This invention relates to a method for treating arthritis and other systemic inflammatory conditions by treating the patient systemically with N,N-dimethylglycine.

This invention relates to the use of N,N-dimethylglycine (DMG) to treat arthritis and inflammation in man or animals.
Dimethylglycine is an intermediary metabolite and amino acid found in low levels in many foods, and is produced in the body from choline. DMG is an endogenous compound and an enzyme system in the body effectively converts the substance into metabolites that are either used by the body or are safely excreted from the body.
A great deal of research has been carried out in recent years on the physiological effects of N,N-dimethylglycine.
Referring to previous work, U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,068, issued May 24, 1983, discloses treating irradiated animals with a derivative of this compound to alleviate the effects of excess radiation on the immune system. The stated object of the invention of U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,068 is (a) to provide a method to enhance one or both of the cell-mediated response and humoral response of the body; (b) provide a method whereby the deliberately induced production of antibody artificially acquired in a living organism can be enhanced, and (c) to provide a method to increase the amount of antibody production and/or decrease the time of antibody production in the deliberately induced production of antibodies in a living organism. According to the patent, the DMG is administered so that the immunological response of the living organism is potentiated when exposed to an antigen in a natural environment and/or when deliberately exposed, or exposed to a subject after the subject has been exposed to a disease agent having an antigenic component in a natural environment in order to aid the host in responding to the naturally occurring infection.
The literature is also replete with articles concerning N,N-dimethylglycine and its potential uses.
At the 1980 Pacific Slope Biochemical Conference a paper entitled "Decrease of Lactic Acid Concentration in Blood of Animals Given N,N-Dimethylglycine" was presented. This research gave the nutritional evaluation as a result of a 157-day subchronical estimation of N,N,-dimethylglycine toxicity. This study also indicated that a decreased lactic acid production by male New Zealand white rabbits exposed to severe surgical stress by administering intravenously dimethylglycine. High-dose rats showed better adaptation to hypoxia subchronical toxicity tests.
In the January, 1981 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, Vol. 143, No. 1, an article entitled "Immunomodulating Properties of Dimethylglycine in Humans", discussed the fact that dimethylglycine is an immunomodulator, if not an immunoadjuvant in humans (since the latter term is reserved for parenterally administered substances that are incorporated or injected simultaneously with an antigen). The normalization of mitogenic responsiveness by lymphocytes from patients with sickle cell disease and diabetes was tested. In both groups, the blast transformation activity of lymphocytes treated with DMG and exposed to three lectins was approximately doubled. Preliminary data suggest, according to the authors, that DMG is both a humoral and cellular immunomodulator, and might have great use with vaccines for intracellular infections and certain parasitic diseases.
The March, 1982 issue of Equine Practice contains an article entitled "Effect of a Nutritional Supplement Containing N,N-Dimethylglycine (DMG) on the Racing Standardbred." This article discloses that research showed that DMG can increase oxygen utilization and thereby decrease lactic acid levels in animals under extreme stress. The article also discusses the finding that human tests indicated an increase in exhaustion time, and an enhancement of the body's immune response, both by increasing the antibody production and lymphocyte generation by the administration of DMG. The tests reported in this article indicated that the inclusion of DMG in the diet of the racing Standardbred is responsible for a lower blood lactic acid level following training. Trainers found the horses to be more aggressive, to have better appetites and attitudes and to recover faster from racing and training than the controls.
The November-December, 1982 issue of Canine Practice contains an article entitled "A Clinical Evaluation of N,N-Dimethylglycine (DMG) and Diisopropylammonium Dichloroacetate (DIPA) on the Performance of Racing Greyhounds". This article summarized the biological reactions of dimethylglycine in three broad categories: transmethylation, cellular respiration, and hepatic function The study that was the subject of the article indicated that improvement in racing performance was found when greyhounds were given DMG, and also stated that they showed better recovery after races with less fatigue or muscle stiffness. Additional clinical applications of DMG, including exertional rhabdomyolysis (inflammatory change in the muscle fibers of the longissimus group), muscular cramp, and hepatopathology were discussed.
In the February, 1987 issue of Let's Live magazine, an article entitled "DIMETHYLGLYCINE UPDATE, New Studies Confirm DMG Improves Health" states that the benefit of enhanced immunity is protection against diseases ranging from and AIDS to minor diseases such as influenza. The article states that DMG is a metabolic enhancer, acts as a detoxifying agent and antioxidant, and is a versatile normalizer of physiological functions. The article also discusses the fact that the immune system is a complex network of white blood cells and molecular compounds, such as antibodies and interferon. There are two types of white blood cells-lymphocytes and macrophages. The immune system produces three types of lymphocytes: T cells, B cells, and K cells. Interferon is an antiviral, antitumor compound produced from T cells. The article indicates that T cells identify and reject foreign matter, while B cells produce antibodies. The article states that little is understood about the killer K cells, which can attack tumor cells directly. The article further states that early research showed that DMG stimulates B cells to produce much higher antibody responses (humoral branch) and potentiates the activity of T cells and macrophages (cellular immunity branch).
The article also states that the DMG was effective in doubling interferon production, and that further work is underway to evaluate DMG's effect on K cells, the body's principal defense mechanism against tumor cells. The article also alludes to a related line of research which indicated that the methyl-group donating ability of DMG is protective against cancer.
In the February, 1987 issue of Health Consciousness, an article entitled "N,N-Dimethylglycine and the Immune Response" reviewed the prior research in the effect of DMG on the body, and also indicated that DMG will increase interferon production. The article states that DMG is an oral immune stimulating nutrient which can offer individuals increased resistance to and recovery from infectious diseases, and stated that depressed immunity is associated with most degenerative diseases such as cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
At the 1987 ASM Annual Meeting, a paper entitled "The Effect of DMG on the Immune Response of Rabbits" was presented. This paper concluded that DMG can affect the cellular branch of the immune system by lymphocyte activation. Lymphocytes from DMG-fed animals can stimulate the cellular immune system by lymphatic proliferation. During primary response, high levels of interferon was present in the DMG fed animals, regardless of the immunogen source. No interferon was detected in immunized control animals not fed DMG. Interferon was not present in samples obtained following the secondary response.
In an article entitled "DMG, Properties and Proprieties" published in The Blood Horse on June 27, 1987, research on humans Was discussed Which showed that DMG stimulated B-cells produce much higher antibody responses and that it also enhances the activity of T cells and macrophages.
Type II collagen has been shown to induce an arthritis in rats similar to rheumatoid arthritis in humans. However, Types I and III collagens have no arthritogenic capabilities (Trentham, D. E. et al., J. Exp. Med. 146, 857 [1977] and Andriopoulos, N. A., et al., Arthritis Rheum. 19, 613 [1976]). In rats susceptible to collagen induced arthritis, e.g., outbred Wistar Sprague-Dawley and inbred Wistar-Lewis, arthritis can also be induced by using Mycobacterium butyricum in complete Freund's adjuvant (Pearson, C. M. et al., Am. J Pathol. 42, 73-95 [1963]). This adjuvant arthritis produces antibodies that cross-react with Type II collagen (Trentham, D. E. et al., J. Clin. Invest. 66, 1109-1117 [1980]).
N,N-dimethylglycine (DMG) has been demonstrated to be an effective immunomodulator in humans by way of the cellular and humoral immune system. It has now been found that DMG is an effective agent for the treatment of systemic inflammatory ailments generally, and more particularly, for the treatment of arthritis.

Treatment of arthritis and inflammation using N,N-dimethylglycine


The properties of melt blends of specific aliphatic-aromatic copolyesters and starch are improved by addition of a combination of polylactic acid, graft copolymers such maleic anhydride grafted polyethylene and maleic anhydride grafted polystyrene, and a hindered phenolic antioxidant. The blends exhibit increased melt strength and maximum draw down ratio versus blends of only aliphatic-aromatic copolyesters and starch. Films made from the blend are compostable and exhibit an attractive combination of mechanical and rheological properties for packaging materials.

There is a growing desire to develop biodegradable film, especially such film suitable for packaging, and an increasing desire for packaging materials that can be made using biologically-derived and/or renewable sources. The current industry standard for biodegradable packaging film is Ecoflex® polyester, a commercial biodegradable copolyester based on 1,4-butanediol ("4G"), terephthalic acid ("T"), and adipic acid. Such copolyesters are sometimes referred to as "4GTX" where "X" is a linear aliphatic dicarboxylic acid, here, adipic acid. Starch is also blended with such polymers because it can increase the renewable content and degradability of the polymer and lower its cost.
Biologically sourced 1,4-butanediol is not currently readily available, but 1,3-propanediol ("3G") is. As one alternative to 4GTX, biodegradable copolyesters "3GTX" can be prepared based on 3G, T, and an aliphatic dicarboxylic acid. However, it can be difficult to obtain properties suitable for film with 3GTX/starch. Material for packaging film requires high maximum melt draw during manufacture, and the resulting film has to have adequate mechanical properties, such as toughness. A film of a specific composition made on a lab scale may have adequate toughness, as indicated by the percentage elongation or the area under the stress-strain curve, but to manufacture a film requires an adequate melt strength (defined as maximum draw times melt tension) to permit melt blowing processing, to achieve molecular orientation in films, and to promote strain hardening (strain-induced crystallization) during film blowing.
It is difficult to make 3GTX directly with high enough inherent viscosity (IV) for film, so instead a lower IV copolymer can be made and then built up using a chain extender, e.g., 4,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI). However, this approach can be detrimental to the toughness of films of 3GTX blends. There remains a need for formulations suitable for films, preferably with biodegradable and/or renewable content, that are biodegradable, possess sufficient melt strength for processing such as film blowing, and produce films with desirable physical properties.


