The present invention is to a method and apparatus for changing the flighting (20) within a mixing drum (12). A plurality of radially spaced apart doors or paddles (30) are connected to one of the two adjacent supports (60). Each door or paddle (30) is pivotally connected (35,34) to the interior (13) of the drum (12) and can be either open or closed depending on which fixed support (60) the door/paddle is connected to.

1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to regulating the flow of material within rotary equipment, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for controlling the amount of material picked up and veiled while drying aggregate materials, such as asphalt, within a dryer drum.
2. Background of the Invention
Asphalt is typically produced by heat drying virgin asphalt aggregate and by adding to it and mixing with it liquid asphalt cement, fillers and other additives, often including recycled asphalt pavement. Often times, asphalt is also made by drying virgin asphalt aggregate and moving it to a batch plant tower for batch mixing with the asphalt and other additives.
Asphalt manufacturing machines producing paving compositions are well-known. Generally, such machines include an area or chamber for heating and drying the aggregate and a area or chamber for mixing the heated and dried aggregate together with other materials, such as asphalt cement, liquid asphalt, fines, etc. There are generally two types of mechanisms for making aggregate dryers, that being parallel flow and counterflow. In a parallel flow dryer, cold, wet material is introduced into the cylindrical dryer near the combustion zone. The material to be dried is continuously fed into the upstream end of the dryer where the burner is located. By contrast, the burner of a counterflow dryer is located at the downstream or discharge end of the dryer. The cold, wet material enters the dryer on the upstream end and moisture is gradually driven off and the aggregate temperature is raised as the material progresses downstream in the dryer. A drying drum, dryer or cylinder is where particles are moved generally from the front to the back while being heated by a centrally located burner to dry. Within the drum, fixed flights are attached to the interior cylinder wall to stir the mixture. These flights are the internal xe2x80x9cpaddlesxe2x80x9d secured to the dryer""s wall used to deflect and direct the mixture/aggregate as the aggregate moves and travels through the dryer. Flights also enhance the mixing of the mixture and prevent the mixture from sticking to the interior wall or around the wall. These flights pick up the mixture at the bottom of the rotating drum and drop the mixture as the drum rotates. The amount and specific locations of the dropped mixture will depend on the material being dried, the speed of the rotation and the profiles of the flights. Often times the pattern of the flowing and cascading mixture within the drum caused by the flights is referred to as the veil or the veil profile because the mixture takes on a certain profile throughout the drum. Generally, the veiling aggregate is more dense on the uphill side of the rotating drum than the downhill side of the drum.
As the aggregate is tumbled and dried in the dryer, dust is naturally created and carried by the hot gases of combustion. Emission regulations prohibit the discharge of such gases with dust to the atmosphere. In addition, depending on the speed of rotation and the temperature of the dryer, the dust created may represent a portion of the fine aggregate material needed in the particular mix. As a result, dust collection or recovery systems, such as baghouses and cyclone separators, are used for the removal of the dust before further processing of the gases and exhaustion to the atmosphere. The dust and gas conveyed to a baghouse or other similar air or gas filtration means are separated; the dust is separated collected for later use while the gases are vented to the atmosphere.
The interior of such a dryer can reach 300xc2x0 F.-500xc2x0 F. Typically, in a counterflow system, the air temperature in the drum is around 400xc2x0 F. with the temperature in this region of the burner reaching up to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. To reach the maximum rated capacity of an asphalt plant, the exhaust temperature exiting the stack of the baghouse should be in the range of between 220xc2x0 F. and 250xc2x0 F. at about 70xc2x0 F. ambient temperature. Over time, it has been observed that the stream of gasses will loose about 10xc2x0 F. to 30xc2x0 F. from the time it exits the dryer and passes through the duct work and baghouse. By controlling the temperature in the baghouse stack, one can control the efficiency of the dryer. In short, it has been found that one way to control efficiency of the aggregate dryer, or mixer drum, is to control the stack temperature of the baghouse.
Compounding the above observations, it has been noted that if the exhaust stream entering the baghouse exceeds 250xc2x0 F., energy is being wasted. If the temperature exceeds 350xc2x0 F., the nomax bags used for filtering the air can be damaged and loose their filtering ability. Replacing the bags is expensive.
Further, aggravating the above, unfortunately, mixer drums or aggregate dryers are not run at the same levels all of the time. They are operated in a wide range of production rates. If, for example, an operator reduces a production level to fifty percent (50%), the exhaust temperature generally will fall below 200xc2x0 F. This creates a dangerous condition because if the exhaust temperature drops below 180xc2x0 F., moisture can accumulate in the baghouse. Moisture combined with dust form mud which can blind the bag, effectively shutting down the baghouse.
One way to control the baghouse stack""s temperature is to adjust the aggregate being picked up and veiled; in short, controlling the veil. This is accomplished by manipulating the flights to change the drum""s profile. Thus, if one can control the flights as one adjusts the production level, one is theoretically capable of controlling the baghouse stack""s temperature and the system""s efficiency.
Over the years there have been many attempts to design variable flights. One of the most common approaches today is to have one or more people enter the dryer and physically remove some of the flights from the interior of the dryer when the production level is to be decreased. If the production level is to be increased, the flights removed are physically reattached and put back into place. This approach has many down sides. First, it is labor intensive and time consuming. Second, it is very imprecise.
In another approach, the internal flights are set or established at 75% rated capacity of the system. This approximation permits one to theoretically operate within a 50%-100% production level. However, this is not true. As the system approaches 100% capacity, the exhaust temperature will rise substantially and the efficiency of the dryer will be reduce accordingly. In the same vein, attempts have been made to remove some of the flights within the dryer to accommodate lower production levels. However, again, as production rates increase, the exhaust temperature rises substantially, diminishing system efficiency. At times, the exhaust temperatures to the baghouse become so great, that the baghouse controls shut off the burner fuel valve and hence the burner in the dryer. This is because baghouses are equipped with sensors to monitor the temperature of the exhaust gas stream and to shut off fuel to the burner when the temperature exceeds about 350xc2x0 F. A way around this is to physically add flights as production increases, a laborious task.
Other teachings learned over time include the fact that combustion flights should not carry aggregate a substantial distance up the interior side wall of a drum as the drum rotates and then allow the aggregate to fall vertically down the interior face of the combustion flighting. This is because the deflection of dust and aggregate particles can enter the combustion zone, impinging on the combustion process. The flights must also be able to withstand intense heat (2,400xc2x0 F. to 3,200xc2x0 F.) for extended periods of time without warping, distorting, or simply burning up; thus preventing the aggregate from falling between the flights and contaminating the combustion zone.
Others have tried methods and means for modifying flights. Such attempts are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,083,382 to Brashears; 5,515,620 to Butler; 3,641,683 to Preeman; 6,132,560 to Gerstenkorn; 6,110,430 to Swisher et al.; 5,558,432 to Swisher; 4,940,224 to Musil; 4,307,520 to Lutz; 4,136,966 to Mendenhall; 3,780,447 to Fales; 3,717,937 to Thompson; 3,098,797 to Graff et al.; and 1,009,225 to Cummer. The patent to Brashears discloses a rotary drum dryer including a plurality of circumferentially spaced flights. A radially inwardly directed dam is interposed between each flight section and serves as a pivotal mount for the flights. The angular position of the flights is changeable before operating the drum by locating bolts on the flights in selected detented positions in arcuate tracks. The patent to Butler discloses a method and apparatus for operating a rotatable drying drum. The drum includes identical drying flights, each having a generally U-shaped body with two differently shaped edges. By reorienting the flights within the drying zone by securing them in one of a plurality of orientations before operating the drum, the veiling patterns of the aggregate across the drum may be altered. And, the patent to Preeman discloses an asphalt plant dryer having placed circumferentially to the inner wall pivotally mounted lifter plates adjacent its inlet end. The invention includes adjustable straight lifter plates to minimize the obstruction to the flow of the hot gaseous fluid.
Each of these patents relates to variable flights, requiring an operator to make the correct adjustments to a wide variety of operating conditions. Similarly, the concept of removing flights or totally reorienting them appears quite time consuming and impractical.
As a result, there is a need for a practical method and mechanism for regulating and controlling the pick-up and veiling of materials within a dryer that is neither all consuming nor guesstimating.
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for regulating the quantity of aggregates picked up and veiled by the flights in an aggregate dryer. It allows a plant operator to make modifications and orientations to the doors acting as flights in a minimum amount of time. By doing this, the temperature in the air stream exiting the baghouse stack is controlled and the efficiency of the system is maintained and preserved. This, in turn, saves on the fuel consumed by the system.
The development is a flight incorporating hinged doors or plates that are easily opened or closed (approximately 20 minutes). The internal configuration of the dryer can be easily changed. Each flight has a support, door, hinge and fasteners. The door is attached to the hinge and is attached to its home support or adjacent support. In particular, the door is normally attached to its xe2x80x9chomexe2x80x9d supportxe2x80x94xe2x80x9cthe open position.xe2x80x9d Optionally, the door can be attached to the xe2x80x9cadjacentxe2x80x9d supportxe2x80x94xe2x80x9cthe closed position.xe2x80x9d The positions can be changed by merely removing/loosening the connection between the door and one support adjacent the door on one side and rotating the door to the other support adjacent the door on the other side.
This opening and closing of select doors changes the drums"" profile and controls the quantity of aggregates carried up the sidewall of the drum and veiled over the cross section of the dryer shell resulting in a change in the flow patterns of the materials in the drum.
In particular, a system for controlling the veil of mixable substance is disclosed for a rotating mixing chamber with an interior surface. A plurality of radially spaced apart plates, each having a first end pivotally connected to the interior surface and a second, distal end. Each plate is optionally rotatable about the first end between an open position and a closed position. A support is disposed between each plate for selectively mating with a single plate on either one side of the support or the other side of the support. The support is connected at a first end to the interior surface and does not move. Thus, the plate is connected to one adjacent support when the plate is in the open position and the plate is connected to the other adjacent support when the plate is in the closed position. Means, such as bolts, are used to connecting the plate to either the one adjacent support or the other adjacent support.
Each plate has at least two sections, a first section adjacent the first end and the pivotal connection and a second section at a distal end thereof. Each section is substantially planar and the two sections are angularly related to one another via an obtuse angle (about 167xc2x0). When a plate is in the open position, it is connected to the closest adjacent support with the connection being made with the first section of the plate. When the plate is in the closed position, it is connected to furthest adjacent support (on the other side of the plate from the closest adjacent support) with the connection being made with the second section of the plate. The plate has a plurality of spaced apart apertures therein and the supports have a plurality of openings therein and when the plate is connected to a support, an aperture in the plate is aligned with an opening in the support, a fastener cooperating with both the aperture and the opening.
A method is further disclosed for modifying the pick-up and veiling of a mixture in a rotating drum having an interior surface. This process includes attaching a plurality of flight assemblies to the interior of the drum with each flight assembly including a plate rotatably attached to the interior surface of the drum and the plate having a first end pivotally connected to the interior surface and a movable second, distal end. The plate is rotatable about the first end between an open position and a closed position. A first support, spaced apart from one side of the plate and fixedly connected at a first end to the interior surface of the drum, is made to contact and connect with the plate when the plate is in the open position. A second support, spaced apart from the opposite side of the plate and fixedly connected at a first end to the interior surface, is made to contact and connect with the plate when the plate is in the closed position. An operator needs only to selectively fix each flight assembly to an open position or a closed position by connecting each plate to either the first support on the one side of the plate or the second support on the other side of the plate. Selectively fixing each flight assembly to an open position or a closed position is accomplished by connecting a plate in the open position by connecting the plate to the first support with the connection being made with the first section of the plate or by connecting a plate in the closed position by connecting the plate to the second support with the connection being made with the second section of the plate.
These and other aspects of the present invention set forth in the appended claims may be realized in accordance with the following disclosure with particular reference to the accompanying drawings.

