A Class D amplifier having an integrating primary amplifier with an internal feedback, the amplifier further comprising a feedback loop with a filter of at least second order.

The present invention relates to an amplifier with a filter in the control loop, and more particularly a Class D amplifier where the filter is of at least second order.
Amplifiers and relevant technology may be seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,041,411, 7,142,050, 8,049,557, 8,736,367, US2010/073063, US2001/030529, US2007/09812, WO01/71905, and US2016/0352293.
In a first aspect, the invention relates to an amplifier comprising:                an input,        an output,        a primary amplifier having a primary amplifier input, a primary amplifier output, a comparator, a switching power stage controlled by the comparator, and a feedback network connected between the output and an input of the comparator, the feedback network forming at least substantially a high pass filter, and the primary amplifier being configured to have a frequency response at least substantially as that of an integrator, and        a first control circuit comprising:                    a first control input operatively connected to the input,            a second control input operatively connected to the primary amplifier output,            a control output operatively connected to the primary amplifier input and to the first control input, and            a filter of at least second order between the second control input and the control output.
In the present context, an amplifier is an element configured to receive a signal, such as an audio signal, and output a corresponding signal, preferably with a higher signal amplitude. Often, an audio amplifier receives an electrical audio signal of a low signal strength (voltage) and outputs a corresponding signal with a higher signal strength. In this context, two signals correspond if they have the same spectral contents in at least a frequency interval.
It is noted that an amplifier may be used for amplifying other types of signals than audio signals. An amplifier may be used as a power supply or controller feeding e.g. a linear actuator so as to drive the actuator in a controlled manner. In this situation, the amplifier may receive a lower amplitude signal corresponding to what is desired to be fed to the actuator, where the amplifier will output a current or voltage adapted to the requirements of the actuator.
An integrating amplifier, in the present context, is an amplifier which acts substantially like an integrator. That is to say that over a significant portion (such as at least 30%) of the range between 20 Hz and 20 kHz the gain at a first frequency is higher than the gain at a second frequency which is twice the first frequency. Preferably the gain at the first frequency is at least 1.5 times the gain at the second frequency.
In this context, an input is a portion of a circuit, for example, configured to receive a signal. In many situations, an input is a conductor, such as a conductor of an electrical element, a chip/ASIC or the like. An input may comprise a connector, such as if the input is an input to the amplifier proper (such as from outside of an amplifier casing and/or from a pre-amplifier). Then, a signal source may be detachably connected to the input to deliver a signal to the input. Alternatively, an input may be an input into a portion of the amplifier, where detachability is not desired, so that the input may be a permanent connection. Permanent connections may be obtained via e.g. a conductor, a solder pad or the like to which another element may be permanently connected, such as by soldering, in order to deliver a signal to the input. Naturally, the input may be an internal portion, such as a conductor, of a chip or the like, between portions of the chip.
An output, as the input, may be an output to the surroundings of the amplifier, so that the output may comprise a connector for detachable attachment to e.g. a load, a cable or the like. Alternatively, an output may be an output from one component of the amplifier to another component. If such components are not desired detachable, the output may be permanently connected thereto. In permanently connected situations, an output may be a conductor, leg or the like, where one end of the conductor may be an input and the other end an output.
Often, the primary amplifier output is also the output of the amplifier proper, such as if the outputs share the same conductor(s). It may be desired, however, to connect further circuits, such as filters, between these outputs, after the amplifier output or simply to the outputs. Usually, a low pass filter, such as an LC filter, often called an output filter, is connected to the output to remove high frequency noise stemming from the operation of the primary amplifier, so that this noise is not carried on to a load connected to the output. This filter may be provided inside the primary amplifier, after the switching power stage and form the output of the primary amplifier. It is noted that the outputs may share a connector to which one port of a filter is connected.
A primary amplifier is an amplifier in itself. Thus, it may behave as the above-described amplifier. However, the primary amplifier may be desired to, or allowed to, have other parameters or another behaviour than that/those of the overall amplifier. For example, even though self-oscillation in itself may not be a requirement to the overall amplifier, the primary amplifier may be configured to be self oscillating, such as if the control circuit is configured to control the primary amplifier away from oscillation or in a manner so that this oscillation is desirable.
The primary amplifier has a primary amplifier input and a primary amplifier output which may be as the input and output described above. It is noted that it is not usually desired to be able to detach the primary amplifier from the paths mentioned below, so that the primary amplifier input/output may be formed by conductors or the like on e.g. a PCB, within a circuit, between circuits or the like.
The primary amplifier comprises an amplifier gain stage comprising a comparator and a switching power stage controlled by the comparator. Amplifiers of this type usually are called Class D amplifiers. Normally, the primary amplifier input is connected to or constituted by an input to the comparator. A Class D amplifier may be self oscillating or have an oscillating frequency imposed on it.
In this context, a power stage is a circuit that controls current flow from a power supply to a load in response to a control signal. In this context, a switching power stage is a power stage in which all power devices are operated either fully on or fully off for substantially all of the time. Power devices may be transistors, FETs, IGBTs and the like.
The primary amplifier comprises a first feedback network connected between the primary amplifier output and an input of the comparator and/or the input to the primary amplifier, the feedback network forming at least substantially a high pass filter. The first feedback network, together with the amplifier gain stage forms an internal feedback loop.
The frequency response of the primary amplifier becomes substantially inversely proportional to the frequency response of the first feedback filter. Thus, if the first feedback filter is configured to be a high pass filter with suitable parameters, the primary amplifier will act substantially like an integrator as described above. Then, this high pass filter may, over a significant portion (such as at least 30%) of the range between 20 Hz and 20 kHz, have a gain at a first frequency is lower than the gain at a second frequency which is twice the first frequency. Preferably the gain at the second frequency is at least 1.5 times the gain at the first frequency. Preferably, the high pass filter has a first order slope over at least 50% of the audio band of 20 Hz-20 kHz, such as above 5 kHz.
In this context, a high pass filter is a filter whose gain exhibits an upward trend over at least a desired frequency interval. In the present context, the desired frequency interval is between a quarter and one half of the idle switching frequency, such as between 10 kHz and half the idle switching frequency or between 5 kHz and half the idle switching frequency, wherein the gain is higher (lower attenuation) at higher frequencies and lower (higher attenuation) at the lower frequencies.
This internal feedback filter may have any order. In legacy Class D amplifiers, this filter is a first order filter, but it may be advantageous that this filter is of at least second order as it has the potential to increase the loop gain, at least at lower frequencies, in any assembly in which the primary amplifier may be embedded.
Also, a comparator normally, in Class D amplifiers, is a circuit that outputs a binary signal corresponding to the sign of the difference between two input signals, or between an input signal and a predetermined voltage.
In this context, the output signal of the comparator acts as the control signal to the switching power stage.
The first control circuit has a first and a second control input and a control output. These inputs and outputs may be as described above. It is noted that it is usually not desired to be able to detach the first control circuit from the input, the output and the primary amplifier input, so that the first control circuit inputs/output may be formed by conductors or the like on e.g. a PCB, within a circuit, between circuits or the like.
That an input is operatively connected to an input or an output, in the present context, means that a signal may be fed from the input/output to the first/second control input. This signal may, however, be filtered, amplified, attenuated or a combination thereof along the path between said input and said output.
One manner of operatively connecting e.g. the first control input to the input is to provide a forward path from the first control input to the input. This forward path may be a simple conductor. Alternatively, the path may comprise filters, attenuators, amplifiers or the like. In fact, the path may also comprise e.g. a summing node configured to receive the signal (filtered or the like if desired) from the input and another signal and to output a sum of these signals to a remainder of the path until reaching the first control input.
The first control input is also operatively connected to the control output. Clearly, a signal received at the first control input may also be filtered, such as by the 2nd order filter or a part thereof. Usually, the signal received on the first control input and that received on the second control input will be combined, in addition to any processing performed on the signals or the combination, before being output on the control output.
Naturally, the same applies for a feedback path provided between the second control input and the output.
Also, a path may be defined between the control output and the primary amplifier input.
It is noted that the forward path and the feedback path may have common elements, such as the filter or a portion thereof, and separate elements. Thus, a portion of the feedback path not common with the forward path may comprise the filter or a portion thereof. Thus, the filter may be provided only between the second control input and the control output so as to filter signals received on the second control input before outputting on the control output. Then, signals received on the first control input will not be filtered by the filter. Alternatively, the filter may be provided so that it—or a portion thereof—filters also a signal received from the first control input.
This filter of at least second order is provided in a feedback set-up between the primary amplifier output and the primary amplifier input. In usual Class D amplifiers, a filter is provided in this position but only of the first order.
Providing a second or higher order filter between the second control input and the control output has the advantage of increasing loop gain, at least at low frequencies.
A first filter which is of at least first order may be provided between the second control input and the control output while another, second filter of at least first order may be provided in a path common to the path between the first control input and the control output and the path between the second control input and the control output. Said second filter increases loop gain, at least at low frequencies, while said first filter may be e.g. substantially a high pass filter whose response is chosen such that at least while the primary amplifier is operating in the first operating mode, the signal level at the control output is minimised.
Thus, between the second control input and the control output, a combined filter of at least second order is found.
The frequency response of said first filter may be chosen to be substantially the inverse of the frequency response of the primary amplifier. Alternatively, a third filter may be provided between the first control input and the control output which is not common with the path between the second control input and the control output. The ratio between the frequency responses of said second and third filters may be chosen to be substantially equal to the frequency response of the primary amplifier.
The control circuit may comprise what is usually called a compensator, which is a circuit provided both in a feedback around the primary amplifier as well as in a forward path between the amplifier input and the primary amplifier input. Naturally the control circuit may comprise a portion which is in the feedback path and not in the forward path.
In one embodiment, the amplifier further comprises a third path from the output to an input of the compensator. This path, together with a path from the amplifier input, allows the compensator to generate an additional input signal to the primary amplifier based on an error signal derived from the signals supplied through the paths from the output and the input to the input of the compensator. By filtering and amplifying the error signal the compensator will produce a signal that counteracts the distortion generated by the primary amplifier, at least within a desired frequency band.
In a preferred embodiment, the first control circuit is configured to have a ratio between:                a first transfer function from the second control input to the control output and        a second transfer function from the first control input to the control outputat least substantially corresponds to the transfer function of an integrator over at least a frequency decade.
In the present context, a transfer function describes the behaviour of a system by the ratio between the output signal and the input signal, as a function of frequency, where the magnitude of the transfer function expresses the ratio between the magnitudes of the output signal and the input signal and the argument of the transfer function expresses the phase shift between the output signal and the input signal. Often, the transfer function is seen as the relative attenuation or amplification at different frequencies at least within a frequency interval of interest. Presently, the first control circuit has the integrating behaviour within at least a decade of frequencies. A decade of frequencies ranges from frequency X to frequency 10*X. preferably, however, the integrating behaviour is desired even within a broader frequency range such as over a factor of 15, 20, 50 or more, for instance in the range of 2 kHz-20 kHz or 1 kHz-40 kHz.
