A method for modeling a circuit design includes synthesizing the circuit design to create a first gate-level representation of the circuit design. The method also includes analyzing a second gate-level representation of the circuit design to learn architecture information, and resynthesizing the first gate-level representation of the circuit design to incorporate the learned architecture information from the second gate-level representation of the circuit design. A computer-readable storage medium has stored thereon computer instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to synthesize a circuit design to create a first gate-level representation of the circuit design. The computer instructions also cause the computer to analyze a second gate-level representation of the circuit design to learn architecture information, and resynthesize the first gate-level representation of the circuit design to incorporate the learned architecture information from the second gate-level representation of the circuit design.

1. Field
The present invention relates generally to functional verification of circuit designs and, more particularly, to synthesis techniques used in constructing logic networks used in the functional verification process.
2. Description of the Related Art
Today, integrated circuits (ICs) typically contain large numbers of circuit elements. Computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided engineering (CAE) tools are essential in assisting circuit designers to produce these complicated ICs. Circuit designs are typically represented in a user-specified hardware description language (HDL), which demonstrate the functional properties of the circuit.
Designers commonly utilize CAE software to translate a HDL representation, which is typically in Register-Transfer-Level (RTL) description, into a gate-level netlist representation, and perform design validation to ensure that no design errors occurred in the process. With increasing design complexity, formal verification (equivalence checking) becomes integral in the design process to ensure that a refinement of the original specification (commonly referred to as revised circuit or design) is equivalent to the original specification (commonly referred to as golden circuit or design).
Conventional verification methods utilize Binary Decision Diagrams (BDDs) to represent the logic circuits involved in equivalence relationships. A primary drawback to using BDDs is their exponential memory complexity associated with large complex designs. The exponential memory complexity associated with using BDDs limits its applicability.
Various methods that attempt to address the deficiencies inherent in using BDDs have been presented. (See e.g., J. Jain, R. Mukherjee, and M. Fujita, Advanced Verification Techniques Based on Learning, Proc. 32nd ACM/IEEE DAC, Jun. 1995, 420-26; W. Kunz, HANNIBAL: An Efficient Tool for Logic Verification Based on Recursive Learning, Proc. 1993 IEEE Intl. Conf. On CAD, November 1993, 538-43; Y. Matstunaga, An Efficient Equivalence Checker for Combinatorial Circuits, Proc. 33rd ACM/IEEE DAC, June 1996, 629-34; A. Kuehlmann, F. Krohm, Equivalence Checking Using Cuts and Heaps, Proc. Intl. Conf. Computer-Aided Design, 1997).
These techniques rely on the existence of intermediate functions that occur in the specification and in the implementation of the circuit design. The intermediate functions are utilized as cut points to partition a complex circuit network into a set of smaller and simpler comparisons. In general, there is a correlation between the number of cut points and equivalence checking performance. Therefore, it is preferable to create a golden circuit that is synthesized to have high structural similarity to the revised circuit to increase the possibility of obtaining more cut points. However, the aforementioned techniques fail to address generating golden circuits having a high number of cut points.
Thus, systems and methods for creating a golden circuit having high structural similarity to the revised circuit is desired. Verification systems incorporating synthesis methods that allow it to efficiently determine the architecture of a revised circuit, and subsequently use that knowledge to construct logic networks having an architecture closely resembling the revised circuit is also desired.
The present invention provides a system and corresponding methods for enhancing the capability of verifying functional equivalence of circuits. The system and methods identify and uncover an underlying architecture of a revised circuit, and uses the extracted information to construct logic networks having an architecture that closely resembles the architecture of the revised circuit. The logic networks can be used to create a golden circuit having enhanced similarity to the revised circuit.
For purposes of summarizing the invention, certain aspects, advantages, and novel features of the invention have been described herein. It is to be understood that not necessarily all such advantages may be achieved in accordance with any one particular embodiment of the invention. Thus, the invention may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein.
In one embodiment, a method for modeling a circuit design includes: synthesizing a circuit design to create a first gate-level representation of the circuit design, analyzing a second gate-level representation of the circuit design to learn architecture information; and resynthesizing the first gate-level representation of the circuit design to incorporate the learned architecture information from the second gate-level representation of the circuit design.
In another embodiment, analyzing a second gate-level representation of the circuit design includes: identifying a first subcircuit in a first gate-level representation of the circuit design; identifying a second subcircuit in the second gate-level representation of the circuit design, the second subcircuit corresponding to the first subcircuit; and calculating a similarity between the first subcircuit and the second subcircuit.
In still another embodiment, a computer-readable storage medium has stored thereon computer instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to: synthesize a circuit design to create a first gate-level representation of the circuit design; analyze a second gate-level representation of the circuit design to learn architecture information; and resynthesize the first gate-level representation of the circuit design to incorporate the learned architecture information from the second gate-level representation of the circuit design.
In yet another embodiment, a computer-readable storage medium has stored thereon computer instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to: identify a first subcircuit in a first gate-level representation of a circuit design; identify a second subcircuit in a second gate-level representation of the circuit design, the second subcircuit corresponding to the first subcircuit; and calculate a similarity between the first subcircuit and the second subcircuit.
A technical advantage of the present invention includes providing a design verification system and method that synthesizes a circuit design to create a first gate-level representation of the circuit design. The design verification system then extracts logic network information from a second representation of a circuit design. The extracted information is then used to resynthesize the first representation of the circuit design. Thus, the first representation is created to have logic network architecture and structure that is similar to that contained in the first representation. The similar logic architecture and structure provides increased efficiency in performing functional equivalence verification between the first and second representation of the circuit design.
These and other embodiments of the present invention will also become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the embodiments having reference to the attached figures, the invention not being limited to any particular embodiment(s) disclosed.

Similarity-driven synthesis for equivalence checking of complex designs


A radar camouflage material for reducing the radar back-scatter cross section of a target object including a thin layer or foil of dielectric material provided with a plurality of individual antenna elements of the minimum-scatter antenna type, preferably ring antennas, which are loaded purely reactively.

The present invention relates to a radar camouflage material for reducing the radar back-scatter cross-section of a target object.
Radar camouflage materials are intended to protect a target object, e.g. an airplane, against detection by enemy radar or at least to make detection more difficult. Known and used for this purpose are, for example, lossy dielectric materials of various types. The major problem with such known camouflage materials is that the layers of dielectric materials required for effective camouflage are too thick to be suitable as a camouflage for aircraft.
European Patent No. 0,121,655.A2, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,581,284, discloses a composite fiber material in which, for example, soot or iron powder is embedded in such a manner that absorption of radar beams is possible. Since this material can be employed only wherever the manufacturing process includes structural aircraft components made of composite fiber materials, this material does not offer an actual solution for the problem of camouflaging metal parts.
The periodical "The Radio and Electronic Engineer", Volume 51, 1981, pages 209-218, describes a method in which hexagonal ferrites are used in camouflage layers. This produces a greater attenuation loss for the radar waves over a greater frequency range than is the case if only lossy dielectric materials are employed. Additionally, camouflage materials containing ferrites are usually thinner. In this case, a plurality of ferrite material layers are arranged one on top of the other to produce the appropriate attenuation bandwidth. This requires an expensive manufacturing process which primarily makes repairs of damaged aircraft parts more difficult.
European Patent No. 0,104,536.A2, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,684,952, discloses a method in which an antenna is constructed according to the so-called microstrip technology. This antenna is composed of a plurality of metal foil patches applied to a dielectric material to form an array. By interconnecting the antenna elements with lossy loads, the electromagnetic radiation incident on the array is partially absorbed. This causes the array to camouflage the covered surface.


A partition assembly is mountable within the cargo area of a vehicle, for example by being vertically slidable at opposing ends into vertical channels formed in opposing side walls of a truck box and the like. The partition assembly includes a first partition member and a second partition member which are coupled to one another by interlocking connection of the respective bodies forming the partition members such that an overall length of the partition assembly is adjustable.

