (∂Xn/∂θ) can be changed according to the direction in which the steering wheel is turned (turning or restoring direction). FIG. 3 shows a graph illustrating an example of how this type of hysteresis loop is formed.
More specifically, when the driver turns the steering wheel in the restoring direction to come out of the "play" region, the gear ratio (∂Xn/∂θ) can be kept at a positive value even in the "play" region with the hysteresis loop described above.
Thus, with this structure, if the steering wheel is turned so that the tolerance range of the steering angle θ is exceeded (−θE≦θ≦θE), the localized gear ratio (∂Xn/∂θ) is prevented from being continuously 0 in the restorative steering that takes place immediately afterwards. As a result, steering responsiveness can be maintained during this restoring operation.
More specifically, with the present invention, a turning displacement that is roughly proportional to the steering amount can be immediately obtained when restoring the steering wheel, even if the steering status is within a "play" region shown in FIG. 2. Thus, even if the steering status is in this type of "play" region, safety based on linear steerability can be maintained.
Also, with the structure described above, a linear steering "feel" can be provided when the steering wheel is being restored, even if the steering angle θ suddenly enters a "play" region.
According to second means of the present invention, a steering mechanism including the steering wheel and the turning mechanism are mechanically separated, and an electrical coupling mechanism substitutes for a connecting mechanism connecting the steering mechanism and the turning mechanism.
More specifically, in a "steer-by-wire" system, the present invention provides extremely desirable advantages. In a steer-by-wire system that separates a steering mechanism including the steering wheel from the turning mechanism and that substitutes an electrical coupling mechanism for a connecting mechanism connecting the steering mechanism and the turning mechanism, the need to dynamically vary the gear ratio (∂X/∂θ) according to the automobile velocity or the like makes it necessary to also vary the effective steering range of the steering wheel (the steering angle range where the gear ratio is positive), i.e., the tolerance range (−θE≦θ≦θE) of the steering angle θ. As a result, "play" regions will necessarily be generated outside of the tolerance range of the steering angle θ at least when the gear ratio is large.
Also, with standard steer-by-wire system steering wheels, endpoints for the rotation range, i.e., "ends" of the steering range where steering operations is blocked, are often not physically installed due to these factors. As a result, the present invention provides major advantages in steering control devices that involve these factors.
Third means of the present invention is as described in first or second means and further includes means for setting an endpoint setting a target coordinate for an endpoint PO that closes the hysteresis loop.
When the endpoint PO of the hysteresis loop reaches the opposite side past the origin (the diagonal quadrant), a situation develops where when the steering angle θ becomes 0 on the hysteresis loop, the turning displacement instruction value Xn does not become 0. This means that the neutral point of the steering wheel is misaligned, and is an undesirable situation.
Also, as the hysteresis loop endpoint PO approaches the steering wheel rotation range endpoints (+/−θE), the effect of maintaining steering responsiveness gradually diminishes, as can be seen from FIG. 3. More specifically, as the endpoint PO approaches the entry point of the "play" region, the gear ratio (∂X/∂θ) when leaving the "play" region monotonically approaches 0, making it undesirable for the endpoint PO to be set up in the vicinity of the "play" region entry point. Also, the value of the gear ratio (∂X/∂θ) is closely associated with steering "feel", so it would be preferable to restore the relation between θ and Xn to a normal state as quickly as possible when high responsiveness is not required. In this sense, therefore, a smaller hysteresis loop is better.
As described above, for example, suitable or optimal coordinates for the endpoint PO need to meet many conditions, and there are not a few conflicting trade-offs associated with these coordinates. Thus, in order to provide good steering responsiveness and "feel", it is extremely important to empirically determine endpoint PO coordinates that rationally meet these various conditions simultaneously.
With endpoint setting means described above, these types of suitable or optimal endpoint PO coordinates can be set up in the steering control device. This greatly assists in providing good steering responsiveness and "feel".
Fourth means of the present invention is as described in third means wherein the endpoint setting means includes means for varying a target point dynamically varying the target coordinate for the endpoint PO based on a steering velocity ω (=dθ/dt), a steering torque τ, the steering angle θ, the steering direction, or an automobile velocity v.
When a steering wheel restore operation is taking place in order to leave the "play" area, it is preferable to have a high gear ratio (∂X/∂θ) in cases of sudden avoidance operations. Also, in normal conditions where special suddenness is not involved, it would be preferable to restore the relation between θ and Xn to the normal state as quickly as possible.
For example, the ideal coordinates of the endpoint PO on the θ−Xn change according to the steering status. Since the steering status can be dynamically estimated based on steering velocity ω (=dθ/dt), steering torque τ, steering angle θ, steering direction, or the automobile velocity v, target point varying means described above can allow the target coordinates of the endpoint PO to be dynamically optimized for different steering status conditions.
Fifth means of the present invention is as described in any one of first means through fourth means wherein, in the hysteresis loop, all points except an origin on a horizontal axis of the θ−Xn plane are outside the hysteresis loop.
As mentioned before, when the endpoint PO of the hysteresis loop passes the origin and reaches the opposite side (diagonal quadrant), the turning displacement instruction value Xn will not be 0 when the steering angle θ on the hysteresis loop is 0. This leads to the neutral point of the steering wheel being misaligned and is not desirable. This type of problem can be avoided, however, if the hysteresis loop is formed so that all points on the horizontal axis of the θ−Xn plane except for the origin are outside of the hysteresis loop.
However, if a dead zone (⊂ horizontal axis) near the origin, i.e., a non-responsive region where Xn=0, ∂Xn∂θ=0, is to be set up, the problem described above can be avoided by arranging the endpoint PO of the hysteresis loop at the endpoint (∈ horizontal axis) of the dead zone.
Sixth means of the present invention is as described in fifth means wherein, using a function f(θ) of the steering angle θ, symmetrical around the origin, and a correction gain G (0<G≦1), the hysteresis loop on the θ−Xn plane is a closed curve formed from the line Xn=+/−XE, a curve Xn=f(θ), and a curve Xn=Gf(θ).
The curve Xn=f(θ), however, can be formed as a line or from line segments. The same goes for curve Xn=Gf(θ). Also, the function f can be defined as an equation or can be implemented with a map (table data) and interpolation operations.
If the function y=f(θ) is a monotonically increasing function that is symmetrical around the origin and its domain is made adequately wide, the value of the correction gain G described above can be selected appropriately so that the hysteresis loop can be formed with the loop endpoint PO on the origin as described above. Also, the path, size, and the shape of the hysteresis loop can be selected continuously and freely using the correction gain G described above as a parameter.
