A method for establishing an index of usability associated with a replacement payment card is provided. The method may include receiving a payment card replacement request in a vending facility. The method may further include identifying at least one possible risk factor associated with a user utilizing the replacement payment card. The method may also include creating a risk assessment based on the at least one identified possible risk factor. The method may further include establishing an index of usability for the replacement payment card based on the created assessment, whereby a value of the index of usability correlates to a plurality of restrictions placed on using the replacement payment card. The method may also include storing the established index of usability in a database.

The present invention relates, generally, to the field of computing, and more particularly to payment card replacement systems.
A payment card may be an item that allows a user to purchase goods or services through an electronic funds transfer. Typically, a payment card utilizes a magnetic stripe, or a microchip for smart payment cards, to process transactions between the user and a retailer. Additionally, many payment cards include embossed information, such as the cardholder's name, expiration date, and card number conforming to the ISO/IEC 7812 numbering standard. Furthermore, various types of payment cards exist that are distinguishable based on the features each type of payment card provides, such as a credit card, a debit card, a charge card, an automatic teller machine (ATM) card, a store-valued card, a fleet card, or a gift card.

Index of usability for a replacement payment card


The present disclosure relates to a dimension measuring device that shortens a time required for dimension measurement and eliminates errors caused by an operator. A dimension measuring device that measures a dimension of a measurement target using an input image is provided, in which a first image in which each region of the input image is labeled by region is generated by machine learning, an intermediate image including a marker indicating each region of the first image is generated based on the generated first image, a second image in which each region of the input image is labeled by region is generated based on the input image and the generated intermediate image, coordinates of a boundary line between adjacent regions are obtained by using the generated second image, coordinates of a feature point that defines a dimension condition of the measurement target are obtained by using the obtained coordinates of the boundary line, and the dimension of the measurement target is measured by using the obtained coordinates of the feature point.

In recent years, in order to improve performance of a semiconductor device, a new material is introduced into the semiconductor device, and a structure of the semiconductor device is also becoming three-dimensional and complicated. Further, current processing of an advanced semiconductor device requires nanometer-level accuracy. Therefore, a semiconductor processing device needs to be able to process various kinds of materials into various shapes with extremely high accuracy. Then, in order to process various kinds of materials with extremely high accuracy, it is necessary to objectively measure a shape of each material and quantify the shape to optimize the processing method. On the other hand, as the structure of a semiconductor device becomes three-dimensional and complicated, the need for measurement has dramatically increased, and there is an increasing demand for multipoint measurement with high accuracy in a short time.
In the measurement for the high accurate processing, generally, an image of a cross section of a sample to be processed is obtained by scanning electron microscope (SEM) or transmission electron microscope (TEM), and a shape of the structure is manually measured. However, when the manual measurement is applied to an advanced process, a structure of the sample to be processed becomes complicated and the number of measurement points per image also increases, and therefore, dimension extraction performed manually is reaching the limit.
In addition, in the manual measurement, operator dependence occurs in a measured value. Further, even in an image in which unit patterns of lines and spaces are repeated, each individual pattern is measured one by one, so that a human error is added to a statistic of the measured values in addition to process variation. Further, when a measurement place more important than an initially planned measurement place is found in the course of optimizing processing conditions, it is necessary to re-measure all the images that have already been measured.
If dimension measurement can be automated for these problems, a time required for the measurement can be greatly shortened and a processed shape can be grasped more accurately.
Various solutions have been proposed for these problems.
For example, WO-2018-189877 (PTL 1) describes that "Provided is a charged particle beam device that calculates the features of cells from a cell observation image more objectively and accurately and evaluates the cells. A charged particle beam device comprises: an image acquisition unit 18 that acquires an image of a cell; an outline extraction unit 19 that extracts the outline of the image; a feature quantity calculation unit 20 that calculates a morphological feature quantity of the outline on the basis of the outline, and calculates the feature quantity of internal structures, such as the cytoplasm, that are included in an inner region of the outline; and an assessment unit 21 that assesses the quality and/or the functionality of the cell on the basis of the feature quantity. The charged particle beam device is capable of objectively and accurately evaluating the quality and/or the functionality of cells included in a captured image."
Further, JP-A-2012-68138 (PTL 2) describes that "A pattern cross-sectional image is subjected to image processing and outline line coordinate data of a cross section is extracted; coordinate values corresponding to upper and lower portions of a pattern are extracted from the outline line coordinate data; and a height of the pattern, coordinate values of two points in a measurement range, and a height of the measurement range are calculated. A luminance distribution signal in an x direction corresponding to the coordinate values of the two points is obtained; and a signal component in a range corresponding to a white shadow portion unique to a cross-sectional SEM image is removed from the signal. A cross-correlation method is applied to the signal; a distance between two signals is calculated; and a sidewall angle is calculated."
Further, JP-A-2002-350127 (PTL 3) describes that "a step of setting an edge detection reference line by specifying an edge detection range and the number of edge points for each side of a pattern in a microscope image; a step of searching from a vertical direction with respect to the set edge detection reference line and extracting an edge point which is a luminance change point from image information; a step of calculating a line that approximates each side of the pattern based on position information of multiple edge points; and a step of specifying an intersection of two lines based on approximate line information of each side of the pattern, a specific point calculated based on multiple intersections, an angle between two straight lines, and a shape of the pattern based on a distance between the specified two points."

Dimension measuring device, dimension measuring method, and semiconductor manufacturing system


In a lifetime estimating method for a rechargeable lithium battery, the open circuit voltages of the rechargeable lithium battery after discharging for at least two different charge/discharge cycle numbers are detected while charge/discharge cycles go on. Next, at least the two of the voltage values are plotted for respective cycle numbers, and a circular arc passing the plotted points is drawn. Furthermore, the lifetime of the rechargeable lithium battery is estimated based on a size of the circular arc. The progression of deterioration can be suppressed by controlling the charge and discharge of the rechargeable lithium battery based on the lifetime estimation.

Recently, a demand for batteries as a power source has increased in response to development of portable devices such as personal computers and mobile phones. Batteries for these applications are expected to be used at normal temperatures, and to have a large energy density and good cycle characteristics.
In order to satisfy this demand, new active materials with large capacity density have been developed for a positive electrode and negative electrode, respectively. In particular, there is a great interest especially in using elemental silicon (Si) or tin (Sn), or oxides thereof providing extremely large capacity density as a negative active material.
However, rechargeable lithium batteries where these materials are used as the negative active materials do not exhibit sufficient charge/discharge cycle characteristics. Specifically, silicon oxide (SiO0.3) is used as a negative active material. A positive electrode of lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2), which is generally used for rechargeable lithium batteries, is used as a positive active material. As electrolyte, a mixed solution of ethylene carbonate (EC) and ethylmethylcarbonate (EMC) containing lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6) is used. These materials are used for manufacturing a winding type rechargeable lithium battery. When this battery is repeatedly charged and discharged under the condition: charge/discharge current of 1.0 C; charge cutoff voltage of 4.2 V; and discharge cutoff voltage of 2.5 V, its capacity significantly reduces at about 100-th cycle.
In order to suppress this capacity reduction, it is preferable to minimize the discharge potential of the negative electrode. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses that the discharge cutoff potential of the negative electrode is controlled to 0.6 V or lower with respect to a lithium reference electrode in a rechargeable lithium battery using silicon oxide (SiO) as the negative active material. Such control suppresses the capacity reduction in the charge/discharge cycles.
When the lithium reference electrode is provided in the battery in order to control the discharge potential of the negative electrode made of SiO with respect to the lithium reference electrode as in Patent Document 1, however, a battery structure becomes complicated. Therefore, practical use of the rechargeable lithium battery of Patent Document 1 is difficult. In other words, the battery requires a third electrode terminal, in addition to positive and negative electrode terminals.
In the initial period of the charge/discharge cycles, deterioration in positive and negative active materials is small. When the charge/discharge cycle is repeated from this state, the respective potential ranges in which positive and negative electrodes are used vary with deterioration of positive and negative active materials. Therefore, even when the discharge cutoff voltage is set so that the discharge cutoff potential of the negative electrode is 0.6 V or lower with respect to the positive electrode, it is difficult to determine whether the discharge cutoff potential of the negative electrode is actually maintained at 0.6 V or lower. Accordingly, it is difficult to detect the charge/discharge state of the negative electrode by measurement of the battery voltage and suppress the capacity reduction in the charge/discharge cycles.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. H11-233155

Lifetime estimating method and deterioration suppressing method for rechargeable lithium battery, lifetime estimating apparatus, deterioration suppressor, and battery pack and charger using the same


Polyol polyesters useful as nondigestible fat substitutes are prepared by improved heterogeneous interesterification processes between fatty acid esters of easily removable alcohol and polyol characterized by having one or more improvements such as using low levels of soap emulsifying agent, catalyst, and/or excess fatty acid ester; reducing the size of the polyol by mechanical means; removing extraneous particulate material during the reaction; using low temperature and/or high pressure and compensating by increasing the mass transfer area; and/or using backmixing in the initial stage(s) and plug-flow conditions in the final stage(s).

