In a method of operating a supercharged internal combustion engine in which exhaust gas is retained in the combustion chamber during a charge change, wherein the engine is operated with compression ignition or with spark ignition depending on the operating point and in which a charge pressure can be established for the fresh air supplied to the combustion chamber, and the exhaust gas is compressed during the charge change, and a first fuel quantity is optionally injected into the retained exhaust gas and a second fuel quantity is subsequently supplied to the combustion chamber, such that a homogeneous fuel/air mixture is formed in the combustion chamber, the retained exhaust gas quantity in the combustion chamber is corrected in such a way that the center of the combustion is displaced in the direction toward a set point value when the center of the combustion deviates from the set point value because of a change in the charge pressure of the fresh air or because of a change in the temperature of the fresh air.

The invention relates to a method of operating a supercharged internal combustion engine, in particular an auto-ignition internal combustion engine with direct fuel injection including a cylinder with a cylinder head having inlet and outlet valves and a piston movably disposed in the cylinder.
In direct-injection internal combustion engines with auto- or compression-ignition, lean homogeneous fuel/air mixtures are often made to auto-ignite so that high engine efficiency levels and lower exhaust emissions are obtained. In such internal combustion engines, that is, internal combustion engines with compression ignition, a lean basic mixture of air, fuel and retained exhaust gas is generally formed during operation of the engine under partial load and auto-ignited. During full load engine operation, a stoichiometric mixture is frequently formed and spark-ignited. In order to optimize the operation of such internal combustion engines, attempts are made to extend the compression ignition combustion operating mode and the characteristic diagram range in the compression ignition mode of operation toward larger loads. Such extension of the operating range with compression ignition however is restricted by a lack of air since sufficient quantities of fresh air for the conversion of large quantities of injected fuel with a predefined overall level of efficiency are not availably, in particular in the full load range and at high rotational speeds of the engine. One possible way of overcoming such a lack of air resides in supercharging the engine with fresh air.
According to the current state of the art, it is difficult to control supercharged internal combustion engines with compression ignition since the time of auto-ignition depends very greatly on the parameters of the engine and the ambient conditions.
It is therefore the object of the invention to provide a method of operating a supercharged internal combustion engine under optimized conditions in terms of efficiency both in an auto-ignition mode and in a spark ignition mode of operation.

Method for operating and internal combustion engine


A sensor that senses incident RF signals is provided. The sensor is capable of sensing signals in the Gigahertz (GHz) and Terahertz (THz) range. The sensor may utilize one or more cantilevers, an interferometer, or may be formed in a box-type configuration.

The Gigahertz (GHz) and Terahertz (THz) regions of the microwave spectrum have been identified as an area where macro molecule resonances may be detected without destructive ionization of the original molecules. Of particular interest is the ability to measure the molecular vibration of large molecules in applications ranging from medical sensing to bio-terrorism warning sensors. Detection schemes for sensing these regions have primarily relied on the induction of a thermal change in extremely sensitive bolometers. These devices respond to a received signal by converting RE energy into a thermal change in the bolometer element, that which in turn generates stress. This stress may be measured by detecting a static change in the capacitance shift as the element moves relative to a sensing electrode. Advanced bolometers are used in astronomy and other applications that utilize hot electrons, in superconducting materials. While these systems are extremely sensitive, they are also extremely expensive and require a significant infrastructure of equipment to operate them. These approaches either provide a narrow frequency response per element and requite an array of narrow responses with each element in the array having a slightly different response region, or provide magnitude data (but not frequency measurements) within their receiving bandwidth.
Therefore a need exists for a sensor capable of working with broadband emitters and able to provide frequency mapping of the received signals, thereby simplifying the electronics required for spectral analysis. Further, a device designed to have a variety of sensitivities or gains to be used in a wide variety of environments and applications is also needed.

Sensor for detecting high frequency signals


A cache system includes processing units operative to access a main memory device, caches coupled in one-to-one correspondence to the processing units, and a controller coupled to the caches to control data transfer between the caches and data transfer between the main memory and the caches, wherein the controller includes a memory configured to store first information and second information separately for each index, the first information indicating an order of oldness of entries in each one of the caches, and the second information indicating an order of oldness of entries for the plurality of the caches, and a logic circuit configured to select an entry to be evicted and its destination in response to the first and second information when an entry of an index corresponding to an accessed address is to be evicted from a cache corresponding to the processing unit that accesses the main memory device.

In computer systems, generally, a cache memory that is smaller in capacity and faster than the main memory is provided in addition to the main memory. Part of the information stored in the main memory is copied to the cache. When this information needs to be accessed, a faster retrieval of information is attained by reading the information from the cache rather than from the main memory.
The cache contains a plurality of cache lines, and the copying of information from the main memory to the cache is performed on a cache-line-specific basis. The memory space of the main memory is divided in units of cache lines. The divided memory segments are sequentially assigned to the cache lines. Since the volume of the cache is smaller than the volume of the main memory, the memory segments of the main memory are repeatedly assigned to the same cache lines.
When a first access is performed with respect to a given address in memory space, information (data or program) stored at this address is copied to a corresponding cache line provided in the cache. When a next access is performed with respect to the same address, the information is retrieved directly from the cache. In general, a predetermined number of lower-order bits of an address serve as an index for caching, and the remaining higher-order bits serve as a cache tag.
When data is to be accessed, the index portion of the address to be accessed is used to read the tag of a corresponding index provided in the cache. A check is then made as to whether the retrieved tag has a matching bit pattern with the tag portion of the address. If there is no match, a cache miss is detected. If there is a match, a cache hit is detected, resulting in the cache data (data of a predetermined number of bits equal in size to one cache line) corresponding to this index being accessed.
A cache configuration in which only one tag is provided for each cache line is called a direct mapping system. A cache configuration in which N tags are provided for each cache line is called an N-way set-associative system. The direct mapping system may be regarded as a one-way set-associative system.
A system which employs a cache memory hierarchy is used for the purpose of reducing a penalty associated with accessing the main memory when a cache miss occurs. A secondary cache that is accessible at faster speed than the main memory may be provided between the primary cache and the main memory. With this configuration, it is possible to lower the frequency of occurrences that the access to the main memory may become necessary upon the occurrence of a cache miss at the primary cache, thereby reducing a cache miss penalty.
Conventionally, increases in the processing speed of processors have been achieved by increasing their operating frequencies and by improving their architectures. In recent years, however, a technological limit to a further frequency increase has been beginning to be perceived. There has thus been a shift towards the use of a multiprocessor configuration using a plurality of processors for the purpose of increasing processing speed.
A system having a plurality of processors may be implemented by providing a plurality of conventional single processor cores each having a cache and by connecting these in a straightforward manner. While such a configuration may reduce design cost, there may be a problem in its cache utilization rate and cache consistency.
The applicant of the present application has provided a shared distributed cache mechanism as a solution to the above-noted problem. In this mechanism, each processor has a cache, and a given processor may utilize another processor's cache as a lower level cache situated under its own cache.
FIG. 1 is a drawing illustrating an example of the configuration of a shared distributed cache system. The shared distributed cache system illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a plurality of cores (i.e., processors) 11 through 13, a plurality of caches 14 through 16 provided in one-to-one correspondence to the cores 11 through 13, an inter-cache connection controller 17 connected to the caches 14 through 16, and a main memory 18. The cores 11 through 13 may access the caches (i.e., self-core caches) 14 through 16 connected directly thereto, respectively, as a primary cache. In this shared distributed cache system, provision is made such that another core's cache may be accessed as a secondary cache. Namely, when viewed from the core 10, the cache 14 is accessible as a primary cache, and the caches 15 and 16 are accessible as secondary caches. A path through which a secondary cache is accessed is provided through the inter-cache connection controller 17.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a data load access operation performed in the shared distributed cache system illustrated in FIG. 1. In operation S1 of FIG. 2, one of the cores 11 through 13 issues a load request to the cache (i.e., self-core cache) directly connected thereto.
In operation S2, the cache that has received the load request checks whether the requested data resides in the cache, i.e., checks whether the access is a cache hit. In the case of a cache hit, the requested data is read from the self-core cache in operation S3 to be transmitted to the core that has issued the load request.
If a cache miss is detected in operation S2, the procedure goes to operation S4. In operation S4, a check is made as to whether a lower level cache exists under the cache for which the cache miss is detected. When the procedure goes to operation S4 upon detecting a cache miss in operation S2, the cache for which the cache miss is detected is one of the caches 14 through 16. In this case, thus, the two remaining caches may serve as lower level caches. If a lower level cache exists, the procedure goes to operation S5.
In operation S5, another core's cache that is situated in a next lower cache level is accessed. In operation S6, the cache that has received the access request checks whether the requested data resides in the cache, i.e., checks whether the access is a cache hit. In the case of a cache miss, the procedure goes back to operation S4 to repeat the subsequent operations.
If a cache hit is detected in operation S6, the procedure goes to operation S7. In operation S7, a check is made as to whether the cache data is to be moved. When the cache data is to be moved, an accessed cache line (i.e., accessed data) is moved in operation S8 from the cache-hit cache to the self-core cache, followed by transmitting the data to the core. In so doing, a cache line that is evicted from the self-core cache upon moving the accessed cache line to the self-core cache is moved to another core. If it is ascertained in operation S7 that the cache data is not to be moved, the accessed data is transmitted from the cache-hit cache to the core that has issued the load request.
If it is ascertained in operation S4 that a lower level cache does not exist, the procedure goes to operation S10. When the procedure goes to operation S4 upon detecting a cache miss in operation S6, the cache for which the cache miss is detected may be the lowest level cache. In this case, only the main memory 18 exists under this level. In such a case, the requested data is read from main memory 18 in operation S10 to be allocated to the self-core cache (i.e., the requested data corresponding to one cache line is copied to the self-core cache), followed by transmitting the data to the core that has issued the load request. A cache line that is evicted from the self-core cache as a result of this operation is moved to a lower level cache, for example.
In the operation flow described above, operations S7 through S9 relate to data transmission between caches, and operation S10 relates to data transmission between a memory and a cache.
In the operation performed in operation S10, the entries corresponding to an accessed index may be all used in the self-core cache. In such a case, one of these cache entries may need to be evicted in order to allocate the accessed data. This may require that a cache entry to be evicted be selected according to some criteria. Further, there may be a need to determine based on some criteria which entry of which cache is to be used as a destination of the cache entry that is evicted. There is also an option of discarding the cache entry that is evicted. These choices are preferably made so as to improve the cache utilization rate, and, also, the eviction and transmission operations are preferably performed in an efficient manner.    [Patent Document 1] Published Japanese Translation of PCT Application No. 2004-511840    [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 59-003773

