A key assembly comprises a contact-responsive switch and a keycap having a plinth extending from an underside surface thereof. A key mat disposed between the keycap and the contact-responsive switch has a recessed area formed therein. This recessed area is sized and configured to receive the keycap's plinth. If desired, an adhesive can physically adhere the keycap to the key mat. By one approach, the key assembly also comprises a substantially-planar elastic layer disposed between the keycap and the contact-responsive switch. If desired, this elastic layer and the aforementioned key mat are integrally coupled to one another. By one approach this elastic layer has at least one opening disposed therethrough. This opening (or these openings) can be disposed at least in part in common with the aforementioned recessed area of the key mat.

Key assemblies are known in the art. Key assemblies often comprise a keycap that works in combination with a contact-responsive switch. The keycap typically provides a surface configured to interact with an end-user's finger. By ordinarily biasing the keycap away from the contact-responsive switch, the end user can selectively press the keycap towards the contact-responsive switch to momentary close (or open, if desired) the latter. Upon releasing this pressure the keycap then returns to its stand-by position.
Some key assemblies are so-called film-style key assemblies. Such an assembly can comprise a silicone key mat having a raised area (presenting, for example, a relatively short isosceles-trapezoidal cross section) and a corresponding conformal upper layer comprised of a resilient material such as thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). The key mat typically serves to make physical contact with the contact-responsive switch (or to at least transfer the end-user's finger pressure to that switch) while the resilient material typically serves to bias a corresponding keycap (which often has a flat, planar bottom surface that rests atop the aforementioned raised area) away from the contact-responsive switch.
While satisfactory for many application settings, such a film-style key assembly nevertheless poses certain concerns. For example, the keycap in such an assembly can sometimes be inadvertently peeled away from the raised area when subjected to a pulling force. As another example, such a key assembly can exhibit relatively poor tactile feel owing, at least in part, to having the resilient material conformally track the sides of the raised area of the silicone key mat. In particular, this configuration permits the resilient material to considerably increase the actuation force needed to urge the keycap towards the contact-responsive switch and hence increases the overall rigidity of the key assembly. This resilient material can also laterally transfer actuation forces in a manner that can permit unwanted interaction between, for example, adjacent key assemblies as comprise a part of a keyboard.
Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present disclosure. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present disclosure. Certain actions or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. The terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary technical meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions by persons skilled in the technical field as set forth above except where different specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.

Apparatus and method pertaining to a key assembly having a plinth-receiving key mat


A new and distinct cultivar of Juniper plant named ‘Hulsdonk Yellow’, characterized by its semi-dwarf and pyramidal plant form; yellow and dark green-colored leaves; and winter hardiness.

The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Juniper, botanically known as Juniperus pingii, and hereinafter referred to by the name 'Hulsdonk Yellow'.
The new Juniper is a naturally-occurring branch mutation of Juniperus pingii 'Loderi', not patented. The new Juniper was discovered and selected by the Inventor from within a population of plants of 'Loderi' in a controlled greenhouse environment in Deurne, The Netherlands in 2000.
Asexual reproduction of the new Juniper by cuttings in a controlled greenhouse environment in Deurne, The Netherlands since 2000, has shown that the unique features of this new Juniper are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.


A regular expression that is able to be used to identify an item as belonging to a specific group among a plurality of different groups is determined. The regular expression is tested against a sampling of items known to belong to the specific group to determine a true positive metric. The regular expression is tested against a sampling of items known to belong to other groups among the plurality of different groups outside the specific group to determine a false positive metric. An accuracy metric of the determined regular expression is calculated based at least in part on the true positive metric and the false positive metric. The accuracy metric is provided for use in evaluating the regular expression.

A regular expression is a sequence of characters that define a search pattern. In many scenarios, the search pattern is used to perform operations on strings, e.g., find or find and replace operations. Various syntaxes exist for writing regular expressions. Regular expressions are used in search engines, text editors, dialog boxes, and other applications. Many computer programming languages have regular expression functionality that is built-in or provided via libraries. In various scenarios, regular expressions are not fully accurate in finding target strings. Thus, it would be beneficial to develop techniques directed toward improving measurement of regular expression accuracy.


A method of detecting a direction of arrival of at least one interference signal interfering a wanted signal in a plurality of received signals involves receiving, by a number of antennas of an antenna array, a number of signals, identifying an interference signal in the received signals, applying a beam forming signal processing technique to the identified interference signal, and detecting the direction of arrival from the results of the beam forming signal processing.

A common problem in the processing of signal data received by receiver chains connected to an antenna array is the amount of received data which have to be analyzed in order to characterize interference. An antenna array solution is one of the most promising techniques to get rid of the interferences. In the navigation signal processing field it is already known to apply a beam forming technique to a wanted signal in order to reject interferences and to improve significantly the navigation performance.

Method of detecting a direction of arrival of at least one interference signal and system to carry out said method


A load testing apparatus and method has a display unit for the presentation of data that relate to a load test of a telecommunication network. The display includes a graphical user interface with the load test being divided into several test phases and on the graphical user interface functionalities being assigned to these test phases. The load testing apparatus further has a storage device into which user identifiers are enterable, and the functionalities are pooled into groups so that for each identifier there one or more groups of functionalities may be enabled.

The present invention relates to testing of a telecommunication network, and more particularly to an apparatus and method of load testing where the load test is divided into several test phases with associated groups of functionalities.
There is a known load testing apparatus where all users are provided with the full scope of functions for the load test regardless of the previous knowledge of the user. This has often led to erroneous operations. Since some load tests run for weeks and even months, an inadvertent alteration of a load test parameter may not be detected, leading to an enormous loss of time and cost expenditure. To avoid this problem an extensive learning and training program has been presented to users. However this limits the circle of potential users, increases the lead time due to training requirements in the case of changes or supplements to the user interface and entails high expenditure of cost and time for the user learning and training programs.
What is desired is a load testing apparatus and method that reduces the scope of user learning and training efforts and, thus, reduces erroneous operations.

Load testing of a telecommunication network


A scroll type compressor including a fixed scroll, a movable scroll engaged with the fixed scroll and a hermetically sealed container, one of the fixed scroll and the movable scroll including an intercommunication path having a lower hole opened to the outside of the one scroll and an insertion hole formed by subjecting the lower hole to reaming processing from the one end to a position of a predetermined depth of the lower hole, a pin member that is slightly smaller in diameter than the intercommunication path and movably inserted in the intercommunication path, and a screw member that is provided at one end of the intercommunication path to close the one end of the intercommunication path so as to press the pin member against the end of the back side of the intercommunication path.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a scroll type compressor having an oil path through which lubricating oil is supplied to engagement portions at a low-pressure side between a fixed scroll and a movable scroll.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is known a scroll type compressor in which a fixed scroll and a movable scroll engaged with the fixed scroll are accommodated in a hermetically sealed container. In this type of scroll compressors, there has been proposed a scroll type compressor which has an oil path for supplying lubricating oil to an engagement portion at the low-pressure side between the fixed scroll and the movable scroll, and a flow rate restricting member which has a main body having a spiral passage formed on the outer periphery thereof and is disposed in the oil path (see JP-A-2004-60532, for example).
In the construction disclosed in the above publication, the restriction of the flow rate is dependent on the size of the spiral passage formed on the outer periphery of the main body, and thus the processing precision (machining performance) of the spiral passage has been required to be high, so that it has been difficult to process the spiral passage.

Scroll type compressor having an intercommunication path in which a pin member is inserted


