A method and apparatus for supporting Adaptive Modulation and Coding (AM&C) and Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (H-ARQ) functions in a cellular system including at least one wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) and a Node B. A signal is received at the WTRU indicating a need for AM&C and H-ARQ control signaling. An AM&C and H-ARQ control signaling transport channel (TrCH) is dynamically allocated by informing a transport format selection process of the need for AM&C and H-ARQ control signaling. The transport format is selected for required transmission time intervals (TTIs) which assign transport format combinations (TFCs) to establish the AM&C and H-ARQ control signaling transport channel.

In conventional third generation (3G) cellular systems, AM&C and HAR-Q techniques provide increased data rates and improved utilization of radio resources. Signaling between User Equipment (UE) and Base Stations (Node Bs) for the coordination of AM&C and H-ARQ functions is provided by physical control channels, such as High Speed Data Packet Access (HSDPA) control channels, or the like.
The number of bits allocated for a physical channel message is generally predetermined and restricted. As a result, an error detection scheme, such as a cyclic redundancy check (CRC), is not performed on a physical channel for either uplink or downlink signaling and is not available for use. A primary problem with ensuring successful transmission within the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer is the inability to detect and realize errors when they occur. When transmission errors occur on physical control channels in either the uplink or the downlink, such as with AM&C and H-ARQ control signaling, it is possible that transmission errors are not perceived by the physical layer (i.e. existing MAC layer data recovery mechanisms). Therefore, these MAC layer data recovery mechanisms are not initiated.
Accordingly, current 3G systems are not adequately configured to cope with the occurrence of errors on physical control channels. This results in a high probability of UE to Node B H-ARQ acknowledgements and channel quality indications for determination of AM&C to be misinterpreted, which further results in a loss of data within the MAC layer and inefficient use of radio resources.
When a loss of data occurs in the MAC layer, the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer initiates mechanisms to recover the lost data. One disadvantage of relying on the RLC layer to recover the data is the latency of transmission, since the round-trip delay of the retransmission is significantly longer than that of transmissions at the H-ARQ level. This results in large data buffering requirements in the UE and a reduction in data throughput.
Accordingly, for efficient use of radio resources, for a higher user Quality of Service (QoS) and for the MAC to successfully recover failed transmissions, it is necessary to maintain low error rates on the AM&C and H-ARQ control channels. The current use of physical channel control fields for AM&C and H-ARQ signaling severely limits the ability to maintain low error rates.
One example of a type of failure which is not detected during the physical control signaling is the misinterpretation of generated acknowledgement (ACK) messages and negative acknowledgement (NACK) messages. An ACK message indicates a successful transmission of a data block, while a NACK message indicates a failed transmission of a data block.
FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art system 100 in which a transmitter 105 generates and sends a data block 110 comprised of one or more protocol data units (PDU) to a receiver 115. The data block 110 is not received correctly by the receiver 115. Although, the receiver 115 generates a NACK message 120, this NACK message 120 is corrupted during transmission and is interpreted by the transmitter 105 as being an ACK message 122. Thus, the transmitter 105 is never made aware that a transmission failure has occurred, and continues with another transmission without recovering and retransmitting the failed data block 110. In this case of a NACK being misinterpreted as an ACK, recovery by the RLC is required. However, as aforementioned, the RLC takes a considerable amount of time to recover the data, which is undesirable.
FIG. 2 illustrates a prior art system 200 in which a transmitter 205 generates and sends a data block 210A to a receiver 215. The data block 210A is received correctly by the receiver 215. Although, the receiver 215 generates an ACK message 220, this ACK message 220 is corrupted during transmission and is interpreted by the transmitter 205 as being a NACK message. Thus, the transmitter 205 interprets that a failure has occurred and unnecessarily retransmits the data block 210B. In this case of an ACK being misinterpreted as a NACK, a failure is incorrectly indicated and an unnecessary retransmission is generated. This is an inefficient use of radio resources.
FIG. 3 illustrates a prior art system 300 in which a transmitter 305 generates and sends an allocation message 310 to a receiver 315, which is not received by the receiver 315 due to the great amount of corruption and/or interference. As a result, the receiver 315 fails to send a message back to the transmitter 305. In the interim, the transmitter 305 waits to receive a message back from the receiver 315, (i.e., an ACK or NACK message). The transmitter 305 is unaware that the receiver 315 did not receive the allocation message 310. Because the transmitter 315 is waiting to detect a message that never arrives, due to the great amount of corruption there is a high possibility that bit estimation and/or power threshold errors will cause noise 320 to be incorrectly be detected by transmitter 305 as being an ACK message, even though a failure exists.
Another example of a type of failure which is not detected during the physical control signaling is the misinterpretation of the channel quality indicator (CQI) which is sent as part of the AM&C process, as shown in the system 400 of FIG. 4. The receiver 415 receives a plurality of PDUs 410 and generates a CQI as an indication of the quality of the data being received by the receiver 415. The particular mechanism used to generate the CQI is outside the scope of the present invention and, accordingly, will not be described in detail herein. However, after the CQI 420 is generated it is transmitted from the receiver to the transmitter 405, which utilizes the CQI during the AM&C process to select the proper modulation and coding set (MCS).
As those of skill in the art would appreciate, if the CQI 420 is corrupted during the transmission of the CQI 420 from the receiver 415 to the transmitter 405, an incorrect or corrupted CQI 422 will be received by the transmitter 405 and utilized during the AM&C process. If the corrupted CQI 422 is incorrectly low, (erroneously indicating that channel conditions are poor), a more robust MCS than is necessary will be selected. This results in a waste of radio resources. Alternatively, if the corrupted CQI 422 is incorrectly high, (erroneously indicating that channel conditions are favorable), a less robust MCS than needed will be selected, subjecting the data transmissions to a high error rate.
These two types of failures, (i.e. H-ARQ signaling and AM&C signaling), illustrate several of the many signaling errors that may occur between the Node B and a UE.
In 3G cellular systems, a wide range of services are provided; from high data rate services such as video and Internet downloads, to low data rate services such as speech. Referring to FIG. 5, a plurality of user services is shown as individual data streams. These, individual data streams (i.e., user services) are assigned to respective transport channels A,B,C whereby the data streams are coded and multiplexed. Each respective transport channel A, B, C is assigned a specific coding rate and a specific transmission time interval (TTI). The coding rate determines the number of transmitted bits of the physical layer and the TTI defines the delivery period of the block of data to be transmitted. For example, the TTI may be, for example, 10, 20, 40 or 80 ms.
Multiple transport channels A, B, C are multiplexed together into a coded composite transport channel (CCTrCh) consisting of a common set of physical channels. Since the CCTrCh is made up of a plurality of transport channels A, B, C it may have a plurality of different coding rates and different TTIs.
For example, a first transport channel A may have a 20 ms TTI and a second transport channel B may have a 40 ms TTI. Accordingly, the formatting of the first transport channel A in the first 20 ms and the formatting of first transport channel A in the second 20 ms can change. In contrast, since the second transport channel B has a 40 ms TTI, the formatting, and hence the number of bits, are the same for each 20 ms period over the 40 ms TTI duration. It is important to note that all of the transport channels A, B, C are mapped to the CCTrCh on a TTI basis, using the smallest TTI within the CCTrCh.
Each individual data stream has an associated data rate, and each physical channel has an associated data rate. Although these data rates are related to each other, they are distinctly different data rates.
Once the smallest TTI within the CCTrCh has been established, it must be determined how many bits of data will be transmitted and which transport channels will be supported within a given TTI. This is determined by the formatting of the data. A Transport Format Combination (TFC) is applied to each CCTrCh based on the smallest TTI. This essentially specifies for each transport channel how much data is transmitted in a given TTI and which transport channels will coexist in the TTI.
A TFC Set (TFCS) is the set of all of the possible TFCs. If the propagation conditions do not permit all of the possible TFCs within the TFCS to be supported by the UE, a reduced set of TFCs which are supported by the UE is created. This reduced set is called a TFC subset. TFC selection is the process used to determine which data and how much data for each transport channel to map to the CCTrCh. A transport format combination indicator (TFCI) is an indicator of a particular TFC, and is transmitted to the receiver to inform the receiver which transport channels are active for the current frame. The receiver, based on the reception of the TFCIs, will be able to interpret which physical channels and which timeslots have been used. Accordingly, the TFCI is the vehicle which provides coordination between the transmitter and the receiver such that the receiver knows which physical transport channels have been used.
It would be desirable to minimize the need for RLC data recovery by maintaining low error rates on AM&C and H-ARQ control channels, rather than physical channels.

Method and apparatus for reducing uplink and downlink transmission errors by supporting adaptive modulation and coding and hybrid automatic repeat request functions


Large aperture optical systems that are extremely well corrected over a large flat field and over a large spectral range are disclosed. Breathing and aberration variation during focusing are optionally controlled by moving at least two groups of lens elements independently. Aberration correction in general is aided by allowing the working distance to become short relative to the format diagonal. Field curvature is largely corrected by a steeply curved concave surface relatively close to the image plane. This allows the main collective elements to be made of low-index anomalous dispersion materials in order to correct secondary spectrum. In wide-angle example embodiments, distortion may be controlled with an aspheric surface near the front of the lens.