Cache system including a plurality of processing units


A process for producing an electronic part which comprises: coating a predetermined surface of the electronic part with a composition comprising as basic ingredients 100 parts by weight of a polyorganosiloxane having an alkenyl group, 0.01 to 10 parts by weight of an organic peroxide and 0.01 to 20 parts by weight of an adhesion promoter, thereby to form a layer of the composition adhered to the predetermined surface of the electronic part; subjecting said electronic part having adhered thereto the composition layer to heat treatment, thereby to convert said composition layer into a layer of a cured elastomer having surface tackiness; and forming a protective sealing resin layer on the cured elastomer layer having surface tackiness.

Electronic parts such as an IC memory element are sealed with a metal cap or a ceramic shell or sealed with a protective sealing material of organic resin, etc., by molding in order to increase it's reliability. Of such conventional methods, a technique of sealing electronic parts with an epoxy resin or other resin through molding or coating attracts attention from the standpoints of its good workability (production efficiency) and low cost, and is being put in practical use. However, when electronic parts sealed with an epoxy resin through molding or coating are subjected to heat cycle tests, since the epoxy resin generally has a high modulus of elasticity, the epoxy resin tends to give stress to the electronic parts so that the electronic parts often suffer damage or change in performance. For this reason, in sealing electronic parts with an epoxy resin or other resin through molding or coating, a method is employed in which a predetermined surface of an electronic part is first covered with a layer of a silicone rubber or silicone gel as a primary protective material, and this primary protective material layer is then covered with an epoxy resin or other resin through molding, etc. Particularly, since the silicone gel has a low modulus of elasticity and shows good adhesion to an epoxy resin or other resins due to its surface tackiness, silicone gel is often used as such a primary protective material for sealing minute electronic parts through molding.
As described above, the silicone gel has good tackiness and follow-up properties as compared with the silicone rubber and, hence, is suitable for use as a primary protective material. However, the silicone gel is so low in dielectric breakdown voltage that such is defective in insulating properties. To overcome such a problem, a method is employed in which a filler such as a silica powder is added to the above-described silicone gel. This method, however, is disadvantageous in that not only are the tackiness and follow-up properties inherently possessed by the silicone gel impaired, but also the pourability of the resulting silicone gel composition becomes poor to impair its workability, due to the sedimentation of the filler or viscosity increase before gelation or curing.
Another method is employed in which before a layer of the silicone gel is formed on an electronic part, a layer of a silicone rubber is formed beforehand as a primer layer. However, this method has a disadvantage in that the process necessarily includes a multi-stage molding operation and is complicated, although dielectric strength can be improved.

Process for producing an electronic part


An approach is provided to manage phone calls. The approach is implemented by an information handling system, such as a smart phone. A requestor sends a contact request to another device over a network. If the request is accepted, the requestor receives a token with the token including usage parameters controlling the requestor's ability to contact the recipient by telephone. When the requestor requests to make a call to the recipient, the call is only placed upon successful determination made by comparing the usage parameters included in the token to a set of current call data. If a successful determination is made, the call is placed to the recipient without revealing the recipient's telephone number. However, if the request is denied, the system prevents the requestor for placing a call to the recipient.

Management of personal phone numbers is a critical issue dealing with multiple aspects such as respecting the privacy of phone number owners to the using the phone number in respect to specific personal policies. Currently, it may happen that a person has an urgent need to call another person but does not known the phone number. However, the person may know another person (a third party) that does have the desired number. It is often not possible for such a third party to provide the needed number without specific owner approval or without violating the privacy of the person. It may also be the case that a person can be called only during on a particular day or time (such as on weekends, during lunch time, after business hours, etc.). In addition, using current technology there is no way to enforce such usage, or restrictions, of the phone number once it has been disseminated.

International Business Machines Corporation


A device for correcting the flight path of an air to surface missile and ding said missile to a target. A first map of a strip of ground which is transverse to the direction of flight is provided on a rotatable drum along with a second map of a strip of ground which is parallel with the direction of flight. A live image of the ground over which said missile is traveling is projected first through the first map to provide a position fix of the missile in range and azimuth relative to a target and after a correction has been made to the flight path of the missile, the live image of the ground is projected through the second map to provide guidance correction to direct the missile to the target.

The present invention relates to a navigation device and more particularly to a device for first establishing the position of a missile in range and cross-track coordinates relative to the position of a target and, after making a heading correction, to provide map guidance means for directing the missile to the target.
Many of the early air-to-ground missiles were carried by a plane to a target area for launching as these early types of missiles had no homing features. One of the main disadvantages of this method of firing missiles is that the delivering aircraft was subjected to continual gun fire as the aircraft entered or neared the target area. In order to relieve this danger to pilots and their aircraft, various devices and systems have been employed to provide automatic guidance so that a missile can home on a target.
One such guidance system is shown and described in U. S. Pat. No. 3,071,765, entitled, "Radar Map Guidance System", which issued Jan. 1, 1963, to Gerald C. Schutz. In this patent, a system is disclosed whereby a reconnaissance airplane is caused to leave a launching platform and separately from a forwardly directed antenna assembly and from a laterally directed radar assembly to make a time track and an azimuth track on preferably a single film that is continuously uninterrupted from the time the reconnaissance aircraft leaves its launching platform until it arrives at a proposed target. The system contemplates an equipment for making the flight record map in the reconnaissance plane and interpreting that record in a pilotless aircraft controlled in azimuth and in time by the two tracks on the film made in the pilotless aircraft for the purpose of causing the pilotless aircraft to duplicate the flight of the reconnaissance aircraft.
Another guidance system is shown and described in U. S. Pat. No. 3,163,377, entitled "Map Matching Navigation Control System For Aircraft", which issued Dec. 29, 1964, to Richard L. Burtner. This patent was concerned with indicating or controlling the flight path of aircraft over areas where large land-water boundaries exist. A radar display image is projected onto a negative contrast reference map of the terrain to be navigated, the map and image having substantially the same scale and orientation. Means is provided in the path of the projected image to effect nutational movement between the map and display image. Motor means associated with the map serves to move the map in a plane transversely of the light path of the projected display image. Photocell means in back of the map is responsive to the light passing through the map from the projected image source. An electronic polarity switch is associated with the radar means for periodically reversing the contrast of the radar image and a similar electronic switch periodically inverts the output of the signal of the photocell means. Pulse-generating means, actuated periodically by the nutating means, simultaneously triggers the electronic switches so that the polarity of the output signal of the photocell means is inverted simultaneously with the reversing of the contrast of the radar display image. Means responsive to the output signal of the photocell means and associated electronic switch controls the motor means for maintaining alignment between the radar display image and the reference map.
In U. S. patent application Ser. No. 752,730, entitled, "An Apparatus For Establishing An In-Flight Position Of A Missile" which was filed Aug. 6, 1968, by Paul L. Brink, Jack L. Loser, and David M. Stutsman, there is disclosed a film drum scanner having a strip map attached to a drum which is rotatable at a constant angular velocity. The map is of a strip of land which is transverse to the direction of flight and over which a missile will fly on its flight to a target. When the missile passes over the ground which has previously been photographed, a lens system views or "sees" an area of ground, the image of which is projected through the end strip map to a photomultiplier detector. When the positive image of the ground scene comes into registration with the negative replica on the drum, a sharp decrease in the amount of light is passed through to the photo-multiplier detector. This signal is filtered and detected. By indexing the beginning of the replica and noting the position of the correlation function with respect to the indexing signal, the cross-track position of the missile at a known down-range position can be determined. When a fix position is made, a signal can be sent to an autopilot to correct the flight path of the missile so that the missile will be directed to its nominal flight path.

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


Methods for promoting growth of bone, ligament, or cartilage in a mammal are disclosed. The methods comprise administering to said mammal a composition comprising a pharmacologically effective amount of a zvegf3 protein in combination with a pharmaceutically acceptable delivery vehicle. Also disclosed are methods for promoting proliferation or differentiation of osteoblasts, osteoclasts, chondrocytes, or bone marrow stem cells comprising culturing the cells in an effective amount of a zvegf3 protein.