Embodiments of the present invention provide a data retransmission method and user equipment, where the method includes: if a network indicates switching from a dual stream transmission mode to a single stream transmission mode, stopping data transmission of one data stream and clearing data in an HARQ process of the stopped data stream; or if a network indicates switching from a single stream transmission mode to a dual stream transmission mode, transmitting retransmission data in an HARQ process of the original data stream without changing the HARQ process number, and transmitting new data in the HARQ process of a new data stream; or using the retransmission data of the original data stream as new data to transmit in the HARQ process of either the original data stream or new data stream.

High speed uplink packet access HSUPA (High Speed Uplink Packet Access) is an optimization and evolvement of packet services from a mobile terminal to a wireless access network in an uplink direction. Using self-adaptation encoding, physical-layer hybrid retransmission, Node B-based (NodeB, that is, base station) fast scheduling, and 2-ms TTI (Transmission Time Interval, transmission time interval)-based short-frame transmission, the HSUPA improves the highest data transmission rate and cell throughput, and reduces delay.
HSUPA data transmission is categorized into two cases: 2-ms TTI and 10-ms TTI. In case of the 2-ms TTI, a UE (User Equipment, user equipment) has eight HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request, hybrid automatic repeat request) processes; and in case of the 10-ms TTI, a UE has four HARQ processes.
When the UE needs to transmit uplink data, the UE determines the size of a data transport block within the TTI in the corresponding HARQ process according to the grant value from a network, and transmits a data block to the network. The UE meanwhile saves the transmitted data block in the buffer of the HARQ process and waits for ACK/NACK (Acknowlegdement/Non-Acknowlegdement, acknowledgement/non-acknowledgement) information from the network. If the UE receives the ACK information from the network on an E-HICH channel (E-DCH (Enhanced Dedicated Transport Channel, enhanced dedicated transport channel) HARQ Acknowledgement Indicator Channel, E-DCH HARQ acknowledgement indicator channel), it means that the network has successfully demodulates the data. At this time, the UE clears the data block in the corresponding HARQ process. If the UE receives the NACK information or receives no information in a specified time from the network on the E-HICH, it means that the network fails to demodulate the data. At this time, the UE needs to retransmit the data block in this HARQ process until retransmission attempts reach the maximum retransmission times.
As shown in FIG. 1, taking the 2-ms TTI as an example, within each TTI only one HARQ process transmits data, and the UE transmits uplink data, and transmits data al in HARQ process 1 within a first RTT (Route-Trip Time, round-trip-time), and saves data a1 in a buffer. After receiving the NACK message network on the E-HICH, the UE retransmits data a1 in HARQ process 1 within a next RTT, that is, the data a1 is retransmitted after a time period equal to an RTT. Data A1 in HARQ process 2 represents the successfully transmitted data. Therefore, new data A2 is transmitted in HARQ process 2 within a next RTT.
The inventor, during implementation of the present invention, finds that when the HSUPA uses the MIMO (multiple input multiple output, multiple input multiple output) technology in the uplink direction, the UE may transmit two data blocks concurrently within a TTI, that is, dual stream data transmission. In this case, the network may send signaling to notify the UE to switch from a dual stream transmission mode to a single stream transmission mode. Or the UE transmits only one data block within a TTI, that is, single stream data transmission. In this case, the network may send signaling to notify the UE to switch from a single stream transmission mode to a dual stream transmission mode.
Therefore, when the UE works in the MIMO mode and transmits uplink data in the dual stream transmission mode, the UE is incapable of processing the data buffered in the HARQ process of a stopped data stream if receiving from the network a command instructing switching from the dual stream transmission mode to the singe-flow transmission mode. Similarly, when the UE works in the MIMO mode and transmits uplink data in the single stream transmission mode, the UE is capable of processing the data buffered in the HARQ process of an original data stream if receiving a command instructing switching from the single stream transmission mode to the dual stream transmission mode.

Data retransmission method and user equipment


A multi-level dynamic random-access memory (MLDRAM) represents an original bit combination of more than one bit using a cell voltage stored in a single memory cell. The cell voltage is in one of a number of discrete analog voltage ranges each corresponding to a respective one of the possible values of the bit combination. In reading a selected memory cell, stored charge is conveyed via a local bitline to a preamplifier. The preamplifier amplifies the signal on the local bitline and drives a global bitline with an analog signal representative of the stored voltage. A digitizer converts the analog signal on the global bitline into a read bit combination. The read bit combination is then moved to a data cache over the global bitline. The data cache writes an analog voltage back to the memory cell to write a new value or restore data destroyed in reading the cell.

Dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) is a type of computer data storage. The term "random-access" alludes to the fact that data can be written to and read from designated addresses at random, as opposed to having to increment through a sequence of addresses to get to a designated location. DRAM stores digital data as representative voltages in storage capacitors. For example, a relatively high voltage or a relatively low voltage on a given capacitor can represent a logic one or a logic zero, respectively. The storage capacitors leak their stored charge, so the stored voltages quickly change with time. The information the voltages represent thus fades unless the stored voltages are periodically refreshed. That is, each memory cell is read and the voltage on it refreshed before the stored voltage has an opportunity to change so much that it no longer represents the originally stored data.
Each DRAM memory cell of the type described above stores a single logical bit, which can represent either a one or a zero. For example, a stored voltage in a range above a reference voltage may represent a logic one and below the reference voltage a logic zero. Storage density could be increased if more than one bit could be stored in a single memory cell. This is the concept behind multilevel DRAM (MLDRAM). In general, in MLDRAM, an n-bit digital value is represented by a single voltage that can be in one of 2n voltage ranges. Each voltage range corresponds to a respective one of the 2n possible states of the n-bit value. In conventional DRAM, one bit is stored in a single memory cell using 21=2 voltage ranges. In an example of MLDRAM, two bits can be stored in a single memory cell if the MLDRAM can reliably identify the one of 22=4 voltage ranges to which the voltage belongs. In theory, a two-bit MLDRAM could increase the storage density by a factor of about two.
The main disadvantage of MLDRAM is that the greater number of voltage ranges used to represent the additional data bit or bits reduces the extent of each voltage range and, hence, the difficulty of reliably identifying the voltage range to which the voltage stored in the memory cell belongs. Further, the memory cells of MLDRAM may require more frequent refreshing because the stored voltages can more quickly decay to the next-lower voltage range. Practical MLDRAM circuits will require improved methods and circuits for storing, sensing, and refreshing voltages representing multiple bits.


Embodiments provide for an augmented reality (AR) system able to track the movement of real-world objects and apply that movement to virtual objects. The AR system includes a radio configured to receive first sensor data from a sensor attached to a first physical object in physical space. The AR system further includes a processor configured to determine when a physical object changes from a first state to a second state object based on the first sensor data, and update an environmental map based on the change from the first state to the second state of the first physical object.

In many instances, one or more mapping algorithms are utilized to generate and/or update environmental maps utilized by an augmented reality (AR) system. The mapping algorithms generate virtual depictions of real-world objects within the environmental maps. One example mapping algorithm is a simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithm. However, the mapping algorithms are often unable to properly map moving real-world objects, resulting in artifacts and/or misrepresented real-world objects. For example, an AR object may not be moved or moved too slowly in response to movement of a corresponding real-world object, resulting in a poor user experience. In some instances, tracking system may be utilized to track the movement of real-world objects and aid in updating environmental maps. However, these tracking systems are expensive and complex, limiting the possible applications in which such tracking systems may be utilized.

Representation of real-world features in virtual space


An beverage and snack consumption enhancing lid. The lid includes at least one of a snack receiving receptacle and at least one beverage flavoring capsule receptacle. A snack ejector is installed or integrated into the snack receiving receptacle. A snack is packaged within the snack receiving receptacle and retained therein by a snack cover. A beverage flavoring capsule is placed in each at least one beverage flavoring capsule receptacle and retained therein by a seal. The snack cover can multi-function as the capsule seal. The snack ejector would raise the snack from the snack receptacle when the cover is opened. The capsule can be compressed against a piercing element integrated into the capsule receptacle. Flavoring from within the capsule would be dispensed into the beverage to enhance the beverage flavor.