A long sought-after goal of photographic optical design is to provide a large aperture objective having an f/number of about f/1.5 or smaller that is well corrected for all aberrations over a large flat field and over a large spectral range. In addition, a goal for objectives used in cinematography is that they be corrected for "breathing." Breathing is defined as a change in chief ray angle in object space as the lens is focused, and it causes objects to move radially in the image frame as they go in and out of focus.
The Petzval design form is capable of being well corrected at a large aperture over a small field of view, and has been used for many decades in applications such as cinema projection lenses, heads-up displays, and microscope objectives. Although the Petzval form is too limited for use as a general-purpose photographic or cinematographic lens, it provides important insights about large aperture lens design. In particular, a Petzval lens achieves excellent correction at large apertures by minimizing the power of the negative lens elements located far from the image plane. Petzval objectives often employ a negative field flattener located fairly close to the image plane. As a result, the positive lens elements can be made from low-index fluor crown glass or calcium fluoride crystal if desired in order to reduce or eliminate the secondary spectrum. Examples of large aperture Petzval lenses include U.S. Pat. No. 2,649,021; U.S. Pat. No. 3,255,664; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,329,024.
The double-Gauss design form is very widely used for high-speed objectives that must cover a relatively wide field of view. However, double-Gauss designs rely on the use of positive elements made of high index crown glass in order to flatten the field, and as a result it is difficult or impossible to correct the secondary spectrum. Double-Gauss designs also have a strong tendency to suffer from oblique spherical aberration that severely limits off-axis performance at wide apertures. Vignetting is normally used to control the aberrated tangential rays, so high-speed double-Gauss designs have a characteristic strong illumination fall off coupled with a large amount of residual sagittal oblique spherical aberration. The oblique spherical aberration can be corrected to a large extent by relaxing the requirement for a large working distance and/or by introducing one or more aspheric surfaces into the design. Examples of high-speed double-Gauss designs include U.S. Pat. No. 2,012,822; U.S. Pat. No. 3,504,961; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,395,094.
Triplet derivatives, including the Sonnar and Emostar design forms, have also been widely used in the past for high-speed objectives with small to moderate fields of view. These designs tend to have many of the strengths and shortcomings of the double-Gauss type designs, but are generally more suited to narrower fields of view. Examples include U.S. Pat. No. 1,975,678; U.S. Pat. No. 2,310,502; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,994,576. An interesting sub grouping of triplet derivatives designed mainly for television cameras is moderately well corrected for extremely large apertures of about f/0.7 and incorporate a meniscus doublet lens group with a very strong concave surface near the image plane. This meniscus group serves to flatten the field. These designs also have characteristics similar to Petzval lenses, particularly the minimization of negative power in large elements located far from the image plane. Examples of this type include U.S. Pat. No. 2,978,957; U.S. Pat. No. 3,300,267; U.S. Pat. No. 3,445,154; U.S. Pat. No. 3,454,326; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,586,420.
The reverse telephoto design form is useful for achieving both a large aperture and a wide field of view. However, the image quality for high-speed wide-angle examples is generally mediocre, and these lenses need to be stopped down substantially to achieve good results. An exception is found in microfilm objectives, such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,817,602 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,310,223; and microscope objectives such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,920,432. However in these cases a high image quality is achieved at the expense of image size. Examples of high-speed wide-angle reverse telephoto designs include U.S. Pat. No. 3,992,085; U.S. Pat. No. 4,025,169; U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,873; U.S. Pat. No. 4,136,931; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,315,441.
Despite the above efforts, virtually all high-speed photographic lenses designed to date are compromised by the need to balance large aberrations against each other. Most often these designs are notably soft in the outer sub-group of the image field, and must be stopped far down to achieve good performance. Accordingly, there is a need for high-speed optical systems that are both extremely well corrected and reasonably compact when scaled to an image diagonal of about 28 mm. In addition, for cinematographic applications, there is a need for such optical systems to be well corrected for breathing.


