A bus bridge is connected to a first bus and a second bus. In the bus bridge, an arbiter grants ownership of the first bus to one of a plurality of devices connected to the first bus. A detecting unit detects a read cycle initiated by the device on the first bus to read data from a memory which is also accessible by another device connected to the second bus. A first signaling unit sends a first signal to the arbiter, when the data is not yet transferable to the device when the read cycle is detected. A second signaling unit sends a second signal to the arbiter, when the data becomes transferable to the device. The arbiter deprives the device of the ownership of the first bus upon receipt of the first signal, and withholds from granting the ownership to the device until receipt of the second signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bus bridge that relays data between two buses, and in particular relates to a method of arbitrating for ownership of a bus in delayed transactions.
2. Prior Art
A computer system is constituted by a variety of devices including a CPU (Central Processing Unit). In general, these devices are connected to data transfer routes called buses. This being so, bus bridges are typically employed to establish data transfers between buses of different standards and to expand buses. These bus bridges enable a computer system with a plurality of buses to be implemented.
A conventional bus bridge is explained below, by referring to FIG. 11.
(Construction)
FIG. 11 shows a construction of a conventional bus bridge 3, together with two buses 1 and 2 that are connected to the bus bridge 3.
The bus 1 is a VL-Bus (VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) Local Bus). A CPU 12 and a memory 13 are connected to the bus 1.
The bus 2 is a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus. A bus master 8, a bus master 9, and a target 10 are connected to the bus 2. A bus master referred to here is a device that can request ownership (i.e., right of use) of a bus from an arbiter. When the arbiter grants the request, the bus master initiates a bus cycle on the bus to communicate with a target device.
The bus bridge 3 performs delayed transactions in relaying data between the buses 1 and 2. A delayed transaction is a transaction in which a bus bridge issues a retry to a bus cycle initiated on a bus by a bus master rather than completing it immediately, so as to free the bus for other transactions until it becomes ready to provide read data to the bus master or accept write data from the bus master. A specific operation of such a delayed transaction is explained in greater detail later.
The bus bridge 3 is roughly made up of a bus interface 4, a bus interface 5, a buffer 6, and an arbiter 7. An arbiter 11 is connected with the bus bridge 3.
The bus interface 4 operates as an interface to the bus 1.
The bus interface 5 operates as an interface to the bus 2.
The buffer 6 is a memory for temporarily storing read data in delayed transactions.
The arbiter 7 has a function of arbitrating for ownership of the bus 2. The arbiter 7 is connected with the bus master 8 via a request signal line 14 and a grant signal line 15. The arbiter 7 is also connected with the bus master 9 via a request signal line 16 and a grant signal line 17. The arbiter 7 is further connected with the bus interface 5 via a request signal line 18 and a grant signal line 19, within the bus bridge 3. This being so, among the devices connected to the bus 2, the bus master 8, the bus master 9, and the bus interface 5 that are connected with the arbiter 7 can request ownership of the bus 2.
Here, a bus master or a bus interface asserts its request signal line to request ownership of the bus 2, and deasserts the request signal line to withdraw the request.
When two or more devices simultaneously request ownership of the bus 2, the arbiter 7 grants ownership to a device with a highest level of arbitration priority, based on a round-robin priority scheme. Here, the arbiter 7 grants ownership to the device by asserting its grant signal line.
Upon detecting the assertion of the grant signal line, the device acknowledges that ownership has been granted. Hence the device occupies the bus 2 and initiates a bus cycle.
Even if no device requests ownership of the bus 2, the arbiter 7 grants ownership to one of the devices connected to the bus 2 to keep the bus 2 driven, so as to prevent floating of the bus 2. This is called bus parking. Usually, the last device that occupied the bus 2 performs bus parking.
The arbiter 11 has a function of arbitrating for ownership of the bus 1. The arbiter 11 uses the same priority scheme as the arbiter 7. The arbiter 11 is connected with the CPU 12 via a request signal line 22 and a grant signal line 23. The arbiter 11 is also connected with the bus interface 4 via a request signal line 20 and a grant signal line 21. This being so, among the devices connected to the bus 1, the CPU 12 and the bus interface 4 that are connected with the arbiter 11 can request ownership of the bus 1.
(Delayed Transaction)
A delayed transaction performed by the bus bridge 3 is explained below, using an example when the bus master 8 reads data stored in the memory 13.
First, the bus master 8 requests ownership of the bus 2 by asserting the request signal line 14.
Upon detecting the assertion of the request signal line 14, the arbiter 7 performs arbitration. If the arbiter 7 determines the bus master 8 as the owner of the bus 2 as a result of the arbitration, the arbiter 7 asserts the grant signal line 15.
Upon detecting the assertion of the grant signal line 15, the bus master 8 initiates a read cycle to read data stored in the memory 13, on the bus 2.
The bus interface 5 detects an address of the data to be read, during an address phase of the read cycle. The bus interface 5 issues a retry during a data phase of the read cycle. The bus interface 5 also requests the bus interface 4 to initiate a read cycle on the bus 1 to read the data from the detected address.
The bus master 8 receives the retry during the data phase of the read cycle, and responsively deasserts the request signal line 14.
At this time, if another bus master connected to the bus 2 is requesting ownership of the bus 2 by asserting its request signal line, the arbiter 7 deasserts the grant signal line 15 of the bus master 8 and asserts a grant signal line of the other bus master.
If no bus master is requesting ownership of the bus 2, on the other hand, the arbiter 7 keeps the grant signal line 15 of the bus master 8 asserted.
Upon receiving the request to initiate the read cycle from the bus interface 5, the bus interface 4 asserts the request signal line 20. If the arbiter 11 asserts the grant signal line 21 in response, that is, if the arbiter 11 grants ownership of the bus 1 to the bus interface 4, the bus interface 4 immediately initiates the read cycle on the bus 1 to read the data from the memory 13. The read data is stored into the buffer 6.
The bus master 8 reasserts the request signal line 14, a predetermined period after the receipt of the retry. The arbiter 7 responsively performs arbitration. If the arbiter 7 determines the bus master 8 as the owner of the bus 2 as a result of the arbitration, the arbiter 7 asserts the grant signal line 15. Upon detecting the assertion of the grant signal line 15, the bus master 8 reinitiates a read cycle that is the same as before, on the bus 2.
The bus interface 5 detects the read cycle reinitiated by the bus master 8 on the bus 2, and transfers the data stored in the buffer 6 to the bus master 8 via the bus 2 during a data phase of the read cycle.
This is a typical delayed transaction.
In the above delayed transaction, the conventional bus bridge 3 may encounter the following problems.
The bus master 8 reasserts the request signal line 14 the predetermined period after receiving the retry. As a result of arbitration, however, the arbiter 7 may not immediately grant ownership to the bus master 8 but instead grant ownership to another bus master.
Also, even if the arbiter 7 immediately grants ownership to the bus master 8 and the bus master 8 reinitiates the read cycle on the bus 2, the data may not yet be stored in the buffer 6. This occurs when, for instance, a device connected to the bus 1 is occupying the bus 1 and therefore the bus interface 4 cannot obtain ownership of the bus 1 to read the data from the memory 13.
If the data is not stored in the buffer 6, the bus interface 5 issues a retry to the bus master 8 again. Thus, a premature reattempt to read the data by the bus master 8 may be repeated until the data is stored into the buffer 6. This causes significant inefficiency, as another bus master seeking access to the bus 2 cannot use the bus 2 during such vain read cycles performed by the bus master 8.
This problem may be overcome by a delay transaction arbitration technique disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,199,131. According to this technique, an arbiter performs arbitration in the following manner. If a delayed read transaction of a bus master is pending, i.e., if the bus master receives a retry, the arbiter lowers a level of arbitration priority provided to that bus master. Once the delayed read transaction is completed, the arbiter raises the arbitration priority of the bus master to a highest level.
In this way, a bus master which receives a retry in a delayed read transaction is kept from repeatedly reinitiating a read cycle vainly. Also, the bus master can read desired data smoothly.
However, just lowering the level of arbitration priority of the bus master receiving the retry does not completely prevent the occurrence of a vain read cycle. If no other device is requesting ownership when the bus master requests ownership the predetermined period after receiving the retry, the arbiter does not have any choice other than that bus master in determining the owner of the bus. Accordingly, the arbiter grants ownership to the bus master, even when the data is not yet available. This causes the bus master to reinitiate a read cycle in vain.
Besides, if another device requests ownership one clock after the request of the bus master in this circumstance, that device has to wait until the vain read cycle of the bus master ends.
Also, the arbiter raises the arbitration priority of the bus master to the highest level once the data has become available. However, if another device is occupying the bus at this time, the bus master has to wait until that device releases the bus.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


To transmit and receive an instruction of superposing an image on a predetermined position on a display screen of a picked-up image and an instruction of superposing superposition information in the predetermined range of the picked-up image in accordance with a change in the picked-up image in a transmission and reception system including a single communication interface. A reception unit that receives a parameter from a setting apparatus and a superposition unit that selects a first superposition mode for superposing the superposition information on the predetermined position on the display screen of the picked-up image or a second superposition mode for superposing the superposition information on the position on the picked-up image in accordance with the change in the picked-up image in accordance with the received parameter for superposition of the superposition information.

