An optical displacement sensor is disclosed for use in robotic applications. The sensor can be used to examine the shape and surface texture of an object. In the embodiment which includes a compressible means of known spring constant, the sensor can be used to measure contract force. The position sensor uses an electro-optical displacement transducer to convert a displacement into an electrical output. The sensor utilizes a phototransistor to measure light emitted by an infrared light emitting diode. The amount of light received from by the phototransistor is varied by the displacement of the contact probe, or shadow rod.

This invention relates to a displacement sensor for use with robot end effectors in tactile operations, and more particularly to an optical displacement transducer.
In modern technologies, it is most important to use a robot which is capable of determining object shape through contact. For this purpose various types of displacement type transducers have been used, such as electrical transducers, which use various instruments to measure displacement, force transducers, which use a pliable solid to vary a certain electrical current, or optical displacement sensors, which measure the amount of light deflected from an object to determine its position, the present invention relates to the last-mentioned type of the transducer, the optical displacement sensor, which utilizes tactile sensing, that is information received through touch.
Since the optical sensors use light to transport information, they offer many advantages over electrical transducers, such as high sensitivity, versatility in design, and a high immunity to electromagnetic interference. Some of the optical displacement sensors use fiber optics to transmit and receive light reflected by an object. In fiber optic sensors a light emitting diode is used to emit light, which is reflected to a phototransistor.
Optical displacement transducers are sometimes used for the quality control of machined parts. These transducers, in some cases, use an occultation, or shadow method to produce an image into a camera for comparison with a "master" image. Micro-switches based on this principle are often used on assembly lines to detect the passage of an object and to record the number of items produced. The tactile sensors use a pair of emitter/detector hands arranged in arrays of sensors, which move in pre-determined directions, either in three axial directions, six axial displacements, etc. Some of the known optical tactile sensors use fiber optic cables which cross at right angles. The grid pattern is formed, and the grid junction surfaces of the optic cables are abraded to radiate light out of the sides of the fiber optic cables.
It is also important to note that robot sensors, in which the optical sensors are used, can be classified into internal and external state sensors. Internal state sensors detect the robot's joint positions. These type sensors include potentiometers and encoders in the motor of the robots.
External state sensors interact directly with the robot's surroundings. The external sensors can be contact and non-contact. The contact sensors are the sensors that measure physical contact with an object. These sensors detect force, torque, and/or pressure. Non-contact sensors sense objects with vision, light beams, and sound.
The present invention relates to a type of a transducer for use with a contact force sensor in detecting displacement of surface contours through the use of light.

Optical displacement sensor utilizing optical diffusion


Techniques are provided to use a trusted identity and location to select the most appropriate point of interconnect to edge application execution environments as well as a specific edge application execution environment. The techniques may involve obtaining, on behalf of a wireless mobile device, an access identifier that indicates an access location of the wireless mobile device that is wirelessly connected to wireless network infrastructure equipment operated by an access network provider that is associated with, and a member of, a federation of access network providers. The access location for the wireless mobile device is derived based on the access identifier, and the access location is used to select an edge resource to be used by the wireless mobile device.

Distribution of application execution environments to the network edge poses the challenge of how best to establish connectivity to those environments. For fixed devices, this is a relatively straightforward deployment problem. The device is effectively tethered to a specific port on an access switch or equivalent network element. The identifier of that device is trusted through IEEE 802.1x procedures, or other similar procedures. The combination of trusted identifier (ID) plus port can be used to identify the appropriate application execution environment.
For mobile devices with a choice of one or more access technologies at any given point, this is more complex. The level of trust placed in the end device ID plus the availability (or not) of a trusted location indicator varies by use case. A service provider offering services across both trusted and untrusted access needs to determine the optimal provider edge resources for both connectivity and application execution.

Secure cloud edge interconnect point selection


Process for preparing an olefin polymerisation catalyst component in the form of particles having a predetermined size range, said process comprising the steps of a) preparing a solution of a complex of a Group 2 metal and an electron donor by reacting a compound of said metal with said electron donor or a precursor thereof in an organic liquid reaction medium; b) adding said solution of said complex to at least one compound of a transition material to produce an emulsion, the dispersed phase of which contains more than 50 mol % of the Group 2 metal in said complex; c) agitating the emulsion, optionally in the presence of an emulsion stabilizer, in order to maintain the droplets of said dispersed phase within the average size range 5 to 200 m; d) solidifying said droplets of the dispersed phase; and e) recovering the solidified particles of the olefin polymerisation catalyst component, wherein a turbulence minimizing agent (TMA) is added to the reaction mixture before solidifying said droplets of the dispersed phase, said TAM being inert and soluble in the reaction mixture under the reaction conditions.

Processes for the preparation of such a catalyst component—as described, for instance, in WO 00/08073 and 00/08074—usually include a step in which a magnesium-Group 4 metal-electron donor component is recovered by precipitation from solution, typically by contacting the solution with a large amount of an aliphatic hydrocarbon. However, such precipitation leads to a tar-like reaction product of low catalytic activity, that needs to be washed several times in order to decrease the amount of inactive Group 4 metal complex. Aromatic hydrocarbons have also been used for the precipitation, but they lead to a very finely divided precipitate which is difficult to deposit. Worse still, it is difficult to carry out such precipitation in a controlled and reproducible manner, leading to unsatisfactory product morphology. Moreover variable and low concentrations of catalyst constituents such as butyl chloride may result, as a consequence of precipitation evaporative removal of aliphatic solvent.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Process for preparing an olefin polymerization catalyst component


An article handling apparatus is disclosed which comprises two independently controllable fluid actuated drives. The first fluid actuated drive comprises a cylinder and a differential piston which defines a large chamber and a smaller chamber. Also, a control system is provided which maintains a differential pressure between the large and small chambers in each of several operating positions. The second fluid actuated drive is mounted to the movable member of the first drive, and the second drive is controlled by fluid lines leading respectively to the large and small chambers of the first drive.

The present invention relates to an article handling apparatus with two fluid actuated drives, and which are controllable independently of each other.
Article handling apparatus are commonly utilized in the fields of engineering and manufacturing, and particularly in connection with robots, by which objects are able to be moved and positioned in one plane. To be able to move an article along any desired path and to guide the article at any desired position, the two drives need to be controllable independently of each other, i.e. by first and second separate control systems. It is obvious that substantial fluid control equipment is necessary for this independent control, since the required fluid lines must be positioned between the source of pressure and the drives and the pertinent control systems.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an article handling apparatus of the described type, and which requires minimal fluid equipment, and at the same time is sturdy.

Hydraulic cylinder control system for garbage collection truck lift-dump handler


A method for preparing a plastic surface for printing with a toner comprising: forming a layer of an aqueous mixture comprising a first material and a second material on the surface, wherein the first material has an affinity for the plastic and the second material has an affinity for the first material and the toner, and drying the layer.

