The invention features E4orf4-encoding nucleic acids, pharmaceutical compositions and expression vectors containing the same, and methods for their use. E4orf4-encoding nucleic acids include (i) nucleic acids capable of hybridizing at high stringency to the complement of the nucleic acid encoding Ad2E4orf4, and (ii) nucleic acids having 50% or greater nucleotide sequence identity to the nucleotide sequence of Ad2E4orf4, so long as the nucleic acids encode a polypeptide capable of inducing apoptosis.

(a) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a pharmaceutical agent(s) to induce cell death for use in treating conditions which involve inappropriate cell survival.
(b) Description of Prior Art
Replication of human adenoviruses in terminally differentiated epithelial cells requires an efficient mechanism to induce cellular DNA synthesis. This induction permits replication of viral DNA and production of progeny virus. Human adenoviruses infect and kill epithelial cells very efficiently. Cell death occurs by apoptosis and virus spread occurs through endocytosis by surrounding cells.
Products of early region 1A (E1A) of the adenovirus genome induce cell DNA synthesis and are largely responsible for cell transformation by adenoviruses. E1A produces two major mRNAs of 13S and 12S which encode proteins of 289 and 243 residues (289R and 243R, respectively) that are identical except for the lack in 243R of a central 46-amino acid sequence, termed conserved region 3 or CR3, as schematically depicted in FIG. 1A. Two additional regions present in the common sequence encoded by exon 1 of both E1A mRNAs are also conserved in all human adenovirus serotypes and have been termed CR1 and CR2. E1A products induce DNA synthesis through ,complex formation between CR2 and CR1 and the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor pRB and related p107 and p130 proteins, or between the amino terminus and CR1 and the transcriptional modulator p300 and possibly related proteins (Corbeil, H. B. et al., 1994, J. Virol. 68: 6697-6709). E1A-289R also activates expression of the early viral transcription units E2, E3, and E4, and certain cellular genes at least in part through interactions with transcription factors and basal transcription machinery requiring CR3 (Teodoro, J. G. et al., 1995, Oncogene 11: 467-474). In addition to CR3, transactivation of the E4 promoter has also been shown to rely to some degree on two regions encoded by the second exon of 13S mRNA, termed auxiliary regions 1 and 2, or AR1 and AR2. Production of stably transformed cells requires early region 1B (E1B) which encodes polypeptides of 19 and 55 kDa that are individually capable of cooperating with E1A via separate but additive pathways (McLorie, W. et al., 1991, J. Gen. Virol. 72: 1467-1471).
Considerable evidence indicates that a major function of E1B proteins in lytic infection and cell transformation is to suppress cytotoxic effects and apoptosis induced by expression of E1A. Without E1B, the toxicity of E1A products results in the death of E1A-transformed cells and a reduction in the yield of progeny due to the early demise of productively infected cells. E1A proteins can cause apoptosis by a process mediated by the tumor suppressor p53, which controls growth arrest and programmed cell death pathways (Teodoro, J. G. et al., 1995, Oncogene 11: 467-474). Expression of E1A products results in the elevation of p53 levels. The 55 kDa E1B protein binds to p53 and blocks both p53-mediated activation of gene expression and apoptosis (Teodoro, J. G. et al., 1994, J. Virol. 68: 776-786). The 19 kDa E1B protein appears to suppress apoptosis by a mechanism that is functionally analogous to that of the cellular proto-oncogene product Bcl-2 (Nguyen, M. et al., 1994, J. Biol. Chem. 269: 16521-16524). Cells infected with adenovirus mutants which fail to express the 19 kDa protein display enhanced cytotoxicity and extensive degradation of both cellular and viral DNA into nucleosome sized fragments (McLorie, W. et al., supra; Teodoro, J. G. et al., 1995, Oncogene 11: 467-474). At later times, even in the presence of E1B proteins, infected cells suffer apoptotic death and viral progeny spread to neighboring cells through endocytosis of cell fragments. In addition to the induction of DNA synthesis and cell transformation, the large 289-residue (289R) E1A protein also transactivates expression of all early viral genes, including early regions 1A, 1B, 2, 3 and 4 (reviewed in Teodoro, J. G. et al., 1995, Oncogene 11: 467-474).
It would be highly desirable to be provided with a pharmaceutical agent for induction of apoptosis when such induction is useful in the treatment of human diseases which involve inappropriate cell survival.
In accordance with the present invention, we have used a genetic approach to identify the role of individual E4 proteins in the induction of p53-independent apoptosis. Our results indicate the E4 death proteins, E4orf4 or E4orf6, are responsible for induction of p53-apoptosis in transformed, but not untransformed, cells. Thus, E4orf4 and E4orf6 are both powerful inducers of p53-independent cell death. This discovery has significant ramifications for both apoptosis-inducing therapeutics and drug screens.
In a first aspect, the invention provides a method of increasing apoptosis in a cell by administering to the cell an apoptosis inducing amount of an E4orf6 polypeptide or an apoptotic fragment thereof. In a preferred embodiment of this aspect, the apoptosis is p53-independent.
In a second aspect, the invention provides a method of increasing apoptosis in a mammal which includes providing a transgene encoding an E4orf6 polypeptide or an apoptotic fragment thereof to a cell of the mammal. The transgene is positioned for expression in the cell, and preferably encodes E4orf6.
In a third aspect, the invention provides a method of increasing apoptosis in a cell which includes administering to the cell a compound which increases E4orf6 biological activity. In various preferred embodiments, the compound is E4orf6 mRNA, or increases the stability of E4orf6.
In a preferred embodiment of the first and third aspects of the invention, the cell is in a mammal, preferably a human.
In a fourth aspect, the invention provides a method of increasing apoptosis in a cell by administering to the cell an apoptosis inducing amount of an E4orf4 polypeptide or an apoptotic fragment thereof. In a preferred embodiment of this aspect, the apoptosis is p53-independent.
In a fifth aspect, the invention provides a method of increasing apoptosis in a mammal which includes providing a transgene encoding an E4orf4 polypeptide or an apoptotic fragment thereof to a cell of the mammal. The transgene is positioned for expression in the cell, and preferably encodes E4orf4.
In a sixth aspect, the invention provides a method of increasing apoptosis in a cell which includes administering to the cell a compound which increases E4orf4 biological activity. In various preferred embodiments, the compound is E4orf4 mRNA, or increases the stability of E4orf4.
In a preferred embodiment of the fourth and sixth aspects of the invention, the cell is in a mammal, preferably a human.
In a seventh aspect, the invention provides a method of increasing apoptosis in a cell by administering to the cell an apoptosis inducing amount of a composition which includes an E4orf6 polypeptide or an apoptotic fragment thereof and an E4orf4 polypeptide or an apoptotic fragment thereof. In a preferred embodiment of this aspect, the apoptosis is p53-independent.
In an eighth aspect, the invention provides a method of increasing apoptosis in a mammal which includes providing a first transgene encoding an E4orf6 polypeptide or fragment thereof and a second transgene encoding an E4orf4 polypeptide or fragment thereof to a cell of the mammal. The first and second transgenes are positioned for expression in the cell and, preferably, encode E4orf6 and E4orf6, respectively.
In a ninth aspect, the invention provides a method of increasing apoptosis in a cell which includes administering to the cell a composition which includes a first compound which increases E4orf6 biological activity and a second compound which increases E4orf4 biological activity. In various preferred embodiments, the first compound is E4orf6 mRNA, or increases stability of E4orf6, and the second compound is E4orf4 mRNA or increases stability of E4orf4.
In a preferred embodiment of the seventh and ninth aspects of the invention, the cell is in a mammal, preferably a human.
In preferred embodiments of all the above aspects of the invention, the cell is in a mammal diagnosed as having a disease involving insufficient apoptosis. Preferably, the disease is cancer.
In a tenth aspect, the invention features a pharmaceutical composition which includes substantially pure nucleic acid encoding an E4orf6 polypeptide and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. In one embodiment of this aspect, the nucleic acid encodes E4orf6 having a conservative amino acid substitution relative to the E4orf6 sequence of FIG. 15 (SEQ ID NO.: 2).
In an eleventh aspect, the invention features a pharmaceutical composition which includes nucleic acid encoding an apoptotic fragment of E4orf6.
In a preferred embodiment of the tenth and eleventh aspects of the invention, the nucleic acid is in a viral vector. In another embodiment, the nucleic acid is operably linked to regulatory sequences for expression of the polypeptide and the regulatory sequences include a promoter. In another embodiment, the promoter is a constitutive promoter, is inducible by one or more external agents, or is cell-type specific.
In a twelfth aspect, the invention features a pharmaceutical composition which includes a nucleic acid having the sequence of FIG. 15 (SEQ ID NO.: 1), or degenerate variants thereof, and encoding the amino acid sequence of FIG. 15 (SEQ ID NO.: 2).
In a thirteenth aspect, the invention features a pharmaceutical composition which includes nucleic acid having about 50% or greater nucleotide sequence identity to the DNA sequence of FIG. 15 (SEQ ID NO.: 1), where the nucleic acid encodes a polypeptide with E4orf6 apoptotic biological activity. In one embodiment of this aspect of the invention, the nucleotide sequence identity is 75% or greater to the DNA sequence of FIG. 15 (SEQ ID NO.: 1).
In a fourteen aspect, the invention features a pharmaceutical composition which includes a DNA sequence substantially identical to the DNA sequence of FIG. 15 (SEQ ID NO.: 1).
In a fifteenth aspect, the invention features pharmaceutical composition which includes substantially pure mammalian E4orf6 polypeptide, or apoptotic fragment thereof. In one embodiment of this aspect, the polypopetide includes an amino acid sequence substantially identical to the amino acid sequence shown in FIG. 15 (SEQ ID NO.: 2). In another embodiment, the polypeptide has a conservative amino acid substitution relative to the E4orf6 sequence of FIG. 15 (SEQ ID NO.: 2).
In a sixteenth aspect, the invention features a pharmaceutical composition which includes a substantially pure polypeptide fragment of E4orf6.