The system, method, and program product of this invention allows a database management system to internally use direct and indirect pointing to locate targeted data elements that are logically related to another data element or are a target of a secondary index. By using direct and indirect pointing, the number of steps involved in a reorganization of the database can be reduced. After a reorganization, the database management system does not go back, in a separate process, to update all of the direct pointers that have pointed to segments that have moved as a result of the reorganization. Instead, the direct pointer is updated, by using the indirect pointer, only upon a first reference to the targeted data element that has moved. Each targeted data element has an entry in an indirect index where a unique identifier of the targeted data element is the key into the index. The indirect index has two direct pointer slots. Which pointer slot is used by the DBMS is determined by the odd/even reorganization number. For each reorganization, the DBMS alternates between the two portions of the indirect index to update the appropriate one of the two pointers with a new location whenever the targeted data element is moved. As a result, the indirect index contains the most recent update and the most recent previous update. If the reorganization fails, the most recent previous pointer is used to find the location of the targeted data element. Consequently, as the reorganization process is proceeding, the update to the assigned slot for the new reorganization number can be made without logging and without involving unnecessary overhead associated with maintaining direct recoverability of the keyed data records.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to database management systems, methods, and programs, and more specifically to the reorganization of hierarchical data involving data that is logically related and data that is the target of indexes, and even more specifically, to the recoverability without logging of information resulting from a failed reorganization.
2. Description of the Related Art
Periodically, databases need to be reorganized. Database performance can be maximized if logically related data is clustered together on the storage device. Clustering is intended to reduce disk traffic because a user often accesses logically related data in temporal proximity. However, as users add and delete data elements, the data can become disorganized such that logically related data is no longer clustered physically together.
For some databases, such as the full function database in IBM's IMS system referred to as IMS DL/I, at the time of database creation, a user can distribute free space throughout the data set. This provides for the fact that, typically, databases tend to grow. More data is added through usage than deleted. Distributed free space provides the ability to add logically related data elements throughout the data set while still being physically clustered together. However, typically, databases tend to grow unevenly. More logically related data may be added than what there is storage space for in certain areas. In order to find space for the data that should be clustered with existing data, the data is put out at the end of the data set. This is referred to as overflow which may require maximum arm movement on the DASD storage device to get to that data. As a result, data access performance time will suffer, the I/O access rate goes up, and response time goes up; perhaps to such a degree that this degraded performance becomes noticeable to a user. An user may become aware that the data is becoming disorganized.
A database can become disorganized to the point where a different organization of the data elements may result in more efficient operations on the data, more efficient use of data storage, and increased data capacity. The solution then is to perform a reorganization on the data. Reorganization of a database includes changing some aspect of the logical and/or physical arrangement of the database. Any database management system (DBMS) will require some type of reorganization in order to restore a given level of performance and to improve the degraded capacity of the database. One type of reorganization involves the restoration of clustering and removal of overflows as described above.
Another type of reorganization involves splitting up a full partition of data. Since a 32 bit relative byte address is limited to 4 gigabytes, when a database exceeds 4 gigabytes of data, it has to be partitioned into two or more physical data sets. When a partition is full, it has to undergo a reorganization to get more space.
However, during most types of reorganization, the area being reorganized is typically offline and unavailable to users. The duration of data unavailability for reorganization activities can sometimes be measured in weeks. It is undesirable to have the database go offline for significant periods. It is desirable to reduce the amount of time the database is unavailable by reducing the number of steps involved in a database reorganization operation, and more specifically, for reducing the number of steps involved in reorganizing a hierarchical database.
A hierarchical database management system, such as IBM's IMS DL/I, manages data in a tree structure. Each data element is called a segment, and the first data element is called the root segment of the structure. The root segment is the top of the tree and each subordinate segment is a child of the root or is a child of the child of the root segment or is a child somewhere further down the lineage, i.e., tree. One database is analogous to a forest containing a lot of trees all of which share the same defined segment structure.
IMS DL/I also has keyed access directly to any segment in the database. Every segment could be pointed to by an index. An index is similar to an index in a book that provides readers with one relatively quick means of locating a section of interest. An index is a listing that can derive the location of a desired element, eliminating the need for a "brute-force" sequential search through the collection of elements, thereby providing an alternative form of data access. For example, a root segment could be a serial number, part number, an account number, etc., and the first dependent segment of the root might be a name. An index on the name provides direct access to specific data without first knowing the identification of the root segment or segments that have dependent segments with a given name.
Indexing data by using direct pointers to, and between, data elements is common in databases managed by Database Management Systems (DBMS). It is well known that one can point indirectly to something through an index that can be pointed to directly. However, indexing data is usually the result of defining, by the users of such systems, either beforehand or dynamically, the data for which an index is used.
Another use of direct pointers is for secondary indices which is an index on the data other than its prime sequence which gives an alternate path to the data. Secondary indexing on hierarchical data, such as by users of IMS DL/I, is known. A secondary index is a keyed sequential data set (KSDS). For example, if an element (e.g., type of car) of a car manufacturer's database has different values (e.g., different colors), a secondary index by color can be defined that shows all the different types of cars that come in that color.
A further difficulty in managing hierarchical data is that logical relationships may exist between data elements in the same database or between specific data elements in different databases. For example, an employee database may have a relationship to a salary segment in a payroll database. Logical relationships in the data can be defined such that it is possible for an application program to easily find all employees with a given salary or to find the salary of all employees with the same name.
Direct pointing between segments in the same or different databases (in this case, the relative byte address within the data set(s)) is easily managed. This direct relative byte address is meaningful within the context of the definition for the data relationship. The definition of this relationship provides the mechanism for using a relative byte address (RBA) in the correct database data set to find the related data.
When data is moved, as would be done when a database is reorganized, all indexes and logically related segments that have direct relative byte pointing into the data being moved must be updated with the new or current relative byte address for the targeted data before the data can be used again.
Presently, it takes a significant amount of time, and multiple steps, to reorganize a database that consists of direct pointers to other data elements in the database since the direct pointers have to be updated after a reorganization. The database management system does not know in advance which data element the pointer is going to point to, so the database management system has to go back later and update the pointers after the reorganization. Reorganization of such a database is a multi step process and is very time consuming.
Even though a database having direct pointers creates a time consuming reorganization process, the actual execution time for a database having direct pointers is greatly enhanced. As such, there is a great need, by customers, to be able to use direct pointing to other data elements especially in hierarchical databases such as IBM's IMS DL/I system. Customers greatly desire the ability to express logical relationships between data elements by using direct pointers. Direct pointers give high execution performance.
However, as alluded to above, using direct pointers results in a multi-step reorganization process which causes the database to be gone through multiple times before the database is ready to be used after a reorganization. These multiple steps include 1) running a pre-reorganization utility that examines the structures and determines what has to be done, 2) running a scan utility for data that is not being reorganized but is related to data that is being reorganized, including a reload operation, and 3) running a prefix resolution utility and a prefix update utility.
More specifically, the pre-reorganization utility looks at the database definitions and makes a list of all data elements that are impacted by this planned reorganization of one or more databases. The necessary steps are then scheduled. To reorganize the database, the database is unloaded. The data is read in logical order and the data is collected, in effect, in a clustered format. As a result, when it is reloaded, it is a high speed operation to put the data back into the database in a clustered format with appropriate free space. Then, a work file is created having information about the old location and new location and other information of interest. In addition, scan utilities are run on one or more related databases which are not being reorganized but which are being pointed into or from the database being reorganized. The scan operation also creates work files. The work files are combined into a sort. The first sort is a prefix resolution where everything is sorted into old location. When all of the data elements are together from the old location, the new location can be added. Another sort sorts them into their physical location in the database where they are after the reorganization, and the pointer updates for the prefix are in the appropriate order for the database. This is the prefix update step. Prefix resolution runs as a sort exit, as well as prefix update so they are not separate steps. In each case, the entire database is gone through, multiple times, in order to achieve a reorganization. It is these multiple operations on the database that keeps the database unavailable for a longer period of time.
High speed reorganization techniques are known. However, these techniques have merely optimized some of the above utility steps and have not eliminated any of these steps nor have they altered the basic reorganization process as described above. The high speed reorganization techniques make the utilities run faster, such as through I/O techniques and parallel multi-tasking.
One way to avoid this multiple step reorganization process for direct pointers is not to use direct pointing, but rather use symbolic pointing. If symbolic pointing is used instead of direct pointing, then there is no need to go back and update the symbolic pointing after reorganization because the symbolic name does not change. However, symbolic pointing has low performance during execution time.
In a symbolic link to data, the data is referenced through its current index by using its symbolic name and using a hash table or index that points to the current value. As part of a reorganization, this is always recreated. As such, there is an ability to always relate to data elements regardless of a reorganization. The problem is that symbolic links have extra I/O access in order to go to the B tree, through the index, find the pointer, and finally get to the data. Symbolic pointing has a problem of being slow at execution time because of this extra I/O.
For direct pointing and symbolic pointing, there is a trade off between reorganization performance and execution time performance. Therefore, there is a need to use direct pointing for high database performance while not needing to go back and update the pointers after the reorganization.
One type of a reorganization, called a fuzzy reorganization, involves reorganization by copying. This type of reorganization involves a reorganizer (the process that performs a reorganization) that records a current relative byte address (RBA) of a log. An RBA is a position in the log where a log entry can be written. At any time, the "current" RBA of the log is the position where the next log entry is written. An RBA is sometimes called a log sequence number (LSN). A log consists of a sequence of entries in a file (a region of storage), recording the changes that occur to a database. Then the reorganization copies data from an old (original) area to a new area in reorganized form. Concurrently, users can use the DBMS's normal facilities to read and write the old area, and the DBMS uses its normal facilities to record the writing in a log. The reorganizer switches the user's accessing to the new area. In many DBMS's, however, each entry in the log identifies a record by the record's record identifier (RID). As an inherent part of reorganization, the RIDs change. When applying the log (which uses old RIDs) to the new area (which uses new RIDs) techniques for overcoming problems of identification have to be used.
One method for finding data moved by a reorganization process uses the fully concatenated key of the target of a logical relationship or secondary index. However, this method requires unique keyed data. A method is needed that allows non-unique and un-keyed data to exist in the database.
It is also desirable to reduce the contention between other parts of the system that are not being impacted by the reorganization directly, such as a secondary index. In general, when a database is being reorganized that has alternate, i.e., secondary, indexes associated with a data element being moved, at the time the data element is being moved from the old location to the new location, there is an ability to update all of the indexes. This is because they are known at that time, and the index that is indexing into that point is based on the data itself that is being moved, i.e., contained in effect within the database record. In general, the secondary index is based on data values in that data element. In the IMS DL/I database, the database element can be indexed either on a data value within that element or any element in its dependency tree. During reload, all of the information needed is available to directly update each secondary index at the time of reload. However, updating a secondary index at this time creates recoverability difficulties if a reorganization fails. These recoverability difficulties are reduced if the index is updated after the relocated data elements have been successfully completed.
It is desirable to provide for recoverability and data integrity, such as in the event a reorganization fails. Database techniques exist for data integrity and recoverability. For example, changes to a database can be logged; and changed records can be locked making them unavailable to users until the operation is successful, the records are verified to be valid, and the records are then unlocked. If there is a failure, and the operation does not complete, the changes are backed out and the records unlocked. It is desirable to reduce the system management overhead by eliminating the need of performing the steps of logging, locking, and backing out changes in the event of an operation failure.

System, method, and program for using duplicated direct pointer sets in keyed database records to enhance data recoverability without logging

International Business Machines Corporation


The invention is a moving-slider rotary piezoelectric microactuator as the secondary actuator for a dual-stage actuator disk drive. The microactuator has a substrate attached to the disk drive suspension and a rotatable frame that supports the slider, so the head-suspension assembly includes the suspension, the microactuator and the slider with attached read/write head. The rotatable frame is attached to a fixed post on the substrate by relatively stiff torsional springs. A piezoelectric driver having a fixed end attached to the substrate provides bidirectional linear displacement of its movable end. The microactuator has a displacement amplification mechanism that includes a connecting rod and a linkage that translates the linear displacement of the driver to amplified orthogonal linear displacement of the rod. The connecting rod is attached to the rotatable frame at a radial distance to cause rotary movement of the frame, and thereby cross-track displacement of the read/write head on the slider.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to piezoelectric microactuators for data recording disk drives with dual-stage actuators, and more particularly to moving-slider type piezoelectric microactuators.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data recording disk drives, such as magnetic recording disk drives, store information in data tracks on the data surface of a rotatable magnetic recording disk. A read/write head or transducer that reads data from and writes data to the data surface is located on an air-bearing slider that is supported by a cushion of air on the rotating disk. The slider is attached to a flexible suspension at the end of a rigid arm and is moved generally radially from track to track by an actuator. The disk drive actuator is typically a rotary voice coil motor (VCM) that moves the actuator arm and the attached suspension and slider generally radially to position the head at the desired track under the control of a servo control system that receives pre-recorded servo position information from the data surface. As the data tracks on the disk are made narrower and placed closer together to increase the data density, it becomes increasingly difficult for the actuator and the servo control system to quickly and accurately position the head over the desired track and to provide track following. For example, a servo control system with a VCM actuator will have difficulty achieving a servo loop bandwidth greater than 2 kHz.
One way to improve the servo bandwidth is with a dual-stage actuator, where a VCM actuator is a first stage that provides coarse positioning of the head and a secondary actuator is a second stage that provides fine positioning of the head. The secondary actuator can be a moving-slider type of actuator that is located between the end of the suspension and the slider and moves the slider relative to the suspension. One such moving-slider type of secondary actuator is a rotary electrostatic microactuator (so called because it is a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) device), as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,959,808 and 5,995,334. Advances in integrated circuit technology in recent years have led to the development of MEMS devices of micrometer dimensions that can be actuated and controlled using electrostatic and other methods, such as mechanical, electromagnetic, fluidic and thermal. MEMS manufacturing technologies are a combination of the more established semiconductor micro-fabrication techniques with newer developments in micromachining.
Because the moving-slider microactuator is electrostaticly driven it generally applies a relatively small force to provide a relatively large displacement of the slider, and thus typically uses relatively soft springs to support the movable slider. However, in some disk drive applications the external disturbance forces, such as may occur from air flow and head-disk contact, can be relatively large, which results in an increased level of head position error.
Moving-slider microactuators that use piezoelectric drivers have been proposed. These microactuators typically require the piezoelectric element to be located near the end of the slider that supports the head, such that a large external force can damage the piezoelectric element. Also, these microactuators typically move the slider in translation, i.e. in a linear direction, such that the counter-force can excite the natural vibration modes of the suspension, which limits the achievable servo bandwidth of the dual-stage actuator. Because piezoelectric microactuators also require a larger force but provide less displacement than comparable electrostatic microactuators, they may not provide adequate displacement to maintain the head centered on the data track. U.S. Pat. No. 6,381,104 shows a piezoelectric moving-slider microactuator that moves the slider by rotation, but the rotatable portion is not supported at its axis of rotation, there are no torsional springs to assure pure rotary motion, the displacement of the head is generally the same as the displacement of the piezoelectric element, and the piezoelectric elements are located near the end of the slider that is most likely to contact the disk.
What is needed is a piezoelectric moving-slider rotary microactuator as the secondary actuator for a dual-stage-actuator disk drive that is substantially resistant to external forces, provides substantially pure rotary motion, and amplifies the displacement of the piezoelectric driver.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Rotary piezoelectric microactuator and disk drive head-suspension assembly

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


Apparatus for serial insertion in a fishing line comprising a line segment of substantial elasticity and having connecting eyes at each of its ends for attaching the respective ends of the segment to one end of a fishing line and a fishing leader. The line segment is trained through a transverse opening in a buoyant mass, such as a casting bubble and a pair of stop beads are carried by the segment between the ends of the buoyant mass and the respective connecting eyes in order to provide limited and highly responsive elasticity in the fishing line as built in assistance in setting the fishing hook upon a strike.

