In a moving picture data structure having a structure comprising I pictures (intraframe coded image) and P pictures (interframe forward predictive coded image), a Pxe2x80x2 picture of a forward predictive coded image of a picture immediately preceding an I picture and the I picture is placed following the I picture. If an error occurs during the I picture transmission, the Pxe2x80x2 picture can be used to recover from the error.

This invention relates to error recovery at the moving picture transmission time in a network where an error is not negligible.
Hitherto, a method wherein a moving picture transmission apparatus provides redundant data for error recovery and when an error occurs in a moving picture reception apparatus, the redundant data is used to recover from the error has been known as an error recovery method applied when moving picture data stored in the moving picture transmission apparatus is transferred to the moving picture reception apparatus over a transmission line.
Generally, moving picture data can be assumed to consist of a plurality of still images successive in time sequence. In an MPEG image compression technique, the moving picture data consists of I picture (intraframe coded image), P picture (interframe forward predictive coded image), and B picture (bidirectional predictive coded image), and redundancy in the time direction of the moving picture data is reduced. To enable a random jump, an I picture appears periodically. Such a structure is useful for a system such as a VOD (video on demand) system.
FIG. 10 shows an example of a system using an error recovery method in moving picture transmission in a related art. A moving picture transmission apparatus 1001 comprises network interface means 1004, data transmission means 1005, data reception means 1006, moving picture supply means 1007 for supplying a moving picture, moving picture data acquisition means 1008 for acquiring object data, and redundant data addition means 1016 for adding redundant data. A moving picture reception apparatus 1002 comprises network interface means 1009, data transmission means 1011, data reception means 1012, input means 1010 for making a request for the reproduction state of a moving picture, error determination means 1013 for determining an error, decoding means 1014 for decoding moving picture data into a format in which the moving picture data can be displayed, and display means 1015 for displaying a moving picture.
In the system, when the user enters a command through the input means 1010 of the moving picture reception apparatus 1002, the command is sent through the data transmission means 1011, the network interface means 1009, a transmission line 1003, the network interface 1004 of the moving picture transmission apparatus 1001, and the data reception means 1006 to the moving picture data acquisition means 1008, which then acquires objective moving picture data from the moving picture supply means 1007 in accordance with the command. The redundant data addition means 1016 adds redundant data to the acquired moving picture data so as to send all frames or I pictures doubly. Then, the resultant data is sent through the data transmission means 1005, the network interface means 1004, the transmission line 1003, the network interface means 1009 of the moving picture reception apparatus 1002, and the data reception means 1012 to the error determination means 1013 for detecting an error during the transmission of the data. If an error does not occur, the error determination means 1013 sends the moving picture data to the decoding means 1014 and the redundant moving picture data is discarded. If an error occurs, the redundant data is sent to the decoding means 1014. The decoding means 1014 decodes the coded moving picture data into displayable form and sends the provided data to the display means 1015, which then displays a moving picture based on the data.
To use the system to add redundant data so as to send all frames doubly, the transmitted data amount is doubled; to add redundant data so as to send I pictures doubly, the transmitted data amount result in about a 1xc2xd-times amount because the I picture occupation percentage between one I picture and the next I picture is about a half.
To transmit a moving picture on a narrow-band transmission line in the error recovery method in moving picture transmission in the related art, the effective band is furthermore narrowed because of the redundant data and the moving picture quality and the frame rate are lowered; this is a problem.
It is therefore an object of the invention to enable error recovery using additional data with smaller redundancy in order to use a band of a transmission line efficiently in an error recovery method in moving picture transmission.
To the end, according to the invention, first, a moving picture data structure wherein a Pxe2x80x2 picture of a forward predictive coded image of a picture immediately preceding an I picture (intraframe coded image) and the I picture is placed preceding or following the I picture is provided.
Thus, if an error occurs in the I picture during the data transmission, the Pxe2x80x2 picture can be used to recover the I picture from the error.
Second, a moving picture data structure wherein a Pxe2x80x3 picture of a forward predictive coded image of an I picture immediately preceding the current I picture and the current I picture is placed preceding or following the current I picture is provided.
Thus, if an error occurs in the I picture or the picture immediately preceding the I picture during the data transmission, the immediately preceding I picture and the Pxe2x80x3 picture can be used to recover the I picture from the error.
Third, a moving picture transmission apparatus comprises differential data transmission means for transmitting data for error correction on a different band when moving picture data is transmitted to a transmission line.
Thus, differential data can be transmitted without hanging data transmission means.
Fourth, a moving picture transmission apparatus comprises time information addition means for adding the same time information as moving picture data to data for error correction when the moving picture data is transmitted to a transmission line.
Thus, the moving picture data reception apparatus receiving the moving picture data can separate the received data into the moving picture data and the data for error correction.
Fifth, a moving picture transmission apparatus comprises redundancy control data reception means for receiving redundancy control data from moving picture reception apparatus when the moving picture data is transmitted to a transmission line.
Thus, data for error correction can be optimized for transmission.
Sixth, a moving picture reception apparatus comprises differential data reception means for receiving data for error correction on a different band when moving picture data is received from a transmission line.
Thus, differential data can be received without changing data reception means.

Moving picture transmission apparatus, moving picture reception apparatus, and moving picture data record medium

Matsushitas Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An electronic money system includes a plurality of electronic money terminals for withdrawing a sum of money which is spent by a user from money data which has been deposited into an information card. Utilization-history data including the number of times the information card has been utilized, and accumulated in the information card is read out at the time when data relating to the spent money is also withdrawn from the information card. Utilization-history data read out from each of the electronic money terminals are gathered and coordinated, so as to coordinate and tabulate the utilization-histories of the information card which has been utilized on any of the plurality electronic money terminals.

This invention relates to an electronic money system, an electronic money terminal device and an information card, and is applicable to an electronic money system, an electronic terminal device and an information card which are used in such a manner that money data is stored in the information card.
Heretofore, when the user uses a cash card and/or a credit card which are issued by a bank, a credit company and others, clerk working for a store which equips a card terminal device for receiving these cards makes the card terminal device read the card number which has been stored in the magnetic stripe of the card, and also inputs a sum of money which is to be paid at this time.
At this time, the card terminal device connects a communication line to the management computer of the bank or the credit company, and transmits information of the card number, the sum of money utilized, and others. The management computer of the bank or the credit company manages whether each user's cash card or credit card is in a past-due state or not, whether it has reached the limit of utilizable money or not, whether there is a report of loss of the card, etc., and on the basis of the information of the card number, the sum of money utilized which has been sent from the card terminal device via the communication line, the management computer judges whether the use of the card should be allowed or not. When the card is judged to be usable, the management computer of the bank or the credit company returns the use allowance information of the card to the card terminal device of the origin of the transmission, and performs withdrawing process of the utilized sum of money from the specified account of the card.
By the way, in such a system that uses a cash card or a credit card, it is needed to transmit an approval request for using the card to the management computer of the bank or the credit company from the card terminal device whether the user intends to use the card, and there has been a problem in that the process of using a card is complicated because the connection processing of the communication line is needed.