Bone remodeling is the dynamic process by which tissue mass and skeletal architecture are maintained. The process is a balance between bone resorption and bone formation, with two cell types, the osteoclast and osteoblast, thought to be the major players. Osteoblasts synthesize and deposit new bone into cavities that are excavated by osteoclasts. The activities of osteoblasts and osteoclasts are regulated by many factors, systemic and local, including growth factors.
Many of the proteins that influence the proliferation, differentiation, and activity of osteoblasts, osteoclasts, and their precursors also affect these processes in chondrocytes, the cells responsible for cartilage formation (chondrogenesis). These proteins include platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), insulin-like growth factor (IGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β), bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), and cartilage-derived growth factor (CDGF).
The exact mode by which PDGF affects the growth of osteoblasts is not yet clearly understood, however, this growth factor is generally believed to play a key role in the regulation of both normal skeletal remodeling and fracture repair. Biologically active PDGF is found as a homodimer or a heterodimer of the component A and B chains. In vitro studies have shown PDGF to be mitogenic for osteoblasts (Abdennagy et al., Cell Biol. Internat. Rep. 16(3):235-247, 1992). Mitogenic activity as well as chemotactic activities associated with PDGF have been demonstrated when the growth factor is added to normal osteoblast-like cells (Tuskamota et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 175(3):745-747, 1991) and primary osteoblast cultures (Centrella et al. Endocrinol. 125(1):13-19, 1989). Recent studies have demonstrated that the osteoblast produces the AA isoform of PDGF (Zhang et al., Am. J. Physiol. 261:c348-c354, 1991).
PDGF has been shown to be useful for promoting the repair of both soft and hard tissues. For example, PDGF has been shown to promote the regeneration of bone and ligament in patients suffering from periodontal disease (Howell et al., J. Periodontol. 68:1186-1193, 1997). As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,836, PDGF stimulates the growth of osteoblasts, and this activity is enhanced in the presence of vitamin D. PDGF has also been shown to promote the healing of gastrointestinal ulcers (U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,908) and dermal ulcers (Robson et al., Lancet 339:23-25, 1992; Steed et al., J. Vasc. Surg. 21:71-81, 1995). The use of PDGF for stimulating chondrocyte proliferation and regenerating cartilage is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,001,352.
A PDGF homolog known as "zvegf3" was recently identified (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/457,066). This protein has also been designated "VEGF-R" (WIPO Publication WO 99/37671). Zvegf3/VEGF-R is a multi-domain protein with significant homology to the PDGF/VEGF family of growth factors. WO 99/37671 discloses that VEGF-R is an angiogenic factor.
Despite the increasing knowledge of the role of growth factors in tissue growth and repair, there remains a need in the art for materials and methods for promoting the growth of bone, ligament, and cartilage. There also remains a need the art for materials and methods for modulating the proliferation and differentiation of cells in vitro and in vivo.

Methods for promoting growth of bone, ligament, and cartilage


The present invention relates to a method for controlling a steering system of a vehicle (100). The steering system comprises individually controllable wheel torque actuators (103, 105) on a respective left (104) and right (106) steerable wheel of the vehicle, wherein the wheel torque actuators (103, 105) are controlled during a turning maneuver of the vehicle.

In the field of vehicle, in particularly low-, medium- and heavy duty vehicles commonly referred to as trucks, there is a continuous development with regards to various control functionalities of the vehicle. In particular, the control functionalities intend to improve the drivability of the vehicle, the comfort for the driver, and the safety during operation.
One control functionality that is generally always under improvement is the steering of the vehicle. There is a continuous development in this particular technical field with regards to autonomous steering systems, steer-by-wire systems, etc. In particular, these types of steering systems primarily use electric actuators to control the vehicle and to follow the road curvature as desired. An autonomous steering system may for example base its steering on detected curvatures ahead of the vehicle. The steer-by-wire system bases its steering on input from either a human operator or an autonomous function.
One problem with steering systems such as the ones described above is that in case of malfunctioning, i.e. if the steering is suddenly not functioning as desired. In such cases, the vehicle may not be able to be steered as desired and the vehicle needs to be towed away or, at best, the vehicle is provided with a so called limp-home-mode functionality for driving with reduced vehicle functionality to a repair shop. Moreover, a malfunctioning steering system increases the risk of traffic accidents, such as e.g. lateral collisions with other vehicles, vehicles going off the road, etc., as the steering system is not functioning as intended.
There is thus a desire to provide a steering system having improved functionalities, in particular with regards to steering and drivability of the vehicle.

Method for controlling a steering system of a vehicle


The flush system for a toilet provides a discharge pipe upstanding within a flush tank of the toilet. The pipe has a bottom with a bottom opening through which water from the flush tank travels to the toilet bowl of the toilet. The bottom is connected to the first inlet controlled by a first valve and a second inlet controlled by a second valve. The first inlet is at a higher elevation than the second inlet with respect to the bottom opening. The flush system further comprises actuating handle for selectively moving the first and second members in a first mode or a second mode such that in the first mode, only the second inlet is opened and in the second position the first and second inlets are opened.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a water conserving flush system for toilets and, more particularly, to a toilet flush system in which the quantity of water discharged from the flush tank is controllably preselected.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Water conservation has become a critical issue resulting in municipalities imposing temporary water saving measures. Therefore, it is desirable to conserve as much water as possible during our daily activities. Most toilets consume approximately 5 gallons of water during each flush. However, there are many instances when the water consumption can be reduced and remain effective to flush waste from the toilet.
Currently in widespread use are flush systems that either waste water, by using a full tank of water to flush down liquid waste, or are only partially effective because they always use a small quantity of water than the full tank flush toilet. These latter system is suitable for flushing down liquid waste, but the use of the same small quantity of water to flush down solid waste cannot push the solid waste far enough into the sewer line to prevent solid waste clogs from occurring. Another type of flush system uses two flush handles to allow the user to decide between a partial tank flush for liquid waste and a full thank flush for solid waste. Therefore, with the existing systems, the user either cannot select the volume of water used or must choose between two different handles or must activate the handle more than once. It is highly possible that the user will inadvertently waste water or create a clogged sewer line by simply electing the wrong flush. These known flush systems are not efficient because they either waste water or money spent on sewer line service calls.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a system having two flush modes for a toilet of which one flush mode discharges a first, relatively small, amount of water in the flush tank for flushing liquids or small debris from the toilet and a second flush mode which discharges a maximum discharge amount of water for flushing larger debris from the toilet.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a handle assembly embodying a construction and relationship of parts mounted exteriorly of the flush tank for a toilet to insure longevity of operation unaffected by contact with water stored in the flush tank and contaminates such as mineral deposits derived from stored quantities of water.


A transaction controller orders transactions between a master device and a slave device, where the transactions may be received out-of-order. First and second transactions have respective first and second sets of data packets. The transaction controller includes a transaction table, a first ordering counter, and a first sequence counter having first and second values when the first and second transactions are initiated. The first and second values are stored in the transaction table based on first and second transaction identifiers (TIDs) that are associated with the first and second transactions. The transaction controller determines, based on the second value, the second TID, and a current value of the first ordering counter, whether the first and second sets of data packets were received out-of-order. Based on the determination, the second set of data packets is transmitted to the master device after the first set of data packets.

The present invention relates generally to system-on-chips (SoCs), and, more particularly, to a controller for ordering out-of-order transactions in an SoC.
A master device on an SoC initiates a set of read transactions for reading associated data packets stored in a slave device of the SoC. The master device executes the read transactions sequentially and assigns each transaction a distinct transaction identifier (TID). Each transaction is associated with a set of data packets stored in the slave device.
To initiate a transaction on the SoC, the master device provides a TID of the initiated transaction along with control data corresponding to the associated set of data packets to the slave device. The control data includes at least a read address of the set of data packets. When the slave device receives two or more TIDs, the slave device may provide corresponding sets of data packets to the master device via a controller associated with the master device in an order that is different from the reception of the TIDs, i.e., the sets of data packets are provided out-of-order. The controller queues each set of data packets in a data buffer, and provides the sets of data packets in-order to the master device. However, the master device includes multiple virtual masters and each virtual master initiates a corresponding set of transactions. Thus, the controller includes a separate data buffer for each virtual master to queue the associated sets of data packets. These multiple buffers take up a large area and consume a lot of power.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a controller that orders the transactions without using multiple data buffers, thereby reducing area and power consumption of the SoC.