Up to now, a technology for a transmission apparatus to superpose a predetermined superposition image on a predetermined position on a display screen of a picked-up image and transmit the superposition image to a reception apparatus is proposed. For example, an on-screen display (OSD) function or the like where the superposition information is displayed on a fixed position on the display screen of the transmitted picked-up image is proposed.
PTL 1 discloses an image pickup apparatus that, when a casing of a camera is moved in a pan or tilt direction, moves a position of a cursor on the display screen while corresponding to the direction in which the casing is moved.
In addition, up to now, a technology with which the position of the superposition image on the display screen of the transmitted picked-up image is dynamically changed is proposed. For example, a floating OSD function, a masking function, or the like with which the position where the superposition information is displayed is changed in accordance with the position or the like of the predetermined subject in the picked-up image is proposed.
PTL 2 discloses an image pickup apparatus that superposes a mask image so as to keep masking the predetermined subject even in a case where the image pickup direction is changed while the camera is panned or tilted.
Up to now, a communication interface for instructing the transmission apparatus to superpose the image on the predetermined position on the display screen of the picked-up image and a communication interface for instructing the transmission apparatus to superpose the image while the superposition position is changed in accordance with the change in the picked-up image are separately provided.
Therefore, a setting apparatus that includes only one of these communication interfaces can instruct only one of the above-described instructions with respect to the image pickup apparatus.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Transmission apparatus, setting apparatus, transmission method, reception method, and storage medium


Optical systems are described that include a lighting component, a switchable diffuser adjacent the lighting component, and a low-absorbing optical component disposed adjacent the switchable diffuser opposite the lighting component or disposed adjacent the lighting component opposite the switchable diffuser or disposed adjacent the lighting component opposite the display panel. The switchable diffuser is capable of being in either a substantially clear state or in a first hazy state. The low-absorbing optical component provides a collimating effect or a turning effect when the lighting component is illuminated and the switchable diffuser is in the substantially clear state.

Polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) layers can be used as a switchable diffuser in conjunction with louver films to provide a variable viewing angle display. There are, however, several deficiencies with such approaches. For example, PDLC layers have a haze in the clear state that is sufficiently high to be objectionable in many display applications. In addition, louver films absorb a significant portion of the light in a backlight system and this can result in an inefficient display. Accordingly, a need exists for improved variable viewing angle displays.

Optical systems having variable viewing angles


A micro package, a multi-stack micro package, and a manufacture method therefor are provided. A micro package according to the present invention includes a device substrate for mounting a devices, being a circuit module; a protection cap for protecting the device; bonding substances which, formed by patterning on predetermined areas on the device substrate, bond the device substrate and the protection cap; layers formed on a portion of the device substrate and a portion of the protection cap and exterior sides of the bonding substances; vias which are formed by etching away another portion of the protection cap, and electrically connected to an upper surface of the device substrate through the bonding substances; under barrier metals (UBMs) formed on the vias; and solder bumpers, being connection terminals for an external signal, formed on the UBMs. As stated above, the present invention has advantages of guaranteeing the hermetical sealing since the above layers prevent moisture absorption from outside at the same time of lowering possibility of damages to the device inside the package since the processing temperature drops below 150° upon wafer bonding due to the use of the polymer substance as a bonding substance.

1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate to a micro package, a multi-stack micro package and a manufacturing method therefor, and more particularly to a micro package, a multi-stack micro package and a manufacturing method therefor capable of guaranteeing hermitical sealing of a package and preventing damages to inside devices of the package.
2. Description of the Related Art
A today's trend in electronics industries is to manufacture light-weighted, compact, high-speed, multi-function, and high-performance products at low cost together with high reliability. The package assembly technologies are one kind of important technologies enabling the design goal of such products to be achieved. The chip scale package or the chip size package is a new type of package recently developed and proposed, which has many advantages compared to typical plastic packages. The most highlighted advantage of the chip scale package is the package size itself. According to the definition by the international semiconductor associations such as the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC) and the Electronic Industry Association of Japan (ETAJ), the chip scale package has a package size smaller than 1.2 times a chip size.
The chip scale package is mainly used for products requiring compactness and mobility, such as digital camcorders, hand-held phones, notebook computers, memory cards, and so on. A semiconductor device such as a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a micro controller is built in a chip scale package. Further, the chip scale package is being widely used which mounts therein a memory device such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), a flash memory, and so on. Currently, various chip scale packages over 50 types are being developed or have been produced across the world.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view for showing a micro gap wafer-level package disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,376,280. In FIG. 1, the micro gap wafer-level package 10 has a base wafer 12 connected to the micro device 14 being an active device such as an integrated circuit or a passive device such as a sensor. Further, bonding pads 16 and 18, electrically connected to the micro device 14 by conductive leads (not shown), are also associated with the base wafer 12. Around the perimeter of the base wafer 12 is a peripheral pad 20 which may be deposited at the same time as the bonding pads 16 and 18.
A peripheral pad seal, that is, a gasket 22 is extended between a cap wafer 24 and the peripheral pad 20 on the base wafer 12 and is cold weld bonded to the peripheral pad 20 to provide a hermetically sealed volume 25 around the micro device 14. The cap wafer 24 can be made of an electronically non-conductive material or a high-resistivity semiconductor material, such as single crystal silicon. However, the base wafer 12 and the cap wafer 24 are made of the same semiconductor material to avoid thermal expansion mismatch problems.
The cap wafer 24 has through holes 26 and 28 provided therein to allow access to the bonding pads 16 and 18, respectively. Conductors, such as bonding wires 30 and 32 can be respectively wire bonded to the bonding pads 16 and 18 to make the electrical connections to the micro device 14. The gaskets 34 and 36 are bonded to the peripheral pad 20 to form a hermetically sealed volume 25. The hermetically sealed volume 25 encompasses the micro device 14 and the bonding pad gaskets 34 and 36.
However, the micro gap wafer-level package disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,376,280 has a problem of increasing parasitic capacitance and insertion loss due to wire bonding. Further, there exist problems of limitation on chip size reduction due to formation of the pads and damages to the inside of a package due to a process temperature increased over 350° C. Further, there exist problems of lowering productivity and cost increase due to the wire bonding.

Micro-package, multi-stack micro-package, and manufacturing method therefor


A surface formed by grate bars in pasteurizers and the like. The grate bars are movable so as to perform a pilgrim step-like or reciprocating movement. The grate bars are placed on sectional girders. The ends of the grate bars placed on the sectional girders are Z-shaped. Each sectional girder has at its upper end face a groove-shaped recess and an elongated slot-like recess vertically spaced from the groove-shaped recess. The end of each grate bar has an opening for inserting the grate bar into the slot-like recess of the sectional girder. By inserting an end of a grate bar into the slot-like recess and raising the end of another opposite grate bar, the two facing grate bar ends are vertically and laterally centered.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a surface formed by grate bars in pasteurizers and the like. The grate bars are movable so as to perform a pilgrim step-type or reciprocating movement. The grate bars are placed on grate bar supports in the form of sectional girders. The ends of the grate bars placed on the supports are Z-shaped.
2. Description of the Related Art
Pasteurizers with conveying surfaces consisting of individual grate bars are used particularly in the beverage industry in which beverages filled into bottles, cans and the like are pasteurized to improve their durability. The grate bars are moved backwards and forwards in a pilgrim step-type movement and, thus, the grate bars which are alternatingly stationary and moved pick up the individual bottles and the like and convey them through the individual treatment zones. The grate bars are arranged spaced apart from each other and thereby provide a relatively large passage area for the pasteurizing liquid and for any remaining pieces of burst bottles. For this reason, such grate bar surfaces consisting of grate bars which are moved in a pilgrim step-type movement have been found very useful in pasteurizers.
In a known grate bar surface of the above-described type, the grate bars are provided with openings and the grate bars are locked in web-like sectional and comb-like girders by bending the respective webs to each other in the region of the openings. Special tools are required for this purpose. When the bending operation is carried out carefully, the locked connection may last a long time. However, it may happen over time that the webs of the respective sectional and comb girders which face each other are displaced and, thus, a loosening of the individual grate bars cannot be prevented. This means that such pasteurizers become useless relatively quickly. In addition, the relatively large number of individual grate bars and fastening points mean that an extensive assembly is required.
It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide a self-locking or self-securing grate bar surface which is simple and can be assembled without special tools. The individual grate bars should be self-centering by a simple placement and joining of the grate bars.