In a seventeenth aspect, the invention features a pharmaceutical composition which includes substantially pure nucleic acid encoding an E4orf4 polypeptide and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. In one embodiment of this aspect, the nucleic acid encodes E4orf4 having a conservative amino acid substitution relative to the E4orf4 sequence of FIG. 16 (SEQ ID NO.: 4).
In an eighteenth aspect, the invention features a pharmaceutical composition which includes nucleic acid encoding an apoptotic fragment of E4orf4.
In a preferred embodiment of the seventeenth and eighteenth aspects of the invention, the nucleic acid is in a viral vector. In another embodiment, the nucleic acid is operably linked to regulatory sequences for expression of the polypeptide and the regulatory sequences include a promoter. In another embodiment, the promoter is a constitutive promoter, is inducible by one or more external agents, or is cell-type specific.
In a nineteenth aspect, the invention features a pharmaceutical composition which includes a nucleic acid having the sequence of FIG. 16 (SEQ ID NO.: 3), or degenerate variants thereof, and encoding the amino acid sequence of FIG. 16 (SEQ ID NO.: 4).
In a twentieth aspect, the invention features a pharmaceutical composition which includes nucleic acid having about 50% or greater nucleotide sequence identity to the DNA sequence of FIG. 16 (SEQ ID NO.: 3), where the nucleic acid encodes a polypeptide with E4orf4 apoptotic biological activity. In one embodiment of this aspect of the invention, the nucleotide sequence identity is 75% or greater to the DNA sequence of FIG. 16 (SEQ ID NO.: 3).
In a twenty-first aspect, the invention features a pharmaceutical composition which includes a DNA sequence substantially identical to the DNA sequence of FIG. 16 (SEQ ID NO.: 3).
In a twenty-second aspect, the invention features pharmaceutical composition which includes substantially pure mammalian E4orf4 polypeptide, or apoptotic fragment thereof. In one embodiment of this aspect, the polypopetide includes an amino acid sequence substantially identical to the amino acid sequence shown in FIG. 16 (SEQ ID NO.: 4). In another embodiment, the polypeptide has a conservative amino acid substitution relative to the E4orf4 sequence of FIG. 16 (SEQ ID NO.: 4).
In a twenty-third aspect, the invention features a pharmaceutical composition which includes a substantially pure polypeptide fragment of E4orf4.
In the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth aspects, the invention features methods for identifying a compound as an E4orf6 analog or an E4orf4 analog which includes first providing a cell expressing the adenovirus E1A-289R protein while not expressing any E4 proteins. The cell is then contacted with a candidate compound and cell viability is determined, where death in the cell indicates a compound that is an E4orf6 or an E4orf4 analog.
In one embodiment of the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth aspects of the invention, the cell is selected from the group consisting of: 1A.A3, 1A.A6, and 1A.A12 cells. In other preferred embodiments, the viability is measured with Trypan Blues(trademark), a DNA fragmentation assay, an Annexin V binding assay, or Propidium Iodide, or a combination thereof. In yet another embodiment, the cell is infected with a mutant adenovirus incapable of expressing any E4 proteins.
In a twenty-sixth aspect, the invention features a method for identifying a compound as an E4orf4 analog which includes first providing a cell expressing protein phosphatase 2A. The cell is then contacted with the compound the activity of the protein phosphatase 2A in the cell is measured, where an increase in the activity relative to a cell not contacted indicates a compound that is an E4orf4 analog.
In a twenty-seventh aspect, the invention features a pharmaceutical agent for induction of apoptosis for the treatment of human diseases which involve inappropriate cell survival, which includes E4orf6, an analog, or a biologically active fragment thereof.
In a twenty-eighth aspect, the invention features a pharmaceutical composition for the treatment of human diseases which involve inappropriate cell survival, which includes a therapeutical amount of E4orf6, an analog, or a biologically active fragment thereof in association with a pharmaceutical carrier.
In a twenty-ninth aspect, the invention features a pharmaceutical composition for the treatment of human diseases which involve inappropriate cell survival, which includes a therapeutic amount of a compound which induces apoptosis or other cytotoxic effects analogous to E4orf6 biological activity in association with a pharmaceutical carrier.
In a thirtieth aspect, the invention features a pharmaceutical agent for induction of apoptosis for the treatment of human diseases which involve inappropriate cell survival, which includes E4orf4, an analog, or a biologically active fragment thereof.
In a thirty-first aspect, the invention features a pharmaceutical composition for the treatment of human diseases which involve inappropriate cell survival, which includes a therapeutic amount of E4orf4, an analog, or a biologically active fragment thereof in association with a pharmaceutical carrier.
In a thirty-second aspect, the invention features a pharmaceutical composition for the treatment of human diseases which involve inappropriate cell survival, which includes a therapeutic amount of a compound which induces protein phosphates 2a in association with a pharmaceutical carrier. In one embodiment of this aspect, the compound is an agonist of E4orf4. In another embodiment, the compound mimics E4orf4 activity.
In a thirty-third aspect, the invention features a pharmaceutical composition for the treatment of human diseases which involve inappropriate cell survival, which includes a therapeutic amount of a compound which induces apoptosis or other cytotoxic effects analogous to E4orf4 biological activity in association with a pharmaceutical carrier.
In a thirty-fourth aspect, the invention features a pharmaceutical agent for induction of apoptosis for the treatment of human diseases which involve inappropriate cell survival, which includes E4orf6, an analog, or a biologically active fragment thereof; and E4orf4, an analog, or a biologically active fragment thereof.
In a thirty-fifth aspect, the invention features a pharmaceutical composition for the treatment of human diseases which involve inappropriate cell survival, which includes a therapeutical amount of E4orf6, an analog, or a biologically active fragment thereof; and E4orf4, an analog, or a biologically active fragment thereof in association with a pharmaceutical carrier.
In a thirty-sixth aspect, the invention features a pharmaceutical composition for the treatment of human diseases which involve inappropriate cell survival, which includes a therapeutic amount of a compound which induces apoptosis or other cytotoxic effects analogous to biological activities of the E4 death proteins in association with a pharmaceutical carrier.
Compositions of the invention include, but are not limited to, E4orf4 protein, E4orf6 protein, combinations thereof, nucleic acids encoding the E4orf4 and E4orf6 polypeptides, analogs, mimetics, and any agonist therapeutic agents identified using any of the methods disclosed herein. The compositions may be administered with a pharmaceutically-acceptable diluent, carrier, or excipient, in unit dosage form. Conventional pharmaceutical practice may be employed to provide suitable formulations or compositions to administer such compositions to patients.
In accordance with the present invention, the expression xe2x80x9cdiseases which involve inappropriate cell survivalxe2x80x9d includes, without limitation, diseases caused by HIV, herpes and/or other viral infections, Alzheimer""s disease, cancer, arthritis, and lupus.
In accordance with the present invention, xe2x80x9cE4 death proteinsxe2x80x9d include products encoded by DNA capable of hybridizing at high stringency conditions to nucleic acids encoding E4orf6 (SEQ ID NO.: 1) and E4orf4 (SEQ ID NO.: 3), provided in FIGS. 15 and 16 respectively, and which also have E4orf6 and/or E4orf4 biological activity. Products are encoded by DNA that is at least 500 nucleotides in length, preferably, less than 200 nucleotides in length, more preferably, less than 150 nucleotides in length, and most preferably, less than 100 nucleotides in length. It will be understood that E4orf6 and E4orf4 proteins and nucleic acids of the invention may be obtained from any adenovirus strain having the E4orf6 or E4orf4 open reading frames, as defined as an open reading frame which is at least 20%, preferably 50%, more preferably 75%, and most preferably 90% identical to the E4orf6 (SEQ ID NO. 2) and E4orf4 (SEQ ID NO.: 4) open reading frames, respectively, provided herein.
In accordance with the present invention, xe2x80x9cE4orf6 proteinsxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cE4orf6 polypeptidesxe2x80x9d include products encoded by DNA capable of hybridizing at high stringency conditions to nucleic acids encoding E4orf6 (SEQ ID NO.: 1) provided in FIG. 15, and which also have E4orf6 biological activity. Products are encoded by DNA that is at least 500 nucleotides in length, preferably, less than 200 nucleotides in length, more preferably, less than 150 nucleotides in length, and most preferably, less than 100 nucleotides in length. It will be understood that E4orf6 proteins and nucleic acids of the invention may be obtained from any adenovirus strain having the E4orf6 open reading frame, as defined as an open reading frame which is at least 20%, preferably 50%, more preferably 75%, and most preferably 90% identical to the E4orf6 open reading frame (SEQ ID NO.: 2) provided herein.
In accordance with the present invention, xe2x80x9cE4orf4 proteinsxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cE4orf4 polypeptidesxe2x80x9d include products encoded by DNA capable of hybridizing at high stringency conditions to nucleic acids encoding E4orf4 (SEQ ID NO.: 3), provided in FIG. 16, and which also have E4orf4 biological activity. Products are encoded by DNA that is at least 500 nucleotides in length, preferably, less than 200 nucleotides in length, more preferably, less than 150 nucleotides in length, and most preferably, less than 100 nucleotides in length. It will be understood that E4orf4 proteins and nucleic acids of the invention may be obtained from any adenovirus strain having the E4orf4 open reading frame, as defined as an open reading frame which is at least 20%, preferably 50%, more preferably 75%, and most preferably 90% identical to the E4orf4 open reading frame (SEQ ID NO.: 4) provided herein.
In accordance with the present invention, the expression xe2x80x9chigh stringency conditionsxe2x80x9d means conditions that allow DNA hybridization to nucleic acids encoding E4orf6 (SEQ ID NO.: 1) or E4orf4 (SEQ ID NO.: 3) at high stringency (e.g., hybridizing in 2xc3x97SSC at 40xc2x0 C. with a DNA probe length of at least 40 nucleotides). For other definitions of high stringency conditions, see Ausubel, F. et al., 1994, Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 6.3.1-6.3.6, hereby incorporated by reference.
