Methods and apparatus for accurate, secure and uniform exchange of audience research data. In one embodiment, viewership data is provided in real-time and offers the ability to monitor audience activities regarding, among others, broadcast, VOD or DVR content. A standardized message configuration is optionally used also to permit maximum uniformity and accessibility of the data. Accuracy of data exchange is enforced by implementing a method of detecting system failures, and the transmission of incomplete messages. Subscriber privacy and anonymity is also maintained via e.g., hashing or encrypting data relating to the CPE and/or subscriber, thus ensuring that stored data is not traceable to a specific user account. The methods and apparatus may also be utilized in conjunction with systems enabling the insertion and/or recommendation of content or advertising based on data collected regarding user actions or events. Business methods are also disclosed.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of computer-assisted data manipulation and analysis. More specifically, the present invention relates in one exemplary aspect to methods and apparatus for exchange of audience research data in a content-based network such as a cable television or satellite network.
2. Description of Related Technology
The well-known "Nielsen Ratings" are ratings determined by measuring of the number of unique viewers or households tuned to a television program at any one particular time. Nielsen ratings utilize audience measurement systems to determine audience size and other related statistics. The Nielsen system has historically been the primary source of audience measurement information in the television industry, and thus affects various aspects of television including inter alia, advertising rates, schedules, viability of particular shows, etc. The Nielsen system has also recently been expanded from only program content to advertising (i.e., Nielsen ratings may be provided for advertisements themselves).
Nielsen Ratings are generally gathered in one of two ways. One method involves asking viewers of various demographics to keep a written record of the television shows they watch throughout the day and evening. Another method involves using "set meters," which are small devices connected to televisions in selected homes. These devices electronically gather the viewing habits of the home and transmit the information nightly to Nielsen or a proxy entity over a connected phone line or other connection.
There are several disadvantages with employing a Nielsen-like approach to gathering audience research data. A first such disadvantage is that the sample of viewers selected may not be fairly representative of the population of cable viewers as a whole. For example, in a cable network comprising four million cable viewers, a sample of any 100,000 viewers may exhibit different average viewing habits than the averages associated with the other 3,900,000 cable viewers who are not in the sample.
A second disadvantage is that static delivery makes it difficult to perfectly target an audience known to be in the market. For example, suppose that the ideal target for a sports car advertisement is the set of all consumers who like and would be interested in buying sports cars. If all that is known from Nielsen data is that 10% of the sample group has watched the auto-racing channel for over three hours in the last month, this may not perfectly correlate with set of consumers who like sports cars. This may be the case, for example, if there are some consumers who are in the market for sports cars but who never watch the auto racing channel, or if there are some viewers of the auto racing channel who have no interest in buying or owning sports cars. As such, patterns based on viewership data often imprecisely identify the desired audience.
The aforementioned prior art "Nielsen" approach is also program-specific, and this is problematic from the standpoint that this program-coupled approach is only as good as the underlying demographic correlation model.
Also, the aforementioned demographic model is often limited to one particular program. Hence, 18-30 year old females may tune in dutifully to American Idol each broadcast (e.g., Monday at 8:00 pm), but may not have any interest in watching the program immediately preceding or following American Idol, and hence may tune away (or delay tuning to that channel until the start of American Idol). Currently, no mechanism exists for accurately representing a specific demographic model not just for individual programs, but for times of the day, individual program channels, etc.
A number of other different approaches have been described in the prior art which attempt to gather and transmit audience research data. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,080 to Watanabe, et al. issued Feb. 27, 1990 and entitled "Apparatus for Collecting Television Channel Data and Market Research Data" discloses a data collecting apparatus used in a survey system in which research data such as television audience ratings and market research data is collected by a data collecting device provided in each of a plurality of panelists' homes, the collected research data is sent to a data center through telephone links, and, at the data center, the data is processed with the aid of a large scale computer to calculate desired research data. The data collecting apparatus includes a channel detector for detecting a television channel being viewed, a market research data entry device, a personal data entry device, and a data processing device for storing and processing the entered data. The detected channel data and the entered personal data are transferred to the data processing device via domestic power supply lines. The market research data is efficiently entered with the aid of a bar-code reader and a keyboard in a sequence-non-ordered manner. The personal data is entered with an entry device using infrared light. The personal data entry device may have picture-like illustration images of respective panelists so that they need not remember personal identification numbers.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,222,078 to Abelow issued May 22, 2007 and entitled "Methods and Systems for Gathering Information from Units of a Commodity Across a Network" discloses an exemplary system wherein information is received at a central location from different units of a commodity. The information is generated from two-way local interactions between users of the different units of the commodity and a user interface in the different units of the commodity. The interactions elicit from respective users their perceptions of the commodity.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,197,472 to Conkwright, et al. issued Mar. 27, 2007 and entitled "Market Data Acquisition System" discloses a system and method for using inverse mathematical principles in the analysis of compatible datasets so that correlations and trends within and between said datasets can be uncovered. The present invention is tailored to the analysis of datasets that are extremely large; result from passive, privacy-secure, or anonymous, data collection; and are relatively unbiased. Correlations and trends uncovered by such analysis can be further examined by data mining and prediction portions of the present invention, which uncover and make use of interrelated rules that determine data structures. An embodiment directed toward analysis of television viewership and marketing data that does this while still respecting privacy concerns is disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,681,393 to Bauminger, et al. issued Jan. 20, 2004 and entitled "Viewer Interaction Feedback Method and System for use with an Interactive Telecommunication System" discloses a viewer response method for use with an interactive telecommunications system. The viewer response method includes accumulating a user interaction history of a user of the system, the user interaction history including user interaction information associated with a plurality of user interaction events and providing user-sensible feedback, based at least in part on the user interaction history.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,647,548 to Lu, et al. issued Nov. 11, 2003 and entitled "Coded/Non-Coded Program Audience Measurement System" discloses an audience measurement system which identifies a program which is broadcast from a signal source and to which a receiver is tuned. The audience measurement system includes a code reader for reading an ancillary code of the program to which the receiver is tuned, a channel status detector for determining channel status relating to channels to which the receiver is tuned, a memory for storing ancillary codes read by the code reading means and for storing channel status determined by the channel status determining means if ancillary codes are not readable by the code reading means, and a communicator for communicating the ancillary code and/or the channel status to a central office computer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,202,210 to Ludtke issued Mar. 13, 2001 and entitled "Method and System for Collecting Data Over a 1394 Network to Support Analysis of Consumer Behavior, Marketing and Customer Support" discloses a data collection system for use with a home AV network. The home AV network includes a plurality of consumer electronic devices communicatively coupled via an IEEE 1394 based network. A receiver device is included in the plurality of devices. The receiver device functions by receiving a broadcast data stream for displaying or playing for the user, wherein the broadcast data stream includes an identifier tag describing the identity or content of the broadcast data stream. At least one of the plurality of consumer electronic devices includes an up-stream communications link capable of sending information up-stream from the user's home. Additionally, at least one of the consumer electronic devices includes a computer system, the computer system including a processor coupled to a memory via a bus. The memory stores software which when executed by the processor causes the computer system to implement a data collection method comprising the steps of monitoring the identifier tag included in the broadcast data stream, determining an identity of the broadcast data stream using the identifier tag, and transmitting the identity of the broadcast data stream to an external monitor via the up-stream communications link.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,409 to Tetsumura issued Aug. 11, 1998 and entitled "Apparatus for grasping TV viewing condition in household" discloses an audience state measuring apparatus of a television including an existence sensor (2) for detecting the number of persons (3) near a television receiver (1), a setter (4) for registering who is or are watching the program which is being broadcasted and an alarm lamp (6) for reporting that the number of persons from the existence sensor (2) and the registered number from the setter are inconsistent. This apparatus makes it possible to determine who among one family is or are watching the specific program which is being broadcasted and to measure accurately the individual audience state because non-registration in the setter (4) is reported to the persons (3).