An optical modulator which magnifies a modulation index and reduces affection of SBS by suppressing a light source carrier component in an equivalent light source spectral width and performs more long-distance transmission by suppressing one of sideband spectrums generated by a modulation signal to reduce affection of fiber dispersion, having a light branch means that branches input light having a carrier component into two light waves; a SSB modulation means that modulates one branched wave and generates a wave having the carrier component and one sideband spectrum; an intensity adjustment means that adjusts intensity of the carrier component of the other wave; a phase adjustment means that adjusts the phase of the carrier component with respect to at least one of the two waves; and a multiplexing means that multiplexes the two waves passing through the modulation means, and the intensity and phase adjustment means, and emits output light.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical modulator, and more particularly, to an optical modulator which can transmit a sub-carrier multiplexing (SCM) signal with a large output using an optical fiber.
(2) Related Art Statement
A broadcasting wave or a CATV wave is a SCM signal obtained by intensity-modulating a plurality of radio frequency (RF) carriers having an interval of 6 MHz based on a multi-channel (CH) video or audio signal. In order to transmit the SCM signal using an optical fiber, in a hybrid-fiber coaxial (HFC) system or a fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) system, a direct modulation (DM) method of intensity-modulating light of a laser diode (LD) by the SCM signal according to the length of the fiber, the distribution number or the like, or an external modulation (EXT-M) method of intensity-modulating continuous light of a laser diode (LD) by the SCM signal using a lithium niobate (LN) modulator is employed.
In the direct modulation method, frequency variation (chirp) associated with the intensity modulation is large and a transmission distance is restricted by a complex second-order distortion generated by chromatic dispersion of the fiber. Meanwhile, in the external modulation method, a LN modulator is generally employed, the chirp is small and the modulator itself does not cause the CSO distortion, thereby performing more long-distance transmission.
FIG. 1 illustrates a configuration of a CATV transmitter (TX) employing a LN modulator.
Reference numeral 1 denotes a light source, reference numeral 2 denotes a LN modulator, reference numeral 3 denotes a LN modulation element, reference numeral 4 denotes a phase modulation unit, reference numeral 5 denotes an intensity modulation unit, and reference numeral 6 denotes a DC phase adjustment unit for setting an operation point of the intensity modulation unit.
As the light source 1, a DFB laser having low phase noise (RIN noise) and a small line width is used. As a wavelength band thereof, a band of 1.3 μm has been much used, but a band of 1.5 μm has become mainstream along with the popularization of an EDFA (Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier).
Although the below description will be made based on the band of 1.5 μm, the band of 1.3 μm is similar except the EDFA. The output power of the DFB laser 1 becomes stable by an APC (Automatic Power Control) circuit 7. A micro wave (SCM-RF signal) related to the SCM signal is applied to the intensity modulation unit of the LN modulator 2 through a driver 9. At this time, an operation point which is a center of the modulation operation is controlled through an ABC circuit 10 and set to an intermediate point (Quad) of p-p intensity of a modulation output waveform by adjusting a DC voltage (bias) applied to the DC phase adjustment unit 6. In addition, the ABC circuit monitors light output from the LN modulator.
The SCM-RF wave from a SCM-RF signal source 12 is a RF signal obtained by modulating carriers (CH carriers) having an interval of 6 MHz using a VSB method in an analog video and using an OFDM and 64QAM method in a digital video over 70 MHz to 860 MHz.
By the intensity modulation, the output light spectrum becomes modulation spectrum (DSB modulation wave) of f0±(70 MHz to 860 MHz) at the both sides of a light source carrier having a frequency f0 and power P0 as shown in FIG. 2. Here, a sign (+) is referred to as an upper side band (USB) and a sign (−) is referred to as a lower side band (LSB). In addition, the intensity of the modulation spectrum depends on the intensity of the RF signal of each CH carrier, and the intensity of the spectrum is denoted by Pr.
An intensity ratio Pr/P0 is a modulation index per each CH carrier and is generally about 3% because of the linearity of the LN modulator. In this case, the spectral band width (FWHM) of the output light (an input light frequency component and a carrier component P0) is the same as the spectral width of the light source, and SBS (Simulated Brillouin scattering) is induced at about 9 dBm when the output light is input to a 1.3-μm SSMF (Standard Single Mode Fiber) which is a general transmission medium, and, although the output of the light input to the fiber more increases, an increment is not transmitted and returns to an input side.
A power threshold value for inducing the SBS varies depending on the fiber or the spectral width of the light source. A general DFB laser has a line width of about 3 MHz. In this case, the SBS threshold value is about 9 dBm (Pn). When an equivalent spectral width of the light source increases by any means, the SBS threshold value (Psbs) increases with respect to the increment ΔνD, as expressed by Equation 1.Psbs/Pn=10·log(1+ΔνD/ΔνB)  (1)
Where, ΔνD denotes a Brillouin gain width of the fiber and is about 65 MHz in the SSMF. For example, if ΔνD is 860 MHz, the SBS threshold value increases by 11.5 dB, that is, the SBS threshold value becomes about 20 dBm.
In order to increase ΔνD, conventionally, as shown in FIG. 1, a method of providing the phase modulation unit 4 in the LN modulation element 3, amplifying a signal from a single frequency signal source 11 having a frequency fm using an amplifier 8 to drive the phase modulation unit 4, strongly modulating a phase having a modulation index of at least two, spreading out the spectrum of the light source, and intensity-modulating the spread spectrum of the light source by the SCM-RF signal is employed.
The spectrum of the modulation wave in this case is shown in FIG. 3. Here, fm denotes a frequency which does not cause overlap between the adjacent USB and LSB. In general, fm may be 2 GHz. The light source carrier f0 is magnified to f0±fm, f0±2fm, . . . by the modulation, as shown in FIG. 3, and, as shown, each magnified light source carrier has modulation spectrums of the modulation waves USBn and LSBn by the SCM-RF signal, respectively (n is an integer).
The sizes of the respective light source carriers are defined as Jn2(m) and the distribution thereof varies depending on a phase modulation index m. For example, if a value m having the substantially same size until n=2 is employed, the light source spectral width is about 8 GHz and the SBS threshold value increases by about 100 times based on Equation 1.
According to the method shown in FIG. 1, SBS resistance increases and high-output light can be input to the transmission fiber, but a failure due to the magnification of the spectral width occurs. In other words, when a 1.3-μm single mode fiber (SMF) is used in the band of 1.5 μm, a transmission delay difference occurs between the modulation waves USBn and LSBn by the chromatic dispersion characteristics of the fiber and a detection RF wave is distorted in a square-law detection using a conventional photodiode (PD). The CSO distortion in this case is disclosed in Non-patent document 1 and is expressed by Equation 2.CSO (dB)=10·log {Ncso[⅜(λ2/2πC·DL)2·Σmpm2(fm)4 ·mi]2}  (2)
Where, Ncso denotes the number of evaluated CHs, mpm denotes a phase modulation index of the phase modulation unit, mi denotes an intensity modulation index, λ denotes an optical center wavelength, C denotes a vacuum light speed, D denotes the chromatic dispersion of the fiber and is about 17 ps/nmkm, L denotes the length of the fiber, and Σ denotes the sum of the light carriers.
[Non-patent document 1] M. R. Phillips et. al. "Chromatic dispersion effects in CATV analog light wave system using externally modulated transmitters" Optical Fiber Communication '96 Postdeadline papers 17-2
As expressed by Equation 2, the CSO distortion significantly increases by mpm and fm. In order to maintain a defined value (−65 dBc) (dBc is a value of the carrier), the transmission distance L must be reduced. In other words, when the modulation degree and the modulation frequency of the phase modulation unit increase in order to increase the SBS resistance, the transmission distance is restricted by the chromatic dispersion of the fiber.
Furthermore, mpm is about 2 and fm is about 2 GHz, but, in this case, a radio frequency amplifier having an output of a few W (Watts) is required and low power consumption and downsizing of the system cannot be realized.
Meanwhile, as described in Patent document 1, a method of adjusting an output of a light source carrier to improve a ratio between the outputs of the light source carrier and a sideband is disclosed. FIG. 4 illustrates a configuration of the method. Light from a light source 20 is branched into two light waves by a branch unit 21. One light wave is phase-modulated at the same frequency by a phase modulator 22 and an intensity modulator 23, and is DSB-intensity-modulated by adjusting a relationship between a modulation index and a phase. The other light wave is phase-shifted by an optical phase shifter (adjuster) 24. Then, the interferences of the both light waves are multiplexed by a multiplexer 25 and interference light is then output as modulation light.
[Patent document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-159750
The variation of the light spectrum generated by the above-mentioned configuration is shown in FIG. 5. The light spectrum from the light source 20 is a single mode light, as shown in FIG. 5A. When the light passes through the phase modulator 22, the single light source spectrum is divided into a plurality of light source carriers, as shown in FIG. 5B, and the respective light source carriers are intensity-modulated by the intensity modulator 23, thereby generating sideband components between which each light source carrier is sandwiched, as shown in FIG. 5C. Meanwhile, the other branched light wave branched by the branch unit 21 is shifted by the phase adjuster 24 in an opposite phase state, as shown in FIG. 5D. When the both light waves are synthesized by the multiplexer 25, the light output of the central light source spectrum is reduced, as shown in FIG. 5E.
When comparing the light wave emitted from an optical modulation system shown in FIG. 5E with the modulation light spectrum using the conventional phase modulator and intensity modulator shown in FIG. 5C, the intensities Pr of the USB and LSB are identical to each other, but a light source carrier component P0′ is greatly less than P0, and Pr/P0′, which is the modulation index m, more increases than Pr/P0. In addition, since a modulation curve of a LN intensity modulator has sine wave characteristics, when RF intensity modulation is performed focusing around a Quad point, an odd functional modulation is performed and a second-order distortion component does not appear.
When the size of the RF signal increases, the modulation curve is deviated from a straight line and thus a third-order distortion component and an odd-order harmonic component are output. In the LN modulator, the modulation index is about 0.15 and a CTB (Composite triple beat: third-order distortion) reaches the defined value (−65 dBc). In general, m per CH is about 0.03, the number of CHs is 10 CH, and a total modulation index mt in this case is about 0.3. In addition, since the CTB in this case is about −40 dBc, a method of providing a distortion correction circuit 13 between the signal source 12 and the driver 9 to previously distort the RF signal with an opposite polarity of the distortion of the intensity modulator is generally used, as shown in FIG. 1.
In the configuration shown in FIG. 4, as shown in FIG. 5E, it is possible to keep Pr in a linear intensity modulation range of the LN modulator and to reduce the light carrier to maintain the modulation index of about 0.3. In other words, it is possible to realize a system in which the distortion correction circuit 13 is unnecessary.
However, when adjusting P0′ which is the light source carrier component, a branch ratio of the branch unit 21 is very important, but, in Patent document 1, adjustment of the branch ratio is not described. In addition, as an effect, only distortion suppression is described and fiber dispersion affecting the transmission distance is not considered.
Furthermore, as mentioned above, the CSO distortion significantly increases by the modulation frequency fm in the phase modulation unit 22, but reduction of fm is not considered.
The present invention is directed to solve the above-mentioned problems. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an optical modulator which magnifies a modulation index and reduces affection of SBS by suppressing a light source carrier component in an equivalent light source spectral width and performs long-distance transmission by suppressing one side of sideband spectrum generated by a modulation signal to reduce affection of fiber dispersion.
In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide an optical modulator in which these functions are incorporated on one substrate and which can reduce the number of peripheral circuits and have excellent cost performance.