More specifically, with the arrangement above, a small number of control parameters can be used to define or control the path, size, and shape of the hysteresis loop on the θ−Xn plane.
Seventh means of the present invention is as described in sixth means and further includes means for calculating correction gain calculating a value for the correction gain G based on the upper limit XE and the function f(θ).
For example, the equation of a line that overlaps with path (a) in FIG. 3 is assumed to be y=f(θ)=aθ. Then, by setting the turning point in the "play" region in FIG. 3, i.e., the horizontal axis coordinate of the starting point of path (c), to θR and the correction gain value to G=XE/|f(θR)|, the curve Xn=Gf(θ) described above becomes a line that connects the starting point of the turning point and the origin. In other words, in this case the endpoint PO of the hysteresis loop matches the origin.
More generally, the function y=f(θ) does not necessarily have to be a line. The only conditions that must be met are that it be a monotonically increasing function that is symmetrical around the origin and that its domain is adequately wide, as described above. Thus, correction gain calculating means described above is extremely useful in determining a turning point path for the most simple and basic hysteresis loop.
Eighth means of the present invention is as described above in sixth means or seventh means wherein the function f(θ) is a quadratic equation of the steering angle θ.
For example, if the function f is set up as a quadratic equation of θ, as in "y=f(θ)=a(|θ|+b)θ, a>0, b>0",then the gear ratio (∂X/∂θ) is relatively limited in the vicinity of the neutral point. This makes it possible to provide a relatively stable steering "feel" in the vicinity of the neutral point. The function f can, for example, be determined in this manner.
Ninth means of the present invention is as described in any one of sixth means through eighth means wherein the function f(θ) can be expressed as "f(θ, v)=θ∘g(θ, v)" where the function g(θ, v) is a function of automobile velocity v or the steering angle θ and has as a factor the steering angle θ.
Setting up the function f in this manner is convenient because it always passes the origin. Also, by making the function f dependent on the automobile velocity v and by setting up this dependency in an appropriate manner, it is possible to meet various demands, e.g., dynamically varying the gear ratio (∂X/∂θ) according to the automobile velocity.
Tenth means of the present invention is as described in any one of sixth means through ninth means further including means for asymptote normalization monotonically increasing the correction gain G(0<G≦1) in a dynamic manner based on a steering amount S, a steering status, a turning amount Z, or a turning status after initiation of restorative steering having as a starting point the line Xn=+/−XE.
With this type of arrangement, the size, the turning-point path, and the shape of the hysteresis loop on the θ−Xn plane can be dynamically and freely changed. Also, the position of the endpoint PO of the hysteresis loop can be dynamically and freely changed as well. However, if the value of the correction gain G is to be changed, it would be preferable in terms of generating a natural steering "feel" to change the correction gain G in a monotonic or continuous manner as much as possible.
For example, if, as mentioned previously, the equation of a line that overlaps with the path (a) in FIG. 3 is set to y=f(θ)=aθ, the horizontal coordinate of the turning point in the "play" region in FIG. 3, i.e., starting point of path (c), is set to θR, and the correction gain value is set to G=XE/|f(θR)|, the curve Xn=Gf(θ) becomes a line connecting the starting point of the restoring and the origin. Thus, in this case, the equation of the restoring path (c) is provided by the line Xn=Gf(θ), and the endpoint PO of the hysteresis loop matches the origin.
In this type of situation, monotonically increasing the correction gain value G=XE/|f(θR)| to gradually approach 1 as the point (θ, Xn) on the hysteresis loop moves along the restoring path (c) results in the restoring path (c) becoming a downwardly projecting curve and the endpoint PO shifting to the right of the origin as the correction gain G dynamically increases. If θ<0, the same applies except everything is converted to be symmetrical around the origin. For example, if the hysteresis loop is to be made small, the correction gain G can be made to approach 1 as the displacement along the restoring path (c) (or the steering amount S described above) increases. The more quickly the correction gain G converges to 1, the smaller the hysteresis loop will be.
Thus, for example, with this type of means, the path, size, and shape of the hysteresis loop on the θ−Xn plane can be dynamically and freely controlled with a small number of control parameters.
Eleventh means of the present invention is as described in tenth means wherein the asymptote normalizing means includes means for varying an asymptote rate using a steering velocity ω (=dθ/dt), a steering torque τ, the steering angle θ, the steering direction, or an automobile velocity v, in order to dynamically change an asymptote rate A (≡dG/dS) for the steering amount S of the correction gain G or an asymptote rate B (≡dG/dZ) for the turning amount Z of the correction gain G when the correction gain G (0<G≦1) is being monotonically increased in a dynamic manner.
As the observations above indicate, the hysteresis loop can be made smaller the larger the asymptotic rate A(≡dG/dS) is. Thus, by changing this value dynamically, the shape, the position, and the length of the restoring path (c) can be changed dynamically. Or, the position of the endpoint PO can be dynamically optimized. However, this requires caution since making the asymptotic rate A too big can result in a negative value for the gear ratio (∂X/∂θ).
These issues also apply when the rate of increase of the correction gain G is controlled using the asymptotic rate B(≡dG/dZ) instead of the asymptotic rate A(≡dG/dZ).
If, as a result of some operation, the gear ratio (∂X/∂θ) can become a negative value, it would be preferable to handle these situations by optimizing the length of the control interval or by performing smoothing operations or the like. Also, temporary (instantaneous) negative values in the gear ratio (∂X/∂θ) caused by fine vibrations in the automobile or the reaction motor or the like can sometimes be prevented using standard, widely known noise-handling techniques or the like.
Twelfth means is as described in any one of first means through eleventh means further including means for varying a steering angle threshold dynamically changing upper and lower limits of a predetermined tolerance range (−θE≦θ≦θE) of the steering angle θ based on an automobile velocity v.
The operations and advantages of the present invention according to this aspect will be described in detail in the section on the fourth embodiment below.
Thirteenth means is as described in any one of first means through twelfth means wherein the steering mechanism includes means for generating endpoint reactions generating, at a vicinity of an upper limit position θE of the steering angle θ and at a vicinity of a lower limit position −θE of the steering angle θ, a virtual abutment resistance restricting the steering angle θ from exceeding a predetermined tolerance range (−θR≦θ≦θE), based on the steering angle θ, the turning displacement X, or an instruction value Xn for the turning displacement X.
The operations and advantages of the present invention according to this aspect will be described in detail in the section on the fourth embodiment below.
With these aspects of the present invention, the problems described above can be effectively or rationally overcome.
The above, and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals designate the same elements.