Embodiments of the present invention relate to aggregating product information from a variety of sources to generate user interfaces that allow users to navigate and discover products. Product information is aggregated from both feed and crawl sources, and product entities are identified within the aggregate product information. In some embodiments, product entities are associated with product classes, and product class detail pages are generated that include product entities within each product class and allow users to view correlations between those produce entities. In some embodiments, relationships are identified between product entities. When a user selects to view information for a given product entity, information is provided indicating similar product entities that have a relationship with the given product entity.

Although a wealth of product information is available to users online, it can often be difficult for users to quickly and effectively discover and explore related products and/or competing products that they should consider as part of their shopping experience. This is especially true when a user is looking to explore a product category unfamiliar to the user and the user may wish to better understand the options that are available before making a purchase decision.
Currently, if a user does not know the particular product he/she is interested in, the user can search for the product class (such as 'digital camera') on the web using a search engine. The user will see a list of web search results which are textually most 'relevant' to the words 'digital camera" and/or a list of digital camera offers aggregated from various e-commerce sites. However, the user cannot see a summary view which categorizes relevant digital cameras into brands, product lines, or feature sets easily. Additionally, for web search results, the search engine often returns a large number of documents or web pages. The user is then left to sift through the list of documents, links, and associated information to find desired information. This process can be cumbersome, frustrating, and time consuming for the user.
Alternatively, if the user has a target product in mind, the user can start by searching for that particular product name. For instance, the user may employ a shopping search engine to find some description, reviews and offers information about the product scattered across a number of web sites. However, there exists no effective and consistent way for the user to discover comparable products across brands, product lines, and price classes that they should consider as an alternative.
The user may also go to a general shopping site and browse through the relevant products under the category they are interested in to read more information about that category of products. The problem with this approach is that the useful grouping of products is presented in a traditional browse hierarchy and requires a fair amount of navigating through the site structure before the user can comprehend the holistic groupings, i.e., the inter-relationship of products within a product class.
As a further alternative, the user may employ a niche site specializing in a certain product class and learn about all the various product models. The obvious problem with this is that the user is assumed to have prior knowledge of which is the authoritative or trusted site specializing in a particular product class. However, that assumption does not hold when a user was not an expert in that area to begin with. Secondly, building these expert sites requires a significant amount of editorial effort and expert knowledge to maintain its quality and freshness.
In some instances, the user can find a comparable product or other related product recommendation from general shopping sites when they're researching about a certain product. A general shopping site providing such relationship information typically only collects and summarizes data based on the behavior of their own users, so it is not representative of the entire Internet and therefore the entire market. Additionally, the recommendations are typically in a form of a flat list with no notion of the relationships between brand lines, quality, comparable products, etc.

Navigating product relationships within a search system


A sensor is provided for analyzing an object at a focal point of a lens. The sensor includes a focused radiant energy source directed at the lens. The focused radiant energy source transmits a first beam of energy to the lens, vaporizing a portion of the object at the focal point of the lens. A second beam of energy is emitted from the vaporization of the object. A spectrometer is positioned to receive the second beam of energy emitted from the object. The second beam of energy is at least partially transmitted anti-parallel to the first beam of energy.

With advancements in the field of optics, use of retro-reflectors has become more common. A retro-reflector is defined as a reflector wherein incident rays or radiant energy and reflected rays are parallel for any angle of incidence within the field-of-view. A characteristic of a retro-reflector is that the energy impinging thereon is reflected in a very narrow beam, herein referred to as the retro-reflected beam. This phenomenon was termed retro-reflection. Retro-reflectors are discussed, for instance, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,603,134, which issued Aug. 5, 2003. Those inventors made the discovery that any type of focusing device, in combination with a surface exhibiting any degree of reflectivity and positioned near the focal plane of the device, acts as a retro-reflector.
FIG. 1 is a prior art diagram showing a retro-reflection system containing a lens 20 and a reflective surface 22 positioned in a focal plane 24 of the lens 20. Rays of radiation 26, 28 are directed toward the system, and more particularly toward the lens 20, from a radiation source (not shown). The incident rays in the present illustration are parallel to the optical axis 30 of the lens 20. It should be noted that for the purpose of clarity, the incident rays are shown as being confined to the top half of the lens 20. The incident rays 26 and 28 are refracted by the lens 20 and focused at the focal point 32 of the lens 20, which focal point lies on the reflective surface 22. The rays 26, 28 are then reflected by the reflective surface 22 so that the angle of reflection equals the angle of incidence, and are returned approximately to the lower half of the lens 20 where they are again refracted and emerge therefrom as retro-reflected rays 26R, 28R. The rays 26R and 28R are returned to the radiation source parallel to the incident rays 26, 28 thereof. However, as shown in the drawing, the relative positions of the rays 26, 28 are inverted so that the image returned to the radiation source is also inverted. It should be noted that the lens 20 and reflective surface 22 could, for instance, be elements of an optical device, such as a camera, or an eye of a person or animal.
FIG. 1 shows the basic retro-reflection characteristic of focused lens systems. Rays 26 and 28 enter the aperture, are focused to a point, and then re-projected virtually anti-parallel as shown by rays 26R and 28R. The usual method for calculating the return intensity is to take it as the product of the flux density of the probe radiation and a quantity called the optical augmentation cross section. This is proportional to the aperture area multiplied by the two way transmission and the optical augmentation optical gain. This is defined as the ratio of the aperture area to the image spot area multiplied by the backscatter factor and has dimensions square meters per steradians. Because the focused spot is much smaller than the aperture, this optical gain factor can be very large. This results in a much larger return than would come from the more typical scatterer. The gain in this process is due to the backscatter being narrowly directed, i.e. anti-parallel, rather than diffusively scattered over a hemisphere.
While FIG. 1 depicts the lens 20 positioned at a right angle to the rays 26, 28, U.S. Pat. No. 6,603,134 teaches that retro-reflection does not require an orthogonal relationship between the lens 20 and the rays 26, 28.
One application for the retro-reflectors is to search for cameras, otherwise referred to as optical instruments herein, in an area. FIG. 2 depicts a search system 38 for scanning an area to detect the presence of optical instruments by using retro-reflective properties. The search system 38 includes a scanner 40, including an optical searching device 42, such as a source of infrared light, a detector 44, and a laser 46. The scanner 40 is controlled by a scanning and positioning device 48, which includes a servo motor (not shown). The scanning and positioning device 48 is powered by a power and control device 50, which also supplies power to the scanner 40, and a utilization system 52.
In the operation of the system 38, the scanner 40 is caused to scan a preselected area by means of the scanning and positioning device 48, the scanning and positioning device 48 being programmed by the utilization system 52. The optical searching device 42 emits rays 54, 55. When these rays 54, 55 impinge on an optical instrument 56 exhibiting retro-reflective characteristics, the rays 54, 55 are retro-reflected as retro-reflected rays 54R, 55R and detected by the detector 44. The detector output is then fed to the utilization system 52. The utilization system 52 may be programmed to merely track the optical instrument 56, in which case, the detector output would be fed to the scanning and positioning device 48 and then to the scanner 40, causing the scanning and positioning device 48 to track the optical instrument 56. However, if it is desired to neutralize the optical instrument 56, the utilization system 52 will feed a signal to the laser 46 causing the laser 46 to direct a high intensity laser beam at the optical instrument 56.
This type of search system 38 can have false alarms due to natural and artificial retro-reflections. Natural retro-reflections can occur from sand or other naturally occurring open cube corners. Examples of artificial retro-reflectors include corner cubes such as those used in surveying, rear reflectors on automobiles and bicycles, as well as retro-reflective coated items, such as sportswear and traffic signs.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.

Method and system for remote sensing of optical instruments and analysis thereof


A grid array capacitor can be used to physically and electrically couple an integrated circuit (IC) package to a printed circuit board (PCB). The grid array capacitor includes an inner conductor and an inner dielectric coaxially surrounding the inner conductor. A secondary conductor can be located to surround, in a coaxial orientation, the inner dielectric. Both the inner conductor and the secondary conductor can be electrically connected to the IC package and to the PCB. In certain applications, the structure of the inner conductor, inner dielectric, and secondary conductor can provide capacitance used to decouple electronic circuits.

The present disclosure generally relates to electronic interconnect structures. In particular, this disclosure relates to grid array capacitors that can be attached to an integrated circuit (IC) package and to a printed circuit board (PCB).
A capacitor is a passive electrical component having at least two electrical conductors known as plates, separated by a dielectric or insulator, and which can be used to electrostatically store energy in an electric field. Capacitors can be useful as circuit elements in conjunction with a variety of types of electronic devices such as digital and analog ICs.
A decoupling capacitor can be used to decouple or electrically isolate one part of an electrical circuit or network from another part of the circuit. Electrical noise generated by certain circuit elements can be shunted through a decoupling capacitor. Decoupling capacitors can be particularly useful for shunting or bypassing high-frequency noise components around noise-sensitive circuitry such as filters, amplifiers and logic elements.
Solder columns or balls can be used to provide electrical and mechanical interconnection of an IC package to a PCB. Such solder columns can be arranged in an array formation between planar surfaces of the IC package and of the PCB. The IC package can be attached to the PCB by reflowing the solder columns to attachment pads located on the IC package and PCB surfaces.

