A liquid crystal display (LCD) having an oblique electric field while a voltage is applied between the upper plate and the lower plate of the LCD is disclosed. The LCD includes a first regulating device of the upper plate and the second regulating device of the lower plate. As no voltage between the upper and lower plate, the liquid crystal molecules in the proximity of the first and the second regulating device are perpendicular to the upper and the lower plate. After a voltage is applied, an oblique electric field is produced by these regulating devices. The liquid crystal molecules are then rotated to parallel to the upper and lower plates because of the oblique electric field. The first and second regulating devices are bumps made of dielectric material or slits of electrodes.

This application incorporates by reference Taiwanese application Serial No. 089126649, filed Dec. 13, 2000.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a liquid crystal display (LCD) with a wide viewing angle, and more particularly to a LCD having a regulating device for aligning liquid crystal molecules with a negative dielectric constant.
2. Description of the Related Art
Benefited from the advantages of the thinness, lightness and low radiation properties, LCDs (Liquid Crystal Displays) have been widely used in the world. However, the contrast ratio will be decreased as the user sees the display from a larger viewing angle, which causes the viewing angle to be within a very limited range. Therefore, how to increase the viewing angle and improve the property of the LCD has been the critical lesson for the researchers.
Referring to FIG. 1, it is a sectional view showing the structure of a conventional LCD. The conventional LCD has an upper plate 102 and a lower plate 104. An upper analyzer film 106 is positioned above the upper plate 102 and a lower polarizer film 108 is positioned under the lower plate 104. The polarization direction of the upper analyzer film 106 is perpendicular to that of the lower polarizer film 108. Moreover, the upper plate 102 includes a glass substrate 110, a color filter 112, a transparent electrode 114, and an alignment film 116. The lower plate 104 includes a glass substrate 120, a transparent electrode 122, and an alignment film 124. The liquid crystal layer 118, including a plurality of liquid crystal molecules 118A, is sandwiched between the upper plate 102 and lower plate 104. After a rubbing process, these liquid crystal molecules are aligned on the alignment films 116 or 124.
When a voltage Va is supplied between the transparent electrode 114 and transparent electrode 122, the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer 118 will be changed according to the amount of the voltage Va. The direction of light will varied because of different alignment directions of the liquid crystal molecules 118A. Under this condition, the transmittance of the light will be changed according to the state of the liquid crystal molecules 118A in the liquid crystal layer 118. Therefore, the various brightness of the LCD, such as white, dark and gray scale, can be controlled by the various voltage applied between the transparent electrodes 114, 112.
In order to get a wide viewing angle, a LCD using an OCB mode (Optically Compensated Bend mode) has been provided. Referring to FIG. 2, it shows the relation between the applied voltage Va and the transmittance of the LCD with the OCB mode. As the applied voltage Va is 0, the transmittance is T1. If the applied voltage Va equals to the threshold voltage Vc, the transmittance will be the maximum value, T2. When the applied voltage Va is V1, the transmittance is the minimum value 0.
In the OCB mode, the dielectric constant difference of the liquid crystal used in the LCD is positive, and the liquid crystal molecules are in a horizontal alignment on the alignment films 116, 124. The direction of the upper analyzer film 106 is perpendicular to that of the lower polarizer film 108.
Referring to FIG. 3Axcx9c3C, the arrangement of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer 1118 are varied by different voltages Va applied to the LCD with the OCB mode. In FIG. 3A, 3B, 3C, the applied voltage Va is 0, Vc, and V1, respectively. The liquid crystal layer 118 comprises a first liquid crystal layer A, a second liquid crystal layer B and a third liquid crystal layer C. The first liquid crystal layer A is contact with the alignment film 116, the second liquid crystal layer B is contact with the alignment film 124, and the third liquid crystal layer C is sandwiched between the first liquid crystal layer A and the second liquid crystal layer B.
In FIG. 3A, the applied voltage Va is zero at the initial state, the angle between the first liquid crystal layer A and the alignment film 116 or the second liquid crystal layer B and the alignment film 124 is very small, about 3 to 8 degree. The liquid crystal molecules in the third liquid crystal layer C turn to parallel to the alignment films 116, 124. This is in a xe2x80x9csplay alignmentxe2x80x9d state. At this time, angles are formed between the liquid crystal molecules and both of the upper and lower analyzers 106, 108, so lights can pass the upper analyzer film 106 through the lower polarizer film 108. The LCD is in a white state.
In FIG. 3B, as the applied voltage Va is Vc, the angle between the first liquid crystal layer A and the alignment film 116 or between the second liquid crystal layer B and the alignment film 124 is increased. The liquid crystal molecules in the third liquid crystal layer C are almost perpendicular to the alignment films 116, 124. This is in a xe2x80x9cbend alignmentxe2x80x9d state. At this time, the LCD is in the white state and has a maximum brightness.
In FIG. 3C, as the applied voltage Va is V1, the angle between the first liquid crystal layer A and the alignment film 116 or between the second liquid crystal layer B and the alignment film 124 is increased to a maximum, about 80 degrees or more. The liquid crystal molecules in the third liquid crystal layer C are substantially perpendicular to the alignment films 116, 124. In other words, the aligned direction of all liquid crystal molecules are almost perpendicular to the upper analyzer 106 and lower polarizer 108, so lights can""t pass through these polarizers. At this time, the LCD is in a dark state.
The OCB mode works when the applied voltage Va between the upper and lower plate 102, 104 is in a range between the threshold voltage Vc and V1. The various brightness and the gray scale of the LCD are achieved by various voltage Va. In the OCB mode, the liquid crystal molecules can be arranged well, the liquid crystal molecules rotate in the same direction, and the friction between the liquid crystal molecules is reduced. Therefore, the LCD with OCB mode has the advantages of fast response and the wide viewing angle. However, it is unstable when the applied voltage is in the range between zero and the threshold voltage Vc. In this unstable stage, the LCD with the OCB mode is non-operated. In order to operate the LCD, the applied voltage should be higher than the threshold voltage Vc. It takes a time to increase the applied voltage Va from zero to the threshold voltage Vc. In other words, the response time of the LCD with OCB mode is slow and the applied voltage Va is high.
From the above description, the object of the present invention is to provide a LCD having a wide viewing angle. The LCD is in the dark state without applied voltage and in a white state with the applied voltage, such that the contrast ratio of the LCD is increased. A plurality of domains are defined by opposite regulating devices on the upper and lower substrates to achieve the advantages of the wide viewing angle, high contrast ratio and high response speed.
According to the present invention, a liquid crystal display having a wide viewing angle includes a first substrate, a first electrode, a first regulating device, a second substrate, a pixel electrode, a second regulating device and a liquid crystal layer. The first substrate includes a first surface thereon. The first electrode and the first regulating device having a first inclined plane are formed on the first surface. The second substrate has a second surface, and the first surface of the first substrate is opposed to the second surface of the second substrate. The pixel electrode and the second regulating device with a second inclined plane are formed on the second substrate. The first regulating device is opposed to the second regulating device. The liquid crystal layer is positioned between the first substrate and the second substrate. The liquid crystal layer includes a plurality of liquid crystal molecules with a negative anisotropic dielectric constant. The liquid crystal layer comprises a first liquid crystal molecule in the proximity of the first regulating device, a second liquid crystal molecule in the proximity of the second regulating device, and a third liquid crystal molecule between the first and second liquid crystal molecules.
While no driving voltage is applied between the first electrode and the pixel electrode, (a) the first liquid crystal molecule is perpendicular to the first inclined surface, a first angle is formed between the first substrate and the first liquid crystal molecule, and the first angle is an acute angle, (b) the second liquid crystal molecule is perpendicular to the second inclined surface, a second angle is formed between the first substrate and the second liquid crystal molecule, and the second angle is an obtuse angle, (c) the third liquid crystal molecule is perpendicular to the first substrate, such that the angle between the first and third liquid crystal molecules and the angle between the third and second liquid crystal molecules are both obtuse angles.
While a driving voltage applied between the first electrode and the pixel electrode, an oblique electric field is formed between the first substrate and the second substrate because of the first regulating device and the second regulating device. The first liquid crystal molecule rotates along a first direction, the second liquid crystal molecule rotates along a second direction, and the first direction is contrary to the second direction. Therefore, all liquid crystal molecules are almost parallel to the first substrate because of the oblique electric field.
In addition, the LCD is in a dark state while no driving voltage is applied between the first electrode and the pixel electrode. The LCD will be in a white state when a driving voltage is applied between the first electrode and the pixel electrode.
Moreover, a plurality of pixel areas are defined between the upper plate and lower plate. Each pixel area is divided to many domains by the first regulating device and the second regulating device.
These advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying figures.

Liquid crystal display with wide viewing angle


Disclosed is an electrostatic spray drying process for encapsulating a core material, such as a volatile flavor oil, within a carrier or wall material. The process is achieved by atomizing a liquid emulsion comprising the core material and the wall material, applying an electrostatic charge at the site of atomization, and drying the atomized emulsion into an encapsulated, free-flowing powder. Applying an electrostatic charge at the site of atomization allows the spray drying to be accomplished at significantly reduced temperatures, in particular, inlet temperatures in the range of 25° C. to 110° C., and outlet temperatures in the range of 25° C. to 80° C. The low drying temperatures impart improvements in the resulting encapsulated powdered product, including better retention of volatile flavor components, a flavor profile comparable to that of the starting liquid formulation, and better hydration and dissolution in water-based applications.