Beverage containers are provided in a variety of form factors. Each beverage container is designed based upon the desired function. Bottling companies utilize sealed glass, plastic, or metal beverage containers for bottling or canning beverages. These containers are selected based upon their shipping support, longevity of product shelf life, cost, and appeal to the consumer. These containers are suitable for retaining their shape during exposure to the hardships of transportation, storage, and handling through manufacturing, bottling/canning, distribution from the bottling/canning company to the distributor, from the distributor to the merchant, and placement on a shelf, within a vending machine, or any other point of sales arrangement.
Other containers are designed for receipt of dispensed beverages on site, such as fountain drinks, hot beverages (coffee, tea, latte, hot chocolate, etc.), alcoholic beverages, and the like. Beverages dispensed on site are placed into glasses, cups, and the like. The consumer may employ a lid to cover the cup for any number of reasons, such as minimize any risk for spilling the beverage, maintaining a temperature of the beverage (warm or cold), minimize any potential of unwanted elements falling into the beverage (dust, insects, etc.), an indication of what beverage was dispensed into the container, and the like.
Coffee shops, delis, bakeries, and other merchants commonly offer hot beverages and snacks, such as pastries, cakes, donuts, brownies, cookies, and the like. Flavoring options for the beverage are dispensed into the beverage by either the merchant or made available by the merchant for dispensing into the beverage by the consumer.
Thus, there presently exists a need for enhancements in beverage container lids to enhance the consumer's snack experience.

Beverage container lid with integral snack and beverage enhancing features


In a wireless communication system including a wireless terminal, a plurality of wireless base stations that wirelessly communicate with the wireless terminal, and a controller that changes the path used for communication with the wireless terminal from a first path via a first wireless base station to a second path via a second wireless base station, the controller monitors the amount of remaining data to the wireless terminal at the first wireless base station, controls to the timing to change to the second path according to the monitor result.

In a wireless communication system having a wireless base station (BTS: Base Transceiver Station) that provides a wireless communication area (cell), a wireless terminal (MS: Mobile Station), and a radio network controller (RNC) that controls the BTS, the MS can communicate with other MSs via the BTS if the MS is within a range in which the MS can exchange radio waves with that BTS.
In such a wireless communication system, the MS generally measures the communication qualities of the communications with the BTS with which the MS is communicating and with other BTSs located close to the MS, and periodically or occasionally reports information on the communication quality to the RNC via the BTS. The RNS includes a function that controls cell (path) switching for switching from the BTS with which the MS is communicating to another BTS when the RNC detects that the communication quality with the BTS with which the MS is communicating drops to equal to or smaller than a predetermined threshold due to migration of the MS or the like, based on the report (communication quality information) from the MS.
In the meantime, in the High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) that is one of wireless communication techniques, a single shared resource is dynamically time-division multiplexed and code multiplexed, and allocated to a plurality of MSs for the purpose of increasing the peak speed and reducing transmission delay in the downlink (here, the communication direction from a BTS to an MS). In addition, in order to improve the transmission efficiency, techniques, such as the adaptive modulation and coding (AMC) or the hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), are applied.
In addition, in the HSDPA, a High Speed Downlink Shared Channel (HS-DSCH) is used as a transport channel that terminates at a BTS. It is noted that this channel is applied in a Packet Switch (PS) domain.
During an HSDPA communication, in order to share one channel among multiple users, and to avoid congestion and buffer overflow on an MS side, a flow control is performed between Iur and Iub. Here, "Iur" is an interface used between RNCs, and "Iub" is an interface used between an RNC and a BTS. It is noted that such a flow control is performed using the High Speed Downlink Shared Channel Frame Protocol (HS-DSCH FP) which is a control frame on the user plane (U-plane).
One example of the entire operations in a wireless communication system to which the above-described HSDPA is applied will be described with reference to FIG. 6 to FIG. 10. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram illustrating the communication operation between an RNC and a BTS in a wireless communication system to which the above HSDPA is applied. In addition, FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a frame format of a capacity request signal, and FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating setting values of a capacity request signal. Furthermore, FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a frame format of a capacity allocation signal, and FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating setting values of a capacity allocation signal. It is noted that a capacity request signal is a control signal for requesting the transmission rate of data sent from an RNC to a BTS. In addition, a capacity allocation signal is a response signal for the capacity request signal, and a control signal used by the BTS to inform the RNC of the transmission rate.
As depicted in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the frame format of a capacity request signal is configured to include a Frame CRC field that indicates a CRC of the frame, an FT field that indicates whether the frame is a data frame or a control frame, a Frame Type field that indicates the frame type of the frame (for example, "0x0A"), a Spare bit that is used as a spare, a CmCH-PI field that indicates a priority of the user data, a User Buffer Size field that indicates the amount of data buffer waiting for transmission of user data, and a Spare Extension field that is a spare.
In addition, as depicted in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, the frame format of a capacity allocation signal is configured to include a Frame CRC field that indicates a CRC of the frame, an FT field that indicates whether the frame is a data frame or a control frame, a Frame Type field that indicates the frame type of the frame (for example, "0x0B"), a Spare bit that is used as a spare, a CmCH-PI field that indicates a priority of the user data, a User Buffer Size field that indicates the amount of data buffer waiting for transmission of user data, a Max MAC-d PDU Length field that indicates the maximum MAC-d PDU length that can be sent, an HS-DSCH Credits field that indicates the allowable MAC-d PDU number sent by the RNC, an HS-DSCH Interval field that indicates a valid interval (period) of the above HS-DSCH credit, an HS-DSCH Repetition Period field that indicates continuous valid interval of the above HS-DSCH credit, and a Spare Extension field that is a spare.
In a wireless communication system to which the HSDPA is applied, the flow control as depicted in FIG. 6 is performed using a capacity request signal and capacity allocation signal described above. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram illustrating the communication operation between an RNC 100 and a BTS 200 in a wireless communication system to which the above HSDPA is applied. It is noted that a definition of an HS-DSCH FP is standardized in order to archive a flow control between the RNC100 and the BTS 200.
In this flow control, firstly, the RNC 100 as the transmission side determines that user data transmission rate (hereinafter, sometimes simply referred to as "transmission rate") to the BTS 200 is 0 kbps, and that there is user data to be transmitted for a predetermined time period, the RNC100 sends a capacity request signal (FT=1, CmCH-PI=N (the range of N is between 0 and 15), and the user buffer size=U>0) to the BTS 200 as the reception side (see (1) in FIG. 6).
In response to receiving the above capacity request signal from the RNC100, the BTS 200 sends a capacity allocation signal (FT=1, CmCH-PI=N, the PDU length (>0), credit (>0), and the interval (>0)) for specifying the transmission rate at the RNC100 to the RNC100(see (2) in FIG. 6). Here, the transmission rate is set to "transmission rate: high," for example.
Next, in response to receiving the above capacity allocation signal, the RNC100 sends user data (HS-DSCH data frame) at the transmission rate specified by the BTS 200 ("transmission rate: high") to the BTS 200 (see (3) in FIG. 6). It is noted that the particular queue to send the capacity request signal and the capacity allocation signal described above is not stipulated, and is set by the user to any appropriate timing. For example, when the transmission rate is needed to be changed due to some reason, such as an increase or decrease the number of users communicating on the same channel, for example, the BTS 200 may autonomously specify the transmission rate based on capacity allocation signal to change the transmission rate without receiving a queue from the transmission side (capacity request signal) (see (4) and (5) in FIG. 6, for example). Similar to this, the RNC100 may also autonomously determine the transmission rate without complying with the transmission rate specified by the BTS 200 side (capacity allocation signal).
Thus, the flow control as described above is adapted to control the transmission rate efficiently where a bottle neck is located on a transmission path between the RNC 100 and the BTS 200, for example.
Next, cell switching control in the above-described wireless communication system will be explained with reference to FIG. 11 and FIG. 12. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating cell switching control in the wireless communication system, and FIG. 12 is a sequence diagram pertaining to the cell switching control.
As depicted in (1) in FIG. 11, for example, it is assumed that an MS 300 is carrying out wireless communication with a BTS 200-1 in the cell of the BTS 200-1 (the solid black area in (1) in FIG. 11). At this time, the MS 300 periodically or occasionally measures the communication quality with the BTS 200-1 and the communication quality with another BTS 200-2 that is present in the proximity to the MS 300, and reports measurement results of those communication qualities to the RNC100 via the BTS 200-1 (200-2). It is noted that the measurement processing is performed using a control plane (C-plane) depicted with a dotted line allow in FIG. 11, and communication of user data is performed using the user plane (U-plane) depicted with a solid line allow in FIG. 11.
The RNC 100 determines whether or not there is any other cell that has a better communication quality than the current cell based on the above report (communication quality measurement result) from the MS 300.
At this time, when the RNC 100 determines that a better communication quality is obtained if the cell of the BTS 200-2 is used than when using the cell of the BTS 200-1 as for data communication with the MS 300, for example, switch cell (path) change (cell switching control) to change the cell with which the MS 300 communicates to the cell of the BTS 200-2 is performed to change from the communication state depicted in (1) in FIG. 11 to the communication state depicted in (2) in FIG. 11 (the black solid area in (2) in FIG. 11).
Here, the cell switching control as described above will be further explained with reference to the sequence diagram in FIG. 12. Similar to the example depicted in FIG. 11, the example depicted in FIG. 12 also illustrates the case in which the RNC 100 performs cell switching control from the cell of the BTS 200-1 to the cell of another BTS 200-2.
Firstly, the MS 300 measures the communication quality at the cell of the BTS 200-1 with which the MS 300 is communicating and communication at the cell of another BTS 200-2, and sends the measurement results to the RNC100 as wireless communication qualities (event ID: 1D).
The RNC 100 determines whether or not to perform cell switching control based on the wireless communication qualities received from the MS 300. In the example depicted in FIG. 12, for the data communication with the MS 300, it is determined that a better communication quality is obtained if the cell of the BTS 200-2 is used than when the cell of the BTS 200-1 is used, the RNC 100 determines whether or not cell switching control is performed to switch the cell to communicate with the MS 300 from the cell of the BTS 200-1 (cell change origin) to the cell of the BTS 200-2 (cell change destination) (see "commence cell change").
Next, when determining to perform cell switching control, the RNC 100 sends an RL reconfiguration preparation message (RL RECONF. PREPARE) to the BTS 200-2 for preparing a Radio Link (RL) configuration of the cell change destination BTS 200-2. In response to receiving this, the BTS 200-2 replies to the RNC 100 with an RL reconfiguration ready complete message (RL RECONF. READY) that is a reply therefor. In addition, the RNC 100 sends an establishment request message (ESTABLISH REQUEST) to the BTS 200-2. In response to receiving this, the BTS 200-2 replies to the RNC 100 with an establish confirm message (ESTABLISH CONFIRM) that is a reply therefor (see the processing depicted with the reference symbol (a)).
Furthermore, the RNC 100 sends an RL reconfiguration preparation message (RL RECONF. PREPARE) to the BTS 200-1 for preparing an RL configuration of the BTS 200-1. In response to receiving this, the BTS 200-1 replies to the RNC 100 with an RL reconfiguration ready complete message (RL RECONF. READY) that is a reply therefor (see the processing depicted with the reference symbol (b)).
At this time, the RNC 100 starts the timer (see "setting timer"), and sends an RL reconfiguration commit message (RL RECONF. COMMIT) and a physical channel reconfiguration message (PHY. CH. RECONF) to which the activation time is embedded to the BTS 200-1, the BTS 200-2, and the MS 300, respectively (see the processing depicted with the reference symbol (c)). At this time, the activation time is used as a timer value until carrying out an actual cell switching as described in Non-Patent Reference 1 that will be mentioned later, and when the above-described timer expires a timer value that is set to the activation time (hereinafter, may be simply referred to as "timer value), cell switching control is performed by the RNC 100.
On the other hand, the BTS 200-1 sends a capacity allocation signal (transmission rate: 0 (credit=0 and interval=0)) to the RNC 100 which is a flow control signal for suspending transmission of downlink data (user data) from the RNC 100 (see the processing depicted with the reference symbol (d)).
In response to receiving the above capacity allocation signal from the BTS 200-1, the RNC 100 suspends transmission of user data to the BTS 200-1, and waits for carrying out of cell switching control until the above activation time comes. On the other hand, the BTS 200-1 continues to send user data remaining in the local station 200-1 to the MS 300 until the above timer value expires.
After the above timer value expires, the RNC 100 performed configuration of the intra-apparatus path (within the RNC 100, from the terminating apparatus to the BTS 200-2 to the terminating apparatus relating to the HSDPA communication) (see the processing depicted with the reference symbol (e)).
On the other hand, after the above timer value expires, the BTS 200-2 sends a capacity allocation signal (transmission rate: X (MAC-d, the PDU length, credit, and interval>0)) to the RNC 100 which is a flow control signal for resuming communication of downlink data (user data) from the RNC 100 (see the processing depicted with the reference symbol (f)).
In response, the RNC 100 detects completion of the above processing (see the processing depicted with the reference symbols (e) and (f)), receives an RL physical channel reconfiguration complete message (PHY. CH. RECONF. COMPLETE) indicating reconfiguration complete report from the MS 300 to resume downlink data transmission to the BTS 200-2, while exchanging a release request message (RELEASE REQUEST) and a release confirm message (RELEASE CONFIRM) with the BTS 200-1, and disconnecting the channel with the BTS 200-1 (see the processing depicted with the reference symbol (g)).
In other words, when determining to perform cell switching control based on the report on the wireless communication quality (1D) between the MS 300 and the BTS 200, the RNC 100 sets the activation time (timer value), and performs cell switching control from the BTS 200-1 (cell change origin) to the BTS 200-2 (cell change destination) after waiting for expiration of the timer value.
It is noted that the above-described cell switching control is disclosed in Non-Patent References 2 and 3 that will be listed below, and Patent References 1-4 listed below describe technique related to cell switching control methods in wireless communication systems containing an HSDPA.
The following Patent Reference 1 discloses determining whether or not any data is remained in an old node, and suspending data transmission from an RNC to old node based on the determination result. In addition, the following Patent Reference 2 discloses execution of a negotiation of the activation time. Furthermore, the following Patent References 3 and 4 disclose flow control signal processing between a serving RNC (S-RNC), a drift RNC (D-RNC), a node B, and a user equipment (UE) upon handover.    Patent Reference 1: Japanese Translation of PCT International Application No. 2005-510950    Patent Reference 2: International Patent Publication No. WO2004/057887    Patent Reference 3: Japanese Translation of PCT International Application No. 2005-525057    Patent Reference 4: Japanese Translation of PCT International Application No. 2005-521360    Non-Patent Reference 1: 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network; Mobile radio interface layer 3 specification; Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol; lu Mode (Release 7) (3GPP TS44.118 V7.1.0 (2005-07)    Non-Patent Reference 2: 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; High Speed Downlink Packet Access; Iub/Iur protocol aspects (Release 5) (3GPP TR25.877 V5.1.0 (2002-06))    Non-Patent Reference 3: 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA); Overall description; Stage 2 (Release 7) (3GPP TS25.308 V7.1.0 (2006-12))
In the meantime, cell switching control is not performed until the timer value expires in the above-described cell switching control method.
However, by the time that the timer value expires, the BTS 200-1 that is the cell change origin may complete transmission of user data to the MS 300. Such a case may pose a problem in that, although there is not user data to be transmitted to the MS 300 left within the BTS 200-1, no cell switching control is performed until the timer value expires. As a result, the communication efficiency of the wireless communication system may be deteriorated since there is time during which there is no user data to be transmitted from the BTS 200-1 to the MS 300 (no communication time).
In addition, due to change (deterioration) of the communication environment, the BTS 200-1 that is the cell change origin may not successfully complete transmission of user data to the MS 300 by the time that the timer value expires. Such a case may also pose a problem in the cell switching control is not performed until the timer value expires although the BTS 200-1 cannot successfully send user data to the MS 300. As a result, transmission delay of the user data may occur.