A method and apparatus are disclosed for recognizing spoken commands uttered by a user and for generating responsive control signals once the command is recognized. In accordance with this disclosure the audio signal is converted into a series of count bytes representing the time between the audio signal zero crossings, and all the count bytes of the full command are then segmented into equal temporal groups histogram and sorted within each segment into a set of frequency class intervals which are based on a computation of substantially equal byte activity in all the words comprising the command lexicon. In this manner, lower and higher frequency groups are selected for equal significance. The uttered words are then compared against stored words similarly transformed according to segment and frequency interval and if the comparison conditions are satisfied the command is executed; if not, an indication is provided to the user to repeat the command.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to pattern recognition devices, and more particularly to recognition systems which distinguish spoken words.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Speech recognition by artificial intelligence has had extensive study and recent developments in this area are both numerous and complex. Along with these developments the understanding of the mechanisms of human speech and the mental functions evolved for the recognition thereof has improved. Nevertheless, complex and difficult patterns and functions are inherent and the increased understanding has not simplified, to any significance, the recognition task.
This difficulty is inherent in the phenomenon of speech. For example, the course of human speech includes variables in the mechanical structure of the voice generating mechanism, i.e., the voice box, which moreover varies from day to day along with the state of health of the person and with the psychological states one goes through. Additionally, the speech patterns uttered by a person vary with the message and with the intent the communicator desires to convey, and may be rushed or slowed down in response to external inputs which a recognition system would have difficulty to perceive.
These and the many other variables of communication, (i.e., concurrent body language) make voice pattern recognition an extremely complex task and the resulting systems are therefore extremely complex and limited.
Unlike human voice recognition the application of artificial recognition systems often involves functions not inherent to humans, like security functions, which modify the architecture of the logic and impose constraints of their own not always compatible with the recognition function. Thus, for example, an artificial recognition system may be structured not to recognize all voice patterns, being responsive to a selected group only. Moreover, limited lexicons are often preferrable to unlimited ones, particularly when security concerns exist.
For all these reasons specialized recognition systems have been sought in the past and it is one such system that is set out herein.


A decorative fireplace screen for a fireplace having a fireplace opening, and a method of manufacture therefor are disclosed. Decorative screens of the invention may also be for other purposes. The fireplace screen includes a planar main member, a decorative design applied to the front surface of the main member, a substantially clear adhesive layer over the decorative design, a design-enhancing mosaic of shattered-glass pieces adhered to the adhesive layer and substantially covering the decorative design, and grout between the shattered class pieces and securing them in place. Certain preferred embodiments are a support member along the lower edge, a frame, a foam board on the back surface of the main member to facilitate air-blocking of the fireplace. Preferred decorative features are glitter selectively applied over the design and use of a substantially transparent material as the main member.

Wood-burning fireplaces within houses and other buildings are nearly as old as houses and buildings themselves and serve both functional and aesthetic purposes. With the rise of modern central heating systems, fireplaces have more and more become things that are primarily of aesthetic concern only. Indeed, many homes that include fireplaces typically make little use of them even in winter, despite the fact that they provide two types of warmth and comfort—physical warmth and comfort to those nearby and the psychological warmth and comfort associated with innumerable memories and stories of family gatherings "by the fireplace"—and President Roosevelt's famous "fireside chats."
But functional fireplaces also involve the attendant well-known problems of preventing heat loss up the chimney, particularly when the fireplace is not in use. And, since fireplaces in homes are often considered visual focal points for the rooms they serve, the matter of the appearance of a fireplace is often also a primary concern.
It is to these fireplace-related problems and concerns that the present invention is directed.
Decorative screens are used for a wide variety of other purposes, such as to provide a degree of privacy or to cover interior or exterior openings in homes or other structures. Providing decorative screens of remarkable appearance often depends almost primarily, if not exclusively, on the artistic ability of the creating artist, and not primarily on the nature of the structure. This invention is also directed toward creation of a decorative screen of a different structural nature.

Decorative fireplace screen and method of manufacture


A conductor composition being able to easily secure the conductivity at the same level as an Ag bulk at low temperature process, a mounting substrate utilizing the conductor composition and a mounting structure utilizing the conductor composition are provided. In a mounting structure, wherein one or more electrodes (11) of a mounting substrate (10) and one or more surface mounting components (20) are connected through a conductor composition (30), and one or more surface wirings (14) of the mounting substrate (10), one or more inner-layer wirings (13) and one or more via conductors (12) are formed with the conductor composition, the conductor composition contains conductive particles with electrical conductivity, and the conductive particles are composed of low crystallized Ag fillers with the crystal size of 10 nm or less.

In general, this kind of a conductor composition comprises conductive particles with electrical conductivity and a solvent. Specifically speaking, for example, an electroconductive adhesive is known, wherein Ag fillers with particle diameters at the level of a micron or a sub-micron (in the order of 1 μm to 10 μm) was dispersed in a solvent and a binder resin such as an epoxy resin, etc. (refer to e.g. Japanese unexamined patent publication No. 2000-319622).
Further, as this kind of the conductor composition, a paste composition has been suggested, wherein fine metal particles with a mean particle diameter from 1 nm to 100 nm were covered on the surface with an organic compound which was able to coordinate with a metal atom contained in fine metal particles, and were stably dispersed in a liquid (refer to e.g. Japanese unexamined patent publication No. 2002-299833).
Such an electroconductive adhesive was used in order to form an electrical connect between a surface mounting component and the mounting substrate, by being placed between them, and to construct the mounting structure, when the surface mounting component was mounted on an electrode formed on one side of the mounting substrate.
This kind of conductor composition has been used also to form surface wiring, inner-layer wiring and a via conductor on a mounting substrate such as a print substrate, a ceramic substrate etc.
In the above-mentioned general conductor composition such as e.g. the electroconductive adhesive containing the Ag fillers, a connection was completed by being placed on the substrate, with steps of heating after being applied on a substrate such as an electrode, etc., evaporating a solvent and curing a binder resin.
Herein, a curing treatment for the electroconductive adhesive was, in general, carried out under a low temperature (e.g. about 150° C.) necessary to remove the solvent, or cure the binder resin.
In a case where such a process under the low temperature was achieved, an electrically conducting structure at the treated electroconductive adhesive was due to connections between Ag filler particles (conductive particles). Due to the connections, an electric resistance at the electroconductive adhesive dominantly depended on the contact resistance between these Ag filler particles.
Therefore, the conductivity of the electroconductive adhesive was approximately two orders of magnitude lower than the inherent conductivity of Ag, i.e. the conductivity at the same level as in an Ag bulk. Further, for the electrically conducting structure between the electroconductive adhesive and the substrate, there has been a problem of low reliability of the connection, due to electrical conduction by contact between the substrate and the Ag fillers.
For these problems, when the electroconductive adhesive (the conductor composition) is processed, it is deemed to be better to treat the adhesive at a temperature high enough to melt the conductive particles of the Ag fillers. It seems that, by the process, the electrically conducting structure at an inner part of the electroconductive adhesive and between the electroconductive adhesive and the substrate becomes a structure for an electrical conduct between the Ag fillers mutually melted together, and conductivity at the same level as Ag bulk can be obtained in the electroconductive adhesive.
However, in order to achieve such a melting situation, it is necessary to increase the temperature for treating the electroconductive adhesive to, for example, close to the melting point of Ag (about 800° C.). Considering the heat resistances of an electronic component, which forms the substrate material, and the substrate, such a process is not practical.
Against that, as described in Japanese unexamined patent publication No. 2002-299833, a conductor composition composed of only fillers (conductive particles) with a particle size of the order of nanometer has been suggested. The composition substantially had a structure wherein only the fillers with a smaller size, of the order of nanometer, than conventional particles, with a particle size of the order of micron, were dispersed in a solvent and a binder resin.
Accordingly, it is expected to have fillers melted together by making the fillers small in the order of nanometer, and decreasing the melting temperature of the fillers themselves, even if they were treated at a low temperature (e.g. about 150° C.) like the low temperature for processing the conductor composition mentioned above.
However, in a case of the conductor composition composed of only nanometer order fillers, their handling is difficult due to the small size of the filler particles, and their cost is higher in comparison with the conventional micron order filler particles.
As the filler particle size of the order of nanometer is much smaller than the conventional filler particles, the small filler's dispersing property, into the solvent and the binder resin, is poor. As a result, it has been difficult to obtain a practical conductivity, owing to the filler particles being unevenly distributed in the conductor composition, and the filler particles do not evenly melt together.
Therefore, considering the above-mentioned problems, the present invention was achieved to provide a conductor composition which can easily secure conductivity at the same level as Ag bulk with a low temperature treatment, a mounting substrate utilizing such a conductor composition, and a mounting structure utilizing such a conductor composition.