The invention relates to printing on plastic and in particular to promotion of adhesion of printing inks to a plastic surface.
Surfaces of plastic products of all types) such as for example plastic shopping bags, place mats, and decals are printed for purposes of advertisement and decoration. However, there are many plastics to which common printing inks do not readily adhere. Often a plastic surface that is to be printed must be treated prior to printing so that inks that are used to print the su adhere properly to the surface. The treatment generally comprises coating the surface with a primer material that has a high affinity for both the plastic surface and the inks used to print the surface. The affinities of the primer for both the plastic and the ink bonds ink applied to the primer coated surface to the surface. Typically, the primer comprises or is mixed with volatile organic compounds potentially dangerous to human health that are released into the atmosphere during application of the primer to the surface. In order to protect people present in work areas where the primer is being used from exposure to the compounds, substantial resources have to be invested to properly ventilate the work areas and to monitor concentrations of the compounds in the air in the work areas.
An aspect of some preferred embodiments of the present invention relates to providing a primer, hereinafter referred to as a xe2x80x9cpollution free primerxe2x80x9d, for bonding a toner ink to a plastic surface that does not release organic compounds into the air.
An aspect of some preferred embodiments of the present invention relates to providing a pollution free primer that adheres with appropriate forces to the plastic surface and the toner so that the toner can be applied to the surface using an offset process.
An aspect of some preferred embodiments of the present invention relates to providing a primer that when applied to the plastic surface flows and wets the surface to provide a substantially uniform coating on the surface.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention the primer comprises an aqueous solution of a first material having a strong affinity for the plastic surface mixed with a second material having a strong affinity for the first material and the toner. The affinities of the primer components for each other and for the plastic and the toner are such that the toner is efficiently transferred to the plastic from a blanket used in an offset printing process. Preferably the first and second materials form relatively strong bonds to each other at least when dried. Hereinafter, the first material is referred to as a xe2x80x9cplastic bonding-agentxe2x80x9d and the second material is referred to as a xe2x80x9ctoner bonding-agentxe2x80x9d.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the plastic bonding-agent is polyethylenimine (PEI) and the toner bonding-agent is a dispersed phase of MP4990, which is an aqueous dispersion of copolymer of polyethylene and acrylic acid, manufactured by Michelman. Preferably, the primer is mixed with a surfactant that enhances wetting of the plastic surface by the primer and promotes formation of a uniform coating of the primer on the plastic surface.
The inventors have found that a thin substantially uniform coating of the primer can be applied to a side of a sheet or web of plastic using a gravure printing process. The primer adheres well to the plastic and the primer coated surface can be printed with liquid toners, such as for example those described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,407,771 to Landa et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Preferably, the toners are ElectroInk(copyright) produced and sold by Indigo N. V. of the Netherlands such as ElectroInk(copyright) EI-Mark 3.0 and EI-Mark 3.1. Other toners can be used.
There is therefore provided in accordance with a referred embodiment of the present invention a method for preparing a plastic surface for printing with a toner comprising: forming a layer of an aqueous mixture comprising a first material and a second material on the surface, wherein the first material has an affinity for the plastic and the second material has an affinity for the first material and the toner; and drying the layer.
Preferably, the first material is polyethylenimine. Preferably, the second material is a material chosen from the group of materials comprising: polyethylene acrylic acid copolymer, styrene acrylate copolymer and styrene-butadiene. Peferably, the weight of the first material plus the weight of the second material is between about 2% and about 10% of the weight of the mixture.
Additionally or alternatively, the ratio of the weight of the second material to the weight of first material in the mixture is between 1 and 5. In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the ratio of the weight of the second material to the weight of the first material in the mixture is substantially equal to 1. In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the ratio of the weight of the second material to the weight of the first material in the mixture is substantially equal to 2. In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the ratio of the weight of the second material to the weight of the fist material in the mixture is substantially equal to 3.
In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the second material is polyethylene acrylic acid copolymer. In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the second material is styrene acrylate copolymer. In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the second material is styrene-butadiene.
According to some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the method comprises adding a surfactant to the mixture. Preferably, the surfactant is chosen from the group of materials comprising: 2,4,7,9-tetramethyl-5-decyn-4, 7-diol; 2,4,7,9-tetramethyl-5-decyn-4, 7-diol+3.5 moles ethylene oxide; and sodium dodecyl sulfate.
In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the surfactant is 2,4,7,9-tetramethyl-5-decyn-4, 7-diol. In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the: surfactant is 2,4,7,9-tetramethyl-5-decyn-4, 7-diol+3.5 moles ethylene oxide. Additionally or alternatively, after addition of the surfactant, the mixture comprises between 1% and 1.5% by weight surfactant.
In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the surfactant is sodium dodecyl sulfate. Preferably, after addition of the surfactant, the mixture comprises between 2% and 2.5% by weight surfactant.
In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the first material is dissolved in water. Preferably, the solution of the first material comprises between 2% and 10%/ by, weight of the first material.
In some prefer embodiments of the present invention, the second material is dispersed in water. Preferably, the aqueous dispersion of the second material comprises between 2% and 10% by weight of the second material.
In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, forming the layer comprises preparing the mixture in accordance with a procedure comprising: preparing an aqueous solution of the first material; preparing an aqueous dispersion of the second material; and mixing together the aqueous solution and the aqueous dispersion to prepare the mixture.
In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, forming a layer comprises forming a layer of an aqueous mixture that does not release organic compounds into the air during drying thereof.
In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, forming a layer comprises forming a layer having a weight per square meter of plastic between 0.10 and 0.20 grams after the layer is dry. In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, forming a layer comprises forming a layer having a weight per square meter of plastic between 0.125 and 0.175 grams after the layer is dry. In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, forming a layer comprises forming a layer having a weight per square meter of plastic between 0.135 and 0.165 grams after the layer is dry. In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, forming a layer comprises forming a layer having a weight per square meter of plastic substantially equal to 0.15 grams after the layer is dry.
In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, forming a layer of the mixture on the surface comprises applying the mixture to the surface using a gravure roller.
In some preferred embodiments of the present invention forming a layer of the mixture on the surface comprises applying the mixture to the surface using a gravure roller.

Method for preparing a plastic surface for printing with toner


The present application relates to a terahertz transmitting antenna including a microstrip feed line, a substrate, at least two antenna switches, at least one conducting plate, an insulating layer and at least two antenna patches. The terahertz transmitting antenna is provided with at least two antenna switches and at least two corresponding antenna patches, which substantially increases a transmitting bandwidth and a corresponding transmitting power of the terahertz transmitting antenna. The terahertz transmitting antenna with the increased transmitting bandwidth and the increased transmitting power can be applied to a small sized terahertz spectral detection device to assist the transmitting source to transmit the signal in the terahertz band. The terahertz transmitting antenna adopting the multi-frequency switching technology can reduce an operation time of a spectral fingerprint recognition algorithm to rapid identify specific target substances.

In hazardous chemical accidents, immediate identification of composition, content, and distribution of hazardous chemicals is important to promptly and effectively implement emergency response and procedure. The vibration frequencies or rotation frequencies of organic molecules contained in common hazardous chemicals are in terahertz band (0.1 THz to 10 THz), where the molecules exhibit strong spectral fingerprint characteristics. Therefore, terahertz spectroscopy technology has a significant practical application in detecting hazardous chemicals in the air.
A bandwidth of the entire terahertz spectral detection system should be above 1 THz to identify multiple components. However, in conventional terahertz source technology, the bandwidth of a single frequency point is tens to hundreds GHz. Moreover, the power of the terahertz source is very weak, generally only a few milliwatts.

Terahertz antenna based on multi-frequency transmission switching and spectral detection device thereof


Process for preparing a high temperature superconductor such as yttrium bum copper oxides, by dissolving suitable proportions of hydrolyzable salts, oxides, or organometallic compounds of yttrium, barium and copper in an acid pH-controlled water-containing organic solvent such as methanol, and subjecting the resulting solution to ultrasonic energy or to an oxidation-reduction reaction, preferably while passing oxygen under a positive pressure through the solution, and precipitating a hydrolyzed precursor material. Such precursor material is then heated or annealed at temperatures between about 300.degree. C. and about 600.degree. C., also preferably in the presence of flowing oxygen, to produce the desired high temperature superconductor material.