Processes for preparing polyol fatty acid polyesters, including processes that utilize solvent-free transesterification reactions, have been described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,963,699, Rizzi et al., issued Jun. 15, 1976; 4,517,360, Volpenhein, issued May 14, 1985; and 4,518,772, Volpenhein, issued May 21, 1985. Additional patents describing processes for preparing lower and higher esters of polyols include U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,893,990, Hass et al., issued Jul. 7, 1959; 3,251,827, Schnell et al., issued May 17, 1966, which discloses that the particle size of the sugar should be kept small to avoid formation of higher esters; 3,558,597, Brachel et al., issued Jan. 26, 1971; 3,644,333, Osipow et al., issued Feb. 22, 1972; 3,792,041, Yamagishi et al., issued Feb. 12, 1974, which discloses making a solution of sucrose and fatty acid, soap in water and adding the fatty acid ester and catalyst before elevating the temperature to drive off the water; 4,032,702, James, issued Jun. 28, 1977, which discloses using lower esters of sucrose as emulsifiers in the preparation of lower esters and the use of soap as a catalyst for such reactions; 4,298,730, Galleymore et al., issued Nov. 3, 1981, which also discloses the use of soap as an emulsifier and catalyst; 4,334,061, Bossier et al., issued Jun. 8, 1982, which discloses the use of a water washing step to purify the polyol polyester and incidentally discloses the use of inert gas sparging to remove lower alcohol from the reaction between sucrose and lower alkyl ester of fatty acid to speed the reaction and the removal of unreacted sucrose from an initial stage of a batch reaction for no indicated reason; and 4,877,871, Klemann et al., issued Oct. 31, 1989. All of said above patents are incorporated herein by reference.
Many of the above patents teach processes that use a solvent to assist in the formation of a homogeneous reaction mixture. However, the presence of the solvent is not desirable since it must then be removed. Also, many of the above processes primarily relate to the preparation of lower esters, containing one or two ester groups, that are desirable for use as surfactants. The present processes primarily relate to the preparation of polyol polyesters that have high degrees of esterification, preferably polyesters that are more than about 50% esterified, i.e., at least about 50% of the total number of available hydroxy groups on the polyol are esterified with a fatty acyl radical.
In order to have a better commercial process for preparing highly esterified polyols, it is desirable to have a process that is fast, preferably continuous, and that results in a minimum of unwanted materials that have to be removed.


A system for communicating a message in response to placement of a product proximate to a mobile electronic device. The system includes a product package comprising a token that includes a power source and a wireless transmitter, and a mobile electronic device. The mobile electronic device includes a processor, a computer-readable memory, a wireless receiver that is operable to detect a signal emitted by the wireless transmitter of the product package, and a transmitter. The processor is configured to detect the signal, analyze the signal and extract token information from the signal, retrieve user information for a user who is associated with the mobile electronic device, generate a message that corresponds to the extracted information, and cause the transmitter of the mobile electronic device to send the message via a wireless communication protocol.

Distinguishing consumer products, such as beverages, from those of competitors in an attractive and interesting manner increases sales and consumption of the product. In creating consumer products, the product containers may be customized to appeal to a target market, while maintaining economic viability of the product. However, current printed labels contain static information only, limited to promotion of company brand, communicating limited information to customers such as product collection name, color style, size. Some product containers may also include a bar code with limited identifying information that is primarily scanned by cashiers.
However, the information printed on the product label may not include all of the desired information a consumer requires and typically cannot be changed easily, for example to target a specific type of consumer or reflect a change in the product, such as a change in price or other promotion. In order to make a change, the entire message has to be replaced, or over labeled with the new message, that is concealing the underlying message by applying a label over the message with the new indicia.
With the emergence of the internet of things it is desirable to create a product container and/or packaging label that can be connected to a network, is easily customizable, can provide customers with unlimited amount of related information both before and after purchase, and is cost effective to deploy at the individual container level.
The current disclosure discloses a product packaging label and/or product container that addresses the above limitations, and methods for manufacturing the same.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Beverage container augmentation for social media


An apparatus for attaching substrates includes a first chamber for supporting a first substrate and a second chamber for supporting a second substrate. A main seal member is placed between the first chamber and the second chamber so as to maintain a seal and a gap between the chambers. An alignment control part is placed between the first chamber and the second chamber so as to maintain the seal, and also to allow the second chamber to move with respect to the first chamber in order to align the substrates. The alignment control part may also control a gap between the chambers, to thereby maintain a uniform gap between the substrates.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for attaching substrates and a gap control unit thereof.
2. Background
An apparatus for attaching substrates is used to attach two substrates of a flat panel display device to each other. The thin panel display device could be thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panel, a plasma display panel (PDP), an OLED or some other type of display device.
A TFT-LCD device typically includes, a TFT substrate on which a plurality of TFTs (thin film transistors) are formed in a matrix, and a color filter substrate on which a color filter or a light shielding film is formed. The two substrates oppose each other and are attached to each other with a gap of a few micrometers.
The substrate attachment is performed by first aligning the substrates with respect to each other, attaching them to each other, and then pressing the two substrates together using pressure. An apparatus for attaching substrates typically includes a first chamber and a second chamber spaced apart from the first chamber. An inside surface of each chamber is provided with an electrostatic chuck (ESC) for holding the substrates before the attachment. The upper chamber may also include a vacuum chuck as well.
During the attachment process, the two substrates are carried into the apparatus and they are mounted on the upper and lower chambers. The first and the second chambers come together to form a sealed attaching space. The sealed attaching space is then vacuum exhausted by a pump so as to form a vacuum state in the inside thereof. A sealing member is provided between the first and the second chambers to maintain the vacuum in the sealed attaching space. The substrates are then aligned with each other, and the two substrates are attached to each other.
The attachment of the two substrates is performed only after the two substrates have been brought closely adjacent to each other. The substrates must be brought into close proximity to precisely align them, which is very important to the quality of the resulting display device.
When the substrates are brought close to each other, the above mentioned seal member is used to maintain the vacuum in the sealed attaching space. The sealing member also helps to control the gap between the substrates when they are in close proximity to each other, and before the attachment. The gap between the substrates can be determined by a depression amount of the seal member.
Another important factor in the apparatus for attaching substrates is the ability to perform horizontal movements of one or both chambers to properly align the substrates. In a conventional apparatus for attaching substrates, the gap maintenance and the horizontal movement are performed separately while maintaining the vacuum state. However, when these processes are performed sequentially, it takes a long time to accomplish the entire process.

Apparatus for attaching substrates and gap control unit thereof


Techniques that enable data extraction, transfer, and load (ETL) operations to be performed asynchronously over communication networks including a Wide Area Network (WAN).

