A sequential stepped movement staging device comprises six legs 70 of equal length extending radially from a central sphere 46 in an X-Y-Z orthogonal relationship. The sphere 46 and legs 70 are held in a horizontally fixed position relative to a support surface 14 by a holder including a primary retaining member 40, a secondary retaining member 74 fixed in superposition to the primary retaining member 40, and an alignment cylinder 84. The secondary retaining member 74 is slidably disposed in the alignment cylinder 84 to allow for vertical movement of the sphere 46, legs 70, and retaining members 40, 74. One of six actuating rods 94 pushes down on one of three upwardly extending legs 70H thereby rotating the sphere 46 and causing two of three downwardly descending legs 70L to move a work surface 16 capable of horizontal sliding movement over the support surface 14 from a first position to a second position. In one embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 12, a hydraulic feedback system maintains downward pressure on the sphere 130 via a central piston shaft 174 during the second half of a step.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to sequential stepped movement staging devices, and particularly to automated sequential stepped movement devices having six legs of equal length organized in an X-Y-Z orthogonal relationship extending radially from a horizontally fixed central sphere, wherein movement of an underlying work surface is accomplished by stepped rotation of the legs so that the ends of the legs act on an array of upwardly facing dimples in the work surface to walk the work surface from a first position at the beginning of a step to a second position at the end of a step.
2. Description of the Related Art
The typical X-Y axis staging device includes a first lead screw in the X axis and a second lead screw in the Y axis. A first motor drives the X-axis lead screw and a second motor drives the Y-axis lead screw. Each axis usually has an encoder to translate the rotation of the lead screw into an exact position along that axis. Each motor requires drive electronics. Such devices have application in the semiconductor and pharmaceutical industries where a task must be repetitively performed on a large number of identical objects, e.g., applying an etching pattern to a semiconductor wafer, performing a chemical analysis, or combining drugs into a beneficial compound. This type of stepped movement staging device is structurally complex and expensive even when its function is limited to stepping a fixed distance in either or both axes. If the device is required to operate in a vacuum or liquid environment, the equipment becomes much more complex and expensive.
There is therefore a need for a sequential stepped movement staging device that is structurally simpler, less expensive to manufacture, and able to function in severe environments.

Sequential stepped movement staging device


An inductor current detecting circuit is provided. A differentiator circuit differentiates a high-side voltage signal to generate a first differential signal, and differentiates a low-side voltage signal to generate a second differential signal. A first current source outputs a first charging current according to the first differential signal. A second current source outputs a second charging current according to the second differential signal. First and second terminals of a first switch are respectively connected to the first current source and a first terminal of a second switch. A second terminal of the second switch is connected to the second current source. Two terminals of a capacitor are connected to the second terminal of the first switch and the second current source respectively. The first switch and the second switch are alternately turned on to obtain a continuous waveform.

A power converter is essential for voltage adjustment and stabilization of an electronic device. Based upon different power requirements, various types of DC-DC voltage converters such as a buck converter and a boost converter have been developed. The buck converter can decrease an input DC voltage to a default voltage, and the boost converter can increase an input DC voltage. With advances in circuit technologies, both the buck and boost converters have been adjusted for different system architectures and requirements.
If a conventional power converter operates in a current controlling mode, a current value of an inductor of the conventional power converter needs to be detected. A high-side switch and a low-side switch of the conventional power converter are turned on or off according to the detected current value. In order to obtain the current value of the inductor, a resistor is additionally disposed in the conventional power converter and connected in series with the inductor. The current value of the inductor is equal to a current value of the resistor. Therefore, the conventional power converter obtains the current value of the inductor by detecting the current value of the resistor. However, the resistor not only occupies a space inside the conventional power converter, but also increases additional power consumption. In recent years, in order to meet low power consumption requirements, the resistor must have a small resistance. Under this condition, when the current value of the resistor cannot be accurately detected, the high-side switch and the low-side switch cannot be accurately turned on or off. Therefore, the conventional power converter cannot achieve a fast response effect.


Without sacrificial layer etching, a microstructure and a micromachine are manufactured. A separation layer 102 is formed over a substrate 101, and a layer 103 to be a movable electrode is formed over the separation layer 102. At an interface of the separation layer 102, the layer 103 to be a movable electrode is separated from the substrate. A layer 106 to be a fixed electrode is formed over another substrate 105. The layer 103 to be a movable electrode is fixed to the substrate 105 with the spacer layer 103 which is partially provided interposed therebetween, so that the layer 103 to be a movable electrode and a layer 106 to be a fixed electrode face each other.

A micromachine is also called MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical System) or MST (Micro System Technology) and refers to a comprehensive system combining a minute mechanical microstructure and an electric circuit. The above-described microstructure is different from a general semiconductor element and has a three-dimensional structure, and a part of the microstructure is movable in many cases. The micromachine can have various functions of a passive element such as a sensor, an actuator, an inductor, or a variable capacitor, a switch, or the like. The electric circuit is generally formed using a semiconductor element and can control the operation of the microstructure, or receive and process a weak signal output from the microstructure.
Further, micromachines can be classified into groups according to their manufacturing methods. One is bulk micromachines in which microstructures are manufactured using crystal anisotropy of a silicon substrate, and the other is surface micromachines in which thin films are formed over various substrates to manufacture three-dimensional microstructures (Reference 1: Japanese Patent No. 3590283). In particular, the surface micromachines have been actively researched, especially in the United States, because a microstructure and an electric circuit can be formed over one substrate.

Microstructure, micromachine, and manufacturing method of microstructure and micromachine

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A power converting apparatus according to an embodiment includes a controller that controls a power converter. The controller includes a first signal generator which generates switch drive signals for AC-to-DC conversion, a second signal generator which generates switch drive signals for DC-to-AC conversion, and a drive signal generator which generates, in accordance with the switch drive signals for AC-to-DC conversion and the switch drive signals for DC-to-AC conversion, switch drive signals for controlling the power converter. The first signal generator and the second signal generator operate in synchronization with each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a power converting apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A matrix converter including a plurality of bidirectional switches which connect individual input phases and individual output phases is available as a power converting apparatus. Regarding the matrix converter, a technology for realizing a step-up function has been suggested (for example, see International Publication No. 2006/112275).
In the matrix converter having a step-up function, reactors are provided between individual input phases and bidirectional switches, the input-phase side of the reactors is short-circuited and then released by the bidirectional switches to output a voltage higher than a power supply voltage.


A system and method are presented for producing a model of the interior of a building. The model is capable of receiving and dynamically incorporating input from various sources including, for example, existing static map data, data such as annotations and updates provided by persons on the scene but outside the building, and real-time data from sensors located on mobile persons or assets that are dynamically moving inside the building. In some cases, the moving persons or assets inside the building may carry a unit that emits sound or electromagnetic pulses, which reflect off the immediate surroundings in a particular room or portion of the building, and sense the reflected pulses. The reflections from relatively close features may arrive at the sensor more quickly than those from relatively distant features, so that temporal analysis of the reflected pulse may provide information about features in the building as a function of their distance away from the unit. Pulses may be emitted and received at multiple locations in a room or portion of the building. The reflected pulses may be analyzed, using specific time shifts that correspond to round-trip travel times in particular directions, so that the actual locations of features may be identified. By walking from room-to-room throughout the interior of a building and performing such analysis, much or all of the interior of a building may be mapped.

In the event of a fire or other emergency, emergency workers may arrive at the scene without complete knowledge of the interior layout or interior condition of the building. Blueprints for the building may be available in some cases, but they may not reflect recent changes to the building's interior. In addition, the interior of the building may have dangerous conditions, with some locations or corridors beings blocked or impassable.
Location and tracking systems have become relatively common through the use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) and advanced asset tracking technologies. Many of these systems allow precise real-time positioning of a person or asset within a coordinate space with reasonable accuracy. Typically, this information is presented to a user by showing the person or asset of interest on a map that has been precisely constructed and calibrated to be used with the location system. However, in many situations, the map is either not readily available, was never constructed, or is incorrect. In such cases, presenting the location information of the person or asset of interest so that the location information can be meaningfully used becomes a significant challenge.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a building model that can dynamically incorporate additional data. Such a building model may be more accurate and more up-to-date than an existing, static model.

Portable housings for generation of building maps


A container for storing at least one object, such as a knife, utensil, and the like, wherein the object has a blade that is occasionally dressed is disclosed. The container includes a housing presenting an object-receiving opening and a blade-dressing assembly configured to provide selective dressing of the blade. The blade-dressing assembly includes a carrier and a dressing component supported on the carrier. The carrier is shiftably supported on the housing so as to move between a storage position in which the dressing surface is incapable of engaging the blade and an operating position in which the dressing surface is engageable by the blade.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to devices for holding knives and/or other utensils. More specifically, the present invention concerns a container, such as a knife block, having a blade dressing assembly pivotally mounted therewith.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
Those ordinarily skilled in the art will appreciate that utensils often become worn through regular use. For instance, knife blades may become worn by continuous use of the knife's blade to cut a variety of foodstuffs, such as for instance, frozen foods, that may cause the blade to dull. Moreover, knives are often used with cutting boards, which may be formed of wood, granite, or some other hard material. Continually using a knife on a cutting board may accelerate wear of the blade because of continual contact with the cutting board. Thus, after long and repeated use, a knife's blade may require conditioning, or dressing, to restore and/or enhance the blade's performance characteristics. Different dressing techniques exist to restore and/or enhance blade performance, such as, for instance, sharpening, straightening, honing, polishing, buffing, and the like. Such dressing techniques may refurbish or restore the blade to optimal conditions for use.
Notwithstanding the need for dressing utensils, such dressing tools are often inconvenient to store and use. For instance, some knife blocks include a storage slot for butcher steels or sharpening rods. Storing dressing utensils in the knife block, however, sacrifices storage space for other utensils. Alternatively, if a dressing apparatus like a sharpening stone is stored elsewhere, the sharpener may be lost or it may not be conveniently accessible for use when required.