International Business Machines Corporation


A dishwasher includes a pump device operated by a pump current for supply of washing liquor to a first spray device via a first hydraulic arrangement for providing a first washing zone and to a second spray device via a second hydraulic arrangement for providing a second washing zone. A third spray device is connected to one of the first and second hydraulic arrangements for providing an intensive washing zone. In a first switching state, the third spray device is isolated from the one hydraulic arrangement, and in a second switching state the third spray device is connected to the one hydraulic arrangement. A control device determines a current switching state of the third spray device as a function of a difference between the pump current when washing liquor is supplied to the first hydraulic arrangement and when washing liquor is supplied to the second hydraulic arrangement.

The present invention relates to a dishwasher as well as a method for operating a dishwasher.
Dishwashers are known, which have different spray devices, allowing a user for example to switch between the different spray devices manually. One of the spray devices can be configured to provide a special washing zone, which achieves a particularly good cleaning result or is designed for specifically shaped items to be washed. US 2015/0250374 A1 therefore shows a dishwasher, in which a bottle washing facility can be engaged by means of a manually switchable valve. WO 2015/090433 discloses a similar device, with which a special holder for items to be washed, which has integrated spray nozzles, can be supplied with washing liquor, so that on the one hand washing liquor is directed specifically onto the items to be cleaned by means of the integrated spray nozzles and on the other hand the items being washed are held securely by the holder during a washing cycle.
The switching position of such additional spray facilities can impact on the cleaning result of the dishwasher, for example if there is not sufficient washing liquor in the washing circuit to supply all the spray facilities with washing liquor or because the liquid pressure of the washing liquor is too low. It is therefore advantageous for the switching position of the additional spray facility to be known so that it is possible to respond appropriately to this. It is complex and expensive however to arrange a corresponding sensor in the washing compartment of such a dishwasher. Also such a sensor would be error-prone due to conditions in the washing compartment.
DE 10 2007 017 274 A1 describes a method for detecting the position of a closing element in a water switch of a dishwasher. A signal value is acquired from the circulating pump and compared with a stored signal value, which corresponds to a reference position of the closing element. This makes it possible to detect when the closing element is in the reference position. WO 2014/071980 A1 discloses a method for detecting the switching position of an additional spray facility based on the measurement of a pump current at different circulating pump speeds.

Dishwasher and method for operating a dishwasher


A communication apparatus includes a computer supported telecommunications application (“CSTA”) session established between a computing function and switching function that includes a time period where monitors and registrations are preserved by the switching function if the computing function is able to restart the session within that time period after a temporary connection failure. The switching function tracks call and non-call related device activity that occurs from the time a session failure is detected until the computing function is able to restart the application session in a first list. If the computing function restarts that application within the time period, the switching function sends the computing function a list of devices whose activity was detected during the outage. The computing function uses the list of devices to query the status of those devices to reduce the amount of time needed to perform a recovery and less system performance impacts.

Networks can be broadly classified as Local Area Networks (LANs), Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) and Wide Area Networks (WANs). These networks connect electronic devices together and enable them to communicate with one another. The electronic devices may include terminal communication devices (e.g. smart phones, laptops, computers, tablets, etc.), servers, hosts (processing units such as computers, printers or other peripheral devices), controllers, switches, gateways, and other network elements. These electronic devices in the network communicate with each other through communication channels. Underlying these channels are various physical devices. Examples of the physical devices include adapters that connect various network elements to the network, a cable or a bus that connects the adapters to a port on a network hub, the network switches that provide connectivity to each network element and the cables or buses that interconnect these network switches.
The full operation of a channel may be disrupted by a failure in any one of these underlying physical devices. The loss of communication can also take place in the case of a failure in the cable connecting an adapter to a network switch, or the port on the network switch to which the network element connects. The failure of some physical devices might also cause several network elements to lose their ability to communicate with one another. For example, if one of the network switches underlying a channel fails, then all the network elements that are connected through that network switch will lose their ability to communicate on that channel. However, other network elements, which connect to that channel through an operational underlying network switch, may not lose their ability to communicate on that same channel. This is an instance of a partially operational channel. A channel is said to be fully operational if connectivity to that channel is operational for all network elements configured to communicate on that channel.
Most networks offer many channels or pathways through which devices are connected to and communicate with one another. Networks are usually designed so that if one channel, pathway or device fails in a network then communication among the network elements can be rerouted through another pathway, channel or device. There are several methods which are known in the art for monitoring communication networks, identifying failures and rerouting communications in the network. Such systems and methods typically involve not only monitoring but also providing network element status reports to participants in the network. An example of a system and method for monitoring communications in a data network is disclosed in United States Patent Application Publication Nos. 2005/0144505 and 2006/0126654.
The loss of communication may be considered temporary if a connection is restored within a few seconds or a few minutes. The failure may disrupt communication to or from some but not all of the network elements in the network. If several network elements are communicating with one another when a failure occurs that affects some but not all of those network elements, some network elements will receive information that other network elements do not receive.
Consequently we have determined that there is a need for a method that will not only identify network failures, but also track communications activity that occurs during a failure and restart of an application by user devices utilizing a service when communication to that service is restored. In very large scale deployments, for example 40,000 to 50,000 users, the recovery of an application session by some users and its associated device monitors is only one aspect that impacts system performance during a computing function recovery phase of the recovery. To obtain current information, the computing function must also discover the current call and non-call status of each device in order to properly reflect this status toward its end users, which is typically not supported or provided for in most communication systems.
A new system and method is needed for recovering application sessions that temporarily experience a failure. We have developed such a system and method. Embodiments of our system and method may permit user device activity to be monitored during an outage so that such data may be utilized for updating an application restarted by a device that experienced a failure if that device recovers or restarts the application within a predetermined time period after the outage occurs.

Method for optimizing network performance after a temporary loss of connection

Siemens Enterprise Communications GmbH & Co. KG


A duplex image forming apparatus includes a driving unit which has driving rollers and driven rollers to reversely feed the paper printed on the first surface to a duplex printing part or discharge the paper printed on the first and second surfaces, and a separation unit which separates the driven rollers from the driving rollers while the paper printed on the first surface is reversely fed and registered by duplex rollers of the duplex printing part. Accordingly, when the paper is registered by the duplex rollers, because the paper is not caught in the driving rollers and the driven rollers, the paper can be easily registered.

1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a duplex image forming apparatus which is capable of printing both surfaces of a printing medium, e.g., paper.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus is an apparatus that prints an image on a printing medium, e.g., paper, according to an inputted image signal. An image forming apparatus is classified as a simplex image forming apparatus which prints only one surface (front surface) of paper, or a duplex image forming apparatus which also prints a rear surface of paper by reversing the paper after printing a front surface.
The duplex image forming apparatus generally includes a paper supplying part to supply the paper, an image forming part to form an image on the supplied paper, and a paper discharge part to discharge the printed paper having passed through the image forming part to the outside.
The duplex image forming apparatus further includes a duplex printing part which is provided with duplex rollers so as to feed again the paper, whose front surface has been printed, to the image forming part to print a rear surface of the paper.
The duplex printing part rotates the duplex rollers to feed again the paper, which is fed by the reverse rotation of discharge rollers provided in the paper discharge part, to the image forming part. Accordingly, the paper whose front surface has been printed is fed again to the image forming part via a duplex print path, and the rear surface of the paper is printed.
The duplex rollers have a function of registering the paper fed by the duplex rollers, as well as reversely feeding the paper whose front surface has been printed.
However, because a portion of the paper fed by the duplex rollers is also caught in the discharge rollers, it is not easy for the duplex rollers to register to the paper by the discharge rollers.
For instance, the conventional duplex image forming apparatus includes center-feed type discharge rollers which are disposed at positions corresponding to a center portion of the paper, and side-feed type duplex rollers which are disposed at positions corresponding to sides of the paper. The duplex rollers are typically set to register the paper at the positions corresponding to the sides of letter paper.
Because the duplex rollers register the paper at the positions corresponding to the sides of the letter paper, in order to register the A4 paper, the paper should be shifted by a predetermined distance, e.g., 3 mm or more, in a transverse direction of the paper. However, because an end portion of the paper which is registered by the duplex rollers is caught in the discharge rollers, it is difficult to register the paper.