Method for controlling path switching in wireless communication system, and controller and wireless base station in that system


The present invention relates to a locking mechanism (13) comprising a first locking member (11), a second locking member (12), and a biasing member (14) exerting, during operation, a biasing force (FB) on at least the first locking member (11) or the second locking member (12) in a biasing direction (B). The locking mechanism further comprises a guiding structure (32) for mutually guiding the first and second locking members (11, 12), wherein the first locking member (11) comprises a track structure (15) and the second locking member (12) comprises a guided element (16) guided by the track structure (15). The locking mechanism (13) is moved from an un-locked to a locked condition by applying a pushing force to at least one of the first and second locking members (11, 12). The locking mechanism (13) can be moved from the locked to the un-locked condition by applying either a pushing or a pulling force to at least one of the first and second locking members (11, 12). The invention further relates to a device comprising such a locking mechanism (13). Such a device may be a holding device (40) for a shaving apparatus (24), for example a cleaning device for cleaning a shaving head (26) of a shaving apparatus (24).

Locking mechanisms of the type mentioned in the opening paragraph are generally used for temporarily preventing two components from mutual displacement, and are used in a large number of applications. A well-known application is a writing-pen click mechanism. Another known application is in cleaning devices for electric shavers, comprising a cleaning basin into which the shaving head of the shaver can be placed in order to perform a cleaning operation on the shaving head. Such a cleaning device is known from U.S. Pat. No. 7,002,091. The known cleaning device comprises an upwardly extending contact member which is vertically movable, against the action of the biasing force of the biasing member of the locking mechanism incorporated in the cleaning device, relative to a main housing comprising the cleaning basin. To clean the shaver, the shaver has to be placed in an upright position, with the shaving head being placed in the cleaning basin. Subsequently, the user has to move the contact member in a vertical downward direction by applying a pushing force on the contact member, against the action of the biasing force, until the contact member contacts the tip portion of the body of the shaver. At this moment, the locking mechanism reaches its locked condition, so that the shaver is locked in the cleaning device by the contact member. In order to un-lock the shaver again, so that the shaver can be removed from the cleaning device after cleaning, the user has to exert again a pushing force in the downward direction on the movable contact member, against the action of the biasing force, until the guided element of the locking mechanism reaches the fourth track position. After that, the movable contact member is pushed upwardly into the un-locked condition under the influence of the biasing force, so that the shaver is released.
It has turned out that some users find it confusing that, to un-lock the cleaning device, the movable contact member has to be pushed down in the same direction as to lock the device cleaning. In an attempt to un-lock the cleaning device, some users intuitively exert a pulling force in an upward direction on the movable contact member. Thereby, the locking mechanism will at best not be un-locked, and at worst it will become damaged.
The inventors of the present invention have appreciated that an improved locking mechanism, which avoids the above mentioned user confusion, would be of benefit, and have in consequence devised the present invention.

