A MEMS resonator, a method for manufacturing thereof, and a filter are provided in which a first-order oscillation mode can be used and an S/N ratio of an output signal can be improved. Further, a communication apparatus of high reliability using the filter is provided.

In recent years, attention has been paid to a micro-machine (MEMS: Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) element and a small device in which a MEMS element is incorporated. A basic characteristic of the MEMS element is that a driving body included as a mechanical structure is incorporated into a part of the element, and the driving body is driven electrically by an application of coulomb's force between electrodes and the like.
On the other hand, since a micro-oscillation element formed by using a micro-machining technology based on a semiconductor process has such advantages that an area occupied by a device is small, a high Q-value can be obtained, and an integration with another semiconductor device is possible, a use as a high frequency filter in wireless communication devices has been proposed by research laboratories including Michigan University (refer to Non-patent Reference 1).
FIG. 10 shows a schematic view of a resonator, specifically a MEMS resonator, constituting a high frequency filter described. This resonator 1 includes a fixed output electrode 4 formed on a semiconductor substrate 2 through an insulation film 3 and a beam 6 capable of oscillating is formed on an input side to face the output electrode 4 separated by a space 5. The beam 6 has conductivity and is disposed to straddle the output electrode 4 like a bridge to be supported by anchor portions (support portions)8 [8A, 8B] on both the ends.
In this resonator 1, an input terminal t1 is led out from an input electrode 7 connected to an extension portion from the anchor portion 8A of the beam 6, for example, and an output terminal t2 is led out from the output electrode 4, respectively.
In this resonator 1, a high frequency signal S1 is supplied to the beam 6 through the input terminal t1 in the state where a DC bias voltage V1 is applied between the output electrode 4 and the beam 6, and the beam 6 oscillates by electrostatic power generated between the output electrode 4 and the beam 6. A product of a temporal change of capacitance between the output electrode 4 and the beam 6 caused by the oscillation and the DC voltage is output from the output electrode through the output terminal t2. A signal that corresponds to a natural oscillation frequency (resonant frequency) of the beam is output in a high frequency filter.
FIG. 11 is a simulation of a beam structure of the above-described MEMS resonator 1. Portions corresponding to those in FIG. 10 are shown by giving the same reference numerals. A resonant frequency fR of the beam 6 is expressed by a numerical formula 1. In order to obtain a high frequency in the resonator 1, it is necessary to reduce a length L of the beam.
                    fR        =                                            0.162                            h                                      L              2                                                                    EK              ρ                                                          [                  Numerical                                                              Formula                                                              1                ]
L: length of beam (resonator structure)
h: thickness of beam (resonator structure)
E: Young's modulus
K: electromagnetic coupling coefficient
ρ: film density
[Non-patent Reference 1] C. T. -C. Nguyen, "Micromechanical components for miniaturized low-power communication (invited plenary)", proceedings, 1999 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium RF MEMS Workshop, Jun. 18, 1999, pp, 48-77.
FIG. 12 shows an equivalent circuit of the above-described MEMS resonator 1. However, a beam is of a cantilever beam type in this MEMS resonator. In this MEMS resonator 1, between the input terminal t1 and the output terminal t2 are inserted in parallel a series circuit of resistance Rx, inductance Lx, and capacitance Cx that constitutes a resonance system, and parasitic capacitance C0 by the space 5 between the beam 6 that is the input electrode and the output electrode 4. When impedance of the resonance system is Zx and impedance of the parasitic capacitance C0 is Z0, an S/N ratio of an output signal is equivalent to Z0/Zx. When a value of Z0/Zx becomes smaller than 1.0, the S/N ratio of the output signal becomes small, because a high frequency signal is transmitted through the impedance Z0 of the parasitic capacitance C0. In the above-described MEMS resonator 1, since the capacitance C0 between the beam 6 and the output electrode 4 before the application of the bias is large, the S/N ratio may be deteriorated.
FIG. 7 is a graph according to a simulation showing a relation between a frequency and Z0/Zx in the resonator. A straight line a with ●-marks being plotted is a characteristic of the above-described resonator 1. The lower the frequency is, the larger the value of Z0/Zx becomes, and when the frequency becomes high and Z0/Zx becomes smaller than 1.0, the resonator 1 does not function as a resonator.
On the other hand, the applicants of the present invention have previously proposed a MEMS resonator in which a large S/N ratio of an output signal is obtained by controlling capacitance C0 between a beam and an output. FIG. 9 shows an example of the MEMS resonator. This MEMS resonator 11 includes: an input electrode 14 into which a high frequency signal S2 is input and an output electrode 15 to output a high frequency signal, which are disposed at a required interval on a semiconductor substrate 12 through an insulation film 13, and a beam capable of oscillating (what is called an oscillation electrode) 17 disposed to face those input and output electrodes 14 and 15 separated by a space 16. The beam 17 is supported by anchor portions (support portions) 18 (18A, 18B) at both ends, and is made into a both-ends-supported beam structure.
In this MEMS resonator 11, a high frequency signal S2 is input into the input electrode 14 through an input terminal t1, a required DC bias voltage V2 is applied to the beam 17, and a high frequency signal of an objective frequency is output from an output terminal t2 which is led out from the output electrode 15. According to this MEMS resonator 11, since facing areas of the input and output electrodes 14 and 15 can be small and an interval between the input and output electrodes 14 and 15 can be large, the parasitic capacitance C0 between the input and output electrodes 14 and 15 becomes small. In addition, in order to obtain a large output signal, the space 16 between the beam 17 and the input and output electrodes 14 and 15 can be made small. Accordingly, the S/N ratio of the output signal can be improved in comparison to the MEMS resonator 1 of the related art shown in FIG. 10.
Hereupon, an oscillation of a second-order mode or higher is used in this MEMS resonator 11. Therefore, when measuring a characteristic of the resonator 11, specifically, when measuring a characteristic ranging from a low frequency to a high frequency, since oscillation may be caused in a first-order mode in a low frequency, there is a possibility that the beam 17 is brought in contact with a lower electrode (input electrode 14, output electrode 15). In other words, since amplitude of the beam 17 becomes larger in the oscillation of the first-order mode than in the oscillation of the second-order mode, there is a possibility that the beam 17 is brought in contact with the lower electrode. If the beam 17 is in contact with the lower electrode, spike current flows in the input electrode 14 and there is a possibility of damaging a peripheral device.

MEMS type oscillator, process for fabricating the same, filter, and communication unit

Abstract: A MEMS resonator of the present invention includes an output electrode, a beam capable of oscillating disposed on an input side to face the output electrode and an input electrode, in which the output electrode and the input electrode 27 are separated from the beam in terms of DC. A filter of the present invention includes the above-described MEMS resonator. A communication apparatus of the present invention includes a filter to limit a band of a transmission signal and/or reception signal, and the above-described filter according to the present invention is used as the filter.


Surgical retrieval devices for capturing tissues and fluids in endoscopic and laproscopic operations include a semi-rigid, resiliently collapsible and expandable basket comprising a structural combination of resilient, semi-rigid snare wire and frame wire members that are formed with a yieldable bend configuration that together flare into a basket form when extended out of a catheter. The basket is enhanced by surrounds of net, mesh, or impervious material for retaining smaller bits of tissue or fluids, or with a web of interspersed flexible threads for enhanced tissue retaining capability.

Endoscopic surgery procedures are common in many medical research and practice fields for myriad purposes, for example, to access, diagnose, and treat or excise abnormalities or conditions in interior portions of a patient's body or internal organs that would not be visible or accessible to a surgeon's vision or hands without more extensive or invasive incisions or surgical procedures. An endoscope generally, but not always, comprises some type of rigid or flexible tube, sometimes called a catheter, a light delivery system to illuminate the target object or tissue, a lens system for transmitting images of the target object or tissue through the tube to the viewer, an eyepiece and/or camera, and often one or more additional lumens to accommodate entry of some kind of medical or surgical instrument or manipulator. Some endoscopic instruments include only the surgical instruments disposed in and deployed by an elongated tube (e.g., catheter), but not the optical components, in which case they may be used concurrently with another endoscope that does include optical components. Endoscope and endoscopy as used herein are broader terms that encompass various types of such instruments and procedures, including, but not limited to, laparoscopy, bronchoscopy, colonoscopy, and arthroscopy. Endoscopic procedures are common in myriad types of medical specialties and body organs or cavities, including, for example, the gastrointestinal tract, the respiratory tract, the urinary tract, the ear, the reproductive system, normally closed body cavities via small incisions such as the pelvic cavity, joints, organs of the chest, and others. In some of such procedures, various sized and kinds of pieces of tissues are cut or otherwise separated from the organ or target object of the surgery, and, in others, various kinds of other materials are captured and removed from the organs or target objects in the body. In some procedures, such separated pieces of tissue or other materials can be removed by irrigation and suctioning, but others are removed with instruments that are designed to capture and hold them mechanically as they are removed from the organ or body through or with the endoscopic instrument.
An example of an instrument designed to capture and hold separated pieces of tissue or other materials mechanically in endoscopic procedures for removal from organs or bodies is shown in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/635,700, filed by Rafic Saleh, on Dec. 6, 2006 (Publication No. 2008/0091215 A1), which is incorporated by reference herein for all that it teaches and discloses. Other examples of such instruments are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,656,191, issued on Dec. 2, 2003, to T. Ouchi; U.S. Pat. No. 5,643,283, issued on Jul. 1, 1997, to M Younker; U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,740, issued on Apr. 13, 1993, to N. Nakao; U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,740, issued on Mar. 2, 1993, to N. Nakao; U.S. Pat. No. 6,814,739, issued on Nov. 9, 2004, to D Secrest and M. Younker; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/182,543, filed by N. Nakao on Jul. 15, 2005 (Publication No. 2007/0016224 A1).
The foregoing examples of related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive, and they do not imply any limitations on the inventions described and claimed herein. Various limitations of the related art will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding of the specification below and of the accompanying drawings.