Abstract: If a steering angle θ suddenly enters a “play” range at the left and right ends of the θ−Xn plane, the steering direction (turning direction/restoring direction) of the steering wheel can lead to a localized change in the gear ratio (∂Xn/∂θ). FIG. 3 is a graph showing an example of this type of hysteresis loop. When a driver tries to get out of the “play” range by turning the steering wheel in the restoring direction, a positive value can be achieved for the localized gear ratio based on the above hysteresis loop even in the “play” range. Thus, based on this arrangement, if the steering angle θ exceeds the tolerance range, the localized gear ratio can be prevented from being continuously 0 when the steering wheel is immediately turned in the restoring direction.


The present invention provides user equipment and a beam failure recovery method. The beam failure recovery method for user equipment (UE), includes: receiving indication of beam failure instance; accumulating the number of received indications so as to obtain an accumulative value; initiating a beam failure recovery procedure when the accumulative value is greater than a first threshold; and skipping processing the received indication of beam failure instance during the beam failure recovery period. Thus, it is possible to eliminate false beam failures.

In March 2016, at the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) RAN #71 Plenary Session, NTT DOCOMO proposed a new research project on 5G technology standards (see Non-Patent Document 1), and it was approved. The goal of the research project is to develop a New Radio (NR) access technology to meet all of the application scenarios, requirements, and deployment environments of 5G. NR mainly has three application scenarios: Enhanced Mobile Broadband Communication (eMBB), massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC), and Ultra Reliable and Low Latency Communication (URLLC). According to the planning of the research project, the standardization of NR is conducted in two stages: the first-stage standardization will be completed by the middle of 2018; the second-stage standardization will be completed by the end of 2019. The first-stage standard specifications need to be forward-compatible with the second-stage standard specifications, while the second-stage standard specifications need to be established on the basis of the first-stage standard specifications and to meet all requirements of 5G NR technical standards.
A big difference between 5G and 4G is that 5G supports bands higher than 6 GHz (up to 100 GHz). In these bands, the path loss of the wireless signal is very high, which greatly reduces the signal coverage. The solution to this problem is to utilize large-scale antenna arrays and beam forming (also known as beamforming). Beamforming is a signal processing technique that combines signals transmitted to individual antenna elements in an antenna array so that the signals strengthen each other in certain directions and cancel each other in certain directions, thereby concentrating all the energy of the electromagnetic radiation in a given direction (referred to as a "beam").
Beams operating at high frequencies are prone to signal blockage due to movement and rotation of user equipment (UE), obstacles, and so on. This is referred to as a beam failure in 5G systems. In order to recover from the beam failure, a base station can configure some reference signals, such as Channel State Information-Reference Signals (CSI-RSs), or Synchronization Signal/Physical Broadcast Channel (SS/PBCH) blocks for the UE in a connected state. Each reference signal resource can respectively adopt the same beam as adopted by one of the Control Resource Sets (CORESETs) which the UE is monitoring (the base station can configure one or a plurality of CORESETs for UEs used for monitoring the PDCCH channel, which is referred to as the "serving CORESETs," or operating CORESETs; and the beams used by these CORESETs may be referred to as "serving beams," or operating beams). The UE determines the link quality corresponding to the respective beam by measuring the reference signals. If the measured values (indicated by an error probability) of the reference signals used for beam failure measurement corresponding to all CORESETs that the UE is monitoring are greater than a threshold, then the UE considers that a "beam failure instance" has occurred. A Radio Resource Control (RRC) parameter is defined in the system: Beam-Failure-Instance-MaxCount; if the number of beam failure instances consecutively occurred (stored in the beam failure instance counter, and recorded as the Beam-Failure-Instance-Count herein) is greater than the Beam-Failure-Instance-MaxCount, it is considered that a beam failure has occurred. In this case, the UE may initiate a "beam failure recovery" process: selecting a good quality beam from the measured beams, and transmitting a "beam failure recovery request" to the base station through the uplink channel resource pre-associated with the beam. After receiving the request, the base station transmits a response with the corresponding downlink beam. The UE monitors a CORESET specially configured for beam failure recovery for this response, and if a response can be received, it is an indication that it has recovered from the beam failure.
In addition, the 5G system also defines a timer: beamFailureRecoveryTimer, which is used to monitor whether the "beam failure recovery process" is successful. The timer is initiated with the initiating of the beam failure recovery process. If the timer expires, it is an indication that the beam failure cannot be recovered within the set time, i.e., the "beam failure recovery process" fails; otherwise, if the "beam failure recovery process" has succeeded before the timer expires then the UE stops the timer.
The foregoing process involves interaction between a physical layer entity and a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer entity in a 5G system. For example, the physical layer entity performs measurement of a reference signal and indicates a "beam failure instance" to the MAC layer entity.
For example, in the above process, the processing of the "beam failure instance" received by the MAC layer entity of the UE can be described as follows using the language in the MAC protocol:
1> if a beam failure instance has been received from lower layers:2> increment Beam-Failure-Instance-Count by 1;2> if Beam-Failure-Instance-Count exceedsBeam-Failure-Instance-MaxCount:3> reset Beam-Failure-Instance-Count;3> start beamFailureRecoveryTimer;3> initiate a Random Access procedure.
The processing of the timer beamFailureRecoveryTimer expiration can be described as follows using the language in the MAC protocol:
1> if the beamFailureRecoveryTimer expires:2> indicate beam failure recovery failure to upper layers.
The processing of the UE MAC layer entity receiving the response to the "beam failure recovery request" can be described as follows using the language in the MAC protocol:
...1> if PDCCH transmission is addressed to the C-RNTI; and1> if the contention free Random Access Preamble for beam failurerecovery request was transmitted by the MAC entity:2> stop beamFailureRecoveryTimer;2> consider the Random Access procedure successfully completed.
A problem with the beam failure handling mechanisms in the prior art is that false beam failures are prone to occur. For example, even if the beam failure instance occurs intermittently (such as once in ten minutes), no beam failure occurs in this case, but the system in the prior art will still accumulate the beam failure instance counter (Beam-Failure-Instance-Count). When the counter exceeds the Beam-Failure-Instance-MaxCount, it is still considered that a beam failure has occurred. Therefore, a solution that can eliminate various false beam failures is needed.

User equipment and beam failure recovery method


A storage system includes a first storage controller including a plurality of main storage media and one or more processor cores, and a second storage controller including a plurality of main storage media and one or more processor cores and performing communication with the first storage controller. Storage areas of the main storage media in the first storage controller are allocated to an address map. In response to the occurrence of failures in one or mode main storage media of the main storage media of the first storage controller, the first storage controller performs restarting to reallocate the storage areas of the main storage media excluding one or more main storage media having caused the failures to an address map reduced than before the occurrence of the failures. The second storage controller continues operating during the restarting of the first storage controller.

The present disclosure relates to a storage system.
In a computer system like a storage system, processing is often performed in parallel to enhance calculation processing performance. In such a case, when a failure has occurred during the parallel processing, the corresponding processing is transferred to another computer, where it is capable of attempting to recover from the failure. There has been described in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2016-207121 (Patent Document 1), "an electronic apparatus and a reboot program are provided which are capable of appropriately restarting processing during work even if reboot processing is performed for failure restoration". In the case of this technique, when a failure occurs in a part of independent processing being executed in parallel, the corresponding processing is transferred to another computer, where the corresponding apparatus is restarted.
However, in terms of processing of a typical multicontroller storage system, a resource such as a main storage medium is shared with other controllers, and restarting the corresponding apparatus makes it harder to restore its processing. For that reason, it is generally necessary to bring the corresponding controller to a blocked state, or switch it to a preliminary system until a failure portion is physically exchanged.
There has been described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2016-189140 (Patent Document 2), "according to one aspect of the present invention, a management apparatus characterized by having a storage system configuration part of reconfiguring a storage system having redundancy by a storage device incorporating part of incorporating a preliminary storage device connected to the storage system through a communication line into the storage system where a failure causing disable access to any of a plurality of storage devices configuring the storage system has occurred, the storage device having caused no failure, and the incorporated preliminary storage device". In the case of this technique, the storage system is caused to have a preliminary storage controller in advance, and the storage controller is replaced therewith at the time of the failure occurrence.


A seal elements of hard material for use, for instance, as a pair of small plates which form the parts to control the fluid flow through a faucet. The seal is constructed of a hard material--a metal, a metallic oxide, a metallic carbide, a metallic nitride, a ceramic or glassy material--which is sintered from a semi-finished product obtained by mixing a powder of fine particle size of the aforementioned hard materials with an organic binder--a plastic material, a wax, or a combination of these substances. This mixture is formed under compression in a mold and, eventually, at least some of the binder is eliminated. The seal can emerge already finished from the sintering operation, or it can be subjected to some other treatment of its surface, that is, it can be lapped or it can be treated galvanically or it can be covered with a thin layer of a harder material--silicon carbide or another metallic carbide, a metallic nitride, or carbon with a cubic crystallographic lattice structure--applied by physical or chemical vapor deposition.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the seal elements of hard material of the type in which the seal is made through the precise finishing of the parts themselves. These seal elements are movably installed in direct mutual contact without the interposition of a pliable gasket. Some examples of seal members of this type can be found in the small plates of hard material of faucets, in industrial valves, in the injection pumps of diesel engines, etc. Above all, the following will refer to the case, which is particularly significant, of the small plates for faucets; however, this does not mean that there should be any limitations put on the range of applications of the invention.
II. Description of the Prior Art
The small plates of hard material, used in the regulation of the fluid flow in the faucets for hydraulic systems, are usually made with oxides or silicates of sintered aluminum and then lapped until reflective with a roughness of approximately 0.2 to 0.7 microns. Because of this very precise surfacing treatment, such small plates make up the parts which are suitable for the regulation and interception of the flow of water. Further, because of their hardness, which is o the order of 23,000 N/mm, they last a long time and are able to expel foreign material, even hard material such as granules of sand, which come in contact with them without causing damages. However, the usual processes of sinterization used for this purpose do not allow the small plates of hard material to take on complex forms, for example, having serrations, gear cuttings, comb-like conformations, sub-squarings, or considerable variations of thickness which, in certain cases, could be quite useful. In the past, when such complex configurations were required, one was forced to match a small metal plate of hard material, to which is delegated the function of interception, with an element formed from plastic which has the complex forms needed and which cooperates with the small metal plate of hard material in the intermediate conditions of closing. However, such assemblies, besides offering some assemblage complications, cannot reach the efficiency level that would be offered from a small plate of hard material which in itself has the desired configurations.
Analogous problems are present when similar plates are made of silicon carbide or of tungsten, or of similar materials. It has also been proposed to make the small plates for faucets with a material which is, at least, moderately hard, which, in this case, could be metallic, layered on its operative surface with a harder material--a metallic carbide, a metallic nitride, or carbon with a cubic crystallographic lattice structure--applied through physical or chemical vapor deposition. In this case, the metallic body of the small plate could be made, for example, in a technologically convenient way through shearing from a sheet of stainless steel. However, even in this case, serious limitations of feasible configurations are encountered. Although relatively complex forms can, in fact, be realized, counterbores or parts of varying thickness cannot be obtained.
Some analogous requirements to those facing the small plates of faucets can, in general, be applied to all other seal members made of hard material which are in direct mutual contact.