Apparatus and method for controlling the flow of material within rotary equipment


Provided is a photoelectric conversion element including a photoconductor containing a complex of a conductive polymer and/or polymer semiconductor and a protein containing at least one dye having a long-lived excited state.

The present disclosure relates to a photoelectric conversion element containing a protein, a production method for the photoelectric conversion element, a solid-state image sensor, a production method for the solid-state image sensor, an electronic apparatus, a photoconductor, a production method for the photoconductor and a multilayer transparent photoelectric conversion element.
Most known light-receiving elements function as photodiodes and the photodiodes containing the same operate, as a reverse bias voltage is applied thereto.
Proposed as a photoelectric conversion element containing a protein was a photoelectric conversion element containing a protein-immobilized electrode having a zinc-substituted equine cardiac muscle cytochrome c (in which the central metal iron of the prosthetic group hem of equine cardiac muscle cytochrome c is substituted with zinc) immobilized on a gold electrode (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-220445, hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1). It was shown that photocurrent can be obtained by using the protein-immobilized electrode.

Photoelectric conversion element, production method for a photoelectric conversion element, solid-state image sensor, production method for a solid-state image sensor, electronic apparatus, photoconductor, production method for a photoconductor and multilayer transparent photoelectric conversion element


A method and serial detector for demodulating a phase-modulated signal are presented. In particular, a carrier phase estimator applies a phase estimate to an output of a matched serial filter. The filter output is matched to the first Laurent pulse of the received signal, and the phase estimate corrects for a phase bias introduced by using the first Laurent pulse. The method and detector are particularly valuable in Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying (GMSK) modulated systems and where then product of the bandwidth B and the bit rate Tb is less than about 0.3, and where a training sequence in a header of a burst system has a length L0 less than about 5000. Three estimates of phase offset are given, each taking the inner product of x and the conjugate transpose of either a or p; wherein x is a vector of data samples, a is a vector of pseudo symbols, and p is a vector of the data and ISI portions of the samples.

Many wireless communication systems transfer information by modulating the information onto a carrier signal such as a sine wave to more efficiently use the available bandwidth for multiple or intensive communications. The carrier signal is modulated by varying one or more parameters such as amplitude, frequency, and phase. Phase shift keying (PSK) is frequently used, and includes shifting the phase of the carrier according to the content of the information being transmitted. There are several techniques known to modulate a transmission phase including binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), and Guassian minimum shift keying (GMSK). The power spectral density of both BPSK and QPSK is fairly broad, and these techniques have been found inadequate for certain applications due to interference between closely packed adjacent channels. A signal transmitted with phase shift keying must be demodulated at the receive end of a communication system by estimating the phase shift or offset. Data demodulation is directly dependent upon the accuracy of that estimate of the phase shift.
GMSK is a form of continuous phase modulation, and therefore achieves smooth phase modulation that requires less bandwidth than other techniques. Under GMSK, input bits defining a rectangular waveform (+1, −1) are converted to Gaussian (bell shaped) pulses by a Gaussian smoothing filter. The Gaussian pulse typically is allowed to last longer than its corresponding rectangular pulse, resulting in pulse overlap known as intersymbol interference (ISI). The extent of ISI is determined by the product of the bandwidth (B) of the Gaussian filter and the data-bit duration (Tb) or bit rate; the smaller the product, the greater the pulse overlap. Applications using GMSK have been used where the product BTb is generally 0.3 or greater. Applications with lower BTb (e.g., ⅕, ⅙, and less) tend to include higher levels of ISI that generally degrade performance to unacceptable levels. This is true because prior art demodulators introduce a phase error (the difference between the actual phase offset in the transmitted signal and the estimate of the phase offset in the received signal) that increases with decreasing BTb.
In a burst transmission system, an estimate of the phase offset is typically included within a header or training sequence of the message stream. Theoretically, where the length L0 of the training sequence approaches infinity, the estimate of the phase offset exactly replicates the actual phase offset and phase error approaches zero. In more pragmatic applications, the use of finite length training sequences results in a discrepancy between the estimate of the phase offset and the actual phase offset. The maximum allowable size of this discrepancy depends upon the demands of a particular communications system. The required training sequence length increases as the maximum allowable discrepancy decreases and as BTb decreases. Because the training sequence header is present in each transmission burst, shorter training sequences are desirable to ensure that that the available bandwidth is used for substantive data rather than inordinately long training sequences.
Phase error in prior art systems arises during demodulation. While a GMSK waveform defines a constant envelope that is simple to generate and transmit using efficient amplifiers, it is a fairly complex function to demodulate at the receiving end of a communication system.
Pierre Laurent first demonstrated that a GMSK waveform could be represented by amplitude modulated pulses h0(t), h1(t), h2(t), . . . , and a corresponding coherent detector could be designed. This representation is known as the Laurent decomposition, and it allowed bit error rates (BER) associated with GMSK communications to match those of other PSK techniques. Prior art has demonstrated that detectors based on only the first two amplitude pulses, h0(t) and h1(t), or only the first amplitude pulse h0(t), provide adequate performance for most applications.
Many GMSK systems calculate the phase estimate as the angle resulting from the inner product of two vectors, one representing pseudo symbols (which are related to channel symbols and the modulation index) and the other representing the filter output (which is matched to the first Laurent pulse). The above approach yields only an approximation since the last L filter outputs, x(L0−1−L), x(L0−L), . . . , x(L0−1), are integrated over less than a full symbol, because the first Laurent pulse spans (L+1)Tb seconds. This is the bias in demodulating a GMSK signal that has previously limited GMSK systems to about BTb>0.3 and high L0. At those system parameters, the above bias in the Laurent decomposition can be ignored without adverse effect on demodulation at the receive end of the communication. At lower BTb using shorter L0, the bias becomes more significant and cannot be ignored; the bias signal drives the phase estimate further from the true phase modulation, causing the BER to rise.


A heat dissipation case is used to dissipate heat of electronic equipment and contains: a body. The body includes a receiving chamber for receiving electronic equipment and a dissipation groove defined thereon and corresponding to the receiving chamber, wherein the metal plate and the dissipating piece are stacked in the dissipation groove, and electronic equipment is received in the receiving chamber and contacts with the dissipating piece so as to dissipates heat of the electronic equipment. The metal plate has a peripheral side retained in the body. The peripheral side of the metal plate extends into the metal plate completely, and an area of the metal plate is larger than that of the dissipating piece.