This invention relates to the preparation of high temperature superconductors, and is particularly directed to a low temperature process for the preparation of high temperature superconductors such as yttrium barium copper oxide.
High temperature superconducting materials are generally those materials having superconductivity at temperatures higher than 30.degree. K., usually in the T.sub.c range of 95.degree.-130.degree. K.
Recently the high temperature synthesis of yttrium barium copper oxide, YBa.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 O.sub.8-x, a high temperature superconductor material, has been prepared by the high-temperature solid-state reactions of Y.sub.2 O.sub.3, BaCO.sub.3 and CuO in stoichiometric quantities corresponding to the desired metal mode ratio of 1:2:3 respectively. The reactants are ground together using an agate mortar and pestle and heated at 950.degree. C. for 12 hours in air. This method requires pure starting materials and high temperatures, and the very crystalline highly sintered product cannot be readily made into useful devices. Additionally, scale-up of the reaction presents difficulties.
It is one object of the invention to prepare high temperature superconductors such as yttrium barium copper oxide by an improved procedure.
Another object is to provide a procedure for preparing high temperature superconductors using substantially lower temperatures than heretofore employed.
Still another object is the provision of a relatively simple procedure for producing high temperature superconductors employing commercially available starting materials and which can be incorporated into useful devices.
These and many other objects, advantages, and features are described in the drawings and detailed description that follows.

Low temperature synthesis of YBA2CU308-X and other crystalline oxides

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


A method of forming a wind turbine foundation includes providing an anchor cage in an excavation pit, the anchor cage including an upper flange, a lower flange, and a plurality of anchor bolts extending therebetween. A first cementitious material is directed into the excavation pit so that the anchor cage becomes at least partially embedded in the material, which is allowed to cure to form a rigid body. A connecting element is selectively engaged with the upper flange and an actuating element is positioned in operative relation with the connecting element, the connecting and actuating elements positioned in non-contact relation with the anchor bolts. The actuating element is actuated relative to the connecting element to raise the upper flange from the rigid body into a leveled position. A second cementitious material is directed into a space beneath the raised upper flange and is allowed to cure to form a support layer.

Wind turbines are used to produce electrical energy using a renewable resource and without combusting a fossil fuel. Generally, a wind turbine converts kinetic energy from the wind into electrical power. A horizontal-axis wind turbine generally includes a tower, a nacelle located at the apex of the tower, and a rotor having a plurality of blades and supported in the nacelle by a shaft. The shaft couples the rotor either directly or indirectly with a generator, which is housed inside the nacelle. Consequently, as wind forces the blades to rotate, electrical energy is produced by the generator.
Horizontal-axis wind turbines may be anchored on land by securing a lower portion, such as a lower tower flange, of the wind turbine tower to a foundation that extends into the ground. Conventional foundations include steel-reinforced concrete structures arranged within an excavation pit. The structure includes a centrally positioned steel anchor cage that is generally cylindrical and includes upper and lower annular steel flanges arranged horizontally, and a plurality of high-strength steel anchor bolts extending vertically between the flanges.
In conventional methods, the anchor cage is positioned within the excavation pit and concrete is then poured into the pit so that the anchor cage becomes embedded within the concrete. Once the poured concrete cures, the upper flange is lifted from an upper surface of the cured concrete body to expose an annular trough. High strength grout is then directed underneath the upper flange and into the trough, and is allowed to cure to form an annular grout support layer. The lower tower flange of the wind turbine is then lowered over the upper ends of the anchor bolts such that the grout support layer is positioned between the lower tower flange and the steel-reinforced concrete body of the foundation. Nuts are tightened onto the upper ends of the anchor bolts, thereby tensioning the anchor bolts and maintaining the foundation under heavy compression, which is advantageous for counteracting overturning moments exerted by the wind turbine during use. The grout support layer functions to maintain the wind turbine in a leveled orientation, and to transfer loads from the wind turbine tower to the foundation during operation. In that regard, it is desirable to form the grout support layer so as to define a level mounting plane at which the lower tower flange may be mounted to the foundation.
Conventional wind turbine leveling methods are generally performed by using either the lower tower flange of the wind turbine, or alternatively the upper flange of the anchor cage, as an element for defining the level mounting plane. For example, some known methods include suspending and leveling the lower tower flange above the foundation, and then filling grout onto an upper surface of the foundation body up to a lower surface of the tower flange, and allowing the grout to cure to maintain the wind turbine in a leveled position. Other known methods include raising the upper flange of the anchor cage to a leveled position above the foundation body, and then filling the grout up to a lower surface of the upper flange. Once the grout cures, the tower flange may then be positioned on top of the foundation, with or without the upper flange of the anchor cage remaining in place, to maintain the wind turbine in a leveled orientation.
The latter of these wind turbine leveling methods, in which the upper flange of the anchor cage is used to define the level mounting plane, exhibit various shortcomings. Accordingly, there is a need for improvements in methods for setting wind turbine foundations and leveling wind turbines.

Method for forming a wind turbine foundation and related system for forming such a foundation


A choke includes a base body, a plating layer and at least a coiled wire. The base body is a solid conductor with a cylindrical reel between an upper plate and a base bottom. The base bottom at two lateral sides thereof extends downward a base foot respectively and at least one of the base feet at an inner side thereof close to a support foot, which extends downward. A wire groove is formed between the base foot and the support foot. The plating layer is a conductor and plated on at least a pair of corners formed by the base feet, the support feet and the wire groove. The coiled wire is a metal wire with an outer insulation, which is wound up the reel with two wire ends thereof being connected to the plating layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a choke, and particularly to a choke with a function of being wound up automatically.
2. Description of Related Art
The choke is an electronic passive component having been used for years and the principle of actuation for the choke is that a coil formed by an annular iron core is coiled with a copper wire and a magnetic field can be generated as soon as the current passes through the coiled copper wire. Thus, the choke is able to being used in a circuit board as, for instance, a filter for direct current.
The conventional choke has a structure that the coiled wire is wound up along the surface of the annular iron core and, mostly, the winding wire job is done manually with low output and unsteady quality. Although the manufacture has developed an automatic winding machine to process the coil of the annular iron core with low labor cost, it is costly with low fabrication efficiency so that the coiled wire made with winding manually is still much better than that done with automatic machine. Besides, in order to be inserted to the circuit board so as to form a close circuit, the choke usually extends connecting pins for being able to engage with locating holes made in advance in the circuit board.
However, a tedious job including bending the conductive plates, wrapping the base and joining the coil to the circuit has to be done in order to provide the connecting pins but the preceding work becomes different in case of the choke having a very small size.
Besides, the conventional choke is made individually, that is, each base body has an independent coiled wire such that it is necessary to insert two or more chokes onto the circuit board respectively for a stronger functional need. As a result, it increases the difficulty of the circuit board design.
On the other hand, the surface treatment technique has more advanced development and the plasma treatment technique applied to the surface of an electronic component is getting mature so that the surface formed with mixing silver material provides a property of electricity conduction. Hence, the traditional mode of the choke being inserted to the circuit board by means of connecting pins is not an only way have to be done.
The present inventor has endeavored in developing electronic component, especially the choke for years and has been granted a Taiwanese Utility Model No. 178515 (corresponding Chinese Utility Model No. 00257206.0). In order to overcome the deficiency of the traditional choke, the present invention has been disclosed with a new structure with regard to the choke.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a choke includes a base body, a plating layer and at least a coiled wire. The base body is a solid conductor with a cylindrical reel between an upper plate and a base bottom. The base bottom at two lateral sides thereof extends downward a base foot respectively and at least one of the base feet at an inner side thereof close to a support foot, which extends downward. A wire groove is formed between the base foot and the support foot. The plating layer is a conductor and plated,on at least a pair of corners formed by the base feet, the support feet and the wire groove. The coiled wire is a metal wire with an outer insulation, which is wound up the reel with two wire ends thereof being connected to the plating layer.