The present technology relates to a process for encapsulating flavor components, or other components that are volatile, or heat or oxygen sensitive, using a spray drying process that employs electrostatic atomization. By mitigating problems associated with conventional high-temperature spray drying, the present technology produces a free-flowing, encapsulated powder that retains its original flavor profile. The present technology also relates to the encapsulated product resulting from the electrostatic atomization.
Spray drying systems have been widely utilized in the flavor industry to encapsulate flavor components, and to transform liquid flavoring ingredients into dry flowable powders. Encapsulation is a technique by which a material, or mixture of materials, is coated by another material, or mixture of materials. The coating material is also known as a wall material or a carrier. The wall material forms the outer layer or shell of the encapsulated product. The inner, coated material is known as a core. The spray dried product can be in the form of a core-shell, which contains a single core in the dried particle, or in the form of a matrix, which contains multiple cores in the particle. Since many of the flavor components are volatile and chemically unstable in the presence of heat, air, moisture, and/or light, encapsulating the flavor components in a wall material or carrier is a way to limit flavor degradation or loss during processing or storage. The encapsulation process usually requires a heat source to initiate a thermally induced phase separation. The phase separation results in the formation of a surface film or skin layer that permits water to selectively diffuse, while retaining the more volatile flavor components within the core of the encapsulated product.
One disadvantage of conventional spray drying systems for flavor encapsulation is the required use of heat energy to induce proper carrier film formation and dehydration in order to obtain a desirable, free-flowing encapsulated powdered product. Typical processing temperatures for conventional spray drying systems range from 150° C. to 210° C. for inlet temperatures and 60° C. to 120° C. for outlet temperatures. As a result of such high temperatures, the flavor profile of the dried encapsulated flavor may be significantly different from its original flavor profile, presenting a significant challenge in formulating an acceptable product from highly volatile flavor compounds and heat sensitive food ingredients. Further, the energy and time required to pre-condition the spray dryer to reach the set heating conditions can be costly and time-consuming.
To overcome at least some of the disadvantages resulting from the high temperatures used in spray drying systems, many in the flavor and food industry have developed specific wall materials or carriers to protect against volatilization of the flavor components. However, such wall materials or carriers may not be suitable for all types of flavor components. In addition, the use of specific wall materials does not address the energy requirements of conventional spray drying systems. Reducing the processing temperatures used in conventional spray drying systems is not a viable solution because, at lower inlet temperatures, such as 120° C., carrier film formation is slower, resulting in higher surface oil content and loss of flavor retention in the resulting product.
Therefore, a need remains for spray drying systems that mitigate the problems associated with conventional high temperature spray drying systems, while providing an encapsulated product that retains its original flavor profile. There is also a need for an encapsulated product that provides improvements in properties such as encapsulation efficiency and product flowability.

Flavor encapsulation using electrostatic atomization


A device includes a memory and a processor. The processor may be configured to receive a gaming package. The gaming package may include an operating system, a script for detecting a hardware configuration of the device, software for accessing a network, and peering software. The processor may be further configured to establish a peer-to-peer gaming session with another device over the network.

Users access the Internet for a variety of objectives, including to socially and competitively interact with others as a form of entertainment. The playing of games (e.g., board games, card games, etc.) over the Internet (on-line games) enables players to enjoy the games with others who may reside at distant locations from each other.
Currently, when a user desires to participate in an on-line gaming session with a second user, the users connect, typically for a subscription fee, to a centralized server that manages the on-line gaming session. Instances may arise when users are prevented from participating in on-line gaming. For example, the centralized servers are subject to bandwidth limitations and are vulnerable to network attacks (e.g., denial of service attacks), outages due to natural or man-made disasters, etc. Customer satisfaction may be diminished during such instances.
There exists a need for systems and methods that improve on-line gaming.

Systems and methods for providing self-compiling, peer-to-peer on-line gaming


A method for starting an internal combustion thermal engine of a hybrid vehicle having: the thermal engine provided with a drive shaft; at least one pair of driving wheels; a transmission, which transmits the motion from the thermal engine to the driving wheels and has a clutch; and an electric machine, which is mechanically connected to the clutch downstream of the clutch, so that the clutch is interposed between the electric machine and the thermal engine; the starting method includes the steps of: opening the clutch to separate the electric machine from the thermal engine; separating the electric machine from the driving wheels; making the electric machine rotate by operating the electric machine as a motor; and closing the clutch when the electric machine reaches a launch rotation speed.

A hybrid vehicle comprises an internal combustion thermal engine, which transmits torque to the driving wheels by means of a transmission provided with a gear box, and at least one electric machine which is electrically connected to an electric storage system and mechanically connected to the driving wheels.
The following is possible while traveling: either a thermal operating mode, in which the torque is generated only by the thermal engine and the electric machine may possibly work as a generator for recharging the storage system; or an electric operating mode, in which the thermal engine is off and the torque is generated only by the electric machine working as a motor; or a combined operating mode, in which the torque is generated both by the thermal engine and by the electric machine working as a motor. Furthermore, in order to increase the overall energy efficiency during all steps of decelerating, the electric machine may be used as a generator for a regenerative deceleration in which the kinetic energy possessed by the vehicle is partially converted into electricity, which is stored in the storage system, instead of being completely dissipated in friction within the brakes.
When the electric machine is disconnectable from the driving wheels, i.e. when the electric machine is mechanically connected to a primary gear box shaft or is directly mechanically connected to a drive shaft of the thermal engine, the electric machine may be used to start the thermal engine itself, thus also serving the function of a starter motor (as described, for example, in patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,848A1 and in patent application GB2335404A). When the thermal engine is "cold", the thermal engine requires the application of a very high torque (indicatively even 2-4 times higher than the starting torque needed to start a "warm" thermal engine) to the drive shaft, because due to the low temperature, the lubricant oil inside the thermal engine is not very fluid and thus opposes a high mechanical resistance. A traditional starter motor is able to apply a very high torque to the drive shaft of the thermal engine by virtue of a very high gear-down ratio (e.g. even 1:10) between the starter motor and the drive shaft; instead, the electric machine of a hybrid vehicle is normally mechanically connected to the drive shaft of the thermal engine with a low gear-down ratio (often unitary, i.e. 1:1, and thus without any gear-down). Therefore, the electric machine of a hybrid vehicle may not be capable of generating the very high starting torque needed to start the thermal engine when the thermal engine is "cold".
In order to solve the above-described problem, in patent application US2002117860A1 it is suggested to mechanically couple the electric machine to the drive shaft of the thermal engine with two different, automatically selectable transmission ratios: a first more geared-down ratio is selected during a step of starting the thermal engine, while a second, more direct ratio (i.e. less geared-down ratio) is selected for the remaining use of the electric machine. However, this solution is constructionally complex because a servo-controlled gear box should be interposed between the electric machine and the drive shaft.
In order to solve the above-described drawback, in patent applications WO2007131838A1, US2005155803A1, U.S. Pat. No. 6,354,974A1 and US2009017988A1 the electric machine is separated from the drive shaft of the thermal engine by a clutch; in order to start the thermal engine, the clutch is opened, the electric machine is "idled" and the clutch is closed with the electric machine rotating so as to also exploit the inertia (i.e. the kinetic energy) of the electric machine for making the thermal engine rotate. However, such a "launched" starting mode may also not be sufficient to start a sporty, high-performance thermal engine which has a high displacement and with a high number of cylinders. Furthermore, the "launched" starting mode allows to apply a high starting torque to the drive shaft needed to start a "cold" thermal engine, but which is redundant to start a "warm" thermal engine; therefore, when the thermal engine is "warm", the "launched" starting mode may unnecessarily impose high mechanical stresses on the transmission components and unnecessarily determines a certain delay when starting the thermal engine due to the time needed to "idle" the electric machine.
Patent application DE19645943A1 describes starting the thermal engine with a "launched" starting mode (which includes making the electric motor rotate before mechanically connecting the electric machine to the thermal engine) when the thermal engine is "cold" and using a conventional starting mode (in which the electric machine is mechanically connected to the thermal engine before it starts to rotate) when the thermal engine is "warm".
Patent application GB2413998A describes starting the thermal engine with a "launched" starting mode (which includes making the electric machine rotate before mechanically connecting the electric machine to the thermal engine); the launch rotation speed (i.e. the rotation speed which should be reached by the electric machine before mechanically connecting the electric machine to the thermal engine) is determined according to the temperature of the thermal engine so that the launch rotation speed is higher when the thermal engine is "cold".