U.S. Pat. No. 7,356,751 to Levitan issued Apr. 8, 2008 and entitled "Error handling and audience measurement in datacast network with return channel" discloses a data broadcast network with a return channel providing a guaranteed error-free data delivery simultaneously to multiple receiving devices. The network transmits data in packets and uses the return channel for audience measurement and packets recovery. Whenever a corrupted packet is detected, the multiple receiving devices play a kind of "lottery game" running generators of random numbers, and only "winners" submit retransmission requests over the return channel. While in the game each receiver acts on its own, it is advised by the sender on the audience size, i.e. the overall number of receivers. It allows setting the game so to limit the number of retransmission requests to just a few and to keep it independent from the audience size. The sender performs the audience measurement by transmitting packets with wrong error-checking values and evaluating receivers' responses.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,039,928 to Kamada, et al., issued May 2, 2006 and entitled "Method and device for obtaining audience data on TV program" discloses a TV program table data in the area where a viewer resides are received through the Internet or a broadcasting medium by using the TV set with an internet connection function at the viewer. While the viewer is watching a TV program, the audience data including viewed channel information and viewed time information are automatically obtained. The obtained audience data are compared with the TV program table data to identify the watched program. The program ID of the identified program and the viewed time information are transferred to a data collecting center through the Internet together with the viewer ID data. By utilizing the Internet for the distribution of the TV program table data to the viewers and for the collection of the audience data, the nationwide TV audience data can be easily collected and used to make statistics. Since viewed channel and viewed time information are correlated with programs on the viewer's side, the load of processing the data on the center side can be relieved.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,467,089 to Aust, et al., issued Oct. 15, 2002 and entitled "Audience measurement system incorporating a mobile handset" discloses an audience measurement system for a receiver comprises monitoring equipment, such as a decoder, ON/OFF detector and transmitter, coupled to the receiver. The decoder reads program codes embedded in a program received by the receiver. The system also comprises a base unit and a mobile unit, such as a telephone handset. The handset receives the program codes transmitted from the decoder and prompts (via a visual display or audio tone) an audience member to enter personal data (i.e. who the audience member is) via a keypad or voice input. The program data (from the decoder) and personal data (input by the audience member) is provided to the base unit, where it is time stamped and stored. The base unit includes telephone circuitry to transmit the stored data to a data collection central facility via a public switched telephone network. If no program codes are found or if the monitoring equipment is eliminated, the mobile unit prompts the audience member to enter program data that may be selected from a previously downloaded program schedule.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,974,299 to Massetti issued Oct. 26, 1999 and entitled "Audience rating system for digital television and radio" discloses an audience rating system for digital television and radio, using identification codes in control streams of time-multiplexed digital transmissions. When a television set or radio, that is being monitored pursuant to the system, is turned on and tuned into a channel, and each time that the channel is changed, an identification code for each audio, video or auxiliary digital stream of the channel is extracted from the control stream, and recorded along with the time. The time is also recorded when the television set or radio is turned off. This data makes it possible to determine what stations, channels, and programs members of the audience being monitored are watching or listening to at any particular time. In the first preferred embodiment, the multiplexed digital transmission is received separately by the television set or radio (or an attached IRD) and a meter connected to it. The meter compares digital streams of the channel being received by the television set or radio with digital streams of each of the channels in the multiplexed digital transmission, until it finds a match. In the second preferred embodiment, the meter does not receive the multiplexed digital transmission separately, but has access to elementary streams extracted from the transmission by an IRD, and extracts identification codes for the channels being received from their elementary streams. The elementary stream may be accessed through an auxiliary connector in a digital decoder, through an access control card connector, or through soldering electrical connections to internal points in the IRD.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,812,642 to Leroy, issued Sep. 22, 1998 and entitled "Audience response monitor and analysis system and method" discloses a system and method are provided for monitoring and analyzing audience response to a broadcast promotion. The specific embodiment for fund-raising campaigns for public television stations is addressed, wherein the taking of pledges over the telephone is automated, the response data entered directly into a computer with the use of scripted screens. The effectiveness of segments of the campaign is calculated by correlating the response data, including the number of telephone calls received, with each promotion segment. Additional methods of manipulating and displaying response data are also disclosed, including the use of demographic and audience ratings to provide an indication of the effectiveness of a promotion segment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,497,185 to Dufresne, et al., issued Mar. 5, 1996 and entitled "Remote control system for television audience data gathering" discloses a method and apparatus of collecting data from a television audience comprising storing in a first memory demographic descriptions of expected viewers of a television receiver, receiving signals from a viewer control operated by a viewer, displaying one or more indicia on a television screen for viewing by the viewer, designated by the character of the signals received from the control, in confirmation of the particular signal received from the control, and storing a signal in a second memory for later access corresponding to at least one form of the designated signal character, which is related to the designation of at least one selected expected viewer as an active viewer. The television viewer may use his remote control at any time, when the flashing prompt is flashing, or when it is not flashing, to change channels. There is no channel lock nor is there an annoying on-screen prompt enquiring as to the identity of persons in the viewing audience.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,294 to Thomas, et al., issued Jan. 2, 1996 and entitled "Audience measurement system utilizing ancillary codes and passive signatures" discloses an audience measurement system collects data representative of tuned programs rather than of tuned channels, and includes (i) a household metering apparatus which records ancillary codes or extracts program signatures from the programs if no ancillary codes are found therein, (ii) a reference apparatus which monitors broadcast programs to be monitored, which extracts reference signatures therefrom, which records whatever ancillary codes may be associated with these broadcast programs and, if no ancillary codes are present, which compresses and stores a digital replica representative of the broadcast programs to be monitored, (iii) a data collection apparatus which compares the household and reference data to determine (a) which of the broadcast programs to be monitored were selected for viewing and/or listening, (b) which of the metered households selected the broadcast programs to be monitored for viewing and/or listening, and (c) at which times the broadcast programs to be monitored were selected for viewing and/or listening.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,315 to Dufresne, et al., issued Dec. 13, 1994 and entitled "Television audience data gathering" discloses a method and apparatus of collecting data from a television audience comprising storing in a first memory demographic descriptions of expected viewers of a television receiver, receiving signals from a viewer control operated by a viewer, displaying one or more indicia on a television screen for viewing by the viewer, designated by the character of the signals received from the control, in confirmation of the particular signal received from the control, and storing a signal in a second memory for later access corresponding to at least one form of the designated signal character, which is related to the designation of at least one selected expected viewer as an active viewer. The television viewer may use his remote control at any time, when the flashing prompt is flashing, or when it is not flashing, to change channels. There is no channel lock nor is there an annoying on-screen prompt enquiring as to the identity of persons in the viewing audience.
United States Patent Publication No. 20060294259 to Matefi, et al., issued Dec. 28, 2006 and entitled "Method and device for audience monitoring on multicast capable networks" discloses a cheap solution for audience monitoring in multicast capable networks e.g. Ethernet, IP or UMTS. There is no need for user equipment in order to monitor the viewers' watching behavior. The measurement is done in the operator's network; therefore, there is no need to contact the end user. The idea can be applied in systems comprising multicast capable network contention server, network devices and user equipment. The content is carried in data packets to the end user. The network devices are remote manageable. The user can choose between several contents. The aim is to measure the user statistics regarding the chosen content. According to the invention it is enough to place a measurement host with our proposed software block in the network, which collects data from the network devices in the edge of the network periodically in order to make a content access survey.
Despite the foregoing approaches, there is a need for improved methods and apparatus which more accurately, securely and uniformly generate and exchange audience measurement data. Such improved methods and apparatus would ideally be adapted to produce data records in real-time with associated viewership actions. Ideally, these methods and apparatus would be able to monitor multiple sources of content to which viewership behavior relates, would leverage substantially extant network infrastructure and components, and would be compatible with a number of different client device and delivery systems including both wired and wireless technologies.
Subscriber anonymity or privacy (i.e., no use of personally identifiable information) would also ideally be maintained.