One common type of vehicle having a cargo area is a truck having a truck box at a rear end of the vehicle which is defined between two opposing side walls and which is enclosed at a rear end by a tailgate. When carrying smaller cargo, it is known to be desirable to provide a partition in the cargo area to limit the movement of the goods being transported in the cargo area.
Various examples of partition assemblies are disclosed in the following U.S. patents: U.S. Pat. No. 560,893 by Conant; U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,993 by Wayne; U.S. Pat. No. 5,720,507 by Emery; U.S. Pat. No. 6,478,356 by Wayne; U.S. Pat. No. 6,626,624 by Kopperud; U.S. Pat. No. 6,688,821 by Snyder; U.S. Pat. No. 6,871,895 by Kiester et al; and Des. 336,062 by Austin. The prior art designs are either limited to a fixed length which cannot be adapted to different vehicle types, or provided an adjustment mechanism which is complex and thus unnecessarily costly to manufacture or purchase.

Partition assembly for a vehicular cargo area


The present invention provides a high voltage metal-oxide-semiconductor transistor device including a substrate, a deep well, and a doped region. The substrate and the doped region have a first conductive type, and the substrate has at least one electric field concentration region. The deep well has a second conductive type different from the first conductive type. The deep well is disposed in the substrate, and the doped region is disposed in the deep well. The doping concentrations of the doped region and the deep well in the electric field have a first ratio, and the doping concentrations of the doped region and the deep well outside the electric field have a second ratio. The first ratio is greater than the second ratio.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high voltage metal-oxide-semiconductor (HV MOS) transistor device and a method of fabricating the same, and more particularly, to an M-type HV MOS transistor device and a method of fabricating the same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
High voltage metal-oxide-semiconductor (HV MOS) transistor devices have been broadly utilized in CPU power supplies, power management systems, AC/DC converters, LCD/plasma TV drivers, automobile electronic components, PC peripheral devices, small DC motor controllers, and other consumer electronic devices due to being capable of enduring the high voltage provided by the electrical power system and having switching characterize together.
The HV MOS transistor device of the prior art is a circular device. A top view of the drain of the HV MOS transistor device is a circular pattern, and a top view of the source of the HV MOS transistor device is a circular ring-shaped pattern that surrounds the drain and has the same center of the circular pattern. Also, the drain of the HV MOS transistor device generally is electrically connected to a high voltage end of a power source, such as over 800 volts, so a voltage endurance structure is disposed between the drain and the source to raise a breakdown voltage of the HV MOS transistor device, and the HV MOS transistor device can operate normally under high voltage environment.
Since the channel width of the circular HV MOS transistor device is determined by a circumference of a ring region between the source and the drain, if the increase of the turn-on current of the HV MOS transistor device is required, the radius of the circular HV MOS transistor device should be increased accordingly, but the area of the circular HV MOS transistor device is also widely increased. For this reason, track race HV MOS transistor devices and M-type HV MOS transistor devices have been developed to increase the turn-on current of the HV MOS transistor device and minimize the area of the HV MOS transistor device together.
However, the breakdown voltage of the M-type HV MOS transistor device is smaller than the breakdown voltage of the circular HV MOS transistor device. When the circular HV MOS transistor device, the track race HV MOS transistor device and the M-type HV MOS transistor device are integrated in a same integrated circuit chip together, the breakdown voltage of the chip is limited by the breakdown voltage of the M-type HV MOS transistor device so as to reduce voltage endurance ability of the whole chip.
As a result, to raise the breakdown voltage of the M-type HV MOS transistor device and simultaneously to optimize the breakdown voltage of the chip integrated with the M-type HV MOS transistor device and the circular HV MOS transistor device is objective in this field.

High voltage metal-oxide-semiconductor transistor device and method of fabricating the same


The present invention provides a method for Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) resource allocation in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, including: a system side setting different SRS transmission periods to correspond to different cycle shifts, and during the process of allocating SRS resources for user equipment (UE), setting a cycle shift adopted by the UE according to the SRS transmission period adopted by the UE. The method and apparatus of the present invention realize simple and effective SRS resource multiplexing with high utilization ratio among UEs with different periods.

In the Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) may be used to perform LTE uplink scheduling, synchronization and power control, so SRS plays an important role in the LTE system. The minimum bandwidth for SRS resource allocation is four RBs (Resource Blocks), each of which is composed of 12 subcarriers on the frequency domain, and the total number of RBs of SRS bandwidth resources is determined collectively by system bandwidth, the bandwidth occupied by a PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel) and the bandwidth occupied by a PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel). It is regulated in the LTE protocol that the SRS signal can only be transmitted in the last symbol of the uplink conventional subframe, and as for TDD (Time Division Duplexing), if the UpPTS (Uplink Pilot Time Slot) have two symbols, then the SRS signal can be transmitted in two symbols therein at most. The SRS resources have a Tree structure in the frequency domain so as to indicate the resources that can be allocated. Such a tree structure is divided into four layers (B0, B1, B2, B3), the bandwidth of the node on each layer is a multiple of four RBs, and each parent node is a multiple of its child node, and the multiple is the number of child nodes contained by the parent node. As shown in FIG. 1, one parent node of layer B0 corresponds to two child nodes of layer B1, each child node of layer B1 also corresponds to two child nodes of layer B2 as a parent node, and each child node of layer B2 further corresponds to three child nodes of layer B3 as a parent node (how many child nodes a parent node includes is determined by the SRS bandwidth configuration of the cell), and the bandwidth values of all nodes in the same layer are the same, the root node, i.e. the first layer (layer B0 in the figure) is the SRS bandwidth of the whole system, and the node bandwidth granularity of the last layer is four RBs.
The SRS sequence is mapped to the subcarrier of the corresponding bandwidth by adopting a Comb structure (i.e. the SRS sequences are either all mapped to odd-number subcarriers, or all mapped to even-number subcarriers, thus forming a Comb structure). As the subcarrier of RB0 shown in FIG. 1, the black positions represent even-number subcarriers, while the white positions represent odd-number subcarriers. One SRS tree can be divided into an odd tree (composed of all subcarriers at white positions in the SRS tree in FIG. 1) and an even tree (composed of all subcarriers at black positions in the SRS tree in FIG. 1) by this Comb structure. The starting position of the SRS sequence of the UE on the odd tree in the frequency domain is an odd-number subcarrier, and the whole sequence is only distributed on odd-number subcarriers; the starting position of the SRS sequence of the UE on the even tree in the frequency domain is an even-number subcarrier, and the whole sequence is only distributed on even-number subcarriers. Therefore, the length of the SRS sequence of the UE is half of the number of all subcarriers within the allocated SRS bandwidth. The continuous length of bandwidth in each layer (B0, B1, B2, B3) in FIG. 1 can be considered as one node, for example, the SRS odd tree corresponding to layer B0 has only one node (meanwhile the even tree also has one node), and the SRS odd tree corresponding to layer B1 has only two nodes, and so forth.
It is regulated in the LTE protocol that the SRS transmission period of the UE has eight types, which are {2,5,10,20,40,80,160,32} specifically, with the unit of ms. The cell specialized subframe offset under the corresponding cell specialized subframe configuration period is the subframe that can be used by the UE of the cell for transmitting SRS. Since the SRS bandwidth resources are limited and the SRS bandwidth of the whole system cannot be allocated to each UE, in order that the base station obtains the channel information of the frequency band that is not allocated to the UE, it is allowed in the LTE protocol that the UE obtains the channel information of other frequency bands by means of frequency hopping. Of course, the UE can also adopt non-frequency hopping manners. Each UE is configured with one frequency hopping bandwidth, and whether the UE performs frequency hopping on the SRS bandwidth of the whole cell or on part of the bandwidth or UE doesn't perform frequency hopping is determined according to the configured frequency hopping bandwidth and the size of bandwidth for the UE transmitting the SRS.
According to the above various usable technical conditions, the SRS resource allocation may be implemented in many different manners, and meanwhile due to the influence of tree structure, frequency hopping and different SRS transmission periods and so on, SRS resource allocation also has many limitations. For example, as for the odd tree of the SRS tree, the premise that its parent tree can be allocated to the UE is that none of its all child nodes has been allocated yet, that is, as long as any one of the child nodes of the parent node has been allocated, this parent node cannot be allocated as a whole, but its child nodes, as a whole, are allocated to a UE with the same bandwidth as that of the child nodes; as for the odd tree of the SRS tree, if UEs with various SRS transmission periods are included, the frequency hopping of each UE will not be synchronous due to different periods, which will lead to overlapping of bandwidths for different UEs transmitting SRS, thus causing interference. If UEs with different periods are transmitted on different subframe offsets, since there are various UE SRS period configurations, and the available subframe offsets are not sufficient, and more importantly there are too many configuration types of subframe offsets, the resource multiplexing process of SRS will be very complicated; likewise, there also exists the same problem for the even tree of the SRS tree.