Method for starting a thermal engine of a hybrid vehicle


A mobile terminal device, which is provided with the plurality of keys, includes: a detection interface for detecting touching any of the keys by a user; a press detection interface for detecting pressing the key by the user; a controller for executing a first function assigned to the key at the time of detection of the user touching the key in a case where touching time period, for which the user touches the key, is equal to, or longer than, a predetermined judging time, and for executing a second function assigned to the key at the time of detection of the user touching the key in a case where the touching time period is shorter than the predetermined judging time; and an output controller for displaying an explanation on the first function on a display unit in a case where the touching time period is equal to, or longer than, the predetermined judging time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile terminal device provided with a plurality of keys to each of which a plurality of functions are assigned, and to a program used in this mobile terminal device.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a mobile terminal device such as a mobile telephone or a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile terminal device, which is provided with function keys for calling functions installed therein, has heretofore been widely known. Moreover, a mobile terminal device, in which a plurality of functions are assigned to a single function key, has also been known. This is because it is preferable that a mobile terminal device not be provided with a large number of function keys when portability of the mobile terminal device is focused.
In such a mobile terminal device, for example, a key is assigned to a function for inputting a character corresponding to that assigned to the key in a case where the key is pressed for a period of time shorter than a predetermined judging time (in the case of a "normal press"). The key is assigned to a function for calling an edit screen for a mail in a case where the key is pressed for a period of time longer than the predetermined judging time (in the case of a "longer press") (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-60741, for example).
In addition, there is also known a mobile terminal device in which a function to call an address book, a function to call a screen for changing a ring tone, a function to start a game, a function to call a screen for editing a schedule, and so forth are assigned to the respective keys (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-298716, for example).
Meanwhile, there is also known a mobile terminal device in which an explanation (a preview) on a function to be executed is displayed in a display area when a key is pressed, in order to enhance user-friendliness.
Specifically, such a mobile terminal device detects key touch by a user in addition to key press by the user, and displays the explanation on the function in the display area at the time of detecting the key touch (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-149308, for example).
However, the mobile terminal device is generally provided with small keys since the portability of the mobile terminal device is important.
Hence, in the mobile terminal device configured to execute different functions respectively in response to the "normal press" and the "long press" on a certain key, it is difficult to print explanations on the functions respectively corresponding to the "normal press" and the "long press" on the key. For example, in a case where the explanation on the function corresponding to the "normal press" is printed on the key and the explanation on the function corresponding to the "long press" is not printed thereon, a user has to memorize the function corresponding to the "long press" on the key.
On the other hand, in the mobile terminal device configured to display the explanation on the function in the display area at the time of detecting the key touch by the user, it is assumed that only one function (the function corresponding to the "normal press") is assigned to each of the keys. Specifically, in such a mobile terminal device, displaying of the explanation on the function is triggered by the key touch. Accordingly, even when the plurality of functions are assigned to one key, it is difficult to cause the user to notice that the explanation displayed in the display area represents the explanation on the function corresponding to the "long press".

Mobile terminal device and program used in mobile terminal device


A method and apparatus for precisely locating materials on a foundation includes an elongated survey rod, including a triggering surface, and fastener driver secured to the survey rod. The fastener driver includes a trigger. The triggering surface is located in a position to selectively activate the trigger when the fastener is located at a desired precise location on a foundation.

1. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to precisely identifying locations at construction sites.
More particularly, this invention pertains to a survey rod attached to a powder actuated fastener driver to permit precise location and attachment of a fastener, particularly to a foundation or other fixed object.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, after a foundation has been poured for a structure, surveyors have been called to identify the locations at which construction materials should be attached to the foundation in accordance with the construction plans. The surveyors have typically marked the proper corner locations on the foundation. Thereafter, construction workers have snapped a chalk line to identify the line along which construction materials, such as concrete blocks or plates, for example, are to be secured to the foundation. While in most situations the level of precision provided by this two-step process has been adequate, there is frequently some variation between the surveyed locations and the actual locations of the construction materials. Small differences in angles can result in large differences in distances, particularly in long walls found in commercial and industrial buildings. There are many situations in which greater precision in the locations of chalk lines are required.

Method and apparatus for precise location of materials


A method, a system and equipment for determining quality of telecommunication service over a telecommunication network, which provide: (a) obtaining data on quality of service over a number of routes in the network by determining, for each route, N parameters pi, each reflecting either a quality of transmission of a particular service through said route or a statistical characteristics of said route""s availability to a subscriber, and (b) building an objective quality score (OQS) for each of the routes, the OQS being a multi-profile quality estimation equation presenting a sum of N said parameters pi taken with respective weight functions Wi(pi) thereof. Based on the score, one or more routes can be selected in the network (for example, for routing), which have the OQS value not lower than a predetermined OQS.