No. 6, Alley 163, Lane 256, Sec. 2, Chung Shan N. Road


A method for managing a communication event in an information handling system (IHS) is disclosed herein. The method includes receiving at least one communication event at an interrupt manager, wherein the interrupt manager manages the at least one communication event from an application. The method further includes receiving a selection of an interrupt manager setting in response to at least one communication event and generating at least one event notification based on the interrupt manager setting selected.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to the field of information handling systems, and more specifically, to managing communication events in information handling systems.
2. Background Information
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is an information handling system. An information handling system (IHS) generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for such systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Applications installed on an IHS by an end user and/or a manufacturer may, in some cases, require periodic interaction with the user. For instance, communication events such as application interrupts may require user interactions, responses and/or acknowledgements. As used herein, a communication event may include any application interrupt or interrupt generated by an application or program to indicate that a particular event has or will occur. In response to the communication event generated, an event notification may be provided to a user to inform the user of the application interrupt. An application interrupt may trigger an event notification in the form of a pop-up window, for instance, containing text and/or graphics which may require a response from user. As an example, an event notification may be provided by a program in the form of a pop-up to inform a user that an updated version is available for download by the user. In addition, the interrupt may prompt a user to download the update at a particular time and may include additional options, such as a designation to remind the user of the update at a later time or incremental time period. While some users would prefer to be notified of application interrupts for such events, other users may prefer not to experience the interrupts either at all or with a particular frequency. In order to modify, disable, or reduce the occurrence of application interrupts, a user may need to configure the options of each application providing the interrupts. The interrupts, provided by each of the applications, may vary in complexity and configurability. As a result, configuring each application may be time consuming and the process may be inconsistent as well as prone to errors. Thus, a need exists for methods, media and systems for providing a centralized process for managing application interrupts executed on an IHS.

Communication event management methods, media and systems


A communication system monitors the resources that are available for new users. When the availability of free resources becomes too small or falls below a threshold, the communication system initiates a reduction in the the class of service to selected users. The class of service can be reduced by reducing the quality of service provided to existing communications or by providing selected new users with only lower quality communications. The decision to alter the class of service is alerted to the end user and based on the profile of the end user, appropriate alteration of a specific resource parameter is undertaken. The quality of communications may be reduced, for example, by decreasing the information carrying capacity of the channel available to a particular user and thereby decreasing the data transfer rate, decreasing the amount of error encoding used to detect and correct errors introduced by a communication channel, or in the case of a wireless system, using a lower rate vocoder (voice encoder) which win reduce the voice quality or clarity of the speech transmitted over the communication channel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to telecommunications; more particularly, to the reallocation of network resources.
2. Description of the Related Art
Communication systems have a finite number of resources. Those resources include, for example, equipment, fibers, conductors, signal processors, and radio frequency spectrum. The amount of available capacity in a communication network varies with the number of users. When a large number of users are utilizing the network, there may be insufficient network resources to support new users. Additionally, the amount of available capacity varies as equipment is taken offline for maintenance or repair. Presently, when there are insufficient resources to support new callers or users, the new user is refused service which results in user annoyance and dissatisfaction.
The present invention solves the aforementioned problems by varying the class of service to existing users. The class of service is varied by changing, for example, speech clarity, data transfer rate or error correction capability. Downgrading a class of service for existing users frees up communication network resources for new users. This avoids frustrating new users who are attempting to start new calls. Additionally, users on existing calls are not dissatisfied by a decrease in the class of service because they have previously agreed to accept downgrades and receive a price discount for the decreased service. It is also possible for users to refuse a downgrade in service in real-time. For example, while a call is in progress the user is given an opportunity to refuse the communication system""s request to downgrade the call""s class of service. Callers who have this right of refusal receive a more modest price discount than users who unconditionally accept service downgrades.
The communication system monitors the resources that are available for new users. When the availability of resources becomes too small or falls below a predetermined threshold, the communication system initiates a reduction in the the class of service to selected users. The class of service can be reduced by reducing the quality of service provided to existing communications or by providing the new users with only lower quality communications. The quality of communications may be reduced, for example, by decreasing the number of channels made available to a particular user and thereby decreasing the data transfer rate, decreasing the amount of error encoding used to detect and correct errors introduced by a communication channel, or in the case of a wireless system, using a lower rate vocoder (voice encoder) which will reduce the voice quality or clarity of the speech transmitted over the communication channel.

Dynamic variation of class of service in a communication network based on network resources


A vehicle engine enclosure includes a tractor frame which supports an engine. A cooling system is mounted on the frame. The cooling system has a housing which surrounds cooling components. A hood is mounted on the frame and encloses the engine and the cooling system. The hood includes a top panel and left and right hood side panels. The top panel has outlet vents formed therein. A pair of left and right side plates are mounted on the frame. A rear end plate covers a rear end of the hood. A plurality of seals are placed between these components so that a duct is formed which collects hot air and moves it vertically through the vents to prevent re-ingesting of the hot air.

On slow moving vehicles, such as an agricultural tractor, the hot air which exits the cooling system may be recirculated or re-drawn into the intake of the cooling system. This reduces the potential of the air stream to do useful cooling, thereby increasing the mass of air required for cooling, and as a result, increasing the amount of fan power required. Fan power is parasitic in nature and with the need for improved efficiency, keeping the fan power low is a high priority.
In addition, Tier IV regulations require additional hardware that, if mounted in the engine enclosure, will require a thermal management strategy to prevent damage due to excessive under hood temperatures.
A known vehicle cooling system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,051,786 issued on 30 May 2006 and assigned to the assignee of this application. In this system the hood has openings in its upper surface through which passes air blown by the radiator fan unit and the charge air cooler fan unit. This cooling system blows heated cooling air vertically upwardly, thus preventing the heated cooling air from being drawn back into the intakes of the cooling system and preventing heated air from being blown onto the exterior of the tractor cab. However, this system requires multiple cooling units and corresponding electric motor-driven fans to blow air upwardly.
Another known vehicle cooling system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,325,518 issued on 8 Sep. 2005 and assigned to the assignee of this application. This cooling system includes a pair of heat exchangers, such as an oil cooler and a charge air cooler, laterally spaced apart from each other and located in front of a front end of the engine. A pair of blower units are in front of the coolers and blow cooling air rearwardly therethrough. A pair of duct units are located above the engine and to the rear of the coolers. Each duct unit includes a forward opening inlet receiving warmed air from the corresponding cooler, an upwardly opening outlet and a hollow housing extending from the inlet to the outlet. The outlets are spaced laterally apart from each other. A radiator is positioned above the duct unit housings and forward of the outlets. A set of radiator fans blow air upwardly through the radiator and are positioned between the radiator and the duct housings. However, with this cooling system, the ducting required to direct the air flow uses up valuable space under the hood. Also, the amount of air movement under the hood was limited.
Most prior and current production tractors do not have enclosed engine compartments. Some prior and current production tractors, such as the John Deere 8030 tractor has ducts that prevent the air from even getting to the engine compartment. Other known production tractors have an enclosed engine compartment, but have significant louvers to allow airflow to exit on the sides.


A hosted analytics system may be integrated with transactional data systems and additional data sources such real-time systems and log files. A data processing pipeline may transform data on arrival for incorporation into an n-dimensional cube. Correlation between patterns of events in transactional data may be identified. Upon arrival, new data may be transformed and incorporated into the n-dimensional cube. Similarity between the new data and a previously identified correlation may be determined and flagged.

Online analytical processing ("OLAP") and other types of data warehouse systems may be used to perform various functions related to data mining, reporting, and forecasting. These types of systems may permit multidimensional analysis of data typically obtained from transaction-oriented systems and loaded into a multidimensional cube structure, on which data analytics may be performed. Data warehouse systems may be separate and distinct from transactional systems. Data collected during operation of a transaction-oriented system may be bulk loaded periodically into a data warehouse, but the two types of systems are not tightly integrated.