Method and apparatus for sounding reference signal resource allocation in long term evolution system


A centrifugal fluid machine such as a pump or compressor has a diffuser with fixed vane geometry which provides significantly increased range, as compared to conventional fixed geometry diffusers, by developing what appear to be flow accelerating stall bubbles in the diffuser throat that forestall the onset of surge in the portion of the operating range near and approaching the surge point. The stall bubbles are created by fixing the suction sides of the vanes, relative to the flow impinging upon their leading edges at angles slightly more radial than is conventional, thereby creating higher than normal angles of incidence with the flow delivered by the impeller.

It is known in the art relating to fixed geometry mixed and radial flow dynamic gas compressors, generally referred to as centrifugal compressors, that the differential pressure, or pressure ratio, across a compressor, the efficiency and the operating flow range as a percentage of the maximum or choke flow are determined in part by the type and geometry of the diffuser used in the assembly. In general, so called vaneless diffusers provide the highest operating range but the lowest maximum pressure ratio and efficiency. Diffusers with special air foil shaped vanes improve the maximum pressure ratio and efficiency with some reduction in the operating range. Finally, diffusers with generally wedge shaped straight sided blades, referred to as the straight island type, generally provide the highest pressure ratio and efficiency at the expense of still further reduction in the operating range.
Mechanically variable geometry diffusers for centrifugal compressors have been considered in the past to provide a wide operating range. Variable geometry is achieved by pivoting the diffuser vanes to match the exit angle of the flow from the impeller and by adjusting the mechanical diffuser throat area. These adjustments permit greater flow under choke conditions while reducing the flow at which surge occurs. Choke flow is increased by causing the diffuser throat area to be larger at this condition. The flow rate at which surge occurs is reduced when the diffuser throat area is reduced by pivoting the diffuser vanes to match the more tangential exit flow angle from the impeller at the lower flow conditions.
There are two major drawbacks to a mechanically variable geometry system. First, a control system is required to move and fix the positions of the diffuser vanes under the various operating conditions. Second, it is difficult to seal the edges of the movable diffuser vanes which is necessary to avoid a loss in efficiency.
In general, the statements in this section relating to centrifugal compressors are believed to be also applicable to centrifugal pumps, except that the term "surge" should be replaced by "instability" when referring to pumps. As used in the title and hereafter in the specification and claims.
The terms "compressor/pump" and fluid machine are interchangeably is used to designate that class of machines of similar design which when used to pump and compress so-called "compressible fluids" such as gases is generally referred to as a compressor and when used with so-called "incompressible fluids" such as liquids is generally referred to as a pump,
The term "surge/instability" is used to designate that condition of compressor/pump machines which results in significant and rapid changes in flow and/or pressure of working fluid in the machine and occurs near the points of minimum stable through flow of fluid obtainable under the particular speed and pressure conditions, and
The term "fluid" is intended to refer to a gas or compressible fluid when considered in relation to the operation of a compressor and to a liquid or incompressible fluid when considered in relation to the operation of a pump.

Centrifugal compressor/pump with fluid dynamically variable geometry diffuser


A system and method for selecting a training data set from a set of multidimensional geophysical input data samples for training a model to predict target data. The input data may be data sets produced by a pulsed neutron logging tool at multiple depth points in a cases well. Target data may be responses of an open hole logging tool. The input data is divided into clusters. Actual target data from the training well is linked to the clusters. The linked clusters are analyzed for variance, etc. and fuzzy inference is used to select a portion of each cluster to include in a training set. The reduced set is used to train a model, such as an artificial neural network. The trained model may then be used to produce synthetic open hole logs in response to inputs of cased hole log data.

In the oil and gas industry today, there are several conditions that drive the need for non-traditional methods for obtaining open hole logging data. As a result, oil and gas companies are more inclined to explore such non-traditional methods for obtaining open hole logging data to help in their decision making processes. The use of cased hole logging data, in particular pulsed neutron data to generate pseudo or artificial open hole triple combo log information is one approach which has been tried.
One of the conditions is simple economics. Every operation carried out in a borehole takes time, which translates directly to increased cost of drilling the well. Therefore, if a logging operation in the well, e.g. an open hole log, can be avoided, it reduces the cost of drilling the well. If the same data can be obtained from another operation, e.g. a cased hole pulsed neutron log, then the actual open hole log can be skipped, saving time and money.
Adverse drilling conditions often make open hole logging expensive, risky or essentially impossible. Such conditions include extreme wash outs, shale bridges, caving, etc. These conditions may make it physically impossible to run an open hole logging tool in the hole. If the tool can be run, the conditions may prevent collection of useful data in at least portions of the well.
Modern drilling techniques may make open hole logging risky or impossible. For example highly deviated wells may have high rates of turn or high angles which make it difficult or impossible to run an open hole tool. Some companies use slim holes, e.g. 3.5 inch diameter wells, which are too small for available open hole logging tools. However, pulsed neutron logging tools are available for running in such wells after they are cased.
As a result of these conditions, efforts have been made to produce synthetic or artificial open hole type logs from real data taken by pulsed neutron logging tools. However, various difficulties have been encountered in developing the predictive tools or models which are used to create such synthetic logs. For this approach to be successful, the models must produce accurate synthetic logs which can be relied on.
Various predictive tools have been used in processing geological logging data for many years. A field data based predictive model usually takes selected measurements of specific logging tools as inputs and produces predicted outputs using either a deterministic function or an empirical function generated from a training process. As a typical predictive framework, the artificial neural network (ANN) has received special interest and demonstrates increased use in petrophysical applications. To build an ANN model, data are selected from well logs, trained with optimization algorithms, and tested in different wells for validation. In the course of this process, data selection not only produces the greatest impact on the scope and applicability of the model, but also affects its accuracy and generalization performance. This is especially true if a single model for the field/reservoir is desired, and the data for all training wells and testing wells need to be normalized to a "field histogram". Since the uncertainty induced by different environmental factors and/or systematic errors may somehow corrupt the field data integration and pre-processing, special attention and treatment should be given to training-data selection.
The training-data selection is more heuristic than systematic in most neural network applications. One of the common heuristic approaches is to use a predetermined data percentage to randomly select the training, validation and testing data sets, which may cause the training results to be sensitive to the specific data splitting, especially if only single well data is available. For multiple-well training-data selection, it is quite often the case to define a resampling strategy to remove a certain amount of data in each individual well, and make the combined data set fall within a specific size limit. This procedure allows the use of some powerful, but memory-constrained training algorithms (Levenberg-Marquardt-based algorithms, for example). Otherwise, some sub-optimal training algorithms (gradient-descent-based algorithms) must be used with sacrificed training accuracy. However, as discussed above, decision-making is difficult in determining the resampling strategy without a deep understanding of the nature of the multiple well data. Evenly scattered interval sampling (systematic sampling with respect to depth) with reduced density may remove some redundant data, but may also remove some useful information at the same time such as thin bed data.
There is a tendency today to integrate ANN technology with other data mining and artificial intelligence technologies for predictive model development. The advantages of using integrated technologies include enhanced predictability of the data, improved interpretability of the results, and extended applicability of the model. However, its trade-off with processing complexity should also be considered.
It would be desirable to have ways (1) remove faulty, redundant and insignificant data, (2) detect inconsistent data, (3) have the ability to "add", i.e., duplicate samples in key target zones.