The ratio between two transfer functions may be derived by characterising both and dividing one by the other.
As mentioned above, the filter may be provided at different positions within the first control circuit and may thus affect the first transfer function alone or both the first and second transfer functions.
In the present context, the transfer function of an integrator has a downward slope over at least a decade.
In one embodiment, the primary amplifier is configured to operate in one of at least a first and a second amplifier operating mode, and wherein the first control circuit comprises a compensator that is configured to have its operation disabled when the primary amplifier is operating in the second operating mode.
One amplifier operating mode may be a mode wherein the primary amplifier has a particular frequency response, a particular gain, switching frequency in a particular range or the like. Often, the first amplifier mode is the desired operating mode, where the second amplifier mode is a mode which is not preferred but which may not be completely avoidable in the primary amplifier. A typical second amplifier mode is a clipping mode where the primary amplifier produces an output voltage substantially limited by the power supply voltages, stops switching or switches at a frequency outside the range of the first mode. Another second amplifier mode could be the so-called "current clipping" where a protection circuit overrides the comparator and takes control of the power state to limit the output current. When operating in clipping mode, the primary amplifier may have only a negligible response to changes in the primary amplifier input signal. The second mode may be when the primary amplifier is not in the first mode.
Thus, the first amplifier mode may be characterized as a mode wherein the additional change in the primary amplifier output signal in response to an additional small change in the primary amplifier input signal is substantially the same as the response of the primary amplifier output signal to a signal consisting of only that additional change in the primary amplifier input signal. Thus, in the first mode, the primary amplifier may provide the input signal with the desired gain. That is to say, when the presence of a large signal has not materially impacted the ability of the primary amplifier to respond to an additional small signal.
A third mode may be where the primary amplifier protects itself against a potentially damaging load condition. It may do so, for instance, by turning off temporarily.
A fourth mode may be where the primary amplifier is turned off. This may be as part of a power up/down sequence or a result of a command by the user.
In the present context, a control circuit is a circuit which, by virtue of the operative connections, is connected in a feed-back loop between the input and output of the primary amplifier. The control circuit may be a filter, of any order, which may be implemented in any desired manner. The overall function of the control circuit preferably is to regulate the output of the primary amplifier more closely to its desired value. The control circuit preferably comprises a compensator which filters an error signal found by comparing a signal derived from an input to a signal derived from the primary amplifier output, in such a way that in a first frequency range the compensator amplifies the error signal and in a second frequency range the compensator does not amplify the error signal and may even attenuate it. The compensator may be embodied as a low pass filter of any order, or as one or more integrators. The first frequency range corresponds to the desired frequency band of operation. In an audio amplifier this bandwidth could be e.g. to 0 Hz-40 kHz, 0 Hz-20 kHz, or 20 Hz-20 kHz. The second frequency range could be a band outside the first band e.g. 60 kHz-1 MHz, 100 kHz-700 kHz. In the case of a class D amplifier, the second frequency range typically includes the switching frequency.
The compensator usually is provided in a feedback loop from the primary amplifier output to the primary amplifier input as well as in a forward path from the input of the amplifier proper to the primary amplifier input. Consequently, the compensator may take the place of the filter of at least second order. Alternatively, the compensator may form part of this filter which, in addition to the compensator, has another portion, which may then not be provided in the forward path. The combined filtering or transfer function of this feedback path thus has a filter of at least second order.
The compensator is configured to have its operation is disabled when the primary amplifier is operating at least in the second amplifier operating mode. This disabling may be embodied in any desired manner and may render the compensator out of operation in a number of manners. In one situation, the compensator may, when disabled, prevent transfer of signals along a path in which it is provided, thus effectively preventing signal transport from the amplifier input to the primary amplifier input along that path. In this situation, another forward path is preferably provided so that a signal may still be fed from the input to the primary amplifier input via that path. Alternatives to this set-up are described further below.
In another situation, the disabling may be obtained by rendering the compensator "invisible", such as by providing the compensator with no frequency filtering capabilities, such as when it has a predetermined gain, such as unity gain, over a frequency interval of interest (such as 0 Hz-100 kHz). Then, the disabled compensator will allow transport of signals across it and from the amplifier input to the primary amplifier input. In this situation, a single forward path may suffice, as a signal may under all circumstances be transported from the input to the primary amplifier input via that path.
In one embodiment, the compensator comprises an operational amplifier with a feedback network. Disabling of the compensator may then take place by short circuiting at least part of the feedback network. This short circuiting may be a shorting of a capacitor of the network. When capacitor is provided between the output and an input of the amplifier, a short circuiting thereof may provide the network with a frequency independent behaviour—imposing a frequency independent behaviour to the compensator or at least reducing the gain and the phase shift of the compensator at low frequencies.
This short circuiting may be obtained in a number of manners. In one situation, the feedback network comprises a diode or two anti-parallel diodes which automatically become conductive—and thus short circuiting components connected in parallel thereto—when a voltage over the diode(s) exceeds the forward voltage of the diode(s). This voltage may be derived from the primary amplifier so that if the primary amplifier clips and outputs an excessive voltage or deviates excessively from an expected voltage, the compensator will automatically be disabled.
An alternative method would be to have another circuit determine that the primary amplifier has left the first amplifier operating mode or is in the second, third or fourth amplifier operating mode and then send a predetermined signal to the compensator to which the compensator is configured to react so as to disable. This signal may, e.g. cut off the power to the compensator.
In other situations, a detection circuit may determine that the primary amplifier has left the first amplifier operating mode or is in the second, third or fourth amplifier operating mode and then send a predetermined signal to the compensator to which the compensator is configured to react so as to disable itself.
This signal may, e.g. be used to cut off the power to the active circuit of the compensator, remove the bias current from the active circuit of the compensator or short circuit or disconnect parts of the active circuit of the compensator. Alternatively short circuiting of at least a part of the feedback network of the compensator may be effected using switches, for example transistors or FETs operated as switches and controlled by the signal from the detection circuit. Alternatively, such a switch may be inserted in series with the input of the compensator and configured to be normally on (i.e. closed) but turned off when the detection circuit has determined that the primary amplifier is e.g. in the second amplifier operating mode.
A second aspect of the invention relates to an amplifier comprising an amplifier input and an amplifier according to the first aspect as well as a second control circuit comprising:                a third control input operatively connected to the amplifier input,        a second control output operatively connected to the amplifier input, and        a fourth control input operatively connected to the output with a low pass filter provided between the fourth control input and the second control output.
Naturally, all the embodiments, situations and considerations made in relation to the first aspect are equally valid in relation to the second aspect.
The amplifier of the first aspect preferably is an integrating amplifier.
In this context, a low pass filter is any circuit whose frequency response exhibits a downward trend over at least a decade or over at least 20 dB. A low pass transfer function describes a circuit having a lower attenuation (or higher gain) at lower frequencies and a higher attenuation (or lower gain) at higher frequencies.
The low pass filter may be permanently active, such as if made of discrete or inactive components, or it may be configured to be disabled, such as when the primary amplifier is in its second mode of operation. Disabling may be as described above an in Applicant's co-pending application filed on even date with the title "AMPLIFIER CIRCUIT", which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Other solutions and embodiments may be seen in the Applicant's co-pending application titled "AN AMPLIFIER WITH A COMPENSATOR WITH A NETWORK OF AT LEAST THIRD ORDER", which is also filed on even date and hereby incorporated herein by reference and in its entirety.
A purpose of adding this low-pass filter may be first to turn an integrating amplifier into one with a wide, flat frequency response whilst at the same time increasing overall loop gain and attenuating high frequency components in the input signal. This amplifier will have a second order closed loop response which is highly desired.
A third aspect of the invention relates to an assembly of a load, a cable and an amplifier according to the second aspect, wherein:                the cable having a first end and a second end and being connected, at the first end, to the amplifier output and, at the second end, to the load and        the fourth control input is operatively connected to the second end of the cable.
Naturally, all embodiments, situations and considerations relating to the above aspects are equally relevant for this aspect.
The amplifier according to the second aspect is especially well suited for taking into account any influences, typically resistance or impedance, caused by the cable. Thus, providing a feedback from the far end of the cable enables the amplifier to take this influence into account.
In this respect, the cable may be an elongated element comprising one or more conductors extending from the first end to the second end.
The load may be any power consuming element, such as a loudspeaker, a motor, an actuator or the like. Such elements receive a voltage difference between (at least) two connectors or conductors. Both conductors or connectors are usually connected to the amplifier, but one suffices, if both the amplifier and the load are connected to e.g. a common voltage such as ground. Often, this other conductor or connection to a common voltage is implicit and not described for simplicity.
Then, the cable may comprise a first conductor connected to the output of the amplifier at the first end and to the load at the second end. The cable may then comprise a second conductor connected, at the second end, to the first conductor or the load (often to the same connector or conductor) and to the fourth control input at the other end.
Naturally, the cable may comprise a third conductor connected to the amplifier, such as a predetermined voltage, often ground, and to the other conductor or connector of the load so as to generate the desired voltage variation across the load between the first and third conductors.
The advantage is that by sensing the voltage directly at the load, instead of at the amplifier output, is that the cable impedance may be included in the feedback loop and the effects of this impedance are substantially reduced.
A fourth aspect of the invention relates to an assembly of a load and an amplifier according to the first aspect of the invention, the load connected to the output of the amplifier, the assembly further comprising:                a current control input,        sensing means for sensing current through the load and for outputting a signal relating to the sensed current and        a difference amplifier having:                    a first input connected to the sensing means,            a second input connected to the current control input, and            an output operatively connected to the input of the amplifier,                        the difference amplifier being configured to subtract a signal received on the second input from a signal received on the first input.
Naturally, all embodiments, situations and considerations relating to the above aspects are equally relevant for this aspect.
In this context, the current control input may be the input of the amplifier proper. Thus, this input will receive e.g. an audio signal to be amplified and fed to the load which will then typically be a loudspeaker.
Alternatively, the current control input may receive a signal which is amplified and fed to an actuator being the load, where the signal fed to the current control input defines the desired operation of the actuator.
As described above, the load is usually fed via two conductors to the amplifier of which one is connected to the amplifier output, such as the output of the amplifier. The other conductor may simply be connected to a fixed voltage. The amplifier may then be connected to the same voltage to provide the desired power supply to the load.
The current sensor may be provided at any position along the feeding conductors and the load.
The purpose may be to construct an amplifier with a high output impedance i.e. one where the input signal does not control the voltage at the output or across the load but the current flowing through the load.