An image signal processor includes a memory device for storing an image signal representative of a picture during one field period, an operating unit for generating a READ-OUT command necessary to read out contents stored in the memory device, a selector for selectively switching the memory device between a WRITE-IN READY condition and a READ-OUT READY condition, and a switching control unit for generating a control signal necessary to control the switching operation of the selector. The switching control unit is adapted to receive the READ-OUT command and a vertical synchronizing signal included in a composite video signal. The selector performs the switching operation in synchronism with the initial vertical synchronizing signal applied immediately after the READ-OUT command has been inputted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an image signal processor and, more particularly, to a type of image signal processor used in connection with a video output device such as, for example, a television receiver set, a video tape player (VTR) or a video camera. The image signal processor stores signal outputted from the video output device and subsequently writes the stored video signal in a graphic memory of a personal computer in the form of a still or a frozen picture.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the advent of widespread use of semiconductor memories, numerous image signal processors of the type referred to above have been proposed and has been made commercially available. When the image signal descriptive of one frozen picture is read in the personal computer through the image signal processor, an operator of the personal computer can perform an image analysis of the frozen picture or image processing such as enlargement or reduction of the frozen picture, and extraction or highlighting of one or more portions of the frozen pictures.
According to the prior art, an image signal processor is provided with a memory device for storing digitized image signals. When a WRITE-IN control signal or a READ-OUT control signal is supplied to the memory device, the image signal can be inputted to or outputted from the memory device, respectively.
Generally in the prior art image signal processor, when the image signal stored in the memory device is desired to be read out from the memory device for transfer to the personal computer, the following process takes place. Specifically, after an image signal representative of one frozen picture has been written in the memory device of the image signal processor, the image signal processor transmits a signal to the personal computer notifying the personal computer that the image signal has been stored in the memory device. The personal computer subsequently interrogates the image signal processor if the image signal stored in the memory device can be read out from the memory device. When the image signal processor is so interrogated, a READY signal is transmitted to the personal computer notifying the personal computer that the image signal in the memory device is ready to be read out therefrom. After this interrogation, the image signal is transferred onto the personal computer. The image signal read out from the memory device is then stored in an internal graphic memory in the personal computer.
According to the prior art, in order for the image signal stored in the memory device to be transferred onto the personal computer, a plurality of interrogations must be made between the image signal processor and the personal computer, and a relatively long time is required to complete the transfer of the image signal to the personal computer.
The prior art image signal processor also has another problem associated with the write-in operation of the image signal. Specifically, when the frozen color picture which is composed of, for example, red, green and blue is desired to be reproduced in a color as faithful as possible to the color of the original video image, it is generally recognized that a resolving power of at least 4 to 8 bits (16 to 256 colors) is required for each color of the frozen color picture. This means that the memory device should have a large memory capacity to store a number of color image data. While the price in the market of semiconductor memories has been lowering because of mass-production, the memory device used in the image signal processor is, in practice, composed of a number of memory chips and, therefore, an increased number of the memory chips may result not only in a cost increase of the image signal processor, but also in a size increase of the image signal processor and the associated circuit components.
On the other hand, in the field of facsimile technology in which the input image signal is digitized to provide a frozen picture, a DITHER process is generally used. According to the DITHER process, the input image signal representative of the original image is inputted to a comparator whose threshold value is variable stepwise so that a plurality of digitized images of different gradations can be obtained. The digitized images of different gradations are then properly combined together to provide a single frozen picture having continuously varying gradations.
However, this technique has posed a problem in that the use of a circuit for varying the threshold value is required which tends to make the image signal processor as a whole bulky in size. Also, a process of combining the digitized images together to provide the single frozen picture is complicated, and a real-time accomplishment of the process is hampered.


A method for masking logical storage devices from a host on a storage area network and a storage controller and storage system for using such a method are disclosed. The method includes receiving instructions for associating a subset of a plurality of logical storage devices with a particular host. A request from the particular host is received. The request includes a request for identification of available logical storage devices. The request is responded to by identifying the subset of logical storage devices as available.

The present disclosure relates in general to the field of computer storage systems and, more particularly, to a method for storage device masking in a storage area network and a storage controller and storage subsystem for using such a method.
The demand for data storage capacity in computer networking environments increases dramatically each year. One of the reasons driving such demand is an increase in the number of data-intensive tasks conducted over networking environments. Example of such tasks include multimedia applications, data warehousing, online transaction processing, and medical imaging. Along with this need for increased storage capacity, users demand faster access to the data and the ability to share pooled data among a large number of users. In addition to these demands, many network operators desire the ability to efficiently change the amount of storage available to a network and to more efficiently provide maintenance to the existing storage.
A storage area network (SAN) is a network developed to address many of the above concerns. A conventional SAN includes a collection of data storage devices (also known as a xe2x80x9cstorage poolxe2x80x9d) communicatively coupled to a plurality of hosts such as workstations and servers. The storage devices in a SAN can be co-located, which allows for easier maintenance and easier expandability of the storage pool. In the present disclosure, the term xe2x80x9chostxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cserverxe2x80x9d are used interchangeably, with the understanding that a xe2x80x9cserverxe2x80x9d is one type of xe2x80x9chost.xe2x80x9d
The hosts can access the storage pool using Fibre Channel protocol, which functionality is generally well known. The Fibre Channel protocol can serve as a common physical layer to transport multiple upper layer protocols such as SCSI, IP, HiPPI, and others. In such a system, the hosts and the data storage devices are connected to a Fibre Channel xe2x80x9cfabric.xe2x80x9d
A SAN can be configured such that hosts access the data storage devices through the fabric using small component system interconnect (SCSI) protocol. The SCSI protocol assigns logical unit numbers (LUNs) to the data storage devices. The hosts can then access the data storage devices by reference to the SCSI LUNs.
A SAN can have flexibility in assigning LUNs to data storage devices in a data storage pool. For example, a single data storage device may have more than one LUN. Alternatively, if multiple data storage devices are grouped into RAID volume, a single LUN can be assigned to the RAID volume.
One problem with conventional SANs arises if a server coupled to the SAN uses the MICROSOFT WINDOWS NT operating system. When a server operating under WINDOWS NT boots, the operating system automatically assigns all visible storage to the server. For example, if a particular server detects several LUNs, it will assume each LUN is available for its use. Therefore, if multiple WINDOWS NT servers are attached to a storage pool, each server can attempt to take control of each LUN in the storage pool. This situation can lead to conflicts when more than one server attempts to access the same LUN.
One conventional solution to the above problem is placing masking software on each server in the SAN. For example, one such masking software solution is the OPENMANAGE STORAGE CONSOLIDATION SOFTWARE, manufactured by DELL COMPUTER CORPORATION. This software permits up to four Windows NT servers to share a common data storage pool without access conflicts, and allows storage to be reapportioned among servers without taking the servers off-line. The storage consolidation software runs in each WINDOWS NT server and masks particular LUNs from the server, which prevents the operating system from assigning that LUN.
There are several technical difficulties with placing masking software on-each server attached to the SAN. First, the software must be installed on each server connected to the fabric. Such a requirement is inefficient and can lead to configuration management problems as well as data corruption if the masking software is inadvertently left off of a host connected to the fabric. Furthermore, due to this problem, resources must be expended to periodically check the configuration of each server attached to the SAN.
Another difficulty with such a solution arises when servers employing operating systems other than WINDOWS NT, such as NETWARE or UNIX, are attached to the SAN. In such a SAN, the masking software must be ported to operate with each different operating system.
In accordance with the present disclosure, a method and systems using the method for storage device masking in a storage area network are disclosed that provide significant advantages over prior developed systems. The present embodiments can place masking capability at a central location and avoid the need to place masking capability on each host attached to a SAN.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method includes receiving instructions for associating a subset of a plurality of logical storage devices with a particular host. A request from the particular host is received. The request includes a request for identification of available logical storage devices. The request is responded to by identifying the subset of logical storage devices as available.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a storage controller using a method for storage device masking includes a CPU. A computer readable medium is coupled to the CPU. An adapter is also coupled to the CPU, the adapter for interfacing to a fabric of a storage area network (SAN). Further coupled to the CPU is a storage interface for interfacing with a storage pool. The storage pool can be a plurality of logical storage devices. The storage controller also includes a masking engine stored upon the computer readable medium. The masking engine includes instructions operable to be executed by the CPU. The masking engine is operable to receive instructions for associating a subset of the plurality of logical storage devices with a particular host coupled to the fabric. The masking engine is further operable to receive a request from the particular host requesting identification of available logical storage devices. The masking engine is also operable to respond to the request by identifying a LUN of the subset of logical storage devices as available.
According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, a storage subsystem includes a plurality of physical storage devices coupled to the adapter of a storage controller as recited above. The plurality of physical storage devices are arranged into a plurality of logical storage devices.
According to an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a fiber channel switch includes a CPU and a computer readable medium coupled to the CPU. A port is coupled to the CPU for interfacing to a computing device to form a fibre channel network. A masking engine is stored upon the computer readable medium. The masking engine includes instructions operable to be executed by the CPU. The masking engine is operable to receive instructions for associating a subset of a plurality of logical storage devices with a particular host coupled to the fibre channel network. The masking engine can further recognize a request from the particular host. The request can be for identification of available logical storage devices. The masking engine can then modify a response to the request such that the response identifies the subset of logical storage devices as available.
It is a technical advantage of the present disclosure that it performs the masking features required when certain hosts are connected to a SAN. This eliminates the need for masking software on each host connected to a SAN.
It is another technical advantage that it eliminates the need to port masking software to different operating systems when operating a SAN with hosts running multiple types of operating systems. This in turn allows for increased scalability of SANs and reduces the resources necessary to maintain and upgrade a SAN.