The present application relates to data communications, and more particularly to techniques that enable data to be transferred from a source data store to a target data store over communication networks including a Wide Area Network (WAN) using asynchronous operations.
Organizations commonly use business intelligence (BI) applications to drive their decision making. The term BI broadly refers to applications, techniques, and technologies that are used to collect, transform, and store data into a meaningful form that facilitates analysis of the data including running reports for identifying trends and data mining of the data. BI applications are generally used to gain strategic insight into an organization's operations and to make decisions based upon the insight.
BI applications include extract, transform, and load (ETL) tools that are configured to extract relevant data from a data source, perform one or more transformations on the data, and to load the transformed data into a target data store (typically a data warehouse) in a form that facilitates analysis of the data. For example, ETL tools may be used to extract relevant data from an OnLine Transaction Processing (OLTP) system, perform transformations on the extracted data to convert to a form that facilitates analysis of the data, and load the data into a data warehouse in a form that facilitates querying and analysis.
More recently, there is a move towards providing software services via a Software as a Service (SaaS) model. The SaaS model changes the roles and responsibilities between consumers of software services and providers or vendors of the services. In a SaaS model, a SaaS vendor develops and maintains the software application(s), the data used by the application, and the processing resources (e.g., servers, machines) and infrastructure needed for providing the software services. A consumer may subscribe to use software services provided by the vendor for use on the consumer's data. The consumer pays the vendor on an as-needed basis when services provided by the vendor are used. Typically, service level agreements (SLAs) are signed between consumers and SaaS vendors that ensure a specified level of performance and availability of the software services to the consumers. Since the vendor, and not the consumer, provides the resources and the infrastructure for the services, the SaaS model provides significant cost savings to the consumer.
In a SaaS model, a single software services vendor may provide services to multiple consumers who may be located remotely from the SaaS vendor. The software services are typically delivered to the consumers through web-based interfaces offered by the SaaS-BI vendor via the Internet. In a typical implementation, consumers access the software provided by the vendor remotely via a communication network such as the Internet. For example, a consumer may use a web browser executing on the consumer's system to log into the SaaS vendor's system using web interfaces provided by the vendor and access software services provided by the vendor.
With the growing popularity of the SaaS model, there is a desire to provide ETL services via the SaaS model. There are however several problems in providing ETL services using a SaaS model. In an ELT or ETL (referred to commonly as ETL) architecture, data is extracted (read) from a data source (e.g., an OLTP application database), transformed (e.g., cleansed, summarized), and then loaded (stored) in a target data store (e.g., a data warehouse). In conventional ETL systems, the data source (e.g., the OLTP system) and the target data store system (e.g., the data warehouse) are connected by a local area network (LAN). Accordingly, conventional ETL systems are architected with the expectation that the components performing the ETL operations are all connected to each other over LAN connections or reside on the same server. How to provide ETL over a WAN, as needed for the SaaS model, rather than a LAN is a non-trivial problem.
Further, in conventional ETL systems, all the ETL operations are performed in a synchronous manner and as a result have to be carefully synchronized. For example, a typical traditional ETL system comprises an active source data store (e.g., an OLTP server), an active target data store (e.g., a data warehouse or a data mart), and an ETL server coupled to each other via LAN connections. Conventional ETL operations are facilitated by several processes executed by the source data store, the ETL server, and the target data store. These processes have to work synchronously to achieve the ETL operations. For example, a process (P1) executes on the source data store and computes the result of a correlated query on the source data and feeds the resulting data extracted from the data files on the source data store to the ETL server. A process (P2) executing on the ETL server communicates with the active source data store and reads the data extracted by process P1. Another process (P3) running on the ETL server is configured to perform data transformations (e.g., cleansing, summarizing) on the data received by P2. Yet another process (P4) executing on the ETL server is configured to receive the transformed data from process P3 and pass the data to a process P5 (e.g., database server process) executing on the target data source. Process P5 is then configured to write the data to the file system on the active target data store. A master ETL process (P0), running on the ETL server, is responsible for synchronizing the various processes in the overall ETL operation. Accordingly, in conventional ETL systems, the various processes have to be all executed simultaneously with one master process synchronizing the processes. This involves managing multiple data flows and control signals to achieve the synchronization of the data flow, error handling, logging, etc. The computing and network resources available to these processes, and also the speeds at which the prior and successor processes can process data govern the speed of the overall ETL operation. As a result, the entire ETL system runs only as fast as the slowest link in the process chain. If any of the processes error out, this information needs to be captured and other processes stopped appropriately.
The traditional ETL process architecture described above may be summarized as follows:
Active source data store→LAN→ETL Server→LAN→Active target data store
As is evident from the above, in traditional ETL processing the processing is performed by at least three different entities: at the source data, by the ETL server, and at the target data store. This traditional ETL architecture generally works acceptably when the active source data store, the ETL server, and the target data store are all connected together on the same high-speed LAN or server. However, problems arise when these traditional components are connected over a WAN such as via the Internet, as is needed for using a SaaS model. This is because, in a SaaS environment, the various processes involved in the ETL process sets would need to run on different servers, which could be geographically remote from each other, and which may be connected over slow WAN connections. Data and control signal flows between the active source data store and the ETL server and between the ETL server and the target data store would happen over potentially slow WANs. This is further aggravated by the "active" nature of the data sources that adds additional processing time to the data access operations. As a result, the entire ETL operation would take a very long time to complete. Further, since the processes have to be synchronized, operations over WANs would adversely impact the synchronization and cause further processing delays. For example, data throughputs of 900 records per second, when an ETL process is done over a LAN could slow down to less than 50 records per second when done over a WAN. Such performance degradations prevent SaaS-BI vendors from offering satisfactory SLAs to consumers. This, in turn, makes traditional ETL architectures unfeasible for a standalone SaaS-BI offering with today's state of the art in networking, storage, and processor technology.
Presently, there is no clear technological solution to the problem of performing ETL over WAN in order to provide ETL services via a SaaS model. A small number of companies are struggling to solve this problem in an ad-hoc manner using proprietary and invasive agent-based techniques. Such offerings are however not scalable and are expensive. Further, these agent-based techniques use a pull-based paradigm wherein the data from the consumers is pulled by the SaaS vendor. As a result, the consumers of the services that are the providers of data have very little control over how and when data is provided to the SaaS vendor. This in turn makes conventional offerings undesirable for consumers. These problems pose a formidable barrier to entry for BI vendors, including Oracle, from entering the multi-billion dollar SaaS-BI solution space.

Techniques for performing ETL over a WAN


A medicament delivery device includes a housing configured to receive a container of medicament and a piston rod moveable within the housing and configured to engage a container of medicament when received within the housing. The medicament delivery device further includes a position-sensing mechanism configured to detect the position of the piston rod within the housing. The position-sensing mechanism includes a first light source configured to emit light, a first sensor disposed proximate the first light source and configured to receive light emitted by the first light source, and a blocking member moveable between the first light source and the first sensor. The first sensor is configured to detect the light pattern received to determine the position of the piston rod within the housing.

Certain types of injection devices typically have a sealed container of medicament, a needle for injection of the medicament into a patient and a mechanism for dispensing the medicament from the container through the needle. Such dispensing mechanisms can include a plunger or piston which can be moved into the container to dispense the medicament.


An adaptor for mounting a conventional spin-on oil filter to Continental four cylinder aircraft engines is disclosed herein. The adapter includes a base which is connected to an offset flange via a post. The base of the adapter is mounted to the oil cooler pad of the engine crankcase. Inlet and outlet passages in the base are aligned with oil inlet and outlet openings in the oil cooler pad and extend through the base and post to the offset flange. The filter is mounted to the offset flange and placed in flow communication with the oil passages via an annular groove and a hollow stud.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device that permits the installation of a spin-on oil filter on the four cylinder aircraft engines, manufactured by Teledyne Continental Motors Corp., to provide clean filtered oil to the engine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The engine, as manufactured, is provided only with a brass screen to reduce particle contamination of the oil. The only filter systems available are the obsolete cartridge type that must be remotely mounted and connected to the engine with flexible oil lines. These oil lines can leak creating a serious fire hazard or worse might rupture causing a loss of oil to the engine. In either case an emergency landing is eminent.

Spin-on oil filter adaptor for four cylinder continental aircraft engines


A computing device may establish a communication session with a user equipment device (UE). The computing device may interact with the UE via interactive voice response (IVR) services and enable a first portion of the communication session to be recorded using a first recording mode. The computing device may out-dial a second portion of the communication session and enable a second portion of the communication session to be recorded using a second recording mode. A recording mode may include recording a portion of a communication session locally, streaming a portion of the communication session to a recording system, or out-dialing a portion of the communication session to enable a communication session tap to be placed on the out-dialed portion of the communication session.

Currently available telecommunication technologies enable individuals and organizations to communicate in a variety of ways. For example, many companies and other organizations maintain call centers that individuals may call to gain access to customer service, sales support, product support, technical support, or other types of services. Some call center services include an automated component capable of providing callers with basic services and information, and an agent component for more complex or personalized information and services. Additionally, some call centers attempt to ensure quality control by monitoring or recording calls. However, such attempts often include several deficiencies. Examples of such deficiencies include an inability to record automated portions of a call, maintain recording continuity between an automated portion of a call and an agent portion of a call, or an inability to extend current recording capabilities to additional call centers or call center offices in different locations.


The present invention discloses a terminal access method and an apparatus, to resolve a problem in an existing SCMA multi-terminal access mechanism that a conflict causes system performance degradation and may cause system retransmission. The method is as follows: determining, by a terminal, to enter a contention-based access phase; and determining, by the terminal during each transmission of binary data, a first signature according to a random number seed and a signature matrix, and mapping, according to the first signature, the binary data to a multi-dimensional symbol for transmission, where first signatures used during different transmissions of binary data are different.