Gun barrel for firearms made from a deformed material and method for producing the gun barrel material. The material has a chemical composition in % by weight of:

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a gun barrel of firearms, in particular, for lightweight small arms.
2. Discussion of Background Information
In the practical use of the weapon, a gun barrel is subjected to high mechanical and thermal stresses. A sudden gas pressure load on the barrel or a tensile load on the barrel wall during firing requires a high yield strength or high strength of the barrel material with good toughness properties.
According to the prior art, tested, highly tough quenched and tempered steels are used as barrel materials, which are economically viable. A material hardness of 47±1 HRC is generally required for such a heat treated barrel part, which approximately corresponds to an ultimate tensile strength in the range of 1,030 to 1,125 N/mm2.
Within the scope of improving performance, improving quality and increasing safety, increased demands are made on the gun barrel of firearms and in this manner on the material of the barrel parts. This results mainly from increased gas pressure loads due to new ammunition concepts and lower barrel wall thicknesses to reduce the weight of modern firearms.

Abstract: ContentCSiMnPSCrMoMin0.280.080.153.61.2Max0.360.260.350.0050.0024.41.8ContentNiVWTiAs + Sn + SbFeMin0.42RestMax<0.50.5 0.150.080.007and impurities due to smelting. The material has a hardness of at least 46 to 48 HRC.


The system and method for operating an online gaming event prediction game involves obtaining answers from a plurality of players at a plurality of game playing consoles to a plurality of predictive questions relating to possible outcomes of a plurality of elements of one or more scheduled competitive events, assigning point values to the answers, determining cumulative point scores for each of the plurality of players, and awarding prizes to the plurality of players, via an online game server and a communication network.

The present invention relates generally to a system and method for operating a operating a gaming event prediction game, and more particularly relates to a system and method for operating an online gaming event prediction game involving obtaining answers from a plurality of players at a plurality of game playing consoles to a plurality of predictive questions relating to possible outcomes of a plurality of elements of one or more scheduled competitive events, assigning point values to the answers, determining cumulative point scores for each of the plurality of players, and awarding prizes to the plurality of players, via an online game server and a communication network.
A system and method for playing a sporting event prediction and skill game in conjunction with participating in an event is known in which both predictions regarding an event are made and in which physical activity is also required. A menu of event elements is generated, with each element having possible outcomes associated with it, and a set of possible outcomes is generated to provide a prediction option set, from which players make a prediction regarding the elements of the event. A prediction is made by selecting one member of a set of prediction options. Points are awarded for each correct prediction and for achieving a selected objective in physical activities.
A stadium game for fans is also known in which players make advance predictions regarding an outcome expected to occur. The player records predictions in a form that can be scanned and transmitted to a remote analysis location, or input to a computer and analyzed by the computer. The predictions of each player are analyzed and compared to actual actions occurring during the event, and scores are given to each player based on the accuracy of the predictions.
It would be desirable to provide a system and method for operating a gaming event prediction game that will provide multiple players with a plurality of predictive questions relating to possible outcomes of various elements of a series of recurring scheduled contested events, with point values assigned to answers to the questions, and a website for players to view and answer the questions, and that can be accessed by a variety of game playing consoles. It also would be desirable to award prizes of different values over the course of the series of recurring scheduled contested events, as well as in champion rounds and grand champion sweepstakes. It also would be desirable to provide a system and method for operating a gaming event prediction game that also will provide social network and viral connections between players, as well as unique advertising, marketing and revenue opportunities. The present invention meets these and other needs.

Gaming event prediction system and method


The invention disclosed herein relates to a video game system comprising a video game console and an object or toy used in connection with the video game console, wherein the object or toy has a rewritable data storage device, and wherein the video game console stores information in the rewritable data storage device in response to game play events occurring in a first gaming session. The stored information is subsequently retrieved by the video game console in a second gaming session, and the retrieved information is used to conduct the game play of the second gaming session.

The present invention relates generally to video games and, more particularly, to a video game and a toy used in connection with the video game, where the toy has functionality responsive to events or achievements in the video game.
Video games provide fun and enjoyment for many. Video games allow game players to participate in a variety of simulated activities. Video games allow game players to perform roles and experience activities that the game players may not be able or desire to experience directly, whether due to cost, danger, or equipment concerns, or simply due to a role or activity being a fantasy.
Video games, being generally provided by way of an electronic device and associated display, often lack a physical component by which a player may touch and hold a representative object associated with video game play or otherwise have a physical object representative of video game play. Despite the sometimes intense graphics action of various video games, the game play experience remains two dimensional. Merely interacting with a displayed simulated environment may not allow game players to fully relate to game play, with a sharply distinct separation between a game play world and the world physically inhabited by the game players.

Interactive video game system comprising toys with rewritable memories


Multiple logic cores of integrated circuits and processors may be configured to operate at frequencies and voltages independently of each other. Additionally, other components, such as a common bridge configured to interface with the logic cores, may operate at a voltage and frequency independent of the voltage and frequency at which the logic cores are operating. The operating frequency and/or voltage of a logic core may be independently adjusted for various reasons, including power management and temperature control. Logic circuitry at an interface between the controller and the logic cores may translate logic signals from one voltage and/or frequency to another to enable communication between the bridge and the logic core when the two are operating at different voltages and/or frequencies.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to the field of integrated circuits, and more particularly to the operation of and communication between elements of an integrated circuit operating at independent frequencies and/or voltages.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, the regulation of operating voltage for integrated circuits, such as microprocessors, may be performed by circuitry located on the motherboard, external to the IC, due in part to requirements for large values of capacitance which may consume inordinate amount of real estate on an IC die. Power at the voltage level of the output of a voltage regulator may be supplied to the internal circuitry including the processor cores of the IC through several package pins. This may be done in part to reduce the current handling requirements for any given pin and/or traces leading thereto. Generally, the supply lines may be internally connected so that the cores and other elements operate at a common voltage level.
Typically, complex logic core designs produce large quantities of heat at certain points within the IC, esp. at high clock frequencies. The packaging of an IC along with the device and system cooling mechanisms may determine the maximum frequency at which the IC may operate without exceeding its specified maximum operating temperature at the points where heat generation is most pronounced. An IC manufacturer may specify a maximum package temperature for a specific device at which it will continue to function both correctly and reliably.
Since complex ICs such as microprocessors tend to be expensive, it is typically desirable to protect them from damage due to overheating. Temperature sensors are often located in various places within systems containing complex ICs to measure the ambient temperature at that position. Due to the method commonly used to incorporate complex ICs into systems such as soldering to a motherboard or socketing to a motherboard, and the direct attachment of heat sinks and/or other cooling apparatus to the chips, temperature sensors are generally found in locations other than the IC itself. Therefore, the temperature of the IC package must commonly be extrapolated from an actual temperature measurement at some point remote from the surface of the IC. The resulting case temperature estimate may be significantly above the actual temperature of the IC if conservative algorithms are used to perform the estimation.
A typical system may use the estimated package temperature of the IC to control power to the entire system or at least to the IC. For example, the output of the temperature sensor may be compared to a "trip point" value, and when this value is reached, a signal may be generated that causes the system power supply to shut down. Such a system may indeed protect the IC, but may also inconvenience the user who is frequently given no advanced warning that a shut down is forthcoming and who may have entered significant amounts of data without recently saving it to persistent storage. Also, as noted above, all such shut downs may not be necessary since the mechanism may activate based on a conservative estimate of the actual temperature of the chip.
To reduce the potential for user data loss, systems may employee a second trip point circuit configured to trigger at a temperature somewhat lower than the shut down temperature. In such a system, the lower temperature circuit may be used to initiate action that would inform the user that a system shutdown is imminent, and that he should take appropriate actions to secure any unprotected data. While this scheme may help protect user data, it may also produce a significant nuisance if temperatures wander into the range between trip points without actually reaching the shutdown point. In any case once the shutdown limit has been reached, the user is without the use of his system until such time that it cools down sufficiently and can be restarted.

System and method for operating components of an integrated circuit at independent frequencies and/or voltages


A method for the preparation of chiral 2-amino-1,3-diols is disclosed. The method involves four steps including performance of an aldol condensation with a chiral oxazolidinone on an aldehyde, treating the aldol condensation product with an alkali metal azide, treating the product with a borohydride reagent and reducing the azide to an amine.