Methods and apparatus for audience research in a content-based network


A launch system in which an unmanned aerial vehicle is secured to a platform in a watertight tube adapted to be launched from a submerged platform. Once launched, side panels on the tube are jettisoned and a flotation device is deployed to bring the tube to the surface. The flotation device maintains the tube in a vertical position when rising to and at the surface. After surfacing, a top-sealing cap of the tube is opened. A lifting mechanism within the tube raises the vertically oriented platform assembly up within the tube. Guide rails maintain the vertical orientation of the assembly during lifting. At the topmost point of travel, the assembly is raised clear of the tube and is disengaged from the guide rails, allowing the assembly to pivot about its attachment to the lifting mechanism and assume an orientation favorable for launching the UAV.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to subsurface launched unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and is directed more particularly to a deployment system for launching a vertical take off and landing (VTOL) UAV or a fixed-wing UAV.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
The launching of UAVs from submarines, or other subsurface platforms, is known in the art, e.g., the launching of cruise missiles and other types of missiles and high-speed vehicles. For some purposes, slower speed UAVs are preferred and launch systems for such UAVs are being developed. Some slower speed UAV systems have disadvantages and/or limitations.
One system relies on buoyancy to provide the UAVs initial upward momentum to separate the UAV from a launcher. Thus, once released from the underwater platform, one commonly used launcher does not allow for a time-delayed launch of the UAV, which can compromise or reveal the position of the underwater platform. Additionally, the launcher relies on a booster or the like to initially power the UVA once it is separated. This launching mechanism creates a flame or smoke plume, referred to as a "flame datum", which also compromises the platform location. Two typically used launchers cannot be launched at submarine test depth or in shallow water due to risks of the capsules striking the hull of the submarine or other underwater platform.
Accordingly, there is a need for a deployment system for launching a UAV from a subsurface platform, which allows for a time delayed launch without a significant flame or smoke plume, that can launch a UAV at test depth or in shallow water and that can accommodate a variety of UAVs, such as VTOL UAVs and fixed-wing UAVs.

Deployment system and method for subsurface launched unmanned aerial vehicle

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


A trajectory display device includes: a display element; a current position detector; a memory for storing the current position successively; and a position determination unit for determining a plurality of certain actual distance trajectory points and a plurality of direction change points based on position data stored in the memory. The certain actual distance trajectory points are arranged at every actual distance defined by a scale of a map. The moving body changes a moving direction at each direction change point. The display element displays the trajectory including the certain actual distance trajectory points and the direction change points, which is overlapped over the map.

A moving trajectory display device is disclosed in JP-A-H08-278150. The device writes data of a position of a vehicle at every first traveling distance in a traveling trajectory memory so that the memory stores the traveling trajectory. The first traveling distance is 160 meters. Then, the traveling trajectory is overlapped on a map so that the device displays the trajectory over the map image on a display screen. When a traveling direction is changed by a predetermined angle or more, and the vehicle travels the second traveling distance from a position, at which the device previously wrote the data in the memory, the device writes the current position in the memory even if the vehicle does not travel the first traveling distance from the position, at which the device previously wrote the data in the memory. Here, the second traveling distance is 40 meters. Accordingly, when roads in a narrow area are confusing like a maze, i.e., when the roads are crossed at short distances, the device writes the data at short intervals, and the device displays the traveling trajectory. Thus, even when the vehicle drives in the region in which the roads are confusing like a maze, the device correctly displays the traveling trajectory.
In the above device, when the traveling direction is changed by a predetermined angle or more, the device writes the current position in the memory at every second traveling distance, regardless of a scale of the map displayed on the display screen. Further, the device displays the traveling trajectory. Accordingly, when the scale of the map is comparatively small, circles for showing the traveling trajectory are densely displayed on the map, and therefore, it is, hard to see the traveling trajectory.
Here, when the device does not switches from the first traveling distance to the second traveling distance so that the device writes the data in the memory at every first distance, the distance between the circles for showing the trajectory becomes wide. Therefore, the reduction of identification of the circles is improved. However, in this case, it is difficult to determine the actual trajectory.


An electronic device has a first signal path, a first power supply path, and a connector that transmits to an external device the input signal on which the voltage has been superposed. The device also has a first power supply switch inserted into the first power supply path and an amplitude detector that detects at the connector an amplitude of the input signal, a control section that determines, based on a detection output from the amplitude detector, which a connection condition of the external device to the connector is a first condition in which the external device is not connected to the connector or a second condition in which the external device is connected to the connector. Based on the connection condition, the control section turns on or off the first power supply switch.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic device equipped with a connector for connecting an external device so as to supply, through the connector, the external device with a signal on which voltage is superposed; a transmission system for transmitting an output signal corresponding to an input signal from any signal transmission sections with which the external device and the electronic device are provided; and a method for determining a connection condition between the connector of the electronic device and the external device.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 1 shows an infrared optical transmission apparatus 200A as related art. This infrared optical transmission apparatus 200A is equipped with an infrared optical transmission section 201 which is configured, for example, with an infrared light-emitting diode etc. so as to output an infrared signal SIR and also with a connector, not shown in FIG. 1, for connecting an infrared optical transmission unit 300 having an infrared optical transmission section 301.
In this circumstance, when a connector (plug) 303, which is connected to an end of a connection cable 302 that is in turn connected to the infrared optical transmission unit 300, is connected to a connector (jack) of the infrared optical transmission apparatus 200A, a situation arises where a modulated RF signal, on which a DC power supply voltage is superposed, can be supplied from the infrared optical transmission apparatus 200A to the infrared optical transmission unit 300 and an infrared signal SIR that corresponds to the modulated RF signal can be output from the infrared optical transmission section 301.
FIG. 2 shows circuit configurations of the infrared optical transmission apparatus 200A and the infrared optical transmission unit 300.
The following will describe the circuit configuration of the infrared optical transmission apparatus 200A.
A DC power supply voltage DC1 of, for example, 12V obtained from a power supply circuit, not shown, is supplied to a regulator 202 from which a stabilized DC power supply voltage DC2 of, for example, 9V can be obtained.
An output side of the regulator 202 is connected to a collector of an NPN driver transistor 204(1), whose emitter is grounded, through a series circuit constituted of infrared light-emitting diodes 203(1, 1) through 203(n, 1). The output side of the regulator 202 is also connected to a collector of an NPN driver transistor 204(m), whose emitter is grounded, through a series circuit constituted of infrared light-emitting diodes 203 (1, m) through 203(n, m). Herein, n=3 and m=4, for example, are used. Thus, the n times m number of infrared light-emitting diodes 203(1, 1) through 203(n, m) constitute the infrared optical transmission section 201.
An amplifier 205 receives and amplifies a modulated RF signal MRF obtained from a modulation circuit, not shown. An output side of this amplifier 205 is connected to a base of each of the transistors 204(1) through 204(m). The modulated RF signal MRF is obtained, for example, by performing digital modulation on a carrier wave with audio data, image data or the like, and produced so as to have a constant amplitude.
An amplifier 206 also receives and amplifies the modulated RF signal MRF obtained from the modulation circuit, not shown. An output side of this amplifier 206 is connected to a connector (jack) 209 through a series circuit constituted of an output resistor 207 and a DC cut-off capacitor 208. Further, the output side of the regulator 202 described above is connected to the connector 209 via a RF cut-off inductor 210.
The following will describe operations of the infrared optical transmission apparatus 200A.
A stabilized DC power supply voltage DC2 obtained from the regulator 202 is supplied as power to the infrared optical transmission section 201. Further, the modulated RF signal MRF obtained from the modulation circuit is amplified by an amplifier 205 and then supplied as a drive signal to the base of each of the transistors 204(1) through 204(m). Accordingly, in response to the modulated RF signal MRF, the diodes 203(1, 1) through 203(n, m) emit light, so that an infrared signal SIR corresponding to the modulated RF signal MRF can be output from the infrared optical transmission section 201.
The modulated RF signal MRF obtained from the modulation circuit is amplified by the amplifier 206 and then supplied to the connector 209 through the series circuit constituted of the output resistor 207 and the DC cut-off capacitor 208. Further, the stabilized DC power supply voltage DC2 obtained from the regulator 202 is supplied to the connector 209 through the RF cut-off inductor 210. Accordingly, the modulated RF signal MRF on which the DC power supply voltage DC2 is superposed can be supplied to the connector 209.
The following will describe the circuit configuration of the infrared optical transmission unit 300.
An end of the connection cable 302 that is opposite to the end thereof to which the connector 303 has been connected is connected to one end of an RF cut-off inductor 304. The other end of this RF cut-off inductor 304 is connected to a collector of an NPN driver transistor 306(1), whose emitter is grounded, through a series circuit constituted of infrared light-emitting diodes 305 (1, 1) through 305(n, 1). This other end of the RF cut-off inductor 304 is further connected to a collector of an NPN driver transistor 306(m), whose emitter is grounded, through a series circuit constituted of infrared light-emitting diodes 305(1, m) through 305(n, m). Herein, n=3 and m=4, for example, are used. Thus, n times m number of infrared light-emitting diodes 305(1, 1) through 305(n, m) constitute the infrared optical transmission section 301.
Further, the end of the connection cable 302 that is opposite to the end thereof to which the connector 303 has been connected is grounded through a series circuit constituted of a DC cut-off capacitor 307 and an input resistor 308. A node between the capacitor 307 and the input resistor 308 is connected to a base of each of the transistors 306(1) through 306(m) through an amplifier 309.
The following describe operations of the infrared optical transmission unit 300.
When the connector (plug) 303 is connected to the connector (jack) 209 of the infrared optical transmission apparatus 200A, the end of the connection cable 302 that is opposite to the end thereof to which the connector 303 has been connected is supplied with the modulated RF signal MRF on which DC power supply voltage DC2 is superposed. For this reason, the DC power supply voltage DC2 appears at the other end of the RF cut-off inductor 304. This DC power supply voltage DC2 is supplied as power to the infrared optical transmission section 301.
Further, the node between the DC cut-off capacitor 307 and the input resistor 308 is supplied with the modulated RF signal MRF. This modulated RF signal MRF is amplified by the amplifier 309 and then supplied as a drive signal to the base of each of the transistors 306(1) through 306(m). Accordingly, the diodes 305 (1, 1) through 305(n, m) emit light in response to the modulated RF signal MRF, so that an infrared signal SIR corresponding to the modulated RF signal MRF can be output from the infrared optical transmission section 301.
FIG. 3 shows another infrared optical transmission apparatus 200B as related art. This infrared optical transmission apparatus 200B is equipped with a connector, not shown in FIG. 3, for connecting the infrared optical transmission unit 300 but, in contrast to the infrared optical transmission apparatus 200A described above, the infrared optical transmission apparatus 200B is not equipped with an infrared optical transmission section for outputting an infrared signal SIR.
In this circumstance, the connection cable 302 is connected to the infrared optical transmission unit 300 while the connector (plug) 303 that is connected to the end of the connection cable is connected to a connector (jack) of the infrared optical transmission apparatus 200B. In such a manner, a modulated RF signal on which a DC power supply voltage can be superposed is supplied to the infrared optical transmission unit 300 from the infrared optical transmission apparatus 200B. This gives rise to a condition such that an infrared signal SIR corresponding to the modulated RF signal can be output from the infrared optical transmission section 301.
FIG. 4 shows circuit configurations of the infrared optical transmission apparatus 200B and the infrared optical transmission unit 300.
The following will describe the circuit configuration of the infrared optical transmission apparatus 200B. This infrared optical transmission apparatus 200B has the same configuration as that of the infrared optical transmission apparatus 200A described above except the infrared light-emitting diodes 203(1, 1) through 203(n, m), the transistors 204(1) through 204(m), and the amplifier 205.
The following will describe operations of the infrared optical transmission apparatus 200B. The modulated RF signal MRF obtained by a modulation circuit, not shown, is amplified by the amplifier 206, and then supplied to the connector 209 through a series circuit constituted of the output resistor 207 and the DC cut-off capacitor 208. Further, the stabilized DC power supply voltage DC2 obtained from the regulator 202 is supplied to the connector 209 by way of the RF cut-off inductor 210. Accordingly, the connector 209 is provided with a modulated RF signal MRF on which the DC power supply voltage DC2 is superposed.
The infrared optical transmission system 300 has the same circuit configuration as the above-described configuration. Therefore, if the connector 303 is connected to the connector 209 of the infrared optical transmission system 200B, the end of the connection cable 302 that is opposite to the end thereof to which the connector 303 is connected is supplied with the modulated RF signal RFM on which the DC power supply voltage DC2 is superposed. Therefore, an infrared signal SIR corresponding to the modulated RF signal MRF is output from the infrared optical transmission section 301.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Hei 8-288909 has disclosed an apparatus for converting a video signal or an audio signal into an optical signal and transmitting it by means of a space, in which dissipation power can be saved by driving light-emitting means only when it is necessary for an optical signal to be transmitted. For example, if an AV pin plug is connected to an output terminal, a signal reproduced from a VTR block is output to outside through the AV pin plug, and at such a time, a microcomputer supplies an infrared transmission modulator and a light-emitting section with a power supply control signal that turns off the drive voltage.