Conductor composition, a mounting substrate and a mounting structure utilizing the composition


A high-pressure water jet is injected from a nozzle scanned and a shock wave generated due to the collapse of bubbles included in the water jet is impacted on a WJP execution object. Tensile residual stress close to the surface of the WJP execution object is improved to compressive residual stress. The shock wave is detected by a pressure sensor and a shock wave generation frequency is obtained. Whether the obtained shock wave generation frequency is larger than a set value or not is decided. When the shock wave generation frequency is larger than the set value, a high-pressure pump is stopped and the injection of the water jet from the nozzle is stopped. When the shock wave generation frequency is equal to or smaller than the set value, the operation condition of the high-pressure pump is changed. The pressure of the water jet injected from the nozzle is increased and the WJP is executed for a part of the WJP execution object where the shock wave generation frequency is equal to or smaller than the set value. Improvement effect of the residual stress of the WJP execution object can be confirmed more accurately.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a water jet peening method and an apparatus thereof, and more particularly, to a water jet peening method and an apparatus thereof suitable for improving tensile residual stress of a structure in a nuclear reactor to compressive residual stress by water jet peening.
2. Background Art
When there exists residual stress in close to a surface of a welding portion and a heat-affected zone of a structural member composing a nuclear reactor, a process of executing water jet peening (hereinafter, referred to as WJP) for the welding portion and heat-affected zone thereof to improve tensile residual stress existing in the close to the surface of the structural member to compressive residual stress is performed. In a state that the structural member the stress of which is to be improved is immersed in water, the WJP is executed by injecting a high-pressure water jet from a nozzle in the water. A shock wave is generated due to collapse of bubbles included in the injected water jet. The shock wave impacts on the surface of the structural member in the water, thus the tensile residual stress in the close to the surface of the structural member is improved to compressive residual stress. Therefore, the generation of stress corrosion cracking (SCC) in the structural member is suppressed. The stress improvement method by the WJP is described, for example, in Japanese Patent 2841963, Japanese Patent 3530005, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8 (1996)-71919, and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6 (1994)-47668.
In the execution of the WJP for the structural member, a method for confirming execution condition of the WJP is proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8 (1996)-71919 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6 (1994)-47668.
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8 (1996)-71919, the WJP is executed for a pipe which is attached to bottom of a reactor pressure vessel and passes through the bottom. The WJP is executed for the place of the pipe existing in the reactor pressure vessel. A high-pressure water jet is injected from the nozzle existing in the water in the close to the WJP execution object of the pipe and the shock wave generated due to collapse of bubbles included in the water jet impacts on the surface of the pipe in the reactor pressure vessel. An AE (acoustic emission) sensor attached to an outer surface of the pipe outside the reactor pressure vessel detects an acoustic signal generated at the time of impact of the shock wave with the place of the pipe in the reactor pressure vessel during execution of the WJP and outputs an AE signal (acoustic power). Whether the residual stress is sufficiently improved for the pipe objected for the WJP or not is confirmed based on the AE signal. When the residual stress is not improved sufficiently, the injection condition (injection s pressure) of the water jet to be injected is controlled and the nozzle position is adjusted.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6 (1994)-47668 describes that at the time of execution of the WJP, a piezo-electric ceramics (PZT) sensor is attached to a nozzle in the proximity of a jet outlet of the nozzle for injecting a high-pressure and high-speed water jet. When the high-pressure water jet is injected from the nozzle, the PZT sensor detects a shock pulse (a cavitation generation event) generated in the nozzle. The frequency distribution of a signal output from the PZT sensor is analyzed based on the detected shock pulse by a frequency analyzer. A decision apparatus inputting analytical results of frequency distribution outputs a control signal based on comparison results of peak frequency and amplitude thereof obtained from the frequency distribution with their set values. The distance between the nozzle and a surface of a WJP execution object is adjusted based on the excellence peak frequency and the discharge pressure of the pump for supplying water to the nozzle is adjusted based on the peak frequency.

Water jet peening method and apparatus thereof


An apparatus (10) for simultaneously inverting a plurality of semiconductor devices includes a conveyor (12) for conveying an input tray below a frame (32) having a primer tray captured therein by tray captivators (64). The input tray is elevated by an elevator (20) and the primer tray is lowered by lowering the frame (32) until the trays are closely adjacent. After the tray captivators (64) release the primer tray, tray clamps (44) are moved inwardly to extend over the sides of the trays, and jaws (52, 56) are moved to clamp the trays together. The frame (32) is rotated to invert the clamped trays. The input tray s then captured by the tray captivators (64) as the tray lamps (44) are released and acts as the primer tray for the next operation. After release of the tray clamps (44), the ay including the devices in an inverted orientation is lowered to be conveyed by the conveyor (12).

The present invention generally relates to the inverting of devices, and particularly to the simultaneous inverting of a plurality of devices.
During the manufacture of devices such as semiconductors and similar electronic devices, such devices must be tested for operability, efficiency, and other conditions. Thus, a need exists for apparatus which mechanically handles such devices to reduce the cost of such testing. Additionally, such mechanical handling also includes the need to perform tests or other functions on both sides of the device.
When it is necessary to remove the device from the carrier or tray, inverting apparatus such as of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,374,158 has proven to be very effective. However, especially when it is not necessary to remove the devices from the carrier such as for mechanical vision testing, branding, or the like, inverting the devices one at a time is very time consuming and inefficient.
Thus, a need exists for simultaneously placing a plurality of devices contained in a first carrier in an inverted orientation. Past attempts to solve this need have not proven to be effective. Specifically, the positioning of the devices in the carrier is required for referencing the results of the various tests and other processing operations to individual devices. Because of warping of the carrier and for other reasons, devices tended to move in the carrier while they were being inverted so that damage to the devices such as to the leads thereof during the inverting process or during later handling operations and/or so that reference positioning was lost in the carrier. Additionally, devices also tended to fall from the carrier which is clearly undesirable due to the loss of the devices themselves but also because of the potential the devices could fall upon and short out electrical equipment in the vicinity.