Container for storing knifes, utensils, and the like having integral blade sharpener


An expandable dielectric cover system for a pair of insulators supporting a conductor includes a first insulator cover and a separate insulator cover. A sleeve covers portions of the first insulator cover and second insulator cover and covers the conductor between the two covers. The sleeve covers a variable length of the first insulator cover and second insulator cover to accommodate a wide range of separations between the two covers while still covering the conductor. Pivotable arms are connectable to the other sides of the covers for covering a length of the conductor extending away from the sleeve.

A wood utility pole, formed from the trunk of a tree, is typically used for supporting high voltage (HV) conductors (e.g., twisted wire strands) in a power distribution system. Since the poles are formed from trees, the pole diameters vary from pole to pole. For example, the pole may have a diameter at the top of the pole of five inches, and four feet down from the top of the pole it may be ten inches. Another pole may have a diameter at the top of ten inches, and four feet down from the top it may have a diameter of fourteen inches.
Each pole has secured to it one or more horizontal crossarms that support ceramic insulators which, in turn, support the HV conductors. Two crossarms are popular for their added strength and reliability. The crossarms are affixed to the pole using either bolts, a brace, a bracket, or other means. A conductor is typically affixed over the top of each insulator via a metal tie wire, a bracket, or other means.
FIG. 1 is a side view of a top portion of a wooden pole 10, looking into the ends of two horizontal crossarms 12 and 14. FIG. 2 is a top down view of the pole 10 of FIG. 1 showing four sets of insulators supporting four conductors. The crossarms 12 and 14 are typically wood, such as 6 feet×3.5 inches×4.5 inches, depending on the support strength needed for the conductors. Material other than wood is also used for crossarms.
Ceramic insulators 16 and 18 are affixed to the crossarms 12 and 14 by bolts 20. A conductor 22 (typically twisted wire strands) seats in a groove in the insulators 16/18 or in some other securing feature, as previously described.
The crossarms 12/14 in FIG. 2 are shown supporting additional sets of insulators supporting additional conductors for 3-phase voltages. Alternatively, additional crossarms attached at different heights on the pole 10 may support the additional sets of insulators and the conductors for 3-phase voltages. The invention is applicable to all of the sets of insulators.
Since the diameter of the pole 10 is variable, the separation of the insulators 16/18 is unknown prior to the pole 10 being assembled. Typical separations are 5-16 inches.
Insulator covers, which are used in conjunction with extension arms that cover a length of the conductors, are frequently used for the protection of wildlife and preventing outages, permanent or momentary, due to shorts by trees, wildlife, debris, etc. The insulator/conductor covers are typically required to be 72 inches in length according to the Suggested Practices Guide developed by the Avian Power Line Interaction Committee (APLIC). Insulator/conductor covers measure 36 inches in one direction from the center of the insulator and 36 inches in the other direction. To obtain this 72 inch coverage, manufacturers have been designing these covers in three separate parts: the insulator cover, one extension arm connectable to one side of the insulator cover, and a second extension arm connectable to the other side of the insulator cover.
For covering the insulators 16 and 18 in FIG. 1 along with the conductor 22 between the insulators, such conventional covers would not work. This is because the distance between the insulators 16/18 varies from pole to pole, and an extension arm would be too long to fit between the insulators 16/18 and/or the extension arm would not precisely fit between the insulator covers. Additionally, the conductor 22 sags on one side of each insulator 16/18 due to the weight of the conductor 22 between poles, but the conductor 22 between the insulators 16/18 does not sag. The conventional extension arms could not accommodate the asymmetrical and variable conductor sag.
A one piece double insulator cover, with a fixed conductor cover between them, will not work or fit correctly around the two insulators 16/18 since their separation is unknown until the pole is assembled. A wide variety of double insulator covers would have to be available to the lineman, while in the field, in different sizes or lengths to accommodate all the possible separations of the insulators.
What is needed is a practical cover system for use with a pair of insulators supporting a conductor, where the separation between the insulators is variable.

Adjustable double insulator cover for electrical distribution systems


A method for privilege based memory pinning is provided. The method includes receiving a request to pin an amount of address space memory from a process executing on an operating system. The operating system includes a configurable mode of operation. In mandatory mode, the operating system executes the request to pin address space memory based on the role hierarchy-based privilege level of the requestor process. When the requested amount is greater than the operating system's amount of memory that can be used to pin memory, the operating system fails the request. However, when the operating can satisfy the request from processes having a lower privilege level relative to the requestor process, memory is unpinned from one or more of these processes.

This disclosure relates generally to computer system security, and more particularly to a privilege based memory pinning mechanism.
High performance computing (HPC) focuses on developing supercomputers, parallel processing algorithms, and related software. Some sectors, such as meteorological and geological studies or genomics research where high performance levels are desirable, may implement HPC systems. An application process that has sufficient permission to operating system resources may pin some or all of its address space memory pages to attempt to increase performance. Using pinned memory, data accesses may be significantly faster, since the pages containing the required data are already in memory and do not have to be located by the operating system's paging subsystem. Additionally, pinned memory pages are not subject to being paged out from main memory to an external storage device. While the amount of pinned memory pages may be limited on a system-wide basis to a percentage of system memory, without additional access controls application processes may pin and not release large portions of their address space pages, negatively impacting overall system performance, especially for high priority applications. Conventionally, operating systems protect computer resources such as memory segments and their associated pages through a system of permissions that control which operations, such as read or write, a process can perform on them. Role Based Access Control (RBAC) is an alternative security mechanism for controlling access to computer resources. Within an organization, roles are created for various job functions, and the permissions to perform operations are assigned to the roles. In this way, a system user is assigned a particular role, such as for example the operator role. The operator role is assigned the permission to shut down and reboot the computer system, among other permissions. Since an individual user is not assigned permissions directly, but only acquires them through a role, management of individual user permissions becomes a matter of simply assigning the user to appropriate roles. Processes may then be prioritized for access to pinning shared memory when RBAC is extended to allow a similar hierarchy based system.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Privilege based memory pinning mechanism

International Business Machines Corporation


The invention discloses a segment protection method for an Ethernet tunnel, there are two segment protection domains with a shared link in a Provider Backbone Bridge-Traffic Engineering (PBB-TE) network, and at least one of the two segment protection domains works in a non-revertive mode, and when a simultaneous failures of working segments of two segment protection domains recover or a failure of the shared node of the working segments recovers, the shared node of the working segments switches all the FDB entries of bidirectional ESPs of all the TESIs protected by the protection domains to standby entries, and after switching, out ports of the FDB entries of the ESPs are the ports connecting the shared segment. The invention also discloses a shared node of working segments of protection domains correspondingly. The invention is able to ensure that the bidirectional ESPs are co-routed after the failure recovering.