Controller for ordering out-of-order transactions in SoC


A seating assembly (10) including a hinge joint (30) rotatably connecting an articulated member (21) to a support member (28). The hinge joint (30) includes a cover (26) having a face plate (32) positioned adjacent to the hinge joint (30) for preventing ingress of foreign materials into the joint from an axial direction. The cover (26) further includes flexible strips (34, 34') extending circumferencially about the hinge joint (30). Channels (56, 56') are attached to the articulated member (21) at a location adjacent the hinge joint (30) and slidably receive and guide the strips (34, 34') circumferencially about the hinge joint (30) to prevent ingress of foreign materials into the hinge joint (30) from a radial direction.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a cover for protecting a hinge joint of an armrest or seat assembly. The cover includes a face plate and flexible strips extending circumferencially about the joint for preventing ingress of foreign materials into the joint.
2. Description of the Related Art
Armrest and seat assemblies often use hinge joints for permitting an armrest unit or seat back to move about an arcuate path. Such joints are typically located at a position between the horizontal portion of a seat and the upright or backrest portion. Due to their location, such joints are exposed to foreign debris such as dirt, moisture, clothing, etc.
As a protective measure, hinge joints used in vehicular seats and armrest assemblies often include protective covers. Such covers are often made from decorative plastic which not only protects the hinge joint from ingress of foreign material, but also provides a decorative exterior covering for the hinge.
An example of such a cover is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,311,338 to Moorhouse which discloses an armrest hinge including a protective cover. The hinge interconnects a pivot arm with a rigid support member so that pivot arm may rotate about a pivot axis of the hinge. A hinge cover is secured to the pivot arm and extends over the sides of the hinge. That is, the cover protects the planar sides of the hinge. Unfortunately, as the pivot arm is rotated, the circumference of the hinge joint is exposed. In other words, the cover must provide channels or gaps therein for the pivot arm to move relative to the support member. Consequently, foreign material such as dirt and moisture are permitted to enter the hinge joint radially, about its circumference, thereby compromising hinge performance.
An additional example of such a cover is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,583 to Schrom et al. which discloses an armrest assembly including an armrest cushion having pivot pins extending from each side and defining a pivot axis. The pivot pins fit within a hooked shaped member which permits the armrest cushion to rotate about the pivot axis. A cover is provided over the joint formed by the pivot pins and hooked shaped member. However, to permit the armrest cushion to rotate about the pivot axis, the cover does not extend into the plane of rotation of the armrest cushion. That is, portions of the pivot pins must remain unprotected by the cover in order to permit the armrest cushion to rotate about the pivot axis. Thus, the circumference of the hinge joint is exposed to ingress of foreign debris.


The present invention relates to an additive composition for controlling and inhibiting polymerization of monomers, wherein the composition comprises a combination of (a) a phenol compound comprising catechol compound with (b1) an aliphatic tertiary amine, (b2) oxide treated derivative of the aliphatic tertiary amine, or (b2) a mixture thereof, wherein the aliphatic tertiary amine contains one or more hydroxyl groups in the alkyl chain of the aliphatic tertiary amine. In one embodiment, the present invention also relates to a method for controlling and inhibiting polymerization of monomers by employing the additive composition of the present invention. In another embodiment, the present invention also relates to a method of using the additive composition of the present invention for controlling and inhibiting polymerization of monomers. In another embodiment, the present invention also relates to methods for controlling and inhibiting polymerization of monomers in a primary fractionator (or an ethylene plant), and for operating a primary fractionator, and for reducing fouling and polymer deposits in a primary fractionator, and to extend a run-length of a primary fractionator or of an ethylene plant.

The polymerization of monomers comprising (or including) styrene indene, di-vinyl benzene, alpha-methyl styrene, and other higher ring compounds or monomers, or derivatives thereof, during processing is a matter of concern, because it causes formation of unwanted polymers and results in problems of fouling and also loss of yield of end product and makes the process un-economical.
Further, the inventor of the present invention has found that formation of the polymerization products of the monomers get deposited at a very rapid rate not only on upper tray surfaces, but also beneath tray surfaces of a primary fractionator, which may also be termed a quench tower, for example, in an ethylene plant, wherein the process would require additional additive, such as, one or more anti-foulants.
The inventor of the present invention has further observed that due to the fouling problem, an increase in 'column pressure drop' along with reduction in 'fractionation efficiency' are also experienced.
In the prior art use of inhibitors and retarders, and combination thereof to overcome problem of polymerization of the monomers including styrene has been reported.
The problem of using the inhibitors alone is that these are to be added continuously or at regular intervals, because once they are consumed, the polymerization will re-start.
The problem of using the retarders is that these are not very effective to reduce polymerization of monomers including styrene to a level of substantial inhibition or to the commercially viable level of inhibition.
The prior art discloses compositions for control and inhibition of polymerization of monomers comprising styrene, wherein the composition either consists of a phenol compound, such as catechol compound, for example tertiary butyl catechol (TBC), or comprises a combination of a) phenol compound with b1) quinone methide (QM), particularly 7-aryl-quinone methide; or b2) quinone methide (QM) derivative; or b3) a phenylenediamine; or b4) a hydroxylamine compound; or b5) a mixture thereof, which are required in higher dosage.
The prior art JP 2005 213369 A describes a fouling prevention agent containing (A) an alkanolamine or (A) an alkanolamine and (B) at least one of an N,N-disubstituted hydroxylamine compound, 1,4-dihydroxyanthraquinone (DHAQ), and a phenolic compound. The prior art US 2014/200375 A1 describes an additive composition for control and inhibition of polymerization of styrene consisting of combination of amine and quinone methide. The prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,628,132 describes a composition comprising a combination of dialkyl amine, dialkylhydroxylamine, and an alkali metal salt of a tertiary-alkylcatechol.

Composition for control and inhibition of polymerization of monomers, and method of use and preparation thereof

Dorf Ketal Chemicals (India) Private Limited


An electronic component device of the present invention includes: a silicon package unit having a structure in which a through electrode provided to a silicon substrate while an electrode post connected to the through electrode is provided upright on an upper side of the silicon substrate; an electronic component mounted on the electrode post and having a connection terminal connected to the top end of the electrode post; and a cap package unit joined onto a periphery of the silicon package unit, and constructing a housing portion in which the electronic component is housed to be hermetically sealed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic component device, and more particularly relates to an electronic component device composed to be mounted in a state that an electronic component is hermetically sealed in a package.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the prior art, there has been an electronic component device composed to be mounted in a state that an electronic component is hermetically sealed in a package. As shown in FIG. 1, in an example of an electronic component device in the prior art, a frame-shaped ceramic portion 250 is provided upright on a periphery of a lower ceramic base 100. Electrodes 120 are provided to a pair of two opposite end sides of the lower ceramic base 100. Each of the electrodes 120 is continuously formed from one end of the upper surface of the lower ceramic base 100 to one end of the back surface thereof through the side thereof. Each of external connection terminals 140 is disposed on one end of the back surface of the lower ceramic base 100.
A driver IC 200 is fixed with a die attach material 160 on the lower ceramic base 100. Further, an MEMS device 300 is mounted on the driver IC 200. A connection terminal 300a of the MEMS device 300 is connected to a first connection terminal 200a of the driver IC 200 through a wire 220. In addition, a second connection terminal 200b of the driver IC 200 is connected, through a wire 220a, to one of the electrodes 120 provided on the lower ceramic base 100.
Additionally, a housing portion S is constructed by fixing an upper ceramic base 400 onto the frame-shaped ceramic portion 250 by Au—Sn bonding. Thereby, the Driver IC 200 and the MEMS device 300 are mounted in a state that they are hermetically sealed in the housing portion S.
As a technique related to such an electronic component device, In Patent Literature 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2004-281530) discloses a technique for fixing a light-emitting device onto a substrate with a bump, in a semiconductor device in which the light-emitting device is mounted to be hermetically sealed in a package.
However, in the above electronic component device in the prior art, the upper ceramic base 400 made into a unit piece is joined to the frame-shaped ceramic portion 250, after an electronic component is mounted on the package which is also made into a unit piece, in which the frame-shaped ceramic portion 250 is provided upright on the lower ceramic base 100. Consequently, manufacturing such an electronic component device requires a lot of processes, and this leads to not only poor productivity but also increase of manufacturing costs easily.
Also, since the driver IC 200 is connected to the electrode 120 provided on the lower ceramic base 100 via the wire 220a, it is necessary to secure an area where makes the wire 220a pass between the driver IC 200 and the electrode 120, thereby, it cannot easily satisfy demands for miniaturization of an electronic component device.


Methods for dynamic management of security associations in a network are provided. According to one method, a security key management entity determines whether to apply a new security key as an active security key based on an existing active security key. Each of the new security key and the existing active security key are associated with a same home agent, and the existing active security key serves as a basis for an existing security association between the home agent and at least one other network element.