The present invention relates to a method and a system for controlling quality of service over a network, and in particularxe2x80x94over a packet switched data network, such as over IP (Internet Protocol).
It is widely known, that modem telecommunication networks comprise different interconnected domains, for example a PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) which was originally designed for handling voice calls, and a packet switched network which, by its nature, is data oriented. Nowadays, all kinds of services or transmission types (e.g., voice, fax or data) are transmitted through the combined networks and are inevitably subjected to many factors which affect the quality of service expected by a particular subscriber. The above-mentioned factors stem not only from the nature of a particular network domain, but also (and to the great extent) from the growing traffic load in the modem telecommunication networks.
In packet switched networks, real time services such as voice, fax, real-time video conference (e.g., packetized voice signals of Voice over IP), are mixed with data signals and, as a result, suffer from degradation that is not encountered in the regular circuit-switched networks (e.g., PSTN). The degradation may occur due to such known packet networks"" problems, as packet loss, packet delay and packet delay variation (so-called jitter) which are known as specific criteria of data transmission quality.
While in the PSTN the voice channels are assigned to a constant, assured bandwidth, in packet switched networks the bandwidth varies dynamically, depending on data and voice traffic in the network. In order to ensure a given quality of the voice signal, a service provider in the packet switched network must assure both a minimum bandwidth at all times, and keep the three criteria mentioned above within given limits. For example, it becomes difficult to carry on a voice conversation if the packet delay exceeds 200 ms.
While for data traffic control in the packet switched networks it may be enough to monitor some performance criteria such as the packet delay, in the case of voice traffic various parameters combine in an infinite number of possible combinations so that, there is no simple correlation between these parameters and the actual voice quality heard by the caller.
Voice networks have traditionally been tested by injection of test sentences at one (transmitting) end, and having this sentence heard and its clarity subjectively graded by a group of people at the other (receiving) end of the path. The test result is called a Mean Opinion Score (MOS) and ranges from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent).
To convert this obviously subjective method to an objective one, real measurements of quality should serve the basis for conclusions. To this end, two main approaches were proposed. The first one can be classified as an intrusive approach, which is based on comparison of a transmitted signal to the same received signal, and examining the difference. There are a number of models enabling to arrive to the MOS results using the above comparison, for example PSQM model (described in the International ITUT standard Q862) and PAMS model developed by British Telecom (BT). It should be noted, that PAMS is the only model which takes into account problems in the quality of service which may be brought to data networks by phenomena such as packet delay, packet loss, jitter, etc. The second approach is a non-intrusive approach based on measuring physical parameters such as noise, delay, echo etc., and improving thereof up to a satisfactory level. A number of models exist, for example E-model of ITUT standard body and a CCI (Call Clarity Index) developed in BT. Presently, there is no such a non-intrusive model, which would take into account problems of quality degradation due to data networks.
Nowadays, voice services providers which utilize packet switching in their networks, cannot assure the desired voice quality to their customers in advance, since the voice quality of service is not monitored in the networks to the extent allowing that.
On the other hand, fully loaded networks suffer from shortage of lines, and very often the quality of service (with respect to voice, fax and data) is reduced due to low connectivity in the network and low availability of destination points.
None of the relevant methods and systems known to the Applicant describes or suggests any combined Quality of Service estimation mechanism for a network, which would enable integral monitoring of the quality of service, and control of the quality of service to be provided.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a method of determining quality of the telecommunication service over a telecommunication network based on a novel, combined estimation of quality of service for this network. A further object of the invention is to provide a method, a system and an equipment for monitoring and controlling the quality of service in the network, based on the combined estimation thereof. The invention is most effectively applicable to modem telecommunication networks including packet switched networks.
The above main object can be achieved by a method of determining quality of telecommunication service over a telecommunication network, the method including the following steps:
a) obtaining data on quality of service over a number of routes in the network by determining, for each route, N of parameters pi, each of said parameters pi reflecting either a quality of transmission of a particular service (transmission type) through said route or a statistical characteristics of said route""s availability to a subscriber,
b) building an objective quality score (OQS) for each of said routes, the OQS being a multi-profile quality estimation equation presenting a sum of N said parameters pi taken with respective weight functions Wi(pi) thereof.
It is further proposed, that the weight functions Wi(pi) reflect a preferred profile of the quality of service in said network and are presented as positive numbers in the range 0xe2x89xa6Wi(pi)xe2x89xa61 selected so that M values of said weight functions Wi(pi) are more than 0, (Mxe2x89xa6N), and the sum of the selected values of the Wi(pi) is equal to 1.
Preferably, the method also comprises step (c):
c) selecting one or more routes having the OQS value not lower than a predetermined OQS value for further routing the telecommunication services there-through.
It should be mentioned, that for effecting control of the service quality, an additional step is to be effected, i.e. the step of routing the telecommunication services over said one or more selected routes.
It is understood, that said particular service (transmission type) is one of components in a non-limiting list comprising voice, fax and data.
The mentioned equation can be presented in the following form:                     OQS        =                              ∑                          i              =              1                        N                                                                        W                i                                                          (                                  p                  i                                )                                                                p              i                                                  1
wherein:
OQSxe2x80x94is the objective quality score estimation
pixe2x80x94a value of a parameter xe2x80x9cixe2x80x9d in a particular route in the network
Wi(pi)xe2x80x94weight function of the parameter xe2x80x9cixe2x80x9d (in one simple particular case Wi(pi) may be a constant coefficient of the parameter xe2x80x9cixe2x80x9d)
Nxe2x80x94is the number of parameters defined for the network.
The above-mentioned parameters preferably comprise at least the following five (N=6) characteristics of the quality of service for particular transmission types and the network of interest:
p1xe2x80x94is a voice Quality of Service parameter QoS which can be estimated using at least one of the following methods known in the prior art: CCI (Call Clarity Index), PAMS (Perceptual Analysis Measurement System), PSQM (as defined in the international ITUT standard Q-862), E-model, etc.,
P2xe2x80x94is a Fax Quality of Service parameter estimated, for example, according to a statistically obtained ratio between a number of errors during a fax transmission and a number of pages in the fax, or other methods, for example based on checking a coded message enclosed in a particular fax packet.
P3xe2x80x94is a Data Quality of Service parameter which can be estimated based on such a widely known transmission parameters as Packet delay, Packet loss and Packet delay variation (jitter);
P4xe2x80x94is Line Availability in the network, which parameter can be calculated using statistical parameters of physical reliability of a line, i.e., MTBF (MeanTime Between Failure) and MTTR (MeanTime to Repair);
P5xe2x80x94is Connectivity of the network which may be obtained from statistically calculated parameters ASR (Answer Seizure Ratio) and NER (Network Effectiveness Ratio) estimating a number of successful calls with respect to a number of the initiated calls, and calls provided by the destination network portion, respectively;
P6xe2x80x94is a Service Availability parameter, statistically reflecting ratio is of the responses xe2x80x9cbusyxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cnot availablexe2x80x9d to the inquiry calls, with respect to the requested destination numbers or sites.
In one version of the method, the weight functions Wi(pi) of the quality of service can be selected by a service provider for forming a number of profiles of services to be offered to clients.
The mentioned pair of a service provider and a client may reflect various combinations, for example a service provider and a particular customer (subscriber); two service providers being inter-carriers; a service provider and a xe2x80x9cclearing housexe2x80x9d; a clearing house and a network provider and the like.
In another possible version, the weight functions Wi(pi) of the quality of service can be selected by a client in order to form its own profile of service. The client uses the weight functions for estimating various options of the service profile and further choosing the most reasonable one.
In both mentioned versions a so-called service level agreement (SLA) can be signed (accepted) between the service provider and the client, which agreement comprises both the selected weights and the selected OQS parameter.
In practice, the client selects the mentioned M parameters with the weight functions thereof (i.e., the parameters which are important for the services of interest), thereby selecting the preferred profile of service. The service provider estimates OQS for a variety of routes using the profile of service obtained from the subscriber, for proposing variants of the xe2x80x9ctotalxe2x80x9d quality to the subscriber. The subscriber is then invited to select a preferred OQS value(s). Upon doing that, the service provider accepts its obligation to route all the services of this particular subscriber along those routes which have been found to satisfy the required total quality of service OQS.
It should be appreciated that the above method may terminate with a step (d) of routing the services over one or more routes which have been selected at step (c).
However, the method may further comprise a step (e) of monitoring the quality of service in real time and comparing it with the predetermined value OQS.
Preferably, the step (e) comprises obtaining data on quality of service over a particular selected route in the network by determining M of said parameters pi and building an objective quality score (OQS) for said route, the OQS being a multi-profile quality estimation equation presenting a sum of M said parameters pi taken with said weight functions Wi(pi).
Those skilled in the art understand that in such telecommunication networks as PSTN and ATM the routing is accomplished in a fixed way. It means, that if the routes selected at step (c) are then found to supply the quality of service lower than was expected, the situation can be improved only physically, for example by effecting repairs in the network. In other words, the monitoring allows for obtaining the updated information about channels"" quality which might be useful for the purposes of the equipment maintenance and improvement of the service.
It is known, that for IP domains the situation is different, i.e. the routing is more flexible. In view of this, the method may comprise a feedback feature, i.e.
step (e) additionally comprises real-time monitoring the OQS of a plurality of routes in the network, and a step of near real-time re-routing the telecommunication services to those routes which are characterized by OQS value not lower than the predetermined value; the re-routing is provided in case that the selected route has the OQS lower than the predetermined value.
For example, the real-time monitoring the OQS of a plurality of routes in the network with respect to a particular transmission type may be provided in the following way:
obtaining data on quality of service concerning said particular transmission type from a plurality of points in the network, distributed therein,
processing the obtained data to determine a corresponding current value of pi parameter for said plurality of points, and
defining in said network a number of alternative transmission paths for said transmission type, each having a particular current value of the parameter pi.
In one particular version of the method, said parameter pi is the Voice Quality of Service parameter QoS, and said network comprises a packet switched network such as IP network.
It should be noted that more than one pi can be determined and monitored according to the above version. The re-routing of the particular transmission type signal can be thus effected via those of said transmission paths having current values of said at least one pi parameter being not lower than said selected Wi(pi)pi.
The method comprising feedback enables the service provider to fulfill the obligations according to the Service Level Agreement (SLA) proposed to a customer by assuring a desired end-to-end quality of service in the network.
Further, the method may include a step of quality related call billing, where a call is billed taking into account the quality actually delivered or preliminarily ordered. It is natural that any combination of the parameter pi with its weight function Wi(pi) having values from 0 to 1 can be associated with an appropriate price function. Based on this, the OQS estimation can be reflected by a specific price range offered by the service provider. Similarly, the SLA signed between the service provider and the subscriber reflects not only the profile of service the subscriber has selected, but also the prices associated with this profile. Alternatively or in addition to the SLA, the caller may indicate the level of quality/cost desired in real time (for example, for an international voice call he/she may request a higher QoS than for a national long distance call).
The method would enable the service providers to offer voice, fax and data transmission services of various quality ranges and at appropriate prices, beginning from full price high quality services up to premium services.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a system for determining and monitoring quality of service in a telecommunication network.
The system for determining a quality of service estimate in a network may comprise:
a plurality of test units capable of collecting data for determining value of at least one quality of service parameter pi with respect to a particular transmission type at various points in said network, said parameter pi being one of N quality of service parameters;
a server computer adapted to communicate with said test units for receiving therefrom the collected data on said at least one parameter at said respective points of the network, said server computer being capable of defining a number of transmission paths (routes) in the network, each having its own said quality of service parameter pi.
Preferably, the server computer is adapted to communicate with the test units collecting data on at least one additional quality of service parameter of said N quality of service parameters, and, based on the collected data concerning the points and the parameters, the server computer being capable of building an objective quality score (OQS) for a number of routes in the network, wherein the OQS is a multi-profile quality estimation equation presenting a sum of N said parameters pi taken with respective weight functions Wi(pi) thereof.
According to the preferred embodiment of the system, said plurality of test units are also capable of monitoring said at least one parameter pi in real time, while said server computer adapted to define in real time a number of transmission paths each having its own current value of quality of service parameter pi.
In one particular embodiment of the system, where the voice QoS parameter pi is monitored, it enables the service provider to measure the audio quality of individual packetized voice channels (voice transmission paths) xe2x80x9cburiedxe2x80x9d in a data communications traffic.
Preferably, the server computer is also capable of ranking said paths according to their pi parameter. Such an ability can be used for various purposes, for example: for reporting on poor quality of particular channels, for further routing a particular transmission type incoming the packet network, and/or for assigning different tariffs to the paths with different ranks of pi.
According to one exemplary embodiment of the system, wherein the packet switched network cooperates with a gateway circuitry where an analog voice signal is packetized and routed, the above-mentioned gateway circuitry comprises a service provider""s network element responsible for routing said voice signals, and the server computer is capable of providing said element with information on the defined transmission paths and respective values of their voice quality of service pi(QoS) parameter, thereby enabling the routing of the voice signals via those of said transmission paths having predetermined values of the QoS parameter. Actually, in this embodiment the system for monitoring becomes a system for providing improved voice service in a packet switched network.
The mentioned service provider""s network element where the analog voice signal is packetized and routed (as well as the element where the packetized voice signal is de-packetized and passed to its destination) may constitute a Voice over IP (VoIP) gateway or gatekeeper.
The above-mentioned server computer, and an equipment kit including at least one such server computer and, optionally, a number of the described test unitsxe2x80x94form additional aspects of the present invention.
For example, a server computer can be designed for determining a quality of service in a network, the server computer being designed for communicating with a plurality of test units for receiving therefrom data on quality of service parameters pi at various points of the network; based on the collected data concerning the points and the parameters, the server computer being capable of building an objective quality score (OQS) for a number of routes in the network, wherein the OQS being a multi-profile quality estimation equation presenting a sum of said parameters pi taken with respective weight functions Wi(pi) thereof., wherein
each of said test units being adapted to determine value of at least one quality of service parameter pi with respect to a particular transmission type.
The service computer can definitely be used for monitoring the quality of service, and for routing in the network based on the OQS estimation.
Further features of the system will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments.