Seal element of hard material sintered from a semi-finished form with organic binder


An exemplary system includes a High-Definition Multimedia Interface (“HDMI”) analyzer and an HDMI router-switch having one or more input ports connected to one or more HDMI source devices and output ports connected to the HDMI analyzer and one or more HDMI sink devices. The HDMI router-switch is configured to establish and disestablish HDMI connections between the HDMI source devices and the HDMI analyzer and HDMI sink devices. The system further includes a control subsystem configured to control the HDMI analyzer, the HDMI router-switch, the HDMI source devices, and the HDMI sink devices, wherein the control subsystem is configured to direct one or more of the HDMI analyzer, the HDMI router-switch, the HDMI source devices, and the HDMI sink devices to perform one or more operations to execute one or more automated HDMI test routines. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed.

High-Definition Multimedia Interface ("HDMI") is an audio/video ("AV") interface commonly used to interconnect HDMI-equipped digital AV devices. Through HDMI interfaces, digital AV devices are able to transmit and receive uncompressed digital data. For example, a digital AV source device (e.g., a set-top box) can transmit digital data representative of media content to a digital AV sink device (e.g., a television) by way of an HDMI cable interconnecting the devices. Since the development of the original version of the HDMI specification known as "HDMI 1.0," a vast majority of major manufacturers of consumer electronic products has adopted the specification.
However, problems with interoperability between HDMI-certified devices have become prevalent. As an example, for a variety of possible reasons, when particular HDMI-certified devices are interconnected, certain HDMI-supported functionality of one or more of the devices may be inadvertently disabled. For instance, an HDMI-supported function of one HDMI-certified device may be disabled when the device is connected to another HDMI-certified device. As another example, certain HDMI-certified source devices may not output video and/or audio formats that are appropriate for certain HDMI-certified sink devices, and certain HDMI-certified sink devices may not respond appropriately to one or more video and/or audio formats provided by certain HDMI-certified source devices.
There are various reasons for the existence of these and other interoperability problems between HDMI-certified devices. One possible reason is the rapid development of the HDMI specification. Since the development of version 1.0 of the specification, several subsequent versions (i.e., versions 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4) have been developed and adopted within a relatively short period of time. Each version of the specification has been designed to increase the bandwidth and/or capabilities supported by HDMI connections. Consequently, HDMI devices certified to different versions of the specification may support different HDMI connection bandwidths and/or capabilities. Unfortunately, when HDMI devices certified in accordance with different versions of the specification are connected, one or more HDMI-supported features of one of the devices may be disabled when connected to another device that does not support the same feature(s).
In addition, interoperability problems exist even between HDMI devices that have been certified to the same version of the HDMI specification. This may be due to the tiered certification requirements of the HDMI specification in which certain HDMI features and/or functions are optional for certification under the HDMI specification. Accordingly, certification of devices to the same version of the HDMI specification does not guarantee that all HDMI-supported features and/or functions will be supported by the devices or available when the devices are interconnected. Moreover, while the HDMI specification specifies HDMI device capabilities required for certification, the HDMI specification does not require specific HDMI device behavior for certification.
Another possible reason for the problems with interoperability between HDMI-certified devices is that HDMI test equipment and/or methodologies have not kept pace with the evolution of the HDMI specification or the manufacture of a wide range of HDMI-certified devices. HDMI testing is difficult for a number of reasons, including, without limitation, the massive number of different makes and models of devices that are available for interconnection in an HDMI network (e.g., in a home theater system), the unique feature sets of the different versions of the HDMI specification, the tiered certification requirements that allow manufacturers of HDMI devices to meet only a subset of the entire specification, the plethora of media content (e.g., audio and video) formats that are available, and the historically sporadic or intermittent nature of HDMI interoperability problems.
To comprehensively test HDMI devices for interoperability problems using conventional HDMI testing equipment and/or methodologies would require an enormous physical footprint (to cover the massive number of different makes and models of equipment and possible configurations in which they can be interconnected), consume significant amounts of personnel resources (to perform manual testing operations), and be extremely costly. Therefore, there is a need for new and/or improved HDMI testing equipment and/or methodologies.

HDMI device and interoperability testing systems and methods


An identifier associated with one or more assets is obtained in response to a reader component reading a tag associated with one or more assets as the one or more assets traverse a conveyor apparatus. At least partially in response to the obtaining of the identifier, a storage unit of a plurality of storage units is caused to automatically rotate to a loading location to receive the one or more assets.

Before an asset (e.g., a package or parcel) reaches a final delivery destination, it typically goes through various sorting operations. For instance, after a package has been dropped off at a carrier store for a delivery request, it may be routed to a sorting facility where the package traverses various different conveyor belt assemblies in the sorting facility based on information associated with the package (e.g., size of package, destination address, weight, etc.). After traversal of the package through the sorting center, the package may be loaded into a logistics vehicle for delivery to the final delivery destination or delivery to the next sorting phase operation.
Typical asset loading system technologies in the sorting and other contexts include a conveyor belt assembly. These conveyor belt assemblies may include a belt that is generally formed and/or extends around at least two driving wheels such that by rotation of the driving wheels, the conveyor belt surface may move an asset in a linear fashion. This may allow the asset to be picked and placed in a tray or other shelving location in preparation for delivery. However, these conveyor belt assembly technologies, shelving location technologies, and other components of asset loading systems are static and include limited functionality, as described in more detail herein.


The present invention discloses a method for handoff from a PS domain to a CS domain, including: the MS obtaining a handoff number and initiating a CS domain session request by taking the handoff number as a called number; a network side associating the CS domain session request to an original session of the MS and notifying the MS to finish an air interface handoff; the MS notifying the network side to finish a network side handoff. The present invention also discloses a CS domain access network simulating entity, a PS domain access network and an MS thereof. By adopting the solution, it is not necessary to modify existing network cells in the CS domain network, and the routing process is simplified. It is not necessary for handoff control layer entities to simulate original services of the CS domain. There is no new requirement for functions of the MGCF entity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication network, and particularly to a method for handoff from a Packet Switching domain to a Circuit Switching domain and equipment thereof.
2. Background of the Invention
In case of a Circuit Switching (CS) domain network and a Packet Switching (PS) domain network coexisting, when a Mobile Station (MS) supporting both CS domain communication and PS domain communication moves from the border of the PS network to the border of the CS network, handoff from the PS domain to the CS domain should be performed to maintain the continuity of the service.
In the prior art, there are two methods for handoff from the PS domain to the CS domain, one is to add an A16 interface to a Base Station Controller (BSC) in the current CS network and implement the handoff through the A16 interface.
According to the other method, a handoff entity control layer in the PS domain simulate the original service in the CS domain, specifically, a call in the PS domain is switched to a call in the simulated CS domain at first, and then the call is switched from the handoff entity control layer in the PS domain to the CS domain according to the existing call handoff method of the CS domain.