Surgical retrieval apparatus and method with semi-rigidly extendable and collapsible basket


A decoding method for decoding a block of an image is disclosed that comprises:—determining a split mode for said block in a set of split modes;—splitting said block into at least two sub-blocks responsive to said split mode;—decoding each of the at least two sub-blocks; wherein said set of split modes comprises at least one split mode for asymmetrically splitting said block into the at least two sub-blocks.

To achieve high compression efficiency, video coding schemes usually employ prediction and transform to leverage spatial and temporal redundancy in the video content. Generally, intra or inter prediction is used to exploit the intra or inter frame correlation, then the differences between the original image and the predicted image, often denoted as residuals, are transformed, quantized and entropy coded. To reconstruct the video, the compressed data is decoded by inverse processes corresponding to the prediction, transform, quantization and entropy coding.
In HEVC coding ("ITU-T H.265 Telecommunication standardization sector of ITU (October 2014), series H: audiovisual and multimedia systems, infrastructure of audiovisual services—coding of moving video, High efficiency video coding, Recommendation ITU-T H. 265"), a picture is partitioned into coding tree units (CTU) of square shape with a configurable size typically 64×64, 128×128, or 256×256. A CTU is the root of a quad-tree partitioning into Coding Units (CU). For each CU, a prediction mode is signaled which indicates whether the CU is coded using intra or inter prediction. A Coding Unit is partitioned into one or more Prediction Units (PU) and forms the root of a quad-tree (known as transform tree) partitioning into Transform Units (TUs). A PU may have a square or a rectangular shape while a TU has a square shape. Asymmetric subdivision of the CU into PUs is also possible in inter prediction, that is if a CU has a size N×N, a PU may have a size N/4×N, 3N/4×M, N×N/4, N×3N/4 as illustrated on FIG. 1. Each PU is assigned some prediction information, for instance motion information, spatial intra prediction, etc.
Quad-Tree plus Binary-Tree (QTBT) coding tool ("Algorithm Description of Joint Exploration Test Model 3", Document JVET-C1001_v3, Joint Video Exploration Team of ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11, 3rd meeting, 26 May-1 Jun. 2015, Geneva, CH) is a new video coding tool that provides a more flexible CTU representation than the CU/PU/TU arrangement of the HEVC standard. The Quad-Tree plus Binary-Tree (QTBT) coding tool defines a coding tree where coding units can be split both in a quad-tree and in a binary-tree fashion. Such coding tree representation of a Coding Tree Unit is illustrated on FIG. 2, where solid lines indicate quad-tree partitioning and dotted lines indicate binary partitioning of a CU.
The splitting of a CTU into coding units is decided on the encoder side, e.g. through a rate distortion optimization procedure which consists in determining the QTBT representation of the CTU with minimal rate distortion cost. In the QTBT representation, a CU has either a square or a rectangular shape. The size of a coding unit is always a power of 2, and typically goes from 4 to 128. The QTBT decomposition of a CTU comprises two stages: the CTU is first split into 4 CUs in a quad-tree fashion, then each quad-tree leaf can be further divided into two CUs in a binary fashion or into 4 CUs in a quad-tree fashion, as illustrated on FIG. 3. On FIG. 3, solid lines represent the quad-tree splitting and dotted lines represent the binary splitting that is spatially embedded in the quad-tree leaves.
With the QTBT representation, a CU is not further partitioned into PUs or TUs. In other words, once the partitioning of a CTU is decided, each CU is considered as a single prediction unit and a single transform unit. However, such a QTBT representation only allows for symmetric splitting of a CU as illustrated by FIG. 4. FIG. 4 depicts 4 split modes allowed by QTBT. The mode NO_SPLIT indicates that the CU is not further split, the mode QT_SPLIT indicates that the CU is split into 4 quadrants according to a quad-tree, the mode HOR indicates that the CU is split horizontally into two CUs of equal size and VER indicates that the CU is split vertically into two CUs of equal size.

Encoding and decoding methods and corresponding devices

INTERDIGITAL MADISON PATENT HOLDINGS, SAS


A fatigue sensor for monitoring the health state of structural members is disclosed. The sensor has multiple parallel beams, each sensitive to different levels of fatigue, that are designed to fail prematurely but progressively as the sensor goes through the same fatigue cycles as the structural member it is attached to. Whenever fatigue levels on a particular beam of the sensor exceed the engineered number of fatigue cycles, that particular beam fails and sensor electronics can detect that failure and transmit this information wirelessly when interrogated by an external interrogator. Having multiple beams that fail after different numbers of fatigue cycles enables the health state of the structural member to be monitored, in that unlike normal fracture sensor that sense failure of the structural members after the actual fracture event, the present invention is capable of sensing imminent failure of the structural member before the actual failure occurs.