Plastic type bubbles which can be attached near the end of a fishing line have been used to raise the mass of the end of the fishing line to increase the casting distance. Bubbles have also been employed as markers and strike indicators.
Elasticity of at least a portion of a fishing line has also been recognized as having certain advantages in setting a hook after a strike, making precise and quick timing of the fisherman's response to that strike less critical.
It is the object of the present invention to combine the features of a traditional casting bubble with an elastic line segment to increase the efficacy of both tackle elements, that is using the one to augment the effect of the other.


A duct for a ducted-rotor aircraft may include an internal structure and an aerodynamic exterior skin that is adhesively bonded to the internal structure. The skin may include a leading-edge portion disposed at an inlet of the duct and an inner portion disposed along an interior of the duct. The inner portion of the skin may be bonded to the internal structure with a first bondline of adhesive and the leading-edge portion of the skin may be bonded to the inner portion of the skin with a second bondline of adhesive. One or both of the first and second bondlines of adhesive may be of non-uniform thickness to take up tolerance stackups between the inner portion of the skin, the leading-edge portion of the skin, and the internal structure.

Ducted-rotor aircraft have at least one ducted rotor for providing lift and propulsion forces. Each ducted rotor has aerodynamic ductwork, such as a cowling or fairing, that shapes and/or modifies characteristics of inlet air that passes by the blades of the rotor. Such ductwork typically includes an aerodynamic exterior skin and internal structure, such as annular spars, that support the exterior skin. A tip gap exists between tips of the blades and the exterior skin. Maintaining tight tip-gap tolerances is desirable because as tip gap narrows, performance characteristics of the rotor, such as thrust, improve.


To provide a high-reliable transfer mold type sensor device in which a combined sensor including a plurality of sensors having a function of detecting physical amounts, a substrate processing a signal from the combined sensor and controlling a signal input/output with an external device, a chip pad mounted with the combined sensor and the substrate, and a lead frame are sealed with a mold resin and a package is formed, the combined sensor is configured to be thicker than the substrate and the chip pad, a principal surface side of the combined sensor is covered with the mold resin and a back surface side thereof contacts the substrate by a joint material, and the combined sensor is arranged on a package neutral surface in a cross-section of a thickness direction of the package including the combined sensor, the substrate, and the chip pad.

Recently, a sensor device to detect various physical amounts has been developed to realize a stable operation and improved reliability of a vehicle, a mobile phone, and a digital camera. In the vehicle, particularly, an acceleration sensor and an angular velocity sensor are applied widely for apparatus (for example, an airbag) control to prevent sideslip and improve a safety of passengers. When the sensor device is applied to the vehicle, the sensor device may be mounted in an engine room. For this reason, the sensor device needs to endure a severe environment load such as a thermal change and a mechanical vibration and the sensor device needs to be miniaturized so that the device can be mounted in a limited space.
In the acceleration sensor and the angular velocity sensor mounted on the sensor device, a detection mechanism using fine processing technology of silicon (Si) is mainly used for the purpose of miniaturization, multi-functionality/complexity, and improvement of mass productivity. A minute comb-shaped structure of silicon is formed by the fine processing technology, minute displacement of the comb-shaped structure is converted into an electric signal, and physical amounts such as acceleration and angular velocity are detected.
In the sensor device in which the acceleration sensor and the angular velocity sensor are sealed with a resin and a package is formed, linear expansion coefficients of embedded members such as the sensors and a substrate configuring the package and the sealing resin are different from each other. In addition, sizes and thickness of the members such as the sensors and the substrate embedded in the package are generally different from each other and the members are often arranged with asymmetric structures in the package. If a temperature change is applied to the package, warpage deformation may occur in the package due to the difference of the linear expansion coefficients between the members and asymmetry of the structures. Due to the warpage deformation of the package, deformation (expansion/contraction and warpage) occurs in the sensor and the sensor is inclined according to the warpage of the package. If the sensor deforms or is inclined, a position changes, and then stress occurs in the sensor. As a result, the comb-shaped structure in the sensor also deforms and a detection signal is output even in a state in which inertial force such as the acceleration and the angular velocity does not act addition a detection range of the inertial force is narrowed and reliability of the sensor device is greatly decreased. Therefore, in the sensor device in which the fine processing technology of the silicon is applied to a detection mechanism of the inertial force such as the acceleration and the angular velocity, it is necessary to realize a package structure that does not cause the position change such as the deformation, and the inclination in the packaged sensor.
An example of a sensor device in which an acceleration sensor and a pressure sensor are sealed with a resin and a package (mold body) is formed is disclosed in PTL 1. In the sensor device disclosed in PTL 1, the acceleration sensor, the pressure sensor, and a signal processing circuit are arranged on a lead to form a line in a transverse direction (plane direction) of the package and the acceleration sensor and the pressure sensor are arranged at almost symmetrical positions with respect to a center of the signal processing circuit. In technology disclosed in PTL 1, to reduce thermal stress occurring in a physical amount sensor due to a difference of linear expansion coefficients of the physical amount sensor and the mold body made of a plastic material, the following configuration is adopted. That is, a mold body thickness between the physical amount sensor and a surface of the sensor-side mold body and a mold body thickness between the lead and a surface of the lead-side mold body are almost equalized. Or, a volume of a portion covering a top surface side of the lead of the mold body and a volume of a portion covering a bottom surface side of the lead of the mold body are almost equalized.
In addition, an example of a semiconductor device to decrease stress received by a semiconductor chip sealed with a resin is disclosed in PTL 2. In the semiconductor device having a tape carrier package structure disclosed in PTL 2, both a principal surface and a back surface of the semiconductor chip thinner than a tape carrier are sealed with the sealing resin. The sealed semiconductor chip is arranged at a position of a thickness direction of the tape carrier, such that a package stress neutral surface parallel to the principal surface of the semiconductor chip and a stress neutral surface of the semiconductor chip are almost matched with each other. By such an arrangement of the semiconductor chip, the stress received by the semiconductor chip can be decreased, even though the entire package deforms.


Systems and methods for displaying a context image for a multimedia asset are disclosed. In one embodiment, a system includes a programmable processor, and a display device. In some embodiments, the programmable processor is configured to identify a first multimedia asset being broadcast in a region, determine and retrieve a first context image associated with the first multimedia asset, and direct the display device to display the first context image during the broadcast of the first multimedia asset.

Known systems and methods for displaying a context image for a multimedia asset, such as an album cover, include displaying the context image on a display of a device that controls playback of the multimedia asset, such as a computer, phone tablet, etc. However, these known systems and methods do not present the context image in an optimally pleasing and unobtrusive view. For example, such known systems and methods display an album cover alongside playback information and/or in a manner where it is immediately clear that the album cover is a digital reproduction.
In view of the above, there is a continuing, ongoing need for improved systems and methods.


A conductive-layer-integrated flexible printed circuit board includes: (A) an electromagnetic-shielding conductive layer; (B) an insulator film; and (C) a wiring-pattern-equipped film the electromagnetic-shielding conductive layer (A), the insulator film (B), and the wiring-pattern-equipped film (C) being laminated in this order, the insulator film (B) containing at least (a) a binder polymer and (b) spherical organic beads.

In recent years, as electronic devices such as mobile phones, video cameras, and laptop computers have rapidly become smaller and smaller in size and lighter and lighter in weight, flexible printed circuit boards (hereinafter referred to as "FPCs") have become indispensable. Meanwhile, as electronic circuits have become narrower in pitch and higher in frequency, it has become more and more important to take measures against electromagnetic noise that is generated from them. Accordingly, an approach has conventionally been made to cause an FPC to constitute an electromagnetic shielding material that blocks or absorbs electromagnetic noise that is generated from an electronic circuit. A known example of an electromagnetic-shielding FPC is an FPC having an insulating layer on top of which a shielding layer having an electrically-conducting adhesive layer, a metal thin-film layer, etc. is joined and that has a ground line to which the metal thin-film layer is electrically connected (e.g., see Patent Literature 1).