Neural network training data selection using memory reduced cluster analysis for field model development


A retractable door system for returning to a nearly closed position a door that has been opened having: a catch knob secured to a doorframe; a housing secured to a door; a retractable cord anchored within the housing at one end and having means for attaching to the catch knob at an opposite end; and a cord retracting means located within the housing for retracting the cord within the housing. The retractable door system may optionally further have a pad on the portion of the housing contacting a doorframe when the door is placed in a nearly closed position or a pad on the portion of the housing contacting a door or means for adjusting the tension of the retractable cord.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a retractable door system for use in connection with returning to a nearly closed position a door that has been opened. The retractable door system of the present invention has particular utility in connection with permitting small animals to pass through a doorway.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of retractable door and tethering systems are known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,566 to Daniels discloses portable tethering system centered around a retractable leash cartridge. The disclosure of Daniels however, fails to disclose a tethering system for attachment to a door for indoor use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,937,478 to Regnier discloses a ratcheted based system for closing sliding glass doors. Although the device of the Regnier patent discloses a system for closing a door, it cannot provide means for leaving that door partially open to permit pet traffic there through.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,675,938 to Bundschuh discloses an automatic retraction device for panels such as windows or doors. Although the device of the Bundschuh patent discloses a system for closing a door or window, it cannot provide means for leaving that door partially open to permit pet traffic there through.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,332,638 to Jessup et al. discloses a retractor device for doors with a brake. Although the device of the Jessup patent discloses a system for gently closing a door, it cannot provide means for leaving that door partially open to permit pet traffic there through.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,480,227 to Matthews discloses retractor device for doors with a compensating brake. Although the device of the Matthews patent discloses a system for closing a door, it cannot provide means for leaving that door partially open to permit pet traffic there through.
Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 296,758 to Ogawa et at disclose a sliding door closure. Although the device of the Ogawa patent discloses a system for closing a door, it cannot provide means for leaving that door partially open to permit pet traffic there through.
While the above-described devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a retractable door system that is placed over a conventional door and attaches to a doorframe allowing for the door to remain nearly closed but also allowing for pet traffic. The prior art of Daniels makes no provision for a etractable system that attaches to a door to control pet traffic. The prior art of Regnier, Bundschuh, Jessup et at, Matthews, and Ogawa et at each make no provision for leaving a door partially open to permit pet traffic through the door.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved retractable door system, which can be used to pet traffic while retaining the privacy of a closed door. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need. In this respect, the retractable door system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of allowing pet traffic but also retaining the privacy of a nearly closed door for the pet owner.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of retractable door system present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved, and overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved retractable door system which has all the advantages of the prior art mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a nearly closing an open door which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by the prior art, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the retractable door system present invention essentially comprises: a catch knob; a housing; a retractable cord anchored within the housing at one end and having means for attaching to the catch knob at an opposite end; and a cord retracting means located within the housing for retracting the cord within the housing thereby pulling nearly closed an open door.
The housing unit preferably comprises a circular unit for housing the cord retracting means and two rectangular extensions that hold the housing securely to a door and prevent the door from closing completely. The cord retracting means is preferably a spring-loaded roller. The retractable cord is preferably a waxed nylon cord. The catch knob is preferably a nail, hook or plastic molded projection. The catch knob is preferably secured to a doorframe by an adhesive, glue, nail or screw. The means for attaching the cord to the catch knob is preferably a plastic loop that fits securely over the catch knob.
In a second embodiment, the retractable door system may optionally further comprise a pad on the portion of the housing contacting a doorframe when the door is placed in a nearly closed position or a pad on the portion of the housing contacting a door.
In a third embodiment, the retractable door system may optionally further comprise means for adjusting the tension of the retractable cord. Preferably, the means for adjusting the tension of the retractable cord is a wing nut, where the housing unit comprises means for securing the wing nut, such as a threaded portion.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated.
The invention may also include variations of the retractable door system such as different shapes, sizes and colors of the housing, cord and knob, different lengths and types of cords, knobs and housings of different materials. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In this respect, before explaining the current embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved retractable door system that has all of the advantages of the prior art retractable door systems and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved retractable door system, which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
It is further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved retractable door system, which is of a durable and reliable construction.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved retractable door system, which is susceptible of a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such retractable door system economically available to the buying public.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a retractable door system, which provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith.
Even still another object of the present invention is to provide a retractable door system that permits opening a door a few inches to let small animals pass through a doorway while returning the door to a very nearly closed position.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a retractable door system that permits pet traffic but also retains the privacy of a nearly closed door.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a retractable door system the permits pet traffic without disturbing the pet owner.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a retractable door system that is adjustable and easily removable when not needed.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a retractable door system that will fit on any conventional door and doorframe.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a retractable door system that allows hallway doors to become passable for an animal while hiding food, water bowls, litter boxes, or the like from view.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a retractable door system that may work for heavy or lightweight doors.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a retractable door system in numerous color, size, and shape variations to match any household decor or doorframe size and shape.
Still even another object of the present invention is to provide a retractable door system for use by parents of small children that tend to leave doors open.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty that characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.


Techniques for improving the visualization of content with a mixed reality (MR) device are described. One techniques includes monitoring a gaze of a user of a MR device through one or more displays of the MR device. A convergence distance of the gaze of the user is determined based on the monitoring. A selection between a first projection mode and a second projection to display content on the one or more displays is made based on whether the convergence distance exceeds a threshold distance from the user. Content is displayed on the one or more displays, based on the selection.

The present invention generally relates to mixed reality (MR)-capable devices, and more specifically, to techniques for improving visualization of content using a MR-capable device.
MR generally refers to the merging of a real-world environment and a virtual-world environment to produce new environments and visualizations for a user. MR can include anything on the continuum between the physical world and the virtual world. For example, MR can include augmented reality (AR), which involves superimposing computer generated imagery on a user's view of the real-world environment. AR can be used to provide operational information, gameplay experience, information overlays, etc., for shopping, navigational purposes, games, educational purposes, and the like. MR can also include virtual reality (VR), which involves isolating a user from their real-world environment by replacing the natural field-of-view of the real-world environment with virtual imagery.

Gaze dependent ocular mode controller for mixed reality


A method in a mobile communications apparatus, the mobile communications apparatus operable to communicate with a wireless communications network using a plurality of frequency bands, the mobile communications apparatus being capable of performing a measurement of one frequency band while using another or the same frequency band, the method comprising sending a measurement capability message to the wireless communications network, the measurement capability message including an information element designating the requirement for compressed mode for more than one of a plurality of combinations of a particular frequency band being used when another or the same frequency band is measured.

This application relates to telecommunications systems in general, having for example application in UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System). In particular, this application relates to a method in a mobile communications apparatus, a computer program product, and a wireless communications network.
In a typical cellular radio system, a mobile communications apparatus communicates via a radio access network (RAN) to one or more core networks. The mobile communications apparatus or User Equipment (UE) comprises various types of equipment such as mobile telephones (also known as cellular or cell phones), laptops with wireless communication capability, personal digital assistants (PDAs) etc. These may be portable, hand held, pocket sized, installed in a vehicle etc and communicate voice and/or data signals with the radio access network.
In the following, reference will be made to UMTS and to particular standards. However it should be understood that this disclosure is not intended to be limited to any particular mobile telecommunications system or standard.
UMTS is a third generation public land mobile telecommunication system. Various standardization bodies are known to publish and set standards for UMTS, each in their respective areas of competence. For instance, the 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) has been known to publish and set standards for UMTS based upon GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), and the 3GPP2 (Third Generation Partnership Project 2) has been known to publish and set standards for UMTS based upon CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access). Within the scope of a particular standardization body, specific partners publish and set standards in their respective areas.

Method and apparatus for managing communication of compressed mode capabilities


The present application provides a method for determining fast charge performance of a negative electrode plate and a method for designing a negative electrode plate. By utilizing the method(s) according to the present application, the charging speed of a negative electrode plate can be quickly evaluated and the design period of a negative electrode plate in a fast charge battery can be greatly shortened.