A conventional protective case is applied to prevent mobile phones and tablet PCs from scratch, so it contacts with outer surfaces of the mobile phones and the tablet PCs. However, such a contacting way will stop heat of the mobile phones and the tablet PCs being dissipated. To solve this problem, the protective case is removed from the mobile phones and the tablet PCs, thus losing the protective case easily.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages.


Logically separating users into isolation groups is described. An example computer-implemented method can include identifying a first group of users of an online system that allows users to interact with one another on the online system. The method may also include grouping the first group of users into a first isolation group. The method may also include identifying a second group of users of the online system separate from the first group of users within the online system. The method may also include grouping the second group of users into a second isolation group. The first isolation group and the second isolation group may include logical boundaries that restrict interaction within the online system between users in the first isolation group and users in the second isolation group. Additionally, the first isolation group and the second isolation group may be hosted on the same server.

The present disclosure relates generally to managing users in an application client. Online systems may allow users to interact with each other. Members of the online systems may use the applications offered by the online systems for many years or even decades. Some online systems separate their users into different groups based on server location. Thus, users located in the United States may be hosted on a server in the United States, and users located in Asia may be hosted on a server in Asia. Generally, users hosted on one server cannot interact with users hosted by a different server. This type of separation may be referred to as sharding. Sharding is a type of partitioning of data that separates large data sets into smaller and more easily manageable parts called shards. Shards may also be referred to as "zones," "realms," or "servers" (because often a single server supports a single shard). In many online systems, including online multiplayer games, online shopping platforms, and social media networks, users are sharded into different zones. Often, each zone is created as a separate instance of the application and is hosted by a separate server. Consequently, users in separate zones generally cannot interact with one another.

Managing groups of users in an application client


According to certain embodiments, a method by a first network node operating as a Radio Access Network (RAN) node for dynamic scheduling prioritization for live uplink streaming includes receiving at least one priority level. Based on the at least one priority level, an expected quality level is determined. The expected quality level is defined as a Quality of Service (QoS) of a QoS flow being scheduled with a service quality above a minimum quality level and below a maximum quality level. A current service quality for a plurality of QoS flows is determined. Based on the combined current service quality and the expected quality level, a scheduling priority for assigning resources to a plurality of QoS flows is determined.

3GPP SA4 has started to create a Framework for Live Uplink Streaming. The framework is documented in TS 26.238. The framework allows usage of IMS based media and also non-IMS based media streams for uplink. The enabler allows for configurable delay constraints. The objective of the work also includes Quality of Service for Uplink video streaming. However, it is not clear, how the 3GPP QoS parameters (i.e. GBR, MBR, QCI, 5QI, ARP, etc.) should be set.
There are many different scenarios, where Live Uplink Video can be used today. Not all scenarios have real-time communication like delay requirements, since not always an immediate feedback loop (closed loop) is involved. When the delay constraints are (a bit) relaxed, then either the bitrate or the video quality or both can be optimized.
A number of different scenarios where identified during the work on Live Uplink Video Streaming. The initial use case (which motivated the work item) was "Live video capturing from self-flying drones for TV distribution": Here, an event organizer would fly the drones (follow-me drones, following e.g. a downhill skier) in order to create additional live video footages for the TV broadcast.
Additional use-cases from User-Generated Content (consumer segment), surveillance/CCTV (future rail-ways, public safety, industry automatization, etc.) and media production were identified.
In several use-cases, a single business partner may interact with a single mobile operator for live uplink video services. In these cases, the business partner may also desire to experience a more sustainable and predictable QoS performance from the mobile network link.
For Live Uplink Streaming, e.g. for professional media production vertical, the 3GPP QoS system needs to strive to fulfil throughput requirements of the video flows beyond the guaranteed bit rate. The 3GPP Quality of Service (QoS) system also needs to be very flexible. Professional Media Production vertical requires fairly high media bitrates in order to achieve a decent video quality in downlink. Often, uncompressed or lightly compressed video is carried at speeds of several Gigabit per second.
The Professional Media Production vertical (for example) requires fairly high media bitrates in order to achieve a decent video quality in downlink. In professional media production, uncompressed or lightly compressed video is carried often at speeds of several Gigabit per second (cf. SDI bitrates). This is of course often not feasible for mobile video production, in particular when mobility and wide-area coverage are important features (i.e. when deploying a dedicated LTE cells inside of a media production facility, it could make sense to send uncompressed or lightly compressed frames.
For mobile production, the speed of production and the speed of setting up a live feed (i.e. speed and simplification of production) and the freedom of high mobility is likely more important than high video quality at ultra-low latency and high bit rates. Compressed video streams can be used at expense of latency (compression efficiency increases when relaxing latency constrains). Still, the video quality should be high.
FIG. 1 illustrates the desired video quality properties (and the resulting bitrates), as an example. The expectation is that the system delivers a certain target quality. Preferably, that target quality is always or as often as possible delivered and the target bit rate should be sustained by the system for a certain time duration. A higher quality than the target quality is not needed. Depending on the video codec configuration such as, codec Profile, codec level and other encoder features, the video quality is associated with a bit rate of the compressed stream.
When the system cannot offer the desired target bitrate, a lower bitrate is then acceptable for the video application. The video application layer (e.g. IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)/Multimedia Telephony Service (MTSI), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or others) supports adaptive bitrate adaptation. For example, the video application layer may increase or decrease the quality to match whatever link bitrate is available.
A certain large bitrate range leads to an acceptable quality. In the example depicted in FIG. 1, a resulting video bitrate of approximately Mbps corresponds to the target video quality, which falls within the "as expected" area. Just below that is corresponds to an "ok" quality. The resulting quality is not perfect, but still good enough to use. The lower end of the bitrate range is the "better than nothing" area, where the video quality contains very obvious quality artifacts.
When the system cannot even offer the lowest quality (here, 800 kbps), the media producer will terminate the video stream due to unusable quality. The video source may then stop sending the video stream since the server is discarding the content.
The actual quality thresholds depend on the use-cases. The lowest unusable quality threshold is certainly lower for breaking news scenarios than for regular reports. Further, when the camera is mobile, such as when it is mounted on a car or a downhill racing skier, the acceptable quality is certainly different than for fixed mounted cameras.
The ability to deliver data packets over a 5G network with differentiated priority is achieved via the 5G QoS framework described in 3GPP 23.501 and leverage on the association of QoS parameters to the data delivered to and by the Access Network. In the context of the techniques described herein, three QoS parameters are relevant:                The 5G QoS Identifier (5QI), a scalar that is used as a reference to 5G QoS characteristics i.e. the packet forwarding treatment that a QoS Flow receives edge-to-edge across the 5G network including the "Priority level" indicating a priority in scheduling resources among QoS Flows.        The Guaranteed Flow Bit Rate (GFBR) denoting the bit rate that may be expected to be provided by a QoS Flow.        The Maximum Flow Bit Rate (MFBR) limiting the bit rate that may be expected to be provided by a Guaranteed Bit rate (GBR) QoS Flow (e.g. excess traffic may get discarded by a rate shaping function).Similar parameters are defined for Evolved Packet System (EPS) such as, for example, QoS Class Identifier (QCI), GBR and Maximum Bit Rate (MBR), in 3GPP 23.401.
FIG. 2 illustrates the Dedicated Bearer Activation Procedure in 3GPP 23.401. More specifically, FIG. 2 illustrates how in EPS the requested differentiation to be provided through the QoS parameters of a bearer are signaled. Though EPS procedures for establishing an EPS bearer are shown, equivalent procedures are standardized for 5GS.
FIG. 3 illustrates UE or network requested PDU Session Modification in 3GPP 23.502. Specifically, FIG. 3 illustrates how in 5GS the requested differentiation to be provided through the QoS parameters of a QoS flow are signaled.
There currently exist certain challenge(s). For example, today, 3GPP specifies the priority level associated to the QoS Class Identifier (5QI/QCI) to be used to differentiate between traffic within a UE and across different UEs up to the GFBR/GBR value. For example, 3GPP 23.501 states that "[o]nce all QoS requirements are fulfilled for the GBR QoS Flows, spare resources can be used for any remaining traffic in an implementation specific manner." However, 3GPP 23.501 does not define a behavior for a scheduling priority to achieve a "target quality bitrate" larger than GFBR/GBR, but less than MFBR/MBR. Rather, the specification only focus on a general resource distribution not related to the useful target bitrate. Moreover, in many implementations, the 5QI/QCI priority level is ignored, when the bitrate is larger GFBR/GBR, leading to a best effort behavior for bit rates larger than the GBR. FIG. 4 illustrates today's priority levels, which go best effort when above GBR.
A video service is conceived to typically operate far beyond GFBR/GBR and very close to MFBR/MBR. If the GFBR/GBR of 3GPP flow/bearer aimed to carry the video traffic is set to the barely acceptable quality level, the scheduling priority will only prioritize the data up to the GFBR/GBR and not really be beneficial to provide bitrates close to the expected service quality. In this case, as the behavior for traffic between GFBR/GBR and MFBR/MBR is equal to best-effort MBB, then it is probably equivalent to skip QoS and just use the Best Effort MBB flow/bearer (which is likely also cheaper) for the video traffic.
If on the other hand the GFBR/GBR value of the of 3GPP flow/bearer aimed to carry the video traffic is set to the expected quality level, the scheduling priority would lead to the scheduler to prioritize the video traffic up to the expected quality level at the cost of more radio resource consumption and reducing the room for the rate adaptation capabilities of the video traffic. While it is clearly desirable to use the expected quality, the needed quality/cost trade-off is less optimal in this case, since the cost to guarantee the expected quality at all times can easily become too high.
Additionally, there is an increased risk, that the system is rejecting/dropping the QoS bearer. Specifically, with regard to the usage of the 3GPP QoS framework, the system admission control is going to reject/pre-empt a QoS bearer based on the GBR value. In order to get a QoS bearer accepted, the GBR value should be selected as the lowest acceptable bitrate. With increasing GBR value, also the risk is increasing that the system admission control is rejecting/pre-empty QoS bearers based on the GBR value. Note, handovers to other cells/other access networks may retrigger the admission control process.
The MBR is limiting the bitrate of the QoS bearer. In some implementations, the system is dropping traffic when the service bitrate is above MBR. Thus, due to bustiness of video traffic and when a bitrate adaptation principle is available, the MBR should be much larger than the GBR.
The (video) application layer will to tear-down the delivery of the data, when the bitrate (and the resulting quality) falls below the lower threshold, which is indicated as GBR in the figure below. The preferred service operation point (called target bitrate, TBR) is much higher than the GBR and likely close to the MBR. The FLUS source may adapt the media bitrate to the current estimated link bitrate.
In summary, the existing 5GS and EPS QoS frameworks focus on fulfilling the GFBR/GBR and make use of the MFBR/MBR only to limit the bit rate offered by the network and protect the network, failing to provide a useful differentiation of data traffic up to the expected quality bit rate.