Electronic money system, electronic money terminal device, and information card


An image reading apparatus has a placing member where an original is placed, a reading unit for reading an image of the original in a way that moves relatively to the placing member, and a press member for pressing the reading unit against the placing member. The reading unit includes a conductive abutting portion coming into a contact with the placing member, and a grounding member for grounding the conductive abutting portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an image reading apparatus for reading an image of the original, and more particularly to an image reading apparatus for reading in a way that brings a reading unit into a contact with a placing member on which the original is placed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some of book-oriented image reading apparatuses utilized for, e.g., copying machines, image scanners etc. have hitherto used CCDs and contact image sensors as image sensors.
In the case of using the image sensor, an optical system can be simplified and decreased in weight, and hence the whole apparatus can be downsized.
This type of image sensor, however, has a such a problem that a focal depth is small, and the resolution declines due to a fluctuation of distance between a platen glass and the image sensor.
In this respect, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 07-193689 copes with the above problem by providing a high-slidability spacer on a surface of the image sensor that faces to the platen glass, moving by pressure the image sensor towards the platen glass and thus keeping constant a gap between the platen glass and the image sensor.
In the case of using the image sensor, there is taken a method of providing an abutting member for restraining a deviation with respect to the focal depth and moving the image sensor in a state where the abutting member is brought into a frictional contact with the platen glass.
According to this method, however, triboelectrification might occur due to a frictional slide between the abutting member and the platen glass.
Then, when electric charges generated are discharged, electrostatic noises enter the image sensor disposed within an image reading unit and an electric circuit, with the result that an image output might be disturbed.
FIG. 5 is a schematic view representing an image defect caused by discharging the electric charges described above. FIG. 5 shows the enlarged view showing herein an image outputted in the case of using an original containing an uniform black image in a front half thereof and a white image in a rear half thereof. As illustrated in FIG. 5, a white spot pattern irregularly appears in the black image area, while a black spot (fog) pattern likewise appears in the white image area.
Further, in the case of copying an image emphasizing a gradation reproducibility such as a photographic image etc by use of a copying machine and so on, a uniformity of density is important. In this case, however, the uniformity of an output image declines due to the discharge noises entering the reading signals.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 09-284476 discloses, as a measure against the static electricity caused by the frictional slide between the abutting member and the platen glass, a construction including a static electricity preventing mechanism for preventing the static electricity from being generated in a portion at which a roller for keeping a gap constant abuts on the platen glass.
This construction, to be specific, aims at de-electrifying the abutting portion between the roller and the platen glass in a way that attaches a de-electrifying cloth to an outer peripheral portion of the image sensor or a harness and thus preventing an electrostatic adhesion of dusts to the abutting member.
With the construction described above, however, the platen glass can be de-electrified by making the de-electrifying member abutting thereon. The abutting member itself can not be, however, de-electrified. Further, the de-electrifying cloth is easy to fall and fold down because of being used for a long period of time, and the effect thereof does not continue. Moreover, a conveying resistance increases due to the de-electrifying cloth, and hence a drive load rises, with the result that the apparatus architecture becomes hard to downsize and the electric power consumption gets difficult to decrease.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 07-193689 does not particularly deal with an electric resistance value of the abutting member and a de-electrification preventing process, nor does it show any measure against the occurrence of the image noises due to the discharge of the static electricity described above.
Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 6,008,485 exemplifies a ball bearing composed of a metallic material as an abutting member but has a problem, wherein the ball bearing is hard to control the gap related to the abutting member, and requires an additive such as an oil for lubricating the drive of the bearing, which is unpreferable in terms of contamination.

Image reading apparatus including reading unit having conductive abutting portion


A structure includes a silicon substrate; silicon readout circuitry disposed on a first portion of a top surface of the substrate and a radiation detecting pixel disposed on a second portion of the top surface of the substrate. The pixel has a plurality of radiation detectors connected with the readout circuitry. The plurality of radiation detectors are composed of at least one visible wavelength radiation detector containing germanium and at least one infrared wavelength radiation detector containing a Group III-V semiconductor material. A method includes providing a silicon substrate; forming silicon readout circuitry on a first portion of a top surface of the substrate and forming a radiation detecting pixel, on a second portion of the top surface of the substrate, that has a plurality of radiation detectors formed to contain a visible wavelength detector composed of germanium and an infrared wavelength detector composed of a Group III-V semiconductor material.

Visible to IR responsive focal plane arrays (FPAs) have applications in night vision devices and various sensing and imaging applications. The current dominant technology uses Group II-VI semiconductor materials such as HgCdTe for detecting IR radiation. However, conventional HgCdTe detectors can exhibit manufacturing and performance issues including, for example, non-uniformity and a difficulty to scale up.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Monolithic visible-infrared focal plane array on silicon

International Business Machines Corporation


A system and related method for creating an efficient shipping strategy for shipping printed material is disclosed. The system includes a communication component, an analysis component and a shipping component. The communication component communicates printing instructions. The printing instructions include image data and at least one job parameter. The analysis component communicates with the communication component and determines at least one physical property of a print job when formed according to the printing instructions. The shipping component generates shipping information in accordance with the at least one physical property.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to shipping printed material, and in particular, to a system and method for creating an efficient shipping strategy for shipping the printed material.
2. Description of Related Art
Production printing systems generally have a modular design in which various parts of the printing system perform differing tasks. One part may feed printing media, e.g., paper, into a print path. As the media travels along the print path, the printing system utilizes the paper. One such part, or printing module, is the print engine module. The print engine module marks each piece of the media appropriately based off of either static or dynamic image data. For example, a printing system may be tasked to print 500 copies of a book that includes a particular page with a picture and a custom message below the picture. The picture may be of a character of the book and the message may be directed to an anticipated purchaser of the book. For example, if Tom Smith bought a book, the message may state, "This is Tom Smith's book". The picture can be referred to as static print data while the message can be referred to as variable print data.
A printing system tasked to print variable print data is engaged in variable data printing. Other types of variable data printing may include printing serial print jobs in which the stock or media changes between successive print jobs. In addition, another type of variable data printing is printing different mailing or packaging labels for placing on (or in) a shipping container prior to transferring that portion of the print job to a shipping carrier.
Multiple customers of the owner(s) of the printing system may submit these successive print jobs. Generally, these customers are located remotely to the facilities of the printing system and can design and submit a print job therefrom. For example, it is common for the customer to have custom software that can submit image data, such as image data contained in a page description language file, along with a job ticket (this submission process is sometimes referred to as ticketing). The job ticket can include relevant information, such as the stock type desired and other information associated with the image data, the customer or the like.
Generally, near the printing station a key-op collects the print jobs and prepares them for shipping. The key-op usually prepares the shipping label by manually entering in shipping information and guesses as to which shipping container(s) to use. The key-op then gives the packaged portion of the printed print job to the shipping carrier to arrive at the customer's preferred destination. Because of the variability of the printed print job within the print jobs and/or between successive print jobs, it is difficult for the key-op to select optimal shipping parameters, e.g., which carrier to use and which shipping container to select.
Additionally, the key-op may introduce additional inefficiencies when preparing the print job for shipping. For example, the key-op generally has to weigh each portion of the printed print job and determine which box has sufficient tear strength, dimensions and carrying capacity before selecting the shipping container. The key-op has to wrap each portion, place that portion into a shipping container (e.g., a box) and then use adhesive tap to complete the packaging. After the label(s) are printed and affixed, the packaged portion of the print job may need additional weighing because additional weight is added by the wrapping, the packaging, the shipping container, the labeling and the adhesive tape. The postage needs to conform to the actual shipping weight or the postage paid may be too high or too low.

System and method for creating an efficient shipping strategy for shipping printed material


A display device includes: a translucent substrate; a light-shielding film provided on the translucent substrate; first transparent insulating films that are provided on the translucent substrate so as to cover the covering the light-blocking film; and a plurality of thin film transistors (TFTs) that are provided on the first transparent insulation films and include a portion of lines made of conductive films. The light-shielding film is arranged so as to overlap at least the TFTs, when viewed in a direction vertical to the translucent substrate.

In recent years, a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) display has been proposed as a display device in which mechanical shutters are used. For example, Patent Document 1 shown below discloses a transmission type MEMS display. In this MEMS display, a plurality of shutter portions formed with MEMS are arrayed in matrix, corresponding to pixels on a first substrate that includes thin film transistors (hereinafter referred to as TFTs as well). In a light-shielding film laminated on a first substrate side of a second substrate, a plurality of openings are provided that are arrayed in matrix so as to correspond to the pixels, respectively. When the shutter portions move, the openings are opened/closed, which cause light from a backlight unit to be transmitted toward the display surface or to be blocked.

Display device and manufacturing method therefor


The method and apparatus described herein allows for the automatic retraction and extension of the writing element of a bistable self-retaining writing instrument. The method and apparatus consists of a writing element that is joined to the end of a flexible tube or material. These are inserted through a longitudinal channel formed along the outer surface of the writing instrument and are anchored only at the end opposite the writing element. When the bistable self-retaining writing instrument transitions from a coiled to straight configuration the writing element is automatically exposed. Conversely, when pushed into its coiled configuration the writing element slides back into the channel and is thereby protected. The flexible tube or material may also act as a reservoir for a writing substrate such as ink.