Locking mechanism with push- and pull-to-release function and device comprising such locking mechanism


Embodiments provide components of a communication network that may facilitate efficient optimization of the communication network. In various embodiments, network gateway selection for incoming subscriber stations may be allocated to one or more components that make intelligent allocation determinations. Additionally, in various embodiments, control of the communication network may also be allocated to various components.

Broadband wireless networks include a continuum of coexisting, overlapping technologies that enable wireless high-speed communications. One technology, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), has been developed to provide long-range wireless networking capabilities. WiMAX may be a general name given to represent standards associated with the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 standards (e.g., IEEE 802.16-2009, approved May 13, 2009).
Typically, in WiMAX networks, a subscriber station will attach to a base station (BS) during initial network entry (INE). After attachment, the BS may select a default network gateway, such as an access service network gateway (ASN-GW), to serve the subscriber station. The default ASN-GW may be assigned based upon various criteria, for example, the manufacturer of the ASN-GW. The static assignment of an ASN-GW to a subscriber station may lead to inefficient deployment, use, and control of a network.
Additionally, when a subscriber station moves from a cell associated with one BS to another, the new BS may select another network gateway. This new network gateway may communicate with the originally selected network gateway, which acts as an anchor, to retrieve service flow, among other things. This intra-network gateway communication, or R4 signaling, relies on a hierarchical structure that may also diminish efficiency and bandwidth.


An interface apparatus, a cascading system thereof, and a cascading method thereof are provided. The cascading system includes a host, a first-type interface apparatus, and a second-type interface apparatus which are serially connected. The host provides data transmission of a first and a second channel by a first controller through a first interface port. In the first-type interface apparatus, data of the first channel is transmitted to a second controller through a second interface port and then to a third interface port, and data of the second channel is directly transmitted to the third interface port through the second interface port. In the second-type interface apparatus, the data of the second channel are transmitted to a third controller through a forth interface port and then to the fifth interface port, and the data of the first channel is directly transmitted to the fifth interface port through the forth interface port.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an interface apparatus and a cascading method thereof, and more particularly to an interface apparatus that utilizes the Thunderbolt interface, a cascading system thereof and a cascading method thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
As the technology advancements and rapid changes of the computer functions, a wide variety of peripherals are emerging continually. For user's convenience to upgrade or to expand computer performance or function, the computer motherboards are usually equipped with AGP, PCI, PCI-E, and ISA slots for users to install a video card, a sound card, a network card, or other expansion cards. Furthermore, motherboards are also equipped with Firewire, USB, and other expansion interfaces for users to connect hard drives, printers, and other external devices.
Recently, Intel Corporation from United State has released a whole new Thunderbolt interface which integrates PCI Express and DisplayPort technologies together, so as to transmit data and video streaming through a single cable simultaneously. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the data transmission of the Thunderbolt interface. Referring to FIG. 1, the Thunderbolt transmission technology provides two channels 122 and 124 on a cable 12 which are served as the PCI-E and the DisplayPort to transmit data and stream video respectively. Relying on the control of two Thunderbolt controllers 14 and 16 which are at two ends of the cable 12, the transmission rate of each channel may reach up to 10 Gb/s for both directions. This allows high speed data transmission between a computer and peripherals. The bandwidth provided by the Thunderbolt technology allows several high speed devices to be daisy chained without a hub or a switch.
For example, FIG. 2 is a conventional daisy-chain connection of the Thunderbolt interface architecture. Referring to FIG. 2, in order to implement a daisy chain cascading connection, a host 22, as a master terminal, requires a Thunderbolt interface port 222 and a Thunderbolt controller 224 supporting dual-channel transmission. The downstream cascaded Thunderbolt interface apparatuses 24, 26, and 28 are required to respectively equip two or more Thunderbolt interface ports 242, 244, 262, 264, 282, and 284. Since each of the Thunderbolt interfaces has 2 channels, the Thunderbolt controllers 246, 266, and 286 in the Thunderbolt interface apparatus 24, 26, and 28 are required to be configured to support four channel transmissions. Therefore, the production costs of the interface apparatus are increased.
However, two channels of the Thunderbolt interface are configured for data transmission and video streaming only, and Thunderbolt interface does not support channel aggregation, hence the transmission efficiency are limited. When the Thunderbolt apparatuses cascaded by the user do not include a display related device, the video streaming channel of the Thunderbolt device remains idle. In this case, the costly Thunderbolt interface port and controller can only supply half transmission efficiency, which is waste of resources. Furthermore, the daisy-chain architecture does not have a fault-tolerance function. When one Thunderbolt apparatus fails or malfunctions, all the downstream cascaded Thunderbolt apparatuses are disconnected as the daisy chain is broken, which may also result in data loss.

Interface apparatus, cascading system thereof and cascading method thereof


A snap slide clip provides a secondary securing mechanism for a drive carrier. The drive carrier includes a fastening mechanism to secure the drive carrier to a rack with the mounted drive connected to a storage system. A handle arm actuates a first latch feature to secure the drive carrier to the rack in a closed position and disengages the first latch feature in an open position such that the drive carrier can be moved with respect to the rack. A primary securing mechanism includes a second latch feature that secures the handle arm in a closed position. The snap slide clip is affixed to the primary securing mechanism to prevent the handle arm from moving into the open position in the event of failure of the primary securing mechanism. The snap slide clip can be retrofitted to a drive carrier of an active storage system without disrupting access to storage.

Large organizations use data centers to maintain their critical data. For example, banks, large retailers, governmental organizations, and multi-national corporations rely on storage arrays to store data required for inventory tracking, accounting, sales, manufacturing, and other critical business functions for which data loss and data unavailability must be avoided. A key building block of a data center is a storage array. Storage arrays manage access to large data sets that are concurrently used by multiple host applications and potentially many users. The data is stored on arrays of non-volatile managed drives such as SSDs (solid-state drives) and HDDs (hard disk drives) that are mounted in racks. The storage array typically includes redundant computing nodes that manage access to the drives. Pairs of computing nodes are configured for failover and provide multiple data paths. It is known to organize the managed drives into RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Drives) groups to avoid data loss in the event of drive failure. Various levels of RAID are known. The different RAID levels use one or more of redundant copies, striping, parity, and other techniques to achieve high data availability and avoid data loss. Further, standby drives can be pre-mounted in the racks and automatically utilized in the event of the failure of other drives. For example, a failed drive can be rebuilt on a standby drive.