Failures that are caused by the fatigue loads on the structural parts could be followed by fatal accidents. Mechanical parts can fail unexpectedly due to fatigue loads and result in loss in life and property. Several fatigue design techniques have been developed in order to bring a solution to this problem. The best-known method is the ASME holistic design methodology. In this methodology, during the design phase, working conditions are taken into consideration so that fatigued design is operational for a specific lifetime. However, this model does not guarantee that mechanical parts would work under the assumed conditions or stay undamaged during the assumed lifetime of the structure. Hence, fatigue failure has been a problem and leads to fatal accidents in a variety of mechanical parts.
Observing real-time fatigue damage is important in order to set up a correct balance between performance and structural integrity of mechanical systems. Several methods have been developed to detect fatigue damage on critical mechanical parts and structural elements working under cyclic loads. In model analysis technique, obtaining information about fatigue damage is possible by observing the variations of frequency and vibration models, originated by cracks in the mechanical parts. Another technique to determine the damages resulted by the stress concentrations is wave propagation. In this method, the response of the original system is observed in the frequency domain and the values are compared to the fatigued version of the system to reveal fatigue damage. Yet another method is based on measuring stress values synchronously on critical points of the structure (such as in the joints of aircraft wings) and therefore projecting fatigue effects that are resulted by these.
It is utmost critical to monitor structural integrity of safety-critical structures like bridges, aircraft, naval ship etc. as they age in service. Failure to do so results in catastrophic failure of the structure during its service life, which may cause damage to lives and property. Performing manual inspection of structures by human inspectors is not only difficult but also proved to be unsatisfactory as it is easy to miss problem spots. Because of its importance, there have been many research and countless inventions toward this subject in the literature.
Boller and Meyendorf reviewed the state of the art in structural health monitoring in an article titled "State of the art in structural health monitoring for aeronautics" in 2008 in Proceedings of International Symposium on NDT (non destructive testing) in Aerospace. The article lists state of the art of sensors used for aircraft health monitoring applications and lists sensors like; electrical strain gauges, electrical crack wires, acoustic emission, acousto-ultrasonics, laser vibrometry, comparative vacuum monitoring (CVM), optical fiber Bragg grating (FBG), MEMS and electromagnetic foils. These sensors are designed toward sensing existence of the cracks that develop during lifetime of the structure.
Another review report is published by L. Fixter and C. Williamson titled "State of the art Review—Structural Health Monitoring" includes additional sensors used for monitoring bridge and civil structures as well as structures like aircraft. Yet another up-to-date article published by Papazian et al. in issue 29 of Journal of Fatigue, dated 2007, titled "Sensors for monitoring early stage fatigue cracking" explains use of eddy current, ultrasonic sensor and electrochemical fatigue sensor (EFS) in detail. These sensors also detect cracks that develop during life time of the structure.
There are also many commercially available fatigue sensors in the market. B. M. Phares from Material Technologies, Inc. reviews one of the innovative sensors called electrochemical fatigue sensor in a technology review article titled "The electrochemical fatigue sensor: A novel sensor for active fatigue crack detection and characterization" which is available from companies' website.
There have been numerous patent applications for sensors that detect health state of structures. U.S. Pat. No. 7,621,193 B2 by Fay et al. is a patent titled "Fracture detecting structural health sensor" which works by attaching a frangible membrane including a thin conductor sense loop is connected to a structural element to be tested. Failure of the structural element destroys the thin conductor sense loop and reveals the failure of the structural member. This invention is also designed to detect the crack after the crack occurs. The crack developed on the surface of the structure destroys the frangible loop and the sensor senses the existence of the crack this way.
Another patent application US 2009/031 by Goldfine et al. titled "Primary windings having multiple parallel extended portions" uses series of eddy current sensors to detect not only the existence but also the size of the crack developing under the sensor attached surface. Like the previous patent, this invention is also geared toward detecting cracks after the crack develops. As the crack progressively gets longer, more and more eddy current sensors sense the situation and inform the status of the crack
Majority of the sensors mentioned above, regardless whether they are chemical, optical, or electrical, they are all designed toward detecting the existence of the cracks. In the present invention, the approach is different. Rather than detecting the existence of the crack, the present invention intends to estimate the remaining service life of the structure and raise an alarm when the service life of the structural member gets closer to its limit. The sensor is wireless enabled which makes it possible to check the status of the sensor easily through as sensor network.
Reading sensors wirelessly is a well-researched subject and its techniques are well known in the state of the art. Lei et al. published an article in Chinese Journal of Aeronautics in 2009 in issue 22 titled, "Design an Experiment of PCT Network-Based Structural Health Monitoring Scanning System" explaining how such a wireless network can be constructed. Another article published by Mascerenas et al. titled, "Experimental Studies of Using Wireless Energy Transmission for Powering Embedded Sensor Nodes" in 2009 issue of the Journal of Sound and Vibration to describe how remote sensors with no batteries can be powered by remote RF energy in a bridge monitoring application.
Structural health monitoring applications requires a robust, reliable and easy to read sensors to monitor the fatigue state of structural members. What the expectations should be from an ideal structural health monitoring systems is researched by researchers from industry and academia. J. D. Acenbach summarizes these expectations in a review article titled "Structural health monitoring—What is the prescription?" in Journal of Mechanics Research Communications, 36 (2009) 137-142 as follows;
An ideal Structural Health Monitoring system should have such features:                Should have permanently installed microsensors,        On demand or continuous condition monitoring in real time should be possible,        Wireless transmission to central station,        Instantaneous interpretation of sensor data,        Detection of unacceptable material damage at critical high-stress locations,        Monitoring of growth of material damage into critical size,        Growth prediction by a probabilistic procedure,        Adjustments to growth prediction for actual damage state at prescribed intervals,        Probabilistic forecast of damage state for near term and of lifetime.
Incorporation of all these attributes into a single structural health monitoring is not likely, but these are the desired features of from a state of the art, ideal structural health monitoring system.
Additionally, there are many technical challenges for ideal sensors to overcome. Ideally, the sensors used in structural health monitoring systems should be:                Small (microsensors), ligthweight.        Autonomously powered without any power wires,        Cheap, robust, maintainable, repairable and easy to install,        Accurate, known probability of detecting failure (POD).        Easy to properly couple to structure without causing any damage,        Suitable for wireless transmission to central station,        Can be densely distributed,        Capable of measuring both local and system-level response,        Designed to measure relevant damage parameters.
The above requirements are summary of expectations from ideal structural health monitoring sensors. The present invention intends to address some of these requirements to come up with a lightweight, reliable sensor which enables monitoring health state of the structure whether it is an aircraft or a bridge.

Wireless enabled fatigue sensor for structural health monitoring


Tile cache techniques are described. In at least some embodiments, a tile cache is maintained that stores tile content for a plurality of tiles. The tile content is ordered in the tile cache to match a visual order of tiles in a graphical user interface. When tiles are moved (e.g., panned and/or scrolled) in the graphical user interface, tile content can be retrieved from the tile cache and displayed.

Today's computing device user has access to a wide variety of content. Much of this content is "rich content", in that it consists of a combination of different types of content, including images, text, audio, video, animations, and so on. There are a number of challenges associated with enabling a user to navigate through such rich content, such as allocating device resources that are utilized during the navigation.
For example, as a user visually navigates through content, additional content is presented to the user as part of the navigation experience. Presenting the additional content to the user typically involves retrieving the additional content from some type of storage, converting the additional content into a form that can be displayed, and then displaying the additional content to the user. This process can consume significant resources and if resources are not sufficient, the quality of the navigation experience can be diminished.


A mobile sewage treatment and water reclamation system for rapid deployment to augment existing wastewater systems and provide interim service in lieu of permanent facilities, includes: (a) denaturing stage wherein raw sewage is first ground into suspendable grit, its pH first lowered to kill acid-sensitive bio-organisms, then raised to kill base-sensitive bio-organisms, and then neutralized; (b) clarifying stage employing an inverted-cone tank to circulate the solution after injection with chemicals to flocculate small particles for collection in a layer for siphoning off; and (c) disposal stage wherein clarified water passes through media filters to remove remaining solids and odors, the effluent water being clean enough for irrigation, aquatic life and discharge into waterways; and wherein sterile sludge is pressed into semi-dry solids, then dried, crushed, powdered and bagged for use as high-nitrate biomass fertilizer or for fossil-fuel power co-generation applications.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to municipal sewage treatment facilities and methods, and particularly to a sewage plant adapted for short-term service at temporary locations to mitigate interim short-falls of sewage treatment capacity. More particularly, this invention relates to a portable, unitary, non-biological sewage treatment system adapted to be moved without disassembly on national and state highways between temporary sites, and the apparatus and methods employed to make such sewage treatment facilities portable.
2. Description of Related Art
The majority of wastewater treatment plants in use today for treatment of municipal sewage are of the biological type. It is well known that the liquid waste from such plants is not suitable for re-use without advanced or tertiary treatment which requires additional equipment and land space. The solid waste also requires considerable handling and space, either for disposal or processing for re-use as fertilizer or fuel. Land requirements and equipment size for such plants thus are quite large, resulting in significant capital investment when building or expanding this type of plant. A need exists for a compact, unitary, portable wastewater treatment plant that does not require extensive pretreatment or materials handling space.
It is widely known that sulfur dioxide is an effective and rapid disinfecting agent for both liquids and solids, and it is an economically acceptable choice. Previous designs for chemical disinfection and dewatering systems have failed to gain wide acceptance, mostly due to insufficient reduction in equipment size, or limitations imposed by systems designed for batch operation. There exists a need for a Wastewater Treatment System that will continuously disinfect both the liquid and the solids in a rapid manner in limited space.
Temporary construction sites can develop very large camps occupied by workers and sometimes their families for months and even years at a time. Often located in remote, rural settings or near small, existing settlements, sewage treatment requirements of such camps can easily overwhelm local treatment capacity, if it exists at all. This could require such municipalities to add far more capacity than they'll need once the camp is disbanded after construction. A need exists for temporary wastewater treatment facilities that easily can be set up for interim capacity increases and efficiently and quickly removed and relocated when no longer needed. Further, a need exists for a sewage treatment plant that can be moved on national and local roadways from one such site to the other with little or no disassembly.

Portable, non-biological, cyclic sewage treatment plant


A configurable flow control air baffle comprises one or more removable flow impedance devices that affect the direction of airflow forced through a computer system, wherein the position of the one or more flow impedance devices are user-configurable. Various embodiments comprise various shapes, sizes and attachment configurations of the flow impedance devices. Hence, the airflow through computer systems is controllable by a user based on the different configurations of the components within respective computer systems. According to one embodiment, the removable flow impedance devices are user-configurable on the baffle by removably attaching the flow impedance devices to a baffle face, such as in one or more housing mechanisms. According to one embodiment, the removable flow impedance devices are user-configurable on the baffle by permanently decoupling, from the baffle, one or more preconfigured permanently removable flow impedance devices.

Some components of computing equipment, such as processors, require cooling to dissipate the heat generated during operation. Typically, cooling air (or possibly other gases) is forced through the equipment via one or more fan assemblies, thereby helping to cool the internal components of the equipment. In typical computer systems, the forced airflow may flow over and/or bypass certain components, for example, due to the configuration of the computer components and the size of the enclosure housing the components. Thus, in response to such a scenario, the airflow through the equipment is often controlled and directed to certain regions, and in some cases through the fins of a heat sink, via an internal air baffle mechanism.
When component configurations within a computer system vary, the airflow through the equipment is not readily manageable to compensate for the configuration variation because the air baffle configuration is fixed. For example, for equipment enclosures that support different sets of components at varying locations, e.g., two different motherboards and corresponding sockets that can be installed in the same chassis, the airflow will typically bypass some components in some configurations because of the fixed-configuration air baffle. In other words, the direction of the airflow through the equipment is not configurable based on the configuration of the components within the equipment.
One approach to directing airflow through computing equipment based on the configuration of components installed within the equipment is to install "dummy" components within the equipment enclosure in the place of real components, to simulate a consistent component configuration. Such an approach is intended to force the airflow to behave as if the equipment is fully populated. However, different "dummy" parts are needed for each different component being simulated and, therefore, raising issues regarding inventory in the field, maintainability, etc. Furthermore, the "dummy" parts are installed in the same manner as the actual component being simulated (e.g., in a DIMM slot on a motherboard) and, therefore, can damage parts on the mating board (e.g., a socket) and consequently prevent use for future upgrades, affect reliability, etc. Based on the foregoing, there is room for improvements in the control and management of airflow through computing equipment.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.