Method and system for controlling quality of service over a telecommunication network


A cryptographic processing device includes a private key storage unit which stores a private key d for elliptic curve cryptography, a random number generation unit which generates a b-bit random value s, and a processing unit. A bit string D is the private key d or a bit string obtained by modifying the private key d in such a way that a value of a most significant bit is 0, and a relation u=mk+b holds true for a length u of the bit string D, a window size k, and a positive integer m. The processing unit determines a signed k-bit window value w[i] corresponding to each i where 0≦i≦(m−1), a signed b-bit random value s[i] corresponding to each i, and a correction value g. The processing unit determines the above values under a certain constraint condition, while determining each random value s[i] to be +s or −s.

In recent years, the importance of information security technology has been increasing. As one of the infrastructure technologies of information security, public-key cryptography has been actively studied.
There are several kinds of public-key cryptographies, and among them, the Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) algorithm, which utilizes modular exponentiation, elliptical curve cryptography (ECC), which utilizes scalar multiplication of a point on an elliptic curve, and the like are known.
In utilizing the public-key cryptographies, it is important to keep the private key secret to maintain security. In recent years, however, some attacking methods for breaking the private key have become known. Accordingly, in order to make the equipment which executes processing with the public-key cryptography tamper-proof, some countermeasures against at least the known attacking methods are required to be implemented in the equipment.
As one example of side-channel attacks, an attacking method called a power analysis (PA) attack is known. There are two types of PA; simple power analysis (SPA) and differential power analysis (DPA).
Therefore, equipment which executes processing with the public-key cryptography is required to have security against an SPA attack and security against a DPA attack. For example, one of the countermeasures against an SPA attack includes a method called a "window method" and one of the countermeasures against a DPA attack includes a method of randomizing data. Further, a cryptographic device for realizing effective tamper-proof modular exponentiation and scalar multiplication of a point has been proposed; with respect to an encryption method which executes modular exponentiation, a cryptographic processor has also been proposed that makes the estimation of the private key with a PA attack difficult and that is highly tamper-proof.
Some documents, such as Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2003-233307 and International Publication Pamphlet No. WO 2009/122461 are known.

Cryptographic processing device and cryptographic processing method


The present invention discloses a method and an apparatus for calculating an optimal Average Picture Level (APL) in a plasma display of asymmetric cell configuration wherein each red, green and blue cell has asymmetric size and a plasma display using the same.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plasma display panel, and more particularly to a method and an apparatus for calculating an optimal Average Picture Level (hereinafter referred to as an "APL") and to a plasma display capable of enhancing a display quality using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A plasma display displays a picture using the visible ray generated from a phosphorus material when the phosphorus material is excited by the ultraviolet rays generated by a gas discharge. The plasma display has advantages that it is thinner and lighter than a cathode ray tube (CRT) which has been a display means mast widely used so far and that it is possible to be made into a high definition screen and bigger in size.
The plasma display is driven with time division scheme wherein one frame is divided into several sub-fields that have different light emission frequency, in order to realize the gray level of a picture. Each sub-field is divided again into a reset period for generating a uniform discharge, an address period for selecting discharge cells and a sustain period for realizing gray levels depending on a discharge frequency. For instance, in the event that it is desired to display a picture with 256 gray levels, a frame period 16.67 ms corresponding to 1/60 second is divided into eight(8) sub-fields. In addition, each of 8 sub-fields is divided again into the reset period, the address period and the sustain period. Herein, the reset period and the address period are identically repeated for each sub-field, but on the other hand, the sustain period and the discharge frequency thereof are proportionally increased depending on the number of sustain pulses at the rate of 2n (where n=0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) in each sub-field. In this way, since the sustain period becomes different in each sub-field, it is possible to realize the gray level of a picture.
In such a plasma display, luminosity is decided in accordance with the number of sustain pulses. Accordingly, if the number of the sustain pulses are same in each sub-field in case that average luminosity is either lighter or darker, there may arise various problems such as a deterioration of picture quality, excessive power consumption and a damage of a plasma display panel (PDP) due to a non-uniform of average luminosity. For instance, a contrast property may be deteriorated in case that the number of the sustain pulses is set less for every input image. Moreover, in case of setting the number of the sustain pulses more for every input image, the luminosity and the contrast property may be improved even in dark images, but the PDP may be damaged because of increasing the power consumption and the temperature of the PDP. Accordingly, it is needed to appropriately adjust the number of the sustain pulses depending on the average luminosity of the input images. To this end, the plasma display includes a circuit for controlling the number of the sustain pulses in accordance with an APL.
Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a block diagram representing a related art plasma display. The plasma display includes a gain controller 12 connected between a first reverse gamma corrector 11A and a data aligner 15, an error diffuser 13, a sub-field mapping unit 14, and an APL calculator 16 connected between a second reverse gamma controller 11B and a waveform generator 17.
The first and the second reverse gamma correctors 11A and 11B linearly change brightness for a gray level value of image signals by reverse gamma correcting digital video is data RGB supplied from input lines.
The gain controller 12 functions to adjust gains of the digital video data corrected by the reverse gamma corrector 11A by the amount of effective gains.
The error diffuser 13 adjusts minutely a brightness value by diffusing quantization errors of the digital video data RGB provided from the gain controller 12 throughout adjacent cells. To this end, the error diffuser 13 divides the digital video data into an integer portion and a decimal portion and multiplies the latter by Floid-Steinber's coefficient.
The sub-field mapping unit 14 maps the digital video data provided from the error diffuser 13 to sub-field patterns stored in advance and provides the mapped data to the data aligner 15.
The data aligner 15 provides the digital video data input from the sub-field mapping unit 14 to the data driving circuit of a plasma display panel (hereinafter referred to as a "PDP") 18. The data driving circuit is connected to data electrodes in the PDP 18, latches the digital video data provided from the data aligner 15 by every one horizontal line, and then provides the latched data by one horizontal period unit to the data electrodes in the PDP 18.
The APL calculator 16 detects by frame unit an average brightness, i.e., APL, for the digital video data RGS input from the second reverse gamma corrector 11B and outputs information on the number of sustain pulses (NSUS) corresponding to the detected APL. For instance, the APL is divided into 256 steps from 0 to 255 assuming that input digital video data is of 8-bit.
The waveform generator 17 generates a timing control signal in response to the information on the number of sustain pulses from the APL calculator 16 and provides it to a scan driving circuit and a sustain driving circuit not shown in FIG. 1. The scan driving circuit and the sustain driving circuit provide sustain pulses to scan electrodes and sustain electrodes in the PDP 18 in response to the timing control signal provided from the waveform generator 17. Generally, a pixel in a PDP includes a set of red, green and blue sub-pixels.
If each red, green and blue sub-pixel is manufactured with the same size, it is difficult to optimize a white balance and a color coordinate of the plasma display without using a particular circuit due to the difference of the unique saturation property of red, green, and blue phosphorus materials. In recent, a PDP of the asymmetric cell configuration wherein the red, green and blue sub-pixels are made to have different sizes, respectively is suggested so as to correct the white balance and the color coordinate.
However, since the conventional method of calculating an APL is made on a condition that all the sub-pixels have the same sizes as mentioned above, an optimal AFL cannot be calculated in the PDP based on the asymmetric cell configuration.

Method and apparatus for calculating an average picture level and plasma display using the same


A diagnostic system for monitoring changes in a medium is disclosed. The system includes a transmitter configured to generate and transmit a time-varying magnetic field into a medium responsive to a first signal. The system also includes a receiver positioned on an opposite side of the medium from the transmitter and configured to generate a second signal responsive to a received magnetic field at the receiver. The system also includes a processing unit configured to determine a phase shift between the transmitted magnetic field and the received magnetic field for a plurality of frequencies of the transmitted time-varying magnetic field.