Flexible printed circuit integrated with conductive layer


Disclosed are radiation-curable compositions comprising at least one ortho-phthalate (meth)acrylate, and optionally a (meth)acrylate monomer, a stabilizing package, an adhesion promoter, and/or a photoinitiator. The compositions maintain physical integrity when cured and then aged for seven days under the conditions of 70% relative humidity, 77° C. black panel temperature, 55° C. chamber air temperature and a light intensity of 0.51 W/m2/nm at 340 nanometer wavelength passed through a daylight filter. The preparation and use of these compositions are also disclosed.

The presently described technology relates to a novel radiation-curable composition comprising at least one ortho-phthalate (meth)acrylate of the present technology, and optionally a (meth)acrylate monomer and/or a photoinitiator. The presently described technology also relates to the preparation and use of these compositions.
In many radiation-curable compositions, oligomers having reactive terminal groups are prepared from polyesters, epoxies, polyethers, and polyurethanes. Among the different polymer backbone building blocks, polyester polyols are particularly desirable because of their commercial availability and oxidative stability (compared to polyether polyols). Polyester polyols are also particularly desirable because their characteristics may be tailored to suit a variety of property requirements such as adhesion to a broad range of substrates, weather resistance, abrasion resistance, flexibility, hardness, solvent resistance, and mechanical strength. However, previous polyester polyols, in general, are susceptible to hydrolysis reactions and oxidative cross linking reactions in the presence of light, heat, and humidity, where radiation-curable coatings are frequently used. These disadvantages of polyester polyols can result in color development, loss of gloss, and/or change of mechanical properties of the cured compositions.
There have been ongoing efforts to employ different polyester polyol resins in compositions in order to improve the stability of a resultant finish. One method is to use modifiers to improve resin weatherability as disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,596,049 (General Electric Company, Pittsfield, Mass.), which discloses polyester compositions indicated to have improved hydrolytic stability. An improvement in hydrolytic stability is said to be achieved by blending a difunctional polyepoxy compound, a catalyst, and other additives. However, the addition of these minor components often complicates the matter, and could lead to incompatibility as well as other problems for the formulators.
Another method is to incorporate bulky glycols or to use glycols that are highly hydrophobic and stable in the polyesters. U.S. Pat. No. 4,397,989 (E.I. Du Pont de Nemours & Co., Wilmington, Del.) discloses a polyester resin from the reaction of neopentyl glycol and at least one other hindered primary diol with polycarboxylic acids. The resin is allegedly useful in coating compositions to impart weatherability and other properties to a resulting finish.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,801 (BHP Steel (JLA) Pty. Ltd., Melbourne, Australia) describes a polyester resin for use in a thermosetting coating composition that, when cured, is said to provide good gloss retention and resistance to color change. The polyester resin is made by polymerizing an alcohol component comprising mainly neopentyl glycol, hydroxyl pivalate, and a polyol trifunctional branching agent with polyacids. Not only is the availability of these types of polyalcohols very limited, but they cost much more than commonly available polyalcohols, such as ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol and propylene glycol.
Yet another method that has been explored is to use saturated aliphatic acids to prepare polyester resins in order to maintain color stability. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,590,219 (BASF Aktiengesellschaft, Ludwigshafen, DE) teaches the use of adipates to improve light fastness. For another example, Dow Chemical Company (Midland, Mich.) (http://www.dow.com/tone/prodapp/adhesive.htm) states that polycaprolactone polyester resins sold under the trade name of TONE™ exhibit better hydrolytic stability, color and uniformity than other polyester polyols.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,376,460 (DSM N.V., Heerlen, Netherlands) discloses polyester polyols that are said to result in coatings with good outdoor durability. The polyester polyols, which are said to have a molecular weight (number average) in the range of from about 2,600 to about 10,000, are obtained by the reaction of a polyalcohol and at least 50 mol % of a saturated diacid, such as, 1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid and/or tetrahydrophthalic anhydride. This disclosure teaches that substantially aromatic acid free compositions result in coatings with excellent gloss and improved resistance to UV light.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,543,232 (Amstrong World Industries, Inc., Lancaster, Pa.) discloses a resin composition comprising an acrylate polyester, the polyester being the reaction product of a diol and an aromatic polycarboxylic acid or anhydride, preferably trimellitic anhydride. In its preferred embodiment, a tricarboxylic acid or anhydride is used, although a cycloaliphatic acid, tere-phthalic acid, iso-phthalic acid, or ortho-phthalic acid can be added as a minor acid. This reference states that there was less yellowing due to aging because of the use of cycloaliphatic acid.
The study of how to improve the weatherability of polyester resins made from aromatic acids has been extensive because of their relatively lower cost and good performance. Amoco Chemical Company (Chicago, Ill.) states that polyester resin comprising iso-phthalic acid residues renders a finished coating with improved hydrolytic resistance (GTSR-106A, Dec. 12, 1995, Amoco Chemicals Technical Information). U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,560 (U C B S.A., Brussels, Belgium) also discloses a UV curable composition containing a crystalline polyester containing end carboxyl groups from a reaction product of 85 to 100 mol % tere-phthalic acid or 1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid with 85 to 100 mol % of a saturated, straight-chain, aliphatic diol. This composition is intended to provide a coating that is resistant to solvents and weathering as well as having other desired properties.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,714,712 (DSM N.V., Heerlen, Netherlands) discloses radiation-curable coating, ink, or matrix compositions for optical fiber applications. The composition contains a urethane free polyester (meth)acrylate oligomer that is a reaction product of a polyester polyol with (meth)acrylic acid. The polyester polyol is derived from a polybasic acid, preferably adipic acid, iso-phthalic acid, tere-phthalic acid, dimer fatty acid, or a mixture thereof, and a polyalcohol, preferably ethoxylated bisphenol-A, propoxylated bisphenol-A, neopentyl glycol, 2-butyl-2-ethyl-1,3-propanediol, 2-methyl-1,3-propanediol, hydroxyl pivaloyl hydroxyl pivalate, 2,4-diethyl-1,5-pentanediol, or mixtures thereof. The disclosed composition reportedly cures to a finished coating having excellent hydrolytic resistance. Ortho-phthalate diethylene glycol based polyester acrylates are used for improved hydrolysis and thermal stability. However, the cured composition in the examples, comprising an ortho-phthalate diethylene glycol based polyester acrylate, failed to maintain color stability. On the other hand, the preferred iso-phthalic acid is more expensive than ortho-phthalic acid or phthalic anhydride, and it costs more to make polyester polyols based on iso-phthalic acid or tere-phthalic acid than those based on ortho-phthalic acid or anhydride. Moreover, polyester polyols based on tere-phthalic acid tend to precipitate when they are stored, and this adds extra expense to maintain property homogeneity.
While iso-phthalic acid, tere-phthalic acid and their derivatives have been shown to improve weatherability, phthalic anhydride has not been proposed for such purposes. Two references teach that polyester polyols based on tere- and iso-phthalic acids, as compared with ortho-phthalic acid or anhydride, are more resistant to hydrolysis and show better thermal stability. See S. Paul, "Surface Coatings Science & Technology," 2nd Edition, Edited by Swaraj Paul, Printed by John Wiley & Sons Ltd., 1997 ISBN 0 471 95818 2; V. V. Korshak and S. V. Vinogradova, "Polyesters," translated from Russian by B. J. Hazzard, translation edited by J. Burdon, Pergamon Press, 1965, Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 63-10048. Another reference also teaches that polyester alkyds derived from iso-phthalic and tere-phthalic acids had superior thermal stability to ortho-phthalic polyester. A. L. Smith, L. M. Brown, L. J. Tyler and M. J. Hunter, Ind. Eng. Chem., 49, No. 11, 1903 (1957).
It is also disclosed in the literature that polyester polyols made from iso-phthalic and tere-phthalic acid outperform their ortho-phthalic acid or anhydride counterpart in terms of weatherability. U.S. Pat. No. 4,031,289 (The Burns & Russell Company of Baltimore City, Baltimore, Md.) discloses that it is critical to use iso-phthalic acid and neopentyl glycol to make a polyester polyol for use in formulation of a coating that can have improved water resistance. It also teaches that employing phthalic anhydride or ortho-phthalic acid to replace iso-phthalic acid results in the loss of water resistance.

Radiation-curable compositions for improved weather resistance


A rack storage system 1 and a method for controlling the movement path of a storage and retrieval device in a rack storage system, including at least one storage and retrieval device with at least two movement axes x, y which can be controlled independently of one another and are operated by electric motors, to carry out a movement from a starting point to a target point 4 to transfer stored goods within the rack storage system and/or into or out of the rack storage system, having a control unit for controlling the motors of the movement axes x, y and an electric intermediate circuit for exchanging fed-back electrical energy between the motors. The control unit pre-calculates the movement sequences, necessary for a movement from the starting point to the target point, of the individual movement axes x, y and coordinates them with one another, and actuates the motors of the movement axes x, y so the storage and retrieval device carries out the movement on a pre-calculated movement path which is based on a set of movement sequences, coordinated with one another, of the individual movement axes x, y. The control unit calculates a quantity with a plurality of sets of movement sequences which are coordinated with one another, which contains at least a first set with movement sequences which are optimized with respect to the speed of the movement, for a high-speed operating mode, and a second set with movement sequences which are optimized with respect to the consumption of electrical energy, for an economical operating mode. The control unit selects a set with movement sequences from the calculated quantity on the basis of operation parameters of the rack storage system in order to actuate the motors of the movement axes in order to carry out a movement path.