WiMAX is a telecommunications technology aimed at providing wireless data communication over relatively long distances. WiMAX is based on the IEEE 802.16e standard.
FIG. 1 illustrates a portion of a conventional WiMAX system according to the current IEEE 802.16e standard (the Wi Forum Network Architecture—Stage 2, Part 1—Release 1.1.1). The system in FIG. 1 provides wireless services such as communication sessions (e.g., data sessions, voice sessions, multimedia sessions, etc.) to endpoints such as the plurality of mobile nodes M1, M2, M3, . . . , MN using a mobile Internet Protocol (IP) framework, which is well-known in the art. A communication session refers to an active communication between two or more endpoints such as mobile nodes.
As discussed herein, the term "mobile node" refers to electronic devices having wireless communication capabilities, such as, a cellular phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), smartphone, laptop computer, etc. More generally, mobile node refers to any electronic device capable of changing its point of attachment from one network or subnetwork to another.
Referring to FIG. 1, the system includes a plurality of access service networks (ASNs) ASN1 and ASN2, a visited connectivity service network V-CSN and a home connectivity service network H-CSN. In conjunction with one another, access service networks ASN1 and ASN2, the visited connectivity service network V-CSN and the home connectivity service network H-CSN provide communications services to one or more mobile nodes M1-MN.
Each of ASN1 and ASN2 represents a communication network that provides mobile nodes with wireless access to a wired network. The access service networks ASN1 and ASN2 may be provided by a network access provider (NAP). An example access service network is a WiMAX access service network, which provides a WiMAX radio access infrastructure to WiMAX network service providers (NSPs). Although only two access service networks are shown in FIG. 1, it is well-known in the art that a WiMAX system may include any number of access service networks.
The access service network ASN1 includes one or more base stations 32-1. As discussed herein, a base station 32-1 represents any suitable device or system that provides wireless services to one or more mobiles M1 and M2 present in the coverage area or cell of the base station 32-1. As is well-known in the art, a base station comprises suitable devices operable to provide wireless services to mobile nodes located in its corresponding coverage area or cell. The base station 32-1 communicates with an ASN gateway (ASN-GW) 36-1, which is also included in access service network ASN1.
As is well-known, the ASN-GW 36-1 is a logical entity that represents an aggregation of control plane functional entities that are either paired with a corresponding function in the access service network ASN1 (e.g., an instance of a base station), a resident function in a CSN (e.g., V-CSN or H-CSN) or a function in another ASN. The ASN-GW 36-1 may also perform bearer plane routing or bridging functions.
As is well-known, each mobile node is associated with a base station, which is typically associated with a single default ASN-GW. However, ASN-GW functions for every mobile node may be distributed among multiple ASN-GWs located in one or more ASN(s).
Still referring to FIG. 1, the ASN-GW 36-1 includes a foreign agent (FA) 44-1 and an authenticator 52-1. As is well-known, the foreign agent 44-1 is a network entity (e.g., a router) that provides routing services to mobile nodes registered with the access service network ASN1. The foreign agent 44-1 routes data to and from mobile nodes currently registered with the access service network ASN1. The foreign agent 44-1 receives data intended for mobile nodes in the access service network ASN1 from the mobile nodes' assigned home agent (e.g., home agent 48 located in the visited connectivity service network V-CSN).
The well-known authenticator 52-1 is a network entity that authenticates requests for access from mobile nodes upon entering the access service network ASN1. Although authenticator 52-1 is shown as separate from foreign agent 44-1 within the ASN-GW 36-1, the authenticator 52-1 may be co-located with the foreign agent 44-1 at any suitable location.
As noted above, the system in FIG. 1 also includes access service network ASN2, which includes one or more base stations 32-2 and an ASN-GW 36-2. The ASN-GW 36-2 includes a foreign agent 44-2 and an authenticator 52-2. Each of these components and functions performed therein are the same as the corresponding components described above with regard to access service network ASN1. Thus, a description of these components is omitted.
The system in FIG. 1 further includes a visited connectivity service network V-CSN and a home connectivity service network H-CSN. Generally, a connectivity service network (CSN) is a set of network functions that provide Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity services to WiMAX subscriber(s) (mobile nodes). A CSN may provide, for example, IP addresses and endpoint parameter allocations to mobile nodes for user sessions, Internet access, AAA server, policy and admission control based on user subscription profiles, ASN-CSN tunneling support, WiMAX subscriber billing and inter-operator settlement, inter-CSN tunneling for roaring, inter-ASN mobility, WiMAX services such as location based services, and connectivity for peer-to-peer services, provisioning, authorization and/or connectivity to IP multimedia services.
As is well-known, a CSN may comprise network elements such as routers, AAA servers, user databases, interworking gateway mobile nodes. A CSN may be deployed as part of, for example, a WiMAX service provider network.
More specifically, the visited connectivity service network V-CSN represents a communication network that provides mobility management for mobiles served by access service networks ASN1 and ASN2 and also provides other operations, for example, authorization operations, host configuration management operations, etc. The visited connectivity service network V-CSN is normally provided by a network service provider (NSP).
Although the visited connectivity service network V-CSN includes all of the above-mentioned components and functionality, only a single home agent 48 and an authentication, authorization, and/or accounting (AAA) function 40 are shown for the sake of clarity. As is well-known, home agent 48 is a network entity (e.g., router) that tunnels datagrams to a mobile node when the mobile node is away from its home network. A tunnel is a path followed by a datagram while encapsulated. The home agent 48 also maintains the current location of mobile nodes to which it is assigned.
The home agent 48 is selected and assigned to serve a communication session of a particular mobile by the AAA server 42 in the home connectivity service network H-CSN and/or the AAA function 40 in the visited connectivity service network V-CSN based on policies and configurations set by the network service provider.
Within the home connectivity service network H-CSN and the visited connectivity service network V-CSN, respectively, the AAA server 42 and the AAA server 40 are network entities (e.g., servers) that provide AAA-related services (e.g., authentication, authorization, accounting, or any combination thereof) associated with a mobile node's subscription. The AAA server 42 and the AAA server 40 differ in that the AAA server 40 is located in the visited connectivity service network (V-CSN) and the AAA server 42 is located in the home connectivity service network H-CSN. Moreover, as will be described in more detail below, the AAA server 40 also differs from the AAA server 42 in that the AAA server 40 may be subordinate to the AAA server 42 in selecting and assigning a home agent to a communication session of a particular mobile. For example, the AAA server 42 may delegate the selection and assignment of the home agent to the AAA server 40 in the visited connectivity service network V-CSN. For example, if main AAA functionality is expected from the H-CSN, then the AAA server 40 in the connectivity service network V-CSN acts as the proxy transporting information to the AAA server 42 in the connectivity service network H-CSN. For the sake of clarity, the AAA server acting as a proxy will be referred to as AAA function.
As is well-known in the art, authentication refers to validating the identity of a mobile node, authorization refers to authorizing a level of service for a mobile node, and accounting refers to tracking resource usage for the mobile node.
The system shown in FIG. 1 utilizes the mobile IP framework. According to the current mobile Internet Protocol version 4 (MIPv4) security framework specified in Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) RFC3344, tunneling between foreign agent 44-1 and home agent 48 associated with a communication session for mobile node M1 uses a security association based on a security key commonly known to the foreign agent 44-1 and home agent 48 (hereinafter referred to as an FA-HA key).
In this example, the FA-HA key is computed by the authenticator 52-1 in the serving access service network ASN1 based on a home agent security key (hereinafter referred to as an HA-RK key), its associated context and IP addresses of the assigned foreign agent 44-1 (FA-IP) and the home agent 48 (HA-IP). As is well-known, the HA-RK key is a unique 160-bit random number generated by the AAA server 42 for each home agent. The context of each HA-RK key includes the lifetime (or life expiration time) of the HA-RK key and a security parameters index (SPI). The lifetime of the HA-RK key indicates how long the HA-RK key is to be used. More specifically, the lifetime of the HA-RK key specifies for how long the security association (based on the HA-RK) will be valid before re-authentication. The SPI is used to differentiate between different FA-HA keys generated based on respective HA-RK keys. The HA-RK key is also sent to the authenticator 52-1.
As noted above, the authenticator 52-1 computes the FA-HA key based on the received HA-RK key, its associated context and IP addresses of the assigned foreign agent 44-1 (FA-IP) and the home agent 48 (HA-IP). Accordingly, an FA-HA key is generated for each pair of foreign agent and home agent. In other words, a FA-HA key is generated per tunnel between foreign agent 44-1 and home agent 48. The authenticator 52-1 provides the computed FA-HA key to the foreign agent 44-1 for use in communicating with the home agent 48 assigned to the mobile's communication session.
A conventional HA-RK key and FA-HA key deployment scenario will now be described with respect to the system shown in FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 1, mobile nodes M1 and M2 located in access service network ASN1 are authenticated by AAA server 42 via the authenticator 52-1. Mobile node M3 located in access service network ASN2 authenticates with AAA server 42 via authenticator 52-2. Both access service networks ASN1 and ASN2 are served by the same local AAA function 40, and as such, all authentication transactions are routed via the AAA function 40.
During authentication, the AAA function 40 recommends its local services (including an assignment of local home agent 48 to each mobile M1-M3 and generation of an HA-RK key for the home agent 48) to the AAA server 42.
Based on its local policy, the AAA server 42 decides whether to assign the home agent 48 to the mobile M1 based on the recommendation of the AAA function 40. Assuming the AAA server 42 decides to do so, the AAA server 42 generates an HA-RK key HA-RK1-1 and associated context (hereinafter referred to as HA-RK key and context HA-RK1-1) for the home agent 48. The AAA server 42 sends the HA-RK key and context HA-RK1-1 to the AAA function 40, which forwards it to authenticator 52-1, and subsequently to the home agent 48 during mobile IP registration.
The AAA server 42 also transmits the IP address of the home agent (HA-IP) to the AAA function 40, which forwards it to authenticator 52-1 at the ASN-GW 36-1.
The ASN-GW 36-1 including the authenticator 52-1 serves as the AAA client for EAP-based subscription authentication transaction.
Upon receiving the HA-RK key and context HA-RK1-1, the authenticator 52-1 generates a corresponding FA-HA key FA-HA1-1 for the tunnel between foreign agent 44-1 and home agent 48, and sends the same to the foreign agent 44-1. The same FA-HA key FA-HA1-1 is also computed by the home agent 48. The FA-HA key FA-HA1-1 serves as the security key for datagrams tunneled between foreign agent 44-1 and home agent 48.
Turning now to mobile node M2, if the AAA server 42 again accepts the recommendation of the AAA function 40, the AAA server 42 assigns the home agent 48 to the mobile node M2 and generates the HA-RK key and context HA-RK1-2 for the home agent 48. The AAA server 42 sends the HA-RK key and context HA-RK1-2 to the AAA function 40, which forwards it to authenticator 52-1, and subsequently to the home agent 48 during mobile IP registration.
Upon receiving the HA-RK key and context HA-RK1-2, the authenticator 52-1 generates a corresponding FA-HA key FA-HA1-2 for the tunnel between foreign agent 44-1 and home agent 48, and sends the same to the foreign agent 44-1. The same FA-HA key FA-HA1-2 is also computed by the home agent 48. The FA-HA key FA-HA1-2 serves as another security key for datagrams tunneled between foreign agent 44-1 and home agent 48.
Turning to mobile node M3, if the AAA server 42 again assigns the home agent 48 based on the recommendation of the AAA function 40, the AAA server 42 generates another HA-RK key and context HA-RK2-3 for the home agent 48. The AAA server 42 sends the HA-RK key and context HA-RK2-3 to the AAA function 40, which forwards it to authenticator 52-2, and subsequently to the home agent 48 during mobile IP registration.
Upon receipt of the HA-RK key and context HA-RK2-3, the authenticator 52-2 generates a corresponding FA-HA key FA-HA2-3 for the tunnel between the foreign agent 44-2 and the home agent 48, and sends the same to the foreign agent 44-2. The same FA-HA key FA-HA2-3 is also computed by the home agent 48. The FA-HA key FA-HA2-3 serves as the security key for datagrams tunneled between foreign agent 44-2 and home agent 48.
In this example, if the mobile node M1 subsequently relocates into access service network ASN2, the foreign agent 44-2 requests another FA-HA key FA-HA2-1 (key for a tunnel between the foreign agent 44-2 and home agent 48) from the authenticator 52-1. The authenticator 52-1 generates the FA-HA key FA-HA2-1 based on the HA-RK key and context HA-RK1-1 maintained at the authenticator 52-1 and sends the same to the foreign agent 44-2. The same FA-HA key FA-HA2-1 is also generated at the home agent 48. The FA-HA key FA-HA2-1 also serves as the security key for datagrams tunneled between foreign agent 44-2 and home agent 48.
Referring back to FIG. 1, the lifetime and SPI of HA-RK keys are managed by the AAA server 42 that assigns the HA-RK key and context. The AAA server 42 is responsible for generating and delivering a new HA-RK key and context to each authenticator 52-1, 52-2 and/or home agent 48 prior to the expiration of an active HA-RK key and context at the authenticators 52-1, 52-2.
During any EAP authentication procedure, if the AAA server 42 recognizes that the remaining lifetime of an active HA-RK key at, for example, authenticator 52-1 or home agent 48 is less than the newly assigned master session key (MSK) lifetime, the AAA server 42 sends a new HA-RK context to the authenticator 52-1 and the home agent 48.
As the result of successful EAP-based subscription authentication procedure, both the EAP client (e.g., the mobile node M1) and the EAP server (the AAA server 42) generate the MSK. The AAA server 42 assigns the lifetime for this MSK based on its policy. The lifetime (or life expiration time) of the MSK specifies for how long this security association will be valid before re-authentication. Both MSK and MSK lifetime are subsequently delivered to the authenticator 52-1 at the end of the EAP authentication procedure.
Typically, the AAA server 42 does not retain a knowledge of previous security associations distributed for a given pair of HA and authenticator, because they are associated with different authentication events. For the AAA server 42 it would be troublesome to maintain a knowledge of whether or not any HA-RK key in the authenticator is currently within its allocated lifetime. Therefore, at the completion of a new authentication event, the AAA server 42 creates and sends a new random HA-RK key. Typically, the AAA server 42 sets the lifetime of the HA-RK at least equal to, or longer than a lifetime of the new MSK. This way the security association lifetime of the FA-HA tunnel is not limited by the subscription authentication lifetime.
Currently, however, upon receipt of a new HA-RK key and context at authenticator 52-1 or home agent 48, older versions of HA-RK keys and contexts are not immediately deprecated or deleted. Instead, each HA-RK key remains active until expiration of its lifetime. As a result, multiple HA-RK keys and contexts must be maintained at the authenticator 52-1 and home agent 48 at all times.
In the above example, the HA-RK security keys are provided by the AAA server 42 via the AAA function 40. In another example, however, the AAA function 40 may generate and send HA-RK security keys to the authenticators 52-1, 52-2 and home agent 48. In this process, when mobile node M1 accesses visited connectivity service network V-CSN, the AAA function 40 suggests the local home agent 48 to the AAA server 42. If the AAA server 42 agrees with the recommendation (after checking its policies), the agreement is communicated back to the AAA function 40. The AAA function 40 then assigns the home agent 48 to the mobile node M1 and also assigns an HA-RK security key in the same manner as described above with regard to the AAA server 42.
Conventionally, for a given mobile node authenticators 52-1, 52-2 are selected based on a deployment configuration of a serving system, but cannot be predicted by an associated AAA or home agent 48. Similarly, the home agent 48 is selected based on policies of the AAA server 42, but cannot be predicted by the associated authenticator 52-1, 52-2 or foreign agent 44-1, 44-2. As a result, the home agent 48 and/or the authenticator 52-1, 52-2 may concurrently receive different HA-RK security keys for the same given association between authenticator and home agent.
The lack of coordination between the HA-RK security keys results in the creation of a plurality of tunnels and security associations for the same home agent-foreign agent pair. The resulting plurality of security associations results in ambiguity at the home agent and the authenticator.
More generally, if there are N AAA servers involved in home agent assignment and P authenticators involved in FA-HA key distribution (wherein each authenticator is associated with M AAA servers and M≦N), then the home agent must maintain at least N×P keys, each authenticator must maintain at least M keys, and each foreign agent must maintain at least M×P keys.