Computer implemented method of refactoring JavaScript code for multi-threading concurrent execution, comprising:    1) Designating a source code which includes background code entries indicated by a user as executed in background.    2) Analyzing the source code entries to create a dependency record.    3) Creating a background process comprising the background code entries and removing code entries which read or write from DOM(s).    4) Creating a handler code comprising the write code entries.    5) Creating main code which includes:            (a) Remaining code entries not included in the background process and the handler code.        (b) Process initiation code initiating the background process. The process initiation code is placed at a process initiation point identified based on the dependency record which follows the read code entries in the source code execution path and precedes the write code entries.            6) Outputting refactored code file(s) which include the background process, handler code and main code.

The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to refactoring source JavaScript code for multi-threading execution, and, more specifically, but not exclusively, to refactoring JavaScript code for multi-threading execution by creating one or more background processes.
Multi-threading has become a common practice for many application and/or software implementations in order to take advantage of multi-threading capabilities of modern processing and more specifically of multi-core processing devices, products, systems and/or platforms. Multi-threading allows two or more threads (smallest independent software code entities) to be executed in parallel to avoid blocking each other with respect to hardware resources such as, for example, processing resources, memory resources, storage resources and/or communication resources.
Multi-threading may however present problems during runtime of the software product(s) and/or application(s) as well as during the software development phase. Software entity threads may interact with one another, conflict with each other and/or block each other. Developing software for multi-threading execution presents a major challenge for software development in general and the challenge may be even more demanding for dynamic software implementations such as, for example, JavaScript.

Automatic refactoring of javascript code for multi-thread execution

International Business Machines Corporation


A method for diagnosing and maintaining a vehicle at a repair shop includes connecting a first vehicle inspection device to a first work station and selecting a mobile VCI which is provided a detection software component situated on a central repair shop server and a central diagnostic device; connecting the VCI to the vehicle; establishing a communication between the VCI and the diagnostic device; storing vehicle identification data in the VCI via the diagnostic device; performing a first set of vehicle inspections using the first vehicle inspection device and/or the VCI; disconnecting the first vehicle inspection device from the vehicle; connecting a second vehicle inspection device to the vehicle; reading out the identification data from the VCI into the second vehicle inspection device at a second work station via the diagnostic device; and performing a second set of vehicle inspections using the second vehicle inspection device and/or the VCI.

The publication DE 44 46 512 A1 discloses a device for carrying out a vehicle check using a mobile wireless part which relays diagnostic data from a vehicle to a repair shop.
The publication DE 199 21 846 A1 discloses a diagnostic test device having a portable inspection device for motor vehicles.
The technical development of motor vehicle inspection technology has resulted in a plurality of specific external inspection devices for different inspection fields and motor vehicle components. The vehicle inspection devices used for this purpose are highly specialized and adapted to the corresponding vehicle components. Vehicle inspection devices are frequently used at special work stations in a repair shop or an inspection site, for example, since the vehicle inspection devices are installed fixedly in the repair shop. A vehicle which is present in the repair shop for error diagnosis and/or repair is moved from work station to work station, depending on the inspection or repair to be performed.
In today's motor vehicles, many functions are carried out by electronic control units which are connected to the vehicle electronics system. The electronic control units often also take over the on board diagnostic functions of the vehicle systems and store special diagnostic and/or operating mode data. To be able to evaluate the data of the diagnostic functions from the control units, universal diagnostic testers have been developed which enable a communication with the control units present in the vehicle. The functionality of the communication may vary greatly and relates, for example, to reading out stored error codes, relaying actual values, carrying out complex actuator tests, resetting service intervals, breaking in installed replacement parts, and similar tasks.
Diagnostic testers usually include in this case an assembly which is responsible for the communication with the vehicle. Most of the time, this assembly is used as a vehicle communication interface (VCI). VCIs of this type may also be situated in their own housing and communicate with universal input and display devices, such as laptops, PDAs, or smart phones, via wired or wireless transmission. The diagnostic functionality of universal diagnostic testers or input and display devices is in this case ensured via a corresponding diagnostic software which enables the operation, the display, the diagnosis sequence control, and the communication with the electronic control units via the VCI.
The specialization of the vehicle inspection devices currently usually requires the combination of individual inspection and repair steps with communication steps and the evaluation of the data in the electronic control units.
Two basic approaches, which are schematically shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, have been established so far in the design of the inspection devices and repair shop visits.
FIG. 6 shows a vehicle 61 in a repair shop. Vehicle 61 includes here one or multiple electronic control units 62 which are installed in vehicle 61. During an inspection or repair sequence in a repair shop, vehicle 61 is moved to different work stations 65a, 65b, and 65c which may be spatially separated from one another. At each of work stations 65a, 65b, 65c, a specific vehicle inspection device 64a, 64b, 64c is present which is assigned to the particular work station. Specific vehicle inspection devices 64a, 64b, 64c may be connected for inspection purposes to the components of vehicle 61, e.g., the exhaust, the engine, the air conditioner, or other components. At each work station, a universal diagnostic tester 63 associated with particular work station 65a, 65b, 65c is additionally provided, using which the communication with electronic control units 62 of vehicle 61 is established via a not illustrated standardized vehicle interface. Alternatively, the repair shop has only one universal diagnostic tester 63 which is moved from work station to work station as needed.
During a repair shop visit of vehicle 61, it is necessary that particular universal diagnostic tester 63 of each work station 65a, 65b, 65c is connected to the not illustrated standardized vehicle interface. The operation of diagnostic tester 63 and of particular vehicle inspection device 64a, 64b, 64c takes place separately. This may lead to manual input errors by the users of the devices. Moreover, a certain amount of additional time and effort is required for the repeated identification of vehicle 61 at each of work stations 65a, 65b, 65c by diagnostic tester 63.
FIG. 7 shows a different approach, as follows. A vehicle 71 including one or multiple installed electronic control units 72 passes through work stations 75a, 75b, 75c in a repair shop. There is a specific vehicle inspection device 74a, 74b, 74c at each of work stations 75a, 75b, 75c. Each of specific vehicle inspection devices 74a, 74b, 74c includes an integrated VCI 73a, 73b, 73c, with the aid of which a communication is established with electronic control units 72 in vehicle 71 via a not illustrated standardized vehicle interface. For this reason, the operation of a separate universal diagnostic tester in parallel to the vehicle inspection device, as in FIG. 6, is dispensed with. Furthermore, a separate identification of vehicle 71 is, however, necessary at different work stations 75a, 75b, 75c by particular integrated VCI 73a, 73b, 73c. Moreover, particular vehicle inspection devices 74a, 74b, 74c, in particular their inspection device software, must be adapted to integrated VCIs 73a, 73b, 73c. At a work station without a specific vehicle inspection device, a universal diagnostic tester including an integrated VCI may then be used.

System and method for identifying, diagnosing, maintaining, and repairing a vehicle


The cannula support includes a helical cord flexible along its length to permit selective axial displacement of adjacent coils for insertion of a cannula tube therein and a breathable material that permits prolonged skin contact substantially without irritation. Furthermore, the cannula support includes an exterior surface having a coefficient of friction substantially preventing sliding movement along the length of the cannula tube when mounted thereon.