As a third wave of world information industry development following computers and the Internet, the Internet of Things will change various aspects of humans, such as life, work, and production. The Internet of Things has rich connotations. The Internet of Vehicles, a smart household, a smart city, and the like that have recently drawn wide attention in the academic and industrial circles are all specific implementation forms of the Internet of Things. To implement the Internet of Things, a huge quantity of interconnected machine-type devices (machine-type devices) such as sensors and radio frequency identification tags need to be deployed. A cellular network is a simplest and most practical network architecture that can implement the Internet of Things.
To implement the Internet of Things or a wireless ad hoc network in the cellular network, cell densification will become a trend of a future network, and massive access (Massive Access) will become one of typical scenarios of the future network.
Characteristics of the massive access lie in:
Firstly, a quantity of potential access terminals is relatively large and dynamically changes.
Secondly, an access network structure is complex, a topology is variable, and a channel characteristic dynamically changes.
Thirdly, service types are complex; there may be distinct differences in data amounts for access of different terminals, possibly ranging from several bits to a large amount of data; and some real-time control networks have a relatively high requirement on a delay.
Characteristics of a scenario assumed for a conventional multiple access mechanism are: A quantity of terminals is small, but a data amount of each terminal is relatively large. These are obviously different from the characteristics of the massive access scenario. If the conventional multiple access mechanism is used for massive access, problems such as low efficiency, high signaling overheads, and high complexity are caused.
Based on this, in a current non-orthogonal access mechanism of sparse code multiple access (sparse code multiple access, SCMA), each signature in a low-density signature matrix is corresponding to L pilots, and a process of contention-based access is: A terminal first sends a pilot, where the pilot is randomly selected by the terminal, and then maps, by using a signature (Signature) corresponding to the pilot, data to a multi-dimensional symbol for data sending; and a base station first detects a pilot, and if a specific pilot is detected, this is equivalent to that a signature is detected, and the base station decodes received data according to the signature. In the current SCMA access mechanism, when different terminals happen to choose different pilots of a same signature, the base station can learn that the different terminals send data by using the same signature, and in this case, the base station can restore data by means of channel estimation of each terminal; or when different terminals choose a same pilot of a signature, due to a pilot conflict, the terminals execute a random backoff process to retransmit data.


A method of manufacturing a carbon nanotube composite includes: a laminate forming step of forming, on a conductive base material made of a first metal having conductivity, a buffer layer made of a second metal capable of mutual diffusion with the first metal, and forming, on the buffer layer, a catalyst layer made of seed catalyst particles which catalyze formation of carbon nanotubes; a buffer layer diffusion step of performing heat treatment on the laminate; and a carbon nanotube layer forming step of forming the carbon nanotubes on the catalyst layer of the laminate by a chemical vapor deposition method, wherein the heat treatment is performed so as to form a solid phase diffusion region where the first metal and the second metal are solid-phase diffused from a surface of the conductive base material to a predetermined depth selected from depths of 850 nm or more.

Carbon nanotubes have been studied for use in various technical fields because of their unique properties not found in other materials such as graphite and diamond in the related art. For example, carbon nanotubes are studied for use in electrodes of electric storage devices. For example, a carbon nanotube composite in which carbon nanotubes are formed in a laminate can be used as an electrode (especially negative electrode) of an electric storage device such as a lithium ion capacitor.
One of carbon nanotube composites known in the related art is a carbon nanotube composite in which a carbon nanotube array is formed on a "multilayer substrate (laminate) having a structure in which a bonding layer, an interface layer, and a catalyst layer are laminated on an inert support" (refer to Reference 1).
According to the description of JP 2015-530961T (Reference 1), the carbon nanotube composite is manufactured as follows. That is, after a multilayer substrate (laminate in which an iron bonding layer, an aluminum interface layer, and an iron catalyst layer are respectively formed on both sides of an aluminum foil) is annealed at 550° C. under an inert gas flow, carbon source gas is introduced at 550° C. Thereafter, the multilayer substrate is heated to a growth temperature of 630° C., and held at the growth temperature for 5 minutes to grow carbon nanotubes on the multilayer substrate. As described above, the carbon nanotube composite is manufactured.
The multilayer substrate used in the method of manufacturing the carbon nanotube composite described in Reference 1 improves bonding of the aluminum interface layer to the inert support body (aluminum foil) by providing the iron bonding layer.
On the other hand, the inventors of the present application have studied formation of carbon nanotubes in a laminate (laminate not having the iron bonding layer as in Reference 1) in which a catalyst layer including a buffer layer and seed catalyst particles is formed on a conductive base material. Furthermore, in this case, as a result of studying to reduce an introduction temperature of carbon source gas for prevention of aggregation of the seed catalyst particles, the followings have been found.
If the introduction temperature of the carbon source gas is reduced, the growth of the carbon nanotubes occurs when the bonding between the buffer layer and the conductive base material is poor. Therefore, it has been found that the buffer layer peels off from the conductive base material due to interface stress generated at an interface between the buffer layer and the conductive base material when the carbon nanotubes grow. Specifically, it has been found that the buffer layer peels off from the conductive base material due to an increase in interface stress caused by a difference in thermal expansion between the buffer layer and the conductive base material and an increase in interface stress caused by pulling of the buffer layer in a growth direction of the carbon nanotubes as the carbon nanotubes grow. This case is not desirable because, in the carbon nanotube composite, a region is formed in which a surface of the conductive base material is exposed with no carbon nanotubes formed thereon.
Thus, a need exists for a method of manufacturing a carbon nanotube composite and a laminate for use in the manufacturing method, which are not susceptible to the drawback mentioned above.

Method of manufacturing carbon nanotube composite and laminate


Reaction of a 7-aminocephalosporanic acid with a carboxylic acid in the presence of a dehydration condensing agent and an acid or acid complex provides the corresponding amide in high yield and high purity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for preparing amide compounds, which are utilizable for production of 7-substituted-amino-3-substituted-methylcephem-carboxylic acids, which in turn are useful as drugs such as antibiotics or intermediates thereof.
2. Discussion of the Background
It is known that amide compounds can be prepared by reacting 7-aminocephalosporanic acids with carboxylic acids in the presence of a dehydration condensing agent, for example, dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, first Publication No. 142987/1985 Japan. However, the poor yields by this process present a problem when the process is used on an industrial scale.
Thus, there remains a need for a process for preparing amides in high yield which can be applied on an indusrial scale in a simple manner. There also remains a need for a process for preparing amides of 7-aminocephalosporanic acids in high yield. In particular, there remains a need for a process for preparing 7-substituted-amino-3-substituted-methylcephem-carboxylic acids in high yield which can be applied on an industrial scale.

Process for preparing cephalosporin compounds


An enhanced volume phase diffraction grating provides high dispersion, uniformly high diffraction efficiency and equal diffraction efficiencies for all polarizations across a wide range of wavelengths. The thickness of the volume phase material and the modulation of its refractive index are jointly established to provide equalization of diffraction efficiencies for all polarizations over a wide range of wavelengths. The equalization occurs where the S and P diffraction efficiencies are both at a maximum.