Methods and apparatuses for dynamic management of security associations in a wireless network


A bicycle frame has a front frame, a mounting bracket assembly, a rear frame and a shock absorbing device. The front frame has a head tube, a down tube, a top tube, a bottom bracket shell and a seat tube. The seat tube is connected to bottom bracket shell, is connected to the rear end of the top tube and has an upper bracket seat, a connecting bracket and a lower bracket seat. The mounting bracket assembly is connected pivotally to the front frame and has two front mounting brackets and a rear mounting bracket. The rear frame is connected pivotally to the mounting bracket assembly and the front frame and has an upper fork, a lower fork and two dropouts. The shock absorbing device is connected to the front frame, the rear frame and the mounting bracket assembly and has a first shock absorber and a second shock absorber.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a frame, and more particularly to a frame for a bicycle that has a shock absorbing device to provide a smooth operation.
2. Description of Related Art
With reference to FIG. 6, a conventional bicycle frame with a shock absorbing capability has a front frame (92), a rear frame (90) and a shock absorber (97).
The front frame (92) has a seat tube, a top tube (95) and a bottom bracket shell (93). The seat tube has an upper end and a lower end. The top tube (95) is connected securely to the seat tube near the upper end and has a mounting bracket. The mounting bracket is formed down on the top tube (95) near the seat tube. The bottom bracket shell (93) is connected securely to the lower end of the seat tube and has a connecting bracket (94). The connecting bracket (94) is formed on the bottom bracket shell (93) below the seat tube.
The rear frame (90) is connected pivotally to the front frame (92) and has a lower fork (91) and an upper fork (96). The lower fork (91) is connected pivotally to the bottom bracket shell (93) of the front frame (92) and has a front end and a rear end. The front end of the lower fork (91) is connected to the connecting bracket (94) of the bottom bracket shell (93). Accordingly, the lower fork (91) can move pivotally relative to the bottom bracket shell (93). The upper fork (96) is connected securely to the lower fork (91) and has a lower end, an upper end and a mounting wing. The lower end of the upper fork (96) is connected securely to the rear end of the lower fork (91). The mounting wing is connected to the upper end of the upper fork (96).
The shock absorber (97) is attached pivotally to the front frame (92) and the rear frame (90) between the top tube (95) and the upper fork (96) and has a connecting post and a spring. The connecting post is connected to the mounting bracket of the top tube (95) and the mounting wing of the upper fork (96). The spring is mounted around the connecting post to provide a shock absorbing capability between the front frame (92) and the rear frame (90).
However, the conventional bicycle frame has the following shortcomings.
1. The conventional bicycle frame can provide a shock absorbing capability, but the shock absorbing capability of the conventional bicycle frame is limited, and this cannot provide the conventional bicycle frame to fit with all kinds of the rugged and rough grounds.
2. The shock absorbing capability of the conventional bicycle frame isn't well enough to absorb the shock from the ground, and this will influence the safety and the comfortability of riding the bicycle.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a bicycle frame to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

Meikang Village, Tatsun Hsiang, Changhua Hsien


A razor comprises a body member, an elongate handle attached to the body member, a blade mounted to the body member, the blade having an exposed, cutting edge, and a cleaning and/or sharpening device slidably secured to the body member for slidingly engaging the blade essentially along the entire cutting edge thereof. An actuator element is operatively connected to the cleaning and/or sharpening device for enabling an operator to shift the cleaning device parallel to the edge of the blade. The cleaning device includes an elongate strip which slidingly contacts the blade along the exposed, cutting edge during a stroke of the actuator element.