The present invention is directed to a support device for a cannula. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a cannula support that includes a plurality of interlocking fibers spiral-bound together in a manner that permits selective attachment to a flexible plastic cannula tube for providing cushioned and molded support in and around the ear, and preventing irritation known to be induced by plastic-to-skin contact from the flexible tube.
A cannula is a somewhat slender and elongated tube that can be used to deliver or remove fluids from the body. In this respect, the more specific nasal cannula or oral-nasal cannula is a device used to deliver supplemental oxygen to a patient in need of respiratory help. At one end, the flexible tube may extend from or attach to a device that might include an oxygen tank, a portable oxygen generator, or a wall connection in a hospital that delivers oxygen via a flow meter. At the other end, the flexible tube terminates into one or more open-ended ports designed to be inserted into the nostrils and/or the mouth. Oxygen flows from the source, through the tube and out through the open-ended ports as a means to supplement breathing. The open-ended ports may vary in size depending on the desired flow rate of oxygen.
As generally shown in FIG. 1, the cannula is positioned to provide oxygen through one or more ports positioned near the wearer's nostrils. The flexible plastic tube of the cannula wraps around the cheeks toward the ears. In most cases, the flexible plastic tube of the cannula sits in the space or channel formed between the ear and the scalp—doing so can cause skin irritation, as described in more detail below. Furthermore, the flexible plastic tube of the cannular wraps around behind the ear and comes back toward the front area of the neck, by the chin, for travel back to the oxygen source. In this configuration, the cannula typically does not inadvertently fall out of the patient's nostrils and/or mouth through casual movement.
The problem is that the plastic material of the cannula typically remains compressed against the skin between the ear and the scalp and after a while the plastic material tends to stick to the skin. Constant contact can cause indentations in the skin, redness, sores or other skin irritations, especially if the skin-to-plastic contact does not allow the skin to breathe underneath. In this respect, if the flexible plastic tube sticks to the skin, the wearer can tear the skin in and around the ear when the cannula moves (e.g., by turning your head). This problem is exacerbated by the fact that nasal cannula are often used or worn by elderly patients whose skin may produce insufficient quantities of oil to keep the external area of the skin lubricated in a manner that prevents or lessens sticking. Placing the plastic tube on open sores or against torn skin is particularly painful and does not allow for healing.
As such, several products have been developed to help solve the problem of skin irritation around the ears associated with cannula usage. But, these products have drawbacks of their own. For example, the E-Z Wrap Soft Foam Ear Protectors for Oxygen Nasal Cannulas (1-Pair), made by Salter Labs of 100 W. Sycamore Road, Arvin, Calif. 93203, are 3-inch soft closed-cell foam tubes having an inner diameter relatively larger than the external diameter of the cannula tube such that the cannula tube can be inserted therein through a slit down one side of the foam tube. The foam tube covers the portion of the plastic cannula tubing that sits over a portion of the ear when the oxygen cannula is worn. In this respect, the E-Z Wraps are designed to improve comfort and help prevent chafing and soreness. But, this product does not stay in place and tends to easily slip down along a portion of the cannula tube such that it is no longer in position. Additionally, the straight and relatively stiff structure of the foam tube has a tendency to dislodge from the curved area of the ear because the straight foam tube is non-conforming thereto. This too may cause the E-Z Wrap to slide down the flexible plastic tube of the cannula such that it is no longer in a position to protect the ear from the irritating plastic flexible tube of the cannula. As a result, this product may be a nuisance or not work at all, especially for active users. Some solutions have included applying an adhesive, such as tape, to prevent such movement, but this is not ideal.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a cannula support that is flexible so as to be selectively attachable to the cannula, may be adjusted or bent to fit or conform to the exterior surface of the curved area of the ear where the cannula sits and is supported when worn, is comfortable, and prevents substantial skin-to-plastic contact that may otherwise cause skin irritation. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages.


A drain port and an exhaust port arranged at the bottom of a cup surrounding a substrate holding unit. A drainage tray is arranged below the cup so as to cover the moving area of the drain port when the substrate holding unit and the cup move in X-directions and Y-directions. An exhaust unit is arranged at a position corresponding to the position of the exhaust port of the cup when the substrate holding unit is in its spin-drying position. The exhaust unit is connected to the exhaust port to suck the interior of the cup when the spin-drying of the substrate is executed. The use of a flexible tube which is always connected to the exhaust port is no longer necessary.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a laser treatment apparatus that irradiates a surface of a substrate with a laser beam, while a substrate holding unit moves horizontally and the surface of the substrate is supplied with a liquid, thereby to perform a laser treatment to the surface.
2. Description of the Related Art
As one of series of processes for fabricating a semiconductor device, a process is known, which process machines a substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer and a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display, by using a laser beam.
U.S. patent application publication No. 20020050489 A1 (Ikagami et al.) discloses a technique that scans a substrate surface by a laser beam to form dicing lines thereon. U.S. patent application publication No. 20040197433 A1 (Terada et al.) assigned to the same assignee of the present application discloses a technique that removes a resist film on an alignment mark formed on a substrate by using a laser beam in order to expose the alignment mark before exposure of the substrate. The use of a laser beam is effective for such treatments, because it has a high energy and can be positioned precisely.
When machining a substrate surface by using a laser beam, a substrate surface is irradiated with a laser beam while a liquid such as deionized water flows on the substrate surface, in order to prevent re-adhesion of substances removed by the machining to the substrate surface.
FIG. 11 schematically shows the structure of the laser machining apparatus of US 20040197433 A1. A chuck 13, which is capable of rotating by means of a drive mechanism 12, is arranged in a cup 11. A substrate 10 held by the chuck 13 is irradiated with a laser beam by means of a laser beam irradiating unit 14 while the chuck is moved in X- or Y-directions by means of a moving mechanism, thereby a resist film overlying an alignment mark is removed.
When irradiating a laser beam, a plate 15 made of a transparent quartz glass is placed such that it is slightly removed away from a surface of the substrate 10, and deionized water is supplied into a gap between the plate 15 and the substrate 10 from one side while the deionized water is sucked from the other side to be collected. After completion of the treatment by the laser beam, the plate 15 is raised, and a spin-drying, which removes the deionized water on the substrate 10 by rotating it, is performed.
During the irradiation of the laser beam, an amount of deionized water which can not be sucked is spilled from the wafer to fall into the cup 11. If the irradiated position is near the periphery of the substrate 10, a large amount of deionized water falls into the cup 11. When spin-dying the substrate 10, deionized water also scattered into the cup 11. Thus, the cup 11 must be provided in its bottom with a drain port to discharge the deionized water from the cup 11. Moreover, in order to prevent water droplets scattered during the spin-drying of the substrate 10 from going out of the cup 11, the cup 11 must be provided in its bottom with an exhaust port to form an air flow that draws the water droplets into the bottom of the cup 11. In the laser machining apparatus of US 20040197433 A1 is provided with an exhaust port 16 which is commonly used as the aforementioned drain port and exhaust port.
As the cup 11 moves X- and Y-directions by means of the moving mechanism, a flexible hose (exhaust pipe) long enough to adapt the moving range of the cup 11 must be connected to the cup 11. As the cost of a clean room per unit area is very high, semiconductor fabricating apparatuses are downsized, and component parts of the apparatuses including driving mechanisms are arranged in bottom spaces of the apparatuses in a high density. Thus, making a sufficiently wide space for the hose is difficult, in other words, prevents downsizing of the apparatus.
In addition, as a semiconductor fabricating apparatus has a number of driving mechanisms, it is preferable to use a possible smallest drive source for each driving mechanism. However, the curved flexible hose connected to the cup 11 offers a great resistance to the movement of a stage to which the cup 11 is mounted. In order to move the stage at a high speed and a high acceleration to ensure a high throughput of the apparatus, a high-power, thus large-sized drive source must be used. This problem becomes more noticeable in recent days when the size of a substrate (in a case of a semiconductor wafer, 12-inch size) becomes larger.


Since a sensor signal intermitted on the basis of a sensor signal including an abnormality detection signal, detected as a result of a persistence of an abnormal condition of a security sensor, is generated and an intermitted output signal in dependence on an intermitted sensor signal input is transmitted from a wireless transmitter 17 to a receiver 18, a condition in which the intermitted output signal can be transmitted from the wireless transmitter 17 to the receiver 18 can be retained even though the wireless transmitter 17 is of a type capable of transmitting an output signal in the form of, for example, one pulse on the basis of the signal input, and it is therefore possible for the side of the receiver 18 to recognize assuredly the persistence of the abnormal condition.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a security sensor system including a security sensor, made up of an object detecting subunit for detecting an object and a wireless transmitter, and a receiver for receiving a signal transmitted wireless from the wireless transmitter.
2. Description of Related Art
As shown in FIG. 7, the conventional security sensor system has been known, which includes a security sensor assembly 101, made up of a light projecting unit 102 for projecting infrared rays of light (IR) within a warning area and a light receiving unit 103 for receiving the projected infrared rays of light (IR), both of which are secured to respective supports such as, for example, mounting poles or outer walls of a building, and a receiver 118 disposed, for example, indoor and connected with the security sensor assembly 101 through a connecting cable W. In this conventional security sensor system, when an object intercepts the infrared rays of light within the warning area, an object detecting subunit 110 of the light receiving unit 103 detects the Object and then outputs a warning signal based on this, which warning signal is subsequently received by the receiver 118 through the connecting cable W. The security sensor system has also been known in the art, which includes a PIR (Passive Infrared Ray) security sensor, made up of only a light receiving unit for detecting infrared rays of light emanating from an object, and a receiver connected with this security sensor through a connecting cable. (See, for example, the Patent Document 1 listed below.)
This system generally operates under a security mode during the nighttime or the absence from home, but under a non-security mode during the daytime or the presence at home without performing any warning output (alarming or warning by way of sounds, light or signals) of a human body detection even though a signal input occurs from the sensor. Accordingly, the receiver receives the warning signal, outputted during the security mode, and provides a warning output, but no warning output occurs even though it receives the warning signal outputted during the non-security mode. It has, however, been found that where the security sensor assembly 101 of the AIR (Active Infrared Ray) system and the receiver 118 are connected with each other through the connecting cable, as shown in FIG. 7, so that when during the non-security mode an intercepting object such as, for example, a vehicle is placed within the 10 detection area, the warning signal is continuously (in a hold state) outputted to the receiver, connected with it through the connecting cable, during the interception by the intercepting object as shown in chart (a) of FIG. 8. When the non-security mode is subsequently switched over to the security mode, the receiver 118 receives this signal and the presence of an abnormality can be ascertained.
Even where during the non-security mode such an abnormality detection signal indicative of the detection of an abnormal condition of the sensor as, for example, a tamper signal, which is continuously outputted from the tamper signal output subunit 113, shown in FIG. 7, as a result of a tamper switch being switched on or off upon removal of a sensor covering in an attempt to conduct any interference, is outputted, the abnormality can be ascertained when the non-security mode is switched over to the security mode.
[Patent Document 1] JP Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2001-56887


A knowledge base is collaboratively developed by receiving language input from at least one editor, featurizing it into language elements, extracting predicate sets that are missing predicate arguments, querying editors for input regarding the missing arguments, and updating the knowledge base with suitable predicate arguments and other language elements provided by the editors.