The telecommunications industry is growing at an explosive pace as a result of the expanding need for the transmitting and receiving of greater amounts of information. The industry, in order to meet the needs of the market, has developed a number of technologies that make use of the inherent broadband capabilities of fiber optics. One of these technologies is Wavelength Division Multiplexing, or WDM.
WDM allows many signals to be transmitted simultaneously along a single optical fiber by sending each signal on a different carrier. Each carrier is a light beam of a slightly different wavelength than that of all of the other carriers. In order to combine these individual carrier beams into a single beam at the input of the fiber, an optical multiplexer (MUX) must be employed. To separate the carriers at the receiving end of the fiber, an optical de-multiplexer (DEMUX) must be employed. To be effective and economically practical, a MUX or a DEMUX must be capable of separating a multi-wavelength light beam into its individual wavelength components with a minimum amount of insertion loss and a minimum amount of Polarization Dependent Loss (PDL) and be relatively inexpensive and relatively compact.
The primary function of a DEMUX is to separate the carrier beams by wavelength. There are four basic means of providing this function: (1) thin film filters, (2) arrayed waveguides, (3) fiber Bragg gratings, (4) diffraction gratings. Thin film filters use multiple filters, each tuned to a different wavelength. Separation occurs at each filter along the light propagation path. This method is effective for systems with a small number of channels (one channel corresponds to one carrier wavelength). For systems with large numbers of channels (100 or more) thin film filters are not suitable because the insertion loss is excessive and the overall system becomes too complex.
Arrayed waveguides use an array of different length waveguides. A light beam consisting of multiple carriers, each at a different wavelength, exiting an input fiber is spread out so that it enters all of the waveguides In the array. The wavelength of each carrier in each waveguide, and the length of that waveguide, will determine its phase relative to the light of the same wavelength exiting all of the other waveguides. This phase relationship, in turn, will establish the overall phase distribution of the exiting wavefront for that particular wavelength. That phase distribution will then determine the output port to which this carrier wave will be directed.
Arrayed waveguides are very complex so that large arrays are difficult to make and some means of temperature control is generally required. This complexity places a practical upper limit on the number of channels that can be delivered with arrayed waveguides.
Fiber Bragg gratings are similar to thin film filters except that the filtering is done by a grating created within the fiber. The wavelength selection is done at each grating within the fiber. Fiber Bragg gratings have the same insertion loss problem as thin film filtersxe2x80x94the insertion loss becomes excessive for large numbers of channels and, as with thin film filters, the overall system becomes unacceptably complex for a large number of channels.
All three of the above technologies have a relatively high cost per channel.
The fourth technology, diffraction gratings, has the potential for both high performance (large number of channels and low insertion loss) and relatively low cost. A diffraction grating provides separation of a large number of discrete wavelengths by the process of dispersion. An incident beam consisting of multiple carriers of different wavelengths is dispersed by diffraction as the beam is either reflected from the grating or transmitted through the grating. Each wavelength of the exiting beam is reflected or transmitted at a different angle of diffraction so that each carrier can enter a different port. This would be the case for a DEMUX. For a MUX, the separate carriers would be combined into a single beam in a process that is essentially the reverse of that described above for a DEMUX.
The obvious advantage of diffraction gratings over the three other technologies is that a single, relatively simple device provides the complete wavelength separation function. Therefore, the cost, complexity and size of the MUX or DEMUX will all be less, yet the number of channels will be greater.
There are four types of diffraction gratings but only three are suitable for WDM applications reflective and transmissive surface relief gratings and transmissive volume phase gratings. Surface relief gratings can have relatively high diffraction efficiencies, but generally only for one polarization. This creates a problem in WDM that is known as Polarization Dependent Loss, or PDL. While PDL cannot be eliminated in a surface relief grating, it can be minimized, but only at relatively low grating frequencies (roughly 600 lines per mm or less). This low grating frequency reduces the dispersion of the grating, making it more difficult to insert more channels and get good channel separation.
Transmissive volume phase gratings can also have high diffraction efficiencies but, as in the case of surface relief gratings, this high diffraction efficiency generally occurs only for one polarization. Therefore, a conventional volume phase grating (VPG) will also exhibit high PDL. While PDL can be minimized in a conventional VPG, either the overall diffraction efficiency will be low or the dispersion will be low, resulting in either unacceptably high insertion loss or relatively fewer channels.
It is obvious that none of the aforementioned technologies provides what is desirable in a WDM devicexe2x80x94large number of channels, low insertion loss and low PDL across the full bandwidth of one of the telecommunications bands.
The present invention provides a means for overcoming the shortcomings of the prior art in WDM devices by creating an Enhanced Volume Phase Grating (E-VPG) that has high dispersion and uniformly high diffraction efficiency across a broad wavelength range for all polarizations. In the E-VPG, the thickness of the volume phase grating material, its bulk index, its index modulation and the angles of incidence and diffraction are all established so that the diffraction efficiency for both S-polarization and P-polarization are simultaneously maximized at the nominal wavelength. The volume phase grating material is created, coated, exposed and processed so that the desired values of these four major parameters are obtained.
A set of equations is developed that will determine these desired parameters for a number of different possible grating designs. Gratings in air or gratings attached to one or two prisms (a design often referred to as a Carpenter""s prism or grism) can be created using these design equations. Some of the designs will have higher dispersion than others but all will have high dispersion and high diffraction efficiency across a relatively wide bandwidth for all polarizations.
By employing a reflective element in the path of the diffracted beam, the E-VPG can be used in a reflective, double pass mode so that the overall dispersion is increased over that of a single E-VPG, while still maintaining high overall diffraction efficiency and low PDL.
The advantage of the present invention over the prior art is that it can provide the advantages of diffraction gratings over the three competitive technologiesxe2x80x94thin film filters, arrayed waveguides, fiber Bragg gratingsxe2x80x94without the disadvantages generally associated with conventional volume phase gratings or surface relief gratingsxe2x80x94high PDL and/or low dispersion and/or high insertion loss.

Enhanced volume phase grating with high dispersion, high diffraction efficiency and low polarization sensitivity


A method and apparatus for monitoring changes in the intra-thoracic pressure of a patient due to the patient's respiratory activity or volumetric changes in the extra-thoracic arterial circulatory system due to cardiac function based on the changes in pressure in the patient's extra-thoracic arterial circulatory system as measured by a plethysmography sensor, such as an photoplethysmograph. A frequency spectrum is generated for the plethysmograph signal and the frequencies of interest is isolated from the frequency spectrum by setting appropriate cutoff frequencies for the frequency spectrum. This isolated frequency is used to filter the plethysmograph signal to provide a signal indicative of the patient's respiratory activity or cardiac function.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a method and apparatus for monitoring changes in the intra-thoracic pressure of a patient due to the patient's respiratory activity or cardiac function, and, in particular, to a first technique in which pleural pressure changes due to respiratory effort are monitored based on the changes in pressure in the patient's extra-thoracic arterial circulatory system, and to a second technique in which a patient's vessel distention in the extra-thoracic arterial circulatory system due to respiratory activity or cardiac function are monitored.
2. Description of the Related Art
Numerous patients arrive at a hospital's emergency room each day complaining of a respiratory disorder, such as difficulty breathing, wheezing, shortness of breath, etc. Many of these patient's are incapable of communicating effectively with their physician, for example they may be too young, incapacitated in some way, or have a mental deficiency that prevents effective communication with their caregivers. It would be desirable in such situations if a technique existed for monitoring their respiratory function independent of the patient's ability to communicate, i.e., with regard to the patient's description of the problem. Such a technique would also serve as an objective evaluator of a patient's condition, even if subjective communication were possible.
Conventional methods of assessing respiratory function, including work of breathing, include visually monitoring the respiratory effort of the patient, for example, by observing whether the patient is having difficulty breathing. This provides no objective, measurable indication of the patient's well-being.
A more invasive, yet more objective pulmonary effort measuring technique involves placing an esophageal catheter in the patient's airway and monitoring the pressure within the patient's esophagus. It is also possible to monitor a patient's work of breathing using a mechanical ventilator. However, this requires attaching the patient to the ventilator. These methods are invasive and, therefore, have limited application. For example, when an asthma patient enters the emergency department of a hospital, he or she is usually not on a ventilator, yet work of breathing needs to be assessed and treated immediately. In the ICU, a significant number of patients are at high risk for respiratory failure or have recently been extubated. These patients are not on a ventilator, yet monitoring their work of breathing weighs significantly in the plan of care prescribed for them.
There is also a tremendous need to understand interactions between the heart and lungs of patients in the ICU. For example, any obstructive or restrictive disease, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or congestive heart failure (CHF), will result in increased intra-thoracic pressure swings. If the patient's work of breathing is high, blood flow from the heart changes within each breath. To date, a tool does not exist that can illustrate these interactions. Another example occurs when high ventilator pressures are needed. With each ventilator breath, blood flow from the heart changes within each breath. Thus, it is important to determine how low the ventilator pressures need to be to provide adequate ventilation without altering blood flow from the heart. This determination is very difficult to make because the determination will be different for each patient. Without an objective measurement of the hemodynamic effect, this determination cannot be made.
Finally, it is known to monitor the blood pressure of a patient to detect a symptom of a heart disease. For example, it is known to monitor a patient's blood pressure for pulsus paradoxis, which is a greater than normal decrease in systolic pressure and pulse wave amplitude during inspiration. Pulsus paradoxis is associated with circumstances in which respiration is labored and often accompanies such conditions as emphysema, pulmonary embolus, cardiac tamponade, lung cancer, or CHF. Other symptoms of heart disease include:                (1) "waterhammer" pulse, which is associated with aortic insufficiency, and is characterized by a rapid pressure upstroke and rapid fall into diastole;        (2) anacrotic pulse, which is associated with aortic stenosis and characterized by a delayed pulse upstroke;        (3) dicrotic pulse, which is associated with decreased arterial tone and is characterized by an accentuated secondary pulse wave that may feel like heart rate is twice as fast as normal;        (4) pulsus bisferiens, which is associated with combined aortic stenosis and insufficiency and is characterized by double peaks in the pulse waveform; and        (5) pulsus alternans, which is usually associated with heart failure and is characterized by a large pulse wave followed by a small secondary wave.
Conventional non-invasive blood pressure monitors are only capable of taking a "snap shot" of the patient's blood pressure, i.e., the peak systole and diastole pressure, each time the blood pressure is measured. Thus, they are not suited to detect the dynamic blood pressure changes associated with these blood pressure related symptoms of heart disease.
It is known to monitor the blood pressure continuously, so that blood pressure related symptoms of heart disease, such as pulsus paradoxis, can be readily detected. However, conventional continuous blood pressure monitors are invasive; requiring locating a pressure sensor within the patient's arterial circulatory system.