Glycosphingolipids and gangliosides are of crucial importance as major membrane constituents of the cell, the majority of which are located at the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane. Recent investigations have demonstrated that glycosphingolipids on cell surfaces are one important way in which nature expresses its individuality.
Sphingosine is one of the more important 2-amino 1,5 diols. Sphingosine (or sphingenine) is a ubiquitous membrane component of the natural glycolipids: cerebrosides, sphingomyelins and gangliosides as described in Sphingolipid Biochemistry, Plenum Press, N.Y., N.Y.(1983)by J. N. Kanfer and S. Hakomori. This long chain aminoalcohol and its metabolites play important roles in a variety of biological events. ##STR1##
As the lipophilic fragment of glycolipids, sphingosine and its fatty acid derivative ceramide act as an anchor in the phospholipid bilayer. The nature of the lipid and its interaction with the phospholipid bilayer directly influence the manner in which the hydrophilic carbohydrate moiety is presented to the extracellular environment. On the other hand, the stereo specificity of membrane organization as well as the rigidity of the bilayer depends upon the composition of and interaction between the various lipid components.
Glycosphingolipids have numerous extracellular roles. For example, they serve as specific markers of the cells, particularly those forming blood group antigens, tumor cell markers, cell adhesion organ specific markers and growth regulators. They have been also implicated as receptors for toxins, hormones and interferons.
A prominent intracellular regulatory function of sphingosine and its derivatives has been shown. It has also been shown that sphingosine and lysosphingolipids, as components of complex membrane lipids, serve as natural endogenous inhibitors of protein kinase C. The latter has been shown to play a central role in signal transduction for those receptors that function via the phospholipid-dependent second messenger system, modulating cell growth and differentiation.
More recently, dermatological studies on mice have shown that sphingosine inhibits all of the protein kinase C-mediated responses including inflammation, hyperplasia and induction of ornithine decarboxylase activity suggesting a therapeutic application in inflammatory skin diseases.
The complete biological and pharmacological function of sphingosine still remains to be elucidated. Therefore, the development of an efficient stereoselective route to this material and its diastereomers on a multigram scale is still an important synthetic goal.
The important structural features of natural D-(+)-erythro-sphingosine include the absolute configuration at the two chiral centers of this aminodiol (2S, 3R) and the trans geometry of the double bond. Various syntheses of racemic sphingosine have appeared in the literature following the pioneering total synthesis described by Shapiro, et al in "The Total Synthesis of Sphingosine", J. Am.
Chem. Soc., Vol. 80, pages 1194, 2170 (1958).
Over the past decade, a number of asymmetric syntheses of sphingosine were published using various synthetic strategies and chiral starting materials. The oldest and perhaps easiest preparation of crude D-sphingosine involves the hydrolysis of the natural sphingolipids. However, the main drawbacks of this procedure are the great expense of the starting materials and the tedious purification of the sphingosine (sphingenine) from dihydrosphingosine (sphinganine) and other impurities. These same drawbacks also apply to chiral resolution techniques using racemic sphingosine.
The presently known synthetic methods for preparation of chiral D-erythro-sphingosine can be ultimately divided into three major categories:
1. Methods utilizing Wittig olefination for preparation of the trans-double bond from configurationally labile 4-carbon .alpha.-hydroxyaldehydes. Several chiral .alpha.-substituted butyraldehyde derivatives were used in this method which were usually obtained from chiral carbohydrate precursors: D-mannose, D-glucose, D-galactose and D-xylose. PA0 2. Methods which employ optically active .alpha.-amino-.alpha.,62 -ynone chemistry, preparation of which is based on the 3-carbon backbone of serine and utilizing the (2S)-stereochemistry of L-serine as a chiral precursor to build up the chiral center at carbon 3 described by D. Liotta et al in "A Stereoselective Synthesis of Sphingosine, A Protein Kinase C Inhibitor", Tetrahedron Letters, Vol. 29, No. 25, pages 3037-3040 (1988). PA0 3. There are various other miscellaneous procedures described in the art. Of the miscellaneous procedures which are not unreasonably complex, there are two methods used to introduce the olefin: PA0 The former method represents the most attractive procedure for introduction of the trans-olefinic bond as exemplified by the salt-mediated method of Schmidt and co-workers in "Synthesis of D-Erythro-sphingosines", Tetrahedron Lett., Vol. 27, page 481 (1986). However, we and other investigators have been unable to reproduce the reported yield and high stereoselection to give "practically exclusively" the trans-alkene product. See "Synthesis of D-Erythro-1-Deoxydihydroceramide-1-Sulfonic Acid" by K. Ohashi, et al, Tetrahedron Letters, Vol 29, page 1185 (1988). As a result, several groups have pursued a photochemical cis/trans isomerization with further separation of the isomers, or the Schlosser modification of the Wittig olefination reaction as disclosed in the following reference: M. Schlosser and K. F. Christmann, Ann. Fur Chemie, Vol. 708, Page 1(1967).
(a) Direct stereoselective Wittig olefination. PA1 (b) Wittig olefination employing the Schlosser modification.
One of the three most efficient methods of synthesizing sphingosine to date is described by D. Liotta, et al in "A Stereoselective Synthesis of Sphingosine" supra, hereinafter referred to as the "Liotta" reference. The Liotta process involves eight (8) steps starting from the chiral precursor, L-serine, and has an overall yield of approximately 27%. The disadvantages of this process are the great expense of time and money and inefficiency involved in carrying out an eight step process as compared to a process with a lesser number of steps and the inclusion of some racemic yield.
The second of the three most efficient methods of synthesizing sphingosine is described by H. Radunz, et al in "An Efficient and Stereoselective Synthesis of D-erythrosphingosine", supra, hereinafter referred to as the "Radunz" reference. The "Radunz" reference describes a process almost identical to the one described in the Liotta reference. However, it involves seven (7) steps starting from L-serine and has an overall yield of approximately 12-14%.
The third of the three most efficient methods of synthesizing sphingosine is described by P. Zimmermann and R. R. Schmidt in "Synthesis of Erythro-sphingosines Via Their Azido Derivatives", Liebigs Ann, Chem., pages 663-667 (1988). This method begins with chiral carbohydrate precursors, namely D-galactose(or D-xylose). This procedure involves a total of six (6) steps. The overall yield is only 16%.
Further, the reduction of the azide to amine requires the use of hydrogen sulfide which is known to be inherently dangerous.
Therefore, prior to this invention, there has been a need for a process for the preparation of chiral 2-amino-1,3-diols which combines the advantages of less expense, exclusively chiral product, good overall yield, and safety of reagents.
To further understand the nature of this invention, a reaction scheme is provided hereinbelow: ##STR2##
The oxazolidinone aldol adduct formed in Step A is more fu11y described by Alexander L. Weiss and Carl L. Illig in commonly-owned U.S. Ser. No. 428,800 filed on even date herewith and entitled "Oxazolidinone Aldol Adduct".

Total synthesis of chiral 2-amino-1,3-diols


In one aspect, a system for determining soil levelness as an agricultural implement is being towed across a field by a work vehicle may include a vision-based sensor configured to capture vision data associated with a portion of the field present within a field of view of the vision-based sensor. A controller of the system may be configured to receive, from the vision-based sensor, the vision data associated with the portion of the field present within the field of view of the vision-based sensor. Additionally, the controller may be configured to determine a soil levelness of the portion of the field present within the field of view of the vision-based sensor based on a spectral analysis of the received vision data.

It is well known that, to attain the best agricultural performance from a field, a farmer must cultivate the soil, typically through a tillage operation. Modern farmers perform tillage operations by pulling a tillage implement behind an agricultural work vehicle, such as a tractor. Tillage implements typically include a plurality of ground engaging tools, such as harrow discs, shanks, leveling blades, tines, rolling baskets, and/or the like, which loosen and/or otherwise agitate the soil to prepare the soil for subsequent planting operations.
Upon completion of the tillage operation, it is generally desirable that the ridges and valleys present within the field have a predetermined height and depth, respectively. As such, systems have been developed that allow the soil levelness or surface profile of the field to be determined as the implement is traveling across the field. However, further improvements to such systems are needed. For example, such systems often require significant processing power and/or memory.
Accordingly, an improved system and method for determining soil levelness would be welcomed in the technology.

System and method for determining soil levelness using spectral analysis


A resilient platform exercise device includes a trampoline having a peripheral frame with a platform secured to the frame by a plurality of spaced springs for resiliently mounting the platform. An upstanding pole assembly is mounted directly to the frame juxtaposed the platform. The pole assembly terminates in two spaced handles on opposite sides of the platform in alignment with each other. Each of the handles is pivotally mounted and is movable in opposition to resistance located at the pivotal mount.

Various types of exercise devices have been suggested to accomplish different aerobic programs. U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,550 describes an exercise apparatus which includes a minitrampoline having a frame with a pair of poles secured to the frame at a distance disposed away from the trampoline itself. In use, the person would exert weight on the poles in opposition to hydraulic shocks while the person is jogging or flexing on the minitrampoline.
It would be desirable if an exercise device could be provided which incorporates some of the advantages of U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,550 while providing a more versatile form of device to provide an effective upper body exercise device.


A method and an apparatus which can manufacture dried foods giving the person who eats the dried foods a soft-dried and spongy feeling pleasant to the palate by evaporating the greater part of the moisture in the raw materials to be removed in as short a time as possible after the commencement of the drying process. According to the present invention, this is achieved by a method for manufacturing dried foods wherein raw food materials are radiated with microwaves under reduced pressure conditions while immersed in oil as well as by an apparatus for manufacturing dried foods comprising an oil tank arranged within a pressure reducing chamber having a pressure reducing device; a retainer for containing raw food materials immersed in oil in said oil tank; and a microwave radiating device for radiating said raw food materials with microwave while immersed in the oil.