The invention relates to a rack storage system with at least one storage and retrieval device, and to a method for controlling the movement path of a storage and retrieval device in a rack storage system.
Such a rack storage system accordingly comprises at least one storage and retrieval device with at least two movement axes which can be controlled independently of one another and are operated by means of electric motors, in order to carry out a movement from a starting point to a target point in order to transfer stored goods within the rack storage system and/or into or out of the rack storage system. Furthermore, an electric intermediate circuit for exchanging fed-back electrical energy is provided between the motors. By means of said intermediate circuit it is possible for the electrical energy which is fed back during braking of a movement axis by a generator-operating mode of the corresponding motor to be made available for consumption to the other motors. Finally, a control unit for controlling the motors of the movement axes of the storage and retrieval device is provided. This control unit pre-calculates the movement sequences, necessary for a movement from the starting point to the target point, of the individual movement axes, and coordinates them with one another. The motors of the movement axes are then actuated by the control unit in such a way that the storage and retrieval device carries out the movement on a pre-calculated movement path which is based on a set of movement sequences, coordinated with one another, of the individual movement axes.
The control unit just mentioned therefore implements a method of the type in question here. This is because in said method the movement sequences of the individual movement axes, which sequences are necessary for a movement of a storage and retrieval device with at least two movement axes which can be controlled independently of one another and are operated by means of electric motors, from a starting point to a target point, are pre-calculated and coordinated with one another. The motors of the movement axes are actuated in such a way that the storage and retrieval device carries out the movement on a pre-calculated movement path which is based on a set of movement sequences, coordinated with one another, of the individual movement axes.
Rack storage systems of the type in question here generally comprise a plurality of storage and retrieval devices which are each arranged so as to be movable in a rack aisle and can access each storage compartment of the rack aisle. As a result, automatic storage can be implemented in which, in particular, heavy stored goods, which cannot be moved manually, are stored. This rack storage system is particularly suitable for stored goods which must be accessed repeatedly, as is the case, for example, in the metal retail business. Stored metal rods, profiles and the like are kept available here in the rack storage system, in order to be removed, after the receipt of an order, from the rack storage system and fed, for example, to a sawing machine where the ordered quantity of the material is cut to length and put together with other ordered material. Residual pieces which remain after the cutting to length are then returned to storage in the rack storage system.
Such a rack storage system is operated with a central control system which actuates the individual storage and retrieval devices, with the result that existing orders are successively processed. For example, for one order it is necessary to extract a metal rod from a first storage compartment of a first rack aisle, to feed said metal rod to a sawing machine which is arranged in front of the rack aisle, to saw off a piece of the rod there and to return the rest of the rod back to storage, while a profile has to be extracted from a second storage compartment of another rack aisle and fed to the same sawing machine, in order also to saw off a piece from this profile and so on until the order is processed and the sawn-off pieces are put together in one order.
It is obvious that the rack storage system is more efficient the quicker the storage and retrieval device carries out the necessary movements from the starting point, for example the storage compartment, to the target point, for example a transfer point to the sawing machine. Therefore, in the prior art it has always been customary to actuate the motors of the individual movement axes of the storage and retrieval devices in each case at the maximum speed and with the maximum accelerations in order to carry out the movement as quickly as possible. However, this is not optimum under cost aspects, since the consumption of electrical energy with this procedure is also at a maximum. The simultaneous maximum acceleration of all the movement axes also causes disadvantageous peaks in the power consumption of the rack storage system.
WO-A-2008/025499 has therefore proposed that the control unit of a rack storage system of the type in question here be configured in such a way that for a movement of a storage and retrieval device from a starting point to a target point it firstly determines the time-critical movement axis, that is to say that movement axis, which, given a maximum speed of all the motors of the storage and retrieval device, requires the longest time for the necessary movement sequence. This would generally be that movement axis which has to travel the greatest distance; however, it can also be the slowest movement axis. This time-critical movement axis is actuated by the control unit with a maximum speed movement sequence, that is to say with a maximum speed of the associated motor and maximum accelerations. The remaining movement axes are controlled in a way which is optimized with respect to energy compared to the time-critical movement axis, with the result that the motors of the individual movement axes can mutually make available a maximum amount of braking energy. This means, in particular, that acceleration processes of the motors of the non-time-critical movement axes are preferably provided when electrical energy is fed back from the motor of the time-critical movement axis.
The prior art according to WO-A-2008/117248 therefore permits operation of a rack storage system whose requirement for electrical energy is advantageously reduced without adversely affecting the efficiency of the rack storage system, since the individual movements of the storage and retrieval devices are not slowed down overall compared to the practice hitherto.

Rack storage system and method for controlling the movement path of a storage and retrieval device in a rack storage system

KEURO Besitz GmbH & Co. EDV-Dienstleistungs KG


A piezoelectric thin film element includes a substrate, a lower electrode, a piezoelectric thin film, and an upper electrode. The lower electrode, the piezoelectric thin film and the upper electrode are formed on the substrate. The piezoelectric thin film includes a polycrystal thin film including crystal grains, an alkali niobium oxide based perovskite structure represented by a general formula: (K1-xNax)NbO3 (0.4<x<0.7), a film thickness of not less than 1 μm and not more than 10 μm, a columnar structure configured by the crystal grains, a majority of the crystal grains including a shape in a cross-section direction thereof longer than in a plane direction of the substrate, and an average crystal grain size of not less than 0.1 μm and not more than 1.0 μm in the plane direction of the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a piezoelectric thin film element that uses a piezoelectric thin film having an alkali niobium oxide based perovskite structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
A piezoelectric substance is fabricated to various piezoelectric thin film elements according to various purposes, and particularly, is widely used as functional electronic parts such as an actuator to be deformed by application of voltage and a sensor to generate voltage due to the deformation of the piezoelectric thin film element adversely.
As the piezoelectric substance used for the actuator and the sensor, a dielectric substance including a lead based material having an excellent piezoelectric property, especially, a Pb(Zr1-xTix)O3 based ferroelectric substance of perovskite type called "PZT" has been widely used, and generally, it is manufactured by that an oxide including the respective constituent elements is sintered.
Currently, as various electronic parts become more downsized and upgraded, piezoelectric elements have been also strongly requested for the downsizing and upgrading. Piezoelectric materials fabricated by mainly using a sintering method which is a conventional method have a problem that as the thicknesses of the materials become thinner, especially, they becomes close to almost 10 μm, they become close to the crystal grain size constituting the materials, so that the influence thereof can not been ignored.
Therefore, a problem occurs that variation and deterioration of property become remarked, and recently a method of forming the piezoelectric substance to which a thin film technology and the like to take place of the sintering method is applied has been investigated in order to eliminate the problem. Nowadays, the PZT thin film formed by a sputtering method has been put into practice use as an actuator for a head of high-definition and high-speed ink-jet printer (Patent Literature 1).
On the other hand, a piezoelectric sintered body and a piezoelectric thin film made of the above-mentioned PZT includes approximately 60 to 70 weight % of lead oxide (PbO), so that it is not preferable in terms of ecological viewpoint and pollution control. Therefore, it is needed to develop a piezoelectric substance not containing lead in response to environment protection. Lately, various lead-free piezoelectric materials are investigated, and of the materials, potassium sodium niobate (the general formula: (K1-xNax)NbO3 (0<x<1)) is known (Patent Literature 2). This material of potassium sodium niobate is a material that has a perovskite structure and shows a relatively good piezoelectric property of the lead-free piezoelectric materials, so that it is expected as the best hope of the lead-free piezoelectric materials.    Patent Literature 1: JP-A-H09 (1997)-94955    Patent Literature 2: JP-A-2006-151796
However, although at present the material of potassium sodium niobate of the sintered body shows high piezoelectric constant (piezoelectric constant d31 is not less than −100 pm/V), the material of potassium sodium niobate of thin film realizes only less than half that of the sintered body.

Piezoelectric thin film element including upper and lower electrodes, and an actuator and a sensor fabricated by using the same


A refrigerator and a driving method thereof are disclosed. A primary compressor and a secondary compressor can form independent cycles together with corresponding evaporators so as to reduce unnecessary power consumption. Also, a backflow prevention valve is installed between the primary and secondary compressors to prevent an increase in pressure of the secondary compressor, or an auxiliary heat exchanger is installed at the outlet side of a second evaporator with high temperature to allow heat exchange of an outlet side pipe of a first evaporator with low temperature so as to shift a load of a freezing chamber into a relatively large refrigerating chamber, thereby improving efficiency of the refrigerator. In addition, an oil separator or an oil collection pipe is installed at the outlet sides of the compressors or an oil balancing pipe and an oil balancing valve are installed between the compressors, so as to uniformly maintain an oil amount between the compressors.

1. Field of the Invention
This specification relates to a refrigerator and a method for driving the same, and particularly, to a refrigerator having a refrigeration cycle with a plurality of compressors and evaporators, and a method for driving the same.
2. Background of the Invention
In general, a refrigerator is an apparatus for keeping an inside of the refrigerator at low temperature using a refrigeration cycle having a compressor, a condenser, an expansion apparatus and an evaporator. The compressor of the refrigerator is lubricated using oil for protection from a mechanical friction, and the oil within the compressor is allowed to circulate a refrigeration cycle forming a closed loop together with high temperature and high pressure refrigerant gas discharged out of the compressor.
If such oil is aggregated (accumulated) in the condenser, the evaporator and pipes of the refrigeration cycle, the performance of the refrigeration cycle may be lowered. If the oil does not smoothly flow back into the compressor, the lack of oil within the compressor may be caused, resulting in a damage of the compressor.
The refrigeration cycle applied to the refrigerator may be classified, according to the number of compressors and evaporators, into an 1Eva-cycle having a single compressor and a single evaporator, a parallel 2Eva cycle in which a plurality of evaporators are connected in parallel to an inlet of a single compressor, a 1Comp 2Stage cycle in which a plurality of evaporators are connected to a single 2-stage compressor, a serial cycle in which a plurality of evaporators are connected to the single compressor in series, a bypass serial cycle in which a plurality of evaporators are selectively connected to a single compressor in series.