An object-based quad-tree mesh motion compensation method using the Greedy algorithm is provided. This method defines an object-based quad-tree mesh structure defined by extending a hierarchical grid interpolation technique, by which complicated or partial motion is more accurately displayed, so that it is suitable for an object-based technique. Also, this method provides a quad-tree block segmentation method using the Greedy algorithm by which the transmission rate-distortion performance of motion compensation is improved. The object-based quad-tree mesh motion compensation method using the Greedy algorithm, includes (a) defining an object-based quad-tree mesh, (b) segmenting each block in an image frame, which is segmented into blocks of predetermined sizes, in order to form the object-based quad-tree mesh of the step (a), and (c) estimating the motions of vertices to minimize distortion during compensation of motions within the segmented block, and compensating for the motion of an image within the block. Here, the object-based quad-tree mesh is extensively defined so that it is suitable for an object-based technique, and quad-tree blocks are classified into virtual quadrature blocks not including any part of an object, and real quadrature blocks including part of an object, according to the type of object.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motion compensation method, and more particularly, to an object-based quad-tree mesh motion compensation method using a Greedy algorithm.
2. Description of the Related Art
A motion compensation technique, by which the amount of data is reduced by taking advantage of the redundancy of a moving picture on the time axis, is essential for moving picture encoding. In order to achieve motion compensation by which complicated or partial motion can be accurately represented, a conventional hierarchical grid interpolation (HGI) technique defines a quad-tree mesh structure for frame-unit moving picture encoding.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating an HGI technique. First, quad-tree block segmentation is performed on a current image frame (It) on the basis of the variance of frame difference (VFD) of each block in the frame, in a block 100. To be more specific, first, a current image frame is segmented into square blocks having predetermined sizes. If the VFD of each block is greater than the reference value, the block is again divided into four square blocks having the same size. This process is repeated until the VFDs of all of the divided blocks are smaller than the reference value. Here, VFD denotes the variance of the frame difference between the current image frame (It) and the previous image frame (Itxe2x88x921).
Next, the motions of vertices are estimated from a quad-tree block segmentation result St to minimize motion compensation errors within blocks, and quad-tree mesh motion compensation is performed on the image signals within the block by interpolation using the estimation, as in element 102. As a consequence, a motion-compensated image (It) and a motion vector Mt corresponding to the current image frame (It) are obtained.
FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b) show the quad-tree blocks of a previous frame matched with the current frame by a quad-tree mesh structure. Each block can be transformed, so that complicated motions can be accurately compensated. Here, bound vertices (for example, 1, 2, . . . , 10 in FIG. 2(a)) are defined to maintain the shape of each block to be rectangular, and motion vectors (for example, MV1 through MV3 in FIG. 2(b)) are obtained by linear interpolation using the motion vector of two adjacent vertices. On the other hand, motion estimation is performed on control points (for example, o, p, . . . , y in FIG. 2(a)), the motion vectors of which must be estimated, to minimize an image frame motion compensation error. The motion vector of each pixel within a block is obtained by linear interpolation, using the motion vector of each estimated vertex, thereby compensating for the motion within a block.
Segmented quad-tree information is encoded and transmitted as described below. While each node in a quad-tree starting from root nodes is visited in a breadth-first system, the nodes are encoded xe2x80x980xe2x80x99 or xe2x80x981xe2x80x99 depending on whether they are terminal nodes. However, a minimum-sized block does not need to be encoded with xe2x80x980xe2x80x99. The motion vector of each of the control points is fixed length encoded.
A conventional motion compensation technique is for frame-based moving picture encoding, so that it is not suitable for object-based moving picture encoding. Block segmentation in a quad-tree structure reduces motion compensation error, but the transmission rate increases due to increments in quad-tree information and motion vector information caused by segmentation. Hence, the decision of the part of an image to be further segmented is related directly to the transmission rate-distortion performance, which is a scale indicating the effective utilization of a given transmission rate. However, in the prior art, quad-tree block segmentation and motion estimation are separately performed, so that the transmission rate-distortion performance is not directly considered.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a motion compensation method which defines an object-based quad-tree mesh structure capable of accurately compensating for complicated and partial motion.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a block segmentation method in an object-based quad-tree mesh motion compensation method using the Greedy algorithm, by which the transmission rate-distortion performance of an object-based quad-tree mesh structure is improved.
To achieve the first objective, the present invention provides an object-based quad-tree mesh motion compensation method using the Greedy algorithm, the method including: (a) defining an object-based quad-tree mesh; (b) segmenting each block in an image frame, which is segmented into blocks of predetermined sizes, in order to form the object-based quad-tree mesh of the step (a); and (c) estimating the motions of vertices to minimize distortion during compensation of motions within the segmented block, and compensating for the motion of an image within the block. Here, the object-based quad-tree mesh is extensively defined so that it is suitable for an object-based technique, and quad-tree blocks are classified into virtual quadrature blocks not including any part of an object, and real quadrature blocks including part of an object, according to the type of object.
To achieve the second objective, the present invention provides a block segmentation method in an object-based quad-tree mesh motion compensation method using the Greedy algorithm, the method including: (a) forming blocks of predetermined sizes which surround an object within an image; (b) segmenting each block to form an object-based quad-tree mesh; (c) calculating the segmentation gains of the segmented blocks; (d) again segmenting the block having a maximum segmentation gain to form an object-based quad-tree mesh; (e) again calculating the segmentation gains of blocks which are affected by the segmentation of the step (d); and (f) returning to the step (d) if a current transmission rate is smaller than a given transmission rate.

Object-based quad-tree mesh motion compensation method using greedy algorithm


A control device for an unmanned vehicle includes a temperature data acquisition unit acquiring temperature data of hydraulic oil supplied to a first hydraulic actuator actuating a steering device of the unmanned vehicle, and a command output unit outputting a change command for changing a travel parameter of the unmanned vehicle based on the temperature data.

In a wide-area work location such as a mine, an unmanned vehicle is used in some cases. In the work location, a travel course for the unmanned vehicle is set. The unmanned vehicle is controlled so that the unmanned vehicle may travel along the travel course (refer to Patent Literature 1).

Control device for unmanned vehicle and control method for unmanned vehicle


A method for multiple transform selection (MTS) is provided. A video decoder receives data from a bitstream for a block of pixels to be decoded as a current block of a current picture of a video. The decoder sets a zero-out indication based on one or more non-zero coefficient indications of subblocks of the current block. When the zero-out indication indicates that a zero-out region has no non-zero coefficient, the decoder parses the bitstream for an MTS index. When the zero-out indication indicates that the zero-out region has at least one non-zero coefficient, the decoder sets the MTS index to a default value without parsing the MTS index from the bitstream. The decoder selects a transform mode according to the MTS index for the current block. The decoder reconstructs the current block by using the selected transform mode.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims listed below and are not admitted as prior art by inclusion in this section.
High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) is an international video coding standard developed by the Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC). HEVC is based on the hybrid block-based motion-compensated DCT-like transform coding architecture. The basic unit for compression, termed coding unit (CU), is a 2N×2N square block, and each CU can be recursively split into four smaller CUs until the predefined minimum size is reached. Each CU contains one or multiple prediction units (PUs).
To achieve the best coding efficiency of hybrid coding architecture in HEVC, intra prediction and inter prediction can be used for each PU. For intra prediction modes, spatial neighboring reconstructed pixels can be used to generate the directional predictions. There are up to 35 directions in HEVC. For inter prediction modes, the temporal reconstructed reference frames can be used to generate motion compensated predictions. There are three different types of inter prediction modes, including Skip, Merge and Inter Advanced Motion Vector Prediction (AMVP) modes.
After prediction, the predicted residues for one CU are divided into transform units (TUs) and coded using transform and quantization. HEVC uses Discrete Cosine Transform type II (DCT-II) as its core transform (primary transform) because it has a strong energy compaction property. Discrete Sine Transform (DST) was also introduced to be used alternatively with DCT for oblique intra modes. For inter-predicted residue, DCT-II is the only transform used in current HEVC. Discrete Sine Transform type VII (DST-VII) and Discrete Cosine Transform type VIII (DCT-VIII) are also used in some cases.

Signaling multiple transmission selection


An adapter according to one aspect is an adapter for fixing to a shaft of a grinding machine a grinding wheel having a through-hole where the shaft is inserted. The adapter is provided with a main body having at least a portion thereof inserted into the through-hole, the main body including an outer wall that contacts a wall of the through-hole and an inner wall that forms an opening that corresponds to the shaft, and a plurality of reinforcing parts provided in predetermined intervals along a circumferential direction of the main body. Each reinforcing part extends from the inner wall to the outer wall, and a notch is formed in each reinforcing part.

Grinding wheels for grinding metal members and the like are conventionally known. In Patent Document 1 given below, for example, a description is given of a grinding wheel in which a through-hole with a shaft inserted therein is formed. The grinding wheel described in the below Patent Document 1 grinds a metal member or the like by rotating the grinding wheel using the shaft.
Patent Document 1: Specification of U.S. Reissued Pat. No. 24,143


Disclosed herein is a digital processing system for transferring data for remote access across a multicomputer data network. In one embodiment, the digital processing system is configured to receive user input, analyze the data input, assign a reference tag to the data input based on contextual information associated with the data input, and store the reference tag within a memory device that may be accessed by one or more users of the multicomputer data network.