Method for handoff from packet switching domain to circuit switching domain and equipment thereof


The image forming apparatus includes a storage section that stores firmware and a connection section that serves to connect the apparatus to a network. The apparatus receives through the connection section, an e-mail enclosing an attachment of the firmware data, and having a header portion containing an exclusive command indicating that firmware data used for updating the version of the firmware is attached and data indicating a transmitter. Then, the apparatus, when judged that the header portion includes the exclusive command, updates the version of the firmware stored in the storage section with the firmware data. Further, the apparatus forms an e-mail indicating the updating of the firmware has been successfully carried out or resulted in failure and then send it back to the transmitter of the e-mail via the connection section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more specifically, to an image forming apparatus that stores firmware designed to realize various kinds of functions, and a method of updating the version of the firmware of the apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, many companies have built an environment that is connectable to the Internet. Further, in many cases, they have built local area networks within their companies. Image forming apparatus, for example, multi-function peripherals (MFP) are used under such network environment, and therefore the apparatus with not only a copying function but also a network connection function are becoming more popular.
The control portion of the MFP realizes various kinds of MFP by executing a program stored in firmware (F/W). The F/W is updated day by day at its sales agency or the like. Thus, when an F/W version is updated at the agency, it is necessary to update the F/W of the MFP that have been already sold to a customer. For updating, a service person visits the customer's place where the sold MFP are installed and carry out the following procedure. The procedure includes, for example, the process of replacing the ROM that stores the F/W, the process of connecting a personal computer (PC) to the MFP and downloading the update F/W data from the PC to the MFP, and the process of using exclusive software stored in a terminal device and thus updating the data via a network.
Here, it is very laborious for a service person to actually visit a place where the MFP are installed to update the version of F/W when there are a great number of MFP to be updated.
On the other hand, when the version of the F/W is updated via the Internet, which uses an e-mail, there is a possibility in security that the data of the F/W file is altered by a third person or is not accurately transmitted. With such altered or incomplete F/W data, the updating of the version will not be successfully carried out. Further, if the F/W file is dishonestly obtained, the updating of the version can be conducted illegally by anybody.
Under the circumstances, there are needs for an image forming apparatus capable of updating the version of the firmware without requiring a service person to visit a site where the apparatus is installed, securing its reliability and preventing the illegal updating of the version.


The present invention provides a wind power generator comprising: a case; a first rotor having a first main axis in the form of a hollow shaft rotatably installed within a part of said case, a first main wing, coils or a permanent magnet installed on said first main axis; a first stator having a permanent magnet or coils installed on an inner wall of said case; a first auxiliary wing mounted to an end of a first inner axis which is rotatably installed within said first main axis; a second rotor having a second main axis in the form of a hollow shaft rotatably installed within the other part of said case, a second main wing, coils or a permanent magnet installed on said second main axis; a second stator having a permanent magnet or coils installed on the inner wall of said case; and a second auxiliary wing mounted to an end of a second inner axis which is rotatably installed within said second main axis, wherein said first main wing and said second main wing rotate in rotational directions opposite to those of said first auxiliary wing and said second auxiliary wing, respectively, and, wherein the rotational force of said first inner axis and the rotational force of said second inner axis may be transmitted to said second main axis and said first main axis, respectively.

Currently, as the price of oil, i.e. the price of fossil fuel raises and the environment pollution appears as an issue, people get interested in the wind power generator which generates electricity using wind power without causing any pollutant substance.
Conventionally, the wind power generator is configured in such a way that the wing is rotated by means of the wind power to thereby rotate a shaft; a permanent magnet serving as a rotor is mounted to the shaft; and coils serving as a stator are installed in the generator to correspond to the rotor.
This type of the wind power generator has its restriction in improving the generating efficiency, because the permanent magnet is rotated using the wind power so as to make the electricity to flow through the coil.
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.


A portable agitator is provided for fluidizing contents of a tank car that has settled during shipment. The agitator includes a column that can extend into a tank car through a manway, a wedging assembly for holding the column in place in the tank between the manway and the bottom wall of the tank, and a pivotable impeller platform appended to a distal end of the column. A pair of impellers are mounted on opposite ends of the impeller platform and are operable to stir and fluidize the contents of the tank car.

This invention relates to agitators and resuspension units for stirring settled solids and liquids contained in tanks to produce a fluid slurry that can be pumped easily to empty the tank. More particularly, this invention relates to a portable agitator that can be lowered into a tank through a manway and operated to mix solids accumulating in the bottom of the tank with liquids in the tank to produce a free-flowing characteristically uniform fluid slurry.
It is well known that many materials contained in a mobile tank car will settle to the bottom of the tank during shipment. It can be difficult to pump settled solids out of a tank car at the time the tank car is being emptied of its contents. In practice, a mobile tank car is filled with both solid and liquid waste products obtained from one or more waste generators and transported by highway, rail, or water to a waste consumer who will empty the waste products from the tank car and then burn the waste products as a supplemental fuel. For example, waste products can include paints, solvents, resins, adhesives, inks, organic materials, and the like. A cement kiln facility is a typical consumer of waste products in that it is economical for a cement kiln operator to purchase waste products from a transporter and burn those waste products in the kiln as a supplemental fuel.
One problem experienced by transporters of waste products derives from the partial solidification, agglomeration, sedimentation, and/or precipitation of the waste homogenates in the tank cars during shipment. Although the waste product may be a homogenate, i.e., a fluid mixture of particles distributed somewhat evenly in a liquid, at the time the waste product is poured into the tank car, in many cases, that waste product will have separated into various layers or phases of solids, sediments, liquids, semisolids, and agglomerated materials by the time the tank car has reached its destination. It has been observed that some tank cars have arrived at a cement kiln facility with a significant portion of their contents in the form of a non-flowable, non-pumpable gel accumulated in the bottom of the tank car. This settling problem interferes with the unloading of the waste products from the tank car and also results in high costs for tank car cleaning services. Further, because there are numerous consumers of waste products at widely diverse geographical locations, construction and use of a single centrally located tank-emptying facility, including a provision of a permanent trackside or dockside tank agitator, is uneconomical and impractical.
An agitator that is portable and sized to be inserted through a tank manway for fluidizing and resuspending settled solids and liquids contained in the tank would advantageously enable a waste product transporter to mix and agitate the entire contents of the tank at the delivery site prior to and during unloading. A portable agitator that can be mounted directly to a mobile tank car would be an improvement over conventional agitators. Moreover, a portable agitator could be moved easily to each place where tank cars are to be unloaded using only common equipment such as a light truck and a small crane or other lifting device.
The present invention is an improved portable agitator that is able to agitate and fluidize multi-phase materials in a tank so as to resuspend sediments and break down agglomerates and cause the entire contents of the tank to be mixed thoroughly. The improved agitator is sized to extend into an interior region of a tank through a manway tube mounted on the tank. The manway tube includes an axially inner end lying adjacent to the tank and an axially outer end extending away from the tank.
According to the present invention, the improved portable agitator includes a frame, means for mixing solid and liquid material contained in the interior region of the tank to produce a free-flowing slurry, and means for selectively wedging against the axially inner end of the manway tube to anchor the frame and position the mixing means in the interior region of the tank. The mixing means and the wedging means are mounted on the frame. The agitator is operable to facilitate unloading of multi-phase materials in tanks and is engageable with the manway tube to stabilize the frame and the mixing means inside the tank.
In preferred embodiments, the portable agitator is configured to be lowered through the manway tube into the interior region of the tank so that the mixing means and the wedging means are positioned wholly inside the interior region of the tank. The mixing means includes one or more rotating impellers for fluidizing the semisolid and solid materials contained in liquid stored in the tank. Advantageously, the portable agitator is operable to make it possible to unload tanks at faster rates and reduce variability of the character or chemistry of the material contained in the tank during the period of unloading such material from the tank.
Illustratively, the wedging means includes a locking arm and means for moving the locking arm relative to the frame against the axially inner end of the manway tube to press and stabilize the frame against the bottom wall of the tank. The locking arm moving means includes a sleeve mounted for vertical sliding movement on the frame. The locking arm is mounted on the sleeve to pivot between a vertical position nearly parallel to the central axis of the sleeve and a horizontal position perpendicular to the central axis of the sleeve. The locking arm includes an upper edge that is configured to seat against and mate with the bottom edge of the axially inner end of the manway tube to help anchor the frame and position the mixing means inside the tank.
The locking arm moving means also includes an upper hydraulic cylinder assembly or some other extensible member that is operable to raise and lower the sleeve on the frame and pivot the locking arm between its vertical and horizontal positions. This upper hydraulic cylinder assembly can be actuated by remote control to move the wedging means easily along the frame and inside the tank into and out of wedging engagement with the manway tube.
Also, in preferred embodiments, the mixing means includes two separate platforms pivotably connected to the frame and means for moving the platforms between projected positions extending in opposite directions along a line perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the frame and retracted positions aligned in side-by-side spaced-apart parallel relation along lines parallel to the longitudinal axis of the frame. Illustratively, the platform moving means includes a lower hydraulic cylinder assembly or some other extensible member. This lower hydraulic cylinder assembly is mounted on the frame and attached by means of a mechanical linkage to two pivot arms which are pivoted by the lower hydraulic cylinder assembly to move the two separate platforms relative to the frame between projected and retracted positions.
An impeller is mounted at the distal end of each platform and operable to agitate material in the tank after the platforms have been moved to their projected positions and the wedging means has been actuated to retain the agitator in a stable position inside the tank. Further, a locking rod and key system is provided to enable a user to lock the two separate platforms mechanically in their projected positions by locking the frame to a locking rod connected to the lower hydraulic cylinder assembly so as to add to the stability of the agitator in the tank during use.
The agitator can be adjusted by remote control to assume a collapsed position streamlined along the length of the frame to make it easy for a user to lower the agitator into the tank through the narrow manway tube. Initially, the upper hydraulic cylinder assembly is actuated to pivot the locking arm to its vertical position and move the sleeve toward the mixing means to a lowered position so as to facilitate insertion of the locking arm and an upper portion of the frame into the interior region of the tank through the manway tube. At about the same time, the two impeller-carrying platforms are moved by the pivot arms and the lower hydraulic cylinder assembly to their retracted positions to facilitate insertion of the mixing means and a lower portion of the frame into the tank through the manway tube. An external winch and cable can be used to lower the collapsed agitator into the tank through the manway tube.
Once the lower portion of the frame is inserted into the interior region of the tank, the impeller-carrying platforms can be pivoted by the pivot arms and the lower hydraulic cylinder assembly relative to the frame to their projected positions so that the impellers face away from one another in opposite directions. The upper frame is then lowered further into the tank so that a foot of the frame rests on a bottom wall of the tank.
Next, the wedging means is actuated to help stabilize the agitator in the tank. The hydraulic cylinder assembly is actuated to pivot the locking arm to its horizontal position and move the sleeve toward the manway tube to a raised position. In this position, the locking arm extends in a direction transverse to the manway tube and is wedged against the annular bottom edge of the axially inner end of the manway tube to urge the frame downwardly in the tank so that the foot of the frame snugly engages a portion of the bottom wall of the tank centered under the manway tube. This wedging action advantageously stabilizes the frame inside the tank to enhance operation of the mixing means.
Finally, a key is used to lock the locking rod to the frame to lock the impeller-carrying platforms in their projected positions. Illustratively, the locking rod extends inside the frame along a part of its length and includes an inner end connected to the lower hydraulic cylinder assembly and an upper end projecting out of the manway tube to be accessible to a user located outside of the tank and holding a key. The key extends through a first slot formed in the frame and a second slot formed in the locking rod to hold the locking rod and keep the impeller-carrying platforms in their projected positions.
An impeller drive unit including a drive motor is mounted on each platform and configured to rotate the impellers to fluidize semisolid and solid contents of the tank. This fluidizing action reduces the multi-phase materials in the tank to produce a free-flowing fluid slurry that can be pumped easily through a conventional eductor tube to empty the tank. Each impeller includes a rotatable hub having a plurality of hinged collapsible blades. By properly wedging, anchoring, and stabilizing the portable agitator inside the tank, impeller motors having enough capacity to rotate the impellers to produce ultra-high mixing thrust can be used on the agitator. This makes it possible to operate the agitator to produce a free-flowing fluid slurry in the tank.
Additional objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.