The present invention relates to a handle for a suitcase, which has a bottom surface, a top surface, and at least four sides where a first and second sides oppose one another and a third and fourth sides oppose one another. The suitcase further includes a plurality of wheels disposed on the bottom surface to provide transitional movement of the suitcase when the suitcase is pivoted about the plurality of wheels and placed in an inclined position.. The handle comprising a first and second straps each having a first and second ends, the first and second straps being coupled to opposite sides of the suitcase. The first and second straps are adapted to have a first and second length L1 and L2 defined by the distance from the top surface of the suitcase to a middle portion of the first and second straps, the middle portion of each the first and second straps being joined during transport of the suitcase to form a substantially right triangle having an angle A between the first and second straps where the first and second lengths have a relationship corresponding approximately to the equation L1 = L2 .times. cosine A.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of luggage, and more particularly, to the field of wheeled suitcases having handles adapted for towing of the suitcase.
2. Prior Art
Wheeled suitcases have increasingly become the luggage of choice for those jet-setting businessmen and travelers who prefer to tow their luggage from place to place instead of straining their muscles to lift and carry their luggage about. Prior the introduction of wheeled suitcases, the suitcases themselves were commonly transported by means of securing them on a separate cart or rack having wheels so that the assembly could be wheeled around as a unit. However, with the advent of wheeled suitcases, many of the disadvantages inherent in the use of wheeled carts were overcome, namely that the carts are prone towards bending due to their lightweight and often flimsy structure, that they require a means for attaching the suitcase thereto in a secure manner to prevent the suitcase from falling off and that more storage space is required to store the separable structure of the cart.
Nonetheless, the utility of wheeled suitcases is limited by the particular type and arrangement of the handle(s) used to pull the suitcase along. Specifically, most handles which are commonly used in conjunction with wheeled suitcases are constructed in the form of a rigid extension arm or "tow-bar" made out of hard plastic or metal projecting from one end of the suitcase. The tow-bar is normally affixed to the lower surface of the suitcase such that the suitcase firmly rests on top of the tow-bar when in transport, although several wheeled suitcases have tow-bars placed on the opposite, upper surface of the suitcase where the suitcase must be secured to the cart by an elastic strap or the like. The tow-bars may also be retractable through the use of telescoping tubular elements or the like for adjustment of their length and for retracting the tow-bars into a storage space within the suitcase when it is not being used.
During use, however, the tow-bar is protracted or pulled out of its storage space within the suitcase and locked into position at a desired length to accommodate the height of a particular user. With respect to those tow-bars that are horizontal when the suitcase is resting on the floor, the user raises the handle of the protracted tow-bar so as to lift the front edge of the suitcase off the floor and leave only the wheels adjacent to the rear edge of the suitcase in contact with the floor where the suitcase can be easily transported by pulling on the tow-bar. For those tow-bars that are vertical when the suitcase is at rest, the tow-bar is lowered to pivot the suitcase about the wheels mounted at its front edge.
Yet, because of the rigid mount between the tow-bar and the suitcase at the connection point and the angle at which the suitcase is placed during transport, the torque acting upon the tow-bar due to the weight of the suitcase tends to causes breakage or bending of the tow-bar especially at the connection point. Additionally, the placement of the tow-bar in the plane of either the upper surface or bottom surface of the suitcase presents an awkward configuration for towing of the suitcase due to the lack of stability caused by the connection point being placed far from the suitcase's center of mass and the substantially large angle between the extended tow-bar and the floor. Due to the fact that the tow-bar is coupled to the suitcase at only one point and its handle is quite distant from that point, it is difficult to exercise proper control over the movement of the suitcase simply by pulling on the tow-bar. The tow-bar also adds a significant amount of weight to the over-all structure and furthermore increases the cost of the suitcase due to the number of machined pieces required to implement the tow-bar and the need to provide a means for retraction or storage of the tow-bar within itself or within the suitcase.
Another type of handle which is also used in conjunction with wheeled suitcases is a single strap that is detachably connected at one end to an upper corner of the suitcase by means of a fastener. With this configuration, the strap acts much like a leash in that it can only "guides" the suitcase as it is towed since this type of handle requires all four wheels of the suitcase to remain in contact with the ground. Because these single-strap handles provide no rigid support and have no special mounting arrangement for angling the suitcase vertically or laterally, the wheeled suitcase tends to move all about as it is towed in a specific direction since no control can be exercised over the movement of the wheels.
A variation on the single-strap type handle is where the strap is of a short length and has both of its ends coupled to the top of the suitcase in much the same way as a normal suitcase handle. Although commonly used with smaller, more portable luggage, this variation has lately been used with the larger, wheeled suitcases where the user must practically lift the suitcase off the floor in order to move it forward in a controlled manner. This latter type of handle also provides no real benefit except that it can be used for both carrying and towing of the suitcase in addition to the fact that it is simple and cost effective.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide better stability of a wheeled suitcase during its transport.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive and lightweight handle to assist in the transport of the suitcase.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a handle which allows its user to angle the suitcase vertically or laterally for better control over the movement of the wheels of the suitcase.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a handle with multiple connection points so as to reduce stress placed directly on such points when the handle is utilized.
Many other advantages, factors and additional objects will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying drawings in which certain embodiments incorporating the present invention are shown by way of illustration.


An alpine ski boot having an arrangement for reclaiming rear support of the upper and tightening of the collar on the lower part of the leg, constituted by a link forming a dual circuit and by a latchable tensioning lever. The flexible connection describes a circuit originating from a strap of the collar constituting a mobile attachment point of one end of the link, which is thereafter freely connected to the tensioning lever, by which it transits, to be thereafter fixed by its other end on a portion of the collar constituting a fixed attachment point, from which the intermediate tensioning lever exerts a traction on the other end of the link simultaneously causing a tightening action on the strap and a latching action of the element for reclaiming rear support and vice versa.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a central entry and/or front entry alpine ski boot comprising a shell base overlaid by an upper having at least one portion shaped like a collar journalled on the shell base in the zone of the malleoli about a rotational connection, such collar comprising at least one strap provided with a closure means adapted to simultaneously ensure the tightening of the collar on the lower part of the leg of the skier and its rotational blockage with respect to the shell base, at least in the front to rear direction, i.e., in the direction of the rear supports of the lower part of the leg on the collar.
2. Discussion of Background and Relevant Information
Such means, exerting a tightening action on both a portion of the boot and on a blocking element or the rear support element are known by the French Patent Publication No. 2,657,235.
In that application, a device is disclosed whose support element is journalled on an axis of the rear spoiler and is adapted to be placed in support on a portion of the shell base support, when the boot is closed. This support element is driven into a working position by the end of a tensioning lever during its movement towards a closure position of the boot.
This device has a certain number of disadvantages, especially insofar as it requires the positioning of elements, necessitating a very precise adjustment of the elements with respect to each other due to the fact that the support element is driven by the free end of the tensioning lever. Further, due to the fact that it is the free end of the tensioning lever which immobilizes the support element on the shell base, the lever cannot be gripped in a normal manner, i.e., by its end, but along a portion of its length.
French Patent Publication No. 2,661,076 also describes a device for simultaneous control of a closure member or buckle of a collar on a leg base and a tipping element located at the rear of the upper of the boot, capable of cooperating with an abutment of the shell base for immobilizing or releasing the upper with respect to the latter.
In this type of device, the control loop is located on the upper of the boot and it is by releasing the loop that the upper is simultaneously released from it abutment on the shell base. Such a release of the upper is especially advantageous when the skier wishes to relax and/or walk. However, due to the fact that the control member is located on a flap of the upper, a certain number of disadvantages become apparent during skiing and especially during use of skiwear that either have ski pants adapted to cover the upper, or ski pants which are adapted to be introduced into the upper. Indeed, in the first case, which is more common, it is necessary to remove the ski pants so as to gain access to the control member and in the second case, the control member is no longer protected from external agents, and can be hooked into, torn away, and even be opened, and cause accidental release of the pivotal element and thus of the upper. At any rate, whatever the skiwear used, when the control member of such device is in an open position, it is substantially in projection on the lateral external surface of the upper, increasing the risks of getting hooked to something, and especially, running the risk of having the buckle get disconnected from the flap that it controls.
Besides, due to the fact that the closure buckle is located on the upper in a lateral zone, whereas the pivotal element is in the heel zone, it is necessary to provide connection means that extend between these elements within the boot at least partially in the volume called "fitting volume" and this can obviously affect comfort.
The French Patent No. 1,448,831 also describes a boot with a monobloc upper comprising a flap having two tongues, one upper, one lower, the latter being subjected to the action of a tensioning lever by means of a flexible link exerting a traction on the tongue as well as on a portion that covers the instep constituted by a button hole. In this case, the release of the link only enables a quick loosening of the button hole, and therefore, of the foot, without producing even a partial release of the upper of the boot, for example while walking. Indeed, in such a boot, it is necessary to release the upper tongue to enable a certain movement of the lower part of the leg of the skier, and thus facilitate the use of this type of ski boot for walking.


Provided is transmission of situational location dependent information from a server data processing system to a receiving data processing system. The server data processing system communicates with the receiving data processing system in a manner by pushing content when appropriate. A candidate delivery event associated with a current positional attribute of the receiving data processing system is recognized and a situational location of the remote data processing system is determined. The candidate delivery event may be a location and/or direction change, device state change, or movement exceeding a movement tolerance. The situational location of the remote data processing system may be its location, direction, location and direction, proximity to a location, state change, or location and/or direction relative to a previous location and/or direction, or combinations thereof. A set of delivery content from a deliverable content database is transmitted from the server data processing system to the receiving data processing system according to the situational location of the receiving data processing system, and according to delivery constraints. The delivery content is configurable by authorized administrators on an instant activation basis for proactive delivery.