In contrast to traditional fuel vehicles, electric vehicles have a long charging time as one of the biggest disadvantages. Usually, an electric vehicle has a charging time of more than ten hours, which severely limits the application of electric vehicles. As a result, in the development of electric vehicles to overtake and replace traditional fuel vehicles, one of the key technical problems to be overcome is how to increase charging speed. Low charging speed is also an important indicator that affects user experience.
In a particular power battery system, a key factor in determining charging speed is negative electrode plate. However, fast charge performance of a negative electrode plate is affected by many technical parameters that interact with each other and restrict each other. In consequence, in order to obtain a negative electrode plate that matches with a specific power battery system, battery designers often spend a lot of time adjusting various technical parameters of negative electrode plate and repeatedly performing experiments to verify the effects. This leads to a long battery designing and development cycle, especially for custom batteries with special requirements for fast charge speed.
Therefore, an urgent problem in the art is how to quickly design a negative electrode plate in a fast charge battery.

Method for determining fast charge performance of a negative electrode plate and method for designing a negative electrode plate

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited


A cremation vase that has the form of a splendid flower vase. It comprises a tubular body defining the lower portion of the vase and a neck merging into the uppermost portion of the tubular body. The tubular body has an inner top portion and a sealable inner cover in recess at the lowermost portion of the tubular body and thereby the tubular body defines a first compartment. The neck is narrow at its uppermost portion and is bulging throughout its lowermost portion to merge into the uppermost portion of the tubular body, as to define a continuous exterior wall from the top of the neck to the lowermost portion of the tubular body. The neck provides an open compartment separated from the first compartment.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to cremation vases and to the method of making the same. This invention is particularly directed to a lively cremation vase having the form of a splendid flower recipient.
2. Description of Related Art
Cremation urns are well known and have been described for instance in U.S. Pat. No. 2,009,724, dated July 30, 1935, as invented by BIRCHER, for a receptacle comprising 2 parts having abutting edges, the edges being grooved to receive a sealing strip; U.S. Pat. No. 3,167,844, dated Feb. 2, 1965, as invented by BACHOFNER and U.S. Pat. No. 4,199,848, dated April 29, 1980, as invented by KOHNERT, both directed to book urns; U.S. Pat. No. 4,324,026, dated Apr. 13, 1982, as invented by CRAFT, directed to urns comprising a drawer; and U.S. design 85,087 of Sept. 15, 1931, as invented by CLARK for a combined urn and memorial tablet. At present, the manufacturers of cremation vases produce marble urns, decorated with bronze medallions. All these are sinister urns, bringing a deadly or fatal connotation.


An object is to provide a slice management system capable of assigning slices to a plurality of business operators. In a parent SMF 100, a slice management table 103 can manage resources of a slice managed by a child SMF 100a or the like, and a communication unit 101 can notify the child SMF 100a or the like of the resources. The child SMF 100a or the like receives the resources and stores the resources in the slice management table 106. Therefore, the child SMF 100a or the like can manage the resources of the slice managed by the child SMF 100a or the like, and the child SMF 100a can independently enable the management of the resources.

A network system using a virtualization technology in the related art generates a slice that is a virtual network that is logically generated on a network infrastructure by virtually separating hardware resources using a virtualization technology disclosed in Non-Patent Document 1. A service can be provided using an independent network of the slice by assigning the service to the slice. Thus, when the slice is assigned to each service having various requirements, it is possible to easily satisfy the requirements of each service and to reduce signaling processing or the like.

Slice management system and slice management method


Certain implementations of the disclosed technology may include systems and methods for computing device communications. According to an example implementation of the disclosed technology, a method is provided that can include determining a status and capability of at least one selected computing device, and sending a generated message to the at least one selected computing device. The at least one selected computing device is configured to retrieve content from a source identified by a uniform resource identifier in the message, and the at least one selected computing device is further configured to present the retrieved content.

Computing devices can be utilized in numerous applications for providing convenient access to information and entertainment content. Examples of typical computing devices include smart phones, computer tablets, information appliances, and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Certain forms of computing devices can be used with home entertainment systems, and such devices may provide user-friendly access to music, videos, web surfing, etc. Some of the challenges associated with information devices include setup, security, content management and content delivery in a way that is convenient for the end user.

Systems and methods for computing device communications


In certain embodiments, an imaging device includes an image sensor that includes a detector array. The detector array includes a plurality of detectors operable to receive a charge generated by light. The detector array also includes a plurality of detector sub-arrays each including one or more of the plurality of detectors. The one or more detectors of each detector sub-array are in a time delay and integration (TDI) configuration. The image sensor of the imaging device is operable to, for each of the plurality of detector sub-arrays of the detector array, generate an image signal corresponding to a scan of an object.

Conventional techniques for generating an image of an object generally rely solely on mechanical and chemical processes. For example, a conventional camera may include a lens that focuses light generated and/or reflected by an object on film, and the film, through a chemical reaction on the surface of the film, records the pattern of light striking the film. The film then can be processed to generate an image of the object. In recent years, electronic imaging sensors, such as charge couple devices (CCDs), have provided an alternative technique for generating an image of an object. For example, a digital camera may include a lens that focuses light generated and/or reflected by an object on an electronic image sensor (rather than film), and the electronic image sensor records the pattern of light striking the sensor by generating a pattern of charges corresponding to the pattern of light striking the sensor.
Imaging techniques using electronic imaging sensors may be advantageous over certain conventional techniques for a number of reasons, including the elimination of the need to process and replace film. In certain applications, these advantages may be particularly important. For example, electronic imaging sensors may allow Earth-orbiting satellites to have on-board cameras for generating images of earth, an application that may be difficult or impossible using conventional imaging techniques (as there would be great difficulty in processing and replacing film for a camera on-board an Earth-orbiting satellite).

Image device having a plurality of detectors in a time delay and integration (TDI) configuration and associated method


Physiologically active substances are immobilized on an inorganic support, by treating the inorganic support with an aminoalkylakoxysilane having the general formula EQU (RO).sub.3 SiCH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 NH(CH.sub.2).sub.n NH.sub.2. wherein, R is an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, and n is an integer having a value of 5 to 12, and chemically bonding a physiologically active substance by means of an amino group to the support.

The present invention relates to a method for the immobilization or fixation of physiologically active substances, more specifically, to the immobilization or fixation of physiologically active substances on inorganic carriers or supports.
With respect to prior methods for the immobilization of physiologically active substances on inorganic carriers or supports, methods are known which afford a more stable immobilization than simple physical adsorption. For example, the prior methods are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,652,761, Japanese Patent Application No. 54-73185 [73,185/79], and Japanese Patent Application No. 60-232090 [232,090/85]. These methods are for the immobilization of physiologically active substances by the procedure of treating the surface of an inorganic support with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane or N-(2-aminoethyl)-3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane, with the amino group as an attachment point.
In order for a physiologically active substance to develop its activity, it is essential that the specific higher order structure encompassing the active center be preserved.
In the immobilization and use of physiologically active substances, higher order structures are altered by immobilization, and the activity is attenuated. Methods according to U.S. Pat. No. 3,652,761 are no exception.

Immobilization of physiologically active substances on an inorganic support


A cable passes over pulleys to precisely control the linear movement of a machine element back and forth along a guideway. The cable path connects multiple pulleys on stationary machine elements to multiple pulleys on the movable machine element, affording mechanical advantage to one driven pulley. A particular arrangement and alignment of the pulleys that pull in one direction with the pulleys that pull in the opposite direction cancel extraneous forces and moments and cause the resultant force to act on the center of gravity of the moving element.