Dynamic prioritization for live streaming


Intrusion detection apparatus for detecting the intrusion within a predetermined area utilizes two detectors, a microwave detector and an infrared detector for providing an ouptut signal indicative of intrusion when both detectors detect an intrusion. The system is controlled by a key pad having a predetermined code for both enabling and disabling the system. Different types of outputs may be provided, depending on the desires of the users of the apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to intrusion detection apparatus and, more particularly, to intrusion detector apparatus utilizing two detectors and appropriate arming and disarming elements and intrusion detector alarms.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,772,875 (Maddox et al) discloses a portable intrusion detector system utilizing two types of sensors. One sensor monitors a first condition, and a second sensor monitors a second condition. Both sensors must detect an intrusion before an intrusion status is transmitted.
U.S. Pat. No .4,833,450 (Buccola and Kolb) discloses an intrusion detection system utilizing a microwave system and a passive infrared subsystem. Both systems must produce an output signal indicative of an intrusion in order for the system to produce an alarm. The system also includes its own monitoring system for detecting faulty equipment or elements.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,710,750 (Johnson) discloses another dual sensor type of intrusion detection system. A passive infrared sensor is combined with a microwave sensor. A counter system is utilized by the apparatus. The counts of the two separate systems or detectors are compared for purposes of determining a fault in one of the two sensor systems. An intrusion must be detected by both systems in order for an alarm to be sounded.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,024 (McMaster) discloses a dual detection system, with both systems having to detect an intrusion before an alarm is provided. In addition, the apparatus includes malfunction or fault detecting apparatus. If a fault is detected in one of the systems, an alarm indicative of such is transmitted.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,625,199 (Pantus) discloses another type of dual system intrusion detection apparatus being ultrasonic and microwave detection subsystems. Both subsystems must detect an intrusion in order for an appropriate alarm to be transmitted.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,611,297 (Sansky) discloses a multiple sensor status monitoring system for monitoring the status of an area and for monitoring the sensing apparatus to detect and identify faulty sensors. An alarm system is transmitted or generated only if two sensors give a positive response to an intrusion within a predetermined time period. The apparatus includes latching elements to keep track of the spurious responses of the sensors, and to provide a visual display of the kept record.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,401,976 (Stadelmayr) discloses a multiple sensor system disposed at different locations and responsive to different physical phenomenon coupled together to provide an output when a majority of the sensors respond to a detected intrusion. Infrared sensors, microwave sensors, and ultrasonic sensors may each be utilized. That is, different types of sensors are utilized in the overall system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,195,296 (Williams) discloses an intrusion detection system utilizing microwaves and the Doppler principle for detecting an intrusion.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,801,978 (Gershberg and Lee) discloses a dual detection system for detecting an intrusion utilizing an ultrasonic detector and a microwave detector, both of which must detect an intrusion in order for an alarm to sound.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,725,888 (Solomon) discloses a detector system utilizing a microwave detector and an optical detector. Again, both detectors must provide an output signal in order for an alarm signal to be produced.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,074,054 (Pearson) discloses a detection or intrusion system in which two different types of detectors are also used and an output signal from each of the systems is required in order to provide an intrusion output signal. An ultrasonic system and a microwave system are used in the apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,074,053 (McDonough et al) discloses another type of dual detector system for detecting intrusions. A photoelectric system and a capacitive system are utilized. Both systems must detect an intrusion before an alarm system is generated.
It will be noted that in the above-discussed patents, the circuitry involved is of paramount importance. Details of the activation and deactivation of the systems appear to be secondary. In several of the patents, the self-policing feature of detecting faults is also of primary importance. However, the practical application of the intrusion systems is not dealt with. Moreover, the intrusion detection systems are generally concerned with a broad spectrum of applications, such as detecting an intrusion in a predetermined area, such as a room, grounds, or the like. Of primary importance is the circuitry involved, with the particular space or area of secondary concern. In the apparatus of the present invention, two detector systems are utilized for confirmation purposes, but it is of primary importance to both provide a positive output signal when an intrusion is detected and to be able to selectively arm and disarm the intrusion detector system by a limited number of persons. That is, a child, for example, could not simply turn the system on or off to enable or to disable the system. Moreover, the apparatus is designed primarily for detecting intrusion, as by a child, in the area about a swimming pool so that an alert may be sounded before the child falls into the pool, as opposed to an alert after the child has already fallen into the pool.
The invention described and claimed herein comprises intrusion alert system utilizing two detectors, an infrared detector and a microwave detector, the outputs of which are coupled together to provide an output signal indicative of an intrusion when both systems detect such intrusion. The apparatus is enabled and disabled through a key pad system to provide that only the individuals knowing a particular code for the system can actually accomplish either the disabling or the enabling of the system. A pulse counter is utilized so that both detectors must confirm the intrusion within a predetermined period of time before an alarm sounds. Different types of alarms may be provided. An audible alarm, a visual alarm, and a telephonically transmitted alarm may each or all be utilized with the system.
Among the objects of the present invention are the following:
To provide new and useful intrusions detection apparatus utilizing infrared and microwave detectors;
To provide new and useful intrusion detection apparatus controlled by a coded key pad;
To provide new and useful intrusion detection apparatus utilizing two different types of detectors for confirming intrusion;
To provide new and useful intrusion detection apparatus having two detectors, each of which must provide an output signal within a predetermined time period confirming an intrusion in order to provide an output signal; and
To provide new and useful intrusion detection apparatus utilizing dual detectors and monitoring heat, movement, and mass for providing an output signal indicative of intrusion.


In a gas engine system, air fed through a turbocharger is mixed with fuel gas flowing through a fuel gas supply line and supply into a combustion chamber is controlled. In case that the fuel gas has a low calorie or the engine output power is high, a portion of the fuel gas is diverged from the fuel gas supply line, and the flow rate thereof is set to a constant rate less than that of the diverged side fuel gas. The diverging fuel gas is fed into the combustion chamber through a divergence control valve while the remainder of the fuel gas is fed into the fuel flow control valve. In case that the fuel gas has a high calorie or the engine output power is low, the divergence control valve is closed so as to feed the fuel gas only into the gas supply main pipe.