In many different medical settings, it would be advantageous to be able to detect changes in bodily fluids as they occurred in a noninvasive manner. For example, it is often critical to monitor intracranial changes in fluid in an intensive care unit patient. Standard of care for these patients includes invasive monitors that require drilling a hole in the cranium and inserting a probe such as an intracranial pressure (ICP) monitor, or microdialysis or "licox" probes for measuring chemical changes to the fluids in the brain. No noninvasive measurement techniques are currently commercially available for detecting cerebral fluid changes such as would occur with bleeding or edema, and many brain injuries are not severe enough to warrant drilling a hole in the cranium for invasive monitoring. Thus, for many patients with brain injury, there is no continuous monitoring technology available to alert clinical staff when there is a potentially harmful increase in edema or bleeding. Instead, these patients are typically observed by nursing staff, employing a clinical neurological examination, and it is not until increased fluid in the brain causes observable brain function impairment that the physicians or nurses can react. In other words, there is no way currently available for monitoring intracranial fluid changes themselves, and thus the ability to compensate for such changes is limited.
MIPS has been previously proposed for diagnosis of brain fluid abnormalities. Patents have been awarded for proposed devices, and promising scientific studies of prototype devices are described in the literature. For example, Rubinsky et al. described the use of MIPS for this purpose in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,638,341, 7,910,374 and 8,101,421, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated in their entirety herein (referred to herein as the "Rubinsky Patents"). However, no practical, mass-produced medical device based MIPS technology has yet emerged to provide clinicians specializing in brain treatment or other areas of medicine the promised benefits of such a device.
It was first postulated by Albert Einstein that the velocity of the transit of electromagnetic radiation in a vacuum is equal to the inverse of the square root of the product of magnetic permeability and electric permittivity. This formula yields the well-known value of the speed of light of approximately 3×108 meters/second. The finite time required for an electromagnetic field to propagate through a medium, however, results in a time delay, which is manifested as a phase shift (e.g., an offset or a delay) between a field emitted from a transmitter as compared with the field as sensed at a receiver. In other words, electromagnetic fields typically propagate fastest in a vacuum, and propagate slower if any matter or medium is present between the transmitter and the receiver. The amount of slowing is inversely proportional to the square root of the product of the relative permeability and relative permittivity of the medium.
The material makeup of biological materials is almost entirely non-magnetic, with a relative permeability of approximately 1. The variation in the time delay/phase shift through biological materials may therefore be mainly dependent on the average relative permittivity along the path through which the electromagnetic field passes. Relative permittivity varies for various tissue types and body fluids. The permittivity of the biological materials may also depend on the frequency of a time-varying electromagnetic field and may depend on the ambient temperature. The relative permittivity of body fluids is higher than most brain tissues, and thus, changes in fluid levels in the brain may have a relatively large effect on the overall phase shift of electromagnetic fields as they propagate through a brain or other medium.
For radiofrequency ("RF") frequencies below about 200 MHz, the distance between opposing sides of the brain is less than one wavelength for normally propagating transverse electromagnetic waves. This is known as the near field, and in this region the electromagnetic waves are not fully formed. For this near field magnetic field propagation case, the propagation time and phase change is predominately determined by the loss factor of the tissues and liquids in the path rather than their relative permittivity. The loss factor is a function of the imaginary portion of the complex permittivity and the conductivity. The physical mechanism for dissipation of energy is the constant realignment of polarized molecules to the changing field polarity. Therefore the loss factor for a given substance is largely dependent on its ionic content. The ionic content of brain tissue and brain liquids is different for each substance. When combined with variations in relative permittivity, the various biological tissues and liquids in the brain display unique phase signatures when looking at phase changes for both the lower frequency near field propagation and higher frequency normal propagation cases. Because of the major difference in the physics that causes the phase delay, a multi-spectral measurement using RF frequencies both below and above 200 MHz allows characterization of not only the fractional amount of liquid in the brain, but sub-classifications of the exact nature of the liquid content such as the fractions of blood, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), or the other liquids that accumulate in the cerebral cavity due to hemorrhaging or edema.
Again, despite research into use of MIPS for diagnosis of fluid changes in the body, no practical medical device based MIPS technology for doing so currently exists. A strong need exists for such technology. Ideally, a medical device solution would provide a MIPS system with improved performance, usability and manufacturability, such that it could be used for noninvasive fluid change detection in the brain and/or other areas of the body. At least some of these objectives will be addressed by the embodiments described herein.

Diagnostic method for detection of fluid changes using shielded transmission lines as transmitters or receivers


The component polyol/polyisocyanate composition useful in forming an abrasion resistant polyurethane automotive undercoating. The polyol component is unmodified castor oil or castor oil modified with cyclohexanone-formaldehyde condensate. The modified castor oil may be further modified by adding the reaction product of neopentyl glycol and adipic acid. The polyisocyanate component comprises an MDI-based mixture containing polyisocyanate prepolymers based on alkylene oxides.

Two-component mixes for the preparation of polyurethane resins are well known. As a matter of fact, in an elemental sense, the first polyurethane resins were made by mixing two components, which is to say, by reacting together a polyol as one component and a diisocyanate as the other. This concept has become greatly refined and improved upon during the subsequent growth of the polyurethane resin industry. As a result, various two-component mixes have been reported. Two-component mixes are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,410,597 and 4,101,473. Polyurethane coatings are known for use in the auto industry; see UK patent Application No. 2,147,910A, published May 22, 1985; and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,554,188, 4,400,497, and 4,525,570. The use of dibutyl tin dilaurate and triethylene diamine catalysts is well known in the polyurethane art. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,124,573.
Castor oil is known as a polyol reactant with diisocyanates to form polyurethanes. Ency. Pol. Sci. and Techn. 3, 25 (1965). An updated technical brochure entitled "Desmophen", available from Mobay Chemical Co., describes "Desmophen".RTM. as a "branched polyalcohol with ether and ester groups". The brochure discloses that Desmophen.RTM. can be reacted with isocyanates (not defined) to make polyurethane coatings for various applications. Our analyses indicate that "Desmophen" as currently available contains castor oil, cyclohexanone formaldehyde condensate, and a small amount of toluene.
U.K. Patent No. 1,182,884, Gruber and Fehlbier (1970) describes treatment of castor oil with cyclohexanone formaldehyde condensate, thereby providing modified castor oil as used in this invention. Reaction of the modified castor oil with MDI to make a polyurethane resin is also disclosed.

Castor oil based polyurethane for underbody coatings and the like


The present disclosure relates to a bundle orienting device in-line with a conveyor configured for transporting bundles in a conveying direction. The bundle orienting device can include a plurality of selectively actuatable orientation elements that, collectively, laterally and/or angularly displace a bundle as it travels in the conveying direction through the bundle orienting device. In addition, the present disclosure relates to a method for rotating bundles traveling in a conveying direction along a conveyor system. The method includes conveying a bundle along a conveyor to pass through a bundle orienting device, thus described.

Manufacturers of corrugated paper products, such as corrugated boxes, trays, and flat corrugated sheets, typically arrange their product in bundles. The bundles are arranged in layers, or tiers, and stacked vertically to form loads of the product for transportation to customers. To facilitate load stability, the bundles that comprise each layer are often positioned in a pattern such that at least one of the bundles is rotated 90 degrees relative to the other bundles of the layer. The load is usually stacked on a pallet and banded together to facilitate handling of the load.
Current methods for arranging the bundles into layers involve transporting the bundles via a conveyor to a stack build area and, during transport, providing various positioning apparatuses, such as stationary and/or moving rails, poles, plates, etc., that contact the bundles such that the bundles are moved laterally and/or rotated to a desired position. These current methods have several limitations. For example, particularly with respect to rotation of the bundles, the methods require stopping and starting of the transport conveyor. In addition to slowing the production rate, such stoppages and restarts contribute to bundle degradation, caused by the individual sheets of the bundle sliding relative to one another, additional wear on the machinery, and additional energy consumption. A further limitation or disadvantage of current methods includes the inability of the positioning apparatuses to process multiple bundles simultaneously.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a bundle arrangement apparatus and method that allows for increased processing rates while maintaining the quality of the bundles and the individual sheets that comprise the bundle.


Techniques for non-disruptive configuration changes are provided. A packet is received at a network device, and the packet is buffered in a common pool shared by a first processing pipeline and a second processing pipeline, where the first processing pipeline corresponds to a first policy and the second processing pipeline corresponds to a second policy. A first copy of a packet descriptor for the packet is queued in a first scheduler based on processing the first copy of the packet descriptor with the first processing pipeline. A second copy of the packet descriptor is queued in a second scheduler associated based on processing the second copy of the packet descriptor with the second processing pipeline. Upon determining that the first policy is currently active on the network device, the first copy of the packet descriptor is dequeued from the first scheduler.

A variety of techniques can be used to control the behavior of a network (and of the individual devices that make up the network). In many systems, policies (e.g., access policies) are used to define the way traffic is handled. To implement policies, configuration changes are applied to the applicable network nodes to change how they process network traffic. However, at the physical infrastructure level, applying such configuration changes (particularly with respect to policy-related changes), typically results in service disruption in existing systems. That is, while the changes are being made, the nodes are often unable to continue to process traffic, leading to disruptions. This service disruption in production networks typically requires that such changes be applied only during prescheduled change-windows, as opposed to dynamically or rapidly, as needed.
To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. It is contemplated that elements disclosed in one embodiment may be beneficially used in other embodiments without specific recitation.

Non-disruptive implementation of policy configuration changes


A heat protection device for a wheel electronics unit on a rim of a wheel of a vehicle, having a main body with a fastening portion for fastening to the wheel electronics unit, and at least one heat protection portion for thermally insulating the wheel electronics unit in the fastened position.