1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates generally to a digital processing system for transferring data received from a user to another location on a multicomputer data network such that other network users can remotely access the data originally received from the user. More specifically, the digital processing system disclosed herein receives data from a user and makes that data available for remote access by other users within the system. However, in order to make that data available, a method is disclosed herein for receiving the data, analyzing the data, and storing the data for access by other users.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional data tables use a location based identifier to differentiate each input in a table. For example, conventional data tables may be organized by rows and columns such that a reference to a particular row and a reference to a particular column identifies an input at the intersection of the particular row and the particular column. Applications have been created to allow users to create digital tables, also known as spreadsheets, which allow users to create data tables digitally. Conventional spreadsheet applications such as Microsoft® Excel®, Google Sheets™, and Zoho® Docs each allow users to create spreadsheets to perform analysis on various types of data values (e.g., numbers, text, dates, etc.). In some spreadsheet applications, a user can operate on certain data values with mathematical formulas by creating relationships between different data inputs, also known as cells, in the spreadsheet.
In one example, a spreadsheet may be identified by columns A, B, and C and rows 1, 2, and 3. The intersection of column A and row 1 is a cell referred to as A1. Other cells in the spreadsheet may be identified by the corresponding intersections of columns and rows (e.g., B1, B2, C2). A user may provide input into one of the cells. For example, the user may input the number "100" into cell A1, therefore assigning a data input to a particular location within the spreadsheet application. In cell A2, for example, a user may input a mathematical formula to perform a mathematical operation on the number in cell A1. For example, the user may input a formula "=A1+5" into cell A2, instructing the spreadsheet application that the number to be input in cell A2 equals the number contained in cell A1 plus 5. Accordingly, cell A2 would display the number "105." Further, if the input number in cell A1 was changed by a user, cell A2 would change because the mathematical formula defining the mathematical operators of cell A2 depends on the value of the number in cell A1. While this example is a simple example, skilled operators of spreadsheet applications may construct substantially more elaborate and complicated spreadsheets as needed to provide desired results.
Conventional spreadsheets have used the intersection of a row and column within the spreadsheet to identify a particular cell, regardless of the input in the actual cell. In other words, cell A1 always identifies the cell at the intersection of column A and row 1 regardless of the value data contained within cell A1. Accordingly, certain spreadsheet applications have conventionally allowed a user to access value data contained within a cell within one spreadsheet in another spreadsheet. More specifically, a user may input a file path into one cell of one spreadsheet that instructs the cell to retrieve value data contained within another cell of another spreadsheet and import that cell's value data into that one cell of that one spreadsheet. This feature is rarely used by at least some users because in order for a user to import a particular cell, the user must know exactly which cell to access. Accordingly, the user must manually navigate to the another spreadsheet and determine the location of the desired cell in that spreadsheet. Once the correct cell is identified, the user can input the file path that was just manually navigated into a particular cell and provide the cell location of the desired cell. This process is tedious and inefficient, and therefore rarely used by at least some users. Regardless, the location of the cell within the spreadsheet in terms of row and column position is still the basis for identifying the cell. Because a user must know exactly which spreadsheet contains the desirable cell value data, where the desirable cell value data is within the spreadsheet, and exactly where the spreadsheet is stored, other users, even if provided with access to the location of the stored spreadsheet, may spend a substantial amount of time locating the spreadsheet and/or the particular cell within the spreadsheet.
One solution for this problem has been to provide "named ranges" for one or more cells within a spreadsheet application. For example, a user may be allowed to give a name to a particular cell. Thus, instead of referring to cell A1, the cell may be named "MyData," for example. Thus, any other cell that uses the value data contained within cell A1 may be referenced in that other cell by the name "MyData" instead of A1. Accordingly, using the simple example above, the mathematical formula "=MyData+5" in cell A2 would still result in a value of "105" for cell A2. While this solution provides for some enhanced functionality by making somewhat complex formulas that refer to multiple cells more readable, these named ranges are commonly implemented in ways that are substantially error prone, inconvenient, and require a significant level of effort from the user to maintain consistency through a spreadsheet.
Accordingly, conventional spreadsheet applications experience several deficiencies. First, conventional spreadsheet applications require a user to manually name a particular cell or range of cells in order to reference that cell or those particular cells using the chosen name in the same spreadsheet or even in other spreadsheets. This manual naming process not only requires a substantial amount of time to implement, manual naming provides for non-standard naming conventions that are difficult for other users to even understand, much less refer to from another spreadsheet. Further, these non-standard naming conventions can cause substantial difficulty to another user attempting to decipher the meaning of particular names or terms used by a user who created the spreadsheet.
Second, because conventional spreadsheet applications rely on the row and column intersection location to identify a cell, other cells that reference particular cells within the named ranges can be inadvertently changed by moving a particular cell or named range of cells to another location. For example, if a formula in one cell references cell A1 and the formula from the simple example above (=A1+5) was moved (copied and pasted, dragged, or otherwise incorporated) into cell B2, the formula in cell B2 would be automatically updated to reference a value of B1 instead of A1 (i.e., the formula in cell B2 would become=B1+5). However, if the named range feature was used, moving the formula from A2 (in this example, =MyData+5) into B2 would provide the exact same formula in B2. In other words, both A2 and B2 would contain the formula=MyData+5. This may or may not be the desired result of the user when the formula of cell A2 was moved into cell B2, and is often not consistent with what the user would expect, based on what would have happened if the same formula moving operation was executed on a formula with a location based reference, rather than a named reference. Because this movement of value data from one cell to another by copying and pasting, dragging, or other incorporation, is a frequently used method for constructing a spreadsheet, the inconsistencies caused by moving value data in named ranges can create serious errors in the spreadsheet.
Third, conventional spreadsheet applications do not provide a user with the ability to refer or link to a particular cell or sub-range of cells within a named range. For example, if a named range includes an entire row of cells (e.g., row A) named "RowA", conventional spreadsheet applications do not allow a user to access, for example, a second entry within that named range by referencing the name RowA. A user may only access the second entry within the named range by location (e.g., A2).
Fourth, conventional spreadsheet applications only provide access to named ranges for other users when those other users have access to the underlying files that store spreadsheets where those named ranges are defined. In the event that particular spreadsheets are stored on one particular user's computer, other users may or may not have access to those spreadsheets or those named ranges. Additionally, if the user that created the spreadsheets didn't have their computer with them, they may have difficulty accessing those named ranges. Further, additional issues may be created when one user creates a formula that refers or links to a named range from a particular spreadsheet in a different file while another user updates the named range in the original spreadsheet. Because conventional spreadsheet applications fail to update named ranges that are stored in different files correctly, the imported named range may inappropriately refer to an old version of the named range without the user's knowledge.
Fifth, conventional spreadsheet applications fail to account for name collisions and other spreadsheet merging issues. For example, if two spreadsheets contain a range of cells with the same name, conventional spreadsheet applications cannot properly evaluate the formulas in the spreadsheets when the spreadsheets are combined. Since simple range names are often used in spreadsheet applications (including numerical or financial terms, such as "n," "count," or "WACC"), name collisions are a fairly frequent occurrence. Thus, when conventional spreadsheet applications encounter these name collisions, they require the users to manually rename each range, requiring a substantial amount of time from the spreadsheet user while, at the same time, potentially creating confusion concerning the meaning of the renamed ranges.
Sixth, conventional spreadsheet applications contain no indication that a named range is being used in a particular spreadsheet. If one user who did not create the spreadsheet is reviewing a spreadsheet, that user may only find out that named ranges are being used within the spreadsheet by chance, when they encounter references to those named ranges in others cells in the spreadsheet. Accordingly, in order to ensure accuracy in the results of a particular spreadsheet, a user may be required to deconstruct the spreadsheet and reconstruct the spreadsheet to ensure that each reference in each cell correctly refers to the correct cell(s). However, deconstructing and reconstructing a spreadsheet application is a tedious, inefficient, and time consuming effort.
Finally, conventional spreadsheet applications make navigating and browsing named ranges a time consuming endeavor. Accordingly, any operation to rename a named range, change the boundaries of a named range, delete or add named ranges, or other operations can present substantial difficulty to the user. Because conventional spreadsheet applications do not necessarily identify named ranges in a way that ensures the user can readily and accurately interact with a named range, a user must review each cell of a named range to determine whether or not that cell is appropriate and desired for inclusion and use in the named range.
Accordingly, it is one object of this disclosure to provide a multicomputer network system that provides a spreadsheet application that allows a user to refer to cells without reference to an intersection of a particular row and column. It is another object of this disclosure to provide a database that allows a user to access specified groups of cells across multiple spreadsheets without reference to long and arbitrary file system paths that may be difficult to read and maintain.
Another object of this disclosure is to simplify the inclusion of particular groups of cells into a spreadsheet by consistent identification and nomenclature standards across the multicomputer network system. Finally, it is another object of this disclosure to provide a multicomputer network system that performs a contextual analysis of value data within one or more cells and appropriately analyze, assign, and store a reference tag for that value data. It is a further object of this disclosure to provide a multicomputer network system that provides a spreadsheet program that allows a user to reference one or more cells within the reference tag.

Digital processing system for transferring data for remote access across a multicomputer data network and method thereof


A kit of parts for a jackscrew mechanism (1) comprising, first and second cover parts (8) to encircle an electrical connector (19), locking structure (160, 162) on the cover parts (8) adapted to lock the cover parts (8) together prior to receiving separate jackscrews (16) in passages (9) in the cover parts (8), a locking finger (164) in each of the passages (9) adapted to lock behind a collar (198) on a respective jackscrew (16), each jackscrew (16) having an enlarged diameter portion (200) to resist pivoting of the jackscrew (16) while the collar (198) remains in front of the locking finger (164), and a series of ramps (168) along the passages (9) over which the jackscrews (16) glide.