Method for storage device masking in a storage area network and storage controller and storage subsystem for using such a method


Systems and methods receive a design of a circuit layout. The circuit layout has some available spaces. Such systems and methods automatically insert capacitor arrays in the specified spaces. Each of the capacitor arrays has capacitor cells, and each of the capacitor cells has capacitor structures and a buried implant. The process of inserting the capacitor arrays comprises a process of forming the capacitor arrays to either: grow the capacitor arrays to the size of the specified spaces; grow the capacitor arrays to a specified capacitance value within the restriction of the length dimension or the width dimension of the specified spaces; or grow the capacitor arrays to a specified capacitance value, irrespective of dimensional length dimension or width dimension limitations (where the only limitations are the dimensions of the specified space).

The present disclosure relates to methods and systems that are related to circuit design, and more specifically, to systems and methods that determine the size and placement of capacitors within integrated circuit designs.
Many computerized systems are available today that greatly aid the circuit designer in the tremendously calculation intensive science of integrated circuit design. Such systems use specialized software programs that operate on computerized devices. One type of software program assists designers with the task of positioning items within the space allotted for the specific circuit being designed. Commonly used groups of circuit elements can be joined to create "books" that can be reused in future designs, and such books are commonly stored within an integrated circuit design "library." Such books are therefore retrieved from the library and placed in a design to add functionality to the integrated circuit design.
However, integrated circuit designs can be very sensitive to layout variation, especially with respect to how layout variation impacts local density, shape variation, and placement of one book versus another. Further, placement of discrete books, such as books of capacitors, results in many layout configurations, each of which has unique manufacturing sensitivities. Also, placement of small individual capacitors is time consuming and requires that time consuming checks be performed to ensure that local density rules are being met.

Circuit design with growable capacitor arrays

International Business Machines Corporation


The invention relates to an assemblage of two pieces of bodywork each having a flange for coming into contact with the flange of the other piece, the flange of a first piece having a slot while the flange of a second piece carries a tenon presenting an engagement shape and extending towards the first piece. The assemblage also a fastener member for taking up a position against the flange of the first piece and which has an engagement shape complementary to that of the tenon so as to engage therewith. The invention also provides a piece of bodywork belonging to such an assemblage.

The present invention relates to an assemblage of two pieces of bodywork for joining together edge to edge, and to a piece of bodywork belonging to such an assemblage.
It is known that pieces of bodywork are requiring ever more accurate positioning relative to each other in order to ensure satisfactory appearance for a vehicle.
For this purpose, various solutions have already been devised which consists in fixing each piece of bodywork accurately to the structure of the vehicle, while taking care that adjacent pieces of bodywork benefit along their contiguous edges from fixing points that are adjacent or even identical.
The fixings used in such solutions must be relatively strong since they serve both to support the pieces of bodywork and to ensure relative positioning thereof.
As a general rule, those fixings are constituted by fittings, often made of metal, thus giving rise to problems of cost, both in terms of supplies and in terms of labor.
Such fittings are put into place individually, and that means that each location receiving such a fitting must be accessible.
In principle there is no difficulty in accessing the flanges of pieces of bodywork so long as they are not already mounted on a vehicle. In contrast, once they have been mounted, fixing them together generally turns out to be much more difficult and requires operations to be performed that are lengthy and fiddly.
The present invention seeks to provide a novel assemblage of two pieces of bodywork which can be assembled together simply and quickly, even when accessibility is poor, and which ensures that the two pieces of bodywork are positioned relative to each other with great accuracy.
The present invention provides an assemblage of two pieces of bodywork each having a flange for coming into contact via its outside face with the flange of the other piece, the assemblage being characterized in that the flange of a first one of the pieces includes a slot passing through the thickness of the flange to its inside face, while the flange of a second one of the pieces carries a tenon having an engagement shape and extending towards the first piece, the tenon being suitable for penetrating into said slot so as to project from the inside face of the flange of the first piece, the assemblage further comprising a fastener member which is suitable for positioning against the inside face of the flange of the first piece and which has an engagement shape complementary to that of the tenon for engaging therewith.
It will be understood that the invention provides simple means for uniting the facing edges of the two pieces in a manner that is simultaneously strong, simple, and fast.
The engagement shapes of the fastener member and of the tenon(s) of the second piece must serve to retain the tenons against traction in a direction opposite to the direction in which they are inserted into the slots of the first piece. For example, in a preferred embodiment, the engagement shapes are of T-shaped section.
In a particular embodiment, the first piece has a plurality of slots and the second piece has a plurality of tenons positioned to be in register with the slots when the two pieces are brought together.
The slots and the tenons are distributed along the flanges that are to be assembled together, as a function of the mechanical stresses that the assemblage is to withstand.
Advantageously, the tenon(s) and the fastener member engage in a direction that is substantially parallel to the flanges.
In this manner, the fastener member can be engaged with the tenons xe2x80x9cblindxe2x80x9d, i.e. without the operator being able to see the tenons, but merely because the fastener member is properly positioned at the beginning of its engagement stroke parallel to the flanges.
In an advantageous variant, the first piece has guide shapes on the inside face of its flange, which guide shapes support the fastener member over an appropriate stroke along the flanges of the pieces to enable it to engage the tenons. Under such circumstances, it is easier to move the fastener member blind, thus enabling it to be put into place on flanges having very poor accessibility, for example having only one end that is accessible, with the remainder of said flanges being inaccessible.
This applies in particular when connecting a fender to a bumper, with the fastener member then being inserted via the wheel arch by moving it upwards, with the assembled-together flanges of the fender and the bumper then being inaccessible over their entire height.
If in addition, the tenons and the fastener member are arranged in such a manner that said fastener member is engaged with all of the tenons simultaneously, then it will be understood that it is particularly easy and quick to put the fastener member into place and that the two pieces of bodywork can be fastened together thereby, merely by means of a single stroke in translation.
In another advantageous variant, compatible with the preceding variant, the fastener member is suitable for taking up not only an engaged position with the tenons, but also a pre-engagement position in which it is located against the inside face of the flange of the first piece but is not yet engaged with the tenons, transfer from said pre-engagement position to the engagement position being performed by moving the member in translation along a stroke slightly longer than the engagement length of the tenons.
Thus, the fastener member can be put in the pre-engagement position on the first piece even before the two pieces of bodywork are brought together.
In a particular embodiment of the invention, one of the pieces has centering orifices positioned in precise manner in its flange, and the other piece has centering pegs for engaging with little clearance in said centering orifices.
According to other particular features of the invention:
at least one of the pieces of bodywork, and preferably the first piece, i.e. the piece carrying the tenons, is made of a plastics material;
the fastener member is made of plastics material; and
the centering studs are provided on a piece of bodywork that is made of plastics material.
The invention also provides a piece of bodywork having a flange for coming into contact with the flange of another piece of bodywork, and characterized in that it carries a tenon presenting an engagement shape projecting from its flange.
In order to facilitate understanding the invention, embodiments are described below as non-limiting examples, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Assemblage of two pieces of bodywork to be joined together edge to edge, and a piece of bodywork belonging to such an assemblage