With the raise of the conception of Carrier Ethernet (CE), Provider Backbone Transport (PBT) technology, which is a connection oriented Ethernet technology meeting requirements of the telecommunication network, emerges in October, 2005. Thereafter, there are both domestic and foreign providers to network adopting the PBT technology, which has afforded a good beginning for the development of the PBT technology in the Metropolitan Area Network (MAN).
The foundation of PBT technology is the Provider Backbone Bridge (PBB) technology defined in the IEEE802.1ah standard, and is called as Provider Backbone Bridge Traffic Engineering (PBB-TE) by the IEEE. The core of the PBB-TE technology, which is based on the PBB technology, is to improve the PBB technology. The PBB-TE technology uses the Media Access Control (MAC) address of the outer layer in combination with the Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) identifier of the outer layer, for example, a Backbone Destination MAC address (B-DA)+a Backbone VLAN Identifier (B-VID) to perform service forwarding with a preconfigured forwarding path. Network management and control make the services in the CE have connectivity in practice so as to implement the functions, such as protection switching, Quality of Service (QoS), and traffic engineering and so on, of the telecommunication network. PBB-TE technology is compatible with the architecture of conventional Ethernet bridges, and data frames can be forwarded based on B-DA+B-VID without updating intermediate nodes in the network or modifying the data frames, thus having a high forwarding efficiency.
The PBB-TE technology adopts a Connectivity Fault Management (CFM) mechanism in the IEEE802.1ag standard to continuously monitor the tunnel state in the network. When a working tunnel fails, a service will be automatically transferred to a pre-established protection tunnel, thus increasing necessary flexibility.
Attributes of the tunnel are represented by such a triad of <ESP-DA, ESP-SA, ESP-VID>, in which the parameter ESP-DA refers to the destination MAC address of Ethernet switched path, the parameter ESP-SA refers to the source MAC address of the Ethernet switched path, and the parameter ESP-VID refers to the value of B-VLAN. A point-to-point Traffic Engineering Service Instance (TESI) is composed of a pair of bidirectional point-to-point Ethernet switched paths. Specific description related to the triad and the TESI may see the IEEE802.1Qay standard.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the full path protection of the PBB-TE tunnel in the related art. The left-to-right direction in FIG. 1 is taken as example, and the ESP of the end-to-end working tunnel Y-B-C-D-X is <B-MAC2, B-MAC1, B-VLAN1>, wherein B-MAC2 is the MAC address of node X, which is the destination MAC address; B-MAC1 is the MAC address of node Y, which is the source MAC address; B-VLAN1 is the value of the B-VID of the end-to-end working tunnel Y-B-C-D-X.
The full path protection is implemented in FIG. 1, wherein Y and X are the ends of the tunnel instance of the end-to-end working tunnel Y-B-C-D-X of the TESI; Y-F-G-H-X is the protection tunnel of the Y-B-C-D-X. When it is detected that Y-B-C-D-X fails, it can be switched to the Y-F-G-H-X, and B-VLANs born on the tunnels are respectively designated for the working tunnel and the protection tunnel, for example, B-VLAN1 is designated to the working tunnel and B-VLAN2 is designated to the protection tunnel, when pre-configuring, for the purpose of distinguishing that a packet is forwarded on the working tunnel or the protection tunnel when forwarding the packet.
The continuity of a tunnel is checked by sending the Continuity Check Message (CCM) defined in the IEEE 802.1ag standard on the tunnel. Ends of the tunnel send CCMs to each other respectively along the working tunnel and the protection tunnel, and the CCM message headers for the working tunnel and the protection tunnel respectively encapsulates B-VLAN1 and B-VLAN2 (see the IEEE 802.1Qay standard).
Although the end-to-end protection technology of the PBB-IE can effectively protect tunnels, the end-to-end protection scheme not only has a relatively long protection switching time, but also involves relatively more nodes. Therefore, when a certain segment of a path is very fragile or a certain segment is very important, protection may be only made for a segment link of the end-to-end tunnel. The protection object of the segment protection domain is one or more protected TESIs born on the working segment in the segment protection domain. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of segment link protection of the PBB-TE in the related art. As shown in FIG. 2, B-C-D is the segment bearer link of the end-to-end working tunnels TESI-1 and TESI-2 and is the segment working link, and B-F-G-H-D is the segment protection link. To differentiate from the full path protection of the end-to-end tunnel, the segment link is called as the segment hereafter, i.e., B-C-D is a working segment, and B-F-G-H-D is the protection segment of the B-C-D. When the working segment has a failure, all the protected TESIs on the physical link are switched to the protection segment.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of two segment protection domains with a shared link. As shown in FIG. 3, there are two segment protection domains, segment protection domain1 and segment protection domain 2. The working segment in segment protection domain 1 is the link of B-C, whose protection segment is B-F-G-C; the working segment in protection domain 2 is the link of C-D, whose protection segment is C-G-H-D. C-G is the shared link in the two segment protection domains, wherein C is the shared node in the working segments and the protection segments in the two segment protection domains (PIB for short), and G is the shared node only in the protection segments in the two segment protection domains (AIB for short). It is assumed that a certain TESI is carried on the working segments in the segment protection domain 1 and the segment protection domain 2 and is protected by the two protection domains, and the bidirectional ESPs of the TESI are ESP-1 and ESP-2. A filtering data base (FDB) is stored in the nodes and the FDB contains a plurality of FDB entries, whose normal form is <destination end (DA), ESP-VID>→out port (Out). In a normal case, ESP-1 of the TESI at the Y→X direction is along B-C-D in the protection domain. It is assumed that ESP-VID of ESP-1 is 1, then the FDB entry on the node of the protection domain is configured as the "<X, 1>→Out" entry in the filtering data base above the node in the figure. Similarly, it is assumed that ESP-VID of ESP-2 at the X→Y direction is 2, then the FDB entry on the node in the protection domain is configured as the "<Y, 2>→Out" entry in the filtering data base above the node in the figure.
In a normal case, segment protection domain 1 only needs to pre-configure working entry and standby entry for TESIs protected by the protection domain on the segment ends B and C, and switches between the two entries when a failure occurs. FIG .4 is a schematic diagram of the protection switching when the working link in one of the two segment protection domains with a shared link shown in FIG. 3 fails. As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, on ESP-1at the Y→C direction, the working entry of node B is "<X, 1>→P2" and the standby entry is "<X, 1>→P3"; on ESP2 at the X→Y direction, the working entry of node C is "<Y, 2>→P1" and the standby entry is "<Y, 2>→P3". Nodes B and C forward packets according to working entries by default, and when the B-C link fails, nodes B and C switch to their own standby entries for filtering packets.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the protection switching when the shared node in the two segment protection domains with a shared link shown in FIG. 3 fails. As shown in FIG. 5, when the shared node PIB in the two segment protection domains with a shared link fails, the two segment protection domains switch the ESP-1 and ESP-2 from B-C-D to B-F-G-H-D, and at the moment, the configuration about the FDB entries of the bidirectional ESPs on the' node C (PIB) is unchanged, i.e., the configuration about using which FDB entry to filter packets is unchanged.
If both of the two segment protection domains adopt the non-revertive mode, then the traffic is still carried on the A-B-F-G-H-D-E link after the failure of node C (PIB) recovering. At the moment, the configuration about the FDB entries of the bidirectional ESPs on node C (PIB) is unchanged. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the protection switching when the protection segment in protection domain 1 shown in FIG. 3 fails in the non-revertive mode. As shown in FIG. 6, at the moment, if the link F-G fails, the failure belongs to the failure of the un-shared link in the segment protection domain 1, then node B will switch the FDB entry of ESP-1 to the working entry "<X, 1>→P2", and node G (AIB) will switch the FDB entry of ESP-1 to "<Y, 2>→P3". In the node C (PIB), the FDB entry of ESP-1 is still maintained in the working entry "<X, 1>→P2", and the FDB entry of ESP-2is still maintained in the working entry "<Y, 2>→P1", and therefore, ESP-1 is along with A-B-C-D-E and ESP-2 is along with A-B-C-G-H-D-E. It can be seen from the figure that ESP-1 and ESP-2 are now not co-routed at this moment, i.e., the bidirectional data streams of one data communication instance are not transmitted on the same path. Likewise, in the segment protection domains with a shared link, the case that bidirectional ESPs are not co-routed will also occur in the case that there is one segment protection domain working in the non-revertive mode. However, IEEE802.1Qay requires that the bidirectional ESPs of a point-to-point TESI should be co-routed, so for the existing segment protection method for Ethernet tunnels, when at least one of the two segment protection domains with a shared link works in the non-revertive mode, the bidirectional ESPs are not co-routed after the protection switching during the period from the working segments passing the two segment protection domains failing simultaneously or the shared node of the working segments failing to the failure recovering, which does not meet the requirement of IEEE802.1Qay.

Local protection method of ethernet tunnel and sharing node of work sections of protection domain


A method and system for detecting an islanding condition in a grid is provided. The method comprises detecting a potential islanding condition in a grid; and, in response to the detected potential islanding condition, ramping up an amount of reactive power, active power, or a combination of active and reactive power that is generated from a power conversion system until the earlier of the power conversion system shutting down or a threshold condition being reached.

This invention relates generally to renewable power generation and more specifically to detection of islanding for a power generation facility connected to a grid. The system and method are particularly applicable to solar, wind, and other renewable power generation systems.
Renewable energy sources such as solar energy sources, wind energy sources, and hydrokinetic energy sources have increasingly penetrated the power generation space in recent years. One challenge in feeding the power generated by renewable energy sources to the grid is islanding, which refers to a condition in which a renewable energy source continues to feed power even though the electric utility (grid) is no longer coupled to the energy source. The detection of an islanding condition is important for safety and grid stability.
A number of passive and active methods for islanding detection have been proposed. Many of these methods either have longer than desirable detection times or fail to detect all islanding conditions.
In one example of an active method of islanding detection using reactive power, a small amount of reactive power is continuously fed by the power conversion system and causes the power conversion system to be shut down upon an islanding condition. In this example, injecting a higher amount of reactive power results in shorter detection period with higher power conversion losses, whereas injecting a lower amount of reactive power results in lower losses but a longer detection period. Hence low losses and short detection time requirements appear contradictory.
Accordingly, a technique is needed to detect an islanding condition with reasonable speed and acceptable power.