Portable agitator for fluidizing bottom solids in tanks


The semiconductor light-emitting device (11) of the present invention includes a substrate (1); a laminate semiconductor layer (15) comprised of an n-type semiconductor layer (3) formed on the substrate (1), a light-emitting layer (4) laminated on the n-type semiconductor layer (3) and a p-type semiconductor layer (5) laminated on the light-emitting layer (4); a concavo-convex part (33) for improving a light extraction efficiency, which is formed on all or a part of a top surface (15a) of the laminate semiconductor layer (15); a high-concentration p-type semiconductor layer (8) having a higher dopant concentration than that of the p-type semiconductor layer (5), which is laminated on a convex part (33a) that constitutes the concavo-convex part (33) of the laminate semiconductor layer (15); and a translucent current diffusion layer (20) laminated on at least the high-concentration p-type semiconductor layer (8).

In recent years, GaN-based compound semiconductor materials, that is a nitride-based semiconductor, have become of interest as a semiconductor material for a light-emitting device that emits light of short wavelength. The GaN-based compound semiconductor is formed on a substrate of a sapphire single crystal, various oxides or a Group III-V compound through a metal-organic chemical vapor deposition method (MOCVD method), a molecular-beam epitaxy method (MBE method) or the like.
A GaN-based compound semiconductor material has a characteristic such as less diffusion of a current in a transverse direction. Therefore, the current is injected only into a semiconductor directly under an electrode, and light emitted in a light-emitting layer is not extracted to the outside because of being blocked off by the electrode. Therefore, in such a light-emitting device, a translucent positive electrode is usually used and light is extracted through the translucent positive electrode.
A conventional translucent positive electrode has a layer structure in which oxide of Ni, Co or the like is used in combination with a contact metal such as Au. There has recently been employed, as a positive electrode, a layer structure having translucency enhanced by thinning a film thickness of the contact metal as small as possible using an oxide having higher conductivity such as ITO, and thus light from a light-emitting layer can be efficiently extracted to the outside.
External quantum efficiency is used as an indicator for improving an output of such a light-emitting device. It can be said that a light-emitting device with high external quantum efficiency has a high output.
The external quantum efficiency is represented as a product obtained by multiplying internal quantum efficiency by light extraction efficiency.
The internal quantum efficiency is the percentage of energy that is converted into light among energy of a current injected into a device. On the other hand, the light extraction efficiency is the percentage of light that can be extracted to the outside among light generated in the inside of a semiconductor crystal.
It is considered that above-mentioned internal quantum efficiency of the light-emitting device is improved up to about 70 to 80% by an improvement of a crystal state and investigation of a structure, and a sufficient effect is obtained in the amount of injection current.
However, in not only a GaN-based compound semiconductor but also a light emitting diode (LED), light extraction efficiency to the injection current is generally low and it is difficult to say that internal emission to injection current is sufficiently extracted to the outside.
The reason why the light extraction efficiency is low is that reflection and absorption are repeated in a crystal and light cannot be extracted to the outside since a light-emitting layer in a GaN-based compound semiconductor has a very high refractive index of about 2.5 as compared air having a refractive index of 1 and a critical angle is small as about 25°.
In order to improve the light extraction efficiency of a light-emitting device, there have been proposed those in which light extraction efficiency is improved by roughening a light extraction surface and providing various angles on the light extraction surface.
For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a gallium nitride-based compound semiconductor light-emitting device in which a surface of a top layer of a gallium nitride-based compound semiconductor is converted into a nonspecular surface through etching or the like.
Patent Literature 2 discloses a nitride semiconductor light-emitting device in which concavo-convex is formed on a surface of ITO.
However, in the light-emitting devices described in Patent Literatures 1 or 2, there was a problem that a driving voltage extremely increases due to etching damage when surface (light extraction surface) or the like of a top layer of the semiconductor is roughened through etching.
Patent Literature 3 discloses a light-emitting device in which a surface of a p-type GaN layer is processed into a concavo-convex surface through etching and, furthermore, metal such as Mg is added in a high concentration on the entire surface of the concavo-convex surface.
In Patent Literature 3, for example, the p-type GaN layer is etched using, as a mask, a resist layer having a stripe shape formed by pattern processing using a known photolithography method or the like to form a roughened surface made of a concavo-convex surface, and then an Mg layer is laminated on the concavo-convex surface and also the Mg layer is annealed, thereby diffusing Mg and further adding Mg to a surface side of the p-type GaN layer.
However, regarding the light-emitting device disclosed in Patent Literature 3, Mg is added to the entire surface of the p-type GaN layer. Therefore, in case a voltage is applied to a transparent electrode on the p-type GaN layer through a bonding pad, a current is not diffused on the entire surface of the transparent electrode and the current is concentrated on a semiconductor layer directly under the bonding pad, and thus luminous efficiency of the light-emitting device could not sometimes be improved.