In accordance with the present invention, the expression xe2x80x9cE4orf6 biological activityxe2x80x9d means the ability to induce in E1A-289R expressing cells an increased cell death that is 25%, more preferably 40%, and most preferably 60% greater than the cell death observed in E1A-289R expressing cells not expressing E4orf6, an apoptotic fragment, or analog thereof. E4orf6 biological activity is determined using one of the assays provided herein, preferably the luciferase death assay using 1A.A3, 1A.A6, or 1A.A12 cells. It will be understood that E1A-289R may be from any adenovirus strain.
In accordance with the present invention, the expression xe2x80x9cE4orf4 biological activityxe2x80x9d means the ability to induce in E1A-289R expressing cells an increased cell death that is 50%, more preferably 75%, and most preferably 90% greater than the cell death observed in E1A-289R expressing cells not expressing E4orf4, an apoptotic fragment, or analog thereof. E4orf6 biological activity is determined using one of the assays provided herein, preferably the luciferase death assay using 1A.A3, 1A.A6, or 1A.A12 cells. It will be understood that E1A-289R may be from any adenovirus strain.
In accordance with the present invention, the expression xe2x80x9cpromoterxe2x80x9d means a minimal sequence sufficient to direct transcription. Also included in the invention are those promoter elements which are sufficient to render promoter-dependent gene expression controllable for cell type-specific, tissue-specific or inducible by external signals or agents; such elements may be located in the 5xe2x80x2 or 3xe2x80x2 regions of the native gene.
In accordance with the present invention, the expression xe2x80x9cdegenerate variantxe2x80x9d means nucleic acid sequences or combinations thereof selected from all possible coding sequences for E4orf6 and E4orf4, or polypeptide fragments thereof, based upon the universal genetic code.
In accordance with the present invention, the expression xe2x80x9coperably linkedxe2x80x9d means that a gene and one or more regulatory sequences are connected in such a way as to permit gene expression when the appropriate molecules (e.g., transcriptional activator proteins) are bound to the regulatory sequences.
In accordance with the present invention, the expression xe2x80x9cpositioned for expressionxe2x80x9d means that the nucleic acid is positioned adjacent to a nucleic acid sequence which directs transcription and translation of the sequence (i.e., facilitates the production of, e.g., an E4orf4 polypeptide, a recombinant protein or a RNA molecule).
In accordance with the present invention, the expression xe2x80x9csubstantially identicalxe2x80x9d means a polypeptide or nucleic acid exhibiting at least 50%, preferably 75%, more preferably 90%, and most preferably 95% identity to a reference amino acid or nucleic acid sequence. For polypeptides, the length of comparison sequences will generally be at least 16 amino acids, preferably at least 20 amino acids, more preferably at least 25 amino acids, and most preferably at least 35 amino acids. For nucleic acids, the length of comparison sequences will generally be at least 50 nucleotides, preferably at least 70 nucleotides, more preferably at least 90 nucleotides, and most preferably at least 120 nucleotides.
Sequence identity is typically measured using sequence analysis software with the default parameters specified therein (e.g., Sequence Analysis Software Package of the Genetics Computer Group, University of Wisconsin Biotechnology Center, 1710 University Avenue, Madison, Wis. 53705). This software program matches similar sequences by assigning degrees of homology to various substitutions, deletions, and other modifications. Conservative substitutions typically include substitutions within the following groups: glycine, alanine, valine, isoleucine, leucine; aspartic acid, glutamic acid, asparagine, glutamine; serine, threonine; lysine, arginine; and phenylalanine, tyrosine.
By xe2x80x9ctransformed cellxe2x80x9d is meant a cell which is immortalized. For example, a transformed cell will divide and give rise to two daughter cells of the same differentiation status as the parent cell. A transformed cell may be a cell into which (or into an ancestor of which) has been introduced an exogenous gene or gene product (e.g., an oncogene) which allows immortalization of that cell. A transformed cell may also arise from a genomic mutation in an endogenous gene, giving rise to a mutated gene product, or dysregulation of a endogenous gene product. Transformed cells are differentiated from stem cells in that transformed cells have an alteration affecting normal gene expression and/or regulation. Exemplary transformed cells include cancerous cells such as those found in solid and liquid tumors.
In accordance with the present invention, the expression xe2x80x9ctransgenexe2x80x9d means any piece of DNA which is inserted by artifice into a cell, and becomes part of the genome of the organism which develops from that cell. Such a transgene may include a gene which is partly or entirely heterologous (i.e., foreign) to the transgenic organism, or may represent a gene homologous to an endogenous gene of the organism.
In accordance with the present invention, the expression xe2x80x9ctransgenicxe2x80x9d means any cell which includes a nucleic acid sequence which is inserted by artifice into a cell and becomes part of the genome of the organism which develops from that cell. As used herein, the transgenic cells are generally transgenic mammalian cells and the nucleic acid (transgene) is inserted by artifice into the nuclear genome.
In accordance with the present invention, the expression xe2x80x9cpolypeptidexe2x80x9d means any chain of more than two amino acids, regardless of post-translational modification, such as glycosylation or phosphorylation. Polypeptides include proteins, polypeptide fragments thereof, peptide mimetics thereof, and mutants thereof.
In accordance with the present invention, the expression xe2x80x9capoptotic fragmentxe2x80x9d means a polypeptide fragment of an E4 death protein (i.e., E4orf4 and E4orf6) that has a transformed cell-killing ability that is 75%, more preferably 95%, or most preferably, 100% or greater when compared to the transformed cell-killing ability of the full length protein.
In accordance with the present invention, the expression xe2x80x9csubstantially pure polypeptidexe2x80x9d means a polypeptide that has been separated from the components that naturally accompany it. Typically, the polypeptide is substantially pure when it is at least 60%, by weight, free from the proteins and naturally-occurring organic molecules with which it is naturally associated. Preferably, the polypeptide is an E4 death protein polypeptide that is at least 75%, more preferably at least 90%, and most preferably at least 99%, by weight, pure. A substantially pure E4 death protein polypeptide may be obtained, for example, by extraction from a natural source (e.g. an adenovirus) by expression of a recombinant nucleic acid encoding an E4 death protein polypeptide, or by chemically synthesizing the protein. Purity can be measured by any appropriate method, e.g., by column chromatography, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, or HPLC analysis.
A protein is substantially free of naturally associated components when it is separated from those contaminants which accompany it in its natural state. Thus, a protein which is chemically synthesized or produced in a cellular system different from the cell from which it naturally originates will be substantially free from its naturally associated components. Accordingly, substantially pure polypeptides include those derived from adenoviruses but synthesized in E. coli or other prokaryotes. By xe2x80x9csubstantially pure nucleic acidxe2x80x9d is meant nucleic acid (e.g., DNA) that is free of the genes which, in the naturally-occurring genome of the organism from which the DNA of the invention is derived, flank the gene. The term therefore includes, for example, a recombinant DNA which is incorporated into a vector; into an autonomously replicating plasmid or virus; or into the genomic DNA of a prokaryote or eukaryote; or which exists as a separate molecule (e.g., a DNA or a DNA fragment produced by PCR or restriction endonuclease digestion) independent of other sequences. It also includes a recombinant DNA which is part of a hybrid gene encoding additional polypeptide sequence.
In accordance with the present invention, the expression xe2x80x9cspecifically bindsxe2x80x9d is meant an antibody that recognizes and binds a protein but that does not substantially recognize and bind other molecules in a sample, e.g., a biological sample, that naturally includes protein. Preferably, the specifically binding antibody which specifically binds an adenovirus protein (e.g., E4orf4) does not bind another adenovirus protein (e.g., E4orf6).
In accordance with the present invention, the expression xe2x80x9canalogxe2x80x9d includes, without limitation, polypeptide fragments, peptide and non-peptide mimetics, reagents and compounds which mimic the cell killing function, and reagents and compounds which mimic other functions of E4orf4 or E4orf6 proteins.
In accordance with the present invention, the expression xe2x80x9cpharmaceutically acceptable carrierxe2x80x9d means a carrier which is physiologically acceptable to the treated mammal while retaining the therapeutic properties of the compound with which it is administered. One exemplary pharmaceutically acceptable carrier is physiological saline. Other physiologically acceptable carriers and their formulations arc known to one skilled in the art and described, for example, in Remington""s Pharmaceutical Sciences, (18th edition), ed. A. Gennaro, 1990, Mack Publishing Company, Easton, Pa.
In accordance with the present invention, the expression xe2x80x9cviral vectorxe2x80x9d means a strand of DNA which includes elements taken from a virus. Viral vectors may direct the expression of inserted DNA from an exogenoous promoter, or may direct expression of inserted DNA from the vector""s own long terminal repeat (LTR) sequences. Preferable viral vectors are able to be packaged in non-lytic viruses capable of infecting cells which then expressed the DNA inserted into the viral vector.
The pharmaceutical agent of the present invention allows for the selective killing of cells that are prevented from dying by a virus or as a consequence of a disease state. Thus, the pharmaceutical agent of the present invention only kills the inappropriately surviving cells, such as cancer cells or viral infected cells. This results in a substantially side effect free therapy for the patient.
The pharmaceutical agent of the present invention includes, without limitation, E4 death proteins of any adenovirus of any serotype, fragment thereof, and peptide and non-peptide mimetics of these protein products.