In the past, known artificial intelligence computational tools involving probabilistic programming have been used to create digital knowledge bases based on language analysis. Such knowledge bases are a collection of data representing entities, facts, and relationships that conform to a predefined data model. Such knowledge bases help machines to understand humans, language, and the world. See Wang, Daisy Zhe, "A Probabilistic Knowledge Base System", (PowerPoint presentation). Data Science Research CISE University of Florida, 2013, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

Method for collaborative knowledge base development


In a method for detecting the fuel injection performance of a fuel injection valve in which a nozzle needle biased by a spring member for establishing valve opening pressure is lifted off from the valve seat when pressurized fuel is supplied thereto, electric data corresponding to the wave form of the shock wave produced in the spring member when fuel is injected is detected at one end of the spring member, and time-course change in the pressure of injected fuel acting on the nozzle needle during the fuel injection operation is determined on the basis of the time-course change in magnitude of the shock wave returning from the nozzle needle side end in the spring member by reflection, whereby various fuel injection factors can be calculated from the determined pressure of injected fuel acting on the nozzle needle during the fuel injection operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for detecting injection performance in fuel injecting operation of a fuel injection valve, and more particularly to a method for detecting injection timing, the amount of injection and the fuel injection rate in a fuel injection valve for internal combustion engines.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Up to now there has been widely used a fuel injection valve provided with a nozzle needle and a pressure spring for biasing the nozzle needle toward the associated valve seat, and as soon as pressure exerted by the supply of the pressurized fuel exceeds the tension of the pressure spring, pressure acting on the pressure taper of the nozzle needle causes the nozzle needle to be lifted off the valve seat and fuel is injected from the injection hole or holes into the combustion chamber. For detecting the fuel injection performance of the fuel injection valve of the type described above, Japanese Utility Model Application Public Disclosure No. Sho 61-144267 discloses a detecting system in which a piezoelectric element is provided for detecting changes in the tension of the pressure spring and the time at which the the fuel injection starts is detected on the basis of the level of the output voltage developed across the opposite surfaces of the piezoelectric element.
However, since the proposed detection system is directed to detection of only the time at which injection of fuel begins on the basis of change in the level of the voltage signal representing the force produced in the pressure spring at the beginning of fuel injection, it is impossible for the proposed detection system to detect fuel injection parameters other than the time at which injection of fuel begins, and specifically for it to detect the fuel injection rate, the amount of fuel injected and the like.

Method for detecting fuel injection performance of fuel injection valve


A new and distinct cultivar of Clematis plant named ‘Sweet Summer Love’ characterized by its upright and vining plant habit; relatively small leaves; freely flowering habit; long flowering period; and single fragrant flowers that are red purple and purple in color.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Clematis plant, botanically known as Clematis hybrida and hereinafter referred to by the name 'Sweet Summer Love'.
The new Clematis plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Pruszków, Poland. The objective of the breeding program is to create new Clematis plants with fragrant purple-colored flowers.
The new Clematis plant originated from a cross-pollination conducted by the Inventor in July, 2003 in Pruszków, Poland of an unidentified selection of Clematis hybrida, not patented, as the female, or seed parent with an unidentified selection of Clematis hybrida, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Clematis plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant from within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Pruszków, Poland.
Asexual reproduction of the new Clematis plant by cuttings in Pruszków, Poland since June, 2004 has shown that the unique features of this new Clematis plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.


A memory includes a data generator to generate a data pattern, a transmitter in communication with the data generator, the transmitter to transmit the data pattern as a test data pattern, receiver to receive the test data pattern from the transmitter, and a comparator coupled with the receiver, the comparator to compare the data pattern with the test data pattern from the receiver and to verify proper operation of a memory channel. A method includes providing a seed value to a transmit and a receive pattern generator in a memory, generating data at the transmit pattern generator from the seed value and transmitting the data from the memory, looping the data to a receiver on the memory, using the seed value to generate data with the receive pattern generator, and comparing the data from the receive pattern generator and the transmit pattern generator to determine if any errors occurred.

Semiconductor technologies continue to evolve. Computing and communications designs are incorporating more functionality, higher processing and transmission speeds, smaller sizes, more memory, etc., into smaller and more robust architectures. These trends have placed particular demands on interconnect architectures.
Semiconductor memories are advancing in many ways. Memory devices have increased capacities, increased operating frequencies, reduced latencies, etc., all while ramping with the exponential density increases according to Moore's Law.
To improve memory IO capability, high-speed serial links can be used to couple memories with memory controllers. Unfortunately, these links operate at speeds that are not testable in a cost effective manner on conventional equipment such as automatic test equipment (ATE), burn in ovens or other test hardware.
Conventional DRAMs have single ended interfaces that are tested at speed on automatic test equipment (ATE). As DRAM speeds increase this test method becomes increasingly difficult and costly. This equipment is currently capable of testing memory up to 1067 MHz. Future DRAM interfaces are expected to operate at 3.2 GHz and above, which may require testers that are considerably faster and more costly.
One way to address this problem is to incorporate on-die circuitry for IO self-test. On-die pattern generator and checker circuits have been proposed in the past for testing of high-speed logic chips. One example of this is an interconnect built in self test (IBIST), which is an emerging standard for testing of high-speed connections for logic chips. Unlike logic chips, memory chips have limitations on the number of gates that can be cost-effectively integrated on a die.

IO self test method and apparatus for memory


Prepare a foam structure that includes hollow coalesced foam strands and, optionally, solid coalesced foam strands using an extrusion die block equipped with apertures that promote forming the hollow strands and, optionally, the solid foam strands.

This invention relates to foam structures comprising a plurality of hollow, coalesced foam strands, their preparation and use, and extrusion foaming dies suitable for use in fabricating such structures. This invention also relates to foam structures that include both hollow, coalesced foam strands and solid, coalesced foam strands together with their preparation and use, and extrusion foaming dies suitable for use in fabricating such structures.
A variety of patent publications relate to foamed objects that comprise a plurality of coalesced, distinguishable, expanded (foamed) polymer strands (strand foams). Illustrative publications include U.S. Pat. No. 3,573,152 (column 2, lines 19-35, column 2, line 67 through column 3, line 30, column 4, line 25 through column 5, line 19 and column 5, line 64 through column 6, line 46); U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,484 (column 1, lines 12-21, column 2, line 55 through column 5, line 8, column 5, lines 16-50 and column 5, line 60 through column 6, line 6); U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,720 (column 2, lines 57-68, column 3, line 57 through column 5, line 32 and column 5, lines 50-58); U.S. Pat. No. 5,124,097 (column 3, line 34 through column 4, line 3, column 5, line 31 through column 6, line 11 and column 6, lines 36-54); U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,110,841; 5,109,029 and; European Patent Application (EP-A) 0 279,668; Japanese Patent Application numbers (JP) 60-015114-A; 53-1262 and H6-263909. The relevant portions of such publications, especially those specifically noted, are incorporated herein by reference.
In general terms, strand foam preparation includes extrusion of a foamable material, typically a thermoplastic polymer material, through a multi-orifice die plate to generate individual foamable strand elements. The strands expand and coalesce (e.g. proximate strands contact each other along at least a surface portion of their respective lengths while the strands retain sufficient surface tackiness to effect strand-to-strand adhesion) after emerging from the die plate, yet remain distinguishable following recovery of the strand foam. Typical strands have a circular cross-section where the die orifices or apertures are circular. Altering the orifice shape to a slot, a square or a special shape leads to a corresponding partial alteration in strand cross-section. Partial alteration results from a tendency of strands exiting a die orifice to round with foaming rather than hold true to an aperture shape.
Strand foams offer a number of performance advances. For example, strand foams have excellent strength in a plane transverse to the direction of extrusion. They provide a predetermined shape with little or no need to trim. They function as low density products with distinguishable coalesced cellular strands. With the ability to change or alter die orifice shape and arrangement, strand foams readily adapt to variations in shape.