Amplifier with an at least second order filter in the control loop


An information processing apparatus comprises: a calculation unit configured to calculate differences between the display coordinates of the plurality of target touch marks and the coordinates converted by the conversion unit; a correction unit configured to calculate an average value with reference to the center of the display range from the differences calculated by the calculation unit, and to correct, using the average value, the coordinates converted by the conversion unit so that distances between the reference coordinates and the coordinates converted by the conversion unit become equal to each other; and an update unit configured to calculate new conversion coefficients required to correct displacements between the coordinates corrected by the correction unit and the display coordinates of the plurality of target touch marks, and to update the new conversion coefficients as conversion coefficients used in subsequent touch position detection of the touch panel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, which accepts an input operation from a user, and a control method of the information processing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Arts
An information processing apparatus, which accepts an input operation from the user, often adopts a resistive film system configured by overlying a touch panel and a display panel (for example, an LCD panel). In general, in order to obtain consistency between the touch panel and display panel, coordinate conversion processing from a coordinate value on the touch panel into that on the display panel is executed. Also, processing for calibrating coefficients used in this coordinate conversion processing (to be also referred to as calibration hereinafter) is generally executed. As a calibration method, the following method is available (for example, Japanese Patent No. 3959163 (reference 1)). That is, in a normal operation mode, an icon which prompts the user to input is displayed on the display panel, and the user touches that icon via the touch panel to calculate calibration coefficients based on the relationship between the coordinate value on the touch panel and that on the display panel.
However, according to this related art, even when the user touches a position largely displaced from the center of the icon, the calibration coefficients may often be unwantedly updated based on a displacement amount from the center of the icon. For this reason, after the calibration coefficients are updated, no operation may be executed although the user touches the center of the icon, or an operation corresponding to an icon that neighbors the icon touched by the user may be executed.

Information processing apparatus and control method of information processing apparatus


A slurry compound prepared by a sintering powdery material and a binder is press-molded to obtain a contour for the final product applicable to a bone-implant such as hip prosthesis. The molded body is given a programmed movement of rotation and/or swinging to impart a centrifugal force to the sintering particles which direct toward the inner wall of the mold cavity. The final product obtained after sintering has a hollow interior having no communication to the outside. Imparting conditions of rotating/swinging movement may be changed or programmed in order to achieve a desired structure or constitution of the final product. By way of example, larger particles concentrate near the inner wall of the mold to provide a rough, porous surface of the body, whereas it has a dense core consisting mainly of sintered fine particles. A hip prosthesis having a ceramic-rich femoral head and a metal-rich stem may also be produced by so programming the movement imparting conditions.

This invention relates to production of a bone-implant for use as a prosthesis in orthopedic therapy.
It has been proposed to replace deformed or defected joints in the living human body by artificial joints. Intramedullary nails have been used in case of bone fracture of diaphysis. Such prosthesis elements implanted into the human body, that is bone-implants, have practically been made of a metallic material, typically stainless steel SUS316L, Co-Cr alloy, Co-Cr-Ni alloy and Ti-6%Al-4%V alloy, the material being cast, forged or sintered into a given shape or contour.
The bone-implants made by these metallic materials have some disadvantages. A cortical bone in the human body has a modulus of bending elasticity (hereinafter simply referred to as elasticity) in the order of 16 GPa whereas stainless steel SUS316L, Co-Cr alloy and Ti-6%Al-4%V alloy have 200 GPa, 213 GPa and 124 GPa respectively, about 8 to 13 times as large as that of the cortical bone in the human body. When some stress resulting from deformation, deflection and torsion of the artificial joint is focussed on a specific region, the cortical bone in the human body at a portion near the stressed region of the artificial joint would become destroyed due to a great difference in elasticity.
It has been found from clinical trials for cementless hip prostheses, in which an artificial replacement and the living bones are directly joined together without use of any cementing material, particularly a cement based on acrylic resin, that a stem of the artificial joint is subjected repeatedly to stress of a patient's own weight and exercise and a portion of the bone tissue surrounding the stem develops. On the contrary, other portion of the artificial bone which is hardly stressed does impart no stimulus to the surrounding bone tissue, resulting in absorption of the bone tissue and migration or loosening of fixation between a stem of the artificial joint and the living bones. Accordingly, the artificial joint could not be effectively retained in the bone tissue.
Furthermore, the artificial joints made of metallic implanting material are in general heavy and forces a great deal of burden on a patient.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 1989-148254 relates to a metallic artificial joint whose stem portion is made hollow to approach its modulus of bending elasticity to that of the living bone as well as to lighten the overall weight. However, the hollow interior of the stem portion is partly opened and communicated with the outside, which may allow blood or any other humor to be stored in the hollow interior. Storage of such humor in the artificial bone would retard healing of the affected part and provide a hotbed of bacterium.
Another disadvantage of the prior art bone-implants made of metallic material lies in a risk of corrosion of the surfaces. Once corroded in the living human body, nickel is dissolved from stainless steel SUS316L and Co-Cr-Ni alloy and vanadium from Ti-6%Al-4%V alloy, resulting in inflammation. Moreover, it has been pointed out that such toxic materials may be of a carcinogenic nature.
Another type bone-implant made of synthetic resin material has also been proposed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,297 discloses a composite implant prosthesis comprises a core of carbon fibers extending in a lengthwise direction, an intermediate layer encasing the core and made from a braided sheath of carbon fibers and an outermost layer encasing the intermediate layer to define an outer surface contour. This bone-implant is press-formed or formed by pultrusion process. However, at present, it has not yet been confirmed that such pure plastic implanting materials can surely provide tensile strength, torsion strength, resistance to bending and other mechanical properties which will be sufficient for their prosthetic application. It has not yet been clinically known how such plastic materials deteriorate while implanted into the human body for a long period of time.