Apparatus and method for monitoring pressure related changes in the extra-thoracic arterial circulatory system


The described and improved multi-arm invention of this application presents three strategies for adaptive control of cooperative multi-arm robots which coordinate control over a common load. In the position-position control strategy, the adaptive controllers ensure that the end-effector positions of both arms track desired trajectories in Cartesian space despite unknown time-varying interaction forces exerted through a load. In the position-hybrid control strategy, the adaptive controller of one arm controls end-effector motions in the free directions and applied forces in the constraint directions; while the adaptive controller of the other arm ensures that the end-effector tracks desired position trajectories. In the hybrid-hybrid control strategy, the adaptive controllers ensure that both end-effectors track reference position trajectories while simultaneously applying desired forces on the load. In all three control strategies, the cross-coupling effects between the arms are treated as "disturbances" which are compensated for by the adaptive controllers while following desired commands in a common frame of reference. The adaptive controllers do not require the complex mathematical model of the arm dynamics or any knowledge of the arm dynamic parameters or the load parameters such as mass and stiffness. Circuits in the adaptive feedback and feedforward controllers are varied by novel adaptation laws.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to control systems for robotic manipulators and more particularly relates to adaptive control for a plurality of robotic arms, e.g. a multi-arm system in which the cross-coupling between robotic arms through a common load is treated as though it were an externally caused disturbance.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An adaptive control system invented by this inventor is described and claimed in the above-identified application and a considerable number of publications are set forth therein, which publications are incorporated herein by reference as though they were set forth expressly herein. The prior art and references cited therein are called to the attention of the Patent Office as being of background relevance to this invention. As of this filing date, the identified application has received an Office Action and the following patents have been cited; Horack U.S. Pat. No. 4,547,858, Koyama et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,229; Sugimoto et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,332; and Osuka U.S. Pat. No. 4,725,942. These patents do not have any significant relevance to the invention herein described and claimed.
The system of the identified application is improved upon by being extended from a single arm approach to a dual-arm (or higher) approach with a novel method and apparatus being described for overcoming the cross-coupling that exists in a common load being manipulated by independently controlled manipulators, or arms, in a multi-arm system. Additional background material relevant to the development and a fuller understanding of this invention is given in the following paragraphs.
During the past decade, robot manipulators ("arms") have been utilized in industry for performing simple tasks, and it is foreseen that in the near future anthropomorphic robots will replace human operators in carrying out various complex tasks both in industry and in hazardous environments. Nevertheless, present-day robots can be considered at best as "handicapped" operators due to their single-arm structure. It is evident that a multiplicity of robot arms yields greater dexterity and increased efficiency and provides capability of handling larger loads. Dual-arm robots will therefore have capabilities which may match those of ambidextrous human operators in dexterity and efficiency.
The research on dual-arm robots is at its early stages at the present time and a few approaches are currently available. E. Nakano et al., Cooperational Control of the Anthropomorphous Manipulator MELARM, Proc. 4th Intern. Conf. on Industrial Robots, pp. 251-260, 1974, propose a method for control of dual-arm robots in a master/slave manner. T. Ishida, Force Control in Coordination of Two Arms, Proc. 5th Intern. Conf. on Artificial Intelligence, pp. 717-722, 1977, considers parallel and rotational transfer of loads using dual-arm robots. S. Fujii et al., Coordinated Computer Control of a Pair of Manipulators, Proc. 4th World Congress on Theory of Machines and Mechanisms, pp. 411-417, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, 1975, suggest a technique for dual-arm control based on the method of virtual reference. C. Alford et al., Coordinated Control of Two Robot Arms, Proc. Intern. Conf. on Robotics, pp. 468-473, Atlanta, Ga., 1984, describe a method for coordinated control of two arms. Y. Zheng et al., Constrained Relations Between Two Coordinated Industrial Robots, Proc. Machine Intelligence Conf., Rochester, N.Y., 1985 and Computation of Input Generalized Forces for Robots with Closed Kinematic Chain Mechanisms, IEEE Journal of Robotics and Automation, pp. 95-103, Vol. RA-1, No. 2, 1985, obtain constrained relations and control laws for two coordinated arms. T. Tarn et al., Coordinated Control of Two Robot Arms, Proc. IEEE Intern. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, pp. 1193--202, San Francisco, Calif., 1986, employ the "Global" linearization technique for dual-arm control. S. Hayati, Hybrid Position/Force Control of Multi-Arm Cooperating Robots, Proc. IEEE Intern. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, pp. 82-89, San Francisco, Calif., 1986, and in pending U.S. patent application Method and Apparatus for Hybrid Position/Control of Multi-Arm Cooperating Robot, filed Mar. 21, 1988, Ser. No. 06/845,991 proposes a method for controlling dual-arm robots based on partitioning the load between the arms. A. Koivo, Adaptive Position-Velocity-Force Control of Two Manipulators, Proc. 24th IEEE Conf. on Decision and Control, pp. 1529-1532, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., 1985, suggests an adaptive control technique for dual-arm robots using the self-tuning approach. J. Lim et al., On a Control Scheme for Two Cooperating Robot Arms, Proc. 24th IEEE Conf. on Decision and Control, pp. 334-337, Ft. Lauderdale Fla., 1985, describes a positional control scheme for two cooperating robot arms.
Some recent results of single-arm adaptive control are reported in the following papers: H. Seraji, Adaptive Control of Robotic Manipulators, JPL Engineering Memorandum 347-182, January, 1986; H. Seraji, Direct Adaptive Control of Manipulators in Cartesian Space, Journal of Robotic Systems, February, 1987 (to appear); and H. Seraji, Adaptive Forces and Position Control of Manipulators, JPL Engineering Memorandum 347-192, October, 1986.
The above-identified articles, to the extent that they are properly considered prior art, do not teach or suggest a dual-arm adaptive control system, nor such a system having adaptive hybrid control of each arm independently. Moreover, only in this application is it taught that a multi-arm adaptive control system is reliably operable so long as the load's inter-arm cross-coupling is treated as though that cross-coupling were an externally caused disturbance. The adaptive hybrid control system of this invention can compensate for that cross-coupling because of the novel force and/or position control laws as herein defined.
There are certain key differences between my single-arm invention's approach and the conventional hybrid control approach of Raibert and Craig, referred to above. Firstly, in my single-arm invention, the force or position control problems are formulated in the Cartesian space with the end-effector Cartesian forces as the manipulated variables; whereas in Raibert and Craig, the problems are formulated in the joint space. The single-arm invention's formulation results in computational improvement since inverse Jacobians are not required for the controllers' operation. Secondly, the single-arm invention's hybrid system operates on the measured variables so as to produce the position and force variables that need to be controlled; whereas in Raibert and Craig, a selection matrix and its complement are used after formulation of tracking errors. In summary, the Raibert and Craig disclosure simply does not teach or suggest the novel concepts of my invention.

Dual-arm manipulators with adaptive control


Cushion (50) for anatomical support, especially of the lumbar and cervical regions, for mounting onto backs (42) of seats (41) generally, includes a curved elastic plate (51) having longitudinal ends connected by a posterior brace formed by a pair (55, 60) of rods threaded in opposite directions that screw into an intermediately placed cylindrical scroll (63) so that it is possible to vary the convexity of the plate (51) and therefore the extent to which the cushion projects from the seat back (42) by rotation of the scroll (63) in one direction or the other. It is also possible to adjust the height of the cushion, when placed inside the seat back (42), by a special internal mechanism (51, 71, 72, 74) operated by a knob (45) placed on the outside.

The invention concerns a small cushion designed for anatomical support, especially to the lumbar and cervical regions, to be mounted onto the backs of seats.
Such small cushions are well known and are placed inside the seat backs of motor vehicles, their thickness and therefore projection being variable to suit the needs or preferences of the user.
These cushions are made by means of a device comprising a rigid structure combined with an elastic structure.
Convexity of the elastic structure in relation to the rigid structure may be obtained by a system of cams with a tie rod.
The cam is operated from outside the seat by means of a mechanism comprising a gear wheel and worm screw and a transmission shaft worked by an external knob.
The external structure consists of longitudinal metal bands crossing over transversal bands with outwardly projecting ends to ensure adequate spring.
This device is very complex and its outer surface is rough and sharp. It has therefore to be covered with a soft layer of considerable thickness.
The tie rod referred to above is involved in the curving movement of the elastic structure so that much effort is required to work the cam.
The worm strew is inserted to lessen effort when the device is adjusted but the knob has therefore to be given a great many turns making adjustment time far too long.
The device cannot be moved vertically from the lumbar to the cervical region or in between, or adapted to the stature, needs and preferences of the user.
These drawbacks lessen the advantages of the device not only due to its cost but also for practical reasons and duration.