Electronic device, transmission system, and method for determining connection condition


An adjustable over and under line feed system having a first end, a second end, a plurality of adjustable first support legs, a plurality of adjustable second support legs, and a plurality of adjustable support cross members connected substantially perpendicular to a corresponding one of the plurality of adjustable first support legs and a corresponding one of the plurality of adjustable second support legs, and a conveyor assembly positioned substantially perpendicular to the plurality of adjustable support cross members.

Field of the Invention
Automated over and under line feed systems have been developed to maximize assembly line parts handling efficiency. These automated over and under line feed systems provide an uninterrupted flow of parts carried in containers or racks. The exact dimensions of the over and under line feed systems depend on the size and quantity of the parts to be carried. One such automated over and under line feed system is manufactured by Master Manufacturers, Inc. of Carlisle, Pa. Another is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,977,999 to Smock, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Over and under line feed systems maximize assembly line parts handling efficiency and are beneficial where high speed, mass production depends on an uninterrupted flow of parts carried in containers or racks. These rigid line feed systems are constructed based on the size of the parts to be carried. Once such a rigid line feed system is installed, modification of the line feed system to accommodate differently-sized parts is extremely difficult, if not impossible, should a change occur in the product being manufactured such that different size parts are required to be carried by the line feed system. This is particularly the case where the line feed system was constructed to handle parts of a particular size and, due to changes in manufacturing needs, parts of a much larger size are now required to be carried. In such cases, the entire line feed system would have to be removed and replaced with a new, larger capacity line feed system. Such a purchase and substitution of a new line feed system represents a large capital outlay. Further, the down time caused by replacing line feed systems greatly reduces the productivity of the assembly line.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an over and under line feed system which can be simply and easily expanded or contracted to allow the line feed system to be adapted to convey parts of differing sizes.
The present invention generally includes an over and under line feed system having a first end and a second end, a plurality of adjustable first support legs, and a plurality of second support legs, wherein each of the plurality of second support legs is spaced apart from each of the first support legs. Also included is a plurality of adjustable support cross members, wherein each of the plurality of support cross members is connected substantially perpendicular to a corresponding one of the plurality of first support legs and a corresponding one of the plurality of second support legs.
Two of the plurality of adjustable support cross members may be connected substantially perpendicular to a corresponding one of the plurality of first support legs and a corresponding one of the plurality of second support legs, and each of the plurality of adjustable support cross members may lie in substantially the same imaginary plane.
A conveyor assembly may also be provided. The conveyer assembly is preferably positioned adjacent to the plurality of adjustable support cross members, substantially perpendicular to the plurality of adjustable support cross members. The conveyor assembly may include a conveyor track assembly and a plurality of indexing rails.
An elevator assembly may be positioned adjacent to the first frame end. The elevator assembly may include two substantially-parallel elevator supports connected to each other by an elevator cross member, wherein at least one of the substantially-parallel elevator supports is movably connected to the first end of the line feed system. A workstation and a movable elevator may also be provided.
The movable elevator generally includes an adjustable elevator cross member, a pair of adjustable, spaced-apart, substantially-vertical elevator support members, a pair of adjustable, spaced-apart elevator base members, and an adjustable elevator base cross member. The adjustable elevator cross member may be positioned between the pair of adjustable, spaced-apart, substantially-vertical elevator support members, each one of the pair of adjustable, spaced-apart elevator base members are positioned adjacent to a corresponding end of one of the pair of adjustable spaced-apart, vertical elevator support members, and the adjustable elevator base cross member is positioned between each of the pair of adjustable, spaced-apart elevator base members.
At least one method of converting an over and under line feed system to accommodate a larger or smaller container generally includes the step of moving the at least one of the plurality of adjustable support cross members to a length greater than a width of the container. An additional step may include moving the two substantially-parallel elevator supports to a position substantially-parallel to the plurality of adjustable cross members. A plurality of inserts having a plurality of desired heights may also be provided, along with the step of inserting at least one of the plurality of insert into the adjustable first support legs and the adjustable second support legs to increase or decrease an overall length of each of the plurality of adjustable first support legs and each of the plurality of adjustable second support legs. The step of adjusting the elevator to fit the larger or smaller container is also contemplated.