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A microcomputer 1 servo controls a rotational speed of a capstan motor 10 in a VTR in a digital manner. A value of a timer counter 6 is stored in an ICR 7 at a timing of each edge of FG signal pulses generated as the capstan motor rotates. Thereafter, in the microcomputer 1, a FG interrupt processing is carried out corresponding to the value of ICR 7. More specifically, the microcomputer 1 alternately measures a first period from a rise of one pulse of the FG signal to a rise of a subsequent pulse thereof and a second period from a fall of one pulse to a fall of a subsequent pulse to determine an amplitude of a speed error signal based on these periods. Therefore, a sampling frequency for the digital servo control can be double that of a prior art.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to digital servo systems, and more particularly, to a digital servo system in which controlling of a rotational speed of a rotary body such as a cylinder motor and a capstan motor of a video tape recorder (referred to as VTR hereinafter) is achieved using a microcomputer.
2. Description of the Background Art
Conventionally, in a VTR, there have been provided a cylinder motor for driving the rotation of a rotary head and a capstan motor for driving the travelling of a tape. During the operation of the VTR, rotational speeds of the above described cylinder motor and capstan motor used as driving means are digitally servo controlled in order to accurately control a rotational speed of the rotary head and a traveling speed of the tape.
As described in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 61-271644, a digital servo control of a rotational speed of such a motor as a cylinder motor and a capstan motor is performed based on a signal indicating an actually detected rotational speed of the motor, that is, a FG (Frequency Generator) signal comprising a predetermined number (for example 24 numbers) of pulses generated per one rotation of the motor. The higher a frequency of the FG signal, that is, a sampling frequency for a digital servo control is the better will a response speed of a servo loop and response characteristics be of the servo loop for a load fluctuation, that is, controllability over disturbance. This is because if the sampling frequency is low, it becomes difficult to perform a servo control quickly in response to a disturbance which may be caused.
In order to increase the sampling frequency for the servo control, that is, a frequency of the FG signal, it, e.g., has been proposed to improve a structure of a detector itself of the FG signal. More specifically, by increasing the number of magnets constituting the FG signal detector, the number of FG pulses generated per one rotation of the motor is increased to increase the frequency of the FG signal.
However, the increased number of the magnets of the FG signal detector results in a large-sized FG signal detector, which leads to a large-sized motor. Therefore, such a method is not practical to be adopted.

Digital servo system for controlling rotational speed of rotary body


The present disclosure provides a web page processing method. The method includes obtaining web page elements after web page rendering is performed on a to-be-accessed web page; detecting whether an abnormal element exists in the web page elements; generating and displaying an interaction entrance on the to-be-accessed web page if an abnormal element exists in the web page elements; and obtaining a trigger operation on the interaction entrance and filtering out the abnormal element in response to the trigger operation.

When opened by using a browser, many web pages usually display a lot of abnormal web page elements, such as advertisement content, fraudulence content, fake content and vulgar content, that are irrelevant to a theme of the web pages and are nuisances. The abnormal web page elements on the web pages cause great inconvenience for a user to browse the web pages. For example, when downloading software on a downloading website, the user is usually misled to download malicious software. For another example, when a website is to be switched to by using a link provided by the website, the website usually turns out to be an irrelevant website or a fraudulence website.
Currently, an abnormal element on a web page is usually filtered out before web page rendering is performed. However, because the abnormal element is filtered out before web page rendering is performed, a user cannot sense the filtering operation. Further, when a filtering effect is poor, a large quantity of abnormal elements will remain in the rendered web page. Thus, the abnormal elements displayed on the web page cannot be filtered out. When normal content and the abnormal elements on the web page randomly change, filtering by using the current web page processing method is not precise, leading to a poor abnormal element filtering effect.
The disclosed methods and systems are directed to solve one or more problems set forth above and other problems.

Web page processing method and apparatus, and storage medium

TENCENT TECHNOLOGY (SHENZHEN) COMPANY LIMITED


Systems and methods for operation upon a wireless mobile device to handle message notifications. A method can include receiving a message by the wireless mobile device over a wireless communications network. The received message is processed so that at least a portion of the sender's message is displayed to a user of the wireless mobile device before a signed receipt is provided to the sender.

1. Technical Field
This document relates generally to the field of communications, and in particular to handling messages on mobile wireless communications devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mobile wireless devices are configured to send and receive messages, such as e-mail messages. Typically a signed receipt is sent before a user is allowed to view a message. Additionally, a message may have to be verified before the signed receipt is sent. To verify the message typically all of the message has to be present. This can be difficult to perform on a constrained device, such as a mobile device, because it may take a while to receive enough of the message on the device to verify. In fact, a device may never receive the entire message, such as when the message is relatively long or in other situations (e.g., when the message is received and viewed in portions or chunks). Additionally in some situations, there may not be a mechanism to receive the entire message until a user starts to view the message (e.g., when a user has to request additional message chunks while viewing a message).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for handling message receipt notification


Systems and methods for performing localization and mapping with a mobile device are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method for performing localization and mapping with a mobile device includes identifying geometric constraints associated with a current area at which the mobile device is located, obtaining at least one image of the current area captured by at least a first camera of the mobile device, obtaining data associated with the current area via at least one of a second camera of the mobile device or a sensor of the mobile device, and performing localization and mapping for the current area by applying the geometric constraints and the data associated with the current area to the at least one image.

Augmented Reality (AR) provides a view of a real-world environment that is augmented with computer-generated audio and/or visual content. The audio and/or visual content can be overlaid over or integrated into an image or video of the real-world environment captured using a camera of a mobile device. For example, an augmented reality application may be implemented on a mobile phone or tablet computer that includes a camera that can be used to capture images or video of a view of the real-world and a display that can be used to display an augmented view of the real-world environment.
The device can include one or more sensors that collect data that can be used to determine the position, orientation, speed, and/or direction of movement of the device. This information can be used to assist the device in generating augmentation content. The sensors can also be used to collect input information from a user, such as a touch on a touchscreen or other input information that can be used to allow the user to navigate the augmented content displayed on the device.

Using a plurality of sensors for mapping and localization


The invention relates to a method for producing a cheese having spreading and/or ropy properties when cooked, said cheese being produced from powdered milk protein concentrates. Especially the ratio of the weight of the calcium to the weight of the total nitrogenous matter (Ca/TNM) in said milk protein concentrates is greater than or equal to 0.10% and less than or equal to 2.80%.

The production of cheese from dried milk is well known. This way of producing cheeses is particularly advantageous because it makes it possible to dissociate in time and place the production of cheeses from the supply of fresh milk. This makes possible in particular the production of cheese according to demand and/or in regions not having their own milk sources.
The known methods for producing cheese from powdered milk are fast methods that produce cheese in only a few steps: mix powdered milk with water, solutions of acids or of fat, optional addition of enzymes, heating of the resulting mixture, addition of various additives. Generally, the cheeses thus produced are fresh or processed cheeses.
The document EP 1 788 884 B1, however, discloses the production of a traditional- or ripened-type cheese implementing lactose-depleted milk protein concentrates, thus avoiding a step of separating the whey formed.
Also known is WO 2009/150183 A1, which discloses the production of calcium-depleted milk protein concentrates using a calcium sequestrant added to skimmed milk or to the permeate resulting from the microfiltration of skimmed milk, such as citric acid or sodium citrate. The powdered protein concentrates thus have calcium and phosphate contents determined for the preparation of a liquid pre-cheese allowing the calcium phosphate, and thus the pH and the buffer capacity of the cheese to be controlled at levels that do not lead to a significant development of cultures and thus to the formation of a bitter cheese. Calcium-depleted milk protein concentrates can have a ratio of calcium to total nitrogenous matter (TNM) between 0.1% and 4%. The latter value of 4% is very high and would correspond to a milk protein concentrate the calcium value of which has not been modified. Indeed, the weight ratio of calcium to TNM in a milk protein concentrate not having undergone an acidification step to release calcium is normally around 3% and above.
WO 2009/150183 also discloses the production of cheeses which would be produced from milk protein concentrates having undergone the addition of calcium sequestrant(s) during their synthesis. Nevertheless, two cheeses tested, NCTP1 and NCTP2, have high final weight ratios of calcium to TNM of 3.36% and 3.26%, which correspond to the use of milk protein concentrates the weight proportion of calcium of which have not been lowered. Moreover, the spreading value obtained in Table 4 for a cheese having a dry extract of 51% is 116%. This value is low, even insignificant, since the standard deviation of this value is generally about ±15%. The cheeses produced thus do not have satisfactory spreading properties with a high dry extract.
WO 02/082917 A1 discloses the production of milk protein concentrates the calcium content of which has been modified, and the use thereof in the production of gels. Example 10 does not relate to the production of a cheese since no coagulating enzyme is added to the dough. Only lactic acid as an acidifying agent is added to the dough, which seems equivalent to an increase in mass such as that produced for a yogurt. Moreover, the stirring speed is 120 rpm, which does not provide good hydration and good emulsification of milk proteins. Example 10 thus refers to the consistency of the product produced and not to its spreading and/or stretching when cooked.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,460,609 discloses the production of a mozzarella-type cheese from milk protein concentrates the calcium content of which has not been modified, and requiring a whey separation step. However, the aim of the present invention is to avoid any separation step. U.S. Pat. No. 4,419,943 discloses the production of a mozzarella-type cheese from protein concentrates undergoing an acidification step for adjusting the proportion of calcium bound to the casein in order to carry out subsequent distinct operations on the casein and the whey proteins, in particular concentrating the latter and modifying the whey proteins by proteolysis.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,419,943 discloses the production of a cheese from milk protein concentrates whose proportion of calcium to TNM, i.e., comprising soluble calcium and insoluble calcium, has not been modified.