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for manufacturing dried foods.
Recently, dried foods in which the original color and flavor of the raw materials remains and which gives to a person who eats the dried foods a "soft-dried and spongy" feeling pleasant to the palate, have been very popular as high-quality confectionery.
In order to provide dried foods with a "soft-dried and spongy" feeling pleasant to the palate, it is preferable to make the dried foods as porous as possible. Accordingly, it is necessary to evaporate the greater part of the moisture which is contained in the raw materials and is intended to be removed in as short time as possible after the commencement of drying process.
Heretofore, a method has been developed for drying raw materials under reduced pressure to obtain porous dried foods, such as, for example, the reduced pressure fry drying method disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 36892/1986.
Two types of apparatus have also been developed for carrying out the reduced pressure fry drying method, such as (1) an apparatus having a heat source arranged outside an oil tank and being adapted to circulate by a pump the oil between the heat source and the oil tank, and (2) an apparatus having a heat source such as a steam jacket arranged within the oil tank.
As previously mentioned, i is necessary to evaporate the greater part of the moisture in the raw materials to be removed as soon as possible after the commencement of the drying process However, since both the above apparatus (1) and (2) cannot rapidly evaporate the greater part of the moisture contained in the raw materials for following reasons, neither of the apparatus (1) and (2) can produce dried foods rich in porosity.
That is, the apparatus (1) cannot supply sufficient heat in a short time since it is in fact difficult to rapidly circulate the oil by the pump when the apparatus is in a reduced pressure condition. In the apparatus (2), it is practically difficult to uniformly mix the oil in a short time under reduced pressure conditions, and it is therefore impossible to evaporate the greater part of the moisture in the raw materials to be removed in a short time after the commencement of the frying process. This is so even though the temperature of the heat source such as the steam jacket is kept at a high temperature to raise the temperature of the oil which is in contact with the steam jacket. It is also practically difficult to mix this part of oil with the other part of oil in order to maintain the temperature of the entire oil at the temperature required for carrying out the reduced pressure fry. In addition, the apparatus (2) sometimes causes unevenness of fry in the products.
There is another method for carrying out the drying process under reduced pressure conditions other than the reduced pressure fry drying method, and that is the reduced pressure microwave drying method as, for example, disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 265046/1986. However, this method often causes glow discharge which in turn causes injurious affects on the apparatus and a partial scorching on the dried foods, which in turn causes a deterioration (e.g. oxidization) of the dried foods. In addition, unevenness of dry has occurred due to unevenness in the distribution of microwaves.
Because of the need for keeping these problems of a minimum, it has heretofore been impossible to significantly increase the output power of the microwaves. As a result, it has been impossible to evaporate the greater part of the moisture in the raw materials to be removed in a short time after the commencement of the drying process, and thus this makes it impossible to manufacture dried foods which are rich in porosity.

Method and apparatus for manufacturing dried foods


A removable spoiler is described for reducing the rotorblade or wing lift of parked aircraft. It includes an airfoil cover with an inflatable aircell installed that is temporarily mountable to project into the airflow on the top of the rotorblade or wing. It extends for the greater portion of the lift generating surface of the rotorblade or wing to which applied.

Wind damage and even destruction of helicopters and other light aircraft parked on unprotected parking aprons, ramps, and other open sites is a common occurrence. In one recent documented case that occurred at Fort Hood, Tex. on 13 May 1989, a large thunderstorm which produced winds in excess of 60 miles per hour resulted in damage to U.S. Army aircraft estimated to be one-half billion dollars. It also resulted in an enormous burden to the taxpayer and significantly effected the readiness of the nations fighting forces. Although this and other damage from similar occurrences cannot be entirely eliminated, it can be significantly reduced. Current methods used to secure parked aircraft employ tie down devices or placing the aircraft in a protective hangar. The tie down devices have proved to be of limited protection in light to moderate wind conditions but have proven to be ineffective in extreme winds such as mentioned above. Hangars are the ultimate answer but are not always available due to space requirements and cost. The relative flexibility of helicopter rotorblades makes them particularly susceptible to damage. Much of the flexing of these blades is due to the lift they generate as a result of high winds blowing across their surfaces. Even though they are tied down, there is a tremendous tendency to flex up and down causing undue and excessive stress in the entire structure of the blade and the structure to which it is attached. The same stress is exhibited in smaller fixed wing aircraft. Should a tie down device come loose, the airfoil is free to fly. In the case of the helicopter it will flex up and damage the rotorblade itself and other rotor components. Small fixed wing aircraft will become ariborne and possibly be destroyed or damaged by turning over. The major objective of the present invention is to provide a portable, low cost, and effective system for reducing the damage to these aircraft by destroying the lift generating surfaces of the airfoil caused by high relative wind conditions such as that associated with storm gusts and sustained winds.
Previous designs which require many moving parts such as multiple hinges and pins rely on the wind to activate the spoiler system. This system would be subject to failure in the event the metal hinges and pins corrode, bend, or if the system is frozen in the down position caused by ice, snow, or freezing rain conditions. This would leave the aircraft unprotected and the system useless against those winds normally associated with the above mentioned conditions. Previous designs are of such material and size that would either not conform to larger airfoils that droop, as in any large multi-bladed helicopter or require multiple spoilers. One such previous invention described the preferred length to be two feet. This would create an installation problem insofar as the amount of time it would take to install the system, and the fact that the smaller system would require multiple spoilers to adequately perform the purpose it was intended to do. Example in point: The Boeing B-234/U.S. Army CH-47 medium lift helicopter has six main rotorblades which are approximately 28 feet in length. It would require approximately 12 of the above mentioned spoilers per rotorblade with a total of 72 devices to equip the entire aircraft to protect it adequately. This may also prove to be costly when outfitting an entire fleet or even one aircraft for a small owner/operator. Previous designs also appear to be designed with only the small fixed-wing aircraft in mind. The current invention will satisfy the needs of the larger aircraft and the smaller as well. The current invention consists of 3 parts, none moving, and is handled as one modular unit for easy installation and removal. It has application to any size or design airfoil.

Removable lift spoiler for parked aircraft


A computer acquires correspondence data including a plurality of combinations of identifiers of selected computers, in which parallel processes are started, and identifiers of the parallel processes, wherein the selected computers are among a plurality of computers connected to a multipath network having relay devices extending over two or more hierarchies. The computer specifies a network identifier to be used for distributing communication paths among the selected computers for every selected computer that includes an identifier in the correspondence data, wherein the specified network identifiers is among network identifiers of respective communication paths in the multipath network, and the specified network identifier corresponds to each identifier of a plurality of computers, and is used for routing.