Expandable over and under line feed system


A multi-mode control scheme for an LED lamp system uses the detected firing angle of an AC input voltage waveform to select from multiple regulation modes. In operation, a current controller compares the detected firing angle to one or more specified thresholds and selects the appropriate regulation scheme based on the comparison result. When the detected firing angle is less than a first firing angle threshold, the controller employs a current shaping regulation mode. When the detected firing angle is greater than a second firing angle threshold, the controller employs a switching cycle-I Peak modulation regulation mode. And when the detected firing angle is greater than the first firing angle threshold and less than the second firing angle threshold, the controller employs a hybrid regulation mode.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to driving Light-Emitting Diode (LED) lamps and, more specifically, to regulating the energy supplied to the LED lamp under multiple operating conditions.
2. Description of the Related Arts
A wide variety of electronics applications now use solid state lighting (SSL) devices, such as LED lamps, as replacements for incandescent lamps. These applications include architectural lighting, automotive lighting, backlights for liquid crystal display devices, flashlights, and electronic signs. SSL devices have several advantages compared to incandescent lamps, including higher efficiency, improved directionality, improved reliability, longer life time, and smaller size. Many of these advantages have helped drive the adoption of SSL devices for applications that traditionally use incandescent lamps.
In some applications, however, the adoption of SSL lamps as being suitable replacements compared to other lighting methods has been slow. For example, in applications where the brightness of the light source is adjusted, such as in a dimmable lighting system, methods employed to drive an incandescent lamp, if applied to an LED lamp, may cause the LED lamp to prematurely turn off when the LED lamp is in an ON phase, resulting in a perceivable flicker. Output regulation techniques may be employed to insure a constant light output from the LED to reduce flicker. These techniques, however, often cause the dimmer switch to provide maximum of light output from the LED under all operating conditions. Moreover, LED output regulation control schemes suited for dimmable lighting system may not be suitable for LED lighting systems that do not use dimmer switches.

Multi-mode control for solid state lighting


A multi-stage fluid power turbine having application as a fire extinguisher to be ideally carried by a fire truck (e.g., a tanker or a pumper) so as to fight outdoor fires. An impeller and a propeller are located at one end of the fire extinguisher, and a fan is located at the opposite end. The propeller and the fan are mounted on a common inner shaft so as to rotate in a first direction. The impeller is mounted on a hollow outer shaft or tube that surrounds the inner shaft. The impeller includes a plurality of curved blades, each of which having a fluid duct running therethrough. Water under pressure being supplied from a source to the impeller blades is ejected from the fluid ducts thereof and thrust against the blades of the propeller, whereby to impart a rotational force to the propeller and a corresponding rotational force to the fan. The water ejected from the curved impeller blades causes the impeller to rotate in an opposite direction. Accordingly, the propeller breaks up the supply of water ejected from the impeller blades so that a high humidity air and water spray is blown by the fan at high velocity and pressure towards the fire to be extinguished.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a fire extinguisher that is sized to be ideally mounted atop and carried by a fire truck (e.g., a tanker or a pumper) which transports a water supply to be used for fighting outdoor fires. The fire extinguisher herein disclosed includes an impeller, a propeller and a fan that are axially aligned with one another to form a multi-stage fluid power turbine so that a high humidity air and water spray can be blown at high velocity and pressure towards a fire to be extinguished.
2. Background Art
Large outdoor grass and hillside fires have become a common problem, particularly in areas of California, Texas and Oklahoma. Not only has vast acreage been burned at alarming rates, but homes and private property have been increasingly subjected to damage or destruction. Because such outdoor fires typically burn at high temperatures and are often wind driven, it is important that fire fighters have access to a sufficient volume of water that can be delivered under high pressure and over a wide area so as to adequately control or extinguish the fire.
The same problems exist with large structural fires as well as vehicle and airplane fires. To combat such fires, a large volume of water or other suitable fluid must be delivered to the fire in a relatively short amount of time so as to essentially smother the flames and lower the temperature of the burn site to prevent reignition.
Outdoor fires are sometimes fought with the aid of long, winding hoses that deliver a steady stream of water to the flames. However, such hoses are best used for fighting indoor structural fires where the fires are confined to a room or a single structure. In order to fight a fire, the hose must first be removed from the fire truck, unwound, and then connected to a source of water (e.g., a fire truck or a fire hydrant if one is available). The process of removing and readying a fire hose for use wastes valuable time. Moreover, fire hoses are often strewn about, which can pose a safety hazard for fire fighters who must move quickly around the scene without always being able to watch where they step. In this same regard, more than a single fire fighter is often required to attach and maneuver a fire hose through which a large volume of water is carried.
What is desirable is a more efficient way to fight certain outdoor fires in addition to or without the use of a conventional fire hose and the inherent disadvantages associated therewith.

Multi-stage fluid power turbine for a fire extinguisher


An assembly in-situ preparation of suspensions and solutions of an active, solid, product in a liquid product, each of the products being separately contained in a hermetic flask, with connecting means permitting the placing in communication of the two flasks, which means consists of a single piece (1) molded of plastic material with an upper portion (2) internally threaded for coupling with the neck of the flask (7) containing the liquid and a lower portion (3) capping the neck of the flask containing the solid product, the molded connecting piece is closed by a sealed elastomer stopper and an inner shoulder hooking over one or several small collars on the neck.

The present invention concerns assemblies for preparing ready to use suspensions or solutions of an active product, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,917,063.
Such an assembly includes two hermetically closed containers or flasks, one containing an active product generally under the form of a lyophilized dry powder, and the second containing the liquid in which the active product is put in solution or in suspension at the moment of administration. The assembly also has connection means permitting the putting in communication of the two flasks in two steps First the liquid is introduced in the first flask; then the solution or suspension thus formed is aspirated into the second flask.
To that effect, the first flask is generally of glass and is closed by an elastic stopper inserted in its neck and having in its axis a channel covered by a thin, perforable airtight membrane, glued or welded over one side; while the second flask, made of compressible material is closed by a dropper whose extremity has a diameter slightly smaller than that of the preceding channel. In order to allow the assembling and the putting in communication of the two flasks, the mouth of the first flask is surmounted by a socket, which can be internally threaded, or smooth, whereas the second flask possesses a cylindrical threaded part which can be screwed in the socket of the first flask.
Operation of this assembly consists in screwing the second flask in the socket of the first flask in such a manner that the dropper perforates the membrane when it empties into the first flask, thus providing airtightness between the two flasks.
When the second flask is compressed, liquid passes into the first flask; by shaking the assembly, a suspension or solution is formed and on reversing the assembly and relaxing the pressure on the second flask, the solution or suspension is caused to return into the second flask, where it is easy close by placing a stopper on the dropper.
According to one embodiment described in the aforementioned US patent, the base of the threaded socket has an external rim of the same diameter as that of the airtight membrane, and this socket is fixed on the flask by means of a setting metallic ring, resting on the upper side over this rim and on the lower side on the small collar of the first flask Such an assembly has many drawbacks. In the first place, to fix the socket on the first flask requires two distinct pieces, the socket itself, generally of plastic material, and a metallic setting ring. The socket simply resting on top of the rubber stopper demands a delicate centering. The setting of the ring itself represents a separate operation which prevents the setting in series of the different elements of the flask continuously on a single machine. This results in a high cost of production for the pieces and long assembly time.

System of packaging for ready to use preparations


Provided is a marine engine control system of small size with a very high operation efficiency, good responsiveness and improved safety. The marine engine control system including a manual remote control stand, an electrically-driven actuator, a controller unit, a first control cable connecting the manual remote control stand with the electrically-driven actuator, and a second control cable connecting the electrically-driven actuator with a subject device to be controlled, wherein the manual remote control stand has an operational lever connected at a base portion thereof to the first control cable, wherein the electrically-driven actuator is provided with a clutch device for achieving connection and disconnection between the first control cable and the second control cable, and a motor for driving the second control cable, and wherein the controller unit has a switch device for switching between a manual operation by the manual remote control stand and an electrically-driven operation by the electrically-driven actuator.