Method for producing a cheese and cheese produced


There is disclosed an authentication method comprising requesting a user of a personal mobile terminal to enter a personal code into a personal mobile terminal in response to receipt of an authentication request transmitted to the personal mobile terminal, the authentication request being related to an action that requires user authentication, and processing an entered personal code together with challenge data corresponding to the authentication request to determine whether one or more predetermined conditions are met and, if one or more predetermined conditions are met, producing a valid and signed authentication code that the user can provide in order to authenticate the action.

There are a large number of instances where it would be desirable to provide an improved method for a user to authenticate an action. Currently there is a potential security problem in any system which requires a user to log in to a web server by providing a user name and password. Such systems rely on the password being something that the user alone knows. However, the password can be compromised, for example, by so-called "phishing" where a user is tricked into providing their password to a party that is not entitled to the password by getting the user to visit a bogus website and enter their name and password.
It has recently become more popular to employ "2-factor" security techniques which rely on their being something that the user alone has in their possession as well as something the user alone knows. A typical device which is used in such systems is a token that generates a unique code every 60 seconds thereby creating what is in effect a new secondary password every 60 seconds. To defeat such a security measure the person must either obtain the person's password and their security device or learn the secondary password during the very short period of time where it is valid. Accordingly, such devices provide a higher level of security.
A first problem with such devices is that if the person does not carry out all transactions from the same location they must carry the token with them which can be inconvenient. Further, the tokens are typically configured so that they can only act as a secondary password to one additional system. Thirdly, if the user does not use the device regularly, they can readily misplace the token. Fourthly, the tokens can be difficult to distribute. Fifthly, as specific hardware has to be provided for the secondary password, the cost of such tokens is relatively high and accordingly is only attractive to employ them in relation to high security risk transactions or when the potential damage that may be suffered is high.
WO 03/063411 proposes a system which produces an SMS message containing a limited-duration, one-time password and sends it to a user's mobile terminal. A modified Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) is used to store an asymmetric key application and associated software. The user activates the program, enters a personal code to decrypt the user's private key which thus authorises the mobile terminal to decode the SMS using the user's private key. A problem with this system is that it relies on the distribution of specific hardware to the user. Further, as the keys are on the SIM, distribution is dependent on the telecommunications provider. Still further, the one-time password will not contain any data that indicates that it has been decoded by the user i.e.—the one-time password is independent of the user.
It would be desirable to provide a more convenient method of authenticating an action.


According to one embodiment, a calculating of a weight includes which is calculating a covariance matrix by applying a process (Post-Doppler process) of selecting a plurality of banks after execution of a Doppler filter process to a specified number of pulses of the received signal, and extracting a plurality of arbitrary bank parts from among the plurality of selected banks which are used for the calculation of the covariance matrix, and calculating a plurality of weights on a phase and an amplitude, from a matrix of the plurality of extracted bank parts.

In recent years, in a pulse radar apparatus, in order to further improve a target detection precision, an adaptive array antenna is incorporated, and so-called adaptive null steering is performed. The adaptive null steering is a process of applying weight control to a phase and an amplitude of a reception signal in the adaptive array antenna, thereby forming a reception synthetic beam such that the directivity in a direction in which an undesired wave comes in may become zero (null). In the adaptive array antenna which is used for this purpose, it is required to execute weight control so that the formation of the above-described reception synthetic signal can be properly performed even in an environment in which many delay signals are coming, or in an environment in which a clutter or an undesired wave is present.
This being the case, in the adaptive array antenna, attention has been paid to a weight control method in which Space Time Adaptive Processing (STAP) is adopted. The Space Time Adaptive Processing (STAP) is characterized in that SINR (Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio) can be improved, and beam formation, in which the directivity in a direction in which an undesired wave comes is close to zero (null), can be performed.
In the Space Time Adaptive Processing (STAP), the following process is performed. To begin with, a target reflective signal is received by a plurality (N) of antennas (elemental antennas, i.e. channels) which are arranged in an array. The received signal is stored at a corresponding cell position of all process range cells, which are formed such that range cells with a width corresponding to a reception pulse width are formed to be continuous with a predetermined length on a time axis. Then, a covariance matrix is calculated from the data of range cells, which are obtained by excluding, from the stored data, range cells (also referred to as "process-adaptive range cell") which presumably include a target signal, or in other words, from the data of range cells which are presumably formed of an undesired wave alone. At last, in a beam synthesis circuit, weight control is applied to the antenna reception signal by using an adaptive weight which has been calculated based on the covariance matrix.
In the weight control in this space time adaptive processing method, a weight calculation for each range cell is performed in the weight calculation circuit. Instead of a full-DOF (degrees-of-freedom) method which calculates a weight by using all reception pulses, there are known a pre-Doppler process which makes applicable use of the concept of DPCA (displaced phase center antenna) which reduces the size (the number of orders) of the matrix in order to decrease the processing time of the weight calculation, a Post-Doppler process which performs a weight calculation after selecting m banks which have been subjected to a Doppler filtering process, a beamspace process which performs a weight calculation after the execution of a beamspace process, and a beamspace Post-Doppler process in which these processes are combined. However, in these processes, there occurs a region of a speed, in which the performance relating to a target Doppler frequency deteriorates, and it is difficult to obtain a good SINR characteristic.
As has been described above, in the space time adaptive processing by the weight control of the adaptive array antenna which is used in the conventional radar apparatus, when the Post-Doppler process is applied to the weight calculation for reducing the directivity in the direction of the undesired wave to null, there occurs the region of speed in which the performance relating to the target Doppler frequency deteriorates. Thus, it has been difficult to obtain good SINR characteristics.

Radar reception signal processing apparatus and method thereof


A system and method with a modified bit-interleaved coded modulation with iterative decoding (BICM-ID). A first group of coded and interleaved bits are coded with a second FEC code and a second group of coded and interleaved bits are not coded with the second FEC code. The first and second groups are then mapped to a modulation format. The second FEC code may be a single parity check (SPC) and the scheme may be referred to as a BICM-ID scheme with a fractional secondary coding.

In wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) optical communication systems, a number of different optical carrier wavelengths are separately modulated with data to produce modulated optical signals. The modulated optical signals are combined into an aggregate signal and transmitted over an optical transmission path to a receiver. The receiver detects and demodulates the data.
One type of modulation that may be used in optical communication systems is phase shift keying (PSK). According to different variations of PSK, data is transmitted by modulating the phase of an optical wavelength such that the phase or phase transition of the optical wavelength represents symbols encoding one or more bits. In a binary phase-shift keying (BPSK) modulation scheme, for example, two phases may be used to represent 1 bit per symbol. In a quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK) modulation scheme, four phases may be used to encode 2 bits per symbol. Other phase shift keying formats include differential phase shift keying (DPSK) formats and variations of PSK and DPSK formats, such as return-to-zero DPSK (RZ-DPSK) and phase division multiplexed QPSK (PDM-QPSK).
A modulation format, such as QPSK wherein multiple data bits are be encoded on a single transmitted symbol may be generally referred to as a multi-level modulation format. Multi-level modulation techniques have been used, for example, to allow increased transmission rates and decreased channel spacing, thereby increasing the spectral efficiency (SE) of each channel in a WDM system. One spectrally efficient multi-level modulation format is quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). In a QAM signal, information is modulated using a combination of phase shift keying and amplitude shift keying, for example, to encode multiple bits per symbol. A 16-QAM modulation format may be used, for example, to encode 4 bits per symbol. Certain PSK modulation schemes (e.g., BPSK and QPSK) may be referred to as a level of QAM (e.g., 2QAM and 4QAM respectively).
One problem associated with optical communication systems is maintaining the integrity of the data being communicated, particularly when optical signals are transmitted over long distances in long-haul communication systems. Accumulated noise contributed by many different sources in a transmission path may cause degradation of the signals and may cause difficulty in differentiating between the binary digits (i.e., the ones and zeros) in a data stream.
Forward Error Correction (FEC) is a technique used to help compensate for this degradation. FEC is essentially the incorporation of a suitable code into a data stream at the transmitter. The transmitter receives a data stream and encodes the data stream using an FEC encoder that introduces some redundancy in the binary information sequence of the data stream. The receiver receives the encoded data and runs it through an FEC decoder to detect and correct errors.
Gray mapping has also been applied to achieve improvements in detection. Gray mapping is a known process wherein a non-weighted code is assigned to each of a contiguous set of bits such that adjacent code words differ by one symbol, i.e. they have a Hamming distance of 1. For example, in a 16 QAM system where data is transmitted in symbols representing 4-bits the constellation diagram of the signal is arranged with Gray mapping such that Gray coded patterns of 4-bits conveyed by adjacent constellation points differ by only one bit. Combining Gray mapping with FEC can facilitate correction of transmission errors that cause a constellation point in the signal constellation diagram to deviate into the area of an adjacent point.
One approach to combining data modulation with FEC coding is known as bit-interleaved coded-modulation (BICM). In a BICM scheme FEC coding is applied to a data stream and the FEC coded data stream is then bit-interleaved (i.e. the order of the bits is permuted). The coded and interleaved data stream is then modulated according to a selected data modulation with, or without, Gray mapping. The performance of BICM can be further increased in some cases by exchanging information between the de-mapper and the decoder and performing iterative decoding (ID). BICM schemes with ID decoding are known as BICM-ID schemes.
A modified BICM-ID coded modulation scheme that provides an improvement over conventional BICM-ID schemes is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/569,628 (the '628 application), the teachings of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference. The '628 application describes a scheme wherein coded and interleaved bits are combined and coded with a second FEC code that is then mapped to a modulation format. In one particularly advantageous embodiment described in the '628 application the second FEC code is a single parity check (SPC) and the scheme may be referred to as a SPC-BICM-ID scheme. In such an embodiment, the incoming data stream may be demultiplexed into a plurality of data streams with each of the data streams being coded with a low density parity check (LDPC) FEC code and then bit-interleaved. The bit-interleaved and coded LDPC data may then be combined and coded with the single parity check (SPC) and Gray mapped to one or more QAM symbols. Iterative decoding may be performed at the receiver to achieve bit error rate (BER) performance that improves with successive iterations. One SPC-BICM-ID embodiment of such a scheme with a LDPC FEC code may allow transmission of 104 Gbit/s polarization division multiplexed (PDM)-16QAM data over at least 6,800 km at 20 GHz WDM channel spacing to achieve a 5.2 bits/s/Hz spectral efficiency.