Writing instruments, such as pens, pencils, and styluses, are used by millions of people every day. Most writing instruments have methods for protecting the writing element in order to prevent users from unintentionally writing with them. For example, some writing instruments have caps, which are one of the simplest of current techniques. Caps fit over the ends of writing instruments to protect and cover the writing element in order prevent unintentional use and/or leaking. Other methods include spring and/or slide assisted mechanisms, which allow retraction of the writing element within the writing instrument, such as with "clicker" pens.
Current techniques to protect the writing element of writing devices are not sufficient in many instances. Caps may be cumbersome (i.e. require two hands, one to hold the pen and the other to remove the cap), may be easy to lose, and may fall off inadvertently. Spring and/or slide-assisted mechanisms may be bulky, require additional parts, be expensive, and/or interfere with the use and function of the writing instrument.
Recently, a self-retaining writing instrument was invented which includes two principal components—a bi-stable spring and a writing element. In the straight configuration, the self-retaining writing instrument is stable enough that it can be used as a typical writing utensil. Secondary to its bistable nature, this writing instrument assumes a coiled configuration when stressed appropriately allowing it to be stored around something, usually, but not exclusively, the user's wrist.
An important feature of the bistable writing instrument is that the writing element needs to be exposed for writing and protected when worn or otherwise not being used. Unfortunately, caps frequently do not stay in place, and spring and/or slide-assisted mechanisms are bulky and not ideal for use with the bistable writing instrument as these may be more costly and, more importantly, interfere with adequate coiling or function of the bistable writing instrument.
Typical writing pens exist only in one configuration and, in general, contain ink cartridges that store writing material in a reservoir that is in fluid communication with the writing tip (i.e. ballpoint). Currently available ink cartridges are also not adequate for use with a self-retaining bistable writing instrument secondary to their inherent rigidity that impedes the ability of the self-retaining bistable writing instrument from assuming its coiled configuration.
Accordingly, there remains a considerable need for an improved method and apparatus for protecting the writing element of a writing device, specifically as relates to the self-retaining bistable writing instrument.

Method and apparatus for extending and retracting the writing element of a self-retaining writing instrument


A speed change operation apparatus includes a pivotal body operatively connected to a trunnion shaft to be pivotally displaced in response to an operational displacement by an operational tool, a positioning body operatively coupled with the pivotal body so as to be pivotally displaced in response to a pivotal displacement of the pivotal body, a main urging mechanism for applying an urging force to the pivotal body via the positioning body for returning the pivotal body from an operational position to the neutral position, and an auxiliary urging mechanism for applying an auxiliary urging force to the pivotal body for returning the pivotal body from the operational position to the neutral position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a speed change operation apparatus for a stepless speed changer device, configured to increase a rotational output in response to increase in rotational displacement of a trunnion shaft from a neutral position to an operational position.
2. Description of the Related Art
According to one type of speed change operation apparatus, the apparatus includes a pivotal body operably coupled to a trunnion shaft, a positioning body supported to be pivotable about a positioning axis parallel with a pivot axis of the pivotal body, and a cam mechanism for positioning the trunnion shaft at the neutral position. At the time of positioning, into a recessed portion of a cam (a constituent element of a cam mechanism) formed in one of the pivotal body and the positioning body, a cam follower (another constituent element of the cam mechanism) is engaged. And, the positioning body is pivotally urged by a spring so as to bring the cam and the cam follower into contact with other.
For instance, a speed change operation apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-48331 includes a first member as a pivotal body operably coupled to a trunnion shaft, a second member as a positioning body and a spring and an auxiliary spring that pivotally urge the second member. The spring is connected to the second member and pivots the second member with an urging force that progressively increases as the trunnion shaft reaches the higher speed side. The auxiliary spring is connected to a rod having one end thereof engaged in a cam hole formed in the second member. The rod is supported to be pivotable with the portion thereof opposite to the side engaged in the cam hole acting as the pivot. When the trunnion shaft is located at a neutral position or an area adjacent the neutral position, one terminal end of the rod contacts an inclined portion of the cam hole by the urging force of the auxiliary spring, thereby to press the second member toward the first member. When the trunnion shaft is located at a distant area more distant from the neutral position than the adjacent area, the one terminal end of the rod is pressed against an arcuate portion of the cam hole by the urging force of the auxiliary spring. That is, while the trunnion shaft is located in the adjacent area, the urging force of the auxiliary spring urges the trunnion shaft to the neutral position. Whereas, while the trunnion shaft is located at the distant area, the urging force of the auxiliary spring does not urge the trunnion shaft to the neutral position. With this speed change operation apparatus, even with appropriate setting of the urging force applied to the positioning member when the trunnion shaft is located at the neutral position and the urging force applied to the positioning member when the trunnion shaft is located at a highest speed position, the urging force of the spring becomes weaker as the trunnion shaft is located closer to the neutral position. Further, the urging force of the auxiliary spring is applied to the positioning member for only a portion in the operational range of the trunnion shaft adjacent the neutral. Because of these two respects, in the course of an operation of the trunnion shaft from one of the neutral position and the highest speed position to the other, there occurs change in the pressing force applied from the positioning member to the pivotal body, thus tending to invite change in the rotational resistance of the trunnion shaft. As a result, there arises a problem of variation occurring in the operational resistance.

Speed change operation apparatus for stepless speed changer device


A method and system for accurate and precise representation of color for still and moving images, particularly sequences of digitized color images. Spectral and/or extended dynamic range information is retained as images are captured, processed, and presented during color adjustment. Using this extra spectral information, various methodologies for further presenting or processing the color within these images can be optimized. Presentation-device independence is achieved not by attempting to discover a device-independent intermediate representation, but rather by deferring the binding and mapping of color representation onto a presentation device until its actual use.