The present invention relates to a marine engine control system and, more particularly, to a remote control system for engines of small ships.
In a conventional control system of this type, as shown in FIG. 6, an electrically-driven unit 51 and a remote control stand controlled manually 52 are serially connected with an engine E to be controlled through a push-pull control cable (hereinafter referred to as "cable" simply) 53. The electrically-driven unit 51 comprises a motor, reduction gear box, connecting arm (not shown) and the like and is operated by a remote controller 54 so as to push or pull the cable 53. The manual remote control stand 52, provided with an operational lever 55, is adapted, by means of the operational lever 55, to push or pull the cable 53 which is connected to a base portion thereof.
As described above, in the conventional control system, a cable drum of the electrically-driven unit 51 and the operational lever 55 of the remote control stand 52 are connected to each other through the cable 53. Hence, the electric operation and the manual operation directly cooperate with each other. Consequently when a locking mechanism is exerting on the manual remote control stand 52, operating the cable 53 by the electrically-operated unit 51 would cause the motor to be overloaded and, hence, heat-damaged.
Further, since the cable 53 is connected with the engine electrically-driven unit 51 through the manual remote control stand 52, the length of the cable 53 is inevitably long, which causes backlash and frictional resistance to during the operation thereby decreasing the operation efficiency. Consequently there is required to use a motor of a larger size so as to increase the torque of the electrically-driven unit 51, leading to an increase in cost.
The present invention has been attained to overcome such problems. Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a small-sized control system with a very high operation efficiency, good responsiveness and improved safety.


In a transmission section, which performs an OFDMA signal transmission, a plurality of serial signals is converted to parallel signals by a plurality of serial/parallel converters, the plurality of converted parallel signals are rearranged at intervals of a power of 2 by a rearranging apparatus, sub-carrier assignment is performed, and inverse Fourier transform is performed with respect to the number of sub-carriers, which has been varied depending on the number of rearranged parallel signals, so as to be changed to time waveforms. The transformed parallel signals are converted to serial signals by the parallel/serial converter, the converted serial signals are converted to analog signals by D/A converter and orthogonal modulator, thereafter converting the analog signals to high frequency signals so as to be emitted. This configuration allows the amount of operations and power consumption to be reduced.

The present invention relates to an OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) signal transmission apparatus and its method.
In mobile communications, overcoming multipath fading and improving transmission quality have been conventionally present as problems to be solved. In connection with the multipath fading, there is a ii multi-carrier transmission as one of measures to transmit data with a good quality without lowering a symbol rate.
OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) is one of multi-carrier transmission systems, that is, one that sets a distance between adjacent sub-carriers to 1/symbol rate to allow the distance between the sub-carriers to be narrowed at the maximum.
Also, OFDMA is a system in which a plurality of users performs multiple access using OFDM. In the conventional OFDMA data transmission apparatus, there is proposed a method in which frequency division and time division are carried out when multiple access is performed. Also, it has been considered that diversity is carried out in a frequency direction and a time direction to make it possible to improve an error correction capability.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a transmission section in the conventional OFDMA signal transmission apparatus. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a reception section in the conventional OFDMA signal transmission apparatus.
A transmission section 10 shown in FIG. 1 mainly comprises S/P (Serial/Parallel) converter 11, IFFT (Inverse Fast Fourier Transform) apparatus 12, P/S (Parallel/Serial) converter 13, a D/A (Digital/Analog) converter and orthogonal modulator 14, a transmission amplifier 15, and a transmission antenna 16.
A reception section 60 shown in FIG. 2 mainly comprises reception antenna 61, quasi-coherent detector and A/D (Analog/Digital) converter 62, S/P converter 63, FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) apparatus 64, and P/S converter 65.
An explanation will be given of the operation of the conventional OFDM transmission and reception in the OFDMA signal transmission apparatus having the above-configured transmission section 10 and reception section 60. In this case, it is assumed that transmission section 10 and reception section 60 are provided in the base station of the mobile communication system (not shown) and the mobile station.
First, an explanation will be given of the operation, which is performed when forward signals are transmitted to the mobile station from the base station. In the case of the forward OFDMA, the base station performs the same operation as the case in which the sub-carriers are present in all bands of OFDM no matter how the sub-carrier is assigned to each mobile station.
Transmission data shown in FIG. 1 is data with respect to each mobile station, and transmission data is input to S/P converter 11 simultaneously, and converted in parallel. If the number of sub-carriers is N, N complex number values are set after conversion.
Here, 0 is placed at extra sub-carriers. The result is changed to time-waveform by performing Fourier transform of sub-carriers N by IFFT apparatus 12. Then, time series of sub-carriers N are arranged in order of time by P/S converter 13. Then, the result is converted to analog waveform, and orthogonally modulated by D/A converter and orthogonal modulator 14, thereafter converting the analog waveform to high frequency. Then, the resultant signals are amplified by transmission amplifier 15, and the amplified signals are emitted from transmission antenna 16.
On the other hand, in the mobile station, the emitted signals are received by the reception antenna 61 shown in FIG. 2 and the received signals are demodulated by quasi-coherent detector and A/D converter 62, thereafter converting the demodulated signals to digital values by S/P converter 63. Then, the converted signals are converted to parallel signals every N sample, thereafter the parallel signals are Fourier transformed to signals on a frequency axis by FFT apparatus 64. Moreover, the converted signals are converted to serial signals by P/S converter 65 so as to obtain received data.
Thus, since all sub-carriers are completely orthogonal to the forward signals, signals can be transmitted in a state that interference between the respective signals little occurs.
Next, an explanation will be given of the operation, which is performed when reverse signals are transmitted to the base station from the mobile station. In the case of the reverse OFDMA, as a method of multiple access, there are a method in which the sub-carriers are divided and a method in which time division is carried out using sub-carriers, or a method, which mixes the above two methods.
In the case of the method in which time division is carried out using all sub-carriers, the same operation as that of the case of forward signals is used, and only ON/OFF of transmission is added thereto.
The method in which the sub-carriers are divided will be explained. A certain mobile station is assumed. The mobile station converts transmission data to parallel data using S/P converter 11. If the number of sub-carriers assigned to the mobile station is N, N complex number values are set after conversion.
Data is changed to time-waveform by performing Fourier transform of sub-carriers N by IFFT apparatus 12. Then, time series of sub-carriers N are arranged in order of time by P/S converter 13. Then, data is converted to analog waveform, and orthogonally modulated by D/A converter and orthogonal modulator 14, thereafter converting the analog waveform to high frequency. Then, the resultant signals are amplified by transmission amplifier 15, and the amplified signals are emitted from transmission antenna 16.
The base station receives signals each having a different sub-carrier from a plurality of mobile stations. Synthetic signals of signals emitted from the plurality of mobile stations are received through the reception antenna 61, and the received signals are demodulated by quasi-coherent detector and A/D converter 62, thereafter converting the demodulated signals to digital values. Then, the converted signals are converted to parallel signals every N sample by S/P converter 63, thereafter the parallel signals are Fourier transformed to signals on a frequency axis by FFT apparatus 64. Moreover, the converted signals are converted to serial signals by P/S converter 65 so as to obtain received data.
In the reverse signals, if frequency offset is present every mobile station and maximum Doppler frequency is different, all sub-carriers are not completely orthogonal to the reverse signals. However, if these influences, which are exerted upon the symbol rate, are small, signals can be transmitted in a state that interference between the respective signals little occurs.
However, in the conventional OFDMA signal transmission apparatus, the following problems are present.
First, in the case of receiving the forward signals, since the sub-carriers can be separated only after FFT has been carried out, not only the sub-carriers assigned to the station but also the sub-carriers of all OFDM bands must be demodulated in the mobile station. For this reason, even if a traffic volume is low, the number of A/D converters and that of FFT apparatuses, which are the same as that of sub-carriers, must be provided. This increases in the circuit scale and power consumption.
Also, since the signals of all OFDM users (all mobile stations) are synthesized and the synthesized signals are amplified by the transmission amplifier in the base station, the dynamic range is large and it is difficult to restrain nonlinear distortion.
Moreover, since AFC (Automatic Frequency Control) is provided to only all OFDMA bands in the base station, deterioration in the quality of signals increases when the frequency offset differs depending on each mobile station or the maximum Doppler frequency is large.
A first object of the present invention is to provide an OFDMA signal transmission apparatus, which can reduce the amount of operations and power consumption, and its method.
This object can be achieved by converting a plurality of serial signals to parallel signals, arranging the plurality of converted serial signals at intervals of a power of 2 to perform sub-carrier assignment, and performing inverse Fourier transform to the number of sub-carriers, which has been varied depending on the number of rearranged parallel signals, to be transformed to time waveforms in the transmission section, which performs an OFDMA signal transmission.
A second object of the present invention is to provide an OFDMA signal transmission apparatus, which can restrain nonlinear distortion even if a transmission amplifier with a small dynamic range is used in a base station, and its method.
This object can be achieved by converting serial signals of the respective sequences to parallel signals, performing inverse Fourier transform with respect to the number of sub-carriers, which has been varied depending on the number of rearranged parallel signals, to be transformed to time waveforms, and converting the parallel signals to serial signals in the transmission section, which performs an OFDMA signal transmission.
A third object of the present invention is that high quality reception can be carried out even if frequency offset is different depending on each mobile station and maximum Doppler frequency is large in the base station.
This object can be achieved by making the frequency bands of the signals transmitted from the respective mobile stations different from each other, dividing received signals converted to digital signals for each frequency band, converting the signals to base band signals for the respective bands, limiting the signals, converting the limited signals to parallel signals, performing Fourier transform with respect to the signals, and converting the parallel signals to serial signals.