Method and system for islanding detection and protection


An improved Cr.sub.2 O.sub.3 catalyst composition, prepared by pyrolysis of ammonium dichromate, which contains less than 100 ppm of alkali metal and is useful in HF hydrofluorination reactions.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,755,477 describes a process for producing fluorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons which comprises fluorinating a halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon, including tetrachloroethylene and chlorotrifluoroethylene, by reaction in the gas phase with HF in the presence of a steam-treated and calcined chromium oxide catalyst prepared by a multi-step process. Example 23, column 5, shows tetrachloroethylene as a raw material with formation of CF.sub.3 CHCl.sub.2 (20%), CF.sub.3 CHClF (20%), CF.sub.3 CHF.sub.2 (30%), and CF.sub.3 CClF.sub.2 (20%) at 10/1 HF/C.sub.2 Cl.sub.4 mol ratio, 5.4 seconds contact time and 360.degree. C. reaction temperature. Example 24, column 5, shows chlorotrifluoroethylene as a raw material with formation of CF.sub.2 .dbd.CF.sub.2 (20%) and CF.sub.3 CHClF (13%) at 1.8/l HF/C.sub.2 ClF.sub.3 ratio, 4 seconds contact time and 320.degree. C. reaction temperature. In these examples, less desirable pentafluorinated products are obtained in a greater amount than the desired tri-and tetrafluoro products.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,258,500 describes a process for the catalytic vapor phase reaction of HF with halohydrocarbons, including tetrachloroethylene and chlorotrifluoroethylene, employing a catalyst that consists essentially of a heat-activated anhydrous chromium (III) oxide which may be supported on alumina. This catalyst is highly active. Example 17, column 14 showing fluorination of tetrachloroethylene with this catalyst, like that of the above '477 patent, produces large quantities of the less desirable highly fluorinated pentafluoroethane. At 400.degree. C. the product distribution is 35.0% pentafluoroethane, 9.2% 1-chloro-1,2,2,2-tetrafluoroethane, and 3.5% 1,1-dichloro-2,2,2-trifluoroethane. At 300.degree. C. the product distribution is 38.3% 1-chloro-1,2,2,2-tetrafluoroethane, 25.4% pentafluoroethane, and 16.0% 1,1-dichloro-2,2,2-trifluoroethane. Example 20, column 15, shows that chlorotrifluoroethylene yields CF.sub.3 CHF.sub.2 as the major product at 400.degree. C.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,591,646 discloses the use of catalysts, such as oxides of chromium, for preparation of chlorofluoroethanes by the catalytic reaction, in the gaseous phase, of acetylene, HF and chlorine in the presence of a recycle mixture of halogenated hydrocarbons. In column 2, lines 24-26, it is stated that the catalyst can be associated with modifiers which enhance its activity. Some examples of modifiers are fluorides of potassium, sodium, lithium and cesium. Claim 6 discloses a calcinated and fluorinated alumina catalyst which is impregnated with ammonium dichromate.
These catalyst are not entirely satisfactory in terms of fluorinating activity and catalyst life.


A method for color feature extraction extracts a color feature vector representative of the color of each image pixel contained in an image signal. The method comprises: receiving the image signal; mapping the image signal to a color space model, where the color of each of the plural image pixels is represented by a first parameter, a second parameter, and a third parameter; obtaining an adjusted second parameter; clustering the plural image pixels into plural color regions or plural fuzzy regions of a color plane of the color space model; and designating the color feature vector to each of the plural image pixels based on the clustering result.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for color feature extraction and more particularly, to a method capable of precisely and rapidly extracting a color feature vector representative of the color of an image pixel contained in an image signal, and designating the color feature vector to the image pixel.
2. Description of Related Art
With the development of Internet and computer technology, application of multi-media becomes more and more popular in modern life. Unlike the conventional manner of message communication in which persons communicate with each other mostly by context, more static or dynamic image information is further attached nowadays. With the attached image information, it allows the message delivery to become more splendid and more colorful.
Image processing technique is also being improved in response to the aforementioned image signal delivery, such as image segmentation, image synthesis, image recognition, or the popular 2-Dimensional to 3-Dimensional video converting technique. With the popularity of 3D movies, the 2-Dimensional to 3-Dimensional video converting technique is promoted and becomes an even much hot topic for research. Thus, no matter for industry or for academic purpose, lots of efforts are spent in chasing 2-Dimensional to 3-Dimensional video converting technique with higher quality.
In the 2-Dimensional to 3-Dimensional video converting technique, the extraction of color feature of an image signal is deemed as a significant process. Traditionally, when desiring to extract the color feature of an image signal, a specific color space model will be selected at first, such as an HSI color space model. The selected HSI color space model has a color plane, and the color plane is segmented uniformly. Generally speaking, the color plane is segmented into five color regions and each represents different color, such as red color region, green color region, cyan color region, blue color region, and magenta color region. Additionally, the image signal being converted to this HSI color space model carries several parameters with different information. According to the parameters carried by the image signal, the image signal will be clustered to distinguished color regions of the aforementioned segmented color plane; moreover, the image signal is then determined to have what sort of color feature based upon the above process.
However, during the process of segmenting the color plane, the boundary of different color regions varies continuously, for example, the boundary varied from red color region to green color region appears to be red to greed, and therefore the vicinity of the boundary forms a fuzzy region. A corresponding point located in such a fuzzy region is difficult to be judged what exact color the corresponding point is no matter by human eye or by computer. Hence, during the process of segmenting the color plane, different result of color plane segmentation is obtained due to different sensing on color for each person.
As a result, once the color of an image pixel of an image signal is clustered to the aforementioned fuzzy region such as the boundary with color appeared to be red to greed, the color of the image pixel would possibly be judged as red by a certain person, but judged as green by another person. Hence, discrepancy occurs resulting in severely influencing the quality on color feature extraction. Therefore, how to improve the judging criterion while the color of an image pixel is clustered to fuzzy region will become an object desired to be improved in modern 2-Dimensional to 3-Dimensional video converting technique.
Accordingly, the industry needs a method for color feature extraction capable of precisely and rapidly extracting a color feature vector representative of the color of an image pixel contained in an image signal, and designating the color feature vector to the image pixel.


The present invention provides amino acid sequences of human lanosterol synthase proteins and nucleic acid sequences encoding these lanosterol synthase proteins. The present invention provides isolated lanosterol synthase proteins and encoding nucleic acid molecules, vectors and host cells containing these nucleic acid molecules, and processes for producing the lanosterol synthase proteins.

The present invention is in the field of enzyme proteins that are related to the lanosterol synthase enzyme subfamily, recombinant DNA molecules, and protein production. The present invention specifically provides novel peptides and proteins that effect protein phosphorylation and nucleic acid molecules encoding such peptide and protein molecules, all of which are useful in the development of human therapeutics and diagnostic compositions and methods.
Many human enzymes serve as targets for the action of pharmaceutically active compounds. Several classes of human enzymes that serve as such targets include helicase, steroid esterase and sulfatase, convertase, synthase, dehydrogenase, monoxygenase, transferase, kinase, glutanase, decarboxylase, isomerase and reductase. It is therefore important in developing new pharmaceutical compounds to identify target enzyme proteins that can be put into high-throughput screening formats. The present invention advances the state of the art by providing novel human drug target enzymes related to the lanosterol synthase subfamily.
Lanosterol Synthase
The novel human protein, and encoding gene, provided by the present invention is related to lanosterol synthase enzymes. Specifically, the protein provided by the present invention is 11 amino acids shorter in exon 4 compared with the art-known lanosterol synthase protein provided in Genbank gi4505027 (see the amino acid sequence alignment of the protein of the present invention against gi4505027 provided in FIG. 2).
Lanosterol synthase enzymes are important for catalyzing the cyclization of squalene-2,3-epoxide lanosterol, which is the parental compound of all mammalian steroids (Young et al., Human Genet May 1996;97(5):620-4). Baker et al. (Biochem Biophys Res Commun Aug. 4, 1995; 213(1):154-60) cloned and characterized the human lanosterol synthase gene and found that it encoded a predicted 83 kDa protein of 732 amino acids; this amino acid sequence shared 36-40% identity with yeast and plant homologues and 83% identity with Rattus norvegicus lanosterol synthase. For a further review of the lanosterol synthase gene/protein, see Sung et al., Biol Pharm Bull October 1995; 18(10):1459-61.
Enzyme proteins, particularly members of the lanosterol synthase enzyme subfamily, are a major target for drug action and development. Accordingly, it is valuable to the field of pharmaceutical development to identify and characterize previously unknown members of this subfamily of enzyme proteins. The present invention advances the state of the art by providing previously unidentified human enzyme proteins, and the polynucleotides encoding them, that have homology to members of the lanosterol synthase enzyme subfamily. These novel compositions are useful in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of biological processes associated with human diseases.
The present invention is based in part on the identification of amino acid sequences of human enzyme peptides and proteins that are related to the lanosterol synthase enzyme subfamily, as well as allelic variants and other mammalian orthologs thereof. These unique peptide sequences, and nucleic acid sequences that encode these peptides, can be used as models for the development of human therapeutic targets, aid in the identification of therapeutic proteins, and serve as targets for the development of human therapeutic agents that modulate enzyme activity in cells and tissues that express the enzyme. Experimental data as provided in FIG. 1 indicates expression in humans in teratocarcinoma, ovary, uterus, muscle, brain, colon, and hippocampus.

Isolated nucleic acid molecules encoding human lanosterol synthase proteins, and related products and processes


Disclosed is a positive photosensitive composition, comprising an alkali soluble resin having at least some or all of the alkali soluble groups protected by a substituent which can be decomposed by an acid, a compound which generates an acid upon irradiation with an actinic radiation, and a compound which generates water under action of an acid catalyst.