This invention relates to accurate and precise representation of color for still and moving images, particularly sequences of digitized color images, including digital motion pictures and digital video.
CIE 1931 Standard Colorimetric Observer
During the period 1928 through 1931, J. Guild and W. D. Wright in England developed the CIE 1931 XYZ and xyz colorimetric system. The fundamental elements of this color representation are spectral mapping curves called x_bar, y_bar, and z_bar. These functions are based upon a transformation from human vision color matching measurements using amounts of relatively pure red, green, and blue. The red, green, and blue amounts were determined in 2-degree color patch matching experiments using a mixture of amounts of these red, green, and blue primaries to match arbitrary colors (other than red, green, or blue). The functions of the amounts to match arbitrary colors are embodied in spectral functions r_bar, g_bar, and b_bar. These functions have negative amounts in certain wavelength regions. The x_bar, y_bar, and z_bar spectral color matching functions are a linear transformation of Guild's and Wrights independent r_bar, g_bar, and b_bar measurements, taking into account the fact that the wavelengths of the red, green, and blue primaries were different between Guild and Wright. The x_bar, y_bar, and z_bar functions have all positive spectral amounts, unlike r_bar, g_bar, and b_bar. For general reference, see Color Science, Concepts and Methods, Quantitative Data and Formulae, 2nd Edition 1982, by Gunter Wyszecki and Walter Stanley Stiles, John Wiley and Sons; Color Appearance Models, 2nd Edition 2005, by Mark Fairchild, John Wiley and Sons; and Fundamental Chromaticity Diagram with Psychological Axes—Part 1, CIE 170-1:2006 (International Commission on Illumination, Commission Internationale De L'Eclairage, CIE) ISBN 3 901 906 46 0.
A discussion of this original color model work can be found in Wszecki and Stiles (W&S) in section 3.3 and section 5.5.6. It is significant to note that this work pre-dated computers and spectral-radiometers (which directly measure spectra digitally). The data for x_bar, y_bar, and z_bar are specified with four decimal digits, and at 5 nm intervals between 380 nm and 780 nm (see W&S Table II (3.3.1), page 736). This precision and accuracy is actually much higher than was implied by the original color examinations performed by Guild and Wright. Although the x_bar, y_bar, and z_bar spectral matching function data can accurately represent a theoretical color observer, these data do not represent actual people, but rather an average over a group of people (7 people tested by Guild, and 10 people tested by Wright). A problem with this testing approach is that there are substantial variations between individuals, and even variations for a single individual over time. There is theoretically an infinite number of different visible spectra which can integrate with x_bar, y_bar, and z_bar to yield the same value of CIE 1931 X, Y, and Z. This transformation of different spectra to the same CIE XYZ color, and the degree to which a different perceived color also sometimes results, is known as "metamerism". Colors with identical spectra are called "isomers", and such colors will always be perceived by each viewer as identical. However, even though two spectrally-identical colors are perceived as identical to each other, it is not possible to know how the color will appear in the mind's visual field of various individuals. There is variation from one individual to another, since each person essentially has his or her own individual spectral sensing functions at any given time. There may also be differences between individuals in the neural processing in the path between the retina and the visual cortex, and the resulting perceived color image. Further, there is evidence that people who need to carefully specify and distinguish colors, such as painters, cinematographers, and interior designers, may learn to improve their ability to distinguish and interpret colors compared to people who have not been trained in careful color distinction. Moreover, it is not known the degree to which color vision is hereditary due to human DNA codes, the degree to which it is neurologically developmental during early childhood, and the degree to which it can be further developed subsequently.
The CIE 1931 y_bar curve, which is based upon photopic luminance, is known to be incorrect based upon more accurate measurements done subsequent to 1931. This is significant in the CIE 1931 XYZ color model, since it affects color accuracy and not just luminance perception. The original photopic luminance work was performed by Judd in the early 1920's, and Judd later made a substantial correction in 1950 (see W&S Section 5.7.2), which became the basis of the 1970 Vos version of the XYZ color model (W&S section 5.5.2).
CIE 1964 Supplementary Standard Colorimetric Observer
In 1964, partly due to Judd's correction of y_bar, and also due to the discovery that a 10-degree color patch matched differently from a 2-degree color patch, the CIE added the CIE 1964 10-degree Supplementary Standard Colorimetric Observer (W&S section 3.3.2). The difference in average spectral functions between 2-degrees and 10-degrees is primarily caused by the yellow tint over the "macula latea" portion of the fovea of the human eye (the macular yellow pigment). This structural difference in the eye means that smaller patches of color are more yellow-filtered than larger patches.
There are thus a number of x_bar, y_bar, z_bar spectral color matching functions representing human color vision, with significant differences between them. FIG. 1 is a graph showing several existing x_bar, y_bar, z_bar color matching functions: the CIE 1931 (2-degree) version, the Vos 1970 version, and the CIE 1964 10-degree version.
Currently, CIE 1931 XYZ (and associated x_bar, y_bar, z_bar) is prominent (e.g., in the ICC color standard) as an engine for device-independent colorimetry. RGB representations are also the norm in color work, along with other three-primary (also called "tri-chromatic") color representations, such as YUV, YPrPb, YCrCb, YIQ, LAB, and LUV. All of these tri-chromatic representations are fundamentally specified using CIE 1931 xy chromaticity coordinates for the color primaries, and associated matrix and gamma transforms, or are specified directly in terms of a transformation from CIE 1931 XYZ. Thus, at the present time, every common color system is specified in terms of the CIE 1931 x_bar, y_bar, z_bar spectral mapping.
Human Vision
In addition to color differences between various photopic x_bar, y_bar, z_bar trichromatic color matching functions (shown in FIG. 1), other factors affect color sensing, such as low light levels in common color viewing environments (e.g., motion picture cinema theaters).
The human eye is composed of "rods" and "cones". Cones operate in high light levels, and see in color. This is known as "photopic". Rods operate in low light, and see without color. This is known as "scotopic". Movie projection operates in "mesopic" vision, such that the lower brightnesses are scotopic and higher brightnesses are photopic. The scotopic-luminance center wavelength is broadband centering in cyan, and is thus substantially bluer than photopic luminance which centers in yellow-green. Wyszecki and Stiles discuss "Tetrachromatic" color matching functions in section 5.6.2 as a means of dealing with mesopic vision. There is also some evidence that a small percentage of women have two slightly different wavelengths of red cones (in addition to green and blue), and can therefore potentially distinguish colors more finely than people with a single type of red cones. These women are thus somewhat "tetrachromatic" at high brightness, and thus potentially have five spectral wavelengths active in mesopic vision. It is further common for several percent of the male population to be somewhat color deficient (degrees of color blindness). This usually takes the form of two high-brightness cone colors instead of three, but there are other forms of color deficiency as well. All of these inter-personal variations make the goal of person-independent color difficult (or perhaps impossible).
It is also worth noting that tiny pigment wafers exist within cones which are gradually bleached by light during each day. These pigment wafers are gradually absorbed at the base of each cone during sleep each night, while new pigmented wafers are created at the top of each cone on the retina. A lack of sleep, especially when combined with the pigment-bleaching effects of high light levels (such as being outdoors), can therefore directly affect color perception. It is also likely that a better understanding will also develop over time with respect to these effects, particularly the affect of sleep and lack of sleep on color perception. Also, given the nature of this pigment-wafer cycle, it is likely that there may be a difference in color perception in the morning versus the middle of the day versus the evening. This is particularly interesting in light of the common practice of seeing movies and television in the evening, sometimes watching until late, just prior to sleep.
CIE 170-1:2006 Modified CIE Colorimetric Observer
The CIE 170-1:2006 document, published by the CIE in January of 2006, allows "cone fundamentals" to define color mapping functions as a function of both age and angle of view to yield a "Modified CIE Colorimetric Observer". For example, FIG. 2 is a graph of variation of cone fundamentals in CIE 170-1:2006 as a function of viewing angle (1deg, 2deg, 4deg, and 10deg) for age 35 years, and FIG. 3 is a graph of variation of cone fundamentals in CIE 170-1:2006 as a function of age (20yrs, 40yrs, 60yrs, and 80yrs) for a 2 degree viewing angle. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the average cone fundamentals (called l for long, m for medium, and s for short) vary significantly with viewing angle and with age. Further, sensitivity in certain wavelengths changes much more than at other wavelengths. Note for example the substantial variations near 500 nm and near 600 nm. The relative proportions of l, m, and s fundamentals can be seen to show large variations at these and at other sensitive wavelengths.
To quote Section 1.2 of CIE 170-1:2006: "Since observers, even within the same age bracket, may differ, a fundamental observer must be a theoretical construct based on averages. Any "real observer" will be different from the "Modified CIE Colorimetric Observer". The starting functions are average colour-matching functions from a large sample (about 50 observers). An important inter-observer source of variability is the polymorphism of the photopigments, showing up as small, probably hereditary, variations of a few nanometers in peak wavelength of the cone fundamentals. Additional parameters such as the lens optical density, or macular pigment optical density, are given as average figures."
The variations become particularly significant in light of the human visual ability to perform color matches at substantially less than 1%. It can be seen that the affects of age and viewing angle result in color determination variations which are more than an order of magnitude larger than 1% at sensitive wavelengths. Thus, any system for presenting precise and accurate color must take into account age and viewing angle, as well as inter-observer variations.
Note also that the CIE 170-1:2006 Modified CIE Color Matching Functions are based upon the 1959 Stiles and Burch data, as shown in FIG. 3 (5.5.6), FIG. 4 (5.5.6), and FIG. 5 (5.5.6) of Wyszecki and Stiles. This data shows variations on the order of several percent (and sometimes significantly more) between the 49 observers. Similar variation plots (which are clearly approximate) are shown in FIG. 1 (5.5.6) for the CIE 1931 observers used by Guild and Wright (7 and 10 observers, respectively) used in 1928-1929.
It should further be recognized that visual science is still actively investigating many relevant issues, and that there will likely be significant further refinements and improvements in visual spectral sensing models in the future. Further, there is likely to be a gradual improvement in understanding with respect to inter-personal variations in color matching functions, as well as factors related to heredity, ethnicity, age, gender, and viewing conditions. There may perhaps even evolve a better understanding of cultural preferences and biases in color appearance, as well as factors affecting color distinction including whether accurate color perception is used in one's employment (such as the work of a cinematographer, who is highly trained in the creation, management, and distinction of color).
The Use of Logarithmic Printing Density from Film Negative
Heretofore, movie masters have been film negative (or film duplicates thereof), a digital representation of film negative (using printing density units), or a reduced-range digital representation such as a digital television distribution master. For digital representations, there may also be many intermediate versions, but none of these is considered a master. Usually, only the reduced-range digital version embodies the final intended appearance, but it does so at the sacrifice of colors and brightnesses which are out of range for the digital television or digital cinema representation (as determined during mastering).
In 1990, the present inventor presented a paper at the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) conference (see "The Use of Logarithmic and Density Units for Pixels" by Gary Demos, SMPTE Journal, October 1991, pp 805-816), proposing the use of logarithmic and density units for pixels. Based upon this paper, and the present inventor's request to SMPTE for a standardization effort, the SMPTE DPX (Digital Picture Exchange) file format was created to represent film negative density for motion pictures. As part of the SMPTE specification, a density representation known as "Printing Density" is used, which is the density of the film negative as seen by printing film (positive film for projection). However, printing density is not defined according to any industry-wide standard, and is thus difficult to use accurately or precisely. The more common standardized densities, known as "Status M" for film negatives, and "Status A" for print film, provide moderate accuracy for use in film developing consistency, but are insufficient for full spectral characterization.
In addition, negative films vary in their spectral sensitivity functions with exposure and color. Cross-color terms, such as variations in the amount of red in red, versus the amount of red in white or yellow, are also significant in negative film. Some of these effects occur due to inherent film light sensitivity spectral functions, and some occur due to chemical processes and dye-layer interaction during developing, and some occur due to dyes interacting with light spectra during the making of print film or scanning in a digital scanner. A further set of issues arise with the exposure, developing, and projection of motion picture print film, which is exposed from film negative. This process becomes more complex when camera photography uses one film negative, which is developed and scanned by a digital printer, and then manipulated digitally and recorded to another film negative in a digital film recorder (which is then printed to print film for projection). Copy film negatives and positives, known as film intermediate elements (internegative and interpositive) are also needed to provide thousands of film print copies for movie theater distribution.