An automobile cover assembly for shielding the roof and windows of an automobile is shown and described. The automobile cover assembly includes a combination of plurality of rigid sheets and a strap that function as a lever type mechanism. When the automobile cover is deployed, the rigid sheets are resting against the windshield of an automobile to keep the windshield portion of the automobile cover in place. The automobile cover assembly further includes a strap having attached to the strap a locking and un-locking device that provides for adjusting a proper tension to the strap to keep the automobile cover tautly placed onto the vehicle.

Extended exposure to sunlight can damage the automobile's interior. Most of the sun's ultraviolet energy penetrates the automobile through the windows. Solar heat energy can build up inside the automobile to extremely high temperature causing damages to objects inside the vehicle. Snow, ice, and frost can build up on the external windows of an automobile that is parked outside overnight during winter season.
Various external covers are known in the art for shielding against sunlight, snow, ice, frost, and other environmental factors. These prior art are disadvantageous in that they are cumbersome, lack the ability to be easily installed and un-installed and difficult to secure in place and susceptible to theft.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide an external automobile cover suitable for providing protection from sunlight, snow, ice, frost, and other environmental factors.
Another object of the invention is to provide an automobile cover that is easily installed and secured in place.
Another object of the invention is to provide an automobile cover that is easily un-installed and then stored in a minimum storage space.
Another object of the invention is to provide an automobile cover that is not prone to theft.


Methods and apparatus for a magnetic field sensor in a molded IC package having a magnetic field sensing element in a die with a component coupled to a leadframe at a downset area. In embodiments, a thickness of the leadframe in the downset area is less than a thickness of the leadframe in a non-downset area adjacent to the downset area.

Techniques for semiconductor packaging are well known in the art. In general, a die is cut from a wafer, processed, and attached to a leadframe. After assembly of the integrated circuit (IC) package, the IC package may then placed on a circuit board with other components, including passive components such as capacitors, resistors and inductors. Such passive components, which can be used in filtering the like, can result in the addition of a circuit board near the sensor, or additional real estate on a circuit board that may be present.
As is known in the art, integrated circuits (ICs) are typically overmolded with a plastic or other material to form a package. Such ICs, for example sensors, often require external components, such as capacitors, to be coupled to the IC for proper operation. Magnetic sensors, for example, can require decoupling capacitors to reduce noise and enhance EMC (electromagnetic compatibility). However, external components require real estate on a printed circuit board (PCB) and additional processing steps.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,973,388 to Chew et al. discloses a technique in which a leadframe includes a flag portion and a lead portion with a wire bonds connecting a die to the leadframe. Inner ends of the lead portions are etched to provide a locking structure for epoxy compound. The assembly is then encapsulated in an epoxy plastic compound.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,563,199 to Yasunaga et al. discloses a lead frame with leads having a recess to receive a wire that can be contained in resin for electrical connection to a semiconductor chip.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,642,609 to Minamio et al. discloses a leadframe having leads with land electrodes. A land lead has a half-cut portion and a land portion, which is inclined so that in a resin molding process the land electrode adheres to a seal sheet for preventing resin from reaching the land electrode.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,713,836 to Liu et al, discloses a packaging structure including a leadframe having leads and a die pad to which a chip can be bonded. A passive device is mounted between the contact pads. Bonding wires connect the chip, passive device, and leads, all of which are encapsulated.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2005/0035448 of Hsu et al. discloses a chip package structure including a carrier, a die, a passive component, and conducting wires. Electrodes of the passive component are coupled to power and ground via respective conducting wires.


The present application describes sulfonyl-amidino-containing and tetrahydropyrimidino-containing compounds and derivatives thereof of Formula I:P4-P-M-M4Ior pharmaceutically acceptable salt forms thereof, wherein M is a ring, P is an optional ring, and P4 and M4 are as defined below. Compounds of the present invention are useful as inhibitors of trypsin-like serine proteases, specifically factor Xa.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,365,459, 3,340,269, and 3,423,414 illustrate anti-inflammatory inhibitors of the following formula:
wherein A is 2–3 carbon atoms, X can be O, and R1 and R3 can be substituted or unsubstituted aromatic groups. None of these patents, however, exemplify or suggest compounds of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,342,851 depicts thiazole platelet aggregation inhibitors including those of the following formula:
wherein A is a linker, B can be a linker or a ring, Q is a ring or an amino group, R, R1, and R3 are a variety of groups. This patent, however, does not exemplify or suggest compounds of the present invention.
WO00/39131 describes heterobicyclic Factor Xa inhibitors of which the following is an example formula:
wherein Z is C or N, G is a mono- or bicyclic group, A is a cyclic moiety and B is a basic group or a cyclic moiety. Compounds specifically described in WO00/39131 are not considered to be part of the present invention.
WO98/28269, WO98/28282, WO99/32454, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,020,357, and 6,271,237 describe Factor Xa inhibitors of the following formula:
wherein ring M is a heterocycle, Z is a linker, A is a ring, B is a basic or cyclic group, D is a basic moiety, and E is a ring. Compounds specifically described in WO98/28269, WO98/28282, WO99/32454, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,020,357, and 6,271,237 are not considered to be part of the present invention.
WO98/57951 describes Factor Xa inhibitors of the following formula:
wherein ring M can be a variety of heterocycles and rings D-E represent a heterobicyclic group. Compounds specifically described in WO98/57951 are not considered to be part of the present invention.
WO98/57934 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,060,491 describe Factor Xa inhibitors of the following formula:
wherein ring M is a 6-membered heteroaryl, Z is a linker, A is a ring, B is a basic or cyclic group, D is a basic moiety, and E is a ring. Compounds specifically described in WO98/57934 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,060,491 are not considered to be part of the present invention.
WO98/57937 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,998,424 describe Factor Xa inhibitors of the following formula:
wherein ring M is a variety of rings, ring D is an aromatic ring, and R and E are non-basic groups. Compounds specifically described in WO98/57937 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,998,424 are not considered to be part of the present invention.
WO99/50255 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,191,159 describe pyrazoline and triazoline Factor Xa inhibitors of the following formulas:
Compounds specifically described in WO99/50255 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,191,159 are not considered to be part of the present invention.
WO00/59902 describes Factor Xa inhibitors of the following formula:
wherein ring M can be a variety of rings all of which are substituted with Z-A-B, Z is a linker, A is a ring, B is a sulfonyl-containing heterobicycle, and rings D-E represent a heterobicyclic group or a 6-membered ring. Compounds specifically described in WO00/59902 are not considered to be part of the present invention.
WO01/32628 describes cyano-pyrroles, cyano-imidazoles, cyano-pyrazoles, and cyano-triazoles that are Factor Xa inhibitors. Compounds specifically described in WO01/32628 are not considered to be part of the present invention.
WO01/05784 describes Factor Xa inhibitors of the following formulas:
wherein Z is C or N, G is a mono- or bicyclic ring M, A is a linker, B is a basic or cyclic group. Compounds specifically described in WO01/05784 are not considered to be part of the present invention.
WO00/39108 describes Factor Xa inhibitors of the following formula:
wherein ring M can be a variety of heterocycles and rings D-E represent a heterobicyclic group. Compounds specifically described in WO00/39108 are not considered to be part of the present invention.
WO01/19798 describes factor Xa inhibitors of the following formula:A-Q-D-E-G-J-Zwherein A, D, G, and X can be phenyl or heterocycle. However, none of the presently claimed compounds are exemplified or suggested in WO01/19798.
Activated factor Xa, whose major practical role is the generation of thrombin by the limited proteolysis of prothrombin, holds a central position that links the intrinsic and extrinsic activation mechanisms in the final common pathway of blood coagulation. The generation of thrombin, the final serine protease in the pathway to generate a fibrin clot, from its precursor is amplified by formation of prothrombinase complex (factor Xa, factor V, Ca2+ and phospholipid). Since it is calculated that one molecule of factor Xa can generate 138 molecules of thrombin (Elodi, S., Varadi, K.: Optimization of conditions for the catalytic effect of the factor IXa-factor VIII Complex: Probable role of the complex in the amplification of blood coagulation. Thromb. Res. 1979, 15, 617–629), inhibition of factor Xa may be more efficient than inactivation of thrombin in interrupting the blood coagulation system.
Therefore, efficacious and specific inhibitors of factor Xa are needed as potentially valuable therapeutic agents for the treatment of thromboembolic disorders. It is thus desirable to discover new factor Xa inhibitors. In addition, it is also desirable to find new compounds with improved pharmacological characteristics compared with known factor Xa inhibitors. For example, it is preferred to find new compounds with improved factor Xa inhibitory activity and selectivity for factor Xa versus other serine proteases (i.e., trypsin). It is also desirable and preferable to find compounds with advantageous and improved characteristics in one or more of the following categories, but are not limited to: (a) pharmaceutical properties; (b) dosage requirements; (c) factors which decrease blood concentration peak-to-trough characteristics; (d) factors that increase the concentration of active drug at the receptor; (e) factors that decrease the liability for clinical drug-drug interactions; (f) factors that decrease the potential for adverse side-effects; and (g) factors that improve manufacturing costs or feasibility.