Adenovirus E4 proteins for inducing cell death


A serial intelligent cell (SIC) and a connection topology for local area networks using Electrically-conducting media. A local area network can be configured from a plurality of SIC's interconnected so that all communications between two adjacent SIC's is both point-to-point and bidirectional. Each SIC can be connected to one or more other SIC's to allow redundant communication paths. Communications in different areas of a SIC network are independent of one another, so that, unlike current bus topology and star topology, there is no fundamental limit on the size or extent of a SIC network. Each SIC can optionally be connected to one or more data terminals, computers, telephones, sensors, actuators, etc., to facilitate interconnectivity among such devices. Networks according to the present invention can be configured for a variety of applications, including a local telephone system, remote computer bus extender, multiplexers, PABX/PBX functionality, security systems, and local broadcasting services. The network can use dedicated wiring, as well as existing wiring as the in-house telephone or electrical wiring.

The present invention relates to local area networks and, more particularly, to local area network topologies based on serial intelligent cells.
Bus Topology
Most prior art local area networks (LAN) use a bus topology as shown by example in FIG. 1. A communication medium 102 is based on two conductors (usually twisted pair or coaxial cable), to which data terminal equipment (DTE) units 104, 106, 108, 110, and 112 are connected, via respective network adapters 114, 116, 118, 120, and 122. A network adapter can be stand-alone or housed within the respective DTE.
This prior art bus topology suffers from the following drawbacks:
1. From the point of view of data communication, the medium can vary significantly from one installation to another, and hence proper adaptation to the medium cannot always be obtained.
2. The bus topology is not optimal for communication, and hence:
a) the maximum length of the medium is limited;
b the maximum number of units which may be connected to the bus is limited;
c) complex circuitry is involved in the transceiver in the network adapter;
d) the data rate is limited.
3. Terminators are usually required at the ends of the medium, thus complicating the installation.
4. Only one DTE can transmit at any given time on the bus, and all other are restricted to be listeners.
5. Complex arbitration techniques are needed to determine which DTE is able to transmit on the bus.
6. In case of short circuit in the bus, the whole bus malfunctions, and it is hard to locate the short circuit.
7. Addresses should be associated independently with any network adapter, and this is difficult to attain with bus topology.
Star Topology
A number of prior art network devices and interconnections summarized below utilize star topology.
The multiplexer is a common item of equipment used in communication, both for local area networks and wide-area networks (WAN's). It is used in order to provide access to a data communications backbone, or in order to allow sharing of bandwidth between multiple stations. As shown in FIG. 2, one side of a multiplexer 202 is usually connected to a single high data rate connection 204 ("highway"), but several such connections can also be used. The other side of multiplexer 202 has multiple low data rate connections 206, 208, 210, 212, and 214. The ellipsis . . . indicates that additional connections can be made. Each low data rate connection uses part of the bandwidth offered by the high data rate connection. These low data rate connections can be of the same type or different types, and can have different or identical data rates. The multiplexing technique most commonly used is time-domain multiplexing (TDM). However, frequency-domain multiplexing (FDM) is also used.
A popular multiplexer in use is the voice multiplexer, shown in FIG. 3. A pulse-code modulation (PCM) bus 304 handling 2.048 megabits per second, containing 30 channels of 64 kilobits per second is connected to one side of a PABX/PBX 302, and up to 30 telephone interfaces 308, 312, and 316 are connected to the other side via connections 306, 310, and 314. The ellipsis . . . indicates that additional connections can be made. In this configuration, each channel in the PCM bus can be switched or be permanently dedicated to a specific telephone line. An example of such system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,924,077 to Blakeslee.
Similarly a small private branch exchange (PABX/PBX), as shown in FIG. 4, is widely used (usually in an office or business environment) where several outside lines 403, 404, and 405 are connected to one side of a PABX/PBX 402, and multiple telephones 408, 412, and 416 are connected to the other side via lines 406, 410, and 414, respectively. The ellipsis . . . indicates that additional connections can be made. The PABX/PBX connects an outside line to a requesting or requested telephone, and allows connection between telephones in the premises.
In the configurations described above, star topology is used in order to connect to the units to the multiplexer, which functions as the network hub. The disadvantages of star topology include the following:
1. A connection between each unit and the network hub is required, and the wiring required for this connection can involve a lengthy run.
Thus, when adding new unit, an additional, possibly lengthy, connection between the new unit and the network hub must be added.
2. No fault protection is provided: Any short circuit or open circuit will disrupt service to the affected units.
3. The multiplexer can impose extensive space and power requirements.
Computer Interfaces
Various interface standards have been established in order to allow interoperability between the PC (personal computer) or workstation and its various connected elements. These standards usually relate to both mechanical and electrical interfaces, and include industry standard architecture (ISA), extended industry standard architecture (EISA), Personal Computer Memory Card Industry Association (PCMCIA), intelligent drive electronics (IDE), small computer system interface (SCSI), and others. Each added hardware unit usually utilizes a specific software driver for interoperability with the specific platform. These protocols are applicable to small distances only, and allow units to be housed within or nearby the PC or workstation enclosures. For example, equipping a PC for video capture could involve a plug-in ISA card housed within the PC on the motherboard, a video camera connected to the card, and a software driver. This configuration does not allow remote video monitoring.

Local area network of serial intelligent cells

Conversant Intellectual Property Management Incorporated


A method of providing a paint coat of an organic polymeric paint composition on a surface of a moving substrate is provided, which includes establishing a quantity of the paint composition, in a high solids form at a temperature such that it is spreadable, in a hip defined by the substrate surface and a smoothing roll to enable paint from the established quantity to pass through the nip as a paint layer on the substrate surface, wherein the smoothing roll has a surface roughness coefficient (Ra) of no more than 1.5, and wherein the maximum surface speed of the smoothing roll expressed as a percentage of the substrate speed bears a linear relationship to the substrate speed such that the surface speed of the smoothing roll is no more than 1.2 percent of the substrate speed at an exemplary low substrate speed of 15 meters per minute and no more than 12 percent of the substrate speed at an exemplary substrate speed of 150 meters per minute.

This invention relates to the continuous application of organic polymeric compositions to moving substrate surfaces to form a thin coating of the composition on the surface. If the coating remains on the substrate surface to which it is applied and is caused or allowed to harden or set, the process may be generically referred to as painting the substrate surface.
More particularly, but not exclusively, the invention is directed towards the continuous painting of moving metal, for example steel, strip in the context of an industrial production line for producing painted stock material in large quantities.
Probably the most commonly adopted mass production processes for painting moving strip comprise applying a thin layer of liquid paint composition, for example pigmented organic polymeric particles and filler particles dispersed or dissolved in a liquid solvent, to the strip, and causing or allowing the solvent to evaporate to leave an adherent, solid coating on the strip. The formation of the liquid layer on the strip may be effected in various ways, for example by dipping the strip into a bath of the paint composition followed by stripping surplus composition from the strip, spraying the paint composition onto the strip or by contacting the strip with a roller laden with the paint composition.
Such processes using solvent rich, low viscosity compositions are not entirely satisfactory. In particular, the solvents are dangerous if inhaled, expensive and environmentally damaging, thus it is essential that they be drawn off and condensed for re-use. This requires expensive equipment and otherwise unnecessary precautionary procedures that complicate the painting operation itself. Such processes do have the advantage that the tendency of the low viscosity liquid layer to flow before solidifying and the effect of surface tension tend to flatten the surface of the liquid layer resulting in an attractive smooth surface on the finished painted product.
Nevertheless the disadvantages of solvent based compositions are such that processes utilising substantially solvent free paint compositions, so called high solids compositions, have been developed wherein the composition has been rendered sufficiently fluid for it to be spread upon the substrate by controlled heating of the composition immediately prior to its application to the substrate. It has been found that, in general, application of such compositions to a substrate at a temperature of less than 20xc2x0 C. is inappropriate because the viscosity of the composition is too high. The extent to which the viscosity may be lowered by heating is limited because of the deleterious effect of high temperatures or prolonged heating on the characteristics of the paint composition. The upper temperature at which the compositions can be applied to the substrate is usually about 200xc2x0 C., although this temperature is somewhat dependent upon the particular composition being used. At these elevated temperatures, it has been found that excessive cross-linking can occur prior to paint film formation. This means that in processes using high solids compositions one cannot rely on the self leveling effect of a low viscosity liquid layer to produce a smooth surface on the finished coating to the same extent as one can in processes using solvent rich compositions. That problem is exacerbated if one takes full advantage of the accuracy with which the thickness of a paint coat may be determined when using high solids compositions to create thin coats (of the order of from 10 to 20 micrometers in thickness) as disclosed in, for example, the complete specification of Australian Patent No. 622948 (John Lysaght (Australia) Pty. Ltd. et al). Thin coats set quicker than thick ones and this further detracts from the self-leveling slumping of peaks in the surface of the applied coat.
Hitherto that disadvantage of using high solids compositions has been addressed by contacting an initial deposit of paint composition on the moving substrate surface with a so called smoothing roll (as disclosed in the mentioned Australian patent specification), which is positioned to make a near approach to the substrate surface to form a nip therewith, through which nip the deposit moves. This has the effect of spreading and smoothing the initial deposit. It may also limit the thickness of the deposit carried away from the nip on the substrate surface. That prior art procedure is referred to as xe2x80x9ca method of the kind describedxe2x80x9d hereinafter.
An object of the present invention is to provide a thin paint coat on a substrate surface, by a continuous coating procedure utilising high solids, organic polymeric paint compositions, having a smoother surface than has been attainable by such procedures hitherto. For the purposes of the invention a high solids composition may be defined as one having a so-called volume solids of at least 80 percent, preferably more than 95 percent. The term xe2x80x9cvolume solidsxe2x80x9d is a reference to the volume of the solids in the composition expressed as a percentage of the volume of the total composition.
The invention attains that object by the selection of parameters controlling the operation of methods of the kind described.
The invention consists in a method of providing a paint coat of an organic polymeric paint composition on a moving substrate surface, of the kind comprising establishing a quantity of the paint composition, in a high solids form at a temperature such that it is spreadable, in a nip defined by the substrate surface and a smoothing roll to enable paint from the established quantity to pass through the nip as a paint layer on the substrate surface, wherein the smoothing roll has a surface roughness coefficient (usually referred to by the symbol Ra) of no more than 1.5, and wherein the maximum surface speed of the smoothing roll expressed as a percentage of the substrate speed bears a linear relationship to the substrate speed, such that the surface speed of the smoothing roll is no more than 1.2 percent of the substrate speed at an exemplary low substrate speed of 15 meters per minute and no more than 12 percent of the substrate speed at an exemplary substrate speed of 150 meters per minute.
In preferred embodiments of the invention the Ra is no more than 0.8. The term surface roughness coefficient or Ra is a term of art defined, with reference to a sectional profile of a surface, as the arithmetic mean of the departure distances of the peaks and troughs of the profile from the mean line of the profile, expressed in micrometers. Thus the smaller is the value of Ra then the smoother is the surface.
For preference the direction of movement of the surface of the smoothing roll at the nip is the same as that of the substrate. It will be noted that the invention includes within its ambit the instance of a stationary smoothing roll having zero surface speed and instances wherein the direction of movement of the smoothing roll surface is opposite to that of the substrate.
By way of example two embodiments of the above-described invention are described in mole detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Method and apparatus of coating a moving substrate surface employing smoothing roll of particular surface roughness and controlled to operate at particular surface speed