1. Technical Field
The present application relates to a method to control a gas engine and a gas engine system thereof, the engine being provided with: either a turbocharger or a supercharger through which air is supplied to the engine [henceforth in this application, whenever the word 'turbocharger' appears, it could equally well be replaced by 'supercharger']; a first gas control valve that controls flow-rates of fuel-gas to be supplied to each cylinder of the engine; whereby, the fuel-gas that is regulated by the first gas valve and the air that is supplied through the turbocharger are mixed so as to form a prescribed air-fuel ratio; and, the engine burns the supplied fuel-gas under conditions of the prescribed air-fuel ratio; and in particular this invention relates to a method to control a gas engine and a gas engine system thereof, capable of controlling the air-fuel ratio with a high degree of accuracy even in the case of using a fuel gas having a low calorie so as to be likely to vary its calorific value or in the case of large variation in the output power of an engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, of gas engines, a small-sized gas engine has in particular utilized a pre-turbocharger intake system in which fuel gas and air are mixed, in general, upstream of a turbocharger, and are then fed into a combustion chamber.
Meanwhile, in most of conventional large-sized gas engines, fuel gas has been fed into a combustion chamber by means of a fuel gas regulator valve located just before each of cylinders since a mixing ratio between fuel gas and air (that is, an air-fuel ratio) and a gas charge should be uniform for every cylinder. With the use of this system, the air-fuel ratio and the gas charge which are inputted into every cylinder can be uniform, and the working in every cylinder can become more efficient, and further, because of the configuration that the fuel gas and air are mixed just before a cylinder, an inflammable zone in a gas supply passage can be shortened, thereby it is possible to enhance the safety.
Further, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-132550) proposes a technology in combination of both systems as stated above. In this technology, fuel gas pressurized by a gas compressor is fed into a cylinder inlet in a intake passage or into a cylinder while fuel gas before being compressed by a gas compressor is fed into an air passage upstream of a turbocharger, and the supply of fuel gas into the cylinder side and the supply of fuel gas into the upstream side of the turbocharger can be changed over.
However, in the configuration disclosed in the Patent Document 1, it is required to compress the fuel gas up to a pressure higher than a supercharged air pressure in the fuel gas supply system in which the fuel gas compressed by the gas compressor is fed into the cylinder inlet of the intake passage or into the cylinder, but the gas compressor has to have a large-size and a large capacity in order to compress gas having a low pressure and a high flow rate in the case of using a low calorie gas (gas having a low calorific value) such as mine methane gas as the fuel gas. Meanwhile, the fuel gas supply system in which fuel gas before being compressed by the gas compressor is fed into the air passage upstream of the turbocharger, possibly causes a risk of detonating the fuel gas at the outlet of the turbocharger since inflammable fuel gas is compressed up to a high temperature and a high pressure within the turbocharger.
Accordingly, Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid Open No. 2006-249954) discloses the configuration that the fuel gas in one of both systems is mixed with air at the inlet of the turbocharger in order to feed the thus obtained mixture into the turbocharger while the fuel gas in the other system is mixed with intake air in an intake passage for each of cylinders so as to feed the thus obtained mixture into the associated one of cylinders, and there are provided a turbocharger side fuel flow control valve for regulating the flow rate of gas in the turbocharger side gas supply passage, a cylinder side fuel flow control valve for regulating the flow rate of the gas in the cylinder side gas supply passage for each of the cylinders, and a gas flow controller for controlling the opening degree of the turbocharger side fuel flow control valve so as to regulate the quantity of fuel gas fed into the supercharge side gas supply passage in order to maintain the density of the fuel gas in the mixture fed into the turbocharger at a value which is not greater than an inflammable limit gas density. With this configuration, the detonation of fuel gas at the inlet of the turbocharger can be completely avoided, and as well, the drive power of the gas compressor for compressing fuel gas fed into the intake passage for each of the cylinders can be reduced even in the case of using a low calorie gas (gas having a low calorific value), thereby it is possible to reduce the size and the capacity of the gas compressor.
As stated above, in view of the configuration disclosed in the Patent Document 2, a sufficient supply quantity of fuel gas can be ensured even with a low calorie gas, and as well the size and the capacity of the gas compressor for compressing fuel gas can be reduced. However, there has been desired a control method in which the quantity of fuel gas to be mixed with air at the inlet of the turbocharger can be appropriately controlled with a simple configuration, and which can be applied to the system that the calorie of the fuel gas varies.

Method to control a gas engine and a gas engine system thereof


A transmission device displays a public image (a first image) provided to unspecified users, a private image (a second image) provided to particular users, and a mask image of the private image in a time division multiplexed manner, and transmits a private image sync signal synchronized with display of the private image. A reception device receives the private image sync signal transmitted from the transmission device and shoots by a shooting unit the private image displayed on the transmission device by using the private image sync signal, and displays the shot image on a display unit.

As a visible light communication technique for transmitting information by means of an image or a moving image displayed on a display or the like, a system is known in which a particular two-dimensional code (QR code) or the like is displayed in a portion of a displayed image and an image of the two-dimensional code is taken with a camera such as one in a portable telephone set to receive information.
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2007-163233 includes a description of an arrangement for generating malfunction diagnosis data including an abnormality signal indicating an abnormality when the abnormality is detected by a vehicle navigation system, converting the malfunction diagnosis data into a symbol code (such as a bar code or a two-dimensional code) and displaying the symbol code on a display device to enable a user to visually recognize the malfunction diagnosis data by reading the displayed symbol code through a portable terminal device.
Also, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2006-020204 includes a description of an arrangement for obtaining various content by reading via a terminal device a two-dimensional code printed on a display medium and by accessing a server unit which provides content such as images and sounds, and which is identified from information in the read two-dimensional code.
Visible light communication techniques such as described above, however, entail a problem in that when a two-dimensional code is displayed, for example, on a large display used on a street, the two-dimensional code occupies a portion of an image (public image) such as an advertisement displayed to the public to impair the appearance of the image.

Communication system, transmission device and reception device


A positive active material for a rechargeable lithium battery includes a core including a lithiated intercalation compound, and a MgO that is present as an island shape on the core surface and having an average nano-size; a method of manufacturing this positive active material, and a rechargeable lithium battery including this positive active material are provided.

1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates to a positive active material for a rechargeable lithium battery, a method of manufacturing the same, and a rechargeable lithium battery including the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A lithium ion battery is the most recently developed battery in the commercial high-performance rechargeable batteries. Since the battery has a high energy density, a high-speed charge and discharge characteristic, and an excellent cycle performance, the market thereof is rapidly being enlarged.
For positive active materials of a rechargeable lithium battery, lithium-transition element composite oxides being capable of intercalating lithium such as LiCoO2, LiMn2O4, LiNi1-xCoxO2 (0<x<1), and the like have been researched.
As for negative active materials of a rechargeable lithium battery, various carbon-based materials such as artificial graphite, natural graphite, and hard carbon, which can all intercalate and deintercalate lithium ions, have been used.

Positive electrode for rechargeable lithium battery, method of preparing same and rechargeable lithium battery including same


A method includes receiving a token over a token line at a first control module and, in response to receiving the token, receiving a first address. The first control module is configured to control one or more first actuators. The method also includes using the first address for communications over a communication line and identifying a second address. The method further includes providing the token over the token line to a second control module, where the second control module is configured to control one or more second actuators. In addition, the method includes providing the second address to the second control module in response to the second control module receiving the token.

Agricultural entities and other entities often need to precisely apply materials (such as fertilizers, pesticides, weed killers, water, seeds, plants, or paint) to exact or near exact locations. For example, this could involve the use of large vehicles on farms or other agricultural facilities. In this example, each of these vehicles could include a tank of material to be released and long arms (called "booms") containing a number of nozzles through which the material is released. As another example, this could involve the use of large vehicles on roads, runways, parking lots, or other areas. In this example, the vehicles may include mechanisms for releasing paint onto the roads, runways, parking lots, or other areas. These types of systems typically include actuators that control the flow of materials to be released, such as by allowing or blocking the flow of material into the nozzles.

Apparatus and method for addressing modules in a system for controlling the release of material


An upright sleep system includes a base pillow and a top pillow. The base pillow includes a tapered shape, including a top edge having a top edge thickness and a bottom edge having a bottom edge thickness less than the top edge thickness. A user may rest his or her head against the top pillow or base during use, and the base pillow supports both the top pillow and the user's torso and arms. By utilizing the upright sleep system the users head, neck, chin, torso and arms can all be supported. The base pillow and tether provide a stable support for the top pillow to prevent the top pillow from becoming dislodged while the user rests. A base passage in the base pillow is shaped to receive a user's arm or arms to further enhance comfort and support. In some embodiments, the base and top pillow include an inflatable, airtight chamber.