There is disclosed in U.S. Ser. No. 5,158,481, a shielded electrical connector comprising; a terminal support block, contact terminals supported on the block for connection to wires, and shielding for the connector comprising; a mating end on a front shell encircling a mating end of the terminal support block, and conductive backshells enveloping the block. A jackscrew mechanism comprises; jackscrews rotatably mounted in an insulating composite cover, the cover enveloping the backshells. Before the separate parts of the composite cover are assembled and locked together, the backshells and both jackscrews must be laid carefully in one of the cover parts. Difficulty is experienced in assembling and locking the cover parts together while holding the loose parts, the backshells and jackscrews, in place. The difficulty is increased when it is necessary to use tooling apparatus to apply sufficient force to press the cover parts together until they interlock. Once the cover parts are assembled and locked together, the cover and the jackscrews are unable to be disassembled without a risk of damaging the cover.
A desirable jackscrew mechanism would have a cover that is fully assembled to the connector without the jackscrews, which reduces the difficulty involved in assembling and locking the cover parts to one another while trying to hold the other loose parts in their positions. The jackscrews, subsequently assembled, would become locked for rotation with respect to the cover. The jackscrews would be held in the cover in such a manner that the jackscrews were unable to pry apart the cover parts.


Method and hardware apparatus are disclosed for reducing the rollback penalty on exceptions in a microprocessor executing traces of scheduled instructions. Speculative state is committed to the architectural state of the microprocessor at a series of commit points within a trace, rather than committing the state as a single atomic operation at the end of the trace.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computer microprocessors, and specifically to a method and apparatus by which a microprocessor transfers temporary speculative state to the user visible architectural state as instructions commit.
2. History of the Prior Art
Computer microprocessors are programmed with the assumption that each instruction completes and updates the user visible state of the processor (typically comprised of a plurality of registers and memory), also known as the architectural state, before the next instruction in the program executes. When instructions appear to the programmer to have executed in their original program order in this manner, the processor is said to exhibit sequential semantics.
To increase efficiency, modern microprocessors rearrange instructions out of program order when executing them, for instance to avoid stalling while waiting for an external memory access to complete, or to allow more than one instruction to execute at once. The process of executing an instruction is also referred to issuing it. Processors of the prior art typically dynamically schedule instructions out of order using hardware structures, such that a given instruction will only issue after all results it depends on have been generated. Processors may also issue instructions speculatively, such that instructions may issue before it is know if their execution is actually required (for instance, if the instruction resides along the path actually taken by a branch). Instructions may generate exceptions (for instance, by accessing an invalid memory address). The processor state comprised of results generated by instructions speculatively issued out of order is called the speculative state.
To preserve sequential semantics, the speculative state generated by a given instruction must not update the architectural state until it is known with certainty that the instruction should actually have been executed (i.e., it was executed along the path of branches actually followed by the program, and it generated no exceptions.) If the architectural state is updated prematurely, it will be impossible to recover from branch mispredictions, mis-speculations and exceptions, as the architectural state will have been corrupted by invalid data. Typically, microprocessors achieve sequential semantics by requiring all instructions to commit to the architectural state (i.e., update registers in the architectural register file and memory in the processor's caches) in their original program order, even if the actually issued out of order so as to complete faster. This ensures that the sequence of updates is identical to that generated by a processor executing all instructions in program order. This in-order commit is typically achieved using a reorder buffer (ROB), a structure familiar to those skilled in the art. Results are written to the ROB in the order in which they are generated but are read out and committed strictly in program order, as if reading from a queue.
The requirement that the results of instructions be committed to the architectural state strictly in program order is undesirable for several reasons. First, if the result of a given instruction is not ready, this instruction and all instructions after it in program order must wait for the not ready instruction to complete before the commitment process to continue. This constrains the throughput of the processor when the not ready instruction is for instance a load from memory, which may take a very long time to complete.
Second, the results of many instructions must be retained within the processor until they commit in program order, even if it is known that those results will never be used again by future instructions. This often greatly increases the internal resource requirements of the processor (for instance, physical registers, reorder buffers, store buffers and other structures known to those skilled in the art), increasing its complexity, decreasing performance and wasting electrical power.
Some microprocessor designs do not enforce sequential semantics by requiring instructions to commit strictly in program order. Instead, these designs use the concept of a trace, a sequence of instructions along a frequently executed and/or predicted path through the user program. Traces are comprised of a plurality of instructions including one or more operations that may change the control flow (path of execution through the program) and/or violate assumptions made in generating the trace, such as by causing an exception. These operations may include but are not limited to conditional branches, memory barrier operations, loads and stores that may cause memory related exceptions, et cetera. Instructions may be freely scheduled out of program order and/or executed speculatively within each trace so as to maximize performance, even if those instructions could cause exceptions or are along speculatively predicted branch paths, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. The Intel Pentium 4 microprocessor is an example of a design that arranges instructions into traces in the manner described; the instructions within each trace are then dynamically scheduled out of program order.
To ensure that speculative results do not contaminate the architectural state until they can be verified as correct, traces of the prior art typically have atomic semantics: at the successful completion of a trace (variously known as a commit point or checkpoint), all updates to the speculative state are simultaneously used to update the architectural state in one atomic operation. However, if any operation within the trace causes an exception or is found to be on the wrong branch path, the entire trace incurs a rollback, in which the speculative state is discarded and the processor returns to the last known good architectural state present before executing the trace. The processor then recovers from the rollback by performing an implementation specific recovery procedure, such as by executing each operation in its original program order until the excepting instruction is found or the correct branch path is resolved. A variety of methods may be used to separate the speculative architectural state from the committed last known good architectural state, and to update the committed state in one atomic operation. These methods are known from the prior art, for instance U.S. Pat. No. 5,958,061 (E. Kelly et al. Host microprocessor with apparatus for temporarily holding target processor state, September 1999) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,011,908 (M. Wing et al. Gated store buffer for an advanced microprocessor, January 2000).
An alternative paradigm in microprocessor design using the trace concept, called binary translation, takes a different approach to out of order execution. In a binary translation system, traces of instructions for a user instruction set are transparently translated to a different native instruction set composed of micro-operations (uops). These native code traces are then scheduled out of program order to improve performance and executed on simpler and faster processor hardware than would be possible if the hardware had to directly support the execution of user instructions. Each translated and scheduled trace is saved in a translation cache for immediate reuse at a later time in lieu of retranslating and rescheduling the trace every time it is encountered.
Typically the native hardware is in the form of a VLIW (Very Long Instruction Word) microprocessor core, which executes multiple independent uops per cycle by bundling them together and issuing one bundle per clock cycle. The VLIW processor core generally must be presented with a stream of uops already statically scheduled into bundles before execution; it does not dynamically reorder operations as they are encountered, as in a traditional out of order superscalar processor. The process of translating and/or scheduling uops into traces is typically done by a software layer written for the native uop instruction set, however this layer may also be implemented in a combination of hardware and/or software, as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,216,206 (G. Peled et al. Trace Victim Cache) and U.S. Patent Application 20030084270 (B. Coon et al. System and method for translating non-native instructions to native instructions for processing on a host processor, May 2003). In most microprocessors using binary translation in the context of a VLIW processor core, each trace is fully translated and statically scheduled before its first execution.
In a VLIW-based microprocessor using binary translation, atomic traces are typically implemented by encoding the final VLIW bundle in a given trace such that all speculative results accumulated during the execution of the trace are atomically committed to the architectural state at the time the final bundle completes execution.
Atomic traces can also be used in dynamically scheduled out of order processors. In Out-of-Order Commit Processors (A. Cristal et al., Intl. Symposium on High Performance Computer Architectures 2004), a mechanism is disclosed which allows results to commit out of program order. In this scheme, the architectural state is checkpointed at poorly predictable branches, and physical resources (physical registers, store buffers, et cetera) corresponding to a given result are freed when the corresponding architectural destination is overwritten in program order and when all known consumers of that result have issued (i.e., the result is said to be "dead"). H. Akkary et al. (Checkpoint Processing and Recovery: Towards Scalable Large Instruction Window Processors. IEEE Intl. Symposium on Microarchitecture 2003) present a similar approach to that of Cristal et al. but use different mechanisms, including the use of counters to track how many operations within each checkpoint are waiting to commit. Martinez et. al. (Cherry: Checkpointed Early Resource Recycling in Out-of-Order Microprocessors, IEEE Intl. Symposium on Microarchitecture 2002) present another checkpointing approach using shadowed architectural registers and a transactional data cache, similar to the '061 and '908 patents cited above. Hwu et al. (Checkpoint repair for high-performance out-of-order execution machines. IEEE Trans. on Computers 1987) present an overview of checkpointing techniques predating the above work.
Those skilled in the art will notice that the concept of a trace (atomic or otherwise) should not be confused with a thread. In the prior art, a thread comprises the flow of execution through a program as seen from the viewpoint of a single context (typically comprised of registers and memory locations). Multiple threads may be executed in parallel on a multi-threaded microprocessor providing a plurality of hardware contexts, or may be time-sliced by the operating system into a single hardware context. Unlike traces, threads are not bound to execute a specific subset of instructions from the program, and hardware threads may exist perpetually from the moment the processor is powered on. Certain microprocessors, such as the Intel Pentium 4, simultaneously utilize both traces and threads, wherein the continuous stream of instructions comprising each thread is itself divided into a plurality of traces at certain basic block boundaries, as defined above. In the Pentium 4, the instructions comprising each trace are decoded (as in binary translation) and written into a trace cache memory buffer prior to execution of each trace. Each trace is then executed by reading it from the trace cache and dynamically scheduling the constituent instructions out of program order. However, in the embodiment used in the Pentium 4 and similar designs, the traces are non-atomic, since every instruction within each trace is still committed in program order, rather than committing all or part of the trace at a single atomic checkpoint as described previously.
In all these approaches, the span of operations between any two checkpoints is considered an atomic trace and incurs a full rollback on any mispredict or exception, unlike the present invention. Additionally, even if a given result is dead, it must still occupy physical resources (i.e. registers and store buffers) within the processor core until its corresponding architectural destination is overwritten in program order. Furthermore, while operations from several checkpoints may be in the pipeline at any given time in the cited approaches, they cannot be intermixed such that they may fully execute and commit in parallel as with the present invention.