The present invention relates to a positive photosensitive composition which can be used as a photoresist in the manufacture of a semiconductor device and to a pattern forming method using the same.
Photoresist is used in the manufacture of electronic parts requiring various types of fine processing such as semiconductor integrated circuits like LSI. Also, a demagnificating projection type mask aligner, which is generally called stepper, is used as a light exposure apparatus for forming a resist pattern. The light source used in such a light exposure apparatus includes, for example, g-line (wavelength of 436 nm), h-line (wavelength of 405 nm), and i-line (wavelength of 365 nm) of a mercury lamp and an excimer laser light of KrF (wavelength of 248 nm), ArF (wavelength of 193 nm), F.sub.2 (wavelength of 157 nm), etc. Also, the exposure using an electron beam and an ion beam is an important technology in that, since the beam has a short wavelength, it is possible to achieve a fine processing, and in that a pattern can be formed directly. Such being the situation, it is of high importance to develop a resist adapted for such an exposure technology.
Formation of a fine pattern with a high through-put is absolutely necessary in recent years in accordance with progress in the degree of integration of semiconductor integrated circuit such as LSI. An electron beam lithography technology of a high sensitivity is also absolutely necessary as well as the resist material and process technology adapted for the lithography technology. However, the electron beam lithography necessitates a vacuum system, giving rise to problems derived from the use of the vacuum system. For example, resist containing an alkali soluble resin having an acetal group introduced therein as a protective group has a small activation energy for the deblocking reaction and, thus, is advantageous in that the resist exhibits a high sensitivity. However, where a resist film formed by coating a substrate with such a resist is irradiated with an electron beam, a layer which is unlikely to be dissolved in a developing solution is formed on the surface of the resist film, resulting in failure to form a resist pattern having a strict dimensional accuracy. In the worst case, the layer unlikely to be dissolved in the developing solution extends to cover an upper surface of the adjacent resist pattern, making it impossible to achieve resolution of the pattern.
In the light exposure using a KrF excimer laser light which does not require a vacuum system, the resist is affected by the condition such as humidity in the light exposure step after the resist coating step, making it difficult to form a resist pattern of a predetermined size at a predetermined sensitivity.


A multi-diaphragm speaker comprises at least four diaphragms, inner connecting rods, and outer connecting rods. The diaphragms located at odd-numbered positions are connected to the inner connecting rods via connecting points, and then the inner connecting rods are connected via the outer connecting rods, thus forming a first set of diaphragms. The diaphragms located at even-numbered positions are connected to the inner connecting rods via connecting points, and then the inner connecting points are connected via the outer connecting rods, thus forming a second set of diaphragms. The long rods and short rods of the inner connecting rods in the first set of diaphragms and in the second set of diaphragms are staggered. The present invention can implement connection of diaphragms without requiring penetration of the diaphragms, thus preventing occurrences of air leakage and poor sound quality, and enhancing sound effects of the speaker.

As a common electroacoustic transducer for converting electric energy into acoustic energy, a speaker plays an important role in sound system. There is a wide range of speakers, wherein audio power enables cones or diaphragms vibrating and resonating with ambient air to generate sound through galvanomagnetic effect, piezoelectric effect or electrostatic effect. Consequently, thanks to speakers, people may enjoy splendid music.
A diaphragm, functioning as a sound production component, is required to be light enough to ensure the sound effects of the speaker. Meanwhile, in order to decrease the resonant frequency of the speaker and improve the sensitivity of the speaker, a plurality of diaphragms are utilized in one speaker, and the diaphragms are connected by connecting rods, thereby optimizing the effect of electroacoustic transducing. However, in the production process of the existing speaker, the connecting rods are required to penetrate the diaphragms, so that the respective diaphragms can be connected, which may inevitably cause leakage of air, and once air leaks, poor sound quality, such as distortion of sound or noise and the like, may appears, which further influences the sound effects of the speaker.


A compact, autoclavable needle safety device includes an adjustable cavity having an open position sized to receive a needle protective cap and a closed position to grip the cap within the cavity. The cavity is biased toward one of the positions and adjustable to the other position by single-handed actuation of a handle. In the closed position, the cap is gripped in place while allowing withdrawal of a syringe including a needle for use. The device maintains the cap open-end-up on an underlying surface for reinserting the needle to avoid exposing the user's hand to needle stick injury.

Needle safety has long been a concern of doctors, dentists and other health professionals. The recent spread of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has changed a needle prick from a minor irritation to a potentially fatal injury. A July 30, 1988 update from the Surveillance, Forecasting and Impact Assessment Unit of the Global Programs on AIDS reports:
"Since June, 1988, a total of 7,766 AIDS cases have been reported to WHO [World Health Organization], bringing the cumulative world total to 108,176. A total of 177 countries are now reporting to WHO with 140 reporting one or more AIDS cases. About half of this month's increase was reported from the U.S.A. and updated reports from several African countries accounted for most of the other half."
The U.S. Center for Disease Control statistics dated Sept. 5, 1988 show a total of 22,242 AIDS cases reported since Jan. 1, 1988 and a cumulative total of 72,645 cases. These alarming statistics dictate the use of improved safety devices and procedures for anyone potentially exposed to AIDS. Regarding health professionals in particular, the CDC report included one health care worker who developed AIDS after a documented needle stick.
Medical needles generally are covered by a protective cap when not in use. When a needle is so covered, it presents little or no danger of needle stick to a user. A danger is presented when handling an uncapped needle and particularly in the process of recapping a needle. One method of avoiding injury when recapping a needle is to use a needle cap holder to hold the cap during the reinsertion.
A device for holding a syringe including a needle having a protective cap mounted on the syringe is known which includes an enlarged flat base for maintaining the device upright on an underlying surface. It further includes a central elongate well extending into the device and having a longitudinal axis normal to the base for receiving the needle cap and maintaining the syringe upright. The well is internally threaded to hold the cap in place while allowing withdrawal of the needle for use.
Use of such a threaded well device thus requires a user to rotate the syringe in order to engage the cap in the holder. As the cap is free to rotate around the needle, it may be necessary to use both hands to engage the cap in the holder; one hand to support the syringe upright and the other hand to directly rotate the cap to threadably engage it in the holder. This process is cumbersome and time-consuming. For those reasons, a health worker may be discouraged from using the device consistently and instead may take unnecessary risks by handling the needle cap without such a device. Another drawback of the device described is that the syringe is held upright between uses; a display that is disconcerting for many patients.
In the absence of a suitable cap holder, a user simply holds the syringe in one hand and the cap in the other to reinsert the needle in the cap. That procedure obviously is fraught with danger of incurring a needle stick, with the attendant risk of transmitting AIDS, hepatitis, or other blood-borne diseases to the health worker.
A pick guard for shielding the delicate tip of a medical pick or the like is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,904,333. That device includes a pair of elongate jaws integrally hinged together at one of their ends for pivotal movement between open and closed positions. It must be held in one hand while the needle is introduced between the jaws and then clamped to a closed position in which it grips the needle. Such a device does not appear suitable for covering the tip of a needle. Its use requires holding the guard in one hand while introducing the needle between the jaws. A miscalculation in that regard likely would lead to a needle stick injury, as no means is provided for shielding a user from such an injury.
A protective device for needles of hypodermic syringes is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,854,976. That device is adapted to hold a needle which is separate from the syringe; it is of no benefit for holding a syringe including a needle having a cap mounted thereon or for holding the cap.
Accordingly, the need remains for a needle safety device for protecting a user from needle stick injury while handling a syringe including a needle having a protective cap mounted on the syringe.