The present invention relates generally to devices and methods for aiding in sleep, and more particularly to pillows and associated items for aiding in sleep while seated in an upright position.
Pillows are commonly used to aid in sleep, rest and rehabilitation in numerous settings such as but not limited to at home, hospitals or during any mode of transit for travel, and during and after medical procedures and for chronic medical ailments. In many circumstances, people travelling or with short term, long term or chronic medical conditions are required to remain in an upright or semi-upright position sitting in a seat, on a chair, or in a bed for extended periods of time. Prolonged periods of sitting in the same spot are generally not conducive to getting quality sleep. Such prolonged periods of sitting upright may be experienced during travel on an airplane, train, bus, automobile or any other mode of transport. Similarly, prolonged periods of sitting upright may also be required during or after medical procedures such as shoulder surgery, various types of plastic surgery, sinus surgery, orthopedic surgery or eye surgery. Additionally, sleeping or sitting in an upright position may be a prescribed treatment for numerous medical conditions such as sleep apnea, digestive issues, irritable bowel syndrome, vertigo, acid reflux and multiple other conditions.
Achieving quality sleep while sitting in an upright or semi-upright position is difficult for most individuals. Users typically attempt to use a pillow or other soft cushion to support the head, neck, chin and/or arms while attempting to sleep upright. However, conventional pillows do not resize, lack firmness and are difficult to position in such a way that they provide the right amount of support to the head, neck, chin torso and arms to allow quality sleep. Additionally, conventional pillows are too large and bulky to be feasible or practical for use for many modes of travel and in many medical applications.
Others have recognized the difficulties associated with sleeping in an upright position and have developed modified pillows and cushions to attempt to overcome the problems of conventional pillows. For example, numerous travel and medical pillow devices are available. Such devices for travel are generally more compact than conventional pillows and may be shaped to fit around a user's neck or shoulder to provide head and neck support. However, these conventional travel pillows are generally uncomfortable and fail to provide adequate support for the head, neck and chin much less the arms and torso. This often leads to users nodding or generally being unable to achieve a comfortable position for sleeping using such devices. Medical pillows may lift the head up, but generally do not address semi elevated and fully upright posture or support the head and neck.
Conventional travel and medical pillows may become unsanitary as they often do not include any interchangeable exterior that can be taken off and cleaned. Conventional travel pillows are also often arranged in odd shapes and configurations, leading to users feeling as if they look ridiculous when using them. In sum, conventional travel pillow devices do not provide adequate head, neck, chin, arm and torso support when a user is sitting in an upright position that allow the user to sleep and without feeling that the device creates an odd personal appearance.
What is needed, then are improvements in devices used for aiding in situations rest and sleep are needed for a prolonged period when a user is seated in an upright or semi-upright position.


The present invention uniquely applies data communications network techniques to a security system. A series of slave transponders are coupled via a full duplex bus to a master node. The master node is coupled to other master nodes to form a network. The master node periodically polls its slave transponders to authenticate them. Each transponder has processing capability to give a distributed processing system. Each master node is a gateway which directs transmissions to the appropriate end point. The system uses an accordion-like protocol which can have fields added or deleted in a specific structure to conform the protocol to the particular message being transmitted. The protocol begins with address bytes identifying the destination followed by a control field which identifies the fields which are present. For a broadcast, rather than a point-to-point transmission, a process ID field in the protocol determines what area or function has to be addressed in all units. This area or function can be addressed for a large number of nodes by using this protocol field. The protocol is data transparent, it will handle any type of data. A sequence field allows the protocol to simultaneously handle redundant and non-redundant lines. The protocol allows point-to-point encryption of data and can operate over any media, electrical, optical, RF, etc. The routing algorithm includes an authentication byte attached by a particular transponder node and authenticated by a bus master connected to that node. The bus master substitutes its own authentication byte and sends the transmission along to the next point, where the authentication process is repeated. This allows authentication without requiring decrypting and re-encrypting of the transmission at each intermediate point.

The present invention relates to data communication systems, and in particular to such systems as applied to security networks.
A typical security system will have a number of transponders coupled to sensors which are used for the monitoring and control of intrusion detection. The signals from the transponders are provided to a central control console. Different techniques are applied to prevent unauthorized interception, tampering or jamming. Redundant communications and encryption are used to protect against intentional compromise of transmitted information. Information transmitted is typically a short message from a transponder using a state machine which is routed over a low bandwidth data line. Fiber optic are sometimes used to prevent monitoring, with the fiber optics signal being being converted to an electrical signal at some point for monitoring or control.
In contrast, data transmission systems for computer-to-computer file transmissions are typically designed for a benign environment with wide bandwidth communication channels. An example is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,063,220. A large bandwidth allows complicated protocols to be used. In some applications, data encryption is used, such as for transmission of computerized bank records. Such information processing systems are optimized for a large aggregate throughput, whereas security control systems are optimized for low delay of short messages. Current information networks have not been applied to the needs of security systems due in part to their large protocol overhead and the need for a high bandwidth medium.


A digital photographing apparatus and method of using the digital photographing apparatus that can manually set a white balance gain. The digital photographing apparatus including a light-emitting device configured to emit light of a plurality of colors; a light-emitting device control unit configured to control light emission of the light-emitting device; an imaging device configured to capture light incident to a subject to generate a plurality of image signals; and a gain setting unit configured to set a white balance gain by using the generated image signals.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a digital photographing apparatus and a method of controlling the same, and in particular, a digital photographing apparatus and method of controlling the same where the white balance is determined based on capturing multiple images after emitting different colors of light.
2. Description of the Related Art
Often, digital photographing apparatuses capture images of subjects where the color of the subject in the captured image does not appear to the human eye to be the correct color. One of the reasons for this is that it is difficult to set a white balance on the digital photographing apparatus. The white balance determines a balance between the different color sensors that are used to capture the image of the subject by the photographing apparatus.
One difficulty in setting the white balance is that images may be captured in very different lighting conditions. For example, an image of a subject may be captured under the sun or under a light bulb. A digital photographing apparatus may be a portable electronic device such as a camera, cellular telephone, or a music player.
One known method to set the white balance is for an object having equal percentages of red R, green G, and blue B, like a gray card to be photographed, and then set the white balance based on the captured image of the gray card. But, it is inconvenient for the user of the photographing apparatus to carry a gray card and to have to take a picture of the gray card to adjust the white balance for different lighting conditions.

Digital photographing apparatus and method of controlling the same for setting a white balance


A comparator circuit includes a first comparator, a second comparator and an inverter. The first comparator includes two N-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor (NMOS) transistors, two first P-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor (PMOS) transistors and two second PMOS transistors. A gate of the NMOS transistors respectively receives first and second voltages, and sources of the first PMOS transistors are connected to first and second resistors, respectively. The first comparator outputs differential output signals from drains of the NMOS transistors according to the voltage difference between the first and second voltages. An output of the second comparator is connected to gates of the first PMOS transistors of the first comparator. An input of the inverter is connected to the output of the second comparator, and an output of the inverter is connected to gates of the PMOS transistors.

Generally, a comparator is applied to a voltage difference input between a positive phase input and a negative phase input. When a voltage of the positive phase input is higher than the voltage of the negative phase input, a high voltage level signal is output at an output. When the voltage of the positive phase input is lower than the voltage of the negative phase input, a low voltage level signal is output at the output.
The sensitivity of the comparator is high, and the anti-interference of the comparator is poor. If an input voltage or a ground terminal contains some noise, output error will be generated. Therefore, a hysteresis function is usually added to a comparator circuit, and signal hysteresis can be used to avoid oscillation of the comparator output caused by the input noise.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a conventional hysteresis comparator. As shown in FIG. 1, in a comparator circuit 10 with hysteresis function, two N-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor (NMOS) transistors 11 and 12 form a differential pair, and connect to a first input voltage (VP) and a second input voltage (VM), respectively. When noise exists, the voltage value of the first input voltage (VP) and the second input voltage (VM) will be slightly different. The difference results in errors in the output of the comparator without hysteresis. Therefore, two P-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor (PMOS) transistors 14 and 15 are added to the comparator circuit 10 with hysteresis function, which avoids the output change of the comparator 10 due to noise in the input signal. The threshold value is set by the two PMOS transistors 14 and 15, so that the output signal of the comparator 10 with hysteresis function outputs a high level or low level signal when the output of the comparator 10 with hysteresis function is higher than the upper threshold or lower than the lower threshold, the high level or low level signal will be output. The output signal of the comparator with hysteresis function does not change between the upper and lower thresholds, and is called the hysteresis window. However, the upper and lower thresholds of the threshold values of the two PMOS transistors 14 and 15 are easily changed by the semiconductor manufacturing process or temperature, and variations in the threshold value result in a change in the hysteresis window.
Therefore, reducing the change of the hysteresis window in the comparator with hysteresis function with the influence of semiconductor production process or temperature through the improvement of circuit design has become one of the important issues to be solved.

Comparator circuit with hysteresis function and a semiconductor device thereof


A rolling-element bearing cage includes a plurality of cage segments, each cage segment including at least two adjacent receiving pockets, each receiving pocket being delimited by a front cage bridge having a front running surface for contacting a rolling element and a rear cage bridge having a rear running surface for contacting the rolling element. The front running surface and the rear running surface of at least one of the at least two adjacent receiving pockets are asymmetric relative to a center plane that divides the receiving pocket.