Cushion for anatomical support, especially for the lumbar and cervical regions, to fit onto seat backs


A system and method for providing secure access to a computer system. An access device divides the password into multiple segments and places them in data packets. In one embodiment, an authentication server has multiple addresses, and each packet is sent to a different address. The server then reassembles the password. In another embodiment, when the server receives a password, the server sends an index value back to the access device, which then accesses the server on another address indicated by the index value. Alternatively, the password is sent to multiple addresses for the server, and the server determines whether any of the received packets have been altered. The multiple password packets may be forced to follow different paths to the server, thereby denying hackers the ability to intercept all of the password characters or determine the inter-packet timing factor. The system is effective against passive and active hackers, Trojans, and phishing techniques.

The present invention is directed, in general, to computer security systems. More particularly, and not by way of limitation, the present invention is directed to a system and method for providing secure access to a computer system.
Computers and networks are often protected by passwords. In order to gain access to the computer or network, a user must enter a password. The computer or network controller (server) authenticates the password by comparing the password entered by the user with a stored password. If the entered password matches the stored password, the user is given access. If not, the user is denied access.
A major problem with password-protected computer systems is the already large and growing threat from "hackers." The popular definition of a hacker refers to individuals who gain unauthorized access to computer systems for the purpose of stealing and/or corrupting data. Hackers are known for breaking into supposedly secure computer systems and damaging web sites, credit card accounts, internal databases, and the like.
Hacker software tools include programs that try many combinations of numbers and letters over a set period of time in an attempt to compromise a password-protected system. On some computer operating systems, as each letter or number is presented by the hacker, the letter or number is confirmed by the system as being correct or incorrect. This serial confirmation sequence actually makes it easier for a hacker to gain entry because fewer combinations of letters and numbers have to be tried. On other operating systems, the password must be completely entered correctly before confirmation is supplied by the system. This may slow down the password discovery process, but with time, the hacker can eventually present a correct password to the target computer system.
A passive hacker may monitor communications between a client device and an authentication server to learn the user's password. The passive hacker may then use the learned password to gain access to the server at a later time. For this reason, many organizations have their users periodically change their passwords. This is a great inconvenience for the users. To defeat the passive hacker, solutions have been tried which change the password for each access. Each time the user logs on, the user types his personal password plus a six-digit number which changes for every logon attempt. Once again, this is a great inconvenience for the user.
An active hacker may actually intercept and alter data packets sent from the client device to the authentication server, preventing the original packets from arriving at the server. The active hacker may then alter the data contents of the packets or may alter address information, thereby posing as the authorized user. The above solution of adding a changing six-digit number to the user's personal password does not defeat this type of active hacker if the hacker can access the server while the changing number is still valid.
In another type of active hacking, the hacker intercepts and alters the destination address of the client's data packets to a fake website which simulates the website the user was trying to reach. For example, the hacker may reroute a user to a fake website which is set up to appear as the user's bank. In an alternative form of this technique, known as phishing, the hacker sends an e-mail to the user posing as his bank's security department and asks the user to click on a link to verify his account information. The link takes the user to a fake site where the user is asked to enter his password and his account number. The hacker then uses this information to access the user's account at his bank.
In yet another type of hacking, the hacker may install a program known as a Trojan on the user's computer. The Trojan monitors the user's keyboard and captures the keystrokes as the user enters his password. The Trojan then reports the password to the hacker who uses it to gain access to the user's protected information.
Currently, there is no known solution for countering all of the above hacker threats. Therefore, a need exists in the art for an improved system and method for providing secure access to a computer system, which overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art and protects computer systems from unauthorized access by both passive and active hackers. The present invention provides such a system and method.

System and method providing secure access to a computer system


A picture processing apparatus transmits information of motion included in an original moving picture and realizes a display having a sense of motion, also when frames are thinning out and only part of picture data is displayed. The picture processing apparatus includes a motion generation unit and performs weighted addition for each of pixels constituting the picture data as a processing target, by using pixel values of plural pixels, on the basis of a motion vector corresponding to the picture data, and generates picture data which was subjected to a motion generation and addition processing, thereby to use this picture data for display or transmission.