The present invention relates generally to location dependent delivery of information to mobile data processing systems, and more particularly to a system for pushing situational location dependent content to data processing system devices traveling to locations for, or in directions of, that place which delivery content is designated as deliverable.
The boom of the internet has greatly provided information to mobile users through wireless web server connected devices such as laptops, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and telephones. People with an internet enabled device can access yahoo.com (yahoo is a trademark of Yahoo corporation) and other internet connected resources. There are also Global Positioning System (GPS) devices that enable mobile users to know exactly where they are on a particular map. Users with GPS device functionality can further manually enter their known location into an internet MAP directory service (e.g. yahoo.com Maps) and then provide a target address they want to go to. Step by step instructions are then provided to the user for how to get to the destination from the current location. Some GPS devices provide local processing for directing, and narrating to, a driver. Mating automated location finding systems with internet travel direction services is an attractive blend.
Cadillac recently announced the OnStar program with sales of Cadillac automobiles (Cadillac and OnStar are trademarks of General Motors corporation). A person is enabled with calling upon an xe2x80x9cOnStar Advisorxe2x80x9d 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, with the press of a button. An emergency call, for example 911, or for a disabled Cadillac vehicle, allows a driver to instantly call upon wireless connected assistance. The driver may also call upon the OnStar Advisor for directions to a destination. The Advisor has access to automatic processing for determination of the vehicle""s current location in case of auto theft, a disabled vehicle, or assisting with directions. The Advisor can also remotely unlock the vehicle should the driver lock the keys in the car. In effect, Cadillac drivers have full time wireless connected assistance around the clock for many reasons. While the location determination of the vehicle is automatic, there remain manual processes performed by the Advisor. Automation of some of these processes is desirable.
Many internet services derive their revenue stream from advertising. Advertisers pay to have their content delivered to users who access web site and web server interfaces. Advertisers desire to target their audience at the most appropriate time. Knowing the location of a user as being relevant to a particular advertisement is desirable. Automating the delivery of the content is desirable.
A method is needed for a low cost business model that enables the efficient configuration of deliverable content for automatic delivery to mobile users based on their situational location that is relevant to receive such content.
The present invention provides transmission of situational location dependent information from a server data processing system (SDPS) to a receiving data processing system (RDPS). The server data processing system (SDPS) communicates with the receiving data processing system (RDPS) by pushing content (i.e. proactive content delivery) when appropriate, rather than in response to a user query. A candidate delivery event associated with a current positional attribute of the receiving data processing system is recognized and a situational location of the remote data processing system is determined. The candidate delivery event may be a location and/or direction change, device state change, or movement exceeding a movement tolerance. The situational location of the remote data processing system may be its location, direction, location and direction, proximity to a location, state change, or location and/or direction relative to a previous location and/or direction, or combinations thereof. At the SDPS, a set of delivery content from a deliverable content database is retrieved according to the situational location of the RDPS, and according to system delivery constraints and/or configured user delivery constraints. The SDPS transmits any applicable content found to the RDPS. The delivery content is configurable by authorized administrators in a manner that enables the configured content for immediate delivery should a RDPS meet the criteria of the associated situational location and delivery constraints.
Various embodiments with respect to recognizing a candidate delivery event and determining a situational location include:
the SDPS recognizes the candidate delivery event (e.g. various wireless embodiments and physical connection embodiments)
the RDPS recognizes the candidate delivery event (e.g. GPS and some wireless)
the SDPS determines the situational location associated with the candidate delivery event which may have been determined by the RDPS and communicated to the SDPS, or determined by the SDPS
the RDPS determines the situational location associated with the candidate delivery event and communicates the information to the SDPS for further processing
A situational location is completely determined for the RDPS upon the candidate delivery event. Content that can be delivered is fully configurable, of any type, and can be instantly activated for candidate delivery upon convenient administration. As well known in the art of software installation, the present invention may be installed to a variety of network embodiments and underlying operating systems through installation parameters, or as distinct installations for the particular platform. Preferably, an internet connection is used for configuring deliverable content, and for the interoperation of communications between the RDPS and SDPS.
The present invention enables a user of a RDPS to be made aware of content that is applicable for the current situational location of the user. Depending on the application of the present invention, the content and configurations will take on a variety of themes.
For example, in an outdoor wireless embodiment of the present invention, advertisement content can be configured by paying customer advertisers through an internet web interface, and then automatically delivered to people when the people are in a location, or heading path to a location, for reasonable delivery of the content to their automobile installed, or handheld, RDPS. For example, as a driver or pedestrian (i.e. user) approaches a retail store with a mobile RDPS, a configured advertisement of a special deal at the retail store can be proactively delivered (i.e. pushed) to the user automatically on behalf of the store. Likewise, an indoor wireless embodiment of the present invention enables the driver or pedestrian, now a shopper inside the store, to receive configured content to a shopping cart mounted, or handheld, RDPS directing the shopper to specific sales items as the shopper moves about the inside of the store.
In another application, a policeman may activate a mobile police automobile device (i.e. RDPS) in a police car for automatic delivery of a person""s criminal record as the policeman drives by the location of a person""s house. The police establishment configures criminal record content, or pointers thereto, along with the location of the residence that is believed to harbor the person with a record. As the policeman drives by locations with addresses of known offenders, the RDPS displays applicable criminal data. Of course, the policeman can enable or disable the functionality as needed.
In another application, a traveling vehicle, for example a touring bus, carries tourists for a narrated drive through a geographic area. Currently, there are human narrators for providing narration of sites and landmarks to people of the narrated drive. The present invention allows configuring deliverable content for locations on the touring bus path so that an automated narrator RDPS installed in the bus can be provided to people on the bus. For example, an RDPS providing audio, video, multimedia, or combination thereof, communicates narration content to people on the touring bus automatically as locations are encountered, or driven by.
In another application, a person attending a large park (e.g. Disney World (Disney World is a trademark of Walt Disney corporation)) could simply carry a RDPS, and receive content to a handheld device for what attraction lies ahead based on the current location and direction of the person. The person would not have to consult a directory or ask where to find something. Informative content would be proactively delivered, rather than reactively in response to a person""s manual query to a service, or question to a human being.
In yet a further example, a valuable use would be for emergencies such as when a child is kidnapped. Currently, there is an Amber-Alert mechanism in Dallas/Ft. Worth, Tex. where radio stations broadcast an emergency message along with a distinguishable series of tones. This enables any pertinent information known about the kidnapper and child to be broadcast immediately to everyone with the radio on. The present invention enables the emergency broadcast to be immediately configured and then communicated to everyone with a RDPS, for example with a wireless internet connection. A picture of the victim and other multimedia information could be delivered along with audio immediately.
In still a further use of the present invention, garage sale and estate sale advertisements could be configured on behalf of paying customers that would otherwise use a newspaper classified section. As drivers become in reasonably close proximity to the sale, in the desired time window, advertisement content would be proactively delivered to a wireless RDPS installed, or handheld, in the automobile.
Thus, there are many applications for the present invention, all accomplished through simply changing the way the present invention is used. Content is pushed out to receiving devices at the most appropriate times. Users do not pull the content with a query.
It is therefore an advantage of the present invention in supporting a variety of applications and uses. The way the invention is used makes it applicable to a wide range of applications. For example, a deliverable content database can be configured with content that is appropriate for the particular application. Situational location parameters associated with the particular application are also variable, provided the installed methodology is utilized consistently. For example, world coordinates, GPS coordinates, regional coordinates, MAPSCO references, Application Address Book locations and directions, a user""s caller id, a cell number in a cellular network, and like means used to describe a location can be used. Directional information of North, South, East, West, Northeast, Southeast, Northwest, Southwest, Up, Down, Left, Right, Straight, Back, and like methods used to describe a direction can be used. Further still, there are delivery constraints that can be set up for a system, or configured by a user, which provides flexibility in adapting to a variety of applications.
It is another advantage of the present invention in providing deliverable content to a person, based on the situational location of the person. Content is pushed to a user""s RDPS when it is most appropriate for the user to see the content.
It is another advantage of the present invention in automatically recognizing a candidate delivery event of a RDPS and automatically determining a situational location of the RDPS. A user is not burdened with providing information on a query. The present invention automatically determines when content should be delivered and then automatically and proactively delivers it. Content is pushed to the user (of the RDPS). The user is not burdened with pulling content via a query.
It is a further advantage of the present invention to deliver any type, variety, or combination of content. The content is fully configurable by an authorized administrator who may be a paying customer for the privilege of performing configurations. Upon configuration, the content is immediately and instantly activated for proactive delivery to any RDPS meeting the configured criteria. Content may be audio, video, graphical, textual, multimedia, intranet/internet web address(es) activated for transposable selection, image, or any combination thereof.
It is another advantage in maintaining a history of delivered content at the RDPS with information that is useful for later browsing. Contained therein is information relevant to the delivered content. Additionally, provided is an invocable speed address enabling the user to transpose to a web address, or perform a speed dial phone call, that is associated with the delivered content.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is providing new and useful query functionality for querying the total number of known receiving data processing systems for a particular situational location, querying any content configured for delivery to a particular situational location with a comprehensive variety of query parameters, and querying up to a maximum threshold number of deliverable content instances for a particular location in a manner which automatically determines containing (ascending) locations, if necessary, until the specified number is met.
Further features and advantages of the invention, as well as the structure and operation of various embodiments of the invention, are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical, functionally similar, and/or structurally similar elements. The drawing in which an element first appears is indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the corresponding reference number.

System and method for proactive content delivery by situation location


Methods and apparatus are provided for copying data from a primary storage facility to a secondary storage facility which reduce the workload on the storage controller in the primary facility and minimize bandwidth usage. The primary storage facility includes a primary data replication appliance which transfers data to a secondary replication appliance. Updated data from a host is both stored through a storage controller in the primary facility and also received by the primary replication appliance. Logic in the primary replication appliance determines whether the immediately previous version of the data is in a buffer from a previous storage operation. If so, the current (updated) version of the data is compared with the previous version and the difference, such as calculated through a bit-wise exclusive-OR operation, is transferred to the secondary replication appliance. The process is reversed in the secondary replication appliance and the recreated updated version of the data stored in the secondary facility.