System and method including modified bit-interleaved coded modulation with fractional secondary coding

Tyco Electronics Subsea Communications LLC


The present invention relates to a connector arrangement (100) with a connector (101) and a cable (50) connected to the connector, wherein the cable has an inner conductor (51) and an outer conductor (52) and the connector has an inner conductor (103) and an outer conductor (105), wherein the connector arrangement has a crimping region in which the cable is crimped with a crimp barrel (10), wherein the crimp barrel has at least one radially inwardly directed lug (11).

In order to connect cables to connectors, it is known to press the cable and the connector in a connection region. In this case, the force with which the cable is pressed together with the connector has an effect on the mechanical holding force between the cable and the connector. It is problematic here that a pressing is associated with a deformation of the cable and the connector. This deformation has a disadvantageous effect on the electrical properties of a connector arrangement.
This is a state of affairs that needs improvement.


Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) snooping includes flooding an IGMP query received at a border leaf switch from a multicast router connected to the multicast router to all host devices in a given bridge domain through leaf switches in the bridge domain, and receiving multiple join requests from the connected host devices at the leaf switches. The IGMP snooping also includes consolidating the multiple join requests received at the leaf switches into a multicast groups membership repository to indicate for each leaf switch the multicast group membership of interest in the given bridge domain, and sending the repository to the border leaf switch to enable the border leaf switch to send a consolidated IGMP proxy report on behalf of the leaf switches to the multicast router based on the repository and that indicates the multicast membership of interest in the given bridge domain.

A switch fabric includes spine switches interconnected with leaf switches. The leaf switches are connected with host devices and multicast routers. Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) snooping is a technique supported by the switch fabric to enable the host devices to inform the multicast routers of interest in multicast traffic. In IGMP snooping, IGMP queries from the multicast routers in bridge domains configured on the multicast routes are flooded to the host devices through leaf switches configured for the bridge domains. The host devices respond with IGMP reports to indicate interest in multicast traffic in the bridge domains. The switch fabric may include hundreds or even thousands of the leaf switches and correspondingly may support hundreds of thousands of the host devices spread across thousands of bridge domains. Thus, the number of individual IGMP reports sent by the host devices to the multicast routers in response to the IGMP queries can easily overwhelm the capacity of the multicast routers to process all of the IGMP reports. Also, in some instance, one or more of the multicast routers may not be available to send IGMP queries in given bridge domains due to failure of the multicast routers or departure of the multicast routers from the bridge domains. Nevertheless, it is desirable that IGMP queries continue to be sent in the bridge domains to solicit the IGMP reports.

Scalable internet group management protocol (IGMP) snooping in a switch fabric


A capacitive touch sensing device by detecting induced electric field includes a differential amplifier, a resistor and a signal judgment circuit. The differential amplifier is electrically connected to a touch sensor. The resistor is electrically connected to a first input end and a second input end of the differential amplifier. The signal judgment circuit is electrically connected to an output end of the differential amplifier. As the touch sensor receives an induced electric field signal, the induced electric field signal is amplified by the differential amplifier and the signal judgment circuit determines whether the amplified induced electric field signal is a touch input.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a capacitive touch sensing device and, more particularly, to a capacitive touch sensing device by detecting induced electric field.
2. Description of Related Art
Currently, in the research and development of a capacitive touch sensing device, the major affecting factor of self-capacitance lies in the electric field from a human body which is affected by the electric field from the earth. Since an electric field has a positive one and a negative one, it will create differences in increasing or decreasing of capacitance with respect to the self-capacitance, resulting in instability in measuring and being mistaken as noise to deal with.
On the other hand, the size and distance of a contact point on a capacitive touch sensing device will affect the increasing of the self-capacitance and will also affect the magnitude of an induced electric field. In the prior art, it utilizes the feature of capacitance increment to measure if there is a contact, while the ratio of capacitance increment is essentially dominated by the electric circuit design, with a variation approximately 1-2%. However, such variation is far smaller than that of the electric field. Therefore, if the electric field from a human body and the electric field from the earth are treated as noises, it will tremendously affect the accuracy and stability of the capacitive touch sensing device.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an improved capacitive touch sensing device by detecting induced electric field to mitigate and/or obviate the aforementioned problems.

Capacitive touch sensing device by detecting induced electric field


An in situ desalination apparatus comprising a reverse osmosis unit (15) having a reverse osmosis medium, the reverse osmosis unit in use to be located within a body of water under ambient bio-physico-chemical conditions often different from those at the surface, the unit having an inlet (17) opening to one side of the reverse osmosis medium, in use the inlet to be located below the upper surface of a body of water, the unit having a concentrate outlet (25) opening to the one side of the reverse osmosis medium and opening into the exterior of the unit at a position spaced below the inlet to return concentrate into the water body, the unit having a permeate outlet (27) opening to the other side of the reverse osmosis medium, the permeate outlet communicating with a delivery line extending from the body of water, a pump (23) between body of water and the reverse osmosis unit and adapted to pressurize the water located at the one side of the reverse osmosis medium.

Osmotic pressure is produced when solutes in aqueous solution at one side of an osmotic reverse osmosis medium are at a chemical potential less than that in pure aqueous solvent (water) located on the other side of the reverse osmosis medium and as a result the solvent naturally permeates through the reverse osmosis medium into the aqueous solution to equalize the chemical potentials thereby exerting an osmotic pressure across the reverse osmosis medium.
In reverse osmosis, pressures greater than the osmotic pressure are exerted on the aqueous solution and this has the effect of inducing the solvent to permeate through the reverse osmosis medium from solution, while the solute is excluded from diffusion and remains behind in solution. Therefore the aqueous solution becomes more concentrated, and water with a low solute concentration accumulates on the other side of the reverse osmosis medium. By this process water can become "desalinated".
Reverse osmosis has become a much more feasible technology for the desalination of non-potable water supplies, and although still more expensive than conventional water extraction the technology is starting to be used in more remote regions, arid areas where there are few alternatives. Examples of the latter are the oil-rich Gulf states, arid regions in California and elsewhere in the US. In Australia, the Ayers Rock resort at Yulara relies on RO-treated groundwater. Additionally, Perth in WA is currently commissioning a large seawater desalination plant as a preferred option to address increased demand and reduced rainfall.
Desalination by reverse osmosis is energy-expensive generally, as more saline, non-potable water is pumped under pressure through a reverse osmosis medium separation chamber and aqueous solvent diffuses through the reverse osmosis medium whilst salts and contaminants are rejected by the reverse osmosis medium and concentrate in the feed stream. This gives rise to a saline waste which requires proper disposal.
In addition in existing reverse osmosis systems these require facilities for the above-ground storage of the water which is to be desalinated in the reverse osmosis device. This exposes the water to oxygen and sunlight which results in increased biological activity such as algal growth and physicochemical reactions such as iron oxidation and precipitation which can cause reverse osmosis medium clogging, thus water must be pretreated before desalination.