The present invention relates to a picture processing apparatus and method and, more particularly, to a picture processing apparatus and method which receive picture data and change information as information for indicating a temporal change in the picture data, thereby to generate picture data for display.
The technology of digitizing a picture to obtain digital picture data is an important technology for display or transmission of picture data in broadcasting, picturephones, videoconferences, computer network systems and the like. As for storage of the digital picture data, mass storage media such as DVDs are becoming widespread and coded moving picture data compressed according to MPEG1, MPEG2 or the like is usually stored in these media.
The data stored in such a medium is reproduced by a reproduction apparatus including a DVD player when the medium is a DVD. In the case of reproduction using data transmitted in a network system or the like, the normal reproduction of displaying pictures similar to original moving pictures is exclusively performed. On the other hand, in the case of the reproduction by the above reproduction apparatus, various trick reproduction functions are mostly provided for users"" convenience. As examples of the trick reproduction functions, there are reverse reproduction of reproducing a picture in the direction opposite in the time series to that of an original moving picture, high-speed reproduction of reproducing a picture so as to have a higher-speed motion than that of an original moving picture, and high-speed reverse reproduction of reproducing a picture at higher speeds and in the opposite direction.
For example, in a case where compressively coded data stored in the DVD is reproduced by the reproduction apparatus including the DVD player, when the normal reproduction is performed, the apparatus expansively decodes the compressively coded data successively and outputs (displays or the like) the data. On the other hand, when the high-speed reproduction is performed, the apparatus usually outputs (displays or the like) only part of data, thereby to realize a high-speed display. The compressively coded moving picture data is generally processed with one screen, i.e. one frame, as a unit. Therefore, while respective frames are successively processed to display pictures in the normal reproduction, a frame-drop processing of thinning out part of frames is performed in the high-speed reproduction. For example, when picture data consists of 25 frames per second, and only one frame among the 25 frames is processed and output, 25-time speed reproduction is performed.
FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining the normal reproduction and the high-speed reproduction for moving picture data taking a frame as a unit. Each of F1 to F13 shown in the figure illustrates a picture of each frame included in output pictures of the normal reproduction. These pictures are to be reproduced in this order according to the time series. When the reproduction apparatus normally reproduces this data, data of F1 to F13 is successively output in a cycle according to the television signal standards such as NTSC or PAL.
The arrows in the figure indicate the order of outputting frames in the high-speed reproduction of quadruple-speed. In this case, after an F1 frame is output, an F5 frame is output and then F9 and F13 frames are successively output. Therefore, only one frame is output every four frames, whereby the high-speed reproduction of quadruple-speed is realized.
In the case of reverse reproduction, frames are successively reproduced from F13 to F1 in the reverse order to the time series. In the case of high-speed reverse reproduction, also one frame is output every four frames, i.e. F13, F9, F5, and F1 are output in the reverse order to the time series, whereby the high-speed reverse reproduction of quadruple-speed is realized.
As described above, these trick reproduction functions are popular in the reproduction apparatus. However, also in the case of transmission of picture data, when the transmission at a low bit rate is required, frames are thinned out in a similar way to the high-speed reproduction, thereby transmitting output data.
As described above, prior art picture processing apparatuses thin out frames to output (display or transmit) pictures, thereby realizing the high-speed reproduction. However, since frames which are targets to be thinned out are not output at all in this processing, information about motions of moving pictures, which is included in the frames to be thinned out is completely lost.
Assume that an object has a motion from the right to the left in the frames F2 to F7 of the picture data shown in FIG. 15. When the high-speed reproduction of quadruple-speed is performed for this picture data, the motion of the object from the right to the left is not transmitted at all by information transmitted with only the frame F5. Therefore, users who utilize a displayed result of the high-speed reproduction cannot obtain information as to how the object moves or whether the object is not moving but stops.
In addition, when the prior art picture processing apparatus performs the high-speed reproduction by thinning out frames, output frames are discontinuous. Therefore, only displays which make the users feel disorder are obtained.
Further, when the prior art picture processing apparatus performs the high-speed reproduction by thinning out the frames, the users cannot easily obtain information as to whether the normal reproduction or high-speed reproduction is performed, from only the displayed result. That is, not only when the degree of thinning is low (relatively low speed) but also the degree of thinning is high (relatively high speed), although the display makes the users feel disorder as describe above, the users cannot easily know whether the high-speed reproduction is performed or moving pictures for producing special effects are normally reproduced.
Also when the data is transmitted by thinning out frames as described above in the transmission at a low bit rate, the same phenomenon occurs when the data is displayed and utilized at a transmission destination.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a picture processing apparatus and method which can transmit information about motions included in original pictures also in the case of the high-speed reproduction.
In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide a picture processing apparatus and method which can realize good displays having less disorder due to discontinuous displays also in the case of the high-speed reproduction.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a picture processing apparatus and method which allow the users to easily know whether the high-speed reproduction is performed or not, from a display screen or the like.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a picture processing apparatus and method which transmit information of motions, produce no disorder, and allow the user to easily know reproduction states, also when it transmits data by thinning out frames in a similar way to the high-speed reproduction.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description and specific embodiments described are provided only for illustration since various additions and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will be apparent to those of skill in the art from the detailed description.
According to a 1st aspect of the present invention, a picture processing apparatus which receives picture data and change information as information for indicating a temporal change in the picture data and generates displayed picture data, comprises a motion generation unit for performing weighted addition for pixels constituting the picture data on the basis of the change information, and generating the displayed picture data. Accordingly, the displayed picture data includes the motion information and a display result having a sense of motion can be obtained. Therefore, a display having less disorder relative to the prior art picture processing apparatus can be realized, and users can easily know a reproduction state because the motion information is added to the picture data.
According to a 2nd aspect of the present invention, in the picture processing apparatus of the 1st aspect, the motion generation unit uses the change information which is previously added to each unit picture data, thereby to perform the weighted addition for pixels constituting the unit picture data. Therefore, a display result which corresponds to a state of a picture more appropriately can be obtained.
According to a 3rd aspect of the present invention, in the picture processing apparatus of the 1st aspect, the motion generation unit generates, on the basis of plural pieces of the change information which is previously added to each unit picture data, change information corresponding to processing unit picture data which is a smaller unit than the unit picture data, and uses the generated change information corresponding to the processing unit picture data, thereby to perform the weighted addition for pixels constituting the processing unit picture data. Therefore, a display result which corresponds to a state of a picture more appropriately can be obtained.
According to a 4th aspect of the present invention, in the picture processing apparatus of the 2nd aspect, the motion generation unit comprises a move amount and weighting factor decision unit for deciding a move amount and weighting factors for each pixel, from the change information; a processing target pixel decision unit for deciding a pixel as a processing target on the basis of the move amount; and a weighted addition unit for performing the weighted addition for pixel data of the pixel as the processing target, by using the weighting factors. Therefore, a display result which corresponds to a state of a picture more appropriately can be obtained.
According to a 5th aspect of the present invention, in the picture processing apparatus of the 3rd aspect, the motion generation unit comprises a motion vector interpolation unit for generating, on the basis of plural pieces of the change information which is added to each unit picture data, change information corresponding to the processing unit picture data which is a smaller unit than the unit picture data; a move amount and weighting factor decision unit for deciding a move amount and weighting factors for each pixel, from the change information corresponding to the processing unit picture data; a processing target pixel decision unit for deciding a pixel as a processing target, on the basis of the move amount; and a weighted addition unit for performing the weighted addition for pixel data of the pixel as the processing target, by using the weighting factors. Therefore, a display result which corresponds to a state of a picture more appropriately can be obtained.
According to a 6th aspect of the present invention, in the picture processing apparatus of any of the 1st to 3rd aspects, the motion generation unit obtains change information transition information for indicating a temporal change in the change information, and performs the weighted addition for the pixels constituting the picture data on the basis of the obtained change information transition information, thereby to generate the displayed picture data. Therefore, a display result which corresponds to a state of a picture more appropriately can be obtained.
According to a 7th aspect of the present invention, in the picture processing apparatus of the 4th or 5th aspect, the move amount and weighting factor decision unit comprises a change information storage unit for storing the input change information, and decides the move amount and the weighting factors for each pixel on the basis of plural pieces of change information at different times, which change information is stored in the change information storage unit. Therefore, a display result which corresponds to a state of a picture more appropriately can be obtained.
According to an 8th aspect of the present invention, the picture processing apparatus of any of the 1st to 3rd aspects further comprises a reproduction information input unit for inputting reproduction information which indicates a display state of the displayed picture data, and the motion generation unit generates the displayed picture data by using the reproduction information. Therefore, a display result which corresponds to a state of a picture more appropriately can be obtained.
According to a 9th aspect of the present invention, the picture processing apparatus of any of the 1st to 3rd aspects further comprises a threshold judgement processing unit for comparing the input change information with a threshold, and generating second change information on the basis of a result of the comparison, and the motion generation unit generates the displayed picture data by using the second change information. Accordingly, when the camera shake having a micro motion vector, or a picture or object having almost no motion vector is included, the motion information is not added. Therefore, the risk that the picture including the camera shake is erroneously recognized as the motion of the picture can be avoided. Since unnecessary motion information is not given to the picture, a picture processing apparatus can transmit the motion of an original picture and obtain a good picture including less disorder or displeasure.
According to a 10th aspect of the present invention, the picture processing apparatus of any of the 1st to 3rd aspects further comprises a motion vector processing unit for multiplying a value of the input change information by a predetermined factor and generating second change information, and the motion generation unit generates the displayed picture data by using the second change information. Therefore, a picture having an emphasized motion information added thereto, or contrary a picture having a suppressed motion information added thereto can be generated. Accordingly, a picture processing apparatus can generate and display a picture to which more dynamic presence is added, or motion information is added with the presence being reduced.
According to an 11th aspect of the present invention, the picture processing apparatus of any of the 1st to 3rd aspects further comprises a region judgement unit for judging a region of the picture data, as a processing target. Therefore, a region to which the motion information is added can be arbitrarily decided. Accordingly, a part in which dynamic presence is to be given can be distinguished from other parts according to provided picture data.
According to a 12th aspect of the present invention, a picture processing method which receives picture data and change information as information for indicating a temporal change in the picture data and generates displayed picture data, comprises a step of performing weighted addition for pixels constituting the picture data on the basis of the change information, thereby generating the displayed picture data. Accordingly, the displayed picture data includes the motion information and a display result having a sense of motion can be obtained. Therefore, a display having less disorder relative to the prior art picture processing apparatus can be realized, and users can easily know a reproduction state because the motion information is added to the picture data.
According to a 13th aspect of the present invention, the picture processing method of the 12th aspect comprises a step of using the change information which is previously added to each unit picture data, thereby performing the weighted addition for pixels constituting the unit picture data. Therefore, a display result which corresponds to a state of a picture more appropriately can be obtained.
According to a 14th aspect of the present invention, the picture processing method of the 12th aspect comprises steps of on the basis of plural pieces of the change information which is previously added to each unit picture data, generating change information corresponding to processing unit picture data which is a smaller unit than the unit picture data; and using the generated change information corresponding to the processing unit picture data, thereby performing the weighted addition for pixels constituting the processing unit picture data. Therefore, a display result which corresponds to a state of a picture more appropriately can be obtained.
According to a 15th aspect of the present invention, the picture processing method of any of the 12th to 14th aspects comprises steps of obtaining change information transition information for indicating a temporal change in the change information; and performing the weighted addition for the pixels constituting the picture data on the basis of the obtained change information transition information, thereby generating the displayed picture data. Therefore, a display result which corresponds to a state of a picture more appropriately can be obtained.
According to a 16th aspect of the present invention, the picture processing method of any of the 12th to 14th aspects comprises a step of receiving reproduction information for indicating a display state of the displayed picture data, and generating the displayed picture data by using the reproduction information. Therefore, a display result which corresponds to a state of a picture more appropriately can be obtained.
According to a 17th aspect of the present invention, the picture processing method of any of the 12th to 14th aspects comprises a step of comparing the input change information with a threshold, and generating the displayed picture data by using second change information generated on the basis of a result of the comparison. Accordingly, when the camera shake having a micro motion vector, or a picture or object having almost no motion vector is included, the motion information is not added. Therefore, the risk that the picture including the camera shake is erroneously recognized as the motion of the picture can be avoided. Since unnecessary motion information is not given to the picture, a picture processing apparatus can transmit the motion of an original picture and obtain a good picture including less disorder or displeasure.
According to an 18th aspect of the present invention, the picture processing method of any of the 12th to 14th aspects comprises a step of generating the displayed picture data by using second change information generated by multiplying a value of the input change information by a predetermined factor. Therefore, a picture having an emphasized motion information added thereto, or contrary a picture having a suppressed motion information added thereto can be generated. Accordingly, a picture processing apparatus can generate and display a picture to which more dynamic presence is added, or motion information is added with the presence being reduced.
According to a 19th aspect of the present invention, the picture processing method of any of the 12th to 14th aspects comprises steps of judging a region of the picture data as a processing target, and generating the displayed picture data by using a result of the judgement. Therefore, a region to which the motion information is added can be arbitrarily decided. Accordingly, a part in which dynamic presence is to be given can be distinguished from other parts according to provided picture data.
According to a 20th aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to execute weighted addition for pixels constituting picture data on the basis of change information as information for indicating a temporal change in the picture data is recorded.
According to a picture processing apparatus or method of the present invention, also when a picture is transmitted at a low bit rate, an original motion of the picture is transmitted, thereby obtaining the same effects as in the case of the reproduction time.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.