This invention relates to a razor and, more particularly, to a disposable razor.
A disadvantage common to all razors is the inability of the blades to maintain a sharp edge. Anyone who has shaved with a used razor knows the discomfort and scarred skin that can result from a dull blade.
In addition, a razor which has been previously used bears another disadvantage and that is the unsightly hair and dried shaving cream or gel which accumulates if the razor is not properly and regularly cleaned. Shaving residue frequently remains on or about the blade as well and interferes with the effectiveness of the shave.


An antenna includes a flexible film substrate having a signal element and a ground element. A signal contact is mounted to the flexible film substrate. The signal contact is electrically connected to the signal element by a compression connection and the signal contact includes a wire termination configured to be terminated to a center conductor of a coaxial cable. A ground contact is mounted to the flexible film substrate. The ground contact is electrically connected to the ground element by a compression connection and includes a wire termination configured to be terminated to a cable braid of the coaxial cable.

The subject matter herein relates generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to antennas for wireless communication systems.
Wireless communication systems are in use and have a wide variety of applications including voice communication, data communication, and the like. For example, wireless communication systems may be used to communicate between cell phone towers and mobile phone. Wireless communication systems may be used to transfer data wirelessly between a router and a computer. Other examples of wireless communication systems include GPS systems, radio systems, PDAs, cell phones, data networks such as a LAN, and the like. Wireless communication systems typically include an antenna coupled to a wireless device by a cable. The wireless device includes a transmitter and/or a receiver. Size constraints due to miniaturization demand ultra small coaxial interconnects. In systems today, the coaxial cable is connected to the antenna using solder or a conductive epoxy connection. In other systems, a small coaxial receptacle is soldered to the antenna and a plug is crimped to the wire which is inserted into the receptacle. Both systems utilize solder or epoxy at some interface between the coaxial cable and the antenna. The amount of material between the coaxial cable and the antenna changes the electrical properties of the interface, thereby changing the RF performance of the system. As transmission speeds increase, the negative impact on the electrical properties of the interface is exaggerated.
Some wireless communication systems desire the use of flex circuits within the antenna. Electrical connections to flex circuits in antennas have heretofore proven difficult. Additionally, with miniaturization, connection to flexible circuits has proven difficult. For example, the flexible base material of the flex circuit may be damaged by the high solder melt temperatures required for solder attachment of the coaxial cable to the antenna. Some flexible materials such as KAPTON®, are known that can withstand the high temperature of solder, however, such materials are costly.
A need remains for a wireless communication system that utilizes a flex circuit as an antenna. A need remains for an attachment method for connecting a coaxial cable to flexible circuit used within an antenna.


A system may include an input configured to receive a first signal representative of a second signal to be driven to an amplifier input of an amplifier, processing circuitry configured to process the first signal in order to generate the second signal from the first signal such that the processing circuitry limits a current driven by the amplifier to an output load of the amplifier, and an output configured to drive the second signal to the amplifier input.

As electronic devices become more ubiquitous, a diverse array of functions, such as audio, video, graphics processing, and other functions are incorporated into electronic devices. In order to enhance versatility, such functions are incorporated into devices of reduced form factor and power consumption.
Audio functionality, for example, can be provided by way of transducers for converting electronic audio signals into audio. A variety of transducers are available for incorporation into electronic devices, such as coil transducers, electrostatic transducers, isodynamic transducers, and piezo-electric transducers. Piezo-electric transducers, for example, can provide numerous advantages in design of devices with audio functionality, such as reduced power consumption, a wide safe operating temperature range, excellent audio quality, and flexible design parameters allowing for reduced device form factor.
Transducers included in audio driver circuits of electronic devices may be limited in their ability to convert electronic audio signals to audio output. For example, the operation of an audio driver circuit may be limited at low frequencies by a voltage available to the circuit. The operation of audio driver circuits may also be limited at high frequencies, particularly in highly-capacitive transducer loads, by a current capacity and power supply available to the circuit. If an audio signal exceeds the operational parameters of the audio driver circuit, for example a maximum voltage, current, or power of an amplifier of the circuit, the audio signal may be clipped, cutting off audio above a maximum voltage or current threshold. Clipping of audio signals causes undesirable distortion, reducing the quality of the audio output from the electronic device.

Dynamic limiting when driving high capacitive loads


A method and structure providing a high-voltage transistor (HVT) including a gate dielectric, where at least part of the gate dielectric is provided within a trench disposed within a substrate. In some aspects, a gate oxide thickness may be controlled by way of a trench depth. By providing the HVT with a gate dielectric formed within a trench, embodiments of the present disclosure provide for the top gate stack surface of the HVT and the top gate stack surface of a low-voltage transistor (LVT), formed on the same substrate, to be substantially co-planar with each other, while providing a thick gate oxide for the HVTs. Further, because the top gate stack surface of HVT and the top gate stack surface of the LVT are substantially co-planar with each other, over polishing of the HVT gate stack can be avoided.

The electronics industry has experienced an ever increasing demand for smaller and faster electronic devices which are simultaneously able to support a greater number of increasingly complex and sophisticated functions. Accordingly, there is a continuing trend in the semiconductor industry to manufacture low-cost, high-performance, and low-power integrated circuits (ICs). Thus far these goals have been achieved in large part by scaling down semiconductor IC dimensions (e.g., minimum feature size) and thereby improving production efficiency and lowering associated costs. However, such scaling has also introduced increased complexity to the semiconductor manufacturing process. Thus, the realization of continued advances in semiconductor ICs and devices calls for similar advances in semiconductor manufacturing processes and technology.
A particular challenge, and one which has become increasingly difficult for reduced device geometries, relates to the substrate planarization requirements during device fabrication. Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), a process that serves to remove substrate material and thus planarize a surface of the substrate, is a process that is used throughout the semiconductor industry to address such substrate planarization requirements. However, in various situations, a CMP process alone is inadequate, and in fact could be detrimental, to some semiconductor substrates that include a variety of semiconductor device types. For example, a semiconductor substrate may in some cases include both high-voltage transistors (HVTs) and low-voltage transistors (LVTs). In some cases, the HVTs may be formed within a high-voltage (HV) region of the substrate, and the LVTs may be formed within a low-voltage (LV) region of the same substrate. In at least some examples, the HVTs have a substantially thicker gate dielectric than the LVTs. As a result, a top gate stack surface of the HVTs and LVTs may not be co-planar with each other. Thus, in some cases, a metal gate CMP process that polishes down to a top surface of the shorter LVT gate stack may simultaneously over polish the HVT gate stack, thereby damaging the HVT gate stack.
Thus, existing processes have not proved entirely satisfactory in all respects.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


A method for processing a biopotential signal includes detecting a pacing signal, and applying a dynamic filter on a pacing channel based on the detected pacing signal. A method for processing a biopotential signal includes detecting a pacing signal, and automatically obtaining a post-pacing interval based at least in part on the pacing signal.

A normal heartbeat involves generation of an electrical impulse and propagation of the electrical impulse across the heart, which causes each chamber of the heart to appropriately contract. Sometimes aberrant conductive pathways develop in heart tissues, and disrupt the normal path of the electrical impulse. For example, anatomical obstacles or conduction blocks in heart tissue can disrupt the normal propagation of an impulse by causing the impulse to degenerate into several circular wavelets that circulate about the obstacles, thus disrupting normal activation within the heart tissue and chambers. Also, slow conduction zones in animal and human hearts constrained by anatomical or conduction blocks are believed to exist. Such a zone is a localized region of the heart tissue which propagates an impulse at a slower speed than normal heart tissue thus sometimes resulting in errant, circular propagation patterns or reentrant pathways. Reentrant pathways provide the substrates for the re-excitation of a region of cardiac tissue by an excitatory wavefront. Reentry may continue for one or more cycles and may sometimes result in tachycardia. Reentrant ventricular tachycardia (VT) is an abnormally rapid ventricular rhythm with aberrant ventricular excitation (wide QRS complexes), usually in excess of 150 per minute, which is generated within the ventricle of the heart as a result of a reentrant pathway.
To treat VT, it is desirable first to determine the physical location of the aberrant pathways. Once located, the heart tissue in the pathway can be ablated and destroyed by heat, chemicals, and/or other means. Heat can be generated in the targeted tissue using, for example, radio frequency (RF) energy, microwave energy, ultrasonic energy, or lasers to effect the ablation lesion. Ablation can remove the aberrant conductive pathway, restoring normal myocardial contraction. More specifically, to treat VT, the targeted conduction zone must be located and destroyed (or partially destroyed), with the goal of eliminating the conduction zone's ability to conduct electrical impulses.
In order to determine the physical location of the aberrant pathways, physicians have performed entrainment mapping. For example, entrainment mapping of re-entrant tachycardia is often used for identifying critical pathways of aberrant intracardiac conduction. Concealed entrainment of an arrhythmia requires that a post-pacing interval (PPI) be obtained. For example, in one protocol, concealed entrainment of an arrhythmia requires, among other criteria, that a PPI be within approximately 20 ms of a tachycardia cycle length. However, existing devices do not allow PPI measurements be obtained efficiently and conveniently. Particularly, when a pacing signal is routed to a biopotential sensing catheter that is connected to a diagnostic recording system, the biopotential recordings from the catheter can be obscured. This can be the result of the differential between the pacing signal (e.g., generally in the range of tens of volts) and an intracardiac biopotential (e.g., generally in the range of several millivolts). Recording amplifiers' responses to large transient spikes (e.g., step response of a signal processing chain) can also cause a variety of phenomenon, such as, saturation, overshooting, ringing, that can obscure biopotential recordings. As a result, a user may be required to manually manipulate existing software and manually process data in order to obtain a desired information associated with a particular biopotential recording.
Furthermore, existing software may automatically clip off valuable data associated with signal on a pacing channel, thereby making it difficult for a user to obtain desired information from a diagnostic recording. FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a display window 100 displaying data 102 that are generated using existing systems. Data 104 (shown in dotted-line) beyond the display window 100, including valuable biopotential data 106, are being clipped off by existing software because they are out of range. In such cases, in order to obtain a PPI, a user may need to modify existing software to search for the biopotential data 106. After the biopotential data 106 is located, the user may then need to manually measure or calculate a duration between a pace signal and the biopotential data 106 to obtain the PPI. This lengthens the amount of time necessary to diagnose a patient, and can complicate a diagnostic procedure.
Thus, there is currently a need for an improved device and method for obtaining biopotential data, and more specifically, for obtaining a post-pacing interval.