Remote copying of data is an integral part of disaster recovery for protecting critical data from loss and providing continuous data availability. In a disaster recovery support system, data write updates to a primary or central data store are reproduced at a secondary, remote site. The remote site is typically located at a distance from the primary data store if protection from natural disasters is a concern, but may be adjacent to the primary site if equipment failure is the main concern. In the event of a failure at the primary data store, the remote site can take over all operations, including data write updates, with confidence that no data has been lost. Later, after repair, the primary data store can be restored to the condition of the remote site and can resume all operations, including data write operations.
During remote copying, typically same-sized blocks of data are sent from the primary data store to the remote data site. In this way, data write updates at the primary data store are reproduced at the remote site so as to permit reconstruction of the data, including reconstruction of the exact sequence of data write updates that took place at the primary data store. This reproducibility can be especially important, for example, in a banking system or other transaction log system. Thus, data write updates at the primary data store are collected and are periodically sent to the remote site in a remote copy operation.
The various types of remote copy can require enormous amounts of bandwidth over the data lines between the primary data store and the remote site controller. For example, if a primary data store controller can support 20,000 input/output (I/O) operations per second, and if 50% of these operations are write operations, then the controller can handle 10,000 write operations per second. If each write update involves 4 K bytes, then bandwidth of 40 MB per second is required between the primary controller and the remote site controller. This is a significant amount of bandwidth to provide, given currently available pricing for data lines. Even though asynchronous remote copy can speed up write updates, it does not decrease the amount of bandwidth required.
One proposed system which addresses the issue of bandwidth usage is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 6,327,671 entitled DELTA COMPRESSED ASYNCHRONOUS REMOTE COPY and assigned to the assignee of the present application ("the '671 patent"), which patent is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the system disclosed therein provides a remote copy operation that copies data write updates from a primary data store to a secondary data store by identifying which bytes have changed and sending only the changed bytes from the primary data store to the secondary site. A data operation such as an exclusive-OR (XOR) logic operation can be used to identify the changed bytes. Many data storage systems include XOR facilities as part of their normal configuration, including systems that implement the well-known RAID-type data storage. The XOR operation is used in the '671 patent on the write updated block of data to be copied. Data compression can then be used on the XOR data block to delete the unchanged bytes, and then only the changed bytes are sent to the remote site. This reduces the amount of data being sent between the primary data store and the remote site, and reduces the bandwidth required between the sites. In this way, the remote copy system is said to provide remote copying without requiring a great deal of expensive bandwidth.

Transferring data from a primary data replication appliance in a primary data facility to a secondary data replication appliance in a secondary data facility

International Business Machines Corporation


Disclosed are a method and apparatus for determining the number of idle state terminals that determines the number of terminals in an idle state and controls data transmission for a multicast or broadcast service (MBS), and a method of controlling data transmission. The method of determining the number of idle state terminals in the MBS according to the present invention includes: transmitting, by a transmitter, a base station signal for verifying the number of idle state terminals; determining whether a radio terminal signal transmitted from an idle state terminal using the base station signal is present, or a the number of radio terminal signal types; and determining the number of idle state terminals based on whether the radio terminal signal is present or the number of radio terminal signal types.

A multicast or broadcast service (MBS) is a service that simultaneously transmits the same content to a plurality of users through single transmission. The MBS provides an efficient mechanism in an aspect of using broadcasting communication resources. While a technology for a wireless access has evolved for a fourth generation in mobile communication, the MBS is currently evaluated as a key technology. Service contents to be provided through the MBS henceforth and a data amount are expected to exponentially increase.
In a wireless section, the MBS simultaneously provides common content to mobile terminals using the same frequency and time resources. Considering mobility, a plurality of base stations is configured as a single common service zone, thereby decreasing sensitivity to user movement. That is, an MBS user may seamlessly use data of an MBS without a predetermined procedure while the MBS user moves through a plurality of cells. It is possible since the plurality of cells is allocated as a common service region called zone.
To minimize battery consumption, a terminal may shift to an idle state in which a predetermined portion of a radio channel is not decoded. Registration of an idle state terminal is released from a corresponding base station and the idle state terminal freely moves without connecting to a base station. In most MBS mechanisms, correlation between an idle state terminal and a base station is absent. However, a scheme of enabling the idle state terminal to continuously receive MBS data is applied.
One of the important concepts of the MBS is a macro-diversity characteristic. Macro-diversity enables a plurality of base station constituting the same MBS zone to transmit the same data to a terminal at the same point in time, thereby enabling the terminal to receive the same data from the plurality of base stations while the terminal is maintaining time synchronization with each base station. The terminal restores MBS data based on a different synchronization time with each base station. Since the terminal receives the same data from the plurality of base stations, a data decoding gain by macro-diversity is improved.
FIG. 1 is a diagram to describe the requisites to determine whether an idle state terminal is present within coverage of a multicast or broadcast service (MBS).
Referring to FIG. 2, The macro-diversity has disadvantages in a resource allocation aspect. To obtain a macro-diversity gain, all of the base stations belonging to the same zone need to transmit MBS data while using a predetermined amount of radio resources. Even though there is no terminal receiving MBS data from a predetermined base station belonging to a predetermined MBS zone, the corresponding base station may continuously transmit the MBS data. In this case, waste of radio resources occurs. Considering a tendency that an MBS data traffic amount continuously increases, a mechanism for solving the above issue is required.
To solve the above issue, there is a need to accurately verify the number of terminals that are in an idle state, while receiving MBS data. To solve the above issue, the conventional art induces an idle state terminal to be associated with a predetermined base station using a mechanism called paging. An idle state terminal of a macro-diversity operation mode receives MBS data from a plurality of base stations. Therefore, even after a paging process, a base station may arbitrarily perform dynamic resource allocation for corresponding MBS data.

Method and apparatus for determining number of idle state terminals and method for controlling data transmission using the same

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


In a lock mechanism (30), an elastic arm (15) includes a pair of parallel elastic piece portions (18, 18) which define opposite side portions thereof, respectively, and extend in a fitting direction. The elastic piece portions (18, 18) can be elastically deformed inwardly toward an axis of a gap (17), and can be elastically restored into their original shape. A pair of engagement projections (19, 19) are formed on outer side edges (18B, 18B) of the elastic piece portions (18, 18), respectively. A width of that portion of each elastic piece portion (18), extending forwardly from the engagement projection (19), is smaller than a width of that portion of the elastic piece portion (18) extending rearwardly from the engagement projection (19) so that this front portion can be elastically deformed inwardly more easily than the rear portion. A length of the front portion of the elastic piece portion (18), extending forwardly from the engagement projection (19), is larger than a length of the rear portion of the elastic piece portion (18) extending rearwardly from the engagement projection (19).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector lock mechanism in which when a pair of male and female connectors are fitted together, connection terminals in the male connector are electrically connected respectively to connection terminals in the female connector. More particularly, the present invention relates to a connector lock mechanism having a mechanism for urging the male and female connectors in respective disengaging directions away from each other when the two connectors, each having the connection terminals received therein, are in a half-fitted condition.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. Hei. 11-169986, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
A pair of male and female connectors have heretofore been used for electrically connecting a plurality of wires. When the male and female connectors are fitted together, connection terminals, received in a housing of the male connector, contact connection terminals, received in a housing of the female connector, so that the former connection terminals are electrically connected to the latter connection terminals, respectively.
When the male and female connectors are incompletely or half fitted together, the electrical connection sometimes fails to be achieved. For example, Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei. 10-41014 discloses male and female connectors which are disengaged from each other when the two connectors are in an incompletely-fitted or half-fitted condition, thereby preventing the male and female connectors from being kept in such a half-fitted condition.
In a connector lock mechanism 50 shown in FIG. 8, and also disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei. 10-41014, male connection terminals 52 are received in a female connector 51, and female connection terminals 54 are received in a male connector 53.
An elastic retaining piece portion 55, formed on the male connector 53, is engaged with an engagement projection 56, formed on the female connector 51, thereby locking the male and female connectors 53 and 51 to each other in a fitted condition.
The engagement projection 56 has a triangular cross-section defined by a gently-slanting surface 56A and an abruptly-slanting surface 56B. Therefore, when the two connectors 51 and 53 are in an incompletely-fitted or half-fitted condition, a distal end 55A of the elastic retaining piece portion 55 slides down the gently-slanting surface because of its own restoring force, so that the two connectors 51 and 53 are separated from each other in their respective disengaging directions.
In contrast, when the two connectors 51 and 53 are completely fitted together, so that the male connection terminals 52 are electrically connected respectively to the female connection terminals 54, the distal end 55A of the elastic retaining piece portion 55 slides down the abruptly-slanting surface 56B, and is completely engaged with the engagement projection 56. As a result, the two connectors 51 and 53 are locked to each other in a positively-fitted condition.
In the above connector lock mechanism 50, when the two connectors 51 and 53 are to be disengaged from each other, the distal end 55A of the elastic retaining piece portion 55 is lifted out of engagement with the engagement projection 56. However, the elastic retaining piece portion 55 can not be easily elastically deformed upwardly, and therefore the operation for canceling the fitted condition could not be easily carried out.
And besides, when a half-fitted condition is encountered, this is detected through the resilient force of the elastic retaining piece portion 55. However, when the number of connection terminals increases, a large disengaging force is required, and when the angle of inclination of the gently-slanting surface 56A is increased, there have been encountered problems that the connector becomes bulky in size and that the burden on the elastic retaining piece portion 55 increases.