An image forming apparatus which executes a program and updates the program, and is provided with an updating part configured to store a program prior to updating or a copy of the program prior to the updating and to generate an updating program by executing an updating process of the program, to thereby set the updating program as a boot target, a boot judging part configured to judge whether or not a booting of the updating program was successful and to record information indicating a result of judgement in a storage part, and a restoring part configured to confirm whether or not the booting of the updating program was successful based on the information, and to set the stored, program prior to the updating, as the boot target, if the booting of the updating program failed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to image forming apparatuses, program updating methods and computer-readable storage media, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus that updates a program thereof, a program updating method for such an image forming apparatus, and a computer-readable storage medium that stores a program for causing a computer to execute a program updating.
2. Description of the Related Art
In image forming apparatuses such as a printer, a copying machine, a scanner, a facsimile machine and a Multi-Function Peripheral (MFP), although there are restrictions on a memory or the like, a CPU is provided similarly as in the case of a general-purpose computer, and various functions are realized by controls performed by applications. The MFP realizes the functions the printer, the copying machine, the scanner and the facsimile machine within a single housing. Some of the image forming apparatuses are provided with a platform for implementing and executing the applications. After such an image forming apparatus is forwarded to a user, applications suited for an environment in which the user wishes to use the image forming apparatus are created and installed into the image forming apparatus, so as to provide a variety of versatile functions, as proposed in a Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2005-269619, for example.
When it is necessary to install or update the application of a plurality of image forming apparatuses or a remote image forming apparatus, an efficient way to install or update the application of a target image forming apparatus is to remotely install or update the application from a personal computer (PC) or the like that is connected to the target image forming apparatus via a network.
However, in the case of the remote installing or the remote updating, an install process or an update process (both hereinafter referred also referred to as "an updating process") is carried out in a background of the image forming apparatus. For this reason, the user who is operating the image forming apparatus, such as the user who is making a copying operation on the image forming apparatus, may not be aware that the updating process is simultaneously being carried out in the image forming apparatus. As a result, there is a possibility that the user will turn OFF the power of the image forming apparatus while the updating process is being carried out.
When the updating process is interrupted by the turning OFF of the power of the image forming apparatus, a file that is the target of the updating may be destroyed, and a mismatch may occur among a plurality of files that are related to the file that is the target of the updating. In such cases, there is a possibility that the image forming apparatus will no longer be able to operate in a normal manner.
On the other hand, even if the updating process itself is successfully carried out, an increase in the memory space occupied by the application after the updating may cause a lack of memory space when the image forming apparatus is thereafter booted. In such a case, the image forming apparatus may not be able to operate in a normal manner.

Image forming apparatus, program updating method and computer-readable storage medium


A print driver user interface method for printing copies of a document, which includes receiving a number corresponding to the number of copies to be printed from an application, receiving at least one command relating to an operation to be performed on each of the number of copies to be printed, and displaying a first feature to a user informing the user that the application may have a problem printing multiple copies. The method also includes offering the user a choice relating to printing copies of the document and transferring control of printing the copies from the application to the print driver.

The present invention relates generally to user interfaces for document-processing devices, such as copiers, printers, scanners, and the like, and more specifically to a user interface that provides assistance to solve a user's multiple set printing problems.
The continued evolution of office document machines, such as copiers, printers, facsimile machines, and scanners, has resulted in highly sophisticated and function-rich machines. Typical selectable functions, such as for a copier, include making darker or lighter copies, selecting a number of copies, selecting from a number of alternate paper sizes, selecting stapled copies, copying on one or both sides of a paper sheet from one or both sides of an original, and image reduction or enlargement. Substantial efforts have been devoted to the design and layout of such machines to enhance an operator's understanding and reduce the possibility of operator entry errors. In a distributed, network oriented document management system, such as including one or redistributed printers, scanners, facsimile devices, and the like, such complicated functions may be selected via a "window" on a standard personal computer screen. Regardless of the particular interface used to control one or more document machines, there is still a premium to be placed on avoiding operator confusion.
As office equipment becomes increasingly a matter of interaction between networked peripherals, it is more common to have the users make their selections via a personal computer. However, some popular software applications cause problems for the customer when the customer attempts to print multiple sets of documents where the customer or someone else has selected certain operations to be performed on the documents. These operations may include duplexing or stapling. He or she may find that the first page of one set is often printed on the back of the last page of the previous set or that all the sets are stapled together as one huge document. In addition, the job can take an inordinate amount of time to spool and to print. This occurs because there is no break between the sets. The root cause of the problem is that some popular software applications render all pages of all sets themselves rather than rendering one set and allowing the printer to efficiently produce the duplicate sets.


A method of and a system for allocating commodity shelves including obtaining shopping paths of customers, classifying the customers according to a predetermined standard, determining one or more shopping paths adopted by more customers in each kind of customers as frequent shopping path(s) of this kind of customers, calculating a see-buy rate of a commodity for each class of customers. The see-buy rate of a commodity for a class of customers refers to a probability to purchase the commodity for the class of customers. Calculating a shelf where each commodity in a set of commodities is located when the total expected benefits for set of commodities are maximized during a certain period of time. The total expected benefits include a sum of an expected benefit for the each commodity based on the see-buy rate and the frequency shopping path when each commodity is located in its own shelf.

How to deploy commodities for sale in different shelves in a supermarket so as to provide convenience for customer purchase and arouse the desire of customers to purchase is quite important for both merchants and customers. Various technologies have been used to support commodity shelf management in the existing hypermarkets. For example, a staff for commodity shelf management usually records customer traffic situation in a supermarket through field observation (or monitoring cameras) and places popular commodities, promotion commodities, and important commodities at sites with greater customer traffic (for example near a cash register) or shelves in a promotion area, so as to achieve greater sales benefits. Conventional methods recommend placing associated commodities together and displaying commodities with greater benefits at areas with larger customer traffic. However, because of limitations on variety sectors in sale spaces of a supermarket, retailers generally display commodities by sector. In general, different kinds of commodities cannot be placed together. Moreover, different customer groups feel interested in different commodities, thus placing all the associated commodities together does not take into account the differences in customer groups.