Hollow strandfoam and preparation thereof


Systems and methods may provide traversing data using metadata. In one example, a method may include gathering a textual description of a first object, wherein the textual description includes a word, generating a vector represent the textual description, assigning a first weight value to the word, associating an object space with the word including assigning a second weight value to the word, and associating an object space with the first object.

Embodiments generally relate to traversing data relationships. More particularly, embodiments relate to utilizing data relationships to analyze contextual information about one or more objects to determine object attributes and relationships, and utilizing the attributes and relationships during data search/retrieval.
Existing search applications may typically only return a set of results based on keywords treated with equal importance, wherein the applications may fail to provide any contextual information regarding the results. As a result, searches may yield sub-optimal results from the user's perspective.

Traversing data utilizing data relationships


The present invention relates to data communication systems and methods thereof. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention provide a data transmission method. Data are encoded with staircase encoder, and staircase coded blocks are first interleaved then combined into outer code frames. Code frames additionally include sync words and padding bits. A second interleaving is applied to the bits of the code frames, and Hamming encoding is performed on the output of the second interleaver. Hamming codewords are Gray-mapped to dual-polarized quadrature-amplitude-modulation (DP-QAM) symbols, and a third interleaving of the symbols from a set of successive Hamming codewords is performed. Pilot symbols are inserted periodically into the stream of DP-QAM symbols. There are other embodiments as well.

The present invention relates to data communication systems and methods thereof.
Internet and mobile applications nowadays demand a huge amount of bandwidth for transferring photo, video, music, and other multimedia files. To meet the bandwidth and capacity demands, high-speed data communication systems are deployed. Research and development efforts have been made to improve bandwidth of optical communication systems. For example, given physical limitations of optical communication links, advanced techniques (e.g., high-order QAM, DSP processing, etc.) are used to reach high data rate (e.g., 400 Gbps).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods and systems for data transmission


A safety system of a harness, in particular of the trapezoidal type, is suitable for use on watercraft such as a yacht or windsurfer. A basic element (10) is coupled to the harness. A hook (15), suitable for being hooked by a cable, is coupled to the basic element (10). The basic element (10) has a first piece (31) connected to the harness and a second piece (30, 15) that can be disconnected from said first piece (31). The first piece (31) is coupled to the second piece (30, 15) by a coupling (32) that can be removed.

The present invention refers to a harness, in particular of the trapezoidal type, suitable for use on watercraft such as yachts or windsurfers. More specifically it refers to a safety system of the harness.
When a boat leans over on one side because of the wind or the speed that has to be kept, it is usual for sailors to lean over the side of the boat to compensate for the inclination using their own weight. The trapezoidal type of harnesses are used, which can be connected to cables connected to the mast of the boat, to allow the sailors to lean over as much as possible without falling into the water.
It can happen, though, that in the event of danger, for example if the boat capsizes, it is difficult if not impossible to unhook the cable of the harness sometimes resulting in disastrous consequences for the sailors.


This invention relates to a powder mixture of absorbent fibers with oleophilic and hydrophobic properties, to a process for separating and/or collect oil, petroleum and all kinds of hydrocarbons, solvent or other selected liquid from oil, gasoline, diesel, solvents, antifreezes, acetone, ether, paraffins, waxes or oil paints, or combinations thereof, both in water and earthy soils involves the use of a powder mixture of absorbent fibers and recyclable adsorbents, the method for producing the mixture and their applications.

Oil spills, solvents and hazardous materials are an ongoing problem that has serious environmental consequences, including damage to oceans, beaches, rivers and streams, as well as the detrimental effects on the health of wildlife and humans The need for oil and chemicals has created a steady growth in the chemical industry, including transport and manufacture of these compounds, resulting in increasing environmental problems associated with spills, accidents and improper disposal.
The documents listed below describe different solutions to remedy the problems associated with oil spill or other liquid contaminants from soil and water.
Such is the case of U.S. Pat. No. 7,041,221 (B2) patent. which claims a method comprising the use of ground glass to remove oil from the surfaces containing it, which comprises the step of applying the said glass to the surface of the oil contained in it said glass is formed by the process (a) crushing glass using an impact crusher, hammer mill, cone crusher or roll crusher, (b) select crushed glass using at least one mesh, and (c) drying the crushed glass whereby the amount of oil is reduced from the surface.
Another example is described in the international application WO2009001676. It refers to the use of magnetism by a magnetic for treating water contaminated with oil occurs in oil production and reuse the same separator. The magnetic separation system subjected to flocculation by a flocculation magnetic separator to thereby obtain a preliminary purified water free of oil pollution components contained in the oil-contaminated water.
Additional prior art it is known methods involving the use of microorganisms to recover oil. The U.S. Pat. No. 8,357,526 (B2) and US 20-7776795 (B2) patents relate to the isolation and identification of Pseudomonas strains unique stutzen that can grow on crude oil denitrification conditions and which are useful in oil recovery.
Moreover, for many years they were used absorbent materials in cleaning oil and hazardous materials industry. absorbent clay materials are currently the material of choice for the absorption or recovery of oil or other hazardous chemicals in soil. A wide variety of treated natural fibers have been used as adsorbents hazardous materials. These have included tree bark, peat, wood fiber, kenaf core, puffed cereals, and a variety of other cellulosic materials. Each of these types of fibers has drawbacks that have prevented them from becoming the material of choice for oil and chemical spills on land or in water.
The main disadvantage of most of these fiber types is that they are naturally hydrophytes and, therefore, tend to absorb large amounts of water The water absorption increases the weight of these materials and may decrease healthily their ability to absorb oil or hazardous chemical that these materials are intended to recover.
In industrial applications, these materials have the disadvantages of low absorption capacity and a high density that make both heavy and difficult to transport them. In addition, the abrasiveness and friability of these products can lead to increased wear of the nearby industrial machinery. Some of these adsorbents are not biodegradable and. therefore, pose an additional environmental problem, as they must be eliminated in the limited space available in landfills.
The international patent application WO2011036508 A1 describes a process for recovering hydrocarbons, to decontaminate water and soil, especially aimed at maintaining clean environment, and allowing the industry generally achieve adequate waste management and as methods for water treatment, quick, cost-effective, efficient manner unlike known technologies. However, in this application not using a mixture of absorbent fibers powder for this purpose is described.
Therefore, a need exists for an efficient naturally absorbent material is environmentally friendly and overcomes the drawbacks of known technologies in the prior art.


Surface coverings and surface covering components and methods for forming them using slot die coating are disclosed. The methods involve applying a plurality of wet layers to a substrate simultaneously or in sequence using a slot die coater, wherein a plurality of wet layers can be applied before any of the individual layers are dried, gelled, cured and/or fused. The layers remain separate and distinct before and after drying, gelling, curing and/or fusing, and can be dried, gelled, cured and/or fused together or separately after wet on wet application to the substrate. The surface coverings may be decorative surface covering, including floor coverings.

In the production of surface coverings, particularly decorative surface coverings and more particularly floor coverings, multiple coating layers are desirable to add different features, such as design and/or color elements and durability (wear) to the product. A decorative surface covering typically includes one or more special coatings, each of which is designed to provide a desired mechanical strength and/or decorative effect. These coatings are typically applied one at a time, with each coating being separately applied and cured before adding an adjacent coating layer. Such a procedure has been deemed necessary to maintain a distinct relationship between the separate layers and to prevent mixing of the coatings or contamination of one coating by another at the interface of the layers. These layers are typically applied by reverse roll coaters, forward roll coaters, blade over roll coaters, air knife coaters and other application methods known in the art. Certain coating layers, such as those containing abrasive materials, may need to be applied by a different method than other coating layers, requiring different coating application equipment in the production line. The multiplicity of coating applicators and curing stations is costly, requiring much capital, building space, and time to produce a single decorative surface covering product.
Where surface coverings or surface covering components are manufactured by individually laying down multiple layers on a substrate, each layer is laid down separately by passage through a roll coater, then fused, gelled or cured by processing over massive heated drums and/or in long forced air ovens. To lay down several layers, multiple passes of the goods through several production lines is required. Thus, the process is costly due to the high capital cost of roll coaters and factory space needed to house them. Further, scrap loss is incurred due to multiple passes through the rollers.
Roll coating also limits the types of coatings that may be applied to a support because roll coaters are inherently sensitive to the rheology of the applied liquid layers. High viscosity materials often cannot be used. This makes it difficult to use high performance wear-layer coatings that include high molecular weight, high viscosity materials. Additionally, add-on equipment to monitor and control the roll coaters is required to control the application thickness of each layer.
Slot die coating is a continuous coating technique which delivers quantitatively precise amounts of a material, typically of low solids and viscosity characteristics, to an applicator which deposits quantitatively precise amounts of the material on a traveling web or other substrate through an opening or slot in the applicator through which the fluid material exits. Typically, slot die coating is limited to smooth, nonporous surfaces such as photographic films, papers and circuit boards, and coatings including non-interactive chemistries. The use of slot die coating in photographic films allows coating layers of low viscosity films in thicknesses of one micron or less to be applied to a substrate. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,761,417 and 5,143,758. Typically a slide or cascade slot die coater is used to apply a plurality of wet on wet layers for photographic films. Slot die coaters have also been used for the manufacture of high performance composite membranes, which have a total thickness of less than 1 micron, and include multiple layers applied sequentially to a substrate. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,132,804. Further, slot die coating has been used to apply adhesive coatings to a substrate, as illustrated, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,728,430, 5,871,585 and 5,962,075. Typically, the coating layers are applied at the tangent of the substrate roll and the slot die opening. Slot die coating has not been used for the application of viscous and/or high molecular weight materials, such as plastisols.
It would be advantageous to provide a method for reducing the capital, building space and time required to produce a decorative surface covering product. It would further be advantageous to provide a method for applying high solids and high viscosity coating layers, each with its own specific thickness, which does not require additional control measures. The present invention provides such methods.