When projected, a film print's dye spectral density is concatenated with the spectrum of the light source (usually xenon) and the spectral reflectance of the screen, to produce the spectrum which reaches the eye of the movie viewers. See FIG. 4, which is a graph of projected film spectra for red, green, blue, yellow, cyan, magenta, and white. Print film uses cyan, magenta, and yellow film dye layers to modulate red, green, and blue, respectively. The spectral transmittance of the various densities of dyes do not vary linearly, but rather alter their spectra shapes as a function of amount of density in that and other dye layers.
In addition to all of these film-based issues, the digital information from scanned and processed film and digital camera input may also be directly digitally output to a digital projection release master (which usually also involves compression). Often this master contains a simulation of the film printing process, and its color peculiarities. See, for example, FIG. 5, which is a graph of typical red, green, and blue primaries for digital cinema projectors.
It should be noted that the greatest success in precise color matching has come from side-by-side projected or displayed color images, with human-controlled adjustment of color to create a match. One such approach to the color matching task system is described in the U.S. Patent Application No. 60/198,890 and 09/648,414, "Film and Video Bi-Directional Color Matching System and Method" in the name of David Ruhoff and the present inventor. In that application, two images were placed side by side (or one above the other) on the same Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) screen. One image came from a digital film scan (such as using "printing density" units), the other image came from an electronic or digital camera. Both images were taken of the same scene, and were presented on the same screen. The colors of the side from the film scan were given a print simulation, and were adjusted to achieve a match. Therefore, subject to screen uniformity, both images utilized identical spectra during the matching process. An inverse was created from the film image's adjustment and print simulation process, which was then applied to the electronic/digital image. The data from the inverse process, applied to the electronic/digital image, then matched the digital film scan. The digital film scan and the inverse processed data were both output to a digital film recorder, which then received identical RGB input values (in "printing density" units in this example). The recorded negative film could then be optically printed and projected. Since the RGB values from the electronic/digital camera inverse process were very near the RGB values of the original digital film scan as a result of the matching process, the electronic/digital camera image would match the film-scanned image of the same scene. The film recorder RGB values were output to a laser film recorder, which used identical wavelengths of laser red, green, and blue primaries to record the intermediate film negative. Accordingly, the printing color process which followed was the same whether the original was from digitally scanned film or from the inverted electronic/digital camera. Since the spectra of the film recorder was the same in both cases, and the spectra of film developing and printing were the same (if done at the same time on the same roll of film), the projected film print results were identical. Again, the spectra of the digital film scan, when recorded on the film recorder, and the inverted electronic/digital camera image, were identical. Thus, nowhere in this color matching process was a color matching function used, nor was it needed. Further, there was no attempt made to match the projected film with its color gamut, white point, gamma function, and spectrum, to the video image on the Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), with its color gamut, white point, gamma function, and spectrum. However, color matching functions, based upon a standardized calorimetric observer, are needed when identical colors are desired from differing spectra.
In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/225,665, "High Quality Wide-Range Multi-Layer Compression Coding System" by the present inventor, efficient compression coding technology is described which maintains a wide dynamic range, and which can preserve the original image information by ensuring that coding error is less than the noise floor of the image itself. The system and method of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/225,665 can efficiently (via compression) preserve an extended color gamut range using negative numbers (for example, in red, green, and blue channels), and numbers above 1.0 (the most common logical presentation maximum in a mastering room context) using internal floating point processing. Additional channels (more than three) can also be coded. Further, a small amount of bit-exact (lossless) compression is available in the OpenExr 16-bit floating point representation, although the TIFF-32 standard does not currently offer useful compression. Without compression, a high resolution movie master is usually impractically large (many terabytes), even using today's large digital storage capacities. U.S. Patent Application No. 60/758,490, "Efficient Bit-Exact Lossless Image Coding Residual System" by the present inventor describes how to modestly compress moving images while retaining bit-exact original pixel values.
Color Printing On Paper
Another application where there is a need for accurate and precise control of color is color printing on paper. Color printers for home computers are becoming ubiquitous. There is a wide variation in the colors being produced by various color printers, however. One interesting example concerns some models of color printers which use additional color primaries (via additional colors of inks). Normal color printing modulates red, green, and blue light by using cyan, magenta, and yellow inks (or dyes), respectively. Sometimes black ink is also used for efficiency and black quality, although black typically does not carry any color information. In addition, some printers also use red and green as well as low-saturation photo-magenta and photo-cyan inks (or dyes). Some printers also utilize deep blue or violet, as well as orange, deep red, and other colors. In a typical image with red, green, and blue color channels (in addition to yellow, cyan, and magenta), there is little or no information on how to manage amounts of these additional colors. Other specialty inks (or dyes) are also sometimes used including "day-glow" fluorescent colors, which often convert invisible ultra-violet light into visible hot-pink, hot-green, and hot-blue, often with spikes in the resulting spectra. Some printers have other specialty inks having silver or gold metallic appearance. Some papers utilize "optical brighteners", which convert invisible ultra-violet light into increased whiteness, sometimes also with spectral spikes (like day-glow inks and dyes).
The current practice for device-independent color representations for digital cameras and color computer printers is to use the ICC color standard, which is based upon CIE 1931 x_bar, y_bar, z_bar spectral mapping (via CIE XYZ or CIE LAB). This provides only approximate device-independence, and provides no information about how to use additional ink colors (beyond cyan, magenta, and yellow). It should be noted that the mapping between trichromatic images and display or printing devices with more than three color primaries is non-unique. There are thus numerous possible mappings from three primaries to more than three. Further, no such predetermined mapping is likely to accurately and precisely recreate all of the intended colors.
Color printing on film requires the use of a light source for presentation, with the light source having its own spectral characteristics. Color printing on paper requires the paper to be illuminated by light, which light will have its own spectral properties. While the film or color paper print can attempt to reproduce color with a specific spectrum of light, it cannot adapt to other light spectra.
Another significant issue is that the perception of color, brightness, and contrast is greatly affected by the color and brightness of the surrounding environment when viewing a color print or a displayed or projected image. The film or color paper print can attempt to correctly reproduce perceived colors in a single anticipated viewing surround, but cannot be made surround-independent. Further, there is no mechanism which could provide for variations between viewers, or within a single viewer (such as one's gradual adaptation to changing color and brightness perception when going from bright daylight to a darker indoor room).
The goal of precise and accurate device-independent color will remain illusive as long as such systems (such as the ICC color standard) are primarily based upon CIE 1931 x_bar, y_bar, and z_bar. Further, observer variations, and variations in image brightness and in surround color and brightness conspire to further complicate the task of accurate and precise reproduction of all of the colors in an image.
Use of CIE 1931 Chromaticity in Specifying File RGB Primaries
In the "High Quality Wide Range Multi-Layer Image Compression Coding System" patent application by the present inventor, a compression system is described which can retain extended range image representations using a floating point numerical representation. Publicly-available floating point image formats such as TIFF-32 and OpenExr can be directly supported as inputs and/or outputs for compression or other processing. However, these systems either do not define the spectral mapping of primary colors, or else specify color primaries using CIE xy chromaticity coordinates (which spectrally map using CIE 1931 x_bar, y_bar, and z_bar). The color precision and accuracy of these formats is therefore limited by the inherent limits of CIE 1931 x_bar, y_bar, and z_bar spectral mappings.
Differences in Spectral Sensing Functions of Cameras with Respect to Color Matching Functions
Another significant aspect of common color imaging systems is the spectral sensitivity function of color electronic cameras (usually these are digital cameras). Most color cameras use red, green, and blue spectral sensitivities which differ significantly from human color vision. The red spectral sensitivity of cameras, in particular, usually peaks at a much longer wavelength (deeper color of red) than does human vision. This has the affect of increasing color saturation for some colors. However, it also has the affect that some of the colors seen by a digital camera will not correspond to colors seen by the human eye (and cannot be unambiguously transformed into colors as seen by the human eye).
Camera films (usually negative films in motion picture use) similarly have spectral sensing functions which cannot be mapped into human vision. Camera film spectral sensing functions for the color primary channels (usually RGB) further vary with film exposure level, with amounts of the other color primary channels, and with other photo-chemical factors.
It is currently common practice to alter the original scene colors using a reference digital display or projector. This process has long been called "color timing" for the process of balancing and adjusting colors within film prints made from film negatives for stills and movies.
Such alteration can also be regional (such as in photo-retouch programs), and may be applied as moving image region color alteration (sometimes called "power windows" or "secondary colors" by the terminology of telecine color correction systems). Often these color adjustments are applied "to taste" and thus bear no relationship to the accurate nor precise reproduction of colors.
It can easily be recognized that the emission spectrum of the color reference display or projector is unlikely to match the sensing spectra of digital cameras, which in turn is unlikely to match the way colors are seen by the human visual system. Further, home viewing and home paper prints operate using yet different spectra.
There currently exists no practice for usefully reconciling the various sensing and emission spectra, outside of systems such as the ICC color standard (and similar systems) which are fundamentally based on the CIE 1931 x_bar, y_bar, and z_dr bar system, and thus do not take into account any of the common spectral variations in a typical imaging process (from camera to display, projector, color paper print, color transparent film, or video screen).
It is also useful to note that television systems in past decades relied upon a relatively consistent spectra due to consistent use of Cathode Ray Tubes (CRT's), with relatively consistent emission spectra. Reference CRT color monitors were commonly used to set reference color for scenes. Since nearly all end-user presentation in past decades was also via some form of CRT, the use of CIE 1931 chromaticities to specify the spectral mapping of colorimetry and primaries was adequate to a modest degree (although many displays differed substantially from color and gamma-curve calibration specifications). However, at present, most displays are no longer CRT's, and have a wide variation in emission spectra at mastering and at final presentation. Common current computer displays and television displays use LCD's, UHP lamps (metal halide) with projection LCD or DLP modulators, and plasma panel displays, each having significantly different emission spectra. Thus, at present, many systems rely much more heavily on CIE 1931, within which the red, green, and blue chromaticities are specified, to perform the spectral transformations necessary for reasonable color representation.
Of greater significance to the present invention is the current practice of discarding spectral information (both sensing and emission, especially the emission spectra of mastering displays and projectors) as images are processed and distributed. This is true for digital movie masters (which are relatively recent), digital television, web-based computer color image presentation, and color photography and color paper printing for personal and professional use.
In the case of digitally-scanned film negative, it is common practice to discard the filmstock information, which would identify the spectral sensing functions (although these vary with film emulsion batch), and which would identify the dye transmission spectra (which similarly vary), as well as the inter-layer interaction and exposure versus color interactions. Further, the spectral sensing functions of the digital film negative scanner, and perhaps the spectrum of its light source, are also discarded. What is ubiquitously provided is the RGB data, with unspecified spectral properties. This "raw" color digital negative is then color "timed" on a reference color projector or display, the spectra of which are similarly discarded.
It is easily seen that accurate and precise control and reproduction of color has heretofore proven elusive. Thus, an on-going technical challenge is attempting to accurately and precisely specify color in a manner that is device-independent, person-independent, color-patch-size independent, and time-independent.