Allocating commodity shelves in a supermarket

International Business Machines Corporation


A system and method for canceling a periodic noise superposed on a real signal component of an original signal. The system comprises: a synchronous adaptive noise canceling filter which sequentially produces and corrects a noise component at each predetermined phase of the original signal in synchronization with a signal having a corelationship to a period of the original signal; a subtractor which subtracts the noise signal component produced by the synchronous adaptive noise canceling filter from the original signal so as to produce the real signal component as a target signal; and a signal generator which produces and sends a signal to the synchronous adaptive noise canceling filter so that the synchronous adaptive noise canceling filter produces a real periodic noise signal component without the real signal component on the basis of the signal component derived previously from the subtractor and original signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for canceling a periodic noise from an original input signal to be processed including such periodic noise components.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional system for canceling a periodic noise from a primary signal including a periodic noise using a known synchronous adaptive noise canceling means is exemplified by a Japanese paper named "Papers of Society of Instrument and Control Engineers" volume 19, No. 3, pages 34 to 40, published on Mar. 20, 1983, and titled to "A synchronous Adaptive Noise canceling System for Periodic Interferences" by Hidefumi Kobatake.
FIG. 1 diagrammatically shows the synchronous adaptive noise canceling system disclosed in the above-identified Japanese document.
In FIG. 1, synchronous adaptive noise canceling means 1 produces sequentially a periodic noise component y(t) at each phase of the periodic noise in synchronization with a reference pulse signal X(t) having a correlation to the periodic noise included in an original signal d(t) to be processed in terms of its period. Then, the noise component y(t) is subtracted from the original signal d(t) to be processed to produce a target signal component e(t) included in the original signal d(t).
A specific operation of the above-described noise canceling system will be described below.
Assume d(t) shown in FIG. 2(A) as the original signal to be processed (it is noted that a real signal component included in the original signal d(t) to be processed has a "0" level (substantially zero voltage) for explanation conveniences).
The synchronous adaptive noise canceling means 1 produces the noise component yk(i) having a phase k at the present period in accordance with such an equation as shown below from a noise component yk(i-1) produced at a previous period and the target signal component ek(i-1) fedback and produced at the previous period. EQU yk(i)=yk(i-1)+.alpha..multidot.ek(i-1)
wherein .alpha.: correction coefficient and 0<.alpha.<1 and .multidot. denotes a multiplication.
The target signal ek(i) is consequently derived in accordance with the following equation. EQU ek(i)=dk(i)-yk(i)
That is to say, assume that yk(0)=0.
As appreciated from FIG. 2(B), the following equation is established.
ek(0)=dk(0) (a state in which no periodic noise is eliminated)
Thereafter, the synchronous adaptive noise canceling means 1 sequentially corrects the noise component and accordingly corrects the target signal as expressed in the following equations. EQU yk(1)=yk(0)+.alpha..multidot.ek(0) EQU ek(1)=dk(1)-yk(1) EQU yk(2)=yk(1)+.alpha..multidot.ek(1) EQU ek(2)=dk(2)-yk(2) EQU yk(3)=yk(2)+.alpha..multidot.ek(2) EQU ek(3)=dk(3)-yk(3)
If the synchronous adaptive noise canceling means 1 carries out the similar processing for the noise component at each of the other phases of the periodic noise, the noise component y(t) produced by the synchronous adaptive noise canceling means 1 finally converges the real signal component included in the target signal e(t) (in the case shown in FIGS. 2(A) through 2(C), the real signal component is "0"). It should be noted that the above-identified reference pulse signal X(t) is used to define each phase of the periodic noise. In addition, with stability and responsiveness of the synchronous adaptive noise canceling means 1 in the process of sequentially producing the noise components taken into account, the above-described correction coefficient .alpha. is appropriately set in a range between zero and one, i.e., 0<.alpha.<1.
On the other hand, for example, in an automatic transmission of an automotive vehicle, means for detecting a torque of an output shaft of the transmission and other means for controlling a torque converter in the transmission on the basis of the detected information of the torque by the above-described means have been developed in order to reduce torque variations on the output shaft of the transmission when a gear rotation ratio is switched in the transmission. The above-described torque detecting means and torque converter controlling means are exemplified by a Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Open No. Sho 50-117479 published on Sept. 13, 1975.
FIG. 3 diagrammatically shows a construction of the automatic transmission and above-described two means.
As shown in FIG. 3, the automatic transmission 10 includes the torque converter 11 through which an engine power is transmitted to an input shaft 12 with the engine torque multiplied. A driving force applied to the input shaft 12 is transmitted to an output shaft 14 with a rotation ratio and rotational direction set in an auxiliary transmission 13. When the output shaft is driven, a propeller shaft 15 is rotated. A magnetostrictive torque sensor 16 for detecting a torque of the output shaft 14 in the automatic transmission 10 is disposed in the proximity of the output shaft 14 as shown in FIG. 3. The torque sensor 16 magnetizes alternatingly the output shaft 14 and detects a change in a magnetic field as the variation of the torque imposed on the output shaft 14.
An output primary signal derived from the magnetostrictive torque sensor 16 is, e.g., shown in FIG. 4(A).
As shown in FIG. 4(A), an alternating signal corresponding to the alternating magnetization has an amplitude changing according to the magnitude of the torque. Since the output shaft 14 has a slight eccentricity and a slight dimensional error due to a material applied to the shaft, the output primary signal is periodically varied in synchronization with the rotation of the output shaft 14.
A signal processing unit 20 eliminates high frequency components of the output signal derived from the torque sensor 16 shown in FIG. 4(A) by means of a low-pass filter after a full-wave rectification of the signal and produces an output signal having a waveform, e.g., as shown in FIG. 4(B). The signal processing unit 20 detects the torque applied to the output shaft 14 on the basis of the output original signal d(t) shown in FIG. 4(B).
A direct current component of the output signal d(t) corresponds to an actual torque on the output shaft 14.
Since the same waveform as shown in FIG. 4(B) is repeatedly formed in synchronization with the rotation of the output shaft 14, the above-described synchronous adaptive noise canceling means 1 may conceivably be applied to eliminate such periodic variations.
Specifically, e.g., as shown in FIG. 3, an electromagnetic induction type rotation sensor 18 is opposingly disposed in the proximity of a surface of teeth on a parking gear 17 utilizing the parking gear 17 having a predetermined number of teeth and installed on the output shaft 14. The reference pulse signal X(t) is thus produced on the basis of the output signal derived from the rotation sensor 18.
The synchronous adaptive noise canceling filter (means) incorporated in the signal processing unit 20 receives the original signal d(t) shown in FIG. 4(B) derived on the basis of the detection signal from the magnetorestrictive torque sensor 16 and reference pulse signal X(t) to produce the target signal.
In a case when a signal such that the direct current component shown in FIG. 4(B) is a real signal on which the periodic noise component is superposed is subjected to the noise cancelation, the above-described synchronous noise canceling (filter) means 1 cannot extract the real signal component from the original signal to be processed including the periodic noise component.
This is because the conventional synchronous adaptive noise canceling means uses the target signal e(t) derived in the process of the noise elimination as a signal contributing the production of a new noise component, the noise components are sequentially produced in accordance with such an equation as yk(i)=yk(i-1)+.alpha..multidot.ek(i-1), and even the direct current component is also eliminated.
Specifically, in the case where the original signal d(t) is as shown in FIG. 5 (substantially the same as the waveform shown in FIG. 4(B)), the noise component yk(i) produced at the predetermined phase k gradually approaches the signal dk(i) to be processed in accordance with the above-described following equation: EQU yk(i)=yk(i-1)+.alpha..multidot.ek(i-1)
Accordingly, since yk(i).apprxeq.dk(i), the signal ek(i) derived from the equation: ek(i)=dk(i)-yk(i) approaches "0" (zero) level.
Consequently, the real signal component cannot be obtained from the original signal to be processed.

Periodic noise canceling system and method


An industrial robot gripper assembly includes a pair of spaced apart gripper arms, each of which carries a plurality of workpiece receiving devices. The gripper arms are movable toward and away from each other and at least one of the workpiece receiving devices on each of the gripper arms is movable along an arcuate path so as to bring the receiving devices into appropriate receiving positions for gripping engagement with a workpiece.

Robot gripper assemblies which include arms that carry workpiece-receiving devices are known in the art. Federal Republic of Germany Patent No. 3,517,460 discloses V-shaped receiving devices which are oriented toward each other to enable the moving of round parts. For gripping on or under other similar parts the configurations of the receiving devices could be specially adapted to correspond to the particular part or workpiece shapes. With the increasing use of industrial robots has come an attendant demand for receiving devices which will also accommodate workpieces of irregular surface shapes; such irregular shapes are particularly difficult to grasp by heretofore known industrial robots.

Gripper assembly for an industrial robot


HDR image generating processing is performed which generates one image from a plurality of images captured with different exposures within an image pickup device so that increases of power consumption and frame rate reduction can be improved.

In recent years, as disclosed in PTL 1, a CMOS image pickup device, for example, for use in an imaging apparatus such as a digital camera may include an increased number of pixels because of miniaturization of pixels and are capable of capturing high-definition images. Recent imaging apparatuses for consumers may generally include 10 million pixels or more.
FIG. 16 is a configuration block diagram of such a general imaging apparatus. Referring to FIG. 16, an image pickup device 1500 includes a pixel part 1501, an AD conversion unit 1502, and a P/S conversion unit 1503. The pixel part 1501 converts a subject image to an electrical signal and outputs it to the AD conversion unit 1502.
The AD conversion unit 1502 converts an image signal read from the pixel part 1501 to a digital signal. The P/S conversion unit 1503 performs parallel-serial conversion on the digital signal converted by the AD conversion unit 1502. An image signal processing circuit 1600 performs a signal process on an image signal from the image pickup device 1500.
The imaging apparatus has a transfer path having a constant transfer capability for transferring an image signal from the image pickup device 1500 to the image signal processing circuit 1501. Thus, an increased number of pixels in the image pickup device may relatively result in an increased transfer time of all image signals of a subject.
In other words, the speed for reading signals from the image pickup device 1500 to the image signal processing circuit 1501 may be a bottleneck of the speed for reading out image signals. Furthermore, such high speed transfer may increase the amount of power consumed and the amount of heat generated by the transfer circuit and the processing circuit, which may reduce the precision of the data transfer.
In HDR photographing processing, an imaging element is used to capture a plurality of images with different exposures, and data of the plurality of images is output to an image processing circuit provided externally to the image pickup device and is synthesized to generate an HDR image. This processing may require transmission of data of the plurality of images to the image processing circuit provided externally to the image pickup device, which disadvantageously may increase the amount of data to be transmitted from the image pickup device to the image processing circuit and also increase power consumption.

Image pickup device and imaging apparatus


Systems and methods for 3D data based navigation using a watershed method are provided. In at least one embodiment, a method for segmenting three-dimensional frames of data comprises acquiring at least one frame from at least one sensor, wherein the at least one frame provides a three-dimensional description of an environment containing the at least one sensor; and identifying a surface in the at least one frame. The method further comprises computing at least one residual map for the at least one frame based on the orthogonal distance from data points on the surface to at least one polynomial surface fitted to the surface; and segmenting the at least one residual map by performing a watershed algorithm on the residual map.