OFDMA signal transmission apparatus and method

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A guide sheath includes: an elongated member extending along a longitudinal axis; a manipulation wire extending along the longitudinal axis of the elongated member so as to be capable of advancing and retracting; a bent section formed of a thermoplastic resin in a tubular shape and configured to be bent in accordance with advance or retraction of the manipulation wire; and a first hard section provided at a distal end surface of the bent section and formed by cross-linking the thermoplastic resin to which a distal end section of the manipulation wire is fixed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a guide sheath used under guidance of an internal introduction device, and a medical system including the guide sheath.
2. Description of Related Art
In the related art, a catheter tube configured to be inserted into a body cavity, a blood vessel, or the like, and inject liquid medicine or discharge body fluid is used. Such a catheter tube is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H08-57035. The catheter tube is formed by continuously varying degrees of cross-linking of a synthetic resin in a longitudinal direction.
In manufacturing the catheter tube, a synthetic resin sensitive to cross-linking treatment by radiation or the like and a synthetic resin insensitive thereto are combined. Then, a tube melted and extruded while continuously varying a mixing ratio of these synthetic resins is cross-linked using radiation of a β ray or the like. As the catheter tube is configured as described above, damage to organs can be prevented by a soft distal portion of the catheter tube while maintaining torque controllability and pushability by a hard proximal portion thereof.
In a treatment tool for an endoscope (hereinafter, simply referred to as a "treatment tool") disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 4624483, a cross-linked section is formed by performing cross-linking treatment on a sheath formed of a thermoplastic resin. The cross-linked section generally has good heat resistance and physical strength. For this reason, for example, when a treatment unit heated to a high temperature by a high frequency current comes in contact with a sheath or when the treatment unit compresses the sheath upon pulling the treatment unit thereinto, melting or deformation of the sheath can be prevented.
Meanwhile, when the treatment tool is inserted into an introduction channel formed in the endoscope (an internal introduction device) and used, a distal end of a guide sheath is fixed while protruding from a distal end of the introduction channel to a predetermined position, and the treatment tool is inserted into the guide sheath. According to the above-mentioned procedure, the distal end of the treatment tool can be easily positioned when the treatment tool is changed from the introduction channel.


A defect review apparatus includes: an electron scanning part which irradiates and scans an electron beam over an observation region on a surface of a sample; four electron detectors arranged around the optical axis of the electron beam with 90° intervals; and a signal processing unit which generates multiple pieces of image data of the observation region on the basis of detection signals from the electron detectors, the multiple pieces of image data respectively taken in different directions. When a pattern in the observation region is a line-and-space pattern, the defect inspection unit performs defect detection on the basis of a subtract between two pieces of the image data respectively taken in two predetermined directions with the optical axis of the electron beam in between.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a defect review apparatus and a defect review method, and particularly relates to a defect review apparatus and a defect review method in which an observation of a defect is performed by irradiating a surface of a sample with an electron beam.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, patterns of wafers, photomasks, and the like have become finer due to finer designing of semiconductor devices, and finer defects have become more apt to largely affect the manufacturing yield. Thus, importance of defect inspection is increasing.
In such defect inspection of wafers and photomasks, an inspection using an optical inspection apparatus with high throughput is firstly performed. The optical inspection apparatus can detect an extremely fine defect, for example, a defect which is of 10 nm or smaller. However, due to limitations in resolution, the optical inspection apparatus cannot determine the shape of the defect.
In this respect, when a defect is detected by the optical inspection apparatus, the position, shape, and size of the defect are checked in a subsequent defect review process. In the defect review process, a scanning electron microscope (SEM) is used, and the shape of a fine defect which could not be measured by the optical inspection apparatus is measured based on a high resolution SEM image.
Moreover, Japanese Application Laid-Open Publication No. H3-192645 discloses a method of observing the shape of the surface of a sample three-dimensionally by using a scanning electron microscope in which multiple (two) electron detectors are installed.
In the defect review process described above, the defect has to be specified first in the SEM image. In this respect, the defect is detected by performing pattern matching (comparison process) between the SEM image of the sample and, for example, design data which represents a pattern with no defect.
However, a large amount of calculation is required in the defect detection by pattern matching, which takes a relatively long period. Thus, there is a problem that the defect review cannot be performed speedily.

Defect review apparatus and defect review method


The invention is directed to an architecture that includes a first queue 128, a first queue reader 148 that reads data entities in the first queue, and a first queue writer 124 that writes data entities to the first queue. The architecture is able to periodically set one or more backup administration parameters equal to administration parameter(s) associated with the first queue 128 and, when the first queue 128 is restored, copy data entities from backup storage to the first queue 128 and set the administration parameter(s) to the corresponding backup administration parameter(s).