It is known that wheels of vehicles are intended to be equipped with a wheel electronics unit, in particular in the form of wheel sensor technology. A typical example of such a wheel electronics unit is the monitoring of the tire pressure in the wheel by a corresponding tire pressure sensor as the wheel electronics unit. If the vehicle is a racing vehicle or a sports vehicle in sports use, in addition to the pressure loading the thermal loading is of crucial importance for the operability of the wheel electronics unit. In particular during the sporty driving mode for a vehicle, a large amount of heat arises during sharp braking maneuvers. Said heat arises at the brake disks of the vehicle that are arranged within the rims. By means of heat conduction or primarily by means of heat radiation, said generated heat merges into the rim and onto the inner side thereof. In the known solutions, this leads to the wheel electronics unit present in the wheel rim correspondingly also being exposed to thermal loading.
It is disadvantageous in the known solutions that, in particular in a sporty way of driving with a multiplicity of sharp braking maneuvers, the heat within the wheel chamber or within the rim can increase to such a great extent that short-term overheating of the wheel electronics unit may take place. In the known solutions, this can have the effect that the consecutive carrying out of sharp braking maneuvers leads to the temporary or even long-term defectiveness of the wheel electronics unit. In known solutions, sports cars therefore have to be equipped, for the racing mode or for the sporty driving mode, with a correspondingly costly wheel electronics unit which ensures appropriate failure safety for these individual situations with a high heat loading. If this is not the case, in the known sports vehicles, the wheel electronics unit has to be replaced after racing use, which is associated with a high outlay on installation and correspondingly also with a cost disadvantage.

Heat protection device for a wheel electronics unit on a rim of a wheel of a vehicle


A wireless power transfer system comprises a power transmitter (101) wirelessly providing power to a power receiver (105) via an electromagnetic power transfer signal. The power transmitter (101) comprises a transmitter coil (103) generating the power transfer signal and a driver (201) generating a drive signal for the transmitter coil (103) to generate the power transfer signal. A foreign object detector (207) executes a foreign object detection operation arranged to detect a presence of a foreign object in response to a property of the drive signal. A communicator (205) receives a power operating point indication from the power receiver (105) which represents a load power for a load of the power receiver (105). An adapter (209) adapts the foreign object detection operation in response to the operating point indication being indicative of a change in the load power meeting a criterion.

Most present-day electrical products require a dedicated electrical contact in order to be powered from an external power supply. However, this tends to be impractical and requires the user to physically insert connectors or otherwise establish a physical electrical contact. Typically, power requirements also differ significantly, and currently most devices are provided with their own dedicated power supply resulting in a typical user having a large number of different power supplies with each power supply being dedicated to a specific device. Although, the use of internal batteries may avoid the need for a wired connection to a power supply during use, this only provides a partial solution as the batteries will need recharging (or replacing). The use of batteries may also add substantially to the weight and potentially cost and size of the devices.
In order to provide a significantly improved user experience, it has been proposed to use a wireless power supply wherein power is inductively transferred from a transmitter inductor in a power transmitter device to a receiver coil in the individual devices.
Power transmission via magnetic induction is a well-known concept, mostly applied in transformers having a tight coupling between a primary transmitter inductor/coil and a secondary receiver coil. By separating the primary transmitter coil and the secondary receiver coil between two devices, wireless power transfer between these becomes possible based on the principle of a loosely coupled transformer.
Such an arrangement allows a wireless power transfer to the device without requiring any wires or physical electrical connections to be made. Indeed, it may simply allow a device to be placed adjacent to, or on top of, the transmitter coil in order to be recharged or powered externally. For example, power transmitter devices may be arranged with a horizontal surface on which a device can simply be placed in order to be powered.
Furthermore, such wireless power transfer arrangements may advantageously be designed such that the power transmitter device can be used with a range of power receiver devices. In particular, a wireless power transfer approach, known as the Qi Specifications, has been defined and is currently being developed further. This approach allows power transmitter devices that meet the Qi Specifications to be used with power receiver devices that also meet the Qi Specifications without these having to be from the same manufacturer or having to be dedicated to each other. The Qi standard further includes some functionality for allowing the operation to be adapted to the specific power receiver device (e.g. dependent on the specific power drain).
The Qi Specification is developed by the Wireless Power Consortium and more information can e.g. be found on their website: http://www.wirelesspowerconsortium.com/index.html, where in particular the defined Specification documents can be found.
In power transfer systems, such as Qi, the electromagnetic field generated in order to transfer the required levels of power to the power receiver is often very substantial. The presence of such a strong field may in many situations have an impact on the surroundings.
For example, a potential problem with wireless power transfer is that power may unintentionally be transferred to e.g. metallic objects that happen to be in the vicinity of the power transmitter. For example, if a foreign object, such as e.g. a coin, key, ring etc., is placed upon the power transmitter platform arranged to receive a power receiver, the magnetic flux generated by the transmitter coil will introduce eddy currents in the metal objects which will cause the objects to heat up. The heat increase may be very significant and may be highly undesirable.
In order to reduce the risk of such scenarios arising, it has been proposed to introduce foreign object detection where the power transmitter can detect the presence of a foreign object and reduce the transmit power and/or generate a user alert when a positive detection occurs. For example, the Qi system includes functionality for detecting a foreign object, and for reducing power if a foreign object is detected.
The Qi specification describes various methods for detecting a foreign object:
Q-Factor Reporting:
According to this feature, a power receiver is required to report the quality factor of a reference coil, having the power receiver product placed thereon. The power transmitter can derive a threshold from this reported value—applying any necessary adjustments to account for differences between its coil and the reference coil—and conclude that a foreign object is (or might be) present if a measured Q-factor value is below the threshold. Section 11.3 in Parts 1&2 of the Qi Specification (v1.2.x) provides more details about the Q-factor reporting feature.
Power Loss Accounting
According to this feature a power receiver is required to regularly report the amount of power it receives. The reported value consists of the amount of power the power receiver provides to its load plus the losses incurred in the power receiver. The power receiver typically has to estimate the latter, because such values are difficult to measure in practice. The power transmitter typically determines the amount of power it transmits by measuring the amount of power it consumes from its power source and subtracting an estimate of its losses. The difference between the transmitted power and received power values is indicative for the amount of power absorbed in a foreign object. Experiments have shown that a difference of 300 mW or more (assuming perfect power loss estimates) indicates that a foreign object runs the risk of being heated to undesirably high temperatures. Given the low threshold value, it is imperative that the estimates of the received and transmitted powers are as accurate as possible.
In practice, it tends to be difficult to achieve sufficient detection accuracy and in order to improve the detection reliability, calibration of the foreign object detection is employed to allow compensation of the foreign object detection algorithm to compensate e.g. for losses in the power transmitter or the specific power receiver.
The Qi Specification includes a power calibration feature which enables the power transmitter to improve its foreign object detection operation, and specifically the power loss estimate. In this approach, the power receiver must first operate in a low power ('light load') state and subsequently in a high power ('connected load') state. The power transmitter uses the reported values during calibration processes at respectively light load and connected load to establish a relation between the estimated losses and the amount of transmitted power. When establishing this relation, it is assumed that there is no foreign object present in the magnetic field, and thus it is assumed that the amount of transmitted power can be considered to be identical to the amount of received power. It is further assumed that the power receiver is stationary on the power transmitter's interface surface.
The Qi Specification requires the calibration to be finished within the first ten seconds of power transfer. The reason for this limit is that a foreign object might accidentally enter the magnetic field at any time, without being detected before the calibration is complete. This will render the calibration useless and indeed even potentially problematic as it may prevent subsequent detection of foreign objects. The time limit was selected as a reasonable trade-off between the risk of a foreign object entering the magnetic field and the time required to perform a sufficiently reliable calibration.
Section 11.4 in Parts 1&2 of the Qi Specification (v1.2.x) provides more details about the power loss accounting feature and the calibration method. However, the Inventor has realized that the current foreign object detection approach is not optimal in all situations.
Hence, an improved operation for a power transfer system would be advantageous, in particular, an approach allowing increased flexibility, reduced cost, reduced complexity, improved foreign object detection, improved support for different loads, improved adaptability, backwards compatibility, and/or improved performance would be advantageous.


A method for evaluating the corrosion-fatigue life of a steel material includes: bringing a corrosive medium into contact with a predetermined portion of the steel material; measuring strain on the steel material while applying cyclic loads to the steel material; measuring an N-th strain index from strain amplitude at the number of initial load applications and strain amplitude at the N-th load application (N is a natural number larger than the number of initial load applications); and estimating the corrosion-fatigue life of the steel material by comparing the N-th strain index with a previously certified life strain index.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a method for evaluating corrosion-fatigue properties of steel materials used under corrosive environment.
2. Related Art
Generally, the corrosion-fatigue life of a steel material is evaluated as the time when a crack is generated in a predetermined portion that is in contact with a corrosive medium under cyclic loading. For example, the number of crack generation cycles is measured as a numerical index for evaluating the life. In a strict sense, the "number of crack generation cycles" is defined as follows: If cyclic loads are applied to a steel material under corrosive environment, a crack is generated in the steel material. The number of cyclic load applications (the number of cycles) at the time of crack generation in the steel material is referred to as the "number of crack generation cycles".
Procedures used for the evaluation are described in, for example, patent documents JP-A-2010-107372, JP-A-48-075086, and JP-U-63-088739. The method described in JP-A-2010-107372, cyclic loads are applied to the surface of a test specimen having a corrosive medium introduced into a space formed inside the test specimen. The corrosion-fatigue damage is then evaluated. JP-A-48-075086 proposes a corrosive liquid tank for conducting a fatigue test under corrosive atmosphere. A columnar fatigue test specimen is attached to the corrosive liquid tank. A loading mode is axial force. Moreover, JP-U-63-088739 proposes a stress corrosion cracking test apparatus. This apparatus includes means for applying a tensile load to a test specimen based on a measured stress value by a strain gauge. In the corrosion-fatigue test, cyclic loads are applied to a test specimen under the environment of a corrosive medium. In the measurement of the number of crack generation cycles, generally, the corrosion-fatigue test is conducted two or more times to improve the reliability of the measured values. The number of crack generation cycles is obtained as, for example, the average value of the plurality of obtained measured values.