System for accurately and precisely representing image color information


An apparatus and method for providing patient access in a warming therapy device (e.g., incubator, warmer, etc.) is described. In one exemplary embodiment, the apparatus comprises a hood with a retractable top member, which permits access to a patient disposed within the warming therapy device without lowering or removal of one or more sidewalls of the hood.

Conventional warming therapy devices typically include a platform and a one-piece hood component for covering the platform in a manner that creates is controlled environment, such as an incubation chamber. A patient receiving treatment via as warming therapy device may be positioned onto the platform and then covered via the hood component. In order to access the patient, a caretaker must typically remove the entire hood component, thereby exposing the patient to the ambient surroundings. Further, once the hood component is removed, there is nothing preventing the patient from rolling off of the platform and becoming injured.
In order to address these deficiencies, certain hood components have been configured with openings in their lateral walls, thereby enabling a caretaker to reach through the openings and access the patient without having to remove the entire hood component. Although such configurations do improve upon the conventional design, access to the patient is still very limited, and full access to the patient (e.g., for removing the patient from the platform) may still only be achieved via removing the entire hood component.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to an incubation device and a hood assembly that provides a safe incubation environment, while at the same time providing unencumbered access to a patient in a manner that does not require removal of the entire hood assembly.

Warming therapy device including retractable hood member


A multi-fiber push on (MPO) optical connector includes a housing supporting a ferrule body. The ferrule body forms an optical connection with a second MPO optical connector. The ferrule body includes a connection end having a distal end face arranged to face the second MPO optical connector when the ferrule body forms the optical connection with the second MPO optical connector. The connection end of the ferrule body defines a recess extending proximally into the ferrule body from the distal end face. A plurality of optical fibers are received in the ferrule body. Distal ends of the optical fibers are adjacent to a proximal end of the recess such that the distal ends of the optical fibers are spaced apart from the second MPO optical connector when the ferrule body forms an optical connection with the second MPO optical connector. The distal ends of the optical fibers are coated with an anti-reflective material.

Optical connectors are used within optical communication networks to interconnect optical cables to optical devices or other optical cables. Optical connections typically involve two optical connectors connected together to form an optical connection. One type of optical connector is a multi-fiber push on (MPO) optical connector. An MPO optical connector is used to connect multiple optical fibers together.


Video decoding system having a programmable variable-length decoding accelerator. The system includes a decoder processor and a variable-length decoding accelerator. The variable-length decoding accelerator is coupled to the decoder processor and performs variable-length decoding operations on variable-length code in the video data stream. The variable-length decoding accelerator is capable of decoding variable-length code according to any of a plurality of decoding methods. In one embodiment, the variable-length decoder includes a plurality of code tables stored in memory and a code table selection register that is programmable to dictate which of the plurality of code tables is to be utilized to decode variable-length code. In one embodiment, the decoding system includes two variable-length decoding accelerators.

Digital video decoders decode compressed digital data that represent video images in order to reconstruct the video images. Most transmitted video data is compressed and decompressed using, among other techniques, variable-length coding, such as Huffman coding. Huffman coding is a widely used technique for lossless data compression that achieves compact data representation by taking advantage of the statistical characteristics of the source. The Huffman code is a prefix-free variable-length code that assures that a code is uniquely decodable. In Huffman code, no codeword is the prefix of any other codeword. In some video compression formats, run-length processed data are often subsequently coded by variable-length coding for further data compression.
Variable-length encoding following the Huffman coding principle allocates codes of different lengths to different input data according to the probability of occurrence of the input data, so that statistically more frequent input codes are allocated shorter codes than the less frequent codes. The less frequent input codes are allocated longer codes. The allocation of codes may be done either statically or adaptively. For the static case, the same output code is provided for a given input datum, no matter what block of data is being processed. For the adaptive case, output codes are assigned to input data based on a statistical analysis of a particular input block or set of blocks of data, and possibly changes from block to block (or from a set of blocks to a set of blocks).
A relatively wide variety of encoding/decoding algorithms and encoding/decoding standards presently exists, and many additional algorithms and standards are sure to be developed in the future. The various algorithms and standards produce compressed video bitstreams of a variety of formats. Some existing public format standards include MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (used for standard definition, or SD, and high definition, or HD), MPEG-4, H.263, H.263+ and MPEG-4 AVC, also called H.264. Also, private standards have been developed by Microsoft Corporation (Windows Media), RealNetworks, Inc., Apple Computer, Inc. (QuickTime), and others. The combination of run-length coding and Huffman coding has been adopted in most compression/decompression standards. However, every standard has its own variable length code tables and run-length definitions. It would be desirable to have a multi-format decoding system that can decode a variety of variable-length encoded bitstream formats, including existing and future standards, and to do so in a cost-effective manner.
A highly optimized hardware architecture can be created to address a specific video decoding standard, but this kind of solution is typically limited to a single format. On the other hand, a fully software based solution is capable of handling any encoding format, but at the expense of performance. Currently, the latter case is solved in the industry by the use of general-purpose processors running on personal computers. Sometimes the general-purpose processor is accompanied by digital signal processor (DSP) oriented acceleration modules, like multiply-accumulate (MAC), that are intimately tied to the particular internal processor architecture. For example, in one existing implementation, an Intel Pentium processor is used in conjunction with an MMX acceleration module. Such a solution is limited in performance and does not lend itself to creating mass market, commercially attractive systems.
Others in the industry have addressed the problem of accommodating different encoding/decoding algorithms by designing special purpose DSPs in a variety of architectures. Some companies have implemented Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW) architectures more suitable to video processing and able to process several instructions in parallel. In these cases, the processors are difficult to program when compared to a general-purpose processor, and VLIW processors tend to have difficulty decoding variable length codes since the nature of the codes does not lend itself to parallel operations. In special cases, where the processors are dedicated for decoding compressed video, special processing accelerators are tightly coupled to the instruction pipeline and are part of the core of the main processor.
Yet others in the industry have addressed the problem of accommodating different encoding/decoding algorithms by simply providing multiple instances of hardware dedicated to a single algorithm. This solution is inefficient and is not cost-effective, and it not practical for all compressed video formats. Thus there is a need for a simple and flexible decoding system that can speedily and efficiently decode variable-length codes of varying standards.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art through comparison of such systems with the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

Video decoding system having a programmable variable-length decoder


An adhesive article includes a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer with a release liner releasably adhered thereto. The release liner comprises a thermoplastic polymer and a first release agent represented by the formula: Each R1 represents a hydrocarbylene group having from 2 to 40 carbon atoms; each Rf independently represents a perfluorinated alkyl group of having 3 to 5 carbon atoms; and each X1 is —NH— or a covalent bond. Methods of making the adhesive articles are also disclosed.