A flexible pouring spout of segmented tubing having an internally threaded adapter cap at one end for connecting with a threaded neck of a fluid container, and an externally threaded terminal end which is adapted to connecting with the adapter cap thereby enabling the device to form a loop of itself. Thus, the interior of the spout remains clean even if it has a sticky or oily substance thereon, and any fluid within the device is retained therein. Also provided is a sealable air inlet valve for allowing air to be drawn into the spout when in use to prevent fluid lock in the device and bottle collapse, and to facilitate rapid and efficient pouring of the fluid from its container.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to spouts and funnels for fluids, and more particularly to elongate flexible pouring spouts for pouring fluid from a container into relatively narrow orifice or opening, such as for example, pouring automotive fluids from their containers into receptacles for same on motor vehicles.
2. Description of Related Art
One difficulty with some prior art funnels or elongated flexible pouring spouts is that they frequently become contaminated, particularly if they are used with some sticky substance such as oil, coolant and the like. When such spout is not in use, the oily surface of the interior attracts and retains dust and dirt so that the next time the spout or funnel is used, the oil or other liquid becomes contaminated. Further, when such flexible spouts or funnels are hung up for storage, they tend to drip and cause unsightly stains and contamination of the underlying surface by the fluid. A further drawback of some of the prior art spouts or funnels is that they are not adapted to fit closely to the mouth of the container from which the fluid is poured, thus spills are frequent when either the spout or container is inadvertently moved, resulting in an inconvenience to the user for having to clean up the spill or a detrimental environmental impact in the case of oils and coolants leaking into the ground. Yet another drawback of some of the prior art spouts or funnels is that they often become fluid locked as a result of the inability to efficiently draw air into their fluid passageway once said passageway becomes blocked with the fluid, resulting in slow fluid flow through the device.


A method and apparatus for use in a Proxy Mobile IP communications network. An anchor point function serves at least one mobile host. The anchor point function generates an IP address for use by the mobile host, the address being generated using cryptographic materials owned by the anchor point function. The anchor point function can then perform signalling on behalf of the mobile host, using the IP address generated for the mobile host and at least part of the cryptographic materials used to generate the IP address.

There are two main techniques for mobility support in IP, as follows:                Bidirectional tunnelling: A mobile host connects to a stationary anchor point with a bidirectional tunnel. The host communicates through the tunnel via a stable IP address from the anchor point's link. The IP address that terminates the tunnel on the mobile-host side at any given point in time is called the mobile host's on-link IP address.        Route optimization: The mobile host communicates via a direct path to a correspondent host. Packets are routed via the mobile host's on-link IP address. IP address substitution at the mobile host's and correspondent host's IP layers ensures that higher protocol layers see the mobile host's stable IP address instead of the variable on-link IP address.
Both bidirectional tunnelling and route optimization require extra mobility functionality on mobile hosts. This increases the complexity of host implementations and makes mobility support for legacy hosts difficult. Proxy-based IP mobility protocols are being developed to mitigate this. Such protocols do not require mobility functionality to be at the mobile host, but instead at an access router used by the mobile host. The mobile host's access router therefore becomes a proxy of the mobile host, and one of its IP addresses is used as the mobile host's on-link IP address. The access router therefore handles the mobile host's mobility signalling, and ideally the mobile host should not be aware that it is using a proxy-based IP mobility protocol. Proxy Mobile IPv6 (Sri Gundavelli et al.: Proxy Mobile IPv6, draft-ietf-netlmm-proxymip6-18) is currently the main proxy-based IP mobility protocol.
The base specification of Proxy Mobile IPv6 uses bidirectional tunnelling. However, bidirectional tunnelling increases bandwidth utilization and packet propagation delays, due to a sub-optimal packet route via an anchor point. Efforts are underway to extend Proxy Mobile IPv6 to use route optimization (see, for example, Behcet Sarikaya et al.: PMIPv6 Route Optimization Protocol, draft-qin-netlmm-pmipro-00, and Julien Abeille, Marco Liebsch: Route Optimization for Proxy Mobile IPv6, draft-abeille-netlmm-proxymip6ro-00).
Route optimization requires a mobile host to prove to a correspondent host that it is the legitimate user of its stable IP address. This so-called "IP address ownership proof" in general must operate without a pre-existing security or trust relationship between the mobile host and the correspondent host.
One of the main protocols for route optimization in Mobile IPv6, Enhanced Route Optimization (see Jari Arkko, Christian Vogt, Wassim Haddad: Enhanced Route Optimization for Mobile IPv6, RFC 4866), enables a mobile host to prove ownership of its stable IP address by means of generating the stable IP address cryptographically. Specifically, the stable IP address is a function of the public component of the mobile host's public/private key pair, and the mobile host proves ownership of the stable IP address by presenting evidence that it knows the respective private component.
Unfortunately, using the methodology of Enhanced Route Optimization in a Proxy Mobile IPv6 scenario would require the mobile host's access router to learn the mobile host's private key, and it would require the transfer of the mobile host's private key across access routers as the mobile host moves. This would put the mobile host's public key at an increased risk of compromise and is hence unacceptable from a security perspective.
Some attempts have been made to address this problem. For example, Sarikaya et al.: PMIPv6 Route Optimization Protocol, draft-qin-netlmm-pmipro-00, specifies a proxy-based route optimization solution based on Enhanced Route Optimization. It directly moves the mobile host's mobility functionality to the access router, and requires a mobile host's access router to learn the mobile host's private key. It also requires the transfer of the mobile host's private key between access routers as the mobile host moves. Neither of these requirements are desirable from a security point of view.
Julien Abeille, Marco Liebsch: Route Optimization for Proxy Mobile IPv6, draft-abeille-netlmm-proxymip6ro-00, provides support for route optimization only if both the mobile host and the correspondent host are located in a Proxy Mobile IPv6 domain. The advantage of this is that a pre-existing security and trust relationship can be assumed to exist between the proxies of the mobile host and the correspondent host. This relationship is utilized for IP address ownership proofs. The disadvantage of requiring a correspondent host to be in a Proxy Mobile IPv6 domain is that it limits the set of correspondent hosts for which communications can be route-optimized. Correspondent hosts with support for RFC4866 that are not in a Proxy Mobile IPv6 domain are not supported.
Sangjin Jeong, Ryuji Wakikawa: Route Optimization Support for Proxy Mobile IPv6 (PMIPv6), draft-jeong-netlmm-ro-support-for-pmip6-00 considers route optimization with correspondent hosts within a Proxy Mobile IPv6 domain, and correspondent hosts outside a Proxy Mobile IPv6v domain. For the former case, security and trust relationships are assumed to exist between the proxies of the mobile host and the correspondent host. This has the same disadvantages as in Julien Abeille, Marco Liebsch: Route Optimization for Proxy Mobile IPv6, draft-abeille-netlmm-proxymip6ro-00. For the latter case, route optimization is achieved based on the security design of Mobile IPv6 (see David B. Johnson, Charles E. Perkins, Jari Arkko: Mobility Support in IPv6, RFC 3775). This is secure, but produces long handover delays, and incurs a high signalling overhead.

Method and apparatus for use in a communications network


When it is detected that a solid immersion lens comes into contact with the semiconductor device, the lens is caused to vibrate by a vibration generator unit. Next, a reflected light image from the lens is input to calculate a reflected light quantity of the reflected light image, and it is judged whether a ratio of the reflected light quantity to an incident light quantity is not greater than a threshold value. When the ratio is greater than the threshold value, it is judged that optical close contact between the lens and the semiconductor device is not achieved, and the lens is again caused to vibrate. When the ratio is not greater than the threshold value, it is judged that optical close contact between the lens and the semiconductor device is achieved, and an observed image of the semiconductor device is acquired.

As a lens that magnifies an image of an observation object, a solid immersion lens (SIL: Solid Immersion Lens) is known. A solid immersion lens has a hemispherical shape or a hyperhemispherical shape called Weierstrass sphere, that is a microlens of about 1 mm to 5 mm in size. Then, provided that the solid immersion lens is installed so as to be made to contact closely with the surface of an observation object, its numerical aperture (NA) and magnification are both magnified, which enables an observation with high spatial resolution.
As an observation apparatus utilizing a solid immersion lens, for example, an apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known. The observation apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a microscope having an objective lens, and a solid immersion lens holder which is coupled to a front end of the objective lens via an arm member, that holds a solid immersion lens on the front surface side of the objective lens.    Patent Document 1: International Publication No. 2005/043210 Pamphlet


Embodiments include an apparatus for fabricating a three-dimensional object from a digital representation of the object stored in a computer readable media, the apparatus comprising: a component having a surface on which the object is to be fabricated, wherein information is embedded within the component; a sensor configured to sense the information embedded within the component; a module configured to, based on the sensor sensing the information embedded within the component, determine one or both of (i) a characteristic of the component and (ii) a configuration parameter of the apparatus; and a print mechanism disposed above the surface of the component, wherein the print mechanism is configured to, based on the determined one or both of (i) the characteristic of the component and (ii) the configuration parameter of the apparatus, fabricate the object on the surface of the component.