In recent years, a cluster system constructed of a plurality of computers connected together in a high speed network has been widely known as a High Performance Computing (HPC) system. When executing a parallel processing program with this cluster system, parallel processes for the parallel processing program are distributed to a plurality of computers and then started. Thus, when performing data exchange between the parallel processes, communication may be performed between the computers. Therefore, the performance of inter-computer communication may affect the cluster system.
In order to improve the performance of inter-computer communication, for example, influences of a high-performance network, such as InfiniBand or Myrinet, and a communication library which makes full use of the high-performance network are considered. In many cases, a parallel processing program described by a communication Application Program Interface (API) called a Message Passing Interface (MPI) is executed on the cluster system. Therefore, various communication libraries based on the MPI specification have been provided.
For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, if processes "0" to "N−1" are distributed to "N" computers and started, inter-process communication for data exchange is performed in many cases during computer processing defined by a parallel processing program. Although FIG. 1 illustrates an example in which communication is performed among all started processes, one-to-one communication between specific processes may be also performed. In the inter-process communication, an applicable module of the MPI library is called out to perform communication.
The patterns of the inter-process communication in the parallel processing programs are various while being limited by the program itself. Among the patterns, as illustrated in FIG. 1, a communication pattern "All-to-All" where data exchange is performed among all the started parallel processes is referred to as a communication pattern of interest. Then, the MPI specification also desires to implement All-to-All communication using the function MPI_AlltoAll( ). Although various algorithms are present for implementing all-to-all communication, a Ring algorithm has been used in many cases where data sizes are comparatively large and performance is rate-limited at the bandwidth of the network.
The ring algorithm will be described with reference to FIG. 2A to FIG. 2H. As illustrated in FIG. 2A, a case with eight processes, processes "0" to "7", will be considered. In this case, as illustrated in FIG. 2B, each process receives data from the process with the preceding process number and then sends the data to the process with the next process number. Here, the process subsequent to process with the process number "7" is of the process number "0" and the process prior to process with the process number "0" is of the process number "7".
Then, as illustrated in FIG. 2C, each process receives data from the process with a process number two places back and then sends the data to the process with the process number two places ahead. Then, as illustrated in FIG. 2D, each process receives data from the process with a process number three places ahead and then sends the data to the process with the process number three places behind. Furthermore, as illustrated in FIG. 2E, each process receives data from the process with the process number four places ahead and then sends the data to the process with the process number four places behind. Furthermore, as illustrated in FIG. 2F, each process receives data from the process with the process number five places ahead and then sends the data to the process with the process number five places behind. Furthermore, as illustrated in FIG. 2G, each process receives data from the process with the process number six places ahead and then sends the data to the process with the process number six places behind. Furthermore, as illustrated in FIG. 2H, each process receives data from the process with the process number seven places ahead and then sends the data to the process with the process number seven places behind.
In the case of employing the ring algorithm, the all-to-all communication may be efficiently performed as long as the configuration of the network does not correspond to the problematic configuration described below.
Next, the network configuration will be examined. As illustrated in FIG. 3, if the number of computers to be used is small, these computers may be connected together with a single network switch SW (hereinafter, simply referred to as a switch). In other words, eight computers are connected to one switch, and one process is started in each computer. This case is equivalent to a crossbar connection, so that no competition exists among network links even if all-to-all communication is performed among processes being started.
On the other hand, if the number of computers to be used exceeds the number that allows computers to be connected with one switch, the switch may be a multistage switch. The network with a simplified multistage switch configuration may be a tree network as illustrated in FIG. 4. In FIG. 4, the number of computers and the number of processes to be started are the same as those of the example illustrated in FIG. 3 but the number of switch SW ports is less than eight. In addition, FIG. 4 illustrates a communication state in which processes 0 to 3 perform data transmission in FIG. 2E. The switch is made in two stages and the number of the upper switches is limited to "1". Thus, the link zone between the upper switch and the lower switch is insufficient. Therefore, if all-to-all communication is performed among eight processes, a competition of links may occur between the upper switch and the lower switch as represented by an encircled portion in FIG. 4, decreasing throughput.
Therefore, in the case of putting a high priority on the network performance, a fat tree network has been employed in many cases. An example illustrated in FIG. 5 includes four upper switches, so that the number of links from the lower switches to the upper switches (also referred to as up-links) may be equal to the number of links from the lower switches to the computers (also referred to as down-links). The data transmission to the computers where the processes "0" and "4" are started is set up to pass through the upper switch "A". In addition, the data transmission to the computers where the processes "1" and "5" are started is set up to pass through the upper switch "B". Furthermore, the data transmission to the computers where the processes "2" and "6" are started is set up to pass through the upper switch "C". Furthermore, the data transmission to the computers where the processes "3" and "7" are started is set up to pass through the upper switch "D". Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 5, communication is performed without any link competition when the computers in which the processes "0" to "3" are started transmit data in FIG. 2E.
However, in the case of a network where a packet transfer path, such as the InfiniBand as mentioned above, may not be dynamically changed (i.e., a static-routing network), communication may be concentrated on a specific link between the upper switches and the lower switches. This case is exemplified in FIG. 6. The example illustrated in FIG. 6 includes 16 computers which are connected to a fat tree network having four upper switches and four lower switches. In this system, one computer is selected depending on the execution statuses or the like of the respective computers, and the selected computer starts processing. However, packets transmitted from the selected computer may unevenly pass through the upper switches.
In the example illustrated in FIG. 6, the data transmission to the computers where the processes "0", "4", "6", and "7" are respectively started is set up to pass through the upper switch "A". The data transmission to the computers where the processes "1", and "5" are respectively started is set up to pass through the upper switch "B". The data transmission to the computer where the process "2" is started is set up to pass through the upper switch "C". The data transmission to the computer where the process "3" is started is set up to pass through the upper switch "D". Thus, in the communication state of the case of transmitting data to the respective computers where the processes "0" to "3" are started in FIG. 2E, an up-link to the upper switch "A" is used in data communication, except the data communication from the computer with the started process "1" to the computer with the started process "5". As a result, a link competition occurs as represented by the circled portion in the figure.
In this way, the communication load may be concentrated on a certain link even though the fat tree network is applied. Thus, communication performance may be decreased. This case may occur when the static-routing network, such as the InfiniBand, is employed. In other words, as illustrated in FIG. 7, each computer is assigned only one network identifier (referred to as "LID" in the InifiniBand) used for routing in the network. However, it may become a disadvantage for each switch when the network identifier is fixedly brought into correspondence with a packet destination port. Specifically, the LID of the leftmost computer is "1", so that a packet addressed to this computer fixedly passes through the upper switch "A". Similarly, the LID of the rightmost computer is "16", so that a packet addressed to this computer fixedly passes through the upper switch "D".
Furthermore, as described above, the selection of computers that start parallel processes is performed without consideration of the relationship between the packet destination port and the LID assigned to the computer. Thus, communication paths for data transmission (specifically, the upper switches as routes for data transmission) may be unequally used.

Recording medium storing communication program, information processing apparatus, and communication procedure


A method for classifying an occluded object includes receiving, by one or more processing circuits, an image of the object that is partially occluded by a foreign object and classifying, by the one or more processing circuits, the object of the image into one of one or more classes of interest via an artificial neural network (ANN) by determining a plurality of neuron activations of neurons of the ANN for one or more foreign classes and the one or more classes of interest, subtracting one or more of the neuron activations of the one or more foreign classes from the neuron activations of the one or more classes of interest, wherein the foreign object belongs to one of the one or more foreign classes, and classifying the object of the image into the one of the one or more classes of interest based on the subtracting.

The present disclosure relates generally to image-based classification systems. The present disclosure relates more particularly to occlusion handling in image-based classification systems.
In image-based classification systems, such as a convolutional neural network classification system or an artificial neural network system, an object of interest is often partially occluded by some foreign objects. Partial occlusions can introduce noise into the classification process and often results in misclassification of the object of interest. To remedy the misclassification problem created by partial occlusions, some image-based classification systems perform a preliminary step of detecting foreign objects and removing them from the original image before proceeding with the classification process. The added step of identifying and removing foreign objects is computationally expensive and inaccurate. Another solution used in convolutional neural network image-based classification systems involves including various combinations of occlusions in the training dataset through either manually labeling or automatic augmentation. A training dataset including such combinations of occlusions is difficult to construct and not scalable when there are multiple types of foreign objects that might occlude the image.

Systems and methods for occlusion handling in a neural network via activation subtraction


Photon counting detectors are sparsely placed at predetermined positions in the fourth-generation geometry around an object to be scanned in spectral Computer Tomography (CT). Optionally, integrating detectors are placed between the two adjacent ones of the sparsely placed photon counting detectors in the fourth-generation geometry. Furthermore, the integrating detectors are placed in the third-generation in combination to the sparsely placed photon counting detectors at predetermined positions in the fourth-generation geometry.

The x-ray beam in most computer tomography (CT) scanners is generally polychromatic. Yet, most of the currently used CT scanners generate images based upon data according to the energy integration nature of the detectors. These conventional detectors are called energy integrating detectors for acquiring energy integration X-ray data. On the other hand, photon counting detectors are configured to acquire the spectral nature of the x-ray source rather than the energy integration nature in acquiring data. To obtain the spectral nature of the transmitted X-ray data, the photo counting detectors split the x-ray beam into its component energies or spectrum bins and counts a number of photons in each of the bins. The use of the spectral nature of the x-ray source in CT is often referred to as spectral CT. Since spectral CT involves the detection of transmitted X-ray at two or more energy levels, spectral CT generally includes dual-energy CT by definition.
Spectral CT is advantageous over conventional CT. Spectral CT offers the additional clinical information inherent in the full spectrum of an x-ray beam. For example, spectral CT facilitates in discriminating tissues, differentiating between materials such as tissues containing calcium and iodine or enhancing the detection of smaller vessels. Among other advantages, spectral CT is also expected to reduce beam hardening artifacts. Spectral CT is also expected to increase accuracy in CT numbers independent of scanners.
Prior art attempts included the use of the conventional integrating detectors in implementing spectral CT. One attempt included dual sources and dual integrating detector units that are placed on the gantry at the predetermined angle with each other for acquiring the data as the gantry rotates around a patient. Another attempt included a single source that performs kV-switching and a single integrating detector unit that are placed on the gantry for acquiring the data as the gantry rotates around a patient. Yet another attempt included a single source and dual integrating detector units that are layered on the gantry for acquiring the data as the gantry rotates around a patient. All of these prior art attempts for spectral CT are not successful in substantially solving issues such as beam hardening, temporal resolution, noise, poor detector response, poor energy separation and so on for reconstructing clinically viable images.
Prior art has also attempted to replace the conventional integrating detectors by the photon counting detectors in implementing spectral CT. In general, photon counting detectors are costly and have a predetermined response rate. Although at least one experimental spectral CT system has been reported, the costs of high-rate photon counting detectors are prohibitive for a full-scale implementation. Despite some advancement in the photon counting detector technology, the currently available photon counting detectors still require solutions to implementation issues such as pile-up effects, scatter effects, spatial resolution, temporal resolution and dose efficiency. For the above reasons, it is still desired to invent spectral CT systems for improving the use of the photon counting detectors in view of the above issues.

Method and system for spectral computed tomography (CT) with sparse photon counting detectors