Vision based navigation systems use data captured through sensors that scan the environment through which the navigation system travels. In certain embodiments, the sensors provide a three-dimensional description of the environment containing the navigation system. To determine the movement and position of the navigation system based on the three-dimensional data, the navigation system compares three-dimensional data gathered at different times to detect changes in movement and position of the navigation system in relation to the environment. However, a three-dimensional scan of an environment provides large amounts of data and calculating the amount of data provided by a three-dimensional scan of the environment is difficult to perform within a reasonable amount of time.


An exemplary embodiment of the present invention is a method for dynamically managing a hash pool data structure. A request to insert a new key value into a hash pool data structure that includes at least one index level is received. An insertion location is calculated for the new key value in response to the new key value and to existing key values in the hash pool data structure. The insertion location includes an index level. A new index level is added at the insertion location if the index level is not the maximum number of index levels in the hash pool data structure; if the insertion location contains a chain of existing key values with a length equal to the maximum chain length; and if the new index record locations of the new key value and the existing key values are dispersed. The insertion location is updated in response to adding a new index record and the new key value is inserted into the insertion location. An additional embodiment includes a system and storage medium for dynamically managing a hash pool data structure.

The present invention relates generally to dynamically managing hash pool data structures. More particularly, the present invention relates to dynamically adding index and contention records to hash data pools in response to data load and data distribution.
Hashing is a technique for storing and retrieving data records. Hash functions provide quick access to individual data cells in a group, via a hash table, without linear searching. Therefore, hashing is especially beneficial for computational problems that grow into a very large scale in terms of data volume. A variety of hash functions can be implemented in order to minimize collisions between key values and to minimize processing time for a particular group of data key values. The decision to use a particular hash function is implementation dependent. A collision between key values occurs when the output of the hash function is the same for two or more records. When a collision occurs, one of the key values might, based on bucket size, be stored in another location and not the location indicated by the hash function. Collision resolution management refers to the process of determining where the other location is and tying the key value into the hash pool data structure in a manner that is accessible at a later point in time.
If the hash table is very large, it may not fit into available memory. A large hash table may be kept on a disk storage device such as DASD (Direct Access Storage Device). When the hash table is kept on disk storage the hash function or the operating system, in response to a request from the hash function, reads a portion of the entire hash table and must manage the process of paging the hash table. When this happens, the speed of processing can be diminished because of the extra time for the Input/Output (I/O) operations and the extra processing overhead required to manage the hash table. When the hash records are stored on external storage devices such as DASD, it is important to minimize the number of accesses to the hash records. When the hash records are stored on DASD the hash function may be compute intensive with the goal of minimizing the number of I/O operations required to insert or retrieve a record from the hash pool data structure. Hash technique exists that keep a small piece of information in memory to quickly find the hash table entry. If the hash table is very large even these techniques exhaust main memory so this associated information must also be placed on DASD which increases the I/O required.
An index can be used to reduce the required hash table space. This option requires at least one extra I/O operation. The benefit is a reduction in the number of required hash table records that must be pre-allocated. The number of xe2x80x9cslotsxe2x80x9d that can be contained in a hash table record determines how much the hash table space can be reduced. If a four-thousand and ninety-six byte (4K) record size is used, and an allowance is made to use ninety-six bytes for system overhead, the 4K record could hold five-hundred eight byte storage addresses. In this scenario, the use of a one level index could reduce the required number of pre-allocated hash table records by a factor of five hundred. A second level index could reduce the number of pre-allocated hash table records by another factor of five-hundred, resulting in a reduction of two-hundred and fifty thousand. Similarly, a third level index reduces the requirement by a factor of one-hundred and twenty-five million but adds three required I/O operations in retrieving a data record if the index records are stored on DASD.
Contention of keys to the same hash slot can be handled with record chaining. A look-up routine can detect that there is more than one record and can examine the contents of the record for an exact match. The average number of I/O operations required in chaining can be expressed by the equation xe2x80x9c(k+1)/2xe2x80x9d where xe2x80x9ckxe2x80x9d is the length of the chain. The chain can be implemented using a linked list that connects the records together. After a hash function is performed on a key value, a sequential search is performed on the linked list until either the key value is found or the spot to insert the key value is located. The linked list could be sorted in terms of frequency of access or alphabetically to expedite the search.
Contention of names can also be handled with contention records. A look-up routine can detect that the record is a contention record and that the record contains a table of key values and record addresses. The look-up routine can go through the record looking for a match of the key value, and if found, can use the record address that corresponds to the key value to locate a user data record. Any of the above methods: indexes, contention records and chaining; can be utilized when contention is encountered in a hash pool data structure. Which one is selected depends on balancing factors that can include the number of I/O operations, the required storage space, the number of hash table entries, and the required speed of data access.
An exemplary embodiment of the present invention is a method for dynamically managing a hash pool data structure. A request to insert a new key value into a hash pool data structure that includes at least one index level is received. An insertion location is calculated for the new key value in response to the new key value and to existing key values in the hash pool data structure. The insertion location includes an index level. A new index level is added at the insertion location if the index level is not the maximum number of index levels in the hash pool data structure; if the insertion location contains a chain of existing key values with a length equal to the maximum chain length; and if the new index record locations of the new key value and the existing key values are dispersed. The insertion location is updated in response to adding a new index record and the new key value is inserted into the insertion location. An additional embodiment includes a storage medium for dynamically managing a hash pool data structure.

Method and system for dynamically managing hash pool data structures

International Business Machines Corporation


A method, apparatus and system for visual grounding of a caption in an image include projecting at least two parsed phrases of the caption into a trained semantic embedding space, projecting extracted region proposals of the image into the trained semantic embedding space, aligning the extracted region proposals and the at least two parsed phrases, aggregating the aligned region proposals and the at least two parsed phrases to determine a caption-conditioned image representation and projecting the caption-conditioned image representation and the caption into a semantic embedding space to align the caption-conditioned image representation and the caption. The method, apparatus and system can further include a parser for parsing the caption into the at least two parsed phrases and a region proposal module for extracting the region proposals from the image.

A problem in the area of vision and language evaluation is visual grounding of, for example, free-form textual phrases, which focuses on localizing natural language descriptions in images. Grounding freeform, natural language phrases in visual data is challenging as it requires joint reasoning about both modalities as well as large scale, annotated training data.
Current supervised learning approaches for addressing visual grounding include significant manual efforts in collecting annotations for region-phrase correspondence. For example, some recent techniques have approached the problem of visual grounding by collecting fully annotated datasets of region-phrase correspondences and learning a similarity metric for matching them. However, such techniques require a collection of fine-grained annotations, which is a labor-intensive process.

Align-to-ground, weakly supervised phrase grounding guided by image-caption alignment


An electro-optical circuit board is provided, which includes an electrical wiring board and an optical wiring board. The optical wiring board includes a first metal substrate, an optical guiding layer formed on the first metal substrate, and a metal supporting structure formed around the optical guiding layer, wherein the optical guiding layer includes an optical waveguide and a clad wrapping the optical waveguide. When the electrical wiring board is joined with the optical wiring board through a laminating process, the metal supporting structure absorbs the pressure applied to the electro-optical circuit board.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an electro-optical circuit board, and more particularly, to an electro-optical circuit board having an optical waveguide supporting structure.
2. Related Art
With the development of Internet, people's demanding on the bandwidth of the network is increasingly high, and the optical network has gradually developed towards the trend of large volume, variable changes, high reliability, and cost efficiency. The optical communication has been developed from the backbone network, the metropolitan network, the access network, the storing network towards completely achieving the optical fiber, and furthermore, the optical networking has been achieved step by step, and the fiber to the home (FTTH) has been gradually established. The bottleneck of the bandwidth lies in the so-called "the last one meter", which includes the following three fields, Rack to Rack, Board to Board, and Chip to Chip.
Currently, the short distance interconnection technology is still mainly achieved by copper leads. As the development of the VLSI technology, IC is capable of processing the more complex science and technology analysis and calculation, and achieving the high performance network system, which promotes the FTTH wideband service. The volume of the IC is increasingly reduced, which is suitable for achieving the products of mobile phone, PDA, hand-held computer, so as to bring more convenience and fun in using. In the past two decades, the operating frequency of the microprocessor has gradually increased, and the trend still goes on in the future. The forecasting of the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductor (ITRS) shows that, the frequency of the microprocessor reaches up to 10 GHz in 2011, but it is not easy for the IC to achieve a high frequency connection to the external device. Nowadays, the electrically interconnection of the chip is constructed on the printed circuit board (PCB), on the electrical switching joint, via holes, and branches, and the discontinuous impedance causes the attenuation and the distortion of the signal, and even worse, the transmitting distance is influenced.
The conventional electrical connecting performance is greatly limited by the signal attenuation, the electromagnetic radiation and interference. In order to overcome the above problems, the optical interconnection may be used to achieve the high bandwidth and high performance data transmission, since it has the advantages of without causing the problem of electromagnetic radiation and without being interfered by the electromagnetic radiation to generate noises. The optical method is used to connect the computer chip, the circuit board, the backboard, the host, and the processor, the high speed photon method is used to transmit signals, so as to solve the bottleneck problem of heating, speed, and limited bandwidth during the conventional electronic transmission.
In US Publication Patent U.S. Pat. No. 6,804,423, entitled "OPTICAL/ELECTRICAL WIRING MOUNTED BOARD AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING OPTICAL-ELECTRICAL WIRING BOARD", an electro-optical lead substrate is provided. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, FIG. 1 is a top view of a conventional electro-optical circuit board 10, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional side view of the conventional electro-optical circuit board 10 in FIG. 1 obtained along a 2-2 sectional line. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the conventional electro-optical circuit board 10 includes an optical guiding layer 12 and an electrical wiring board 14 formed on the optical guiding layer. The optical guiding layer 12 includes a core to serve as the optical waveguide, which is formed by a horizontal optical waveguide 20 and a vertical optical waveguide 22, so as to transmit high frequency optical signals. The electrical wiring board 14 has a through-hole to accommodate the vertical optical waveguide 22. Moreover, the optical guiding layer 12 further includes a horizontal clad 30 formed around the horizontal optical waveguide 20 to make the horizontal optical waveguide 20 buried therein, and a vertical clad 32 formed around the vertical optical waveguide 22 to make the vertical optical waveguide 22 be buried therein. Furthermore, four optical pads 52, 54, 56, and 58 are formed on the surface of the electrical wiring board 14, so as to make the optical guiding layer 12 be electrically interconnected to the electrical wiring board 14.
In addition, a reflecting mirror 40 is further disposed in the optical guiding layer 12, and disposed between the horizontal optical waveguide 20 and the vertical optical waveguide 22 by way of forming an angle of 45 degrees with the horizontal optical waveguide 20 and the vertical optical waveguide 22 respectively. The horizontal clad 30 and the vertical clad 32 are fabricated by the material with the index of refraction lower than that of the core, so the optical signals are sent from the optical element (not shown), and then, enter into the horizontal optical waveguide 20 and then reflected to the vertical optical waveguide 22 through the reflecting mirror 40, so as to achieve the excellent optical signal transmission.
The advantage of the above construction is that, the optical waveguide is integrated with the circuit board, and it is easy to join the optical element with the optical waveguide and the circuit board, so as to fabricate an electro-optical circuit board capable of transmitting optical signals and electrical signals. However, the circuit board is joined with the optical guiding layer through the laminating process, which is a high-temperature and high-pressure process. The optical waveguide is fabricated by the polymer material, and it is easily deformed in the high temperature and the high pressure, and the transition temperature of the optical waveguide is only about 180° C. In the laminating process with high temperature and high pressure, the optical path of the whole optical waveguide is offset, and even if it returns to the normal temperature and normal pressure, it is impossible to return to the expected optical coupling efficiency, so as to result in the great loss of the optical signal. Referring to FIG. 3, it is a curve diagram of the mirror angle and optical coupling efficiency of the conventional optical waveguide. As shown in FIG. 3, in the laminating process, when the reflecting mirror of the optical waveguide deforms from 45 degrees to 38 degrees, the optical coupling efficiency is reduced form 83% to 39%.
Therefore, it is an urgent problem to be solved in this field that how to successfully join the optical waveguide with weak structure with the circuit board without affecting the laminating process of the conventional PCB, so as to not affect the properties of the optical waveguide.