Additive manufacturing technology enables computer designs, such as CAD files, to be fabricated into three dimensional (3D) objects. Additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, typically comprises depositing, curing, fusing, or otherwise forming a material into sequential cross-sectional layers of the 3D object. The fabrication of a 3D object is achieved using additive processes. Thus, an object is created by laying down successive layers of material until the entire object is created. Each of these layers can be seen as a thinly sliced horizontal cross-section of the eventual object.
In 3D printing, an object is typically printed or fabricated over a stationary printing table, for example, on a table insert of the table. If a specific table insert is usually used in a specific 3D printer, the 3D printer is calibrated based on the characteristics of the table insert, to form objects over the table insert. However, if a different table insert is to be used in the 3D printer, the calibration process may have to be repeated, which is time consuming.

Method and apparatus for calibrating a three dimensional (3D) printer


A system for automatically creating configuration rule build files. One or more feature inputs are received according to requirements for a specific product by a configuration rule prototyping tool. The one or more feature inputs are source data. A selection of a function from a list of functions defined for the configuration rule prototyping tool and a selection of one or more build types is received by the configuration rule prototyping tool. A configuration rule build process is performed by the configuration rule prototyping tool based on the function and the one or more build types selected to format the source data into a desired format. The formatted source data is transferred to a configurable transformation macro. Configuration rule build files are automatically created by the configurable transformation macro for the specific product. Then, the configuration rule build files are outputted for use by a test client.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system and more specifically to a computer implemented method, system, and computer usable program code for automatically creating configuration rule build files.
2. Description of the Related Art
Historically, product design developers or modelers had to wait for the configuration rule build process to be completed and validated prior to any configuration rule testing being possible. Also, prior to starting the configuration rule build process, several key product design developers were required to perform code review on the type of configuration rules that were to be used on a particular product design and the format or syntax of those configuration rules. These product design developers create these configuration rules regarding every aspect of a product design, such as, for example, an xSeries server is limited to including only two peripheral component interconnect extended (PCI-X) adapters.
In the current configuration rule development context, product design developers are required to manually model these configuration rules into a comma-separated values (CSV) file format before these modelers can check-in to a configuration rule build process and create configuration rule build files. The product design developers use these created configuration rule build files to test configuration rules for specific product designs in a local test client. A local test client is a web-based configuration application, which interacts with a rule engine and a runtime database for product configuration purposes.
The rule engine needs the configuration rule build files to execute the configuration rules that had already been defined by the product design developers based on requirements templates for the different product designs. These requirements templates are Microsoft® Excel® (.xls) document files, which contain part numbers or feature codes, descriptions, and rules specific to the configurations of the particular products being prototyped or modeled. A feature code is a reusable number used by the configuration system that represents a particular part number.

International Business Machines Corporation


Methods for labeling a substrate using a hetero-Diels-Alder reaction are disclosed. The hetero-Diels-Alder reaction includes the reaction of an o-quinone methide (e.g., an o-naphthoquinone methide) with a polarized olefin to form a hetero-Diels-Alder adduct. The o-quinone methide or the polarized olefin can be attached to a surface of a substrate, and the other of the o-quinone methide or the polarized olefin can include a detectable label. The o-quinone methide can conveniently be generated by irradiation of a precursor compound, preferably in an aqueous solution, suspension, or dispersion.

Connection (or ligation in biochemistry) of two or more substrates or immobilization of various compounds are often achieved with the help of "click chemistry," which describes a set of bimolecular reactions that are modular, wide in scope, high yielding, create only inoffensive by-products, are stereospecific, simple to perform and that require benign or easily removed solvent. Although meeting all of the above requirements is difficult to achieve, several processes have been identified as coming very close to the ideal "click reaction." Among them are 1,3 dipolar and Diels-Alder cycloadditions, nucleophilic ring opening, non-aldol carbonyl chemistry, and additions to carbon-carbon multiple bonds. Cu(I) catalyzed versions of the Huisgen acetylene-azide cycloaddition, also known as azide click reaction, became the gold standard of click chemistry and have been applied in fields ranging from material science to chemical biology and drug development. However, the use of cytotoxic Cu (I) catalysts has largely precluded application of this click reaction in living systems. Recently discovered catalyst-free 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azides to cyclooctynes and dibenzocyclooctynes offers a bio-compatible version of the azide click reaction.
"Click" methods based on a Diels-Alder cycloaddition are also gaining popularity due to the fact that this reaction does not require catalysts, can proceed in high yield under physiological conditions, and does not produce any by-products. However, Diels-Alder cycloaddition reactions are often slow and require either thermal activation or the use of chemical promoters for the in situ generation of highly reactive dienes.
Thus, there remains a need for catalyst-free ligation methods for connection or immobilization of various compounds.

Methods for labeling a substrate using a hetero-diels-alder reaction

University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc.


Methods and polypeptides for assaying human proteins associated with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, are disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for assaying dystrophin which is a protein defective in a human suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) which is a hereditary disease.
2. Discussion of the Background
Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a hereditary disease which is developed almost only in males. A gene which is defective peculiarly to this disease is located on the X chromosome and its sequence has been elucidated [M. Konig, E. P. Hoffman, C. J. Bertelson, A. P. Monaco, C. Feenet and L. M. Kunkel: Cell, 50, 509 (1987), E. P. Hoffman, A. P. Monaco, C. C. Feeher and L. M. Kunkel, Science, 238, 347 (1987)]. If any antibody capable of specifically recognizing dystrophin which is a protein encoded by this gene is produced, a deletion or defect of dystrophin specific to this disease could be detected and such would be useful. A related method was tried by Hoffman et al., using the gene from mice suffering from a disease which is the same type as Duchenne muscular dystrophy [E. P. Hoffman, R. H. Brown, Jr. and L. M. Kunkel, Cell, 51, 919 (1987); E. P. Hoffman, C. M. Knudson, K. P. Campbell and L. M. Kunkel, Nature, 330, 754 (1987)]. However, the method of Hoffman et al. uses a gene from mice, the amino acid sequence of which is different by about 10% from that of humans, to produce the antibody so that it is inappropriate to determine dystrophin possessed by humans. Moreover, according to this method, protein having a high molecular weight such as 208 amino acid residues or 410 amino acid residues is used as an antigen and hence, the method has a shortcoming that an antibody capable of reacting not only with dystrophin but also with many other proteins is formed and that the antibody fails to specifically react with dystrophin alone. In order to compensate for the poor specificity of reaction, Hoffman et al. adopted a method using a specimen obtained by previously homogenizing cells to be tested followed by separating protein from the homogenate by electrophoresis, and then performing an antigen-antibody reaction with respect to the specimen. For this reason, the method encounters a drawback that operations are complicated and is thus unsatisfactory.
In general, conventional methods for assaying dystrophin have drawbacks in that antibodies capable of specifically reacting only with dystrophin could not be obtained since a gene from a mouse, which is different from that of a human, has been used for preparation of the antibody. Further, operations are complicated since the method comprises using a specimen obtained by previously homogenizing cells to be tested and separating protein from the homogenate by electrophoresis and performing an antigen-antibody reaction with respect to the specimen. Therefore, the present inventors have made extensive investigations to discover a method for assaying the protein in cells in a simple manner, by preparing an antiserum capable of specifically reacting only with dystrophin or an antibody fraction separated from the antiserum using a part of dystrophin encoded by human Duchenne muscular dystrophy-associated gene and performing an antigen-antibody reaction between a substance to be tested and the antiserum or antibody fraction.

Method for assaying a human muscular dystrophy protein


A surgical smoke filter and evacuator and a surgical power generator of the type used for electrocautery, laser surgery or the like are combined with an enclosure between the generator and the evacuator. The enclosure directs air which has been filtered of surgical plume contaminants from the evacuator past heat sink elements associated with the generator to facilitate dissipation of heat accumulated incidental to operation of the generator.

1. The Field
This invention relates to electrosurgery. It is particularly concerned with the filtering and evacuation of surgical plume, and with the cooling of surgical power generator apparatus. It provides an improved structure which provides these functions in a coordinated system.
2. State of the Art
Heretofore, means for evacuating surgical plume have varied widely as to specific features, but generally involve at least a vacuum pressure source and a filtering mechanism. These evacuation means characteristically are autonomous with respect to the source of surgical plume generation.
Among relevant sources of surgical plume generation are laser surgical instruments and electrosurgical devices such as electrocautery styluses with their respective associated power sources. These implements may in some configurations include evacuation ports positioned near the surgical site during surgical procedures to enhance evacuation efficacy. One such device includes upstream vortex creating means to achieve optimal suction reach.
It would be useful to integrate in one coordinated structure a filtered vacuum pressure source with a surgical power generator. Ideally, the principal elements of such a vacuum source/power generator system should be capable of independent operation to afford, for instance, continued surgical function in the event of filter obstruction.
A further benefit would be realized if the system were arranged to exhaust filtered air from the vacuum source through the generator to convectively remove heat produced incidental to operation of the generator. Reduction of heat in this manner could improve cooling efficiency and eliminate the need for cooling components, such as redundant fans and convection fins, considered to be necessary in currently available generators.

Apparatus and system for coordinating a surgical plume evacuator and power generator