The present invention is directed generally to systems and methods for data process control in computing systems and specifically to systems and methods for recording the state of queues of data entities.
In data processing control and computing systems, a source of messages generates data messages which must be transmitted to a plurality of destinations. A representative architecture includes a plurality of message servers, a plurality of servers, and a plurality of client processors. The message servers accept calls from users, take messages from the users, and attempt to deliver those messages. Each message-creation call into a message server results in one or more LAN message(s) being sent to one or more servers which update a message status record for the message being delivered. A filter filters the messages and places the filtered messages in a queue. The various messages in the queue are each transmitted to various destinations such as one or more client processors. A message is cleared from the queue only after all pertinent destinations have received the message. Read and acknowledge pointers are maintained by the application processors to avoid repeated transmission of a data entity to any destination. The client processor(s) perform backup/recovery operations of software and data, collect data on each message, store the data in a database, and provide a simple user interface for filtering and viewing records.
Although the data in the client processor can be backed up readily and the data restored from the backup tape, data collection by the client processor must resume at the point in the queue where the backup tape was made and not at the point in the queue where data collection last ended (due, for example, to the backup operation itself or a catastrophic system failure). Otherwise, the application processors and client processors would be operating asynchronously. Accordingly, there is a need for a system and methodology for recording the state of the read queue when the backup operation was performed to permit subsequent restoration of the queue from the backup tape.
The present invention solves the above problem and represents a significant advance over the prior art. In one embodiment, a method is provided for recording the state of a queue containing a plurality of data entities for purposes of reconstructing or restoring the queue (and its related administration parameters) and synchronizing the processing of the queue by the client and server. The method includes the steps of:
(a) updating, at a first frequency, one or more administration parameters of the queue (e.g., a read, write, examination, and/or acknowledge pointer) and/or the queue itself to avoid repeated transmission of a data entity (e.g., a message) to a given destination; and
(b) updating, at a second frequency (less than or equal to the first frequency), one or more backup administration parameter(s) of the queue (such as by copying an administration parameter or the queue itself to form a virtual queue). The backup administration parameter(s) record the state of the queue (such as when a backup operation is performed). As used herein, a xe2x80x9cpointerxe2x80x9d is a data element that indicates the location of another data element or an identifier that indicates the location of an item of data. Thus, a pointer is typically a data address that tells where to find a desired item. The backup parameters and/or virtual queue permit the client to restart data collection at the appropriate point in the transaction (data) stream after a recover operation has restored its state.
By way of example, read and/or acknowledge pointers are typically updated by the server frequently (e.g., the read pointer is updated for every data item and the acknowledge pointer is updated periodically (e.g., every minute)) during processing of the data entities to permit the processor to progress systematically and efficiently through the queue. Although the parameters are maintained at the server, they are controlled by the client. In contrast, the backup read and/or acknowledge pointers and virtual queue are typically recorded, or updated, in a backup operation infrequently (e.g., daily or even more infrequently).
In one configuration, the backup parameter(s) are indicative of, derived from, and/or correspond to an administration parameter associated with the queue (e.g., a backup acknowledge pointer is derived from an acknowledge pointer associated with the queue). The administration parameter in the updating step (a) typically has a current value while the corresponding backup read and/or acknowledge parameter in the virtual queue has a historic value of (i.e., a value previously assigned to) the administration parameter in the updating step (a). The current value thus typically differs from the historic value during processing of the queue.
In the event of a malfunction of the server and/or client, the administration parameter(s) in the server are reset to match the backup administration parameter(s) and data processing is reinitiated with the server and client operating synchronously. As will be appreciated, the data entities are typically backed up or recorded in a computational component (e.g., a tape) separate from a computational component (e.g., a hard drive) containing the queue.
To conserve computational resources and increase system efficiency, the method can precede steps (a) and (b) above with the step of filtering a second plurality of data entries to form the plurality of data entries. Each of the plurality of data entries is contained in the second plurality of data entries along with additional information.
To permit the backup administration parameter(s) and/or virtual queue to be paired with the pertinent client in a network architecture having multiple clients and multiple backup administration parameter(s) or virtual queues, each of which corresponds to one of the clients, a unique identifier or address (e.g., an address of a backup pointer corresponding to a client, a code corresponding to a client, etc.) can be used to permit the backup administration parameter(s) and/or virtual queue to be associated with its respective client. In one configuration, the backup pointer address is stored on a corresponding client backup tape and the code on the server along with the backup administration parameters associated with the corresponding client. This permits the pertinent backup tape to be used to restore a client and eliminates the need to simultaneously backup all of the clients.
In another embodiment, a system for recording the state of a queue containing a plurality of data entities is provided. The system includes:
(a) first means for updating at least one administration parameter of a queue (and/or the queue itself) to avoid repeated transmission of a data entity to a given destination; and
(b) second means for updating at least one backup administration parameter of the queue and/or a virtual queue associated with the backup parameter.
In yet another embodiment, another system for recording the state of a queue containing a plurality of data entities is provided. The system includes the following components:
(a) a server including:
(i) one or more server processors for processing a plurality of first data entities;
(ii) a server database for storing information received from the one or more processors;
(iii) a server queue including at least some of the plurality of first data entities; and
(iv) at least one administration parameter associated with the queue, the at least one administration parameter having a current value;
(b) a client in communication with the server and including:
(i) a queue process reader for reading the data entities in the queue; and
(ii) a client database for receiving and storing the data entities in the queue read by the queue process reader; and
(c) a set of backup administration parameter(s) maintained and/or controlled using information from at least one of the client and server.
In another embodiment, a system and method for clearing information in a queue of a first server before writing new information to a queue of a second server is provided. This embodiment is particularly useful where a switch is made between a first and second server such that the formerly passive (or second) server is redesignated as the active server and the formerly active (or first) server is redesignated as the passive server. In the embodiment, a timing indicator is provided to the second server to delay writing new information to its queue for a predetermined time period. The predetermined time period is sufficient for the first server to process fully the information in its queue. If the timing indicator is not received or a different timing indicator is received by the second server, new information is written immediately to the queue of the second server. This configuration permits hard or soft mode switches between the servers without loss of queued data entities in either server.

System and method for using multi-headed queues for bookmarking in backup/recover scenarios


There is provided a method of vacuum evaporation comprising causing evaporated material (5) from vacuum evaporation source (20) furnished with container (1) with its one side open accommodating organic material (2) to form a film on opposed substrate (7), wherein the vacuum evaporation source has heating element (3) not fixed to the container, and being in contact with the surface of organic material held in the container, and wherein the organic material is evaporated by heating of the heating element only, the evaporated material released through at least one hole (6) or at least one slit made in the heating element.

For example, vacuum evaporation is used as a fabricating method of organic layers, such as an organic electro-luminescence (EL) device. Usually, in a vacuum evaporation method, a substrate is placed opposite to a film formation material under a vacuum environment, and the evaporated material obtained by heating a film formation material to vapor pressure temperature is made to adhere to the substrate surface. Here, a resistance heating method, a heater heating method, an induction heating method, an electron beam (hereinafter, referred to "EB") method, etc. are cited as the heating method of the film formation material.
Among these, the resistance heating method performs energizing a container which contains the film formation material as a resistor, the heater heating method heats a container with the heater placed on the outer circumference of the container, and the induction heating method heats a container or a film formation material by an electromagnetic induction action from the induction coil installed outside. On the other hand, the EB method irradiates a film formation material with an electron beam from the exterior, and heats the film formation material.
By the way, since many organic materials have a low melting point and high vapor pressure, they evaporate at low temperature. Therefore, when using an organic material as the source of film formation of vacuum evaporation, heating temperature is set up low. For example, when forming the organic layer for an organic EL device, evaporating temperature is about 200 to 400 degrees C. Therefore, when evaporating an organic material, the vacuum evaporation rate in a low heating temperature range needs to be controlled.
However, in the case of a resistance heating method, since a container becomes a heating resistor, it is difficult to enlarge size of the container from the relation of electric capacity. In this method, although the heating rate is high, there is a problem that the loading weight of a film formation material is restricted and it is not suitable for the large-scale evaporation apparatus for mass production.
On the other hand, in the case of the heater heating method, since indirect heating of a container is performed, heating time is long and heating response is also not good and then it is difficult to control the vacuum evaporation rate. In particular, since the organic material has low thermal conductivity, the heating time may reach to several hours in a mass production apparatus. Furthermore, in this method, since a material inside the container is heated over the whole, the organic material remaining in the container to the last is exposed to the evaporating temperature for long duration, and there is a possibility of causing degradation, such as thermal decomposition.
In the case of EB method irradiation of a film formation material with an electron beam, the intermolecular bonding force of the organic material is weak (about several eV). Therefore, since intermolecular bonds are cut and molecules becomes high temperature if the organic material is directly irradiated with the electron beam of high energy, the problem of the organic material decomposition and deterioration occurs.
Accordingly, a technology which indirectly irradiates a container which contains organic material with an electron beam is proposed (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).
Furthermore, a technology which mixes the fine particles of an organic compound and a material with large thermal conductivity, such as ceramics, in a container is proposed as the way of improving thermal conductivity using the above-mentioned heater heating method (for example, refer to Patent Document 2). If composed in this way, ceramics etc. spread heat to the inside of the container, and the heating becomes uniform.
On the other hand, a technology which evaporates an organic material with an induction heating method is proposed (for example, refer to Patent Document 3). This technology discloses a method of charging the organic material into the container heated by electromagnetic induction, and performing electromagnetic induction heating of the container, or a method of charging the filler heated by electromagnetic induction with the organic material into the container, and performing electromagnetic induction heating of the filler. Since this method performs direct heating of the container, heating time is short compared with the above-mentioned indirect heating method, and the response of a vacuum evaporation rate is also excellent and control of the vacuum evaporation rate is easy.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H6-223970 (paragraph 0037)    Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-323367 (paragraph 0014)    Patent Document 3: Domestic Re-publication of PCT International Publication for Patent Application No. 02/014575 (FIGS. 1 to 3)

Method of organic material vacuum evaporation and apparatus thereof