Adhesive tape comes in many varieties such as, for example, single-sided or double-sided tape, typically wound into a roll. Double-sided adhesive tape (also termed "adhesive transfer tape") has adhesive properties on both sides, generally covered by one or two releasable liners (release liners) that protect the adhesive, which is/are removed prior to when the adhesive layer is bonded to a substrate. In some embodiments, a double-sided release liner is used, wherein a first release layer is coated on a first major surface of a backing, and a second release layer is coated on a second major surface of the release liner opposite the first major surface. Typically, the first and second release layers are designed to have different release properties to facilitate dispensing the tape in roll form. For example, the first release layer may bind somewhat more tightly to the adhesive layer than the second release layer in order to achieve a clean unwind of the roll.
Polymeric release materials are known to be used as release layers on liners (e.g., flexible backing films, foils, or papers) in order to provide a surface from which a pressure-sensitive adhesive can be easily and cleanly removed. For example, it is known to apply a polymeric release material to the back surface of an adhesive tape backing in order to allow the tape to be provided in roll form and to be easily and conveniently dispensed by unwinding the roll.
Release layers have been applied to surfaces of liners by preparing the release components in solvent, coating the solution onto a desired surface, and drying to evaporate the solvent. One example of a release coating formed using a conventional solvent-based process is found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,532,011 (Dahlquist et al.).
Solvent-based processes, however, have become increasingly less desirable due to special handling and environmental concerns associated therewith. For example, conventional release materials are typically applied to a substrate in a coating step that is separate from the preparation of the substrate itself.

Adhesive articles and methods of making the same


A system and method of providing advertising information from a database of advertising listings using a short, easy to remember alphanumeric identifying code associated each listing. The codes are promoted through various known advertising methods. A consumer, upon observing the ad and the code, can obtain additional information regarding the subject matter of the ad by accessing the system and entering the code. The system receives the request and the code from the consumer and transmits the listing of interest to the consumer. In order to keep the codes short while still providing a large number of listings, each code may be associated with multiple listings. The system may filter the listings associated with a requested code using various data, and may also transmit to the consumer a list of such listings from which the consumer may select the listing of interest.

The present invention relates generally to advertising of goods and services. Advertising takes many forms, such as in newspapers, radio, television, billboards, signage such as "For Sale" signs. Moreover, in today's electronic world, advertising is provided over the internet, through hand-held devices (such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), email devices like the Blackberry™, and other wireless handhelds) supporting text messaging, e-mail, faxing and web browsing, and through cellular phones. However, all such advertising has varying limitations due to price, space, and time, depending on the particular advertising medium. For example, a "For Sale" sign posted on an automobile has very limited space for listing information regarding the details of the automobile. In addition, passersby may have only a brief moment to observe the sign. The time constraint issue is often a problem for radio, television and other signage advertising. This presents two problems: (1) the advertisement itself cannot confer all the information desired; and (2) the consumer cannot memorize or take down all the information being provided so that the consumer can evaluate the subject matter being advertised and also contact the seller.
Several methods of solving these problems with advertising have been previously utilized and/or disclosed. The simplest form has been to provide a telephone number at which a potential customer can call the seller to inquire about the subject matter being advertised. However, this method presents several drawbacks. For one, many consumers are hesitant to speak to sellers directly for a number of reasons, such as the desire to avoid pushy salesmen, or because the consumer prefers to remain anonymous while gathering information about a good or service. Furthermore, telephone numbers are relatively long strings of numbers which can be difficult to remember or to jot down. The consumer may not have a writing instrument and paper handy, or she may be driving.
In the era of the internet, advertisers now can include a website address in their advertising so that the consumer can access additional information regarding the good or service and the seller's contact information through the website. However, this type of advertising requires the advertiser to create and maintain a website. This can be an expensive and time-consuming proposition, especially for sellers who are only selling a single item, such as their used automobile, or only a limited number of items.
To avoid each seller having to develop their own website, numerous businesses and methods have been developed to aggregate seller's advertising on a single website. This allows each seller to simply develop their own web page advertising (which can be as simple as filling in the desired information on a web-based form from the particular website), which is then posted on the advertising website. Ebay™ is one well-known example of such a website. The advertising website typically provides a searching feature which allows the customer to search for the seller's product based on various criteria such as the seller's name, type of product, brand name, price, etc. On-line classified advertising operates in much the same way. But this type of system does not address the problem of allowing the seller to easily direct potential customers to their on-line advertisements through the seller's own advertising, such as physical signs or other media advertisements like newspaper, radio or television. For instance, if the seller puts a For Sale sign on his automobile with the website address, the seller must still perform a search on the advertising website and then determine which advertisement is the one of interest.
In order to take advantage of the economic efficiencies of aggregated advertisement websites like Ebay™ and on-online classified ads, but also allow more direct access to a particular ad of interest, several methods of advertising utilizing unique advertiser codes have been disclosed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,853,979, issued to Bass (hereinafter referred to as the "Bass patent"), discloses a method of marketing goods and services in which a physical For Sale sign includes a unique alphanumeric identifier and the website address of the common advertising website. The seller posts advertising information on the website and the website associates the advertising information with the unique alphanumeric identifier. A potential customer can then access the on-line advertisement associated with the sign by logging onto the common advertising website and entering the unique alphanumeric identifier. The Bass patent further discloses that the unique alphanumeric identifier is a sequence of numbers, letter, or numbers and letters, preferably at least 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 characters in length.
Similar to the Bass patent, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2002/0087420, to Higgins et al. (the "Higgins application"), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,898,571, to Val et al. (the "Val et al. patent"), also disclose methods of advertising utilizing a common advertising website and a unique identification code. The Higgins et al. application only discloses that the code can be a telephone number or other character string. The Val et al. patent discloses that the identification code is a unique alpha-numeric code.
Although the method disclosed in the Bass patent contemplates that the unique identifier can be as few as 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 characters, making the identifier relatively easy to remember, strings of such a limited number of characters does not allow for very many unique alphanumeric codes. For instance, for a four character string consisting of two letters, followed by two numbers, there are only 67,600 unique strings. And for a five character string consisting of two letters, followed by three numbers, there are only 676,000 unique strings. Considering that EBay™ has literally millions of listings at any one time, this may not be enough listings to provide a short, easy to remember, unique identifier for each advertising listing.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved system and method of advertising using an electronically accessible identification code which utilizes a short, easy to remember code and a common advertising database.

System and method for advertising goods and services using a short identifying code


Memory module, computing device, and methods of reading and writing data to the memory module are disclosed. A memory module, comprises one or more dynamic random-access memories (DRAMs); and a processor configured to select a Central Processing Unit (CPU) or the Processor to communicate with the one or more DRAMs via a memory interface.

Currently, artificial intelligence (AI) and graphics processing unit (GPU) devices are connected to a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) interface to communicate with a central processing unit (CPU). A PCIe interface is packet based, resulting in less performance, and is much slower than a DDR4/5 memory interface in throughput of data.
As well, for AI applications, due to the data throughput limitation of the PCIe interface, the current PCIe interface connection scheme cannot keep up with the AI capabilities and the amount of data processed by the PCIe interface becomes a bottleneck in AI applications.