Printed circuit boards have a large number of holes which must be drilled at precise locations to enable mounting of electrical components and to make connections between circuits on different layers. Computer-controlled drilling machines have been developed to permit mass production of circuit boards at high rates. Typically, these drilling machines have a worktable mounted on a base and movable along both axes of a horizontal plane. The printed circuit boards, or workpieces, are mounted in stacks on the worktable. Movement of the worktable in the horizontal plane positions the circuit boards beneath a drill spindle at the precise location where holes are desired. Hole drilling occurs when the spindle moves downward.
Since the diameter of the holes drilled in the circuit boards can be extremely small, on the order of the size of human hairs, and the drilling tools are delicate, it is imperative that movement of the spindle be rapid, precisely controlled and that extraneous forces and moments do not deflect the rotational axis of the spindle from the intended location and direction of the hole. In prior systems, the vertical position of the spindle is controlled by a motor-driven leadscrew.
Several drawbacks are prevalent in these prior systems such as that illustrated in FIG. 1.
The moment of inertia of the leadscrew 1, attached directly to the motor shaft 2, impedes the ability of the motor 3 to accelerate the movable element 11.
Unless the center of gravity 5 of the spindle lies on the leadscrew axis 6, inertial reactions to leadscrew 1 forces produce moments that tend to deflect the spindle rotational axis 7 from the intended location of the hole.
Placing a measurement device for control-system feedback, such as a linear scale, in line with the spindle center of gravity 5 minimizes position errors arising from minute angular deflections of the spindle 4. Because both leadscrew 1 and linear scale cannot occupy the same space, use of a leadscrew 1 forces a design compromise that increases position errors.
The motor 3 is attached to the leadscrew by means of a flexible coupling 8 to prevent minor misalignment of the motor 3 and leadscrew 1 from overloading the motor 3 or leadscrew 1 bearings. This coupling 8 is costly, is subject to fatigue and breakage, and adds to the moment of inertia of the motor load.
A pair 9 of ball thrust bearings that are heavily pre-loaded against each other restrains axial motion of the leadscrew 1. These bearings 9 are costly, add to the motor's frictional load, and become loose near the end of their wear life, allowing uncertainties in the spindle 4 axial position.
The nut housing 10 that moves vertically up and down the leadscrew 1 is attached to the spindle housing 11 by means of thin struts 12 that flex to accommodate minor misalignments of the leadscrew 1 and the spindle's guideway 13. These struts 12 and their means of mounting add to the complexity and cost of the assembly.
Because the amount of misalignment tolerated by the flexible coupling 8 and struts 12 is very small, and because the mountings for the motor 3, the thrust bearings 9 and flexible struts 12 must be carefully aligned to the guideway 13, they permit only very small machining tolerances.
The leadscrew 1 must be ground to very small tolerances to avoid position errors arising from axial play and friction. Looseness of the nut 14 on the leadscrew 1 near the end of its wear life gives rise to uncertainty of spindle axial position during drilling.
The tendency of the nut 14 and its housing 10 to rotate must be resisted by a roller 25 that runs in a slot 26. This roller is costly and subject to wear.
Thus, a need exists for a linear motion-control system in which the inertia load on the motor is less, in which the cost and inertia of flexible couplings can be avoided, in which the cost and wear of guide rollers can be avoided, in which the machining tolerances are less critical, in which a measuring device can be mounted on the spindle rotational axis, and in which position uncertainty does not occur near the end of wear life.


A device for IV therapy and the like has a needle and a hollow catheter for inserting the needle and provided with a tip and a rear end having a first inlet with a membrane for introducing the needle and a second separate needle for connecting a syringe or IV tubing, to prevent a blood backflow when the needle is removed. The device also has a needle tip trap in which the needle tip is trapped when the needle is removed from the catheter.

The present invention relates to devices for IV therapy and the like.
Devices of the above mentioned general type are known in the art. One of the known devices includes a plastic catheter 1, a hollow metal needle 2 with a sharp end, and an air filter 3 as shown in FIGS. 1a, 1b and 1c. In operation after the entire device is placed in the vein and blood appears in the chamber of the air filter 3, the metal needle 2 is removed leaving the catheter 1 in the vein 4. From this moment and until the connection is made with the syringe or IV tubing, the patient's blood is freely flowing from the lumen of the plastic catheter 1 and contaminates the field as shown in FIGS. 1b and 1c. At the same time, accidental stabbing of the operator by a sharp end of the metal needle 2 contaminated with the patient's blood is possible. It is to be understood that this can pose a grave danger for the operator since the patient's blood can contain for example HIV virus.


An optical disk drive reads and/or writes data from/on an optical disk on which a pre-pit has been formed on at least one side edge of a data recording track. The disk drive includes light-emitting element, photodetector section, subtractor and amplifier. The light-emitting element emits a light beam and irradiates the track with the light beam. The photodetector section receives and detects the light beam reflected from the track, thereby generating first and second detection signals, carrying information about shapes of the track at the one and the other side edges thereof, respectively, based on the reflected light beam. The subtractor generates a differential signal representing a difference between the first and second detection signals. The amplifier amplifies the differential signal, output from the subtractor, by a variable amplification factor. The optical disk drive detects the pre-pit in accordance with the amplified differential signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disk drive for reading and/or writing data from/on an optical disk on which pre-pits, representing address information and other types of information, have been formed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, recordable optical disks of various types, including CD-R and CD-RW, have been popularized as storage media for storing computer data or recording music thereon. In the meantime, new types of optical disks with a storage capacity high enough to store video data thereon, e.g., DVD-RAM, DVD-R and DVD-RW, have also been put on the market just lately. Among these new optical disks, the DVD-R and the DVD-RW have disk formats similar to that of a DVD-ROM as a read-only medium so as to be read by a read-only DVD drive relatively easily.
More specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, an optical disk 4 such as a DVD-R has grooves for guiding a light spot during a data read/write operation. Data is written on and along these grooves. These grooves are wobbled at a constant frequency to generate a reference clock signal for use to control the number of revolutions of the disk 4. Also, pre-pits have been formed on land(s) that is/are adjacent to each of those grooves. The xe2x80x9clandxe2x80x9d is a disk area between a pair of grooves. These pre-pits (i.e., so-called xe2x80x9cland pre-pitsxe2x80x9d) are used to correct the phase of a write clock signal during a data write operation, for example. By using these pre-pits that have been formed in advance on the optical disk, the write operation can be performed even more accurately.
Just like the wobble pattern of a groove, each pre-pit that has been formed on a land adjacent to a groove is detected as a differential signal representing a difference between the intensity of light that has been reflected from an outer land and that of light that has been reflected from an inner land. As used herein, the xe2x80x9couter landxe2x80x9d refers to a land that is adjacent to a groove in the radial direction of the disk and closer to the outer periphery of the disk, while the xe2x80x9cinner landxe2x80x9d refers to a land that is adjacent to the same groove in the radial direction of the disk and closer to the inner periphery of the disk. FIG. 2 illustrates a differential signal that has been detected in this manner and converted into an electric signal. As shown in FIG. 2, the differential signal includes a wobble signal component representing wobbling information and a pre-pit signal component corresponding to the pre-pits. A method for detecting the pre-pit signal component is described in Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-195058, for example.
However, the pre-pits to be formed on the disk are sometimes deformed and cannot take their desired shapes depending on the cutting conditions of the disk manufacturing process, for example. Also, a signal representing a pre-pit detected may have its amplitude varied because a read beam spot detected by an optical pickup is likely to have a deformed shape in the disk radial direction, in particular, and because the disk itself is sometimes warped or tilted. Furthermore, if data was already written on a recording track, a signal component representing the written data, which should have been eliminated from a differential signal, might be detected from the differential signal. For these reasons, the pre-pit signal may sometimes be detected inaccurately depending on a particular combination of the disk and the disk drive used.
Accordingly, in an optical disk drive, the circuit section thereof for detecting the pre-pit signal needs to be appropriately adjusted to the individual disk drive/disk combination. Recently, in particular, as the density of the data written on a disk goes on increasing, it becomes more and more difficult to detect the pre-pit signal accurately enough. Thus, an optical disk drive to deal with an optical disk having an even higher storage capacity must detect the pre-pit signal, and generate a sync signal, even more accurately.
In order to overcome the problems described above, an object of the present invention is to provide an optical disk drive that can detect the pre-pit signal even more accurately.
An optical disk drive according to the present invention is used to read and/or write data from/on an optical disk on which a pre-pit has been formed on at least one side edge of a data recording track. The disk drive includes light-emitting element, photodetector section, subtractor and amplifier. The light-emitting element emits a light beam and irradiates the track of the optical disk with the light beam. The photodetector section receives and detects the light beam that has been reflected from the track, thereby generating first and second detection signals based on the reflected light beam. The first and second detection signals carry information about a shape of the track at the one side edge thereof and information about a shape of the track at the other side edge thereof, respectively. The subtractor generates a differential signal representing a difference between the first and second detection signals. The amplifier amplifies the differential signal, which has been output from the subtractor, by a variable amplification factor and outputs an amplified differential signal. The optical disk drive detects the pre-pit in accordance with the amplified differential signal.
In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the optical disk drive further includes a pre-pit detection decision circuit for determining whether or not a signal component of the amplified differential signal representing the pre-pit corresponds to the pre-pit that has been actually formed on the optical disk. The amplification factor is defined for the amplifier in accordance with the output of the pre-pit detection decision circuit.
In this particular preferred embodiment, the optical disk drive preferably further includes a digitizer for digitizing the amplified differential signal and outputting a digital signal representing the pre-pit. The pre-pit detection decision circuit determines whether or not the digital signal corresponds to the pre-pit that has been actually formed on the optical disk.
More particularly, the amplification factor of the amplifier is preferably defined while being changed with a slice level of the digitizer fixed.
In still another preferred embodiment, the amplification factor of the amplifier is defined in accordance with the differential signal representing the difference between the first and second detection signals that have been generated based on the light beam reflected from a part of the track on which no data has been written yet.
In yet another preferred embodiment, the light-emitting element records information representing the defined amplification factor on the optical disk.
In yet another preferred embodiment, the optical disk drive further includes a storage device for storing information representing the defined amplification factor thereon.
In yet another preferred embodiment, the optical disk drive further includes a balance controller for adjusting a balance between the first and second detection signals. The subtractor generates the differential signal representing the difference between the first and second detection signals that have had their balance adjusted.
In this particular preferred embodiment, the optical disk drive further includes a pre-pit detection decision circuit for determining whether or not a signal component of the amplified differential signal, representing the pre-pit, corresponds to the pre-pit that has been actually formed on the optical disk.
More particularly, the optical disk drive preferably further includes a pre-pit detection percentage calculator for calculating a pre-pit detection percentage based on a result obtained by the pre-pit detection decision circuit. The balance controller preferably defines the balance by the pre-pit detection percentage.
In that case, the optical disk drive preferably further includes a digitizer for digitizing the amplified differential signal and outputting a digital signal representing the pre-pit. The pre-pit detection decision circuit preferably determines whether or not the digital signal corresponds to the pre-pit that has been actually formed on the optical disk.
In such a preferred embodiment, the optical disk drive further includes a slice level changer for changing a slice level at the digitizer. The slice level changer preferably defines the slice level in accordance with the pre-pit detection percentage.
More specifically, when predetermined initial values of the balance and the slice level are represented by B0 and S0, respectively, the balance to be defined is preferably estimated by comparing an initial pre-pit detection percentage D (B0) corresponding to the initial balance value B0 with another pre-pit detection percentage D (B1) corresponding to another balance value B1, which is greater or smaller than the initial balance value B0 by a predetermined difference xcex94B, and the slice level to be defined is preferably estimated by comparing another initial pre-pit detection percentage D (S0) corresponding to the initial slice level S0 with another pre-pit detection percentage D (S1) corresponding to another slice level S1, which is greater or smaller than the initial slice level S0 by a predetermined difference xcex94S.
Alternatively, the balance and the slice level may be defined in accordance with the differential signal representing the difference between the first and second detection signals that have been generated based on the light beam reflected from a part of the track on which data has already been written.
As another alternative, the balance and the slice level may also be defined while data is being written on the track of the optical disk.
In yet another preferred embodiment, the light-emitting element records information representing the defined balance and information representing the defined slice level on the optical disk.
In yet another preferred embodiment, the optical disk drive further includes a storage device for storing the defined balance and the defined slice level thereon.
In yet another preferred embodiment, the track of the optical disk has a wobble pattern. The optical disk drive further includes a wobble digitizer for generating a digital signal representing the wobble pattern. And responsive to a pre-pit predicted signal that has been generated in accordance with the output of the wobble digitizer, the pre-pit detection decision circuit determines whether or not the signal component of the differential signal representing the pre-pit corresponds to the pre-pit that has been actually formed on the optical disk.
Other features, elements, processes, steps, characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the attached drawings.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