Method and apparatus for manufacturing sheet flooring by simultaneous multi-layer die coating


A turbomachine having a longitudinal axis, the turbomachine comprising an annular rotor centered on the longitudinal axis of the turbomachine, an annular stator disposed coaxially around the rotor, at least one ball bearing disposed on the rotor and rotatably supporting said stator, the inside of the rotor defining part of an oil enclosure for cooling and lubricating the balls of the bearing, an electricity generator having a secondary magnetic circuit secured to the stator and a primary magnetic circuit constrained to rotate with the rotor, and a detector device for automatically detecting ferromagnetic particles in the oil enclosure, said detector device being powered electrically by electromagnetic induction.

The present invention relates to the general field of turbomachines provided with devices for automatically detecting ferromagnetic particles in an oil enclosure.
The invention relates more particularly to an aeroengine in which the electricity generator is formed by a secondary magnetic circuit secured to one of its stators and a primary magnetic circuit constrained to rotate with one of its rotors.
In the field of aeroengines, ancillaries (e.g. actuators) are generally mostly hydraulic. For reasons of reliability, safety, and compactness, it is becoming more and more common for such hydraulic ancillaries to be replaced by electrical ancillaries.
For this purpose, it has become necessary to include an electricity generator in a turbomachine having electrical ancillaries. Such a generator serves simultaneously to feed electricity to the various items of electrical equipment belonging to the turbomachine (pumps, actuators, etc.), and also to start the turbomachine.
In order to take advantage of the arms (or spacers) that hold the turbomachine casing, for the purpose of passing electric cables, the solution that is generally selected is to install such an electricity generator in one of the oil enclosures of the high pressure body of the turbomachine. Such an oil enclosure is used to cool and lubricate the ball bearings between the various shafts. Typically, the electricity generator comprises a coil (forming a secondary magnetic circuit) and magnets (forming a primary magnetic circuit) that are secured respectively to the stator and to the rotor of the high-pressure turbine of the turbomachine.
In addition, it is also known to fit the oil enclosures of turbomachines with detectors for detecting wear of the ball bearings between the shafts and associated with said enclosures. Such sensors are generally in the form of external magnetic plugs. These plugs comprise magnets that capture the ferromagnetic particles inside the oil enclosure that stem from ball bearing wear. During ground maintenance operations on the turbomachine, the magnetic plugs are dismantled from the turbomachine and spectrographic analysis is used to determine the origins and the quantities of the particles that have been collected in order to deduce therefrom the wear state of the ball bearings.
When the turbomachine is fitted with an electricity generator as described above, the problem arises of how to detect ball bearing wear. The presence of magnets constituting the primary magnetic circuit of the electricity generator inside the oil enclosure has the consequence of falsifying bearing wear detection by means of magnetic plugs.
More generally, detecting ball bearing wear by means of magnetic plugs turns out to be an operation that is time consuming and incomplete. In addition to the fact that spectrographic analysis is necessary, the magnetic plugs can be read only on specific occasions (only while the turbomachine is being subjected to maintenance on the ground). As a result the level of ball bearing wear is sometimes detected only late, and that can compromise turbomachine safety.

Turbomachine having a device for automatically detecting ferromagnetic particles in an oil enclosure


A method decodes an optical signal transmitted over an optical channel from a transmitter to a receiver. The receiver receives the transmitted optical signal to produce a digital signal which is filtered in the frequency domain for compensating static effects and/or dynamic effects. The filtering is performed in the frequency domain, while the frequency coefficients of the filter are updated in the time domain by updating at least some of time coefficients of the filter and transforming the time coefficients into the frequency domain.

The increase in bandwidth demand for optical links, such as links found in long-haul optical networks, is necessitating a rapid increase in the capacity of optical links. For instance, the per-wavelength capacities of optical links in some optical communication systems are exceeding 100 gigabits per second (Gb/s). Moreover, to meet future capacity demands for optical networks, next generation optical communication systems are being designed to sustain capacities that reach multi-terabits per second (Tb/s). Although the demand to increase bandwidth and throughput continue to grow, designs for the optical systems are often constrained by cost, power, and size requirements.
For example, inaccuracies in carrier-phase estimation and amplitude equalization cause distortions, i.e., the noise enhancements, which reduce the performance of optical communications systems. In the optical communications, different methods are used to reduce the distortion. Those methods are based on a hard decision for determining the phase and amplitude of the received signal. For example, a decision-directed least-mean-square (LMS) method uses the hard decision for determining the error for the updating.
However, different types of distortions can require different types of filters for equalizing the distortion. The optimal combination of those multiple filters is a desirable cost effective option that is usually difficult to achieve. For example, the equalization of chromatic dispersion is usually performed in the frequency domain over a longer response length. In optics, the chromatic dispersion is the phenomenon in which the group velocity of a wave depends on its frequency. The equalization of the chromatic dispersion can be performed using a static filter with constant coefficients.
Conversely, the equalization of the polarization of the optical signal is a rapid time varying process due to the changes in the channel conditions. The equalization of the polarization can be done with dynamic filter that requires a periodic update of its coefficients. The combination of the static and dynamic filters can be challenging.
Accordingly, there is a need to improve the equalization of the optical signal transmitted over the optical channel.

Frequency domain equalizer for optical communications

Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.


A robot cleaner including: a body; and a sensor protruding from a top surface of the body, wherein the body includes a protrusion positioned forward of the sensor relative to a forward driving direction of the robot cleaner, the protrusion extending to a height that is at least equal to the height of the sensor.

Mobile robots are becoming increasingly commonplace and are used in such diverse fields as space exploration, lawn mowing and floor cleaning. Recently there has been a rapid advancement in the field of robotic cleaning devices, especially robot vacuum cleaners and floor mopping robots, the primary objective of which is to navigate a user's home autonomously and unobtrusively whilst cleaning the floor.
In performing this task, a robotic cleaner has to navigate the area which it is required to clean. Robots are usually provided with a number of sensors that enable them to navigate around an environment. A large variety of sensors have been employed on robots to assist with navigation. For example, some robots utilise infra-red detectors that allow the robot to navigate towards an IR beacon, and some robots use complex vision systems that utilise cameras to view, understand and navigate around a local environment surrounding the robot.
Robots are often required to negotiate obstacles within the environment in which they are placed. For example it is usual for robot vacuum cleaners to have to contend with furniture such as chairs, sofas and tables. Because robot cleaners are intended to work as autonomously as possible, they typically have dimensions that will allow them to pass underneath some low-clearance obstacles in order that they can continue to clean underneath without requiring any user involvement.


A set of priority parameters for network traffic on the data communication network is stored. Based on a specific application determination, based at least in part on a source IP address, a source port address, a destination IP address, a destination port address and a protocol, an airtime fairness ratio (ATR) for the session with a specific station from the set of priority parameters concerning application priority is assigned. A higher ATR results in more packets being stored in the queue for processing and a lower ATR results in fewer packets being stored in the queue for processing, thereby affecting airtime.

Wi-Fi standards continually evolve from legacy protocols such as IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b and IEEE 802.11g to newer protocols such as IEEE 802.11n and IEEE 802.11 ac. To this end, wireless stations leveraging newer protocols are able to receive better network performance due to higher throughput and other improved conditions.
Problematically, access points serving a heterogeneous mix of legacy wireless stations and newer wireless stations are slowed down by the legacy devices. To overcome this issue, many wireless vendors implemented airtime fairness in a vendor-specific manner for clients. One common technique is to allocate a time slot, or a quantum (measured in micro seconds), to for channel access to each wireless station. The quantum is typically equal and constant for each client, allowing faster clients to have higher throughput within the quantum. On the other hand, there is no discrimination between different wireless stations.
Therefore, what is needed is a robust technique for extending airtime fairness in WLANS with selective dynamic allocation of quantum. Allocations can be based on, for example, applications in use, location, and roles and privileges.

Extending airtime fairness in WLANS (wireless local access networks) with selective dynamic allocation of quantum