A milling tool fitted with indexable bits to be used as a circular drill cutter for forming pockets, elongate recesses and through-bores in a solid material and for milling already existing recesses, with a possibility of relief milling or counterboring of through-bores from beneath.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a circular drill cutter with indexable bits and associated bit seats for producing pockets, elongate slotted holes, through-bores in a solid material, with a possibility of relief milling and rearward counterboring, reaming of already produced openings, wherein the tool is rotatably driven on CNC-controlled machine-tool and is displaced along a path with a continuous feeding along a Z-axis or, during formation of large pockets and during copy milling, is driven without feeding along the Z-axis, wherein the indexable bit has, for each cutting engagement region, a main face cutting edge and a face side cutting edge, a finishing cutting region, and a cross-cutting edge which forms a transitional region between finishing cutting region and the adjacent cutting engagement region, and a cross-cutting edge which forms a transitional region between the main face cutting region and the next cutting engagement region, and wherein the indexable bit has a chip forming groove.
2. Description of the Related Art
German Publication DE 4 342 577 A1 discloses a drill cutter for producing openings, fits in a solid material, cut-out, and threads in association with CNC-controlled machine-tools. In DE 4 342 577 A1, the outer flank cutting edges are divided in a roughing cutting region and a finishing cutting region. In German Patent DE 39 09 77, two front cutting edges per a cutting unit are used for forming cored openings. In order to provide two end sides for each indexable bit, in DE 39 09 077, respectively, two triangularly shaped indexing bits are used. The drawback of this consists in that the necessity to provide, respectively, two indexable bits for each cutting unit, permits mounting on the tool shank only a limited number (a half) of cutting units. The necessity to provide two bits for each cutting unit double the price of a cutting unit and, secondly, the fitting of the milling cutter within the limited number of the cutting units increases the production time by 100%. Further, a method of producing fits is disclosed in DE 43 42 577 A1 in which the finishing size is produced during the return stroke. However, this cutting geometry and this method do not permit to produce fits in a solid material without changing the tool.
Despite these improvements, in many cases, an economical use is not possible. For one, when cutters are formed as indexable bits, they can be turned only once, secondly, in many cases such as the production of pockets during copy milling and milling off burned spots and cored recesses, the second inwardly located face cutting edge is not necessary.
Also, during the production of the through-bores, the inwardly located face cutting edge must not necessarily lie at the same height. Still further, a non-slip mounting of the indexable bits on the bit holder in accordance with the solution set forth in DE 43 42 527 A1 (recesses and tubes) is not insured during heavy machining. Yet further, the space provided for the necessary key elements (torque screwdriver) for changing the bits limits the number of indexable bits to be secured on the tool head with screw clamps. In addition, the possibility of chambering and relief milling need be insured.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is an economically operating circular drill cutter with indexable bits capable of being turned more than once, with an improved roughing cutting region, with an integrated finishing cutting region, and with a cutting edge for rearward chambering of through-openings with which relief milling of recesses is also possible, and with drill cutter having a slip-free bit seat, and wherein a largest possible number of indexable bits with different face cutting edges can be secured on the circular drill cutter.

Circular drill cutter with indexable inserts and pertaining tip seats


A gas inlet suitable in particular for use in an ion thruster includes a housing which is made of a gas-tight ceramics material, and an insert which is arranged in the housing and is made of a porous ceramics material. The geometry and pore structure of the insert are such that the insert forms a desired flow resistance for a gas stream flowing through the insert.

Ion thrusters used as propulsion for spacecraft generate thrust, and thus driving power, in that a fuel gas, such as, for example, xenon, is first ionized, and the gas particles are then accelerated in an electric field. In a neutralizer, the accelerated gas particles are electrically neutralized and finally ejected in the form of a jet at a speed of from 10 to 130 km/s. A gas inlet, via which the fuel gas, which flows through a fuel gas line connected to a fuel gas tank, is fed into the ion thruster, must ensure a defined inflow of the fuel gas into the thruster in order to allow the fuel gas to be distributed evenly in the thruster. Furthermore, the gas inlet must generate a defined flow resistance in order to ensure that plasma generated in the thruster does not flash over into the fuel gas line. This flow resistance should also remain as constant as possible in the case of a large number of thermal cycles to which the gas inlet is subjected in the course of its operating life.
Gas inlets currently fitted in ion thrusters comprise a plurality of components which are mounted in several steps. In a first step, a gas inlet housing is manufactured, into which a first sintered filter is then introduced. Glass beads or quartz sand particles having a diameter of less than 0.2 mm are then introduced into the gas inlet housing and compacted by a vibrating plate. The glass beads or quartz sand particles serve to establish the desired flow resistance of the gas inlet. A second sintered filter is then introduced. The sintered filters prevent the glass beads or quartz glass particles from falling out of the gas inlet housing. Finally, a cover is soldered to the gas inlet housing. The cover is provided with a gas inlet opening via which the fuel gas is fed into the gas inlet housing filled with glass beads or quartz sand particles.


There is provided a pseudo-halftone image expression method capable of processing vector data with an excellent image quality and small computational complexity. Gray levels of nxc3x97n/m are expressed by varying the number of formed dots within a matrix of nxc3x97n dots on an m-dot basis (where n denotes an integer of 8 or more and m denotes an integer of 4 or more). A dot formation rule corresponding to each gray level within a matrix is divided into at least two stages, form a low gray level to a high gray level. In a first stage, dots are arranged at random and in dispersion so as to separate a dot from each other. In a second stage, dots are extended in random directions in turn so as to prevent an island of successive dots from coupling with each other using the dots arranged at the first stage as a nucleus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pseudo-halftone image expression method for use in expressing such an image having halftones as a black-white and color photograph gradually with binary dots.
2. Description of the Related Art
In case of four basic colors of cyanic, magenta, yellow and black, a raster plotter can merely express seven total colors including mixed colors of red, green and blue thereof in addition to the four colors. It can not express more than eight colors even though a ground color of white is additionally included. Various methods have been developed, however, to create pseudo halftones in the art. Generally known methods include a pattern dither method which realizes a pseudo halftone expression by distributing thresholds for binarization into a matrix of 4xc3x974 dots, for example, and increasing the number of formed dots in accordance with gray levels. FIG. 8 exemplifies some threshold matrixes. FIGS. 8A-8C respectively illustrate the threshold matrixes of a Bayer type, mesh type and whirlpool type.
The pattern dither method can advantageously realize the pseudo halftone expression with a relatively simple algorithm, high-speed processing and small computation complexity. It has a disadvantage, however, that a coarse image quality is remarkable such that the same pattern is seen repeatedly, for example.
There are other methods suitable for processing a full color image such as a photograph in general while their algorithms are more sophisticated and their computational complexities are larger than those of the pattern dither method that tries to realize the pseudo halftone expression with a simple algorithm. An error diffusion method represents such methods. This method replaces a subject dot with the nearest basic color or a mixed color thereof and compensates an error, which is caused relative to the original color by the replacement, at a later color replacement.
The error diffusion method, on the other hand performs a fine compensation on a dot basis and thus enables the pseudo halftone expression to be processed with a relatively higher image quality. It has a disadvantage, however, that its computation complexity becomes enormous because of the error compensation computing on a dot basis. The error diffusion method also has other disadvantages that the compensation cannot be achieved until the errors are stored when a light color is painted out, and that the compensation cannot over take an image with a sharp density variation and degrades the image quality extremely. In addition, the method is difficult for use in processing vector data while it is effective for raster data and the like because the computation is achieved along with scanning.
The present invention has been made in consideration of such the disadvantages and accordingly has an object to provide a pseudo-halftone image expression method capable of processing vector data with a high image quality and small computational complexity.
The present invention is provided with a pseudo-halftone image expression method for expressing gray levels of nxc3x97n/m by varying the number of formed dots within a matrix of nxc3x97n dots on an m-dot basis (where n denotes an integer of 8 or more and m denotes an integer of 4 or more). A dot formation rule corresponding to each gray level within a matrix is divided into at least two stages, from a low gray level to a high gray level. In a first stage, dots are arranged at random and in dispersion so as to separate a dot from each other. In a second stage, dots are extended in random directions in turn so as to prevent an island of successive dots from coupling with each other using the dots arranged at the first stage as a nucleus.
A factor for degrading the image quality according to the conventional pattern dither method is a remarkable texture noise. This is caused by regular increase of the dots both in length and width within the matrix in accordance with the variation of the gray levels from a low level to a high level. Another factor for degrading the image quality is an irregular dense pattern that appears at a portion where a mass of dots joins with each other when the gray level varies from a certain level to a next level and the number of dots increases.
According to the present invention, the number of formed dots within the matrix is varied on a multi-dot basis in accordance with gray level variations. In addition, the dots are arranged at random and in dispersion at the first stage so as to separate a dot from each other. The dots are also extended in random directions in turn at the second stage so as to prevent the island of successive dots from coupling with each other. Thus, a smooth and excellent image can be obtained without any regular arrangement and local concentration of dots. The method of the present invention employs a fixed pattern system in accordance with gray levels. Thus, it is possible to realize a high-speed processing without such the computation on a dot basis as is performed in the error diffusion method and to process vector data easily as well.
Due to the following reason, n is defined with an integer of 8 or more. If n is less than 8, it becomes difficult to arrange plural dots within the matrix at random and in dispersion and also to express gradually in accordance with an island growth, resulting in the regular noise and irregular dense.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a third stage may be provided following to the second stage as a dot formation rule corresponding to gray levels within a matrix. In the third stage, a new dot that does not couple to each island is arranged before an island of different dots formed at the second stage is coupled to each other. Then, dots are extended from a low gray level to a high gray level in turn using the new dot as a nucleus. Thus, an extreme dense variation due to a linkage between islands can be avoided and a further smooth and excellent image can be obtained.
According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a half dot formation pattern in lower gray levels among the whole gray levels to be expressed may be stored. Then, another half dot formation pattern in higher gray levels may be determined as an inverted pattern of the dot formation pattern in the lower gray levels. Thus, it is possible to reduce a data amount of the pattern to be stored down to half the original storage amount. As a result, a time for obtaining the pattern and memory capacity for storing the pattern can be reduced by half.
According to further preferred embodiment of the present invention, a position of the dot to be arranged within the matrix at the first stage may be determined by arranging a plurality of dots at random within the matrix, and repeating predetermined times a process of moving each dot so as to be separated from the nearest dot by a predetermined distance. In addition, a position of the dot to be arranged within the matrix at the first stage may be determined to the emptiest position among dots already arranged.
Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments thereof.