Hydrotherapy apparatus is described comprising a tank for containing water and having a moving belt above the tank floor for the user to walk upon, the tank having a door which when raised seals the tank and when lowered forms a ramp to enable the user to enter the tank onto the belt.

This invention relates to hydrotherapy apparatus. The apparatus may be designed so as to be suitable for animals such as dogs or may be designed to be suitable for use by humans.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided hydrotherapy apparatus comprising a tank for containing water, the tank having over its floor a belt having a supporting surface to be walked upon, the supporting surface being driveable in the direction of the length of the tank, which has at one end a drop down door which in its raised, closed condition seals the one end of the tank and in its lowered, open position serves as a ramp up which a person or animal can walk into the tank, and means for filling the tank with water up to a selected level when the door is closed.
According to another aspect of the invention there is provided hydrotherapy apparatus comprising a tank for containing water, the tank having over its floor a belt having a supporting surface to be walked upon, the supporting surface being driveable unidirectionally, the belt and its associated driving means being displaceable to a raised position to enable the tank, including the floor thereof, to be cleaned, and means for filling the tank with water up to a selected level.
According to still another aspect of the invention there is provided hydrotherapy apparatus comprising a tank for containing water, the tank having over its floor a belt having a supporting surface to be walked upon, the supporting surface being driveable unidirectionally, the apparatus also comprising a separate storage tank for holding water to be used for pumped transfer of water into and out of the hydrotherapy tank.
In use, the hydrotherapy tank is intended to be entered and the belt drive started so that an animal or human can walk against the direction of movement of the supporting surface, effectively to remain stationary. The effort required to counter the movement of the supporting surface can be varied by filling the tank with water up to a selected level, so that either only the lower parts, or alternatively more, or even the whole of the legs will be submerged and will have to be moved through the water. It is also obvious that the hydrotherapy tank can be used dry.
The water fed into the tank is preferably pre-heated to a convenient temperature, typically near blood temperature.
Water is preferably fed into and out of the hydrotherapy tank through the tank floor beneath the belt, so as to minimise disturbance or distraction to the tank user. The belt, however, is preferably perforated to ease passage of water into and out of the hydrotherapy tank and also to assist in lubrication of the belt.
It is another feature of the invention that, below the belt, the floor is sloped to a water exit point, conveniently at the centre of the floor.
The belt may be a continuously driven belt with upper and lower runs, the upper run being supported by a stationary plate. The plate may be upturned at its side edges to assist in guiding the belt.
Alternatively or additionally the upper run belt may be guided along its longitudinal centre, as by a rib running in a groove in the supporting plate.
The belt tension is preferably adjustable.
When the belt and its driving means is raisable out of the way to facilitate cleaning, the guide means will be raisable with the belt. A preferred means of raising the belt assembly to facilitate cleaning is to swing the assembly upwards about a pivotal mounting at one end of the hydrotherapy tank.
At least one side of the hydrotherapy tank may be transparent to enable a supervisor to watch the movements of the user.
The hydrotherapy tank is preferably made of stainless steel, except for the window or windows, and it may be fitted with wheels or castors having associated braking means.
The hydrotherapy tank may be tillable with water to such a level that the user can swim within the tank against a counter current induced in the water. This current may be induced by jetting water into the tank from one end, allowing a compensatory drainage to take place to maintain the water level substantially constant.
Clearly the hydrotherapy tank will be designed with dimensions to suit its intended use, e.g. by small animals, large animals, or humans.
The water storage tank, also preferably made of stainless steel, is preferably mounted on wheels or castors, so that it can be moved about, for example in an animal hospital, to serve a plurality of hydrotherapy tanks. To this end, the water storage tank may connect to the hydrotherapy tank via flexible hoses when water is to be transferred into or out of the hydrotherapy tank. Suitable braking means is provided for the wheels or castors.
The water storage tank preferably includes a housing for three pumps, one for pumping water into the hydrotherapy tank, one for pumping water out of the hydrotherapy tank, and one for circulating water within the water storage tank. Water within the storage tank is preferably re-circulated via a filter, which may be a sand filter, and a heater which pre-heats the water to be used in the hydrotherapy tank.
The water storage tank may also incorporate a chlorinator and/or ozonator.
A reversing valve associated with the recirculation pump enables backwashing, e.g. to clean the filter.
All valving incorporated into the water storage tank may be electrically operated. For ease of operation of the pumps and valving in the water storage tank a control panel is provided conveniently on the housing for the pumps.