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A tie down ratchet and strap includes, a ratchet shaft rotatably mounted in a ratchet body having a slot for receiving a wind-up strap therethough, a pair of ratchet wheels mounted on the ratchet shaft, a ratchet handle with a pawl engaging the ratchet wheels to rotate the ratchet shaft, a locking bar securing the ratchet wheels and ratchet shaft in position when the pawl is disengaged from the ratchet wheels, an anchor strap with a connector for securing the ratchet assembly to a first anchor point, and a wind-up strap including a non-metallic fabric strap with a braided metal outer cover extending continuously over the length of the non-metallic fabric strap.

Tie down ratchets are widely used in a variety of applications to secure cargo for transport. Typical applications include securing cargo in rail cars, flatbed trailers, truck beds and automobile carry racks. Ratchet type tie down straps enable the user to tension the straps across cargo and can easily be tightened to re-tension the straps in the event that the straps loosen during transport without unknotting or unfastening and retightening or resecuring ropes, chains or other types of tie downs. Tie down ratchets typically use polyester fabric straps due to the strength and durability of the straps. Polyester straps are however, still subject to fraying and failure due to mechanical abrasion. Further, while polyester strapping generally has greater resistance to UV degradation than polypropylene or nylon, polyester straps are subject to UV degradation.


A method for accessing a stored data base comprising a number of blocks, each of said blocks containing a plurality of data files and a directory with access keys of the files stored in each of the respective blocks, and comprising means for effecting a sorted ordering of the data files such that the access keys in each block have a predetermined relation. Before the data base is accessed the directories of all blocks are read once in a predetermined order to determine the range of access keys in each directory. Thereafter, during each access operation first of all those directories are sorted out (identified) in which, based on the determined ranges of access keys, the search key of the requested data file might be present. Only blocks corresponding to the sorted out directories are then searched for the requested data file.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a computer system for accessing a stored data base comprising a number of blocks, each of said blocks containing a plurality of data files and a directory with the access keys of the files stored in each of the respective blocks, and comprising means for effecting a sorted ordering of the data files such that the access keys in each block have a predetermined relation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In large computer systems having a processor, memory, and a storage device, a data base can be stored in the storage device as a plurality of data files arranged in plurality of blocks, wherein each data file is uniquely identified using an access key, and each block contains a directory of the access keys for the files in the respective block. When a data file is accessed (when updating or querying the data base), the access key is used to identify the data file that is to be accessed (the requested data file). When items such as data files in storage on a computer disk have to be sequentially searched (accessed and read) to locate a key, it would be impractical, and the performance would be low. In fact in average one-half of all items would have to be read in order to find the desired item. That would involve a relatively large number of disk read operations. In the past, efforts have been made to reduce this number of disk read operations.
An example of a system of the above mentioned type is described in the Canadian Patent 964.373. In this prior art system an appropriate file organization is provided, such that a data file can be read from a disk master file given the file name, by performing one seek and one read operation. The process of locating and reading a data file entails the hash coding of a file name to yield a block address, the moving of the read head to the disk area having the block address and the reading of the directory and the remainder of the block to read out the data file. During the reading of the directory, the data file names are compared in real time, as they are read from the disk, with the name of the desired data file. When a name match occurs, the address of the data file in the block and the address of the succeeding file in the same block are read and stored. As the disk rotates the desired data file address just read is constantly compared with the active disk address. When a match occurs the file has been located and is read out. The reading is terminated at the address of the beginning of the next file. If the file name is not found in the directory of the block indicated by the hash coding of the file's name, then the file is not present therein.
Although the access time to a specific data file is considerably reduced if the above described prior art system is applied, another disadvantage is introduced instead; i.e., the necessity to use a hash coding of all the file names. Through this hash coding the address of the block in which a specific file is stored can be retrieved. However, because of the hash coding this prior art method is not applicable to existing systems without changing the layout and the structure of at least the file names.
An object of the invention is now to provide a data base access system which can be applied to any arbitrary data base search mechanism without any change in the layout or structure of the search data and yet results into an appreciable reduction of the number of disk read operations and therewith of the file access time.

International Business Machines Corporation


A sensor node management system in a Radio Frequency Identification/Ubiquitous Sensing Network (RFID/USN) infrastructure is provided, in which a sensor node has a local ID in a sensor network, a gateway receives, from the sensor node, node information including the local ID and an ID of a home gateway to which the sensor node initially belongs and registers the node information about the sensor node to a location information server, and the location information server registers and manages node information about sensor nodes within an area of the gateway. The location information server generates a global ID using the local ID and the ID of the home gateway, the global ID being recognized as an address of the sensor node by an Internet Protocol (IP) network.

A sensor network technology that senses and controls an external human environment has recently emerged as a core technology. That is, a USN has attracted attention to sense objects and environments by attaching electronic tags to all objects and build and utilize real-time information about the objects and environments over a network. The USN has evolved from its initial stage of identifying an entity using an electronic tag through a stage of acquiring environmental information simultaneously by adding a sensing function to a stage of controlling tags by configuring an ad-hoc network so that tags may communicate with one another. Further, the recent years have witnessed the development of the USN toward an IP-USN in which one or more IP-based sensor nodes are networked. It is expected that the USN will be developed more rapidly.
In fact, the information and communication infrastructure policy working group of the Ministry of Information and Communication reported that the global market of the USN would grow from about 600 million dollars in 2006 to about 12.8 billion dollars in 2012, representing an annual growth of 66%. The domestic market of the USN is expected to grow 71% annually, starting from 2008, the year when USN services were actually deployed, and thus reach 2,100 billion wons in 2012.
A sensor network is considered to be a base technology for constructing a ubiquitous computing environment. The sensor network includes an RFID/sensor node being a small-size radio transceiver equipped with sensing and communication functions, a sink node for collecting sensed information from the sensor node or transferring event data to an external device, and a reference node for transmitting its current location information to a neighbor node with a predetermined power at every predetermined interval. Compared to a conventional network, this sensor network basically seeks to collect remote information automatically, not to communicate. As a core technology of the ubiquitous environment, the sensor network finds its applications in a wide range of fields including target tracking, environment monitoring, traffic information management, logistics management, etc. and it also has potentials to be applied to many other fields.
However, a current sensor network that operates in compliance with Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15.4 Low Rate-Wireless Personal Area Network (LR-WPAN) and ZigBee standards uses an independent 16-bit or 64-bit address system as the address of an RFID/sensor node, instead of an IP address. Hence, the current sensor network is configured as a stand-alone network without being connected to an IP network.
The 6LoWPAN standard was developed as one of approaches to interaction between the Internet and the RFID/sensor network. However, this technology requires an IP version 6 (IPv6) layer and a 6LowWPAN adaptation layer in an RFID/sensor node having resource-limited characteristics such as the requirements of low energy, low processing power, low data rate, etc. The resulting large processing load leads to increased energy consumption.

System and method for managing sensor node in RFID/USN infrastructure and gateway system used therefor

Korea University Research and Business Foundation