Semiconductor light-emitting device with a concavo-convex part formed on a P-type semiconductor layer and method for manufacturing semiconductor light-emitting device


An orthodontic bracket having mesial and distal sections is debonded from a tooth by pivoting the sections toward each other in respective arcs about a central reference axis extending in an occlusal-gingival direction. The mesial and distal sections are discrete and spaced apart from each other, or alternatively integrally joined by a relatively thin web that bends and optionally fractures upon debonding. A metallic archwire slot liner interconnects the mesial and distal sections and enhances sliding mechanics of the bracket. A pliers-like debonding tool includes jaws with stops for limiting the lingual depth of engagement of the laws with the mesial and distal sides of the bracket, to facilitate pivoting of the mesial and distal sections during debonding.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for removing a ceramic orthodontic bracket from a tooth.
2. Description of the Related Art
Orthodontic treatment involves movement of the teeth toward positions for correct occlusion. During treatment, tiny orthodontic appliances known as brackets are connected to the teeth, and an archwire is placed in a slot of each bracket. The archwire forms a track to guide movement of the teeth to orthodontically correct positions.
Orthodontic brackets are typically made of metal, ceramic or plastic. Metal brackets are widely used and are considered by many orthodontists to have mechanical properties that are satisfactory for moving the teeth to desired positions. Unfortunately, metal brackets are not aesthetic in the mouth and often lead to comments of a "metallic mouth appearance" that can be an embarrassment to the patient.
Orthodontic brackets that are made of a plastic material are generally considered more aesthetic than metal brackets. However, some plastic brackets are stained by certain food and beverages and turn an unsightly color after a period of time. Moreover, the plastic material may slowly creep in use such that the archwire slot widens and precise control of tooth movement is hindered.
Orthodontic brackets that are made of transparent or translucent ceramic materials overcome many of the problems associated with plastic brackets, since ceramic material is resistant to staining and does not deform by creep as in the case with plastic brackets. U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,080, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, describes a color-free ceramic bracket made of polycrystalline material with a translucency that permits the natural color of the tooth to diffusely show through the bracket. An improved translucent polycrystalline ceramic bracket having a metallic archwire slot liner to enhance sliding movement of the bracket on the archwire is described in pending U.S. application Ser. Nos. 08/061,215 and 08/061,164, both of which were filed on May 13, 1993.
In the past, orthodontic brackets were commonly secured to bands that were placed around the teeth. Today, orthodontic brackets are often bonded directly to the surface of the teeth. Once treatment has been completed, the archwire is removed from the slot of the brackets and each bracket is then removed from the associated tooth.
Metal brackets are typically debonded by using a peeling or prying motion. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,986,265 and 4,248,587 describe plier-type hand instruments that are used with a prying action to remove orthodontic brackets. U.S. Pat. No. 4,553,932, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, describes an peeling-type debonding tool having a pull wire with a loop for hooking a wing of the bracket and applying a pulling force to a tiewing located on one side of the bracket while a pair of spaced apart abutments engage the tooth on opposite sides of the bracket.
Peeling-type debonding methods are usually considered satisfactory for detaching brackets made of ductile materials such as metal. Debonding of such brackets often begins by fracturing the adhesive bond along one side of the bracket base, and then peeling or bending the base of the bracket so that the fracture propagates to remaining regions of the adhesive bond. In this manner, the debonding force is applied only to a relatively small, generally linear area at any particular point in time.
However, ceramic orthodontic brackets are relatively hard and brittle, and do not bend or flex like metal brackets during debonding. As a result, debonding occurs by fracturing the adhesive bond in all areas at essentially the same time, rather than in a propagating type of fracture as occurs when metal brackets are debonded by a peeling-type motion. Pulling on the tiewings of a ceramic bracket is not normally recommended because the ceramic material is brittle and the tiewings may break from remaining portions of the bracket.
Damage to the tooth structure may result during a debonding operation when excessive stress is applied to the tooth during attempts to lift or pry the bracket from the tooth. Tooth damage is more likely to occur when the tooth structure is weakened or has been previously damaged; however, such weakened or previously damaged tooth structure often cannot be noted by visual observation. Consequently, it is desirable that brackets are removed from the teeth with as little force as possible to minimize the risk of damage to the tooth.
It has been proposed in the past to weaken the strength of the bond between a ceramic bracket and the tooth so that debonding of the bracket is facilitated. However, such a solution is not entirely satisfactory because of the resulting increased likelihood that the bracket may unintentionally, prematurely debond during treatment. For example, a relatively weak adhesive may not have sufficient strength to resist debonding the bracket when the bracket is subjected to relatively large forces, as when the patient bites into a relatively hard food object. In other instances, a bracket may debond from forces exerted by the archwire or orthodontic auxiliaries or attachments coupled to the bracket. Premature debonding of orthodontic brackets represents a nuisance to both the orthodontist and the patient that is best avoided, since the detached bracket is normally re-bonded or replaced with a new bracket to finish treatment.
There is a need in the art for a ceramic bracket that provides the aesthetic advantages of ceramic material and functions similar to a metal bracket insofar as sliding mechanics are concerned, and yet is relatively easy to debond from the tooth surface. There is also a need in the art for a new method of debonding ceramic orthodontic brackets, and a hand instrument that facilitates debonding of such brackets.

Method and apparatus for debonding ceramic orthodontic brackets

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company


In a disk drive suspension including a baseplate, a load beam, and a flexure, the suspension comprises a recess formed in one surface of the load beam relative to the thickness thereof, a damping material contained in the recess, and a lid portion superposed on the damping material so as to cover at least a part of the recess. The lid portion is formed of a part of a flexure. The flexure is an example of a suspension constituent member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk drive suspension with a damping material and a manufacturing method therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
A disk drive suspension is used in a hard disk drive (HDD) for recording and reproducing data to and from a rotating disk.
The disk drive suspension comprises a load beam, flexure, etc. The load beam is fixed to a carriage through a baseplate. The flexure is superposed on the load beam. A slider is mounted on a tongue portion formed on the flexure. A reading or writing element (transducer) is disposed on the slider. In some cases, a springy hinge member may be provided between the baseplate and load beam.
A damper, such as the one disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 9-91909, is used to improve the resonance and other dynamic properties of the suspension. The damper has a laminated structure consisting of a viscoelastic body and a constraint plate of a metal or the like. The damper is affixed to a flat surface, e.g., the central part of the suspension.
In affixing the damper to, for example, the load beam, the viscoelastic body of the damper is pressed against a surface of the load beam. Thereupon, the damper is fixed to the load beam by the adhesion of the viscoelastic body. Since the load beam is a very thin member, however, it may sometimes be deformed by a force with which the damper is affixed to it.
The static properties and the resonance and other dynamic properties of the suspension change if the load beam is deformed. Consequently, the static and dynamic properties of the manufactured suspension vary inevitably.
Since the damper is affixed to the load beam relative to its thickness, moreover, the thickness of the damper is added to that of the load beam. Therefore, the thickness of the entire suspension is increased, and in addition, the weight of the suspension is inevitably increased by the mass of the damper. Further, high positioning accuracy is required in order to affix the damper in a predetermined position on the suspension. Thus, affixing the damper to the suspension requires use of a special affixing machine that ensures high positioning accuracy.

Disk drive suspension having a recess in a load beam or baseplate to contain damping material, and a lid portion for the recess formed by a plate-like constituent member of the suspension


Provided herein is a non-uniform multi-stage distributed circuit capable of operation with an improved gain-bandwidth product. The circuit can include an input port, an output port and a transmission line coupled therebetween. Two or more amplifier stages can be coupled successively to the transmission line. Each amplifier stage can include a transistor having a transistor parameter, which can be scaled to be less than the transistor parameter of any preceding amplifier stage. The inductance of each portion of the transmission line between adjacent stages can also be scaled to be less than the inductance of the portion of the transmission line between any preceding amplifier stages. The inductance can be scaled in addition to or instead of the transistor parameter.