The present invention is a method and system for schematically embedding wire model objects into a schematic design of an integrated circuit. The method includes estimating a wiring routing geometry for each signal path in the circuit, selecting one or more cascading wire model objects (“WMOs”) for each segment in each geometry, and substituting each signal path with the respective one or more WMOs.

Typically, electrical circuits consist of a variety of components, for example, resistors, capacitors, inductors, diodes and transistors. In designing an electrical circuit, the circuit is expected to satisfy certain user-specified requirements. The creation of a complex circuit may involve creation of a topology, component sizing and placement, and also routing of wires that interconnect the circuit's components.
By 'topology' is generally meant the number and type of components (e.g., resistors, transistors, diodes). Topology of a circuit may include a list that may include information about connection that exists, in the schematic sense, between any two particular leads of components. By 'sizing' is meant assigning values to the circuit's components. By 'placement' is meant assignment of each of the circuit's components to a particular physical location on, e.g., a printed circuit board or a silicon wafer. By 'routing' is meant assignment of a particular physical location to the interconnection of wires between the leads of the circuit's components.
The exact physical location of each component and wire may affect the overall behavior of all circuits to some extent because electrical components and wires may have interactions with one another based on their physical location. These interactions, generally called parasitic effects, are generally small and may not be important to the performance of 'simple' circuits operating at relatively low frequencies. In such cases, parasitic effects may simply be factored out. By 'parasitic effect' is meant undesired effect that may be caused by capacitance, resistance, and sometimes inductance, which are introduced by interconnecting wires.
However, parasitic effects may detrimentally affect the performance of a more complex circuit or a circuit operating at relatively high frequencies, for example, at radio frequencies ("RF"). Under such circumstances, it may be impossible to design a practical circuit without factoring in parasitic effects.
Interconnection wirings may affect different circuits in different ways. For example, synchronization is essential for the proper functionality of many digital circuits. However, 'bad' wiring routing may 'force' the circuit out of synchronization, for example it may undesirably affect the propagation time of an electrical signal between circuit's devices along a certain signal path.
With the ongoing miniaturization of semiconductor devices and integrated circuits into the nanometer domain in past years, the problem of parasitic effects becomes more and more important in circuit design. This is due to the fact that at smaller scales, previously unimportant parasitic effects are now magnified. Therefore, when designing microelectronic circuit, a microelectronics engineer has an additional task, which is to find ways to minimize and overcome these effects while always delivering smaller and faster circuits.
In order to minimize and properly handle parasitic effects, they have to be evaluated first. This is done by use of wire model objects, which are sometimes referred to in the field as 'delay models'. Wire model objects are useful for timing analysis, which is required to evaluate the functionality of the designed circuit at high operating frequencies in the schematic level. However, traditional time-wise simulation applications are incapable of automatically generating a full-modeled circuit's schema in which essentially every wire and "via" connection is replaced with a corresponding wire model object ("WMO") and the WMOs are seamlessly 'fitted' into the schematic design of the full custom circuit.
Therefore, a need exist for a method for embedding wire model objects into schematic design of full custom circuits, for allowing comprehensive timing analysis in respect thereof.

Method and system for embedding wire model objects in a circuit schematic design

International Business Machines Corporation


A beverage container includes a flexible inside container and a rigid outside container. The flexible container can retain a liquid and seal the liquid from environmental air, while the surrounding rigid container facilitates handling and pouring in a form factor that reproduces the look and feel of a conventional wine bottle. A one-way valve permits pouring from the flexible container while preventing ingress of atmospheric oxygen or other contaminants. In particular, the one-way valve can be configured to retain a beverage within the flexible container until an exit path for the beverage through the valve is filled with liquid to seal the exit path and effectively eliminate any return path for ingress of air. To create a bottle-like pouring experience, the valve may automatically open to allow for the pouring of fluid when the bottle is tilted, and the valve may automatically close at the end of a pour.

Some beverages such as wine should be consumed shortly after exposure to the atmosphere due to sensitivity to oxidation that can rapidly degrade beverage quality. While there have been numerous attempts to preserve shelf life of such beverages after a first pour, existing techniques such as manual evacuating pumps or needles for resealably piercing a wine cork are generally complex or unsatisfactory, requiring numerous additional handling steps, while still exposing wine to atmospheric oxygen in a manner that can lead to quicker spoliation. Other wine delivery systems similarly offer unsatisfactory, incomplete solutions. For example, a bag-in-a-box form factor is bulky and awkward for use at a dining table. Other techniques such as a bag-in-a-bottle, permit a more natural pouring experience, but permit significant infiltration of air into a wine container during use.
There remains a need for a dispenser system that extends the shelf life of a pourable beverage.

Container for preserving liquid contents


An orthopaedic support includes a sheet of foam material that has been compression molded in specific areas. These areas have a thickness and density that is different from other areas of the support and serve to better fit the support to the body. The support may include compression molded grooves or cavities to accommodate straps, struts, gel-filled pads, inflatable bladders, pumps, and other accessories. The support may be compression molded into a shape that conforms to the general contour of the part of the human anatomy that it supports. The support may also include compression molded grooves that reduce bunching when the support is bent, and may include molded edges to minimize skin irritation during activity.

Orthopaedic supports are typically used to stabilize and protect certain injured parts of the human anatomy. Such supports have often been used on knees, elbows, ankles, wrists, thighs and backs. These supports are intended to reduce strain on the injured body part, thereby allowing the injury to heal. Some supports have included struts and other hardware to help relieve some of the load from the injured part, and to restrict motion.
One such orthopaedic support is constructed as follows. First, the manufacturer cuts a base layer from a sheet of material, such as foam rubber. The manufacturer then sews a variety of pads onto the base layer, which may include buttresses, condylar pads, and popliteal pads. The manufacturer then sews on straps, which are used to secure the support to a limb. The manufacturer may also attach hardware to the support, or may sandwich such hardware between the base layer of material and a pad.
A number of problems arise with this common type of support. The first problem relates to the manufacturing process. To construct such a support, the manufacturer must cut the pads from a piece of material, position those pads onto the base layer, and sew the pads into place. The process of cutting, sewing, and positioning is labor-intensive and can become expensive. If a pad is improperly positioned and sewn, the entire support may need to be discarded as defective. Furthermore, material is wasted when the cutting process produces scrap pieces that must be thrown away.
A second set of problems arises with the support characteristics of this common type of orthopaedic support. First, the typical support stretches in order to roughly conform to the shape of joints and limbs. However, mere stretching cannot allow the support to closely conform to the nuances in the shape of the limb or joint, particularly in the case of knees, elbows and ankles. As a result, areas of the limb or joint are left under-supported or even entirely unsupported.
Another problem arises because the typical support has a base that is of uniform thickness and density, thereby producing uniform circumferential compression. Such compression cannot be increased or decreased to provide more or less support in selected areas of the injured limb or joint, in the absence of supplemental material straps. Consequently, such a support tends to shift position on the limb because there are no regions of high pressure to anchor it. Furthermore, a support having uniform thickness and density may allow the limb to move with equal ease in a variety of directions. Such ease of movement may increase the likelihood that a particular injury such as a patella injury will be aggravated.
A third set of problems arises with respect to the performance of the typical support. One problem is that the support material tends to bunch up whenever the limb is flexed. This bunching tends to interfere with the motion of the limb, is uncomfortable to the user, and may rub or chafe the skin and even bruise the skin. Another problem is that the edges of the typical support are die-cut, thereby exposing the user's skin to potentially allergenic support materials, such as neoprene. The edges tend to be rather rough, causing skin irritation during exercise.
An additional set of problems stems from hardware that may be attached to the typical support. Such hardware may include gel packs, inflatable bladders, pumps, straps, and struts. This hardware tends to protrude from the base of the support and can get caught on other objects. Since the hardware is typically sewn onto the base, the stitches can be ripped from the base and the hardware torn free. A special problem arises with hinged strut mechanisms, which can be twisted out of place so that the hinged strut does not properly guide and support the flexing motion of the joint.