A television audience measurement system measures viewing of a television program viewed on digital television located in a statistically selected site by (i) retrieving an audience measurement data packet from a television set in order to identify the television program, (ii) detecting an audio code embedded in the television program in order to identify the television program, (iii) extracting an audio signature from the television program in order to identify the television program, (iv) identifying the television program through use of a software agent, and (v) selecting at least one of the retrieving means, the detecting means, the extracting means, and the software agent in order to identify the television program.

Of the many approaches to measuring the usage of electronic entertainment equipment (commonly called "tuning" data), one approach involves the addition of an identifying code to a radio or television program, the distribution of the identifying code with the program throughout the relevant broadcasting system, and the detection and interpretation of the identifying code when the broadcast signal is viewed or heard in a statistically selected monitoring site. An example of a system which implements this type of measurement approach may be found in the following patents: U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,294 to Thomas et al., who describe, inter alia, identifying codes added to the vertical blanking interval of an NTSC television broadcast; U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,739 to Dougherty, who is particularly concerned with the addition of an identifying code to a low energy portion of the audio spectrum of an NTSC signal; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,377 to Moses, who teaches an audio encoding arrangement using signal masking to decrease the perceptibility of the identifying code. The disclosures of U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,294, U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,739, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,377 are herein incorporated by reference.
Another approach to measuring usage of electronic entertainment equipment involves the extraction of a characteristic feature signature (or characteristic feature signature set) from the programming selected for viewing, and the storing of a time-stamped signature (or signature set) in a memory for subsequent transmission to a central data collection office where the signature (or signature set) is compared with corresponding reference signatures collected by the central office from known broadcasting sources. This approach is taught by Lert and Lu in U.S. Pat. No. 4,677,466. The teaching of U.S. Pat. No. 4,677,466 is herein incorporated by reference.
Yet another approach to the measurement of the usage of electronic entertainment equipment has been that of comparing the viewed signal (or some component or artifact thereof) with all the signals available to a sampled household at the time the measurement is made. A review of apparatus and methods useful for this measurement approach is found in the teachings of Thomas et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,739 and of Lu et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,594,934. The teachings in U.S. Pat. No. 5,594,934 and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,739 are herein incorporated by reference.
Wheeler, et al., in U.S. application Ser. No. 08/786,270, filed on Jan. 22, 1997, teach a video signal source detection arrangement which determines the source of a video and/or audio signal being displayed by a television receiver. The arrangement implements a variety of tuning measurement approaches. For example, it can be used to read an identifying ancillary code transmitted with television programming, to obtain characteristic feature signatures from television programming, or to obtain a signal that is matched with a contemporary reference signal obtained by a television tuner controlled by measurement equipment. The disclosure of the aforementioned U.S. application Ser. No. 08/786,270 is herein incorporated by reference.
Chan, in U.S. application Ser. No. 08/654,309, filed on May 28, 1996, teaches a sensor arrangement for non-intrusively obtaining a representation of video and synchronization signals from a television receiver. The disclosure of the aforementioned U.S. application Ser. No. 08/654,309 is herein incorporated by reference.
Changes in the methods of measuring the reception of television or radio programming are required because of a planned change-over from analog to digital broadcasting. In the U.S., the change-over is scheduled to be phased in by the year 2006, as documented in the Federal Communication Commission's Mass Media Docket 87-268, with particular reference to the Fifth Report and Order, FCC 97-116, Apr. 3, 1997 and to the Sixth Report and Order, FCC 97-115, Apr. 3, 1997. Some of the changes, and their respective impacts on approaches used for measuring analog broadcasts, include the following: (1) digital broadcast techniques do not use a vertical blanking interval and, therefore, the program tracking and identifying codes that are written in the vertical blanking interval of analog broadcast signals will not be transmitted; (2) multiple signal formats and associated multiple display formats having, among other features, differing height-to-width ratios and different resolutions are allowed, so that existing video signal correlation methods used with analog broadcasts may essentially be disabled because these methods depend on having the same pictorial feature appear at corresponding places on the measured and reference displays; (3) a broadcaster can transmit as many as six programs (arrayed as a sequence of data packets, where each data packet is labeled as to which of the programs' data is carried therein) within an assigned 6 MHZ frequency band by trading off pictorial resolution for an increase in the number of programs so that (i) digital signal compression methods used to decrease the spectrum space required by a program destroy program identifying codes embedded in an original, high-resolution, program master, and (ii) determining which channel has been tuned by a receiver does not uniquely identify a program being viewed if more than one program is being transmitted in that channel; and, (4) data other than television broadcasting may be co-transmitted in the same channel and, in some cases, it is expected that the other data will be related in some manner to the co-transmitted programming so that a viewer can interact with the TV programming (e.g., to obtain a program guide or detailed information on an advertised product, to automatically switch to a desired program, or to take part in an audience-participation program).
It may be noted that, although projected digital signal compression and transmission methods destroy the types of video codes used in, and suggested for, the prior-generation analog broadcasting approaches, it is expected that less change will be encountered with respect to audio codes. That is, because the audio component of a television broadcast comprises much less information than does the video, there is much less to be gained by applying signal compression methods to audio. Nonetheless, it is expected that various audio compression methods may be employed. These methods include those defined by the Dolby AC-3 or the European MUSICAN standards, or those defined by some yet-to-be-defined standard operable within the relatively open and flexible MPEG arrangement. Although the coding approaches taught in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,377 are known to survive the Dolby AC-3 and MUSICAN compression methods, compression methods other than Dolby AC-3 and MUSICAN may destroy these codes. Moreover, although the change in technology may obviate the use of some of the codes, such as those described above, other codes (e.g., digital data packet codes telling a receiving site which of several interleaved programs is associated with a given data packet) are expected to be broadcast both with television programming and with any co-transmitted data that are related to, and intended to be used in conjunction with, one or more of the programs.
In addition to changes in transmission equipment and signals, considerable changes are expected in reception equipment. Notable among these are both the use of set top signal converters (generally referred to as set top boxes) allowing a digital broadcast to be viewed on an analog receiver, and a projected convergence of television receivers and computers. In the short term, for example, it is expected that digital receivers, configured as plug-in boards for personal computers, will be used to enable the display of digital television signals on the computers.
Another traditional measurement reflected in television audience reporting has been the determination of who actually viewed the program that was received by the equipment being monitored in a statistically selected monitoring site. A related measurement of interest is the identification of users of on-line services, such as on-line services provided over the Internet. Also, it is clear that measuring the members of an audience in a statistically selected monitoring site who are interactively using a television and/or accessing the Internet, and the information delivery apparatus used to deliver information to the members, will continue to be important.
By far the most commonly used approach in making these measurements is that of interrogation, wherein the viewer and/or Internet user is asked to identify himself or herself as a member of the television audience or as an Internet user. In connection with television viewing, this inquiry is usually done by means of an electronic prompting and data input device (commonly referred to as a Peoplemeter) associated with a monitored receiver in a statistically selected monitoring site. The member identification may also include age, sex, and other demographic data. It is common to store both the demographic data and the tuning data associated with each monitored receiver in the statistically selected monitoring site in store-and-forward equipment located within the monitoring site and to subsequently forward these data to a central office computer via a direct call over the public switched telephone network, or via the Internet, on a daily basis.
Of particular interest in this area is the teaching of an audience interrogation arrangement disclosed by McKenna et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,904. According to this arrangement, a prompting message is displayed on a television screen overlaid on viewer selected programming by mixing the prompting message with the video signal being sent to the display. However, McKenna et al. do not teach a "tiling" arrangement where the prompting message is displayed on a portion of a display separated from the portion of the display devoted to television picture.
Many arrangements have been proposed in the computer arts for reliably identifying a user so that only selected individuals can secure access to some of the data on a computer or computer system. The most common of such arrangements is that of requiring the user to enter both his or her claimed identity along with a password. Other arrangements have included the use of various biometric techniques, such as image or voice recognition devices. Additionally, it is well known in the audience measurement arts to use computer-based image recognition in order to identify members of a viewing audience. Notable among teachings in this area is that by Lu in U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,000. The teaching of this patent is herein incorporated by reference.