The addition of segmented write word lines to a spin-transfer MRAM structure serves to magnetically bias the free layer so that the precessional motion of the magnetization vector that is set in play by the flow of spin polarized electrons into the free layer allows said magnetic vector to be switched rather than to oscillate between two easy axis directions.

Magnetic random access memories (MRAMs) using magnetic tunneling junctions (MTJs) are strong candidates to provide a dense (area=˜8-25 f2, where f is the smallest feature size), fast (1˜30 ns read/write speed), and non-volatile storage solution for future memory applications. The MTJ utilizes at least two magnetic layers that sandwich a thin dielectric insulting layer such as Al2O3, AlNxOy, or MgO, with one magnetic layer pinned by an anti-ferromagnetic film. To protect data from erasure or thermal agitation, an in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy is needed for the magnetic free layer to store data.
As seen in FIG. 1a, the cross point of Word Line 11 and Bit Line 12 currents programs MTJ cell 13. The problem of keeping cells that share the same word line or bit line being disturbed is a major concern. Segmented Word Line approaches as described in "Segmented Write Line Architecture For Writing Magnetic Random Access Memories" [1] eliminate disturb conditions of cells on the same word line outside the selected segment. When the operating point is chosen deep along the hard axis, the required bi-directional bit line currents to program the selected cells are significantly reduced. The possibility of disturb along the bit line is also reduced. This is a most desirable MRAM operating condition.
Switching fields generated by word line and bit line currents for the conventional MRAM are about 30-60 Oe in intensity. For a segmented word line scheme, the bias field generated by the write word line is about 50-100Oe while the switching field generated by a bit line is about 15 Oe. The resulting shift of the uperating point is illustrated in FIG. 1b. For either case, the MRAM has to generate a relatively large magnetic field to rewrite recorder information so a relatively large electric current needs to flow through the address wirings.
As the device is further microminiaturized, the address wiring is reduced in width so that it becomes difficult to sustain the needed level of electric current. Furthermore, since the coercive force of the device is also increased, the current required to generate the necessary magnetic field, and hence the power consumption, is also increased.
For this reason, memory devices that use magnetization switching generated by spin transfer are receiving increased attention as an arrangement capable of switching the magnetization direction through application of a small electric current. In this scheme, reversal of the magnetic moment vector of the magnetic free layer is accomplished not by external magnetic fields, but by spin-polarized electrons passing perpendicularly through the stack of memory cell layers. A more detailed description is given in U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,864 by Slonczewski [2] and U.S. Pat. No. 6,532,164 by Redon et a. [3].
As described in the new concept outlined above, by sending an electric current through a magnetic layer having a particular magnetization, spins of electrons are oriented by quantum-mechanical magnetic exchange interaction with the result that the current carrying electrons leave the magnetic layer with a polarized spin. Alternatively, where spin-polarized electrons pass through a magnetic layer having a magnetic moment vector Hs in a preferred easy axis direction, these spin-polarized electrons will cause a continuous rotation of the magnetic moment vector. This may result in a reversal of the magnetic moment vector along its easy axis. Thus, switching of the magnetic moment vector between its two preferred directions along the easy axis may be effected by passing spin-polarized electrons perpendicularly through the magnetic layer.
Recent experimental data by Rippard et al. [4] confirm the very essence of magnetic moment transfer as a source of magnetic excitations and, subsequently, switching. These experiments confirm theoretical predictions by J. C. Sloncezwski [5] and J. Z. Sun [6]) stating that the spin-transfer generated net torque term acting on the magnetization under conditions of a spin-polarized DC current is proportional to:Γ=s nm×(ns×nm)where s is the spin-angular momentum deposition rate, ns is a unit vector whose direction is that of the initial spin direction of the current and nm is a unit vector whose direction is that of the free layer magnetization. The above equation indicates that the torque will be maximum when ns is orthogonal to nm.
Prior art that uses this torque is described in both U.S. Pat. No. 6,532,164 [3] and U.S. 2006/0092696 [7]. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a storage element comprising a single memory cell of the prior art. This storage element consists of under-layer 21, anti-ferromagnetic layer 22, magnetization fixed reference layer 23, tunneling barrier layer 24, free layer 25, nonmagnetic spacer layer 26, magnetic drive layer 27 and capping layer 28. As the direction of magnetization M1 of the magnetization fixed layer 23 is fixed to point to the right hand side. This free layer stores information based on whether the direction of the magnetization M2 is to the right or to the left. Also, since the tunneling barrier layer 24 is located between the free layer 25 and the fixed reference layer 23, constituting an MTJ element, its magneto-resistance is used to determine the direction of the magnetization of the free layer 25.
The magnetization direction in the polarizing (or drive} layer is set to be perpendicular to the film plane. Maintaining magnetization in a direction normal to the plane of a disk is, in general, difficult to achieve. However, certain materials, such as TbFeCo or GdFeCo, used together with CoFe, at a total thickness of about 300 Angstroms, support this. The result is a high level of spin polarization of the FeCo. Magnetization of this type (i.e. normal to the main surface of the disk) are set up by exposing the disk to a magnetic field of at least about 2,000 Oe.
Electrons passing through the layers depicted in FIG. 2 are spin-polarized after passing through magnetic drive layer 27 by the effect of magnetic exchange interaction. Since the magnetization in drive layer 27 is perpendicular to the film plane, the polarization direction, ns, is also perpendicular to the plane of the magnetic free layer, resulting a torque on the free layer magnetization. When the current is large enough, it will overcome the anisotropy field in the free layer, resulting in a precessional movement within the film plane, causing its direction to switch back and forth at the precessional frequency. By controlling the current pulse duration precisely it is possible, in principle, to switch the free layer magnetization whenever required.
However, precession switching is a robust and fundamental effect. It is anticipated that maintaining such accuracy in the definition of the current pulse might prove to be extremely problematic, largely due to varying sources of impedance. Also the current density required for spin-torque switching is too large for ready integration with CMOS technology. Such a large current flowing across an MTJ tunneling barrier would generate long-term reliability problems.    1. U.S. Pat. No. 6,335,890 B1, W. R. Reohr, et al.    2. U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,864, J. C. Slonczewski    3. U.S. Pat. No. 6,532,164, Redon et al.    4. Phys. Rev. Lett. 92 (2004) 027201, W. H. Rippard et al.,    5. J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 159 (1996) LI, J. C. Sloncezwski,    6. Phys. Rev. B, Vol. 62, (2000) 570, J. Z. Sun    7. U.S. Pat. Pub. 2006/0092696 A1, K. Bessho
A routine search of the prior art was performed with the following additional references of interest being found:
U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,126,202 (Huai) and U.S. Pat. No. 7,088,609 (Valet) disclose magnetization switching generated by spin-transfer when a write current passes through a magnetic element. U.S. Pat. No. 7,006,375 (Covington) teaches a hybrid write mechanism using spin-transfer and using a half-select process. U.S. Pat. No. 6,980,469 (Kent et al.) discloses an MRAM device using spin transfer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,771,534 (Stipe) discloses a spin-transfer method with thermal assist, U.S. Pat. No. 6,774,086 (Daughton et al.) shows another spin-transfer method, and U.S. patent Publication 2006/0087880 (Mancoff et al.) discloses spin-transfer with write lines. U.S. patent application No. 2005/0106810 (Pakala et al.) describes reduction of spin transfer switching current by the presence of a stress-assist layer.

Spin transfer MRAM device with magnetic biasing


A turbine and a method for dismantling a blade of a turbine. A turbine includes a rotor that extends in an axial direction and an accessible combustion chamber, which communicates with an annular hot-gas conduit, in which a plurality of blades that form a blade row is arranged. Each blade has a blade root that is fixed to the internal housing and a blade head that lies opposite the root and faces the rotor, the head being fixed to a fixing ring of the turbine that encircles the rotor. To reduce the down time of a turbine during repair, inspection and/or maintenance work, the blade root and/or the blade head can be fixed by means of a manually detachable clamping device. The clamping device is released from the blade and locked in a parking position beyond a displacement path used for removing the blade through the combustion chamber.

DE 606 029 discloses the production of a guide-blade ring for steam or gas turbines in which bands or strips are placed around two rollers, so that they assume an annular form. The bands or strips are provided with cutouts, into which the blades are inserted. After all the blades have been inserted, the guide-blade ring is welded. In the process, the blades are first of all fixed to the strips (which form the platforms) by means of spot welds and the welding is then continued as deposition welding on the outside of the bands or strip until a sufficiently thick layer of the welding metal is formed, which can then be partly turned down. To this end, the welded guide-blade ring is chucked in place in a lathe and machined until a coaxially encircling extension of dovetailed cross section remains. The encircling extension, i.e. the one-piece guide-blade ring, is then fixed in a circular holder which can be clamped by screws or rivets.
DE 195 46 722 A1 discloses a guide-blade carrier for a gas turbine. On its inside facing the hot-gas duct, the guide-blade carrier has a plurality of slots which are arranged one behind the other in its axial longitudinal extent and which run in an annular manner in the circumferential direction and are at the same time provided with a respective undercut. The slots serve to accommodate guide-blade roots of a guide blade. To this end, the root of a guide blade is pushed in the circumferential direction into the slot running in an annular manner.
For repair, inspection and/or maintenance work on the guide blades, they must be removed from the gas turbine. To this end, the gas turbine is opened, so that the guide-blade carrier is accessible and the guide blades can be pushed out of the slot. The opening of the gas turbine is time-consuming and requires a corresponding long shutdown of the gas turbine.