Sulfonyl-amidino-containing and tetrahydropyrimidino-containing compounds as factor Xa inhibitors


A minimally invasive, medical device 10 for removing stones, calculus or the like from the renal or biliary systems includes a reversibly collapsible basket 12 and an elongated member 14 for delivering the basket 12 to the location of the stones, calculus or the like. The basket 12 is tipless and atraumatic in use, and includes at least one superelastic wire loop 20 and at least one superelastic wire leg 26, the wire leg 26 preferably being incorporated into a second superelastic wire loop 24. The basket 12 is preferably formed from a shape memory material such as a suitably annealed nitinol alloy. The basket 12 includes means 28 for restricting relative movement of the first wire loop 20 and the wire leg 26 or the second wire loop 24, continuously formed with the first loop 20 and the leg 26 or the second loop 24. The movement restricting means 28 is preferably formed as a first smaller loop 30 in the first loop 20 interlocked with a second smaller loop 32 in the leg 26 or in the second loop 24. The elongated member 14 is preferably a flexible sheath or the like 34 of a length suitable for introduction of the basket 12 into the major and minor renal calyxes. The first loop 20 and the leg 26 or the second loop 24 have longitudinally extending portions 40 and 46 slidably received in the flexible sheath or the like 34. In this way the basket 12 can be retracted into or extended from the elongated member 14. The device 10 is particularly advantageous in being kink-free during use and in possessing a useful diameter significantly smaller than other eggwhip-type retrieval devices.

Various organs and passages in the body are subject to the development of stones, calculi and the like. Gallstones are a common problem in the United States and are the most frequent cause of gallbladder inflammation. Calculi in other parts of the biliary system are also commonplace. Similarly, stones, calculi and the like can develop throughout the renal or urinary system, not only in the ureters and distal to them, but also in the renal tubules and in the major and minor renal calyxes. The calyxes are hollow collecting structures in the kidneys, extending from the renal pelvis, the minor calyxes in particular joining the renal pyramids. For simplicity, the calyxes can be considered as ducts extending from the connecting tubules of the renal nephrons to the ureters.
Minimally invasive surgical procedures have been developed for the removal of stones, calculi and the like from the biliary and urinary systems. Such procedures avoid the performance of invasive, open surgical procedures (such as, for example, the cholecystectomy) and can instead employ percutaneous access, in which stones, calculi and the like are removed through a percutaneously inserted access sheath. Several access routes are suitable, depending upon the specific system and the particular location in the system at which the stones, calculi or the like are found. Without regard to the access route, however, percutaneous extraction is usually based upon the use of either forceps or basket-tipped catheters to engage and remove the stones, calculi and the like.
While forceps enable the quick extraction of stones positioned within ready reach, they are best used in conjunction with endoscopes, to avoid the inadvertent penetration, damage or extraction of intact mucosa. Forceps usually are not suited for the extraction of stones, calculi or the like which are not positioned relatively close to the exits of the biliary and urinary tracts, since forceps cannot negotiate multiple curves in the tracts. It is true that these drawbacks can be partially overcome by the use of basket-tipped catheters which can traverse such winding courses. However, such catheters are often unable to seize impacted stones.
More particularly, basket-tipped catheters can be less than satisfactory in attempting to retrieve very small or flat stones, particularly when the stones lie in large cavities which provide the stones with ample room for displacement. Moreover, most known stone extraction baskets are helically shaped, so that they permit entry of the stone only from the side of the basket. This is typically due to the presence of a discreet tip on the basket, such as a small length of cannula which holds the ends of the wires of the basket together. Thus, a head-on or open-ended approach to the stones is not possible with these "leading tip" retrieval baskets. Moreover, such helically-shaped baskets have a tendency to fold on themselves, rather than to open, when pushed against a wall of a hollow organ. This folding reduces the chance of capturing stones. In addition, the relatively sharp tip of such baskets tends to cause an indentation in the organ wall during capture of the stones, and can lead to damage or injury to the wall of the organ.
There are "open-ended" baskets available in which the wires of the basket form an open loop, and thereby permit a head-on approach to the stones, calculi or the like. The wires of such baskets are formed as plural loops arranged in a manner similar to the loops of a common kitchen tool, the eggwhip, and for that reason baskets of this type are sometimes referred to as eggwhip-type baskets. The wires of such baskets have typically been composed of stainless steel. Stainless steel, however, is often subject to undesirable kinking during use, making it very difficult to push or track the device through the body. Moreover, stainless steel baskets typically do not have a resiliency suitable for more than one stone capture. These drawbacks become particularly acute as the diameter of the device is decreased, as is required for the retrieval of stones located more deeply within the body.
A few devices are known in which the wires of the basket are composed of a superelastic alloy (for example, nitinol), but these particular devices may be subject to their own drawbacks in manufacture or use. For example, they commonly employ suture material to interconnect the most distal ends of the loops to one another. A coating material or adhesive is often applied to the suture material and the underlying section of wire, to fixedly position the suture material and wires relative to one another and prevent the basket loops from sliding at their interconnection. In the absence of such a material or adhesive, the sliding of the loops is allowed to be fairly free, even in the presence of the suture material. No provision is made in these devices for an intermediate degree of restricted sliding or movement of the basket wires with respect to one another. Nor is any provision made, in devices having relatively fixed basket wires, for allowing substantial flexing of the individual wires with respect to one another, without unacceptable kinking. Moreover, the construction of retrieval devices of very small diameter, for example, smaller than about 8 French (8 Fr, or about 2.7 mm), can be problematic, particularly in trying to achieve some sort of securement of the distal ends of the loops to one another.
It should thus be clear that it would be highly desirable to have a minimally invasive device for repeatedly grasping, capturing, retrieving, extracting or removing stones, calculi or the like which was tipless and which was atraumatic during use. It would also be highly desirable to have such a device which possessed superior resistance to kinking during use, and which possessed good pushability and trackability during use. It would further be highly desirable to have such a device which possessed a predetermined, restricted degree of relative movement between the wire loops making up the basket, yet which permitted a very high degree of springiness or flexibility between the pair of wire legs making up each wire loop of the basket. It would further be desirable to eliminate the need for a separate or disparate material to limit relative movement of the wire loops. It would also be highly desirable to have such a device which could possess either an even number or an odd number of wire legs making up the basket. Finally, it would be especially desirable to have such a device in unusually small diameters, from below about 8 Fr (2.7 mm) to even below about 2 Fr (0.7 mm).


Technologies are described herein for providing a non-linear presentation canvas. A non-linear presentation canvas is provided. The non-linear presentation canvas is a virtual space onto which multimedia files and hyperlinks can be inserted. A content preview for one or more of the multimedia files and hyperlinks inserted onto the non-linear presentation canvas is displayed. The content preview is selectable to display the corresponding multimedia files and hyperlinks during a presentation.

Prior to the availability of presentation applications, such as POWERPOINT from MICROSOFT CORPORATION and KEYNOTE from APPLE INC., users often relied on printed materials or manual writing surfaces to supplement an oral lecture. Examples of printed materials include handouts, pamphlets, overhead transparencies, posters, charts, photographic slides, and the like. Examples of manual writing surfaces include chalkboards, whiteboards, and the like.
These early presentation mediums had a number of drawbacks. For example, an audience may have difficulty focusing on a speaker while reading the handouts. Further, generating pamphlets, posters, charts, and photographic slides may be cost prohibitive, especially when the presentation is given in a limited number. With manual writing surfaces, the audience may be focused on taking notes, instead of listening to the speaker. Also, the effectiveness of manual writing surfaces depends heavily on the handwriting skills of the speaker.
The advent of presentation applications has provided users with the ability to generate and display rich presentations embedded with text, graphics, and other multimedia content. A conventional presentation application provides an editor interface for generating a presentation and a slideshow interface for displaying the presentation. A conventional editor interface provides a blank template containing multiple slides. The user can insert text, graphics, sound, and other multimedia into the slides via the editor interface. The slides can then be displayed via the slideshow interface in a linear presentation flow. For example, common operations for traversing slides in the presentation include "next slide" for viewing the next slide in a predefined sequence and "previous slide" for viewing the previous slide in the predefined sequence.
In conventional presentation applications, the content inserted into the slides is generally limited to the size of the slide, which is usually a finite space. In order to insert large content (e.g., large text, detailed charts, process maps) greater than the size of the slide, the large content is usually resized or manually divided into smaller portions. Each smaller portion can then be inserted into a separate slide. Downsizing the large content may decrease the quality (e.g., the resolution) of the content. Dividing the content into smaller portions may be time-consuming and require the use of separate editing software. Also, some file types, such as detailed charts and spreadsheets, may not be amenable to a division without entirely recreating the file.
Further, conventional presentation applications are generally not capable of handling interactive content, such as websites and demonstrations, without launching an external program. Launching an external program may cause a new window to open and disrupt the linear presentation flow of the slideshow.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the disclosure made herein is presented.