Memory module and computing device containing the memory module


In the sewing unit for the successive production of a number of stitch groups in a workpiece, a carriage supported slidably in two opposite directions on a frame and bearing a stitch group sewing machine. The sewing unit is periodically driven by a drive unit back and forth. A clamping device, slidably supported on the frame, is periodically coupled to the carriage by a clutch unit. The stitch group sewing operation takes place during the synchronous motion of the stitch group sewing machine and the clamping device. When the sewing operation is completed and the carriage is at rest, a pushing device attached to the frame pushes the clamping device, once it has been uncoupled from the carriage, in the opposite direction to its previously executed motion, back into its initial position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sewing machines and more particularly to a sewing unit for successive or repetitive production of a number of stitch groups in a single workpiece. For example, the unit is applicable to the sewing of successive groups of buttons or buttonholes, where an automatically operated device is adapted to sew such buttons or buttonholes which are arranged in a group on a workpiece, which device in turn is mounted in a frame in a sewing machine.
A carriage which is supported on a frame in a sewing machine is intermittently displaceable in opposite directions. The carriage carries a stitch group sewing machine which is equipped with a liftable material presser. The carriage is provided with a clamping device which is located in the zone of operation of the sewing elements for the stitch group to temporarily hold the workpiece positively clamped in a position. A feed device is provided having a mark for aligning, receiving and placement of the workpiece that is to be sewn. A removal device is provided for removing a sewn workpiece from the clamping device. A control, which is preferably electropneumatic, has a drive unit which periodically drives the stitch group sewing machine in a selected direction, back or forth, by means of a tension transmission. The clamping device is slidably supported on the frame and can be periodically engaged by the carriage by means of a clutch unit. A pushing device is also provided that pushes the clamping device in a direction opposite to its previously executed movement into an initial operating position after the completion of the stitch group sewing operation.
2. Background Art
Sewing units for successive production of a number of stitch groups in a workpiece are known, for instance in German Patent 26 50 334. In such sewing units, the buttonholes near the front edge of a shirt front or blouse front are held under tension and are sewn in an efficient manner because they are over-lapped. For this purpose, the stitch group sewing machine is moved between two sewing operations along the essentially stationary clamping device from a position at the buttonhole that has just been sewn up to a position at which the next buttonhole is to be sewn. The stitch group sewing machine is thus moved intermittently in one direction up to the last buttonhole to be sewn. During the sewing of buttonholes, a workpiece that is subsequently to be sewn is manually placed in the feed device. As soon as the removal device has removed the previously sewn workpiece from the clamping device, the feed device automatically transfers the next workpiece to the clamping device. In order to be able to sew buttonholes on that next workpiece, the stitch group sewing machine is now moved in the opposite direction, relative to the above mentioned sewing operation. While it is sewing the first workpiece, if the stitch group sewing machine is moved, for instance, in the direction U, then while it is sewing the next sewing piece, it moves in the direction V. The reversal of motion of the stitch group sewing machine avoids idle strokes. Furthermore, overlapping by placing the second workpiece in the feed device while the first workpiece is being sewn, high productivity is achieved in a known sewing unit.
However, the known unit has the disadvantage that the above described movement of the stitch group sewing machine from buttonhole to buttonhole is executable only between two sewing operations, so that the time required for said motion must be described as unproductive idle time.

Sewing machine apparatus for the succesive production of a number of stitch groups in a workpiece


A portable petting device for petting or scratching of pets, such as dogs or cats. The abstract of the disclosure is submitted herewith as required by 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b). As stated in 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b): A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification must commence on a separate sheet, preferably following the claims, under the heading “Abstract of the Disclosure.” The purpose of the abstract is to enable the Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. The abstract shall not be used for interpreting the scope of the claims. Therefore, any statements made relating to the abstract are not intended to limit the claims in any manner and should not be interpreted as limiting the claims in any manner.

1. Technical Field
The present application relates to devices for petting or scratching of pets, such as dogs or cats.
2. Background Information
Background information is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily admit that subsequently mentioned information and publications are prior art. In the field of pet care, some devices exist for petting pets, but they are either too complicated, or they are stationary or too bulky for use in a portable manner, thereby limiting their use and functionality.

Portable petting device for petting or scratching of pets, such as dogs or cats


The present invention relates to an examination apparatus for providing information about an object and a method for providing information about an object of interest. In order to improve the visual reception of information relating to the object, an examination apparatus is provided that comprises an examination arrangement and a control unit with at least a first interface and a second interface. The examination arrangement is adapted to detect object data from at least one region of interest of an object and to provide the object data to the control unit. Further, the control unit is adapted to compute object data into object information and to transform at least a part of the object information into image data (32, 36). Further, the control unit is arranged to extract pre-determined indicative data from the object information and to transform the indicative data into graphical advisory data (40). The first interface is configured such to provide the image data to a display unit (20) in order to display the image data (32, 36) to the user. The second interface is configured such to provide a signal for an ambient advice display arrangement in order to provide the graphical advisory data (40) to the user.

Information about an object can be required, for example, during an intervention to provide necessary or desired knowledge of the object in order to be able to perform further interventional steps. This knowledge can serve as a sort of feedback, for example in cases where the results of the intervention are difficult to detect, such as in cases where the object of interest is a patient, where medical intervention can be performed in such a way that the actual interventional process or even the result cannot be detected by the person performing the intervention. It is therefore known for example, to provide display screens or monitors during interventions, such as surgical interventions, where information about the state of a target area is shown in still images or even in real time moving images. For example, the data these images are based upon can be derived by the means of X-rays, MRI, Ultrasound, SPECT etc. Especially in minimally invasive procedures, the surgeon is thus provided with the information necessary for performing the intervention. For fast and accurate localizing a monitor displaying an X-ray image in addition with a partial image provided by a television camera of the site to be targeted by X-ray radiation is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,246,607.


A preheating device for an internal combustion engine may include an inlet connection for connecting a distributor rail of a fuel injection system and an outlet connection for connecting a fuel injector of the fuel injection system. A preheating chamber may be fluidically connected with the inlet connection and the outlet connection and be flowable through by a fuel flow. At least one electrical heating element may be included for heating the fuel flow in the preheating chamber. At least one metallic heating body, which may be exposed to the fuel flow in the preheating chamber, may receive the at least one heating element.

In internal combustion engines which are to be operated with a fuel which has a high viscosity at low temperatures, the problem exists that by means of such fuels no ignitable mixture can be generated in the combustion chambers of the internal combustion engine for the starting of the internal combustion engine, i.e. for starting up the internal combustion engine at these low temperatures. In so-called "biofuels", in particular bio diesel, this problem already occurs at temperatures below +14° C. Other biofuels, such as for example ethanol and methanol, are characterized by a flash point of approximately 12° C., which is very high compared with the flash point of conventional petrol, which is at approximately −42°. Consequently, such biofuels have a low volatility compared with petrol and require a high vaporization heat compared with petrol. In such biofuels, such as ethanol and methanol, these characteristics lead to critical situations for the starting of an internal combustion engine under cold environmental conditions, because such biofuels require a great amount of heat in order to generate an injection spray which is suitable for an ignition and for starting the internal combustion engine.
This problem can be countered by two fundamentally different approaches to a solution. In a first solution approach, a second fuel system can be provided for operating the internal combustion engine, which makes it possible to operate the internal combustion engine with a different fuel for its start-up which is also easily ignitable at lower temperatures, in order to thus start it up. However, such a solution is very complex and accordingly expensive. Furthermore, the problem arises here that the vehicle driver must monitor two different fuel tanks or respectively the filling levels thereof, and must also not confuse these when refueling.
A second solution approach is based on the general idea of preheating the fuel which is difficult to ignite for the starting process of the internal combustion engine. By preheating the fuel, its temperature and ignitability are increased. In particular, the viscosity is thereby reduced. The preheating devices named in the introduction come into use in this connection.
From DE 101 40 071 A a separate heating circuit is known for the heating of the fuel, wherein an injection nozzle, which is configured specifically for this, has an additional connection for the heating circuit. Such a solution is complex and requires a comparatively great amount of installation space.
From DE 10 2009 001 062 A it is known to heat the fuel by heated valve air, wherein here, also, a specific injection nozzle is necessary.
From FR 2 876 161 A it is known to integrate a heating device into a fuel distributor rail. Here, a comparatively great volume of fuel is to be heated, in order to be able to provide the preheated fuel for the starting operation. This requires a comparatively great amount of electrical energy and time.
From EP 1 888 910 B1 a fuel injection system is known which has a distributor rail for the provision of liquid fuel. In addition, several preheating devices of the type named in the introduction are provided, which respectively contain a preheating chamber, which respectively have a heating element and which respectively are connected to the distributor rail via an inlet connection. Furthermore, several fuel injectors or injection nozzles are provided, which are respectively connected to such a preheating device via an outlet connection. For each fuel injector a fuel path is thereby produced which leads from the distributor rail through the respective preheating chamber to the respective fuel injector. In the known fuel injection system or respectively in the known preheating device, the respective heating element is configured as a glow rod or glow plug, which projects coaxially into the respective preheating chamber. Furthermore, in the known preheating device a housing containing the respective preheating chamber is made from metal and in the installed state is welded with the distributor rail.

Preheating device for a fuel injection system