Automatic post-pacing interval measurement


An ultrasound diagnostic device including an ultrasound image acquirer that acquires a plurality of ultrasound image signal frames; an angle information acquirer that acquires angle information of an ultrasound probe when each frame is being acquired; an evaluation determiner that analyzes the frames to determine whether an object image portion is included; a disease score calculator that calculates a disease score that quantitatively indicates a degree of disease from a signal of the object image portion; and a display controller that makes the diagnostic image be displayed. A diagnostic image includes an ultrasound image of a frame selected from the frames, a disease activity information indicator that indicates a degree of disease, and an angle information image portion that indicates angle information.

(1) Technical Field
The present disclosure belongs to the technical field of ultrasound image processing, and in particular relates to ultrasound image processing methods for quantifying extent of rheumatism for diagnostic purposes and ultrasound diagnostic devices using same.
(2) Description of Related Art
Recently it is becoming common to use ultrasound diagnostic devices to evaluate disease activity of arthritis, including rheumatoid arthritis (for example, JP 2013-056156). Primarily B-mode images and power Doppler images are used in disease activity evaluation; synovial thickening, synovial fluid retention, and bone erosion being observable in B-mode images, and synovial inflammation being observable in power Doppler images.

Ultrasound diagnostic device and ultrasound image processing method


A policy decision point for interacting with a computer system including a plurality of resources, to which subjects' access is controlled by corresponding policy enforcement points. The PDP includes: a memory storing at least two policy packages, each controlling access rights to resources, and a connection table associating each policy package with an end point address; a network interface operable to communicate with the PEPs, wherein the network interface obtains access requests from a PEP and returns access decisions to the PEP, each access request including an end point address for directing the access request to the PDP; and a processor operable to: analyze an access request and determine, based on the end point address receiving the access request, an associated policy package; and evaluate the access request against the policy package thus determined.

On a high level, attribute-based access control (ABAC) may be defined as a method where a subject's requests to perform operations on resources are granted or denied based on assigned attributes of the subject, assigned attributes of the resource, environment conditions, and a set of one or more policies that are specified in terms of those attributes and conditions. Here, attributes are characteristics of the subject, resource, or environment conditions. Attributes contain information given by a name-value pair. A subject is a human user or non-person entity, such as a device that issues access requests to perform operations on resources. Subjects are assigned one or more attributes. A resource (or object) is a system resource for which access is managed by the ABAC system, such as devices, files, records, tables, processes, programs, networks, or domains containing or receiving information. It can be the resource or requested entity, as well as anything upon which an operation may be performed by a subject including data, applications, services, devices, and networks. An operation is the execution of a function at the request of a subject upon a resource. Operations include read, write, edit, delete, copy, execute and modify. Environment conditions describe an operational or situational context in which an access request occurs. Environment conditions are detectable environmental characteristics. Environmental characteristics are generally independent of subject or resource, and may include the current time, day of the week, current stock market index, current temperature, or the current threat level. Finally, a policy is the representation of rules or relationships that makes it possible to determine if a requested access should be allowed, given the values of the attributes of the subject, resource, operation and possibly environment conditions. A policy may be expressed as a logical function, which maps an access request with a set of attribute values (or references to attribute values) to an access decision (or an indication that the request has not returned a decision).
An ABAC scenario is depicted in FIG. 1. In step 1, a user (or subject) 100 requests access to a resource 110 through the intermediary of an ABAC mechanism 120 which selectively protects access to the resource 110. The ABAC mechanism 120 forms a decision by retrieving, in step 2a-2b-2c-2d, applicable rules R1, R2, R3 from a policy repository 130, subject attributes (e.g. name, affiliation, clearance) from a subject attribute data source 140, resource attributes (e.g. type, owner, classification) from a resource attribute data source 150, and environment conditions expressed as environment attribute values from an environment attribute data source 160. If the ABAC mechanism 120 is able to determine that the decision is to permit access, it will take appropriate measures to grant the user 100 access to the resource 110, e.g. by selectively deactivating a hardware or software protection means. Otherwise, access to the resource 110 may be denied.
There currently exist general-purpose ABAC policy languages that have the richness to express fine-grained conditions and conditions which depend on external data. A first example is the Extensible Access Control Markup Language (XACML) which is the subject of standardization work in a Technical Committee of the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (see http://www.oasis-open.org). A policy encoded with XACML consists of declarative (in particular, functional) expressions in attribute values, and the return value (decision) of the policy is one of Permit, Deny, Not Applicable, or Indeterminate. An XACML policy can apply to many different situations, that is, different subjects, resources, operations and environments and may give different results for them. The XACML specification defines how such a request is evaluated against the policy, particularly what policy attributes are to be evaluated or, at least, which values are required to exist for a successful evaluation to result. A key characteristic of this evaluation process is that the request must describe the attempted access to a protected resource fully by containing information sufficient for all necessary attribute values to be retrieved. In practice, it may be that the request is interpreted in multiple stages by different components, so that a PEP (Policy Enforcement Point) issuing the requests provides only some attribute values initially, and a PDP (Policy Decision Point) or other component responsible for the evaluation can dynamically fetch more values from remote sources as they are needed. A second example is the Axiomatics Language For Authorization™, which the applicant provides.
XACML-based solutions typically offer "authorization as a service", wherein a PEP in a target application/system captures access requests in real time and sends them to a PDP for evaluation against a current version of one or more XACML policies. Such externalized authorization approach ensures continuity in that it drastically reduces or eliminates the latency between an update of the policy and actual enforcement of the new rules therein.
A company may deploy a plurality of applications of ABAC policies in order to separate the plurality of applications. The reasons for separation of a deployment into a plurality of applications may be related to confidentiality of the information in the different applications, e.g. between different units or sites of a company. Further, separation of applications may be related to stability concerns, such that any malfunctions within one application do not affect another application.
However, a deployment of an ABAC policy consumes information technology (IT) resources of a company. Hence, deployment of a plurality of applications may lead to large overhead costs in IT administration and management. Further, the deployment of a plurality of applications may consume computing resources, mainly memory.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


According to the present invention, authenticities of paper fingerprint information and of document information are collectively determined through formation of an original that is given an encoded image in which both paper fingerprint information and document information are encoded. By collectively guaranteeing identities of the paper form and of the document, it becomes possible to realize the more reliable authenticity guarantee.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a storage medium that can handle a paper fingerprint.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, it has become possible to duplicate securities and certificate papers that cannot be distinguished from originals. Moreover, on the other hand, there are increasing situations scenes in which the contents of the securities and certificate documents are made electronic and they are printed and allowed to be used. Thus, the need to guarantee authenticity That is, needs and opportunities of guaranteeing authenticities of documents is are increasing.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-112644 discloses an identity assurance technique of a paper form by means of a paper fingerprint. A technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-112644 is to add a mark on the paper form and read a paper fingerprint of the paper form using the mark as a reference. Further, the read paper fingerprint is converted to an encoded image, and the encoded image is outputted on the above-mentioned paper form to form a printed matter.
When a third person who receives received the formed printed matter wishes to check "whether the printed matter is made from the above-mentioned paper form", the paper fingerprint of the printed matter is read using the mark as the reference and the read paper fingerprint is compared with a paper fingerprint in the encoded image. If the comparison result shows that the read paper fingerprint matches the paper fingerprint in the encoded image, it is possible to confirm will be able to check that the printed matter is surely a paper form that was used at the time of forming the encoded image.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H11-195079 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H8-147400 disclose a technique of guaranteeing the identity of document information. The technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H11-195079 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H8-147400 is such that a part of the document information is converted to a bar code and the bar code after conversion and the document information are combined and outputted on a paper form, forming a printed matter.
When a person who receives received the formed printed matter wishes to check whether the printed matter is made from the above-mentioned paper form, the paper fingerprint of the printed matter is read using the code as a reference and the read paper fingerprint and the paper fingerprint in the encoded image are compared. When the comparison result shows that the read paper fingerprint matches the paper fingerprint in the encoded image, it is possible to confirm will be able to be checked that the above-mentioned printed matter is surely a paper form being used when the encoded image is formed.

Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and computer-readable storage medium to determine whether a manuscript is an original by using paper fingerprint information