Turbine, fixing device for blades and working method for dismantling the blades of a turbine


A gas sampling apparatus wherein a retractable isokinetic probe is insertable into a gas flow line through aligned guide tubes and a gas sample is isokinetically conveyed to a converging-diverging nozzle where its pressure is reduced by a controlled shock wave.

The electronics industry employs gases, such as nitrogen, in manufacturing operations, such as in the manufacture of very large scale integrated circuits. Increasingly the cleanliness or purity requirements of such gases are becoming more stringent. In particular, the particulate content of such gases is critical to the quality of the product produced by such manufacturing operations.
In order to maintain good quality control over the manufacturing process, the particulate content of the gas must be monitored and measured. Since the gas is supplied to the manufacturing operation at an elevated pressure and since the particulate measuring equipment generally operates at about atmospheric pressure, the pressure of the gas sample must be reduced, often by a factor of ten or more, prior to passage to a particulate counter. This pressure reduction is generally done through a valve or critical orifice usually containing moving or rubbing parts. This causes the generation of significant quantities of particulates thus reducing the accuracy of the measurement. Since the particulate content of the gas is of the order of only a few particles per cubic foot, it can be seen that even minor particulate generation due to the sampling device would have a detrimental effect on the accuracy of the particulate measurement.
Moreover, conventional gas sampling devices generally contain bends or other potential for dead spaces which trap and remove particles from the sample gas, thus further compromising the integrity of the particulate measurement.
In addition, with conventional sample collection systems, the product gas flow must be stopped and the product line depressurized to allow the sample collection device to be connected. This not only causes production delays but also exposes the product gas line to contamination from the outside atmosphere.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a gas sampling device which can be inserted into a gas process stream without disturbing the operation of the gas supply or causing contamination of the gas supply system.
It is another object of this invention to provide a gas sampling device which can reduce the pressure of a gas sample without altering the particulate content of the sample.

Isokinetic probe and pressure reduction assembly

Union Carbide Industrial Gases Technology Corporation


The present invention relates to, for transmitting information by a server from an information gathering device to a terminal device, an information exchange method, an information processor, a communication method, a communication system, an intermediary device, and a communication device. It is directed to provide an information exchange method, an information processor, a communication method, a communication system, an intermediary device, and a communication device with which pieces of streaming video information gathered by a number of information gathering devices can be exchanged efficiently. A feature thereof lies in linking each of the terminal devices to the information gathering device that gathers a given number of pieces of streaming video information that are asked for from its linked terminal device, out of the plurality information gathering devices, directing the information gathering devices to deliver the given number of pieces of streaming video information directly to their linked terminal device, and producing and displaying, by the terminal devices, a predetermined certain screen including a given number of streaming video images that has been delivered.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration of a conventional information exchange system.
Conventional information exchange system 1 is configured in such a manner that information gathering devices 11-1 to 11-n, a server 12, and terminal devices 13-1 to 13-m are allowed to communicate with each other through a network 14.
The information gathering devices 11-1 to 11-n may be, for example, video cameras that take pictures of their surroundings to collect pieces of live streaming video image information. It should be noted that the information gathering devices 11-1 to 11-n may be those that provide pieces of streaming video information in real time.
The n pieces of real-time and/or live streaming video image information gathered by the information gathering devices 11-1 to 11-n are supplied to the server 12 through the network 14. The server 12 distributes and delivers these pieces of real-time and/or live streaming video image information gathered by the information gathering devices 11-1 to 11-n to the individual terminal devices 13-1 to 13-m, in answer to a request from the terminal devices 13-1 to 13-m.
It should be noted that the conventional information gathering systems of the type described are designed for cases where the number of pieces of the streaming video image information to be exchanged is more overwhelming than the number of users, so the server 12 is required to have a high processing capacity.
To this end, the conventional information exchange methods of the type described collect the pieces of streaming video information gathered by the information gathering devices 11-1 to 11-n on the server 12 before distributing and delivering them to the terminal devices 13-1 to 13-m in answer to their requests. Therefore, problems lie in that it causes huge processing loads on the server 12.
In addition, the server 12 is accessed by all terminal devices 13-1 to 13-m that ask for the pieces of streaming video information gathered by the information gathering devices 11-1 to 11-n. Problems lie in that increase in the number of the terminal devices 13-1 to 13-m gradually reduces the communication rate and, in some cases, may cause missing frames from the streaming video information.
FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of a conventional content exchange system.
A content exchange system 20 is configured in such a manner that a client 21 and a server 22 are allowed to communicate with each other through a network 23. Upon a request from the client 21 to the server 22, the server 22 provides the client 21 with a content that is asked for by the client 21 through the network 23.
In this event, a user should work on his or her client 21 to find a server 22 which includes a content that he or she needs and access that server 22. In addition, he or she cannot choose a communication route from the client 21 to the server 22.
In the network 23, individual routers Rt can automatically determine the optimum route for communication, and data are transmitted through the communication route selected by these routers Rt.
As apparent from the above, any clients 21 wanting to obtain necessary content(s) should access a certain server 22 in the conventional content exchange system 20, and they should find the server 22 which stores the content(s) they want. Therefore, problems lie in that user's operation becomes complicated.
In addition, in the conventional content exchange system 20, a communication route is automatically selected by the routers Rt included in the network 23. The routers Rt determine the optimum path depending on the traffic over their surrounding communication paths. They do not take into account the traffic on the downstream paths. Consequently, the overall communication rate of a selected route could possibly be slow. This means that the entire routing is not taken into account.
The present invention was made with respect to the above-mentioned issues, and an object thereof is to provide an information exchange method, an information processor, and an information gathering system with which pieces of streaming video information gathered by a number of information gathering devices can be exchanged efficiently.
In addition, the present invention was made with respect to the above-mentioned issues, and an object thereof is to provide a communication method, a communication system, an intermediary device, and a communication device with which a content that is asked for by a client can be obtained at a high speed.

Information providing method, information processing device, information collection system, communication method, communication system, relay device, and communication device


Diphenyl carbonate is produced by reacting phenol with diethyl carbonate in a series of fixed bed reactors each of which is connected at different position on a distillation column via side draw and return streams. The composition of material in a distillation column varies along the length of the column, which is predictable under a given set of conditions of temperature and pressure, thus withdrawing streams at different stages in the column, allows the reactor receiving the feed from a particular stage to be operated under conditions to maximize the desired reaction, while allowing the unreacted or byproduct to go back into the distillation and be sent to a stage (by the equilibrium of the distillation) where they are favorably treated in a reactor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for the production of diaryl carbonates, such as diphenyl carbonate. More particularly, the invention relates to a process for the production of diaryl carbonates wherein a series of fixed bed reactors withdraw feed from a single distillation column at different separation stages and return the product to the column. The reactors may be operated at different conditions than those of the distillation column to optimize production of diaryl carbonates.
2. Related Art
Diphenyl carbonate is a valuable intermediate for the production of polycarbonate. In current commercial practice, diphenyl carbonate is produced by transesterification with an alcohol followed by disproportionation using dimethyl carbonate (DMC) and phenol. Such processes are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,210,268; 6,197,918; and 6,262,210. The typical reaction is:

The unconverted dimethyl carbonate is recovered as a mixture with the coproduct methanol. Dimethyl carbonate is separated from the mixture and recycled. However, dimethyl carbonate and methanol form an azeotrope. Therefore, the recovery of dimethyl carbonate in the mixture involves breaking the azeotropic mixture which is energy consuming and expensive.
Heretofore higher conversions to alkyl phenyl carbonate and thence to diphenyl carbonate have been achieved by carrying out the reaction in two steps each of which involves continuous removal of the lighter components from the reacting mixtures. In the first step the alkyl alcohol is the lighter component, and in the second step dialkyl carbonate is the lighter component. This has normally been achieved by some form of reactive distillation wherein the reaction in the presence of the catalyst is carried out with simultaneous separation of components by distillation. Such processes can be efficient provided the reaction rates are adequate in the temperature range set by the vapor-liquid equilibria of the distilling system. Pressure and reflux ratio can be adjusted to effect the reaction zone temperature profile and/or reaction volume can be increased but such changes can increase the cost of the process.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,093,842 addressed this problem by using reactive distillation and an entraining agent that did not form an azeotrope with the dialkyl carbonate or the alkyl alcohol. The patentee states, "While the dialkyl carbonate used as a starting material in the method of the invention may in theory be any dialkyl carbonate, it will be appreciated that in practice it will be preferred to use a dialkyl carbonate with a small alkyl group, such as, for example dimethyl carbonate." However, the methanol is the cause of the azeotrope problem and the solution merely changes the manner of breaking the azeotrope. Also producing the dimethyl carbonate in the first place involves the same problem, i.e., breaking the azeotropic mixture to separate the product, dimethyl carbonate, from the product stream.
The present invention avoids the formation of azeotropes in the transesterification process.