Method for evaluating corrosion-fatigue life of steel material


A signal transmission/reception system includes a transmission line, a signal transmission circuit configured to generate a transfer signal and transfer the transfer signal through the transmission line, wherein a logic value of the transfer signal is changed whenever a pulse signal is input to the signal transmission circuit, and a signal reception circuit configured to receive the transfer signal through the transmission line and generate a restoration signal using the transfer signal and a delayed transfer signal obtained by delaying the transfer signal.

1. Field
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a signal transmission/reception system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A plurality of circuits included in a semiconductor integrated circuit operates by exchanging signals with one another. These signals are transferred through transmission lines through which the plurality of circuits are electrically connected to one another. The transmission lines include metal lines and the like, and delay occurs in signals transferred through the transmission lines due to the resistance and capacitance of the transmission lines. In general, delay occurring due to resistance and capacitance is called an "RC delay." The RC delay is increased as the resistance and capacitance of the transmission line is increased.
Meanwhile, packaging technology for a semiconductor integrated apparatus is being continuously advanced to keep up with requirements for miniaturization and high capacity. Thus, various technologies for manufacturing a stacked semiconductor apparatus capable of satisfying mounting efficiency as well as miniaturization and high capacity have been developed.
The stacked semiconductor apparatus can be fabricated using a method, in which individual semiconductor chips having different functions are stacked upon one another and the stacked chips are packaged at one time, or a method in which individually packaged semiconductor chips are stacked upon one another. In the stacked semiconductor apparatus, the individual semiconductor chips are electrically connected to one another through metal wires, through-silicon vias (TSVs) and the like.
Recently, a stacked semiconductor apparatus using through-silicon vias (TSVs) has been mainly fabricated. The stacked semiconductor apparatus using the through-silicon vias (TSVs) is fabricated by forming via holes through semiconductor chips, forming through electrodes (through-silicon vias, "TSVs") by filling the via holes with conductive materials, and electrically connecting upper semiconductor chips to lower semiconductor chips through the through electrodes. The through-silicon via serves as a transmission line for transferring signals or power to each element of the stacked semiconductor apparatus.
However, the through-silicon via has high resistance and capacitance as compared with a metal line used as a transmission line. Therefore, RC delay is increased, resulting in the deterioration of signal transfer characteristics.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating features occurring due to RC delay present in a transmission line.
A first signal S1 is input to a transmission line 101 through an input terminal IN of the transmission line 101, and a second signal S2 is output from the transmission line 101 through an output terminal OUT of the transmission line 101. A driver 102 drives the second signal S2 and transfers the second signal S2 to each element of a semiconductor integrated circuit. The second signal S2 is a signal modified from the first signal S1 due to an RC delay occurring in the transmission line 101. A third signal S3 is transferred to each element of the semiconductor integrated circuit by the driver 102.
Hereinafter, a description will be provided for the case in which the first signal S1 is a signal toggled at a regular interval.
The first signal S1 is changed to the second signal S2 by passing through the transmission line 101. The second signal S2 is transferred to each element of the semiconductor integrated circuit through the driver 102. For purposes of illustration, it is assumed that the driver 102 outputs 'High' when a level of the second signal S2 is higher than logic threshold T, and outputs 'Low' when the level of the second signal S2 is lower than the logic threshold T.
When an RC delay does not occur in the transmission line 101, the second signal S2 and the third signal S3 have substantially the same waveform as that of the first signal S1, except that the second signal S2 and the third signal S3 have a delayed phase as compared with the first signal S1. However, when the RC delay does occur in the transmission line 101 and the second signal S2 is modified as illustrated in FIG. 2, since the level of the second signal S2 does not exceed the logic threshold T of the driver 102, the third signal S3 has a waveform different from that of the first signal S1. Thus, a signal may not be normally transmitted due to the resistance and capacitance of the transmission line 101.
When the signal is not normally transmitted to each element of the semiconductor integrated circuit, an error may occur in the operation of the semiconductor integrated circuit. This feature becomes more pronounced as a toggle cycle of the first signal S1 becomes short (that is as an operation frequency is high). Since the transmission line 101 having capacitance is frequently charged/discharged as the toggle cycle becomes short, current consumption is also increased, where an increase in a voltage level of a signal loaded on the transmission line 101 means that the transmission line 101 is charged and a decrease in the voltage level of the signal loaded on the transmission line 101 means that the transmission line 101 is discharged.


Speech recognition of even a speaker who uses a speech recognition system is enabled by using an extended recognition dictionary suited to the speaker without requiring any previous learning using an utterance label corresponding to the speech of the speaker. An extended recognition dictionary learning device includes an utterance variation data calculating section for comparing an acoustic model sequence output from a speech recognition result and an input correct acoustic model sequence to calculate a correspondence between the models as utterance variation data; an utterance variation data classifying section for classifying the calculated utterance variation data into widely appearing utterance variations and unevenly appearing utterance variations; and a recognition dictionary extending section for defining a plurality of utterance variation sets by combining the classified utterance variations and thereby extending the recognition dictionary for each utterance variation set according to the utterance variations included in each utterance variation set. A speech recognition device uses the extended recognition dictionary for each utterance variation set to output a speech recognition result.

Examples of a speech recognition system relating to the present invention is disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Non-Patent Document 1.
As shown in FIG. 7, the speech recognition system according to the prior art includes a speech input section 501, an utterance label input section 502, an acoustic model storage section 503, a recognition dictionary storage section 504, a speech recognition section 505, an utterance variation data calculating section 506, an utterance variation data storage section 507, a recognition dictionary extending section 508, an extended recognition dictionary storage section 509, a speech input section 510, a speech recognition section 511, and a recognition result output section 512.
The speech recognition system having the above configuration operates as follows.
First, a learning step of an extended recognition dictionary of a speaker p will be described. Learning speech of the speaker p is input through the speech input section 501 and is then recognized by the speech recognition section 505 using an acoustic model stored in the acoustic model storage section 503 and a recognition dictionary stored in the recognition dictionary storage section 504. Then, in the utterance variation data calculating section 506, a recognition result phoneme sequence output from the speech recognition section 505 and an utterance label including a correct phoneme sequence corresponding to the learning speech of the speaker p which is input through the utterance label input section 502 are compared with each other to calculate a correspondence between the correct phoneme sequence and recognition result phoneme sequence. The calculated correspondence is stored in the utterance variation data storage section 507. Further, in the recognition dictionary extending section 508, standard phoneme sequences of words included in the recognition dictionary stored in the recognition dictionary storage section 504 are replaced with the utterance variation phoneme sequences stored in the utterance variation data storage section 507 to generate an extended recognition dictionary including a plurality of phoneme sequences. The generated extended recognition dictionary is stored in the extended recognition dictionary storage section 509.
Next, a recognition step of speech of the speaker p will be described. The speech of the speaker p input through the speech input section 501 is recognized by the speech recognition section 511 using the acoustic model stored in the acoustic model storage section 503 and the extended recognition dictionary that has learned the utterance variation of the speaker p which is stored in the extended recognition dictionary storage section 509. A recognition result of the speech recognition section 511 is output from the recognition result output section 512.    Patent Document 1: JP-A-08-123470    Non-Patent Document 1: "Phoneme Candidate Re-entry Modeling Using Recognition Error Characteristics over Multiple HMM States" written by Wakita and two others, transactions of the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers D-II, Vol. J79-D-II, No. 12, p. 2086-2095, December 1996    Non-Patent Document 2: "Pattern Recognition and Learning from the perspective of statistical science: Section I—Pattern Recognition and Learning" written by HidekiAsoh, Iwanami-Shoten, 2003, p. 58-61    Non-Patent Document 3: "Information Processing of Characters and Sounds", written by Nagao and five others, Iwanami-Shoten, January 2001, p. 34-35    Non-Patent Document 4: "A Post-Processing System to Yield Reduced Word Error Rates: Recognizer Output Voting Error Reduction (ROVER)" written by Jonathan G. Fiscus, Proc. IEEE ASRU Workshop, p. 437-352, 1997

Extended recognition dictionary learning device and speech recognition system