Segmented cages of the above-mentioned type are commonly used in certain types of rolling-element bearings, especially in large bearings. Two or more rolling elements are housed in each rolling-element bearing cage segment. The cage segments are configured to guide the rolling elements while maintaining a defined circumferential spacing of the rolling elements relative to one another and to accelerate the rolling elements if they are located in a load-free zone of the rolling-element bearing. For example, designs are known in which four rolling elements (rollers or also balls) are received in a cage segment and guided by the cage segment. These cage segments can be made of plastic, but even when plastic is used, the combined weight of the cage segment and the rolling elements it contains can exceed 10 kg.
Circumferential clearance must be present between the cage segments in order to maintain proper functioning of the bearing and also due to manufacturing tolerances. This clearance may range from a few millimeters up to a few centimeters. Under certain load conditions a cage segment filled with rolling elements in a load-free zone of the bearing may collide with an adjacent cage segment. The collision creates high impact forces and corresponding stresses. Accordingly such collisions create high loads on the cage and its segments, and this can lead to breakages and early bearing failures.
The impact load on the entire cage depends on how strongly each rolling element retained by the cage impacts against a cage bridge directly in front of it in a direction of movement. If one cage segment collides with a cage segment in front of it, the following can happen.
First the trailing cage segment can impact against the outer surface of the last cage bridge of the cage segment directly in front of it. This causes the trailing cage segment to decelerate.
When the trailing cage segment stops, the rolling elements in that cage segment continue to move due to inertia and impact against the cage bridges immediately in front of them in the direction of movement. The rolling elements in a given cage segment may be located different distances from the bridge that is ahead of the rolling element in the movement direction. Accordingly all of the rolling elements can impact an upstream cage bridge at the same time or at different times. If four rolling elements are present per cage segment, for example, the impact forces experienced by the cage segment may be up to four times greater than the impact force produced by a single one of the rolling elements impacting against a cage bridge. Accordingly the structure of the cage segment must be designed for the greatest anticipated load, i.e., for the load experienced when all rolling elements impact on an upstream cage bridge at the same time.
Furthermore it has been found that the force or shock produced by rolling elements impacting a given cage bridge is also transmitted to the entire cage, i.e., from cage segment to cage segment and to cage segments other than the one holding the impacting rolling element. Disadvantageously, this may produce unwanted vibrations and a rough or noisy operation of the rolling-element bearing. Furthermore, the material of the cage or of its segments is subjected to a correspondingly high load.
The known remedies for reducing impact load are not entirely satisfactory. First circumferential clearance may be reduced. However, the ability to reduce clearance is limited by production methods and the costs associated with maintaining a small clearance. The mass of each cage segment can also be reduced. However, this reduces the overall load capacity of the rolling-element bearing. It is also sometimes possible to reduce or avoid the load-free zone, but this is not always possible.


A method and system is introduced for allowing removal of a removable device connected to a digital appliance in a safe manner that preserves removable device integrity. There is no requirement for taking any actions prior to removing the removable device such as to safely remove the device. The user can intuitively tell removable device is in a state that can be safely removed and remove the device. Following a state where device can be safely removed, digital appliance can make use of removable device if the removable device had not been removed from the digital appliance.

The use of digital devices that can be dynamically attached and removed from a computational device has been growing rapidly. Such devices will be referred herein as removable devices. The USB standard for example has enabled numerous devices to be dynamically connected and removed from a computational device even during the operation of the computational device.
Among these removable devices are mass storage devices such as flash drives, and multimedia players. These devices can be attached to a computational device referred herein as digital appliance and then later be removed. It is of great concern that data integrity of these removable devices is not jeopardized when removed from a digital appliance.
A unit of digital storage such as a computer hard disk, a flash drive or a flash card storage device and other such devices will be referred herein as a digital media storage device, or a media device.
A media device, unlike a floppy diskette or a Compact Disc includes a controller with some RAM, and or ROM or other memory. The reason for these components became necessary as these devices became more complex, requiring managing media transparently to the appliance, for example in order to hide media defects and manage the storage media on a high level.
Due to the growing storage size of these devices, performance such as access speed has been improved for these devices by capabilities such as caching data for media device in digital appliance. This on the one hand improves performance, for example, by caching file table information of media device. This on the other hand creates a problem in cases where these devices are disconnected unexpectedly from a digital appliance. In some cases the last file or files may have not been updated because the file table has not been written back to the device. In other cases more severe problems may occur, such as corruption of the file table.
The problem of surprise removal of hardware has been known and dealt with in the industry, to some extent. For example, Microsoft Corporation has publicized information regarding surprise removal at the link: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/pnppwr/hotadd/XPrem-devs.mspx where a description of both hardware and software malfunctions is described. Essentially, any kind of removable hardware can be removed from a digital appliance without warning to the system, but when storage devices are concerned the problem of loosing data or even corrupting the file table exists. Therefore in Windows XP for example, a refined caching policy for removable storage has been introduced. As a result, in Windows XP the write cache is disabled by default thereby solving many of the problems of previous versions of Windows. This does have an effect on performance. On the other hand even with this cache-disabled policy, the problems of data loss may still occur. For example, if the storage device is removed while a long file is written to the device, or just shortly before its completion. Another example of a problem that may occur is the removal of the storage device while the file table is being updated.
Due to these problems, there exists a requirement for the user of a digital appliance to manually safely remove any removable devices from the computer. In this manner, the digital appliance flushes all cache and data to the storage device and closes connection to that device, so that no further communication is made through this device. This manner is also referred to as "safely remove hardware".
While this manner of safe removal is logical and solves all problems of surprise removal mentioned above, this step of safely removing a device is cumbersome and not comfortable or intuitive to the user. Even worst, a person may make a mistake and forget to safely remove the device, perhaps due to hurrying up or due to lack of concentration. As a result, some of the files may not be written to the device and in some cases all of the device may become unusable.
There is thus a widely recognized need for an intuitive and simple way to remove removable devices from a digital appliance, and it would be highly advantageous to have such a system devoid of the above limitations.

System and method for safe removal of a removable device from a digital appliance


Methods, systems, and apparatus for diversifying selection criteria. An example method includes accessing a first set of selection criteria for a content item; selecting, based on the first set of selection criteria, a second set of selection criteria, the second set of selection criteria being a proper subset of the first set of selection criteria, the selection of each of the criteria in the second set comprising: determining a collective performance measure based on criteria that have been selected from the first set of selection criteria for inclusion in the second set of selection criteria, determining, for each criterion that has not been selected from the first set, a performance contribution to the collective performance measure, and selecting from the first set a selection criterion with the highest performance contribution relative to the performance contributions of other selection criteria that have not been selected for inclusion in the second set.

This specification relates to processing selection criteria for selecting content items.
The Internet enables access to a wide variety of content, e.g., video and/or audio files, web pages for particular subjects, news articles, etc. Such access to content has also lead to the providing of additional content items with the content. For example, online advertising involves the providing of advertising content items with resources served over the Internet.
Providers of additional content, such as providers of advertisements, specify selection criteria such as keywords, web sites, geographical locations, etc., that is used to select the content items for impressing in relevant resources, such as web pages that are viewed by users having a potential interest in the products and services offered by an advertiser.
Automatic generation of criteria can be used to generate selection criteria for content item providers. Examples of such automatic generation techniques include automatic keyword generation, automatic generation of demographic features, query expansion, and the like.


A ball striking device, such as a golf club head, has a head that includes a face configured for striking a ball and a body connected to the face, the body being adapted for connection of a shaft proximate a heel thereof. The face has a thickened portion including an annular tapered area that tapers in thickness between an upper boundary and a lower boundary and encloses an elevated area bounded by the upper boundary. The upper and/or lower boundary defines a shape having two lobes, each with an outer edge with a convex profile, and a connecting portion extending between the lobes, such that the connecting portion is defined by two outer edges extending between the outer edges of the lobes, wherein at least one of the outer edges of the connecting portion has a concave outer profile.

The energy or velocity transferred to the ball by a golf club or other ball striking device may be related, at least in part, to the flexibility of the club face at the point of contact, and can be expressed using a measurement called "coefficient of restitution" (or "COR"). The maximum COR for golf club heads is currently limited by the USGA at 0.83. Generally, a club head will have an area of highest response relative to other areas of the face, such as having the highest COR, which imparts the greatest energy and velocity to the ball, and this area is typically positioned at or near the center of the face. In one example, the area of highest response may have a COR that is equal to the prevailing USGA limit (e.g. currently 0.83). However, because golf clubs are typically designed to contact the ball at or around the center of the face, off-center hits with many existing golf clubs may result in less energy being transferred to the ball, decreasing the distance of the shot.
The flexing behavior of the ball striking face and/or other portions of the head during impact can also influence the energy and velocity transferred to the ball, the direction of ball flight after impact, and the spin imparted to the ball, among other factors. Accordingly, a need exists to alter and/or improve the deformation and response of the ball striking face and/or other portions of the head during impact. The flexing behavior of the ball itself during impact can also influence some or all of these factors. Excess deformation of the ball during impact can result in energy loss, such as in the form of heat. Certain characteristics of the face and/or other portions of the head during impact can have an effect on the deformation of the ball. Accordingly, a need also exists to provide a ball striking head with features that cause altered and/or improved deformation behavior of the ball during impacts with the ball striking face of the head.
The present devices and methods are provided to address at least some of the problems discussed above and other problems, and to provide advantages and aspects not provided by prior ball striking devices of this type. A full discussion of the features and advantages of the present invention is deferred to the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Golf club head or other ball striking device having stiffened face portion


Embodiments may generally be directed components and techniques to detect a request to provide banking account information over a one or more voice connections, identify the requested banking account information, and generate speech data representing the banking account information requested. In embodiments further include communicating the speech data to another device.

Today, the majority of people utilize mobile devices to conduct much of their day-to-day activities such as conducting banking activities, performing business tasks, utilizing for entertainment, etc. People are also utilizing their mobile devices to conduct telephone calls and speak with other people. In some instances, these telephone calls may require the user to speak aloud, which may be overheard by other people nearby. Due to the mobile nature of the mobile devices may be used in public locations. Other people overhearing the user's conversation may be problematic when the user is saying sensitive information, such as personal information, banking information, health information and so forth. For example, a large number of purchases are still made over telephone calls. These interactions typically require the user to read aloud sensitive information such as their credit card number, expiration date, and security code. These interactions can take a long time, are prone to errors, and opens the door to 3rd party eaves droppers who can steal the sensitive information. Thus, embodiments discussed herein relate to solving these problems and enable users to provide sensitive information in a secure manner.

Techniques to provide sensitive information over a voice connection


A network device may send, to a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server, a request for an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) address to be assigned to a management port of the network device, wherein IPv6 is disabled at the network device, and may receive a message that includes information associated with a network management system (NMS) and IPv6 configuration information for enabling IPv6 processing on the management port. In response to receiving the IPv6 configuration information, the network device may enable IPv6 processing on the management port of the network device and may register with the NMS based at least in part on the information associated with the NMS. The network device may, in response to receiving one or more configuration commands sent from the NMS to the management port of the network device, configure the network device according to the one or more configuration commands.

Zero touch provisioning is a technique by which a network device after it is physically installed can be automatically provisioned and configured by a network management system when the network device boots up for the first time, with minimal or no intervention by an administrator at the network device. When a network device boots up for the first time, the network device may communicate with a network management system to receive configuration commands that the network device may execute to configure itself, thereby reducing the amount of intervention required from an administrator to configure the network device. In this way, an organization or enterprise can quickly roll out networks comprising hundreds or thousands of network devices without having to perform manual configuration of each of the network devices
The description provided in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely because it is mentioned in or associated with the background section. The background section may include information that describes one or more aspects of the subject technology.
In one or more implementations, not all of the depicted components in each figure may be required, and one or more implementations may include additional components not shown in a figure. Variations in the arrangement and type of the components may be made without departing from the scope of the subject disclosure. Additional components, different components, or fewer components may be utilized within the scope of the subject disclosure.

Intelligent zero touch provisioning for IPV6

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP


A magnetostrictive torque sensor system stabilizes and detects steering torque applied to a steering shaft. The sensor system comprises magnetic-characteristic variation parts that are provided to the steering shaft, wherein magnetic characteristics of the magnetic-characteristic variation parts change in accordance with the applied torque; coils that are positioned around the magnetic-characteristic variation parts and that respond to changes in the magnetic characteristics; resistance elements that are serially connected to the coils; voltage-applying means for periodically applying a voltage to serial circuits that are formed from the coils and the resistance elements; terminals for retrieving changes in the terminal voltage of the coils; phase-shifting means for inverting the phase of the change in the terminal voltage of the coils; selecting means for alternatingly selecting and outputting the voltage change in the terminals and the voltage change in the output ends of the phase-shifting means; and smoothing means for smoothing the voltage signals output from the selecting means and for outputting a direct-current voltage.

In electric power-steering apparatuses, an electric motor for producing a supplementary force is fixed to a mechanical steering apparatus, and the rotational torque provided by the motor is controlled using a control device, whereby the steering torque that must be applied by the driver is reduced. In conventional electric power-steering apparatuses, a steering-torque detecting part is provided to a steering shaft linked to the steering wheel. The steering-torque detecting part supplies detection signals to the control device in order to cause the motor to produce an appropriate supplementary steering torque.
Torsion-bar torque sensor systems that make use of the torsion of a torsion bar are the conventional steering-torque detecting parts that have been primarily used. Magnetostrictive torque sensor systems have also been proposed in recent years.
In magnetostrictive torque sensor systems, a magnetostrictive film formed of, e.g., a Ni—Fe plating is provided to two locations on the steering shaft. The magnetostrictive films in these two locations are both formed annularly in the circumferential direction on the surface of the steering shaft and are positioned vertically relative to one another in the axial direction. The magnetostrictive films in these two locations are also formed so as to have the necessary width in the axial direction and are made so as to be magnetically anisotropic in mutually opposing directions. When the driver applies a steering torque to the steering shaft, changes in the magnetostrictive characteristics that occur based on the magnetic anisotropy of the magnetostrictive films in these two locations are detected by a coil provided around the magnetostrictive films.
Such magnetostrictive torque sensor systems are disclosed in, e.g., JP-A 2001-133337 and JP-A 2002-168706.
The magnetostrictive torque sensor systems described in JP-A 2001-133337 and JP-A 2002-168706 have a magnetizing coil and detection coil that are provided respectively to the two annular magnetostrictive films formed on the surface of the steering shaft. There are also magnetostrictive torque sensor systems that detect torque according to changes in the inductance of the detection coil, using only a detection coil without a magnetizing coil (see, e.g., JP-A 2002-71476 and JP-A 2005-321316).
The detection circuit of the magnetostrictive torque sensor system described in JP-A 2002-71476 has a coil around the magnetostrictive films formed on the surface of the steering shaft and also has a resistance element and a switching element that are serially connected to the coil. A power source that applies the necessary voltage is provided to the coil. A bottom-hold circuit for maintaining the minimum value of the output signal is also connected to the connecting part between the resistance element and the coil.
JP-A 2005-321316 discloses a magnetostrictive torque sensor system that improves on the magnetostrictive torque sensor system described in JP-A 2002-71476. This magnetostrictive torque sensor system also has a coil positioned around the magnetostrictive films, as well as a resistance element and a switching element that are serially connected to the coil.
In the conventional magnetostrictive torque sensor systems disclosed in, e.g., JP-A 2005-321316, the frequency of the on/off operation of the switching element is, e.g., about 30 kHz. The frequency of the change in the voltage signal retrieved from the terminal of the coil that responds to changes in the magnetic characteristics of the magnetostrictive films is also about 30 kHz. As a result, the detection period of the peak-hold circuit used in the detection circuit can be calculated as the inverse of 30 kHz. When the detection period of the peak-hold circuit is in a frequency range of 30 kHz, then in terms of the frequency characteristics, the gain usually decays and phase lag increases. An increase in the phase lag in the output signal of the magnetostrictive torque sensor system results in reduced stability with which the electric power-steering apparatus is controlled, and greater loss in the uniformity of the supplementary force for reducing the steering torque that must be applied by the driver. Problems result in that the entire steering torque loses consistency, and the driver increasingly loses proper steering response.
A magnetostrictive torque sensor system has therefore been needed for stabilizing the steering torque applied to the steering shaft and performing detection, without affecting the frequency characteristics of the peak-hold circuit used in the detection circuit of conventional magnetostrictive torque sensor systems and without giving rise to gain decay or phase lag in the torque-detection signal. A demand has also arisen for an electric power-steering apparatus that can provide a good steering response using a magnetostrictive torque sensor system.

Magnetostrictive torque sensor system and electric power steering apparatus employing the same


A heat management system disclosed herein is used for a vehicle. The heat management system may include an electric device, a first heat exchanger, a second heat exchanger, a first channel, a second channel, a first pump, a second pump, a first channel valve, a second channel valve, a bypass channel, and a controller. The controller may be configured to, when one of the first pump and the second pump operates abnormally, control the first channel valve and the second channel valve such that the flow of the first heat medium from both of the first channel and the second channel to the first heat exchanger is allowed and activate the other of the first pump and the second pump.

A cruising range of an electric vehicle can be increased by suitably utilizing heat of its traction motor and heat of outside air to reduce power consumption of an electric device used for temperature regulation. Japanese Patent Application Publication Nos. 2019-213337 and 2019-119369 each propose a heat management system for an electric vehicle that comprehensively manages heat of outside air and heat of a motor, an inverter, and a battery to suitably utilize the heat of each portion of the electric vehicle. The "electric vehicle" herein includes a hybrid vehicle and a fuel-cell vehicle.
The heat management system of Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-213337 includes a first temperature regulation circuit and a second temperature regulation circuit. The first temperature regulation circuit is configured to cool electric devices that generate heat while operating (e.g., a traction motor and a power converter configured to supply electric power to the motor). The second temperature regulation circuit is configured to regulate the temperature of a cabin. In the first temperature regulation circuit, a first pump circulates first heat medium through the electric devices and a radiator. In the second temperature regulation circuit, a second pump circulates second heat medium between a chiller for air-conditioning in the cabin and an air conditioner outdoor unit. The radiator and the air conditioner outdoor unit are arranged adjacent to each other, thus heat is exchanged also between the first heat medium and the second heat medium.


A method can include obtaining access code data corresponding to an access code transmitted to a user device. The method can further include monitoring the user device. The method can further include determining, based on the monitoring, that the access code is shared. The method can further include initiating, in response to the determining that the access code is shared, an invalidation of the access code.

The present disclosure relates to security for transactions, and more specifically, to authentication security.
An entity, such as a company, government agency, or organization, can provide a resource, such as a website or a mobile application, by which a user can perform online transactions, such as banking and/or managing a user account. The entity can implement a security measure, such as an authentication process, to aid in verifying the user's identity prior to allowing an online transaction to be performed. One such authentication process can include the entity transmitting an access code to a user device and requesting that the user provide the access code to the entity.

International Business Machines Corporation