In accordance with the ever-increasing growth in wireless and wire-line communication markets, it is desirable that integrated circuits, such as analog and RF front-ends, operate with wider bandwidths in higher frequency ranges, such as the multi-Gigahertz range. One circuit architecture capable of performing at such a level is the distributed amplifier circuit architecture. A distributed amplifier typically trades delay with bandwidth in order to achieve a much higher bandwidth than a lumped architecture. There have been tremendous efforts to use and implement distributed architectures in various technologies within the communications and other markets.
Distributed amplifiers generally employ a topology in which inductors or transmission lines (T-lines) separate two or more uniform amplifier stages, yet the output currents from each individual stage can combine in an additive fashion. Viewed from another perspective, the parasitic capacitances of the various amplifier stages are absorbed into the actual (or artificial) transmission lines resulting in a higher bandwidth. However, despite the additive nature of the gain, the distributed architecture still produces a relatively low overall gain and gain-bandwidth product.
One of primary sources of performance degradation in distributed amplifiers is the non-zero inductive loss and non-zero output resistance of the amplifier stages, which can decrease both the overall gain and bandwidth. The inductive loss typically increases with frequency due to the skin effect phenomenon. As a consequence, the bandwidth of the distributed amplifiers is generally dependent on the amount of loss in the transmission lines.
Thus, improved systems and circuits are needed capable of operating in higher frequency ranges with improved gain-bandwidth products.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Non-uniform distributed multi-stage circuits


A semiconductor device capable of reducing power consumption. In the semiconductor device having a plurality of data transmitter-receiver circuits using clock signals on frequencies prescribed in the unified standard as transmit/receive clock signals, an oscillator circuit and a clock generator circuit are provided for each data transmitter-receiver circuit and a supply of clock signals to the data transmitter-receiver circuits can be stopped by shutting off the power supply to the oscillator circuits and the clock generator circuits inside the plurality of data transmitter-receiver circuits individually with respect to each data transmitter-receiver circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a circuitry and a clock control method preferable for a semiconductor device having serial transmission/reception means (USB control circuit) for downloading or uploading data at a certain transmit-receive frequency from a personal computer (PC) such as a digital audio and an interface (IF) circuit for performing serial transmission/reception of data, which has been processed in a digital signal processing circuit (DSP circuit) performing a data decompression process or the like, at a certain transmit-receive frequency.
2. Related Background Art
In recent years, demand for digital audio players or other portable devices as peripherals is bulging. This type of peripheral serves as a micro controller unit (MCU) to be a main control unit, a flash memory controller for writing or reading audio data stored in an external memory, a DSP circuit for decoding or decrypting the data read from the external memory, an interface circuit (SAI circuit: Serial audio interface) outputting the data processed in the DSP circuit as audio signals to an ADC/DAC system, and a USB controller connected to a PC for downloading or uploading data to an external memory such as a flash memory.
This type of peripheral performs reproduction of music data, copyright protection, downloading, and displaying. The DSP circuit performs data decoding, data outputting, and an equalizer/volume control in the reproduction of music data.
The peripheral is portable and therefore driven by a battery. Accordingly, the peripheral facilities need be contained in a single chip to reduce a battery drain so as to hold down the power consumption.
The multifunction and the high-speed operating frequency of the DSP circuit mentioned above, however, are indispensable for achieving a high performance of a digital audio player. Accordingly, an increase in a gate size due to the provision of the multifunction and an increase in speed of the operating frequency boost consumed current.
A clock generator circuit for audio clock signals for outputting the data decoded in the DSP circuit to the DAC system outside the chip has frequencies determined exclusively for the clock generator circuit so as to adapt to MPEG1, LAYER3, MPEG2, LAYER3, and MPEG2.5. Since the USB circuit performs 12-MHz serial communication, its internal control circuit requires 48-MHz fixed clock signals. Therefore, at least two clock systems are required and it leads to an increase in current consumed by a PLL or an oscillator circuit (OSC).
Therefore, further reduction of power consumption is required as the whole peripheral device (the entire digital audio player). Particularly during music data reproduction with the DSP circuit, a battery drain is drastic since the DSP circuit operates at an extremely high frequency. Therefore, there has been a demand for a semiconductor device improved in the power consumption.

Semiconductor device to reduce power individually to each circuit


A method and an apparatus for diagnosis of a flowmeter are disclosed. The method includes thermally coupling a first sensor unit of the flowmeter to a fluid and thermally coupling a second sensor unit of the flowmeter to the fluid. The method also includes actively heating or cooling the first sensor unit by applying power to the first sensor unit such that its temperature is different from the temperature of the fluid, and simultaneously actively heating or cooling the second sensor unit by applying power to the second sensor unit such that its temperature is different from the temperature of the fluid, and typically from the temperature of the first sensor. The method can include determining a temperature TM0 of the fluid, and determining at least two independent quantities related to the heat transfer of the sensor units, each of the at least two independent heat transfer related quantities being determined from at least one element selected from the group including TM0, TM1, TM2, PM1, and PM2, and determining a diagnosis result by setting into relation the at least two independent heat transfer related quantities.

Flowmeters can be used in a plurality of industrial fields such as chemical, petrochemical, oil, gas, energy, paper, water, sewage, food and beverage, and pharmaceutical industries. Flowmeters can be used for determining the flow rate of fluids, e.g., in pipes.
High measurement accuracy is a desired property of flowmeters. A particular type of flowmeter measures the flow rate, such as the mass flow rate, with the help of two temperature sensors. In such a flowmeter, the first temperature sensor can measure the fluid temperature T0 and the second temperature sensor can be heated to a higher temperature T2. The second temperature sensor can be cooled by forced convection which depends on the velocity of the fluid passing the sensor. The heating power needed to maintain the higher temperature T2 can reveal a measure of the flow rate.
However, the measurement and hence the accuracy with which the flow rate is determined may be negatively influenced by mechanisms that influence the heat transfer, e.g. by forced convection, of the heated second temperature sensor to the fluid in an uncontrolled manner. One such mechanism can include a changing of the heat transfer due to a coating on the heated sensor. A coating may, for example, build up during operation in dusty, humid, oily, or sooty environments. Coatings can have a lower heat conductivity as compared to the materials of which the sensors are made. Hence, a reduced heating power may be needed to maintain the higher temperature for a coated sensor. The measured flow rate may then be wrong, for example too low, as compared to the actual flow rate.
It is thus desirable to detect sources of failure of the sensors. It has been proposed to switch the roles of the heated sensor and the unheated sensor for diagnosis, as the coating may be different for sensors operated at different temperatures. However, such a switching can be slow, especially because one sensor would need to cool down to the temperature T0 of the fluid. During the cooling that occurs during the switching, it may be impossible to measure the flow rate, creating what is known as a dead time for the flowmeter. Further, the diagnosis may be unreliable if the flow conditions have changed during the dead time.
Improved methods for diagnosis of sensors in flowmeters and for flowmeters configured for such diagnosis of at least one of its sensors are desired. For example, methods and flowmeters are desired where dead times are avoided and reliable diagnosis is conducted at low costs.

Flowmeters and methods for diagnosis of sensor units


According to one embodiment, a magnetic disk device includes a disk including a recording region including a servo sector, a head configured to write data to the disk and read data from the disk, and a controller configured to acquire a plurality of correction data for a repeatable runout of the recording region, the correction data respectively corresponding to a plurality of measurement positions set based on a first linearity error acquired by reading the servo sector, and to correct a position of the head based on the correction data.

In magnetic disk devices, a technology of suppressing an error caused by repeatable runout (RRO) (hereinafter the error is simply referred to as RRO) to correct a position of a head has been developed. For example, there is a method of measuring the RRO at a plurality of different positions in a radial direction of a disk and correcting the position of the head based on data obtained by interpolating the RRO among a plurality of measured data. In the method of correcting the position of the head, it is necessary to appropriately set the position to measure the RRO.

Magnetic disk device and head position correction method

Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation