A combined battery recharge and motor drive system employs an essentially conventional polyphase pulse width modulated (PWM) inverter and a polyphase motor which may be reconnected to operate in a battery recharge mode. Single phase or three-phase AC power from an external source is applied across the reconfigured circuit, and the inverter switches are then controlled to operate as a boost switching regulator. Electrostatic (Faraday) shielding techniques and construction allow extremely small ground currents for improved safety an GFI outlet compatibility.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of control electronics for a polyphase electric motor such as an induction or brushless DC motor and specifically to an integrated system for supplying polyphase motor drive signals from a DC source and for recharging the DC source from an external source of AC power.
2. Background Art
Widespread adoption of electric road vehicles has heretofore been hampered, in part, by the lack of suitable charging systems. Existing charging systems often rely on stationary off-board chargers with transformers and/or electronics that are too expensive and/or too heavy to be conveniently carried on board a vehicle. Alternatively, on-board charging systems with reduced cost and bulk may be employed, but at the cost of limited recharging power levels. For example, many of the on-board chargers that have been previously developed implement line frequency phase control with SCRs or triacs. Although these devices are cost effective, the draw power at unacceptably low power factors for wide spread high power applications.
Integrated motor drive and recharge systems have been developed so that certain of the components in the motor drive electronics are also used in a recharge mode as components of a switching regulator. Such an approach facilitates recharging at high power levels with substantial savings in the bulk and cost of the electronics package. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,475 issued Apr. 24, 1990 to Rippel discloses an integrated traction inverter and battery charger apparatus which integrates the components of a three-phase inverter with an AC line powered battery charger. A full wave rectifier bridge is included in the on-board electronics for conditioning the AC line power.
Another integrated motor drive and recharge system is disclosed in U.S Pat. No. 5,099,186 issued Mar. 24, 1992 to Rippel and this inventor. This system is designed for a dual motor application or for a single motor with dual sets of windings. In either case, the additional motor windings are advantageously employed to eliminate the need for an input bridge rectifier in the recharge mode.
A deficiency in the previously described integrated motor drive and recharge systems is high current in the ground wire connection to the power line. This results in a potential safety hazard if the ground wire is missing or improperly connected. This problem may also cause tripping of ground fault interruption (GFI) protected power outlets.

Combined motor drive and battery recharge system


To obtain a nonwoven fabric which is excellent in the heat resistance and the chemical resistance, of which the fiber diameter is small, and which is excellent in the mechanical strength at a temperature at which it is used; and an electrolyte membrane which is excellent in the dimensional stability when it is swollen by water, and of which an increase in the resistance by a reinforcing material is suppressed.

A nonwoven fabric has been used as a web of fibers useful for filters (such as air filters and bag filters), separators for cells (such as nickel-hydrogen cells, nickel-cadmium cells and lithium ion cells), reinforcing materials of substrates for printed circuit boards, reinforcing materials of electrolyte membranes, etc.
As materials for the nonwoven fabric, general-purpose materials such as polypropylene, polyester or polyamide have been used. However, in recent years, a fluororesin which is excellent in heat resistance, chemical resistance, non-stickiness, etc. has been used as a material for a separator of a cell, a high performance filter for air cleaning or a filter for filtration of a chemical in the field of semiconductors, a bag filter for anti-pollution measures, etc.
As the nonwoven fabrics made of a fluororesin, the following have been known.
(1) A nonwoven fabric obtained by stretching polytetrafluoroethylene, cutting it and forming it into fibers, followed by a water jet method or a needle punching method to make the fibers cross each other.
(2) A nonwoven fabric obtained by meltblowing an ethylene/chlorotrifluoroethylene copolymer (Patent Document 1).
(3) A nonwoven fabric obtained by meltblowing a tetrafluoroethylene copolymer (Patent Document 2).
(4) A nonwoven fabric obtained by meltblowing an ethylene/tetrafluoroethylene copolymer (hereinafter referred to as ETFE) (Patent Document 3).
However, the strength of the nonwoven fabric (1) is insufficient, since fibers are not mutually fused.
The nonwoven fabric (2) is insufficient in the chemical resistance, the water repellency, the stain proofing property, the mold release property, etc.
The tetrafluoroethylene copolymer as the material of the nonwoven fabric (3) has a low elastic modulus at around room temperature at which the nonwoven fabric is to be used, and accordingly the nonwoven fabric is insufficient in the mechanical strength.
On the other hand, ETFE which is the material of the nonwoven fabric (4) has a high elastic modulus at around room temperature at which the nonwoven fabric is to be used, and has excellent heat resistance, chemical resistance and non-stickiness. However, in a case where a nonwoven fabric is produced by meltblowing ETFE for general forming, since the melt viscosity of ETFE is high, the average fiber diameter of the fibers that make up the nonwoven fabric tends to be large. As a result, if such a nonwoven fabric is used to reinforce an electrolyte membrane, the electrolyte membrane tends to be thick, and the resistance will be increased. Further, when such a nonwoven fabric is used as a filter for removing fine particles, the maximum pore diameter tends to be large, whereby the fine particle removing performance will be insufficient.

Nonwoven fabric and electrolyte membrane

Abstract: A nonwoven fabric 28 containing fibers 26 of an ethylene/tetrafluoroethylene copolymer having a storage elastic modulus E′ at 25° C. of at least 8×108 Pa and a melt viscosity measured at 300° C. of higher than 60 Pa·s and at most 300 Pa·s, wherein the average fiber diameter of the fibers is from 0.01 to 3 μm; and an electrolyte membrane reinforced by the nonwoven fabric 28.


A heat dissipation device is provided in the present disclosure, where the heat dissipation device includes a hollow heat-sink base and a set of fluid tube. The fluid tube is inserted in the heat-sink base, and a cooling medium circulates in the fluid tube. The heat-sink base includes a heat absorption area configured to absorb heat. A cooling fluid, received in the heat-sink base, may be vaporized at the heat absorption area to absorb the heat taken by the heat absorption area, and condensed at a position that is inside the heat-sink base and away from the heat absorption area and on the fluid tube to release the absorbed heat.

With miniaturization and increasing computing speed, electronic components and electronic devices emit more and more heat, and if the heat cannot be dissipated in time, operational performance of the electronic components is adversely affected. A heat dissipation device is a device for rapidly dissipating heat generated by a heat source in an electronic product. Currently, the types of heat dissipation devices are diversified, which adopt, for example, a heat-sink fin set, a heat pipe, a fan, or a liquid cooling manner.
These heat dissipation devices have low cooling efficiency, and the heat dissipation devices fail easily and have low reliability, which thereby threatens safe operation of electronic products.


Systems, apparatuses, methods, and program products are disclosed. An apparatus may include a processor configured to determine whether a user-input gesture is an ambiguous gesture, present a set of candidate gestures corresponding to the user-input gesture, in response to the user-input gesture being an ambiguous gesture, and resolve the ambiguous gesture based on user-input. The processor may magnify an area around the ambiguous gesture, wherein presenting the set of candidate gestures includes displaying the candidate gestures within the magnified area. The apparatus may include a memory that stores code executable by the processor. The apparatus may also include an input device that receives a user-input gesture and a display device.

Field
The subject matter disclosed herein relates to input gestures and more particularly relates to detecting and resolving an ambiguous gesture input by a user.
Description of the Related Art
Handheld devices often have relatively small screens resulting in a user entering relatively small gestures thereon. Small gestures can be difficult to interpret. For example, a strikethrough gesture may be similar to a tap gesture. Accordingly, gesture recognizers may misinterpret an ambiguous gesture and/or do nothing when the input is ambiguous, thereby requiring the user to re-enter the gesture.

Gesture ambiguity determination and resolution


A method for setting up a voice call over an IP network is described. The method first initiates an IP voice call to a called device connected to a telephone line. The method then determines whether the called device is already connected to the IP network. If the called device is not already connected to the IP network based on the determining step, the method will initiate a telephone call with an associated telephone signal through the telephone line to the called device, to alert the called device that an IP voice call is pending.

One of the primary reasons for interest in offering IP/internet telephony services is the pricing structures currently in place for the data services, and voice services offered by telephone operators. Long distance voice service can be thought of as "demand data" service, where the user pays a premium for the instantaneous access to a 64 Kbps channel (voice grade channel in the U.S.). Widely publicized, promotional type pricing for this service Is on the order of $0.10 a minute. By contrast, data service offered by telephone operators, such as that offered for a T-1 connection (24 voice quality data lines, for a 1.544 Mbps connection) is priced at approximately $1000/month, which works out to $0.001 a minute per voice line. In the very near future, cable operators will place extreme pressure on even the data service rates for telephone operators, as cable modems will allow cable operators to offer hundreds of Kbps effective throughput for approximately $50/month.
IP telephony is also one of the first and most visible steps toward an Integrated Services Internet, which carries real time data, voice and video.
The basic Idea of IP/internet voice telephony is to digitize your voice as you talk on the phone and send the digitized data as IP packets to the Internet. An IP voice device can be embedded within an Internet connection device such as a modem, a set-top-box, or a computer. It can be also built as a stand alone product. The stand alone IP voice device, for example, may provide an Ethernet jack which can be connected with an Internet connection device and other LAN devices. The IP voice device may also include interfaces to connect regular phone handsets. The quality of speech heard through a normal telephone line requires 64 kbits/s bandwidth. However, most current internet connections have less bandwidth, such as 28.8 kBPS, or 56 kBPS modem. Furthermore, even if a fast connection device is used, such as an ISDN, or Cable Modem, the Internet network itself is a shared medium and has limited bandwidth. Therefore, audio codecs are usually embedded to compress the voice data.
To guarantee the interoperability between IP voice devices from different vendors, International Telecommunications Union (ITU) developed H.323 as the standard for telephony over IP network. H.323 defines common procedures for call setup, data compression, and data transport.
H.323 is an umbrella standard which references many other ITU recommendations. It provides various levels of multimedia communications. These levels include voice only, voice and video, voice and data, or voice, video, and data communications over a local area network. The voice only H.323 protocol stack includes RTP/RTCP, RAS/Q.931 (H.225,0), and H.245. RTP/RTCP is used for packetization and synchronization of voice data. RAS/Q.931 describes the call registration, admission, and status as well as call signaling. H.245 defines the control messages and procedures.
In a general sense, IP telephony can be thought of has providing a "virtual" point to point connection for voice services over Internet. Various IP telephony devices currently exist in the marketplace. Some examples include VocalTec® Internet Phone® Lite which is a software product to be used in a multimedia PC, made by Vocaltech Corporation of Northvale, N.J. Other examples of product include CoolTalk of Netscape or NetMeeting of Microsoft. Most of these software based products reside in a client server such as a PC or a network computer (NC) that require a microphone, speaker and a sound card. Other products come in the form of a handset, which basically incorporates the function of the microphone and speaker in the software-based product.
As an example of how to place a call, suppose a user in Indianapolis wants to call his friend in Paris. He would pick up his IP voice device handset (or a virtual handset on the computer screen) and hear a dial-tone like a regular telephone dial-tone. Then, he dials his friend's Paris phone number. The call travels over the Internet to a server provided by the IP telephony service provider. The server connects the call to his friend's IP voice device and initiates the call. If his friend has only a regular telephone, the server will connect the call to a gateway in Paris. The gateway in Paris then initiates a call over the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to the local Paris number.
Depending on the Internet connections, there are basically two methods for making calls using an IP voice device: dial-up connections, and direct connections.
With a dial-up connection, a user first calls an ISP (Internet service provider) over a regular dial-up line to set up an Internet connection. Then, he will use the IP voice device handset to dial the phone number of the person he is calling. With a direct or permanent connection, a user places a call using the IP voice device just as he does with the regular telephone. The direct connection indicates a permanent open channel to the Internet such as ISDN, or a cable access device. For dial-up connection call, a phone that has been called won't ring unless the Internet connection is already established for this phone. For direct connection call, a phone would ring like a normal telephone.
European Patent Application, EP-A-0781016, discloses a known Internet telephone system. The system disclosed allows a server connected to a called device to use the telephone number of the telephone line connected to the called device, in order to set up the internet telephone call. However, there still needs to be an efficient and easily implementable way to further distinguish whether a call to the called device is an internet call or a regular telephone call, so that the call may be handled correctly and automatically.


A customizable dialog box. The customizable dialog box can include a primary display region and at least one secondary display region activatable from the primary display region. One or more user input fields can be disposed in the at least one secondary display region. Similarly, one or more selection controls can be disposed in the at least one secondary display region. In that regard, each one of the selection controls can correspond to one of the user input fields. Finally, at least one primary user input field can be disposed in the primary display region. Specifically, the at least one primary user input field can include a user input field in the secondary display region whose corresponding selection control has been activated.

1. Statement of the Technical Field
The present invention relates to the graphical user interface (GUI) arts and more particularly to customizable dialog boxes for use in a GUI environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
The conventional graphical user interface (GUI) has been widely used for many years. The primary function of the GUI includes providing user interface controls with which the end-user can interact with an underlying application. The common GUI includes many stock user interface controls, most of which, when combined, can accommodate most computer-human interactions required by an application. For example, the static text box control can be used to present text to the end-user while an edit box can permit the user to provide textual input to the application. A radio button control can provide for the exclusive selection of an element from among a field of elements, while a checklist box can control can provide for the non-exclusive selection of elements from among a field of elements.
The dialog box represents one of the staple window types in the conventional GUI. The conventional dialog box often is used to present a menu of all possible configurable options for a given object. The dialog box typically incorporates one or more controls and user input fields such as radio buttons, check boxes, drop down boxes, and edit boxes, in addition to static text fields describing the purpose of each user input field. Importantly, the dialog box further can include a close control which when activated signals the application that the user input fields have been completed with data which can be processed now that the dialog has completed. Ordinarily, this button will be labeled with lexically apropos language such as "Close", "OK", "Complete", "Next" and the like. Thus, the dialog box represents a window in which a two-way dialog can be conducted between end user and application, which can be concluded through the selection of a control established for the purpose of concluding the dialog.
Often times, a two-way dialog between end user and application can become complex, involving multiple user input fields, many of which may not be relevant for a given end user. In this regard, the inclusion of too many user input fields on a single dialog box can become visually unwieldy. Consequently, complex dialog boxes can include a basic display of only the primary user input fields (as determined by the developer of the GUI) of the two-way dialog. The basic display can include a control such as a button (typically labeled "Advanced" or "Show All") which when activated, can cause the display, either in an expanded view of the dialog, or in a secondary dialog, of both the user input fields of the basic display in addition to the remaining user input fields not included in the basic display. As an alternative, the dialog can be a tabbed notebook dialog known in the art, in which the primary default tab includes common user input fields, while subsequent tabs include the secondary user input fields.
Both of the foregoing conventional approaches to constructing GUI dialogs have limitations. The most obvious limitation is that the conventional dialog box does not allow individual customization. In this regard, where a user often completes a user input field not ordinarily included in the basic display, but in the secondary display, the user must always activate the advanced display. As a result, though the user merely wanted to complete the single input field, the user will be compelled to navigate all of the remaining user input fields in the secondary display.
Not only will the user be required to undertake extra process steps to show the advanced portion of the dialog, but the secondary display usually can be difficult to navigate as the desired field can be difficult to locate among the remaining fields and may not have associated therewith a descriptive label. By comparison, in the tabbed notebook, if the user frequently uses several extra input fields not included in the basic tab, and the input fields happen to be within several different notebook tabs, the user may have to go complete several extra tabs simply to access the one desired input field.

International Business Machines Corporation


A device and method for preventing fouling and/or corrosion of the exposed surfaces of a structure which is in contact with seawater, brackish water, fresh water, or a combination of these. The system includes using a structure having an exposed zinc-containing surface. At the exposed surface water interface a negative capacitive charge or an asymmetric alternating electrostatic is induced and maintained.

Structures in contact with bodies of water suffer from fouling and/or corrosion damage. For example the shipping industry has long faced serious problems caused by the adherence of marine organisms to ship hulls. Such fouling of a ship's hull increases the operating cost of a ship and decreases its efficiency.
Marine organisms which become attached to the hull must periodically be removed, thereby usually taking the ship out of operation for extended periods of time for dry dock maintenance. Also, if fouling is not prevented, aquatic organisms will continue to attach to the hull and will cause ever increasing operating costs associated with additional fuel requirements and decreased speeds. The pleasure boat market faces similar problems.
Several ways of removing marine organisms, including barnacle growth, from a ship are known. Barnacles can be mechanically scraped from the ship while in dry dock. Cleaning machines have been developed having rotating brushes which can remove barnacles and other marine organisms from the hull.
Another method of overcoming the fouling problems has been to use highly toxic paints on the hulls of ships. Such paints retard the buildup of marine growth on the hull. A toxic element in the paint, such as a compound of copper or mercury which is soluble in seawater, is controllably dissolved into the water to provide protection over several years. However, the leaching of toxic materials into esturine waters by a vast number of vessels, including the pleasure boat population, presents an increasing hazard to the environment.
For example U.S. Pat. No. 3,817,759 discloses the use of an antifouling coating comprising a polymeric titanium ester of an aliphatic alcohol. Titanium has good corrosion resistance and low water solubility which prevents premature leaching and exhaustion of the coating.
Another known antifouling method involves coating the hull of a ship with a metallic paint whose ions are toxic to marine life, i.e., copper, mercury, silver, tin, arsenic, and cadmium, and then to periodically apply a voltage to the hull to anodically dissolve the toxic ions into seawater thereby inhibiting marine life growth. This method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,661,742 and in U.S. Pat. No. 3,497,434.
Antifouling systems which rely on dissolution of toxic substances into seawater have limited utility since the coating applied to the hull is depleted and the hull must be periodically repainted. The problem is made more severe in those systems which make the hull anodic to force dissolution since it increases the rate of dissolution. This poses a potentially serious problem since once the hull is exposed it too will be dissolved, resulting in pitting or puncturing of the hull.
Various other apparatus have been purposed which rely upon application of a voltage to the hull of the ship or provision for flow of current through the hull of the ship to retard growth of marine organisms on the hull. Some systems have proposed the electrochemical decomposition of seawater causing gases to be produced near the submerged surfaces of the hull.
Proponents of such systems maintain that the gases prevent the adherence of marine organisms such as barnacles, algae, etc. Others suggest that high current can cause shock and retard the growth of marine organisms on the hull. None of these systems, however, have proven commercially successful for reasons of cost and poor antifouling results. Examples of these systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,196,064 and Russian Patent No. 3388.
This problem is of course not limited to ships, but exists with all submerged structures capable of corroding.
Another aquatic animal, zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha), is posing major problems to electric utilities, and municipal and industrial facilities, that are dependent on raw waters, e.g., from the Great Lakes. The morphological, behavioral and physiological characteristics of zebra mussels promote rapid spread of the mussel within and between water bodies, colonization of natural and artificial structures, fouling of intakes, conduits, condensers, and piping systems, and resistant to on-line procedures typically used to maintain system reliability at fresh water power plants.
In the summer of 1989, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) began to investigate the potential problems that can be caused by the zebra mussel and studied strategies for the utility industry to deal with these problems. The stimulus for this work was the rapid spread of the mussels, their impact on power plant operations, particularly those cited on Lake Erie, and concerns about current and future economic and ecological impacts.
Power plants offer prime habitats for zebra mussels. The plants contain a plethora of hard, relatively clean surfaces for mussels to colonize. This colonization is enhanced by the source and flow rate of water drawn into the plant. For example, most plants draw near-surface water where the larvae are found in the highest concentrations. In addition, flow rates specified at many intakes to prevent fish impingement are not high enough to prevent larval settlement. In fact, flowing water is advantageous for the settled mussels because it maintains food and dissolves oxygen concentrations necessary for sustenance. All power plant systems circulating raw water are vulnerable to zebra mussel fouling.
Large conduits, galleries and "boxes" can be subject to volume loss when mussels attach to the walls and each other forming mussel mats. These mats can reach thickness of several inches. Individual mussels can cause flow loss in small piping if flows are intermittent or slow enough for settlement or if mussels are transported to a construction. Even condensers are vulnerable to zebra mussel fouling. Only the very largest mussels have a shell height capable of blocking modern condenser tubing. However, mussel clusters, called druses, frequently break off from mussel mats. Such clusters have blocked up to 20% or more of the condenser tubes in a power plant on western Lake Erie.
To date, no satisfactory solution to this problem has been found. Large individual zebra mussels and mussel clusters can be removed by power plant traveling screens which serve to reduce their impact on cooling water systems. These screens are however not fine enough to remove early life stages (e.g., veliger larvae) which are capable of attachment in downstream locations inside power plants. The benefit of traveling screens is further reduced by large forebays that accommodate settlement and growth of mussel population. Physical filtration would require effective pore diameters on the order of 0.04 mm to retain the smallest larvae, and, as such, is impractical. By analogy to marine mussels, materials or coatings could theoretically be found that inhibit or prevent attachment of settling larvae. To date, none has yet been identified.
Another problem related to fouling of a ship's hull which the shipping industry has long attempted to solve is corrosion. Corrosion normally occurs to underwater portions of a ship's hull because the seawater acts as an electrolyte and current will consequently flow, as in a battery, between surface areas of differing electrical potential. The flow of current takes with it metal ions thereby gradually corroding anodic portions of the hull.
Various techniques have been developed to prevent corrosion. Sacrificial anodes of active metals such as zinc or magnesium have been fastened to the hull. Such anodes, through galvanic action, themselves corrode away instead of the hull.
Other systems use cathodic protection by impressed current. Such systems utilize long-life anodes which are attached to the hull to impress a current flow in the hull. The result is that the entire hull is made cathodic relative to the anode, thereby shielding it from corrosion. Such systems operate at very low-voltage levels, see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 3,497,434.
One known cathodic protection system utilizes a titanium anode plated with platinum. The platinum acts as the electrical discharge surface for the anode into the electrolytic seawater. No current is discharged from any surface portions of the electrode comprising titanium. This particular system impresses high current densities on the anode on the order of 550 amps per square foot. Since there is a high current flow from the platinum on other non-soluble anode metal, there is a very low potential and essentially no current flow from the surface of the titanium. An example of such a system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,313,721.
A final problem faced by those desiring to develop a successful antifouling system is hydrogen embrittlement of the ship's hull. When electrolytic action takes place close to the surface of the ship's hull, such as in some of those systems described above, hydrolysis of the seawater may occur. Such hydrolysis releases hydrogen ions which cause embrittlement of the ship's hull. Consequently, it is important in any antifouling system which is installed that the system not be operated at such high current as to cause hydrolysis of the water thereby releasing hydrogen.
There is therefore a strongly felt need for a better method, and corresponding apparatus, for preventing the corrosion and/or fouling of structures which are fully or partially submerged in water.

Method for the prevention of fouling and/or corrosion of structures in seawater, brackish water and/or fresh water


A method for producing an organic electroluminescent element including a transparent substrate, a transparent electrode, an organic functional layer unit, and an electrode counter to the transparent electrode disposed in sequence, the method including: forming a preform of an element satisfying the following expression: ΔExy≥0.05, wherein 0° is an angle orthogonal to the transparent substrate and ΔExy represents a chromaticity difference of a reflected color measured at a tilted angle within a range of 0 to 80° with respect to the transparent substrate; and irradiating a specific region of the preform of the element with light.

Luminous electronic display devices include electroluminescent displays (hereinafter referred to as "ELDs"). Components of ELDs include an inorganic electroluminescent element and an organic electroluminescent element (hereinafter referred to as "organic EL element"). An inorganic electroluminescent element, which is used as a planar light source, requires a high AC voltage for driving the luminous element.
An organic EL element includes an anode, a cathode, and a luminous layer containing a luminous compound and disposed between the anode and the cathode, and emits light (fluorescence or phosphorescence) through deactivation of excitons generated by recombination of electrons and holes injected into the luminous layer. The organic EL element, which is of a self-luminous type, can emit light at a low voltage of about several volts to several tens of volts, and has a wide viewing angle and high visibility. The organic EL element, which is a thin, completely solid element, has received attention in terms of, for example, space saving or portability. Attempts have been made to produce a flexible organic EL element by replacing a rigid substrate with a flexible plastic or metal foil substrate, so that the organic EL element of a completely solid type can be more effectively utilized.
Organic EL elements are also characterized as being planar light sources, unlike primary light sources which have been put into practice, such as light-emitting diodes and cold-cathode tubes. Organic EL elements are applied to light sources for illumination and backlight units of various displays, which effectively utilize the characteristics of the organic EL elements. In particular, organic EL elements are suitable for use in backlight units of full-color liquid crystal displays, which have been increasingly demanded.
In contrast to a conventional EL element which emits only light of a single color, Patent Literature 1 discloses an organic EL element including a luminous layer having regions which are intentionally deprived of emission function through irradiation with UV rays, a laser beam, or an electron beam (i.e., formation of non-emission regions on the luminous layer), the organic EL element being capable of forming emission patterns corresponding to the non-emission regions during emission of light (see paragraphs [0026] and and Example 1).
Although Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique for formation of emission patterns during emission of light, the literature does not refer to creation of values of the organic EL element during non-emission of light.

Method for producing organic electroluminescent element


A language building game for two to four players utilizing a grid marked game playing board, a pool of playing tiles each bearing a letter of the alphabet on its face, and a scoring sheet for each player. The game method includes placing a first plurality of tiles on the board by a first player, placing only a single tile on the board adjacent to the first plurality of tiles by the second player, wherein the first and second players continue to build about the first plurality of tiles and the single tile by placing additional pluralities of tiles on the board.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to board word games and more particularly pertains to such a game which challenge the players in their word skills.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of word board games is known in the prior art. More specifically, such games heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of entertainment and developing word skills are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural and mental configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements. Typical games are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,026,071; 4,955,614; 4,819,945; 4,365,813; and 4,185,834.
In this respect, the language building games according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides a game primarily developed for the purpose of challenging players in their word skills.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for new and improved word board games which can be utilized in developing languages skills. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.

Method of playing a word forming board game


Apparatus for securing an I/O card in a connector includes a connector having a catch. A card is removably mounted in the connector by a card retention member which is movably mounted on the card. The retention member includes a hook and is resiliently urged to a first position wherein the hook engages the catch. The retention member is movable to a second position wherein the hook is released from the catch allowing the I/O card to be removed.

The disclosures herein relate generally to information handling systems and more particularly to a card retention device for use in such systems.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Current PCI cards and other I/O cards are inserted into a system slot and either locked down with a lever or a screw. During shipping or customer handling, the card edge tab connector end furthest away from the locked I/O bracket may partially or completely slip out of the motherboard socket. This problem tends to occur with cards that have a lot of mass or cards that are inserted into shorter edge-tab connectors. When the problem occurs, a service call is generated because the I/O card becomes physically disconnected from the motherboard and can no longer respond to system commands.
AGP cards utilize an xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d shaped hook built into the card just beyond the connector edge tab. To insert or remove an AGP card, the user must reach down and hook (or unhook) a retention strap which is fixed into the motherboard. This is very inconvenient and often causes a service call when a customer doesn""t realize the card has a retention strap and therefore doesn""t release it before removing (or forcing) the AGP card from the system. Some systems design a foam retainer into the case to hold the I/O cards in place. This can work but it diminishes heat flow and is difficult to implement when various heights of cards are used.
Therefore, what is needed is a device for retaining a PCI or other I/O card once it is plugged into a system, that is convenient to access, visible to the user and does not diminish heat flow.
One embodiment, accordingly, provides an apparatus for securing an I/O computer card. To this end, the apparatus includes a connector having a catch. A card is removably mounted in the connector. A card retention member is movably mounted on the card and includes a hook. The card retention member is resiliently urged into a first position wherein the hook engages the catch, and is movable to a second position wherein the hook is released from the catch.
A principal advantage of this embodiment is that the connector housing is used to lock the I/O card in place. If an I/O card needs retention, a latch is incorporated with the card for engagement with the housing.


A lumped filter includes an input terminal, an output terminal, and a ground electrode disposed on a dielectric film on an alumina substrate. A first spiral inductor is connected between the input terminal and the ground electrode. A second spiral inductor is connected between the output terminal and the ground electrode. MIM capacitors are inserted between the input terminal and the first spiral inductor, and between the output terminal and the second spiral inductor. A third spiral inductor is inserted between the first and second spiral inductors. The spiral inductors have self-inductance, and capacitance between the spiral inductors and the electrodes adjacent thereto, by which the spiral inductors self-resonate and define as parallel LC resonators.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lumped filter having spiral inductors arranged in a circuit on a surface of a dielectric substrate, a shared antenna unit, and a communication device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical lumped filter is now described with reference to FIGS. 14A and 14B.
FIGS. 14A and 14B are a plan view and an equivalent circuit diagram of a lumped filter, respectively.
FIG. 14A illustrates an alumina substrate 1, an input terminal 2, an output terminal 3, a ground electrode 4, spiral inductors 5 and 6, interdigital capacitors 7 to 11, and LC resonators 12 and 13. A lower electrode, a dielectric film, and an upper electrode are laminated one on top of another on the alumina substrate 1. In FIG. 14A, the upper electrode is shown as being shaded and surrounded by solid lines, and the lower electrode is shown as being surrounded by broken lines.
FIG. 14B illustrates load conductances GA and GB, parallel inductances L1 and L2, parallel capacitances C1 and C2, an input capacitance C01, an output capacitance C23, and a serial capacitance C12.
The input terminal 2, the output terminal 3, and the ground electrode 4 are disposed on the dielectric film provided on the alumina substrate 1. The spiral inductor 5 having an upper electrode with a spiral configuration and the interdigital capacitor 7 are positioned side-by-side to define the LC resonator 12. The LC resonator 12 is connected between the input terminal 2 and the ground electrode 4. On the other hand, the LC resonator 13 defined by the spiral inductor 6 and the interdigital capacitor 8 is also connected between the output terminal 3 and the ground electrode 4.
The interdigital capacitor 10 is inserted between the input terminal 2 and the LC resonator 12, and the interdigital capacitor 11 is inserted between the output terminal 3 and the LC resonator 13. The interdigital capacitor 9 is inserted between the LC resonators 12 and 13.
In a circuit having such a structure, as shown in FIG. 14B, the LC resonator defined by the parallel inductance L1 and the parallel capacitances C1, and the LC resonator defined by the parallel inductance L2 and the parallel capacitance C2 are capacitively coupled through the capacitance C12. Thus, a lumped filter is provided and includes two resonators having the input capacitance C01 and the output capacitance C23.
However, such a typical lumped filter has the following problems which have yet to be solved.
The lumped filter shown in FIGS. 14A and 14B includes a number of circuit elements, thereby causing the line width and line spacing which are components of each circuit element to greatly affect the characteristics of the filter. These components are equivalent to the number of interdigitations, and the line width forming an interdigitation, and the line spacing in interdigital capacitors, and equivalent to the number of turns, the line width, and the line spacing in spiral inductors. It is therefore more difficult to design the plurality of components within predetermined tolerances as the number of components increases, thereby keeping a low yield of the filter including such elements.
While predetermined transmission characteristics are achieved, in order to further increase the Q factor of the filter, a way to provide an attenuation pole at a high-frequency region or a low-frequency region of the pass-band can be contemplated. However, the typical lumped filter cannot have an attenuation pole unless a new circuit element is provided.
In order to overcome the problems described above, preferred embodiments of the present invention provide a lumped filter having a simple structure with a high band-pass characteristic, a shared antenna unit, and a communication device incorporating such a lumped filter and the antenna unit.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a lumped filter includes a dielectric ceramic substrate including a plurality of inductors, a plurality of capacitors, an input terminal, an output terminal, and a ground electrode, which are arranged to define a circuit on the dielectric ceramic substrate. A plurality of parallel elements connected between the input terminal and the ground electrode, and between the output terminal and the ground electrode include parallel LC resonators each being defined by the inductance of a spiral electrode and the capacitance produced between the spiral electrode and an adjacent electrode. A plurality of series elements inserted between the parallel elements include parallel LC resonators each being defined by the inductance of a spiral electrode and the capacitance produced between the spiral electrode and an adjacent electrode. Therefore, the lumped filter can be simple and have a high pass-band characteristic.
The number of turns, the line width and line spacing in the spiral electrode of the series element may be set at predetermined values to determine the frequency of an attenuation pole produced by the self-resonance of the parallel LC resonator. This allows an attenuation pole to be produced at a desired position, thereby providing a desired pass-band characteristic for the lumped filter.
The number of turns in the spiral electrode of the series element is preferably greater than the number of turns in the spiral electrodes of the two parallel elements adjacent to the series element. The lumped filter can thus have a simple construction while achieving a high pass-band characteristic.
At least one of the series elements inserted between the input terminal and the parallel element, and between the output terminal and the parallel element may include a capacitor defined by a lower electrode, a dielectric film, and an upper electrode disposed one after another on the dielectric ceramic substrate. Therefore, the lumped filter can be simple.
The spiral electrode may be a thin film having superconductivity. With this structure, the lumped filter can have a significantly reduced insertion loss in an environment of the transition temperature or lower. Because of substantially no conductor loss of the electrodes, the lumped filter can be compact.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a shared antenna unit includes the lumped filter according to the preferred embodiment described above. Therefore, a shared antenna unit having a high attenuation characteristic in which the transmission side and the reception side provide a sufficient amount of attenuation in the mutual pass-bands can thus be constructed with simplicity.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a communication device includes the lumped filter or the shared antenna unit according to the preferred embodiments described above. Therefore, a communication device having a high communication characteristic can thus be constructed with simplicity.
Other features, elements, characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.

Lumped filter, shared antenna unit, and communication device


An I/O multiplexing operation involving a cross-domain file descriptor set is intercepted. The cross-domain set is divided into a first subset corresponding to a first file type and a second subset corresponding to a second file type. System calls are initiated in parallel for performing separate I/O multiplexing operations on the first and second subsets of file descriptors. In response to one of the parallel system calls identifying at least one file descriptor ready for communication, the other parallel system call is unblocked. Sets of file descriptors identified as ready for communication by the parallel system calls are combined and returned to a calling process.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer operating systems, and more particularly, to techniques for intercepting I/O multiplexing operations involving cross-domain file descriptor sets.
2. Description of the Background Art
Operating systems such as UNIX(copyright) and Microsoft WINDOWS NT(copyright) are widely used in commercial computing systems. Among their many uses, these operating systems are commonly deployed on Internet and other network server computers. With the popularity and success of the Internet, operating systems for network servers are currently of great commercial importance.
Frequently, intercepting system calls that pertain to accessing files is desirable. Although operating systems include various internal resources for accessing a file system, it is often desirable to customize or extend operating system functionality for a particular use. Such customization allows a computer programmer, a network administrator, or a webmaster to utilize the operating system in a specific manner beyond the default system capabilities provided by the manufacturer of the operating system. The interception of system calls is one such method of extending and expanding operating system functionality.
A system call is a subroutine, the object code of which is located in the operating system. Such subroutines are normally called by processes (applications) executing under the control of the operating system. When executed, a system call performs some system operation, such as accessing a system hardware device or a software resource. Examples of operations executed by system calls may include reading data from a file, opening a network communication channel, and allocating computer memory to a specific process.
A system call vector table typically stores pointers to the executable code of the system calls. In order to make a system call, arguments are programmatically loaded into specific registers of the central processing unit (CPU) of the computer on which the operating system is executing. One of these arguments identifies the specific system call that is being made. This argument is typically in the form of a number that is an offset into the system call vector table. The other loaded arguments include parameters to be passed to the system call.
Once the arguments have been loaded, a software interrupt is normally generated, signaling to the operating system that a process is requesting execution of a system call. The operating system reads the registers, and executes the requested system call with the specified parameters. The system call executes and performs the desired functionality. If the system call generates a return value, it places the generated return value (or a pointer thereto) in a pre-designated register where it can be accessed by the calling process.
In order to intercept a system call, a pointer in the system call vector table to the system call is replaced with a pointer to alternative object code to be executed instead of the system call. As a result, when the operating system reads the system call vector table in response to the system call being requested, the operating system will read the pointer to the alternative object code, and the alternative object code will execute instead of the system call. The alternative object code is typically known as a xe2x80x9csystem call wrapper.xe2x80x9d
The interception of system calls providing access to the file system is useful in extending and customizing operating system functionality. For example, the interception of system calls may be used to manipulate operating system access privileges to provide security beyond that which is provided by the operating system. By intercepting system calls that provide access to the file system, processes can be prevented from deleting, modifying, creating, or even reading files. This is desirable, for example, when a user wishes to remotely execute a program residing on a web server, but does not want the remote program to be able to read or alter private data on the user""s computer. Today, Java(copyright) applets are commonly employed to provide such security. However, many programs that users wish to remotely execute are written in languages other than Java(copyright). System call interception has the potential to allow the safe execution of programs written in all languages.
The interception of system calls is known today, although it is an advanced programming technique. Nonetheless, a serious shortcoming limits the usefulness of intercepting system calls that provide access to the file system. That shortcoming is the inability to disambiguate between a file descriptor that is associated with a file stored on media (e.g., hard disk, optical disk, random access memory) and a file descriptor that is associated with a communication channel (e.g., referred to as a xe2x80x9csocketxe2x80x9d in UNIX(copyright)).
Many computer operating systems utilize file descriptors to provide access to file systems. Under such operating systems, a file is created by making a system call that creates a file and returns a file descriptor that is associated with the newly created file. Subsequently, the file is accessed via the file descriptor. Examples of file access operations include reading from a file, writing to a file, closing a file, and deleting a file. Such operations are typically conducted by making a designated system call, and passing the system call the file descriptor that is associated with the file being accessed.
Many commercially popular operating systems such as UNIX(copyright) and Microsoft WINDOWS NT(copyright) treat communication channels as files. In such an operating system, when a process makes a system call in order to establish a communication channel, the operating system returns a file descriptor. The communication channel is subsequently accessed via the file descriptor, in a similar manner as a file stored on media.
Commonly, the same system calls are made to perform the same access operations on both files stored on media and on communication channels. For example, under the UNIX(copyright) operating system, a read system call can be made in order to read data from either a file stored on media or from a communication channel. The system call itself has no information concerning the file type with which a file descriptor is associated. The system call simply executes instructions to access a file in a specific manner via a file descriptor. For example, the read system call executes instructions to copy a specific number of bytes from a file to a buffer in memory. The read system call does not distinguish between a file on media and a communication channel.
Likewise, a system call wrapper that executes when such a system call is intercepted conventionally has no mechanism for distinguishing between file types. For example, if the read system call is intercepted, the system call wrapper will execute whenever any process makes the system call to read data from any type of file. Thus, the system call wrapper will execute whenever a process attempts to read data from a file stored on media and also whenever a process attempts to read data from a communication channel.
Communication channels and files stored on media are inherently different, despite the fact that both are accessed via file descriptors. Thus, it is often desirable to intercept system calls that access a file stored on media, but not to intercept system calls that access a communication channel. Likewise, it is often desirable to intercept system calls that access a communication channel, but not to intercept system calls that access a file stored on media.
For example, as noted above, it is sometimes desirable only to intercept system calls that access files stored on media. The desired result is to prevent access to files stored on media, but not to prevent access to communication channels. At the same time, it may be undesirable to prevent write access to the communication channels of the client computer, because it would be desirable for the computer to be able to receive communication responses from web servers. However, intercepting every write system call and executing a system call wrapper in its place to prevent write access would prevent write access to both communication channels and to files stored on media.
Likewise, it is often desirable to intercept system calls that pertain to access of communication channels, but not to intercept system calls that pertain to access of files stored on media. For example, it may be desirable to disallow remote communication requests made to a certain computer, but at the same time allow local access to files stored on media of the computer. Again, because the same system call is used to access communication channels and files stored on media, the one can not be prevented and yet the other allowed without a means for disambiguating the file descriptors.
Moreover, under some operating systems, entities other than communication channels and files stored on media are treated as files, and hence accessed via file descriptors. For example, under the UNIX(copyright) operating system, hardware devices are designated by file descriptors. For the same reasons that it is desirable to disambiguate communication channel file descriptors from file descriptors that are associated with files stored on media, it is further desirable to disambiguate file descriptors that are associated with any type of file from those that are associated with any other type.
Accordingly, what is needed is a method for disambiguating file descriptors generally, and, specifically, for disambiguating file descriptors that are associated with files stored on media from file descriptors that are associated with communication channels. This allows for the selective interception of system calls that access one type of file or another.
Certain system calls, such as I/O multiplexing functions, may operate on multiple file descriptors, some of which may correspond to different file types. For example, the UNIX(copyright) select ( ) and poll ( ) system calls allow a process to instruct the kernel to wait for any one of a set of file descriptors to become ready for I/O. Such xe2x80x9cmultiplexingxe2x80x9d operations are extremely advantageous when a process needs to simultaneously handle multiple file descriptors, such as file descriptors for both interactive input (e.g., standard input) and network communication channels (e.g., sockets).
Most file accesses in UNIX(copyright) use a xe2x80x9cblockingxe2x80x9d I/O model. For instance, when a process is waiting to read from a communication channel, the process is normally put to sleep, i.e. blocked, until the data to be read becomes available. However, while the process is blocked, it may not normally receive data from another file or process. I/O multiplexing operations solve this problem by allowing a process to wait for any one of multiple events, and to wake the process only when one of the events has actually occurred.
As previously noted, communication channels and files stored on media are inherently different, despite the fact that both are accessed via file descriptors. Thus, it is often desirable to intercept system calls that access a file stored on media, but not to intercept system calls that access a communication channel, and vice versa.
However, in the context of an I/O multiplexing operation, a single system call (e.g., select or poll) operates on a mixed set of file descriptors, some of which may correspond to communication channels and others which may correspond to files stored on media. As used herein, a set of file descriptors of mixed file types is referred to as a xe2x80x9ccross-domainxe2x80x9d set.
In many cases, it would be desirable to intercept the processing of certain types of file descriptors within a single I/O multiplexing operation, while permitting other file descriptors to be handled in a conventional manner. However, such selective interception of functionality within a single system call presents even more difficulties than simply disambiguating file descriptors and deciding whether or not to execute alternative code within a system call wrapper.
Accordingly, what is needed is a method for intercepting I/O multiplexing operations involving cross-domain file descriptor sets, e.g., file descriptor sets including more than one file type. What is also needed is a method for intercepting I/O multiplexing operations wherein one type of file descriptor receives special processing not required by another type of file descriptor.
The present invention allows disambiguation of file descriptors, generally, and disambiguation of communication channel file descriptors from file descriptors that are associated with files stored on media, specifically. The disambiguation process involves storing indicators concerning file descriptors that are associated with a specific file type. When file descriptors are subsequently utilized to access files, the indicators are examined in order to determine the associated file type.
Another aspect of the invention relates to intercepting I/O multiplexing operations involving cross-domain file descriptor sets. In one embodiment, a system call for performing an I/O multiplexing operation on a set of file descriptors is intercepted by a system call wrapper. The system call wrapper then divides the set of file descriptors into a first subset corresponding to a first file type and a second subset corresponding to a second file type. This may be accomplished by referencing a table of indicators, as discussed above.
In one implementation, the system call wrapper establishes a private connection with a functional module. The connection may be identified by a virtual file descriptor, which is used in both the system call wrapper and the functional module for this purpose. The system call wrapper adds the virtual file descriptor, in one embodiment, to each of the first and second subsets of file descriptors.
After the subsets are modified, the system call wrapper and the functional module initiate system calls in parallel for performing separate I/O multiplexing operations on the first and second subsets of file descriptors. In response to the wrapper""s system call returning with an indication that at least one file descriptor is ready for communication, the wrapper performs an I/O operation (e.g., read or write) using the virtual file descriptor, which unblocks, if necessary, the functional module""s system call. Likewise, in response to the functional module""s system call returning with an indication that at least one file descriptor is ready for communication, the functional module performs an I/O operation (e.g., read or write) using the virtual file descriptor, which unblocks, if necessary, the wrapper""s system call.
The system call wrapper then combines the sets of file descriptors that are ready for I/O returned by the parallel system calls. Thereafter, the system call wrapper returns the combined sets of file descriptors to the calling process.
The above-described technique for intercepting an I/O multiplexing operation facilitates special handling of one or more of the file types. For example, special code may be included within the functional module for processing file descriptors relating to communication channels or other types of files. Moreover, the implementation of one or both of the I/O multiplexing operations may be modified to process certain types of file descriptors in non-standard ways. In certain embodiments, either the system call wrapper or the functional module may be associated with a customized communication protocol stack, which provides significant control over the handling of file descriptors.

Intercepting I/O multiplexing operations involving cross-domain file descriptor sets


A method and apparatus for measuring the gaseous flow of a fluid flowing along a duct, the apparatus comprises a processing and control unit connected firstly to a flow rate measuring device which delivers data representative of the flow rate Qm of the gas under the conditions of temperature Tm and pressure Pm that are determined by temperature and pressure sensors disposed in said duct, and secondly to a unit for determining the compressibility factor Zm, which unit delivers data representative of the dielectric constant .epsilon. of the gas flowing in the duct, so as to enable the flow rate Q of the gas to be determined as reduced to predefined reference conditions of temperature To, pressure Po, and compressibility factor Zo. The data representative of the dielectric constant of the gas is obtained by a capacitive transducer constituted by a cylindrical capacitor placed under the same thermodynamic conditions as applied to the flow of gas.

Under normal conditions, gas flow measurement makes use not only of knowledge concerning the temperature T and the pressure P, but also of two other magnitudes, namely the volume flow rate as measured at the temperature T and the pressure P, and the compressibility factor Z or the density .rho., which are thermodynamic magnitudes depending on the pressure, the temperature, and the composition of the gas.
Although volume flow rate is easily measured with known uncertainty that is linked directly to the means implemented, be they mechanical means such as spinner meters or piston meters, for example, or be they static means such as diaphragm flow meters or ultrasonic flow meters, in particular, the compressibility factor nevertheless remains a magnitude that is difficult to define and to measure.
Calculation of the compressibility factor requires state equations to be used that are not valid in high pressure domains (greater than 120 bar) and low temperature domains (less than -8.degree. C.), and it is generally measured by means of density sensors that give results that are expressed as discrete values (chromatographic analysis requires a period of 15 minutes to 20 minutes per test).
With a fuel gas, where the composition of the gas varies as do the values of pressure and temperature required in calculating the compressibility factor Z, non-negligible volume errors arise and can give rise to disputes or to disagreements between vendors and purchasers, particularly when it is necessary to reduce the measured volumes to normal conditions of pressure and temperature which may be defined by a local or a national authority or which may merely be defined by an industrial customer, for example.
An object of the present invention is to implement a method of measuring the characteristics of a such as pressure, temperature, and compressibility factor so as to enable the flow rate of the gas to be transmitted to a remote point without requiring human intervention, with only maintenance and inspection requiring limited use of an operator.

Method and apparatus for measuring gas flow


Methods and apparatus are provided for speech-based data retrieval from a portable communication device, such as a cell phone with an onboard dataset. The method comprises semantically indexing the dataset with domain related keywords that are intuitive to a user familiar with the dataset domain. When the user speaks a keyword, a speech recognition system within the portable device links the keyword to a semantically related data file in the dataset. A processor in the portable communication device retrieves the selected data and converts it for presentation on a visual display and/or an audio output.

Many current applications of speech recognition technology are designed to process a limited universe of words, rather than an unconstrained general lexical query of unrestricted domains, such as a Google type of search engine. That is, a speech recognition application can usually function with limited resources if the application is constrained within a topical domain, such as weather, medical, finance, etc. The application can also be constrained by the limitation of allowable expressions, through the use of directed dialog, scripted expressions, fixed menu selections, and the like. However, topical domain constraints do not usually have well defined limits, and may lead to ongoing fine-tuning of the speech recognition system in order to provide the user with an expected range of allowable speech.
For portable and ultra-portable communication devices, such as cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDA's), pocket PC's, and the like, speech recognition capabilities are typically constrained by the inherent processing and memory limitations of such a device. While plug-in memory cards can be used to enhance the functionality of a portable communication device, the memory cards are often limited to single-purpose operating system applications, and generally do not have the capacity to accommodate unconstrained speech recognition systems utilizing large lexicons and grammar tools.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a portable/ultra-portable communication device having speech recognition capabilities that can be used to access and navigate relatively large datasets stored in an onboard memory card or other type of data source. In addition, it is desirable to provide a lexical query process that is intuitive and convenient for searching a domain-related data source. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.

Method for speech-based data retrieval on portable devices


A method and apparatus for debugging a software program is provided. In one example, a method includes preserving consecutive snapshots of a group of shared memory structures that contain data and control information of the software, such as a database system. A first snapshot may be taken immediately prior to the occurrence of an error, and a second snapshot taken after the occurrence of the error. The consecutive snapshots are compared to each other to determine what memory structures and data are affected by the error.

The present invention generally relates to debugging software programs and, re specifically, to techniques for debugging database systems.
In a database system, an area of system memory is allocated and one or more rocesses are started to execute one or more transactions. The database server communicates ith connected user processes and performs tasks on behalf of the user. These tasks typically nclude the execution of transactions. The combination of the allocated system memory and the processes executing transactions is commonly termed a database xe2x80x9cserverxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cinstancexe2x80x9d.
Like most software systems, a database server has complicated shared memory structures. A shared memory structure contains data and control information for a portion of a database system. Because of software, hardware, or firmware bugs that may exist in a complex database system, shared memory structures may become logically incorrect. When structures become logically incorrect, the database is likely to fail. Database failure is typically discovered in the following ways: by checking consistency of structures; by verifying certain assumptions; or by running into corrupted pointers. Attempting to process corrupted pointers will lead to a xe2x80x9ccrash,xe2x80x9d where normal database operation is no longer possible.
A major responsibility of the database administrator is to be prepared for the possibility of hardware, software, network, process, or system failure. When shared structures are presumed to be corrupted, the best course of action for a database administrator is to cease further processing of the database. If a failure occurs such that the operation of a database system is affected, the administrator must usually recover the database and return the database to normal operations as quickly as possible. Recovery should protect the database and associated users from unnecessary problems and avoid or reduce the possibility of having to duplicate work manually.
Recovery processes vary depending on the type of failure that occurred, the structures affected, and the type of recovery that is performed. If no files are lost or damaged, recovery may amount to no more than rebooting the database system. On the other hand, if data has been lost, recovery requires additional steps in order to put the database back into normal working order.
Once the database is recovered or rebooted, the immediate problem is quickly resolved, but because the root cause is still undetermined and therefore unresolved, the error condition may resurface, potentially causing several additional outages. Therefore, it is still important to diagnose the state of the structures and data surrounding the database failure. Such a diagnosis may provide valuable information that can reduce the chance of failure in the future. As a practical matter, diagnosing the failure may lead to determining which vendor""s hardware or software is responsible for the database failure. Such information is valuable for a vendor""s peace of mind, if nothing else. Thus, competing with the goal of recovering the database as quickly as possible, is the goal of determining why the database system failed in the first place.
Unfortunately, even with traditional techniques of diagnosing a database failure, the system administrator is usually unable to obtain a sufficient amount of clues to determine why the failure happened. A deliberate and thorough diagnosis of the failure may require an unacceptable amount of database downtime. For example, any amount of downtime over 30 minutes may be extremely costly for a database that is associated with a highly active web site. Too much downtime may have unduly expensive business ramifications, such as lost revenue and damage to the reputation of the web site owner.
Another problem with traditional debugging techniques is that they can be intrusive. For example, a database system that supports the Structured Query Language (SQL) may be debugged by compiling SQL statements and running against the database. The act of compiling and executing the SQL statements changes the state of the database system. Thus, the mere act of diagnosing the problem can easily make the problem worse because diagnosis may involve altering the state of the database. Diagnosing the problem typically involves using debugging software, which calls for exploration into data structures within the complex memory structures of the database systems. Although the data structures are best left untouched upon a failure, diagnosing the failure may involve working directly on the same data structures from which data is to be obtained. Nevertheless, it is important to preserve the original data and not change the data from its state at time of failure. A customer of the database may take issue to changing the database as such changing may jeopardize or even destabilize their database system.
Effective diagnosis, however, requires getting as much information as possible out of the data structures. It may be useful here to refer to Heisenberg""s uncertainty principle, which effectively states that the closer an object is analyzed, the more the object materially changes because the mere act of analyzing is intrusive. Applying this principle to the act of diagnosing a database failure, a typical debugging process is naturally intrusive. Thus, it is difficult to be non-intrusive on a database and at the same time obtain a sufficient amount of meaningful data for debugging.
Traditional debugging techniques involve formatting certain parts of the database system and displaying this formatted portion in a human-readable form. This humanreadable form can be set aside for later analysis, for example, after the database has been recovered or is no longer down. The entire memory of the database server is not dumped because an average database server is very large, typically between about 200 megabytes and about 100 gigabytes of unformatted binary and data.
Unfortunately, such a debugging technique provides diagnosis only to the database server""s end-memory state, which is the state after the database has been shut down. Because the end-memory state is being analyzed separately from the database, the programmer performing the debugging does not have access to the real database and some of the database""s persistent structures. Some of these persistent structures could be on disk or, in a multiple node system, on other nodes. For example, in a parallel server configuration, the persistent structures needed for debugging could reside on other servers. Thus, the technique of separately debugging portions of the database prevents the programmer from analyzing data that resides in the persistent structures of the database.
For the foregoing reasons, what is needed is a method of debugging a software program, such as a database system, that is non-intrusive, yet allows for a comprehensive assessment of a failure.
A method and apparatus for debugging a software program is provided. In one embodiment, the method comprises preserving a first memory state of a software program, such as a database system at the time just before failure occurs. A second memory state of the software program is also preserved after failure occurs. The failure analysis involves comparing the first memory state with the second memory state.

Debug and data collection mechanism utilizing a difference in database state by using consecutive snapshots of the database state


Circuitry for an aerial vehicle that includes processing circuitry that acquires altitude information indicating a measurement result of altitude of the aerial vehicle, receives a reference signal transmitted from a base station, receives altitude zone setting information transmitted from the base station, the altitude zone setting information being information for setting an altitude zone for classifying a state of the altitude zone of the aerial vehicle, identifies the altitude zone of the aerial vehicle based on the altitude information and the altitude zone setting information, and controls measurement report processing of reporting a measurement report message including reference signal information indicating a measurement result of the reference signal and the altitude information to the base station based on the altitude zone of the aerial vehicle, such that a frequency of transmitting the measurement report message is changed according to the identified altitude zone.

In recent years, research and development related to drones have been carried out and are attracting interest. Drones are small unmanned aircraft also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). According to the economic reports published by the US Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, the market size of drones was about 82 billion dollars in 2025 only in the US, and 1 hundred thousand new jobs are estimated to be created. Drones can provide products and information using air space which has not been used for any means on land, sea, or air. Therefore, drones are also called the industrial revolution of the air and are considered to be important business areas in the future.
In general, drones are assumed to fly while performing wireless communication. Therefore, it is preferable to develop technologies enabling drones to perform stable wireless communication. With regard to wireless communication used by devices of which positions can be changed, many technologies have been developed so far. For example, the following Patent Literature 1 discloses a technology relating to hand-over by a mobile communication terminal on an aircraft which crosses coverages of respective base stations at high speed.

Circuit, base station, method, and recording medium


A machine, which is portable, and method for roller swaging hydraulic fitting sleeves onto metallic tubing comprises a tapered roller mandrel expander under either or both torque control of swaging or diameter control of swaging. The machine provides an automatic swaging cycle with an optimum overall time cycle for swaging performance. A motor drive is movably mounted relative to the mandrel expander assembly. The motor drive is manually moved longitudinally to activate the mandrel. Portability and hand held use can be effected by removing the power unit from the frame.

This invention relates to roller swaging of tubing such as for attaching hydraulic fitting sleeves to high strength, thin wall, aerospace hydraulic tubing. Such swaging machines are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,658,616 (Bastone) and, U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,167 (Beiley and Mikhail), both patents being assigned to the Assignee of this application. The contents of those patents are incorporated by reference herein.
In the aerospace industry, it is commonplace to attach hydraulic fittings using roller swaging of tubing. The tube to be swaged, held in place in the roller swaging machine, receives the end of an expander assembly. A sleeve to be swaged onto the tube loosely sheaths the tube. A plurality of rollers are located at the end of the expander assembly. The rollers can freely move radially toward and away from the longitudinal axis of the expander assembly. Moving along the axis of the expander assembly, a rotating tapered mandrel frictionally engages the rollers and forces the rollers against the inner wall of the tube. A strong sealed connection between the tube and the sleeve is effected as the mandrel continues to rotate and advance, causing the rollers to expand the tube, forcing the tube material to flow into grooves in the sleeve.
Prior art roller swaging exhibits the disadvantage of non-portability. Swaging machines in the prior art are too heavy and bulky for efficient and inexpensive movement onto aircraft or marinecraft to perform on-board/on-site installation and field repair.
Thus there is a need for a hand held, portable roller swaging machine which can perform on-board installation and field repair. Additionally, it would be advantageous if such a machine had light production capabilities and exhibited the benefits of both torque control and diameter control, burnishing, close control of the amount of swaging, long tool life, swaging at an overall high cycle speed, ease of use, and automatic operation.


A joining method for connecting at least two thermoplastic workpieces is provided to permit the joining even of non-transparent carbon fiber reinforced plastics parts by means of laser welding, in which a splice is produced at the edge regions of the workpieces and the workpieces are subsequently positioned relative to one another in such a manner that the opposite splice regions bound a seam region. Connecting bodies are then inserted into the seam region and heated by means of local heat input by laser beam such that a fixed integrally bonded connection forms between the workpieces and the connecting bodies.

The use of laser technology for joining thermoplastic parts is known in general and has already been applied for some time on an industrial scale, including induction welding, transmission laser welding or in-situ advanced fiber placement technology: AFPT for short). One example is known from Airbus invention disclosure CPA10420 "Integrated joining by vaporization of spliced seams." In addition to laser welding technology, this discloses a laser vaporization process in order to provide splice joints as structurally efficient intersection surfaces.
Transmission laser welding basically requires at least one of the joining pieces to be mostly transparent so that the laser can penetrate the part to beneath the joining surfaces. Diffusion of the laser and overall heating of the connection can scarcely be avoided and can have a considerable influence on the controllability and speed of the joining process. In addition to the requirement for material transparency, this technology is also restricted by the thickness of the joining parts.
Induction welding leads, like transmission laser welding, to overall heating with restrictions for the process control, and to lightning protection caused by input of energy into carbon fibers and/or copper mesh.

Joining method and machining head and manufacturing machine for carrying out the method

FRAUNHOFER-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FÖRDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG E.V.


A device and method in accordance with the present disclosure provide an input to an electronic device via a gesture performed by a user. A distortion of the user's skin surface due to a gesture performed on the user's skin surface is detected, and a characteristic of the detected distortion is determined. Based on the determined characteristic, the gesture performed on the user's skin surface is determined.

As computer processors have decreased in size and expense, mobile electronic devices, such as mobile phones, tablets, etc., have become increasingly widespread. Designed to be portable, many mobile electronic devices are lightweight and small enough to be worn or carried in a pocket or handbag. However, the portability of modern mobile electronic devices comes at a price: today's mobile electronic devices often incorporate small input devices to reduce the size and weight of the device. For example, many current mobile electronic devices include soft QWERTY keyboards displayed on a touch screen that many people (especially those with poor dexterity) find difficult to use.
Gesture-based input means provide an alternative to conventional input means (e.g., keyboards, touch screens, etc.) provided on mobile electronic devices. Moreover, gesture-based input means are not constrained by the size of the mobile electronic device and, thus, can provide a larger area for inputting data to the mobile electronic device.
One gesture-based input means that has recently been proposed is the "Skinput" concept, in which a user interface is projected on a surface of the user's arm and the user performs gestures on the surface of the arm in the form of "taps". The location of the "taps" is determined based on acoustic data obtained from acoustic sensors. An input command then is issued based on the determined location.

Device and method for detecting gestures on the skin


A method of synthesizing a large area, single crystalline, semiconductor wafer in which the semiconductor is grown on a substrate having a lower melting temperature and higher specific gravity than the overlying semiconductor. The substrate is disposed within an open container or holder having a drain plug. First, a very thin layer of semiconductor is grown on the substrate. Then, the temperature is raised to melt the substrate and anneal the very thin layer of semiconductor. Next, growth of the semiconductor film now floating on the molten substrate is resumed until the desired thickness is obtained. Then, the molten substrate is drained from the holder, the temperature lowered to room temperature, and the nascent large area semiconductor wafer removed from the holder. In an alternate procedure, the molten substrate is not drained from the holder, but the semiconductor is grown to a thickness sufficient to force misfit defects in the underlying substrate as the temperature is lowered and the substrate resolidifies.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to semiconductor manufacture, and, in particular, to a method of fabricating large area, single crystalline semiconductor wafers.
2. Background Art
The production yield on integrated circuits is primarily dependent on defect density and on wafer size. Of the major semiconductor materials in use today, only silicon is available in large area (e.g., 8" diameter) low defect density boules. Gallium Arsenide is readily available in 3" diameter boules exhibiting a defect density exceeding 10.sup.4 /cm.sup.2. Indium Phosphide (InP) is available in 2" diameter boules, but defect density exceeds 10.sup.5 /cm.sup.2. Germanium (Ge) is available in defect-free boules of 2" diameter. Hexagonal (6H) Silicon Carbide (SIC) is commercially available in 1.25" diameter boules with an average defect density of 10.sup.5 /cm.sup.2, but this defect density is not uniform; large regions are virtually defect free while other regions have excessive defects. Virtually all other single crystalline semiconductors must be grown on foreign substrates. This is known as heteroepitaxy and almost always creates unwanted defects.
Silicon carbide (SIC) is known in nearly 200 different polytypes. Only hexagonal (6H) silicon carbide is commercially available in 1.25" diameter boules with an average defect density of 10.sup.5 /cm.sup.2, but this defect density is not uniform; large regions are virtually defect free while other regions have excessive defects. Cubic (3C) SiC films are available on silicon substrates, but the defect density exceeds 10.sup.8 /cm.sup.2, rendering them unsuitable for integrated circuit (IC) manufacture. There is little prospect of commercially available 6H SiC wafers exceeding 2" diameter in the near future. Since virtually all automatic wafer handling equipment requires 3" diameter and larger wafers, the prospects of using current SiC technology for large scale IC manufacture in the near future are poor.
Semiconducting diamond, although a superb material, has not been successfully grown on substrates other than natural diamond. Natural diamond substrates exceeding 1 cm diameter are rare and very expensive thus precluding widespread use of semiconducting diamond technology.
A new class of III-V compound semiconductor materials characterized by anions of nitrogen, e.g., GeN, AlN, BN, BCN.sub.2, exhibit electronic properties of great interest to the semiconductor community, but the only useful substrates for their heteroepitaxial growth are those of sapphire and SiC. In each case problems exist with respect to lattice mismatch.
Virtually all of the higher bandgap semiconductors of interest (except 6H SiC) have no substrates of like kind available for growth. The foreign substrates that are available generally have free surface energies much lower than those of the material-to-be-synthesized. As a result, the material-to-be-synthesized tends to form islands rather than deposit as a smooth two-dimensional film.
Recently it has been shown that very small (i.e., <50 atomic lattice-constants in any direction) particles of a semiconductor exhibit properties different from that of their bulk counterparts. For example, the variation of melting temperature with size of CdS nanocrystals is described in a report by A. N. Goldstein, C. M. Echer, and A. P. Alivisatos, "Melting in Semiconductor Nanocrystals", SCIENCE, Vol. 256, Jun. 5, 1992, pages 425-427. Typical variations include increased bandgap, significantly reduced melting temperature, and up to a 50% reduction in dielectric constant.
As reported in a paper by D. P. Malta, J. B. Posthill, R. J. Markunas, and T. P. Humphreys entitled "Low-defect-density germanium on silicon obtained by a novel growth phenomenon", Appl. Phys. Lett. 60 (7), Feb. 17, 1992, pages 844-846, researchers at the Research Triangle Institute (R.T.I.) have demonstrated that very thin layers of germanium (e.g. <50 nanometer thick) epitaxially deposited on silicon at 900.degree. C. are characterized by an interfacial melting phenomenon that appears to relieve the misfit dislocations otherwise developed by their heteroepitaxial relationship to the underlying silicon, which exhibits a lattice constant 4% smaller than the lattice constant of germanium. Unfortunately, applications of this approach appear to be limited to situations wherein the material-to-be-synthesized melts at temperatures lower than does the substrate.
As described in a paper by Y. H. Lo, W. J. Schaff, and D. Teng, entitled "EXTENDED PSEUDOMORPHIC LIMITS USING COMPLIANT SUBSTRATES" Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc., Vol. 281, pages 191-196, Prof. Lo and his associates at Cornell University have demonstrated that normally lattice-mismatched semiconducting films can be grown on extremely thin substrates in such a manner that the strain is relieved in the underlying substrate rather than in the thicker heteroepitaxially grown overlayer as is the usual case for growth on substrates of normal thickness. A major problem with this approach, however, is that extremely thin substrates are not and can not be made self-supporting in large areas required for semiconductor manufacture. Nevertheless, the experiments do demonstrate that overlying layers need not necessarily exhibit misfit dislocations generated by lattice-mismatched substrates.

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


A precision approach control system designed to control the approach of an aircraft during landing to provide a more stable and easier mode of landing during critical landing situations, such as during the landing of an aircraft on an aircraft carrier. During operation, when the aircraft is subjected to vertical or horizontal winds or wind shear, the system controls the aircraft to maintain the inertial flight path angle constant which essentially defines operation in the precision approach control mode. In one disclosed embodiment, the precision approach control system changes the controller in the cockpit that is normally the pitch rate command stick controller during a Power Assist landing into a flight path angle rate controller. The autothrottle system for the aircraft is utilized to maintain the aircraft at a predetermined angle of attack during landing in the precision approach mode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a Precision Approach Control (PAC) system for stabilizing an aircraft during landing thereof, such as during a relatively precise landing on an aircraft carrier, and more particularly pertains to a precision approach control system which provides the pilot with precise control over the rate of change of the flight path angle of the aircraft during landing. The precision approach control system also maintains the aircraft at a predetermined angle of attack during landing.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Precise control of the flight path of an aircraft should be maintained throughout a landing approach to an aircraft carrier, which makes this a very demanding task for a pilot. During such a landing, the pilot is presented with a relatively narrow landing window along an ideal glide slope path. The landing is further complicated by uncertain aircraft carrier motions and also by atmospheric and ship-induced turbulences.
The landing approach of high-performance, relatively unstable aircraft on an aircraft carrier is an even more demanding task, requiring precision control of the flight path by the pilot. The prior art has used Stability Augmentation Systems (SAS), Approach Power Compensators (APC), and Direct Lift Control (DLC) subsystems to augment the basic aircraft flying qualities and control systems, but using separate design criteria for each of these different subsystems. With the main objectives of these subsystems (short period response, phugoid damping, g control) achieved, the pilot is given improved control over the aircraft. However, in high-performance, relatively unstable aircraft requiring exceptional flight path control, this design methodology is generally insufficient since it does not assure precise flight path control.
However, none of the prior art approaches has resulted in an entirely satisfactory solution to the problem of providing a pilot with precise flight path control over an aircraft during a relatively critical landing thereof such as on an aircraft carrier.
Manual and Automatic Carrier Landing (ACL) designs resulting from an integrated approach to the flight path control problem, as well as the application of qualitative flight path control criteria, have achieved superior flight path response in a Grumman F-14 aircraft with minor modifications to its existing hardware, which has been demonstrated in studies and piloted simulations.

Aircraft precision approach control system


The existence of non-linearities in a spread-spectrum communications system can result in a transmitter generating code spurs projecting onto channels used to communicate information symbols between a transmitter and a receiver. The present invention provides a method of predicting at least one signalling code corresponding to at least one respective code spur by performing vector products of signalling codes expressed in a bipolar form to yield a signalling code where a code spur will occur.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for predicting a signalling code corresponding to a code spur of the type occurring, for example, in a spread spectrum communications system, such as a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system. The present invention also relates to a method of predicting the above-mentioned signalling code corresponding to the code spur.

Method and apparatus for predicting a signalling code corresponding to a code spur


An image forming apparatus includes an image output unit that outputs an image to a continuous paper; a generator that generates an image based on a print instruction by executing drawing processing; a determining unit that determines an image layout to output a plurality of images on the continuous paper in parallel based on at least two print instructions; and a combining unit that combines the plurality of images generated by the generator on the basis of the image layout determined by the determining unit; a controller that controls the image output unit so that the plurality of images combined by the combining unit is output to the continuous paper.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a print apparatus and a computer readable medium storing program.
2. Summary
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus including: an image output unit that outputs an image to a continuous paper; a generator that generates an image based on a print instruction by executing drawing processing; a determining unit that determines an image layout to output a plurality of images on the continuous paper in parallel based on at least two print instructions; and a combining unit that combines the plurality of images generated by the generator on the basis of the image layout determined by the determining unit; a controller that controls the image output unit so that the plurality of images combined by the combining unit is output to the continuous paper.

Image forming apparatus and computer program product determining layout of images on continuous paper in parallel based on instructions from different print jobs