Audience measurement systems and methods for digital television


Described herein are methods of detecting and labeling features within an image of an environment. Methods may include: receiving sensor data from an image sensor, where the sensor data is representative of a first image including an aerial view of a geographic region; detecting, using a perception module, at least one vehicle within the image of the geographic region; identifying an area around the at least one vehicle as a road segment in response to detecting the at least one vehicle; based on the identification of the area around the vehicle as a road segment, identifying features within the area as road features based on a context of the area; generating a map update for the road features of the road segment; and causing a map database to be updated with the road features of the road segment.

Road geometry modelling is very useful for map creation and identification of features in environments, such as lane lines or road signs along a road segment. Such feature identification may facilitate autonomous vehicle navigation along a prescribed path. Traditional methods for modelling of road geometry and object or feature detection are resource intensive, often requiring significant amounts of human measurement and calculation. Such methods are thus time consuming and costly. Exacerbating this issue is the fact that many modern day applications require the analysis of large amounts of data, and therefore are not practical without quicker or less costly techniques.
Some current methods for road geometry and environment modelling rely upon feature detection from image data to perform object identification, but these methods have deficiencies. For instance, some systems designed for object detection/identification around a vehicle exist, but may be unreliable. Further, the reliability of object and feature detection may not be known such that erroneous object detection or lack of object detection may adversely impact autonomous or semi-autonomous driving.

Method and apparatus for the detection and labeling of features of an environment through contextual clues


A failure factor can be promptly carved up by effectively prioritizing the ports to which MEPs are assigned in a condition where the maximum number of MEPs is limited. A network monitoring server monitors a network having plural switch devices. The plural switch devices each have a communication confirmation function using transmission and reception of a monitoring frame between ports. An upper limit is set to the number of ports to which maintenance end points (MEPs) are assignable among the respective ports of the plural switch devices. The network monitoring server calculates, for each of the plural switch devices, a monitoring priority corresponding to the probability of failures of a device connected to a network path including the port or the port, and generates data for displaying the calculated monitoring priority of each port in association with each port.

Up to now, for the purpose of confirming a communication of a wide area network, a method in which monitoring frames are periodically transmitted from a port at an end point of a path, and the reception of the frames is confirmed at an opposed port has been widely used. In particular, in the Ethernet network, an Ethernet (registered trademark) OAM (operations administration maintenance, refer to IEEE 802.1ag Connectivity Fault Management (CFM)) is used.
In addition, in association with the technique of confirming the communication in the network, a technique disclosed in JP-A-2004-215026 has been known. In the technique disclosed in JP-A-2004-215026, a monitor frequency value corresponding to each importance degree is set in each device within the network. Each device is monitored on the basis of the monitoring frequency value to monitor a failure in the network.
Also, in the general information system, in many cases, a server manager monitors the operating condition of a server (refer to JP-A-2001-356972 and IETF RFC 792 Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)). JP-A-2001-356972 discloses a technique in which a monitor server transmits a monitor packet to plural servers to be monitored within the network, thereby managing the operating condition of the server. IETF RFC 792 Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) discloses a technique in which, particularly in an IP network, ping utilizing an internet control message protocol (ICMP) echo is used to monitor the operating condition of the server.
Also, in a large-scaled information system such as a data center, in many cases, a manager is placed at each of servers and networks. For that reason, when a failure occurs in a service which is supplied in the information system, there is a need to promptly carve up the cause of errors among those managers. As a method for carving up the failure factor, there is a method combining the above-mentioned ping and Ethernet OAM together.
In this method, each server manager and each network manager monitor the server and the network by using the ping and the Ethernet OAM, respectively. Thereafter, those monitored results are checked with each other to carve up the failure factor. More specifically, when the server manager detects the service failure by using the ping, the network manager examines a maintenance endpoint (hereinafter referred to as "MEP") to be monitored by the Ethernet OAM of the port connected with the server. The network manager determines that the failure factor exists at the network side when a failure is detected in the result of the Ethernet OAM. Conversely, the network manager determines that the failure factor exists at the server side when no failure is detected in the result of the Ethernet OAM.

Network monitoring server and network monitoring system


A rotary surgical reamer assembly for removing bone and tissue from a joint to facilitate the installation of a prosthetic device. The assembly includes a hollow reamer body having an opening and a base portion. The base portion includes a first pivoting link member, a wall with a surface defining a central cavity, and a plurality of spaced apart cutting sites defining apertures through said wall. A shaft is configured to be de-mountably attached to a rotary source of power. The shaft has a rotary axis and a second pivoting link member coupled to the first pivoting link member. The axis of the shaft forms an angle to the base portion. A mechanism adjusts the angle of the hollow reamer body from an un-deployed position to a deployed position.

The present invention is a development and improvement to reamers of the type used in joint replacement surgery and in particular for the recently developing field of minimally invasive joint surgery.
Factors such as the perpetual pressure to improve the standard of patient care, the increasing costs of surgery, a population trend that has an increasing proportion of elderly persons suffering from osteoarthritis, have initiated change to the nature of joint replacement. The main areas of change in surgery have three primary goals: first, to minimize the trauma of surgery to individual patients; second, to diminish the time that the patient is required to remain in hospital after surgery; and third, to reduce the time of surgery. All of the above may be accomplished by reducing the size of incision, something often described as minimal access or minimal invasive joint surgery.
The smaller incision and the associated change in surgical technique that cuts fewer soft tissue structures reduces the injury to the patient caused by the operation and thereby allows a shorter recovery time. The procedure is may be made quicker in certain respects when a smaller incision is made, due to the lower number of blood vessels and soft tissue structures damaged. Further, fewer repairs are required when closing the incision after the joint replacement.
A consequence of a smaller incision is that it can be harder for the surgeon to have a clear view of the operative site. Further, implants and instruments pass closer to or are in fact touching the edges of the wound more often. This contact with the edges of the incision may create an associated risk of infection or of soft-tissue injury. To minimize this risk, a trend exists to make instruments smaller and smaller and/or of different geometries as described in pending applications Ser. Nos. PCT/IB01/02676, U.S. 60/372,285, and U.S. 60/376,479, of the assignee, all of which are fully incorporated herein and relied on.
One approach at minimizing the injury to the patient during such bone operations has been to reduce the width of the front profile of a standard acetabular reamer (which has also been referred to as the static profile in the referenced cases cited immediately above) so that the reamer can pass more easily through a smaller incision. However, such designs generally compromise the cutting surface of the reamer in that there are less cutting sites available for the purpose of cutting bone.
What is needed therefore, is a tool for use in performing minimally invasive surgery having a large dynamic profile while not compromising the total number of cutting sites on the tool.

Pivoting bone reamer for minimally invasive joint surgery