Method and apparatus for incremental commitment to architectural state in a microprocessor


A pick-up truck bed toolbox system utilizes a tool storage box which, in its stored, stationary position, rests on the floor of the bed of a pick-up truck such that it is parallel to the side wall of the truck. Electric motors, which can be remotely operated, are utilized to rotate dual, upstanding screw shafts which are connected via laterally extending cantilever arm members to the front and rear ends of the toolbox. The screw shafts raise the toolbox from its resting position on the floor of the bed of the pick-up truck, to an elevated position over the floor, and the shafts then operate to move the arm members laterally to extend the tool box to a position passed the side wall. The screw shafts can then be activated to lower the tool box to a lowered position outside the truck, adjacent to and alongside the sidewall, thus providing easy and ready access to the toolbox. The same system is utilized to return the toolbox from this lowered position outside the truck, to the floor of the truck bed.

It is common to position toolboxes, material and supplies, tool cabinets, and various other storage containers on the bed or on sidewalls of pick-up trucks, utility trailers or similar vehicles. While most such containers are immoveably fixed to the bed of a pick-up truck, there have been a number of proposed systems which move the toolbox within or out of the truck's bed. These proposed systems include mechanisms which slide or roll toolboxes to various locations within or out of the tool bed, support brackets to allow toolboxes to swing out of the bed, and devices which pivot toolboxes from positions within the bed. However, most of these systems, and others which have been suggested, are not generally incorporated into pick-up truck beds. There are a variety of reasons for this. For instance, prior systems which have been proposed have never been reduced to actual practice since they do not work effectively or efficiently. Many systems are subject to breakage with attendant costs of repair and others have components which are just too expensive to be economically practical.


In a first mode, based on an operation input to a controller of a first player, a game system controls a first character object and controls a pointer object. In the first mode, the game system automatically controls a second character object and causes the second character object to perform a predetermined action on a position in a virtual space indicated by the pointer object. In a second mode, the game system controls the first character object based on the operation input to the controller of the first player and controls the second character object based on an operation input to a controller of a second player.

There is a game where a plurality of players operate a plurality of characters of theirs in a virtual space.
In the above game, however, the respective players operate different characters, and there is room for improvement in a method in which a single player or a plurality of players control a plurality of characters.
Therefore, it is an object of an exemplary embodiment to provide a novel technique in which both a single player and a plurality of players can control a plurality of characters.
To achieve the above object, the exemplary embodiment employs the following configurations.
The exemplary embodiment is a game system comprising at least one processor that performs information processing based on an operation input assigned to each player. The processor, in a first mode where a game is played based on an operation input assigned to a first player, based on the operation input assigned to the first player, controls a first character object in a virtual space and control a pointer displayed on a game screen, and in the virtual space, automatically controls a second character object in accordance with a situation in the virtual space and cause the second character object to perform a predetermined action on a position in the virtual space indicated by the pointer. Further, the processor, in a second mode where the game is played based on the operation input assigned to the first player and an operation input assigned to a second player, based on the operation input assigned to the first player, controls the first character object in the virtual space, and based on the operation input assigned to the second player, controls the second character object in the virtual space.
According to the above configuration, in a first mode, a first player can control a first character object and control a pointer. In the first mode, a second character object is automatically controlled and performs a predetermined action on a position in a virtual space indicated by the pointer. Thus, in the first mode, the first player can control the first character object and cause the second character object to perform a predetermined action on a desired position. Further, in a second mode, the first player can control the first character object, and a second player can control the second character object. Consequently, it is possible to operate a plurality of character objects in both a one-player play mode and a multiplayer play mode and provide a novel game.
Further, the operation input assigned to the first player may include at least inertial data corresponding to an output from an inertial sensor. In the first mode, a position of the pointer may be controlled based on the inertial data.
According to the above configuration, based on inertial data from an inertial sensor, the position of the pointer can be controlled. Consequently, for example, the first player can control the position of the pointer by changing the orientation of an operation device including the inertial sensor.
Further, the operation input assigned to the first player may include at least touch data corresponding to an input to a touch panel. In the first mode, a position of the pointer may be controlled based on the touch data.
According to the above configuration, the position of the pointer can be controlled using a touch panel.
Further, the operation input assigned to the first player may include at least a first direction input, and the operation input assigned to the second player may include at least a second direction input. In the first mode, a movement of the first character object may be controlled based on the first direction input. In the second mode, the movement of the first character object may be controlled based on the first direction input, and a movement of the second character object is controlled based on the second direction input.
According to the above configuration, in the first mode, the first character object can be moved based on a first direction input. In the second mode, the first character object can be moved based on the first direction input, and the second character object can also be moved based on a second direction input. The movement of the first character object is controlled based on the first direction input in both the first mode and the second mode and thereby can be based on an operation easily understandable to the first player.
Further, in the first mode, if an object is present at the position in the virtual space indicated by the pointer, the second character object may perform the predetermined action on the object.
According to the above configuration, the second character object can be caused to perform a predetermined action on an object present in the virtual space.
Further, the second character object may perform an action that differs in accordance with a type of the object.
According to the above configuration, in accordance with the type of an object placed in the virtual space, the second character object can be caused to perform a different action.
Further, in the first mode, as the predetermined action, the second character object may move to the position in the virtual space indicated by the pointer.
According to the above configuration, the second character object can be moved to a position desired by the first player.
Further, in the first mode, in accordance with an instruction included in the operation input assigned to the first player, the second character object may perform the predetermined action.
According to the above configuration, the second character object can be caused to perform a predetermined action at a timing desired by the first player.
Further, in the first mode, the second character object may automatically move within a predetermined range in the virtual space in accordance with a position of the first character object, and in accordance with an instruction included in the operation input assigned to the first player, may perform the predetermined action on the position in the virtual space indicated by the pointer.
According to the above configuration, for example, the second character object can be automatically moved within a predetermined range including the position of the first character object and can also be caused to perform a predetermined action. Consequently, for example, the first player can limit the movement range of the second character object that is automatically controlled, to some extent and cause the second character object to perform a predetermined action at a desired timing.
The game system may further include a first operation device and a second operation device. In the first mode, the operation input assigned to the first player may be operation inputs to the first operation device and the second operation device. In the second mode, the operation input assigned to the first player may be an operation input to the first operation device, and the operation input assigned to the second player is an operation input to the second operation device.
According to the above configuration, in the first mode, the first player can perform a game using a first operation device and a second operation device. If a switch is made to the second mode, the first player can spare the second player the second operation device between the two operation devices and allow the second player to control the second character object using the second operation device.
The game system may further include a first operation device and a second operation device. In the first mode, the operation input assigned to the first player may be an operation input to the first operation device. In the second mode, the operation input assigned to the first player may be an operation input to the first operation device, and the operation input assigned to the second player is an operation input to the second operation device.
According to the above configuration, the first player can operate the first character object using a first operation device in the first mode, and can operate the same first character object using the same first operation device also in the second mode. Further, in the second mode, the second player can be allowed to control the second character object using a different second operation device.
Further, another exemplary embodiment may be an information processing apparatus that executes the above processing, a game program that causes a processor of an information processing apparatus to perform the above processing, or an information processing method performed by an information processing system.
According to the exemplary embodiment, it is possible to operate a plurality of character objects in both a one-player play mode and a multiplayer play mode.
These and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the exemplary embodiments will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiments when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein game program, game system, information processing apparatus, and information processing method